Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam: Is A Magical Place

Sunday 24 May 2015

The show started with Sunday Slam Champion, Craig "The Firestorm" Valant calling General Manager Jason McKinlay out to the ring to make an announcement.  Valant stated that since winning the Sunday Slam title he felt he had become lazy, not attending training sessions or shows and that he did not deserve to hold the belt.  He promised that he would take it back in the future as a fighting wrestler but for now he was relinquishing the belt and with that the Sunday Slam Title was vacated.

The SOS entrance music played and Scott "The Butcher" Renwick came out and stated that he had been promised a match with Valant, that he did not get that match and therefore he wanted a match there and then.  Valant accepted the challenge and the match was on.  This was a decent match but there was surprising very little crowd participation.  Valant hit a cracking elbow drop before going for "The Firestorm", which Renwick tried to reverse into "The Angels Wings" but it was Valant who was the victor by successfully managing to re-reverse the move and score the pinfall.

Mikey then came out to the ring to make a face to face challenge to Renwick.  As their match at No Going Back in March had to be cancelled due to Mikey's knee surgery being brought forward, Mikey had been looking to face Renwick since his return to the ring and had received no response to his video requests so face to face he made his challenge - Mikey v Renwick at Taking Over on 6 June, one-on-one with no Darren Lewis or Graeme Leask.  Challenge accepted!!

Next up was Hardcore Champion, The Westler to face Saint-George but the mouthy Englishman did not appear.  Instead Wee Jimmy got into the ring to challenge for the Hardcore belt.  Just then Jam O'Malley's music played!  O'Malley announced that his "wife" Saint-George could not attend due to lady problems then told Jimmy to step aside as O'Malley wanted to regain the Hardcore title and challenged Westy to a match for the belt.  This was a fun match that could not be contained in the unit, spilling into the car park where Westy was force-fed Jaffa Cakes.  Once back in the unit, Westy took the pinfall to retain the Hardcore belt but while he was celebrating, Rob Mills took the opportunity for a sneak attack and pinned Westy to win the title (and I actually saw it this time!)  Once again Mills reign was short-lived as Sully took his revenge and the belt.  Westy quickly rolled up Sully to retake the belt.  O'Malley hugged Westy in congratulations but quickly made his move and pinned Westy to become Hardcore Champion, taking the microphone and telling Westy "don't trust anyone" before leaving with the belt.

The first half main event saw Rawlins face Theo Doros.  The crowd took some time to warm up to this one and when they did, it seemed quite an even split, an achievement for Doros as the newcomer to have already gained a following when facing one of the usual fan favourites.  For me the match was a bit slow and more of a show of "look what I can do....well I can do it better" with much of the match basically them reversing wristlocks and headlocks or taking turns on armdrags, before going down on a double cross body and following up with a slugfest.  By the time they started doing something different, I was already bored.  A few German suplexes from Rawlins was followed by his flying headbutt, only Doros had moved out of the way and grabbed his opportunity, ending the match by rolling up Rawlins to take the three count.  Rawlins and Doros then shook hands, Rawlins gave Doros his hoodie and Doros gave Rawlins his t-shirt.  While I wasn't overly impressed with the match, I do think that Doros shows amazing potential and is definitely one to watch.

The second half started with tag team action as Sweet Johnny teamed up with Jackie Grady to face Sambroso and Davidian Fury, both strange combinations in my opinion.  After some amusing showboating from Sambroso, Fury did his usual, using his size as an advantage to dominate both Grady and Johnny, but it inevitably became a disadvantage when Sweet Johnny sent him barrelling into the ringpost knocking Sambroso Maestro and "crotching" him on the turnbuckle before Sweet Johnny rolled Fury up for the pinfall.  Sweet Johnny and Jackie Grady were then joined in the ring by Westy for a display of their "awesome dance moves"!

