Pro Wrestling 2.0: Seasons Beatings 2016

Central Florida may be NXT country, but it is hardly the only game in town. There are a handful of independent options here in the I-4 Corridor, and one of the newest is Pro Wrestling 2.0, which we finally decided to check out Tuesday night. Pro Wrestling 2.0 is a professional wrestling training center/organization headed up by Alex “The Pug” Pourteau based out of a half empty strip mall in the Winter Park area. However, don’t let the modest building or the small shows fool you… several familiar indie names have graced the 2.0 ring, like its champions, Sami Callihan and Su Yung! Tuesday evening’s “Seasons Beatings 2016” would be no different.

Martin Stone & Snoop Strikes vs Jason Cade & Aaron Epic

The evening began with tag team action as Aaron Epic and Jason Cade took on the team of Martin Stone and Snoop Strikes. This was a great way to open the show in the way that it was a nice blend of comedy and action, from a “rolling” Stone paying tribute to Johnny Saint to the tope con hilo from Strikes to the outside. Cade (who I knew primarily from his impressive high-flying Evolve performances) was great bantering with the crowd, but perhaps his finest moment was exclaiming “All Hail!” before dropping Snoop with a pedigree. Speaking of Snoop Strikes, I had never heard of the guy before tonight, but I was impressed as he matched the flippy Cade move for move. Be on the lookout for Snoop. NXT fans probably know Martin Stone for his brief run as Danny Burch or his recurring role as enhancement talent, but here he shines as star of the match. The hard-hitting Stone won the contest for his team with a rope hung DDT on Cade for the win.

Lucha Cruz vs Josh Woods

This was originally supposed to be a tag match, but Woods partner Seth Petruzelli was unable to make it so it became a handicap match with Woods facing Cruz and…. a wrestling dummy, that mostly just sat there. This match started with Woods out-grappling Cruz. Eventually though, Cruz would turn things around and even perform some “double team” maneuvers with his partner.

This short, sweet exhibition match really seemed designed to get former NXT wrestler Josh Woods over. The match ended by submission when Woods tapped out Cruz with a knee-bar submission.

Pro Wrestling 2.0 Women’s Championship Match

Su Yung vs Santana Garrett

Up next are two of the most decorated women in the Indie scene, as champion Su Yung defends her gold against Santana. Su Yung came out complete with a black Santa hat and a bag of Christmas presents, however, every item she pulled out of the bag just happened to be a different championship belt that belonged to her. Santana eventually has enough and a brawl begins, goes to the outside for a long while before making its way back into the ring. Su eventually took control and punished Garrett with submission after submission. They would soon end up exhausted on their knees exchanging fist after fist. A referee distraction allowed Su to strike Santana with a title belt, but miraculously a babyface Garrett kicked out. A superkick and a moonsault later Santana Garrett would pin Su Yung to become the new Pro Wrestling 2.0 champion! This was a fun match, Su Yung is as good as it gets!

Pro Wrestling 2.0 World Championship Match

Sami Callihan vs Shane Strickland

Before the champ Sami Callihan could even make it to the ring, Stickland aka Killshot attacked. What ensued was a brawl all over the building, and into the crowd before eventually making it back into the ring. Callihan is an intense hard-hitting wrestler, and it’s a style that has been sorely missed at NXT house shows since he has been gone. Shane Strickland gave it back just as good though in what was easily match of the night. At one point Sami sent a message loud and clear as he exclaimed “WWE!” before dropping Stickland with HHH’s pedigree. In the final seconds of the match Strickland locked in a kneebar that had Callihan tapping a split second after the bell rang for a time limit draw. Still your champion, Sami Callihan extended a handshake and a hug to Strickland. Afterwards Strickland superkicked Calliahn and made off with the title belt.

