Review: Reckless Intent presents Christmas Sunday Slam

Sunday 14 December 2014

Just a week after a cracking sell-out show at Murieston, we were back at the RI Unit for the final Reckless Intent show of the year and the crowning of the first Sunday Slam champion!  The day had started very wet and windy and being so close to Christmas it was unclear what sort of turnout there would be.  Fortunately the weather brightened and the unit ended up pretty full, maybe not a sell-out but it was close!  My biggest problem was the fact that I had lost my voice and Rob was facing Jackie Grady - how the hell would I cheer???

The first match of the afternoon was Falcon v JJ Russell.  This was Falcon's first appearance since Over The Top and he decided to keep us waiting - his music started....and continued....and finally a full minute and a half later he appeared, jumping straight into the ring and crouching in one corner facing the turnbuckles and completely ignoring the somewhat bemused crowd.  JJ Russell got a great reception from the crowd during his entrance and while the ref was making his checks, Falcon made a sneak attack, confirming his new heel status.  Falcon attempted to hide under the ring, hitting Russell with a surprise blow when he came looking for him and then battling outside the ring.  Back in the ring, Falcon continued to use underhand tactics and the referee seemed to be constantly making 5 counts.  Russell attempted to gain the momentum but unfortunately it was Falcon who took a very unpopular win.

Next out to the ring was Iron Fist, accompanied by Miss J, who took the microphone to announce that the fans were not taking the threat of Iron Fist seriously and demanded a match worthy of him.  She then called out Mikey and challenged him to face Iron Fist.  Mikey answered the challenge and while Iron Fist attempted to beat Mikey with brute force and strength, he had no response for the speed, agility and aerial moves of the fan favourite.  A few kicks to the head, a flying crossbody and an elbow drop soon weakened the bigger man and it was Mikey who was victorious, taking a seat in the crowd after his win while Miss J berated her charge for failing once again.

The final match of the first half saw Davidian Fury make his return to Reckless Intent, facing the "Beef from Beith", Bobby Roberts.  Fury gained the advantage for the early part of the match, using the ropes to choke Roberts and holding him in the corner with a knee to the throat before attempting to get the win by putting Roberts in a sleeper hold.  With the crowd cheering for him, Roberts managed to get back into the match and despite Fury's attempts to subdue him again, Roberts nailed him with a clothesline from hell before pinning him for the three count.  After taking the win, Roberts held out his hand to Fury, only to be rebuffed - looks like another sore loser!

The second half started with a rematch from Unleashed, Rawlins against Scott Renwick.  Once again we were treated to the skills, experience and wit of two great wrestlers but for me it was not as good as their previous match, simply due to the fact that with Rawlins now being a fan favourite too, there was that good guy/bad guy element missing.  The match ended in controversy - as Renwick lifted Rawlins in the Angels Wings, Rawlins caught the referee in the head with his boot, knocking him out, leaving no referee to count when Renwick had Rawlins pinned.  Another referee was sitting at ringside, none other than Conor Frost, who refused to take over as referee when, as Renwick attempted to rouse the ref, Rawlins struck and caught him in his crossface submission hold, however when Rawlins released his hold, Renwick struck back and Frost shot into the ring to make a fast three count and declare Renwick the winner before quickly leaving again.  With Rawlins fuming in the ring, Frost stood outside smirking as the crowd jeered, before Renwick and Rawlins shook hands and left ringside.

Next out to the ring was Jackie Grady, accompanied by "The Westler" West Grady and his opponent would be none other than Rob Mills!  Well obviously I am totally biased in favour of Rob but I know he's just starting out so I didn't have high expectations.  I was surprised that the loudest chant was actually for Westy - but that's only cos I had no voice!  Anyway Grady was all over this match and had just hit his "No Place Like Home" finisher on Mills when Westy entered the ring and mimicked the move.  Grady turned his attention to Westy to berate him, giving Rob the opportunity to roll up Grady and score the pinfall.....MY BOY WON!!!  I did get video footage of the match - its not the greatest quality but you can see it on the Loudmouth Facebook page.

