WALTER and Will Ospreay met for the first time ever as Defiant returned to Manchester for a card that lived up to its name. Stacked.
We’re inside the Bowler’s Exhibition Centre in (or around) Manchester for this, with Dave Bradshaw and James R. Kennedy on commentary as ever.
Omari vs. Lucky Kid
We’ve a pair of returns to Defiant as Omari’s brought back following his showing in July’s Ringmaster tournament, while Lucky Kid’s latest UK tour sees him return for the first time in a year.
Yes, both men had their “regular” music. No overdubs or knock-offs here.
Dave Bradshaw reminds us that Lucky Kid used to be part of a tag team… but since that’s been dismantled pretty much everywhere, the former Young Lions are just history. What isn’t history is Lucky Kid posing around the ring, trying to get under Omari’s skin, while also walking circles around him. Lucky started out well, taking Omari outside with a low dropkick before he faked out a dive. Yes, even in Defiant we BLAAAH! There’s more mind games as Lucky clings to Omari’s leg, only to find that his new friend… wasn’t really, as he instead spreads Omari’s legs and trips him to the mat. Guess what, Lucky Kid’s shtick got over, because it was different!
We’ve some rope walking… but we just get a springboard BLAAAH before Omari just superkicks his head off. Oof. Omari looks to take over after that, taking Lucky down with a dropkick… only to get caught in an Octopus hold out of nowhere. Omari manages to roll out though, before getting caught with a handspring back elbow as the pair remained even. A head kick, then a superkick from Omari has Lucky wobbly, but the Berliner’s right back in with a snapmare and another low dropkick for a two-count. The pair trade chops, with Lucky knocking Omari off his feet, but a leg lariat and a gutwrench powerbomb put the Big O right back in it, almost snatching the win. Omari almost lands the O-Zone, only for Lucky to counter with a small package, before he scores with an Asai DDT for a near-fall.
Omari comes right back at him, taking Lucky up to the top rope for a superplex… but Lucky fights out and counters with a Ligerbomb instead! A series of roll-ups saw both men pick up near-falls, before Omari caught another handspring from Lucky, turning it into the O-Zone for the win. An enjoyable opener with Lucky’s own mind games counting against him… and I’d think that Lucky may not have to wait a year for his next return, even if Omari’s getting the focus here. ***¼
We’ve a backstage interview with Zoe Lucas and an unnamed interviewer. Zoe’s here as a late replacement for Millie McKenzie who’s, erm, doing other things that preclude her from Defiant. She’s facing Bea Priestley later tonight.
Bad Bones vs. Doug Williams
This is an odd spot for the winner of the Ringmaster tournament to be in… second on the card? Commentary announces that Bones gets his title shot at Refuse To Lose in November, but first he’s got to get past Doug Williams.
Bones jumps Doug before the bell, sending him to the outside for a tope into the darkness, followed by some brawling around ringside. Back inside Bones misses a missile dropkick and hit so hard the picture jumps around, as Doug hits back, giving John Klinger a taste of his own medicine. A camel clutch follows as they returned to the ring again, with Williams looking to edge ahead… but a knee to the gut puts the German back on top. Doug nearly snatches a win with a small package, but Klinger’s right back with a front suplex for a near-fall, only for Doug to return fire with a clothesline off the ropes that left both men laying. Back to their feet, we get duelling punches before Bones goes to the eyes… but Doug’s able to corner him and kick the ropes into Bones’ groin as the comeback continued.
A rare trip up top allowed Williams to hit a diving uppercut for a near-fall, before he looked for the Bomb Scare knee drop… but Bones rolls away as Doug aborts. There’s a slingshot spear from Bones though after he’d been thrown onto the apron, but Williams remained undeterred… only to get launched with a back body drop out of the corner. Doug gets a boot up to stop the Wrecking Ball knees, but instead runs into an overhead belly-to-belly for a near-fall. Bones looked to go for his flying lungblower, but he’s caught up top by Doug, who laboured into a superplex, instead opting for a gutwrench superplex instead! It’s enough to pick up a near-fall over Bones, as was an Exploder, but Bones escapes a Chaos Theory and instead hits a lungblower for a near-fall. There’s a slight slip as Bones goes up top for another one, this time landing the middle rope lungblower – or the Stealth Justice – for the win. With the limitations here, this was alright… a good win for Bones in a match that was about as competitive as you’d expect. ***
Two matches in, and I’ll say this: they’re either mic’d better, or this crowd is finally making a noise!
