Smash Wrestling presents "Gold 2K17"
Date: Sunday June 10, 2017
Venue: the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, Ontario

So this show revolved around a tournament to determine the number one contender to the Smash Wrestling Championship. There are five first round matches tonight and then later on tonight there’s a five man Elimination Match with the winners of those five matches. The winner of that match will get a title shot at Smash Wrestlings biggest show of the year: Super Showdown V in August.

First Round Match for entrance into the Number One Contender Elimination Match for the Smash Wrestling Championship
Tarik vs. Lio Rush
This was a very good match, probably the best match of the show. Tarik really impressed me and Lio Rush always brings it. Plus the crowd was really hot at this point.
Winner: Tarik (advances to the Elimination Match later on in the show)
Afterwards some guy called Kevin Blackwood attacked Tarik with a chair.

First Round Match for entrance into the Number One Contender Elimination Match for the Smash Wrestling Championship
Kevin Bennett w/? vs. Brent Banks
This was a good match that Bennett won with cheating. I was pulling for Brent Banks. I think he can probably “go” but didn’t get to do as much as he’s capable of in this match. I've never heard of Kevin Bennett but the crowd really hated him.
Winner: Kevin Bennett (advances to the Elimination Match later on in the show)

First Round Match for entrance into the Number One Contender Elimination Match for the Smash Wrestling Championship
Greed vs. Sebastian Suave w/Anthony “Kingdom” James
This was a decent match. My favourite part was Anthony James' pre-match promo. I saw him a couple of weeks ago at another show and he's a really good mouthpiece. And he looks like Uncle Phil. I went to the bathroom right at the beginning of this match and something big must have happened because the crowd was chanting “holy shit” when I got back to my seat.
Winner: Sebastian Suave (advances to the Elimination Match later on in the show)

First Round Match for entrance into the Number One Contender Elimination Match for the Smash Wrestling Championship
Mark Haskins vs. Dalton Castle w/Boys (but not THE Boys)
This was probably one of the better Dalton Castle matches I've ever seen. He's cool and all but he's never blown me away in the ring. The outcome of this match was pretty obvious to me: on one side you had the federations former champ (Haskins, who was nuclear “over”) and on the other side a guy who probably won’t wrestle for company for another year or so (Castle). So I knew the winner when the match was announced two months ago.
Winner: Mark Haskins (advances to the Elimination Match later on in the show)

First Round Match for entrance into the Number One Contender Elimination Match for the Smash Wrestling Championship
Scotty O'Shea vs. Evil Uno
O'Shea was supposed to wrestle a guy named Franky TM but he (Franky) got injured recently so Evil Uno was a last minute replacement. I feel kinda bad for O'Shea. I've seen him wrestle twice in the last month: once was in a three-way with Space Monkey (which he lost) and then tonight he lost to a surprise replacement. I think the guy should be cooler but from all I’ve seen he’s Toronto’s resident jobber. This match was pretty good but I think it should have gone on before the previous match. Even I was a little burnt out by this point and ready for a short break.
Winner: Evil Uno (advances to the Elimination Match later on in the show)

[Intermission] They announced Bobby Lashley will be wrestling at Super Showdown V in August.

TDT vs. Halal Beefcake
This match was okay. The best part was a Moonsault to the outside of the ring and TDTs finishing move.
Winners: TDT

For the Smash Wrestling Championship
Mike Rollins vs. Braxton Sutter vs. Tyson Dux (champion)
The storyline here is that Mike Rollins and Braxton Sutter are tag team partners and splinters have formed in their partnership. The match was good but way too short to even give me a chance to care. I was disappointed because I know all of them (especially Dux) are capable of better.
Winner: Tyson Dux

Elimination March to for a Smash Wrestling Championship title match at Super Showdown V
Kevin Bennett w/? vs. Mark Haskins vs. Evil Uno vs. Scotty O'Shea w/James vs. Tarik
Again with this match I pretty much knew the outcome whenever it was that the shows card was announced. This was still a fun match with some decent high spots. A couple of really good dives. At first I was pulling for Tarik but he went out first. Then a couple brutal chair shots from Evil Uno onto Bennett's entourage had me rooting for him. I honestly was pulling for anyone other than who I saw as the obvious winner (Mark Haskins) so of course he won.
Winner: Mark Haskins (new number one contender for the Smash Wrestling Championship, will get a championship match at Super Showdown V)
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Overall it was a really good show. Nothing mind-blowingly insane (except those chair shots from Evil Uno, which actually broke the chair) but all good, solid wrestling. A few matches I feel could have gone longer, such as the final two. I was very impressed by Tarik and Brent Banks and at first I thought Evil Uno was a joke wrestler but once he got going I was very sold on him too. The only person I couldn’t get into was Mark Haskins. I had to research him during intermission to figure out who the hell he is and why he was so over. I guess his losing the Smash Wrestling Championship last summer was ripe with some controversy and this was his first match back. The crowd was full of people a lot more in-tune with the federation so it was a homecoming of sorts for him.

It was a last minute decision for me to go to this show. I bought a GA ticket and got fourth row...out of five rows. Whatever. I could see fine and it cost me twenty-six dollars to go. I think for fourth row at WWE you have to donate one of your kidneys to Ryback and piss in a cup for Randy Orton.

The Phoenix was way better suited for wrestling then the show I saw at Lee's Palace a few weeks ago was. The lighting was my big complaint with that show and the lighting tonight was perfectly fine. V.I.P. (although I didn't have it this time) was the first three rows around the ring and (I think) the balcony. But Lee's Palace is a place with multiple levels whereas the Phoenix is one flat area. So I knew this would be better.

Smash Wrestling usually bring out two big Indy guys to their shows. This month's were Dalton Castle at Lio Rush and former WWF referee Jimmy Kordaris was there too officiating some matches, but he lives in Toronto. Last month they had Michael Elgin and Kyle O’Reily at a show I really wanted to attend and next month they have Jay White and MVP doing one of their show. I’m definitely going to go to another of their shows and if they ever bring the Briscoes or Silas Young in I’ll be in the front row. But I think that’s harder to do with some Ring of Honor contracts. I know Dalton Castle just signed a new Ring of Honor contract so maybe I saw one of his last independent dates for a while. Whatever. Every show they have has someone I want to see and a great assortment of local Toronto talent.

my view (Scotty O'Shea verses Evil Uno)


Jimmy Kordaris (I actually marked out seeing him more than anyone else)


Sebastian Suave and Anthony James


Dalton Castle


Tyson Dux