We then had the "Sambroso Maestro Culture Class".  Sambroso made his way to the ring, holding a Paul Hollywood calendar and handing out small oranges to kids in the crowd, leaving the last one still in its net bag on my seat!  Once in the ring, he aimed to teach the crowd about culture as "the world does not end at the M8 on ramp".  Then holding up one of the little oranges he asked the crowd "Do you know what this is? It's a satsuma!"  I held up the little net bag and shouted as best as I could...."No it's not! It's a clementine - did you not read the label?" As he attempted to continue with his "lesson" over the laughter of the crowd, he was again interrupted, this time by the arrival of Juan El Loco Gato, stating "my name is Jeff" and "you've got no fans".  There was then a bit of a tussle between the guys leaving Sambroso on the mat and Juan repeating his wee phrases!

Finally it was time for the main event between AJ Russell and Venym to see who would be the first Sunday Slam title holder.   This was shaping up to be an absolute corker of a match as both guys wanted that belt and they held nothing back.  The majority of the crowd were firmly behind Venym although AJ Russell did have a small group of supporters. The match went back and forth, both guys getting 2 counts and it really could have been either guy's match but it unfortunately ended as a no contest when Falcon appeared, climbed to the top turnbuckle and took both guys out with a crossbody.  The bell rang to signal the match was over but Falcon continued his assault on Venym, before grabbing a microphone and lying facing the mat, he announced that he does not start shows, he finishes them and was angry that he had been overlooked in the tournament.  He then demanded that he be given an opportunity to become the first Sunday Slam champion.  Jason McKinlay appeared and agreed that as Falcon had never held the World or UK title belts, he was eligible to compete for the Sunday Slam title and he would grant the match, at which point Falcon left the ring.  McKinlay then continued to announce that the match would be a triple threat match between Falcon and the two men he had just cheated of their chance to become the first champion and this would be held at the next Sunday Slam event in January.  Personally I wasn't happy with this turn of events.  This was supposed to be the final of a tournament and I think that as Falcon wasn't part of the original tournament he should have just waited and challenged the winner....but then the heels never do the right thing so I guess it works in that aspect.

The show ended with the entire roster who were in attendance coming out to thank the crowd for their support throughout the year.

A good show but for me there was something missing.  I think now that Rawlins is one of the good guys, we really needed either Saint-George or Darren Lewis on the card as there was no real heel interaction with the crowd.  Everyone loves to hate the heels and usually there is at least one occasion during a show where a heel gets right in the face of someone in the crowd and this didn't happen.  Yes, Falcon was heel but there was no interaction between him and the crowd, not during his initial match nor during his interruption of the main event.  He did not acknowledge the crowd in any way, refusing to even look at them.  In fact the only heel/crowd interaction was when referee Conor Frost screwed over Rawlins and got his first "Conor Sucks" chant!

The next Sunday Slam takes place on 25 January at the RI Unit.  Matches are starting to be announced and we will finally see the first Sunday Slam Champion crowned after a triple threat match between Falcon, AJ Russell and Venym.

Matches are also being announced for the next main show to be held at Murieston Scout Hall on Saturday 7 February.  Tickets are on sale now and advance ticket holders will gain early entry to the venue and a special preshow bonus match for the Hardcore Title.

Make sure to like their Facebook page to get updates for upcoming events, links for tickets and video content.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam 3

Sunday 16 November 2014

Just two weeks after their sell-out show at Murieston Scout Hall, Reckless Intent returned to the unit for their third Sunday afternoon show.  This one started a trainee tournament to crown the first ever Sunday Slam Champion.  The rules for the tournament are that no current or former title holder from the main roster could hold the title, however to make it "interesting" one wild card entry would see Jackie Grady take a spot in the tournament.  There would be four quarter final matches and two semi-finals, with the final match to be held at the next Sunday Slam event on 14 December.  Even more important, Rob would be taking part in the tournament in his first ever one on one match.

As always we arrived early but this time it was more for Rob to prepare for his match than help with the set-up and, also as always, I kept out of the way while the final show preparations were made.  We also had some friends and family along to support Rob.

