Welcome to Diva Dirt’s regular coverage of Over the Top Wrestling (OTT). OTT, founded in 2014, is Ireland’s largest wrestling promotion, notable, among other reasons, as the home promotion of NXT UK star Jordan Devlin and the greatest independent women’s wrestler in the world, the Session Moth. But OTT isn’t just an incubator for talent: it’s a venue for some of the best wrestling anywhere in Europe, the home of the distinctly hard-hitting and comic in-ring style that dominates the Irish scene, and a company on the forefront of women’s wrestling in Ireland.
OTT began 2019 at the Ringside Club in Dublin with the latest edition of Contenders, their afternoon show featuring both up-and-coming and established talent. The stacked card featured both a six-woman tag team match and a six-on-six intergender tag match. Contenders 12 featured two shocking turns for the OTT women’s division, as Debbie Keitel and Valkyrie turned on their tag partners Amy Allonsy and Katey Harvey. The tension in the women’s division ratcheted up further after OTT Live in Belfast 3, when Debbie Keitel interfered to help Valkyrie during a non-title match with OTT Women’s Champion Raven Creed. OTT announced the women’s tag match to settle the grudge, with Creed, Harvey and Allonsy teaming up to take on Keitel, Valkyrie and Veda Scott.
While a packed Ringside Club awaited the start of the show, a short video package featured a segment in which Debbie Keitel and Valkyrie attacked and threatened Amy Allonsy in the bathrooms. The tag match came third on the card, with Keitel, Valkyrie and Scott entering to loud boos, followed by even louder hisses. While Keitel and Valkyrie reveled in the crowd’s disdain, Scott was confused. She told the crowd she felt she must have walked into a situation she didn’t really understand, as she wasn’t used to getting booed. The crowd booed her into silence.
Katey Harvey and Raven Creed emerged next, to huge pops. Creed in particular is one of the most over wrestlers in the entire country right now, ever since she dethroned the incredibly unpopular Sammii Jayne at Defiant 2. There seemed to be some tension between Creed and Harvey – Harvey lost the title to Jayne, and surely wants it back – but nothing their hatred for Keitel and Valkyrie couldn’t paper over. But then Allonsy no-showed. The crew played her entrance music (“Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen) twice, to no avail. Katey Harvey wanted to wait further, but Creed insisted they were on their own, and the match started as a 3-on-2 handicap match.
The four Irish wrestlers immediately began brawling in the middle of the ring. Scott initially flitted around the edges and let the native talent duke it out before taking some opportunistic shots. Harvey and Creed managed to drive Valkyrie and Keitel out of the ring and then flattened Scott with a double clothesline. Scott rolled out of the ring, followed by Creed. Then everything went wrong. While the other four performers brawled at ringside, Katey Harvey ascended to the top rope and dove. It wasn’t clear from my vantage point exactly what happened, whether the jump was mistimed or overshot or those on ringside weren’t in position. Regardless, Katey Harvey hit the hardwood floor of the Ringside Club.
There was a commotion and Harvey was taken back stage while the match continued, now as a 3-on-1 handicap. The remaining performers should be commended for a great job calling the rest of the match on the fly. Creed was dragged to the opposing corner, where Keitel, Scott and Valkyrie took turns pummeling her. Keitel had a great spot where she trashed the merch stand and called out the absent Allonsy, who often manned the table during her hiatus from in-ring competition. The match culminated with Keitel pinning Creed, a pointed end given their years-long rivalry in both OTT and the now-defunct Celtic Championship Wrestling.
