By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Limitless Wrestling “End of Beginning”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
January 20, 2024 in Yarmouth, Maine at Yarmouth Amvets Post #2
This show was posted Tuesday on IWTV. I like this venue and they always draw a huge crowd here. This might be 500-600 and the commentators say it’s a sellout.
* At the last Limitless show, Aiden Aggro turned on longtime MSP teammate DangerKid and severely beat him up. So, we have a match between these partners in the main event. In a rare move, only three matches were announced in advance, but those three were strong enough to fill this building.
1. TJ Crawford defeated Alexander Hammerstone at 17:45. The first and last match should be the best on the show. Crawford has just started his MLW run as Hammerstone’s has come to a close. Obviously, Hammerstone has a big height and overall size advantage. The onscreen graphic lists Hammerstone as “wrestling’s hottest free agent.” Quick mat reversals early, as Hammerstone is clearly showing he can keep up with the mat-based TJ. Hammerstone caught Crawford coming off the ropes and he hit a fallaway slam at 3:30. They brawled to the floor, where Hammerstone hit a bodyslam on the floor. TJ hit his own bodyslam on the floor at 7:00!
In the ring, Hammerstone hit a devastating Spinebuster. TJ hit a stunner for a nearfall at 10:00. Hammerstone did a Guerrilla Press into a swinging uranage. Crawford hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall. Hammerstone nailed a top-rope superplex, but TJ held on and hit a Falcon Arrow, and they were both down. TJ hit an enzuigiri. Hammerstone nailed the Nightmare Pendulum slam at 15:30, but TJ rolled to the floor to avoid being pinned. This has definitely topped expectations. TJ hit a frogsplash for a nearfall; these guys have the crowd going nuts for each nearfall. Hammerstone hit a Burning Hammer. TJ got an inside cradle for the shocking pin! That was really good.
* Hammerstone got on the mic and put Crawford over.
* Hazard hit the ring. I’ve said before he looks like what I imagine Nick Gage looked like 20 years ago. (He also looks a bit like “Hurricane” Shane Helms.) He jawed on the mic. Out came a surprise opponent, the 400+ pound Ace Romero! Ace is wildly popular here.
2. Ace Romero defeated Hazard at 5:34. Ace opened by hitting a Stinger Splash. Hazard hit a leg lariat for a nearfall at 3:00 and he began stomping on Romero. Ace hit some clotheslines, then a powerslam at 5:00, then a package piledriver for the pin. With a guy as big as Romero, this match doesn’t need to go longer than this.
* Romero got on the mic and challenged Sami Callihan to a match on Feb. 24.
* Ricky Smokes came out for the next match. I always compare Smokes to Sammy Guevera. Out came Ava Everett and LSG. Ava is a fashion icon now, and even though both she and Smokes are heels, she berated him on the mic. Out came Gabby Forza. Forza is the powerhouse with similar strength as Dani Luna or Rachael Ellering. She issued a challenge for a tag match, and she introduced Aaron Rourke.
3. Gabby Forza and Aaron Rourke defeated Ava Everett (w/LSG) and Ricky Smokes at 8:37. Rourke’s facepaint and overall look is similar to Malakai Black, but he’s flamboyant. Rourke charged into the ring and hit a Thesz Press and punches on former teammate Smokes. Gabby put Ava on her back and she did some deep squats. Gabby hit a German Suplex on Ricky, then she bodyslammed Ava onto Ricky. The heels began working over Gabby. Ricky appeared ready to abandon Everett at 6:00, but Rourke hit a flip dive onto Ricky. In the ring, Rourke hit a fallaway slam on Ava, tossing her onto Smokes. Rourke then hit a split-legged moonsault on AVa. Smokes was angry and did leave ringside! That allowed Gabby to hit a Jackhammer on Ava for the pin. That was a lot of action in a short match and was pretty good stuff.
* Rourke gave a rather long-winded promo. Ricky Smokes ran back in the ring and slammed a chair across Aaron’s back, drawing massive boos.
