Wrestle Ropes' Ready for the Weekend: January 2016 Week 4

We're back with another bumper weekend of British Wrestling events this week. This weekend we shall see Grand Pro Wrestling come 'Back With A Bang', witness an 'Outbreak' at Alpha Omega Wrestling and see what happens when you 'Chat Sh*t' at PROGRESS Wrestling. Let's get Ready For The Weekend!

Kicking off the wrestling weekend on Friday night and Grand Pro Wrestling are at The Rose Club in Hindley, Wigan with 'Back With A Bang 2016', their first show of the year. The event shall see The Island Brothers together as a team for the first time in over a year. Their opponents, The Bad Lads have been growing stronger as a team in the time that The Island Brothers have had other issues to deal with. Now the brothers are back together they will be looking to regain their place in the tag team division but face a big challenge right out the blocks. The GPW Tag Team Champions, Midnight Bin Collection will also be in action on Friday night as they join Joey Hayes to face The Hate League's Dylan Roberts, Danxig & Soner Dursun in a six-man tag team match. Joey Hayes has previous with The Hate League, most notably Soner Dursun who turned on Hayes during the North West League to join Dylan Roberts & Danxig. The Hate League will no doubt have their focus on winning gold in the near future and a win over the current tag team champions would certainly put them in the running for a title match. However, a win won't come easy over s
such a trio of Midnight Bin Collection & Joey Hayes. The main event for January 22nd will see both the GPW Heavyweight & British Championships on the line. At Grand Pro Wrestling's last event, Bubblegum & T-Bone ended up walking out with a different championship from the one they started the night. On Friday night we're going to see both men try to recapture the title they lost and walk away with both championships.

full card

*GPW British Championship Vs GPW Heavyweight Championship*

Bubblegum (c) vs T-Bone (c)

*Six-Man Tag Team*

Hate League (Danxig, Soner Dursun & Dylan Roberts) vs Joey Hayes & Midnight Bin Collection (Ste Bin Mann & Jet Fashion)

‘Magnificent’ Matthew Brooks vs DDL

The Island Brothers (Tabu & Rio) vs The Bad Lads (Drill & Mickey Barnes)

‘One Man Riot’ Craig Kollins vs Ashton Smith

Cyanide vs Noah

Travis Banks vs ‘The Priority’ Chris Ridgeway

Moving on to Saturday and Alpha Omega Wrestling kick off 2016 with 'Outbreak' at the Winter Gardens in Morecambe. After Chris Ridgeway's narrow loss to Stixx for the Alpha Omega Heavyweight Championship at 'Fightmare Before Christmas', Sam Bailey tweeted to Ridgeway to “keep his chin up” and that his “chance to shine would come”. Chris Ridgeway did not appreciate to encouraging words and a war of words was soon being traded on social media. Alpha Omega Wrestling never being a promotion to shy away from letting issues be settled in the ring have therefore scheduled a match for January 23rd between the two. Sam Bailey is one of the most popular men in AOW history, Ridgeway one of the most hated. Bailey will look to make his return to Morecambe a winning one. Chris Ridgeway looks to show Bailey that his time is right now and he's already shining bright. Since their arrival, The Referendum have been in pursuit of championship gold. A pursuit that they thought may soon be over when they were involved in a tag team match with Sexy Kev & Mr Big Shaun Vasey to crown the Alpha Omega Tag Team Champions. However something happened that The Referendum had never experienced before. They lost. When they then lost another chance to win gold, their leader, Laird Grayson (who was suspended) used a steel chair on Big Sexxxy. Tired of the oppression that The Referendum have forced on Alpha Omega Wrestling, Big Sexxxy challenged The Referendum to a street fight which The Referendum accepted on the conditions that the championships were on the line and that Laird Grayson would be reinstated if they won. The champions accepted the conditions. However Alpha Male Stallion added one of his own. If Big Sexxxy win on Saturday, Laird Grayson isn't suspended, he's fired! The main event at 'Outbreak' shall see Stixx defend the Alpha Omega Heavyweight Championship for the first time since his win. A win which he did not get to celebrate after being attacked by 'Local Hero' Joe Hendry just minutes after claiming the prize. Stixx wants revenge for his moment being taken away and he's prepared to put the championship on the line to do so. If Stixx allows his rage to take over then Stixx might not only be the first ever Alpha Omega Heavyweight Champion, he might be the shortest reigning one as well.

