Date: July 2 2022
Venue: Mr. Small's Theatre
400 Lincoln Avenue
Millvale, Pennsylvania 15209
Tickets: VIP Balcony $45.00
General Admission $25.00
Parking: Street parking
Promoter: Kurt Hackimer
Maxx Gregg
Scotty Swemba
Taylor Gregg
Drinks: Soda $3.00
Water $3.00
Juice $4.00
Shirley Temple $5.00
Red Bull $5.00
Merch: Runway Shirt $20.00
Ring Announcer: Meg Fair
Referees: Nick Shin
Ref Amy
George Ross
Commentary: Veda Scott
Jow Dombrowski
Social: facebook.com/enjoywrestling
twitter.com/enjoywrestle
instagram.com/enjoywrestling
youtube.com/c/EnjoyWrestling
tiktok.com/@enjoywrestling
Stream: youtube.com/c/EnjoyWrestling
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Founded in 2019, Enjoy Wrestling touts itself as “presenting a uniquely diverse and professionally produced sports entertainment experience.” The company’s first in-person event, “Night Moves,” took place on October 8, 2021 at Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at the Priory on the North Side.
In an article on WESA.FM, Enjoy co-owner Taylor Gregg was quoted as saying, “We want to show Pittsburgh that wrestling is for everyone. Our mission is to create a product that appeals to both lifetime wrestling fans and folks who have never watched a match, all while creating a safe and inclusive environment for talent and fans alike.”
The venue for The Enjoy Cup: Tag Team Edition was Mr. Small’s Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania. Mr. Small’s is mainly a live-music venue in a converted church from the early 20th century, Mr. Smalls has been the live music venue for many touring national acts over the years including Fall Out Boy, Bill Clinton, Snoop Dogg, Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Kesha, Interpol and Metric.
When I arrived at the venue, I parked a block away on the street. From my parking space I could see a line of wrestling fans that extended from the main entrance of the church, around the front of the building, down the steps and around the street corner.
Just inside the main entrance, past the ticket person, were displays of wrestler merchandise on either side of a thin hallway. A large doorway on the right takes you into the live stage area of the venue. The ring was set up in the middle of the floor with the stage used as an entrance ramp. I had seats in the balcony which had two levels. The seats up there, as you will see in the photos, offer a unique perspective from which to see a wrestling show.
As the show began, ring announcer Meg Fair advised the standing-room-only crowd to move out of the way immediately if instructed by a performer. Fair also warned the crowd that Enjoy Wrestling has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to racism, sexism, transphobia, and any other kind of hateful behavior. Lastly, Fair told the crowd that posting on social media is wonderful, but asked that the posts not spoil the results of the event which would air on Youtube episodically the following month (hence, the delay in this review).
PROMO
“THE GAVEL” DAVID LAWLESS
Just as ring announcer Meg Fair began to announce the first round match in the Enjoy Cup, the familiar music of “The Gavel” David Lawless began to play. As a chorus of boos echoed through the venue Lawless took the microphone to cut a promo on his nemesis, Mr. Grim. Lawless said that Mr. Grim is a punk bitch with juggalo face paint who could not get the job done. Lawless announced the he would face Mr. Grim later in the evening.
THE RUNWAY vs. BUSSY
ENJOY CUP: TAG TEAM EDITION – FIRST ROUND MATCH
At the end of his promo, David Lawless introduced The Runway, Tyler Klein and Calvin Couture as the future Enjoy Cup winners. The Runway and Lawless attacked both members of Bussy, Allie Katch and Effy before the bell rang. Lawless’ attack on Allie Katch caused her to be taken to the back by the officials, leaving Effy alone in the ring.
Calvin Couture choked Effy on the ropes. As the referee pulled Couture off of Effy, David Lawless continued to choke him from the outside. Effy managed to escape a rear chin lock, but quickly found himself on the receiving end of a simultaneous leg drop/splash that nearly ended the match.
Somehow, Effy managed to hit a double choke slam and back to back spears just as Allie Katch heroically returned from the dressing room and screamed for the tag. When Katch got into the ring, she immediately hit coast to coast shots to each member of The Runway, then dropped both with a double Northern Lights Suplex. As Effy entered, Allie Katch and Calvin Couture attempted simultaneous sunset flips, but neither could roll their target through for the pin. Katch and Couture tried pulling down Effy and Klein’s tights for leverage, revealing each man’s thong underwear in the process.
