By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Dreamwave Pro Wrestling “Good as Gold 2023”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
December 9, 2023 in La Salle, Illinois at the KOC Hall
This is the second consecutive night in this venue, and we once again have a sellout of 400 or so fans. Night 1 (Friday) was an all-women’s show, and several of the top stars are back for night 2. Plus, this show features an appearance by “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
1. Connor Hopkins won the Good As Gold Rumble at 56:42. This is a WWE-style 30-man Rumble. Hunter Holdcraft is No. 1 and Brooks Berna is No. 2. We don’t have on-screen graphics, so that’s really disappointing. Connor Hopkins, Berna’s teammate in Those Wild Coyotes, is No. 3 at 2:00. Brady Booker is No. 4 and he got a pop; he was NXT’s Bodhi Hayward. Booker is massive compared to the other three! Damien Deschain is No. 5; he’s also in Those Wild Coyotes. Arik Cannon is No. 6; no one has been tossed yet. 12-Gauge is No. 7 at 8:30; he’s been out with an injury and he wore a shoulder brace.
Davey Vega is No. 8. Bobby Orlando is No. 9 at 11:30, and he has his stupid stuffed goat. I hate dork wrestlers. Colt Cabana is No. 10 and he hit his bionic elbows on Arik. Jay Lethal is No. 11, dressed fully as Black Machismo in his Randy Savage-inspired gear and the crowd chanted “holy shit!” Lethal and Cabana traded blows while most everyone else was down. Judd the Janitor is No. 12 at 17:00 and he has a plunger. (NO, this is not TL Hopper.) Mike Bennett is No. 13; he’s now our third AEW-contracted wrestler. Jackson King is No. 14. Lethal tossed Berna.
Moondog Bernard is No. 15, and he looks like all the Moondogs when I was a kid. The scrawny Jordan Kross is No. 16 at 24:30; I’ve seen him several times in Warrior Wrestling. J Fowler is No. 17; he’s the first person in this who has a match listed for later. Dino Hatchett is No. 18. Koda Jacobs is No. 19 and he is perpetually running for office, holding a campaign sign; I’ve seen him a few times here in western WI. Bennett eliminated Koda almost immediately. “You hate to see something bad happen to a politician,” a commentator said. Matt Cage is No. 20. Moondog got tossed. We might have 10-12 guys in the ring. Florida Man is No. 21 and he was loudly booed; he threw the stupid goat to the floor, so in my eyes, he just turned babyface. He tossed Bobby Orlando, too.
Mad Hatter is No. 22. Arik Cannon got tossed. Hatter got tossed; we had a lot of rapid-fire eliminations, but the three AEW guys are still in. Marsche Rockett is No. 23; I’ve seen him on several area shows, too. He hit stunners on several guys. Aaron Xavier is No. 24 at 39:00. Mico Maestro is No. 25 and they said he’s a Finland native. Bennett got tossed! He’s the first of the ‘name’ wrestlers out. Brubaker is No. 26. Cabana tried to toss Lethal, but Jay held on. However, Brady Booker eliminated both Lethal and Cabana at 43:30! Warhorse is No. 27. Maestro was eliminated.
CJ Esparza is No. 28. Jason Hades is No. 29. Marsche was tossed. Xavier was tossed. Vic Capri is No. 30 at 47:30. Esparza was tossed; I see eight left. Cage was tossed. Warhorse was tossed. Brubaker and Hades were tossed and we’re down to four: Hopkins, Fowler, Brady Booker and Vic Capri. Teammates Fowler and Hopkins worked over Booker, and Brady got tossed at 52:30. Capri tossed Fowler! Capri and Hopkins brawled for several minutes. Hopkins tossed Capri to win! I didn’t expect that, as it means he gets a shot at his faction partner’s title. Hopkins celebrated with his ‘money in the bank’ briefcase.
2. J-Rod defeated Hyan at 8:19. Both of these two competed in Friday’s all-women’s show. The athletic J-Rod has a significant height and overall size advantage. Hyan tied J-Rod up on the mat and kept her grounded. J-Rod went for a frogsplash at 6:30 but Hyan got her knees up. Hyan hit running knees into the corner, then a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. J-Rod got a rollup out of nowhere to score the pin. Decent match.
