[I wrote this in January of 2020 at a Special Edition post called We Belong Together. That was before the pandemic took hold of the whole world and before #speakingout took hold of the wrestling world. It was also before I started reviewing every championship title change I could find. Inadvertently, with this review I covered almost every title change in the OTT title’s short history. So now, in September of 2020, I’m adding the inaugural Over the Top Championship match and adding this to the Championship History archive.]

February 3, 2018 – Dublin, Leinster

Jordan Devlin def. Timothy Thatcher {NLW Championship Match}
From Homecoming. The NLW was contested in other Irish companies before becoming OTT’s de facto top championship. This was a fun clash of styles, with Thatcher predictable going for a submission win from the start to the end of the match while Devlin did his best to combat him with flying and strikes. Devlin caught him with a package piledriver at 19:06. After the match, Devlin was awarded the OTT World Championship and vacated the NLW title. ***½

[And now, the review as it was written in January]

I’ve been hearing more than a few great things about Over the Top Wrestling, in particular about their championship title feuds involving David Starr, Jordan Devlin, and WALTER. So I’m going to check it out. I’m jumping in in the middle of 2018 at A Haven for Monsters. Devlin and Starr are the absolute best of friends, holding hands, wearing custom t-shirts with themselves on them, calling themselves the Bernie Sanders & Michael D. Higgins of professional wrestling, and coming out to We Belong by Pat Benatar. Devlin is calling himself the Import Killer because he’s turned back every outside that’s ever come to OTT, but he’s giving the North American import Starr a break because he just loves him so much. But he doesn’t love imports WALTER & Low Ki. Let’s see how that unfolds.

June 8, 2018 – Dublin, Leinster

Low Ki & WALTER def. David Starr & Jordan Devlin
Starr has a history with WALTER, and OTT Champion Devlin excitedly said he was going to help his buddy get his first pin over the big guy. Ki is wearing his Hitman gear and I just hate it. How are the gun holsters not a foreign object? He and Devlin did some nice mat wrestling early on, a lot of it making me wonder if Ki was going into business for himself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a westerner fight in the mid-’90s All Japan style as much as WALTER did here. The specific way he goaded Starr on, walked through Starr’s offense, and casually hit major offense of his own took me right to AJPW main event matches. Starr was an amazing face-in-peril, and when Devlin finally tagged in to fight WALTER the crowd went insane. Watching Devlin go from being frustrated to being desperate to be the big man was an amazing way to set up WALTER coming for the title. Devlin thought he’d help his friend, but he ended up putting his championship run in a vulnerable position. That’s fantastic in-ring storytelling. Ki performed well here, but he really could have been anyone. In the end, Ki kept Starr on the floor while WALTER pummelled Devlin and then choked him out at 20:11. Starr tries hugging his friend after the match, but Devlin is too down on himself to reciprocate. Mark Haskins runs out and threatens to cash-in his Golden Contract (a Money in the Bank briefcase painted gold) shot but it turns out it was just a head game. I hate that the Money in the Bank concept is replicated elsewhere. It’s not a good concept to begin with! ****¼ 

So now WALTER has a claim to the title. Devlin did put down Haskins’ title challenge, but now he had to deal with the big Austrian at Wrestlerama 2. Also in the meantime, WALTER had beaten the bijeezus out of Devlin’s friend Sean Guinness. In an interview after A Haven for Monsters, Devlin said he was angry not that he’d lost to WALTER before, but he was angry  that he lost because he and Starr had been goofing off before the match. He knows now that you can’t be silly against opponents of that calibre. 

August 18, 2018 – Dublin, Leinster

WALTER def. Jordan Devlin {OTT World Championship Match}
WALTER had Timothy Thatcher in his corner, and Devlin has Starr in his corner. Starr had lost to Thatcher earlier in the evening. A lot of this match was Devlin playing catch up. He had to learn WALTER’s nuances on the fly because he didn’t do his homework during the tag match. He’d make a mistake and then have to fight hard to get back in control and figure out how to hit his offense without getting caught. WALTER didn’t have to do any of that because he’s WALTER. His strength and skill have always been enough. He also knew that Devlin was vulnerable to the choke, so he kept going back to that well. I thought the finish was being telegraphed, as the camera focused on Starr on the floor a LOT (and didn’t focus on Thatcher at all), and it didn’t take long before I noticed that he had a towel in his hand. But then WALTER just went ahead and beat the shit out of Devlin and broke everyone’s hearts. The end was gorgeous, as Devlin looked like he was about to fire up and get out of the choke, so WALTER casually hit him with the Island Driver to put him down at 20:!4. I love having my expectations subverted. ****½ 

A couple months later, WALTER defeated Will Ospreay in defense of his title. Devlin recruited Ospreay to help him fight WALTER & Thatcher at Redemption, but Ospreay got injured before the match could happen (Devlin didn’t like Ospreay anyway). Devlin was quick to ask Starr to replace Ospreay. Asked why he’d choose Starr when the two of them have lost to WALTER and Thatcher in singles matches already, Devlin said he’d seen in WALTER’s eyes during their last match that he was shaken, and that he can be beat. I dare someone to watch these pre-match videos and tell me that Devlin shouldn’t be the champion of everything at all times. 

