By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Prestige Wrestling “No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
September 9, 2023 in Missoula, Montana at the Missoula Fairgrounds
This is a large pole barn with plenty of room for seating, and there are no walls on two of the four sides of the building. Attendance is perhaps 500. This show was released on IWTV on Monday.
* NOTE this is a ‘fan cam’ footage with just one camera and no commentary. I completely understand if that is a turnoff… but I’ve watched enough Japanese wrestling with no English commentary it doesn’t even phase me.
1. “Midnight Heat” Eddie Pearl and Ricky Gibson defeated “NDS” Rylie Jackson and Levy Cruise at 10:25. MH are the old-school style heel tag team from the Pacific Northwest. Gibson is bald (looking very much like Eric Young), while Pearl has short, dark hair. The bald Rylie Jackson had an AEW Dark match the last time AEW was in Minneapolis, and I saw him have an excellent match against Silas Young at an indy show in Wisconsin a couple years ago. Cruise has short black hair; I don’t think I’ve seen him before. The heels worked over Rylie early on. Levy hit a step-up enzuigiri in the corner and a running knee for a nearfall. Gibson hit a DDT to pin Levy. Solid, basic tag match.
2. Sonico defeated Shun Skywalker at 16:31. Shun, the Dragon Gate star, wore all black. Sonico wore his white mask. Good mat reversals to open. Shun hit a shoulder tackle that dropped Sonico at 2:30. They brawled to the floor, and there are no mats on this cement floor. Shun tossed Sonico into the rows of plastic folding chairs. He bodyslammed Sonico onto a pile of folding chairs at 6:30. In the ring, Shun remained in charge. They traded hard chops. Sonico hit a springboard back elbow at 10:30 and was fired up. They traded more forearm shots, and Sonico hit a German Suplex for a nearfall a 12:00.
Shun applied a Boston Crab, dragged Sonico to the center of the ring and sat down for pressure, but Sonico reached the ropes. Shun tugged at Sonico’s mask. They traded rollups. Sonico hit a butterfly powerbomb for a nearfall at 15:00, then a moonsault kneedrop for a believable nearfall. Sonico hit a second-rope superplex, then a fisherman’s suplex for the pin. That was really good, as expected.
3. Judas Icarus defeated Kidd Bandit, Matt Cross, and Kris Brady in a four-way at 6:46. I’ve really been impressed with Judas in recent months; he’s short with dark black hair, reminding me of Mike Bailey and a young Paul London. Bandit is the LGBTQ superhero. Brady is short, wears red bib overalls, and he’s a decent high-flyer. Cross, also known as M-Dogg 20, is a 20-year pro with stints in IWA-Mid South and Ring of Honor. Bandit and Judas traded punches on the floor, and Cross dove through the ropes on both of them. In the ring, Bandit hit a DDT on Icarus for a nearfall at 3:00. They did a tower spot out of the corner with Icarus on top and landing hard in the center of the ring, and everyone was down.
Cross missed a Shooting Star Press but landed on his feet. Bandit hit a huracanrana and a 619 on Icarus. Brady hit a forward Finlay Roll and a top-rope moonsault on Bandit. However, Icarus shoved Brady to the floor, and Icarus covered Bandit to steal the pin. A good match, and I presumed the hot heel Icarus was winning here. That was fun and should have gone longer.
4. Tom Lawlor defeated Fred Rosser at 23:37. These two have been battling seemingly for 2-3 years in New Japan Strong. Lawlor wore his silly tuxedo gear. Rosser focused on the left arm early and they traded standing switches. They brawled to the floor at 4:30. Rosser set up for a piledriver on the ring apron but Lawlor escaped. Lawlor looped the ring and the outside of the seating area before hitting a running kick to Rosser’s chest at 7:00. In the ring, Lawlor remained in charge, and he jawed at the fans. Lawlor hit a roaring forearm for a nearfall at 10:00. He once again ran far from ringside, built up some speed as he returned, but this time, Rosser blocked Lawlor’s kick.
Rosser slammed Lawlor head-first into the ring post at 12:30. Rosser did a slingshot move, sending Lawlor again into the ring post. In the ring, Rosser hit a clothesline for a nearfall at 14:30, then a series of chops. Rosser hit a gutbuster over his knees for a nearfall. Lawlor applied a crossface, but Rosser reached the ropes. Lawlor nailed a running penalty kick to the chest for a nearfall at 19:00. He applied a sleeper. Rosser escaped, hit a Death Valley Driver, and both men were down at 20:30. They traded more forearm shots. Rosser hit some gut punches. Lawlor hit an enzuigiri. Rosser hit some Mafia Kicks. Lawlor applied a sleeper on the mat, and Rosser passed out; I didn’t see him tap.
5. Travis Williams (w/Judas Icarus) defeated 1 Called Manders at 19:04. Manders is the Iowa cowboy and should be popular here. Williams is the mat-based wrestler with a short buzzcut, a mix of a young Bryan Danielson and Zack Sabre Jr. Icarus and Williams came out first, and they jumped Manders as he got in the ring. Williams clipped Manders knee from behind. Manders was finally able to get his entrance gear off and he threw Williams to the floor. They brawled on the floor with Manders hitting LOUD chops. Manders hit Williams in the face at 3:00 with a wrestling belt held by a fan in the stands.
Williams hit some chops as Manders sat in the lap of a fan. Manders hit a chairshot across the back. Williams dove through the ropes, but Manders caught him and threw him shoulder-first into the ring post at 5:00. They brawled to a wall, far from ringside. (The lone camera is doing a really good job of following the action.) Manders stopped to drink a beer, and of course, spray a bit in Williams fae at 7:00. Williams hit a tornado DDT on the floor. The crowd is following them around on the floor; they really should have a security guard helping keep a perimeter around them. They brawled to the top of the bleachers, and Manders hit a bodyslam at 10:00 as they fought in the top row. (They are 15-20 feet up so I’m glad no one got tossed over the bleachers.)
