PRB Fightertainment Spectacle 4: Tournament of Breath 

 

April 3, 2024 

 

WRESTLEMANIA WEEK REVIEW #5 

 

Source: Mike Bailey’s Twitch (no fee) 

 

We’re in Pottsville, Pennsylvania at Pilger Ruh Brewing. Host is Veda Scott. This one kicked off about an hour late because Mike Bailey and Veda Scott were still at the previous show, and it took them hours to get across Philly. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken that extra booking if he was running an entire show?  

We start with Veda complaining that she’s doing commentary and filming the show and is also drinking a hazy IPA. Is it a bit weird that she calls her husband “Speedball”? “Hang on, I got to make a tweet”. TOB is the “world’s first all inflatable death match tournament”. They have no microphones, so I can’t hear anything.  

Looking at their cards, it seems every show is a tournament of some kind. We’re an hour into the stream and we’ve just about done the introductions. There is, of course, no ring. They’re just wrestling in a bar.  

 

PRB Fightertainment Championship 

Jason Furious (c) vs. Ryan Ryzz vs. Tony Deppen vs. Shaun Smith 

Jason what now? GIMMICK INFRINGEMENT! Although someone yelling “let’s go Furious” perks me up a bit. Yeah, I’m getting the job done boys. Thanks for the support. To kick the match off Deppen out-chugs Ryzz. Deppen is a true pro. The issue with there being no ring is there’s nowhere to hide. So, you can see when someone is just chilling out doing nothing.  

 

It took them 2.5 hours to get here and set up for this show took an hour but now Veda Scott eats a slice of pizza, during the first match. The match is actually tremendous fun. They do a submission chain and Ryzz gets a two count on the referee and the referee gets a two count on Ryzz. Furious pins Ryzz with a handful of tights. This was fun and I’m constantly reminded that wrestling is whatever you make of it. **½ 

 

Veda explains that during the Tournament of Breath finishes can only occur in inflatable swimming pool and in the first round “the pen is mightier than the sword”. As we have inflatable pencils and inflatable swords. Jason Furious takes over as referee/MC because “we don’t have enough guys”.  

 

Miles Penn vs. Katrina Creed vs. Joey Janela  

Joey stops off to make out with an inflatable shark on his way to the ring, uh, pool. Miles jabs Katrina in the eye with a pencil, which normally would be horrific but inflatable weapons kinda…take the edge off. Janela yells “Yeah, I’m gonna no sell that” after eating a superkick. Veda explains there’s only one pool so hopefully no one breaks it. Joey uses an inflatable pencil as a prosthetic penis. That’s where we’re at. Miles and Katrina have a pretty good sword fight. Creed and Miles both end up getting stabbed to death and Janela pins Miles’ corpse in the pool. Innovative contest! I enjoyed it. 

 

Mike Bailey vs. Ben the Bean 

Ben is lightweight. Bailey explains how chops work to him, which is good on-the-job learning. Ben’s arm is too thin to make any noise. Ben is so small that Bailey’s beating of him feels mean. Ben then scores a huge upset with an inside cradle of nowhere. This was easily the worst thing on the show so far.  

 

Zack Xander vs. Charlie Tiger vs. Cole Radrick  

Inflatables here include a giant hammer and three monkeys. Bailey joins commentary to say “this whole show is bullshit” just as an inflatable monkey starts to eat Xander’s face. Cole stops off for a while to play an inflatable saxophone. “The Spirit of Bleeding Gums Murphy is flowing through Cole Radrick” – Veda might be finally winning me over. Xander is the first guy to dive off the bar/table area. Radrick finishes Xander with a Pedigree in the pool. Charlie Tiger got a bit carried away and broke the big hammer, which, to that point, had been the most effective weapon.  

 

Sway Archer vs. Mike Bailey 

As Archer gets a lot of near falls, I’m wondering if Mike Bailey was paying people in “wins over Mike Bailey”. You do the show and I’ll to the job, brrrrrrother. They put together a decent strike-based match before Archer finishes with a running knee. Bailey really is paying people in wins over him!  

