By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
We are looking for reports on all WWE, AEW, NXT, Impact Wrestling, MLW, ROH, GCW, and other notable live events. If you attend a show, you are encouraged to send a report or even basic results to dotnetjason@gmail.com
Premier Wrestling Federation “Hot Summer Nights”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
August 19, 2023 in Newport, North Carolina at Carolina Wrestling Academy
The show was held in a large pole barn that also serves as the PWF training factory. There was a good-sized crowd of perhaps 300. Rob Dimension and Phoenix Nitro provided commentary.
1. Diego Hill defeated Manny Lo at 7:44. I always describe Diego as Wes Lee-meets-Cedric Alexander and I see him as a top rising prospect; he will be debuting for Prestige Wrestling in Los Angeles next month, so it’s sink-or-swim time. Manny Lo is Black with curly hair that is brown on the ends. They shook hands as both are babyfaces. Diego hit a huracanrana and a basement dropkick for a nearfall. He came off the ropes but Manny caught him with a dropkick for a nearfall at 2:00. Manny hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall; he tied Diego up and slammed his head into the turnbuckles. Diego fired up with some punches and a spinning back fist, then a mid-ring Spanish Fly for a nearfall, and they were both down at 4:30.
Diego hit a series of kicks for a nearfall. Manny applied a modified Stretch Muffler leglock. Diego hit an Arabian Press to the floor at 6:30! In the ring, Manny hit a hard clothesline and a German Suplex for a nearfall. Diego hit a handspring-back-spin kick, then a top-rope Phoenix Splash for the clean pin. Another showcase performance by Diego, and Manny Lo looked good here, too.
2. Jake Powers and Race Allen defeated Nick Gene and Christian Hunter at 6:03. Powers wore a white top that reminds me of 1994 HBK and he has Young Bucks looks and heel charisma, while Allen is heavy and reminds me of Big Damo/Killian Dain. Nick Gene is tall in a blue singlet; think a taller Rhino. Hunter has short red hair. As tall as Nick Gene is, Race Allen is just bigger and he worked Gene over. Allen and Powers worked over the smaller Hunter. This match is just more basic than the first one. Race hit a jumping splash to pin Hunter. These guys are green but trying.
3. “Kings Gate” Chance Rizer and Donnie Ray (w/Patrick Scott) defeated Noah Hossman and Skyler Mack at 7:43. Rizer is short with red hair; he usually teams with Patrick Scott, so I’m presuming Scott is injured. Scott joined commentary. Ray has long curly hair like a young WCW-era Chuck Palumbo. Hossman is a young Jim Duggan, buggy eyes, beard, and a bundle of energy. I think I’ve seen Skyler Mack once before; he’s a bit heavy and he wore a red singlet showing maple leafs, as he’s a proud Canadian. Noah and Donnie started, with Noah hitting a bodyslam for a nearfall. Hossman and Mack worked over Rizer.
Kings Gate began working over Mack with basic heel cheating. Hossman finally made the hot tag at 6:00 and hit some shoulder tackles and he hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Donnie Ray, then a cartwheel-into-a-clothesline in the corner. Donnie Ray hit a half nelson suplex on Skyler Mack. Ray hit a second-rope moonsault as Rizer was hitting an inverted DDT, and they both covered Mack for the pin. Solid match; far better than the prior tag match.
4. Labron Kozone defeated Tungsten Redd at 6:44. Kozone was ‘name-checked’ on ROH TV last week by Caprice Coleman; he’s a thick Black man and I’m a fan; think a young Booker T. Redd is tall, wears a mask and a butcher’s smock, and he’s a scary Abyss-type monster. He removes the mask before he starts. They hit shoulder tackles with neither man going down. Tungsten took control and he grounded Kozone. Redd hit a D’Lo Sky High powerbomb for a nearfall at 6:00. Kozone fired back with a German Suplex and a hard clothesline for the pin. Solid match.
5. Arik Royal & BK Westbrook defeated Aaron Cox & Trey Havoc and Alexander Moss & Maurice Moss in a three-way tag at 12:29. Royal is a thick Black man like NXT’s Odyssey Jones, not quite as big as Mark Henry (who is?) Westbrook always reminds me of a young, brash, cocky Adam Cole, and I have to believe those two have a tremendous in-ring experience advantage. Cox and Havoc are young Black men; I don’t think I’ve seen either before. Havoc is a BIG man, think Keith Lee big. The Mosses are also young Black men; they are not identical twins. Royal and Trey Havoc traded some big-man hard offense. BK hit a double huracanrana at 6:30.
Westbrook, who is a babyface tonight, was getting beat up by the Mosses. Royal made the hot tag at 9:30 and he beat them up. Everyone brawled on the floor. BK hit an inside-out Asai moonsault to the floor on everyone. BK hit a Sliced Bread. Havok hit a spinebuster on BK for a nearfall at 11:00. Odyssey hit a flying clothesline off the ropes for the pin. Good match; as I noted above, BK and Royal are clearly more polished than their opponents here, but Trey Havoc could go far just on his size.
