Welcome to the first ever edition of "Kaiser's Ring". In this special segment I'll be reviewing wrestling DVD/VHS/Blu-Ray/Digital/ETC. found in my collection. Seeing it's from my collection you'll see reviews covering a broad amount of wrestling companies as one edition might be about an old WWE PPV like "Unforgiven 2003 (2003), one edition might cover some obscure title like "I Like to Hurt People (1985), and one edition might cover a sleazy girl on girl "Oil Wrestling" event from Japan (believe me I have looked into it). On this first edition I'll be reviewing a wrestling event that took place right here in Australia from all the way back in 2006. This event is called Wrestlerock and what is Wrestlerock? Wrestlerock is an event that takes place in bars and not only will you see some gnitty gritty wrestling but this event also has rock concerts from the biggest tribute bands the World has to offer. Drinking, fighting, rocking, wrestling, this is Wrestlerock. (Click "Read More" to read the review).
Opening Segment: Opening Package/Introduction
This special event opens up with a video package that explains who is fighting at this event and the reason why to help build up the matches. The video package was pretty simple and got straight to the point which was good as it did give you all of the information you needed and did get me pumped up to watch the matches. After that package we cut straight to the ring where we have the ringside announcers talking to the crowd and giving them shit in a style that is reminiscent of the classic ECW show introductions. After about five minutes of introducing the show they waste no time and jump straight into the opening match.
Match #1: Trikki D Vs. Laser
The opening bout of this show starts off with a wrestler named "Daniel Swagger" getting yelled at as he was originally supposed to be facing off against Trikki D but got injured and now Daniel Swagger is hanging out ringside with a very cheeky smile on his face. The bell rings and the match starts off with both wrestlers caught in a lock-up maneuver. Both wrestlers keep on ending up throwing each other around and re-locking up with each other only for Trikki D to end the streak of stalemates and hits Laser with a Hip-Toss followed by a Flip Leg-Drop into a Pin.
Trikki D only manages to get a two count as Laser kicks out with a lot of energy still in him. Trikki D continues to dominate until Laser reverses his submission hold and hits Trikki D with a Drop-Kick followed by a Pin attempt. Trikki D kicks out but that doesn't stop Laser from dominating the match as he throws Trikki D into the corner and beats him up some more. After another pin attempt from Laser we see Trikki D kick-out once more but Laser just picks him up to beat him up some more until Trikki D reverses Laser's Flapjack into a Flipping Powerbomb.
Trikki D begins to beat up Laser with some impressive moves but this doesn't last for long as Laser retaliates with a powerful Clothesline knocking Trikki D to the ground. Laser starts attacking Trikki D and hits him with a Lionsault but only for Trikki D to kick out which makes Laser mad and then he puts Trikki D in a Submission Hold. Trikki D manages to get out of Lasers grasp and then Hurricurranas, Laser into the turnbuckle pole and starts beating him outside of the ring. Laser gets back into the ring only to be hit by a Cradle Piledriver followed by a Pin but amazingly Laser kicks right out and waggles his finger at the crowd.
Trikki D starts to look desperate and starts attacking Laser in his testicles but Laser retaliates with a very nice looking Northern Lights Suplex leaving both wrestlers exhausted on the mat. Laser is the first one to get up and he begins to attack Trikki D while he is on the ground and then Laser gets up on the top rope and does a Moonsault only for Trikki D to roll out of the way. Trikki D attempts to pin Laser but then from out of nowhere "Flaunt It" by the band "TV Rock" hits the speakers and the match is interrupted by a sleazy looking gang of wrestlers named "Vanity Inc.". Laser and Trikki D are joined in the ring with Daniel Swagger and all three look very confused to why this is happening.
Vanity Inc. are not happy as they are not in the spotlight and run their mouths about how that they are star material. Vanity Inc. then challenge Trikki D and Laser to a tag-tem match for later on in the show. Trikki D and Laser put their match behind them so they can prepare for the tag-team match that is happening later so this match ends in a no contest.
Overall this wasn't a bad wrestling match but it was a little slow as if they were saving their energy for something special and then BAM this twist happens. The twist in the end has gotten me excited for what's to come. A decent opener.
Match #2: Ricky Diamonds Hardcore Hotel Match
The second match of this event is the first ever "Ricky Diamond's Hardcore Hotel" Match... What on Earth is a Ricky Diamond's Hardcore Hotel Match you ask? The answer is quite simple as it is an open invitational hardcore match that invites any wrestler in Australia to see if they can beat Ricky Diamond.
