Better late than never – we take a look at the show featuring the 100th defence of the IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship, as Wheeler Yuta puts the title up against Daniel Garcia.
Quick Results
Marcus Mathers beat Austin Luke, GG Everson, Reid Walker, Ryan Redfield & Steve Sanders in a ladder match in 11:48 (***)
Eric Martin pinned Kevin Blackwood in 7:13 (***)
Logan Easton LaRoux, Alexander James & Richard Holliday pinned Jigsaw, Hallowicked & UltraMantis Black in 8:14 (***¼)
Matt Makowski submitted Kevin Ku in 9:25 (***¾)
Jonathan Gresham pinned Adam Priest in 13:51 (***½)
Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander pinned Lee Moriarty & Trish Adora in 13:27 (***¼)
John Wayne Murdoch pinned WARHORSE in 12:55 in a no-disqualification match (**¾)
Wheeler Yuta & Daniel Garcia went to a time-limit draw in 60:00 – Yuta retains the IWTV title (****½)
This one-off event comes from the H2O Wrestling Center in Williamstown, New Jersey. Dylan Hales and The Struggles are on the call for this one… but first, we’ve an HBO-style cut to an old school Larry Sweeney promo as he was getting his hair styled.
Ladder Match: Steve Sanders vs. Austin Luke vs. GG Everson vs. Marcus Mathers vs. Reid Walker vs. Ryan Redfield
Winner gets a shot at the IWTV title at some point down the road… and everyone’s in the ring to start. Never mind entrances, we don’t even get introductions. I’m not a fan of that, coming in as someone who’s heard the names, but not the faces. I can tell who Mathers is, because he’s got his name on his legs, but ooh yeah.
There’s a lot of bodies flying around. Mathers hits a standing version of Tetsuya Naito’s Esperanza on a guy they don’t name, before Reid Walker (ID’d by his tights) stretched Mathers in a Gory special before he dumped him into a ladder in the corner. That keeps the plunder going, as Everson hits almost an Iconoclasm onto a chair, before Luke hit a Coast to Coast into a ladder. NOPE. Sanders gets thrown onto the side of a ladder. My back suddenly hurts. The ladder spots build and build, with a torture rack driver into a ladder by Mathers, before Walker hit a Tiger Driver and proceeded to hit an over-the-ladder senton onto Mathers.
Walker’s wiped out with a spinebuster onto a ladder, before Everson and Redfield brawled around a ladder… leading to Everson getting POUNCED into an already-mangled ladder in the corner. Austin Luke’s hit with a ladder as he’s climbing, but Sanders sets up a ladder bridge… and superplexes Luke into it. Holy God, the BOUNCE on that was nasty.
From thee, Mathers climbs the ladder, but Reid Walker leaps from the buckles to cut off Mathers on the ladder… but Walker’s shoved down as Mathers ends up grabbing the briefcase for the win. Some wild stuff here with the ladders, but I can’t help but feel like the overall presentation of this could have been better. Yeah, I have some weird hang-ups. ***
We’ve a video package of Jonathan Gresham winning what was the Powerbomb.tv Independent Wrestling title over Joey Lynch – and a roll call of champions through the years. That might be a good project for someone to do – go back and review all of the IWTV title defences… even if not all of them are currently available due to promotions being shuttered/blackballed…
Eric Martin vs. Kevin Blackwood
Most recently, Blackwood’s been seconding Daniel Garcia around the indies, but he’s more than just a lackey.
Strikes from Blackwood rock Martin early, before Eric booted him to the outside as we had some brawling around the front row. That all stops suddenly for Martin as his attempt at a powerbomb’s prevented when Blackwood got free and hit an apron PK, before they returned to the ring for kicks and chops.
A rolling elbow from Blackwood, then a bridging German suplex nearly gets the win, but Martin’s able to counter back with a sit-out powerbomb… only for Blackwood to kick out at two and leap back in with a stomp. Another stomp out of the corner wears down Martin, as did a pop-up death valley driver, before Martin’s attempted response ended with him landing an inside-out slam for the win out of nowhere. A heck of a sprint in insane conditions – which’d be troubling for the entire night as the H2O Center was hitting 100+F temperatures. ***
RALY (Alexander James, Logan Easton LaRoux & Richard Holliday) vs. Hallowicked, Jigsaw & UltraMantis Black
A Very Good Professional Wrestler jumped on commentary for the additional CHIKARA throwback. I’m drawing a blank on whether there were just three guys in the match who used to be in that promotion, or maybe more?
