By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Wrestling Revolver “Redacted 4Ever”
Replay available via FITE.TV
September 2, 2023 in Clive, Iowa at Horizons Event Center
This venue consistently draws 600 or more fans. Bork Borkleson and Veda Scott provided commentary. I want to point out that Veda did commentary for a noon CST show in Chicago, raced four hours west, and made it for this event at 8 p.m. CST. I’m made this comment before, but Revolver shows are increasingly feeling like an Impact Wrestling house show, as almost every match has an Impact star. There have been fewer AEW-contracted wrestlers on Revolver shows in recent months, and there are none here, as AEW is running Collision four hours east.
* The show opened with Alex Colon and Jake Crist talking about their no ropes barbed wire match later in the show. While I’m not a fan of bloody matches, I understand if they are used to conclude a long feud. That’s not the case here, though… Alex Colon hasn’t been in Wrestling Revolver. This is just a hardcore match with zero backstory for why they are going straight to such a violent match.
1. Mike Bailey defeated Shun Skywalker at 9:52. Veda pointed out that Bailey beat Shun at the PWG BOLA earlier this year. They shook hands at the bell, traded quick reversals, and had a standoff. Shun is in the same black outfit he wore a day earlier in Prestige Wrestling in Portland. Bailey hit his Triangle Moonsault to the floor at 4:00. In the ring, Bailey hit his running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Bailey hit his Speedball kicks, but Shun caught a leg and hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip. Shun applied a Boston Crab and sat down for pressure but Bailey reached the ropes at 6:30. Bailey hit the moonsault kneedrop to the chest.
Shun hit a running kick and an overhead sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 8:00. They traded rollups and Bailey hit the Green Tea Plunge/modified Spanish Fly, but he missed a moonsault kneedrop. Shun hit his own moonsault kneedrop for a believable nearfall. Shun went for a top-rope moonsault, but Bailey got his knees up. Bailey nailed the Tornado Kick in the corner, then the Ulitma Weapon second-rope summersault kneedrop to the back for the pin. Excellent match for the time given.
2. Marina Shafir defeated Jessicka (Havok) at 6:05. This is a first-time-ever matchup. Shafir slammed her immediately and dominated early on with a series of kicks. Jessicka got up and hit some jab punches to the jaw at 3:30. Marina went for a sunset flip, but Jessicka hit a buttdrop, splashing her weight onto Marina’s chest. Jessicka hit a chokeslam for a nearfall; she set up for a piledriver, but Marina grabbed the ref to block it, then she was able to hop on Jessicka’s back and apply a sleeper. They rolled to the mat, with Marina turning the hold into a cross-armbreaker, and Jessicka tapped out.
* Rachel Armstrong ran to the ring to stop Marina from continuing to beat down Jessicka. As Rachel checked on Jessicka, Marina attacked Rachel from behind and applied her choke. Veda contended that if Jessicka had hit the pilledriver, she would have won.
3. Alan Angels, Crash Jaxon, Masha Slamovich, and Zachary Wentz in a four-way at 5:02. Wentz wore his Impact Tag Team title. Three ganged up on the heavyset Crash, but he knocked them down like bowling pins. They dumped him over the top rope to the floor. Masha hit a series of kicks on Wentz and Angels; she went for a top-rope crossbody block on both, but those two caught her at 2:00. Angels hit a hard clothesline on Masha. Wentz hit a snap German Suplex on Angels, then a running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall, but Masha made the save. Masha dove through the ropes onto Wentz. Angels hit a moonsault to the floor. Bork said that Crash was taken to the back with an injury; I didn’t see whatever happened to him. Wentz hit a Blockbuster out of nowhere on Angels for the pin. Good for the time given; as good as those three are, I have to believe their match was thrown ‘off’ by Jaxon exiting the match in the first minute.
* The match was short so I rewound it; as Jaxon was dumped to the floor, literally about a minute it, he landed stomach-first and hard on his right arm and he clutched it. The fact he never returned to the match… I wouldn’t be surprised if he broke his arm upon landing on the thin mat on the floor.
* Right on cue, Sami Callihan stopped at the booth and said that Crash broke his arm. (I honestly rewatched the injury spot before Sami made the announcement.)
* Alpha Sigma Sigma, the obnoxious fraternity guys, hit the ring. They made the usual heelish comments, bashing Iowa Hawkeyes football (who won earlier in the day but apparently not big enough!) They were finally interrupted by Tommy Dreamer! An ASS guy said “who have you ever beaten? What have you ever done for this business?” Dreamer took the mic, defended Iowa, then beat up the jerk fraternity guys, and they scampered to the back. Dreamer then called out Damian Chambers for their match.
