Review: SWE Uprising

Saturday 25 October 2014

The first SWE show after Hell For Lycra was held back in the spiritual home of SWE, The Ardler Complex.  With Brian Kendrick, Paul London and Leah Von Dutch announced, we were promised a cracking show and some major changes.

The first change was that people who had purchased tickets in advance were allowed into the venue earlier that those paying on the door.  Once inside and seated, we noticed that more and more chairs were being brought out for those who decided to turn up on the night and this show looked to be a full house!

You know there is a stacked card when the first match of the night is the rematch of the Hell For Lycra main event, Martyn Stallyon v Ian Ambrose.  With Stallyon in the ring, everyone's attention was on the curtain for Ambrose to make his entrance but, in typical #scumbag fashion, he came through the crowd to sneak in from behind.  Instead, Stallyon took the fight to Ambrose through the crowd and right around the hall!  Once back in the ring, Stallyon was all over Ambrose and looked to have this match well and truly won, when he suddenly collapsed.  The ring filled with officials and Ambrose stood by looking shocked at this turn of events.  With help, Stallyon got to his feet in the corner of the ring when Ambrose suddenly cleared the ring of officials and attacked Stallyon, using a chair and hitting him with a coast to coast.  He then grabbed his "I AM GOD" coat from under the ring before pinning Stallyon and demanding the referee make the three count several times then gloated as Stallyon was carried from the ring on a stretcher.

Next up was Nikki Storm v Leah Von Dutch.  This was a cracking wee match with both girls showing what they are capable of.  Storm was magnificent as the heel (as always) and Von Dutch really impressed me with her wrestling ability - definitely not just a pretty face.  There were some lovely spots with both girls having near falls - Storm adamant hers were 3 counts as usual and doing a wee disappearing act under the ring and Von Dutch hit Storm with a lovely spear before getting a two count.  It was Storm who would be victorious this time, rolling up Von Dutch and putting her feet up on the ropes for leverage to get the 3 count.  I would definitely like to see these two go at it again in the future.

The first half main event saw Joe Hendry v Paul London.  With Hendry in the ring, London made his entrance, going into the crowd and seeming to greet virtually everyone in audience personally.  When he finally made it to the ring and started to strip off his "spacesuit", Janet and I reverted into giggling schoolgirls, yelling at him to get his kit off for the girls!!!  This match was amazing.  Hendry, in my opinion, is one of the fastest rising stars on the circuit and this was my first time seeing London and...wow, just wow.  Neither guy held anything back in this match, with some fantastic mat wrestling as well as some aerial moves, it was a joy to watch.  There were some hits that were so hard, the ring actually moved.  Hendry got London in his signature suplex but was not able to hold it as long as usual, and some clotheslines from both guys that threatened to take the other's head off.  Hendry caught a crossbody attempt by London, throwing him across the ring before going for the pin but only made a two count.  London came back at him and had a pin attempt but Hendry got his foot on the rope.  Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and this ended with a roll up from Hendry on London, pulling on the tights for extra leverage to score the win.

The first match after the interval was a 10 Man Elimination Tag Match for the Future Division title.  Christopher Saynt would defend against SWE regulars Felix Fortune, Scotty Riccio, Jay The Jackal and Steven "Air" Myles, some guys from Reckless Intent, Venym, Jackie Grady, Rawlins, Mikey and Dutch wrestler Kid Lux.  With two men in the ring at a time it was a bit easier to follow the action and there were some interesting combinations in the ring at times.  I was slightly confused about Kid Lux's decision to throw an opponent out of the ring and do a suicide dive so close to the barriers when there was a large matted area with no barriers on the opposite side of the ring.  About halfway through the match Saynt was eliminated when he submitted to a Scorpion Deathlock applied by Steven "Air" Myles and we knew there would be a new champion.  Rawlins eliminated Mikey before being eliminated himself by Scotty Riccio and they continued to battle as they returned backstage.  It finally came down to Jay the Jackal and Scotty Riccio.  Jay tried using his strength advantage, however the speed and agility of Riccio proved to be too much and it was Riccio who score the pin, rolling the Jackal up and becoming new Future Division Champion.

The penultimate match pitted two of The Trident, MDK & Darren Blair against the two giants, Damian O'Connor & Claymore.  Damo started off well however the match swung in favour of the Trident after the tag when Claymore was double-teamed.  After taking a fair bit of punishment, Claymore managed to tag the big Irishman, who tore through the both Trident members, standing on Blair and scoring a near pin.  With all four men in the ring, Claymore and Damo had the upper hand, performing giant splashes on their opponents in opposite corners, following up with cannonballs when the match was interrupted....

... when the third Trident member Steven "Air" Myles appeared with Bravehart and proceed to attack them.  Now 4 on 2, the match was awarded to Damo and Claymore by disqualification.  Suddenly the lights went out and a video played on the big screen before Chaz Phoenix appeared.  With Bravehart and the Trident still in the ring, Phoenix announced that there were many people who were unhappy with the way they have been treated and several of the SWE roster then appeared to surround the ring, before entering and clearing it of Bravehart and his cronies.  With Phoenix now in the ring, he announced that Bravehart's reign over the SWE was over, that all the small percentages that have been sold over time were now in the possession of Phoenix - he is now 50% owner of SWE and there are going to be big changes....watch this space....

The final match of the night was LJT v Brian Kendrick.  LJT is sporting a new, more aggressive attitude these days and I think I prefer this.  There was a definite split in the crowd with a lot of support for both guys.  This was a fast paced match with both men literally throwing themselves at the other.  There was hardly time to draw breath or pick my chin up from the floor before the next move came.  The momentum swung back and forth with several near falls and could have easily gone either way.  With both men exhausted, it was LJT who finally took the win in this match with a back slide on Kendrick to score the pinfall.

With so many cracking matches on the card, I thought Match of the Night would be harder to pick but for me it just had to go to Joe Hendry and Paul London, with LJT/Kendrick close contenders.

The next Uprising event is on Saturday 29th November at the Ardler Complex.  Check out SWE's Facebook page for further information on all future events and to buy tickets.

Review: SWE Hellbound

Saturday 23 August 2014

Hellbound is the final chance for the SWE roster to make their presence a necessity at their annual Hell For Lycra show on 30 August.  Hellbound was held in the Kirkton Community Centre with a 2pm start time and had Colt Cabana versus Grado on the bill, which I was really looking forward to seeing.  After getting our seats, it was time to play fangirl and finally get my photo taken with Colt, who was just so lovely!

First out to the ring were the Trident who took to the microphone to call out Mr News, Claymore and LJT.  With LJT scheduled in a later match, only Mr News and Claymore came out and then, to even up the numbers, Scotty Riccio made his return.  The match began as a brawl with all six men in the ring but quickly settled down, leaving Riccio at the mercy of the Trident, who kept him isolated from his tag team and made several quick tags in order to maximise the amount of punishment served to him. Eventually Riccio managed to rally and tag in Claymore, who quickly had Steven "Air" Myles pinned with Darren Blair making the save, ending with another melee in which The Trident were ejected from the ring and Riccio divebombed them on the outside.  Finally Claymore hoisted Myles onto his shoulders, Mr News leapt from the top turnbuckle, taking him down and pinning him for the win.

