Another stop off for the Collective now, and it’s a much-changed Black Label Pro show…
Quick Results
Alex Shelley pinned Anthony Henry in 12:35 to retain the Black Label Pro Midwest Championship (***½)
Josh Alexander pinned Leyla Hirsch in 10:22 (***)
Marko Stunt & Logan Stunt pinned Effy & Danhausen in 8:30 (**½)
AJ Gray pinned Levi Everett, Big Beef, Jody Threat, Matthew Justice, Colin Delaney & Joshua Bishop in 8:28 (**¾)
Killer Kelly submitted Billie Starkz in 11:13 (***)
Air Wolf & Angel Dorado pin Erick Stevens & Tom Lawlor in 11:30 (***½)
Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini pinned Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega to win the Black Label Pro Tag Team Championship in 13:55 (***¾)
Blake Christian submitted Alex Zayne, JD Drake & Ethan Page in 10:18 (***½)
Jake Something pinned WARHORSE in 14:27 to retain the Black Label Pro Championship (***½)
We’re back at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana for a show that’s had to undergo a few changes after an issue with an agent led to Chris Masters, Carlito, Fred Rosser and the former Heath Slater being pulled, in addition to a show day switch that saw Kylie Rae withdraw from the show, as Killer Kelly would now take on Billie Starkz. Commentary comes from Dave Prazak and Percy Davis.
Black Label Pro Midwest Championship: Anthony Henry vs. Alex Shelley (c)
Let’s hit the ground running, eh?
We start with a handshake at the bell, as Henry snapmared Shelley down for a pin, but Shelley rolls through and finds his way into an abdominal stretch. That’s turned into a hammerlock before Henry rolled them down to the mat… only for Shelley to get back up and catch Henry with a back elbow off the ropes. A roll-up out of the corner sees Henry apply a Stretch Muffler, but Shelley crawls to the ropes and found a way to land a Hot Shot from the apron. A slingshot splash lands in Henry’s knees, before a kick was caught with Shelley spinning Henry around into a neckbreaker. Another hammerlock takes Henry down ahead of a kneedrop from Shelley, before Shelley tripped Henry into a strait-jacket hold.
That’s turned into a back cracker for extra torque, and it looked to aggravate Henry’s neck too as he was left nursing his head and shoulders. Henry’s back with a double leg Dragon screw, before a leg whip kept Shelley down with Henry smelling the proverbial blood. Shelley tries to stand up, but Henry just bridges back into the deathlock, before some kicks to the quad led to Shelley pushing Henry outside. Henry slides back in, but gets thrown back out on the other side, as Shelley tried to get back to his feet… doing so just in time to lock in a sleeperhold, but Henry jars the knee then went for a low dropkick to keep the focus up.
A low PK and a stomp to the knee gets us back on the mat for a Figure Four, before Shelley got free and fought back with chops. Henry gets fed up and kicks him back down, before an enziguiri got Shelley free from a Dragon screw. Henry keeps up with the kicks, then caught Shelley with another Dragon screw as he trapped himself in the ropes to avoid a German suplex. Henry’s taken into the corner with a STO, as he returns with a gamengiri on the apron before a slingshot roll-up took him in for a superkick to Shelley. A tornado DDT’s next for a near-fall, before another Stretch Muffler forces Shelley to dive for the rope. More kicks to the quad have Shelley stumbling, before Shelley lifted his leg to avoid a chop block, before a standing Shiranui dropped Henry for a near-fall.
From there, Henry tries for Shelley’s Border City Stretch, but has more luck with Shell Shock for a near-fall… but he goes back to the Border City Stretch, which Shelley rolled up into a cradle for the shonkiest of pin-falls that you’ll ever see. A good opener, with Henry working the leg throughout, but again Shelley knew the counter to his own moves. ***½
Josh Alexander vs. Leyla Hirsch
This ought to be a cracker – but Hirsch is thrown aside early on as she went for a takedown on Alexander.
Wash, rinse, repeat as Hirsch was getting frustrated, but she eventually double-legs Alexander who got back to his feet, before he was thrown outside for a low-pe. A second one follows, before a third one was caught, with Alexander just carrying her up onto the apron ahead of a brutal slam. OW. A super stalling suplex is next, giving the commentary team time to rattle off all their adverts before Hirsch was dropped to the mat. Knees in the corner rock Hirsch, who slips out of a Fireman’s carry and rolled Alexander to the mat in a cross armbar… but Josh rolls up and wrecks her with a powerbomb onto the knee. Alexander clubs Hirsch to the mat with forearms, but Leyla fights back before a search for a sunset flip ended with Hirsch taking Alexander into the corner.