At this point, Effy looked to be in control of the match. Katch and Effy hit a double underhook facebuster and a stunner to The Runway. As Klein rolled out, Effy set Couture on the top rope. Katch transitioned Couture onto her shoulders, but Couture wriggled out, threw Katch out of the ring, and slammed Effy back down to the mat. Effy hit a double blockbuster, but as Effy attempted to throw Couture over with a back body drop, Lawless used a referee distraction to clock him in the face and Couture rolled Effy up to advance to the finals.
WINNERS: THE RUNWAY
MATCH #2
VIOLENCE IS FOREVER vs. RIP CITY SHOOTERS
ENJOY CUP: TAG TEAM EDITION – FIRST ROUND MATCH
The Pittsburgh-area fans turned on Joshua Bishop of the Rip City Shooters as soon as he announced that he was from Cleveland, Ohio. As the fans chanted, “Fuck Ohio!!” Bishop and Dominic Garrini exchanged chops and forearms with increasing intensity dozens of times. Garrini came off the ropes and reversed Bishop into a triangle choke. “Maserati” Wes Barkley tried to make the save, but Kevin Ku ran in, wrapped Barkley up like a pretzel and sat on top of him.
Bishop powered out of the choke and threw Garrini into Ku. Bishop and Barkley took turns pummeling Garrini and taunting the crowd until Garrini reversed a spinning urunage and bounced Bishop off the ropes into a German Suplex. Garrini made the hot tag to Ku, who stacked Bishop and Barkley in the same corner and hit three successive running elbows.
After a tiger suplex from Ku, Wes Barkley caught Ku off the ropes in a Michinoku Driver which brought all four men into the ring. Bishop hit a spinning urunage on Garrini, Wes Barkley hit Ku with a stroke, and Garrini followed with a lariat to Barkley that left all four competitors down. Ku and Bishop rolled out as Garrini hit a face forward suplex on Barkley. Garrini left him draped on the ropes as Ku came off the top rope with a knee to Barkley’s back.
In response, Bishop re-entered and hit a double choke slam on both members of Violence is Forever. In the meantime, Barkley made it back to his feet in time to join his partner for a two-man choke slam on Kevin Ku. The Shooters signaled for the end, but got reversed out of a back suplex by Ku into a double hurricanrana. Garrini returned with a running knee, followed by a high-low move with Ku. This set up their suplex/ensiguri combo finisher for the win.
WINNERS: VIOLENCE IS FOREVER
MATCH #3
EPHEMERAL BABES vs. PETTY IN PINK
ENJOY CUP: TAG TEAM EDITION – FIRST ROUND MATCH
Dillon McQueen said Willow won “one match in AEW and now she think’s she’s all that.” McQueen initially left Kenzie Paige in the ring with Edith Surreal. Soon after, Mcqueen tagged in and told Edith Surreal that he could outwrestle her any day. Surreal made sure to prove McQueen wrong quickly. Surreal used a chin lock/arm bar combo submission, then converted a single leg takedown into an on-the-mat inverse leg lock until McQueen reached the ropes.
Willow tagged into the match and soon found herself in a fireman’s carry. Kenzie Paige tagged in and laid flat on the mat, but watched as Willow escaped, picked up Dillon McQueen and threw him on top of Paige. Willow hit a fisherman’s suplex to Paige, but could only manage a two count.
Surreal got back in the ring with another chin lock submission, but was pulled down by her pony tail which allowed Paige to tag out. McQueen distracted the referee long enough for Kylie Alexa to hold Surreal for a double, then triple, team attack. Surreal crawled out of her corner and looked for the tag, but McQueen took her down with a leg whip and held her in place with a leg scissors.
Petty in Pink worked Surreal back into their corner and maintained the advantage by working Edith Surreal’s legs to prevent future submission holds. The fans tried to rally Edith by chanting her name as McQueen blew a kiss and Willow and went back to the double team. Surreal managed to escape a body slam and convert into a roll up for a near fall. However, when McQueen kicked out, the momentum sent Edith flying into her own corner where she was able to tag Willow.
Willow used a cartwheel to escape the charging Kenzie Page, then destroyed her with a Monty Brown-style pounce. Willow turned her attention back to Dillon McQueen, but was stopped from reaching her corner as Paige pulled Edith Surreal off the apron before Willow could make the tag. Paige rushed back into the ring to assist in a facebuster/cutter combo on Willow.
