Coming a week after Chapter Eleven, the third ENDVR show was being sold on a no holds barred match involving Eddie Dennis and Rob Lynch, as the “Jimmy Havoc’s Crew vs. all” feud continued.

#TLDR: Eddie Dennis willingly threw himself into a proverbial lion’s den as his no-holds-barred challenge for the main event almost backfired.

The Full Review: The show opened with footage of a fish evolving into a lizard… accompanied by someone screaming as if you were telling them they’d have to watch Vince Russo-era TNA. At the end of it, an Omega symbol flashes up, along with the word “SUNDAY”… and that’s our first match.

“The Omega” Isaac Zercher vs. Lucha Dave
Zercher is the security guard who interfered on Jimmy Havoc’s behalf at chapter 11, sliding in the PROGRESS title staff for Havoc to use in en route to retaining the title against Zack Sabre Jr. Glen Joseph gives a suitably low-key introduction to Zercher, who gets a smattering of boos, presumably from those fans who were at the Garage a week earlier and saw what’d happened.

Zercher throws Lucha Dave to the outside repeatedly, before Dave slingshots in with a small package for a near-fall as he match actually started. Another roll-up gets Dave a two-count, as does a crucifix. The Omega goes to the outside, where he catches a plancha by Dave, and rams him into a pillar in the Bedford.

Dave gets press slammed back into the ring, before Zercher does the old Brock Lesnar leap onto the apron, before headbutting Dave in the midsection. Zercher blocks a sunset flip, before throwing Dave into the mat head-first, and then picks him up like a rag doll into the corner. Lucha Dave rolls away from an avalanche, then scores a roll-up for a near-fall, but Zercher rolls through and dumps him with a release German suplex.

Lucha Dave gets flapjacked off the ropes by Zercher, who then gets a near-fall with a cocky “one-foot-on-the-chest” pin. Dave then reversed a pop-up powerbomb into some headscissors, but a superkick attempt was countered into an Exploder suplex, before a spinning powerbomb attempt was turned into more headscissors, as Zercher hit the middle rope.

A vicious snap spinebuster kills Dave as he went for the Dave-1-9, and then a Samoan drop-style Muscle Buster gets Zercher the win. Totally one sided, but out of the three monsters we’d seen so far in ENDVR (Krysis, Fug), Zercher seemed the most well rounded of the trio. *½

My word, Isaac Zercher’s music is very unthreatening for a guy of his size.

Darrell Allen vs. Shen Woo
The pair circled around the ring, before Woo got a kick in to Allen. Apparently Shen Woo got into wrestling to prove that it’s inferior to martial arts. Alright then… Allen takes down Woo, and grabs an abdominal stretch, before rolling forward into a pinning predicament for a two-count.

Allen grapevines Woo’s leg, and ties him up in a guillotine choke, before a back kick from Woo takes Allen to the mat. Woo picks up Allen in a neck and arm choke, but loses the hold and decides to clothesline Allen for a near-fall. Allen gets choked in the middle rope after Woo trash talks to the crowd in Cantonese, before he makes a brief comeback with forearms, only to fall to a snap Samoan drop for a near-fall.

An elbow drop gets Woo another two-count. Then a two-count from a body slam to continue the move, cover, move pattern. Neckbreaker. Cover. Backdrop suplex. Cover. Woo just can’t get past a two-count. Woo then goes to some martial art kicks to the chest, before Allen ducks and hits his Razzle Dazzle kick to take the Hong Kong native to the mat.

Back on their feet, Allen knocks Woo with some forearms, before Woo again goes for the head/arm choke, only to lose it and drill Allen with forearms instead. A single-leg lariat from Allen hits Woo flush in the chin for a two-count, before an enziguiri on the apron leads to a missile dropkick, before Woo hits his Chinese Whisper (flatliner).

