Grapplemax Straight Outta Joo Chiat: Full Review
SEA Wrestling
Grapplemax Straight Outta Joo Chiat: Full Review
If you wondered why we did not push the results of Grapplemax Straight Outta Joo Chiat out early, it is because we were lucky enough to be given a full look at the show by Grapplemax.
Held last Sunday at Fight Pro-Motion Gym in front of a sell out crowd, the event threw back to the early Showcase days in the same venue almost a decade ago.
Graduation Tag Team Match: Divya & Radiant Rui vs Alani & Ashleigh
Ashleigh is part of the youth programme and is one of the youngest wrestlers you will see anywhere in the region.
We got some surprisingly fiery offence from the NWE team to start, and Ashleigh and Divya treated us to a great series of holds. Divya and then Rui took over, which brought in Alani for a first main roster level test, much to the delight of the fans. The crowd seemed to be behind Rui, cheering her on as she piled on the pressure, while Divya was a lot less friendly and sent Alani into the ropes hard.
As the match went on the veterans looked happy to toy with the NWE trainees. Even Rui got a bit heelish, knocking Ashleigh off the corner while trying to keep Alani down and out, though Alani might just have the most pep and heart of anyone in the region right now. A flying dive to the outside onto both opponents surprised everyone, including the roster members watching at ringside, but in the aftermath Divya slipped in a sneaky rollup on Ashleigh.
Quite the surprising finish, but fair enough, it got the win and they all celebrated together afterwards like the graduation match this was.
Winners: Divya & Radiant Rui
Enjoyable match and I think I've said it before but Grapplemax's women's division has a bright future. I wouldn't be surprised if the Endboss has ordered the belt already.
Grapplemax Rising Title #1 Contendership Six Man Gauntlet Match: Joses vs Nish vs Tyzell Seonix vs Showtime vs Wildfire Remus vs Crypto Bro LK
Joses was out first to take on new main roster star Nish, so we opened with a real battle of the generations. In an unusual change to the current rule, Nish is keeping his original name unlike Nathan, Devan and Tydus most recently.
The two ran through quick tie ups and pure wrestling to start, back and forth, both men looking strong. The highlight was Joses landing a dropkick and then shouting "Nish Up", Nish's own catchphrase, right before dropping him with a suplex. Cheeky. Nish battled back with some tidy clotheslines but kept getting outschooled by the returning veteran, who locked in an ankle lock for a few uncomfortable moments. A quick Skull Crusher from Nish settled it, and out came Tyzell Seonix.
Newbie against newbie, and both have a storied history. It looked like Tyzell got a low blow in on his former trainee mate before finishing in a leg lock with Nish slapping the floor. Those dirty tactics that started to creep into Tyzell's game last year clearly have not gone anywhere. He plays mean and he plays dirty, not necessarily outright breaking the rules, but as close to the line as he can stand, which for me is even more reason to boo him.
Tyzell kept the offence going with a back cracker for two. The fans chanted "Nish Up" and they chanted it loudly. Tyzell stomped the foot, hit a running neckbreaker and went looking for something else, but there was that Skull Crusher again out of nowhere to take the fall. This might be the most dangerous finisher in the promotion right now.
Number three was the mystery opponent and it was none other than Showtime, adding to the growing list of veterans coming back. He ran in out of nowhere, attacked Nish from behind with a bat, hit a KENTA style GTS and pinned him. Simple, ruthless, effective. Let's see if that was a one off. Hope not!
Next out was Wildfire Remus, who got met at the entrance. These two have a storied history. I only had hardcam footage but it looked like they brawled around the ring. Back inside and the larger Showtime was schooling him, keeping Remus grounded and hitting the stomps. Remus fired back but still looked winded, and Showtime, despite wrestling far less (this was his second match in two years), seemed to have the stamina advantage. Then, out of nowhere, up on the shoulders of Showtime, Remus rolled him up for three and booked his place in the final.
Is this another veteran return or a one off for Showtime? We will see. Anyway, it was Crypto Bro LK waiting in the final, keeping the veteran theme going. Yes, I have said veteran too many times.
LK gave Remus some time and the pair seemed to remember they were standing in a boxing arena, sparring with strikes and kicks. Ladykiller is looking lean and trim actually, he looks ready for a Rising Championship shot for sure. Remus fought back but was not quick enough to do much beyond absorb punishment. Things got tense again when Remus landed a counter strike on the Crypto Bro, and from there they went back to pounding each other until a stiff kick winded LK. Eventually it all worked out and we got a lightning quick moonsault to send Remus through as number one contender for the Rising Championship, much to the delight of the fans. A wonderful nod to Remus, who main evented the very first Showcase event.
