By Chris Vetter

Full disclosure: This DVD was sent to me to review.

Independent Wrestling Revolution out of Detroit, Mich., held "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead!) on Oct. 29, 2006. DVDs of this show are now being sold through Big Vision Entertainment, at www.bigvisionentertainment.com. The crowd on hand at the "Majestic Theater" is 200 or more; the ring is really well lit, with the crowd hidden in the shadows.

This is my first time watching an IWR show, and this event had a strong emphasis on lucha libre. I admittedly don't watch much lucha, so I'm not as familiar with some of the 'big name' veterans who were brought in for this event. As for the American wrestlers, I've seen virtually all of them before, between IWA-Mid South and AAW in Indiana & Illinois, and some prior Border City Wrestling DVDs I've checked out.

The first thing I liked was the graphics used here. A new introduction video played, showing all the wrestlers used on the card. There is a strong Halloween theme in the on-screen graphics, and many fans were dressed in costumes. This is going to be fun! The commentary team is Harvey Smitts and heel colorman Red Davis, and they were solid. I was unfamiliar with them, but they definitely play off each other well.

To the ring! Multiple cameras are used to record this show. Good production overall.

(1) Mascarita Sagrada defeats Tsuki at 3:53. This is a midget match to get the show rolling. Sagrada wore a white outfit and mask. Tsuki, the heel, wore blue, and he's a bit taller. Tsuki slapped Sagrada at the bell. They did some matador spots with Tsuki's cape. They traded chops, and Mascarita caught Tsuki with a straight punch to the chin.

Tsuki chopped the referee and hit him. Tsuki went for Sagrada's mask (this would happen A LOT over the course of the show). Tsuki hit a basement dropkick to the head at 2:30. Mascarita Sagrada hit a 619, then he got a rollup, for the pin. Solid minis match; not my favorite type of action, but it got the crowd going, so it did its job.

(2) Bubba McKenzie & Josh Movado (Bump N' Uglies) defeat Johnny Dynamo & Jack Thriller (the Wylde Stallions) at 13:47 to win the tag titles. Solid match. I know Jack Thriller; he is what "Hornswaggle McMahon" would look like if Hornswaggle was 5'9". Dynamo has short hair and a black outfit. Movado & McKenzie are chubby guys in masks and singlets, but they seem to move well for their size. Movado & McKenzie are the faces, and they waved U.S. flags as they came to the ring. The heels attacked them from behind. The faces hit double bodyslams and double clotheslines. Dynamo got on the mic and said they were leaving; he told the referee to count them out. Josh Movado got on the mic and informed the heels that this was a street fight, with falls count anywhere, and no countouts! The heels were livid!

They all fought into the crowd, and this was a bit dark and hard to see. Movado, in a blue singlet, got a nearfall on Dynamo on the floor at 3:30, as they fought near a bar along one wall. Bubba, in a red singlet, fought with Thriller. Movado hit a delayed vertical suplex on Dynamo for a nearfall. Dynamo was bleeding from the forehead. Dynamo and Movado brawled OUTSIDE at 5:30, with the cameraman literally standing in the street to film the fight on the sidewalk. Movado hit a swinging neckbreaker on the sidewalk for a nearfall!

Meanwhile, Thriller hit a bodyslam on McKenzie on the floor. The action finally migrated back into the ring. Movado got a Divorce Court Armbreaker in the ring, and he applied a Fujiwara Armbar at 8:30. Bubba hit a HARD chairshot on Thriller's head, and that got a nice pop. Movado hit a second-rope flying headbutt. All four were now in the ring. Thriller was bleeding. They did a four-way tower spot from the corner at 11:00, and they were all down.

The heels hit simultaneous DDTs for nearfalls. Movado hit a sitdown piledriver for a believable nearfall. Johnny Dynamo brought the title belt into the ring, but the referee took it from him. (Why? That belt is legal in a street fight!) Thriller accidentally hit Dynamo! The faces hit a team faceplant, and Movado pinned Dynamo. New tag champions! The crowd was happy with the title switch. Good stand-up brawl.

(3) Shark Boy defeats Super Parka at 14:50 in a best of three falls match. Super Parka is dressed like the original La Parka, only the 'bones' in his costume are green. The announcers said these two wrestlers have very different styles. They took turns playing to the crowd. I admittedly don't think highly of Shark Boy as a wrestler; he just doesn't do anything in the ring that entertains me. Super Parka jumped Shark Boy, hit a clothesline in the corner, and choked him in the ropes. A lot of the crowd was behind the heel Super Parka! "There is a wicked atmosphere in the crowd tonight," Red said. Super Parka jawed at the referee. Shark Boy hit some punches. Super Parka tried to untie Shark Boy's mask. Shark Boy hit an armdrag and a dropkick.

