OTT’s World Tour of Dublin Venues continued for their final (Irish) stop on the path to their 5th year anniversary. It was a special one.
It’s another new venue for OTT as they took to Tallaght’s Kilnamanagh Family Recreation Centre (KFRC, because I’m not typing that out repeatedly!) for their final show before their 5th Anniversary spectacular at the National Stadium in October. We’ve got a new VOD intro, before we start with a brief interview with Aonghus Og McAnally and Scotty Davis. Jordan Devlin interrupts from the sidelines, then by David Starr, who came in to listen to help solve his insomnia. Oh, and to take digs at Jordan Devlin too while baiting Scotty Davis into putting his title shot on the line. This was good stuff from the ever-antagonising Starr.
We cut to inside the KFRC with Aonghus alongside Tony Kelly, who’s getting baited for his socks again. Or lack thereof. He finds the source of heat by gloating over the Tivoli’s demolition, before he swerves away from the meme of the week.
Club Rock Shandy (Clayton Long & Martin Steers) vs. Justy & Sammy D
No intro again for Club Rock Shandy, but they get a hell of a pop. One day, eh? Justy and Sammy jump the match, stomping away at the newcomers before they even got an intro. It’s all one-way traffic, until Clong and Steers tried their luck with a roll-up for a near-fall, then a Flatliner on Justy. A little bit of Shandy, eh? Literally, a little bit as Sammy D throws superkicks before he set up a dazed Justy for an Alabama Slam for the pin. Sammy D literally won it for his team in this squash of squashes. **
Team Land’s End (Kyosuke Ikaho, Revlon, Ryouji Sai, So Daimonji & UEXILE) vs. Team OTT (Calum Black, Hyperstreak, Paddy M, Paul Tracey & Terry Thatcher)
I’ll be honest, I had little clue about the Land’s End guys. Land’s End is a promotion set up by Ryouji Sai. None of the team reacted when their names were read out, so I’m SOL in terms of identifying.
Meanwhile, OTT’s crew were more familiar, with returns for Hyperstreak and Paul Tracey of all people. Commentary were joking about Ryan Smile, which didn’t seem too far off here. It made for a hot crowd, and a jump start as Niall Fox was given the match off, with presumably a Land’s End ref in there insetad. Calum Black drops Diamonji early on with a clothesline and a slam, before a spinebuster started a long series. Hyperstreak and UEXILE came in for some headscissors that went awry, but they saved it as Thatcher came in to toss out UEXILE and face off against Ikaho.
This is bedlam, and fun bedlam.
A running back elbow from Thatcher decks Ikaho, as does a shotgun dropkick before he got spalshed in the corner as Tracey and Sai locked horns. They exchange shoulder tackles, then elbows, then clotheslines as Sai landed a flash STO, only for Tracey to hit a clothesline of his own before we flipped to Revlon and Paddy M. Maybe here the M should have meant Maybelline? Revlon’s superkick stuns Paddy, before a selfie stick was used to smash Paddy with, as Paddy M was quadruple-teamed. Those villains with their technology! Diamonji slaps Paddy from the floor as the Land’s End crew were looking dominant, again using that as a wand as the referee turned a blind eye to it. Mostly.
The hero in peril Paddy M remained in peril as Sai returned, bemused by the crowd’s chanting, before a double-jump moonsault finally gave Paddy an opening. An enziguiri completes it as Paddy gets a tag out to Thatcher, whose flying clothesline drops Diamonji, ahead of a tornado DDT for a near-fall. The ring fills for a Parade of Moves, before Diamonje nearly snatched the win with a sweet bridging fallaway slam on Thatcher. A monster Tower of Doom’s teased, before they instead split it in two in opposite corners, but instead we got a top rope elbow from Thatcher, a senton from Hyperstreak, and a deadlift Burning Hammer from Black for the win. Entertaining bedlam, and this was very much my graps. As for the Land’s End guys, bring back Diamonje – but nobody from that side let themselves down during their brief appearance. ***
OTT Women’s Championship: Gisele Shaw vs. Valkyrie (c)
Shaw was back in Europe after a brief trip with Tokyo Joshi Pro, and she’s been mighty impressive pretty much everywhere in 2019.
