Centro De Treinos De Wrestling -November To Remember 2017

So, wrestling from Portugal, eh? CTW are based in Lisbon, one of the nicest cities I've ever been on holiday to, so I was quite excited to see this show. It's a tournament for the CTW title, with the first round matches having already taken place. This is a really fun show, I really liked how this had a running story throughout the show, and some really satisfying story-telling.

Jeffrey Pac vs Tengkwa

Fun little opener. I like that within the opening minutes, I’m able to know exactly who Jeffrey Pac is, despite never having seen him before. He comes out in his Barcelona shirt, pointing to it in a smug heel manner to a chorus of boos. He then cheats on a test of strength and points to his head to show how intelligent he is, before promptly being outsmarted. Just nice little bits of character work. He proceeds to also miss and elbow drop as Tengkwa pretends to get into the ring. They work a nice fast-paced match, before Pac misses a Swanton and Tengkwa hooks his arms for a crucifix pin for the win.

Joâo Milâo vs Red Eagle

This is face vs face, and is evenly worked. There’s a friendly feel to it, almost a bit exhibitiony. Milâo seems to have really nice execution, nice short back elbow on a charging Red Eagle. Eagle noticeably gives too much room to escape when Milâo bridges out of a pin, but that’s the only real complaint. Really, it’s hard to find too much to say about this match, it’s just decently worked junior heavyweight wrestling between two guys who obviously know their way around the ring. Nothing spectacular, but given that it’s a first round tournament match, you suspect they aren’t going all out. Eagle picks up the win with a Sliced Bread #2 to advance.

Leo Rossi vs Symbiote

Rossi comes out with a real swagger, carrying himself with some nice arrogance. Symbiote is a slight British guy in a mask, and apparently is only 16 years old. They play up the story of the underdog vs the cocky favourite, with Symbiote amusingly using the referee’s hand to balance as he springs up the ropes to hit a big crossbody to the outside. Both guys seem really good, Symbiote shows a lots of potential already and Rossi carries himself with real assurance. They work this well, with Rossi avoiding a second consecutive corner charge to nail a big running kick, and putting Symbiote away with a swinging slam into a facebuster to win.

Nelson Pereira vs Lobo Iberico

Thought this was the best of the first round matches. Pereira shows a lot of fire and is a really vocal wrestler, really helps get the crowd into the match. Loved him hitting an early dive to Lobo to take the fight to him, hitting a nice neckbreaker before missing a cannonball from the second rope. Lobo uses a lot of wear down offence, using his slight size advantage to ground Pereira. There’s a slight botch on an attempted Pereira crucifix, but it doesn’t affect the match too badly. Lobo shows impressive strength to catch a crossbody and turn it into a slam. Loved the spot where Pereira gives Lobo a hand gesture of defiance from the mat, so Lobo dickishly decides to work over the hand, culminating with a nasty stomp. Liked Lobo hitting a big chokeslam, holding onto Pereira’s leg so he can turn it over into a half crab. Pereira takes over after Lobo really misses a cannonball, hurling himself into the corner. The end sees Lobo ending a run of Pereria offense with a faceful of red mist, earning a DQ. Lobo attacks after the match, weakening Nelson for the next round.

Red Eagle vs Tengkwa

Another face vs face match for Red Eagle, though Tengkwa slightly heels it up towards the end of the match. There’s a nice opening mat segment, loved the fluidity with which Tengkwa escaped a armbar into a headscissors, was really nicely done. They continue to work the mat really evenly, some nice counters and reversals. The pace quickens up and Tengkwa takes a big bump to the floor from an Eagle headscissors. Tengakwa decides to focus his offence on Eagle’s arm, which is the slightly heelish part, draping it over the top rope and stretching on it. The end was nicely worked, as Tengkwa gets an O’Connor roll, but the kick out sends him headfirst into the turnbuckle and Eagle rolls him up for the win.

Nelson Pereira vs Leo Rossi

This was some really good pro wrestling. Pereira is still hurting from the last match and is helped to the ring by a ref, but then suddenly leaps over the top rope to nail a clothesline on Rossi. Pereira fights the opening parts like he knows that he’s only got a limited bit of fight left in him, so he can’t afford to let Rossi gain any leeway. He hits three big sentons, but Rossi rolls out to calm the storm and is able to nail a big forearm as Nelson dives from the apron. Rossi slams him into a wall and when Nelson tries to fire back with a second rope codebreaker, he’s caught and nailed with the swinging slam facebuster and a full-stop piledriver for the win. Well worked short match, Pereira had a small window to try and win, and he just ran out of energy.

Talia Bradstone & Millie McKenzie vs Claudia Bradstone & Nina Glow

I’m assuming, not knowing the backstory, that the Bradstone’s are feuding sisters. McKenzie is one of the most exciting prospects in wrestling at the moment, probably 2017’s rookie of the year. I was really impressed here with how she adapted to working heel. She still works aggressively, but instead of hitting crowd-popping suplexes, she runs into her corner like a coward to make a tag and acts dismissive on offence. Glow felt like the least polished of the four, she had some nice face energy, but there was a little hesitancy in her offence, where she’d kind of stop before hitting a move. The Bradstone’s unsurprisingly match up really well together, including a nice big throw by Claudia. The heel team works a nice bit of heat on Claudia, until McKenzie makes the mistake of peppering Claudia with dismissive kicks to the face, only to get grabbed by the foot and put into a Texas cloverleaf. Talia threatens to hit her sister with a chair, but gets driven away from the ring, leaving Millie and Glow alone in the ring. McKenzie gets a close two with a huge spear, but Glow picks up the win with a top rope bulldog.

Leo Rossi vs Red Eagle

Rossi has had an easier path to the final than Eagle, so Eagle has to take the fight to Rossi early. They brawl outside, which is more effective because this is the only match this has happened in. Rossi is ultimately in better condition, so he’s soon able to control Eagle. Eagle fires back by sending him to the floor and hitting a nice cannonball to the floor. Liked Rossi hitting a diving knee to the head of Eagle from the second rope, felt like a nasty strike. Rossi maintains his control, sending Eagle to the corner twice and hitting the swinging slam facebuster, but only gets two. Possibly out of frustration, he tries to hit a kneedrop over the apron, but misses, hurting his knee and suddenly giving Eagle a focal point. Eagle rocks him with a superkick and nails Sliced Bread, but Rossi is able to get his feet on the ropes. The ending is lovely, really nicely worked as Eagle tries another Sliced Bread, but in the process knocks down the official, who is replacing a turnbuckle pad in that corner. This bump allows Rossi to hit a low blow and another swinging slam for the win and the title. Great main event, it let the overall story of the show ultimately build up to this ending.