By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Destiny Wrestling “Summer Heat”
Replay available free via Destiny Wrestling YouTube Page
August 17, 2024 in Oshawa, Ontario at Donovan Rec Complex
This show streamed live and free on YouTube, and it is my first time seeing this promotion, although I’m familiar with nearly everyone on the show, which included a lot of TNA talent. Google Maps shows that Oshawa is on the east side of the greater Toronto metropolitan area. Kevin Caliigari, Dustin Perie and Veda Scott provided commentary. This is an indoor hockey arena with a good crowd of perhaps 400 to 600 in attendance. Lighting is alright; I wish it were a bit brighter. I want to point out that they did a great job of using replays, and that is notable during a live show. The men on commentary said they will be joining the Fight Network in the fall!
* I want to note that C*4 Wrestling held a show Friday a few hours from here so a lot of this talent was likely on that show. The C*4 show did not air live; it will be released Tuesday.
1. Mike Bailey defeated Mark Wheeler at 10:13. Wheeler is a regular in this area and he’s taller and thicker than Bailey; think a younger Bobby Roode. Mike carried his TNA X Division Title belt. Bailey immediately tied up the left arm and they had a standoff. They sped it up and Bailey hit his Speedball Kicks to the ribs and thighs at 2:00, then a dive through the ropes onto Mark. Back in the ring, Bailey hit some chops, and Wheeler begged off. Mark hit a dropkick for a nearfall and he stomped on Mike. They did some comedy where Mark rolled up the ref and Bailey counted a pin.
Bailey hit his running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall at 5:30. Wheeler hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Bailey hit his moonsault kneedrop to the chest at 7:00 and they were both down. Bailey hit his Triangle Moonsault to the floor. Bailey hit another moonsault kneedrop on the ring apron, but he missed the Ultima Weapon kneedrop. Wheeler hit a low blow kick and a Skyfall uranage for a believable nearfall at 9:00. Bailey hit the Green Tea Plunge (mid-ring Shooting Star Press) for a nearfall. Bailey hit a series of kicks, then his Tornado Kick in the corner, then the second-rope Ultima Weapon flipping kneedrop for the pin. That was a strong opener.
2. AJ Francis defeated Tyler Tirva at 8:55. AJ shook hands with the fans but then he got on the mic and ripped into Canada. I don’t think I’ve seen Tirva before; he has short hair and of average size, so smaller than Francis. Tirva hit a dropkick that sent AJ to the floor, and Francis stalled. Back in the ring, AJ hit a thrust jab to the throat and he took control. Tirva hit a Vader Bomb move at 2:30. AJ hit a shoulder tackle and he choked Tirva in the ropes. Tirva hit a Mafia Kick; Francis hit a harder Mafia Kick and got a nearfall at 6:00. Tirva hit a DDT and was fired up. He hit a Superkick for a nearfall, but AJ got a foot on the ropes!
Tirva argued with the ref while Francis recovered on the floor. Francis crotched Tirva in the ropes! Francis got a chair and went to hit Tirva, but a person in the front row took it from him! However, the person hit Tirva in the back with it! In the ring, Francis hit a chokeslam for the pin! Decent match. I’m not sure who is the guy in the front row, but he hopped in the ring and hugged Francis.
3. Ash By Elegance (w/the Personal Concierge) defeated Jody Threat at 6:31. The Concierge came out first and told the crowd to stand and show respect to Ash. Ash threw her fur coat at Jody and hit some punches, but then she stalled on the floor. Jody chased her on the floor and they got in the ring, and Jody was briefly in charge. Ash choked her in the ropes and stomped on Jody. Jody hit some forearm strikes. Ash applied a rear-naked choke. Jody hit a running double knees to the back of the head at 4:30. Jody picked up Ash, but the personal Concierge grabbed Ash’s foot and pulled them to the ropes. Jody hit a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall! They traded rollups. The Concierge sprayed an aerosol can in Jody’s eyes! Ash quickly got a rollup for the cheap pin. What you’d expect here.
4. “Sinner and Saint” Judas Icarus and Travis Williams defeated “Fight or Flight” Gabriel Fuerza and Vaughn Vertigo at 12:39. FoF are actually feuding in C*4 Wresting but are getting along here. I always say that Vertigo looks a lot like GYV’s James Drake. Judas is the short Mike Bailey clone and I’m a big fan, while Travis Williams has a similar mat game to ZSJr. Fuerza and Williams opened. Icarus and Vertigo tagged in at 1:30 and locked up with some basic offense. Vaughn hit a standing moonsault. He hit an impressive Arabian Press at 3:30, and FoF worked over Icarus. Fuerza hit a clothesline on Icarus, then a back suplex for a nearfall at 6:30.
