By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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C*4 Wrestling (Capital City Championship Combat) “Striking Distance”
Replay available via Independent.TV
May 24, 2024 in Ottawa, Ontario at Preston Event Centre
This is one of my favorite venues on the indy scene; the room is bright and well-lit, looks new, and the crowd is always packed and hot for the action. Attendance is perhaps 300-400 and this does appear smaller than a typical draw. This show was released on Tuesday; C*4 releases their events a few days after they take place, allowing for light edits, such as removing the breaks between matches. No new faces for me in this lineup, but some I’ve seen just one or two times.
1. Mark Wheeler defeated Cecil Nyx at 6:25. Nyx is rotund but he’s a hard hitter. Wheeler has a great physique; he attacked Nyx before the bell. He hit a leaping Flatliner for a nearfall at 3:30. Nyx hit a Doctor Bomb for a nearfall. Wheeler hit a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Wheeler hit a low blow uppercut and a swinging uranage for the cheap pin. Solid match.
2. “Australian Takeover” Kaz Jordan & Julian Ward defeated “Sexxxy Beasts” Sexxxy Eddy & Bob Anger and “Project 8100” Dexter Doom & Haddy and “Post Game” Mike Walker & Vinny Talotta in a four-way tag at 6:52. Post Game have appeared a few times in Wrestling Open in Massachusetts and I’ve been impressed with them. Haddy has long hair; Dexter is bald. Ward (bald; think a thinner Dax Harwood) was going to start but tagged out. Post Game worked over Haddy. Anger and Eddy hit several bodyslams at 5:00. Talotta tossed teammate Walker onto everyone on the floor. Ward hit a short-arm clothesline for the pin. This one didn’t do much for me and it was too short to let anyone really shine.
3. James Stone vs. Brent Banks with special referee Vanessa Kraven ended in a no-contest at 14:35. Stone has been frustrated in recent months with Kraven’s cheating, and he wants to beat Banks clean. The 6’0″ Kraven was in the first Mae Young Classic. Stone refused to let go of a hold in the corner, so Kraven shoved him to the mat! Banks hit a huracanrana and a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Stone hit a series of punches. Banks hit a dropkick at 6:30; he set up for a dive to the floor but Kraven blocked him! So, Banks did a flip dive over her and onto Stone on the floor, and that drew a “holy shit!” chant. Back in the ring, they hit simultaneous kicks and both went down; they popped up and hit simultaneous clotheslines and went down again at 9:00.
They got up and traded blows. Banks hit a second-rope superplex; Stone hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Stone got a door from under the ring. Stone went to put Banks through the door, but Kraven blocked it. Same thing for Banks. Stone accidentally speared Kraven at 12:30! All three were down. Banks hit a frogsplash; a second ref counted a nearfall. Stone nailed a Gotch-style piledriver for a nearfall, but Kraven pulled the replacement ref from the ring to stop the count at 14:30! She called for the bell and declared this was a no contest, and the fans booed. She was angry, got on the mic, and said “she needs time to think.” Kraven said she signed up Stone to team with Banks in the future. Stone and Banks were clear they did NOT want to tag.
4. Kevin Ku defeated London Lighting at 13:54. London has had several AEW TV matches recently and he’s the rising star here. Ku immediately tied up the legs on the mat. The commentators talked about Lightning’s AEW matches with Kyle Fletcher and Roderick Strong, and they said he got a concussion in the match with Fletcher. London hit a plancha to the floor at 2:00. They traded chops on the floor. In the ring, Ku hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip out of the corner, and he began to kick at the legs. Ku choked London in the ropes and jawed at fans, turning up the heelish antics. They traded chops. Ku hit a LOUD chop while London was on his knees at 7:00 that popped the crowd.
London hit a bodyslam and a backbreaker over his knee, then a second-rope elbow drop for a nearfall. They traded chops again and the crowd was into this. Lightning hit a spinebuster at 9:30 and he applied a Sharpshooter and dragged Ku to the center of the ring, but Kevin reached the ropes. London hit a shoulder breaker over his knee and a standing powerbomb for a nearfall at 12:00 and a series of elbow drops. Ku set up for a Muscle Buster but London escaped. Ku nailed a brainbuster for the pin. That was really good.
