Review: PWE - The Road To Revolution

Saturday 9 May 2015

It had been a while since we had been to Ayr and we were looking forward to this show.  While there was platinum packages available, we decided to go with the silver option as we had already met the big stars at previous events and silver still got us early entry for the bonus pre-show match. We even took a couple of friends, Janet and Fiona, along with us!

Said pre-show match was a corker with Saqib Ali facing off against "The Best Young Wrestler in the World" Lewis Girvan.  I've seen both these guys wrestle a few times now and when your pre-show is of this calibre, you know the main show is going to be stunning.  A very nice match where both guys were able to showcase their talent despite the shortness of the match.  Really enjoyed this one and it was nice for Janet to be able to cheer for Girvan this time as he took the victory!

The main show began with the appearance of TJ Rage & Davey Blaze to take on Tag Team Champion Lou King Sharp, who had released a video in the run up to the show announcing that his partner for this match would be PWE owner Lionheart and had cheekily named the team Lion King!  As Blaze and Rage waited in the ring, Sharp announced the arrival of Lionheart who failed to appear.  Sharp was invited to get into the ring, lie down and make it easy on himself and eventually Lionheart reluctantly made his appearance.  Rage and Blaze concentrated on isolating Sharp and the wee guy took some amount of punishment before Lionheart was let loose.  After dropping Rage, he delivered a cracking frog splash on Blaze and Lion King took the victory by pinfall.  After the match, Rage and Blaze asked Sharp to come into the ring and shake their hands and agree to a rematch.  Despite Lionheart telling him not to, Sharp accepted, only to be told that he had just agreed to a 3 on 1 handicap match at the anniversary show in August.

Next up was the clash of the heavyweights as Iestyn Rees faced Chris Masters.  To be absolutely honest, I was a bit disappointed with this match and actually said I wished they had given Saqib Ali and Lewis Girvan this slot instead!  Masters really appeared to be just going through the motions and looked like he didn't actually want to be there which was a let down as I have seen this guy before and he really can put on a good show when he wants to.  Rees took the victory and quickly started antagonising the crowd.  A video then was played and it was announced that Rees would be facing Drew Galloway at the Anniversary show on 8 August.

Next up was a Fatal Fourway match with Joey Hayes v Martin Kirby v Kenny Williams v El Ligero.  This match was fast and furious with all four pulling off some lovely moves. A couple of highlights were when Kenny Williams got some amazing height from the top turnbuckle when going for a dropkick on Hayes who was halfway across the ring and when Hayes managed to catch El Ligero with a boot when he sprang from the ropes, before dropping both Williams and Ligero on their faces at the same time.   Despite the crowd being behind El Ligero and Williams, it was Martin Kirby who was victorious as he quickly rolled up Hayes after that stunning move to take the pinfall.

Just before the next match, another video was played announcing the appearance of  Tommy End at the 4th Anniversary show on 8 August.

The first half main event saw The Coffey Brothers v The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Titles.  This match can be described in one word - WOW!!!!  This was by far my Match of the Night.  Between the action in the ring and the banter between Janet and I with Christopher Daniels, it was brilliant.  I think my favourite moment of the match is captured in the picture - both Coffey Brothers had been knocked from the ring and Daniels bounced off the top rope before doing a backflip onto them at ringside right in front of me - totally amazing.  This incredible match came to an end when Mark Coffey inadvertently hit his brother before being hit by the "Celebrity Rehab" finisher and Kaz scored the 3 count.  The Addiction celebrated their win as Joe Coffey looked on from ringside, before getting back into the ring to confront his brother.

During the interval, The Addiction returned to the ring for fans to have their photo taken with them and despite the verbal abuse during the match, Janet and I took advantage of the opportunity.