Williams hit a Rebound Lariat. He hit a running double knees from the apron to the floor. In the ring. Icarus hit a stunner on Vaughn, and Williams immediately hit a German Suplex on Vaughn. Nice! S&S worked over Fuerza. Vertigo hit a Swanton to save his partner. Fuerza hit a standing powerbomb at 9:30. Williams hit a handspring-back-clothesline and suddenly all four were down. Williams and Vertigo traded forearm strikes. All four began brawling in the ring. Fuerza hit a double Lethal Injection. Williams and Fuerza traded rollups. Williams dove to the outside on Vertigo. In the ring, Icarus hit a running kick, and Williams hit a piledriver on Fuerza for the pin. That was a really good back-and-forth tag match.
* Okay, based on what they said, I believe the next two matches were the pre-show matches and are now being shown at intermission. The crowd does seem to be a bit lighter…
5. Bryce Hansen defeated Jax Williams, Will Austin, and Matt Black in a four-way at 7:34. The commentators said these are newer up-and-comers. Will wore black pants with yellow trim. Jax wore black trunks. Bryce has the sides of his head shaved and he’s 19; he has good muscle mass for that age! Matt Black wore basic Young Lion-style black trunks. Basic offense early on. All four of these unknowns have really good physiques. Black and Austin traded forearm strikes. Austin hit an enzuigiri on Black at 5:00. Jax dove over the top rope onto everyone. In the ring, Jax hit a twisting brainbuster. Hansen hit an Air Raid Crash into the corner. Hansen then hit a Death Valley Driver for the pin. The commentators said Bryce showed he is the future of wrestling. I saw a lot of promise in these four.
6. “Dynasty” Jaxon Roy and Sway Archer defeated “Fresh Air” Junior Benito and Macrae Martin to retain the Destiny Tag Team Titles at 6:48. Benito and Macrae are a top tag team in eastern Canada and the Northeast U.S. I’ve seen Sway a few times but I don’t think I’ve seen Roy. Macrae and Archer opened, and Macrae is taller and thicker. Archer’s hair is long dreadlocks halfway down his back Macrae slammed Benito onto Archer for a nearfall at 1:30. Jaxon entered; he has a buzzcut and he suplexed Macrae for a nearfall, then he hit a German Suplex for a nearfall, and Dynasty began working Martin over in their corner. Benito got the hot tag and he battled Sway, hitting a top-rope ax handle and a forward Finlay Roll for a nearfall at 5:30. Roy hit a spear on Macrae. Dynasty hit a team Flatliner move to pin Junior! Entertaining match but shorter than I expected.
* Okay I was right… there was a short break before we returned from intermission, so matches 5 and 6 were actually pre-show matches. Veda Scott explained that Heather Reckless couldn’t make it to this show, so we have a mystery opponent for Tiffany Nieves for the newly-created women’s title. Nieves (think a taller heel Zelina Vega) got on the mic and said Heather Reckless is just scared of her, like every woman in the locker room. Nieves wears a tiara and is an obnoxious heel. I’ve seen Nieves in OVW and NWA, but I admittedly haven’t watched either show in months. A guy (presumably the promoter) came out of the back and said he has a replacement for Heather.
7. Tiffany Nieves defeated Zoey Skye to win the newly-created Destiny Women’s Title at 10:40. Zoey was the last-ever Shimmer champion; she wore a red outfit. An intense lockup and Zoey gave her a hard shove, so Tiffany slapped her. Zoey hit a basement dropkick, and Tiffany rolled to the floor to regroup. They brawled at ringside and Tiffany choked her. In the ring, Tiffany remained in charge. Tiffany spun Zoey in her arms and hit a sideslam for a nearfall at 5:30. Zoey hit a superkick, peeled off her T-shirt, and hit a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall at 8:30. Nieves hit a spinebuster for a nearfall. They traded rollups and Tiffany got the pinfall. Not a particularly smooth match; my guess is these two haven’t been in the ring together before.
* Pretty Ricky Wildly hit the ring, waving a Canadian flag. They said he’s “the last true Canadian patriot” and was booed. (I’ve only seen him as a comedy babyface in C*4). Wildly said he is a bit emotional because he gets to perform for all the fans. Ricky said he just got to meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This got a mixed reaction; I thought Trudeau was well liked? He said he thought he would be in the main event here so he’s annoyed he isn’t. A guy named Warmack walked to the ring and he wants a dog collar match against Wildly! Wildy agreed but said Warmack can’t lay a finger on him until the match takes place. Wildly then attacked Warmack from behind with his flag pole! Wildly then fled to the back. (I just want to point out that they could have done this entire segment at the entrance while a cage was being erected later.)
