By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Defy Wrestling “Your Nightmare”
Replay available via Wremix.tv
June 3, 2023 from Seattle, Washington at Washington Hall
The headliner match features young prodigy Nick Wayne vs. New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kenta. This building is packed with perhaps 600-800 fans. Rich Bocchini and Ethan HD provided commentary, and sound is good.
Because this is a new website for me, I want to add that the quality of the stream was really good. Short commercials aired between matches; I don’t mind that. It’s mid-match commercials that drive me nuts!
1. Christopher Daniels defeated Artemis Spencer at 16:02. Daniels was loudly booed as he hit the heel in his full ‘fallen angel’ gear. I’ve seen Artemis a few times, and I always think he looks like Curtis Axel. The crowd taunted Daniels with profanities, and he was distracted and annoyed with them. Artemis hit a dropkick that sent Daniels to the floor to regroup. In the ring, Spencer hit a 619 at 5:00, then a missile dropkick. He applied a mid-ring Octopus, but Daniels escaped and slammed Artemis to the mat. Daniels hit a back suplex at 8:30 for a nearfall. He hit a second-rope elbow drop for a nearfall and he jawed at the ref.
Daniels nailed a Death Valley Driver, and rolled over and applied a Koji Clutch on the mat. They traded rollups and hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down at 12:30. Artemis hit a top-rope senton as Daniels was in the ropes; Daniels rolled to the floor to avoid being pinned, so Artemis hit a plancha to the floor. Suddenly, three wrestlers got in the ring! Artemis hit a top-rope crossbody block on them. Bocchini wondered why the ref hasn’t called for a DQ; Spencer cleared them out of the ring. However, Daniels got a rollup with his feet on the ropes for leverage for the cheap pin. Good match.
* The heels continued to beat up Artemis Spencer after the bell. Bocchini wondered who would make the save. Out of the back came … Curry Man? The crowd popped for the silly entrance. Bocchini and Ethan HD were perplexed. (Everyone knows Curry Man has been an alter ego of Daniels.) Curry Man and Daniels stood across the ring from each other and they brawled! The heels pulled Daniels out of the ring to avoid being beaten up further.
* “Midnight Heat” Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson hit the ring and got loudly booed. Gibson is bald and Pearl has short black hair; I always say these guys are the FTR of the Pacific Northwest with their old-school heel style. The crowd again berated them with profanities… this show is not for children!
2. “Midnight Heat” Eddie Pearl and Ricky Gibson defeated Shareef Morrow and Jacky Lee at 10:07. My first time seeing these two, and Bocchini said it is their Defy debut. Lee is Asian, Morrow is Black, and they are both shorter than MH. Morrow and Lee did the Hardy’s team hip attack into the corner. Morrow hit a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall on Pearl at 3:30. They ran Pearl’s head into Gibson’s groin. Lee hit an assisted senton to the floor that is much cooler than I can describe it. Nice.
In the ring, MH began working over Lee. Pearl hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 6:30. Gibson hit a high back suplex. Lee hit a kneestrike on Pearl. Morrow made the hot tag at 9:00 and he hit a running knee on Pearl, then a rolling splash for a nearfall. Gibson slammed Lee onto Morrow. Gibson put both men on his shoulders and hit a Bulldog Powerslam, with Pearl making the cover for the pin. Good tag match.
* Footage aired of blood-covered Mance Warner and Matthew Justice; this is from a prior Defy show on May 13.
3. Galeno Del Mal defeated Delta Jr. at 8:46. Galeno is the 6’5 297-pound luchador who competed Sunday at the Prestige Wrestling show in Los Angeles; he is just so big he makes me think of DC’s Bane. Delta is a masked luchador of average size; his light blue had me thinking of Max Moon. Galeno immediately shoved him to the mat. Delta tried a shoulder tackle but only hurt himself. Delta hit a dive through the ropes at 2:30. In the ring, Galeno was in charge, hitting a rolling cannonball in the corner that flattened Delta.
Delta hit a shotgun dropkick and a top-rope missile dropkick at 5:30, then a flip dive to the floor. Galeno hit a hard, swinging Flatliner for a believable nearfall. Delta jumped on Galeno’s back and hit a Code Red for a nearfall at 8:00. Nice move. Delta went for a crossbody block, but Galeno caught him and hit a twisting suplex for the pin. Good match, and fans pelted them with crumpled-up dollar bills.
* A nice video of Vert Vixen aired, showing off in-ring highlights.
4. Vert Vixen defeated Shazza McKenzie to retain the Defy Women’s Title at 15:19. Vert is really active on the West Coast, and we’ve seen her several times on AEW TV. Shazza, the Australian who recently moved to the St. Louis area, wore her pink-and-black outfit that gives her a passing resemblance to Natalya Neidhart. An intense lockup to start and good mat reversals. Vert caught her with a flying kick at 4:30. Shazza got a nice fisherman’s suplex with a bridge for a nearfall.
Vert hit a series of chops. Shazza hit a running knee to the back as Vert was in the ropes at 9:00, then some Yes Kicks. Vert dove through the ropes onto Shazza, and she was fired up. Shazza hit her own dive through the ropes. In the ring, Vert nailed a second-rope superplex, and they were both down at 10:30. This has been really good. They got up and traded forearm shots. Vert hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Shazza applied a Vendeval head submission hold on the mat. Vert applied a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring, but Shazza reached the ropes at 14:00.
