Reckless Intent presents Unleashed

Saturday 20 September 2014

I wasn't going to this show.  We had tickets for Pride Wrestling's show which was originally scheduled for 16 August but they had changed the date, so after Rob had taken part in the Reckless Intent training seminar with Andy Wild and Johnny Lions, we said our goodbyes, wished everyone a good show and headed to Glasgow for the Pride show, where we were meeting up with a friend who was travelling from Dundee.

There were some nasty comments aimed at me after my Hell For Lycra blog and several of the people making said comments were going to be at Pride.  Now I pay for my ticket and am entitled to my opinion.  I don't expect everyone to agree with me but I write what I think/feel about what I have seen.  If you don't like it, don't read it - however I would like to thank my haters for the publicity.  I have never received 300 hits in 24 hours before!  This blog was only started because my son asked me to...it's a way for us to connect - and anyone who deals with someone on the autistic spectrum will know how hard it can be to connect.  So matter how bad some people may think my blogs are, I plan to keep writing them.

Back to show day....we stopped on en-route for something to eat and I asked Rob to forget the drama and the fact we already had tickets for Pride, which of the 3 shows would he rather be at (BCW also had a show on in East Kilbride and I was silently hoping that he would pick that!)  He said he really would have liked to stay for the Reckless show so once we got to the venue and spoke to our friend, the three of us jumped in the car and headed back to Livingston, arriving just in time for the start of the show.

First, ring announcer Jason McKinlay announced that the Board had relieved General Manager John Long of his position with immediate effect.  He then introduced the arrival of Saint-George, who came out waving a huge Union Jack instead of his usual St George's Cross - which I was not sure was a good idea after the post-referendum happenings in Glasgow.  He took great exception to the fact that he had not been announced as the Reckless Intent World Champion and demanded that he be introduced again in the correct manner.  He then addressed the man he would face in the main event later that evening, Martyn Stallyon and his match against Ian Ambrose at Hell For Lycra.  After berating his fellow Englishman for failing to take the title and failing his Queen and country, Stallyon's music rang out and as Stallyon appeared, Saint-George ran from the ring to hide behind the security at the main door.

The first match of the evening was Rawlins v Scott Renwick to decide the number one contender for the Reckless Intent World Title.  This was fantastic.  Renwick came out making jokes and had the crowd firmly behind him, which only antagonised Rawlins who wanted to get on with the match.  With Rawlings getting angrier he shouted to get on with it and Renwick said he would "show him the ropes".  What followed was an amazing match, the experience and skill of these two shone throughout and the entire match just flowed.  The combination of technical moves, counters and reversals with some high flyers, along with Rawlins "badness" in attacking Westy and a sprinkling of Renwick's wit kept the crowd entertained throughout.  Rawlins focused on the arm of Renwick, preventing him from completing his Angel's Wings move, however it was a "Super Rough Rider" from the top turnbuckle by Renwick that put Rawlins down for the three count.  With Renwick announced as the number one contender for the World Title, Saint-George makes another appearance, getting nose to nose with Renwick and declaring he won't go down as easily as in the Super Bowl, before shoving each other.  Saint-George leaves and Renwick holds out a hand to Rawlins, but the "Baddest Man in Professional Wrestling"refuses to shake.

Next out to the ring was Manlon, who announced he had no opponent as everyone was too scared to face him and issued an open challenge, following it up by inviting former Hardcore champ Wee Jimmy into the ring, which Jimmy declined.  With Manlon saying he was just going to head home to Glasgow, the music played and out came Aspen Faith and KT Kane, aka Team Smash.  Referee Westy had a Team Smash shirt put on him by Kane and with Manlon assuming Aspen Faith was answering the challenge, she then caught Manlon off guard by squaring up to him instead - inter-gender match!  This was the first time I had seen Kane and, although she is inexperienced she showed lots of potention.  I also have to say that I have seen Manlon do much better but I think maybe the fact he opened up his elbow may have affected his performance.   It's also unfortunate that this match came directly after such a great opener.  After a shaky start, they started to warm up but it never really flowed and the crowd didn't seem to get into it.  KT Kane took the win by submission and apparently Manlon had to make a trip to A&E to deal with his elbow.

