It was a different home, but OTT’s latest Homecoming brought us a monsterous card as the path to Scrappermania got a little clearer.
With the Tivoli in the past, OTT’s having to find new homes – this time, it’s the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, on the outskirts of Dublin. We open with THAT David Starr/Jordan Devlin promo, giving us chills once more as were reminded that we’re getting more than just a “number one contender’s match” tonight.
There’s no intro spiel as we’re straight into the action… Aonghus Og McAnally and Tony Kelly are on commentary.
Jordan Devlin vs. David Starr
The first thing you hear when Devlin’s name appeared on the screen was someone scream “fuck off”. A similar utterance likely followed when David Starr appeared, coming out to the Pat Benatar song that he and Devlin used when they teamed up. Such visceral hatred led to a reaction that gave me goosebumps on the VOD.
To say this was a partisan crowd, would be putting it mildly, especially when Starr came out wearing the “friends” shirt of he and Devlin… and some trunks in the colours of the Irish flag, bearing the word “dílseacht”. Or “loyalty”… that led to Jordan storming Starr in the aisle as we got ourselves a nice bit of Frye/Takayama before they teased a piledriver on the stage… with Starr instead getting hurled into the crowd.
There’s a brawl as Devlin and Starr traded shots before Starr landed a suplex… then headed into the crowd as he tried to suplex Devlin off the stands. Instead, he’s just clotheslined over some railings then was followed down on with a moonsault as the rabid crowd roared on. Finally they get in the ring, where Devlin rips off Starr’s shirt, only to get lifted back outside as a package piledriver was attempted. Starr followed with a plancha that may not have looked pretty… but it did the job, as Starr keeps up on Devlin, throwing him into the ring post before he continued to rough up his former friend, landing a knee drop on the apron to keep Devlin on the floor.
Devlin keeps rolling back inside though, roared on by the crowd as he comes back with a uranage… only for Starr to push away a standing moonsault in mid-air as his cartwheel kick clobbered Jordan for a two-count. A chinlock keeps Starr ahead briefly, along with some body blows before he caught a slingshot cutter… only to fall at the second time as Devlin had Starr scouted.
A tope con giro followed from Devlin, before he rolled out of a moonsault as an attempt at the Irish Call gave way to a roll-up and a stomp as Devlin kept the upper hand, with Starr trying to scurry away before he almost nicked the win with a roll-up – complete with feet on the ropes and a big ol’ handful of tights. The Violence Party’s next as chops and forearms trap Devlin in the corner, following in with a superkick and a powerbomb onto a knee. SWEET BABY JESUS THAT LOOKED NASTY.
Somehow Devlin kicks out, but a second superkick gets another two-count as the volume of the crowd increased. Starr again antagonised Devlin, so he responds with a goddamn headbutt. That thud made me a little sick, as the increasingly-deluded Starr looked to tweak away on Devlin’s fingers while threatening to take everything away from him. A Devlin headbutt stopped that, as Jordan then pulled up Starr into the Saito suplex before a stomp led to another crack at the moonsault… …which Starr yet again blocked by crotching Devlin. An attempted package piledriver off the top rope’s countered with a superplex, which Devlin rolled through into Starr’s own Blackheart Buster! A Han Stansen followed as Devlin continued to steal finishers, before a dive got caught and turned into a Cherry Mint DDT by Starr. The tit-for-tat continued as a Devlin Destroyer sends Starr into the ropes, with a Han Stansen in response leading to the pair trading more near-falls as the crowd finally cooled down a little.
Lariats follow as Starr and Devlin tried to knock each other’s blocks off, before it broke down into Frye/Takayama again. Devlin avoids a cartwheel kick and boots Starr, before he dropped him with a package piledriver… except Devlin refused to cover Starr, instead, picking him up for a second package piledriver… and that was enough to get the win. Decisive. Dominant. Heartfelt. This match was a bleeding home run. All of the details here, from the start to the finish made this contest a spine-chilling match that you’ll remember long after the result was counted.
