By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Deadlock Pro Wrestling “Live 5”
Available via DPWondemand.com
March 10, 2024 in Berwyn, Illinois at the Eagles Club
This is the same building used by AAW and Shimmer, and more recently, by Black Label Pro. This was announced as a sellout last week, and I’m guessing 300-350 (it is a small room.) Rich Bocchini, Caprice Coleman and Veda Scott are on commentary, but they are a bit quiet as the show began, but it got to the right levels before the bell. With this show in suburban Chicago, they were able to use a lot of TNA talent, who were just outside of Detroit in Windsor, Canada, on Saturday. Unfortunately, Mansoor had travel issues and will miss the show; he and Mason Madden were supposed to get a tag title shot. So, they flipped around two matches, and Mason will now compete in a three-way.
* Before we get going, I want to spend a second on Deadlock Pro Wrestling, which is based out of North Carolina. At the end of last year, two of its top stars, Lucky Ali and Jay Malachi (now known as Je’Von Evans), signed NXT deals. I found out about this promotion by coming across matches they had on their Youtube page (the first time I tuned in was because they had a Konosuke Takeshita match). I am just blown away by the quality of their production and overall wrestling action. I have written this before, but this feels like watching the golden era of Ring of Honor 2002-2006 or so. Last month they debuted in Texas, and this is their Midwest debut. I love to see a promotion expand.
1. “Team Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson, and Royce Isaacs defeated Labron Kozone and “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini at 11:07. ViF retained their GCW Tag Titles on Saturday in New Jersey. They started brawling during the ring introductions and they fought on the floor. Lawlor’s team began working Garrini over in their corner. Lawlor and Ku traded standing switches. Jorel applied an anklelock on Kozone at 8:00. Royce hit a powerslam on Kozone; Lawlor made the cover for a nearfall. ViF and the WCWCrew traded forearm strikes. Lawlor applied a sleeper on Kozone. Lawlor hit a running kneestrike. Isaacs hit a Death Valley Driver into the corner. Kozone hit an enzuigiri on Isaacs, then a clothesline at 11:00. Lawlor hit a kneestrike to the back of Kozone’s head, and he re-applied the sleeper, and Labron tapped out. Good brawl.
2. Lady Frost defeated Vert Vixen at 9:38. They traded quick reversals with neither able to land a big move. They are roughly the same size. Frost hit a huracanrana out of the corner at 4:00. Vert applied a Sharpshooter. Frost applied a half-crab, but Vert reached the ropes. Frost hit a clothesline and they were both down at 6:00. Frost hit a rolling cannonball into the corner for a nearfall. Vert hit a Helluva Kick in the corner. Vert nailed a Blue Thunder Bomb for a believable nearfall at 8:00. Vert nailed an HHH Pedigree for a nearfall. Frost hit a spinning kick to the head, then an Air Raid Crash for the pin. That was really good.
3. Mustafa Ali defeated BK Westbrook at 12:00. I always compare BK to a heel Adam Cole. A massive babyface pop for Chicago native Ali. (True story, I first met Ali in this building when he was probably 19.) Ali showed off his TNA X Division title and the crowd chanted “TNA!” An intense lockup and they worked over each other’s left arm. Ali hit some deep armdrags at 2:00. BK dragged him to the mat by his hair and was LOUDLY booed. They brawled to the floor. In the ring, BK hit a kneedrop on the forehead and got a nearfall at 5:00. BK hit a springboard corkscrew senton for a nearfall, and he grounded Ali.
Ali nailed a superkick at 6:30. BK hit a sit-out powerbomb. Ali hit some clotheslines, then his rolling neckbreaker at 8:00. Ali hit running knees to the chest in the corner. BK came off the top rope but Ali caught him with a superkick for a believable nearfall. Ali hit a running kick in the corner; BK hit his own running kick in the corner. BK hit a clothesline and they were both down at 9:30. BK had a bloody mouth. Ali hit another Superkick, but he missed a 450 Splash. BK hit an overhead flipping stunner. BK missed a Shooting Star Press; Ali was trying to catch his head for a stunner as BK came down, but it didn’t quite connect. Ali got a magistral cradle for the pin. Good match but the winner was never in doubt.
* Ali got on the mic and said he was impressed with Westbrook. “The privilege and honor is yours,” Ali said. “I don’t think you realize where the f— you are right now. This is the Berwyn Eagles Club! You have no idea where you are right now, and that’s why you couldn’t hang with me tonight.” He told BK to fight with his heart. Ali listed wrestlers who have walked down the ramp here, including Tyler Black (Seth Rollins). BK looked perplexed as Ali stormed out of the ring and celebrated with his title.
* A 10-minute intermission. I’m watching live… sooo… time to turn up the volume on the Oscars!
4. Calvin Tankman defeated Mason Madden and Titus Alexander in a three-way to retain the DPW Heavyweight Title at 11:45. Mason and Calvin glared at each other, and they pushed Titus aside. Titus got between them and hit some chops. They hit stereo chops to drop Titus. Mason hip-tossed Titus all the way across the ring. Tankman hip-tossed Titus in a game of one-upsmanship. Tankman and Mason hit a team chokeslam on Titus at 2:30. Mason hit a hard headbutt on Tankman, and those two brawled to the floor, where they traded chops in front of the fans. Titus finally hit a flip dive onto both of them at 5:00. In the ring Titus hit some running back elbows. Mason hit a side slam on Titus for a nearfall at 7:00.
