Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

PREVIEW: PWA Black Label Presents: Wahlberg vs Ugg (3/23/19)

Finally, after quite some time Pro Wrestling Australia’s (PWA) dominating champion Caveman Ugg has a clear number one contender gunning for the gold.

Once again though PWA’s show isn’t just focused on the main event. Up and down the card, no matter where you look there is a potentially show-stealing matchup. Let’s take a closer look at the matches which have been announced so far.

Michael Spencer vs. Tyler Payne vs. Jax Jordan vs. Adam Hoffman

The faction warfare explodes this weekend in a fatal four-way match. The match includes three separate faction members and one man who has resolutely remained unaligned.

In his first appearance since joining the Black Shirt Cool Group (BSCG) Jax Jordan will be facing SMS’ Tyler Payne, Four Nations’ Adam Hoffman and the one lone man Michael Spencer.

After a difficult period where he attempted to join The Babes Jax Jordan has now finally found an ally in Concrete Davidson. Will joining the BSCG give Jordan the confidence boost he needs to finally string some victories together?

Tyler Payne has also had a difficult period since unmasking and returning to PWA. After successive losses to Robbie Eagles and Shazza McKenzie he will be looking to use this match as a reset point in his singles career.

For Adam Hoffman, the last show at Max Watts certainly didn’t go as planned. Particularly when his entrance music was changed to Blue by Eiffel 65. Will the anger still be lingering deep inside?

Finally, there is the one man in this match who has yet to show any allegiances to any of the many factions running wild in PWA. Michael Spence has recently been embroiled in a heated rivalry with Madison Eagles, which ultimately saw him facing and losing to Jessica Troy who was acting as a last-minute injury replacement for Eagles. Could we finally see ‘The Prince’ find his royal court by joining one of the many groups in PWA?

Mat Diamond vs. Mat Rogers

In recent months faction warfare has become an ever increasingly important part of PWA. Whether it is the Four Nations domination of the tag team division, The Babes continually assisting each other during their rise through the ranks, or the introduction of two new groups the BSCG and The Kelly Gang. 

For The Velo-Cities, following their unsuccessful attempts to claim tag team gold they’ve come to realize in PWA power comes with numbers. Hence the addition of Mat Diamond to their group, and the attempted recruitment of ‘Full Force’ Mat Rogers. However despite their best efforts, The Velo-Cities have yet to secure the services of Rogers, and thus are still suffering beatings by many of the other factions.

After suffering yet another brutal beating from The Kelly Gang last month, where Rogers again chose not to come to the rescue, Diamond has had enough and has demanded to face Rogers one on one.

Will the smaller, but faster, Diamond be able to overcome the behemoth Rogers and finally convince him to join The Velo-Cities?

Ricky South vs. Unsocial Jordan


Unsocial Jordan and his group SMS have been on a crusade to censor PWA Black Label and have the company return to its family-friendly roots. Recently they have set their sights on a man who personifies PWA Black Label perhaps more than any other member of the roster, ‘Tuff Stuff’ Ricky South.

The target was painted on South’s back during Diego’s last show feat. Jimmy Havoc when he attempted to send Diego off happy with a lap dance. Obviously, SMS & Unsocial Jordan took offense to this gesture and thus interjected themselves to stop it from happening. This then carried over to last month’s show where South and Unsocial Jordan would square off. 

During that encounter, Unsocial Jordan would once again censor South by wiping the lipstick from South’s mouth mid-match. This would then come into play later in the match when South had an opportunity to defeat Unsocial Jordan but instead stopped to reapply his lipstick. That brief moment of hesitation would ultimately cost South the match as Unsocial Jordan capitalized with a quick roll-up for the 1, 2, 3.

Hot off the heels of his incredible performance at the Chikara Young Lions Cup last week South is looking for redemption against Unsocial Jordan. However, Unsocial Jordan would only agree with the added stipulation being that if South once again losses he must join SMS.

Robbie Eagles & Shazza McKenzie vs. The Four Nations (Jack J. Bonza & Jessica Troy)

Last month the PWWA Champion Shazza McKenzie also gained a clear number one contender in the form Jessica Troy. As a little teaser to their impending clash PWA management has put together a tag team encounter, where both McKenzie & Troy were able to choose their own partners. And boy did they pick some incredible partners.

