The first show of day three of The Collective weekend was presented by Black Label Pro as they present: Threat Level Noon. There were three changes to the original line-up as Heath, Chris Masters, Carlito and Fred Rosser were all pulled two days before the show and Kylie Rae was replaced by Billie Starkz due to unforeseen circumstances.
BLP MIDWEST CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
ALEX SHELLEY (C) VS. ANTHONY HENRY
Shelley and Henry shake hands before the match officially begins. They then lock up in a collar and elbow tie up, with Shelley taking control with an arm wrench. Henry locks on his own arm wrench, and snapmares Shelley down into a roll-up, getting an early one-count, with Shelley putting another arm wrench on Henry after kicking out.
Shelley transitions from the arm wrench into an abdominal stretch, but Henry escapes it, with Shelley attempting a Hammerlock, only for Henry to take Shelley to the mat with a headlock takedown. Shelley makes his way back to his feet, pushes Henry into the ropes and drops him with a back elbow.
Shelley attempts an attack in the corner on Henry but Anthony rolls him up and locks in a Stretch Muffler, with Shelley very quickly getting to the ropes to avoid Henry from locking it in fully. Henry dragged Shelley away from the ropes and went for a spinning toe hold, looking as though he was going to lock in the Figure Four Leglock, only for Alex to kick him backwards.
Shelley backed himself into a corner and dodged an attack attempt from Henry, moved onto the apron, hit Henry with a shoulder block and dropped him with a hotshot, using the ropes for leverage. Shelley attempted a springboard splash on Henry but Anthony got his knees up. Henry attempted a kick but Shelley caught it, catching Anthony’s hand from an attempted strike, with Henry rolling through, only for Shelley to drop him with a brutal looking swinging neckbreaker.
Shelley gets another arm wrench locked in on Henry, taking him down to the mat with a double wristlock, putting all of the weight of his knee onto Henry’s wrist, while wrenching back the right arm, and then dropping a vicious knee to the back of the head of Anthony. Shelley continues the pressure by locking Henry into a variation of a Japanese stranglehold, breaking the hold with a variation of a backstabber.
Another attack attempt from Shelley is thwarted as Henry pushes him into the turnbuckle, but Shelley gets back into it with a back elbow. After some taunting from Shelley, Henry catches both of his feet, locks them together and hits an absolutely brutal looking cross-legged dragon screw. Henry continues attacking the leg, stretching Shelley’s leg out.
Henry then locks in a variation of the Indian Deathlock. Any pinfall attempts from Henry are kicked out of by Shelley, bridging up to escape being pinned. Henry puts even more pressure on Shelley’s legs by bridging back on the Indian Deathlock. Henry continues the attack on the leg following the break of the Indian Deathlock, by continously stomping on the right inner thigh of Shelley. Henry attempts another spinning toe hold but Shelley kicks Anthony, sending him out of the ring.
Henry gets back into the ring and goes to attack Shelley, but once again, Shelley sends Henry to the outside. Another attack attempt from Henry is quickly avoided by Shelley, as Alex quickly snaps him into a sleeperhold, which Henry escapes from by hitting Shelley with a kneebreaker. Shelley attempts an enzigiri but Henry ducks it, and takes Shelley out again with a low dropkick to the knee, following it up with a running soccer kick and a double stomp, once again, to the knee.
Henry then locks in the Figure Four Leglock, but is forced to break it up when Shelley reaches the ropes. Henry attempts to keep control, but Shelley stops any attack with a knife edge chop. Another attempt at an attack from Henry is once again met with a chop from Shelley. Alex follows it up with a straight right. Henry then hits Shelley with a combination of punches, along with a kick to the leg of Shelley.
Shelley then slapped and kicked Henry to the side of the head. Shelley wrenches on Henry’s arm, with Henry trying to get back into it by kicking Shelley’s legs, only for Alex to send Henry to the ground with big chops, while still holding onto his arm. A fourth attempt is ducked as Henry pushes Alex into the ropes, kicking the back of his leg.
Henry attempts a German Suplex but Alex gets into the ropes, only for Henry to hit another Dragon Screw to his left leg. Henry runs at Shelley in the corner, only to be reversed and hit with an STO into the middle turnbuckle. Henry avoids being hit with a tornado DDT by throwing Shelley back onto the mat, with Shelley selling the injury to his right leg.
Shelley throws Henry to the apron and goes for a strike, only for Anthony to connect with a kick to the side of the head. Henry hits him with a shoulder to the gut, flips over Shelley into a roll-through and hits a brutal looking super kick, and then hit a Tornado DDT of his own, getting a two count on the attempted pinfall.
Henry continued the pressure on Shelley’s legs by locking a Cloverleaf Stretch Muffler until Shelley forced the break by reaching the ropes. Henry continued the pressure on Shelley’s legs with continuous hard kicks to the back of Alex’s left leg. Shelley dodges an attack from Henry and then nails a super kick. Shelley blocks a strike attempt and hits Henry with a standing Shiranui, getting a very close two-count on the pinfall attempt.
