Indy show recap time!
Tonight, DEFY invited us back to Tacoma’s Temple Theatre for DEFY 6: “Heatwave 253”. This show was originally a co-branded DEFY/Crash show; however, something must have happened backstage to kill the deal, as Crash wasn’t mentioned once during the show and they almost entirely used local talent. The last-minute name change reflects the record-breaking heatwave we’ve got going on up here right now, which thankfully wasn’t as bad as it could have been - the smoke from the wildfires in Canada has been blocking some of the sunlight, so it only got to 90 in Tacoma instead of the 105 that was initially forecasted. Fortunately, the Temple has semi-decent AC, there was a breeze blowing in off the Sound, and they had plenty of cheap bottled water on hand, so the venue was entirely bearable. Had this been at Washington Hall the place would’ve been much hotter.
I got there early for the DEFYCon meet & greet and got to meet Flip Gordon out front before the doors opened, as his parents and sister had come to the show and he was saying hi to them. Seems like a nice guy. Inside, I got to chat briefly with Jeff Cobb (who called me Jimmy because of the Cornette Face shirt I wore yet again) and Lio Rush, and got signed 8x10s of them to go on my gradually-expanding wall of wrestling memorabilia. (They’ll be going right next to Davey Boy Smith Jr. and the copy of Vince Russo’s restraining order on Jim Cornette that Jim autographed).
Steve Migs, the regular ring announcer, is out of town this week, so another DJ from KISW filled in for him - Kevin Diers, who hosts their Saturday late-night metal block. He did an OK job, but he didn’t really seem to be a wrestling fan - he got some of the terminology wrong, and on one match he forgot to announce how many falls it was scheduled for, which lead to some heckling as we had no idea how many falls there would be. 
Opening match was a mixed six-man lucha rules match - Los Sexi-Mexis (Ave Rex and Sonico) and Avispa vs. the Cunninghams (Big Jack and Carl the Catch) and Kate Carney. The latter team is an odd pairing - it makes sense since they’re all from Bellingham, but it doesn’t because Kate is a face and the other two are heels. There was some confusion about whether to cheer for her or not. Just like at DEFY 3, the Cunninghams jumped the gun and attacked the Sexi-Mexis during the introductions, and dominated for most of the match, with the faces attacking Big Jack two or three-on-one and being unable to knock him down. Avispa was really impressive in this match - she was wrestling the men and taking some pretty amazing bumps, including a powerbomb and a Flatliner from Big Jack. She was also the only one who was eventually able to knock Jack off his feet, and ultimately got the pin on Carney by putting her in the Tree of Woe and doing a top-rope foot stomp.
Up next was Jeff Cobb (Matanza) vs. Ethan HD. Ethan lost a loser-leaves-town match back at DEFY 1, but that was in Seattle, and this is Tacoma. He was a last-minute replacement for Jack Evans, who had to bow out due to an emergency. Both guys got face pops and a “WELCOME BACK!” chant. Jeff came to the ring wearing the heavyweight championship belt from APW (a Bay Area territory), but wasn’t defending it. Someone in the audience yelled for Jeff to take Ethan to Suplex Island, which started a “SUPLEX ISLAND!” chant. Jeff looked very confused about it and asked the audience if that was somewhere in Puget Sound, which got a laugh.
This match started off as a slow-paced technical affair, with Jeff really showing off his amateur background (he wrestled for Guam in the 2004 Olympics), and transitioning into the bigger power moves later on. At one point, Jeff gave Ethan a top-rope superplex that was simply amazing - he had Ethan extended fully vertical above him and held him in place for about ten seconds. Jeff would eventually get the win off a tilt-a-whirl back drop.
The last match of the first half was an oddly-booked tag match - Derek Drexl and Batboy vs. King Khash and Clark Connors. I say odd because all these guys are normally heels, but Khash and Connors worked face for the night and actually got a solid pop. (I guess when it’s Evil Iranian and ordinary wrestling guy vs. Satanic rapist and Weekly World News character, the Iranian is the good guy by default.) Khash came out with his Iranian flag and pointy shoes like usual, but didn’t play it up too much. Drexl and Batboy were announced as hailing from “The Murder City, Detroit” for this match. Drexl came out with his kendo stick, and poked the announcer in the crotch with it before taking some time out to dry-hump the ring. I don’t know much about Clark Connors and I think he’s fairly green. Khash and Connors were accompanied by Rebel Kel, a woman wrestler I’ve never heard of before but is quite physically impressive and shares the Bella Twins’ taste in leather booty shorts.
