wrestling / TV Reports
Hamilton’s Nightmare Factory Showcase (taped 06.27.2021) Review
Image Credit: Nightmare Factory
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Parker Li pinned Raiden in 6:40 (**)
Michael Martinez pinned AK47 in 5:03 (*¾)
Dominic Teixeira & Pretty Papi pinned Coach Young & Sandson in 11:58 (**½)
Gaston pinned Joey Silver in 8:24 (**)
Kidd Bandit pinned Trevor Outlaw in 8:48 (**½)
Ishmael Vaughn pinned JDX in 9:59 (***)
Dean Alexander won the Nightmare Rumble in 20:20 (**)
Brandon Gore pinned Dean Alexander in 9:15 (**¾)
— If you’re on Twitter, give me a follow over on @IanWrestling – and check out the GoFundMe that’s still open for Larry’s family.
It’s the third showcase event from the Nightmare Factory training school – and it’s a free-to-view affair that’s up on YouTube…
We open with Cody Rhodes introducing the show, reminding us that this is the end of the latest 12-week camp that they’ve done. It’s the first match for a few of these trainees, and given how we’ve been seeing names from these showcases pop up on Dark and Dark: Elevation already, this is really getting in on the ground floor.
Commentary comes from Brooke Havok & Luke Sampson. What, no Glacier?!
Raiden vs. Parker Li
Raiden’s nickname is the Canadian Destroyer. That has to be the name of his finisher, yet be a totally different move as I look forward to other mash-ups such as “The Sunset Flip” Cyrax and “The Armbar” Goro.
Raiden starts by cheapshotting Li in the corner ahead of a suplex throw, before a missed charge in the corner allowed Li back in with headlock takedowns. Li misses a shoulder charge himself, and eats the ring post as Raiden came back with a headlock takedown of his own, before he pushed off and returned with a dropkick.
Li goes for a handspring, but it’s caught into a uranage for a near-fall, before Raiden cut off a comeback with a clothesline. Raiden takes Li up top, but then brings him down with a gorilla press powerslam for a near-fall. A chokeslam from Raiden’s countered into a neckbreaker by Li, but Parker’s still on the defensive, until he lands an enziguiri and a leaping shoulder tackle that took the masked man down.
Another attempt at the handspring eventually turned into a back elbow, before a satellite DDT drew a near-fall for Li. A sit-out chokeslam from Raiden gets a near-fall as both guys were pulling out the stops, before a trip up top for Raiden sees him whiff on a moonsault, allowing Li to head up top and land a leaping Canadian Destroyer – for the ultimate irony as he beat Raiden with his own nickname. A solid match with some hesitancy, but this was fine for the time they had to work with. **
Michael Martinez vs. AK47
Martinez was accompanied by Ryan St. James, “the professional salesman of professional wrestling.” Hey, if AEW’s using managers, then why not train them at your school?
AK’s giving up a lot of size here, but responded to Martinez’s shove at the bell with a series of kicks to the legs. A gamengiri in the corner and a dropkick staggers Martinez, as AK then slid outside and crawled under the ring… confusing everyone so he could come out the other side and head up top… only to get caught with a clothesline.
A sidewalk slam followed for a one-count for Martinez, while St. James choked away on AK in the corner behind the ref’s back. AK fought back, sidestepping a click in the corner before he was met with a Samoan drop for a two-count. Martinez misses a legdrop as AK used his quickness and kicks to try and come back in, eventually landing an enziguiri into the corner.
A Miz-like clothesline traps Martinez in the corner, while a springboard Flatliner back in drew a near-fall. AK slips out of a chokeslam, then hit the Reload – think the Overdrive, but a neckbreaker instead. Ryan St. James distracts the referee as we had a visual pin, before AK got a two-count from a schoolboy roll-up.
AK keeps going, landing a springboard DDT off the middle rope, before he went up top… St. James again distracts, and this time Martinez capitalizes, catching AK off the top for a sit-out chokeslam that gets the win. A short outing, with some good work-in-progress stuff from AK – but Martinez felt a little more polished and a rounded act here. *¾
Coach Young & Sandson vs. Dominic Teixeira & Pretty Papi
Young and Sandson’s lower third introduced them as Raiden… while Teixeira and Papi get Parker Li’s chyron. Twice! Whoops! Coach Young’s character is self-explanatory, and draws exactly the kind of reaction you’d hope. Not quite sure how he pairs with the gothic, moody Sandson, but there we go.
