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    Europe Over The Top Wrestling Reviews

    OTT Wrestlerama 2 (August 18, 2018)

    29 Mins Read

    On one of the biggest weekends of the summer, OTT joined in the party as they returned to Suir Road for Wrestlerama 2. Oh, with a certain insane main event…

    The VOD opens with footage of WALTER, then Jordan Devlin entering the arena. This excellent music video plays to hype everyone up…

    …and then we’re inside the arena with Aonghus Og McAnally and… DUFF MAN Don Marnell. Okay, that popped me, if only because they used the music. Now, if only Don could commentate for one show like Duff Man? Don, if you’re reading, that’s the gauntlet thrown your way!

    Of course, we’ve got to be interrupted by the “other” crew: William Humperdink and Tony Kelly. Just when you thought they’d buried the hatchet. Part of me likes to think they record commentary that’s never ever used. Humperdink tells us that the OTT tag title match later on is going to be a lumberjack match, before Tony Kelly keeps the aggro up by saying that he has a problem with Aonghus. He calls himself the “Irish Bad Ass”, since he came out to Rollin’, but instead Tony’s got two wrestlers to back him up: Rough Stuff (CT Flexor and Paul Scarfe).

    Except Aonghus has back-up too. The returning Paddy M and Martina… and we’ve got an impromptu opener!

    Rough Stuff (CT Flexor & Paul Scarfe) vs. Martina & Paddy M
    Paddy’d been away from OTT for a year, having last appeared at WrestleRama last year, and he got a deserved “welcome back” chant.

    Paddy and Martina enjoyed the early upper hand, whipping Rough Stuff into each other before he managed to fake out a dive, bouncing off the top rope a la Tyler Bate before Martina hit the dive anyway. A spinning heel kick from Paddy’s good for a near-fall on Flexor, before he and Martina combined for an assisted legdrop. Martina threatens a moonsault, but Paul Scarfe catches her on the rope, before a big dropkick wiped out Martina for a near-fall. Martina responds with a tiltawhirl DDT, then brings in Paddy with a hot tag, taking Flexor into the corner for some mounted punches ahead of a TKO.

    Scarfe dives in to break up the cover and catch Paddy with a Finlay roll… only to be caught with a flying lungblower from Martina. I think we can blame Veda for THAT one then. She even manages to dump Flexor with a suplex before she crashed and burned on a moonsault as Rough Stuff take the chance to edge ahead, focusing on Martina… except she manages to escape before sending Scarfe to the outside.

    Flextor runs into a DDT as Paddy remained the legal man… and capitalised with a senton bomb off the top… and that’s enough for the win! An enjoyable opener, with Martina looking to finally come out of the “cosplay champion” shadows she’d been in since her trip to Japan earlier this year. Whether this is a one-show-only deal or not remains to be seen, but I’ll be optimistic. It’s all about the presentation! ***

    Losers Must Disband: More Than Hype (LJ Cleary, Darren Kearney & Nathan Martin) vs. Legit 100 (Curtis Murray, Scotty Davis & Michael May)
    On paper, this was a weird one. There’d been no issue between the two trios going into the show, yet by the end of this, one of them was gone… it felt very much like a case of “something isn’t clicking, let’s put it out of its misery”.

    More Than Hype were the clear favourites in the Arena, and we started with May taking down Cleary with a wristlock, as the weird lighting in the venue had LJ’s gear switching from red to purple depending on the camera angles. A hiptoss took Cleary into the corner, but he responds with a nice dropkick, only for Darren Kearney to tag in and find himself in instant trouble. More tags out take us to Nathan Martin and Scotty Davis, and it’s Davis who shows off with a bridging pin after a head kick as he had Martin firmly on the back foot. Martin takes a lot of punishment as Legit 100 triple-teamed him for a spell, with May back in to chop and axe kick through Martin for a near-fall. Finally, Martin gets a tag out to Kearney, who launches David into the sky and ropes with a back body drop…

    Cleary gets a blind tag in after that, but Curtis Murray’s still on fire, at least until LJ found his stride… which was quickly stopped by a Koppo kick from May, who looked to dive, only to be stopped as a Parade of Strikes in the ring eventually gave way to a tope con giro from Davis, who landed on his feet. Michael May goes one better with a huge plancha, while the Aviator Murray didn’t exactly live up to his name, as he slipped and hung himself up in the ropes.

