Hey everybody I'm back! And
few days ago I witnessed a great wrestling show here in my homeland Israel,
"Passover Bash". After two years I was finally able to go to a
wrestling show, and trust me It was so satisfying, I had so much fun seeing my
friends again.
Before I'll review the
show, here's things I've learned from this Sunday's event.
I learned that there's a
healthy and living future for the Israeli wrestling scene and it deserves a
chance and if you will see it you won't be disappointed, yes. I was very
sceptic about wrestling in my country because I didn't watched it that much, so
finally I saw it and I learned that I should've give that a chance before,
since I saw the event I got more desire to come to future wrestling shows here
in my country, shows of IWL, IPWA you name it, It doesn't matter really
matter, as long as it's Israeli wrestling that's what matters in my opinion. I also
learned that the fans here are so cool and it adds more depth to the experience
of watching events in group. I think that if there will be more shows and I'm
sure there will be, that wrestling here will continue to grow and establish
himself as long as it given a chance.
That was the card of the show:
Lior Libman Vs. Shay
Blanco
Max Havoc Vs. Hadar
Horovitz
Black Leopard Vs. Idan
Boulder Vs. Yuval Goldshmit
The Mechanics Vs. Titan
Towers
Rabbi Swisa (Defending IPWA
Champ) Vs. Matt Sydal for the IPWA Title
Jay Lethal Vs. David
Starr
1st match:
Lior Libman Vs. Shay Blanco
Shay and Lior have a history
together, once they were best of friend and later they became bitter enemies,
in the match that displayed with animosity and the hate, you could feel the
rage of every hit, the match went on for about 8-10 minutes, started with a
slow pace which just got faster as time went by, and the match had a good
quality which was great to see, it ended with Libman hitting Shay with a low blow
and rolls him for a cheap victory, a smart and disrespected tactic to get the
W, after the match Shay was pissed off, he took Lior back to the ring and then
he hit him with the Shay-K-O leaves him down and out.
Few notes from the match
· I think that the rivalry between Shay and Lior can
continue in future events, they had a very good opening contest, if they'll
continue this feud it'll add more depth in my opinion
·
Lior's heel work is amazing, he's very confident and
that's very fun to see
·
Shay's popularity and connection with the crowd is
very epic.
2nd Match:
Hadar Horovitz Vs. Max Havok
Here's a very
interesting meeting, one is one of the top attractions in the local Israeli
scene and the other is an up and coming young talent who looks to make a name
for himself, Havok took all the RAGE he had from his injury he suffered two
years ago and he looked fresh and sharp, Hadar was in great shape and focused
too, they delivered a great bout and both were desperate to pick up the win, it
could go either way as both wrestlers hit all they could possibly deliver, it
was paced and evenly matched, but in the end Max Havok took charge as he hit
the talented Hadar with a GTS to pick up the win.
Few notes from the match
·
Max's character is very attracting and he's working it
perfectly and nicely and the way he executed moves was convincing.
·
Hadar shows a lot of sparks and he worked very hard in
this match, he contributed a great work rate in the match, the pace he had in
the match was very good
3rd match: Triple
Threat Match: Black Leopard Vs. Idan Boulder Vs. Yuval Goldshmit
One of the most anticipated
matches of the night, as we had 3 talented men which everyone had an unique
style, Leopard had the dirty technician, Boulder had the power and strength and
focus and Yuval had the high flying daredevil attitude, it started slow and in
a comedy act from the Black Leopard and then it turned out to be a good match
as all three wrestlers gave all they had in order to win, Black Leopard tried
desperately to avoid any damage as he rolled out of the ring and took breaks to
interact with the fans, after few moments he got caught by Boulder and Yuval as
they hit him with punches and took him back to the ring, the match continued to
go and in the end it won by Goldshmit as he 1st hit Boulder with an amazing handspring bicycle
kick to put him out, and after that he hit Black Leopard with the shooting star
press in order to pick up the win.
Few notes from the match
· Idan Boulder's work as a singles competitor is as good
as his tag work with Shay as the "Candy Crushers", he showed a lot of
craft and physique.
·
Leopard's dirty work against the crowd is very appealing
and convincing, you just can't ignore him
·
Yuval Goldshmit in my opinion was one of the MVP's of
the show, his high flying abilities is not something you can deny! He caught my
eye since the start of the match, I was highly impressed by him.
4th Match:
The Titan Towers Vs. The Mechanics
A unique contest between
a team of two underdogs named Ariel Moore and Guy Landau who look to shock the
whole system against a much big sized team of Idan Dagan and Tal Bar-On, most
of the match it looked like a one sided beatdown as the two big men took charge
and controlled the pace of the match, every comeback attempt of the Mechanics
was avoided but in the end the unexpected happened, the Mechanics took charge
of the final sequence in the match and won after a dramatic finish, as they hit
a fantastic double team, a crucifix hold and a codebreaker! A great way to
finish the match.
Few notes from the match
·
Great work by both teams, and a solid story telling
·
A fantastic and dramatic sequence in the end
5th Match:
Matt Sydal With Aline Elkin Vs. Rabbi Swisa for the IPWA Championship
Rabbi Swisa who considered
as a legend here in Israel, one of the most decorated wrestlers in Israel with
5 IPWA Championship reigns to his resume, coming to this match motivated and hungry
to prove that he's the king of the scene here in Israel, on the opposing end we
have Matt Sydal, a top talent who having a heavy resume, former IWGP Junior tag
team champion and a former WWE Tag team Champion and a former X Division
champion. Both looking to prove that they can reign supreme. The match began with a evenly matched pace and
in a technical side, then it led into a battle in and out of the ring. Sydal took
charge most of the match with vicious chops turning Swisa's chest into red, then
Swisa made a comeback and ruled the match until the last moments but in the end,
Matt Sydal took the win in a great match and a convincing fashion.