Next out was "The Butcher" Scott Renwick to face "The Beast from Belfast" Damian O'Connor.  Renwick was warned right from the outset by the crowd chant of "Damo's gonna kill ya" and that's exactly what the big guy set out to do.  O'Connor dominated most of this match but Renwick is a fighter...and smart too...he actually got up and ran from the corner when Damo was about to cannonball into him!  Unfortunately for him, he was not able to escape being stood on.  Renwick attempted a comeback and managed a pin attempt but it was not to be.  Renwick was hoisted up onto the shoulders of the big man, who then did a somersault across the ring, before pinning him for the three count.  A cracking match between two great performers and my pick for Match of the Day! (Sounds like a football term that!!)

After a video showing the escalation of the feud between Chaz Phoenix and Steven Magners, Bravehart came out to the ring, accompanied by Jam O'Malley to address why O'Malley turned on Euan Mackie.  After insulting the entire crowd by saying we were insignificant, he started berating Mackie, only for the music to start and Mackie to appear, surrounded by a group of referees.  Bravehart then called out to the referees, asking if anyone was brave enough to enter the ring and take them out and the challenge was answered by female referee, Edith Summer, who gave him

a taste of his own medicine.  In true "Evil Scotsman" fashion, Bravehart punched Edith, who was quickly dragged from the ring by her fellow referees as Bravehart announced that she would be the referee for his match with Mackie at Hell For Lycra.  With some of the crowd angry at him for hitting a woman, I yelled at him to "pick on someone his own size" and with Bravehart daring me to enter the ring, O'Malley called me a grandma and told me to sit down!  Refusing to climb into the ring, I invited Bravehart to come to me.  At this point Mackie called Bravehart a disgrace for attacking women, apologised to the crowd for what they had witnessed and promised to defeat Bravehart at Hell For Lycra.  As Bravehart left, he got in my face at ringside and we exchanged a few more words and even had some of the crowd chanting for me!

After such an emotionally charged segment, it was time for some light relief, which was provided by the first half main event match between Scotland's darling of the wrestling world, Grado and his own hero, Colt Cabana.  This wasn't really a wrestling match, just pure comedy and entertainment and I have never laughed so much at a wrestling show than I did during this match.  It was hysterical watching Grado doing his usual shtick and being upstaged by Cabana doing the same shtick but a little better.  Grado picked up the win, then asked Colt to join in his "in-ring dance celebration", which he did after plucking a small boy from the crowd to take part too.  The full match is available to view on the SWE YouTube channel in the first part of their pilot episode of  SWE Online TV - click here and prepare to be amused!

After a short interval, the action resume with another 3 on 3 tag match, with the team of Viper, Sammii Jayne and Felix Fortune facing off against Christopher Saynt, Nikki Storm and Mikey.  I am not a huge fan of tag matches with more than two members in a team as they usually get scrappy and there ends up being so much going on at one time, it's hard to keep track.  This started off with Sammii and Nikki in one corner, Mikey and Fortune in another while Viper and Saynt fought outside the ring - chaos!!  It quickly settled though, with the heel team taking the advantage and dominating Fortune, who they kept isolated from his team for the majority of the match.  Saynt, Storm and Mikey worked well together, and Fortune took an immense amount of punishment however he finally managed to make the tag and the match ended the way it began, with everyone in the ring and confusion reigning, before Viper pinned Mikey to take the win.

Next was a triple threat match between Martyn Stallyon, Jay The Jackal and Joe Hendry.  With the Jackal first trying to team with Hendry against Stallyon, then Stallyon against Hendry, the two men knocked The Jackal out of the ring before engaging each other.  With Debbie Sharp arriving to watch from the announce table, Hendry and Stallyon continued to battle, with the Jackal content to stand aside and watch, only really getting involved in order to stop either man pinning the other and then take his own chance to go for the pin.  Debbie Sharp decided to interfere in the match, and in trying to sabotage Stallyon, she inadvertently assisted him, causing Hendry to be knocked from the ring and allowing Stallyon to get the pin on the Jackal.

It was then time for the Hell For Lycra Career v Career Steel Cage match contract signing between Steven Magners and Chaz Phoenix.  With trouble expected between the two, a table is set up in the centre of the ring, Bravehart reappears accompanied by Jam O'Malley and The Trident and every referee stands at ringside, waiting for the inevitable. First Magners comes to the ring and is held in the corner by The Trident as Phoenix makes his entrance.  Bravehart produces the contract which both men sign...then Phoenix announces that with the contract signed, no-one can stop him tearing Magners apart, picking up the table and placing it in the corner!  Chaos ensues as The Trident try to keep them apart, Magners and Phoenix appear to team up to take them out, tossing two out of the ring and putting MDK through the table.  With the crowd stunned, Phoenix then attacked Magners.  Virtually the entire SWE roster enter the ring to try to keep these two apart however it soon turns into a free for all until the arrival of Damian O'Connor who cleaned house.  Video footage of this has also been released as part of the pilot episode of SWE Online TV....

...and it also includes the Main Event, a non-title match between LJT and  SWE Heavyweight Champion #scumbag Ian Ambrose.  As Ambrose removed his shirt and belt, LJT flew through the ropes to knock down the champ, returning to the ring and repeating the action twice more before pushing Ambrose into the ring for the match to officially start and trying a succession of pin attempts.  Ambrose quickly fought back to take the advantage, attempting pins and submissions himself.  With a combination of lovely mat wrestling and his usual underhanded techniques, Ambrose kept LJT subdued until his attempt at diving through the ropes was met with a boot to the face, followed by a springboard crossbody off the top rope by LJT but he could only score a two count and Ambrose got the ropes breaking his follow up koji clutch submission attempt.  After trading blows, LJT used his speed and agility to his advantage and a second koji clutch attempt failed.  The match then went back and forth as both men grew more exhausted until finally Ambrose brought the belt into the ring and decked the referee as he tried to take it from him.  LJT wins by disqualification.  As Ambrose goes to leave, Martyn Stallyon appears, grabs him and returns him to the ring where LJT springboards off the middle rope and delivers a boot to the face of Ambrose.

A cracking show in the run up to Hell For Lycra, with some cracking matches, the return of a fan favourite, a new face in Mikey, some controversy from Bravehart and lots of laughs from Colt and Grado!

For information on future SWE events, check out their Facebook page.

Review: SWE Uprising - The Ardler's Last Stand

Saturday 26 July

After missing the Uprising shows in May and June, I could not miss this one - the final Uprising to be held in the Ardler Complex.  Although we had recently been to see SWE in Cupar, a lot of the friends we have made in Dundee could not make it, so we were also looking forward to catching up with them!

This was actually one of two shows SWE were putting on that night.  Their "Battle Stations" show in Perth had started an hour earlier in order for some of the wrestlers to be able to appear at both shows.  Good idea or not??? I will give my opinion later.....

The show started with a Ghostbusters themed vignette on the video screen, followed by Ravishing Randy Valentine taking to the ring to say goodbye to what has become the home of SWE Uprising.  After recounting some of the special moments that took place in the Ardler and thanking the fans for their continued support, he took his seat at the announce table with The Grue and it was time for Ring Announcer Amy Anderson to take over microphone duties!

