By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Defy Wrestling “Can’t Deny It”
Replay available via TrillerTV+
April 4, 2024 from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at The Auditorium at Penns Landing Caterers
This show is among “The Collective” events of independent wrestling shows held during Wrestle Mania weekend. Jack Farmer and Rich Bocchini provided commentary.
* The show opened with Schaff pulling up in an ATV. He hopped out and said he wanted a battle royal in Philadelphia. Attendance was maybe 600-800; this is deep room so there easily could be 150-200 per side of the ring. Unfortunately, Leon Slater has had travel issues and won’t make the show.
1. “Bollywood Boyz” Harv Sihra and Gurv Sihra defeated Man Like Dereiss and Michael Oku to retain the Defy Tag Team Titles at 16:34. The commentators said the Sihras have been champions for a year now. Dereiss is a talented British, Black man who I’ve compared to a young Shelton Benjamin; he’s really good and that comparison is certainly meant as a compliment. Dereiss selected Oku to replace Leon Slater as his partner. Dereiss opened with Gurv and they traded mat reversals. Oku entered at 3:00 and faced Harv. Oku hit a springboard moonsault for a nearfall at 5:00 and that popped the crowd. Dereiss and Oku dropped Harv head-first into Gurv’s groin, and the brothers bailed to the floor to regroup.
All four brawled into the crowd. In the ring, Gurv hit a snap suplex on Oku at 8:00 and kept him grounded. Oku hit an impressive top-rope crossbody block at 11:00, and he made the hot tag to Dereiss. MLD entered and hit some clotheslines and a German Suplex on one, then a fallaway slam on the other. Oku nailed a running Fosbury Flop to the floor on everyone, earning a “holy shit!” chant. Dereiss and Oku each applied a half-crab and the crowd chanted for the Sihras to tap out at 14:00. The Sihras then applied stereo Sharpshooters on the English duo! The Brits hit a Team 3D for a nearfall on Gurv. Oku went for a frogsplash but Harv got his legs up to block it. The BB ht the Bollywood Blast (Demolition-style elbow drop) to score the clean pin on Dereiss. Really good opener.
2. “CCK” Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos defeated Mao and Mike Bailey at 16:13. The CCK team are more Brits. I noted this earlier, but Bailey has eight or so matches lined up between Wednesday and Sunday. I’ve seen DDT’s Mao a few times now on some GCW shows; he has big, shaggy hair that always makes me think of Tetsuya Naito. Brookes is much taller than these other three. Lykos and Mao opened. At first glance, Lykos looks like pop singer Ed Sheeran with his short light reddish hair, and they traded quick reversals. Brookes entered and the commentators said he’s 6’7″ and he wanted to have a knuckle lock with Bailey. Bailey hit a series of spin kicks at 1:30. Bailey hit his series of Speedball kicks to the ribs and thighs on Lykos.
Bailey and Mao hit a double moonsault to the floor at 4:00, earning a “holy shit!” chant. Lykos hit a dive to the floor on Mao. CCK tied up Bailey and put their saliva in his ears at 6:00, which is just gross. Bailey kicked Lykos and they were both down. Mao tagged in and hit a stunner on Brookes in the corner. Brookes hit a double stomp to Mao’s stomach for a nearfall at 9:00. Brookes hit an enzuigiri on Mao. Mao fired back with a spin kick and they were both down, and we got a “Defy!” chant. Lykos and Bailey got back in with Lykos hitting some kicks and an enzuigiri in the corner. Bailey nailed a running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall at 11:30.
Bailey hit a Triangle Moonsault to the floor on Lykos. Mao punched Brookes in the jaw. Mao and Bailey missed Ultima Weapons, but then they hit stereo mid-ring Spanish Fly moves at 13:30 and everyone was down. Bailey hit his Tornado Kick in the corner, then the Ultima Weapon on Lykos for a nearfall. Mao hit a flying stunner on Lykos. Bailey hit a moonsault kneedrop on Lykos for a nearfall and we got a “This is awesome!” chant. Lykos hit a Canadian Destroyer, then a brainbuster on Bailey for a nearfall at 15:30. Brookes tied up Bailey in a Gory Special, and Lykos hit a diving stunner on Bailey’s head for the pin. Nice combo move and a GREAT match.
3. Vert Vixen defeated Jazmin Allure and Trish Adora to retain the Defy Women’s Title at 12:50. All three have competed on AEW TV; I consider Vert Vixen to be the top US-based indy women’s wrestler. “Mega Ran” came out; he’s a rapper, and he joined commentary. Sawyer Wreck was slated for this match but she injured her hand at the GCW shows two weeks ago and is out of action, and is replaced by Jazmin. Vert has been champion for 523 days! This is her 16th title defense. Trish hit a Northern Lights Suplex on Allure early on, and she tied Jazmin in a pretzel. Vert hit a diving European Uppercut on Trish, then a plancha onto Adora. Jazmin hit a top-rope crossbody block to the floor on both women at 3:00, but she began jawing at fans and was booed.
Back in the ring, Allure hit a standing neckbreaker on Vert for a nearfall. Allure pie-faced both women, so they began hitting hard forearm strikes on her at 7:00. Vert hit a missile dropkick and everyone was down. Vert hit a German Suplex on Allure, then a Helluva Kick. Vert nailed a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall at 9:00. Adora hit a Mafia Kick and a senton on Vert, then a Bubba Bomb for a believable nearfall. Adora nailed a backbreaker over her knee on Allure for a nearfall at 11:00, but Vert made the save. Trish and Vert traded boots to the face. Vert slipped on the ropes (I appreciate that I heard exactly zero taunts from the crowd); she rebounded and hit a spin kick to the head. Allure applied a front guillotine choke on Vert. Vert hit a standing powerbomb and a brainbuster on Allure for the pin. Really good action.
