3rd February, 2019 – Bijlmer Parktheater, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Pro Wrestling Holland have recently made their video library more accessible by uploading a number of their events onto YouTube for free – having previously had highlight packages available on their Twitch account. PWH operates out of Amersfoort in the Utrecht region and is probably the most notable promotion in the Netherlands in terms of talent produced – with the likes of Jurn Simmons, Johnny Evers and Dirty Dragan counting as graduates from PWH Academy. As well as those, established names such as Emil Sitoci, Michael Dante and Tengkwa (who runs the company) are members of the roster.

Our friends at Rear View Reviews did a review of another PWH show a while ago and you can view it here. This recording of LIVE XL Amsterdam has a number of matches missing but is still worth a watch. Dirty Dragan is ringside for this show and is commentating over a live microphone (albeit in Dutch).

The show opens with Jurn Simmons cutting a promo on Emil Sitoci but it’s in Dutch so I don’t know what he’s saying. He’s wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a picture of a muscular dog and the word “BUFF”. It’s a nice shirt.

MATCH ONE: PWH Tag Team Championship:  Work Hard Play Hard (Joel Vox & Rami Romero) (c) vs. Norman Harras & Timo Theiss

wXw Academy representatives Norman Harras and Timo Theiss have a great opportunity for the Tag Team belts having already beaten a PWH Academy team consisting of Jay List and Randy VD Wolf at a show in December. Their opponents; Vox & Romero have a party gimmick. WHPH have some good combinations but the wXw boys have their basics down to a much better level. Dragan calls Theiss “Timo Scheiss” which causes the chant to break out. This match went about ten minutes and was a decent bout  with the champions retaining.

After the match, we go backstage for a few segments. First up is Theiss and Harras who demand that PWH grant them a rematch for the tag titles – saying that they have a plan for next time. We then jump to a handheld shot of Emil Sitoci berating Young Money Chong in the hallway. Sitoci slaps Chong on the cheek and leaves – leaving Chong to call Chico on speakerphone who sounds equally as angry. Obviously the language barrier is a bit of an obstacle but backstage segments like these are always a welcome addition to shows from smaller promotions and can really set them apart from the pack.

MATCH TWO: Kenzo Richards vs. Ymah Pain

Next up are two veterans of the Dutch scene who are seldom seen outside of the country. Richards has been wrestling for nearly fifteen years and is the more travelled of the two having made it over to Japan with Kaientai Dojo and Asuka Project for a few matches in 2018. They’re both big guys by modern standards although Ymah is knocking on 250lbs so much of the match is spent ‘chopping the big oak down’. Ymah pummels Richards but then gets pissed off when he can’t beat him and then attacks Richards with a chair which gets him disqualified. A number of roster members come out to confront him (including Rico Bushido!) but they get dispatched simply by the big man. Richards fights back and the segment ends. This was unremarkable in every aspect.

MATCH THREE: Team PWH (Johnny Evers, Michael Dante & Tengkwa) vs. Zero10 Wrestling (Daniel van Kuijk, Eric Martin & JGeorge)

Six man action now – with three popular members of the roster who you’ll have seen before if you watch things like wXw and WrestlingKULT taking on Zero10 – a faction that as far as I can tell comes from the rival Dutch Pro Wrestling promotion and is led by van Kuijk. Van Kuijk grabs the microphone and introduces Martin and JGeorge as his teammates – they’re from USA and Canada respectively and were staying at the wXw Academy around this time. Zero10 jump the PWH representatives at the beginning but the home team get the upper hand again. This match is not very well balanced because it’s obvious the PWH guys are so much better than the other team so there’s not much jeopardy. Van Kuijk gets hit with every finisher including a Tengkwa frog splash for the loss. As the PWH team celebrate, the real Zero10 faction emerge as Max Damon & Santos run from the back and beat them down.

MATCH FOUR: PWH Heavyweight Title: Emil Sitoci (c) vs. Jurn Simmons

Now it’s time for the main event. In terms of a big domestic heavyweight bout – this is like an El Clásico for PWH (De Klassieker, perhaps?) with the two biggest and most influential Dutchmen on the independent circuit today. It’s a bit jarring seeing Jurn work face here considering he’s been heel in wXw for nearly a year now but it’s further proof he can do both well. Sitoci has little urgency to face Simmons when he’s overpowered at the start so spends the first five minutes or so outside of the ring. Sitoci gets the upper hand when he manages to drop Jurn and targets his formerly broken ankle and knee by stretching it over the ring post.

One of Sitoci’s best work comes when he’s being a vicious bastard because he has some of the best facials in Europe (which is why I hate the whole nihilist gimmick in wXw!) and this is one of the best examples of this. Sitoci is slow and methodical with his dismantling of Simmons and Jurn sells these assaults marvellously. Simmons eventually gets back into the match and there is some good back and forth before Sitoci whips Simmons into the referee. Sitoci calls for Young Money Chong who comes out and starts beating on Simmons in the corner but he gets swiftly dealt with. The distraction allows Sitoci to hit Simmons with a Dragon Screw which he then follows up with a Sharpshooter. Jurn struggles to the ropes which causes Sitoci to get hot and Superkick the referee which in turn gives Jurn enough time to recover and hit Sitoci with a Piledriver for the 1-2-3 from another referee. The crowd goes wild for this and quite rightly considering Sitoci had held that belt since October 2017! Simmons is an incredibly popular champion and you can’t help but feel he would have had a great year in 2018 if not for that injury. Simmons is congratulated by Tengkwa, Evers, Dr. George Meddelson, Dirty Dragan and Work Hard Play Hard as his old wXw theme plays in the background of what is a perfectly fine ending to a fun family show.

As far as this show goes, I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to catch anything beyond the main event and even then – I doubt you’d get much out of it if you’re workrate inclined as unfortunately that segment of the community doesn’t seem to like Jurn Simmons very much. So with that said – if you’re a fan of either of these men it’s a worthy watch from a completionist’s point of view.

✏️ @MikeKilby

Pro Wrestling Holland: LIVE XL Amsterdam is available to watch for FREE on Pro Wrestling Holland’s YouTube channel.