The next match was Venym v Craig Valant.  I had seen Valant once before at Party in the Park (which I might still do a blog about) but this was his first official show for Reckless.  The crowd were relatively quiet during the match, which is normal with a new face but when they did make noise it was in support of Valant. These two guys are similar in height and build and Venym made the smart move to focus on the knee of Valant early on and dominated the first part of the match.  I was distracted and missed the middle part of the match however toward the end Valant seemed to be fighting back, dropping some big elbows on Venym before Venym took over and landed a massive legdrop on Valant but failed to get the pin.  Looking to finish things, Venym went for the corner splash on Valant, who jumped up, landed on Venym's back, before rolling him up and taking the win.

The first half main event saw Jackie Grady take on "The Unstoppable" Andy Wild.  This was a stoater!!  I cannot begin to put into words how good this match was.  It was by far the best I have ever seen of Grady.  Faced with the biggest match of his career so far, he came out with his usual cocky swagger as if he was the best wrestler there ever was, but for the first time it seemed he actually believed in himself and was really confident in his abilities and what a difference it made.  True to his moniker, Andy Wild was unstoppable and landed some chops on the chest of Grady which left him bruised.  After failing to pin Grady following a gutwrench suplex, Wild found himself in Grady's favourite submission maneuvre not once, but twice, however he used his strength to drag himself and Grady to the ropes in order to break the hold. Grady then attempted his "No Place Like Home" cravat neckbreaker but was unable to execute.  Wild landed a couple of kicks before finishing Grady with the "Wild Driver".  Despite not taking the win, Grady did amazing and I hope all his future matches are as great as this one.

Just before the interval, Jason McKinlay announced that a wee lad called Mason was celebrating his birthday (his 8th if I remember correctly) and called him into ring.  Scott Renwick came out with a signed event poster and Jason gave him two tickets for him and his wee brother to come to the next event.  Then the entire crowd sang happy birthday.  This photo is used with permission from his mum - thanks Mason's mum!

First match after the interval pitted "The Superstar" Darren Lewis against "Tenacious"Johnny Lions.  The crowd were totally behind Lions from the start and Lewis took great offence, demanding that the referee try to silence the crowd.  This just made them louder!  This was another match where the skill and experience of the wrestlers made the whole thing flow and really was a joy to watch.  Lewis played the heel to perfection, winding up the crowd and using the referee's 5 count to his advantage.  While Lions had a couple of chances, Lewis dominated much of the early part of the match, however Lions gained the momentum toward the end.  Lions looked like taking the win when with a cry of B.M.E, he climbed to the top, only for Lewis to use referee Westy as a human shield to approach the corner, grabbing Lions and hitting his "MuscleBuster" before pinning him for the 3 count. An unpopular win for Lewis which was met with a chorus of boos.

Mikey has been attacked by a masked man at events in the last few months and a recent video showed there to be not one but three men, known as SOS - Sons of Silence and tonight Mikey would face SOS in the ring.  With Mikey in the ring, one of the SOS members entered from the main door.  Mikey shot out of the ring and this match started outside of the unit and was less a wrestling match and more a brawl.  With Mikey finally able to get his hands on this masked guy, he put all the frustration of the last few months into beating on him until being cut down with a lowblow.  The match went back and forth until Mikey brought in  a steel chair and just as he was about to nail the SOS, a second masked man entered the ring, grabbed the chair and nailed Mikey.  SOS now had a 2 on 1 advantage and Mikey was sent across the ring into the chair they had propped on the ropes, landing on the floor outside.  With SOS taunting the crowd, Mikey returned to the ring with his forehead bleeding, grabbed the chair from the ropes and nailed both guys with it, before setting them up in the corner for a cracking coast to coast and scored the pinfall.  With Mikey on the rope celebrating, the third SOS member entered from the main door and delivered a massive power bomb.  With the match over, the three members of SOS attacked.  Suddenly a blast of music and Rawlins appeared on the ring apron, but instead of making the save, he shook his head and left again.  SOS resumed their assault on Mikey before the lights went out and when they came back on Scott Renwick, Craig Valant and Johnny Lions were in the ring and the SOS were nowhere to be seen.  This story is far from over!