* Channing Thomas cut a backstage promo, saying his opponents aren’t good enough to hold his belt. We then heard from Dezmond Cole.
4. Channing Thomas (w/Sidney Bakabella) defeated Dezmond Cole and JT Dunn in a three-way to retain the Limitless Heavyweight Title at 14:30. I always compare Channing to a Rick Rude-meets-Joey Ryan, as he’s rather slimy. Dezmond is the Ricochet clone, and I always compare JT to Tony Nese. This also should be really good, too. Sidney gave his long-winded intro for Channing; as soon as he finished, JT hit his Death By Elbow on Sidney, knocking him out cold, drawing a HUGE pop. The bell rang to start the match. JT and Dezmond traded some fast reversals and had a standoff. Cole hit a flip dive to the floor on Channing at 2:00.
In the ring, Dezmond hit a rolling stunner on JT, and this crowd is fully behind Cole. Channing hit a suplex on Cole for a nearfall at 4:00. Channing hit a German Suplex on JT Dunn. Cole hit a flip onto both, and everyone was down at 6:30. Cole hit an enzuigiri on JT. JT hit Death By Elbow on Channing at 9:30. Cole hit a Poison Rana on JT Dunn, then his uranage for a believable nearfall. Cole hit some rolling suplexes, then a Buzzsaw Kick on Channing for a nearfall, but JT made the save. Cole and Dunn began arguing, and Cole hit him with an enzuigiri.
JT nailed Death By Elbow on Channing, but Sidney (who recovered from that attack before the match) put Channing’s foot on the ropes at 12:30 to save him. Channing hit a powerslam on JT. Dezmond got back in the ring and hit an enzuigiri and a rolling kick in the corner on Channing. Cole went to the top rope but JT shoved him to the floor. Channing hit a low blow on JT! Channing then hit a piledriver on JT for the cheap pin. That was tremendous and non-stop action.
* Intermission was edited out, but as we return, Channing Thomas and Sidney Bakabella were in the ring, selling merchandise and refusing to leave. Rip Byson, fresh off his return from a tour of Japan, hit the ring and beat up both. Rip held up Channing’s title belt and made it clear he wants to be champion again. Sidney sent some “security guards” into the ring to get his merchandise back; of course, Rip beat them up but the distraction allowed Sidney to reclaim the title belt.
* Waves & Curls hit the ring; they have a mystery opponent tag team match…Charles Mason came out first, and he introduced Richard Holliday. These two have been teaming as heels in Game Changer Wrestling.
5. “The Rich And Powerful” Charles Mason and Richard Holliday defeated “Waves & Curls” Traevon Jordan and Jaylen Brandyn at 6:28. Two weeks ago, Holliday seemingly separated his shoulder in a GCW match. The fact he’s wrestling is a good sign that the injury was less severe than I originally thought. Mason and Holliday attacked from behind and they brawled on the floor. Mason choked Jaylen with his jacket. The bell sounded after 40 seconds of brawling. In the ring, the heels began working over the smaller Jaylen. Jaylen hit a Canadian Destroyer, and Jordan tagged in at 4:00. Jordan hit a Sky High for a nearfall. Jordan hit a vicious chokeslam on Mason, and W&C hit a Team 3D move for a believable nearfall on Mason. However, Mason hit a Gotch-style Tombstone Piledriver to pin Brandyn! That was startling in how short it was; with only six matches on the show, I fully expected this to be twice as long as it was.
6. Aiden Aggro defeated DangerKid in an unsanctioned match at 49:02. Agro is a bit like Chris Bey and NXT’s Oro Mensah, while DangerKid is white and has bright orange hair and a small gut, and these two have been teaming for years. The bell rang and they glared at each other before locking up. Again, it was Aggro who turned on DK, and DK looked conflicted about hitting his long-time partner. DangerKid laid down on the mat! Of course, as Aggro went for a cover, DangerKid rolled him up for a nearfall at 2:30. DK slapped Aggro; Aggro returned the slap to the face. DK hit a running European Uppercut in the corner. DK set up for a dive to the floor, but Aggro caught him with an uppercut at 4:30.
