“Wrestling Society X - The Complete First & Last Season”
Review By: Mark Glady

Former XPW producer/ writer Kevin Kleinrock’s “big vision” of wrestling was truly entertaining, and something that I feel will be sorely missed by fans on the look back. It was a vision of the ring that took the cartoonishness of pro wrestling and turned it from a constant negative into a powerful positive by embellishing it with the likes of fireballs, electrocutions and undead wrestlers. It took unbelievable characters and embellished them to the point where they became larger than life, like Ricky Banderas. It took wrestlers and made them seemingly all-day-accessible to the fans, like Jack Evans. But, mostly, it took a typically boring wrestling-Tuesday and gave us something off the charts entertaining, and after watching Big Daddy V and the Miz and such for the past few months on WWECW, I already am pissed that this show isn’t on television anymore.

When Kleinrock promised us something extreme and new, didn’t you just know he would deliver? And didn’t you just know that the masses would still watch the “promised on, then turned crap” show and not the “promised and delivered on“ show? Typical.

I’ve heard this show compared to other cancelled but brilliant shows, but I tend to think of this show as the “Arrested Development” of wrestling television. Genius show, but for a very little viewing audience that gets what they‘re doing. What I mean by that is the wrestling traditionalist will hate on WSX because of the over the topness, and the younger fan will hate because all the guys aren’t freaks of nature, which they’re used to on cable televised wrestling shows.

The talent roster that was put together for this show was deep, including ring vets such as former WCW Tag Team Champion, Vampiro, former IWA Puerto Rico Champion, Ricky Banderas, now known in TNA as Judas Messias, and DX member and multiple WWF title holder, X Pac. WSX had hardcore legends like XPW KOTD Champion Vic Grimes, ECW Tag Team Champion New Jack and XPW Television Champion, Kaos.

Even while having all these guys to showcase, they still found the time to develop the younger face of WSX in guys like Jack Evans, Matt Sydal and Human Tornado. Given that their time slot was only a half hour long, so with commercials turns into an 18-19 minute show, I was amazed at how many stories and feuds were going on all at once, and not only that, they made SENSE! Imagine that! A story that you can follow and things having reasons for happening. I think there was really only 3 matches the whole season that didn’t have a true reason for happening other than to put over the ability of the wrestlers.

WWE television writers should be taking notes while watching these episodes because it’s a how-to on booking wrestling. Stories make sense. We understand what’s happening. There are legitimate reasons for things. That’s really all there is to it! Fact of the matter is that I guess only Kleinrock and company understand that because TNA doesn’t have a clue either.

There’s a ton of gimmick matches in the first (and last) season of WSX, including the never televised final episode of WSX featuring the Piranha Death Match between Kaos and Jesus: Los Pochos Guapos, and the Cartel, and also had what was supposed to be the first ever Exploding Steel Cage Time bomb Death match on cable TV wrestling between The Filth and the Fury of Teddy Hart and Matt Cross as they took on Team Dragon Gate.

The final episode itself is worth the 20$ tag on the DVD as it was the most fun I’ve had watching wrestling in a long while. The Piranha match was fun for what it was, but the exploding cage match was awesome with some fast paced action, explosions galore, and some suicidal moves by Teddy Hart, M Dogg and the Japanese tandem of Team Dragon Gate.

Bottom line is this: If you only love old school chain wrestling yada yada then this DVD isn’t for you. If you like fast paced action, stories that work, amazing high flying and hardcore bloodshed combined with a comic book type atmosphere and feel, then you will love this box set!

And the actual show is only half of it! I was really surprised at some of the bonus features on this DVD, including the script to one of the shows, which is really groundbreaking and has to be the ultimate wrestling taboo, which just shows that Kevin Kleinrock is a wrestling guerrilla, tearing down whatever walls he wants to, causing NWA’ers to spin in their graves. Jim Ross is probably writing an angry blog about it right now.

It also has commentary from That 70’s Team, Kaos and others, as well as having some matches they called “audition tapes”, which were actually some great matches from CZW’s Cage of Death featuring Jack Evans, Ruckus and “Spider” Nate Webb in a blood fest, as well as a match with Sara Del Rey, known in WSX as Nic Grimes, and Lacey in a 4 woman elimination match from Shimmer women’s wrestling.

I thought the most interesting part of the special features was the commentaries by Kevin Kleinrock, as he explained the thoughts behind some of the more over the top things about WSX, as well as some behind the scenes things and what was to happen in the 2nd season of WSX as far as storyline progression and feuds.
I for one was really disappointed the show is no longer running after hearing the future plans as they had some really great stories to play out.

This box set was a lot of fun to watch and I definitely will throw this into my DVD viewing rotation. Wrestling blasphemy? Hardly. I see it as just something different that was way ahead of it’s time.
I think WSX will always have it’s hate club, but I have no problems in saying I loved every second of this show and wish it was still around.

Wrestling Society X -
The Complete First & Last Season
Lable: Big Vision / MTV
Release Date: Nov, 13, 2007