DVD Review (FOW King of Carnage 4/13/02)
Submitted by Phil S. on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at 2:15 PM EST



DVD Review
by Phil S. (likeitis@hotmail.com)
Future of Wrestling (FOW) King of Carnage from 4/13/02 at the Davie Rodeo
Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in front of a supposed 3.092 fans
Length: Over 2 hours
Announcers: Bobby Rogers and Chris Nelson (one half of The New Heavenly Bodies)
Visit http://www.futureofwrestling.com and http://www.wwn.tv

Due to some feedback from my first DVD review, I am going to change it up a
bit this time and not due my usual "blow by blow". I am going to summarize
each match and give my opinions. However, I will not do star ratings as I
am not a big fan of them and feel it is far too difficult to categorize
thousands upon thousands of matches based on 5 little stars.
I always welcome feedback, so keep it coming in. And let me know if you
prefer the reviews to be done this way, or to be done on a "play by play"
way as my first XPW one was done. Thanks in advance.

Segment #1- Dusty Rhodes is interviewed by Shannon Rose. He talks about his
match later in the night with 3 long time rivals of his. Says he is going
to "beat them like government mules"

Segment #2- The Sandman is interviewed by Shannon Rose. Any time you can
hear The Sandman talk it is entertaining. He did a good job this time as he
was actually coherent 65% of the time.

Segment #3- Barry Horowitz is interviewed by Shannon Rose. Horowitz tells
the fans what hardcore stands for. Funny to see Barry Horowitz represent
hardcore after growing up watching him lose every single weekend.

Segment #4- (FOW Hardcore Title Match)- FOW Hardcore Champion Barry Horowitz
vs. Rusty Brooks (with Seth Gregg). Horowitz won the title by beating 602
pound Maximum Capacity. Horowitz says his idea of hardcore is not trash
cans and weapons, but it is about working night in and night out and never
letting anything slow him down. Who can someone who "never won a match"
defend his title against???? Someone else who never won a match on TV ....
Rusty Brooks!!! At least Rusty Brooks had a match against Hulk Hogan on WWF
TV back in 1986! I guess that makes him the favorite in this one, huh??
Horowitz is actually in pretty good shape and his arms have apparently
gotten longer over the years since he can now pat himself on the swell of
the back, as opposed to being only able to reach the shoulders back in the
'80s. Rusty now looks like a cross between C.W. Anderson and Ian Rotten.
Funny line of the match was when Horowitz dropped a leg on Brooks, and both
announcers at the same time yelled "LEG DROP?!?!? WOW!!!! LEG DROP!!!!"
.... and they were genuinely excited about it too. Rusty won the title win
a Vader Splash from the middle rope. Then Horowitz hit Brooks with a trash
can and rolled him up and won the title back, since the Hardcore Title is
always on the line 24/7. The Sandman then made his way to the ring. When
he got in the ring, Horowitz tossed the belt to Rusty so Sandman would go
after him, which he did. Horowitz turned his back so Sandman could pat him
on the back. When he turned back around, Sandman caned him and got the
pinfall. This was a nice match for what it was.
RESULT A: Rusty Brooks wins the FOW Hardcore Title by pinfall
RESULT B: Barry Horowitz wins the FOW Hardcore Title by pinfall
RESULT C: The Sandman wins the FOW Hardcore Title by pinfall

Segment #5- Kevin Sullivan is interviewed by Shannon Rose. Sullivan shows
off his cursing and insult skills. No matter how old he gets, he still
looks like a sadistic Anthony Hopkins.

Segment #6- Joey Matthews and Christian York interviewed by Shannon Rose.
Too bad there still is not a major federation in Memphis, because Matthews
and York (especially Matthews) are just awesome heels who would probably
receive a lot of death threats in a place like that.

Segment #7- (FOW Tag Team Title Top Contenders Match)- The Vandalz (Tommy &
Ricky) (with Jodi X) vs. Joey Matthews & Christian York (with Fabulous
Frank). The winners immediately get a title shot against The Redneck Mafia!
The match is not even 5 seconds long and Joey Matthews already has
incredible heel heat. This guy should put out some kind of video on how to
make people hate you. The announcers were commenting on how Tommy and Ricky
Vandal are similar in appearance not only because they are brothers, but
because they are tag partners. He went on to say that Matthews and York are
not brothers, but they look like each other because they are tag partners.
I guess that explains why I have a hard time figuring out which Dudley is
Bubba and which is D-Von. The Vandalz remind me of an early version of The
Haas Brothers, without as much talent. Matthews and York did not have their
best performance, but still carried the match. Even on an off night,
Matthews gets more heat than just about anyone on a show. Another
unintentionally funny line by the announcers ..... when talking about how
good Matthews and York are, one of the announcers said "They defeated Dave
Johnson and Hack Myers for Christ's sake!!!!" The Vandalz got the win with
"their signature move" The Vandalizer (Total Elimination).
RESULTS: The Vandalz by pinfall. leading right to ...........

