Sunday 16 November 2014
Just two weeks after their sell-out show at Murieston Scout Hall, Reckless Intent returned to the unit for their third Sunday afternoon show. This one started a trainee tournament to crown the first ever Sunday Slam Champion. The rules for the tournament are that no current or former title holder from the main roster could hold the title, however to make it "interesting" one wild card entry would see Jackie Grady take a spot in the tournament. There would be four quarter final matches and two semi-finals, with the final match to be held at the next Sunday Slam event on 14 December. Even more important, Rob would be taking part in the tournament in his first ever one on one match.
As always we arrived early but this time it was more for Rob to prepare for his match than help with the set-up and, also as always, I kept out of the way while the final show preparations were made. We also had some friends and family along to support Rob.
The show started with General Manager Jason McKinlay explaining how the Sunday Slam tournament would work and revealing the championship belt, when he was interrupted by the arrival of Jackie Grady. Grady stated that, as the only Triple Crown winner, he would obviously be successful in winning this title too. It was then time to meet his opponent in the first quarter final match, Wild Wild Westy. In keeping with his imitation gimmick, this time we met West Grady as Westy appeared wearing a blonde wig and Grady's tights and boots! Westy and Grady faced each other in the ring and what followed was a hilarious mime where Westy mirrored the actions of Grady, ending with both of them lying side by side on the mat. Grady asked the crowd, "Is he lying down?" and quickly moved to pin Westy who kicked out the first time but Grady went back for the pin and scored the 3 count. Match won by Grady without a single wrestling move apart from the pinfall!
The second quarter final saw Venym face Iron Fist, who was accompanied to the ring by Miss J. While Venym tried to use his superior agility to his advantage, the brute strength of Iron Fist dominated much of this match. Miss J grabbed the leg of Venym while he stood on the ring apron to kill his early momentum and Iron Fist delivered some crushing moves, including a leg drop on the apron, driving the shoulder to the lower back of Venym while he hung upside down in the corner and a sidewalk slam. Despite this Venym managed to rally and took the win but while Venym was celebrating on the rope, Iron Fist grabbed a steel chair and slammed it off his back, before throwing the chair to the ground and power bombing Venym onto it to the disgust of the crowd.
The third quarter final saw my boy make his singles match debut. Fighting under the name Rob Mills, he faced JJ Russell. Russell started off by "correcting" the referee, saying it was Rob Wells, before holding out a hand to Rob, who blasted it away and the match was on. It was a short match but I loved it (and I don't care if anyone calls me biased either!) Rob managed a lovely head scissor armbreaker move which got a great reaction from the crowd and, in total heel character, told me to shut up when I shouted "that's my boy". Unfortunately it was Russell who took the win, hitting Rob with his "Sister Abigail" before making the pin.
The last of the quarter finals was AJ Russell v Craig Valant. AJ seems to have gone a little nuts recently and came out with a can of silly string which he sprayed over the crowd. Valant came out to a great reception from the crowd. This was good match with both guys having a chance to shine. Russell dominated the early part, but Valant fought his way back, dropping several elbows on Russell. Russell however showed he could win a match without his high flying moves by rolling up Valant for the three count. While Russell sat on the floor at ringside, cackling over his victory, GM Jason McKinlay came out to the ring to conduct the draw for the semi-final rounds - Jackie Grady would face Venym and the Russell Brothers would come face to face once again.
The second half of the show began with two former champions facing off, Mikey v Saint George. With both men losing their titles at Over The Top, neither was in the mood to lose another match. Saint-George was also upset that Mikey had used the RKO on Joe Hendry after the rumble. He came out to the ring, grabbing a steel chair on the way. While the crowd chanted Blah Blah Blah, he referred to losing the title to Scott Renwick and bragged about having made Renwick require knee surgery after their match. He then had the chair set up at ringside and invited Jason McKinlay to take a seat and watch him win his match against Mikey. Mikey came out to the ring and proceeded to kick Saint-George's ass around the ring - literally - causing Saint-George to escape the ring. Once back in the ring the momentum swung back and forth. Saint-George delivered a cracking suplex before taunting Mikey's mum in the audience, then called for a time-out when Mikey took the upper hand. The action took a slightly worrying turn when Mikey asked the referee to pull on his leg after his knee popped, however Saint-George decided to capitalise on Mikey's recurring problem and focused on the knee. Mikey would not give up and hit Saint-George a series of kicks and blocks using the ropes for momentum. Saint-George managed to block a 619 attempt by grabbing Mikey's legs but a second attempt hit the target and was followed by a springboard splash off the top rope. At this point Mikey looked to be in control but Saint-George was no pushover and fought his way back, leaving them both lying in the ring and needing a 7 count to recover. After faking a leg injury, he attempted the RKO several times but was blocked and countered by Mikey each time. After rolling Mikey up and grabbing the tights but only managing a two count, Saint-George finally hit him with the RKO and took the win. He then took great delight in forcing Jason McKinlay to raise his hand in victory.
