By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling (PPW) held “Eyes Wide Open”
Replay available via FITE.TV
October 8, 2022 in Broadheadsville, Pennsylvania at Signature Training Academy
I admittedly have never heard of this promotion, but this show just debuted this week on Fite+, so I thought I’d check it out. Brian Cage was featured in the ad, which also was a big factor in me giving this show a try. Action Andretti also had a good showing here, but worth reiterating this match took place before his surprise upset of Chris Jericho.
This venue is a large gym, with perhaps 250-350 fans, with a high ceiling. We have a man named Shawn on commentary; he didn’t introduce himself. Paul Bo, who served as ring announcer, joined the commentary team. The big plus of a taped show is it is far easier to mix in taped backstage segments between the matches, and PPW does an absolutely great job with that.
1. Griffin McCoy defeated Mantequilla in a #1 contender’s match at 9:49. I have seen McCoy in GCW/JCW, and he has the height and weight advantage; he has short black hair like a young Paul London. Mantequilla is from New York’s House of Glory Wrestling; he wears a mask, wrestles in a cape, and is the babyface. Watching him here makes me think of Hurricane Helms. McCoy caught him with a spin kick to the chest at 3:00 and took over.
Mantequilla nailed a dive through the ropes at 6:00, then a Swanton Bomb in the ring for a nearfall. McCoy hit a second-rope belly-to-belly suplex, then a sit-out powerbomb for a believable nearfall. Mantequilla hit a stunner, then a top-rope stunner for a believable nearfall. McCoy nailed a springboard spin kick to the head and scored a pin. Good opener.
* A backstage promo with Brando Lee, a Black man wearing yellow pants. He vowed he would his four-way match.
2. Timothy Theory defeated Vee Marino, Brando Lee, Justin, Chris Slade in a five-way to retain the No Limits Title at 7:08. I have never seen any of these five. Marino is white in a “Hugh Hefner bathrope” and a big mullet; he’s got a bit of a gut. Justin (no last name) appears much, much older in a robe, and he carried a barbed-wire-covered broom. Slade is Black with long dreadlocks and he’s a babyface. Theory has Vampiro-style white facepaint and dressed in black pants and shirt, and he’s the defending champion.
Slade and Lee traded mid-ring blows at 2:00, and both these guys look good. Slade hit a plancha to the floor on two guys at 3:30. Marino was bleeding from his forehead. Theory hit a backbreaker over his knee and a Lionsault on Marino for the pin. Okay match; these guys are green but it was watchable and didn’t overstay its welcome.
* Backstage with Chris Slade, who stressed that Timothy Theory didn’t pin him, so Slade argues he didn’t lose. A separate backstage interview with Timothy Theory. Another backstage interview with Rembrandt, a a Black man wearing a hoodie. Rembrandt says he’s pissed off because he’s not getting the respect he deserves around here.
3. Alec Odin defeated Rembrandt at 9:08. Rembrandt moped as he walked to the ring. He got on the mic and said the fans don’t deserve to see him. Odin is white and muscular, and wears the armbands around his biceps like Ultimate Warrior, and his outfit made me think of Lex Luger’s WWF “Lex Express” babyface run. Rembrandt stalled on the floor, not wanting to lock up with this beast. Odin finally grabbed him and hip-tossed Rembrandt across
Odin missed a second-rope moonsault at 4:00, and Rembrandt immediately took over with basic stomps. Odin hit a Death Valley Driver and they were both down at 6:30. Odin hit an impressive gorilla press, and he hit the second-rope moonsault for the pin. Odin sure is green, but he has the size and physique that would turn heads if he had a WWE tryout.
4. Adrien Soriano (w/Delilah) vs. Encore for the PPW TV Title at 8:19. Soriano is white and he has long black hair; think a more slender Alex Reynolds. Deliliah has Ruby Riot-green neon green hair. Encore is a Black man I also have seen in New York’s House of Glory, and he reminds me of Montez Ford, and I’m a fan. Encore hit a delayed vertical suplex. He hit an impressive overhead release belly-to-belly suplex. Delilah distracted the referee, allowing Soriano to get a rollup with a handful of tights for the tainted pin. The announcers agreed that Encore dominated the entire match.
* Backstage interview with Soriano. The interviewer told Soriano his next opponent is Griffin McCoy. Soriano wasn’t afraid.
5. Lucious Krow (w/a female manager and Phil Insane) defeated Steve O at 1:23. Steve O has black & red pants and shoulder-length brown hair and a beard. Krow is a short Black man and he’s fairly muscular. His white, female valet appears to be in her early teens; she has a blank stare. Krow got on the mic but he is fairly inaudible. He called for someone from the back! Out came Phil Insane, who wore a butcher’s apron with a pig mask, and he’s really tall. Insane and Krow immediately worked together to beat up Steve O. (I start my stopwatch at first contact; the announcers point out we haven’t had a bell.) Insane finally tosses Steve O in the ring, the bell sounds to begin the match, and Krow hit a HHH-style Pedigree for the pin. The match technically lasted maybe 10 seconds.
6. “Championship Material” Joey Martinez and Vinny Mac defeated Tom Mitchell and Johnny Moran to retain the PPW Tag Team Titles at 9:37. I don’t know any of these four. Martinez and Mac are the cocky heels. Moran has an eyepatch over one eye. Championship Material hugged on the floor, and one of the commentators immediately said, “You’ve got to give the people what they want.” The heel champs worked over Moran early on. Moran accidentally clotheslined Mitchell, allowing the heels to get a rollup on Moran for the pin. Solid, but not much to describe.
* A backstage interview with Adena Steele, who is confident she can beat Dani Mo tonight. Another segment showing Tom Mitchell and Johnny Moran arguing in the locker room after their loss.