The show started with General Manager Jason McKinlay explaining how the Sunday Slam tournament would work and revealing the championship belt, when he was interrupted by the arrival of Jackie Grady.  Grady stated that, as the only Triple Crown winner, he would obviously be successful in winning this title too.  It was then time to meet his opponent in the first quarter final match, Wild Wild Westy.  In keeping with his imitation gimmick, this time we met West Grady as Westy appeared wearing a blonde wig and Grady's tights and boots!  Westy and Grady faced each other in the ring and what followed was a hilarious mime where Westy mirrored the actions of Grady, ending with both of them lying side by side on the mat.  Grady asked the crowd, "Is he lying down?" and quickly moved to pin Westy who kicked out the first time but Grady went back for the pin and scored the 3 count.  Match won by Grady without a single wrestling move apart from the pinfall!

The second quarter final saw Venym face Iron Fist, who was accompanied to the ring by Miss J.  While Venym tried to use his superior agility to his advantage, the brute strength of Iron Fist dominated much of this match.  Miss J grabbed the leg of Venym while he stood on the ring apron to kill his early momentum and Iron Fist delivered some crushing moves, including a leg drop on the apron, driving the shoulder to the lower back of Venym while he hung upside down in the corner and a sidewalk slam.  Despite this Venym managed to rally and took the win but while Venym was celebrating on the rope, Iron Fist grabbed a steel chair and slammed it off his back, before throwing the chair to the ground and power bombing Venym onto it to the disgust of the crowd.

The third quarter final saw my boy make his singles match debut.  Fighting under the name Rob Mills, he faced JJ Russell.  Russell started off by "correcting" the referee, saying it was Rob Wells, before holding out a hand to Rob, who blasted it away and the match was on.  It was a short match but I loved it (and I don't care if anyone calls me biased either!)  Rob managed a lovely head scissor armbreaker move which got a great reaction from the crowd and, in total heel character, told me to shut up when I shouted "that's my boy".  Unfortunately it was Russell who took the win, hitting Rob with his "Sister Abigail" before making the pin.

The last of the quarter finals was AJ Russell v Craig Valant.  AJ seems to have gone a little nuts recently and came out with a can of silly string which he sprayed over the crowd.  Valant came out to a great reception from the crowd.  This was good match with both guys having a chance to shine.  Russell dominated the early part, but Valant fought his way back, dropping several elbows on Russell.  Russell however showed he could win a match without his high flying moves by rolling up Valant for the three count.  While Russell sat on the floor at ringside, cackling over his victory, GM Jason McKinlay came out to the ring to conduct the draw for the semi-final rounds - Jackie Grady would face Venym and the Russell Brothers would come face to face once again.

The second half of the show began with two former champions facing off, Mikey v Saint George.  With both men losing their titles at Over The Top, neither was in the mood to lose another match.  Saint-George was also upset that Mikey had used the RKO on Joe Hendry after the rumble.  He came out to the ring, grabbing a steel chair on the way.  While the crowd chanted Blah Blah Blah, he referred to losing the title to Scott Renwick and bragged about having made Renwick require knee surgery after their match.  He then had the chair set up at ringside and invited Jason McKinlay to take a seat and watch him win his match against Mikey.  Mikey came out to the ring and proceeded to kick Saint-George's ass around the ring - literally - causing Saint-George to escape the ring.  Once back in the ring the momentum swung back and forth.  Saint-George delivered a cracking suplex before taunting Mikey's mum in the audience, then called for a time-out when Mikey took the upper hand.  The action took a slightly worrying turn when Mikey asked the referee to pull on his leg after his knee popped, however Saint-George decided to capitalise on Mikey's recurring problem and focused on the knee.  Mikey would not give up and hit Saint-George a series of kicks and blocks using the ropes for momentum.  Saint-George managed to block a 619 attempt by grabbing Mikey's legs but a second attempt hit the target and was followed by a springboard splash off the top rope.  At this point Mikey looked to be in control but Saint-George was no pushover and fought his way back, leaving them both lying in the ring and needing a 7 count to recover.  After faking a leg injury, he attempted the RKO several times but was blocked and countered by Mikey each time.  After rolling Mikey up and grabbing the tights but only managing a two count, Saint-George finally hit him with the RKO and took the win.  He then took great delight in forcing Jason McKinlay to raise his hand in victory.

