WSU: Excellence DVD

Women’s Superstars Uncensored

www.declarationofindependents.net

$14.95

Reviewed by Joe Babinsack

Excellence?

In professional wrestling?

You’ve got it here.

When it comes to WSU, Shimmer or Chickfight, I’m hesitant to label it Women’s Wrestling. Because it isn’t a fair to provide a chauvinistic diminishment of that section of the industry: with WSU and the others, it’s not like the WNBA, or women’s college teams or such.

Today, there is no circus side show mentality of the women performers.

With all due respect to the greats of the past, this isn’t the same thing. Women’s wrestling has multiple promotions existing, if not thriving, in the industry. This isn’t about putting on a match that doubles as the intermission, or a specialty match that interchanges ever few weeks with the little people (midgets, as we once called them) or a dedicated and controlled troupe of gals herded by someone more accurately called a pimp, and sadly, was a pimp in more than just the “I’ll take a big percentage of your pay” type of way.

What’s interesting to me, and I’ve said this before, is that the most pure version of professional wrestling is being portrayed in rings with talented female athletes wrestling in them.

These are ladies who aren’t angling for a spread in some girlie magazine, or dieting down and chemically enhancing themselves and filling themselves with saline. These are real athletes, with real bodies and real passion for the sport.

Snicker all you want, but when I want to see hard hitting action in the ring, I’d sooner watch Mercedes Martinez and/or Angel Orsini throwing punches than John Cena. I’d sooner watch an undercard featuring Cindy Rogers or Brooke Carter or Amber O’Neal rather than a dozen interchangeable cogs in one of a variety of men’s wrestling promotions.

And I’d much rather see Missy Hyatt grooming new talent in the ring and on promos, than *cough* any of the WWE’s aging and selfish bunch of quadragenarians.

Top to bottom, WSU’s Excellence is simply an awesome show.

We’ve got dynamics of moving up and down the card. We’ve got newcomers, veterans and ‘stars’ from across the globe. We’ve got angles, skits and promos interspliced with graphics and promotional values far more impressive than the $14.95 price tag.

And most of all, we’ve got talent.

So let me hit the matches.

I’m not so sure about the correlation of the match list on the back of the DVD with what appeared on the DVD, and I’m not so sure about the announcing crew, other than they were a little subdued and they have distinctive New Joisey accents. As a whole, they’re not Prazak/Leonard, but then again, they ain’t pretty boys with no talent like some 800 lb gorilla likes to want to push.

Sassy Stephanie vs Amber O’Neal opens the show.

Well, it doesn’t. Actually, a great backstage opening takes place, as Angel Orsini attacks Rain, pulls her out to the ring, and they do a pull apart that would make Vince Russo do 16 pull-aparts an hour on TNA, if he ever deigned to watch a real professional wrestling  show like this one.

What’s crazy, other than the crazy attitude of Orsini and the seamless way this played out, is just how in character Rain was, Orsini was, and how the wrestlers involved in the pull apart played it up. There isn’t any low-brow comedy in WSU, it’s real as real can get.

So we segue into some promos by Stephanie and O’Neal, to set up their match.

I love the white noise/old cable colors graphic divider between the cuts. WSU should overlay its logo on that, and it would be perfect, not just excellent. But I digress.

I can’t say enough about Amber O’Neal. She’s an awesome heel, well worth watching, and she’s old school heel at that, doing the little things that rile up the crowd, enhance the ability of the babyface in the match, and you can tell she has great fun doing it all. Her opponent is even more worth watching, and you get the feel for the dynamic that Sassy will be moving up the card despite where she ends up here.

Let’s just hope she comes around with a better name.

Jana and Jennifer Cruz would never happen on cable, and that’s too bad.

I like watching talented wrestlers, especially those breaking the cookie-cutter mold. There’s something about two wrestlers with a hate on, battling each other in the ring to a finish. Something that’s missing in most places I watch, so I get it where I can. Nice Veteran/newcomer dynamic here as well.

Out comes Missy Hyatt, looking fine, and bringing out Becky Bayless, who is transitioning from one time ROH backstage announcer, to wrestling talent. She’s definitely got something, and who better to learn from than from the mistress of Missy’s Manor.

It’s a nice setup to bring out the only male on the event, Rick Cataldo.

Well, there are snide remarks aplenty waiting to be said!

Bayless breaks out a big promo, and establishes her character, and then breaks out a beating on Cataldo. I’m not quite sure which was better, but it’s well worth figuring out your own opinion.

Two more matches round out the first disc of the two disc set. First is a veterans battle, and then an rookie type fight.

