Omega Championship Wrestling: Chaos in Cameron Review

On Saturday, April 26th I made the 4 hour drive along with a good friend of mine to Cameron to see Omega Championship Wrestling. I have very little experience with live indie shows, but the friend I brought along has been going to them regularly all of his life because his dad is a wrestler himself. We weren't sure how good this show would be, but we knew there was potential and were excited to see it. Thankfully, Omega not only didn't disappoint, but it far surpassed any of our expectations. My friend blatantly stated that this was the greatest show he had ever seen, and I believe him.

The gym wasn't completely packed, but it was pretty close. There was a really long line about half an hour before doors opened and it took about half an hour to get in after they opened from our place in the line. The floor seats were sold out and the bleachers were mostly filled except for on the very edges. The crowd was electric for all of the matches, even ones without well-know talent.

The event began with Cedric Alexander vs Xsiris in the first round of an Omega Championship Tournament. The match was absolutely fantastic. Alexander was the face and Xsiris the heel, and these talents worked very well together. The match was fast paced the entire time and the crowd was crazy for everything they did. From a technical standpoint, everything was solid. Omega couldn't have opened the show in any stronger manner than with these two men. The match went on for a while and there were many near falls and back and forth momentum swings for the two competitors. I expected good things from Cedric who is working his way up the ranks on Ring of Honor, but knew nothing about Xsiris and was legitimately impressed with his ability. Congratulations to these two guys for not only having a great match, but getting what was probably one of the strongest crowd reactions of their careers.

The following match was a singles match that wasn't advertised on the card between a man who's name I don't remember, and Man Scout who is a local talent that dresses as a boy scout and plays the bad guy role. I didn't think this match would be very good, but was honestly surprised. Man Scout was funny and decent in the ring, and the other guy (who I really wish I knew) was incredibly talented. He looked like a young RVD. His skill set was similar, but he was much faster and more agile. He had some of the best spots of the night and the crowd was going absolutely crazy for him. I guarantee that he has never had a crowd go that crazy for him. As a filler match, this one gets 5/5 stars. The two men immediately got the crowd involved and put on an entertaining match. You can't ask for much more from what should have been one of the worst matches on the card.

The third match of the event was another unadvertised match between two men who's names I don't know. I feel bad about that, but I didn't bring anything to write with and didn't realize there would be matches that weren't advertised for the event. This match started with an obvious heel coming out and getting on the mic. He stated that he was born in the town of Cameron where the event was being held, and went on to trash the place with his words and did a great job. He was a natural with the mic in his hands and really had the crowd going. Afterwards, a stereotypical southern guy came out to save the day and the match started. The promo that the heel cut before the match was the best part, and the heel was the strongest in-ring as well. He did a lot of subtle things like kicking out of pins with the ropes or bailing out of the ring when his opponent was getting some momentum that really made you dislike him. By the end of the match, I was cheering for the bad guy just because he was so good at what he was doing. It is incredibly how WWE can spend months and not be able to get a heel over, but Omega just gave an unknown guy a mic for 2 minutes and the whole place was on it's feet booing him. This was another solid and thoroughly entertaining match, and we aren't even half-way through the event yet.

Match number four was the first time that the crowd died. The match was another tournament match between Caprice Coleman and Ric Converse. Coleman and Cedric Alexander (who was in the first match) are a tag team on Ring of Honor, so I expected Coleman to be around the same level of the impressive Cedric. Interestingly, Converse was also advertised as a tag partner with Xsiris in another promotion, although Converse didn't appear to have any similarities with Xsiris. This match sucked. What they did wasn't done poorly, it's just that they didn't do anything. The majority of the match was grappling in the middle of the ring, and the guys just couldn't get any momentum. The crowd completely died except for occasional "you can't wrestle" chants and the match dragged on for two long. At the end Xsiris interfered, and afterwards Cedric came out to an incredible roar and saved the day for Coleman. The match was really boring and Converse and Coleman have no chemistry together. They shouldn't be put in another match at the same time.

After intermission, the only women's match on the card took place between Reby Sky and Darcy Dixon. This match was even worse than the last one. These women can't wrestle. They didn't sell anything, and it really killed the crowd. If Reby weren't hot then nobody would've even watched this. As an educated fan, it is hard to watch something this bad. Everything that happened was just executed poorly, and I was very glad when it was over. 2/5 stars on this one, just bad all around.

