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PWR Live Trapik: Full results and review
The final stop before PWR's biggest event of the year, several wrestlers had their momentum stuck in a gridlock while others blazed ahead to "Wrevolution X" in "Trapik."
A liability
500 Shaw Zentrum was a decent-sized venue for the decent, if underwhelming PWR's April show crowd. It was generously-sized, with heavenly, working AC.
The one gripe with 500 Shaw Zentrum and acknowledged by PWR's staff: the strobe lighting effects used for quite a number of entrances. They were a bit of a health hazard as they were intense enough to cause headaches, even among those who were not photosensitive.
The final chapter for the Lightbringer and the Shadow comes
Slower, smaller, and a lot less interesting, a clumsy version of Kapitan PWR went head to head with an unimproved Brad Cruz in a short bout that ended with Cruz pinning the masked luchador in a compromising position.
After the weird interlude, the penultimate chapter to the Trabajador saga began with Quatro calling out the council's leader, Supremo, for distracting him during March's "Path of Gold" and costing him a shot at headlining "Wrevolution X."
Supremo told the former trabajador that the shadow empowered him to stop Quatro's rise and put an end to the heresy that the young man evoked when he broke from the Council of Trabajadores' losing ways.
He vowed that Quatro will never see his vengeance coming, at which point McKata came out to attack Quatro, prompting the start of a decent match that featured more anger from the currently aimless McKata.
After Quatro claimed victory through his patented Destino, his former mentor warned him that the shadow will always grow with the light and at "Wrevolution X" in May, when Joseph Vivian Quatro's light will shine the brightest, so will the shadow grow in power and overcome the Lightbringer.
Match 1: PWR Tag Team Championship: John Sebastian & Crystal (C) vs. The Network (Alexander Belmonte III & James "Idol" Martinez)
Before this impromptu match began, Sebastian and Crystal recapped the announced matches for "Trapik" and insulted the audience in lieu of giving actual relationship advice because they're bad guys, everyone.
ABIII came out soon afterwards to cash in the rematch clause he and Martinez had as former champions. Sebastian was quick to point out that Martinez still hadn't appeared after his sudden disappearance, thus by wrestling logic summoning the Network leader and allowing the challengers to get the jump on the champions.
Sebastian and Crystal may never become the best in-ring competitors, nor may they ever be the best representatives for Philippine — and in Crystal's case women's — wrestling, but their power lies in their firm grasp of their characters, and this became apparent in all their segments on "Trapik."
Though Sebastian had quite the PWR Championship reign and won against several high-profile wrestlers, it's his mouth, facial expressions, and body language that makes him stand out. It's only a matter of time before everything else catches up to his mouth and his cocky character embodies what he says he is.
Crystal inhabits the role of "Queen of Philippine Wrestling" and feels more natural as a bitch, for lack of a better word, than as a whitemeat good girl. In time, she can become a believable champion everyone would want to see dethroned when PWR inevitably creates a women's division.
It'll be interesting to see if they can do better together in the future, especially since this fair-but-average opener was pulled together by how well their antics gelled with The Network's.
The match was nearly won by the boys in green, but Peter Versoza of all people showed up to lure Martinez with a book — the same book ABIII saw him reading on the john — away from the ring.
It left ABIII vulnerable to a Solemate to Killshot (inverted stomp facebreaker to running knee strike) combo that allowed the champs to retain their titles.
WINNER: John Sebastian & Crystal via pinfall
Martinez came back after the match and showed a crestfallen ABIII a t-shirt bearing the dreaded logo of a flat earth, proving ABIII's earlier suspicion that Versoza was responsible for his partner's disappearance correct.
Match 2: Kakaibros vs. Main Maxx & The Apocalypse
The Kakaibros strutting out to the ring with the phone they stole from Main Maxx was par on course for the begrudgingly talented, outdated "jejemon" stereotypes.
And so was their nearly pissing their discount pants the minute Mr. Sy revealed that The Apocalypse agreed to back-up Main Maxx.
Maxx definitely has ring rust, moves more carefully to protect his knee, and hesitates to go big at times, but he still knows how to throw mean hits and look confidently formidable.
He's also retained the cockiness and ego he's gained when he was the longest-reigning PHX champion, something which caused tension early on with The Apocalypse, who contained his own rage for once to deliver a beating to the Kakaibros.
As noted above, the Kakaibros' begrudging talent allowed them to work in their usual moves — if you can call nipple twisters usual — while taking every move as if they ended their short, short lives.
Special mention goes out to Mh4rkie's "uod" and amazing facebuster variation, and Apocalypse's Six Feet Under (coup de grâce) on a stacked Kakaibros — and his general efforts to move quicker.
The Six Feet Under almost netted the Apocalypse's team the win, but all the tension building between him and Main Maxx finally burst when the latter pulled his partner off a sure pin, leading to a brawl that caused both teams to be counted out.
NO CONTEST
Mahaba - Panzer talk
Rederick Mahaba came out to explain why he still had the Panzer Army shirt he ripped off Chris Panzer's back when he pushed him down the stairs in "Kingdom Come."