A running forearm drops Alexander for some running double knees and a slingshot dropkick, before a Saito suplex dropped Alexander for a near-fall. Alexander nails Hirsch with an elbow strike, but doesn’t go for the cover as he instead picks up Hirsch for a spinning torture rack bomb… changing it into a backbreaker for a near-fall. On the apron, Alexander climbs the turnbuckles with Hirsch in a Fireman’s carry… she slips out and lands an uppercut ahead of an avalanche Angle slam! A knee strike and a German suplex has Alexander down for a near-fall, before Leyla began to slap Alexander around. She tries to shrug off a series of chops, coming back with lariats before spinning Alexander down with another clothesline.
Hirsch went for the double-jump moonsault, but Alexander’s already up – he catches her and spikes her to the mat with a spinning tombstone for the win. This was a little one-sided, but Hirsch looked pretty good with her strikes – only for that moonsault to shut the door on her chances. ***
Gaytanic Panic (Danhausen & Effy) vs. Stunt Doubles (Marko Stunt & Logan Stunt)
One of our “replacement” matches, as Danhausen and Effy were meant to take on Carlito and Chris Masters.
We start with Effy just brutalising Logan with a pump kick, before he armdragged his way out of a chokeslam from Effy. More armdrags take Logan into the mount for some ground and pound, before Effy went for a Last Ride… but Logan pops up into a stomp as he forces Effy to tag out. In come Danhausen and Marko, but Marko’s apparently looking to switch partners mid-match. Is this a swingers tag? A knuckle lock from Marko has Danhausen on his knees, but he gets taken into the corner before an attempted German suplex led to nought. Danhausen runs into a rear spin kick, before he went for a chokeslam, but Marko gets out as Effy tagged back in. A drop toe hold has Effy down as Logan’s back to wheel away on punches like he was owed money or something.
Effy gets freehand thrusted into Logan in the corner, before some jabs kept him there as Logan then ran out… but got caught by Effy again ahead of a mucho-delayed 3D. They then go to shtick as Danhausen and Marko Stunt do the Tequila dance, with Effy and Logan getting kicked in time, before Danhausen clotheslined Marko back inside. Marko wheels away on punches on Danhausen before some overhand chops stung Danhausen. Logan’s back too, as the Stunts sandwich Danhausen with PKs and low dropkicks for a two-count. A rear hook kick from Logan lands, but the Stunts come in and get double chokeslammed before Danhausen poured teeth into the Stunts mouths.
From there, Logan’s met with another kick as Marko tagged in to run wild… eventually knocking Effy and Danhausen into each other when Logan returned, as the Stunt Doubles won with duelling schoolboys. This was fine and didn’t outstay its welcome – but was exactly what you’d expect with these four. **½
Big Beef vs. Levi Everett vs. Jody Threat vs. Matthew Justice vs. Colin Delaney vs. Joshua Bishop vs. AJ Gray
Gary Jay was announced as being out of the scramble, while Colin Delaney came out a) in a WWE ECW tee, b) in his WWE ECW gear and c) to Tommy Dreamer’s original music.
We start with all the lads laying into each other, as Jody Threat just stood back and took it all in. Big Beef and Everett went for each other, before Levi grabbed his pitchfork and jabbed Big Beef in the balls with it. Another shot follows to the feet, before he raked the back with it. Classic. Everett swings and misses with another shot, as Beef just clubs away on him, following up with a nice dropkick to take Levi outside. Threat comes in to throw some elbows, but she can’t take him off his feed until she went for a sunset flip, following up with more elbows. A boot takes Beef into the ropes ahead of a running double knees and finally a German suplex.
Out goes Beef, in comes Delaney, who knocks Threat outside as AJ Gray replaces her… Gray uses misdirection and a chop block to spin Delaney, but Colin replies with a leaping back kick to knock AJ down. Off come the t-shirts as they trade chops, as we then go to Bishop and Justice laying into each other. They head outside, as Beef followed them with a dive… but he crashes and burns on the floor. Levi Everett tries his luck, and lands his dive, while Jody Threat scales the ropes for a flip senton into the pile. Wes Barkley finds a table and passes it for Bishop to set up… there’s a chair too as we’ve gotta have some plunder… but Justice grabs it and flings at Bishop and Barkley a la Sabu.