Valkyrie was only out with Debbie Keitel this time around, as Debbie was fresh off, erm, a “high profile booking”. No CT Flexor here, as the “Woke Queendom” was back to their original members. Shaw was on fire early on, catching out Valkyrie with a springboard armdrag out of the corner, before distractions from Keitel left Shaw prone for a wrecking dropkick through the ropes from the champion. Back in the ring, Valkyrie keeps up with elbows as commentary dropped in an ominous reference to Katey Harvey…
A slam dumps Shaw for a near-fall, before a Kofi Kingston-esque double legdrop gets another two-count. Valkyrie keeps up with an armbar, looking to wrench away Shaw’s shoulder, before the champion threw her into the turnbuckles shoulder-first. Eventually Shaw fought back, grabbing Valkyrie by the throat before a slap and a German suplex folded her up… but the Canadian couldn’t build on it. The pair fight back, trading chops as they fought back to their feet, but Shaw peppers Valkyrie with shots before sliding past into a flip neckbreaker for a near-fall. Shaw slips on a springboard, opening the door for Valkyrie to get back in, but Shaw shrugs it off and goes for a superkick… which Valkyrie ducks.
A second kick connects, before Valkyrie’s Pele found its mark… but Shaw has the last laugh with an enziguiri for a near-fall thanks to Keitel pulling her Woke Queen out of the ring. Not to worry – Gisele just heads up and tornillos into the pair of them! The spins on that leap… good God. Back inside, Valkyrie’s backhanded and taken up top as Shaw looked for a Spanish Fly… but Valkyrie blocks it and throws in a glove to distract the ref, allowing Keitel to shove down Shaw behind the ref’s back, as the Death Note flying axe kick got the win. A hell of a debut here from Shaw, who should be guaranteed future dates here no matter what. A highlight-reel worthy debut from Gisele. ***½
Alex Cuevas, Omari & The OJMO vs. More Than Hype (Darren Kearney, LJ Cleary & Nathan Martin)
On paper, this one was random. We had a hattrick of debuts, with Cuevas travelling the furthest, coming here from Singapore, while the OJMO and Omari had varying levels of hype out of the UK.
We finally got going with LJ and OJMO in the battle of initials, swapping wristlocks before OJMO went for a single leg crab way too early on… as Darren Kearney ran in to dispute the case of move theft. OJMO let go, allowing Kearney to tag in, but OJMO worms away from the half crab as Omari tagged in instead. Omari catches Kearney unawares with a springboard crossbody as he reminded everyone why he was on fire with Fight Club Pro not too long ago. Nathan Martin’s in, but he wants “the little man” Cuevas, who wowed with his lucha stylings, speeding past Martin before crashing in with a dropkick.
A ‘rana sends Martin into the ropes as Cuevas… quickly got dumped with a slam as Martin started to show the “Psycho” part of his name. Not to worry, Cuevas issues a receipt before he took a wicked boot and a massive pendulum backbreaker as Martin tried to snap him in two. Kearney’s in to block a ‘rana and dump Cuevas with another backbreaker for a near-fall. LJ was straight in and straight out as Cuevas found a second wind, making the tag out to OJMO who boxed Martin silly into the corner. Some misdirection from the OJMO lead to a lariat on Martin, before Kearney and Cleary rushed the ring. which just prompted Omari to come in with spears and leg lariats for fun.
Cuevas’ springboard dropkick helps clear the ring as his tope con giro almost overshot, followed up by Kearney and Omari diving, before OJMO completed the set with a wild Fosbury flop! Back in the ring, Kearney propels Cleary into a monkey flip, which led to that wacky corner powerbomb before Martin and LJ hooked themselves in superkicks. Holy hell, this is too fast to call. A sit-out side slam from Kearney wipes out OJMO as we continue the Parade of Moves, with Omari ragdolling Martin with a sit-out gutwrench powerbomb. LJ eats an O-Zone, before Cuevas’ 619 cleared the decks for an inverted Alabama Slam by Omari on Cuevas, with OJMO’s Frog Splash almost doing it.
WATCH. THIS. MATCH.
LJ throws himself at Omari with a Cactus Clothesline to the outside, as Kearney and OJMO proceed to hit duelling single leg crabs to troll each other. The crowd roar as they slap each other silly, before Kearney just rolled Cuevas through and threw him at OJMO. GOOD. GOD. OJMO looks for a moonsault, but Kearney caught it and turned it a Fisherman suplex/powerbomb, then rolled through into a single leg crab, dragging OJMO away from the ropes for the submission. This was wild, and phenomenal. What on earth is this show?! ****¼
After the match, there was a begrudging hug from OJMO as the visiting trio got “please come back” chants. I want this rematch EVERYWHERE.
