PWX Battlefield X recap & review: New tag team and TV champs, the Revolt! grows

The buzz is on PWX for signing up with FloSlam and the VOD went live on the Highspots Network yesterday, so let’s get right into it, folks.

The Revolt! (Caleb Konley & Zane Riley) vs. Washington Bullets (Jon & Trey Williams)

Bullets in charge early by way of mat wrestling, quick tags, and a little bit of beard manipulation on Riley. A drop toehold sends Konley face-first into Riley’s crotch and they punctuate it with rhythmic stomps to Caleb’s back, but the Revolt! gets their first bit of edge with Riley dumping a Bullet on the outside. They work him over a while until he gets a huge leaping leg lariat and the tag.

The Bullets mount a comeback but the Revolt! keep them off-center and get a huge nearfall off an assisted Death Valley Driver into a quebrada. Miscommunication leads to Riley shoulder blocking Konley, the Bullets hit a wicked wheelbarrow facebuster / leapfrog Fameasser that should have gotten them a three-count but the ref is occupied with Riley. Riley with the cannonball...

The Revolt! win by pinfall with Caleb Konley’s double jump moonsault.

Solid opener. Nice seeing a more serious Revolt! without the butt shenanigans, and after my first time seeing the Bullets I’d certainly like to see more of them.

The Revolt! cut a promo telling Jake Manning that they’re going to give Jake Manning the night off, but we haven’t seen the last of them tonight all the same.

Corey Hollis vs. Martin Stone

Grappling early, trading momentum and control. Stone curls up into Lady of the Lake and arm wrings Hollis face-first in to the mat when he takes the bait. Stone moves onto uppercuts, knocking Hollis loopy and leading him to Flair Flop. Hollis crawls under the ring and Stone gives chase, but Corey’s subterfuge doesn’t work and Martin presses the attack.

Hollis reverses the momentum by pouncing Stone off the apron and following with a rake of the eyes and a back suplex on the apron. Hollis stays in charge in the ring, taking Stone pillar to post. Hollis locks a sleeper in and Stone starts to fade, but fires back up enough to break free with some strikes and drop Hollis with a Stunner when he goes to lock the sleeper back in.

Stone makes his comeback, getting a nearfall off an Ace Crusher. Chaos Theory gets two, Stone holds the waistlock, looks for a Rainmaker, Hollis slips out, fireman’s carry spinebuster gets two... not enough! Stone ducks a pair of lariats and throws punches in return, uppercuts, off the ropes but Hollis takes his legs out with a dropkick!

Figure four Calf Killer locked on but Stone gets to the ropes, Hollis goes back to the leg but Stone kicks him away so he kicks the knee out and drops Stone with a snap running neckbreaker. Bombs Away knee drop but Stone gets the feet up! Looking for a powerbomb, Hollis slips out with a sunset flip of his own, Stone reverses...

Martin Stone wins by submission with a crossface.

Very good match, bit of an abrupt ending though.

Ethan Case is in the ring with a mic, talking about how the car from St. Louis ran into a deer, keeping Viking War Party, Davey Vega, and his originally scheduled opponent Gary Jay off the show. He says the X16 is next month, and he won last year’s, his whole family is in the building, so he’s gonna wrestle one way or the other.

Colby Corino vs. Ethan Case vs. Jason Cade vs. Tracer X

Nearly a Tower of Doom right off the bat but Cade and Case show some rare awareness that it’s about to happen and block it. Fast-paced pairing off as first Corino and then Tracer work through everybody else in the match, leaving a traffic jam on the outside for Cade to dive into, but they clear off and Corino and Case hip toss him into the third row.

They brawl on the outside and X cannonballs onto them off the apron! JASON CADE IS ON A BALCONY... SWANTON! It’s worth a nearfall on Corino in the ring, he looks to follow up with a superplex, Case joins him, X rolls up... Tower of Doom goes through this time! X with a nearfall off a springboard reverse STO but Cade breaks it up. Pumphandle suplex gets a nearfall, Corino breaks it up, X delivers a 540 enzuigiri for his trouble but no nearfall this time because Corino rolls outside.

Beautiful Yoshi Tonic from Cade onto Case gets two, X comes in and gets poison Frankensteiner’d. Corino lands a rolling elbow on Cade and follows it with a tossing Argentine backbreaker. The Duckling goes to fly but Cade trips him up. A second try goes awry when Coach Mikey stops it, demanding the crowd quack along. Third time, Cade just yanks him out the ring and hits the tope con giro himself!