Darby Allin & Rachael Ellering vs Tessa Blanchard & Joey Ryan

The action continues with intergender action with the team of Joey Ryan and Tessa Blanchard taking on Darby Allin and Rachael Ellering. Out first was Tessa with Joey Ryan on her back. The pair made it to the ring and Ryan explains that they were originally supposed to wrestle each other, but refused, as they are best friends. He tells us that they hang out everywhere together from the USA to Japan, and that Tessa even shaves his back for him. Their challengers are out next, Rachel Ellering and the explosive Darby Allin. Before the match can begin, Joey Ryan asks if anyone in the crowd wants his lollipop, which a young fan accepted. Then it’s time for the baby oil, Tessa graciously offers to oil up Ryan’s back… that’s friendship. Once the action starts, it is fast paced, back and forth action. Joey Ryan performed the dreaded “boobplex” on Ellering, and yes, Darby touched “it”. Allin found himself unwittingly with his hand on Joey Ryan’s legendary junk, and they played it up with gusto, as Ryan flexed his member before eventually flipping Allin completely over with it. Blanchard holds Ellering while Ryan pulls a lollipop out of his trunks and runs over to shove it in her mouth. Ellering ducks and Tessa takes the lollipop. Rachael takes advantage of the distraction and takes Joey Ryan down with a cutter for the win. This was of course, a goofy, but fun match. All comedy and sexual innuendo aside, the talent in the ring for this match was impressive. Tessa Blanchard and Rachael Ellering are both crazy talented for their age and are guaranteed to be major players one day. Darby Allin, has already gained a lot of notoriety for some truly crazy Evolve spots, and is one to watch, provided he doesn’t kill himself.

After a short intermission we are treated with three more matches with some of up and coming local wrestlers, featuring several students from Team Vision Dojo and 3D Academy.

That 70’s Tag Team & Trish Adora vs The Dudley Twins TNT & Lacey Lane

I enjoyed this intergender match, despite the fact that I was not familiar with anyone here, other than the Dudley Twins who I knew on name alone. Everyone did well, I thought, but Lacey Lane seemed to shine a little bit brighter to me and I’ll be on the lookout for her again. The Dudleys made an homage to their famous namesakes with their finisher, a Dudley Death Drop to Trish.

Robin Reid vs Brandi Lauren

This was a short, back and forth match with Brandi playing heel to babyface Reid. In the end, Reid defeated Brandi with a roll-up

Axx Clover & Raegan Fire vs CT Brown & Kaci Lennox

The show concluded with one more intergender match with Rex Bacchus as special referee. This was another fun one. Fans of big hoss wrestlers would probably enjoy Clover, who looks like a lumberjack. At several times the young Raegan refused to tag in, leaving Clover in a two on one situation most of the match. In the end, he was not able to overcome the offense of CT Brown and Kaci Lennox.

Pro Wrestling 2.0 is a great mix of up and coming wrestlers and established Indie stars, and I would highly recommend checking them out if you are ever in the Orlando area. They return early for a special show, Reloaded, on December 29th

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I Believe In Wrestling, Orlando 2-14-15

Saturday night fans crammed into the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando Florida to see the hungry athletes of I Believe In Wrestling give their all and settle some scores, while starting some new feuds along the way.

Our opening contest saw Chasyn Rance take on Jason Cade accompanied to the ring by Lince Dorado. In the early goings the two seemingly evenly matched competitors put on a clinic with enough grappling and reversals to satisfy wrestling purists and to make it one of the highlights of the evening. Eventually the more experienced and perhaps more aggressive Rance began to take control, but Cade kept coming eventually knocking Cades head off with an enziguri and brutal double foot stomp to the gut. Rance came back with some impressive offense of his own including a superplex and a jaw shattering superkick but yet he couldn’t pin Cade. With the referees back turned a frustrated Rance attempted to expose the turnbuckle but Dorado stopped him, thus allowing enough of a distraction for Cade to roll up Rance for a surprise pin. Afterwards Cade laid out Rance allowing Dorado to perform a perfect shooting star press to add insult to injury.

Next up, Mike Reed took on Tyranus. Reed gave up a lot of size to the mountainous Tyranus but that didn’t stop him from bringing the fight right to his opponent. Clearly there is bad blood between these two as the match that transpired was a largely a smashmouth brawl. Slams and strikes between these two were a plenty before Reed began to take the advantage over his larger adversary. Tyranus attempted a comeback, but the cunning and perhaps experience of Reed paid off and he managed to finish his off Tyranus with a spinning side slam for the victory.

Ring announcer Trevin Adams introduces Santana Garrett (formerly Brittany in TNA). First he congratulates her on her recent victory to become the new NWA World Womens Champion. He then asks her about tonights main event, an inter-gender hair vs hair match against Josh Hess. She ends the interview by stating that Hess should get a hat.

