Pro Wrestling Australia
Once Upon a Time in Max Watts
May 10, 2019
Max Watt’s
Sydney, Australia
Watch: https://play.ovo.com.au/event/7036
This is the iPPV debut for PWA on the OVO Play platform, which is a sports streaming service (much like FloSports. RIP FloSlam).
Caveman Ugg def. Davis Storm
Looks like the champ and the ‘Godfather of Australian Wrestling’ CAVMAN UGG (a little botch from the introduction graphics) is opening for the show. The actual ‘Godfather of Australian Wrestling’ Davis Storm is a highly respected 18-year veteran of the scene (especially in the state of Perth).
Ugg gave Storm a beating with hard chops and tosses him around. Storm got an opportunity by targeting his arm and tries to wear down Ugg with submissions (reminiscent of Ugg vs Wahlberg). However, Ugg is too strong and won with a one-handed crucifix powerbomb. Much shorter than I expected but PWA continues to do a good job of presenting Ugg as a dominate champ and Storm is good at taking a beating. His chest is red raw from Ugg’s chops. ***1/4
Carter Deams & Session Moth Martina def. Michael Spencer & Xena
Irish wrestling star Session Moth teaming with BABES member and party boy Carter Deams is good booking by PWA. There is a lot of Session Moth comedy (drunken antics) in this match and it’s skippable if you hate that. As for me, I enjoy the comedy. Especially when Martina and Deams become too drunk in the middle of the match and try to fight each other.
Outside of the comedy, there is good stuff. Deams, Spencer and Xena got moments to show their potential and athleticism. Even Session Moth busted some nice offense which shows her improvement as a wrestler. Deams wins with a top rope splash in a fun, comedic match. NR (very fun if you like Session Moth’s comedy)
Adam Hoffman def. Mat Rogers
Here comes the SMS team of Tyler Payne and Ricky South. Nope, another name graphic botch. It is Adam Hoffman. The much bigger ‘Full Force’ Mat Rogers controls Hoffman for the most part. I’m getting a bit bored with Rogers. He’s got his limitations. Hoffman does a powerbomb on the big man which gets a ‘Holy Shit’ response. For some reason, Jack Bonza interferes by distracting the referee and helps his 4 Nations stablemate to get the win as he hits Rogers with his pissy little chain.
Didn’t think much of this match at all. Felt like filler. I guess it continues the storyline of ‘maybe Rogers needs backup from The Velocities stable’ but it felt pissweak. Also, isn’t the 4 Nations placed as the babyfaces against TMDK for tonight’s main event? Hoffman felt like the babyface before the ending. Rodgers even got the ‘hey, hey, goodbye’ chant. A weirdly booked match. **
SMS (Tyler Payne & ‘Richard’ South) def. Black Shirt Cool Group (Concrete Davidson & Jax Jordan)
It is now time for SMS to come out and South is looking less flamboyant as usual. Wearing black pants and less makeup as a result of being forced to join SMS (the Australian equivalent of the Anti-Fun Police for the UK readers) from a match stipulation at the last show. The BSCG is over with the PWA crowd. What started as a stupid social media talk by Davidson has really spawned into something.
Battle of strength between Davidson and South. Concrete tries to bring the old ‘Ricky South’ back by offering a kiss. Instead, Davidson gets two atomic drops and a big boot. There is a conflict between Payne and South throughout this match. ‘Ricky South for the boys’ and ‘Fuck you Tyler’ chants. When South shows hints of his previous gimmick, Payne would get right into his face about it. It gave the advantage to BSCG at times. Near the end, Jax tries to convince ‘Ricky’ to come back but gets a lariat. South looks to go for the Dino Driver but Payne says no. Instead, a regular piledriver for the victory. BSCG is coming along nicely as a team and are building chemistry. South came across as more intense with his new character. The match is very oriented towards the internal conflict of SMS. ***
Robbie Eagles introduces the General Manager of NJPW, Michael Craven. They give out free t-shirts and plug the Southern Showdown. Robbie Eagles then makes an open challenge.