Bishop chops back and prepares for a powerbomb through the table – Justice carves through that wood like a knife through butter as Everett breaks up the pin, before Big Beef spikes Gray with a piledriver. Threat’s back with a running clothesline, before a F5 dropped Beef… who rolls outside, before Delaney’s springboard cutter took her out. Everett’s back with a knee and a Torpedo Moscau-like headbutt, before Gray returned to break up a Butter Churner with a lariat, getting the pin on Everett for the win. I loved that finish in what was a wild scramble, with everyone getting something in for their time. **¾
Killer Kelly vs. Billie Starkz
This was Kelly’s first match in the States in over two years – and was luckily able to shake off an arm injury from the last Shotgun tapings to make it here.
A snarling Kelly slaps Starks before the bell a la Timothy Thatcher, and went in for a rear naked choke. Starkz escapes and clobbers her with a lariat, before Kelly got caught with a lucha roll-up for a near-fall. A sunset flip into the ropes gets another two-count, as Kelly came up smiling… but her pump kick misses before the second one hit. The cover gets Kelly a two-count, as Kelly then came in with crossface punches before forcing Starkz to the mat for a two-count. Starkz avoids a suplex but take a gourdbuster instead, before a bridging suplex almost put Billie away. Kelly’s back with a running PK that took Starkz outside… in the right place for the Cristiano apron PK to the arm. A second one is caught, with Starks sweeping her onto the apron instead, before joining her for some back-and-forth elbows.
A death valley driver’s teased, but Starkz wriggles into the ring and nails Kelly with a Shotei. That just winds her up as Kelly shot her a look of death ahead of some palm strikes of her own, before she caught Starkz in some capture headbutts that lead to a capture suplex. Starkz moves away from Shades of Shibata, then knocked down Kelly with a forearm, before Kelly returned with a trio of short-arm clotheslines. The Shades of Shibata follows next, before Kelly rolled through into Vale da Morte in the ropes for a near-fall. Starkz grabs the ropes to stay alive as Kelly had a word with the ref about the count… then went back to Billie for a RINGKAMPF German suplex for a near-fall. Kelly charges in for some ground and pound next, wheeling away on Starkz as the ref was forced to break them up… but he doesn’t call the match.
Kelly pulls Billie up for another Thatcher slap, but Starkz fights back with forearms and a head kick, knocking Kelly to her knees, before a German suplex was avoided. Billie’s whipped into the corner, landing an enziguiri on the top rope before Kelly blocked an O’Connor roll. A second one’s turned into a German suplex for a near-fall, before Billie went for a Fisherman suplex… only to get caught with a Dragon sleeper. Starkz rolls out and nearly gets the pin, then again after a head kick, before a Fisherman buster into the corner got Starkz another two-count. She heads up top next, only to miss a senton bomb, before Kelly dragged her back into the Dragon sleeper for the win. A nice back-and-forth match, even if it looked a little scary at times, with Kelly taking the win as BLP continue to tell the “almost there” story with Starkz. ***
Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor & Erick Stevens) vs. Top Flight (Air Wolf & Angel Dorado)
Our other “replacement” match, with Top Flight replacing the Nexus pair of Fred Rosser and Heath… and we start with Air Wolf getting double-teamed by Team Filthy in their corner.
A big chop drops Wolf in the ropes, but Wolf hits a strike to the arm before Stevens just charged him down. Stevens sweeps the leg, but gets caught with a stomp before he rolled Air Wolf down into a cross armbar attempt… but it quickly ends in the ropes. Angel Dorado’s in with a load of dropkicks, while Air Wolf helps dropkick Team Filthy to the outside… as Tom Lawlor comes back in with a broom. Lawlor tags back in when they calm down, while Dorado’s corner clothesline and senton atomico squashes Lawlor for a near-fall. Top Flight look to go for a Doomsday something-or-other, but Lawlor slips out before hitting Wolf with a German suplex.
Dorado looked to have slipped off the top rope, and his predicament isn’t helped when Stevens comes in to play his part in a chop battle. An attempt by Dorado to tag out is stopped as he’s charged back into the corner, with Lawlor coming in to lift him up top for a running knee strike. Lawlor grabs an ankle as Stevens tagged back in to wrench away on a chinlock on Dorado… it’s fought out of though, as Air Wolf managed to get the tag in and clear house. Wolf goes for a crucifix that gets a near-fall, before a snap German suplex drops Lawlor. Top Flight combine for a double-team powerbomb as Dorado had Lawlor thrown his way for a near-fall, but as the referee as distracted by something outside, he misses Lawlor’s low blow as a roll-up got a near-fall.