full card

*Alpha Omega Heavyweight Championship*

‘The Heavyweight House Of Pain’ Stixx (c) vs ‘The Local Hero’ Joe Hendry

*Alpha Omega Tag Team Championship: Street Fight (If The Referendum Win, Laird Grayson Is Reinstated, If Big Sexy Win, Laird Grayson Is Fired)*

Big Sexxxy (Sexy Kev & Mr Big Shaun Vasey) (c) vs The Referendum (Liam Thomson & Bobby Roberts)

‘The Priority’ Chris Ridgeway vs Sam Bailey

*Six-Man Tag Team*

RJM, Cyanide & Ryan Hunter vs ‘The Leader’ James Drake, Barricade & ???

‘One Man Riot’ Craig Kollins vs ‘Ultraviolent’ Chris Silvio

Lana Austin & Alexis Rose vs The Referendum (‘The Best In The Galaxy’ Nikki Storm & Carmel Jacob)

The weekend is rounded off with another sold out event from PROGRESS Wrestling who are back at The Electric Ballroom in Camden, London with 'Chapter 25: Chat Sh*t Get Banged'. The main event for January 24th shall see the PROGRESS Champion, 'The Aerial Assassin' Will Ospreay defend the championship against 'The Villain' Marty Scurll. This match came about after Marty Scurll took it upon himself to attack Ospreay after a successful title defense in Manchester. Threatening to break the champion's arm unless he was given a championship match, PROGRESS management were given no choice but to agree. Scurll then showed why he is known as 'The Villain', smashing Will Ospreay's arm with a steel chair anyway. Since then, this match has become personal with Ospreay asking for the match to be no disqualification which was granted. Yes, there is gold up for grabs on Sunday but it's more than that. It's personal. Whoever walks away with the PROGRESS Championship will have the luxury of knowing who their first challenger will be as 'The Star Attraction' Mark Haskins and 'Liverpool's No.1' Zack Gibson will compete to become the number one contender to the PROGRESS Championship on Sunday. Both of these men have an impressive run as of late with neither being defeated in recent months. Both have a valid right to challenge for the gold but only one man's run is continuing past January 24th. For anyone who follows PROGRESS Wrestling and their ENDVR events will know, the women of PROGRESS have been at the forefront. They have main evented shows and delivered show-stealing contests every time. Now they are going to show once again what they can do when Pollyanna, Toni Storm, Jinny & Dahlia Black compete in a fatal four-way match this Sunday at 'Chapter 25: Chat Sh*t Get Banged' in Camden, London.

full card

*PROGRESS Championship: No Disqualification*

‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll vs ‘The Aerial Assassin’ Will Ospreay (c)

*PROGRESS Tag Team Championship*

The Origin (‘The Showstealer’ Nathan Cruz & ‘The Mexican Sensation’ El Ligero) (c) vs FSU (‘White Lightning’ Mark Andrews & ‘The Pride Of Wales’ Eddie Dennis)

*Winner Chooses A Stipulation For The London Riots Vs Sumerian Death Squad On March 27th*

Rob Lynch vs Michael Dante

*PROGRESS Championship Number One Contender*

‘The Star Attraction’ Mark Haskins vs ‘Liverpool’s No.1’ Zack Gibson

*Fatal Four-Way*

Pollyanna vs Toni Storm vs Dahlia Black (w/ TK Cooper) vs Jinny

*Winner Qualifies For The Natural Progression Series Semi-Finals*

Tyler Bate vs Damian Dunne

‘Flash’ Morgan Webster vs Paul Robinson

That wraps up this week's preview of the weekend's wrestling schedule. Of course, there are many more events taking place over the three days. To find out more about the shows we've highlighted here as well as all the others, check us out at www.wrestleropesuk.wordpress.com for the latest show and match announcements, British Wrestling event list, interviews, exclusive columns, reviews, reports and results!

Live Review: PCW/ROH SuperShow of Honor II - Show 1

After the success of last year's SuperShow of Honor collab between Preston City Wrestling and Ring of Honor, anticipation was high for the second incarnation of the weekend event. Opening on Friday 27th November 2015 at the Evoque Nightclub with Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Championship against Noam Dar in the main event, reDRagon challenging for Team Singles' PCW Tag Team Championship in a Street Fight, Delirious & Dalton Castle facing Joey Hayes and PCW Money in the Bank holder Martin Kirby and five other matches featuring the likes of Doug Williams, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Cedric Alexander and Silas Young. But could the 2015 edition open in style? Let's find out. 

