By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Dreamwave Pro Wrestling “Those Summer Nights”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
August 5, 2023 in La Salle, Illinois at the KOC Hall
This is the second show of back-to-back nights of action (my review of the first night is also available). LaSalle is about a 90-minute drive west of Chicago. I’ve seen a few shows from this venue; it is tiny and a complete sellout at maybe 150-200 fans. The lights are on and the venue is well-lit.
1. “The Hype” Gaige Noonan and Hunter Holdcraft defeated “Wasted Youth” Marcus Mathers and Dyln McKay to win the Dreamwave Tag Team Titles at 16:15. Mathers and Hunter started; Hunter wears an amateur wrestling singlet. WY worked over Hunter early on, with Dyln hitting a Northern Lights Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. Mathers hit a back suplex with a bridge for a nearfall at 7:00. Gaige hit a hard clothesline to Mathers’ jaw and they were both down. Hunter bodyslammed one opponent onto another and got a nearfall at 10:00.
Mathers hit a Lungblower while McKay hit a Lionsault and WY got a nearfall. Hunter hit a powerslam on McKay. Hunter did a gorilla press on his partner, tossing Gaige to the floor on their opponents. Gaige hit a Doomsday flying knees for a believable nearfall, but Mathers made the save at 13:30. All four fought in the ring. Noonan hit a Poison Rana. Mathers hit a Canadian Destroyer. WY hit a Meltzer Driver piledriver. McKay hit a dive to the floor. Noonan rolled up Mathers for the pin! New champions!
2. Connor Hopkins (w/Those Damn Coyotes) defeated Hartenbower at 9:54. Again, Hartenbower is bald and reminds me of Josh Alexander. He hit a buckle bomb and a clothesline early on. The TDC teammates tripped up Hartenbower, allowing Hopkins to take control. Hartenbower hit a spinebuster at 5:30. Hopkins came off the top rope but Hartenbower caught him with a spear and got a nearfall! They traded forearm shots. The TDC guys distracted the ref, allowing Hopkins to hit Hartenbower with a wrench and score the tainted pin.
3. Ultimo Dragon defeated Matt Cross at 11:05. Just surreal that Ultimo Dragon is here, and he’s in the third match and not the main event. Cross, also known as M-Dogg20, is a 20+ year veteran with appearances in NWA and ROH in the past. The commentators said these two have actually squared off nearly 20 times before. They traded quick reversals and had a standoff. Dragon hit a series of quick kicks and he applied a modified Figure Four at 2:30. Cross tied up Dragon’s arms and slowed down the match, and he hit a dropkick at 8:00. They traded rollups. Cross bounced off the ropes and hit a stunner for a nearfall at 10:00. Cross missed a second-rope Shooting Star Press. Ultimo Dragon got a rollup for the pin. Okay match; a fraction of what these two could have done 20 years ago.
4. Bobby Orlando and “The Outrunners” Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum defeated “Zeke Zshe Enterprises LLC” J Fowler, Bucky Collins, and Aaron Xavier at 12:03. The Outrunners have appeared on AEW a few times. Fowler, who looks a bit like PAC, had a good match a day earlier against Alex Shelley. Fowler and Orlando started and this is slow and all comedy. The ZZE heels kept an Outrunner in their corner. Orlando hit a heel with his stuffed goat and they fought over the stupid toy goat. They finally scored the pin but it didn’t hold my interest. Orlando celebrated with his goat.
5. Bryan Keith defeated Masha Slamovich in an intergender match at 8:25. Masha scored a win against Alec Price a day earlier in Detroit for GCW. Keith has such a size and muscle mass advantage it is just absurd to think she could stand toe-to-toe with him. She tied up his left arm early on and applied a keylock. On the floor, Keith hit a hard Mafia Kick at 3:30, and he took control in the ring, stomping on her in the corner. She hit a running knee in the corner at 5:30 and a rolling kick for a nearfall. Keith hit an Exploder Suplex, then a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 7:00. She hit a Shining Wizard for a nearfall. Keith nailed a Tiger Driver powerbomb for the pin. Solid match.
6. Jordan Oliver defeated Victor Iniestra at 7:34. Oliver, like Masha, wrestled in Detroit a day earlier, and he towers over Victor, who has the same body shape & hair style of Mustafa Ali. Oliver is a full head taller. He’s about 6’2″ so Victor might be 5’6′. They traded chops and Oliver hit a hard clothesline, and they were both down at 5:00. Oliver hit the Acid Bomb/face-first Blackout for a nearfall. Victor hit a lungblower for a nearfall. Oliver hit a standing powerbomb, then he applied a Boston Crab and leaned way back until Victor tapped out. An extended squash, really, which is fine by me. Oliver is so talented and should win this one easily.
* Mickie James came to the ring to a huge pop. she is not dressed to wrestle. She got on the mic and she said she’s honored to be there. She introduced Val Capone, who did ring introductions. Zayda Steel joined commentary, who objected to the next match, calling it a “second-chance scramble.” (She’s not wrong!) Val then joined Zayda, so we had an all-women commentary team for the next match.
7. Brittnie Brooks defeated Shazza McKenzie, Maggie Lee, Kaia McKenna, Maki Itoh and Shelly Benson in a six-way scramble at 11:06. Four of these women competed in this scramble a day ago; Lee and Benson have been added to it, replacing Zayda Steel (who won the first night’s six-way) and Shazza McKenzie (who headed to Seattle for a tournament there.) I don’t think I’ve see Lee before; she has curly reddish hair halfway down her back. B3cca attacked Itoh to kickstart the match and Itoh did her childish fake crying. Brittnie hit a plancha to the floor on everyone at 2:30. Itoh put B3cca’s feet on the ropes and hit a DDT in the ring. Shelly, who is heavily tattooed, did a dance-off with Itoh for some silliness, until Maggie attacked them both.
