FLEX Wrestling presents In The Beginning
Date: 9/25/2025
From: Savona, NY
FLEX is Finger Lakes Extreme Wrestling, and this is their first show. The promotion is owned by former ECW referee and ROH wrestler, HC Loc. I’ve bee meaning to watch these shows on YouTube, and here we are.
MATCH #1: PRICE PURGOLD VS. HC LOC
FINISH: Loc wins following a Rainmaker clothesline.
Bob’s Take: The referee literally had to leave the ring and ring the bell because there was nobody there to do it. Loc is being presented as a hero of the indie wrestling scene, and I don’t think I’ve ever once thought of him in that manner. I liked him in the Carnage Crew, but aside from that, I don’t know much of his work on the indie scene. Purgold keeps advantage fairly well as he cuts off Loc’s basic attempts to gain control. Purgold delivered a nice clothesline at one point and continued to pummel Loc after a DDT. Loc slams Purgold off the top and delivered a sequence of strikes and a sliding clothesline. Purgold stopped Loc with a backbreaker. Moments later, Loc hit a middle rope elbow drop and finished off Purgold with a clothesline. Purgold looked better than I’ve seen him elsewhere, so that’s good. Loc getting the hometown pop and heroes welcome didn’t connect with me, but I guess it works for the live crowd. Not a bad match to start off.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #2: CARMELO LEE VS. JULIO DIAMANTE
FINISH: Diamante catches Lee on a top rope head scissors attempt and hits the Styles Clash for the win.
Bob’s Take: Two wrestlers that I’m not familiar with at all. Diamante controlled the early portion of the match as Lee tried to be a coward heel and leave early into the match. Lee gets chopped by kids in the front row. Diamante springboard dropkicked Lee off the apron into the railing followed by a suicide dive. There’s been some good energy on this show by the crowd. Lee puts the referee in the way of an attack and got the cheap control. I’m having a tough time buying into Lee as a serious heel. Lee seems like the prototype of a underdog babyface due to his lack of size. Diamante spiked Lee with a brainbuster to start his comeback followed by a release German suplex. Diamante has some quality offense. Lee head scissors Diamante followed by a 619 and a frog splash off the top. This is becoming a good match. Diamante almost wins with a rolling cutter. The finish was done very well and popped the crowd. If this was the opener it would have been a great way to start the show. Regardless, a good match. I think Lee would be better off as a babyface, though.
Match Rating: ***
Sean Carr comes out to the entrance to be interviewed regarding his main event match with Rhino tonight. Carr doesn’t seem thrilled that the crowd is supporting Rhino. Carr dismisses the idea that he has pressure and insults the crowd. Carr says he’s the best wrestler in New York and there will be no GORE tonight.
MATCH #3: THE HIGH SEAS (CLOUDY & ANDO) VS. THE BACKSEAT BOYS (KASHMERE & JP GRAYSON)
FINISH: JP bailed on Kashmere after the collision and Ando pins Kashmere after the Falcon Arrow. After the match, JP confronts Kashmere and Kashmere wants to shake hands. However, JP kicks Kashmere in the groin and hit a modified Cradle Shock.
Bob’s Take: I didn’t realize that Kashmere was back in the ring competing as part of the team. Kashmere had been managing the Graysons under the gimmick. Backseats have control of the match early on and they are playing the face roles here. Kashmere looks pretty good in there considering he had taken a decade off of consistent wrestling. High Seas tried to leave, similar to Lee in the previous bout, but they were stopped. High Seas gain control with Ando hitting a senton on JP from the apron. Cloudy kept control working over JP with a couple of dropkicks on the mat. JP fought back with a double missile dropkick on the Seas. Backseats hit the Hart Attack on Cloudy followed by a double team dropkick. However, Kashmere accidentally knocks down JP. A decent tag match. I’m a bit surprised by the Backseat Boys broke up on the first show as I’m sure the audience here doesn’t have a connection to the team to truly justify a split. If Kashmere is capable of working long-term, I would have waited a handful of shows before doing a tag split. JP is giving me good heel vibes, I will say.
Match Rating: **1/4
MATCH #4: CHAEL CONNORS VS. MIKE SKYROS
FINISH: Connors finishes Skyros off with a handspring cutter.
Bob’s Take: Skyros has become of the top NY wrestlers in the past five years and is regularly on most NY indie shows it feels like. Skyros has expanded outside of NY and works for Green Mountain Wrestling in Vermont, too. I haven’t seen much of Connors, but the clips I’ve seen looks like he’s more than capable. Connors interacts with the front row by having the crowd slap Skyros hand. Seems like they are repeating similar spots throughout the show. Skyros gets extended offense on Connors following a big boot out of the corner. Connors fought back with a crossbody to the floor and a swanton into the ring for a near fall. Skyros quickly fought back with an F5, but can’t put Connors away. Connors delivered a flurry of kicks for offense, but a German suplex by Skyros stopped the momentum for a moment. Skyros avoided the handspring cutter once, but the second attempt is enough to finish off Skyros. This felt a little bit slow and plodding and the flor didn’t hold my interest a whole lot. Something just seemed a bit off for these two. Commentary really tries to sell this as some kind of classic encounter, but I wouldn’t say that’s the case.
Match Rating: *1/2
FLEX Wrestling returns on December 6th, 2025 with Headbangers Ball.