4. Schaff won a battle royal to retain the Pacific Northwest Title at 14:57. Again, Schaff (think Jake Something-meets-Braun Strowman) is the champion. Luke Jacobs (a Danielson-style Brit) came out first. We have the massive 309-pound luchador Galeno Del Mal, and it appears this is a Royal Rumble style match. These two immediately traded forearm strikes. Just 30 seconds in, we have music for someone else. The eccentric Mr. Charles Crowley is No. 3 and he got a pop; we have a lot of Brit guys on this show, as Bocchini reminds us that the Progress Wrestling show is Friday. LJ Cleary is No. 4. Shota is No. 5 at 4:30. Galeno snuck up behind him and Shota cringed as he felt the massive body behind him. Gene Munny is No. 6; he’s another guy with Colt Cabana-style humor in his wresting.
Munny hit a coast-to-coast headbutt to Galeno’s groin! Ricky Knight Jr. is No. 7, so we continue to have a lot of the Brits appear. He put two guys on his shoulders and hit an impressive Samoan Drop at 7:30. Schaff is No. 8 and he’s our final entrant. (This is similar to a prior Defy show I watched.) No one is out yet, which allowed Schaff to hit some uranages. Munny was the first tossed. Even though he was out, Munny caused Crowley and Cleary to fall to the floor by shaking the ropes, so we’re down to five. Schaff guerrilla pressed Shota to the floor on the others at 11:00.
Knight Jr. got tossed! We are suddenly down to Jacobs, Schaff and Galeno Del Mal. Jacobs hit a top-rope superplex on Schaff. Jacobs hit a pop-up powerbomb on Galeno! However, Galeno hopped up and clotheslined Jacobs over the top rope at 13:00. Schaff and Galeno traded forearm shots and we got our first “meat!” chants with each blow. Galeno went over the top rope but held on by one hand! I can’t say I’ve seen that before! They traded forearm strikes while on the ring apron. Schaff hit a Death Valley Driver on the apron, and Galeno fell to the floor to end the match. That was entertaining.
5. KC Navarro & “C4” Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas defeated HoHo Lun & Shun Skywalker & KZY and “Sovereign” Travis Williams & Judas Icarus & Evan Rivers in a three-way trios tag at 13:38. I’ve seen all the Dragon Gate guys before. KZY is pronounced “Kay-zee” and he has short pink hair. Lun appeared in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic. Shun is in a shiny black outfit and mask, and he opened against Chhun. Rosas entered and faced Lun. KZY and KC got in and apparently argued about how each other had pink hair and they traded much quicker offense. The Sovereign team began working over KZY. Rosas entered and hit a clothesline at 4:30.
Williams hit a dropkick on Chhun to send him to the floor. Icarus hit a plancha on Chhun. Icarus tied up Rosas in the mat. Rosas hit a hard headbutt on Judas at 8:00, then a clothesline and they were both down. Chhun got in and hit some punches. Williams hit a German Suplex on Shun at 10:30. (Bochini put over Brett Lauderdale and the GCW crew for putting the Collective togther and that needs to be pointed out here.) Lun hit some quick kicks on Icarus. KC hit a tornado DDT. Williams hit a swinging suplex on Shun. Chhun hit a flying double stunner at 13:00. KC hit a mid-ring Sliced Bread. Chhun’s team all piled on Rivers for the pin. Fast-paced and fun.
* Between matches, they had been showing highlights of the top 5 Defy matches of the year. I definitely agree with No. 1, Mike Bailey vs. Judas Icarus.
6. Kenta defeated Gringo Loco to retain the Defy Title at 23:05. Kenta won this belt in June and he has carried it at NJPW shows all winter. Like Bailey, Loco has a loaded weekend with multiple matches lined up. This crowd is HOT before they even locked up. Standing switches and a feeling-out process early. Kenta hit a head=scissors takedown from the apron to the floor at 3:30, and they brawled at ringside. In the ring, Kenta hit his “kick sand in your face” and that angered Loco. Loco hit a springboard-back-elbow at 6:30, and he tied up Kenta on the mat. Kenta is bleeding from the lip or mouth; the ref has put on gloves. Loco hit a top-rope moonsault for a nearfall at 8:30.
Kenta took control of the offense and he grounded Loco. He hit a top-rope flying clothesline for a nearfall at 11:00. Loco put Kenta on his shoulders and spun him into a sit-out powerbomb. Nice. Kenta hit a DDT on the ring apron and they were both down on the floor at 14:00. In the ring, Kenta hit a hesitation dropkick in the corner, then a top-rope doublestomp to the chest for a nearfall at 15:30. Loco hit an F5 faceplant for a nearfall. Kenta fired back with a Falcon Arrow fo a nearfall. Gringo came back with a second-rope Falcon Arrow for a nearfall at 18:00.
The ref got bumped! Kenta immediately got a chair from under the ring and he repeatedly hit Loco across the back with it. Loco hit a sit-out piledriver for a visual pin at 21:00 but we had no ref! Loco leapt off the top rope but Kenta caught him with a jumping knee. Kenta then hit a Shining Wizard for a nearfall. Kenta nailed the Go To Sleep knee strike to score the pin. A very good match. Kenta now needs to catch a flight back to Japan for a tag team title defense in two days. They hugged afterward.
Final Thoughts: This was a really good show with a nice mix of Pacific Northwest talent, the British Progress talent, and of course, Kenta. I’ll go with the Mao/Bailey tag for best, ahead of the main event. The women put together a really good match for third. Nothing here was bad. If anything, that three-team three-way just didn’t allow some of those guys to get a chance to stand out. I want to point out this show started at 11 a.m. EST and this building was packed. I believe nearly all of the shows that are part of this year’s Collective are sold out.
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