Another Wednesday, another random match – and one that just dropped on YouTube from Prestige Wrestling!
This was Prestige’s last show before the shutdown, and it came from the Pin in Spokane, Washington. Well, a match like this is a heck of a one to go out on, I guess. Prestige’s back catalogue is up on IWTV.live, but they’ve taken to throwing some stuff on YouTube lately… like this one.
Quick Result
Tom Lawlor defeated Dominic Garrini via referee stoppage to retain the Prestige Wrestling championship in 13:00 (***¾)
Prestige Wrestling Championship: Dominic Garrini vs. Tom Lawlor (c)
This title match had a special stipulation, in that only knockouts or submissions would win you the match. A fitting choice, given both men’s backgrounds.
We start with a grapple as Lawlor rolled Garrini down to the mat, as commentary pointed out that these two are stablemates in MLW. Garrini repositions himself to kick away Lawlor’s knees as he pulled the former UFC fighter into a triangle choke, but there’s an escape as Lawlor rolled away and kicked Garrini in the quads.
Lawlor goes for Garrini’s leg on the mat, but instead there’s a counter as Garrini went for what looked like a Banana split… before Lawlor’s attempt at a Kimura was countered in kind. It’s all very smooth stuff, as Lawlor then managed to get the Banana Split in, only for Garrini to roll free into a cross armbar.
Lawlor postures up to get free of the grip, but he couldn’t fully escape as Garrini trapped the arm… only for Lawlor to get to the ropes before he found himself in trouble. More switches on the mat see Lawlor go for a Kimura again, but Garrino switched into a front facelock before the pair rolled into the ropes.
We get a clean break and a stand-off, as Lawlor tried to gee up the crowd… then went back in for the arm of Garrini with a cross armbreaker. It’s countered in kind, with Lawlor gripping his hands together to save himself… which he did as he spun free and drilled Garrini in the back with some knees on the mat. Back on his feet, Garrini avoids a running knee before he busted out some suplexes – a Dragon suplex and a gutwrench suplex – before a diving forearm looked to force a KO win on the champion.
Lawlor beat the ten-count though, so Garrini peppers him with some mid kicks, before a desperation spear from Lawlor forced a break. Lawlor throws some more kicks before rolling Garrini into an ankle lock, but it’s rolled away from… so Lawlor just rolls back through and into the ankle lock, trapping Garrini in the middle of the ring. Garrini pushes free though and knocks Lawlor down, but he has trouble beating the ten count before he rushed back in with a palm strike, a leaping knee and a front suplex/knee strike combo as we had another ten count.
Garrini tries to follow up with a suplex, but Lawlor fought free with a savate kick before using a Fireman’s carry to dump Garrini on the top rope. Some knees follow as Garrini was draped across the buckles, which led to a superplex that brought Garrini down hard. Lawlor followed that up with a guillotine choke after the impact, which Garrini slipped as he tried to free himself from. Second time was the charm as Garrini rushed in with a Fisherman buster, setting up for a cross armbreaker, but he couldn’t get he hold on as Lawlor breaks the grip and returned fire with a German suplex. Forearms and elbows from Lawlor are me twitch a back elbow from Garrini, who’s right back in with a German suplex and a Gotch piledriver, but Lawlor’s right back up to take more shots.
Palm strikes from Garrini earn him an Exploder… which he popped up from, so Lawlor throws more elbows. Jabs and clubbing shots from Lawlor stagger Garrini, who’s throwing some wild shots of his own before the pair caught dualling kicks… with a slap from Lawlor taking Garrini down first. A double sledge from Garrinoi earns him more kicks from Lawlor, who traps him in the corner with a clothesline ahead of an Angle slam that keeps us going.
Garrini pulls himself up, but can’t avoid a wacky leg-trapped, cobra clutch suplex… that dumps him hard on the mat, and that leads to the referee stoppage! This was nicely paced, with both men going hell for leather in a style that fitted both of their martial arts background – albeit with a few nods to pro wrestling thrown in there for good measure. At under quarter of an hour long, it’s well worth a watch. ***¾