This match opens up with Ricky Diamond coming to the ring with a rubbish bin full of weapons and wearing a Collingwood Magpies football jersey (that's my team by the way, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned that). Ricky Diamond then waits in the ring to see who his opponent will be. His challenger turns up and it is one of Australia's very own "Hardcore Legends", Mad Dog. The bell rings and both wrestlers start punching the crap out of each other but Ricky Diamond overpowers Mad Dog and starts slamming him around the ring ending with a huge Suplex followed by a pin attempt.
Mad Dog kicks out at two and then Ricky Diamond quickly pops outside of the ring to grab a chair. Ricky Diamond throws the char right at Mad Dog's face and then grabs a license plate and starts beating Mad Dog over the head with it. After the beating Mad Dog Recovers and fights back and delivers a very brutal looking Clothesline leaving Ricky Diamond smashing onto the ground like a plane being shot down from the sky by the Red Baron from the old Peanuts cartoons. Mad Dog then lines Ricky Diamond in the corner with a chair over his head and hits him with a Running Drop-Kick and then re-positions the chair into the center of the ring but only for Ricky Diamond to reverse Mad Dog and then throws him onto the chair.
Ricky Diamond starts kicking Mad Dog around and then goes back to grab another weapon. Ricky Diamond's weapon of choice this time is a Pot Lid and then he starts brutally beating Mad Dog with it and then throws Mad Dog into the corner where he starts giving him the classic Ric Flair styled Chops to his chest. Ricky Diamond hits Mad Dog with a devastating Bulldog (oh the irony) and attempts to pin him but Mad Dog kicks out and recovers and starts beating up Ricky Diamond with no remorse.
Mad Dog brings a Cookie Tray to the ring and hits Mad Dog with a very painful blow to the head followed by a Pin. Ricky Diamond kicks-out only to have Mad Dog beat him up some more until Ricky Diamond stops Mad Dog with a really impressive Hurricurrana out of nowhere. Both wrestlers end up outside of the ring to where they start slapping each other around with Ricky Diamond coming out on top and when both wrestlers return to the ring we have Ricky Diamond pinning Mad Dog but Mad Dog kicks out right before the Ref hits the mat for a three count.
Ricky Diamond picks Mad Dog up and hits him with a Swinging Neck Breaker and then grabs another weapon and this time it is a... Toilet Seat with Poo on it? You have read right as we now have Ricky Diamond fighting dirty as he rubs Mad Dog's nose in it. That isn't all as Ricky Diamond goes back to his magic bin and pulls out a Cabbage and whacks Mad Dog in the head with the head. Not long after Ricky Diamond grabs yet another weapon with it being an old Computer Keyboard and stars beating Mad Dog up with it. Ricky Diamond then grabs a T-Shirt and starts strangling Mad Dog but shortly after Ricky Diamond lets go Mad Dog recovers and smashes the garbage bin over Ricky Diamond's head.
Mad Dog puts Ricky Diamond against the ropes and leaves the ring only to set up a wooden table. Ricky Diamond recovers and starts beating Mad Dog with a Pole. Ricky Diamond continues to dominate until Mad Dog kicks him in the face and then Pump-Handle Slams him from inside of the ring to outside right through the table. Mad Dog throws Ricky Diamond back into the ring and pins him to get the victory. Your winner: Mad Dog.
Overall this was a really entertaining match but there were also a lot of cartoony parts where they liked to overreact to certain moves. Seeing this was a hardcore match I can let that slide as all I'm looking for in hardcore matches is pure entertainment (in a good way) and this match more than passes that test. Fun match to watch.
Segment: Award Ceremony for The Ox
Our next segment has Wrestlerock giving their thanks and appreciation to an Australian wrestling legend, "The Ox". The Ox comes out to accept his award but his night of glory is to be cut short as Sebastian Walker comes out to ruin his night by showing a degrading montage video of The Ox's most embarrassing moments. The Ox is not happy and bad mouths Sebastian Walker making him furious. Sebastian Walker doesn't like what The Ox has to say and sends out a mix martial arts wrestler named "Carnish" to whoop The Ox's butt.
Match #3: The Ox Vs. Carnish
The match starts off with Carnish tauting to the crowd but only for The Ox to taunt back and steal Carnish's limelight. Carnish tries to take The Ox down with a series of kicks but they aren't enough to even phase him so Carnish tries to go for his finisher ("The Karate Kid Crane Kick") but The Ox smashes him with a Clothesline. The Ox then begins to dominate with some very powerful slams and then jumps off the top rope squashing Carnish. Carnish leaves the ring and forfeits the match leaving The Ox as the winner.
I liked the award ceremony part of this segment as it was funny and entertaining. The match itself was also entertaining although a bit obvious to what was going on but obvious in a good way to where you wanted to see that happen. Short but sweet.
