Review: Reckless Intent presents Cruel Summer

Saturday 9 August 2014

So, as has become normal with Reckless Intent shows, we arrived early so Rob could help with the prep work - this time he was going to be doing some ringside camera work.  I, of course, sat in the car finishing off posters and awaiting the arrival of Colt Cabana!!  I broke my rule of not entering the unit until showtime in order to take some photos of the show roster in the ring but this one by Andrew West is so much better than any of mine and he has given me permission to use it in my blog!

With Colt Cabana and Chris Renfrew making their Reckless Intent debuts, there was a lot of interest in this event.  In order to accommodate more people, a standing area was created by opening the large shutter door and extending slightly outside of the unit, and by the time the show started, it was standing room only!

The show started with "The Superstar" Darren Lewis coming out to the ring accompanied by Joe Hendry.  After demanding silence, he was greeted with a chorus of "slightly average" and then went on to complain about the management calling his character into question and bringing an American over to face him!  Enter Colt Cabana to a massive pop from the crowd and he entertained from the start, picking up babies from ringside and dancing them on the apron.  Once in the ring, he continued to entertain, first moonwalking across the ring, then making fun of referee Adam and the fact that he was wearing cowboy boots and finally spending ages smoothing and rolling up his jacket, before tossing it over his shoulder, while Lewis got more and more wound up waiting.  There followed a lovely wee match with lots of genuine wrestling moves, interspersed with comedy moments and I can now see where Grado gets his inspiration!  Of course Lewis would not fight fair, with Joe Hendry at ringside, who grabbed the leg of Cabana, breaking the momentum and giving Lewis the opportunity to take the advantage, before tossing Cabana out of the ring to be attacked by Hendry while Lewis distracted the referee.  When the referee finally noticed, Joe Hendry was removed from ringside.  The match then swung back and forth, with Cabana missing a corner splash, then Lewis going over the ropes and being catapulted back in.  Finally with Cabana holding the advantage, he climbed the turnbuckle to finish Lewis when Hendry reappeared, throwing a cup of water into the face of Cabana, causing him to lose his balance and fall and allowing Lewis to roll him up for the three count.

After the match, Colt Cabana took the microphone and said how he would have liked to have come out and scored the win for the crowd and he was sorry not to have done so.  He then said he has pretty much wrestled for every independent promotion in the world but there was something special about being in "a garage in a corner" packed with fans having fun and enjoying themselves, from in their 50's to 3 days old, before thanking the crowd for having him.

Next out to the ring was Bobby Roberts, who told the crowd of his anger at not being given a match against Dave Conrad and that no matter who was announced as his opponent, in his mind he would be facing Dave Conrad and therefore that individual would suffer the consequences.  Out came General Manager John Long who announced that Roberts' opponent would be Venym.  As usual, Venym came out running his mouth but, true to his word, Roberts tore into Venym like a man possessed.  After pummelling Venym in the ring, Roberts continued his assault outside the ring, but on re-entering the ring, Venym managed to get the upper hand, attacking the knee of Roberts to try to keep him off-balance.  Venym hooked the legs of Roberts and attempted to swing the big man but was unable to lift Roberts from the mat and appeared to injure his back after his third failed attempt.  This gave Roberts the opportunity to regain the advantage, however suddenly Conrad's entrance music played and Roberts turned to face the entrance waiting for Conrad to appear.  Venym capitalised on his distraction, hitting him with a lowblow and scoring the pin.  An irate Bobby Roberts then took out his frustrations on referee Westy, knocking him to the mat before leaving the ring.

Once again Dave Conrad's entrance music rang out, only this time he did appear, followed by his opponent DCT.  These two men seemed evenly matched in size and strength but DCT had the crowd firmly behind him and took the early advantage however Conrad fought back and soon had the upper hand.  With the match continuing to swing back and forth, both men scored near falls but the difference between them was Conrad's preference for underhanded tactics.  Conrad grabbed the bell and was about to whack DCT with it, but referee Westy grabbed the bell from him.  With the ref returning the bell to the announce table, Conrad hit DCT with a low blow and was about to attempt to finish the match when Bobby Roberts returned to the ring and chaos ensued as Conrad and Roberts attempted to tear each other to pieces.  It took SIX men to try to keep these two apart while the crowd chanted "Let them fight".  After eventually managing to get Conrad out of the ring, General Manager John Long attempted to reprimand Roberts, slapping and shoving him but Roberts was not going to take this and once again vented his frustration and speared the General Manager to the delight of the crowd, before losing it completely and knocking down anyone who dared to get within arms length.  Long then told Roberts to consider himself suspended.  It was then announced that the match win had been awarded to Dave Conrad as a result of a disqualification.