After two dead matches, I was really hoping that the two main event matches could turn the event back in the right direction. The first half of the two-way main event was a 6-man elimination tag match between The Hurricane and the Bravado Brothers vs CW Anderson, Konely and Cambino. The crowd went absolutely nuts for Hurricane, to the point where everyone forgot about the Bravado brothers entirely. If this had been a singles match between CW Anderson and Hurricane Helms, it would've been just as good. CW Anderson was the most impressive wrestler in the ring, and Hurricane was the most exciting even though he really didn't do anything out of the box. The match was fine, but the energy level of the crowd amped it up to a whole new level. The place was obnoxiously loud the entire time with tons of chants for Hurricane. Solid first-half of the main event.

The MAIN main event started when Ring of Honor's Briscoe Brothers came out to talk a little on the mic and beat on Hurricane. I was surprised how many in the arena knew who these guys were, chanting things like "man up". The team made references to the promos that were put on YouTube between the Hardys and the Briscoes, which was nice for those of us who kept up with that kind of thing. Predictably, Cameron hit a whole new level of LOUD when the Hardy Boyz music hit, and it was insane. The Hardys were allowed to do some show-boating in front of a crowd that obviously paid to see them return home to Cameron. This match was long, full of energy and down-right fantastic. The Briscoes are great and deserve to go as far as a tag team can go as long as they want to. I can see them on any stage. The Hardys still looked great, I was even surprised by how good Matt was in the ring. Jeff looked fantastic, and it was great of him to be there the night before a PPV with TNA. This match was incredible to be in the arena. Tons of chants and non-stop electricity in Cameron for the entire length of the match.

Buy the DVD if you want to see the event for yourself, but better yet, go out and see Omega for yourself. This is wrestling done right and you will have a great time. Tickets for this event were 18 dollars on the floor after an early date, and 12 in the bleachers after the same date. They were cheaper before said date. Their next event is crazy expensive because the price is set by the venue, but usually you can get in for that cheap. Check out Omegalives.com, there will be DVDs sold there soon. 5/5 indie wrestling show, I had an amazing time.

Omega Championship Wrestling: Chaos in Cameron Show Preview

Some of the wrestlers mentioned in this article are people that I haven't seen perform first-hand, so please excuse me if any of their career history is incorrect.

The wrestling business is past its prime in terms of popularity and quality of content. In 2014, there is only one major professional wrestling promotion with any history available for major audiences to see, and although its product has improved over the last one or two years, it is still only a shell of what it was not so long ago. The greatest time to be a wrestling fan has passed, and true fans of the sport are left with only memories of the once electrifying rosters and promotions that they were able to witness for years.

Thankfully, there are still those dedicated to providing great professional wrestling events in small areas, and for a wrestling fan these events may be the single greatest form of entertainment today. The great thing about independent wrestling shows is that they take place in small venues for much smaller audiences than what you get from the WWE product. This allows fans to get up close and personal with not only the matches, but the performers themselves prior to the show, and in many of the top independent promotions, many of these wrestlers have performed in grand fashion for the likes of WCW, ECW and WWE. For as low as 12 dollars (18 if you want a ringside seat), Omega Championship Wrestling guarantees a chance to meet its stars prior to the show, and to see what promises to be a fantastic event brought to you by people who remember why professional wrestling was so electrifying in the past.

Omega Championship Wrestling is a promotion which was started in the 1990's by Matt and Jeff Hardy with help from Thomas Simpson. The promotion kick-started the careers of Shane "Hurricane" Helms, Shannon Moore, CW Anderson and most notably Matt and Jeff Hardy along with others. After the wrestlers moved forward with their careers the promotion disbanded and remained silent until Matt Hardy announced that Omega would return in January of 2013. Since then the promotion has put on a handful of what seem to have been really good shows in packed houses, featuring former WWE, WCW and ECW stars along with current stars of TNA Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor. The newest edition of Omega is entitled Chaos in Cameron and will take place at Union Pines high school in Cameron, North Carolina. Matt and Jeff Hardy both graduated from this high school, and the show is being advertised as a "Hardy Homecoming".