From David Starr trolling Devlin with their old music, the old t-shirt, and the trunks that mockingly declared his loyalty – even a blind man could tell you who was there to be booed… and it worked. There was no contrarian cheers for Starr, just a pro-Devlin crowd that lived for every second of the ride, living through their Irish Ace on his way to victory. ****¾
Post-match, Devlin cradled Starr’s head, then left him alone in the ring to take some boos mixed with begrudging cheers for the war they’d just experienced. Right, how do you follow that?
Shigehiro Irie vs. Ilja Dragunov
OH! Twenty four hours earlier, Irie was wrestling in Stevenage for Southside against Gabriel Kidd in front of a crowd that was, to put it mildly, subdued. There’d be none of that here as he’d lock horns with Ilja Dragunov. Who, because it was OTT, gets his proper music…
We start with a lock-up that’s quickly broken as Tony Kelly seemed amused by Ilja’s methods of riling himself up. A second tie-up takes Irie into the corner, as Dragunov tried to get under his skin… but instead ended up almost getting Irie’s forearm into his own skin! Dragunov restrains him with a headlock, before shoulder tackles saw the pair clatter into each other ahead of some chops, which saw Ilja try to cut through Irie… only to get dumped with a Saito suplex. Dragunov staggers into the corner, where he’s met with an avalanche clothesline and a back elbow, ahead of a bulldog and Irie’s rebound splash by the ropes for a near-fall. We hear Ilja scream “nyet” into one of the mobile cameras, as he instead got up and hits a discus chop, then a crushing back senton for a near-fall. Ilja keeps up with a series of clotheslines to take Irie down, before he gets tossed outside… which led to another lariat from Ilja, as he had no problems with sticking with what worked. Irie’s right back with forearms and headbutts, before he took a high chop to the throat, allowing Ilja to try for a top rope back senton… but instead Irie just rebounds with a scoop slam as the hard hitting continued.
The Earthquake sit-down splash flattened Ilja for a two-count, as Irie took the upper hand, following in with some thunderous elbows… which Ilja responded to in kind, before he had to roll out ot a katahajime. Another headbut follows as Ilja seemed to be rocked, but he’s able to throw more and more chops as he staggered into some more elbows as the match broke down into a slugfest. A snap suplex from Irie drops Ilja to the mat, with a chinlock unwisely being fought out of as Irie continued to put a beating to Dragunov. Ilja blocks a superplex, clubbing away on Irie before a sunset bomb’s turned into a Ligerbomb instead! Body blows from Ilja set him up for a leaping enziguri, before Irie just ragdolls him into a Saito suplex. Ilja’s back up with one of his own as we’re firmly in head drop territory, before a series of lariats ended with a Konstantin Spezial from Dragunov for a near-fall.
Dragunov looked for a Torpedo Moscau, but Irie just blocked him and dumped him with a Fire Thunder Driver for a two-count, before some chops only served to delay a Beast Bomber. Irie goes for a second one, but the Torpedo Moscau cuts it off for the win! A lovely hard-hitting contest, but one that had to deal with the crowd coming down from the marvelous opener. Still, it’s not like these two were ever going to take it easy on each other! ****¼
Cue a WALTER promo video where he declared that he owned OTT and would continue to rule without emotion over the promotion.
PAC vs. WALTER
Cue gasps as the match graphic was thrown up on screen. This was a non-title contest, but coming 48 hours on from the time limit draw, there’d be a few folks looking to see whether this was going to end cleanly.
WALTER tossed down the OTT belt during his entrance, then made a point of kicking it down the aisle to show his disdain for the belt. Oh, the reaction if/when Jordan Devlin regains that belt is going to be glorious. The bell rings, and we start rather tentatively, with PAC drawing first blood with a series of leg kicks to WALTER, who tried to hit back with a chop… except PAC ducked it as he began to stick and move. Which included drawing WALTER outside for a brief Benny Hill chase, which served to just distract WALTER as PAC came back in with a series of missile dropkicks to take him off his feet.
