Streaming video, what high speed internet connections were made for...and dial-up modems were NOT made for. The Crimefighter is sick and tired of a slow dial-up modem connection but the only thing that's been holding me back for making the jump to cable modems or DSL is that the monthly rate for it I felt was a bit too high. I was paying $14 a month for a dial-up while cable was $45-50 a month and DSLs were charging $45-65 a month. Just wasn't desirable, but happened to find a company, my local phone service offering the first year for $35 a month during the first year, so I made the jump at last. I've heard it's cheaper in other cities, but this is Springfield, IL and for some reason high-speed Internet services has been SLOW in getting here.

Now that I've got DSL, time to explore cyberspace and see what streaming videos I can find of wrestling matches to watch. There's probably much more in binary newsgroups but I haven't quite learned the techniques of retrieving files from newsgroup postings, and there's new methods of doing so which require buying additional software. Anyway, I'll take my time. The "card" I've come up with here consists of:

"Big Guns" Jeff Cannon vs. "Mr. Main Event" Kurt Allen
Shark Boy vs. GQ Masters III -- RAW Cruiserweight Title Match
Shasta McNasty vs. Bull Pain

"Mean" Marc Ash vs. Flex Phenom -- ICW Heavyweight Title Match
"Mean" Marc Ash vs. The Viper -- ICW Heavyweight Title Match

XXXplicit Content vs. The Spanish Announce Team -- TLC NWA Midwest Tag Title Match

Leading off, a few matches from RAW, Real American Wrestling. Streaming video was retrieved from http://www.realamericanwrestling.com/videopage.htm 220K video quality.

"Big Guns" Jeff Cannon 275lbs. Detroit, MI vs. "Mr. Main Event" Kurt Allen 210lbs. Zanesville, OH -- Your referee is Mike Bilk. Allen is said to be Ohio State's wrestling champion and this is his debut bout in RAW. Commentary is by Zack and Matt. This match took place at West Union Fairgrounds in West Union, OH on 9/29/2K. Cannon shoves down Allen to start. Cannon puts him in the corner and slugs him one. Lockup, headlock Allen. Shove and shoulderblock by Cannon. Kick and knockdown by Cannon, armbar, Allen rolls out by Cannon clotheslines him down. Kicks, to the ropes, chop, Irish whip and clothesline by Cannon gets two. Small package by Kurt gets two. Rake to the eyes by Cannon, beatdown to the corner, Irish whip and back elbow gets two. MAIN EVENT??? Smells like he won't be main eventing for a long time. Choke on the ropes by Cannon. Zack calls it legal. Irish whip Cannon clothesline misses, but catches Allen in a powerbomb. Doesn't cover. Cannon yanks on Allen's face. Irish whip, misses the clothesline Allen with a back elbow and gets two. Allen on the top, but Cannon catches him with a bearhug and a belly to belly suplex gets two. Irish whip to the corner, Cannon with a big powerslam to finish him off. Total squash.

WINNER: "Big Guns" Jeff Cannon pin -> 5 mins. *

Well Cannon ain't done, picks him up and death valley drivers him down. Now he has a mike. He's mad that he keeps having to fight wimpy wrestlers and wants someone better. Someone answers, and Cannon's screaming he doesn't work here! He says he hasn't paid his dues and makes a toilet joke about him. To step to the next level fat boy he has to wrestle "The Stro". Oh yeah, "The Maestro" aka Gorgeous George III who used to compete for WCW. That guy wrestled as "Robbie Eagle" too? Man he's bulked up and got a big haircut.

