SPW Klash of Kings Review
(Feature photo via SPW Facebook page)
Match Results
Team A.C.E defeated CK Vin and Taibarian via pin
Blue Nova defeated Fluter and Craven via pin
Michael Nakazawa and Shigehiro Irie defeated Social Misfits via pin
Alexis Lee defeated Luna Inez, Selina and The Colonizer via pin
Singapore Championship Match: Destroyer Dharma (c) defeated Big Good Jack via pin
Aiden Rex and Alex Cuevas defeated Strong Hearts via pin
Uniquely Singaporean Match: Mighty Mighty defeated GM Carl Hella via pin to win back Eurasian Dragon’s contract
Kenny Omega, CIMA and Shaolin Monk defeated The Statement Andruew Tang, Trexxus and Butcherman via pin
(Apologies for the missing the preview and this late review due to work commitments. Let’s go!)
Team A.C.E vs CK Vin and mysterious opponent: CK Vin’s tag team partner turned out to be Taibarian. The two immediately attacks the upstarts. ACE replies with double clotheslines and their double team combinations. CK Vin hits a running powerslam and tags in Taibarian. Taibarian dishes kicks to Long Pants in the corner, but misses one to get his crotch trapped in the ropes. LP hits an enzuigiri and tags in Short Pants who atomic dropped Taibarian for a two count. LP followed with a top rope elbow drop. CK Vin powers up but gets dump out of the ring. Team A.C.E’s double kick finisher to Taibarian’s head finishes things. Team A.C.E defeated CK Vin and Taibarian via pin [**]
A step down from their last match, which I thought was due to the flat match layout with a sudden abrupt finish. I still think both ACE and CK Vin have potential, which they may benefit more working against experienced opponents instead of each other. SPW oldie Taibarian made an appearance after a long absence, which had a mild reaction due to the crowd being relatively new.
Blue Nova vs Fluter vs Craven: The three immediately exchanges holds and arms drags with each other. Fluter hits an enzuigiri on Craven and kicks Nova out of the ring, and hits a top rope moonsault to both of them outside of the ring! Craven replies with a top rope crossbody and puts Fluter out of the ring. Craven piles on the attack on Nova and did the snap finger move a couple of things to the delight of the crowd. He hits an enzuigiri but misses the Swanton bomb. Nova fights back with a Canadian Destroyer for a pin which Fluter breaks. Nova clotheslines and dropkicks Fluter but Craven bodyslams him. Fluter ranas Craven for a two count, and hits a standing moonsault to Nova. Craven recovers and gives a destroyer to Fluter. Nova capitalises with a enzuigiri and the 450 to pin Craven. Blue Nova defeated Fluter and Craven via pin [***]
A good match that was a shot in the arm to raise the atmosphere of the show. The three had good chemistry, executing their moves well, with Craven smartly working on the crowd to keep the energy going. Blue Nova tends to botch (I always felt he has a nervousness to him), but I thought he had his best match in a long time. Fluter, despite his slender frame, was the man-of-the-match for me, with his agility and that INSANE top rope moonsault to outside of the ring.
Social Misfits vs Michael Nakazawa and Shigehiro Irie: Kyle Black and Irie starts the match. Kyle Black’s attacks predictably failed to damage Irie, and the Japanese shoulder tackles him. Kyle Black distracts with some confetti and dropkicks Irie. The Misfits do rapid tags to isolate Irie, but he recovers with a suplex to tag in Nakazawa. Nakazawa runs wild, and takes out a vial of baby oil from his pants to oil himself up. Black does another trick and hits an enzuigiri on Irie, while Judas clotheslines Nakazawa in the corner, and bodyslams him for a two count. The Misfits combine for double Russian leg sweep and elbows on Irie. Nakazawa fights back with clotheslines and proceed to remove his G-STRING out of his pants for a mandible claw attack, but Kyle does another one of his magic tricks to get rid of the G-string. Phew. Judas hits a jawbreaker and Black hits a spingboard bulldog, but Irie replies with a piledriver and sit-down powerbomb respectively. Cannonball to Judas in the corner, and the top rope splash kills Black. Michael Nakazawa and Shigehiro Irie defeated Social Misfits via pin [***]
It was high on gimmicks, but again it was balanced by good wrestling. Having never seen Irie’s matches before, his agile powerhouse stature reminded me of Ishii. As for our local boys, it was another good performance, who were helped out by the comedic Nakazawa. I’ve not rated the Misfits well when they first debuted, but they have improved significantly, and I think they may have found their groove and carving their niche in SPW.