PAC then heads up for a Phoenix splash, but a) he lands knees first on WALTER and b) somehow dislocated his finger on landing. By which I mean “his finger was at a 45° angle…”, which drew shocked gasps from the crowd as I legitimately threw up in my mouth. PAC just snaps it back into place, and the match continued, with the crowd rushing to the ring apron to roar him on as WALTER… rolled to the outside. PAC followed him outside, but he ends up eating some uppercuts before he caught WALTER with a Dragon screw in the ropes as it was back to the leg. Kick after kick after kick sends WALTER back to the mat, but WALTER quickly comes back in with chops as he started to target the hands of PAC. More kicks from PAC end with a big boot from WALTER, as the Austrian’s size difference began to show. PAC’s tossed outside as WALTER tried to win with a count-out, but the Geordie rolls back inside… for more chops, then a German suplex as WALTER caught a leap in mid air.
A butterfly suplex is next as WALTER just tossed PAC without leaving his own feet… but PAC sits up like a dead man, then lands a back elbow before he moonsaulted into WALTER, who caught him with a tombstone instead. Crossface punches follow as WALTER tried to destroy PAC’s chiselled physique in the ropes… but PAC catches one and turns the tables! WALTER stops it by grabbing hold of the ref so he could land a mule kick to low blow PAC behind the ref’s back, before he looked to go up top, clubbing away some resistance from PAC as an enziguiri dumped WALTER on the turnbuckles. From there, PAC counters with a superplex, which saw the champion BOUNCE off the goddamn mat before he rolled to the outside. PAC ups the ante with a Sasuke special, then an Orihara moonsault to keep WALTER on the outside, before he rolled him back inside for a 450 Splash that almost ended the match. An enziguiri keeps WALTER down as PAC returned to the top rope for a Black Arrow… but WALTER pops up and crotches him ahead of some chops as he just about saved his skin.
WALTER follows up with some palm strikes as PAC was still crotched, but the ticking off just earned him some more headbutts ahead of a sunset flip powerbomb that gave us another near-fall. PAC goes back to the top, but WALTER again cuts him off with a chop before a death valley bomb bounces PAC for a two-count. In response, WALTER goes for his belt, but the referee disarms him as PAC returned the favour with a low blow, only for WALTER to roll outside to avoid a Black Arrow as he tried again to leave… shoving the referee into the ring apron for the cheap DQ. Yeah, it’s another one of those, but this was a hell of a match until the iffy finish. But we don’t get to worry about that for too long… ****¼
Jordan Devlin meets WALTER in the aisle as the crowd’s booing quickly gave way to anticipation for ScrapperMania – forcing WALTER back into the ring as he took a slingshot cutter from Devlin, setting up PAC for the Black Arrow and a picture perfect landing. WALTER isn’t invincible after all, huh? Especially when Devlin knocked him out with a punch as he was left standing over the Austrian, title in hand. Oh God, that pop at ScrapperMania is going to be immense…
More Than Hype (Darren Kearney, LJ Cleary & Nathan Martin) vs. Charlie Sterling & The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.)
After those first three matches, this has got a hell of a mountain to climb – but sending out More Than Hype helped to avoid the “comedown”…
Sterling started by shoving Cleary into the ropes, as LJ soaked in the crowd’s cheers… which quickly gave way to jeers when Charlie Sterling tried to sing God Save The Queen. Charlie roughs up LJ early on, before he tried to arrest LJ… but he didn’t have any handcuffs, so he tags in Dunne… who quickly ends up on the defensive as Kearney and Martin double-teamed him. The revolving door of tags continued until Santos flattened Kearney and Martin with a crossbody… which seemed to be the set-up for More Than Hype to assemble into a final form… which some weaponry and a chop block dismantled. That left Sterling free to maintain the pressure, slamming LJ before “DCI Sterling” misses a back senton off the middle rope.
Nathan Martin just side-steps a Whisper in the Wind from Sterling, as Dunne continued the Keystone Cops routine, eating a running shooting star press from Kearney, who then leapt into Sterling on the outside as More Than Hype were easing ahead. Duelling superkicks from LJ and Kearney nearly puts Dunne away, before Santos clears house with clotheslines as More Than Hype were taken outside for the Anti-Fun Luchador, who nearly faceplanted himself with a tope suicida!
