November 25th, 2017
Jody Fleisch makes his way to the ring to start the show. He explains the injury that he suffered at AIW last night and apologizes for not being able to wrestle tonight. Stokely Hathaway interrupts and claims that Jonathan Gresham now has the night off due to Fleisch’s inability to wrestle. Nick Gage appears as the new challenger to Gresham’s Independent Title. They will wrestle in the main event.
Opening Match: Dominic Garrini vs. Wheeler Yuta
Garrini immediately tries to ground Yuta with various submissions. Yuta comes off the middle rope but Garrini catches him with an overhead suplex. Garrini follows with a double underhook suplex and takes control. Yuta fights back with a superkick and a springboard hurricanrana. They exchange chops and forearms. Garrini connects with an enzuigiri to win the exchange. He adds a go 2 sleep variant for a nearfall. Yuta fires off another superkick but Garrini traps him in a triangle choke. Yuta turns the hold into a pin attempt for the win at 7:55. This was pretty much how you would expect a clash of their styles to play out. Garrini kept the action fairly controlled on the mat until Yuta was able to catch him with an unexpected reversal. It made for an engaging enough opener. **½
Match #2: AJ Gray vs. Anthony Greene vs. Logan Easton LaRoux vs. Razerhawk
Razerhawk snaps off an armdrag and headscissors on Greene. LaRoux gets cocky so Gray punches him in the face. LaRoux and Greene form a makeshift alliance to work over Gray. Razerhawk catches them with a double missile dropkick and lands a dive to the floor. Gray follows out with a corkscrew plancha. In the ring, Greene hits a sit-out powerbomb on Razerhawk for a two count. Gray comes out on the winning end of a tower of doom spot in the corner. Everyone trades strikes in the center of the ring. Razerhawk hits a sit-out facebuster on Gray. Gray plasters Greene with a lariat and lands a phoenix splash. LaRoux throws Gray out of the ring and covers Greene for the victory at 10:35. More than any other match on the card, I imagine that this contest suffered the most from such a small crowd. The lack of an audible crowd reaction hurt the flow of the action at times. Still, everyone worked hard and Gray in particular made a strong impression. **¼
Match #3: Allie Kat vs. Laynie Luck
They trade control of a wristlock and Luck snaps off a headscissors. They avoid each other’s kicks and find themselves at a stalemate. Luck comes off the top with a crossbody but Kat responds with a senton. Luck hits a blockbuster but falls victim to a german suplex. Kat connects with a shining wizard for a nearfall. Luck fires back with a series of strikes in the corner. Kat wins a strike exchange with a bicycle kick for a two count. Kat follows with a piledriver for the win at 6:15. This was an effective showcase of what these two could do together. I think a crowd that was more familiar with their work and characters would have been quite vocal for the action. **
Match #4: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (w/ Stokely Hathaway) vs. Tom Lawlor
An early kick exchange does not go well for MJF. A distraction by Hathaway allows MJF to attack from behind but Lawlor responds with a superman punch. Lawlor hits a dead-lift german suplex. MJF finds an opening to target the left arm and takes over. Lawlor fights back with a pumphandle suplex. MJF connects with a double stomp to the left arm. He spits at Lawlor and things really start to become heated. Hathaway gets involved again, allowing MJF to deliver a low blow for a nearfall. MJF applies a fujiwara armbar and transitions into a here it is driver. Lawlor synchs in a triangle choke for the victory at 10:40. This was the first match to really capture the crowd’s attention and they were more vocal here than in the previous three contests combined. The action was moving along nicely until the rather abrupt finish. The arm work was well-executed and their personalities played off of each other in a unique way. **¾
Match #5: The Thick Boys (John Silver and Jay Freddie) vs. The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude and Rob Killjoy)
Lude takes down Silver with a nice hurricanrana. The Thick Boys hit a flatliner on Killjoy and connect with stereo kicks. Killjoy responds with a double springboard missile dropkick. The Ugly Ducklings land stereo dives to the floor. In the ring, the Ducklings follow with more tandem offense on Silver. Silver military presses Lude with one hand and connects with a lariat. The Thick Boys isolate Lude until he hits a standing sliced bread on Freddie and makes the tag. Killjoy lands an asai moonsault to the floor onto both of his opponents. Back in, Killjoy snaps off a springboard hurricanrana on Silver for a nearfall. Freddie powerbombs Killjoy. They do a pretty wild tower of doom spot in the corner. Silver connects with a lariat on Killjoy for a two count. Killjoy propels Lude into the Thick Boys in the corner. Freddie catches Lude coming off the top with a powerslam. The Thick Boys hit an electric chair driver on Lude for the win at 14:29. These two largely underrated teams delivered a very solid tag team showcase. The power of the Thick Boys vs. the speed of the Ducklings made for engaging action and the crowd even gave them a “please come back” chant after the match. I could see this being a matchup that takes place across some of the other Powerbomb.tv promotions. ***¼
Match #6: Powerbomb.tv Independent Title: Jonathan Gresham © (w/ Stokely Hathaway) vs. Nick Gage
Gresham slaps Gage instead of giving him a clean break. Gage connects with a lariat and hits a back suplex. Stokely throws powder into Gage’s eyes, allowing Gresham to take over. Gresham targets the left arm. Gage finally gets a bottle of water to clean the powder away and hits a powerslam. He follows with a spinebuster and a falcon arrow. Gage sends Gresham to the floor and into some chairs. They brawl throughout the crowd and Gage hits a suplex onto the concrete floor. Gresham fires back with an enzuigiri but eats a chair to the face. They brawl outside but the camera cannot follow them. Gresham runs back into the building and tries to ambush Gage to no avail. Gresham blocks a punch with a chair shot and hits a DDT onto the floor. Gresham piles chairs on top of Gage and tries for a countout victory. Gage beats the ten count. Gresham lands a dive to the floor and applies a sleeper hold. Gresham runs back into the ring and retains his title via countout at 16:10. This is the first match that I’ve seen Gage in recently but he was a joy. Gage is one of the few believable ass-kickers in professional wrestling and his in-ring psychology has certainly improved. Gresham employed the same strategy to win that I used to employ in Smackdown vs. Raw ten years ago. While the finish was a bit underwhelming, the match as a whole was quite enjoyable. ***