 

Charlie Tiger is out to explain this next match. It’s “pirates vs vikings”. We have battle axes and “curved swords”. That’s a cutlass sir.  

 

Junior Benito vs. “I’ll be switching the batteries I’ll be right there” (Veda Scott talking over the ring announcer) vs. Jimmy Lloyd 

This is the least professional show I’ve ever seen. Which involves a lot of seriously unprofessional BritWres. Lloyd is the most heel guy on the show so far and uses a wet floor sign as a weapon. The first non-inflatable weapon of the day. There’s a wet floor Van Daminator and the little kid catches it. Because there’s no sign Jimmy Lloyd slips over! Oh no, I laughed out loud. That’s an endorsement. I finally figure out that Macrae Martin is the third guy just as Jimmy Lloyd pins him.  

 

Ben the Bean explains tag rules, as we have no tag rope, so any time you tag you have to sip your beer. Ah, softball rules.  

 

Frank Milano & Matt Viviani vs. Juni Underwood & guy who doesn’t drink  

As per usual, I don’t hear a wrestler being announced because Veda is talking over it. I think he’s Athan Promise. This match is a complete fucking shambles. Promise can’t seem to walk two steps without slapping both his thighs. What a strange little boy. “Not a lot of people like beer” says Veda. What? The most popular alcoholic beverage on the planet. Not many people like it.  

This degenerates into total nonsense and it wasn’t good to start with. Ben counts three on a near fall and you can see the wrestlers protesting because it’s not the finish. Urgh. This has already gone on way too long. They immediately finish Underwood with a Sharpshooter/Crossface combo. Yeah, that was definitely worth not finishing the match 30 seconds earlier. Worst match on the show. Saved from being worst match on the weekend thanks to some horrific stuff on H20 yesterday. 

 

Mookie Summers vs. Mike Bailey 

Bailey comes in aggressive until he ‘misses’ a flip, which Mookie rolled into. I’m confused with Mookie because Veda keeps calling him “Big Draco”. Bailey throws everything out here, trying to snap his two-match losing streak tonight. They do a lot of movez and Mookie wins with a piledriver. Bailey is 0-3 on this show. Mookie got paid in clout. This was Bailey’s best match on the show. Around **¾.  

 

Viking Shark Raid  

Tournament of Breath Final 

Cole Radrick vs. Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Lloyd 

Joey Janela uses the child as a weapon and throws him at both opponents. Janela seems to understand the gimmick and the use of cameras more than anyone else. He’s constantly selling into the cameras.  

Janela takes a drop toe hold into the shark and someone yells “Bruce”, which pops me huge (Bruce was the name of the shark in Jaws). Radrick gets ‘busted open’ and he throws a pot of tomato ketchup over his head.  

You’re going to need a bigger boat. The match feels loose, like they’re just making it up as they go, but the result is a fun contest. They use all the props and the pool noodle bundle/superkick into a near fall on Cole is a legitimately great little sequence. HE WOBBLE LEGGED HIM! Dusty Rhodes would have been great on comms for this.  

What the cluck is happening? After they team up to superkick the chicken, Lloyd hits the DVD onto the boat and the pool, which surely is a super comfy bump, and gets the pin. ***. I had a fun time here. Wrestling is what you make of it. I pop at the trophy being inflatable.  

 

The 411: 

Some of this was quite dreadful and the show was way too long, which is a complaint about most US Indies shows. It didn’t help that the promoters showed up late to their own show. The gimmick worked but needed to be short and to the point. Clip out all the filler and you have a fun show here. If you’re tempted, I’d watch a couple of matches to get the feel of it and skip to the main event. Honestly, for me, it was a welcome distraction in a field of wrestling shows. I hope for more bullshit later in the weekend because it’s way easier to watch.