Review: SWA Zero 1 Scotland - The Next Chapter - Cumbernauld

Friday 6 June 2014

After the cracking Clan Wars show in Motherwell back in April, Rob and I were looking forward to seeing another SWA show and it was just pure luck that we were able to get to this one, despite the obstacles that seemed to rear up at us all through the day trying to stop us!!

Our MC/Ring Announcer for the evening was David Campbell Thomson, more commonly known as DCT and a fine job he did too. 

First match of the night pitted young Lewis Girvan against Eric Canyon.  I have only ever seen Eric Canyon in team action before so I was looking forward to seeing what he could do in singles competition.  Canyon comes off as cocky with an "I love me, who do you love" attitude which had me asking for a sick bucket!  Girvin took the advantage early in the match but Canyon used his size to gain the upper hand, even calling out his moves and blatant cheating, including using his wrist tape to choke Girvan.  Girvin impresses me more every time I see him.  Tall, lean and pale, he is the complete antithesis of the wrestler image of big, bulky and tanned but, bloody hell this boy can hold his own against those bigger guys and usually get the better of them too.  This was proved once again when he took the win against Canyon.

Next up was Rob's favourite, Nikki Storm against Courtney.  Storm really does heel well, turning her nose up at the crowd and really inciting them to boo her.  Rob decided to disown me when I called her a poison dwarf.  Storm asked Courtney what she did that was so special, so Courtney did the splits - Storm tried and failed, blaming her tight trousers for her inability to do so!  The wrestling itself was not bad.  Courtney was obviously fan favourite and underdog to the experienced Storm, but she gave as good as she got, with Storm retreating to the ringside area to escape more than once.  There were several near falls, with Storm arguing with the ref about whether they were 3 counts or not.  Storm finally rolled up Courtney, and with her feet up on the second rope for leverage, took the pin.

The next match was scheduled to be fan favourite, Grado against Christopher Saynt.  Grado came out to his usual pop, while Saynt appeared, accompanied by Dave Conrad, to a chorus of boos and catcalls.  The match started with the usual comedy routine, including Grado patting down ref Stevie Wizard before giving his bum a wee nip, then riding Saynt like a donkey, but just as things looked like getting serious, Conrad jumps into the ring and the two heels start beating on Grado....until the Beast from Belfast Damian O'Connor appears and suddenly we have a tag match on our hands. 

Dave Conrad squares up to big Damo in the centre of the ring...big mistake...within seconds he is on the canvas with Damo standing on his chest, before jumping off and dropping those massive shoulders on Conrad.  Grado tags in and it's not long before Saynt and Conrad have the upper hand, double teaming Grado while Damo is held back by the referee.  Finally Damo manages to get the tag and after doing his cannonball into the corner on both Conrad and Saynt, invites Grado to have a go too. Grado attempts an F5 on Conrad which fails, however a second attempt, this time on Saynt succeeds and with Damo holding Conrad outside of the ring, Grado gets the pin.  Cue the celebrations...however Damo decided not to join Grado in his traditional celebration dance and invited Grado to join him in "The Slosh" instead (although I don't think Grado really knew how to do "The Slosh").

The final match of the first half was Mikey Whiplash against Ryoji Sai from SWA's sister promotion Zero 1 in Japan.  This was an absolute treat to watch.  This started off as a real lesson in technical mat based wrestling, with Whiplash focusing mainly on the left knee of Sai.  Sai then took the upperhand, hitting Whiplash with a dropkick, then telling us "look at this, this is Samurai Brainbuster"!  Whiplash once again went for the knee of Sai and nearly scored the pin after a cracking suplex then took to the ropes, where Sai got him in a Superplex before finally putting him down for the 3 count with a gutbuster.  A win for Sai....and for the crowd who got to witness probably one of the best matches I have ever seen.

