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: SWE Uprising: Psycho Circus

Saturday 28 February 2015

Last Saturday of the month so I would be found in Dundee!  After an afternoon of shopping and a visit to Dr Noodles, Janet and I headed to the Ardler Complex for SWE's monthly Uprising show.

There was a pre-show match for advance ticket holders featuring two of the trainees from Hart & Soul Wrestling School, Alec Xander (sorry if this is spelled wrong) and Conor Frost.  Frost has recently made a few waves in both the SWE and Reckless Intent ring as a "renegade referee", making some very dubious decisions and feuding with Rawlins, which had him already set up as the heel.   The crowd were a bit quiet but that didn't stop me cheering and encouraging Xander who hit Frost with a massive elbow drop to take the win.  Both guys did well for their first match and I was pleased to see that Frost can wrestle better than he can ref!!!

After a short break to allow the rest of the crowd in, the main show began with a 10 bell salute to the late Drew McDonald.  The entire roster surrounded the ring and the crowd stood as Chris Duke tolled the bell.  A nice mark of respect which I was glad to be a small part of.

The first match of the main show saw Rawlins & Venym take on Scott "The Butcher" Renwick & Trident member Steven "Air" Myles.  Using the superhero theme, Rawlins came out as The Punisher and Venym had his hammer... which he placed in the centre of the ring and everyone had a go at lifting, including Rawlins, and failed before he moved it himself. (Still not sure about this hammer gimmick)  The match itself was good with some very nice double team moves by Rawlins and Venym and the obligatory cheating from Renwick and Myles.  Myles went for his 450 splash on Rawlins only to find the mat empty when he landed which was the beginning of the end for the bad guys.  With Rawlins doing a suicide dive on Renwick, Venym pinned Myles and took a very popular win.

With the celebrations still going in the ring, Bravehart appeared with Jam O'Malley and Nikki Storm.  Surprisingly they allowed Rawlins and Venym to leave ringside untouched and joined their comrades in the ring.  After consoling the losers on "being cheated out of the win" Bravehart turned his attention to SWE Co-Owner Chaz Phoenix, labelling him a coward.  Jam O'Malley then took the microphone and challenged Phoenix to face him in "Jam O'Malley's Fun House of Horrors".  Phoenix came out to ringside and Bravehart accused him of trying to back out of the match and said he either wrestled O'Malley or give up his shares in SWE.  Phoenix said giving up his shares was not an option and accepted the challenge to face O'Malley.  Bravehart then announced that this would be a 2-on-1 handicap match but did not reveal who would be partnering O'Malley.

Jay The Jackal and his "associate" appeared to join the commentary team as the first half main event was announced, Scotty Riccio would be defending the Future Division title against Felix Fortune.  After a cracking start by Riccio, Fortune took the upper hand and dominated much of the match, focusing on the knee of Riccio.  AS Riccio fought back, Fortune caught the 619 attempt but Riccio managed to nail his opponent with a crossbody from the top turnbuckle to score the pinfall and retain the title.  At this point The Jackal and his "associate" came to the ring.  Riccio knocked The Jackal from the ring apron while his "associate" attacked Riccio from behind, allowing the Jackal to return to the ring and the two beat Riccio down before The Jackal held up the belt, making it clear that he wanted it back.

The second half started with the 2-on-1 handicap match in which Conor Frost made his second appearance of the night, teaming with Jam O'Malley  to face Chaz Phoenix.  With both Bravehart and Nikki Storm also at ringside, this was never going to be easy for Phoenix.  O'Malley started the match and soon tagged in Frost, who was pretty much left in the ring to get on with it.  He made a good show against a slightly rusty Phoenix, however Phoenix soon started to get back into the swing of things and began to show the trainee who was boss.  As Phoenix went for the pin, Bravehart got up on the apron to distract the referee from the count and to allow O'Malley to get in and assist his partner.  The referee saw this and stopped O'Malley, while Phoenix continued his assault on Frost.  Unfortunately while the referee was busy with O'Malley, Bravehart grabbed the foot of Phoenix, bringing him down.  Frost hit with a splash, O'Malley let go the ref and Frost pinned Phoenix for the three count with Bravehart holding onto his feet.  With the match over, Bravehart, O'Malley and Frost began to beat on Phoenix until a rescue was made by the most unlikely of people, Chris Duke, who got into the ring and decked Bravehart, sending him and his cronies scattering.  The crowd went nuts as Duke assisted Phoenix back to his feet and Phoenix grabbed the microphone to tell Bravehart that "This is not over" and insinuating there would be a match at Hell For Lycra for outright control of SWE.