First match of the second half saw "Bad Boy" Liam Thomson face off against Noam Dar.  After my normal antagonising of Thomson which received Dar's approval and him giving me a walking stick (which security quickly took from me) the match got underway.  As usual, Thomson used every underhanded tactic he could against his young opponent.  Grado appeared at ringside to cheer on his pal but actually caused a distraction and Thomson attempted the roll-up.  He was unsuccessful this time but Grado would prove to be the catalyst for the match ending the way it did.  Dar went for the dropkick but Thomson pulled the referee in front of him and it was the ref who went down.  Thomson then attempted to use a steel chair on Dar but Grado grabbed the chair from behind to stop him.  Grado then went to hit Thomson with the "wee boot", only for Thomson to drop out of the way and Grado dropped his friend instead.  Thomson took advantage, scored the pinfall and as Grado chased after an angry Dar, attempting to apologise, Thomson took the microphone and announced that he had just beaten the number one contender for the heavyweight title and demanded to know where that left him and that he would not leave the ring until he got an answer.  Lionheart came out to give him his answer - a video was played showing that he would be facing Austin Aries at the show on 8 August.  (Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, it was later announced that Aries would no longer be able to make this show and that Samoa Joe would be appearing instead, and will face Damian O'Connor)

The penultimate match was Kid Fite v Big Damian O'Connor.  I love Big Damo - how a guy that size can be so agile and pull off some of those moves is just incredible to watch and against a guy like Kid Fite, this match was guaranteed to have everyone going and it did.  I was so into this match, I even forgot to take any photographs for half of it.  Fite gave it everything but it didn't save him from being dropkicked into the corner before being Damo's doormat as the big guy stood on him then dropped the senton.  At this point, TJ Rage and Davey Blaze appeared and attacked Damo.  The referee called for the bell, announcing Damo as the winner by disqualification.  With Kid Fite back on his feet, it was 3 on 1, until Wolfgang appeared to make the save.

The main event saw Grado put the PWE Heavyweight title on the line against he first ever winner of said title, Andy Wild.  This was a good match but had a slightly strange atmosphere....Grado did not seem to have his usual cheer squad.  In fact at one point when he tried to get the crowd going, he was met with silence.  He did manage to parade around the ringside area holding Wild and inviting the kids to "give him a chop".  Wild on the other hand had the crowd chanting for him throughout.  Wild was robbed of the chance to regain the belt when Noam Dar made an appearance and nailed Wild with the title belt.  The ref called for the bell and Wild was declared the winner of the match by disqualification...but the title can only change hands by pinfall or submission, leaving Grado still Champion.  Grado and Dar appeared to have a confrontation in the ring, however it was shortlived and the two ended up dancing in celebration.

The 4th anniversary show on 8 August is shaping up to be another cracker.  Platinum and silver packages are already sold out but general admission tickets go on sale on Friday 26 June.  Tickets can be purchased from their website http://www.prowrestlingelite.com/shop/event-tickets

To keep up to date with match announcements for this show and find out about future shows, check out PWE on Facebook

Retrospective: May to December - an older woman's love affair with Reckless Intent

So I was sitting thinking now that the year is coming to an end about just how much my life has changed since my first visit to Reckless Intent back in May and I thought it might make a slightly different and hopefully interesting blog post!

We discovered Reckless Intent when two of their wrestlers appeared on an SWE show at Easter and then we met Jackie Grady at Uprising at the end of April.  We received a Facebook invite to their two night Super B.O.W.L event at the beginning of May and, as they were closer to home than most promotions and the ticket prices were extremely reasonable, we decided to check them out.

May
Friday 2nd - The first night of the Super B.O.W.L tournament and we arrived with no real expectations.  This was a relatively new promotion and I hadn't heard of most of the roster but they had a couple of names on the card we knew, Damian O'Connor, Scott Renwick and Joe Hendry so it wouldn't be all bad!!  The first thing I remember about arriving at this little industrial unit was the welcome we received.  Strangely everyone seemed to know who I was and made an effort to say hello.  We had arrived early as I wasn't sure where we were going and I never trust SatNav fully so we had front row seats for our first show.  While not a sell-out, there was a reasonable turn out for the show and by the interval, I had to admit that I was impressed with what I saw and by the end of the show I was really looking forward to the second night.  With the exception of one match, they had pulled off a show that had me hooked and buying into all their characters.

