By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Deadlock Pro Wrestling “World’s Strongest”
November 12, 2022 in Concord, North Carolina at Cabarrus Arena
Available via DPWondemand.com
This Carolina-based promotion has really become a favorite of mine this year with some good wrestling, above-average sound and lighting, and a great mix of backstage promos between matches. Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini provided commentary, and these two have great chemistry together.
This is a gym or large convention center hall; low ceilings not an issue. The crowd is perhaps 200.
1. SB Kento defeated Labron Kozone at 8:01. Kozone is a Black man similar in looks and style to Swerve Strickland, or JTG’s current look in NWA. Kento is the Dragon Gate wrestler touring the U.S., with blond hair similar to Kazuchika Okada. They traded mat holds early, and Kento hit a springboard summersault to the floor at 2:30. They traded hard forearms, and Kento hit a Falcon Arrow. Kozone came back with a jumping elbow drop for a nearfall, then a discus clothesline for a nearfall at 7:30. Kento blocked a Gotch-style piledriver, got a jackknife cover, and scored the pin out of nowhere. Really fun while it lasted.
2. Sumie Sakai defeated Hyan at 8:43. Hyan was trained by Booker T and she wears a ring robe that reminds me of Deonna Purrazzo; she has the height and overall size advantage. Hyan dropped her with a shoulder tackle. Hyan hit an awkward dive between the ropes to the floor. Sakai applied a cross-armbreaker on the mat, and she switched to a Crippler Crossface. Hyan applied a leglock around the waist and grounded Sakai. Sakai hit a DDT at 4:00 and they were both down.
Sakai hit a second-rope missile dropkick for a nearfall at 6:00. She went for a crossbody block, but Hyan caught her, put her on her shoulders, and hit a Sabin-style Cradleshock for a nearfall. Sakai hit a German Suplex for a nearfall. Hyan hit a one-legged dropkick into the corner. Sakai nailed a swinging faceplant for the pin. That was pretty good.
3. Adam Priest defeated Jackson Drake at 13:59. Priest got loudly booed; he’s a thinner QT Marshall and a good mat wrestler. This is Jackson’s DPW debut; the 19-year-old instantly made me think of fellow teen Nick Wayne in his youthful look and hairstyle. Standing switches to open and a standoff. Drake has a height advantage, and likely weight advantage too. Bocchini and Dombrowski made the Nick Wayne comparison here. They traded more good mat wrestling and Priest sold being frustrated he couldn’t out-wrestle the kid.
Priest took control for several minutes. Drake hit a nice Frankensteiner out of the corner for a nearfall at 6:00. Priest choked him on the floor. Drake ran off the ring apron and hit a doublestomp to Priest’s back as Adam was bent over. In the ring, Priest hit a top-rope superplex for a nearfall at 9:00. Jackson went to a cross-armbreaker. At 10:00, the ring announcer said there were five minutes remaining and the crowd booed. Jackson clotheslined Priest over the top rope to the floor, then he hit a top-rope corkscrew press to the floor, earning a “holy shit!” chant.
Back in the ring, Jackson hit several Yes Kicks to the chest and a jumping knee to the chest. Priest hit a spear and they were both down at 13:00. Jackson nailed a top-rope 450 Splash for a nearfall, but Adam got his feet in the ropes. Jackson went for another top-rope move, but Priest caught him with a kick. Priest immediately applied a Lion-Tamer-style Boston Crab and Jackson tapped out. Really good match. “A hell of a debut for Jackson Drake!,” Bocchini said.
4. “The Workhorsemen” JD Drake and Anthony Henry defeated Mason Myles and “Meltman” Donnie Ray at 15:09. Ray is the guy with the crazy, curly brown hair like a young Chuck Palumbo, or Nick Comoroto. Myles reminded me of Tyler Bate. Henry and Myles opened with intense mat reversals. Henry hit a backbreaker over his knee. Drake and Ray squared off. The commentators explained that the Workhorsemen were supposed to have a title shot, but an illness by Patrick Scott, one of the champs, caused the match’s cancellation. Drake laid in some loud chops.
Henry hit a side-Russian-legsweep on Myles and they worked Mason over. Drake removed his shirt at 5:00 so Myles could chop him, but then Drake returned louder, harder chops. (Mental note: don’t get in a chop exchange with JD Drake.) Myles hit a tornado DDT on Henry. Ray made the hot tag at 7:00 and hit a Sliced Bread, then a cannoball in the corner. Drake unloaded more chops and he was dominating the offense, hitting a Vader Bomb for a nearfall at 9:30.
Myles made the hot tag back in and hit a sling blade clothesline on Drake, then a standing neckbreaker for a nearfall. Drake nailed a spinebuster, and Henry immediately hit a top-rope doublestomp for a believable nearfall. Henry hit a powerslam on Myles, then a brainbuster for a nearfall at 13:00. Myles hit a TKO stunner for a nearfall on Henry. Ray and Myles hit a Road Warriors-style clothesline. Drake hit a running knee on Myles. Henry hit a Falcon Arrow slam out of one corner, and Drake immediately hit a huge top-rope moonsault for the pin on Ray, and the crowd popped for seeing the big man hit that moonsault. That was really good.
5. Jay Malachi defeated BK Westbrook at 12:07. Westbrook reminds me of Adam Cole. Malachi looks like a young R-Truth, and he attacked heel Westbrook at the bell. Jay hit a nice dropkick. Good back-and-forth action, with Malachi hitting a top-rope flying clothesline for a nearfall at 9:00. Malachi hit a dive over the top rope and landed on Westbrook a long way from ringside! In the ring, Jay hit an impressive frogsplash for a nearfall. Westbrook nailed a chokeslam for a nearfall. Malachi hit a top-rope Clout Cutter for the pin. That was fun.