Angel Cruzers (Angel Cruz & B. Cool) vs. Only True Pros (Liam Royal & Michael May)
Having been called out by the Only True Pros as a joke, this was the Angel Cruzers’ chance to show their serious side. They still haven’t named May and Royal’s mouthpiece, so Irish Weird Al was out there briefly… because Liam Royal big booted and powerbombed B Cool for the win in seconds. Angel Cruz barely got his coat off in time.
After the match, Irish Weird Al set out his group’s mission statement, which was just Angel Cruz getting booted before May tombstoned him onto the edge of a chair.
Martina vs. Toni Storm
It’s been four years since Toni’s last outing in OTT – ironically against Martina on a show that featured Too Cool against the Gymnasties. Very 2015.
The battle of the besties opened with a handshake as Aonghus spat out the alphabet soup of promotions that Toni’s held gold in, while Martina looked to work over Toni with a wristlock. It’s reversed as Toni took her down with a headlock, which gets escaped before Toni scooted free. Martina takes advantage of Toni’s hand up, taking Storm back down with a headlock, but Toni gets out with headscissors before Martina headstanded her way out. Toni slaps Martina after a handshake, but Martina’s back in with a lariat for a near-fall. A barrage of strikes followed from Toni for another two-count as Storm slowly began to edge ahead, using the half crab to perhaps mock Darren Kearney with. Hmm… Martina claws her way towards the bottom rope, but Toni switches the move into a STF to stop the movement, as the recently-deposed NXT UK Women’s champion slowly started to get booed for her aggression.
Martina began to fight back, but Toni gave as good as she got, before a series of running elbows in the corner led to a head kick from Martina. A double-jump back cracker out of the corner’s good for a near-fall, only for Storm to come back in with a sliding lariat for another two-count on her friend. A roll-through and a knee strike from Martina gave her an opening, leading to a Fisherman suplex for a near-fall, before Storm was forced to block a Jagerbomb… but her counter into a Storm Zero was countered into another roll-up, before Martina got sent outside for a wild tope.
Returning onto the apron, Storm teases a piledriver on the apron, succeeding after she cracked Martina with a headbutt… shoving Martina into the ring quickly for yet another near-fall. A second short piledriver doesn’t put Martina away, as she tries again… and lands a Jagerbomb! Toni kicks out as both women were throwing their biggest shots here, pun intended, before another headbutt swats away Martian ahead of a third Storm Zero piledriver for the win. A nice little sprint, with Martina giving her best shot and then some only to fall at the final hurdle. No disgrace in this loss, but with Martina away from Dublin for the rest of the year, it’ll be interesting to see if this is used to help catapult her into 2020. Not literally. ***¼
Paul Robinson vs. Jordan Devlin
Ah, the poor OTT security looked to be a little on the hop with Paul Robinson here for his debut here.
This was a non-title outing for Devlin, who was showing the benefits of the Enfield PC, and my God, the scar on the back of Robbo’s head, presumably from the match against Aussie Open earlier this year is gnary. Sorry, “the Aussie Open”. Devlin was the undoubted hero here, which fell in line with the recent crowd behaviour: pro-Devlin when he’s on his own, but very mixed as soon as you clearly add David Starr to the mix. Robinson and Devlin start by working on each other’s arms early on, but Devlin easily propels him skyward as the Dublin crowd were taunting Robbo. From a safe distance.
Armdrags from Devlin keep Robbo on the back foot, before he clotheslined him to the outside for an apron PK. It’s one-way traffic here against the hateable Robinson, who slides back inside to avoid an Orihara moonsault… but couldn’t avoid crossbodies or dropkicks from the champion. Robinson slides outside to regroup and clear his nose, teasing a walk-out that prompted Devlin to give chase and slide in himself to knock Robinson through the curtain as some brawling began around ringside. That brawl around ringside had some collateral damage, including some drinks, which led to a self-imposed distraction as Paul Robinson wandered outside to spit in Linus’ drink… which he quickly kicked Paul’s way. How he didn’t die there and then, I’ll never know. Back in the ring, Devlin shoves Robinson skyward with a back body drop, before an Air Jordan was blocked with Robbo suddenly beasting Devlin with repeated elbows on the mat.
