OTT returned to the Tivoli for the second half of their WrestleCon weekend, featuring the finals of their Women’s title tournament.
The show opened with the same video package as night one, before we had the usual opening festivities with Aonghus McAnally and Don Marnell running down the card. Since it was Halloween, expect a lot of painted faces in the crowd – and, for some reason, Los Conquistadors!
Social Elite (Charlie Garrett & Paul Tracey) vs. Workie & Paddy M
This came about as a result of Paddy’s win over Charlie on the first night, where Workie left the Social Elite and returned to the Flats… Paddy looked a whole lot smaller than Tracey, which helped him keep up with some of Tracey’s early exchanges.
After some headscissors from Paddy M, they exchanged armdrags, before Charlie Garrett came in and sold for Workie’s mere presence. The Tivoli crowd chanted “Brexit” for Garrett, who offered Workie £500 to lay down… but instead Garrett was suckered in for a small package. Garrett ended up mooning the crowd as he went for a sunset flip, and since he didn’t fix his wardrobe, he ended up with a smacked arse.
A powerbomb from Garrett obliterated Paddy as he went for another ‘rana, and it was more of the same when Tracey tagged in, except Tracey seemed to ground Paddy a lot more. Garrett got crotched by Paddy as he went to leap on his back, but again the Social Elite prevented the tag as Paddy was kept isolated. Eventually, Paddy hit a pair of kicks to Tracey, then avoided an elbow from Garrett as Workie finally got the hot tag.
We saw plenty of bodyslams from Workie, then a Thesz press – since I guess it’s a law that most Irish wrestlers have to throw in a callback spot to their favourite WWE stars? Garrett takes a back body drop, before Workie got a near-fall out of a Sky High on Tracey. So he’s a Stone Cold and a D’Lo fan?!
Paddy M got involved again with a cross body to both Garrett and Tracey, before dropping Garrett with a TKO. A senton bomb just about landed, but with the referee tending to Workie, Tracey used his cane on Paddy, before a full nelson into a headlock driver earned Tracey the win. The right team won, but at least Paddy and Workie strayed away from the backyarder vibe that’s been associated with them. **¾
After the match, Garrett dumped Paddy with a brainbuster, before leaving the ring with his arse hanging out once again.
Kings of the North (Bonesaw, Damien Corvin & Dunkan Disorderly) vs. Abyss, The Clown & X-Pac
Abyss came with a clone, known as “The Clown”. At least it wasn’t Frank… After the Kings attacked the babyface trio at the bell, they were quickly dispatched, with Abyss throwing one of the Kings head-first into the front row.
X-Pac looked confused as all hell at the chants from the crowd, and finally got us going with a series of shots before Dunkan rolled out to avoid a Bronco Buster. Corvin tagged in… and so did the un-named Clown, who absorbed a big boot before overwhelming Corvin with an avalanche and a sidewalk slam for a near-fall. Abyss and Bonesaw came next, with the TNA star absorbing a bunch of chops before flattening Bonesaw with a single chop of his own. Abyss and the Clown flattened the red-gloved one with a pair of big splashes, but the rest of the Kings tripped the Clown as they finally went to work on the bug guy.
The Clown hit back when he caught a crossbody from Corvin and tossed him away with a suplex, before X-Pac came in and finally hit his Bronco Buster on Dunkan. The end then came rather hurriedly as Bonesaw slid in and schoolboy’d X-Pac for the win out of nowhere. This wasn’t as bad as the Abyss/Bryce match from night one, but this was fluff, despite everyone’s best efforts. **
After the match the Clown clotheslined two of the Kings, before chokeslamming Corvin. All he needs is a proper gimmick and to not use generic big guy moves and OTT may be onto something with him. Abyss then came in with a bag of thumb tacks, and it was poor Damien Corvin who took the chokeslam onto the pins – a spot that was sold exceedingly well by Don Marnell on commentary.
Jordan Devlin vs. Chris Hero
I’ll be honest… I was expecting a match-of-the-weekend at the very least from these two.
Devlin started by unwisely trying for a waistlock on Hero, and was easily shrugged down before finally scoring that waistlock takedown… and then got a straight right to the face in reply as Hero started a period of offence. The Social Elite interfered in front of referee Niall Fox, but he chose to look away from Paul Tracey and Charlie Garrett’s cheapshots, as Devlin took over back in the ring.
More cheapshots from Garrett followed as he choked Hero whilst Devlin had the referee’s attention, before a series of windmilling punches ended up setting up Devlin for an attempted suplex… that just ended with a big boot to the face. Tracey and Garrett took some boots too, before Hero hit a flipping neckbreaker on Devlin, then a corkscrew kick for a near-fall as Tracey pulled the referee out.