First match of the night was fan favourite Mr News facing Trident member MDK. Now I have to admit that I don't like the Trident as a gimmick and never have so I really hope that the fact that the members now have identities and are appearing in singles competition is the beginning of the end.  The match started off with News working on the leg of MDK but the big guy soon had the upper hand.  This was less a wrestling match and more a brawl as MDK used brute force to subdue News.  Despite taking some serious punishment, Mr News refused to stay down, and fought his way back into the match but his attempted pin on MDK was shrugged off and News almost landed on the referee.  MDK then weakened News in a bear hug before catching News' attempt at a crossbody from the turnbuckles and slamming him to the mat for the three count.  MDK finished the victor but Mr News remains the fan favourite.

Next up was the girls, Nikki Storm v Viper.   I thought Rob's eyes were gonna pop out of his head when Nikki made her entrance in her new red ring gear....and even more so when it slid up during her match to reveal her bra!  This match was brilliant.  Storm and Viper are two of the best female wrestlers I have seen.  Storm played up her heel status to the max, screaming that every attempted pin was a three count and standing on the hair of Viper while arguing with the ref.  Viper had the crowd behind her and there were huge cheers when she kicked out of the pin after taking Storm's swinging neckbreaker.  After her earlier attempt failed, Viper managed to get a surfboard style submission hold on Storm which was too much for the feisty lass to withstand and Viper took the win by submission.  These girls served up an amazing match which can be viewed here.

We then had a Future Division Championship match between current champion Christopher Saynt and Felix Fortune.  I still don't like the new name given to McMinn - Felix is a cat food brand - however he is improving his in-ring abilities, although he was totally outshone by Saynt in this match.  As much as it pains me to say it, Christopher Saynt is a really good wrestler and he can make an amateur look better than he really is and I think that Fortune really did "luck out" with this match. It started off with Saynt running his mouth, talking about how people had been sharing their favourite memories from the Ardler and how his hadn't happened yet because he couldn't wait till the Ardler Complex burned to the ground.  He then turned his attention to Fortune, asking him if he really thought he could be the next champion and what made him think he could ever be as good as Saynt.  Fortune responded by saying he had done enough talking in his career as a ring announcer and promptly socked Saynt, before dropkicking him out of the ring and taking the upper hand, before getting back into the ring where he made a pin attempt.  Then Saynt came back at him with punches to the head and chokes on the ropes.  It continued in the same manner until, with Fortune appearing to be gaining the upper hand, Saynt picked up his belt and left ringside, leaving Fortune to win by count out but with Saynt retaining the title.

Then it was time for the first half main event.  This match pitted the #1 contender for the heavyweight title, Martyn Stallyon against "The Beast from Belfast" Damian O'Connor.  What can I say about this match....it was bloody incredible.  SWE made a huge mistake here as this really should have been THE main event, but with wrestlers travelling from their show in Perth to appear at Uprising, I understand why they did it.  Obviously this was my Match of the Night - and quite probably match of the year!  Stallyon came out and started taking selfies with crowd members before the arrival of "The Beast".  With both men in the ring, the crowd started off with a chant of "Damo's gonna kill you" and for a while it looked like this could be true - Damo stood on Stallyon in the ring, cannonballed into him against the barriers and slammed him off a wall or two - but Stallyon would not go down.  In fact, he went up.... up the stairs and dived onto Damo from the balcony! The action returned to the ring where, eventually Stallyon got the pin on big Damo and took the win in this utter belter of a match...but don't take my word for it, you can watch the entire match for yourself by clicking here - go on do it - it's amazing!!

The second half started with Joe Hendry facing Claymore.  With Joe hyping up his appearance on RAW, the "Local Hero" had taken a fabric pen to his trunks so they now said "Global Hero" and he really didn't seem very happy when I got the crowd singing "Joe Hendry, Total Zero"!!  Hendry appeared to have this match firmly in his grasp from the outset, keeping Claymore grounded and using a series of holds, before hoisting the big man onto his shoulders.  It was this move which allowed Claymore to use his weight advantage to escape and knock Hendry from the ring, only for a masked figure carrying a sledgehammer to appear.  He attacked Claymore before unmasking to reveal himself as Trident member Darren Blair (formerly known as Powerbomb in my blogs).  With Claymore bleeding from a head wound, he was declared the winner by disqualification, before being helped from the ring.

The final Ardler show would not be complete without an appearance by SWE Heavyweight Champion "The Scumbag" Ian Ambrose.  Whilst not competing in the show, he thought he would "grace" us with his presence and after mentioning the match between Stallyon and Damo, brag about how he had beaten Damo for the belt and subsequent matches and that he would do the same to Stallyon at Hell For Lycra XI but he took to his heels quickly enough when Stallyon appeared in the ring!

Bravehart then took to the ring before Euan Mackie arrived, accompanied by Jam O'Malley.  Bravehart said that he would not be facing Mackie that evening, however they would face each other at Hell For Lycra XI. Bravehart then announced that he had chosen another opponent to face Mackie and, unsurprisingly, it was none other than Jam O'Malley.  With the Z List members laughing and saying that Bravehart had tried this trick on them before, O'Malley suddenly turned on Mackie.  While Bravehart now laughed, the crowd were gutted and cries of "No Jam" and chants of  "you sold out" rang around the hall.  O'Malley used the element of surprise to take the upper hand in the match, however Mackie grabbed him by the short and curlies, stopping the bigger man in his tracks, before rolling him up and taking the pin to the delight of the crowd and the disappointment of Bravehart.  A very unhappy O'Malley then went into the crowd to grab a chair and chased Mackie backstage.

The main event of the evening was Jay the Jackal v LJT.  Now I mean no offence to either man but after the match up between Stallyon and Damo, this just didn't cut it as a main event match.  I once again pointed out that The Jackal had a picture of a fox on his butt!  After a cracking start with LJT knocking The Jackal from the ring and then diving on him from the ropes, The Jackal then held the advantage, keeping the high flier grounded with a series of holds but LJT just never gives up.  Despite the underhand tactics from The Jackal, LJT came back at him with some submission holds of his own and more high flying moves, before finally scoring the pinfall.

So in my opinion, all in all it was a good show but it could have been great with just a couple of tweaks.  All the matches were good, but I think a little reshuffle of the order was required.  For me the second half seemed a bit of a let-down after the amazing match between Damo and Stallyon.  I think I would have had Storm v Viper as the first half main event, made sure the guys appearing at Perth were on first there and up the road in time to appear early on the second half and had the Damo/Stallyon match finish the show.

The next SWE show, Hellbound is on Saturday 23 August at Kirkton Community Centre and features Colt Cabana and Grado.  Doors open at 1.45pm.

Their annual showcase, Hell For Lycra is being held at the Bonar Hall the following week, 30 August.  Hell For Lycra will feature WWE Legend Road Warrior Animal and tickets for the show also grant access to the afternoon autograph session at 2pm with the doors opening for the main show at 6.45pm.

For more information on their upcoming shows, how to get tickets and watch previews and videos of past events, check out SWE on Facebook

Review: Colt Cabana & Brendon Burns at the Fringe

Friday 1 August

Anyone who knows me, knows I tend to avoid the town during Fringe season because it's all too busy and frantic, however when the Reckless Intent crew said they were going out flyering for the Brendon Burns & Colt Cabana Fringe show before going to the show itself, Rob really wanted to go...so I laced up my boots and we joined them.  After a couple of hours wandering round Edinburgh handing out flyers, I was really glad when it was time to take our seats at "The Stand in the Square", an igloo style tent in St Andrew Square which seated 150.  This was the first night of their run and every seat was taken.  Brendon and Colt were joined by their special guest Daniel Sloss and so began an hour of laughs and one-liners. They would show video clips of some of the funniest botched moves and bad wrestling while providing their own commentary.  Now the videos themselves may be PG, but the commentary warrants the 18+ restriction but then again, a show that begins at 10pm is obviously not for the kids.  Our show also had video clips of ring entrances and interviews gone wrong - Mean Gene Okerlund trying to keep a straight face and failing - LOL.  And I will never look at DDP again without sniggering!  Obviously every show will be different as they will use different clips in each, and they have made an arrangement with The Stand Comedy Club that if you attend 3 shows, you will get the 4th free.