November 10, 2018 – Dublin, Leinster

WALTER & Timothy Thatcher def. Jordan Devlin & David Starr
This was far more of a war of attrition than the Ki tag match. Star tried to punch and elbow his way to success when the mat game proved more prosimiting for Ringkampf. He and Devlin worked better as a team here than they did in the previous tag match too. Part of that I’m sure is meant to be because they came into this match acting serious. There were a couple of choreographed moments that were too cute by half, but I appreciate what they were going for. I wouldn’t have hated the tag rules being better enforced too. In the end, WALTER asks for mercy, but Devlin ignored it and hit a Package Piledriver. Then Starr betrayed Devlin by pulling the referee out of the ring (the camera completely missed it). WALTER powerbombs Devlin into an uppercut from Thatcher for the win at 23:25 to a dead crowd. I wish they’d done a better job of shooting the turn. Starr cries after the match and runs to the back as the commentators make a point of saying that WALTER can clearly be beaten in a fair fight.  ***¾ 

Later, Starr said he stopped the referee’s count because his own obsession with beating WALTER was more important than Devlin’s. Given that Devlin only got involved in the first place to help Starr beat WALTER there was definitely something to that. WALTER felt that the way Devlin and Starr were fighting over him (things escalated at shows after this) was like teenage boys fighting over a girl. As Homecoming 2019 approached. Starr said that just because Devlin didn’t take their A Haven for Monsters match seriously didn’t mean that Starr didn’t take it seriously. Devlin admitted that he distanced himself from Starr by trying to team with Ospreay before the injury ultimately put Starr back in the mix. They both broke down the finish of the tag match at Redemption, both admitting that the friendship is over. At Homecoming, they fought in the opening match, and it was suggested that the winner would get a shot at WALTER.

February 17, 2019 – Dublin, Leinster

Jordan Devlin def. David Starr
Starr is hated by the fans, and he comes out to their Benatar tag team music and wears Irish flag trunks and the friendship t-shirt just to piss off the fans and Devlin more. This angle rules. The production is really beefed up here, with either better cameras, lighting, or both. Devlin came into this with a broken thumb, and Starr desperately targeted it whenever the hometown hero wasn’t beating the crap out of him. After a wild lariat exchange, Devlin hit a pair of Package Piledrivers to get the win at 18:02. This was a terrific opening match, giving the fans everything they wanted setting the bar very high for the rest of the show. After the match, Devlin cradles Starr in his lap as Starr pants and begins to regain the use of his limbs. ****¼ 

And with that, Devlin got his rematch for the title at Scrappermania V on St. Patrick’s Weekend. I saw Jimmy Jacobs post a clip of the crowd during the main event of this show and it was the first clue I had that this match was batshit insane. 

March 16, 2019 – Dublin, Leinster

Jordan Devlin def. WALTER {OTT World Championship Match}
The pre-match video for this match featured a thundering cover of Linkin Park’s In The End and WALTER coming out of the ocean like Godzilla. One of those things worked, the other was really silly. The crowd was as behind Devlin here as any wrestling crowd has ever been behind a wrestler. Devlin, still suffering from a broken thumb, couldn’t do the jabbing that got him close to pinning WALTER in the Redemption tag match, so he was fighting from behind despite coming into this thing with all the energy in the world. Late into the match, Devlin started targeting WLATER’s arm, and for the first time, even more than at Redemption, WALTER looked scared. After Devlin kicked out of a crazy amount of offense, WALTER tried to get disqualified. The referee wouldn’t do it. He tried to walk out, but the rest of the roster stopped him from leaving. Unfortunately, WALTER decided not to sell the arm much down the stretch, but thankfully the injured hand did play into the finish a bit. Was it absurd for Devlin to kick out of two powerbombs and the Island Driver? Sure, but the spirit of every Irish person who ever lived was cheering him on to win. Devlin got the win with the Package Piledriver at 21:14. This seems to be a bit blasphemous, but I thought the first match was better. This was a lot of fun, the crows was really insane, and the finish was very satisfying, but I just felt the first match was more what I look for in a great wrestling gig. You really can’t go wrong either way. WALTER shakes Devlin’s hand after the match, as Starr watches on from the ramp. ****¼ 

That feels like the end of the story, right? Devlin beat the guy who betrayed him on his way to winning back the title. What more could there be? Well, over the next couple months, Starr put together a little winning streak. At Banjanxed, Starr approached Devlin after his main event title defense and demanded a shot at the championship. Devlin said that Starr had never beaten him, so Starr pointed out that wrestling exists outside of OTT and that he made Devlin tap out in the PROGRESS Super Strong Styles 16 tournament finals just a few weeks earlier. Devlin replied by saying that Starr would have to beat fellow contender WALTER to get a shot. The crowd chanted, “You’re never beating WALTER.” Fantastic. Also fantastic, earlier in the evening Starr had beaten Devlin’s friend Guinness and then convinced him that Devlin didn’t care about him. So as Devlin walked to the back to cheers, Guinness attacked him. On Wrestlerama 3, Devlin beat Guinness in a title match, while WALTER and Starr main event for a title shot. 