The first semi-final of the Sunday Slam tournament pitted Jackie Grady against Venym.  These two have faced off several times before, usually with Grady the victor.  Grady came to the ring first, followed by Westy, who Grady made stand at ringside where he continued to mimic every move Grady made.  Venym came out, still hurting from the after match attack by Iron Fist and was visibly less agile than usual.  Grady quickly tried to capitalise on this, however Venym still appeared to have enough left in the tank to deal with Grady, making Grady leave the ring and attempt to have Westy take his place.  After a failed legdrop attempt from Venym, Jackie attempted his finisher but ended up being swung round the ring.  It was Venym who took the win this time and secured a place in the Sunday Slam final on 14 December.

The second semi-final saw AJ Russell take on his brother JJ Russell.  To be honest, based on their previous encounter, I was hoping the semi-final draw would have gone differently and these two would face each other in the final.  Once again they put on a hell of a match.  With the majority of the crowd firmly behind JJ, these boys beat each other senseless.  With JJ having the upper hand, the referee was knocked out and was unable to make the count when JJ clearly had AJ down for the win.  As JJ tried to revive the referee, AJ attacked with a low blow and, as the referee started to come round, hit his brother with a big splash from the top turnbuckle, then pinned him for the win.  AJ Russell will face Venym on 14 December for the Sunday Slam title.  Venym came out and held out his hand to AJ, who instead attacked Venym, hitting him with the "Shell Shock" leaving him senseless on the mat.

Finally it was main event time.  This match was billed as the match between two of the most under-rated wrestlers in Scotland, Rawlins and Glen Dunbar.    After The Grue read out a note praising Dunbar, I felt it necessary to get in his face and was told to sit on my ass!  This match also brought about a very rare occurrence, something I have only done once before - I started chants for Rawlins! Yes, for one night only, "The Baddest Man in Professional Wrestling" was the fan favourite.  This match started off brilliantly and the crowd were loving it.....right up until the point that the referee made a complete balls-up - but I will get to that later.  Rawlins attempt at a suicide dive was countered by Dunbar who then punished Rawlins on the ring apron before both men got back into the ring.  The match continued to swing back and forth with both guys scoring near pins.  Rawlins sent Dunbar out of the ring to land at my feet but back in the ring, things swung back and forth again.  Once again Dunbar ended up outside of the ring and this time Rawlins suicide dive paid off.  I, of course vacated my seat as for some reason I always seem to get caught up in these things!!  Back in the ring Rawlins caught Dunbar in a cross face submission hold.  As the crowd chanted for Dunbar to tap, he broke the hold and managed to pull off a slingshot vertical suplex on Rawlins before going for the pinfall.  The referee counted, one, two, Rawlins kicked out and the referee brought his hand to the mat for the three count.  There was stunned silence in the unit and everyone wondered what the hell was going on.  Both Rawlins and Dunbar were confused as the referee insisted that it was a three count and declared Dunbar the winner.  There were a lot of angry, upset and confused people at the end of this match.

I have not picked a Match of the Day for this show, as what was shaping up to be that match was turned into a farce by the referee's actions.  I am sure an explanation will be forthcoming but no matter what, it ended the show on a bum note and I hope that there will be a rematch booked soon.

The card for the next show, Lights Out on 6 December is already shaping up to be a corker, with Mikey facing Joe Hendry in what could be his final match.  If he can't beat Hendry, he will retire.  Saint George and Ian Ambrose will team up to face Bobby Roberts and DCT and new Reckless Intent World Champion Scott Renwick will be going against doctors advice to defend the title against a "face from the past" who has beaten him for a title before.  To find out more information on this and future events and how to get tickets, like them on Facebook and subscribe to their YouTube Channel to see videos of these amazing matches as they appear.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam 2

Sunday 19 October 2014

This was the second Sunday Slam show from Reckless Intent and would be a wee bit more special for me as Rob would be making his in-ring debut during the main event rumble match.