Nikki Storm made yet another appearance, having disappeared backstage at sometime during the previous match.  This was announced as a match, but actually came across more like a promo slot.  She took the microphone and starting telling everyone how wonderful she was before having a pop at SWE referee Edith Summer, who she had beaten a few months before at Seasons Beating.  Summer then came to the ring and told Storm how upset she was, that she had looked up to her and wanted to be like her, bursting into tears while Storm laughed.  Storm attacked Summer, then watched as her friend Jam O'Malley arrived and slammed Summer to the canvas before other referees put a stop to their antics.

Chris Duke and Doctor Grue took to the ring to do their first ever live Bell 2 Bell podcast segment.  First they interviewed Mikey who was supposed to be part of the evening's main event but he had surgery on his knee brought forward and was unable to compete.  Mikey promised that as soon as he was cleared to wrestle again, he would be back and it didn't matter whether it was Ian Ambrose, LJT or Joe Hendry who held the belt at the time, he would be coming for his shot at that title.  Then came the announcement regarding the two WWE Hall of Famers who will be appearing at Hell For Lycra.  A video montage played about the event and there was a picture at the end, which if you blinked you might have missed it...showing them to be Ted DiBiase and Terry Funk.  Great names but a bit disappointed in the reveal.

Finally it was time for the main event.  On Day 400 of his title reign, current SWE Heavyweight Champion Ian Ambrose would put the title on the line in a triple threat match against LJT and Joe Hendry.  There was action aplenty in this match, LJT went straight for Ambrose, then Ambrose and Hendry appeared to work together against LJT before finally turning on each other.  With the battle raging in the ring, a Martyn Stallyon promo appeared on the video screen which distracted Ambrose in particular.  As he stood at the ropes, screaming at the curtains for Stallyon to come out and face him, Stallyon appeared from the crowd and attacked from behind.  Joe Hendry went for the pin but Ambrose was not done yet.  LJT then attempted to capitalise, springing from the ropes to kick Hendry in the face but he was unable to make the pin.  Ambrose attempted to pin Hendry but was instead picked up and driven into the mat and this time Hendry was successful in scoring the pinfall to become the new SWE Heavyweight Champion.

So another Uprising came to a close.  A good show, although I felt it was a little heavy on the promo side this time with only 4 matches on the main show, however the quality of the main event made up for it and it was great to see the title change hands....even though the crowd would have preferred to see LJT with the belt.

The next SWE Uprising is on 28 March at the Ardler Complex with advance ticket holders getting early entry to the venue.  Check out SWE on Facebook for information on upcoming events, including their annual Hell For Lycra show in August, and ticket information.

SWE Live at Kirkton Review

Friday 18 April 2014

I didn't think I would make this show due to it being on a Friday, however being a bank holiday made all the difference, so Rob and I made the journey up to Sunny Dundee. 

We arrived nice and early and popped into Asda directly opposite the Kirkton Community Centre where Bravehart and the SWE power couple of Ian Ambrose and Sammii Jayne were doing a wee meet and greet and autograph session.  I have to admit that I love Ian and Sammii as heels....they are just so good at it!  #Scumbags forever!

Back across the road, we waited for the doors to open.  This was our first time at Kirkton and I didn't realise how small it was - thank goodness we were early enough to get ringside!  Before the show, there was a performance by the Kirkton Beat Samba Band, a group of children of varying ages playing drums.  Then there was the video announcement of the guest appearing at Hell For Lycra - Dennis Stamp.  There was not much crowd reaction, possibly due to the fact that many people probably have not really heard of him.  Then it was on with the show.... mc'd by the lovely Mr Chris Duke!

