Yate, 16/02/2019
By Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames
Plot holes
Merlin Obadiah Cambridge, the new GM of Chaos is one storyline that needs explaining. The announcement of his storyline position came out of nowhere, and since, everything that has happened in Chaos has made zero sense. Why would Dave Mercy (Chaos Owner) hand Merlin the position of GM and allow him the power to overthrow Dave as the man in power? Why would Dave Mercy then roll over after the fight to secure his power as Chaos owner at the end of 2016?
2018 ended so well, with new established stars (Beano, Danny Jones) fresh feuds and a new champion that everyone approved of.
Beano def. Paul Robinson via disqualification
I had very high hopes for this at the beginning of 2019, however after their first singles encounter this feud seems in need of oxygen. I rate Beano very highly and at the end of 2018 he seemed destined to receive the big treatment, Paul Robinson was also another I was looking forward to seeing in the New Year. The audience were a mixed bag and the reactions for Beano and Paul were half-hearted at best, the match itself also turned out to be half-hearted. This was a feud I had excitement for, unfortunately this match just didn’t deliver. The in-ring action was sloppy, the timing was off, they mistimed moves and the atmosphere was low. I was expecting a fast paced, junior heavyweight brawl, but it was predictable and long. There was concern for Robinson late in the match as he took a bad fall after a mistimed catch, following that the two exchanged big moves before Paul viciously attacked Beano with a chair. The contest ended via obvious disqualification.
Dog Collar Match
Mike Bird def. Drew Parker
Another match that failed to deliver what it promised and plodded along until the finish. The dog collar is a tough one to get right, it needs believability and good timing. Bird and Parker seemed bogged down by the gimmick and unable to string together a match. When the chain was used it failed to illicit much of a reaction, it even broke during the match. I personally felt the audience were again indifferent to the match, there wasn’t much investment and overall that hurt the contest. Both competitors hit their big spots, Drew’s 450 splash is thing of beauty and the contest seemed to be over. The use of the Piledriver was again diluted with Drew kicking out of Mike Bird’s attempt, there was another back and forth before Bird finally hit a huge and dangerous looking Spike Piledriver from the top turnbuckle to gain victory. Hopefully with the skills of two wrestlers involved this feud can be revived come the March show.
Cara Noir def. Gideon
Cara Noir impressed here and raised this match above average, it was later revealed to be Gideon’s last match and an end to their feud. The match went too long and dragged in places, the action as described above was average thanks to this ever improving and impressive Cara Noir and hard-hitting Gideon. It wasn’t an overly bad match for any particular reason, again the audience seemed disinterested and in truth I don’t think many were taken with the whole Gideon/Noir story.
Following the match, Gideon who is one of the patriarchs of Pro Wrestling Chaos announced his retirement. I think this came as a shock to most in attendance, Gideon has been a stalwart to the company and has been involved in some of the biggest and most entertaining storylines. Many would say he went out the right way.
ROH TV Title – Big Grizzly to leave Pro Wrestling Chaos if defeated
Jeff Cobb © def. Big Grizzly
The original announcement of Cobb was met with great excitement, unfortunately the late announcement that the ROH title would be on the line evaporated all excitement. It was clear that Cobb would not be losing and that Grizz would be leaving the promotion following his defeat. This was a match of two halves, the first was slow and tedious, but when they began throwing each other around the action picked up. Grizz has slowly turned face over the last few months and his popularity seems bigger than ever, unfortunately the strong support of the audience would not be enough. Cobb was impressive with his collection of Suplexes, his strength is great to see live and he at times picked up Grizz like he was a cruiserweight. Big Grizzly fought back and rallied well but the finish was evident, Cobb came back and did enough to win in convincing fashion.
Per the stipulation put in place by Merlin, Grizz had to leave the promotion after tasting defeat. He took the microphone and cut a nice promo, he reminisced and thanked the fans. Over the course of the last few months Big Grizzly has turned face, purely because of the audience, he will return a bigger star. Even when saying his goodbyes Merlin still felt the need to get involved, Grizz however dealt with him accordingly.