6. Raychell Rose defeated KZT to retain the DPW Women’s Title at 11:58. KZT looks a lot like Mia Yim. Cocky and arrogant Raychell gives off Britt Baker vibes. Rose dominated early and some basic action for several minutes. Rose set up for a Pedigree, but KZT blocked it. KZT then hit a Flatliner for a nearfall at 9:30. KZT applied a cross-armbreaker. Rose hit a running kneestrike to the back of the head for the pin. Good women’s match, and Rose is underrated.
7. Andrew Everett and Miyuki Takase defeated Baliyan Akki and Mei Suruga in an intergender tag match at 15:26. Akki hasn’t wrestled on AEW, but he has joined Emi Sakura to ringside on several Dark/Elevation matches. Suruga has the Dalton Castle-style peacock robe. Comedy at the bell over which wrestlers will begin, but we settle on Everett and Akki. Everett, of course, thinks he’s 7’4″ tall and wears the Andre-style one-strap singlet. He went for a chokeslam but Akki escaped. The women entered at 2:30 and Suruga is really short.
Akki tagged in and hit a splash on Takase for a nearfall at 4:00. Akki and Suruga did the “Dirty Dancing” spot where he held her up in the air, spun her slowly, then dropped her on Takase. In some more fun comedy, Takase ran all the way around the fans, along the walls behind the seating, before hitting a clothesline at ringside. In the ring Akki hit a HARD chop on Takase at 8:30, and this was the first real blow thrown by a man. They traded chops. I find this absurd and also hard to watch, as Akki hit some hard spin kicks to Takase’s legs.
Akki hit a backbreaker over his knee and he tagged in Suruga. Suruga hit a doublestomp on Everett’s back, and she tried to chokeslam him, but he blocked it. We kept the comedy going with them all trying to chokeslam each other. Everett hit a spinning Flatliner move on Saruga. In a fun spot, Saruga sat on Akki’s shoulders and chokeslammed Everett, then she hit a moonsault off the shoulders for a believable nearfall. Akki hit a springboard 450 Splash for a nearfall on Everett. Takase clotheslined Akki, and Everett made the cover for the surprising pin. That was fun but the finish came out of nowhere.
8. Emi Sakura defeated Jungle Kyona to become number one contender to the DPW Women’s Title at 12:32. They charged at each other at the bell. The commentators said Sakura started her career in 1995; I had no idea she was that old. Wikipedia says she’s 46. Kyona hit a running splash for a nearfall at 5:00, and she applied a head-scissors lock on the mat. Sakura backed her into the corner and unloaded several chops, then she hit a running crossbody block into the corner. Sakura hit a back suplex at 8:00. However, she missed a top-rope moonsault.
Kyona hit a running forearm to the back of the head for a nearfall, and they were both down. They fought in the ropes, and Kyona hit a running powerbomb for a nearfall at 11:00. Kyona got her up for the Muscle Buster, but Sakura escaped. Sakura got an inside cradle for a believable nearfall. Sakura nailed the Ospreay-style Stormbreaker swinging faceplant off her shoulders for the clean pin. Kyona offered a post-match handshake, but Sakura turned and walked away, drawing boos from the crowd.
* Raychell Rose hopped in the ring, held her belt above her head, and stood nose-to-nose with Sakura. Sakura turned and left with no punches thrown.
* Bojack headed to the ring to “address his enemies.” Bojack, who is Black and probably 350-400 pounds, has been a dominant champion here since winning the title in January. Lucky Ali came out of the curtain and held up the trophy he received after winning an eight-man tournament last month. He challenged Bojack to a match right now! Bojack accepted and the fans popped. A ref ran into the ring. However, before the bell rang, Kidd Bandit walked to ringside. (Bandit uses they/them pronouns), and they have a call-your-shot briefcase. Ali was angry about this development.
9. Lucky Ali defeated Bojack and Kidd Bandit in a three-way to win the DPW Title at at 16:50. Bojack immediately hit chops on Ali, while Bandit laid in some kicks. Bandit tried ducking-and-weaving and hitting punches on the much larger Bojack. Bojack grabbed Bandit and nailed a uranage at 2:00. Bandit nailed a dive through the ropes on both opponents but got injured on the floor (it was too dark to see what happened). In the ring, Bojack dropped Ali with a shoulder tackle at 4:00. However, Ali snapped Bojack’s arm over the top rope, and he began working over the damaged left arm.
Ali hit a chop block to the back of the knee at 7:30 and remained in charge in the ring, as the commentators wondered if Bandit was okay. Ali nailed a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker but only got a one-count. Bojack nailed a second-rope superplex, and both men were down at 11:30. Bandit got back in the ring and nailed a Reigns-style Superman Punch on Bojack. Bojack caught Bandit, put Bandit on his shoulders and set up for a Death Valley Driver. However, Bandit somehow turned it into a cross-armbreaker, so Bojack escaped by ramming Bandit into the corner.
Bandit nailed a stunner on Ali at 15:30, then a Sling Blade and a 619 on Ali. Bojack nailed a decapitating clothesline on Ali. Ali hit a clothesline to the back of Bandit’s head for the pin on Bandit. So, Bojack lost his title without getting pinned.
Final Thoughts: Another really fun show. I just think so highly of this largely-unknown roster. Lucky Ali is great, Jay Malachi is great, Diego Hill (who didn’t compete on this show) is great. I will go with the Workhorsemen’s match for best match, the three-way main event for second-best, and Kyona-Sakura for third place.
Yes, I object to intergender matches, and I cringed watching that chop exchange between Akki and Takase. But for the most part, that match was light-hearted comedy.
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