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Dedwyre's Shock Therapy
February 16, 2004
"Shock Therapy - Spring Break Woes and Bye Bye, Backseats"
Well, my hopes have been dashed twice. You see, Spring Break is coming up in March, and I get to choose where I spend it. Better yet, my brother and sister, who still go to public school, will have had their break the week before. In other words, I get to take a vacation without them. That’s something different. I will have to be with at least one of my parents, however, but you take what you can get. Anyway, my first real choice of destination was New Jersey. Ring of Honor is running a special show there the first Saturday of my break, complete with a convention beforehand that features autographs with Roddy Piper and ROH stars, as well as a few special matches, for only five bucks! Then, for the real show (which is more expensive), they’re having “Scramble Cage II” to end the hot feud between the Carnage Crew and Special K. Scramble Cage I featured the Crew, the Spanish Announce Team, Special K, Teddy Hart & Jack Evans, and a team I’m going to focus on later, the Backseat Boyz (who ended up winning).
The thing that makes this sort of match different from other cage matches is the fact that there are platforms positioned on the top of the cage to encourage insane, high-flying spots. I hear they did some crazy stuff at the first one, and it’d be really cool to see the next one live. Also, there’s a concert I want to catch that’s playing within a week of the show, and is only about half an hour away from East Brunswick (where the ROH show is). Alas, it turns out that my parents won’t be back from California in time to accompany me to NJ, and they certainly won’t let me go alone. I can’t blame them; I wouldn’t.
Oh, did I say my hopes were dashed twice? Okay, my next choice was Ohio. Ohio Valley Wrestling has shows every week for TV tapings. Plus, that same concert tour is going through Ohio as well. But, wouldn’t you know it, the “Ohio” in “Ohio Valley Wrestling” doesn’t signify that the group runs only in Ohio. The show’s actually in Kentucky.
Whatever. No live wrestling for Spring Break. But I am going to catch that concert, whether it be in NJ, Pennsylvania, or Ohio. It’s called the See Spot Rock Tour, featuring five great bands: 12 Stones, Skillet, Pillar, Big Dismal, and the Grits. That’ll be enough to make my break worthwhile.
It’s not that I’ve never seen wrestling live. Whenever Harley Race’s World League Wrestling comes close enough to the KC Metro Area, I’m there. I’ve seen such standouts as Haku, Buff Bagwell, Ace Steel, and Trevor “Stan Dupp” Rhodes, as well as a lot of talented newcomers and undiscovered grapplers. But I’d like to see something different every once in a while, you know? Sure, WWE’s coming to town in a couple of weeks. I guess I could still ask off work for that, too. But the Kemper Arena parking lot is a pain in the rear when there’s a lot of people and you’ve never been there alone before. Maybe another time…
I think my main point with all this, aside from helping you all get to know me a bit more, is that I think all wrestling fans should take advantage of the indy shows that play in their area. Hey, if you’re reading the Stro’s website, you probably are an indy fan. I just encourage you to give those little feds a chance, even the ones that put on shows in junior high gymnasiums or softball centers. And you people on the West and East Coasts, who are surrounded by wrestling every other week, count your blessings.
Now, back to the Backseat Boyz. For those who’ve never heard the name, they’re a tag team consisting of talented wrestlers Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere. They’re one of those “undiscovered” tag teams, though I guess they have appeared on NWA: TNA at least once. They’ve also appeared for Jersey All-Pro, Ring of Honor, Big Japan, and, I’m sure, many more organizations. As a tag team, they’re perfect together, with Acid doing most of the strong style and high flying, and Kashmere going for the innovation and high impact. They’re tag team mentality is terrific. Kashmere also works as a great second to Acid during singles matches, and their form of blatant cheating (if their the heels, which is common) can really get under your skin…which is what it should do. I’m a huge fan of their signature double team moves: the T-Gimmick (double Outsider’s Edge), the Backseat Driver (Face-first powerbomb onto a ladder), and the Dream Sequence (series of small double team moves with smooth transitions).
The company that really let them shine was none other than Combat Zone Wrestling. Acid and Kashmere were major players in CZW, especially Acid, who is a multi-time Junior Heavyweight Champion and Best of the Best 2002 tournament winner. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they may have actually come together as a team for the first time while in CZW. They teamed up after Kashmere turned on his brother, Robby Mireno, then pushed their way to the top of the tag team ranks. They broke up for a time and feuded, only to reunite and cheat the Wifebeater out of his Heavyweight title. They formed a heel group with Justice Pain until he left the company. Most recently, they teamed up with B-Boy, the Messiah, and manager Dewey Donovan to form the controversial HI-V (“High Five”).
Now it appears that HI-V will have to become HI-III. As reported by Mike Johnson at PWInsider.com, the Backseats have officially left CZW. Unfortunately for fans, this occurred just before CZW teamed up with Pro Wrestling World-1 for a double header Feb. 7. In his article, Johnson posts the Backseat Boyz’ “manifesto,” which appeared on CZWFans.com (though I can’t find it myself). It states that the Backseats left CZW because they were angry at recent “business decisions.” I don’t know enough to speculate, but I have read on a few sites that Johnny Kashmere quit the company earlier, not coming back until late 2003. Word is that he was let go this time, and Trent Acid decided to leave with him.
Bad timing for CZW as they just had their Fifth Anniversary Show last Saturday, Feb. 7, minus two of their star players. The Backseats were featured more prominently on CZW cards than they were anywhere else. In fact, during the annual awards ceremony last Saturday, the Backseats won Tag Team of the Year and Trent Acid won Wrestler of the Year. Reports say that CZW owner John Zandig even noted a few stars that had left and returned, acknowledging the possibility that the team will return.
I think it’s a safe bet to say that they will, possibly even by the end of the year. I’ve seen enough hatchet burying over the past couple years to prove to me that anything’s possible. Sean “Syxx-Pac” Waltman came back to NWA-TNA, albeit for one show, despite his walking out in protest of Vince Russo being brought in as a booker. Roddy Piper came back to the WWE last year, even though he was well known for publicly bashing Vince and his company. Heck, I hear attempts were made to bring Justice Pain back to CZW, in spite of his walking out and joining the company’s then-arch-nemesis XPW, until it was realized that he was a locker room problem. And I still think he has a chance to get back sometime down the line, anyway.
So, yeah, the Backseat Boyz will more than likely return “home” someday. Just a matter of time.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. I just caught the Chris Benoit vs. Ric Flair match on RAW, and was slightly disappointed, but it wasn't bad. I knew it wouldn’t be what it could have been, but I got my hopes up anyway.
Since this is the Stro’s site, I think it’d be a good idea to point you all to an interview with him conducted by Phantom Lord at LordsofPain.net. Here’s the URL:
http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2004/articles/1076222625.php. Enjoy!
Dedwyre
e-mail: Dedwyre@msn.com |
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