4. Damian Chambers defeated Tommy Dreamer at 13:51. I really like Chambers’ overall look and he’s an easy heel to boo. Dreamer hit a bionic elbow to the top of the head, then he clotheslined Damian to the floor. Bork reminded us that Damian hold the Golden Ticket (essentially a Money in the Bank briefcase) that allows him to get a title shot at any belt whenever he wants. They brawled on the floor and over the guardrail. Bork shouted “Vintage Tommy Dreamer.” Dreamer found the ring bell and a metal garbage can, and he hit Chambers across the back with a cookie sheet at 4:00.
They got back to ringside, and Chambers hit a plancha at 6:00, and he began stomping on Tommy. They brawled and hit each other with Rice Krispie bars (another sentence I’ve never written before.) In the ring, Chambers applied a sleeper, and he hit a bodyslam at 8:30. He mockingly did a Hogan pose, but he missed the Hogan leg drop. Dreamer hit a series of punches in the corner then he bit Damian’s nose. Damian hit a drop-toe-hold, sending Tommy onto an open chair. Dreamer hit a piledriver for a believable nearfall at 10:30, and Dreamer was shocked he didn’t win there. Chambers hit a short-arm clothesline for a nearfall.
Chambers dumped a box of LEGOs into the ring. (My boys are 6 and 8; I know how much it hurts to step on LEGOs!) Chambers hit Dreamer in the knee with a kendo stick. Dreamer hit a stunner onto the pile of LEGOs and Chambers writhed in pain. Dreamer shoved a door into the ring. Chambers hit a low blow uppercut, then a rollup, for the pin. Bork was really over-the-top as a heel commentator in this match, to the point of being a distraction. Chambers got a cheese grater, but Dreamer took it away and hit a low blow with hit. Dreamer then hit a Death Valley Driver through the door set up in the corner, to get his heat back.
* Dreamer got on the mic and said he was on the first Revolver show in this building several years ago, and he noted the crowd is much larger now. He put over the wrestlers in the back for putting on great matches for the fans. We then headed to intermission. I always write this, but I love that Revolver shows a match from a prior show, rather than have a blank screen. Today, they showed Gringo Loco vs. Konosuke Takeshita from their last show.
5. (Tyler) Breeze defeated Dan the Dad and Matthew Palmer in the “funniest match ever” three-way at 8:18. Breeze wrestled a day earlier for Prestige Wrestling in Portland as well. Palmer decided he wanted a ‘re-do’ of his entrance, and he came back out to Triple H’s Motorhead theme and mimicked Hunter’s walking, sipping on water, and spraying it, but he started to choke. Silly. So, Dan announced he also was going to ‘re-do’ his own entrance. He came out to John Cena’s theme song! He had four other guys dressed like him, all holding their coffee cups and wearing ball caps. The crowd chanted “Breeze!” so he threw his hands up, and he headed to the back to ‘re-do’ his intro. I’m enjoying this humor. He came out to “Breeze-berg” doing a “Goldberg” intro, marching with determination to the ring. The crowd chanted “Breezeberg.”
Matthew Palmer again headed to the back, and he returned dressed in drag to “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show. The bell rang! We are actually going to have a match! Dan did his offense while not dropping his coffee cup, and he spun Palmer on the mat before getting a nearfall at 1:30. Palmer went to the top rope, but Breeze slowly rolled away; Palmer went to the other corner, but Breeze slowly rolled the other direction. Palmer drank one of his potions from his belt, and that fired him up. Breeze took a drink from a potion but it put him to sleep. Palmer and Dad hit simultaneous crossbody blocks and everyone was down at 5:00.
Dan went under the ring and got a red gas can. “This isn’t fun anymore!” Veda shouted, as it appeared Dan was going to light a wood bridge on fire, but he struggled to get the gas can open! Meanwhile, Breeze got a rollup on Palmer for the pin. Dan completely missed the finish because he was struggling with the gas can. So, Dan and Breeze did a team chokeslam and put Palmer through the door bridge.
* Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” hit! Out of the back came a man in a hoodie, but it turned out it was JT Dunn. Dunn has his hands taped in white bandages with the black X on them, copying CM Punk.
6. Ace Austin (w/Gia Miller) defeated JT Dunn (w/Phil Stamper) at 10:36. I have compared Dunn to Tony Nese in looks in recent reviews. Gia’s outfit is particularly revealing tonight. Stamper gave Gia a gift, and it was a “Gia Pet” in a custom box. Silly. Ace has kiss marks all over his face and upper chest; that’s new. Standing switches early on. Ace hit a basement dropkick at 2:00. Dunn choked Ace in the ropes. They brawled on the floor. In the ring, Ace hit a Russian Legsweep at 7:00 and a Hogan Legdrop to the throat for a nearfall.