Now for the main event and Saint-George is back in the ring - this time to put his title on the line against Martyn Stallyon.  Stallyon got a great reception from the crowd on his Reckless Intent debut and while the match got off to a bit of a rocky start it soon settled into a pretty good match.  The momentum swung back and forth throughout the match, even during the action outside of the ring at the start neither man was able to fully dominate.  A mis-timed blow caught Saint-George's eye and by the end of the match he had a bit of a shiner.   Finally, with Saint-George prone on the mat, Stallyon took to the turnbuckles  and went for the splash, however Saint-George moved out of the way.  He was then able to roll up Stallyon and using a handful of tights for leverage, scored the three count to retain the title.  Not content with that, he then continued to beat on Stallyon until his attention was caught by The Alpha Male who was sitting in the crowd.  As a verbal altercation with The Alpha Male ensued, Scott Renwick appeared in the ring behind him and delivered the Angel's Wings to Saint-George.   Stallyon picked up the title belt and handed it to Renwick who draped it over the face of the man he will now face for the title at the next event, Reckless Intentions.

This was a great show and I am really glad we didn't miss it.  It has been really tough to pick my match of the night - I have been torn between Rawlins/Renwick and Grady/Wild but after watching both matches again and again....and again, I have decided that it has to go to Jackie Grady and Andy Wild.  Go to the Reckless Intent Facebook page or YouTube channel and watch the video footage of both matches, in fact watch all of them - you won't be disappointed.  Then get yourself along to Livingston for the next event, Reckless Intentions on 4 October, with a 4 man TLC match featuring Chris Renfrew, Rawlins, Darren Lewis and Martyn Stallyon as the main event and tickets are only £5.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Proving Grounds

Saturday 28 June 2014

Another early start so Rob could help out left me sitting outside finishing some signs for the show!

Unfortunately Ring Announcer Jason McKinlay was ill, so we had to endure Saint-George Bernard as both the announcer for the night as well as acting General Manager.  The show started with Saint-George and John Long coming out to the ring to remind people that it was Armed Forces Day and that Reckless Intent were running a special raffle to raise money for the armed forces charity, SSAFA https://www.ssafa.org.uk/. (Tickets for this raffle are still available and the draw will take place at the next event, Cruel Summer on 9 August so if you plan to come along, remember to bring some money for raffle tickets too.)

And onto the show....first out to ringside was Manlon who called Hardcore Champion, Wee Jimmy into the ring and promptly pinned him to take the title under the 24/7 rules.  Then Juan El Loco Gato came out and pinned Manlon to take the belt, only for Wee Jimmy, who was still standing in the ring to quickly roll up Juan to regain the title before quickly exiting the ring with his belt.  A stunned Juan and Manlon then faced off against each other in what had to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. First Juan grabbed referee Westy and took his ref shirt and tried to instigate a match between Manlon and Westy.   Manlon was having none of it and quickly took the action to Juan, who eventually returned the ref shirt to Westy.  The match
continued in a comedy vein with Juan asking the crowd who was more manly, Manlon or Westy, then hugging Manlon during grappling sessions.  After smacking Manlon's face against his thigh several times, Juan jumped down and had the audience rub it better....and I was one of those "lucky" people!!  The fun continued when, using a remote control, Juan "paused" Manlon before hitting him with a low blow then hit play to watch Manlon writhe in agony.  Then Manlon grabbed the remote and returned the favour, before Juan used it for a final time to have Manlon punch himself in the face.  There was then a period of serious wrestling during which Manlon attempted his submission hold but Juan got to the ropes.  The match ended with Juan executing a frog splash from the top rope and scoring the 3 count!