The first half main event was a UK Title match between current champion Mikey and the man he beat for the belt Jackie Grady.  There appears to be a rather intense rivalry between these two young guys and they both went all out to show who was the better man.  The match started with them slapping each other before spilling out of the ring with Grady quickly taking the upper hand, slamming Mikey's head off the ringpost and apron.  After returning to the ring and Grady scoring a near fall, Mikey took the advantage and when the action again spilled out of the ring, this time Mikey was in control and slammed Grady into the ringpost.  Back in the ring, Mikey fulfilled the crowd's request to make Grady squeal like a girl.  This match went back and forth and with both guys trying everything they could to win, we saw everything from chops and slaps, armdrags from the top rope, high flying moves from the turnbuckles, a package piledriver from Mikey and a very nice cravat neckbreaker from Grady.  With Mikey appearing to have injured his knee, Grady looked to capitalise however a brave (or stupid) dropkick into the corner on Grady by Mikey, followed by a kick to the head, a shoulder block from the top rope and a scoop-slam/piledriver hybrid move sealed the deal and Mikey was able to pin Grady for the three count, retaining the belt.  While celebrating on the turnbuckle, a masked figure appeared in the ring but this time it was Mikey who came up trumps, slamming him onto the canvas, however the mysterious man managed to escape the ring before Mikey was able to unmask him.

The second half started with Saint-George Bernard facing Chris Renfrew.  Saint-George and I have had "exchanges" on Facebook and I have recently taken to commenting on anything and everything he posts with Blah blah blah!  Having made up a quantity of Blah! Blah! Blah! flyers, these had been handed out to the crowd during the interval and he made his entrance to the ring faced with a sea of flyers - his face was priceless!  On reaching the ring, he then announced that, as holder of the wooden spoon (which guarantees a title shot at any time) he was going onto bigger and better things and would not be wrestling Renfrew after all.  Unfortunately for him, Chris Renfrew had other ideas and made his entrance.  After a few slaps and chops in the ring, the action moved outside...literally outside....when Renfrew took the big-mouthed Englishman into the car park and gave him a little taste of a Glasgow street fight, smacking him off the brick wall then scooping him and slamming him down onto one of the barriers, before force-feeding him a jaffa cake and slamming him face first into another barrier!  The match finally returned to the ring where Renfrew continued to beat on Saint-George until Darren Lewis came out to ringside and distracted Renfrew, allowing Saint-George to catch him off guard and score the win.

Next up was Darren Lewis' second match of the evening, this time he faced "The Butcher" Scott Renwick.  It started off well for Renwick who quickly took the advantage and managed to smack Lewis silly all the way around the outside of the ring, however Lewis gained the upper hand back in the ring, keeping Renwick down as much as possible, standing on his chest while using the ropes for leverage.  Renwick fought back, attempting to pedigree Lewis, who broke free and choke-slammed Renwick instead, before delivering a kick to the head that knocked Renwick unconscious and then proceeded to stand on his head.  After the referee had made the 10 count and Lewis was declared the winner by knockout, several of the wrestlers came out to the ring to assist in removing Renwick from the ring and helping to carry him backstage.

The penultimate match of the evening had Joe Hendry facing Hardcore Champion Falcon.  Hendry appeared to dominate most of this match - he hit Falcon with his signature suplex before attempting to remove Falcon's mask.  He also threw him clear across the ring before attempting a pin.  Falcon did appear to fight back and had a near fall himself, however it was Hendry's night and he took the victory.  It was the next morning when questions were asked regarding the Hardcore title.  It had not been announced as a non-title match and, as the Hardcore title is under 24/7 rules, it would appear that Joe Hendry could be the Hardcore Champion - Joe Hendry certainly seems to think so and, as much as it pains me, I have to agree.  I have suggested that a rematch be scheduled for their Sunday Slam event on 24 August to decide this once and for all....maybe John Long will like my suggestion??

The main event pitted Lowblow against Rawlins for the Reckless Intent World Title.  This was a match that Lowblow needed to win in order to secure his position on the roster.  As Lowblow made his entrance, Rawlins came out from behind the curtain and attacked him with a steel chair - the baddest man in professional wrestling was living up to his name and this match was not going to be pretty!  With Rawlins battling to keep his title and Lowblow battling to keep his job, both men have everything to lose and neither was going down easy.  With Rawlins having taken an early advantage, Lowblow dug deep and pulled off a cracking suplex which he held as the crowd counted to 20, before dropping the champ on the canvas.  The action again spilled outside of the ring, and I decided it might be a good idea to move as Rawlins hurled his opponent toward the unit door and knocked down the three lads doing security for the event!  Back in the ring, Rawlins continued his underhanded tactics, distracting the referee while appearing to tie his bootlace, while his other foot was over the throat of Lowblow.  This was followed by a series of submission moves but Lowblow refused to quit.  Rawlins then took to the ropes, however Lowblow managed to move before Rawlins landed, giving him the opportunity to get back into the match and put Rawlins into a sharpshooter but Rawlins would not submit.  The match continued to swing back and forth until both men were struggling to stand and Lowblow was finally able to put Rawlins down for the pinfall and become the new Reckless Intent World Champion.

After hugging his wife at ringside, an exhausted Lowblow got back into the ring.  As he struggled to his feet and stood clutching his newly won belt, and with Rawlins still lying prone in the ring, out came Saint-George with his briefcase containing the wooden spoon.  He shoved the briefcase into the hands of the referee, cashing in his title shot.  As soon as the bell rang, he grabbed Lowblow, delivered a stunner on the new champion, covered him for the three count and became the new Reckless Intent World Champion.

And so ended a cracking show - the best Reckless show I have seen and it definitely makes my top 3 of all time! My only regret is that I didn't get a photo with Colt Cabana when I had the chance before the show.  My pick for Match of the Night was the UK Title match between Mikey and Jackie Grady - a true showcase of young talent which, for me, outshone the big names and more experienced men on the night.  They should both be proud to say they put it all out there and I, for one, appreciated it.

For more information on upcoming Reckless Intent shows, check them out on Facebook. You will also find links to their website and YouTube channel and there will be footage from this event posted over the next few days!

Colt Cabana is appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until 25 August.  You can see him every night at 10pm Monday to Saturday at the Stand on the Square doing his show with Brendon Burns - more info at www.thestand.co.uk.  On Sundays at 4pm  he is recording his "The Art of Wrestling" podcast in front of a live audience at Studio 24  before appearing at the ICW shows later that night at the same venue.  Tickets for podcast and ICW shows available from Ticketmaster.  He is also appearing at SWE Hellbound in Dundee on Saturday 23 August.....and if I am lucky I might get a photo with him there!!

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: Reckless Intent presents Proving Grounds

Saturday 28 June 2014

Another early start so Rob could help out left me sitting outside finishing some signs for the show!

Unfortunately Ring Announcer Jason McKinlay was ill, so we had to endure Saint-George Bernard as both the announcer for the night as well as acting General Manager.  The show started with Saint-George and John Long coming out to the ring to remind people that it was Armed Forces Day and that Reckless Intent were running a special raffle to raise money for the armed forces charity, SSAFA https://www.ssafa.org.uk/. (Tickets for this raffle are still available and the draw will take place at the next event, Cruel Summer on 9 August so if you plan to come along, remember to bring some money for raffle tickets too.)

And onto the show....first out to ringside was Manlon who called Hardcore Champion, Wee Jimmy into the ring and promptly pinned him to take the title under the 24/7 rules.  Then Juan El Loco Gato came out and pinned Manlon to take the belt, only for Wee Jimmy, who was still standing in the ring to quickly roll up Juan to regain the title before quickly exiting the ring with his belt.  A stunned Juan and Manlon then faced off against each other in what had to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. First Juan grabbed referee Westy and took his ref shirt and tried to instigate a match between Manlon and Westy.   Manlon was having none of it and quickly took the action to Juan, who eventually returned the ref shirt to Westy.  The match
continued in a comedy vein with Juan asking the crowd who was more manly, Manlon or Westy, then hugging Manlon during grappling sessions.  After smacking Manlon's face against his thigh several times, Juan jumped down and had the audience rub it better....and I was one of those "lucky" people!!  The fun continued when, using a remote control, Juan "paused" Manlon before hitting him with a low blow then hit play to watch Manlon writhe in agony.  Then Manlon grabbed the remote and returned the favour, before Juan used it for a final time to have Manlon punch himself in the face.  There was then a period of serious wrestling during which Manlon attempted his submission hold but Juan got to the ropes.  The match ended with Juan executing a frog splash from the top rope and scoring the 3 count!

Next match pitted Venym against Disturbed.  This match started off fairly straight forward with the crowd cheering for Disturbed against a very vocal Venym but then got a bit confusing as a second Disturbed appeared, knocking both the original Disturbed and Venym down with a crossbody from the top rope.  Venym was knocked from the ring, leaving the two Disturbeds to fight each other..and the confused crowd almost silent.  When Venym grabbed Disturbed 2 and dragged him outside the ring, Disturbed 1 did a suicide dive through the ropes to take both men out.  Back in the ring, Venym took the upper hand over Disturbed 1 going for a submission when Disturbed 2 made the save and attempted to pin Disturbed 1.  The match ended when Disturbed 1 ripped the mask from Disturbed 2 and left the ring, and while Disturbed 2 tried to cover his face with his hood, Venym rolled him up and took the win. Where the "Disturbed Saga" is going, I haven't a clue but I am sure it will become apparent soon!

Next out to the ring was Jackie Grady, who took the microphone to address the fact that he had issued a challenge to DCT who had been training in Romania and that as DCT had failed to show up and told referee Westy to start the match, count to 10 and then name Grady the winner.  As the count reached 7, the music blared and out came DCT.  A flummoxed Grady was then subjected to chants of "chicken" as he refused to re-enter the ring.  DCT took the advantage in the early part of the match, however Grady soon resorted to underhand tactics to get back into it.  As the momentum swung back in the favour of DCT, Grady managed to execute a swinging neckbreaker, following it with a sleeper hold but DCT managed to reach the ropes.  After nailing Grady with a DDT which sent him out of the ring, DCT lifted him back into the ring and after an unsuccessful pin attempt, was rolled up by Grady who, with his feet up on the second rope, scored the pin.

