1) Super Smash Bros vs. BLK Out (Ruckus & Sabian) - Fallout - 1/19/08
Aside from the aforementioned Mike Bailey, my other big draw towards buying this set was all the Super Smash Bros matches. I first discovered SSB thanks to their work in PWG and DGUSA/Evolve in 2012. They soon became one of my favorite tag teams and since they've been unable to appear in the US for quite some time, I became eager to see them compete and this DVD filled that desire so it gets bonus points just for that! None the less, this was a satisfying tag team match that was just as good, if not better than I expected. SSB were just as talented here, 7 years ago, as they are today. It was really cool seeing one of their early matches even if Uno's gear may have not been the best haha. The action here was great and they put on a quality tag team match with CZW standouts, Ruckus & Sabian. Good start to the set!
Match rating - ***1/2
2) Kenny the Bastard vs. Viking - Snowbrawl - 3/8/08
This one REALLY caught me by surprise. Considering that I had no clue who these guys were, I didn't have many expectations, but they certainly impressed me. This was a unique match from the start to say the least. One guy had black face paint and the other had an odd green mask. The gear didn't reflect their awesome talent though because they went to battle as soon as the bell rang and brawled around the arena, hitting several cool spots including some dives off the stage. They also took the fight outside INTO THE SNOW where things got really crazy. I had never seen a powerbomb into a huge hill of snow until this match and it was awesome. Viking also hit a piledriver/half sit out powerbomb (I couldn't tell which), off of a trash dumpster onto a pile of snow. This was a super fun match that saw Viking nearly kill Kenny with three manuevers dropping him right on the top of his head to get the win.
Match rating - ***
3) Larry Sweeney vs. Twiggy - Crossing The Line - 6/14/08
The story going into this match was that Twiggy was 1-0 against Sweeney although I'd say he was clearly the underdog solely based off experience and the vast size difference. This was a pretty back & forth match although it never really got out of first gear, in my opinion. It didn't go too long though so I can't complain, plus it was nice seeing Mr Sweet & Sour here!
Match rating - **1/4
4) Super Smash Bros vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico - Rising Above - 10/4/08
Dream match alert! When I saw this on the match listing, it took everything I had to not skip right to it, but I waited and it was certainly worth the wait. First things first, Steen got into a heated confrontation with a fan at ringside here, it was nuts! I've seen Steen get into it with fans before and after seeing him nearly get into a fight with a guy at PWG's All Star Weekend 7 in 2008, I didn't think I could see a more heated altercation, THEN this happened. The guy trash talked Steen repeatedly, unfortunately they were speaking in French so I couldn't understand all that they said, but physicality is a world wide language and when Steen threw Stupefied onto the guy at ringside and began beating the shit out of him on top of the guy, I had no problem understanding what was going on! Steen pulled Stupe off the fan and then blew snot onto him before getting into a bit of a shoving match with him. STEEN STEEN STEEN chants erupted, both on the DVD and in my living room. That was extremely entertaining however I don't want it to take away from what was an awesome match. As mentioned before, the physicality here was off the charts. I think the fan got Steen pissed and as a result, he was even more stiff with his chops than normal. Stupefied's chest was extremely red from the beating he took. I cringed with every shot Steen delivered to his chest. Generico was even more physical than usual as he didn't do many flashy moves early on and it worked wonders for he & Steen as they completely assaulted SSB thus keeping control of nearly the entire first half of the match. SSB would fight back though and the two teams delivered a wildly competitive final 7 minutes or so which featured a number of big moves, great exchanges, and close nearfalls. Awesome match that lived up to all the expectations that I had for it.
Match rating - ****
5) Jae Rukin vs. Tyler Logan - Street Fight - Only The Best - 11/15/08
This was another one of those matches like Viking/Kenny the Bastard where I had no clue what to expect considering this is my first time seeing these two men compete. And just like with that match, I was impressed. These two put on a very entertaining No DQ style match as we saw chairs become involved and they brawled around the arena. The commentary here was pretty hilarious as one of the guys seemed to be drunk which made for some funny moments. It's not something I'd want in every match, but it was definitely fun here. In fact, I think that's the best word to describe this match - fun. A knee drop with chairs onto the chest of Logan is what earned Rennalls the victory. Very enjoyable stuff.
