Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam: Fight The Power

Sunday 22 March 2015

Another Sunday Slam!

First up was a rematch from No Going Back with Sunday Slam Champion Venym facing Saint-George.  With Saint-George having won their previous encounter after hitting Venym with a lowblow, Venym was out to even the score.  This was another great match between these two, almost as good as before.  Saint-George pushed the boundaries as usual but this time Venym took the victory over Saint-George after a cracking lionsault.  After the match, Venym held his hand out to Saint-George, however the defeated Englishman refused to shake his hand, instead spitting on it.  These guys certainly seem to bring the best (and worst) out of each other and with each having a victory under their belt, I would love to see them go face to face again in a decider!

With Venym still in the ring, General Manager Jason McKinlay out and announced that as Venym was not one to back down from a fight, he would be defending the Sunday Slam Title in a pre-show 10 man elimination match at Never Back Down on 4 April.

Next out to the ring was a certain Rob Mills who would face Disturbed.  I have found it difficult to give Mills hell for obvious reasons but at this event, that changed.  Mills came out to the ring with a darker look and some serious attitude and actually managed to silence the Loudmouth with some of his comments - so I told Disturbed to give him an extra slap from me and proceeded to cheer for Disturbed!  A cracking wee match followed with some lovely high flying moves from both guys.  Disturbed finally got the pinfall after leaping from the turnbuckle and landing an elbow to the chest of a prone Mills.  This turned out to be my Match of the Day - and before I get accused of being biased, it had nothing to do with the fact that my son was in the match and everything to do with match itself.  From the moves to the banter, this was the match I enjoyed the most that day, even though I spent part of it gobsmacked!

The first half main event saw Falcon face Craig "The Firestorm" Valant.  This was one of those weird matches where you had two "good guys" and didn't know who to shout for, but each had a small group of fans in the crowd and there was a bit of banter between the wrestlers and fans.  Both guys were in good form and this match went back and forth, with one guy looking to be firmly in control only for the other to counter and almost take the victory.  This really could have gone either way and both men deserved the win but this time the victory went to Valant who hit Falcon with "The Firestorm" and scored a three count.

The second half of the show kicked off with Sambroso Maestro facing Jackie Grady, who came out wearing a Pingu t-shirt and doing the slow-motion Baywatch style entrance.  Then the guest referee was announced - none other than Westy - just how fair would he be in a match featuring his tag partner?  After a "pose-off" between Grady and Sambroso the match got underway with Sambroso dominating much of it.  It was Grady who was victorious, managing to escape from "Debo Numero Dos" and countering with his "Hamburger Time" submission hold, forcing Sambroso to tap out.

As ring announcer Sully started to announce the next match, the SOS music started playing and Scott Renwick and Darren Lewis appeared wearing their title belts upside down.  Lewis then proceeded to tell the crowd that this was not done in error but was their way of showing their disrespect for not only the titles but for the company as a whole and the fans themselves.  He then mentioned the "hot-shot rising star" who would be facing SOS later that afternoon and told the crowd they were lucky as they would see SOS destroy that person, threatening to hospitalise whoever was dumb enough to face them as their destruction of Reckless Intent continued.

The penultimate match was Davidian Fury vs Westy.  Fury came out full of himself and chose once again to pick on a child in the crowd, frightening the girl to point she actually wanted to leave and causing me to once again get in his face.  Once Westy got in the ring, Fury continued his bully-boy ways, beating down the youngster.  The referee was knocked from the ring during the beatdown at which point Mikey got into the ring, gave Fury a good dose of his own medicine and left Westy to cover him for the three count as the referee crawled back into the ring.  Things were not over for "The Westler" who made to leave by the main door, pursued by Fury, only to be surprised by Craig Valant who pinned Westy under the 24/7 rule to become the new Hardcore champion.  This reign would be shortlived - as he celebrated in the ring, he was hit by ring announcer Sully who then scored the pinfall to take the belt!

