The rivalry between David Francisco and Michael Oku reached its limit in Purpose as they clashed in an unsanctioned match.
I think this the first time we’ve taken a look at Purpose Wrestling – they run regularly out of the Merton Arts Space in Wimbledon (the famous library) using a few familiar faces, albeit in different roles. They’ve got a Patreon for full shows, while their YouTube channel releases matches a little while after the Patreon…
This match was the culmination of a LONG rivalry in Purpose… which included Oku taking on Chris Hatch (yes, THAT Chris Hatch) as part of a demand from Oku to take on anyone of his choice before he’d face Francisco again.
Unsanctioned Match: Michael Oku vs. David Francisco
Hey, it’s that unused Drew McIntyre theme! In Purpose, Oku isn’t the hand-slapping good guy he is elsewhere…
Francisco’s taping his wrist as he came out, prepping to punch Oku square in the mush… and that’s how we start, with punches from Francisco either side of a Thesz press. Oku tries to fight back, but Francisco just walks away from a springboard moonsault before he took Oku outside for the dropkick-thru-the-ropes.
On the outside, Francisco marches Oku around ringside for a spinebuster into the side of the ring, before a chinlock targeted Oku in a chair. Francisco lets go so he could do a lap of honour and a kick to the face, before a second one ended with Oku cutting off Francisco with a superkick.
The fans ignore Oku as he demanded they scatter… so he just threw Francisco threw them into the stage. They listen second time around, as Francisco was bowled into the crowd, before Oku took things into the ring, removing Francisco’s belt. You know what’s next… especially as Francisco wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Francisco gets a whipping, before he was unceremoniously turfed back outside and onto the stage, where he’s dumped with a DDT. As Francisco got back to his feet, Oku went under the ring for a chair… but he took too long as Francisco superkicks it into him before he grabbed his belt from the ring. Cue payback.
Oku’s unable to move from the stage as Francisco lit him up with the belt, before a DDT onto the opened chair firmly had Francisco in control. Back in the ring, there’s more chairshots to the back of Oku, including one “for Sarah” (Hatch, whom Oku’d superkicked last time out.) There’s a nasty pop-up onto a chair for Oku, followed up by a Blue Thunder Bomb that drew a near-fall on Oku.
Francisco heads up top after that, landing an elbow drop for good measure, before things headed outside once more, with Francisco teasing a Gotch piledriver onto the side of the ring. It’s blocked, unlike the superkicks that took down Oku, as the crowd again were scattered as Francisco pulled out a table from under the ring… it’s set up as Francisco teases a piledriver off the apron, but a back body drop countered that one away. Things head towards the tuck shop on the stupidly-hot September evening, as Francisco proceeds to dunk Oku into an ice bucket used for keeping cans cold…
Returning to the ring after landing a chairshot, Oku picks his shots on the bloodied Francisco, landing that springboard moonsault that was avoided at the start of the match. Francisco’s able to kick out from it though, as he then found a second wind, zombi-ing his way though Oku’s strikes before blistering Oku into the corner. Headbutts keep him there, while a lariat pulled Oku out of the corner, with more of those dumping Oku on his head as a set-up for the Gotch piledriver… but Oku kicks out at two.
Francisco opens up a couple of chairs and lays Oku across them… but a second elbow drop off the top fails as Oku popped up and shoved Francisco off the top rope and through the table on the outside. Picking up the pace, Oku takes it back inside for a frog splash that recoiled Oku off of Francisco for another near-fall, before a trio of misdirection knees again forced a near-fall. The half crab follows, but Oku relents so he could slap Francisco around some more… opting to go for the belt so he could choke Francisco with it amid a bow-and-arrow hold. Francisco refuses to tap, instead flipping off Oku before passing out as the ref ends up waving it off.
Result: Michael Oku defeated David Francisco via referee stoppage in 24:21 (***¼)
There’s almost a begrudging applause from the crowd after the bell… as we then cut to post-match comments of Oku saying he’s the top wrestler in the country because he takes a beating and keeps on going.
I suspect I’d have been a little more invested in this match had I followed more of the feud – although it was notable that some of the crowd were starting to lean into Oku as the match went. Unless that’s a result of that aforementioned “taking a beating and keeps on going” trait, or just because of Oku’s character in larger promotions, that may be an issue going forward.