The penultimate match of the day saw Rob Mills face Venym.  The self proclaimed "Heart and Soul of Sunday Slam" was not happy about Venym being popular with the crowd, believing they should be in awe of him instead.  I was quite surprised at the level of ruthlessness shown by Mills as he focused his attention on the arm of his opponent, including using the ropes and ringpost to his advantage.  It appeared that each time Venym looked to be gaining some momentum, Mills managed to wriggle his way free and continued his assault on the left arm of Venym.  It looked like Mills might take the victory as he called for his finisher but Venym was able to reverse into the "Poison Rain" and take the three count.  This was a very close runner-up for my Match of the Day....

... but was narrowly beaten for the accolade by the main event match between Mikey and Massimo Italiano.  Mikey has been working on his physique in the last few months and it really shows.  Matching up fairly evenly in both height and build, neither man appeared to have an advantage over the other - until the crowd got involved, clearly behind Mikey.  This was a lovely match, with Italiano generating extra heat by deliberately antagonising Janet during periods when he had the momentum on his side.  After several near falls, the Italian looked to be in complete control with Mikey struggling to get back to his feet but Mikey never gives up and managed to score the victory with a crucifix pin.  The crowd were elated and Italiano was shocked.  A cracking end to the show!

Due to the lateness of this blog, Taking Over has already taken place (6 June) and my blog will be posted soon.  The next event is Proving Grounds on 4 July and the card is shaping up to look like one of the best with the return of Chris Renfrew and the RI debuts of Lionheart, Kenny Williams and Davey Blaze with Charles Boddington.  This really is one not to be missed and tickets are available online - click here

Check out Reckless Intent on Facebook to keep up to date with all future events and ticketing information.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Super BOWL 2015

Saturday 2 May 2015


Same date, different day....same company, different venue!  This event marked the one year anniversary of attending Reckless Intent shows....

The pre-show match was between Westy and Jam O'Malley for the Hardcore title, however due to our wee shop becoming ever more popular, I missed the entire match and the after-effects - which is something I will regret forever!!!  Jam O'Malley won the match and the title, however Lou King Sharp then appeared and took the belt, only for Saint-George to nail him with the Saint George Cross to take the belt.  Sully then hit him with his "Begorrah Kick" to win the title and then the moment I will regret missing... Rob Mills hit Sully with an enziguri (now known as the Sullybreaker) and pinned him for the belt.  His reign was shortlived as Westy rolled him up to win back the title before he was chased from the building by Jam O'Malley and Wee Jimmy.

The main show started with the first Battle of West Lothian semi-final between LJT and Jackie Grady, who was accompanied to the ring by Westy.  The crowd were firmly behind Grady at first but as the match progressed a few others joined me in chanting for LJT.  A good opening match where LJT showed his agility and flair in the ring taking a well deserved victory in this bout.

Next up the second Battle of West Lothian semi-final pitting newcomer Theo Doros against Venym.  With both guys fairly evenly matched, either could have taken the three count and both had several near falls during the match.  Even the crowd chants appeared to be evenly split between them.  Venym spun Doros around the ring while the crowd counted the spins, before slingshotting him into the turnbuckles but Doros came back at him.  Finally Venym hit his "poison rain" finisher on Doros to take the pinfall.  In a show of sportsmanship, there was hugs and handshakes after the bell.

Next out to the ring was Saint-George who got on the microphone and riled the crowd by referring to the upcoming election and how they should all vote for UKIP, before handing out flyers to the crowd (which were quickly returned to him in ball format).  He then proceeded to call out Rawlins.  As Rawlins stood outside the ring, Conor Frost attacked him from behind, knocking him to the ground before picking him up and ramming his back into the ringpost.  Meanwhile Saint-George left the ring, found a steel chair and smacked Rawlins over the head with it.  At this point GM Jason McKinlay came out and called for some help for Rawlins while Saint-George and Frost celebrated in the ring, revealing that Frost's actions toward Rawlins over the last few months have all been leading to this moment.