The RALY lads looked to jump things, but they’re just lifted to the outside as we open with dives. Well, two dives, the camera misses UltraMantis Black getting tripped as he gets stomped on instead, An Arabian clutch from James, then an armbar keeps UMB down, before he was forced to fight out of the RALY corner… then opted to hit a dive rather than tag out.
I guess we’re under lucha rules as Alexander James grounds Hallowicked in a headlock, as did LaRoux as RALY kept the isolation going. Holliday’s in to lariat Hallowicked, before James’ spin-out side suplex almost got the win. An Octopus stretch from James keeps Hallowicked down a little while more, but James lets go and went up top… only to get Iconoclasm’d onto Holliday, as Jigsaw hti the ring with a crossbody off the top.
Jigsaw was a house afire, showing those who keep clamouring for someone to sign (or at least take a look at him) that they should keep those pushes going. He’s quickly overwhelmed though by Holliday and James, before the numbers game turned around as LaRoux took a beating from the masked trio, leading to a superkick-assisted back suplex for a near-fall. As the crowd was chanting “that was three” though, we get the finish as Jigsaw’s missed stomp leads to him getting caught in a triple-team 3D, and that’s your lot. Another sprint of a match, but they did what they needed here – get RALY a win. ***¼
Apparently the original match was meant to be the CHIKARA lads vs. Erick Stevens, Dominick Garrini and Kevin Ku, but Garrini’s ongoing injury issues meant that was scrapped. We did get Kevin Ku though…
Kevin Ku vs. Matt Makowski
Ooh boy! This one has all the ingredients to be an absolute corker…
An innocuous knee from Ku shuts down a takedown attempt early on, but Makowski floated him into a cross armbar that quickly ended in the ropes. Kicks from Makowski get countered with a Dragon screw, before he blocked a STF and went for one of his own.
Ku throws in an Erick Stevens-ish lariat into the corner, but gets caught moments later with an enziguiri out of the corner as Makowski proceeded to toss Ku down with a butterfly suplex. Makowski tries for an armbar, but Ku clings on to block it, only for Makowski to roll him down for a crossface.
A shotgun dropkick from Makowski takes Ku into the corner, leaving him woozy ahead of a superplex attempt… rolling through after it, only for Ku to hit right back with a Fisherman buster. The pair trade strikes, but a ragdoll-like German suplex throws Ku back down, only for him to return with a Dragon suplex as the flurry came to a halt with a double clothesline.
In the end though, Ku gets a little too ahead of himself, running the ropes for momentum, only to get caught and thrown into a cross armbreaker as Makowski gets the flash submission. Insane pace here, and a sprint you’ll want to go back to again and again. Get on it! ***¾
Adam Priest vs. Jonathan Gresham
Having crashed out of the SCI in the first round, Adam Priest’s looking to end his weekend with a big scalp…
Gresham grounded Priest to start with, but Priest – with his covered-up arm – returned with some headlock takedowns, clinging on despite Gresham’s attempts to break free. Shoulder blocks knock Gresham down, with Priest then spitting at him… and that perhaps wasn’t a smart idea at the best of times.
Gresham begins to outsmart Priest, before a standing dropkick took Priest to the outside. Back inside, Gresham and Priest end up in the corner, with Priest throwing some cheapshots on the break. Chops from Gresham lead to him getting tripped with a sweet dropdown from Priest, who made a point of going for Gresham’s leg with a Dragon screw afterwards.
Priest’s kicked away by Gresham, who came in with a side headlock and some elbows, but Priest locks in a Figure Four… rolling all the way through as Gresham unsuccessfully tried to counter the hold. Instead, Gresham just drags himself and Priest towards the ropes for a break, and then tried to build anew.
Priest slams out of a Kimura, but Gresham keeps the hold on before a push-away sees Gresham land a simple shoulder block. Gresham pushes Priest’s next Figure Four away, but couldn’t avoid a back body drop, nor a clothesline as Priest threatened to pull ahead, landing a German suplex for a near-fall. From the kick-out, Gresham goes for the arm with a Kimura again, then a crossface, but it ends in the ropes, much to the crowd’s chagrin.
A tussle over hiptosses sees both men head over the top and to the floor. Priest takes the referee back into the ring to start the count, before trapping Gresham on the floor with a Figure Four… but Priest perhaps lets go too early as the New Jersey crowd turn into Sesame Street characters along with the ref. Gresham rolls back in, but gets caught with the “loaded arm”… and that’s the pin? Except Gresham’s foot was obviously under the rope, so it’s waved off. Priest’s annoyed, and wanders into an inside cradle – nowhere near the ropes – and that’s the win for Gresham. A good showing here for Priest, but he couldn’t beat Gresham at his own game – but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. ***½
Kris Statlander & Orange Cassidy vs. Lee Moriarty & Trish Adora
It’s a battle of (mostly) former IWTV champions, plus Trish Adora, whose Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Championship was given a “world title” distinction by PWI magazine earlier in the day.
