Prestige Wrestling’s second annual Cascadia Wrestling Cup took place the weekend of August 23rd and 24th, 2024 from the Kliever Armory in Portland, Oregon. The show can be seen for free on Prestige Wrestling’s YouTube channel.

A 16-person single elimination tournament, featuring wrestlers from the Pacific Northwest area, the winner will further cement themselves as a top player in the region and on the independent scene.

Last year’s winner, Cody Chhun enters the tournament once again looking to repeat. Frankly, if you don’t enjoy a good wrestling tournament over a trophy, you’re dead to me.

For record keeping purposes, my official prediction to win is Jaiden after seeing the initial brackets.

The announcers are Jordan Castle and Cody Von Whistler.

Opening Contest: Guillermo Rosas vs. Travis Williams 

These two are of course familiar with each other from tag team wars between C4 and Sinner & Saint. They lock up with Williams grabbing a wristlock. Rosas counters out and gets a hiptoss. Shoulderblocks send Williams down, but Travis sends Rosas arm first into the buckle and tosses him outside. Dropkick into some chairs by Williams. A shove into the post follows and Williams rolls Rosas back in for a two count.

Rosas escapes an armbreaker and chops away, but can’t get force behind a clothesline due to the arm injury. A try with the other arm works however and both men are down. Powerslam by Rosas gets two. Williams with some running forearms and a missile dropkick, which Rosas no-sells and spears down Williams. Rosas goes for the cradle piledriver but can’t get it as Williams gets a crossface. They exchange strikes, and Rosas again tries to use a lariat with the bad arm allowing Williams to get a mouse trap pin for the win.  **½  Solid match to start the show with good psychology.

Match Two: Sebastian Wolfe vs. Kris Brady 

Wolfe charges quickly with a running boot, but Brady manages to evade that and hit some dance moves. Headscissor takedown and dropkick from Brady sending Wolfe to the outside. Tope suicida is caught by Wolfe, and he drives Brady into the ringpost. Basement clothesline gets two for Wolfe. A corner charge hits the boot of Brady, and Brady leaps off the turnbuckle where Wolfe catches him with a nice spinebuster. Stomp to the spine of Brady, and a big boot gets another two count.

Sidewalk slam connects and Wolfe tosses Brady to the outside. Brady sends Wolfe into the post now and gets some clotheslines back in. Neckbreaker hits, but Wolfe is able to get a German suplex and a half and half suplex for the win.  *½  Started off well enough but felt like things got a bit clunky towards the end.

Match Three: Matt Brannigan vs. Elliot Tyler 

Brannigan clearly the sentimental favorite in this tournament. We get some t-shirt shenanigans before the match, followed by both trying to bribe the referee. Headlock takeover by Tyler and he claps against Brannigan’s head to get the crowd going. They attempt to trade chops but get blown up in the process. The ref refunds the wrestlers of their bribe and they slug each other down.

Saito suplex from Tyler but Brannigan hulks up. Tyler locks in a crossface but Matt makes the ropes. Brannigan with a rollup for two and a kick to the gut. Doctorbomb from Brannigan connects and he wins it!  *  Mostly a comedy style match but glad to see Brannigan getting the win to move on. Also that Doctorbomb looked sweet.

Match Four: Jaiden vs. Casey Ferreira 

Casey attacks quickly but Jaiden avoids the kicks. Sliced Bread attempt by Jaiden, but he lands in the superhero pose instead. Irish whip and a dropkick by Ferreira. Hurricanrana is countered with a cartwheel by Jaiden. Chops are exchanged and Ferreira charges but falls to the outside. Jaiden goes for a tope suicida but gets kicked in the head on the way down, allowing Ferreira to hit a big Asai moonsault to the floor. Back in that gets two. Chinlock applied which Jaiden escapes, but Ferreira hits a falcon arrow for two.

Jaiden is back up with a kick to the face and a bulldog which gets two. Sliced Bread connects this time for another two count. Plus Ultra Driver is rolled through by Ferreira and he lands a kick to Jaiden. To the top a frog splash connects for a close two. Casey grabs the mask of Jaiden which feels like a mistake. And indeed Jaiden fires up with a superman punch, regains the mask, and hits the Plus Ultra Driver for the win. Good fast-paced match from these two.  **¾

Match Five: Drake Kwon vs. Ethan HD 

Kwon attacks before the bell and continues on the outside. Back inside, Ethan hits a high kick which Kwon shrugs off. Sunset flip and a double stomp by Ethan HD gets two. Inverted DDT hits and Ethan goes to the top but can’t get a double-stomp attack from there. Enzuigiri does connect sending kwon to the outside. Tope suicida follows to the cement floor. Tornado DDT is caught by Kwon and he gets a nasty looking brainbuster for two on Ethan. Kwon remains in control, taunting the fans along the way. Slingshot guillotine to the bottom rope and a headbutt sends Ethan HD down again.

