Wrestling Revolver - Grit Your Teeth: March 28, 2024
by DocAllen
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Live from the Calumet Center at Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, Ohio. Attendance is estimated at 400 (per Cagematch.net). Bork Torkelson and Matthew Rehwoldt are on commentary.
Matthew Palmer (with Alex Shelley) vs. Jake Crist
Crist charges in to clear the ring. Palmer flees while fans call him a female cat. Palmer lures Crist into Shelley's trap. Shelley gets ejected, but the damage may have been done, Palmer drops Crist onto the guard rail. Palmer delivers a superplex for 2. Crist recovers with a roundhouse kick and Tiger Suplex for 2. Palmer answers with a piledriver, Crist kicks out. Asai moonsault by Crist, Palmer reverses a suplex into a crossbody press, and Shelley sneaks back to hold Crist's leg down for the pinfall at 8:05! Average match, but exactly the right length given the finish and aftermath, **.Winner: Matthew Palmer
Shelley and Crist prepare to Pillmanize Crist, but his good friend, Bobby, tries to shield him. Bobby takes the Pillmanizer instead. Crist is outraged, the attack on his friend hurts more than anything else.
PWR Remix Championship:
Gringo Loco © vs. Damian Chambers (with Kayla Kassidy) vs. Brayden Lee vs. Matthew Justice vs. Fulton (with Matthew Rehwoldt)
Chambers grabs Fulton by the hair and wants the others to help, but Fulton just snapmares him down. Fulton gets Chambers on his shoulders, Justice clotheslines them outside. Gringo and Lee find themselves alone for a lucha fight. Lee finds time to hit a tope, but Gringo makes him pay with a standing moonsault. The ring fills up again, Fulton throws Lee into Justice's arms and hits a cutter. Kassidy provides a distraction, Fulton pulls her into the ring, but Chambers swings her around like a weapon. Chambers takes over with a shotgun dropkick and impressive neckbreaker on Fulton. Gringo pulls Chambers out for a suplex on the apron. Lee prepares to fly, Justice drops him with a chair. Justice spears Gringo for 2. Tornado DDT onto chairs by Justice gets 2. Justice does the Sabu leap for a clunky landing. Meanwhile, Gringo wakes up for a double spring Vader Bomb followed by a running plancha to outside! Everyone gathers around to take Lee's corkscrew press. Lee can't hit a SSP, so Gringo hits a gut wrench cutter, Fulton breaks the pin. Fulton chokeslams Gringo, Chambers stops the pinfall with a chair. Justice gives Chambers a DVD on top of Fulton. Justice then spears Chambers through a bridged door! Fans chant “holy $hit!” Lee surprises with a Coast to Coast leg drop and SSP onto Fulton for a good nearfall! Gringo ambushes Lee with an electric chair sitout powerbomb to win at 11:16! Highly impressive spotfest, full of creativity, and mini-stories. Gringo had to earn this victory rather than luck into it, like in most scramble matches, ***½.Winner and still WR Remix Champion: Gringo Loco
Jessica Havok arrives for action but isn't happy to see Sami Callihan's manager, JT Davidson, in the crowd. She tells the peasants in the crowd to shut the f*ck up. Havok turns her attention to the bald MFer, Davidson, and makes fun of his spinal injuries. WR EVP Phil Stamper comes out to restore order and introduce Starkz.
Jessica Havok vs. Billie Starkz
They lock up, Havok bullies Billie down with her strength advantage. Havok hits a snug head butt. Starkz makes a gutsy comeback, hitting a sunset flip. Havok reverses a suplex into a throw. Havok answers with a backbreaker/lariat combination for 2. Havok grabs Billie by the hair and throws her into the rail in front of Davidson. She takes a swing at JT. Phil Stamper returns to distract Jessica with double middle fingers. Billie capitalizes with a swanton bomb to win at 7:05. Huh, you don't see babyfaces cheating to defeat heels all that often, and for good reason. *Winner: Billie Starkz
Street Fight: Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs. The Rascalz (Myron Reed and Trey Miguel)
GYV subtly accuse Zachary Wentz of faking his flight issues to avoid fighting them. Luckily, Myron Reed is here as an honorary Rascal. Bell rings, the Rascalz send GYV packing. Rascalz give Drake a powerbomb/cutter combo. Reed double stomps Gibson's spine. GYV get back into the fight with trash can lids. Reed answers with an RVD chair assisted leg drop. The camera misses Reed's Sliced Bread #2 at ringside, meanwhile Trey gets backdropped into the front row. They brawl through the fans. Miguel hits a leaping plancha from Reed's back. They return to the ring, where the GYV counter into an assisted Tombstone Piledriver on the floor! Reed helps with Stundog Millionaire, but suffers a brutal can shot to the skull. Miguel saves Reed from a 2 on 1 submission with a springboard dropkick. Trey hits combination DDT's on GYV. Trey puts Gibson in a trash can and delivers a Meteora. Gibson escapes and botches a can assisted Codebreaker, but holds Trey in place for Drake's Coast to Coast leg drop! Trey kicks out (lol)! GYV prepare something nasty on the apron, but Reed soars in and puts Gibson through a table with a cutter! The Rascalz hit a double stomp backbreaker on Drake for only 2 (another lol)! Gibson quickly recovers to shove Trey onto a bridged door. Reed desperately tries to survive against GYV, but suffers a double low blow and DDT to get pinned at 15:09. I had high hopes for this and it came up pretty short. The big false finishes made me chuckle more than anything, and it seemed like the fans weren't terribly invested either. Overall, a good match that was aiming to be great, ***.Winners: Grizzled Young Veterans
Alpha Sigma Sigma (Brent Oakley and KC Jacobs) vs. RED (Rickey Shane Page and Alex Colon, with Killer Kelly)
RED ambush ASS (ooooh, now I get it, haha) before the bell. The college d-bags are the babyfaces and RED quickly cut the ring in half. Jacobs takes a prolonged beatdown before hitting a sunset flip bomb on Colon. The fans are receptive to Oakley's hot tag, he dropkicks Colon into Jacobs' blockbuster. RSP interferes but runs into Oakley's hip attack. Jacobs' frog splash gets a nearfall for Oakley. Kelly's distraction allows ASS to use a paddle as a weapon. Colon tries to set up a double superplex, instead takes a Canadian Destroyer and somersault seated senton. ASS win at 7:31! They did a good job subverting my expectations, switching from a dull squash match to a spirited upset, **.Winners: Alpha Sigma Sigma
Sore loser RSP destroys ASS with chokeslams. Colon gives Jacobs an initiation with the paddle while RSP carves Oakley's forehead with a spike. RED lost the battle but won the war.
