Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam: Fight The Power

Sunday 22 March 2015

Another Sunday Slam!

First up was a rematch from No Going Back with Sunday Slam Champion Venym facing Saint-George.  With Saint-George having won their previous encounter after hitting Venym with a lowblow, Venym was out to even the score.  This was another great match between these two, almost as good as before.  Saint-George pushed the boundaries as usual but this time Venym took the victory over Saint-George after a cracking lionsault.  After the match, Venym held his hand out to Saint-George, however the defeated Englishman refused to shake his hand, instead spitting on it.  These guys certainly seem to bring the best (and worst) out of each other and with each having a victory under their belt, I would love to see them go face to face again in a decider!

With Venym still in the ring, General Manager Jason McKinlay out and announced that as Venym was not one to back down from a fight, he would be defending the Sunday Slam Title in a pre-show 10 man elimination match at Never Back Down on 4 April.

Next out to the ring was a certain Rob Mills who would face Disturbed.  I have found it difficult to give Mills hell for obvious reasons but at this event, that changed.  Mills came out to the ring with a darker look and some serious attitude and actually managed to silence the Loudmouth with some of his comments - so I told Disturbed to give him an extra slap from me and proceeded to cheer for Disturbed!  A cracking wee match followed with some lovely high flying moves from both guys.  Disturbed finally got the pinfall after leaping from the turnbuckle and landing an elbow to the chest of a prone Mills.  This turned out to be my Match of the Day - and before I get accused of being biased, it had nothing to do with the fact that my son was in the match and everything to do with match itself.  From the moves to the banter, this was the match I enjoyed the most that day, even though I spent part of it gobsmacked!

The first half main event saw Falcon face Craig "The Firestorm" Valant.  This was one of those weird matches where you had two "good guys" and didn't know who to shout for, but each had a small group of fans in the crowd and there was a bit of banter between the wrestlers and fans.  Both guys were in good form and this match went back and forth, with one guy looking to be firmly in control only for the other to counter and almost take the victory.  This really could have gone either way and both men deserved the win but this time the victory went to Valant who hit Falcon with "The Firestorm" and scored a three count.

The second half of the show kicked off with Sambroso Maestro facing Jackie Grady, who came out wearing a Pingu t-shirt and doing the slow-motion Baywatch style entrance.  Then the guest referee was announced - none other than Westy - just how fair would he be in a match featuring his tag partner?  After a "pose-off" between Grady and Sambroso the match got underway with Sambroso dominating much of it.  It was Grady who was victorious, managing to escape from "Debo Numero Dos" and countering with his "Hamburger Time" submission hold, forcing Sambroso to tap out.

As ring announcer Sully started to announce the next match, the SOS music started playing and Scott Renwick and Darren Lewis appeared wearing their title belts upside down.  Lewis then proceeded to tell the crowd that this was not done in error but was their way of showing their disrespect for not only the titles but for the company as a whole and the fans themselves.  He then mentioned the "hot-shot rising star" who would be facing SOS later that afternoon and told the crowd they were lucky as they would see SOS destroy that person, threatening to hospitalise whoever was dumb enough to face them as their destruction of Reckless Intent continued.

The penultimate match was Davidian Fury vs Westy.  Fury came out full of himself and chose once again to pick on a child in the crowd, frightening the girl to point she actually wanted to leave and causing me to once again get in his face.  Once Westy got in the ring, Fury continued his bully-boy ways, beating down the youngster.  The referee was knocked from the ring during the beatdown at which point Mikey got into the ring, gave Fury a good dose of his own medicine and left Westy to cover him for the three count as the referee crawled back into the ring.  Things were not over for "The Westler" who made to leave by the main door, pursued by Fury, only to be surprised by Craig Valant who pinned Westy under the 24/7 rule to become the new Hardcore champion.  This reign would be shortlived - as he celebrated in the ring, he was hit by ring announcer Sully who then scored the pinfall to take the belt!

For the main event, SOS members Darren Lewis and Scott Renwick returned to the ring, before The Originals, Mikey and Rawlins introduced their opponents - Theo Doros and JJ Russell.  Russell once again used his humour in the ring to reduce Renwick into tears of laughter, much to the annoyance of Lewis.  This lead to a brutal beatdown of newcomer Doros for much of the match, although there was a glimmer of hope when Russell got the tag.  Unfortunately, the experience of the SOS was too much and Renwick  hit Doros with "The Angels Wings" as Russell was dealt a cradleshock by Lewis before they were both pinned.

Just when we thought it was all over, as Sully thanked everyone for attending AJ Russell sneaked up from behind and once again the Hardcore title changed hands...only for Craig Valant to appear and hit him with "The Firestorm" to become Hardcore champion for the second time that day.

Another cracking Sunday afternoon show and lots to look forward to for their next show back at Murieston (which took place on 4 April and a blog will be uploaded on that show very soon).

Follow Reckless on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for details on upcoming events, ticket availability and footage of past events.

Review: Discovery Wrestling

Saturday 14 March 2015


As I am so far behind with my blogs and Discovery Wrestling have already released the entire show on YouTube, this is not going to be my usual review but just some of my personal opinions and observations.