With El Ligero added to the originally advertised Bubblegum vs. Adam Cole bout, and forced to defend his PCW Cruiserweight Championship by General Manager Joanna Rose, the trio combined to produce a pacy opener. Both Bubblegum and Ligero worked some sweet sequences with Cole, whilst the other man was downed on the outside, but we also got some quality moments including all three men including Ligero managing to turn a variant of the Road Warriors' Doomsday Device into a reverse rana on Bubblegum (RIP Bubblegum's fingers). Throw into the mix the narrative elements of Bubblegum's elimination and consequent Pedigree to Ligero, eventually leading to Adam Cole capturing the Cruiserweight title with his vertical suplex lift dropped into a neckbreaker on the knee signature move, and you've got the makings of a pleasing opening bout that set the tone for what was to come.

Doug Williams is in incredible shape for 43, pretty sure he's found the fountain of youth knocking around. That's enough fawning over the former ROH Pure Champion for one day, let's get onto the match, as the Anarchist faced ROH's Silas Young, in one of the real sleeper bouts of the weekend for me. The two men seemed to connect quickly inside the ring and whilst the crowd was a little slow to buy into it, as the two men progressed with a series of technical reversals and near falls, Evoque was very much hooked by both Williams and Young's work by the end of the contest. Despite the quality of the action, I felt this bout could have lost three or four minutes and still been just as good, if not better for doing so. The finish, however was a fitting close to the match, with The Anarchist escaping Young's Misery manoeuvre, before hitting Chaos Theory for the victory.

Perhaps not the prettiest of matches across the weekend, but Sha Samuels vs. Kenny King was effective in it's execution, had a lively crowd. The bout unfolded nicely with King attempting to evade Samuels, and especially the East End Butcher's sleeper hold, using his quickness and athleticism. There were a few moments that weren't as strong as they could have been, like a dodgy looking clothesline, but for the most part the wrestling was fine and slotted into the tale well. The short encounter suited the two men's styles and made perfect sense, even if the finish, with The Pretty Boy Pitbull having both arms raised and dropped three times whilst in the sleeper, was a bit of a strange one.

Fuck me, this next match was entertaining. Joey Hayes and Martin Kirby would really come of age as an act over the weekend for me, and this was the start of that. Dalton Castle quickly got over on his PCW début and alongside partner Delirious provided a great mixture of comedy and quality wrestling, that worked well with the style of the PCW regulars. A spot where Kirby had a Camel Clutch locked onto Delirious and Hayes just kept running the ropes (instead of, for example, hitting a low drop kick) with the PCW Money in the Bank holder screaming at his partner, was absurdly funny and sums up the relationship between the two characters well. An action section between Kirby and Castle stands out as the strongest wrestling of the contest, with the pair flowing through a series of counters with ease. It was a surprise to see the PCW pair work together to get the victory, hitting an elevated DDT onto Delirious, but worked well to advance their storyline heading into the three other shows across the weekend. It wouldn't be the last we'd see of Hayes and Kirby on Show 1 either...

Following a quick interval it was back into the action

A surprising choice to open the second half was Dave Mastiff defending the PCW Heavyweight Championship against current ROH World Television Champion Roderick Strong, but the bout still managed to deliver. The action took a while to find a groove, but with the crowd more than content to rip on Strong for his boots, which possess the unique qualities of being both little and shitty, things remained entertaining. When the action did get going however, it was very physical in it's execution and easy to watch. Strong hitting a superplex on the Bastard was a spectacular sight, especially with Evoque's low ceiling. Mastiff continued to be presented as a strong champion, getting the clean victory over Strong, with a wonderful reversal of Mr. ROH's sick kick, sending his challenger into the turnbuckle and picking up the victory with a Cannonball. I'd have loved to have seen what these two could have done with another five or ten minutes and a main event slot.

With F.W.B. member Iestyn Rees (replacing El Ligero) on Team PCW (alongside Dave Rayne and Interracial Love duo Ashton Smith & Charlie Garrett) and the newly heel Lionheart being a surprise addition to Team ROH (alongside War Machine's Raymond Rowe & Hanson and Cedric Alexander (who despite usually working as a villain for ROH, used a much more fan-friendly character most of the weekend), this match had a rather unique dynamic, that took a while to bear fruit and get the crowd truly involved in the action. Once that narrative thread of Rees and Lionheart's respective affiliations and issues with their own partners did kick in, things became much more entertaining and the crowd was quick to pick their sides. With Dave Rayne getting destroyed by the opposing team as the finish, this bout certainly gave the fans something different, with the unique dynamic just about paying off.

