PWR Struggle is upon us and to get us all up to speed, the good folks at PWR PRO have released their most recent event in Blackburn which was headlined by Andy Roberts and Mark Coffey. PWR PRO have been knocking it out of the park with their in-ring product along with their online content, they have become an all rounder of visual delights.

It was a cold open with Tommy Kartel being fanned by Tristan Haggarty. He was interviewed by Sonny Shine to get his thoughts on Hunter Samson having to pull out due to injury, as expected it was a tirade that will have only stoke the flames of the fire that The Behemoth will unleash when the time comes.

Because I’m an old man, my immediate thought coming into the show was spotting “Dazzling” Darren Diamond’s PWR PRO branded clipboard for his announcing notes, something I clearly haven’t paid enough attention to notice before. That’s a great thing to have to avoid cue cards or folded paper.

It was Alpha time in Blackburn, Tommy Kartel and Tristan Haggarty made their way out to jeers. Kartel requested that everyone let Tristan speak because last time the crowd booed so much that Haggarty cried all the way home.

The reaction was as expected.

Kartel and Haggarty called everyone betas to further endear themselves to the people of Blackburn.

Tommy Kartel w/Tristan Haggarty defeated Martin MacAlistair by pinfall.

Martin MacAlistair forced Tommy Kartel into the corner with a lock up, leading a “beta” chant that didn’t please The Heartbreaker. MacAlistair looked to be having a blast countering, and making a fool of, Kartel in the early exchanges.

After being seesawed over a back and forth of pins, Tommy thought he finally got the upper hand, tripping Martin to the ground, but unfortunately for him MacAlastair got his legs wrapped around the waist of Kartel and took him for a roll around the canvas. As the match went on, Tommy Kartel found himself swept off the apron, witnessing Martin MacAlistair give Tristan a wee fright, and the middle rope being twanged onto his… Alpha and Omega(?).

Haggarty passed Tommy an Alpha Bar, and with the power of the Alpha Protocol supplements pumping through his veins Kartel marched back onto the apron… to be flung in by Martin. The resulting landing had him choking on the Alpha Bar that caused the referee to administer the Heimlich manoeuvre. In the process Kartel saw an opening to poke the eyes of MacAlistair to finally give him a chance to show what the Alpha Protocol is all about.

A dive from the second rope saw Tommy Kartel caught in mid-air, which was impressive, for a slam and near fall. Kartel struck with a big boot to regain the advantage to score a trio of suplexes and wear down Martin MacAlistair at his own pace. Haggarty tried to get involved that lead to him being kicked off the apron, MacAlistair delivered a Tornado DDT to begin a comeback, shoulder tackle, shoulder tackle, Eat Defeat, Protobomb, all for a last second shoulder raise by Kartel.

Tristan jumped onto the apron again, dropping to his knees when threatened with a punch in the jaw. Haggarty got back up for a middle rope crotch stinger of his own. The distraction was enough for Kartel to roll up Martin MacAlistair for the three.

A humble Tommy Kartel hyped up Tristan into them both beating up Martin after the match, Haggarty rushed into the ring while Kartel saw his shoe was undone, I think. It left Tristan all alone with a (vegan) cheesed off Martin MacAlistair, who made him Eat Defeat.

I mean this with all the praise possible, this was proper panto wrestling. The villain being showed up at every turn and made to look silly, it created such a loud and wonderful audience reaction to chant and laugh at Tommy to become angered by him coming out with the victory. Getting some sort of positive aftermath to enjoy seeing Tristan Haggarty get battered.

An excellent opening match. Martin MacAlistair and Tommy Kartel were slick, matching up well for some smooth tussles. Tristan Haggarty is such an annoying dweeb that you need to see him being pummelled. Fantastic work from all.

The Concept (Ross Hunter & Robert Balfour) w/Frank Gallo defeated Tallon Jr & Patty by pinfall.

Ross Hunter and Patty were electric to kick off the match, both being monkey flipped into a standing position which was beautiful. Robert Balfour tried to intervene but was given a kick for his troubles as Patty left his feet to administer a clothesline to send Ross reeling.

Tallon Jr was tagged in and immediately flew into the air for a running shooting star press. Hunter tried to make an escape as Tallon Jr was in hot pursuit. Frank Gallo stepped up to Tallon Jr at ringside to give Ross a chance to dive out and lay out The Winged Emperor, rolling him back into the ring to isolate Tallon Jr and tag in Robert Balfour who casually went about picking apart his masked opponent.

Balfour was clinical and destructive, driving Tallon Jr’s body into the mat at speed. Just as it looked like Tallon Jr was starting to fight back, Frank Gallo got the attention of the referee to allow Ross Hunter to rush in and put the boots to Tallon Jr to keep The Concept in charge.

Hunter and Balfour took turns to beat down Tallon Jr, busting out some conceptual tandem offense, one of which didn’t quite land so Ross and Robert took a couple moments to dissect it while Tallon Jr struggled to get his bearings. This was spectacular work.

Another comeback from Tallon Jr had him miss a second turnbuckle moonsault, resulting in eating a pump kick from Robert Balfour. Both men made it to their corner for the tag with Patty running through Ross Hunter until a superkick killed his momentum dead. Ross went up top while Robert tagged but bid his time on the apron, Hunter leapt off the turnbuckle to find himself being cuttered to the canvas by Patty.