First match of the night was Christopher Saynt against crowd favourite, Martyn Stallyon.  Stallyon started by holding out his hand to Saynt, who refused to shake it.  Saynt took the upper hand for much of the match, but Stallyon fed off the crowd cheers to work his way back into the match, however Saynt managed to move out of the way when Stallyon jumped from the turnbuckles and Saynt scored the win.  Saynt then went to Stallyon after the match and we assumed that there was going to be some after match low blows dealt by Saynt and were shocked...totally shocked...when he held out his hand to Stallyon, shook his hand, then raised his arm!  We sat dumbfounded until Rob said that it was probably the most awkward face turn ever.  Has Saynt actually turned face??? We will have to wait and see!!

Next Bryan "The Grue" Douglas entered the ring to introduce the first of the applicants for the position of Bravehart's PA, Esther Robbins, who then announced the arrival of Bravehart and the Trident.  This was less a job interview and more an opportunity for "heel" Bravehart to have a go at the crowd and Esther but it did provide some comedy moments, including a ring covered in jelly babies and a Jelly Baby chant!

Once the ring was cleared of jelly babies, it was time for Kevin Williams and Scott Renwick to face off.  Scott Renwick took the upper hand early in the match, part of which took place outside of the ring and involved Kevin Williams being bounced off the ringposts.  Once back in the ring, Kevin fought his way back into the match, rolling Renwick up for a near pin, then putting him in a leglock that had Renwick scrambling and only just making it to the ropes.  Once released, Renwick grabbed the game controller from the corner of the ring and nailed Williams with it.  The ref immediately called the DQ and Renwick then choked Williams with the controller cable.  The music for the Trident starts up and rather than rescue Williams, they proceeded to attack him, subjecting him to a slam onto the canvas, a power bomb and a 450 splash.  They then left, leaving Kevin Williams prone in the middle of the ring.

Chris Duke took to the ring and discussed the news that Terry Funk was unable to attend Hell For Lycra as planned, then announced Grado and Colt Cabana as competitors at Hellbound on 23 August, the week before Hell For Lycra to a huge pop and some "Colt Cabana, It's Yersel'" cheers.

Last match before the intermission was a tag team match.  First into the ring was Debbie Sharpe, followed by SWE Power Couple Ian Ambrose and Sammii Jayne.  Debbie introduces her tag team partner, Viper.  Ian Ambrose immediately complains because he "doesn't hit girls", while the crowd chant that he is just scared of Viper.  Despite all his protests, this is obviously the case as Ambrose was happy to tag into the ring as long as he was facing Debbie and not Viper.  The match started off with Sammii Jayne and Viper with both girls pulling off some great moves on each other, however as soon as Debbie had been tagged in, Ambrose was more than happy to tag in and Debbie took an extreme amount of punishment.  Ambrose then tagged in Sammii Jayne to continue the punishment before Debbie finally tagged in Viper.  Ambrose then interfered and had Viper chase him round the ring.  Sammii Jayne dived out of the ring onto them both, busting her lip in the process.  Debbie then dived out onto Ambrose and Sammii Jayne.  Viper and Sammii Jayne got back into the ring where Sammii Jayne hit Viper with a massive neckbreaker and both she and Ambrose sat on Viper for the pin, while Debbie still lay on the floor after her dive.  With the Power Couple victorious, Viper helped Debbie to her feet and both girls left to cheers from the crowd.

The first match after the intermission was Glen Dunbar versus Jam O'Malley. Chris Duke really made a big deal of introducing Glen Dunbar which should have been a warning for what was to come.  The crowd retaliated by chanting for Jam as Dunbar made his way to the ring...and were just as loud as Jam himself made his way to the ring in his clown outfit and facepaint and carrying a stuffed crocodile, who then did his own introduction and led the crowd in a chant of "Dunbar Sucks".  There were some comedy moments when Jam sat next to a stunned Dunbar, imitating his movements, until Dunbar turned toward Jam...who kissed him...Dunbar ran away in terror and shortly after Jam invited some of the kids in the audience to help pull Dunbar's legs on either side of the ringpost...ouch!  Dunbar seemed to take the upper hand for a time but as Jam fought back, Chris Duke got involved by distracting O'Malley long enough for Dunbar to strike and take the win. (And I called him the lovely Mr Duke earlier in this blog too - shaking my head!!)