For the main event, SOS members Darren Lewis and Scott Renwick returned to the ring, before The Originals, Mikey and Rawlins introduced their opponents - Theo Doros and JJ Russell.  Russell once again used his humour in the ring to reduce Renwick into tears of laughter, much to the annoyance of Lewis.  This lead to a brutal beatdown of newcomer Doros for much of the match, although there was a glimmer of hope when Russell got the tag.  Unfortunately, the experience of the SOS was too much and Renwick  hit Doros with "The Angels Wings" as Russell was dealt a cradleshock by Lewis before they were both pinned.

Just when we thought it was all over, as Sully thanked everyone for attending AJ Russell sneaked up from behind and once again the Hardcore title changed hands...only for Craig Valant to appear and hit him with "The Firestorm" to become Hardcore champion for the second time that day.

Another cracking Sunday afternoon show and lots to look forward to for their next show back at Murieston (which took place on 4 April and a blog will be uploaded on that show very soon).

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Review: Reckless Intent presents No Going Back

Saturday 7 March 2015


This was the first Saturday show to be held in the Unit since November and it was standing room only!

The show started with the arrival of all three members of SOS , Darren Lewis, Scott Renwick and Graeme Leask, carrying bottles of beer and major attitude.  Lewis took the microphone and proceeded to disrespect everything about Reckless Intent, the company, the fans and especially General Manager Jason McKinlay, who would only grant a contract to Graeme Leask if he managed to win his match that night against Bobby Roberts.

Surprisingly, Lewis and Renwick did not interfere in this match and left the ring area, allowing Leask to handle business on his own.  This was starting to look like a decision they might regret as Roberts appeared to have the upper hand until he went for a spear on Leask, who managed to move out of the way and Roberts hit referee Conor Frost instead.  Roberts pinned Leask but the ref was still down and unable to make the count.  Then Saint-George came out and nailed Roberts, dragged Leask into the pinfall position then dragged the referee over and used his hand to make the three count, giving Leask the victory and he left the ring, clutching his contract with Reckless Intent.  (Has Saint-George aligned with the SOS???)  Craig "The Firestorm" Valant came out, stopping Saint-George from leaving, allowing Roberts to recover and knock down the Englishman before Valant hoisted him up and Roberts delivered a stunner.

Saint-George called GM Jason McKinlay to the ring to complain about the attack on him, only to be told that if he had not interfered in the first place, none of this would have happened.  Not only that, Saint-George had in effect handed the RI contract to Leask and therefore, since he was already in the ring, he would now have a match against Sunday Slam Champion Venym.  What followed was probably the best match I have seen Saint-George have.  Venym certainly brought out the best (or worst) in the Englishman and this really was an absolute belter of a match....right up until the end when Venym stopped himself from crashing into the referee in the corner and, whilst the ref had his arms up to defend his face from the incoming Venym, Saint-George hit a low blow from behind and rolled up his opponent for the three count.

Once again Jason McKinlay appeared and told Saint-George (who lay down on the mat in a show of disrespect) that just because the referee didn't see his lowblow on Venym, he had seen it via the monitors backstage.  He added that he was sick of repeating himself regarding Saint-George's blatant cheating and had decided that the Englishman would have a second match, right there and then.....and this would be a match he was familiar with...a 3 on 1 handicap match....only this time it would be Saint-George on the receiving end from Venym, Craig Valant and Bobby Roberts.

Valant and Roberts returned to ringside, holding up a shirt with "Independence" printed on it.  They joined Venym in the ring where they got Saint-George in the corner and each delivered a massive chop to the chest before taking their turn to perform their finishing moves, ending with Bobby Roberts hitting a spear and then taking the pinfall with Venym and Valant each having a hand on the shoulder of Roberts.  A win for "Team Independence", they draped their shirt over the face of a prone Saint-George.  Roberts then picked up Venym's hammer announcing "it's plastic" before bonking both Venym and Valant on the forehead with it - somehow managing to cut Venym's forehead and having them yelling "it's NOT plastic" as they left the ring.

