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.
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