By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Black Label Pro: “Observe This, Brother”
Streamed on Fite.TV
April 7, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana at The Wyndham
The excellent Dave Prazak was on commentary. This is in a large convention center room, and the crowd is maybe 200. Unfortunately, BLP champion Billie Starkz pulled out of the show earlier in the week, as she instead was on AEW’s “Battle of the Belts” that night.
1. “The Bang Bros” Davey Bang and August Matthews defeated “Twist & Flip” Darren Fly and Nate Kobain to retain the BLP Tag Team Titles at 14:33. Four young kids here. I’ve seen more of Bang and Matthews at this point, and they just need to put on some size. The BB are heels here and worked Fly over the bulk of the match. Kobain hit a nice moonsault to the floor at 10:00. Fly accidentally superkicked Kobain. Bang hit their team spear move for a believable nearfall at 14:00. Bang immediately hit a 450 Splash for the pin. Decent opener.
2. Nate Matthews defeated Matt Brannigan at 10:13. Brannigan is the doppelganger of WCW-era Lenny Lane, with his long, curly blond hair and really good physique.I don’t know Matthews but he has shoulder-length black hair, a good physique, and he wore a white singlet; both of these guys are just much larger than the four kids in the first match. As they brawled to the floor at 4:00, Fite lost the signal. When the signal returned at 6:30, they were back in the ring; at least we didn’t miss the finish. Brannigan hit a slingshot suplex, and they were both down.
Matthews applied a Sharpshooter, but Brannigan reached the ropes at 9:00. Matthews hit a powerslam move, then a top-rope elbow drop for the pin. Decent match, and I don’t feel like I missed too much in the two-and-a-half minutes we lost. They shook hands and hugged.
3. Tom Lawlor defeated Jake Something at 13:44. Jake just towers over Lawlor. An intense lockup to begin. Jake dropped him with several shoulder tackles. Lawlor applied a cross-armbreaker, but Jake reached the ropes at 3:00. Lawlor applied a Fujiwara Armbar, but Jake again reached the ropes. They traded mid-ring chops. Jake hit a suplex for a nearfall. Lawlor hit a clothesline to the back of the neck at 6:30. They hit double clotheslines and were both down.
Lawlor hit a running penalty kick on the ring apron as Jake was standing on the floor at 8:30. Lawlor ran around the floor and eventually ran out of the conventional hall entirely. He returned and they got back in the ring. Lawlor hit an enzuigiri and a running knee to the collarbone. Jake hit a Black Hole Slam for a believable nearfall at 12:00. Jake hit a sit-out piledriver on the ring apron; Jake threw him back in the ring but as Jake bent over to make a cover, Lawlor rolled him up and got the flash pin! Good match.
4. “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini defeated “PME” Phil Collins & Marino T at 10:08. PME danced on their way to the ring. PME just won the Glory Pro (St. Louis area) tag titles last month, but they are essentially Adam Rose and Ron Killings cartoonish partiers. The rotund Collins hit a senton on Ku, and they beat up Ku early. Collins hit a sit-out powerbomb on Garrini at 7:00. Garrini and Marino traded chops. Ku nailed a brainbuster on Marino for a believable nearfall. ViF hit the spin kick-and-brainbuster combo for the pin. Good brawl.
5. Isaiah Moore defeated Myron Reed at 6:22. Reed competed a day earlier at Pro Wrestling Revolver. Moore also is a thin Black man, similar in size to Reed, and he’s solid in the ring. Reed hit an enzuigiri and a catapult legdrop. Reed hit a dive over the top rope at 2:00. In the ring, Moore hit a spear in the corner and a doublestomp to the chest for a nearfall. Reed hit a superkick and a slingshot powerbomb for a nearfall at 4:30.
Moore hit a DDT while Reed was in the ropes for a nearfall. Reed hit a superkick; Moore hit a Pele Kick; Reed hit a Poison Rana. Nice sequence. Moore hit a rolling Death Valley Driver. Reed went for a rollup but Moore sat down on his chest and scored the pin out of nowhere. This was a really good, albeit short match, and Reed was stunned at the loss. A big win for Moore.
6. Su Yung defeated Rachel Armstrong at 9:21. Armstrong is replacing Billie Starkz in this match. Good to see Su Yung back in action; she is in her full, scary outfit with white makeup on her face. They opened in a knuckelock but Su quickly took control. Rachel dove to the floor. Rachel did a Sliced Bread #2 on the floor by using the ring post. Nice. Su whipped Rachel into the guardrail at 2:30. Su hit a sideslam on the ring apron. In the ring, Su tied Rachel in the Tree of Woe and worked her over.
