Pro Wrestling WAR "The End"
January 15th, 2006
The Gym at the Park in La Habra Heights, California

Pro Wrestling WAR Heavyweight Championship Match: "The Hardkore Kidd" Aaron Aguilera vs. "The Modern Day Warrior" Charles Mercury

There's a bit of chain wrestling, but Aaron is completely dominating the match. Mercury is soon squashed with a powerbomb. Mercury nails some elbows to try and stay competitive, but he's brought down with a big Yakuza Kick. Charles finally takes it to Aaron by basically hitting him with everything he can: he nails a run-up enzugiri, an Avalanche Dropkick and a KENTA kick combo, all in short order. Aaron responds with a sweet Full Nelson to Wheelbarrow Facebuster, then none other than Teddy Hart comes out and begins talking trash. Aaron goes after Hart and the two brawl, making the referee end the match on a disqualification. Post-match, Hart cuts a long promo where he basically calls out Aaron.

Analysis: As a match, it had its high-points. Left on its own, this could have been a good "David vs. Goliath" match. Aaron is usually a good performer, but when faced against an opponent that can bring out the beast in him, he can really deliver. Charles was the sympathetic anti-hero face, and he was building a good lead before Teddy came out. All in all, it was a good first match even though it was mostly done as a way to get Mercury out of the way so we could have Aaron and Teddy tangle up. **¾

Six-Man Warfare: Markus Riot and The Young Bucks (Mr. Instant Replay and Slick Nick) vs. The Human Tornado, Biggie Biggz, and Babi Slymm

Babi dominates before Slick and Biggie do a couple comedy spots. Mr. Instant Replay hilarious blurts out, "Come on Jack Evans Jr., let's go!" after tagging in Markus Riot. Tornado unmercifully stiffs Markus, to the point where he nearly busts out his own version of the Violence Party. Tornado and Babi double-team Markus, but Tornado's landing is awkward and he rolls away clutching his knee. In a hilarious moment, Babi convinces Biggie to try a double-team move that involves him lifting Biggie into the air, only to get flattened by Biggie. The Young Bucks hit a beautiful Rolling Fireman's Carry to Somersault Senton to Moonsault triple-combo. Human Tornado comes back and Pimp Slaps both before giving both the POUNCE~. There's a big cluster-**** with several highspots, and Markus Riot wins the match when he sneaks a 450 Splash on Biggie.

Analysis: The tagline of this match was "A Six-Man War That Left One Man Knocked Out and Four Men Injured". But the real brutality came after the bell, when everyone was just lying there in a heap and multiple people had to be helped to the back. Surprisingly, the match wasn't as brutal as that sounds. Those that had injuries gutted it out so well that I couldn't even tell who was really injured until after the match. The match had nice bits of comedy, good action, some very nice spots, and everyone brought their own something to the match: Markus was a bit of a Jack Evans Jr., The Young Bucks brought the "well-oiled machine" team dynamic, Babi was the impressive powerhouse, Tornado was Tornado (he always mixes comedy with good wrestling), and Biggie brought the "big dumb powerhouse" dynamic. Despite the fact that this match hurt a lot of people, it was actually pretty good, and very well-balanced. ***¼

"The Russian Hooligan" Alex Koslov vs. Low Ki

Ki hits his handstand-kick thing after several minutes of ground-and-pound wrestling. Ki teases his stiffness before bringing it out in full force in the form of a whole damn lot of chops to the soon-red chest of Alex Koslov. Alex comes back with European Uppercuts, but Ki is soon dominating with all kinds of hard-hitting strikes. Ki basically tries to murder Alex both in and outside of the ring, but Alex keeps kicking out of pin attempts and keeps trying to fight back. Alex gets Low Ki into a Surfboard Submission, using the ropes, for a great visual. Both go back and forth, then Ki basically caves in Alex's back with a fierce Ghetto Stomp while Alex was in-between the ropes. Both men then get some near-falls on each other, but one last Ghetto Stomp finally kills off Koslov.