Woo slowly creeps back to his feet, and gets another two-count over Allen. He follows up by taking Allen to the top rope in search of the Chinese Whisper off the top, but Darrell shoves him off, and leaps to the mat for a swinging suplex, and then a big splash off the top for the win. Not great, but good enough for this level of show, I guess. **¼

Damon Moser runs in after the match, dressed all in black, and attacks Allen with knees into the corner. Allen overcomes him briefly, before a knee trembler sends Allen down like a sack of potatoes. Moser cuts a promo, claiming that he’s being held back, with Allen lying about training being cancelled so he doesn’t get booked… and this leads to a challenge for ENDVR 4. If this were WWE, you’d know full well that this had been written to take a shot at someone who had missed training and complained about not getting booked…

Lord Jonathan Windsor & Rhia O’Reilly vs. Ali Armstrong & Rosie Leigh
Mixed-tag action now, with Rosie Leigh making her debut. She’s got a Thermos flask with her, so she can always have a cup of tea. I get the rhyming slang now…

Rosie’s got the mic and she introduces herself alongside a hyperactive Ali Armstrong. Perhaps he had a huge flask of coffee instead of tea? Rosie leads a singalong of “Knees Up Mother Brown”, but quickly gets cut-off by Rhia O’Reilly. Windsor refuses to start, so we get O’Reilly and Leigh to begin the match, and O’Reilly throws Leigh into the corner. Leigh ducks a tie-up, then trades forearms, before clubbing O’Reilly to her knees and finally going for a La Magistral cradle for an early-two count. After taking a breather, O’Reilly tags out to Windsor, who faces off against Ali Armstrong… who starts with a tie-up, and gets thrown face-first to the mat.

Windsor offers a test of strength, but breaks it quickly and sweeps the leg before a cocky cover gets him a one-count. He’s fed up and tries to tag out, but Armstrong wrings the arm, and drops him with a bodyslam before going back to the wristlock. An underhook suplex drops Windsor, who then takes a forearm in the corner, before Rosie Leigh tags in and leaps off of Armstrong and dropkicks Windsor in the corner.

Armstrong tags back in and misses a legdrop, since that’s his gimmick. Windsor mocks him, but that lets Rosie come in and get in position for Windsor to get shoved over her… and she actually connects with a legdrop. Armstrong can’t follow up, as he runs the ropes. A lot. He finally tires himself out, and calls for a tea break… so Rosie’s Thermos comes into play!

Armstrong offers Windsor a cuppa, but it just gets spat in his face, so Leigh tags in. She’s mad at the waste of tea, and gets even more angry when Windsor rubs his hand on the mat, and wipes some mat-tea into her face. Cue a forearm off the ropes, which barely moves Windsor, so she just stamps on his foot and dropkicks his knee-out. Leigh climbs the rope and lands a second rope dropkick, before Armstrong tags in to make a cover.

A massive boot to the head of Armstrong is followed up by a back senton as Windsor absolutely squashes Ali. Windsor whips Armstrong from corner-to-corner, before Windsor misses a leaping forearm into the corner. Leigh gets tagged in again, and Windsor lays into her with an uppercut before tagging in O’Reilly.

Rhia snapmares Leigh for a two-count, before throwing Leigh face-first into the mat. Leigh’s taken into the corner, before she counters a corner lariat with a backslide for a near-fall. A forearm from O’Reilly sends Leigh backwards, and then an Irish whip leads to a clothesline for another near-fall from the Belfast native. Leigh takes a Finlay roll, then a back senton that offered considerably more protection than the one Armstrong had earlier on, but only led to another two-count.

Windsor tags back in for more intergender fun, starting with a punch to the midsection, and a knee drop gets him another cocky two-count. Leigh’s picked up in a Fireman’s carry, but she turns it into a sunset flip after pulling down Windsor’s trunks… and she gets flattened by a shoulder block.

O’Reilly tags in and kicks away at Leigh, before an Exploder suplex sends her across the ring for another two-count. Windsor flips out at a guy in the crowd for reading a newspaper, and that creates a distraction where Leigh gets a near-fall from a bulldog. Windsor tags in and knocks Armstrong off the apron, but he misses a kick and Leigh finally makes the hot tag to Armstrong.

