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PPW HV Recap: Rivera Walks Away Victorious, But Johnny Moran Hangs Onto Title

By Michael Pagano, PPW Staff Writer


Another $500 Investment For Drew Adams

Before the match between Antonio Rivera and Johnny Moran for the PPW Television Championship, Moran was set to talk to Tom Mitchell. Drew Adams had something to say about that, as he interrupted the proceedings to offer Moran another $500 to hurt Rivera in their match.


This comes after Moran not only didn’t hurt Rivera the last time he was paid $500 by Adams, but “The Dominican Dream” was able to earn a rollup pin victory over the TV Champ. Adams offered up the cash none the less, but then after Moran agreed and walked off, he was told by Mitchell and his henchmen that it would be $1,000 now after the $500 from last time he paid Moran. This caused Adams to hustle after Moran to talk to him about what he just did.


“The Dominican Dream” Is Ready To Go

Rivera was very confident heading into the matchup, telling Tom Mitchell that he “beat Johnny Moran already, I know I can beat him, I know what it takes to beat him.” We know that Rivera earned this championship match after getting a rollup victory over Moran in a match that also involved PPW No Limits Champion Isaak Ruhl.


Before the match could begin properly, of course you know Drew Adams had to once again see what his $500 investment on Moran could do in his match with Rivera. Adams came out to the ring with his henchmen in tow on his hoverboard and announced Moran to the ring. Not only this but Moran came out to the ring with both Andy Header, who had just lost earlier in the night to Nolo Kitano, and TJ Masters. Header also decided to hop on commentary for the match. The odds did not seem to favor Rivera heading into this one.


All Moran Early On

Once the match did officially get underway, Moran hit a huge boot straightaway on Rivera before throwing him into the ring post several times. Rivera was eventually able to avenge the beatdown with a crossbody after using the ring steps to his advantage after Moran tried to throw him into them. Rivera used that momentum gained from the crossbody to continue to take it to Moran once they both made it back into the ring.



Moran then knocked Rivera silly with a huge right hand to take “The Dominican Dream” down to the mat. This allowed Moran to find the edge in the match, hitting Moran with a sidewalk slam, suplex, and a running senton. Rivera kicked out of the pin attempt.


Adams Gets Involved

Moran continued his beatdown of Rivera and had several more pin attempts that Antonio kicked out of. Rivera began to get back into the match with a suplex before attempting to get Moran in a submission hold. This was interrupted however by Adams jumping onto the side of the ring to distract the referee. The ref then went to check on Moran in the middle of the ring which allowed for Adams to hit Rivera with a low blow.


Moran Retains

Both men then tried to gain the advantage after being down for a few seconds, Moran hit a DDT before Rivera found a way to get his submission back on Johnny. Adams henchmen put Moran’s foot on the rope to break the hold before Drew Adams handed the TV title to Moran. Johnny then used the title to nail Rivera in the face.


This gave the referee no choice but to call for the bell and award Rivera the victory by way of disqualification. Of course, this does mean that Moran hangs onto the title via the champion’s advantage. After the match ended, Moran along with Drew Adams and his henchmen proceeded to continue the beatdown of “The Dominican Dream.”


Header, Masters, and Rivera?

Andy Header and TJ Masters then made their way into the ring to try and get Johnny to quit beating up Rivera. This caused Moran to try and clothesline his former friends, but Header and Masters ducked and hit Moran with a dropkick to knock the TV Champ out of the ring.


Header and Masters then continued to clear out the ring by hitting stunners on Adam’s henchmen. They finished off their beatdown by having Header hit a big airplane spinning slam on Adams before throwing him out of the ring.


They helped Rivera out of the ring. What does this mean for the future of these three men? As Paul Bo put it on commentary, “Has Andy Header turned a new leaf, has TJ Masters turned a new leaf?”

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