OTT produced another hit show in what has been a great year for the promotion so far. As always, Belfast provided a killer atmosphere for what ended up being a great night of wrestling, setting the table for WrestleRama next month, which is one of the biggest shows of the year. Let’s get into it
Notes from the undercard
Scotty Davis & Calum Black def. The Mongrels and Michael May & Liam Royal in a hot opener
- Black looked like a destroyer of worlds in his main show debut
- There was a lot of tension between Davis and May. Expect them to have a big singles match down the line, maybe at the next contenders show
Club Tropicana def. Sammy D, Justy and Renee Dupree
- Standard Club Tropicana comedy early on
- Dupree brought baguettes and there was a dual between the baguettes and Tropicana’s padals.
- After all the comedy, it broke down into a standard six-man tag, which ended up being very good by the end
- Captain Sexsea pinned Justy after Careless Whisper (a double-team blockbuster)
David Starr vs Sean Maxer Guinness
This is the type of match that only David Starr could pull off. The story is, Starr is still fighting to get back at his former best friend and current OTT champion Jordan Devlin. To do that, he needs to run through one of Devlin’s closest allies in Guinness.
It started as a standard technical wrestling match. They were relatively even when grappling on the mat, but once Guinness could pick up the pace he took control. That is, until he tumbled to the outside and appeared to blow out his knee. For the next few minutes, Starr brought out his brutal side, tearing away at the knee, culminating in a long figure-four leglock hold. Very few wrestlers in the world can stay in a submission for so long and not make it boring (Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi and Minoru Suzuki are a few), but the combination of Starr’s brutality in adding torque to the submission, coupled with Maxer’s brilliant selling made this whole thing compelling.
Maxer fought to the ropes, and rolled out of the ring. At this point, Starr knows the match is over. Maxer’s knee has been brutalized so much that he can barely stand. Starr rolls him back in the ring, and starts barking at him about how Devlin never cared about him, and that Devlin only cares about his WWE contract. Referee Foxy rings the bell after Maxer still cannot stand because of his injury. Starr wins. As he leaves, the crowd chants “You’re never beating WALTER.”
Raven Creed © vs Valkyrie – OTT Women’s Championship
Valkyrie is accompanied to the ring by the other half of the Woke Queens Debbie Keitel and CT Flexor.
Creed comes out all fired up, but that costs her early on, as Valkyrie is able to keep her cool and dictate the pace of the match. They go back-and-forth for a while, with no one being able to sustain too much offense. Creed tries to lock in the ankle lock a couple of times, but to little success. The third time, however, she manages to get Valkyrie into the center of the ring, and it looks like it is over. But then, Keitel grabs her hand as she reaches for the ropes and gives her an assist in getting the rope break. Creed does not take kindly to this, as she goes outside the ring and beats up Keitel, ramming her into the ring post.
Back in the ring, Valkyrie capitalizes on the distraction, hitting an enziguri and a roundhouse kick for a near fall. Creed fires up, but Keitel spits something in her face as Flexor distracts the referee. Valkyrie again capitalizes, hitting an enziguri and a flying axe kick, and wins the match and the championship. This rivalry between Creed and the Woke Queens is far from over.
Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) © vs Besties in the World (Matt Flitchett & Davey Vega) – OTT Tag Team Championships
It is weird seeing Moustache Mountain wrestling as heels, but the Besties are so easy to root for that it had to be done. And you know what? It worked perfectly.
The early part of the match felt kind of dull, with Seven working over Vega for a very long time. They teased a hot tag to Flitchett for a long, long time. When he finally got the tag, only one thing went through my head: Matt. Flitchett. Is. Incredible.
At no point did I think the Besties had a chance of winning, but then the match kept going. It broke down into both teams in the ring hitting all their tag team moves on each other, with the Besties somehow managing to stay on top for most of it. Eventually, they took too long in setting up a tombstone combination on Bate, and Bate manages to hit his own tombstone for a nearfall. The crowd is going nuts at this point.
Bate and Seven hit a bunch of double team moves on Flitchett, but he keeps kicking out. Everyone wants to see the Besties pull this one out, and Flitchett will not stay down. Finally, they hit him with a double-team Burning Hammer and he stays down for the three count. An excellent match that everyone should go out of their way to watch.
WALTER vs Tucker
A video package plays beforehand, with Tucker talking about how he was signed to WWE UK but suffered a major concussion and was released. Now he is back and is fighting for redemption, and WALTER is his first target.
Early on this was a standard WALTER match, just with slightly less chops. The best part about these shows in Belfast is that no matter what happens in the match, the crowd is going to be alive and add to it.
The whole story of this match is that Tucker is ready to be a big time competitor in OTT again, but he is still not on WALTER’s level. WALTER beat him up for a long time, with him getting in short spurts of offense in every once-in-a-while.
Tucker finally built up some steam, and managed to hit his finisher, the SDK (a jumping side kick). Unfortunately, WALTER tumbled out of the ring to avoid getting pinned. Tucker, with the help of a few fans, rolled him back in the ring, but too much time had passed. WALTER recovers, hits Tucker with a powerbomb and a big lariat for the win. The finish felt a little abrupt, but it worked.
This is chapter one of Tucker’s redemption arc. He will be back. He proved that here.
Jordan Devlin © vs Jake Atlas – OTT World Championship
Atlas has yet to break through to that next level on the American independent scene, so this was a good platform for him to show off his talents. For a while, it worked very well. He displayed quickness and athleticism, along with some innovative offense that allowed him to win the crowd over early on.
The match slowed down considerably, however, when Starr made his way to the ring to watch on. This whole Starr-Devlin storyline will presumably lead to a big title match down the line, maybe at the 5th Anniversary Show, so that is fine.
This match suffered from this point forward, however. It could have been the anticipation that Starr would get involved, or the fact that this had been a very hot show up to this point, but the crowd did not seem super invested in the match. The cherry on top was when Atlas messed up the LGBDDT, which he was visibly frustrated with himself over.
Overall, it was a fine athletic showcase for both men, with Devlin, of course, coming out on top and retaining the championship.
After the match, Starr hits the ring to cut a promo. He believes he has earned an OTT Championship match. Devlin says that Starr never beat him, which Starr counters that the last time they wrestled (in the finals of PROGRESS’s Super Strong-Style 16 tournament), he won. Devlin says that to earn a shot, he has to go through WALTER, and walks off. But, just as Devlin is about to go to the back, he is laid out by Sean Maxer Guinness. Evidently Starr’s message earlier in the night got through to him. It looks like Maxer may get the next title match, maybe at WrestleRama on June 23.
The next show on the OTT calendar is WrestleRama. So far, two matches have been officially announced:
WALTER vs David Starr
Mark Haskins © vs Terry Thatcher – GN Championship