Up next was a grudge match between Jason Costello and Ravishing Randy Valentine, which stemmed from Randy comparing Costello to a potato, a nickname which has stuck with the fans.  With the entire crowd firmly behind Randy, Costello was subject to plenty of jeers of potato, spud and tattie!  Randy came out carrying an effigy of Costello, constructed of pillow stuffing inside a nylon stocking.  Unfortunately, for the majority of the match Costello was firmly in control and despite the crowd's backing, Randy never really looked like winning.  The end came when Costello nailed Randy with the effigy, took the pin, then tore it apart to reveal a weight inside which Randy had obviously concealed inside it in order to use against Costello.  A distraught Randy gathered the pieces of his "friend" before leaving the ring defeated.

It was then back to "The Grue" to introduce the next applicant for the PA position, Tam Malone.  Bravehart arrived with the Trident and Esther and started making fun of both Tam and Esther, before saying he had something to deal with that he should have dealt with before.  He then indicated that the Trident should escort a member of the crowd from the building....that person was Euan Mackie, who did leave the building quietly, however the crowd gave a rousing chant of E G Mackie as he left.  Bravehart then got back to the PA position and decided that Tam and Esther should have a slapping contest to determine which of them would proceed, before throwing Tam out of the ring and calling Esther a disgrace to the SWE.  What any of this has to do with being a PA, I don't know and the comedy element was dampened by the incident with Euan Mackie.  This segment, in my opinion, just seemed to be uncomfortable to watch.

The final match was the over the top rope Battle Royal to determine the number one contender to the SWE Heavyweight Championship who would have a title shot at any time of their choosing after the next Uprising on 26 April and before midnight on 30 August 2014, the date of Hell For Lycra.  The competitors included everyone who had competed during the course of the night with the exception of current champion Ian Ambrose and Randy Valentine (although he did jump onto the ring apron during the match to help eliminate Jason Costello), and they were joined by Scotty Riccio, Mr News, The Trident and Chaz Phoenix, as well as two new faces from Reckless Intent, Juan Loco Gato and Jackie Grady.  The appearance of Chaz Phoenix had the crowd chanting for Steven Magners... and they were not disappointed as Magners appeared after the match started and targeted Phoenix, taking him out of the ring and continuing their brawl into the backstage area.  Due to the fact that Phoenix had not been officially eliminated over the top rope, we expected him to make a reappearance but thankfully that did not happen.  With so many bodies in the ring at once it was hard to keep up with what was going on, however it was soon down to the final four competitors, Mr News, Viper, Scott Renwick and Martyn Stallyon.  Mr News was first of the four to be eliminated, followed quickly by Viper, leaving Renwick and Stallyon to battle it out until Stallyon eliminated Renwick to take the win and become number one contender.  Renwick, obviously upset and being beaten and at us chanting loudly for Stallyon, decided to give us a nice shower, emptying his water bottle over us!  Gives a new meaning to crowd participation.  Thankfully I had some dry stuff in the car or it would have been a long drive in wet clothes and I managed to dry off my camera quickly so no damage there either!

The next SWE event is on Friday 25 April at Menzieshill Community Centre, with Uprising the following night at the Ardler Complex.  Check out their facebook page or website for further information.

SWA Zero 1 Clan Wars 10 Year Anniversary Show Review

Saturday 5 April 2014

This was our first SWA show, and although we had seen some of the roster at other shows, there were a few new faces for us.  We had platinum VIP tickets (one of Rob's birthday presents) which got us early entry, front row seats and a bonus pre-show match.

