A weekend of wrestling in York Hall, despite the train strikes we made it. Always excited to see Ospreay wrestle live, along with Jacobs, Aussie Open and Speedball this was a very fun show. It did well as a stand alone show and built towards tomorrow night’s show as well.
Connor Mills Vs Tony Deppen – 3.5⭐
The opening match was a great way to work the crowd. As much as I think Mills should lean more into the heel side, Deppen was near perfect.
From throwing a fans hat into the balcony, to distracting the ref he got great heat. The two shared the offence evenly, with Deppen hitting a sick looking stomp kick with mills caught up in the corner.
After a couple near falls, Mills got Deppen up on his shoulders hitting a torture rack drop to get the win. A fun match to get the crowd hot.
Maya Matthews Vs Chantel Jordan – 2.5⭐
The fight for the future, Matthews and Jordan put on a good match and showcased what they could do. I think Matthews could be a great struggling babyface fighting for a title.
They had a couple moments of miscommunication but recovered well. Both hit some nice reversals and back and forth.
Jordan won with a package tombstone piledriver. It was a good match and refreshing to see two new women. I still think they need to showcase the division more however.
Luke Jacobs (c) Vs Francesco Akira – Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship – 4⭐
This was a great match! Jacobs gets better every time I see him. Akira also has improved his heel work in my opinion. The match started with Akira avoiding Luke’s chops and working the back.
Eventually Jacobs connected and his chops rock. Halfway through the match kicked into another great and didn’t slow down. There was a great top rope frankensteiner from Akira, which led into the two trading suplex variations.
Akira hit his running knees to a very near fall, building to the final. Jacobs caught him in mid air to hit a power bomb, locked in the sleeper hold and Akira passed out to get the win. A fantastic end sequence to a great match.
Yota Tsuji Vs Shota Umino – Strap Match – 2.5⭐
This to me was the only big misstep of the night. A very gimmicky match that was more angle than match. But the worst thing was Yota not coming out to the Legions music, just its intro. I hope they haven’t changed the theme.
Shota was rushed on stage by Lucian Phillips, hitting a DDT on him, then charged the ring to take down Yota. There were a couple of fun moments, including the two tug of war between the ring post, Shota pulling Yota and Gideon into the steel.
Yota carried Umino around while hitting each corner, as Shota would too hit the corners (shades of the Cryme Tyme strap match). As they got to the final corner, Shota pulled Tsuji away, to hit the final corner and win. The end saw Shota whipping Gideon, hopefully ending this feud now. I think one of the main issues was the strap whips weren’t loud enough, making it not seem that painful.
Destination Everywhere Vs Aussie Open – Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship – 3.5⭐
Once again, I love Aussie Open, and their ability to react to the crowd, whether they’re being cheered or booed. Destination Everywhere made their entrances separately, adding to their descension story.
Mills started the match, and got worked over by both Davis and Fletcher. Even avoiding tagging Oku at one point. After some more double teams, mills eventually got Oku in on a fantastic hot tag, and the crowd erupted.
The highlight for me was Davis hitting a massive top rope piledriver on Mills for a near fall. The end came after Oku tagged himself in, to get hit with a double superkick after a springboard into the ring. Aussie Open got the win after hitting the Cornelius effect on Oku. A great match and furthers the split story for destination Everywhere, but they need to pull the trigger on it soon as it’s gone on for a very long time now.
Will Ospreay Vs Mike Bailey – 4⭐
This crowd was HOT for Ospreay, with “F*** Okada” chants ringing around York Hall. These two soaked in all the chants before locking up, and receiving all the love, Ospreay didn’t go full heel (yet).
These two can move between the ropes! All the speed and reversals and … dives. The match felt like it was built around one move, speedballs moonsault double knees. He kept trying to hit it in different places, and Ospreay kept reversing it. One time bailey landed both his knees, onto Ospreay’s knees and bounced him off, this looked awesome. He finally hit it onto Ospreay from the top rope.
The match finished after Ospreay hitting a middle rope tombstone for a near fall, hidden blade for a near fall, and eventually stormbreaker to get the win. A fantastic match putting both guys over.
The post match had Ospreay address the Okada chants, saying we better give him that when he comes to the UK. Calling out RKJ for him to come out fully suited. This began a great beat down angle with Akira and Aussie Open all coming down, nailing RKJ in the face with their respective belts, busting him open.
A great show and first installment of the weekend!
Ralph Wrestling Reviews 