By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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World Series Wrestling “Unleash Hell Night 2”
Streamed on FITE TV
March 11, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia at South Eastern Entertainment Centre
Australia’s World Series Wrestling is holding four straight shows featuring more than a dozen of the top talent from the United States, with wrestlers from the AEW, New Japan and Impact rosters. The second show took place in Melbourne Australia, on Saturday, March 11, 2023, and this is the second straight night in this venue. (It took place at 2:30 a.m. CST.) This show is available on Fite+.
This building is a sellout, and the commentators say it is the 15th straight sellout here. The setup is like an Impact taping, with the ramp opposite the hard camera. “The Major Players” Matt Cardona and Brian Myers hit the ring. Cardona told the crowd they don’t deserve to see the Major Players. He vowed he was winning the WSW title later. Myers told Cardona he needed to go backstage, get a massage and relax. They hugged and Cardona left. Myers said he’s ready to start his WSW singles career. Joey Janela accepted an open challenge! But before we could begin a singles match, Effy also hit the ring. He got on the mic and told Janela he should have made the save in their tag match a day ago.
1. Effy defeated Brian Myers and Joey Janela in a three-way at 8:21. Myers bailed to the floor. Effy did his gay humor with Janela while Myers stalled. Myers finally jumped in the ring at 3:30 and began stomping on Effy. Effy applied a Tajiri-style Tarantula. Janela hit a top-rope crossbody block on both. Janela hit a dive to the floor on Effy at 6:30. Myers and Effy did some gay humor. Janela hit a Death Valley Driver on Effy for a nearfall. Effy hit a flying legdrop to pin Myers out of nowhere. An okay opener, but this match could have happened on any GCW show in the U.S.; I would have rather seen a unique “only in Australia” match.
2. Bandido defeated Blake Christian at 11:25. They shook hands and immediately traded quick reversals. Blake did his heelish crotch chop. Bandido hit a top-rope corkscrew splash at 2:00, then a delayed vertical suplex with the crowd counting to 20. Blake hit a springboard twisting crossbody block and a Saito Suplex for a nearfall. Blake tied him up on the mat. Bandido hit is one-handed gorilla press at 6:00, then a top-rope frogsplash for a believable nearfall.
Blake hit a backbreaker over his knee, then a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall, then a German Suplex for a nearfall. They began trading forearm shots while on their knees, then while standing. Blake hit a spear. Bandido hit a pop-up stunner and a mid-ring Spanish Fly, and they were both down at 9:00. Blake nailed his Fosbury Flop to the floor, then a springboard 450 Splash for a believable nearfall, and the crowd chanted, “This is awesome!” They both did a backflip off the top rope and landed on their feet, and just continued trading forearms. Bandido hit the 21 Plex rebound suplex for the pin. That was fantastic.
3. Steph de Lander defeated Shazza McKenzie at 8:22. The announcers talked about Shazza losing her title last night “in near record time.” (I had it going 70 seconds.) Shazza attacked from behind. These are both Australians and the crowd is behind Steph. Steph, who is taller and more muscular, hit a shoulder tackle for a nearfall, then some hard chops. Shazza hit a Russian Legsweep and tied her in a pretzel at 4:30, and she hit a running boot in the corner for a nearfall.
They fought on the floor, where Steph dropped her face-first on the ring apron. In the ring, Steph hit a fallaway slam and a release German Suplex for a nearfall at 7:00. Shazza hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall. Shazza grabbed a chair but the ref confiscated it. Steph hit a Mafia Kick to the face. She put Shazza on her shoulders and hit a swinging faceplant for the pin. Good match.
4. Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defeated TJP at 16:24 in a non-title match. Josh had the Impact title, which was NOT on the line. Good mat wrestling early on, with TJP applying a bow-and-arrow. Josh hit some European Uppercuts at 6:00. TJP applied a mid-ring Octopus. Josh applied an anklelock, and TJP immediately made it to the ropes. Josh hit a German Suplex. TJP snapped Josh’s arm backward at 8:00, and he began working on the left arm. TJP then snapped the right arm backward! The commentators wondered if Josh had an arm come out of socket. However, Josh wrapped Josh’s legs around the ring post, and he applied a Figure Four around the post at 9:30.
In the ring, TJP hit a second-rope flying forearm and three snap suplexes, and the crowd chanted, “Eddie!” Josh hit his Forward Finlay roll for a nearfall at 12:30. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down. TJP hit a tornado DDT and he nailed the Mamba Splash frogsplash for a nearfall. He immediately applied a cross-armbreaker, but Josh escaped and applied an anklelock. TJP again applied the cross-armbreaker; Josh applied one. TJP put Josh in a Sharpshooter, and he turned it into an STF, but Josh reached the ropes at 15:00. Fantastic sequence. TJP applied an anklelock and got a nearfall. Josh applied the anklelock, and TJP tapped out. Fantastic stuff.
* Intermssion. They showed “Emma” Tenille Dashwood vs. Taya Valkyrie vs. Chelsea Green (w/Matt Cardona) from the WSW spring 2022 tour. (Taya was a late cancellation from this year’s tour.) I like showing a match during intermission, and I also really like that none of the wrestlers are on the live show, so it’s a nice bonus. Taya pinned Chelsea Green in 14:24 to win the vacant women’s title. This was really good and should be watched if you hadn’t seen this one before.