The first half main event saw Rawlins face Darren Lewis for the UK Title.  It was announced this would be a submission match, with no disqualifications.  It was, in a word, brutal!  Right from the start there were no holds barred and I knew this was not going to be pretty!  The momentum swung back and forth with each guy going all out to take the victory.  Lewis tried to use his size to his advantage but Rawlins is a real grafter and tried several submission holds on Lewis but "The Superstar" refused to tap out.  Finally caught in the crossface, it looked like Lewis had experienced one submission too many and was on the verge of giving up when Scott Renwick came out to the ring and smashed a beer bottle over the head of Rawlins.  With the no disqualification stipulation, this left Lewis free to continue a brutal assault on Rawlins, hitting him with a steel chair as he hung over the ropes and following up with a cradleshock on the already unconscious Rawlins.  Finally the referee had to stop the match as it was obvious that Rawlins was in no way able to continue and a smug Lewis left the ring as several roster members came out to assist in getting Rawlins backstage.

I missed the beginning of the second half and therefore the following is just general information I have after chatting to some of the other fans at the end of the show.  It began with a tag team match between the team of Jackie Grady & Westy and AJ Russell & Davidian Fury.  Grady and Westy debuted their new entrance music - the theme from Baywatch - and made their entrance in the "slow motion" style of the TV show's credit reel. Russell removed his clown mask to reveal some face paint and dried blood!  "A decent match" I am told, which ended when Fury went to make the tag only to have Russell jump off the apron, leaving him to finish the match alone.  Westy then hit Fury with the Cobra before Grady hit his "No Place Like Home" finisher and scored the pin.  While they celebrated, Sambroso Maestro hit a sneak attack and pinned Westy under the 24/7 rules to become the new Hardcore champion.

Sambroso Maestro then faced Disturbed in his own match.  By all accounts Disturbed defeated himself when he climbed from the top turnbuckle to a ledge to gain extra height for an elbow drop on Sambroso.  This gave his opponent extra time to recover himself and he hit Disturbed with a lowblow as he dropped from the ledge and scored the pinfall.  Conor Frost then attempted to take the Hardcore title but it appeared that both Frost and Maestro had their shoulders on the mat and an arm across each others chest meaning that both scored the pinfall, however this was a short-lived problem as Bobby Roberts hit them both with a spear, pinned them and took the belt.  Just seconds later the belt would change hands once again, as Westy faced off against Roberts and instead of receiving a blow to the head with the belt as has become normal, Westy this time delivered a kick to the nether regions of Roberts, dropping the big guy to the floor and retaking the belt he had lost earlier in the evening.

Just before the main event, Mikey took to the ring to express his disappointment in having to withdraw from the originally scheduled ladder match against Scott Renwick due to having surgery on his knee less than two weeks ago.  Once again, Saint-George made an appearance and promptly got his ass whooped!  Despite still recovering from surgery, Mikey hit Saint-George with an "Emerald Flowsion" which had the crowd cheering and howling for more and a certain Englishman left ringside red-faced after receiving his just desserts for, once again, sticking his nose where it didn't belong (I'm really starting to think he might be aligned with SOS).

Finally it was time for the main event, where JJ Russell would face "The Butcher" Scott Renwick for the Reckless Intent Title.  With both men in the ring, Russell made a wise crack about Renwick being the vinegar that spoils the fish 'n' chips....which had not only the crowd in fits of laughter, but cracked the hard shell of Renwick who struggled to hold it together. (There is hope!!!)  The match itself was good but there were too many comedy moments for a serious title match.  The match came to an end when Russell hit Renwick with the "Sister Abigail" and went for the pin, only for Darren Lewis and Graeme Leask to return to ringside and Lewis grabbed the leg of Russell, dragging him off his opponent.  As the referee remonstrated with Lewis, who was now on the ring apron, Renwick was able hit Russell with "Angel Wings" (there may also have been a lowblow involved but I was watching Lewis and the ref) and took the pinfall to retain the title.  Suddenly the entire roster was in the ring battling against the SOS but individual battles appeared to be forming, setting up for some grudge matches in the future.

