On Saturday, February 11th, WrestlePro held their first show of the year in the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, NJ. The show was headlined by an abundance of big matches. Some of these matches include Brian Myers facing off against Powerhouse Hobbs, CPA taking on Jay Lethal, Matt Macintosh squaring off with Action Andretti, and an interim championship bout between LSG and TJ Crawford.
Matt Macintosh vs. Action Andretti
Winner: Action Andretti
Matt Macintosh has become a big WrestlePro legend over the course of his career. The fans were behind both men in this match, as they also had a lot of love to shower on Andretti. Macintosh did his best to control the majority of the match, but ultimately, Action Andretti was able to pick up a victory with a standing Spanish Fly. This was an incredible first match and one that set the tone for the entire show.
Dark STG vs. Anthony
Winner: Dark STG
Dark STG is one of the most polarizing forces in WrestlePro history. Not many people know what to make of this man… or entity if you will… but he has certainly captured the eyes of the WrestlePro faithful. Dark STG completely demolished WrestlePro student, Anthony, defeating him with a pop-up chokeslam. After the match, Dark STG and his manager continued the attack on Anthony, but Fallah Bahh made the save and went right after Dark STG. Bahh got his revenge on Dark STG, showing that he is scared no more of whatever this dark entity is. This segment ends with Dark STG’s manager resurrecting him, and announcing that next month Dark STG wants Fallah Bahh.
WrestlePro Women’s Championship Match: Lady Frost (c) vs. Renee Michelle
Winner and still WrestlePro Women’s Champion: Lady Frost
The challenger, Renee Michelle made her entrance down to the ring first, followed by the champion, Lady Frost. Renee did her best to ground Lady Frost, but her versatile offense proved to be too much for the challenger. Ultimately, Lady Frost was able to hit her finishing move on the challenger to retain her WrestlePro Women’s Championship.
Pat Buck vs. Dr. Bobby Wayward
Winner: Dr. Bobby Wayward
Pat Buck, the owner, and founder of WrestlePro faced off with one of the original pillars of WrestlePro, Dr. Bobby Wayward. When the match got underway, it was a good back-and-forth between the two men, which ultimately saw Wayward gain control by hanging up Buck’s arm on the top rope. Every time Buck tried to fight back, Wayward put a stop to it. Ultimately, Wayward would get the pinfall victory over Buck by holding him down for a three-count. The crowd chants for Pat Buck after the match, as Buck makes his way back up the ramp.
We saw a vignette of four masked people walking behind the building. This is certainly intriguing as to who it could possibly be, and who could be coming with said person. A return? A debut?
WrestlePro Tag Team Championship Match: Iron Savages (c) vs. Brick City Boyz
Winners and still WrestlePro Tag Team Champions: Iron Savages
Formerly Bear Country, the Iron Savages have run through the WrestlePro tag team division ever since winning the gold. This time, they face off with another one of the top independent wrestling tag teams, the Brick City Boyz. This was a great back-and-forth match between two fantastic teams. Ultimately, the Iron Savages were able to retain their WrestlePro Tag Team Championships in what could have very well been the match of the night.
Dan Maff vs. MSG
Winner: Dan Maff
WrestlePro is also known as the house that Dan Maff built, as Maff is an absolute legend in WrestlePro. MSG had a tall task in front of him from the very beginning. MSG used his speed to quickly take the fight to Maff and took out Maff on the outside of the ring. Maff was able to use his power to ground one-half of the Ace of Space Academy, MSG. He turned the match in his favor, and at his pace. After a valiant effort by MSG, Maff was able to hit the burning hammer to pick up the big pinfall victory.
After the match, Maff went back to the ring and pulled out two chairs. He continued the onslaught of MSG, trapping his arm in the chair. LSG’s music hit but he was nowhere to be seen, a video comes up on the screen and it shows LSG down and injured in the back. GKM comes out to make the save for MSG, but Maff forces him to stay back, threatening to break MSG’s arm if he came any closer. Maff hit MSG’s arm which was trapped in the chair anyways, breaking it and sending a message to the interim champion, LSG. This was a cool moment and helped continue the inevitable rivalry between LSG and Dan Maff.
Vargas vs. Colton Charles
Winner: Vargas
Vargas makes his way down to the ring first sporting his WrestlePro medallion, which allows him an on-the-shot title shot at any time he chooses. Something interesting about this match is usually Vargas is the bigger of the competitors, but this match says otherwise as Charles equally matches him in size, strength, and intensity. Colton is able to take Vargas off his game in the early going of the match by body slamming him and proving to Vargas that he is not going to be like other people Vargas has faced.
At one point, it can be argued that Colton would have won the match had he not knocked the referee Pace Robinson down. Although Colton put up an incredible effort, Vargas proved to be too much for the young WrestlePro upstart and defeated him by hitting a big running kick. After the match, Vargas gets into the face of Robinson and takes off his medallion, and hands it to Pace Robinson and the two leave up the entrance ramp together. Did Vargas find a new ally in one of WrestlePro’s top referees?
