By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Epic Pro Wrestling “A Pace That Kills”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
February 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California at Bill Greene Sports Complex
This show was released on Triller+ on March 1. This appears to be the size of a high school gym and sadly the crowd is maybe 150; a gym this big feels rather empty. Jordan Castle provided commentary. I admittedly don’t know a lot of guys in this lineup, but I’m a big fan of the four guys in the top two matches and that got me to tune in.
1. Cameron Gates defeated Darwin Finch at 11:55. Both are new to me. Gates has long hair with a big tattoo on his back, and he wore red trunks and he’s cocky; Finch wore a black T-shirt and he has short, blue hair. Gates hit a basement dropkick. Finch hit a back suplex at 3:00. Gates hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall at 7:00. Finch hit a German Suplex and he was fired up. He hit a rolling cannonball off the ring apron to the floor. In the ring, FInch hit a DDT for a nearfall at 10:00 and they were both down. Gates hooked both arms, slammed Finch to the mat, and scored the pin. Solid opener.
2. Damian Drake and Matt Vandagriff defeated Delilah Doom and Eli Everfly at 10:08. Vandagriff had a good match against Mike Bailey a couple years ago and he’s one of the better hands on the West Coast. Everfly is a high-flyer and he’s been on a handful of GCW West Coast shows. Matt and Damian are the heels and they attacked from behind. Delilah and Eli hit dives to the floor, and Eli showed off his weird green tongue. In the ring, the heels flipped Eli onto teammate Doom at 1:30. Both Matt and Damian are white guys with shaggy, short hair; Damian wore pink while Matt is in blue-and-black gear. Matt hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee on Eli and the heels worked him over.
Delilah hit a top-rope double crossbody block on the heels at 5:30. She hit a bulldog on Damian for a nearfall. Eli hit a doublestomp on Matt’s back for a nearfall at 7:00. The heels hit a team brainbuster on Eli for a nearfall, but she made the save. Eli hit a Code Red on Vandagriff for a nearfall at 8:30. The babyfaces hit a team spear on Drake. Eli went for a Sliced Bread but it was blocked. Matt hit a standing moonsault on Eli, and Drake immediately nailed a Hidden Blade on Eli. Matt then covered Eli for the pin. Good action.
3. Chris Nasty defeated Zokre at 13:40. Zokre wore a black mask and a cape. Chris Nasty is Hispanic with short hair and a thick mustache. Both are of average height and overall size. Ratchet tied up Nasty on the mat. Nasty hit a huracanrana at 3:30. Zokre hit a dive through the ropes onto Nasty on the floor at 6:00. Zokre hit a huracanrana on the floor. In the ring, Zokre hit a springboard Vader Bomb for a nearfall. Nasty hit a Lethal Injection for a nearfall and they were both down at 10:00. Nasty hit a springboard tornado DDT for a believable nearfall. They traded rollups. Zokre hit a Canadian Destroyer at 13:00 and was fired up, but he missed a top-rope Swanton Bomb. Nasty hit a superkick, then got a rollup for the pin. I enjoyed that.
4. Brendan Divine and Danny Devine defeated Hoss Hogg and Journey Fatu at 9:02. My first time seeing Hogg, who is dressed like Outlaw Ron Bass with his black vest, brim hat and he has a bull rope and cowbell, and he’s probably in his late 40s. Journey Fatu is bald with a beard. The Divine brothers are cocky and dressed alike but don’t appear to be twins. Fatu dove through the ropes onto him and they brawled on the floor. The camera followed Hogg and one of the brothers into a bathroom; they returned to the gym and kept brawling on the floor.
In the ring, the Divines worked over Hogg on the mat. A Divine hit a chop block on Hogg at 5:30. Fatu got the hot tag and he hit a double clothesline. One of the Divines hit a low blow kick on Hogg. They hit a clothesline-and-legsweep combo on Hogg for the pin. Pretty standard tag match. The Divines seem like guys you really want to boo.
5. Ray Rosas defeated Calder McCall via referee decision at 23:35. Rosas’ hair goes past his shoulders and he has a lot of gray in his beard. McCall is bald and wore a kilt. Both men are clearly in their 40s or older. Calder hit some knee lifts. Rosas hit some chairshots over the back at 4:00 and was booed. He put Calder’s head in the chair and choked him. Calder got the chair and hit him on the back at 7:00 and tossed Ray to the floor. They brawled on the floor and Calder buried him under the plastic bucket chairs (these aren’t folding chairs.) Calder hit a snap suplex on the floor at 10:30.