Henry avoids a reverse STO attempt and rolls through it by locking Shelley into a Border City Stretch, only for Shelley to escape it and lock in one of his own. Henry rolls through it by rolling up Shelley, getting a two-count. Henry then nailed Shelley with the Shell Shock, getting another two-count. Henry tries to lock in the Border City Stretch again but Shelley rolls through with a pinfall attempt, getting the three-count and the victory to win the match and retain the BLP Midwest title.
An incredible opener and one of my favourite opening matches of the entire weekend. Alex Shelley and Anthony Henry pulled off one hell of a contest, with Shelley coming away with the victory to retain the Midwest title. Amazing match.
JOSH ALEXANDER VS. LEYLA HIRSCH
The match started off with Leyla going after Alexander’s leg but Josh easily picked her up and threw her across the ring. Hirsch tried to take control once again with a rear waist lock but Alexander rolled up. Leyla, once again, went for a double leg takedown, only for Alexander to hit her with a hatch suplex. Leyla, finally, took Alexander down and began swinging away on him, sending him retreating to the outside.
Hirsch continued the pressure on Alexander, taking him down with two consecutive tope suicidas. A third attempt resulted in Alexander catching Hirsch, with Alexander carrying her up onto the apron and then nailing a World’s Strongest Slam onto the apron. Alexander then made his way into the ring so the referee could begin the count. Alexander hit a picture-perfect stalling suplex once Leyla returned to the ring.
Alexander backed Hirsch into the corner, hitting her with a knee strike to the gut. Whatever Alexander had planned next was thwarted by Hirsch getting out of the corner and locking Alexander into a very brutall looking armbar. Josh escapes the armbar with a roll-up getting a two count, and fully escapes the armbar, lifting Leyla up and dropping her with a huge powerbomb onto his knee.
Leyla tried to get back into it with a overhead chop but Alexander dropped her with an clubbing forearm to the back. Two more attempts at chops to get back into the match was, again, met with another clubbing forearm. Leyla attempted a sunset flip after coming off the ropes but Alexander avoided it, with Leyla attempting a backdrop suplex , with Alexander avoiding it.
Leyla locked in a rear waist lock on Josh, with “The Walking Weapon” running into the corner, pushing Leyla backwards, but Hirsch came right back with a vicious looking elbow. Hirsch followed it up with the double-knees in the corner on the grounded Alexander, following it up with a pair of boots to the chest of Josh.
Hirsch kept the attack going, by lifting up him into an incredible Saito suplex, getting a two-count on the pinfall attempt. Hirsch hits Alexander with another forearm shot, straight to the jaw. Hirsch continued with forearm shots to the face, trying to soften the big man up and when Leyla went to get Josh out of the corner, Alexander dropped her with one hell of an elbow strike.
Alexander picked Hirsch up into a Torture Rack hold, span her around and then span her into a vicious backbreaker, getting a two-count. Alexander continued the attack on the apron, with a knee to the back and a forearm smash. Alexander then lifted Hirsch up into a firemarn’s carry, climbing up to the top turnbuckle. Hirsch escaped it, and then began hitting Alexander with strikes, hitting a huge Olympic Slam from the top rope. She quickly followed it up with a Shining Wizard variation and a German Suplex, getting another very close two-count.
After an attempt of a lariat from Hirsch, Alexander hit her with a chop. Another lariat from Hirsch is met with another chop from Alexander. Hirsch and Alexander then went back-and-forth with each other, hitting lariats and chops, until Leyla hit Josh with a flurry of strikes before she wiped Alexander out with another huge lariat. Hirsch attempted to hit Alexander with a Moonsault but Alexander caught her and dropped her with a huge spinning Tombstone, getting the three count and the victory.
The show continued with another great contest between two incredible competitors. That finish popped me huge and was such a good way to end a very competitive match. Another incredible match at Threat Level Noon.
GAYTANIC PANIC (EFFY AND DANHAUSEN) VS. THE STUNT DOUBLES (MARKO AND LOGAN STUNT)
As soon as the bell rang, Effy took Logan Stunt down immediately, with a huge bicycle kick to the chest. An attempted chokeslam from Effy is reversed into an armbar from Logan. Stunt continued the attack with a springboard modified monkey flip, into a thesz press, raining strikes down onto Effy.
A powerbomb attempt from Effy is, once again, reversed by Logan who takes him out with a double stomp. Stunt rained down punches on Effy, until he rolled out and tagged in Danhausen. Logan then tagged out himself, tagging in his brother Marko. Stunt took early control, with an arm wrench but Danhausen escaped it with a kick to the midsection. As he said straight after the kick, he’s evil. Very nice, very evil. He attempted an attack on Marko in the corner but Stunt avoided it and tried a German Suplex. Danhausen did not move, so Marko pushed him into the corner again and tried another one. Once again, Danhausen stayed put.
Danhausen approached Marko but was met with a spinning heel kick to the midsection and a punch to the face. Stunt flipped out of a chokeslam attempt from Danhausen and then dropped him with a dropkick. Danhausen tagged in Effy, but Effy was immediately taken down with a drop toe hold from Marko, who then tagged in Logan.
Logan began hammering away on Effy until he was lifted and pushed into the corner. A double team move from Gaytanic Panic resulted in Logan’s face going straight into Danhausen’s boot. Effy kept control by hitting Logan with pelvic thrusts in the corner. Logan fought out of the corner but was caught by Effy, who tagged in Danhausen, who came in and performed a variation of a 3D on Logan with Effy.
