[C-VERSE '77] WIW: Hawaiian Thunder

[1PWfan]

WIW The Warmest Welcome

Live to Video from Jerry’s Basement

Friday, Week 1, March 1977

Audience: 164

 

Pre-Show

 

Unutola Tomalu vs. Kikuma Honma

This was a good match, but frankly neither of these guys are priorities in and of themselves. ‘Tola’s team with Mano is probably our top face team (though with Double Disaster in the Kuhaulua war that’s largely moot until they’re free to take part in their own storylines), but in and of himself Tomalu’s really just a reasonably good midcarder. As for Honma, his fundamentals can’t make up for the fact that he’s just not that good a wrestler, and with his stamina being so poor I’m inclined to offload him and find another puro guy to train up our young Japanese guys (to be honest our BHOTWG relationship hasn’t really been active for a couple of years now). In any case, this was a solid match that saw Unutola take the win with the Leaping Super Kick.

Winner: Unutola Tomalu Match Rating: D

 

 

The Show

 

Brian Love vs. Alasi Tua

This was a good match, as you’d expect from me and Tua, that saw me go over with the Surf’s Up. To be honest I would’ve been happy to take the loss, but three straight losses might have been a bit too much for a guy involved in our top storyline, and whilst I don’t think Tua was entirely chuffed with the result he didn’t complain (at least, not to me). As for storyline, we went with the standard monster vs. little guy thing, although it didn’t work as well as it could have: Alasi blasted me straight out with a headbutt that knocked me for six, and whilst I don’t think it was as bad an injury as it felt at the time I never really recovered form after that. In any case, Tua spent most of the match knocking me about, only for me to get lucky and dodge an attempted leaping avalanche at the 10-minute mark. That gave me an chance to go on the offensive, and I went to work on setting Tua up for Surf’s Up, focusing on working over his neck and back, nailing a big Kuhaulua Kick to the back that not only hit Tua hard but also got me a strong two count. That put the initiative firmly in my corner, and when Tua went for a big body press it was a perfect set-up for Surf’s Up, giving me a hard-fought victory.

Winner: Brian Love Match Rating: C-

 

*

 

It’s time to hear from Ioei Kuhaulua, as he makes his way out to the promo position to hype the main event

 

“Last month, I was defeated by Tsunami and Eruption. There’s no shame in admitting that, they’re some of the most powerful, dangerous wrestlers in this company, even if they did have to turn to the Black Sheep of the family for help. But tonight, Tsunami, I will not go down with a fight. This title is the most important thing I own, it’s a symbol of what it means to be a proud Hawaiian warrior, and I would rather die than let a monster like you take it from me. So you can bring your tag team partner, you can bring my brother, but none of it will matter because tonight, you’re going to have a major league fight on your hands”

 

Ioei’s loss last month clearly hasn’t all that much of an impact on his popularity- the crowd loved this as much as they always do.

Rating: C

 

*

 

Tito Bumfhole vs. Tommy Handell

This was another decent match, with all the high-flying action you’d expect from these two. Kudos also go to Tommy, who worked really hard here and sold hard for everything Tito did: if we’re going to build Tito up to mean something then he needs to look really dangerous, and thanks to Tommy he came out of this one looking like a star. Of course, it wasn’t perfect, as Tommy’s debut nerves threw his form off, and Tito’s never been the most consistent performer on the roster anyway, but whilst there were a couple of spots that maybe didn’t come off quite perfectly the action moved so quickly that they were soon forgotten about. Tito got the win here, countering Tommy’s attempts at a diving axe handle with a big dropkick before scaling the turnbuckle and nailing the Diving Bulldog for the victory.

Winner: Tito Bumfhole Match Rating: D

 

*

 

The Rising Suns vs. Naotaka Fujino & Dai Shunichi

Given that this featured three of our weakest competitors, and the only one who could wrestle was having an off night, this wasn’t at all bad. Now granted, with Rex and Joey on commentary you’ll always have a little extra polish on a match, but even so this could’ve been a lot worse. The Rising Suns are in the process of accumulating momentum, and in any case they both need to develop their fundamentals, so whilst I personally quite liked their performance the crowd had a different opinion. As for the good guys, Fujino is a solid worker but was having an off night, and I’ve said all I can say about Shunichi so we’ll move on. All that made up for a match that wasn’t what you’d call good, but managed to hold together surprisingly well over the six minutes it got, largely thanks to Beast and Ine’s chemistry and Fujino’s shouldering of the hard work for his side. In the end Beast got the win, nailing Shunichi with the Chokeslam for the victory.

Winner: The Rising Suns Match Rating: D-

 

*

 

It’s time to hear from Makaio Kuhaulua, ahead of his match with Dirk Bonell

 

“There’s nothing I enjoy more than taking some bone-headed Yankee Jock and torturing him until he screams. And boy, they don’t get dumber than Dirk Bonell. ‘Bone-Dogg’, you might be half of one of the best tag teams in this company, you might hold tag championships all over the country, but you’ve never wrestled an athlete of my calibre before. I’m the greatest wrestler in the world today, better than anybody else in this company- especially my brothers- and tonight is going to be the worst night of your life”

 

As always Mak got a heck of a rise out of the fans, who do seem to have taken to Bone-Dogg at least a little.

