(Promotion: Premier Championship Wrestling – Location: Turner’s Hall, Cleveland, OH – Date: December 16, 2018 – Bell: 5:00 PM)

Main Card

Ring announcer Cody White takes the ring and delivers a rousing opening address to the audience.

Sless Taylor & Bryen Douglas v. Marc-Anthony Alejandro & Espiritu Maya

Taylor and Douglas are out wearing “Care Bear” hoodies. Douglas starts “Sless” and “Beer Me” chants. Taylor and Douglas win when Taylor pins Maya.

A serviceable opener with some really nice spots by Taylor and Douglas.

Winners: Sless Taylor & Bryan Douglas

“Kiss My Butt” Challenge Match

Hollywood Couture (Calvin Couture & Katie Arquette) v. Cisco Silver & Londyn Ali

The women fought into the locker room while Silver rolled up Couture for the pinfall. Couture tried to leave the ring without satisfying the match stipulation, but Joe Dombrowski came out to enforce it. Super Oprah’s music hit. Silver and Oprah worked over Couture. Oprah hiked up her…ahem…skirt and Couture was the victim of a particularly virulent “Stink Face.” Oprah then gave a big kiss to ring announcer Cody White, who oversold the hell out of it.

Winners: Cisco Silver & Londyn Ali

RC Dupree v. Gregory Iron

Dupree entered the ring to “Serve the Servants” by Nirvana. It was a good choice that works for him.

The match quickly degenerates into a brawl outside the ring. The two fight over to the timekeeper’s table where Iron bangs the hammer against the bell next to Dupree’s head.

Later, Dupree hits a low-blow on his opponent after Iron became tangled up with referee Tom Dunn. Dupree goes over by pinfall.

Winner: RC Dupree

Championship Challenge

Welterweight Wrestling Championship

Dylan Bostic (c) v. Nate Wings

Wings spends much of the match bouncing around the ring like a ball. I’m 99% certain the kid is made of rubber.

Eventually, Bostic is DQ’d when he chucks a chair from outside the ring into Wings’ face. That really had to suck.

Wings is good in the role of likable underdog challenge and Bostic excels as the shitheel villain.

Winner: Nate Wings

LeRusso’s Court (Chris LeRusso/Ron Mathis/Ganon Jones Jr./Duke Davis) v. The Culmination (Gory/Atticus Cogar/Remy LaVey) & Cornelius Crummels

This match erupts into a major melee with all eight men fighting into the audience. Mathis gives Cogar a “Bookend” on the apron.

It’s a bad night for Cogar as he also received a standing delayed suplex from Davis and a brainbuster from Mathis.

Eventually, Cogar manages to hot tag Crummels, who stuns LeRusso with an “Unprettier.”

Jones wrecks Gory with a “Black Hole Slam.”

An audience member jumps the barrier and dropkicks LaVey, leading to the pinfall to end the match. The audience member celebrates with LeRusso’s Court. He is revealed to be Mane Event associate, Tony Johnson.

Mathis repeatedly screams “Forever” into the microphone as segment ends.

Both teams had a slightly “throw-together” feel to them. LeRusso crew don’t quite feel like they would hang out together and The Culmination with Crummels is just awkward…but all eight men jelled in the ring and produced an action-packed tag match.

Winners: LeRusso’s Court

*Intermission*

During the intermission, I bought the “WRESTLELUTION Anthology” from PCW booker Joe Dombrowski. Running at nearly 20 hours, this six-disc set is a fantastic archive of the PWO/Prime Wrestling yearly marquee event. (Look for a six-part review of the set in the coming months.)

Bonus Match

Tyler Voxx & Nick Nero v. The Puerto Rican Wrecking Crew (David Tower & Johnny Dynamite Jr.)

Tower takes the microphone before the bell and dedicates the match to Cleveland legend JT Lightning.

Nero screams into Dynamite’s ear with a megaphone while he is tangled in the ropes.

Tower scoop slams Nero.

Dynamite planchas his opponents who are on the floor.

The Puerto Rican Wrecking Crew get the duke after a blockbuster/powerbomb combo to Voxx.

After the bell, Nero screams at Voxx through the megaphone. Voxx ends up cracking him in the head.

Voxx: “Too much, Nick.”

Winners: Puerto Rican Wrecking Crew

Women’s Division

Ray Lyn Bostic v. Valentina Loca

Bostic plays to a local superfan, stopping to hug him at ringside. Upon Loca’s entrance, Loca stops at the same fan and places her bandana around the fan’s neck. Bostic is fired up that her “boyfriend” was getting cozy with her opponent. The fan then bolts from ringside and watches the rest of the match from the hallway.

Loca avoids an RKO and hits a DDT for the win. Bostic exits the ring and runs to the fan in the hallway.

It was a simple match that was mostly built around the fan storyline. Loca is tiny but scrappy. And Bostic is in incredible condition.

