By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Deadlock Pro Wrestling “Showdown in the Carolinas”
July 10, 2022 in Raleigh, North Carolina at Durham Armory
Available via DPWondemand.com
The show opened with the heel tag champs The Reality talking backstage. A highlight video aired.
James Darnell and John Blood were on commentary and they ran down the card. This is a large building with a crowd of 300 to 500. Lighting and sound are really good.
1. Donnie Ray defeated Mason Myles, James Ryan, Adam Priest, Labron Kozone, Diego Hill in a six-way scramble at 6:52. Ryan comes out to Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and the crowd sang along. Priest has appeared on AEW tapings. Kozone is a Black man with his hair in a braid on top of his head, looking a bit like Kofi Kingston. Diego, also a Black man, had an impressive showing against BoJack a couple months ago. In a cool spot, Diego Hill did a Canadian Destroyer over the top rope onto a guy on the ring apron, and they crashed onto three guys on the floor. Donnie Ray hit a Swanton Bomb for the pin. Fun scramble with all the messiness and dangerous spots you’ve come to expect.
2. Kidd Bandit defeated Sawyer Wreck at 7:56. Bandit is a hero in the transgender community and is quite the babyface. Sawyer has the side of her head shaved but hair on top. Bandit got the babyface pop. Sawyer is much taller; she attacked at the bell and she dominated the entire match. She put Bandit on her shoulders, setting up for a DVD, but just gorilla pressed Bandit to the mat at 4:00. Bandit applied a cross-armbreaker, then a Lungblower to the back, then they went back to a cross-armbreaker. Bandit slapped on modified Triangle Choke armbar submission hold to get the win.
3. “The Workhorsemen” JD Drake and Anthony Henry defeated Shawn Kemp and Chase Holliday at 13:28. Both Holliday and Kemp are a bit on the heavy side. In his black singlet, Kemp is a heavier Joe Gacy, while Holliday is a heavier No Way Jose. Holliday and Henry took turns allowing each other to chop their chests. Drake and Kemp entered and hit a series of shoulder tackles with neither man going down. They also traded deafening chops. Drake nailed a nice belly-to-belly overhead suplex. Holliday hit a nice gut-wrench suplex on Anthony Henry for a nearfall. Henry hit a frogsplash on Kemp for a nearfall. Henry hit a package piledriver on Kemp, and Drake immediately hit a double-arm DDT move on Kemp for the pin. Solid, hard-hitting match. The challengers aren’t quite ready for prime time but they brought the fight.
4. Raychelle Rose defeated Promise Braxton at 11:26. Braxton has wrestled at least once on AEW Dark; she has similar looks and features to Mercedes Martinez.Rose wore a tiara and plays the obnoxious queen role, and she rejected a handshake. Raychelle dominated the match early, and she grounded her with a sleeper. Promise hit a series of clotheslines and a nice German Suplex at 9:00. Braxton nailed a running knee shot to the back of the head for a believable nearfall. Rose fired back with a spear, and they were both down. Braxton got her up for a gut-wrench suplex, but instead turned it into a nice sit-out powerbomb. Rose hit a superkick but only got a one-count. Rose immediately hit a running knee to the back of the head for the pin. That was really good, and I’d like to see more of these ladies.
5. Colby Corino defeated “Krule” Mads Krugger in a hardcore match at 9:03. Colby came to ringside with golf clubs that are covered in tacks, and he also has an electric drill. I immediately doubt I’m going to enjoy this match. Doesn’t it feel like Krugger and Alexander Hammerstone have been fighting nonstop for two years now? The ref went to check Krugger before the bell, but Krugger picked him up and gave him a huge chokeslam, which stunned and popped the crowd. Krule and Colby immediately brawled to the floor. Not surprisingly, the camera couldn’t stay with the action, and it is dark and hard to see. They brawled into the seating area, with fans scattering from their seats to give them room to fight.
Krule broke a pool stick over Colby’s shoulder, then he hit a fallaway slam into the empty chairs. Krule, as expected, has a clear height and weight advantage. In the ring, Colby hit a couple unprotected chairshots to the head at 4:00. Krule slammed him through a door set up in the corner. Krule bodyslammed Colby onto an open chair. Colby moved as Krule charged at him, causing Krule to crash into a door covered in beer cans. Krule poured thumbtacks onto a door, set up between two open chairs. However, Corino used the drill against Krule’s head as they fought on the ropes in the corner, then Colby slammed Krule through the tack-covered board for the pin. Not my style of match.
6. Jay Malachi and mystery partner BoJack defeated BK Westbrook and Lucky Ali at 13:55. The announcers discussed the last show, when Ali turned on Jay Malachi after they lost a six-man tag. Malachi came out solo, and the announcers wondered if he had any friends in the locker room. Ali taunted him on the mic. The match starts two-on-one, but the lights go out almost immediately, and BoJack hit the ring to be the mystery teammate. All four brawled in the ring. BoJack, who has to weigh 400 pounds, hit a massive senton for a nearfall at 2:00.
The heels took control in the ring, working over Jay. Westbrook hit a running dropkick in the corner to the face at 5:30. Malachi struggled to get to his feet and the ref made the ‘X’ sign with his hand to signal an injury. Malachi wanted to keep fighting, but the ref ordered him to go to the back with the medics. That was unusual and I smell a swerve. The two heels began teaming up on BoJack, but BoJack nailed a double clothesline at 8:30, then his running Stinger Splashes in the corner to squish his opponents.
