Jordan Devlin’s run of bangers in OTT continues – as we find out with our latest dip into the promotion’s “smaller shows”.
For their final show of the year, OTT went north of the border to Belfast, with the Europa Hotel playing host to the debut of Ilja Dragunov, along with a main event between WALTER and Bonesaw.
Scotty Davis vs. Jordan Devlin
The not-too-distant future vs. the present of Irish wrestling on one match? Sign me up!
There’s duelling chants at the bell, as Devlin and Davis scrambled for position early – but it was Scotty who scored with the first takedown as Devlin seemed to have been caught unawares. Second time around, Devlin takes Davis into the corner for a clean break, before he looked to work on the youngster’s arm.
Davis tries to trip Devlin free, but every time Scotty got free he was quickly back in a wristlock before he took himself into the ropes for a break. A quick knuckle lock’s broken as Devlin just punches Davis, who shocked him with a series of Gator rolls that turned the match on its head! A suplex takes Devlin outside, where he’s met with a swift Sasuke special, and my God, that escalated quickly!
Scotty stayed on Devlin with chops, then rolled him back inside for a crossbody… but Devlin cracks him in mid-air with a dropkick as the youngster had a rude landing. There’s a similarly-nasty landing as Devlin hits a backbreaker before an elbow keeps Scotty on the mat… Scotty tries to fight back with punches and chops, but Devlin goes all WALTER-like with a single chop to take the relative rookie to the mat.
Davis gets thrown to the apron, then gets joined on there as he has to fight away from an apron brainbuster. An attempted Gator Roll to the floor’s blocked, as Devlin instead dropkicked away a springboard as Davis racked up another nasty landing. Jordan throws another right at Davis, but it backfires as a shoulder charge into the corner comes up short as Davis fell to the mat as a delayed reaction to that punch.
That kinda compromised Devlin’s shoulder, and gave Davis an opening as he lands some kicks before a high German suplex, then a PK and a Dragon suplex folded Devlin in half for a near-fall! Davis keeps hold and quickly followed that up with a Fisherman buster for another close call, with Devlin heading outside… but he avoids another dive from Davis and instead catches him with an Orihara moonsault. Christ on a bike, this is some good wrestling!
On the outside, the pair trade rights until Devlin eyes up the front row… but a suplex into the chairs is stopped as Devlin is instead blocked and met with a vicious gator roll that took everyone several rows deep! The referee’s 20 count was already pretty deep, but somehow they both beat it and made it back into the ring to keep the match going, which they did by trading palm strikes, then elbows… and it’s like they both found a second wind as they swung for the fences! Devlin ducks some roundhouses, but eventually catches one before another high German suplex… is shrugged off?! A Saito suplex is the receipt, but Davis gets back up as both men eventually crumble to the mat. They get back to their feet as Devlin goes for an Ireland’s Call… but Davis counters out into a crossface, almost forcing the submission before Devlin eventually got a foot to the rope.
Davis goes for another Gator roll, but he counters a counter before getting cracked with a headbutt, before the Ireland’s Call found its mark for the win. Good God, I’d heard the hype, but this exceeded it. He’s poking through, but at barely the age of 18, Scotty Davis is a lock to be the next huge name to come out of Ireland… and they’ve got quite a few folks at that level already. Imagine if we could see a rematch of this down the line on a much bigger stage… ****½
There’s some post-match shenanigans too, as David Starr – who was off the card with an injury – appeared in a Jordan Devlin t-shirt. This was the first time they’d come face-to-face since Starr cost his friend a win over WALTER… and there’s a shot fired from Devlin who accused Starr of perhaps faking the injury. After having been thrown the mic, Starr went to explain himself… but instead he asked for forgiveness.
Yeah, Belfast wasn’t having any of that. Nor was Devlin. So Starr accused Devlin of having no self-awareness, calling him selfish before going on a selfish rant about how Jordan almost stole the win over WALTER from him. Both men have the same aim, but Starr didn’t want a fight… prompting the crowd to chant “coward” at him. Not that he cared, as Starr rolled out of the ring and headed to the back… but not before Devlin told him that he’ll put his title rematch on the line against Starr, with the winner getting WALTER.
From start to end, a blisteringly hot segment – and one that keeps you invested in the many stories OTT has to tell. Keep a very close eye on this promotion in the new year!