Review: Reckless Intent presents Over The Top

Saturday 1 November 2014

This was a big day for Reckless Intent.  They were taking their shows out of the unit and into an outside venue for the first time.  In the six months since my first visit to Reckless Intent for their Super BOWL two day event, I had noticed that the crowd was increasing at each event, with standing room only at the last two so it was inevitable that they would need to look at larger venues so for the final two shows of the year they booked Murieston Scout Hall.  Still there were a few nervous people wondering if enough people would come to make the larger venue worthwhile - and the answer was a resounding yes!

The show started with Reckless Intent World Champion Saint-George coming out to the ring, only to be faced with a crowd of boys from Bo'ness Rugby Club who treated him to a chorus of Flower of Scotland and lots of heckling as he filled the ring with balloons in celebration of the arrival of SWE Champion Ian Ambrose.  Ambrose came out carrying beers, which the two men used to toast the end of the career of Martyn Stallyon and each others "awesomeness", before Ambrose announced that he was going to end the career of Bobby Roberts.  Roberts then came out to huge cheers from the crowd.  After a verbal altercation with Saint-George, he turned his attention to Ambrose.  Roberts dominated the beginning of the match using his size and strength advantage, however Ambrose came back at him with some big kicks, using his agility to keep the bigger man off balance and with Saint-George hovering at ringside, interfering at every opportunity, Roberts had his work cut out for him.  Ambrose went for one move from the ropes too many however, and Roberts hit a cracking stunner on him and went for the pin, however Saint-George had the referee distracted and by the time the referee started the count, Ambrose had recovered enough to kick out at 2.  An enraged Roberts lost focus and Ambrose took the advantage again, however Roberts avoided the double footstomp attempt and instead hit him with a spear, before going for the pin.  This time Saint-George jumped into the ring and attacked Roberts, who was awarded the match by disqualification.

Saint-George then grabbed two chairs and they prepared to attack Roberts with them when the music of Scott Renwick played and the man himself appeared to make the save.  Ambrose and Saint-George dropped the chairs and ran from the ring.  General Manager Jason McKinlay appeared and asked Saint-George if the stipulations on his own match were the reason for him interfering in this match and reminded him that any cheating against Renwick would cost him the title and his position in the company.

Next up was "The Superstar" Darren Lewis v Craig Valant.  Lewis came out first, with the briefcase he won at Reckless Intentions, then demanded that The Grue carry it to the ring for him while the crowd chanted "slightly average".  Valant came out to cheers which made Lewis more annoyed and their initial grapple ended with a big slap to Valant's face by Lewis.  Valant went for a quick roll-up, giving Lewis fair warning that there would be no messing around and Valant would take whatever opportunity he could.  Lewis countered any offensive by going for the ropes or leaving the ring, returning to break the 10 count before sliding out again and receiving chants of "chicken".  He used underhanded techniques, such as taking a mouthful of water and spraying it in the face of Valant in order to put him off balance to take the advantage.  Valant tried to rally but Lewis once again used the ropes to his advantage, choking Valant, then ramming his shoulder into the midsection of Valant in the corner.  Valant refused to go down easy and the match went back and forth with each man trying and failing to score the 3 count, despite using some big power moves.  Finally Lewis was able to hit a cradle shock on Valant and take a very unpopular win.

The first half main event saw current Reckless Intent UK Champion Mikey put the belt on the line against Joe Hendry, who had vacated the Hardcore Title in exchange for this match.  Hendry took to the microphone to tell everyone how wonderful he was and that he would be the most dominant wrestler in Reckless Intent before inviting Mikey to join him in the ring.  With the Bo'ness Rugby Club boys giving Hendry some abuse, he announced if they did not shut up, he would leave.  This only made the crowd louder and Hendry did leave the ring and make toward the curtain as the referee began to count him out and only made it back into the ring by the skin of his teeth.  What followed was lovely to watch - a perfect blend of Hendry's technical style with Mikey throwing up some cracking aerial stuff including a lovely springboard dropkick.  Hendry hit Mikey with a clothesline that spun him a full 360 degrees but was only able to get a 2 count.  With the crowd firmly backing Mikey, Hendry tried several power and submission moves but Mikey kept coming back at him, finally hitting a series of big kicks, before missing a move from the ropes that once again gave Hendry the advantage.  The deciding factor in this match turn out to be neither man's particular skill set but the appearance of the SOS.  With Mikey finally appearing to be in control of the match, the SOS came out, distracting him and allowing Hendry to take advantage and score the win to become the UK champion.  But this was not the end....as the SOS members beat both Hendry and Mikey in the ring, the music of Darren Lewis started and it appeared that he was there to help Hendry and Mikey, until he smacked Hendry with the briefcase then handed it to the referee, cashing in his shot and pinning Hendry.  Darren Lewis becomes the new Reckless Intent UK Champion then takes to the microphone to say he had done "what's best for business!"  With Hendry blaming Mikey for the turn of events, this story was far from over....