Finally that got the Social Elite ejected, and that distraction gave Devlin enough time to recover and surprise Hero with a slingshot Ace crusher for a near-fall. They traded rolling forearms for a spell, before Devlin shocked Hero with a brainbuster that almost won him the match. Hero blocked a package piledriver and countered it into a Styles Clash Piledriver, but again Devlin was able to kick out at two.
More forearms from Hero knocked Devlin to his knees, before Devlin and Hero teased a ref bump… ending with Fox accidentally taking a bicycle kick. The Social Elite returned with the referee down, triple-teaming Hero, before Chris fought free and finally dropped Devlin with a rolling elbow. Handily, Niall Fox came to just in time, but Chris Hero’s ripcord elbow was turned into a backslide as Jordan Devlin earned a shock win. This wasn’t the match-of-the-weekend I was expecting, largely because of the Social Elite shenanigans. It wasn’t a bad match, but Hero vs. Smile on night one blew this out of the park. ***¾
After the match, Hero apologised to referee Foxy, and offered to take a bicycle kick from the ref as a receipt… and with God as my witness, the referee delivered a better bicycle kick than some of the homegrown guys. I don’t think anyone was expecting that!
OTT Women’s Championship Tournament – Semi Final: Bea Priestley vs. Martina
Priestley came out to her WCPW music and entrance video, and was portrayed as a serious contender “because she was in the semi final of the tournament”. Not to downplay her abilities, but this was a four-woman tournament… anyone would have gone into the final four! Martina came in with a lit cigarette, keeping up the female Sandman comparisons, although she did seem to refuse a drink on the way into the ring.
Martina shocked Bea with a tope at the start of the match, before the Session Moth stamped away on the Kiwi inside the ring. A knee in the corner missed, before Martina was again taken down with an arm whip, only to counter with a big boot and a schoolboy roll-up for a near-fall. Bea picked up a near-fall from a kick, before she spat at the face of Martina in amongst a series of kicks to the arm.
Priestley trapped Martina with a hammerlock, but was clocked with a right hand as Martina made a comeback with some clotheslines. For some reason, Martina licked Priestley’s cheek before scoring a near-fall from a swinging neckbreaker… Priestley hit a Cheeky Nando’s kick and a powerbomb out of the corner, but after a near-fall, Martina utilised a crucifix roll-up for the win. This was short; had it been any longer, it’d have gotten worse – particularly given that this was a banana-peel style of finish. *½
Bea kept up the attack on Martina after the match, stomping away on her arm as the commentary team talked over the possibility of Martina having to forfeit the finals. Sure enough, that was telegraphing what came next, as Katie Harvey emerged to declare Martina a “joke” and “not a wrestler”. Our finals are now!
OTT Women’s Championship Tournament – Final: Martina vs. Katey Harvey
Harvey kicked down Martina and beat on her in the corner, before a fallaway slam. We got some “Winter Soldier” chants that I have a feeling were picked up on in London a month later in PROGRESS…
Both women headed to the floor, as Harvey kept up the pressure on Martina’s left shoulder, but the offence quickly ended as Harvey was thrown into the front row. Martina caught Harvey on the top rope with a slap, then brought her in the hard way with a superplex, before the two women resorted to open-hand slaps.
Martina fired back with chops, forcing Harvey into the corner, but another Harvey comeback ended when she missed a Yakuza kick and was rolled up for a near-fall. A Gory Bomb got Harvey a two-count, so she went back to that left arm. Yet again, Martina caught Harvey on the top rope with a slap, then hit a Codebreaker as Harvey was trapped in the middle rope… and despite Harvey’s foot being out of the ring (and her knee being lifted to touch the bottom rope), the referee made the count as Martina took the win. Yeah… the character works here, and it’s not like the act is completely useless, but two short matches in one night to crown a champion is more “Attitude era women’s wrestling” than anything else, but it is what it is. At least the title didn’t go on an import, I guess! ¾*
Yep, Paddy M and Workie celebrated with Martina as they had a rave with her newly-won title, and because it’s 2016, this ended with chants of “You Deserve It”. I must have missed those times where Martina got screwed out of success… Gerry Humperdinck ordered Martina back into the ring after her celebration, and told her that she’ll “have to kick some arse every month”. She won’t be defending the title in November… but she will be facing Joey Ryan. That’s a hell of a way to establish a new championship, is it not?
Humperdinck then addressed Paul Tracey as “the biggest piece of shit in OTT”. He’s had enough of him, and Tracey’s getting punished with a match against Tommy Dreamer. Perhaps you can guess what theme that show’s going to have, with a name like Extreme Supershow 2…
They play a video package from the Invasion Supershow where Tyler Bate and Angel Cruz teamed together… and lost before Cruz was forced to eat the feet of one of the Body Bros. We then see Tyler Bate do an over-the-top mimic of how people use mobile phones, as Angel demanded to have a word with Bate, whom he confused for “Prince Pretty”. Cruz didn’t get that Bate was not Breeze… and suggested that the pair of them team up again.