A Little Backgrond - PCW Tag Team Champions Team Single (T-Bone and Rampage Brown) and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) have been going at it since May 2014, with the two teams trading victories a number of times. Team Single won the initial bout (Supershow 4 - Show 1, 30th May 2014), before reDRagon picked up the victory in a Four-Way that also included The Briscoes and The Decade (Supershow of Honor - Show 1, 28th November 2014) and then won a No Disqualification contest (SuperShow of Honor - Show 4, 30th November 2014). It was time for one more match between the two, this time under Street Fight rules, with the PCW Tag Team Championship once again on the line.


Was this ever going to be anything other than brutal and shit load of fun? No, no it wasn't. Whilst the silly weapons (rubber animals and wrapping paper) were questionable, there was enough physicality that it honestly didn't matter that much. The steel chair battle was a great moment, with the pay-off of Brown hitting O'Reilly in the stomach making a lot of sense for the character and getting a great reaction from the PCW faithful. Even the Christmas paper got a good spot, with O'Reilly wrapping T-Bone up on a steel chair at ringside to deliver a running kick, even if Evoque didn't jump on the obvious "Wrap him up, Kyle, wrap him" chant. Both teams got some ridiculous near falls, with reDRagon being denied after hitting Chasing the Dragon onto a chair and Brown coming close with a piledriver, with the crowd getting hotter as things went on. F.W.B. members, Team Single were able to pick out the victory in the end with T-Bone claiming the bragging rights with a silly vertical suplex dropped into a Tombstone Piledriver, to continue their 909 day reign a top the tag division and close one of the strongest contest of the evening. 


But it all seemed to be over, with Joey Hayes attempting to cash in Martin Kirby's Money in the Bank briefcase for the titles (with a little help from reDRagon's post match title shots to the head). The reaction for this was HUGE, and the duo getting the pinfall with their elevated DDT combo, got one of the biggest pops across the weekend...it was however not to be, as Joanna Rose reversed the decision, because it was Hayes who cashed in the briefcase and not Kirby. Joanna got some nice heat for her involvement with the crowd now clamouring for someone to take the belts of off T-Bone and Brown. An interesting piece of booking, here's hoping that this get's a pay off down the line.

After a stellar undercard, the main event was going to have be something special to provide a satisfying conclusion to the first evening. Luckily we had ROH World Champion, Jay Lethal defend his championship against Noam Dar in a world-class encounter. With Preston backing their regular and former Cruiserweight Champion against the débuting Lethal, the two had a fantastic soundscape to work with and completely ran with it throughout. The early portion of the bout featured some smashing technical wrestling, with the two trading holds and 22 year old, Dar more than holding his own with the more-experienced World Champion.


Where the match really excelled was it's storytelling, with the contest kicking into the next gear as soon as Dar hit a dropkick to Lethal's knee with the "Greatest First Generation Wrestler"'s leg held in a figure four around the ringpost by SOME GUY from the front row. Lethal's selling was spot on, and showed off especially during a sequence of Superkicks where Lethal would grab hold of his knee after each kick, and meant that everytime Dar managed to lock in his Champagne Super Knee Bar submission, that crowd erupted and willed the former Black Machismo to tap out. With the bout rising to a dramatic climax, it was however Lethal who came away with the title, following his second Lethal Injection attempt being successful. Whilst all logical signs pointed to Lethal retaining, it's a credit to both men that the near falls and submissions were so well received. An excellent way to close the first night of action.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.85 (Good-Very Good)

The highest rating I've given a PCW show since I began using the ATPW Scale back in July, this was entertaining event, pretty much from top to the bottom. Not a bad match on the card, with an excitable and involved crowd who were both appreciative of the action and full of creativity when it came to chanting. The main event stands out as the strongest contest of the evening, with Jay Lethal and Noam Dar capping off the evening well and the Tag Team Championship Street Fight also standing out from the pack, whilst also being completely different from the bout it preceded. 


