OTT returns once again to its home venue of the Tivoli Theatre for an absolutely stacked card in the third edition of Outer Space Odyssey, highlighted by the return of British Strong Style as well as Matt Riddle getting a No Limits title shot against the formerly beloved Ryan Smile in the main event.

Over The Top Wrestling
Outer Space Odyssey III
June 4, 2017
Tivoli Theatre
Dublin, Ireland

Watch: OTT on Demand

Kenny Williams def. Jake McCluskey

Kenny was making his return to OTT for the first time since December 2016 while for McCluskey this was an OTT debut for the 11 year vet whom I honestly was not familiar with prior to this match. This proved to be the perfect fast paced opener with the OTT faithful getting behind Kenny. Williams is a great fit for OTT with his mix of comedy and high flying and McCluskey was able to hang with Kenny. The one blot on the match for me was the finish as Kenny picked up the win after a tilt a whirl DDT that McCluskey seemed to land horribly on but thankfully he was fine and after he received a great ovation and a please come back chant. ***

2 Unlimited def. Extra Talent-ed

So here is some advice right out of the gate, get on board the Extra Talented hype train because those guys are going places. As soon as they entered the Tivoli you know they are stars and more importantly they know they are stars. They took all the chants the OTT crowd threw at them and used them to their advantage. For example Aaron Sollow was called a “shit Jay Uso” so he did some Uso chants and used a hip attack, just great manipulation of the crowd.

2 Unlimited were also making their OTT debuts and boy was their debut worth the wait. The brothers from Westmeath brought their A game and from the off were bringing the crowd to their feet with their insane offense. In one scary moment Patrick slipped on the middle rope attempting a sliced bread #2 on the ring apron but thankfully caught himself and was able to perform the move perfectly. Both teams were seriously impressive but in the end the Irish duo proved too much for Extra Talent-ed as Jay hit a 450 splash from Patrick’s shoulders while he was sat on the top rope which was followed by a double jump springboard moonsault by Patrick. 2 Unlimited look set to stick around OTT for the foreseeable future and an OTT tag team match against the Kings of the North will be absolutely must see. ***1/2

Pastor William Eaver def. Justin Shape

Another debutante up next as the Pastor arrived in OTT to try and make the “Face of OTT” Justin Shape change his ways. Right from the Pastor’s entrance this match was wacky with Eaver healing the OTT security and even giving a guy in a wheelchair the power to walk to the bar. Justy was the perfect opponent to debut the Pastor opposite as he can switch between being a serious bruiser and being a comedy heel at the wink of an eye. Also Logan Bryce was a great presence at ringside and could constantly be heard either shouting at the Pastor or the ringside fans and when he sought confession as a way to distract Eaver it got a genuine laugh from myself. Eaver is a perfect fit in OTT with Ireland being a nation defined until very recently by its relationship with the Catholic Church and the fans were definitely all in with the fun loving Pastor. Eaver was able to secure a debut win following a Holy Hadouken much to Justy’s dismay, which lead to Shape issuing a challenge for next month. It’s going to be Justy & Logan vs the team of Pastor William Eaver & his friend making his OTT debut… GOD. ***

Lads from the Flats (Paddy & Workie) def. Charlie Sterling & Sha Samuels

Another new duo in OTT as Sha and Charlie teamed up to take on the ultra popular Lads. Sterling and Samuels jumped the Lads during their entrance and dominated 90% of the match. As usual the OTT crowd was all over Charlie and he didn’t do anything to endear himself anymore to them when he kicked over some cans belonging to some ringside fans and then repeatedly pulled his pants down to expose his arse. Samuels relished getting booed and played up to the crowd all match long proclaiming to love Brexit and Theresa May. Again it was clever booking from OTT management as nobody on the roster takes a beating better than Paddy M, and The Lads are so beloved that anybody that lays them out the way Sterling and Samuels did with a chair after Samuels was disqualified for a blatant low blow on Workie is going to get instant heat. I get the feeling we are going to see these four go at it again in the very near future. **3/4

Mark Haskins def. Sami Callihan

It is always great to see Mark Haskins in OTT and Sami is a guy a lot of folk had been clamoring to see for a while. This match served its purpose in that it gave Haskins another big name scalp leading into his No Limits Title match at the next show following him challenging the winner of the Ryan Smile vs Matt Riddle main event, but man this match did nothing for me personally. I am not saying it was a bad match because the work was solid and both guys seemed to be trying hard and hitting each other pretty hard too but it just didn’t connect with me. Also I think some of the crowd were not familiar with Sami and possibly were not sure what to make of him and his mannerisms and the way he works. One spot I did enjoy was Sami stomping on the back of Haskins knee and from a sitout powerbomb transitioning into the stretch muffler. However there was never any doubt that Haskins was going to be victorious in this one and Sami joins the long list of guys to tap to Haskins’ sharpshooter. **1/2

Kay Lee Ray & Kris Wolf def. Katey Harvey & Martina

This match had three women I am very familiar with in KLR, Martina and Katey but by the end of the match Kris Wolf, through her enthusiasm and sheer happiness, had made me a huge fan. From the moment she walked through the curtain there was a smile on her face as she danced to her own entrance theme and even raved along to Martina’s entrance also. Speaking of Martina her entrance is just so much fun and she is still hugely popular amongst the OTT crowd and I say it every month but she continues to just get better and better between the bells.