    Second time was a little more successful for Curtis, but a springboard’s shoved away as Kearney ends up getting double-teamed… and all of a sudden, Dublin weren’t too fussed whether Legit 100 lived or died, especially when Psycho Nathan reared his head, getting some help to DDT Davis and May.

    Martin heads up top and hits a fireman’s carry sit-out slam off the middle rope, while the rest of More Than Hype piled on for the pin… which Scotty Davis broke up with a massive top rope elbow drop!

    That just gets all six men in the ring, brawling, while May and Martin just clatter into each other repeatedly with clotheslines as another Parade of Moves broke out, eventually forcing a near-fall out of LJ. Things swing back around as More Than Hype triple-team Murray, with a superkick-assisted Jay Driller… and that’s the end. More Than Hype live – and while this match was undoubtedly spectacular, this felt a little flat to me, being uninvested in one of the trios and the untimely slips. It’s worth watching though, just to get a glimpse of the next generation of the Irish scene… ***

    Post-match, Curtis Murray flips off everyone and leaves, ever the sore loser.

    Shane Strickland vs. KUSHIDA
    Alright everyone, remember to join in… in the song, and in wearing everyone else’s glasses!

    They take it to the mat early on, with Strickland clinging onto a headlock… but KUSHIDA manages to roll out and do a little Rick Rude action as they looked to bring the pace down. Strickland’s headlock is again escaped, but he manages to recover and grab KUSHIDA’s wrist as the pair went hold for hold, counter for counter, with KUSHIDA edging ahead by stomping on the wrist and arm of Strickland.

    Strickland escapes and comes back in with headscissors and dropkicks, before he just chopped through KUSHIDA in the corner. A tiltawhirl backbreaker keeps KUSHIDA down for two, so Strickland goes for his back with a chinlock, only for KUSHIDA to escape and wheelbarrow his way into a near-fall. From the kick-out, KUSHIDA passes some headscissors from Strickland onto the referee, who inadvertently held Shane in place for a kick to the arm as the former IWGP Junior champion started to find his groove.

    KUSHIDA stays in it with a low dropkick after Strickland went for a hiptoss, before he resumed focus on the arm of Strickland, yanking it as the EVOLVE champion had to go into the ropes for respite. A sunset flip from Strickland’s blocked as KUSHIDA just grabs an arm for a cross armbreaker… but they’re right by the ropes and Strickland’s able to get free before landing a flurry of strikes to help put him right back in it. KUSHIDA’s dragged out of the corner with a swinging Saito suplex…and that takes him to the outside too, where he’s met with a PK off the apron as Strickland drills KUSHIDA out of some chairs wit a running knee. Another attempt ends with KUSHIDA stopping Strickland in his tracks, dumping him through someone’s chair with a Downward Spiral, leading to the referee taking his count-out beyond 10… and eventually up to 19 as both men narrowly beat the count.

    Back in ring, KUSHIDA only pulls out a Dragonrana for a near-fall, before he went back to the arm of Strickland, only to get shoved off as Swerve counters a handspring into a German suplex that almost stopped the match right there and then. Strickland looks to go up top, but he’s caught by KUSHIDA… only to get free and hang him in the ropes ahead of a double stomp onto the apron. There’s another one of those coming back in the ring, as Strickland stomped KUSHIDA’s shoulders to the mat for a near-fall, before another crack at a double stomp ended with a cartwheel kick into the corner as KUSHIDA put the brakes on.