Shazza hit a Saito Suplex and a running knee in the corner for a nearfall; she got in the ref’s face and yelled at him. Vert hit a running knee to the chin, then a Cody-style springboard spin kick, then a modified Michinoku Driver for the pin. I really liked that.
* A backstage promo with Christopher Daniels and his heel friends.
5. Rocky Romero and “C4” Cody Chhun and Guillermo Rosas defeated Judas Icarus, Travis Williams, and Evan Rivers at 18:21. I always compare Chhun to NXT’s Boa; he’s tall and thin. Rosas is short and rotund. Romero started against Williams, who reminds me of a very young Bryan Danielson; he has his hair trimmed in a crewcut. The babyfaces took turns working over Williams’ left arm. Rivers, whose head is shaved on the sides but he has a mullet, entered at 4:00 and squared off with Chhun. Rivers hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Rosas for a nearfall at 6:30, and the heels worked over Guillermo.
Icarus, who has dark black hair (think a young Paul London or Mike Bailey) hit some blows as they kept Guillermo in their corner. Chhun finally made the hot tag at 9:30 and hit dropkicks on all the heels, and he was fired up. However, Chhun accidentally superkicked Romero. Williams hit a German Suplex on Chhun. Rivers hit a moonsault for a nearfall. Romero hit a second-rope crossbody block at 13:00. He hit his Forever Clotheslines on each of the heels. Williams and Rivers hit dives to the floor. In the ring, Icarus hit a swinging slam on Romero for a believable nearfall.
Romero hit a jumping knee on Williams, the a Sliced Bread #2 on Williams. Chhun set up for a finisher, but he was dragged out of the ring. The ref missed some chairshots. Rosas hit a decapitating clothesline on Icarus. Williams hit a brainbuster. Romero hit a dive through the ropes. Chhun and Rosas hit a high-low combo on Rivers for the pin. I enjoyed that. Icarus showed me a lot here in the first time I’ve seen him.
6. Nicole Matthews defeated Allie Katch at 14:15. Matthews is the veteran who has competed in Shimmer and the Mae Young Classic; like Mike Bailey she got banned from the U.S. for five years but is now back competing. They opened with some mat reversals. Matthews stayed focused on Katch’s left arm. She hit some stiff kicks to the spine at 6:30, a suplex, and went right back to the arm. Allie hit her buttbump and rolling cannonball in the corner for a nearfall, but she clutched at her sore arm.
Matthews removed the turnbuckle pad and got booed. She hit Katch in the head with a metal object with the ref distracted. Matthews applied a crossface, but Katch was probably already knocked out. The ref called for the bell. Solid match.
7. Kenta defeated Nick Wayne to win the Defy Title at 22:17. Standing switches to open. Wayne hit a one-legged dropkick, sending Kenta to the floor to regroup at 3:30. In the ring, Wayne hit a huracarana and a flying elbow, sending Kenta back to the floor. In the ring, Wayne hit a spine kick, so Kenta hit his own spine kick, and they traded blows to the back. They brawled on the floor; they vanished in the shadows as they left ringside. Back in the ring, Kenta was in charge, hitting a kneelift to the gut at 9:00.
Kenta hit some stiff kicks as Wayne was writhing on the mat, then the disrespectful mule kick to the head at 12:00. Wayne hit a handspring-back-stunner, then a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall. Kenta hit a top-rope flying forearm for a nearfall at 14:00, and he applied an STF on the mat. They traded forearm shots. They hit simultaneous Mafia Kicks, and Wayne hit a mid-ring Spanish Fly, and they were both down at 16:30.
Kenta hit a running Helluva Kick, then a leaping dropkick into the corner. Kenta hit a top-rope doublestomp to the chest for a nearfall. Kenta began nailing some openhand slaps to the face and stiff punches. Kenta set up for Go To Sleep, but Wayne somehow hit a Poison Rana. Wayne hit a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall at 19:30. Wayne hit a pair of superkicks. Kenta pushed the ref in the way, and Wayne rammed into the ref; Kenta immediately hit a DDT and all three were down. Kenta got a title belt and was loudly booed. Wayne avoided the belt shot and he nailed the Wayne’s World springboard stunner for a visual pin, but we had no ref!
Kenta again shoved Wayne into the ref, and Kenta immediately hit a low blow uppercut. This time, he nailed Wayne across the forehead with the title belt. He got the ref awake. Kenta nailed the Go To Sleep kneestrike for the pin. Bocchini was stunned as he shouted “new champion!” Fans chanted, “holy shit!” Bocchini added, “I didn’t think I’d be saying these words — Kenta is the Defy World champion.” Kenta acted as conductor of the orchestra, waving his arms as fans chanted his name.
Final Thoughts: A stellar main event that lived up to the high expectations I had going in. I hadn’t sought out results of this show, so I was truly stunned with the outcome. Intriguing that Kenta won the belt, which obviously means he’ll be back to defend it. That was easily best match. I’ll go with Daniels-Artemis Spencer opener for second place, and that really good Shazza-Vert Vixen match for third place.
I admittedly had never heard of wremix.tv until a week ago when Defy announced this show would be airing on the website. As I noted, I had no problem with the stream, and this was an easy watch. I recommend checking it out.
FYI, mid-match commercials are done because the advertisers know (or at least believe) you won’t turn the channel, hence you will see the commercial, as opposed to the match being over, a commercial coming on, and you flipping around until you figure the ads are over
Nick Wayne – You are a brilliant wrestler and a true gentleman who is thoughtful with a big heart.