We’re under mixed tag rules here, and we start with Adora working over Statlander’s arm, then with headscissors, but of course Statlander pops free as she kept trying to boop Adora. A hammerlock frustrates Statlander, who finally spun free and booped Trish, before some pinning attempts threw two-counts back-and-forth.
Tags bring us to Orange Cassidy and Lee Moriarty, with the former taking his time putting on his armpad as we have Moriarty doing his damndest to stop Orange from putting his hand in his pockets. Orange wriggled out of headscissors, countered a drop toe hold with… the pockets. The shtick works! Hands-free dropkicks and kip-ups led to Orange getting rolled up, before Adora came in to help a suplex/powerbomb combo for a two-count as the ref briefly forgot the whole mixed-tag rules.
Cassidy rolls away from Goomba stomps before a satellite DDT left Moriarty down. Statlander helps with a stalling suplex on Moriarty, with Cassidy coming back in off the top rope for a falling splash that misses. Moriarty gets a two-count, then brought in Adora who dumped Statlander with Lariat Tubman.
We get the “strikes” with Orange and Adora, before Moriarty’s barrel roll took down Cassidy. Tags bring us back to Adora and Statlander, trading strikes, before a spinning Gory special from Moriarty looked to lead to a Mouse Trap… but Cassidy blocks it, then pulled it off himself for the win. Fun for what it was – a showcase match of former champions. ***¼
No Disqualification: John Wayne Murdoch vs. WARHORSE
Expect plunder. Before the bell, WARHORSE noted that almost half of the IWTV100 belonged to him…
Strikes start us off, as WARHORSE looked to pull ahead, only to get caught with a swinging DDT through the ropes from Murdoch. Things head into the crowd, where Murdoch posts WARHORSE before grounding him with a headlock back in the ring. A chinbreaker gets WARHORSE free, before he headbanged away after getting thrown into the buckles.
WARHORSE hits a leaping forearm, then went up top for a missile dropkick, following with a lariat to get a near-fall as Murdoch rolled outside to grab our first bit of plunder: a door. Except WARHORSE hits a tope con giro to stop him. Back inside, WARHORSE heads up top again, but got cut off as Murdoch hit a twisting superplex to bring WARHORSE down through a door that was bridged in the corner.
WARHORSE kicks out at two, before Murdoch grabbed a bucket full of thumb tacks. But first, he waffles WARHORSE with a bit of the door, only for WARHORSE to hit a suplex into the tacks for a two-count. An elbow drop off the top gets another two-count, but Murdoch rolls up from the kick-out and traps WARHORSE into a Koji clutch in the tacks.
Murdoch breaks the hold after he had some tacks thrown at him. The other bit of the door’s thrown over Murdoch, who’s again lifted up top… but Murdoch counters back with a Deep South Destroyer into the tacks, and that’s your lot. A big win for Murdoch without too much in the way of plunder – pretty tame by his standards – as WARHORSE ends up more punctured than he’d like. **¾
IWTV Independent Wrestling World Championship: Daniel Garcia vs. Wheeler YUTA (c)
Going in, I’d been spoiled on the result, so let’s enjoy the ride!
A tentative start quickly broke free as Garcia hits an early piledriver for a two-count – forcing Yuta to roll outside for respite, milking that 20-count. Returning to the ring was a bad idea as Garcia pounced on Yuta, keeping that early aggression going, including what looked to be an early attempt at a Garcia Lock after he’d countered out of a seated surfboard.
Garcia busts out the Lasso from El Passo as he teased a slam dunk win, but Yuta got to the ropes before he raked Garcia’s eyes. That just wound up the challenger, who kept the high pace going with headlock takedowns and escapes, before some standing switches led to a snap backdrop driver from Yuta, his first real big hit in the match.
Yuta’s caught with chops, before an arm whip took Garcia down… but while Yuta stayed on the arm, Garcia kept going for quick submissions. A short-range knee to the head led to some concern as Garcia was left laying briefly, only to return with a snap suplex before the champion was whipped hard into the buckles time and again.
Garcia’s bad arm saw him stop himself throwing an elbow strike, before he tied up Yuta in a cross-legged STF, before Garcia opted to throw Yuta back into the corners, ahead of a hesitation dropkick and some mudhole stomping, forcing Yuta to roll outside… where the camera crew picked up on A Very Good Professional Wrestler in the front row.
