Exodus Pro Wrestling brought Heat Of The Moment to Collision Bend Brewery in Euclid, Ohio, on October 16, delivering a card built around championships, stipulation matches and the annual stakes of the Cleveland Cup. The night concluded with Team Cleveland defeating Team Northeast in the featured elimination battle, while EC3, Joshua Bishop, Atticus Cogar, Otis Cogar and Christian Napiar represented the winning side.

The Cleveland Cup match came down to Joshua Bishop and Christian Napiar as the sole survivors for Team Cleveland. Their survival sealed the victory over a Team Northeast lineup consisting of TJ Crawford, Love Doug, Anthony Greene, Richard Holliday and Hayden Backlund. With two members of the hometown-named side still standing at the finish, Team Cleveland left Euclid with the cup match victory in a crowded and consequential main-event-style contest.

Elsewhere, two championships were defended, although only one of those title bouts ended with a clear champion retaining through the decision. LJ Cleary successfully defended the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship against Ashton Day. Cowpoke Paul also retained the Crown Royal Championship in the event’s Cowpoke Paul Hoe Down, overcoming both Handsome Harley T. Morris and Gunner Cain in a three-way encounter.

The Exodus Pro Women’s Championship situation, however, took a much different turn. J-Rod and Marti Belle wrestled to a double disqualification after both competitors struck special guest referee Scotti Sosa. Following the decision, Sosa announced that she was taking emergency custodial authority of the championship “for its protection.” The announcement left the status of the title central to the fallout from the event.

For more background on this topic, read Anthony Bowens Explains Why His Post-Acclaimed AEW Story Was Designed to Go Off the Rails.

Team Cleveland Survives the Cleveland Cup

The largest collection of names on the card was reserved for the Cleveland Cup, as ten wrestlers were split between Team Cleveland and Team Northeast. EC3 joined Joshua Bishop, Atticus Cogar, Otis Cogar and Christian Napiar for Team Cleveland. Across the ring, Team Northeast featured TJ Crawford, Love Doug, Anthony Greene, Richard Holliday and Hayden Backlund.

In a match of that size, the final survivors provide the clearest measure of which side endured the full contest. Bishop and Napiar were the final two Team Cleveland representatives remaining, securing the win for their unit. The result gives Team Cleveland a definitive victory over a Northeast team that combined several prominent independent wrestling names but could not outlast its opposition.

EC3’s presence put additional attention on Team Cleveland’s lineup, but the official finish specifically identified Bishop and Napiar as the wrestlers still standing when the match concluded. Atticus Cogar and Otis Cogar were also part of the victorious side, with all five members credited in the Cleveland Cup triumph.

For Team Northeast, the loss halted the collective effort of Crawford, Love Doug, Greene, Holliday and Backlund. No individual eliminations or match order were announced, but the final result was unambiguous: Team Cleveland won, and Bishop and Napiar finished as its surviving representatives.

LJ Cleary Retains Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship

LJ Cleary entered Heat Of The Moment as the Irish Junior Heavyweight Champion and left with the title still in his possession. Cleary defeated Ashton Day to retain the championship, adding a successful defense to an event that also included title action from Exodus Pro’s own champions.

The result maintained Cleary’s reign and prevented Day from capturing the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship in Euclid. The match stood apart on the card as an inter-promotional championship defense, with Cleary putting his title on the line at an Exodus Pro event rather than in a non-title showcase.

There was no reported controversy attached to Cleary’s result. Unlike the women’s title bout later on the card, the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship match concluded with a straightforward retention for the reigning champion. Cleary’s victory remains one of the cleanest conclusions among the night’s major matches.

Cowpoke Paul Wins Three-Way Crown Royal Championship Match

Cowpoke Paul defended the Crown Royal Championship in a match branded as the Cowpoke Paul Hoe Down. The champion faced a pair of challengers in Handsome Harley T. Morris and Gunner Cain, requiring Paul to defeat both opponents in order to retain.

Paul accomplished that task and remained Crown Royal Champion following the three-way contest. Morris and Cain each entered with a direct opportunity to take the title without needing to defeat the other challenger in a separate singles match, but neither was able to unseat the reigning champion.