Logan rolled out of the ring, which brought in Marko, dropkicking Effy off the apron, leaving himself and Danhausen alone in the ring. Marko and Danhausen then stepped out onto the apron. Music began playing and both of them began dancing, while taking little breaks to kick Effy and Logan in the face, ending in the crowd chanting ‘Tequila’. Danhausen then clotheslined Marko back into the ring.
Marko kicked the middle rope into Danhausen’s lower region as he got back into the ring, pushing Danhausen onto the ground and throwing knees into his body, even hitting him with a few strikes for good measure. Marko then pushed Danhausen into the corner of the Stunt Doubles and began hitting him with vicious chops, following it up by tagging Logan back in.
Stunt Doubles hit Danhausen with double dropkicks to his chest and back, with Logan getting a two-count on the attempted pinfall. After Danhausen escaped a headlock, Logan continued the attack, hitting Danhausen with kicks. Logan attempted a springboard move but Danhausen caught him by the throat. Marko came into the ring to try to help his brother but was also caught by the throat. Danhausen then hit both Stunts with a double-chokeslam.
Danhausen then tipped “teeth” into the mouth of Logan. A pump kick from Danhausen and a backhand from Effy resulted in Logan backing into his own corner, with Marko tagging himself back into the match. Stunt was fired up, taking Gaytanic Panic down with chops and superkicks. The Stunts then sent Gaytanic Panic into each other, following it up with a double roll-up, scoring the pinfall and picking up the victory.
Gaytanic Panic were originally scheduled to face Carlito and Chris Masters but Carlito and Masters were pulled on two days notice. Stunt Doubles replaced them and it was a really fun match to watch. Great action from all four superstars and I’ve definitely found a new favourite in Effy. He’s so good. Great match.
THE BADDEST MOTHERFUCKER SCRAMBLE MATCH; NO DQ, NO COUNTOUT
BIG BEEF VS. JODY THREAT VS. MATTHEW JUSTICE VS. AJ GRAY VS. LEVI EVERETT VS. JOSHUA BISHOP VS. COLIN DELANEY
All seven competitors scrapped until only Big Beef and Levi Everett were left in the ring to start the match off. Levi then struck Big Beef with a pitchfork to the gut. Everett then hit Beef in the foot with the pitchfork. Levi then began using the pitchfork to rake at the back of Big Beef. Another attempt to attack Beef with the pitchfork is avoided, with Big Beef taking over, hitting Everett with strikes, sending him into the corner. Big Beef then dropped Everett with a dropkick.
With Everett rolling to the outside, Jody Threat entered the ring. Threat fired away with forearm shots, and hit Beef with a low gut kick. Threat ducked a strike and hit a straight right. A boot to the side of the head sent Big Beef into the middle rope and then hit him with knees to the back, with the ropes being used for leverage. Threat then immediately follows it up with a German suplex.
Colin Delaney gets into the ring and takes Threat out of the ring, with AJ Gray getting into the ring and taking Delaney out by the knee. Gray then hit Delaney with a backsplash elbow in the corner. An attempt at a lariat from AJ Gray is ducked, with Delaney dropping Gray with a calf kick. Gray and Delaney then began trading off chops. Delaney suplexes AJ Gray over the top rope, sending both of them crashing to the floor on the outside.
Matthew Justice and Joshua Bishop enter the ring and begin their own scrap, trading elbows and chops, with Justice clotheslining Bishop over the top rope. Big Beef attempted a suicide dive but ate nothing but floor. Levi Everett wiped out everybody on the outside with a suicide dive of his own. Jody climbed to the top rope and took everyone else out herself with a front-flip dive.
A table is then rolled into the ring, with Bishop setting it up. Bishop quickly took control, throwing a chair at the back of Bishop. Justice then threw the chair at Wes Barkley on the apron, sending him crashing to the floor below. Bishop took over, with a strike, and then put Justice through the table with a Jacknife-style powerbomb. Levi Everett breaks up the pin attempt from Bishop on Justice with a diving elbow.
AJ Gray got back in the ring and attempted a clothesline, only for Everett to duck and retreat to the outside. Big Beef then took AJ Gray out with a vicious piledriver. Jody then got back into the ring and hit Big Beef with a leaping clothesline and then nailed Beef with a huge F5. Delaney then took Jody out with a springboard cutter, only to turn into a leaping knee from Everett, following it up with a running diving headbutt. Everett then locked Delaney into the Butter Churner, which is an armbar variant. AJ Gray broke it up with a vicious looking Lariat, picking up the victory on the pinfall.
I absolutely love scramble matches so this match hit all the right notes. AJ Gray, one of the MVPs of the entire weekend, picked up the victory in this one and proved just how much of a bad motherfucker he is. I massively popped for the unannounced appearance of “WWECW legend” Colin Delaney. Incredible scramble and definitely one to check out.
