Tag: Kay Casiano

Review the Kraken: Fan Appreciation Night

Review the Kraken: Fan Appreciation Night

I wrote about this when I got to experience a live Kraken Pro Wrestling event, but the fans at Kraken are their own unique entity. They don’t act like a standard pro wrestling crowd. They don’t do chants. They’re not in on the act. I came away from Tifton with the observation that Kraken fans were fans of Kraken specifically, rather than pro wrestling as a whole.

So the concept of Kraken doing a Fan Appreciation Night, where fans legitimately got to draw the matchups at random to determine the entire card, was intriguing.

Or, it might lead to a total trainwreck.

The end results? A little bit of both, honestly.

Here are the four episodes covered in this review.

Episode 61

This is the first Kraken event at Chino & Letty’s, which remains the venue for Kraken until now. It looks great on camera and the lighting gives vibes of an old-school studio wrestling show. I wrote about how nice the venue is, especially by standards of independent wrestling, after my live experience.

This episode opens with Kwame the Conqueror taking on Rob Killjoy. Kwame is formerly known as Cassius King (not to be confused with Kassius King, who also is on the Kraken roster). The name change makes Kwame both a known quantity and a new addition in Kraken according to the announcers. The crowd is into quacking for Killjoy. The match? Not so much. Killjoy wins with an O’Connor Roll to end a match that felt long even though it had a 10-minute time limit.

We get a backstage interview with Kay Casiano and new Cash In Hand Champion Kevin Kantrell. Kay does consistent good work with this. Kantrell’s words are fine but forgettable. The CIH title belt looks great, though.

Up next, the first of several mixed-up tags on this Fan Appreciation taping: Sam Hanson and Mr. Wright against Jayy Wells and Jaz Jones in a Tides of War series match. I was wondering who in the world would get the points given the jumbled teams, and bless Donnie for explaining it. Mr. Wright really plays up the schtick of tagging with someone he dislikes (to be fair, he did help give Hanson an unwanted haircut a couple of months before) but Hanson and Wright work together well enough to hit Wells with a modified Hart Attack and, after a blind tag, have Hanson score the pin — and the points for All Star Special.

The headliner of this episode pits Jak Myles against Charlie Kills. It’s the first Kraken appearance for Sweeper since he lost the Cash In Hand Title. Charlie does a lot of little things I enjoy: the joint manipulation and, here, joint stomps. He changes it up here with a double stomp of Jak’s hands into a Meteora and pin attempt. Overall, Charlie pretty much gobbles up Jak Myles here and scores the win. Poor Sweeper can’t catch a break.

Episode 62

An interesting segment to start this episode, as we get our first look at Jay 2 Strong since he was booted from The Business at the last taping. Jay ends up in the locker room with Charlie Kills, of all people, and Charlie speaks for the first time! Charlie offers to lend Jay an ear, a shoulder, or some other implied body part. Pretty good stuff.

More Tides of War action, with the Saturday Night Temptations taking on Lamar Diggs from The Business and Will Huckaby from All Star Special. The odd couple pairing of Diggs and Huckaby, combined with the Temptations, means a ton of comedy and shenanigans take place in this one. Huckaby joins right in with Karl Hager and CJ Shine. Diggs looks close to breaking on a couple of occasions. Diggs takes a rare pinfall loss on an assisted backslide in a silly, fun match.

The Diamond Den makes its return, with Mr. Wright the guest. Mrs. Wright, who’s been absent as of late, is pregnant and Mr. Wright is taking a leave of absence. With the year-long round robin Tides of War tournament already under way. That’s what we writers call a plot point.

Headlining this episode, Kevin Kantrell defends the Cash In Hand Title. The challengers? Brother Azriel, Dominic Stuckey, Jay 2 Strong, Travis Ray, and Tsu Nami. This scramble is stacked and the result is one of the best matches of its type that Kraken has done. I was surprised Jay didn’t jump Stuckey right off the bat after getting booted from The Business. Instead, Stuckey talks trash to everyone else in the match and they all gang up on him. Travis Ray had a good run of offense here and looked impactful without playing for laughs. Kantrell becomes the first Cash In Hand Champion to retain, hooking Tsu Nami in the cross face.