Coach Mikey looks to dive himself but just ends up hopping into a triple superkick. All four men back in the ring, trading forearms and superkicks that leave them laying. They pair off and we end up with tandem Ace Crushers from Case and Corino but the good feelings fade quickly and Case drops Corino with an Ace Crusher. X and Cade slug it out from their knees to their feet, ending with a double stomp nearfall for Cade. Case and Cade go at it, ending with a wicked pop-up forearm nearfall for Case!

Corino in with a flurry of slaps on Case, springboard double stomp and an Ace Crusher but Case gets fired up! A second Ace Crusher drops him but X comes back in and ends up up top. Corino looking for a diving Ace Crusher but X shakes him off. Cade steals a nearfall off a splash, Case breaks the pin up, so Cade and Case slug it out some more. Huge roundhouse from Cade, looking for another poison Frankensteiner but Case throws him off...

Ethan Case wins by pinfall with a Crash Landing neckbreaker.

Really good four-way. Great ebb and flow to it, with dudes pairing off and coming in and out logically and seamlessly.

Darius Lockhart vs. Mason Maddox

Maddox’s manager, Tommy Thomas, cuts a short promo about his losing streak, saying that tonight is the night it ends. He’s so confident of it, in fact, that he announces his win before the match even starts.

Mat wrestling early, Lockhart in the lead, wrenching Maddox’s arm so bad he bails outside. Lockhart follows and Maddox turns it around with a dropkick and a diving crossbody back in the ring. Darius reverses a whip into an armbreaker over the middle rope and the comeback evaporates, hammerlocking him into the turnbuckle and going back to work.

Good long sequence built around a stepover wristlock leads to Maddox getting back into it for a moment before Lockhart absolutely destroys him with a lariat. Maddox is on the back foot hard but summons the moxie to spit in Lockhart’s face and flip him off, leading to a slap exchange and a DDT for separation. Springboard headscissors takeover into a Blue Thunder Driver but he still can’t put Lockhart away!

Maddox looking for a Styles Clash but Lockhart slips out so he settles for an enzuigiri into a lungblower for two. Corner knees fly again and again but Lockhart drops him with a half & half suplex, Russian legsweep into Rings of Saturn but the ref is distracted by Tommy Thomas on the apron. So distracted, in fact, that he misses Maddox rolling Lockhart into a pin for what could have been a three-count! Jumping knee from Lockhart but he wastes time with Thomas...

Mason Maddox wins by pinfall with a low blow and a schoolboy.

Another really good match. Loved Lockhart’s arm work especially.

Konley and Riley hit the ring, claiming they’ve found the newest member of the Revolt! They approach Mason Maddox and raise his hand only for Lockhart to run over and drop him with another jumping knee strike. Thomas drags his man’s carcass out of the ring and Konley and Riley welcome Darius Lockhart as the newest member of the Revolt!

Bravado Brothers (Harlem & Lancelot Bravado) (c) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) (PWX Tag Team Championship)

Bravados in charge early, beating the hell out of Rob Killjoy. Lance Lude gets a blind tag and the Ducklings proceed to make quick tags to put pressure on Lancelot. Harlem gets back in with an awesome delayed vertical suplex on Lude and their momentum continues until Lude gets a kip-up headscissors takeover and Killjoy tags in.

Diving double stomp gets a nearfall for the Ducklings, Killjoy looking to follow up with a double underhook maneuver but Harlem gets out of it and levels him with a dropkick. Tag to Lancelot, he comes in hot, catching Killjoy off a diving crossbody and firing off a bridging fallaway slap for two. Looking for a superplex but Lude fights out by biting him!

Half crab in, Lancelot sits down deep on it and yanks Lude into the middle of the ring. Killjoy tries for the save and they trade spit and snot. Harlem superkicks Coach Mikey and Killjoy from the apron as Lancelot gets a small package nearfall. Cutter reversed into a tombstone but Killjoy makes the save! Assisted Stinger Splash comes up empty and Harlem tosses one Duckling into the other with an exploder!

Wheelbarrow facebuster / springboard Ace Crusher combo but Lude will not die! Looking for the Doomsday Device, Killjoy shoves Lancelot into Lude, causing him to hit Harlem with the poison Frankensteiner! Assisted tornado DDT gets a tight nearfall to follow. Enzuigiri into a German suplex from the Bravados, Gory Special / reverse STO but the Revolt! hit the ring and pull referee DA Brewer out of the ring!

Lancelot with a suicide dive on Coach Mikey and the Revolt! Darius Lockhart hits the ring with a steel chair but Colby Corino runs him off and sets Lance Lude on top of Harlem Bravado...

The Ugly Ducklings win by pinfall, becoming your NEW PWX Tag Team Champions.