The first advertised matches on Omega's Facebook page are Omega Championship Tournament first round matches. The winner of the tournament will be the first champion of Omega since its revival. Matt Hardy, CW Anderson, Trevor Lee and Shane Hurricane Helms have already advanced. For Chaos in Cameron we will see Xsiris vs. Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman vs. Ric Converse. Xsiris is a 30 year old high-flyer who competes in the southeast independent circuit, while Cedric Alexander is a current member of the Ring of Honor roster who is also known as a wrestler in the southeast independent circuit. Caprice Coleman began his career in the original Omega promotion, and is know  for his time competing for the Ring of Honor promotion. Coleman's opponent Ric Converse is a major heel in southeast independent wrestling who has worked with many promotions in this part of the country.

I have to give the benefit of the doubt to the performers above as I have never seen them perform personally. Either match includes a current wrestler who is a part of Ring of Honor, which is a very well respected growing promotion in the industry, so you should assume that they are pretty good. It is likely that these two matches will take place early in the card, probably being the first two matches of the night. It is always exciting to see younger competitors who don't have a well-known name in the industry compete on energetic stages like the ones that Omega has been providing, because they all have something to prove and have to work hard to get the crowd on their side, unlike established performers such as the Hardys. Expect good matches from these four men to get you warmed up for the latter half of the show.

The next advertised match for the event is the only women's match on the card, and will be between Reby Sky and Darcy Dixon, with special guest referee Mia Svensson. Reby Sky is the wife of Matt Hardy, and is a very solid in-ring performer. She began her career as an actor and model, and was featured in a Playboy magazine in 2007. She began her wrestling career more recently, making her debut in 2010. Having seen her live in the past, I can say that she does a very good job of putting on an entertaining and aggressive match. Darcy Dixon is a lesser known competitor, but is a fitness model and has some impressive arms to say the least. Expect a legitimate match here unlike what is commonly seen on the likes of WWE.

The next advertised match will be a 6-man elimination tag team match, and is one that I am personally excited for. One team will consist of CW Anderson, Caleb Konely and Mickey Gambino. The other side will include Shane Hurricane Helms and The Bravado Brothers. CW Anderson is a former ECW wrestler who wrestled for both the original ECW promotion as well as WWE's reincarnation of it in the mid 2000's. Konely (who's name is spelled Konely on the Omega Facebook page but spelled Konley on other sources, so I apologize if I am spelling his name incorrectly) has been wrestling in many promotions on the independent circuit since 2006, and Mickey Gambino is also known on the independent circuit. Shane "Hurricane" Helms is known for his work as Sugar Shane Helms in WCW, The Hurricane in WWE as well as Gregory Helms in WWE. His teamates, the Bravado Brothers wrestled for Ring of Honor for 4 years and have been on the independent circuit since then. They are the current EVOLVE tag team champions. Expect an entertaining match as CW Anderson and Hurricane Helms are both fantastic performers. I don't have personal experience with the other four, but we at least know that the Bravado Brothers have wrestled on the legitimate Ring of Honor promotion. The elimination tag match will be better than a traditional 6-man tag match, which can feel a little too crowded when you have slower performers in the ring. I will have my fingers crossed that Hurricane faces CW Anderson as the last two men remaining.

The main event is by far the highest profile match of the night, as it features the multiple time WWE World Tag Team Champions,  The Hardys against current major Ring of Honor competitors, The Briscoe Brothers. There have already been some fantastic promos for this match released on Matt Hardy's YouTube channel, and this promises to be a great tag team match. When the Hardys get together, good things always seem to happen, and the Briscoes are the same way. This has been advertised as a "dream" match, and while I don't know about that, you should certainly expect the crowd to get out of their seats. The clear heels here will be the Briscoes, and when the face team is known for its electrifying and extreme antics, you know that you can expect a classic battle between good and bad that will really get the crowd invested. Even if the rest of the card weren't promising, this match alone would be worth the low admission price to see. It isn't every day that the Hardys get together, and it is a special thing when they do as they are truly one of history's greatest tag teams.

Come to Cameron on April 26th to experience the entire event yourself, and have the chance to meet all of the competitors who will be competing at Chaos in Cameron for OMEGA Championship Wrestling.