Limitless Wrestling - The World Is Ours

Jeff Cobb vs Darby Allin

Really nice match up here, with Cobb as the all-powerful bull being frustrated by a fly that he just can’t seem to swat away. Allin has to use his speed here, hitting a suicide dive in the first few minutes, but due to Cobb’s size he can take control with just one big forearm. Allin manages to hit a tope con hilo on Cobb through a chair, but he takes too long getting into the ring, and Cobb basically sucks him through the ropes from the apron and just hurls him. Watching Cobb manhandling an insane bumper like Allin is so much fun. Cobb hits a stalling superplex and a vicious forearm to the face, and Allin looks done. Cobb gets cocky though, holding a suplex with one hand, and Allin knees him in the head to escape. I like how Allin almost seems to accept this is his last chance, hitting a Coffin Drop from the top and tying up Cobb’s legs on a roll-up for the upset win.

David Starr vs Martin Stone vs Fred Yehi

All three guys are faces here. Because of these guys' styles in the ring, we get some gnarly three way grappling spots to start, instead of the usual string of moves. Yehi uses his stomp based offence to good effect here, first stomping on Stone’s foot to hold him in place for a back elbow, then stomping on the fingers of David Starr which Stone had broken moments earlier. All guys get time to shine, loved Starr’s succession of big dives on alternate sides, wearing down both men, and I liked the nice touch of Stone holding down Starr’s arm on a pin so, when he kicked out, he rolled straight into a Stone crossface. Also have to appreciate Starr making an effort to sell his fingers throughout. The end sees Stone break Yehi’s Koji Clutch on Starr, and lock Yehi into a crossface for the tap.

Maine State Posse (Danger Kid, Alexander Lee & Aiden Aggro) vs Allie Kat, Ashley Vox & Kris Statlander

Intergender six-man here, with each of the ladies having a silly gimmick (Vox comes from the sea, Statlander is an alien and Kat is….well, guess). Didn’t take to this, too much goofy shit especially from Allie Kat whose gimmick seems to take over a lot of the early part of the match. There’s too much clunky comedy mixed with out-of-place moments of violence. Aggro hits some big forearms and Lee hits a nasty looking complete shot, then moments later Statlander will do some “hilarious” alien mind trick comedy. It doesn’t work and disrupts the flow of the match. There’s some poor looking offence too, unfortunately, with a really clunky dive train and Vox hitting a terrible looking DDT on Lee. The end sees all six in the ring in and it’s a mess of bad timing and bad execution. Kat finally gets the win following a piledriver. Yeah, didn’t like this.

Dick Justice & Troy Nelson vs DL Hurst & Brett Domino

Match of two halves here. Dug the first half, where the heels Hurst and Domino control. They’ve got good swagger and nice heel control, keeping Nelson contained in their corner. Domino hits a lovely dropkick right to Nelson’s face. Then Hurst misses a moonsault and it’s like the match resets, with the heels having to stooge for a load of comedy offence. The faces basically run wild from the moment Justice gets in and win with a Heart punch/neckbreaker combo.

Matt Cross vs MJF

After the last two matches, this was like a cool glass of water in the desert. Just well executed stuff, with MJF as a truly unlikable heel. After a run of control by Cross, MJF pulls the ref in the way of some Cross offence in the corner, forearms Cross in the face and throws him into the ringpost. From there, we get smug heel control, with petty little touches like stomping on Cross’s ankle. MJF works the arm, with a slingshot Divorce Court, and a really painful looking Quackendriver focused on the limb. Cross does ruin the effect by hitting a cartwheel elbow, but he does at least pay lip service to it for the rest of the match, limb dangling limply by his side as he tries to fire back with chops. MJF stopping a barrage of strikes by spitting directly in Cross’s face, a perfect way for such a dick to take over. Cross gets a cutter from nowhere, but misses a shooting star, landing on the arm which MJF instantly locks into a crowbar for the tap. Really good stuff.

