Episode two of XWF Wrestling gives us more cruiserweights and builds towards some storylines, something missing from the first episode. Is it better than the debut? Let’s find out!
The Undercard
XWF Wrestling #2 opens with some cruiserweight/luchador action as Konnan teams up with Puerto Rican star Ray Gonzales and former WCW Cruiserweight champs Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis! This was a good, speedy opener with Konnan being the power guy in his team.
The interesting thing is that Gonzales came off as the young rookie in the match when he had over a decade’s worth of experience during this period.
Actually, he debuted before Juventud Guerrera but didn’t have that world experience or big stage experience. At any rate, the Juvi and Psicosis team was solid for this brief match while Konnan and Ray were also decent. There was nothing that would wow you in the match but it served as a good opener. It gets the thumbs up.
After that, we get some in-ring story-building with Rena Mero coming out with her security to thank the fans. Commissioner Roddy Piper came out and Mean Gene questions him about interfering in the main event. Soon, Vampiro shows up to thank CEO Rena for the opportunity to wrestle in the XWF.
She makes a match between Vampiro and Josh Matthews, fresh from MTV’s Tough Enough.
Color commentator Jerry Lawler has always been easy to goad into the ring. Simon Diamond comes out to voice his disapproval at what The King said about his manager Dawn Marie in episode one. He lures Lawler into a match which becomes a two-on-one with Johnny Swinger attacking Lawler.
For some reason, the referee allowed this to continue. After some botched teamwork, Swinger flies outside and Lawler blasts Diamond with the Piledriver for the win. Thumbs down.
Jimmy Hart came out with Hail who spanked someone else. There were also promotional videos for Ian Harrison and Drezden.
In an entertaining match made for television, Johnny B. Badd and Norman Smiley had a solid bout. There was a dollop of comedy but this was mostly a B-show match where half of the commentary is about the match and the rest is about everything else on the show.
Despite that, these two had a perfectly acceptable thumbs in the middle match.
It was mentioned earlier that the Nasty Boys wanted their rematch against the Shane Twins who were saved by the Road Warriors after a flukey win. Instead the Road Warriors show up and we get a mostly beefy brawl. There was a point in the match where Hawk stumbled and collided with a Shane Twin.
They had the match after a Doomsday Device when the Nasty Boys interfered and the bout gets tossed out.
Listen, the Road Warriors were pretty snug in this match. Still, it wasn’t a bad little TV match between heavyweights. It has the benefit of being a very short match as well. Thumbs in the middle. It should be noted—and definitely has been—that Jimmy Snuka Jr looked like he was doing Rob Van Dam cosplay during his promo.
The Main Event
We get a WCW throwback match as Bobby Heenan’s client Curt Hennig takes on Buff Bagwell. This was another solid match. If this was the closer for WCW Saturday Night or WCW Worldwide, this would’ve been a good main event.
Again, nothing that would wow you, the wrestling here isn’t complex or anything. It’s two guys in B-show mode for a couple of minutes—meaning they could kick it up a notch pace-wise.
Remember, these guys weren’t delivering their best when WCW closed. This match was basically what they would’ve done on any episode of WCW television for roughly the same amount of time.
Following the match, Vampiro comes out and says that Hennig had help from Heenan. Bagwell and Vampiro beat up on Hennig until Ian Harrison came out and cleaned house. Commissioner Piper came out to regulate when CEO Rena showed up and shut that down.
As a matter of fact, Piper was almost in fear for his career!
XWF Wrestling #2 Verdict: Silver Medal (Thumbs in the Middle for the Undercard and Main Event)
We had four matches with one of them being pretty good—it stood out. The other three rounded up to being a mid experience. The whole episode benefited from great use of the hour block and simple storylines. Like WOW Women of Wrestling, XWF Wrestling benefited both from just being an hour and running late weekend evenings.
The wrestling you got at that time and on that day was different from weekday prime time wrestling and this show was a meshing of the two. You got weekend wrestling action and production with a weekday focus on storyline. It was a fun mash-up and this episode was fun to watch.
The wrestling wasn’t great at all and the best match just had excitement going for it. With that said, in didn’t feel like I was watching this episode for an hour and I actually want to know what happens next. Those are two goals of a show achieved right there!
Match of the Show: Konnan & Ray Gonzalez vs. Juventud Guerrera & Psicosis
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