PPW PowerSlamTV – March 3, 2023: Free And Independent Canadians

Pure Power Wrestling PowerSlamTV
Date: March 3, 2023
Location: Fritz Sick Centre, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Bulldog MacBain, Unknown

This is a Canadian independent that was recommended to me and I have no idea what to expect coming in. From what I can tell, this is an extended edition of their TV show featuring a Royal Rumble style match. These things can be all over the quality spectrum so we could be in for anything here. Let’s get to it.

As you might have gathered, I do not follow this promotion so I have no idea what is going on with storylines or characters. Please bear with me if I miss any details.

Opening sequence.

Power Rumble

This would be the Royal Rumble style match for the #1 contendership (not mentioned by commentary as I had to read it in the video’s description). Tyler Knox is in at #1 and apparently helped someone else win a match earlier (meaning this isn’t a full show, but it’s all they’re airing on Facebook) and Travis Copeland is in at #2.

Knox (seems heelish) dropkicks Copeland in the corner to start but gets armdragged a few times for his efforts. A dropkick into the ropes has Knox in trouble and a Blockbuster makes it even worse. Copeland drops a bunch of elbows and adds a suplex as Joshua Kirby (the man Knox helped win earlier) is in at #3 (intervals look to be about two minutes if you’re keeping track).

Kirby and Knox double team Copeland without much trouble as commentary hopes that the next entrant is one of Copeland’s friends (for you old school fans, you might remember this as the exact same way, even almost down the commentary, that the 1988 Royal Rumble started). Copeland’s comeback is cut off without much trouble until Crazy Tiger (he’s a rather beefy guy) is in at #4.

The sides are evened and the villains are rammed into each other, with Knox rolling outside (not eliminated). Tiger runs him over on the floor before taking him back inside. CJ King is in at #5 and gets rid of Tiger almost immediately. King, a newcomer that commentary doesn’t know much about, stomps on Kirby in the corner as things slow down a bit. Bryn Watts (he seems popular) is in at #6 and the pace picks right back up.

Watts goes right after Kirby but Knox makes the save. Knox and Kirby start cleaning house again but don’t get rid of anyone. Sydney Steele, who faced Watts earlier in the night, is in at #7 so they go right at it again. That doesn’t last long and everyone pairs off as the pace slows back down (as it tends to do in a Rumble). A lot of stomping in the corner ensues until Wes Barker (also a newcomer) is in at #8.

Barker kicks King down and spinebusters Kirby onto him for a crash. The brawling continues as there just isn’t much going on right now. Dewey Robson is in at #9 (to Hearts On Fire from Rocky IV, making him awesome by definition) and hits a pair of 403’s (619’s) to Steele and Knox. With no one else being eliminated, or really coming close to being so, Kyle Sebastian (the PPW Heavyweight Champion, who shouldn’t be in a #1 contenders match) is in at #10.

Barker is finally put out, with commentary praising what seems to be his debut. Sebastian fires off some LOUD chops as Steele superkicks King out to clear the ring a bit more. Tyson Hiller is in at #11 and hits a Blue Thunder Bomb on Knox. Believe it or not, we settle down to more mindless brawling against the ropes with the occasional chop to break up the monotony.

Jude Dawkins (the Cheetahbear) is in at #12 and commentary seems to think he’s a big deal. An inverted Cannonball hits Knox in the corner and Dawkins drives him into Steele in the corner. Hiller is tossed out and Dawkins gets to wreck some more people (without eliminating them) until Bradley Graham is in at #13. Graham beats up Knox and Kirby as well (popular idea so far) and we get a lot more chopping. Scorpious (another newcomer) is in at #14 and almost everyone stops to look at him.

Graham and Scorpious have a shoulder off, with Graham running him over. Graham’s Bronco Buster crushes Kirby and Knox in the corner as things slow down again. Shaun Martens is in at #15 (apparently making a return) as there are WAY too many people in there. More brawling against the ropes without anything resembling urgency for an elimination.

Steele is tossed by Watts, who is pulled to the floor for a piledriver. Since this isn’t AEW, that actually matters and Watts has to be helped to the back. Someone gets tossed out but since the referee doesn’t see it, he rolls right back inside. Scorpious manages to stay alive as Vance Nevada (Mr. Beefy Goodness) is in at #16. Nevada beats up Martens before Graham gets to do the same in the corner, only to have Martens toss him out. Alex Nakache is in at #17 and comes in to chop away (this place LOVES chops).

Kirby and Martens get in a fight to little avail as Nevada tries to get Kirby out instead. Nakache gets rid of Scorpious and it’s Deven Devlin (Cruiserweight Champion) in at #18. A Backstabber hits Robson and a second makes it worse but Sebastian tries to toss Devlin. Knox cuts Sebastian off though and hits him with a chain, setting up a clothesline for the elimination.

The Rogue is in at #19 and the people start to pair off and it’s Cam Hanson (Tag Team Champion with….someone) in at #20. Nakache is out but Kirby manages to hang on as Michael May is in at #21 to complete the field. That gives us a final grouping of Knox, Copeland, Kirby, Robson, Martens, Nevada, Devlin, Rogue, Hanson and May (apparently Dawkins was tossed without mention). Hanson and May, the two tallest left, slug it out with May sending him flying off a pumphandle slam.

Knox saves Kirby and gets rid of Nevada, who pulls Kirby out from the floor for an elimination and fights him into the crowd. Martens is out as well and Devlin knocks Hanson out by mistake. May eliminates Rogue and Hanson saves Devlin (apparently his friend/partner).

Not that it matters as a Codebreaker gets rid of Devlin and we’re down to May, Knox, Robson and Copeland. May can’t chop Copeland out as Copeland is back in with a missile dropkick. Knox is back up to toss Copeland though and we’re down to three. Robson neckbreakers Knox, who is right back with a cutter to get rid of Robson…and then May dumps Knox for the win at 54:49.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t the best, but it certainly could have been worse. They did have an idea with the new #1 contender being someone who beat the champ earlier in the night, so there was certainly a logic to the result. There was also enough good action to keep my interest and having it be a one match show helped a bit.

Now that being said, the biggest problem here is the same thing I harped on throughout: there are far too many stretches of people standing around as we wait for something to happen. Add in a bunch of people who didn’t really stand out and the ring being way too full more than once and this was running with more than one anchor.

Kyle Sebastian (who May apparently pinned in a six man tag earlier tonight) comes out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s a one match show with only a thirty second staredown at the end and an opening video otherwise. The show does feel like an independent promotion in a lot of ways, but there are far worse examples out there. A Royal Rumble isn’t the best way to showcase the talent, but it did give me a bit of an idea of the flavor of the place. Not a bad show, but a regular card might have been a better option.

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