The Road to Scrappermania continued through Tallaght, David Starr’s latest appearance wouldn’t be for his OTT championship…
A packed KFR Centre in almost-Dublin was on hand for this, but first we see Katey Harvey putting fake tan on B. Cool. He gets a bit too carried away with his DX schtick, as Katey stormed off… Joe Cabray doesn’t want to help either, as he’s here to tell B not to kill himself. Oh yeah, Eddie Kingston doesn’t want to help with the tan either… now there’s a comedy I want to see!
Aonghus og McAnally and Tony Kelly are on the call, after they’d congratulated Terry Thatcher on the arrival of his new son. There’s Irish politics too, just to keep it current, before they’re interrupted by Mark Haskins, who’s annoyed at not having a match. It seems bringing back memories of not being picked for the school rugby team are flashing back to ol’ ‘skins. Haskins wanted some competition… and got Captain Sexsea.Haskins blew him off, and asked for someone else. He got Justy in a beanie, and the crowd’s thrilled because he got booked. Even if he had to book himself.
Mark Haskins vs. Captain Sexsea vs. Justy
It’s Haskins against “two of OTT’s most average” (their words, not mine!), as we start with more coronavirus gags.
Haskins started by shoving Sexsea into Justy before a Parade of Misses led to a standoff. Haskins bails, so we get Justy and Sexsea for a bit, with Justy taking a hiptoss and some junk before Haskins rushed back to attack Sexsea from behind. The numbers game looked to work against Haskins, as Justy and Sexsea worked over him to varying degrees, as Sexsea’s chops proved to be more of an annoyance than anything else. Justy wants to get in on some slip ‘n’ slide action, but instead he gets his arse paddled… and by God, that oar shattered! From there, Sexsea ties up referee Niall Fox in a Paradise Lock then uses him for the slip ’n’ slide as Sexsea crashes into Justy… but can’t get the pin because Foxy’s still tied up.
Haskins launches back with a PK to Justy and a tope to Sexsea as he cleared house. A back suplex drops Justy on the apron as Haskins took his time striking through Sexsea, before offering himself up for a shot. Which he got, with the aid of a glove. Haskins punches him out in response, before a brainbuster from Sexsea started a brief fightback. Justy’s in to “help” with running elbows in the corners, before he hooked both opponents into a Russian legsweep. A fish-hooked version of the Play of the Day’s good for a near-fall too on Sexsea, before Haskins rolled up Justy for a death valley driver. Justy’s somehow back to catch Sexsea on the top rope, but he’s headbutted down as Sexsea hits a top rope elbow drop… that prompts Vicki Haskins to pull out the ref.
Aidan and Fabulous Nicky get into it with her… but Sexsea calls them off only for Haskins to respond to Sexsea’s advances on his wife by punting him between the uprights, before a low blow and a Made in Japan on Justy gets the win. Decent enough for an opener, but this was too easy for Haskins, all things considered. **¼
Eddie Kingston’s backstage talking about his match with Paddy M. It’s a heck of a promo from Kingston, but did you really expect anything less?
Omari & The OJMO vs. Calum Black & Scotty Davis
Omari and Scotty Davis are still on course for an NLW title match, but first we’ve got a tag match with them on opposite sides of the ring.
Black and OJMO start us off, but we’re quickly to Davis and Omari, with the pair looking for quick roll-ups as they had a point to prove. Davis was left standing over Omari, before tags brought us back to Black and the OJMO… who tried early for a half crab, before he instead ‘rana’d and dropkicked Calum into the corner. Davis tags back in, but Calum Black quickly tags himself back as some double-teaming led to a knee strike on the OJMO from Black and a Gator roll from Davis. Calum keeps going with a sliding lariat, which gets a two-count on the OJMO, while Davis returned to throw OJMO around with suplexes.
Black’s back to throw OJMO around some more, while more Gator rolls looked to knock OJMO loopy. The crowd called for more suplexes, and got them as Scotty damn near suplexed OJMO out of the ring, as Scotty was clearly using OJMO as a proxy for Omari… who just couldn’t get a tag in. Eventually OJMO got free with an enziguiri and tagged in Omari, who lit up Black with leg lariats in the corner. Getting his hands on Scotty gave Omari a chance to hit some gutwrench suplexes, leaving the NLW champion down for a senton from the OJMO, who was brought back in try and get him some.
