Welcome, one and all, to my latest OVW TV review. This week, we’re covering the full Fight at Fort Knox event that the company put on for the troops! This is the first time that professional wrestling has ever been broadcast live from the military base, so let’s dive right in.
OVW Episode 1035: The Fight At Fort Knox
On commentary this week are Josh Ashcraft and Ted McNaler.
Chace Destiny vs. William Lutz vs. Corey Storm
This was a hot opener for the show, with the crowd well and truly into it from the onset. The match followed the pattern you may expect, with the three workers breaking off into pairs and each man getting a chance to shine. I was happy to see William Lutz get a good shot at winning too, as his appearances on OVW TV usually see him assuming the role of comedy enhancement talent. Here though, he was not only bumping great but also showing a lot of fire in his offense. In the end, Chace Destiny hit the Butterfly Effect on Lutz then immediately fell prey to Storm’s Storm Breaker. The youngster took the win after around six minutes in a match that’s definitely worth a watch.
Let’s Preview The Main Event
The retired army veteran Michael Hayes talked to the crowd about his time at Fort Knox and got the crowd going. Eventually, Justin Smooth and Jay Bradley interrupted to a chorus of boos. The OVW Heavyweight Champion and his henchman tore into Hayes verbally, then jumped on the ring apron. Hayes didn’t back down, despite being outnumbered, but before the heels could start a fight, Dustin Jackson ran in with a chair and chased them off. This did its job and got the crowd excited for the main event.
William Alexander Moore vs. ‘Mr. Marvelous’ Melvin Maximus
William Alexander Moore is from London, England and carried a polo mallet with him. Meanwhile, Melvin had a custom robe for the show and also got to cut a pre-match promo to introduce his wife, Miss Marvelous. His wife has an excellent bodybuilder physique. The match itself wasn’t a long one, as Moore jumped Melvin before the bell but soon found himself overwhelmed by Melvin’s strength. Mr. Marvelous took the win with a Side Russian Legsweep after thirty seconds of inoffensive squash.
OVW TV Title Gauntlet
The first two competitors were OVW TV Champion ‘The Real Deal’ Randall Floyd and Adam Revolver. Revolver is an OVW Triple Crown holder, but his luck in the gauntlets have been mixed. This started out as a fairly basic match-up, complete with some bald-heel-claims-the-face-pulled-his-hair shenanigans. Once Randall took over though, the pace picked up and the crowd came alive. The champ got the win with the Real Deal Slam.
The next entrant was the debuting Canadian, Alexander. The interesting thing with this clash is that Floyd was actually an amateur wrestler that only missed out on the Olympics due to a concussion, and Alexander has an MMA background. As such, we got a mix of strikes and holds to start things off. The crowd was fairly torn, with Floyd getting good reactions, and Alexander mostly cheers with a smattering of boos. In the end, this was a tale of trading blows and perseverance that saw Floyd get another win with the Real Deal Slam.
Amon was out next, and though he initially started off on the back foot, he took control just before the commercial break. When we returned though, he was in the middle of a confrontation on the outside with Fort Knox’s General Evans. As you’d expect, Evans blocked Amon’s attack, Floyd clobbered him, and the crowd exploded when the two shook hands. After that, it was only a matter of time until the champ got the popular win with a Real Deal Slam.
The next competitor was Ca$h Flo, and Floyd immediately tried a bodyslam, but couldn’t lift him. The big man took over from there overpowering the champ and shrugging off his offense. The story here was Floyd continually trying to slam Ca$h, but coming up short in his efforts. In a surprise twist, rather than lead to him finally lifting the big man, Floyd managed to score a shock win when he reversed a bodyslam into a roll-up. Post-match, Ca$h flipped and laid into the champion, nailing an impressive top rope frog splash before heading to the outside to grab a steel chair. The beating continued right up until the music hit for the final competitor.
Former champion Drew Hernandez was out last and looked to have an easy task ahead of him with Floyd so hurt. Drew took his time getting in the ring and even threw in a few arrogant stretches before finally getting to work. Being overconfident though, rather than just finish him, Drew went for a casual cover. This having given the champ a good amount of time to recover, Drew’s subsequent powerbomb attempt was reversed into a hurricanrana with a pin, and Randall Floyd retained.
That was easily the best gauntlet yet; everybody had their working boots on, and my only real issue was that the ever consistent Drew Hernandez didn’t get to do too much. The story told throughout was great though, and the crowd loved Randall Floyd.
