By Josh Nason
Well, it happened. WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Ricky Morton made his Limitless Wrestling debut at this past Saturday’s Hard to Handle in a very memorable way on a very memorable night that saw not one, but two title matches made for March’s return date.
Morton started his night challenging Channing Thomas in the latest Sidney Bakabella-backed World Classic Challenge but due to repeated interference and brass knuckles getting involved, the match was thrown out. However, Morton wasn’t having any of that, challenging Thomas and Bakabella to a tag team match later in the main event with himself and his son, Kerry Morton.
But while Morton’s time in Limitless is done for now, we look ahead to Saturday, March 25th at the AmVets in Yarmouth, Maine, as two title matches will take place.
In one, Limitless Wrestling World Champion Ace Romero will defend the title against both Beef and Rip Byson in an anything goes three-way. This was made after Romero made his way out to the ring after Beef’s win over Andy Brown, telling him he would have to wait to get the shot he desperately wants. A fired up Byson then made his presence felt with some spirited words toward the champion. After Romero initially blew him off as well, the three men came to blows and Romero issued the challenge for March.
The other will see Mac Daniels defend the Let’s Wrestle title against BRG, aka Humerus, following the latter’s victory in the battle royal earlier in the night to crown the no. 1 contender. The masked Humerus picked up the win and Daniels strolled out, eager to sign the contract. After that was done, the mask came off, BRG took Daniels out, and we have something else to look forward to in March.
This, of course, follows BRG’s loss to Brown in December that prevented him from getting a shot at Daniels as long as he was champion. However, since Humerus won the battle royal, a loophole was found.
But what wasn’t all. Join me for this recap of Hard to Handle, available now on IWTV.
Rip Byson defeated Conner Murphy
Murphy unexpectedly kicked off the show as he had some thoughts to get off his chest. After shoving beloved ring announcer Rich Palladino and insulting the Yarmouth faithful for a few minutes, Byson had enough as he came into the night looking for a fight. This impromptu match was on, eventually won by Byson following a Cactus Jack elbow on the outside of the ring and a Lovegun Lariat back inside for his fifth straight victory.
B3CCA defeated Janai Kai
This was Kai’s Limitless debut while B3CCA was looking for her fourth straight victory. And that, she got.
The international pop star survived a varying array of kicks from “The Kick Demon,” landing her signature 450 splash after a Samoan drop set-up to pick up the hard-fought victory in their first-ever meeting. Kai, who caught a knee across the face during the aforementioned 450, got her flowers from the Yarmouth faithful with a well-earned “please come back” chant.
Ricky Morton vs. Channing Thomas (w/ Sidney Bakabella) went to a no contest
Mentioned earlier in this post, Bakabella’s influence took hold as both he and Morton were unable to figure out the true WWE Hall of Famer. Bakabella got up on the ring apron repeatedly, eventually tossing a pair of brass knuckles to Thomas behind referee Erik Greenleaf’s back.
As Thomas was about to deliver a punch, Kerry Morton ran out and prevented it. As Eric Greenleaf called for the bell and Thomas & Bakabella slunked away to the back, Morton grabbed the mic and suggested that if the manager wanted to be in the ring so much, he and Thomas should face them in a tag team match in a main event.
Humerus won a battle royal to earn a future Let’s Wrestle title shot
The entrants were a mix of talent from both Limitless and Let’s Wrestle in addition to former EWA and IWE wrestlers — a true who’s who of Maine history.
The participants: J-Heru, Adam Booker, MSP, Humerus, Delmi Exo, Cousin Larry, Conner Murphy, Dave Dyer, Troy Nelson, Jake Hess, Perry Von Vicious, Dylan Nix, Alexander Lee, Samuel Radcliffe, and ZPB.
The final four came down to Booker, Murphy, Lee and Humerus. Lee eliminated Booker and then charged Murphy with a clothesline over the top rope, knocking both men on the apron. Humerus then took his opportunity and dropkicked both men to the floor to win the match. As mentioned earlier, he later revealed himself to be none other than BRG.
Alec Price defeated Dezmond Cole
My most anticipated match of the night didn’t disappoint as these two recent rivals showed up and showed out in their first-ever clash. Both matched each other move for move with athleticism, tenacity and a drive to simply be better than the other. Price even brought out his Grand Prize destroyer which commentary mentioned he hasn’t done in a while.
Boofa looked to have this won several times and hit Price with a DDT on the apron following a forearm battle on said apron. He followed that up with a terminator dive where he managed to land on his feet. But his follow-up swanton bomb back inside missed and the former Limitless Wrestling World Champion showed Yarmouth why he is still a threat for the title, getting the win after hitting his second SurPrize Kick of the match.
The victory ends Cole’s win streak while it’s now two in a row for Price. When will he look toward regaining the title he likely considers his?
Let’s Wrestle Champion Mac Daniels defeated Slade in a non-title match
Daniels, still shell-shocked from the BRG reveal after the battle royal, still came out and reiterated that he wanted someone different for his match tonight. That he got in the insane Slade. Daniels was taken to the limit and was nearly put through chairs on the way there.
However, the Let’s Wrestle Champion picked up the victory after landing a low blow and subsequent roll-up as Slade and ref Nate Speckman were fighting over a chair. Slade still got a measure of revenge after the bell, chokeslamming Daniels and walking out the front door into the cold Maine night.
Beef defeated Andy Brown
Brown was looking to keep the good times rolling off his win over BRG at December’s Dirty Laundry, but ran into a motivated Beef who earned his second straight win by ending Brown’s would-be win streak. This was a hard-hitting hoss fight as expected with Beef getting the duke after hitting a Beefy Bomb and then a top rope splash as Brown flipped him off on the way down.
Afterward, the aforementioned confrontation between Beef, Byson and Romero took place with the anything goes three-way set for March 25th.
Ricky Morton & Kerry Morton defeated Channing Thomas & Sidney Bakabella
The Mortons were at a slight disadvantage as Kerry was sporting a cast on his right hand, but they didn’t perform like it. The match featured a now signature Ricky Morton Canadian Destroyer (Tennessee Destroyer?) on Thomas and despite Bakabella’s antics, the Mortons picked up the win after they took the outspoken manager’s wig off and got the roll-up on him for the victory.
Ricky took the mic afterward and thanked the fans for being there, for being the fuel and drive behind why they do this, and to provide the opportunity for everyone to wrestle.
And with that, we look ahead to Saturday, March 25th for Limitless’ next show at the Yarmouth AmVets that will feature the two title matches mentioned above in addition to the promotional debut of ECW, WWE and WCW legend 2 Cold Scorpio. Yes, you read that correctly.
More to come on that and more in the months ahead.