WrestleWatch- PWA Black Label: Anarchy In The PWA
By Mick Robson
We're back, and better than ever. PWA's got a knack for making things better. It was a miserable, rainy, foggy drive to get there, but damn it, if you want some top shelf pro wrestling, Sydney's Pro Wrestling Australia has you covered! You can also watch it on FITE TV, which is how I'm doing this review in detail, but there's nothing quite like the live experience.
The main event of this show doesn't feature any championships on the line, but it is a grudge match that it could be argued is over a year in the making. The character arc of Lyrebird Luchi really began during the PWA Premiership- which spanned late 2020/early 2021. Luchi was decimated in 45 seconds by "Full Force" Mat Rogers, but Luchi rebounded using cerebral, underhanded tactics to become one of the most hated, yet successful villains in PWA. They had a match at PWA Prize Bulls On Parade which ended in a DQ after Luchi grabbed a ringside camera and blasted Rogers in the face with it, busting him open. As my girl Taylor Swift would say: baby, we got bad blood!
Also on the card, a No. 1 Contender's Match between the beautiful yet brutal Arm Collector, Jessica Troy and the leader of SMS, who looks to clean up PWA and its adult content, Unsocial Jordan. There's also something of an interpromotional war, as the standard bearer of PWA. the Sniper of the Skies, Robbie Eagles, takes on MCW and DMDU standout, Royce Chambers. Chambers called out the Sydney boys in a rap diss track... thankfully, he's far better at the wrestling.
Seems like tensions have come to a boiling point between PWA Heavyweight Champion, "Tuff Stuff" Ricky South, and perennial thorn in his side, Carter Deams. Deams has constantly blindsided South, hoping to goad him into a title match. Ricky has promised to confront his would-be challenger on this show as well.
Let's do this!
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We open the show with the traditional acknowledgement of country from Andrew Rose & Kris Gale, followed by PWA's standard brilliant intro video.
In an extremely rare occurance, we were running late for this show, and walked into about halfway through the opening match. There was a seating screw-up as well, as we purchased front row tickets but there were no seats left when we got there, so staff had to scramble to find extra seats and eventually sorted us out and threw in some drink vouchers, which was nice. So it'll be good to really experience Jessica Troy vs. Unsocial Jordan fully for the first time here.
Match 1: No. 1 Contender's Match: Jessica Troy vs. Unsocial Jordan (w/ SMS- Belinda Pierce & Aaron Jake)
This match was delayed a month due to COVID rules- Jordan was a close contact, so Jessica annhilated Belinda and Aaron in a handicap match in the meantime. Big fight feel here to kick things off. In a surprising move, it's Jordan who looks to attack the arm first, but Jess quickly reverses and looks for her signature Fujiwara armbar, but Jordan rolls through as they trade holds in a technical chess match in the early going. Leapfrog by Troy as they run the ropes, but Jordan locks in the sleeper, which has been a highly effective hold for him as well in recent times. Jess rolls through for the escape and we have a stalemate.
Commentators Rose and Gale acknowledge an attitude shift in Unsocial Jordan, while Rose says that Troy was out of line for attacking SMS at the last show. Agree to disagree, my friend. Jess runs the ropes again and hits a springboard arm drag, and then wipes out Belinda and Aaron with a tope suicida. Okay, that may have been a little unprovoked this time, but she can do no wrong in my eyes. Back in the ring, Jordan and Jess trade victory rolls for near falls. Jordan takes control of Troy's arm and wrenches it, sitting on the turnbuckle and lifting her up by the arm for extra leverage and torque. Jess manages to counter by seizing Jordan's arm and hurling him from the top rope. Both competitors adopting a similar strategy for this match, it would seem.