Entourage 2.0 And Big Zo Dance The Night Away
Valerie Vermin was out with the group, so I guess she may be a new member. Shiloh wound up the crowd with some rhymes about the military personnel, and Big Zo came out to counter. Zo ran down the heels rap style and challenged them to a fight. DL3 said that the people here don’t deserve a fight, so let’s have a dance-off instead. The crowd seemed to be into the idea.
What followed was DL3 and Shiloh Jonze putting on a suitably bad routine, only for Zo to do something marginally better. The process repeated, with Shiloh pulling out a Shiloh-roonie and Zo doing a cartwheel and a worm. Entourage 2.0 then ganged up on Zo, but the big man made quick work of them.
The angle was harmless, and I’m happy to see all the people involved make it onto the show. I do still think that a Shiloh Jonze vs. Big Zo singles match has potential though.
OVW Southern Tag Title Match: King’s Ransom [champions] vs. The War Kings
The challengers snuck out and jumped the champs during their entrance, giving themselves an early advantage. The War Kings have a good pedigree to them, with Crimson being a former OVW Heavyweight Champion, Jax Dane being a former NWA Champion, and the team being mentored by Road Warrior Animal. The pair spent the early part of the match cutting Leonis off from his partner and deploying a slow power game until the face was able to make the hot tag to Maximus.
The comeback didn’t last long though, and The War Kings soon took over again. I’ve often found that King’s Ransom are at their best when dominant and fiery, but The War Kings are the right sort of foil to let them effectively play the face in peril role. They aren’t fancy, and they keep their offense basic, but they look legitimate. As a result, when Maximus made the hot tag to Leonis, the crowd popped big. In the end, the champions avoided an Off With His Head, and Jax Dane ate a top rope senton. Crimson couldn’t make it in in time, and the champions retained in a good match.
OVW Women’s Title match: Megan Bayne [champion] vs. Cali Young
The crowd gave the announcement for the match a good response. I have to hand it to Cali, as she did a good job in taking the fight to her much bigger opponent. The crowd was well and truly behind the champion though, and Megan didn’t disappoint them. Even with some excellent consistent selling of her knee, she was able to overpower Cali and eventually hit the Hook And Ladder for the popular win in a fun match.
Michael Hayes & Dustin Jackson vs. Jay Bradley & ‘The Trinidad Titan’ Justin Smooth
As expected, Fort Knox’s own Michael Hayes got the biggest reaction of the night. The faces were much more on the same page tonight, utilizing quick tags to stay on top in the early going. This was different from the tag title contest too insofar as, while still left looking for a hot tag, the faces had a lot more of the match.
Hayes’ never say die attitude eventually saw him get the hot tag to Dustin Jackson, and the top contender to the OVW Heavyweight Title exploded out of the corner and served the champion a reminder of what he’ll be facing when they finally meet one-on-one. In the end, Hayes hit Smooth with a Dishonorable Discharge and Jackson followed up with the top rope splash to win the match and send the fans home happy. Good match.
Highlights
MVP: I have three this week. First up is Randall Floyd. He’s been good since his return, but I’ve never seen him look better than he did here. His ring work was strong, the crowd loved him, and he came out of the gauntlet looking like a fighting champion. Next is, Megan Bayne. At only twenty-one, she should have a long, successful career ahead of her. Tonight’s match saw her having to do a lot more selling than normal, and she absolutely nailed it, keeping things consistent and not forgetting to sell when hitting her own moves. Finally, there’s Michael Hayes. He did a good job as the hurt face that won’t give up, but it’s his connection with the crowd that really made him. While it was to be expected given his links to Fort Knox, it made him a definite plus for the card.
Best Match: There wasn’t anything bad on the show, but I’ve got to give this to the TV Title Gauntlet. The story told throughout the match was very good, and was a big part of what made Randall Floyd look so good. Nobody wasted their time in the match though, and there were plenty of highlights, including the debut of Alexander and Ca$h Flo’s post-match beatdown. Excellent work.
Best Angle/Promo: There were only really two on the show, and the Main Event Preview was the better of them. So, that’s an easy pick.
Summary: This was a really good event from OVW. The name graphics for the show look good, and everybody put the effort in in the matches. Being longer than the weekly TV show, there were a lot more matches on the show too, which was good to see. I’d say that you should go out of your way to watch both the TV and Women’s Title matches, as well as the opener. You can add the Southern Tag Title match to that list too if you enjoy old school tag team wrestling. There’s nothing entirely skippable on the show though. Even the dance off – which wasn’t great – did its job. From top to bottom, it’s well worth a watch.
Matt Doyle Media 