We’re back for the second half of the Family Reunion, with four titles on the line across the show, featuring the likes of Daniel Garcia, Kevin Ku, Gary Jay & Cabana Man Dan.
Quick Results
AC Mack & MV Young pinned Jared Evans & Ashton Starr, Erica Leigh & Boar and Eel O’Neal & Jordan Blade in 10:27 (**¼)
Mysterious Q pinned Ryan Davidson to retain the New Texas Heavyweight Championship in 10:22 (***)
Arik Royal pinned Marcus Mathers to retain the ACTION Championship in 5:25 (**)
Alex Kane pinned Bryan Keith in 8:21 (***¼)
Gary Jay pinned Billie Starkz in 9:54 (**¾)
Derek Neal pinned Cabana Man Dan to retain the New South Championship in 10:32 (***¾)
Daniel Garcia submitted Kevin Ku in 17:44 to retain the C4 and Limitless Championships (****)
A Very Good Professional Wrestler, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Makabe & Tre LaMar pinned Dan Champion, Lucky 13, Arik Cannon & Jigsaw in 14:41 (***½)
We’re back at the 81Bay Brewing Company in Tampa…
Ashton Starr & Jared Evans vs. Erica Leigh & Boar vs. The Kings of the District (Eel O’Neal & Jordan Blade) vs. MV Young & AC Mack
Butch vs. Gore are presenting this opener… as I wonder if they’ve booked someone out of retirement when Young and Mack’s music hit.
O’Neil and Leigh start us off, with O’Neal stretching Leigh on the mat before Erica armdragged her way free. She hits a back senton before Jordan Blade came in to try her luck, suplexing Leigh before Leigh came in with a back elbow and a leg lariat. Boar tags in to hit a squatting slam as Leigh then got popped up onto Blade with a splash for a two-count. Jared Evans breaks up the pin then forced a tag so he could face off against Leigh. He kicks Leigh in a Test of Strength as things break down into the ropes, before a pumphandle slam finally was pulled off. Ashton Starr’s in to get a two-count from a kick, but a kick in the ropes offers a distraction as Blade ran in to choke Leigh in the ropes. Blade rolls Leigh into an armbar, before tagging in O’Neal for a double-team suplex… which leads to another cross armbar as O’Neal almost got the pin.
Staying on Leigh, O’Neil rolls her to the mat for a double armbar, but Erica rolls back on him for a two-count, only to get caught with a low dropkick for a two-count. An arm whip drops Leigh as Blade tagged back in to boot Leigh ahead of a Fisherman suplex that nearly ends things. Jared Evans tags himself in and superkicks Blade as well before he went Old School… but Leigh ducks it and dives out to tag in Boar. Boar clears house, but has to shrug off chops from MV Young, only for Young to land an Exploder. Young keeps going with apron PKs and superkicks before Blade looked for a German suplex on the apron, but he clung onto the ropes to avoid the worst. Boar recovers to hit a fireman’s carry facebuster with Leigh for a near-fall. Things spill outside as the camera crew has a hard time keeping up with it – half the match brawls to the back, as AC Mack ends up sidestepping Ashton Starr’s scissor kick, before Starr caught him with a tiltawhirl backbreaker.
Starr keeps going with a split-legged moonsault, with a nice bit of air on the spring, but Young breaks it up before stomping Starr. Evans is back as I think this just bled into lucha rules. Not to worry, he eventually springboards into a spear, before a diving knee to the back of the head from Young gets the pin… but not before Mack stole the cover. This was fine, but the tag structure seemed to fall apart halfway through – unless there’s a Butch vs. Gore feud I completely whiffed on here. **¼
New Texas Pro Championship: Mysterious Q (c) vs. Ryan Davidson
It’s a long trip for New Texas Pro for this one… and we’ve got tech issues on the sound it seems.
Davidson looks to control things from the lock-up, working Q’s arm and taking him down to the mat… but headscissors offer an escape as my feed dropped. When I get it back up, we’re at a stand-off. Davidson and Q trade chops, before a floatover from Davidson leads to him taking some headscissors, before Q’s springboard missile dropkick lands for a near-fall. Elbows from Q keep him ahead, but Davidson just punches him out before a splash in the corner and a suplex dropped the champion. A fist-drop’s next as Davidson looked to build momentum, before things broke down into a chop battle, ending with a ripcord leg lariat from Q. A scoop slam from Davidson gets a two-count, as Q looked to be out on his feet… he has enough about him to block a powerbomb, eventually slipping free before returning with a Slingblade.