Young and Teixiera start, with Young having his arm worked over before he tried to send Teixiera into the corner… only for Dom to get caught with headscissors and armdrags. Papi quickly tags in and out as they keep the focus on Young’s arm, before tags brought in Sandson and Papi.
Sandson throws off Papi’s mounted sleeperhold, before Papi Triped him to the mat for a chinlock. A roll-up gets Papi a two-count as Coach Young tagged in to admonish his partner. That goes as well as you’d expect as Papi hits a bunch of armdrags and a back elbow, forcing the Coach to powder to the outside… he snatches the rose that commentator Brooke Havok was given by Pretty Papi, and stomps on it, which leads to a Benny Hill chase.
Sandson blind-tags in, which leads to some double-teaming on Pretty Papi, before Sandson looked to work over Papi’s heel. It’s kicked away, but Sandson stayed on Papi… only for Coach Young to tag himself back in to hit a senton atomico. Sandson’s back with a release back suplex for a one-count, before Young tagged himself in once more to hit some body blows.
Learning from his partner, Sandson tags himself back in as the pair wear down Papi, but eventually Papi floats over and rolled up the Coach for a two-count. Coach Young tagging himself in and out causes an argument, but it’s forgotten as a powerbomb/neckbreaker double team dumps Papi for a two-count, before Sandson’s kicks were ducked, allowing Papi to hit a Samoan drop.
Finally Papi tags out to Teixiera, while Coach Young came back to take a bunch of clotheslines from Dom. A leaping forearm takes Young down, as did a running death valley driver, before Sandson made the save and tagged himself in. Teixiera elbows Sandson in the corner, but gets caught with a Border Toss… only for Young to tag himself in to steal the pin. Sandson’s unhappy with that and breaks up his team’s pin… then shoved Young down as he proceeded to abandon the match.
Teixiera capitalises with a brainbuster, as Pretty Papi interfered with a frog splash off the top, which led to the win for the pairing dubbed Rum & Coke. A pretty good tag match given the experience – I saw a lot of similarities to MJF in Coach Young, especially in terms of being a mouthy bad guy. The Coach gimmick may be inherently limiting, but I could see all four here becoming staples on Dark, even if it is as pin eaters… **½
Joey Silver vs. Gaston
Hang on a minute, I recognise that light up furry jacket! Joey Silver worked the Bier Haus event over WrestleMania weekend,,, while Gaston didn’t appreciate the crowd “ruining” his entrance.
Silver’s gyration repulses Gaston to start, which led to a monkey flip early on before some rope waling led to a lucha armdrag. Some spinning headscissors take Gaston back into the corner, ahead of a springboard clothesline from Silver for a two-count, before Gaston pulled Silver into the corner.
A back suplex from Gaston drew a two-count, while a PK-like kick adds another, before a slam from Gaston bought him enough time to grab a sweet from Silver’s bag. He’s a baddie, so he stomps on it, which fires up Silver for a comeback… only to run into a Manhattan drop. A wacky spinning side Russian legsweep drops Silver for a two-count, but Gaston’s covers are a little lackadaisical, giving Silver an opening back in.
Gaston’s leapt over in the corner as Silver scored a roll-up, but a fireman’s carry flapjack from Gaston nearly ends it. A brainbuster gets Gaston a little closer, but Silver fires back with clotheslines and dropkicks, including a missile dropkick off the middle rope. Silver throws in a Candy Crush – a sit-out double underhook backbreaker of sorts – for a near-fall, before we go back to the corner for hip attacks… but Silver went to the well once too often and is nearly made to pay for it, as Gaston almost wins with a Stroke.
Heading outside, Gaston grabs a chair, but gets disarmed by the ref… so he goes for his book instead. Gaston fumbles the book shot as Silver instead grabs it, but Gaston pulls an Eddie Guerrero, and ends up winning with a roll-up. Solid stuff for the eight minutes, with Silver looking a shade ahead of the two here. **
Kidd Bandit vs. Trevor Outlaw
Trevor Outlaw apparently comes from “where the sun don’t shine.” My ass? Outlaw’s forced some fans in the crowd to wear his merch, and got annoyed when they tried to cover it up…
Outlaw moved to the arm early on, but Bandit reverses it and grabbed a side headlock before he was pushed off. Bandit rolls over Outlaw and hits a diving punch, then a springboard headlock takedown en route to some headscissors that had Outlaw heading outside. A dropkick through the ropes stings Outlaw, as Bandit’s attempt at another leap outside sees Outlaw pull him outside for some chops.