RAW Cruiserweight Championship 2/3 Falls
G.Q. Masters III 190 lbs. Lexington, KY vs. Shark Boy 5'10", 180lbs. Parts Unknown -- This is from the same show as the match above. GQ has the mike, he screams about being made to look bad by the fans. He wants our attention despite the bad mike, look at his T-shirt "your village just called, their idiot is missing", bash bash bash the fans you're all idiots, Shark Boy's been on every national show because of GQ3 including WCW and stealing money from them for six months. Shark Boy comes up from behind, GQ doesn't notice and claims he's the smartest person and will sign an autograph for the guy tapping his shoulder. Shark Boy attacks him, and they enter the ring. GQ bails out again avoiding Shark Boy. Bell rings finally. GQ won't lock up and grandstands. Lockup at last, Shark takes him to the corner. Clean break. GQ bails and wastes another minute. Lockup, hip toss GQ. Commentators note all the big guys Shark Boy fought in the past. Lockup, slam GQ. Fish jokes about the gills on the boots. Lockup, and armdrag by GQ. Headlock by Shark Boy. Shoveoff shoulderblack GQ, hip toss, slam, arm drag, atomic drop by Shark. The boy bites GQ's rear sending him outside. Man this match needs to get going. GQ is slingshoted in the ring, armbar by Shark and a takedown. Shark bites GQ's hand while holding the armbar. Shark works the right shoulder and arm. GQ shoves him off by Shark hits a shoulderblock and an armdrag. Holds the armbar on the mat. They stand up shove off, shoulderblock again, Shark armdrags him down. GQ bails and fetches a chair, Shark grabs for him but GQ yanks him down on the top rope, then brings the chair in the ring and hits him repeatedly with it for the blatant DQ. Shark's knee is wrecked in the process at 9½ minutes in. Bleh, what a waste. GQ brags about what he just did as Shark Boy tries walking off the damage. The referee awards the match to Shark Boy, and the video ends here going no further than one fall, too bad. NOT MUCH went on otherwise besides the big heel promo by GQ. Gee, so that's why GQ3 never found his way to the WWE or WCW.

WINNER: Shark Boy DQ -> 9:30 mins. ¼*

Shasta McNasty 295lbs. Parts Unknown w/ Tim Shady vs. Bull Pain 252lbs. Milwaukee, WI -- This is the third match from the same show. Bull Pain was a big threat in the Dallas area promotions but nothing but a jobber in WCW and WWF somehow. Joined in progress at 1:40, Pain is pounding away and nails McNasty from outside the ring. McNasty meets up with him Irish whip powerslam gets two. Shasta with a leg drop, on the second rope dives and misses. Pain up, Irish whip elbow, leg drop gets one. Pain dumps him outside as five minutes have passed. Bull with a big chairshot on Shasta, no DQ called. Video goes dark, Bull chases Shady, Shasta nails Pain from behind outside. Head slam on the apron by Bull. Bull with a DDT on the concrete floor!!! Ref is counting away. Bull with a kick, Shasta shoves Bull to the post. Shasta with a chairshot. Count is restarted, Bull is thrown in. Shasta in, clocks Pain, Tim Shady up on the apron and tries to nail Bull but hits Shasta. Bull slams him, goes to the top, frog splash finishes him off.

WINNER: Bull Pain pin -> 7:45 mins. (6 mins. shown) *

Nothing special here either. Uh oh, two guys rush in the ring to attack Bull, Ray Steele makes the save and demands a tag match with Shady's men.

Now from another corner of the world, these videos were downloaded from http://www.indywrestlingtv.com/South.html from Independent Championship Wrestling at 96K video quality.

ICW Heavyweight Title Match
(c) "Mean" Marc Ash 6'1", 220lbs. Myrtle Beach, SC w/ Dr. Tom vs. The Viper 6'0" 265lbs. Saratoga, NC -- Viper's African-American and a former leader of a biker gang. This match is joined in progress from 6/15/2K2 in Hampstead, NC. Ash Irish whip to the corner but eats a boot. Viper in the corner working him over, suplex gets two. Irish whip reversal, clothesline Ash. Ash splits the legs and drives a knee. To the corner, chop Ash, snap mare takeover, Ash misses a running elbowdrop. Viper takes him down and works the arm. Viper Irish whip, flying clothesline, cover gets two. Viper drags him in position, Viper on the second rope and hits a big legdrop gets two. J. Marcus Lawson jumps in the ring supposedly to help Ash, Lawson tries to hit Viper and hits Ash instead, Viper rolls up Ash for three.

