I started doing these Kraken Pro Wrestling reviews last fall, a few months after this promotion first debuted in South Georgia. Work and life and family responsibilities have made it difficult to keep pace or post reviews regularly, but we’re finally into 2025 with this taping.
These four episodes remain consistently watchable, thanks to a new overarching plot device, the Pieces of 8. As explained in one of the final episodes of 2024, the Pieces of 8 are eight coins, each of which guarantee the holder a spot in the Kraken Classic tournament to take place in May. The coins are awarded randomly to match winners; however, the coin holders become targets from there. If someone with one of the Pieces of 8 is pinned or submitted in any type of match, that wrestler gains possession of the coin — and then has to defend it.
The question of “who gets a coin” is the dominant story of this taping and it makes matches that are otherwise skippable at least worth catching the finish. Six of the eight coins get doled out in these four episodes, and I’m interested to see where this goes.
Hey, we’ve got a new opening video! Meanwhile, Donnie Harris, Jr., remains the lead commentator but is now the official general manager (no more “acting” tag after he assumed that role after the predecessor just vanished from Kraken).
We get right to the action, and assigning the coins, with Ehren Black capturing the first Piece of 8 by scoring the pin in a short tag match pitting Noir against Gabe Norton and Jayy Wells. Once tagged in by Mr. Wright, Black makes quick work of Jayy and Gabe. They’re hitting the ground running with the unpredictable, and quite creative, concept of allocating these coins.
Will Huckaby takes on ERC in the episode main event, which fell in the “fun while it lasted” category for me. I’ve been enjoying ERC’s antics as a crafty, undersized heel. Huckaby has been foul tempered ever since he was submitted by Kevin Kantrell at the last taping and then refused Kantrell’s following the match. That saltiness leads to Huck ultimately getting himself disqualified here.
The highlight of this episode is the singles match between Sam Hanson and Travis Ray. I like what I’ve seen out of Ray, who with the right moves could make his way to the top of the card in Kraken down the road. Ray gets a good showing here in defeat. I particularly liked him yanking on Hanson’s beard to pull him into grasp for a uranage and a pair of avalanches in the corner provoke a full-fledged “daggum” from Donnie on commentary. Hanson gets the win, and a coin, with a backslide pin out of nowhere.
The main event of the taping sees Trever Aeon and Jak Myles join forces against The Business duo of Jay 2 Strong and Diggs, This match was just OK — though it did feature a nice hot tag by Aeon — and had another sudden conclusion, this time with Jay, who’s been portrayed as more of the “weak link” in The Business recently, pinning Aeon on a rope-assisted schoolboy and earning himself a coin.
This episode also includes a Diamond Den segment featuring Jayy Wells, the introduction of Joey Hyder, and another chapter — albeit a very rough one — of the Rose Gold-Tsu Nami feud.
Liked the different opening to this one, as the camera follows Chad Skywalker to retrieve an envelope that contains his “assignment” to defeat Brandon Whatley. I just hope someone remembers to check that oven before they try to use it!
Skywalker and Whatley headline the episode. It’s a good, solid match, but one that struggles from the absence of a clear fan favorite. Who’s the crowd supposed to root for: the hired gun in Skywalker, or Whatley, who jumps Chad from behind to start the match? There’s a cool visual down the stretch where Skywalker kicks Whatley’s glove off his hand. Skywalker scores the win and, fitting the theme of this taping, a coin.
The Cash In, Cash Out Scramble returns and Edward Draven gets the somewhat surprising result in a taping with several surprising winners. Draven also gets a coin and, at this point, has to be considered the most vulnerable of the coin holders. Joey Hyder is also in the field, making his Kraken debut, and he’s easily the standout of the match.
A segment outside the building sets up a future tag match between All Star Special and Wells and Norton fueled in large part by Huckaby’s hatred of … ketchup? Since tapping out to Kantrell, Huckaby has become the bitter, salty veteran who gets mad over nothing and I’m here for it. It’s the type of thing you probably have encountered in the workplace and definitely have encountered if you spent any time in wrestling. I realize I am several months behind but maybe a future segment will have Huck getting mad at someone for not shaking his hand while purposely avoiding that person so they can’t ever shake his hand. Not that I am speaking from experience…
Apparently there can be only one as Kassius King (not to be confused with Cassius King) is now the lone wrestler with that homonym name now on the Kraken roster. King teams with Don Haylo against the H-Town Hittas, who win in less time than it took me to write and format this paragraph. The twin that scores the pin gets a coin. How will his brother react? The idea of both Hittas getting coins is intriguing.
We get another Diamond Den segment (now with theme music!) and it might be the best of the bunch overall. Karl Hager is the guest and has the schtick turned all the way to 11. I laughed out loud several times, not just at his answers to some of Diamond Duke’s questions but his mannerisms and fidgets.
Once again, the main event of the taping is the best match of this set of episodes. Dominic Stuckey takes on Charlie Kills and, if Charlie wins, he gets a three-minute match against Justin Kayse for the Kraken Title. Stuckey is a very good wrestler who has a knack for doing different things in each of his matches. That trend continues against Charlie in an old-school match with some wrinkles I did not expect: stomps to the foot and hand, and at one point manipulating the ankle joint to reverse a hold. The finish is hot. Kayse yanks young referee Clark out of the ring to break up a three count, and Clark decks Kayse with a punch! This is the first time that anyone in Kraken has struck Kayse and it’s a very interesting choice to give that spot to a referee. Stuckey ends up scoring another tainted win, but this was a nice addition to the ongoing story.
For other entries in the Review The Kraken series, here is a master index.
Looking for something more retro? I’m also working on Mat Quest, a chronological viewing guide to the WWE archive on Peacock.
You can watch all four episodes here:
In Moore House Wrestling 