Post-match, Doug Williams gets a mic and puts over the fans. Bad Bones is hanging around an awful lot as Doug addresses rumours of his retirement, with this possibly being his last Defiant match if he loses a match “at the end of September”. He tells the crowd he’s the one who chooses when he retires, and he vows to wrestle again in Defiant… just as Bad Bones returned to the ring to catch him with a lungblower. Bones takes that mic and vows to win the Defiant title later this year.
They replay footage of Simon Miller’s injury at the Ringmaster show last month, with Gabriel Kidd’s lariat causing a collarbone injury. This leads to Miller coming to the ring, with his shoulder in a sling, as he addresses the injury… weirdly, it pivots into some “unaired” footage of Miller filming a WhatCulture video the night of the show, where he was attacked in front of the pop-up green screen by HT Drake. That looks to be shifting the “blame” to Drake for the injury, which means their feud’s being kept spinning while Miller’s on the injured list… and Miller’s sticking around to reprise his early WCPW role as commentator for the next match.
HT Drake vs. El Phantasmo
Well, he’s still not got his initials back in his chyron or entrance video, despite the promo a few months ago! Meanwhile, Simon Miller accidentally quotes Sting (not that one)…
El Phantasmo’s back after his star making showing in the Ringmaster tournament… so let’s see what happens against Defiant’s resident enhancement performer. Miller pins the blame for both of his injuries onto Drake, who started the match by taking Phantasmo down… only to get caught in some grounded headscissors by the Canadian. Drake escapes the headscissors and rolls into a headlock, before taking Phantasmo into the ropes. He’s caught with a dropkick as ELP ends up going for a spot of rope walking, ending with a ‘rana for a near-fall, before Drake hit back with a capture suplex. A floatover from ELP looked to put him back in the picture, but a springboard is caught and turned into the Drake’s Landing bridging German suplex for a near-fall.
Another floatover helps Phantasmo kick start his match, scoring a near-fall with a crossbody, then with a Quebrada before he chopped his way through Drake. There’s an atomic drop before Drake’s clotheslined to the outside, where he’s quickly met with a tope as ELP throws him back in for a splash off the top rope for a near-fall.
From the kick-out, Drake’s able to mount a fresh charge, coming close with a suplex before he’s pulled into Phantasmo’s whirlibird neckbreaker… but Drake kicks the referee into the ropes as ELP was up top. That crotches the Canadian, and gives Drake a chance to go under the ring for a pipe… Miller leaves commentary to disarm him, but Drake’s got a turnbuckle iron instead as Miller had the referee distracted. That’s used to knock out Phantasmo as Drake snatches the win… which is not the result (or the match) I’d have booked to be honest. The match was fine, but the focus of this was the Drake/Miller feud, which made the match come across as a much lower priority. **¾
Chris Ridgeway has a sit-down promo as he tries to repent for his prior sins during the IPW invasion… Chris Brookes has one too, as he acknowledged Kid Lykos’ latest injury which has forced Brookes back into the singles ranks. The two Chrises are up next for an Internet title shot.
Chris Ridgeway vs. Chris Brookes
There’s a tentative open here as Brookes took Ridgeway down to the mat, with the pair jockeying for position early on. Ridgeway flips out of a bow-and-arrow hold before he grounded Brookes with a variety of submissions, including a take on the Tequila Sunrise until Brookes got to the ropes.
The pair continue to tussle, with Brookes looking to work the arm before rolling Ridgeway down for a near-fall… but we’re a long way off anything close to a finish, as Brookes kept up on the arm before chopping Ridgeway down to the mat. On the outside, Ridgeway tries for a powerbomb to the floor, but he just gets unsighted with the ring apron as Brookes stomped on him, then followed that up with a knee breaker as Ridgeway’s vertical base was being chipped away at.
Back in the ring, Brookes keeps up on the leg, catching Ridgeway with a half crab, turning it into a modified STF. An escape from Ridgeway led to nought as a low dropkick put him on the mat once more, with Brooks following up with a leg grapevine as he continued on the leg – looking to stop Ridgeway’s kicks. They’re way too close to the ropes though, and Ridgeway’s back to his feet as he finally scores with a Dragon screw, taking Brookes into the ropes for some kicks. A hook kick and a German suplex catches Brookes for a near-fall, but Ridgeway’s got more of those as he trips Brookes into a leg grapevine, forcing another rope break. There’s more kicks from Ridgeway, but he’s quickly caught with another knee breaker as Brookes fought back, landing a slingshot cutter for a near-fall.
Another grapevine from Brookes has him tie-up Ridgeway’s leg from the kick-out, but we’ve another rope break as Ridgeway rebounds, sending Brookes into the corner with a German suplex as he kicked his way into another near-fall. There’s a hope for Brookes as he kicked Ridgeway and hits a back senton while he was doubled over… and that flurry continued as a rope-hung neckbreaker and a Praying Mantis Bomb almost got the win as the crowd started to get into this. We’ve more strikes as Brookes was throwing those chops… but Ridgeway’s kicks also stung. He can’t avoid a knee to the head, but he can counter a suplex, before catching Brookes in a Kirifuda driver… and there’s your submission. This was pretty decent, but with a bit more build behind Ridgeway’s return, this could have sparkled. So we’ve got a potential Ridgeway/WALTER match down the line… and that could be a real cracker. ***½
Alpha Bad are backstage – that’s the team of Iestyn Rees and Kip Sabian. Kip does his more-than-WOS intro… which can’t be replicated, so he nudges away the nameless interviewer, as they vow to win the number one contender’s match – and go on to win Defiant gold.
From there, we’re back in the arena as Defiant GM “Mr Primate” is out. These promos are much much better now we can actually hear them… Primate says he polled the crowd for ideas, and he’s bringing something back: Loaded is returning in December, and it’s going to be free, weekly, and on YouTube. Talk then turns to Rampage, whose shoulder injury has kept him out of this show. Primate refuses to strip Rampage of the Defiant title, much to the chagrin of Gabriel Kidd, who has stolen the title belt since (in his mind) he was going to have won it tonight. Kidd’s annoyed by that, the fans, and by some of the Defiant staffers (including one that sounded like a rejected CHIKARA idea).
Just as a side note, Gabe, double denim hasn’t worked in your entire lifetime.
Kidd pokes fun at Primate’s jaw injury and says that he’s only backing Rampage because he “wished he could be as good as him.” It drew “boring” chants from the crowd, so Kidd urges Primate to punch him… if only so he could punch him in the jaw. From the roots of being the silent guy who snapped at Prince Ameen, Kidd’s turning into quite the “prick heel” – and it’s this sort of character development that’ll blossom when Loaded returns.
Anyway, the lights go out as the big screen shows… Rory Coyle with a video camera? The weird video ends as Kidd mocks it, saying that it’s all part of Defiant’s plan to screw him. The lights go out again, and this time they come back as Rory Coyle’s in the ring with a prosthetic arm. Probably not the same one Doink used back in the day! Coyle whacks him over the head with a loaded VHS tape, before Primate clotheslines Kidd to the outside… and it looks like Rory Coyle is in Defiant as the Sick Boy! That got a pretty good pop, so clearly there’s folks who know of Rory from NORTH and beyond. A good day one for him, now let’s see where this goes.
Mark Haskins and Jimmy Havoc have a promo backstage. Haskins is wound up, but he doesn’t know they’re not facing CCK… they poke fun at their opponents off the telly, and vow to get another shot at the Defiant tag titles.