Match rating - ***
6) Sara Del Rey vs. Misty Haven - Level Up - 1/15/09
Being somewhat of a Sara Del Rey mark, I was looking forward to seeing this one and rightfully so because Del Rey reminded me of why I'm such a big fan of hers here. From the in-ring dominance & viciousness to slapping a man at ringside who made a sly comment, this was a good showcase for Del Rey. It's nothing more than that though. Sara worked over the leg of Haven for a good portion of the match despite a few attempted comebacks and it led her to victory as she made Haven tap out to her own version of a knee bar. Simple, yet effective stuff here. As said before, this was a nice showcase for Del Rey despite not being an outstanding match.
Match rating - **1/2
7) Kevin Steen vs. Sonjay Dutt - Stand Alone - 5/2/09
I've always been a fan of big man vs smaller man match ups so I was pretty interested in this one from the get go. During Dutt's time in TNA, I never saw him show a ton of personality, however here he got a chance to have some fun and it was cool to see. He called out a fan that referred to him as a "fucking tool" and had a sitting contest in the audience with Steen, among othe things. Steen was the perfect guy for Dutt to showcase his personality with here. Once the comedy and stuff got out of the way, these two got serious and we got a very competitve action packed bout. Some highlights include Dutt hitting a standing shooting star press and Steen hitting a belly to belly throw on Dutt into the turnbuckles. Good match!
Match rating - ***1/4
8) Jae Rukin vs. Sabian vs. Stupefied vs. Michael Elgin - Rise Above 2009 - 10/16/09
This was the opening match for the particular event it was on and I must say, it got that show off to one hell of a start! There was a nice mix of styles here as you had some highflyers along with a powerhouse in the form of Elgin. This made for some jawdropping moments such as Elgin hoisting up all three men and rocking them with a samoan drop. Stupefied started the match out and ended up being singled out & beat down nearly the entire time thanks to Elgin & Sabian forming a short-lived alliance. Things would break down soon and go into high gear as all four men began vying for a victory. Great four-way bout with alot of action and several near falls.
Match rating - ***1/2
9) Michael Elgin vs. Manabu Soya - Domination 2010 - 3/21/10
I'm not familiar with Soya, but apparently he's a top talent from All Japan Pro Wrestling so with their lineage in mind, I figured this would be an epic encounter. Elgin and Soya basically just beat the shit out of each other here. It went around 10 minutes and was a slugfest from bell to bell. Decent match.
Match rating - ***
10) Kevin Steen vs. Tyson Dux - Stand Alone 2010
Steen got the crowd on his side early on simply by comparing Dux to Mr Ass Billy Gunn because of his hair color. This got a bunch of "Mr Asshole" chants started which got in the head of Tyson in the early goings. Steen took advantage of this and controlled things for a bit however once the match took to the outside, Dux hit a brainbuster on Steen on the commentary stage which ended up serving as a neutralizer in the match. Dux began wearing Steen down back in the ring with headlocks and other holds from this point in. Steen ended up recovering from this despite being on the recieveing end of a death valley driver into the turnbuckles. In the end, it was a roll up that earned him the victory. Solid stuff here.
Match rating - ***1/2
Disc 2:
11) Kevin Steen vs. Mike Bailey - Re Ignition 2010 - 9/25/10
These two had a MOTY candidate in 2014 so I was pumped to see this match which occured several years prior. Speedball looked a bit different as he had longer hair however you could still tell it was clearly him once he began throwing those unique kicks which he's known for. It wasn't long before Steen began beating the absolute hell out of Bailey here though and when he started, he didn't slow up. As a result, Bailey's chest got sliced open from the vicious chops and began bleeding. These were seriously some of the stiffest chops I've ever seen Steen throw and that's saying something. The resiliance of Bailey shown through here and I'm not sure if this was his breakout match at the time or not, but in a way it seemed like it because he took a beating here that would earn ANY viewers' respect and he still came back for more. Great match.