The second half of the show started with the rematch we had all been waiting for - Saint-George would put the RI World title on the line against Scott Renwick, with a stipulation that if he were to win by count-out or disqualification he would be stripped of the title and fired.  Saint-George decided not to wait for the bell and attacked Renwick with the belt as soon as they had been announced.  Renwick rolled out the the ring and Saint-George followed, continuing his attack at ringside, including smacking Renwick off the ring apron several times and blasting him into the ringpost, before shoving him back into the ring.  He then grabbed a chair and attacked Renwick with it.  After focusing on the left knee, he got Scott's foot in chair and was about to jump on it from ropes when the referee called for some help.  More officials and Jason McKinlay appeared as Saint-George made the jump.  McKinlay reminded him of the no cheating clause, to which he replied the bell has not gone yet!  With Saint-George continuing to attack Renwick, he had to be physically restrained by the referee as the other officials removed the chair and helped Renwick back to his feet.  Finally the bell rang and the match officially started.  Saint-George continued where he had left off and again focused on the left knee of Renwick before Renwick hit him with a spear and went on the offensive.  The match was brutal and continued to swing back and forth, with near falls from both men, an RKO mid-match from Saint-George on Renwick, a sleeper hold which almost put Renwick out twice, before Renwick hung Saint-George upside down on the turnbuckle and dropkicked him, then later hit Saint-George with a massive dropkick from the top rope.   With both men exhausted, Renwick attempted the Angel Wings however Saint-George escaped and hit Renwick with a second RKO but could only get a 2 count.  Finally Renwick hooked up the Angel Wings and this time scored the 3 count to become the Reckless Intent World Champion.

As Renwick celebrated on the top rope, two members of the SOS appeared.  Saint-George held up his hands and quickly left the ring. Could Saint-George be linked to this mysterious group?  As SOS leader Sam Crowe looked on, his associate delivered a massive power bomb to the new champion, leaving him prone in the centre of the ring.  As they stood at ringside, several roster members came out to the ring to assist Renwick and the SOS disappeared.

Next up was a 6 man elimination match which would allocate an entry number in the rumble to the participants.  The first five entrants, AJ Russell, JJ Russell, Venym, Jackie Grady and SWE favourite LJT were in the ring when SWE owner Bravehart appears to introduce his Trident member Darren Blair.  As always in matches of this nature, chaos ensued.  Venym and Grady battled outside the ring at the entrance area, the Russell Brothers fought directly in front of their supporters from Bo'ness Rugby Club while LJT and Blair battled inside the ring and gradually the matches switched about.  With JJ Russell and Blair fighting at ringside, LJT looked to suicide dive them but was caught by a clothesline from Grady, who then did a flying dropkick through the ropes to take down the two outside.  LJT then did a corkscrew crossbody over the top rope to knock all three down with Venym doing a similar move to all four.  Finally AJ Russell played bowling ball to their skittles, hitting a "whisper in the wind" wiping out all 5 opponents before shoving Venym back in the ring.  Venym manages to swing AJ around the ring but only scored a 2 count on his pin attempt.  AJ then splashes Venym from the top rope and Grady makes the pin to eliminate Venym who will now enter the rumble first.  Darren Blair was eliminated next by LJT, who was then eliminated by AJ.  Grady and AJ appeared to face off, before working together to target JJ but JJ was able to rally, eliminating his brother before taking on Grady.  As he was about to finish Grady, AJ jumped up on the apron and distracted him.  JJ sent him flying with a dropkick before returning his attention to Grady and finally scoring the pinfall, JJ Russell took the number 30 slot in the rumble.

