Tier 1 Wrestling March To Victory 3/20/2016

Written by: Bob Colling

Tier 1 Wrestling presents March To Victory
Date: 3/20/2016
From: Brooklyn, NY

The opening video to the show highlights the first year matches with quick highlights. It’s clear to me that Tier 1 puts a lot of work into their releases and I already appreciate that. The video lasts about five minutes and I enjoyed it. It was an effective way to get a new fan excited for what they’re about ti see.

Opening Contest: Fred Yehi vs. Darius Carter: This is part of the Darius Carter Brass Ring Invitational. Carter stalls in the corner to start the match. Yehi takes Carter down to the mat controlling him with a go-behind, but Carter breaks free quickly. Yehi rolls Carter up but Carter quickly gets to the ropes to prevent even a one count. Yehi blocks a drop toe hold attempt and they trade some more mat wrestling holds. Yehi gets a near fall with a rollup as Carter again bails to the floor to regroup. Yehi shoulder blocks Carter and has a waist lock taking Carter back down to the mat for a two count. Carter back elbows Yehi and stomps on Fred’s left hand. Yehi comes back with a leg stomp after Carter avoided a hand stomp. Yehi works over Carter in the corner with a chop and a forearm smash sending Carter to the floor. Carter rams Yehi shoulder first into the ring post to get control of the match. Carter is squeezing Yehi’s face against the ring post. Carter gets a few near falls back in the ring and stomps on Yehi’s arm and foot. Carter chops Yehi but Yehi slams Carter face first into the canvas. Yehi avoids a big boot and takes Carter over with a few German suplexs. Carter elbows Yehi in the corner but Yehi chops Carter followed by a pump handle driver for a two count. Carter pokes Yehi in the eyes and tries to keep control but Yehi comes off the ropes and collides heads with carter. Carter hits the Lung Blower and pins Yehi. (*1/2. I don’t think this is the ideal way to open a show. Carter is a good heel in getting heat from the crowd, but they didn’t get past first gear. Yehi didn’t get a lot of time to shine aside from a few German suplexs.)

After the match, Carter gets a microphone and tells the crowd to be quiet. He puts himself over about the brass ring staying with him. Some music starts to play and JT Dunn appears. Dunn says that it has been a long time coming for him to be in a Tier 1 Wrestling ring. Dunn thinks it is cute that Carter is having open challengers to prove he’s a good wrestler. Carter flips JT’s hat off from behind and gets met with a roaring elbow shot. JT says he is in Tier 1 Wrestling to stay.

Second Contest: Gran Akuma vs. Joey Ace vs. JustNeph vs. Mike Law vs. Nutrious X vs. Black Baron in an elimination match: I usually dislike these kind of matches. They are usually just not needed and I usually don’t know half of the guys. I’m only sort of familiar with Gran Akuma. I won’t be doing a full recap of the match. At one point all six men are tangled up in submissions, which was pretty cool. Of course, nobody submitted. As expected, they all start to go for high spots including a top rope 450 dive to the floor by Nutrious X. They go into the usual quick eliminations. Akuma gets Ace to submit to a Texas cloverleaf. Thus it’s down to Akuma and Baron. Baron is able to counter a cloverleaf with an inside cradle for the win. (**1/4. I lost interest when there wasn’t high spots going on. They just weren’t doing anything that was overly entertaining.) After the match, Akuma decides against shaking hands with Baron.

Mike Orlando attacks Joey Ace in the ring hitting a clothesline and puts Ace in a tree of woe. Apparently Ace had put his hands on Orlando’s female manager. Orlando has a hockey stick but a man wearing a hood comes out and is met with a hockey stick shot. Orlando beats on the masked hoodie man several times. Orlando gets the mask off and it’s not Logan Black.