A German suplex puts Mysterious Q ahead, as did a spin-out rack bomb, but Davidson kicks out at two from that. Q heads up top, but misses a leap as Davidson popped him up into a powerbomb for a near-fall… then followed that up with a moonsault that missed. Mysterious Q is back up to land a cutter though, which gets him a near-fall as the match then descended into back-and-forth strikes. Mysterious Q lands a clothesline, but can’t keep Davidson down… so he follows up with a suplex attempt, which gets countered into a Falcon arrow for a near-fall. Chops come next, but Q floats over Davidson and in for another cutter, before a springboard cutter ends the match. A decent back-and-forth match, with both guys working well… but the crowd not knowing much about these guys really hurt the engagement – a story of the entire show, I fear. ***
We’ve an interruption before the next match… in the form of Arik Royal. He gets ring announcer Rich Palladino to hold his ACTION title aloft, as he issued an open challenge. Music I don’t recognise hits as his challenge was answered by Marcus Mathers, who’d hot-footed it across town from the GCW show.
ACTION Championship: Arik Royal (c) vs. Marcus Mathers
The pair trade slaps at the bell, as Mathers builds up with dropkicks and forearms to take Royal into the corner.
Royal clings onto the rope to stop an Irish whip, then reverses it at Mathers comes in with a front kick… before a ripcord swinging backbreaker landed. Knee drops follow, then chops, before a front kick wrecks Mathers as Royal’s able to pick up a two-count. A diving tackle knocks Mathers into the corner, before a Beele throw chucks Mathers across the ring. Mathers gets his feet up to block a charge in the corner, then landed a sunset flip… rolling up into a cutter to boot. A corner dropkick and some boots knock Royal down ahead of a Coast to Coast dropkick, but a delayed cover only gets Mathers a two-count before Mathers springboarded into a punch… which allowed Royal to snap back with a powerbomb and a pull-up lariat. That’s followed up with the Kobe, and that’s enough for the win. Brief, with Mathers looking good on his offence, but this was pretty much a glorified squash. **
Bryan Keith vs. Alex Kane
Big Starkz Brand is on the hook here – more of a clothing line than a promotion, but we’ll let it slide!
Kane takes down Keith to start off with, but Keith’s attempt at an armbar is neutralised… he has more luck with a side headlock, but Kane escapes with a side suplex before he tossed Keith with an overhead belly-to-belly. A charge takes Keith to the corner, before Keith elbowed out of a ripcord suplex attempt. Kane ducks a clothesline and pulls up Keith into a stalling suplex for a two-count – and our third suplex of the match, for those doing the count-along. Uppercuts keep Keith in the corner, before a low dropkick from Keith knocks Kane to the outside. He follows Kane outside for kicks to the leg, but Kane shrugs them off and headed back inside, only to get his knee kicked out as he came through the ropes.
Keith stays on the leg, throwing it into the apron, then into the ring post, before he stomped on the knee back inside the ring. Driving the knee into the mat exacerbates things for a one-count, but Kane’s able to push Keith away before elbowing… the mouth guard out of him?! Something definitely went flying as Kane returned with a German suplex. Keith clings to the ropes to force a break, but Kane’s back with kicks before Keith was dumped with an X-Plex for a near-fall. Keith hits a backdrop driver that nearly wins it for him, before Kane came back with the Mark of Kane – a capture/cravat back suplex – for the win. Different from the more recent Kane matches, in that it was way more even, but I keep telling you – keep Alex Kane’s name in your mind for a rapidly-approaching future! ***¼
Gary Jay vs. Billie Starkz
This is an offer match from St. Louis Anarchy as Starkz apparently talked her way into this match against an originally-reluctant Jay.
Starkz slaps Jay early on, then lands a hook kick as Jay was refusing to get involved. A German suplex flips Jay… who is back with an elbow to an onrushing Starkz, then some kicks. More elbows knock Starkz into the corner, before a snapmare and a low dropkick gets Jay a two-count. Another strike exchange knocks Starkz down in the corner, before he whipped her across the ring… but Starkz gets a boot up and hits a rebound kick off the ropes. Jay’s back with a pop-up knee, before Starkz pushed him into the ropes for a rebound German suplex. A hook kick followed, only for Jay to hit back and get caught with another head kick in the end.
Starkz builds up with a running elbow into the corner, before she tried to keep Jay in the corner with Machine Gun chops… he tries to sneak out, but gets thrown into Starkz’s knee ahead of a kick, with a senton bomb almost getting Billie the win. Jay’s back with a punt kick to the arm, then a stomp to the back of the head, before a Fujiwara armbar ended with Starkz shifting herself to the ropes. They head outside, with Jay hitting a tope that knocked both of them into the front row, but somehow Starkz is up to drill Jay with a death valley driver onto floor… which led to some gutteral screams from Jay after the impact. Rather than take the count-out, Starkz rolled outside to try and roll Jay back inside, eventually doing so to get a two-count before we went back to the strike exchanges.