They brawled on the floor with Aggro in charge. Aggro dove through the ropes but DK moved, and Aggro crashed onto an open chair at 7:00; that seemed unnecessarily dangerous. DangerKid then hit his own dive through the ropes. In the ring, he hit a twisting suplex and was in charge. He climbed the ropes, but Aggro threw a chair at him at 9:30. Aggro got a spare turnbuckle from under the ring and he slammed it on DangerKid’s knee as DK was tied in the Tree of Woe. DangerKid fired back with a top-rope superplex, and they were both down at 14:00. DK got an MSP flag and he choked Aggro with it. They brawled on the floor; Aggro put the flag over DK’s head at 18:30 and he poured water onto his mouth! He’s water-boarding DangerKid!
They got back in the ring with Aggro in charge. DK flipped Aggro into the turnbuckle. He went to the back at 25:30 and returned with a garbage can. He hit Aggro with it, and Aggro had a bloody forehead. Aggro tied DK up on the mat in a modified chokehold. Aggro went under the ring and pulled out some handcuffs. He looped the handcuffs through DK’s hole in his EAR at 30:00. This is like when they did this to Jeff Hardy a few years ago! Aggro pulled DK around the ring on the chain by his EAR! Aggro tied the other end of the handcuffs to the middle rope. Aggro again got the spare corner pad and hit DangerKid with it.
Aggro pulled out the handcuff keys and dangled them in DK’s face. DangerKid kicked Aggro, who dropped the keys. DangerKid immediately freed himself at 34:30 and got the corner pad, and he struck Aggro repeatedly with it. Finally, Aggro begged for forgiveness, and DK paused. Aggro stood up and hugged DK. However, DK dropped to his knees and hit a low blow uppercut! DangerKid hit a Jay Driller piledriver for a believable nearfall at 36:30. (I firmly believe the match should have ended here.) DangerKid slid a door into the ring, and he struck Aggro over the head with a garbage can lid. DK hit a top-rope senton onto Aggro, who was lying on a door bridge, for a nearfall at 39:30.
DangerKid pulled out a pocket knife and he cut the strings that held the mat down. He began ripping apart the ring, pulling back the mat to expose the wood boards underneath. They traded forearms in the middle of the ring as they stood on the wood boards. Aggro hit a superkick, so DK hit his own. DK hit a flying knee; he sold the pain in his lower back as he fell on the wood boards. DangerKid missed a Swanton Bomb and landed hard on the wood boards at 47:30. Aggro hit a hard kneestrike to the jaw for a nearfall. Aggro again choked DangerKid on the mat. The ref checked on DangerKid and called for the bell; DK passed out and did NOT tap out.
* DangerKid got on the mic and said he hasn’t given it his all in the past year and he needs to take a break. The crowd chanted “We still love you!” He took off his boots. “If I’m being honest, I need to go. I need to pick up my pieces. I need to love wrestling again, like I haven’t been able to do for a long time.” This feels genuine and heartfelt. “Thank you all for loving me and supporting me,” he said.
Final Thoughts: Well, DangerKid and Aggro did a great job of plotting out that hardcore match. While it was still too long, it didn’t really drag, either. The spot with the handcuffs through the ear hole was disgusting. The water-boarding spot was unique. The build-up to tearing apart the ring was well done, too.
Crawford and Hammerstone had an excellent opener, and Thomas-Cole-Dunn really delivered too. Channing Thomas comes across so smarmy and he looks like a basic punch-and-kick wrestler, but he’s really underrated. Lots to like here. I know the length of the main event will try some people’s patience, but I enjoyed it. And it really does sound like DangerKid is planning an extensive break from wrestling to clear his head. If this is the case, I certainly wish him well.
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