We see another weird vignette of a playground in the rainbow and the same four masked men that we saw before. We see a clock that says “04:29:56” that begins to count down, and the camera goes back to the commentator’s desk, showing Josh Shernoff and Dave Sturchio.
Craig Steele’s Final Match: Justin Corino vs. Mario Bokara vs. Craig Steele
Winner: Craig Steele
After entrances by both Justin Corino and Mario Bokara, “The Big Deal” Craig Steele makes his final walk to the ring. The crowd is largely behind Steele in his final match. All three men shake hands before the start of this match and show a sign of respect towards one another. Justin Corino went out to the crowd to grab Steele’s kid, but his kid punched him right in the face. After a great back-and-forth match by three of WrestlePro’s best, Craig Steele hit his finishing move on Justin Corino to win his final match.
After the match, Steele’s kids come into the ring and have a special moment with their father. Steele grabs a mic and thanks all the fans for coming out to the show. He says he has been doing this for 25 years, and thanks his wife, Kevin Matthews, and everyone in the back. Craig Steele had an incredible in-ring career at WrestlePro, and the fans let him know that, sending him out with a whole lot of cheers and “Thank you Craig” chants.
Brian Myers vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
Winner: Powerhouse Hobbs
The match started out with a feeling-out process between the two men. This ultimately saw Hobbs dominate a majority of the match, using his power to get the better of the “Most Professional Wrestler.” Every time Myers tries to fight back into the match, Hobbs stops him in his tracks. Hobbs tried to lock Myers in a torture rack, but Myers slipped out of it and hit a big impaler DDT for a two-count. Ultimately, when Myers goes for a spear, Hobbs counters with a monster spine buster, putting Myers away for good. This was a fantastic match that featured one of WrestlePro’s best, facing off against one of AEW’s biggest powerhouses.
Satnam Singh vs. Joe Clean, TBJ, Brian Jeremy, & El Magnifico
Winner: Satnam Singh
After his four opponents made his entrance, Satnam Singh made his entrance, accompanied by Jay Lethal. This was a fun handicap match that just featured Singh destroying all four of his opponents. Singh finally hit a big chokeslam on El Magnifico to pin him and win the match. It was a lot of fun to see Singh in action and not just as a manager. After the match, Lethal gives Singh credit and calls him “impressive.” Lethal says he is upset because he is supposed to be respected, but only a handful of people brought a meet and greet from him. He thanks those people who paid him and tells everyone else off.
Jay Lethal vs CPA
Winner: Jay Lethal
CPA makes his way down to the ring and the match is underway. Lethal quickly takes advantage of Singh’s distraction and attacks CPA from behind. CPA does a good job at fighting back into the match and is able to get momentum going in his favor. CPA hits a missile dropkick later in the match on Lethal for a two-count in what was a really cool moment. Lethal was able to hit the Lethal Injection CPA thanks to another distraction by Singh and put CPA away.
Interim WrestlePro Championship: LSG (c) vs. TJ Crawford
Winner and still the Interim WrestlePro Gold Champion: LSG
LSG is not 100% due to the attack that was laid on him earlier in the night, and his ribs are bandaged up. This match starts out with a feeling-out process between the two men, that sees Crawford target the ribs of LSG. Crawford does a great job at grounding LSG and continuing the attack on his ribs. LSG is able to fight back into the match, but his back keeps giving out due to the pain he is in. LSG hits a big high-flying move on Crawford and takes off his bandage. Ultimately, LSG hits his finishing move on Crawford and pins him for the three-count.
Dan Maff comes out and takes out Crawford with a burning hammer, and turns his attention to LSG. The WrestlePro Gold Champion, Deonn Rusman shows up and inadvertently hits a massive spear on LSG. LSG starts to attack Rusman as all hell breaks loose between the interim gold champion and the gold champion. Maff gets a chair and sits at the top of the entrance ramp watching this all happen. LSG takes out everyone with a big high-flying move to the floor as the show ends.
Overall, this show was stacked from top to bottom. It saw a lot of great matches and a lot of great moments, as well as the return of WrestlePro’s top champion, Deonn Rusman. Don’t miss the next show live on PremierStreamingNetwork.com when WrestlePro presents WrestleProFest on March 18th. Already announced are the following matches:
- WrestlePro Gold Championship Unification Match: LSG (c) vs. Deonn Rusman (c)
- WrestlePro Women’s Championship: Lady Frost (c) vs. La Chica Clara Carreras
- Filipino Street Fight: Fallah Bahh vs Dark STG
- Vargas vs. Kevin Matthews
- First Time Ever: CPA vs Shane Douglas
🔥WrestleProFest 3/18🔥
WrestlePro returns to the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, NJ on Saturday night March 18th as we present WrestleProFest!
🎟️ Reserved seating available at https://t.co/MD5j8zPbs4
➡️ Streaming LIVE on @watchonpremier pic.twitter.com/9g1zAhLbzx
— 𝗪𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗣𝗿𝗼 (@WrestlePro) February 14, 2023