Review: PBW Capital Clash

Sunday 26 October 2014

Finally, Premier British Wrestling comes to Edinburgh!  I was so pleased that one of the companies I have been travelling to see were coming to my home town.  As their shows are usually around the Glasgow area, there were complaints from some people about having to travel and others were not happy that the venue had a 14+ policy which meant a lot of the families with younger children could not attend.

As we had bought VIP tickets, we had an early entry and Meet and Greet with Chris Masters and The Addiction (formerly known as Bad Influence).  Chris Masters spent a little time chatting with Rob about training before we moved on to Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian.  As Rob had his photos taken with them both at the TNA fan interaction in January, it was my turn to get a photo!  Unfortunately it was then that my camera decided to play up and we ended up holding up the queue slightly.  Luckily I got it working again and Rob managed to get the snap!

The first match of the night was between "Bad Boy" Liam Thomson and PBW Champion El Ligero.  Thomson came out complaining that his match was announced as a non-title match and he found it insulting and challenged El Ligero to put the title on the line.  It was at this time we realised the difference an older crowd made as Thomson asked Ligero if he was a pussy! Challenge accepted and we now had a title match.  Ligero took the fight to Thomson, with some of his cracking aerial moves before the action spilled outside the ring.  Thomson was dumped into a seat at ringside before being knocked straight back out of it.  Once back in the ring, Thomson came back, gaining momentum and scoring a two count.  The match then went back and forth until Thomson got the PBW belt and made to nail El Ligero.  Fortunately the referee was on the ball and refused to allow this to happen.  Ligero then hit Thomson with a splash from the top rope before pinning him to retain his title.  Thomson lay stunned in the ring as the Mexican celebrated, before demanding that the referee explain what had happened.  A great match to start the show.

The next match was scheduled to be Davey Blaze & Carmel v Grado & Kay Lee Ray in a mixed tag team match, however earlier in the day there had been an announcement that both Grado and James Scott (who was scheduled to appear later) would be unable to appear and replacements had been confirmed.  Davey Blaze came out to the ring with Charles Boddington, followed by Carmel, who took the microphone and started to insult the crowd before they proceeded to make digs at Grado's non-appearance.  Carmel stated that if he couldn't be bothered to show up that she was done and they should just go.  As they looked to leave the ring, music rang out and Kay Lee Ray and Tommy Marx appeared.  The girls started things off before Blaze and Marx were tagged in and at this point the double teaming began.  Marx was isolated in the oppositions corner and while Carmel antagonised KLR causing the ref to stop her from getting into the ring, Marx was beaten by both team members, with Boddington getting in on the action too.  Marx was finally able to tag in KLR who nailed Blaze and Carmel with a double dropkick from the top rope before taking control over Carmel. Boddington got on the apron and ended up knocked to the floor while in the ring, KLR pinned Carmel as Marx pinned Blaze to take the win for the fan favourites.

The first half main event saw Jack Jester face Chris Masters.  Masters played up to the crowd after his entrance as Jester sat unimpressed at ringside before getting into the ring and telling Masters to get on with it.  As the bell rang to signal the start of the match, we could clearly hear the guy on the stage doing the commentary for the DVD so Masters decided to do his own commentary, much to the amusement of the audience!  When the action finally got going, they seemed evenly matched until Masters hit Jester with a suplex before going for the pin.  Jester got out of the ring and grabbed a chair before heading back toward the ring.  Masters decided to do the same, at which point Jester dropped his chair and demanded the referee get the chair off Masters. The action then spilled out of the ring again and through the crowd, onto the bar and back to ringside where Jester shoved Masters onto a chair which had been vacated by a fan going to the bar, however the chair collapsed under Masters weight.  Back in the ring, Jester took the advantage but Masters was able to rally, getting Jester into his "Masterlock".  With the referee standing directly in front of the two men asking Jester if he was okay, Jester hit Masters with a backheel lowblow, breaking the hold and making the pin.  As a victorious Jester left the ring, Masters complained loudly to the referee that "he hit my balls" before making several attempts to give the referee a backhand to the nether regions.

