ACTION Wrestling & Ring of Honor
DEAN~!!!2
May 24, 2025
WaterDance Plaza
Glendale, Arizona
Watch: YouTube
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Rhino def. Manders
As you would expect, this is a total hoss off. It’s very impressive how Rhyno has looked basically the same for 25 years now. The first two minutes of the match is just brawling around the ring. The rest of it was a change of pace – the brawling went into the ring. They never really shifted into a higher gear here. It was solid, but far from a highlight. Rhino got the pin in about six minutes with a Gore. **1/2
Los Desperados (Arez & Gringo Loco) def. Coven of the Goat (Jaden Newman & Tank)
Coven of the Goat are spooky.
I like Newman – he’s a good heel technician with some presence. Tank’s still a solid hoss, and Arez & Gringo Loco are talented high flyers with some technical skills. This was very well worked, but it stayed in second gear for a lot of the match until Arez hit a couple big moves down the home stretch, getting the win after a diving foot stomp and a variation on Big Pressure. ***
Coven laid out the faces afterwards. It feels weird to get your heat back on a show like this, but sure.
Josh Woods def. JD Drake
Anthony Henry is with Drake, Filthy Tom Lawlor, with a squeegee for completely impenetrable reasons, is with Woods.
These are two underfeatured workers. Woods is a very good striking-based technician, and Drake makes this the third match with quality hoss representation. This was a nice sampler of what could be a great match if we ever get it again with more than six or seven minutes. Woods got the pinfall after the West Palm Beach Oil Rigger, a spinning neckbreaker into the corner out of the vertical suplex position. I really hope they run this back and get fifteen minutes or so. ***
The Beast Mortos def. Slim J
This was a great match-up, with Slim J as the capable underdog who can get some offense going at points, but it is just not enough to overcome the bigger Mortos. Slim J does a great job here selling and getting hope spots, and Mortos does his usual great work of being a huge guy with good mobility. I really enjoyed this match – it’s just a great match-up, and Slim J slotted into this sport perfectly. There’s got to be a place somewhere for Slim J on a major roster – he’s too damn good to not be signed somewhere. ***3/4
Ring of Honor Pure Championship
Lee Moriarty (c) def. Matt Mako
Two technicians here. The lights for the ring go out for the first few minutes, so the LED billboards in the area are providing the lighting and set a weird but cool environment that feels straight out of a Street Fighter stage while it lasts.
The match is built around each worker’s rope breaks, which they go through before we’re eight minutes in. There’s really good grappling and pin exchanges in this. Moriarty eventually gets the Border City Stretch. Mako can’t get a rope break, so he submits. Very solid stuff here. ***1/2
All the prior matches were done in an hour. They’re not burning time here.
Torneo Cibernetico Ten Man Elimination Match
Blue Panther, Hologram, Neon, Valiente & Virus def. Averno, Dr. Cerebro, Euforia, Volador Jr. & Xelhua
Blue Panther and Hologram survived
This is a great sampler for the great luchadores of the past, present, and future, which is the big selling point for this match. This gave everyone a chance to shine.
This is an impossible match to break down early on, when it’s just incessant action. Averno did tremendous work on the rudo side, working really well down the homestretch. Blue Panther had his working boots on, doing two cannonball dives off the apron.
One spot I liked down the stretch was Volador Jr. & Averno had Blue Panther set u for some kind of wacky lucha submission that involved them dropping to their back. While wrapped up on Panther, Neon snuck in and got a double two-count on the two rudos.
This may have gone a minute or two too long when we got to the final 2 vs. 2, but it was a true joy to watch. This is absolutely worth your time. ****1/4
After, Bryan Danielson made his first wrestling appearance that I’m aware of since he was murdered by Jon Moxley. Danielson puts over Hologram and especially Blue Panther, the DVDVR writers, independent wrestling, and Dean Rasmussen.
Dog Collar Match
Mad Dog Connelly def. Adam Priest
This match is announced as starting once the dog collars are attached to each competitor; Priest exploits this by getting a couple of cheap shots in before he is put on, which is a cool heel spot.
They spend several minutes brawling around the ring, using the dog collar in various leverage-based spots. At one point, Priest desperately grabs onto two fans to avoid being yanked into the ring by Mad Dog in another cool spot. Priest’s pre-match promo had him talk about a corrective collar he uses for his dog, and he introduces it into the match. Connelly uses it to choke out Priest for the win via referee stoppage.
This didn’t get that much time, but what it did get was brutal, intense, and fast-paced. It was not nearly as brutal as the now-infamous Connelly vs. Demus match, but it was still very physical. ****
If you’re not watching these two, you’d better start now.
Final Thoughts
Overall, DEAN~!!!2 was a breezy two-hour watch, a great sampler of various styles, and a love letter to independent wrestling. Time constraints kept several matches from reaching their peak, but this did have the benefit of keeping everything flowing.
If you haven’t watched much independent wrestling in the past, this would be a great starting point. If you’re especially pressed for time, check out the top two matches, but the whole show is a lot of fun. This was a good 7.5/10-level show.