Bandit gets posted, then suplexed on the floor as Outlaw begged for a count-out. When Bandit made it back inside, he was instantly smothered and made to flip – albeit with an overhead belly-to-belly – for a near-fall. Chops take Bandit into the corner, as he’s thrown again, before Bandit’s attempt to charge out of the corner saw him eat a belly-to-belly for a near-fall.
Outlaw pulls Bandit back for a near-fall, before Bandit fought back with some forearms into the corner, then a Beyblade – a spinning enziguiri into the corner. Bandit hauls up Outlaw for a One Winged Angel into an over-the-knee neckbreaker for a near-fall (there’s a move that may not make it to AEW!), before Bandit went up top again.
Outlaw sneakily kicks the ref into the ropes to crotch Bandit, as he looked for a back superplex… dumping Bandit to the mat. A running swinging neckbreaker drops Bandit again for a near-fall, before Bandit returned with an overhead enziguiri. From there, Bandit goes back up top and hits a goddamn Phoenix Splash for the win. I absolutely was NOT expecting that – a good babyface win for Bandit, whose style and look reminds me a little bit of wXw’s Rotation. Definitely a name to keep an eye on, as he looked the most polished of the fliers thus far. **½
Ishmael Vaughn vs. JDX
JDX has some indie stuff under his belt, having worked for the likes of F1RST Wrestling, Glory Pro and OVW – he’s also done some stuff for AEW Dark as well, and has recently (since this was taped) wrestled Davey Richards on his comeback tour.
We’ve a jump start from Vaughn as commentary tells us these two had been feuding in camp. JDX grabs a side headlock early, but the push-off from Vaughn led to nothing… before JDX looked for a suplex. Vaughn slapped JDX, then got slapped, before a Cactus clothesline from JDX took both men outside.
JDX skins the cat back in and WRECKS THE GODDAMN BARRIERS with a tope, taking out Vaughn as well on the way down. Vaughn retaliates by dumping JDX on the side of the ring with a uranage, before some stomps back inside kept JDX down. A back elbow keeps it going for Vaughan, who opts to do some clapping push-ups before going for a pin…
An Implant DDT from Vaughn lands for another near-fall, but JDX fought back with elbows… only to get whipped into the buckles. A bear hug keeps JDX at bay, as did a Michinoku driver, but JDX kicked out at two… Vaughn heads up top but misses a senton, and when both men got to their feet, it was JDX who was resurgent.
Right hands from JDX lead to a big spinebuster on Vaughn, then a leaping Flatliner for a near-fall, before a back body drop from Vaughn almost led to a sunset flip. Instead, Vaughn lands a pop-up chokeslam for a near-fall, before JDX leaps over a spear, with a roll-up and a short DDT getting him closer to the win. In the end, JDX pulls up Vaughn for a powerbomb, but Vaughn’s entourage interferes – one distracts the ref, while the other handed Vaughn a chain… which he punched JDX with. After that, JDX eats a spear, and that’s the win for “Ish” in a good outing – but one which JDX perhaps shone a little brighter in. Don’t be shocked if both men become regulars on AEW programming in the near future! ***
Nightmare Rumble
The winner of this goes into the main event…
We start with the Lords Warrior cutting a promo about penile erectile dysfunction. O-kay? Also in this was KC Rocker (from the first show) and Abraham Storm (also from the first showcase), as we start with three men.
Rocker starts with a series of kicks as he took the Warrior to the corner for a bulldog… then an enziguiri that earned some boos, before a chop from the Warrior led to Rocker getting thrown out. Storm rolls in and stared down Warrior ahead of shoulder blocks, before Warrior’s attempt at a trip-up came to nought ahead of a double clothesline.
In next is Carlie Bravo – a veteran of the first Showcase and subsequent Dark tapings. He goes after Warrior and Storm with splashes, forearms and dropkicks, before Ryan St. James joined. Hey, the Silver Fox is a wrestler as well as a manager! St. James went after Storm with chops and forearms in the corner, while Bravo tried to eliminate the Warrior… but to no avail as Trip Jordy (from the second showcase) hit the ring.
Jordy cracks Fox with a dropkick and a thrust kick to start with, only to get swarmed by Abraham Storm, who hits a suplex to take Trip down. In next was the debuting Andrew Dreamer, who hits hiptosses to Silver Fox and a bodyslam, before the Silver Fox hit back with chops in the corner. Up next was Luca Proctor (from the first Showcase) as the ring began to fill.
