The Dojo Pro ladder continues, as Gunnar Miller provided the first challenge for the holder of the White Belt.
We’ll avoid giving away spoilers in the review titles, so we’ll just list the opponent going forward… After the initial titles, we’re taken to Matt Lott in the studio as he recaps the result from episode one, before they pitch to a promo video, first with reactions from Kevin Ku, before we’re introduced to Gunner Miller. He’s a former football player, who had a penchant for painting himself up like the Ultimate Warrior… to the point where he had a friendship with the Warrior before he got into wrestling.
There’s clips of Miller from Southern Underground Pro, and then we’re taken to the dojo for our match, with Marc Warzecha again on commentary.
Kevin Ku vs. Gunner Miller
Miller’s booed by the crowd before he even appears, and the penny drops for me. Add some dry ice, and we’re well on the way to having the set for Stars In Their Eyes! Ku’s White belt is on the line here, as is going to be the case throughout the series now.
We get going with the referee counting down to the crowd chanting “fight” as Ku gets taken into the corner… but he shoves off Miller as the pair stall a little to listen to some of the trash-talking from the crowd. Apparently the C on Miller’s tights stands for coward…
Miller invites Ku onto him, but instead the White belt kicks out at Miller, aiming for his thighs… but the kicks barely budge Gunner, who slaps back, only to get sent outside as Ku looks for his series of low-pes… but Miller catches a second one and dumps Ku with an overhead belly-to-belly on the floor. Gunner keeps up by throwing Ku into the ring post, then takes him back into the ring for some mudhole stomping. Commentary tells us that there’s an “Ultimate Warrior-like style” to Miller. I’m not seeing it.
The crowd slowly get behind Ku, as he’s taken into the ropes for some cheapshots, but he launches a comeback with chops only to get obliterated with a back elbow. Miller keeps up with some clubbing blows from above, then a suplex, as the crowd resume the “C for Coward” chants at the “People’s Captain”. Some more blows take Ku into the corner for more choking… but Ku’s back up with some slaps as he sent Miller cowering into the opposite corner, only to be met with a quick clothesline.
Ku again fights back, landing some back elbows in the corner, only to get caught with a Stinger splash from Miller… but he’s back out of the corner with an enziguiri as the Ku Dragon suplex and a buzzsaw kick put Miller down… for a one count?! Undeterred, Ku charges in with an Octopus hold, then a sunset flip before laying in with kicks and a brainbuster. He doesn’t go for a cover, but instead climbs the ropes and misses a middle rope moonsault as Miller hits him with a spear immediately, before connecting with a Jackhammer.
Likewise, there’s no cover from Miller as he stands and waits, which brought Ku back up for a slap, before Miller turned him inside out with a lariat… and that’s all folks. The referee waves this off as a knock-out, and we have a new White Belt. Yeah, this match did little for me – it was a little too slow-paced for my tastes, and while I do enjoy hard-hitting matches, I didn’t “believe” that that clothesline was enough to end the match as KO. **½
We’ve another interviewer as Rob Johnston comes in to try and get words with Gunner Miller… who shouts him down and bullies him out of the ring. So he could say “I am Dojo Pro.” Short and sweet. Miller walks off, and that’s our show as Wheeler YUTA stands next for Miller. As an episode, this was fine, but so far none of the two matches in the tournament have set the world on fire. Hopefully the next episode’s David vs. Goliath-ish encounter will change that.