We’re going back to Ireland, with a show with a super-generic title: OTT’s Invasion Supershow!
#TLDR: A much better all-round show from OTT in August, with Will Ospreay and Ryan Smile – the Uptown Funkers – teaming up to face Marty Scurll and Jordan Devlin on a show that had quite a few storyline twists.
The Full Review: Yes, we’re giving this group another chance, since they’ve finally added commentary to their on-demand shows. This show’s a little more expensive than their prior outings, but at over three hours long, that’s justified.
They start with a CGI intro, and we cut to our ring announcer – Butch (no last name) – to hype things up, and remind the fans not to film the show. He runs through the imported talent as he battles with a breaking-down microphone. Our commentary pairing of Don Marnell and Aonghus McAnally are introduced, and no, that name isn’t pronounced how you think it is (Ane-guss Muc-Ah-Nall-ee)
Charlie Garrett vs. Travis Banks
OTT’s gone back to the full sized video screen, rather than the circular thing they had last time around. Charlie Garrett’s entrance video is quite low-rent, but it does the job, as it’s just a promo photo of himself with “Charlie Garrett” stamped on it. Once the crowd’s actually read the name, they start to boo… and to be fair, if your trunks had the Union Jack on, you’d probably be booed in Ireland too! Nice, easy heat!
Travis Banks’ entrance is similar, but at least it’s a shot of Banks whilst he’s wrestling, as opposed to the standard promo pics. Banks gets a bit of a cheer since he’s not British, and it looks like Garrett’s going to get the mocking chants from the start, especially as he trips on the rope on the way into the ring.
Garrett yells at the crowd that “we left Europe”, which gets a “you ****ed up” chant. Can’t say I disagree, but let’s avoid the politics here, eh? The Dublin crowd chant “where’s your passport?”, before labelling Banks as “one of us”.
We finally get going with a lock-up, as Garrett takes Banks into the corner for an unclean break, as they exchange slaps, with Garrett running between the ropes to save himself. A push into the ropes from Garrett ended with Banks cartwheeling out of a shoulder tackle, something which Garrett fails miserably at when he tried it. Banks rolls across Garrett from a shove into the ropes, then scores a springboard armdrag and a La Magistral for a near-fall.
Banks takes Garrett to the corner for some chops, before landing a springboard roundhouse to Garrett that sent him to the floor. Garrett tries to leave, but gets brought back into the ringside area and rakes Banks’ eyes… and at this point I noticed that the OTT fans weren’t doing the “count ahead of the ref” stuff. Please keep that up…
Back inside, Garrett punches Banks in the corner, before Banks returned the favour, and lit up Garrett with some more chops. Garrett reverses it and puts Banks in the corner, but Banks no-sells the chops and forearms Garrett in the head, before connecting with a knee to the head and a Northern Lights suplex for a near-fall.
Banks looks to suplex Garrett again, but it’s reversed as Banks gets dumped onto the ropes with a front suplex, and Garrett once more hits some chops in the corner. A backdrop suplex takes down Banks for a two-count, but Banks replies with a dropkick into the corner, then a back elbow and a forearm smash, before finally laying into Garrett with a cannonball into the corner.
Garrett goes outside again, but gets caught with a penalty kick on the apron, before throwing himself into Garrett with a Thesz press. The pair go back to forearms and uppercuts for the boo/yay reaction, at least until Garrett raked the eyes. Banks swept the leg of Garrett back, sending him to the mat face-first, with a dropkick and a German suplex quickly afterwards getting him a very near-fall.
Banks misses a clothesline off the top, and turned around into an Ace Crusher from Garrett, but was able to kick out at two. Garrett then signalled for a standing moonsault, but Banks had already gotten up, and turned Garrett around for an attempted punch. Instead, Garrett ducked it, snapmared Banks to the mat, but still missed his standing moonsault!
