OVW hits a milestone as they marked their 1100th TV show – bringing along title changes and the announcement of a new championship for the ride.
Quick Results
Jessie Godderz submitted KTD in 3:10 (NR)
Steve Michaels, Hy-Zaya, Cash Flo & Big Zo pinned Anthony Catena, Tony Bizo, Brent Tate & Brandon Tate in 7:33 (**½)
Miss Marvelous pinned Melvin Maximus in 2:00 to win the OVW Anarchy Championship (NR)
Amon pinned Miss Marvelous in 0:28 to win the OVW Anarchy Championship (NR)
Dustin Jackson pinned Adam Revolver in 5:20 (**¼)
Corey Storm & Rocco Bellagio pinned Dimes & Jay Bradley in 9:30 (***) (through commercials)
Kayla Kassidy pinned Billie Starkz, Haley J, Alice Crowley & Becky Idol in 5:10 to win the vacant OVW Women’s Championship in 5:10 (**)
Roman Rozell submitted Manny Lemons in 1:40 (NR)
Brian Pillman Jr. defeated OVW Heavyweight Champion Tony Gunn via disqualification in 18:10 (Gunn retains) (through commercials) (***)
Let’s get going. There’s a cool throwback to the first show with Dean Hill and his magnificent moustache in the intro, before pitching to 2020 Dean Hill. He’s got the same hair, just a little lighter, and sadly no moustache.
Commentary initially comes from Bryan Kennison and Steven Johnson.
Jessie Godderz vs. KTD
We’ve got the “why is here here?” intro as Shannon the Dude – currently part of the OVW commentary team – was here to herald the return of former TNA tag team champion Jessie Godderz. He’d last been in OVW a year ago, having previously done Lucha Underground since his departure from TNA. OVW’s gotten the awful sound mixing from Rev Pro, as KTD’s entrance music completely overwhelmed commentary.
We start with Godderz taking KTD into the corner before he just shoved his opponent out of the ring. A waistlock from KTD’s elbowed out of, before a couple of stomps. KTD tries going for an arm wringer, but Godderz turns it into a full nelson before he just threw KTD to the mat again. Godderz looks for a punch, but KTD ducks and went in for a mounted sleeperhold. It’s broken up into the corner before Godderz threw him into the corner ahead of a back body drop. Jessie keeps playing to the crowd, stopping to fish-hook KTD’s nose by the ropes, before a leg drop rocked KTD some more. More posing from Godderz led to him missing a leg drop, with KTD coming back with some mounted punches, only for Jessie to hit a spinebuster before getting the submission from a Boston crab. Pretty emphatic stuff, albeit at a slow and deliberate pace.
Tate Twins (Brandon Tate & Brent Tate) & Complete Package (Anthony Catena & Tony Bizo) vs. Legacy Of Brutality (Big Zo, Cash Flo, Hy-Zaya & Steve Michaels)
The Tate Twins used to be Dalton Castle’s Boys in ROH… and yes, their music completely overwhelmed the commentary track.
The referee’s also overwhelmed before the bell, while commentary tries to Poochie Jessie Godderz. Cash Flo and Anthony Catena lock-up and head into the corner before Catena shoved down Flo, following up with an armdrag and an armbar. Tony Bizo tags in to help with a double-team hiptoss as all four men cycled rapid tag in the corner. Quadruple-teaming led to a two-count for Bizo, but he gets caught with a jawbreaker as tags bring in Zo and Brent Tate. Brent works the arm then brings Catena back in as a double-team suplex saw the Complete Package drop Zo. Two elbows from the Tates look to get a cover, but the referee again threatens to lose control. Hy-Zaya’s in to take a ‘rana from Brandon, but the quick tags are making it hard for the LOB to focus on anyone. A series of jabs from Catena sees the LOB flood the ring, before a sit-out hiptoss from Hy-Zaya has Catena down.
Steve Michaels comes in – not to be confused with Mongo – as he put the boots to Catena. Cash Flo’s back for chops in the corner, but Bizo switches it around with a clothesline and a bodyslam as Bizo again looked to build momentum. Again, the ring fills as Bizo and Catena jab away at Michaels, while Josh Ashcraft at ringside distracts the ref… that allowed the LOB to flood the ring once more as things broke down. A leaping neckbreaker from Catena has Michaels down, but Cash Flo’s back to wreck Catena with a chop. Brandon Tate’s satellite DDT has Flo down as we start a Parade of Moves, leading to double dropkicks from the Tates before Michaels faced a four-on-one assault. Crossbodies from the Tates accidentally wipe out Bizo and Catena, which left the latter open for a big splash as Michaels took home the win. This match was aggressively fine – a lot of action early on, but it felt way too fragmented at points, which didn’t help with the good guys building momentum or ever feeling like they were going to win, in spite of them having the majority of the match. **½
After the match, the Tates, Bizo and Catena argue before they get into a shoving match.