We arrived slightly later to the venue than planned due to one of our group having to change travel plans - someone had jumped in front of a train and the line to Edinburgh was closed!  We still arrived in plenty of time and met up with our friends who had travelled from Dundee.    This was when we discovered that the ringside seating had been pre-allocated and we wondered if we would be seated together.  It turned out we were not, we were scattered around the ringside and I was allocated seats at a ringpost.  This means that almost every in-ring photo features turnbuckles and/or the ringpost.   The whole point of us arriving early at venues is to get seats together and good photo ops - unfortunately we had neither.  Some people left early and I moved to those seats to get some cracking pics during the final match between Chris Sabin and Damian Daniels.

Onto the show... after the amazing show at Meadowbank, the setup seemed rather sparse.  A chat with management later revealed that they were unable to use much of their lighting, etc due to the restrictions placed on them by the venue.  Still they made good use of what they were allowed to set up.  The audio, however, was terrible.  I don't know if it was a problem with the equipment or the hall acoustics but it was almost impossible to make out what was being said on the microphone, from the ring announcer to the wrestlers themselves - it was all just a muffled noise.

Another bugbear was one of the referees.  I remember reading once that the mark of a good referee is that you don't notice them during the matches until they are required to make their presence felt.  One of the referees was a little over-zealous, grabbing the wrestlers when in the corners without even attempting a five count and dancing around them in the ring to the point of actually getting in the way of them.

I am not going to review each match as you can watch the whole show yourself by clicking here!  I would like to mention a couple of  show highlights for me:-

Danny Boy Rogers was amazing in the four way match with Lou King Sharp, Aspen Faith and Martyn Stallyon.  Looking forward to seeing more of him in the future.

I loved the Wealdstone Raider video telling Joe Hendry he had no fans.  Was a bit confused when Damo was distracted by Ian Ambrose's entrance music allowing Hendry to get the roll-up and pinfall. I think it was supposed to be Rampage Brown's music.  Damo was not happy and chased after Hendry, who made his escape over the railings into the crowd right beside me so I did get some good pics there.

Since the fatal fourway at Meadowbank I have wanted to see a match between Lewis Girvan and Chris Sabin but with the "Y" Division tournament matches not yet announced, I was actually praying they would not be facing each other tonight....and it was answered.  Girvan faced Ian Ambrose and Sabin faced Damian Daniels, both winning their matches (and they were brilliant matches) to set up my dream match for the next show on 10 April - I cannot wait to see this!

Discovery's next show is at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on Friday 10th April and as well as the Girvan v Sabin "Y" Division Championship, it will also feature the only Scottish appearance of The Young Bucks.

For information on this and their event on Friday 22 May, like them on Facebook

Review: Reckless Intent presents No Going Back

Saturday 7 March 2015


This was the first Saturday show to be held in the Unit since November and it was standing room only!

The show started with the arrival of all three members of SOS , Darren Lewis, Scott Renwick and Graeme Leask, carrying bottles of beer and major attitude.  Lewis took the microphone and proceeded to disrespect everything about Reckless Intent, the company, the fans and especially General Manager Jason McKinlay, who would only grant a contract to Graeme Leask if he managed to win his match that night against Bobby Roberts.

Surprisingly, Lewis and Renwick did not interfere in this match and left the ring area, allowing Leask to handle business on his own.  This was starting to look like a decision they might regret as Roberts appeared to have the upper hand until he went for a spear on Leask, who managed to move out of the way and Roberts hit referee Conor Frost instead.  Roberts pinned Leask but the ref was still down and unable to make the count.  Then Saint-George came out and nailed Roberts, dragged Leask into the pinfall position then dragged the referee over and used his hand to make the three count, giving Leask the victory and he left the ring, clutching his contract with Reckless Intent.  (Has Saint-George aligned with the SOS???)  Craig "The Firestorm" Valant came out, stopping Saint-George from leaving, allowing Roberts to recover and knock down the Englishman before Valant hoisted him up and Roberts delivered a stunner.

Saint-George called GM Jason McKinlay to the ring to complain about the attack on him, only to be told that if he had not interfered in the first place, none of this would have happened.  Not only that, Saint-George had in effect handed the RI contract to Leask and therefore, since he was already in the ring, he would now have a match against Sunday Slam Champion Venym.  What followed was probably the best match I have seen Saint-George have.  Venym certainly brought out the best (or worst) in the Englishman and this really was an absolute belter of a match....right up until the end when Venym stopped himself from crashing into the referee in the corner and, whilst the ref had his arms up to defend his face from the incoming Venym, Saint-George hit a low blow from behind and rolled up his opponent for the three count.

Once again Jason McKinlay appeared and told Saint-George (who lay down on the mat in a show of disrespect) that just because the referee didn't see his lowblow on Venym, he had seen it via the monitors backstage.  He added that he was sick of repeating himself regarding Saint-George's blatant cheating and had decided that the Englishman would have a second match, right there and then.....and this would be a match he was familiar with...a 3 on 1 handicap match....only this time it would be Saint-George on the receiving end from Venym, Craig Valant and Bobby Roberts.

Valant and Roberts returned to ringside, holding up a shirt with "Independence" printed on it.  They joined Venym in the ring where they got Saint-George in the corner and each delivered a massive chop to the chest before taking their turn to perform their finishing moves, ending with Bobby Roberts hitting a spear and then taking the pinfall with Venym and Valant each having a hand on the shoulder of Roberts.  A win for "Team Independence", they draped their shirt over the face of a prone Saint-George.  Roberts then picked up Venym's hammer announcing "it's plastic" before bonking both Venym and Valant on the forehead with it - somehow managing to cut Venym's forehead and having them yelling "it's NOT plastic" as they left the ring.