A lariat from Banks sent Garrett rolling inside out. Back to his feet, Garrett grabbed a towel from the top turnbuckle, and threw it in the referee’s face accidentally on purpose. With that distraction, a simple low blow from Garrett took Banks down, and that was it. A good heel win, and a fine opening match. It may not be much of a gimmick – British guy who wears glasses – but it’s really effective here. ***¼
“The Lord of the Manor” Paul Tracey comes out to face up to Charlie Garrett. Tracey is head of a group called the Social Elite (or “Social Eejits” as the crowd call it). Tracey recruited him into the Social Elite along with Jordan Devlin, and Tracey’s heel promo ends with him saying that he’s not going to wrestle until OTT books someone worth his while.
Tracey then announces that he’s got a second newbie for the Social Elite… and he asks him to come out. The music we get is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, but the video belongs to the Lads from de Flats… and the new hire is Workie, wearing a baseball cap and a shirt and tie. The crowd are hating this! The crowd chant “Please don’t work” and “social welfare” at him, before OTT owner Gerry Humperdink wanders to ringside.
Workie says something to the mic, and I can barely understand the accent. Apparently it’s something to do with having to make money to pay for his five kids to go to school… Tracey shoves him down, and thats the end of the segment. There’s something about Paul Tracey as the Irish Million Dollar (Euro?) Man that seems to work with this crowd.
Butch is back in the ring, and gets a pop for the announcement that pizza has arrived. It even gets a “pizza” chant going. Easy crowd, huh?
Over The Top Wrestling Tag Team Championship: The Gymnasties (B. Cool & Sammy D) (c) vs. Tyler Bate & Angel Cruz
This was apparently a “lethal lottery” match, at least for the challengers. Your wacky mis-matched challengers today were supposedly generated randomly from the OTT roster… and we got… Tyler Bate! His partner, after the comedy gameshow music, was called as Angel Cruz. His personal assistants are out as well, and Tyler Bate acts like his chances are sunk before the bell’s even rang.
Cruz stands on the back of one of his PAs to make an acceptance speech, and the Gymnasties just sweep his legs before tossing him out of the ring.
Bate starts off and gets taken to the corner by Sammy D. Another lock-up sees Bate take Sammy into the corner for another clean break, before Bate grabs a wristlock and wrings the arm. Sammy struggles to free himself, as he spins around, but Bate keeps hold, and finally he undoes himself… by rolling to the mat and spreading Sammy’s legs before he falls back to the mat.
Bate continues to wishbone Sammy’s legs, before an offered handshake just sees Bate use the arm for extra torque, before they see-saw back and forth, which Justin Shape at ringside says was unfair because “Bate’s from Oxford… they’ve got a rowing team”. After letting go, Sammy’s reluctant to take a hand up, but does so eventually, and takes down Bate for a series of squats and stomps.
An European uppercut from Bate stuns Sammy, before he lands a headlock takedown and almost gets a pin. Angel Cruz finally tags in and works some basic holds, and gets a headlock takedown of his own, but Sammy arches up and out of the hold, to the shock of Cruz, who rushes to tag out Bate after getting a scare.
B. Cool tags in now, and he grabs a wristlock too, before working up to an armbar which Bate reverses and squats a lot to rile up his opponents. The armbar’s reversed, and Cool tries to squat his way free, but instead Bate matches him squat for squat, and the crowd’s eating this up! My thighs got tired just watching this, and Bate kept going after B. Cool dropped out. Cool dropped Bate with a forearm, before a shoulder tackle got him a two-count.
Sammy comes back in for another shoulder tackle and another near-fall, and the Gymnasties come in to do a little dance and miss a double shoulder tackle. Bate drops them both with clotheslines and shoulder tackles, before Cruz again blind-tags in… and gets dropped with a double shoulder tackle. The Gymnasties dance again, and turn into a double dropkick from Bate, who grabs both of them into a Fireman’s carry… and squats! The crowd came unglued, then the Gymnasties clipped his leg and stomped away on Bate for a while.
