SLAM PRO WRESTLING CANBERRA - 5 NOV Review
After running 5 consistently sold out shows to 500+ capacity rowdy family audiences, it’s safe to say that launching Slam Pro in Canberra was a choice that is paying off. Canberra as a market is wildly under-served for live wrestling, and Slam’s sleek presentation, central venue, and effective marketing have paid dividends. Even more impressive, they’ve built this audience without once booking international talent.
While not promoted as such, this show was a de facto 1-year Anniversary event. The card demonstrates some of the best things that Slam does, highlights its areas for development, and establishes several new directions.
At the time of writing, Slam Pro’s events are not available for streaming outside of piecemeal matches popping up on YouTube. However, there have been cameras filming every show, so I imagine it’s a matter of time.
Match #1 – Mikey Broderick vs Caveman Ugg – Slam Pro Championship
As the inaugural (and so far, only) champion of the promotion, Mikey has consistently drawn the short end of the stick. His title defences have always come at the end of shows with timing issues, typically leaving him with around 7 minutes and an exhausted crowd to win over as the ace of a new promotion. In this regard, his reign so far has been an unmitigated flop both in match quality and building credibility around the world title.
This is why it was smart to put the world title match on first. Mikey finally got a match with a hot crowd and enough time to show what he is made of. As the kids say, they let him cook.
This match was reminiscent of the fantastic Ugg/Tommy Knight match from PWA/MCW Colosseum Night 1 earlier this year. Both men traded hard strikes, feats of strength, and Mikey played a great babyface in peril – eventually overcoming Ugg with a flying elbow drop.
This is what was needed to get Mikey’s reign back on track, however I fear it was too little too late (more on this later).
3 ¾ stars – Mikey finally brings some fire. Recommended.
Match #2 – Vinnie Bronson vs Mat Diamond
Slam Pro has been pushing Vinnie to the moon since day 1, and you can see why. A British ex-pat, football hooligan with a punchable face and great mic skills is a sure-fire heel to establish around. They programmed him with local radio host Josh to the crowd’s chagrin. However, Vinnie struggles in two very important ways:
He’s so effective as a heel that he’s starting to get noticeable babyface pops.
All his heat and energy disappears as soon as the bell rings.
This was the first demonstration of Vinnie and Josh as a wrestler/manager pairing and it was fine. Mat Diamond is a very underrated journeyman who can have a good match with almost anyone - pulling out some impressive flips and dives. Josh caused a distraction that led to Vinnie getting the win in short order. I understand building around Vinnie, but he still seems awkward in-ring and isn’t quite ready for the level of push he is getting.
2 ¾ stars – Completely serviceable match to establish a midcard heel pairing
Match #3 – Rita Stone vs Shay Cassidy
Oh boy, this was bad.
This was originally booked as a follow-up to the excellent Rita Stone / Jessica Troy match from a previous event. However, this was replaced on the card with no explanation to the audience.
Shay’s ‘gimmick’ is that she is a depressed child who brings a teddy bear to the ring. Harley Race this is not.
Rita really tried to get something going here with her technical style – I tip her as the next big female star in the scene – but it really was a Sisyphean effort. She worked over the arm and got the win with an omoplata crossface, but Shay’s schtick killed the crowd. A downside of the Slam Pro crowd is that when they get bored, a few recurring audience members begin with some problematic chants (on this instance, insinuating that Shay had male genitalia for no apparent reason).
Shay was clearly a last-minute call here, and I don’t see her getting repeat bookings out of this showing. I hope they get back to Rita / Jess soon.
1 ½ stars. Worst of the Night.
Match #4 – Robbie Eagles vs Luke Watts
This is a bit of a local dream match – Luke Watts is a throwback 80s babyface gimmick who always backs it up in the ring and has developed an organic groundswell with the Canberra crowd. Robbie Eagles, of course, is the Australian scene’s best export and is making his Slam Pro debut in this face vs face match.
This was easily Slam Pro’s best match since its inception. They trade Space Flying Tiger Drops, Robbie does his usual stellar legwork, and there are all kinds of flips and counters-to-counters in this one. There was a particularly spectacular sequence where, following a double knockdown, they trade strikes until Luke Watts fired up and hit Robbie with 29 stiff forearms in a row.