* Ted DiBiase came to the ring to a hero’s welcome. He thanked the fans. He told a story about traveling with Andre the Giant during 1988 and a trip to Japan. And of course he finished by barking, “Everybody’s got a price!” and that got a huge pop. I love how Dreamwave has brought in a variety of legends like this; in recent months they’ve had the Nasty Boys and Bret Hart.
3. “Wasted Youth” Marcus Mathers and Dyln McKay defeated Victor Inestra and J Fowler to win the Dreamwave Tag Team titles at 10:47. Fowler was in the rumble match and he’s got a similar look and body frame to Pac. Fowler and Walker attacked before the bell. Fowler hit a snap suplex on Dyln at 1:30, then a suplex into the turnbuckles for a nearfall. Dyln hit an enzuigiri and tagged in Mathers at 4::00. Marcus hit a German Suplex and a Helluva Kick and a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. Fowloer hit superkicks on Dyln at 7:00. Inestra hit a DDT on Marcus, and suddenly everyone was down.
They got up and traded forearm strikes. WY hit superkicks. Fowler hit a summersault dive to the floor. Inestra hit a corkscrew dive through the ropes at 9:30. Marcus hit a powerbomb for a nearfall, but the heel manager pulled the ref from the ring, and he got ejected. Meanwhile, Fowler hit a low blow in the ring. Dyln hit a Fosbury Flop to the floor. WY hit a team spike piledriver move to pin Inestra. That was a blast.
4. Miyu Yamashita and Emi Sakura defeated Maggie Lee and Zayda Steel at 8:02. The heels attacked from behind. Miyu hit some roundhouse kicks to Zayda’s chest. Maggie tripped Miyu and the heels kept Miyu in their corner. Zayda hit a jumping knee in the corner at 3:30. Miyu fired back with a series of kicks and a basement clothesline on Zayda. Emi made the hot tag at 5:00. She hit a crossbody block in the corner and a snap suplex. Emi hit a Vader Bomb-style elbow drop for a nearfall at 7:30. Miyu nailed the Skull Kick on Maggie. Miyu hit a Death Valley Driver while Emi hit her backbreaker over her knee, and they scored simultaneous pins. Lee and Steel jawed at each other and shoved each other after the loss.
5. El Hijo Del Vikingo defeated Gringo Loco, Jack Cartwheel, Stephen Wolf in a four-way for the Dreamwave Alternative Championship at 18:34. In comparison to the others, I’ve barely seen Wolf in action. He is black with short, curly blond hair. This is the match I tuned in for, and the crowd chanted “All these guys!” before the bell. They took turns doing cartwheels before the action got underway, including the ref. Quick reversals and a standoff at 3:00. Wolf hit a dropkick on Jack. Loco did a gorilla press and dropped Wolf face-first. Vikingo hit his flipping huracanrana out of the corner on Loco at 5:00, followed by a pair of mid-ring huracanranas. Jack hit a huracanrana on Vikingo.
Jack hit his slingshot senton elbowdrop on Vikingo. Jack hit a top-rope Frankensteiner on Vikingo at 7:00. Loco hit a top-rope moonsault on Wolf, then a flip dive to the floor on the others. Jack nailed a Sasake Special to the floor on the other three at 9:00. In the ring, Jack hit a powerslam on Vikingo, then on Wolf, then on Loco. Wolf hit a standing moonsault. Loco hit a top-rope Spanish Fly on BOTH Wolf and Jack! Vikingo immediately hit a frogsplash on Loco, and everyone was down at 11:30, and the crowd chanted “Holy shit!” Wolf hit a tombstone piledriver on Jack for a believable nearfall. Wolf hit a dive to the floor.
Jack hit a Dominator faceplant on Wolf. They all fought in a corner, and Vikingo hit a double huracanrana. Jack hit a Poison Rana on Gringo. Wolf hit a Poison Rana on Jack at 15:00! Vikingo hit a top-rope Shooting Star Press on Wolf for a nearfall. Vikingo went to the top rope again, but Loco tripped him and was booed. Loco hit a top-rope gorilla press into a Falcon Arrow on Vikingo! Wolf hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Loco. Vikingo hit a top-rope springboard moonsault to the floor, landing over the guardrail and into the crowd! His foot actually hit the ceiling lighting! Vikingo immediately jumped back in the ring and nailed the top-rope 630 Splash to pin Wolf. WOW. WOW. WOW. Fans pelted them with money.