Match #4 (Main Event): Laser and Trikki D Vs. Vanity Inc (Stephan Cool and Blade with Jack Pott)
We have arrived at not only the continuation of the first match but we have also arrived at the main event of the first ever Wrestlerock. The match starts with Laser and Trikki D wasting no time and start attacking Vanity Inc. leaving them caught in the corners. Laser and Trikki D beat them up some more and then strip Stephan Cool of his pants (don't worry, they don't expose his "Stephan Cool") and then proceed to whip him with his own pants. Laser and Trikki D continue to dominate which leaves Vanity Inc. out side of the ring thinking of a battle plan.
The match starts off for real with Stephan Cool locking up with Trikki D in the middle of the ring. Stephan Cool out-strenghs Trikki D and begins to bite, punch, and kick him followed by a slam with a very questionable Pin. Trikki D kicks out of the pin but Stephan Cool drags him to the corner and tags in Blade where he takes over in beating up Trikki D. Blade beats up Trikki D some more and then tags Stephan Cool back into the match where he hits Trikki D with a humiliating Headbutt to the groin. Stephan Cool then proceeds locking on a Figure-Four Leg-Lock (woo) onto Trikki D but is broken up thanks to the help of Laser.
Trikki D gets up to make a tag but Stephan Cool takes him down like a Lion catching a Zebra. Trikki D manages to get free and tags Laser who then starts beating up Stephan Cool. Laser beats up Stephan Cool for awhile but Stephan Cool fights back and hits Laser with his signature "Tea-Bag Pin" but Laser kicks out then Stephan Cool tags Blade. Blade starts beating down Laser but Laser makes a comeback when he dodges one of Blade's attacks leaving him stuck in the corner. Laser kicks Mr. Saturday Night while he is down and then tags in Trikki D to where they perform a double team attack. Blade manages to get out of there and tags Stephan Cool back into the match.
Trikki D gets the first strike on Stephan Cool and tries to pin him but Stephan Cool kicks out and hits Trikki D with a very dirty Low Blow. Stephan Cool attacks Trikki D some more and slams him onto the ground and hits him with his finishing move, "The Purple Rain Elbow Drop" but Trikki D kicks out. Stephan Cool beats Trikki D up some more and while the referee is distracted with Laser we see Stephan Cool throw Trikki D out so Blade can beat him up with some dirty moves and then throws him back into the ring before the referee turns back around.
Stephan Cool hits Trikki D with his signature submission hold, "Strawberry Fields Sleeper Hold" but Trikki D uses a jawbreaker move on him to get out of the hold. Trikki D hits Stephan Cool with a dropkick and then tags in Laser to where we see them perform a very classical double team attack. Laser brutally beats Stephan Cool for awhile but Stephan Cool manages to escape out of a terrifying turnbuckle attack. Stephan Cool hangs Laser upside down in the corner and starts attacking his crotch and then tags in Blade.
Blade dominates Laser but Laser manages to sneak in a quick tag to Trikki D. That doesn't stop Blade as he continues to dominate with a series of slams and suplex's but Trikki D retaliates with a Double Armed DDT and puts a stop to Blades domination. Trikki D tries to pin Blade but Stephan Cool breaks up the pin then Laser comes in and takes Stephan Cool outside of the ring where we see them beating the hell out of each other. Out of nowhere we have an interference from a wrestler named "Rowan Herbstreet" who distracts the referee. While the ref is distracted Blade grabs a weapon and whacks Trikki D in the back of the head and gets rid of the evidence. Blade rolls Trikki D up for the Pin and the Ref counts 1,2,3, making Vanity Inc. the winners of this match.
The show closes off with Rowan Herbstreet flapping his gums off about the match only to be interrupted by "Steve Frost". Steve Frost cleans out the ring and starts celebrating with Trikki D and Laser. The celebration is cut short when Steve Frost goes berserk and beats the crap out of Trikki D and Laser. Daniel Swagger comes running into the ring but Steve Frost just beats the crap out of him as well. Turns out Steve Frost is teamed up with Rowan Herbstreet's group and then Rowan Herbstreet debuts the Wrestlerock Championship Belt and declares Steve Frost the first ever Wrestlerock Champion. Steve Frost then opens up a challenge to anyone in the back with Mad Dog coming out with a chair wrapped in barbed wire and chases Steve Frost out of the ring leaving the show end on a huge teaser for Wrestle Rock 2.
Overall this was a very decent match with some well done moves that made for an entertaining watch. I did find the ending to be a little cheap and could've been a bit better but I did enjoy what was to follow and am looking forward to Wrestlerock 2. Nice closer.
