The Chairshot Official Ratings & Review: WrestleCircus Raise the Curtain

WrestleCircus is back bitches! A month removed from their highly touted return show, The Show Must Go On, we get, Raise the Curtain. Many names we all know, Indy mark or not, and some are making their WrestleCircus debut. I’m looking forward to this one, particularly since I haven’t seen Teddy Hart since Wrestle Society X (bite your tongue with old comments). So given that WSX was like 10 years ago, I’m really curious what Teddy still does.

Also aside from Teddy Hart curiosity, it’ll be interesting to see how Tessa Blanchard rebounds from her losing effort, in the 5* classic against Brian Cage. So with all the known talent and the match ups the way they are, without further ado, let’s see how this show plays out.

Shane Taylor vs JT Dunn

This match was surprisingly closer than expected.

Dunn took an early advantage and then Taylor dominated for a good portion of the match. Dunn did get a second wind, connecting on a rolling cutter, tombstone piledriver and a discus forearm. But when Taylor kicked out of the first one, he went back to the well for another forearm, and Taylor countered with a Knockout Punch. Dunn went to sleep, Taylor’s hand went up.

Leg Drop on the apron from @shane216taylor!#WrestleCircus #RaiseTheCurtain
STREAM: https://t.co/uAheQnnHS3 pic.twitter.com/BiYetbv4nZ

— WrestleCircus ? (@WrestleCircus) March 25, 2018

Rating: ** 1/4

Fatal 4-Way: Teddy Hart vs Andrew Everett vs Zachary Wentz vs Myron Reed

So a few of these guys we’ve seen in Japanese promotions (Zachary Wentz in Dragon Gate and Andrew Everett in NOAH), with a known commodity in Teddy Hart and Crown of Glory Champion, Myron Reed.

This match started off strong and fast paced, but the major thread that plagued the match was a lack of fluidity. Teddy Hart pulled off some fantastic combination moves, like a rope assisted DDT/Piledriver and a Diving Double Spike DDT. Each man had a legitimate shot at a few near falls, but Teddy Hart pulls off the win, by countering Myron Reed’s offense on Andrew Everett and turning it into an avalanche Canadian Destroyer.

Rope Assisted DDT, Piledriver
combo from @TeddyHartIsBACK!#WrestleCircus #RaiseTheCurtain
STREAM: https://t.co/uAheQnnHS3 pic.twitter.com/R24QQIN7d6

— WrestleCircus ? (@WrestleCircus) March 25, 2018

A lot of big fun spots, but like I said before, the spots seemed to be off by a few seconds and they never really got a good flow for the match. Entertaining as hell though, and it was great to see Teddy Hart again.

Rating: ** 3/4

Mixed Tag Match: Gentleman Jervis & Kylie Rae vs Serpentico & Leva Bates

Well, I enjoyed Leva coming down dressed as Jake the Snake since she’s teaming with Serpentico and apparently Jervis is afraid of snakes.

So ya, this started off as a typical comedic Jervis match with hugs and tickles, then Leva chases him to the back with the snake in the bag. So Lucha rules kicked in and the two remaining teammates decided to actually wrestle. Kylie was very impressive, middle rope corkscrew arm drag, and a few other notable moves.

The match went on for quite some time, we got Jervis’ Rocking Sleepy Hold and the Wheelbarrow Snake Charming Hypnosis spot causing Leva to DDT Serpentico. This kind of stuff doesn’t resonate with me, so I’ll give it that the audience seemed to enjoy it, but I’d rather eat glass.

Actual submissions happened and both Serpentico and Leva were forced to tap together, but this is not something I cared for beyond a few little chuckles.

Rating: * 1/2

Rey Fenix vs Dezmond Xavier

An interesting pairing with Fenix making his WC debut and Xavier still trying to prove himself.

Early on Fenix tweaked his knee, and Xavier took advantage of it, but got easily distracted and annoyed. Fenix wrestled from underneath for a while, with both men pulling out interesting moves. Xavier hit his Double Backhand Spring Overhead Kick, for a near fall. However, Dezmond’s inexperience got the best of him. Fenix put a few moves together, hit a big step up spinning back kick, followed up by a Muscle Buster spun into what looked like a Fire Thunder Driver variation. I’m not really sure what to call it, but damn cool. And here I thought the coolest move was going to be Xavier hitting a crisp Spiral Tap that left the announce team grasping at straws for what to call it.

As for the match, they gave a lot of space between moves for things to sink in, and to set up the next spot. Not a bad thing at all, but it did make the pacing of the match a little odd at times. Good match, and given the story they were telling, it worked very well.

Rating: *** 1/2

Big Top Tag Team Title: Extra Talent-ed (c) vs. Dirty Devils w/ Insidious Follower

Dirty Devils are the typical kind of occult heel team with a manager, while I don’t know much about the others.

