Review: Reckless Intent presents Never Back Down

Saturday 4 April 2015

April saw the return of Reckless Intent to Murieston Scout Hall and another sell out show.

As announced at the previous Sunday Slam show, there was a pre-show match with Venym defending the Sunday Slam title in a 10 man rumble style elimination match.  The match started with Venym, Disturbed and Chavi with a new competitor arriving at timed intervals.  Venym was eliminated early and Chavi and Disturbed seemed to have the match well in control, eliminating each entrant almost as soon as they entered the ring.  As Hardcore Champion Craig "The Firestorm" Valant made his entrance he was attacked by Jam O'Malley who took the Hardcore Championship under the 24/7 rule.  O'Malley was immediately challenged by Wee Jimmy, however it was Westy who took advantage and rolled up O'Malley to take the belt before running out of the building, chased by Wee Jimmy and Jam O'Malley.  Back in the ring the action continued and it came down to Chavi, Disturbed and Valant, who finally made it into the ring after being attacked.  Disturbed was eliminated and after both men had a near fall, Valant managed to secure a submission on Chavi to become the new Sunday Slam Champion.

The main show opened with Mikey making an announcement that he had been cleared to return to the ring on 2 May and he would face Lewis Girvan, one of Scotland's fastest rising stars at the Super Bowl tournament.  The Sons of Silence then appeared and proceeded to beat Mikey, before attempting to damage his recently repaired knee with a chair.  Joe Hendry made the save and Chris Renfrew appeared behind the retreating SOS and a small preview of the night's main event ensued.  Hendry then took the microphone to announce that he would be teaming with Chris Renfrew to face SOS later that evening and to warn Scott Renwick that he was coming after the Reckless Intent title.

The first scheduled match of the night saw LJT take on Bobby Roberts.  This was an interesting match-up, with Roberts' size advantage being countered with the speed and agility of LJT.  The fight spilled outside the ring with Roberts using his strength to catch LJT as he flew toward him, slamming him into the ring apron and ringpost, however LJT was quick to move out of the way as Roberts barrelled towards him, leaving the big man to smack into the ringpost himself.  The match continued to swing back and forth until, with Roberts in control, Saint-George's entrance music played.  Roberts immediately turned to face the entrance, only for Saint-George to sneak in from the side of the hall, crawling around the ring and enabling him to attack Roberts from behind, at which point Ian Ambrose also appeared.  The referee called for the bell and awarded the match to Bobby Roberts as a result of a disqualification.  Craig Valant then appeared to even the numbers and when an angry LJT got involved, Saint-George and Ambrose attempted to make a hasty retreat.....

....General Manager Jason McKinlay was having none of it however.  He came out to ringside and announced that Ambrose would face Craig Valant right there and then and Saint-George was banned from ringside during the match.  Ambrose, brandishing his cardboard SWE replica, then announced that as a fighting champion the match would be for the "SWE Heavyweight Championship". A great wee match with plenty going on, the crowd were firmly behind Valant and remained vocal throughout.  The end came with Valant looking to be in control of the match, however as he turned with Ambrose across his shoulders while going for "The Firestorm", Ambrose kicked the referee in the head with his boot, knocking him down.  Valant pinned Ambrose but the referee was unable to make the count.  As Valant attempted to rouse the referee, Ambrose grabbed his cardboard belt, hiding the Sunday Slam belt behind it and nailed Valant on the head, then tossing the belts aside as the referee came to, pinned Valant to take the victory (and retain his cardboard title).

The first half main event saw Saint-George face the upcoming Lou King Sharp.  I have seen Sharp a few times at different promotions and I am in awe of the confidence of this young "pocket rocket" (he is the same age as my own son!!)  He totally embraces the fact that he is shorter and slighter built than most wrestlers but he more than makes up for it with his attitude and character and had the audience in fits of laughter from the minute he entered the ring.  Sharp started off well but the Englishman soon took the advantage.  A trip outside the ring had Sharp grabbing the timekeeper's hammer for the bell and threatening to ring Saint-George's bell with it instead.  Back in the ring, an accidental lowblow to the ref was followed with Saint-George hitting Sharp with a deliberate lowblow.  Sharp returned the favour before all three hit the canvas, holding their respective bits!  While Sharp appeared to recover quickest he was soon hit with the Saint George Cross and pinned, but somehow managed to kick out at two.  Saint-George was furious and went looking under the ring for a steel chair which ended up being his undoing - Sharp knocked the chair back into the face of Saint-George before pinning him for the three count.

