By Josh Nason
In an unpredictable and chaotic turn of events, Channing Thomas left last Saturday’s Vacationland Cup (now streaming on IWTV) as the new Limitless Wrestling World Champion.
How? Let’s go for a ride.
Thomas won the Vacationland Cup tournament for the first time Saturday, defeating Dezmond Cole, Alec Price and B3CCA in the final four-way. He got the win by pinning Cole after Price nailed Cole with a Surprize Kick in an act of jealousy after Cole had just eliminated him. B3CCA was the first elimination of the match by Thomas.
By winning the VLC, Thomas earned a Limitless title shot which usually takes place at the anniversary show in September. However, Thomas’ manager Sidney Bakabella jumped into the ring and took the microphone with an impassioned speech about how Thomas should challenge for the title tonight instead of waiting.
How? Let’s rewind.
Earlier in the night, Byson realized his dream and won the Limitless Wrestling title by defeating his longtime rival Big Beef in a hard-hitting match. It was his last night in the promotion for three months as he heads to Japan to realize another dream of his. To defend the title that meant so much to him in a country he has always wanted to compete in seemed like a dream come true.
Except it turned into a nightmare.
Bakabella said Byson leaving and making Thomas wait for his opportunity would rob the fans of seeing him win the title and that Byson was ripping off the fans, calling him a coward. The new champion was thought to be gone for the night, but his music hit and a fired up champion came out ready to fight.
Then, it was on. The two went toe-to-toe with Byson unloading on Thomas and hitting a Lovegun Lariat, followed by a failed Burning Hammer attempt. Thomas countered with his piledriver finisher, but that only got two as someone kicked out of the move for the first time ever. Byson fired up and hit a Burning Hammer, but Bakabella distracted referee Nate Speckman from making the cover.
Byson lost his cool and brought the manager into the ring, ripping his polo shirt off and unloading chops. Thomas helped Bakabella avoid a Burning Hammer, ducked another Lovegun Lariat, and hit a second pliedriver that got him the pin and unpredictable win. As the show went off the air, Byson laid in the ring crushed as the fans chanted “Thank you, Rip.”
Channing Thomas is both your new Limitless Wrestling World Champion and the VLC ‘23 winner — all as Bakabella had predicted when they united in the promotion last year. Shocking, indeed.
Here’s the rest of what was arguably the best show of the year for Limitless and one of the best in the company’s history:
Dezmond Cole defeated JT Dunn to qualify for the VLC final: This was an incredible must-see match that opened the show and is one of this writer’s top LW matches of the year. Dunn, the 2019 VLC winner, was thwarted in his return match and put over “Da Big Boofa” strong after the match on the mic.
B3CCA defeated Aaron Rourke to qualify for the VLC final: Tag team partners turned opponents went one-on-one with B3CCA picking up another win and a bit of redemption after failing to make it to the 2019 final in her tourney debut.
Channing Thomas (w/ Sidney Bakabella) defeated Ichiban to qualify for the VLC final: The lightning-fast Ichiban was unsuccessful in his first VLC, losing to the eventual winner via a piledriver.
Alec Price defeated Kevin Blackwood to qualify for the VLC final: The former Limitless Champion spoiled Blackwood’s return to Limitless in a great, physical matchup that I’d like to see a few times again. I am looking forward to seeing Blackwood back again in the world of Limitless.
Rip Byson defeated Big Beef to win the Limitless Wrestling World title: As mentioned earlier, Byson realized his dream only for it to be broken hours later. He now carries the indignation of being the shortest reigning LW Champion ever and will be gunning for revenge when he eventually returns from Japan. For Beef, the win ends a five-month reign that saw him successfully defend twice. What’s next for the now former champion who also left the night heartbroken?
The Mane Event defeated Fresh Air: I told you this would be entertaining and lo and behold, it was. It was experience vs. youth and in the end, experience won out with Midas Black & Jay Lyon hitting the Grand Finale on Macrae Martin to get the win. Both teams shook hands in a sign of respect afterward which brought out MSP…
MSP challenged ATR for September’s anniversary show: To paraphrase, DangerKid & Aiden Aggro aren’t happy with how things went down in their first-ever meeting with Above The Rest and how ATR got the victory. They challenged Tristen Thai & Gabriel Skye to a rematch in September which has yet to be confirmed.
Ultra Violette defeated Damaris Dawkins: Both ladies impressed in their maiden Limitless voyage with the reigning House of Glory Women’s Champion picking up the submission win.
Nason Notes:
Limitless debuted some VERY FANCY new lights as part of the intros. Will a TitanTron be next?
Matt Tremont has been confirmed for his Limitless debut at the Saturday, September 30th anniversary show.