Pro Wrestling Unplugged

Pitbull/Public Enemy Memorial Cup 2006

Description: PWU is America's underdog promotion, relying heavily on the already established blood-thirsty Philadelphia demographic to fuel their unique product. They give the fans a wide variety of wrestling styles; Junior Heavyweights, Women's wrestling, high flying and death defying all the way to technical wrestling exhibitions. This DVD showcased their electrifying tag team division in a Tournament dedicated to the memory of Philadelphia tag team specialists "Pitbull" Anthony Durante, Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty, and Mike "Johnny Grunge" Durham - who helped revolutionize tag team wrestling in the nineties.

The DVD started out with a cool video package which I found to be quite fascinating simply because I have never seen PWU before, only read about it on the Internet. They really do a lot of innovative stuff at their shows. After that, each tag team entrant was given promo time to talk about the big tournament, and the viewer really got a good feel for their gimmick and personality. The one thing that struck me was how much Jose and Joel Maximo have grown up since I last saw them in TNA and ROH. I will talk more about my impressions of each team in the match analysis portion of this review, but before the action got underway, they paid tribute to their three fallen "brothers". Tod Gordon came out with the sole surviving Pittbull, Gary Wolf, as well as a nice piece of a$$ that went by the name Annie Social - more on her in a minute. I have always thought of Tod Gordon as a very passionate man, and the wrestling business needs more people like him quite frankly. His controversial book will soon be released.

Gary Wolf talked briefly about his former tag team partner and the Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) and then Annie Social, who is some kind of executive assistant in high heels and a short dress, proclaimed that all the matches in the tournament would No-DQ and No-Countout, just the way the Pitbulls and Public Enemy would want it. Then for reasons that might only be apparent to PWU followers, Annie attacked the blonde ring attendant and had an old fashioned catfight complete with extreme a$$ exposure. I'm aware than Annie will probably read this, but I've just got to be honest; she didn't strike me as a particularly worthy wrestling personality. Sorry Annie. The Pitbull/Public Enemy Memorial Cup (trophy) was paraded around the ring and taken backstage so the matched could begin!

Round #1 - The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay Briscoe) vs. The Krash Krew (Kwame & Gemini): The Briscoes were by far the best Tag Team in the World for 2006. I will praise their work until the day I die (or they die, hopefully not during a match!). This was the first time I've ever seen the Krash Krew, and my first impression was that I was not impressed. They are like an African American version of the Carnage Crew, but I will say that they wrestled a lot better than they look. Although technically they didn't wrestle much in this match, it was mostly brawling over the guard rail. The scary highlight of this match saw Jay Briscoe swing a chair at his opponent but accidentally clipped his brother Mark in the face! Mark was momentarily down and out but got up and finished the match. He was then rushed to the hospital, leaving Jay without a partner for the rest of the tournament. ( 3 / 10 )

Round #1 - The Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmere) vs. The Angus Brothers (Billy & Danny Angus): This match made me realize just how much I miss watching the Backseat Boyz - especially Trent Acid. I used to love watching them in CZW, back when CZW was worth watching. I still laugh when I think of his Triple H impersonations. They still do the same gimmick where they come out and all the women (all shapes and sizes) stuff money down their pants. I actually saw my old friend Joanne (JoJo) stuff a bill down Kashmere's crotch! Trent Acid was fresh off losing to PWU World Champion Devon Moore on the previous show, which from what I gather, led to the Backseats reunion (although I might be wrong on that tidbit). The Angus Brothers were totally not what I expected - I guess I expected something more along the lines of a Scottish gimmick similar to the Highlanders from the WWE. Instead I got two blue-chippers with no chance in hell of advancing to the next round. ( 5 / 10 )

Round #1 - The Rotweillers (Homicide & Ricky Reyes) vs. The Outcast Killaz (Oman Tortuga & Diablo Santiago): Tortuga and Santiego were confident, despite being booked against a "mystery team" in the first round. The mystery team turned out to be the Rotweillers, consisting of Ricky Reyes and former PWU World Champion Homicide. It was a very competitive match but there was never any doubt in my mind that the Rotweillers would come out on top. The Killaz have improved a lot since I last saw them in ROH though. ( 6 / 10 )

The Briscoe Brothers came out to the ring and Jay announced that Mark had some teeth knocked out in their match and can't wrestle any more tonight. Jay Briscoe said he would continue in the Tournament even if he couldn't find a new partner.

Round #1 - All Money is Legal (K-Murda & K-Pusha) vs. The SAT (Jose & Joel Maximo): AMIL is like a carbon copy of WWE's Cryme Tyme, except AMIL was around long before Cryme Tyme so I guess Cryme Tyme is actually a carbon copy of AMIL. I'm thankful that the SAT doesn't look like little kids any more, they're all grown up and looking like seasoned wrestlers. Unlike the three previous first round matches, this one was very unpredictable. I would have guessed the PWU Tag Team Champion the SAT would win the match but it was All Money is Legal who advanced to the next round in an excellent tag team match. ( 8 / 10 ) -- There was a show of good sportsmanship by both teams after the match, but one must believe that AMIL are now in line for a title shot.