The show started with ring announcer The Grue informing the crowd that Joe Hendry believed that the Hardcore Championship epitomises everything that is wrong with wrestling and had therefore vacated the title in exchange for a shot at the UK Title at Over the Top on 1 November.  As a result, the main event rumble would now be for the vacated Hardcore Championship.

The first match saw Westy face Mike Hawke.  Westy's gimmick is to come out dressed as different wrestling characters and this time he was the Undertaker during his "American Badass" stint.  He arrived not on a motorbike however, but on a kids scooter.  Mike Hawke took exception to this and claimed to be the real American Badass and unleashed a series of hard chops to the chest of the crowd favourite.  Despite a few mistakes due to his inexperience in the ring, Westy could not be kept down and, in true Undertaker style, no matter what was thrown at him, he just kept going, walking the top rope and finishing Hawke with a tombstone piledriver to take the win.

Next up was Jackie Grady against Craig Valant.  The crowd were a bit quiet during this match but are definitely warming to newcomer Valant, especially after he started by asking Grady if he was a member of Hanson.  After a few wristlocks and armdrags, Grady decided he needed a break, taking a seat in the audience and inciting a chicken chant.  While Grady was getting in my face, Valant exited the ring and forced him back in, only for Grady to get the jump on him and dominate much of the match.  Valant did manage to get back into the match, scoring a near fall after a power bomb, before heading to the top rope however Grady countered and both men went down for a 6 count.  After exchanging punches, Valant hit with some big clotheslines, a scoop slam and a series of elbow drops and looked firmly in control of the match, however Grady managed to counter his finishing move and was able to roll up Valant for the 3 count.

AJ Russell came out to the ring and called out his brother JJ, who had refused to face him back in August.  This time JJ appeared, much to the delight of the crowd.  This was brutal.  AJ started with slaps to the face of his brother, following up with punches and kicks and ramming his shoulder into the back of his brother in the corner.  JJ took a tremendous amount of punishment throughout this match and although he did manage to get on the offence a few times, his brother seemed to have an answer for everything, including some cracking aerial moves.  Despite the crowd being firmly behind JJ, it was AJ Russell who took the 3 count after a massive splash from the top rope.  This sibling rivalry is far from over but they get my vote for Match of the Day (afternoon show remember!)

The first half main event was a much anticipated affair.  After a short (and slightly one-sided) Facebook courtship, we were invited to the "wedding" of Jam O'Malley and Reckless Intent World Champion Saint-George Bernard.  Saint George arrived to the ring first, decked in his flags as usual, grabbing a microphone and stating there would be no wedding, only for O'Malley to arrive to the tune of "Here comes the bride".  Originally scheduled to be a non-title match between these two, General Manager Jason McKinley appeared and announced that the title would be on the line.  As Saint-George grumbled, Jam said they could just get married instead and the champion reluctantly handed the belt to the referee.  There was a moment of pure hilarity when Saint-George grabbed the top rope, only for it to slip and him land on his ass.  It was Jam O'Malley who started the "you fell over" chant!  This only served to make the champ even angrier and when O'Malley held out his hand to Saint-George, it was slapped away. Jam then dropped his trousers to reveal a fetching pair of red boxers, causing Saint-George to leave the ring and refuse to return to ring until he was decent.  Then when Jam offered to "hug it out" Saint-George slapped his face.  With Jam now sulking in the corner, Saint-George dragged him out by his hair and get this match started.  There was very little actual wrestling in the match,

however no-one really minded as there was a lot of entertainment, mainly Jam making fun of and embarrassing Saint-George, who in turn wanted to cause the greatest amount of pain possible for his opponent.  The match came to an end when Jam took off his trousers and bounced on the chest of Saint-George in corner.  Disgusted, the champioon grabbed the belt and left ring to be counted out but as the title can only change hands on a pinfall or submission, he retained the title.  GM Jason McKinlay returned and announced a new stipulation for the Title match on November 1 against Scott Renwick - if Saint-George is disqualified or counted out, he will be stripped of the title and fired.  A very unhappy Saint-George then grabbed a microphone to state that after that match, he would still be champion to a chorus of "blah, blah, blah" from the crowd.