To the top rope, Kwon flips off the fans while going for a superplex, but Ethan headbutts Kwon down off the buckle. Ethan cartwheels off the top rope and dropkicks Kwon in the corner. DVD on Kwon and Ethan goes for the package powerbomb. Kwon reverses out and hits a disaster kick for two. Ethan can’t quite get a suplex, and Kwon gets a big powerbomb for only two. Huge lariat from Kwon and a suplex gets another two. Kwon goes up and Ethan meets him there. They headbutt each other and come crashing down.

Ethan HD slingshot splashes onto the arm of Kwan and gets a crossface. Kwon makes the ropes and Ethan quickly gets a back elbow. Another disaster kick runs into an elbow from Kwon, followed by the Soultaker, but Ethan gets his foot on the rope. Running boot in the corner from Kwon. Kwon dives off the top into a crossface, and Ethan cradles him for the pin to win this one. They had a lot of time here and I thought Kwon played the jerk heel really well, with Ethan getting the surprise win at the end.  ***

Match Six: Drexl vs. Zaye Perez 

Drexl gets creepy to start (not suprising) and they exchange chops before Drexl resorts to biting. Wheelbarrow suplex from Drexl, followed by a vertical suplex. Three front-facelock suplexes by Drexl, but Perez avoids a boot and gets a final cut for two. Top rope crossbody by Perez misses and Drexl headbutts him down and gets a neckbreaker for two. Another inverted neckbreaker gets two again.

Clothesline sends both to the floor where Drexl tosses Perez into ringside chairs. Suplex onto the concrete and more biting ensues inside. Perez pushes off a bulldog attempt and gets an enzuigiri followed by a basement dropkick. Drexl avoids a headscissor takedown and counters with short-arm clotheslines. Perez gets a credenza with a cradle for two. Gory Bomb by Perez gets a close two count. Drexl comes back with a piledriver for two and transitions into a crossface. He goes for another piledriver but Perez rolls through with a jacknife pin for the victory.  *¾

Match Seven: Evan Rivers vs. Amira 

Amira is one of the favorites to win this tournament I believe, and a big crowd favorite as usual. Spinning back elbow from Rivers rocks Amira and they collide with shoulderblocks where nobody gives. Rivers grabs the hair however and then tackles her down. He showboats a bit much and gets walloped with a shoulderblock and she gets the Amira Go Round. Stinger splash in the corner and Rivers bails to the outside.

Somersault plancha is caught by Rivers and he powerbombs Amira onto the apron in a nasty spot. After stopping to celebrate some more, that only gets two back inside. Suplex countered with a small package for two. Backslide by Amira gets two, and Rivers quickly hits a kneestrike for two. To the top, Amira shrugs him down and gets a tornado DDT and a series of clotheslines. Shotgun dropkick and deadlift German suplex gets another two.

They slug it out and Amira gets a basement dropkick and hurricanrana for two. Amira goes up but Rivers catches a crossbody and rolls through with a senton. Clothesline to the back of the head gets two. Rivers goes for a moonsault but misses. He rolls through and gets caught in the World’s Strongest Slam. Amira goes for the top-rope crossbody again and gets it this time for the win. This was a very enjoyable match.  ***

Main Event: Judas Icarus vs. Cody Chhun 

Another C4 vs Sinner & Saint matchup here. Chhun eliminated Icarus from last year’s tournament. They fight over a lockup and Icarus gets a side headlock. Test of strength battle follows that where Icarus goes to an eyerake, but Chhun follows with an atomic drop and dropkick. Chhun tosses Icarus to the outside and they brawl on the floor.

Back in, Chhun tries for a Cody Cutter but gets pushed off and Icarus drops Chhun on the top buckle with a gutbuster. Icarus goes to work on the left arm. Chhun tries to fight back but gets a boot and knee to the back for his troubles. Cody with elbows to get out of trouble, and he dumps Icarus out to the floor to get some time to recover. Chhun with a single leg dropkick and Stinger splash in the corner, then plants Icarus with a DDT for two. Top rope superplex from Chhun hurts both men.

They crawl to the apron and Icarus rakes the eyes again. Chhun tries for a Cody Cutter on the apron but gets blocked. He goes up to the top, but Icarus chops him down with Chhun landing on the injured arm. Frog splash to the back of Chhun, followed by a hammerlock on the bad arm from Icarus. Chhun clubs Icarus with some forearms and gets a snap DDT to even the score again. Suplex by Chhun gets two. Cody Cutter is reversed into a backslide for two. Chhun with jumping knees and a superkick. Cody Cutter hits this time…but only gets two as Travis Williams runs to ringside to distract.

Chhun superkicks Williams down and follows with a plancha to the outside as he fights both men. Another Cody Cutter only gets two. They had me on that one. Lighthouse Lariat by Icarus gets only one! Another one gets a two count and Icarus applies a Dragon Sleeper. Poison rana and another Lighthouse Lariat gets the win for Icarus, and eliminates the defending champion. A really good main event to close out night one.  ***½

Final Thoughts:  A very solid night of action for the first round of the tournament.  Several matches were good, with Kwon/Ethan HD being a nice surprise. The main event topped them all though, and there are several great matchups for night two to wrap up the tournament.