Ace hit a springboard spin kick to the head for a believable nearfall. Dunn hit a piledriver onto the ring apron; he rolled Ace into the ring and got a nearfall at 9:30. Dunn hit a Go To Sleep! (Nice CM Punk copycat move.) Ace got an O’Connor Roll and leaned back for leverage to score the pin. Dunn hit Ace from behind immediately after the pinfall. Gia hopped in the ring to stop the attack and she stood nose-to-nose with Dunn. Dunn shoved her to the mat. Another guy hopped in the ring, but Dunn hit his Death By Elbow on him. Finally, Sami Callihan ran into the ring and chokeslammed Dunn. Callihan slapped Stamper, too.
* Alex Shelley was at Prestige Wrestling a day earlier as well but wound up not wrestling his scheduled opponent, teammate Chris Sabin. (I hope Shelley isn’t injured, as I can’t fathom that Prestige Wrestling actually did a bait-and-switch for a second consecutive show.) Those two walked to the ring and Shelley cut a heel promo on Revolver and the Iowa fans, and of course, the fans loudly booed him. “How about you classless motherf–ers shut the f–k up?” he responded. He then called for their teammate Eric Young to join them. Shelley told Young to “just follow our direction,” and it was very condescending tone. I don’t think this team is going to mesh well…
7. “Second Gear Crew” 1 Called Manders, Mance Warner, and Matthew Justice defeated Eric Young and “Motor City Machine Guns” Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley to retain the Revolver Tag Titles at 8:08. Shelley’s team attacked from behind to start the match. Sabin nailed a dive through the ropes in the first minute. In the ring, Mance and Young traded punches. Sabin and Manders traded chops at 1:30, and Manders hit a spinebuster. The SGC surrounded Shelley, so Alex bowed down and kissed Manders’ boot. Of course, Manders beat down Shelley. They all brawled on the floor. Sabin accidentally hit Shelley in the corner. Mance hit a chokeslam on Young at 4:00. The SGC put a trash can over Eric’s head and hit it with chairs.
Young hit a Death Valley Driver on Mance across several open chairs for a nearfall at 6:00. Sabin accidentally hit a superkick on Young! He immediately apologized, but Young shoved him, so Sabin shoved him back. Young kicked Young in the chest and hit a piledriver, and he gave a middle finger to Shelley and left! Manders nailed a decapitating clothesine on Sabin, and Justice immediately hit a frogsplash to pin Sabin. Good match, but it was obvious before the bell that Sabin, Shelley and Young weren’t going to get along. (Revolver really hasn’t bothered to explain which two of the three are the tag champs, so I guess ‘Freebird Rules’ are in play.)
* A short break to set up for the main event.
8. Jake Crist defeated Alex Colon in a no ropes barbed wire match to retain the Wrestling Revolver Title at 17:02. On one side of the ring, a barbed-wire fence is lying flat, and at 1:30, Colon hit a back body drop, sending Crist onto the barbed wire. I’ve seen Colon several times in GCW, always in hardcore matches like this. Colon pulled out scissors and jabbed it repeatedly in Crist’s forehead; when Jake stood up at 4:00, he was bleeding heavily and this is gross. Again… there is no backstory here to justify this type of violence; this isn’t a blowoff to a heated feud.
In the ring, Colon hit a stunner and a uranage and got a nearfall. Crist put a ladder over his head and spun it so it struck Colon. They suplexed off a ladder and onto the barbed wire fencing at 12:00. Colon grabbed wire cutters and began cutting the wiring around ringside. They both crashed through a wood board on the floor. Colon hit a running kneestrike in the ring for a believable nearfall at 15:00. Colon left ringside; he returned holding a weed wacker. Crist hit a roundhouse kick to the head, he slammed Colon onto a table at ringside, and then he hit a German Suplex in the ring. Crist applied a Boston Crab, and Colon tapped out. Violent, bloody brawl and just not my preferred taste.
Final Thoughts: I like the large, hot crowds in Clive and they really enjoyed what they saw. I’ll rank Bailey-Shun as best match. Austin-Dunn earns second best, and while I usually don’t get into comedy matches, I will give the Breeze match third place. I’ve stated my complaints about the main event; even if you love hardcore stuff, I hope you understand why this type of violent match should be the blowoff to a feud, not the start of one. And with Colon being a Revolver outsider, no one realistically thought Alex was winning that match. Check out this show, and all Wrestling Revolver shows, at Fite+.
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