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Special
Feature
VIDEO
REVIEW: Murphy looks at River City Wrestling 1-4
By Chad
Murphy, Torch Team Contributor
July 19, 2002
2:49 pm
PWTorch.Com
Video Review
River City Wrestling
Episodes 1 - 4
This
tape was four half hour episodes of television shows, so I'm going
to break them up in to the separate episodes but they are all on
the same commercially available tape.
Episode
1:
The
episode started with an in-ring promo by Scott E. Charms and
"The Samoan Destroyer" Solo. The two spoke about
creating a new stable and how their stable would take over RCW. A
good heel promo that established a storyline early in the video.
Match
One: The Phantom Lords defeated the Prime Time Boys.
In
a battle of two Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy Tag Teams, the
Phantom Lords dominated the Prime Time Boys in a Texas Tornado Tag
match. This was a good match that really established the Phantom
Lords as a dominant heel tag team, while also establishing the
heel stable as one that all heel wrestlers would want to join. The
story was that the Prime Time boys would get to join Scott E.
Charms's stable if they won the match, but the Phantom Lords
dominated the match.
They
told a good story in the match by isolating each Prime Time Boy,
hitting some powerful moves on the one in the ring while keeping
the other one out of the ring. The Phantom Lords looked strong,
and the Prime Time Boys bumped well for them. Mostly a squash with
a couple strong hope spots mixed in.
In
between segments, they showed a film piece where they showed fans
getting the chance to do a meet and greet with the wrestlers of
RCW. Looked like a lot of fun, and it's good to see a promotion
out there working hard to promote their group. There are too many
federations in the Cleveland area that don't do that kind of
stuff.
Match
Two: The Texas Renegade defeated "The Future of
Wrestling" Jason Gunn.
In
a pre-match promo, Jason Gunn talked about how he was the future
of wrestling and the heel commentator put him over real well as a
true contender. In the middle of the promo, and old yenta yelled
that Gunn had "nice buns" which is one of the reasons
that I love indy wrestling. Sometimes the fans' running commentary
is more entertaining than the matches. Check out your local indy
federation.
OK,
now that we're one with the PSA, The Texas Renegade squashed Gunn
in about a minute, leading to a funny moment where the heel
commentator admitted that "maybe he's not the future of
wrestling after all." A rare moment where a heel commentator
had to eat crow and actually did.
Episode
2:
Episode
two started with a promo by "One and Only" Chuck Murphy
& Mr. Venom. Venom announced that in the next show Murphy
would team up with Scott Stuart against the Douglas Brothers.
Match
One: Ghetto Kracker & JB Kidd defeated the Dark Patriot and
Dark Fall
This
was another solid match where Dark Patriot and Dark Fall were a
powerful heel team getting in the lion's share of the offense
until Ghetto Kracker and JB Kidd came back right at the end. Some
good high-flying by the faces against the powerful heel team.
I
always like good tag team wrestling, which is something missing at
all levels of wrestling anymore Dark Patriot and Dark Fall had a
good chemistry and a good look.
Finish
came when Ghetto Kracker hit a solid frog splash on Dark Fall.
Promo:
Stephan Putski and Prince fought about who would be selling out
and joining the Scott E. Charms stable. Charms came out to
confront the two, and then RCW Owner Brandon McGrath came out and
announced that Charms would be fighting Eurocaine in episode
three.
Match
Two: The Texas Renegade defeated Jason Gunn.
Another
good match between the two, which seems to be leading Jason Gunn
to an eventual victory. The win took Renegade a bit longer this
time, but he still didn't have a whole lot of trouble with Jason
Gunn.
Finish
came with Renegade hit a cradle suplex on Gunn.
Episode
3
Match
One: TOPS Tag Team Champions The Douglas Bros. (Keats & Kyzer)
defeated "One and Only" Chuck Murphy & Mr. Venom.
This
was the match that was promoted in the last episode, which made it
a little more interesting. It's the little things that help
promote good episodic television, and RCW seems to do that well.
A
very good match, although I never like seeing my namesake losing.
He does seem to lose a lot in the results I get, which needs to
change immediately. Thank you for your time. Finish came on a
double pin by the Douglas Brothers hit a double swanton bomb on
Murphy and Venom.
Match
Two: "The Samoan Destroyer" Solo defeated Eurocane.
A
funny moment before the match. Scott E. Charms was supposed to be
wrestling in this match, as referenced in the last episode.
However, Charms produced a doctor's note saying that he was unable
to wrestle so his enforcer Solo took his place.
The
finish came on a Solo powerbomb after interference by both Putski
and Prince, which leads to speculation as to who will join the
Charms stable. Again, they gave us a good finish to the match
while still providing build-up to the eventual conclusion of this
storyline, and a blow-off match after we find out who's going to
join the stable.
Episode
4
Match
One: Texas Renegade defeated Jason Gunn
The
third match between these two on the tape, but the storyline keeps
developing. This match took even longer than the last one, and
Texas Renegade had to use a small package to defeated Gunn in this
one. Another good match between the two.
Match
Two: Prince fought Stephan Putski to a no contest.
The
build-up of the previous episode concentrated toward this match. A
good match, but the story came in the finish. Prince was
attempting a piledriver, but Scott E. Charms hit him in the back
with a chair which seemed to indicate that Putski would be joining
the Charms stable. But instead of joining, Putski ended up hitting
Charms with a modified Van Daminator. The locker room emptied and
the entire lock room fought. The Phantom Lords shone in the battle
royal at the end. Prince and Putski celebrated together after the
melee, indicating that neither of them turned. Somewhat of a
disappointing ending to the storyline, but perhaps it will
continue in another direction.
Final
Thoughts:
While the production values weren't the highest I've seen on an
indy tape, the writing and logical nature of the booking of the
shows were all strong and built well. This tape can provide indy
promoters and even WWE bookers with a good blueprint of how to
write enjoyable episodic television.
For
a two camera shoot, the producers didn't try to get too fancy.
They seemed to have one stationary camera that caught virtually
all of the ring, and one hand-held camera that could move and
capture action on the outside. Thankfully they stuck with the
stationary camera most of the time, and the wrestlers seemed to
know where the camera was and plan their spots toward it. It was
simple, but it worked well for the promotion.
Also,
for anyone looking to become a commentator should listen to the
interaction between Christian Schmidt (the play-by-play guy) and
Jeromy Sage (the heel color guy and a graduate of the Shawn
Michaels Wrestling Academy). These two were nothing short of
brilliant on the microphones. They acted interested in the matches
that were taking place at the time which is a welcome change from
WWE commentary. They didn't over-commentate, but they didn't seem
bored with the matches either which is a strong quality. They
understand that as commentators they are there to sell the
matches, not to be the central focus of the entertainment itself.
Well done by both of them.
Fans
can order the video by going to the Merchandise Section at
www.rivercitywrestling.net.
The
video is $10 plus $5 shipping and handling. They can send orders
to:
River
City Productions 925 E Hwy 80, PMB 278 San Marcos, TX 78666
And
time for my plugs: I have a couple more video reviews coming up
shortly, including Future of Wrestling and Ring Of Honor's latest
release so be on the lookout for both of those. And to check out
my previous video reviews, go to Chad
Murphy's Archives.
And
one final beg here, I'm looking for female readers who own
microphones to come participate in my Jeff Hardy Roundtable
discussion on my Fancast.com Radio Show Tuesday night between 8:00
and 10:00 pm Eastern Time. If you're interested, e-mail me at
CMMurphyBW@aol.com.
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