The second half of the show started with The Best in the West (-Lothian) Jackie Grady and Westy facing the Russell Brothers.  This was a reasonable match, however it seemed to get a little chaotic after AJ Russell slipped on the turnbuckle, injuring his knee.  Westy and Grady took the victory and both held out their hand to JJ Russell after the match.  JJ and AJ Russell fistbumped each other at ringside before heading backstage.  Then it really got chaotic.  As the victors celebrated, Jam O'Malley made his move on Westy, once again taking the Hardcore belt, donning Westy's wig and trying to shake the hand of Grady.  Conor Frost then attacked O'Malley to take the title before being hit by a springboard missile dropkick from Mikey who claimed the belt and became the second person in the "Triple Crown" club.  His reign was short-lived as Bobby Roberts hit him with a spear before taking the title.  Jam O'Malley hit Roberts with a lowblow, only to be on the receiving end of a lowblow from Westy who then pinned Roberts to retake the Hardcore title and was then, once again, chased from the building by Jam O'Malley.

The penultimate match saw newcomer Theo Doros face Venym.  This was a good match, and Doros put on a good show in his first one-on-one bout against the more experienced Venym, definitely holding his own and showing some amazing potential for the future.  There were several near pins for both guys and surprising it was Doros who took the victory, however Venym was gracious in defeat, shaking the hand of Doros before raising it in victory.

Finally it was time for the main event.  The SOS members Graeme Leask, Darren Lewis and Scott Renwick stood in the ring as Chris Renfrew and Joe Hendry made their way through the curtains.  Lewis was quick to point out that SOS had the numbers advantage but this was soon rectified by the appearance of Rawlins.  The match started off as a giant brawl, with all 6 men in the ring knocking lumps out of each other before gradually settling down.  Renfrew and Co took control early, making several tags and isolating Leask in the ring.  SOS then had a period of control, where Renwick and Lewis made several quick tags which focusing on Hendry.  Lewis then brought a steel chair into the equation, first nailing Renfrew with it and then, when Renwick appeared to have Hendry set up for the Angels Wings, Lewis demanded that Renwick send him to the ropes in order that Lewis could nail Hendry with the chair.  Renwick initially refused but finally gave in to Lewis' bullying, only for Hendry to reverse the move and Renwick was nailed with the chair instead, allowing Hendry to pin him for the victory.  Renwick was furious and a heated verbal encounter took place at ringside between Renwick and his SOS team-mates.

Hendry then took the microphone and announced that he had just pinned the Reckless Intent champion and challenged Renwick to put the title on the line there and then.  Renwick accepted and with Rawlins and Renfrew making sure that Leask and Lewis were "otherwise engaged", an impromptu title match took place.....and Hendry once again pinned Renwick to become the new champ and third member of the "Triple Crown" club.  Renwick sent the referee from the ring, before handing the belt over to Hendry and shaking his hand.  Lewis and Leask reappeared at ringside and Renwick threw his SOS hoodie in the face of Lewis before walking backstage with his head held high.....Scott Renwick has seen the light!!!!

Hendry was then joined in the ring by several of the roster members and made an emotional speech, thanking the fans and Reckless Intent for their support.  To see Hendry win the title and his speech, click here.

This was an incredible show and with the surprise title match to finish it off, I was gobsmacked.

The next Reckless Intent event is the Super BOWL tournament which is split over two dates.  The qualifying rounds take place at Sunday Slam at the RI Unit on 19 April with entry only £5 on the door.  The final of the tournament will take place on 2 May at Murieston Scout Hall and tickets are available online.  Details of matches and ticket available can be found on the Reckless Intent Facebook page

Review: SWE Uprising: Hearts on Fire

Saturday 28 March 2015


If Livingston and Reckless Intent is my second home, then Dundee and SWE is my third and the last Saturday of the month will find me at the Ardler Complex (unless its August - Caird Hall baby!) for their monthly Uprising show.  As the shows have become more and more popular, it has often ended up standing room only and, for the first time the balcony was opened to wrestling fans.

There was a pre-show match for advance ticket holders featuring two trainees from SWE's training school, JD Wilde and Kenny Kyd. A fairly decent display from both guys ending in a victory for Kenny.  I actually quite enjoy these matches - its good to see the talent emerging from different training schools and it also gives them a chance to feel what its like to be in front of a crowd before they hit the main card.