They did a humor spot where the referee got a rollup on Super Parka, with Shark Boy making the count (acting as a ref.) Super Parka yelled at the ref for the chicanery, allowing Shark Boy to get a rollup and a pin at 4:29. Red Davis on commentary was irate! The wrestlers hugged (proving Shark Boy is the most gullible wrestler alive), as Super Parka immediately nailed him. Super Parka hit a Flair Toss for a nearfall, some chops, a second-rope frogsplash, and he tied Shark Boy in a pretzel on the mat. Super Parka peeled off Shark Boy's mask! As Shark Boy struggled to hide his face and put the mask back on, Super Parka got a pin at 10:49.

The referee tied Shark Boy's mask back on; we never did get a look at his face. Super Parka hit some punches, and immediately went back to the mask. Shark Boy hit some punches and bit him on the head. Shark Boy then hit the Dead Sea Drop/modified second-rope Blockbuster for the pin. Basic action that just didn't move out of first gear.

* LA Park (the new name of the original La Parka) ran in the ring and attacked Shark Boy. El Hijo Del Santo ran in and made the save. Santo removed Super Parka's mask! The announcers said that Super Parka was humiliated. (However, Super Parka made no effort AT ALL to hide his face. In a NEAT MOVE, as LA Park spoke in Spanish, his words were subtitled on the screen. I as SO IMPRESSED that IWR did this. Cool.

(4) Truth Martini defeats Zach Gowen and Chris Sabin and Gutter and N8 Mattson and Eddie Venom in a six-way at 12:16. Good match. Again, I know all these guys, having seen them all live before except Gutter, who I've seen on DVD. This match is for Gowen's "King of the Indy" title. Venom came to the ring dressed as Truth Martini, even with some tattoos drawn on his body! Funny. (Good Halloween humor). Venom started against Martini, and Truth was annoyed with Venom's copycat act. Truth accidentally hit his teammate, N8 Mattson! Venom brawled with N8. Gutter entered at 3:00, and he beat up N8. N8 hit a European Uppercut.

Sabin entered and he hit some good, quick, mat reversals on Gutter. Sabin hit a nice dropkick to the back of the head, and Gutter bailed. Gutter snapped Gowen's neck over the top rope. Zach hit a one-legged dropkick on Gutter for a nearfall, then a twisting neckbreaker at 5:30. Zach hit a top-rope twisting moonsault to the floor on the heels. N8 hit a plancha to the floor on several wrestlers. Sabin hit a dropkick on Gutter, who was tied in the Tree of Woe. Gutter hit a dive off the top rope to the floor, and everyone was down. Eddie Venom picked up a valet, Ms. Natasha, and he slammed her onto everyone on the floor!

In a cool visual, Venom (who is tall and recently appeared on WWE TV) did an Undertaker-style dive over the top rope onto everyone! Then, referee Brian Gory hit a flip dive to the floor on everyone at 8:30! FUN. In the ring, Venom hit a decapitating clothesline on Zach. Everyone hit their finishers. They did a big tower spot out of the corner, with Venom getting tossed all the way across the ring. Sabin hit a Tornado DDT and kicked everyone in the process. Sabin hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then a sitdown piledriver on Zach for a believable nearfall. N8 hit a fisherman's buster and a guillotine legdrop on Sabin for a nearfall at 11:00. Venom hit a running powerslam. Zach hit a top-rope moonsault on Venom; however, Martini immediately got a schoolboy rollup on Zach for the pin. Good action.

(5) Conrad Kennedy III (w/Alex Cain) defeats Blue Panther at 20:26. Good mat-based match, but not great, either. CK3 has appeared on ROH shows before; I would compare him to Chad Collyer and John Walters as really good mat-based wrestlers, but not in the upper echelon with Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, and Alex Shelley. Blue Panther wore a singlet and a blue mask, and he's a 20-year veteran. CK3 got on the mic and boasted about himself. He said he has studied tapes of Blue Panther, and he's confident he will win. "You'll be schlepping salsa over the border," CK3 said to a LOT of boos. The match began, and CK3 tied up the left arm. Blue Panther applied a Bow & Arrow, and CK3 reached the ropes at 2:00. CK3 got a nice modified Figure Four, and nearly turned it into a (Jamie Noble) Trailer Hitch.

Blue Panther got a cool tie-up, as he put his foot onto CK3's throat. Cain pulled Panther to the floor. CK3 whipped Panther into the guardrail at 6:00. CK3 hit a clothesline that sent Panther into the crowd. Kennedy accidentally kicked Cain. CK3 whipped Panther into the guardrail again. In the ring, CK3 hit a European Uppercut, and he choked Panther in the corner at 9:00. CK3 hit a Dibiase Fistdrop and some chops. Panther fired back with a clothesline in the corner, then a backbody drop on the floor, with CK3 crashing hard at 12:00! The announcers talked about how Kennedy has recently appeared in Japan. Panther whipped Kennedy into the guardrail, and this time, it was Kennedy who wound up in the crowd.

