Rob Sharpe looked to cash in his IPW title shot in the main event of this week’s packed International Pro Wrestling.
We open with another sit-down interview, with Rob Lynch chronicling his career to date – covering how his career so far has been tarnished because of the actions of “one person”. You may be able to guess where they were heading there. Lynch covered his comeback from injury, and his injury during the IPW Super 8 tournament, before vowing to make 2019 the year he “steps up”.
A good way to introduce new fans to a character… and now it’s time for the absurdly long intro sequence, before we head inside Unit Nine in Milton Keynes. Ricky Slatter’s on commentary…
Kip Sabian vs. Kurtis Chapman
Commentary’s surprised at Kip not mugging off the referee… so much so we barely get an introduction for his opponent. Poor Kurtis.
Chapman had the better go of things early on, as he was catching Sabian in pinning combinations before a cross armbar took the former IPW champion into the ropes. Kip’s eventually back in with a dropkick, then another one to take Chapman off the apron, only for Chapman to land a Codebreaker-like move out of the corner as Sabian tried to pull him out.
A knee from Chapman followed, but he’s rolled up by Kip for a near-fall, before a trapped-leg toe hold led to Chapman bending Sabian in half. Kip responds with a Trailer Hitch, but Chapman rolls free, only for Kip to hit back with a Meteora and a torture rack facebuster for the win. A perfectly fine enhanced squash match, but given he’s on his way out, it’d have been nice to have had something on Chapman. **¾
They recap the brief storyline between Jack Sexsmith, Sammy Smooth and Lewis Howley. The recap may have lasted longer than the storyline!
Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley) vs. The OJMO & Myles Kayman
Kayman and OJMO get the already in the ring treatment, but they shoot out of the blocks as they double-teamed Howley in the opening stages.
Stoker’s in to turn it around as Kayman takes some double-teams that send him scurrying into the corner, before OJMOs’ flying crossbody is caught and turned into the Bad Apple – double-team fireman’s carry gutbuster. A forearm knocks OJMO off the apron, but he’s still able to trip Howley as Kayman tried to steal a win.
That sparked another brief series from Kayman and OJMO, with Myles putting the boots to Howley before he whipped OJMO into a dropkick on a still-cornered Howley. Howley’s kept in the corner as the enhancement team exchanged frequent tags… until they backfired as Howley gets free and makes a tag to a fired-up Stoker, who lands a series of uppercuts before a spinning torture rack turned into a Giant Swing that almost pinned OJMO.
On the outside, Howley flips over the turnbuckles into OJMO and Kayman on the outside, and it’s OJMO who takes the Death Blow as a Doomsday twisting uppercut proved to be enough to end an entertaining, if not disjointed match. Hey, that’s a wXw overdub theme in the background too! **¼
We quickly cut to a sit-down piece with Rob Sharpe, who likes to throw people around. It’s a promo that his theme music almost drowns out, but it doesn’t tell us much about him as a character outside “I like to do the wrestling”.
After a break, they recap Mike Bird falling in defeat to Mark Haskins on episode one…
Jaxon Stone vs. Rob Lynch
At least Jaxon gets an entrance, but given we had a promo from Rob Lynch at the top of the show, I don’t think we’ll be expecting an upset. Especially when the crowd was on Jaxon’s back for touching referee Chris Hatch…
Lynch shoots out with clotheslines and avalanche splashes as Jaxon Stone was little more than a tackling dummy in the early stretches. A gutwrench suplex from Lynch backfires as he staggered into the corner, allowing Stone to hit back with stomps and a knee drop, before he began a chop fight. It looked like it was a very bad idea.
Still, Jaxon comes close with a knee drop before Lynch fired back with chops, only to get caught with a twisting Flatliner out of the ropes for a near-fall. Lynch manages to get another go of it with a diving shoulder tackle, then with a diving clothesline, before he caught Stone’s leapfrog and turned it into a Finlay roll.
Somehow, Stone kicks out of the follow-up springboard moonsault, before he tripped Lynch into the corner. A rolling elbow drops Stone, but Lynch struggles again with a gutwrench powerbomb, eventually landing it for the win. Perfectly fine TV match, but you’ll probably not remember much about this after the fact. **
IPW Women’s Championship: Jayde vs. Sierra Loxton (c)
Jayde jumps Loxton before the bell as she tried to choke her with her own cape as the challenger looked to catch her foe unawares.
Jayde puts some boots to Loxton, trapping her in the corner before she followed in with some chops and a running knee. Another running knee clocks Loxton for a near-fall as Jayde seemingly needed to find another plan. A back kick to the shoulder of Loxton barely gets a two-count as Jayde’s back in with more chops, before she missed a big boot into the corner.
Jayde frees herself, but she staggers into the path of forearms and chops from Loxton, who knocked her down for a back senton that almost ended things. A hip attack from the champion misses, but Sierra’s able to come back with a spear after shoving away Sole Food from Jayde… which leads to a hip attack in the corner for the win. By the numbers, but an effective showing as they continue to put steam behind Loxton. **¼
IPW Championship: Rob Sharpe vs. Mark Haskins (c)
Uh, they start entrances with less than four minutes of TV time remaining. It turns out we’ve no match, as David Starr comes in from behind as he attacked Sharpe, who was distracted by waiting for Mark Haskins’ appearance.
Starr lays out Sharpe with a chair, bemoaning his loss in the top contender’s match the prior week, before he just walked out, as the show ended with the rather “ehhh” finish of the crowd applauding Rob Sharpe leaving the ring.
Weird finish aside, this was a pretty simple TV show – and one that had didn’t seem to lead to anything. We’ve said this about the NXT UK shows, but if these shows just seem to exist in a vacuum, then you need to at least build to (and deliver) matches across series of shows. Still, for a 40-odd minute slice of wrestling, you could do much worse.
- Watch episode 3 of IPW’s TV show on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz-YiKIJgdA