By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Black Label Pro Wrestling “National Slampoon’s Wrestling Vacation 2”
Replay available via FITE.TV
July 22, 2023 in Berwyn, Illinois at Berwyn Eagles Club
I’ve seen several shows in person in this building, from AAW to Shimmer, but the crowd sadly is maybe 75-125. Percy Davis and Dustin provided commentary.
BLP actually held two back-to-back shows in this building, but this show is clearly the better lineup with a nice double main event.
1. Dominic Garrini (w/Kevin Ku) defeated Mad Dog Connelly at 9:10. Ku wrestled in the noon show here. My first time seeing Connelly; he looks like a heavier Cameron Grimes, or a thinner Big Damo. They traded stiff forearm shots early on; these two are definitely bigger than your average indy wrestler. Connelly hit some gut-wrench suplexes and a powerslam for a nearfall at 5:30. Garrini bit at Connelly’s bare feet. Garrini hit a clothesline, then the Samoa Joe Musclebuster for the pin. Adequate.
2. Brogan Finlay defeated Crash Jaxon, Tre Lemar, and Vinny Pacifico in a four-way at 7:38. All four brawled at the bell. Trey dove through the ropes onto Jaxon. Vinny hit an Angle Slam on Finlay at 4:30. Finlay hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Pacifico. Tre hit a Frankensteiner, then a top-rope elbowdrop on Finlay for a nearfall. Jaxon hit a Stinger Splash. Pacifico hit a Tower of London stunner on Jaxon for a believable nearfall at 7:00. Finlay hit a tombstone piledriver to pin Pacifico. Solid match.
3. Billie Starkz defeated Xia Brookside at 8:58. Starkz was loudly booed, as she’s a heel here. Xia Brookside just moved to the United States (and just got married!), so expect to see a lot more of this former NXT talent in the U.S. indy scene. Starkz kicked away a handshake offer and they had an intense lockup; Billie has a slight height advantage. As they fought on the floor, the Fite signal was lost from the building for 30-ish seconds. Xia hit a monkeyflip for a nearfall at 4:30 upon returning. Billie hit a pair of snap suplexes. Billie hit a roundhouse kick to the head but only got a one-count!
They traded stiff forearm shots. Xia hit a head-scissors takedown and running knees into the corner, then a running neckbreaker for a nearfall at 7:30. Starkz nailed the Gory Bomb for a nearfall. Xia got a victory roll for a nearfall; Billie reversed the rollup, grabbed the ropes for leverage, and scored the cheap pin. A really good match in what I presume was a first-ever meeting.
4. Myung-Jae Lee defeated Puf at 6:48. I’ve seen South Korea native Lee a few times in Canada-based C*4 wrestling; he has long, straight hair. This was scheduled to be Lee vs. Shazza McKenzie as intergender match. Puf is the heavyset C*4 wrestler seen working out at the gym on AEW TV when MJF was making fun of him. Puf set up for a dive but Lee cut him off. Puf powerbombed Lee onto the ring apron at 1:30. Puf ran on the floor for some comedy and got winded and had to sit down. He’s listed online at 418 pounds and I find that quite believable. In the ring, Lee hit a missile dropkick and a running basement dropkick at 5:00. Puf hit a uranage and a massive senton for a believable nearfall. Lee hit a series of kicks then a German Suplex that defies reality. Lee hit a top-rope doublestomp to the chest for the pin. Very watchable; I presume with their backgrounds that this wasn’t the first time they touched in the ring.
5. Darius Latrell and Trevor Outlaw defeated Matt Brannigan and The Warlord at 8:57. Yes, this is Powers of Pain Warlord, bald and wearing facepaint on his eyes. Brannigan is the Lenny Lane clone and he also has paint on his face. Outlaw is short with a short haircut and goatee; I always describe him as Marty Scurll-meets-Josh Woods. Latrell is the tall, Black basketball player. Outlaw and Brannigan brawled on the floor, and they allowed children in the crowd to chop Outlaw, and a woman even had her infant ‘kick’ Outlaw in the chest and he sold it like he had been chopped by Big Show. Funny. In the ring, the heels worked over Brannigan. Warlord has not locked up yet; he wore a T-shirt to hide the loss of musclemass from his WWF run.
Warlord got the hot tag at 6:30 and he hit some clotheslines, then some bodyslams on Outlaw, then he tagged right back out. (I find that funny.) Brannigan hit a Doctor Bomb on Outlaw. Outlaw, Brannigan, Latrell and the referee did some nipple-twisting humor stuff. The Warlord joined in for some silliness. Outlaw hit a low blow kick on Brannigan and gort a rolllup for the cheap pin. It is accurate to say you can count Warlord’s time in the match in seconds, not minutes.
6. Rachel Armstrong defeated Shazza McKenzie at 6:27. McKenzie wore her Natty Neidhart-inspired pink-and-black. Armstrong was listed as facing B3cca here, so obviously the lineup got shifted a bit. (I later learned that B3cca wrestled Leyla Hirsch at the ROH taping in New Jersey on Saturday.) Armstrong is green but talented. Shazza hit a hard kick to the spine and was in charge early on. Rachel hit some flying forearms and a standing neckbreaker for a nearfall at 5:00. Shazza nailed her Splits Stunner but she made a lazy cover; Rachel hooked the arms, rolled Shazza over, and scored the pin!