A neckbreaker from Jordy catches Proctor, before Carlie Bravo just decks Trip. Abraham Stom’s knocked off the apron by Bravo for an elimination, before Trip tried to throw out Bravo… but to no avail as we got the arrival of a masked luchador: Deano Alexandro, I think was the name (as we didn’t have a lower third for him). It’s clearly Dean Alexander, if only because HE’S WEARING GEAR WITH HIS NAME ON.
Our lucha friend’s vanished, so out next is Mercury Peace (again, from the first Showcase). There’s clotheslines from the “Warden” Mercury Peace, who then drops Jordy with a brainbuster ahead of his elimination. Luca Proctor tries to throw out Peace, but to no avail, as a Saito suplex from Peace took out Proctor instead before his elimination.
The last entrant is Jess “Brawlin” Barnes – she instantly trades forearms with Peace, before scopping him up for a big slam. That’s some strength there. Barnes gets the rest of the match on side as Peace is clotheslined out by Warrior and Fox, before Carlie Bravo got swarmed by the “camp three” kids. There’s a sidewalk slam on Bravo from Barnes, then another, before she threw Carlie out.
Things break down as everyone’s forgotten about Lucha Dean Alexander… Warrior’s “ten commandments” come in the form of mounted punches to Barnes in the corner, while Andrew Dreamer ate a gutwrench powerbomb from the Silver Fox. There’s more Ten Commandments for Silver Fox, before Warrior took a Killswitch from Dreamer.
Fox charges at the Lords Warrior, but got lifted onto the apron… nobody followed up until Dreamer caught Fox up top, knocking him upside down onto the apron before Barnes charges through Dreamer with a clothesline. She chucks Dreamer out next, then got booted down by Fox, who then had fight off a resurgent Warrior, who was Hulking up…
A spinebuster from Lords Warrior drops the Silver Fox, who returned with a full nelson slam. The Warrior sits back up and punches Silver Fox out of the match… Barnes is back to throw Warrior out “to win,” but of course, Lucha Dean Alexander sneaks back in to lift her out of the match – and was the last person standing! Battle royals/rumbles with trainees can be a bit challenging, and this certainly had some tricky moments, but overall was a perfectly fine rumble for what it was. I’m still rating this harsh because of the trope-y finish! **
Post-match, commentary clocks the “Alexander” on the trunks as the luchador grabs the mic and pulled off the mask. NOW he gets a lower third. He mocks everyone who fell for it as he now wants to face the “best of class three” in the main event.
Dean Alexander vs. Brandon Gore
From Minnesota, Gore’s dubbed “the legitimate athlete,” and has a fairly lengthy indie run under his belt. Commentary notes Gore trained under the same coaches as Chad Gable and Brock Lesnar.
Alexander sneak-attacks Gore to start, but Gore throws Alexander into the corner, sending him onto the apron for a clothesline and a suplex back in. Another clothesline takes Alexander to the outside, before he followed him outside for some chops. Returning to the ring, Alexander elbows Gore, but then takes an armdrag and a series of dropkicks from Gore.
Alexander hits back with a Magic Screw, but Gore kicks out at one, only to get kicked in the ribs by Dean, who took him into the corner. Some choking in the ropes follows, as did a Bossman slam, as Alexander controlled the pace. He telegraphs a back body drop, but then picked up Gore for a torture rack neckbreaker that gets a near-fall. A grounded chinlock keeps Gore down, only got Alexander to throw Gore back down when he thought he’d broken out.
A slam keeps Gore down as Alexander climbed the ropes… but Gore stops him with a belly-to-belly superplex as both men crashed to the mat. We get boo-yay punches next, but it’s Gore who pulls ahead with whips and shoulder charges in the corner… Alexander lifts him onto the apron though, onto to get pulled back into the corner as Gore slingshots back into the ring for a German suplex.
Gore followed up with a Northern Lights suplex for a near-fall, only for Alexander to nail a Codebreaker in response. A Cross Rhodes from Alexander’s avoided, but Gore’s dropkick ends up sending Alexander into the ref in the corner… which means the visual pin counted for nought. Alexander tries a low blow behind the ref’s back, but instead nails a Cross Rhodes as a new ref – Katie Hebner – slid in to count a near-fall.
Alexander argues with Hebner, who shoved back as Gore gets a near-fall from a roll-up, before a Fireman’s carry sit-out slam – EVIL’s Darkness Falls – gets Brandon the win. I’m particularly enjoying Alexander’s gimmick of the man who’s taking shortcuts to get into these main events, only to lose, but this wasn’t just a “banana peel” loss for Alexander, as Gore looked good in his brief time here. **¾