The first half main event saw Rawlins face Darren Lewis for the UK Title.  It was announced this would be a submission match, with no disqualifications.  It was, in a word, brutal!  Right from the start there were no holds barred and I knew this was not going to be pretty!  The momentum swung back and forth with each guy going all out to take the victory.  Lewis tried to use his size to his advantage but Rawlins is a real grafter and tried several submission holds on Lewis but "The Superstar" refused to tap out.  Finally caught in the crossface, it looked like Lewis had experienced one submission too many and was on the verge of giving up when Scott Renwick came out to the ring and smashed a beer bottle over the head of Rawlins.  With the no disqualification stipulation, this left Lewis free to continue a brutal assault on Rawlins, hitting him with a steel chair as he hung over the ropes and following up with a cradleshock on the already unconscious Rawlins.  Finally the referee had to stop the match as it was obvious that Rawlins was in no way able to continue and a smug Lewis left the ring as several roster members came out to assist in getting Rawlins backstage.

I missed the beginning of the second half and therefore the following is just general information I have after chatting to some of the other fans at the end of the show.  It began with a tag team match between the team of Jackie Grady & Westy and AJ Russell & Davidian Fury.  Grady and Westy debuted their new entrance music - the theme from Baywatch - and made their entrance in the "slow motion" style of the TV show's credit reel. Russell removed his clown mask to reveal some face paint and dried blood!  "A decent match" I am told, which ended when Fury went to make the tag only to have Russell jump off the apron, leaving him to finish the match alone.  Westy then hit Fury with the Cobra before Grady hit his "No Place Like Home" finisher and scored the pin.  While they celebrated, Sambroso Maestro hit a sneak attack and pinned Westy under the 24/7 rules to become the new Hardcore champion.

Sambroso Maestro then faced Disturbed in his own match.  By all accounts Disturbed defeated himself when he climbed from the top turnbuckle to a ledge to gain extra height for an elbow drop on Sambroso.  This gave his opponent extra time to recover himself and he hit Disturbed with a lowblow as he dropped from the ledge and scored the pinfall.  Conor Frost then attempted to take the Hardcore title but it appeared that both Frost and Maestro had their shoulders on the mat and an arm across each others chest meaning that both scored the pinfall, however this was a short-lived problem as Bobby Roberts hit them both with a spear, pinned them and took the belt.  Just seconds later the belt would change hands once again, as Westy faced off against Roberts and instead of receiving a blow to the head with the belt as has become normal, Westy this time delivered a kick to the nether regions of Roberts, dropping the big guy to the floor and retaking the belt he had lost earlier in the evening.

Just before the main event, Mikey took to the ring to express his disappointment in having to withdraw from the originally scheduled ladder match against Scott Renwick due to having surgery on his knee less than two weeks ago.  Once again, Saint-George made an appearance and promptly got his ass whooped!  Despite still recovering from surgery, Mikey hit Saint-George with an "Emerald Flowsion" which had the crowd cheering and howling for more and a certain Englishman left ringside red-faced after receiving his just desserts for, once again, sticking his nose where it didn't belong (I'm really starting to think he might be aligned with SOS).

Finally it was time for the main event, where JJ Russell would face "The Butcher" Scott Renwick for the Reckless Intent Title.  With both men in the ring, Russell made a wise crack about Renwick being the vinegar that spoils the fish 'n' chips....which had not only the crowd in fits of laughter, but cracked the hard shell of Renwick who struggled to hold it together. (There is hope!!!)  The match itself was good but there were too many comedy moments for a serious title match.  The match came to an end when Russell hit Renwick with the "Sister Abigail" and went for the pin, only for Darren Lewis and Graeme Leask to return to ringside and Lewis grabbed the leg of Russell, dragging him off his opponent.  As the referee remonstrated with Lewis, who was now on the ring apron, Renwick was able hit Russell with "Angel Wings" (there may also have been a lowblow involved but I was watching Lewis and the ref) and took the pinfall to retain the title.  Suddenly the entire roster was in the ring battling against the SOS but individual battles appeared to be forming, setting up for some grudge matches in the future.

As much as it pains me to say this, my Match of the Night was neither the first or second half main event, but goes to Saint-George and Venym....and that big-headed Englishman will probably boast and brag about it....just as long as he remembers that he wasn't alone in the ring!  Just to temper things, Moment of the Night was Mikey hitting him with the Emerald Flowsion!!!

The next show is Never Back Down on 4 April, back at Murieston Scout Hall.  After the no-contest between Darren Lewis and Chris Renfrew in January, they will face each other again but this time Renfrew is bringing some friends.

Also there will be early entry and a pre-show match for advance ticket holders.  The pre-show match was announced at Sunday Slam (yes I am so far behind that I haven't got that review up yet) Venym will defend the Sunday Slam title in a 10 man elimination match.  So far, Chavi and Disturbed have been confirmed as participants but who the other 7 are is yet to be announced.

Keep tabs on upcoming shows by liking the Reckless Intent page on Facebook, subscribe to them on YouTube and check out their website.