Maggie and Kaia stood toe-to-toe and it’s clear Maggie is the tallest woman in the match, as they traded forearm shots at 5:00. Zayda spent her time on commentary constantly mis-saying Val’s name and boasting about her win on Friday. Itoh hit some headbutts on Kaia. B3cca hit a backbreaker over her knee on Maki at 8:00. B3cca hit a Hellluva Kick on Brittnie and celebrated. Itoh hit a double headbutt, and she applied a double half-crab (on two separate women.) Maggie missed a top-rope moonsault. Brittnie immediately hit an inverted DDT to pin Maggie. So-so match.
8. El Hijo Del Vikingo defeated Gringo Loco, Alex Shelley, and Flamita in a four-way to retain the Dreamwave Alternative Championship at 14:48. Vikingo pinned Loco a day ago to win this title; I think this is a way for him to lose the title without getting pinned. They once again took a picture with the ref holding the belt and the four competitors, and I just really like that. At the bell, everyone attacked Vikingo! Vikingo and Shelley hit superkicks on Flamita at 2:00. Shelley tied Viking up in a bow-and-arrow, but Flamita crawled over and covered Shelley for a nearfall. Loco and Flamita traded deep armdrags. Vikingo hit a missile dropkick at 5:00, then he launched off the top post and hit a springboard-doublejump-double armdrag that popped the crowd. (I’ve seen him try this unsuccessfully before but he hit it perfectly here.)
Vikingo hit a flip dive to the floor on everyone at 7:00. In the ring, Flamita hit a standing Shooting Star Press on Vikingo for a nearfall, then a 619 and a Tiger Driver powerbomb for a nearfall at 9:00, but Shelley made the save. They did a four-way sleeperhold spot. Shelley piled Vikingo and Flamita and he applied a double half-crab. Shelley let go of that to put a Figure Four Leglock on Loco. Loco hit a springboard Canadian Destroyer, then a sit-out piledriver on Vikingo for a nearfall at 11:30. Vikingo hit a jump-up Frankensteiner on Flamita. Shelley hit a Flatliner, sending Vikingo face-first into the middle turnbuckle.
Shelley applied a Border City Stretch on Flamita at 13:30. Flamita went for a frogsplash on Shelley but Alex got his knees up. Vikingo hit a frogsplash on Shelley. Vikingo hit a springboard dive to the floor and turned it into a huracanrana. In the ring, Vikingo hit the 630 Splash to pin Flamita, as Shelley was a half-second late in breaking it up. That was tremendous; not as good as the singles match a night ago, but still really, really good.
9. Vic Capri won a 20-man battle royal at 9:47. Lots of guys I don’t know here. Jordan Kross, the lanky kid from Warrior Wrestling, is in here. I seriously barely recognize any of the first 15 to come out. Vic Capri, the 20-year pro came out and he has to be seen as a favorite. Luiji Primo came out, twirling his pizza crust. Florida Man hit the ring. Colt Cabana came out; he also has to be seen as a favorite, along with Warhorse. The bell sounds so it looks like we have 20 men (and no women), give or take, and I don’t think anyone is in there that had a match already on this show. (This seems like the sort of match you open the show with, not have second-to-last.) I have to believe one of those final five guys (except Primo) wins this. Lots of trainees in there.
Primo got tossed at 3:00 and several youngsters, too. Warhorse has tossed several people. I’ll be blunt; this is below-average for a battle royal. A kid tossed Warhorse over the top rope but he held on, got back in the ring and tossed the kid. Sure enough, our final four at 7:00 are Cabana, Capri, Warhorse and Florida Man. Florida Man eliminated Warhorse. FM hit a low blow on Cabana and got him over the top rope. FM shoved Capri into Cabana, causing him to fall to the floor and also be eliminated. Capri and Florida Man fought on the top rope, and Capri hit a dropkick to send FM to the floor, ending the match. This just wasn’t all that good, but the crowd was happy to see Capri win.
10. Christian Rose defeated Alexander Hammerstone to retain the Dreamwave Championship at 13:14. I will again describe Rose as a mix of Dolph Ziggler and Zicky Dice. Hammerstone is taller and more muscular than Rose (and pretty much anyone Alex faces!) Rose attacked Hammerstone to kickstart the match; the problem here is that with Rose as the heel, it forces the bigger Hammerstone to work as babyface, and let’s be honest, Hammerstone is a much better heel. They brawled to the floor, where Hammerstone slammed Rose onto the ring apron at 2:30. Rose took control in the ring and worked over Hammerstone with some basic stomps and chokes. Hammerstone finally hit a powerslam for a nearfall, and they were both down at 7:00.
Hammerstone hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. Rose hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 8:30. They brawled back to the floor at 11:00, where Rose launched off the stairs and hit a tornado DDT; he threw Hammerstone back in the ring and he hit a Swanton Bomb for a believable nearfall. Rose hit a Styles Clash for the pin. It started slow but built nicely.
Final Thoughts: Dreamwave put together two really good back-to-back shows, although night one was slightly better. They are clearly able to pack this tiny venue with ease and are doing a good job of mixing in some top-notch indy talent with the local wrestlers. Sure, that battle royal was filled with 15 green kids, but it’s a good place for them to start.
I’ll go with the Vikingo four-way for best match. Shelley isn’t usually in the mix with the luchadores but he’s so incredibly good, he fit right in. The opening tag match was really good and earned second place. Wasted Youth are so busy, and I hope their loss here doesn’t mean they are done with coming to the Midwest indies. Cross-Ultimo Dragon takes third, even if I had hoped for even more, with the main event honorable mention.
Check out all Dreamwave Wrestling shows at IWTV.
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