Jordan slows the match down while continuing to work the arm. Jess eventually fights her way out, and in an innovative move, monkey flips Jordan shoulder-first into the turnbuckle! Brilliant! Jess takes to the skies and hits a Meteora to the arm. Surgical precision. Jordan kicks out of the subsequent cover but Troy maintains wrist control. Gale with a killer line, "Jessica Troy likes injured arms more than she likes Christmas morning." Love it. As Jess stomps the arm and works the digits, hey, there I am walking into the Factory Theatre! Jordan kicks out of pin attempts, but he's hurting here. He scoops Jess up and places her in the Tree of Woe in the corner. He then steps to the apron and yanks Troy's arm as close to the ground as he can. Ouch!
The Unsocial One goes to the top rope, but Troy escapes whatever he was attempting and blasts him with a pump kick. The legs still work! She looks for a top rope hurricanrana but Jordan reverses into an avalanche Falcon Arrow! Holy shit! Jessica Troy somehow kicks out. Both competitors sit up and start kicking each other in the injured arms. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. They get to their feet and Jess fires off forearms with the good arm. A massive tilt-a-whirl into the Fujiwara follows, but Jordan rolls through. Jess goes for her patented running kick along the apron, but Jordan avoids it. They battle on the apron in a precarious position, but ultimately Jordan clotheslines Jess back into the ring.
Troy returns fire with a tilt-a-whirl DDT, absolutely spiking the SMS leader. Kickout, but not with much gusto. Jordan sneaks in an inside cradle for a 2 count of his own. Immediately after, we get the huge tilt-a-whirl, finally into the Fujiwara armbar! Jordan is screaming, and the crowd is screaming for him to tap. Jess can't use her left arm, so Jordan escapes and kicks her in it. Vicious. They trade rapid fire pins until Jordan fires off a Shining Wizard outta nowhere! Jess rolls to the outside so Jordan follows and hits another one, getting a run up down the entranceway for extra impact. He throws her back in the ring and locks in the sleeper. Jess fights as hard as she can but is forced to tap! Wow!
Winner: Unsocial Jordan (at 13:35)
Star Rating: ****. They packed a lot of action in there and had a bit of everything. Both Jess and Jordan have been presented as dangerous, intelligent competitors, and established a clear game plan that was relevant every step of the way. Brilliant work, even though it should really be minus 4 stars because Jess lost. Dammit Jordan!
Diego goes to introduce the next match, but is interrupted by the music of the PWA Tag Team Champions, Jude "The Dude" London & Paris De Silva, the Velocities! They say it feels so good to be champions again, but what's next? Or... who's next? The music of the Bad Bitch Nation interrupts. Kingsley leads the way, with Jack Bonza holding a swear jar. Little YouTube clip for context:
Chants of "Bad Bitch Nation" ring through the Factory Theatre. Velocities call attention to the swear jar, noting that they can say or do whatever they like and Bonza can't do anything about it. Jude & Paris mock him for allegedly having a small penis, and the crowd breaks into a chant of "micropenis". Jude says that if Bonza wants to know how much of a man he is, "ask your niece" (Jude & Kingsley are dating). Jude takes his hat and they pose for a "family photo". Bonza takes a $50 note out of his wallet and adds it to the swear jar. Oh no. Oh no. A furious Bonza launches into a tirade of insults, avoiding actually swearing until the end. Kingsley grabs the mic and tells Jack to calm down. She recalls Velocities saying they can beat everyone, and challenges them to take on every tag team in the building tonight. Ooh!
Funny segment. It required seeing the above video to really understand it though. I forgot to show my mates beforehand and they were lost. Velocities were cockier than they've ever been here as well...
Promo airs recapping the Ricky South/Carter Deams feud. We cut to today where Ricky is asking JT Robinson for a match with Carter tonight. JT responds that it doesn't work like that and the champ says he'll be in the ring.