Garcia whales away on Yuta with hammer fists… but broke the count so he could keep the beating up. A back senton drops Yuta on the apron, with a Drive By dropkick following as Yuta remained on the defensive. At least until he managed to get back on the arm, shoving Garcia back into the buckles shoulder-first.
Except Yuta’s pressure subsided when he went to strikes, as chops brought a response from Garcia. Yuta’s able to regain the upper hand, taking Garcia to the top rope… but his superplex is thwarted as Garcia clung to the top rope, only for Yuta to come back and knock Garcia down to the floor as we crossed the 30-minute mark.
Returning to the ring, Garcia’s hung up in the ropes repeatedly, before he fought to block an abdominal stretch, only to relent to the hold. Eventually, Garcia hiptossed free, but was quickly taken back down as a backbreaker drew a two-count. Chops to the throat try (and fail) to create distance for Garcia, who was able to take Yuta up top for a back superplex.
Garcia finds a second wind, kicking out Yuta’s knee ahead of an inside cradle for a near-fall, before grabbing a rear naked choke… but Yuta escaped and hit a brainbuster as that quick burst from Garcia looked to have been ill-advised given the sweltering heat. Body scissors on the mat trapped Garcia… but the challenger repositioned Yuta’s ankles to turn defence into offence, for a quick break.
Yuta again gets in Garcia’s head, firing him up for more chops, but this time Yuta’s able to close down the distance, snuffing out Garcia’s attempted responses as we hit the final 15 minutes. A deadlift Falcon arrow from Garcia leads to a choke on the mat. Yuta’s attempt to break it up forced him to bump back out of the corner as both men looked to be beyond running on fumes.
Beating a standing ten-count, the pair resume chops and forearms, but Yuta’s up ahead again, only to be forced to defend an armbar. He broke free, but Garcia’s able to smother the champion with a rear naked choke, turning it into a back suplex for a near-fall. Yuta counters back with a fireman’s carry gutbuster for a two-count as the dodgy lighting showed Matt Makowski and Trish Adora at the curtain. Where’s Marcus Mathers and his briefcase?
Garcia’d rolled outside and got leapt on off the top by Yuta, but Yuta doesn’t take the count-out, and instead rolled Garcia back in for a top rope splash that gets a near-fall… then one in return as Garcia rolled over the pile on the kick-out. Another burst of energy led to a German suplex from Yuta for a near-fall… Yuta holds on and lands more German suplexes for yet more two-counts, before an inside cradle nearly ended it for Garcia.
Yuta tries for another gutbuster, but Garcia counters into a Sharpshooter… but Garcia couldn’t keep the grip, and so it turned into almost a Cloverleaf with some kicks that Yuta just about broke via the ropes. Garcia stays on Yuta with a dropkick to the back of the head, then some Danielson elbows, but Yuta repositions things and pulled Garcia into the Yu-Tap as we were hitting the proverbial two-minute drill here.
Garcia manages to break free, and countered out with a one-armed spinning tombstone… before he fell on Yuta out of exhaustion to pick up a two-count. Right back up, clubbing forearms to the back have Yuta covering up, before Garcia reapplied the Sharpshooter, leaning back as we hit the final minute. It turns into a STF variation, but Yuta manages to hold on… only to tap at the bell? The time ran out first, so the referee’s decision was that we had a time limit draw, rather than a new champion being crowned at the (red) death.
Over the hour, we saw the champion Yuta having to absorb a heck of a lot of punishment, but this wasn’t as much of a one-sided beating as you’d think. Sure Garcia’s offence was intense when it came, but when Yuta was in control, it was for more than fits and spurts. Being a hypocrite here, did this “need to go an hour,” like I complain about with New Japan? Given the story they told, the answer is probably yes – even if the match felt a little wooly and unfocused before the final 15 minutes, and with the Garcia Lock being out of the picture, you’ve got plenty of stock left for a “what if?” rematch down the line. ****½
Post-match, Marcus Mathers came out with his IWTV100 Briefcase… but A Very Good Professional Wrestler DDTs him before it could be officially cashed in. Not today, sunshine… because A Very Good Professional Wrestler kicked off his protective boot, then revealed that his ankle was healed up, and told Yuta he was coming after him… only for Trish Adora, Matt Makowski and John Wayne Murdoch to come out and throw their names in the hat. Add in AC Mack’s SCI win the prior day, and Yuta’s suddenly gotten a queue of challengers…
With most of the attention on the main event, IWTV100 could have had a properly throwaway undercard and still been a success. Of course, that wasn’t the case, although some of those matches running short left you wanting more – and perhaps gave away the main event result…