Double-teaming keeps Davis in the wrong corner, but he again fights free, hitting an up kick to disorientate Omari before bringing Calum Black back in. Calum clear house as he charged through Omari, taking him into the corner for uppercuts and knees, while an X-Plex drew a near-fall for Black. The OJMO’s back to save Omari from a suplex as all four men traded shots, leading to spears from the Irish pair. That took Omari and the OJMO outside, before Black propelled Davis into the pair of them on the floor. Back in the ring, a superkick-assisted suplex/uranage nearly goes it as things threatened to fray a little, but Scotty ends up trying to suplex the OJMO into Omari… who caught him and threw his partner back as a DDT took down Scotty.
More double-teaming targets Davis, before an inverted Alabama Slam from Omari to put OJMO on Davis almost ended things. Calum Black barely broke up the cover in time, but got taken outside for a Fosbury flop as the OJMO pushed on, nearly snatching a win on Davis with a frog splash. That sparks a Parade of Moves that turned the tide, before the OJMO trapped Davis in a half crab… except Davis rolled through into a stalling Fisherman suplex effort. He wanders into the wrong corner though as Omari tagged himself in, landing a gutwrench powerbomb to Davis, before ragdolling him with the O-Zone for the win… because Calum Black slid in, but didn’t break the pin. That’s interesting – it’s perhaps not as clear a path to the NLW title as we all thought for Omari! A fairly wild tag, but one that opened up a lot of possibilities for the future, rather than doing down the narrow path we’d expected going in. ***½
Paddy M vs Eddie Kingston
Commentary’s going all in on the praise for Paddy M, calling him the Irish Ricky Morton. Part of me really wants to see the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express in a velvet tracksuit…
This one broke down at the bell, as the fists flew. Kingston gets a boot, then an elbow up to stop Paddy charging at him, before a knee drop to the back of the head and a T-bone suplex had Paddy in trouble early on. Eddie threatened the ref when the threat of a DQ came in, and that set the tone for the match as Kingston hooked away at Paddy before poking him in the eye. Paddy’s tossed outside as Kingston took him around ringside, while flipping off the referee every now and then. Eddie heads towards the back of the room and onto the stage as he teased powerbombing Paddy to the floor… but the Irish veteran fought back… only to run into a boot. Kingston nonchalantly pushes him off the stage as he crowd were starting to show plenty of sympathy for Paddy.
Even more so when Eddie ripped off the vest and chopped him. A snapmare and a side headlock grounds Paddy as the crowd were expecting another chop. Eventually Paddy’s able to get back in with a moonsault, but he’s quickly cut off with a nonchalant clothesline. More chops continue to mark up Paddy’s chest, but he just mocks Eddie… and got taken down for a short stomp that only got Kingston a one-count. Throwing Paddy outside again, Eddie looks to go for a dive, but gets cut off as a springboard dropkick gave Paddy some hope. A step-up enziguiri takes Kingston outside as a tope con giro followed, before a TKO caught Kingston off guard… but his hand’s under the rope as a near-fall’s counted. Eddie’s right back with a Muscle Buster, then a swinging Fisherman suplex for a near-fall, before heading outside in the hunt for a chair.
Kingston again dares the ref to call a DQ, but Paddy gets out of the chair, then uses it for a step-up ‘rana… he slips though and gets powerbombed. Eddie’s mad that the ref moved the chair, and after surviving a roll-up, he clocks Paddy with Backfist to the Future. Eventually Eddie uses the chair, but doesn’t get DQ’d… so he headbutts the ref, and there’s the instant DQ as the ring crew storm the ring. The finish felt odd in some respect, but then again, Eddie did prod the referee into doing something so… it worked? ***
Post-match, Eddie asked the crowd if they wanted to see the match restart… then told them where to go because he’s only getting paid for one match.
Debbie Keitel vs. Amy Allonsy vs. Martina
This was for a shot at Sammii Jayne’s women’s championship, and Debbie Keitel was having to fly solo because Valkyrie was otherwise engaged in Florida.