The heels took control of the match, but BoJack nailed a Pounce at 10:00. BoJack nailed a spinebuster on Ali for a nearfall. In an insane spot, Ali climbed into the rafters — not an exaggeration — and dove 20ish feet onto BoJack and several others at 12:00. Malachi returned to the ring, limping heavily. BoJack nailed a standing powerbomb. In an impressive spot, Malachi hit a top-rope flying (Ember Moon stunner move) going more than halfway across the ring to hit Ali, to score the pin.
* Donnie Ray hit the ring and shook the hands of the winners. Ray got on the mic and he asked BoJack for a DPW title shot. BoJack accepts the request, saying the title match would be Aug. 6.
* Westbrook and Ali talked on the mic. Andrew Everett came out and hit a huge chokeslam on Westbrook. He got on the mic and called out Konosuke Takeshita, and the crowd popped. (Takeshita had an excellent match before these fans a couple months ago against Australian Adam Brooks.)
* Backstage promo with Rosemary, who is happy that DPW has provided the violence she craves.
7. Rosemary defeated Savannah Evans at 11:10. Savannah refused a handshake. Savannah dominated the match early on, and she hit a big bodyslam at 4:30. Rosemary bit the ear, which popped the crowd. Evans responded by biting the forehead. Rosemary went to the top rope, but Evans caught her and flipped her to the mat at 6:30. They traded forearms, and Rosemary tied her up on the mat. Evans hit a Samoan Drop for a nearfall at 10:00. Rosemary applied an ankle lock, but then she bit the leg! Rosemary nailed a spear for the pin. Very satisfying match.
* Raychelle Rose came to ringside and got in Rosemary’s face.
8. Patrick Scott and Chance Ryzer (w/Chris Danger) defeated “Injustice” Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver to retain the DPW Tag Titles at 12:28. I don’t know how often Reed and Oliver have teamed up since Oliver left MLW. The heels attacked Oliver & Reed before the bell. Reed hit an enzuigiri and a superkick. However, the heels began working over Reed. Oliver made the hot tag at 4:30 and hit a Cloud Cutter and his jumping sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. Jordan hit a top-rope crossbody block onto both opponents. Both Oliver and Reed hit flip dives to the floor.
Reed hit a spinning faceplant from the ropes at 9:00. The heels hit simultaneous spears for nearfalls. Reed nailed a Helluva Kick in the corner, then a jumping sit-out powerbomb for a believable nearfall at 10:30. Danger hopped on the ring apron to distract the ref, allowing the heels hit simultaneous low blow uppercuts. JD Drake and Anthony Henry hit ringside and yanked away Chris Danger. Reed nailed a Cloud Cutter for a believable nearfall, but the ref was pulled out of the ring. The heels hit a team top-rope bulldog move on Oliver to score the pin. That was a fun sprint.
* A video montage aired with Calvin Tankman and Kevin Ku, mixing in clips of them talking about their match, along with clips from their matches in the tournament. I can’t say enough about how well this was done for a promotion this small.
9. Calvin Tankman defeated Kevin Ku in a National Championship Eliminator finals match at 22:25. This is the finals of an eight-man tournament with the winner getting this new National Championship. I recall Ku had a tremendous match in a victory over Davey Richards. The ref held the title, with both men posing on either side of it, before the bell. Tankman backed him into a corner and hit some forearm shots. Nice intensity by both men and you get a sense they both want this title belt. Tankman hit a LOUD chop that dropped Ku at 3:00. Ku hit a chop block on Tankman’s left knee, and he began to target it. Ku has some blood coming from his mouth.
Ku caught Tankman’s right arm and began targeting it. They brawled to the floor, with Ku slamming Calvin’s damaged hand repeatedly against the guardrail at 6:00. In the ring, Ku hit some Yes Kicks to the back as Calvin was seated on the mat. Tankman hit a chop but it hurt his damaged right hand, and he rolled to the floor to recover. They brawled at ringside, with Calvin hitting chops in front of the fans. Ku grabbed a chair but the ref confiscated it; while the ref’s back was turned, Ku grabbed a different chair and slammed it into Tankman’s leg at 10:30, drawing a shocked reaction from the crowd. They continued to brawl at ringside, until both diving into the ring at 13:00 to avoid being counted out.
The ref put black gloves on, as Ku is now also bleeding from his forehead. Tankman blocked a tornado DDT and he turned it into a brainbuster, and they were both down. This has been fantastic. Tankman nailed a second-rope superplex at 16:30. Ku fired back with an impressive fisherman’s buster for a believable nearfall. Ku set up for a Saito Suplex but Tankman escaped and hit a Judas Effect back elbow. Ku applied an anklelock on the mat, but Tankman reached the ropes at 19:00.
Tankman nailed a German release suplex, and they were both down. Ku applied a sleeper on the mat, but Tankman got up and powered out of it. He hit another hard back elbow and a standing powerbomb for a believable nearfall at 22:00. Tankman nailed a third back-elbow, then he hit his sit-out piledriver for the pin. That was just fantastic.
* BoJack came to the ring. They glared at each other, but then they each held up their respective titles above their heads, and BoJack left so Tankman could celebrate some more.
Final Thoughts: This is the third time I’ve checked out a Deadlock Pro show, and they are doing all the little things right. The show is well-shot with great lighting. The action is good, and the announcers are informative and entertaining. There is a reason both Tankman and Ku are regulars in MLW, as is Myron Reed. Former MLW roster member Jordan Oliver will return to a national promotion sooner than later, too.
I’ll give Tankman-Ku best match, the Oliver/Reed tag second-best, and Rosmary-Evans third place. Learn more about this promotion at www.deadlockpro.com
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