After a short interval, the action continued with a UK Title match between current champion Mikey and Dave Conrad.  Conrad first addressed the crowd and said that what had happened at the last event was a misunderstanding and that he wanted a fair match with Mikey for the title, then offered his hand for Mikey to shake and promptly kicked him in the gut.  With Conrad dominating the early part of the match, Mikey showed great heart, getting some hits here and there but Conrad would quickly subdue him again with a hard clothesline or slam into the corner.  A superb missile dropkick from the top rope started the momentum swing into Mikey's favour, followed by a standing dropkick in the corner then the "coast to coast".  After failing to score the pinfall, he was unable to get the bigger guy up for the "go to sleep", allowing Conrad to hit back with a massive powerbomb but when Mikey kicked out, Conrad started on Westy (and not for the first time) for not counting quickly enough before starting on a kid at ringside, allowing Mikey time to recover and finally execute the GTS and score the 3 count, retaining his title.  As Mikey celebrated in the ring, a masked man in a New Blood hoodie entered the ring, attacked him and quickly left.  Mikey then took the microphone and reminded the crowd of Jackie Grady's underhand tactics at the Super Bowl, hiding under the ring during the match then eliminating Mikey to take the title and how Mikey had then taken the title from him at Blackburn Gala Day after stopping him from pulling the same stunt.  He then offered Grady a rematch at the next event, Cruel Summer on 9 August.

Just before introducing the next match, Saint-George Bernard decided to get into a spat with a guy in the audience as his ego was obviously feeling it was not getting enough attention.  He then started on me again - the poor deluded Englishman still hasn't realised he will never win a war of words with me.  He then introduced John Long, who was to face Lowblow, with each man's job on the line.  Long started mouthing off, berating Lowblow with support from Saint-George.  It was around this time that I had to leave the unit for a few minutes to deal with an injury I had received to my foot earlier in the day so I missed Lowblow's entrance and the very start of the match, however I was told that when he was attacked by Saint-George while Long distracted the referee. After a stunned Lowblow was shoved back into the ring, Long took full advantage, using choke holds and yelling that Westy worked for him and that he better do as he was told.  I returned to the unit to see Lowblow being attacked again by Saint-George while Long was yelling in Westy's face before slapping the young referee. While Lowblow kept fighting, Long continued to use underhanded and illegal tactics and illicit the additional outside interference throughout from Saint-George.  Finally Lowblow started to gain the advantage, managing to get some revenge on both men both in and out of the ring, however Saint-George was not got going to allow this to continue and pulled Westy from the ring and knocked him down to the floor and second referee Adam was also subjected to the same fate.

Saint-George stripped the referee shirt from Westy and putting it on himself, declared himself the new referee.  Lowblow nailed Long with a kick and went for the pin but Saint-George carried out a slow count, inciting Lowblow to attack him.  Saint-George then hit him with a stunner, placed Long on his chest and made a fast count, declaring Long the winner.  With Long's job now safe, he then announced that Lowblow would have a final chance to secure his position in Reckless Intent, by winning a match at Cruel Summer against Rawlins!

Finally it was time for the Main Event, a match for the Reckless Intent World Title between Rawlins and Bobby Roberts, a fantastic confrontation which scored as my Match of the Night.  With the crowd firmly on "Team Bobby", Rawlins was unhappy with the chanting and, unable to get them to stop, took his frustrations out on the heavily strapped elbow of Roberts.  The momentum swung back and forth, with Roberts using his size and strength advantage, only for Rawlins to use his cunning and returning to the injured elbow.  When the action spilled out of the ring I took that as my cue to move out of my seat to protect my injured foot...and a good call it was! Rawlins knocked Roberts to the ground, jumped back into the ring and dived out between the ropes onto Roberts, only the big guy caught him and slammed Rawlins into the ringpost.  Back in the ring, momentum once again swung back and forwards, first Rawlins regained the advantage by again focussing on the elbow of Roberts then Roberts swung Rawlins from one corner to the other, slamming him into the turnbuckles.  The match ended when, after Roberts hit Rawlins with
a massive clothesline and went for the pin, Dave Conrad appeared at ringside distracting Roberts.  As Roberts turned to referee Westy to ask what was going on, Conrad slid a metal tray to Rawlins who slipped it inside his vest.  Roberts then turned his attention back to Rawlins, hitting him with a spear which knocked both men down.  As the referee count reached 7, Rawlins managed to roll over and get an arm across the chest of Roberts, taking the 3 count and retaining the title.

And so ended another great night of action.  Most of the matches are available to view on the Reckless Intent YouTube channel.  The next event "Cruel Summer" is on 9 August and matches have already been announced on the Facebook page so check it out and come along and watch some fireworks!

Review: Reckless Intent at Blackburn Gala Day

Saturday 14 June 2014

This was a wrestling event with a difference.  I have to admit that I haven't been to a gala day in years.  When Rob was younger, he found the crowds, noise and general chaos too much to handle so it was just another thing to avoid.  As he got older, his ability to deal with the crowds, noise and chaos improved, but his interest in the shows and stalls diminished.  As a result, I had absolutely no idea what a gala day entailed and how a wrestling show could be incorporated into it.

Our day started early and we met up with some of the crew at the RI unit at 8.45am, then it was off to Blackburn to get set up.  The first thing that had to be decided was whether the ring would be set up outdoors or in the local sports centre.  It was very overcast but forecasts said it would brighten up so outside it was.  The next hurdle was to get the van over to where we would be setting up without getting stuck in the muddy sections.  After that it was time to build a wrestling ring....and I think I gave a few of those boys a bit of a shock when I got stuck in - just call me She-Ra!!  Once the ring was up, it was time to get the barriers up and backstage area sorted.  It was then time for a well deserved break and a wee spot of lunch while the boys have their planning session.  Because Rob is training with Reckless Intent, I am a little more involved in their shows than other promotions but my one rule is that I don't want to know what goes on in the ring until it happens.