Sammy struggles to slam Bate, who manages with ease, before Angel Cruz refuses to tag in. Cool dropkicks Bate, and they tag out again as the Gymnasties start to cut-off Bate. They trade shots, before Bate gives Sammy a back body drop (thanks!), only to quickly end up in a corner for a bunch of chops from B. Cool.
Cool looks to go for the brainbuster, with Sammy coming in to make it a double brainbuster… but Bate drives the two across the ring and lands a double suplex instead! Bate then forcibly tags in Cruz, and he gets brought in the hard way. Cruz runs around the ring as the Gymnasties play chase, giving the crowd a reason to sing the Benny Hill theme song!
Cruz runs back in, and tags an unsuspecting Bate back in to clean house. A knee-lift stuns Cool, as does an enziguiri. Bate drops Cool with a double underhook backbreaker, before Cruz tags himself in and steals a two-count, before demanding that Bate tags himself back in… instead Bate flips him the bird and drops onto the floor.
Sammy D boots Cruz, before the pair deliver separate superkicks to Angel, and that’s the match. Little more than a comedy match, but when you’re working with guys as limited as this, this is the best you’ll get. It was entertaining at least! **½
As Angel Cruz gets to his feet, the lights go out, and it looks like we’ve got the other body guys – or the Body Bros, to be exact. Led by Adam “Flex” Maxted – fresh off of a reality show appearance (ITV’s Love Island, and I hate myself for knowing that), the rest of the Body Bros – Bryan Abs and Kyle Corr – enter the ring and circle Cruz. The Body Bros lay waste to Cruz’s security detail, before Adam Maxted grabs the mic. He brags about his social media following, before he takes off a trainer and shoves his foot into Cruz’s mouth for all of his Insta-Snap-Twit followers. They have to do it twice since they forgot to take the photo at the first time of asking, as the crowd chant “steroids” at him, and that’s the end of the segment. Well, there’s a throwback to the late 80s wrestling scene!
Jigsaw vs. Sean Guinness
Jigsaw’s on a bit of a tour of the British Isles, it seems, having wrestled for a few promotions this year – heck, he’s wrestled more matches over here than in the States in 2016, which says something, I guess. The mystery opponent for him was Sean Guinness, who was making his return to OTT after almost a year away working in Japan for FMW and ZERO1.
They started off with a tie-up, as Guinness grabbed a waistlock, before working around to snapmare Jigsaw down as the two stood-off. A wristlock follows, then a headlock takedown for Jigsaw, who quickly works out of some headscissors and nonchalantly walks away. Guinness went for a knuckle-lock and switched back into a waistlock, before Jigsaw took him down and went for a surfboard, stretching him back with a chinlock for added torque.
Guinness bit free of the hold, then grabbed an armbar, but Jigsaw’s attempt at a waistlock ended when his foot was stamped on. Some nice rope running ended when Jigsaw caught Guinness during a leapfrog and dragged him to the mat, before a roll-up got him a near-fall. A tope from Jigsaw was cut-off with a kick to the head, before being taken back into the ring, where Guinness dropped a head to Jigsaw’s groin.
A whip into the corner saw Jigsaw take a chop from the returning Guinness – who was the butt of a lot of drink-related puns throughout the match – and this quickly descended into a chopping battle. Guinness takes down Jigsaw with a rear chinlock, and tries to pull at his mask, but Jigsaw breaks free with a jawbreaker, only for Guinness to stay on top of him.
Jigsaw comes back with a missile dropkick to Guinness, before he flips up and… runs into a boot in the corner. The favour’s returned, and Jigsaw scores a two-count with a bridging German suplex. Guinness goes to the top rope, but actually cartwheels OFF THE ROPES to avoid an onrushing Jigsaw, then drills him with an enziguiri. A cross-legged Falcon arrow gets Guinness a near-fall, before Jigsaw leapt over an onrushing Guinness and caught him on the apron with a kick.
Guinness took a double stomp to the back as he was laid over the middle ropes, and that got Jigsaw a near-fall. Jigsaw called out for the brainbuster, but Guinness slipped out, before catching a superkick. At the second attempt, Jigsaws brainbuster was reversed, before a discus lariat dropped the masked man. From their knees, they traded forearms, with Guinness winning out… then quickly lost out when Jigsaw took him to the corner and slapped the hell out of him.
