Hello hi there trying to contribute instead of being the usual washed retiree!
The Turmoil logo reads "Season '21" which seems to imply it's the year 2021 (which it isn't), rather than the numeric 21, indicating the 21st in sequence. I tried privately pointing this out before the season started, but I guess being stubborn is better than being clear. The general look and feel of the show is - as usual - amazing otherwise.
H2O and JOHN CARTER DON'T KISS Segment
Harvey with another new theme, another good one I spose. Way to utilize history w/ John and the LHW title.
John's new voice is close enough to his old one, but with an omega serious accent instead of the usual casual one.
Sound editing shits out around 3:30, maybe they were just really locked in to what John had to say.
Good substance otherwise, leverage history and these two are a surefire reliable FLE match. Harvey should be working from up given his insecurities so it ended right. And H2O didn't try to kiss him so I guess that's good to make sure nobody freaks the fuck out over nothing this week.
CHERYL VS MEGAN
Entrance mark, Cheryl's theme rules. Megan's trap theme works too and her appearance/attire goes hard as always. Continue to hope the substance eventually starts matching the aesthetic, because there's a ton of potential here.
Wow I haven't watched a match in 2x since 2019! What a time to be alive! Handshake to start, makes sense from what I know of both characters. Lets grap. Cheryl transitions strong chains to sensible lightwork, work the crowd, flash pins where necessary. Megan also good at playing a match and not a quick-play video game, she just needs that one extra step defensively. Brief comeback into a Cheryl Crapple. Set up into a great handspring spot, superkick into rope break. Cheryl keeps combining style with damage, Megan resilient. Contour Crush, that's all she wrote. Fun match, crapple aside.
ASHLEY/ZARA SEGMENT
Zara ended last season very strong. Really love the merch! I imagine that's a Jim quote from Ambition, really smart way to take the environment and make it a character piece. Zara's really top tier week to week, huge potential as a storyteller. Glad to see Rich reach out to Zara and create those tie ins. That's where good stuff starts, going from individual work to collabs. Ashley's one of the best for a reason. Her smarmy bullshit is still always reliable pro wrasslin. Zara's a great bb to her bullshit. Good way to build a match.
Random side note, I don't know if 2K added that shiny-hair glitch again, sucks if so. It's really noticeable and makes caws look like plastic.
BUDDHA FORGIVE JUBEI SEGMENT
Jubei seeking forgiveness but he don't deserve it. He should have been the male japanese hearthrob, but instead he turned his back on Ter. Really solid vignette exploring Jubei's character and inner turmoil with his initial expectations as an athlete and current status.
ASHLEY VS ZARA
Armando!! She be glowin!! I like the stylistic choice and character of Zara, I'm glad she is back in full fold for this year. Really layered babyfaces that doesn't come off as too corny. Ashley is always great in her heel roles. I'd wager to call her the Miz of OCW tbh, and that's 100% a compliment. She's still rocking the same grainy 24kbps Rebel Girl .wav file from 2018 limewire too. That's commitment.
Ashley's always had a terrific moveset that fits her smarmy character, even if some of her shitty kicks are annoying to deal with. Ashley runs a standard ashley match (again, compliment) early on, allowing Zara to show her power and style differences. Huge props to Zara for refraining from crappling around the 5:50 mark. Ashley's great at mixing up offense, trying bullshit like top rope moves that she knows are hard to pull off but are worth it for the character rather than spamming the same 2 DDTs and knife edge chops all match because they work better. Really fun back and forth from both. I think Zara handles the elusive-powerhouse role well enough, though the poisonranna opened my eyes a bit. Very fun ending sequence, Respect shown from Ashley, very appropriate given the OOC notice that Zara def kicked out but was just too late for the game to register it.
Run this back in a 4-8 week program on a FLE
H2O/JJYNX YUCK IT UP SEGMENT
My frontline brothers still using my elevator! It's okay, I signed off on it.
Harv dials into his past (and I'm a sucker for lore callbacks) with JynX. Appreciating JynX continuation of his commitments from last season. Good job on editing here imo, simplistic, not too much, use of a bunch of screenshots to show emotions, not just the same thing back and forth. Gives pause, gives weight, gives space. Makes it watchable without needing to rely on too much video. I would tone down the crowd noise and maybe add a slight reverb so they don't drown out the dialogue, but other than that good job. Love Harvey continuing his early Summer partnership with JynX into positioning him as a future world title contender.