Match rating - ***3/4
12) Brodie Lee vs. Player Uno - Only the Best 3 - 11/25/10
Here we have the 3rd appearance of a current WWE Star on this set, this time it's Luke Harper during his time under the name Brodie Lee. Most know of his work on the American Indies in CZW & Chikara, but he also competed extensively in Canada in C4 as well as Alpha 1. This was a pretty good looking match on paper considering Uno is a fairly large guy himself. Although the commentators seemed to think Uno would die here, I was looking forward to this because while not as big as Lee, Uno is pretty big as I mentioned before. This was similar to the Elgin/Soya match as the pretty much just slugged it out from bell to bell and didn't tell that much of a story although it was fun to watch.
Match rating - **3/4
13) El Generico vs. Mike Bailey - Level Up 2011 - 3/26/11
UN-BE-LIEVABLE! That's all I have to say here. Yes, I took a page out of PWG stalwart Excalibur's playbook and I'd say it's well timed because this was fucking nuts. I think the best way to describe this match would be to refer you to El Generico's matches with PAC (Adrian Neville) in PWG in 2006 & 2007. If you've seen those matches, you'll know that saying that is a big compliment to this match. Here, Generico, who usually plays the underdog, couldn't have been more the opposite as he was clearly the more experienced competitor and Bailey was once again the underdog, a character he plays extremely well. I said earlier that the match with Steen may have been Speedball's breakout match, but I take that back and say that this was it. The crowd was brought to it's feet several times here as these two hit each other with every thing possible yet Bailey AND Generico kept coming back for more. "This is Awesome" and "Best Match Ever" were some of the chants that rang through the air during this epic match. Fantastic stuff, best match on this set so far without a doubt. Must see!
Match rating - ****1/2
14) Brodie Lee vs. Michael Elgin - Domination 2011 - 4/30/11
The first Brodie Lee match on this set was underwhelming because it didn't last long enough to create a lasting impression, this match did however and it was AWESOME. Nowadays, Brian Cage & Uhaa Nation are the big men wowing crowds across the scene with their agility, but in 2011 it was Brodie Lee and Michael Elgin. This match perfectly showcases that as we saw these men do things that will make your jaw drop. Whether it be Brodie hitting a hurricanrana on Elgin and diving out of the ring or Elgin hitting a crossbody off the top rope to the outside, it was just crazy to watch. The most breathtaking moment was when Elgin went for his signature buckle bomb and instead of throwing him into the buckle, he powerbombed him through the ropes to the outside. I have no clue how Brodie came out of that one unscathed. Awesome match here. If Luke Harper vs. Michael Elgin is match you've wanted to see, well here it is and yes, it's just as great as you imagined!
Match rating - ****
15) Kevin Steen & Mike Bailey vs. Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards - Crossing The Line 4 - 6/17/11
I was scared for Mike Bailey going into this one just based off how bad Steen's chops effected him earlier in this set because Eddie Edwards is arguably the hardest chopper around today. He didn't get many in on Bailey here although he & Davey certainly did give him a beating. This was another great match involving Steen & Bailey who have been the stars of this set thus far. They worked well together as a team and would end up retaining their titles after a very hard fought match. Really good stuff here.
Match rating - ***3/4
16) Adam Cole vs. Mathieau St. Jacques - Crossing the Line 4 - 6/17/11This was the Panama City Playboy's debut in C4 and since this was in 2011, he wasn't the heel that we know today. Although he did showcase some sarcastic characteristics that were shades of the character that he has become in recent years. After alot of hard hitting/spotty matches, this one felt like a nice change of pace as it was more of a hybrid/pure style encounter. It did have it's share of strikes & spots though. Solid match!
Match rating - ***
17) Michael Elgin vs. Josh Alexander vs. Kevin Steen - Domination 2k12 - 3/10/12
Originally, this was supposed to be a singles encounter between Elgin & Alexander and we got some pretty great exchanges between the two in the five minutes or so in which they had the ring to themselves. It wasn't long before Steen hit the ring and turned things into a three way since his opponent couldn't make it to the show. At this point, they basically just went through all their stuff which was fun to watch. Elgin even took a fan's shoes and hit Alexander with them while Steen grabbed a cane from a fan. They had some good momentum heading into the final moments, but a minor slip up threw off what they were building and as a result, the ending come off somewhat flat. Still an enjoyable three-way match though.