Next match pitted Venym against Disturbed.  This match started off fairly straight forward with the crowd cheering for Disturbed against a very vocal Venym but then got a bit confusing as a second Disturbed appeared, knocking both the original Disturbed and Venym down with a crossbody from the top rope.  Venym was knocked from the ring, leaving the two Disturbeds to fight each other..and the confused crowd almost silent.  When Venym grabbed Disturbed 2 and dragged him outside the ring, Disturbed 1 did a suicide dive through the ropes to take both men out.  Back in the ring, Venym took the upper hand over Disturbed 1 going for a submission when Disturbed 2 made the save and attempted to pin Disturbed 1.  The match ended when Disturbed 1 ripped the mask from Disturbed 2 and left the ring, and while Disturbed 2 tried to cover his face with his hood, Venym rolled him up and took the win. Where the "Disturbed Saga" is going, I haven't a clue but I am sure it will become apparent soon!

Next out to the ring was Jackie Grady, who took the microphone to address the fact that he had issued a challenge to DCT who had been training in Romania and that as DCT had failed to show up and told referee Westy to start the match, count to 10 and then name Grady the winner.  As the count reached 7, the music blared and out came DCT.  A flummoxed Grady was then subjected to chants of "chicken" as he refused to re-enter the ring.  DCT took the advantage in the early part of the match, however Grady soon resorted to underhand tactics to get back into it.  As the momentum swung back in the favour of DCT, Grady managed to execute a swinging neckbreaker, following it with a sleeper hold but DCT managed to reach the ropes.  After nailing Grady with a DDT which sent him out of the ring, DCT lifted him back into the ring and after an unsuccessful pin attempt, was rolled up by Grady who, with his feet up on the second rope, scored the pin.

After a short interval, the action continued with a UK Title match between current champion Mikey and Dave Conrad.  Conrad first addressed the crowd and said that what had happened at the last event was a misunderstanding and that he wanted a fair match with Mikey for the title, then offered his hand for Mikey to shake and promptly kicked him in the gut.  With Conrad dominating the early part of the match, Mikey showed great heart, getting some hits here and there but Conrad would quickly subdue him again with a hard clothesline or slam into the corner.  A superb missile dropkick from the top rope started the momentum swing into Mikey's favour, followed by a standing dropkick in the corner then the "coast to coast".  After failing to score the pinfall, he was unable to get the bigger guy up for the "go to sleep", allowing Conrad to hit back with a massive powerbomb but when Mikey kicked out, Conrad started on Westy (and not for the first time) for not counting quickly enough before starting on a kid at ringside, allowing Mikey time to recover and finally execute the GTS and score the 3 count, retaining his title.  As Mikey celebrated in the ring, a masked man in a New Blood hoodie entered the ring, attacked him and quickly left.  Mikey then took the microphone and reminded the crowd of Jackie Grady's underhand tactics at the Super Bowl, hiding under the ring during the match then eliminating Mikey to take the title and how Mikey had then taken the title from him at Blackburn Gala Day after stopping him from pulling the same stunt.  He then offered Grady a rematch at the next event, Cruel Summer on 9 August.

Just before introducing the next match, Saint-George Bernard decided to get into a spat with a guy in the audience as his ego was obviously feeling it was not getting enough attention.  He then started on me again - the poor deluded Englishman still hasn't realised he will never win a war of words with me.  He then introduced John Long, who was to face Lowblow, with each man's job on the line.  Long started mouthing off, berating Lowblow with support from Saint-George.  It was around this time that I had to leave the unit for a few minutes to deal with an injury I had received to my foot earlier in the day so I missed Lowblow's entrance and the very start of the match, however I was told that when he was attacked by Saint-George while Long distracted the referee. After a stunned Lowblow was shoved back into the ring, Long took full advantage, using choke holds and yelling that Westy worked for him and that he better do as he was told.  I returned to the unit to see Lowblow being attacked again by Saint-George while Long was yelling in Westy's face before slapping the young referee. While Lowblow kept fighting, Long continued to use underhanded and illegal tactics and illicit the additional outside interference throughout from Saint-George.  Finally Lowblow started to gain the advantage, managing to get some revenge on both men both in and out of the ring, however Saint-George was not got going to allow this to continue and pulled Westy from the ring and knocked him down to the floor and second referee Adam was also subjected to the same fate.