As much as it pains me to say this, my Match of the Night was neither the first or second half main event, but goes to Saint-George and Venym....and that big-headed Englishman will probably boast and brag about it....just as long as he remembers that he wasn't alone in the ring!  Just to temper things, Moment of the Night was Mikey hitting him with the Emerald Flowsion!!!

The next show is Never Back Down on 4 April, back at Murieston Scout Hall.  After the no-contest between Darren Lewis and Chris Renfrew in January, they will face each other again but this time Renfrew is bringing some friends.

Also there will be early entry and a pre-show match for advance ticket holders.  The pre-show match was announced at Sunday Slam (yes I am so far behind that I haven't got that review up yet) Venym will defend the Sunday Slam title in a 10 man elimination match.  So far, Chavi and Disturbed have been confirmed as participants but who the other 7 are is yet to be announced.

Keep tabs on upcoming shows by liking the Reckless Intent page on Facebook, subscribe to them on YouTube and check out their website.

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: Reckless Intent at Blackburn Gala Day

Saturday 14 June 2014

This was a wrestling event with a difference.  I have to admit that I haven't been to a gala day in years.  When Rob was younger, he found the crowds, noise and general chaos too much to handle so it was just another thing to avoid.  As he got older, his ability to deal with the crowds, noise and chaos improved, but his interest in the shows and stalls diminished.  As a result, I had absolutely no idea what a gala day entailed and how a wrestling show could be incorporated into it.

Our day started early and we met up with some of the crew at the RI unit at 8.45am, then it was off to Blackburn to get set up.  The first thing that had to be decided was whether the ring would be set up outdoors or in the local sports centre.  It was very overcast but forecasts said it would brighten up so outside it was.  The next hurdle was to get the van over to where we would be setting up without getting stuck in the muddy sections.  After that it was time to build a wrestling ring....and I think I gave a few of those boys a bit of a shock when I got stuck in - just call me She-Ra!!  Once the ring was up, it was time to get the barriers up and backstage area sorted.  It was then time for a well deserved break and a wee spot of lunch while the boys have their planning session.  Because Rob is training with Reckless Intent, I am a little more involved in their shows than other promotions but my one rule is that I don't want to know what goes on in the ring until it happens.

At 1.30pm the show was ready to start and a small crowd began to gather.  Rather than picking my usual spot to watch and cheer/jeer the lads, I watched to see who I thought were getting into the matches, then made my way to that area and tried to start some chants.  Some folk joined right in, while a few others eyed me warily while staying silent. Another thing that surprised me about the show is that, because it was a small part of the Gala Day,
I assumed that there would be three or four matches to give the crowd a wee taste of the "Reckless Intent Experience" but no, they actually put on a full show with 6 one-on-one matches and a 10 man elimination match for the UK Title.  And so onto the wrestling...although I apologise if this seems like more of results list than a proper review of each match as I was wandering around a fair bit.....

With the General Manager John Long in action, the guest GM and Ring Announcer for the day was my biggest fan, Saint-George Bernard.  As he took to the ring to bore...I mean regale.. us with his musings (and whinging about his broken thumb), the bagpipes of a local pipe band started up, much to his annoyance and the amusement of the crowd!

First up, current UK title holder Jackie Grady faced Juan El Loco Gato in a non-title match.  The crowd were not impressed with Grady's cockiness, however they loved Juan's cheeky and colourful character and were firmly behind him throughout the match.  Unfortunately Grady won the match, but Juan won the crowd!