The Tyler Bate Squat Challenge followed, which was answered by the Body Bros. Which wasn’t quite as telegraphed to the live crowd. Adam “Flex” Maxted wasn’t in attendance, instead we got Brian Abs and Carl Curl, who got “steroids” chants. They attacked Bate and double-teamed him, before Angel Cruz made the save, and we’ve got our tag match:
Tyler Bate & Angel Cruz vs. Body Bros (Carl Curl & Brian Abs)
Cruz ran around ringside, playing chicken after attacking the Bros, leading the muscle-men into a double clothesline from Bate.
Carl Curl took a squatting bodyslam from Bate, before Bate tagged out to Cruz, who landed a snapmare and a rear chinlock so he could jab Curl with a thumb to the eye. After recovering, Abs came in and worked over Cruz, who was like a virtual crash test dummy as always here. Cruz made a comeback with a back elbow before landing some running knees in the corner, only for Curl to run in and take him down with another elbow.
An enziguiri from Cruz took down Curl and Abs before he made the tag to Bate, who nearly scored the win with a deadlift bridging German to Abs. Curl tried to break up a squat, but instead took Angel Cruz as the squat challenge ended up being a squat vs. curl challenge in a slightly underwhelming spot. What wasn’t underwhelming was the way that Bate just turned around to avoid two shoulder charges… The end came when Curl took a brainbuster, before Cruz ran in to steal the pin. As a match, it wasn’t much, but it at least resembled a wrestling match… **½
After the match, one of Cruz’s security came in with a selfie stick – with a floor mop taped to it – prompting Bate to do his best Tyler Breeze impression by posing across the top turnbuckles. Given how Aonghus McAnally and Don Marnell talked them up, these two may well be facing the Gymnasties down the line…
Ryan Smile vs. Marty Scurll
Smile shocked Scurll at the bell with a superkick, before hitting his over-the-turnbuckle tope con hilo as Smile looked to end things early… but Scurll kicked out at two from a brainbuster in a frantic opening.
The pace didn’t slow down much fromt here: Scurll countered an attempted superplex to the floor by crotching Smile and landing a superplex into the ring before keeping up the pressure on Smile by hooking away at his face. Scurll caught Smile in almost a Vertebreaker position, but instead of dropping Smile down, opted to walk towards the corner and smash his head off the underside of the turnbuckles.
Smile’s first comeback saw him boot Scurll into the corner, then fire in with a missile dropkick and a leaping reverse STO as the crowd kept switching their allegiances. Just like the crowd, the match swung back and forth also – Scurll with a Just Kidding superkick as a prelude to a sequence that ended with a reverse suplex for a near-fall, before going after Smile with chops. Both men dropped to the mat after they traded superkicks to the head, but Scurll popped up and continued to wear down Smile before snapping his middle finger. Angered, Smile hit back with a springboard Ace crusher for a near-fall, only for a Frog Splash to met the knees of Scurll, who flew back into things with the Glen Joseph Special slam into the ropes.
After Smile went to the outside, Scurll stayed on top with a superkick off the apron – but Smile quickly shrugged it away… then again… and again, before the pair rushed back into the ring to windmill the other with punches. Scurll fell for his own “Just Kidding” superkick, before he had his own fingers snapped, as Smile tried to complete the hattrick with a chicken wing… only to be given his own springboard Ace crusher out of the corner!
Scurll went for his umbrella – which was quickly taken away by the referee – but it just acted as a diversion as Marty kicked Smile low and scored a near-fall with a roll-up. The chicken wing followed from Scurll, and Smile didn’t tap… but instead they did the arm dropping gimmick, with Smile staying alive by a matter of inches! After fighting out, Smile’s quickly caught in some Bryan Danielson-esque elbows before Scurll reapplied the chicken wing, but again, Smile powered free and grabbed the rope.
Scurll wandered out into the crowd, then looked under the ring for another umbrella, but again he was stopped by the referee… a referee who did a poor job of getting rid of the first brolly, as Ryan Smile grabbed it and used it on Scurll as the second one was being removed from the ring. One springboard Ace Crusher and a Frog Splash later… and Ryan Smile collected the deserved win. A fantastic main event, with Scurll and Smile leaving it all on the line, but my God the commentary did not help – guys; let Michael Cole and the WWE telegraph non-finishes, eh? Smile’s still 2-1 down though, but his first win over the Villain got the ovation it deserved. ****
As a pair of shows, OTT’s WrestleCon was a perfect microcosm of themselves. Imports massively outperforming the homegrown talent (and yes, I count the English guys as imports here), with a crowd that was largely rabid throughout. Yes, there were mis-steps – mostly in the form of an ice-cold street fight between Abyss and Logan Bryce – but on the whole, what OTT were trying to do worked, even if a lot of this wasn’t “my graps”.