Winner: Valentina Loca

No Disqualification Match

Jack Pollock v. Rickey Shane Page

Referee Tom Dunn brings out a trash can full of weapons as announcer Cody White warns fans to be weary of potential injury during the bout.

The two explode upon the ringing of the bell.

RSP gets to the trashcan first and dumps the weapons on the mat. Items include a Guitar Hero guitar and a loaf of bread (???).

RSP goes through a pile of carpet strips. He is then blasted with the trashcan.

Page connects with a pizza pan. He takes a handful of skewers and pounds them into Pollock’s forehead before running him through a chair wedged in the turnbuckle.

Pollock lowblows the former Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) World Champion for a two count.

The opponents trade slaps and kicks.

RSP hits a gnarly superplex.

Fans: “Bring out the tacks!”

RSP yells “Oh yeah” a la Matt Hardy before delivering a “Twist of Fate.”

Team Storm member RC Dupree runs in but accidentally low kicks Pollock. Greg Iron is out to even the odds.

Pollock kicks out of a chokeslam backbreaker.

Iron and Dupree low-blow each other and brawl to the locker room.

RSP dumps a bag of tacks out in the ring. He low-blows Pollock and executes a “Death Valley Driver” on them for the victory. He munches on the loaf of stale bread as he makes his exit.

Fans: “You sick fuck!”

This was a real war. RSP made his name in a major way after capturing the CZW title in November of 2017, but I feel like a lot of fans are unaware or sleeping on Jack Pollock. Trained by Lance Storm, Pollock has the charisma, swagger and physicality to be a player in the business.

Winner: Rickey Shane Page

Joe Dombrowski is out while the ring is cleaned. The fans are extremely riled up after the previous bout, prompting Dombrowski to comment that “this is the easiest promo I’ve never done.”

He points out the Trey Miguiel is in attendance.

He announces the next event, “Turf War,” for Saturday, January 5. It will be headline by a 10-man tag team elimination match pitting LeRusso’ Court & Tony Johnson against The Culmination, Sonny Defarge and Cornelius Crummels. Ace Perry will meet Nate Wings. Joseline. Thunderkitty and Zoey Skye will compete in a tag team match.

Main Event

Ring Announcer Showdown

Andrew Palace & Nick Lendl v. J-Rocc & Dave Kich

The crowd is filled with “Nick Lendl is my ring announcer” shirts.

Kich came out looking like a million bucks. Dude has been spending time at the gym. He’s announced as the “World’s Most Jacked-Up Ring Announcer.”

Chants for Lendl fill the air.

J-Rocc says he is going to make a “real woman” out of Lendl’s wife, who is seated at ringside.

The heat for this is real.

The pop for Palace and Lendl is perhaps the largest I’ve experienced at a PCW show. The duo are showered in streamers.

Lendl demands that Kich start the match against him…but the cowardly announcer refuses.

J-Rocc and Palace begin the match. The two brawl out to the floor.

Kich tags in. He and J-Rocc mug Palace. J-Rocc back in.

Palace Germans J-Rocc.

Lendl is finally in. There is a huge pop for the Ring of Honor announcer. J-Rocc levels him with a clothesline.

Audience: “Let’s go, Nick!”

Kich tags in and out with quick succession. He nails Lendl with a big elbow. Kich does pushups over Lendl while talking shit the entire time.

The match spills out into the hallway, leaving J-Rocc and Lendl in the ring. J-Rocc chops away at his novice opponent.

J-Rocc: “Who is the ring announcer now?”

Palace runs J-Rocc into an exposed turnbuckle. Lendle goe for the pin and gets a two-count.

Lendl stuns the audience with a jaw-dropping flip over the top rope to the floor.

Lendl and Kich are alone in the ring. Kich begs for a time-out. They shake and Lendl unloads on Kich.

Lendl: “Where you going, Dave??”

Palace and Rocc and scrapping outside the ring.

Kich takes off his bow tie and Lendl rips off his shirt. The two stand nose-to-nose.

Lendl scores with a superkick and a huge frog splash. He goes for the pin. J-Rocc cracks him with a chair. He then powerbombs Lendl on the chair and rolls Kich on top of him for the pinfall.

The audience is stunned by the loss of the babyface team.

This is clearly not over.

This match was really, really good. It’s one of the best matches involving non-wrestlers that I’ve ever seen. While a nod to the wrestler/announcer tag team classic of Hulk Hogan and & Mean Gene (RIP!) v. George “The Animal Steele & Mr. Fuji, this match felt modern and far more athletic. Both Lendl and Kich came in shape and ready to put on the best match they possibly could. The build to this match was awesome. Fans were frothing at the mouth for it by the time the day had arrived. Lendl went above and beyond in a physical aspect…and Kich showed up looking like a stone cold killer. Palace and J-Rocc played their roles to perfection. J-Rocc’s fingerprints were all over the match, surely guiding the young talent along the way. This match is well worth tracking down via streaming or DVD. I highly recommend it.

Click HERE for more information about upcoming PCW events, merchandise and more.

-Ted Zep

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