By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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C*4 Wrestling (Capital City Championship Combat) “Hearts of Darkness”
Replay available via Independent.TV
May 26, 2023 in Ottawa, Ontario at Preston Event Centre
This show was released on IWTV on Tuesday. I love this building. It is bright and appears to be a large ballroom, with some fans seated upstairs. The crowd is between 400 and 600.
1. Vaughn Vertigo defeated Cecil Nyx at 9:20. Nyx is a rotund man in a singlet. Vaughn (think Joey Janela) snuck up behind him and attacked to start the match. Nyx hit a backbreaker over his knee at 2:00. Nyx hit an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Nyx applied an Alex Shelley-style Border City Stretch, but Nyx reached the ropes at 8:00. Vertigo hit some chairshots to the head, in front of the ref, then a Shining Wizard kneestrike for the pin. Passable.
2. Vanessa Kraven defeated Sexxxy Eddie, Joshua Bishop, Heather Reckless, Mark Wheeler, Chris Bradley in a six-way scramble to be No. 1 contender at 5:32. No Kraven as the match begins with just five; the commentators explain Kraven didn’t want to go after the title of her partner, James Stone. Reckless stands at 4’9″ and it is absurd she’s in the ring with Sid Vicious clone Joshua Bishop. Eddie is in his early 40s and likes to wrestle in a thong. Bradley is tall and he wore black top and shiny black pants, somewhat looking like Arik Cannon or Sami Callihan. Reckless hit a dive off the top rope onto several guys on the floor, who just caught her.
In the ring, Reckless hit a lungblower on Eddie. She hit a chairshot on Bishop’s head, then a lungblower on him, using the chair. James Stone hopped in the ring and hit Bishop with a title belt. Kraven, who hadn’t been seen at all the entire match, jumped in the ring, hit a spinebuster, and pinned Bishop. OK stuff.
3. Stu Grayson defeated Calvin Tankman at 12:40. Both men were fired up at the bell and charged at each other. Tankman dropped him with some hard chops. This crowd was fired up. They traded hard forearm shots. They fought to the floor at 6:00 and traded chops in front of the fans (who are seated wayyy too close to the ring.) Back in the ring, they traded more chops and forearms; this is just a brawl.
Tankman set up for the Rikishi Driver but Stu fought free, and Stu nailed a uranage, then a moonsault for a believable nearfall at 9:00. Tankman hit a backbreaker over his knee and a short-arm clothesline for a nearfall. Stu hit a DDT onto the ring apron. In the ring, Stu hit a top-rope 450 Splash for a believable nearfall at 10:30.
Stu tried to pick up Calvin, but Tankman blocked it; Tankman nailed his pop-up spinning back fist! They fought on the ropes in the corner. Stu put Tankman on his shoulders and hit a backbreaker over his knee for the pin! That was excellent and hard-hitting stuff.
4. Myung-Jae Lee defeated Austin Luke and Kody Lane in a three-way at 8:18. Lane wore his pink jacket and pants. Luke is thin with a full, thick beard. Lee is Asian and also slim with hair past his shoulders. Luke hit a dive through the ropes on both men in the first minute. In the ring, Lee hit dropkicks in the corner on Luke. Kody hit a slingshot senton into the ring on Lee for a nearfall at 2:00, then a back suplex for a nearfall.
Luke hit a Nigel-style rebound lariat, then some Yes Kicks to Kody’s chest. Kody nailed a Death Valley Driver on Luke for a nearfall at 5:00. This has been fast. Luke hit a back suplex on Kody. Lee got back in the ring and he hit a German Suplex on Luke. Lane hit a piledriver move on Lee for a nearfall at 7:00, but Luke made the save. Lee hit a top-rope doublestomp to the back and scored a pin on Lane. Fun match.
5. Alexia Nicole defeated James Stone (w/Vanessa Kraven) to win the C4 Underground Championship at 11:39. Alexia wore a blue one-piece and she has long dark hair. She is far smaller than the bald Stone, who is looking a lot like Karl Anderson. He attacked her and hit a piledriver right at the bell; she rolled to the floor and sold the move. In the ring, he hit chops and hip-tossed her across the ring at 2:00. She appears even shorter than I realized as she tried to hit him but he kept her at bey; an internet search says she is only 4’11” and 108 pounds.
Stone hit a Death Valley Driver, then a second one, for a nearfall. He hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 4:30 and was frustrated he hadn’t put her away yet. As he stood on the ring apron, she punched him in the groin and flipped him onto chairs in the crowd. She then hit a Meteora double knees on him as he sat on a chair at ringside. In the ring, she hit a huracanrana and a Lungblower for a nearfall at 7:30. She hit a stunner and a Lungblower move to the jaw for a nearfall. She hit a Code Red for a nearfall.
Stone hit a uranage for a nearfall. Vanessa Kraven left ringside and she tossed the bell in the ring. Joshua Bishop came to ringside and distracted Stone. Nicole hit Stone in the head with the bell for a believable nearfall at 10:00! She went for a Muta Lock, but he grabbed her head and pounded it into the mat. He then hit a Tombstone Piledriver — her head was nowhere close to the mat — for a nearfall. She hit a huracanrana out of the corner; they traded rollups and she got a pin on a rollup. The crowd went nuts for the unlikely title change.