At 1.30pm the show was ready to start and a small crowd began to gather.  Rather than picking my usual spot to watch and cheer/jeer the lads, I watched to see who I thought were getting into the matches, then made my way to that area and tried to start some chants.  Some folk joined right in, while a few others eyed me warily while staying silent. Another thing that surprised me about the show is that, because it was a small part of the Gala Day,
I assumed that there would be three or four matches to give the crowd a wee taste of the "Reckless Intent Experience" but no, they actually put on a full show with 6 one-on-one matches and a 10 man elimination match for the UK Title.  And so onto the wrestling...although I apologise if this seems like more of results list than a proper review of each match as I was wandering around a fair bit.....

With the General Manager John Long in action, the guest GM and Ring Announcer for the day was my biggest fan, Saint-George Bernard.  As he took to the ring to bore...I mean regale.. us with his musings (and whinging about his broken thumb), the bagpipes of a local pipe band started up, much to his annoyance and the amusement of the crowd!

First up, current UK title holder Jackie Grady faced Juan El Loco Gato in a non-title match.  The crowd were not impressed with Grady's cockiness, however they loved Juan's cheeky and colourful character and were firmly behind him throughout the match.  Unfortunately Grady won the match, but Juan won the crowd!

With the running battle between John Long and Lowblow coming to a head on 28 June at Proving Grounds, both men had "warm-up" matches at this event.  John Long faced Chavi, who came out to the ring with a bottle of Irn-Bru instead of his usual Buckfast (well it was a Gala Day after all).  The crowd loved it, especially the kid Chavi handed the bottle to.  The match went back and forward with the crowd chanting for Chavi, however it wasn't enough to keep Long from taking the win.

 

In the second "warm-up" match, Lowblow faced Venym.  With Saint-George getting in the face of Venym at the start, warning him not to let Lowblow win, the match seemed stacked.  The match saw some good moves from both men, however despite the warnings, it was the crowd favourite Lowblow who took the win...although I didn't actually see the end of this match as I was busy getting my photo taken with another blue-haired phenomenon, Sonic the Hedgehog!!

After a short interval it was back to the action and first up, Disturbed v Disturbed.  This was a really weird match which was very difficult to get into.  With two identical figures in the ring it was impossible to cheer as you were cheering both men and with each making identical moves and making the appropriate counter moves it was more a dance than a match.  With the crowd pretty much silent in their confusion, this ended in a double count out when the Disturbed ones took their battle outside of the ring and backstage!

Next up, Mikey against Darren Lewis.  Lewis appeared without his glittery, feathery robe and looking plain mean.  This was quite a brutal match, with the action taking place both inside and outside of the ring.  Lewis used his size advantage to dominate much of the match, however the crowd were delighted to see Mikey turn the tables and take the win.  However, once again, a mystery figure in a "New Blood" hoodie appeared to attack Mikey.  Will he appear again at Proving Grounds?

 

The penultimate match saw Rawlins face Johnny Lions.  I had only seen Lions a couple of times before in SWE shows and the last time was in October 2013.  The first thing I noticed is that he had bulked up some and was looking really good.  This was another great match which saw several near falls for both men and a foot on the rope saving Rawlins from losing his title.  There were some cracking moments, such as Lions holding Rawlins in a suplex for what seemed like forever.  This was a cracking match and scores my vote for Match of the Day (because it was an afternoon show).  Despite his best efforts, Lions was unable to take the win and Rawlins retained the gold....and got a faceful of silly string to boot.  I really hope I get the chance to see Lions in action again soon.

Finally we had a ten man elimination match for the UK Championship.  It as an over the top rope battle royal style until down to the final four when pinfalls and submissions would also count.  The start of the match was utter chaos and much of the action took place outside of the ring....and even over the crowd barriers.  At one point, with the majority of the wrestlers outside of the barriers in a massive battle, one of the Disturbed jumped on them from the roof of the van.  Controversy reigned again as once back in the ring, Lowblow eliminated John Long and Venym, only to be eliminated himself when
Saint-George got into the ring and threw him out!  Jackie Grady tried to reprise his trick of hiding under the ring, but this time Mikey was having none of it, dragging him out and making him compete properly.  Things settled as we got down to the final four, Jackie Grady, Mikey, Johnny Lions and Darren Lewis.  Johnny Lions and Mikey got the pin on Lewis before Grady eliminated Lions over the top rope, leaving Mikey and Grady to fight it out for the title.  Mikey took the upper hand and kept it, finally delivering the Go To Sleep and pinning Grady to become the new UK Champion.  Click here to watch a highlight video of it - seriously, do it, it's damn good!!

Then it was time to strip everything down (once again I got stuck in), pack up the van then head back to the RI Unit to unload again.   I tell you, I have a whole new appreciation for all those guys in all the promotions I visit.  There was a lot of heavy lifting and carrying...and then the boys had to get into the ring and entertain too!  I decided I had earned the right to a few beers when I got home and that's exactly what I did....only after 2 beers I was wiped out and in bed by 10pm....but I had an absolute blast and I hope the lads will let me help out again when they appear at next year's event!