Winner: And No 1 contender to the Rising Championship, Wildfire Remus
This is a really heartwarming story, seeing Remus come back after so long away, and it is being told excellently. He is not just going into the usual wow, "you've still got it, clap clap clap" route, but he is working things out in front of us. It is logical and I love it.
You know what else I love, the fact this gauntlet did not hand a new winner to every fall, or let the last person in walk away with it. That happens a lot these days and it makes the gauntlet a little redundant. This one was very well put together, with every performer coming out and making a mark on me, especially our two new main roster wrestlers who got to show whether they are face or heel and exactly what they are about.
Main Show
Grapplemax Tag Team Title #1 Contendership: Heaven And Earth vs DEGEN Z (9:38)
The crowd was alive for Heaven And Earth as they cut a promo promising to be tag team champions by the end of the year. Out came DEGEN Z for a promo of their own, greeted by a shower of boos. Both these teams are hugely over, and the start of the main show felt like an Attitude Era card opening up. Energy everywhere.
It all ended in a brawl, as these things should, and then we got down to business with some explosive dropkicks and an early dive from Simon Siah that sent the fans into a frenzy. Nathan X took control on the power advantage, but Siah was not about to lose lying down and fought back with everything he had. Devan Zemir came in to continue the assault, and turning his back on Larhvin Deshadow almost earned him a kick in the head for his trouble. The fans were shouting at Devan to shave his moustache, to much amusement, and he did not relent on Siah.
The quickness of Siah shone through as he countered, dropkicked and reached for the tag to Deshadow, only for Nathan X to haul him down face first into the apron before it could be made, which drew a loud and frustrated boo. Siah eventually got there with a flying bulldog after Deshadow snapped the leg of Devan, and in came the heavy hitter of Heaven And Earth.
Deshadow had a plan, tag Siah straight back in for Poetry In Motion, but a quick stop to soak up the cheers gave Devan the opening for an enziguri and a tag to Nathan. After some brawling we got Total Elimination on Nathan, then Siah dived onto Devan on the outside while Deshadow locked in the submission back in the ring to seal it.
Winners: and new No 1 contenders to the tag team titles, Heaven And Earth
You cannot ask for a better opener to the main card than that. Fan pleasing opening promos like it is 1999, an action packed match (definitely better than 1999) and an exciting step forward for Heaven And Earth. They could have played up even more of the gimmicks and the stalling, but the two teams chose to give us our money's worth in the ring first and foremost. It was also nice to be reminded that DEGEN Z have a lot more to offer than "6-7". I would happily watch these two teams wrestle each and every week.
Tag Team Match: Ships Ahoy (Cornelius LOW & Sarah Coldheart) vs Divya & Xtian
Lots of boos for the new look Ships Ahoy. Nice touch too that Divya and Xtian came out in matching outfits.
Sarah and Divya tied up first, nice and clean, with the Baddest B Word having Sarah's number early. A quick tag brought Xtian in, and rather than a cheer the fans went tense, waiting, until Mr LOW tagged in wearing his new snazzy mask. Xtian was fast out of the gate though, impressive and aggressive from the off.
LOW threw plenty of aggression back, and I am sure there is a great singles match between these two somewhere down the line. He caught the fans with his headstand knee drop onto Xtian and kept the assault rolling. Surprisingly to me, LOW had Xtian's number, and he showed far more viciousness than you would expect from such a sneaky character. Perhaps the former shipmate was too overcome with emotion to really let that faster paced offence out. That seemed to change when he hit a huge slap and a vertical suplex to make the tag to Divya.
Sarah and Divya came in and Singapore's pirate took a German suplex, but LOW snuck in to work Divya over with an arm lock until she reversed it and the fans went wild. The distraction let Coldheart hand back a receipt for that suplex with a vertical version of her own, only to be taken down again by her most likely stronger opponent. Divya got the fans cheering and tagged in Xtian to deal with Cornelius LOW. A sit out facebuster connected, but LOW was close enough to the ropes to grab hold and break it. From there he pushed out of a facebuster attempt, slapped Divya to huge heel heat, hit Xtian with the telescope while the referee was distracted, and a DDT finished it.
