By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Prestige Wrestling “All Rise”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
July 23, 2023 in Asbury Park, N.J. at House Of Independents
Jordan Castle and Veda Scott provided commentary. This is a small room but it is jam-packed with 400-500 fans. A reminder that Prestige is in a ‘war’ with Midwest-based Pro Wrestling Revolver; Alan Angels and Jake Crist represented PWR in their matches tonight.
1. Bobby Orlando and Colin Delaney defeated LSG and Max St. Giovanni at 11:00 even. Colin had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it run in WWE. Orlando is the dork who has his stuffed goat; I always compare him to Colt Cabana’s brand of humor. The St. Giovanni brothers extensively worked over Orlando. Delaney made a hot tag at 7:00 and cleared the ring. Orlando hit a top-rope elbow drop on LSG for a believable nearfall at 9:00. Orlando hit a top-rope stunner to pin LSG. Passable opener.
2. Alan Angels defeated 1 Called Manders at 7:44. Angels is a top heel in Prestige; he got the mic but was loudly booed. They shook hands but Manders hit a spinebuster. Manders got his foot caught in the ropes and Angels jumped on it at 2:00, and he began targeting it. Manders hit a left-armed lariat. Manders nailed a Doctor Bomb for a nearfall at 5:00. Angels hit a frogsplash onto the damaged left leg and he applied an anklelock. Manders nailed a Bulldog Powerslam for a nearfall. Angels hit an enzuigiri. Manders hit another clothesline for a nearfall at 7:30. Angels got a backslide, put his feet on the ropes for leverage, and scored yet another cheap pin. Good while it lasted.
3. Mike Bailey defeated Akira at 17:58. Surprisingly, this is a first-ever singles match. Akira locked his hands behind his own back and invited Bailey to hit some chops, and they traded chops. Akira hit a basement dropkick in the corner at 3:30, and Bailey rolled to the floor to regroup. They traded chops on the floor. Akira hit a summersault splash onto Bailey. Bailey hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor at 6:00. Back in the ring, Bailey draped Akira over the top rope and hit a kneedrop on his back. Bailey hit his Speedball kicks to the ribs at 8:00, and he applied the Trailer Hitch leglock, but Akira reached the ropes.
Bailey went for a Helluva Kick, but Akira caught the foot and bit on Bailey’s bare toes, earning a “You sick f—!” chant. Akira hit a back suplex at 10:00, then a diving forearm for a nearfall. Bailey hit a series of kicks and his running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Akira hit a spinning back fist; Bailey hit a spin kick to the head; Akira hit a running knee to the jaw, and they were both down at 12:00. Nice sequence. They traded forearm shots while on their knees, then while standing. They traded kicks to the thighs.
Akira hit a forward roll kick and we got our first “this is awesome!” chant of the show. Bailey nailed the Triangle Moonsault at 14:00. In the ring, they fought on the ropes and Akira bit Bailey’s arm! Bailey missed Ultima Weapon but landed on his feet. Akira applied a cross-armbreaker; Bailey applied his own cross-armbreaker. Bailey nailed a moonsault kneedrop to the chest at 16:00. Akira hit a German Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall, then a Shining Wizard for a nearfall. Bailey bodyslammed Akira on his shoulders, then some superkicks and the Tornado Kick in the corner. Bailey nailed the Ultima Weapon second-rope flipping kneedrop for the pin. That was really, really good.
4. Xia Brookside defeated Janai Kai at 9:20. Xia wrestled in the Chicago suburbs on Saturday for Black Label Pro and has recently moved to the United States. (Google maps says its 12.5-hour drive so hopefully she flew!) The crowd did the “You’re gonna get your f**king head kicked in!” chant at Xia. Janai kept her grounded early on. Xia hit a huracanrana and a dropkick at 4:00. Janai hit a stiff kick to the spine for a nearfall, then some kicks in the corner.
Janai threw a hard kick to the back of the head as Xia was on the ropes and got a nearfall. She applied a Dragon Sleeper on the mat at 7:00. Xia hit a clothesline and was fired up. She hit a huracanrana and a running double knees to the back of the head, then a crossbody block for a nearfall. Xia hit a Lungblower to the chest, then a Lance Archer-style Blackout for the pin; she lifted one of her own shoulders to avoid a double pin.
* If Robert Martyr loses the next match, he is kicked out of Prestige Wrestling.
5. Jake Crist defeated Robert Martyr at 9:25. Crist is the PWR champion now, so I’ll be a bit surprised if he loses clean here, and he’s gotten himself in the best shape he’s been in for at least 10 years. The crowd is fully behind Martyr. I’ve said it before, but I just don’t see ‘it’ that makes Martyr special. Robert hit a running kick and a brainbuster at the bell, and they immediately traded forearm shots. Crist hit a Death Valley Driver at 1:00 and was loudly booed. He choked Robert in the ropes and was in charge. Crist hit a leg lariat that sent Martyr to the floor. Crist hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor at 3:30, and they brawled amongst the fans.