Repeated elbows wear down Jay, before he’s tripped and met with a low dropkick… Jay pushes her out of the corner, then KO’s her with an elbow for the pin. This took a while for the crowd to get into, but the crowd eventually warmed to Starkz despite the offence that she took early on. **¾
Post-match, Jay called for the mic but got drowned out by his music before he put over Starkz.
New South Heavyweight Championship: Cabana Man Dan vs. Derek Neal (c)
I hate to generalise, but can Cabana Man Dan win back that huge-ass gold belt that pops up in the first row of a Google Image search for his name? Dan’s changed a LOT since then…
We start with the pair going head-to-head, but it’s Neal who goes ahead early, taking Dan into the corner before Dan came back with a wristlock, rolling Neal down to the mat for a two-count. It’s turned into an armbar, before a hiptoss from Dan caught Neal by surprise. Shoulder tackles don’t faze the champion, who ends up taking an armdrag, before my feed dropped out. We’re outside, with Dan getting shoved into the post… which Neal then chopped… back inside a swinging DDT nearly gets Dan the win, before Neal just punched him out after escaping a Sliced Bread out of the corner. Neal punches Dan in the head after that, then landed a Northern Lights for a near-fall…
An Irish whip bounces Dan into the corner, before a slam and a knee drop gets Neal another two-count. Dan musters a fightback with some right handsome before he went after Neal’s arm and wrist, rolling him into a Magistral for a two-count… only for Neal to dump him with a uranage in return. Another whip takes Dan into the corner for a dropkick, getting another two-count… a right hand keeps Dan there, but he then evades another corner dropkick as Neal crashed and burned. Dan charges into a spinning headbutt, but lands a diving headbutt of his own, a la Ilja Dragunov’s Torpedo Moscau, but Dan gets caught up top as Neal went to bring him down with a superplex.
Dan bites free though and instead comes back with a sunset bomb off the top… then jack-knifed his way into a cover for a two-count. A Sliced Bread looks to follow, but Neal pushes him off and returned with a knee strike for another two-count as the tempo raised. An inside cradle nearly nicks it for Dan, but Neal just comes back with a brainbuster to shut the door. I absolutely adored this – the crowd really got into this, with Dan swinging for the fences – but Neal just had too much in the locker. Hopefully both these guys get look in somewhere in the wider wrestling world – I know there’s been calls for the NWA to take a look at Neal, but both of these guys are worth a look. ***¾
Post-match, Neal whipped Dan with a leather belt before Adam Priest made the save – he won this year’s HOSS tournament and is gunning for a shot at Neal’s title.
C4 & Limitless Wrestling Championships: Kevin Ku vs. Daniel Garcia (c)
A double-title match as Garcia defends his titles from Canada’s Capital City Championship Combat and Maine’s Limitless Wrestling – the latter he won not even three weeks ago…
We’ve a tentative start as Garcia rolled Ku down to the mat, but they can’t get a hold on as Ku escaped headscissors and took the mount. Garcia grabs the arm as he looked for a hammerlock on Ku, taking him to his knees, before the pair scrambled into the ropes for another break. Garcia rolls in the search for a wristlock, but nothing’s going there as he then grounded Ku for some Danielson-ish elbows. Garcia’s stomps were countered as Ku grabbed the leg for a heel hook, but the pair roll out of the ring and to the floor, with Ku taking a bad landing. He shrugs it off as the pair trade chops, but Garcia regains control back inside as he ties up Ku’s legs. Ku counters with a leg lock of his own, but Garcia counters out with a toe hold, before a break in the ropes led to Garcia teasing a chop.
Ku nicks ahead with a leapfrog before he charged down Garcia with a shoulder block. A Fireman’s carry throw has Garcia ahead again as a Magistral gets a two-count… Garcia’s quickly back, rolling Ku through for a back elbow, before a knee to the back kept the challenger on the deck. A floatover suplex for Garcia gets a two-count, as Ku was firmly on the defensive here, taking a chop and a hiptoss for another two-count for “Red Death.” Garcia looks to stomp on Ku’s elbow, but instead goes for the midsection as he opted for a torqued wristlock instead. Ku fights out though, mustering an enziguiri before he sparked a brief exchange of strikes, ending with a Busaiku knee to Garcia for a near-fall. A leg spreader from Ku has Garcia in trouble, but Garcia’s attempt to escape just earned him a pounding with some elbows from above.