Dunne followed that up with a 999 to Kearney, before a Big Ending from Santos and a Spiral Tap from Sterling almost ended things. Kearney tries to fight the numbers game, but can’t avoid headbutts as More Than Hype get back in with a Parade of Knees… dropping Santos to the mat before Sterling ran into a trio of superkicks. Kearney looked to finish him off, but in the end Sterling jack-knifes him and steals it with a roll-up. A finish that came out of nowhere, but it’s another loss for More Than Hype in an entertaining match that maybe felt a little rushed. ***
OTT Gender Neutral Championship: Andrew Everett vs. Terry Thatcher vs. Mark Haskins (c)
We’ve a debut here for Andrew “The Giant” Everett as Mark Haskins was back to defend the Gender Neutral title. That belt feels a little superfluous these days, no?
Commentary reminds us that Haskins still has the Golden Contract – so can challenge for the OTT title whenever he wants… he started out by getting in Everett’s face, but it’s Thatcher and Everett who duke it out early on as they looked to keep Haskins on the outside.
Thatcher stops Everett with a leg lariat before he wiped Haskins out again, only for him to run into an Everett dropkick as the “Giant” stood tall. Thatcher’s sent outside, but Haskins trips Everett as he prepared for a dive, throwing him into the crowd before the champion tried to tackle both challengers at once with running pump kicks into the crowd. On the outside still Everett’s slammed as Haskins returned to the ring, throwing knees into Thatcher before a snapmare and a low dropkick has Terry down for a two-count. Everett’s booted off the apron again as he eventually returned to take out Thatcher with a missile dropkick as the ring filled… only for Haskins to deal with them both at the same time with a camel clutch/Liontamer combo. Thatcher gets free after the rope break and lands a springboard dropkick to take Haskins outside, ahead of a springboard senton bomb to the floor as all three men were left in the front row.
Inside again, Thatcher cracks Haskins with some corner dropkicks before a tornado DDT’s shoved off, with Haskins handing him off as Everett took the move instead. A spinebuster quickly followed from Thatcher for a near-fall, who then got caught on the top rope as Haskins then made the most of the situation, rolling Everett into a Sharpshooter. That’s broken up by Thatcher, who then took a death valley driver onto Everett for a near-fall, as Haskins used his feet to kick himself further ahead. A double overhead kick from Everett snuffed that sequence out, as he then called for a chokeslam… but of course Haskins wasn’t entertaining that. Everett replies with an enziguiri before Thatcher backflips out of a chokeslam attempt… only to run into the chokeslam eventually. Haskins slides back in with a renewed focus, but he gets chokeslammed onto the apron ahead of an Asai moonsault from Everett, who followed that up with a sweet moonsault to Thatcher for a near-fall.
Haskins breaks it up, but gets dropkicked back outside as Thatcher flew 3/4s of the way across the ring… and into another chokeslam attempt from Everett. The reverse ‘rana’s next as Thatcher leapt out of the corner to spike the Giant, ahead of the DeThatched running spinning neckbreaker… only for Haskins to throw him out and steal the pin. A breathless three-way that was entertaining from beginning to end… but yet again, Terry Thatcher lost out despite having victory in his grasp. His day will surely come… ***½
Besties In The World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. Scotty Davis & Will Ospreay
Of course Dublin knew the words to the Besties’ entrance… but they were far from the favourites here as they were up against Supreme Scotty Davis.
Davis and Vega start us off, albeit in tentative fashion as Vega took a kick to the quad early on that seemed to sting. Things get a little suggestive from there, before we calm down with Vega working a hammerlock, only for Davis to slip out and take down Vega with a waistlock, before he knee slides under a clothesline and uncorks a series of Gator Rolls to stun the Miracle Worker Vega!
Vega responds with a shoulder tackle, before he blocked a ‘rana and turned it into a STF that quickly ended in the ropes. Tags follow as Ospreay and Fitchett come in, with Ospreay taking Fitchett into the ropes for a clean break… complete with some wording that could well have cost someone a Twitter account. Ospreay keeps in with a headlock and a shoulder takedown to Fitchett, before a leapfrog was dropkicked away as the Besties found their way back in. Ospreay deadweights Fitchett and comes back with a monkey flip to take the Dirty Rook outside, where a dive’s faked out… so Scotty Davis could heap off of Ospreay’s back en route to this quizzical staredown.
