We’re going back to our brief trip to Ireland earlier this year – and a match that stole the show at the Big Sean.
It was such an unassuming show going in – at the Sean O’Casey Centre in Dublin’s East Wall, perhaps referred to in short form as a “trainee show”. Fortunately, the folks at the Low Blows network have put this up to watch (for free) on YouTube, so let’s all see if this was ahem, more than hype?
Irish Tag Team Championship: More Than Hype (Nathan Martin & Darren Kearney) vs. Club Rock Shandy (Clayton Long & Martin Steers)
For those wondering about these titles, these are vaguely related to OTT… kind of like “second cousin once removed”, as they were founded in the No Limits Wrestling promotion that was the precursor to OTT. It also explains why there’s a lot of the belt blanked out…
If you’re still wondering, Club Rock Shandy is a soft drink – like a fizzy orange soda. True to their name, Club Rock Shandy hand out bottles of their eponymous beverage to the crowd, before sharing a drink with their opponents before the match. The ring announcer chugs the rest, which perhaps isn’t a wise move. Burp. That’ll not be the only one if this goes anywhere near the threatened twelve-hour time limit!
It’s Kearney and Long who get us going, with a bit of rope walking almost backfiring as Long was pulled into a Fireman’s carry, only to get pushed free. That’s the cue for both to tag out, but it’s Nathan Martin who has the upper hand with an armbar on Steers… who escapes with a wristlock before the pair continued to nullify each other… at least until Steers scores with a couple of headscissors and a dropkick.
Long’s brought back in as Martin’s kept isolated, eating a sliding forearm and a low dropkick in the corner, before a suplex from Long set up for Steers’ “Ballin’” legdrop for a near-fall. Kearney gets involved with a shoulder block through the ropes as More Than Hype hit a cheeky double-team before Kearney again tagged in to make it a little more legitimate. Steers flips out of a big back body drop and brings in Long, who fired up with some head kicks and a roundhouse to send Kearney powdering to the outside. Good grief, the speed on those! A tope’s next from Steers, before a tope con giro from Long wiped out everyone at ringside! Long takes Kearney back inside, but he’s caught with a superplex before Martin’s frog splash nearly ends things as More Than Hype turned things around in a heartbeat.
More Than Hype stared down Long, clocking him with superkicks before his attempt at a hook kick just ended with a Blue Thunder Bomb from Kearney. Martin Steers rushes in with a lariat… and all four men are down while the crowd rises to their feet in appreciation of that brief flurry.
From their knees, all four men trade chops as they fired up – bringing extra heat to an already-sweltering room – but it’s Club Rock Shandy that edged ahead with a series of kicks to the chest, only for the champions to catch one and turn them around into a pair of half-crabs! Those are quickly broken in the ropes, and the challengers are back with a pair of float-over Destroyers that left Nathan Martin on his lonesome as a roundhouse kick and a Rock Shandy Driver (Pulp Friction/Unprettier) left him prone for a huge 450 splash from Clayton Long! Kearney breaks up the cover and gets met with a rebound overhead kick and a tornado DDT as the pace remained breathless.
Martin again tries to fight back, and succeeds as he gives a German suplex to Long… who accidentally dished out a Samoan drop to Steers in the meantime. Such innovation… and now the double-teaming continues with the a slam/neckbreaker combo to Long, before a superkick-assisted Jay Driller – called the Overhyped – put away Steers for the pin. Sweet jesus, that might not have been for everyone, but that tag match lived up to the hype I’d given it in my own mind. Hunt this one down and spend fifteen minutes of your time watching this – without a shadow of a doubt you’ll be hearing a lot more about all four of these men in the years to come! ****¼