KILLER KELLY VS. BILLIE STARKZ
The match starts off very quickly with Kelly hitting Starkz with a palm strike to the face. After avoiding a few strikes and submission holds, Billie nails Kelly with a vicious Lariat, with the base of her elbow, staggering Kelly. Starkz rolled through with a pinning variation, getting a one-count. Starkz continued the attack, with an elbow to the midsection of Kelly, getting a one-count on a sunset flip, missing an attempted kick.
Starkz missed a bicycle kick but, after some running against the ropes, Kelly drops Billie with one of her own, getting a one-count on the attempted pinfall. Kelly rained some vicious strikes down on Starkz. Billie tried to get back into it with elbow strikes, only for Kelly to take her down with a knee strike, getting a two-count.
Kelly kept control by taking Billie down with a front suplex drop, getting another two-count. Kelly then hit Starkz with a suplex, getting a two-count on the bridge pinfall attempt. Kelly slapped Billie in the face, only for Starkz to try to get herself back into it with a flurry of strikes. Kelly trips Starkz and follows it up with an absolutely brutal looking soccer kick.
Starkz took to the outside, only for Kelly to hit her with another soccer kick from the apron. Starkz avoids another by grabbing Kelly’s foot and sending her face first into the apron. Starkz and Kelly both make their way to the apron, with Billie hitting Kelly with continous unanswered strikes until Kelly hit Billie with a vicious strike of her own, following it up with a slap. Kelly lifted Billie into a Fireman’s Carry, possibly looking for a Death Valley Driver but Starkz escaped the hold, getting back into the ring from the apron.
Starkz then struck Kelly with a huge palm strike. Kelly gets back into the ring and takes Billie down to the ground with palm strikes of her own, also dropping her with an elbow. Starkz fought back into it with an elbow and a chop of her own, along with another palm strike, but Kelly hit her with a clubbing blow to the back.
Starkz tried to hit a lariat but Kelly caught her and hit Billie with a vicious headbutt, following it up with a double underhook suplex. Kelly attempted a low dropkick in the corner, as Billie was down there, but Starkz moved out of the way just in time. Starkz dropped Kelly with a rolling forearm.
Before Billie could take advantage, Kelly grabbed her arm and dropped her with continuous lariats. Kelly finally nailed Billie with the low dropkick in the corner, following it up with a Fireman’s Carry, only for Starkz to attempt a roll-trhough into a crucifix, only for Kelly to roll through that and drop Starkz with a Death Valley Driver, getting a two-count on the pinfall attempt, due to Starkz grabbing the bottom rope.
Kelly put a waistlock on Billie, with Starkz holding onto the rope to try and escape, only for Kelly to swat the hold on the ropes away and nailing a German Suplex, getting a two-count. Kelly let her anger take control as she took Starkz down and began raining vicious strikes down on her, forcing the referee to put a stop to it.
Billie broke up a chokehold that Kelly had on her with continuous forearm shots and chops, even dropping Kelly with a picture-perfect headkick. Kelly escapes an attempt at a possible German Suplex by sending Starkz into the corner. Starkz hits Kelly with an elbow and a boot to avoid losing control of the match, follows it up with a step-up enzigiri variant. Billie attempts a German, pushing Kelly into the ropes, only to get pushed out of the waistlock. Starkz opts out of the O’Connor Roll, instead nails the German suplex, with the bridge to get a two-count on the pinfall attempt.
Starkz attempted a Fisherman suplex, only for Kelly to roll-through it with a Dragon Sleeper. Starkz rolled out of that with a pinfall attempt of her own but got a two-count. Starkz kept the pressure on with a spinning side kick, following it up with a side elbow, with Kelly dropping to the mat, getting another two-count.
Starkz then hit Kelly with a Fisherman Suplex into the turnbuckle, getting a two-count on the attempted pinfall. Starkz attempted a senton bomb from the top but Kelly dodged it and then forced Billie to submit to the Dragon Sleeper.
One of my favourite matches of the entire weekend. Originally scheduled to pit Killer Kelly against Kylie Rae, Kylie was pulled due to unforeseen circumstances, her replacement in Billie Starkz absolutely stepped up to the plate and put on one hell of a performance against Killer Kelly, even convincing me she could have won at certain points in the match. Both Kelly and Billie are so freaking talented and this match is definitely one I think everyone should watch.
TOM LAWLOR AND ERICK STEVENS VS. TOP FLIGHT (ANGEL DORADO AND AIR WOLF)
Erick Stevens and Air Wolf start off the match, with Lawlor pulling on Wolf’s air from the apron, bringing Dorado into the ring, which, in turn, distracts the referee. Taking advantage of the distraction, Lawlor and Stevens double team Air Wolf. Stevens chops Wolf but is then hit with an overhead strike by Wolf. Stevens takes control again by taking Air Wolf down with a shoulder block, only for Air Wolf to get back into the match, taking Stevens out by his legs and then hitting a standing foot stomp
Stevens attempted to take control by rolling through a running attack, by locking in an armbar, with the referee forcing a break due to Wolf getting to the ropes. Wolf takes over control with a kick and some continous strikes to Stevens, hitting Erick’s wrist, rolling through into a tag to Dorado. Angel took Stevens down with dual armdrags and a picture-perfect dropkick. Air Wolf hits Lawlor with his own dropkick.