The evening continues with triple threat action the very cocky and confident Chico Adams takes on Team Dojos resident redneck Joey Mayberry and The Lounge Lizard Maxwell Chicago. You couldn’t find more diverse personalities here if you tried, but regardless Mayberry and Adams managed to form an alliance against Maxell Chicago (hilariously sporting “tuxedo” style full body tights). Chicago valiantly battle back against the numbers game to little avail. However as it almost always goes in triple threat matches the alliance is short lived and it wasn’t long before Mayberry and Adams turned on each other. Some great spots in this match including a great looking Rock Bottom from the odds on favorite in the match Chico Adams, along with Joey Mayberry making a fiery comeback after guzzling his bottle of Mountain Dew. In the end it was an unexpected distraction from Mayberrys sister that allowed Maxwell Chicago to roll up Adams for the pin.

Next up Josh Parker took on Brandon Scherer in a very surprisingly one-sided match. Scherer gave up a big weight advantage to Parker, but managed to stay one step ahead in this match with speed and just plain more aggression. With the crowd in his corner Parker played the underdog well and mounted a comeback with a huge splash in the corner that nearly flattened Scherer. Again, Brandon Scherer gained control, first with a jaw shattering superkick followed by a violent looking corkscrew moonsault for the victory. Afterwards he took the mic and says the match everyone wants to see is him vs Rhett Giddins, but Rhett is ducking him and is nowhere to be found. Ring announcer Trevin Adams lets us know that in two weeks Rhett Giddens will return.

Next up, Adams brings out Josh Hess to ask about the main event. Hess, who is confident on the microphone, tells us that this is the match that no one wanted to happen, not I Believe, and not the board of the NWA, but assures us that in the end Santana Garrett will be bald.

The action continues with CJ O’Doyle taking on Gabriel Black. The bell rings and the two start brawling and then it is Black who takes early control of the match. O’Doyle quickly turns thing around and punishes Black for much of the match. Black mounts a comeback with a swinging neck breaker and a running knee strike that would seemingly bring him a win. However after an impressive enziguri and ddt, followed by a series of forearms and an exclamatory European uppercut would put O’Doyle at a decisive advantage as he locked Gabriel Black into a Half Crab submission for the tap-out victory.

Next, the night is interrupted by Justin Michaels, manager of The Dirty Damn Outlaws. He says that in two weeks they will defeat Lince Dorado and Jason Cade in the finals of the tournament to become the new Florida Tag Team Champions. Like Hess, Michaels is confident on the mic and not afraid to berate the crowd when need be.

Next, The WWC Puerto Rican Champion Jesus Rodriguez (formerly Ricardo Rodriguez) defends his title against Aaron Epic in an entertaining semi-main event. The two opponents approached each other cautiously at first with a series of grapples before the pace began to build. Epic being the smaller of the two, it was interesting to see Rodriguez fly about while Epic attempted to slow the pace. There were a lot of great spots in this match including some great fast paced strikes and lucha offense from Rodriguez, but Epic would not be outdone countering with some serious power moves and a superkick that made the audience collectively cringe. In the end Rodriguez would get a roll-up pin from out of nowhere for the pin to retain his title. Afterwards both men would shake hands.

Our main event of the evening is up next, an inter-gender hair vs hair match featuring NWA World Womens Champion Santana Garrett vs Josh Hess. In the early goings Santana uses her speed and agility to her advantage while engaging in some impressive grappling with Hess. The action was back and forth until Hess took advantage of a distracted referee and faked being kicked in the groin, before using the advantage to sneak attack Garrett and take control. This is where the power advantage of Hess comes into play and he takes control, while trying to thwart the occasional comebacks by Garrett. Eventually she mounts a comeback and sends Hess tumbling outside of the ring, where she performs a baseball slide into Hess sending him barreling into the barricade and the two began to brawl outside of the ring, at one point Garrett sending Hess into the crowd and practically into the lap of your humble blogger. The two made it back into the ring and Hess regains control. He attempts a kick to the face of Santana but she ducks and he nails the referee instead. With the referee knocked out a frustrated Hess grabs the hair clippers, when the gigantic Mister Saint Laurent hits the ring and delivers an earth shattering Michinoku Driver to Hess, allowing Santana a handspring moonsault for the pin.

Afterwards, an exuberant roster came out and held down Hess for his new haircut sending the crowd home happy and marking an unforgettable night at the Team Vision Dojo.

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