WINNER and NEW CHAMP: Viper pin -> 3:35 mins. shown. *

This title change was reversed on Sept. 10th by EVP Pete Noel when he FINALLY looks at a tape of this show. Four months later??? You don't wait that long to reverse a match! What if he lost the belt to someone else? How are you gonna fix that? At the very least put these guys back in the ring or start a new tournament. Shortly thereafter, Mean Marc was defending the title just given back to him...

ICW Heavyweight Title Match
(c) "Mean" Marc Ash 6'1", 220lbs. Myrtle Beach, SC vs. Flex Phenom 5'9", 221lbs. Goldsboro, NC -- This is from Wilmington, NC on 10/19/2K2. Commentating are Marc Ash and some other guy. Flex apparently is coming back from a back injury. Flex gets the mike and says something about taking the ICW title and better get your pictures now but it's not audible. Chatter about a new part-owner in ICW. Flex poses for the crowd. Ash poses but Flex attacks and wrings the arm and takes him down. Quick cover gets one. Punch and choking away in the corner. Arm toss by Flex. Ash reverses the arm wringer, hammerlock, reversal by Flex. Headlock. Ash shoves him off shoulderblock by Flex and sit down slam gets two. Suplex reversed by Ash. Chop, kicks to the gut in the corner, Irish whip, charge by Ash and he crotches himself in the corner. Crappy cover by Flex gets one. Chokes by Flex, toss to the corner for more elbows. Flex puts him on top, hurraconranna by Flex. One foot cover gets two. Second cover gets two. Idiot. Irish whip charge, splash by Flex. Irish whip charge splash. Flex with a knee lift. Another poor cover gets two for Flex. Ash with a sunset flip gets one. Ash starts pounding away, and hits a knee jawbreaker. Side suplex by Ash gets two and a foot on the ropes. Low blow by Flex. Flex with the split leg drop. Flex punches to the gut, puts him on top again. Superplex by Flex, goes to the top rope, Ash up, Blockbuster...or the Phenom Flip. He picks him up! Flex in the corner to punch Ash in the head, Ash powerbombs Flex. Lotus runs out and attacks which is some guy who looks like a headhunter. They give him double-team suplex and the ref throws it out right there.

WINNER and STILL CHAMP: "Mean" Marc Ash DQ -> 8:55 mins. **½

The Stro (now sporting black hair) runs out from the back and goes after Flex. Ash throws Lotus out. The Stro sets up Flex on the ropes and rams him from the other side of the ring. Decent match there, don't like the cheap DQ though. There was one more video to review, alas the file was corrupt so I'll do a review when the file is replaced.

My last video for review and it's our "main event". NWA Midwest on 11/23/2K2 at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, IL -- http://www.midwestwrestling.com/midwest/multimedia.html 512K video quality.

