Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam 2

Sunday 19 October 2014

This was the second Sunday Slam show from Reckless Intent and would be a wee bit more special for me as Rob would be making his in-ring debut during the main event rumble match.

The show started with ring announcer The Grue informing the crowd that Joe Hendry believed that the Hardcore Championship epitomises everything that is wrong with wrestling and had therefore vacated the title in exchange for a shot at the UK Title at Over the Top on 1 November.  As a result, the main event rumble would now be for the vacated Hardcore Championship.

The first match saw Westy face Mike Hawke.  Westy's gimmick is to come out dressed as different wrestling characters and this time he was the Undertaker during his "American Badass" stint.  He arrived not on a motorbike however, but on a kids scooter.  Mike Hawke took exception to this and claimed to be the real American Badass and unleashed a series of hard chops to the chest of the crowd favourite.  Despite a few mistakes due to his inexperience in the ring, Westy could not be kept down and, in true Undertaker style, no matter what was thrown at him, he just kept going, walking the top rope and finishing Hawke with a tombstone piledriver to take the win.

Next up was Jackie Grady against Craig Valant.  The crowd were a bit quiet during this match but are definitely warming to newcomer Valant, especially after he started by asking Grady if he was a member of Hanson.  After a few wristlocks and armdrags, Grady decided he needed a break, taking a seat in the audience and inciting a chicken chant.  While Grady was getting in my face, Valant exited the ring and forced him back in, only for Grady to get the jump on him and dominate much of the match.  Valant did manage to get back into the match, scoring a near fall after a power bomb, before heading to the top rope however Grady countered and both men went down for a 6 count.  After exchanging punches, Valant hit with some big clotheslines, a scoop slam and a series of elbow drops and looked firmly in control of the match, however Grady managed to counter his finishing move and was able to roll up Valant for the 3 count.

AJ Russell came out to the ring and called out his brother JJ, who had refused to face him back in August.  This time JJ appeared, much to the delight of the crowd.  This was brutal.  AJ started with slaps to the face of his brother, following up with punches and kicks and ramming his shoulder into the back of his brother in the corner.  JJ took a tremendous amount of punishment throughout this match and although he did manage to get on the offence a few times, his brother seemed to have an answer for everything, including some cracking aerial moves.  Despite the crowd being firmly behind JJ, it was AJ Russell who took the 3 count after a massive splash from the top rope.  This sibling rivalry is far from over but they get my vote for Match of the Day (afternoon show remember!)

The first half main event was a much anticipated affair.  After a short (and slightly one-sided) Facebook courtship, we were invited to the "wedding" of Jam O'Malley and Reckless Intent World Champion Saint-George Bernard.  Saint George arrived to the ring first, decked in his flags as usual, grabbing a microphone and stating there would be no wedding, only for O'Malley to arrive to the tune of "Here comes the bride".  Originally scheduled to be a non-title match between these two, General Manager Jason McKinley appeared and announced that the title would be on the line.  As Saint-George grumbled, Jam said they could just get married instead and the champion reluctantly handed the belt to the referee.  There was a moment of pure hilarity when Saint-George grabbed the top rope, only for it to slip and him land on his ass.  It was Jam O'Malley who started the "you fell over" chant!  This only served to make the champ even angrier and when O'Malley held out his hand to Saint-George, it was slapped away. Jam then dropped his trousers to reveal a fetching pair of red boxers, causing Saint-George to leave the ring and refuse to return to ring until he was decent.  Then when Jam offered to "hug it out" Saint-George slapped his face.  With Jam now sulking in the corner, Saint-George dragged him out by his hair and get this match started.  There was very little actual wrestling in the match,

however no-one really minded as there was a lot of entertainment, mainly Jam making fun of and embarrassing Saint-George, who in turn wanted to cause the greatest amount of pain possible for his opponent.  The match came to an end when Jam took off his trousers and bounced on the chest of Saint-George in corner.  Disgusted, the champioon grabbed the belt and left ring to be counted out but as the title can only change hands on a pinfall or submission, he retained the title.  GM Jason McKinlay returned and announced a new stipulation for the Title match on November 1 against Scott Renwick - if Saint-George is disqualified or counted out, he will be stripped of the title and fired.  A very unhappy Saint-George then grabbed a microphone to state that after that match, he would still be champion to a chorus of "blah, blah, blah" from the crowd.

The first match after the interval saw the return of Iron Fist, accompanied by his psychiatrist, Miss J who explained to the crowd that this was an experiment and she was working to help Iron Fist learn to interact with normal peopl.  She stated that she had brought him to see how he would cope in a strenuous social enviroment but that she would not be held culpable for any injuries obtained.  His opponent was Sweet Chavi Sanchez, who came out wearing a second mask as a taunting gesture toward Iron Fist and carrying his trademark Irn Bru.  This was more of a comedy match, with Chavi dealing out low blows and kicks to the ass of his opponent and taking a seat in the crowd while Iron Fist bounced off the ropes.  Finally Iron Fist grew tired of Chavi's antics and took the victory after hitting Chavi with a huge sidewalk slam.  I look forward to seeing Iron Fist in a more serious match in the future.