Alpha Bad (Kip Sabian & Iestyn Rees) vs. Mark Haskins & Jimmy Havoc
Sabian and Rees replace CCK in this one, following Kid Lykos’ injury. There’s little reaction for them, which kinda tells you what sort of cross-over WOS has had with the Defiant fanbase.
Havoc is still the Defiant Hardcore champion, by the way… a division that may get more play when Loaded returns. The crowd instantly start to get under Sabian’s skin, and when he did get going, Kip found himself frustrated early by Havoc. Kip’s night doesn’t pick up when Haskins comes in, as he’s kicked to the mat as Jimmy just stands on the apron having a drink… and it’s looking pretty easy for the former tag champs.
A sunset flip from Kip’s good for a near-fall, but Haskins is right back out with a Stretch Muffler, forcing Sabian into the ropes as Havoc tags back in and continues the beating… while holding his own beer. Sabian remains in trouble, with Haskins dropping some knees for a near-fall, before Iestyn Rees finally came into play, catching Haskins on the outside. Iestyn’s tagged in as Haskins found himself isolated, with an elbow drop nearly putting Haskins away for the count. There’s frequent tags between Alpha Bad, but Haskins fires back with a kick to the chest anyway, but he has to wait to tag out as Jimmy Havoc has a drink to finish. That just opens the door for Rees to return… and now Havoc’s ready… it’s just a shame Haskins isn’t!
A bear bug almost wore Haskins down, but Rees lets go and looks for a suplex instead… before Haskins rolls away and brings in Havoc. Jimmy’s discus elbows and boots barely faze Rees, who takes Jimmy down with a single blow… but Havoc looks to rebound when Haskins hands him a 8×10”… and uses it to slice at the webbing in Kip Sabian’s fingers. Ow.
Rees comes back to trip Havoc on the apron, then chokeslam him onto it as Sabian had the referee distracted… and it leaves Jimmy on the defensive once more as Alpha Bad settled back into their groove again. An avalanche and an enziguiri in the corner left Havoc prone, with a slingshot legdrop from Sabian almost putting him away… but Havoc manages to get free, taking down Rees with a shotgun dropkick before he started to crawl towards Haskins.
Sabian cuts him off, but it only delays the inevitable as Havoc fought back and brought Haskins back in with a hot tag. Clearing through Alpha Bad by himself, Haskins faked out a kick just to punch Rees in the ropes, before sending both men to the outside as he eventually nailed topes to Rees, then Sabian. Back in the ring, Sabian gets tripped as Haskins goes for the bridging armbar… but it’s countered into a crucifix pin for a near-fall, before Haskins catches him with a Sharpshooter.
Jimmy Havoc tries a similar takedown on Rees… which is blocked as Havoc gets his own Sharpshooter in the end. Rees powers out and breaks up both holds, as Haskins found himself at a disadvantage again. There’s a torture rack facebuster from Sabian for a near-fall as the crowd tried to rally behind Haskins, who managed to capitalise on a miscommunication, kicking Rees in the ropes before landing a double stomp off the top for a near-fall. Haskins and Havoc finally start to work well together, with Haskins trying to slingshot Rees into Havoc… it’s stopped as Alpha Bad look to turn it around once more, with the help of a Rees spear as Sabian looked to be on the to a death valley driver as the ring was kept full. The ref’s given up enforcing the concept of the legal man, and just watches as Havoc looked to set up for the Kiss of Death… but instead Rees just pops him into a spinebuster before the powerbomb/elbow drop finish gets Alpha Bad the win. This was fine, but the match did start to fray a little at the end – Alpha Bad get the title shot, and I can’t help but feel there were some seeds of dissent being planted between the former tag champions en route to their loss. ***
Primate’s backstage looking for El Phantasmo… he quickly finds him, annoyed at how Drake beat him earlier. The F word is back in vogue here, as Primate tries to placate ELP by giving him a number one contender’s match for the Internet title. That’s against an unknown at Fight or Flight in October.
