Those that know or follow me on social media, will know that I am a staunch defender of my local promotion – Genesis Pro Wrestling. I won’t go into details, you can click the link here to read my last piece about them. Today’s piece is a review of the company’s second-ever show, held once again in Snodland, Kent, UK. The Community Centre was legitimately packed to the rafters. A full-on 225 person sell-out! Not bad for the company’s second-ever show!
The show began with GPW Commissioner William West in the ring, armed with nothing but a microphone. He began telling the crowd that as GPW Owner Jon Moores was in action tonight, he was in sole charge of the night’s proceedings. He wanted to see great competition. Physical competition. But more importantly, fair competition (remember that part peeps, it’ll come on handy later on). He then handed the mic back to MC Alan Moores who announced the first match…
Defrain vs DevilMan
This was a grudge match that was set up from the last show. Devilman (under his real-life guise as Referee Howes) was struck full in the face by Defrain after losing his first-round tournament match. Howes wanted a one on one match with Defrain to teach him not to touch authority figures, which lead to this match. And it started at a blistering pace…
As soon as the ring bell rung, Devilman was all over Defrain. A spear followed by hard left and rights got the rabid crowd even hotter. Defrain powdered out the ring but was quickly followed by Devilman. A nice walk and brawl through the crowd where again Devilman had the advantage. For the first five minutes of this match, it was all Devilman punishing Defrain.
But Defrain soon got back into the match. Concentrating on Devilman’s midsection by roughing him up in the corner with strikes and kicks. A nice powerslam that was felt and heard by the crowd was next. Defrain thought that was the time to show off to the fans. Who soon gave him a less than nice welcome! As he turned around, Defrain was met with a shotgun dropkick into the corner. Devilman raced to the top rope and hit a Swanton Bomb. But it looked like he came off worse as he was clutching his neck and couldn’t make a pin.
Defrain, recovered from the top rope move, changed tack and targeted Devilman’s neck. A great swinging neck breaker and a back body drop for a two count. Pushing the pace even further, Defrian hit a top rope Belly To Belly suplex that made the ring shake. But could only again gain a two count. A really nasty powerbomb by Defrain was next on the agenda. The bump from that looked worse than the Swanton Bomb from earlier. Not content with the one, Defrain goes for another powerbomb. But it’s reversed (sloppily*) into a small package and Devilman gains the victory!
Winner – Devilman
*After the show had ended, it was revealed that Devilman had suffered a concussion during the match. Hence the “sloppy” reversal. All of us here at PWP wish Devilman well.
Leo Strong vs CW Davies
Finalist of the tournament to crown the first-ever GPW World Champion, Leo Strong is definitely a crowd favorite here. Remember that comment folks, it’ll come into play later on. CW Davies is a guy I’ve never seen before, but after this bout, I want to see more of him. If you can’t tell by the picture above, both guys are absolute hosses! This is going to be on the stiff side peeps!
The match begins with Davies going in and out of the ring. Much to the anger of Strong who just wants to fight. Eventually, after a couple of minutes of messing around, Davies ties up with Leo. Both men are backed into opposing corners and break cleanly. Mildly surprised reviewer here! After another excursion outside, Strong hots a great suplex on Davies for a two count. Trying to gain an advantage, Davies keeps the ref occupied and hits a low blow on Leo. CW then puts on a side headlock and tries to pop Leo’s head off his shoulders.
He let’s Strong up long enough to be shot into the ropes for a stiff clothesline that garners a two. Deciding that Leo’s not weak enough yet, CW slaps on a seated neck crank. A move you don’t see enough of nowadays. I marked out a little for that. But Strong keeps coming back. He gets to his feet and delivers a Rock Bottom that leaves both men laid out on the canvas. Leo eventually wakes up and goes for the cover but gets a two for his troubles.
CW tries to chop the Strong man down but Leo hulks up and takes him down with a chop of his own. Rolling senton splash for two, followed by a Frog Splash from Bret’s rope for two. Sensing the end is near, Strong races to the top rope this time. But the wily old Davies “accidentally” knocks the referee into the ropes, forcing Leo to stumble and crotch himself. CW then hits a middle rope Powerslam to gain the win. Strong was almost there once again though.
Winner – CW Davies
Davies walks to the back and is passed by the Rt Hon. Horus Cameron. The country’s foremost politician was making his debut here in Gen Pro. He took great delight in putting the “peasants” in their place as he made an offer to Leo Strong.
Strong had squandered the chances that Gen Pro management had given him. But Horus can see the potential in him. And with his help, he can take Strong to the very top of GPW. He offers his hand and Leo looks/listens to the crowd. He shakes his head and walks away to the bemusement of Horus Cameron.
