PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Champion Shane Strickland defends against Dragon Lee. PCW Ultra Tag Team Champions Warbeast defend against oVe. Jeff Cobb takes on Matt Riddle and Brody King in a triple threat match. PCW Women’s Champion Tessa Blanchard defends against Rachael Ellering. Former UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar makes his in-ring debut. In the main event, PCW Heavyweight Champion Penta El Zero M defends against Sami Callihan inside a steel cage.
PCW Ultra presents Opposites Attack
Date: 6/8/2018
From: Wilmington, CA
Opening Contest: Jake Atlas vs. Eli Everfly vs. Darby Allin vs. Ace Romero: It is noted that Jake Atlas is a proud member of the LGBT and has been a much more successful wrestler. All four men are in the ring when Atlas drops both Allin and Everly. He spits in Romero’s face, which he quickly begs off from. Romero dropkicks Atlas and plays to the crowd. Romero tosses Everfly into the corner and then crotches Allin on the top turnbuckle. Darby ends up in a tree of woe and Romero tosses Everfly into Allin in the corner. Romero continues his offense with a cannonball splash onto both men in the corner. Atlas gets back in the ring and delivers a few strikes on Romero. Romero decks Atlas with a lariat to send him to the floor. Romero drops Allin down to the mat gut first. Allin elbows Romero in the corner a few times but is met with a slap. Everfly dropkicks Romero and Atlas delivers a running boot. Everfly gets kicked by Atlas but avoids a knee strike. Allin decks Everfly and Atlas arm drags Allin. Everfly dropkicks Allin and head scissors Atlas to the mat. Everfly chops Atlas a few times before coming off the ropes with a springboard head scissors, but Atlas does a cartwheel to counter it. Atlas has Everfly on his shoulders before hitting an F-5. Allin hits a springboard spinning crossbody but Romero back splashes Allin to breakup the cover.
Everfly heads to the top rope and avoids Romero a couple of times. Romero catches Everfly but Eli wiggles free. Romero misses an attack in the corner and Everfly attempts a 450 splash. Romero counters with an inverted slam. Allin connects with a stunner and Everfly delivers a stunner of his own. Atlas connects with a handspring cutter to finally drop Romero to the mat. Allin gets backdropped to the apron and Atlas head scissors him to the floor. Atlas takes Everfly out with a suicide dive to the floor. Allin puts Atlas over the guar railing and delivers a suicide dive to the back of Atlas. Romero decks Allin to drop him to the mat. Romero powerbombs Allin a couple of times. Romero tosses Allin over the top onto the other two wrestlers. Romero comes off the ropes and takes everyone out with a dive on the outside. Romero slams Atlas to the mat and delivers a back splash. Allin hits the coffin drop onto Romero and Atlas. Everfly spits at Allin and is met with several strikes. Allin hits the Code Red but can’t pin Everfly. Allin is able to pin Everfly with the Last Supper. (***1/4. A good start to the show and I didn’t think that Allin was going to win the match. The finish might have been a little flat, but the whole match was enjoyable. It felt like a match that Ace Romero was going to win. Perhaps Allin is going to be a focus in PCW Ultra moving forward.)
Second Contest: Stephan Bonnar vs. Steve Madison: I was surprised to see that this was the same Steve Madison that I remembered seeing in old PWI magazines when they focused a lot on the Florida scene in the early 2000s. This is also Stephan Bonnar’s in-ring debut for PCW Ultra. He was a former UFC fighter who is most famous for his losses than wins, I believe. Madison tries to attack before the bell but that doesn’t work very well. Madison shoves the referee into Bonnar and delivers a running clothesline. Madison delivers a brainbuster for a two count. Madison clotheslines Bonnar over the top to the floor to keep the early advantage. Madison also sends Bonnar into the guard railing. Bonnar avoids a cutter attempt and takes Madison down with a belly to belly suplex. Bonnar drops Madison with a spinning heel kick. Bonnar jabs Madison but misses a kick. Madison takes Bonnar over with a back suplex for a two count. Bonnar drops Madison with a discus clothesline. Bonnar continues with a slam and gets a leg lock on Madison for the submission win. It looked like Madison submitted before the hold was even on. (**. It was actually an enjoyable match and far better than I was ever expecting from a 41-year old guy making his debut at wrestling. I’m intrigued to see what Bonnar could do in the ring against some bigger names on the independence. I was never expecting to write that sentence.)
