REVIEW: Odyssey Pro Wrestling - War on the Shore

Odyssey Pro Wrestling: War on the Shore
Alhambra Live, Morecambe
Saturday, April 9, 2022
Reviewer: Dammit Vince Podcast (@dammitvincepod)

There is nothing like a Morecambe crowd!

With that in mind we giddily drove there with my 7-year-old son ready to see the coronation of his favourite wrestler, RPD.

The familiar sound of Fall Out Boy’s ‘The Phoenix’ rung out indicating it was show time. OPW General Manager, Ethan Edwards, informed us that there had been numerous complaints about his actions at Overboard, likely from The Spotlight, meaning a Co-General Manager would be announced later in the show.

JJ Webb w/Sandy Beach vs Big “Guns” Joe

Amidst “JJ sucks” chants Joe started off well hitting a series of suplexes before the first of many Beach interferences stopped his momentum.

Joe got a near fall with a springboard splash after which Joe brought down the singlet as he powered up and shouted “I need you” to the crowd who responded in kind.

Joe locked in the Boston crab but the referee missed Webb tapping out due to Beach being on the ring apron. As Joe went to get the referee’s attention JJ Webb rolled him up with a handful of tights but Joe kicked out.

Seemingly down and out, JJ Webb started to slap Joe but with each slap Joe rose to his feet and flipped Webb into position for the Boston crab. However, spotting Beach on the apron, Joe flung Webb into his partner before hitting a powerbomb and transitioning into the crab from which Webb immediately tapped to end a hot start to the show.

Scum (Scotty Rawk & Tu Byt) vs Lucas Neon & Nick Kutter

Following Overboard, a disconsolate Tu Byt was approached by Rawk who said he had heard rumours that tag titles were coming to OPW and suggested they “could help each other”.

Rawk bemoaned the fact that on previous OPW shows he’d been introduced as “Scum” and he was going to embrace it as their tag team name and “show these people what Scum can do”.

Scum looked like they had teamed for years, cutting the ring in half to isolate Kutter and targeted his hamstrings. The pace of Scum was impressive but Neon eventually got tagged in but quickly found himself in the same situation as Kutter.

After rallying, Kutter and Neon looked to hit a double team finisher but Rawk hit Kutter with a stomp which Tu Byt immediately followed up with a suplex into a single leg crab.

Neon tried to make the save but was intercepted by a springboard dropkick from Rawk who then hit a spinning kick on Kutter for the win as Tu Byt blocked Neon from intercepting.

Post-match, Scum beat down their opponents and stood on them, alongside The Rat Queen, declaring that they were Scum.

Dark Mark w/The Freakshow vs Sexy Kev - Last Man Standing

These two started of as a tag team in OPW but the continued mind games of Isaiah Quinn to find out who “the real Mark Meltzer was” finally broke Meltzer who turned on Kevin Lloyd and became Dark Mark.

The last man standing stipulation, chosen for by fans, immediately put Kev at a disadvantage as he was teamed up on by The Freakshow but this was a hyper focussed and violent Kev we were seeing and, after taking out The Freakshow, the fighting spilled out to the venue ending in Meltzer’s head being introduced to the ring post.

Quinn got a shock when he was fronted up by Kev who threw Quinn into the ring who started pleading with Kev to leave him alone. Quinn thought he had been thrown a lifeline in The Book of Isaiah but as he reached for it, Kev stepped on it and duly hit Quinn in the head.

However, Dark Mark and The Freakshow pounced and beat Kev down. Every time Kev beat the count he was facing a three-on-one handicap.

The end seemed nigh as Dark Mark was choking Kev with the chair who, in a last act of defiance, hit Mark with the low blow giving him the chance to grab the chair and take out Carter and Nightmare before months of frustration were then released as Kev repeatedly hit Dark Mark with the chair and secured the win.

Taonga (c) vs Harley Hudson - OPW Women’s Championship

As always, Taonga owned the room with her entrance and oozed confidence but Hudson, making her OPW debut, was not perturbed.

The match started with chain wrestling and a series of head and head scissor locks as both women attempted to gain the upper hand. Taonga kept trying to overpower Hudson, who showed tremendous resilience to keep breaking the grip and counter, much to Taonga’s frustration.

In a back-and-forth contest, it finally seemed like a slam had won the match for Hudson but Taonga kicked out and then went dead weight. Hudson attempted to deadlift Taonga but was pushed into the ref and Taonga hit Hudson with the championship belt while the referee was down to retain.

Revelling in her victory, Taonga beat down Hudson who was saved by Alexxis Falcon. Taonga retreated to the back of the venue as Falcon demanded a long-awaited match at Mutiny on June 18 for the championship.

After the interval, Silent Mark informed the crowd this match had been made official and the fans would choose the stipulation via Patreon.

Sinergy vs Reece & Rogan

Chris Brooker announced he was the new Co-General Manager, which is sure to cause tensions with Ethan Edwards going forward. He said after Reece & Rogan were done beating Sinergy the winner of the main event would be “in the Spotlight”.

Troy and Anderson, wise to The Spotlight’s numbers game, brought out a 3 rd member, Jack Roberts, much to Brooker’s dismay. After a pull apart brawl at Overboard, the match started in similar fashion with all four men fighting.