Ali lands a reverse DDT for a near-fall, then gets an Airplane Spin on Windsor, but O’Reilly blind tagged in… only to be crotched on the top rope as Windsor staggered into the ropes. Armstrong shakes off the dizziness to hit a Muscle Buster on O’Reilly, but Windsor breaks up the cover. A poke to the eye from O’Reilly leads to a roll-through into a guillotine, but Armstrong powers out… only to get DDT’d for a near-fall as Leigh this time broke up the pin.

Leigh low bridged O’Reilly to the outside, but Windsor’d made the tag in, and after knocking Leigh to the floor, he drops Armstrong with a belly-to-back suplex for a near-fall. Armstrong schoolboys Windsor for a two-count as he was arguing with the referee… and then we get a ref bump as Armstrong ducks a clothesline, leading to Marc Parry getting bumped by Windsor. With no referee, Armstrong connects with a sit-out spinebuster for a visual pin, but Isaac Zercher runs in and lays waste to Armstrong, finishing him off with Ryback’s Shell Shocked. Parry wakes up, and Jonathan Windsor more than happily takes the cover. Eh, this seemed to go on for too long, and there were times where folks just looked out of place. **

Thomas Cartelle vs. Mark Hendry
The culmination of a feud that’s stretched out over the first three ENDVRs, Hendry’s got his wish – a singles match against Cartelle… who delivers a superkick as Hendry leapt off the turnbuckles during the ring introductions.

Cartelle throws Hendry to the outside, and clubs him with forearms, which descends into windmilling punches before both men end up taking a shot into the pillar. Hendry’s thrown into the ring, but he quickly returns with a tope to Cartelle, and back inside this goes into a bit of a kickboxing affair. A suplex gets Hendry a two-count, before Cartelle takes a German suplex for a near-fall after a failed attempt to leap over him in the corner.

Cartelle dropkicks Hendry off the apron to the floor, and they’re back outside, as Cartelle lands a hurricanrana off the apron and into the crowd. After breaking the count, Cartelle gets tossed into the ringpost, then takes a suplex on the floor, but he comes back with a DDT onto the apron. Inside the ring, Cartelle stomps on Hendry, then lands an uppercut, before Hendry fires back with short-forearm strikes. More kicks from Cartelle lead to a legsweep for a near-fall, before a Hendry crossbody gets him a near-fall.

Hendry scores a two-count from a roll-up, before running into a clothesline from Cartelle, who corners Hendry… and then counters a crossbody with a leaping knee to the midsection. A bodyslam gets Cartelle a two-count, but his arguing with the referee leaves him open for an enziguiri from Hendry, and then a top rope moonsault attempt. Except Cartelle rolls away just in time as Hendry seemed to over-rotate and crash legs-first into the mat.

Cartelle picks up Hendry and pulls off an inverted death valley driver for a near-fall from that, before a running powerslam is avoided and turned into a Finlay roll, then a quebrada for the win. Mark Hendry gets his win, and that’s all she wrote for Thomas Cartelle in PROGRESS. As a blow-off, this was pretty good, again, nothing amazing, but good for what it is. **¾

A promo now from “Pastor” William Eaver, whose beard is considerably shorter here. Eaver’s unhappy with RJ Singh’s “hedonistic Bollywood lifestyle”… and there’s our next match.

RJ Singh vs. “Pastor” William Eaver
Eaver’s still got the unflattering singlet, and Singh starts by praying to Ganesh. Stereotypes!

Singh starts by grabbing Eaver’s beard, before going through some catchphrases. We start with a couple of wristlocks, before Singh blocks a hiptoss and rolls up the Pastor for a near-fall. A low dropkick knocks Eaver down, before a side Russian legsweep sees Eaver roll out of the ring for a breather.

Eaver crawls out of the ring to avoid an Ethnic Submission, and ends up stomping away on Singh after he’d beaten him back into the ring. Singh telegraphs a back body drop and ends up taking a Fisherman’s suplex for a near-fall, and then stretches Singh’s arms in a surfboard. Eaver blocks a reversal, then switches it into a headlock, before a back suplex helps Singh free himself.