Mance Warner vs. 1 Called Manders
Warner has a good time flipping off all the kids in the front row. Warner attacks when Manders' head is turned, but is soon forced to retreat. They brawl through the crowd, the fans seem much more invested than in the previous Street Fight. Warner exposes some concrete, Manders blocks the suplex by gripping the guard rails. Warner rips off a chunk of steel to bonk Manders and then hits a DDT onto the exposed floor. Manders takes a beating but counters with his boot, causing Mance to collapse onto a chair. Manders finds his second wind and hits an Oklahoma slam for 2. Mance recovers long enough to prop a door onto some chairs. Manders almost counters but ultimately takes a superplex through the door! Warner repeatedly smashes a piece of door over Manders' skull. Manders finds his third win, but Warner shields himself with the referee and delivers a low blow. Mance pulls down his knee pad for a running attack, but Manders pulls him into a tight rollup to steal the pinfall at 14:42! Spirited brawl with a banana peel finish, ***.Winner: 1 Called Manders
Mance pops right up and continues to assault Manders. Warner prepares to use a screwdriver, but Matthew Justice arrives to restore order. Warner shoves Justice into Manders and retreats. Manders foolishly takes the bait and argues with Justice.
Rich Swann vs. TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali
Fans like both guys, but Ali has the edge as the newest ex-WWE guy on tour. They quickly trade holds until Ali scores a rana. Match restarts with Ali grabbing a side headlock. Swann kips up and delivers a rana of his own. They sprint their way to another stalemate. They restart with another quick exchange, this time Swann blocks Ali's springboard attempt with a devastating enziguri. Swann settles into a de facto heel role and seats Ali for a running boot. Ali basically no-sells and delivers a quick tope suicida. Swann comes right back with a step up head kick. Ali blocks a superplex and handsprings into a lariat. Rolling neckbreaker by Ali, Swann blocks a rana, but Ali counters into a mid-air dropkick! Fans chant “this is awesome!” Ali blocks a cutter with a handstand, but rolls into Swann's reverse cutter for a strong nearfall. Ali dodges the 450 splash and nails a satellite DDT! Ali misses his own 450 and Swann throws him into the buckles at full speed. Ali comes back with running attacks, but Swann surprises with a running boot. Ali desperately cradles him to win at 14:34! This suffered from some no-selling, narrative hiccups early on, which validates some criticisms of indie wrestling. It got awesome when it needed to, ***¼.Winner: Mustafa Ali
Ali encourages the fans to applause Swann and offers up a handshake. Swann kicks away the handshake and angrily storms out.
REVOLVER World Championship:
Alex Shelley © (with Matthew Palmer) vs. Ace Austin (with Gia Miller)
Fans chant “f*ck you, Shelley” before the bell. Shelley ambushes Ace and spits at Miller. Ace answers with a drop toe hold and low enziguri. Shelley counters with snake eyes onto the buckles. Palmer holds Ace still for Shelley's baseball slide dropkick. Shelley begins targeting the arm. Ace comes back with a springboard missile dropkick, but doesn't forget to sell his arm injury. Palmer randomly moons the crowd. Hey, why not? Meanwhile, Shelley manages to regain control of Ace's arm. Ace doesn't like being spit on and finds his second wind. Shelley recovers with a drop toe hold into the buckles. Shelley floats into the Border City Stretch, Ace gets the ropes. Shelley traps the arm and throws chops, but Ace uses his good arm for separation and nails a springboard roundhouse kick! Palmer trips Ace, this time Shelley's baseball slide hits Palmer! Ace cartwheels on his good warm, but Shelley trips him on the apron. Ace pulls himself up and hits a soaring plancha onto Palmer and Shelley! Shelley bonks Ace into the referee. Miller tries to save her client from getting double teamed, Palmer corners her, but Jake Crist makes the save! Shelley readies a belt shot, but a second referee stops him long enough for Ace to hit a roundhouse kick. Shelley shields himself with the ref and hits a low blow. Miller interrupts the cover, so Shelley throws the ref into her. Rich Swann runs in but swerves by smashing the REVOLVER title into Ace. Shelley finishes with Sister Abigail at 11:46. There was a lot to like in this main event, as far as pacing, action, and execution goes. It devolved into sports entertainment bullf*ckery, but is forgivable for how well it sets Shelley up as a top villain. ***Winner and still REVOLVER World Champion: Alex Shelley
Final Thoughts: This was an enjoyable indie show that didn't try to just rely on workrate but made considerable attempts to have big angles up and down the card. There was enough starpower here to warrant a look if you're curious at all about the current state of independent wrestling. Mild recommendation.
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