BASH & the dipshit SEGMENT
Classic Bash straight forward promo, the French popped me. Bash saying in Francois that Rust is "dishonoring the French people" and doing them a disservice before he's cut off. (Maybe a use of captioning would be valuable here so your french isn't lost on the general audience)
Rust's voice has a lot more character and emotion than I last heard, without losing his dumb fuck sarcastic cadence. The line about Rust creating "pierre" in a discord efed was very stupid and meta but it did make me laugh, as well as the Frontline joke. That's all that matters. He's gone full memer at this point, which thankfully due to his pedigree you can sort of apply a "Kurt Angle" vibe to, which allows him to be a complete ass most of the time while still being taken seriously. Personally I think his tag team partner led the way for this level of inept overconfidence but hey. He's here and BASH/Cohle is a sure-fire winner of a FLE match.
A-MART VS THE GOOZLER
Probably one of the very cleanest best presented "wrestler" on the roster in A-Mart. Like Megan, every time you see them, you just wish they were used in more meaningful ways than match fodder. I like to think of this category of superstar athletes like I do IRL, except in OCW I can't bitch about bookers not using Guilia or Big Bill more! But hey, as long as they're having fun, this ain't a fucking job. From the little I've seen this season he's on his way tho so keep it up.
Anyways, I have not been properly introduced to the Handsome Goozler or his very shiny hair. (Again, assuming this is a 2K problem)
Me oh my.
I appreciate the evolution of post DNS characters in the current OCW landscape when I'm able to catch shows. Goozler is no diff, honestly I thought he had the least potential among the original DNS group and he's blown me away in terms of commitment to the bit, listening to the market around him, and leaning into his powerhouse/goliath nature. He doesn't take himself too seriously which is a huge thing for these kinds of characters.
A-Mart plays the little guy perfectly after thef irst 5m of getting his ass kicked raw style. Pepsi twist! A-Mart turns on the fucking nitros in the 2nd act of this one, which he needs to to slay the giant. Ahh Omen breaking FPR right at the end with the quick recovery, (or maybe not? idk if the rules have changed) Either way, it didn't change the result. A-Mart stays focused, gets the W and throws a post-match shot to Mad Dawg on his way out. Quick and effective use of post-match time to further your story.
STACY UPDATES US ON EMP SEGMENT
The usual high-quality sport-style segment for emp. It's not just the pretty impressive quality AI-Stacy, EMP's pacing and video recap stuff using the actual footage often gets buried beneath the more standout-ish AI stuff. Bouncing between live footage with stacy and the full screen recaps is exactly the kind of style oyu'd expect to see on an actual wrestling show. Also I see you bitch, nice touch on the LED newsprint effect on the TV during Stacy's talking head portion to give the TV a more realistic feel.
NATE DISCUSSES HIS ACTIONS SEGMENT
Given the limited nature of our tools (outside of complex AI tools somtimes), this is a great use of space, history, and faded screenshots. Allows to focus mostly on the audio and substance, again good use of recap footage with the faded Nate in the background. I also am personally a fan of the dramatic music backing during these kinds of vignette. Name dropping me like 14 times during your promo against Antonio Everrett is just classic Clout-Chase-Nate, but hey it's worked for 20 years why stop now.
THE LAST VS PETIE & JOHN
This match is brought to you by InSHOT, apparently.
Petie still rules, no updates as far as that goes. No incongruence between his style in the ring and his overall entrance/theme presentations.
John's shinier than I remember but the wrestling man still wrestles. felt like a proper big time tag match after ents. John's surely upset after earlier promo, that's why H2O shoulda stayed up as he did, to set up for this match.
Petie powerful out of the gate, quick tags and John hits his classic barricade spot early, that's a "TURMOIL ROLLS ON AFTER THIS" ass spot if I've ever seen one.
Solid back and forth with Petie and the two smaller guys, but he quickly gets overwhelmed and doesn't tag out to john right away, does just in time, and now the script flips, with JynX sticking around too long and getting caught by whatever-the-fuck you call that finish!! Classic hubris, John gets one over on a reigning champion to show H2O he means business and the earlier segment with H2O lauding JynX may be getting to his head.
