Review: SWA Battlezone

Saturday 18 October 2014

Our second visit to the Motherwell Concert Hall.  I had bought VIP tickets for this event but after a few recent issues, I was in two minds whether to sell them or go. In the end, I decided I would go....and I am glad I did because it was a great show.

As part of the VIP package, we had a pre-show match featuring Grado and Courtney against Joe Hendry and Debbie Sharpe.  I was actually surprised by this, as pre-show matches are usually an opportunity for trainees to make an impression, but here we had arguably one of the most recognisable faces in Grado and one of the fastest rising stars in the independent scene in Joe Hendry.  The match itself would not have been out of place on the main card with Grado hamming it up as usual and Hendry playing the heel to perfection.  Hendry and Sharpe dominated much of the match, using their underhanded tactics in order to double-team Grado however the fan favourites were victorious after Hendry found himself on the wrong end of moves from both Courtney and Grado in the corner, with Grado getting the pinfall.

Now onto the main show.... Mikey Whiplash was originally scheduled to face John "The Bomb" Graham in a TLC match however with Graham unable to compete, a change to the card had been announced - Whiplash would face Jack Gallagher in a 2 out of 3 falls match.  Having seen these two face each other at Pride, I knew this was going to be an amazing match...and they did not disappoint.  These guys put on an amazing display from the start which literally had the crowd gasping.  There was also some fun when Whiplash spotted Cobra Carr's daughter in the crowd holding up her "Whippy Sucks" sign. At one point Gallagher ended up sitting in the front row holding up the sign, before hiding the sign in the back of his trunks and holding it up once back in the ring.  This only made Whiplash more determined to beat Gallagher and it was Whiplash who scored the first fall.  Without any hesitation he tried for the second fall several times unsuccessfully.  Gallagher fought back, pulling off some incredible moves and took the second fall before locking in a submission and Whiplash tapped out.  An amazing start to the night and my Match of the Night by a mile!  I really hope to see video footage of this soon.

The next match was Robbie Solar v John Gresham who had their work cut out for them following such an incredible opening match, however they definitely did not disappoint.  Although evenly matched in height, speed and agility, Gresham appeared to have a strength advantage over Solar.  This was the first time I had seen Gresham and I hope I have an opportunity to witness him in action again soon.  This was a fast paced match with Gresham using his combination of power and agility to punish the smaller built Solar, leaving him covered in welts and handprints.  Solar, however, is a pocket rocket himself and kept coming back at Gresham,  hitting him with a dropkick to the back before rolling him up to score the pinfall.

Next up was Rampage Brown who had issued an open challenge which was answered by "Flyin" Ryan Griffin, who is either extremely brave or totally crazy.  Brown did not hold back, using his size and strength advantage from the beginning.  After taking a boot to the face and being slammed face first into the turnbuckles, Griffin looked to be done before he had even started but despite taking a serious amount of punishment, he did manage to fight his way back into the match, almost scoring the win after a cracking crossbody from the turnbuckle knocked the big man to the canvas.  The victory was not to be however and Rampage quickly rallied, delivering another boot to the face of Griffin, following it with a devastating piledriver before covering him for the three count.

After a short interval, the action continued with SWA Zero One Heavyweight Champion Joe Coffey defending his title against Doug Williams.  This was a belter and could easily have gone either way with both men showing amazing strength and agility.  There were near falls for both men but this match would not end based on the abilities of these two amazing athletes.  As they fought, the referee got caught and was knocked out.  Coffey swung Williams around the ring before turning him over into a Boston Crab and while Williams tapped out, the referee was unable to acknowledge it.  Coffey released the hold and attempted to rouse the referee when Jackie Polo appeared, grabbing the title belt and threatening to hit Coffey with it.  Then Mark Coffey appeared and grabbed the belt from Polo, apparently to make the save, before turning and nailing his brother with it to the shock of the crowd!  With the referee recovering, Polo and Mark Coffey stood at ringside as Williams then covered Coffey for the three count to become the new Heavyweight champion.  Polo and Mark Coffey re-entered the ring to help the new champ celebrate before taking off backstage as a very angry Joe Coffey recovered.

The penultimate match of the night saw Sammii Jayne face Viper with Fiona Fraser as the special guest referee.  This was more of a handicap match as it became apparent early on that Fraser had a problem with Viper, with any decision made being in favour of Sammii Jayne.  With several near falls from both girls, Viper finally had Sammii Jayne well and truly beaten and went for the pinfall once again.  This time when Fraser reached two, she stopped and refused to finish the count.    As Viper and Fraser faced off, Sammii Jayne took the advantage, rolling Viper up for Fraser to make a fast 3 count and declare Sammii Jayne the winner.  On a side note, during this match Sammii Jayne's hair weave came out...and I think she really suits the natural shorter look.