A massive Irish whip sends Devlin sailing over the top rope to the floor, as Robinson waited to ground him with a chinlock after he got back inside. Floating over Robinson allows Devlin to come back with a wheelbarrow roll through and a stomp, before he finally chained together Air Jordan for a near-fall as the champion built up momentum, only for Robinson to slip out of a package piledriver and land a spear off the middle rope for a near-fall. More elbows from Robinson have Devlin on the deck, before Robinson’s OsCutter was caught and met with a series of punches from Devlin. Those had no effect, but a headbutt did, before Devlin missed an enziguiri, falling to the mat in place for a Robinson special. The near misses continue as Robinson counters a Devlinside into a Destroyer for a near-fall, following up with a huge moonsault to the outside.
Robinson rolls Devlin back inside quickly so he can follow with a shooting star press, but it’s not enough, as Robbo goes back up for a spear… which gets countered with Devlin’s knees as a Devlinside quickly puts him away. A hell of a sprint, as Robinson’s reputation preceded him here, giving the match a sense of aggression that Devlin worked beautifully with. Hopefully this isn’t one and done for Robbo. ***½
After interval, Zack Gibson hit the ring for an open challenge. He’s a goddamn heat magnet, and it’s nice hearing it the way it’s originally was and always meant to be. Nice zoom in there as the crowd mocked Zack for losing his title last week…
Yep, you can barely hear Zack behind the crowd, although you could hear Gibson throwing in more than a few choice words as he tried to talk about last weekend’s WWE/New Japan/AEW feud and how the only thing fans left with was “a little bit of bubbly”. He’s got a point. He moves onto his loathing of Irish Breakfast Tea, and anything else with “Irish” in it, before he called Irish wrestling “a poorly rebranded version of British wrestling”. Someone hold Aono back… As for the open challenge, Gibson mocked the crowd some more, only for the Woke Queens’ music to interrupt. The challenge is being answered by CT Flexor, and the roof’s gone off the place… except Valkyrie and costume-change Keitel try to hold him back. It doesn’t work, and we have a match!
Zack Gibson vs. CT Flexor
Flexor tries to beat Gibson with a roll-up at the bell, but it doesn’t work. Nor does a small package as Gibson struggled to take his coat off.
It’s all Flexor from the off as he threw elbows and dropkicks, only for Gibson to knock him down as Keitel and Valkyrie whinged at CT on the outside. Back inside, a wheelbarrow nearly nicks it for CT, but it took a Gibson slip in the corner to nearly do it as another roll-up led to a near-fall. From there, CT’s slingshot DDT drops Zack ahead of a slingshot spear, but it’s still not enough as Gibson fought back with a Helter Skelter and the Shankly Gates for the submission. A brave fight, but this wasn’t a match CT should have won… still, a good outing to establish him in what was his OTT singles debut. That surprised me too. **½
After the match, Valkyrie and Keitel surrounded CT to whinge at him some more, seemingly kicking him out of the Woke Queens (and King). The Woke Queens look to leave, but they’re stopped in the entrance way as Flexor took the mic, and issued a challenge on behalf of someone: the returning Katey Harvey! Holy crap, the camera shook at Katey’s return! Harvey had been on the shelf since January when she broke both elbows in a horrific accident at a Contenders’ show, with the scars to show for it as she announced she’s cleared to wrestle… and she’s going for Valkyrie’s belt at the anniversary show!
We pause for a video package of David Starr calling himself the man who’ll save Irish wrestling as he looked to snatch the number one contender’s spot away from Scotty Davis. They return to the arena for LOUD duelling chants for Starr and Davis, not split along the lines you’d expect as we prepare for the main event…
Scotty Davis vs. David Starr
Starr’s taken to doing the ol’ Triple H water spit in his entrance as it’s time to play the game. I’m liking the angry Aono on commentary today – at times it sounded like he was one step away from rushing the ring!
Starr starts on the arm, looking to wrench Davis into a wristlock, but a waistlock takedown surprises Starr, sending him into the ropes as the crowd mockingly chanted for WALTER. There’s a name I don’t expect to hear around these parts for a while. Back in the ring, Starr scrambles for a leg, rolling Davis down as the pair were really leaning into their amateur wrestling stylings, but Davis was keen to grab a waistlock, again sending Starr packing outside as Starr started to get chants of “Davey Import” from this trolling Dublin crowd.