The successful defense placed Cowpoke Paul alongside LJ Cleary as champions who retained their belts through completed matches at Heat Of The Moment. The distinction is important given that the Exodus Pro Women’s Championship match did not produce an ordinary title-match conclusion.

Women’s Championship Match Ends in Double Disqualification

The Exodus Pro Women’s Championship bout between J-Rod and Marti Belle ended in a double disqualification, but the post-match development was far more significant than the ruling itself. Both J-Rod and Belle hit Scotti Sosa, who was serving as the special guest referee. That mutual attack led to both wrestlers being disqualified.

Rather than allowing the championship situation to end there, Sosa made an immediate declaration regarding the title. Sosa stated that emergency custodial authority of the championship was being taken “for its protection.” The wording made clear that the title would not simply be treated as having passed from one wrestler to another as a result of the double disqualification.

The available result does not establish a new champion, nor does it provide a timetable for a resolution. What is known is that J-Rod versus Marti Belle did not end in a decisive victory for either competitor and that Sosa asserted custodial authority after being struck by both wrestlers. That decision creates a notable unresolved issue coming out of the show.

J-Rod and Belle each had a chance to leave the night with control of the division, but their actions against the designated official instead brought the match to an end without a winner. Sosa’s intervention ensured that the championship itself became part of the immediate aftermath.

No Disqualification Victory for Brandon Barreta

Brandon Barreta defeated J Rocc in a no disqualification match, earning one of the card’s stipulation-match victories. With the usual disqualification restrictions removed, Barreta and Rocc were given a setting designed to settle their issue without the standard enforcement that governs a conventional bout.

Barreta emerged victorious, while Rocc was unable to capitalize on the no disqualification environment. No further details regarding the finish were announced, but the official result places Barreta in the win column following one of the event’s more physically permissive match types.

The stipulation separated the contest from the title matches and the multi-person Cleveland Cup encounter, giving the card a different competitive dynamic. In the end, the result was direct: Barreta defeated J Rocc.

Additional Heat Of The Moment Results

In other action, Dante Casanova defeated Devious Cass. Casanova’s win opened the list of confirmed results from the Euclid event and gave him a singles victory over Cass.

The Fun Police also picked up a tag team win over The Exobros, the team of Conner Knox and Johnny Mahalo. The result gave The Fun Police the advantage in the two-on-two contest, while Knox and Mahalo came up short.

Lord Crewe defeated Zachary Nystrom in another singles match on the event. Crewe’s victory rounded out a card that mixed singles bouts, tag team action, championship contests, a three-way match, a no disqualification fight and the five-on-five Cleveland Cup showdown.

Full Exodus Pro Heat Of The Moment Results

  • Dante Casanova defeated Devious Cass.
  • The Fun Police defeated The Exobros, Conner Knox and Johnny Mahalo.
  • LJ Cleary defeated Ashton Day to retain the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship.
  • Brandon Barreta defeated J Rocc in a no disqualification match.
  • Cowpoke Paul defeated Handsome Harley T. Morris and Gunner Cain to retain the Crown Royal Championship in the Cowpoke Paul Hoe Down.
  • J-Rod versus Marti Belle for the Exodus Pro Women’s Championship ended in a double disqualification after both wrestlers struck special guest referee Scotti Sosa. Sosa then took emergency custodial authority of the title for its protection.
  • Lord Crewe defeated Zachary Nystrom.
  • Team Cleveland, consisting of EC3, Joshua Bishop, Atticus Cogar, Otis Cogar and Christian Napiar, defeated Team Northeast, consisting of TJ Crawford, Love Doug, Anthony Greene, Richard Holliday and Hayden Backlund, in the Cleveland Cup. Bishop and Napiar were the sole survivors.

Heat Of The Moment closed with Team Cleveland’s cup victory, but the Women’s Championship outcome ensures that Exodus Pro has major unfinished business after the event. Cleary and Cowpoke Paul retained their respective titles, Barreta prevailed under no disqualification rules, and Bishop and Napiar stood tall for the winning Cleveland Cup team. Yet the image of Sosa taking custodial authority over the women’s title leaves the most unusual question from the night without a conventional answer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.