The main show began with an announcement that Chris Duke had been suspended after striking Bravehart at the previous show and that there would be a replacement for him on the commentary table....none other than Bravehart himself.

The first match saw Felix Fortune face Chaz Phoenix.  Fortune put up a good fight but Phoenix had him well in control when Conor Frost and Trident members Darren Blair, Steven "Air" Myles and Saint-George appeared and they each took their turn to perform their finishing moves on Phoenix.  Suddenly MDK, the Trident member who was replaced by Saint-George after sustaining an injury, appeared however instead of joining his old crew, he shocked everyone when he got in the ring and cleared it of everyone except Fortune who was then pinned by Phoenix.  Bravehart was furious and to add insult to injury, Chaz Phoenix then announced that with MDK now by his side, we were witnessing the rebirth of "The Syndicate".  He then called to Chris Duke, who was sitting in the audience, and reinstated him to his rightful place at the commentary table and as ring announcer.

Next up was Martyn Stallyon v Venym v Jackie Grady in a Triple Threat match.  Stallyon started well before being knocked from the ring, allowing Venym to gain the upper hand on Grady.  Stallyon returned to the ring to prevent either of his opponents making the pinfall.  With all three now in the ring, chaos ensued - Stallyon had a near pin on Grady, who was then taken out by Venym, who then found himself on the receiving end of a pin by Stallyon when Ian Ambrose appeared and attacked Stallyon.  Ambrose and Stallyon then battled their way through the crowd, up onto the balcony and down the other side into the backstage area.  While most of the crowd were focusing on the battle outside of the ring, Grady and Venym continued to go at it with Venym eventually claiming the victory.

The first match of the second half saw fan favourite LJT team up with Euan G Mackie against Trident members, Saint-George and Steven "Air" Myles, with Darren Blair hovering around ringside.  This was an incredible match and most definitely my Match of the Night.  All four guys really pulled out the stops on this and the end result was a delight to watch.  With Saint-George and Myles trying their underhanded tricks and double team moves and Blair trying to get involved, it was nice to see Myles taking out his own partner and being on the receiving end of an LJT/Mackie double team too.  The highlight of the match for me is shown in the photo - LJT had taken out Blair at ringside and Mackie had hit Saint-George and Myles with a double dropkick from the turnbuckle before sending them out of the ring.  Mackie then climbed to the top turnbuckle and cannonballed all three Trident members (and his partner) on the outside of the ring.  Back in the ring (and back in my seat) LJT seemed to be on fire but Myles managed to gain control and hit his 450 splash on LJT however he failed to score the pinfall.  There were a couple more near pins for both sides but finally, Myles tried to flip over the back of LJT and pull him down, but LJT dropped to his knees instead, cinching up the legs of Myles getting the three count.  This truly was a great match and even got a "This is awesome" chant (which was NOT started by me!)

After such a cracking match, the last person we wanted to see was Bravehart - but out he came to the ring and demanded that Chris Duke stand in the corner of the ring until he finished.  He then berated Duke for his actions at the previous event, dishing out insult after insult to the point it looked like Duke might haul off and punch him again.  Of course Bravehart had already considered this and threatened to fire Duke if he dared to raise his hand again and how it was so important for Duke to have a job.  I almost lost my voice at this point screaming at Duke to just hit him and I would arrange a whip-round for him!  Unfortunately he chose not to and returned to the commentary table looking somewhat shell-shocked while Bravehart got into verbal battles with myself and my friends as he left ringside.

The penultimate match of the night had Ian Ambrose against Massimo Italiano.  With Ambrose refusing to acknowledge the loss of the SWE Heavyweight Championship to Joe Hendry at the last event, he came out to the ring carrying a home-made version of the SWE belt then demanded that Doctor Grue re-announce him as the reigning SWE Champion of 428 days.  Ambrose then took the microphone and announced that as a "fighting champion" that this match would be for his SWE title, much to the amusement of the crowd and a few chants of "Joe Hendry, Global Hero" were made.  The match itself was great, with some lovely moves and several near pins from both guys.  Ultimately the match was decided by the interference of Stallyon, who superkicked Ambrose, handing his nemesis the win by disqualification, retaining his "title".