Now before I start on the matches, I want to mention someone I think is pretty bloody awesome at what he does....ring announcer for the evening, Chris Duke.  I have seen Chris in action at some other promotions but something went on last year during the NWO tour and suddenly Chris was persona non grata.  Now I don't know exactly what went on and, to be totally honest, I don't actually care.  I do think there was more than one person to blame and to dump it all on one guy is wrong.  The point is Chris is a bloody awesome MC.  He really knows how to pump up the crowd and get them involved in the show.  Here, he picked a little kid called Brendon at one side of the crowd and got him to start a cheer which was to work its way around the crowd until it reached "the blue-haired person" at the other side!  That wee kid loved it and he was asked a few times to start a cheer round the crowd through the night.  I hope to see Chris doing what he does so well more often!

On to the matches.... first the pre-show bonus match between Ryan Griffin and David Conrad.  Both of these guys were new faces for me.  It was obvious from the start that Conrad was the heel, partly due to the fact he was accompanied to the ring by Christopher Saynt.  The crowd was pretty quiet to start with so I had to try to live up to my name by starting a chant for Griffin.  While some of the crowd joined in clapping, it appeared that I was alone in chanting.  I did however attract the attention of Christopher Saynt during my "Let's Go Griffin/Conrad Sucks" chant, who came over to tell me to shut up and then said "oh you're that blue-haired thing off facebook" - I was delighted!!  While Griffin took a lot of punishment at the hands of Conrad and Saynt, he finally managed to turn the tables and take the win.

After a short break to allow the general admission ticket holders to take their seats the main show started with a display by the Cosmic Flame Cheerleading Squad, followed by the entrance of the man himsel', Grado!  Only Grado could have his own cheer squad...I kept expecting him to grab a set of pom poms, but he didn't.  He was soon followed by his tag-team partners, DCT,  Celtic Arrow and Tornado (The Masked Avengers).  They were facing the team of Dickie Divers, Eric Canyon, Adam Carrel and Christopher Saynt in a Clan Wars Elimination match.  With the exception of Grado and Christopher Saynt, these were new faces for me and I was looking forward to seeing them, however I was unfortunately blocked for the early part of the match by the Masked Avengers standing on the ring apron directly in front of me!  With the crowd clearly on the side of Team Grado, the heels took the upper hand, eliminating DCT.  There were a couple of cracking moments when Tornado splashed Adam Carrel from the shoulders of Celtic Arrow, who was on the top turnbuckle, leading to Carrel being eliminated, and then when he flew over the top rope onto Dickie Divers, Eric Canyon and Christopher Saynt outside of the ring, quickly followed by Tornado tossing Celtic Arrow over the ropes into the heels once again!  Unfortunately this was not to last and soon Dickie Divers eliminated Celtic Arrow, then Tornado managed to get the pin on Dickie Divers but was quickly eliminated himself by Eric Canyon, leaving Grado facing both Canyon and Saynt.  Despite the odds, Grado got the pin on Canyon and then put away Saynt to be sole survivor.

The next match was between Rampage Brown and Mark Coffey.  After quickly starting a chant of "Let's Go Coffey" a group on the other side of the room started an answering chant of "We Hate Tea", which really seemed to confuse Brown.  This was a brutal match from the start.  Mark Coffey took the upper hand early in the match but was soon slammed into the ringpost with such force that the top turnbuckle and rope actually sprang off and while the match continued in the centre of the ring, staff worked frantically to fix the turnbuckle and rope.  Despite fighting his way back into the match, Coffey was unable to get the pin and Rampage left the ring to a chorus of boos!

Next up was a match for the Tag Team titles.  First to the ring were reigning champions, The Forgotten, Glen Dunbar and Alex Cavanaugh, who were accompanied by Jam O'Malley... and it was weird to see Jam looking relatively normal - no clown face paint and pink tutu!  Their opponents were the team of Britain's Most Wanted, Damian O'Connor and Scott Renwick...and it was weird to see them smiling and NOT being heels!  Jam O'Malley was the deciding factor in this match as the champs took quite a beating, with Alex Cavanaugh being stood on by Big Damo early on in the match and when Scott Renwick was about to pin Cavanaugh, Jam jumped up and grabbed the ref while Glen Dunbar sneaked in from behind and nailed Renwick with the belt, allowing the Forgotten to take the win and retain their belts.