The first match after the interval saw the return of Iron Fist, accompanied by his psychiatrist, Miss J who explained to the crowd that this was an experiment and she was working to help Iron Fist learn to interact with normal peopl.  She stated that she had brought him to see how he would cope in a strenuous social enviroment but that she would not be held culpable for any injuries obtained.  His opponent was Sweet Chavi Sanchez, who came out wearing a second mask as a taunting gesture toward Iron Fist and carrying his trademark Irn Bru.  This was more of a comedy match, with Chavi dealing out low blows and kicks to the ass of his opponent and taking a seat in the crowd while Iron Fist bounced off the ropes.  Finally Iron Fist grew tired of Chavi's antics and took the victory after hitting Chavi with a huge sidewalk slam.  I look forward to seeing Iron Fist in a more serious match in the future.

The final match before the Rumble was scheduled as a non-title match between UK Champion Mikey and Venym.  Venym came out to the ring first and, after stating that he had not had a great run of luck in his recent matches, respectfully requested that the match be made a title match so that he could show he could hold his own against the best in the company.  GM Jason McKinlay came out and granted the request.  Mikey appeared to the usual cheers from the fans, shook Venym's hand and the match was on.  While Venym is the bigger of the two, he is surprisingly agile and this match was a close runner up for my Match of the Day.  There was a lot of really nice moves from both guys and I was surprised by the amount of pro-Venym chanting there was considering how popular Mikey is with the fans.  Mikey nailed Venym with several dropkicks and a cracking 619 before springing from the top rope to splash Venym but could only get a 2 count.  Venym countered with spears into the turnbuckles and a massive legdrop but, once again, only a 2 count was managed.  Venym climbed the ropes only for Mikey to recover and hit some devastating aerial moves that so nearly got him the win.  Venym tried to rally but Mikey finished him with a "Pepsi Plunge" and scored the 3 count to retain the UK title.

Finally it was time for the Hardcore rumble match and I have to admit that for the early part of this match, I was solely focused on Rob.  I had expected that as a trainee he would be in the match for such a short period that I better grab the opportunity to get as many photos of him in action while I could.  Surprisingly he was in the match for longer than I expected and actually was holding his own pretty well, so I turned my attention to some of the other action.  The Russell brothers continued their battle with each other. Wee Jimmy was dragged into the ring before being thrown over the top rope onto the apron where Mikey dropkicked him onto the floor.  The Grue was dragged into the ring by Jam O'Malley, before being dumped over the top rope minus a few buttons on his purple shirt!  Rob had some nice turns with Saint-George, Rawlins and Jackie Grady, before catching a boot from Mikey producing a shiner before being eliminated by Grady.  Mikey hit a cracking dropkick on Craig Valant, before hitting the 619 on Saint-George following it with a springboard splash.  Mikey and Rawlins eliminated themselves by diving over the top rope to take out the SOS who were standing at ringside.  The final four appeared to be Westy (using The Big Show as his gimmick for this match), Jackie Grady, Jam O'Malley and Saint-George.  Saint-George was eliminated but grabbed O'Malley from the apron outside the ring and with Grady inside, together they got him over the top rope only for Westy to grab Grady and eliminate him, appearing to win the match.  As Westy celebrated with the belt, suddenly the

leader of the SOS, Sam Crowe appeared and tossed Westy over the top rope.  As he had not be officially eliminated from the match, he was crowned winner and new Hardcore champion and was joined in the ring by another member of SOS, however Mikey and Rawlins appeared with a steel chair and Crowe took off out the door, leaving his associate to face the RI Originals alone.  After being smacked with the chair and having Rawlins smack it off his face with a big boot, the SOS member was left sitting in the corner as Rawlins held the chair on him and Mikey hit it with a coast to coast before they dumped him out to the floor.

Another great show - and I admit to being totally biased when I say it was probably my favourite because my son made his debut - and I don't give a rat's ass what anyone has to say on the matter!

The next Reckless Intent show is this Saturday 1st November and is being held at Murieston Scout Hall, Livingston.  Tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for children.  Check them out on Facebook to keep up to date with news and future events and subscribe to their YouTube Channel where you will find footage of previous events.