The final match before the Rumble was scheduled as a non-title match between UK Champion Mikey and Venym.  Venym came out to the ring first and, after stating that he had not had a great run of luck in his recent matches, respectfully requested that the match be made a title match so that he could show he could hold his own against the best in the company.  GM Jason McKinlay came out and granted the request.  Mikey appeared to the usual cheers from the fans, shook Venym's hand and the match was on.  While Venym is the bigger of the two, he is surprisingly agile and this match was a close runner up for my Match of the Day.  There was a lot of really nice moves from both guys and I was surprised by the amount of pro-Venym chanting there was considering how popular Mikey is with the fans.  Mikey nailed Venym with several dropkicks and a cracking 619 before springing from the top rope to splash Venym but could only get a 2 count.  Venym countered with spears into the turnbuckles and a massive legdrop but, once again, only a 2 count was managed.  Venym climbed the ropes only for Mikey to recover and hit some devastating aerial moves that so nearly got him the win.  Venym tried to rally but Mikey finished him with a "Pepsi Plunge" and scored the 3 count to retain the UK title.

Finally it was time for the Hardcore rumble match and I have to admit that for the early part of this match, I was solely focused on Rob.  I had expected that as a trainee he would be in the match for such a short period that I better grab the opportunity to get as many photos of him in action while I could.  Surprisingly he was in the match for longer than I expected and actually was holding his own pretty well, so I turned my attention to some of the other action.  The Russell brothers continued their battle with each other. Wee Jimmy was dragged into the ring before being thrown over the top rope onto the apron where Mikey dropkicked him onto the floor.  The Grue was dragged into the ring by Jam O'Malley, before being dumped over the top rope minus a few buttons on his purple shirt!  Rob had some nice turns with Saint-George, Rawlins and Jackie Grady, before catching a boot from Mikey producing a shiner before being eliminated by Grady.  Mikey hit a cracking dropkick on Craig Valant, before hitting the 619 on Saint-George following it with a springboard splash.  Mikey and Rawlins eliminated themselves by diving over the top rope to take out the SOS who were standing at ringside.  The final four appeared to be Westy (using The Big Show as his gimmick for this match), Jackie Grady, Jam O'Malley and Saint-George.  Saint-George was eliminated but grabbed O'Malley from the apron outside the ring and with Grady inside, together they got him over the top rope only for Westy to grab Grady and eliminate him, appearing to win the match.  As Westy celebrated with the belt, suddenly the

leader of the SOS, Sam Crowe appeared and tossed Westy over the top rope.  As he had not be officially eliminated from the match, he was crowned winner and new Hardcore champion and was joined in the ring by another member of SOS, however Mikey and Rawlins appeared with a steel chair and Crowe took off out the door, leaving his associate to face the RI Originals alone.  After being smacked with the chair and having Rawlins smack it off his face with a big boot, the SOS member was left sitting in the corner as Rawlins held the chair on him and Mikey hit it with a coast to coast before they dumped him out to the floor.

Another great show - and I admit to being totally biased when I say it was probably my favourite because my son made his debut - and I don't give a rat's ass what anyone has to say on the matter!

The next Reckless Intent show is this Saturday 1st November and is being held at Murieston Scout Hall, Livingston.  Tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for children.  Check them out on Facebook to keep up to date with news and future events and subscribe to their YouTube Channel where you will find footage of previous events.

Review: SWA Battlezone

Saturday 18 October 2014

Our second visit to the Motherwell Concert Hall.  I had bought VIP tickets for this event but after a few recent issues, I was in two minds whether to sell them or go. In the end, I decided I would go....and I am glad I did because it was a great show.

As part of the VIP package, we had a pre-show match featuring Grado and Courtney against Joe Hendry and Debbie Sharpe.  I was actually surprised by this, as pre-show matches are usually an opportunity for trainees to make an impression, but here we had arguably one of the most recognisable faces in Grado and one of the fastest rising stars in the independent scene in Joe Hendry.  The match itself would not have been out of place on the main card with Grado hamming it up as usual and Hendry playing the heel to perfection.  Hendry and Sharpe dominated much of the match, using their underhanded tactics in order to double-team Grado however the fan favourites were victorious after Hendry found himself on the wrong end of moves from both Courtney and Grado in the corner, with Grado getting the pinfall.

Now onto the main show.... Mikey Whiplash was originally scheduled to face John "The Bomb" Graham in a TLC match however with Graham unable to compete, a change to the card had been announced - Whiplash would face Jack Gallagher in a 2 out of 3 falls match.  Having seen these two face each other at Pride, I knew this was going to be an amazing match...and they did not disappoint.  These guys put on an amazing display from the start which literally had the crowd gasping.  There was also some fun when Whiplash spotted Cobra Carr's daughter in the crowd holding up her "Whippy Sucks" sign. At one point Gallagher ended up sitting in the front row holding up the sign, before hiding the sign in the back of his trunks and holding it up once back in the ring.  This only made Whiplash more determined to beat Gallagher and it was Whiplash who scored the first fall.  Without any hesitation he tried for the second fall several times unsuccessfully.  Gallagher fought back, pulling off some incredible moves and took the second fall before locking in a submission and Whiplash tapped out.  An amazing start to the night and my Match of the Night by a mile!  I really hope to see video footage of this soon.

The next match was Robbie Solar v John Gresham who had their work cut out for them following such an incredible opening match, however they definitely did not disappoint.  Although evenly matched in height, speed and agility, Gresham appeared to have a strength advantage over Solar.  This was the first time I had seen Gresham and I hope I have an opportunity to witness him in action again soon.  This was a fast paced match with Gresham using his combination of power and agility to punish the smaller built Solar, leaving him covered in welts and handprints.  Solar, however, is a pocket rocket himself and kept coming back at Gresham,  hitting him with a dropkick to the back before rolling him up to score the pinfall.

