OPW kicked off 2022 with a bang this weekend with Overboard, their hardest-hitting show yet. The packed crowd was treated to two title matches plus a nail-biting tag team match, a tense grudge match and, of course, the absolutely chaotic 20-man Overboard Rumble. With such a stacked card, this article will be split into two parts, with this part outlining the action from the first half of the show: Alexxis Falcon vs Gia Adams and the Overboard Rumble. Join me as I run down all the details you need to know from Overboard!
Before diving into the action, Ethan Edwards made his return to Morecambe after he was absent from Buried Treasure thanks to the injuries he suffered at the hands of Dekker. This was clearly still fresh in his mind as he emotionally recalled his anguish at not being able to return to his hometown of Morecambe because of his concussion and that his parents were robbed of a Christmas with their grandchildren. It was a sad moment, but he brought the energy back to the fans when he promised them that he would make it his mission to stop Dekker getting his hands on the contract that was going to be on offer for the winner of the Overboard Rumble.
Alexxis Falcon vs Gia Adams
For me, this match was the perfect opener, as it had two of the best wrestlers on the roster who wanted nothing more than to get at each other’s throats. As such, the energy was high from both of these women, with Falcon keen for revenge after being unfairly turned on at the last show by Adams, who seemed more than willing to back up her actions. She wasn’t deterred by the boos, but seemed to feed off them instead, coming in with clubbing blows and leg strikes. Ever resourceful, we had Gia extending the referee’s count as far as she could, wearing down Falcon to what seemed like an effective end when she managed to hit the leg drop. However, Alexxis was driven by her loyal fans to fight back time and time again, showing she too can dish out the pain with an impressive missile drop kick and a bulldog. The back and forth was never ending until finally Falcon managed to hit her finisher for the victory, certainly proving that she is worthy of a title shot if Taonga can be convinced to give her a chance.
Overboard 20-Man Rumble
Perhaps the most highly anticipated match in OPW’s short history was up next. It began, as we all know, with Dekker at the number one spot. Of course, he was flanked by Chris Brooker, the man who allowed him on the roster in the first place, who addressed “the simple people of Morecambe” on the mic with some less than endearing words, as we have all come to expect from him. He introduced Dekker as “the man who stole Ethan Edwards’ children’s Christmas” with an evil laugh before letting the man himself talk to the fans, not put off by the brutal chants directed his way. He complained that the fans were being treated to history and were ungrateful for it before going on to claim that Ethan Edwards was unprofessional. Thankfully, Nick Kutter was in at number two to shut him up. Dekker wouldn’t drop the mic, however, and feigned not being ready before using it to punch Kutter hard. But he failed to throw Kutter over the top rope, allowing Kutter to hit a missile drop kick and win the hearts of the fans who desperately urged him on to eliminate Dekker – but he couldn’t manage it, and it wasn’t long before he had gone Overboard. Dekker was on the mic again at this point, bragging that he was “one down” and Brooker taunting “Good luck whoever you are, there is no one in the OPW locker room who can touch Dekker”.
As if to prove him wrong, the music that next hit was none other than Rick Markus, who was surely out for revenge after being bottled at Buried Treasure. The fans raised the roof, but he didn’t answer their calls; Markus no showed, and we learned afterwards that this was due to injury. We weren’t left with an empty spot, though, and to everyone’s surprise, it was Ethan Edwards who answered the call to replace him. Yes, the general manager who has already been concussed by Dekker once before and has little in-ring experience – that Ethan Edwards. He was supported by the fans, to say the least, who chanted his name as he went in with a flurry of punches. This wasn’t wrestling – this was a straight up fight driven by personal animosity. They got caught up in the ropes and continued to brawl, and they both somehow ended up on the floor… had Ethan just eliminated Dekker? All the signs pointed to it, and the fans certainly saw it with their own eyes and went wild. Brooker did too, and started scrapping with an innocent referee. All hell had broken loose and yet there was no one in the rumble at this point with all three entrants now eliminated.