The next match between Lewis Girvan and Kenny Williams was quite a high flyer!  Both these guys have amazing potential and some cracking aerial moves.  Lewis Girvan was the crowd favourite with Kenny Williams being the heel.  Unfortunately for me, this just did not seem to work...Kenny is too clean and sweet looking to be heel....and I told him so when I saw him later that night!  Despite this, the match was great with plenty of fast action and I would have been happy whoever took the win - this time it was Girvan...and I look forward to seeing a rematch between these two in the future.

Match 5 featured Robbie Solar and Jack Gallagher.  Jack was a new face for me but obviously popular with the crowd, a few of whom had brought there own signs in support of "GingerMania".  I have seen Solar once before and was not all that impressed back then.  Unfortunately I am still of this opinion - although there is potential there, he still seems a little too green and there were a couple of botched moves.  Apart from Jack's fan club, there was not a lot of feedback from the crowd and although there were a couple of not bad moves, this match was a bit of a letdown (I actually started chanting "This is boring") and I was relieved when Gallagher finally took the pin and ended it.

Next, Laird of the Ring Jackie Polo faced Joe Hendry for the title.  Instead of his usual swaggering entrance with a microphone, singing along to his entrance music, Polo appeared wearing a neck brace!  Considering what happened to Lionheart recently, and the fact that the man himself was in the crowd, I thought that it was in pretty bad taste - but that's Polo for you!!  Once in the ring, he got hold of a mic and started to talk to the crowd, but was interrupted by the entrance of Joe Hendry, who got stuck straight in, ripping off the collar and throwing it into the crowd (where apparently someone scrawled Polo Sucks on it).  Polo did fight back and it was a great match with some lovely moves by both guys.  Finally Joe Hendry rolled up Polo for the 3 count and became the new Laird of the Ring!  He was so delighted he just had to hug someone...and official photographer David Wilson was the lucky person!!



The penultimate match was the first ever Women's Clan Wars Elimination Match between Team Viper (Viper, Sammii Jayne and Bete Noire) and Team Fraser (Fiona Fraser, Debbie Sharpe and Courtney)  This was the first time I had seen both Fraser and Courtney wrestle and unfortunately their input was all too short.  The entire match seemed to be over almost before it began.  First eliminated was Bete Noire, with Sammii Jayne, Debbie Sharpe and Courtney quickly following within 2 minutes, leaving Viper and Fraser to face each other.  Viper took a convincing win and when she held her hand out to shake with Fraser, she refused and stormed off like a spoiled kid.

After the interval to allow the steel cage to be assembled, it was time for the final match of the night, the SWA Heavyweight Title match between champion Mikey Whiplash and Joe Coffey, with special guest referee John "The Bomb" Graham.  This match was incredible from start to finish.  Both guys gave it everything they had.  Within minutes, Whiplash was wearing Coffey's face paint on various parts of his body!  These guys slammed each other into the canvas and the steel cage, both climbing the cage only to slam each other back down and generally brutalised each other as much as they were able.  With neither man able to get a pinfall, it finally came down to who would escape the cage first.  As Joe Coffey scaled the cage, Whiplash made his way towards the cage door and was halfway through the door when Coffey dropped from the cage to the floor to take the win!  The crowd went wild...and so did Mikey Whiplash who got into the face of John Graham, blaming him for the loss.  Graham nailed Whiplash, and he was still lying in the ring while Joe Coffey celebrated his win, with brother Mark coming out from backstage to raise his hand in victory.

After the final match, the VIP ticket holder were admitted to a side area where there was a meet and greet with Jack Gallagher, Joe Coffey, Joe Hendry, Lewis Girvan and Courtney.  We also managed to catch Mark Coffey there and Rob got some more signatures in his book and photos for his album.

Rob with the two new champs, SWA Heavyweight Joe Coffey and Laird of the Ring Joe Hendry

I really enjoyed my first visit to SWA and look forward to attending more of their shows in the future.  For more information, check out their Facebook Page or website