Very fun tag match. Bit of a bum ending but PWX’s tag scene is hot enough to handle it.

Harlem cuts a quick promo about how the Bravados are coming after the Ducklings for their title, and the Revolt! for blood.

Anthony Henry vs. Jon Davis

Simon Sez hits the ring to advocate for his client Jon Davis to the utmost displeasure of the crowd.

Davis sits on the bottom turnbuckle, biding his time, but soon gets up to meet Henry. Heny throws a single probing kick before retreating to the corner for a seat himself. They finally lock up and Davis gets an easy advantage. Break, try again, Henry ducks a chop and throws one of his own on the big man. Henry with a bit of wrist control but Davis breaks the hold, sending him in the corner.

Henry stays on the wrist, forcing Davis to go for a break on the ropes lest he lose use of the limb. Collar and elbow, Henry climbs the turnbuckles to flip the big man and escape before going back to the arm but Davis throws him off. Davis with an electric chair, Henry slips out, goes for an arm drag but Davis reverses it and chucks him across the ring.

A running dropkick sends Davis to the outside, and another one when Davis climbs on the apron. Henry looking for a dive, Davis ducks it so he improvises with a double stomp off the apron. Davis paces outside, coming back in only long enough to block the count, before conferring with Simon Sez.

Back in the ring, Davis drops Henry flat to the mat out of a collar and elbow and powerbombs him into the turnbuckle before snapping off a beautiful spinebuster. He’s got Henry on the back foot now but Anthony ain’t giving up yet. Davis teases a press slam ot the outside but the referee denies it so he just drops him in the middle of the ring.

Henry bails and manages to turn the tide with chops only to get bowled over as soon as he goes back in the ring. Davis continues his assault, throwing body slam after body slam but Henry rolls out of the way on a leg drop and hits a low crossbody. Looking for a small package, Davis deadlifts him out into a delayed vertical suplex!

Davis sets Henry up top, thinking crucifix powerbomb off the second but Henry snaps off a Frankensteiner! Inverted follows but he can’t capitalize! Back on their feet they slug it out, Davis knocking Henry down but the adrenaline gets him back up. Slap rush, enzuigiri, Davis is staggered! Rolling elbow staggers Henry back but Anthony dropkicks Davis’ leg out of his leg and takes a page out of Jimmy Rave’s book with From Dusk ‘Til Dawn but Davis is able to fight out of it.

He’s got Henry in a fireman’s carry but he’s slippery and manages a DDT for a nearfall. Davis heads outside, Henry follows. Davis tries to send him into the ringpost but he Tiger feints around it right into an octopus stretch! Around the ring he goes, running for a dropkick, a second follows but Davis catches him and Lawn Darts him into the ringpost! Chokeslam on the apron and another one in the ring... ANTHONY HENRY WILL NOT DIE!

Corner knee and running dropkicks set up a piledriver attempt but Davis back drops him and Henry lands bad on a knee. He manages to get to his feet and it’s clear that it was a bit of a feint as he hits a reverse roundhouse and a piledriver but Simon Sez gets on the apron to distract the ref. Amber Young gets into with Simon, slapping the taste out of his mouth and setting him up for a dropkick through the ropes from Henry.

DEADLIFT AVALANCHE JACKHAMMER JON DAVIS MY GOD! NOT ENOUGH! Henry catches Davis up in the ropes shoulder-first and goes back to the corner dropkicks, pulverizing the big man. Henry goes up top, Frog Splash gets two, crossface locked in again but Davis gets to his feet. Off the ropes for a crossbody, Davis catches him and reverses to a backbreaker and a German suplex, Henry gets a few strikes in but Davis levels him with a lariat for another nearfall.

Davis gets Henry up into an Argentine backbreaker, gets a spin going, but Henry slips out...

Anthony Henry wins by pinfall with a jackknife pin.

Man, that was about 2/3s of a great match but it just... kept... going. Both guys put awesome work in, Henry is consistently great and Davis has frankly blown me away given that the last I saw of him was his ill-fated Evolve push a few years ago, but I feel like everything after the injury angle was just unnecessary.

Gunner (c) vs. James Drake (PWX Innovative Television Championship)

James Drake out the gates with a Sick Kick that nearly wins the match! They brawl on the outside and Drake pops off a stiff right hand when Gunner tries to get back in the ring. The Modern Day Viking returns the favor with a huge Rock Bottom on the apron. Gunner dominates a while from that until Drake gets fired up on some corner chops and forces him to thumb the eye to keep the advantage.