Saint-George stripped the referee shirt from Westy and putting it on himself, declared himself the new referee.  Lowblow nailed Long with a kick and went for the pin but Saint-George carried out a slow count, inciting Lowblow to attack him.  Saint-George then hit him with a stunner, placed Long on his chest and made a fast count, declaring Long the winner.  With Long's job now safe, he then announced that Lowblow would have a final chance to secure his position in Reckless Intent, by winning a match at Cruel Summer against Rawlins!

Finally it was time for the Main Event, a match for the Reckless Intent World Title between Rawlins and Bobby Roberts, a fantastic confrontation which scored as my Match of the Night.  With the crowd firmly on "Team Bobby", Rawlins was unhappy with the chanting and, unable to get them to stop, took his frustrations out on the heavily strapped elbow of Roberts.  The momentum swung back and forth, with Roberts using his size and strength advantage, only for Rawlins to use his cunning and returning to the injured elbow.  When the action spilled out of the ring I took that as my cue to move out of my seat to protect my injured foot...and a good call it was! Rawlins knocked Roberts to the ground, jumped back into the ring and dived out between the ropes onto Roberts, only the big guy caught him and slammed Rawlins into the ringpost.  Back in the ring, momentum once again swung back and forwards, first Rawlins regained the advantage by again focussing on the elbow of Roberts then Roberts swung Rawlins from one corner to the other, slamming him into the turnbuckles.  The match ended when, after Roberts hit Rawlins with
a massive clothesline and went for the pin, Dave Conrad appeared at ringside distracting Roberts.  As Roberts turned to referee Westy to ask what was going on, Conrad slid a metal tray to Rawlins who slipped it inside his vest.  Roberts then turned his attention back to Rawlins, hitting him with a spear which knocked both men down.  As the referee count reached 7, Rawlins managed to roll over and get an arm across the chest of Roberts, taking the 3 count and retaining the title.

And so ended another great night of action.  Most of the matches are available to view on the Reckless Intent YouTube channel.  The next event "Cruel Summer" is on 9 August and matches have already been announced on the Facebook page so check it out and come along and watch some fireworks!

Review: Source Wrestling School Showcase 3

Sunday 22 June 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

For more information, check out Source Wrestling School on Facebook

Review: Reckless Intent presents Taking Over

Saturday 31 May 2014

I was not supposed to be reviewing this show...I was supposed to be reviewing the latest SWE Uprising but the card for this show just grabbed me.  Reckless Intent vs Source Wrestling..some of the best new talents facing each other.  I have attended several of the SWE shows and am really familiar with the roster but I have only been to a couple of RI shows and after the recent Source showcase, I really wanted a chance to see some of these new guys in action again - so to have both promotions showcase on the same show - it was a no-brainer!  (Don't panic my SWE friends, I still love you all and will be back in Dundee soon!!)

The event actually started a few days earlier when Saint-George Bernard decided to have a go on the Loudmouth Facebook Page....poor deluded Englishman actually thought he could win against me...but then again, he has not had to deal with me as often as some wrestlers and I am sure he will learn in time.  He did, however, inspire me to make some signs for the show - something I have never done before (it was actually quite fun and I plan to make more for visits to other promotions now!)

With Rob now training with Reckless, we arrived early so he could help with the pre-show setup while I stayed in the car with my cross stitch and kindle.  We have a rule that no matter what he hears regarding the shows, I do NOT want to know as it would spoil the show for me.  And so onto the show...

First up General Manager John Long takes to the microphone to say that he has suspended ring announcer Jason McKinlay for failing to keep Tavish MacPherson out of the building during the Super B.O.W.L. Tournament and that he will doing the announcing to show how it should be done.  He then continues to say that he had been in talks with someone better to replace Tavish within the company and this "Real Lowblow" will be making his debut later tonight.

First match of the night is between my biggest fan, Saint-George Bernard and Source Wrestling's Bobby Roberts, who I was really impressed with after seeing his match with Damo at the Source Showcase.  First out was Saint-George who, as expected, was not impressed with my wee poster and tore it to pieces.  He took the microphone and announced that he had challenged Roberts to a no disqualification match and that as Roberts had not responded, he was obviously too scared and would not be appearing.  This seemed to be backed up when Roberts music played but the man did not show.  As Saint-George began gloating, the music started up again and this time Roberts came out to huge cheers from the crowd and accepted the challenge.