Crist hit a suplex on the floor. Martyr hit a piledriver on the ring apron; in the ring he got a nearfall at 6:00. Martyr hit a backbreaker over his knee and a clothesline for a nearfall. Martyr accidentally hit the ref! Crist hit a low blow uppercut and was loudly booed. “Come on! The man’s career is on the line!” Castle shouted. Crist hit a Small Package Driver for a believable nearfall. Crist was livid and he hit the female ref, earning an “asshole!” chant. Martyr avoided being hit by the title belt, and he hit his own low blow, then a brainbuster for a believable nearfall at 9:00. Sami Callihan hopped in the ring and attacked Martyr! Sami hit a piledriver! He threw Crist on top of Martyr for the cheap pin. Hey, my prediction was right! Compelling match.
* Intermission. Kevin Blackwood came to the ring for his match against Malakai Black. However, Sami Callihan and Jake Crist came to ringside, and Sami barked at fans on the mic about how much better Pro Wrestling Revolver is. Alan Angels jumped Blackwood from behind; Angels and Crist beat down Blackwood. Malakai entered the ring and entirely ignored Crist and Angels, but then he attacked the PWR heels. So, this has been turned into an impromptu tag match instead. (Bait and switch?)
6. Malakai Black and Kevin Blackwood defeated Alan Angels and Jake Crist at 7:54. Malakai hit a series of kicks on Angels. Kevin hit a back suplex on Angels for a nearfall at 2:00. Malakai hit a hard bodyslam, really slamming Angels to the mat. The heels began working over Blackwood’s left leg, with Crist applying a half-crab. Malakai made the hot tag at 5:30 and hit a series of kicks, then a hard back elbow on Crist. Angels hit a half-nelson suplex on Malakai. Angels and Blackwood traded mid-ring forearm shots. Blackwood went for a move but his leg gave out. Malakai nailed a roundhouse kick on Crist, sending Jake to the floor. Blackwood immediately hit a tombstone piledriver on Angels for the pin. A good match, but NOT what we were promised. The Black-Blackwood match had been HEAVILY promoted. Instead, we had Malakai in the ring maybe four minutes.
7. Trish Adora defeated Maki Itoh at 12:56. No pre-match mic work from Itoh, which was disappointing. Adora has a noticeable size advantage. They opened with a test of strength. Adora kicked Maki hard, and Maki did her ‘fake crying,’ which is just so hilarious, and Maki rolled to the floor; the crowd had to basically encourage her to come back. Maki hugged Trish but then pokeed her eye; she missed a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Adora tied her up on the mat. Maki hit the Kokeshi at 7:00, then a series of punches to the head in the corner as the crowd counted along.
Itoh hit a DDT on the ring apron. Itoh applied a Boston Crab in the middle of the ring. Adora hit a senton splash for a nearfall at 9:30. She hit a German Suplex. Itoh it a second-rope tornado DDT at 11:30, then another swinging DDT. Adora hit a shoulder-breaker over her knee for a nearfall, then a hard clothesline for the clean pin. Adora is so vastly under-used, this actually feels like an upset, even though she rightfully won. I enjoyed this.
8. Alex Shelley defeated Jonathan Gresham to retain the Prestige Heavyweight Title at 19:57. Castle said Shelley has held the belt for 499 days. Shelley also has the Impact Title with him. Castle acknowledged that Shelley also is PWR’s Remix champion, but I don’t see that belt with him. An intense lockup and mat wrestling to open. Gresham hit a DDT at 5:00 and a diving forearm for a nearfall. Shelley shoved Gresham to the floor and he did some pushups in the ring and was acting cocky. Shelley suplexed Gresham onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Shelley kept Gresham grounded.
Gresham applied a half-crab, but Shelley reached the ropes at 10:00. Shelley stomped on the left knee, then he hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip at 13:00. He went for the Border City Stretch but Gresham reached the ropes before it was locked in. Shelley hit another Dragonscrew Legwhip. He hit a roaring elbow at 17:00. Gresham hit another diving forearm for a nearfall. Shelley nailed the Flatliner into the middle turnbuckle. They traded forearm shots. Shelley couldn’t hit the Shellshock, but he hit it on a second try, then he locked in a Figure Four, and Gresham tapped out.
Final Thoughts: I’ll take Bailey vs. Akira for best match; it was hard hitting and Akira stepped up his game. I know I’d seen them fight in a mixed tag but didn’t realize this was their first-ever singles match. Shelley vs. Gresham was very mat-based; it won’t be everyone’s preferred style, but I’ll give it second-best. Adora-Itoh was fun so I’ll go with that for third place.
Nearly a year ago, F1rst Wrestling held a huge show at the Mall of American in suburban Minneapolis, headlined by Rob Van Dam vs. Dante Martin. They promoted the heck out of the match. Just as the match began, two heels came out and it was turned into a tag match. RVD spent maybe two total minutes in the ring. I was so disappointed. I can’t believe Prestige just did the same thing here with “Malakai Black vs. Kevin Blackwood”; it’s just really bad to lose the goodwill of your fans like that. If Malakai isn’t working a full, singles match, just promote it as what it was… a tag match with him doing a fraction of the in-ring work. I guess I hope that this wasn’t the plan entering the day… I hope Malakai walked in the door and said to the promoter, “I’m sorry but I’m beat up from my match last night. I’m here, but I can’t do much. Let’s make the best out of a bad situation.”
Despite the bait-and-switch, it was a good show. Check out Prestige Wrestling at IWTV.
>>If Malakai isn’t working a full, singles match, just promote it as what it was… a tag match with him doing a fraction of the in-ring work.<<
Umm…according to what you typed, he was in the ring half the time during the match. Seems reasonable.