What kind of insane turnaround is this?! Barely 48 hours on from the biggest match in OTT history… and it’s on-demand. WALTER. Jordan Devlin. Our thoughts… behind the click!
We’ll have our full ScrapperMania V review a little down the line, but we had to carve time out to watch this. Aonghus og McAnally and Tony Kelly as ever are your commentators for this moment of history.
We’re jumping to the main event, starting with the promo video that may have featured a familiar voice or three:
OTT World Championship: Jordan Devlin vs. WALTER (c)
The big match feel continues with new entrance videos, with Jordan Devlin having a pack of cards to reveal the Irish Ace…
WALTER, on the other hand, was almost universally loathed by all within the National Stadium, not helped by him throwing his belt on the mat. Ring announcer Butch eggs on the partisan crowd, like they needed it, and this is an atmosphere that’s giving me goosebumps!
The bell sounds and Devlin goes all Katie Taylor on WALTER, throwing some body blows before a right hand led to a teased package piledriver… but WALTER powers out, only to get sent outside as Devlin refused to back down, keeping up on him with a tope and some more right hands as the boxing motif that’s coursed throughout this build continued. A stomp from the apron finds WALTER flush… but then the Austrian swings with a chop that sent the challenger crashing to the mat. WALTER stops himself from chopping the ring post, but Devlin had no such luck as he went for a post… and now all of a sudden, WALTER’s got a blindingly-obvious target to go for. He throws the right arm and hand of Devlin into the apron, then stomps on it for good luck, before he switched up the offence, this time going on the arm before he proceeded to use his boot to try and choke Devlin out of the ring.
A suplex followed as WALTER put his foot on Devlin’s chest for a very nonchalant two-count… which seemed to fire up Devlin into a brief fightback, only for WALTER to clock him in the midsection before a release German suplex just ragdolled the Irishman to the mat. It gets worse as Devlin’s draped across the top rope and chopped to the floor, before WALTER draped Devlin’s Irish flag over his body… and stomped some more. MASSIVE HEAT.
Devlin tries to fight back, but his slingshot cutter’s quickly caught by WALTER, who somehow lost him as Devlin scrambled onto the back for a rear naked choke. A rope break led to Devlin trying for a RINGKAMPF German, but WALTER gets free and chops the back. Yuck. Devlin goes back to the rear naked choke and drags WALTER down, as the National Stadium comes alive… but it’s still way too early in the match as WALTER stood up, climbed the ropes, and fell back to break it. For like a second… because Devlin was right back on him! WALTER manages to throw Devlin forward, finishing him off with a tombstone… but Devlin’s up at two! So WALTER heads up top, but he took too long as Devlin clocks him with a gamengiri before he eventually caught WALTER with a slingshot avalanche cutter for a near-fall.
Going thumbs up/thumbs down in an ode to Batista, Devlin tries for the package piledriver, eventually landing it at the second attempt… but he blew out his back and couldn’t make the cover, eventually getting to the giant, loathed Austrian just as WALTER rolled himself to the floor. Ohhh! Devlin eventually collects himself and heads outside, hauling WALTER back inside as he had to keep the match from going to a count out… before Devlin went back to form and began throwing right hands. Injured hand be damned! A chop from WALTER looked to rock Devlin, but on his way down Devlin swung with a headbutt as the front row were banging that ring mat like war drums (cheers Aonghus…)… and then things looked to take a turn for the worse. Devlin’s 450 splash lands firmly in WALTER’s knees, with the champion going right in with a German suplex for a near-fall as the momentum continued to swing.
The big boot of WALTER puts Devlin back on the mat as Dublin seemed to be having their own squeaky bum moment, not helped by WALTER cracking Devlin through the ropes with some crossface punches. WALTER changes tactic, going for the hand… but Devlin manages to catch the arm and jam it over his shoulder to stop the tide, before he began to stomp on WALTER’s arm and creating an opening for a German suplex off the ropes. Turnabout was fair play as Devlin traps WALTER in the ropes for a hanging back cracker, taking WALTER outside as more stomps and kicks left the Austrian prone for an Orihara moonsault… and maybe, just maybe, Devlin had a fighting chance once again??
Back inside, Devlin scores with a 450 splash for a near-fall, but it became clear – to win, he’d need to find it in him to land another package piledriver. WALTER knew that too, and chops him back to the mat as he returned to a Gojira clutch… which he then released as he ragdolled Devlin with a powerbomb for a near-fall. Another powerbomb splats Devlin for another two-count, before WALTER dove on him with the Gojira clutch again as he tried to squeeze the life out of his challenger.
WALTER sounded frustrated as the referee took his time lifting and dropping Devlin’s arms… but Jordan was not done yet! The crowd get to their feet as he fought back, then groaned as Devlin took a Fire Thunder driver… but unlike last time, WALTER was not to be victorious with that move, as Dublin jumped when Devlin kicked out! From there, WALTER heads to the stage to grab his title belt, seemingly teasing a walk-out, chopping the referee as he called back to his match with PAC last month… but unlike then, Niall Fox told him to “get the fuck back in” as he refused to DQ the champion. So WALTER just walks away, only for OTT promoter Joe Cabray to appear on the stage, defending the honour of his promotion with his own fists. I think Tony Kelly may have had a moment there…
WALTER’s other attempts to exit the stadium were thwarted by the roster who were providing backup: More Than Hype… Paul Tracey… all stopped WALTER from walking away, as Devlin capitalised with a body press to the Austrian, before he countered a shotgun dropkick with a leaping double stomp! An O’Connor Roll is next, but the crowd groans as WALTER countered with another rear naked choke, only for Devlin to get free and trap WALTER with some repeated stomps a la Pete Dunne!
CHOP! That was seemingly all WALTER had left, but Devlin was not to be outdone, as he’d batter WALTER with some more body blows… then a snap package piledriver… ONE… TWO… THREE. You could hear the roar from anywhere it seemed, as Jordan Devlin had slain the beast… and regained his OTT title. The sheer noise, the reaction, the passion that erupted from that three-count is, in one emotion, why we love wrestling. Fans hugging one another around ringside, commentary breaking down in tears, and the roster flooding out from ringside to celebrate. Including David Starr, who appeared on the stage, arms crossed, to watch as he stood there almost emotionless as his former best friend did what he repeatedly could not. Beat WALTER. ****¾
If you’re going to nitpick, you’ll have to search pretty hard for things to criticise. Maybe the story was told too well – perhaps there was only ever likely to be one winner on St Patrick’s Day weekend, but at the end of it all, who gives a rat’s ass? This is pro wrestling, this is what we all fell in love with, and what we want to see time and time again. Do yourself a favour. Head over to OTTondemand.com – sign up, watch this (and the rest of the build) for yourself… and wait for the goosebumps to subside.