Reckless Intent have their next event "Proving Grounds" on Saturday 28 June in Livingston.  For more information, check them out on Facebook or their website.  Also you can see matches from previous events on their YouTube Channel

Review: Pride Wrestling - We Aim To Misbehave

Saturday 7 June 2014

This event was on the same date as a PBW show but our decision to make our first visit to Pride Wrestling was based mostly on the fact that the main event was a title match between Glen Dunbar and Mikey Whiplash (although I think Nikki Storm v Viper would have sealed it for Rob)  When it was announced that Glen Dunbar had sustained an injury that would keep him out of the ring for 12 weeks and would not be able to compete, I was totally gutted.

So the show starts with Glen Dunbar addressing the crowd, saying that you cannot start a Pride Wrestling show without "your Champion and a true hero" and that while we would see a fantastic show, we would not see him defend his title tonight, although he would at the next show on 16th August.  He then took a seat in the audience to watch the night's action.

First match up, Jackie Polo v DCT.  Once again Polo worked the crowd during his entrance - he must have one of the longest entrances but it just never gets boring.  Once in the ring, he took the microphone and told Dunbar he was looking at the No 1 contender for his championship before turning on one of the crowd.  DCT then arrived and had Rob come over to the ring to tell Polo that DCT had better hair than Polo (seemed random at the time and still does!).  Polo held the advantage through most of the match, however it was DCT who scored the pinfall, much to the shock of Polo and the delight of the crowd.

Next up was the team of Street Justice (Chris Renfrew & Mark Sweeney) v Bobby Roberts & Daihlan Hendry.  This was just brutal... Renfrew and Sweeney isolated Hendry for much of the match and with the referee stopping Roberts from entering, took the opportunity to double team the young Source graduate, even going as far as removing their belts and using them to whip him.  When Roberts finally managed to tag in, he was also double teamed and belt-whipped before Renfrew hit him with the stunner and scored the pinfall.  Street Justice then continued to beat and whip Roberts and Hendry after the bell.

The first half main event was a triple threat match for the N7 Championship between current champ Lewis Girvan, Christopher Saynt and Joe Hendry.  With Girvan and Saynt in the ring, Hendry arrived and announced that he was not 100% fit and that it would be unfair to the others to bring down what would be an amazing match, before taking a seat in the crowd to watch.  With a pretty even split of the crowd cheers, Girvan and Saynt pulled out all the stops to win and Joe Hendry was right - it was an amazing match.  With Saynt prone on the canvas, Girvan took to the turnbuckles ready to capitalise when Street Justice reappeared at ringside.  Girvan leapt from the turnbuckles to knock down Street Justice and while all three were lying on the floor at my feet, Hendry snuck into the ring from the other side and pinned Saynt to take the title.  Girvan and Saynt then watched as Hendry handed an envelope of cash to Chris Renfrew and walked away with the belt. 

The first match after the interval featured Rob's favourite, Nikki Storm against Viper.  This was a great match with several near pins.  Storm tried everything she could to win, including standing on Viper's hair while arguing with the referee, but Viper was not going down to the self proclaimed "Queen of the World" and nailed Storm with the V bomb to take the win.  Viper then turned her attention to Dunbar sitting in the crowd and stated that having pinned him already in the past made her a contender for his title.  Enter Mr Byers, the new Scientific Adviser to the Founders, holding his clipboard and giving a whole slew of reasons why Viper, as a female wrestler, was not up to the challenge of competing in the superior men's division.  With the crowd booing him, Viper showed him just how inaccurate he was, by taking his clipboard and nailing him with it.

Next up was Jam O'Malley who had challenged Dave Conrad to face "Sideshow Jam's House of Fun".  Once the two men had got to the ring, O'Malley took the microphone and said that as he was undefeated, he was not going to wrestle until he got a title shot but that Conrad would still have a match - he had already lined up a replacement, "The First Follower" Alex Cavanaugh.  With the odds stacked against him, Conrad fought bravely and even managed to get a pin on Cavanaugh, however O'Malley had the referee distracted and as he attempted to regain the ref's attention, Cavanaugh was able to turn the tables and take the win.  O'Malley then decided he would wrestle after all, climbed into the ring, pinned an already prone Conrad and forced the ref to make the 3 count.  O'Malley and Cavanaugh then began to beat Conrad until Christopher Saynt came out to even the numbers.

Finally it was time for the main event, Mikey Whiplash facing Jack Gallagher.  After seeing them both in action against Japanese wrestlers the previous night, I was looking forward to this...and I was not disappointed.  The biggest shock was seeing Mikey Whiplash as a face!! I saw him smile and laugh and I almost lost it completely when some kid was making fun of Gallagher's gumshield saying he looked like a vampire, only for Whippy to come over and pop out his front teeth and say it's better than this!  The match started with Whiplash focusing on the left elbow of Gallagher, however Gallagher managed to turn the tables and worked on the left knee of Whiplash, however it was the more experienced Whiplash who finally took the win in what was an amazing match, a total joy to watch and if I didn't rate Gallagher before, this weekend definitely made me sit up and notice him.  The match of the night by a mile!  Whiplash took the microphone and thanked his opponent for an amazing match, calling Gallagher one of the best wrestlers that Britain has ever seen, before turning his attention to Dunbar in the crowd and saying as soon as Dunbar was fit, Whiplash would be ready to face him.  This match is set for the next Pride event on 16 August....and I will definitely be there to see it!

