By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Defy Wrestling “Kingdom Come”
Replay available via FITE.TV
October 29, 2022 from Seattle, Washington at Washington Hall
This venue is a nightclub. Rich Bocchini and Ethan HD provided commentary, and they ran down the lineup of the show. This is a gorgeous building, and it’s packed to capacity at perhaps 500 fans. Rich and Ethan said it was their biggest crowd yet.
1. “Second Gear Crew” Matthew Justice and Mance Warner defeated “State of Emergency” Sebastian Wolf and Miles DeVille to win the Defy Tag Team Titles at 12:50. This is the Defy debut for the SGC. I admittedly don’t know the tag champs, but I’ve seen a lot of the SG Crew in GCW. SoE are the heels and they stalled on the floor. So, they all brawled on the floor and Mance threw a chair at an unprotected head. The SoE worked over Mance, until Justice made the hot tag. Mance, standing on the floor, threw another chair into the ring, striking an opponent. I just don’t know why anyone would agree to work with him, he’s so careless and reckless.
The SGC put a female valet through a table in the ring at 11:00. Miles hit an enzuigiri on Mance for a nearfall. The SGC hit a double spear. Mance threw yet another chair at an opponent’s head as he was seated on the top turnbuckle. Mance hit a superplex, and Justice followed it up with a frogsplash for the pin. New champions! Rich said the tag titles have been a “hot potato” in Defy of late, with no one able to retain them.
* A video aired, previewing a battle royal for the BMF title, held by Schaff. He swore a lot and proclaimed he was going to retain his title. Schaff is muscular with a great physique, and reminds me a lot of Jake Something.
2. Schaff won the BMF Battle Royal at 15:58. While they called it a battle royal, it is a WWE-style Royal Rumble, and there clearly will be a lot of new and unfamiliar faces here, and I have no idea how many competitors are in this match. Guillermo Rojas and Levi Cooper started, and the crowd hates Levi. Ethan HD left the commentary booth, so I presume he’s entering himself into this match. Eddie Pearl was #3 at 2:00; he’s a former tag champ here and a heel, and he helped Levi work over Rojas. AEW’s Ortiz is #4 and he got a huge pop. Adam Ryder is #5 at 4:00, and Shiho Hong is #6. I just saw Hong compete on a GCW show. Adriel Noctis entered at #7. Two people got eliminated.
Schaff hit the ring at #8 to a massive pop, and he hit a sit-out powerbomb. Ortiz tossed someone and got a big pop. Schaff clotheslined Ryder over the top rope, then he hit a gorilla press on Hong, tossing him to the floor on Ryder. So, we are down to just Schaff and Ortiz. No one else is coming out, so I guess just eight competitors. Schaff hit a massive overhand chop that dropped Ortiz. They brawled onto the ring apron, but got back in the ring to continue brawling. Schaff clotheslined Ortiz over the top rope to the floor to win.
* Travis Williams and Judas Icarus attacked Schaff after the match. The lights went out and Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child of Mine” played. Randy Myers (think Darby Allin) came out from the back to a huge pop. He has smeared makeup and has a skater-kid vibe. Myers helped send Williams and Icarus scampering to the back. He shook hands with Schaff. Both Schaff and Myers have a title belt, and it appears they are eyeing each other’s belts.
3. Davey Richards defeated Cody Chhun at 17:39. Chhun is a tall Asian man, similar to NXT’s Boa; I’ve seen him a few times now and he’s pretty good. Richards is a Washington native and got a big pop. A test of strength and this is intense to start. This is face-face and the crowd is into their exchanges. Richards hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 6:00. Richards applied an anklelock, and he turned it into a bow-and-arrow, then a Noble-style Trailer Hitch, but Chhun reached the ropes at 8:30.
Chhun was now hobbling from those holds. They began trading stiff forearm shots. Chhun hit a grazing dropkick, some punches and a DDT for a nearfall at 11:30. Richards hit a dragon screw leg whip, but he missed a top-rope double stomp. Chhun hit a superkick. Richards nailed a big lariat; Chhun hit a sideslam for a nearfall, and they were both down. Richards nailed a top-rope superplex for a nearfall at 15:30, and the crowd chanted,, “Both these guys!” Richards went to the anklelock.
Richards nailed the top-rope double stomp to the chest for a believable nearfall and the crowd popped for the kickout. Richards immediately hit a brainbuster for another believable nearfall. Richards held the anklelock tightly, until Chhun finally tapped out. That was a really, really good, believable exchange.
* Richards grabbed the mic and he put over the Pacific Northwest as “the scene” of indy wrestling today. He called out Swerve Strickland, saying it may be “Swerve’s house,” but it was “built on the foundation of the American Wolf.” He was the first-ever Defy champion, and he said it’s time he becomes champ again. That brought out Artemis Spencer, who also is a former Defy champ. Spencer has taken some time off, and the crowd was clearly happy to see him. Spencer made it clear he wants to get back in the main event mix, and not start at the bottom.