Robbie Eagles def. Paris De Silva, Jude London, Kai Drake, Tree Hugger Luchi, Headhunter Rig
A pretty great clusterfuck. Headhunter Rig made a great first impression on the PWA crowd. Did some of the best corner cannonballs. Kai Drake got to have a little kick exchange with Robbie and it makes me want to see another match between the two (wrestled previously on a Wrestling Go show). London stole the match with his balcony dive and he was just on fire. Luchi and De Silva had flashes of their ability. Match finished with Eagles getting a double Ron Miller Special submission on The Velocities (De Silva and London). Everyone shines in this spot fest. Wild stuff. ***3/4
During the break, Big Fudge wins the election against Tree Hugger Luchi and becomes the PWA sanitation commission. Luchi attacks Fudge during his victory speech. Luchi gets thrown into a bin as a result.
Session Moth is having a beer pong game with an audience member. I went skip on this.
Jessica Troy def. Millie McKenzie
Some technical work to begin. Mille is so advanced as a wrestler for her young age of eighteen. McKenzie hits a nasty neckbreaker early on. However, Troy gains control of Millie’s arm and works on it. Right into her gameplan. Troy is truly growing as a grappler and continues to get smoother with her transactions. The crowd is rallying behind Troy.
Mille unleashes her suplexes. She even busts out a Canadian Destroyer. Troy continues to focus her attack throughout the contest and pick her spot to get Millie’s arm. That is what got her the victory after countering a spear into an armbar for the submission. Good match with both Troy and McKenzie but never really hit the next level though to be great. ***
Billy Preston def. Sam Osborne
Jobber Alert! Preston is one half of The Prefects (schoolboy gimmick). ‘Northshore Wanker’ Sam Osborne is an impressive prospect and a very strong lad. He just bullies Preston. A schoolboy roll up by Preston gets the win in a big upset. Too short to rate. NR
PWA Tag Team Championship
4 Nations (Mick Moretti and Jack Bonza) (c) vs TMDK (Slex and Damian Slater) – No Contest
Faction warfare with a tag match between two of the most prominent stables in Australia. A lot of bald people in this match. Ring generals Bonza and Slater kick things off. Moretti and Slex then had a bit of silliness with Slex’s sunglasses and Moretti is just an oddball. Moretti and Bonza got incredible chemistry with their tag team combos. Like when Bonza locks an abdominal stretch on Slex and Moretti leaps over him to get Slater with a hurricanrana. Mick Moretti is one of the most unique wrestlers in the world. His mannerisms and creativity in the squared circle makes him a standout. Slex and Slater don’t have the tag chemistry of the 4 Nations, but are among the best workers in the country and they really brought it.
The match begins to descend into chaos when TMDK’s Mikey Broderick (originally supposed to be in the match, but was pulled out because of a hand injury) gets involved. He attacks the referee and introduces a chair into the match. Jessica Troy attempts to even the odds. No good as TMDK overwhelm Moretti and Slex hits a tombstone on the steel chair to Moretti. Only a two! 4 Nations get back into control as Moretti hits a Canadian destroyer and then the 4 Nations connect with the Doomsday Device. The match then completely breaks down with Broderick and Troy getting in the ring. Big melee. Adam Hoffman would come out to attack. Referee rules a No Contest.
In a way, it was a disappointing finish to the main event that I was really excited about and got into because of the fantastic work. I do understand that PWA wants to build the feud and get more heat for TMDK. Hopefully, it leads to a great payoff. ***3/4
Final Thoughts
A solid event and successful venture into the iPPV territory. Great main event and six-man match. Not a blow away show but it is worth a watch. Still some elements to OVO Play that need improvement (for example, having the option to change video resolution and there have been some people who have encountered a few bugs). In saying that, I found that the service was easy to use and everything worked nicely.