Next up was Rampage Brown who had issued an open challenge which was answered by "Flyin" Ryan Griffin, who is either extremely brave or totally crazy.  Brown did not hold back, using his size and strength advantage from the beginning.  After taking a boot to the face and being slammed face first into the turnbuckles, Griffin looked to be done before he had even started but despite taking a serious amount of punishment, he did manage to fight his way back into the match, almost scoring the win after a cracking crossbody from the turnbuckle knocked the big man to the canvas.  The victory was not to be however and Rampage quickly rallied, delivering another boot to the face of Griffin, following it with a devastating piledriver before covering him for the three count.

After a short interval, the action continued with SWA Zero One Heavyweight Champion Joe Coffey defending his title against Doug Williams.  This was a belter and could easily have gone either way with both men showing amazing strength and agility.  There were near falls for both men but this match would not end based on the abilities of these two amazing athletes.  As they fought, the referee got caught and was knocked out.  Coffey swung Williams around the ring before turning him over into a Boston Crab and while Williams tapped out, the referee was unable to acknowledge it.  Coffey released the hold and attempted to rouse the referee when Jackie Polo appeared, grabbing the title belt and threatening to hit Coffey with it.  Then Mark Coffey appeared and grabbed the belt from Polo, apparently to make the save, before turning and nailing his brother with it to the shock of the crowd!  With the referee recovering, Polo and Mark Coffey stood at ringside as Williams then covered Coffey for the three count to become the new Heavyweight champion.  Polo and Mark Coffey re-entered the ring to help the new champ celebrate before taking off backstage as a very angry Joe Coffey recovered.

The penultimate match of the night saw Sammii Jayne face Viper with Fiona Fraser as the special guest referee.  This was more of a handicap match as it became apparent early on that Fraser had a problem with Viper, with any decision made being in favour of Sammii Jayne.  With several near falls from both girls, Viper finally had Sammii Jayne well and truly beaten and went for the pinfall once again.  This time when Fraser reached two, she stopped and refused to finish the count.    As Viper and Fraser faced off, Sammii Jayne took the advantage, rolling Viper up for Fraser to make a fast 3 count and declare Sammii Jayne the winner.  On a side note, during this match Sammii Jayne's hair weave came out...and I think she really suits the natural shorter look.

After another short interval, it was time for the 40 man Battlezone match to determine the No 1 contender to the SWA Zero One Heavyweight title.  Starting with two men in the ring, they would be joined every 60 seconds by another competitor.  First out was Mark Coffey, who then watched the entrance for his first opponent Grado, who instead made his entrance through the crowd dressed in a Motherwell FC mascot outfit.  As Christopher Saynt entered, Grado was eliminated. Entrant number 5 was Jackie Polo and he immediately teamed with Coffey in order to eliminate those in the ring and any newcomers, sitting on chairs they brought into the ring,,,,until entrant number 10 Joe Coffey appeared.  Mark slipped under the ropes and ran backstage, quickly followed by Joe, who had just eliminated Jackie Polo, leaving the ring empty for the arrival of entrant 11, Mr News.  Next out was Glen Dunbar, followed by his tag partner Alex Cavanaugh.  They double-teamed Mr News until the arrival of Randy Valentine.  These four pretty much fought each other the entire time they were in the match and continued it even after they were eliminated just after the arrival of entrant 20 Adam Carrell.  The Coffey Brothers made a brief reappearance in the ring, arriving through the crowd before disappearing out the other side again.  Entrant 24 was big Damo who immediately began to clean house and also managed to stand on the chest of Dickie Divers before dropping a senton on him.

Shortly after  Rampage Brown entered at No 40, only John Gresham (39) Lewis Girvan (37), Jack Gallagher (34), Mikey Whiplash (31) and Damo (24) remained.  While Gallagher and Whiplash continued their earlier battle, Gresham and Girvan were soon eliminated, followed by Damo at the hands of Rampage Brown.  With both Brown and Whiplash's attention on him, the odds were not in Gallagher's favour but he somehow pulled off the impossible by first eliminating Whiplash then Brown to win the Battlezone match and become the number one contender.  The crowd began to chant asking "where's the Coffeys" as they had never officially been eliminated and it was expected that they would reappear, however this did not happen and Gallagher was officially announced as the winner.


After the show there was a meet and greet with some of the wrestlers for VIP ticket holders but Rob and I had already met all of them in the past, so we rolled up our sleeves and assisted with packing up the ring instead!

There was an "Aftermath" show in Paisley on Friday 24th but we were unable to attend due to previous plans.  Information on all future SWA events can be found on their Facebook page.

Review: Discovery Wrestling: No Fear, No Mercy

Saturday 11 October 2014

This was Discovery Wrestling's debut show and already there was a lot of hype on Facebook.  With several big American stars announced from the outset, there was always going to be a lot of interest in the show.  Al Snow was originally announced but had to withdraw due to TNA having shows in Japan at the time but we still had Mike Mondo, Chris Sabin and Crime Time, and a great selection of UK talent.

The day started early, as Rob and I were involved with the ring crew for the day.  After helping transport and set up the ring, we helped with merchandise sales, guiding people to the meet and greet area and generally helped with anything that needed done.  During the down time between the end of the meet and greet and the show starting, I had the chance to chat to a few of the wrestlers and was gobsmacked when Chris Sabin recognised Rob from the TNA meet and greet in January!