Tessa Blanchard vs Deonna Purrazzo

Thought Blanchard was excellent here, just comes across as having a nasty mean streak and her offence looks great. Loved her barrage of offence when she had Purrazzo leant against the ropes, running at her with elbows to the back and dropkicks to the neck. Not overtly heelish, just aggressive and determined. Purrazzo gets a short shine period, luring Blanchard into going up top and suddenly catching her with an armbar. Purrazzo wisely uses Blanchard’s aggression against her, moving out of the way to avoid charges and using this to take her openings. However, Blanchard hits a killshot, a top rope Codebreaker, which is enough for the win. Really neat little sprint.

Eddie Kingston vs Chris Dickinson

Absolutely loved this, two of my favourite wrestlers beating the tar out of each other. They open in a really fun way, jockeying for position on the mat before Dickinson suddenly hits a huge overhead belly-to-belly from nowhere. Eddie soon retorts by pump kicking Dickinson off the apron and hitting a huge suicide dive. Kingston is a really smart offensive wrestler, here putting Dickinson in a neck crank, with the result that it leaves a wide open spot for him to hammer repeated elbows into the side of Dickinson’s face. The viciousness of Kingston’s control manages to make a brute like Dickinson fighting from beneath seem viable. They exchange strikes, and for once it doesn’t feel awkwardly slotted into the match – Kingston is a man who won’t stop fighting if he still can, whilst Dickinson is a man who’s too meatheaded to know he’s in pain. Dickinson hits a huge German suplex, an enzuigiri and a Death Valley Driver in quick succession, and you can sense Kingston doesn’t have much left. Another strike exchange sees neither body willing to give in, until Dickinson throws a thudding kick into Kingston’s head and hits the Pazuzu Bomb to finally put him away. I loved this.

The Thick Boys (Jay Freddie & John Silver) & Ethan Page vs Austin Theory, Christian Casanova & Mr Grim

Reasonable six way action here, with the Thick Boys having some neat offence. Loved Freddie’s pop up powerslam and their flapjack into a big uppercut. Theory also puts in a good performance here, with a brainbuster and a standing moonsault looking great. He hits a lot of moves from forward rolls, which you know will be his downfall later in the match, so it’s no surprise when a heat section on Page is ended up Theory rolling straight into a cutter. Silver is a blog favourite and he looks predictably good here, snapmaring Casanova into a cannonball on Theory in a great spot. Casanova hits a nutso twirling bulldog on Silver, to keep up the run of fun offence. Even the guy I knew least about, Mr Grim, gets a fun moment, hitting a full weight DVD on Silver. However, Grim accidentally hits a pounce on Casanova, and the Thick Boys hit a big slam to get the win. Just enjoyable stuff.

Anthony Henry & James Drake vs Dorian Graves & VSK

This starts off feeling like a squash, with the team of Henry and Drake decimating their massage-gimmicked opponents. Henry stomps the shit out of Graves, but Grave’s hits an unlikely tornado DDT on Henry, really forcing him down to the mat. There’s a little bad comedy as VSK gives Drake a shoulder massage to stop an offensive run, but aside from that he looks really good, and I thought them using massage oil to create a slip-n-slide for a cannonball was a neat way to incorporate the gimmick. Drake misses a standing moonsault, and the faces hit Shatter Machine for the unexpected victory.

Anthony Greene vs Ace Romero vs JT Dunn vs Josh Briggs

At some point, the bottom rope has fallen off, so this match kicks off with only the top two sets of ropes. This doesn’t seem to hold them back though, and this ends up being a big, daftly entertaining four-way. Briggs sets the tone early, hitting a big overhead suplex on Dunn before hitting an insane dive over the turnbuckle. Romero hitting a devastating senton to Greene also is pretty neat, before we get a big crowd brawling section that ends with a super-high Dunn crossbody from the top of the lockers. We get utter chaos in the ring, with Briggs eating a superkick to the face from Dunn whilst he tries hitting a moonsault. Hurst and Domino, who had been sent to the back by the ref earlier when they came out with Greene, come out and punch the ref, assumingly to allow them to interfere freely, but they get squashed when the enormous Romero hits a dive to take them out. However, Greene still gets the win when he lets Dunn hit a big elbow to Briggs before rolling JT up for the win. These matches rely on a minimum of resting and some big well-executed spots, and this was really good stuff. Greene maybe had the least moments to shine, but then he’s also the shitbag heel who pulls out a cheap victory, so that kinda makes sense. Josh Briggs, who had seemed merely fine first time I saw him, looked great here, in many respects the rich man’s Baron Corbin, hitting all sorts of big throws and that incredible dive. Excellent main event.

