This week on Three Count – can Kati and Wesna take control?
Yeah, we’re a little delayed on some of our TV reviews – but there’s no time like the present to catch up! We have the recap from the prior weeks, covering Tarkan Aslan’s pep talk from his brother Ben, Lucky Kid getting the commercial, and the continued aftermath of Dover’s attack.
We start with Ali Aslan pulling up outside the arena in his car… only to get jumped and choked out by Dover. Georges Khoukaz makes the save with a 2×4, as the rest of New Wave make the save and leave the scene. Khoukaz wants a match for GWF Revenge, but Ali blows him off, saying he’s not earned one yet. Next: Bad Bones playing foosball. He points out that the GWF’ name is in English, but everything about them is in German… so they should either switch to being English, or change the company name. He has a point. Crazy Sexy Mike says his English isn’t the best, so he gets an offer of help from Bad Bones to help brush up…
Tarkan and Ben Aslan raid Cash Money Erkan’s locker room, with Ben pulling a prank as he puts a sleeping pill in some of Erkan’s water. Icarus is hanging around outside, and gets suspicious… Tarkan replies by trying to stir up issues between the Arrows of Hungary, who walk off… before Kati Libra walks by. They really should shut that door, although Tarkan punches out Kati before they leave the room. Ahmed Chaer approached Lucky Kid outside next, asking about his plan after his recent events at Battlefield and the commercial casting session. Lucky reckons he’s safe, because he’s keeping his enemies close…
Elsewhere in the car park, Vincenzo Coccotti is holding some ice lollies as Benji walked up to him, “Doctor Coccotti” tries to diagnose him, but Benji just tells him he knows nothing about winning… before getting in his car to drive off. Finally, in the locker room, Cash Money Erkan’s trying to rally the troops, saying that the GWF is sinking and they need him to be the booker. Colen tries to have Erkan be more respectful, but things lead to a confrontation as we cut to titles.
Dave Bradshaw reminds us of our main event – Kati Libra & Wesna vs. Just Rambo and Crazy Sexy Mike – with the stipulation that if Kati and Wesna last ten minutes, or even win the match, “there will be a women’s match guaranteed for every GWF event going forward.” Uhh…
Tarkan Aslan vs. Cash Money Erkan
In the pre-match promos, Erkan promises to complete his collection of titles by beating Chris Colen at Revenge.
Aslan and Erkan lock-up, but quickly end up in the ropes for a break, where Aslan takes some shots, before he’s tripped and met with a legdrop from the towering Erkan, who charges into the corner with some uppercuts. A fallaway slam dumps Aslan too, as he rolls to the outside… only to get followed outside. Erkan brings him back in, but he can’t hit a pumphandle slam… acting woozy as he returns with some uppercuts only to get tripped into the ropes by Tarkan. A running clothesline keeps Erkan down, as he’s forced to kick out of a rather arrogant pin when Tarkan put a boot on him.
Commentary makes barely any reference to Erkan’s wooziness being down to the sleeping pills he’d been given earlier, instead saying that Aslan wasn’t taking him seriously. Erkan keeps diving for punches, but he misses before he collapses to the ground as he tried to charge at Aslan in the corner. The referee tries to stop the match, but Tarkan picks him up for a death valley driver… and that’s the win. Eh, this was okay, but the commentary was WCW like as Dave Bradshaw seems to be watching these matches in a vacuum and is less clued in than us viewers. **½
Kati Libra & Wesna vs. Dark Society Vol. 2.0 (Crazy Sexy Mike & Just Rambo)
According to Cagematch, Libra’s had only three matches in the GWF before this (which is a bit on the low side, considering WrestlingData.com lists over 20)… unlike Wesna, who’s been going for 20 years. Of course, Kati had been a character as part of Los Libertadores De La Lucha Libre before that, but man… that’s a massive gulf in experience.
So we’ve a ten minute time limit, with the Dark Society team having to win the match AND in under ten minutes get the victory. The crowd chant “Loserweight” at Mike, who I think might have been the champion at the time this was filmed. Libra and Mike start off the intergender tag match, and we’ve got a counter on the big screen as Mike easily takes down Libra in an armbar, making the most of the insane size difference between the two. An Irish whip and a clothesline follows, but Libra’s back up, and back into another knuckle-lock as they are already winding down the clock. Wesna comes in and grabs the other hand, helping take Mike down before a back senton allowed Libra to get a one-count.
Mike hauls up Libra onto his shoulders as we get minute-by-minute countdowns, before Rambo comes in and puts her into a brief Torture Rack. Libra replies with a swinging armbar, before Wesna came in to pick up the pieces, snapmaring and kicking Rambo for another one-count, before Rambo decks her with an uppercut. Rambo keeps Wesna down before threatening us with a Spinaroonie, as Mike returns to help keep Wesna in the corner with a barrage of forearm strikes.They continue to beat down on Wesna, but she’s able to elbow free of Mike, sending him crashing into the referee and therefore crotching Rambo up top.
Wesna looks to capitalise with a superplex, but Kati Libra comes in to make this a Tower of Doom… but she just sorta stands there as Wesna does the superplex anyway. At least she pulls Wesna onto Rambo and then piles on as they collect a near-fall, before Kati’s satellite DDT gets another two-count on Rambo. There’s more kicks from Wesna, but a boot’s caught and spun around into a neckbreaker.
Wesna goes into her corner and tags into Libra, who crashes into Rambo off the top with a crossbody for a near-fall. Another satellite DDT’s caught and turned into Shock Treatment by Rambo, and all of a sudden Kati’s on the defensive… but Wesna saves her from taking a cutter, allowing Libra to hit one of her own.
The ring’s full, but Mike’s able to lift up Kati with ease for an electric chair drop, but he’s quickly taken down with an Exploder, then a death valley driver from Wesna… and apparently she’s still legal as she gets a two-count out of it. Crazy Sexy Mike tries to follow up with a trailer hitch as we’re into the final minute, accompanied by increased time checks… and with Wesna still in that inverted figure four, Kati Libra doesn’t come in to break it up and the time runs out as the match ends with the moral victory for “women’s wrestling.” This was… a match, I guess? They were clearly stalling for time from the off, but this came across more as “Dark Society Vol 2 lose again” rather than anything major for Wesna and Kati. **
Post-match, Wesna and Kati celebrate – but it looked like Wesna was annoyed at having to take the “default” win rather than anything decisive as the show came to a close…
But first, Lucky Kid approaches Pascal Spalter in the car park. Spalter’s not happy that Lucky Kid got the advert, even though he says Lucky only got the role “because he didn’t want it”. The end-of-show skit’s Tarkan Aslan with the GWF psychiatrist, Vincenzo Coccotti, who bores him with his life story, before he asked “Mr Lion King” about his mother. If anything, Tarkan just wanted the comfy sofa bed to sleep on, and he dozes through some Lion King jokes, before grabbing a ball of wool that he plays with. Eventually Tarkan wakes up and leaves…
In terms of the storylines on Three Count, we’re getting beginnings, middles and ends to the stories; but this was not a good week in terms of the in-ring action. From the “drugged by a sleeping pill” match that completely went over commentary’s head, to the intergender match that felt drawn-out. In its own bubble, Three Count continues to be a serviceable show, but my ongoing issues with it being isolated away from the “real time” events in the promotion continue to nag me.