There’s a new Heavyweight Champion of Africa…but not without some controversy
Pro Wrestling Africa’s Battle of Yaoundé ended in shocking fashion on Friday. Power Lee’s six year reign as the Pro Wrestling Africa Heavyweight Champion came to an abrupt end after what can only be described as a very questionable pin fall.
The Power Lee/Michel Noudem main event started out with seemingly nothing out of the ordinary. The two wrestlers exchanged blows and holds for the first half of the match. At around the halfway point, Noudem completely changed up his fighting approach and instead of relying on a traditional pro wrestling style, shifted more toward an amateur wrestling/MMA striking style. The switch of styles seemed to throw Power Lee off of his game as the champion was left trying to strike and shoot rather than depend on his power and pro wrestling acumen. However, the ending of the match is what has left several fans in shock. Noudem was able to catch Power Lee in a take down and dropped Power Lee on to his stomach. However, as Power Lee hit the mat, the referee, who had prior to this point called a very fair and even match, dropped down and immediately started a fast three count that would give Michel Noudem the win and control of the PWA Heavyweight Championship.
Palais Des Sports in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Photo courtesy of Palais Des Sports Facebook page
Pro Wrestling Africa fans were thrown for a loop by Power Lee’s sudden loss, with many of them proclaiming that the now former heavyweight champion was either cheated or the victim of a devious plan. While it is still not entirely clear what has happened and WrestleMap awaits official communication from Pro Wrestling Africa to help clarify the situation, there are some possible explanations that have been floated around by the internet wrestling community. One is that the referee was working with Michel Noudem. Could Noudem have bribed the referee prior to the match for a fast count? Noudem did say that he wasn’t just prepared but over prepared for the match at Wednesday’s press conference. Is this what he meant when saying he was over prepared?
Another possibility could be personal allegiance from the referee. This is not confirmed, but more of a hypothetical. With the event taking place in Cameroon, odds are good that the referee was from Cameroon himself. With Pro Wrestling Africa being a continental, multi-national organization, country allegiance is always an important factor to keep in mind. Power Lee vs. Michel Noudem was essentially Nigeria vs. Cameroon. For the top pro wrestling title in all of Africa. In the heat of the moment, in front of his fellow countrymen, in an electric arena, refereeing what would have to be one of the most important matches of his career, did the referee take it upon himself to make sure that Cameroon saw glory on Friday?
Or was it none of the above? No matter what the explanation, Michel Noudem is the new PWA Heavyweight Champion. I think it’s safe to say that the main event from Battle of Yaoundé 2021 is not one we will soon forget.
Post event ceremonies and a first look at “Le Matrequeur” Michel Noudem as Africa’s new heavyweight champion,
The card, or at least the part that was live streamed, kicked off with with a showdown between Tigre and Chrispine that saw Tigre pick up the victory with a standing fireman’s carry slam after a fast paced five minute match.
The night’s second match featured Kirikou taking on the unadvertised Mbunga. Mbunga’s unique look with his blonde fu manchu mustache was reminiscent of Hulk Hogan’s and helped him to stand out. The match saw the two wrestlers brawl outside of the ring at one point with chairs, guard rails and even the arena wall becoming involved as weapons. The two competitors exchanged offense back and forth throughout the fight for a solid ten minutes until Mbunga landed a flapjack that Kirikou just barely missed kicking out of.
A closer look at Mbunga (left) and Kirikou in an image that was featured on Kirikou’s Facebook page.
Up next on the card was the ferocious Animal going to battle with Black Tiger. Animal definitely benefitted from the size advantage that he had over Black Tiger. However, Black Tiger did put in an honorable effort against his larger opponent. In the end, Animal’s strength and size ended up being too much to overcome and he was able to gain the pin fall victory after a choke slam. After the match, the armed guards that led Animal out to the ring in handcuffs were quick to get the ferocious beast locked back up.
In the night’s first title match, The Wolf NDA defended his PWA Middleweight Championship against a familiar foe, Buffalo. These two have battled in the past and just like the first meeting, Friday’s match saw tables and weapons become involved. The action spilled out of the ring early on in the match and Buffalo dropped The Wolf on top of a table, leaving his body stretched out over top of it in a painful position after it refused to break. The Wolf appeared to be hurt and down and out at this point with his grasp on the PWA Middleweight Championship beginning to loosen before Kirikou emerged from the locker rooms to provide backup for The Wolf. Kirikou used a baseball bat to help weaken up Buffalo before he and Wolf began to double team Buffalo, including hitting some top rope tandem offense on the big man from Angola. Buffalo fought back valiantly and was eventually able to get back to an even level with Wolf but in the end, Wolf was able to retain his title after hitting a top rope splash. Following the match, Animal emerged from the dressing room with a microphone and made his intentions known that he wanted The Wolf’s PWA Middleweight Title before chasing Kirikou and The Wolf out of the ring.
After successfully defending his title against Buffalo, The Wolf NDA poses with his son and his championship in front of a WrestleMap banner that Pro Wrestling Africa graciously insisted on hanging at the Palais Des Sports
The actions in and around the match between The Wolf NDA and Buffalo sets up a whole slew of potential future matches. Surely, Buffalo will want to get revenge on Kirikou for possibly costing him his opportunity at the PWA Middleweight Championship. Animal is eyeing up The Wolf’s middleweight title and has as good an argument as anyone for a shot at it after an impressive victory on Friday. There’s also the possibility of The Wolf NDA and Kirikou taking on Buffalo and Animal in a tag team match if Buffalo and Animal would be willing to team up. Like the old saying says, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” With their shared animosity toward the new duo of Kirikou and The Wolf NDA, that certainly applies in this situation and would make for an interesting matchup of quickness and speed vs. size and power.
All in all, Battle of Yaoundé was a very memorable event. There has been some chatter on social media about a potential upcoming PWA event in Botswana in September of 2021 but nothing official has been announced. Here’s to hoping that September does bring another Pro Wrestling Africa show. With so many interesting potential stories and feuds moving forward, it would be one that fans would definitely be looking forward to.
Be sure to stick with WrestleMap for more coverage of Pro Wrestling Africa’s Battle of Yaoundé as we continue to analyze and unravel the events of April 30th.
