Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to LWOPW’s review for UWO Pop-Up Show from September 17, 2021. For those of you who don’t know, here’s the rundown on this Southern U.S independent wrestling promotion.
UWO – or Unified Wrestling Oklahoma – is an independent professional promotion running primarily out of Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. While it may be a smaller wrestling promotion, it is quickly taking over the Oklahoma indie scene – even making strides into its northern sister-state of Kansas. For more information on the promotion, stay tuned to our upcoming “Beginner’s Guide to Unified Wrestling Oklahoma.” Right now, all you need to know is that this promotion is one to keep your eye on.
UWO Pop-Up Show Results
This closed-set taping took place on September 11, 2021, but aired on September 17, 2021, on the Unified Wrestling Oklahoma YouTube channel. This event took place at the American Legion Hall in Midwest City, Oklahoma, with commentary provided by Chad Carnè and – myself, Walker Stewart! This was a chaotic, short pro wrestling product that was definitely worth the watch. So without further ado, let’s get into it!
Disclaimer: I did perform on this show as a broadcast commentator, but my performance on this show will not be influencing my review of the event. Unbiased and authentic journalism is my first priority.
UWO Pop-Up Show Kickoff
Starting off the show, we have UWO Commissioner Tuck Davion making his way down to ringside to address the fans at home. Tuck promises a wild night of action, including an AIWF National Championship match! Chad Carnè and Walker Stewart also welcome us to the event, and we head straight into our first contest.
AIWF National Championship Match: Mitch Onyx (c.) vs. Warren Powers
Making his way down to ringside first is “The Spotlight” Warren Powers. Powers is an egotistical piece of work. I mean, come on – what kind of guy calls himself “The Spotlight”, right? His competitor is the AIWF National Champion, the G.E.M (Greatest Ever Made), Mitch Onyx. Onyx is a confident champion who is ready to put his belt on the line against all challengers, and that is exactly what he is going to do here tonight.
The bell rings, and the match is underway. Onyx attempts to shake hands with The Spotlight, but Powers kicks Onyx’s hand away. Onyx seems perturbed by this showcase of disrespect, but he shakes it off. In snarky retaliation, Onyx grabs Powers’ shirt off the ground and wipes his own head with it. That was a funny spot. We get a collar-and-elbow tie-up, leading to both men jocking for position back-and-forth. Onyx takes control with a side headlock, but Powers quickly escapes to the ropes. Powers retorts with a side headlock of his own, but Onyx escapes. You know what they say, “anything you can do, I can do better”.
Powers escapes to the outside and trades words with the AIWF National Champion. After goating Onyx to the outside, Powers takes the advantage inside the ring once more. This match quickly breaks down into a classic chain wrestling contest. These two trade different holds and submission maneuvers for minutes, with neither man really taking the advantage. Technical wrestling has its place in a contest, and I really enjoyed this exchange. Onyx goes on to manage a fiery comeback of strikes, but still wasn’t able to put Warren Powers away. He’s beginning to look frustrated. Powers hits a falcon arrow and goes for the pinfall, but Onyx doesn’t stay down. What is it going to take to put either of these guys away?
In the finish of the match, Onyx is heading to the top rope when – all of the sudden – Powers’ tag team partner, Derek James, pushes Onyx off the top rope and a beatdown ensues. This team, known collectively as Tunnel Vision, continue to attack Mitch Onyx until Tuck Davion returns to ringside to sort things out. After lambasting Tunnel Vision for wasting away a title opportunity, Davion declares Mitch Onyx your winner via disqualification.
Match Result: Mitch Onyx (c.) defeated Warren Powers via Disqualification in 8:43.
Match Grade: B+
This match was way more entertaining than I was expecting. With this being my first time watching Mitch Onyx perform, he absolutely impressed me. I was a little disappointed with the finish of the match, but it’s only because I wanted to see a clear-cut winner. I can only hope UWO will revisit the contest later down the line. Great match! (Sidenote: I hope you like DQ finishes).
Caleb Oxley vs. Drake Gallows
Making his way down to ringside for our next contest is “25 Tons of Bisexual Steel” Caleb Oxley. Oxley is a large, in-charge, flamboyant man with an intimidation factor that could be measured on the Richter scale. His opponent, Oklahoma’s own “Urban Legend” Drake Gallows.
The bell rings, and the match is underway. Gallows and Oxley lock-up in the middle of the ring, but Gallows immediately shoves him into the corner. Gallows attempts to Irish whip Oxley into the opposite corner, but Oxley grounds himself and takes advantage. Oxley bites Gallows in the forehead, which looks absolutely brutal. After a running body block from Oxley, Chad Carnè has a great line on commentary, stating: “You don’t run into 25 tons of steel, regardless of its sexual preference”. That was great.
