Tag: Nick Quick

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: Teams and Alliances

Review the Kraken: Teams and Alliances

Context matters.

Last month I got the chance to attend a Kraken Pro Wrestling event in person, which also happened to be the go-home show for the Kraken Classic, also the second anniversary show for the promotion. Meanwhile, in this review series, it feels like the first anniversary show just happened. Knowing where things end up provides a whole different perspective as I continue these reviews.

My goal is to be caught up this summer, so let’s get to it.

Here’s all the episodes that came out of this taping:

Episode 57

Donnie Harris and Diamond Duke do the opening in Gray Ghost Comics, a local business that sponsors Kraken. Duke is wearing a “Spaceballs” shirt, which earns him a grace period for complaining about slow counts and double teaming for, um, at least this episode. They hype up the Tides of War tag team tournament, which is set to play out over the next eight months. That’s an insane amount of time for a tournament, but not only did they pull it off, but they did it without any replacement teams brought in from outside, which is a huge achievement for an independent promotion.

The structure is round robin, with teams getting 1 point for a win, 2 for a submission, and three for a DQ victory. A pinfall loss costs a point, with a submission loss -2 points, and a DQ loss -3 points. This comes into play during this taping.

Kraken episodes are usually quick and short on talking segments, but the in-ring promo with The Business is the tentpole of this episode, as Josh Breezzyy gets added to the group and Jay 2 Strong gets added, Clever staging on the entrance, with Jay opening the ropes for everyone else in the faction. Breezzyy seems like an odd fit in The Business — and, after watching live, still does — but we should have known he was a heel at heart with the extra letters in his name. Justin Kayse does a roll call and Jay is conspicuous by admission. That sparks a beatdown initiated by Dom Stuckey because, as Kayse said, “We only have room for winners.” To me this made Breezzyy an even more curious choice since he hasn’t won really anything of note to date in Kraken. Nevertheless, this was a good bit of wrestling TV. Kayse carried this. He’s improved so much as a talker since Kraken first began.

First match on the card is for the Cash In Hand Title, with Joey Hyder defending against Kevin Kantrell, ERC, and JP Harlow. There’s a solid backstage interview with Harlow leading into the match that made me want to see more of him but I’m not sure if he ever comes back. This is probably the best scramble Kraken has done aside from the Ultimate scramble back at the Kraken Classic. Harlow followed up an entertaining introductory promo by being entertaining in the ring. ERC stays his sneaky self, and there’s some excellent camera work on his running hip attacks. Hyder eats a forearm while in the middle of a standing moonsault in a wild bit of timing. Kantrell and Harlow have a slick exchange before Kantrell taps him.

Last match on this episode (does it classify as a main event if it’s last?) puts Joe Black against Kassius King. This fell in the “Fun Squash” category for me. This is just the second appearance in Kraken for Joe, but he already feels like a big deal because of his general presence, his ability as a talker, and the excellent match with Kantrell back at the Kraken Classic. King gets a little offense in but mostly sells for Black — and sells well, especially on a lariat that wraps things up.

Episode 58

A pretty skippable episode. The highlight for me was the amusing backstage interview that kicked off this installment with Kay talking to Quick Drip: Nick Quick and Dante Dripp. They go on to lose to All Star Special in the first match of Tides of War that also felt like a foregone conclusion. Dante gets knocked out cold during this contest.

We also get the first match for Jaz Jones since she joined The Business against Alicia Love. Alicia has the upper hand and starts talking trash to Justin Kayse at ringside for some reason that eludes me and gets rolled up and pinned. Speaking of “Spaceballs” …

At least she didn’t get distracted in the middle of the match by someone’s music playing. That drives me crazy.

Episode 59

More Tides of War action, as The Business, represented by Breezyy and Stuckey, take on the Saturday Night Temptations. This is a decent little tag match. Duke uses up his mulligan with me by complaining about the double team. The Business win after Karl Hager takes a low blow and Dom hits his finisher on CJ Shine. We also get a rock-solid promo by Joe Black, which just adds to what I was saying about his strong presentation.

Charlie Kills faces Travis Ray in the episode main event. Charlie has his red mask and singlet again, continuing to give Spoiler vibes. The regular disclaimers by the announcers about Kraken being anti-murder in Charlie Kills matches consistently amuse me. Charlie gets the win with a reversal in a match that didn’t connect with me, or the crowd, as I would have hoped.

