So this was certainly a first for WrestleMania Weekend. Pro-Wrestling Revolver (a promotion run by Sami Callihan) decided to have a show a noon that included pancakes (apparently from IHOP) catered for all of the fans that came to the show. It was a pretty cool idea, and the card itself looked rather interesting on paper.
Pro-Wrestling Revolver: Pancakes & Piledrivers
Orlando, Florida 4/1/17
1.) David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb: ***1/2
The show kicked off with a strong opener in the form of David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb. Apparently this was a first-time ever meeting between these two, which surprised a lot of people (myself included). Simply put, this was a really good wrestling match. There was very solid action throughout, and both men got to show off their respective strengths. Ultimately, Cobb would emerge victorious after hitting Starr with Tour Of The Islands. As an opening contest, this was perfect.
2.) Five-Way Match - ACH vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Matt Palmer vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Impact Grand Champion Moose: ***3/4
Matt Palmer is the only person involved in this one that I wasn’t familiar. From what I could gather, he appears to be a regular in Pro-Wrestling Revolver, and the fact that he ultimately got the win here (I guess) confirms it. This was an incredibly entertaining match that was packed with action from start to finish. These five fought in the ring and outside of it, as they eventually brawled towards the area where the pancakes were being served. At that point, Dezmond Xavier hit this crazy running dive off the bleachers onto everyone else! This was an extremely fun match to watch, and everyone involved had opportunities to shine. Palmer got the win after hitting Xavier with a tombstone piledriver off the second rope.
3.) No DQ Match - Eddie Kingston vs. Krugar: ***1/4
So Krugar is the man formerly known as Adam Rose. The name is a reference to Leo Krueger, which was the name/character he had in NXT before becoming Adam Rose. This ended up being a very violent affair. Weapons like chairs and trash cans/trash can lids were involved, and Krugar even asked Kingston to keep hitting him in the head with these weapons. Krugar got offense in, but what made this work was Kingston just beating the shit out of this guy (aside from the shots to the head). I wasn’t expecting much from this, but it proved to be a bit better than expected. The match came to an end after Kingston finally put Krugar out of his misery with a series of backdrop drivers and spinning backfists.
After the match, Bull James came out carrying a chain. He flipped Kingston off, and attacked him with the chair. James then took the mic, and brought up the fact that he has a lot of history in Orlando, Florida. The fans chanted “no one cares”, and James told everyone to go fuck themselves. I honestly had a hard time hearing parts of his promo. I guess he complained about the fans jarring at him, and dared any of them to get in the ring to fight him. He closed this odd promo by saying “Orlando, Fuck You”.
4.) Fans Bring The Presents Match - Angelico & Jack Evans vs. OI4K (Dave Crist & Jake Crist): **1/4
So this is basically a Fan Brings The Weapons Match, but themed a bit differently, since it just so happened to be Jack Evans’ Birthday. Before the match began, Evans took the mic and did the ring introductions for his own team. Evans noted that he and Angelico are both injured, but declared that they’re going to fight anyway. Evans then started to sing Happy Birthday to himself, but he and Angelico are quickly jumped by OI4K. This was basically a comedy hardcore match. We got scenes such as sword fight involving kids swords and lightsabers, Dave Crist smothering some pancakes in the face of Jacks Evans in an attempt to get him to submit, and Dave’s face getting shoved into the ass off his brother Jake. Nothing much else to talk about with this one. Los Gueros Del Cielo would score the victory.
5.) Ricochet vs. Shane Strickland: ****
On paper, this had the potential to be a fantastic match, and when the dust settled, it certainly delivered. These two had a great back and forth contest that featured plenty of exciting action and incredibly smooth sequences throughout! Of course, we all know how awesome Ricochet is (and this was another really strong performance to add to numerous matches he had during this big weekend), but Strickland has stepped up his game a ton over the last few years. Honestly, I don’t have much else to say about this match. It was blast to watch. Ultimately, Ricochet picked up the win here after hitting Strickland with an insane looking Flatliner.