The show began with the arrival of Joe Hendry, who decided that for tonight, as he is an Edinburgh boy, he will be Local Hero instead of Global Hero.  He asked the crowd to join him in singing the National Anthem but first he wanted to put the whole Scotland v England thing to rest and was joined by Marty Scurll who would join the singing.  As everyone stood with hands on heart and prepared for a rendition of Flower of Scotland, Hendry and Scurll start singing God Save The Queen!!! The crowd were not happy at all and Local Hero quickly became Total Zero.  Enter Crime Time!  They came out to a fantastic response and after taking the mickey out of Hendry and Scurll, they got the crowd singing Flower of Scotland with them.  Just as it looked as though they were about to get into a brawl Theodore Long appeared on the video screen, announcing that as Grado was unable to make the show, he was making a tag match between Crime Time and Hendry/Scurll (who he kept referring to as Marty Squirrel) to take place later that evening.

The first match of the evening saw Liam Thomson v Martyn Stallyon, accompanied by Lady Debbie Sharpe.  This was a real role reversal, with local boy Thomson ditching his "bad boy" persona and being fan favourite, while Stallyon acted arrogant and wound up the crowd.  For the first time ever, I found myself cheering for Thomson.  This time it was Stallyon who relied on underhand tactics and the outside interference from Debbie Sharpe to gain the advantage after Thomson appeared to be in control of the match.  With Stallyon distracting the referee, Sharpe used her riding crop to beat and choke Thomson before Stallyon would capitalise, however with Thomson once again taking control and looking to score the win, Sharpe then distracted the ref, throwing her crop into the ring for Stallyon to use before rolling Thomson up and scoring a very unpopular win.

Next up was a tag team match between The Wild Lions (Andy Wild & Johnny Lions) and The Traditionalists (Michael Galahad & Robert Pendragon).  The Wild Lions entrance was brilliant - the guy who does the rap on their entrance theme, Martin Inches, came out and performed it live!  Both teams worked really well but it appeared that Johnny Lions got the biggest pop from the crowd.  With Wild taking an early advantage, The Traditionalists used a lot of sneaky tactics, in particular antagonising Lions and having referee Steven Magners stop him from entering the ring while they double teamed Wild in their corner to gain the upper hand.  Despite this, Lions landed a superb dropkick from the ropes on Galahad, which was followed up by a powerbomb from Wild and a legdrop from Lions on Pendragon to secure the win for the Wild Lions.

Next up was a match which could easily have been a main event match-up, Rampage Brown v Damian O'Connor.  There are not many guys to match Big Damo in size and strength and when these two collided, I swear you could feel it!  After a series of shoulder blocks which rocked the ring and crowd but dropped neither man, Damo took an early advantage, actually managing to stand on the chest of Brown and dropping a senton on him.  Brown refused to be beaten and fought his way free from sitting on the shoulders of Damo, before doing what many may have considered an impossible feat - he got the big Irishman in a piledriver before going for the pinfall.  Unsuccessful, he was once again hoisted aloft and somersaulted across the ring on the shoulders of Damo, however he recovered enough to move out of the way as Damo leapt from the ropes.  Brown then shocked and awed the crowd by delivering a second piledriver, this time putting the big man down properly and scoring the pinfall.

The first half main event was the Y Division 4 Man Elimination Match featuring Chris Sabin, Ian Ambrose, Lewis Girvan and Damian Daniels.  The match started with an amazing display technical wrestling by Girvan and Sabin in the ring which was just beautiful to watch.  I definitely heard someone in the crowd say they could watch these two all night and a chant of "This is awesome/This is wrestling" rang round the hall.  Of course #Scumbag Ian Ambrose wanted a bit of the glory and tagged himself in to face Sabin.  After Girvan was tagged in by Sabin, he became the target for both Ambrose and Daniels, who made a series of tags to keep him isolated.  Girvan fought back, launching himself through the ropes onto Daniels outside the ring, quickly followed by Ambrose.  Girvan had got back into the ring and went over the ropes onto Ambrose before Sabin springboarded from the top rope and launched himself onto all three men before Daniels scrambled back into the ring and hit them with a flying somersault -

totally amazing.  The action returned to the ring where once again Ambrose and Daniels worked together to isolate Girvan and eliminate him before Sabin hit them both with a double dropkick.  Sabin quickly rolled up Daniels and we were down to Ambrose and Sabin.  These two went at it hammer and tongs until Ambrose missed a double footstomp off the ropes, allowing Sabin to connect with a brutal looking kick to the head before finishing him off for the win.  The crowd were elated...Ambrose not so much.  He took to the microphone and stated he didn't come to be embarrassed and refused to leave the ring unless he was given another match so he could redeem himself, while the crowd chanted "You got beat!"  Suddenly music began to play and Deviation appeared.  After removing his metal spiked harness, he proceeded to annihilate Ambrose, leaving him lying in the ring once again to chants of "you got beat".

After a short interval, the second half resumed with the earlier announced match between Crime Time and Joe Hendry & Marty Scurll.  Crime Time were announced first and while JTG climbed the turnbuckles, Shad worked his way through the crowd before joining him in the ring.  Hendry and Scurll came out to boos and jeers.  The match started with JTG and Scurll in the ring with JTG very much in control.  Both tagged their partners and Shad dominated Hendry however when JTG returned to the ring, Hendry and Scurll put their brains to use as their brawn just wasn't cutting it.  Keeping the ref focused on stopping Shad from entering the ring, they relentlessly double-teamed JTG.  Eventually JTG was able to make the tag and Shad took both men down with clotheslines and looked to put Hendry away with a side suplex, however Scurll hit Shad with his umbrella and suddenly Hendry had the pin.  An unpopular end but to the match, but what a display from Crime Time who left the ring area to a chant of "Please come back".