Top Flight then send Lawlor and Stevens to the outside with dual dropkicks. Stevens tags in Lawlor when they get back to the ring. Lawlor takes Dorado down with a leg sweep, but rolls back to his feet with a kick to Lawlor’s face. He sends Tom into the corner and nails him with a running clothesline, tagging in Air Wolf, who suplexes Lawlor. Dorado then hits Lawlor with a springboard swanton, getting a two-count.
Dorado gets tagged back in once again but Stevens prevents a tag team manouever, which later leads to a Lawlor German suplex on Dorado. Lawlor hits Dorado with a forearm smash and then tosses him half-way across the ring with a belly-to-belly variant of the Biel toss. Lawlor tags in Erick Stevens and Erick continues the attack with a chop. Dorado and Stevens then begin trading chops, until Stevens kicks him down, getting a two-count.
Dorado hits Stevens with a jawbreaker and goes to dive over Stevens to make the tag, only for Erick to catch him and push him into his own corner, tagging in Lawlor while doing so. Tom Lawlor hit Dorado with continuous shoulder blocks in the corner, then lifting Dorado up and placing him onto the top turnbuckle. Lawlor then hits Dorado with a high knee on Dorado in the corner, getting a two-count on the attempted pinfall.
Lawlor tagged Stevens back in, and Erick quickly locked Dorado into a crossface. Dorado quickly escaped and went to tag in Air Wolf, hitting Stevens with a monkey flip, but Erick still found a way to stop Dorado from making the tag. Stevens dragged Dorado into his own corner and tagged Lawlor back in, with Dorado hitting Tom with a spinning heel kick, ducking an elbow from Stevens, resulting in him accidentally hitting his own tag team partner, pushing Stevens onto the floor and then using Stevens and Lawlor as stepping stones to tag Air Wolf back in.
Wolf takes both Stevens and Lawlor down with a high crossbody. He then hits Stevens with a big forearm shot to his face. A double clothesline attempt is avoided, with Air Wolf taking out Stevens with a step-up enzigiri. A bodyscissors attempt from Lawlor gets reversed into a crucifix pin for a two-count from Air Wolf.
Wolf drops Lawlor with a snap German suplex, following it up with a brutal looking double footed diving dropkick, getting another two count.Lawlor pushes Air Wolf into his own corner, with Dorado tagging himself in. Air Wolf then helps Dorado hit an assisted powerbomb, following it up by taking out Stevens on the outside with a tope suicida as Dorado gets a two-count on Lawlor.
Dorado attempted a tilt-a-whirl DDT, but Lawlor avoided it, hitting a low blow and getting a close two-count. Lawlor takes Dorado down with a knee strike, with him and Stevens hitting Dorado with an assisted powerbomb. Lawlor locks Dorado into a chokehold, with Stevens trying to stop Air Wolf from breaking it up, only for Air Wolf to roll through and hit a front-flip senton, with Stevens on his back, to break it up.
Stevens dumps Air Wolf to the outside, with Lawlor tags Stevens back in. Lawlor lifts Dorado and Stevens attempts a Doomsday Device, only for Dorado to reverse it into a Spanish Fly, getting a two-count. Lawlor began raining strikes down on Air Wolf, but Wolf got back into it with some vicious forearm strikes. Top Flight then hit Lawlor with a double chop on the ropes.
Air Wolf hits Lawlor with an assisted dropkick, taking Lawlor out of the ring, leaving Stevens on his own in the ring with both members of Top Flight. Stevens does well on his own, though, as he hits both Wolf and Dorado with chops. Stevens goes corner-to-corner hitting both members of Top Flight with elbows and clotheslines until he misses a rush on Dorado which results in a clothesline, a spinning heel kick and a superkick from Top Flight.
Air Wolf then lifts Stevens up into an electric chair position, placing him onto the top turnbuckle, with Air Wolf flinging Angel Dorado into Stevens, superkicking him, getting the three-count and the victory for Top Flight.
This was another reshuffle as Erick Stevens and Tom Lawlor were originally set to face Heath and Fred Rosser (FKA Darren Young), but, much like Carlito and Chris Masters, Heath and Rosser were pulled on two days notice, resulting in Top Flight taking their spot here. After seeing Top Flight win the Tag Titles during the Glory Pro show, they were heading into the match with some great momentum. It was a great match with such a quick ending. Incredible tag team match.
BLP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
BESTIES IN THE WORLD (DAVEY VEGA AND MAT FITCHETT) (C) VS. VIOLENCE IS FOREVER (DOMNIC GARRINI AND KEVIN KU)
Garrini and Fitchett start the match off with an arm wrench, with Fitchett sweeping Garrini’s legs, taking him down to the mat. Fitchett attempted a submission hold on the lower half of Garrini’s body but Dom rolled through for a quick one-count. Garrini quickly took over, locking Fitchett into a headlock, only for Mat to roll through into a headlock of his own, rolling over.
After some more rolling through from both Garrini and Fitchett, Dominic locks Fitchett into a crossface. Fitchett rolls through the crossface to get a two-count but Garrini puts him back into a crossface. Fitchett escapes it and locks Garrini into a heel hook. Garrini quickly escapes that and locks Mat into a chokehold, getting a two-count on a pinfall due to Mat’s shoulders being down.