Would PCW and ROH be able to keep up the quality heading into Show 2, with Lethal once again main eventing, this time defending his title against Doug Williams, as well as Noam Dar facing Cedric Alexander, Dave Mastiff defending the PCW Heavyweight Championship against Silas Young and five more matches involving the likes of reDRagon, Adam Cole, Dalton Castle, Martin Kirby, Roderick Strong all in action. Full review of Show 2 (as well as the rest of the weekend coming soon)

Live Review: PCW Heroes

Just one week removed from short trip to 53 Degrees for UCLAN Fresher Week, which saw The GZRS in back to back matches against Hayes & Kirby and The UK Hooligans, PCW was back at Evoque for the first time since the start of August, for Heroes. Dave Mastiff putting his PCW Heavyweight Championship on the line against former WWE United States Champion, Bobby Lashley in the main event, as well as the likes of Charlie Garrett, Drew Galloway, El Ligero, Iestyn Rees, Noam Dar and Tommaso Ciampa also on the card. Could the show be as heroic as the title suggested?


Before we get to talking about the first match of the evening, I'd like to take a moment to discuss the magnificence that is Xander Cooper's coat. Making his début appearance at Evoque (after losing El Ligero at UCLAN Freshers Week), the Futureshock Wrestling regular rocked up in a get-up that would get you battered in most nightclubs around the country and certainly "noticed" in a few others. All dark green and peacock feathery, Cooper looked resplendent as he headed down the Evoque steps to the ring. In a way, it was a shame that Cooper didn't get a one on one match for his (Evoque) debut, to really get the crowd familiar with his character (A small "You're just a shit Ric Flair" chant didn't really hit the spot)

Match 1 - Cruiserweight Championship Four-Way - Bubblegum (C) vs. Xander Cooper vs. Dean Allmark vs. Ashton Smith

      An adequate start to the show, this was what you'd expect from these four talented performers. The action was fast-paced and with it's fair share of flips (Allmark's Asai Moonsault especially standing out), but for me, it was the heel-face divide that drove the bout. With Bubblegum and Cooper seemingly joining forces early doors, the pair would be thwarted at almost every turn by Allmark and Smith (the latter ducking a crossbody by Cooper, sending him into the arms of Bubblegum, before nailing Bubblegum with a backstabber was the highlight of the contest), the champion had had enough of the partnership and nailed Cooper with a Pedigree for the victory, working as a satisfying pay-off to the narrative. For me, this was a little too short to really allow any of the four performers to shine as bright as they could have and to fully explore what could have been done in the ring, both in terms of the action and story-telling. (I think it's also worth noting that all three of Bubblegum's challengers had lost their previous match in PCW)

Winner - Bubblegum via pinfall (on Cooper) in 7 minutes, 34 seconds *STILL CHAMPION*

Match 2 - Singles - Charlie Garrett vs. Iestyn Rees with Joanna Rose

Two workers who clearly know each other very well (They've performed as The Alpha Males tag team in various promotions for the last two years), and who are both technically proficient in the ring. It would be difficult to fault any of the wrestling content of this match, but it was quite simply...a little bit dull. The pair seemed to almost be coasting here, with a crowd that had been slow to warm up not being drawn into the action, which was needed considering this match was happening for...reasons. I found Joanna Rose at ringside to be the most interesting piece of the puzzle here, and even she didn't come into things until the closing stages of the match, causing the distraction that would allow Rees to get the win with a big ol' Powerbomb. 

Winner - Iestyn Rees via pinfall in 11 minutes, 53 seconds.

Match 3 - Singles - Dave Rayne vs. PCW Tag Team Champion T-Bone with Joanna Rose

After Joanna  had offered Rayne a shot at the #Boom Championship, if he could beat T-Bone, Rayne didn't beat T-Bone in a sub-two minutes squash, that saw the PCW Tag Team Champion finish off Rayne with a sweet Tombstone Piledriver. Boom!

Winner - T-Bone via pinfall in 1 minute, 48 seconds

Match 4 - Singles - "The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa vs. "The Mexican Sensation" El Ligero

     Undoubtedly the highlight of the first half; former ROH World TV Champion Tommaso Ciampa and All Star Wrestling regular El Ligero put on a pleasing rematch of their Supershow of Honor clash from last November. Whilst I'd rank the original clash a little higher, this was still a quality encounter, full of hard chops and big impact moves. Ciampa impressed with his character work, quickly taking on the antagonist role by laying into Ligero before the bell, as well as causing a little girl to cry at ringside. All was good later, the girl isn't scarred for life and some people were really angry on the PCW Facebook page, if only they'd have really given him some heat in the match!. Both men got some great near falls, taking on a very Indy feel, as Ciampa came close with an over the shoulder belly to back piledriver on the apron and Project Ciampa, whilst Ligero seemed to have the match won after hitting a lovely frog splash. With the series now tied at one a-piece, I'm hoping that later down the line (I'd imagine sometime in 2016 now), that we get a third clash between the two, with the pair given a little bit more time to really put on a show.