TLC NWA Midwest Tag Title Match
(c) "XXXPlict Content" 435lbs. Jacksonville, FL - "XXXPlicit" Bailey Mannix & "Delicious" Danny Scott vs. The SATs, The Spanish Announce Team 428lbs. Brooklyn, NY - Jose & Jose Maximo -- The ring announcer asks about lions, tigers and bears, so how about tables, ladders and chairs? The first team comes out, the guy wearing the boas is Scott, the smaller man is Mannix. The SATs come out to "Lose Yourself" which is great entrance music for anyone, even if you hate Eminem. Man the stands do not look packed, I see a lot of the bleacher seats. I don't know which Maximo is which, they look alike and dress the same so I'm not gonna even try to name them during the match. Hmm...there's a set of belts hanging above the ring and the XXXPlicits have another set. Bell rings and it's a brawl to start that quickly goes outside the ring and up into the bleachers! Chairshot on a Maximo by Scott. It's now hard to see anything going on. One SAT throws Scott back over the rail as Mannix blasts another SAT with a chair repeatedly. Danny Scott is raked in the eyes and an SAT holds up him for FANS to actually hit him on the head with chairs! Well just the ones wearing yellow jackets. Far off someone is slammed on the floor. The fight continues among the fans as Scott brings a ladder and an SAT brings a chair to get back in the ring. An SAT swings the chair into the ladder, knocking Scott to the ground and Maximo whacks him repeatedly with the chair...but of course the ladder takes up the shock. An SAT puts the chair in the ropes and we have an Irish whip reserved Maximo crashes into the chair. Mannix and the other SAT are running up to the top of the bleachers amid the people. Scott goes out and fetches another chair then proceeds to stack them up in a pile. Can't see the other guys, ugh, but Mannix is getting the better of it. SAT recovers in the ring and throws Scott out. Mannix is back in the ring but an SAT cuts him off and tries a powerbomb but Mannix gets out of it and Acid Drops him through the stack of chairs! Someone flies off the rail for a clothesline. The ladder is put between the apron and the ring then Scott and an SAT fight on the apron and fans are setting up a pile of chairs as an SAT locks his arms around Scott's neck and does an acid drop from the ladder over the rail and into the chairs! An SAT is making an attempt for the belts as they put the ladder up but Mannix yanks him off and goes up himself, but there's a Russian leg sweep from the ladder by Mannix. He's going up again, the other SAT is back in and whacks him with a chair, Mannix is hung upside down on the ladder and gets blasted again. The SAT goes up, but Scott breaks it up. Another SAT with a crossbody block from the top. Irish whip, Scott catches an SAT by the legs and swings him around. Mannix throws the other SAT into the rail outside and baseball slides into his face. Van Daminator by Mannix on the swung SAT! Scott with a catapult, Mannix tosses SAT the chair and punches the chair. Break your hand doing that. SAT throws a chair at Mannix. Scott puts an SAT and the ladder against the ropes and tries to splash him but SAT moves. SAT Irish whip reversed, SAT tries something but Scott rams him into the ladder. Table set up outside, Scott tries something but the table collaspes on him. Mannix with a choke inside the ring. Scott puts the table in the ring and in the corner, with the legs broken on one side. Mannix kicks away in the corner, Irish whip, double reversal, Mannix with a slam through the table. Scott makes another attempt for the belts and his partner holds it for him but Scott steps on Mannix's hand and shoves the ladder. Dummy. SATs climb back in stomp down continues. Another table is being put in as the other is removed. Stuff is crashing against each other as an XC drop kicks a chair into an SAT. XC rams the table into an SAT, put a chair on his head, then slide the ladder across the table into the throat. The other SAT bashes the others with a chair out of the ring. He sets up a table in the corner. Repeated german suplexes by the SATs as one does the move and the other rolls into position to do the next. Chairshots on the outside. Maximos pile chairs on a downed XC, then climb the ropes. Moonsault, legdrop combo! Ouch. SATs decide what to do next, they get the ladder over the XC guy and climb. Mannix back in and he blasts the SATs with a chair to break it up. Scott with shots to the gut. Mannix puts another table in the ring, Scott moves the one in the corner...oh they're side by side. XCs put the SATs on the tables, but they get off and attack, now the XCs are on the tables, but they attack. The SATs on the tables again as the XCs mount the ropes as a "homos" chant goes on. They leap but the SATs move and they stop themselves but get nailed and put on the tables. Double flying legdrops, one table breaks but the other doesn't so he does a splash from the top. The SATs put up the ladder again. They goes their hands on the belts. Two guys in jerseys run in the ring to stop them but the SATs kick them off and yank the belts off the rope for the win and the titles.

WINNER and NEW CHAMPS: The Spanish Announce Team -> 18:30 mins. **½

Not the best TLC match I've seen, considering the one camera angle through the whole match, that being from an amateur cameraman. No commentary at all through the match either. It got hard to follow and a couple re-viewings were required to see some spots I missed.

There's more streaming video in various places on the net to find, so in a future Rap Sheet I'm going to do more reviews of various matches I find and already I've found some weekly TV shows on streaming video of some indy groups. Anyway, this is the Crimefighter, saying bustin' ain't easy, and censorship is a load of crap!