The intergender tag match followed, with Session Moth Martina and the Lads from the Flats (Paddy Morrow and Workie) teaming up against the number one contenders to the OTT Tag Team Championships, More Than Hype (LJ Cleary, “Psycho” Nathan Martin and “Handsome” Darren Kearney). It was a terrifically entertaining match, with plenty of OTT’s trademark silly humor. MTH abruptly rebranded themselves as “bad boys” mid-match, to many confused chuckles. Workie ascended to the top rope for a dive, then climbed down to the second rope, then to the first rope. Paddy Morrow, a legend of the Irish wrestling scene, was on top form, and received excited fanboyish praise from LJ Cleary, which he answered with a blow to Cleary’s face. But Martina was the MVP of the match. She delivered a devastating fisherman’s suplex with a bridge to Cleary, who dethroned her as OTT Gender Neutral Champion, but Cleary kicked out. Shortly after, she landed one of her signature sequences on Martin, rolling through a satellite DDT into a stalling vertical suplex.
After disappointing losses to the Mongrels at Live in Belfast 3 and the Gymnasties at OTT Fan Appreciation Night, Martina and the Lads from the Flats claimed the victory to raucous applause. Morrow went on the mic, pointing out they’d defeated the best tag team in the country, who also happened to be the number one contenders to the tag titles. His point was clear and the reigning champions, the Kings of the North (Damien Corvin and Bonesaw), emerged from back stage to answer him. They threw down a challenge at OTT Homecoming, with a twist. They didn’t want Morrow and Workie as their opponents, but Morrow and Martina and Workie, in a 3-on-2 match, in a steel cage. The crowd reacted with ecstatic cheers, which quickly turned to boos when the Kings of the North pretended to leave, only to turn around and pull Martina from the ring for a post-match beat-down. Morrow and Workie drove them off and the victors resumed their celebrations.
The tag title match announcement is a significant development. Should Martina and the Lads from the Flats win, Martina will have held three of OTT’s five titles. She was the inaugural OTT Women’s Champion and the inaugural OTT Gender Neutral Champion, losing the titles to Katey Harvey and LJ Cleary respectively. Martina previously teamed with Mark Haskins and Pete Dunne to face then-champions the Rapture (Zach Gibson, Sha Samuels and Charlie Sterling) for the tag titles in a losing effort. But this second chance may offer the challengers an advantage: the Rapture initially claimed the titles by defeating the Kings of the North in a cagematch.
Updates on Katey Harvey began to flow as the event ended. The latest news, posted by Harvey herself, is two broken elbows, requiring surgery.
Harvey, known as the Queen of Irish Wrestling, has received an outpouring of support from fans and colleagues alike. Her well-wishers include NXT UK star Killer Kelly and Mae Young Classic alum Ayesha Raymond, who recently dethroned Harvey as GWF Women’s Champion. Irish wrestling events company Low Blows will host a raffle at their Royal Rumble pay-per-view party, with the proceeds going to Harvey.
Diva Dirt wishes Katey Harvey a speedy recovery, and encourages fans to offer their support in any way they can. Her injuries will keep her from both the ring and her shoot job, and she is likely to incur hefty medical bills during her rehabilitation. Keep an eye out for any opportunities to help out one of the true pioneers of Irish women’s wrestling. She more than deserves it.
OTT has announced three more shows for 2019 thus far. Live in Belfast 4 takes place on February 3rd in the Europa Hotel. Your humble recapper won’t be in attendance, but will report on any news coming out of the event. Homecoming is set for February 17th at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, and will feature the aforementioned intergender tag title cagematch. ScrapperMania V is scheduled for March 16th at the National Stadium in Dublin.
Here’s the full card, including men’s matches, with results:
- Steven Carvel and Curtis Murray defeated Club Tropicana (with José Idle)
- Carlos Romo defeated Calum Black
- Debbie Keitel, Valkyrie and Veda Scott defeated Raven Creed
- Session Moth Martina and the Lads from the Flats defeated More Than Hype
- Conor Andrews defeated Strongman Phil Nelson
- David Starr defeated Terry Thatcher
- Scotty Davis defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey
- Jordan Devlin defeated A-Kid
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more coverage of the OTT women’s division, as well as further updates on Katey Harvey’s recovery.
