Chantal Jordan and Jay Joshua look to complete their set as they take to a 20-minute iron person main event.
Quick Results
Chronos Medal: Angel Hayze pinned Madison Marley in 7:07 (***)
Cerberus Medal: Brett Semtex pinned Johhny Wildman, Nathan Angel & Tyler Owens in 7:46 (***)
Chronos Medal: Jay Joshua defeated Chantal Jordan by 2 falls to 1 in a 20:00 iron person match (***¼)
We’re back at the Kamikaze Dojo in Digbeth as Conor Bailey runs through this week’s card… he’s joined on commentary once again by Lucy Simons and Jetta, and we’re straight into action.
Angel Hayze vs. Madison Marley
It might be my ear, but it sounds like we’ve got a hint of crowd audio coming in here to try and cover the no-crowd atmosphere.
Hayze lost both of her medallions last time out, while Marley’s coming in with one after her win over Harley Hudson last time out. Hayze is right on Marley from the off, knowing she’d already beaten her earlier in the series for a Cerberus medal, but Hayze’s aggression gets cut off briefly as Marley landed some headscissors and a dropkick.
A clothesline gets Hayze an opening, but only for a one-count as she continued with some boot choking in the corner ahead of a grounded chinlock. Marley stays down as Hayze began to get frustrated at only getting one-counts, but Hayze piles on the pressure in the corner with strikes… even if we’re still waiting for a two-count!
Marley’s jawbreaker buys her an opening, as a double clothesline leaves both on the mat, but it’s Marley who threatened to pull ahead… catching Hayze with a kick in the ropes, following up with a facebuster for a near-fall as we crossed the six-minute mark here. In return, Hayze’s forearms and a diving splash draws a two-count, and after Marley’s inside cradle almost ended things, Hayze runs the Dane into the ropes before a superkick and a big neckbreaker led to the win. I likes Hayze’s aggression here as she sought to rebuild herself – and trade places in the medal table with Marley. ***
Backstage, the Duchess is mulling over the fact she’s still winless here after last week’s defeat to Harley Hudson.
We’ve got an introductory video package next for Elijah. Not sure if that’s still all caps or not, but he’s wanting to join the fray… just three months behind everyone else!
Brett Semtex vs. Tyler Owens vs. Nathan Angel vs. Johhny Wildman
I’m not sure if there ever was a plan for these matches to be released individually, but it is nice to be welcomed twice in the same episode.
Tyler Owens is undefeated coming into this, but won’t lose his two medals unless he takes the fall. We’ve also got two debutants here, in the form of Brett Semtex and Nathan Angel, the latter of whom’s nickname is made fun of on commentary.
Angel powders to the outside and has a sit on one of the comfy looking couches at ringside as Semtex reversed a double-team suplex early on. Angel pops in after Semtex suplexed everyone, but it took a chop block top Semtex’s knee as Angel finally began to make a dent in proceedings.
We randomly jump to a Doomsday Device on Semtex as Angel tried to dictate proceedings, taking things outside, literally, as Angel opened the rolling doors so Owens and Wildman could banish Semtex to the outside world, fighting underneath the railway arches before they powerbombed Semtex through a fence panel.
The other three return to the dojo, with Owens smartly shutting the door behind him as this became a three-way with Angel picking his spots, wiping out Owens with a powerslam before the camera cut outside to show Brett Semtex trying to fight his way into the building… eventually hauling up the shutters as he forced his way back in.
From there, it’s suplexes for all from Semtex, before a spear smashed through Wildman… Owens’ knee looked to stem the tide as we start a Parade of Moves, but Semtex shuts it all down with a F5 to Wildman for the win. Owens doesn’t lose his medallions here because he wasn’t pinned… but this was a good little bit to introduce Semtex to the roster, even if the whole shutter thing was a little wacky. ***
Post-match, Angel berated Wildman… who headbutted him in the face.