In the corner of McKenzie will be PWA fan favorite and Bullet Club’s own Robbie Eagles. The last time these two paired up was actually to battle the Four Nations 3 years ago, an encounter in which the duo of McKenzie & Eagles were victorious.

Joining forces with Troy on the other side of the ring will be none other than the leader of the red nation, Jack J. Bonza. Both members of this duo will potentially be looking to target McKenzie, Troy to soften her up for the future championship match and Bonza to gain redemption for his loss to McKenzie which set her on this path towards holding both the PWWA and PWA Heavyweight Championships.

Marcus Kool vs. Mick Moretti

After becoming the inaugural Colosseum Tournament champion Mick Moretti is looking for his next challenge. With Matty Wahlberg occupying the PWA Champion Moretti has been forced to look across the ditch to New Zealand. In doing so he has accepted a challenge from the newly minted Southern Pro Wrestling (SPW) New Zealand Champion ‘The Hooligan’ Marcus Kool.

These two men are currently at the top of their game and are both willing to use mind games to come out victorious. This one could leave us with more questions than answers by the end of the night. 

Who will come out on top? Where does that place the winner? If Kool wins who will be his next PWA target? If Moretti wins does he earn a shot at New Zealand gold?

Steph De Lander vs. Indi Hartwell 

Two of Australia’s hottest prospects are set to clash in PWA for the first time this weekend.

Whilst the name Steph De Lander is new to PWA the competitor herself has a vast range of experiences in PWA. Formerly known as SMS member FaceBrooke the newly unmasked De Lander will be looking to make an immediate impact as she now begins her life without the mask. In order to do so though De Lander will have to overcome the hottest prospect out of Melbourne, Indi Hartwell.

Last year Hartwell went on a tear capturing championships around Australia. One title she didn’t manage to capture though was the PWWA Championship. This weekend Hartwell will be looking to begin her quest towards PWWA gold by spoiling the arrival of De Lander to PWA.

PWA Heavyweight Championship: Caveman Ugg (c) vs. Matty Wahlberg

Over the course of the last year, Matty Wahlberg has been steadily climbing the ranks within PWA, much to the despise of his coaches at the Pro Wrestling Academy and of PWA management. Wahlberg has done so by being outspoken, arrogant and perhaps even cocky. However, he has managed to back up all of the trash talk as he has defeated the best PWA and the world has to offer, most notably by defeating Jimmy Havoc in a NO DQ match in January.

That victory over Havoc in January only bolstered the confidence of ‘The 21st Century Success Story’ aka ‘The Natural Born Athlete’ Wahlberg and saw him then call out the monstrous PWA Champion Caveman Ugg. Not only did Wahlberg call out Ugg at PWA but he has been doing so whenever he can. Whether that be through social media or at Newcastle Pro Wrestling or World Series Wrestling (WSW) shows, notable incidents occurred during both WSW events in Sydney as Wahlberg spewed trash talk toward Ugg who was sitting the balcony for both events.

Whilst Wahlberg has been running his mouth profusely he also realizes how big of an opportunity this is for him and has thus entered into a rigorous training camp. This “fight camp” is akin to a UFC training camp and has seen Wahlberg being followed by a documentary crew who is showcasing the camp on PWA’s social feeds.

Conversely, the PWA Champion Caveman Ugg has been his usual self as he quietly goes about his preparations for a championship defense. Unlike many of Wahlberg previous opponents, Ugg has not been sucked into the war of words which could potentially be unsettling for the challenger.

Perhaps the biggest question leading into this match though is what role will The Babes play in this match? Ugg will need to overcome the numbers disadvantage if he is to walk out of Max Watts on Saturday still holding the gold.

Jamie Apps

Jamie Apps

Jamie Apps has been working as a newspaper editor for a number of years covering everything from music, comedy, theatre, film and wrestling in Sydney, Australia. Jamie has been following the Australian independent wrestling scene for a decade, and as such will give you unparalleled insight into the blossoming scene down under.

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