Saturday 3rd - We arrived for Night two to find that most people had read the blog about the previous night's show (those were the days when I started the blogs the minute I got home from the events!) and they seemed to have liked what I had to say.  There was a bigger crowd at the Saturday show too.  I was once again impressed by the quality of the matches and was delighted to see Scott Renwick win the tournament against all the odds.  At the end of the night I spoke to some of the guys and told them we would be back but as their next couple of dates clashed with SWE, it probably wouldn't be for a while!!

Saturday 31st - Taking Over - We weren't supposed to be here!! But Reckless Intent had announced a card that grabbed my interest - with some of the new faces I had seen at a recent Source showcase also appearing.  With no matches on the SWE card announced and Reckless Intent's Saint-George trying to wind me up on Facebook, I decided to make some signs and head to Livingston.  Rob had started training with Reckless so we arrived early so he could help with the set up and I sat in the car reading or stitching and generally keeping well out of the way!  When showtime arrived, I was front row, giving those heels hell and cheering for the good guys and already starting to wonder if I was going to make the SWE show in June....guess it would depend on the card announcements...

June
Saturday 14th found me at a Gala Day!  I honestly can't remember the last time I went to a Gala Day but Reckless were putting on a wee show so we were there - not just for the show but we started by meeting at the unit before 9am before heading to Blackburn and setting up the ring.  With Rob as a trainee, he was ring crew for the day and rather than stand around and watch, I got stuck in too - and I think I surprised a few of the lads with what I was capable of.  After everything was set up, we had a short break before the boys did their stuff in the ring - not just a couple of exhibition matches either but a full on show!  They did great and after it was all over it was time to tear it all down, pack it in the van and return to the unit.  This was the first time I really felt like part of the team and not just an observer at a show.

Saturday 28th - Proving Grounds - With the SWE card not having been announced and Rob becoming more involved with Reckless, we were back in Livingston and another early arrival so Rob could help with the set-up saw me sitting in the car making signs to antagonise the heels and support the faces!  I was also helping out a little with food and drinks outside when a freak wind lifted the marquee and knocked the urn of water over and my foot just happened to get in the way!!  I ended up spending this show barefoot and wearing a pair of Rob's shorts (the first sign I had lost some weight) and doped up on painkillers!

With no shows in July, Rob had continued to attend the training sessions and we were both looking forward to....

August
Saturday 9th - Cruel Summer - This seemed to be a turning point for Reckless Intent - They had booked Colt Cabana and Chris Renfrew for this show and the unit was bursting at the seams. Thankfully the weather held out and they were able to pull up the shutter and create an extended standing area.  The show was great, brought in some new faces and had one of my favourite moments - Chris Renfrew force feeding jaffa cakes to Saint-George!  It also saw Saint-George cashing in his Wooden Spoon and becoming the new Reckless Intent World Champion.

Sunday 24th saw Reckless Intent put on their first Sunday Slam - an afternoon show aimed at younger fans and giving some of the trainees the opportunity to get into the ring in front of an audience.  It also saw me on the ring apron offering to take up Saint-George's open challenge to his title but he was so scared, he used the "I don't hit girls" card.....it's a long time since I was a girl!

September
Saturday 7th - Party in the Park - another outdoor show!  While we didn't arrive early enough to help with the ring set up, we were there to help with anything else required.  I also was allowed inside the barriers in order to take photos and I loved being able to get up close and getting those shots without the ropes or barriers in the way!

Saturday 20th - Unleashed - Once again a show I wasn't supposed to be at!  I'd bought tickets for a Pride show in August which had been rescheduled and clashed with this one.  Rob had attended the Andy Wild seminar before the show and we drove to Glasgow for the Pride show...picked up our friend who had travelled from Dundee to meet up for that show...then drove back to Livingston instead!  Really glad we did as the match between Jackie Grady and Andy Wild was bloody incredible.

October
Saturday 4th - Reckless Intentions - In a word WOW!!!  This was the annual "hardcore" show and it did not disappoint.  The entire show was brilliant and had Scott Renwick and Saint-George in a "Falls Count Anywhere" first half main event, with the second half ending with a TLC match for the Wooden Spoon featuring Chris Renfrew , Darren Lewis, Rawlins and Martyn Stallyon.  The whole night was brutal and brilliant and I loved it!

