It was hilarious, and Lee’s handling of the situation was perfect, particularly when he cut a promo on the table mid-match. In what has perhaps become the best feud of Keith Lee’s 2017 (and that’s saying something…), the tables didn’t want to break for him, or in some instances they didn’t even want to stand. What wasn’t easy, as it turns out, was putting people through the tables. When the match started properly though, the gimmick felt like it made sense, and the match rules were easy to follow. In fact, Havoc throwing himself through a table at the start (laughed out loud at that entire sequence and the dialogue after it) seemed to make fun of the gimmick too, but in an entertaining manner. The main event, as mentioned earlier, had the most silly gimmick attached to it that I think I’ve ever heard for a table match. Even if it doesn’t play that way on the live shows, switch it around on the taped version, perhaps? (I suspect this might’ve been done at Riptide Wrestling: The Storm, in fact, judging from the order of matches in the collection of photos that were released?) I don’t believe we’ve had a single main event that has come out of a storyline yet, and I think we are now at the point where that should start happening. The story here has worked well, and I really think the promotion would gain a lot from introducing more storytelling right through its card. The beatdown of Sexsmith after the match represents perhaps Riptide‘s only ongoing storyline right now, which has been well done, and I’m assuming is leading to Sexsmith and Chris Ridgeway taking on Trivet and Moser at a show soon. But that’s all absolutely fine, as I appreciate that Riptide are trying to put on a product that caters to all tastes, and there’s no question that there will be times (and have been, previously!) when they do stuff that just isn’t the kind of wrestling I get enjoyment from. It was good, don’t get me wrong, and I love this new aggressive side that Sexsmith is bringing to his style and character, but there was just too much hands down crotches and such for me to really sit back and enjoy this, mostly from Noir I must add though. I’ve somewhat enjoyed Riptide‘s focus on building up talents who perhaps don’t get the same opportunities (yet) in other promotions, and that’s no more evident than with Jack Sexsmith, but I wasn’t feeling his match on this show. I’m incredibly impressed by what these two did with each other, and this will certainly ensure I don’t write off Mambo so quickly in future.
There was some fun early on, which seemingly is a must on Riptide shows, but when things got serious it really picked up. With that in mind, please consider just how surprised I was when he and Chris Brookes knocked it out of the park with their mid-show battle. I’m not in any way knocking his abilities, but his overall package has just not ever grabbed my attention. It’s confession time: I’ve never taken Chuck Mambo all that seriously.
Eddie Dennis and Omari did good work too, in a match that felt like it could have stolen the whole bloody show if it had more time. Trivet works the crowd well, and I still get a chuckle out of “Strong and Stable Style” even after all these months. Trivet and Moser had a really good match, and I’m into Moser’s style. More to come from Candyfloss in Riptide Wrestling, of that I’m sure. Her eventual win, via submission, made perfect sense given the story of the match, and I really admired the story that both women told with this fight. Take the Black/Candyfloss rematch, which contained a silly but absolutely hilarious moment of Black pouring out a box celebration chocolates as if they were tacks, and an incredibly focused wrestling style from Candyfloss who went for Black’s arm almost every single time she was on the offensive. Just for those reasons alone, it was must see.Īs it turns out, Pitch Break ended up being a damn good show from top to bottom. I was looking forward to this show based purely on its main event, a match that appeared to have such a ridiculous gimmick attached to it (a three way table match, first to two falls) but featuring three of the biggest names in independent wrestling. Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis (“Aussie Open”)Ĭhief Deputy Dunne & Los Fedarales Santos Jr. Candyfloss is given the opportunity to avenge her defeat to Dahlia Black from Riptide Returns, whilst a chaotic three way tables match featuring Matt Riddle, Jimmy Havoc and Keith Lee main events…