The end of a week-long training camp in Hungary led to Passion Pro’s latest big show – featuring a lot of new faces, while Tristan Archer defended the Passion Pro title against Zafar Ameen.
Quick Results:
Gulyas Öcsi pinned Jacob Crane in 7:12 (**¾)
David Adili pinned Emilian Lewis in 4:27 (**½)
Iva Kolasky pinned Cory Zero & Reyca in 6:48 (***)
Zétény pinned Skarr in 6:12 (**¾)
Beach Brawl: Maverick pinned Carlos Zamora, Yuval Goldshmit & Darius in 11:23 (***)
Brendan White & Danny Jones pinned Anil Marik & Elijah Blum in 8:47 (***½)
Nick Schreier pinned Alex Duke to win the wXw Wrestling Academy Championship in 5:42 (***)
Icarus, Dover, Laurance Roman & Robert Dreissker submitted Avatar, Axel Fox, El Passión & Danny Fray in 12:39 (***¼)
Tristan Archer pinned Zafar Ameen to retain the Passion Pro Championship in 11:29 (***½)
It’s another free show from Passion Pro – we’re at the Partyfészek in the village of Balatonszárszó, and if you’ve been keeping tracks on the European scene, this show came at the end of that much-hyped dojo week in Hungary. We’ve got live English commentary for this one, courtesy of Mett Dimassi…
Gulyas Öcsi vs Jacob Crane
Last time I saw Passion Pro, Bence Toth was trying to get Öcsi to loosen up… and it looks like it’s worked here!
Öcsi is the clear crowd favourite as we started with him taking Crane into the corner… threatening a Pit Stop as Crane tried a cheapshot. Nevermind, Öcsi’s sweat’s on the turnbuckle, which Crane ran into seconds later…
Crane tried his luck with shoulder tackles, but to no avail as Öcsi ends up dumping him to the mat. Jacob tries for a bodyslam, but he’s still not over that move yet (plus Öcsi’s on the bigger side…) as Crane ends up scuttling outside when Öcsi went to hit a slam.
Back inside, Crane misses a heavily-telegraphed elbow drop as Öcsi hits that bodyslam before coming up short on a cannonball into the corner. That allowed Crane to take over, using a half crab… Öcsi broke free of it, then returned with some Dusty punches before he went for a bodyslam.
Crane escapes to hit an uppercut to the back, only to end up getting popped into the corner as Öcsi returns with shoulder tackles. Corner splashes lead to a lariat from Öcsi for a near-fall, before he fell on Crane amid a bodyslam attempt. The Pitstop follows from Öcsi, then a cannonball… and that’s the win in a match that Öcsi largely controlled. **¾
David Adili vs Emilian Lewis
Lewis is something of a regular in Denmark’s BODYSLAM!, while Adili has been working for six years, per Cagematch…
Adili controlled the early going with shoulder tackles, but Lewis has one of his own before he dropkicked Adili to the outside. Back inside, Lewis added a standing flip senton, then an Exploder for an early two-count, before Adili returned with a bodyslam for a two-count of his own.
Adili’s chinlock keeps Lewis grounded, before some boot choking in the corner forced the ref to split them up. A flying body attack out of the corner gets Lewis back in it, as did a powerslam, before Adili snatched the win out of nowhere with a package spinning tombstone, dubbed the Dragon Twister. This was fine, but just way too short. **½
Iva Kolasky vs Cory Zero vs Reyca
We’ve two relative newcomers here in Zero and Reyca…
Reyca tries to start a one-on-two test of strength, but Kolasky bails… as did Zero, if only to shove Iva down before she returned to the ring to trap Reyca in a snapping armbar. Kolasky’s in to try and choke out Zero, before she opted to throw Cory outside… as Reyca pounced on Iva with a side headlock.
A forearm knocks Kolasky down as she came off the ropes… Zero’s back, but she’s met with a shoulder tackle out of the corner for a two-count for Reyca. Kolasky’s back in to suplex Reyca into the buckles, but Zero’s quickly in to throw Kolasky outside as the pace stayed high.