June 23, 2019 – Dublin, Leinster

WALTER def. David Starr
In preparation for this match, Starr had a funeral for himself. He talked about how the symphony of WALTER’s theme music playing after every loss to the big man haunts him (he was 0-11 against WALTER going in), as does the symphony of the fans chanting that he’ll never win. That’s why Starr started shifting the conversation away from that narrative and to the narrative of WALTER being backed by WWE while Starr is the rightful babyface as the voice of Independent Wrestling. Starr viciously attacked the knee, making it seem like there would be an opening for him to get his first ever win over WALTER. In a moment that turned the crowd and got this match a ton of attention online, Starr brought the WWE United Kingdom Championship belt into the ring and stepped on it. WALTER freaked out as the crowd called him a sell out. The referee got knocked out which allowed Starr to hurt WALTER’s chopping hand, leg, and head with the title belt. But he couldn’t pin WALTER. He even tried to frame WALTER, Eddie Guerrero-style, to get a DQ win with the title belt, but Jordan Devlin told the referee what happened and the match continued. The crowd actually booed Devlin for it! Things totally broke down then and Starr had the crowd cheering for him. But then WALTER grabbed the choke and that was all she wrote for Starr at 27:18. This was probably five-ten minutes longer than it needed to be, but it was never outright boring. It was very interesting to see WALTER fight from behind so much, and he sold the leg well while doing it. So more than anything, this showed off WALTER’s versatility. Starr lost again, but he won the crowd. They even cheer as he lays out and berates the referee after the match. I do have to point out that the pop filter on one of the commentator’s microphones was broken and it was really irritating. ****¼ 

Starr found another path to the title in a contender match against Scotty Davis. They were scheduled to fight at the Road to the Fifth Year Anniversary show, and Starr weasled his way into Davis & Devlin’s heads to make the match for a shot at the title.  Davis had been a rising name in Ireland and the European indy scene in general. He beat Jushin Liger a few shows back in OTT and had been teaming with Devlin in PROGRESS. Starr doubled down on the anti-WWE sentiment on the indies, saying that Devlin in the same boat as WALTER for being a part of NXT UK. He also said that while Davis was being called the next Devlin because Devlin is on his way out of the independent scene, he himself was being overlooked as the savior of Irish wrestling. Starr beat Davis, and after the match he said that Devlin is no longer the Import Killer, but rather the Import from a corporate juggernaut. Devlin came out and got called a sellout by the crowd. He tried to get the crowd on his side by saying they could have the title match on the spot, but Starr bailed. So they did it at the Fifth Year Anniversary, but not before Devlin called Starr out for being a hypocrite and having been rejected at multiple WWE tryouts. 

October 26, 2019 – Dublin, Leinster

David Starr def. Jordan Devlin {OTT World Championship Match}
This was billed as the Final Chapter, and it’s just as much for the title of Import Killer (which Devlin has written on his trunks) as it is for the title. Devlin comes out with a hood over his head to CM Punk’s ROH theme music before revealing that it’s just him. The commentators call it a “fuck you statement,” but I’m not exactly sure what that statement was. Devlin gets booed during his entrance and slaps hands with the fans with the most put-out look on his face possible. The ring is separated by security before it begins to hammer home the animosity. Starr is the clear favorite, and the commentators compare it to Jonestown. I love all of this before the match even starts. Devlin starts the match pissed. He’s lost the crowd, he’s lost Guinness, and he’s in danger of losing his title. Starr takes control by targeting the notoriously injured hand. Speaking of injured hands, they have an old school slugfest during which Starr busts Devlin open hardway. The only part of this match I didn’t get into was when both guys thought about ending things by hitting the other with the title belt. But then again, since they were both working heel I could convince myself that it worked. The truth is, it doesn’t even matter that there was one thing I didn’t love about this match because you basically never get an atmosphere like this, where the fans changed the motivations of the champion as the match went on based on just how much they jeered him. Has a heel vs. heel match ever had the kind of heat this one did? That’s not a rhetorical question, I genuinely want to know. Starr got the win with an arm-capture piledriver, a lariat, and a Pumping Bomber at 27:59. The fans rush rinside to support Starr, crowd surfing him around the building as the commentators call it a cult. *****

One of my issues with the indies is that it’s hard for self-contained storylines to break through. This one massively broke through and delivered. I give this long-term storytelling (16 months is a hell of a feud) an A+, and wish there were more outstanding long feuds like this (please pass any such feuds along to me). For now, it’s peaked (and possibly ended) with an incredible match and title change, but I can’t imagine it’s quite over. At the very least, there’s still the hanging thread of Starr having never defeated WALTER. More than anything, my takeaway is that OTT does better pre-match videos for high-profile matches than WWE. Can someone tell me who is producing these things? They’re incredible. Between that and the in-ring storytelling going on in this company it’s really easy to understand why the fans of it are so rabidly invested.