(Non Tournament) PWU Women's Champion Mercedes Martinez vs. Detox: One of my favorite Ladies wrestlers, Mercedes Martinez, made her way out to the ring and hugged about thirty fans as she circled the ring. I always said Martinez was a natural heel but I now realize she plays an adorable babyface to perfection too. She almost had to be the babyface as she was up against male wrestler named Detox. Mercedes Martinez was the PWU Unified Women's Champion, and carried a belt that looked strikingly similar to the WWE Women's title. Apparently Detox won some kind of match to earn the right to face any PWU Champion, so naturally he chose the Women's Champion! This battle of the sexes ended in a DQ when Detox knocked out the Latina Sensation with a can of spray paint. ( 6.5 / 10 )

(Non Tournament) PWU Hardcore Champion Corporal Robinson issues an open challenge: Corporal Robinson, who looks and talks like a complete idiot, came out and issued an open challenge because his scheduled opponent Afa Jr. had signed a contract with the WWE. Some guy named Aramis came out to the ring and quickly got knocked out by the Corporal ( 1 / 10). -- K.C. Blade (from the Dirty Rotten Scoundralz) came out next and was also knocked out by the Hardcore Champion ( 1.5 / 10 ). A third man named Pete Hunter came out and actually lasted 90 seconds before submitting to Corporal Robinson ( 2.5 / 10 ). Thank God this didn't turn into garbage wrestling.

Semi Final - The Rotweillers (Homicide & Ricky Reyes) vs. Jay Briscoe & Joker: Jay Briscoe came out first and said he found himself a tag team partner and introduced Joker, who looks like a completely different person than I remember from CZW. I will always be a fan of Joker all because of one unbelievable Ladder match he had a few years back against the late Chris Cash in CZW. Joker was wearing sneakers, jeans and an old t-Shirt. I hope that isn't his regular ring gear - I hate when wrestlers don't wear normal wrestling gear. Joker turned on Briscoe and helped the Rotweillers advance to the Finals ( 7 / 10 ). The Rots now seem to be unbeatable!

Semi Final - All Money Is Legal (K-Murda & K-Pusha) vs. The Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmere): The beauty in wrestling twice is that the Backseats get twice the cash stuffed down their pants. Both Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid are pretty creative when it comes to coming up with new spots. The Backseats orchestrated a series of hazardous stunts but it took a surprise roll-up for All Money Is Legal to advance to the finals ( 7.5 / 10 ). Once again, there was a show of good sportsmanship after the match.

(Non Tournament) PWU World Heavyweight Champion Devon Moore vs. "The Good Guy" Azriael: When I originally read that Devon Moore was the PWU Champion, the first thing that popped into my head was "who the hell is Devon Moore?" If you guys thought Rey Mysterio as a "Heavyweight" Champion was a joke, you should see this guy - all 177 pounds of him. Now I know what you're saying, don't judge a book by its cover - but seriously - let's be realistic. Thankfully he was in the ring with someone his own size and they put together a really fantastic match. They fought up the ramp and disappeared backstage momentarily before reappearing in the upper deck where Devon Moore was tied by the wrists and thrown over the side leaving Moore hanging by his arms. Azriael ran back to the ring and took the victory by Countout. Azriael is a total heel going by the oxymoronic nickname "The Good Guy." Devon Moore is a fine talent but belongs in the Junior Heavyweight Division ( 8 / 10 ).

Before the finals of the Pitbull/Public Enemy Tag Team Tournament could get started, Tod Gordon and Gary Wolf came to the ring carrying the prestigious trophy and took a seat at ringside. They were in store for some damn good tag team action!

Finals - The Rotweillers (Homicide & Ricky Reyes w/Joker) vs. All Money Is Legal (K-Murda & K-Pusha):

AMIL were complete underdogs from the start of the tournament, and had the most brutal matches against the SAT and the Backseats on their way to the finals. Whereas the Rotweillers were pretty fresh and had a relatively easy path to the finals in matches against the Outcast Killaz and one half of the Briscoe Brothers. Joker started interfering in the match so all the other tag teams came down and chased Joker backstage. This was the one match of the Tournament that most resembled a Pitbulls/Public Enemy match. The Rotweillers used the Super-bomb (Pitbulls finisher) and AMIL used the Drive By (Public Enemy's finisher) but the match continued. The Rots mostly dominated AMIL for most of the match but it was AMIL scored their third upset victory to capture the Pitbull/Public Enemy Memorial Cup! ( 9 / 10 ).

Tod Gordon and Gary Wolf presented the Pitbull/Public Enemy Memorial Cup trophy to All Money is Legal. The Backseat Boyz lifted up one of the AMIL guys on their shoulder, and the SAT lifted the other AMIL guy up on their shoulder as the Rotweillers caused some problems at ringside. They played Public Enemy's theme music and celebrated in memory of the late great "Pitbull" Anthony Durante, Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty, and Mike "Johnny Grunge" Durham. Everybody agreed that all three were looking down on the New Alhambra Arena and enjoying themselves very much! The show ended with the following announcement: The Juggalos are coming!!!

Final Thoughts: This 2-Disc DVD has a parental advisory tag on it but it really isn't that bad. I've seen worse on WWE television. There is little tiny bit of foul language, the expected amount of violence, and the usual excessive butt-crack. They have a female ring announcer named Missy Sampson who does a great job introducing the wrestlers and has a nice voice for it. She is also a wrestler, but not for PWU. The DVD includes a 10-minute bonus post-game show which included an interview with All Money Is Legal (K-Pusha and K-Murda).

Rating: 7.5 / 10

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Reviewed by Brad Dykens on April 7, 2007.