The final match before the rumble was "The Baddest Man in Professional Wrestling" Rawlins v Falcon.  Rawlins came to the ring first and announced that he believed Falcon to be part of SOS which is why he challenged him to a match, before Falcon appeared to cheers from the crowd. In true "baddest man" character, Rawlins tried to terrorise some of the kids in the crowd before getting down to business in the ring.  This match went back and forth, with both men pretty evenly matched in size and speed.  There were a lot of wristlocks and reversals to start with before Falcon went on the offensive.  Rawlins rolled out of the ring to escape and when Falcon leapt the ropes to follow him, Rawlins swept the legs from under him, causing him to crash to the wooden floor.  He then climbed back into the ring to break the count before doing a suicide dive through the ropes onto a still recovering Falcon, however his second attempt at the same move was met by Falcon's boot to the face.  Falcon then had some of the crowd move aside and rammed Rawlins face first into the vacated chairs.  When Rawlins avoided an attempted chop, Falcon slammed his own hand into the ringpost, giving Rawlins the opportunity to regain the advantage.  Once back in the ring, Rawlins continued to focus on the injured arm of Falcon.  While Falcon tried to get back into the match, Rawlins appeared to have an answer for everything and it looked as though the match would soon be over as Rawlins held Falcon in a crossface submission hold.  Suddenly all three members of  SOS appeared and attacked both men.  The match ended in a no contest as several roster members come out to make the save and chase SOS out the main door.  As the other roster members returned backstage, Rawlins held out his hand to Falcon, however, in true heel turn fashion, he refused to shake hands and instead hit Rawlins with a turnbuckle bulldog he calls "The Acid Drop" and left the ring.  Mikey returned to the ring to assist a dazed Rawlins backstage.

Finally it was time for the 30 Man Rumble match, where the last man standing would earn a shot at the World Title at the Super BOWL in May 2015.  The match started with Venym and Saint George, with a new participant joining every 30 seconds, so it got chaotic very quickly and was difficult to follow everything that was going on - so I will just highlight a few points.  Saint-George and Bobby Roberts went at each other for a bit before Bravehart decided to have a pop at Roberts.  Westy made two appearances, first as Bushwacker West, who was eliminated immediately, then later reappeared as West Cena who also was eliminated very quickly.  Rob Mills was attacked as he entered by Bravehart who had been eliminated.  Ambrose and Saint-George returned after being eliminated and took out Bobby Roberts, further fuelling their feud.  Saint-George gets a second bite at the cherry after being drawn at random to be given a lucky chance second entry.  JJ Russell enters last after winning the earlier 6 man elimination match and he and AJ Russell take each other out, leaving the final four as Jackie Grady, Rawlins, Mikey and Joe Hendry.

Jackie and Rawlins are soon eliminated, leaving Mikey and Hendry facing each other once again and, once again it was Hendry who was victorious and now has a shot at the Reckless Intent World Championship at the Super BOWL tournament in May.  An unhappy Mikey grabbed a microphone to say that Hendry had beaten him twice that night and also six months previously.  This fact does not sit well with Mikey, even if Hendry is one of the best wrestlers in the country and Mikey then challenges Hendry to a match at Lights Out on 6th December to prove he can beat him and if he can't, he will quit wrestling.  Hendry accepted the challenge and the match is set but as they shake hands on it, Mikey hits Hendry with an RKO to the shock and disbelief of the crowd.


What a show! With 6 matches and a 30 man rumble, there was plenty of action.  Reckless Intent's first show at an outside venue was a sell-out and everyone involved put everything they had out there for the people to enjoy.  Normally I would give a Match of the Night award but I think this time I am just going to give them Show of the Year and look forward to seeing just how they can top this at their next show on 6 December, also at Murieston Scout Hall,  Tickets are already available and can be purchased online or at their Sunday Slam show on 16 November, where there will be the first two rounds of competition for the new Sunday Slam Championship belt.  Details of these, and all of the events planned for 2015 can be found on Facebook and video footage of their matches can be seen on their YouTube Channel

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.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Reckless Intentions

Saturday 4 October 2014

Reckless Intentions is the annual Hardcore show and WOW!!! What a show!  This had to be the best RI show ever and has slotted nicely into second place in my top three shows I have attended!  Even better as earlier in the day I wasn't sure how things would work out.  There had already been a card change due to illness and when I arrived at the unit shortly after noon there was hardly a soul about and Mikey was looking decidedly green!  After being nagged constantly, he finally went home for a couple of hours in the hope that he would feel better for his match later but to be honest, I really didn't think he would manage.

