Dan Moloney def. Mark Trew
August 12, 2022
Purpose Wrestling

The crowd is into this before it even begins, but I’ve got to be honest: this was not looking like my thing from the outset. I am not familiar with Purpose Wrestling, and the entirety of my BritWres awareness these days consists of “well, that’s not gone well.” I am happy to report I was wrong, and I really enjoyed my 15-minute introduction to the fluorescent-lighted world of Purpose Wrestling.

Everyone’s excited to see Dan Moloney, though. He’s a Peaky Blinder-looking guy who you immediately spot when you enter a bar and just as immediately dislike. And then he JUST SO HAPPENS to be at the next four bars you go to that evening. You instinctively hate this guy without ever once interacting with him.

Anyway, Mark Trew is filling in for an injury and the announcers quickly put Trew over for having a huge opportunity in front of him. And you’ve seen this story before. The tiny guy has to prove himself against the resident tough guy. And this is a good version of it! Trew gets his ass kicked for most of the match, but keeps kicking out and consistently outsmarts Moloney when it he has the chance.

And Trew’s smarts are what make this match worth watching—well, that and Trew nearly breaking his neck on a tope at the 13-minute mark. Trew isn’t just heart; he’s clever. He plays angles and thinks an extra move ahead, and it keeps him in the match.

I don’t know if Moloney translates against larger competition, but he was a lot of fun to watch in this match. He’s a good shitheel heavy in the world Purpose has built, and while I still have less-than-zero interest in speaking to him in a bar, he won me over in this match. His Driller finisher is Very Much My Shit as the Steiner Screwdriver/J-Driller class of finishers is forever my favorite.

Moloney honors Trew’s effort on short notice in the post-match promo, and Trew has a nearly incomprehensible backstage promo against a bright, white brick wall that makes it look like he’s laying out his tag team challenge to Moloney from the Great Beyond. Overall a really fun match that was nearly the perfect length, but was without the stakes and spectacle that really send stuff to the next level for me. I will say, though, I didn’t need a video package to keep up. 

I’m guessing that my Secret Santa was Neil David based entirely on the Eurograps Express program and his glowing praise of Purpose Wrestiling.