Maverick Pro hosted their last show of the year with called “Secret Santa Showdown”. This card had James Storm wrestling in Southern California for the first time in years, the debut of Stan Stylez, and a couple rare appearances by Nurse Ratchet, Karlee Perez, and Jennifer Thomas as well. The main thing that Maverick Pro is good at is grabbing new talent and showcasing them.
Kimberly Diemond vs. Mazzaratti
This was a good opening match, the pace was good I’m really impressed by the darker, more mischievous turn that Diemond has been on. Mazzaratti had a good showing; she’s improved quite a bit since I first saw her at FSW and Sabotage. Mazaratti came in with Bugatti, and she was really creeped out with Kimberly and her antics and spanking. The match went pretty technical for a while until Mazzarati got her hair pulled, then it turned into a brawl. There was a nice looking suplex thrown by Mazzarati, and Kimberly countered with a corner splash to bulldog that was pretty good. Kimberly had a nice looking submission that nearly took it, but there was a rope break. Solid opening match, Kimberly took this with an Eat Defeat after Bugatti got nailed on the outside, causing Mazzaratti to not see her finisher coming.
Daniel Moon vs. Ricky Mandel vs. Keita Murray
This was a fun match, and the crowd was way over for Moon. Both guys took it to Ricky with double team moves to start; first a hip toss and a drop kick that sent him outside. Moon and Murray started tearing it up. Both of these guys looked really smooth, balanced and skilled. Ricky snuck back in, beat up both guys, worked Murray over, and tosses Moon to the floor. Ricky had a nice vertical suplex with some hip thrusts thrown in for good measure. Moon won this with a 450.
After the match, Owen Travers came in and wrecked everyone with stunners, draped DDTs, and cleans house. Good match, fast paced, and the run in added a little extra flavor. Moon’s Manager taking the DDT off the middle rope has to be seen (and heard) to be believed.
Shotzi Blackheart vs. Stan Stylez
This was an interesting intergender match, since Stan kept a shake weight in his hand for 95% of it. Stylez is ripped to shreds, and came in cocky (as expected) with a mouth full of whipped cream. What wasn’t expected was him wearing three pairs of pants and ripping them off consecutively in a completely hilarious moment. The best part was that his trunks had Shotzi’s name on them. The look on Shotzi’s face was priceless. This turned out to be an interesting match, even though Stan had the shake weight in hand. Shotzi started beating on Stan, who would “shake it off” and then proceed to work on his shake weight. This worked for a while until Shotzi kicked him in the nuts, then did a leg drop with the exercise equipment in the way of her feet. The match went like this for a while, Stan soaking up the boos and disgust from the women and kids whilel torturing Shotzi. When Stan whent for his whipped cream stunner, Shotzi finally turned it around, nailed her cannonball in the corner and then a super senton from the top rope. It was a good match, although a little on the slower side due to the gimmick, but Stan definitely made up for it. Shotzi looked good here, too. I’m hoping they bring Stylez back for another match.
FeeLyons (Osiris Mittens & Senor Buttons) & Louie Louie vs. Black Dynamite (Jimi Mayhem, & Sean Black) & Aguilera
This match was dominated by the larger team early. Pretty much everything the Cats and Louie tried was squashed right away by the bigger, physically dominate group. Jimi and Aguilera got a nice double team suplex on Mittens, then a spear in the corner to a delayed neckbreaker by Aguilera. The hot tag was finally made and Louie pumped himself up, only to get murdered with a clothesline by Sean Black. Sean Gorilla Pressed Louie out of the ring and droped him to the floor. Louie did probably his best tornado DDT I’ve seen all year on Aguilera. Louie taged in Buttons and started a small run, but it was crushed by Jimi until Buttons did a nice released German Suplex on Jimi followed by a nice double DDT on both Black and Aguilera. All three guys ended up clotheslining the bigger guys and then throwing Louie on top of Aguilera for the pin.
Fun match! The FeeLyons looked good in this. Louie had probably his best match of the year. Black, Mayhem and Aguilera dominated, like they should, and took a surprising loss at the end. This would be an interesting feud if they want to go that way with the cats.
Karlee Perez Vs. Mazzaratti
Mazzaratti puts out an open challenge and Karlee answers it quickly. Mazz tries to strike Karlee, but she blocks it easily into a mean looking knee lift straight to her face. Karlee “kneels” on her for the pin.