5. Brian Cage and Flip Gordon defeated “The Parea” Eli Theseus & Gabriel Aeros and Erick Redbeard & Matt Basso to retain the WSW Tag Team titles at 15:09. The Parea wore identical blue trunks and both have short black hair; Eli has a goatee. Basso is dressed like a Viking Raider. Cage and Gordon have been tag champions since the tour a full year ago. Flip and Eli started. Flip hit some superkicks. Basso entered and hit a shoulder tackle on Gordon at 2:30. Flip and Cage worked over Basso. Redbeard entered at 4:30 and he hit a big shoulder tackle on Flip, who immediately tagged out. Funny.
Cage entered to square off against Redbeard at 5:00, but the Parea tagged in before they could lock up. The Parea stomped on Flip and worked him over extensively. Gabriel hit a nice dropkick for a nearfall at 8:30. Flip hit a Blockbuster out of the corner; he went for the hot tag but Cage was pulled off the apron. Redbeard tagged himself in and continued the beatdown on Flip. Flip hit a 619 on Erick. Cage finally made the hot tag and he again squared off with Erick at 11:00.
They traded punches and foreams; everyone else was off the ring apron so all eyes were on the big men. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down. Cage hit a German Suplex on both Parea members. In a cool spot, Cage through Flip over the top rope, with Flip doing a mid-air moonsault onto the Parea on the floor. In the ring, Flip hit a stunner on Erick. Basso hit a chokeslam on Flip.
The Parea hit a team neckbreaker on Basso, and they got a believable nearfall on Cage at 14:00. Eli grabbed their gold chains and wrapped them around their fists. Cage avoided being punched. Cage hit a Death Valley Driver, tossing Gabriel to Flip, who hit a stunner, for the pin. Nice finishing move and this exceeded my expectations.
6. Jordynne Grace defeated Jessica Troy via DQ to retain the WSW Women’s Title at 7:35. Troy refused a pre-match handshake; she might be an inch taller, but Jordynne has a clear size and muscle mass advantage. Jordynne hit a shoulder tackle that dropped Troy. Troy tried working the left arm. Jordynne hit some bodyslams and an overhead suplex for a nearfall at 5:00, but she sold pain in her arm. Troy applied a Fujiwara Armbar and cranked back.
Shazza hit the ring, holding a steel chair. Troy attacked the distracted Jordynne. Shazza entered the ring and stomped on Jordynne, causing the disqualification. Steph de Lander hit the ring to make the save. Steph is the No. 1 contender after her win earlier.
7. Matt Cardona defeated Johnny Down Under (f/k/a John Morrison) to win the WSW Title at 17:10. The commentators explain this match was booked for last year’s tour but was canceled when Cardona suffered a bicep injury. Cardona bailed to the floor at the bell, and the fans taunted him with a “We want Chelsea!” chant. They finally started fighting, and Johnny hit a springboard spin kick at 4:00, sending Matt right back to the floor. So, Johnny followed him to the floor and beat him up out there. Cardona pulled up the thin mat on the floor and set up for a piledriver, but Johnny turned it into a backbody drop.
They brawled over the guardrail. Johnny hit him with a box of popcorn, with popcorn going flying everywhere, and the crowd loved the silliness. They brawled over to a concession stand, then they got back in the ring. Cardona hit a low blow kick with the ref out of position for a nearfall at 8:00. Cardona ripped apart his own T-Shirt and used it to choke Johnny, and he was in control. Johnny hit a leg lariat at 10:30 and was fired up. He hit a running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall.
Johnny charged at the corner but Matt moved, so Johnny crashed shoulder-first. Matt immediately hit a running Facewash kick. Cardona hit a low blow in the ropes, then the Radio Silence legdrop for a believable nearfall at 13:00. Cardona grabbed the title belt and brought it in the ring; he accidentally hit the ref. Johnny hit the Moonlight Drive spinning faceplant for a visual pin, but we had no ref. Brian Ymers hit the ring and speared Johnny! A second ref hit the ring and counted to two. Myers got in the ring and beat up the second referee!
Myers hit a back suplex on Johnny. Myers got a loaf of white bread and shoved it in Johnny’s mouth; he threw bread at the crowd and they threw it back. “What the hell is going on?” a commentator shouted. Myers accidentally hit Cardona in the head with a glass jar. Johnny hit Starship Pain corkscrew moonsault. WSW owner Adrian Manera hit the ring and counted to two but then stopped and gave Johnny the middle finger! Myers pulled Cardona onto Johnny. Manera then counted to three and handed Cardona the title. New champion!
Final Thoughts: Two fantastic matches here. I’ll go with Bandido-Blake for best match, but I wouldn’t argue with anyone who liked Josh Alexander-TJP more. Totally different styles of matches, and both were stellar. Sure, the main event was overbooked with every cliche, but it was enjoyable, and the three-way tag match was good, too.
I hate non-wrestlers, particularly bookers, getting involved. I loved WCW and I watched the rapid downfall as Eric Bischoff, then Vince Russo, became key on-screen characters. Tony Khan at least seems to recognize he has zero on-screen charisma and stays away as much as possible. I hope Manera doesn’t become a constant presence on the remainder of the tour.
This tour continues Sunday as they head to Adelaide, before wrapping up in Sydney.
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