Brian Pillman Jr. comes out for a promo next, complete to a muzak version of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”. He puts over OVW as being his starting place, before going on to train with Lance Storm. Pillman’s facing Tony Gunn for the OVW title later on the show, and wanders off into some gun-related puns, including one that felt like it went over the crowd’s head when he suggested Tony “bring a 9mm.” Where’s Kevin Kelly reporting on this when you need him? Pillman’s attacked by Gunn as he went to the back, fighting until a bunch of referees come out.
OVW Anarchy Championship: Miss Marvelous vs. Melvin Maximus (c)
Maximus won the Anarchy title in a weapons rumble a few weeks ago – and had been badgered by his fiancee to defend the title since. That’s somehow led to her challenging him for the title… and apparently the wedding is next week? There’s something very 80s about Maximus’ gimmick and look… but Miss Marvelous is getting in his face before the bell. She slaps Maximus, who looks very hesitant to engage here. Marvelous goes behind and hits a low blow – legal since the Anarchy matches are no DQ – and pins Maximus to become the new champion. Not a match.
Miss Marvelous celebrates, but instantly called for the microphone. She wants to defend the title straightaway. She’s got an opponent ready… and here comes Amon.. the former champion who was stripped on the restart show. He had been in a story with Miss Marvelous, apparently seducing her away from Maximus before the shutdown, but that was tossed aside…
…and brought back here.
OVW Anarchy Championship: Miss Marvelous (c) vs. Amon
Marvelous doesn’t back down, and instead raised Amon’s hand. She “falls into a trance” as she went to her knees. The bell sounds, and Amon crawls over, putting his hands on her shoulder for the easy pin, all while Melvin Maximus was still a real life Hans Moleman, holding his balls in the corner. Must have been a powerful punch.
This segment seemed like death to the live crowd, as they basically undid their reset…
Adam Revolver vs. Dustin Jackson
They set this match up on last week’s show with a cringey segment where Revolver – who had been sarcastically warning the crowd about the dangers of the pandemic – was told by Jackson that he’d “tested positive… for kicking your ass.” I’m sure it sounded good somewhere.
Revolver’s out in his Tyvek suit and a scuba mask to “protect himself.” He’s chased by Jackson before the match starts, with Jackson throwing his head into the turnbuckles. A clothesline in the corner and a dropkick sent the scuba mask flying among the social distancing gags, but Jackson’s stopped as he went to the top rope. William Lutz – also in a Tyvek hazmat suit – distracts, allowing Revolver to press slam him off the top. Some choking follows, before he forcibly put a mask on Jackson. I thought he’s meant to be a heel? Jackson switches around and punches him in the corner before a Manhattan drop and an atomic drop rocked Revolver.
Another clothesline puts him down as Jackson tried to strip Revolver of his Tyvek. Jackson lands another dropkick, before Jackson went to pull Revolver back in from the outside. As the ref’s unsighted, Jackson’s sprayed in the eyes with “disinfectant”, before Revolver locked in a sleeperhold. Dustin gets free and returns with a single-leg dropkick, as he then proceeded to undo Revolver’s body suit for some chops. The Tyvek’s finally stripped off, as yet another dropkick has Revolver tripping like he’s Bobby Heenan in the Weasel suit. Lutz trips Jackson up top again, but Revolver can’t follow through as he’s pushed down, with a big splash off the top rope putting him away. Decent enough, but the gimmick perhaps jarred in the current climate. **¼
After the match, Revolver gets upset with Lutz… they have a shoving match, before spooky music. A masked guy called Ruin who had been stalking Revolver in the last few weeks comes out, and of course Revolver uses Lutz as cannon fodder. He doesn’t run away though, and still with the Tyvek suit tying up his legs Revolver crawls to the back.
Dimes & Jay Bradley vs. Corey Storm & Rocco Bellagio
Bellagio’s a former OVW champion, and a throwback to olden days as witnessed by the old OVW clips in his entrance video.