The finish came where Luke’s leg delayed him enough for Robbie to avoid a Shooting Star Press, followed up by a 450 to the injured leg and a Ron Miller Special for the submission win.
This match received Slam Pro’s first ‘this is awesome’ chant, as well as a ‘please come back’ chant for Robbie in the post-match. Robbie put over Luke afterwards, saying he often watched Luke as an influence when Eagles began in the business.
This was incredible and I really, really, hope they run it back.
4 stars – A masterclass of the Australian scene. Highly Recommended.
Match #5 - Dan Archer vs Lee Morrow
When it comes to Canberra talent highlighted on Slam Pro, there’s been no bigger revelation than Dan Archer. An effective heel who never gets cheered and always makes his opponent look like a million bucks, with glimpses of high workrate. He should be built up as a threat and is the right fit if a promotion wanted to centre around a local heel, despite inconsistency in the win/loss column so far.
Lee, making his Slam debut, was a good fit for his crowd – the Australian Hero shtick works well alongside the other babyface gimmicks that have gotten over with this crowd (Dazza, ‘The Bogan Warrior’ Crofty - the working-class gimmicks).
What followed was a decent if unremarkable match, where the crowd was so molten that they took it light on the bump card, with pose-offs and audience participation. Archer got the surprise win with an eye rake and the package piledriver. I think this is a step in the right direction for the midcard, Archer definitely deserves a bigger platform.
3 stars – a Gentleman’s Three.
Match #6 – Slex vs Crofty
This was a bit of a strange one. Slex has been the de facto #1 heel since the very first Slam Pro show, and has always been at the top of the title picture. Crofty, while a massive fan favourite in Canberra, has always been slotted at the lower mid-card.
Crofty charged the ring and they began brawling before the bell. This was a pretty good but surprisingly short match, with an unexpected finishing sequence. The ref was bumped and Slex went for the briefcase that’s given him several Slam wins, but had a crisis of conscience. Slex threw away the briefcase before eating a Fire Thunder Driver for a relatively clean win.
I’m unsure what to make of Crofty beating Slex fairly cleanly. It seems like start of a Slex face turn, which would bring some interest to the main event picture.
2 ½ stars – More of an angle than a match.
Match #7 - Super Bison vs Mick Moretti
This was pretty nothing comedy match. Super Bison is a local talent with a charging bull gimmick who quite frankly doesn’t have the charisma, look, or in-ring. I understand even green wrestlers need reps and putting a trainee under a hood to get experience is a smart choice – but Super Bison gets booked in these prominent spots where his limitations get exposed very quickly.
Moretti was relying on his usual bag of cheap pops, but this never got off the ground. Moretti got the win with a very awkward-looking seatbelt rollup, and hopefully moves onto better things.
2 stars – A veteran can only do so much.
Match #8 - The Natural Classics vs The VeloCities – Slam Pro Tag Championships
This was to crown the first-ever Slam Pro tag champions, and they picked two of the best Australian teams to establish the division (and also a de facto PWA vs MCW match to boot).
The VeloCities have received mixed reactions from the Slam crowd previously, however, they were 100% the crowd favourite on this night.
This was a wonderfully worked match, full of the slick multiman sequences you would expect from these teams. There was a particularly good hot tag from Jude London where he took out both Filip brothers in a sequence that felt John Wick-esque in its fluidity. There were plenty of nearfalls (including an impressive sunset bomb / avalanche slingblade combo from the VeloCities) and false finishes. Shoutout to the child that brought a sign saying ‘Natural Classholes’, inspiring chants throughout the match.
The finish came with a powerbomb/backstabber combination sealing the win for the Natural Classics, who were the right team to belt up here. You can really build a division around a strong heel team like the Natural Classics, especially given the dearth of heel teams currently in Canberra.
This match had the opposite problem that VeloCities matches usually have – it really could have used 5 more minutes. However, what we got in the time was a great main event with potential for many directions in the future.
3.5 stars – A satisfying main event and the right way to build a division.
AVERAGE RATING: 2.88 of 5 stars (or 5.76 of 10)
SUMMARY: This was a fun show, and easily the best that Slam Pro has put together in its short existence. There are many potential story directions and they are mostly interesting. While this promotion will never be a haven for ultra-smarks to gush about workrate, that’s really not what it’s meant to be and that’s perfectly okay.