The main event saw Scotty Riccio put the Future Division Title on the line against Jay the Jackal.  As expected, The Jackal used every underhanded tactic in the book in his efforts to regain the belt and his "Associate" was on hand to assist in any way necessary.  This was yet another great match and filled with controversy.  With Riccio having been subjected to outside interference on several occasions, he looked to be regaining some momentum when he was thrown into the corner and knocked down the referee.  The Jackal's "Associate" was quick to capitalise, hitting the ref with a boot to the face before turning his attentions to Riccio.  After The Jackal and his "Associate" hit Riccio with a double team move, a second referee appeared to make the count, however Riccio managed to kick out and an angry Jackal then decked the ref, knocking him out.  Riccio then went on the offensive, knocking the "Associate" from the ring apron before hitting a beautiful lionsault on The Jackal.  A third referee appeared as he pinned The Jackal and made the three count.  The crowd went nuts, however before he could call to the timekeeper to ring the bell, the "Associate" grabbed his feet and dragged him from the ring, causing his head to hit off the ring apron and leave him unconscious on the floor.  With the match still officially going, Riccio was beaten by both men and then, as the original referee came to, was pinned by The Jackal to become the new Future Division Champion.  The crowd were furious, as was Chaz Phoenix who appeared at ringside and announced that Scotty Riccio would get his rematch at the next Uprising on 25 April in the Ardler Complex.

A cracking, if unpopular, end to a great show - easily the best show SWE has put on since October when Paul London and Brian Kendrick appeared - and this time without the big name imports!  SWE goes from strength to strength and with their annual Hell For Lycra just a few months away, things can only get better.

Check out SWE on Facebook for details of their upcoming shows and ticket availability.  Tickets are also on sale for Hell For Lycra which will be held at the Caird Hall in Dundee on August 29th.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam: Fight The Power

Sunday 22 March 2015

Another Sunday Slam!

First up was a rematch from No Going Back with Sunday Slam Champion Venym facing Saint-George.  With Saint-George having won their previous encounter after hitting Venym with a lowblow, Venym was out to even the score.  This was another great match between these two, almost as good as before.  Saint-George pushed the boundaries as usual but this time Venym took the victory over Saint-George after a cracking lionsault.  After the match, Venym held his hand out to Saint-George, however the defeated Englishman refused to shake his hand, instead spitting on it.  These guys certainly seem to bring the best (and worst) out of each other and with each having a victory under their belt, I would love to see them go face to face again in a decider!

With Venym still in the ring, General Manager Jason McKinlay out and announced that as Venym was not one to back down from a fight, he would be defending the Sunday Slam Title in a pre-show 10 man elimination match at Never Back Down on 4 April.

Next out to the ring was a certain Rob Mills who would face Disturbed.  I have found it difficult to give Mills hell for obvious reasons but at this event, that changed.  Mills came out to the ring with a darker look and some serious attitude and actually managed to silence the Loudmouth with some of his comments - so I told Disturbed to give him an extra slap from me and proceeded to cheer for Disturbed!  A cracking wee match followed with some lovely high flying moves from both guys.  Disturbed finally got the pinfall after leaping from the turnbuckle and landing an elbow to the chest of a prone Mills.  This turned out to be my Match of the Day - and before I get accused of being biased, it had nothing to do with the fact that my son was in the match and everything to do with match itself.  From the moves to the banter, this was the match I enjoyed the most that day, even though I spent part of it gobsmacked!

The first half main event saw Falcon face Craig "The Firestorm" Valant.  This was one of those weird matches where you had two "good guys" and didn't know who to shout for, but each had a small group of fans in the crowd and there was a bit of banter between the wrestlers and fans.  Both guys were in good form and this match went back and forth, with one guy looking to be firmly in control only for the other to counter and almost take the victory.  This really could have gone either way and both men deserved the win but this time the victory went to Valant who hit Falcon with "The Firestorm" and scored a three count.

The second half of the show kicked off with Sambroso Maestro facing Jackie Grady, who came out wearing a Pingu t-shirt and doing the slow-motion Baywatch style entrance.  Then the guest referee was announced - none other than Westy - just how fair would he be in a match featuring his tag partner?  After a "pose-off" between Grady and Sambroso the match got underway with Sambroso dominating much of it.  It was Grady who was victorious, managing to escape from "Debo Numero Dos" and countering with his "Hamburger Time" submission hold, forcing Sambroso to tap out.

