Interesting choice for this week’s homework. Every week there isn’t a major PPV, the At Odds with Wrestling podcast assigns some “classic” wrestling homework. This week was episodes 1, 6, and 10 of the MTV show Wrestling Society X.

On episode 1 we start out with Matt Sydal (with Lizzy Valentine) vs Jack Evans. Zack Wylde of Black Label Society joins for commentary. And he’s actually not bad. He’s better than any other guest on the episodes I watched. My son came in during this match and said “its not October anymore so you’re watching normal wrestling.” Nothing normal about this buddy, but we’ll get to that. Lots of spots. Evans gets the win.

Quick look at tag teams. Quick look at some of the talent in the WSX Rumble.

In the Rumble, all ten people must be out before a ladder can be climbed. At the top of the ladder hang two contracts for a match next episode to crown the first WSX champion. However, wrestlers can be eliminated at any time before all ten guys are out. Justin Credible, Teddy Hart, Kaos, Vampiro, Puma (I think), Alcatraz (I think), 6-Pac, Chris Hamrick, New Jack, and Youth Suicide are our ten. Wrestlers go through tables. Light boxes. Wired electric boxes. A lot of gimmicked up to look crazy on TV but don’t feel dangerous at all places. By trying to look more extreme, they look less. Vampiro and 6-Pac get the contracts.

Episode 6.

Our ring announcer has now learned magic tricks.

Scorpio Sky vs Jack Evans. Good Charlotte joins for awful commentary. I remember nothing of this match but apparently it is the “Slamwich of the night”.

Joey Ryan and Disco Machine – That 70s Team vs Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black – DIFH. Disco pins Jacobs and I would break down my issues with this match but they are my issues with the whole concept. So stay tuned through these wrap ups.

Team Dragon Gate is abducted. Ricky Banderas – which I think is one of Roger’s alter egos on American Dad – challenges Vampiro. Oh, his face is burned too. Big fight with 6 Pac and Youth Suicide getting involved too. Banderas throws Suicide off a balcony thing and then spits up blood while his eyes glow red.

Episode 10. The unaired episode. So you know it’s good.

The Cartel vs Los Pochos Locos in a Piranha death match. Loser has to be put into the Piranha tank with the lid on for 3 seconds. This was the most entertaining match so far. Lots of good spots trying to avoid the tank. Kaos takes the hit and thrashes around so much it looks dangerous. I don’t know if these were prop fish, impostor piranhas, or just fed but however this was done it was actually silly fun.

Scorpio Sky promo. Vampiro interrupts. Fight. Other wrestlers and officials get involved. Vampiro starts choke slamming people like he’s 7 feet tall. Banderas comes out so they can fight some more. Pac and Lizzy are talking. Matt Sydal comes in all upset about it and gets his ass kicked. Pac calls Lizzy a bitch for talking to him. Jack Evans and Human Tornado will face off soon for a new WSX title. Still waiting.

Exploding steel cage time bomb death match thing.

Team Dragon Gate vs The Filth and the Fury.

Shortest cage I’ve ever seen. Teddy is able to leap from top rope to the cage top like its the middle to the top rope. Teddy hits a shooting star from the scaffolding. Whole lot of no selling going on. The cage starts to explode when wrestlers hit it. Sakoda shoots an after effects fireball at Teddy. The referee gets power bombed into the cage. More explosions. The time bomb is started. The ring explodes while Filth and Fury were inside so Team Dragon Gate wins.

I didn’t go into likes and dislikes throughout the matches because they’re all the same. This is too fast over edited car crash TV that takes all psychology and build out of pro wrestling.

This is Vince Russo booking XPW. And a lot of that company’s faces are either here or mentioned. Each episode is a half hour, minus commercials these were 20 minutes. There are two matches per show plus little clips. That is too short to do anything. No one is getting over. There is a story with Vampiro and Banderas over the title but that’s it. Even matches that looked like they might have been good, like the tag match, are so chopped up it doesn’t matter.

I think this alternate world wrestling could work. This underground death match fight club thing. Lucha Underground made it work for three seasons. There’s a way to go full soap opera scripted wrestling show. But the problem comes from the matches no longer feeling “organic”. The matches will inevitably be over edited for cool angles or get rid of rest holds or botched moves. But in doing so it eliminates the natural flow of a match.

The other problem is that everything on here felt like senior citizens trying to come up with something cool to attract that 18-25 demographic. Wrestling, explosions, loudness, blood, crazy angles and cuts, music, suggestive jokes. Yet never once fully committing to one of these ideas. If wrestling was booked by the Steve Busemi fellow teenagers meme, it would look like this.