It was time, then, to welcome the next competitor to the ring after this climax of emotions, and who better than the cool, calm and collected Lance Revera? He may not have had anyone in the ring facing him, but he still managed to find someone to trash talk – if you’ve seen their Twitters recently, you could probably guess that it was commentator Simon Hill. However, it didn’t quite come to blows this time as the countdown was quickly on again for the next rumble entrant, and it was Troy Ryan coming out solo. If Ryan was apprehensive about not having his tag partner by his side, he didn’t show it as he answered Revera’s attempts at forming a team with a military press slam. The fans were more than happy to see Sinergy reunited when Anderson Daniels came out not long after, and they were immediately back with their familiar double team moves, trapping Lance in a cycle of back-and-forth punches. After being victimised by the pair for 90 seconds, he was probably relieved to hear the music of Scotty Rawk, but this soon melted away as Rawk launched from the top rope to enter the ring only to be caught by Daniels in mid-air. Rawk managed to scramble free, though, but was nearly sent onto the floor when he ran in for the attack in the corner. The match continued with no new eliminations as we moved onto the eighth entrant, The Rat King Tu Byt. In an attempt to squash the Beef Wagon, an unlikely alliance was formed of Byt, Rawk and Revera all going in on Troy Ryan, but Anderson was quick to put a stop to this.
The next entrant was JJ Webb who had Sandy Beach alongside him. He exploded into the ring with clotheslines on anyone in his way but his momentum couldn’t last long with the amount of bodies in the ring. The lack of eliminations meant that the ring was filling up fast and this was added to by Will Carter who went straight after Tu Byt. Byt answered the attack by grabbing Carter’s arm and taking an almighty chomp at it; rather than pulling away or even reacting, Carter got Byt’s arm and did the same to him. While these two sunk their teeth into each other, we had the next competitor down to the ring; this time, Big Guns Joe. He was hot off the press and keen to show his strength as he threw Byt onto Lance Revera. Things were going better for him than his teammates Webb and Sandy, as Sandy was floored in his attempt to assist Webb, and Joe eliminated Nightmare who hadn’t long been in the ring. This allegiance didn’t click in the match at all and there was a miscommunication between Webb and Joe culminating in them finally battling it out in the middle of the ring. Joe was the one standing tall (metaphorically speaking, of course) in the end as he successfully eliminated Webb. Well, eventually – Webb landed on Nightmare at first, his feet not touching the floor, which we all know in a rumble match means you aren’t officially out. But Nightmare wasn’t keen to help and made him lose his balance and fall. Beach and Webb were both outraged at the actions of Joe who was revelling in his newfound popularity with the fans.
While this had been going on, the next entrant was Rogan, but Chris Brooker advised him to not step between the ropes yet despite him being obviously raring to go. So, Lucas Neon was actually the next wrestler in the ring, but his entry was ruined by Tu Byt who launched in with an attack straight away. Reece was next up and only then was Rogan tactically allowed in the ring. The pair of bruisers went face to face with Sinergy, a precursor for what many would call a dream match (and will be taking place at Shipwrecked on February 19th). But, Tu Byt doesn’t care about your dream matches and proved this by ruining the moment and pushing Ryan into Daniels – he may have bitten off more than he could chew this time, ending up trapped between Sinergy and subject to a beat down. Another show of overconfidence was Big Joe who attempted to eliminate Reece only to be eliminated himself. To his credit, Tu Byt’s confidence got him as far as eliminating Daniels, but Ryan was quick to avenge his tag partner. Ryan, caught up in the moment, began celebrating only to be victim to Reese and Rogan’s attacks and thrown over the top rope himself, crashing hard on the floor.
We have made it all the way to entrant number 16, and it was RPD, to Morecambe’s delight. He launched straight out of the gate with a Hurricanrana on Rogan, but the double team was hard for him to fight back against and he was victim to a brutal beatdown. Sam Bailey opted not to help him when he came down to the ring, instead taunting the fans as they tried to urge RPD on. The next entrant was Rob Drake who had a strong showing at first, hitting Bailey with a painful spear, but Bailey’s experience allowed him to eliminate Drake before the opposite occurred. However, he couldn’t prepare for a brutal Superman Punch from RPD which spelled the end for his championship hopes.
The penultimate spot in the rumble was saved for Mark Meltzer who came down to the ring to Freakshow’s music and supported by Isaiah Quinn, cementing the fans fears that he has turned Dark. He joined in on Reese and Rogan’s ambush of RPD, revelling in the boos. The fans were immediately satisfied, however, with the news that Sexy Kev was in at number 20. He erupted into the ring with a clothesline for his old friend and for Reece and Rogan too. Kev and Mark finally had the chance to unleash their frustrations and it was Kev who seemed to come out on top, eliminating Mark after nearly being knocked out himself. However, it was ultimately Meltzer and Quinn who had the last laugh, as they refused to leave and lingered on the apron, pulling the rope down and unfairly causing Kev to be eliminated. This feud appears to be far from over.