Review: SWE Uprising: Psycho Circus

Saturday 28 February 2015

Last Saturday of the month so I would be found in Dundee!  After an afternoon of shopping and a visit to Dr Noodles, Janet and I headed to the Ardler Complex for SWE's monthly Uprising show.

There was a pre-show match for advance ticket holders featuring two of the trainees from Hart & Soul Wrestling School, Alec Xander (sorry if this is spelled wrong) and Conor Frost.  Frost has recently made a few waves in both the SWE and Reckless Intent ring as a "renegade referee", making some very dubious decisions and feuding with Rawlins, which had him already set up as the heel.   The crowd were a bit quiet but that didn't stop me cheering and encouraging Xander who hit Frost with a massive elbow drop to take the win.  Both guys did well for their first match and I was pleased to see that Frost can wrestle better than he can ref!!!

After a short break to allow the rest of the crowd in, the main show began with a 10 bell salute to the late Drew McDonald.  The entire roster surrounded the ring and the crowd stood as Chris Duke tolled the bell.  A nice mark of respect which I was glad to be a small part of.

The first match of the main show saw Rawlins & Venym take on Scott "The Butcher" Renwick & Trident member Steven "Air" Myles.  Using the superhero theme, Rawlins came out as The Punisher and Venym had his hammer... which he placed in the centre of the ring and everyone had a go at lifting, including Rawlins, and failed before he moved it himself. (Still not sure about this hammer gimmick)  The match itself was good with some very nice double team moves by Rawlins and Venym and the obligatory cheating from Renwick and Myles.  Myles went for his 450 splash on Rawlins only to find the mat empty when he landed which was the beginning of the end for the bad guys.  With Rawlins doing a suicide dive on Renwick, Venym pinned Myles and took a very popular win.

With the celebrations still going in the ring, Bravehart appeared with Jam O'Malley and Nikki Storm.  Surprisingly they allowed Rawlins and Venym to leave ringside untouched and joined their comrades in the ring.  After consoling the losers on "being cheated out of the win" Bravehart turned his attention to SWE Co-Owner Chaz Phoenix, labelling him a coward.  Jam O'Malley then took the microphone and challenged Phoenix to face him in "Jam O'Malley's Fun House of Horrors".  Phoenix came out to ringside and Bravehart accused him of trying to back out of the match and said he either wrestled O'Malley or give up his shares in SWE.  Phoenix said giving up his shares was not an option and accepted the challenge to face O'Malley.  Bravehart then announced that this would be a 2-on-1 handicap match but did not reveal who would be partnering O'Malley.

Jay The Jackal and his "associate" appeared to join the commentary team as the first half main event was announced, Scotty Riccio would be defending the Future Division title against Felix Fortune.  After a cracking start by Riccio, Fortune took the upper hand and dominated much of the match, focusing on the knee of Riccio.  AS Riccio fought back, Fortune caught the 619 attempt but Riccio managed to nail his opponent with a crossbody from the top turnbuckle to score the pinfall and retain the title.  At this point The Jackal and his "associate" came to the ring.  Riccio knocked The Jackal from the ring apron while his "associate" attacked Riccio from behind, allowing the Jackal to return to the ring and the two beat Riccio down before The Jackal held up the belt, making it clear that he wanted it back.

The second half started with the 2-on-1 handicap match in which Conor Frost made his second appearance of the night, teaming with Jam O'Malley  to face Chaz Phoenix.  With both Bravehart and Nikki Storm also at ringside, this was never going to be easy for Phoenix.  O'Malley started the match and soon tagged in Frost, who was pretty much left in the ring to get on with it.  He made a good show against a slightly rusty Phoenix, however Phoenix soon started to get back into the swing of things and began to show the trainee who was boss.  As Phoenix went for the pin, Bravehart got up on the apron to distract the referee from the count and to allow O'Malley to get in and assist his partner.  The referee saw this and stopped O'Malley, while Phoenix continued his assault on Frost.  Unfortunately while the referee was busy with O'Malley, Bravehart grabbed the foot of Phoenix, bringing him down.  Frost hit with a splash, O'Malley let go the ref and Frost pinned Phoenix for the three count with Bravehart holding onto his feet.  With the match over, Bravehart, O'Malley and Frost began to beat on Phoenix until a rescue was made by the most unlikely of people, Chris Duke, who got into the ring and decked Bravehart, sending him and his cronies scattering.  The crowd went nuts as Duke assisted Phoenix back to his feet and Phoenix grabbed the microphone to tell Bravehart that "This is not over" and insinuating there would be a match at Hell For Lycra for outright control of SWE.

Nikki Storm made yet another appearance, having disappeared backstage at sometime during the previous match.  This was announced as a match, but actually came across more like a promo slot.  She took the microphone and starting telling everyone how wonderful she was before having a pop at SWE referee Edith Summer, who she had beaten a few months before at Seasons Beating.  Summer then came to the ring and told Storm how upset she was, that she had looked up to her and wanted to be like her, bursting into tears while Storm laughed.  Storm attacked Summer, then watched as her friend Jam O'Malley arrived and slammed Summer to the canvas before other referees put a stop to their antics.