Episode 60

The two best matches of this set of episodes happen here. First up, Noir face Don Haylo and Jayy Wells in the Tides of War. Noir have really grown on me since they debuted in the early days of Kraken, and I’m still curious to see the journey from hated rulebreakers here to really strong fan favorites by this year’s Kraken Classic. Meanwhile, I’ve sung the praises of Haylo and Wells consistently in these pieces, so making them a regular tag team gets a big thumbs up from this corner. Vice Cream have a good energy, and a pleasant dynamic in interviews that makes them easy to like. Mrs. Wright is conspicuous by her absence. Mr. Wright has really sharpened his game in recent outings and that continues here. He even busts out a swank Bret Hart-style running clothesline. There’s a good battle between Haylo and Ehren Black, where Haylo even levels the much bigger Black with a running shoulder tackle. Haylo and Wright have a somewhat awkward exchange down the home stretch, but they make lemonade from lemons, as the result just made Haylo look like more of a powerhouse. Clever finish; Will Huckaby and Sam Hansin interfere and attack… Haylo and Wells? This disqualifies Noir, putting them in a three-point hole early in the Tides of War after the heels shaved Hanson’s head at the last taping. Clever.

In the main event of the episode and the taping, Trever Aeon defends the Kraken Pro title against Lamar Diggs of The Business. Diggs got a guaranteed title shot by winning the Kraken Classic a couple of months ago. I’ve written before about big-fight feel adding to the ambiance of matches, and some very good introductions by Kay go a long way to creating that aura. Kayse continues to show how far he’s come, fanning Diggs with his loaded briefcase early in the match when The Business’ big man powders out to the floor. Aeon has some slick moments here; see how he lured Diggs into a triangle choke while seeming to reel from previous offense. Still, this was the Diggs show for me for much of the match. He busts out a standing dropkick that’s impressive for a guy his size but my favorite was when he hits a fallaway slam that chucks Aeon to the floor, turns to the ringside fans, and bellows “He’s all yours!” Love it. Love everything about it. Aeon puts together quite the comeback, hoisting Diggs for three back drop suplexes. Chaos reigns at the finish. Kayse pulls Referee Clark out of the ring and whacks him with the briefcase before Clark can call for the DQ or eject Kayse from ringside. That brings the rest of The Business to the ring, but wait! Aeon, who teases he’s got reinforcements on Episode 58, gets that help when Eric Silva and Austin Towers, a/k/a the Left Hand head for the ring. The Path clean house, during which Towers, who’s enormous, Sparta kicks Jaz halfway to Alabama. Aeon hits his Kiss Kiss Bang Bang finisher on Diggs, which was an impressive sight, and the champ retains.

One complaint on commentary in this episode: Donnie refers to both Ehren Black and Diggs as “a wrecking ball in wrestling boots.” That was a phrase Donnie previously used just for Brother Azriel, who’s absent from this taping. I preferred it that way; referring to any big man on the roster by the same phrase, even if it’s clever, diminishes the impact of the phrase.

Miss any installments? Check out the index of Review the Kraken entries.

Kraken Pro Wrestling Live Report: April 12

Kraken Pro Wrestling Live Report: April 12

The wife and I found ourselves in Atlanta this past weekend, and Kraken Pro Wrestling just so happened to have a show scheduled for Tifton, on Sunday.

Not only that, this was the go-home show heading into the second anniversary event, the Kraken Classic.

We had to check it out, and we did. So after a three-hour drive from Atlanta that somehow felt longer than the five-hour drive from East Tennessee to Atlanta the night before, we found ourselves at Chino & Letty’s Place, the current home of Kraken.

I’m still way behind the present day on my review series of Kraken and now that I know where things are headed, it will be interesting to watch those episodes from that perspective.

I’ve been to dozens of wrestling shows in my life — some as a fan, some as part of the show. Kraken live is a very different experience from all of them. It’s like the shows happen in their own little self-contained reality. The crowd is not what I would describe as a typical wrestling crowd. They don’t start chants. They don’t heckle wrestlers. They don’t react to big spots or moves, although they sure do enjoy a nasty chop, and they got several of them on this card. It’s also not a dead crowd, by any means. The fan interaction during the entrances, between matches, and at intermission shows that.

Unique.

This was also the go-home show before the Kraken Classic, the second anniversary show for the promotion. Last year’s Kraken Classic was the culmination of most of the main storylines in the first year, and the upcoming anniversary show looks to be the same.

Let’s dive into the results. Thanks to my wife, Sandi Moorehouse, for taking the pictures.

Match 1: Nick Quick vs. CT Entertainment

I got to the show early and stayed late and got to chat with several members of the roster, including Nick. I told him before the show that it was highly entertaining to watch him get annihilated every week, and it’s true. He sells well, and it’s helped him carve out a niche. His entrance is incredibly over with the Kraken fans, and likely benefits from the fact the promotion runs regularly out of the same venue.