Defiant Women’s Championship: Zoe Lucas vs. Bea Priestley (c)
This was originally a non-title outing for Bea, who was back in Defiant after touring Australia and New Zealand with the title. Bea puts over Zoe as a “fellow STARDOM competitor”, then puts her title on the line out of goodwill.
Lucas tries to go for the arm early, as she ends up tripping Bea into a pinning predicament… then a strangle hold out of it as Bea was forced to roll through. It just about works, but Zoe’s back on top, only to get lifted to the apron for an enziguiri… then a low dropkick that took Lucas off to the floor. A PK off the apron from Priestley does get caught and turned into a leg sweep though, with Lucas keeping it on the edge of the ring for some kicks in the ropes, before she went for a tope, taking Bea down to the floor. Back in the ring though, Bea’s back to her feet as she keeps Zoe on the outside, ramming her into the apron, then the crowd barrier, as Priestley looked to take a count-out.
Lucas rolls back in though, but the beating continues as she’s choked, and booted in the ropes, ahead of a cross-legged surfboard that eventually culminated in a curb stomp. Zoe finally hits back with some right hands, but Priestley has some of her own as the pair exchanged running forearms and boots in the ropes. A crossbody from Lucas nearly causes an upset, before she pulls Bea down to the mat for a slingshot splits legdrop in the corner.
Only the ropes saved Bea there, before she leaps over Lucas… only to eat a spinning leg lariat for an eventual two-count. Priestley hits back with a Cheeky Nando’s kick, before tripping Zoe into the corner ahead of the Del Rio double stomp for a near-fall. Lucas again tries to fight back, kicking away Bea… but she then leaps into the referee for some reason as Priestley pulled the official into harm’s way. A superkick leaves Lucas down as Bea heads under the ring for a chair… which she used as Lucas’ head was placed in the open chair for a PK. Except Bea stopped herself, and ended up falling to a Final Cut for a near-fall as the title nearly slipped from her grasp. In the end though, a head kick and a flying stomp to the head of Lucas led to a step-up curb stomp… and that’s enough for the win. This was rough in parts, with a few things that looked awkward… but as a match, it was largely okay. It suffered from the same thing that most women’s divisions do – the “knowing” that someone who isn’t pushed has little chance of winning. **
Post-match, Lana Austin hits the ring and waffles Bea Priestley with a chair, before she did what Priestley tried to do to Lucas earlier… except she didn’t put the brakes on, and connected with the punt as Bea was trapped in the chair.
Joe Hendry vs. Martin Kirby
A real long-standing feud… but there’s no video package, which is a shame because this would have put a real bow on this match.
At least commentary links this to their feud in WOS, but the roles are reversed here, with Hendry being despised… and we start with Hendry trapping Kirby with some amateur-style holds, rolling him around in a waistlock on the way to a pinning predicament. Kirby finally gets free of a wristlock and trips Hendry, but the Scotsman’s back as the pair again take it back to the mat. Kirby leaps over Hendry and finally takes him down with a leg lariat, only to get snapmared back to the mat as Hendry ends up taking some headscissors. It’s pacey, but straight-forward stuff, and it got the crowd going, especially as it was Kirby on offence here. A backbreaker gets a near-fall as commentary tried to paint Kirby as the bad guy for having beef with Defiant management… which wasn’t the way the crowd was taking this!
Some more headscissors from Kirby end up getting turned into a suplex as Hendry finally gets a foothold into the match, working a version of the Million Dollar Dream, before rocking Kirby with a back elbow after he’d been sent into the ropes. Hendry gets a near-fall out of a suplex as he continues to club away on his foe, before he survived a jawbreaker and looked to go for an ankle lock. Kirby manages to stand up and land an enziguiri to avoid it, before he continued his comeback with a shoulder into the corner, then a Slingblade for a near-fall. A Rocker Dropper’s next from Kirby, but it’s still only enough for a near-fall, and Kirby’s fixation with the Sable Bomb ends up costing him as Hendry hit back with a German suplex for a near-fall. Problem was, Hendry had his own fixation, but while his ankle lock didn’t come off, he was able to catch Kirby with the Freak of Nature fallaway slam for a frustrating near-fall.
