Review: SWE Hell For Lycra XI

Saturday 30 August 2014

Hell for Lycra...it was last year’s event that introduced us to SWE and we almost didn’t go back.  Thankfully, their Hart & Soul event in October was amazing and we have been regular visitors to Dundee ever since.

So we arrived at 2pm and joined the queue for the autograph session with Road Warrior Animal and Dennis Stamp.  After paying £20 for the “Animal Package”, which included an autographed promo picture and a professional photo which would also be signed, we were excited but unfortunately Animal seemed bored.  He picked up his studded shoulder pads, dumped them on Rob for the photo and that was it – no chat.  Talk about disappointed (well I always liked Hawk better anyway!)  After the signing we went off for something to eat before returning to the Bonar Hall for the show that evening.

Ring announcing duties for the evening were split between Chris Duke and Amy Anderson.  Chris has taken some flak in the recent past but this is a guy who really knows how to get a crowd going from the outset.  He employed his "Mexican wave style" cheer by selecting people sitting either side of the entrance and having one start a cheer and have the crowd work it round the room until reaching the other - works really well for getting everyone warmed up!

The first match of the night featured Steven Magners and Chaz Phoenix in a steel cage match.  Based on their actions toward each other during their long running feud, I was expecting all kinds of brutality but from the outset, both men only seemed interested in climbing out of the cage.  This ended with both men atop the cage, Phoenix pulled a length of material fashioned into a noose from his pocket, put it around the neck of Magners and proceeded to hang him as Phoenix dropped to ringside to win the match.  I am not entirely sure how to feel about the way this match ended.  The wrestling fan part of me thinks based on their previous encounters and the infamous "poly bag incident" it was a natural progression, however the mum in me thinks there were too many young kids in the audience for this and that after the match, when they announced a short break to remove the cage, they could easily have included a "do not try this at home/school" message. 

While the cage was being removed, the recent match between Martyn Stallyon and Damian O'Connor was shown on the big screen and there was an opportunity for those who were unable to make the earlier autograph session to meet Animal and Dennis Stamp.

The action restarted with a “World of Sport” legends match.  Originally billed as a tag match with Marty Jones and Jay the Jackal v Johnny Saint and Felix Fortune, this match now featured two of my Reckless Intent buddies.  Team Jones featured Jay the Jackal partnered with Rawlins and Team Saint had Felix Fortune paired with Mikey.  I do not wish to appear biased in any way, but Rawlins and Mikey were the standouts in this match.  In my opinion, Fortune's inexperience is usually covered by his opponents but there was no way to cover his miss on the attempted dropkick on Rawlins.  There was a lovely springboard flip from Mikey and he also delivered a rather devastating kick to the face of Rawlins.  The match ended a bit chaotically with Fortune hitting Marty Jones before being rolled up for the pin - win for Team Jones.  Both teams then seemed to face off in the ring with Fortune and Jones looking like they wanted a piece of each other.

Next was a 4 on 4 tag match with the Trident and Scott Renwick facing the team of Mr News, Claymore, LJT and Scotty Riccio.  I don't normally like matches like this as there are just too many people involved and its hard to keep track of what's going on but this one actually worked.  There was a nice wee bit when the heels were making their entrance and one by one, Mr News, LJT and Scotty Riccio launched from the ring to knock them down like skittles.  LJT took a serious amount of punishment from his opponents once the match got started, however it was Riccio who took the final punishment, being slammed by MDK before being on the receiving end of the 450 splash from Steven "Air" Myles before MDK pinned him for the three count.

A close contender for match of the night was the face off between Joe Hendry and Doug Williams.  Hendry was accompanied to the ring by Marty Jones however Jones kinda disappeared at some point - to be honest I didn't notice him leave as I was so enthralled by the match.  I think this might have been because Hendry is usually heel at SWE however in this match the crowd seemed to be evenly split and he didn't play up the heel image, making the heel legend surplus to requirements.  Anyway this match was just pure class - these guys don't dazzle with high flying stunts, they just wrestle.  Hendry took the advantage at the start but Williams soon fought back and seemed to be in complete control and about to take victory when Hendry got him in a cross armbreaker to take the win by submission.   In a very sportsmanlike manner, Hendry then held out his hand to Williams and both men shook hands to cheers from the crowd.

