Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling closed out 2018 for the Contenders brand with the fantastic Contenders 12. A show which had two classic matches featuring only Irish talent (apart from Masato Tanaka sharing the ring with five Irish talents). As we head into 2019, OTT is having venue problems and is set to be hit, like every other company, by the waves of signees. Because of that, these Contenders shows will become extremely important, we have a regular venue, bundles of talent and an audience ready to see the next big thing. Contenders 13 looks to kick off 2019 with a bang!
Match 1: Katey Harvey, Raven Creed & Amy Allonsy vs Debbie Keitel, Veda Scott & Valkyrie
Keitel and Valkyrie made a statement in December, first turning on their partners Katey Harvey and Amy Allonsy at Contenders 12. With new personalities in place, they are ready to continue making their statement in this 6 person tag match. Harvey, Allonsy and Creed all have problems with their opponents after the events in December and will need to work well together to get the win.
Match 2: Lads From The Flats (Paddy, Workie & Session Moth Martina) vs More Than Hype (Darren Kearney, LJ Cleary & Nathan Martin)
LJ Cleary and Martina re-up their little feud from 2018, this time they bring their friends to the fight. Cleary beat Martina for the Gender Neutral Championship and defended it twice in matches involving her. She will be out to get revenge on the bleh boi for taking her title. Martina vs Cleary is a nice enough match but this full-on faction battle is even better. More Than Hype have faced bigger and better opposition but the LFTF have a vast experience advantage. The last generation faces the current generation in this one.
Match 3: Carlos Romo vs Calum Black
Calum Black showed at Contenders 12 that he had arrived. His match with Scotty Davis earned rave reviews and proved that he is one to watch in the Irish Wrestling scene. Black faces another underrated talent in Carlos Romo, the Team Whitewolf member has been making a name for himself and Spanish Wrestling alongside A-Kid for the last year. Romo won’t be able to match Black in the power game, so he will be relying on his ground game and ability to go up high when needed to get the win. For Black, he just needs to focus on lariating Romo’s head clean off and he should get the win. Whatever happens, this one is going to be really good and further prove that these two are talents to keep an eye on for the future.
Match 5: “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Scotty Davis
A shooter faces a high flier in this clash of styles. Both take inspiration from outside of Pro Wrestling, as Scotty Davis was a Freestyle Wrestling champion before his OTT career and Mike Bailey incorporates Tae Kwon Doe into his arsenal. Bailey spends a lot of time mixing it up with a variety of wrestlers in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT Pro) and won’t be put off by facing someone with the ground game of Davis. Davis is young, he’s only just turned 18, but has a lot of experience under his belt already. He’s gone to the UK and earned a spot on the Fight Club: PRO roster, he is a young lion with Frontline and he’s been impressive in OTT and Main Stage Wrestling this year. In 2018 alone, Davis went toe to toe with Jordan Devlin, Mark Haskins, Mark Davis and Juice Robinson so he is no stranger to sharing the ring with very talented wrestlers. Bailey gets better and better the longer he stays in Japan, Davis gets better as his moustache gets fancier, and this will be a fantastic match and another opportunity for Davis to prove he belongs.
Match 6: David Starr vs Terry Thatcher
Starr’s first matchy in OTT since he betrayed his best friend Jordan Devlin at Redemption. He faces one of the only men in the country that can match Jordan Devlin for heart and experience. Terry Thatcher is a thirteen-year veteran who faced Jordan Devlin at Contenders 12 and had a classic contest against the Irish ace. Starr would build much-needed momentum going into his huge clash with Jordan Devlin at Homecoming 2 by beating the ace of Contenders, Terry Thatcher.
Match 7: Jordan Devlin vs A-Kid
A-Kid, alongside Carlos Romo, has been making waves in 2018. As a tag team, they have wrestled for some of the UK and Europe’s premier indie companies. As a singles competitor, A-Kid had a 5-star match with Zack Sabre Jr. and is one of the biggest draws for Whitewolf Wrestling in Spain. While that is impressive, it is nothing compared to the 2018 of Jordan Devlin. A wrestler of the year level run saw him become the Irish Ace of OTT and the biggest name in the company. He had a big role to play in the first NXT UK Takeover (where he wrestled his mentor and WWE Superstar Finn Balor) and has become a hot name to independent wrestling fans. 2018 for both men was a big year, they delivered in ring classics and broke through to become big indie names in Europe.
You can catch them on OTT On Demand or as part of the wrestling streaming service PowerSlam TV on Roku, Apple TV and other streaming providers. You can download Powerslam TV for Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and Google Play. There’s also a web browser version and if you use the code LASTWORDFREE, you can get a 30-day FREE trial!