The match had some nice transitions, just poor execution in a lot of spots. A Tope con Hilo that mostly missed, a wheelbarrow tag move that seemed odd and the biggest travesty, a botch ref grab to break up the 3 count. The crowd was chanting “This is Bullshit” before the interference from the Insidious Follower even happened.

So Dirty Devils win thanks to manager help and a pin break up, that never really happened. Match was actually alright up until that ending sequence, and the camera angle didn’t really help the situation either.

Rating: ** 1/2

#1 Contender For Sideshow Title: MASADA vs. Jordan Len-X

MASADA is a known hardcore wrestler, and Jordan may have bitten off more than he can chew.

The story of the match was that MASADA was trying to prove he can wrestle a technical match without needing the hardcore element, and it worked for a while. We saw a mostly well wrestled match, up until the last few minutes, again. Now Sideshow rules allows for anything goes, so MASADA fell back into old habits.

A Sunset Flip Powerbomb, catches the ref, and we get a ref bump. Jordan Len-X then starts screaming at the back for a new ref or something, all while MASADA gets his wooden skewers. No new ref shows up, so when Jordan turns around, MASADA catches him in a heel hook, jams in the skewers and holds him in a Camel Clutch for a while.

Apparently at this point Austin the fired referee shows up, ignores Jordan’s feet on the ropes (which was unclear if the ropes really mattered anyway) and acknowledges the tap out…and it apparently stands? I don’t know. When even commentary doesn’t know what’s going on, it makes the match look weak. So two very suspect finishes in a row, reminds people of janky WCW finishes and doesn’t allow the card to build correctly.

Rating: ** 3/4

Lady of the Ring Title: Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Chelsea Green

Tessa coming off the big loss to Brian Cage and Chelsea slowly picking up steam everywhere, should make for a solid match.

Tessa’s story was that she was angry and more driven after her loss to prove herself, while Chelsea was just trying to capitalize on Tessa’s moments of blind rage. The crowd swung back and forth between the two women, and save for 2 bad spots, the match had a lot of intensity and was paced nicely.

Facebreaker by @Tess_Blanchard!#WrestleCircus #RaiseTheCurtain
STREAM: https://t.co/uAheQnnHS3 pic.twitter.com/gUdoTPETr2

— WrestleCircus ? (@WrestleCircus) March 25, 2018

Angry Tessa is a little scary, so I’d much prefer smiley Tessa. But regardless, a lot of back and forth, a Laurel Van Ness transformation, but still Tessa B ain’t nothing to fuck with. She drives Chelsea into the mat head first, and then lands The Magnum flush, and picks up the pinfall victory.

Rating: **** 1/4

Penta El Zero M vs Shane Strickland

Two men who can put on clinics, allows for a lot of imagination in a match like this.

Immediately, Penta dives on Shane and goes to collect a bone, by snapping Shane’s right arm. So Shane wrestled 99% match with ‘one’ arm. So many chairs were used all throughout this match. Commentary had amusing moments of referencing the chair company and that the chairs have families.

.@PENTAELZEROM breaks Shane
Strickland's arm!#WrestleCircus #RaiseTheCurtain
STREAM: https://t.co/uAheQnnHS3 pic.twitter.com/k9DylbrS3Z

— WrestleCircus ? (@WrestleCircus) March 25, 2018

So this match was entertaining as hell, with moments of technical wrestling thrown in, but was mostly a brawl the likes of Attitude Era WWF or Omega vs Jericho. We saw Canadian Destroyers, Penta Drivers, seated strong style, CHAIRSHOTS, and cursing in Spanish. This match also did a good job at highlighting Strickland’s ingenuity, by seeing what he could do with one arm mostly useless.

With so much back and forth, it came down to Pentagon going to the top one too many times, Shane throwing a chair at him to send the action to the outside, then it was all Shane. Another CHAIRSHOT, saw Pentagon sit down, Strickland goes up to hit a Swerve Stomp on the seated Pentagon (which snaps the back of the chair clean off), throws Penta into the ring, and one final Swerve Stomp gets the pinfall.

Rating: **** 3/4

This show ended with two amazing matches that definitely sent the crowd home happy and energized. The rest of the card obviously wasn’t bad, (I realize the comedy match has fans, so even if I don’t like it, there’s an audience), but the odd finishes leading towards the two main events added an odd air to the show. WrestleCircus may be the most well rounded Independent around right now. Good mixture of match styles, solid quality throughout the card and pairings that swing regardless of winner.

So again, WrestleCircus continues to impress and prove themselves to be one of the most entertaining wrestling shows in North America. I’m really looking forward to their next show, and as always, Tessa B ain’t nuthin to fuck with!