Analysis: I loved this match. This was the glory days of Ghetto Low Ki: he no longer cared about things like honor or respect…he wanted to beat you down until you stopped fighting back. Ki is an absolute beast here: a stiff-chopping, double-stomping, kill-anything-that-moves beast. Alex was the perfect foil of someone who wasn't a clear-cut hero, but someone who wouldn't bow down in the face of overwhelming odds. Alex took some of Ki's best offense and still came pretty close to pinning his opponent. Ki was superior this time, but Alex has something to think about if this match ever happens again: a couple of times in this match, Alex had Ki's number. Ki had to work to get this one done, which brought out his best. This one had loads of heart, fury, and all-around rage. Despite the fact that I'm not too big of a Alex Koslov fan, these two brought out the best in each other and produced one hell of a match. ***½

Jack Evans vs. Lil' Cholo (With Chippy Sanchez)

Both men do some flippy counters, particularly Evans, and Jack hits a Sasuke Special that gets 2½. Cholo manages to get a nearfall or two on Jack, then proceeds to stretch Jack, badly. Jack Evans nails an Avalanche Huracanrana, but the referee is taken out on accident and Jack gets flattened with a Release German Suplex. Bo Cooper hits the ring with a chair, presumably to hit Evans, but gives a smash to Chippy and a sidewalk slam onto the chair to Lil' Cholo. Jack manages to cover Cholo quickly afterwards to pick up the victory.

Analysis: A good, short match that was likely ever-so-slightly rushed so Jack wouldn't wind himself. Jack obviously was saving his best stuff for the main event later in the evening, but he gave us just enough to make a good match. Although, it should be noted that Jack was in full-blown spotfest mode. He really did mail this one in. Cholo brought it hard, though, and the interaction with Bo was just enough to make this one worth watching. ***

High Risk Wrestling Heavyweight Championship Match: Diablo vs. "Sexy" Sonny Samson (With C.K.) ©

In the opening minutes, there's some stalling and some brawling. C.K. stiffs Diablo outside of the ring, which only manages to piss Diablo off. C.K. again manages to interfere, nailing a Somersault Senton off the top rope while the referee was attending to Samson. Sampson doles out some stiffness, but gets a Yakuza Kick to his face, knocking him off the apron. Samson rebounds with a spinebuster for 2½, and follows it up with a Knee Ki Krusher and the "Sexiest Elbow Ever" to get the three-count.

Analysis: A decent little match that, ironically, felt small-time. I know that WAR in and of itself was a small fed, but I have to wonder if this really is the best H.R.W. has to offer. Samson just doesn't strike me as a champion, despite the fact that he wasn't all that bad. In all honesty, he strikes me as a gay Scorpio with a few more pounds on him and about half the talent. Maybe I'm just so huge of a Scorpio fan that I automatically dislike people imitating him. Diablo was decent, too, but he strikes me as a dime-a-dozen. It's a decent little match, but even Jack Evans phoning it in beats a H.R.W. Championship match… this time, at least. **½

Ryan Drago vs. Davey Richards

We get a lot of (surprisingly good?) chain wrestling in the early minutes of the match, and they're stiff-chopping, stiff-kicking, and stiff-slapping before long. Davey nails a nice Enzugiri, and he's not afraid to fight just a bit dirty as he works the back and head of Drago. Drago eventually fires back with a big Avalanche Flying Elbow, and never lets up in order to keep Davey down. Drago hits a nice Fisherman Brainbuster that gets 2¾ and follows it up with a Double Arm DDT to a Butterfly Lock, one of my favorite chain-moves in wrestling, by the way. Davey gets a sudden burst of energy and nails a sick Tiger Suplex that folds up Ryan right on his neck. Drago rebounds after an additional Superplex by Davey, but can't put Davey down. Just when it appears that Davey is finished, he lashes out with a sick S.T.O. that flips Drago end-over-end. Richards hits a barrage of offense, but when a Trifecta German Suplex spot and a Tiger Suplex still can't seal the deal, Davey busts out the D.R. Driver (Double Underhook Piledriver) to get the win. Post-match, the fans give the competitors a standing ovation and the two men shake hands.

