Ryan Nova Wins OTW Sole Survivor 2018
OTW bid farewell to its home in Williamstown, New Jersey.
The stars of Old Time Wrestling bid farewell to their Williamstown, New Jersey, stomping grounds by tearing the house down over Sole Survivor weekend.
In six-man tag team action on Friday, OTW Heavyweight Champion “Evil” Eddie Hawkins and One Mean Team battled Adam Chandler the Great and the Energy Express in a showstealer. Hawkins started things off with Valiente, talking mad shit about everybody including Chandler, who just so happened to tag in when Hawkins wasn’t looking. Once he turned around, the champion high tailed it and Brian Johnson came in.
Johnson charged into Chandler three times, crumbling to his knees with every thud. Pusser then tagged in and after some illegal double teaming, the villains took over. Before long, it was bonzo gonzo as all six men entered the fray. In the midst of the chaos, Chandler rolled his ankle, limiting his mobility. Hawkins took advantage by smashing his challenger into the steel post and then ditching the scene. Back inside the ring, One Mean Team were about to finish off Valiente, but the luchadore rolled up Pusser into a pin.
After six months away from OTW, Ike Phillips returned for the special occasion, challenging Andd Bivians for the Classic Championship. Phillips took control early on, pummeling the champion outside the ring and into the front row. A missed closeline gave Bivians his opening, as he wrapped Phillips’ arm around the steel post. Bivians spent the next several minutes methodically targeting the injured arm, before shifting focus to Phillips’ knee. Phillips countered with a powerslam, but his arm was too weak to hold a cover.
As they fought outside the ring, Phillips tossed the champion back in and was about to follow him, but “Captain” Calvin Christopher chopblocked the weakened knee behind the ref’s back. Making it into the ring right before the 10 count, Phillips staggered into a figure four and had no choice but to submit.
It was a bittersweet weekend for some fans as OTW co-founder Jim Molineaux had announced that the company was leaving the OTW Arena and no longer accepting trainees or scheduling birthday parties. Preferring to do spot shows around the South Jersey area, Molineaux would be shifting the promotion’s direction from telling weekly stories to having special attractions.
After all, Sole Survivor started as a special attraction many moons ago when only eight guys showed up to an event. Looking to spice things up, Molineaux decided to put their names in a hat and have the fans randomly select the matchups for a one-night tournament.
That tournament has expanded over the years and grown into one of OTW’s signature events. Eight up-and-coming talents from the tri-state area entered this year’s tournament, all vying for the trophy, prestige and opportunity of a lifetime. The mammoth Beefcake steamrolled through TJ Crawford in the quarterfinals, and due to Knuckles and Matt Sells brawling out of the arena in a double countout, Beefcake received a bye into the finals.
Ryan Nova wasn’t as lucky. He had to survive the massive Craig Francis in the first bout of the weekend, and then somehow overcome a two-on-one onslaught from Nikos Rikos and his manager Jay Enterprise.
Ultimately, it was the size of the fight in the dog that proved to be the difference maker, as Nova slayed Beefcake in the finals to be declared the Sole Survivor.
Results for Night 1
- Semi-finals: Ryan Nova def. Nikos Rikos
Classic Championship: Andd Bivians def. Ike Phillips
Damaris def. Jessie Brooks
Adam Chandler the Great & Energy Express def. One Mean Team & Eddie Hawkins
Quarter-finals: Nikos Rikos def. Dre the Dragon
Quarter-finals: Beefcake def. TJ Crawford
Quarter-finals: Knuckles vs. Matt Sells ended in a double count out
Quarter-finals: Ryan Nova def. Craig Francis
Results for Night 2
- OTW Heavyweight Championship: Adam Chandler def. Eddie Hawkins to win the title
- Knuckles and Matt Sells ended in a double count out
- OTW Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: One Mean Team def. Energy Express to win the titles
- Classic Championship: Dave Davis def. Andd Bivians to win the title
- Finals: Nova def. Beefcake
- Mik Drake won the Final Survivor Battle Royal
- Damaris def. Miss Jasmine
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