Third Contest: Mike Orlando vs. Logan Black in a street fight: Black comes into the ring from behind and attacks Orlando in the corner with right hands. Orlando comes out of the corner with a running clothesline followed by a vertical suplex. Orlando tries to use a golf club but Black blocks it and chokes Orlando with the golf club on the floor. Orlando rams Black chest first into the guard railing. Black fights back with a headbutt and they continue to brawl into the crowd. Orlando uses a chair on Black hitting him over the back several times. Black tosses Orlando into several empty chairs in the crowd before returning to ringside. Orlando sends Black face first into the ring post. Black wedges a chair into the corner and Orlando gives him the finger. They trade several strikes with Orlando dropping Black with a few headbutts. Orlando sends Black into the chair in the corner before hitting a sit out spine buster for a near fall. Black gets out of a Death Valley Driver and nails Orlando with a roaring elbow strike for a two count. Black goes into his pocket and has a pair of brass knuckles. Orlando’s manager gets in the ring to distract Black. Orlando gets up and hits a TKO. Security is yelling at the female manager in the corner. The referee is being distracted and the security guy elbows Orlando. Black decks Orlando with brass knuckles and wins the match. (*1/4. The crowd was rather dead for this and the match didn’t highlight either man in a positive way. The security guy finish fell flat, too.) After the match, Orlando is taped to the bottom rope. The Cutthroat Kings give the female to the security guy but Sonny Kiss and Alex Mason run into the ring for the save.

Fourth Contest: Katred vs. Aja Perera: Katred is a rather dark character with some grunge music while Perera seems to be more fun and energetic. I’ve literally never heard of either one of these female talents. Perera won the match following a stomp to the back of Katred’s head. The finish was rather flat.

Fifth Contest: EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa in a non-title match: At the start of the match, Ciampa wants to shake hands and Thatcher does shake his hand. Thatcher takes Ciampa down to the mat controlling his hand. Ciampa reaches the ropes as Thatcher attempted an ankle lock. Ciampa takes Thatcher down with a fireman’s carry. Thatcher counters on the mat and controls the hand of Ciampa. They get back to their feet to continue the match, which is going rather slowly and focusing a lot on mat wrestling. Ciampa gets Thatcher on the apron and delivers a running knee strike. Ciampa drops Thatcher across the guard railing gut first. Ciampa runs towards Thatcher and delivers another running knee. Ciampa drops Thatcher gut first across the railing again and runs around the ring before hitting Thatcher with another knee strike. Ciampa is in the ring with Thatcher’s scarf to taunt him. Ciampa chops Thatcher on the apron and drags the champion into the ring to deliver a running kick to the face for a near fall. Thatcher uppercuts Ciampa but Ciampa gets Thatcher down on the mat and hits a knee strike. Ciampa comes off the ropes to deliver another knee strike to the face. Thatcher blocks another knee strike and puts a leg lock on Ciampa. Ciampa starts to kick his way out of the hold and does so rather quickly. Ciampa continues to beat on Thatcher and taunts him with each strike.

Thatcher gets Ciampa on the mat with an arm bar but Ciampa quickly reaches the ropes to break the hold. Ciampa shoulder rams Thatcher from the apron and drops Thatcher throat first across the top rope. Ciampa slams Thatcher’s arm across the apron and twists the left arm a few times to keep control of the bout. Ciampa casually kicks Thatcher in the face a few times. They trade chops and uppercuts with Thatcher dropping Ciampa with an uppercut. Thatcher backs Ciampa into a corner and delivers a strike. Thatcher takes Ciampa over with a snap suplex for a near fall. Thatcher knee strikes Ciampa on the mat a few times. Thatcher uppercuts Ciampa in the corner several times. Ciampa sends Thatcher hard back first into the corner. Ciamoa knee strikes Thatcher several times in the corner. Ciampa delivers a running knee strike and drags Thatcher to the middle of the ring for a near fall. Ciampa has a modified cobra clutch on the mat but Thatcher counters looking for an arm bar but can’t keep the move on as Ciampa stomps on Thatcher to break free. Thatcher has a triangle choke but Ciampa counters with a double knee backbreaker/power bomb for a near fall. Ciampa runs into a European uppercut. Thatcher takes Ciampa over with a gut wrench slam and locks in an arm bar. Ciampa is able to roll through and nearly pins Thatcher. Thatcher uppercuts Ciampa but Ciampa gets a backslide for a near fall. Ciampa locks in an arm bar but Thatcher counters and puts an ankle lock on Ciampa. Ciampa breaks free and knee strikes Thatcher for a near fall. Ciampa chops Thatcher several times but Thatcher blocks a chop and uppercuts Ciampa several times. Ciampa slaps Thatcher followed by a jumping knee and more strikes. Thatcher drops Ciampa with a headbutt for the win. (**3/4. If you prefer mat wrestling based wrestling, you’d probably enjoy this more than I did. It’s a decent match but I didn’t find it to be awesome or anything. Easily the best match on the show to this point, though.)