Analysis: Another fantastic match that fully deserves the standing ovation it got. There was a lot of great wrestling in this match, and a lot of story, too. Davey isn't usually as ruthless as he was during this match, but he was facing an opponent that kept taking all his best offense and dishing out killer stuff of his own. Drago wore Davey down to the point where it felt like Davey was angry at himself for letting Drago do this to him, so he completely turned ballistic and did everything he could to win the match. From the opening-minute chain wrestling to the stiffness, and especially during the occasional high-spot, this was a very high-octane and dramatic match. As one of the best matches on the card, it effectively turned Ryan Drago from a nobody I never heard of to a star I'd like to see more of. All in one match. It's praise well deserved, because this match was in top contention for Match of the Night status. ***½

Aaron Aguilera and Keiji Sakoda vs. Jack Evans and Teddy Hart

Teddy and Aaron tear the ring up with all kinds of beating-the-holy-crap-out-of-each-other stuff. Sakoda and Jack show a bit more civility and chain wrestle. Sakoda is basically masochistic when Jack stiff-chops him, and then he hurls Evans into a corner with a brutal Exploder Suplex. Jack nails some flips, but is grounded again, and Teddy Moonsaults onto Sakoda to break Jack out of a leg submission. Teddy and Aaron tangle up again, and once again relentlessly beat the crap out of each other. At one time Aaron basically launches Teddy from the ring into the fans, and Hart's face smacks the bottom bleacher with sickening accuracy. Aaron Aguilera challenges Teddy Hart to fight on the outside of the ring, and then the brawl truly begins. Teddy low-blows both of his opponents, and as this is a gym, he climbs onto a basketball hoop before hitting a Moonsault off the ****ing basketball rim. This was easily one of the craziest stunts WAR has ever seen, and it's something you really need to see to believe. The referee has had enough and goes back to the ring to issue a ten-count. Everyone is eventually counted out, but this hardly stops any of the four men. Aaron finally and simply walks away from the entire ordeal after throwing both Hart and Evans over the bleachers. Sakoda walks off with him. Teddy basically goes ballistic and starts screaming at everyone, including Anthony Maris and Gary Yap, who both come out to try and determine what the hell is up. Teddy begins to yell at Anthony for deliberately trying to mess up his knee, and the shocker of the match comes when Jack attacks Anthony from behind, clubbing him in the back. From there, Teddy has to be helped to the back.

Analysis: I really don't know what to call this match. So much of it felt like a shoot that I'm not sure where the pretend-hatred began and the real-hatred ended. I know it'd be silly to think of a Moonsault off a basketball rim as a shoot, but so much of this match had so much raw emotion that it felt like a complete shoot. Aaron and Teddy mixed really well, though. Despite all his shortcomings, Teddy Hart is an excellent performer when he has his head on straight. The combination of Teddy and Jack, either against or with each other, always seems to guarantee a good match. Aaron's best role is as an unstoppable monster, and he had full reign to play that part in this match. Sakoda was a lot better than I remember him being in the WWE, as well. This was a really good match, but for a few different reasons than the good matches before it. Whereas Low Ki vs. Koslov and Drago vs. Richards got high marks for being an athletic free-for-all of brutality, this one gets high marks for being a good match that blurred the line between fantasy and reality to such a degree that you really had no idea what was work and what was shoot. ***½

Disc 3: The Extra Content Bonus Disc

Once again, we're treated to an entirely separate disc chock-full of nothing but extra content. Aside from the standard (yet great, and worth multiple watchings) trailers for other Art Over Life Studios products and the always-fantastic "This Is War" tribute, we're treated to a promo by Aaron Aguilera, Insider Commentary by Gary Yap on the main event of "The End", and even a bonus match!