After the match, a guy who sweeps the ring enters and sweeps the ring as the fans chant for him. However, Bonnar takes exception to that and locks in a choke hold to knock him out. Don Vitaly enters the ring and tells Bonnar to break the hold. Vitaly reverses the decision because Bonnar won’t let go of the hold. Bonnar has Vitaly in the corner but here comes Meng! Meng gets in the ring to confront Bonnar. Madison whacks Bonnar over the back with a steel chair. Bonnar gets up and gets in Madison’s face before backing off. Madison leaves the ring. That was a weird exchange. Meng proceeds to sweep the ring to a huge pop.
Third Contest: ACH vs. Hammerstone: Early on, Hammerstone backs ACH into a corner and then backs away to taunt the fans. ACH gets control with a side headlock. ACH chops Hammerstone but that doesn’t hurt Hammerstone very much. ACH takes Hammerstone down to the mat and does a handspring and delivers a few chops. ACH tries for a slam but Hammerstone lands on top for a two count. Hammerstone works over ACH with a stomp and ACH bails to the floor. Hammerstone drops ACH face first onto the apron and taunts everyone by laying on the apron. Hammerstone tries for a back suplex, but ACH lands on his feet. Hammerstone catches ACH with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Hammerstone keeps ACH in a bear hug in the middle of the ring. ACH continues to be worked over by Hammerstone with strikes. ACH leg sweeps and double stomps Hammerstone followed by a dropkick to a kneeling Hammerstone. ACH clotheslines Hammerstone and hits a frog splash for a two count. ACH appears to try for a pedigree, but Hammerstone counters with a backdrop to avoid the move. Hammerstone clotheslines ACH a few times followed by a running elbow strike. Hammerstone comes out of the corner with a running boot for a two count.
ACH comes off the ropes with a crossbody but Hammerstone rolls through and hits a backbreaker for a near fall. ACH fights back with a few chops but Hammerstone drops ACH down to the mat gut first for a two count. ACH hooks Hammerstone for a suplex but can’t lift him up. Hammerstone drops to a knee to avoid a brainbuster. Hammerstone blocks a chop and delivers a knee strike. ACH tries for a German suplex but can’t lift Hammerstone. ACH hits a quick German suplex. Hammerstone no sells it and is ran over by a lariat from ACH. ACH goes to the top rope managing to hit a frog splash for a two count. ACH tries for the Pedigree again but Hammerstone tosses ACH into the corner. ACH kicks Hammerstone a few times and hits a double under hook sit down powerbomb for a two count. ACH puts Hammerstone on the top turnbuckle and delivers a chop. ACH hooks Hammerstone on the top turnbuckle but Hammerstone fights free. ACH hits a top rope suplex, but Hammerstone recovers and hits his pendulum slam for the win. (**1/2. I wasn’t expecting that to be the finish, but they are for sure 100% behind Hammerstone in PCW Ultra. He seems to be someone who could be challenging for the title by the end of the year. I’m digging his work and he’s more than capable in the ring. ACH hasn’t been all that impressive in 2018 from what I’ve seen.)
Fourth Contest: Matt Riddle vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Brody King: Riddle and Cobb are often tag team partners in other companies so King might be at a disadvantage. Riddle takes King over with an exploder suplex and Cobb does a similar suplex. Riddle and Cobb deliver running strikes in the corner and Cobb takes King down with a spinning backs suplex. Riddle delivers a back splash to send King rolling to the floor. That leaves Cobb and Riddle in the ring and they seem to be fine with the idea of having to wrestle each other. They focus on some mat wrestling with neither man getting a clear advantage and they have a standoff. Riddle goes for a choke hold but Cobb is able to shove him off. Riddle gets flipped over to the mat after being on Cobb’s back for a few moments. Riddle overhand chops Cobb and that begins an exchange of chops. Riddle delivers a flurry of chops until King pulls Cobb to the floor and sends him face first into the ring post. Riddle slides to the floor and overhand chops King. Riddle sits King on the apron and delivers a few more kicks to King’s chest on the apron. Riddle forearms King several times in the corner. King hits a somersault splash to Riddle’s back while he was over the middle rope. King works over Riddle with chops. Riddle avoids a German suplex but King hits a lariat for a two count. Cobb misses a clothesline but catches King for a vertical suplex. Cobb has King on his shoulders for a torture rack slam for a one count. Cobb connects with a standing moonsault for a two count. King forearms Cobb followed by a piledriver for a two count as Riddle breaks it up.