Match 2: Fatal 4 Way- Frankie B vs. Big Fudge vs. Jimmy Townsend vs. Romantic Juan
Frankie B's PWA Black Label debut here, after years of being in PWA in a non-wrestling role due to injuries. She made her actual PWA debut at the Fite Nite Academy show last month and looked excellent there- match is on my YouTube page. Great to see her persevere and make it onto the big stage! Jimmy trips up Juan and shoves Fudge into Frankie before hitting the Ice Cream Man with an arm drag. These PWA Fatal 4 Ways are always non-stop action. All thriller, no filler.
Frankie takes down Jimmy and Juan with a headlock/headscissors combo. I remember seeing Trish Stratus do that move, fitting as Frankie could be PWA's version of Trish Stratus. A beauty who can definitely go in the ring. Fudge wheelbarrows her head first into the turnbuckle. Classic. Frankie gets back into it and takes to every-Juan, hitting a top rope sunset flip on Romantic for a near fall. She follows up with a release German suplex for another close 2 count. Awesome.
Frankie complains to the referee about the count and takes a Butt Punch from Fudge! Fudge gets a little shine, taking down Juan with a headscissors. Sugar Rush on Jimmy and Juan. Middle rope senton on Jimmy but Juan breaks up the pin. Frankie confront Juan and he grabs her for a quick dance before dropping her with an enziguri. Atomic drops for both Fudge and Jimmy, then Juan plants a kiss on Jimmy. Not the first person in this match I'd smooch... it'd probably be Fudge. I feel like he would be a tender kisser. Fudge intervenes with a babooshka, but Juan hits a double clothesline on the other two men. Impact!
Huge elevated DDT by Frankie, then everyone takes turns going for pins and breaking them up. Frankie's tag partner Nikki Van Blair gets up on the apron to get involved in the ensuing argument. We get a switch-a-roo between Romantic Juan and Giant Juan. Fudge goes for a chokeslam, and Juan drops the "that's not gonna work for me, brother". Juan hits Fudge with a chokeslam instead, then a powerbomb on Jimmy. Then all the members of Juan Direction switch-a-roo with the fallen bodies. What the damn hell? Frankie comes back and takes out three of them with a top rope cross body!
Fudge throws Frankie out after she low-bridged Giant Juan. Jimmy wipes out Fudge with a leaping kick, then he flies to the outside with a tope con giro (huge ass flip dive to everyone)! Jimmy with a suplex into a twisting cutter on Juan back in the ring, followed by a stunning moonsault, but Fudge sneaks in with a seatbelt pin for the win!
Winner: Big Fudge (at 7:32)
Star Rating: ***1/2. That was a ton of fun, with everyone getting time to shine, especially Frankie, but Jimmy looked to have it in the bag, and Juan Direction had the comedy. Fudge always makes every comedy moment count, and has the bragging rights of the win, while Jimmy is still struggling to find himself following his appearance on the PWA Podcast. Top marks all around.
Rose and Gale throw to a video announcement of the next Black Label. Shots of Sydney with PWA stars walking around, ooh, this feels big... they're going to the Metro Theatre in April! There will be a Rumble! It's called King of the Metro, on Saturday, April 23! I'll be there. Will you?
I used my drink voucher from the seat mix-up before the next match. The bartender asked if I was a performer on the show. I'm 95% sure it's because I was using the voucher, but I'm going to tell myself that it's because my workouts are paying off and he wanted tickets to the gun show.
Match 3: Rhys Angel vs. Big Brother Billy Preston (w/ The Playtime Pals)
Rhys charges Billy, who drops him on the top rope and then unloads a series of judo chops. Don't let the Blue's Clues presentation of Billy fool you! Billy drops Rhys crotch-first on the top rope then shakes the ropes. What a violent man. Billy does the 10 punch but Angel slips out and drops him head-first. Superman punch follows, and Rhys Angel is in control. 2 count.