Sinergy got the upper hand with shoulder tackles and a series of running clotheslines all before the bell rang. Once the match started, Troy found himself face to face with Brooker on the outside who used Kelly as a shield allowing Reece and Rogan to recuperate and start to dominate Troy who couldn’t get to Anderson for the tag.

With the referee distracted, Brooker posed to the camera while pulling Troy’s neck down on the ropes. A series of quickfire cannonballs looked like the end for Troy but, following a hurricanrana, he made the tag to Anderson who matched his partner’s athletic prowess with a diving headbutt from the top rope.

As Sinergy went for the finish, Brooker once more used Kelly as a shield who then distracted Sinergy causing Anderson to be knocked off the top rope leaving Reece and Rogan to hit their finisher to give The Spotlight their first win of the night.

The ever-popular raffle followed but, just as it seemed it was over, the hosts Helena Razor and Silent Mark were jumped by Jennie and Jackie B. Razor had to be helped out of the venue as Jennie paraded her “Miss Morecambe” sash.

Lance Revera vs Nate Reece

After the start, in which Revera attempted to avoid locking up with Reece, these two traded moves with increasing aggression including Reece hitting a hurricanrana followed by a diving knee of the top rope.

While attempting to get the winning pin, Revera rolled out of the ring and made his way to the stage. Reece followed him but got spiked with a DDT by Revera and only just beat the count out.

However, Revera had the upper hand and, after a brutal super kick, seemed ready to win the match but he got distracted by Simon Hill talking about him on commentary. By the time he did pin Reece the ref only got to 1 before Reece rolled Revera over for the win.

An apoplectic Revera tried to jump the commentary booth but was restrained and removed from the venue.

Ryan Hunter (c) vs Andre Dekker vs RPD - Triple Threat Match for the OPW Championship

Inaugural OPW champion Ryan Hunter went into this match undefeated and his adoring fans were wearing their new merchandise.

However, the build had been dominated by the hatred between Dekker and RPD which dated back to OPW’s first show with Dekker costing RPD at subsequent shows resulting in Dekker winning the Overboard rumble while RPD was celebrating victory unaware Dekker had not been eliminated earlier in the match.

Both of them appeared on our Dammit Vince podcast in the lead up to this match explaining their motivations to become champion and led to a heated exchange between the two in which Dekker, acknowledging Hunter as Morecambe’s favourite son, asked RPD how he would cope when the crowd weren’t just cheering for him.

RPD didn’t flinch and vowed to finally hit Dekker with the superman punch on his way to becoming champion in his first ever title match in wrestling.

All three men came out and there was big match feels in The Alhambra, with the crowd chanting for both RPD and Hunter, who shook the hand of RPD. RPD and Dekker immediately brawled to the outside, while Hunter watched on, where RPD was savagely thrown into the ring post and the front row.

Hunter impressively caught a flying Dekker and hit a fall away slam before a returning RPD hitting a hurricanrana and reverse DDT on Dekker. As RPD went for the promised superman punch he was met with a brutal mid-air spear by Dekker who then hit the Three Amigos to RPD.

Dekker had told us he and Hunter had trained together and he knew how to counter the Hunter’s Arrow and, true to his word, he did and followed it up with a top rope suplex which looked to secure the win before RPD hit a diving elbow off the top rope to break the pin.

After a running elbow from Hunter to Dekker, RPD finally landed the superman punch he had spent months dreaming of. The hate in his face was evident as he sneered at Dekker on the outside of the ring.

RPD then turned to face Hunter in what seemed like it would be the final battle of this match and, as Dekker had predicted, the crowd didn’t know who to root for. Hunter attempted a powerbomb which RPD reversed with a DDT but then Hunter managed to hit the Hunter’s Arrow.

The conflicted crowd thought this was it but RPD kicked out at 2.9 leaving Hunter in disbelief. RPD took advantage of this, hitting a neck breaker and lining up the superman punch but The Spotlight’s music hit.

Just like at Ship Wrecked in February, where a chair wielding RPD saved Hunter from The Spotlight, RPD grabbed a chair but this time gave Hunter one too. RPD, eyes firmly on The Spotlight, shouted at them to get in the ring.

Then it happened. The Alhambra fell into a stunned silence as the sound of RPD being struck in the back by a chair shot from Hunter rung around the venue as he shouted at the crowd “this is your fault” before finishing the job with a package piledriver on the steel chairs.

As people in the crowd removed their Hunter shirts in disgust, an unapologetic Hunter flipped off the crowd that once adored him, embraced Brooker and shook Dekker’s hand. RPD was set up for a conchairto but Rick Markus returned to save him.

The Spotlight fled to the stage raising each other’s arms while the crowd chanted “Ryan sucks” as a crestfallen RPD realised another chance at his dream had gone.

Brooker’s prophecy that the winner of the main event would be “in the Spotlight” took on a whole new meaning to a crowd who never dreamed their hero would betray them.

As the show ended, RPD, who promised my son that “now the hunt begins”, was left consoling tearful fans.

It’s real in Morecambe.

REVIEW: Odyssey Pro Wrestling - War on the Shore

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