 

After the match, Whiplash gets the microphone and starts complaining that he should have been given a rematch against Joe Coffey for the title and he was going to sit in the ring and stage a dirty protest until he was given his title shot.  Out comes John "The Bomb" Graham to tell him he doesn't deserve a title shot and he is now at the bottom of the ladder.  Whiplash retorts that he was the one to put Graham into retirement and he can see that Graham wants nothing more than to get back into the ring and try to beat Whiplash one more time....setting up a match between the two at Battlezone in October and of course with all the talk of ladders, it has to be a TLC match - take my money now!!

 

After a short interval, the action resumed with another belter of a match between Jack Gallagher and another of the Japanese Zero 1 stars, Obata.  After a slow start, this really got moving with both guys showing us just what they were capable of ... big forearms, standing dropkicks, you name it.  After a good show of mat wrestling (although not as good as the previous match), they took it to the ropes, having a wee battle on the turnbuckles with Gallagher attempting a suplex before Obata pushed Gallagher off the ropes, following up with a cracking missile dropkick.  It was Gallagher who was victorious however after connecting with a beauty of a dropkick himself, followed by a swanton which was just amazing to watch.

 

The next match had been scheduled to be a Laird of the Ring Title Match between champion Joe Hendry and challenger Mark Coffey, however the day before it was announced on the SWA Facebook page that Joe Hendry had not been medically cleared to compete and that Kenny Williams had been booked to face Mark Coffey instead.  I was therefore a wee bit confused when Hendry appeared in his pink suit and announced that he was refusing to defend the Laird of the Ring title until he got a title shot against Joe Coffey for the heavyweight belt.  Maybe they should have held off on the FB post??  Didn't stop the chants of "chicken" and "Joe Hendry Total Zero"!

Anyway Mark Coffey v Kenny Williams.... this turned out to be a really good match. With Coffey standing steady and Williams bouncing off the ropes and flying around, it was quite a display. Coffey took the upper hand using his strength, only for Williams to come back at him with some flying kicks. The match ended with Coffey rolling up Williams for the three count by using a handful of shorts for extra leverage!  Williams was obviously unhappy with the way the match ended and while remonstrating with the referee, Coffey hits him from behind.  Obviously unhappy about losing his title shot, he takes his frustration out on Williams and there you have it, Mark Coffey turns heel! 

The night's main event was the Scottish Heavyweight title match between Joe Coffey and Jackie Polo.  This was also my Match of the Night, although it was a very close contest between this and the Whiplash/Sai match for the honour!  Jackie Polo's entrance is a little piece of comedy gold in itself - prancing through the crowd with his neck brace and polo mallet, singing along to his entrance music and posing for every camera he spots (and boy does that man know how to find a camera lens).  Joe Coffey appears with the belt round his waist and his face painted and the crowd just love him!  The battle commences and its not long before there is more paint on Polo's singlet than on Coffey's face.  After taking a bit of a beating from Coffey and leaving the ring to escape to chants of chicken, Polo brings in his polo mallet. 

Referee Stevie Wizard grabs the mallet off him and turns to put it out of the ring when Polo hits Coffey with a low blow and follows up with a couple of scoop slams.  Polo then decides to do a little strut around the ring, giving Coffey a chance to recover and get him into that awesome move he does by swinging him around the ring before dumping him on his back and then flipping him over into a Boston Crab.  This time Polo managed to get to the ropes and the hold was broken and Polo managed to pull Coffey's head off the top rope from the ring apron to catapult him back across the ring - you can see a wee video here - believe me its good!  Polo has a wee turn of being top dog and it's actually starting to look like we might get a new champion but eventually Coffey's second attempt at the Boston Crab has Polo tapping out.

 

A damn good show and some amazing displays by some very talented guys and girls.  We will definitely be looking for VIP packages for Battlezone.

 

Check out SWA on Facebook and their website for details of their upcoming events.