Willow turned the tide once more with a superkick as Paige came off the ropes, tagged Edith Surreal, then lifted Dillon up into a fireman’s carry. The Ephemeral Babes hit a dropkick/Death Valley Driver combo to secure a spot in the finals and Willow gave Edith Surreal a piggy back ride to the dressing room.
WINNERS: EPHEMERAL BABES
MATCH #4
THE PRODUCTION vs. KINGS OF THE DISTRICT
ENJOY CUP: TAG TEAM EDITION – FIRST ROUND MATCH
As The Production stood in their corner waiting for the bell to ring, Derek Dillinger made sure to let the fans know what he thought of them, using his partner, Ziggy Haim as a conduit. Dillinger grinned as he grabbed Haim’s left hand, held it up in the air, and closed it into a fist, but left the middle finger up. Haim spun around the ring with both middle fingers out to make sure we all got the message.
Eel O’ Neal, of Kings of the District, took control of Haim and the match early. Two Haim shoulder tackles had no effect and her attempt at a sleeper hold went nowhere. Eel wrapped Haim up like a pretzel in the center of the ring, sat next to her for a quick photo opportunity, and then dropkicked her still in her pretzel-like state.
Derek Dillinger took some offense from O’Neal and Jordan Blade until he was able to evade a charging O’Neal and send him crashing to the outside. Dillinger slammed O’Neal’s head on various parts of the ring, then somersaulted back into the ring for a near fall. When Haim tagged back in, she choked O’Neal on the ropes, raked his face especially for the ringside camera, then distracted the referee so Dillinger could do more damage. Later, Dillinger flipped off Jordan Blade while holding a chin lock on O’Neal. When Blade got upset and distracted the referee, The Production double-teamed O’Neal again.
Finally, Eel mounted some offense and exchanged forearms in the ring with Haim. As Dillinger entered to help, O’Neal picked Haim up, threw her into Dillinger’s arms, and hit an ensiguri on Derek which caused him to drop Haim face-first to the mat. Jordan Blade tagged in with high energy and immediately had Dillinger and Haim stacked in opposite corners for alternating European upper cuts, followed by a cross body to Haim and a cannonball to Derek Dillinger.
O’Neal returned and secured an ankle lock on Dillinger who immediately crawled in the direction of the ropes. As Dillinger held onto the ring skirt, Ziggy Haim locked O’Neal in a Tarantula and Jordan Blade grabbed a leg lock on Haim at the same time. The break up of the moves sent Kings of the District to the outside. Dillinger threw Haim out of the ring in their direction, but Blade and O’Neal caught her mid-air. Dillinger hit a forward flip onto Kings of the District, threw O’Neal back in the ring, and flipped Haim up in the air and on top of Eel for the pin.
WINNERS: THE PRODUCTION
MATCH #5
“THE GAVEL” DAVID LAWLESS vs. MR. GRIM (??)
Coming out of the intermission, the anticipation in the room was palpable for Mr. Grim’s match against “The Gavel” David Lawless. The latter made his way to the ring and cut a short promo, then waited as Mr. Grim’s familiar music hit. Quickly, the fans realized the whole thing was a set up. A young man entered the arena wearing Mr. Grim-style face paint, but was much smaller and clearly not Mr. Grim. From the ring, Lawless sarcastically asked, “What happened you Mr. Grim? You look like Mr. Slim.” The young man looked scared as he entered the ring and was offered a free shot by “The Gavel.”
Of course, before his opponent could take that shot, Lawless clobbered him with a lariat. From there, Lawless hit a pump handle codebreaker and fell on top for the easy pin. With all the bravado in the world, Lawless strutted around the ring, then toward the dressing room. However, when Lawless reached the stage, the lights went out. Lawless’ confidence dissipated quickly and, in fear for his safety, he ran the other way and exited through the side door.
“WINNER”: DAVID LAWLESS
MATCH #6
TRISH ADORA vs. MV YOUNG (c) vs. LEE MORIARTY
ENJOY CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLE THREAT MATCH
The crowd was firmly behind Lee Moriarty as cheers of, “Lee! Lee! Lee!” rang out through the venue. The action was fast and furious as the beginning, with no competitor having a clear advantage until MV Young caught Trish Adora by the feet from the outside as she came off the ropes, pulled her out of the ring, and leveled her with a forearm shot. Young re-entered the ring, hit several loud chops to Moriarty, then caught Adora trying to ambush him from the top rope. Young slammed Adora down to the mat as Moriarty rolled out.