Singh launches into Eaver with a back elbow in the corner, before a second one sees him get nothing but the Pastor’s boots. Eaver goes up top and just about holds his balance for long enough to do a double axehandle smash, then he goes back up, again with wobbly legs, and misses a second double axehandle. There’s probably a reason the Pastor avoids the top rope these days!

A series of clotheslines from Singh follows, as does a leaping back elbow, then an enziguiri off the ropes for a near-fall. Singh calls for the Singh-ton Bomb, but Eaver cuts him off on the top rope, but Singh counters with a sunset flip… but can’t quite do the powerbomb part of the move.

Eaver lands an uppercut, then a backbreaker for a near-fall, before Singh blocks a shot with the Bible. Singh misses a Rainmaker, before connecting with a back elbow and climbing to the top rope. The Pastor pushes the referee into the ropes to crotch Singh, and that allows Eaver to land a Crucifix Powerbomb for the win. Not too bad, but you’ve got to remember, early days and all that. **½

Will Ospreay, Joey Lakeside & Chuck Mambo vs. Burden of Justice (Steve Burden & Phil Ward) & Paul Ryker
This sure seems like an odd set of teams. Joey Lakeside’s doing the Motor City Machine Guns act for some reason, hailing from “Detroit, Essex”. Paul Robinson apparently got injured, so he’s dropped out… and is replaced by Chuck Mambo. Who’s managed to get some shoes so he’s no longer barefoot.

Ward starts off with a headlock on Mambo, who drop downs and trips up Ward off the ropes immediately. They go for a test of strength, which Ward switches back to a headlock, before he gets shoved into the ropes and falls for a drop toe hold. Ward lands some forearms, then gets hiptossed by Mambo after some rope running as the surfer again tries for a surfboard.

Burden gets forcibly tagged in, and shoves Mambo into the corner, which leads to Lakeside getting the tag in. Lakeside’s test of strength doesn’t go well, as he’s wrestled to the mat for a series of near-falls from Burden, before a monkey flip frees Lakeside, who tags in Ospreay. Who goes up against Paul Ryker…

Ospreay slips out and tries to stretch Ryker’s arms, but the Canadian reverses into a full nelson, then a snapmare, before Ospreay gets up and into a wristlock. That’s reversed back and forth, as Will uses his speed to his advantage, before Ryker runs into a kick to the midsection, only to reverse a suplex and drop Ospreay with a stalling suplex. Lakeside comes in and gets dropped with a hanging vertical suplex, before Chuck Mambo gets a tag and suffers the same fate.

Warden gets tagged in, and he ends up in position for a quadruple suplex, with Mambo and referee Marc Parry helping Lakeside and Ospreay lift up Warden. The tide quickly turns as Warden drops Ospreay, stomping away on his legs, before Ryker and Burden came in to keep Ospreay cornered. Will fires back but gets cut-off as he tried to dive to the outside, and he ends up avoiding a powerbomb attempt from Burden, before getting cornered by Ward.

Burden comes in and slams Ospreay into the ropes (“Rick Martel reference!”) as the beatdown continued on the future star. Will hit a big boot to get some separation, but Burden tagged out to Ryker to keep Will in the ring. Ryker mouthed off at Burden, which led to Burden blind-tagging himself in as the Canadian went for a running powerslam, and then the pair of them shoved each other, as Ospreay finally made the tag out to Joey Lakeside.

Lakeside cleaned house on Burden, as Ryker walked out on the match. Ward and Burden were taken down by a double flatliner from Lakeside, who scored a near-fall with a low crossbody onto Burden in the corner. A dive from Lakeside was cut-off by a knee on the apron from Burden, who replied by powerbombing him onto the apron… with Will Ospreay following immediately with a somersault plancha to the outside.