Lawlor’s back to land a Kamigoye-like knee strike, before a back body drop into a powerbomb by Stevens and a pair of rear naked chokes looked to get the win, but Air Wolf cannonballs onto his own man to break it up. A Doomsday Device follows… but Dorado counters into a Spanish Fly that almost won, as Erick Stevens dove onto the pile just in time. A step-up dropkick from Top Flight doesn’t quite go to plan, as Lawlor’s taken outside, meaning Stevens has to clear the decks himself. Superkicks knock the gum out of Stevens, before Top Flight hit an assisted Cheeky Nando’s in the corner for the win. Another wild tag match, with not everything hitting – but enough did as the replacements sneak out the win. ***½
Black Label Pro Tag Team Championship: Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) vs. Besties In The World (c) (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) (c)
Fitchett and Garrini start us off, as they head to the mat, but it’s Garrini gets some holds in early on as he looked to stretch Fitchett.
A heel hook from Fitchett gets him free, but Garrini wangles his way out into a rear naked choke, before a Twister had Fitchett in a predicament. Davey Vega tags in as a double-team has Garrini down, as Garrini ended up in the wrong corner with the champions looking to keep him away from a tag. Fitchett’s back to snapmare Garrini in for a chinlock, switching into a stranglehold that Garrini elbows out of as Kevin Ku got the tag in and ran wild, dropkicking Vega into the corner… but got held by Fitchett as he went for a moonsault out of the corner. Vega works over Ku’s legs, DDT’ing it into the mat before a leg lock led to some kicks from Vega. A knee drop to the knee has Ku in pain, only exacerbated as he’s held in a Tree of Woe.
Garrini comes in to try and break it up, but the referee restrains him as Fitchett held him in a modified deathlock on the mat. More kicks to the leg from Vega keep Ku down, as did a Dragon screw after Vega faked out a superkick. Ku manages to find a way back in with a head kick of his own, but he still had to get past Vega… trading chops and elbows to do so before both men found the tags out. Punches and clotheslines from Garrini have the champions on the back foot, before Garrini hit a stacked-up German suplex out of the corner. An F5 drops Fitchett into an armbar, before Vega tried to kick it apart. Garrini ducks and takes him out with a half-and-half suplex, before a Total Elimination almost gave us new champions.
Ku’s back in, but Vega chop blocks out Ku’s knee – and after a Fireman’s Carry Flatliner took Garrini out, it looked all but elementary. A Koppo kick and diving enziguiri into Ku in the corner gets Fitchett a near-fall, before Ku and Fitchett began to trade chops and strikes. Windmill strikes take Fitchett into the corner, forcing him to cover up, but Ku’s quickly caught with a Ligerbomb for a near-fall, then a STO, as Vega took care of Garrini on the outside. Some Kawada kicks from Vega wear Ku down more – before Garrini came back to drop Vega on the apron and finally break up the hold. He returns to drop Fitchett with a brainbuster, but a stacked-up pin is broken up at two. All four men stay in the ring as Garrini tries to clear house, landing a Go 2 Sleep to Fitchett, who responds with a Pele kick, only for Ku’s snap dragon suplex and a Alphamare Waterslide to Vega to clear the ring as a kick-assisted brainbuster from Garrini ends up being enough for the title change. A hell of a tag team match, with the Besties working over Ku’s leg – and while it seemed to work, they ultimately had no answer for the challengers’ version of Chasing the Dragon as we end up with new champions. ***¾
Alex Zayne vs. Blake Christian vs. Ethan Page vs. JD Drake
Winner gets a shot at the BLP title at Slamilton next month, but Calvin Tankman’s been replaced after a phantom attack. Christian and Drake were added to this, which I’m not complaining about…
We’re under lucha rules, but we start with handshakes that turn into chops as Drake tried to blast through the other three. A suplex on Zayne is avoided, with Page hitting a boot to Drake before a dropkick took Zayne down. Christian’s in with a flying lariat off the top, before he and Zayne went nuts, countering each other’s stuff until a leaping stomp from Christian caught a seated Zayne. Drake breaks that up by throwing Christian into the corner, following up with chops to him and Zayne before delivering an accidental DDT between the two of them. A knee strike from Blake takes JD out, with a tope con giro landing onto Drake and Zayne… before Page suckered Blake with a superkick.