Patty went for the cover but it wasn’t the legal man, Robert Balfour entered to hit a cutter of his own. Tallon Jr lifted Balfour for a Michinoku Driver, then turned into a spear from Hunter as the match descended into chaos. Ross and Patty wildly brawled on the outside that occupied the referee for enough time for Frank to clock Tallon Jr with the PWR PRO Heavyweight Championship.

The Concept picked the pieces with a double foot stomp/DDT combo for the win. Celebrations were brief with Gallo once again smashing Tallon Jr with the titles Patty tried to assist with the numbers against him, The Concept tied him to the bottom rope to watch Tallon Jr being dismantled with a steel chair.

A Shield-style triple powerbomb left Tallon Jr motionless in the middle of the ring.

This was a proper heated tag team match. We didn’t get the happy-go-lucky Patty, it was a matured and angry Patty who went right for The Concept, grizzled by past events. Robert Balfour and Ross Hunter are just outstanding as a tag team, Hunter’s aggression coupled with Balfour’s arrogance made for an excellent combination.

Stevie and Malcolm marched out and declared that after two weeks of training they were ready to issue an open challenge which was answered by The Profits of Doom.

Profits of Doom (Solomon Grum & Holden) defeated Dead Endz (Stevie & Malcolm) w/Uncle Brian by pinfall.

Grum and Holden played with their food for a bit before squashing Stevie with splashes. Malcolm ran in with a sledgehammer which was side stepped by The Profits of Doom who proceeded to crush Malcolm in the corner and with one final big splash it was an easy win for the big lads.

It was a great way to reintroduce the Profits of Doom as a more charismatic duo with a proper APA vibe. Stevie and Malcolm were effective punchbags.

Kate Calloway & Rory Carter defeated The Absolute (Greig Avernus & Maisie Briggs) by pinfall.

Maisie Briggs wasted no time to send Kate Calloway off the apron with a knee to the side of the head of the unaware Calloway. Rory Carter and Greig Avenrus got things going by meeting for a shoulder tackle stalemate. Carter got the better of the second take as Maisie once again intercepted the attack to grab the leg of Rory as The Absolute took over.

Avernus and Briggs got their shots on Rory Carter, keeping him away from Calloway and torturing Rory with stomps. Carter broke free with a front dropkick only for his attempt to tag out thwarted by Maisie Briggs dragging Kate Calloway off the apron. The groundswell of noise begging for Calloway to be tagged hit its peak once Rory slammed Grieg Avernus to the ground and reached out to a refreshed and pissed off Kate Calloway.

Calloway met Briggs and went about throwing her all over with Calloway Slams, ragdolling Maisie Briggs around. Avernus tried to intimidate Calloway, who took him over for a snap powerslam and a Calloway Slam of his own. A chokebomb from Rory Carter and a Black Hole Slam from Kate left Greig Avernus to look up at the lights while the referee made the three count.

Once again I see a match involving Maisie Briggs and the potential that she displays is massive. The deviousness on show in the pre-match attack, and her team work with Greig Avernus was very good, she exudes an aura of confidence and cunning.

Kate Calloway is another that comes on leaps and bounds with every match with this being the first time I’ve seen her be a fan favourite, she takes to it easily. She has a presence about her that has you wanting to see what she is capable of.

Greig Avernus showed a grittiness that added a down and dirty dynamic that made Rory Carter’s quest to overcome the experience of The Absolute all the more satisfying.

Andy Roberts defeated Mark Coffey by pinfall.

In a clash of titans, heavy shoulder barges were met in equal measure, Andy Roberts scored first with a hip toss that had Mark Coffey regrouping on the outside.

Coffey was taken from pillar to post by Roberts, getting well aquatinted with the top turnbuckle of all four corners of the PWR PRO ring. Andy went to the second turnbuckle for a barrage of punches, Mark dropped down to trip Roberts and power forward with forearms to the back.

Mark started his campaign to wear down the joints of Andy Roberts while simultaneously putting pressure onto the spine of his opponent. Coffey cut off several attempts from Roberts to get back into the match but Andy was relentless, hoisting Mark up and down for a back suplex, the wear and tear that Coffey had done to the back meant that Roberts couldn’t capitalise.

We reached the half way point to two giants at war, slugging at each other to find a way to gain the inside track. Roberts got a combo going to stagger Mark Coffey, but a Vader Bomb miss opened the doors for Coffey again who set up a double under hook. Roberts backdropped Mark, sending him across the ring with a belly to belly, and the Vader Bomb connected the second time of asking to keep Coffey down long enough to seal the deal.

This felt like a battle, Roberts and Coffey evenly matched physically and mentally, it was all about who could keep the momentum going long enough to have their hand raised.

In fear of repeating myself, this as a banging show. A variety of matches, strong characters, and a captivated audience that erupted at all the right beats of the matches. The time flew by as the matches didn’t linger around too long with an overall great pace to keep the investment high. I’m impressed on how the matches were lined up, like having Martin MacAlistair stepping in for an injured Hunter Samson changes the match dynamic completely but Martin and Tommy nailed it.

It also allowed time to introduce some changes to attitude like the Profits of Doom, fan favourite Kate Calloway, plus the debuting Rory Carter, and it was in front of an audience that wanted to be entertained which seemed to add an extra level to everyone that stepped through the curtain to reciprocate that appreciation in return.

Another great show from PWR PRO.

The full show is available on YouTube: