The penultimate episode of the first season of WOS sees a title defence and a debut of a match unlike any other seen before in wrestling.
Last week we saw Viper and Ayesha battle for a shot at the Women’s Championship, and this week we get to see Viper take on champion Key Lee Ray*. Unless there’s another title match next week Ray will finish out the series as champion.
Then we get the grand unveiling of Bennett’s Buzzer Battle where 16 men compete for a chance to face champion Ramage in the series finale. The match has two stages; the first sees two opponents enter the competition each time Stu Bennett presses the buzzer on the commentary desk, each man then joins opposing sides in a tag team elimination. Then when only eight men are left the match switches into a Battle Royale, contestants then eliminated once their thrown over the top rope.
The first entrants are fan favourite Robbie x and one half of the tag champs Kip Sabian, who pushes X out of the way as ythey make their way to the ring. Second are tag team partners BT Gunn & Stevie Boy, the pair playing up their disbelieve, even protesting to Bennett. But when their pleas fall on deaf ears they get involved, even wrestling each other in a we know each other too well kind of way.
Next out are Liam Slater and Sabian’s tag partner Lysten Reese, after a brief skirmish with Stevie Boy Sabian tags in Gunn, insisting he eliminate his usual partner. When Gunn refuses Sabian tags himself back in eliminates Stevie Boy. Reese and Sabian then beat-up their teammate and Slater rushes in to eliminate Gunn.
Next down the ramp are Grado and Sha Samuels. While the new boys take their turn in the ring Reese runs round to the opposite side and takes out X & Slater, this starts a run of Reese, Sabian & Samuels triple teaming Grado and keeping his tag partners out. Meanwhile Stu Bennett is reveling in Grado’s beatdown with SoCal Val pleading with him to press the buzzer, to get Grado some help, eventually she jumps in an presses the buzzer herself.
In comes British Bulldog Jr and CJ Banks. It’s not long before Bulldog, Grado, Sabian and Reese are eliminated all at once in a countout/disqualification combo. Setting up for a match next week.
Next to appear is Adam Maxted…and Nathan Cruz who immediately attacks Maxted, his former partner, before Maxted joins the other Babyfaces and Cruz joins the heel side. It would have been nice if they’d mixed up the sides a bit more, but that’s literally the only complaint about the whole match.
The Buzzer sounds and Justyn Sysum & Crater appear and mere seconds after they’ve made it to the ring Bennett hits the buzzer,Gabriel Kidd jumps out but his counterpart doesn’t immediately appear…and it’s a total surprise, Impact Wrestling star Moose. The first American to appear on the show.
It quickly descends into chaos, Cruz eliminates Robbie X then tags in Crater before throwing Liam Slater into the ring, who’s quickly squashed by the masked monster.
Now the over-the-top eliminations begins…
The overall winner is obvious if you’ve been following the series, but there are two stand-out moments though; Moose and Sysum going toe-to-toe with the usually unmoveable Crater, with Sysum actually slamming the monster; and a continuation of the feud between Cruz and Maxted. Maxted eliminates Cruz who quickly jumps back in the ring and throws Maxted over the ropes, while Bennett says Maxted is still eliminated he does get security to escort the previously fired Cruz from the building.
Have you been watching WOS? What did yo make of this episode? Let me know in the comments below