Fitchett turns the tables and locks Garrini into a side headlock, only for Dom to escape that and lock Fitchett into a Front Chanchery. Fitchett pushes Garrini into the ropes, tagging in Vega as he does so. Vega takes Garrini down with a knee to the gut, with Fitchett following it up with a low dropkick. Vega stomps Garrini in the chest, getting only a one-count.
Vega continues the beatdown on Garrini, sending him into the corner, hitting him with elbows and chops. Vega tags Fitchett back in, who flips Garrini down with a snapmare, locking him into a chinlock, hitting him with elbows to keep the pressure on. Before Garrini could make a tag, Fitchett dragged him into his own corner by using a waistlock, tagging Vega back in as he did so.
Vega went for another attack on Garrini in the corner but Dom used the turnbuckle to jump over Vega and ran to his own corner to tag in Kevin Ku. He immediately rains down strikes on Vega, ending it with a hard palm strike, bringing in Fitchett. Ku sends Mat backwards with a double-footed dropkick into the corner, following that up with a bicycle knee strike to Vega.
Vega dodges a Ku attack in the corner, with Ku jumping onto the middle turnbuckle. It looked as though he was going to hit a diving, only for Fitchett to grab his foot, with Vega taking advantage of the distracting by hitting him with a kick to the back of his leg. Vega taking over in the match, dropping both of his knees onto Ku’s leg. Kevin tried to get back into the match with chops but Vega kept striking him down with vicious looking elbows.
Vega continued the assault with a kick to Ku’s back, with Davey going back to work on Ku’s leg on the mat. After working on the leg for a bit more, Vega tagged Fitchett back in. Vega set Ku up in a tree of woe in the corner, with Fitchett raining down chops on Kevin in the corner. Fitchett continued working on Kevin’s leg, making sure to isolate Ku from Garrini.
When it looked as if Ku was moving towards Garrini to make the tag, Fitchett flattened his arm with his own knee, and transitioning that into a kneebar moderation, before dragging Ku into his corner and tagging Vega back into the match. While Fitchett held the leg of Ku, Vega kicked it, following it up by slamming Ku’s leg against the canvas. Ku hit Vega with strikes to get himself back to his feet but Vega continued the attack on Kevin’s leg, dropping him to the mat once more with a dragon screw.
Vega stomps and kicks Ku, keeping him on the ground. Ku attempted to crawl through Vega’s legs but Davey stopped him and pushed him into the corner. Ku hit Fitchett with a back elbow, sending him off the apron. Ku hit Vega with an elbow, a kick, a headbutt, a palm strike, an inner leg kick and then ended the sequence with a huge kick to the side of Vega’s head, falling down to the mat.
Ku and Vega hit each other with duelling open palm strikes and chops. Garrini and Fitchett both tag in, with Garrini hitting an elbow on Vega, a straight punch to Fitchett’s throat, following it up with a clothesline to both Vega and Fitchett, taking them both down to the mat. Garrini then went corner to corner on both Besties with chops and elbows. Garrini then nailed BOTH Besties with a double German suplex after Fitchett tried to prevent him from only hitting Vega with one.
Garrini hits Fitchett with an F5 variation, quickly locking him into an armbar until Vega went to break it up with a head kick, only for Garrini to duck it and drop Vega with another German Suplex. Violence Is Forever then wiped Fitchett out with a Total Elimination, only getting a two-count. Garrini tags Ku back in, but Davey Vega takes Ku’s leg out before Violence Is Forever could hit a double-team move.
Garrini catches a kick attempt from Vega and nails him with an elbow but Garrini gets dropped with a Fireman’s Carry toss into a Flatliner double-team move from The Besties in the World. The Besties then took out Ku in the corner with a high boot and a rolling Kapu kick in the corner, nailing a tandem avalance kicks, with Fitchett only getting a two-count on the pinfall attempt.
Fitchett and Ku then got into a chop fest, with Ku backing Mat into the corner with a flurry of chops and kicks. Fitchett got back into it and nailed Ku with a Liger Bomb from the corner, getting a two-count, quickly transitioning the pinfall attempt into an STF. Vega took out Garrini with an avalanche dropkick through the middle rope.
Vega made sure that Ku wouldn’t escape the STF with vicious kicks to the skull. Garrini took out Vega on the outside, hitting a huge back suplex on the apron. Garrini got into the ring and dropped Fitchett with a Brainbuster, getting a two-count before Vega could break it up. Vega took down Ku with a big boot. He attempted a chop to Garrini but Dom took him out with a jumping enzigiri.
Garrini hit Fitchett with a GTS, only to get hit with a Pele kick. Ku then took Fitchett out with a Snap Dragon Suplex. Vega superkicked Ku, only for Kevin to hype himself up, duck a rolling lariat and drop Vega with a powerslam. Garrini then nailed Fitchett with a straight knee, following it up with a kick to the chest. Violence Is Forever then took out Fitchett with a brainbuster/headkick combination, with Ku getting the three-count and crowning Violence Is Forever as the NEEEEEEW BLP Tag Team Champions!!!