4. Vert Vixen defeated Liiza Hall to become the first Defy Women’s Champion at 13:07. Vixen, with a splash of blue in her hair, has had a handful of AEW Dark matches. Hall has orange hair. Both are babyfaces and average height and body size. The new title was displayed in the ring before the bell. Good reversals to open. Vixen grounded Liiza with some submission holds. Hall hit some kicks to the back at 5:30. They began trading harder forearm shots and the intensity level has picked up.
Vixen hit a German Suplex and they were both down at 7:30. Liiza hit a Death Valley Driver and a kick to the head, and she’s starting to look more heelish. She tied up the legs as if going for a Texas Cloverleaf. Vixen hit a Blue Thunder Bomb. Hall applied a submission lock around the head, but Vixen reached the ropes at 11:30. Hall hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall. Hall tied up the legs. They traded rollups and Vert hit a springboard spin kick to the face for the pin. Excellent showing for both women.
5. Ultimo Dragon and Nick Wayne defeated Gringo Loco and La Estrella at 17:06. Estrella is one of the Dragon Gate guys who are competing right now across the U.S. The commentators talked about how Wayne has modeled himself after Ultimo Dragon and this is a dream team-up for the 17-year-old star. Obviously, the crowd popped for Dragon’s entrance. This is competed under Lucha rules. Loco and Wayne started with quick reverals, and Wayne hitting a huracanrana, and they ended in a standoff.
Ultimo Dragon, now age 55, and Estrella tagged in at 2:00. Wow, Estrella is short; I know I noted that last week, but he must be barely 5’2.” They traded deep armdrags. UD hit a dragon screw leg whip to a big pop at 5:00. Estrella hit a sliding German Suplex on Wayne, and he showed off his quickness. Loco and Estrella began working over Wayne, with Loco hitting a gorilla press-into-a-faceplant. Loco tied him up on the mat and was in control of the action. Estrella hit a forward Finlay Roll. Wayne hit a stunner on Loco and made the hot tag at 11:30.
Ultimo Dragon entered and hit several quick kicks on Estrella. Wayne hit a flip dive to the floor on Loco, while UD had Estrella in an abdominal stretch. Estrella applied a cross-armbreaker on the mat, but Wayne made the save. Wayne hit a fisherman’s suplelx on Estrella for a nearfall at 14:30. Loco hit a top-rope Spanish Fly on Wayne, then he caught Wayne coming off the ropes for a faceplant for a nearfall. Loco and Wayne fought on the ring apron. Wayne hit a moonsault to the floor and turned it into a DDT. Meanwhile, in the ring, UD hit some quick moves on Estrella and an inside cradle for the pin. A fun match; Ulltimo Dragon didn’t have to do too much, but what he did looked good.
6. Minoru Suzuki defeated Tom Lawlor at 19:32. Massive pop for Suzuki, who had competed the previous two nights in NYC for New Japan. Mat reversals to open. Lawlor tied up Suzuki’s legs on the mat and slapped him, angering Suzuki, drawing a “you f—ed up!” chant from the crowd. They got to their feet and started trading overhand chops at 5:00. “I felt that up here!” Bocchini shouted after a loud Suzuki chop. He allowed Lawlor to chop him; after the chop, Suzuki just laughed in his face, no-selling the blow. I love these exchanges.
Lawlor ditched the chops and applied a leglock on the mat at 8:30. Suzuki tied up Lawlor’s arm in the ropes, and they brawled to the floor and into the crowd. Unfortunately, it is hard to see in the dark. Suzuki turned and jawed at the ref, who sold being intimidated. Suzuki hit a chairshot to the back at 11:00, and they continued to brawl on the floor. They got in the ring and Lawlor hit some Yes Kicks to Suzuki’s chest at 13:00.
Suzuki hit a Helluva Kick in the corner. Lawlor applied a cravat and hit some knee strikes to the head, then a piledriver for a nearfall at 15:00. Suzuki got up, looking quite angry, and they went back to trading overhand chops, then they switched to forearm shots. Lawlor hit his chokeslam out of nowhere for a nearfall. However, Suzuki nailed the Gotch-style piledriver for the pin. The crowd loved this, and so did I. Minoru teased hitting one on the referee, but he let go.
Final Thoughts: The main event was great. Sure, there is a lot of formula to Suzuki’s matches, but they are just so intense, and the crowd gets so into his reactions, you can’t but help enjoy each one of them. So, I’ll give that best match.
Richards-Chhun was really good, and a totally different style than that main event, and it earns second best. I’ll go with the big tag match for third place, just for the joy of seeing Ultimo Dragon and Nick Wayne in the ring together.
I hate unprotected chairshots to the head. Absolutely hate them. Even worse, tossing a chair at someone’s head is just so dangerous and reckless. You can cause a concussion or a chipped tooth. There is no justification for ever tossing a chair at someone’s head. Mance Warner may be a decent brawling, but I hate watching him take unnecessary measures in the ring, usually at his opponent’s expense.
The show clocked in at about three hours.
Thanks for the review! I was there at the show and the crowd was absurd. One lil note for you, we met La Estrella and he was taller than my 5’4” friend. So while he isn’t huge he isn’t quite as small as ya guess.