As ring announcer Sully started to announce the next match, the SOS music started playing and Scott Renwick and Darren Lewis appeared wearing their title belts upside down.  Lewis then proceeded to tell the crowd that this was not done in error but was their way of showing their disrespect for not only the titles but for the company as a whole and the fans themselves.  He then mentioned the "hot-shot rising star" who would be facing SOS later that afternoon and told the crowd they were lucky as they would see SOS destroy that person, threatening to hospitalise whoever was dumb enough to face them as their destruction of Reckless Intent continued.

The penultimate match was Davidian Fury vs Westy.  Fury came out full of himself and chose once again to pick on a child in the crowd, frightening the girl to point she actually wanted to leave and causing me to once again get in his face.  Once Westy got in the ring, Fury continued his bully-boy ways, beating down the youngster.  The referee was knocked from the ring during the beatdown at which point Mikey got into the ring, gave Fury a good dose of his own medicine and left Westy to cover him for the three count as the referee crawled back into the ring.  Things were not over for "The Westler" who made to leave by the main door, pursued by Fury, only to be surprised by Craig Valant who pinned Westy under the 24/7 rule to become the new Hardcore champion.  This reign would be shortlived - as he celebrated in the ring, he was hit by ring announcer Sully who then scored the pinfall to take the belt!

For the main event, SOS members Darren Lewis and Scott Renwick returned to the ring, before The Originals, Mikey and Rawlins introduced their opponents - Theo Doros and JJ Russell.  Russell once again used his humour in the ring to reduce Renwick into tears of laughter, much to the annoyance of Lewis.  This lead to a brutal beatdown of newcomer Doros for much of the match, although there was a glimmer of hope when Russell got the tag.  Unfortunately, the experience of the SOS was too much and Renwick  hit Doros with "The Angels Wings" as Russell was dealt a cradleshock by Lewis before they were both pinned.

Just when we thought it was all over, as Sully thanked everyone for attending AJ Russell sneaked up from behind and once again the Hardcore title changed hands...only for Craig Valant to appear and hit him with "The Firestorm" to become Hardcore champion for the second time that day.

Another cracking Sunday afternoon show and lots to look forward to for their next show back at Murieston (which took place on 4 April and a blog will be uploaded on that show very soon).

Follow Reckless on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for details on upcoming events, ticket availability and footage of past events.

Review: Discovery Wrestling

Saturday 14 March 2015


As I am so far behind with my blogs and Discovery Wrestling have already released the entire show on YouTube, this is not going to be my usual review but just some of my personal opinions and observations.

We arrived slightly later to the venue than planned due to one of our group having to change travel plans - someone had jumped in front of a train and the line to Edinburgh was closed!  We still arrived in plenty of time and met up with our friends who had travelled from Dundee.    This was when we discovered that the ringside seating had been pre-allocated and we wondered if we would be seated together.  It turned out we were not, we were scattered around the ringside and I was allocated seats at a ringpost.  This means that almost every in-ring photo features turnbuckles and/or the ringpost.   The whole point of us arriving early at venues is to get seats together and good photo ops - unfortunately we had neither.  Some people left early and I moved to those seats to get some cracking pics during the final match between Chris Sabin and Damian Daniels.

Onto the show... after the amazing show at Meadowbank, the setup seemed rather sparse.  A chat with management later revealed that they were unable to use much of their lighting, etc due to the restrictions placed on them by the venue.  Still they made good use of what they were allowed to set up.  The audio, however, was terrible.  I don't know if it was a problem with the equipment or the hall acoustics but it was almost impossible to make out what was being said on the microphone, from the ring announcer to the wrestlers themselves - it was all just a muffled noise.

Another bugbear was one of the referees.  I remember reading once that the mark of a good referee is that you don't notice them during the matches until they are required to make their presence felt.  One of the referees was a little over-zealous, grabbing the wrestlers when in the corners without even attempting a five count and dancing around them in the ring to the point of actually getting in the way of them.

I am not going to review each match as you can watch the whole show yourself by clicking here!  I would like to mention a couple of  show highlights for me:-

Danny Boy Rogers was amazing in the four way match with Lou King Sharp, Aspen Faith and Martyn Stallyon.  Looking forward to seeing more of him in the future.

I loved the Wealdstone Raider video telling Joe Hendry he had no fans.  Was a bit confused when Damo was distracted by Ian Ambrose's entrance music allowing Hendry to get the roll-up and pinfall. I think it was supposed to be Rampage Brown's music.  Damo was not happy and chased after Hendry, who made his escape over the railings into the crowd right beside me so I did get some good pics there.