Episode 63

Speed vs. power in the opening match, as ERC takes on Hitta J. This is ostensibly heel vs. heel, but the crowd (after being stone silent at the beginning) starts to get behind ERC as the match progresses. Duke mentions a slow count on commentary because of course he does. Hitta J hits his chokeslam, which looks better with each passing taping, but ERC kicks out and score the win with a quick pinning predicament. I enjoyed the way ERC won, and his crafty style stands out in Kraken, but I felt the chokeslam should have finished the match.

The headliner on this episode is, not the best match of this set of tapings, but one I probably enjoyed the most: Quick Drip (the duo of Nick Quick and Dante Dripp) against the odd couple randomly drawn pair of Don Haylo and Ehren Black. More shenanigans here, with a Quick Drip dance party that ensnares Haylo and seems like it will never end, until Black blasts Travis Ray, the third member of Quick Drip, with double chops across the back. Ehren Black was the star of this match: the monster who gets fed up with the comedy. There’s a nifty spot where Haylo hoists Quick for a fallaway slam, and tosses him to Black. Haylo puts Dripp in a Boston Crab for the submission win. Quick tries to help and Black catches him, lifts Quick for a back suplex, and spins him into a sit-out pile-driver that sends Quick into the astral plane. Black then, as soon as the match is over, punches Haylo in the face. I cackled in an empty room at that one.

Episode 64

The centerpiece of this episode, and the taping, is another Kraken Pro Title defense. This time, Trever Aeon takes on Joey Hyder.

Kay has the talent to hit another level when she’s doing the introductions for a big match, and she does it again here. She particularly brings this sizzle when announcing Aeon, and it gives these title matches a big-fight feel, every time.

The match itself was a very good, back-and-forth match that (mostly) gets wrestled on the up and up. They combine for a pin attempt on a knuckle lock in the early going — not something you see every day in the 2020s. Hyder gets the upper hand on the technical wrestling, so the champ goes high impact, exploding off the mat with a single-leg takedown, then a double stomp on Hyder before chucking him to the floor. Aeon’s advantage does not last; Hyder throws nearly everything in his arsenal at the champion but pin attempts get a one count, at best. Duke is calling the Kraken fans humanoids and peons during this match. I approve of both; that’s better heel commentary work than constantly complaining about referee counts and double teams. Hyder busts out a standing Spanish fly, then summons John Cena by hitting Aeon with both the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the Attitude Adjustment. Then Hyder goes for his Razzle Dazzle finisher, but Aeon gets his knees and an elbow up to break it. One snap back suplex later, and a Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from Aeon ends one of the better wrestling matches in Kraken history.

Check out the full index of our Kraken content at In Moorehouse Wrestling.

Review the Kraken: Episodes 35-38

Review the Kraken: Episodes 35-38

Kraken Pro Wrestling keeps rolling on and so do we, looking at the second Kraken taping of 2025. Once more, the Pieces of 8 take center stage, as the final open coins are won and a previously allocated coin changes hands.

The anchor of these four episodes, however, is an angle involving Kevin Kantrell and The Business. The last taping concluded with Justin Kayse, the manager of The Business and reigning Kraken Champion, taking a punch, and a bump, for the first time at the hands (literally) of an unlikely source… Referee Clark. Episode 35 kicks off with The Business demanding retribution on the young official, only to have Kantrell enter the discussion and reveal that Clark is his son. Kayse proposes a match between Kantrell and Business “ace” Dominic Stuckey. If Kantrell wins, he gets five minutes — not the standard three — against Kayse with the title on the line. If Stuckey wins, Referee Clark has to take two punches to the face. I know that old Memphis wrestling is a major influence on Will Huckaby, who books Kraken, and this entire stipulation would fit in great in the heyday of that territory. All that was missing was Lance Russell and Dave Brown.

The Kantrell-Stuckey match headlines the final episode from the taping, and it’s a good one. With most episodes of Kraken TV lasting 20 to 30 minutes, matches range to be on the short side. These two set a methodical pace that fits the mat-based skills of both. The grappling exhibitions are good but the real flavor comes from little moments where Stuckey begs off or shows cowardice. These enhance the match greatly, not to mention his own heel persona.

And then the finish comes. Kantrell has Stuckey ensnared in the cross face, and Kayse climbs through the ropes and grabs Stuckey’s hand, right in front of the ref, to prevent his ace from tapping. I included a screenshot of this in the featured image of this review.

