By: Jessica McKeown
February 16’s PPW Juiced, the hottest event in Hazleton, heated up the cold northeastern PA air with back-to-back action throughout the night. The squared circle inside felt even hotter once Mike Orlando’s match against Richard Holliday began.
PPW Heavyweight Champion Sean Carr kicked off PPW Juiced with bodyguard Lamar Hawkins by talking down to PPW nation and badmouthing Orlando. However, Orlando seemed to hear enough as he rushed out to defend himself and the fans, stating he looked like “quite the champion standing there with this random guy wearing sunglasses inside” and that he should be champion. The encounter ended with a chair brought out to the ring and a fire lit in Orlando’s fighting spirit, which he later brought into his match.
Orlando and Holliday made their way into the ring commanding reactions (both positively and negatively, respectively) and ready to rumble. The action stalled at first, despite Orlando’s eagerness to go, due to Holliday’s primary dilemma at hand: who would take his jacket for him. This was solved fairly promptly, though, so action commenced again.
Throughout the entire match, Holliday and Orlando evenly traded control over the match. Not only did they meet evenly with their in-ring physicality, but they had a captivating battle of wits to match. PPW nation members witnessed traded chops and blows up close once the action left the ring for a brief moment, hollering approval with each chop Orlando delivered to his opponent. After two-counts galore, Holliday tried ending it with a finisher. Orlando, ultimately, grabbed the win after an attempted roll-up with a deadly DDT.
While Orlando attempted to celebrate his victory, who other than Sean Carr and Lamar Hawkins walked out to ringside to antagonize him once more. Holliday seized an opportunity and gave Orlando cheap shots to the back, also attempting to hold him for a Sean Carr superkick. Despite his efforts, Orlando dodged and repaid him with a spear that shook the building.
It seems that Holliday will be nursing a bruised ego (as well as some possibly bruised ribs) after this one while he figures out his next plan of action at Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling. And it also seems Carr knows Orlando means business, posing a serious threat to his championship reign if #1 contender Samuel Adams does not beat him to it.
How much more gas is left in the tank of this Carr/Orlando feud? Who will have the last laugh and prove the other wrong in the months to come? Though several events unfolded between these two over recent months, it seems there may be more on the way while this feud burns hot.