The match was a basic but solid opener. CT delivered a nice release German suplex that might have made Nick even shorter. After CT confronted Referee Clark about a slow count on a spinebuster, Nick caught him in a backslide basically out of nowhere. CT pursued Clark to the back still complaining. Nick Quick has one of the eight coins going into the Kraken Classic, by the way. He’s a very effective underdog and the fans enjoy to root for him.

Match 2: Johnny Faith vs. Nathaniel Vanderbilt vs. Brandon Whatley

This is for a Kraken coin, and I’m not sure who had the coin coming in, but it’s also the first match back in Kraken for Whatley, who missed about a year of action with a ruptured Achilles. I’d written before about how Vanderbilt’s rich guy persona lended itself more to him being a heel, and it’s happened. He comes out to opera music, wearing a long coat, an obnoxious hat, and exudes a pompous, obsequious attitude that makes you want to see him get punched. Mission accomplished. This was my first look at Johnny Faith, and he showed some good fire. At one point Whatley had him in a hold and when the referee checked for a submission, Johnny screamed out “I never quit!” Vanderbilt spent most of this match on the floor and got walloped by Whatley every time he tried to get back into the ring. When he did get back in, he had a rough-looking landing on a standing shooting star press on Faith. The finish came when Johnny had Vanderbilt pinned, and Whatley smashed Faith in the head with his nunchucks over the referee’s shoulder. That was fine, but then Whatley hit him again right in front of the referee. I get triple threats are usually no DQ, but this was egregious and buried the poor referee.

Match 3: Jak Myles vs. Julian Balderas vs. Hitta J

Another triple threats for a Kraken coin. Man, the kids in Tifton really dig the Sweeper, and he plays up to them in a way that is almost perfect. Balderas is new to me and has a rugged vibe — and a spear — that all reminded me of Rhino. Hitta J is a singles wrestler now after his brother moved, and his dad is his manager. His presence adds a lot to J’s act, as he’s an imposing dude with presence who carries a big stick (literally). Balderas and Hitta J spent a good bit of time trading endless strikes like Peter Griffin and The Chicken. Hitta J showcased a decent arsenal of power moves. Finally, J got taken down on a combo with Sweeper hitting a Russian legsweep and Balderas a spear. Balderas also busted out what I can describe best as a Vader bomb after jumping from rope to rope in the corner like a Best Moonsault Ever. I dig it, and it’s a nice bit of agility from a big dude. J’s manager, Dr. Kenneth Jones, broke up the pin by pulling his son’s foot into the ropes. Hitta J came back with a chokeslam on Balderas to claim the coin. This finish was fine in a vacuum and should play well enough in a separate episode of TV, but live, it fell flat coming immediately after the nunchuck use in the previous match.

Match 4: All Star Special vs. Noir

Noir are fan favorites now. I repeat, Ehren Black and Mr. Wright, the often reviled duo in Kraken, are fan favorites. No one prepared me for this. They really seemed to be savoring the crowd support, and I like Mr. Wright’s new haircut. Kraken fans don’t chant, except for a “Let’s go Noir” chant that broke out. What is happening?!? Huckaby and Hanson basically worked this one as heels. Hanson caught Wright with the ole knee in the back as he bounces off the ropes to help All Star Special take advantage. Black is even bigger than he looks on TV. Seeing him make a hot tag is a weather event. Things broke down, Huckaby scaled the ropes for a moonsault, and Black cut him off and delivered a choke bomb with a gnarly landing that legit rattled Huck. Noir won the match to advance to the Tides of War finals. The crowd loved it, and I remained thrown by the reaction.

Match 5: Angel del la Muerte vs. Kassius King

The masked luchador got the submission here with a pretty slick hold. I missed most of this one because my Wilford Brimley Spidey sense started tingling, and your favorite wrestling writer with an insulin issue needed to eat. Concession selection for something with protein was sparse. The only real offerings in that vein were boiled peanuts and jerky. Apparently the battle for a food license limits what they can have available, but a little wider selection would be appreciated.

Intermission 

This was an event all in itself, with several members of the roster working the room and hawking their merchandise. A giant group dance broke out with kids and wrestlers and ring announcer Kay Casiano. Sweeper was part of this and selling his hip while he danced, thus making a very fine offering to the wrestling gods.

Match 5: Josh Breezzyy vs. Travis Ray

Most Kraken matches are short by design. Every match on the card except the main event had a 10-minute time limit. Despite the relatively short time limit, nothing really felt rushed… except this match. I’ve already got some thoughts on Breezzyy in The Business coming in my next review on the Kraken archive, but this didn’t work for me.