After another short interval, it was time for the 40 man Battlezone match to determine the No 1 contender to the SWA Zero One Heavyweight title.  Starting with two men in the ring, they would be joined every 60 seconds by another competitor.  First out was Mark Coffey, who then watched the entrance for his first opponent Grado, who instead made his entrance through the crowd dressed in a Motherwell FC mascot outfit.  As Christopher Saynt entered, Grado was eliminated. Entrant number 5 was Jackie Polo and he immediately teamed with Coffey in order to eliminate those in the ring and any newcomers, sitting on chairs they brought into the ring,,,,until entrant number 10 Joe Coffey appeared.  Mark slipped under the ropes and ran backstage, quickly followed by Joe, who had just eliminated Jackie Polo, leaving the ring empty for the arrival of entrant 11, Mr News.  Next out was Glen Dunbar, followed by his tag partner Alex Cavanaugh.  They double-teamed Mr News until the arrival of Randy Valentine.  These four pretty much fought each other the entire time they were in the match and continued it even after they were eliminated just after the arrival of entrant 20 Adam Carrell.  The Coffey Brothers made a brief reappearance in the ring, arriving through the crowd before disappearing out the other side again.  Entrant 24 was big Damo who immediately began to clean house and also managed to stand on the chest of Dickie Divers before dropping a senton on him.

Shortly after  Rampage Brown entered at No 40, only John Gresham (39) Lewis Girvan (37), Jack Gallagher (34), Mikey Whiplash (31) and Damo (24) remained.  While Gallagher and Whiplash continued their earlier battle, Gresham and Girvan were soon eliminated, followed by Damo at the hands of Rampage Brown.  With both Brown and Whiplash's attention on him, the odds were not in Gallagher's favour but he somehow pulled off the impossible by first eliminating Whiplash then Brown to win the Battlezone match and become the number one contender.  The crowd began to chant asking "where's the Coffeys" as they had never officially been eliminated and it was expected that they would reappear, however this did not happen and Gallagher was officially announced as the winner.


After the show there was a meet and greet with some of the wrestlers for VIP ticket holders but Rob and I had already met all of them in the past, so we rolled up our sleeves and assisted with packing up the ring instead!

There was an "Aftermath" show in Paisley on Friday 24th but we were unable to attend due to previous plans.  Information on all future SWA events can be found on their Facebook page.

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: Source Wrestling School Showcase 2

Sunday 11 May 2014

A last minute decision saw Rob and I racing to Glasgow to see this event.  The ring announcer Stevie Wizard was already doing his thing when we arrived, but we made it in time for the first match ... only just... a tag team gauntlet to decide the number one contenders for the SWA Tag Team belts, currently held by The Forgotten.  I was still unpacking my camera as the first team were making their way to the ring!  The first match up was my favourite SWE heel, 'All Night' Ian Ambrose partnered by Martyn Stallyon against Robbie Solar and Celtic Arrow.  This match went back and forth before Solar scored the pin, eliminating Ambrose and Stallyon.  Immediately the next team  appeared, Christopher Saynt and David Conrad with Saynt giving me a "two fingered salute" when he saw me....I really don't think he likes me!  These guys work well together and it was not long before they took advantage and using a front neckbreaker double team move, they took the victory.  Next team into the ring were Manlon and Daihlan Hendry.  With Saynt already in the ring, Manlon demanded to face "The Big Guy" with Saynt responding that Conrad "eats meals bigger than you", before stepping out and letting Manlon have what he wanted.  Conrad dominated and despite a good try from Hendry, it was Saynt and Conrad's neckbreaker that would seal the win again.  The final team of DCT and Adam Carrell then took to the ring.  There appeared to be some tension between these two, with DCT tagging himself into the ring as soon as Carrell had taken the upper hand, then immediately losing the momentum to Saynt and Conrad.  This culminated in Carrell attempting to kick DCT in the head, only for DCT to drop and Saynt took the kick instead, with DCT quickly moving to score the pin and the No 1 contenders slot.  Not sure how this team will work out in the future, but they were fun to watch.

Joe Hendry then made an appearance and told the fans that his life had completely changed in the last 16 months, culminating in him winning the Laird of the Ring title at Clan Wars.  With the crowd cheering for him, he then announced that later that night he would be defending the title against Lewis Girvan.  After initially complementing Girvan on his ability at such a young age and saying how much he respected him, which the crowd appreciated, Hendry then announced that Girvan would never take the title from him as Girvan was just not good enough and that in fact no-one was as good as Joe Hendry .... and with that attitude, the crowd sentiment turned and the chants of Joe Hendry Local Hero became Joe Hendry Local Zero!  Heel turn complete!