Su reached into her top and pulled out a bloody red glove. Rachel hit some flying forearms and a Meteora flying double kneedrop for a nearfall at 7:00. Rachel hit a Code Red for a nearfall. Su sprayed some red mist, but Rachel avoided it. Rachel hit a Sliced Bread #2 out of the corner, but she missed a 450 Splash. Su immediately put her fingers down Rachel’s throat to incapacitate her. Su then hit a Sabin-style Cradle Shock slam for the pin. Solid match; Rachel impressed, but Su doesn’t seem to quite be back in ‘in-ring shape and conditioning.’
7. Shazza McKenzie & Davey Vega defeated Cole Radrick & Sage Phillips at 8:10. Shazza is the Australian who just moved to the U.S. and she’s solid in the ring. Radrick is the James Ellsworth-style dork and I’m just not a fan. He opened against Shazza and they did some comedy spots as she teased hitting a heart punch. Shazza and Vega worked over Sage. Shazza hit a snap suplex for a nearfall at 5:00.
Radrick made the hot tag and hit some clotheslines, then a springboard stunner on Shazza. Sage went for a sunset flip on Shazza, but she sat down and grabbed the ropes; Vega grabbed her hands too for added leverage, and Shazza scored the tainted pin on Sage. (Nearly the same finish as Myron-Moore a couple matches earlier, but this one involved cheating by grabbing the ropes.)
* A masked man jumped in the ring and attacked Shazza McKenzie! He ripped off the mask and was revealed to be Sean Ross Sapp, wrestling analyst on Fightful.com. He beat her up and ran to the back. “What on earth was that all about?” Prazak said.
8. Jake Omen defeated Madman Fulton to retain the Squared Circle Expo Title at 14:09. Fulton hit the ring to a remix of “Wannabe” by Spice Girls and “Down with the Sickness” by Disturbed. Omen was announced as the “Squared Circle Expo reigning champion for the past three years.” Omen has the size of his head shaved with a tiny ponytail on top, much like Wardlow. An intense lockup and Fulton easily shoved him to the mat. They fought to the floor, and Fulton crotched himm on the guardrail at 3:00, and they brawled into the crowd.
Fulton put Omen on his shoulders and rammed him head-first into the wall. Omen hit a running boot to the face that sent Fulton back over the guardrail as they had now returned to ringside. Fulton chokeslammed Omen onto the ring apron at 6:00. They got back into the ring and kept brawling. Omen hit a German suplex. Omen caught him with a low blow at 10:30. Omen hit some clotheslines that staggered Fulton. Omen hit a backbreaker over his knee and a snap suplex for a nearfall.
Omen applied a crossface on the mat, but Fulton got his feet on the ropes at 12:00. Fulton hit a chokeslam for a believable nearfall. He hit another one for a believable nearfall. He jawed at the crowd. He went for a fallaway slam but Omen rotated and landed on his feet! Omen immediately hit a Shining Wizard knee strike for the pin. That was a really good big-man matchup.
9. Joshua Bishop defeated Gangrel to retain the BLP Midwest Title at 14:05. Gangrel, age 54, came out first to a heavy metal song; he wore a full vest, but he seems to be in good shape. Bishop is the Sid Vicious doppelganger with his short, curly blond hair. They shook hands at the bell, showing they are both babyfaces. A lot of stalling early on. Gangrel hit a bodyslam at 4:00. They brawled to the floor, where they traded chops in front of the fans. They got back into the ring at 6:30, with Bishop slowing the match down with a headlock on the mat.
They brawled back to the floor, and Bishop dropped him with a hard chop. In the ring, Gangrel applied a Fujiwara Armbar at 9:30, with Bishop scrambling to the ropes. They traded mid-ring forearm shots, and Gangrel hit a leg lariat at 11:00. Bishop fired back with a Death Valley Driver for a believable nearfall. Gangrel hit an Alabama Slam, then a powerslam for a nearfall. Gangrel hit a side Russian Legsweep for a nearfall at 13:30. However, Bishop nailed the Abyss-style Black Hole Slam for the pin. Decent match.
Final Thoughts: I’m going to go with Fulton-Omen for best match, as it was a good big-man brawl. It was a very WWE-style match, which is fine, because that is what these two do best. Lawlor vs. Jake Something was a strong match, and Lawlor always looks believable against men bigger than him. While it was short, I’ll go with Reed-Moore for third place.
The Sean Ross Sapp stuff was fine. I’ve seen some people posting online that they hated it, but I look at it like this: if it brings eyeballs and attention to Shazza and to Black Label Pro as a whole, that’s a good thing. Gangrel vs. Bishop was fine for what it was. Gangrel took just a couple bumps, but he seemed more mobile than I would have thought; I do believe he’s lighter and healthier than the last time I saw him.
I watched three indy shows over the weekend, and yes, while I liked Pro Wrestling Revolver and West Coast Pro better than this, this was a decent show. Prazak is always good on the mic, and the big men matches were good.
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