In the finish of the match, Gallows bodyslams the 25 Tons of Bisexual Steel and proceeds to the top rope. As he makes his way to the top, Ryan The Ripper runs into the ring and attacks Gallows. This leads to Oxley and Ryan assaulting Gallows in the corner, and the referee ringing the bell. Tuck Davion returns to ringside infuriated. In the line of the night, Tuck Davion inquires: “UWO damn-fuckery, is that what this is?”. As Davion verbally assaults Oxley and Ryan, Gallows’ partner Revan hits the ring to make the save. Gallows and Revan toss Oxley and Ryan to the curb, only for our UWO Commissioner to turn this into an impromptu tag team match.
Match Result: Drake Gallows defeated Caleb Oxley via Disqualification in 2:29.
Match Grade: C-
Just as this match feels like it’s merging out of first gear, we get a disqualification. With this being my first time watching Oxley compete, I enjoyed his heel mannerisms. As an avid Drake Gallows match-watcher, I am always a fan of everything he does. This match just didn’t get enough time, and that’s the second disqualification in a row.
Caleb Oxley & Ryan The Ripper vs. DNR (Drake Gallows & Revan)
Oxley announces that he’s done with this, and attempts to walk out on the match. Davion returns to ringside to announce that if Oxley doesn’t wrestle this match, he’d lose his job with UWO. Oxley enters the ring and immediately takes it to Revan. Oxley tosses Revan into the corner and tags Ryan into the contest. Revan takes advantage and tags Drake into the contest. Drake goes onto do some Kevin Nash-esque elbow smashes into the corner, whilst shouting the name of his favorite professional wrestler. While Gallows maintains the offensive, Warren Powers and Derek James hit ringside once more and attack the competitors of this match. The bell rings, and we get a disqualification.
Match Result: Caleb Oxley & Ryan The Ripper vs. DNR (Drake Gallows & Revan) – No Contest in 1:59.
Match Grade: D-
This match never even got into first gear. At least we got to hear Drake Gallows scream “Kevin Nash” ten times. I am so confused. Let’s just… let’s just keep going.
This is just not Tuck Davion’s night. Our UWO Commissioner storms out to ringside furious. He turns this into another impromptu tag team contest – a triple threat tag team match.
Tunnel Vision (Derek James & Warren Powers) vs. DNR (Drake Gallows & Revan) vs. Caleb Oxley & Ryan The Ripper
Right off the bat, all six men hit the ring. This match is absolute chaos. Gallows takes Ryan The Ripper and tosses him straight into Caleb Oxley, knocking Oxley off the apron. Gallows goes on to toss Ryan to the outside, where Warren Powers slams him into the apron. Oxley slams James’ head into the apron on the outside, leading to Oxley comedically exclaiming “too many people!”. Derek James hits what I would consider a “flying nothing” springboard dive to the outside, taking out Revan, Gallows, and Ryan.
In the finish of the match, the 25 Tons of Bisexual Steel, Caleb Oxley, steamrolls Drake Gallows. After a big splash, Oxley pins Drake Gallows for the victory.
Match Result: Caleb Oxley & Ryan The Ripper defeated DNR (Drake Gallows & Revan) and Tunnel Vision (Warren Powers & Derek James) in 1:58.
Match Grade: D+
This match was more entertaining than the previous one, but surprisingly lasted the same amount of time. It only took four matches to witness a clean finish, and it took place in the main event. This match was just very short, and I wish it would’ve been longer. Despite it not being a technical masterpiece, I was still heavily entertained.
UWO Pop-Up Show Overall Review
This show was… interesting. You know “so bad, you can’t look away”? Well, this wasn’t that. But it was close. I’ve never been so confused watching a wrestling product, but my confusion was marred by a fast-paced, ever-changing landscape.
When you start a show with a match like the AIWF National Championship contest between Mitch Onyx and Warren Powers, one could expect that the rest of the show would follow suit, in terms of quality. While the following three matches weren’t in-ring spectacles like their predecessors, they were very much entertaining. The reality is this, just because a match is graded low, it does not mean that it was inherently a bad match. Professional wrestling is about leaving the people wanting more, and the chaos on display in this show left me wanting more than you could imagine.
This show was an insanely chaotic 25 minutes of entertainment. I loved this show for all the wrong reasons, and I will certainly be checking out the next episode. For that, I’m going to give this show a…
Overall Grade: C+
Sleeper Hit of the Show: Tunnel Vision (Derek James & Warren Powers) vs. DNR (Drake Gallows & Revan) vs. Caleb Oxley & Ryan The Ripper
Low of the Show: Caleb Oxley & Ryan The Ripper vs. DNR (Drake Gallows & Revan)
M.V.P of the Night: Warren Powers
Match of the Night: AIWF National Championship Match: Warren Powers vs. Mitch Onyx (c.)
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
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