Ku invites Garcia to the mat to exchange some slaps, but Garcia switches up for a side headlock… Ku escapes as they trade snapmares and kicks to the back, before they switched it up for clotheslines, culminating in a double clothesline that left both men down. Another exchange of strikes has Garcia slightly ahead, but Ku hits a snap Dragon suplex to turn it around, only for a Saito suplex from Garcia and a shotgun dropkick to offer some respite. Ku nails a PK, but sails to the outside after doing so, before a short piledriver tease was rolled through… Garcia nails it in the end, but Ku kicks out in the nick of time! Garcia bites away on Ku after that kick-out, then took him into the corner as Ku gets lifted up top for some more Danielson-ish elbows ahead of a back superplex… but Ku reverses in mid air and gets a near-fall, before a gutwrench into a back cracker gets a near-fall. A half crab’s next from Ku, but Garcia rolls through and switches into a Sharpshooter, leaning back hard on it as Ku’s forced to tap. Another cracker of a match that was buoyed by a vocal crowd – Ku and Garcia gelled well in their strikes, but it’s the hotly-tipped Garcia who got the win… and then shouted out Lee Moriarty for the chance to add another title to his haul. ****
A Very Good Professional Wrestling Team (Daniel Makabe, Tre LaMar, A Very Good Professional Wrestler & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Downey’s Irish Drinking Team (Dan Champion, Lucky 13, Jigsaw & Arik Cannon)
Our main event’s not for any titles… it’s a “family potluck atomicos match”, and here’s me copying A Very Good Professional Wrestler into the clipboard so I don’t have to keep typing it!
Yuta and Jigsaw start us off, with Jigsaw spinning Yuta to the mat before Yuta came back with a wristlock to reverse the roles. Jigsaw escapes for a toe hold, then rolled Yuta back up for a Gory special, torquing away on the neck for extra agony as Dan Champion ame in to change the pace. Right hands from Yuta take Champion into the ropes, but he reverses an Irish whip before catching Yuta’s crossbody and countered it into a stalling suplex. A Very Good Professional Wrestler comes in to punch Champion in the gut, before a suplex was countered with A Very Good Professional Wrestler instead tying up Champion’s leg into knots.
Champion rolls to reverse the hold, eventually breaking it as Arik Cannon ties up A Very Good Professional Wrestler’s legs. He switches up to a double armbar before A Very Good Professional Wrestler springboards to escape a wristlock… returning with one of his own instead. An abdominal stretch and a backslide gets A Very Good Professional Wrestler a two-count, before a spinning neckbreaker takes out A Very Good Professional Wrestler… and brings in Makabe for a headlock takedown. Cannon escapes and found his way in for a hammerlock on Makabe… who rises up and tries to snapmare free. The hammerlock’s held on though, before Makabe tripped Cannon and smoothly spun him into a modified deathlock that ends in the ropes. Makabe looks for the Makabe Lock from there, but Cannon resists… and ends up taking an uppercut as Lucky 13 joined the fray.
Lucky’s charged down, but he trips Makabe ahead of a spinning armdrag… then tripped him with a baseball slide. A nonchalant kick to the head takes Makabe outside as LaMar comes in to try and out-pace Lucky with leapfrogs before a roll through into a low dropkick took Lucky down. LaMar’s pulled outside as Cannon and A Very Good Professional Wrestler take over in the ring, which sparked a big ol’ run in as they set up for a monster ganged-up suplex spot. In the end A Very Good Professional Wrestling Team break it up as Dan Champion’s got beers for his team. Count ‘em out then ref… LaMar dives into the pile, before the team focused on Lucky 13, but there’s a switcheroo as Makabe’s caught by the Downey’s team… he makes a recovery with a Big Unit punch to Champion, before A Very Good Professional Wrestler nails Lucky 13 with a Ligerbomb for a near-fall.
A Very Good Professional Wrestler keeps going but runs into a Lucky 13 knee, then gets suplexed into the corner. A big Goomba stomp off the top from Lucky sparks a Parade of Moves, leading to a missed frog splash from LaMar, an enziguiri from Jigsaw, then a stacked-up German suplex for a near-fall. Makabe slides in to try and put away Jigsaw with the Makabe Lock… but Champion pulls Makabe away to break the hold, before a TKO got rid of Makabe. Yuta’s up top to pick up the pieces with a flying DDT to Champion, but it’s A Very Good Professional Wrestler who runs in to score the pin with a cradle. A fun, wild tag match to close out the show, and likely set up something between Yuta and A Very Good Professional Wrestler down the road as those two had a quarrel afterwards. ***½
They largely kept the “keep it around ten” format going here, and it made for a show that absolutely breezed by. An easy watch with some stand-out matches… but the one big knock on these two offer shows is that they made the assumption that everyone knows who everyone is. I watch a stupid, almost inhumane amount of wrestling, and there’s names on this show I’m not familiar with… so what about your average fan who’s dipping in for WrestleMania weekend?