Chris Duke and Doctor Grue took to the ring to do their first ever live Bell 2 Bell podcast segment.  First they interviewed Mikey who was supposed to be part of the evening's main event but he had surgery on his knee brought forward and was unable to compete.  Mikey promised that as soon as he was cleared to wrestle again, he would be back and it didn't matter whether it was Ian Ambrose, LJT or Joe Hendry who held the belt at the time, he would be coming for his shot at that title.  Then came the announcement regarding the two WWE Hall of Famers who will be appearing at Hell For Lycra.  A video montage played about the event and there was a picture at the end, which if you blinked you might have missed it...showing them to be Ted DiBiase and Terry Funk.  Great names but a bit disappointed in the reveal.

Finally it was time for the main event.  On Day 400 of his title reign, current SWE Heavyweight Champion Ian Ambrose would put the title on the line in a triple threat match against LJT and Joe Hendry.  There was action aplenty in this match, LJT went straight for Ambrose, then Ambrose and Hendry appeared to work together against LJT before finally turning on each other.  With the battle raging in the ring, a Martyn Stallyon promo appeared on the video screen which distracted Ambrose in particular.  As he stood at the ropes, screaming at the curtains for Stallyon to come out and face him, Stallyon appeared from the crowd and attacked from behind.  Joe Hendry went for the pin but Ambrose was not done yet.  LJT then attempted to capitalise, springing from the ropes to kick Hendry in the face but he was unable to make the pin.  Ambrose attempted to pin Hendry but was instead picked up and driven into the mat and this time Hendry was successful in scoring the pinfall to become the new SWE Heavyweight Champion.

So another Uprising came to a close.  A good show, although I felt it was a little heavy on the promo side this time with only 4 matches on the main show, however the quality of the main event made up for it and it was great to see the title change hands....even though the crowd would have preferred to see LJT with the belt.

The next SWE Uprising is on 28 March at the Ardler Complex with advance ticket holders getting early entry to the venue.  Check out SWE on Facebook for information on upcoming events, including their annual Hell For Lycra show in August, and ticket information.

Review: Reckless Intent presents Sunday Slam: Come At Us, Bro

Sunday 22 February 2015

A very wet and windy day, along with a virus that was doing the rounds, meant a smaller crowd than usual, but this didn't stop the guys from giving a great show.

The RI originals, Rawlins and Mikey came out to the ring to address the issue of the SOS.  After revealing themselves at the last event, Mikey had then faced Renwick for the Reckless Intent title but was unsuccessful.  He addressed the fact that he was having to pull out of their scheduled rematch on 7 March due to the fact that he would be having surgery on his knee on the Wednesday following this event and would not be medically cleared to return to the ring. He would that day however, be facing Davidian Fury, who had recently returned to Reckless Intent and thought he should be "at the top of the food chain" but Mikey planned to send him right back down to the bottom.  Rawlins then took the microphone and asked Doctor Grue to announce the stipulation for his match with Darren Lewis and that he didn't want to wait till 7 March for the match, he wanted to face him that day!  At this point Davidian Fury appeared and reminded people that he had won the right to be guest host of this show and took great pleasure in announcing that Rawlins was suspended for two weeks for attacking a referee at the last show.  As Rawlins left the building, Grue then announced that the referee, Conor Frost, was under investigation for misconduct.

The first match of the night saw Bobby Roberts and Craig Valant teamed up to face Jackie Grady and The Westler.  Roberts was the dominant force in this match, starting well against Westy before handing the mantle to Valant.  Westy quickly tagged out and Grady took the upper hand, working the leg of Valant, taunting Roberts and having the ref hold him back from entering the ring while Grady and Westy double teamed Valant.  Grady tried to pin Valant who was able to kick out, launching Grady into the turnbuckle and allowing Valant to make a much needed tag.  Roberts demolished Grady before hitting Westy with the spear.  With all four guys in the ring, Roberts pinned Grady for the victory and Valant hit him with "The Firestorm" for good measure.

Next out to the ring was Saint-George Bernard, who took the opportunity to try and intimidate Doctor Grue before taking on JJ Russell,  With the crowd behind him, Russell started well and Saint-George's tactics of gathering himself outside of the ring was made more difficult by the presence of Bobby Roberts, who had taken a seat at ringside for this match.  Using some underhanded tactics, Saint-George gained the upper hand but Russell had said "geez a chance" and now that he had one, he was not going to let it slip through his fingers.  As Saint-George moved in for his "Saint George Cross" Russell was able to counter and hit the mouthy Englishman with the "Sister Abigail" and take the pinfall.  Bobby Roberts raised Russell's hand in victory and smiled smugly as Saint-George came to terms with his loss.

The first half main event saw SOS member Darren Lewis face Falcon.  Since the SOS attack on Falcon and Rawlins at Over The Top in November, Falcon had been a silent and aggressive character, however now that the culprits had unmasked, it appeared that Falcon had returned as the fan favourite and was looking for retribution.  Lewis dominated the early part of the match, using underhanded tactics and keeping his opponent caught in the corners but Falcon kept fighting, pulling off some lovely moves of the ropes to unbalance the bigger man.  After scoring a near pin and sending Lewis out of the ring, Falcon appeared to be going for a suicide dive but Lewis intercepted the move with a chair. Referee Conor Frost called for the disqualification but Lewis then talked Frost into allowing the match to continue before getting back into the ring to make the pin on Falcon.  As Frost started to count, Rawlins made his return to the unit, knocking Frost unconscious before attacking Lewis.  Then all hell broke loose as Scott Renwick jumped into the ring to help Lewis subdue Rawlins and Mikey appeared to even the numbers, followed by the entire roster who attempted to keep The SOS and The Originals apart.  After the ring had finally been cleared, Doctor Grue announced that the original result of Falcon winning by disqualification would stand.