Riddle works over Cobb with a few kicks but Cobb blocks his strikes to deliver a few forearms. Riddle knee strikes Cobb to hit the Bro To Sleep. Riddle nearly wins with a German suplex. Cobb remains on the mat as Riddle hits a senton splash. Riddle has Cobb setup for a tombstone and hits it. King boots Riddle and covers Cobb for a two count. King plants Cobb with a swinging side slam for a two count as Riddle breaks up the cover. Riddle forearms King several times and goes for a Samoan Drop but King gets out and delivers a forearm strike. King forearms Cobb several times in the corner and goes back to Riddle but Riddle drops King with a suplex for a two count. Cobb catches King coming off the middle rope and hits a running powerslam out of the corner. Cobb has Riddle on his shoulders along with King but nothing happens. Cobb gets kicked twice and Riddle knees King to the floor. Riddle powerbombs Cobb followed by a knee strike for the win. (***. A solid three way match, which I thought King was going to win since he’s been getting some momentum going for himself. However, I guess since Riddle is one of the bigger names on the independents that him winning is logical. The knee strike by Riddle at the end appeared to be a stiff shot as Cobb was bleeding from the mouth afterward.)
There are two promos by PCW Ultra Women’s Champion Tessa Blanchard and Rachael Ellering to promote their title match. Ellering is in PCW Ultra to wrestle Blanchard because she’s familiar with her. For her, Blanchard is the constant nightmare that she wrestles. She is excited to wrestle Tessa since it’s been a little while since their last showing. Tessa Blanchard shares a promo saying that she got along with Ellering for quite sometime. That all changed when they wrestled because she is so much better than her. She isn’t worried at all about retaining the title.
Fifth Contest: PCW Ultra Women’s Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Rachael Ellering: They start off with some basic wrestling from the standing position as they counter each other several times. During the action, there is a random ad for Sami/Penta later on. You’ve got to love production mess ups. They continue to counter each other until Ellering is able to toss Blanchard to the mat and delivers a quick kick. Blanchard drops Ellering over the top rope for a two count. There is some hair dangling from the top rope. Blanchard sends Ellering into the middle rope but misses a splash hitting the ropes too. Tessa forearms Ellering and delivers a kick for a two count. Blanchard controls Ellering on the mat with an Indian death lock, but isn’t able to get a submission. Ellering drives Blanchard down to the mat with a swinging side slam and they are both down on the mat. They begin to trade forearm strikes in the middle of the ring. Ellering works over Blanchard with strikes in the corner. Ellering delivers a forearm strike in the corner a few times. Ellering connects with an STO and a spinning leg drop off the middle rope for a two count. Ellering boots Blanchard followed by a senton splash for a two count.
Blanchard forearms Ellering in the corner and hits a middle rope Codebreaker for a near fall. Tessa gets frustrated and goes to the top rope where she misses a double stomp. Ellering counters a cutter and mounts Blanchard with strikes. They for sure messed that up. Ellering plants Blanchard with a spine buster for a two count. Ellering works over Blanchard with strikes but is met with a cutter for a two count. Ellering stops Blanchard on the middle rope with a boot strike. Ellering hits a middle rope Falcon Arrow but Blanchard is able to kick out at two. Blanchard drives Ellering down to the mat face first. Tessa comes off the top rope to hit a Codebreaker for the win. (**. There were a few sloppy moments but the action wasn’t too bad and the finish was actually nicely done. I think I enjoy Tessa’s performances as she comes across like she has star potential.)
Prior to the next match, Kevin Sullivan makes the tag title match an all violence is legal match.