Alexis Lee vs Luna Inez vs Selina vs The Colonizer: Selina and Colonizer allies up and attacks the Luna and Alexis to opposite ends of the ringside. Back in the ring Colonizer hits cannonballs and Selina dropkicks to both the faces in the corners. Colonizer bodyslams Luna while Alexis fights back with chops to Selina. The four exchanges clotheslines, before Alexis puts Colonizer in a crossface. Selina recovers with kicks and atomic drops to Luna for a two count. Luna small packages Selina for two and Selina hits back a bronco buster. Colonizer comes back in and teases a superplex, but Luna hits a top rope crossbody to the rest. The ladies finally pull off the double suplerplex-powerbomb combination. Luna tries to pin each of the three and gets two counts for all of them. Selina bulldogs Colonizer and clotheslines Luna, and attempts a codebreaker on Alexis. She fails and Alexis hits her spear finisher to win it. Alexis Lee defeated Luna Inez, Selina and The Colonizer via pin [*1/2]
It was a messy match that felt disjointed at times. I thought it was probably too challenging to have a 4-way match with two beginners and a debutant. The Colonizer had a great entrance, but quickly faded into the match, while Alexis seemed low on her energy level. While I still think Alexis works best as a underdog, she will need to find her new place in the promotion (she is considered a SPW veteran) since Selina and Luna should now be the underdogs.
Singapore Championship match: Destroyer Dharma (c) vs Big Good Jack: The two goes for a hold but Dharma quickly overpowers Jack. Jack fires up early and hits a cocktail of slaps, chops and elbows to the champion, and a belly to belly for a two count. Dharma recovers and hits clotheslines and a body slam, and pins with a Most Muscular pose for two. He tries for a pin again after a backbreaker and side slam for another two. Jack tries to reply with a discus clothesline but receives a Samoan drop for another two count. He fires up again with a headbutt and a big spinebuster on Dharma, rolling him out of the ring. Jack continues his attacks back in the ring with elbows and clotheslines. He pins the Dharma but the champion manages a rope break. The Destroyer replies with a World Strongest Slam for a two count. Jack fights back but Dharma hits the chokeslam to retain his title, abeit barely. Destroyer Dharma defeated Big Good Jack via pin to retain [***1/2]
I was pleasantly surprised by the fire Jack gave in the match, giving lots of offense in before being overpowered by Dharma. Jack is such a natural babyface. On the other hand, credits to Dharma for taking the most bumps I’ve seen since, but still managing a convincing victory. It was a relatively short match and the result was very predictable, but I thought they really delivered which can be seen by the hot crowd.
Aiden Rex and Alex Cuevas vs Strong Hearts: Cuevas and Lindaman starts the match by running the ropes at top pace. Cuevas hits a wheelbarrow armdrag and dropkicks Lindaman, before both teams switch partners. Aiden slingblades T-Hawk, and follows with a rana. The Japanese replies with slams and suplexes, and T-Hawk starts hitting Aiden with his vicious chops again. Lindaman tags in and dishes elbows and a splash for two count. Aiden counters with a tornado DDT and tags in Cuevas. T-Hawk tags in and chops him, but Cuevas ranas him out of the ring and hits his Tope Con Giro! Back in the ring he continues with a missile dropkick and 619 for a two count. Both team exchanges tags again and Lindaman attacks Aiden with elbows and slams, and a German for a pin which Cuevas breaks. Miscommunciation between Strong Hearts and Aiden puts Lindaman in the Black Widow. Lindaman tries to break out of the submission but Cuevas hits the enzuigiri to end it! Aiden Rex and Alex Cuevas defeated Strong Hearts via pin [***1/2]
This was better than the last show with their individual matches, where they showed some fire and urgency in the match, working technical moves at a very fast pace. Alex Cuevas impressed me again, while T-Hawk played his hits i.e. those BLOODY chops.