Match rating - ***
18) Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Bailey - Triumph - 4/21/12
Mike Bailey has been the star of this set thus far and that trend continued here. We saw Speedball take a beating from Kingston although it wasn't quite as vicious. It was more of a domination based attack as opposed to the strike based attack that Steen & Generico used. Kingston controlled Bailey by hitting alot of big moves, many of which dropped him right on his head. Those combined with some vicious chops & forearms wore down Speedball, but as usual, he wouldn't stay down. I've said it before however it's worth saying again because it's what made this match so great - Bailey is the perfect underdog. Another great match from him here.
Match rating - ***3/4
Disc 3:
19) Player Uno vs. Sebastian Suave - Crossing The Line 5 - 6/16/12
This was one of those quick action packed matches that never slowed down and as a result, got the crowd going. There were also some cringeworthy spots here such as Uno hitting a vicious brainbuster on the ring apron which dropped Suave right on his head. Nice opening match for the particular event it was on as it was enjoyable from start to finish. It was also nice seeing the always gorgeous Selezia Sparx at ringside during the bout.
Match rating - **3/4
20) Josh Alexander vs. Buxx Belmar vs. Alex Vega vs. Jagger Miles - A Better Tomorrow - 9/14/12
What a wild match this was! As someone who's a new fan of Josh Alexander, this really established him as a huge powerhouse as well as just a fantastic athlete all around. The other three guys were physically smaller than him and they played off that very well in the early going by the Walking Weapon throwing all three men out of the ring only for them to come back in and team up to take him out. There were alot of unique spots here as well such as Alexander lifting one of the guys up on his shoulders meanwhile one of his other opponents dove OVER him onto another guy on the outside. That perfectly describes how insane this bout was. And while that spot was great, the best and most breathtaking of them all was seeing Vega deliver a Canadian Destroyer to Josh Alexander OFF THE TOP ROPE! I had to rewind and watch it back several times to make sure I had truly seen what I thought I did. Epic moment! Really good four way match!
Match rating - ***3/4
21) Josh Alexander vs. "The Emperor" Stu Grayson - FIVE - 11/24/12
Apparently there was a group known as The Authority in C4 at the time of this match which is funny considering that Triple H & Stephanie are known as The Authority in WWE now, guess WWE does steal their ideas from the Indies after all! I'm only kidding. None the less, Stu Grayson (Stupefied/Player Dos of the Super Smash Bros) was a key part of that stable from the looks of it thus he was playing the heel challenging Josh Alexander for the C4 Championship here. There were several spots early on here including a brainbuster and a sick DDT on the ring apron. Things slowed down after that however they would soon pick back up when chairs became involved thanks to The Emperor. This led to several jaw dropping spots including a guillotine driver off the top turnbuckle and a piledriver off two chairs to the mat. Crazy match with enough actions and spots to keep you satisfied.
Match rating - ***1/2
22) Mike Bailey vs. Michael Elgin - Level Up - 3/9/13
This is another match from this set that left me absolutely speechless. And yes, it involves Mike Bailey. It's almost becoming a trend here. If it's a match from C4 that involves Mike Bailey, it's most likely a showstealing must see match. That was definitely the case here as these two delivered an epic bout. Elgin dominated the first 10 minutes or so, but Speedball began mounting a comeback and this soon turned into a very competitive encounter with both guys hitting each other with everything they had. This made for some extremely close nearfalls as well as a ton of mindblowing action. Words won't do it justice - Awesome match!