Aaron Aguilera Calls Out Teddy Hart

This is from the October 21, 2005 show. Aguilera comes out, talks smack, hypes himself up, all the normal things that start a heel promo. In teasing his opponent, since WAR gave him the opportunity to choose who he wanted to face, he takes a big jab at the likes of Vic Grimes and Sabu. Even Reckless Youth is burned badly. Aaron then calls out Hart, and says that Hart is "a pajama-wearing homosexual". and that his mother makes all his gear. He then even rips into PWG by claiming that it's ran by eighteen bookers. Aaron calls out Hart again, telling him to settle the feud once and for all.

Thoughts: Man, I had no idea Aaron Aguilera could cut a promo like that. This one was vicious. Aaron even made me hate him. This was a great promo, and it shed a lot of light on the hatred between Aguilera and Teddy.

Aaron Aguilera and Keiji Sakoda vs. Jack Evans and Teddy Hart
With Special Guest Commentary by Gary Yap

There's a lot of insider commentary here, dating back to Yap's dealings with Hart, including how this was originally supposed to be strictly Aguilera vs. Hart, but Teddy felt more comfortable in a tag team match. Surprisingly, Adam Pearce was going to be Aaron's partner, but the morning of this show, he called in to say that he had been injured the past night at an ROH show. Yap makes a good point in WAR's decision to not hype Teddy Hart: Teddy was originally scheduled to face Aaron at the December show, but no-showed it for some reason or another. They might have been able to pull in a few more fans by advertising Teddy, but they would run the risk of their show going to hell if Teddy no-showed again. Aside from lots and lots of insider commentary and history, Yap drops two particular bomb-shells. The first one is why Teddy was so angry: Teddy Hart was convinced that Anthony Maris and Gary Yap convinced Aaron Aguilera to shoot on Teddy for no-showing the December show. Gary right away claims that this is completely untrue, but Teddy got it in his head that the WAR head honcho's wanted Aaron to take out his knee in retaliation for missing the December show.

The next bombshell is even more staggering, but requires a bit of history. Before this night, Jack Evans and Anthony Maris were such good friends that Yap claims they were "like brothers". That all changed during the final moments of "The End", where Jack attacks Anthony. Not only that, but Yap himself had been getting bogged down with numerous responsibilities he didn't want. Originally he was simply the "voice of reason", coaching Anthony on what and what not to do, but then he became booker, and then he had all these other responsibilities put on him. This led to Yap walking away, but coming back. After "The End", Gary Yap walked away again, once again burdened with too much responsibility. Anthony, already disillusioned at the abrupt end of his friendship with Jack, became burnt-out on wrestling. When no one stood up to take Yap's place, that was the end of WAR. It wasn't due to anything like lack of funds or fans- on the contrary, WAR's fanbase was steadily growing! But a lack of a proper booking team, or even a single booker, plus a jaded and disillusioned owner…that is what killed WAR.

Thoughts: This was the best commentary yet, bar none. This completely set the bar if anyone else ever thinks of doing "Insider Commentary" tracks on wrestling shows. Gary Yap pulled no punches, but chose his words well enough to where you felt "in the know" but couldn't find a reason why anyone would take offense to knowing these kinds of things. This pulled back the curtain to such a degree that I think of it as "eye-opening". This is one of the best features of the disc, and will likely please any and all fans that watch it. It's a look inside the life and times of real people, the inner workings of a real wrestling federation, and the all-too-real reasons for its closure. If you buy the DVD for only this commentary, you won't be disappointed in the least.

Special Bonus Match: Jack Evans and Super Dragon vs. "The Professional" Scott Lost and "The Technical Wizard" Joey Ryan

This is from the September 2, 2005 show, and begins with what you would expect: chain wrestling and stiff chopping. Scott Lost is eventually isolated, and then Jack Evans is isolated. Jack nails a flipping neckbreaker for the hot tag, but Super Dragon is quickly grounded. Lost hits the Superman Spear, and Joey keeps the heat on Dragon to get a nearfall. Super Dragon, in a moment of badassery, takes out both Joey and Scott, and Evans hits a barrage of flip-kicks to both as well. After a big 'ol cluster-**** complete with nearfalls and highspots, Super Dragon nails a fantastic Psycho Driver to Joey Ryan to pick up the win.