Sunday 19th - Sunday Slam 2 - This was the show that saw Rob make his in-ring debut during the main event rumble match.  It also saw the "wedding" of Jam O'Malley and Saint-George which had been hyped on Facebook and was a definite highlight of the year!

November
Saturday 1st - Over The Top - Reckless Intent's first main show in an outside venue.  In the 6 months since my first visit, I had seen Reckless go from strength to strength.  New people coming to training, fans who had come for the first time in the summer were continuing to make the journey for shows and new links with SWE were bringing new faces to the roster and their fans were making the trip from Dundee.  The unit was no longer big enough to hold the crowd so we took over Murieston Scout Hall for the day/night...and yes I said we because I was part of the team.  After dropping off Rob and Janet with the food and doing a quick airport run, I returned to help set up the food and merchandise tables, before doing ticket and merchandise sales.  During the show I was able to wander around the ring getting some cracking shots while manning merchandise during the interval and at the end of the show.  I was not missed as the crowd loudmouth as the Russell Brothers had brought support from Bo'ness Rugby Club who more than made up for my lack of chanting!  Scott Renwick beat Saint-George to take the Reckless Intent World Title in a cracker of a match.  Rob got his first spot on a main show during the Rumble main event which I got some video footage of.  Then it was all hands on deck to pack up the ring into the van before heading back to the unit to help unload again.  It was this show that made me truly feel like part of the family - although I still steer clear of the pre-match talk...I don't know anything about the matches until they take place which is why I can still blog them as a fan!

Sunday 16th - Sunday Slam 3 - This show started the trainee tournament for the Sunday Slam title and saw Rob take part in his first singles match against JJ Russell.  I was so proud seeing him in the ring, even though he was heel and told me to shut up as I was yelling support for him.  He did a lovely head scissor armbreaker move which had the friends and family who had come along cheering...and a few others in the crowd too.  Although he didn't win, it was great to watch my boy make those first steps in fulfilling his dream.  The main event between Rawlins and Glen Dunbar caused controversy when the referee made the three count on Rawlins despite him kicking out at 2.  Both wrestlers appeared confused and the crowd were not happy.  Looking forward to a rematch!

December
Saturday 6th - Lights Out - The second show at Murieston and having done it once before, Janet and I let the boys get on with the ring set-up while we got stuck into the setup of our food and merchandise tables.  Ticket pre-sales had been fantastic and it was another sell-out at the Scout Hall.  The Bo'ness boys were back in force making plenty of noise.  The matches were cracking, Rob got to be a lumberjack, Chaz Phoenix made an appearance and distracted Saint-George long enough for Bobby Roberts to get the win before ripping his England flag and draping the pieces on his face while the crowd went nuts and referee Conor Frost screwed Rawlins over in another match (storyline developing!) and Scott Renwick had a cracking match against Eric Canyon to defend his title.  Once again, after the show was over it was time to pack everything up and head back to the unit to unload!

Sunday 14th - Christmas Sunday Slam - The final event of the year.  Rob took his first victory in a match with Jackie Grady, rolling up his opponent while he was distracted by "West Grady".  The final of the Sunday Slam tournament ended as a no-contest when Falcon interfered, setting up a triple threat match between Falcon, AJ Russell and Venym for the belt at the first Sunday Slam show of 2015 on January 25th.

And so there you have it - from May to December I discovered a little wrestling promotion and fell in love with it.  I count the roster members and their families as friends and you really don't want to be in earshot of me and the boss's mum when we are at other events, eh Janet?

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.

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.

Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting....But September Weekend Was Made For Wrestling!!! (originally published 19 September 2012)

Back in June, Rob spotted an ad for an independent wrestling event being held in Ayr. The reason it caught his eye was that TNA Superstar AJ Styles was on the bill. He had been really disappointed that AJ had been injured and unable to attend the TNA tour back in January 2011 so he was really keen to go to this show. It was the first anniversary show for Pro Wrestling Elite which is run by Adrian "Lionheart" McCallum (who we had actually seen fight Jeff Jarrett at the TNA show). I managed to get tickets and we went to our first independent show. It was actually pretty good and during the show they announced they would be doing a double-header show at Ayr Town Hall in September and that TNA knockout Mickie James would be appearing. Of course, Rob wanted to go but I had spent a small fortune on merchandise (including getting a signed photo of AJ Styles) and couldn't buy tickets right away....time to work on the budget!!!