Debbie tries to make friends, but clocks Allonsy early on as the Woke Queen quickly found herself on the defensive at the hands of Martina. Allonsy’s back in to try and roll-up Martina, but it repeatedly came to nought as the relative rookie needed new ideas. A headlock takedown sent Amy into the corner for a leg lariat, while Keitel took advantage with a dropkick to Martina for a near-fall. Martina goes for a lucha roll-up, nearly winning with it before Keitel took control, hanging up Allonsy in the ropes before a Boston crab looked to force a submission. A kick from Martina broke it up, so she could have a go with a deathlock on Allonsy… which turned into a Muta lock after she’d hit a Fisherman’s suplex on Keitel at the same time for a near-fall.
An elbow drop from Keitel breaks the hold as Allonsy fought back with forearms and a superkick. A knee strike traps Martina too as an axe kick took down both women for a near-fall. Allonsy tries to add to the momentum with forearms to Martina, only to get wiped out with a clothesline as Keitel looked to come in to win with a backslide…
…except Martina blocks it and headbutts her way free. A Jägerbomb followed for a near-fall, with Allonsy breaking up the cover, before she sidestepped a charging Martina, who went outside. Keitel tries to nick it with a sit-out Pedigree, but Amy kicks out and quickly dropped Keitel with a snap Fisherman suplex… and there’s the upset! Amy Allonsy defies the odds and gets the title shot, and my God she took her lumps in doing so! **¾
We’re not done yet – Debbie Keitel broke down in tears after the match, feeling abandoned… until CT Flexor appeared, just a little too late. Still, they hug it out as we got our Macho Man and Elizabeth moment, only for the lights to go out as Dan Barry appeared on the video screen to mock. Oh, and to challenge CT to a match at Scrappermania. The crowd liked the sound of that. It’ll be CT and the Woke Queens against Dan Barry “and two queens of my own”…
Cue sign pointing.
EY-OH! Here comes B Cool to warm up the crowd before his match. He wants the crowd to be hot for him for his entire match… but not to worry, he promises to make this match shorter than Michael May’s NXT UK debut. Something something about dreams, and I swear B Cool’s listening to the GRAPPL Spotlight. Shots. Fired. Add some “green giant” piss taking, and here comes Liam Royal. In the background, B’s camera crew’s been taken hostage by Liam Royal and the still-unnamed J Money, with Michael May replacing the camera man…
Royal beats down B before the match as Liam was looking to obliterate B to get the True Pros a title shot. The crowd chant “green giant” at Royal, just as they’d been asked… and they move. Just as Liam asked, so he could give B a Brookesing. He also plays up to the mocking chants of “roid rage”, before Michael May had a go on B Cool, but a low blow from B saves himself.
B. Cool vs. Liam Royal
… only for Royal to hit the ring to start the match. B rakes the eyes to avoid a powerbomb, before he tried to clothesline Royal to the outside.
Except Liam just obliterated him with a clothesline of his own. Shoulder charges are next, before B floated over Royal, and finally clotheslined him to the outside. J Money’s on the apron to distract as Michael May came in… he’s lifted to the outside as Liam caught him, before B went after J Money. Of course Royal makes the save, before he slipped out of a brainbuster… then speared B before a powerbomb got the win. Elementary. **
Post-match, Michael May puts the boots to B Cool and choked him out. J Money gets a chair and finally gets named by Aonghus (it’s been long enough!). The True Pros try to eliminate B Cool, but Joe Cabray comes in to drop Royal with a German suplex! A side slam gets rid of May, before he hit a heck of a dive onto the True Pros. My God, Tallaght came unglued!
Royal and May save J Money from a beating as Cabray then proceeded to save B Cool… and this was a swerve I was not expecting. B then talked himself and Cabray into a match at Scrappermania with the True Pros, but Joe’s not exactly thrilled…
More Than Hype (Darren Kearney, LJ Cleary & Nathan Martin) vs. El Phantasmo & The Flip Bros (Air Wolf & Angel Dorado)
Withdrawals and injuries played havoc with this card, as the Flip Bros replaced Pretty Deadly (who were also busy in Florida), while ELP replaced PAC. It made for a heck of a weird trio.