Few notes from the match
·
Rabbi Swisa's character continues to be a major factor
on the show as his character entered the ring and received a great reception. His
work of his character is enjoyable to watch
·
Sydal is great as always, he took this match seriously
like any other match and gave it all as expected.
The Main Event: Jay
Lethal Vs. David Starr
The match that ended the
whole show is between two of the hottest names in wrestling today, one is the
longest reigning ROH champion and a former TNA wrestler, the other is
Independent wrestling's top star and former CZW world champion and CZW's best
of the best winner. A great way to end the event, their match was full of great
things, feelings with the crowd, counters and an exceptional work, Jay targeted
David's back throughout the match, something that was major factor in the entire
match as David had hard times in attempts to lift Jay and deliver maneuvers.
Starr on the other hand showed full heart and soul as he was inches away from
putting Lethal away, but in the end, Jay Lethal prevailed after a hard fought
battle, as he finished the match with a Lethal Injection to pick up the win,
after the match, Jay cut a promo about the Israeli crowd and how he embraced
the trip to Israel and how much he respects David Starr and they both embraced.
The match was incredible, I highly recommend
you to watch it whenever you can.
Few notes from the match
·
Jay Lethal just proved once again why he's the leader
of ROH. His in ring work is so good, as always
·
David Starr in my opinion is one of the most believable
characters in wrestling today, when he's in pain you can actually feel it
sometimes.
Overall opinion about the
event
·
It was a great event, incredible atmosphere and had
wonderful people to be around.
·
The place was close to my home so it's a special feeling
for me personally, due to the fact that usually the events are far from my
home.
·
It gave me a lot of desire to go and watch more
Israeli wrestling and I'm intending to go to
more shows whenever I can because
the future here is bright.
The interactions with the wrestlers!
The Israeli wrestlers
Eventough I haven't spoken with them a lot I gotta say from what we spoke
they are so humble and very kind, they know how much it's important for the
Israeli fans to get a good wrestling here. Gotta respect them.
Matt Sydal
Well, Matt and I have met also on "The Rage" and when we met on
the RAGE we spoke about NJPW, this time it was about AEW and Kofi Kingston.
I asked him about what he thinks about All Elite Wrestling and that's
what he said :
"I'm
excited about it, and it's a promotion that I've dreamed to be exist since my whole
life and it's all me and the Young Bucks have wanted and I hope I'll join the
team someday and make history with them"
When I spoke with Matt about Kofi's winning the WWE world championship
that's what he replied
"He earned that, I'm so happy for him, he worked hard
for more than a decade to earn it, he's so loyal to the WWE, so happy for
him."
Before I went home I also asked him another question:
Me: from the future wrestlers you see today, who impressed
you the most and who you would love to face?
Matt: there's nobody better then Rey Fenix, he's one of the
best, we can wrestle everyday til' we die, he'll get better and better, also
Austin Theory is very good."
Before and after the show we took pictures and spoke about more stuff and
he also met with the rest of the people before&after the show, it was so
great to see him.
David Starr
I also met him at the Rage so when he saw me he said to me that he recognized
me from the event, this time it was more special I came to him with his own
T-Shirt, and when he arrived at the venue of the show we took a picture.
30 minutes before the show, me and some of my friends spoke with him and
man he's such a special human it was a special treat to catch up with him, and
I asked him few more questions
1st off I asked him about AEW, that's what he responded
"It's good as long as there's more competition is good
for the business as a whole, currently we have that one group that monopolize
the business for a while, I believe that they'll let wrestlers know that they
have more power with what they want to do."
Then I asked him a short question about WALTER, he responded that he's
the best striker in the game and he is good but he's also a coward.
After the show David took time to speak and take pictures with everyone,
and when then I came and took pictures with him and we spoke, I shared with him
that I explored him at "THE RAGE" and that I watched more of his matches since then and I just fell
in love with the character and he became one of my favorites, and it was an
absolute honor to represent him with his own merchandise today, he responded by
saying that he appreciate that and if I want more wrestling content he can recommend
me on shows and matches.
If you ask me, David is one of my favorite persons in the business, it's
an incredible honor to share memories and speak wrestling with him he's a very cool
and one of a kind person,
Gery Roif (Rabbi Swisa)
Well, I know Gery for about 5 years, I tried to wrestle in the IPWA
school in Netanya but I left after 2 months, since then we spoke a lot and he's
such an amazing person, if there wasn't for him I don't know if I was able to
come to the show, such a great guy.
Jay Lethal
Well, it's the 1st time I saw Jay, and I was so excited, he's
one of my favorite since I was at 2nd grade, we didn't had that much
time to speak but when I spoke with him I was so happy and he is a fantastic
person!
After the match Jay took time to take pictures with everyone from the
crowd and when I took photos with him I couldn't stop smiling because it's a
"full circle" for me as a TNA fan from 2006/7. After I took photos
with him I asked him about AEW
That's what he responded
"It's amazing I love It, It's best for business, the more
wrestling for fans the better, and when there's only one show in town you forced
to only watch this show, but when there's multiple shows the fans can enjoy
many more content."
Overall I had the time of my life I enjoyed the show a lot! It made me so
much happy and I hope there will be more shows like this.
Thanks for reading, and happy holiday everyone.