7. Dani Mo defeated Adena Steele at 5:14. My first time seeing Adena; she has long silver/white hair and she’s covered in tattoos. Dani Mo is an athletic blonde woman; she looks like a surfer girl, similar to NXT’s Sol Ruca. Good standing reversals to open. Dani hit a Lungblower for a nearfall. The commentators say that Dani wrestled nearly 100 matches last year. Adena hit a running Facewash to the face. Adena nailed a Moxley-style double-arm DDT for a nearfall. Mo hit an RKO stunner for the clean pin. They weren’t always on the same page, but this was decent.
* Backstage interview with Trevor Kage and Nolan Pierce. Funny that they stopped and restarted the promo but didn’t cut the botched first promo. Another backstage promo with Prime Time Heat, who said they weren’t pinned when they lost their tag team titles. Another promo with “South Philly’s Finest,” who both had batons and dressed like they were in the 1920s.
8. “Primal Fear” Gabriel Hodder & Matthew Omen defeated Prime Time Heat vs. Trevor Kage & Nolan Pierce vs. South Philly’s Finest” Jimmy Korway & Luca Brazzi in a four-way tag match to become #1 contenders at 7:11. Another match where I haven’t seen any of these before. Two are in the ring and anyone can tag in. Primal Fear wear identical black pants. They did the spot where four guys lined up and suplexed the other four. One of SPF hit a frogsplash. However, one of the Primal Fear guys jumped in the ring and stole the pin. Ok match; they tried hard. I could say this over and over, but these guys were all fairly green and it showed here.
* Backstage promo with Dani Mo, who says she has earned a title shot with the win tonight. In a separate interview, Primal Fear and Delilah talked about winning their match to become #1 contender. In another promo, Havoc talked about facing Afa Jr. (formerly Manu in WWE).
9. Havoc defeated Afa Jr. at 3:59. Havoc, who is bald and thick, attacked Afa Jr. from behind with a chair. He dominated the match and hit a spear for the pin. The announcers were shocked at how short and dominating this was. “I’ve never seen Afa beat up like this before,” one of them said. Afa got to his feet, got on the mic, and challenged Havoc to a “fans bring the weapons” match. That sounds unnecessarily dangerous.
* Backstage with Action Andretti. The interviewer tells him the main event is now a six-way match. Andretti was furious; he makes a better heel than babyface. In another interview, Havoc responded to the “fans bring the weapons” challenge. Havoc laughed and agreed to the stipulation. He said the attack was “years of build-up, years of receipt” for Afa Jr. Breaux Keller, a former champion, talked about having to face five other guys in the main event to get his title back.
10. Facade defeated Brian Cage, Action Andretti, Breaux Keller, “The Mecca” Brian Johnson and Clutch Adams in a six-way to retain the PPW Heavyweight Title at 13:16. Facade is the champion; he’s the green-haired high-flyer with 20 years of experience. I said this the last time I saw Johnson; he’s now completely bald and almost unrecognizable from his ROH run. All six brawled in the ring. We had a nice exchange between Facade and Andretti early on. Cage hit a backbreaker on Johnson at 2:00. Andretti nailed a nice shotgun dropkick.
Johnson made a cover with his feet clearly on the ropes; he argued with the ref who refused to even start counting. No one is tagging in and out; this is essentially lucha rules with guys rolling in and out. Andretti nailed a flip dive to the floor at 5:30. Facade leapt onto the top rope and hit a springboard flip dive onto everyone on the floor. Clutch Adams hit a top-rope elbow drop on Andretti for a nearfall. Cage held Johnson and Andretti in his arms and he slammed them both.
Breaux hit an X-Factor faceplant on Cage. Cage nailed a tornado clothesline. Andretti hit a neckbreaker on Facade. Adams hit a top-rope clothesline on Cage. Facade hit a Burning Hammer. Johnson hit a Tower of London neckbreaker at 9:30. Andretti hit a mid-ring Spanish Fly, and suddenly all six were down. Andretti hit an impressive split-legged moonsault. Facade hit a springboard spin kick. Cage hit a standing powerbomb and an F5. Clutch hit a superkick and back suplex on Cage for a nearfall at 12:00.
Johnson got a visual pin on Andretti, but the ref was looking at a Camel Clutch applied elsewhere in the ring. In a cool finishing sequence, Facade jumped up and grabbed the rafters. He climbed along the rafters and hit a 15-foot legdrop onto Johnson’s neck for the pin. Great athleticism shown in this match.
* Backstage with Clutch Adams, who got angry when the interviewer said “he came up short.” He shoved the interviewer and said he is the reigning and defending PPW champion because he never lost it, so he considers himself still the champion. In a separate interview, Brian Johnson was angry at a different interviewer. He said he wasn’t pinned by Facade; he pinned Andretti but the ref missed it.
* Another backstage promo with “the neon ninja” Facade, who wasn’t sure who could stop him.
Final Thoughts: The main event was a blast. All six worked hard. You knew no one was pinning Cage, but Cage also likely wasn’t winning the title, either. The exchanges between Facade and Andretti carried the match, and of course, Cage looked dominating as he had a few seconds to square off with each of his opponents. The show-opener was strong for second-best.
The downside of having so many talented guys in the main event is it left the middle of the show with a lot of young, green talent. But, everyone worked hard. While I didn’t know many of them, the sheer size of Alec Odin stood out. Chris Slade also jumped out as one to watch, too.
Check out their website at ppwwrestling.com. They do a far better job than most indy promotions in showing prior show results, and pictures and correct spelling of names, which was really helpful for me. They also have a wrestling school run by Afa Jr. The show clocked in at three hours even.
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