Jigsaw looked for a super brainbuster, but Guinness slipped out and turned it into a Fireman’s carry gutbuster, before finishing off Jigsaw with the double footstomp off the top. That was quite great, especially for a match that I had little expectations for going in. ***½
Guinness cut a promo after the match, heeling on the Tivoli crowd, saying that he can’t wait to get out of town… fair enough.
The Kings Of The North (Bonesaw & Damien Corvin) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe)
War Machine start by asking for a handshake, which they don’t get… so they strike out at the Kings and toss them outside the ring, and the brawl starts there. Corvin and Rowe pair off, as do Hanson and Bonesaw, and Rowe gets sent head-first into a dividing wall. Hanson chops away at Corvin, as Bonesaw gets dropped to the mat with a throw from a waistlock.
In the ring, Hanson runs into an elbow from Corvin, but Bonesaw gets in… and has no luck attacking him. War Machine squashes the Kings with avalanche clotheslines, then knee strikes in the corner, and we finally settle down into a tag match as Hanson beats on Bonesaw in the corner.
In comes Rowe, who whips Bonesaw back into the War Machine corner before continuing the beatdown. A pair of knee strikes from War Machine drops Bonesaw, before Raw slams Hanson on top of Bonesaw for a near-fall. Bonesaw finally gets some offence in when he rams Hanson into the corner, and tags in Corvin, but Rowe ran in with a dropkick… only to take out Hanson by mistake.
Corvin works over Hanson, and makes the tag back out to Bonesaw, who kicked Hanson down in the corner… and then tagged out for more of the same from Corvin. The Kings of the North kept cycling through tags, but Hanson was able to work free, with a seated senton out of the corner on Bonesaw, before Rowe came in to take out both of the Kings by himself.
An overhead belly to belly from Rowe put paid to Bonesaw, with Corvin taking an uranage, before being used as a launch pad for a superman punch to Bonesaw. Rowe picked up both of the Kings and tossed them away with a fallaway slam/Samoan drop combo to really pop the crowd. Rowe gets tossed into the ropes by Bonesaw in response, and the Kings somehow get back to mount some offence, with a dropkick from Corvin earning a near-fall.
The Kings continue to double team Rowe in their own corner, with an atomic drop, big boot, and a series of knee drops getting Corvin another two-count on Rowe. A ducked clothesline from Rowe leads to a straight right hand on Corvin, as both men drop to the mat, and finally tags in Hanson, who clears house on the Kings. Repeated avalanche forearm strikes squash the Kings, before Hanson places both of them onto the top turnbuckle, and chops away at them.
Hanson ran into Bonesaw with a bronco buster, but Corvin escapes his at the last moment, before Hanson flips over the top rope a la Ric Flair from an Irish whip, and connects with a leg lariat off the top to Corvin.
War Machine went for their Fallout finisher on Bonesaw, but Corvin ran in to break it up, and catch Rowe in a lungblower/German suplex for a near-fall. A double dropkick from Rowe takes out the Kings after he broke through a clothesline, and then War Machine set up Bonesaw as Hanson powerbombed Rowe onto him for another near-fall.
Bonesaw reversed an Irish whip, causing Rowe to accidentally drop Hanson with a high knee, but Rowe was still able to toss Bonesaw across the ring with an Exploder suplex. Corvin ducked a Superman punch, then dropped Rowe with a death valley driver, before Hanson cartwheeled away from a back body drop, and levelled Corvin with a lariat.
Bonesaw then kicked Hanson low, before picking him up in a Fireman’s carry, with a Corvin dropkick finished off a flapjack. Rowe takes a Yakuza kick, then a pump kick, before a release front suplex and a Blue Thunder bomb from Bonesaw gets yet another near-fall. Hanson runs back in and gets some more double-teaming, before he again cartwheels away from a double clothesline with War Machine following up with stereo knee-strikes.