7. Tom Lawlor defeated Camaro Jackson at 14:39. To me, this is half of the double main event. Lawlor wore his over-the-top USA gear he wore at the New Japan Strong show in Japan on July 4. Camaro is the strong, short Black man I compare to Jonathan Gresham. An intense lockup and this has a big fight feel to it. They brawled to the floor at 3:30, and Lawlor slammed Camaro’s hand against the ring apron. Camaro hit a hard chop that sent Lawlor flying. Lawlor ran around the building before hitting a kneestrike on Camaro.
In the ring, Camaro hit a slam for a nearfall at 6:30. They traded mid-ring forearm shots. Lawlor hit some punches to the stomach and an enzuigiri at 10:00, then a running kick for a nearfall. Lawlor applied a modified cross-armbreaker on the mat but Camaro powered out by suplexing him. Camaro hit a Michinoku Driver for a believable nearfall at 13:00. “These dudes are going to war with one another,” a commentator said. Lawlor hit a Pele Kick to the damaged arm, then his leaping spear in the corner, then a superplex. Camaro hit a decapitating clothesline and a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. However, Lawlor immediately applied a cross-armbreaker, and Camaro tapped out! Good match. “The fans are on their feet for this absolute classic we had,” an announcer said. The other announcer called it a match of the year contender.
8. Levi Everett defeated Sawyer Wreck in an intergender match at 8:23. Everett is the butter-churning Amish man who is a top heel here, and Sawyer got a nice babyface pop. No surprise that Sawyer has the height advantage, and she was in Japan within the past 72 hours for GCW. Levi grabbed his butter churn but Sawyer grabbed it and shoved it into Everett’s groin. Everett hit a summersault splash off the ring apron to the floor at 3:00. Levi hit a snap suplex on the floor, then an elbow drop from the apron to the floor; he rolled her in the ring and got a nearfall at 5:00, and he was now fully in charge, choking her in the ropes.
Sawyer hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 7:00. She got the butter churn but she accidentally hit the ref! She chokeslammed Levi for a visual pin but we had no referee. Levi nailed her in the head with the butter churn; he woke the ref, covered Sawyer and scored the cheap pin. Solid match; Sawyer is big enough she looks at least a bit believable against men.
9. Calvin Tankman defeated Joshua Bishop to win the BLP Midwest Title at 10:50. I thought this was going on last. Again, Bishop is the Sid Vicious clone with his short, curly blond hair. “We are in for a clash of the titans” a commentator said. An intense lockup at the bell. Tankman hit some vicious forearm shots. Bishop hit a headbutt; he tried to get Tankman on his shoulders but couldn’t. Calvin hit a Pounce at 3:00, then a dive to the floor onto Bishop (it wasn’t pretty but still, that’s 350 pounds coming through the ropes!) They brawled on the floor, and Tankman accidentally chopped the ring post. Bishop slammed Tankman on the ring apron.
In the ring, Bishop hit clotheslines into the corner, and he hit an IMPRESSIVE fallaway slam for a nearfall at 5:00. Tankman hit a spinning back fist; he went for the pop-up spinning back fist, but Bishop blocked it and Bishop hit a clothesline, and they were both down at 7:00. They got up and traded forearm shots. Bishop hit a Death Valley Driver, then a diving forearm to the back of the head for a believable nearfall. Tankman hit a backbreaker over his knee, then a clothesline, for a nearfall at 9:00. Bishop nailed a Black Hole Slam for a nearfall. Tankman nailed the pop-up spinning back fist, then the Rikishi Driver piledriver for the pin! New champion! That was really good, and a nice surprise title change. I was expecting a cop-out draw.
10. Cole Radrick defeated Aramis to retain the BLP Heavyweight title at 16:48. Radrick is the Gomer Pyle dork who is inexplicably over, and I really don’t ‘get’ him as champion. I’ve always liked the luchador Aramis but on paper this is a strange pairing. They traded shoulder tackles, and Aramis hit a huracanrana. Radrick dove through the ropes onto Aramis at 2:30. Aramis hit a flip dive to the floor. In the ring, Aramis hit a modified Sliced Bread for a nearfall. Radrick hit a kneedrop on the jaw for a nearfall at 7:00, and he tied up Aramis on the mat. Aramis nailed a moonsault to the floor at 9:30.
Aramis hit a superkick to the jaw as Radrick was seated in a chair. In the ring, Radrick kicked the ropes to crotch Aramis! Aramis tied him in the Gory Special and hit a Widow’s Peak neckbreaker at 11:00. Aramis applied a modified Figure Four. Radrick hit an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall, then a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. Aramis nailed a Poison Rana and he got a nearfall at 13:30. They traded spin kicks and were both down. They traded forearms while holding each other’s wrist. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down at 15:00. Aramis nailed a German Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. Radrick hit a Blade Runner faceplant, then the Little Sebastian’s Curse pump-handle sit-out powerbomb for the clean pin. Good match that did top my expectations.
Final Thoughts: Bishop-Tankman was tremendous. They have good chemistry, and just reading the words doesn’t do justice to seeing Bishop hit a fallaway slam and a Death Valley Driver on the 350-pounder. It was a pleasant surprise having this title change, too. This was what you’d want from a big-man matchup. I’m a firm believer that if they had gone, say 20 minutes, the match wouldn’t have been as good. Camaro-Lawlor was really good too and earns a close second. I really liked Xia-Billie for third best; I love that we’ll be seeing more of Xia Brookside on indy shows in the U.S., and I quite frankly wouldn’t be entirely surprised if she winds up on TV with Impact, MLW or ROH, either. The main event earns honorable mention, so a very strong top four matches of the show.
The biggest problem with Black Label Pro shows is their small crowds. I can enjoy watching a show with just 75 or so fans present, but it sure helps if there are 300-400 or more. Check out this show, and all BLP shows, on Fite+.
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