    KUSHIDA joins Strickland up top and brings him down hard into a cross armbreaker, holding on firm as Strickland tried to roll out… Strickland nearly pins him while in the armbar, but KUSHIDA barely gets a shoulder up as the pair trade right hands and elbows, then superkicks, before a right hand punch from KUSHIDA knocked both men down. KUSHIDA’s right back up though… and into a lariat from Strickland for a near-fall, before he finally caught Strickland in a Hoverboard lock, rolling his foe into the middle of the ring as the King of Swerve finally tapped. This one played right into KUSHIDA’s ground game – and this ended up being a war that Strickland narrowly lost in. I’d be up for a rematch down the line, although this firmly fell into that supercard black hole, as any “next step” from this wouldn’t follow for a while. ***½

    Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. Club Tropicana (Captain Sexsea & Aidan Epic)
    They’ve not been around for long, but Club Tropicana (with Jose Idle) have one of, if not the best entrances in wrestling, even if they have ditched Rick James for Africa. Fight me.

    So, Club Tropicana stole the heart of Mark Davis… but not quite Kyle Fletcher, who was proving to be a real impatient so-and-so, and there’s a timer on the screen for some reason. What is this, a Baron Corbin NXT match? The reverse Iron Man match timer disappear quickly, but Dunkzilla fancies an early night and lays down for Captain Sexsea… only for Fletcher to come in and stomp it up. The Aussie Arrow’s roll-up gets stomped apart by Mark Davis for… reasons, before Kyle’s tied up in a Paradise Lock for the hell of it.

    Davis gets one too as he’s suckered in by Club Tropicana, who decide to… sit and read the paper. All’s fair. Well, until the referee rolls Davis out and he ends up punching out Sexsea. Aidan Epic gets one too, as he’s left in there to get squashed by Dunkzilla’s back senton, before another punch puts him down so Kyle can get a two-count. After all the fun and games, the match went decidedly flat for a spell… but at least the crowd woke up for the brutality, as Epic gets floored with a chop. Poor Aidan’s little more than a tackling dummy that kicks out a lot here… he finally tags in Sexsea who clears house, tripping Fletcher into the ropes for a thrust kick before a slingshot DDT just about caught Davis for a near-fall.

    Epic hits a dive, but it’s caught and turned into a double-team Go to Sleep on the outside, while Sexsea eats an assisted cutter back inside, before he took the double-team sit-out powerbomb from Fletcher for another near-fall. We’ve crossed the eight minute mark as Sexsea counters a Fidget Spinner with a ‘rana… before Epic finally returned to spark a strike battle. Which Tropicana lost.

    Sexsea rebounds with a step-up double DDT to the Aussies, before he nails the slip and slide to Fletcher in the corner for a two-count. In the end, Fletcher catches Epic in a Figure Four while Dunkzilla has Sexsea in a crossface… they barely pass the ten minute mark before they tap. It’d have been nice for commentary to have told us why the clock was on the screen, as it seemed that Jose Idle just wanted his guys to last ten minutes against the Aussies. This was… okay, but really a drawn-out squash. **¾

    (filling in the blanks: there were videos on Twitter in the run-up to the match where the OTT roster were betting on how long they’d last… there’s a cheeky cameo at the bottom there with an IOU…)

    Post-match everyone expects the Aussies to be all happy and jolly, but they just punch out Jose Idle before ditching Epic with the Fidget Spinner. Sexsea takes a pull-up piledriver, and these Aussies have gone bad now. So much for the laughing and smiley Dunkzilla…

    David Starr vs. Timothy Thatcher
    Well, with David Starr’s best friend (in Ireland) main eventing against WALTER, why not have the other half of RINGKAMPF visit? We’ve had three prior singles matches between these two, with Starr winning two of them.

    Starr tries to take Thatcher down early, but it’s easily escaped and replied to in kind as Thatcher spooked the Product in the early moments. The pair tussled on the mat, looking for holds and body parts, before Starr locked in some head scissors… which came to nought, as Thatcher escaped and managed to reverse a knuckle lock as the masterclass continued in earnest. Starr attempts to kick out of a single leg crab attempt, but instead he has to go to the ropes before finally scoring with a takedown on Thatcher. It’s a decent flurry from Starr, but he creates too much distance and ends up getting closed down for a pair of rebound belly-to-belly suplexes from Thatcher. A bow-and-arrow hold has Starr bent in half, but he’s able to flip out and try his luck with an inverted Boston crab… only to get pulled into a sorta-STF as they again ended up in the ropes.