War Machine then drop Corvin with a pop-up into a slam, before Bonesaw is set up for the back suplex/lariat combo. That move pops the crowd, but War Machine don’t go for a cover, instead opting to go for the Fallout on Corvin, but he slips out. Rowe catches him and lands a gutwrench suplex, before a Hanson big splash gets a two-count as Bonesaw yanks the referee out of the ring.
Rowe drops Bonesaw with a Superman punch, before Corvin cuts off another Fallout attempt. A high knee from Rowe drops Corvin, but he has no answer to a simple roll-up from Bonesaw as a handful of tights steals the win. A good, hard-hitting match with a bit of a cheap ending, but since both teams had done all their usual stuff, it was always going to take a cheap move to end it. ***¼
Immediately at the bell, Katie Harvey comes out with a pair of scissors as the Kings looked to trim War Machine’s beards. You know what promotion this is, so you know who’s going to come out next…
But no, War Machine fight free and send the Kings of the North packing with Harvey, only for Justin Shape of the Gymnasties and “Beast” Danny Butler to kick the Kings back out – as they’d previously fallen victim to some northern barbering. The four of them surrounded the Kings, who both took double chokeslams, as all four babyfaces bumped fists.
War Machine got the “please come back” chants, then made their exits as Shape looked for a pair of clippers, and dragged Katie Harvey out from under the ring to get them. She gets cornered by Shape and Butler, then escapes to the relative safety of the ring… and yes, I was right. Out comes Martina, OTT’s Sandman, and she drops Harvey with something resembling a jackhammer. Martina grabs the scissors, but before Harvey can get a haircut, Charlie Garrett comes out to make the save.
We get a promo from Justin Shape who plugs the OTT On Demand stuff, and then says that he wants an end to the Kings of the North. Or more precisely, them moonlighting as barbers. They’re challenging them to a match at the Dublin Fringe Festival, so we’ve got Butler and Shape in a handicap match against all three members of the Kings: Bonesaw, Corvin and Duncan Disorderly.
Martina gets the mic next, and records a Botchamania intro out of nowhere. Well, that ends the segment, and Martina does what she does best… the more I think about it, the more the Sandman comparison makes sense. But perhaps not the “heyday” Sandman.
Cue the standard OTT video package to plug their On Demand service (you know, the place you paid to watch this show)
We’ve got two matches left, and the show’s got almost 90 minutes left in it… these are going to be LONG matches. Or there’s gonna be a lot of filler… which starts by the ring announcer starting off another OTT chant.
Pete Dunne vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
On paper, this is going to be a good one – and they’ve got form too, with Sabre having won two of their three prior singles encounters (in ATTACK! Pro Wrestling and TXW in England, whilst Dunne beat him for Fight Club: PRO in December 2015).
Dunne starts by taking down Sabre with a front facelock, but that’s easily reversed as Sabre does what he does best. Another tie-up sees Dunne get taken into the ropes, before he’s forced to duck a roundhouse kick from Sabre… then gets taken down with a running forearm in response.
Dunne stomps on the back of Sabre, then connects with an European uppercut, before taking Sabre down with a wristlock. Sabre bridges out of a wristlock, and stamps down on Dunne’s forearm, before going after him with a wristlock of his own. A single foot on Dunne’s chest gets Sabre a near-fall, as he continues to work the left arm, twisting it between his feet for added torque.
A bodyslam gets Dunne an opening back into the match, before he tosses Sabre into the front row and follows him… only to end up chopping the ring post as Sabre ducked. Sabre replies by wrenching Dunne’s wrist again, and lighting him up with some uppercuts. A brief battle of uppercuts was quickly cut-off by Sabre landing an armbreaker.
Dunne thought he’d caught Sabre on the apron, but he ended up with his arm tied in the ropes and kicked at, before Sabre caught him in a triangle armbar… which Dunne made light work of, by powerbombing himself free. Sabre’s nose got hooked in the corner, and that led to Dunne stomping away on the knees after biting away at Sabre’s hands. The offence continued was Dunne rolled Sabre into an inverted figure four, which Sabre easily broke via the ropes.