So, we were then down to our final three: Reese, Rogan, and RPD. For most wrestlers, this would have spelled inevitable disaster. Despite the damage he had already taken, RPD didn’t appear phased by the uphill battle in front of him and tore his wrist tape off in determination to bring as much offense as possible. He couldn’t just rely on his fists though; RPD made good use of his in-ring intelligence, too, and managed to reverse Rogan’s momentum and nearly threw him out. It was all in the balance as Rogan looked to drag RPD over as well, but RPD got the leverage he needed to overcome one obstacle. As Rogan fell to the floor, it was down to Reece to get the job done for Brooker. He seemed to be well on his way to doing this as he had RPD teetering on the apron, hanging onto the top rope for survival. He pulled away for a punch, giving RPD the opportunity to slip in between the top and middle rope, getting underneath the big man and finally toppling him over his back and sending him crashing down. Reece and Rogan were on the floor and the fans erupted with cheers for RPD as referee Laura-Kate raised his hand in victory.
But it wasn’t over. The other referee, Scott Bell, appeared, saying there was one more wrestler who had not been eliminated. No one knew who or what he was referring to until suddenly, Dekker emerged from nowhere and threw RPD out of the ring while he was celebrating. The fans were left in a state of shock and confusion as he rapturously celebrated his victory after barely being in the match at all and seemingly eliminated ages before. After reviewing the footage, it is clear that Dekker actually went through the middle ropes rather than the top rope, which rumble rules state has to occur for an elimination. Chris Brooker, Reese and Rogan, and also Kelly (who was as demeaned as usual), were all in the ring to help celebrate this heinous act of dishonour, as RPD was left gutted on the outside. The fans were enraged as the drama came to this tumultuous head.
Reese and Rogan vs Lucas Neon and Nick Kutter
After perhaps drawing the shortest straw of anyone in the rumble, coming in at number two and forced to face a riled-up Dekker, Nick Kutter was back out to face the men who helped Dekker along the way to his unfair victory. This time, he and Neon were given a fair chance to try and defeat the two men who had blindsided them before – but after taking such beatings in the rumble, it wasn’t clear how they’d overcome these ginger-haired obstacles.
They gave it their best shot with the Morecambe fans firmly in support, not showing signs of hesitation. Reece answered Neon’s high-energy offense by going to town on him outside of the ring whilst Rogan distracted the ref and any rallying that Neon valiantly managed to develop was met with firm kicks and cannonballs. However, with the help of the crowd, he managed to up his energy and hit a dropkick that allowed him to go for the hot tag to Kutter. Kutter’s enziguri was cleverly set up so that when Reece dodged it, Rogan was caught with it instead and the “rising stars” were showing just why they deserved this match. However, it wasn’t to last as Reece and Rogan were just too powerful to be kept down and Neon was met with a giant double chokeslam for the three count.
This apparently wasn’t enough for Brooker’s team though, as when the unsuccessful team were clapped by the fans on their way out, Reece and Rogan went in on the attack again, double choke slamming Kutter this time. Out of nowhere, Sinergy reappeared, obviously enraged at this act of poor sportsmanship. They took it to Reece and Rogan who feigned retreat before coming back in the ring and attacking them from behind. The brawl was never-ending, and security could do nothing to separate the two huge teams; in fact, neither could the entire locker room as everyone spilled out to try and put a stop to the carnage. The fans were treated to an even more jam-packed ring than they witnessed during the rumble. It took a long time for this chaotic episode to end, so God knows what will happen when Sinergy and Reece and Rogan finally face off in Blackpool!
Odyssey Pro Wrestling Women’s Championship – Taonga vs Lana Austin
This championship clash was the next battle and before it had even started, the audience weren’t pleased with Taonga as she demanded they be quiet as SilentMark read out her social handles. The recently crowned champ didn’t even give him a chance to leave the ring before attacking Lana Austin, who was the firm favourite here in her Morecambe return. Once the bell had rung, Taonga wasted no time in hitting Austin with a nasty snap suplex, demonstrating her speed and strength. She also showed off her nasty side when the action spilled to the outside, pulling Austin into the ring post with a nasty bang. However, Austin didn’t let Taonga’s early domination stop her from fighting back, keeping her wits about her to reverse a kick and go for a rollup and a series of skillful grapples followed by a DDT, but only amounting to a two count. Taonga then changed her game plan to try and wear down Lana with submissions and holds that targeted her left shoulder. Austin fought through the pain and carried on, managing to hit a devastating rolling elbow, and kicking out from a facebuster. It wasn’t to be her night though, as even the most resilient of wrestlers would struggle to get back up from Taonga’s signature knee strike which knocked Austin out cold. Taonga may talk the talk, but she proved here that she can walk the walk too, defending her Odyssey Pro Wrestling Women’s Championship in an impressive fashion. I can’t wait to find out who her next challenger could be.