Uniquely Singaporean Match: GM Carl Hella vs Mighty Mighty: The GM replaces the referee with his own, putting Mighty in a disadvantage. GM Carl hits Mighty with a rotan and a headbutt, but Mighty returns a headbutt of his own for a very slow two count. GM Carl replies with a clothesline and goes for a pin but Mighty manages to break out of the quick count at two. The GM takes out his belt and hits Mighty, followed by attacks using a slipper and a feather duster. Mighty counters with a stunner but the referee again screws up his pin attempt. The Misfits appears and starts to brutalise Mighty with kendo stick and chair. Black then lights up his glove for a flaming punch to Mighty. Jack arrives to even the odds, and the referee low blows Mighty. Eurasian Dragon appears and attacks the referee. GM Carl tries to attack with curry powder but he misses. Eurasian Dragon setup Durian shells on a makeshift table, and Mighty powerbombs the GM on the King of Fruits for a long awaited victory! Mighty Mighty defeated GM Carl Hella via pin to win back Eurasian Dragon’s contract [**]
There wasn’t much wrestling, but the match served to tell a story years in the making, between the Mighty Dragon Family and the wretched GM. The run-ins by Misfits and Jack made sense, while the return of Eurasian Dragon was greatly welcomed. I also liked the use of durians which was a callback to the GM vs Eurasian Dragon match in SPW Hardcore Island.
The Statement Andruew Tang, Trexxus and Butcherman vs Kenny Omega, CIMA and Shaolin Monk: The crowd is really hot for this match as they start chants for each of the six wrestlers. Butcherman and Shaolin Monk starts the match by exchanging locks. Butcherman hits a shoulder tackle and Shaolin Monk replies with a drop kick. Trexxus and CIMA now tags in and goes for holds. They exchanges shoulder tackles and Statement tags in for the Onslaught combination moves. He strikes CIMA’s back but CIMA hits a snap suplex before tagging Omega in. Statement ranas Omega and attempts his wheelbarrow bulldog but Omega counters into a backslam. Trexxus enters the ring but gets rana out of the ring. Omega teases the Tope Con Gilo but runs into Butcherman’s Lou Thez press. Shaolin Monk tags in and dropkicks him out of the ring, followed by a top rope moonsault to the local boys outside of the ring! The foreigners continues their attacks on Statement. Statement taunts Shaolin Monk for chops, and hits a back suplex before tagging Trexxus. He puts Shaolin Monk in the corner for his signature top rope elbow move for a two count. Butcherman tags in and injures his hand after hitting Shaolin Monk’s iron head. The Chinese hits a missile dropkick and tags in Omega who runs wild. He hits the rolling fireman’s carry Senton and the middle rope moonsault on Statement for a two count. All six men are fighting in the ring now, before Omega hits the V-Trigger on Butcherman. He goes for the One-Wing Angle but Statement hits a brainbuster on him. Shaolin monk eats Butcherman’s slingshot spear and Trexxus’s powerbomb. Statement and Omega remains in the ring and exchange strikes. Omega hits V-Trigger and tries another OWA, but Statement delivers his satellite DDT and Canadian Destroyer for two. He goes for the top rope but gets counter into a suplerplex. Shaolin Monk attempts a shooting star press but botches big Brock Lesnar style! Good grief. Omega takes things into his hands with a V-Trigger and OWA to win it. Kenny Omega, CIMA and Shaolin Monk defeated The Statement Andruew Tang, Trexxus and Butcherman via pin [****1/2]
Not surprisingly, the best match of the night, not because of one Kenny Omega, but the performance of everyone of the six men. By now I have expected high standards from CIMA, Statement and Trexxus, but it was great to see Butcherman delivering on the main event, while Shaolin Monk impressed with his moves (discounting his botch-of-the-night shooting star press), But what impressed me the most is that for a megastar, Omega really put in a shift, taking a fair share of bumps, working the crowd and most importantly did proper wrestling instead of just bringing his star presence here (his OWA teases were great).
Overall: SPW Klash of Kings was a quality show that offered a variety of match types, from story-driven matches, to comedic matches, to technical showcases. Except for the kickoff match and ladies match I thought the crowd was hot throughout. Kenny Omega’s appearance was the highlight, but everyone else put in a good shift. With the end of the year coming to a close, and having seen similar match-ups (e.g. ACE vs CK Vin, SPW vs OWE matches) wrestled twice, and storylines concluding (e.g. Mighty vs GM), it could be a good time to freshen things up. Overall a great show.