With Rawlins down and seemingly unable to compete against Saint-George, Lou King Sharp made his appearance and asked the crowd if, now that the Englishman had no opponent, would they like to see Lou King Sharp "kick seven shades of English out of Saint-George".  With the crowd giving a resounding yes, the match was on - but part way through, Rawlins reappeared, determined to get his hands on Saint-George and the match became a triple threat match.  It appeared that the deck was stacked against the Englishman, however Saint-George capitalised when Rawlins missed a flying headbutt from the top rope and scored a very unpopular victory.

The first half main event saw a change to the originally advertised title match between Joe Hendry and Darren Lewis.  After Jason McKinlay announced that Lewis would be unable to compete due to illness, Saint-George came out and introduced Massimo Italiano to the Reckless Intent crowd before taking a seat at ringside.  The Italian then addressed the crowd in his native language and while the crowd may not have understood the words, they certainly got the message....Italiano was not a nice guy!  Hendry then came out and after making a dig at the Italian, the match was on.....and a great match it was.  These two big guys put it all out there - Hendry pulled off one of those suplexes that seem to never end while Italiano tried everything, including a lowblow, to try to take the title but it was Hendry who took the three count.  Immediately Saint-George got into the ring and issued a challenge to the Reckless Intent Champion to put the title on the line on 6th June, which Hendry accepted.

Just before the interval, Jason McKinlay came out to the ring to announce a couple of birthdays....one a wrestler, the other Reckless Intent's No 1 fan...and both called Jackie.  Jackie Grady and Jackie Cowan were both called out to the ring, where Jackie Cowan was presented with a card signed by the entire roster!

First up after the interval was the Battle Royal featuring the BOWL tournament losers and a couple of wild cards, Rob Mills and Jam O'Malley.  This also featured more Hardcore title action.  Conor Frost pinned Westy for the Hardcore title before being pinned by Jam O'Malley.  Saint-George hit O'Malley with the Saint George Cross but was unable to make the pin.  Sully and then Rob Mills piled on top of O'Malley and Saint-George but neither was successful in getting a three count.  Finally Westy jumped on top of the pile-up in the ring and scored the three count to retake the Hardcore title.  Back to the Battle Royal, Saint-George and Conor Frost teamed up to clear everyone from the ring, before Frost eliminated himself and handing the win to Saint-George.

Jason McKinlay came out to the ring to address Taking Over on 6th June, in which both he and Bravehart would have a team compete for the right to run Reckless Intent.  Saint-George made yet another appearance, getting himself a seat in the ring and making noise about how wonderful Bravehart is and how he would be helping Bravehart destroy McKinlay before demanding that McKinlay get on his knees and beg for mercy, at which point several roster members came out to back up the Reckless Intent General Manager and send Saint-George packing.

The penultimate match of the night saw Mikey take on the self proclaimed "Best Young Wrestler in the World" Lewis Girvan.  An absolute belter of a match, this was by far my Match of the Night.  Girvan took every opportunity to work the recently repaired knee of Mikey (and antagonising Janet)  which only made the crowd cheer louder and harder for Mikey.  Evenly matched in height, weight and agility, there was no clear favourite to win and both showed no fear, pulling off some incredible moves.  With several near falls for both men, the match went back and forth.  This really was one of those matches were both guys deserved to win, but this time it was Mikey who took the victory and I for one would absolutely love to see a rematch!  In fact why not check this one out for yourself by clicking here - you'll be glad you did!

The main event was the final of the Battle of West Lothian tournament between LJT and Venym.  Despite this being a good match, for me it was a little bit of an anti-climax after the previous match.  I don't know if Venym gave it all in his previous match to make it to the final but he appeared to be a bit tired in this match and LJT definitely outshone him in this match and was a worth winner in the end!

LJT with the Battle of West Lothian Trophy

The next event Taking Over is on 6th June at Murieston Scout Hall and is sure to be another cracking show.  Tickets are available now priced £10 Adults £5 Kids or a family ticket (2 adults, 2 kids) is £25.  Reserved ringside seating is also available by booking online for £12.50 per person or £35 for the family ticket.

Check out Reckless Intent on Facebook to keep up to date with all their future events and ticketing information.