ODDS ON: Davis Storm vs Pete Dunne
by Damian Wilson
DAVIS STORM
EPW Champion x 6
EPW Tag Team Champion x 3
EPW Invitational Tournament winner 2009
EPW Match of the Year award winner x 6
EPW Wrestler of the Year award winner x 4
PETE DUNNE
WWE United Kingdom Champion x 1 (Current)
Progress World Champion x 1
Progress Tag Team Champion x 1 (With Trent Seven)
PWI Top 500 rank 29 (current)
NXT Match of the Year award winner 2017 (vs Tyler Bate)
4FW Jr Heavyweight Champion x 1
AWW British Tag Team Champion x 1
Attack! 24/7 Champion x 6 (Current)
Elder Stein Invitational winner 2012
Chikara King of Trios winner 2017 ( With Trent Seven & Tyler Bate)
DWW Champion x 1 (Current)
FCP Champion x 1
FCP Infinity Trophy winner 2015
FSW Adrenaline Champion x 1
Kamikaze Pro Relentless Division Champion x 1
OTT No limits Champion x 2
PWK Champion x 1
RPW British Cruiserweight Champion x 1
British Commonwealth Title Tournament winner 2016
SWE Young Tigers Cup 2015
VII Pro Champion x 1
VII Trifecta Trophy Tournament winner
WXW Shotgun Champion x 1
Why Pete Dunne will win:
For those not familiar with Pete Dunne, just take another look at his list of accomplishments and you’ll notice two in particular.
- He is the current WWE UK Champion and was hand-picked by Triple H to lead the WWE UK crusade to take over the international professional wrestling world.
- His current ranking at number 29 on the PWI top 500 list. This puts him ahead of names such as Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio Jr, Tanahashi, Sami Zayn, Rusev, Cesaro, Sheamus and Johnny Gargano- to name a few. For further perspective, our own home-grown heroes, Shane Thorne and Nick Miller, are ranked 363 and 377 respectively. The wrestler ranked just one place above Dunne is Finn Balor.
Davis Storm is not getting in the ring with a washed up Indy darling trying to see the world and make a few bucks. This guy is the real deal. He is in his athletic prime and on the verge of becoming a household name, like the Daniel Bryans and CM Punks of 10 years ago.
Dunne has already proved he’s the best in the UK, and now he wants to find the best wrestlers from the best promotions in the major Pro Wrestling hubs in Australia and continue his streak.
Why Davis Storm will win:
Here’s the thing about Davis Storm: he thrives on being the underdog. He lives to be written off and cast aside as an afterthought. To read he isn’t good enough, that he’s too old, or calling out Pete Dunne was the single most idiotic thing he has ever done in (or out) of an EPW ring… it’s a surefire way to ensure we will get the very best of Davis Storm.
Many years (and many hotdogs) ago, a young behemoth named Jag Hartley Jackson was 10-times the wrestler Storm was. He would come to Perth, beat up Davis at will, and fly back to Adelaide. After 18 months of this, Storm challenged Jag to an Iron Man match in what appeared to be closer to a suicide attempt to an actual challenge. What occurred that night became Perth wrestling history, and thus the Iron Man was crowned.
However, Pete Dunne is not Jag.
Davis Storm has never faced anyone like Pete Dunne. Dunne is younger, more successful, and would even have the experience advantage over Storm purely due to the number of matches he wrestles on a regular weekend. However, there is one way, and ONLY one way, that could potentially maybe P.O.S.S.I.B.L.Y lead to the most unlikely of wins, and that is the hometown advantage.
This is Perth’s own Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed. If the home crowd turn up in droves and cheer for the man that helped create this company, just maybe we could see the fairytale ending that could rival even the most emotional of stories.
Forget Ali vs Frazier. Forget the Chicago Cubs, forget Leicester City. As far as Perth locals go, this would trump them all.
Who will win:
My pick… Pete Dunne wins. Pete Dunne will brutalize Davis Storm into retirement and he will be begging for mercy before it’s all said and… Dunne. Heart and soul can get you far, but there is a fine line between bravery and foolishness, and I think Storm has just pole vaulted across it.
In saying that, Storm IS all heart and soul. He IS Perth wrestling. He is everything that is beautiful about our incredible little city and you can bet your bottom dollar he won’t be paying one iota of attention to anything that’s been said in this article.
He is already training.
He is already studying.
He is already making sure he is in the best physical, mental and emotional state he could possibly be in to throw everything he has at Dunne, and make sure he leaves Perth knowing exactly who EPW is.
Storm will not be looking for an honourable loss. He will be coming to fight and looking for a win.
Storm will put all of EPW and Perth on his back and stare down the might of Progress and UK wrestling, and he will not blink.
It’s going to be a war.