As seems to be normal these days, there was a heckler in the crowd, however when you are up against 3 guys who make their living by thinking on their feet, you better be prepared...and this heckler was not.  He was quickly cut down and actually made an early exit from the venue.

I thought the show was brilliant.  If I had one complaint it would be that it was so short - the hour flew by and I wanted more....which is probably a good idea if you want to get repeat custom and therefore the offer of the 4th show free!  After the show the guys did a meet and greet at their merchandise table - photos and autographs for free but if you wanted to buy their t-shirts/dvds it would be appreciated!

The show runs every night at 10pm from 1 - 25 August (except Sundays).  Show information and tickets are available from the Fringe website here

Colt Cabana is also appearing at Studio 24 on Sundays, recording his "The Art of Wrestling" podcast in front of a live audience before each of the ICW wrestling shows.  Tickets are available from Ticketmaster for both The Art of Wrestling and the ICW shows

Colt Cabana will appear on 9 August at Reckless Intent's Cruel Summer show in Livingston, where he will face "The Superstar" Darren Lewis. Tickets for the show are £5 and further information can be found on the Reckless Intent Facebook page.

Colt will also be in Dundee on 23 August at SWE's Hellbound, where he will take on Grado. Tickets are £10 adults, £7 kids and doors open at 2pm.  For more information, visit the SWE Facebook page

Review: SWE Breaking Backs

Friday 11 July 2014

So we have missed the last couple of SWE events in Dundee due to date clashes so we were really looking forward to this show in Cupar.  After a morning of general mayhem and then panic when 4 ambulances zoomed past us on the way to the Forth Road Bridge, we arrived in Cupar.  Unfortunately our plans to grab a bite before the show were scuppered when we found that eateries in Cupar generally close at 2pm after lunch and don't reopen until around 5-5.30pm for dinner....bit of a downer when you arrive in town just after 3pm!!  Thankfully they had a Greggs so we made do with some pizza slices and steak bakes.

Arriving at the venue, we met up with some of our friends from Dundee and had a bit of a catch up which was really nice.  Once we knew we were safe from parking restrictions, we headed to the venue and decided to head inside and bumped into Charles Riddell, co-owner of SWE and asked if it was okay to wait inside where it was cooler and where would the ticket desk be, only to be told that I had won tickets to the event in a competition I had entered with Fighting Spirit Magazine - only the mag hadn't actually notified me!  I was well chuffed and having a little extra cash meant I could get our tickets for both Hellbound and Hell For Lycra in August!

Cupar Corn Exchange was a cracking wee venue for the show with a stage area which the wrestlers used for the entrance and plenty of room for seating.  It was a shame that more people didn't come along but the very small crowd (around 30 people) made plenty of noise.  I may or may not have instigated many of the chants but it was great that everyone joined in and there were a great wee group of kids who really got into it - potentional loudmouths of the future!  Our Ring Announcer for the night was the lovely Amy Anderson, who did a great job!

The first match of the night was Debbie Sharpe v Sammii Jayne.  Bearing in mind we haven't been to SWE since the end of April, there were a lot of changes...and mostly for the good.  Sharpe came to the ring first, having ditched her bouncy Gina G entrance music, using that of her other half, Martyn Stallyon.  She has also ditched her goody, goody persona and had a permanent scowl on her face (when I told her to watch for the wind changing cos it might stay that way, she asked me if that was what happened to me - I like heel Debbie!)  Next Sammii Jayne came bouncing out to the ring, smiling and greeting the crowd but when it came to the action, the sweet act was gone and she was as good, if not better, than heel Sammii.  Within a minute of the bell, the action had already spilled out of the ring.  Sammii then dumped Debbie over the barriers before climbing over herself, proceeding to smack Debbie into everything in sight, chairs, the walls and of course the merchandise table, before getting onto said table and launching herself at Debbie.  The action then returned to the ring where both girls gave as good as they got before Sammii Jayne got the pin, leaving Debbie looking stunned, then angry.  This was probably the best match I have seen between these two girls and while it seemed somewhat wrong to have Sammii Jayne as a face, she did not dumb down her in-ring abilities and seemed almost more vicious as a face than she did as a heel.

Next up was a tag team match featuring two members of the Trident against Claymore and Calum McMinn, now known as Felix Fortune.  It seems that since my last visit the Trident have been given names and tonight featured "the big dour faced one" now known as MDK (I think this is a reference to the movie Demolition Man) and "450" who I think they said was called Steven Myles.  The match started with the Trident attacking Claymore and Fortune as they climbed the ropes to greet the crowd during their entrance and this could have been a really good match, however there were a few really botched moves when it was impossible to suspend disbelief and I just had to laugh (sorry guys but I have to be honest with my opinions).  Unfortunately, for me, those moments totally overshadowed the really good parts of the match.  Fortune put in a relatively good showing in the early part of the match, but when the momentum turned and a desperate Fortune tagged in Claymore, Trident had managed to distract the referee who refused to accept the tag had been made.  Claymore did eventually get a tag in and cleared house before Fortune took over and momentum swung again in the Trident's favour, Fortune was unable to kick out after taking a 450 splash and the win went to The Trident.

With the next match I was again faced with a character change - Joe Hendry had turned heel.  His opponent, Martyn Stallyon was accompanied to the ring by Debbie Sharpe, however before the match started Stallyon sent Debbie backstage (I think this may be because she has been costing him wins by distracting him).  This was a cracker of a match. Hendry initially seemed reluctant to stay in the ring and received the obligatory "Chicken" chant but then took the upper hand in the early part of the match. Stallyon came back at him and they continued to trade blows and holds throughout the match.  There were near pins on both sides and if looks could kill I would have dropped dead from the one Hendry gave me after I sang "Joe Hendry, Total Zero"!  The match ended with Stallyon splashing Hendry from the top rope and securing the pinfall.  Enter Debbie Sharpe, wearing bright red lipstick, who gets into the ring and congratulates her man by planting a smacker on his lips, only to quickly drop to her knees and plant one on the cheek of the still prone Hendry while her man's back was turned.  Loving this Stallyon/Sharpe storyline and yes, I definitely like Debbie better as a heel than a face!

Chaz Phoenix then came out to the ring and addressed his upcoming steel cage match with Steven Magners at Hell For Lycra.  When I started chanting "We want Magners", Chaz yelled that Magners wasn't even here and that I should shut up.  Chaz was upset that someone he used to call a friend would stab him in the back but the crowd loved him - so I told him I was playing the world's smallest violin for him.  He didn't seem to appreciate it and yelled "shut up, you ugly cretin" - I'll give you this Chaz, I have been called a lot of things but that was the first time I have been called a cretin.  He then continued to talk about how once he got Magners in the cage he was going to destroy him and that he didn't care if a single person turned up to watch, he would do it anyway before deciding that we did not deserve his presence, throwing down the microphone and storming out of the ring.