Zero keeps Reyca in as she goes back to the armbar, working the fingers as well… Reyca fought free, but pounced on Iva as she tried to add herself into the mix. Cory’s back to hit a Codebreaker to Reyca’s left arm, before Reyca returned to finish off a Tower of Doom that’d been building in the corner.
All three women fight back to their feet, but it’s Reyca who powered through, hitting a short-arm lariat to Zero for a near-fall. Kolasky hits a chop block as Reyca went for a Samoan drop… but a missed moonsault opened the door for Reyca to come in with a Michinoku Driver on Storm. Except Kolasky’s got the ref’s attention with a knee injury… which means there’s no count.
Kolasky shoves the ref into Reyca… then posted he before a split-legged legdrop allowed Iva to steal the win. Like the rest of the card so far, this was short, but they crammed a lot in and left me impressed with the two newcomers. ***
Skaar vs Zétény
Two more new-to-me faces here… except one of them isn’t. Zétény is the trainee that Metehan had a “match” with on the last Passion Pro show I saw back in February…
Zétény is thrown on his face from the opening lock-up, then thrown aside as he went for a waistlock as Skaar was blocking the newcomer’s early offence. Chops from Zétény at least landed, but Skaar again overpowers him before a pop-up armdrag and a dropkick had Zétény on offence.
Skaar kicks the ropes to crotch Zétény up top, as the Frenchman added some crossface punches in the ropes… Zétény broke free, but his crossbody off the top is caught as Skarr just dropped him and chopped him over the buckles. A bodyslam gets Skarr a two-count, before Zétény fought back with a jawbreaker and some palm strikes.
Ah nevermind, Skarr’s back elbow puts us back at square one, but he misses a charge into the corner as Zétény headed up top again… and finally took down Skarr with a crossbody for a near-fall. Skarr sidesteps a diving boot, returning with a diving forearm to the grounded Zétény for a near-fall, then again from a lariat, before Zétény countered out of a uranage with a roll-up to snatch the win out of nowhere. Skarr wasn’t exactly letting his guard down, more he was caught with the flash pin here… **¾
Beach Brawl: Darius vs Maverick vs Carlos Zamora vs Yuval Goldshmit
The winner of this gets a shot at the Passion Pro title on the next show… and we’ve got a lot of fluff before the match as Darius tried to get someone in the crowd to help remove his entrance gear. It didn’t go well.
When we finally get going, Carlos Zamora wants to make this a dance-off… and give the crowd an eyeful. Darius gets involved, but Maverick broke it up as the party pooper before things broke down and gave us the brawl part of the match’s name. We’ve quickly got some weaponry as Zamora and Goldshmit find some water cannons under the ring, while Darius and Maverick only have tiny pistols.
Back inside, the good guys hit dropkicks, then head to the corner for mounted punches, with Goldshmit’s blow-up flamingo squeaking as he went. Darius turns it around though, shoving Zamora into Goldshmit, before Yuval’s… caught in a net by Maverick, who pulled Yuval off the top rope before Maverick used the net’s stick to help in a backcracker.
Zamora’s back to distract Maverick with a ping pong ball… but Darius takes over with a skipping rope. Except he uses it to whip Zamora into the corner for his take on the Stinkface. Zamora frees himself with headscissors, but Darius takes him into the ropes ahead of an ushigoroshi for a two-count as Goldshmit and Maverick dove in to break up the pin.
Maverick grabs an inflatable to trap Zamora with, while Darius tied up Goldshmit’s arms with the skipping rope… that’s used to pull Yuval into a big boot, while a hesitation dropkick crashed into Yuval in the corner for another two-count as Maverick broke things up. Out of nowhere, Zamora’s back with what I can only describe as an inflatable My Little Pony-alike which he used to charge through everyone, before he slapped a flipper over Maverick’s back.