Storm and Bradley start us off, with flying headscissors from Storm and a superkick getting him ahead early. Bellagio tags in to square up to Bradley, leading to shoulder tackles and a dropkick from Bellagio, who has to shrug off chops before he booted Bradley out of the ring. Storm comes in and gets thrown into a tope by Bellagio as they go to a break… We return with a wacky chokeslam from Bradley on Storm back inside as Storm was taken to the wrong corner. Dimes throws some cheapshots from the apron before Bradley hoisted up Storm for an Electric chair drop into the corner. A backbreaker’s next, as Dimes cheered on… and blind tagged himself in. Bradley’s annoyed with that, as Dimes wanted to do the Vader Bomb Elbow, and misses.
Dimes quickly tags out so Bradley can keep Storm at bay. A knee drop works for a two-count, as Bellagio was getting visibly frustrated at how things were going. Clubbering forearms on the apron wear down Storm, before Bellagio went to help… but he’s quickly dispatched of. Again, Dimes tags in when Storm looked to be on the back foot, but Bradley helps throw him into a splash for a Jericho-like cocky cover from Dimes. Bradley’s back, catching Storm on his shoulders as he slammed him in preparation for the Vader Bomb Elbow, but Storm rolls away. Instead, Bradley takes Storm back into the corner, where Corey returned with a tornado DDT before making the tag out to Bellagio. Dimes is back too, as he bumps for Rocco, eating a tiltawhirl slam before Bradley looked to tag back in to save Dimes from a chokeslam.
The two big lads trade shots before a spinebuster from Bellagio left Bradley down. For some reason Rocco focuses on Dimes, but switches into a uranage on Bradley, before Storm went up top for a stomp to the back of Dimes’ head for the pin. Commentary calling Bradley’s save at the end as a tag confused them on the finish, but this was a perfectly fine tag match as they continued the Storm/Dimes feud. ***
OVW Women’s Championship: Haley J vs. Billie Starkz vs. Alice Crowley vs. Becky Idol vs. Kayla Kassidy
This scramble’s for the OVW Women’s title, which was vacated on OVW’s B-show because Madison Rayne apparently wasn’t around to defend. At least everyone gets an entrance here even if they didn’t get name plates…
All five women scrap at the bell, with Haley J throwing Starkz to the outside. It’s the first pinfall that wins, as the ring cleared out to Crowley and J in the ring. Crowley flips Haley into a knee strike, before Kassidy ran in and caught Alice with forearms. Kassidy pushes Crowley out of the corner for a kick, before Becky Idol continued the revolving door effect. A waistlock takedown from Idol leads to some kicks. Out goes Kassidy, in comes Starkz, who cracks Idol with ahead kick. Haley’s back with a running neckbreaker and a legdrop for a two-count. Starkz goes to the corner for another kick to the head, but her trip up top is stopped by Idol as they prepared for a Tower of Doom, with powerbombs and suplexes sending everyone flying.
Crowley dumps Kassidy with a rolling elbow, then with a lariat, before Idol came in to hit a nice spinebuster. The revolving door is back, as Haley hits a stomp to a bent-over Idol… but her pin’s broken up by a senton bomb from Starkz, before Kassidy returned to lift Starkz onto the apron. A slingshot DDT brings us to the finish, although the production crew show an angle where Starkz’s shoulder was clearly up as Kassidy left with the title. They crammed a lot of spots into five minutes – which didn’t help in establish many of these new faces. **
The pinnacle of this? Madison Rayne apparently still had the title, so Kassidy couldn’t even celebrate with the belt.
Roman Rozell vs. Manny Lemons
They join the “match in progress”, but Rozell’s the only one in the ring. He’s undefeated in his brief run in OVW so far, is the former Green Beret who’s really new to this whole thing. Rozell’s doing the Bret Hart gimmick, giving away his army dog tags to fans at ringside… OVW’s really going wild on these Devotion Championship Wrestling references, which has ties to Al Snow’s Wrestling Academy. There’s lemon puns ahoy here as Rozell trips him up, then lands an armdrag and a back elbow as the newcomer was having it his own way. A pop-up uppercut takes Lemons outside, before a brief chase allowed Lemons to take over.