Rating: C

 

*

 

Dirk Bonell vs. Makaio Kuhaulua

This was a good, solid match, although Dirk’s fundamentals still need work. I’ve got a plan to deal with that, but it only comes into effect after this match (it’s all set-up, babydoll). It’s also worth pointing out that I need to bring in a new manager for Dirk- he doesn’t work well with Fawn, who I brought in from FAG to manage the Party Animals (I’m fairly certain Chase has already put the moves on her, but can you blame him- she’s a cheerleader, he’s a frat boy, it’s basically a law). To be honest that doesn’t show up a whole lot in a match like this, but there were a couple of moments where Fawn was out of position and had to run round the ring to get in the right spot to help Dirk out. For the most part, though, this was about matching Dirk’s power up to Mak’s technical ability, a combo that always makes for a solid match. Dirk took the initiative early on, surprising Mak with a thunderous lariat and following that up with a delayed vertical suplex that got him a two-count. From there, though, Mak managed to get back into it, and whilst he was never able to win out in the strike exchanges he was able to work over Bone-Dogg’s leg, causing much comment from Joey and Rex, who both pointed out that the Black Sheep Sleeper didn’t have anything to do with the leg. Makaio soon demonstrated why, though, after he took out Dirk’s legs with a chop block and locked in a Reverse Boston Crab that Rex dubbed the Island Crab.

Winner: Makaio Kuhaulua Match Rating: D+

 

*

 

Nakana Kuhaulua vs. Rudolph Gray

This was a test to see if Rudy could hang with the top guys, and guess what? He can. Not that it’s exactly surprising, I wouldn’t have put him in this match if I thought there was much doubt, but it was still reassuring to know that I wasn’t wrong in bringing him in. That also modifies my plans a bit- I’m thinking that I’ll spin Eruption and Tsunami off into a proper tag feud and put Rudolph and another top heel into the Kuhaulua war (maybe Tua? He’d be an obvious choice, and we already know he can deliver with the three good guys). This match was, as you’d expect, a real mat wrestling clinic, with both guys working each over on the floor and trading holds in a determined effort to take control of the match. In the end, the battle on the ground was largely won by Rudolph, whose amateur credentials gave him an edge that ‘Kana clearly hadn’t seen coming, and the eldest Kuhaulua brother was forced to take the match to a vertical base in order to get back into the match. From there he was able to take control, as despite his size advantage Gray wasn’t quick enough to get to grips with Nakana, who was able to outpace Gray and land a series of vicious puro-style chops and kicks, taking out Rudy’s legs in preparation for the Kuhaulua Knee Lift. Sure enough, after Rudy attempted to lock in the Bearhug ‘Kana was able to escape long enough to nail the Kuhaulua Kick, dropping the big man down to his knees and setting him up for the Kuhaulua Knee Lift. That put the victory firmly in the hands of Nakana, and he was quick to go for the pin, securing a very hard-fought victory.

Winner: Nakana Kuhaulua Match Rating: C

 

*

 

Ioei Kuhaulua vs. Tsunami

This was another great match, although to be fair it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Okay, so Tsunami’s fundamentals are still his weak point, but they are improving, and in any case the man looks like a beast, what more do you want? Against a never-say-die babyface like Ioei, that made for an excellent story, and when you combine Tsunami’s brawling skill with Ioei’s technical finesse it’s all gravy babydoll. As you might expect, Tsunami used his raw power to dominate in the early going, out-muscling the champion and flinging him around the ring to soften him up for the Tidal Wave. When he finally connected with that move all seemed lost for Ioei, but to the fans delight the young champion kicked out and fought back, catching his second wind as the fans cheered on his every blow against the Samoan Giant. However hard he fought, though, Ioei couldn’t get Tsunami down long enough to lock in the Kuhaulua Clutch, and without that it looked like Tsunami might still be able to take the win. Fortunately for the forces of good, just as it looked like his energy was running out Ioei was able to lure Tsunami into charging for a Tidal Wave, only for Ioei to duck out the way and nail a drop toe hold that took Tsunami head-first into the turnbuckle and then onto the mat. That gave the champ a chance to lock in the Clutch, and there was no way that Tsunami was coming back from that.

Winner: Ioei Kuhaulua Match Rating: C

 

*

 

After the match Ioei is celebrating his win when Makaio and Eruption jump him from behind, beating him down as Tsunami joins them- Makaio in particular was almost manically determined to destroy his brother. Before the damage was too severe, though, me and Nakana came out like a house on fire, clearing house and driving off the heels. They weren’t all that eager to go, though, and the action soon broke down into a wild brawl, as all six guys tried to beat their opponents down. In the end, the locker room empties as every wrestler on the roster tries to break it up, eventually pinning the brawling wrestlers down on opposite sides of the ring. They’re joined by new WIW President Hank Jacobs

 

“Okay, that’s enough! I’ve seen enough of how much you guys hate each other, and I won’t have our top wrestlers brawling like a pack of wild dogs! You want to fight each other, you can do it officially. I’m announcing it here and now- next month, at Maui Meltdown, it’s going to Makaio Kuhaulua and Double Disaster versus. Nakana Kuhaulua, Ioei Kuhaulua and Brian Love!”

 

This got a decent reaction, but if I hadn’t had to put it here I wouldn’t have finished the show with this as it wasn’t quite up to the level of the title match.

Rating: D+

 

 

Overall Rating: C-, which seems to be our standard level of quality.