Angel takes a swipe at the dinosaur. He's lucky Luchasaurus isn't here. Billy goes for a sunset flip, but Rhys just stomps him and hits a penalty kick. Another near fall. Billy fights his way back to his feet and hits a rolling neckbreaker. Spinning back suplex follows, impressive strength from Preston. Billy goes up top and looks to fly, but Angel counters with a punch to the gut. He blasts Billy with an elbow to the back of the neck, and then kicks the dinosaur! That bastard! Angel takes out all the Playtime Pals- the flamingo, the cucumber, the banana and the pirate. Pro wrestling, ladies and gentlemen!
Rhys then "slips" on the banana, allowing Billy to hit the Overdrive for the win! Incredible.
Winner: Big Brother Billy Preston (at 5:47)
Star Rating: **. Wasn't feeling this one until Rhys started beating down all the Play School rejects, which then elevated it to an instant classic!
Rose & Gale let us know that the Velocities have accepted the challenge laid out by Kingsley earlier- there will be a Fatal 4 Way elimination tag match for the PWA Tag Team Championship here tonight!
Match 4: PWA Tag Team Championship- The Velocities (Paris De Silva & Jude London) vs. Bad Bitch Nation (Kingsley & Jack Bonza) vs. Backpain (Backman & Jack Pain) (w/ Gym Bro Jessie) vs. MK Plus Ultra (Michael Spencer & Kai Drake)
Well, we know SMS are in the building. Bit of a conspiracy against them maybe? Kingsley & Paris start. Remember I said PWA Fatal 4 Ways are always non-stop action? Well, 4 teams here and it's lucha rules. Don't expect a move by move report here.
They trade arm holds and then Kingsley grabs Paris by the ear to gain a brief advantage. He escapes and runs the ropes at hyper speed and Kingsley just looks confused. Jude comes in and dropkicks Kingsley- showing no love! Bonza in but soon falls victim to a Velocities double-team. Backpain in and they mow the Velocities down, literally running straight through them. Jude and Paris come back with speedy offense and look for stereo dives to the outside, but both are caught and slammed. Kingsley with a Codebreaker to Paris back in the ring, Spencer follows with a high knee, Backman follows with the Sonny Bill, Jack Pain with a spinebuster, Bonza with a Tombstone, MK Plus hit a double team kick- and Paris is eliminated! The Velocities have lost the titles!
Big boys in, as Backpain hit Bonza with a double beal. The crowd sings "hey hey hey, goodbye" to the heartbroken Velocities as they make their exit. Kingsley takes a shot at Jack Pain and gets booted down. Drake comes in and takes a double military press from Backpain. Backman lifts Bonza and Jack Pain lifts Spencer, and they use their bodies for weights. Gym Bro Jessie wants to get involved, so she picks up Referee Nick and squats him! Kingsley and Drake break it up, and Kingsley takes Pain to the outside with a rana. Bad Bitch Nation hit Backman with an assisted Codebreaker and Backpain is eliminated!
Spencer and Bonza trade forearms as we're down to the final 2 teams. Bonza goes for the Napalm Thunder Driver but Spencer reverses into the satellite DDT! Drake and Kingsley become legal. Arm wrench into a Codebreaker off the ropes. Didn't get all of it. Belly to belly suplex gets a near fall for the Bad Bitch Nation. Double team attempt by the Nation is broken up by a Spencer flying knee! They hit the superkick/knee combo on Bonza- but he kicks out! Spencer holds Bonza and Drake goes for a superkick- but Bonza ducks, and "the Prince" eats it instead! Spinning lariat and a tag to Kingsley. They hit the double team Codebreaker again. Napalm Thunder Driver on Drake... but Spencer pulls the ref out of the ring! Drake hits Bonza with a low blow, and tries to do the same to Kingsley, but no luck. Kingsley with the ankle lock on Drake, who tags to Spencer, who hits a slingshot Spear on Kingsley! The superkick/knee combo connects... and MK Plus are the new champs!