Match 6: Saturday Night Temptations vs. The Business 

The other Tides of War semifinal. The match was just OK and got overshadowed by the simmering tension in The Business between manager Justin Kayse and Lamar Diggs and Jaz Jones. Diggs and Jones were none too pleased with the way the last event ended, with Kayse turning on Dominic Stuckey and aligning with Brother Azriel, who called his shot as Cash In Hand champion and challenged Stuckey on the spot right after he had won the Kraken Pro Title from Trever Aeon, who looks to be done in Kraken at least for the immediate future. Diggs and Kayse started bickering loudly from the minute they came through the curtain. Add the Temptations to the list of Kraken acts who have a very over ring entrance. CJ Shine and Karl Hager did some good crowd work with Hager’s hat, but The Business jumped them to cut off the shenanigans. Shine spent the majority of this match getting clobbered by The Business. When he did finally tag Hager, Diggs cut off the hot tag with a nice fallaway slam. More dissension between Diggs and Kayse. The ref took a tumble. Breezzyy ran out to interfere, and his superkick clocked Jaz in the face by mistake. The Temptations scored the tandem pin on Diggs, and also ended up with Kayse’s Georgia Wrestling History trophy, a beat that begged for a follow-up but Kayse had it right back for his appearance at the end of the night. I enjoyed the building discord in The Business, which is begging for an eventual climax with Diggs getting his hands on the manager. There’s a Faustian deal that has been made here, but is the devil in this case Kayse, the archvillain of Kraken? Or is Kayse Faust, who made moves and deals for power and influence and championships and now faces potentially brutal consequences for his choices?

Kraken GM Alex Chase is out with the tag titles and a faceoff between Noir and the Temptations. Black was very intense for this, and the crowd loved it.

Match 7: Vice Cream (Don Haylo & Jayy Wells) vs. Red Door (Charlie Kills & Jay 2 Strong)

Match of the night for me. Haylo and Wells have been personal favorites for a while, Jay is arguably the most reliable in-ring wrestler on the roster, and Charlie stands out with his character and tactics like joint manipulation and fish hooking that would warm the cockles of the heart of a World of Sport fan from the 1970s. They started hot with Vice Cream getting jumped. Haylo and Wells turn the tables and engage in an extended double team. I figure Diamond Duke was losing his mind on commentary during this. The crowd loves chops, and they got the nastiest one of the night from Wells, an incredibly nasty-sounding shot that both echoed and thudded, even with Jay wearing a shirt. Red Door end up working over Wells, who fired back but refused to tag out. “I got this!” he said to Haylo, but did he? He did not. A Strong Valley Driver by Jay 2 Strong finished it, and Haylo walked out without his partner.

Match 8: Xander King vs. ERC in Match 4 of their Best of 5

The main event, and the only match that had a longer time limit. ERC came in trailing 2-1 in the Best of 5, which telegraphed the result a good bit. Still a very solid back-and-forth match. King was on the very first few episodes of Kraken and did not impress. He was much better here, and I told him so after the show concluded. ERC stands out in Kraken as a sneaky, crafty wrestler. I’ll have more to say on this one when I’ve watched the rest of the series. ERC delivered a modified gut buster to tie the Best of 5 going into the Kraken Classic.

Kraken Classic ceremony

The final announced thing on the card was a ceremony where the eight wrestlers in the Kraken Classic offered their coins as “admission” to the tournament. Just like weddings and contract signings in pro wrestling, this segment was destined for chaos. The Kraken Classic field includes Haylo, Whatley, Nick Quick, Breezzyy, Hitta J, Charlie Kills, Huck, and Joe Black. As expected, the wrestlers started to brawl. Huckaby and Breezzyy are the final two left standing when Justin Kayse and the rest of The Business came out, and Kayse asked Huckaby to leave. Huck did, which potentially could make him look weak, but much less so after he floored Breezzyy with a punch.

Kayse started ranting and raving about Breezzyy being a weak link, then wiped the paint off of his face using Breezzyy’s own shirt. He introduced his newest client, and the new Kraken Pro champ, Brother Azriel. Once Kayse described him as the new ace of The Business, Stuckey’s music hit to a huge reaction. This double turn from the last event definitely worked. The whole story feels like it’s been lifted from Memphis or Mid-South in their heyday as territories. Kayse ordered Diggs to take out Stuckey, but Diggs and Jaz walked out instead. The crowd loved this.

A quick aside to recognize how valuable Kay Casiano is as a host for Kraken. I consider her one of the five individuals that are the most valuable to the promotion. I’ve done ring announcing, and hosting on wrestling TV, and I’m not very good at either one. Kay has a consistent presence even when chaos is breaking out and brings a credible anchorwoman type presence. During this segment, there was a great beat where, as Kayse started to leave the ring, Kay snatched the microphone he left laying on the apron and handed it to Dom with a big smile.