6. Gabriel Fuerza defeated Warhorse at 18:36. Basic stuff early, and they brawled to the floor at 4:00. In the ring, Gabriel hit a clothesline in the corner and a stiff kick to the spine and was in charge. Warhorse applied a Boston Crab at 9:30, then a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Fuerza hit a Tiger Suplex for a nearfall at 11:30. They fought back into the crowd and crashed on chairs. In the ring, they traded punches while on their knees. They got to their feet and Warhorse hit some jabs.
Warhorse set up for a delayed vertical suplex, but he dropped Gabriel gut-first on the top rope. Warhorse then hit a doublestomp on the back, then a top-rope elbow drop for a believable nearfall at 16:30. Fuerza hit a handspring-back-stunner and a running Shooting Star Press for a believable nearfall. Warhorse went for a top-rope missile dropkick, but Fuerza caught the legs, turned him over and applied a Boston Crab, and Warhorse tapped out. That really picked up and was entertaining.
7. “Violence is Forever” Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku defeated “Hawkestepper” Shayne Hawke & Macrae Martin and “Wasted Youth” Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers and Puf & Pretty Ricky Wildly in a four-way tag for the C*4 Tag Team Titles at 9:37. I noted this before, but Puf is really hefty (400+ pounds?) in an unhealthy looking way, and Wildy looks like Jimmy Hart. ViF attacked Hawkestepper at the bell and those four brawled to the floor. Mathers moved to avoid being flattened in the corner by Puf. WY hit missile dropkicks. ViF and Hawkestepper traded blows in the ring as everyone else was now down on the floor at 3:00.
Puf hit a uranage and a senton that flattened Garrini at 5:00. Mathers hit a lungblower. Hawkestepper hit a team fip slam for a nearfall at 8:30. Puf hit a running back elbow on Hawke, then a Tiger Bomb for a nearfall, but Ku made the save. Ku covered the prone Hawke for the stolen pin! Good high-energy four-way.
8. Kevin Blackwood (w/Hailey Dillon) defeated LuFisto in an intergender match to retain the C*4 title at 11:37. I just don’t get the love for al these intergender matches, where a man has such a huge size advantage. LuFisto is an indy veteran but she is listed at 5’2″. Like in the last intergender match, Blackwood violently attacked her right before the bell, and they immediately brawled to the floor, where he whipped her into the rows of chairs at 0:30. In the ring, she hit some blows to the back. They traded forearm shots; it is absurd that she can stand toe-to-toe with him on these.
Blackwood nailed an Exploder Suplex for a nearfall at 4:30, then some kicks to the spine. He hit a sit-out powerbomb at 7:00 and was in complete control. He set up a door in the corner. They traded chops and he hit an enzuigiri. She put him on her shoulders and hit an Electric Chair backdrop for a nearfall at 9:30. She hit a butterfly piledriver for a nearfall. Hailey Dillon at ringside held LuFisto’s ankle! Blackwood hit a Helluva Kick, a top-rope doublestomp, then a Death Valley Driver through the door in the corner for the pin.
* Blackwood got on the mic. He said he’s had the belt for a year. He said he was taking it back to a good city like Buffalo, which of course drew boos.
9. Junior Benito, Buxx Belmar, and Isaiah Broner defeated Benjamin Tull and “Tabarnak de Team” Mathieu St. Jacques and Thomas Dubois at 15:47. Again, TDT always look like lumberjacks. Benito is a talented, thin Black man. Belmar is the guy who has writing all over his body; he’s a dorky version of Darby Allin. Broner is a big, thick Black man; think Ahmed Johnson or Ezekiel Jackson. All six brawled at the bell. They brawled to the floor and beat each other up with shards of a door. Belmar threw a garbage can at one of the TDT guys. They just kept going around the building. Wrestlers finally got back in the ring at 6:00, and a door was set up in the corner.
Benito was shoved off the top-rope corner and he went through a door set up on the floor. TDT put Belmar through the door in the ring. Belmar hopped up and began hitting superkicks on all three opponents at 8:00. Benito hit a dive to the floor on everyone at 10:00. In the ring, Benito hit a forward Finlay Roll and a running Shooting Star Press, then a stunner. TDT caught Benito and whipped him into a corner for a Buckle Bomb. Broner hit a chokeslam move for a nearfall. Tully (think Joe Coffey) beat up Benito in the ring. Benito hit a mid-ring huracanrana out of nowhere to pin Tully. Good brawl.
* TDT and Tull kept beating up the babyfaces after the match. An older guy named Steven got in the ring (promoter maybe?), but TDT slammed him through a door bridge in the ring. Stu Grayson and other babyfaces finally ran to the ring to chase off the heels. Benito challenged the heels to a 4-on-4 steel cage match next month. The crowd popped for the challenge.
Final Thoughts: A good show. They’ve had events with more ‘star power,’ but this was a good use of some top indy talent that, with just a few exceptions, aren’t currently on TV. Yes, I know Stu Grayson and Calvin Tankman the most, but I do believe they had the best match of the show. I’ll go with Warhorse-Fuerza, which really got good at the end, for second place, and the short-but-good four-way tag match for third place.
I know I repeat myself often, but I just can’t get into intergender matches especially when the women involved here are the tiny Heather Reckless (4’9″), Alexia Nicole (4’11”) and LuFisto (5’2″). I just can’t suspend my disbelief enough to believe any of them could beat up a young male athlete who has a significant height, weight and muscle mass advantage.
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