WARNING: STONG VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AHEAD

Welcome back to H2O as Matt Tremont’s company gets another marquee position in a GCW Weekender. It would be grudges and Ghoulery on the menu today as H2O was settling scores and bringing the pain to the Carousel Room. Across the eight matches on offer we’d see, Matt Tremont battling the Silver Teeth Satan Atticus Cogar in a no-rope barbed-wire match, a high stakes six-man for several of the H2O stars, B-Boy debut for H2O against Duncan Aleem, Leroy Robinson, and Ryan Redfield and so much more leading to the main event war between Notorious Inc with Lowlife Louis and the Grimy forces of Deklan Grant, Jess Moss and the Monster Chuck Payne. Let’s get into the action.

No Rope Barbed Wire: Matt Tremont defeated Atticus Cogar via Wire Chair DVD

This show opened with the biggest match. Atticus Cogar has terrorised H2O for a long time and showed no signs of slowing that down when Rickey Shane Page stepped away. He has seethed at Tremont’s efforts and wants to bring out a monster. To do that, he besmirched Danny Havoc and the fights Tremont has had in his honour. That got him the Bulldozer alright, in Tremont’s favourite match, no rope barbed wire. Was Cogar going to kill the king or would he fall to the wrath of a very pissed-off Tremont? He fell to Tremont but holy shit did he make the Bulldozer bleed. This match must have been utter agony to be a part of. It started with barbed-wire nutcrackers and descended into a devastating battle of attrition with everything available at hand. They killed each other with chairs, wired chairs, cinderblocks, skewers, and even stray tubes from the night before. It was all fair game and added to the massive story playing out before our eyes. Despite the beating, both guys remained defiant to the end with Cogar’s posturing costing him in the end. He still got the last laugh though because H2O has a new menace to deal with, Atticus’ brother Otis, who introduced himself with a Uranage on Tremont. Goddamn, this is how you start a show with a bang. I keep saying Tremont is on the run of a lifetime and Cogar keeps stabbing his way into the upper echelon of the deathmatch genre. They played this tale to perfection. We may have thought the war was over here, but it seems the games have only just begun.

High Stakes: Austin Luke, Marc Angel & Brandon Kirk (w/Kasey Kirk) defeated Marcus Mathers, Kennedi Copeland & Jimmy Lyon via Trashcan to the Skull on Lyon

Alabaman Destroyer!? @chondoart #H2OShowdown pic.twitter.com/MMkV326rwb

— Tripping Balls (@IsThisWrestling) February 20, 2022

This match was preceded by a delightful little brawl between Alex Stretch, Conor Claxton, and Anthraxx who entertained everyone as the ring was put back together. Stretch had held the show hostage since he hadn’t been invited so Anthraxx came out to give him a fight and Claxton blindsided them both. It was all good scrappy fun and carried us nicely to our next match, the high stakes six-person tag. We had heroes and villains teaming against one another with different stakes affecting each. We had Austin Luke, Marc Angel, and the Kirks on one side and H2O Hybrid Champion Kennedi Copeland, Marcus Mathers and the Redneck King of the Jungle, Jimmy Lyon on the other, it was going to get chaotic. Whoever got pinned was losing an opportunity with Copeland facing the worst option as she’d be stripped of her title. As expected, this led to everyone fighting like their life was on the line. Kasey proved to be a game-changer for Team Kirk as she helped them single out Copeland and use her as a punching bag. This didn’t last though and we had an every-person-for-themselves scramble as the tag rules kind of went out of the window. We had the fun of father vs son in Angel vs Mathers and the overriding story of Lyon and Angel. That would lead to our conclusion as Kirk and Angel cost Lyon his Hardcore Kingdom VI spot. We got a bit of everything here as every wrestler got to show off their style, from the technicality of Copeland to the hardcore of Lyon. Everyone got their moment, even if Lyon also lost him in defeat.

B-Boy defeated Duncan Aleem, Leroy Robinson & Ryan Redfield via Brainbuster on Robinson

The tempo remained high as we went into another multi-man war next with B-Boy making his H2O debut against some of the top-tier rising stars. The OG was going to be testing the mettle of Duncan Aleem, Leroy Robinson, and Big Red, Ryan Redfield. This promised to be a stiff one. This mostly played out as a showcase for the rising stars as Aleem and Robinson worked to pick apart Redfield and keep B-Boy as far away from the match as possible. Their plan had two problems though. Firstly, they couldn’t keep on the same page, constantly bickering over who’d get the pin until they finally turned on each other. Secondly, they were continuously being clobbered by Ryan Redfield, who hits like a train. Once B-Boy got into the fight, they were all fucked. He started showing them all how it was done, dishing out hard shots and giving everyone Facelifts. This was a bit scrappy in places and definitely wasn’t the smoothest match of the night but it showed the progress of the students and I got to see B-Boy dishing out the punishment. Ideally, somewhere down the line, I’d love to see B-Boy vs Redfield in a singles match. That would hurt like hell but would make for quite the fight.

Danny Havoc Hardcore 5-way: Lucky 13 defeated Bam Sullivan, Kit Osbourne, Mouse & Jimmy Lloyd via Flying Super Dragon Stomp on Osbourne

Curbstomp in the thumbtacks!!! @NeoShooter #H2OShowdown pic.twitter.com/Lqs3cxUQkC

— Tripping Balls (@IsThisWrestling) February 20, 2022

Time to get hardcore again as Lucky 13 found himself defending his Danny Havoc Hardcore Title against not one but three opponents who all had very solid hardcore credentials. We had Bam Sullivan, Jimmy Lloyd, and Kit Osbourne all gunning for the belt but could they actually find the way to beat 13? This was pure anarchy. It didn’t stay a four-way for long as Mouse invaded to make it a five-way and give Sullivan a kicking. We had a barrage and hardcore fuckery employed and everyone having some fun using it. There were shocks, stabbings, and Osbourne taking not one but two deadly curb Stomps from the champ. This was a non-stop horror movie of a match that words will not do justice. Much like the opening gambit to the show, it just needs to be observed with either murderous glee or sheer terror. I thoroughly loved this one as it was a pure, unbridled plunder fest.