So, despite my initial disappointment at the change to the main event, I really enjoyed my first visit to Pride.  The matches were great and the crowd were noisy - what more could you want?

On a side note, congratulations to Pride owner James St James, who had changed the date of this show as he was expecting a new arrival the following week, but babies never arrive when you hope/expect and his new son decided to appear on show day.

For information on upcoming events, check out Pride Wrestling on Facebook or their website

Review: Reckless Intent presents Taking Over

Saturday 31 May 2014

I was not supposed to be reviewing this show...I was supposed to be reviewing the latest SWE Uprising but the card for this show just grabbed me.  Reckless Intent vs Source Wrestling..some of the best new talents facing each other.  I have attended several of the SWE shows and am really familiar with the roster but I have only been to a couple of RI shows and after the recent Source showcase, I really wanted a chance to see some of these new guys in action again - so to have both promotions showcase on the same show - it was a no-brainer!  (Don't panic my SWE friends, I still love you all and will be back in Dundee soon!!)

The event actually started a few days earlier when Saint-George Bernard decided to have a go on the Loudmouth Facebook Page....poor deluded Englishman actually thought he could win against me...but then again, he has not had to deal with me as often as some wrestlers and I am sure he will learn in time.  He did, however, inspire me to make some signs for the show - something I have never done before (it was actually quite fun and I plan to make more for visits to other promotions now!)

With Rob now training with Reckless, we arrived early so he could help with the pre-show setup while I stayed in the car with my cross stitch and kindle.  We have a rule that no matter what he hears regarding the shows, I do NOT want to know as it would spoil the show for me.  And so onto the show...

First up General Manager John Long takes to the microphone to say that he has suspended ring announcer Jason McKinlay for failing to keep Tavish MacPherson out of the building during the Super B.O.W.L. Tournament and that he will doing the announcing to show how it should be done.  He then continues to say that he had been in talks with someone better to replace Tavish within the company and this "Real Lowblow" will be making his debut later tonight.

First match of the night is between my biggest fan, Saint-George Bernard and Source Wrestling's Bobby Roberts, who I was really impressed with after seeing his match with Damo at the Source Showcase.  First out was Saint-George who, as expected, was not impressed with my wee poster and tore it to pieces.  He took the microphone and announced that he had challenged Roberts to a no disqualification match and that as Roberts had not responded, he was obviously too scared and would not be appearing.  This seemed to be backed up when Roberts music played but the man did not show.  As Saint-George began gloating, the music started up again and this time Roberts came out to huge cheers from the crowd and accepted the challenge.

The match started normally and Roberts quickly took the upper hand. I especially loved it when they were outside the ring and Roberts asked me to do him a favour and, whilst holding Saint-George in front of me said "Slap him"....and I did!!!  Once back in the ring, Saint-George managed to knock the wind from Roberts and took the opportunity to start bringing in the weapons, first a kendo stick, sledgehammer and dustbin lid.  After beating Roberts with the kendo stick, Saint-George then brought in a metal chair and a bag of thumb tacks which he emptied onto the mat.  Attempting to slam Roberts onto the tacks, Roberts reversed it and it was the Englishmen who became the walking pinboard!  Finally a wooden table was set up in the corner of the ring and when Saint-George tried to throw Roberts into it, the move was again reversed.  With Saint-George stopping short of slamming into it, he turned around and was immediately speared by Roberts straight into the wood and knocked senseless, allowing Roberts to get the pin.  The crowd were ecstatic with the result.  Roberts held out his hand to Saint-George but unsurprisingly the Englishman brushed past him and left ringside.

Once the ring had been cleared of debris and tacks, Source Wrestling's "Manliest of All Men" Manlon came to the ring and announced to the crowd that as no-one from Reckless had accepted his challenge, he had issued an open challenge and still had no-one accept.  Enter Reckless Intent Hardcore Champion Wee Jimmy.  As Manlon knelt down to "get down to Jimmy's level", Jimmy pushed him onto his ass and pointed to the curtain,  where John Long's "Real Lowblow" appeared....none other than Tavish MacPherson.  There was then a comedy segment with John Long looking sheepish ringside, Manlon and Tavish did a tango in the ring, followed by some bouncing across the ring off the ropes until one would shout "Stop" and Tav would slap Manlon.  There was actually some wrestling toward the end of the match however when Tav had Manlon pinned for the 3 count, John Long interfered and stated that Manlon's shoulder was off the mat.  Whilst he continued to distract Tavish, Manlon managed to get a submission hold on him and Tav passed out - an unpopular decision with the crowd - and the feud between Long and Tavish continues.

Next up was Reckless Intent's Venym against Source Wrestling's Celtic Arrow.  While Venym had the upper hand in size and strength, Celtic Arrow had the upper hand in speed and agility, making this a great match.  Venym dominated the early part of the match, using his size and strength to ground the smaller guy, however Arrow would not be kept down and after knocking Venym from the ring, flew between the ropes to knock him to the floor.  Back in the ring, Venym once again used his size and power advantage and continued his trash talking thoughout which incited the crowd to cheer louder for Celtic Arrow.  Finally we were shown the Arrow's flying skills from the top rope and he scored the pin to the take the win.