Tallaght’s clearly not an LED-jacket town for ELP, who’s out in his Bullet Club tracksuit. Way to bait Mr. Juicy…
We start off with ELP and LJ, going to ground as Phantasmo had to use the ropes to break a wristlock from Cleary. Phantasmo grosses us out by plucking out one of LJ’s chest hairs and feeding it to him in the corner. LJ shrugs it off and rolls up ELP for a near-fall, then kept up with a backslide and a small package as he tried to shock the recently-unseated Rev Pro cruiserweight champion. A dropkick took ELP back into the corner as tags bring in Air Wolf and Nathan Martin. The Flip Bros are asked to do a flip, and they oblige, as does Martin, before Wolf worked over Martin’s arm with wristlocks and arm drags. They lock each other up with duelling headscissors on the mat, before a friendly handshake led to tags as Angel Dorado (cousin of Lince) and Darren Kearney came in. Yes, Darren did a flip.
All that’s left is for the ref to get involved, as the match ground to a halt until he obliged. RIP his knees.
The match resumes with Kearney grabbing a headlock on Dorado, before he got shoved into the ropes… Dorado finds a way through with a monkey flip, but Kearney lands on his feet and came back with one of his own, with Dorado also landing on his feet. A blind tag to Air Wolf brings him in as he caught Kearney in the ropes before some nice double-teaming from the Flip Bros almost put away More Than Hype.
Nathan Martin’s back to hit a backbreaker on Dorado as More Than Hype found their groove. Tags bring in Kearney and Wolf as the pace increased, but it worked for the Flip Bros as Air Wolf avoided a charge as More Than Hype crashed into each other. Meanwhile, ELP comes in with back rakes for all. LJ tries to reply with an Activate destroyer, which just confuses ELP… until he scared them off with a threatened rake as Dorado flew in with headscissors to dismantle the destroyer. The Gas Pedal followed for LJ, before the Flip Bros got in on the back rakes… but they backfire as Air Wolf’s switched around, with LJ Cleary finally getting some revenge.
More Than Hype push on again, with Nathan Martin hitting a tornado DDT to ELP on the floor, before a crossbody off the top nearly put Air Wolf down. A dropkick to the back of the head of Wolf helps plant him from a back stretch position, before Dorado returned to try and make some headway. Dives from the Flip Bros leave More Than Hype down, before ELP threatened to add to it, but stopped to mock Will Ospreay’s pose.
He’s caught by a missile dropkick from Kearney, who flew outside with a flip senton, before More Than Hype bombarbed Dorado with double and triple teams. Air Wolf’s back, but took a sit-out side slam as Dorado needed to break up a pin before a rebound Asai DDT left LJ laying. A head kick from Dorado drops Kearney, but he’s back to block a satellite DDT, turning it into a Falcon arrow for a near-fall. The Flip Bros continue to woe as Dorado hits a ‘rana out of the corner amid a big Parade of Moves. ELP goes for a rope walk, carrying LJ in a fireman’s carry as he turned it into a big death valley driver off the top rope. That won the crowd back! From there, a flying Flatliner-assisted Gory bomb looked to get the win as More Than Hype almost lost it, but fought back as they popped up LJ into a lungblower on Dorado. From there, Air Wolf just about took the Activate Destroyer, and that’s your lot. A fun spotfest, but this lost the crowd halfway through – and while they won them back, you got the sense this was a little too rough around the edges at times. ***
After the match, Nathan Martin took the mic and bemoaned how the OTT tag titles hadn’t been on a show since last summer… so challenged Moustache Mountain to a match at Scrappermania. LJ got in on the act too, demanding a match with PAC… and that’s going to be a big test for LJ.
Before the main event, the ring announcer Butch reads out David Starr’s statement – confirming that the OTT title wouldn’t be even make an appearance against a “corporate mercenary” like Cobb.
Jeff Cobb vs. David Starr
We’ve got the usual split crowd for Starr matches in OTT, as they’re really leaning into the “cult” part of things.
