Fight Club: PRO, Dream Tag Team Invitational Night One, Wolverhampton - Review

In front of a sold-out Wolverhampton crowd that was buzzing all night long, performers from six countries went above and beyond in the pro-wrestling ring at The Hangar.

The night’s best match saw Birmingham’s Dan Maloney take former New Japan openweight champion Will Ospreay to his very limits.

When this match was announced, it was seen as something of a warm-up for Ospreay's eagerly anticipated match on Night Two against the Mexican highflyer, Fenix. But even that dream match will struggle to meet the standard set by these two men.

Against the local man, Ospreay played the villain, frequently showing disdain for the crowd and his opponent. Perhaps the highlight of this banter, was when in response to fans singing Maloney’s name to the theme of Tequila, he mockingly danced in the ring before striking his opponent.

The two men would let it all hang out, with both landing hard strikes, countering each other’s big moves, and taking unbelievable punishment.

The roar of the crowd was particularly deafening when Maloney shrugged off Ospreay’s palm strikes, before destroying his opponent with some of his own.

Although Ospreay would ultimately win, this was a star-making performance for Dan Maloney.

The other major singles match of the evening saw Mark Davis defend his Fight Club: PRO World Title against the man who beat Opsreay for his openweight Title in New York’s Madison Square Garden, Jeff Cobb.

The former Olympic wrestler spent much of the match demonstrating his famous strength, throwing around the big Australian.

Davis fought fire with fire but ultimately had to goad the referee to disqualify him to walk away with his title, as titles do not change hands on a disqualification in pro-wrestling.

In the Dream Tag Team Invitational, Schadenfreude and Lucha Bros booked their places in the semi-final that will take place in Manchester on Sunday.

Chris Brookes and Kyle Fletcher had a decisive victory over Chikara’s Legion of Rot, but Pentagon and Fenix encountered far more resistance from their opponents, Eita and former WWE Crusierweight Champion, PAC.

This was a wild match, with the four men brawling all over The Hangar and ultimately grabbing chairs from fans at ringside to gain the advantage.

As expected, it was an eclectic mix of brawling, high-flying and star-power with PAC and Pentagon coming across as superstars.

The latter saved his brother from being pinned by kicking the referee in the head before ultimately securing the victory.

The Lucha Bros' victory sets up a quasi-rematch of the final of the first-ever Dream Tag Invitational Tournament in 2017, where Pentagon and Fenix lost to Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos.

Whilst pro-wrestling’s problem child was in attendance at Fight Club: PRO, doing his best to assist Mark Davis retain his title, he will not be in action himself having retired earlier in the week due to longstanding injury problems.

By Will Cooling.

• Limited tickets are still available for this weekend’s shows at www.tickettailor.com/events/fightclubpro/. After the Dream Tag Team Invitational 2019, Fight Club: PRO returns to The Hangar on Friday May 24. All three nights of the Dream Tag Team Invitational 2019 will shortly be available as part of the Fight Club: PRO Unlimited Streaming Service, or to purchase separately as a DVD or Video-on-Demand. For more information, visit fightclubpro.bigcartel.com/.