The penultimate match was a Women's Triple Threat Match between Viper, Sammii Jayne and Debbie Sharpe, who replaced the Portuguese wrestler Shanna.  It was apparent from the start that Sharpe and Sammii Jayne would work together against Viper, however Viper would not go down easily and with the crowd firmly behind her, she used her strength and power to stave off the attacks, before Sammii Jayne turned on Sharpe, forcing Viper to make the save.  Sharpe and Sammii Jayne again attacked Viper, this time with Sharpe looking to make a pin.  Sammii Jayne stopped this before a shoving match ensued between them, allowing Viper to take the upper hand, splashing both girls in the corner.  Sharpe decided enough was enough and left the ring and while Sammii Jayne watched her walk away, Viper struck with the Viper Bomb and took the win.

Finally it was time for the main event, pitting Mike Mondo against "Iron Man" Joe Coffey.  What an incredible match this was.  Starting off with a series of wristlocks and headlocks, Mondo left the ring to regroup and was standing directly in front of me as Coffey looked to dive on him through the ropes.  As we braced our feet against the railing for the impact, Mondo quickly moved to the side and Coffey aborted the dive (and my feet are very grateful).  Returning to the ring, Mondo engaged Coffey in a test of strength (peanuts) which he appeared to be winning but Coffey quickly reversed it and took control of the match.  Coffey focused his attention on the left knee of Mondo and after a suplex the action stopped.  With Mondo clutching his knee, medics arrived in the ring and helped Mondo from the ring, carrying him backstage.  With the crowd wondering what had happened, promotor Alan Smith came to ringside and spoke to a confused Coffey before they headed toward the curtain....only for Mondo to attack Coffey, using the element of surprise to run him back into the ring and take the advantage.  He then threw Coffey to the floor, before ramming him full force into several of the guardrails, the final time actually causing them to buckle with the force.  The action returned to the ring again, with Coffey recovering and taking the advantage, he swung Mondo around the ring before both men collapsed, Mondo rolled out of the ring and Coffey dived on him through the ropes.  Mondo crawled around the ring before heading out into the crowd - Coffey followed and they continued their battle with suplexes on the solid floor before returning to the ring to finish out the match.   Mondo continued to battle but the night belonged to Joe Coffey, who got the pinfall after a huge splash in the corner knocked the last bit of fight out of Mondo.  An outstanding performance from both men, who shook hands at the end of the match.

With such an incredible card and amazing displays from everyone involved, it was difficult to pick my Match of the Night.  After a lot of deliberating, I finally decided that the Mondo/Coffey match gets that accolade, but the Damo/Rampage match ran a very close second!

Discovery Wrestling put on an absolutely amazing debut show and are planning their second show for March 2015.  Make sure to like their Facebook page to keep up to date with future developments.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Reckless Intentions

Saturday 4 October 2014

Reckless Intentions is the annual Hardcore show and WOW!!! What a show!  This had to be the best RI show ever and has slotted nicely into second place in my top three shows I have attended!  Even better as earlier in the day I wasn't sure how things would work out.  There had already been a card change due to illness and when I arrived at the unit shortly after noon there was hardly a soul about and Mikey was looking decidedly green!  After being nagged constantly, he finally went home for a couple of hours in the hope that he would feel better for his match later but to be honest, I really didn't think he would manage.

The show started with the announcement that former Ring Announcer Jason McKinlay had been appointed the new General Manager after the departure of John Long.  As Jason thanked the crowd for their support and asked them to show their appreciation for the effort for the guys in the back, the entrance music of Joe Hendry began to play and out came Joe Hendry with the Reckless Intent Hardcore belt which he decided he wanted to be renamed the "Joe Hendry Global Hero Technical Wrestling Championship" with all future matches to be under a strict 15 minute time limit.  He then announced that there was no-one in the building who could take the title from him under his rules and demanded McKinlay sanction his match or he would "boot the title out the door".  McKinlay said there would be no name change but he could have a time limit match.

Stating once again there was no-one in the building brave enough to take him on in a match of this type, the crowd went wild when "The Beast of Belfast" Damian O'Connor appeared.  With Hendry reluctant to get in the ring and face the big man, referee Westy began to count him out and finally Hendry entered the ring on the count of 9.  Hearing the crowds "Total Zero" response to the Joe Hendry chant, big Damo capitalised on this and began shouting out Joe Hendry for the crowd reply - Hendry was not amused!  This was a cracking match with some great technical moves displayed.  We were treated to the sight of the big man standing on the chest of Hendry before dropping a senton on him.  Hendry managed to lift Damo onto his shoulders - a feat I don't think I have witnessed before (if he had managed to get Damo into his signature suplex I would have been utterly awestruck but I don't think he is ready to attempt that just yet)  Finally Damo somersaulted across the ring with Hendry on his shoulder before going for the pin, however as the referee counted two, the bell rang to announce the end of the 15 minute time limit.  An incensed Damo demanded 5 more minutes as Hendry crawled out of the ring.  The new GM returned to announce that not only will be belt NOT be renamed, the Hardcore 24/7 rules were back in force with immediate effect.  Hendry then ran out door and out of the car park, chased by Damo but without a referee with them, the title would not change hands that night.