Cobb offered Starr his leg from the off, and the champion played into it… but he was able to spin free as the pair tried to use their amateur backgrounds to their advantage. Cobb looked to be edging ahead by merely sitting on Starr’s takedown attempt, before he ragdolled him to the outside with a waistlock. Back in the ring, Starr tried his luck with shoulder tackles, but to no avail as he barely budged Cobb, before he looked to change things with a shin kick. It worked… but Cobb’s right back in with a shoulder tackle to knock Starr down hard. Starr tries to leap in, but a sunset flip doesn’t work as Cobb then caught a crossbody and turned it into a suplex attempt as Starr was stalling.
A slap from Starr angers Cobb, who takes him into the corner for a series of right hands that had the champion down in a heap. Wrenching Starr’s chest hair ahead of a snapmare comes next, before Cobb charged down Starr once again to take him outside. More chops follow on the outside as Starr continued to struggle, eventually getting free when a member of the ring crew bumped into Cobb at the end of a lap of honour.
Starr capitalised as he attacked Cobb from behind, putting the boots to him as he looked to grab a win via count-out… but Cobb rolls in in time, and gets met with a baseball slide. Picking his spots, Starr kept Cobb down, but he got a little too lackadaisical as his slaps ended up firing up Cobb into action. A clothesline in the corner gets Cobb back on top, as does a leaping back elbow, following in with an overhead belly-to-belly for good measure. Starr tries to respond, landing a superkick on the apron before he got dropkicked away off the top rope. Cobb turns that back into a superplex, which sure as hell looked to pop up a board or two on impact, before a standing moonsault almost put Starr away.
Starr slithered out of a Tour of the Islands, then managed to come back with a Han Stansen… but he doesn’t go for a cover, and instead had to fight out of a suplex. A bully choke from Starr looked to force a stoppage, but Cobb stood up out of it… and got whacked on the back of the head with a Han Stansen. From there, Starr applies a sleeper of his own, but Cobb falls back to break it up after a short struggle.
The pair fight back to their feet, with Cobb bleeding from the nose as he took chop after chop. Starr ducks a forearm and hits a lungblower… only for Cobb to respond by POUNCE’ing him into the corner ahead of a spinning F5 for a near-fall. A Tour of the Islands followed, but Starr rolls up Cobb before taking him outside for a tope suicida… then another… and another, each looking more dangerous than the last. It didn’t have much effect though, as Cobb spun Starr with a clothesline, before a second Tour of the Islands was wangled into a roll-up for a near-fall. A Blackheart Buster followed as Starr almost grabbed the win, before a deadlift Product Placement finally got the three-count. A hard-fought win for Starr, who outdid Cobb’s amateur skills – although that little bit of involvement from the ring crew as Cobb was dominating early certainly had an influence in it all! Well worth going out of your way to watch. ****
As Starr’s followers sang along to Four Rusted Horses, one of them was invited in to celebrate… and ended up bowing down to him as well. He sure enjoyed the camera… Starr then tried to sacrifice Jeff Cobb with another Han Stansen, but Cobb’s overwhelmed by Eddie Kingston’s backfists, as a Han Stansen took him down. Wait. Eddie Kingston’s with David Starr in OTT? Hey, I always liked a spot of WRSTLING…
Starr took the mic afterwards to reiterate that “no corporate mercenary… or import” would get a shot at the OTT title. That meant that his match with Damien Corvin in Belfast would be a title match, “because he’s put in the work”. Starr then addressed Scrappermania – which was going to involve a “one-off import”… so of course, it’s not a title match, which Starr defended by saying that a paradigm shift isn’t “going from one billionaire to another”, as he then closed by confirming that at Scrappermania, we’re getting Starr vs. Jon Moxley. That drew a loud cheer – and while it’ll not be for the title, it’ll be an interesting match for St Patrick’s Day weekend…
Kings, Monsters And Bastards was a good outing for OTT as they continued their path to Scrappermania – and we’ve finally got some key matches to sink our teeth into. Just about everything on here delivered – whether it was in-ring, or whether it was opening up new avenues for storylines. David Starr announcing that he’s not defending the title against imports does limit potential challengers – but also forces OTT into building from within for the long term.