Ospreay and Davis resume their focus as Fitchett is thrown back in, where he takes a leg splitter and a PK for a near-fall, before Davis returned with some more of those Gator Rolls. Fitchett eventually overpowers Davis into the corner as a tag brings in Vega for some double-teaming, while Vega began to nibble away on Davis’ moustache. Vega clubs away a takedown effort, before landing a suplex as he then ran into a punch from Ospreay, who got tagged in… except referee Nial Fox was distracted and didn’t see the tag. His arguments allowed the Besties to double-team Davis some more, all while Aonghus berated Tony Kelly on commentary for being a rules nerd.
Davis gets thrown onto the apron, but he’s able to overcome the Besties all by himself as he leaps in and German suplexes Vega before he finally got that tag in to Ospreay, who started his spell with an over-the-top 619 and a springboard forearm to Vega. Fitchett tries to cut him off, but instead Ospreay lifts him to the apron and dumps him sorta-into-Vega with a sunset bomb. That made an awfully sickening noise… Ospreay sends himself out again with a Sasuke special into Fitchett, while Davis ran down the aisle and launched himself with another Sasuke special of his own. Duelling dives, eh? Vega’s rolled back inside as they focused on the legal man, with Vega getting caught in the corner for a Cheeky Nando’s and a German superplex, before a standing shooting star press from Ospreay drew a near-fall.
Vega tries to fight back with some body blows to Ospreay, who chops back, only to get caught with a gamengiri in the corner as the Besties found a way back in with a running enziguiri and a cannonball in the corner as Fitchett finally came back. Fitchett escapes a Storm Breaker and boots Ospreay in the head, only to run into an enziguiri as a parade of Moves broke out, before an overhead kick from Fitchett was caught by Ospreay, who lifts him into an Electric Chair on the middle rope for an elevated Iconoclasm!
Somehow, Vega breaks up the cover, leaving Davis and Fitchett alone… Davis blocks a thrust kick and after some help from Ospreay, he rolls Fitchett into a double armbar while Ospreay had Vega in an Octopus… but Davey powers up and throws Ospreay onto the pile to break it up. A Giant Swing and standing moonsault combo nearly puts away Davis as the Besties looked to be easing towards a finish, spiking Davis with a powerbomb and a cross-legged suplex for a near-fall. More madness ensues as head kicks from Ospreay and Davis traps Vega, before the Supremacy – a reverse Gator Roll – gets the win to bring the insanity to an end. A marvelous tag match that blew away the expectations I had, especially considering that Vega finished the match with a tweaked knee… ****
Post-match, Will Ospreay announced that he’d have to miss the next few OTT shows because New Japan’d called him up. For a cup? He was meant to have wrestled Scotty Davis at ScrapperMania, but instead he’s gotten a suitable replacement – Jushin Thunder Liger! Now that’s an acid test!
Angel Cruzers (Angel Cruz & B. Cool) vs. Justy & Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Another debut here, with MJF tagging with Justy here as commentary rightfully tries to retcon Justy-Jitsu. MJF gets some mic time, where he declares it’s “great to be in the United Kingdom”, before saying that he wished the “potato famine finished the job”.
So that’s two people with Jewish heritage who Ireland wants to kill. At least MJF babyfaces himself a little by threatening harm if we get Justy-jitsu again. Justified. Or should that be Justy-fied?
We start with MJF and B Cool, but there’s some slapstick as B Cool made a beeline for Justy, taking him from turnbuckle to turnbuckle before Angel Cruz came in with a step-up knee. Justy heads outside but gets wiped out with a tope con giro, before MJF began to get involved… by kneeing Cruz in the ropes. Cruz knocks MJF down but the Cruzers get double-teamed, with Justy and MJF stomping a hole in him. Justy spits on B Cool to provide another distraction as Justy and MJF work the classic bad guy phantom tags (shame on you for being hoodwinked Foxy), before they help each other out on an abdominal stretch… which just served to anger B Cool more.
