Hey look, it’s another OTT main event that needs no hype. Starr. Devlin. For the title. We’re on it!
We’re jumping straight to the main event from this past Sunday, as a story that started innocently enough at OTT’s absurdly-named WrasslePops show paid off in style. The main event segment opens with the fire video package from Sean Ryan that set the scene beautifully. Commentary, as ever, is from Aonghus McAnally and Tony Kelly…
OTT World Championship: David Starr vs. Jordan Devlin (c)
Jordan Devlin rolled back the years to give us some Miseria Cantare, going back to the song he used when he won the NLW title… except it wasn’t Jordan. It was David Starr in the Greater Power-like hood. I POPPED. Doubly so for Starr’s “IMPORT KILLER” trunks as both men were leaning into their characters the portrayals of them…
The build for this had managed to successfully turn Jordan Devlin whenever he was in the same room as David Starr. On their own, both men got largely cheered, but in this atmosphere, Devlin was being treated almost like a pariah by his own people. On the VOD, it made for a white hot atmosphere and I can only imagine what it’d have been like live…
We’re off to the races, with the crowd chanting the Jordan Devlin song for the challenger, and they shoot into each other with a tonne of yay/boo ground and pound, with Dublin vehemently against the champion. This isn’t a match, this is a fist-fight and this feels goddamn real!
Devlin stung Starr with a right hook, before he got sent outside for a tope… Devlin threw in a tope con giro of his own, but it’s almost unanimously booed as the pair slugged it out on the floor before an almost WALTER-like boot and set up for a teased powerbomb into the seats… which Jordan ate instead. Starr got the chairs anyway as his charge was side-stepped, before the pair got back inside, exchanging forearms at short range as Devlin clung onto Starr’s wrist. Devlin added mustard to his, hammering down on Starr from above as the crowd booed… but a Devlinside’s countered with a headlock takedown as Starr ended up following in with a back elbow and a sliding splash into the corner. I’m barely getting the time to breathe, especially as Devlin kicks out at one, and threw in a shot to Starr from the kick-out. Starr tries to work over Devlin’s wrist and fingers, before a springboard clothesline was caught as Devlin hit an Air Jordan, using the ropes for propulsion for a near-fall.
Another right hand from Devlin left Starr in the corner, before Devlin looked to go old country and use a camel clutch… with a few extra short cuts to remind you the bad guy was meant to be here. Starr gets up as another slugfest ended with a Pretty Pumped, then with a Han Stansen after an enziguiri from Devlin proved to be the meat in that Starr sandwich. The next step sees Starr do the Bad Bones suplex, as both men tumbled awkwardly over the top rope to the outside, as the crowd interestingly were starting to get behind Devlin some more…
Devlin seemed happy to take the count-out victory, looking happy when Starr slipped at 18, but the challenger rolled back in in the nick of time before both men put their dukes up for a bit of boxing. Of course, the more experienced Devlin had Starr rocked instantly, but Starr managed to get some lucky shots in, busting open the champion in the process before punching Jordan to the outside. Now THAT is your blood feud! Starr looks to capitalise by launching in with a tope, but Devlin caught Starr with his own Cherry Mint DDT… only for Starr to hit a Devlin-like jumping Destroyer that prompted the champion to hit a Han Stansen! Devlin looked to add a Devlinside, but a headbutt from Starr earned him almost a Torpedo Moscau before the Devlinside nearly ended the match!
Devlin looked to head up top, but he got crotched by Starr as a back superplex saw the champion rudely bounce off the mat ahead of a big Han Stansen… which gets blocked as Devlin ended up taking a nasty Blackheart Buster for a one-count. A Kaepernick looks even nastier for a near-fall, before another Han Stansen almost got undone by a backslide as Starr was swinging for the fences here. A Product Placement gets a two-count, prompting Starr to go after the referee, almost sensing a screwjob in the offing… Starr’s back outside as he looked to snatch the OTT title off of the ring announcer. Butch puts up no fight, as select members of the crowd were begging Starr to reconsider… then Devlin, after he’d retrieved the belt following a superkick. Would Devlin live up to the devil status that hype video had given him? Starr wanted it… but he spits on the belt (and Devlin) before Devlin threw the belt aside… meaning the ref missed a low blow that almost got the win! Starr goes back to the belt, and the tug of war ends with a low blow as Starr’s punted in the ding ding. Now Jordan’s booed again as he laughed, then landed a package piledriver… but Starr kicks out! That’s damn near unprecedented!
Frustrated, Devlin stalks Starr, but he’s caught in the Republican Remorse (the old Edgucator), but the champion’s able to get to the rope as they teased a tap-out a la WALTER. Starr slaps feeling back into his arms as Devlin was looking the worse for wear, before Starr teased a Triple H tribute with a crotch chop and a Pedigree… but instead he stuns Devlin with a Trapped Arm Bob Fossil for a near-fall! The crowd were biting, then again after a one-count from a Han Stansen… but a second Han Stansen spun Devlin…. AND WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION! Absolutely no fear here – you perhaps need to have been fully on board with the story to appreciate it all, but this was the goddamn peak of this storyline, highlighted with the mixture of rapturous Starr fans and the dejected Devlin supporters at the end. Especially when a second Han Stansen after the bell underscored it all. *****
Commentary made a point of noting how Starr wasn’t celebrating with the locker room afterwards, as he instead was crowd surfed around the National Stadium as commentary went a little overboard describing the scene… that aside, and I can’t believe I’m quoting Kid Rock’s Lonely Road of Faith music video, but it’s true: if it sounds good, you’ll hear it If it looks good, you’ll see it If it’s marketed right, you’ll buy it but if it’s real, you’ll feel it. We felt it, even on VOD.
- Catch this match as part of the Fifth Year Anniversary show on OTTondemand.com – we’ll be reviewing the rest of that in due course!