The next match saw Jam O'Malley take to the ring to announce the arrival of Glen Dunbar, who faced the newest Source graduate, Cobra Carr.  Cocky as ever, Dunbar assumed this would be an easy match, however Carr put up a good fight.  Carr had plenty of support in the crowd and gave them plenty to cheer for but unfortunately Dunbar did take the win after rolling up Carr and putting his feet up on the ropes for extra leverage.  He then followed up his win by laughing in the face of Carr and giving him a slap for good measure.  Carr wasn't having any of it and smacked Dunbar, knocking him to the canvas, much to the delight of the crowd.

The final match of the first half saw young Ryan Griffin face Mikey Whiplash. Whippy was not happy to see a young girl at ringside holding a "Whippy Sucks" sign.  Appearing to take the upper hand early on, Whiplash appeared surprised when Griffin strung some moves together, with Whiplash going over the top rope and almost taking out the large mirror on the wall!  Despite this, Whiplash managed to get Griffin in a sleeper hold and when the ref dropped Griffin's arm for the third time, it was all over.  This is the second time I have seen Griffin (the first was the pre-show match at Clan Wars) and I think he has a good future ahead of him....also its nice to see a wrestler with good aerial moves who is not wearing a mask!

The second half started with a bit of confusion as what appeared to be the fire alarm went off.  This actually turned out to be a school bell and signalled the arrival of Mr Byers, who handed out punishment exercises to some of the kids who were booing him, then proceeded to call out SWA Zero 1 champion Joe Coffey, who was sitting ringside enjoying the evening.  Coffey began by appearing to make excuses of illness to avoid the match as he made his way to the rear of the crowd, then picked up his title belt from the table at the back and returned to accept the challenge.  The match was pretty much over before it began, with Coffey spinning Byers around the ring several times then hitting him with a running body splash, taking a selfie while he did so, before taking the pin, then issuing Byers with one of his own punishment exercises.

Next up was Private Bobby Roberts against The Beast of Belfast, Damian O'Connor.  Roberts matched up to Big Damo in height and build....and also in strength and agility.  Roberts tried running shoulder blocks from all 4 sides of the ring with neither man going down and the noise when these two giants collided was something else.  When Roberts did finally go down, Damo then stood on him!  This impressive match went back and forward but finally Damo took the win by pinfall and then shook the hand of Roberts, who definitely showed that he is one to watch in the future.

The penultimate match was a ladies tag match with the team of Viper and Sammii Jayne facing Courtney and Debbie Sharpe.  With the exception of Courtney, I have seen these girls several times and was therefore really interested in seeing what Courtney could do - I did see her at Clan Wars but she was eliminated very early on!  The main focus of this match appeared to be the dynamic between Viper and Sammii Jayne, with both girls keen to prove they were the better half of the team.  With Debbie Sharpe isolated in their corner, they kept tagging themselves into the match, with their "tags" getting harder and harder each time!  Their animosity grew when Courtney attempted to pin Sammii Jayne only for Viper to try to make the save, with Courtney quickly moving out of the way and Viper landing on her own partner instead.  With Courtney and Debbie appearing to have control of the match, Sammii Jayne hit them both with an amazing front dropkick and instead of going for the pin, confronted Viper over the earlier move.  This gave Courtney and Sharpe the chance to take control again and, with Sammii Jayne in the corner, Sharpe moved out of the way to allow Viper to once again hit her tag partner, this time with a corner splash.  Courtney and Sharpe then moved in on Viper to score the pinfall.  An irate Sammii Jayne confronted Viper again at which point Viper had enough and knocked Sammii Jayne down with a hard clothesline.  A pretty good match, but I would like to see Courtney in a singles match to fully appreciate what she can do.

Finally it was main event time, and my match of the night, as Joe Hendry faced Lewis Girvan.  I have only seen Girvan twice before but I have to admit to being really impressed by this young talent.  This match was action packed from start to finish, with neither man holding back in their efforts to gain the advantage.  There were some really sweet moves, including an amazing suplex by Joe Hendry on Lewis Girvan which seemed to go on forever.  With both men appearing exhausted after several near pins each, the end finally came when Girvan pushed Hendry into the corner in which the referee was standing - Hendry stopped short of hitting the ref and as Girvan followed him into the corner, moved aside.  Girvan also stopped short of hitting the ref but Hendry got the lowblow in from behind and then covered him for the 3 count and retained his title.  The crowd were not happy with the result but the match was an absolute cracker.  Hendry then approached Joe Coffey and told him that one belt was not enough and that he was coming after Coffey's title.

After the show, I got a chance to see Mikey Whiplash and tell him that he was responsible for the Loudmouth's existence...it was him mooing at me during a PWE show that started it all...and got a photo which Joe Hendry photobombed!!  

I thought the entire show was great.  There wasn't a single match I didn't enjoy and I was really impressed by the new talent the Source Wrestling School has.  When matched against more experienced guys, they did not fall short and I look forward to seeing them in action again soon.

Check out Source Wrestling School on Facebook

There is an event in Livingston on 31 May pitting Reckless Intent against Source which is going to be a belter and you can find details here