Limitless Wrestling - Hybrid Moments

Ace Romero vs Sami Callihan

Really hot opener. Romero is a really big guy, with a sort of Dusty Rhodes physique. The story here is that Romero has gone from main eventing the last show to opening this one, so he’s got something to prove. Proper hard-hitting back and forth contest, with Callihan seemingly trying to use his pace advantage early, hitting and running. Romero bumps big for a guy his size, missing a top rope senton to the apron, as well has connecting with a big senton on the floor. He maybe needs to leave visible air when hitting big boots, but he impressed here. Both got to kick out of some big moves – Romero hits two more sentons on Callihan inside the ring, whilst Callihan hits an unlikely DVD on Romero – but that worked for the story they were telling. An exchange of slaps ends with Romero hitting a big lariat to win.

Jordynne Grace vs Jessicka Havok

Really fun power battle between these two, kicking off with a shoulderblock battle that Havok wins. Grace finds herself in the rare position of being overpowered, so she has to resort to using her speed advantage instead, attacking with sudden bursts of energy. Loved her running elbow in the corner to a seated Havok. In turn, Havok looks great using her size advantage, really liked the standing Full Nelson she locked, which had Grace completely off the mat. The end was a bit sloppy, as Grace couldn’t fully get Havok up for a top rope powerbomb, but this was decent.

Josh Briggs vs Darby Allin

Briggs comes across as one of those guys who’s very tall, but not particularly imposing. He seemed fine, but it’s Allin who does all the noteworthy stuff in this match. He gets great height on a springboard armdrag, does a lovely move where Briggs kicks out of an O’Connor Roll and Allin deftly leaps to the bottom rope and flies back with a crossbody to the seated Briggs, as well as taking some big bumps when he gets posted outside the ring. Allin impressively flips out of a chokeslam and gets in a rapid chop combo, but the power advantage pays off for Briggs, as he wins with a huge facebuster slam. Allin looked great in defeat.

Maine State Posse (Danger Kid & Alexander Lee) vs The Thick Boys (John Silver & Jay Freddie)

The commentary seemed to suggest that this incarnation of the Posse didn’t seem to be gelling very well, referring to a third member who apparently works better with Danger Kid. Loved the huge flip dive Danger hit early on, seemed at odds with his unimpressive look. Alexander Lee didn’t really impress, seeming a bit tentative on his kicks, but I loved how Silver worked with him here, rolling into his legs to send Lee crashing into the ropes and hitting a big rebound German suplex. Things break down with the commentary highlighting that Danger Kid still hadn’t tagged into the match, and as soon as Kid accidentally kicks his partner, the result is pretty obvious, as the Thick Boys hit a double Rubix Cube on Lee to win.

Matt Cross vs Petey Williams

Two elder heads of the indy scene colliding, and this is a comfortable, amiable match. Nothing fancy, but both guys are experienced enough that you suspect they could work this bout in their sleep. Petey does some token legwork, but you don’t really watch a Matt Cross match for his selling, so it’s not a huge surprise when he starts his comeback with cartwheels and springboards. Petey locks in a decent looking sharpshooter, and I loved the smarts in him leaning back to grab Petey’s hand to try and prevent a rope break. Cross does two moves in a row that end with a double stomp, just to make sure you know his leg is totally fine. The Canadian Destroyer is reversed into a Jig’N’Tonic for two, before a springboard cutter gets three for Cross. Pretty easy going stuff.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs Jonathan Gresham

Nice change of pace here, as both guys decide to work a load of character-based schtick rather the big-move workrate style seen in other matches here. It’s a fun dynamic, the loudmouth vs the technician, and they work it well here. Gresham gets every opportunity to make MJF look foolish, including trying him up in his own trunks in order to hit a move on his prone opponent. Friedman gets a run of control and starts focusing on the arm and shoulder of Gresham, sending him into the ringpost. Gresham fires back with a nice sequence, hitting a jawbreaker, an enzuigiri and a German suplex in quick succession for a 2 count. MJF takes advantage of a distracted ref, however, to hit a low blow and tie up Gresham with an armbar for the win.