It seemed that things were conspiring to stop us from going. First some little ned on a mini-motorbike slammed into the side of my car and took off without stopping meaning I was going to have to take a hit and pay the excess on my car insurance. Then they announced the release of the TNA Fan Interaction tickets which Rob was desperate for. Luckily my brother got a tax rebate at just the right time... so we managed to get both the fan interaction tickets and tickets for both nights of the Pro Wrestling Elite event.

Saturday 15 September - Night 1 of the event - featured four matches which were part of an 8 man tournament to find the first Pro Wrestling Elite World Heavyweight Championship, a tag-team match and the first ever female main event, Mickie James v Kay Lee Ray. The venue was packed and they even had to put out more seats for people who arrived wanting to pay at the door. We had second row seats and Rob was in his element. During one of the tournament matches, one of the wrestlers wouldn't get back into the ring and I ended up yelling at him to get on with it. He responded by telling me to shut my mouth so I called him chicken and started to cluck at him... and the crowd joined in ....Rob was impressed! During the interval we had the chance to have our photo taken with Magnus, another TNA Superstar (he was also former Gladiator Oblivion) and of course I had to be in on that!!!

Me, Magnus and Rob

I bought some raffle tickets and Rob won the DVD of the event we had attended in July. At the end of the evening we managed to meet Magnus and Rob got a signed photo. We drove back to Edinburgh really excited for the following night.

Sunday 16th September was totally amazing! There weren't as many people attending compared to the Saturday, probably because there were a lot of families there on Saturday and the children would have school on the Monday - Rob was so glad that the Monday was an Edinburgh holiday. Because it was quieter we managed to get front row seats. While we were waiting for the show to start, Adrian McCallum went past and I asked if they would be producing a DVD of the event like they did with the previous one. Rob was totally gobsmacked that I had actually spoken to Lionheart - so I went one better and asked if he would have a pic taken with Rob, which he did. He also personalised a signed photograph for him.


Rob & his personalised picture of Lionheart

Rob & Adrian "Lionheart" McCallum







Two of the biggest "heels" Liam Thomson and Mikey Whiplash, who had been eliminated from the tournament the previous night, were teaming up in a match against Magnus and Wolfgang. As they came out, we were booing and giving the thumbs down and they were yelling at us all to shut up. Of course being at ringside and not being the quietest of people, I managed to get their attention and when they told me to shut up, I told them to come over and make me! It ended up with me threatening to blacken Mikey Whiplash's other eye (he got injured on the Saturday night) and him calling me an "ugly cow" and moo-ing at me.....Rob was once again impressed and told me I was the coolest mum ever!! At interval time, we had the chance to get a photo taken in the ring with Mickie James and Rob informed me that my presence was not required and he could manage this one himself.... and he also got a signed photo to add to his ever growing collection!

Rob with the lovely Mickie James

The evening ended with the final of the tournament, Andy Wild v Noam Dar. I admit that I believed even before the tournament started that Noam Dar was a given for the first ever champion...so I was totally surprised when Andy Wild scored the win. It was a great match. Rob managed to get a photo taken with Andy and the belt at the end of the evening and said that one day he would be holding the belt as the champ and not as a fan!! I just warned Andy to make sure he got the right belt back!

Rob and Andy Wild

The thing that stood out the most to me over the entire weekend was how friendly everyone was. Adrian McCallum was more than happy to chat to people and have pictures taken, his girlfriend Alison was so friendly, even when I said I would rather have her boyfriend than raffle tickets. The photographer, David (davidjwilsonphotography.co.uk) and his wife Elaine were so nice. David said he would send me digital copies of the photos of Magnus and Mickie James and he did, which I have included in this blog and Elaine noticed that I went from blonde to purple overnight!! And of course there was Mikey Whiplash....who was sweet enough to moo at me again after the show just for Rob to get a photo. We are so looking forward to the next show!!

Oh yeah, erm Garry my dear brother, I'll pay you back on Tuesday!!!