Manny empties a bag of lemons onto Rozell, because of course, before he squeezed lemon juice into Roman’s face. A Samoan drop’s next for a two-count, before Rozell returned with a release Northern lights suplex before the Patriot’s Wheel – the old Tequila Sunrise – for the submission. A quick squash, but keep an eye on Rozell, who managed to cut through the awful puns on commentary.
Al Snow’s out next for an announcement. That suit jacket is certainly a choice, as was the 80s Four Horsemen-logo inspired tee. He’s here to play off of the promotion’s past and present, citing those distribution deals with Amazon, Roku and others… and apparently that makes OVW a National promotion. Therefore, he introduces the OVW National Championship, which certainly looks shiny. It’ll be the sixth active title on this promotion, which at this point must be seriously looking at buying shares in the company that makes Brasso.
Apparently it’s usurping the heavyweight title, because the Heavyweight champion automatically becomes the number one contender for the National title. It’s really quite simple. There’ll be a tournament for the new belt, but at time of writing none of the spoilers from the show tapings even make reference to it.
OVW Heavyweight Championship: Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Tony Gunn (c)
The sound mixing is still awful, just like Gunn’s mood. Maybe he just heard he’s not quite the top dog anymore?
Pillman double-legs Gunn at the bell, as the pair were having a scrap early on. A chop from Pillman earns him a double-leg takedown as they brawl into the ropes, Slaps take both men outside, where Pillman accidentally chops the ring post before they returned to the ring. Gunn rolls straight back outside and gets followed for some more chops. A boot from Gunn stops Pillman as the champion took over, before Pillman came back with a head kick out of the corner. Gunns heads outside to avoid a springboard as they went to a commercial break again. We return as Gunn’s raking Pillman’s back in the corner, before he met Pillman in the ropes with a shoulder charge.
Gunn telegraphs a back body drop, but trips Pillman on the way outside. Pillman finds a way through with a kick off the apron, before an uppercut led to the pair going back inside. Pillman goes for the springboard again, but Gunn kicks away the rope as the challenger crashes to the floor. Gunn wrestles Pillman back up for a no-bump suplex, as he proceeded to wrap Pillman’s leg around the ropes. That builds up to Gunn flying in with a knee off the top, eventually getting a one-count before he went back to work on the knee of Pillman. It’s kicked away, as Pillman came back with a snapmare and a kick to the back… but it aggravates his own leg in doing so. A Dragon screw takes Pillman down by the bad leg again, before a Stretch Muffler looked to force Pillman into submission, but he manages to dive to the ropes to force a break.
Pillman hobbles into the corner as Gunn evades him… but a leap off the top misses as Pillman hit back with a superkick. A turnaround sees Gunn go for a superplex, but he’s shoved down as he took way too long, allowing Pillman to finally connect with a springboard clothesline for a near-fall. Gunn tries to land a Killshot out of nowhere, but instead has to make do with a German suplex… he keeps hold as he rolls a trio of them together for a near-fall. Pillman comes back with a Cactus clothesline as the show went to another break, returning with the pair trading chops from their knees. A scoop slam from Pillman gets another count, before Gunn avoided more offence by shoving Pillman towards the ref.
Pillman puts on the breaks, but eats a Killshot discus lariat that knocked him into the corner… but not into the referee as they teased that. Pillman rolls outside to avoid getting pinned, and manages to beat the count back in as Gunn met him on the apron. Yet again, Pillman goes up top and lands a crossbody, before a Jackhammer landed… but Gunn rolls into the ropes before he could be covered. Pulling himself up in the corner, Gunn returns with some rights and chops, but Pillman fires back… only for Gunn to land a low blow right in front of the referee for the DQ. This one never really felt like it got going, despite it lasting over 18 minutes. The cheap finish just frustrated more, but Gunn always felt more likely to win in the end. ***
Not “We Will Rock You” blares over commentary as Gunn laughed at how he outsmarted Pillman… and the show goes off air just like that.
OVW’s had clearance and will be returning to their usual home of the Davis Arena later this month – and hopefully that return will help them clear up some of the bad habits that have crept in in terms of production. And just maybe, bring back the live YouTube streams that were my go-to on Wednesday mornings… The two-hour spectacular may not have been over-the-top in terms of feeling special, thanks in part to prevailing conditions (for instance, OVW’s 1000th episode featured a one-night title tournament and was held at 4th Street Live – an entertainments venue that lent a different look to the show). Still, for the size of promotion OVW is today, this was a pretty solid show, even if it seems to be spinning too many plates in one show.