Back inside, Lakeside tagged in Mambo, who promptly got hung up on the top rope, before Ward came in to put the boots to him. A back elbow rocks Ward, as does a big boot, and a slingshot into the corner. Mambo followed with a reverse neckbreaker, and then finally got the surfboard on! A Romero special follows as Ward got too close to the ropes, and Ospreay tagged himself in, landing a tiltawhirl backbreaker on Ward before Burden turned him inside out with a lariat.

A double axehandle off the top to Burden barely registered, as Mambo instead took a spinebuster, before Lakeside superkick’d Burden within a second of him landing. Ospreay fires up with some slaps on Ward, then lands a tornado DDT, and rolls up into a suplex, which gets countered. Ward shoved Ospreay into the ropes, before a superkick from Burden leads to a high angle bridging German suplex for a near-fall.

Burden tags back in, but misses a right hand as he punches Ward instead of Ospreay. Cue a second piece of dissension from the heels, as Ward slaps Burden, and takes a diving powerbomb as Burden walks out too. The faces come in and drill Burden with a triple superkick, before a shooting star press from Ospreay secured the win. Fun match, although the heel team falling apart twice seemed a little overkill, especially as there was no prior beef between Ryker and the rest of the team. ***

We’re taken to the end of the tag match that saw Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews beat Will Ospreay at Paul Robinson at Chapter 11. They replay Dennis’ challenge to the London Riots for a fight. Which brings us to this – who’ll answer the challenge? It’s gonna be James Davis… or maybe not, as Rob Lynch comes in and attacks Dennis from behind as Marc Parry tried to keep the pair apart before the match could start.

Eddie Dennis vs. Rob Lynch
Once Davis left the ring, Dennis charged Lynch into the corner and put some boots to him, then landed a back elbow and a lariat. Dennis ducks a clothesline, before sending Lynch to the outside, where the Riots were left prone for a dive off of the apron.

Davis grabs onto Dennis’ leg as he re-entered the ring, and that led to a knee to the midsection from Lynch, getting him a two-count. A superkick to the back of Dennis; head gets Lynch another two-count, before Eddie misses a crossbody and sails to the outside, where he takes more punishment from Davis.

Dennis makes a comeback with a dropkick to the back of Lynch as he was caught in the ropes, but he quickly falls into an overhead belly-to-belly from Lynch. Back outside, Dennis again fights free of Davis, but that leaves him open for Lynch to attack him from behind, and then get a near-fall back inside the ring.

Lynch sets Dennis up for a superplex, but Dennis fights his way out of it, headbutting Lynch to the mat, before Davis again interfered, allowing Lynch to pop up with a belly-to-belly superplex. A spot of rope running leads to a diving clothesline from Dennis, before the Welshman lands a swinging side slam for a near-fall. Dennis calls for a powerbomb, but James Davis pops up onto the apron for a distraction, before he pulls Lynch out of the move.

A spear off the ropes gets Lynch a two-count after the distraction. James Davis throws in the London Riots’ IPW:UK tag titles, but Dennis intercepts it and uses it on Lynch, and almost takes the win with it, before he calls for the Next Stop Driver. Lynch gets planted with it, but he barely kicks out just in time.

Dennis goes to the top rope again, but gets crotched by Lynch as he took too long getting up there. Regardless, Dennis slips through and looks for a sunset flip powerbomb, only for Lynch to use the other title belt on Dennis, getting a near-fall in the process. That leads to James Davis throwing subtlety out of the window, and he enters the ring for some double-teaming that quickly goes awry, as Dennis leaps over Lynch, who spears Davis by mistake, before a schoolboy roll-up gets the win for the Welshman.

There’s a part of this match that really didn’t work for me. Given how big the Jimmy Havoc vs. PROGRESS feud was, I really wasn’t expecting Eddie Dennis to get the “home team” their first win, especially once this became an unofficial handicap match. That seemed to hurt the match more than help it. ***

Almost as soon as the pin was counted, the Riots double-teamed Dennis, until the Bhangra Knights made the save with a baseball bat and a bar stool, as the show came to an end, with the Knights building up their streetfight with the Riots at the next chapter show.