Winners: Ships Ahoy
LOW tried to keep the assault going afterwards, but Sarah Coldheart pulled him off. Perhaps she still has some feelings of friendship towards her former shipmate. Things are certainly not as simple and ship shape as Cornelius LOW would like you to believe.
The match went about how I thought it would and it did not disappoint. It told the story of the new Ships Ahoy, a more aggressive Cornelius LOW and a former partner looking for revenge and a way forward, and woven into all of that was solid wrestling and well played character work.
Grapplemax Rising Championship Ladder Match: Ban Sachak (c) vs Kelvin Lang vs Sage Matthews vs Shaheen
This was a huge first for Singapore, the first multi man ladder match the country has seen. To recap, I could only find mention of two ladder matches in the region before this one. The first was an SPW contest back in 2019, then APAC Wrestling held one at Slamfest 25, but both were singles bouts, so this really was something special.
Before the bell my head wandered to the journeys Shaheen and Matthews have been on globally this year. That kind of globetrotting is less and less common and it is hugely admirable. The "Kelvin sucks" chants during the ring announcements were a timely reminder that Kelvin had gone after Ban Sachak last show.
Things kicked off with a scatter out of the ring and Shaheen first to get a ladder standing. The competitors took it in turns to strike each other, and we got an impressive array of strikes and jumps from Shaheen and Matthews before Lang and Sage tried to ram the ladder into Shaheen, only for him to clear it with a graceful leap. The receipt for that was a ladder bulldogged into Sage Matthews by Ban and Shaheen.
Lang went for the belt and got torn off it by Sachak with little ceremony. Matthews tried next, but wily Lang spotted him and dropped down to safety rather than take the fall. All four then followed up by whipping each other into a corner ladder.
As that early stretch came to an end, Sage Matthews turned the heat up with quite a unique piece of business. He threw the ladder like a man in a rage, so it twisted and turned into Kelvin's legs and looked far more vicious than the usual straight lob forward. Big ooooh from the fans.
From there the ladder became a battering ram, and with the other three down the Scumdawg set it up to climb for the gold he has had his eye on since the middle of last year. Again it was his sometimes partner Shaheen who pulled him down. A double stomp from Shaheen soon put Matthews face first on the ladder, and Ban came in to impale the Middle Eastern marvel.
Out of nowhere Shaheen hit a 619 into a ladder on the outside that Kelvin was holding, then slapped a ladder down on Sachak's arm and started climbing. Lang, recovered, slapped him off it and hit a Falcon Arrow. Lang then wedged one ladder into the rungs of a second with the other end resting on the corner to build himself a table. The Grapplemax fans chanted "safety first", which made me laugh.
It was Lang who ended up forced down onto that flat ladder with Shaheen stomping him, before the other two came in for some all out chaos, a third ladder laid diagonally in the corner and Sage slamming Ban into it. Sage started to climb and got sent flying by a dropkick to the ladder from Shaheen, who made his own attempt only to be stopped by Ban.
The fans were in awe as Sage got back body dropped into the sky and onto a ladder. That left the champion alone to scale the ladder, until Kelvin came in and climbed another one. The two brawled precariously high before everyone went flying off in multiple directions. Ban started to stir first, but Kelvin Lang got up with a can of spray, blinded the champ and took the title down himself.
Winner: Kelvin Lang, new Grapplemax Rising Champion
An impressive feat of a match to pull off in a very tightly packed venue, and by a group of four wrestlers with either no ladder match experience or very little of it. Watching on hardcam only, it was clear at times that a match like this never comes across as immersive as being in the room or watching through a multi camera set up, but these four worked their backsides off to produce a quality match and a memorable title change.
Post match Wildfire Remus came out for a stare down with the new champ, only to be fobbed off as Lang walked out.
Kelvin will make a great heel champ, freeing Ban up to return to the main events hopefully while the veterans and the new NWE grads fight over this title.
Singles Match: JT Baba vs Jullian Creed
I did not have any footage from the Jullian Creed open challenge, but JT Baba returned and beat Creed in a match where he looked like a tremendous meaty hoss by all accounts. Awesome.
Winner: JT Baba
Grapplemax Tag Team Title: GST (BIG DAVE & Endboss GREGORY) (c) vs Team NTW (Bad Boy Benny & Sky)
A huge ovation for the boss, and once again for best friend BIG DAVE.