The second half started with a 4 Way match for the Hardcore Title between Sambroso Maestro, Sweet Johnny, Rob Mills and current champ Chavi.  Before the match started, Sambroso pulled a rather large pair of leopard print knickers from his tights, threw them at Rob stating "give these back to your mum" (he wishes!!) That set the tone for the match and there were lowblows aplenty before Chavi got the other three tied up in their own gear (with Sambroso flashing a bit more cheek than he may have wanted to).  With each guy trying to take the title, there was always someone getting in the way.  The crowd were firmly behind Chavi, who seemed to have the match well in hand, however it was Sambroso who was victorious after nailing Chavi with his "Debo Numero Uno" to become the new Hardcore champ.  Westy made an entrance to challenge for the belt but instead received a blow to the head, but Sambroso's joy was shortlived when Venym appeared and pinned him with the use of his hammer to take the belt.  Westy then attempted to challenge Venym and received a blow to the head from the hammer for his troubles.

The penultimate match saw Davidian Fury take on Mikey.  Fury managed to make a young lad cry and was invited to pick on someone his own size....ie me!!  Mikey came out all guns blazing but Fury used his size advantage to gain the upper hand, before getting a bit to full of himself and soon Mikey put him back in his place, using some cracking aerial moves to knock Fury off balance before putting him down for the three count.  After the match, Mikey addressed the fact that Scott Renwick had said he was too scared to face him at No Going Back on 7 March and stated he would be glad to face Renwick but no medical official would clear him for the match to happen and therefore he had chosen a replacement for the match - someone who kept asking for a chance - JJ Russell.

Finally it was time for the main event where AJ Russell would put the Sunday Slam Title on the line against the new Hardcore Champion Venym.  This match went back and forth, with both guys showing their agility as well as strength.  With the crowd firmly behind Venym, Russell attempted several underhanded moves to gain the advantage.  At one point the referee was knocked from the ring and both guys had what would have been successful pin attempts with no referee to count.  As Russell dragged the referee into the centre of the ring, Venym took the time to recover, hitting his "Poison Rain" finisher to score the pinfall and become the new Sunday Slam champ.  As he was celebrating, Saint-George pulled a sneak attack from behind, hitting Venym with the "Saint George Cross" to take the Hardcore Title.  Once again Westy appeared to challenge for the belt, however this time he actually managed to succeed, rolling up Saint-George for the three count.  An irate Saint-George left the ring empty-handed as Venym and Westy shook hands and celebrated their new titles.

Check out Reckless Intent on Facebook for details of upcoming events and how to get your tickets.

The next Sunday Slam, Fight The Power is on 22 March at the RI Unit with entry only £5 on the door.  Reckless Intent returns to Murieston Scout Hall on 4 April for Never Back Down and with Chris Renfrew making a return, it's sure to get ugly.  Tickets are available online now.

Review: BCW Live in East Kilbride

Friday 20 February


Another sellout show for BCW at East Kilbride.  This time I had brought along a couple of friends as I had been raving about how good the BCW shows have been.  Unfortunately when we arrived there was already a lot of people who had braved the rain and snow and we were unable to all sit together.  I sat ringside with Janet and sent the boys off to sit together elsewhere!

First up was "Bad Boy" Liam Thomson against Wolfgang. Wolfgang started strong forcing Thomson to exit the ring to escape and endure the "chicken" chants but he was soon back in the ring and using his underhanded tactics to take the advantage such as using the ropes to choke his opponent before applying a camel clutch.  The action spilled out of the ring and continued directly in front of me before returning to the ring for Thomson's second camel clutch attempt.  Wolfgang does not go down easy though and he fought back to take the advantage and took a popular win after slingshotting Thomson into the turnbuckles and then rolling him up for the three count.  A nice match to start the show!

Next up was an Openweight Championship match between Lou King Sharp and current champ, Noam Dar.  Dar took control of the cocky Sharp and the action spilled outside of the ring.  Returning to the ring Sharp tried to gain the advantage, hitting Dar with cracking kick before taking to the turnbuckles.  Dar avoided and there followed some pin attempts by both guys before Sharp caught the leg of Dar and swung him round, only for Dar's foot to hit a lowblow on referee Sri Hari.  Sharp then hit Dar with a lowblow, who returned the compliment, before all three hit the mat holding their "bits"!  Sharp was the first to recover and went for a steel chair to attack Dar, however Dar had recovered sufficiently to thwart this plan and, taking the chair, hit a light blow to the back of the ref before tossing the chair back to Sharp.  Dar then scoop-slammed Sharp but when going for another the referee pushed Dar aside and scoop-slammed Sharp himself!  Dar then finished the job, taking the three count to retain his title and while Sharp crawled backstage, Dar set up the chair in the ring, sat ring announcer Simon Cassidy on it and draped his jacket and belt over him.

