By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Deadlock Pro Wrestling “Tag Festival 2024”
Available via DPWondemand.com
July 7, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina at Kerr Scott Building
This show was taped on Sunday, July 7 and released on July 13. I actually have not read any spoilers. This show features eight of the top tag teams on the scene in a tournament. There are four first-round matches with a four-way finale. Tag champs Mike Bailey and Jake Something are NOT in the tournament.
* The show opened with a video package to introduce viewers to “Above the Rest,” who are easily the least-known of the eight teams in this tournament. Then we saw a video package for “Miracle Generation.”
* To the arena, where we again have perhaps 300-400 fans. Rich Bocchini, Caprice Coleman and Veda Scott are back on commentary. (There was a show the day before that aired live.)
1. “Miracle Generation” Dustin Waller and Kylon King defeated “Above the Rest” Tristan Thai and Gabriel Skye in a first-round match at 10:17. This certainly is NOT a first-time meeting for these Northeast indy teams, so I’m expecting some good chemistry here. Thai and Kylon opened. Waller and Skye got in and traded fast reversals; they missed simultaneous dropkicks at 2:00 and had a standoff. AtR began working over Waller over, with Thai hitting a German Suplex for a nearfall. Thai flipped Skye onto Waller for a nearfall at 4:30. Kylon entered and hit an armdrag move, then a dive through the ropes onto both opponents. In the ring, Kylon hit a DDT on Skye, but Gabriel wasn’t the legal man. AtR began working over King. King hit a Lionsault for a nearfall at 9:00. Waller hit a Canadian Destroyer, then a Mamba Splash to pin Thai. Good action.
* A video package aired for Sinner & Saint, then for MxM.
2. “MxM” Mansoor and Mason Madden defeated Judas Icarus and Alan Angels (w/Travis Williams) in a first-round match at 9:16. Williams came out with his left arm in a sling and he’s not in wrestling gear. Judas got on the mic and asked MxM to forfeit, and that got some boos. Mansoor rejected the request. Angels snuck in from behind and attacked MxM, so he is replacing Williams in this one. Icarus and Angels worked Mansoor over in their corner. Icarus hit a DDT for a nearfall at 2:30.
Madden got the hot tag and cleared the ring. He hit a leaping spin kick on Icarus for a nearfall at 4:30. Angels went for a top-rope crossbody block but Mason caught him. Angels hit a dropkick on Madden’s knee, then a DDT. Icarus hit a frogsplash on Madden for a nearfall at 6:00, and they kept Mason grounded. Angels hit a German Suplex on Mansoor. Mansoor hit an enzuigiri on Icarus. Mansoor hit a stunner on Judas at 8:30. Madden chokeslammed Icarus. Mason and Madden hit a team piledriver move to pin Icarus good action.
* A video package for both the Motor City Machine Guns and the Grizzled Young Veterans. This is definitely a plus of these taped shows — they can add these nice packages between matches.
3. “Grizzled Young Veterans” James Drake and Zack Gibson defeated “Motor City Machine Guns” Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin in a first-round match at 15:14. Veda said this is a first-time ever match. Shelley and Gibson opened and the fans chanted “holy shit!” before they locked up. Sabin and Drake locked up at 1:30. The Guns hit some team offense on Gibson. The GYV began working over Shelley. Shelley hit a Flatliner on Gibson into the middle turnbuckle at 5:30. Sabin got a blind tag and the Guns hit their team sequence offense on Drake. Sabin tossed Drake head-first into the ring post. In the ring, Shelley stomped on Drake’s left elbow at 7:30, and Sabin hit a bulldog.
Sabin hit a missile dropkick on Gibson, then an enzuigiri, and the Guns hit stereo kicks to Zach’s head. Sabin applied an STF while Shelley applied a Motor City Stretch, and suddenly everyone was down at 12:00. Sabin accidentally hit a Helluva Kick on Shelley. Drake hit a dropkick to Sabin’s face as Gibson held Sabin in place. Sabin hit a superkick, then a running stunner. The Guns hit more quick team offense on Gibson. Drake choked Sabin with his scarf while the ref was distracted! The GYV hit a team slam to pin Sabin, as Shelley was a half-second too late to break it up! An excellent match.
* Our last set of video packages aired. These were all really well done.
4. “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini defeated “West Coast Wrecking Crew” Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs in a first-round match at 10:28. The Cranberries’ “Zombie” played, but the WCWC dragged the beat-up ViF to the ring! Royce suplexed Ku on the cement floor! (I started my stopwatch at first contact.) Joel slammed a chair against Garrini’s ankle and the crowd loudly booed them. The bell rang at 1:00 to officially begin. The WCWC hit a backbreaker on Ku and worked him over in the ring. Royce yanked Garrini off the ring apron at 5:00 so Ku couldn’ tap out, and the WCWC continued to work over Ku, using an illegal team abdominal stretch.
Garrini finally got in and hit never-ending clotheslines in each corner, then a double clothesline on both opponents at 7:00. Jorel hit a standing powerbomb for a nearfall. Royce hit a piledriver on Garrini. ViF hit a team Go To Sleep kneestrike but the ref was pulled from the ring to stop the count. Royce slid a table into the ring. However, Garrini powerbombed Jorel through the table! ViF then hit the Chasing the Dragon (spin kick-and-brainbuster combo) to pin Royce. Good match. Ku was really limping, which Veda pointed out. So, the official time is closer to 9:40.
