AC Mack vs Joey Lynch
Good opener. I liked Mack as a loud-mouth braggart, and his
attempt to get in Lynch’s face sees him get met with a big elbow to the jaw.
Loved Lynch holding a wristlock and clapping using Mack’s hand to get the crowd
into it. The commentary makes mention of Lynch returning from a knee injury,
which nicely pre-empts him jarring his leg on a floatover. Mack works it over,
but the selling is inconsistent. At one point Lynch can’t even run the ropes
without collapsing to the mat, then moments later he’s landing on his feet
flipping out of a back suplex and sprinting across the ring. Wouldn’t stand out
so much if he’d not oversold it in the first place. Lynch misses a moonsault
but reverses a figure four attempt to a cradle for the victory.
Arik Royal vs Michael Spencer
Spencer isn’t the most intimidating looking character, and
he’s pretty awkward throughout this. Right at the start, he hits an ugly
looking wheelbarrow armdrag. Royal is far better here, taking control with a
nice cheapshot where he puts his body between the blow and the referee. Royal
hits a kind of kneeling pounce that looks good. This is basically a squash, but
at least the right guy won, as Royal slams Spencer’s skull to the mat with a
leaping dunk before nailing a spear to win. Liked Royal a lot here.
Ethan A Sharpe vs James Bandy vs Donnie Dollars vs Adrian
Hawkins
The only guy I’ve seen here is Dollars, who’s pretty good.
He’s easily the best wrestler in this match, looking really impressive, with a
really nice slam-facebuster and a great big boot to the face. Hawkins slips on
a springboard on his very first move and I don’t know if it affects him, but he’s
a bit sloppy throughout. Sharpe has all the look of a comedy wrestler, and his
strikes are indeed laughable. Bandy seemed fine, but it’s probably for the best
this is short, with Hawkins slipping out of a Dollars pumphandle slam and rolls
him up to win.
Billy Buck vs Cam Carter
Buck is accompanied by Team TAG, Kevin Blue and Chris
Spectra. Carter is the leaner competitor here and makes the most of his speed
advantage. Early on, he sends Buck out of the ring with a headscissors and hits
a neat dropkick to the stomach as Buck tries to get in. There’s some lovely
camera work as Buck takes control by hurling Carter shoulder first into the
corner, with Carter almost coming straight into the viewer. Dug Buck’s control
on the shoulder, with him wrapping Carter’s left arm around the corner post and
really yanking on it. Buck continues to impress with come great height on a
dropkick, and I loved how he just casually threw Carter to the floor to be
picked off by his henchmen. Carter makes a nice comeback, taking out all three
opponents with a plancha and hitting a neat springboard 450 splash back into
the ring. However, there’s a ref bump and Buck takes advantage of a missed 450
to hit the Buckshot superkick to win. Really good stuff here.
Matt Sells vs Big Bite Martinez
Sells looks like a knock-off of 1992 DDP whilst Martinez is
a guy wearing an interesting looking mask with a big tooth-filled mouth. This
is short, with some sloppy looking offence before Team TAG come back and beat
both men down.
Cain Justice vs Fred Yehi
This right here was terrific. I’d heard a lot about Justice
from various people who’s opinions I trust, and I liked his performance in the
CWF Mid Atlantic rumble I watched, but this is the match that made me a
believer. Loved the focus both guys had on their matwork, with Yehi trying to
lock on a Koji Clutch right on kicking out of a pinfall while Justice dropped
his guard for a second. The kind of matwork where the wrestlers have to be
alert or they’re done for. Yehi works over the arm of Justice viciously,
jamming the arm over his shoulder. They fight outside the ring, and this is
where Justice takes over, breaking Yehi’s fingers by snapping them through a
small look on the outside of the ringpost. Real nasty looking shot. I like how
instead of this being just a one off spot for a pop, it dictates how the rest
of the match goes, which it really should. With every hold Justice applies, he
makes sure to include the fingers in some way, making escape harder for Yehi.
Every time Yehi tries to comeback, he goes for Justice’s shoulder, which he
worked over earlier. It means the early matwork has consequences. Justice locks
in a triangle, grabbing the fingers in the process, but Yehi is able to power
up and slam him down to escape. The end is perfect, as Justice goes for a knee
strike, only for Yehi to avoid and use the momentum to send Cain to the mat, swiftly
locking in a Koji Clutch with elbow strikes to the head for the victory. Great,
great match.
Gunner Miller vs Dominic Garrini
Interesting clash of styles here, with the power of Miller
vs the technique of Garrini. In the initial stages, Garrini is really fun at
trying to grab a limb from anywhere to down Miller, trying to force a
submission. Miller finally gets some separation with a big overhead
belly-to-belly suplex. There’s a nice spot where Miller tries some shoulder
barges in the corner, only for Garrini to lock in a front choke. However,
because they’re so close to the ropes, Miller is able to force the break and
hit a knee strike as Garrini lets go. Garrini has nice open palm strikes,
though he does kind of telegraph a missed back elbow. Both gets close nearfalls
with the CTE pounce for Miller and a stump piledriver by Garrini getting two.
Finally, the end sees Garrini lock on another front choke from a Miller spear,
but Miller holds on a powers him up into a jackhammer for the win. Good main
event.