8. Moose defeated Brent Banks at 11:31. Banks is Black with short, curly hair and he’s a C*4 regular. Moose is much taller and thicker than Brent. Moose kicked him in the gut and hit some chops and was quickly in charge. Moose hit a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 2:30 and he was in complete control, stomping on Banks and keeping him on the mat. Banks hit an enzuigiri, then a second one. They went to the floor, where Moose slammed him on the apron at 5:00. Moose charged and crashed into the ring post. They got back in the ring and Banks hit some slaps.
Banks hit a springboard flying shoulder tackle at 7:30. He went for a flip dive to the floor but Moose caught him! However, Banks still turned it into a huracanrana on the floor. In the ring, Banks hit a springboard stunner and a sit-out powerbomb move at 9:00. Moose set up for a spear, but Banks did a leapfrog to avoid it and turned it into a Code Red! They got up and traded chops. Moose popped Banks up in the air and hit a low blow! Moose then hit a spear for the tainted pin. Good match; I’m sure Banks will be very pleased with how he looked when he watches this later.
* Because this was on youtube (and it wasn’t edited out!) I was able to fast-forward over the full 15 minutes it took to set up the cage. I will repeat my point that they could have done that Pretty Ricky Wildly segment on the floor to keep the crowd occupied.
9. Trent Seven defeated Steve Maclin in a steel cage match to retain the Destiny Heavyweight Title at 18:20. Maclin was out first, and he attacked Seven as Trent walked to ringside. I started my stopwatch at first contact, as Maclin grated Seven’s face against the cage wall and struck him with a chair as they brawled at ringside, and Trent finally got his robe off. Seven hit some loud chops as they fought in front of the fans, and Maclin flipped over the guardrail and crashed onto a table set up in the crowd. They brawled on this plastic table (it didn’t break!) Seven hit a backbody drop on the table, which tipped over, and they both crashed onto the cement floor at 2:30. They continued to brawl over by merchandise tables and along the wall of the hockey rink.
They continued to loop around the building, as Maclin put Trent in a trash can, then after Trent got out, Steve threw the can onto Trent. They returned to ringside, where Steve jabbed him in the gut with a chair. They got in the ring at 5:00! Steve grabbed the ref and threw him into the ring, too! The bell rang at 5:17 to officially begin! Victory is pinfall, submission… and escape the cage (and I hate that way of winning. I’ve never understood that you can win by running away from your opponent.) Steve took the camera and panned at the crowd. Of course, Seven stood up and hit a punch to the jaw. An announcer then said the ONLY way to win is to escape! (Why is the ref in the ring, then?)
They fought on the top rope; the cage isn’t particularly tall as it is only to their waists as they stand on the top rope. Seven hit a superplex to the mat at 8:00. Macin tied him in the Tree of Woe and hit a spear. Maclin put one foot out of the cage door, but then he swung the cage door shut at 10:30! Steve dumped a bag of thumbtacks onto the mat, and that popped the crowd! However, Trent hit a Tiger Driver onto the pile of tacks, so they both undoubtedly have a lot of tacks puncturing them. Maclin stood up and yes, he is bleeding. Maclin hit a DDT onto the tacks! They traded chops, and Steve grabbed a handful of tacks and whipped them at Seven. Maclin hit a double-arm DDT, so they got even more tacks in their body.
Maclin climbed over the cage wall but Seven cut him off, and they again fought on the top rope. Maclin pushed him back-first onto the mat and the tacks. Steve went for a top-rope move but Seven moved, and Maclin landed on the tacks at 15:30. Music played! Out came Tarik and he has a ‘money in the bank’ briefcase! He was about to hand it to a ref, but AJ Francis kicked Tarik in the case, and he started to leave with it! Those two brawled to the back, so Tarik never cashed it in. Seven hit a short-arm clothesline, and they again fell onto the tacks. Seven nailed a Burning Hammer onto the tacks! He basically fell out of the cage to the floor to win the match. (Watching a babyface escape a cage always looks so cowardly.) So, “official time” is about 13:03.
Final Thoughts: This was a really good free show and I’m not surprised they wanted to show it off on youtube. The show opener was crisp, and I’ll take that Bailey-Wheeler match for best of the night. An entertaining hard-hitting cage match takes second place, with Banks-Moose earning third. That said, the Saint & Sinner vs. Fight or Flight was a really, really good tag match between guys who aren’t really known on a national level. (Sinner and Saint are now under TNA contract but they really haven’t been able to show off yet what they can do.) I like that they filmed two matches to show during intermission, and those guys in the four-way sure were green but they all had a great look.
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