During the Hendry/Stallyon match, Jam O'Malley & Euan Mackie entered the hall and sat quietly at ringside with a bag full of old posters and flyers.  During the interval it became apparent that they had been writing messages on the back of the posters and flyers and went round the hall leaving them on seats, before taking to the announcers table which had been vacated by Randy Valentine and The Grue for the break.

First up after the interval was Jason "The Jackal" Costello v LJT.  As usual, there were chants of "potato" greeting the arrival of Costello, who was wearing trunks with what looked more like a fox than a jackal on them.  I, of course, felt it my duty to point out this fact to him but, like Chaz earlier, I don't think he appreciated it!  LJT got the jump on Costello early on, but Costello soon took the upper hand, often resorting to his usual underhanded tactics.  With the crowd firmly behind LJT, the match continued to swing back and forth.  With LJT looking like winning and being just a fraction of a second short of scoring the win, Costello managed to use LJT's own momentum to roll him up for the pinfall.

Euan Mackie and Jam O'Malley then took to the ring to address recent events between Mackie and Bravehart.  After Mackie spoke about being promised a title shot that didn't happen, losing his group "The Z List" and how Bravehart's attitude had changed, he started a "Low Must Go" chant and started throwing flyers from the ring.  Jam then took the microphone and spoke about how he was robbed of the Future Division championship when Bravehart overturned the referee's decision but did nothing regarding the outside interference.  They then sat in the ring until Bravehart appeared to face them.  After stating there would not be a career v career match as Bravehart was going nowhere, he confirmed he would face Mackie at Hell For Lycra, even if he was not fit to wrestle and could end up in hospital, because Mackie was worth it.  He then turned his attention to Jam O'Malley, telling him that as a current SWE employee, he must show his loyalty by removing Mackie from the premises or he would be sacked on the spot.  After about 30 seconds of shaking his head and saying "I need this job" O'Malley turned to Bravehart and gave a gesture that indicated he would not be carrying out his orders before he and Mackie left the hall.

The main event pitted SWE Heavyweight champion Ian Ambrose against Mr News for the title and was my pick for Match of the Night.  Ambrose revelled in the jeers from the crowd as much as Mr News did in the cheers.  News quickly took the fight to Ambrose and when outside of the ring he even took requests, slamming Ambrose face first into the barrier right in front of me after I asked him to!!  This ended up being an action packed match with both guys putting it all out there and the momentum swung back and forth with each having several near falls.  Each time News seemed in control, Ambrose would fight back using whatever it took and when caught in a submission hold and unable to reach the ropes, he manouvered News' hand and bit him in order to get the hold released.  With both men exhausted, News hoisted Ambrose across his shoulders but as he turned, Ambrose's boot caught the ref on the back of the head, sending him out of the ring so when News dropped Ambrose on his face then rolled him over for the pin, there was no ref to count the fall.  As Mr News tried to grasp what had happened, Ambrose crawled to the corner of the ring, picked up the title belt, threw it to News then kicked the belt into him, cutting his head.  Pinning the prone News, Ambrose screamed for the referee and a second ref appeared but News managed to kick out after a 2 count.  It was not to be Mr News' night however as, grabbing a handful of tights for leverage, Ambrose managed to get the pinfall.  While a bleeding Mr News was helped backstage from the ring, Ambrose revelled once again in the crowd's jeers, still SWE Heavyweight champion.  As Ambrose celebrated, Martyn Stallyon appeared and announced that he was cashing in his title shot and would face Ambrose for the title at Hell For Lycra XI.

Despite not having the crowd they would normally have at one of the Dundee venues, the wrestlers still put on a good show and I was really glad we had decided to go.

SWE have several events coming up, two shows on 26th July, "Uprising" in Dundee and "Battle Stations" in Perth, followed by "Hellbound" on 23rd August featuring Colt Cabana and Grado and then their big annual Hell For Lycra show on 30 August, featuring  WWE legend Road Warrior Animal and Dennis Stamp.  Tickets are available now.  Check out their Facebook for details on events and tickets.

SWE Uprising Review

Saturday 26 April 2014

There had been a show the previous night at Menzieshill that I was unable to attend and tonight's show started with a video intro updating people on what had been going on in the last few weeks.  I will make references to the last two shows where necessary throughout this blog....

Ring announcer Calum McMinn appeared, however during Friday's show Bravehart announced a match between McMinn and rival Chris Duke for Uprising, with the winner being made the permanent SWE ring announcer.  McMinn then introduced our announcer for the evening would be Justin Crow, who in turn introduced the commentary team of Ravishing Randy Valentine, The Grue and former General Manager "The Solution" Ian Black.

The first match was a triple threat match for the Future Division Championship between new champion Christopher Saynt, who had taken the title from Sammii Jayne the night before, Kevin Williams and Mr News.  Christopher Saynt came out to cheers from the crowd after his face turn at Kirkton which he had apparently continued at Menzieshill the night before.  I still wasn't buying it...and I was right.  He got into the ring, took the microphone and turned on the crowd, showing his true heel colours!  Williams and News started the match while Saynt skulked outside the ring, then Saynt and Williams got into it while News sat with the commentary team.  Williams took the worst of it, then Saynt faced Mr News and it looked like News might take the win before Saynt reversed a move and hit Mr News with the DDT and took the win, retaining the title.

The next installment in the 'Bravehart's PA' saga involved Billy Strachan and Stevie Simmons and was a true comedy segment.  The Grue entered the ring and asked Bravehart to please come out to the ring.  Instead out came Billy and Stevie and these guys were hysterical with Billy playing the suck-up heel and Stevie being...well Stevie - who came out wearing a shirt with two ties, pj bottoms and a roll of toilet paper tucked into the back of them!  Billy then told The Grue that Bravehart would not be coming out to the ring at this time.

The next match was between Chaz Phoenix and LJT.  This looked to be total mis-match with the brutal heavyweight Phoenix twice the size of LJT and the start of the match was almost uncomfortable to watch as LJT was thrown around like a rag doll, however he started to work his way back into the match, using his aerial moves to catch Phoenix out but the match ended in a no contest when Scott Renwick appeared from the crowd and nailed LJT and Steven Magners came out to attack Phoenix with a hammer, leaving the metal chair Chaz happened to be carrying badly dented.

Bravehart came out to the ring, accompanied by Billy Strachan, Stevie Simmons and The Trident.  This was when I started the "Billy Brown-Nose" chant.  The PA applicants were then told that they would each arrange a match to determine who would get the position.  Stevie's match was a Bra and Panties match with Billy's match being Randy Valentine against Jay the Jackal in a lumberjack match.  Bravehart then proceeded to pick on the daughter of previous night's applicant Amy Anderson, making the wee girl cry - he truly is an evil Scotsman!

The next match was to be Calum McMinn against Chris Duke however after McMinn had arrived in the ring, Duke appeared on the video screen saying that he couldn't believe that Bravehart would put him in a match as he had a heart condition and the stress had even brought him out in spots (he had actually caught chickenpox from his daughter).  He therefore had arranged for someone to take his place and we were not surprised when he introduced "The Lowland Superstar" Glen Dunbar.  Despite the crowd being firmly behind McMinn, Dunbar dominated the match.  McMinn did start well, slamming Dunbar off the barriers right in front of me and also attempted a few wrestling moves with varying levels of success.  Considering he is an announcer and not a wrestler, he did not too bad.  After drawing blood from Dunbar during an altercation at the last Uprising, it was Dunbar's turn to draw blood and McMinn was bleeding from his head during this match.  Dunbar pulled him up off the canvas on a two count and declared the punishment was not over and McMinn tried to take advantage of the chance to turn the tables but it was not to be.  Dunbar finally took the 3 count and left the ring, only for Billy Strachan to appear and tell McMinn that, as per the match stipulation, he was fired!