Nicholas Grande defeated Darien Hardway via Rope-Hung Twisting DDT

We had a bit of a change of pace as Undiscovered champion Nicholas Grande looked to show his stuff against the harsh might of the Kryptonian, Darian Hardway. I wasn’t sure what to expect here as Grande was going to have to find a way to muffle the power advantage Hardway had. He had claimed this was Grande’s house, now he had to prove it. He also decided to throw out all the rules, there’d be no DQs. That change bit him in the ass a fair bit as Hardway was more than happy to get hardcore. To the credit of both men here, this became a sleeper hit of the show. A match that looked a bit put together on paper, that ended up turning into a really engrossing back-and-forth bout. Hardway is an absolute monster and put Grande through hell with a whole host of power moves and stiff strikes. Grande had to rely on his grit and wits to get the better of Hardway and in the end, managed to come away with the win. I do love having a pleasant surprise like this on a card as the pair saw what had already been done and put together a very physical, very enjoyable fight. I’m not sure it was quite Grande’s House but he did get to keep the keys at the end. Post-match, we saw that GG Everson had turned a new leaf and promised 2022 would be his year.

Adonis Valerio defeated Reid Walker & Colby Corino via Pin Steal on Walker

Following that we had another interesting multi-man match as the Naughty One Adonis Valerio looked to build more steam within the company. To do so, he’d been put in a triple-threat against standout Reid Walker and the Last Bastion Colby Corino. A win here would do wonders for his stock. Sadly for him, he was also the least popular man in the match. Okay, this was highly entertaining as hell. We had Walker and Corino putting on a wrestling masterclass whilst Valerio did everything to avoid being left out and get the better of his foes. No matter what Corino or Walker did, he wouldn’t let them get the win and took every chance to humiliate, humble, or harass them whilst the crowd grew annoyed with him. There was a whole lot to enjoy here and all three worked their arses off to make sure that the time was well spent. As always, Valerio won without having to land a finisher by waiting until Corino had hit End of Heartache and broke up the pin. Corino went to deal with him, got hit in the cock and Valerio took the win. It was the perfect devious play and Valerio milked it for all it was worth. Just what will it take to stop the antics of the Naughty One?

H2O Tag Team Titles: Chris Bradley & Kristian Ross vs Storm of Entrails (SHLAK and Dan O’Hare) ended in no contest

HORROR MOVIE SHIT #H2OShowdown pic.twitter.com/H1EXer9wmS

— Tripping Balls (@IsThisWrestling) February 20, 2022

Oh shit, here we go. This match couldn’t be contained by the H2O Centre so now, we were having Full-Time Bosses vs Storm of Entrails round 2 in the Carousel Room. No one could predict what would happen here, what would be broken, and who would leave as the winner. The last match had descended into a brawl and now, with no DQs to worry about who knew what these fucking madmen would do? There weren’t even any entrances as Ross and Bradley jumped SHLAK and O’Hare prompting another hectic and bloody brawl around the venue. This was pure ultraviolence with everyone bloody as hell. We got horror movie scenes, stabbings and multiple broken chairs as this hardcore hurricane blew everywhere, destroying everything in its path. We even had some rare ring work as O’Hare looked to give Ross CTE with more chairs and SHLAK attempted to murder Bradley with a plastic bag. The refs were killed off again and when Nick Papagiorgio was smart and fucked off the whole match, the four just kept scrapping until they’d left the building. Yet again, we had no winner but my god did we get to enjoy the carnage. Whilst I didn’t appreciate the sudden ending to it all, what we got was pure bloodthirsty gold as Ross and Bradley prove they can hang with the wildest of competition.

Six-Man Grimy Street Fight: Lowlife Louis & Notorious Inc (Devon Moore & Drew Blood) defeated Chuck Payne, Deklan Grant & Jess Moss via Rolling Door Senton on Moss

Last but not least, the main event. We had one final dose of carnage to get into as two grudging teams brought in the cavalry for a six-person street fight. It would be the Grimy team of new H2O Champion Deklan Grant with his partner Jess Moss and newest ally Chuck Payne against Notorious Inc with the H2O favourite, Lowlife Louie. We were in for one final flash of violence to end the show. it was pretty much gone in a flash as we had a monster brawl with more fuckery elements and enjoyable splashes of crimson crossed with another odd-couple story. Payne kept getting screwed over in the match and even though he’d pretty much wrecked Team Notorious, Grant wanted the glory and ended up braining him with a board fragment. Payne left there and then with Grant trying to make things right. Moss was left alone in the ring and with the odds against her, got destroyed with a rolling door senton. It had been a bit short but it was fun for what it was and gives us more intrigue into what is going on with Grant and his “allies.” It ended the show with some company favourites getting a big win and Moore avenging some of the bullshit he’s had to stomach at the hands of Grant. For a two-hour show, this was a breeze, and whilst everything wasn’t perfect, you can see the H2O stars working their asses off to put on a show for those who give them a chance. Tremont/Cogar was one of the best matches of the weekend and everything after did its best to keep up with that.

CHOKESLAM TO THE FLOOR! @TheChuckPayne1 KILLED DREW BLOOD #H2OShowdown pic.twitter.com/Mankr7lf5m

— Tripping Balls (@IsThisWrestling) February 20, 2022

All images courtesy of H2O, IsThisWrestling, Queen of the Indies Tiffany