CHERYL BACKSTAGE SEGMENT
Cheryl chasing Dragana is a great follow up to her working with her at the end of last year, Cheryl still riding high as a strong babyface, fighting for her fans, and most importantly showing herself as a beacon of confidence, self-respect and resilience, the exact kind of thing Dragana supports. Great line about "women's voices being heard". No heeling on the opposition but leaving room for tension by not backing down.
THE CLARK EFFECT FROM RICKY COLON SEGMENT
Stacy Clark comes out of the gates very disrespectful by noting Ricky's losses and mentioning his new focus to promos. Ricky snaps back quickly, not allowing himself to be drown by the Ls. A very brief but quick mention about Bolek as I believe these two have been going at it back and forth lately.
Technically, this felt more like a digital exclusive than a Clark Effect. The lack of production, outro or presentation. I'd also again echo what I said before and say the crowd noise is a bit too loud, drowns out some things. Ricky's mic sounds like he was recording on the highway during a road trip, but the energy was there. Still, Ricky and Bolek is a fun back and forth between two very confident yappers so continuing to build to the match is a +.
JIM BLACK IS KAREEM'D SOFTLY SEGMENT
The Werdz! Jim gets an update on OCW World Champ Big Tony Two Touch as his representative Kareem steps in. Nate Ortiz battered and bruised his former Dominion mate because he's soft and desperate for another title before he hangs them up, Kareem makes that much clear. He properly points out that Nate's choice to attack Tony from behind prior to their meeting at Summercide was a dedicated choice. Kareem makes it clear this doesn't hurt tony, it just means it's now personal, which spells disaster for Nate at Summercide.
SOUTHERN DIRTY CASH IS BYKE SEGMENT
A throwback to an earlier promo to lead into the return vignette was nice. SDC had a lot of momentum prior to the great flood of 2025 and I'm happy to see everyone's favorite Marble Cake Tag Team make a return to OCW, the tag scene seems to need the boost.
NATE ORTIZ VS DEVON FLASH II
Oh yeah, now we're talking! One of the top matches in my recent memory running it back. This time, no undue pressure of an International title holding it down. Oh fuck! JCS is in my ears. Time to get some comms! Jim is here, and he sounds great! Idk if that's studio cleaning or a new equipment Jimbo but good shit.
Nate Ortiz hair supplements have to be making huge money. I kinda like this look for Nate better than his other recent looks, he's got that grizzled "Guns of the Patriots" Solid Snake vibe to him now, where as previous nates felt a little too "buttoned up" and like he used all the hair product in the locker room to grease that head up.
Great choice of a stare-down to open proceedings, into the Nate big boot which has been a fixture since 2020.
Not sure if the Me has framerate issues at its core or if it's on my end, quality is great otherwise.
Big fan of Devon Flash and I've said it before how similar he is to Nate himself. Great call from Jim "Nate Ortiz esque" on the tombstone, I literally said the same thing watching from my end lol. Devon is absolutely a 5-tool player, crazy he hasn't won more than the tag title yet, but I think that delay is only going to make his breakout that much greater.
Very solid big man back and forth early until the Flash cover to slow things down. Sensational stunner! but that move sucks so Devon rolls him up right away after. Devon taking it to the GTGOAT and a subtle thing I like, Devon manuevering around the back of Nate during recovery sections to mix up his offense. Devon out in front but this is exactly what happened before! Nate came back from this same situation last time!
Chemistry for Jay moving to main PxP and Jim finding the space as a supporting color guy is really great. I'm glad the old guy quit, he was too loud and annoying anyways.
OH MAN! Nate absolutely just coming back like we knew he would, love Devon Flash rolling out during stun showing the awareness, veteran instinct. Nate is really delaying the kill shot, and then there's the 5 inch spear and GOD DAMMIT!!
I could watch Devon vs Nate every week as the main! Really great job and sets Nate up perfect for his upcoming world title match with Tony.
LYANNA HARTFIELD GOES SCORTCHED EARTH SEGMENT
One of last years top new additions to the roster is back! And here I thought the crybaby behind the excellent character was on a break?
Ahhh! I really like the approach here given the unfortunate change of the guard at the top of the mountain. Lyanna using nonce Discord behavior as heel heat is great, and PERL summoned on the back of it! I dig the new theme for PERL, and another subtle thing I love from Jim is the knee brace, building off the kayfabe injury from last year. Then the kicking of the turnbuckle with the knee! Good stuff.