Back inside, a suplex drops Christian for a two-count, before he hit an Iconoclasm on Christian, catching Drake in the ropes too for a near-fall. Zayne’s back, but gets suplexed onto the ropes as Christian came in with a flying legdrop for good measure. A pop up satellite DDT from Christian almost puts away Page, before a flipping facebuster off the middle rope from Zayne kept things going. Drake breaks up that pin, then went after Zayne in the corner for some chops. A charge misses, with Zayne coming back with a shooting star knee drop that misses… allowing Drake to hit a diving knee, then the Drill Bit for a near-fall as Page dove in in time. He called out the Canadian and went back-and-forth with elbows, then chops before Page landed a DDT for a two-count.
Zayne tried to get back in, but Page catches him up top before a stunner from Drake sent Page flying into the corner for a cannonball… but Zayne’s still on the top rope, as Drake then turned his attention here, knocking him down before a moonsault to Page landed for a delayed two-count, with a Spiral Tap from Zayne breaking that up. Zayne flips off of Page’s back looking for a ‘rana and eventually gets it to take Drake off the top rope, before Page’s superkicks and shoulder tackle knocks him down. A Border Toss from Page follows, but out comes Dan the Dad/Wrassler to pull Page out, as they brawled to the back. Blake Christian takes advantage with a 450 splash to Zayne, then dropkicked Drake to the outside before a wacky grounded Octopus got the win. A fun sprint of a four-way, with them actually throwing in a continuation of a storyline on this match-heavy show. ***½
Black Label Pro Championship: WARHORSE vs. Jake Something (c)
It’s odd seeing WARHORSE here as a challenger, but here we go.
Something elbows him at the start, taking WARHORSE down for some quick ground and pound, before stretching him across the ropes for a clubbing forearm. He grabs some water and wipes off the war point, which angers the challenger into throwing some fists and headbutts, before he punched his way out of a powerbomb. Something pushes the now panda-eyed WARHORSE to the outside, but the challenger’s back with a hotshot, before he went up top for a big front dropkick. That took Something outside for a tope con giro, but there’s a switcharound as my feed buffered, as we come back to a dive from Something, hitting a pescado into the challenger.
Something followed that with a running clothesline to WARHORSE against the side of the ring. WARHORSE makes it back inside, but he’s dropped again with a forearm before a knee drop led to a two-count. A body attack drops WARHORSE as he was teeing up for a lariat, as yet again the challenger was having issues even coming out of the blocks. Short-arm clotheslines from WARHORSE seemed to help, as did a headbutt, before he caught Something with a pop-up DDT, before he ducked under a second body attack and came back in with chops and elbows. A rolling elbow has Something staggered in the ropes, before WARHORSE hit the buckles for a dropkick to the knee.
WARHORSE keeps going with a lariat off the ropes, which almost gets the win. Some stomps from WARHORSE look to wear down Something for a Sharpshooter, but it’s right by the ropes and Something grazes them before pushing him away. A charging spear into the corner traps WARHORSE, who comes back with a trip as he looked for the Sharpshooter again, but instead comes in with a rolling elbow before a butterfly brainbuster left both men laying. A delayed cover gets WARHORSE a two-count, then followed up on Something outside with a stomp off the apron. He throws Something back inside, before a flying ‘rana’s caught and turned into a powerbomb for a near-fall. Something follows that up with a Fire Thunder driver as a nod to Calvin Tankman, which gets a near-fall before Something went up and missed a body splash.
Another leaping stomp from WARHORSE keeps Something down as the challenger went up top for an elbow drop that almost led to the second title change of the show. He heads back up, and lands it again, as he kept going all Macho Man with a third one… but Gary Jay’s music hits to distract WARHORSE. He came out with the IWTV title belt in a storyline involving Craigslist that I completely missed. Just like how the camera missed Something hitting the ropes to knock down WARHORSE as a Black Hole Slam gets the win. Well, they shoehorned another storyline into this as I guess we’re getting Jay vs. WARHORSE for the IWTV title somewhere. ***½
Post-match, Jay hit the ring and taunted WARHORSE with the title belt, before decking him with a rolling elbow. Jay takes the mic and challenged WARHORSE for the title at Slamilton, before blowing a snot rocket on the Independent champion to close out the show…
It was another monster Black Label Pro show as they crammed nine matches into their Collective timeslot. As usual, nothing overstayed its welcome, nor was objectively bad, as Black Label Pro provided a nice and easy show to start off the final day of the Collective weekend.