An incredible tag team match, resulting in some new Tag Team Champions, as Violence Is Forever uncrown the Besties in the World. The selling from Ku, due to how the Besties worked on his leg was top notch to the point that I really thought the Besties were going to take advantage of it and force him to submit to retain the tag titles. Both teams did incredibly well and this match was my favourite of this event.
#1 CONTENDERS MATCH FOR BLP CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH AT SLAMILTON
ETHAN PAGE VS. BLAKE CHRISTIAN VS. ALEX ZAYNE VS. JD DRAKE
JD Drake shook Christian’s hand, and then immediately chopped both Zayne and Page before taking Christian down with a chop. Drake continues to chop all three men before attempting a suplex on Zayne, only for him to escape it, with Page hitting Drake with a big boot, with Zayne hitting him with an enzigiri to the back of the head.
After sending Zayne into the ropes with an Irish whip, Page takes him down with a beautiful dropkick. Christian takes Page out soon after with a springboard clothesline, sending Page rolling to the outside. Zayne then takes Christian down with a shoulder block. Christian catches Zayne’s foot, kips up, snapmares Zayne, misses a leg drop variation as Zayne catches his feet and sends him into the ropes. Zayne attempts a headscissors but Christian avoids a backbreaker attempt and drops him with an arm drag and follows it up with a low dropkick to the back of Zayne’s head.
JD Drake sends Christian into the corner, and then hits both Christian and Zayne with chops in opposite corners. Christian goes for an attack on Drake but JD sends him into Zayne in the corner, pushes Zayne into Christian who catches him into a DDT postion and then hits Blake with a neckbreaker, which in turn, causes Christian to DDT Zayne to the mat. Drake continues an attack on Christian, attempting a powerbomb, only for Blake to flip out of it and send Drake to the outside with a knee strike.
Christian then took out both Drake and Zayne on the outside with a flipping Tope Suicida, almost getting caught by Zayne. Ethan Page then got back into the match by taking Christian out with a superkick to the back of the head. Page then sent Christian back into the ring, with Blake rolling all the way to the apron. Page then slammed Christian head first into the turnbuckle, brought him back into the ring and hit a picture-perfect Vertical Suplex, getting a two-count.
Christian reverses a Page strike on the apron with a strike of his own and then climbed to the top turnbuckle, only for Ethan to hit them on there too. JD Drake made his way to the apron, only for Page to kick Drake in the head and then hit him with a superkick. Page then hit Christian with an Iconoclasm, with Blake landing on JD Drake on the middle rope, getting another two-count on the pinfall attempt on Blake.
Page attacks Zayne while he’s on the apron and drops him onto the ropes with a suplex, hanging Zayne up on the top rope. Christian sees this and hits a springboard 450 leg drop, taking Zayne out. Christian transitions a moonsault into an amazing tilt-a-whirl DDT, getting a two-count on the pinfall attempt.
Christian pushed Zayne into the corner and lifted him onto the turnbuckle, only for Zayne to hit Christian with a flipping facebuster off the top rope, earning himself a two-count due to JD Drake breaking it up. Drake began the assault on Zayne with back-to-back chops in the corner. Drake charges into the corner but Zayne dodges it. Zayne attempts a shooting star knee drop but Drake moves out of the way and then drops Zayne with a Claymore. Drake then nails Zayne with a double underhook twisting neckbreaker, getting a two-count due to Ethan Page breaking up the pin.
Page hit Drake with a forearm smash, but Drake hit Page with one of his own. Page then hit an open-palmed strike to Drake, only for JD to come right back with one of his own. Drake and Page then began trading chops, until Drake took control and went for another huge chop, only for Page to duck and hit Drake with a huge kick to the side of the head. Page then hit Drake with a running DDT, getting another two-count.
Zayne made his way to the top turnbuckle but Page prevented him from doing anything by hitting him with a forearm strike. JD Drake nailed Page with a huge Stunner and then hit him with a rolling cannonball in the corner. Drake then focused on Zayne on the top turnbuckle but ended up hitting a HUGE moonsault on Page, with Zayne breaking up the pinfall attempt with a huge 630 senton onto the back of JD Drake.
Zayne then lifted Drake up onto the top turnbuckle, avoided an attack from Page and then propelled himself off the back of Page and took Drake down with a dragonrana from the top turnbuckle. Zayne then charged into a boot from Ethan Page, followed up by a superkick, with Page turning Zayne inside out with a shoulder tackle.
Page continued the attack on Zayne by launching him with a Razor’s Edge style powerbomb. The pinfall attempt by Page was broken up when Dan The Dad ran down and pulled him out of the ring. Page and Dan then brawled to the back, taking Ethan out of the match. Back in the ring, Blake Christian nailed Zayne with a springboard 450 Splash, dodging a senton from JD Drake when he attempted a pin. Christian takes Drake out by hitting him with a dropkick, sending him out of the ring. Christian then locked in, and submitted, Zayne with an Armbar variation, picking up the victory and becoming the #1 contender for the BLP Championship.
Another shuffle of matches here with Isaias Velazquez and Calvin Tankman unable to compete, the originally scheduled singles match between JD Drake and Blake Christian was cancelled, with Drake and Christian joining the four way #1 contenders match. All four competitors proved why they deserved to be in the contendership match, with the always impressive Blake Christian picking up the victory, with another rivalry advancing as Dan The Dad interfered, taking Ethan Page out of the running. A future title shot awaits Blake Christian at Slamilton and I, for one, am excited to hear how that one goes.
