Reality of Wrestling - Episode 217 (Recap & Results)

(Photo credit: Patches Chance)

Skywalker beats Keith twice on Sunday

In the opening match, Chad Skywalker defeated Bryan Keith in a two out of three falls match. This one came about during an interaction at the training school in last weeks episode when after a bit of one-upmanship, Skywalker told Keith he could beat him any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Well since the show is aired on Sunday, the match was booked for this weeks episode. 

Skywalker took Keith lightly at the beginning of the match. Taking selfies and laughing at his veteran opponent. This angered the recent 205live wrestler and Keith threw in some big old chops to settle down his cocky opponent. Keith saw an opening when Skywalker caught his knee on the apron, Keith quickly laid in the submissions, wearing down Skywalker he took the first fall after hitting his rodeo DDT finisher. Keith continued the second fall as he ended the first, working over the knee of Skywalker. With victory seeming inevitable Skywalker pulled out a surprise pin with a roll up from nowhere.

Now with the match even at a pinfall a piece things were turned up a notch. Skywalker taking to the skies with his unorthodox highflying style, catching Keith off guard in the final fall. With both men perched on the top rope, Skywalker hit a variation of a reverse somersault DDT to pickup the third fall and come away victorious. A pretty good match that maybe felt a little rushed at times. 

Kantu makes his debut

Former referee Ray Kantu made his in ring debut in a six-man tag match, as he partnered the current ROW Tag Team Champions Mason and Johnson as they took on the new Incorporated team of Abel Andrew Jackson, Rob Barnes and Bartek. Kantu gave up the referee shirt after he got into an altercation with Barnes and Bartek several weeks ago, hitting both men with german suplexes. Since then, Mason and Jonson have been training the new rookie in preparation for this match.

The match itself was fun and action packed from the get go. The tag champs were on top form as usual and after controlling the early portion of the match they finally tagged Kantu to a mighty roar from the crowd. The commentators hyped him as a former amateur wrestler and this was especially evident as he threw out german suplexes and armbars like they were going out of fashion. The action continued with Barnes hitting a cross-body to the outside, taking out both his partners and the tag champs. With Kantu the only man still standing, he showed he could fly himself and hit a cross-body of his own to Barnes. 

The tag champs cleared the ring, leading to Kantu getting the pinfall on Barnes with another German suplex. This was very entertaining with the focus being on Kantu. 

Desperate Gino holds on

After a both men delivered backstage promos on the other we came to our main event. A match that has been building up ever since Rex Andrews won the Last Man Stand match to get a shot at any title of his choice. Andrews has been very vocal in the past few weeks of how Gino is protected by Reality of Wrestling, and the only reason Andrews isn’t the champion is because Gino is their golden boy. This match had a big fight feel, with the whole show being built around it. From the backstage promos to the commentary team putting both men over, the promotion did a fantastic job of making this match feel important.

Andrews is arguably the best wrestler in the promotion and as the youngest champion in ROW history, Gino is no slouch either. Things were very evenly matched in the early stages, with neither man able to get the upper hand on the other. Hints strong style came in with heavy chops and forearms from the champ and his challenger, neither man wanting to give an inch as they got more exhausted as the match went on. 

Andrews went for his signature armbar, coming very close to getting the champ to tap before Gino escaped the move and delivered his Scarlett Letter finisher. The move which has ended many a match wasn’t enough to put away the challenger, and Andrews took advantage of Gino's shock to continue to work the arm, coming very close to locking in the arm bar again when Gino took the easy way out, hitting his challenger with a low blow to cause a disqualification. Gino’s utter desperation to hold on to his title and his realisation that he just couldn’t beat Andrews was a great ending, and a perfect way to continue Andrews rise as the top face in the company, while positioning Gino as the desperate champion. While I would have loved to have seen Andrews crowned champion here, it’ll be ever so sweeter when he does finally dethrone Gino. 

Quick Results

Chad Skywalker def Bryan Keith in a 2/3 falls match

Warren Johnson, Zach Johnson & Ray Kantu def Abel Andrew Jackson, Barnes & Bartek in a 6 man tag match

Rex Andrews def Gino by disqualification, but Gino retains the ROW Heavyweight Championship