The match started normally and Roberts quickly took the upper hand. I especially loved it when they were outside the ring and Roberts asked me to do him a favour and, whilst holding Saint-George in front of me said "Slap him"....and I did!!!  Once back in the ring, Saint-George managed to knock the wind from Roberts and took the opportunity to start bringing in the weapons, first a kendo stick, sledgehammer and dustbin lid.  After beating Roberts with the kendo stick, Saint-George then brought in a metal chair and a bag of thumb tacks which he emptied onto the mat.  Attempting to slam Roberts onto the tacks, Roberts reversed it and it was the Englishmen who became the walking pinboard!  Finally a wooden table was set up in the corner of the ring and when Saint-George tried to throw Roberts into it, the move was again reversed.  With Saint-George stopping short of slamming into it, he turned around and was immediately speared by Roberts straight into the wood and knocked senseless, allowing Roberts to get the pin.  The crowd were ecstatic with the result.  Roberts held out his hand to Saint-George but unsurprisingly the Englishman brushed past him and left ringside.

Once the ring had been cleared of debris and tacks, Source Wrestling's "Manliest of All Men" Manlon came to the ring and announced to the crowd that as no-one from Reckless had accepted his challenge, he had issued an open challenge and still had no-one accept.  Enter Reckless Intent Hardcore Champion Wee Jimmy.  As Manlon knelt down to "get down to Jimmy's level", Jimmy pushed him onto his ass and pointed to the curtain,  where John Long's "Real Lowblow" appeared....none other than Tavish MacPherson.  There was then a comedy segment with John Long looking sheepish ringside, Manlon and Tavish did a tango in the ring, followed by some bouncing across the ring off the ropes until one would shout "Stop" and Tav would slap Manlon.  There was actually some wrestling toward the end of the match however when Tav had Manlon pinned for the 3 count, John Long interfered and stated that Manlon's shoulder was off the mat.  Whilst he continued to distract Tavish, Manlon managed to get a submission hold on him and Tav passed out - an unpopular decision with the crowd - and the feud between Long and Tavish continues.

Next up was Reckless Intent's Venym against Source Wrestling's Celtic Arrow.  While Venym had the upper hand in size and strength, Celtic Arrow had the upper hand in speed and agility, making this a great match.  Venym dominated the early part of the match, using his size and strength to ground the smaller guy, however Arrow would not be kept down and after knocking Venym from the ring, flew between the ropes to knock him to the floor.  Back in the ring, Venym once again used his size and power advantage and continued his trash talking thoughout which incited the crowd to cheer louder for Celtic Arrow.  Finally we were shown the Arrow's flying skills from the top rope and he scored the pin to the take the win.


The first half ended with a match for the Reckless Intent UK Title between champion Jackie Grady and Source Wrestling's Lewis Girvan who, in my opinion, is the best young wrestler in Scotland at the moment and has an amazing future ahead of him.  A cracking match from start to finish, we were treated to both great mat work and aerial moves from both guys.  My personal favourite was when Girvan had Grady hangin upside down from the turnbuckles to my right, then scaled the ropes on the left and leapt from the turnbuckle, across the length of the ring and actually connected with Grady - amazing to see!  The momentum swung back and forth between these two, both scoring near pins however with Girvan taking the upper hand again, Grady obviously realised he was about to lose the match and grabbed the title belt, intending to use it as a weapon.  Referee Westy grabbed the belt and a struggle ensued between him and Grady.  As Girvan turned away in disgust, Grady let go of the belt and caught Girvan off-guard, rolling him up and scoring the pin to retain his title.