Katey Harvey also deserves a special mention for even being on the show as the previous weekend she had competed for Progress and after feeling some pain in her wrist she went to hospital and discovered her wrist was ok but she had been working on a broken shoulder for months. Just think about that; she had a broken shoulder and didn’t notice! After seeing her display in this match I have all the respect in the world for her, she is the toughest person in OTT. It would have been very easy for Katey to do very little in the match but instead she worked the majority of the match and if her shoulder wasn’t heavily taped nobody would have known how injured she was.

The match told a simple story with the long time rivals Martina and Katey being reluctant partners and Martina at one stage even dove out of the ring with the intention of hitting Katey. All four women were constantly involved and the action was non stop. We even saw some teamwork from Martina and Katey as they hit a great looking Seshbreaker Gory Special combo move on KLR for a nearfall. Plus it was thanks to some teamwork that Martina and Katey picked up the win as Martina reversed the pressure on Kay Lee Ray roll up on Katey allowing the OTT Womens champ to get the one two three. ***1/4

After the match it appeared that for one night only we would see Session Katey as she began to dance and drink a can with the Session Moth, but it was not to be as the self proclaimed Feminist Icon smashed a can across the side of Martinas head. 

Moose def. Jordan Devlin

Sometimes the strangest people just have instant chemistry and that was the case in this one as we had a WWE:UK guy in Devlin taking on an Impact Wrestling and GFW Champion in Moose who for some inexplicable reason was wearing his ROH trunks. Man wrestling in 2017 is strange. That said this match was great and on an event full of fantastic action it stole the show. From the get go these two wasted no time and both showed some impressive athleticism with Devlin delivering a hurricanrana to the big guy followed soon after by Moose hitting Devlin with a dropkick while Jordan was on the top rope.  There was some impressive strikes from both throughout with Moose in particular delivering some great looking pump kicks.

In an unbelievable ‘what the fuck’ moment that is going to be replayed in OTT packages for years to come Moose press slammed Devlin from the ring out onto the stage seating area! Only for moments later Jordan to run and leap from the stage over the top rope with a crossbody onto Moose. From then on the crowd was electric and in a shock right behind Jordan Devlin. This was one of the best closing stretches in any OTT match I have ever seen. When Devlin delivered a Spanish Fly to Moose my jaw damn near hit the floor, and Devlin was to pick up a huge win following a picture perfect moonsault and received a standing ovation from the OTT crowd. ****

British Strong Style def. Angel Cruz, B-Cool & Tyler Bate

That is not a typo, Tyler Bate was on both teams in a six man tag match. This match had been set up earlier in the evening in a fantastic backstage segment that called back to Trent Seven’s OTT debut a couple of months ago when he broke Angel Cruzs heart and revealed he has been Tyler Bates tag team partner for years before the popular Angel and Tyler hooked up in OTT. From the get go this match was absolutely mental and needs to be seen to be believed. It is the greatest comedy based match I have ever seen. Whether it was Pete Dunne and Trent Seven doing the Vince McMahon walk around the ring in blazers while the fans sang No Chance in Hell before Trent blew out both of his quads, or Angel Cruz continuing to produce weapons in his matches, this time it was an axe. Or Team Prick becoming the baby Bruiserweights as they bit Angels fingers and did Petes signature pose as Pete looked on like a proud dad. Even referee Foxy got in on the action when he got a nearfall on B-Cool. In more WWE mockery Tyler did his version of “I’m sorry, I love you” with Angel before he hit him with his trademark left jab. This whole match was just utter insanity and ended fittingly with Tyler Bate delivering the Tyler Driver 97 to Cruz to bring the Angel and Tyler story in OTT to an end. Go and watch this match. ****1/2

No Limits Championship
Ryan Smile def. Matt Riddle

Ryan Smile’s evolution as NLW Champion continued here. This wasn’t the ultra popular All Day Star that would have the OTT crowd chant “Yes We Can” and was known as one of our own. No this was a new Ryan Smile. Gone was the cape he would normally wear in his entrance, in its place was a leather jacket. There was no war paint, no dancing to Uptown Funk and no smiling. What there was though was boos and lots of them from the fans. There was also a tonne of ‘Bro’ chants and singing of the bro song as many fans ready themselves for the start of the BrOTT era.

Right out of the gates Riddle delivered the newest move in his arsenal: the KO knee. In the early stages it was all Riddle as he dominated with suplexes and strikes and even landed a Ganso bomb for a nearfall. Once the action moved ringside Smile took over and hit his trademark over the corner dive. Smile would dominate until he missed a 450 and Riddle would take over again with German suplexes culminating in a great nearfall after a jumping tombstone. The finish of the match was a mess as after a ref bump Smile hit Riddle with the No Limits title and three Smile High splashes for a two count. Smile instantly went back up and delivered another Smile High for the three count. Following the match Smile was even cockier than before, refusing a Riddle handshake and getting in the fans faces as the show closed. ***1/2

Final Thoughts:

Top to bottom this was the best OTT show ever. It had a little bit of everything. We had two tag teams arrive on the scene in spectacular fashion in Extra Talent-ed and 2 Unlimited. Pastor William Eaver made a holy show of Justin Shape and Logan Bryce. Sterling and Samuels made their mark on the Lads from the Flats. Kris Wolf was welcomed to OTT and Katey Harvey showed just how damn tough she is. Jordan Devlin returned and stole not only the show but also the affection of the OTT crowd. British Strong Style, Angel Cruz, B-Cool and Team Prick delivered the greatest comedy match ever. Ryan Smile continued his metamorphosis into the most hated man in OTT. This is a can’t miss show and leading into WrestleRama in August I encourage everyone to jump on the OTT bandwagon now. You won’t be disappointed.