Match rating - ****1/4
23) Mike Bailey vs. Scotty O'Shea - Fans Bring the Keyboards Match - Domination 2013 - 4/27/13
Mike Bailey stealing the show again? Yep. I thought his matches with Generico & Elgin were crazy simply because of how much punishment he took and came back from however this went into a totally new dimension of crazy as it was one of the most unique things I've seen in recent years. Fans Bring The Weapons matches have happened before, but a Fans Bring The Keyboards match? It's something I'd never heard or seen until this spectacle of a match. I'm guessing the stip was added because O'Shea's nickname is "The Hacker" although I'm not 100% on that, it's just a guess. None the less, keyboards were all around ringside and these two beat the shit out of each other with them in a variety of ways. The simple yet effective straight shot to the head was used several times including in a stand off mid-ring where Bailey and O'Shea did battle with the keyboards. The most innovative way it was used came when Mike Bailey taped a keyboard to his shin and began kicking O'Shea with it. This was just utter insanity that left both men beaten, scraped, and bruised. The match ended with both men laying in a pile of keyboards in the center of the ring.. it was nuts! Speedball gets another huge victory here.
Match rating - ****1/2
24) Super Smash Bros vs. The Afterparty - Saturday Night Slam Masters - 5/11/13
This is the first time since the Smash Bros together in tag team action since the first disc so I was really anticipating this match. Uno and Stu had just came out of a bit of a feud with each other so they weren't on the best of terms here however they still showed their outstanding tag team expertise. Despite that, they did lose the match even though miscommunication wasn't really the cause. The Afterparty just pulled a quick one on SSB. Speaking of them, they put in quite the effort here against the Smash Bros and definitely made an impression. Good tag match.
Match rating - ***1/2
25) Matt Tremont vs. Jaka - Crossing The Line 6 - 6/15/13
This match was pretty different from anything else on this set which was nice to see. Although the crowd chanted "boring" during parts, these two guys worked hard and beat the hell out of each other here. Jaka had a bloody/nose mouth that developed about mid-way through the match which led to a stand off where Tremont threw some vicious strikes that really impressed me. Jaka would return the favor though and it ended up leading him to victory.
Match rating - **3/4
26) Tag Team Championship Open: Super Smash Bros vs. AfterParty (Cecil Nyx & Chaz Lovely) vs. Brent Banks & Jae Rukin vs. Checkmate (Christopher Bishop & Lionel Knight) vs. The Incredible Hunks (Cheeky & Deeno) vs. Most Valuable Egos (Ethan Page & Michael Von Payton) vs. 3.0 (Jagged & Shane Matthews) vs. Tabarnak de Team (Mathieu St. Jacques & Thomas DuBois) - Crossing The Line 6 - 6/15/13
Pretty cool concept here. Four teams start off and once one is eliminated, another team enters. There were a total of 8 teams in this gauntlet style match and we got several memoramble moments and great exchanges. The first being the Hunks picking up their first ever tag win in C4 over Ethan Page & MVP due to some problems between the two. Those problems led to a brawl after they were eliminated. Beyond that, the tag champs were eliminated half-way through which really upped the anti as it was guaranteed that new champions would be crowned. It seemed like the Super Smash Bros were going to avenge their loss to The Afterparty earlier in this set as they made it from the start of the match to the final two teams only to fall to the dynamic duo of Brent Banks & Jae Rukin. Nice stuff here and a really good way to put all the C4 tag teams on showcase to close out this set.
Match rating - ***1/4
Overall thoughts: Right off the bat I'll say that this set definitely lived up to expectations. I watched it in just three days and the time flew by. It reminded me of when I got PWG Sells Out Volume 3 and sped through it simply because of how good it was. If you're looking for a new independent wrestling company to check out, I'd definitely recommend this set from C4. One big reason to buy this would be all the Mike Bailey matches. Prior to this set, I had only seen one match of his and was impressed. Needless to say after watching his bouts here with Generico, Elgin, & O'Shea, I can consider myself a bonafide fan of his. So as said before, if there's one sole reason to buy this set, it's him because all of his matches here are worth seeing. Beyond him, there are some great Kevin Steen & Super Smash Bros matches on here. So, the bottom line is that this gets a high recommendation from me. I've found that the Independent Scene contains a lot of hidden gems and this is one of them. Great stuff from a lesser known Indie that should definitely get some more recognition! Follow them on Twitter @C4Wrestling!
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter @EthanPWT along with this blog @ThePWTruth!
If you're interested in buying this DVD, you can find it on Smart Mark Video!
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