Pretty solid by-the-numbers tag match. The kendo stick got used a few times, and Rebel got involved a few times while the referee was distracted. At one point, Batboy yelled “SOMEBODY GIVE ME A CHAIR!” and the guy sitting next to me obliged. Connors was the Ricky Morton for most of the match, before ultimately making the hot tag and allowing Khash to hit a springboard clothesline on Drexl for the win.
Before the intermission, Diers made two big announcements. The first, that DEFY 7, being held next month at the same venue, will feature the return of John Morrison, Taya, and Jeff Cobb. The second, that on Saturday the 19th, DEFY will be holding a FREE outdoor show in downtown Seattle, featuring the PNW debut of Brian Cage! (I’ve got tickets for Tom Petty that evening, so hopefully it’s an early show.)
After intermission was a match featuring two women I haven’t seen before - Desi Derata vs. Cat Power. Cat is a veteran of Shimmer and was tag team partners with Asuka in Japan, and is billed as fighting out of Tokyo (I think she’s actually from Canada.) Desi Derata is a Native American from California who works the west coast indies and has fought in MMA as well, and represents a stable of Native wrestlers called the Arrow Club. Pretty good match. Cat does well as a psycho heel, making the creepy eyes and hissing and growling at her opponent. Desi gets the win off a springboard.
Up next was Tacoma’s Mike Santiago vs. Flip Gordon. Flip wrestles in ROH and is an active-duty serviceman in the Idaho National Guard. This was my first time seeing him and he really impressed me. True to his name, he’s all about “the flippy shit” - his entire style is based around flips and acrobatics, and he pulls it off better than most acrobatic wrestlers (including most luchadors who weigh less than he does) than I’ve ever seen. He did a simple standing flip at the beginning of the match to show off, which Santiago tried to top by doing… a somersault! It got an ironic “HOLY SHIT!” chant from the crowd. I was able to get Santiago’s attention while heckling him by telling him that he was a hypocrite for wearing a “Don’t Be an Asshole” shirt, and by telling him that he sucks even worse than Tacoma does. (I accidentally spat on him at one point, but I don’t think anybody noticed.) Santiago got in a Pedigree at one point for a near-fall, but Flip ultimately got the win off a top-rope 630.
The main event of the evening was Shane Strickland defending the DEFY Championship against Lio Rush. (A bit of background since I didn’t do a write-up of the last show; at DEFY 5, Davey Richards beat Shane in a tournament final to become the first DEFY Champion. Two weeks later, they had a rematch in CZW where Shane won both the DEFY title and the CZW world championship.) In the meantime, Shane also won the top title of WrestleCircus (the Austin territory), and he brought all three belts to the ring with him, which was a pretty impressive sight.
This was announced as being Lio’s final match in DEFY, as it’s an open secret that he’s signed with WWE and will be starting in NXT soon. As such, you’d think the outcome would be a foregone conclusion, but it was one hell of a suspenseful match nonetheless. It was on fire from beginning to end, the crowd was hot for both guys, and it rivaled their match at DEFY 2 for one of the best matches of the year. A chair got involved at one point, leading to a spot where Lio was in the chair, Shane was setting up for a superkick, then stopped at the last second and instead gave him a titty-twister. There was an impressive spot where Lio did five dives in a row trying to knock Shane off his feet. Both men did top-rope foot stomps that failed to get them the pin. Shane would ultimately retain when he managed to lock in a rear choke for the submission.
After the match, as Shane was celebrating, Mike Santiago ran out and started beating him up. (Perhaps he wants a title shot?) Ethan HD (who was Mike’s former tag partner in the Portland territory, and who lost the aforementioned loser-leaves-town match to him) ran in and pulled Santiago off him. They had a stare-down… and then started beating Shane up together, signifying Ethan’s heel turn and the reunion of the Amerikan Guns. Lio Rush, who’d already left the ring, ran back in to make the save and the two of them chased the Guns off. Shane got on the mic and said “Well, I don’t know what that bullshit was about, but thank you Lio.” He went on to thank Lio for all the great matches they’ve had together, and then handed him the mic. Amidst a sea of “NXT!” chants, Lio said he was grateful to have his final PNW match in front of such a great crowd, that he’d loved working in DEFY, and promised that wherever he goes next, he’s gonna keep blowing our minds.
Pretty good show overall. Good night for the babyfaces, seeing as they won every single match (as opposed to DEFY 5, where the heels were on top). It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Penta or Fenix or Rey or any of the other Mexican talent who’ve been working Crash shows, but they put on a solid card nonetheless.