6. Brittnie Brooks defeated Zamaya to retain the Dreamwave Women’s title at 8:33. Again, the scary Zamaya has the Bull Nakano haircut. Brittnie is the plucky blonde champion. Zamaya took control early on. Brooks hit a second-rope crossbody block for a nearfall at 4:00. Zamaya leaned her back, hit a punch to the chest, and got a nearfall, and she grounded Brittnie. Brittnie hit a slingshot elbow drop for a nearfall at 7:00. Zamaya hit a German Suplex and they were both down. Brittnie hit a Snapmare Driver, then a swinging inverted DDT for the pin.
* Maggie Lee came to ringside with a mic, again calling the fans “smelly losers,” and she’s sick of everyone talking about Brittnie. She made it clear she wants a future title shot.
* A nice video package setting up the main event. This was really well done.
7. Christian Rose (w/The Wild Coyotes) defeated Hartenbower in a no-DQ match to retain the Dreamwave Championship at 22:12. Again, the bald Hartenbower has Josh Alexander’s look and build. Rose, the heel is Dolph Ziggler-meets-Zicky Dice in looks. An intense lockup and feeling-out process early. Rose hit a series of chops. A heel hopped in the ring and hit Hartenbower with a chair, so the ref ejected Rose’s entire TWC faction at 4:30. Rose hit a low blow and the ref called for the bell at 5:18. (I didn’t stop the clock.) An authority figure came out and ordered the match to continue, and it will now be no-DQ. They brawled on the floor. Rose slammed Hartenbower onto a folded chair on the ring apron at 8:30.
Hartenbower bodyslammed Rose onto the hard floor. In the ring, Rose hit a Sandman-style Russian legsweep while using a cane across the throat at 11:00. Hartenbower charged at Rose, but Rose pulled the ref in the way, and the ref was knocked out. They went to the floor; when Hartenbower stood up, he was bleeding from his forehead. They got back in the ring and Rose was in charge. Rose applied a Boston Crab at 14:30. A second ref finally ran into the ring. Hartenbower hit a DDT at 16:30. Rose accidentally hit a Helluva Kick on the new ref! Rose hit a spear on Hartenbower and they were both down.
They got up and traded forearm strikes. Hartenbower hit a spear for a visual pin but we didn’t have a ref! Earl Hebner got in the ring, counted to two, but stopped. “It’s the Montreal screwjob all over again!” a commentator said. Hartenbower hit Hebner! The Wild Coyotes returned to the ring and beat down Hartenbower. They all hit superkicks on Hartenbower. However, Hartenbower got a a kendo stick and hit all TWC members. He hit a stunner on Rose. Rose hit Hartenbower with the briefcase! Rose hit a Go To Sleep kneestrike; one of the knocked-out refs got in the ring and slowly made the three count. The crowd collectively groaned that the heel champ retained.
Final Thoughts: The lucha four-way was absolutely fantastic. I think I’ve seen Loco and Vikingo in the ring together about eight times now, and it really shows as Loco knows exactly what to do on each of Vikingo’s different huracanrana attempts, to make them connect and look great. Vikingo is so amazing, but that dive to the floor could have gone horribly, from changing his landing when he hit the lights, to possibly injuring a fan, or breaking a leg if he hit the guardrail. Yes, he’s incredibly talented, but he got a bit of luck there, too. The tag match earns second place. Wasted Youth are so good together in the ring, and J Fowler continues to impress every time I see him.
The Royal Rumble was fun. Jay Lethal was a pleasant surprise; Mike Bennett and Colt Cabana are frequent competitors here so not as shocking. Brady Booker is absolutely HUGE compared to everyone else in that match. I don’t claim to know why he lost his NXT contract, or why he got some early wins in AEW and vanished, but on size alone, he could be a presence. The three women’s matches were all fine; nothing must-see but all watchable.
The appearances of Ted DiBiase and Earl Hebner also were fun. This is the second time in a year Hebner has shown up in Dreamwave to take a payoff as a crooked referee, so this appearance continued that story for him.
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