Kirby hits back with a Cactus clothesline to take both men to the floor, which just allowed Kirby to brawl with the Scotsman up onto the stage… but his search for a Sable Bomb’s stopped as the referee continued his count, and Kirby’s unable to return to the ring to beat the count. That drew a “you f’d up” chant from one guy in the crowd, which is certainly one way to view Kirby’s game plan! An unsatisfactory finish, but at least the match was decent… except Joe Hendry wants a winner, so the match restarts.
So Steve Lynskey restarts the contest, as the pair trade shots in the ring. Kirby’s gamengiri on the apron knocks Hendry down, ahead of a flying back elbow that almost put the Scotsman away… and you sensed the crowd were perhaps starting to turn on Kirby a little here. Kirby’s corner charge is stopped as Hendry charges in with a clothesline, taking the Yorkshireman into the corner for some uppercuts as the match descended into a brawl… which led to Kirby shoving the referee for the cheap DQ. Hey, they found a slightly worse finish, as Hendry was awarded the win… and the crowd cheer that. Hang on, did they just pull off a double turn? Yes… yes they did. I just wish they didn’t have to do the “restart the match” stuff to help turn Hendry here. ***¼
Post-match, Kirby takes the microphone and rants at how Joe Hendry was given benefit of the doubt – and he has a point. Both men shoved the ref, but only Kirby was instantly DQ’d… Kirby’s promo has more than a whiff of Bret Hart’s 1997 promo (from when they were tearing down the cage on Raw), complete with all of the colourful language he can’t use on ITV. He pointed out that he was the only person who wore pink and black here once upon a time, but now “every flavour of the month” is doing it. I think that means we’re getting Martin Kirby vs. El Phantasmo… and I’m more than okay with that! But first, Kirby wants to finish off Hendry with a no DQ, no count-out, no bullshit outing. Marius al-Ani to run in, then?
So, after that awkwardness, we’re into our main event… but first, Primate’s chewing out Lana. He suspends her again for her actions, but Bea Priestley runs in and squares off. Bea doesn’t want her suspended, instead wanting a match… which she gets for Sheffield.
Defiant Internet Championship: Will Ospreay vs. WALTER (c)
Ospreay won this title shot at Built to Destroy back in June, and it leads to this mouth-watering first-time outing!
Naturally, Ospreay’s the fan-favourite in this David vs. Goliath outing (and yes, this is a regular thing for WALTER these days), and we start with WALTER easily picking up and placing Ospreay on the apron. Next up was an easy takedown by the arm for WALTER, then a trip to the corner as Ospreay was forced to duck an early chop. Ospreay’s got to stick and run… which he does when he hits a handspring overhead kick to take WALTER off the ropes… but a forearm quickly puts the champion back on top. A rear spin kick stops WALTER, but he’s able to out-do Ospreay with a leapfrog before his boot went through the challenger’s face. Ow.
CHOP! Yep. The first one was as loud as you’d expect, as Ospreay’s soul looked to leave his body. He tries to kick away at WALTER from the mat, but it’s for nought as WALTER stomps on him, then easily slams him ahead of a knee drop for a solid two-count, before Will’s taken into the ropes for those crushing crossface blows. Ospreay catches one of them and manages to hit an arm breaker to free himself, as some kicks looked to have the big guy on the back foot… before WALTER was finally taken off his feet again with a low dropkick. The over-the-top 619 follows before WALTER’s met with a springboard forearm, forcing a kick-out at two as Ospreay looked to get into the match.
An enziguri takes WALTER to the outside, which plays further into Ospreay’s game as we get a tope… but it’s caught as WALTER throws another thunderous chop before dumping Will on the ring apron. More chops fire up Ospreay into throwing some of his own, before he ducks another Austrian chop as WALTER this time hits the ring post as the pair went at it on the outside.