    Thatcher keeps up the offence, throwing elbows and gutwrench suplexes with ease, before Starr dared throw a chop. It barely registers as the Dublin crowd wanted Thatcher to end Star… but instead Starr’s able to chain together a flurry of chops and forearms to pin Thatcher into the corner ahead of a Han Stansen lariat. An attempt at the Pretty Pumped turned into a sidewalk slam for a near-fall as he proceeded to measure up Thatcher for some more right hands, before Thatcher’s single response knocked Starr onto the apron. An attempted Dragon screw back through the ropes is aborted as Starr nicks back in, only to telegraph a thrust kick as Thatcher turns it into an ankle lock.

    Somehow Starr counters that into a roll-up for a near-fall as it’s back to the strikes, before he lands a Cherry Mint DDT onto the apron, and another lariat as Thatcher flipped inside out. Starr looked to go for the Trapped Arm Bob Fossil, but Thatcher backdrops out of the modified package piledriver before missing an enziguiri… Starr tries a prawn hold to win, but instead he had to dump Thatcher with a Blackheart Buster and a thrust kick for a couple of near-falls.

    Another enziguiri and a back suplex from Thatcher has Starr back on the defensive, before a butterfly suplex/slam proved to be enough to put Starr away. RINGKAMPF 1, Starr/Devlin 0… not a good start, but this was a solid match, with an even crowd lapping up the blend of technical and hard-hitting graps. ***¾

    Lumberjack Match for OTT Tag Team Championship: Angel Cruzers (Angel Cruz & B. Cool) vs. Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Dunkan Disorderly) (c)
    Shoutout to the guy right in front of the hard camera who was really into everything here! The lumberjacks were introduced without names, mostly being trainees, before the Angel Cruzers were paraded out. Sadly, no epic mini-movie for them this month, as B. Cool was instead having to keep an eye out for a ghost from his past.

    Under the Freebird rule, it was Bonesaw and Dunkan Disorderly defending the straps, since Damien Corvin had set his sights on a singles run.

    A masked lumberjack freaks out B. Cool, who started by being taken down as his head clearly wasn’t in it. In comes Angel Cruz as the crowd seemed somewhat muted for this, just about chanting along as Cruz squatted his way out of a wristlock, only to get chopped into a corner. Cool’s freaking out about anyone and everyone, which just means that he’s thrown outside as we get our first taste of lumberjack war…

    Our second taste was when Cruz back body dropped Disorderly into the lumberjacks, who caught him… before Angel heads up top and sentons into the pile! Cool’s back with some punches to Bonesaw, before a butterfly suplex puts him on the mat… and right in place for Cool to climb the ropes. Except he again takes way too long, and gets shoved into the lumberjacks below by Disorderly. Cool’s left in there as he took a CCK-like lungblower/back senton for a near-fall from the champions, then a gutbuster/backbreaker combo ahead of some Total Elimination as the crowd didn’t seem to know who to cheer for. Bonesaw sets up for something else that was dangerous – a superplex into the lumberjacks… but Cool fights out and instead superkick him into the pile, who shove Bonesaw back up as a backdrop superplex into the lumberjacks was how B Cool left the top rope.

    Meanwhile, back in the ring, Angel Cruz is getting ragdolled by some rolling Germans from Disorderly, but Angel’s able to escape and hit one of his own before going Coast to Coast… with some help from Team PRICK… except Dunkan interrupts the rope-walk with a goddamned spear to the outside! It’s like a car wreck on the floor, with all the bodies scattered there…

    We continue as B. Cool remained isolated… and then Disorderly punches out the referee after he only counted two following a powerbomb to B. Cool. I’m not sure if the lumberjack rules overrode usual disqualifications, but with no ref, it doesn’t matter as Bonesaw and Dunkan wreck chairs over the backs of the lumberjacks, before using them on B. Cool. Well, it’s making the crowd boo the Kings, as it took Team PRICK to at least delay the beatdown, as two chairshots got rid of Angel Cruz’s security detail.

    Angel Cruz has gone under the ring in the midst of this, and he returns with a live chainsaw! Unlike last time, it barely gets a pop… until he chases the Kings to the back with it. That’s the cue for Sammy D to return and superkick Cruz, before he measures up B Cool again… but his kick’s caught as Cool instead lands a brainbuster. The Kings return and are quickly dispatched, with Bonesaw taking a brainbuster for good measure… but we’ve still got no referee.

