Featured image by Hub Pacheco
Here we have the first of four matches that PWR posted tonight from their Wrestle for Taal show in February. The event was a pay-what-you-want fundraiser with all the proceeds going to fund relief efforts for people affected by the recent Taal Volcano eruption–just one of the many apocalyptic catastrophes to fall upon us in 2020. Unfortunately, the show was scheduled on a weeknight which means that attendance is very clearly down from an average PWR event and several wrestlers are coming in to perform after a full day working their regular jobs. There’s a real house show vibe to everything on this show which isn’t to discredit it–that’s just the way the chips fell.
This match gets billed from the opening as an “All Out Fun” match essentially cluing the crowd into the fact that this will be played for laughs. Reports from online sources and fans in the arena came away pretty positive on this thing as one of the highlights of the night.
Unfortunately for me watching at home two months separated from it, the match very much feels like a You had to be there moment.
Perhaps I’m a close minded Jim Cornette type (without the racism, thank you) but I’m of the mind that comedy wrestling works best when the wrestling itself is really good. And here, it simply isn’t. There’s some bright spots here and there like Sam Baltazar’s incredibly apparent athleticism and some good chain work from Chino Guinto at the open. Outside of that however, it’s mostly just clumsy work trying to string one comedy spot to the next. PWR has definitely put on much better comedy matches than this in the past. Trian dela Torre’s All Out War match with The Apocalypse might be the prime example that comes to mind.
Probably far more charming in person but this personally didn’t work for me. Your mileage may vary as with all things comedy based so check it out if you’re truly curious.
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