6. Ryan Galeone defeated Jaden Newman at 6:42. Galeone is the big, tall, bald guy who is Mike Knox-meets-Luke Gallows. Newman is smaller with short brown hair and beard; think Drew Gulak. Galeone easily tossed Newman to the mat and looked amused. He hit a chop that dropped Jaden. Jaden hit a dive between the ropes at 4:30. In the ring, he hit a flying double knees for a nearfall. Galeone hit a springboard summersault splash onto a standing Newman for the pin. You wouldn’t expect a man that tall to try a move like that. Solid match.
7. “The Longshots” Dylan Crossley and Tenshi X defeated Dave Dawson and Zane Dawson at 6:26. The Dawsons are fairly identical but one is shaved bald; think Brodie Lee but a bit heavier. Combined, the Dawsons have to be close to 600 pounds, while their opponents combined are not 400 pounds. Tenshi X is a Lio Rush clone, and roughly the same height and size. Crossley is white with long, curly brown hair; think Jungle Boy. The Dawsons attacked before the bell. They took turs working over Crossley extensively. Tenshi made the hot tag at 5:00 and he hit a series of kicks and he was fired up. Tenshi got a Victory Roll to score the pin. Adequate. I see a lot of potential in Tenshi X but I think in the same way that Mason Ryan could never get past being a Batista clone, Tenshi will inevitably be compared to Lio Rush.
* Colby Corino had issued an open challenge, so his opponent was a mystery. What the match lineup doesn’t show, however, is this is an empty arena match.
8. Colby Corino defeated Sawdust to retain the Oceanic Championship at 13:02. So, I don’t know who this kid is in the ring with Colby, but he looks like a younger Flip Gordon, and this does NOT have commentary. (I reached out to Colby via Twitter, and he confirmed the identity of the kid as Sawdust, with a link to his Twitter feed.) I have never been a fan of empty arena matches because I really do love hearing the crowd react; I’ll even leave the volume on for NJPW Japanese-only commentary shows so I can hear the fans react to the action. (There appears to be two or so people watching near the ringside camera; we don’t see them.) Basic mat reversals with Colby tying Sawdust in knots. They switched to hard chops at 7:00. Colby hit a Styles Clash for a nearfall. Colby hit a Rainmaker short-arm clothesline and a DDT for the pin.
* We had a really well-done video to showcase the feud leading to our main event! When we return, the cage is set up. I presume that is why they aired the empty arena match… so they had time to erect the structure.
9. Bojack defeated Mason Myles in a cage match to win the PWF Championship at 23:13. Bojack is the 350+ pound Black man with long dreadlocks, but he’s fairly agile for his size. Myles is short and a good heel with a large eagle tattoo on his chest; think Jamie Noble. Bojack might literally weigh twice the weight of Myles. They opened with an intense lockup but Myles tried to climb the cage wall.
Bojack pulled him down. (I hate the escape-the-cage-to-win WWE rules. So dumb.) Bojack hit a running shoulder tackle that flattened Myles at 2:30, then a senton splash. Myles shoved Bojack head-first into the cage, and he began stomping on Bojack’s head. Myles took off his belt and he whipped Bojack repeatedly on the back at 5:00. (Bojack does wear a shirt, but still… ouch!) A close-up of Bojack’s face shows a trickle of blood on his forehead.
Myles stayed in charge, barely letting Bojack get to his feet. He hit a dropkick to the back at 9:00. Bojack finally nailed a Pounce that sent Myles flying, and they were both down. Bojack hit a decapitating clothesline, then a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 14:00. Myles hit a series of spin kicks in the corner and a leaping DDT for a nearfall. Myles hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 17:30; that is a BIG MAN to get up! Myles waved to the back, and out came Chance Rizer, Patrick Scott and Donnie Ray. They entered the cage and began attacking Bojack! They had handcuffs, which they used to handcuff Bojack to the top rope. Diego Hill, BK Westbrook and Arik Royal ran to ringside but the cage was now locked! Diiego Hill hit a crossbody block off the top of the cage at 20:00. The babyfaces got inside the cage and beat up the heels, and everyone left but the ref, Bojack and Myles.
The commentators pointed out that Bojack was still handcuffed to the cage as Myles climbed to the top of the cage. However, now Ryan Galeone was at ringside, standing below Myles, and he refused to let Myles escape! So, instead, Myles climbed back down into the ring. Bojack had freed himself, and he whipped Myles into the cage, hit a pop-up spinning back fist and a clothesline. Bojack nailed a Tiger Driver powerbomb for the pin! New champion! The commentators said this has been a long, two-year chase for Bojack to finally win this title. A nice applause from the crowd. Galeone was still at ringside, and he was glaring at Bojack, making clear that he’s next.
* Bojack got on the mic, saying that Myles and the Kings Gate’s reign has finally come to an end. Bojack’s teammates and several other babyfaces hit the ring to celebrate with him to close out the show.
Final Thoughts: Wow. Now that’s how you do a cage match. The sniveling, undersized heel cheats and dominates, gets help from his friends, but we have the great spot of Diego diving off the cage to save his friend. And the match concludes with the long overdue title change. Yes, the cage match easily earns best match. I’ll go with Diego’s show-opener for second place, and three-way tag match for third. The second match was certainly skippable but not terrible. I will say the wrestlers who won each and every match were the better wrestler, up and down the card.
The Northeast indies get a lot of attention (and rightfully so!), but I’ve seen a really strong, young core of talent in the N.C. territories, and you see several of them here.
0 Comments