A double underhook suplex earned Dunne a one-count, before Sabre kipped up out of a grounded headlock, only to get his arm tied up in the ropes as a receipt for earlier. An overhead kick to the arm gets Sabre free from a suplex, as a legsweep sends Dunne back to the mat. Sabre runs into the corner with a series of European uppercuts on Dunne, but gets taken out with a dropkick, before Sabre countered the Drop Dead into a guillotine hammerlock.
Dunne slaps his way out of the hammerlock, and switches it into a suplex, then a Fireman’s carry into an uppercut for a near-fall. A series of kicks to the head sends Sabre down, but Sabre slides underneath and catches Dunne in a bridging prawn hold for a near-fall. Sabre goes for the Octopus, but Dunne flips him out into a Tombstone piledriver for a near-fall, as he then snacks on the fingers of Sabre.
More kicks to the head keep Sabre down, and he goes for an armbar which Sabre immediately rolled back for a near-fall. Some rope running ended in Sabre going for another Octopus hold, which he lost as Dunne went for another Tombstone, but Sabre easily got the hold back on before Dunne dropped into the ropes.
An enziguiri briefly dazed Sabre, but a pump kick takes Dunne down. We then go to the two of them sitting cross-legged on the mat, and no, they’re not doing the Undertaker laugh spot. Instead, it’s a load of forearms from short-range, which continue as they fight back to their feet… where a headbutt to the chest sends Dunne down again. More clonking forearms to the head are switched up with a series of slaps, before Sabre drops Dunne with a Dragon suplex out of nowhere, then a PK for just a one-count.
Another PK gets Sabre a two-count, so he switches into a cross armbreaker, but Dunne lifts him up and counts it into the Drop Dead for the win. That was pretty great. At times, Sabre’s style can come across as being relatively limited – especially if his matches descend into repeated PKs and armbars – but this was Sabre at his best, with Dunne more than matching him. I don’t think you can call Pete Dunne underrated anymore, but he’s sure showing that he’s deserving of the plaudits he’s getting. ****¼
Post-match, Dunne calls Sabre back to the ring and they shake hands, and then takes the microphone. Dunne says he’s ready for a title shot, and he’s targeting the Dublin Fringe Festival.
We then get OTT owner Gerry Humperdink out to the ring, and he announces some matches for OTT’s Fringe Festival show in September, including the already-booked Kings of the North vs. Justin Shape/Danny Butler 3-on-2 match, plus Big Damo vs. Jordan Devlin. Tommy End vs. Mark Haskins is on the bill too… as is Pete Dunne vs. Luther Ward for the OTT title.
Humperdink also announced a two-date WrestleCon event in October, featuring Marty Scurll, Chris Hero, Abyss and X-Pac. There’s also going to be a tournament to crown the first OTT Women’s champion, and former WWE star Melina’s involved… that’s quite the set of announcements. OTT’s certainly putting a mark on things with these shows and cards, that’s for sure.
We’ve got about fifty minutes left in this show, so this is going to be a LONG main event…
Marty Scurll & Jordan Devlin vs. The Uptown Funkers (Ryan Smile & Will Ospreay)
On commentary, they actually push Jordan Devlin’s heel gimmick as him being annoyed at being overlooked by the imported talent, and having to watch the main events instead of being part of them.
The Uptown Funkers (complete with their entrance graphic for Ryan Smile and Will “Ospray”… erm?) lead a conga line around the ring, which is one of the more surreal entrances I’ve seen for a while. Marty Scurll just yawns at it at ringside whilst Smile and Ospreay dance in the ring in time to the song they got their team name from. Smile then invites some fans into the ring to join them in the Macarena, before the referee and the ring announcer get in on the act. Okay, this is weird. Even more so when Ryan Smile plays 1997 Shawn Michaels and gives Jordan Devlin a bunch of crotch chops.