Eventually Foxy catches them in the actm and kicks the stretch apart as Cruz hiptosses MJF away. He’s got to drag both opponents into the corner to try and make a tag out, and finally in comes B Cool and his loose weightlifting belt to pelt Justy with mounted punches in the corner. There’s some for MJF too, before we get the comedy “MJF falls onto Justy and headbutts him in the balls” moment.
Angel Cruz heads under the ring and finds an axe… who leaves this stuff lying around? Justy comes in with MJF’s scarf as it’s time for Justy-Jitsu, which is just a pair of low blows as the ref’s tending to MJF on the floor… and of course, MJF gets one too as Justy lost control. MJF returns the favour, as Justy falls head first into the ref, and that’s the punchline!
MJF gets back to his feet and pokes Angel in the eye, before Cruz chokes him out with his own scarf en route to some Old School rope walking. Team PRICK’s there to help out too, as Cruz eventually flies, with a dropkick that turns Justy’s Alabama Slam into a B Cool Destroyer. A brainbuster puts paid to MJF, before it’s whipping time for Justy… except Team PRICK come into the ring to help out… and instead, they low blow the Angel Cruzers?!
Justy’s worked his magic again and has turned Team PRICK against the Cruzers, as they help out with a Cerberus bomb on Angel Cruz before the referee returned to count the pin. Bell-to-bell, this wasn’t great, but in terms of character work and the overall story, this was a classic. Proof you don’t need all the snowflakes to have an entertaining, coherent match. **
OTT Women’s Championship: Yuu vs. Raven Creed (c)
This was a bit of a surprise, but I guess they’re saving the Debbie Keitel match for ScrapperMania?
Creed decided to start the match off with a chop, which didn’t go too well as Yuu was more than up for making this a chop battle. Both women got a good sound out of each other, before Creed just punched Yuu in the throat, only to get caught with a spinning sidewalk slam and a back senton for a near-fall. Yuu keeps hold of Creed by the arm and throws some chops as she picked up another two-count, before Creed escaped a deadlift slam and dropped Yuu with a German suplex. Forearms follow with Creed landing a Samoan drop for a near-fall… another crack at the deadlift slam followed as Yuu hits the no-bump slam ahead of a shotgun dropkick that bounces Creed out of the corner for a two-count.
The katahajime followed, but Yuu can’t quite get the hold locked in, as Creed escaped… and ran into the snap Judo throw. Creed slips out of a powerbomb and kicks away a clothesline as Yuu blocks a back cracker… and hits another spinning sidewalk slam. The follow-up back senton misses though, with Creed finally landing the back cracker for the win. This was good for what it was, but it felt insanely short and rushed. **¼
Handicap Steel Cage Match for OTT Tag Team Championship: Lads From The Flats (Paddy M & Workie) & Martina vs. Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Damien Corvin) (c)
We’re working this one under War Games rules, it seems… and yes it’s the Tetanus Steel Cage from last year! Another year older, and another year rustier!
Paddy M and Bonesaw start us off with a handshake before they unloaded on each other. That cage is so close to the ropes, every time you hit the ropes fast, guys are bouncing off of it, and it restricted them early on as Paddy M took a few goes to find his way into a Whisper in the Wind as a countdown clock appeared on-screen. Cue a self-made buzz, and the addition of… Corvin! Yeah, this isn’t going to be a good spell I don’t think, as Corvin boots Paddy then clatters him with a missile dropkick. Paddy goes for it again, but Corvin catches him and propels him skyward with the F-Six Counties, before a dropkick-assisted facebuster left Paddy down as they made the most of their numerical advantage.