During the interval, a large pole and flag were attached to the ring, which had us wondering what was going on.  There had been no mention of a flag match.  What had originally been advertised as a scramble match for the Future Division championship had been changed.  The six competitors, reigning champ Christopher Saynt and challengers Viper, Sammii Jayne, Nikki Storm, Glen Dunbar and LJT entered the ring and a strange sort of chaos ensued.  With everyone battling in and around the ring, Storm was the first to attempt to grab the flag but was stopped by Viper and Sammii Jayne.  Then it seemed like each challenger had a turn of going for the flag before being thrown out of the ring by another challenger, who would then make their attempt.  Finally it was LJT going for the flag when Saynt grabbed his belt, jumped up on the ring apron and decked LJT with the belt before grabbing the flag to take the win.  Now I didn't mention the role of the flag...they used a "YES" flag which Saynt then spat on.  Now I do not wish to make my opinion on the referendum public - as far as I am concerned this subject is a matter for each person to decide for themselves and no-one should try to force their opinions on another.  By using this flag, SWE were making a political statement which could easily have caused conflict amongst its audience.  Wrestling is no place for politics and this stunt did nothing more than anger the "Yes" camp.   Maybe a nice "SWE" flag could be produced for any future matches of this type?

Now for the match that had been hyped since it's announcement Damian O'Connor v Road Warrior Animal.  Well talk about a huge disappointment!  Big Damo comes out to the ring and as we are waiting in anticipation of the appearance of Animal, Scott Renwick and the Trident appear instead and proceed to attack Damo.  With Damo making short work of the Trident, Renwick enters with a chair and starts to ram it in the midsection of the big man.  Renwick then starts shouting orders at the Trident and Damo is tied up in the ropes as Renwick continues his assault with the chair into the midsection of the "Beast".  Finally Animal appears, still wearing the clothes from the afternoon signing session, and accompanied by John "The Bomb" Graham to make the save.  There wasn't even a hint of an illusion that there was ever going to be a match between these guys.  WTF - this was one of the big selling points of the entire show - I had driven around for months with a poster advertising this match stuck in my car window - I felt cheated!  Maybe if he had come out in the full ring gear, shucking off the pads at ringside I might have been able to buy into it but it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Another match which had a lot of hype behind it was Bravehart v Euan G Mackie.  With a lot of animosity between these two men, this was never going to be pretty.  Factor in referee Edith Summer, who was on the receiving end of Bravehart's fist the week before at Hellbound, and that Bravehart had Jam O'Malley and Mutt at ringside, and it was never going to be fair either.  Bravehart wasted no time, beating on Mackie before locking in the sharpshooter however the referee refused to acknowledge Mackie tapping out!  An incensed Bravehart dropped Mackie and turned his attention to Summer (who if I remember right had just decked O'Malley).  As Bravehart went in for another punch, Edith ducked, Bravehart swung round and got a faceful of green mist from Mackie, who then scored the win with a fast count from Summer.  As Summer and Mackie made their escape from the ring, Bravehart vented his anger at O'Malley who was on his knees pleading for forgiveness.

Finally the main event and most definitely Match of the Night - SWE Heavyweight Champion Ian Ambrose faced the No 1 contender Martyn Stallyon for the title.  This match featured Dennis Stamp as special guest referee and while it was a nice touch for him to be included as part of the show, there were a few occasions where he was a bit slow to get down to make a count and wasn't as tough as a referee needs to be in a match between these two guys.  This match was brilliant.  There was a scary moment when Stallyon went got tangled in the ropes and smacked his head hard on the floor but he shook it of and got on with the match.  This match could not be contained by the ring....nor the barriers around it.  These guys went over the barriers, through the crowd and continued on the stage area before finally returning to the
ring.  Debbie Sharpe made her appearance, looking stunning in a tight black lacy dress and a pair of killer heels which gave me a nosebleed just looking at them, and strutted around the ringside area with the championship belt.  With it looking very much like Stallyon becoming the new champion, he told Debbie to leave.  Instead, she distracted Dennis Stamp as Stallyon springboarded off the top rope, straight into the title belt Ambrose was holding, allowing Ambrose to score the three count to retain the title, who then left with Debbie.  What is going on between Ambrose and Sharpe?  This story is definitely not over!!

There was one other negative thing but this had nothing to do with SWE.  One of the crowd members had to be ejected after getting into physical altercations with two wrestlers at ringside, Euan Mackie and Debbie Sharpe.  She had also been making some rather nasty comments about people while in the queue outside of the venue earlier and had been warned to shut her nasty mouth.  Hopefully we will not have to deal with her again.  There were actually some people who thought that the person involved was me.  I can assure you it was not.  I am a loudmouth - I get verbal but I do not get physical.  Even when invited to enter the ring during a spat, such as the one I had with Bravehart at Hellbound, I will not cross that line.

Overall, Hell For Lycra 11 was a better show than Hell For Lycra 10, but there were elements that really disappointed me too.  There were some really good matches and the announcement of next year's event being held in Dundee's Caird Hall went a good way toward outweighing the negatives.  Although the show ended on a high with a fantastic match between Ambrose and Stallyon, I have to admit that the whole Animal v Damo fiasco really bummed me out.

SWE have their next Uprising event back in the Ardler Complex on 25 October and have announced Brian Kendrick, Paul London and Leah Von Dutch to appear.  Tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £7 for kids (an increase of £3 per ticket since their event in July) and are available via their Facebook event page

Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam

Sunday 24 August 2014

With most wrestling shows starting in the evenings and finishing between 9.30 and 10pm, Reckless Intent are introducing some Sunday afternoon shows with a view to accommodating the younger fans running from 2pm until approximately 5pm.  This was the first of their Sunday Slam shows and there were a few familiar faces amongst the crowd, Scott Renwick, Darren Lewis and Mr News.

The first match of the afternoon was scheduled to be AJ Russell against his brother JJ, however JJ had refused to fight and AJ issued a challenge to anyone on the roster.  The challenge was answered by Mike Hawke.  Now I am still not sure what this guy is all about.  He comes out top to toe in camoflage with an American accent but whether he is face or heel is not obvious.  There is no trash talk or nastiness and this means the crowd doesn't really know how to react to him.  Anyway, a decent warm-up match with Russell taking the win.

The next match saw the wrestling debut of one of the regular referees "Wild" Westy, facing off against Juan Loco Gato.  Usually a fan favourite, Juan was upset by the fact that the majority of the crowd were cheering Westy.  Juan tried to take his frustration out on Westy but this was Westy's day and he took the three count to the delight of the crowd.  An upset Juan then turned toddler for the mother of all tantrums and was further jeered and taunted by the contingent of fans hold up signs in support of the winner.

Next Venym came out to the ring, getting a microphone and trying to blow his own trumpet and complaining that the crowd did not appreciate him and the hard work he put into his matches, however he was cut short by the entrance of Sweet Chavi Sanchez in his trademark trackies and burberry cap and carrying a bottle of Irn Bru.  There was an unexpected comedy moment when he handed the bottle to Mr News, who opened it and ended up soaked.  Once in the ring, Venym tried to insult Chavi and Chavi asked him how this would work and could he call his pals to "gie him a doing".  While initially Chavi had the upper hand and added some comedy by with moments like pulling Venym's beard, it was only a matter of time before Venym began to dominate the match and took the win.  But you can't keep a good Chavi down and after Venym had left ringside he was "resusitated" with some Irn Bru and treated the audience to a dance - Chavi style!

After a short interval, the second half started with Jackie Grady facing Disturbed.  With Grady refusing to get into the ring, the crowd start chants of "You're a Diva", "You're a Jessie" and the absolute classics started by Scott Renwick and Mark O'Sullivan "You've Got A Cups" and "Training Bra".  Finally Grady got into the ring and the match started but after telling him he slapped like a girl, he dared me to come into the ring and try it...I responded by saying he was such a Jessie that he was too scared to come out and face me and shut up and get on with the match!  With Disturbed having the momentum, Grady kept trying to escape and endured several chants of "chicken" and "make him squeal" however it was Grady who would have the last laugh when he scored the pin to take the win.

Photo by Andrew West

Next out was new Reckless Intent World Champion Saint George, who, after baiting "The Superstar" Darren Lewis, issued an open challenge to anyone who wanted a crack at the title.  The challenge was answered by former Hardcore champ, Wee Jimmy who was sitting in the crowd.  After a couple of quick slams, Jimmy was pinned and Saint-George asked for a real challenge.  Stand up Scott Renwick...however it appeared Saint-George was not so willing to face Renwick, telling him to sit down and shut up as he is not medically cleared to wrestle.  "No, its cos you're a chicken" I yelled...and then it was the turn of the Loudmouth.....yes, I actually got up on the ring apron and called that annoying little twerp out and challenged him to back up his Facebook posts and face me.  In the age of equality and mixed wrestling matches, he actually pulled the "I'm not fighting a girl" card!!  Just as I was about to slap his face, he turned away as Chavi entered the ring to take on his challenge.  A quick 1, 2, 3 and Saint-George was complaining that it was too easy and called for his next challenger...

....and the response came from AJ Russell, making his second appearance of the day.  This was a pretty good match, with Russell pulling of some lovely moves and the crowd behind him 100%  Unfortunately it was not to be and after several near falls by both guys, it was Saint-George who got the three count and retained the belt, bragging once more about how easy it was!

The main event, and Match of the Day (wow that sounds like a football term!!) was the Tag Match between The Gatecrashers, Christopher Saynt and Dave Conrad and the Reckless Intent Originals, Mikey and Rawlins.  This was going to be interesting from the outset as Mikey and Rawlins have had issues in the past - would they be able to put their issues aside and work together?  Even Conrad addressed this in the ring and after stating that slipping Rawlins the steel tray during his match with Bobby Roberts was not done for Rawlins benefit and having no allies at Reckless Intent, he had a tag partner he could trust to have his back.  With Saynt and Rawlins kicking things off, I did something I thought I would never do...I started a "Let's Go Rawlins" chant...and he even came out to ringside to stand beside me while I did it!  Back in the ring, the Gatecrashers took the upper hand for much of the match, keeping Rawlins isolated, making quick tags and having one member distract the referee while the other dealt some illegal blows or to stop him seeing a tag made.  Finally getting tagged in, Mikey looked to make short work of Saynt, however with Mikey holding Saynt, Rawlins looked to kick him in the face, Saynt ducked and Mikey took the boot instead, sending him sprawling out of the ring.  The Gatecrashers capitalised on the confusion, and Conrad quickly pinned Rawlins to take the win.  With Mikey climbing back into the ring, would be see all out war between the Originals?  Not this time - they shook hands and left to cheers from the crowd.

Reckless Intent have Saturday shows on Saturday 20 September and 4 October, with the next Sunday Slam on 19 October.  For information on shows and tickets, check out their Facebook page.

Review: SWE Uprising - The Ardler's Last Stand

Saturday 26 July

After missing the Uprising shows in May and June, I could not miss this one - the final Uprising to be held in the Ardler Complex.  Although we had recently been to see SWE in Cupar, a lot of the friends we have made in Dundee could not make it, so we were also looking forward to catching up with them!

This was actually one of two shows SWE were putting on that night.  Their "Battle Stations" show in Perth had started an hour earlier in order for some of the wrestlers to be able to appear at both shows.  Good idea or not??? I will give my opinion later.....

The show started with a Ghostbusters themed vignette on the video screen, followed by Ravishing Randy Valentine taking to the ring to say goodbye to what has become the home of SWE Uprising.  After recounting some of the special moments that took place in the Ardler and thanking the fans for their continued support, he took his seat at the announce table with The Grue and it was time for Ring Announcer Amy Anderson to take over microphone duties!

First match of the night was fan favourite Mr News facing Trident member MDK. Now I have to admit that I don't like the Trident as a gimmick and never have so I really hope that the fact that the members now have identities and are appearing in singles competition is the beginning of the end.  The match started off with News working on the leg of MDK but the big guy soon had the upper hand.  This was less a wrestling match and more a brawl as MDK used brute force to subdue News.  Despite taking some serious punishment, Mr News refused to stay down, and fought his way back into the match but his attempted pin on MDK was shrugged off and News almost landed on the referee.  MDK then weakened News in a bear hug before catching News' attempt at a crossbody from the turnbuckles and slamming him to the mat for the three count.  MDK finished the victor but Mr News remains the fan favourite.

Next up was the girls, Nikki Storm v Viper.   I thought Rob's eyes were gonna pop out of his head when Nikki made her entrance in her new red ring gear....and even more so when it slid up during her match to reveal her bra!  This match was brilliant.  Storm and Viper are two of the best female wrestlers I have seen.  Storm played up her heel status to the max, screaming that every attempted pin was a three count and standing on the hair of Viper while arguing with the ref.  Viper had the crowd behind her and there were huge cheers when she kicked out of the pin after taking Storm's swinging neckbreaker.  After her earlier attempt failed, Viper managed to get a surfboard style submission hold on Storm which was too much for the feisty lass to withstand and Viper took the win by submission.  These girls served up an amazing match which can be viewed here.

We then had a Future Division Championship match between current champion Christopher Saynt and Felix Fortune.  I still don't like the new name given to McMinn - Felix is a cat food brand - however he is improving his in-ring abilities, although he was totally outshone by Saynt in this match.  As much as it pains me to say it, Christopher Saynt is a really good wrestler and he can make an amateur look better than he really is and I think that Fortune really did "luck out" with this match. It started off with Saynt running his mouth, talking about how people had been sharing their favourite memories from the Ardler and how his hadn't happened yet because he couldn't wait till the Ardler Complex burned to the ground.  He then turned his attention to Fortune, asking him if he really thought he could be the next champion and what made him think he could ever be as good as Saynt.  Fortune responded by saying he had done enough talking in his career as a ring announcer and promptly socked Saynt, before dropkicking him out of the ring and taking the upper hand, before getting back into the ring where he made a pin attempt.  Then Saynt came back at him with punches to the head and chokes on the ropes.  It continued in the same manner until, with Fortune appearing to be gaining the upper hand, Saynt picked up his belt and left ringside, leaving Fortune to win by count out but with Saynt retaining the title.

Then it was time for the first half main event.  This match pitted the #1 contender for the heavyweight title, Martyn Stallyon against "The Beast from Belfast" Damian O'Connor.  What can I say about this match....it was bloody incredible.  SWE made a huge mistake here as this really should have been THE main event, but with wrestlers travelling from their show in Perth to appear at Uprising, I understand why they did it.  Obviously this was my Match of the Night - and quite probably match of the year!  Stallyon came out and started taking selfies with crowd members before the arrival of "The Beast".  With both men in the ring, the crowd started off with a chant of "Damo's gonna kill you" and for a while it looked like this could be true - Damo stood on Stallyon in the ring, cannonballed into him against the barriers and slammed him off a wall or two - but Stallyon would not go down.  In fact, he went up.... up the stairs and dived onto Damo from the balcony! The action returned to the ring where, eventually Stallyon got the pin on big Damo and took the win in this utter belter of a match...but don't take my word for it, you can watch the entire match for yourself by clicking here - go on do it - it's amazing!!

The second half started with Joe Hendry facing Claymore.  With Joe hyping up his appearance on RAW, the "Local Hero" had taken a fabric pen to his trunks so they now said "Global Hero" and he really didn't seem very happy when I got the crowd singing "Joe Hendry, Total Zero"!!  Hendry appeared to have this match firmly in his grasp from the outset, keeping Claymore grounded and using a series of holds, before hoisting the big man onto his shoulders.  It was this move which allowed Claymore to use his weight advantage to escape and knock Hendry from the ring, only for a masked figure carrying a sledgehammer to appear.  He attacked Claymore before unmasking to reveal himself as Trident member Darren Blair (formerly known as Powerbomb in my blogs).  With Claymore bleeding from a head wound, he was declared the winner by disqualification, before being helped from the ring.

The final Ardler show would not be complete without an appearance by SWE Heavyweight Champion "The Scumbag" Ian Ambrose.  Whilst not competing in the show, he thought he would "grace" us with his presence and after mentioning the match between Stallyon and Damo, brag about how he had beaten Damo for the belt and subsequent matches and that he would do the same to Stallyon at Hell For Lycra XI but he took to his heels quickly enough when Stallyon appeared in the ring!

Bravehart then took to the ring before Euan Mackie arrived, accompanied by Jam O'Malley.  Bravehart said that he would not be facing Mackie that evening, however they would face each other at Hell For Lycra XI. Bravehart then announced that he had chosen another opponent to face Mackie and, unsurprisingly, it was none other than Jam O'Malley.  With the Z List members laughing and saying that Bravehart had tried this trick on them before, O'Malley suddenly turned on Mackie.  While Bravehart now laughed, the crowd were gutted and cries of "No Jam" and chants of  "you sold out" rang around the hall.  O'Malley used the element of surprise to take the upper hand in the match, however Mackie grabbed him by the short and curlies, stopping the bigger man in his tracks, before rolling him up and taking the pin to the delight of the crowd and the disappointment of Bravehart.  A very unhappy O'Malley then went into the crowd to grab a chair and chased Mackie backstage.

The main event of the evening was Jay the Jackal v LJT.  Now I mean no offence to either man but after the match up between Stallyon and Damo, this just didn't cut it as a main event match.  I once again pointed out that The Jackal had a picture of a fox on his butt!  After a cracking start with LJT knocking The Jackal from the ring and then diving on him from the ropes, The Jackal then held the advantage, keeping the high flier grounded with a series of holds but LJT just never gives up.  Despite the underhand tactics from The Jackal, LJT came back at him with some submission holds of his own and more high flying moves, before finally scoring the pinfall.

So in my opinion, all in all it was a good show but it could have been great with just a couple of tweaks.  All the matches were good, but I think a little reshuffle of the order was required.  For me the second half seemed a bit of a let-down after the amazing match between Damo and Stallyon.  I think I would have had Storm v Viper as the first half main event, made sure the guys appearing at Perth were on first there and up the road in time to appear early on the second half and had the Damo/Stallyon match finish the show.

The next SWE show, Hellbound is on Saturday 23 August at Kirkton Community Centre and features Colt Cabana and Grado.  Doors open at 1.45pm.

Their annual showcase, Hell For Lycra is being held at the Bonar Hall the following week, 30 August.  Hell For Lycra will feature WWE Legend Road Warrior Animal and tickets for the show also grant access to the afternoon autograph session at 2pm with the doors opening for the main show at 6.45pm.

For more information on their upcoming shows, how to get tickets and watch previews and videos of past events, check out SWE on Facebook

Review: Source Wrestling School Showcase 3

Sunday 22 June 2014

Another visit to see some of the new talent coming out of the Source Wrestling School and I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the last one.

First up was a tag team match pitting The Gatecrashers (Christopher Saynt and Dave Conrad) against against Manlon and Daihlan Hendry.  With Saynt and Hendry kicking off the action, it wasn't long before Manlon was tagged in and demanded to face "the big guy", then challenged him to an arm wrestling contest.  With both men lying on the canvas, Manlon didn't pick his spot well, allowing Saynt to drop an elbow on him from behind and begin a period of "Manlon Bashing" with the Gatecrashers keeping him from tagging in Hendry while dealing out a serious amount of punishment.  Hendry finally made it into the ring and attempted to swing the momentum but it was just a matter of time before he succumbed to the Gatecrashers finisher "The Party Crash" (I asked Dave Conrad during the interval what it was called and this the name they came up with).  Despite already taking the win, they then "Party Crashed" Manlon for good measure.  There is great chemistry between Saynt and Conrad - they work really well together and just seem to gel....I look forward to seeing them progress to bigger and better things in the future.

Next out to the ring was a very angry Joe Hendry, having been stripped of his SWA Laird of the Ring title the night before, to face Robbie Solar.  Solar is one of those guys who looks too skinny and pale to be a wrestler, but over the last few months I have seen a great improvement in his wrestling ability, although there was still a point during the match when Hendry had him pinned in a corner and I couldn't even see him!!!  Despite Solar's speed and great aerial moves, Hendry used his superior size and strength, catching Solar's attempt at a crossbody and then tossing him across the entire ring, before finishing with what looked like a Crucifix Powerbomb to take the win.

As the next match was about to be announced, an alarm bell rang out and out came Mr Byers with Sammii Jayne for a mixed tag match against Cobra Carr and Viper.  After handing out a punishment exercise to Carr's mother for "making such a terrible son", he got back into the ring and starting mouthing off about the lack of respect he got - and when I heckled him he produced a punishment exercise he had prepared especially for The Blue-Haired Loudmouth!  He then turned his attention to his partner Sammii Jayne, telling her she had to prove herself and earn an A+ (not a good idea to demean your partner, but then we are talking about Mr Byers).  Viper and Sammii Jayne started the match, with Byers shouting instructions to his partner the entire time.  It was then the turn of the men to enter the ring and Carr quickly dominated Byers.  Unfortunately for Byers, he had annoyed his partner so much, that she jumped down from the ring apron when he tried to tag her in and left him to the mercy of Viper and Carr, who took the win and left.  When Byers again berated Sammii Jayne for her actions, she showed him exactly what she thought of him, giving him a slap followed by a swinging neckbreaker.  Byers was then carried out by John "The Bomb" Graham.

The first half main event was scheduled to be Bobby Roberts v SWA Heavyweight Champion Joe Coffey in a non-title match, however Coffey took the microphone and acknowledging Roberts match against Damo at the previous showcase, asked that this be made a title match.  What followed was just awesome.  Evenly matched in size and power, both men went all out to win this one, using such force that the ring actually moved!  The momentum swung back and forth during the match with Roberts showing he was worthy of the title shot and he so very nearly took the belt, however it was Coffey who was victorious on this occasion.  The match ended as it started, with Coffey on the microphone giving Roberts serious props and both men shaking hands.

Making his debut in Scottish Wrestling this weekend, Tucker faced fellow Irishman big Damian O'Connor in the first match after the interval.  While Tucker is a pretty solid looking figure, Damo makes almost everyone look small!  Using speed and agility, Tucker was doing well but Damo seemed to absorb most of his momentum and used his size and strength to gain the upper hand.  Tucker was not going down easy though and fought back, knocking Damo off his feet on more than one occasion - a feat not easily achieved.  With both men giving it there all, it looked like Damo was going to take the win, but Tucker knocked him from the turnbuckles and nailed Damo with a swanton to score the pinfall.  An impressive showing from Tucker, who I hope decides to visit Scotland more often as I would love to see him in action again!

 

The next match up of  Nikki Storm and Bete Noire v Courtney and Debbie Sharpe started with a dance-off!  After Courtney & Sharpe did a wee routine, Nikki Storm busted a few moves of her own, much to the amusement of the crowd.  Once Noire pulled her back into line, the match was on, however it was all too short.  Both Noire and Storm focused their attention on Courtney early on. Once Sharpe got into the ring, she was distracted by Noire and Courtney outside of the ring, giving Storm the chance to hit her with a swinging neckbreaker and get the pin.  Although a cracking wee match, I would have loved it to have gone a bit longer as I have not had much chance to see Bete Noire in action and what I did see here was pretty impressive...and on a side note, I love her leg tattoo!!

Finally, the Main Event!  Lewis Girvan was scheduled to face Celtic Arrow, however the day before a card change was announced - Lewis Girvan would now face Mikey Whiplash!  This was an incredible match - with Girvan normally using his speed and agility in his matches, he truly held his own against the experience of Whiplash.  Instead of lots of spectacular aerial manoeuvres, we were treated to a masterclass in the technical aspect of wrestling, with plenty of leg and armlocks. 

In one of the few moves from the turnbuckles, Girvan managed to score the win over Whiplash.  While this was most definitely match of the night, the star of the show had to be young Casey, Cobra Carr's daughter.  She heckled Whiplash throughout the match and did it so well that the crowd even started a "Let's Go Casey" chant.  She even offered Whiplash a match against her dad next time round!

And so ended another successful showcase.  Congratulations to all the guys and girls for another incredible night and I look forward to seeing the next one!

For more information, check out Source Wrestling School on Facebook

Review: Pride Wrestling - We Aim To Misbehave

Saturday 7 June 2014

This event was on the same date as a PBW show but our decision to make our first visit to Pride Wrestling was based mostly on the fact that the main event was a title match between Glen Dunbar and Mikey Whiplash (although I think Nikki Storm v Viper would have sealed it for Rob)  When it was announced that Glen Dunbar had sustained an injury that would keep him out of the ring for 12 weeks and would not be able to compete, I was totally gutted.

So the show starts with Glen Dunbar addressing the crowd, saying that you cannot start a Pride Wrestling show without "your Champion and a true hero" and that while we would see a fantastic show, we would not see him defend his title tonight, although he would at the next show on 16th August.  He then took a seat in the audience to watch the night's action.

First match up, Jackie Polo v DCT.  Once again Polo worked the crowd during his entrance - he must have one of the longest entrances but it just never gets boring.  Once in the ring, he took the microphone and told Dunbar he was looking at the No 1 contender for his championship before turning on one of the crowd.  DCT then arrived and had Rob come over to the ring to tell Polo that DCT had better hair than Polo (seemed random at the time and still does!).  Polo held the advantage through most of the match, however it was DCT who scored the pinfall, much to the shock of Polo and the delight of the crowd.

Next up was the team of Street Justice (Chris Renfrew & Mark Sweeney) v Bobby Roberts & Daihlan Hendry.  This was just brutal... Renfrew and Sweeney isolated Hendry for much of the match and with the referee stopping Roberts from entering, took the opportunity to double team the young Source graduate, even going as far as removing their belts and using them to whip him.  When Roberts finally managed to tag in, he was also double teamed and belt-whipped before Renfrew hit him with the stunner and scored the pinfall.  Street Justice then continued to beat and whip Roberts and Hendry after the bell.

The first half main event was a triple threat match for the N7 Championship between current champ Lewis Girvan, Christopher Saynt and Joe Hendry.  With Girvan and Saynt in the ring, Hendry arrived and announced that he was not 100% fit and that it would be unfair to the others to bring down what would be an amazing match, before taking a seat in the crowd to watch.  With a pretty even split of the crowd cheers, Girvan and Saynt pulled out all the stops to win and Joe Hendry was right - it was an amazing match.  With Saynt prone on the canvas, Girvan took to the turnbuckles ready to capitalise when Street Justice reappeared at ringside.  Girvan leapt from the turnbuckles to knock down Street Justice and while all three were lying on the floor at my feet, Hendry snuck into the ring from the other side and pinned Saynt to take the title.  Girvan and Saynt then watched as Hendry handed an envelope of cash to Chris Renfrew and walked away with the belt. 

The first match after the interval featured Rob's favourite, Nikki Storm against Viper.  This was a great match with several near pins.  Storm tried everything she could to win, including standing on Viper's hair while arguing with the referee, but Viper was not going down to the self proclaimed "Queen of the World" and nailed Storm with the V bomb to take the win.  Viper then turned her attention to Dunbar sitting in the crowd and stated that having pinned him already in the past made her a contender for his title.  Enter Mr Byers, the new Scientific Adviser to the Founders, holding his clipboard and giving a whole slew of reasons why Viper, as a female wrestler, was not up to the challenge of competing in the superior men's division.  With the crowd booing him, Viper showed him just how inaccurate he was, by taking his clipboard and nailing him with it.

Next up was Jam O'Malley who had challenged Dave Conrad to face "Sideshow Jam's House of Fun".  Once the two men had got to the ring, O'Malley took the microphone and said that as he was undefeated, he was not going to wrestle until he got a title shot but that Conrad would still have a match - he had already lined up a replacement, "The First Follower" Alex Cavanaugh.  With the odds stacked against him, Conrad fought bravely and even managed to get a pin on Cavanaugh, however O'Malley had the referee distracted and as he attempted to regain the ref's attention, Cavanaugh was able to turn the tables and take the win.  O'Malley then decided he would wrestle after all, climbed into the ring, pinned an already prone Conrad and forced the ref to make the 3 count.  O'Malley and Cavanaugh then began to beat Conrad until Christopher Saynt came out to even the numbers.

Finally it was time for the main event, Mikey Whiplash facing Jack Gallagher.  After seeing them both in action against Japanese wrestlers the previous night, I was looking forward to this...and I was not disappointed.  The biggest shock was seeing Mikey Whiplash as a face!! I saw him smile and laugh and I almost lost it completely when some kid was making fun of Gallagher's gumshield saying he looked like a vampire, only for Whippy to come over and pop out his front teeth and say it's better than this!  The match started with Whiplash focusing on the left elbow of Gallagher, however Gallagher managed to turn the tables and worked on the left knee of Whiplash, however it was the more experienced Whiplash who finally took the win in what was an amazing match, a total joy to watch and if I didn't rate Gallagher before, this weekend definitely made me sit up and notice him.  The match of the night by a mile!  Whiplash took the microphone and thanked his opponent for an amazing match, calling Gallagher one of the best wrestlers that Britain has ever seen, before turning his attention to Dunbar in the crowd and saying as soon as Dunbar was fit, Whiplash would be ready to face him.  This match is set for the next Pride event on 16 August....and I will definitely be there to see it!

So, despite my initial disappointment at the change to the main event, I really enjoyed my first visit to Pride.  The matches were great and the crowd were noisy - what more could you want?

On a side note, congratulations to Pride owner James St James, who had changed the date of this show as he was expecting a new arrival the following week, but babies never arrive when you hope/expect and his new son decided to appear on show day.

For information on upcoming events, check out Pride Wrestling on Facebook or their website