Next up was a tag team match to introduce some new trainees from the PBW Academy, Tony Martyns and Taylor Bellando, who would face the team of Switch & Saqib Ali.  Once again Switch reduced a small child to tears during his entrance and Ali managed to rile the entire crowd.  Martyns and Bellando got a great reception on their entrance however it was cut short as Switch and Ali attacked before the bell.  The youngsters pulled off a cracking double team move almost immediately after the bell, combining a backbreaker and double footstomp and got a near pin but from then on they were the victims of Switch and Ali's experience and cheating tactics.  They isolated Bellando for much of the match and antagonised Martyns into coming into the ring, forcing the ref to focus on keeping him out of the ring and allowing Switch and Ali to double team Bellando.  Despite having all the heart and the support of the crowd, the youngsters were outclassed and Ali scored the pinfall victory over Bellando.

The first half main event saw Jack Jester face Davey Blaze in a No DQ match. With the glass still boarded from the encounter between Damo and Drew Galloway, who knew what destruction might result from this match!  And what a match...Jester attacked Blaze before he even got in the ring and the two went at it hammer and tongs from start to finish.  At one point the action spilled out of the ring and Jester tried to put Blaze through the windows before they ended up ringside in front of me, where Blaze had the upper hand, shoving Jester onto the guy sitting a couple of seats along from me and trying to grab another crowd member's walking stick to use as a weapon.  Back in the ring a steel chair was brought into the mix with both guys using it to try to gain the advantage.  Finally Jester nailed Blaze with a tombstone piledriver to take the win.

The second half started with Damo v Joe Coffey and this was a stormer.  Each tried to knock the other down with shoulder blocks that rocked the ring with their impact but neither man would go down.  The action spilled out of the ring and continued right at my feet, with Damo taking the advantage.  Back in the ring, he continued to control things by working the back of Coffey using a camel clutch and then bear hugs!  Coffey tried to come back but ended up on the canvas with Damo standing on his chest before dropping the senton on him.  Once again, Coffey attempted a comeback with a cracking suplex but it was not to be his night as the big Irishman got Coffey up on his shoulder and drove him down to the mat before pinning him for the three count.

The penultimate match saw Aaron Echo face-off against Kenny Williams.  I had only seen Echo once before in a pre-show match and I have to say that I saw a big improvement in his skills.  While Williams dominated much of the match with his fast pace and aerial skills, Echo had a couple of cracking moments during the match, including a cracking suplex, and scored a couple of near pins.  But as they say "Kenny is the bollocks" (loving the new ring gear) and it was Williams who took the victory in a really enjoyable match.

Main event time and BCW owner Graham McKay got into the ring to thank the fans for another sell-out show, before asking retired MC Tommy if he would do the honours, which he agreed to do.  First out to the ring was Kid Fite, sporting a bit of a shiner and his usual bad attitude.  BT Gunn then came out to a huge pop before both men were stunned by the announcement of a third participant, Gunn's tag team partner, Stevie Xavier.  Now I love Just Uz, but I was really disappointed when this happened, as I was really looking forward to what would have been an amazing battle between Fite and Gunn.  As Fite said himself before the match got underway, they might be tag partners but neither man was going to let the other win.  The match itself was good, some great moves from all three and there was a moment when "Just Uz" appeared and hit Fite with that double kick to the head in the corner they do so well, but in the end Fite's prediction came true.  Fite had Gunn down in an anklelock submission when Xavier made the save, however, with Gunn down rather than focus on Fite and take his chance for the title, he instead grabbed the ankle of Gunn, giving Fite the opportunity he required to roll him up for a pinfall.  There appeared to be a bit of confusion however as it looked like the referee only made a two count but Fite left the ring, grabbed his belt and walked away, leaving Gunn and Xavier behind.  What this means for the future of the tag team champions is yet to be seen.

The next BCW event will take place on 4 April in Kilmarnock Grand Hall and will feature TNA stars Angelina Love and Davey Richards, as well as Marty Scurll and Drew Galloway.  Event and ticket information can be found on the BCW Facebook page

Review: Reckless Intent presents Reckless Intent 3

Saturday 7 February 2015

This was the first Reckless Intent show to have a Bonus pre-show match for advance ticket holders and it appeared that everyone wanted to see it, as there were very few people who required tickets on the door!!

The pre-show match was a corker.  Billed as a Mystery Doors match there was a door in each corner, each with an envelope attached, containing details of the prizes to be won, one of which was the Hardcore Title.  To win the contents of an envelope, you had to put an opponent through the door, eliminating them in the process!  With 5 men and 4 doors, someone was leaving empty-handed and no-one would know who was the Hardcore Champion until after the match when the envelopes would be opened.  Davidian Fury won the first envelop by putting current Hardcore Champ Sam Crowe through a door, ensuring there would be a new champion at the end of the match.  Craig "The Firestorm" Valant took the second envelope after eliminating Fury before being put through the third door himself by AJ Russell.  Finally JJ Russell took the final envelope by putting his brother through the last door.  Then the envelopes were opened .... Davidian Fury won the chance to be guest host at Sunday Slam, AJ Russell won the Hardcore Title, Craig Valant won an Elton John CD and JJ Russell won Fish and Chips - and was so excited, you would think he had won the title belt!!  The action was not over, however, as Bobby Roberts came out to the ring, hit AJ Russell with a spear and pinned him for the Hardcore Title.  Westy then appeared to challenge Roberts but instead was hit in the head with the belt and Roberts left still Champion.