Segment #8- (FOW Tag Team Title Match)- The Redneck Mafia (Big Daddy Gonzo &
J.J. Kodiak) (with Flex Magnum) vs. The Vandalz (Tommy & Ricky) (with Jodi
X). The Redneck Mafia hit the ring right after The Vandalz got the win on
Matthews and York. The Redneck Mafia are your token overweight heel tag
team. They don't even try to hide their beer guts. Flex Magnum tries to
help his team but hits J.J. Kodiak with a chair by mistake. Big Daddy Gonzo
picks up the chair to confront Magnum, but Tommy Vandal comes off the top
rope with a BEAUTIFUL dropkick to the chair and gets the pinfall. The crowd
pops big time for this, which goes to show, it's not always the best talent
that gets you over, it's what you do with the talent, and more importantly,
the amount of heat you can generate for yourself. This was a short match,
with nothing special going on in it, but was your typical dirty heels
against the much loved super babyfaces, and got a lot of heat.
RESULT: The Vandalz win the FOW Tag Team Titles by pinfall

Segment #9- Low Ki is interviewed by Shannon Rose. Low Ki says it's not the
size of the fighter, but the size of the fight he brings, and tonight, he
will defeat his fellow Super 8 alumni.

Segment #10- (ECWA Heavyweight Title Match; Three Way Match)- ECWA
Heavyweight Champion Scoot Andrews vs. Low Ki vs. Mike Sullivan. Announcers
moment of this match: Bobby Rogers says, "Low Ki won the Super 8, defeating
Scoot Andrews in the finals I believe". Chris Nelson "Yes, he did, he beat
Scoot to win it! Mike Sullivan did not win it, but he made it to the second
round." Rogers "That is correct" ..... forget the fact that the only
correct part of all of that is that Low Ki won the Super 8. This was a
pretty good match, and to my surprise, Mike Sullivan held his own. Scoot
pinned Low Ki with the Forces Of Nature to keep the ECWA Title. A lot of
"ooh"s and "ah"s during this match.
RESULT: Scoot Andrews retains the ECWA Heavyweight Title by pinfall

Segment #11- Bruno Sassi interview with Shannon Rose. Bruno looks like a
pudgier cross between Nick Berk and Chris Candido. Bruno says that the
"UPI, AP, and sheet writers say Daniels is the #1 man ...." ..... the UPI
and AP do wrestling ratings???? Sassi, a former member of Phi Delta Slam,
just talked in circles a bit. Actually he got better as the interview went
on.

Segment #12- Christopher Daniels interview with Shannon Rose. Daniels is
talking. Do I even need to describe it? He was his usual entertaining
self.

Segment #13- (FOW International Title Match)- FOW International Champion
Bruno Sassi vs. "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. Announcers' Moment:
Chris Nelson, "FOW has gone out of their way to make the FOW International
Title truely an international title as they have brought in Christopher
Daniels, who has been all over the world!" So the "Internationalness" of a
title is based on where the competitors have been, and not where they come
from??? An actually intended funny moment by the announcers .... Chris
Nelson "There is a lot going on backstage. A lot of backdoor action in
FOW!" Bobby Rogers "speaking of that .... Pat Patterson is in attendance
tonight in the Davie Arena! We saw him backstage, and yes, he did come in
the back door!" .... Earlier I said how great Joey Matthews was and what a
heat magnet he is ..... if there is only one person better than Matthews, it
is Chris Daniels. It is amazing that Daniels has not been picked up yet.
At least Matthews was under contract at one point in his career. Not sure
why you would put Daniels in with Sassi, but the match actually was not too
bad. Sassi surprisingly kept up with Daniels and put on a watchable match.
Sassi kicked out of the springboard moonsault, and the Angel's Wings. He
blocked another Angel's Wings and then hit the Initiation for the win.
RESULT: Bruno Sassi retains the FOW International Title by pinfall

Segment #14- "Honest" John Cheatum (with Abdullah the Butcher) interview
with Shannon Rose. Cheatum was pretty annoying trying to be Paul Bearer.
Abdullah is babbling in the background.