The countdown allowed Workie to come into the cage, but he needed to use a chair to bat away the Kings as they tried to hold the cage shut. Workie brings in some weapons, but the chairs come in first and get commandeered by the Kings… who miss Paddy M behind them getting a Kendo stick, which he puts to great use as the equaliser worked out! Chairs from Workie keep the momentum going, before a TKO laid out Corvin, as more weapons-based fun had the Kings on the back foot, before they took too long playing to the crowd as they ended up taking duelling drop toe holds into some chairs. Martina’s all wound up and ready to pounce, but her beer spray misses as the Kings duck… and she’s all on her lonesome with no help, as the Kings put a beating to her, including this nasty throw into the cage…
If I had any braincells to begin with, they are sure as hell gone now 🤕🤕🤕 https://t.co/m4zvjhDoG6 pic.twitter.com/sff69iOVU4
— Session Moth Martina マーティナセッション (@mothfromdaflats) February 19, 2019
Paddy M gets a similar fate, as he’s hurled into the cage, as Workie becomes the latest victim as they make him wear a chair before throwing him into the cage wall. It’s all looking elementary now, but at least Martina avoids being lawn darted into the cage as she ducks Corvin’s White Star Line, which took out Bonesaw. A Springboard Seshbreaker keeps Bonesaw down, as the match was turned on its head… giving the Lads from the Flats a chance to square off. Now the Kings want to escape – bearing in mind that everyone from a team needs to escape the cage, and can’t return after they’ve left. Paddy climbs the cage to land a moonsault to help with duelling reverse DDTs as all five bodies were left scattered… before Paddy again climbed the cage and put us back to square one with a senton bomb into the pile! Workie takes the initiative and leaves the cage… but he can’t return and help as Paddy M took a superplex… while Martina ended up a countering a top rope powerbomb with a top rope ‘rana that looked like she took a bad landing on the way down.
That gave another opening for folks to escape, but Paddy M has second thoughts… then changed his mind as he and Bonesaw escape. It’s down to Martina and Corvin to decide the titles, and when both participants landed a double clothesline… it was anyone’s game. On the outside, Paddy M and Bonesaw brawl… before Workie returns with the rest of the Lads from the Flats to try and chase Bonesaw away… and bring out some tables. Oh God. Those tables are placed right next to the cage door, but Bonesaw instantly tries to use them as he attempted to powerbomb Paddy into them… but Paddy slips out before he ran into a big back body drop as those tables thankfully gave. Back in the ring, Martina and Corvin exchange forearms, only for Corvin to goozle Martina and lay her out with some forearms, before Martina came back with a tiltawhirl DDT!
A brainbuster’s next, but Corvin reverses it into K-Kwik’s old Hat Rack Crack sit-out front suplex, before the White Star Line laid out Martina again. Corvin goes to leave, but he drops back down and pulls out a paper bag. You know what that means in wrestling: drawing pins.
After scattering them on the mat, Corvin takes Martina up top for a superplex… but she shoves him off with a headbutt, taking Corvin into the pins – and his back instantly comes up bloody. A Destroyer into the pins from Martina, then a brainbuster saw her land in the pins even harder, but Corvin’s still all tack-y (not like that) as Martina looked to escape the cage… only for Corvin to catch her as a fight on the top rope ended with Martina getting thrown into the cage wall, as she then fell down into the pins, as it became a two-horse race: Martina for the door vs. Corvin and gravity… but Bonesaw shoves the referee into the door, as Martina ate the steel cage door, giving Corvin enough time to drop down for the win. Good God, Martina went through a goddamn war in this one – and if you’re still one of those who think “she’s a gimmick”, well, there’s a lot more than that to her these days. ***½
So… to address a question from the match review we dropped yesterday: “why did you have five star fear”? Well, the opener, as we said was exquisite from start to end. A perfect bundle of a storyline and a pay-off… but for me, the finish was the only thing that left the match feeling flat. I get sending Jordan Devlin into the match with WALTER hot, but for my money, the result over Starr was perhaps too decisive, and leaves you wondering just what Starr can do in OTT now.
Aside from that little niggle, this was a helluva show. The first three matches rivalled any opening stretch you’ll see in the world, and while there was a slight Justy-shaped bump in terms of star ratings towards the end, I’d wager that Homecoming 2 will be right up there in the pantheon of OTT’s best shows in their history. A show that Matthew Macklin and the rest of the folks responsible managed to get online within 48 hours of the final bell – a phenomenal turnaround that helped the promotion strike while the buzz was still strong coming out of Tallaght.
If you aren’t already, subscribe over on OTTonDemand.com and give this show a watch – as all roads now lead to ScrapperMania on St Patrick’s Day weekend. It’ll be a doozie.