Since the fatal fourway at Meadowbank I have wanted to see a match between Lewis Girvan and Chris Sabin but with the "Y" Division tournament matches not yet announced, I was actually praying they would not be facing each other tonight....and it was answered.  Girvan faced Ian Ambrose and Sabin faced Damian Daniels, both winning their matches (and they were brilliant matches) to set up my dream match for the next show on 10 April - I cannot wait to see this!

Discovery's next show is at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on Friday 10th April and as well as the Girvan v Sabin "Y" Division Championship, it will also feature the only Scottish appearance of The Young Bucks.

For information on this and their event on Friday 22 May, like them on Facebook

Review: Reckless Intent presents No Going Back

Saturday 7 March 2015


This was the first Saturday show to be held in the Unit since November and it was standing room only!

The show started with the arrival of all three members of SOS , Darren Lewis, Scott Renwick and Graeme Leask, carrying bottles of beer and major attitude.  Lewis took the microphone and proceeded to disrespect everything about Reckless Intent, the company, the fans and especially General Manager Jason McKinlay, who would only grant a contract to Graeme Leask if he managed to win his match that night against Bobby Roberts.

Surprisingly, Lewis and Renwick did not interfere in this match and left the ring area, allowing Leask to handle business on his own.  This was starting to look like a decision they might regret as Roberts appeared to have the upper hand until he went for a spear on Leask, who managed to move out of the way and Roberts hit referee Conor Frost instead.  Roberts pinned Leask but the ref was still down and unable to make the count.  Then Saint-George came out and nailed Roberts, dragged Leask into the pinfall position then dragged the referee over and used his hand to make the three count, giving Leask the victory and he left the ring, clutching his contract with Reckless Intent.  (Has Saint-George aligned with the SOS???)  Craig "The Firestorm" Valant came out, stopping Saint-George from leaving, allowing Roberts to recover and knock down the Englishman before Valant hoisted him up and Roberts delivered a stunner.

Saint-George called GM Jason McKinlay to the ring to complain about the attack on him, only to be told that if he had not interfered in the first place, none of this would have happened.  Not only that, Saint-George had in effect handed the RI contract to Leask and therefore, since he was already in the ring, he would now have a match against Sunday Slam Champion Venym.  What followed was probably the best match I have seen Saint-George have.  Venym certainly brought out the best (or worst) in the Englishman and this really was an absolute belter of a match....right up until the end when Venym stopped himself from crashing into the referee in the corner and, whilst the ref had his arms up to defend his face from the incoming Venym, Saint-George hit a low blow from behind and rolled up his opponent for the three count.

Once again Jason McKinlay appeared and told Saint-George (who lay down on the mat in a show of disrespect) that just because the referee didn't see his lowblow on Venym, he had seen it via the monitors backstage.  He added that he was sick of repeating himself regarding Saint-George's blatant cheating and had decided that the Englishman would have a second match, right there and then.....and this would be a match he was familiar with...a 3 on 1 handicap match....only this time it would be Saint-George on the receiving end from Venym, Craig Valant and Bobby Roberts.

Valant and Roberts returned to ringside, holding up a shirt with "Independence" printed on it.  They joined Venym in the ring where they got Saint-George in the corner and each delivered a massive chop to the chest before taking their turn to perform their finishing moves, ending with Bobby Roberts hitting a spear and then taking the pinfall with Venym and Valant each having a hand on the shoulder of Roberts.  A win for "Team Independence", they draped their shirt over the face of a prone Saint-George.  Roberts then picked up Venym's hammer announcing "it's plastic" before bonking both Venym and Valant on the forehead with it - somehow managing to cut Venym's forehead and having them yelling "it's NOT plastic" as they left the ring.

The first half main event saw Rawlins face Darren Lewis for the UK Title.  It was announced this would be a submission match, with no disqualifications.  It was, in a word, brutal!  Right from the start there were no holds barred and I knew this was not going to be pretty!  The momentum swung back and forth with each guy going all out to take the victory.  Lewis tried to use his size to his advantage but Rawlins is a real grafter and tried several submission holds on Lewis but "The Superstar" refused to tap out.  Finally caught in the crossface, it looked like Lewis had experienced one submission too many and was on the verge of giving up when Scott Renwick came out to the ring and smashed a beer bottle over the head of Rawlins.  With the no disqualification stipulation, this left Lewis free to continue a brutal assault on Rawlins, hitting him with a steel chair as he hung over the ropes and following up with a cradleshock on the already unconscious Rawlins.  Finally the referee had to stop the match as it was obvious that Rawlins was in no way able to continue and a smug Lewis left the ring as several roster members came out to assist in getting Rawlins backstage.