    Team PRICK somehow are back to their feet and they roll the ref back into the ring… except it’s not a bushier beard for Niall Fox… it’s Justy! Cool’s left stunned as the Kings take advantage, with Disorderly finishing off B Cool with a frog splash, right as Justy rolled the proper referee back in to make the count. On paper, this story made sense, but live it didn’t work at all. With the Kings of the North fully fledged good guys, you didn’t get the “yay/boo” dynamic that was needed to have a screwjob like this work, and it just seemed like the crowd were waiting for Justy before they got into the match. **

    Post-match, Sammy D and Justy soaked up the crowd’s hatred, before heading to the back. There’s a lot more of this story to unfold.

    Going into intermission, they make an announcement about the Fourth Anniversary Show on October 13… it’ll be in the National Stadium, featuring Los Ingobernables de Japon. I think the crowd liked that one…

    OTT Women’s Championship: Valkyrie vs. Katie Harvey vs. Sammii Jayne (c)
    In her first match back after three months out injured, Sammii Jayne’s defending her women’s title in a three-way against a pair you could argue are the present and the future of the Irish scene.

    All three women start in the ring, but we quickly boil down to Harvey and Jayne trading shots, with a capture suplex from Katie sending the champion flying. Valkyrie’s leapfrog gets knocked away by an errant headbutt as she then landed a crossbody and a wheelbarrow bulldog, before Sammii just wiped her out. A suplex from Sammii’s lost as she gets a near-fall over Valkyrie, before a missile dropkick from Harvey laid out both women in one go. Jayne tries to hit back with a superplex to Harvey, but Valkyrie turns it into a powerbomb with a Tower of Doom, before she goes flying herself with a Tennessee Jam legdrop to the doubled-over Sammii.

    Valkyrie focuses on Harvey, taking her outside for a baseball slide dropkick… but the newcomer rested on her laurels (or the ropes, literally) and was caught with the Shadowfax baseball slide German suplex as Sammii proved to be ever the opportunist. Back inside, a slingshot rolling neckbreaker from Sammii’s good for a near-fall as Katie and Valkyrie fell into the trap of wanting the pin for themselves – therefore cancelling each other out.

    There’s a swinging neckbreaker from Sammii as all three women were left on the mat, before we resumed with the student and the teacher laying into each other. Sammii takes advantage with an enziguiri to Valkyrie, before a death valley driver barely gets a two-count thanks to Harvey, who then followed in with a Gory bomb to Sammii as Valkyrie pulls out the referee to stop the count. Valkyrie and Harvey go at it again, with with Val kicking at Katie’s problematic shoulder… before Sammii Jayne nicked in with a roll-up to steal the win. This felt a little on the short side, and could have done with a few minutes that the tag title match could have lost… but on the whole this was fine, save for a few rough moments. I’d have preferred it had OTT built up one challenger during Sammii’s time off, but it is what it is. ***

    It looks like they’re doing something between Katie and Valkyrie, at least based on the reactions after the match…

    Tomohiro Ishii vs. Juice Robinson
    Ten days earlier, these two met in a G1 block match in Yokohama, and it was a hell of a match that Ishii picked up the win in. Juice was a replacement for Matt Riddle, who, erm… was otherwise engaged!

    There’s one guy in the crowd who shouted “please don’t die!”… at the opening lock-up. I mean, Ishii’s scary, but come on!

    After an initial headlock, Juice remembers that shoulder blocking Ishii so early in a match isn’t a good idea… but after a series of see-saw shoulder charges, it’s Juice who finally knocks the big man down! Meanwhile, Juice just shoulder shrugs the crowd chanting Ishii’s name to “Hey Mickie”… which dies down as the Stone Pitbull starts throwing chops… and gets some back. Hey Juice, he had some harder ones 24 hours earlier. Yours may not have much effect…

    They head outside as Ishii clears the crowd, just so he could properly Brookes Juice… and yeah, taking a chair shoulder-first isn’t a good idea! They wander deep into the crowd as if this were a Suzuki-gun brawl, eventually ending up at the back of the Arena for a walk and brawl, eventually returning to the ring as Ishii keeps flinging those chops. Elbows come next as Juice was really struggling to get out of those starting blocks. He tries his luck with headbutts, but they barely faze Ishii, who eventually runs into a spinebuster as the sore head of Juice finally got something going. A clothesline traps Ishii in the corner for a cannonball, before a full nelson slam almost got Juice the upset victory.

