I was not supposed to be reviewing this show...I was supposed to be reviewing the latest SWE Uprising but the card for this show just grabbed me. Reckless Intent vs Source Wrestling..some of the best new talents facing each other. I have attended several of the SWE shows and am really familiar with the roster but I have only been to a couple of RI shows and after the recent Source showcase, I really wanted a chance to see some of these new guys in action again - so to have both promotions showcase on the same show - it was a no-brainer! (Don't panic my SWE friends, I still love you all and will be back in Dundee soon!!)
The event actually started a few days earlier when Saint-George Bernard decided to have a go on the Loudmouth Facebook Page....poor deluded Englishman actually thought he could win against me...but then again, he has not had to deal with me as often as some wrestlers and I am sure he will learn in time. He did, however, inspire me to make some signs for the show - something I have never done before (it was actually quite fun and I plan to make more for visits to other promotions now!)With Rob now training with Reckless, we arrived early so he could help with the pre-show setup while I stayed in the car with my cross stitch and kindle. We have a rule that no matter what he hears regarding the shows, I do NOT want to know as it would spoil the show for me. And so onto the show...
First up General Manager John Long takes to the microphone to say that he has suspended ring announcer Jason McKinlay for failing to keep Tavish MacPherson out of the building during the Super B.O.W.L. Tournament and that he will doing the announcing to show how it should be done. He then continues to say that he had been in talks with someone better to replace Tavish within the company and this "Real Lowblow" will be making his debut later tonight.
First match of the night is between my biggest fan, Saint-George Bernard and Source Wrestling's Bobby Roberts, who I was really impressed with after seeing his match with Damo at the Source Showcase. First out was Saint-George who, as expected, was not impressed with my wee poster and tore it to pieces. He took the microphone and announced that he had challenged Roberts to a no disqualification match and that as Roberts had not responded, he was obviously too scared and would not be appearing. This seemed to be backed up when Roberts music played but the man did not show. As Saint-George began gloating, the music started up again and this time Roberts came out to huge cheers from the crowd and accepted the challenge.
The match started normally and Roberts quickly took the upper hand. I especially loved it when they were outside the ring and Roberts asked me to do him a favour and, whilst holding Saint-George in front of me said "Slap him"....and I did!!! Once back in the ring, Saint-George managed to knock the wind from Roberts and took the opportunity to start bringing in the weapons, first a kendo stick, sledgehammer and dustbin lid. After beating Roberts with the kendo stick, Saint-George then brought in a metal chair and a bag of thumb tacks which he emptied onto the mat. Attempting to slam Roberts onto the tacks, Roberts reversed it and it was the Englishmen who became the walking pinboard! Finally a wooden table was set up in the corner of the ring and when Saint-George tried to throw Roberts into it, the move was again reversed. With Saint-George stopping short of slamming into it, he turned around and was immediately speared by Roberts straight into the wood and knocked senseless, allowing Roberts to get the pin. The crowd were ecstatic with the result. Roberts held out his hand to Saint-George but unsurprisingly the Englishman brushed past him and left ringside.
Once the ring had been cleared of debris and tacks, Source Wrestling's "Manliest of All Men" Manlon came to the ring and announced to the crowd that as no-one from Reckless had accepted his challenge, he had issued an open challenge and still had no-one accept. Enter Reckless Intent Hardcore Champion Wee Jimmy. As Manlon knelt down to "get down to Jimmy's level", Jimmy pushed him onto his ass and pointed to the curtain, where John Long's "Real Lowblow" appeared....none other than Tavish MacPherson. There was then a comedy segment with John Long looking sheepish ringside, Manlon and Tavish did a tango in the ring, followed by some bouncing across the ring off the ropes until one would shout "Stop" and Tav would slap Manlon. There was actually some wrestling toward the end of the match however when Tav had Manlon pinned for the 3 count, John Long interfered and stated that Manlon's shoulder was off the mat. Whilst he continued to distract Tavish, Manlon managed to get a submission hold on him and Tav passed out - an unpopular decision with the crowd - and the feud between Long and Tavish continues.
Next up was Reckless Intent's Venym against Source Wrestling's Celtic Arrow. While Venym had the upper hand in size and strength, Celtic Arrow had the upper hand in speed and agility, making this a great match. Venym dominated the early part of the match, using his size and strength to ground the smaller guy, however Arrow would not be kept down and after knocking Venym from the ring, flew between the ropes to knock him to the floor. Back in the ring, Venym once again used his size and power advantage and continued his trash talking thoughout which incited the crowd to cheer louder for Celtic Arrow. Finally we were shown the Arrow's flying skills from the top rope and he scored the pin to the take the win.
