Liam Worldwide vs Mark Shaw vs Matthew Grant vs Shane Sabre
The deal here is that there are two elimination four-way
matches, with the last two in each match moving onto the semi finals for the
Openweight title. Grant is billed as the “Undeniable Underdog”, and he’s a
pretty small guy, highlighted by his baggy vest which just hangs off him. In
contrast, Shaw is a big bearded burly guy, who looks like a bruiser. Lots to
enjoy here, loved Grant hitting a nice flying headscissors on Sabre, and he
also eats offence well, crashing into the turnbuckle at full whack. Enjoyed the
fun spot where Shaw was trying to hit a sunset flip on Worldwide, who was
grabbing the ropes to prevent it, only for Sabre and Grant to hit a slingshot
on Shaw, sending his head flying into Worldwide’s crotch. Also dug Sabre
hitting a draping DDT on Worldwide, who was hanging off the back of Shaw. The
end comes quickly, as Shaw hits a Fisherman Buster on Worldwide and Grant
almost immediately rolled up Sabre to leave Shaw and Grant as the last two men
standing.
Eric Rosecroft vs Corey Stone vs BMD vs Jake O’Reilly
Another fun fourway, thought all four guys seemed – at worst
– decent. This started amusingly, as Stone decides to charge BMD, and runs
right into a clothesline and a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. O’Reilly is working
an angry Irish gimmick, and he seems to be a fun little powerhouse wrestler,
and his kneedrops to Rosecroft look nasty. He also works a fun variation on the
Arn Anderson ducked punch DDT, in this case hitting a piledriver on Rosecroft
for a three count. Stone tries to challenge O’Reilly, who sets up the
piledriver again, only for BMD to nail him with a flying kick to send himself
and the hapless Stone through to the semi finals.
Steve Brown vs Taylor Kay Deen
Brown is a huge bulky guy with the nickname “Bonecrusher”,
whilst Kay Deen is a lean cruiserweight, so you have in your mind a template
for how you hope this match will be fought. They pretty much keep to this,
which makes for a neat match, as power-vs-speed, cat-and-mouse is a hard
formula to mess up. Kay Deen takes the fight to Brown right away, hitting big
kicks in the corner, thwarting Brown’s comebacks by evading him, nailing a nice
running knee, but ultimately getting caught with a uranage from the corner.
Brown keeps it simple on offence, with kicks and elbows grounding Kay Deen.
Brown goes for the back after reversing a sunset flip attempt into an Irish
Curse, then bends Kay Deen’s spine over his knee. Loved Kay Deen using his
relative flexibility to kick Brown in the head from this position to make his
comeback. Nice diving knees from the top gets him two, but Brown catches a
second top rope dive and nails a Baldo Bomb for the win. Really effective
match, put both men over. The post match sees Brown demanding a five count from
the ref, not getting it, and continuing his assault to ultimately get the
decision reversed in one of those pointless “the face won, but obviously not
really” results.
Mark Shaw vs Corey Stone
Squash match to make Shaw look dominant and fresher going
into the final. Stone gets token offence but Shaw flattens him and pins him
after a Fisherman Buster.
BMD vs Matthew Grant
Both guys impressed in the first round, and this was maybe
the match of the card. BMD has a size advantage over Grant, who gets in the odd
underdog flurry. BMD catches a crossbody with a nice stomachbuster, but Grant
gets to hit a big codebreaker, sending BMD to the floor, and follows it up with
a top rope dive. A frogsplash gets two, but a second codebreaker is blocked and
smoothly transitioned into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. BMD seems firmly in
control, but he missed an impressive looking 450 splash, and Grant cradles him
for the victory.
Nick Watts vs JT Kirk
This was ok, but had a few clunky moments. Loved Watts
pulling up Kirk’s t-shirt over his head as if for chops, then just punching him
unsighted in the face. Watts grinds a knee into the back of a seated Kirk, then
grabs his face by the jaw to yank his head back. So that’s all good. Less good
was Kirk’s comeback, not because it was necessarily badly executed (though his
face first suplex was a bit sloppy), but it took this match that felt like a
Watts showcase and put him on the defensive for a reasonable period of time.
The match had started after Watts had come out to confront an injured Justin
Sane, clearly to build up to a match between the two, then he’s suddenly on the
defensive against a guy he’s easily dominated. Watts blocks a Sliced Bread
attempt, and nails a massive DDT for the win. I still came out of this wanting
to see more Watts.
Mark Shaw vs Matthew Grant
This was short, but effective, paying off the story from
throughout the show. Shaw, fresher and stronger, just beasts Grant. Lovely show
of strength as he deadlifts Grant from the mat and nails a fallaway slam. He
hits a Death Valley Driver, but picks up Grant at two. A big DDT also sees him
picking up Grant at two. Finally, Shaw goes for a Fisherman Buster, but Grant
escapes and rolls him up for the win and the title. Grant, the underdog,
cradling and rolling up his way through the night to the title kinda works for
him, taking advantage of the breaks when they came to him and capitalising on
the complacency of his opponents. Fitting end to the show
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