Segment #15- Billy Fives interview with Shannon Rose. Wow, that was bad.

Segment #16- (FOW Heavyweight Title Match)- FOW Heavyweight Champion Billy
Fives vs. Norman Smiley. Smiley is actually responsible for getting Fives
into wrestling. Bobby Rogers says that people think Billy Fives is cocky
and arrogant but that Fives claims "it's only cocky if you can't back it up"
... someone should write a song about that. The crowd is behind Smiley big
time. Why?? I never could get into him. Smiley wins it with the Cross
Face Chicken Wing.
RESULT: Norman Smiley wins the FOW Heavyweight Title by submission

Segment #17- Terry Funk interview with Shannon Rose. Funk says he is the
legend, not "that fat overbearing egg sucking dog, nor Abdullah the Butcher,
nor Kevin Sullivan" ... Funk says "hey, have they made a movie about that
fat pig Dusty Rhodes, or about Abdullah, that black bastard, or about
Sullivan?!? No, they made a movie about me! Beyond the Mat was about me!"

Segment #18- (Fatal Four Way)- "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry
Funk vs. "The Prince of Darkness" Kevin Sullivan (with Abudadien) vs.
Abdullah the Butcher (with "Honest" John Cheatum). What's up with Dusty
grabbing his crotch and directing it at the fans before the match? It
didn't go unnoticed either as one of the announcers said "Dusty with a nice
gesture there". Funk runs down Dusty on the mic after his introduction
before Abdullah and Sullivan are even brought out. A TON OF HEAT for this
match. Someone has been watching Joey Matthews tapes! haha .... Jesus!!
Abdullah is driving that fork into Dusty's head! Pinfalls are not valid in
this match until all four men are busted open. Dusty knocks out one of the
three referees. It is total mayhem with weapons and tables and objects and
people everywhere. Abdullah busts open a referee with the fork, then busts
open Abudadein with the fork. Funk DDTs a referee. Security and referees
are coming out of the locker room to help out and Dusty Rhodes is cleaning
house on them. Somehow Mike Sullivan got the Tree of Woe from Kevin
Sullivan. What is going on here?!?!??! Christopher Daniels just got
crotched by Kevin Sullivan. Scoot Andrews got the fork from Abdullah.
Dusty and Funk escape into the crowd of 3,092 fans. Probably because it is
less crowded than the ring. Chris Nelson says "Everything is being used ...
chairs, tables, forks .... I think I just saw Terry Funk throw a three year
old!" Funk and Dusty head for the parking lot while Abdullah and Sullivan
fight in the ring. Actually that is not Sullivan getting beaten up, it is
another staff member. Dusty and Funk fight around and in a 1972 Ford Pickup
Truck. Funk throws Dusty in the bed of the truck. Funk gets in the truck
as Dusty gets out. Abduallah has knocked out about 9 people in the ring
until Kevin Sullivan comes in to go after him. Dusty is trying to pull Funk
out of the trunk. The action goes all over the arena, up on to the
balconies, in to the judges' stand for the rodeo, and in to the rodeo pits.
Somehow, Kevin Sullivan got the victory in all the commotion. But that
didn't stop the action as all four men continued to brawl.
RESULT: Kevin Sullivan is the winner

DVD EXTRA SEGMENT: (FOW Lightweight Title Match)- FOW Lightweight Champion
J-Dawg vs. Johnny Vandal vs. Al Bino (with Ron Niemi). This was a pretty
decent match with some cool spots. It is noted that there is no DQ in FOW
championship matches. If that is the case, what differentiates the Hardcore
Title from the others??? Al Bino hits a nice German Suplex to get the
pinfall on Johnny Vandal.
RESULT: Al Bino wins the FOW Lightweight Title by pinfall

Overall, this was a very enjoyable show. Not the best show ever, but it was
an old school show that followed the basic formula of wrestling past ......
get the crowd involved, and keep them in the show all night, then worry
about your workrate. The crowd totally loved this show and everyone put on
a good effort. I would recommend this DVD just for the main event brawl
alone. It definitely lived up to the hype and was all over the place and
out of control. Never saw Dusty Rhodes so serious and mean before in my
life!

Matches from the show not on the DVD are: Dave Johnson, Hack Myers, & Casey
Thompson vs. Punisher, Antonio Banks, & Dow Jones; Mike Graham vs. Chris
Charger; and Anthony Michaels & Jeff Roth vs. Dennis & Sean Allen








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