The show started with the announcement that former Ring Announcer Jason McKinlay had been appointed the new General Manager after the departure of John Long.  As Jason thanked the crowd for their support and asked them to show their appreciation for the effort for the guys in the back, the entrance music of Joe Hendry began to play and out came Joe Hendry with the Reckless Intent Hardcore belt which he decided he wanted to be renamed the "Joe Hendry Global Hero Technical Wrestling Championship" with all future matches to be under a strict 15 minute time limit.  He then announced that there was no-one in the building who could take the title from him under his rules and demanded McKinlay sanction his match or he would "boot the title out the door".  McKinlay said there would be no name change but he could have a time limit match.

Stating once again there was no-one in the building brave enough to take him on in a match of this type, the crowd went wild when "The Beast of Belfast" Damian O'Connor appeared.  With Hendry reluctant to get in the ring and face the big man, referee Westy began to count him out and finally Hendry entered the ring on the count of 9.  Hearing the crowds "Total Zero" response to the Joe Hendry chant, big Damo capitalised on this and began shouting out Joe Hendry for the crowd reply - Hendry was not amused!  This was a cracking match with some great technical moves displayed.  We were treated to the sight of the big man standing on the chest of Hendry before dropping a senton on him.  Hendry managed to lift Damo onto his shoulders - a feat I don't think I have witnessed before (if he had managed to get Damo into his signature suplex I would have been utterly awestruck but I don't think he is ready to attempt that just yet)  Finally Damo somersaulted across the ring with Hendry on his shoulder before going for the pin, however as the referee counted two, the bell rang to announce the end of the 15 minute time limit.  An incensed Damo demanded 5 more minutes as Hendry crawled out of the ring.  The new GM returned to announce that not only will be belt NOT be renamed, the Hardcore 24/7 rules were back in force with immediate effect.  Hendry then ran out door and out of the car park, chased by Damo but without a referee with them, the title would not change hands that night.

The second match of the night was the one I did not expect to happen - a non-title handicap match between SOS and Mikey.  First the three members of  Sons of Silence entered the ring and did some trash talking before the lights went out.  When they came on again only two members remained in the ring.  Despite still being extremely sick and running a fever, Mikey came out.  The two SOS members attacked from the second he got in the ring and Mikey took quite a beating before starting to pull it back and gain some momentum.  With one member of SOS lying prone on the floor at ringside and Mikey looking to finish the other, this was when SOS #3 reappeared and nailed him with a powerbomb, scoring the pinfall.  Once again the lights went out and when they came on SOS were gone and Scott Renwick, DCT and Bobby Roberts were in the ring to assist Mikey, who proceeded to throw up in a bin at ringside.  After being helped backstage, he then did the sensible thing and went straight home.

The first half main event saw "The Butcher" Scott Renwick face Saint-George in a falls count anywhere match for the RI World title.  This was an amazing match and a close second place for Match of the Night.  Renwick came out to huge cheers from the crowd who were looking forward to seeing Saint-George taken down,  Saint-George was antagonised first by the presence of Jam O'Malley at ringside and then by a certain person holding up a rather fetching picture stating this had been found in the dictionary as the definition of troglodyte! (check out the Loudmouth profile pic on Facebook) The action started in the ring before heading out into the car park.  As both men battled outside, slamming each other onto the concrete and using barriers, metal shutters and even bottles of water from the merch table as weapons, Jam O'Malley tried to calm the situation, further antagonising Saint-George.  As the action returned to the unit, it looked like Renwick was about to take the Englishman into the loo and flush his head, however Saint-George managed to gain the advantage, ramming Renwick into the ringpost.  Back in the ring, Saint-George maintained the advantage, putting Renwick in a sleeper hold but the crowd rallied him and Renwick began to mount a comeback.  The match then swung back and forth as each tried to finish the match, however a shove from Saint-George sent Renwick reeling into the referee, knocking him out and leaving him unable to count after hitting Saint-George with the Angel's Wings.  As Renwick tried to rouse the ref, Saint-George hit a lowblow then rolled him up and, using a handful of tights as leverage, scored the pin to retain the title. Then chaos ensued.  Saint-George attacked Renwick, Jam O'Malley got into the ring to restrain him before Renwick made an attack of his own.  Suddenly the entire roster were in the ring holding Renwick and Saint-George in opposite corners as they continued to try to fight.  General Manager Jason McKinlay then announced that there will be no cheating under his rule and that Renwick would be granted a rematch for the title at Over the Top on 1 November.  With Renwick still being restrained in the ring, Saint-George was ushered by others backstage, running his mouth the entire way!