Stuckey got his turn to talk and made the most of it. Kraken needed a big moment to put butts in seats for the Kraken Classic and Stuckey’s promo really sold it. He challenged Azriel for the title and there’s your the main event at the Kraken Classic.

The stage is set for a strong card to celebrate Kraken’s second anniversary:

Brother Azriel defending the Kraken Pro Title against Dominic Stuckey
Noir vs. Saturday Night Temptations in the Tides of War finals to crown the first Kraken Tag Champions
Xander King vs. ERC in the final match of the Best of 5
Two Kraken Classic four-way semifinals, and the one-on-one Kraken Classic final
The return of the Ultimate Cash in Hand Scramble

Solid.

This was a fun evening of wrestling that moved briskly. Nothing overstayed its welcome and there was only one match that really missed the mark, although I maintain the two back-to-back finishes in the triple threats fell flat because of their sequence, and the unnecessary second shot with the nunchucks. I was also a little disappointed that the one event that worked for our calendar didn’t have Azriel, Stuckey, or Kevin Kantrell in action.

Kraken is very lucky to have this building, which is, hands down, one of the nicest venues for an independent wrestling promotion that I have ever experienced, either as a fan or working as a commentator, announcer, or otherwise behind the scenes. The talent has a very nice backstage dressing room area, and there’s even a catering spread for them.

The venue provides abundant square footage. There’s air conditioning.

And the bathrooms.

I say again, with the full endorsement of my better half … the bathrooms, y’all!

This was probably my wife’s favorite feature of the venue. Independent wrestling leads you to pee in some pretty gross places, at times.

Thanks to Kraken Pro Wrestling for the hospitality.

And look for the next installment of Review the Kraken soon.

Review the Kraken: Multiple Multi-Man Matches, Man

Review the Kraken: Multiple Multi-Man Matches, Man

Kraken Pro Wrestling celebrated its one-year anniversary with the Kraken Classic. The event also represents the climax of stories that have been cultivated since Kraken first started running. Whereas usual installments of this series focus on an entire set of episodes from a single taping, while watching these matches, I decided that breaking up the Kraken Classic into two parts made more sense.

Episode 48

The original Kraken Classic was an eight-man tournament that played out over the first several episodes of Kraken’s show on YouTube. The format’s been changed; the first round now consists of a pair of four-way matches, with the two winners advancing to a one-on-one match for the finals and a guaranteed shot at the Kraken Title.

The first four-way involves Lamar Diggs of The Business, Ehren Black, Joey Hyder, and Jayy Wells. Black is the biggest man in Kraken and Diggs is not far behind him. To no surprise, the story revolves around the two monsters. Hyder and Wells try to join forces against them, then get pummeled by them, only to see the inevitable breakdown and battle between the two behemoths. This is a fun match that is sloppy in places but it’s one of those where the flaws in execution go to serve the inherent chaos of a four-way match that is one fall to the finish.

This is a good match and it is laid out well, giving everyone a chance to shine. Hyder shows his toughness, taking some chops early that leave his chest a gruesome shade of purple. He hits his “Razzle Dazzle” combo (a Finlay roll into a standing moonsault) on Diggs in an impressive athletic display. Later, he throws a knee trembler that I’d like to see become part of his usual arsenal.

I wrote about Wells and his steady progression in Kraken as part of the last review. He’s a hometown guy with a ton of crowd support at these shows in Tifton and he strings together some big offensive moves down the stretch that made me buy that he was going to win even though I already knew the outcome of this match. It’s always a slick feat when a match draws you in to that extent. Wells hits Hyder with a cutter and I adored what comes next: Wells, feeling the effects of the beating he’s taken thus far, uses his head to slowly roll Hyder onto his back for the pin because he’s too fatigued to use his strength and put Hyder’s shoulders on the mat.

This is a real battle that felt like it had stakes and some surprises. Donnie Harris on commentary at one point proclaims the match “is lasting longer than some marriages” (a weird remark when we were about 10 minutes in), but I thought this one breezed by, especially compared to another match on this card. Diggs and Black have a few scraps, and their interactions just provide a tantalizing tease of what a singles match between them would look like. Diggs ultimately scores the win over Hyder, with manager Justin Kayse (who also happens to be Kraken Champion) helping out his charge by taking his briefcase and blasting Black in the head with it outside the ring. Credit to Diamond Duke for pointing out this bit of interference after the fall, noting the “smart move” by Kayse. I actually missed it watching live and caught it on a rewind. It happened fast, and in the background, so calling it out like that was welcome. That’s good commentary.