The first half ended with a match for the Reckless Intent UK Title between champion Jackie Grady and Source Wrestling's Lewis Girvan who, in my opinion, is the best young wrestler in Scotland at the moment and has an amazing future ahead of him.  A cracking match from start to finish, we were treated to both great mat work and aerial moves from both guys.  My personal favourite was when Girvan had Grady hangin upside down from the turnbuckles to my right, then scaled the ropes on the left and leapt from the turnbuckle, across the length of the ring and actually connected with Grady - amazing to see!  The momentum swung back and forth between these two, both scoring near pins however with Girvan taking the upper hand again, Grady obviously realised he was about to lose the match and grabbed the title belt, intending to use it as a weapon.  Referee Westy grabbed the belt and a struggle ensued between him and Grady.  As Girvan turned away in disgust, Grady let go of the belt and caught Girvan off-guard, rolling him up and scoring the pin to retain his title.

After a short interval, the action started again with Source Wrestling's Ryan Griffin facing off against Reckless Intent's Mikey.  Another amazing match between two very evenly matched guys.  Griffin appeared to have brought some fans with him as the crowd were very vocal in support of "Flying Ryan" and at times drowned out the cheers for local boy, Mikey.  There were with some fine examples of submission holds during this match, as well as fast paced flying from ropes.  There were a few laughs and a chant of "Janet" when Mikey's mum yelled at Griffin during the match too!  Neither of them big guys, they still managed to cause the ring to move with the force of hitting the ropes! With both guys giving absolutely everything they had, this was one of those matches where either man would be a deserving winner and this time it was Ryan Griffin took the win after blocking Mikey's superplex attempt and dropping Mikey to the canvas, splashed him from the top rope to score the pin.

 

The penultimate match was the World Title match between champion Rawlins and Source Wrestling's Dave Conrad and was my Match of the Night. This was the first time I had seen Conrad without Christopher Saynt either as his tag partner or standing in his corner so I was interested to see what he could do in his own right. The answer is actually quite a lot.  Facing off at the start of the match, it was easy to see that Conrad was the younger, bigger guy but Rawlins had the experience.  After antagonising the crowd, Rawlins set to work on Conrad's knee.  Conrad kept on trucking and when Rawlins attempted a crossbody from the top rope, Conrad actually caught him!  Time and again Rawlins went for the knee but each time Conrad managed to reach the ropes, forcing the hold to be broken and then retaliated, using his strength to knock Rawlins to the mat again and again.  Another first for me....I actually started a pro Conrad chant!  This was a brutal match, both for the competitors and for me....Rawlins outside of the ring in true heel format continued to antagonise the crowd and after screaming into Rob's video camera, gave him a slap and Rob scudded me on the forehead with his camcorder!!  Rawlins retained the title but Conrad proved that he is a talented wrestler and I look forward to seeing his career develop in the future.

The final match of the night was billed as an elimination tag match between Team Reckless (Mikey, Rawlins, Jackie Grady, Tavish, Saint-George and Venym) and Team Source (Bobby Roberts, Lewis Girvan, Ryan Griffin, Dave Conrad, Manlon and Celtic Arrow)  Before the match even started, it was obvious that there were tensions within Team Reckless.  The match started with Mikey and Manlon facing off but when Mikey tagged Rawlins in, the tensions erupted and John Long made the call to change the match to an over the top rope battle royal with the winner being named No 1 contender for the World title.  At that point chaos reigned with all 12 men battling each other and it was impossible to keep track of who was doing what to who!  Several times I moved from my seat to avoid flying legs as they came over the ropes.  Jackie Grady was eliminated first, followed by Venym before John Long entered the ring and eliminated Tavish.  
Celtic Arrow, Ryan Griffin and Lewis Girvan were next to be eliminated before a masked man in a black hoodie ran into the ring, eliminated Mikey and then disappeared back behind the curtain. Some members of the crowd began to chant "slightly average", assuming the man to be Darren Lewis. Since the show I have discovered that the hoodie worn by the masked assailant referred to a clique called New Blood but who was under that hood and mask remains a mystery!  Manlon, Conrad and Saint-George were soon eliminated,  leaving Bobby Roberts and Rawlins in the ring.  With Rawlins already holding the title and a No 1 contender spot on the line, it was at this point obvious what the result would be but the crowd still wanted to see it....Bobby Roberts eliminated Rawlins to become No 1 Contender and the two men will meet on 28 June to battle it out for the belt.

A great showing by all the guys from both promotions and, although there were major shenanigans in Dundee, I stand by my decision to see this show over the SWE one (sorry Bravehart). 

The next Reckless Intent show, Proving Grounds is on 28 June with tickets at just £5 per person.  Several matches have already been announced, including a match between GM John Long and Lowblow with their jobs on the line.  Saint-George, who broke his thumb during his match with Bobby Roberts, is sidelined and will be the special guest GM for the night!  Once again SWE have their Uprising show on the same night, so their card will have to be impressive to entice me to Dundee!

The Reckless Intent crew will also be appearing at Blackburn Gala Day on Saturday 14 June at Murrayfield Neighbourhood Park so feel free to come along and get a wee taste of what the Reckless Intent boys have to offer...and its totally free of charge!!

For more information on Reckless Intent and updates on their shows, visit their Facebook page