Analysis: About what you'd expect: very nice. It had a good dynamic, as Evans and Dragon struggled to work together when they mostly kept each other as opponents. Joey and Scott are always a good pair, though I think Scott Lost and Chris Bosh are the better tandem. Everyone in this match is known for quality match-ups, and bar none, that's exactly what you're getting here. There's very little to say about this match other than you'll be glad you watched it, and it makes a great bonus match. ***¼

Final Thoughts: Of all three, this is the best WAR disc yet. But "The End" is so much better than that. Without a single doubt in my mind, this was one of the best SoCal events of 2006. The only promotion that really comes close is PWG, who admittedly had a fantastic 2006 run. It's unfortunate that this is WAR's last show, but they did not go quietly into the night. There is only one match that was average, and one match that was below "good" status, and the Extra content is enough to cover up both, and then some. Three matches were complete barn-burners that tore up the ring and left the fans standing. I know I'm an outspoken WAR supporter, but the fact is this: if you don't know that this show exists, that's a damn shame. Plain and simple.

Honestly, what's not to love? The presentation is slick, despite there not being any commentary. The action is so good that even that small tidbit is quickly forgotten. From bell to bell, this event never let up. The opening match was above-average, even if it was only designed to help fuel the main event. The 6-Man Warfare was good and brutal, followed by the sheer brutality that was Low Ki vs. Alex Koslov. Jack Evans may have saved the best for last in his match with Lil' Cholo, but even that was entertaining. The folks at High Risk Wrestling may have delivered an average match, but "average" does not mean "bad". Plus, it's easy to forget the average-ness of the H.R.W. Championship match when faced with the double-shot of Ryan Drago vs. Davey Richards and the main event. There's not a moment wasted in the entire event, fully deserving its tagline of "One of the Wildest Events in SoCal Wrestling History".

And that's not even including all the extra content! I sincerely doubt I'll ever look at an independent wrestling DVD the same way again after being blown away by the consistently excellent extra content of WAR DVD's. I know that, in the minds of promotion owners, things like "Insider Commentary" can be a tricky thing to handle. All you need is one slip of the tongue to rub someone the wrong way. But when done right, it's a thing of amazement. If fed owners would just tell it like it is, with the same sense of quiet dignity and respect prevalent in all the "Insider Commentary" tracks on WAR, they would only be doing themselves a favor. Unless you're too stupid to not know the difference between shooting on someone and telling it like it is, you're shooting yourself in the foot if you don't include "Insider Commentary" on your shows. It sets WAR apart from all others, and if this ever catches on, WAR will have the unique distinction of doing it first…and doing it best.

In conclusion, just let me say this: it's a little hidden secret that I get these shows for free. Gary Yap personally sends them out to me, free of charge, so I can review them. Hopefully, the hype from the reviews will encourage people to buy these shows. In all honesty, if I knew now what I knew back when I first got into contact with Gary, I would have gladly paid full price, plus some, for these shows. WAR has never struck me as anything besides a wonderful, fantastic, critically under-rated fed that was just beginning to get into its own. It has its own unique aura and feel, which is so hard to do when you're in a territory known for countless impersonators that try to do it your way but fail to do anything except suck horribly.

So, in conclusion, not only is this the best WAR disc yet, it's one of the best wrestling DVD's I have in my collection. There is no reason not to buy this. Honestly. I always make the distinction between a "must have" and a "must-have-or-die", with virtually nothing ever becoming a "must-have-or-die", and my rating system has been called everything from super-strict to egotistical. Shows like these really transcend any rating I or any other reviewer can give. It's excellence, plain and simple. With three-discs, excellent matches, fantastic visuals, and incredible extras, WAR's "The End" will likely stand the test of time as one of the highest-rated independent wrestling shows I will ever review.

Final Rating for Pro Wrestling WAR "The End": ****