Finally a match breaks out, and we start with Smile against Devlin, and they trade slaps to start with. Devlin misses a couple and takes some kicks, before Smile pulls off a trio of leapfrogs and trips Devlin en route to a pinning predicament.
Smile chops Devlin and lands a leaping leg lariat off the ropes, then tags in Ospreay for a swandive into a chop to the shoulder of Devlin. Ospreay takes him down with a wristlock, but Devlin works a bit and just punches Ospreay to free himself. A hurricanrana and a dropkick from Ospreay takes down Devlin, who goes to the corner to tag in Marty Scurll.
They start with a waistlock takedown, as Ospreay grabs a front facelock, but Scurll gets the arm and tries to stomp on it, only for Ospreay’s see-saw kip ups to reverse the wristlock. Scurll grabs another headlock, but again Ospreay works free and rolls up into a stand-off.
Ospreay takes Scurll into the corner, and does the Kazuchika Okada mocking clean-break, befor Scurll kicks him in the midsection as a response. A hammerlock from Scurll is back flipped out of, before a kip-up rana and an armdrag takes Scurll down. Scurll himself tries a ‘rana, but Ospreay cartwheels out before they finally stand off. Nice Football Manager reference on commentary there as well…you’ll not hear Mauro drop that one in (or will we?)
Scurll kicks an onrushing Devlin, whilst Smile gets a similar treatment from Scurll, before the heels take a bunch of clotheslines in the corner, then clothesline themselves in the middle of the ring. Devlin takes a double hiptoss before the Uptown Funkers do some dancing kicks into a sandwich dropkick, as Scurll then gets more of the same… which he blocks by poking both guys in the eye.
Scurll quickly gets his legs swept and takes a double elbow drop, before Ospreay does a “dab elbow” in the corner. Another snapmare into a dropkick gets Ospreay a two-count, before an arm wringer sets up Smile to get tagged in and drop a double stomp through the arm. A Dragon screw takes down Smile, who then takes a superkick from the apron as Jordan Devlin runs into the ring to knock Ospreay off the apron.
A back suplex dumps Smile on the apron (and those screams are getting irritating – stop it with the Norman Smiley tribute act!). Smile takes a bunch of stomps in the wrong corner, before Devlin tags in and splits the legs of Smile, who then takes a Ric Flair-like bump in the turnbuckle, landing on his head. Ospreay breaks up the pin at the count of two, but Smile stays cornered as he takes a double axehandle to the shoulder from Scurll.
Smile gets his knees driven into the mat, as Scurll gets another near-fall, whilst the heels distract the referee so they can choke away on Smile. A pendulum backbreaker from Scurll takes down Smile once more, before Devlin tags in. Devlin sidesteps an avalanche from Smile, who yelps as he hit the turnbuckles, and in comes Scurll to stomp on the forearm once more.
Smile finally gets some separation as he Matrix’s his way out of a clothesline, then drops Devlin with an enziguiri, before finally making the hot tag to Ospreay. Will clears out Devlin with an enziguiri, before a kick into the corner sets up for the “Pip Pip, Cheerio” springboard forearm. The heels come back in, but gets taken out with a springboard moonsault press from Ospreay, who then lands a lifting reverse DDT on Devlin for a near-fall.
Ospreay goes for the Rainmaker, but Devlin elbows out, only to get a kick as Scurll gets dropped with a shooting star press off the apron. Smile comes in and lands a roundhouse kick on Devlin, before Ospreay pushes him back into a side suplex for a near-fall. Scurll takes some forearms from Smile, as does Devlin, before the heels drop Smile with a pair of “just kidding” forearms.
Another superkick off the apron sees Devlin drop Ospreay, before a springboard cutter from Devlin takes down Smile for a two-count. Scurll sets up Smile for a chicken wing, but he’s immediately rolled up for a two-count. We get a parade of big moves next: a roaring elbow and a big boot from Smile to Scurll, followed by a Devlin enziguiri to Smile, with a big boot from Ospreay taking down Devlin. Another boot from Ospreay sends Scurll into the ropes, who rebounds and hits a lariat, but Ospreay lands on his feet and connects to the downed Scurll with a diving corkscrew roundhouse kick. That got the crowd on their feet!