As Young came off the ropes, Moriarty pulled Young out of the ring by his feet and jumped back in to face Adora, one-on-one. Adora got the upper hand with a cross body, a splash in the corner, a running hip attack, and a sit out power bomb, but still could not secure the victory. The champion thought he might have better luck, but quickly found himself taking a trip to Suplex City as Adora held on for several German Suplexes. Moriarty snuck back behind Adora, but she switched to the back and hit an amazing triple German Suplex to Young and Moriarty.
Adora missed an ensiguri and got kicked and snap-mared for her efforts. Moriarty took to the apron and looked to springboard into the ring in Adora’s direction. MV Young stopped Lee in mid-air with a spear and power bombed Adora on top of Lee. After a near fall, Young attempted to power bomb Adora again. Adora escaped this attempt and converted into a triangle choke that nearly forced the champion to submit. When the hold was broken up by Moriarty, Adora grabbed a leg lock submission on Moriarty that Young was forced to break up.
Moriarty reversed a Young suplex attempt into a lariat to Young followed by an Olympic Slam to Adora which had no effect. All fired up, Adora hit a German Suplex and a spinning urunage backbreaker for the near fall. Adora tried a low angle German Suplex with a bridge, but still could not put Moriarty away. As Adora looked up, MV Young clocked her with a running knee strike and rolled Adora up for the pin.
WINNER: MV YOUNG
MATCH #7
THE PRODUCTION vs EPHEMERAL BABES vs VIOLENCE IS FOREVER vs. THE RUNWAY
ENJOY CUP FINALS & TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Before the main event competitors were announced, Meg Fair drew our attention to the fact that The Enjoy Cup had been removed from the stage. In its place, the announcement was made that the main event would crown the first-ever Enjoy Wrestling Tag Team Champions. The fatal-four-way tag match would feature the winners of the first round matches earlier in the evening, would be contested under lucha rules, and would be an elimination match.
As soon as the bell rang, the action spread out across the entire venue. Some folks were battling in the ring, some on the floor at ringside. Moments later, I saw Tyler Klein and Edith Surreal battling the balcony directly below me. The next time I looked up, Klein and Surreal were battling right next to me in the upper balcony.
They would make their way back downstairs and, with Willow now involved, The Ephemeral Babes looked for a double DDT to Klein on the stage. Couture broke it up with a spear to Willow and carried Surreal back to the ring. Klein joined Couture and The Runway double teamed Surreal with a leg lock until Willow returned and knocked Couture into Klein to break the hold. From there, The Ephemeral Babes hit the same finisher that won their first round match, and The Runway was eliminated.
The three remaining teams faced off in the ring until The Production forced Ephemeral Babes out of the ring. At this point, the Production tuned their focus to Violence is Forever. With Dillinger bleeding, The Production made quick tags to keep the action on their side of the ring, and knocked Garrini off the apron to prevent Ku from tagging out. Ku would eventually make the tag to Garrini who landed several hard chops to Dillinger, followed by a series of German Suplexes to Dillinger.
When Dillinger was able to roll out of the ring, Edith Surreal took his place. Ku and Surreal battled in the center of the ring until Surreal locked Ku in a submission hold. Ku countered with a fisherman’s suplex that nearly ended the match. Willow broke up the pin attempt and hit dozens of chops to Ku’s chest in rapid succession. Garrini re-entered for the double team, but Willow evaded with a cartwheel. Willow picked up Kevin Ku, threw him onto Dominic Garrini and covered him for The Ephemeral Babes second consecutive pin.
Dillinger and Willow exchanged slaps to the face on their knees until Dillinger got up, tagged Haim, and slammed her onto Willow. Dillinger tagged back in quickly and hit a knockout punch that sent Willow to the mat like a bag of bricks. Dillinger looked to lift Haim and drop her onto the lifeless Willow, but Edith Surreal made it back into the ring, climbed on Haim’s back and attempted to roll through for a pin to both members of The Production.
Willow and Surreal threw Dillinger outside the ring and looked to hit their finisher on Ziggy Haim. Dillinger knocked Surreal off the top rope and pulled referee Nick Shin out of the ring when he tried to count the pinfall. As Shin argued with Dillinger, Derek slid The Production’s clapperboard into the ring. Haim grabbed the object, hammered both of The Ephemeral Babes with it, and fell on top of Edith Surreal for the victory.
WINNERS AND NEW CHAMPIONS: THE PRODUCTION
The Indy Wrestling Experience 