Bravehart returned to the ring once again.  After picking on Amy's daughter again, he complained that he had to endure a match during the Menzieshill show between Scotty Riccio, Martyn Stallyon and Claymore that bored him to tears.  Enter Claymore who pointed out that at Hell For Lycra it had been Claymore who had won control of the SWE from Ted DiBiase for Bravehart and that his behaviour and attitude was disgusting.  Bravehart responded by making a match there and then - Claymore would face The Trident!  While "the big dour faced one" and "450" stood outside the ring, "Powerbomb" entered the ring to face Claymore.  While initially starting as a fair fight, soon all 3 members of the Trident were in the ring.  Scott Renwick then appeared and rather than helping Claymore, he began calling out to the Trident, telling them what to do to Claymore, before opening his jacket to reveal a Trident shirt beneath.  Does this fourth prong now make them a fork??

During the interval, Rob had his photo taken with Jackie Grady, who had come to have a chat with me before the show, and Randy Valentine, who referred to my comments about him at the Kirkton show....oops!!! 

The first match of the second half was Billy Strachan's lumberjack match.  With heels Glen Dunbar, Scott Renwick, Christopher Saynt and The Trident and faces Steven Magners, Jam O'Malley, Scotty Riccio, Mr News, LJT and Kevin Williams as lumberjacks, Randy Valentine and Jay The Jackal took to the ring.  With the score between them 1-1 after Randy took the win in Menzieshill the night before, both men were desperate to win here.  Valentine definitely put on a better show this time, taking the match to The Jackal right from the start so it was almost a shame when a massive battle between the lumberjacks distracted the crowd from what was actually a really good match.  Once all the lumberjacks had disappeared backstage in their various battles, the match continued with Valentine dominating, however after pinning Jackal, Jay reversed the move on the two count and made the 3 count instead, much to the disappointment of the crowd.

Next up was a 3 corners, intergender, tag team elimination match between Joe Hendry & Viper, Martyn Stallyon & Debbie Sharpe and Scott Renwick & Sammii Jayne.  The Trident also appeared at ringside.  This was an action packed match from the start.  Hendry was eliminated by Renwick after Sammii Jayne hit Hendry with a low blow from behind.  The Trident then attacked Hendry outside the ring.  When Viper entered the ring, Renwick was quick to tag in Sammii Jayne!  During this match Sammii Jayne dived off the ringpost onto Renwick and Stallyon outside, followed by Debbie and then by Martyn Stallyon who had made it back into the ring. Unfortunately it was at this time that my camera battery started to play up and I missed some great photo ops!  After Debbie and Viper were eliminated, Stallyon was left to the mercy of Sammii Jayne and Scott Renwick and it wasn't long before Renwick got the pin to leave him and Sammii the winners of the match.

While I ran to find a socket and charge my camera battery in time for the main event, The Grue took to the ring again and asked Bravehart to come out and answer a few questions.  This time Bravehart did come out, along with Billy Strachan and Stevie Simmons.  The Grue asked what had happened to the Bravehart we all knew and loved.  Bravehart responded by calling the older wrestlers like Claymore has-beens and the crowd responded by giving Bravehart a chant of "has-been" himself.  Bravehart then demanded The Grue leave the ring and turned his attention to Billy Strachan, telling him to leave too.  He then told Stevie Simmons that if he could complete his final task of introducing his match, he would get the job of Bravehart's PA....

The match was a Bra and Panties versus Mask match between Jam O'Malley and Scotty Riccio.  The object was for Scotty to strip Jam down to bra and panties or Jam to remove the mask of Riccio.  This match was hysterical, right from Stevie Simmons introducing "The sultry, the sexy Jam O'Malley" and "from Japan, Scotty Riccio" and we all knew that it was only a matter of time before we would see Jam O'Malley in bra and panties.  Riccio pulled off Jam's top early in the match to reveal the bra, however with Jam in control of the match and Riccio sat dazed in the corner, it was Jam himself who removed his clown trousers to move better and in doing so gave the win to Riccio.  When the ref called for the bell, Jam put his trousers on his head, shook Scotty's hand and then carried the winner from ringside!

With my camera battery partially charged, it was time for the main event, the SWE heavyweight title match between Ian Ambrose and Damian O'Connor, with Ambrose being accompanied by Sammii Jayne as always.  We quickly started chanting for Damo which Sammii Jayne didn't like and she kept telling me to shut up.  After calling Ambrose a chicken, he took a cheap shot at my hair...to which I replied that his hair looked like a bog brush!  Damo took control early in the match and punished Ambrose both in and out of the ring.  Ambrose fought his way back into the match but it was not long before Damo began to dominate again. After suplexing Ambrose from the turnbuckle, Damo continued his onslaught and had Ambrose pinned for the win when The Trident and Scott Renwick appeared and "Powerbomb" pulled referee Ryan Hamilton out of the ring on the two count.  To stop them from interfering more, Claymore, LJT, Mr News and Kevin Williams appeared.  While Damo was distracted by what was happening outside of the ring, Ambrose nailed him from behind and with the referee back in the ring, got the 3 count on Damo to retain the title.

Another great show by SWE.  Looking forward to the next Uprising on 31 May.

SWE Live at Kirkton Review

Friday 18 April 2014

I didn't think I would make this show due to it being on a Friday, however being a bank holiday made all the difference, so Rob and I made the journey up to Sunny Dundee. 

We arrived nice and early and popped into Asda directly opposite the Kirkton Community Centre where Bravehart and the SWE power couple of Ian Ambrose and Sammii Jayne were doing a wee meet and greet and autograph session.  I have to admit that I love Ian and Sammii as heels....they are just so good at it!  #Scumbags forever!

Back across the road, we waited for the doors to open.  This was our first time at Kirkton and I didn't realise how small it was - thank goodness we were early enough to get ringside!  Before the show, there was a performance by the Kirkton Beat Samba Band, a group of children of varying ages playing drums.  Then there was the video announcement of the guest appearing at Hell For Lycra - Dennis Stamp.  There was not much crowd reaction, possibly due to the fact that many people probably have not really heard of him.  Then it was on with the show.... mc'd by the lovely Mr Chris Duke!

First match of the night was Christopher Saynt against crowd favourite, Martyn Stallyon.  Stallyon started by holding out his hand to Saynt, who refused to shake it.  Saynt took the upper hand for much of the match, but Stallyon fed off the crowd cheers to work his way back into the match, however Saynt managed to move out of the way when Stallyon jumped from the turnbuckles and Saynt scored the win.  Saynt then went to Stallyon after the match and we assumed that there was going to be some after match low blows dealt by Saynt and were shocked...totally shocked...when he held out his hand to Stallyon, shook his hand, then raised his arm!  We sat dumbfounded until Rob said that it was probably the most awkward face turn ever.  Has Saynt actually turned face??? We will have to wait and see!!

