By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Premier Wrestling Federation “Independents Day”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
July 1, 2023 in Newport, N.C. at the PWF Training Center
Reno Stevens and Rob Dimension provided commentary. This is the Carolina Wrestling Training facility, a large pole barn and the crowd is perhaps 200-250.
1. Curt Robinson defeated Oliver Sawyer to retain the Crystal Coast Oceanic Championship at 6:08. Robinson wears a yellow jacket and boxing trunks and he’s the champion. Sawyer is a heel in (United Empire colored) green and black trunks, and he stalled at the bell. Both men are white and average height and overall size. Robinson hit a German Suplex at 5:00. Sawyer hit a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall. Robinson hit a fisherman’s DDT for the pin. Adequate opener; they tried hard and obviously still learning.
* Robinson got on the mic and he made an open challenge for a match right now! “What is this kid doing?” one of the commentators said. Colby Corino’s music hit! The other commentator replied, “Are you kidding me? I thought he was in Florida!” (referencing an NXT deal that fell through). The crowd chanted, “welcome back!”
2. Colby Corino defeated Curt Robinson to win the Crystal Coast Oceanic Championship at 10:29. Colby is a bit shorter but might be heavier because of his muscle mass. They traded shoulder tackles, then hard chops. They brawled to the floor, where Corino accidentally chopped the ring post at 5:30, and it made a great painful sound, drawing a crowd reaction. Robinson took control in the ring. Corino hit a leaping DDT for the pin! New champion! Solid match and Colby was a pleasant, unadvertised surprise.
3. Christian Hunter and Nick Gene defeated Gray Allen and Jake Powers at 11:42. These are apparently students from the Dory Funk wrestling school, and this match isn’t included on the IWTV match listing. Hunter is short, with orange hair, in a black outfit. Powers has long hair and looks like a Young Buck. Allen looks like Big Damo or Bear Boulder. Gene wore a red singlet and he’s tall; think Rhino but taller.
Allen and Powers are the heels and they beat up Christian Hunter. Hunter hit a Death Valley Driver at 9:00 and tagged in the bigger Nick Gene. Gene hit a nice gutwrench powerbomb for a nearfall. Allen hit a fallaway slam on Gene, and the big men traded shoulder tackles. Gene hit a Swanton Bomb for the pin. This topped my (admittedly low) expectations.
4. Aaron Cox defeated Trey Havoc, Manny Lo, Jordan Holt, and Tungsten Redd in a five-way at 7:58. This was announced as a four-way. Manny danced on his way to the ring; think Myron Reed-meets-Human Tornado. Cox also is Black; he is looking more like Kenny King. Havok is taller and looks like a smaller Keith Lee, but he is still tall and big. Holt has short dreadlocks; think R-Truth. However, before the bell, we have more music and Tungsten Redd came to the ring in his Texas Chainsaw Massacre leather apron. He is white with bright red hair, and he wants in the match, so I guess this is a five-way! Quick reversals from everyone out of the gate and this instantly feels a step quicker than the first three matches.
Cox hit a spinebuster. Holt hit a Shotgun Dropkick. Havok caught Lo and hit a spinning back suplex, then Havok hit one on Redd for a nearfall at 3:30. Cox and Havok traded mid-ring punches; Redd came up to them, but they turned to him and punched him. Havoc hit a springboard trustfall to the floor on everyone at 6:00. In the ring, Havok hit a devastating clothesline on Holt. Cox hit a spear to pin Redd; Havok could have broken it up, but he ‘stood guard’ to make sure no one else did. Cox and Havok celebrated together, as they apparently were in cahoots. Good match.
5. “The Longshots” Dylan Crossley and Tenshi X defeated “Daddy Daughter Dance” James Johnson and Selina Rose to retain the PWF Tag Team Titles at 11:20. Johnson and Rose wore colorful tye-dye jackets. She might be moderately taller than average. Johnson is looking like a heavier version of the late Brodie Lee. Tenshi X has long dreadlocks and looks like Lio Rush, while Crossley is white with Jungle Boy-type hair. Crossley and Johnson started. Tenshi X tagged in at 4:00 and traded quicker offense with Johnson (the Lio Rush comparison is appropriate!)
Rose entered and she hit a crossbody block on Tenshi. Crossley hit a dropkick on Rose at 6:00. Johnson hit a snap suplex on Tenshi, and DDD worked over Tenshi. Crossley made the hot tag at 9:00 and he hit a top-rope crossbody block on Johnson. Rose entered and put Crossley in a Muta Lock. Tenshi hit a mid-ring Sliced Bread on Johnson, then a frogsplash on Johnson for the pin. The tag champs look good.
* An intermission was edited out of the replay.
6. Jay Malachi defeated Jackson Drake to become No. 1 contender at 17:17. Malachi is a super-thin high-flying Black man who I’ve compared to Velveteen Dream before. Drake is a lanky white kid and he barked at the fans. An intense lockup to begin and the commentators talked about the bad blood between them. Malachi hit a dropkick that sent Drake to the floor to regroup at 1:30. In the ring, Drake collapsed and sold an ankle injury that no one in the crowd was buying. Of course, he was faking, and he hit a clothesline, then a plancha to the floor at 4:30. They traded chops on the floor in front of the fans.