Cam Zagami vs Chris Dickinson

Zagami cuts a fun heel promo, offering an open challenge, before getting blindsided by Dickinson, who hits two Pazuzu Bombs for the quick win. This was really more of an angle to let Dickinson call out Eddie Kingston on the mic afterwards, but it was fun enough.

Christian Casanova vs Ethan Page

Probably the weakest of the featured matches. Casanova seemed fine, even if he spends a lot of the early stages re-tying his hair, but there’s definitely some sloppy moments. They even blow the spot where a heel pretends to be about to throw his opponent through the crowd but instead throws them back into the ring, as Casanova accidentally throws Page into the camerawoman by the apron. Page is a guy with a lot of hype, but it felt like there was good and bad to his performance. I liked his cross-armed iconoclasm, but his through-the-ropes stunner looked poor. Page’s swanton looked decent, before we get a ref bump. Mr Grim comes out, seemingly to attack Casanova, but instead levels Page with a Pounce, and Casanova hits Page with a gold chain to win. Not great, but this was fine.

Skylar vs Willow Nightingale vs Davienne vs Ashley Vox vs Kennedi Copeland vs Terra Calaway

Pretty fun little match, basically non-stop action. There’s a nice dive sequence on the floor, highlighted by an unlikely second rope moonsault by Nightingale. Copeland hitting a series of sloppy cutters is the only questionable bit, but there’s lot to enjoy here. Dug Calaway hitting a series of big cannonballs in the corner, liked Davienne following that by dropkicking people into the ringposts in the corners, before Calaway ends up alone with Copeland, hitting a full Nelson slam to win. Evenly worked to give everyone a little shine, fun spotfest to break things up before the main.

JT Dunn vs Anthony Greene

Though this was really good, both men really impressed me here. Dunn was really good working from beneath, as he works most of this match selling a leg injury. His selling is believable, firing off his good leg when hitting punches on his comeback and really stretching to hit a blow when Greene is JUST out of range. Greene had really nice execution to his stuff, real snap to his moves. His roaring elbow looked great, and I loved his instant focus on the leg when Dunn goes down injured. Both guys get convincing nearfalls, with Greene hitting a top rope cutter and Dunn nailing him with Death By Elbow. The end sees a double count out, as Dunn hits a tombstone on the apron, sending both men tumbling to the floor. Dunn is on the brink of getting back in, but Greene holds onto his leg, ensuring the match ends a draw. Really enjoyed this, thought Dunn was far more effective as a face than in the previous match I’d seen where he was a heel, and for a guy I’d never heard off Greene was a really fun discovery.

Beyond Wrestling - Bye Bye Beautiful

Mike Verna & Ryan Galeone vs EYFBO (Mike Draztik & Angel Ortiz)

Fun opener here, really liked the heel team of Verna and Galeone. Though the smaller EYFBO hit a pair of dives to kick things off, the power of the heel team soon becomes apparent. Verna hurls an opponent off the top rope onto Galeone’s knee then shows off his power by hitting a slingshot suplex that sees him go around all four sides of the ring. Wasn’t so taken with EYFBO, some of their offence like a slingshot double stunner by Ortiz looked a little corny, but this goes along at a decent pace, albeit a bit too short before the heel team get disqualified thanks to Rex Lawless using a crutch as a weapon on the floor.

Martin Stone vs JT Dunn

This was slightly disappointing, I think maybe I expected a bit more from them. Quite liked the early mat work, with Stone controlling after working over the hand of Dunn. Some nasty digit manipulation and I liked some of the big blows both guys hit. The kicks of Dunn looked nasty and Stone hit some beautiful European uppercuts and a massive clothesline. What I didn’t like was the early pointless strike exchange, and a cutter by Dunn looks a bit sloppy. The end was also pretty poor, featuring a sequence where both guys hit a finisher (Tower of London for Stone, big elbow for Dunn) only for the other guy to kick out at one. Ridiculous shit. Dunn ends up winning with a roll up and a grab of the ropes.