The second match of the night was the one I did not expect to happen - a non-title handicap match between SOS and Mikey.  First the three members of  Sons of Silence entered the ring and did some trash talking before the lights went out.  When they came on again only two members remained in the ring.  Despite still being extremely sick and running a fever, Mikey came out.  The two SOS members attacked from the second he got in the ring and Mikey took quite a beating before starting to pull it back and gain some momentum.  With one member of SOS lying prone on the floor at ringside and Mikey looking to finish the other, this was when SOS #3 reappeared and nailed him with a powerbomb, scoring the pinfall.  Once again the lights went out and when they came on SOS were gone and Scott Renwick, DCT and Bobby Roberts were in the ring to assist Mikey, who proceeded to throw up in a bin at ringside.  After being helped backstage, he then did the sensible thing and went straight home.

The first half main event saw "The Butcher" Scott Renwick face Saint-George in a falls count anywhere match for the RI World title.  This was an amazing match and a close second place for Match of the Night.  Renwick came out to huge cheers from the crowd who were looking forward to seeing Saint-George taken down,  Saint-George was antagonised first by the presence of Jam O'Malley at ringside and then by a certain person holding up a rather fetching picture stating this had been found in the dictionary as the definition of troglodyte! (check out the Loudmouth profile pic on Facebook) The action started in the ring before heading out into the car park.  As both men battled outside, slamming each other onto the concrete and using barriers, metal shutters and even bottles of water from the merch table as weapons, Jam O'Malley tried to calm the situation, further antagonising Saint-George.  As the action returned to the unit, it looked like Renwick was about to take the Englishman into the loo and flush his head, however Saint-George managed to gain the advantage, ramming Renwick into the ringpost.  Back in the ring, Saint-George maintained the advantage, putting Renwick in a sleeper hold but the crowd rallied him and Renwick began to mount a comeback.  The match then swung back and forth as each tried to finish the match, however a shove from Saint-George sent Renwick reeling into the referee, knocking him out and leaving him unable to count after hitting Saint-George with the Angel's Wings.  As Renwick tried to rouse the ref, Saint-George hit a lowblow then rolled him up and, using a handful of tights as leverage, scored the pin to retain the title. Then chaos ensued.  Saint-George attacked Renwick, Jam O'Malley got into the ring to restrain him before Renwick made an attack of his own.  Suddenly the entire roster were in the ring holding Renwick and Saint-George in opposite corners as they continued to try to fight.  General Manager Jason McKinlay then announced that there will be no cheating under his rule and that Renwick would be granted a rematch for the title at Over the Top on 1 November.  With Renwick still being restrained in the ring, Saint-George was ushered by others backstage, running his mouth the entire way!

The first match after the interval was scheduled to be a triple threat match with Craig Valant v Jackie Grady v Venym, however with Valant having to withdraw due to illness, this was ended up a one on one match between Grady and Venym.  This was actually a really good match, however the crowd were a bit subdued, not entirely sure who to cheer as both are known heels.  Venym came out in his new ring gear and a new attitude - no trash talking the crowd - but any face turn here had not been made obvious and it's possible that a wee promo might have helped!  The match swung back and forth with Grady taking some big boots to the face and Venym being caught in Grady's "Hamburger Time" submission move however the end came when Venym swung Grady around the ring before catapulting him into the corner, however Grady managed to regain his equilibrium faster and caught Venym with a kick to the face, following it up with his "No Place Like Home" cravat neckbreaker finisher to score the win.

Next up was a tag team elimination match where Bobby Roberts and DCT faced The Gatecrashers.  The match began with a pose-off between DCT and Christopher Saynt, with the crowd definitely more appreciative of the moves of DCT.  Once the match got properly underway, The Gatecrashers used their slickness in order to keep the referee focused on Roberts while double teaming DCT before they eliminated him.  They then blatantly attempted to double team Roberts, however Roberts managed to eliminate Saynt, leaving him to face Dave Conrad.  There is bad blood between these two and this was the first time Roberts was able to get his hands on Conrad since he interfered in Roberts title match against Rawlins at Proving Grounds in June and they went at it hammer and tong.  As Roberts took the advantage, Saynt reappeared, jumping on the ring apron to distract Roberts and the referee, however DCT came out and pulled Saynt down, once again levelling the field and allowing Roberts to score the win.

Finally, the main event - a  TLC match featuring Chris Renfrew, Martyn Stallyon, Darren Lewis and Rawlins, with the Wooden Spoon Briefcase suspended above the ring.  The winner of the match will be able to cash in the briefcase for a shot at any title at any time in the next year.  This was definitely Match of the Night.  As soon as the bell rang, Lewis shot out of the ring, chased by Renfrew and out into car park, leaving Rawlins and Stallyon to battle it out in the ring.  Rawlins pulled down the top rope and Stallyon went over to the floor, Renfrew and Lewis returned and Rawlins suicide dived them all.  Renfrew grabbed a chair, which just happened to be the one I had vacated, and used it to attack Lewis but managed to catch me with it too! Stallyon went for the case but Saint-George appeared, pulling him from the ladder and sending him through one of the tables.  Scott Renwick came out, Saint-George ran out the door, followed by Jam O'Malley and Renwick helped the injured Stallyon away from the ring.  Lewis and Rawlins then double-teamed Renfrew, before turning on each other.  As Rawlins is about to take the case, SOS appear.  Rawlins suicide dived them before taking them out into the car park.  Lewis and Renfrew continued to battle until they both climbed the ladder.  Still fighting at the top, it suddenly buckled and fell, sending Renfrew through yet another table - he went through three of them in total!  Lewis was then able to climb the ladder and grab the case to win the match.  This match was incredible but don't just take my word for it, check it out for yourself!