Edin Rise vs Furio
A blink and you miss it match here folks! Furio, the mysterious entity who looks like he resides in the far east, was accompanied by his cohorts J-Den Scarr and Cali Grey. He would be taking on the high flying Edin Rise. Who would be flanked by his Team Tenacity colleagues Banshee Vickie, Andros Jay, and Dominic King. Would there be some shenanigans during this match? Am I as bald as a coot?! Oh yes!
Super quick start as both men run the ropes trading shoulder tackles. Edin hits a head scissors take over for the first two of the match. A missed splash in the corner by Edin and Furio takes over. He walks over to the referee to distract him as his cohorts mug him in the corner. Edin’s Tenacity teammates scream at the referee but he sees nothing as he turns around. Furio slows down the pace and keeps Edin grounded on the mat. The crowd are really behind the young Gen Pro Academy star. Chanting and stamping their feet to get Edin to his feet.
With that crowd reaction, Edin rises (see what I did there 😉 ) but is met with some strikes and a big powerslam for a two count. Once again Furio keeps the ref distracted as Scarr and Grey beat down on Edin some more. A Camel Clutch from Furio to once again keep the high flyer on the canvas. But Edin’s not down for long as he gets to his feet and takes down Furio with some strikes of his own! Then hits a standing moonsault on the prone Furio that gets the crowd to it’s feet!
Edin rushes to the top rope and attempts a high-risk move, but bails out halfway through as Furio gets to his feet once more. A modified leg lock from Furio but Edin makes the ropes. Hobbling to sell the leg lock, Edin hits a jumping DDT onto his opponent, but Furio rolls out the ring. He slides under the ring and appears on the opposite side. The ref is distracted once more which allows Furio to spray purple mist into the eyes of Edin! A thrust kick to the head by Furio and this one is over! To be honest, I’m a sucker for some mist, takes me back to Tajiri in ECW…
Winner – Furio
Jon Moores vs Bully Briggs w/Tommy Briggs
The first half concluded the same way it began…with a grudge match. At the last show, Bully Briggs hit GPW Owner Jon Moores with two forearms. Why? I’m still scratching my head at that now? Moores signed a match between them then and there. The Briggs Brothers have been very active on social media, telling all and sundry what they were going to do to Jon. Did they put up or shut up? Let’s find out.
Bully definitely lived up to his name. He bullied Jon around the ring like a bulldozer. Pushing into corners to let his brawling style take over. Old school smash mouth wrestling from Bully. And with his brother Tommy outside, chirping away like that annoying bird twittering first thing in the morning, you knew that Jon would be up against it.
Bully spent the majority of the match working over Moores’s left leg and ankle. Taking his base away from him. But Moores soon came back into it, replying by dropping knees on Bully’s left leg to the delight of the crowd. A stiff running clothesline from Bully swings momentum back into his favor. He takes the opportunity to go outside and scare the kids and distract the ref. Tommy soon goes to work on Jon in the ring with a sneaky choke.
But it’s shenanigans (or a Dusty finish for those in the know 😉 ) that changes the match. Just as Jon had dumped Bully on his head with a great looking DDT, William West’s Head Of Security Ryan Hunter distracts the referee! This lets Tommy low blow the GPW Owner, allowing Bully to cover Moores for the win. BOOOOOOO!
Winner – Bully Briggs w/Tommy Briggs
Bully and Tommy continue to beat down Jon as Alan Moores, the Ring Announcer and Jon’s brother rushes the ring with a steel chair in hand! The Briggs boys powder out the ring and head to the back, leaving Jon to recover in the ring.
#1 Contendership
Battle Royal
Back from the interval and I’m annoyed! The cafe in the Community Centre had sold out of cupcakes! Bloody livid here! But to calm me down is the Battle Royal for the number one contendership for the GPW World Championship. And I have a confession to make…
I love a Battle Royal. Or a Royal Rumble. Watching it is amazing, seeing all those people in the ring. Limbs flailing everywhere, top rope eliminations…just brilliant. But writing about it is difficult. Seeing all those people in the ring. Limbs flailing everywhere, top rope eliminations…just difficult. So what I had to do was wait until the match thinned out before I took notes. But what I can tell you is that the action didn’t let up.
The Banshee Vickie took a nasty elimination but not before she dolled out some pain herself on Furio and Cali Grey. Leo Strong and Defrain went at each other toe to toe, and face to face. More big hoss action, love it! Luke Vega and Dries Micheal had an alliance until they were spooked out of the ring by the debuting Mumbles. And Horus Cameron once again tried to curry Leo Strong’s favor by admonishing the eliminations by stating that they weren’t good enough.