Review: W3L Seven Deadly Sins

Sunday 25 May 2014

This was our first visit to W3L and also our first afternoon show.  I had recently heard of W3L but their recent show in Edinburgh was on a Friday and thats my day with my nieces and nephews and we missed the start time so gave it a miss.  Funnily enough, it was while I was out with my nieces in Penicuik that I saw a poster stuck to a lamp post advertising their Seven Deadly Sins Tournament in Penicuik on a Sunday...except that was the date we were supposed to be visiting Rob's gran.  Luckily for us, the visit was postponed by a week which meant we were free to check out what W3L had to offer.

The afternoon started with an appearance by Euan Mackie and "The Head of Francois Martin" who took the microphone to address the crowd.  Unfortunately the microphone kept cutting out and he ended up giving his speech without it.  He talked about how the people did not appreciate those who were different and how cliches and groups were taking over W3L and that the underappreciated, undervalued and outcasts needed safety and he was the Hierophant of Sanctuary and that after tonight he would have brought us the King of Scottish Wrestling.  As he left ringside, I called out "we love you Euan" to which he replied "I'm glad, you may be the only ones, although after tonight you will probably hate me!"  We knew right then it was gonna be a good show.

Ring Announcer Stevie Wizard then came to the ring to tell us about how the Tournament would work.  First there would be a 7 man over-the-top-rope battle royal with the winner progressing directly to the semi-finals.  The 6 eliminated contestants would then be paired up for a one fall match with a strict 10 minute time limit.  The semi-finals would be submission matches with the final being a no-holds barred, last man standing match.  The winner would then get a title shot at their Wrestlution event being held in Musselburgh on 21 November.  There would also be a heavyweight title match between current champion Nathan Reynolds and British legend Johnny Kidd.

The seven man battle royal featured Mikey Whiplash, Joe and Mark Coffey (the current W3L tag champions) and four new faces for us, Mike Musso, Danny Boy Rodgers, Rory Steel and Nathan Black, who was accompanied by Euan Mackie and the masked figure of The Redeemer.  Danny Boy was eliminated almost immediately, quickly followed by both Coffey brothers, Rory Steel and Nathan Black, leaving Mikey Whiplash and Mike Musso to battle it out.  Whilst the others left ringside, the Sanctuary members remained and it wasn't long before they began to interfere in the match, assisting Whiplash.  With The Redeemer and The Pillar Nathan Black attacking Musso, Euan sprayed Musso in the face with his mouthful of black fluid, blinding him.  Whiplash then eliminated him, taking the spot in the semi-final and Musso was helped from ringside by the referee, whilst Santuary took to the ring for Euan to announce that he had indeed delivered and that Mikey Whiplash was the King of Scottish Wrestling.

It was then on to the second round matches, the first of which was between Danny Boy Rodgers and Joe Coffey.  While Danny Boy's entrance was met with virtual silence, Joe got a great reception from the crowd and Danny Boy didn't like it and told us to shut up....I invited him to make me but he didn't bite!  We were treated to some great wrestling with both guys scoring near pins, however it was Joe Coffey who had the upper hand for most of the match, much to the crowd's delight, and with less than a minute of the 10 minute time limit left, he took the pin and moved into the semi-finals.

Next up was Nathan Black, again accompanied by Euan Mackie and The Redeemer, against Mike Musso.  With Musso out for revenge after the earlier attack by Sanctuary, he tore into Black immediately and, appearing to have the upper hand, climbed the turnbuckle only to have Euan Mackie jump up onto the ring apron, grab his leg and bite him!  The momentum swung back and forth but it was Nathan Black, with further assistance from his Sanctuary cohorts, who took the victory and a place in the semi-finals.  They then proceeded to attack Musso after the match, leaving Musso to once again be helped from ringside by the referee while Sanctuary gloated!



The final match in the second round was Rory Steel versus Mark Coffey.  Steel played the heel beautifully and gave a great response to my heckling.  After first getting into my face at ringside, he finally got into the ring and when I called him a big jessie, he replied he was perfection.  I told him I had a perfect match for him - his face and my arse!  Mark Coffey's face was a picture and Rob managed to capture it all on video which you can see here.  This was a really good, fast paced match which had the crowd going.  The action spilled out onto the floor where Steel grabbed an inflatable hammer from one of the kids and hit Coffey.  Coffey was quickly back on his feet and returned the favour, inviting the kids at ringside to take their shots too.  Unfortunately this ringside entertainment resulted in both men being counted out and neither moving into the semi-finals, giving Mikey Whiplash a free ride into the final.  Not a popular decision with the crowd, including myself, who wanted to see this match continue!