They returned to ringside, with Manders finding some metal folding chairs and tossing them into the ring. In the ring, Williams begged for forgiveness, before ramming Manders head-first into a chair wedged in the corner of the ring at 12:30. Williams hit a dive through the ropes onto Manders. In the ring, Williams hit a slingshot DDT for a nearfall. Williams put a garbage can over Manders’ head, hit a dropkick, and got a nearfall at 14:00. Manders hit a drop-toe-hold, sending Travis head-first onto an open chair. Manders now put the garbage can over Williams’ head and hit it repeatedly with chairshots. Manders hit a Bulldog Powerslam for a believable nearfall; I thought that was it. Manders opened several chairs and they fought on top of the chairs. Williams hit a piledriver onto the open chairs for a believable nearfall.
Williams hit a running knee to the back of Manders’ head for a nearfall, and he was livid he didn’t get the pin there. Manders threw a chair into Williams’ face and hit a clothesline for a believable nearfall, but Icarus suddenly re-appeared and stopped the count. As Manders lunged at Icarus, Judas hit Manders with his cowbell. Williams immediately got a rollup for the cheap pin. A very good brawl but no one bled, and we didn’t have any disgusting weapons used.
6. Trish Adora defeated Liiza Hall at 8:49. Liiza is the thin mat-based redhead and I’ve been impressed by her. I’m a big fan of Adora, too, and she definitely has an overall size advantage. Standing switches to open and friendly mat-based reversals. Adora applied a mid-ring Octopus at 3:00. Liiza hit a running stunner and a hard penalty kick to the chest for a nearfall, and she applied a Rings of Saturn double-arm submission hold at 5:30. Trish hit a German Suplex, and she applied a Crippler Crossface, but Liiza reached the ropes. Liiza nailed a DDT for a nearfall. They traded rollups. Liiza got a backslide for a nearfall. Moments later, Adora got her own backslide, flipped her legs over for leverage, and scored the clean pin. That was good stuff and far too short.
7. “C4” Cody Chhun and Guillermo Rosas defeated “Los Suavicitos “Danny Rose and Ricky Gee to retain the Prestige Tag Team titles at 11:25. Chhun always reminds me of NXT’s Boa, as they are both tall and lanky. Rosas is much shorter and a bit rotund. Gee and Rosas opened, and Los Suavicitos took control early. Chhun finally made the hot tag at 7:00 and hit some dropkicks. He hit a modified Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Los Suavicitos hit a team doublestomp-and-senton move for a nearfall at 10:00. Rosas hit a sit-out powerbomb for the pin. Solid match.
* Shawn Spears hit the ring and said it is his first time in Missoula, Montana, and he started to cut a babyface promo, but switched gears by saying he will never come back to this city again because it’s awful. The crowd knew where it was going but it was still fun.
8. (Tyler) Breeze defeated Shawn Spears at 20:58. I have to imagine these guys fought at some point in NXT; they certainly are familiar with each other’s styles. Breeze got a nice pop. An intense lockup, and Spears shoved Breeze to the mat, posed, and danced around the ring holding a “10” sign and was loudly booed. They did an extended segment o Breeze teasing he was going to step on the “10 poster,” with Spears begging him not to. This crowd was HOT and into this silliness. Breeze dropped Spears’ foot on the poster at 3:30 and Spears comically sold his horror of stepping on a picture of his face. They brawled on the floor.
Spears took control in the ring, hitting a delayed vertical suplex at 6:30. They did the spot where Spears went to the top rope, but Breeze rolled to the far corner, so Spears went to that top rope but Breeze rolled away again. Breeze hit a plancha to the floor at 8:30. In the ring, Spears applied a Sharpshooter in the center of the ring, but Breeze reached the ropes. Spears hit a Pedigree for a nearfall at 14:00, and he wedged a chair in the ropes in a corner. Breeze hit a uranage for a nearfall at 16:00. Spears shoved Breeze head-first into the chair and got a rollup for a nearfall, and the crowd rallied for Breeze.
Spears got a chair; as the ref tried to confiscate it, he shoved the ref out of the ring. As Spears turned back to the action, Breeze caught him with a superkick for a visual pin, but the ref was down on the ground outside the ring. Spears hit a low blow uppercut, then a spear. The ref got in the ring and made the count but Breeze kicked out at two, and they were both down at 20:30. Spears got the chair and swung it at Breeze, but it hit the ropes and ricocheted into his face (how come that never happens to babyfaces???). Breeze immediately hit the spinning heel kick to the face for the pin.
Final Thoughts: What a fun show and it felt refreshingly old school, in that you had a good crowd on hand who likely had never seen any of these wrestlers in person before. Babyfaces were cheered and heels were booed. You didn’t have or need intergender matches, extreme bloodletting or violent use of weapons, or R-rated chants from the crowd, or wrestlers swearing at the audience. This was a family-friendly show. I think far too much of indy pro wrestling has strayed away from holding family-friendly shows, turning off viewers. For every fan that loves watching wrestlers whack each other over the head with light tubes and gusset plates, there are 20 soccer moms who are horrified by it and choose not to take their 10-year-old sons to a show.
Just my own personal preference of style, but I’ll go with Shun-Sonico for best match. Lawlor-Rosser is always good and hard-hitting and earns second-best, but I really wouldn’t have minded if they had trimmed it by five minutes and given the four-way those minutes. Williams-Manders was strong and earned third place. Nothing wrong with the main event; it got great crowd heat and reaction, even if it was a bit light on action.
Check out this show at IWTV. I’m so glad Prestige opted to release it.
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