Sixth Contest: PCW Ultra Tag Team Champions Warbeast (Jacob Fatu & Sheik) vs. oVe (Dave & Jake Crist) in an all violence is legal match: All four men are in the ring brawling since there will be no rules in the match. Sheik and Jake are brawling in the ring while Fatu and Dave brawl on the floor. Well, actually all four men are on the floor brawling. I can’t say I’m not surprised by that. Fatu is sent flying over the railing into the crowd. Jake leaps over the railing onto Fatu in the crowd. Sheik takes Dave out with a running clothesline on the floor. Sheik puts Jake through a table with a suplex in the crowd. Fatu drives Dave down with a backbreaker onto a chair. The match continues to be nothing but brawling in the crowd. The cameras aren’t catching what is going on, but the crowd is acting like it is great stuff. Fatu superkicks Dave in the ring while Jake is on the top turnbuckle. That leads to Jake hitting his midair cutter in a horribly predictable spot. Jake covers but Fatu kicks out at one and essentially no sells it. Fatu plants Jake with a Samoan Drop. Fatu hits a double springboard moonsault and wins the match. (*1/2. Considering most of the action wasn’t able to be viewed in the crowd, I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as the live crowd had. I was figuring the match would go a little longer, but this was a surprisingly dominating match for Warbeast.) After the match, Dave attacks Fatu until Sheik enters the ring and beats on him with a spike. That busts Dave open big time. Sami Callihan arrives with a baseball bat to confront Sheik. Brody King enters and big boots Sami. King takes out the Crist Brothers a suicide dive. Kevin Sullivan has a baseball bat but is met with a low blow. Sami grabs the baseball bat and nails King with it. Sami bails to the floor to leave King laying.
Seventh Contest: PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Champion Shane Strickland vs. Dragon Lee: They start with some counters on the mat and the beginning is kind of slow. They do a standoff after neither man connects with a dropkick attempt. Strickland does a few sit-ups and flips off Lee leading to the fans calling him an asshole. Strickland tries for a head scissors but Lee lands on his feet and takes Strickland down with a hurricanrana. Lee is on the mat working out to taunt Strickland. Strickland works over Lee but Lee comes back with a dropkick out of the corner. Lee hammers away on Strickland in the corner with forearms. Lee dropkicks Strickland in the corner for a two count. They begin to trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Lee kicks Strickland on the apron but gets kicked by Strickland on the apron. Strickland kicks Lee to the floor. Strickland sends Lee into the guard railing to keep control of the match. Strickland sends Lee into the railing again. Strickland controls Lee on the mat twisting his fingers and digging his elbow into Lee’s ribs. Lee is able to reach the ropes to break the hold. Lee strikes Strickland with overhand chops. Strickland hits a wheelbarrow slam and tries for a cross arm bar but Lee is able to reach the ropes to break the hold.
Strickland comes off the ropes and Lee dropkicks him to the floor. Strickland comes back with a rolling cutter for a two count. Strickland keeps Lee on the mat controlling his left arm. Lee reaches the ropes to break the hold. Lee head scissors Strickland to the floor and takes Strickland out with somersault dive to the floor! Lee sends Strickland into the guard railing before returning to the ring. Lee drops Strickland over his knee and goes for a chokehold. Strickland gets to his feet and Lee grabs his arm forcing Strickland to bite the ropes. Lee takes Strickland over with a suplex. Strickland forearms Lee and they begin to trade blows. Lee kicks Strickland and kicks the top rope into Shane’s throat. Strickland kicks Lee but is met with a quick German suplex. Strickland kicks Lee but Lee hits a sit out vertical suplex. Strickland is on the apron where Lee hits a hurricanrana sending Strickland to the floor. Lee tries for a cover in the ring but Strickland kicks out. Lee hits a rolling fireman’s carry but gets kicked on the top turnbuckle. Strickland tries for a superplex but Lee avoids it and hits a double stomp for a two count. Lee tries for a suplex but Strickland counters with a DDT. Lee gets a rollup but Strickland kicks out at two. Lee takes Strickland down with a reverse hurricanrana but Shane comes back with a discus clothesline. Strickland wins the match with the JML Driver. (***1/2. I really enjoyed this match and they worked a good pace. They didn’t overdue the big spots which happens sometimes. I think Strickland is someone who will be a major name on the independents for the next several years. Dragon Lee was crisp here and looked good performing his big spots. Best match on the show to this point.)