Things started with some uncertainty over who was entering first, but it ended up Greg facing off with Sky, and the Endboss immediately outwrestled him with that amazing technical prowess. Sky lost a little of his swagger the moment the bell rang.
Tags to Benny and Dave brought the comedy, with Benny planting a kiss right on Dave, which did not go down well at all. They started brawling, and then Dave returned the favour to a huge ovation. Benny's receipt for that was a hard, hard punch, and the two really laid into each other before Dave hit a dropkick far too agile for a man of his size. Tag to GREGORY, and Benny had his number straight away, taking him to town in the corner with some hard gut punches. Then, while Sky stomped away on Greg, we got another kiss attack from Benny to Dave. He is nothing if not committed.
Sky tried to suplex Greg and got it on the third go. Benny came in next, and the fun and games were truly over, because the wrestling match of the tags tonight was underway. This was the fourth tag bout of the night, and it is commendable that they told a completely different tale to the other three.
A failed double clothesline saw BIG DAVE thrown over hard while the Endboss could only watch. Sky came in and the beatdown continued until Dave got a spinebuster, Sky tagged in Benny, and a few moments later GREGORY was in and gaining the upper hand. A wonderful Irish whip into a German suplex by Greg was answered by a clothesline from Benny to liven things right back up, and in came Dave and Sky for some big man brawling. Team NTW took control but could not get the three, because GST have fantastic ring presence. Then out of nowhere it was the Brainbusta by Dave and three to retain.
Winners: GST, still Grapplemax Tag Team Champions
The finish came a little out of nowhere, but this was a great match that managed to be the most pure wrestling of the tags tonight and the clear comedy wrestling match of the night, all at once. It worked. I do not know how, but it did. I really like the NTW crew and as time moves on feel they should become a promotion covered by SEA Wrestling.
Grapplemax Openweight Title: SPD (c) vs Jinn Kai
The most surprising thing here is that SPD seems to have changed his music, and the fans seem super cool with it.
Both men tied up at the start and intertwined looking for the upper hand, but neither gave an inch away and it settled into a wrestling move full stalemate. The action spilled to the outside where Kai had the advantage, until SPD started laying in chops to answer the forearms coming his way. They kept brawling around the ring to the delight of the fans, and Jinn Kai landed a missile dropkick on the champ.
Back on the apron the challenger tried to keep that dominance going but got DDT'd down to the floor by SPD, who rolled him back into the ring for a two count. A series of counters ended with a running shin strike from Jinn Kai to swing the advantage back his way, and he went straight for a choke hold. The champ fired back and fired up the fans, who were fully behind SPD by this point.
Jinn Kai has all kinds of martial arts manoeuvres and they kept landing intermittently, so SPD really had to work to hold the upper hand. Kai would not stay down, and you could see the champion getting more and more frustrated with it.
In the final quarter Jinn Kai started stretching the champ out to wear him down further. It turned into an all out brawl, and once again SPD went looking to finish it, hitting a piledriver and simply not believing it when Kai kicked out. Then, out of nowhere, Kai got a vertebreaker, a kick out at one, a shining wizard and a kick to the back of the head, all inside a few seconds. Three count, and it was done. New champion, and the fans could not believe what they had just watched.
Winner: Jinn Kai, new Grapplemax Openweight Champion
The shock of this heavyweight contest alone makes it hugely memorable, and Jinn Kai now has his first Grapplemax championship. I was stunned to find out the young looking wrestler has been with the company since 2019, but this is a well deserved step up into main events for the 26 year old.
We barely had time to take it all in before Hotshot returned to the main shows, and rather than face the new champion he tore straight back into old rival SPD.
Final Thoughts
That is it. Overall, this was probably the best Grapplemax card since Unity in my opinion. The venue gave everything a really raw, edgy feel, and that seemed to come out in the wrestlers, who got to go a little longer and show a little more edge than they maybe get to in some of the community centre venues.
Match of the night, based on the footage I had, was probably the number one contenders tag match, though that is not to knock anything else because it was a very close call. This is certainly one of my favourite Southeast Asian shows of the year so far.
Once again thanks to Greg and the Grapplemax team for the early preview. Keep your eyes peeled for their next project coming real soon!
Photo credits to Grapplemax and Divroyalty
ai transparency: this review was HANDWRITTEN and checked. ai was only used for formatting and proof reading.
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