We’ve another title match on Punk Pro this week, as Mark Ross tries to dethrone Jon Davis as the Fully Gimmicked champion.
You can watch this week’s episode on the Punk Pro YouTube channel.
Quick Results
Ron Bass Jr. pinned Daniel Starling in 0:55 (NR)
Jay Sky & Richard King pinned Andrew Merlin & Carlos Gabriel in 8:30 (**)
Jon Davis pinned Mark Ross in 6:10 to retain the Fully Gimmicked Championship (**¾)
We’re at Gulf View Event Center in Port Richey, with Zac Romero joined again on commentary by Christian Override for this week’s 20-minute opus.
The show opens with a promo from Gnarly Adventure – a new tag team with Carlos & Andrew. Think “Bill & Ted” and you’re there.
Daniel Starling vs. Ron Bass Jr.
The debuting Starling offers a handshake at the bell, which is accepted, before Bass took a nonchalant wristlock. Starling can’t quite get grips to a waistlock, as Bass goes back to the wristlock, taking Starling into the corner before swatting away a springboard clothesline attempt. He dead. A squash that gets Bass another W, and vaguely on the Goldberg train too…
The Rapture (Richard King & Jay Sky) vs. Gnarly Adventure (Carlos Gabriel & Andrew Merlin)
Carlos Gabriel gets self-facepalmed at the bell by Richard King, before King took him into the corner with a lock-up. All while Romero on commentary openly wished for tag team titles in the promotion. I mean, some form of top prize would help…
Gabriel counters out of a wristlock and takes down King for a one-count, before Carlos grabbed the rope to stop an Irish whip… and then went over to his corner to wipe his hands on his jacket. We wash, rinse and repeat as Carlos pratfalls over a dropped-down King, but it was played for comedy as Carlos almost snatched the win with a small package. A clash of heads forces Carlos to tag out to Andrew Merlin, who blasts King with a forearm for a near-fall, but King comes back with a modified head and arm choke… which Merlin broke with an accidental Stunner. Another collision between King and Merlin forces another tag, as Carlos comes in… but King seems to be unaware and it looks weird.
Merlin passes off King to Gabriel for a deadlift, stalling German suplex that took King to the outside. Carlos & Andrew pose as Jay Sky came in… and ended up diving onto his own man as they sidestepped a charge. Carlos dives next, stepping up off of Andrew for a pratfall… and that gets the Rapture back into it.
Back inside, King tagged in Sky, before pulling down a Carlos leapfrog so Sky could hit a back senton for a two-count. A neck crank follows, and while Carlos elbowed free, he’s dumped with a pump kick. Double-teaming leads to Sky hitting a Finlay roll before monkey flipping King into a stomp on Carlos for a near-fall. King tries to one-up himself by doing the stomp off the top rope, but he lands into Carlos’ raised boot, leaving both men dizzy after another clash of heads.
Tags bring in Sky and Merlin as they keep playing the comedy up… it leads to back and forth strikes as they argue over “duck season” and “rabbit season.” A reference I’m surely missing. The Rapture end up chopping themselves down, but as Carlos headed up top for what looked like the New Day’s Midnight Hour, Jarrett Diaz interferes, knocking Carlos down as Sky wins with a roll-up. I’m sure if I got the references, I’d have enjoyed this, but having seem the Rapture go from somewhat dominant to comedy buffoons here, it was just a little too jarring for me. **
Fully Gimmicked Championship: Jon Davis (c) vs. Mark Ross
Ross is the former Cyrus Satin, who changed his name while the earlier episodes of this show were airing. He won a Get Your Shit In scramble too, and starts with a tope before the bell as we cut to him landing on Davis…
They head inside as the match officially starts, with Ross landing a Macho Man elbow off the top for a near-fall. There’s an awkward stutter as Ross charged into Davis, who eventually took him down with a uranage out of the corner a la Samoa Joe, before a bodyslam almost put Ross through the ring. More slams keep Ross down, as did a punt to the back, then a PK, which gets a near-fall. Ross tries to fight back, but he’s swatted away, then taken to the corner for a barrage of chops. Ross fires back with chops of his own, but he’s decked with a running boot before some headbutts from Davis kept things going.
An enziguiri out of the corner gives Ross an opening, but he leaps out of the corner into a swinging backbreaker as Davis almost gets the win. More forearms from Ross try to force an opening, as did a knee to the kidneys, before he tripped Davis ahead of a slingshot splash for a near-fall… A knee trembler from Ross misses, allowing Davis back in with a gutwrench powerbomb that’s countered into a Code Red… again for a near-fall. Ross keeps going with a crossbody as he begins going for flash pins, using Davis’ aggression against him before a pumphandle sit-out tombstone – dubbed the Force of Nature – got the win. A nasty looking finisher, and one I bloody loved the look of. Perhaps this match was a little squashy as Ross’ early offence fizzled out, but it suits Davis’ dominance in this spot.
Three matches in 20 minutes – and a bunch of videos – can seem like a little much, but given that the opener was a straight-up squash, it’s not too bad. I do wish they’d stop wheeling out new faces without much of an introduction – especially since the short matches barely give us enough time to get used to them. Still, for some bite sized wrestling that you can watch during your lunch break, it’s a change from what you’re probably used to!