You guessed it, Matt Lott is in the studio to kick off the show. He says that Janela/Storm lived up to the hype (it really didn’t to me), and tonight Joey Janela takes on Ricky Starks. Starks is looking to prove that he’s a dominant competitor here in Dojo Pro, as we are now into the Top 5.
The interviewer asks Joey Janela to remove his glasses, but Janela declines. Every week Janela is getting valuable time taken out of his day to do these interviews. Janela does what he wants, and no one can tell him what to do. The Bad Boy name is real life. Janela takes off his glasses, mentions Ricky Starks, but then says the lights are killing him as he puts the glasses right back on. Ricky Starks says that his style comes from how he grew up as a kid. Back in school, he was different than everyone because of his skin color. He was bullied, picked on, etc. He always told his Mom that he was going to be a wrestler, and here he is. Janela mocks Ricky Starks, but Starks says that he has a very short temper, and Janela doesn’t have an advantage over him. Janela ends things by making fun of the interviewer and his ranking, then asking them to turn down the lights. It’s amazing how they keep making these video packages interesting, and even after seeing Joey Janela for four straight weeks, he’s still entertaining and doing new things.
Dojo Pro White Belt: Joey Janela (c) vs. Ricky Starks
I’ve really enjoyed Starks work with Solow as Extra Talented, but I haven’t seen much of Starks as a singles guy. This match started off slow, with Janela working the leg. I thought we were in for a match similar to last week, with not much drama in Starks winning the title. Thankfully, things picked up later, and this turned into a really good match. Janela focused on the leg the entire time, and the figure spot was perfectly done. Starks got to the ropes, but Janela decided to keep the hold in, and the two fell to the floor on the outside. It seemed like Janela was about to win by countout, but Starks barely made it back inside. After Starks tried to hit a big move, but couldn’t because of his knee, Janela took advantage again, but just couldn’t put Starks away. Janela became the Bad Boy, and grabbed a chair from ringside. As soon as Janela was about to use it, the referee took it out of his hands, and Starks rolled up Janela to pick up a huge and unexpected win.
Winner: Ricky Starks
Match Rating: ***1/4
After the match, Joey Janela decides to give Rob Johnston the night off as he attacks Starks, again focusing on the bad leg/knee. Janela hit Starks with the belt, and then removed his knee pad on the outside. He locked in a brutal figure four, using the ring (without an apron) for added support. It’s awesome that Dojo Pro doesn’t have an apron, because spots like these can be used, which are usually never thought of. Who else goes under the ring and locks in a figure four? Only in Dojo Pro…
Final Thoughts:
I thought this was a good rebound week for Dojo Pro. There was nothing wrong with the past few weeks, but we got a new White Belt here, and an interesting angle moving forward. Next week, Ricky Starks takes on his tag partner, Aaron Solow for the title. Starks has an injured leg heading in, so we’ll see how Solow reacts. Will he go in for the kill, or be sympathetic for his partner, which allows Starks to pick up another huge win? Overall, I didn’t expect a title change this week, because Janela was absolutely rolling as Champion. I can’t complain one bit about the outcome here, because it was so well done. Janela had the best White Belt reign so far, and with so little defenses left, things are starting to get very interesting.
Final Rating: 7.4/10
If you would like to watch Dojo Pro, you can purchase Season 1 for $19.99 here or watch it for FREE with your Amazon Prime membership.