Returning to the ring, Starr again scrambles, but a Fireman’s carry from Davis led to the pair jockeying for position on the mat, only for Starr to elbow Davis in the side before a modified single leg crab ended up in the ropes… but they rebound as Starr ended up on his back, only to get some mercy as Davis demanded he stand back up. In among all of that, Davis seemed to get a thick eye, with a welt coming up as a result of the grappling, but he didn’t let that put him off as an armdrag and a dropkick had Starr scurry into the ropes for another break. A quick Gator roll from Davis catches Starr unawares ahead of a facelock suplex, but Starr gets into the ropes somewhat fortuitously as he again spills outside. Right into the path of “coward” chants from the Dublin crowd and a baseball slide dropkick… which Starr uses to trap Davis in the apron a la Finlay as a barrage of strikes left the youngster laying. That series had Starr on top as he proceeded to stretch Davis with a double armbar stretch, before he kicked away the leg that had forced a rope break. There’s more of the same as he targeted Davis’ legs with a deathlock.
After getting free, Davis tries to box back into it, but he’s caught in the corner with the Violence Party of chops and forearms before a big boot shocked Starr… along with a Chaos Theory rolling German suplex! Davis borrows a page out of Jordan Devlin’s book with a pull-up overhead belly-to-belly that looked beautiful, before a cross-legged suplex was countered out of, only for Starr to get pulled into a Dragon suplex for a near-fall. Starr has to rake the face to get free as he looked to land Pretty Pumped, only for the pair to counter, counter and counter before Davis leapt into the Pretty Pumped for a near-fall. A big slap to the back rings around the KFRC before Davis demanded that Starr put his dukes up… and both men come out swinging! A Han Stansen swats Davis to the mat though, before Davis avoids the Kaepernick and countered eventually into a Destroyer for a near-fall.
Davis tries to follow up with dives, but gets caught with a Cherry Mint DDT on the apron, before Starr went super high on an elbow drop on Davis. Dig it? Davis ducks a Han Stansen and almost wins with a backslide, before getting drilled with a Blackheart Buster for a near-fall, as the duelling chants started to pipe up again, albeit with a slightly-more pro-Starr flavour. Starr resorts to slaps as Davis looked to be on his last legs, despite firing back as more palm strikes rocked the Irishman, but he was able to block a second Kaepernick and rolled Starr into an Omoplata. Despite elbows to the gut, Starr gets to the ropes before he grabbed the referee as a human shield to avoid a head kick. Foxy drops as Davis finally lands it, with Starr barely getting a shoulder up.
Starr tried to cheat, grabbing onto the ropes for leverage as he looked to roll up Davis following a superkick… Starr gets in the ref’s face, but Niall Fox isn’t taking any of that, and shoves Starr into a Supremacy, although Starr was able to get a leg on the rope to save the ref from a red face. A series of knees from Davis keeps Starr rocked, but Scotty takes too long going for a suplex and ends up getting rolled up, with Starr leaning all the way back to snatch the win! A clean win for Starr, who booked his title shot against Jordan Devlin as they’ll meet for the title for the first time at the end of October. Unfortunate for Scotty Davis, but his time will come. ****¼
We’ve got eight minutes left on the VOD… what’s left? Starr takes the mic but gets berated by a section of the crowd that was quickly outnumbered. It’s a weird situation that’s been repeating throughout this feud. Starr labelled Devlin the import, and someone who “licks the boots of Paul”, which sparked “you sold out” chants. So, so weird…
Eventually Jordan Devlin came out with a mic to shut up Starr, berating him for his “shit t-shirts” as Devlin offered him his shot right now. Sucks to be someone who left the venue early… but of course Starr rolls out of the ring as Devlin stated his case, along with a promise that if Starr stomped on his belt, he’d “rip (his) face off”. Game. On.
My word, this was an absolute banger of a show. Starting off with a squash (ah, I’m sorry Club Rock Shandy), to a wacky ten-man tag and the absolute show-stealers with Gisele Shaw and the debutants in the trios tag. Buffeted by Aonghus and Tony absolutely being on their game, I left this show wondering… how on earth do you top this for the 5th anniversary show next month? It’s gonna be special…