    Ishii quickly shuffles out of a Juice Box attempt, and instead catches him with a scoop slam, as we’re back to the status quo here with Juice taking forearms and chops while trapped in the corner. Juice has to elbow out of a back suplex attempt, but he’s still stalling as Ishii lifts him to the top rope for a superplex… which he finally escaped after some clonking headbutts sent Ishii down to the mat.

    A crossbody off the top sees Juice crash into Ishii for a near-fall, before he finally followed up with a Juice Box… which Ishii escaped, so it’s clothesline time! Both men crash into each other with clotheslines before a leg lariat sent Ishii flying, ahead of a falling powerbomb that almost earned him the W. Dusty punches are next for Juice, but he ends up falling into a brainbuster… and pops right back up from it! Not to worry, Ishii’s got a German suplex for him, but that too is shrugged off as Pulp Friction looked to follow… but Ishii shoves away and instead chases in with a sliding lariat as both men crumpled to the mat!

    After hauling themselves back to their feet, we’re back to duelling elbows, which Ishii seemed to take great pleasure in absorbing… if only so he could waffle Juice with one of his own! Juice tries to fire back, but he runs into a clothesline for a two-count, before duelling headbutts finally let Juice sneak in a lariat for another near-fall. Pulp Friction’s next, but Ishii tries to reverse it… only to get another clonking headbutt. OW.

    An enziguiri follows from Ishii, before a lariat folds Juice in half… and we’re still not done, because Ishii has his sheer drop brainbuster left in him, and that finally puts Juice away. Easily on par with their G1 match, this was a clunking war that would feel at home anywhere on a New Japan show… the fact that it was the semi-main in Dublin just shows how far the scene’s come in the last few years! ****¼

    OTT Championship: WALTER vs. Jordan Devlin (c)
    In the build-up to this, these two only squared-off once, in a tag match at “A Haven For Monsters” back in July. That tag match was WALTER’s OTT debut, but tellingly, Devlin was forced to tap out to the Austrian as his winning streak came to a shuddering end.

    Two and a bit months later, they’re facing off again in the main event, with WALTER minus his ring jacket. Thanks Ryanair… Echoing the G1 finals, both wrestlers had corner men: WALTER had the obligatory presence of Timothy Thatcher, while Jordan Devlin had was (eventually) seconded by David Starr. I say eventually… Devlin charged to the ring in a rush to get this going, backed by a loud-as-hell crowd at the Arena on Dublin’s Suir Road. Goosebumps.

    From the off, Devlin takes WALTER into the corner and fakes out a chop… which was a bad idea as WALTER switched around and looked to swing for one of his own. Jordan ducks, but his bid to go for a takedown sees him caught and met with a single leg crab as WALTER played the classic Goliath to Devlin’s David. Devlin manages to succeed with kicks to the thighs, as he was forced to hit and run… but he’s quickly caught in a neck bridge that the Austrian gleefully smashes apart. Speaking of “gleeful”, that’s the reaction from WALTER as he puts a boot through Devlin’s face as der Ringgeneral was all over the champion, effortlessly picking him up for a slam, then a knee drop before he just swatted Devlin into the corner. Jordan tries to fight back, and waffles WALTER with some lariats, eventually taking WALTER into the corner… but he’s caught and taken to the top rope for a quick suplex. Just when Devlin thought he’d gotten some kind of opening, he’s caught in a Boston crab as he was right back to square one.

    WALTER used his boot to shove away Devlin, which riles up Jordan, who has to duck a couple of chops before he’s lifted onto the apron… then was left helpless as a springboard cutter was effortlessly caught and turned into a German suplex. Good grief. It continues as Devlin tries to get a boot up in the corner and eventually succeeds with a back cracker before he hits that slingshot cutter at the second attempt, only for a near-fall though before he looked to suplex WALTER. Bad idea.