Next Bryan "The Grue" Douglas entered the ring to introduce the first of the applicants for the position of Bravehart's PA, Esther Robbins, who then announced the arrival of Bravehart and the Trident.  This was less a job interview and more an opportunity for "heel" Bravehart to have a go at the crowd and Esther but it did provide some comedy moments, including a ring covered in jelly babies and a Jelly Baby chant!

Once the ring was cleared of jelly babies, it was time for Kevin Williams and Scott Renwick to face off.  Scott Renwick took the upper hand early in the match, part of which took place outside of the ring and involved Kevin Williams being bounced off the ringposts.  Once back in the ring, Kevin fought his way back into the match, rolling Renwick up for a near pin, then putting him in a leglock that had Renwick scrambling and only just making it to the ropes.  Once released, Renwick grabbed the game controller from the corner of the ring and nailed Williams with it.  The ref immediately called the DQ and Renwick then choked Williams with the controller cable.  The music for the Trident starts up and rather than rescue Williams, they proceeded to attack him, subjecting him to a slam onto the canvas, a power bomb and a 450 splash.  They then left, leaving Kevin Williams prone in the middle of the ring.

Chris Duke took to the ring and discussed the news that Terry Funk was unable to attend Hell For Lycra as planned, then announced Grado and Colt Cabana as competitors at Hellbound on 23 August, the week before Hell For Lycra to a huge pop and some "Colt Cabana, It's Yersel'" cheers.

Last match before the intermission was a tag team match.  First into the ring was Debbie Sharpe, followed by SWE Power Couple Ian Ambrose and Sammii Jayne.  Debbie introduces her tag team partner, Viper.  Ian Ambrose immediately complains because he "doesn't hit girls", while the crowd chant that he is just scared of Viper.  Despite all his protests, this is obviously the case as Ambrose was happy to tag into the ring as long as he was facing Debbie and not Viper.  The match started off with Sammii Jayne and Viper with both girls pulling off some great moves on each other, however as soon as Debbie had been tagged in, Ambrose was more than happy to tag in and Debbie took an extreme amount of punishment.  Ambrose then tagged in Sammii Jayne to continue the punishment before Debbie finally tagged in Viper.  Ambrose then interfered and had Viper chase him round the ring.  Sammii Jayne dived out of the ring onto them both, busting her lip in the process.  Debbie then dived out onto Ambrose and Sammii Jayne.  Viper and Sammii Jayne got back into the ring where Sammii Jayne hit Viper with a massive neckbreaker and both she and Ambrose sat on Viper for the pin, while Debbie still lay on the floor after her dive.  With the Power Couple victorious, Viper helped Debbie to her feet and both girls left to cheers from the crowd.

The first match after the intermission was Glen Dunbar versus Jam O'Malley. Chris Duke really made a big deal of introducing Glen Dunbar which should have been a warning for what was to come.  The crowd retaliated by chanting for Jam as Dunbar made his way to the ring...and were just as loud as Jam himself made his way to the ring in his clown outfit and facepaint and carrying a stuffed crocodile, who then did his own introduction and led the crowd in a chant of "Dunbar Sucks".  There were some comedy moments when Jam sat next to a stunned Dunbar, imitating his movements, until Dunbar turned toward Jam...who kissed him...Dunbar ran away in terror and shortly after Jam invited some of the kids in the audience to help pull Dunbar's legs on either side of the ringpost...ouch!  Dunbar seemed to take the upper hand for a time but as Jam fought back, Chris Duke got involved by distracting O'Malley long enough for Dunbar to strike and take the win. (And I called him the lovely Mr Duke earlier in this blog too - shaking my head!!)

Up next was a grudge match between Jason Costello and Ravishing Randy Valentine, which stemmed from Randy comparing Costello to a potato, a nickname which has stuck with the fans.  With the entire crowd firmly behind Randy, Costello was subject to plenty of jeers of potato, spud and tattie!  Randy came out carrying an effigy of Costello, constructed of pillow stuffing inside a nylon stocking.  Unfortunately, for the majority of the match Costello was firmly in control and despite the crowd's backing, Randy never really looked like winning.  The end came when Costello nailed Randy with the effigy, took the pin, then tore it apart to reveal a weight inside which Randy had obviously concealed inside it in order to use against Costello.  A distraught Randy gathered the pieces of his "friend" before leaving the ring defeated.

It was then back to "The Grue" to introduce the next applicant for the PA position, Tam Malone.  Bravehart arrived with the Trident and Esther and started making fun of both Tam and Esther, before saying he had something to deal with that he should have dealt with before.  He then indicated that the Trident should escort a member of the crowd from the building....that person was Euan Mackie, who did leave the building quietly, however the crowd gave a rousing chant of E G Mackie as he left.  Bravehart then got back to the PA position and decided that Tam and Esther should have a slapping contest to determine which of them would proceed, before throwing Tam out of the ring and calling Esther a disgrace to the SWE.  What any of this has to do with being a PA, I don't know and the comedy element was dampened by the incident with Euan Mackie.  This segment, in my opinion, just seemed to be uncomfortable to watch.

The final match was the over the top rope Battle Royal to determine the number one contender to the SWE Heavyweight Championship who would have a title shot at any time of their choosing after the next Uprising on 26 April and before midnight on 30 August 2014, the date of Hell For Lycra.  The competitors included everyone who had competed during the course of the night with the exception of current champion Ian Ambrose and Randy Valentine (although he did jump onto the ring apron during the match to help eliminate Jason Costello), and they were joined by Scotty Riccio, Mr News, The Trident and Chaz Phoenix, as well as two new faces from Reckless Intent, Juan Loco Gato and Jackie Grady.  The appearance of Chaz Phoenix had the crowd chanting for Steven Magners... and they were not disappointed as Magners appeared after the match started and targeted Phoenix, taking him out of the ring and continuing their brawl into the backstage area.  Due to the fact that Phoenix had not been officially eliminated over the top rope, we expected him to make a reappearance but thankfully that did not happen.  With so many bodies in the ring at once it was hard to keep up with what was going on, however it was soon down to the final four competitors, Mr News, Viper, Scott Renwick and Martyn Stallyon.  Mr News was first of the four to be eliminated, followed quickly by Viper, leaving Renwick and Stallyon to battle it out until Stallyon eliminated Renwick to take the win and become number one contender.  Renwick, obviously upset and being beaten and at us chanting loudly for Stallyon, decided to give us a nice shower, emptying his water bottle over us!  Gives a new meaning to crowd participation.  Thankfully I had some dry stuff in the car or it would have been a long drive in wet clothes and I managed to dry off my camera quickly so no damage there either!

The next SWE event is on Friday 25 April at Menzieshill Community Centre, with Uprising the following night at the Ardler Complex.  Check out their facebook page or website for further information.

SWE Uprising & The Trident of Doom Review

Saturday 29 March 2014

So a trip to Dundee involving Dr Noodles for lunch, some shopping and Rob getting his lip pierced was topped off with a wrestling show! 

My first visit to Scottish Wrestling Entertainment was Hell For Lycra 10 last year and I admit to not being all that impressed.  The PA system was awful and there were a lot of really botched moves and I didn't think I would go back....except that they had Bret Hart visiting in October and I HAD to go, even if the show was awful it would be worth it for Bret.....but the show was brilliant and we were hooked!  We now travel up to Dundee for the monthly Uprising shows and this one was a belter!