Scorpio Sky vs. Chris Bey
This was probably the best match on the card. Scorpio Sky has had an amazing year, winning titles in several promotions and even showing up as part of a faction named after this website in ROH. Bey had several awards of his own this year: The Young Lions Cup and the Young Guns Tournament by PCW. It’s amazing how fast and far Bey has come in a short amount of time. This match did not disappoint either. it had a good build to it and some technical wrestling, too, including hammerlocks reversed into wrist locks, reversed into pinning combos. Pretty much everything was on display here. Scorpio hit an arm drag to inverted kimura lock with his foot, which was impressive. This went on for a while with Scorpio dominating, hitting a vicious leg drop on Bey on the apron. Bey gained momentum and then tried setting up Scorpio a few times for the frog splash but failed on both attempts. Sky nailed Bey with a running knee lift in the corner and hit his F5 finisher for the win.
It was an excellent match, and probably the best one on the card. It’s great when you see an established veteran and a young up-and-comer fight, as magic is usually the result. Of all the matches on this card, I’d go out of my way to watch this one, as it is a must see.
Katarina Leigh vs. Nurse Ratchet vs. Jennifer Thomas
The match started off with the ref checking Nurse Ratchet, who hadn’t moved since she entered the ring and seemed to be staring off into space. The ref got no response, so he simply told the timekeeper to ring the bell. Katarina caught Thomas off guard while checking out Ratchet. Ratchet then came alive and ded that freaky silent hill shuffle. Thomas body slammed Ratchet several times, but she popped right up ala’ the Undertaker. Nice double team move by Thomas and Katarina, but then Kat took advantage, and tried to pin Thomas.
Ratchet woke up, struck Thomas and then apparently bit her. Ratchet then grabbed a finger out of the human remains bag she carries and tried to stick it in each wrestler’s ear. This didn’t work, so after a Spider walk on the floor, Ratchet licked the finger and gave out wet willies. Thomas then took control and hit Ratchet with an F5. Katarina distracted the ref and Ratchet pulled out a blackened heart that she then chokes Thomas with it. Katarina used the distraction of the ref to knock Ratchet off the top rope and then hit Thomas with a neckbreaker across her knee to finish her off.
This was another good triple threat. Katarina really tried to take advantage of the situation several times. Ratchet is one of those must see wrestlers for the weirdness, wrestling ability and just overall. Jennifer Thomas really impressed with her physical shape and also with some of the high impact moves she pulled off in the match.
Donovan Troi then came out and mentioned that the winners of the women’s matches tonight have all earned an opportunity to win the women’s title at their January show. This put Karlee, Winter and Kimberly Diamond into a Triple threat match for the title.
Kevin Kross vs. James Storm for the vacant Maverick Pro Heavyweight Championship
A match between two heavy hitting wrestlers, both of whom have been on national TV? Yes please!!
Kross has been tearing through Mav Pro since he arrived early in the year. He’s been on a collision course for this title for a while now. Storm’s pedigree really speaks for itself: TNA original, multiple title holder in both singles and tag team work to name a few. He’s also the tannest guy I’ve seen live since EC3 at bar.
This match started off highly technical, until Storm interrupted things with a super kick. He then worked over Kross with some chin-locks and he also mentioned he’s watched UFC last night so he’s working that in. He had a hilarious spot where he faked that he’s going to do a lucha style move to the outside but just dropped down and punches Kross instead. One fan yelled out “That was the least lucha move ever!” to rather hilarious effect. They started brawling outside and Storm threw Kross into the ringpost, but Kross retaliated by throwing Storm directly into a row of chairs (in my row of course). What started off as a technical matchup with switches and holds had turned into a brutal, brawling match all over the Legion. Storm interrupted the fight for a toast between combatants, they drank the beers, but each tried to spray it in the others face, take swings at each other and ended up on the floor. The action went back into the ring where Storm eventually regained control for a short time, but was caught by Kross’s angled slam. Kross went for another one but was hit by a nice kick, codebreaker, lungblower combo by Storm. Storm started looking for his 8 second ride and nailed it. Karlee came out and distracted Storm. Kross played possum and sliped out of the second attempt by Storm. Kross then locked in his rear choke after some resistance to take the match.
After the match, Karlee came in and gave Kross the lick of death, or a variation of it. I’m not sure if she was appraising him or approving of him, but it was definitely something to look forward to at a show in the future. Kross and Storm both came out looking great and really pulled off a memorable match. The match told the story that’d you’d expect, but it also had some interesting, funny moments that brought the match together. If you are looking for a classic heavyweight battle, check this match out.
Final Thoughts:
This was a strong card overall, and was probably their best show of the year. The promoter had to get chairs twice to seat people coming in late to the show, so it was a good sign. I have to give Maverick Pro some props for getting Storm on short notice and to getting the quality of match that they had. Storm had a warm welcome and mentioned he’d love to come back. Sky vs. Bey should be a MOTM candidate, possibly more. The promotion has made a concerted effort for multiple women’s matches on the card, usually at least one from out of town. I’d suggest checking them out as you’ll probably see a wrestler that hasn’t wrestled in the area before. You might catch someone before they become expensive to watch.