In the ring, Drake was in charge, and he stomped on Jay’s fingers. Drake hit a German release suplex for a nearfall at 7:00. He applied a rear-naked choke on the mat. Jay went for a springboard stunner at 11:30, but Drake blocked it. Jay nailed a spin kick to the jaw. Drake nailed a Jay Driller buttefly piledriver for a believable nearfall, and Drake was stunned he didn’t get the win. Jay got up and they traded chops. Jay hit a stunner at 15:00, but he missed a springboard stunner. Drake hit a springboard stunner, then a brainbuster for a believable nearfall. Malachi hit a top-rope Spanish Fly, then the springboard stunner for the clean pin. A really good match between two up-and-comers.
7. Arik Royal, Jakob Hammermeir, and “The Highflying Star Machines” Bojack, Diejo Hill, and BK Westbrook defeated “The Kings Gate” Ryan Galeone, Patrick Scott, Chance Rizer, Mason Myles, and Donnie Ray in a Cibernetico (Survivor Series style elimination) match at 40:25. Galeone is a cross between Mike Knox and Luke Gallows; he’s tall. Of these 10, I haven’t seen Hammermeir before; he has red hair and a beard, looking a bit like Arik Cannon or Gringo Loco, and he started against Galeone. Jakob hit some clotheslines on Donnie Ray.
The massive 350-pound Bojack entered and hit a delayed vertical suplex on Donnie Ray at 3:30. Diego Hill (think Cedric Alexander-meets-Wes Lee) entered and hit some spin kicks on Patrick Scott. Royal (think Odyssey Jones) slammed partner BK onto Rizer for a nearfall at 6:30. Jakob hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Rizer for a believable nearfall. Rizer chopblocked Bojack and he made the hot tag to Myles at 9:30. This was Myles first time in the match and he was loudly booed. BK hit a springboard crossbody on Myles, then an Exploder Suplex.
Galeone hit a sit-out powerbomb to pin Royal at 11:23; the match immediately kept going, with the heels at a 5-4 advantage as they worked over Hammermeir in their corner for several minutes. Bojack finally made the hot tag at 15:30 and brawled with the hated Myles, who got out of the ring as soon as he could. Galeone attacked Bojack, and the heels now began working him over extensively. Donnie Ray hit a rolling cannonball in the corner on Bojack at 19:30, then a Swanton for a nearfall. Diego Hill made the hot tag and he hit a Stundog Millionaire, then a handspring-back-stunner on Donnie Ray, then a top-rope corkscrew moonsault to pin Ray at 22:27. It is now 4-on-4.
BK hit a running stunner and pinned Rizer at 23:57, so the babyfaces have the advantage. BK hit a powerbomb on Myles and he was fired up. Galeone hit a piledriver to pin BK at 25:15, tying it at 3-3 remaining. Galeone hit a spin kick that dropped Diego Hill. Diego hit a spin kick in the corner on Galeone. Galeone hit a springboard flipping clothesline to pin Diego at 26:50, so the heels are up 3-2 remaining. Hammermeir hit a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker to pin Scott at 27:56. Myles hit a brainbuster to pin Hammermeir at 28:40. Bojack is alone remaining on his team, and the crowd cheered for him.
Mason Myles and Galeone took turns working over Bojack. Bojack hit a Falcon Arrow on Galeone at 33:00. Myles hit a top-rope missile dropkick. Galeone and Myles started arguing! Galeone put his hand around Myles throat, so Myles hit a low blow punt kick on his teammate! Bojack immediately hit a clothesline to pin Galeone at 34:52, and it is down to Myles vs. Bojack! Bojack hit a running back elbow in the corner. Bojack hit a Falcon Arrow for a believable nearfall. Mason hit a Sling Blade clothesline for a nearfall at 37:30, then a tornado DDT for a nearfall, then a second-rope flying DDT for a nearfall. Bojack hit his pop-up spinning back fist, a clothesline, and a sit-out powerbomb for the pin! Bojack is the sole survivor!
Final Thoughts: If you’ve read my prior reviews of the Carolina-based promotions, you know I think very highly of a number of talents who aren’t known on the national level, particularly Diego Hill, Bojack and Jay Malachi. Colby Corino is the best known here, not just for his dad, but his appearances in ROH and NWA. There are some other tallents to note here, particularly BK Westbrook and Donnie Ray.
I’ll go with Malachi-Drake for best match. The elimination match was well laid-out and earns second best. The five-way, which featured a lot of talent I didn’t know, earns a distant third; there are a lot of guys in that match I’d like to see more of. I’ll be blunt… the other four matches on this show were a step slower. Outside of Colby Corino and the tag champs… the other competitors in those four matches were clearly green, but everyone worked hard. Check out this promotion on IWTV.
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