Odyssey Pro Wrestling Championship – Ryan Hunter vs Nathan Cruz
After so many main-event worthy matches, there was still one more to go. This time, it was the official main event; Ryan Hunter defending his newly won Odyssey Pro Wrestling Championship against Nathan Cruz. This match proved what equal grounds these two competitors were on as they began with a lock up and showed each other their strength. It was Cruz who came out on top at first, sticking Hunter in a tight headlock, but Hunter bounced back. Perhaps showing that he could be successful in the rumble match, Hunter threw Cruz out of the ring, but Cruz pulled him down with him and hit him with a nasty chop. He went to repeat this but Hunter cleverly dodged out of the way and left Cruz to hit the ring post instead. But Cruz answered Hunter’s ring smarts with intelligence of his own, reversing the Hunters Arrow and slamming Hunter into the turnbuckle, showing he had done his research. He angrily stomped Hunter into the corner as the loyal fans urged Hunter on to battle back. This he did in emphatic fashion, managing to take Cruz down with a ring-shaking superplex from the top rope. Attempting to capitalise, we then saw Hunter show off his strength again with a German suplex and a running knee but Cruz demonstrated immense resolve to kick out. The wrestling continued in what was a showcase of brilliant skill from both men, but Cruz was certainly the faster of the two, able to dodge Hunter’s hook kick and follow it up immediately with a roll-up that was close to three. This became an important factor when he was able to quickly dodge Hunter’s offense and sent him flying into the referee inadvertently late on in the match. Despite being concerned for the referee’s safety, Hunter didn’t allow Cruz’s attempt to capitalise to amount to much and instead hit the Hunter’s Arrow. But of course, with the referee down, there was no one to count to three and the victory was still out of reach for Hunter, much to the fans’ anguish.
Given time to recuperate, Cruz opportunistically left the ring and grabbed the championship belt – having dodged a hit from it once, Hunter was caught with a clobber to the head the second time and seemed to be knocked out. Cruz dragged the referee over and it was surely the end of Hunter’s reign… but, at the very last possible moment, Hunter miraculously kicked out and the match was prolonged. This second wind and the cheers of Morecambe spurred Hunter on to hit the hook kick, German suplex, and Hunter’s Arrow in quick succession for a triumphant championship retention.
In his disbelief that he had let his opportunity slip away, Cruz picked up the belt and had to hand it over to Hunter. He was reluctant but followed it up with a handshake – or so it seemed, before an uncalled for low blow thwarted any respect that might have been shown. Cruz held the belt high as Hunter writhed in pain.
As if to rub salt in the wound, the last person anyone wanted to see emerged from the curtain again – Dekker, with his championship contract in hand. He approached a down and out Hunter and hit him with the On The Rocks twice in a row, and begged referee Scott Bell to let him cash in his contract as the fans urged Hunter to get up to deaf ears. Before anything else could happen, though, Ethan Edwards returned with a mic in hand. He stated that the terms of the contract stated that it could only be cashed in during a show – and the show had finished. Dekker and Brooker were furious.
But Ethan wasn’t done and said “We all know you didn’t deserve this tonight”, confirming what the fans all believed; RPD was the true winner. But, he acknowledged that Dekker was owed a championship match and he would get it. At War on the Shore, it will be Ryan Hunter vs Andre Dekker vs RPD for the Odyssey Pro Wrestling Championship.
This huge match announcement did nothing but enrage Dekker even further and he took this out on a vulnerable Hunter. The fans chanted for RPD and he answered their calls, rushing in to help Hunter and almost hitting the Superman Punch on Dekker who narrowly avoided it and scarpered away. RPD picked up the belt and offered us perhaps a glimpse into his future.
The drama still wasn’t over. Hunter was eventually back on his feet, and walked backwards into RPD and went for a cutter instinctively. RPD dodged it, clearly unhappy, as Hunter apologised and claimed he thought he was Dekker. Going to hand over the belt, RPD kept hold of it for longer than he perhaps should have done, and the tension rose for this massive triple threat even more.
With this match already made, War on the Shore is going to rock Morecambe to its core – you don’t want to miss it!