The second Kraken Classic first-round match involves Sam Hanson, Charlie Kills, Hitta K of the H-Town Hittas, and Brandon Whatley. These four had a tough act to follow after a hot, action-packed opener and this match definitely felt a step or two below the first one as a result. I tend to run cold on multi-man matches because I feel like they fall into the trap of a couple guys in the ring doing something while everyone else is selling or just waiting outside the ring. This match delved into that dicey territory at times. My single top highlight was when Hanson ensnares Hitta K in a bulldog choke, and the amazing expression on Hanson’s face as he exhorts his opponent to tap. Kudos to the camera operator for being in the perfect spot to capture this, too. Charlie gets the duke and Hitta K takes the fall, which pleasantly surprised me given the Hittas entered this match undefeated as a team in Kraken.

In between the two four-ways, we get a short interview segment involving the debuting Joe Black, who is set to face Kevin Kantrell later on the card. I first met Joe more than a decade ago and I’ve been a fan of his work ever since, so I’ve enjoyed getting to see him receive the plaudits he deserves as of late on the Southeastern scene. Joe is smooth and succinct on his comments, which serve as a perfect introduction for him in Kraken. Kantrell steps in, words get exchanged, and Joe departs without shaking Kantrell’s hand, which is a nice callback to the Kantrell-Will Huckaby match that ultimately caused so many problems at the end of 2024.

Episode 49

This episode revolves entirely around the latest Kraken Championship, the Cash In Hand Title. If you’ve been reading these reviews, you know about the Cash In, Cash Out Scramble concept. This is the extrapolation of that: an actual title that the winner then will defend in future scrambles. Defend successfully three times and you get a shot at the Kraken Title. This is billed as the “ultimate” Cash In, Cash Out Scramble. It’s more of a mix between a scramble and a rumble. Five wrestlers start out, and as participants get pinned or submit, a new competitor joins the fray.

There are 13 (!) wrestlers in this match at some point or another, so I feel it would be counterproductive — and a slog to read, for that matter — to do a straight recap. Instead, I wanted to share my major takeaways from this scramble.

  • Nick Quick is one of the first participants and also the first elimination. He continues to win me over as a small underdog and he takes a beating well, which elevates whomever is going against him.
  • Kraken’s core fan favorites are all very over. The Saturday Night Temptations get good reactions for each of their entrances and, when Jak Myles joins as the final entrant, he quickly gets the crowd chanting, “Sweep!” In a time when many crowds sit on their hands just waiting to react to the next big move, it’s endearing to see several Kraken wrestlers connecting with their audiences to such a degree.
  • If you haven’t seen this yet, or you already have, go back and watch and pay attention to what C.J. Shine does. Shine comes in early in the order and is there for most of the match, doing a fine job directing traffic and keeping the match flowing. Shine gets pinned late in the match by ERC, which is probably the best moment yet for ERC in Kraken.
  • Each wrestling promotion has to build its own narrative or, if you’ll indulge my nerdy Dungeons & Dragons side, lore. Establishing certain moves as all-but-unbeatable adds to that lore, and the Woodgrain jumping piledriver by Brother Azriel certainly qualifies. Azriel uses the Woodgrain to defeat Hitta J, who gets pinned for the first time in Kraken. A tough night for the identical twin Hittas …
  • Jay 2 Strong puts on a tour de force performance in this match. One of the first five entrants, Jay goes the duration. Not only that, he bumps and sells for just about every other participant when they join the fray. I was really impressed with his work here.
  • Once everyone has entered, the match switches to a “one fall to a finish” format. The participants at that time are Sweeper, Jay, Huck, and Don Haylo. Myles, appropriately, gets the win after hitting each of the other three with his Russian legsweep finisher. It’s a great story moment as well as the first real signature win for Myles, who was a lovable hard-luck loser on the early Kraken shows, had one of his Cash In Cash out Scramble payouts stolen by The Business, and gets some revenge here by pinning Jay from The Business — even though Jay is somewhat on the outs from the rest of the group heading into the scramble.

I think there’s enough in this scramble to appeal to most wrestling fans but for maximum enjoyment, you’d need to be pretty familiar with Kraken’s product. Fortunately, getting familiar is made easier with my full set of Kraken reviews.

Here are both episodes:

Review the Kraken: Counting Down to the Kraken Classic

Review the Kraken: Counting Down to the Kraken Classic

My journey through the Kraken Pro Wrestling TV timeline has reached the second Kraken Classic, which also marked the one-year anniversary of Kraken opening. If you’ve been following along throughout this run, you’ve joined me in seeing what I would consider a rare degree of long-term storytelling for an independent wrestling company. You’ve also seen this narrative grow, coalesce, and adapt to the always unpredictable twists and turns that happen with trying to maintain a roster.

