Friday 2 May 2014
After seeing a couple of guys from Livingston promotion Reckless Intent in the Battle Royal at SWE's Kirkton show and meeting some of them at Uprising, I decided to check them out and what better way to do that than to go to a double header, especially as I have learned that sometimes the second show is much better than the first you attend.
To be honest, I didn't have huge expectations. This is a new promotion, just into their second year and there were a lot of young wrestlers I had never heard of. The couple of guys who had appeared at SWE were kinda lost in the melee of bodies in the ring and I was not able to establish what they were capable of. They did have Damian O'Connor, Scott Renwick and Joe Hendry on the card though, so at least I knew that there would be a couple of good matches.... however by the time we got to the mid show interval, I have to admit that I was already hugely impressed...and so on to the show.
When we took our seats there was a strange man sitting to the side wearing a false nose, beard and specs. As the show started and General Manager John Long came to the ring, accompanied by Darren Lewis and Joe Hendry, this strange man got verbally abusive towards then and while throwing him out, he was unmasked as a former member of the RI roster Tavish McPherson who had recently been instrumental in "Wee Jimmy" winning the hardcore title from Jackie Grady. Obviously popular with the crowd, there was a chant of "Tavish" after he was removed from the premises. Not sure where this story is going, but I have a feeling we may see Tavish again on Saturday! John Long then showed the crowd the Super B.O.W.L trophy while saying that either Darren Lewis or Joe Hendry deserved to win (although Hendry's match was not even part of the actual tournament). He then turned his attention to "Wee Jimmy" and began berating him before Scott Renwick and Damian O'Connor came out to the ring, causing Lewis and Hendry to run for cover. Long accused them of trying to intimidate him but said he was offering the hand of friendship out of respect, however he scarpered pretty fast when Big Damo shouted "boo" in his face!
The first match of the night was Saint George against JJ Russell. George, playing the heel Englishman to a T came out to a chorus of boos and decided to have a go at my hair..."Scottish and Proud" I told him! His opponent JJ Russell appeared holding a scorched and stained shirt, which he said George had left at his place after he broke in! The match swung back and forth with each man looking to have the win within his grasp before the tide turned and suddenly be facing defeat but it was Saint George who finally took the upper hand and scored the win to progress to the semi-finals.
With JJ Russell still lying prone in the ring, his brother AJ Russell came out but rather than help his brother, he berated him and told him he just wasn't good enough and rolled his brother out of the ring. AJ's opponent Syco then came out to the ring. This heel turn by Russell caused a bit of confusion with the crowd because with Syco as an obvious heel, they did not know who to cheer for and the first few minutes of the match proceeded in silence....at which point I decided that anyone who could publicly berate their own brother deserved to be beaten and started cheering for Syco..and some of the crowd joined in! There were some brutal moves in this match, with Syco nailing AJ with a legdrop on the ring apron looking particularly nasty. There was an echo of The Undertaker with Syco walking the top rope but his second attempt at this move did not come off so well and AJ began to work his way back into the match. With the action moving outside of the ring, a slugfest ensued and AJ managed to push Syco out the door, then grabbed a set of keys he had hidden in his baseball cap at ringside, locking the door while the referee continued to count both men out of the ring. As the referee reached 9, AJ returned to the ring and Syco bust the door open as the ref called the 10 meaning AJ took the win and his place in the semi-finals.
Match 3 pitted Scott Renwick against Jackie Grady. Playing the heel to the max, Grady got in my face for taking his picture! He got into the ring, grabbed the mike and started telling the crowd how it was a special day for someone special - himself (his 19th birthday!) but his speech was interrupted by the arrival of Scott Renwick. So young Grady could talk the talk, but faced with The Butcher, could he walk the walk? Unfortunately for Grady the answer was no. While he did have a few good moves and some speed, Renwick had the power and was the next to progress to the semi-finals. After the match, John Long, Darren Lewis and Joe Hendry reappeared and Lewis proceeded to attack Renwick with several shots of a steel chair to the ribs before Joe Hendry hoisted him into the air into a suplex that he seemed to hold forever before dropping him to the canvas! The punishment ended when Mikey and Damian O'Connor came out to make the save, however Renwick did not look good and had to be helped from the ring and backstage. Will he be able to take his place in Saturday night's semi-final???
After a short intermission, the final tournament match of the night took place between "The Superstar" Darren Lewis and current UK Champion Drake Titan. Lewis came out in a feather trimmed blue robe which was just screaming out for me to chant "Ric Flair Wannabe" - his response was come up with something original. Got to laugh at the irony of a guy imitating someone else and telling me to be original!!! The only positive thing I can say about Drake Titan is that his gear was colourful (obviously uses persil colour in his wash!) Despite the crowd being behind him, Titan just didn't seem to care. The match was 100% Lewis with Titan just taking everything that was dished out and not appearing to even try. After a thankfully very short match, Lewis took the win and the final spot in the semi-finals.
Next up, and very close contender for Match of the Night, was Joe Hendry against Mikey. Seeing Joe as a heel was hard, especially not being able to chant "Joe Hendry, Local Hero" throughout the match but I have to admit he actually does heel pretty well! Coming out to huge cheers from the crowd, Mikey was a new face for me and definitely one I look forward to seeing again. This match was action packed from start to finish and there were near falls for both men. Hendry treated us to another of his never ending suplexes. Mikey was resilient and came back at Hendry though, with Hendry leaving the ring more than once to try to escape and having to endure the crowd chants of "chicken". It looked like Mikey would take the win after nailing Hendry with a move from the top rope, but Hendry put his foot up on the ropes on the two count. The win finally came when Hendry used the ropes to his advantage again, this time getting his feet up on the ropes while pinning Mikey. A very unpopular decision but a brilliant match all the same.
The final match, and my Match of the Night, was a non-title match between current Reckless Intent World Champion Rawlins and "The Beast of Belfast" Damian O'Connor. Damo was the obvious crowd favourite and definitely had the size advantage over Rawlins. Damo picked him up and threw him across the ring before standing on him and then jumping off landing his huge shoulders on the prone Rawlins. After Damo had caught Rawlins outside the ring and rammed him into the ring post, Rawlins somehow managed to get hold of Damo's arm and smacked it on the ring post. He then continued to work on the injured wrist of Damo to try and gain an advantage. Unfortunately this did not work as well has he had hoped and after climbing onto the turnbuckle, Rawlins found himself across Damo's shoulders before Damo somersaulted across the ring. The tide turned again when Rawlins managed to get out of the corner of the ring as Damo cannonballed into the turnbuckles. Still Damo fought hard but Rawlins managed to roll him up and pulling on his trunks, made the pinfall. An irate and disgusted Damo then hit Rawlins with his big boot, before hoisting him on his shoulders for a second somersault before leaving the ring, only for Mikey to appear and hit Rawlins with the "go to sleep" before announcing that Saturday would see a title match between them.
GM John Long returned to the ring with Saint George, Darren Lewis and AJ Russell and after crowing about Scott Renwick being injured, proceeded to make the draw for Saturday night's semi final matches - pitting Renwick against Saint George and Lewis against Russell. With the three heels hoping Renwick has already been taken care of, Renwick is going to have an uphill battle to win if he even makes it to his match!
Also announced was a "Loser's rumble" with the winner getting a shot at the UK title, with the main event being the title match between Mikey and Rawlins.
Who will win the B.O.W.L trophy? Will Mikey take the title? Will Tavish be making an appearance again? At just £5 a ticket, £3 for kids, this is definitely worth making a wee trip to Livingston to find out!
For more info on Reckless Intent and their future events, check out their website and facebook .
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