Mason cut him in half with a spear. Mason hit another swinging sideslam for a nearfall, but Tankman made the save. Tankman nailed a pop-up spinning back fist. Tankman hit a short-arm clothesline on Titus. Mason hit a crossbody block on Tankman, and they were all down at 9:30. Tankman and Mason traded forearm strikes, and Calvin nailed a brainbuster. However, Mason popped up and hit a kneestrike to the jaw, then a swinging slam on Calvin. Calvin hit a low blow on Mason and threw him to the floor. Titus tried to pick up Tankman but he couldn’t. He went for a Lethal Injection, but Tankman nailed a spinning back fist! Tankman immediately nailed a Rikishi Driver/piledriver for the pin. Another really good match.
5. Mike Bailey and Jake Something defeated “Motor City Machine Guns” Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley to win the DPW Tag Team Titles at 18:44. Jake and Bailey have teamed a few times here. Sabin and Bailey opened and we got a “DPW!” chant before they locked up. Bailey hit a spin kick to the chest that dropped Sabin. Sabin hit some Yes Kicks on Bailey. Sabin tried the Speedball Kicks but it came across as him mocking Bailey. Mike hit the Speedball Kicks, at a much faster clip! Jake hit a dive over the top rope onto all three at 3:30 and that popped the crowd. In the ring, Jake hit some running shoulder tackles on both Guns. Shelley snapped Jake’s throat across the top rope. The Guns hit some of their quick team offense and kept Jake grounded.
Shelley twisted Jake’s left wrist and fingers. Sabin hit a Bulldog but only got a one-count at 7:00. Bailey finally got the hot tag at 8:30 and he hit a series of kicks on Sabin, but he missed a running Shooting Star Press. Bailey hit a moonsault knee drop onto both Guns, piled on top of each other, earning a “holy shit” chant. Bailey set up for Ultima Weapon but Shelley cut him off. Jake hit a forearm on Sabin, allowing Bailey to get a nearfall at 10:30. Sabin hit a tornado DDT on Shelley for a nearfall. Sabin flipped Shelley off the top rope to the mat, and they were both down at 12:00. Jake and Shelley both tagged in and traded chops with Jake doing better in the exchange.
Shelley snapped Jake’s arm over his shoulder. Sabin hit an enzuigiri on Jake. The Guns hit a team suplex on ake at 14:00. Bailey hit a superkick on Sabin, and Jake hit a hard forearm on Sabin. Shelley hit a double DDT. Sabin hit a stunner on Jake. The Guns hit their Dream Sequence on Bailey. Shelley went for a head-scissors takedown but Jake caught him. Shelly got a Crucifix Driver for a nearfall but Bailey made the save. Shelley hit a Flatliner into the second turnbuckle on Bailey. Sabin nailed the Cradle Shock on Jake for a believable nearfall! Sabin applied a sleeper on the mat. Meanwhile, Shelley applied a Border City Stretch on Bailey!Jake was able to power up to his feet and break the sleeper hold. Bailey hit the Ultima Weapon knee drop on Sabin at 18:30, then the Triangle Moonsault to the floor on Shelley! Meanwhile, Jake hit the Black Hole Slam to pin Sabin. New champions! That was a blast.
6. Bryan Keith defeated Anthony Henry to retain the DPW National Title at 14:20. This is Keith’s fifth title defense. Veda said JD Drake has been banned from the building. An intense lockup and they traded forearm strikes. They traded Mafia Kicks, and Henry bailed to the floor to regroup. They traded chops in front of the fans. Henry hit a DDT onto the ring apron at 2:00. In the ring, Henry hit a Tiger Driver but Keith popped up immediately. They traded forearm strikes and Keith hit a Helluva Kick, then an Exploder Suplex at 5:00.
Keith hit a Saito Suplex, then a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. Henry hit a Tornado DDT for a nearfall at 6:30. Henry applied a front guillotine choke, then he hit a brainbuster for a nearfall. They got up and traded roundhouse kicks to the chest. Henry hit some open-hand slaps to the face, then a Dragonscrew Legwhip. Keith hit a leaping headbutt in the corner at 10:00, then a top-rope superplex; this looked a bit dangerous as Henry didn’t rotate all the way over. Henry popped up and hit a clothesline for a nearfall, then a piledriver for a nearfall. Henry grabbed the title belt and the crowd booed him.
Keith set up for the Emerald Tiger Driver; as Henry tried to escape, they bumped the ref. Henry got the belt and hit Keith in the head with it. “Not like this!” Bocchini shouted, but Keith kicked out at 12:30! Henry hit a Cop Killah/backslide driver for a believable nearfall. Henry applied a modified Skull End dragon sleeper on the mat, but Keith reached the ropes. Keith nailed a running knee to the chin! Keith hit the Emerald Tiger Driver for a believable nearfall.He hit a second one, then a running knee for the pin. That was great.
* Keith got on the mic and said Chicago is his “second home” and he thanked the fans.
Final Thoughts: What a great show. DPW just showed again why they are my favorite indy today. Great matches, great commentary, top-notch production. I’ll narrowly go with Guns-Bailey/Jake for best match, ahead of Henry-Keith. Those are two superb, top-notch indy matches. I’ll narrowly go with the three-way for third, but all six matches were quite good.
Really great to see this building packed and the crowd so hot. I noted that Black Label Pro ran this same building just a few weeks ago and drew maybe a third of this crowd, and many fans looked rather disinterested, which is really unfortunate, because it was a good show. I don’t write that to bash BLP; I really am glad to see this building draw so well.
Check out this promotion at Deadlockpro.com, and they also have some good matches on their YouTube page.
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