I have a few pet peeves when it comes to wrestling, and cheating right in front of the referee is one of them. How in the world was this not a DQ? The actual finish occurs when Jay 2 Strong drags Clark through the curtain, leaving a distracted Kantrell ripe to get pinned by Stuckey. It feels like there’s lots of meat left on the bone between Kantrell and Stuckey, and I have to assume there was some kind of cross-up on the interference by Kayse.

The post-match, to be fair, is pretty strong. Kantrell apologizes repeatedly to his son, who steps through the ropes ready to take the punches. Kayse’s first blow, hilariously, doesn’t even faze Clark. We get an extra layer here to the story of Kayse being an unjust and unworthy champion, as he can’t even do damage to a non-wrestler. Kayse then opts for Stuckey to deliver the second punch, and Kantrell pulls his son out of the ring instead. I’ve already been watching the next set of episodes, and this story is just getting started …

Some other notes from this set of episodes ensue.

Episode 35

Jay 2 Strong, who won one of the Pieces of 8 at the last taping, puts the coin on the line against ERC. Jay is a consistent, steady hand for Kraken. ERC has shown some flashes as a sneaky heel, but he’s positioned as a fan favorite here and shows plenty of fight. He kicks out of Jay’s Strong Valley Driver, and The Business member needs a distraction and the help of the ropes to get the pin. There’s a spectacular sell by ERC earlier, when he appears to enter the astral plane after taking a superkick.

The episode is headlined by a tag match pitting All Star Special against Jayy Wells and Gabe Norton and sees Huckaby progress from recently being a grumpy veteran wrestler to a nasty, grumpy vet. The crowd doesn’t really buy into the two youngsters here, even during a solid offensive display early in the match, but they become more engaged when Huck starts wrecking the both of them. There’s a good story to be told here, with Huckaby wanting to push the aggression at all points and his partner, Sam Hanson, frequently trying to be the brakes. The finish comes with Huck applying a deep submission hold, while Hanson is outside the ring telling their young foe, “It’s OK to tap.” Good stuff.

Kay Casiano, who’s been a nice addition to the product as a ring announcer and backstage interviewer, gets a few pre-recorded words from Trever Aeon in advance of him facing Joey Hyder later on this set of episodes. Kraken has done a good job positioning Aeon as its top hero, which I also find endlessly amusing given Kraken runs shows in south Georgia, smack-dab in the Bible Belt.

Trever: I’m the Devil …

Kraken fans: Yaaaay!

Episode 36

One of the weaker episodes of Kraken TV, especially compared to recent installments.

Jak Myles pins Edward Draven in the latest edition of the Cash In, Cash Out Scramble to claim Draven’s Kraken coin. The scramble itself advances a story or two but is mighty disjointed. Tsu Nami makes a tepid run-in to take Rose Gold out of the match, the latest miss in a rivalry between the two that got off to a promising start but since has floundered. Participants include Chad Skywalker, who receives another “special assignment” to win Draven’s coin and keep Myles from seizing it. Skywalker fails on both fronts and doesn’t interact enough with Myles to drive home that plot point.

In the main event, Brandon Whatley beats Nathaniel Vanderbilt to capture a Kraken coin in a match that failed to connect for me.

Episode 37

Aeon vs. Hyder opens the episode? Hot damn! These two are among the top talents in Kraken and put on a good TV match, making the most of their time. Aeon gives Hyder, a relative newcomer, plenty of time to shine before executing a believable flash pin to get the win and the final unclaimed Kraken coin. During this match, Kraken lead broadcaster and general manager Donnie Harris says he wants to promote good, clean, sportsmanlike wrestling. Sounds boring.

Noir faces the Saturday Night Temptations in the main event, a rematch of a bout from a previous taping. I’ve been pretty cool on Noir as a team so far but this is their best Kraken match yet. Mr. Wright in particular shows more fire and intensity. The other half of Noir, Ehren Black, is a force of nature in Kraken. He’s huge, and knows it, and wrestles accordingly as it usually takes something extra to knock him off his feet. The Temptations score the win, so I guess we need a rubber match now.

Episode 38

The Kantrell-Stuckey match takes center stage on this episode. Elsewhere, the H-Town Hittas record another very one-sided victory,. Meanwhile “The Diamond Den” brings in Aeon as his guest. The tone is weird as Diamond Duke engages in a friendly chat with Trever, which doesn’t really ring true after Duke spent the past months slagging Aeon on commentary at almost every opportunity.

That’s all for now, folks!

For other entries in the Review The Kraken series, here is a master index.

You can watch all four episodes here: