We’ve got a pair of Hungarians in the latest first round battle in GWF’s Who’s Next – will it be Lizard Man or Hungarian Royalty?
You know the score: we recap last week as we’re told that 71.3% of the audience voted for Don Sheen. So we’ve got Fake Miz in the second round of the tournament! This week, we’ve got Tarkan Aslan, John Klinger and Matt Cross as judges.
Out first to rather regal music with a sash is Ayden Cortez. He’s 22, from Hungary, and has been training for six years, wrestling mostly for Hungarian Championship Wrestling. He sees this the next step up in his career. Cortez is holding a framed painting of himself, and in his promo he calls himself an artist… but the promo seems to wander a little, even though he got his name and gimmick over.
His opponent, Maverick, on the other hand, is also from Hungary and has been training for a little less time: since 2014. He calls himself the next generation of HCW, and wants to follow in the footsteps of Benji (the first season’s winner). He’s got a painted face, and looks a little demonic. I don’t think he was hoping for laughter from the promo…
Ayden Cortez vs. Maverick
We get going once Cortez puts down his painting, but he grabs it once the bell rings, and quickly gets taken into the corner by the lizard-like Maverick.
Maverick shows plenty of fire, kicking him through the ropes before scoring with a single-leg kick to the gut. Cortez mounts a comeback, pulling down Maverick before hitting him with a neckbreaker, as he’s back to that damned painting. Of course, Maverick grabs hold of it and licks it… which repulses Cortez, and starts a fightback as Maverick takes him into the corner with some forearms. A leaping forearm drops Cortez to the mat, where he slapped Maverick before coming back with a uranage for a near-fall. Cortez tries for a suplex, but instead has to make do with a sunset flip as he ended up eating a knee instead, before a split-legged moonsault puts away the wannabe royal. This was fine, but the match itself felt very forgettable outside of the gimmicks.
Post-match, Matt Cross puts over the two gimmicks, which is where the “dumb noises” line comes in, before mentioning things like them going for near-falls straight from the off. John Klinger was more of a body guy, but also put over Maverick’s gimmick, while Tarkan Aslan mentioned how both guys ran under time.
So, this was a solid episode – two well defined gimmicks, and a short match… what more can you ask for?
Next week: Ahmed Chaer isn’t impressed, and Angelico thinks someone’s got a stripper gimmick!