5. “Tabarnak De Team” Thomas Dubois & Matthieu St. Jaques defeated “Triple Dragon” Puf & Ricky Wildy and “Fight or Flight” Vaughn Vertigo & Gabriel Fuerza to win the C*4 Tag Team Titles at 12:46. Dubois has been out of action and this is his C*4 return, and the Canadian lumberjacks TDT got a nice pop. Vertigo is very much like GYV’s James Drake and a bit of Dalton Castle. Triple Dragon, the tag champions, came out last, and they all started brawling during the ring intros. The commentators said Dubois has been out since September. Fuerza hit a running Shooting Star Press on Wildy, then a moonsault to the floor on Puf. Wildy grabbed the groins of FoF, which made one commentator squeal in laughter.
Vaughn hit a flip dive to the floor at 2:30. TDT hit stereo dives to the floor, and all six brawled at ringside. Puf threw a chair and I HATE that, especially as there are no barriers to keep fans away from the action. Puf began hitting TDT with a shoe to their heads. Everyone started hitting each other with the shoe, to the point this became comedy. In the ring, TDT stacked their opponents in the corner to hit Stinger Splashes and clotheslines at 7:00. Fuerza sat down in the crowd to avoid the beatdown by TDT.
Puf made a hot tag at 9:00 and hit a Stinger Splash on Dubois, then on both TDT. Puf and Wildly hit a team spike piledriver for a nearfall. Dubois hit a clothesline that dropped Puf. St. Jaques hit a spinebuster, and suddenly all six were down. Fuerza and St. Jaques got up and traded forearm strikes. Fuerza hit a double Lethal Injection. Fuerza and Wildy kissed and that popped the crowd. Fuerza hit a Lungblower, then Vaughn hit a Swanton Bomb. However, TDT pushed them to the floor and made the cover to steal the titles!
* Fuerza got on the mic and said both C*4 and Fight or Flight have been around 10 years, and he wants to take on his tag partner Vaughn Vertigo! He said “this isn’t working anymore.” They shook hands and agreed to a match!
6. Haley Dylan (w/Kevin Blackwood) defeated Kristara at 9:46. Haley is always a heel here and she came through the curtain giving the fans the middle finger. She attacked Kristara during the ring intros. Kristara hit a series of punches in the corner. Blackwood slammed Kristara back-first on the ring apron at 2:00, allowing Dylan to seize control. In the ring, they traded chops and Haley kept her grounded. Haley hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall at 5:00. They traded chops. Kristara hit an enzuigiri and they were both down.
Kristara hit a backbreaker over her knee and a buzzsaw kick for a nearfall at 7:00. Kristara climbed the ropes but Blackwood distracted her, allowing Haley to hit a second-rope superplex. Haley begged for forgiveness which drew loud boos; of course, she got a rollup out of it. Haley hit some headbutts. Kristara applied a crossface and rolled her to the middle; Haley tapped out but the ref was distracted by Blackwood. Kristara hit a German Suplex on Kevin! Haley hit a rolling Death Valley Driver for a believable nearfall, then a clothesline for the cheap pin.
7. Myung-jae Lee defeated Stu Grayson, Jordan Oliver and Jody Threat in a four-way at 13:33. Jody hit clotheslines on Stu and Jordan at 1:30. Lee hit a basement dropkick and was fired up. He hit a double pop-up dropkick and got a nearfall on Oliver. Oliver hit a basement dropkick to Jody’s chin, then a plancha to the floor at 4:30. Stu hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on Jody, and he dove through the ropes onto Lee, then a springboard clothesline on Oliver for a nearfall. Jody hit a decapitating clothesline on Stu at 7:30. Stu hit a Pele Kick on Lee and suddenly all four were down.
Stu and Oliver traded mid-ring forearm strikes. Lee hit a top-rope doublestomp on Stu for a nearfall. Oliver hit (badly missed!) a Helluva Kick in the corner on Jody, then hit an Acid Bomb on her for a nearfall at 10:30. Stu hit a running knee to the side of the head that sent her to the floor, then a German Suplex on Oliver, then one on Lee. Stu spun Oliver face-first to the mat for a nearfall, then he nailed a top-rope 450 Splash for a believable nearfall at 12:30. Grayson threw a door into the ring. However, Jody speared Stu through the door in the corner! Oliver hit a Clout Cutter on Jody! However, Lee hit a flying stunner on Oliver for the pin. That was exciting and what would be expected of these four.