The first half ended with a match for the Reckless Intent UK Title between champion Jackie Grady and Source Wrestling's Lewis Girvan who, in my opinion, is the best young wrestler in Scotland at the moment and has an amazing future ahead of him. A cracking match from start to finish, we were treated to both great mat work and aerial moves from both guys. My personal favourite was when Girvan had Grady hangin upside down from the turnbuckles to my right, then scaled the ropes on the left and leapt from the turnbuckle, across the length of the ring and actually connected with Grady - amazing to see! The momentum swung back and forth between these two, both scoring near pins however with Girvan taking the upper hand again, Grady obviously realised he was about to lose the match and grabbed the title belt, intending to use it as a weapon. Referee Westy grabbed the belt and a struggle ensued between him and Grady. As Girvan turned away in disgust, Grady let go of the belt and caught Girvan off-guard, rolling him up and scoring the pin to retain his title.
After a short interval, the action started again with Source Wrestling's Ryan Griffin facing off against Reckless Intent's Mikey. Another amazing match between two very evenly matched guys. Griffin appeared to have brought some fans with him as the crowd were very vocal in support of "Flying Ryan" and at times drowned out the cheers for local boy, Mikey. There were with some fine examples of submission holds during this match, as well as fast paced flying from ropes. There were a few laughs and a chant of "Janet" when Mikey's mum yelled at Griffin during the match too! Neither of them big guys, they still managed to cause the ring to move with the force of hitting the ropes! With both guys giving absolutely everything they had, this was one of those matches where either man would be a deserving winner and this time it was Ryan Griffin took the win after blocking Mikey's superplex attempt and dropping Mikey to the canvas, splashed him from the top rope to score the pin.
The penultimate match was the World Title match between champion Rawlins and Source Wrestling's Dave Conrad and was my Match of the Night. This was the first time I had seen Conrad without Christopher Saynt either as his tag partner or standing in his corner so I was interested to see what he could do in his own right. The answer is actually quite a lot. Facing off at the start of the match, it was easy to see that Conrad was the younger, bigger guy but Rawlins had the experience. After antagonising the crowd, Rawlins set to work on Conrad's knee. Conrad kept on trucking and when Rawlins attempted a crossbody from the top rope, Conrad actually caught him! Time and again Rawlins went for the knee but each time Conrad managed to reach the ropes, forcing the hold to be broken and then retaliated, using his strength to knock Rawlins to the mat again and again. Another first for me....I actually started a pro Conrad chant! This was a brutal match, both for the competitors and for me....Rawlins outside of the ring in true heel format continued to antagonise the crowd and after screaming into Rob's video camera, gave him a slap and Rob scudded me on the forehead with his camcorder!! Rawlins retained the title but Conrad proved that he is a talented wrestler and I look forward to seeing his career develop in the future.
The final match of the night was billed as an elimination tag match between Team Reckless (Mikey, Rawlins, Jackie Grady, Tavish, Saint-George and Venym) and Team Source (Bobby Roberts, Lewis Girvan, Ryan Griffin, Dave Conrad, Manlon and Celtic Arrow) Before the match even started, it was obvious that there were tensions within Team Reckless. The match started with Mikey and Manlon facing off but when Mikey tagged Rawlins in, the tensions erupted and John Long made the call to change the match to an over the top rope battle royal with the winner being named No 1 contender for the World title. At that point chaos reigned with all 12 men battling each other and it was impossible to keep track of who was doing what to who! Several times I moved from my seat to avoid flying legs as they came over the ropes. Jackie Grady was eliminated first, followed by Venym before John Long entered the ring and eliminated Tavish. 
Celtic Arrow, Ryan Griffin and Lewis Girvan were next to be eliminated before a masked man in a black hoodie ran into the ring, eliminated Mikey and then disappeared back behind the curtain. Some members of the crowd began to chant "slightly average", assuming the man to be Darren Lewis. Since the show I have discovered that the hoodie worn by the masked assailant referred to a clique called New Blood but who was under that hood and mask remains a mystery! Manlon, Conrad and Saint-George were soon eliminated, leaving Bobby Roberts and Rawlins in the ring. With Rawlins already holding the title and a No 1 contender spot on the line, it was at this point obvious what the result would be but the crowd still wanted to see it....Bobby Roberts eliminated Rawlins to become No 1 Contender and the two men will meet on 28 June to battle it out for the belt.A great showing by all the guys from both promotions and, although there were major shenanigans in Dundee, I stand by my decision to see this show over the SWE one (sorry Bravehart).
The next Reckless Intent show, Proving Grounds is on 28 June with tickets at just £5 per person. Several matches have already been announced, including a match between GM John Long and Lowblow with their jobs on the line. Saint-George, who broke his thumb during his match with Bobby Roberts, is sidelined and will be the special guest GM for the night! Once again SWE have their Uprising show on the same night, so their card will have to be impressive to entice me to Dundee!
The Reckless Intent crew will also be appearing at Blackburn Gala Day on Saturday 14 June at Murrayfield Neighbourhood Park so feel free to come along and get a wee taste of what the Reckless Intent boys have to offer...and its totally free of charge!!
For more information on Reckless Intent and updates on their shows, visit their Facebook page
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