The first semi-final of the Sunday Slam tournament pitted Jackie Grady against Venym. These two have faced off several times before, usually with Grady the victor. Grady came to the ring first, followed by Westy, who Grady made stand at ringside where he continued to mimic every move Grady made. Venym came out, still hurting from the after match attack by Iron Fist and was visibly less agile than usual. Grady quickly tried to capitalise on this, however Venym still appeared to have enough left in the tank to deal with Grady, making Grady leave the ring and attempt to have Westy take his place. After a failed legdrop attempt from Venym, Jackie attempted his finisher but ended up being swung round the ring. It was Venym who took the win this time and secured a place in the Sunday Slam final on 14 December.
The second semi-final saw AJ Russell take on his brother JJ Russell. To be honest, based on their previous encounter, I was hoping the semi-final draw would have gone differently and these two would face each other in the final. Once again they put on a hell of a match. With the majority of the crowd firmly behind JJ, these boys beat each other senseless. With JJ having the upper hand, the referee was knocked out and was unable to make the count when JJ clearly had AJ down for the win. As JJ tried to revive the referee, AJ attacked with a low blow and, as the referee started to come round, hit his brother with a big splash from the top turnbuckle, then pinned him for the win. AJ Russell will face Venym on 14 December for the Sunday Slam title. Venym came out and held out his hand to AJ, who instead attacked Venym, hitting him with the "Shell Shock" leaving him senseless on the mat.
Finally it was main event time. This match was billed as the match between two of the most under-rated wrestlers in Scotland, Rawlins and Glen Dunbar. After The Grue read out a note praising Dunbar, I felt it necessary to get in his face and was told to sit on my ass! This match also brought about a very rare occurrence, something I have only done once before - I started chants for Rawlins! Yes, for one night only, "The Baddest Man in Professional Wrestling" was the fan favourite. This match started off brilliantly and the crowd were loving it.....right up until the point that the referee made a complete balls-up - but I will get to that later. Rawlins attempt at a suicide dive was countered by Dunbar who then punished Rawlins on the ring apron before both men got back into the ring. The match continued to swing back and forth with both guys scoring near pins. Rawlins sent Dunbar out of the ring to land at my feet but back in the ring, things swung back and forth again. Once again Dunbar ended up outside of the ring and this time Rawlins suicide dive paid off. I, of course vacated my seat as for some reason I always seem to get caught up in these things!! Back in the ring Rawlins caught Dunbar in a cross face submission hold. As the crowd chanted for Dunbar to tap, he broke the hold and managed to pull off a slingshot vertical suplex on Rawlins before going for the pinfall. The referee counted, one, two, Rawlins kicked out and the referee brought his hand to the mat for the three count. There was stunned silence in the unit and everyone wondered what the hell was going on. Both Rawlins and Dunbar were confused as the referee insisted that it was a three count and declared Dunbar the winner. There were a lot of angry, upset and confused people at the end of this match.
I have not picked a Match of the Day for this show, as what was shaping up to be that match was turned into a farce by the referee's actions. I am sure an explanation will be forthcoming but no matter what, it ended the show on a bum note and I hope that there will be a rematch booked soon.
The card for the next show, Lights Out on 6 December is already shaping up to be a corker, with Mikey facing Joe Hendry in what could be his final match. If he can't beat Hendry, he will retire. Saint George and Ian Ambrose will team up to face Bobby Roberts and DCT and new Reckless Intent World Champion Scott Renwick will be going against doctors advice to defend the title against a "face from the past" who has beaten him for a title before. To find out more information on this and future events and how to get tickets, like them on
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