The NWA’s hunt for new talent continued as The Circle Squared returned for a double-header.
Kicking off the double header, we’re told that the Ronk n Roll Express are in action next week on “Super Powerrr”. Must be one of those knock-off teams they had back in the day… we then get a video package of the first episode, where Luke and PJ Hawx took on Jeff Lewis Neal and Tyson Dean. They’ve a montage of the vloggers. Yay. Then, Sean Mooney to wrap around the show. He tells us that they had separate polls to decide whether each team should stay in the hunt for a contact – so it’s not a straight-up choice.
We pitch to Kyle Davis in studio as he brings out Colby Corino. Colby’s interview tells us he grew up with a wrestling ring in his backyard, before telling us how his dad used to be an NWA champion. He’s also got a wee ‘un at home, Orion, and he’s Colby’s world… aaand here come the vloggers. Hard pass.
Colby’s opponent here? George South. Well, I mean it’s a new face, but he started wrestling in 1981. That’s way before I was born, and probably a LOT of the viewers of this show too! His promo’s full of piss and vinegar, mad that the fans didn’t support him sooner. Not having made it to the NWA before now is the chip on George’s shoulder… and while South called Colby “one of his own”, he’d punch his mum in the face to get here as we overdubbed Kyle to take us into the vloggers. Oh goodie, we’ve got NWA stars watching along too. That’s at least a bit more palatable, this peer review, with Eli Drake suggesting that South perhaps ought to vary his volume a little.
Sit down promos with both men follow, as they touch on Colby Corino’s drug arrests that derailed his life, while South details how he’s been wrestling for almost FORTY YEARS. Colby mentions how South’s worked with him, but South’s not going to make it easy for him.
Colby Corino vs. George South
South stalls at the bell to yell at the crowd, as Corino started with a side headlock. South replies with one of his own, but he’s shot into the ropes for a back elbow before Colby hit a dropsault.
Another side headlock’s countered with a back suplex from South, before a head claw had Corino in trouble. He escapes, but an abdominal stretch is countered with a hip toss as South goes back to the claw, which is again escaped… so South lands a butterfly suplex instead. It’s back to the claw, and this is getting a little spammy before South went for an airplane spin. It didn’t seem to dizzy Colby too much, as he’s able to sidestep a charge into the corner and roll-up South for the pin. A little basic, but it worked with this crowd as South paid for not going for pins sooner. **
Post-match, South refused to shake Colby’s hand… but they were at least civil by the interview desk. South got frustrated when he was told the fans would decide his fate, and then it’s back to the talking heads as Allysin Kay put over both men, while Eli Drake was equally positive.
Between episodes, Joe Galli tell us about the Crockett Cup show next month, running down the card before telling us about the Crockett Cup itself. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are in, as are the pairing of Brody King & Flip Gordon, Rey Horus & Flamita and Thom Latimer & Royce Isaacs.
Episode three of the Circle Squared opened with some different vloggers, as Sean Mooney tells us this episode will bring some women’s action.
At ringside, David Marquez introduces the entrants. First up, Freya the Slaya, who’s from Alaska. She’s as cold as the Alaskan winters… and then it’s the talking heads. Eli Drake had a damn good point: Freya never actually told us her name… that’s something else that only Allysin Kay picked up as everyone else was trying to crack wise. Freya’s opponent is Dani Jordyn, who at least has her name on her shirt. She tells us her name too, as Dani called herself the “real me girl” and brought her “burn book”, which has a page on Freya that says “she’s from Alaska. That’s it, that’s the joke”. Somehow the crowd still cheer her…
Adverts and sit-down promos follow, with Freya giving us more of her background… as did Dani.
Freya the Slaya vs. Dani Jordyn
Commentary talks up the size difference that Dani’s having to overcome, which became clear from the off as a waistlock came to nought.
Kicks also didn’t work, as Freya just hurls Dani across the ring. Body blows follow, but again Dani shoves her down and gets a two-count for it. Dani manages to fight back, avoiding a kick in the corner, and wraps it into the ropes for a dropkick to the knee as kicks to the leg follow. Freya hits back with a forearm, before putting the brakes on an Irish whip from Dani, who got caught in a cobra clutch. Kicking out the knee gets Dani free, before she had to fight out of a chokeslam, only to take too long to flip off the crowd as clotheslines had her back on the mat. A missed legdrop from Freya keeps things even, as Dani came in with a snapmare… only to get dropped with a jawbreaker. The tit-for-tat continued though, until a Michinoku driver gets Freya the win. Decent enough, but I wasn’t too keen on Freya being taken off her feet, given her gimmick. **
At the interview desk, David Marquez polls the crowd… it seems even, as we’re back to the talking heads. Allysin was shocked at Freya being the underdog, before we’re thrown back to Sean Mooney to wrap things up.
Overall, these episodes of Circle Squared flowed much better than episode one as they toned down the talking heads and put more focus on the entrants. Purely from a competition point of view, I’m a little miffed that the format is more based on the overall pool of entrants rather than “who do the fans prefer from this match?” – a little more transparency would be nice in terms of the format, because right now it just feels like a bunch of matches with little importance behind them.