Winners: MK Plus Ultra (at 12:45)
Star Rating: ***1/2. This sends shockwaves through the PWA tag division. After a classic with Aussie Open, the new champs got too cocky and lost it on their first defense. And they lost so quickly, if this was WWE, I'd think they were getting punished. I do think there's a bigger story at play, and MK Plus Ultra deserve a chance to run with the ball. One of the more underrated acts in PWA over the last few years. Great action down the stretch after the jolt of the Velocities elimination.
Backstage, an irate Ricky South grabs Referee Nick by the collar and tells him to come with him. He's got a plan...
Match 5: Royce Chambers vs. Robbie Eagles
Chambers comes out wearing his MCW Intercommonwealth Championship and his DMDU Heavyweight Championship. A major star down in Melbourne, but he's in Robbie Eagles' house! A tense collar-and-elbow and Chambers goes for Robbie's arm. Arm drags, leg sweeps, some fancy flip escapes, an early attempt at the Ron Miller Special by Eagles, and Chambers kicks out of it. This has all the makings of an absolute banger.
Chambers tries to fire off a headscissors but Eagles cartwheels out of it. Fast pace and a ton of reversals here. Both men looking to hit something flashy and violent. Chambers finally hits a springboard arm drag, following by a twisting handspring elbow. He follows up with a standing shooting star press to the leg for a near fall. Robbie gets to his feet and fires back with a blistering chop. Soon after, a knee drop to the back of Royce's leg, and now we've got two high fliers trying to take out the legs of each other. Running dropkick gets a near fall for Eagles.
Robbie proceeds to destroy the chest of Royce with a series of chops. Royce returns fire with some brutal kicks, then wipes out Eagles ringside with a tornillo! He throws Robbie back in and goes for a spectacular corkscrew splash but misses! Robbie comes back with his home crowd solidly behind him. They work up to the turnbuckles, but Chambers drops Eagles to the outside with a flipping kick. Royce then unleashes the Sasuke Special! And damn, he hit the apron hard on the way down. Thankfully, he's okay. They battle up to the stage, Royce goes for a flip dive off the stage, Robbie avoids, Royce rolls through, and then takes a diving Eagles to the face! Rose said it best- this is insane!
Back in the ring, Robbie nails a springboard dropkick to the knee. Guess he's trying to prevent any more of that crazy flippy shit. Ron Miller Special attempt but Chambers counters with a couple of quick pin attempts for near falls. Wrestling technique is just as on point as the acrobatics here. They throw in a little strong style by trading stiff kicks to the chest. Eagles goes for the Turbo Backpack but Chambers counters with a poison rana, followed by a twisting cannonball into the corner! This is video game shit! Shooting star press from the middle rope gets a 2.75! Spinning gutwrench powerbomb gets a even closer count!
They trade kicks and strikes. Robbie catches the boot so Chambers slaps him in the face a number of times. Eagles absorbs it and maintains control of the boot. He hits a reverse Turbo Backpack for a crazy near fall! Chambers sits up and gives the double middle fingers, and gets his face kicked off. Play stupid games... 450 Splash on the knee, followed by the Ron Miller Special! Chamber struggles, Eagles adjusts... and gets the tap!
Winner: Robbie Eagles (at 16:20)
Star Rating: ****1/2. It didn't pip Velocities vs. Aussie Open last month for MOTY for me, but it's definitely the front-runner for the singles match category. Both guys looked incredible, with Robbie as sharp as ever, and Royce right there with him. The only noticeable mistake actually added to the match, as Chambers continuing to do the things he did after slamming into that apron was a testament to both his talent and his toughness.
We take an INTERMISSION here. Live in the Factory Theatre, PWA regulars Jarrod and Leanne are invited into the ring on their anniversary. Jarrod proposes and Leanne said yes! A lovely moment. Congratulations to them both.
We come back from intermission with PWA Champion Ricky South dragging Referee Nick to the ring! The champ tells us that he's pissed off, and calls out Carter Deams. It ends up being announced by Diego as an unsanctioned match. SMS come out (where were they in the tag fatal 4 way?) Jordan tries to talk Ricky out of doing this, and implores him to join SMS again. As Ricky says no, Carter jumps him out of nowhere!