Sixth Contest: Space Monkey & Flip Gordon vs. Brandon Webb & Randy Summers vs. Alex Mason & Sonny Kiss vs. Chris Kronkk & Ken Lee: Aside from Flip Gordon, these are all talents that I’ve never seen wrestle, that I can recall. I’ve heard of Space Monkey, but I don’t think I’ve seen him in action before. Actually, Brandon Webb and Randy Summers may have been a team I’ve seen before, too. There’s a rap battle and then a tweak off between Kiss and Webb. Gordon does basically Booker T’s dance routine. This whole segment is dragging on way too long and I’m not enjoying it. I won’t be covering this in-depth, either. It looks like the opening comedy segment was longer than the actual match. Monkey gets distracted by a banana, which gets tossed over his head on the top rope and he hits a moonsault off the top to the floor taking everyone out. Gordon takes everyone out with a double springboard 450 splash to the floor. Gordon gets nailed by Webb and Summers with a kick and tornado DDT out of the corner for a near fall. Kronkk and Lee make Mason hit an assisted tombstone on Kiss after super kicks. Gordon gets the win for his team following a twisting splash on Kronkk. (**1/2. They went with some non-stop high spots, which is what you’d expect from this kind of match. It was enjoyable but there wasn’t much story to it or anything. The comedy sketch also hurt excitement for the actual match, I’d say.)

Seventh Contest; Jessie Brooks vs. JGeorge in a Last Person Standing Match: JGeorge runs away on the floor and begs off in the ring. Brooks hammers away on JGeorge and kicks him on the mat. They go to the floor with JGeorge sends Brooks into the guard railing back first. JGeorge sends Brooks into the guard railing back first. Brooks hits a snap suplex on the floor. JGeorge manages to send Brooks face first into the bottom turnbuckle. JGeorge chokes Brooks with something from his outfit. Brooks takes JGeorge over with a German suplex. Brooks hits another German suplex after absorbing a right hand. JGeorge takes Brooks down and slaps her several times before choking her again. JGeorge stretches Brooks with a Gory Special and rams her midsection first into the corner. JGeorge knees Brooks face first into the ring post from the apron. JGeorge comes off the top with a double axe handle. JGeorge splashes down onto Brooks with a Bonsai drop. Brooks fights back with kicks to the chest of JGeorge. JGeorge drops Brooks with a right hand. JGeorge takes Brooks over with a few snap suplexs but Brooks counters with a series of snap suplexs. They actually trade several snap suplexs with JGeorge getting the advantage. Brooks takes JGeorge over with several suplexs and locks in a cross arm breaker but there aren’t any submissions. JGeorge is submitting but the match can’t end. JGeorge plants Brooks with a Rock Bottom. JGeorge super kicks Brooks again and follows up with a running knee strike. JGeorge goes under the ring and grabs an ironing board. He also tosses a steel chair into the ring but Brooks kicks JGeorge as he enters the ring. JGeorge jabs Brooks with a steel chair to the face. JGeorge smashes Brooks with the ironing board which was broken before. JGeorge goes to the floor and tosses the chair into the ring. He’s taunting Brooks in the ring by laying down. JGeorge lays the ironing board across two chairs. They are on the top rope but Brooks shoves JGeorge off and he goes through the ironing board. VSK and Ace Romero come out and help JGeorge on the floor. Brooks gets distracted by VSK and Romero gets in the ring. Brooks ducks a clothesline from Romero and hammers away on Ace. Romero plants Brooks with a swinging side slam. JGeorge delivers a running knee strike to drop Brooks as she was trying to get to her feet. JGeorge wins the match. (*1/2. They easily could have cut several minutes from this match. Brooks looks to be a more than capable wrestler and I enjoyed her offense. JGeorge isn’t made out to look good here, and that may have been the point. For a last person standing match there wasn’t much violence and it felt like an extended wrestling match. Matches with that kind of stipulation should have more usage of weapons.) After the match, JGeorge can’t believe that the company didn’t want to promote the match or the group known as Federated. JGeorge has joined the Federated. Ethan Page and Fallah Bah come into the ring to make the save.