    WALTER escapes and after a leapfrog he’s caught with a wheelbarrow from Devlin, who stomped through him before he went back to the suplex… which again was escaped as Devlin tries to follow through with some kicks. A Gojira clutch quickly ends in the ropes, but Devlin flips out of a German suplex and then… CHOP! That suplex follows, but it’s WALTER who’s delivering it as Devlin looked to be in increasing trouble. A uranage slam’s good for a two-count as the Austrian’s back to toying around with his foe, only to get low bridged as Devlin finally had him on the outside… but a PK effort is caught as Devlin’s just hurled into the ring post. Hey, WALTER even has time to poke David Starr, before refocusing on the next step: Brookesing Devlin.

    A couple of chairs are set out on the floor, but Devlin grabs onto the rope to avoid a powerbomb through them, instead hitting his PKs off the apron before an Orihara moonsault wiped out WALTER, with Devlin clipping one of those chairs on the way down. Devlin returns the match to the ring as the white-hot atmosphere continued, but his moonsault off the top’s aborted… allowing WALTER to hit a massive shotgun dropkick into the corner and a powerbomb for good measure… but Devlin’s not done yet! He throws a series of right hands to WALTER’s head and neck, but a single slap from the Austrian stops that, only for a headbutt to leave WALTER doubled-over… only for him to come back with a Kirifuda driver – the suplex into a Gojira clutch – as David Starr teased throwing in the towel.

    After fighting out, Devlin’s back with a double stomp and a rebound German suplex off the ropes, then a brainbuster as the crowd sensed that his window of opportunity may be closing… a picture perfect moonsault off the top gets a near-fall, as the crowd roars louder still as Devlin teases a package piledriver. It doesn’t work as WALTER rolls out, but he’s met with a knee before Devlin snatches in a rear naked choke of his own… but mounting the back of WALTER in the process was always going to be a point of weakness. Which was quickly exploited as WALTER climbed the ropes and fell back to splat his way free.

    Back to his feet, WALTER swipes again, then levels Devlin with a lariat, before a powerbomb’s countered into Code Red as somehow Devlin could only get a two out of it. So we’re back to those chops, the first of which leaves Devlin in a twitching mess on the mat, but WALTER’s not done yet, grabbing the wrist for more… yet Devlin’s able to get free with a headbutt, before an attempted Euro clutch just ended up with him bridging back into a rear naked choke. WALTER throws in some crossface-like blows to the chest as the submission’s reapplied. Devlin’s not one for quitting though, resurging after the arm-drop gimmick to show there’s still some life left!

    Except WALTER just picks him up and spikes him with a Fire Thunder Driver, and just like that, the Arena was left in a stunned silence. The sit-out piledriver was the killshot, and WALTER is your new champion.

    This was a glorious match. Twenty minutes long, but almost wrestled as a sprint, with Goliath stomping all over David, Devlin having some glimmers of hope, but in the end, the man who made his name in OTT as the “import killer” was vanquished by perhaps the biggest import yet. A man who was welcomed into OTT… until it became clear that he was here to parade over, and ultimately take the title from Jordan Devlin. A two-month story arc that played out beautifully – culminating in a match that you need to go out of your way to see. ****¾

    Post-match, the OTT crowd rallied around Devlin, singing his name as he walked to the back without an OTT/NLW title for the first time in eight months. Where to next for Jordan? That, my friends, is the next chapter…

    As a show, Wrestlerama 2 was undoubtedly a “one match card” – and while that match delivered, just about the rest of the line-up played its part. Save for the lumberjack match, which had its own issues, everything else on here is worth your time. From the welcome return of Paddy M at the start, the Strickland/KUSHIDA outing, and the Ishii/Robinson rematch, Wrestlerama 2 is a show that is worth more than “let’s just skip to the main event”. If you’re pushed for time you owe it to yourself to watch WALTER/Devlin, but you’ll find plenty on this line-up that should entertain and impress.

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