I missed the beginning of the second half and therefore the following is just general information I have after chatting to some of the other fans at the end of the show.  It began with a tag team match between the team of Jackie Grady & Westy and AJ Russell & Davidian Fury.  Grady and Westy debuted their new entrance music - the theme from Baywatch - and made their entrance in the "slow motion" style of the TV show's credit reel. Russell removed his clown mask to reveal some face paint and dried blood!  "A decent match" I am told, which ended when Fury went to make the tag only to have Russell jump off the apron, leaving him to finish the match alone.  Westy then hit Fury with the Cobra before Grady hit his "No Place Like Home" finisher and scored the pin.  While they celebrated, Sambroso Maestro hit a sneak attack and pinned Westy under the 24/7 rules to become the new Hardcore champion.

Sambroso Maestro then faced Disturbed in his own match.  By all accounts Disturbed defeated himself when he climbed from the top turnbuckle to a ledge to gain extra height for an elbow drop on Sambroso.  This gave his opponent extra time to recover himself and he hit Disturbed with a lowblow as he dropped from the ledge and scored the pinfall.  Conor Frost then attempted to take the Hardcore title but it appeared that both Frost and Maestro had their shoulders on the mat and an arm across each others chest meaning that both scored the pinfall, however this was a short-lived problem as Bobby Roberts hit them both with a spear, pinned them and took the belt.  Just seconds later the belt would change hands once again, as Westy faced off against Roberts and instead of receiving a blow to the head with the belt as has become normal, Westy this time delivered a kick to the nether regions of Roberts, dropping the big guy to the floor and retaking the belt he had lost earlier in the evening.

Just before the main event, Mikey took to the ring to express his disappointment in having to withdraw from the originally scheduled ladder match against Scott Renwick due to having surgery on his knee less than two weeks ago.  Once again, Saint-George made an appearance and promptly got his ass whooped!  Despite still recovering from surgery, Mikey hit Saint-George with an "Emerald Flowsion" which had the crowd cheering and howling for more and a certain Englishman left ringside red-faced after receiving his just desserts for, once again, sticking his nose where it didn't belong (I'm really starting to think he might be aligned with SOS).

Finally it was time for the main event, where JJ Russell would face "The Butcher" Scott Renwick for the Reckless Intent Title.  With both men in the ring, Russell made a wise crack about Renwick being the vinegar that spoils the fish 'n' chips....which had not only the crowd in fits of laughter, but cracked the hard shell of Renwick who struggled to hold it together. (There is hope!!!)  The match itself was good but there were too many comedy moments for a serious title match.  The match came to an end when Russell hit Renwick with the "Sister Abigail" and went for the pin, only for Darren Lewis and Graeme Leask to return to ringside and Lewis grabbed the leg of Russell, dragging him off his opponent.  As the referee remonstrated with Lewis, who was now on the ring apron, Renwick was able hit Russell with "Angel Wings" (there may also have been a lowblow involved but I was watching Lewis and the ref) and took the pinfall to retain the title.  Suddenly the entire roster was in the ring battling against the SOS but individual battles appeared to be forming, setting up for some grudge matches in the future.

As much as it pains me to say this, my Match of the Night was neither the first or second half main event, but goes to Saint-George and Venym....and that big-headed Englishman will probably boast and brag about it....just as long as he remembers that he wasn't alone in the ring!  Just to temper things, Moment of the Night was Mikey hitting him with the Emerald Flowsion!!!

The next show is Never Back Down on 4 April, back at Murieston Scout Hall.  After the no-contest between Darren Lewis and Chris Renfrew in January, they will face each other again but this time Renfrew is bringing some friends.

Also there will be early entry and a pre-show match for advance ticket holders.  The pre-show match was announced at Sunday Slam (yes I am so far behind that I haven't got that review up yet) Venym will defend the Sunday Slam title in a 10 man elimination match.  So far, Chavi and Disturbed have been confirmed as participants but who the other 7 are is yet to be announced.

Keep tabs on upcoming shows by liking the Reckless Intent page on Facebook, subscribe to them on YouTube and check out their website.