Knights of Chaos Tag Team Championship *No Title Change*
Project Superbad (Kip Sabian/Martin Kirby) def. Crazy TeaCups (Charlie Sterling/Eddie Ryan) w/Pariah Khan & Eddie Lion
Where to start with this complete shamble of a tag team contest, together all four competitors could main event a show. With the talent involved this could have been match of the night, instead we were treated to a comedy sideshow featuring a Lion costume and a yellow ball. Without Jinny around to defend her Maiden of Chaos championship, you could argue that the Knights of Chaos Titles are the second most important belt in the company. Instead of treating said belts with some respect and raising their reputation, Chaos decided to make a joke of their belts and insult the wrestlers in the ring and audience. As the match was in progress more eyes seemed to be focused on the antics of the Lion at ringside, playing with his yellow ball and overall tomfoolery. Mid contest the match came to an abrupt end as the defending champions left the ring to try and save the Lion, who had been dragged away by two masked men. I swear this really did happen. In any promotion a belt should be treated with high regard, therefore every defence or victory is important as the one that proceeded it. A complete waste of time.
Shax def. Desi Desrata
After a disappointing undercard the audience were apathetic for this women’s contest, the atmosphere was low and many of the fans seemed to be talking as the match took place. With the current Maiden of Chaos taking an extended leave period, the audience were definitely looking for an alternative to the otherwise mediocre Jinny. We got Shax, the plucky underdog against newcomer Desi Desrata, who again the audience seemed to know nothing about and treated her as such. This wasn’t good, neither women could raise this match above average and the audience, as I said previously didn’t seem to care. A Shax win put’s her on a collision course with Jinny (if she turns up)
King of Chaos Championship – Triple Threat Match
Dick Riley © def. Joel Redman & Mark Haskins
Thank the wrestling gods that Mark Haskins was involved in this contest, he raised the bar as always and demonstrated why he is so good. Dick after a great end to 2018 and title defence last month looked okay here, however I was a little disappointed his match was not announced before the event. The other mystery opponent was Joel Redman, who once outside the ring should have stayed there, again many of those in attendance I think were oblivious to who Joel was. This was easily the best match of the evening, the exchanges between all three early on were good, Haskins and Riley stood out, Redman kept up. It was evident throughout that Redman should be nowhere near the main event of a Chaos show, the moment he said to Haskins “show what you can do” I nearly fell off my chair. This was a frantic fast paced match, some good segments and wrestling. Joel and Haskins momentarily teamed up to dispatch Riley, that didn’t last long. They then went one on one, Haskins beat down Redman and seemed to be on a roll, however Riley returned to the ring and hit Haskins with an implanted DDT to win out of nowhere. We all thought the ref, who was abysmal all night made a mistake, the audience was silent, and no one actually reacted until ring announcer Jaida announced that Dick had retained.
Following the match, Joel decided to attack Riley (hopefully this won’t lead to a feud) he was stopped in his tracks by Eddie Dennis who came to the defence of Dick. Joel attempted to enter the ring again but was finally scared off by the mere presence of the Welshman. Eddie Dennis then asked the audience to applaud Riley, Dennis cut a very passionate promo about how underrated Dick Riley is and the hidden gem that is Pro Wrestling Chaos. Eddie then saw fit to challenge Dick for the King of Chaos title in March, this was met with great applause and acceptance from the majority, Riley approved.
With Chaos in need of top tier heels I felt it would have benefitted the promotion, if Eddie had turned heel following the main event. A turn on Dick Riley, and a shift to the heel character he plays oh so well everywhere else would have been a great move for Chaos and Eddie. Then again that might be the plan, or Eddie may only be back for a short time depending on other commitments.
You can follow me @TheCiaranJames for South West Wrestling coverage
For further information on Pro Wrestling Chaos check out http://www.prowrestlingchaos.com/
Thank you to Y2Grae Photography for the imaged used @ Y2GraePhotography
If you were unable to attend and would like to see the event, Chaos events can now be viewed @ ondemand/