From there, the bad guys get slammed before they leap off the top with their inflatables for a pair of two-counts. Not sure how that’d have worked if we had a draw…
Zamora turns his sights onto Goldshmit with a spinning rack bomb for a near-fall, before a head kick from Yuval turned it around… leading to a shooting star press off the top. Maverick breaks up the cover with… green mist shot out of a Super Soaker, then stole the pin. This was all sorts of wacky, but I liked the inventiveness from Maverick at the end among the absurdity. ***
Elijah Blum & Anil Marik vs Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones)
Blum and Marik were in happier times here – although the team name on their entrance video (A) needed a lot of work… while the Greedy Souls coming out to samples of Limp Bizkit was way more jarring.
Opening with White and Blum, we see Blum ground Brendan with a side headlock… it’s countered in kind, before Brendan charged down Blum with a shoulder tackle. Elijah returns fire with a crossbody and a dropkick, as Marik tagged in to help with a pair of basement dropkicks for an early two-count.
White chops free of Marik as Danny Jones tagged in and began to go to work on the former wXw tag champion… but Marik’s able to return with armdrags and dropkicks for all. A bulldog out of the corner gets a two-count on Jones, before a double-team into a powerslam put the Greedy Souls firmly in control.
A stomp to Marik’s elbow followed from White as the former Rev Pro tag champions isolated Marik in their corner. Anil fought back, but ran straight into the Line-Out double-team powerslam for a near-fall… while a Jones suplex kept the Greedy Souls on the same path. Marik breaks free and brings in Blum, who runs wild with dropkicks and neckbreakers.
Blum heads up top for a crossbody, crashing into Jones for a near-fall. An enziguiri from Jones is ducked as Blum steamrolled ahead… while a wacky combination of Jeff Jarrett’s Stroke and a Codebreaker almost got the win for Marik. White’s in to break up the pin, and throw Blum into the ring post, leaving Marik on his own as the Greedy Souls went for another Line-Out… but it’s countered into an inside cradle for a near-fall.
From there, Marik goes for a Codebreaker off the middle rope, but it’s caught and turned into the slingshot Bossman slam – the Hospital Pass/Souled Out, depending on who you talk to – for the win. They crammed a LOT into their time, with Blum and Marik looking good, but Marik’s stuttering form at the time continued into Hungary. ***½
wXw Wrestling Academy Championship: Nick Schreier vs Alex Duke (c)
Duke had won the title in a four-way the prior day on a Passion Pro Spirit Zone show… so the former champion gets an instant rematch.
Duke blindsides Schreier behind the ref’s back to get us going, as Duke put the boots to the former champion before the bell. Schreier wants the match to start though, but Duke is all over him once the bell goes, hitting a bodyslam before Nick hit back with one of his own.
Schreier’s kicked away… but comes back with a roll-up before Duke waffled him with a clothesline. Chops follow to Schreier in the corner, but there’s a quick turnaround that Duke quickly shut down, leading to a suplex for a solid two-count on Schreier, who’s then stretched in a sorta camel clutch.
Uppercuts from Duke keep Schreier on the back foot, before Nick fought back with an exchange of forearms… building up to a pop-up dropkick for good measure. A gamengiri in the corner keeps Schreier ahead, as did a springboard crossbody, before Duke countered a Destino attempt into a slam.
Duke’s suplex nearly wins it from there, before a Regalplex attempt was countered into a DDT by Schreier… who then added the Spirit Shock (Destino) for the win to regain the title. Like a lot of the show, this was solid… but well on the short side. ***
Danny Fray, Axel Fox, Avatar & El Passión vs. AMBOSS (Robert Dreissker, Laurance Roman, Icarus & Dover)
This is quite the motley crew to put up against AMBOSS – in its OG format. And no, Avatar here wasn’t Al Snow in another life…
Fox and Roman start us off, with Roman taking things to the mat with a side headlock… Fox shoves off, but gets charged down before he found a way in with a rolling elbow and a step-up ‘rana. A right hand to the midsection drops Roman as El Passión tagged in to hit a monkey flip on Roman out of the corner.