The first match after the interval was scheduled to be a triple threat match with Craig Valant v Jackie Grady v Venym, however with Valant having to withdraw due to illness, this was ended up a one on one match between Grady and Venym.  This was actually a really good match, however the crowd were a bit subdued, not entirely sure who to cheer as both are known heels.  Venym came out in his new ring gear and a new attitude - no trash talking the crowd - but any face turn here had not been made obvious and it's possible that a wee promo might have helped!  The match swung back and forth with Grady taking some big boots to the face and Venym being caught in Grady's "Hamburger Time" submission move however the end came when Venym swung Grady around the ring before catapulting him into the corner, however Grady managed to regain his equilibrium faster and caught Venym with a kick to the face, following it up with his "No Place Like Home" cravat neckbreaker finisher to score the win.

Next up was a tag team elimination match where Bobby Roberts and DCT faced The Gatecrashers.  The match began with a pose-off between DCT and Christopher Saynt, with the crowd definitely more appreciative of the moves of DCT.  Once the match got properly underway, The Gatecrashers used their slickness in order to keep the referee focused on Roberts while double teaming DCT before they eliminated him.  They then blatantly attempted to double team Roberts, however Roberts managed to eliminate Saynt, leaving him to face Dave Conrad.  There is bad blood between these two and this was the first time Roberts was able to get his hands on Conrad since he interfered in Roberts title match against Rawlins at Proving Grounds in June and they went at it hammer and tong.  As Roberts took the advantage, Saynt reappeared, jumping on the ring apron to distract Roberts and the referee, however DCT came out and pulled Saynt down, once again levelling the field and allowing Roberts to score the win.

Finally, the main event - a  TLC match featuring Chris Renfrew, Martyn Stallyon, Darren Lewis and Rawlins, with the Wooden Spoon Briefcase suspended above the ring.  The winner of the match will be able to cash in the briefcase for a shot at any title at any time in the next year.  This was definitely Match of the Night.  As soon as the bell rang, Lewis shot out of the ring, chased by Renfrew and out into car park, leaving Rawlins and Stallyon to battle it out in the ring.  Rawlins pulled down the top rope and Stallyon went over to the floor, Renfrew and Lewis returned and Rawlins suicide dived them all.  Renfrew grabbed a chair, which just happened to be the one I had vacated, and used it to attack Lewis but managed to catch me with it too! Stallyon went for the case but Saint-George appeared, pulling him from the ladder and sending him through one of the tables.  Scott Renwick came out, Saint-George ran out the door, followed by Jam O'Malley and Renwick helped the injured Stallyon away from the ring.  Lewis and Rawlins then double-teamed Renfrew, before turning on each other.  As Rawlins is about to take the case, SOS appear.  Rawlins suicide dived them before taking them out into the car park.  Lewis and Renfrew continued to battle until they both climbed the ladder.  Still fighting at the top, it suddenly buckled and fell, sending Renfrew through yet another table - he went through three of them in total!  Lewis was then able to climb the ladder and grab the case to win the match.  This match was incredible but don't just take my word for it, check it out for yourself!

All in all, an incredible show...and all for only £5!!

The next Reckless Intent shows are:-

Sunday Slam on 19 October at the RI Unit, which will showcase some of the trainees and will also see Saint-George face Jam O'Malley. Tickets for this event are only £5.

The "Over The Top" Rumble show on Saturday 1 November at Murieston Scout Hall with tickets costing £10 adults and £5 kids or a family ticket at £25 (2 adults and 2 kids). As well as the rumble, matches announced so far are the rematch between Saint-George and Scott Renwick and Rawlins will face Falcon.

Information on upcoming events and tickets can be found at their Facebook page.

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.