The show itself was very decent with a lot of entertainment and decent matches. This event did have that first episode feeling as it was also a little rough. The wrestling did have a rough and dirty feeling not seen in any of the bigger wrestling companies but that isn't a bad thing at all as it worked really well for this show. While I did enjoy this show we are still not done with the DVD yet as we still have the special features to get through.
Bonus Match: Daniel Swagger Vs. Trikki D ("DCW: Fairfield Festival 2005", October 16th, 2005 )
After Wrestlerock 1 we are blessed with two bonus matches from a company called "DCW" with the first match taking place in the year prior to Wrestlerock 1. This match opens up with both wrestlers locking-up and countering each other for a minute until Daniel Swagger throws Trikki D into the corner only for Trikki D to retaliate with a punch to the head. Trikki D attacks Daniel Swagger some more and then hits him with an impressive Flip Piledriver followed by a Flip Suplex and a Pin. Daniel Swagger kicks out at two then he pokes Trikki D in the eyes and starts beating him up.
Daniel Swagger tosses and throws Trikki D all over the place and tries to Pin him again but Trikki D kicks out again. Daniel Swagger continues to dominate and hits Trikki D with a powerful Spinebuster and tries to in him a few times more but to no success. Daniel Swagger tried to beat Trikki D down some more but Trikki D reverses with a Clothesline and then hits Daniel Swagger with a Hurricurrana. Trikki D tries to finish the match with an Alabama Slam but Daniel Swagger kicks out after Trikki D tries to pin him. Trikki D tries to hit Daniel Swagger with another Alabama Slam but Daniel Swagger reverses with a Canadian Destroyer followed by his finisher named the SKO (AKA Diamond Cutter and/or RKO) and scores the Pin to gain the victory. Your winner: Daniel Swagger.
For a five minute match this was not bad at all and they really packed in quite a bit. The match wasn't perfect though as there were some rough spots that felt a bit rushed but in the end it was worth a watch. Decent match.
Bonus Match: Battle Royal ("DCW: Fairfield Festival 2003", Unknown Date, 2003)
Our second bonus match is a Battle Royal that took place during the year of 2003 and the way it works is that two wrestlers start and a new wrestler joins the match every thirty seconds. To be eliminated the wrestler must be thrown over the top rope until one is left and that one wrestler left is the winner. Sadly I can not do a full detailed review of this match as it is a highlight package which makes it very difficult to do a play-by-play styled review. I am also happy about that as the type of match I hate writing about the most is the Battle Royal Match. I'm also not the kind to skip over doing a detailed review of those kinds of matches for that reason as that is a cheap excuse... Anyway on to what the match is like from what highlights are included.
There was a huge problem with this match and that was that it didn't transition to video very well as there was only one camera trying to capture all of the action to which there was a lot of it happening. There were some decent parts in this Battle Royal like when all of the Wrestlers piled up on each other in the middle of the ring. Overall I wouldn't say that this was a bad match but it's one of those matches where it would've been better seeing live rather than on video.
Special Feature: Wrestlerock 1 Recap
This is a pretty simple special feature as it is Wrestlerock 1 condensed into a two minute video showing the best parts. It wasn't a bad montage at all and was entertaining and did capture the best parts of the show well. I can't see myself watching this feature more than once though but it was better than what I thought it would be and was worth a watch.
Special Feature: Bloopers & Deleted Scenes
This special feature is a bot of a weird one as this video contains bits that were cut from the promo videos and wrestlers messing up their lines for the promo videos. The problem with this feature is that it suffers the same problem as a lot of blooper reels and that is that the blooper and outtakes aren't very interesting to watch. You can skip over this one.
Special Feature: Sebastian Walker Interviews the Ox
This special feature is a promo that was recorded before Wrestlerock 1 where we have Sebastian Walker interviewing a cardboard cut-out of The Ox. This was a very interesting feature as it teases something was going to go down during The Ox's award ceremony (and it did). I'm just a bit surprised that this wasn't included as a segment during the main feature. Interesting little skit.
Special Feature: Wrestlerock Press Conference
Our last special feature is a press conference promoting Wrestlerock 1 and features a panel of Wrestlers who appeared at the event. What happens when you have a panel of Wrestlers who are facing each other in an event they are promoting? If you said "civilised conversation" then you have been hit way too many times with a chair. This panel was pure chaos and I mean that in a good way as it was entertaining and funny and was a hell of a great way to promote a show. A real gem of a feature.
Overall this wasn't a bad DVD and I remember really wanting to go to this event back in the day but the problem with that was that I was sixteen at the time and you had to be eighteen or over to attend. What? How did you want me to end this review? I pretty much gave my thoughts on this whole DVD before I started talking about the special features... Anyway
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