Main Event: PCW Ultra Heavyweight Champion Penta El Zero M vs. Sami Callihan in a steel cage match: Callihan dropkicks the door into Penta, which was an obvious spot to have happen since Penta took forever on the floor for his entrance. Sami tries to use his baseball bat on the floor but misses and Penta delivers a superkick. Penta has the baseball bat and kicks Sami down. Penta chases after Sami until Sami gets back in the ring and closes the door. Sami tries to lock the door, but the door is unhinged. Penta tosses a trash can into the ring and seems to ignore that he could walk through the door. Penta tries to climb into the cage and is met with a trash can shot. Sami strikes Penta on the top of the cage with right hands. Penta gets into the ring but Sami tries to get possession of the bat. They kick each other and Sami gets the advantage standing on the top turnbuckle. They trade a few overhand strikes until Penta forearms Sami several times. Penta takes Sami off the top rope with a superplex. Penta stands on the top rope and smashes Sami over the head with a trash can. Sami and Penta begin to trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Penta drops Sami to the mat followed by forearm strikes. Sami boots Penta but runs into a superkick. Penta takes Sami down with a slingblade.
Sami tosses Penta into the cage hip first. Sami smashes Penta with a chair shot a couple of times. Sami puts a trash can over Penta’s head and delivers a chair shot. Sami misses a shoulder strike hitting the cage. Penta waits with a chair and whacks Sami over the head. Penta sends Sami shoulder first into the cage to keep control. They send each other head first into the cage a few times. They both drop to the mat to recover. They hit each other with chairs and drop to the mat again. Penta waits in the corner and collides with Sami. Penta superkicks Sami and hits a backstabber. Penta whacks Sami with a chair onto another chair, which was on Sami’s groin. So, that probably hurt. Penta goes for the cover but only manages a two count. Penta threatens to hit the referee and the fans want him to do it. Penta sets two chairs up and whacks Sami with a trash can. Penta exposes Sami’s chest and works over him with a chop. Sami spits at Penta and is met with another kick. Sami tosses a chair at Penta on the top turnbuckle and powerbombs Penta onto the two chairs for a near fall. Sami grabs a box of legos and dumps them on the mat.
Callihan attempts a powerbomb but Penta fights back with strikes. Penta drives Sami down onto the legos but can’t get a three count. Sami stops Penta with a low blow and piledrives Penta onto the legos for a near fall. Callihan grabs four steel chairs setting them up in the middle of the ring. Penta kicks Sami from behind and hits a Package Piledriver onto the four chairs! Penta goes for the cover but Callihan kicks out at two. Penta superkicks Sami a few times but Callihan wants more. Penta delivers a chair shot and yanks back on Sami’s arm. Penta delivers another Package Piledriver for the win. (***. An enjoyable cage match, but realistically the piledriver onto the chairs should have just finished the match. There was zero need for the final two spots, really. When Sami kicked out of the chair spot, I just shook my head in disbelief. It’s an example of not knowing when to end a match and in the end impacting it negatively.) After the match, Sami completely no sells what just happened and attacks Penta and the referee with his baseball bat. Sami calls for someone to come down to the ring. Jake and Dave Crist come out to the ring. They proceed to beat on Penta for a few moments. They have Penta trapped and Sami removes Penta’s mask successfully. Of course, they don’t expose his face as Penta covers his face.
The lights go out as Sami has the mask over his head. When the lights return, Penta has his mask back on and Warbeast is in the cage. That leads to everyone brawling. Penta hits a trash can over Sami’s head with a steel chair. Kevin Sullivan hits Jake with the bat with a low blow. Sami has left the cage while his partners are still getting beaten up inside. By the sounds of it, Penta challenged them to a three vs. three super extreme match.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, the show is a solid showing. There were a few dull moments during the match, but luckily the show was strong enough to overcome the weak parts. PCW Ultra continues to deliver enjoyable shows in 2018.
Thanks for reading.