Match 6: Unsanctioned Match- PWA Champion Ricky South vs. Carter Deams
Deams throws Jordan- who has his arm in a sling from his earlier match- out of the ring. Deams chokes Ricky with his shirt and rains down punches. Carter grabs a steel chair but Ricky throws it at his face! He drops Deams with two piledrivers and then goes to get a ringside table. Ricky goes for a piledriver off the apron through the table but Carter escapes by hitting a low blow. Carter gets a kendo stick and blasts the champ with it. Deams sets up for a superplex but Belinda Pierce gets involved. Ricky gets a chair and swings it- but misses Deams and strikes Belinda, putting her through the table! At this, Referee Nick throws out the unsanctioned match.
Winner: No Contest (at 4:05)
Star Rating: *1/2. I generally don't like the idea of throwing out an "unsanctioned match" like that, when it's a match type established in WWE and AEW as the ultimate "anything goes" match, but I suppose PWA haven't really gone to that well before, so they could use/interpret it in a different way. Didn't add a whole lot to the South/Deams feud for me, which should be good once we get to the match, but I feel like it's been a very slow process getting there. Hopefully, it goes down at the King of the Metro show.
A video recap of the Will Kiedis/Cherry Stephens shenanigans airs.
Match 7: Will Kiedis vs. Shazza McKenzie (Special Ref- Cherry Stephens)
Shazza begins with a trio of Saito suplexes while Will is having words with Cherry. Cherry won't count the pin for Shazza though. Understandably, McKenzie is upset by this. Kiedis leaves the ring and Cherry starts to count, leading Will to say, "what are you doing?" Shazza chases Will and Cherry chases them both around the ring. Kiedis catches Shazza coming in with a dropkick, sending her spilling to the floor. Kiedis now insists that Cherry count, and count faster. Kiedis hits McKenzie with a body slam, followed by a leg drop. Just a 1 count though.
Shazza fights back with elbows, forearms, knees and her patented kicks in the ropes. She hits a top rope cross body for a near fall. Shazza applies the Shazzmission, and ultimately a conflicted Cherry puts Will's foot on the rope to cause a break. An infuriated McKenzie slaps Cherry! Kiedis catches Shazza with an inside cradle- and now Cherry fast counts the 3!
Winner: Will Kiedis (at 4:15)
Star Rating: *. Not much to this. Kiedis could follow up by bragging that he beat a superstar the level of Shazza McKenzie, but on its own it doesn't do a lot for me. We get it, she's a crooked ref, but doesn't want to be a crooked ref. Follow up is key here- they could take it a couple of ways and make it interesting. I don't love it in the moment, but it could turn into something better.
Post-match, Shazza attacks Cherry and Kiedis pulls her to safety. Well, that's something. He could have left her there. The music of Big Fudge hits! More Fudge on my PWA show is always welcome. Fudge confronts Kiedis and says that he claims he made the MMA, but Fudge can make ANYONE a superstar. Will tells Cherry to cover her ears and bets Fudge that he can't make Cherry the Soul of PWA Champion. And we have something interesting. Does that mean the personal referee thing gets dropped?
Rose & Gale kill time by recapping the show while the ring crew builds the cage for our main event.
Match 8: Steel Cage Match- Mat Rogers vs. Lyrebird Luchi
We get a bit of rapping from Losty leading into Rogers' entrance, and some environmental types joining Luchi, complete with Bunnings hats and watering cans. Luchi refuses to get into the cage, so Rogers chases after him and they fight up to the stage. Luchi cracks him with a couple of glass bottles on the commentary table, and only then, he's happy to get into the cage and officially start the match.