Cindy Rogers touts herself as the Definition of Technician, and has a track record to prove it. Malia Hosaka brings back memories of the Japanese goddess, Manami Toyota, with that long black hair. Ok, maybe not the innovation, agility and superior wrestling talent, but any time I can sneak in Toyota’s name is a opportunity I won’t miss.

Good promos. Solid match. I was a little surprised by the result, but then again, I love the fact that I can watch a match and not figure out by the names, past results or ready speculation what’s going to happen. That’s the sort of mix that means something, and with these ladies, there’s real wrestling going on in the ring, not just high spots galore.

WSU has a title called the Spirit Championship, and it’s a nice approach.

Latasha is the Champion, and she’s taking on Lea Morrison. They’re both a little green, but if you’re not taking chances with new talent, there won’t be any names in a few years, so don’t complain about it, watch the match and learn to appreciate it as the talent learns to work better.

The angles surrounding this weren’t bad, but hey, getting everyone involved in more than just in-ring is just as important.

We then move to the second disc, and two championship matches and an “Uncensored Rules” match.

Main event quality?!?

You got that right.

The WSU Tag Team Championship pitted new champs (Hailey Hatred & Jessicka Havoc) against contenders and former champs Alicia (who apparently has returned to the promotion) and Brooke Carter.

First impression I had was wow, that’s some booking putting in the svelte Carter with several big bodies.

What was impressive was seeing Carter bounce around and bump for the physically impressive Hatred and Havoc team. There was a definite dynamic going on here, with the overbearing Alicia, and Carter taking on some big girls in attempting to regain the belts.

But overall, it was a more than solid tag team match, and more than just a little nostalgic – beyond the assortment of national flags as a backdrop for the ring, and the darkened small auditorium reminiscent of Georgia Championship Wrestling for great atmosphere – with the tag team sensibilities and low keyed action.

Afterwards, a nifty angle plays out with the aforementioned Rick Cataldo becoming a manager, and one of the gals revealing her name as Brittney Savage – now that’s a great wrestling name.

The Uncensored Rules match featured the two combatants seen in the opening: Rain and Angel Orsini.

Nice packaging of the feud, and the lead up to this match. This isn’t just one more match in an array of interchangeable matches, or just a stock match with interchangeable parts. This match, like much of what WSU puts on, is built up, set up and laid out professionally.

I’ve seen Rain around, and with a different name, but she really showed a lot in this long, grueling match.

Orsini has an awesome presence. She’s got a body type that ain’t going to get a second look from Vince, but I’m appreciative of her action in the ring, and her personality. Think ODB, but without the comedic overtones, and without the hard edge of a body (but with a much harder edged attitude.)

What’s cool in this match is the ongoing efforts to raise it beyond just a match. This isn’t quite a war, but because it doesn’t go over-the-top, it just feels better. These ladies don’t need blood and guts and bashing of skulls, just pounding on each other, vicious attempts at submitting each other, and a relentlessness on each women’s part to win.

Winning and losing means something.

A couple of cool spots, well, not high spots but creative applications of violence spots, including a punch-fest in the chairs, sitting on the chairs, exchanging forearms and punches and slaps.

This match is well worth seeing.

The WSU Championship follows, and you just know that the finish of the previous match will mean something down the road, maybe even sooner, in a sort of old school type of way.

Mercedes Martinez is the WSU Champion. Well deserving and she wears the gold well. She’s taken on top notch competition across the country, and she’s a throw-back to old school champions. With Martinez, you know the match is going to be a battle, you know it’s going to be a fight, and she has the presence to back up what she says.

And the respect, well earned, and well presented, to deserve the championship label.

Portia Perez and Martinez fought a year ago.

At the time, Perez was still in rookie mode. Still learning the ropes. Still not yet at a main event level.

She spells it out well in her promo.

And says it won’t be the same. But it won’t because Portia Perez, who has outgrown the cute image she once has, has proven capable and worthy of the title shot.

And it’s a well fought battle. I loved the action and the work. Seeing a match built around working an arm, working it, working it, and building up the fight from a psychological base, working the endurance, working the fatigue, working the entirety of the match.

It all played out well.

Somewhere along the match, I realized that Martinez was channeling champions of the past, not those of the present. The title was on the line, and the challenger was worthy, not easily vanquished, and because of it, it never felt anything less than what it should be: a struggle for the gold.

This isn’t about saying every match, every angle, every skit was a Madison Square Garden moment.

But the key is, WSU presented an event that weaved professional wrestling’s past and worked in current top notch talent, and put on a show well worthy of my respect, and I’m sure it will earn yours as well.

Make sure you catch the post match promos and angle. It’s the kind of stuff that promoters used to be able to pull off every week.

Joe Babinsack can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Ring of Honor has been sticking around with its typical level of excellence, and I need to turn my attention back to it. That and much, much more to come.