6.) Jake Manning vs. Su Yung: **1/4
Before the match began, Manning took the mic, and said that the glass ceiling wouldn’t break this afternoon. He thanked Pro-Wrestling Revolver for naming the show after him. Manning said he’s the master of the piledriver, and that Su Yung is only good for cooking pancakes. He claimed that he paid for all of the pancakes the fans are eating right now. Manning had this “valet” with him named Eddie McQueen, and said that he was putting off more sexual feminine energy than any woman in the building, thus proving that anything a woman can do, a man can do better.
As for the match itself, it was probably the worst of the show. It just….didn’t appeal to me in any way. At one point, Manning tried a mandible claw with a scout sock. Towards the end of the match, Eddie McQueen distracted Su Yung, and this allowed Manning hit her with a low blow, followed by a piledriver on top of a stack of pancakes for the win. There wasn’t much to this one, and honestly, I barely remember it. It wasn’t entirely awful, but I just don’t think it worked. Intergender Wrestling on the independents has really died down after it’s height a few years ago, and even if you do it today, it only works when you have the right people in there.
After the match, Manning taunted Yung, and the “undead bride” responded by spitting red mist in his face! At least you can say Manning got his comeuppance.
7.) The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) vs. Brian Cage & Sami Callihan: ****1/4
Apparently this Brian Cage/Sami Callihan team is called “Twins”. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one (mainly because I wasn’t sure how well this Cage/Callihan pairing would work), but these two teams ended up having a great match. Things got started right away as Cage hit a big dive, and from there, we got a ton of nonstop action throughout the rest of the match. Fenix & Pentagon Jr. work so well together as a team (they’re brothers so, no surprise there), and to their credit, the Cage/Callihan team were pretty good as well. This was a very energetic match as a whole, and the crowd was really into it. The Lucha Brothers would eventually get the win after Callihan got hit with a Package Piledriver from Pentagon Jr., followed by a Canadian Destroyer from Fenix. This was a pretty fantastic tag team encounter.
Afterwards, fans threw money into the ring, and the two teams celebrated together in a sign of respect. Fenix took the mic and thanked the crowd, while Callihan offered The Lucha Brothers pancakes before leaving.
8.) PWR Scramble Title - AR Fox Open Invitational Ladder Match - AR Fox vs. Joey Janela (with Penelope Ford) vs. Jason Cade vs. Davey Vega vs. Trey Miguel vs. Arik Cannon vs. Zachary Wentz vs. Caleb Konley vs. Trevor Lee vs. Serpentico vs. Lio Rush: ****1/2
So this Ladder Match had eleven participants in it…..ELEVEN!!! That has to be a new record, right?? Anyway, when you have that many people in a Ladder Match, you know it’s going to get crazy, and it that regard, it certainly surpassed expectations. This was an absolutely insane Ladder Match!! There were so many wild spots and incredible moments in this one, and everyone involved (even Penelope Ford) had opportunities to shine (and by that, I mean that they all had the chance to do something crazy). A recap of everything that happened couldn’t do this justice, so I’m not even going to try. You really need to see this match for yourself just to fully understand how insane it was. Eventually, through all of the chaos, Jason Cade captured the PWR Scramble Title to win the match. This main event was a crazy stunt show in the best way possible, and one of the highlights of WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando.
Overall: 8.25/10
As a whole, this was a very strong show from Pro-Wrestling Revolver. In a way, it was similar to the WrestleCon SuperShow, as the match quality throughout the card varied a lot. However, what set Pancakes & Piledrivers apart was that it had more high points. The WrestleCon SuperShow, when you really look at it, was only a one match show. This event had a number of great matches on it (the main event, Lucha Brothers vs. Cage & Callihan, and Ricochet vs. Strickland). While it had low points for sure (The “Fans Brings The Presents” Match and Jake Manning vs. Su Yung), the number of really good to great matches more than made up for it. With some great matches towards the top of the card, a mostly fun undercard, and pancakes, you couldn’t go wrong with this show. I would say that this show is definitely worth checking out.
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