Rogers is busted open slightly from the bottles as we get underway. Luchi loads a bunch of steel chairs into the cage and then tells the staff to attach the final wall. No breaking the fourth wall here, folks. A confident Luchi is ready, chair in hand- but Rogers boots the chair out of his hand and starts unloading bombs. Luchi tries an early escape from the cage but Rogers drags him down and hits him with a flying clothesline. He goes for an early pumphandle slam but Luchi lands on his feet and tries to climb the cage again. Rogers pulls him away into a sidewalk slam! Very cool move by Full Force.
Luchi tries to fight back but Rogers hits him with a clothesline that turns him inside out. Rogers gets a steel chair but Luchi drops him with a low blow. All legal in the cage. The Lyrebird then gets the steel chair himself and starts whaling away on the back of Rogers. He then applies a headlock and works it to a point that Randy Orton would be proud of. Eventually, Rogers gets to his feet and just hurls Luchi into the cage!
Rogers continues to pinball Luchi into the cage walls. Some very nasty welts are forming on the back of the Lyrebird! Rogers climbs the cage- is he going to escape? No, it's a leg drop from the top of the cage! Holy shit! There's a pin... but Rogers lets him up at 2. He wants to prolong the suffering! He goes for a powerbomb on a chair but Luchi grabs the cage wall to escape. Rogers works Luchi into a torture rack... but he slips out and hits a Skull Crushing Finale on the chair! Luchi slowly climbs the cage... but Rogers sits up ala the Undertaker! Or maybe ala Kane, since he's wearing red pants. They trade punches standing on the top rope. Luchi gouges the eyes and then hits a rana from the top rope- but Rogers pops right back up and levels him with a big boot! He climbs the ropes, dragging Luchi with him, looking for a top rope pumphandle slam... but Luchi slips out the back and over the cage to escape!
Winner: Lyrebird Luchi (at 14:17)
Star Rating: ***1/2. Both men rose to the occasion here. Not typical PWA main eventers, perhaps, but their grudge match warranted it, and they delivered. More old school in execution than what we see in a lot of big PWA matches too, but it worked well because the big spots were allowed to breathe, and the action was consistent with their characters on both sides. Luchi now has both the PWA Premiership and a steel cage main event win against Mat Rogers to his credit, he's come so far. But maybe this isn't over?
Post-match, Rogers is enraged, trying to get at Luchi. He hits the cage with a chair in frustration as the smarmy Luchi celebrates to end the show.
Overall Thoughts
A high quality outing from PWA, who with the talented roster they have, are virtually incapable of putting on a bad show. I will say that I think the show peaked before intermission. Eagles vs. Chambers was mind-blowing, Jessica Troy vs. Unsocial Jordan was exceptional, and the tag title match was shocking, with chaotic fun being the theme throughout a lot of the show. The unsanctioned match didn't work for me, both as an execution of the stipulation and the progression of storylines- it feels like we've been spinning our wheels with Ricky vs. Carter for a very long time, and the involvement of SMS and the potential changing character of Unsocial Jordan has been something teased since the Premiership over a year ago. I feel like the story/character arcs of Will Kiedis and Cherry Stephens are a bit stuck as well. However, we ended on a high note with the cage match, concrete proof than PWA can run a long term storyline and have a satisfying pay-off. That said, I'm not completely sure the story ends there. Maybe Luchi squirms away to other adventures, or maybe we get something like a Last Man Standing match to give a true definite ending to the rivalry.
Either way, a lot of fun was had here, with a great atmosphere all night. Walking in to hear the crowd go crazy for Jordan vs. Jess was great, and that energy stayed up all night. I think the lifting of COVID restrictions helped, the first event in about a year where masks and check-ins weren't required. Also, I had a little group of close friends there- Brent and Chad, who have been to many shows with me, and Chad's wife, Shannon, who came to her first show after hearing us rave about it for ages. The smile never left her face all night, so I think we have another PWA convert! And that's really where the success of this show lies. I hope the Metro Theatre is packed to capacity of wrestling fans, old and new!
Overall Score: 8/10
Until next time, take care.