It was then time for the only semi-final between Nathan Black and Joe Coffey to be determined by submission.  Again Black was accompanied by Euan Mackie and The Redeemer.  This was a brutal match between the two big guys and a series of running shoulder blocks with neither man going down just proved how well matched these two guys were.  When Euan attempted to interfere from the top turnbuckle, Joe got hold of him and threw him at The Redeemer, taking the outside interference out of the equation and allowing Joe to spin Black around before getting the submission win.  When The Sanctuary attempted to attack Coffey after the bell, Mark Coffey appeared to help even the numbers and the brothers sent them fleeing!

 

During the interval there was an opportunity to have your picture taken with The Coffey Brothers and Rob was right in there!  We had expected to see David Wilson taking the photos, however when I saw Stevie Wizard with a polariod camera I was a bit disappointed and quickly ran round the side of the ring and managed to snap a couple of pics myself and after they had finished their photo op, both guys signed the mask Rob had made.

The first match after the interval was a heavyweight title match between British wrestling legend Johnny Kidd and the current champion Nathan Reynolds.  This was a much slower paced match with a lot of technical mat-based holds and the crowd were more subdued, although there were a few breakouts of chanting for Reynolds.  While a fantastic example of mat wrestling, I felt it was a bit out of place in an afternoon show where a large portion of the audience were kids who wanted to see wrestlers flying from the top rope and had never heard of Kidd.  Despite Kidd dominating the majority of the match with some great examples of holds, it was ultimately Reynolds who took the win to retain his title.


It was then time for the final of the Seven Deadly Sins Tournament, the No-Holds Barred match where the only way to win was to beat your opponent to the point that they failed to get up before the 10 count.  Having seen these two face each other in a steel cage before, I knew this would be brutal.  Mikey Whiplash came to the ring first, accompanied by Euan Mackie and Nathan Black.  He then took the microphone (which hadn't worked properly throughout the show) and announced that he was the King of Scottish Wrestling (to which I responded that I was Miss World and got the full Whiplash death stare in return) and that as much as he appreciated the support, he did not require the presence of the Sanctuary members at ringside and asked them to leave.  Joe Coffey then arrived to huge cheers from the crowd.  As expected, it was a brutal match, with both men pulling out all the stops to get the win.  There were several times when both men were down and being counted but managed to get back to their feet before the count out.  The match spilled out onto the floor, where Joe introduced Mikey to a chair face first, then sat him on the chair before knocking both him the chair flying.  With the action back in the ring, Mackie and Black made their way back to ringside, taking up places on either side of the ring.  With both Whiplash and Coffey down and the referee counting both men out, they made their move.  As the count reached 7, both men made it to their feet but with the referee's back to Coffey he did not seeing him rise.  Black pulled on Coffey's leg, dropping him back to the canvas and still holding the leg to stop him getting back up, the referee continued the count and Whiplash scored the win and the title shot.  Black and Mackie then both entered the ring to join Whiplash in attacking Coffey, before Mark Coffey and Nathan Reynolds appeared to make the save.

Overall, I really enjoyed my first W3L show.  Although some of the matches were time-limited, they did not disappoint.  With some of the guys appearing in more than one match, they could have appeared lacklustre in the later matches, however this was not the case, with Joe Coffey in particular putting just as much into his last match as he did the first.  I would love to see Nathan Reynolds in a faster paced match and Rory Steel has made my top 3 favourite heels list!  I won't be able to make their next Edinburgh show on 19 July as I already have tickets for another event, however I hope to make it to their show on 21 November!

For more information on W3L and future events, check out their facebook page or website.