H2O celebrates 7 years

H2O wrestling had a celebration this past weekend. Indy wrestling is the backbone of professional wrestling. The independent’s scenes are where most of your favorite wrestlers you see today got their start in the wrestling business. This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending H2O’s 7-year celebration live from the H2O wrestling center in Williamstown, NJ. This was a two-night event taking place on both Saturday and Sunday.  H2O wrestling was started by wrestling legend Matt Tremont. Matt Tremont also started a school known as the H2O Academy. Earlier this year, he announced that the academy would be stopping operation, but also was sure to let all of his fan base know that H2O wrestling was going nowhere.

@H2OWRESTLING starting off the show with a huge high spot pic.twitter.com/x6tc3nYFvU

— Wood’s wrestling corner (@woodswrestling3) June 11, 2023

H2O has an amazing mix of students from the H2O Academy and some well-known Indy stars. This combination leads to some amazing matches that truly help spotlight some of the bright young talents in the world of wrestling. That fans will get to know and love for years to come. Overall, night one of the 7-year anniversary shows had 9 matches in all. Let’s spotlight 3 matches that I felt were some of the best wrestling matches I have seen all of 2023. 

Austin Luke vs. Billie Starkz 

This match saw Austin Luke an H2O Academy alumni, who debuted in H2O in 2019. Taking on wrestling Superstar Billie Starkz. Billie Starkz is currently just 18 years old and graduated high school earlier this month. Billie has already accomplished some incredible feats in wrestling. Fighting in AEW, taking on Jade Cargill for the TBS champion, along with wrestling on MLW, ROH and GCW just to name a few. This match was fast-paced and hard-hitting.  The moment that truly stuck out to me during this match was every time Austin would hit Billie with a kick the sounds of Luke’s leg meeting Billie’s back echoed through the wrestling center. The spot of the match occurred when Starkz slammed Luke on the ring apron.

His spin slammed off the unforgiving steel in the ring apron. The fans in attendance thoroughly enjoyed this moment, also chanting OH MY GOD when this happened. This match ended in a no contest due to both wrestlers’ shoulders being down for the three count.  This will not be the last time we see these two battle.  After the match, Starkz grabbed the mic and let Austin Luke know he gave Billie all she could handle. But also let Luke know they will fight again soon. 

IWTV Independent Wrestling World Title Match

The owner of H2O, Matt Tremont, is the current IWTV world champion. In the co-main event of the night, Tremont put the belt on the line against an up-and-coming superstar Brogan Finlay. Brogan is the son of wrestling legend Fit Finlay and the brother of current Bullet Club leader David Finlay.  If you are familiar with Tremont’s wrestling, throw everything you know out the window.  This was not the typical bloody affair we are often gifted when Matt Tremont fights. Instead, we saw a hard-hitting back-and-fought technical wrestling match. I had fans sitting next to me telling their friends, “its not a Tremont match until he bleeds.” However, this match did not need blood or weapons.  

Finlay and Tremont left the fans at the H2O center mesmerized by their in-ring ability Saturday night.  The moment in the match that really stuck out was when a fan at ringside was chanting Brogan’s dad and brother’s name. Almost insinuating Brogan was where he was because of the family name. Tremont stopped wrestling and let the fans know who Brogan was and just how good he was. Tremont said we respect the lineage, but Brogan is also more than that. Brogan showed that and by the match’s end had the same fan cheering and showing him respect. The spot of the match was when Tremont was able to reverse a move by Finlay and hit Finlay with a choke slam on the ring apron.

Tremont was able to get the roll-up victory in the match to retain his title. After the match, Tremont would thank Finlay for stepping into the H2O center. Tremont then went on to say when he won the belt, he had one goal. That goal was to show the world even though he is the most decorated death match wrestler.  He can go in the ring with the best technical wrestlers in the world. This match proved Matt Tremont is so much more than just a death match wrestler. 

H2O Tag Team Championship Match

The main event of the night saw the tag team championship being put on the line.  Ron Bass Jr. & Sawyer Wreck took on the tag team champs Red Dead Redemption in what was supposed to be a regular tag team match. However, before the match Red Dead Redemption announced this would be an anything-goes tornado tag match. This match truly was anything goes. We had chairs, doors, and even fan participation. Before this match even began the pure heat the fans were giving Red Dead was truly remarkable. This was a fun match that never had a dual moment.

There was always action during this match. A moment that everyone enjoyed was when Sawyer Wreck took Manders around the crowd with his hands tied behind his back, allowing the fans to chop him on the chest as hard as they wanted. The spot of the match which also was the finish of the match saw Sawyer chokeslam Manders off the top turnbuckle through chairs. After this move, she was able to secure the pin for the win.  When the refs hand hit the mat for the three count the H2O center erupted with cheers for the new Tag Team Champions Sawyer and Bass. 

Many Years to Come

H2O, over the past 7 years, has proven they are a great promotion capable of putting on incredible matches for fans of all genres. If you’re a fan of Deathmatch, they have that technical wrestling, or maybe you’re a fan of comedic wrestling. H2O delivered that all Saturday night on their anniversary show. Matt Tremont has put together a great roster of hungry talent who love to work and entertain the fans. That shows in every event they put on. With Matt in charge, there is no telling how far this company can truly go. The sky is the limit. Here’s to 7 more years of action-packed H2O wrestling.