Ospreay’s offence came to a shuddering end when he was lawn-darted into the ring post, with WALTER looking to take the count-out win… but of course, Ospreay’s back to beat the count, despite being bloodied. Literally, WALTER smells blood as he stands on Ospreay’s head, before uncorking some more of those gunshot-like chops… only to move onto a powerbomb that he turned into a butterfly suplex after Ospreay thought he’d countered it into a guillotine choke.
That’s followed with a tease of an avalanche butterfly suplex, but Ospreay headbutts his way free and manages to catch WALTER with a Cheeky Nando’s, before going back up for a moonsault… except he lands in WALTER’s feet and then gets a swift shotgun dropkick for good measure. The powerbomb’s next for a near-fall, as WALTER resumed the focus on the head with boots as the crowd roared behind Ospreay. Spitting in WALTER’s face was a dumb idea, as Ospreay gets caught with a Gojira clutch and the resulting RINGKAMPF German suplex, sending Ospreay rolling to the outside.
Yup. More chops, as WALTER throws Ospreay into the crowd for more of those crossface blows… but Ospreay manages to fly back into it, taking WALTER down off the guard rails before hitting a Sasuke Special… and one more big move, with Ospreay scoring a High Fly Flow into the crowd! That was really Ospreay’s only hope… but was it too little, too late? Ospreay tried to get back into the ring, but WALTER drags him into the guard rail and back into the crowd as he tried to take the count-out… but Will narrowly beats it, and then plays Shibata as he offered himself up for kicks to the chest. Chops are the obvious next step, but Will starts to duck those as he unloads on WALTER, finishing with an enziguiri as both men crash to the mat. Another head kick keeps WALTER down, but a hook kick’s quickly met with a lariat… before Ospreay hits a Code Red for another solid near-fall!
Will tries to finish of WALTER with Rainmakers, but they barely budge the Austrian at first… and after it finally works, Ospreay can’t go for the cover. A PK just puts WALTER back on his feet as he retaliates with a uranage throw for a near-fall, ragdolling Ospreay in the process, before taking a Stundog Millionaire as the former Best of the Super Junior winner countered out of a suplex.
Ospreay tries for a German suplex back into the ring, but instead has to make do with the hook kick before he drags WALTER over the top rope for a shooting star press… and Will’s right back up for another shooting star press to the back… and another to the front… but WALTER still doesn’t stay down! In the end, Ospreay proved to be his own worst enemy as an OsCutter’s just swatted away with a lariat, before the Gojira clutch almost forced a stoppage…
Second time wasn’t a charm though as another OsCutter was caught and turned into a Fire Thunder Driver for another two-count… but WALTER reapplies the Gojira straight from the kick-out as Ospreay had no more left to give, resulting in the ref stoppage. These are the kind of matches that WALTER seems to be able to put out in his sleep – and when the other half of the match is a talent like Will Ospreay, it’s that much better. This should eventually be up on YouTube for free, and the second it drops, you owe it to yourself to watch this. It was THAT good. ****¼
WALTER is in a rich vein of form right now, showing that he’s equally adept on both sides of the coin – and with the worldwide indy scene having quite a litany of wrestlers he’s even yet to face, there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping WALTER’s reign over the scene anytime soon.
Post-match, Chris Ridgeway appears on stage and looked to mock the RINGKAMPF pose… but he’s going to make us all wait to see WALTER try and chop through him. It’s going to be a barn burner!
So, Defiant’s Stacked was built around one match… but it wasn’t like the rest of the line-up under-delivered. Ridgeway vs. WALTER in October ought to be a classic, while the blow-off to Joe Hendry vs. Martin Kirby should be entertaining… if only to see if Sheffield plays along with the double turn that was executed here. The biggest news to come out of Stacked though, was the return of Loaded later this year – complete with their classic logo. In recent months, Defiant has suffered with the switch to being a “monthly show”, which hasn’t helped with growing any characters or furthering storylines outside of matches. Loaded’s return should help the likes of Gabriel Kidd continue to find his feet, regardless of whatever happens with his eventual title shot, and hopefully build divisions outside of show-to-show line-ups.