First up was a video introduction and the big reveal for the WWE Hall of Fame legend who would be attending Hell For Lycra 11 in August....none other than Terry Funk!

The first match was LJT against "The Butcher" Scott Renwick.  Renwick was brutal from the start and although LJT tried hard and got a few high flying moves in, the match was pretty much all Renwick.  Eventually Renwick went for the pin but decided to pull LJT up on the two count - a move he was quick to regret as LJT managed to reverse a move and roll Renwick up for the 1-2-3.

Bryan Douglas entered the ring to introduce Bravehart's security team, The Trident, one of whom was to face Steven Magners.  While Douglas tried to get answers from The Trident regarding their recent attacks on wrestlers, they refused to talk and began to surround him in a threatening manner.  Enter Steven Magners to make the save.  The referee suddenly appeared and the match was on, but it was a bit of a non-match.  With a member on each of three sides of the ring and Magners in the ring, it was just a matter of time before one would distract while another would sneak into the ring behind him and roll him up for the pin.  What happened next caused some controversy - Chaz Phoenix entered the ring behind Magners, pulled a plastic bag from his tights and put it over Magners head.  Security had to get involved to remove Chaz and help Magners backstage, however there was a large number of children present and I, and several other people, felt that Chaz's actions were a step too far.

Next was a Sirens match with Debbie Sharpe against Kirsty Love.  This was the first time I had seen Kirsty and was really glad to see a new face as there are only so many times you can watch Debbie fight Sammii Jayne.  Most of the crowd were firmly behind Debbie but Kirsty Love was quite impressive.  A back and forward match which ended in a victory for Kirsty Love when she rammed Debbie into the ringpost and slid under the ropes back into the ring just as the referee was about to count both girls out.  This pic shows Debbie launching from the ring onto Kirsty outside of the ring - its blurry but the faces of Randy Valentine, Bryan Douglas and Calum McMinn are class!!

Next was a tag team match with Claymore and Scotty Riccio facing heels Jackie Polo and Christopher Saynt.  The heels entrance was hysterical which Polo singing along to his backing track and Saynt camping it up in silver trunks and a sailor hat.  Normally I would cheer against the heels but I am actually starting to like Jackie Polo and thats why Rob and I kept a "Jackie" "Polo" chant going throughout much of the match.  The heels pretty much punished Scotty Riccio for much of the match and while the ref continued to stop Claymore from entering to make the save, the heels were free to double team Riccio.  Eventually Riccio managed to tag in Claymore and the tables turned. Claymore threw Riccio over the top rope onto Jackie Polo and then Riccio was lifted from the ringpost onto Claymore's shoulders to give extra height to his splash onto Saynt.  Claymore and Riccio scored the win.

First match of the second half was Jam O'Malley against Chaz Phoenix.  This became another non-match as Steven Magners ran into the ring to get revenge for Chaz's earlier attack.  After beating him in the ring, he lifted the mats at ringside to slam Phoenix onto the floor twice.  Again security were brought in....and Chaz was given the win against O'Malley as a result of a disqualification. 

As MC Calum McMinn was in the ring to announce the next match, the video screen sprang to life and Chris Duke appeared, taunting McMinn and announcing the arrival of Glen Dunbar who was facing Kevin Williams, a former heel and Syndicate member who has turned face using a gamer gimmick.  I am not entirely convinced by this new persona - I think Williams is a better heel than a face!  The match was not bad but I find the whole gamer gimmick a bit stupid...Kev battering buttons on an old Nintendo 64 controller while he had Dunbar in a leglock made no sense.  It got worse when he brought out his little box made to look like the powerup box from Super Mario Bros and opened it to produce a plushie windup bomb toy.  McMinn jumped up onto the ring apron saying Williams couldn't bring a bomb into the building, then he, Williams and Dunbar played a game of donkey with the plushie while the crowd counted down from 10 - sorry but I am just not buying it!  Williams finally rolled Dunbar up to score the pin, leaving Dunbar stunned.

When McMinn asked the crowd to give it up for the loser, Dunbar went for McMinn, who then whacked Dunbar.  Enter Bravehart and The Trident! Bravehart told Dunbar to leave the ring and I noticed Dunbar had a bleeding ear but I am not sure if this happened during the match with Williams or during the altercation with McMinn.  Braveheart then turned his attention to McMinn and his feud with Chris Duke, announcing that each of them would be given the opportunity to prove they were the man for the job at the next two shows, Chris Duke at Kirkton Community Centre on 18 April and Calum McMinn at Menzieshill Community Centre on 25 April.

Next up was the SWE Heavyweight Championship match with Ian Ambrose defending his belt against Joe Hendry.  Ambrose entered the ring from the crowd behind Joe Hendry, who was watching the entrance.  Ambrose's girl (and true winner of the SWE belt) Sammii Jayne was nowhere to be seen during the match.  Ambrose started well but as the match progressed Joe Hendry was getting the upper hand.  Fearful of losing his title, he picked up the belt and while the ref was distracted he threw it to Joe Hendry and threw himself down on the canvas.  Turning, the ref immediately called for the bell and announced the winner of the match as a result of DQ to be Ambrose.  The scumbag strikes again!!

Once again Bryan Douglas entered the ring and announced the entrance of Bravehart, who was accompanied as always by the Trident.  This was supposed to be when the applicants for the position of Bravehart's assistant would enter the ring for a debate on who was the best candidate.  Bravehart, who is currently playing heel brilliantly, got right into Douglas's face asking him why he was called out, then proceeded to berate the 5 applicants, Esther Robbins, Amy Anderson, Tam Malone, Billy Strachan and Stevie Simmons.  He then refused to allow them into the ring and instead told them they would each have an opportunity to prove themselves by actually being the assistant for the upcoming shows - Esther and Tam would each take a half show on 18 April, Amy would run the show on 25 April and Billy and Stevie would be responsible for the next Uprising show on 26 April.

Finally it was time for the main event, a triple threat match to determine the No 1 contender for the SWE Heavyweight Championship between Damian O'Connor, Martyn Stallyon and "The Jackal" Jay Costello.  The match started with Damo and Stallyon in the ring and Costello grabbing their legs from outside, so they banded together to deal with the "potato".  This was an incredible match with constant action.  The crowd cheers were split between Damo and Stallyon.  Damo missed his move outside the ring where he does a flying somersault into his opponent against the barriers when Costello managed to move out of the way, however he did manage to get both men on his shoulders before dropping them both!

Costello, who has a feud going with Randy Valentine, pushed Randy off his chair and took it into the ring to try to nail Damo with it.  Randy wasn't about to let that happen and jumped on the ring apron to take back the chair.  Costello pulled it away and turned, straight into the boot of Damo who then scored the pin to become No 1 Contender.

After the show I spoke to SWE owner Bravehart about my concerns regarding Chaz Phoenix and the plastic bag and the fact that at no time did anyone address the issue in the ring.  I told him that I felt that it was a step too far when there are so many kids in the audience and that someone should have made the point that this was extremely dangerous and that the kids should not attempt to copy it.  He understood my point completely and hopefully there will be no issues in the future.

With tickets for the Uprising shows priced at just £7 for adults and £4 for kids, it really is good value. SWE has quickly become one of our favourite promotions and Rob and I have made quite a few friends within the "Dundee Ringside Posse" - looking forward to Rob being old enough so we can join you in Kage after the shows!! 

Check out SWE on Facebook for details of their upcoming shows.