Lyanna and PERL is fun. PERL seems like the natural next step for the World Title to settle the ship, though given the shakiness of the roster, I thought maybe merging the Pride into the World Title was going to happen. This isn't a damnation on the creation of the pride title, I'm glad OCW did it to spotlight the women's division, but unfortunately the division did not grow or sustain as much as hoped, due in small parts to temper tantrums and excuses from people who would rather blame Jay than take accountability and see the bigger picture, soft ass weak-willed quitters who'd rather "move on with their lives" than build the brand, and mostly 2K's general dogshit output of a video game that makes ALL of us not want to bother wasting our fucking time.
allahuma njjny, what a rant. Let's get back on track. Good segment! Go PERL!
TACTICAL ROACH TEXT SEGMENT
This was such a classic hilarious OCW segment. The dimmed images deciding whos talking is a good touch but still, this was just a funny break in the action, turning this stupid fucking conversation into a buttrock song is a great comedic choice. A+ all around, I can imagine myself loudly and obnoxiously laughing at this in VP the entire time.
GOLDEN DRAGON CHINESE RESTAURANT SEGMENT
YABOYZZZZZ
The fearsome foursome celebrate their tag team championship reign, even if it's not nearly the longest as Bae Bae thinks. lmao talk about classic OCW vibes, this one gave me a lot of P3/Spider escapades circa 2017-2020 vibes. Even still, comedic in nature, it makes clear that the tag titles are being defended, via fortune cookie or not, at Summercide against Southern Dirty Cash!
Making B17 the general manager of a fucking Radio Shack, much less an international pro wrestling brand, is a choice I'll never understand, but it's not my barrel and they're not my monkeys, so you idiots do what you want.
WAYLON CALLS OUT PETIE (Not Petite, YT Title.) SEGMENT
As a connoisseur of buttrock, I love the WAYLON theme. I saw a few comments about Waylon's voice but I don't see a problem. Sure, it sounds like he's trying to sooth me into a sexual meeting, but not necessarily in a bad way. I get more of a sexy Sean O'Haire vibe. Glad to see both Petie and Waylon continuing their momentum, that's exactly how you rise through the ranks. Pete calls Waylon on his bullshit, which Petie may know more about given his recent heelery. Petie saying "Cobra showed me how to survive in OCW" is really wild, considering everything.
This another example of OCW stars knowing how to leverage their history, something I think OCW does well more than most wrestling promos. WAYLON's line about Petie being "another guy" in UE was solid, and Petie's line about the butcher before dropping WAYLON was also good. Solid segment, some audio cues and disruptions to work out here or there but I enjoyed it.
MAIN EVENT: AC COBRA vs ALEKSANDER BOLEK
The new AC Cobra knows how to make an entrance. I stil lhate his attire but at least he's not a snake skinned gooner like he was last time I saw him. Bolek vs Cobra seems like the perfect main event designed to make me turn the channel. Entrances... God dammit the aura is there but I have to point it out when I see it, that same generic ass AI font everywhere you look on BOTH of their trons really sticks a fork prong in my urethra. Cmon guys, spend more than 10 seconds on a prompt and get something unique and fun! :)
Cobra's a great heel and plays his part well here. Bolek still has top guy energy as a babyface and his kneepad/boot aesthetic stands out as a solid unique marker.
Jim "his dad might be right all along" lmao. The chem going nuts with these guys, lovei t.
AC TRYING TO HOT START! Cobra's always had a super underrated wrestling style, it's a shame people only noticed during this recent run, but it's still consistently on display in his matches. Bolek learning from Wrex in the school of chaining-suplexes back to back. Cobra smart to not allow Bolek any shine, you can't give these vanilla midgets any momentum. Super even through 2 body parts.
lol suplex chaining to Cobra too! Did both these guys attend Scumchester Academy?
More people should throw guys out the ring to change the momentum. Shades of wrex! Yes Jim that's what I was saying!
Wow very even through 2 BP again!
AND THATS THE META. Cobra's newfound patience is why he's in the status he's at. Idk where Cobra's going into Summercide but he continues to hang with the best of em in the main event scene.
*Ricky Colon will remember this.
Well there you go
I'm not gonna make a habit of this but I watch the shows very sparsely and casually so figured I'd throw some contribution in here on a slow Saturday night.
Todo es amor, OCW. Sigue en la lucha.
By
Quartz ·