El Passión misses a dropkick as Dover came in to put the boots to him, before El Passión found a way back in with some satellite headscissors. Dover’s caught in the corner with chops, but they just piss him off as Dover eventually derailed El Passión with a big boot. Icarus comes in as a uranage is hit onto his knees for a two-count… and kept up the offence with a capture suplex for a near-fall.
Dreissker’s in to hit a back suplex for a two-count, then a splash off the ropes as Fox came in to break up the pin. El Passión breaks free and brings in Avatar, which took Dreissker aback… Avatar goozles Dreissker for a chokeslam, but the grip’s broken before Avatar fought back as his threatened chokeslams ended with AMBOSS swarming him.
Laurance Roman distracts the referee as AMBOSS continued to smother Avatar in their corner. Icarus is back in to trap Avatar with an inverted cravat, then an abdominal stretch – with some judicious use of the ropes – which led to the eventual “ref spots the cheating then kicks it apart” after AMBOSS went all House of Torture with their abdominal stretch.
Having been freed, Avatar made the tag out to Danny Fray, who cleared house before Robert Dreissker took the brunt of things. Things break down further as El Passión and Fox hit planchas to the outside, before Avatar tagged in and looked for a Doomsday Device on Icarus… it’s escaped, and from there Avatar’s put away with a Crossfire knee and the Heart of Europe submission as Icarus took the win for AMBOSS. ***¼
Post-match, Anil Marik, Nick Schreier and Elijah Blum came out to celebrate Danny Fray’s birthday with the rest of his team…
Passion Pro Championship: Zafar Ameen vs Tristan Archer (c)
Over in Passion Pro, Archer’s beloved… which feels weird given how he is elsewhere! Archer beat Metehan and Senza Volto to become the inaugural champion back in June… on the same show, Ameen beat Maverick to become the number one contender.
Ameen offers a handshake to start, but Archer is smart to the ensuing cheapshot and demands an apology. I mean, that’s a moral lesson in itself! Ameen apologises, but goes for another cheapshot, which is also caught as the pair end up going back-and-forth, leading to a single-leg lariat from Archer
Archer keeps up on Ameen with an Exploder out of the corner, but Ameen cuts Archer off on the top rope… then wedged him between the buckles for some running knees to the trapped Archer for a two-count. Ameen continues to rough up Archer in the corner, following in with some boot chokes before he threw Archer outside… and ended up trading shots with him around ringside.
Ameen stops to berate Mett on commentary, but that time wasted allowed Archer to recover as things picked up back inside. A suplex gets Zafar a two-count, as he followed up with some blatant choking on Archer in front of the ref.
Archer manages to break free of a waistlock as the pair proceeded to exchange forearms, before Archer pulled ahead with a back elbow… only for a double clothesline to sink both men. From there, Archer regained the upper hand, landing a flying uppercut off the middle rope, before he caught Ameen through the ropes with a Guillotine push-down stomp.
Ameen’s forced to kick out from a Falcon arrow after that, before a Coup d’Etat is escaped as Ameen found a way back with a gutwrench suplex to earn himself a near-fall. A Mirage Kick from Ameen misses, but he’s able to retain control with an Arabian suplex – a full nelson into a German suplex – before the Mirage Kick almost led to the title change.
From there, Ameen looks for a package piledriver, but Archer escapes… then blocks another gutwrench suplex before he found a way in with an ankle lock. Ameen rolls free, before a leap off the middle rope saw him land in Archer’s knees… a pop-up knee and a Decapite lariat follows, and that’s enough to put Ameen away. Ameen had Archer in big trouble towards the end, but Archer was able to find a way through and retain the title as he now sets his sights on a future defence against Maverick this coming weekend. ***½
Passion Pro 9 was very much a show for a local audience – and one that may not be as familiar with wrestling as the average fan reading this. As such, shorter matches were the order of the day as the show gave a myriad of talent a look in – and made for a much different show compared to what we’ve been used to… and that’s not a bad thing!