Panzer, he said, was the kind of "pretty boy" people expected to succeed unlike him, and was responsible for his elimination at "Path of Gold." While meaningful, Mahaba's Panzer segments weren't as compelling as him telling the crowd that they meant nothing to him, and that he came out solely for his own benefit.
Developing complex motivations can't be accomplished without mic time, something which Mahaba and several other heels have in spades. It's this lack of talk from faces that Panzer acknowledged in his rebuttal to Mahaba.
Like Miguel Rosales much later, Panzer showed that he can match his in-ring proficiency with his banter. He told Mahaba that the fans gave up on him because he gave up on them, unlike Panzer, whose determination to fight for the RevoNation at all costs gave him the strength to bounce back from his slump.
Panzer then challenged Mahaba to a match in "Wrevolution X" to avenge the opportunities Mahaba cost him at regaining the PWR Championship, one that Mahaba said he'll think about.
It was refreshing to hear Panzer speak instead of being talked at for once. Perhaps in the future, PWR can shake things up and allow more of their wrestlers to dip out of their comfort zones and spend more time showing off their banter.
Match 3, losing team has to disband: Zayden Trudeau & Bolt vs. Punk Dolls (Martivo & Robynn)
The first and last point that must be made about this match is Martivo's outstanding chain wrestling. He made minor mistakes here and there, but they were inconsequential to how smooth his transitions were compared to a year ago. Working with Trudeau only highlighted this, as they were able to mirror each other most of the time.
Martivo's improvement was visible and highly appreciated as some wrestlers on the show looked as if they've grown complacent — in terms of conditioning, execution, dexterity, or merely refining their go-to's.
There was no doubt that he and Trudeau were must-watch, but Robynn and even Bolt, who had notable counters, pulled their weight. Robynn in particular impressed with some big elbows, crisp lariats, and a particularly fine exploder suplex that Trudeau paid back with a brutal cradle suplex that slammed her lower back onto the apron.
Unfortunately for TruBolt, Martivo and Robynn used Bolt to knock Trudeau out of the ring before hitting a Twist of Fate-Big Ending (front facelock cutter to over the shoulder facebuster) to keep their team together.
WINNER: Martivo and Robynn
Sebastian and Crystal came out after amicable handshakes between the two teams to hurl transphobic and homophobic slurs at Robynn and Martivo.
The promo further raised the stakes of their upcoming tag team championship match, at the cost of exposing their weakness in terms of their versatility in firing off insults and sealing them as merely petty, slightly comedic villains.
It also raised the question of where Crystal pulled out her claims that she made Robynn. In terms of the shows, there has been no clear indication that she taught whatever she can teach to Robynn prior to her betrayal.
Meanwhile, Trudeau has moved on quickly from the match and made plans for May, as seen later, though his ex-partner Bolt may not be able to see his partner's ascent due to a strained tricep.
Match 4: Peter Versoza vs. RevoRanger
In what should have been a no contest (the Earth is round, not flat), RevoRanger and Peter Versoza battled for a few minutes after the latter tried to indoctrinate the crowd into believing the lie that the Earth was flat (it is round).
Short, comedic, and theatrical, the match featured theatrics from both competitors and a beautiful, effortless judo throw from RevoRanger that sent Versoza arching through the air like the curves of this round, squash earth.
But like many proponents of falsehoods, Versoza used deception to push the referee in the way of a dive from RevoRanger and called on the brainwashed Martinez for a quick victory after uppercutting the tokusatsu hero's own spheres.
(The Earth remains round, as explained in this module for 11- to 19-year-olds.)
WINNER: Peter Versoza via pinfall
Match 5: SANDATA vs. Jake De Leon vs. Dax Xaviera
The match began with SANDATA and Xaviera advancing on De Leon to get revenge for the months of attacks he put them through, though Xaviera apparently never forgot that SANDATA eliminated him in March as he hit him with Philippine wrestling's favorite move -- the slingblade -- out of nowhere to get the match rolling.
SANDATA and Xaviera conveniently forgot their tiff at times to gang up on JDL, who prioritized isolating either men to gain control of the action. A bright spot about having these three in the ring at the same time is there was never a dull moment in the match.
There's chemistry in this trio -- more apparent in two of them than one. It made it easy for them to get almost all of their signature moves in along with pretty snazzy one-on-two spots that pulled some fans to their feet.
The ending came a few moments after it reached the 10 minute mark, leaving space for speculation that the abrupt pacing in the middle of the match -- and JDL's scream of "Hindi pa tayo tapos" -- may have meant that this three-way should have gone longer than it ended up being.
Regardless, JDL snatched up the win by superkicking SANDATA, who was seconds away from making Xaviera tap via ankle lock, and clamping on Inasal Lock #2 (Figure Four Leglock) to Xaviera for a tap-out victory that sent SANDATA back to the pits with his former partner.
WINNER: Jake De Leon via submission
JDL concluded his campaign to clean PWR of complacency, symbolically by throwing away his trusty broom Walis Pempengco, and began the next stage of Oplan Sagip Wrestling, which apparently involved challenging talents to step-up to his level.