We’ve a recap of last week’s match that saw Hollie Barlow beat Claudia Bradstone… before Nina Samuels threw a fit at Claudia backstage for wasting everyone’s time. Claudia rants at Nina in Portuguese, and just from the body language she’s not happy. Nina’s become of the mindset of “If you want to do a job right, you’ve got to do it yourself” – and she’s got Hollie Barlow as part of a multi-way match next week.
Oscar Prospero got camera time next, he’s still pining for David Owens, but has to worry about Brad Matthews next week in a time-limit match… and his own knee, by the sound of it.
Next week… Hollie Barlow vs. Madison Marlow vs. Melissa Fierce vs. Daisy Jenkins vs. Nina Samuels… Jack Landers vs. Elijah… and Brad Matthews vs. Oscar Prospero. I see you sneaking three extra names into the roster…
We’ve got the last bit of hype ahead of our main event – an iron person match…
Iron Person Match: Chantal Jordan vs. Jay Joshua
Both competitors are looking for their third medallion, and we’re running with a 20-minute time limit here.
A tentative start to proceedings saw Joshua test Jordan with some kicks, only to get the favour returned as Jordan looked to pull ahead with a seated dropkick in the corner. That’s followed with an apron PK and a tope to the outside before Jordan’s strikes back inside eventually got her charged down, slammed and smashed with a back senton for a two-count at the four-minute mark.
Forearms from Joshua kept him in control, as did an elevated overhead belly-to-belly suplex, then an Irish whip into the corner as we still awaited the first fall. A missed charge into the corner allowed Chantal back in with uppercuts, but a running chop restores order before the Scooby Doo suplex out of the corner almost got the pin.
Returning with kicks, Jordan tries to wear down Joshua in the corner, adding a shotgun dropkick and a Meteora out of the corner. Jordan’s caught up top as Joshua looked to bring her down with a Muscle Buster… but a head kick and a Falcon Arrow proved to be enough to get Chantal the first fall at 9:52.
Jordan tries to stay on the downed Joshua, but a head kick at the restart misses as she instead pulled Joshua down into an ankle lock. The ropes save Joshua, who heads outside to put some distance in, and it kinda worked out too as Joshua was able to land a back suplex onto the apron for an eventual two-count as he was looking at having to resort to smash-and-grab tactics.
We resume with the pair throwing forearms and kicks, before Jordan’s knee strike’s blocked and countered with a simple forearm smash. Joshua can’t make the cover initially, and by the time he crawled over Jordan’s recovered enough to kick out as Chantal continued to defend her 1-0 lead, cracking Joshua with another head kick.
Out of nowhere, a torpedo headbutt out of the corner flattened Jordan… and a follow-up muscle buster gets Joshua the equalising fall at 16:26. We’ve got three and a half minutes to find a winner, or else both wrestlers’ medals will be wiped from the record in the event of a draw.
Jordan came close to regaining the lead with a Destroyer, before Joshua’s reply saw him hit a death valley driver/Millshot combination, with a lariat off the ropes forcing a near-fall moments later. Joshua rolls outside after taking a Buzzsaw kick as we were into the last knockings of the match, seeking to spoil it for everyone if he couldn’t win…
A Fisherman Driver on the outside has Jordan ahead before she took things back into the ring… only to get walloped with a lariat and a Gotch piledriver as Joshua picked up the deciding fall with literally a second remaining. Snatching victory from down the gullet of defeat for both – and perhaps something that could have been made a bigger deal of, but the match itself was pretty solid given the inherent limits of the show. ***¼
Eleven episodes in, and we finally have a name qualified for the Underground title match – with Jay Joshua hitting the final ladder to complete his set… while Chantal Jordan’s unfortunately hit the proverbial snake and is back to square one after defeat here. We close out with… hey, a segment with a graphic showing where everyone stands in terms of the medals they’ve collected. So far, Tyler Owens, Millie McKenzie, Maddy Morgan and Joseph Conners are closest to the title match, with another dozen sitting with one medal around their necks. Since Cagematch doesn’t list Spinebuster results, I don’t need to go back through old reports to figure this out!
After a couple of shaky episodes, the in-ring action alone on this makes the 11th episode of the Grind worth a watch – as pieces finally start to be falling into place here.