BLP CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
JAKE SOMETHING (C) VS. WARHORSE
Something absolutely drops Warhorse to start off the match, with a huge elbow, and then starts to rain down elbows and fists on the grounded challenger. Something used the ropes as leverage to nail Warhorse with a clubbing blow. Something then picked up a bottle of water and used it to try and wipe off the make-up off of Warhorse’s face.
Warhorse gets back into the match, throwing fists at Something and a big headbutt. Something catches a running Warhorse into a powerbomb hold, but Warhorse takes him down to the mat with multiple strikes, until Something pushes him off, sending him out of the ring. Warhorse hits Something with a shoulder to the gut and then climbs to the top turnbuckle and takes Something down with a huge front dropkick.
Something rolled to the outside but Warhorse continued the attack with a front flip suicide dive through the middle rope. Warhorse attempted a double stomp but Jake dodged it, with Warhorse coming right back with a Lariat attempt. Something attempted a Lariat of his own but Warhorse rolled through with a schoolboy, getting a two until he attempted to lock a leg submission in but couldn’t, with Something kicking him away, sending him under the bottom rope to the outside.
Something took Warhorse out on the outside, with a springboard splash. Jake continued the attack with a huge forearm and then absolutely took out Warhorse with a crossbody clothesline combination on the apron. Warhorse gets back into the ring but Something throws him back out of the ring. Warhorse attempted a slap but paid for it with a massive huge forearm from Something.
Something continues the attack by stepping on Warhorse’s wrist, until he hit a huge knee drop. Warhorse got back into it by hitting a chinbreaker and a lariat, but Something did not leave his feet. Another lariat attempt is avoided as Something flattens Warhorse with a big hip attack. Something continued the assault, sending Warhorse chest first into the turnbuckle.
Something then stood on Warhorse’s throat, choking him out. Something, while holding Warhorse’s wrist hit him with two clotheslines, but couldn’t hit a third as Warhorse hit two lariats, one from each hand, and then hit a headbutt. Warhorse then took Something out with a pop-up DDT. Something misses two attempted swings at Warhorse, getting hit with a strike and a back elbow.
Something attempted another hip attack, but Warhorse slid through his legs and then hit Something with a combination of punches and chops, ending it with two forearm strikes. Jake sent him into the turnbuckle but Warhorse came back with a diving dropkick to the knee of the champion. Warhorse then finally took Something down with the Rising Lariat, turning him inside out, getting only a two-count.
Warhorse began working on Something’s legs only for Jake to flip him over, but Warhorse came right back, even raining stomps down on Something’s midsection. Warhorse then locked Something into a Sharpshooter. Warhorse turned Something over to prevent Jake from reaching the ropes but Something kicked him backwards, sending him into the turnbuckle.
Something then hit Warhorse with a Spear into the midsection in the corner. Something looked as though he was about to go for a powerbomb but Warhorse sweeped his leg and attempted to lock in the Sharpshooter again but Jake avoided it by raking the eyes of Warhorse. Something was hit with another rolling forearm from the challenger, with Warhorse attempting a possible Tiger Driver, putting something into a double underhook hold. Warhorse released the hold and got Something down to one knee with headbutts, and then nailed a double underhook brainbuster on the champion, getting only a two-count.
Something rolled out to the outside but turned his back on Warhorse, who took him out with a double stomp. Warhorse attempted a double stomp to the face but got caught by Something who dropped him with a Something Bomb, getting another two-count. Something then hit Warhorse with a powerslam piledriver variation, getting another two count, with Something getting more and more agitated each time the challenger kicks out.
Something misses a body splash from the top rope, with Warhorse taking him out with a standing double stomp. with Warhorse following it up with a huge diving elbow drop, getting another very close two-count. Warhorse hits another elbow drop, but before he can hit a third, Gary Jay’s music hits and he shows up, with Warhorse’s Independent Wrestling Television Championship, distracting Warhorse, causing Something to take advantage and hit the ropes, crotching Warhorse. Something then lifts Warhorse up and spins him around, nailing a Black Hole Slam, getting the three-count and the victory to retain the BLP Championship.
Following the match, Gary Jay took Warhorse out with a spinning back elbow, making a challenge to Warhorse for the IWTV Championship at BLP’s next show, Slamilton.
An absolutely amazing main event to finish a top-quality event as Jake Something looks forward to a title defence against Blake Christian at Slamilton. Brilliant match with Something really playing the scummy heel, picking up the victory under controversial circumstances, largely in part to the distraction from Gary Jay. Two matches were set up in one match here, which I always love to see as Jake Something and Blake Christian are set to scrap for the BLP Championship at Slamilton, along with Gary Jay challenging Warhorse to a match for the Independent Wrestling Television Championship.
Another incredible show from The Collective weekend and one I am glad I chose to review. Although I would have loved to have seen Kylie in action, Killer Kelly vs. Billie Starkz blew me out of the water and is definitely one of my favourite matches from the entire weekend. A great showing by Black Label Pro.