The first match after the interval was Kenny Williams v Lou King Sharp.  This was a great match with two young guys who can really move around the ring at some pace.  Williams is becoming one of my favourites and Sharp is definitely one to watch.  Still only a teenager, he really seems to have perfected his character and works it really well and there was a wee chant of "you've got school in the morning" from a group at the other side of the ring.  Sharp started off doing push ups in the ring so Williams grabbed his feet and let him faceplant the mat.  There followed lots of fast and furious action with plenty of "flying" from both guys with Williams the victor on this occasion and Sharp being carried backstage by the referee.

The penultimate match of the night featured TJ Rage as a replacement for James Scott against the masked wrestler, El Technico.  El Technico seemed to have a small fan club in the balcony who made lots of noise which I thought was great as for much of the show there had not been as much noise from the crowd as usual.  Within seconds of the bell ringing, El Technico had knocked Rage out of the ring and then suicide dived him, almost landing on me and with them both being big guys, I admit that I panicked a little.  Back in the ring Rage tried to use his strength and El Technico his agility to try to keep the advantage over the other but it was Rage who took the win after hitting El Technico with an incredible spear before pinning him for the 3 count.

Finally it was time for the main event, The Addiction (also known as Bad Influence) v Just Uz for the PBW Tag Team titles. Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian came out first and took pleasure in winding up the crowd as they introduced each other.  BT Gunn and Stevie Xavier came out to their usual pop.  This was my match of the night with some great action from both teams and some hysterical comebacks from Christopher Daniels, who totally owned me when I gave him some abuse - after repeating "clean break" about twenty times I asked if he had got stuck on repeat.  His response was if he wanted crap from me, he'd scrape my tongue - and that was just one of many!!  Just Uz did their quick tags and slaps to the face of Kazarian before The Addiction managed to isolate BT Gunn and double-team him, having the referee distracted by trying to keep Xavier from making the save.  It was Just Uz who eventually took the win to retain the titles before BT Gunn took to the microphone to thank Daniels and Kazarian for coming to Scotland and giving them such a good match.  Daniels responded by saying they were thrilled to be a part of the independent scene in Scotland and to be as good as they were, they had to wrestle guys as good as Just Uz.  They also stated that Just Uz got the win this time but they would do it again for sure....and I want to see that rematch!

This event was great and the last minute changes to the card did not detract from the show at all.  It was filmed for a DVD release and I am looking forward to getting my copy and watching this event again.  I also hope that PBW will return to Edinburgh again in 2015.

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PBW Live at the Pavilion Theatre Review

Saturday 15 March 2014

This was both my first PBW show of the year (Rob and I were in Manchester for TNA the same date as Maybole and I was ill the day of the Airdrie show) and the first time ever in the Pavilion Theatre.  I wasn't really sure how this would work with the ring up on a stage and everyone seated to one side but I figured it was worth checking out.

Now please remember these blogs are just my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree with what I write so please bear this in mind!  For me, as lovely as the Pavilion was, the atmosphere just wasn't the same.  I love to get in the heel's faces and have them insult me or tell me to shut up while I am booing them, but at the Pavilion this was only possible if you were sitting in the front row.  Most of the wrestlers entered from the side of the stage instead of making their way to the ring through the stalls which I thought would have been way cooler!  The other disadvantage was having the ring so much higher than seating level meant there were less opportunities for really good photos unless I stood up (so jealous of a certain Mr Wilson who always gets the really cool shots).  My other moan would be with the venue staff.  Early in the show I had a female member of staff ask me to sit down as I was obstructing the view of people behind me.....well I may be a loudmouth but I am not ignorant and had there been anyone sitting behind me I would not have been standing but the seats behind me were empty so I don't get what the problem was...unless I was obstructing her view from her spot beside the doors!  Then she came back and complained that my camera flash was annoying people - so I turned it off.  When I got up to dance during Grado's entrance, a male member of staff asked me to sit down - when I asked him what the problem was as there was no-one behind me he said there was a no standing rule.  I am just surprised they didn't ask me to be quiet because they seemed to have a problem with everything else I did!!!