All in all, an incredible show...and all for only £5!!

The next Reckless Intent shows are:-

Sunday Slam on 19 October at the RI Unit, which will showcase some of the trainees and will also see Saint-George face Jam O'Malley. Tickets for this event are only £5.

The "Over The Top" Rumble show on Saturday 1 November at Murieston Scout Hall with tickets costing £10 adults and £5 kids or a family ticket at £25 (2 adults and 2 kids). As well as the rumble, matches announced so far are the rematch between Saint-George and Scott Renwick and Rawlins will face Falcon.

Information on upcoming events and tickets can be found at their Facebook page.

Reckless Intent presents Unleashed

Saturday 20 September 2014

I wasn't going to this show.  We had tickets for Pride Wrestling's show which was originally scheduled for 16 August but they had changed the date, so after Rob had taken part in the Reckless Intent training seminar with Andy Wild and Johnny Lions, we said our goodbyes, wished everyone a good show and headed to Glasgow for the Pride show, where we were meeting up with a friend who was travelling from Dundee.

There were some nasty comments aimed at me after my Hell For Lycra blog and several of the people making said comments were going to be at Pride.  Now I pay for my ticket and am entitled to my opinion.  I don't expect everyone to agree with me but I write what I think/feel about what I have seen.  If you don't like it, don't read it - however I would like to thank my haters for the publicity.  I have never received 300 hits in 24 hours before!  This blog was only started because my son asked me to...it's a way for us to connect - and anyone who deals with someone on the autistic spectrum will know how hard it can be to connect.  So matter how bad some people may think my blogs are, I plan to keep writing them.

Back to show day....we stopped on en-route for something to eat and I asked Rob to forget the drama and the fact we already had tickets for Pride, which of the 3 shows would he rather be at (BCW also had a show on in East Kilbride and I was silently hoping that he would pick that!)  He said he really would have liked to stay for the Reckless show so once we got to the venue and spoke to our friend, the three of us jumped in the car and headed back to Livingston, arriving just in time for the start of the show.

First, ring announcer Jason McKinlay announced that the Board had relieved General Manager John Long of his position with immediate effect.  He then introduced the arrival of Saint-George, who came out waving a huge Union Jack instead of his usual St George's Cross - which I was not sure was a good idea after the post-referendum happenings in Glasgow.  He took great exception to the fact that he had not been announced as the Reckless Intent World Champion and demanded that he be introduced again in the correct manner.  He then addressed the man he would face in the main event later that evening, Martyn Stallyon and his match against Ian Ambrose at Hell For Lycra.  After berating his fellow Englishman for failing to take the title and failing his Queen and country, Stallyon's music rang out and as Stallyon appeared, Saint-George ran from the ring to hide behind the security at the main door.

The first match of the evening was Rawlins v Scott Renwick to decide the number one contender for the Reckless Intent World Title.  This was fantastic.  Renwick came out making jokes and had the crowd firmly behind him, which only antagonised Rawlins who wanted to get on with the match.  With Rawlings getting angrier he shouted to get on with it and Renwick said he would "show him the ropes".  What followed was an amazing match, the experience and skill of these two shone throughout and the entire match just flowed.  The combination of technical moves, counters and reversals with some high flyers, along with Rawlins "badness" in attacking Westy and a sprinkling of Renwick's wit kept the crowd entertained throughout.  Rawlins focused on the arm of Renwick, preventing him from completing his Angel's Wings move, however it was a "Super Rough Rider" from the top turnbuckle by Renwick that put Rawlins down for the three count.  With Renwick announced as the number one contender for the World Title, Saint-George makes another appearance, getting nose to nose with Renwick and declaring he won't go down as easily as in the Super Bowl, before shoving each other.  Saint-George leaves and Renwick holds out a hand to Rawlins, but the "Baddest Man in Professional Wrestling"refuses to shake.

Next out to the ring was Manlon, who announced he had no opponent as everyone was too scared to face him and issued an open challenge, following it up by inviting former Hardcore champ Wee Jimmy into the ring, which Jimmy declined.  With Manlon saying he was just going to head home to Glasgow, the music played and out came Aspen Faith and KT Kane, aka Team Smash.  Referee Westy had a Team Smash shirt put on him by Kane and with Manlon assuming Aspen Faith was answering the challenge, she then caught Manlon off guard by squaring up to him instead - inter-gender match!  This was the first time I had seen Kane and, although she is inexperienced she showed lots of potention.  I also have to say that I have seen Manlon do much better but I think maybe the fact he opened up his elbow may have affected his performance.   It's also unfortunate that this match came directly after such a great opener.  After a shaky start, they started to warm up but it never really flowed and the crowd didn't seem to get into it.  KT Kane took the win by submission and apparently Manlon had to make a trip to A&E to deal with his elbow.

The next match was Venym v Craig Valant.  I had seen Valant once before at Party in the Park (which I might still do a blog about) but this was his first official show for Reckless.  The crowd were relatively quiet during the match, which is normal with a new face but when they did make noise it was in support of Valant. These two guys are similar in height and build and Venym made the smart move to focus on the knee of Valant early on and dominated the first part of the match.  I was distracted and missed the middle part of the match however toward the end Valant seemed to be fighting back, dropping some big elbows on Venym before Venym took over and landed a massive legdrop on Valant but failed to get the pin.  Looking to finish things, Venym went for the corner splash on Valant, who jumped up, landed on Venym's back, before rolling him up and taking the win.