Brandon Watts vs Zenshi

Hadn’t seen Zenshi before, and I’m still not sure how I felt about him. Some of his stuff looked pretty goofy, but he hit some unique high-flying offence that actually worked with the goofiness. Liked his flipping cannonball headbutt from the apron and the way he slipped out of a tornado DDT attempt looked great. Didn’t come off as rehearsed, Zenshi felt more like someone naturally flexible just sliding out of the move. Even a bottom rope 450, which sounds stupid, was really effective thanks to how Zenshi whipped himself into the move. For his part, Watts was reliably good, really liked his STO on the apron and how smoothly he caught a handspring into a backcracker. The end was nice too, as Zenshi tries a 630, misses but tries to roll through, only for Watts to pin him to the mat as he tries, getting the win.

Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb

Some absolutely hard hitting big boys here, and this match doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. The fun part was how well the early matwork was thrown in as Riddle and Dickinson tussle on the ground. Felt like the Steiners/MVC matches where you expected big blows from the off, but you got to see collegiate athletes showing their mat skills first. When we do get to the suplexes, the sheer size of these guys makes everything look impressive. It’s probably lucky for Riddle that his lovely rolling gutwrenches on Jaka get highlighted first, because the ease with which Cobb just hurls Jaka around is mindblowing. Dickinson and Jaka can’t compete with that, so they work some big strikes instead. Dickinson’s legs are like tree trunks, so his big kicks look and sound vicious. Riddle isn’t one to back down from a strike battle, and soon both Riddle and Dickinson have bright red chests. At one point, Riddle hits a series of chops to Dickinson’s chest that just sees a sheen of sweat fly off his body. The end run is pretty hot, but the Doom Patrol win through smarter tag team tactics, as Dickinson takes out Riddle with a bucklebomb, which leaves Cobb isolated for a high/low to give them the win. Really great match.

John Silver vs Zack Gibson

Really nice mix of characters here. Gibson’s pre-match promo sees him getting booed constantly, he’s barely audible. For his part, Silver is a little pocket rocket, and I love that after all Gibson’s big talk, Silver just blasts him at the bell, nearly picking up the win right away. Match was really nicely worked, with Gibson focusing heavily on the left arm of Silver in preparation for the Shankly Gates. The hammerlock slam on the apron was nasty looking. Silver peppers in a few nice comebacks, and something about his compact frame makes his strikes look more forceful. Superkick to a kneeling Gibson looks great, as does a pump kick, but Gibson always has the arm as an opening. Eventually, Silver hits a Batista Bomb (should be ridiculous from a guy so small, but he whips Gibson down with real force) and a knee to the head to win.

Travis Banks vs Tracy Williams

This was good, but not without flaws. For starters, I couldn’t tell if either guy was playing heel or not. Banks seems to be early on, going for a kick when offering a handshake and kicking Williams from a rope break, but after that he wrestles the match pretty straight with the crowd supporting him. Williams, as I’ve felt in previous matches, has strikes that don’t look particularly effective, but are sold as being on a par with Banks’, which look much stiffer. Banks hits a corner cannonball at speed that looks great. Williams applies a crossface that I initially thought looked sloppily loose, but when Banks rolls out to escape it, Williams is there to meet him and hook him into a piledriver, so it works. Banks ends up winning with the Slice of Heaven.

Donovan Dijak vs WALTER

This was a really interesting match, really well worked. This is Dijak’s last match for the promotion before heading to NXT, and he really takes a beating here. Despite his size, Dijak is the underdog throughout as WALTER just keeps on him like a bear. There’s one lovely spot where Dijak breaks a sleeper hold by making the ropes, but before he can turn around WALTER launches him with a big German suplex. Even though you suspect Dijak rarely works from beneath in matches, he’s really good at timing his hope spots, but he doesn’t get too many. The corner combo, as Dijak turns and levels WALTER with a series of shots including a rolling big boot, looks great, but soon his comebacks feel like they’ve got less and less behind them as WALTER wears him down. Dijak flipping out of a powerbomb attempt is super impressive, but he promptly eats a WALTER lariat. Even when Dijak gets to hit Feast Your Eyes, WALTER hits a massive clothesline as he falls to stop any momentum. In the end, Dijak uses his last scrap of energy to power up from a sleeper, hit a second Feast Your Eyes and barely win. Really great bout.