This review covers the “go-home” taping for Kraken before the Kraken Classic and finalizes the eight-man field for the tournament. The central story of the taping, however, involves Will Huckaby and Kevin Kantrell as GM Donnie Harris does his best to deus ex machina Kantrell’s predicament. There’s no single match in these four episodes that rises above the level of “good” but some solid build throughout just the same.

I tend to focus in on the commentary on these reviews, since I’ve been in that role previously for other promotions. I try nitpick too much, really I do, but the commentary was pretty rough on this taping at times, between Donnie misidentifying some moves and trying to make several awkward verbal segues. Meanwhile, Diamond Duke’s heel commentator schtick has devolved to either complaining about the referee’s count being too fast or slow, or babyface tag teams double teaming illegally. I’m not sure how either of these is supposed to generate heat, unless being annoying through repetition counts as heat.

Enough blabbin’! On with the review!

Episode 44

One of Kraken’s biggest positives is that the promotion has a very diverse roster without being overt about it or pausing to praise themselves for how diverse they are. Edward Draven, who wrestles Joey Hyder in the main event of this episode, is an excellent example. It’s pretty obvious that Draven exists somewhere on the LGBT spectrum but that’s not his entire identity within the Kraken realm. He can be who he is, without it being made a major issue in and of itself.

Draven had a Kraken coin, then lost it to Jak Myles, who lost it to Hyder, and now tries to win back said coin. Draven’s early antics against Hyder are an homage to Adrian Street and Goldust matches: kissing Hyder’s hand and spanking him among, er, other things. Hyder gets frustrated but refrains from really pummeling Draven, eventually winning clean with his “Razzle Dazzler” finisher — a Finlay roll into a standing moonsault. This is pretty good, and easily the best match in Kraken for Draven, whose selling after the fact with an aggrieved series of “Ow” exclamations got me. I like Hyder quite a bit but he needs some sort of hook to really reach the next level.

This episode also includes a forgettable Tsu Nami vs. Alicia Love match that sets up an in-ring talking segment with Donnie to schedule a strap match showdown with Rose Gold at the Kraken Classic, which didn’t even end up happening on that card. To get the match with Tsu, Rose had to relinquish her Kraken coin. Moving on…

Episode 45

Donnie’s back in the ring and brings out Huckaby, who beat up a referee at the last taping after a bad call by the official cost Huck and Hanson in a tag match against the H-Town Hittas. Again, Donnie makes Huck go stand in the corner, after he did this with Tsu Nami on the previous episode. I realize I’m seven months behind real time on my Kraken viewing, but I really hope this doesn’t become a recurring bit for in-ring talking segments involving Donnie … unless the goal is to make Donnie look like a petty and childish authority figure, in which case, mission accomplished. Anyhow Donnie then brings out Kantrell, who was fired and had to receive 10 lashes from The Business at the last taping in an excellent piece of work. Donnie, who was absent at that taping, makes a tag gauntlet and forces Huckaby and Kantrell to team together. Win the gauntlet and they keep their jobs. This is a nice callback to the singles match between these two where Huckaby’s current grumpy grizzled character shift first manifested after Kantrell tapped. I like the long-term storytelling and the continuity, but not so much the segment that gets us here.

Jayy Wells was the standout of the episode for me. His slow progression in Kraken reminds me of the way New Japan brings along its young lion trainees. Throughout his time as a Kraken regular, Wells gets stronger and hits harder with every outing. Seeing Wells get his first win in this scramble, and earn a Kraken coin in the process, was clearly by design and nicely done from a booking perspective. The scramble also includes Don Haylo, an economy-sized hoss who I’d like to see more of in Kraken.

Speaking of hosses, I had high hopes for this episode’s main event between Lamar Diggs and Brother Azriel both ranked among my top candidates for Kraken MVP from 2024 but they didn’t get to turn loose as I would have liked. I did appreciate how the match was structured, with neither man leaving their feet much, until Diggs uncorks a standing dropkick (!) to take control. Azriel busts out a fallaway slam later in a nice feat of strength. Business manager Justin Kayse pulls Diggs’ foot into the ropes to break up a pin, gets caught by the referee, and ejected. Diggs proceeds to win the match cleanly anyway, strongly suggesting that Diggs doesn’t even need Kayse in his corner in the first place. They’ve been teasing dissension with Jay 2 Strong being on the outs in The Business but I’ll go on record now that Kayse eventually getting wrecked by Diggs needs to happen.

Episode 46

Three matches on this episode, which is a rarity when most have one or two bouts.