Eighth Contest: Ethan Page vs. VSK: Page hammers away on VSK with right hands backing him into the corner. Page lifts VSK up driving him down with a jackhammer for a two count. Page gets stopped by an eye rake and VSK dropkicks Page to get control. VSK comes off the ropes with a knee drop for a two count. Page drives VSK into the corner back first but is met with a boot. Page connects with a swinging slam but misses a splash in the corner. VSK delivers a running boot to Page in the corner. VSK slams Page followed by a big splash for a near fall. VSK mounts Page delivering right hands. VSK misses a knee drop and Page struggles to his feet. Page comes off the ropes with a clothesline and hits a splash in the corner. Page backdrops VSK but is met with a few elbow strikes. Page attempts a suplex but VSK elbows his way to send Page into the corner. VSK gets on the back of Page hitting a lung blower for a near fall. VSK puts Page on the top turnbuckle but Page shoves VSK off. Page boots VSK and gets distracted by Katred on the floor. Page gets back into the ring and punches VSK. Page gets punched by Katred and VSK drops Page across his knee for the win. (*. Well, that sucked. The crowd was dead for it and nobody seemed to care about it.) After the match, Katred has joined the Federated stable.

Main Event: Tier 1 Heavyweight Champion Rude Boy Riley vs. Anthony Nese: Riley takes Nese down to the mat controlling his left arm. Nese quickly gets to his feet and has a wrist lock on Riley before getting arm dragged several times. Riley hip tosses Nese and connects with a dropkick for a two count. Nese misses a clothesline and Riley hits a back suplex. Riley hits a senton splash from the apron for a near fall. Riley chops Nese a few times in the corner. Nese springboards to take Riley down with a hurricanrana. Nese knee lifts Riley followed by a leg sweep for a near fall. Nese works over Riley with chops but gets met with a knee lift on the apron. Riley knocks Nese to the floor and delivers a baseball slide dropkick. Riley sends Nese face first into the ring post. Riley delivers a running knee strike on Nese against the guard railing. Riley continues to work over Nese with chops around ringside. Nese traps Riley in the apron and dropkicks Riley. Nese does a cartwheel on the apron before delivering a super kick on Riley. Nese goes for a cover back in the ring for a two count. Nese kicks Riley in the corner and drops the champ with a left hand for a two count. Nese continues his offense with a couple of leg drops. Nese controls Riley with a body scissors on the mat. Riley stops Nese with a jaw breaker and attempts a rollup but Nese blocks with a kick. Nese poses for the crowd and misses a springboard moonsault.

Riley gets to his feet and chops Nese several times. Nese stops Riley with a sleeper hold and Riley rams Nese into the corner back first. Nese puts the hold back on and rams Riley back first into the corner. Riley comes off the middle rope with a knee strike. Riley clotheslines Nese a few times followed by a knee strike. Riley continues with a swinging neck breaker and delivers a knee strike in the corner. Riley hits a cannonball splash in the corner but Nese kicks out at two. Riley takes Nese over with a modified swinging neck breaker for a near fall. Nese avoids a running knee lift and kicks Riley several times. Nese blocks a knee lift and attempts a suplex. Riley counters but Nese manages to hit a double stomp. Nese takes Riley over with a German suplex for a near fall. Nese chops Riley several times followed by a kick. Riley knee lifts Nese but misses a cannonball in the corner. Nese nails Riley with a running knee strike. Riley nails Nese with a running knee strike for a two count. They trade strikes on their knees with Riley getting the better of the exchange. Nese counters with a pump handle power bomb for a near fall. Nese heads to the top rope but misses a 450 splash. Riley nails Nese with a knee to the face and wins the match. (**1/2. It was a competitive match and it had some decent action. I just wasn’t invested in the action. Plus, now knowing that Rude Boy Riley had alleged possessed child porn after the event actually bothered me while watching the match. I couldn’t possibly enjoy what he was doing in the ring.) After the match, Gran Akuma gets in the ring and attacks Riley. Akuma power bombs Riley and drives Riley down to the mat after having Riley on his shoulders. Riley is left laying in the ring to end the show.

Final Thoughts:
There’s nothing that stands out on the show. The crowd seemed like they didn’t really care about what they were watching and some of the booking just didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I can’t recommend the show. There’s several of their shows with stronger lineups that I’ll probably check out. I checked this out just being hopeful to be surprised and instead it just felt like a lower level independent show.

Thanks for reading.