Now on to the positives...the show itself.  Once again Ross Watson put together a fantastic show.  First match was fan favourites Just Uz against the Coffey Brothers, Mark and Joe.  This match took place in the ring, on the stage in front of the ring and even made its way into the stalls for a short time.  A great high energy match which ended in the win for Just Uz, but I am liking the Coffey Brothers more each time I see them wrestle - future tag champs I think!

Next was Scott Maverick up against "The Unstoppable" Andy Wild.  Another solid match which went back and forth while the crowd chanted "Let's Go Wild" until Andy scored the pinfall.

The next match was scheduled to be a PBW title match between "Bad Boy" Liam Thomson, accompanied by Carmel Jacob, and Noam Dar.  As Dar was injured, Thomson issued an open challenge to anyone from the PBW Academy.  The challenge was answered by "Mexican" El Technico, a big guy in orange trunks and an orange and black mask with bits flying that just reminded me of the alien in the Predator movies and even whiter skin than me.  If you are going with the Mexican thing mate, invest in some fake tan!!  This was not a bad match but the crowd were pretty quiet.  This can happen with unknown wrestlers and no-one wanted to chant for Thomson.  El Technico showed some good moves but as I have often said to Liam, he only wins when Carmel is there to do it for him and this proved true once again as Carmel's interference was the only reason for Thomson's win.

The second half started with Red Lightning entering accompanied by Charles Boddington.  He made reference to being attacked and hiring Boddington as protection.  This was greeted by chants of "baldie midget".  Then the crowd went wild as his opponent entered via the centre aisle of the stalls...the one and only Grado!  There were hysterics as Grado tried and failed to squeeze between the handrail on the stage steps and a large speaker...and more when he was dragged up onto the stage by David Wilson, official photographer as mentioned earlier!  Grado is an amazing entertainer and really gets the crowd behind him.  Once the match was underway there were the usual underhand tactics by Boddington to try to get his man the win but it backfired when he tried to use his briefcase on Grado and took out Red Lightning instead.  Grado scored the win and the crowd went wild again.

Next up was a tag match with the heels TJ Rage and James Scott facing Kenny Williams and Davey Blaze.  James Scott's build and hairdo has earned him the nickname of "wee fat Taz" and I admit to starting said chant....and the filthy look I got from TJ Rage was brilliant, so I gave him a wee wave and shouted "Hiya TJ"  That was the closest I got to actual interaction during the show but I will still take it!  This was a pretty brutal match and no matter how much the crowd chanted for Kenny and Davey, it was the heels who took the win.

The final match up of the night was Jack Jester against Wolfgang.  The majority of the crowd were firmly in the Wolfgang camp, however I did my best to keep the Jester chants going throughout much of the match and I have to say I think I did pretty well.  This was another match that took place in the ring, on the stage and in the stalls.  Both men pulled off some great moves but eventually Wolfgang took the win.

After the show, fans could meet and have photos taken with the wrestlers.  This was actually done in the street in front of the theatre.  Thankfully it wasn't raining as some of the guys were still in their wrestling gear!  Had a wee chat with Andy Wild about his black eye at PWE - thankfully he had got it checked and it was okay but it had looked really bad.  Got my pic taken with Jester wearing my new Jester t-shirt and he thanked me for photos I had taken the night before of him with his baby nephew and had printed for him.  I also had a pic taken with Wolfgang, who I have often told I will always cheer, just not always for him. As you can see, I am not impressed by his win, and he is not impressed by my shirt!!

 

 



 Anyway, my final thoughts are this....the show was fantastic but I wasn't keen on the venue.  It was great if you wanted to take young kids along and there were a lot of youngsters here, but it wasn't for me.

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