Choking on the apron, Gunner looks for a suplex but Drake blocks and throws one of his own. Gunner bowls him over with a lariat but Drake stands defiant and throws a dropkick into harrowing strikes of his own, culminating with a northern lariat that gets a nearfall. Gunner signals the finish but Drake leapfrogs him and cuts him down with a thrust spinebuster.

Gunner uses the referee as a shield and grabs a low blow into the spear but Drake kicks out! Huge release Liger Bomb out of the corner and Drake heads up top...

James Drake wins by pinfall with a moonsault, becoming the NEW PWX iTV Champion.

Good little hoss fight. But man, James Drake continues to ping-pong hard as if there are two different men wrestling under that name on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Weird.

Jon Cruz vs. Trevor Lee

Lee blindsides Cruz right away, throwing him into the turnbuckles and stomping his shoulder in. Back drop over the apron, Cruz lands on his feet and snaps off a springboard headscissors takeover soon after but Lee denies the dive by hopping up on the apron. Arm wringer on the apron sends Cruz to the floor face-first. Lee goes to work on the arm back in the ring, stomping and kicking, bending and tearing.

Hammerlock applied, uppercuts to the elbow, Cruz gets back into it with strikes but Lee hip tosses him across the ring. Cruz tries to sneak it out with a rollup and Lee fishhooks his mouth and wrenches his neck something violent in return. Lee throws a German but Cruz lands in a squat and gets right back at him with a tornado DDT that leaves both men on the mat.

Looking to slug it out, Cruz wins the exchange before it even starts and stays on him with a springboard corkscrew crossbody, looking for a handspring cutter but Lee blocks and goes right back to the arm. Deadlift German suplex attempted, Cruz blocks it and lands the springboard cutter on his second try but it’s not enough to put Lee away.

Lee with the pop-up stomp for a tight nearfall. Cruz strings together a jumping knee, a springboard gamengiri, and a huge graceful suicide dive before capping it with a Swanton but it doesn’t put Lee away. Cruz tries to whip Lee but the work Trevor did to the arm pays off and he’s able to easily reverse it and wishbone Cruz’s fingers and drop him with a bridging German suplex.

Lee goes for a suplex and Cruz blocks, throwing a flurry of kicks and heading up top only for Trevor to follow and peel him off. O’Connor Roll, Lee reverses into a schoolboy for positioning and shifts...

Trevor Lee wins by submission with an STF.

Good match, kinda wish the arm had mattered more to the finish but Cruz’s offense is basically all kicks and dives anyway, so no harm no foul.

Jake Manning (c) vs. Sami Callihan (PWX Heavyweight Championship)

Callihan tries to charge in but Manning is ready and nearly punches his head off before Callihan puts the brakes on. Lot of jockeying for position early, through a collar-and-elbow tie-up, a side headlock, shoulder blocks, and trading takeovers. Manning lands a huge right hand and sticks to what works, throwing punch after punch and whipping Callihan into the turnbuckles.

Sami gets a bicycle kick in but Manning is right back with a lariat. A low suicide dive sends Manning into the third row! Slugging it out blow-for-blow and both men chop the ringpost when the other ducks, but they don’t care and keep throwing hands. Callihan slaps Manning across the face with his own scout manual!

Callihan keeps the attack on, uppercutting Manning into some chairs and following it up with a Mafia kick and a cannonball that nearly sends him through a table laden with cupcakes! Back in the ring Manning hits a huge diving clothesline for two before looking for a cobra clutch. Callihan slips out and they head to the corner, Sami looking for a sunset flip powerbomb but Jake blocks so he kicks him hard in the bad knee before grabbing an Achilles lock.

Manning turns a figure four attempt into a small package and hits the backbreaker / reverse STO combination, both get two. Manning charges at Callihan but Sami sidesteps and kicks his leg out of his leg. Manning going for a fireman’s carry but his knee buckles and Callihan gets a nearfall off a DVD. Headbutt-for-punch until Callihan goes back to the knee. Deadlift piledriver attempt reversed, pinning predicaments exchanged and DA Brewer goes down.

Sami with a low blow and the champ’s own deadlift piledriver, replacement ref slides in but it’s only good for two. Bicycle kick just makes Manning angry, same with the second and third, Callihan spits in his face...

Jake Manning wins by pinfall with the deadlift piledriver, retaining the PWX Heavyweight Championship.

Awesome sprint, both dudes just beating the hell out of each other.

Overall

Another good PWX show in the books. Henry/Davis going so long was a bummer, but the first 2/3rds of it were excellent, and Manning/Callihan and the four-way were also really good. Very much worth checking out, especially with the X16 just around the bend.