MATCH #5: TYLER REED VS. THE SAINT VS. ASH BENNETT VS. A’DON ALLEN VS. COLT ALLEN VS. DON FREEZE — MUD CREEK STAMPEDE SCRAMBLE
FINISH: Late in the match, Reed hits a top rope double knee strike on Saint, but Ash Bennett takes out Reed with a knee and pins Saint for the win. Bennett stole the victory.
Bob’s Take: One thing that I tend to dislike on indie shows are the multi-man scramble matches that ROH showcased. I say that in the sense of reviewing them in my previous format made it impossible to follow and keep up. Don Freeze is mostly the only guy I know in this match, and he’s a ton of fun to see. Which, makes it a bit surprising that he’s thrown into a multi-man match and isn’t given a bigger spot on the show. There’s a female referee in this match who reacts to every move with a shocked reaction, and I’m not sure why she’s doing that. This kind of felt like six students trying to fill time for the show. There’s no structure to this, nor is there usually structure to these kinds of matches. They do the usual Tower of Doom spit in the corner. Also, there are a few dives to the floor. Colt, the biggest guy in the match, dove off the top onto several guys on the floor. The finish is fine, but this is just your typical scramble format and it didn’t connect with me. I think there’s some good talent here especially guys like Reed, Freeze, and Allen standing out. Ash Bennett could be a good heel as I like the Ash-Hole gimmick. I’m assuming we’d be getting Reed vs. Bennett soon in FLEX. I also hope we don’t get scramble matches every show.
Match Rating: **
MATCH #6: COLIN DELANEY VS. MATTICK
FINISH: Mattick hits Delaney with his baseball bat following a distraction by the backstage interviewer to win the match.
Bob’s Take: This is a student (Mattick) vs. mentor (Delaney) kind of match. They started off with a strike focused attack trading blows early on. Mattick uses his size advantage to control Delaney with a death valley driver into a backbreaker for a near fall early into the match. Delaney countered a suplex with a stunner to stop Mattick’s momentum. Delaney impressively tossed Mattck with a t-bone suplex as part of his momentum. Mattick tried to use a weapon, but the referee prevented it and Delaney nearly won following a kick to the head. Mattick bails to the floor after a springboard cutter. Late in the match, the backstage correspondent from earlier gets on the apron to distract Delaney. That allowed Mattick to hit Delaney with his bat and pinned Delaney. Apparently, the woman is part of the stable known as Edge of Hope. I’m a bit confused by the backstage interviewer deal, but by all accounts she is romantically linked to Mattick. The action was mostly average. If they followup on the reasoning between Mattick and the woman for the audience, and build Mattick as a top heel, this could be worth it.
Match Rating: **1/4
MATCH #7: PAT SAWYER VS. CERIN RAHNE
FINISH: Sawyer catches Rahne on a springboard attempt to hit a sit out chokeslam for the win.
Bob’s Take: Rahne attacked before the bell hitting a springboard crossbody off the top to the floor, but that control doesn’t last into the ring as Sawyer delivered a couple of big boots and splashes in the corner. Rahne survives the onslaught and gets control on the left knee for a few moments. Rahne doesn’t get a submission and gets destroyed with a clothesline by Sawyer. Rahne hits a nice springboard twisting DDT, but Sawyer still powered out. Sawyer stops Rahne with a swinging slam to the mat chest first. I thought the knee work as going to drag the match, but it didn’t hurt all that much. They kept Sawyer limited with power moves and Rahne was good in his own right with fun springboard offense to try and combat the larger Sawyer. The crowd popped for the chokelsam finish, too.
Match Rating: **1/4
MAIN EVENT: SEAN CARR VS. RHINO
FINISH: Late in the match, Chael Connors comes out to hit a handspring cutter while the referee was knocked out. Rhino GORES Carr through a table in the corner for the win.
Bob’s Take: Carr is a popular guy in New York, and despite playing the heel role the crowd is going to cheer him just for that fact. Rhino got a great pop from the crowd. Rhino has the early control with basic offense and signals for the GORE, but Carr stalled to the floor where the brawling continued. Rhino missed a clothesline and hit the ring post allowing Carr to gain control of the bout. Rhino gives Carr a paper cut between the fingers with an 8×10, which is a creative spot. Carr doesn’t do much offensively with his control and they do a double down rather quickly. At one point, Carr accidentally superkicks the referee in the corner taking the referee out for a bit. Chael Connors coming out is clearly setting up a feud between Connors and Carr. Now, typically I’d be wanting Carr to go over Rhino here, and it would have probably been more beneficial to solidify Carr as a heel in the FLEX universe. Connors getting involved protects Carr and also signals for a feud between the two, so I can avoid getting too annoyed by it. This match was fine for what it was. It’s very much a live event style match that an established name would do to get through an easy night.
Match Rating: **1/2
Final Thoughts:
There wasn’t any match on this show that I’d deem ‘must-see’, but there was some enjoyable action that didn’t make this show a complete waste of time. Diamante vs. Lee was the match of the night for me. JP Grayson could be a great heel if given a good direction. Tyler Reed, Don Freeze, Colin Delaney, Connors, Carr, and High Seas are all acts that I see value in and tend to enjoy. First shows for promotions tend to be a mix bag, and that’s kind of what happened here. I’ll give this an average rating overall. The live crowd had a great energy to them and I’m glad to see FLEX draw a good crowd for their first outing. A potential Carr vs. Connors program is intriguing and I’m hoping to checkout more FLEX Wrestling soon.
Thanks for reading.