They got in the ring and Rosas hit Calder with a a gold spike. Calder applied a crossarm breaker. Rosas applied a Texas Cloverleaf, and he switched to a half-crab. Calder hit a Tiger Bomb and wanted a pin, but ref Scarlette Donovan waived it off. Rosas hit a backbreaker over his knees and he locked in a Rings of Saturn at 18:30; Calder had to use a rope break; I guess I just am not getting the rules here. Calder hit a second-rope superplex. McCall hit a Coast-to-Coast missile dropkick. The Devine brothers hopped in the ring and attacked McCall! Rosas put a chain around Calder’s neck and choked him out on the floor. The ref checked on Calder and called for the bell. I feel like this should have been a bit shorter and more focused.
6. Bad Dude Tito and Che Cabrera defeated “The Krusty Krew” Dom Kubrick and Lucas Riley at 14:33. Tito (think Dr. Death Steve Williams) and Che are much more muscular than their opponents. Tito opened against the clean-shaven Riley. Kubrick, who has a short, thick beard, entered at 4:00 to face Cabrera. Che and Tito began working over Kubrick. Dom hit a German Suplex on Tito for a nearfall at 12:00. Lucas went to the top rope but Tito shoved him off. Che hit a frogsplash for a nearfall. The KK hit a team face plant move on Che for a nearfall at 14:00. Riley leapt off the ropes but was cut in half by a spear. Che and Tito then hit a team faceplant move on Kubrick for the pin. Good match; I really like what I’ve seen of Tito.
7. Royce Isaacs defeated Starboy Charlie at 12:43. Charlie wore plain denim bib overalls today. Isaacs has a notable size and strength advantage. (Strange to see him without his WCWC teammate Jorel Nelson.) They traded shoulder tackles. Charlie hit a running Shooting Star Press. He went for a top-rope crossbody block, but Isaacs caught him and nailed a fallaway slam at 3:00. Royce hit a backbreaker over his knee. Royce hit a wheelbarrow back suplex for a nearfall at 5:30. Charlie hit a German Suplex, then a Sliced Bread, then a basement dropkick. He hit a standing corkscrew senton for a nearfall at 7:30.
Charlie tried a dive to the floor but Royce caught him, and they fought on the floor. Charlie shoved Royce into the ring post, then he hit an Asai Moonsault. In the ring, Royce hit a swinging powerslam for a nearfall at 9:30. Charlie hit an enzuigiri for a nearfall and he pulled down the straps of his bib overalls. Charlie hit a shotgun dropkick, then a hesitation dropkick into the corner. Charlie nailed a second-rope Cosmic Swirl/corkscrew senton for a nearfall at 11:30. Isaacs nailed a spinning Tombstone Piledriver for the clean pin. Every bit as good as I expected.
8. Jordan Cruz defeated Kevin Blackwood at 21:58. Cruz has appeared on New Japan Strong and recently in a handful of East Coast GCW shows, so he’s expanding his footprint. Blackwood is a top 10 indy talent and he’s been (under-used!) in MLW. Standing switches to open and a feeling-out process. Cruz hit a jumping knee to the jaw at 4:30 for a nearfall. Blackwood hit a top-rope doublestomp to the chest at 6:30. Kevin hit some Moxley-style elbow strikes to the side of the head and he tied up Cruz’s head. Cruz nailed a head-capture suplex for a nearfall at 10:00. Kevin hit another German Suplex and a basement dropkick in the corner for a nearfall at 12:00.
They traded forearm strikes on the ring apron, and Cruz fell to the floor; Kevin immediately hit a doublestomp from the apron to Cruz’s chest as he was lying on the floor. Cruz slammed Kevin onto the ring apron. Cruz nailed a second-rope Deadlift Superplex but only got a one-count at 15:00. Kevin hit a Death Valley Driver but Cruz popped up at one! “A main event for the ages!” Castle said. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down. Cruz applied an STF on the mat, but Blackwood reached the ropes at 17:00.
Blackwood nailed a top-rope back suplex for a nearfall. He hit a Gotch-style Piledriver for a believable nearfall. Cruz slammed him face-first to the mat; he went for a Kamigoye kneestrike but Blackwood blocked it. Kevin went for a Helluva Kick but Cruz hit a leg-capture suplex. Kevin hit the Helluva Kick, then a top-rope doublestomp on a standing Cruz for a believable nearfall at 20:00. Kevin hit some Yes Kicks to the chest. Cruz nailed a decapitating clothesline, then the Kamigoye kneestrike for a believable neafall, then the brainbuster over his knee for a believable nearfall. “What are we witnessing?” Castle shouted. Cruz pulled down his kneepad, hit another Kamigoye kneestrike, and scored the pin. Excellent match.
Final Thoughts: An excellent main event and well worth checking out. Blackwood keeps an insane travel schedule from coast to coast. I’m a big fan of what I’ve seen from Cruz and he’s never looked better than here. A very good Charlie-Royce match for second best. The Tito/Che tag match takes third. On the negative side, the McCall-Rosas match just went too long and I never warmed up to the heavyset Hogg. A satisfying show. I just wish more people were there to see it, as it did detract a bit for me having a crowd this small.
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