To the RevoNation's surprise and awe, Trudeau took up JDL's challenge in a simple face-off where JDL seems to acknowledge the younger talent's potential to actually go toe-to-toe with the former champ.
Match 6: The YOLO Twins (Yohann & Logan Ollores) vs. TDTxECX (Trian Dela Torre & Evan Carleaux)
If tensions between the two teams weren't high before, they certainly ratcheted when Carleaux came out with Ken Warren's jacket, gifted to him by the YOLO Twins back when they were a fam.
This triggered an ambush from the twins, whose new tag team moves gave the otherwise unremarkable match have a few bright spots.
Mid-match, the twins tricked TDT into running into an injured Frankie Thurteen, who sustained an arm injury between MWF's "Kasaysayan" and "Trapik."
The trick laid the ground for Yohann and Logan's win when Thurteen, on their urging, distracted the referee, allowing Yohann to escape Carleaux's Tech Noir (headscissors crucifix choke) for a quick team-up and a new knee bar variation.
WINNER: The YOLO Twins via submission
After the match, TDTxECX challenged the twins and Thurteen on a three-on-three inter-promotion match. Not one to back down nor one to wrestle injured, Thurteen volunteered a visibly reluctant Robin Sane to take his place while the challengers struggle to find a third man of their own.
Match 7: All Out War Championship: Vlad Sinnsyk (C) vs. Vintendo
Neither Sinnsyk nor Vintendo are the slickest in the ring, but they do know how to make each blow sound loud and in this All Out War match, they made each uppercut and kendo stick hit hurt.
However, the two were interrupted just as they were warming up when Versoza dashed into the ring to attack both men with Martinez. Their presence caused RevoRanger and ABIII to come out, ostensibly seeking revenge on their rivals.
NO CONTEST
Sebastian came out and put a stop to the mayhem not long afterwards. As a way to defuse all the rivalries in the ring, he put all six men in an All Out War match in May for the title Vintendo attempted to sneak out once again.
Match 8: Mike Madrigal & MTNH (Rederick Mahaba & Ralph Imabayashi) vs. Ken Warren, Chris Panzer, & Migs Rosales
A brawl erupted between the dueling teams before the bell even rang, with each pair of rivals hitting all ring posts or brawling within the crowd for a solid five minutes before Warren's team punctuated it with a triple dive to the opposing team.
As per usual, Madrigal stood out with his antics but what's remarkable is the chemistry he and Warren displayed in the brief moments they had together. Of particular note was their exchange 15 minutes in, featuring a stunning electric chair to sit-out powerbomb, that eventually devolved to a backstage brawl.
Though Mahaba had an active role in the past few shows, it felt almost refreshing to see the big man move around the ring again. With regards to the submission-based offense debuted by his partner Imabayashi, refreshing may not describe it perfectly, but it is different and befits his new attitude -- even if his limbs couldn't quite stretch to execute every move with finesse.
Panzer and Rosales were made vulnerable for most of the bout, and though verging on formulaic, but they got the job done and the crowd hyped. This is what makes them and the rest of the men in this match stand out as main eventers for PWR: even when relegated to standard roles, they do their best not to grow complacent, to bring something the slightest bit new or refine their act a bit more.
It's that promise of betterment -- of stepping-up, as JDL would say -- that should define PWR in its current stage, what should make it stand out from the rest of the promotions. If MWF offers family-friendly, casual shows and AOWW edgier, controversial entertainment, PWR as the oldest brand of the three should have a well-rounded roster that works together to get to the level of wrestling it seems to aspire towards.
Near the end of the match, MTNH seemed to have the match in the bag after hitting a Sonic Cutter-Splash on Panzer but Rosales managed to interfere long enough for Imabayashi to be waylaid outside and for Mahaba to be hit with a Panzershreck-Eagle Splash for the pin.
WINNER: Chris Panzer, Miguel Rosales, and Ken Warren via pinfall
Coming in three hours and 20 minutes (5:20 p.m.) after the beginning of the show (2:00 p.m.), the main event made great use of the 20 minutes allotted to it to get the crowd hyped for the intersecting stories in the match.
Rosales took to the mic after the pin to call out Imabayashi for his cowardice as the champion continued to refuse him a title shot. Imabayashi reasoned that while he had already won against Rosales, Rosales had a victory over him, and proposed that the challenger sign a contract for a match at "Wrevolution X."
Imabayashi's offer was accepted, though not before Rosales speared him in retaliation for the Sonic Cutter that cost the challenger "Path of Gold."
Rosales' ruthlessness in this case cost him, as revealed when Sebastian came out to inform him that, should he fail to take the title away from Imabayashi, Rosales would be permanently forced out of PWR.
*****
Trapik finalized everything that needed to be tied up in the show leading up to May's supershow, fulfilling its role as the go-home show for "Wrevolution X" on May 20 at the iAcademy Auditorium, one of PWR's major homes in its infancy.
As a show by itself, however, it felt a bit lacking and judging by the noticeable lack of volume in the crowd and general lack of enthusiasm before the fifth match, the RevoNation present during "Trapik" felt the same way too. — LA, GMA News