The Hittas win again and this week’s victims are Josh Breezzyy and Kassius King. It’s more of an even match than I expected, but the Hittas prevail. One of them has a Kraken coin, but no one knows which because identical twins. Donnie relishes the way he hits the inflection on “Hittas” throughout.

Aeon wrestles Jay 2 Strong in the episode main event. Kraken could use a continuity editor because the commentators call this a rematch, although this is the first time they’ve wrestled here in singles. Jay is also solo for the match, after a backstage segment in The Business locker room straight out of an old Three Stooges short in which Diggs gives Jay a chop (for good luck?) and Jay drops Justin Kayse’s briefcase on Diggs’ foot. Aeon and Jay are two of the top hands on the Kraken roster, and combine for just a good, solid match that feels effortless. Jay busts out the big-match offense (a Spanish Fly!) but Aeon won’t be denied and comes back for the victory. Afterward, Donnie awards Aeon a match against Dominic Stuckey, the “ace” of The Business who is absent from this taping, at the Kraken Classic. If Aeon wins, he gets a three-minute match with Kayse for the Kraken Title.

Next, Charlie Kills returns to face Nathaniel Vanderbilt for the final Kraken coin. This is a good solid match and easily the best Kraken work yet from Vanderbilt, who appears to be a wrestling footage nerd like me. He nearly wins the match with his version of the cross-legged Michinoku Driver — or, as he calls it, the Tax Exemption. Because he’s a rich guy, get it? Vanderbilt kicks out of a piledriver along the way before an avalanche choke bomb finishes it for Kills to the crowd’s delight. It still amuses me greatly that there’s a small independent wrestling promotion running in the buckle of the Bible Belt in southern Georgia and arguably its two most popular wrestlers are a serial killer gimmick (Kills) and pretty much Satan himself (Aeon). Speaking of gimmicks, Vanderbilt’s rich-kid persona seems better suited for the heel side of things.

Episode 47

The main focus of this episode is the tag gauntlet, with Huckaby and Kantrell’s jobs on the line. As such, they’re the first team in and have to run the entire gamut. There’s a lot of “can they coexist?” talk surrounding this, which would mean more if three of the four teams Huck and Kantrell face weren’t also teaming together for the first time. Travis Ray and Nick Quick are up first, and this doesn’t last long. I know every wrestler aspires to be a headliner these days, but Quick does some good work as an enhancement guy in Kraken and that continues here. Brandon Whatley and ERC are next and last a little bit longer before Huck smashes ERC with a spinebuster. This segment of the gauntlet did make me hanker for a Kantrell-Whatley singles match, though.

Noir is the third team up in what represents the bulk of the match and the best part of this gauntlet. I found Noir pretty bland in their first several matches in Kraken, but they’ve really found their groove as vicious rule breakers. Noir goes right for the heat with Mrs. Wright spraying Huck in the eyes upon Noir’s entrance. Referee Clark struggles to take control of things as Kantrell gets put through a door propped up in the corner. Donnie points out, relentlessly, that the bell never rang so all this is legal. Fair point, but it makes me wonder why everyone in Kraken doesn’t just bushwhack their opponent with every weapon they can? After several minutes of beat down on Kantrell, a half-blinded, punch-drunk Huck staggers to his feet in the corner with fists clenched. He didn’t hear no bell! Mr. Wright dips deep into the heel playbook of dastardly tactics, and I’m here for all of it. Huck does his part, selling like he’s being tortured in an Inquisition dungeon. When Ehren Black tags in and eventually goes for a cover, Huck screams as he kicks out — in pain? Frustration? Maybe both? Noir get a little too confident, and a flash pin by Huck sends them packing, and provokes another beat down after the bell.

Sam Hanson and Jak Myles are out as the final foes. Hanson and Huck of course team together in All-Star Special. In character, Donnie is kind of a jerk by forcing these two partners to face off. Then again, that never happens, as Kantrell scores a pin on The Sweeper in seconds. That’s… it? Huck and Kantrell win the gauntlet and keep their jobs, but the muted response from the crowd tells me they don’t know how to take the sudden result. Join the club.

After a smiley happy good guy interview from Jayy Wells about making the Kraken Classic, Donnie gets in the ring for yet another talking segment — his fourth of the taping if you’re keeping score. Donnie brings out the entire field for the Kraken Classic: Hyder, Wells, Diggs, Charlie, Hanson, Ehren Black, Whatley, and one of the Hittas although both comes out. Once everyone is in the ring, a brawl breaks out within seconds and that ends up pretty enjoyable and culminates with Hanson the last man standing.

I’ll be driving into the Kraken Classic next week, and already knowing some of what happens there, I think multiple reviews will be in order to give everything due diligence.

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

Check out all four of these episodes, in the below playlist: