Review: Reckless Intent presents Lights Out

Saturday 6 December 2014

So once again we were in Livingston for Reckless Intent's second show at Murieston Scout Hall.  We arrived early at the unit to help load up the ring and then set up at the Scout Hall.  I helped out with ticket sales and merchandise and although Rob was not wrestling, he was to be a lumberjack.  Pre-sales had been good and it turned out to be another sell out show.  I am not going to go into a lot of detail about each of the matches because I have been such a slacker, it's now three weeks since the event and virtually all of the matches are up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure!!

The first match was scheduled to be a Fatal Fourway but ended up a Triple Threat between Craig "The Firestorm" Valant, Venym and Jackie Grady, who was accompanied to the ring by "West Grady".  Valant and Venym appeared to be working together against Grady early on, however neither was willing to let the other make the pinfall so they inevitably had to battle each other.  The added element of "West Grady" at ringside, mimicking Grady came into play when Grady rolled out of the ring after being suplexed by Venym.  Valant then slammed Venym to the canvas before leaving the ring to retrieve Grady, only to find it was "West Grady" trying to hide under the ring, while Grady appeared at the other side of the ring and attempted to sneak attack Venym from behind.  While Venym was able to counter and put Grady down, Valant grabbed his opportunity and nailed Venym to score the pinfall.

The next match between JJ Russell and Scotty Riccio also became a Triple Threat match.  As GM Jason McKinlay introduced Riccio to the Reckless Intent crowd, SWE co-owner Bravehart appeared and demanded that Trident member Darren Blair be allowed to compete in the match.  With the Bo'ness Rugby Club in attendance once again, they made their feelings toward Bravehart very obvious.  Similar to the previous match, Riccio and Russell worked together against Blair until the issue of the pinfall came up.  Another great match which came to an end as Blair and Russell were pulling each other's beards, Riccio hit a double dropkick leaving both men on the ropes in a set up for the 619.  Russell managed to move out of the way and Blair took the move, however he managed to move out of the way of Riccio's springboard moonsault, leaving Riccio face down on the mat and allowing Russell to capitalise, hitting Blair with the "Sister Abigail" to take the win and give the Bo'ness boys something to cheer about.

The next match was supposed to be AJ Russell v Claymore, but in another card change, he instead faced LJT.  This was a great match.  Both these guys come out with masks but remove them to wrestle and you are never exactly sure which side of sanity they are on.  They are both good on the mat and pull off cracking flying moves. LJT dropkicked Russell over the top rope, but Russell had the smarts to move before LJT followed up by launching himself over the top rope and moved to the other side of the ring ready to catch LJT with a boot to the face when he attempted a suicide dive.  This went back and forth and looked like LJT would be victorious after a stunner and a boot to the face of Russell but somehow Russell kicked out.  Russell then capitalised, moving out of the way of another aerial move by LJT before finally hitting a massive frogsplash from the top rope and getting the 3 count.  Not a popular win for the regular Reckless Intent crowd, but the Bo'ness Rugby Club were ecstatic.

The first half main event saw Mikey v Joe Hendry, with Mikey's career on the line.  Hendry came out to the ring and got on the microphone...and promptly became the butt of all the Bo'ness boys jokes.  Jason McKinlay interrupted to make an announcement that, because so much was at stake and both men had been attacked by SOS at the last event, this would now be a lumberjack match.  It was very obvious which camp each lumberjack was in and there was a bit of a run in with the Bo'ness boys and Saint-George both before and during the match.  There was something for everyone in this match with Hendry using his technical skills, Mikey showing his aerial skills (including taking out half the lumberjacks flying over the top rope) and outside interference, first by the lumberjacks - Saint-George grabbed Mikey's leg more than once - and then by the appearance of the SOS.  With several near falls by both guys, this could have gone either way but, having suffered three losses to Hendry in the past, this was to be Mikey's night when, after being suplexed twice by Hendry, he managed to counter an attempt at a third and roll Hendry up instead to take the three count.

The second half started with a tag team match pitting Saint-George and Ian Ambrose against Bobby Roberts and DCT. With Bravehart and Darren Blair at ringside interfering, this was never going to be a fair match, however the referee did send them backstage.  Ambrose and Saint-George continued with underhanded tactics, keeping one member of the team isolated in their corner to enable them to double-team as the ref kept the other member from entering the ring and, in the case of Bobby Roberts, focusing on the left knee.  Saint-George was also debuting some new ring gear which was not very flattering and I doubt we will be seeing it again in the future!  Ambrose appeared to have Roberts under control when Roberts pulled off an amazing mid air spear on Ambrose as he leapt from the top rope.  This gave both men the chance to tag in their partners and DCT let loose on Saint-George, with several near pin attempts before
tagging Roberts back in.  With Ambrose and DCT battling outside the ring, Roberts caught Saint-George with a spear, only for Bravehart and Blair to make a return to ringside.  With both the referee and Roberts distracted, Saint-George hit Roberts with an RKO and had him pinned when Chaz Phoenix appeared.  With Saint-George now distracted, Roberts managed to recover and finished Saint-George with a stunner before scoring the pin.  As a final insult, Phoenix entered the ring, pulled the England flag from his pocket and watched as Bobby Roberts ripped it in two before dumping it on the face of Saint-George, finishing by draping a lion rampant over him to the cheers from an ecstatic crowd.

The penultimate match saw Rawlins face Jay the Jackal.  This match had its share of controversial moments as well as some humour.  Rawlins starting by addressing Wee Jimmy at ringside as though he was Jay, which infuriated his opponent, following up by taking a seat in the crowd and starting what appeared to be a "Jimmy" chant.  The crowd love Rawlins as the good guy and were firmly behind him throughout the match.  Referee Conor Frost played an important part in this match, first stopping Rawlins from leaving the ring to follow The Jackal, allowing The Jackal to sweep his leg on the ring apron and gain the advantage.  With Rawlins prone in the ring, The Jackal decided to get in the face of one of the crowd members, who had to be restrained by Jam O'Malley.  Then as Rawlins made his comeback in the match, a boot mean for the face of The Jackal instead connected with the referee.  Rawlins then got The Jackal in his crossface submission and The Jackal tapped out, however with referee Frost down and out, there was no-one to call it!  As Rawlins roused Frost, The Jackal hit him with a lowblow and rolled him up for the three count to take a very unpopular win.

The Main event had been advertised for some time as Scott Renwick putting the title on the line against a face from his past, someone who had take a title from him before.  Shortly before the event it was announced that his opponent would be Eric Canyon who, with the help of some friends, had taken Renwick's NWA belt back in 2011.  This time Canyon would not have his friends to help, nor would he have support in the crowd who were very much behind Renwick and it was this support which helped rally "The Butcher" during a brutal but fantastic match.  Both guys put on one hell of a show, battling both in and out of the ring, but Canyon finally succumbed to the "Angels Wings" and Renwick left ringside still holding his belt.

So another cracking show at Murieston, which looks to be the regular venue for Reckless Intent's monthly shows.  The next event here is Reckless Intentions 3 on 7 February with tickets on sale now.  Check out their Facebook page for tickets and details of the matches are already being announced, including an early entry and special pre-show bonus match for advance ticket holders.

Of course there is also Sunday Slam on 25 January at the RI Unit with entry costing just £5 on the door.  See you there!!

Review: Reckless Intent presents Reckless Intentions

Saturday 4 October 2014

Reckless Intentions is the annual Hardcore show and WOW!!! What a show!  This had to be the best RI show ever and has slotted nicely into second place in my top three shows I have attended!  Even better as earlier in the day I wasn't sure how things would work out.  There had already been a card change due to illness and when I arrived at the unit shortly after noon there was hardly a soul about and Mikey was looking decidedly green!  After being nagged constantly, he finally went home for a couple of hours in the hope that he would feel better for his match later but to be honest, I really didn't think he would manage.

The show started with the announcement that former Ring Announcer Jason McKinlay had been appointed the new General Manager after the departure of John Long.  As Jason thanked the crowd for their support and asked them to show their appreciation for the effort for the guys in the back, the entrance music of Joe Hendry began to play and out came Joe Hendry with the Reckless Intent Hardcore belt which he decided he wanted to be renamed the "Joe Hendry Global Hero Technical Wrestling Championship" with all future matches to be under a strict 15 minute time limit.  He then announced that there was no-one in the building who could take the title from him under his rules and demanded McKinlay sanction his match or he would "boot the title out the door".  McKinlay said there would be no name change but he could have a time limit match.

Stating once again there was no-one in the building brave enough to take him on in a match of this type, the crowd went wild when "The Beast of Belfast" Damian O'Connor appeared.  With Hendry reluctant to get in the ring and face the big man, referee Westy began to count him out and finally Hendry entered the ring on the count of 9.  Hearing the crowds "Total Zero" response to the Joe Hendry chant, big Damo capitalised on this and began shouting out Joe Hendry for the crowd reply - Hendry was not amused!  This was a cracking match with some great technical moves displayed.  We were treated to the sight of the big man standing on the chest of Hendry before dropping a senton on him.  Hendry managed to lift Damo onto his shoulders - a feat I don't think I have witnessed before (if he had managed to get Damo into his signature suplex I would have been utterly awestruck but I don't think he is ready to attempt that just yet)  Finally Damo somersaulted across the ring with Hendry on his shoulder before going for the pin, however as the referee counted two, the bell rang to announce the end of the 15 minute time limit.  An incensed Damo demanded 5 more minutes as Hendry crawled out of the ring.  The new GM returned to announce that not only will be belt NOT be renamed, the Hardcore 24/7 rules were back in force with immediate effect.  Hendry then ran out door and out of the car park, chased by Damo but without a referee with them, the title would not change hands that night.

The second match of the night was the one I did not expect to happen - a non-title handicap match between SOS and Mikey.  First the three members of  Sons of Silence entered the ring and did some trash talking before the lights went out.  When they came on again only two members remained in the ring.  Despite still being extremely sick and running a fever, Mikey came out.  The two SOS members attacked from the second he got in the ring and Mikey took quite a beating before starting to pull it back and gain some momentum.  With one member of SOS lying prone on the floor at ringside and Mikey looking to finish the other, this was when SOS #3 reappeared and nailed him with a powerbomb, scoring the pinfall.  Once again the lights went out and when they came on SOS were gone and Scott Renwick, DCT and Bobby Roberts were in the ring to assist Mikey, who proceeded to throw up in a bin at ringside.  After being helped backstage, he then did the sensible thing and went straight home.

The first half main event saw "The Butcher" Scott Renwick face Saint-George in a falls count anywhere match for the RI World title.  This was an amazing match and a close second place for Match of the Night.  Renwick came out to huge cheers from the crowd who were looking forward to seeing Saint-George taken down,  Saint-George was antagonised first by the presence of Jam O'Malley at ringside and then by a certain person holding up a rather fetching picture stating this had been found in the dictionary as the definition of troglodyte! (check out the Loudmouth profile pic on Facebook) The action started in the ring before heading out into the car park.  As both men battled outside, slamming each other onto the concrete and using barriers, metal shutters and even bottles of water from the merch table as weapons, Jam O'Malley tried to calm the situation, further antagonising Saint-George.  As the action returned to the unit, it looked like Renwick was about to take the Englishman into the loo and flush his head, however Saint-George managed to gain the advantage, ramming Renwick into the ringpost.  Back in the ring, Saint-George maintained the advantage, putting Renwick in a sleeper hold but the crowd rallied him and Renwick began to mount a comeback.  The match then swung back and forth as each tried to finish the match, however a shove from Saint-George sent Renwick reeling into the referee, knocking him out and leaving him unable to count after hitting Saint-George with the Angel's Wings.  As Renwick tried to rouse the ref, Saint-George hit a lowblow then rolled him up and, using a handful of tights as leverage, scored the pin to retain the title. Then chaos ensued.  Saint-George attacked Renwick, Jam O'Malley got into the ring to restrain him before Renwick made an attack of his own.  Suddenly the entire roster were in the ring holding Renwick and Saint-George in opposite corners as they continued to try to fight.  General Manager Jason McKinlay then announced that there will be no cheating under his rule and that Renwick would be granted a rematch for the title at Over the Top on 1 November.  With Renwick still being restrained in the ring, Saint-George was ushered by others backstage, running his mouth the entire way!

The first match after the interval was scheduled to be a triple threat match with Craig Valant v Jackie Grady v Venym, however with Valant having to withdraw due to illness, this was ended up a one on one match between Grady and Venym.  This was actually a really good match, however the crowd were a bit subdued, not entirely sure who to cheer as both are known heels.  Venym came out in his new ring gear and a new attitude - no trash talking the crowd - but any face turn here had not been made obvious and it's possible that a wee promo might have helped!  The match swung back and forth with Grady taking some big boots to the face and Venym being caught in Grady's "Hamburger Time" submission move however the end came when Venym swung Grady around the ring before catapulting him into the corner, however Grady managed to regain his equilibrium faster and caught Venym with a kick to the face, following it up with his "No Place Like Home" cravat neckbreaker finisher to score the win.

Next up was a tag team elimination match where Bobby Roberts and DCT faced The Gatecrashers.  The match began with a pose-off between DCT and Christopher Saynt, with the crowd definitely more appreciative of the moves of DCT.  Once the match got properly underway, The Gatecrashers used their slickness in order to keep the referee focused on Roberts while double teaming DCT before they eliminated him.  They then blatantly attempted to double team Roberts, however Roberts managed to eliminate Saynt, leaving him to face Dave Conrad.  There is bad blood between these two and this was the first time Roberts was able to get his hands on Conrad since he interfered in Roberts title match against Rawlins at Proving Grounds in June and they went at it hammer and tong.  As Roberts took the advantage, Saynt reappeared, jumping on the ring apron to distract Roberts and the referee, however DCT came out and pulled Saynt down, once again levelling the field and allowing Roberts to score the win.

Finally, the main event - a  TLC match featuring Chris Renfrew, Martyn Stallyon, Darren Lewis and Rawlins, with the Wooden Spoon Briefcase suspended above the ring.  The winner of the match will be able to cash in the briefcase for a shot at any title at any time in the next year.  This was definitely Match of the Night.  As soon as the bell rang, Lewis shot out of the ring, chased by Renfrew and out into car park, leaving Rawlins and Stallyon to battle it out in the ring.  Rawlins pulled down the top rope and Stallyon went over to the floor, Renfrew and Lewis returned and Rawlins suicide dived them all.  Renfrew grabbed a chair, which just happened to be the one I had vacated, and used it to attack Lewis but managed to catch me with it too! Stallyon went for the case but Saint-George appeared, pulling him from the ladder and sending him through one of the tables.  Scott Renwick came out, Saint-George ran out the door, followed by Jam O'Malley and Renwick helped the injured Stallyon away from the ring.  Lewis and Rawlins then double-teamed Renfrew, before turning on each other.  As Rawlins is about to take the case, SOS appear.  Rawlins suicide dived them before taking them out into the car park.  Lewis and Renfrew continued to battle until they both climbed the ladder.  Still fighting at the top, it suddenly buckled and fell, sending Renfrew through yet another table - he went through three of them in total!  Lewis was then able to climb the ladder and grab the case to win the match.  This match was incredible but don't just take my word for it, check it out for yourself!

All in all, an incredible show...and all for only £5!!

The next Reckless Intent shows are:-

Sunday Slam on 19 October at the RI Unit, which will showcase some of the trainees and will also see Saint-George face Jam O'Malley. Tickets for this event are only £5.

The "Over The Top" Rumble show on Saturday 1 November at Murieston Scout Hall with tickets costing £10 adults and £5 kids or a family ticket at £25 (2 adults and 2 kids). As well as the rumble, matches announced so far are the rematch between Saint-George and Scott Renwick and Rawlins will face Falcon.

Information on upcoming events and tickets can be found at their Facebook page.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Cruel Summer

Saturday 9 August 2014

So, as has become normal with Reckless Intent shows, we arrived early so Rob could help with the prep work - this time he was going to be doing some ringside camera work.  I, of course, sat in the car finishing off posters and awaiting the arrival of Colt Cabana!!  I broke my rule of not entering the unit until showtime in order to take some photos of the show roster in the ring but this one by Andrew West is so much better than any of mine and he has given me permission to use it in my blog!

With Colt Cabana and Chris Renfrew making their Reckless Intent debuts, there was a lot of interest in this event.  In order to accommodate more people, a standing area was created by opening the large shutter door and extending slightly outside of the unit, and by the time the show started, it was standing room only!

The show started with "The Superstar" Darren Lewis coming out to the ring accompanied by Joe Hendry.  After demanding silence, he was greeted with a chorus of "slightly average" and then went on to complain about the management calling his character into question and bringing an American over to face him!  Enter Colt Cabana to a massive pop from the crowd and he entertained from the start, picking up babies from ringside and dancing them on the apron.  Once in the ring, he continued to entertain, first moonwalking across the ring, then making fun of referee Adam and the fact that he was wearing cowboy boots and finally spending ages smoothing and rolling up his jacket, before tossing it over his shoulder, while Lewis got more and more wound up waiting.  There followed a lovely wee match with lots of genuine wrestling moves, interspersed with comedy moments and I can now see where Grado gets his inspiration!  Of course Lewis would not fight fair, with Joe Hendry at ringside, who grabbed the leg of Cabana, breaking the momentum and giving Lewis the opportunity to take the advantage, before tossing Cabana out of the ring to be attacked by Hendry while Lewis distracted the referee.  When the referee finally noticed, Joe Hendry was removed from ringside.  The match then swung back and forth, with Cabana missing a corner splash, then Lewis going over the ropes and being catapulted back in.  Finally with Cabana holding the advantage, he climbed the turnbuckle to finish Lewis when Hendry reappeared, throwing a cup of water into the face of Cabana, causing him to lose his balance and fall and allowing Lewis to roll him up for the three count.

After the match, Colt Cabana took the microphone and said how he would have liked to have come out and scored the win for the crowd and he was sorry not to have done so.  He then said he has pretty much wrestled for every independent promotion in the world but there was something special about being in "a garage in a corner" packed with fans having fun and enjoying themselves, from in their 50's to 3 days old, before thanking the crowd for having him.

Next out to the ring was Bobby Roberts, who told the crowd of his anger at not being given a match against Dave Conrad and that no matter who was announced as his opponent, in his mind he would be facing Dave Conrad and therefore that individual would suffer the consequences.  Out came General Manager John Long who announced that Roberts' opponent would be Venym.  As usual, Venym came out running his mouth but, true to his word, Roberts tore into Venym like a man possessed.  After pummelling Venym in the ring, Roberts continued his assault outside the ring, but on re-entering the ring, Venym managed to get the upper hand, attacking the knee of Roberts to try to keep him off-balance.  Venym hooked the legs of Roberts and attempted to swing the big man but was unable to lift Roberts from the mat and appeared to injure his back after his third failed attempt.  This gave Roberts the opportunity to regain the advantage, however suddenly Conrad's entrance music played and Roberts turned to face the entrance waiting for Conrad to appear.  Venym capitalised on his distraction, hitting him with a lowblow and scoring the pin.  An irate Bobby Roberts then took out his frustrations on referee Westy, knocking him to the mat before leaving the ring.

Once again Dave Conrad's entrance music rang out, only this time he did appear, followed by his opponent DCT.  These two men seemed evenly matched in size and strength but DCT had the crowd firmly behind him and took the early advantage however Conrad fought back and soon had the upper hand.  With the match continuing to swing back and forth, both men scored near falls but the difference between them was Conrad's preference for underhanded tactics.  Conrad grabbed the bell and was about to whack DCT with it, but referee Westy grabbed the bell from him.  With the ref returning the bell to the announce table, Conrad hit DCT with a low blow and was about to attempt to finish the match when Bobby Roberts returned to the ring and chaos ensued as Conrad and Roberts attempted to tear each other to pieces.  It took SIX men to try to keep these two apart while the crowd chanted "Let them fight".  After eventually managing to get Conrad out of the ring, General Manager John Long attempted to reprimand Roberts, slapping and shoving him but Roberts was not going to take this and once again vented his frustration and speared the General Manager to the delight of the crowd, before losing it completely and knocking down anyone who dared to get within arms length.  Long then told Roberts to consider himself suspended.  It was then announced that the match win had been awarded to Dave Conrad as a result of a disqualification.

The first half main event was a UK Title match between current champion Mikey and the man he beat for the belt Jackie Grady.  There appears to be a rather intense rivalry between these two young guys and they both went all out to show who was the better man.  The match started with them slapping each other before spilling out of the ring with Grady quickly taking the upper hand, slamming Mikey's head off the ringpost and apron.  After returning to the ring and Grady scoring a near fall, Mikey took the advantage and when the action again spilled out of the ring, this time Mikey was in control and slammed Grady into the ringpost.  Back in the ring, Mikey fulfilled the crowd's request to make Grady squeal like a girl.  This match went back and forth and with both guys trying everything they could to win, we saw everything from chops and slaps, armdrags from the top rope, high flying moves from the turnbuckles, a package piledriver from Mikey and a very nice cravat neckbreaker from Grady.  With Mikey appearing to have injured his knee, Grady looked to capitalise however a brave (or stupid) dropkick into the corner on Grady by Mikey, followed by a kick to the head, a shoulder block from the top rope and a scoop-slam/piledriver hybrid move sealed the deal and Mikey was able to pin Grady for the three count, retaining the belt.  While celebrating on the turnbuckle, a masked figure appeared in the ring but this time it was Mikey who came up trumps, slamming him onto the canvas, however the mysterious man managed to escape the ring before Mikey was able to unmask him.

The second half started with Saint-George Bernard facing Chris Renfrew.  Saint-George and I have had "exchanges" on Facebook and I have recently taken to commenting on anything and everything he posts with Blah blah blah!  Having made up a quantity of Blah! Blah! Blah! flyers, these had been handed out to the crowd during the interval and he made his entrance to the ring faced with a sea of flyers - his face was priceless!  On reaching the ring, he then announced that, as holder of the wooden spoon (which guarantees a title shot at any time) he was going onto bigger and better things and would not be wrestling Renfrew after all.  Unfortunately for him, Chris Renfrew had other ideas and made his entrance.  After a few slaps and chops in the ring, the action moved outside...literally outside....when Renfrew took the big-mouthed Englishman into the car park and gave him a little taste of a Glasgow street fight, smacking him off the brick wall then scooping him and slamming him down onto one of the barriers, before force-feeding him a jaffa cake and slamming him face first into another barrier!  The match finally returned to the ring where Renfrew continued to beat on Saint-George until Darren Lewis came out to ringside and distracted Renfrew, allowing Saint-George to catch him off guard and score the win.

Next up was Darren Lewis' second match of the evening, this time he faced "The Butcher" Scott Renwick.  It started off well for Renwick who quickly took the advantage and managed to smack Lewis silly all the way around the outside of the ring, however Lewis gained the upper hand back in the ring, keeping Renwick down as much as possible, standing on his chest while using the ropes for leverage.  Renwick fought back, attempting to pedigree Lewis, who broke free and choke-slammed Renwick instead, before delivering a kick to the head that knocked Renwick unconscious and then proceeded to stand on his head.  After the referee had made the 10 count and Lewis was declared the winner by knockout, several of the wrestlers came out to the ring to assist in removing Renwick from the ring and helping to carry him backstage.

The penultimate match of the evening had Joe Hendry facing Hardcore Champion Falcon.  Hendry appeared to dominate most of this match - he hit Falcon with his signature suplex before attempting to remove Falcon's mask.  He also threw him clear across the ring before attempting a pin.  Falcon did appear to fight back and had a near fall himself, however it was Hendry's night and he took the victory.  It was the next morning when questions were asked regarding the Hardcore title.  It had not been announced as a non-title match and, as the Hardcore title is under 24/7 rules, it would appear that Joe Hendry could be the Hardcore Champion - Joe Hendry certainly seems to think so and, as much as it pains me, I have to agree.  I have suggested that a rematch be scheduled for their Sunday Slam event on 24 August to decide this once and for all....maybe John Long will like my suggestion??

The main event pitted Lowblow against Rawlins for the Reckless Intent World Title.  This was a match that Lowblow needed to win in order to secure his position on the roster.  As Lowblow made his entrance, Rawlins came out from behind the curtain and attacked him with a steel chair - the baddest man in professional wrestling was living up to his name and this match was not going to be pretty!  With Rawlins battling to keep his title and Lowblow battling to keep his job, both men have everything to lose and neither was going down easy.  With Rawlins having taken an early advantage, Lowblow dug deep and pulled off a cracking suplex which he held as the crowd counted to 20, before dropping the champ on the canvas.  The action again spilled outside of the ring, and I decided it might be a good idea to move as Rawlins hurled his opponent toward the unit door and knocked down the three lads doing security for the event!  Back in the ring, Rawlins continued his underhanded tactics, distracting the referee while appearing to tie his bootlace, while his other foot was over the throat of Lowblow.  This was followed by a series of submission moves but Lowblow refused to quit.  Rawlins then took to the ropes, however Lowblow managed to move before Rawlins landed, giving him the opportunity to get back into the match and put Rawlins into a sharpshooter but Rawlins would not submit.  The match continued to swing back and forth until both men were struggling to stand and Lowblow was finally able to put Rawlins down for the pinfall and become the new Reckless Intent World Champion.

After hugging his wife at ringside, an exhausted Lowblow got back into the ring.  As he struggled to his feet and stood clutching his newly won belt, and with Rawlins still lying prone in the ring, out came Saint-George with his briefcase containing the wooden spoon.  He shoved the briefcase into the hands of the referee, cashing in his title shot.  As soon as the bell rang, he grabbed Lowblow, delivered a stunner on the new champion, covered him for the three count and became the new Reckless Intent World Champion.

And so ended a cracking show - the best Reckless show I have seen and it definitely makes my top 3 of all time! My only regret is that I didn't get a photo with Colt Cabana when I had the chance before the show.  My pick for Match of the Night was the UK Title match between Mikey and Jackie Grady - a true showcase of young talent which, for me, outshone the big names and more experienced men on the night.  They should both be proud to say they put it all out there and I, for one, appreciated it.

For more information on upcoming Reckless Intent shows, check them out on Facebook. You will also find links to their website and YouTube channel and there will be footage from this event posted over the next few days!

Colt Cabana is appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until 25 August.  You can see him every night at 10pm Monday to Saturday at the Stand on the Square doing his show with Brendon Burns - more info at www.thestand.co.uk.  On Sundays at 4pm  he is recording his "The Art of Wrestling" podcast in front of a live audience at Studio 24  before appearing at the ICW shows later that night at the same venue.  Tickets for podcast and ICW shows available from Ticketmaster.  He is also appearing at SWE Hellbound in Dundee on Saturday 23 August.....and if I am lucky I might get a photo with him there!!

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