The final three, however, consisted of Leo Strong, Alex Cupid, and Cali Grey. And I have to admit that I thought Cupid was going to go all the way. The dude was amazing. I saw Alex a few years back in a match with RJ Singh and he did good then. But in this match, he looked phenomenal! I think he had the most eliminations and I honestly thought he was going to win. But a sneaky thumb to the eye by Cali Grey sent Alex packing as he was on the ring apron. I hope GPW bring him back
The finish was very contentious. Both men eliminated each other at the exact same time, with the two outside referees each claiming the other had won. This brought William West to the ring to announce that both men had won the Battle Royal, and at the next show on May 9, the two will face the GPW World Champion in a triple threat match!
Winners – Cali Grey and Leo Strong
Enigmatic vs J-Den Scarr & Cali Gray
Andros Jay and Dominic King aka Enigmatic were looking for a measure of revenge against J-Den Scarr and Cali Gray here. But first, let’s talk about Cali. The guy had just wrestled in a 20 minute Battle Royal and is not only pulling double duty but doing it right after the Battle Royal! He may be a dastardly heel but I tip my cap to you sir.
Much the same as Edin’s match earlier, Enigmatic were out the blocks fast. They wanted a fast-paced match. Two Japanese arm drags and a shotgun dropkick to his own corner sent Cali packing. He immediately tagged out to Scarr. Big mistake. Andros and Dominic went to work on J-Den’s arm with some nice double team action. But as Andros leaves the ring, Scarr sends Dominic flying out the ring. It’s now the heels turn to cut off the ring.
Once again the referee is distracted by Scarr which allows Furio and Gray the opportunity to inflict some dirty chokeholds to King. A beautiful slingshot leg drop by Scarr for a close two. On the outside, Andros keeps losing his cool and tries to enter the ring, but the referee stops him each time. Which allows more double and triple-teaming behind the referees back! Again Scarr gains a two count from a great roll through flatliner on King. But a lapse in concentration allows Dominic the opportunity to hit the hot tag to Jay!
Vicious strikes and an X-Factor on Scarr gains a two for Jay. He then, rather strangely tagged in Dominic for a double clothesline and another two on Scarr. More shenanigans from Furio and Grey allows J-Den the chance to tag out and hot some double team moves. A great spot was a Rude Awakening neckbreaker into a Pedigree that could have won any match, but only garnered a two here. But it was the young Enigmatic team that grabbed a great win here. King cut off Gray as Jay hit a Twist Of Fate for the victory!
Winners – Enigmatic
Genesis Pro Wrestling World Championship
The Damned (c) vs Chris Wyld
This was billed as the speed of Wyld versus the power of The Damned. But as the match wore on, both men were more alike than they cared to imagine. The first few collar and elbow tie-ups resulted in stalemates, much to the surprise of both men. They then went through a sequence of hold and counter hold – Front face lock countered to a seated hammerlock. Reversed to front face lock, then gator rolls to the ropes to break. An awesome sequence that didn’t go amiss on this reviewer!
The Damned had enough and threw Chris out the ring. A walk and brawl around ringside and Damned is laying it in. But Wyld holds his own and sends the champ sprawling into the ring post and rolls him back into the ring. The challenger went to town on Damned’s arm, with elbow drops and knees, and then a great Fishermans’s Suplex for a two. A running cross-body was caught by The Damned, who then turned it into a fallaway slam for a two. The crowd was soon on the champs back, booing him at every opportunity, and he relished it. More calculated strikes and an attempted powerbomb. But this time it was countered into a hurricanrana by Wyld! Both men back to their feet but both were knocked back down with a double clothesline.
Eventually, The Damned and Wyld were on their knees, trading hard shots. A T-Bone suplex with a float over cover (!!!) by Wyld only gains a two. He goes to the top rope and hits a leg drop for another two. You could see the frustration in his eyes as he went back to the top rope again…and missed with another leg drop! The Damned picked up Wyld from his prone position into an impressive vertical suplex and then hit a chokeslam for the victory. The Damned retains…
Winner – And STILLLLL GPW Champion, The Damned
And once again Genesis Pro Wrestling knock it out the park! It was a great show ( the amount I’ve written shows that) and hopefully, I can see some of you at the next show. May 9th, 2020, once again back at the Snodland Community Centre. And if you can’t, you can rely on myself and Pro Wrestling Post to cover the event! 😉