The main show began with the appearance of the SOS, dragging a dishevelled Jason McKinlay to the ring.  They sat him on a chair and berated him before they unmasked themselves one by one....first the mouthpiece of the group was revealed to be Graeme Leask, then UK Title holder Darren Lewis was unmasked and took credit for putting the group together before introducing the final member of their group....none other than Reckless Intent Champion Scott Renwick!

With the SOS still in the ring, Chris Renfrew came out for his match against Darren Lewis, however the match never happened as all three members of SOS beat Renfrew, using the steel chair.  The RI Originals, Rawlins and Mikey came out to make the save and acting GM Doctor Grue came to the ring and refused to allow the match to go ahead, despite Renfrew's protests that he was able to continue.  Instead a match was set between Lewis and Renfrew for the next show at Murieston on 4 April and Renfrew announced that if Lewis is going to have his friends there, he would be bringing some friends of his own, before making the NAK hand sign.

Next was Joe Hendry against Rawlins.  Before the match started, Rawlins asked acting GM Doctor Grue to remove Conor Frost as referee, citing Frost's previous questionable decisions.  This request was granted and an alternative referee , Brian Laing, took over.  Frost then announced that he had lodged an official complaint against Rawlins for putting his hands on him at Sunday Slam.  With Frost removed from proceedings, we were then treated to a cracking match.  With attempted pins and submissions from both guys, this match went back and forth but Rawlins attempted a flying headbutt from the ropes which Hendry avoided and capitalised on to take the pinfall.  A win for Hendry, but Rawlins appeared to accept a defeat where the referee was not a factor!

The first half main event saw Bobby Roberts pick an opponent for Saint-George and, very cleverly, picked Saint-George's friend and ally, Ian Ambrose.  The match began with the two friends refusing to fight each other before messing about, gently poking each other and acting like they had taken the hardest hit ever.  With the crowd getting annoyed at this blatant mickey-taking, Doctor Grue came out to the ring and restarted the match, demanding that they take it seriously or be fired.  The bell rang and Ambrose went straight for the pin.  Saint-George was shocked and angry and a proper match began to take place.....until Bravehart appeared and restored harmony between the friends.  All three then turned on Grue.  First they started stripping him of his shoes, jacket and tie and then began to bully him, demanding he hand the GM powers over to Bravehart.  Bobby Roberts made the save but a shaken Grue said it was too much for him and handed Bravehart the GM position.

The first match of the second half saw Saint-George pick Bobby Roberts' opponent and he chose the new acting GM Bravehart.  The first thing the new GM did was make it a 3 on 1 handicap match, leaving Roberts at the mercy of Bravehart, Ambrose and Saint-George and effectively handing Bravehart the win.  This was not enough for the "Better Together" crew and they continued to beat Roberts, tearing his Scotland flag and draping it over him before LJT came out to make the save.  As Bobby got to his feet however, LJT struck with a superkick and pinned Roberts to take the Hardcore title.  Immediately AJ Russell appeared and hit LJT with a spear before becoming Hardcore champ for the second time that night.  The action was not over as JJ Russell came out and hit his brother with a crutch and the title changed hands once again.  As Russell made his way backstage with the belt, Westy appeared to challenge him and once again took a whack to the head with the belt.

The penultimate match saw The Super Friends, Venym and Chris Echo, take on Jackie Grady and Westy.  Now I am not quite sure where Venym is going with his character - he came out carrying a replica of Thor's hammer and there was this weird skit with Echo not being able to lift it but Venym could...the crowd seemed to like it though but personally I don't think he needs the hammer gimmick!  Anyway the match was okay - Venym swung Grady around while Echo jumped over Grady's head which was cool!  Westy got his usual pop from the crowd which appears to be getting under the skin of Grady, who walked away and left Westy alone and allowed the Super Friends to take the win.

Finally it was main event time - Scott Renwick would put the title on the line against Mikey. Acting GM Bravehart made this match a No Disqualification, Anything Goes match, effectively stacking the match in favour of the newly revealed SOS member.  Now, anyone who has attended a RI show will be aware of how Mikey's mum Janet deals with seeing her son in matches and after the No DQ was announced, I was advised to keep Janet occupied and out of the hall.  I was partially successful - she sneaked in but soon left again in tears - but this meant that I did not witness the action as it happened, rather I was allowed to watch the video footage afterward in order to give my opinion for this blog and I thank Callum Kerr for the photo used as I was not able to get any shots of my own. There is only one word to describe this match and that is brutal.  Mikey dived straight into the ring and let Renwick know how angry he was with his fists.  This was no wrestling match...this was a fight!  As Renwick took the upper hand, he appeared to tell his SOS cohorts that he had this under control and they left....but they would return later! As Mikey started to gain an advantage, they returned, quickly followed by Rawlins to help even the numbers......in fact, just watch it for yourself by clicking here and check out Mikey's 18ft leap from a ladder inside the ring onto tables outside which ultimately led to Renwick taking the win!  Amazing match...definitely match of the night!!

The next Reckless Intent show is "No Going Back" on 7 March at the RI Unit and tickets will be available on the door priced at £7 for adults, £5 for kids or a family ticket (2 adults/2 kids) is £20.  Details of this event and all future events are on Facebook