5. Hyan defeated Kylie Rae in a Battle of the Best first-round match at 9:49. Two tournament matches were held on the show a day earlier (again, it aired live on July 7.) They traded standing switches. Kylie wore her yellow singlet tonight. Hyan hit some loud chops at 4:30. She hit a back suplex for a nearfall. Hyan got a rollup with her feet on the ropes for the pin. Sorry, I got distracted by what has happened with Donald Trump on my TV while I was watching the wrestling on my laptop.
6. Titus Alexander defeated Mike Bailey at 13:30. Bailey brought his tag title belt with him; these two fought each other 24 hours ago in a tag match. Bailey hit his Speedball kicks just seconds into the match, and he hit his Triangle Moonsault to the floor at 1:00. Titus hit a neckbreaker in the ropes and he took control. Bailey hit his series of kicks and a running Shooting Star Pess for a nearfall at 4:30. Titus hit a running stunner, then a Lethal Injection for a nearfall. Bailey landed some more kicks, but he missed a moonsault knee drop. Titus immediately nailed a brainbuster and they were both down at 6:30.
They got up and traded forearm strikes. Bailey came off the ropes but Titus caught him with a dropkick. Bailey applied a cross-armbreaker at 8:30, and he hit the moonsault kneedrop. Bailey nailed a top-rope Shooting Star Pess for a nearfall. He hit a Tornado Kick in the corner. Titus kicked him to the floor. Titus hit an impressive flip dive to the floor at 10:00. Bailey avoided a crossbody block and he hit some more Speedball kicks. Titus hit a German Suplex for a nearfall. Bailey nailed a Poison Rana. Titus hit a Gotch-style piledriver for a nearall. He hit a flying knee and a Michinoku Driver for the clean pin. That was incredibly good. Titus is one of those sneaky good unsigned talents.
* Hyan spoke backstage. She wants a title shot.
7. Adam Priest defeated Kevin Blackwood and BK Westbrook in a three-way to win the vacant DPW National Title at 16:48. Bryan Keith vacated the belt due to ‘injury.’ Priest rolled to the floor at the bell. He hit a snap suplex on BK. BK hit a springboard back elbow on Blackwood at 3:00. Priest hit a German Suplex on Blackwood and was booed. He applied a single-leg crab on BK, then one on Blackwood. Blackwood hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 5:30. They went to the floor, where they took turns chopping each other in front of the fans. BK hit a jumping knee on Blackwood. In the ring, BK hit a flying elbow drop for a nearfall on Blackwood at 9:00. Blackwood hit a release German Suplex on BK and a basement dropkick to his face for a nearfall.
They hit simultaneous Mafia Kicks on the apron. Priest returned to the match and hit a double DDT. He tied BK in a half-crab, but BK escaped. BK superkicked Blackwood. Priest hit a piledriver for a nearfall at 11:30. Blackwood and Priest traded forearm strikes. BK hit a leaping neckbreaker on Priest. BK hit a top-rope Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Blackwood hit a doublestomp as BK was tied in the Tree of Woe. He hit a piledriver on Priest for a believable nearfall at 15:00. BK hit a neckbeaker on Blackwood for a nearfall. Blackwood hit a Helluva Kick and a Meteora. Priest hit a chop block on BK or a nearfall, and he switched to a half crab! BK tapped out! That was really good, too.
* Two trophies, perhaps 4 feet tall, were displayed in the ring. The winner of the tournament gets a tag team title shot as well!
8. “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini defeated “Miracle Generation” Kylon King & Dominic Garrini and “Grizzled Young Veterans” James Drake & Zack Gibson and “MxM” Mansoor & Mason Madden to win the Tag Festival at 17:21. Ku and Drake opened; the other six are on the apron. Gibson fought Madden; it must be reiterated how incredibly tall Mason is, and he hit some LOUD chops at 2:00. Kylon hit a powerslam on Mansoor for a nearfall. Madden hit a leaping kick on Waller. Zack hit a high back suplex on Waller and tossed him to the floor.
MG hit a team slam on Mansoor. Waller hit a Lethal Injection on Madden. Kylon hit a Coast-to-Coast dropkick for a nearfall at 9:30. MxM hit The Centerfold/team piledriver on Waller for a pin at 10:23. The match continued without a break. Drake choked Madden with his scarf; that’s how they eliminated the Guns! The GYV hit their team Lungblower to the chest to pin Madden at 11:34! The crowd booed this. ViF got in the ring — they have barely been in this so far — and all four brawled and traded punches. Garrini hit some chops on each GYV.
Garrini hit a Muscle Buster and Ku hit a second-rope senton on Drake. Gibson hit a chop block on Ku’s knee! The Vets shoved Garrini shoulder-first into the corner. Drake hit a dropkick on Ku’s knee as it was tied in the ropes at 15:00. Gibson applied a half-crab. Drake jumped off the top rope and stomped on Ku’s ankle at 17:00. Garrini applied a sleeper on Zack! It allowed Ku to roll up Drake for the flash pin! Good match but the obvious winner before the tournament began.
Final Thoughts: Deadlock Pro continues to impress and is a promotion I really look forward to seeing. While this was a tag festival, Bailey-Titus stole the show, with the Priest-Blackwood-Westbrook match taking second. The four-way tag finale takes third. The four opening round matches were all good but none were designed to steal the show. I will rewatch Hyan-Kylie later; I had live TV on in the background with the shooting at the Trump rally. Again, if you haven’t seen DPW before, check out some of their free stuff on their youtube page.
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