Friday 7 August 2015

Review: Reckless Intent presents Proving Grounds

Some of my friends made the the journey from Ayr to check out Reckless Intent's Proving Grounds show in July.  I asked one of them, Claire Allan, if she would mind writing a wee review of the show....and here's what she had to say.....


On 4th July, I travelled all the way to Livingston for my first ever Reckless Intent show.  I will be totally honest, I was apprehensive about the show.  It's a smaller company than the ones I am used to going to and was frightened that I would not enjoy it.

THE SHOW

Enter Davey Blaze with the 'manager of champions' Charles Boddington, proclaiming he was only here for one reason and that was to become Reckless Intent Champion.  This statement then brought out current champion 'Local Hero' Joe Hendry.  Joe tried to reason with Davey, explaining that he is aware of his talents and that he doesn't need a leech like Boddington to get to the top and could get there on his own merit.  Blaze took umbridge to this and attacked Hendry, which then set up the main event of the night - Blaze vs Hendry for the Reckless Intent Championship.

LIONHEART VS RAWLINS

I found this quite amusing that one of the participants had to tell us he was a bad guy right at the start so I made the quickest face turn in a century and was cheering for Rawlins.  This was the first time I had seen Rawlins wrestle and was impressed, he could possibly fit in with the events I normally attend.  Lionheart was doing a little parading around the ring and in the process managed to make a young fan cry.  After an entertaining match that could have went either way, Lionheart pinned Rawlins for the win.  After the match, Lionheart went over to the young fan which I thought was to console him but ever the typical heel, he made the fan cry even more!

LEWIS GIRVAN'S OPEN CHALLENGE

The self-proclaimed 'best young wrestler in the world' Lewis Girvan comes to ring with a chair, stating that there is no young wrestler that could beat him and he wasn't leaving the ring until he gets to prove it.  Venym answers his call.  As with Rawlins, this was the first time seeing Venym and the first thing I noticed about him was his beaming smile.  This was another match that could have went either way with both men showing good technical ability and Lewis even took Venym on a walk around the ring and kindly placed him on my knee then hit him with an almighty chop which I felt right through from Venym.  After some more too-ing and fro-ing, Lewis pinned Venym for the win and it added more fuel to his fire that he is the 'best young wrestler in the world.

CHRIS RENFREW VS SAINT GEORGE

For me, this match, first half main event, was Match Of The Night.  A street fight between Chris Renfrew, a man I have a lot of admiration for, and Saint George.  Even though I have never seen Saint George, he is what us Scots call a bawbag especially after waving that English flag over my face!  This match was intense from start to finish.  Renfrew took it to Saint George right from the bell.  Both men knocking lumps out of each other and even had a little trip outside which saw both men being rattled off the fence and round the side of the Scout Hall was a broken toilet, which Renfrew sat Saint George on and hit him with a few chops that could probably have been heard in Edinburgh then grabbed him and stuck his head down it and pretended to flush.  The fight then returns to the ring where Darren Lewis's music plays and Saint George tries to take advantage but fails and Chris Renfrew seals the win.  Renfrew then issues Lewis with a warning saying he will be defending his UK title against Renfrew at Cruel Summer.

SIX MAN TAG MATCH

This match sees Scott Renwick, Theo Doros and Sweet Johnny vs Jam O'Malley, Matt Daly and Rob Mills accompanied by Wee Jimmy dressed as an Ompah Loompah.  Sorry to say, this match didn't light my fire. I was ecstatic that I finally got to see Rob wrestle but Sweet Johnny annoyed the hell out of me!  I did try to get into the fight but my heart couldn't get into it.  After the wrestling, the team of Scott Renwick, Theo Doros and Sweet Johnny secured the win.  Jam turned his attention to his team mates and blamed them for the defeat.  Both Matt Daly and Rob Mills walk away leaving Jam in the hall with the winning team.  After the match, the GM came out and advised Jam that he now had to defend his Hardcore Championship at any time and any place.  This brought The Westler and Jackie Grady to the ring to try to win the title from Jam but they got into a fight with Theo Doros and Sweet Johnny leaving Jam and Scott in the ring.  Scott defeats Jam to win the Hardcore Championship, that brings Saint George out who distracts Scott for Jam to win the title back.  Chris Renfrew was hot on Saint George's heels that caused some members of the audience to run outside in case the scrap from earlier continued.

MIKEY VS KENNY WILLIAMS

I was looking forward to this match, Kenny is someone who I have seen on several occasions and has impressed me each time.  I have only seen Mikey on YouTube but liked what I saw.  Both men lived up to expectations, had a great mix of high flying and technical ability.  Even though Kenny reminded me that it was a family show after yelling 'Kenny is the bollocks' which then started the girls sitting next to me to shout 'Mikey is the mutts nutts'.  After some more fantastic wrestling, Mikey beat Kenny by pinfall.  After the match Mikey said that he has defeated some excellent competitors since returning from knee surgery but at Cruel Summer he will face none other than the 'Beast of Belfast' Damian O'Connor.

JOE HENDRY (C) VS DAVEY BLAZE

This was the night's main event, these two men looked equals when in the ring the only difference is the small person standing at ringside.  Of course, without fail, I managed to get the standard 'baldy midget' chant ringing round the hall plus the poor girls next to me took some abuse from Blaze, think he was scared to abuse me!  Once the match began the two men in the ring were definitely equals and above average technical wrestlers.  This was another match that you could not tell the eventual outcome.  It was move after move, countermove after countermove, it was an excellent match for first timers to watch.  You could tell Blaze was getting frustrated with the near falls.  Joe's resilience was second to none, he knew what was at stake.  In the end it came down to the little person who got involved but was not sly enough and was caught by the referee so Joe Hendry won by disqualification to retain the title.  After the match, Blaze took his anger out on Joe Hendry and started to beat him down only for Scott Renwick to come and save the Reckless Intent Champion and issue Davey Blaze with a match at Cruel Summer.

As I stated at the start of the blog, I was apprehensive about this show but I clearly had nothing to be apprehensive about.  It was an excellent show and I hope the crowd at Reckless continues to grow.  I do hope to return at some point but at this moment I can't say when!

P.S. I do believe some of the gang may be there in September!


A huge Thank You! to Claire for her comments and look forward to your next visit to Livingston.



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