8. Michael Oku defeated Kevin Blackwood (w/Haley Dylan) to retain the Revolution Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at 20:37. I wasn’t aware that British star Oku was back in North America; I hadn’t seen his name in any other recent indy results. An intense lockup to open and they traded chops at 2:00. Oku hit a nice dropkick. The ref kicked Haley out at 4:30. Blackwood tripped Oku on the ring apron, flipping Michael and dropping him to the floor. Kevin hit some chops on the floor, and got a nearfall back in the ring. He hit a snap suplex for a nearfall at 6:30. Oku hit a top-rope missile dropkick and they were both down.
Blackwood hit a top-rope back suplex and they were both down at 12:00. They got up and traded spin kicks to the thighs. Kevin hit some body blows. Oku hit a spin kick to the head. Oku nailed a top-rope Lionsault for a believable nearfall at 14:30. Oku hit a Fosbury Flop to the floor! In the ring, Oku hit a top-rope crossbody block for a believable nearfall, and he applied the half-crab in the middle of the ring, and the crowd taunted Blackwood to tap out. Blackwood escaped and hit a brainbuster for a believable nearfall at 17:00. Kevin hit a German Suplex and a standing powerbomb, then a running knee to the chin. Kevin came off the top rope but Oku caught him with a superkick to the jaw!
Oku then nailed a top-rope frogsplash to the back. He rolled Kevin onto his back and hit a top-rope frogsplash to the chest for a believable nearfall, but Haley put Kevin’s foot on the bottom rope at 19:00, and the crowd chanted profanities at Haley. Blackwood hit Oku with the title belt while the ref was out of position. He nailed a leaping Tombstone Piledriver for a believable nearfall! Blackwood hit a Helluva Kick; he went for a top-rope doublestomp but Oku caught a leg and applied a half-crab! Dylan tried to interfere but the ref blocked her. Oku cranked backward on the leg, and Blackwood tapped out. That was fantastic.
9. Alexia Nicole and “Fresh Air” Junior Benito and Macrae Martin defeated Kennedi Hardcastle, Benjamin Tull, and Franky the Mobster (w/Twiggy) at 16:44. Nicole is shorter than 5’0″ and just not believable in a match against guys as big and muscular as Tull and Franky. She opened against Tull and she hit a tornado DDT. Franky entered and battled Junior with Franky picking him up for a Guerrilla Press. Kennedi entered and hit a crossbody block in the corner on Junior for a nearfall at 3:00, and she choked Junior in the ropes. Twiggy choked Junior, too, and the heels kept Junior in their corner. Macrae finally got the hot tag at 6:30 and he hit a fallaway slam on Franky. He tossed teammate Alexia to the floor onto the heels, then Macrae hit a flip dive to the floor on the heels.
Franky hit a dive to the floor too; you don’t usually see a guy that muscular do a dive. Junior hit a top-rope flip dive at 10:00, earning a “holy shit!” chant. They all fought on the floor. Tull and Mobster each suplexed one of Fresh Air off a short stage through a table on the floor at 13:00. That left just the women, who traded blows in the ring. Kennedi and Twiggy pushed a door into the ring. However, Nicole hit a piledriver for a nearfall. Tull and Franky argued over whether to put Alexia through the door, and they began shoving each other at 16:00! Macrae superkicked Franky through the door, and Junior hit a frog splash to pin Franky.
* After the babyfaces left Twiggy hit a low blow on Franky, and the other heels helped beat down Franky. TDT came to the ring perhaps to help Franky, but they joined in the beatdown. The heels then posed with all their title belts.
Final Thoughts: Blackwood-Oku was absolutely fantastic. A top-notch, hard-hitting match. While it was hard to believe that Blackwood would win a UK title, they sure put in some great nearfalls. Just stellar stuff. (And two days later, GCW puts Blackwood in a comedy match against Microman. I don’t get it. You have a star like Blackwood on the show, put him in the ring with another star.) The Stu Grayson four-way was really good for second and Ku-Lightning was the standout of the undercard and takes third. The main event was decent but not anywhere close to the level of the top three matches.
The negatives are few. The opening two matches didn’t click, and I didn’t care for the cop-out finish of Stone-Banks, but the show picked up with Ku-London. I’m glad to see TDT win the tag titles again, as Puf and Wildy are just too cartoonish for me, and I really do think Puf is so big it is unhealthy for him to be in the ring; if I was booker I wouldn’t use him out of fear he would have a medical event in the ring. Overall a good show with a stellar Oku-Blackwood match that is well worth checking out.
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