H – Flame overcame a strong challenge from The Ram at Double Cross last night to retain his KPW Championship with some help from longtime rival Jonnie Juice.
The packed crowd was on their feet from the moment the champion walked out to face off with Ram mid ring. The 2 men showed how evenly matched they were as a lightning quick series of reversals led to Ram finding himself on the business end of 2 huge hip tosses from H – Flame.
Ram wasn’t going to be dominated however and fought back with a series of right hands. With Flame staggered Ram went to work on the champions back with a series of brutal moves including a stiff kick to the spine of the champion and a beautiful basement neck breaker for a 2 count.
Ram continued to dominate the champion with a modified sleeper but H – Flame fought back and sent Ram down to the pine with a power bomb that shook the ring but could only get him a 2 count.
Ram then sent H – Flame to the outside and then followed him out with a spectacular suicide dive which sent the crowd scattering. H – Flame fought to his feet and rolled back into the ring to break the count and began stalking Ram sending him back outside in short order with a clothesline. Ram looked to Jeremiah to help him up but found himself alone as Jeremiah walked out on his now former employee. Tired of waiting H – Flame launched himself over the top rope with a suicidal plancha.
With the crowd on their feet both men struggled back into the ring and continued beating the hell out of each including H – Flame hitting an impressive hurricanrana mid ring for a 2 count. Getting desperate The Ram pulled senior referee Charlie Roberts who was blasted to the outside by an H – Flame dropkick. Sensing their chance both men charged full speed at each other and both connected with thunderous clotheslines.
With all 3 men in the ring down, Jonnie Juice sprinted out to ringside and ascended the top rope where after some jaw jacking with both men, crushed The Ram with a huge frog splash. As a confused H – Flame stood up Jonnie made sure to tell him what he thought of him before sliding out of the ring and throwing Roberts back in as the KPW Champion lifted Ram up for a thunderous H – Bomb (Running Pump handle Slam) to register the 3 count and a successful defence.
Double Cross also saw the debut of the man they call Gold. Gold made his first appearance on the Bushwhacker Shack hosted by Butch Miller. It didn’t take long for Gold’s opponent for the night Jonnie Juice to make his presence known along with IPW’s own Vinny Dunn. Sensing trouble The Deal Dal Knox hit the ring to help out his fellow Naki Phulla and run the 2 men off before joining Butch in marching to the back.
Gold’s in ring debut was almost as explosive as he and Jonnie tore into each other with gusto. Despite Gold utilizing an impressive high flying offense and hitting Jonnie with an impressive Swanton bomb the odds of having Team Pretty and the cunning of Jonnie was too much to overcome as Jonnie used Jessie to push Gold off the top rope and hit Gold with a huge frog splash for the 3 count.
The martial arts expert had his hands full with the cunning veteran in the ring and the presence of senior official Charlie Roberts at ringside. Creed hit an impressive series of strikes but could not register a pin on his much bigger opponent. As the match wore on Rogue Trooper was able to catch a charging Creed with a brutal sidewalk slam for the 3 count. A frustrated Creed then could no longer tolerate the taunting of Roberts and shoved him away before storming to the back.
The former male model took it right to the mighty Inferno in an impressive back and forth match. The finish came not without a touch of controversy as Inferno thought he had the pin but Money had his foot hooked over the bottom rope and the referee ordered the match to continue. D Money made the most of the restart and quickly snuck a roll up in to beat the longtime New Zealand veteran.
In the battle of the Behemoths both men tore into each other with impressive fury. As expected it took a lot to take either man off their feet but when they did the results were earth shattering. Max was able to bloody Jeremiah with a brutal double axe handle. With his blood spilling all over the ring Jeremiah looked to fight back but was caught out by The Axe and got taken out with a massive sideslam. As he went for the pin The Ram slid in and broke up the cover giving Max the win.
After the match The Ram and Jeremiah had a heated exchange mid ring which very nearly came to blows and lead to Jeremiah walking out on The Ram.
In the special IPW match both men put on an impressive display as Dal Knox tore straight into Vinny after sprinting to the ring and spearing The One nearly in half. Both men exchanged their trademark moves but neither could gain an advantage. Knox looked to put The One away with his patented Knox Out but Dunn reversed and hit the Only One for a 2 count. Dunn looked to hit him with second one but Knox reversed out and sent his opponent high into the air with an impressive Knox Out for the 3 count.
Team Diablo looked to try and beat the Inquisition in their debut. However the odds were not in their favor as the scarily imposing Inquisition shrugged off the series of right hands from the luchadors and sent both men flying to the outside before finishing the slaughter with an impressive demolition style, flying elbow/backbreaker combination.
In his debut match with KPW Gold threw everything he had at Jonnie Juice including a vicious enziguri and an equally impressive Swanton bomb. Team Pretty were in fine form and giving Jonnie the advantage were ever they could. Finally having enough the referee ejected Hollie.
Jonnie used his cunning however and put the remaining member of Team Pretty in Jessie to good use as she shoved Gold from the top rope all the way down to the mat which gave Jonnie the chance to swoop with his patented Butterfly Effect (Frog splash) for the 3 count.
In the main event of the evening the popular champion H – Flame looked to destroy The Ram and the opposite was true for The Ram. Both men left it all in the ring and both had several chances to put the match away but somehow their opponent was able to kick out.
As the match drew towards a climax the referee was knocked out cold and Jonnie Juice hit the ring and nailed The Ram with the Butterfly Effect (Frog Splash) which led to H – Flame hitting the H – Bomb (Running Pump handle Slam) in short order to retain. After the match all 3 men stood off with looks of confusion all round.
Courtesy of NZPWI