After a short interval, the action started again with Source Wrestling's Ryan Griffin facing off against Reckless Intent's Mikey.  Another amazing match between two very evenly matched guys.  Griffin appeared to have brought some fans with him as the crowd were very vocal in support of "Flying Ryan" and at times drowned out the cheers for local boy, Mikey.  There were with some fine examples of submission holds during this match, as well as fast paced flying from ropes.  There were a few laughs and a chant of "Janet" when Mikey's mum yelled at Griffin during the match too!  Neither of them big guys, they still managed to cause the ring to move with the force of hitting the ropes! With both guys giving absolutely everything they had, this was one of those matches where either man would be a deserving winner and this time it was Ryan Griffin took the win after blocking Mikey's superplex attempt and dropping Mikey to the canvas, splashed him from the top rope to score the pin.

 

The penultimate match was the World Title match between champion Rawlins and Source Wrestling's Dave Conrad and was my Match of the Night. This was the first time I had seen Conrad without Christopher Saynt either as his tag partner or standing in his corner so I was interested to see what he could do in his own right. The answer is actually quite a lot.  Facing off at the start of the match, it was easy to see that Conrad was the younger, bigger guy but Rawlins had the experience.  After antagonising the crowd, Rawlins set to work on Conrad's knee.  Conrad kept on trucking and when Rawlins attempted a crossbody from the top rope, Conrad actually caught him!  Time and again Rawlins went for the knee but each time Conrad managed to reach the ropes, forcing the hold to be broken and then retaliated, using his strength to knock Rawlins to the mat again and again.  Another first for me....I actually started a pro Conrad chant!  This was a brutal match, both for the competitors and for me....Rawlins outside of the ring in true heel format continued to antagonise the crowd and after screaming into Rob's video camera, gave him a slap and Rob scudded me on the forehead with his camcorder!!  Rawlins retained the title but Conrad proved that he is a talented wrestler and I look forward to seeing his career develop in the future.

The final match of the night was billed as an elimination tag match between Team Reckless (Mikey, Rawlins, Jackie Grady, Tavish, Saint-George and Venym) and Team Source (Bobby Roberts, Lewis Girvan, Ryan Griffin, Dave Conrad, Manlon and Celtic Arrow)  Before the match even started, it was obvious that there were tensions within Team Reckless.  The match started with Mikey and Manlon facing off but when Mikey tagged Rawlins in, the tensions erupted and John Long made the call to change the match to an over the top rope battle royal with the winner being named No 1 contender for the World title.  At that point chaos reigned with all 12 men battling each other and it was impossible to keep track of who was doing what to who!  Several times I moved from my seat to avoid flying legs as they came over the ropes.  Jackie Grady was eliminated first, followed by Venym before John Long entered the ring and eliminated Tavish.  
Celtic Arrow, Ryan Griffin and Lewis Girvan were next to be eliminated before a masked man in a black hoodie ran into the ring, eliminated Mikey and then disappeared back behind the curtain. Some members of the crowd began to chant "slightly average", assuming the man to be Darren Lewis. Since the show I have discovered that the hoodie worn by the masked assailant referred to a clique called New Blood but who was under that hood and mask remains a mystery!  Manlon, Conrad and Saint-George were soon eliminated,  leaving Bobby Roberts and Rawlins in the ring.  With Rawlins already holding the title and a No 1 contender spot on the line, it was at this point obvious what the result would be but the crowd still wanted to see it....Bobby Roberts eliminated Rawlins to become No 1 Contender and the two men will meet on 28 June to battle it out for the belt.

A great showing by all the guys from both promotions and, although there were major shenanigans in Dundee, I stand by my decision to see this show over the SWE one (sorry Bravehart). 

The next Reckless Intent show, Proving Grounds is on 28 June with tickets at just £5 per person.  Several matches have already been announced, including a match between GM John Long and Lowblow with their jobs on the line.  Saint-George, who broke his thumb during his match with Bobby Roberts, is sidelined and will be the special guest GM for the night!  Once again SWE have their Uprising show on the same night, so their card will have to be impressive to entice me to Dundee!

The Reckless Intent crew will also be appearing at Blackburn Gala Day on Saturday 14 June at Murrayfield Neighbourhood Park so feel free to come along and get a wee taste of what the Reckless Intent boys have to offer...and its totally free of charge!!

For more information on Reckless Intent and updates on their shows, visit their Facebook page