With the running battle between John Long and Lowblow coming to a head on 28 June at Proving Grounds, both men had "warm-up" matches at this event.  John Long faced Chavi, who came out to the ring with a bottle of Irn-Bru instead of his usual Buckfast (well it was a Gala Day after all).  The crowd loved it, especially the kid Chavi handed the bottle to.  The match went back and forward with the crowd chanting for Chavi, however it wasn't enough to keep Long from taking the win.

 

In the second "warm-up" match, Lowblow faced Venym.  With Saint-George getting in the face of Venym at the start, warning him not to let Lowblow win, the match seemed stacked.  The match saw some good moves from both men, however despite the warnings, it was the crowd favourite Lowblow who took the win...although I didn't actually see the end of this match as I was busy getting my photo taken with another blue-haired phenomenon, Sonic the Hedgehog!!

After a short interval it was back to the action and first up, Disturbed v Disturbed.  This was a really weird match which was very difficult to get into.  With two identical figures in the ring it was impossible to cheer as you were cheering both men and with each making identical moves and making the appropriate counter moves it was more a dance than a match.  With the crowd pretty much silent in their confusion, this ended in a double count out when the Disturbed ones took their battle outside of the ring and backstage!

Next up, Mikey against Darren Lewis.  Lewis appeared without his glittery, feathery robe and looking plain mean.  This was quite a brutal match, with the action taking place both inside and outside of the ring.  Lewis used his size advantage to dominate much of the match, however the crowd were delighted to see Mikey turn the tables and take the win.  However, once again, a mystery figure in a "New Blood" hoodie appeared to attack Mikey.  Will he appear again at Proving Grounds?

 

The penultimate match saw Rawlins face Johnny Lions.  I had only seen Lions a couple of times before in SWE shows and the last time was in October 2013.  The first thing I noticed is that he had bulked up some and was looking really good.  This was another great match which saw several near falls for both men and a foot on the rope saving Rawlins from losing his title.  There were some cracking moments, such as Lions holding Rawlins in a suplex for what seemed like forever.  This was a cracking match and scores my vote for Match of the Day (because it was an afternoon show).  Despite his best efforts, Lions was unable to take the win and Rawlins retained the gold....and got a faceful of silly string to boot.  I really hope I get the chance to see Lions in action again soon.

Finally we had a ten man elimination match for the UK Championship.  It as an over the top rope battle royal style until down to the final four when pinfalls and submissions would also count.  The start of the match was utter chaos and much of the action took place outside of the ring....and even over the crowd barriers.  At one point, with the majority of the wrestlers outside of the barriers in a massive battle, one of the Disturbed jumped on them from the roof of the van.  Controversy reigned again as once back in the ring, Lowblow eliminated John Long and Venym, only to be eliminated himself when
Saint-George got into the ring and threw him out!  Jackie Grady tried to reprise his trick of hiding under the ring, but this time Mikey was having none of it, dragging him out and making him compete properly.  Things settled as we got down to the final four, Jackie Grady, Mikey, Johnny Lions and Darren Lewis.  Johnny Lions and Mikey got the pin on Lewis before Grady eliminated Lions over the top rope, leaving Mikey and Grady to fight it out for the title.  Mikey took the upper hand and kept it, finally delivering the Go To Sleep and pinning Grady to become the new UK Champion.  Click here to watch a highlight video of it - seriously, do it, it's damn good!!

Then it was time to strip everything down (once again I got stuck in), pack up the van then head back to the RI Unit to unload again.   I tell you, I have a whole new appreciation for all those guys in all the promotions I visit.  There was a lot of heavy lifting and carrying...and then the boys had to get into the ring and entertain too!  I decided I had earned the right to a few beers when I got home and that's exactly what I did....only after 2 beers I was wiped out and in bed by 10pm....but I had an absolute blast and I hope the lads will let me help out again when they appear at next year's event!

Reckless Intent have their next event "Proving Grounds" on Saturday 28 June in Livingston.  For more information, check them out on Facebook or their website.  Also you can see matches from previous events on their YouTube Channel