Ospreay follows up with a flying lariat to Devlin, but then takes a bunch of chops and forearms from Scurll in the corner. Scurll misses a dive into the corner, but dropkicks out of the Cheeky Nando’s kick before Ospreay flips away from a “Just Kidding” superkick. An OsCutter attempt gets countered in mid-air as Scurll catches a chicken wing, but Ryan Smile rolls Ospreay up to escape the hold… but Scurll quickly re-applies it anyway.
Jordan Devlin comes in to tie up Smile in a half-crab, but the pair of them hold each others’ hands to prevent them from tapping, and help each other make the ropes for a break. That was a pretty innovative way to break it! Scurll and Devlin drop their opponents with dualling suplexes, but their attempts to take them for super brainbusters fail, and they end up taking home a Cheeky Nandos each.
Smile wipes out Devlin with a tope con hilo across the top turnbuckles to the floor, as Ospreay drops Scurll with the Rainham-maker. A frog splash from Smile gets nothing but Scurll’s knees, but Ospreay gets more luck with two moonsaults then a standing shooting star press, then a corkscrew senton off the middle rope as Devlin breaks up the pinfall at two.
Devlin and Ospreay trade forearms to the face, before a headbutt drops Devlin to the mat. An OsCutter is avoided, and Devlin turns a swinging side slam into a piledriver somehow, with Scurll adding more pain to Ospreay with a lariat that turned him inside out. Another piledriver from Scurll decks Ospreay, as Smile just about broke the cover up. Smile talks trash to Scurll and gets his fingers snapped, but Scurll runs into a double superkick, before Devlin’s top rope clothesline turns into a double superkick also.
Ospreay follows up with an OsCutter to Devlin, then a frog splash from Smile gets the win. A fun match, not without it’s down points (like Smile popping up so quickly after being beaten on for so long), but this worked in front of this crowd, so we’ll go with it. ****
Post-match Ospreay gets the mic as the crowd chant “two of us”. Will acknowledges a Vader sign in the crowd, before Smile does his best Road Dogg impression. Ospreay plays Billy Gunn to end that New Age Outlaws tribute, as the pair resume their dancing to close the show and send the fans home happy.
It’s too easy to try and compare OTT to a British promotion, with PROGRESS and Revolution Pro Wrestling being the most used. However, I’d dare say now that they’re in a league of their own. They’re not “Ireland’s PROGRESS” or “Ireland’s Rev Pro”… but with the cards and talent they’re bringing in, you can understand the comparisons. You can argue whether the term “fly in” or “import” really should apply to the British guys who are on these shows, but even if you say “they’re not”, OTT’s going the extra mile by flying in “true” imports like X-Pac, Abyss and Chris Hero.
In the OTT shows I reviewed earlier this year, I was far from sold on the product. The majority of the native talent came across as backyarders, with the reliance on Attitude-era tropes with Stone Cold Stunners, Rock Bottoms and the like. Since not all OTT shows have the same names on them, we will get a “swings and roundabouts” approach where the shows with more Irish talent could get dragged down. For now though, the “backyarder” element seems to have disappeared from these shows, and it’s resulted in a genuine improvement in match quality.
The addition of Don Marnell and Aonghus McAnally on commentary is a massive step up in quality. Whilst a lot of shows can survive as “just being a recorded version of the live event”, when you’ve got stories and characters who aren’t perhaps well defined to new fans, commentary can be an essential part of the product. Kudos to OTT for crossing that item off their list.
OTT’s upcoming shows, and particularly their new women’s division, will be interesting, particularly to see where they head with it. Will it be a Southside-style of having bigger names from the States? Will they use the stalwarts of the British Isles (a la Nixon Newell, Jinny, etc), or will this be the Martina division? Only time will tell, but this group certainly has recaptured my intrigue…