The first half main event saw Jackie Grady take on "The Unstoppable" Andy Wild.  This was a stoater!!  I cannot begin to put into words how good this match was.  It was by far the best I have ever seen of Grady.  Faced with the biggest match of his career so far, he came out with his usual cocky swagger as if he was the best wrestler there ever was, but for the first time it seemed he actually believed in himself and was really confident in his abilities and what a difference it made.  True to his moniker, Andy Wild was unstoppable and landed some chops on the chest of Grady which left him bruised.  After failing to pin Grady following a gutwrench suplex, Wild found himself in Grady's favourite submission maneuvre not once, but twice, however he used his strength to drag himself and Grady to the ropes in order to break the hold. Grady then attempted his "No Place Like Home" cravat neckbreaker but was unable to execute.  Wild landed a couple of kicks before finishing Grady with the "Wild Driver".  Despite not taking the win, Grady did amazing and I hope all his future matches are as great as this one.

Just before the interval, Jason McKinlay announced that a wee lad called Mason was celebrating his birthday (his 8th if I remember correctly) and called him into ring.  Scott Renwick came out with a signed event poster and Jason gave him two tickets for him and his wee brother to come to the next event.  Then the entire crowd sang happy birthday.  This photo is used with permission from his mum - thanks Mason's mum!

First match after the interval pitted "The Superstar" Darren Lewis against "Tenacious"Johnny Lions.  The crowd were totally behind Lions from the start and Lewis took great offence, demanding that the referee try to silence the crowd.  This just made them louder!  This was another match where the skill and experience of the wrestlers made the whole thing flow and really was a joy to watch.  Lewis played the heel to perfection, winding up the crowd and using the referee's 5 count to his advantage.  While Lions had a couple of chances, Lewis dominated much of the early part of the match, however Lions gained the momentum toward the end.  Lions looked like taking the win when with a cry of B.M.E, he climbed to the top, only for Lewis to use referee Westy as a human shield to approach the corner, grabbing Lions and hitting his "MuscleBuster" before pinning him for the 3 count. An unpopular win for Lewis which was met with a chorus of boos.

Mikey has been attacked by a masked man at events in the last few months and a recent video showed there to be not one but three men, known as SOS - Sons of Silence and tonight Mikey would face SOS in the ring.  With Mikey in the ring, one of the SOS members entered from the main door.  Mikey shot out of the ring and this match started outside of the unit and was less a wrestling match and more a brawl.  With Mikey finally able to get his hands on this masked guy, he put all the frustration of the last few months into beating on him until being cut down with a lowblow.  The match went back and forth until Mikey brought in  a steel chair and just as he was about to nail the SOS, a second masked man entered the ring, grabbed the chair and nailed Mikey.  SOS now had a 2 on 1 advantage and Mikey was sent across the ring into the chair they had propped on the ropes, landing on the floor outside.  With SOS taunting the crowd, Mikey returned to the ring with his forehead bleeding, grabbed the chair from the ropes and nailed both guys with it, before setting them up in the corner for a cracking coast to coast and scored the pinfall.  With Mikey on the rope celebrating, the third SOS member entered from the main door and delivered a massive power bomb.  With the match over, the three members of SOS attacked.  Suddenly a blast of music and Rawlins appeared on the ring apron, but instead of making the save, he shook his head and left again.  SOS resumed their assault on Mikey before the lights went out and when they came back on Scott Renwick, Craig Valant and Johnny Lions were in the ring and the SOS were nowhere to be seen.  This story is far from over!

Now for the main event and Saint-George is back in the ring - this time to put his title on the line against Martyn Stallyon.  Stallyon got a great reception from the crowd on his Reckless Intent debut and while the match got off to a bit of a rocky start it soon settled into a pretty good match.  The momentum swung back and forth throughout the match, even during the action outside of the ring at the start neither man was able to fully dominate.  A mis-timed blow caught Saint-George's eye and by the end of the match he had a bit of a shiner.   Finally, with Saint-George prone on the mat, Stallyon took to the turnbuckles  and went for the splash, however Saint-George moved out of the way.  He was then able to roll up Stallyon and using a handful of tights for leverage, scored the three count to retain the title.  Not content with that, he then continued to beat on Stallyon until his attention was caught by The Alpha Male who was sitting in the crowd.  As a verbal altercation with The Alpha Male ensued, Scott Renwick appeared in the ring behind him and delivered the Angel's Wings to Saint-George.   Stallyon picked up the title belt and handed it to Renwick who draped it over the face of the man he will now face for the title at the next event, Reckless Intentions.

This was a great show and I am really glad we didn't miss it.  It has been really tough to pick my match of the night - I have been torn between Rawlins/Renwick and Grady/Wild but after watching both matches again and again....and again, I have decided that it has to go to Jackie Grady and Andy Wild.  Go to the Reckless Intent Facebook page or YouTube channel and watch the video footage of both matches, in fact watch all of them - you won't be disappointed.  Then get yourself along to Livingston for the next event, Reckless Intentions on 4 October, with a 4 man TLC match featuring Chris Renfrew, Rawlins, Darren Lewis and Martyn Stallyon as the main event and tickets are only £5.