In the ring, Panther applied a Surfboard as he tied up Kennedy. Panther hit a plancha, and they were both down on the floor. In the ring, Panther applied a cross-armbreaker, but CK3 escaped at 15:30. Conrad nailed a Torture Rack for a believable nearfall, but he missed a second-rope elbow drop. Panther applied a Texas Cloverleaf, but Kennedy reached the ropes. Kennedy hit a Russian Legsweep, and he applied a headscissors lock. Panther hit a clothesline in the corner, and he put Kennedy in a pendulum at 19:30. Blue Panther hit Cain! Cain crotched Blue Panther in the corner, which allowed CK3 to hit a reverse Tombstone Piledriver (along his back) for the pin.

(6) LA Park defeats El Hijo Del Santo at 22:22 in a steel cage match. Best match of the show. Fans threw a lot of streamers at Santo. There were plastic skeletons hanging on the cage. Hijo wore silver pants and a silver mask; Park looks the same as he did in his WCW days (not that you can really see any change with that costume!) The referee is on the floor; this is an "escape the cage" rules. They started fighting with the mess of streamers still in the cage! LA Park immediately rammed him into the cage, and he grabbed one of the skeletons off the cage wall and hit Santo with it. Park hit a clothesline, some right & left kicks to the legs, and he got a chair tossed into the cage at 4:00.

Park slammed Santo's head into the chair, now wedged in the turnbuckles. LA Park hit a uranage onto an open chair! OUCH! Santo hit a dropkick to the chest as Park was tied in the Tree of Woe, but he missed a second-rope elbowdrop. LA Park encouraged fans to throw their chairs into the cage (Which seems highly dangerous!) About 15 to 20 chairs landed in the ring, before the ring announcer told the crowd to stop. LA Park hit a bodyslam onto a pile of chairs at 7:00, but he missed a second-rope flip senton, and he crashed onto the chairs. Santo hit a chairshot on the head, and he dropped LA Park's face onto several chairs in the corner.

LA Park hit a powerbomb through two open chairs! LA Park went for Santo's mask (again, continuing the theme of this show), and the crowd loudly booed LA Park! Park tore the mask, and you could see quite a bit of Santo's face. Santo hit a drop-toe-hold into the corner, and he went for Park's mask! Santo hit a chairshot to the head, then a top-rope rana at 11:00. Santo hit a second-rope flying headbutt, and they were both down. They traded punches on the mat, and they fought on the top rope, where Santo hit a top-rope superplex, and they were both down. Santo hit a running boot to the head. Santo went for a top-rope crossbody block, but LA Park caught him and hit a bodyslam at 14:30.

LA Park missed a second-rope corkscrew splash, and he crashed onto some open chairs! Santo hit some more chairshots, a nice missile dropkick, and a top-rope diving headbutt. LA Park hit a missile dropkick onto a chair across Santo's face, as Santo was in the Tree of Woe, at 18:00! However, LA Park missed a top-rope flipping senton off the top of the cage! Santo hit a second-rope hurricanrana and some armdrags, and he gave LA Park a monkeyflip into the cage. Super Parka climbed up the cage and hit a headbutt on Santo! LA Park tied the back of Santo's mask to the cage! LA Park hit some more chairshots on Santo, who couldn't move, as he was tied to the cage! LA Park motioned that he was "digging a grave" and the crowd booed. LA Park then climbed out of the cage to win the match.

BONUS FOOTAGE: Clips of a 20-man battle royal aired in the bonus section. Again, this is a CLIP, not a full match. No commentary was available; instead, they played the theme song to Bump N Uglies' "Chairshot," which sounds like a song specifically written for wrestling. In the final segments, a woman stood in the ring with two wrestlers, as she raised their arms. It's unclear who won, and I don't think anyone really cared. Acceptable three-minute bonus package.

Final thoughts: DVD runs 1 hour, 59 minutes. (Not including 'bonus' footage).

This was a solid show. The crowd really got into the lucha action. (Which doesn't necessarily mean "high-flying action, as shown here). The crowd cheered both LA Park and La Parka, even though those two were heels; the crowd just wanted to see them.

The main event was fun and well laid out. While it wasn't a 'must-see classic,' it was above average, and both men looked good. Blue Panther vs. Conrad Kennedy III earned second-best. That said, I think Blue Panther vs. Chris Sabin would have been a much, much better match. The six-way was fun, and the referee getting in his dive was a fun, unexpected spot.

I must reiterate that this promotion has some great production. The on-screen graphics introducing the wrestlers were nice, with a fun Halloween touch. The decision to show subtitles in English was smart. The show was well-filmed with multiple cameras with good editing.

The bad: Well, again, there was no "must-see" match. The cage and the CK3-Blue Panther match were good, but not great. I was not a fan of Shark Boy entering this match, and this did little to change my mind. Shark Boy is fine in a three-minute TNA squash role, but if you ask him do much more than that, there's just not a great offensive playbook there. The stand-up tag match was fine. The minis was what you would expect, nothing more.

This DVD earned a mild thumbs up, especially if you haven't seen these wrestlers or this promotion. No, this is not "ROH/PWG" workrate, and I won't claim that it is. But it was a fun way to spend two hours while wrestling. Purchase it at www.bigvisionentertainment.com.

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