Winner - El Ligero via pinfall in 11 minutes, 57 seconds.

Match 5 - No Holds Barred - Lionheart vs. Sha Samuels

Sha Samuels is one of my favourite heels in PCW and he's been built amazingly since debuting just over a year ago. So when The East End Butcher came out to Kris Travis' music I couldn't have been happier... I mean, obviously I showered Samuels with some boos, as did the rest of the crowd, but that's exactly the reaction it should have been getting. With Lionheart heading straight and wasting no time going after Samuels, the crowd was the hottest they had been all night and perhaps the most behind Lionheart I've seen since his return from injury. Unfortunately, the match couldn't quite keep things up, with the action never really living up to the No Holds Barred moniker. I mean, if you'd never seen a No Holds Barred match before, I'm sure you'd have thought it was bloody marvellous. Some brawling on the outside and some whipping with Samuels' braces (which didn't look particularly convincing), but compared to the action before the Noam Dar and Drew Galloway match later in the night, this was a fairly tame affair. The finish was well-done however, with Samuels locking in the sleeper hold, with a scarf for added measure, and it was good to see Samuels' momentum continue to grow.

Winner - Sha Samuels via referee stoppage in 10 minutes, 24 seconds.

Before the night's sole tag team encounter, there was a backstage skit, involving Sam Ward taking a piss....yeah. Then The Wards came out with a dog. A DOG! A BLOODY DOG! This went straight over my head, but seemed to get a decent reaction from sections of the crowd. It even garnered a "That was Awesome" chant, which I'm really not sure was supposed to be the reaction it should have been getting. Whatever. Wrestling.

Match 6 - Tag Team - Hayes & Kirby vs. The Wards

Another very short bout, the pre-match antics actually went on about three minutes longer than the actual in-ring action. But, in terms of action, this was the weakest bout of the night, with the four never seeming to connect. There was some decent continuation of Joey Hayes and Martin Kirby's storyline, although if not a little repetitious on previous goings on, with Kirby taking on the majority of The Wards' offence, before Hayes came in to steal the win. Whilst the Wards look okay on the attack, with a fine looking powerslam combo situation working as a nice near fall, but I was not sold on the duo when Kirby was powering up. Sam looked especially ropey, taking a bizarre shitty bump off of the Kirby's Dreamland that would end the match.

Winners - Hayes & Kirby via pinfall (Hayes on Sam Ward) in 6 minutes, 3 seconds

Before the rematch from August's The Fourth Awakens, could even begin, Noam Dar and Drew Galloway had brawled all over Evoque. Trust me, this will look magnificent on Blu-Ray as the pair really went at it, and the stuff that I could see clearly looked brutal and was done with an intensity that was missing from elsewhere in the night. Brawling on the booths, brawling behind the bar, a Fallaway slam from Galloway into a fire door, Dar sending Galloway head first into a wall. The two made the most of the environment provided and continued to get over the rivalry that began when Galloway attacked Dar at the end of their match in August. It's interesting that this action felt much more No Holds Barred, than the No Holds Barred match earlier in the night.

Match 7 - Singles - Noam Dar vs. Drew Galloway

High and away the match of the night, the action inside the ring was just as good as the action outside it. The pair looked almost effortless in there, with Dar quick to target the former WWE Intercontinental Champion's leg once again, straight away bringing back memories of how good their initial contest was. Galloway's selling was on point once more, making Dar's Champagne Super Knee Bar feel all the more dramatic, as Galloway managed to claw himself to the ropes. Whilst CSKB was clearly a big part of this and the last match, Galloway bought his own weapon with the Futureshock DDT. After attempting a swinging variation of the move earlier in the match, it was not one, but two DDT's that would eventually put Dar away. This was a bout that played off the original encounter, whilst being completely different at the same time, brilliant stuff. Give me more of this.

Winner - Drew Galloway via pinfall in 10 minutes, 9 seconds

Pull apart brawls are great, give me a pull apart brawl and I'll be happy! Who doesn't love pull apart brawls? Seriously, though, Dar and Galloway heightened things with their post-match confrontation, with a number of PCW Staff/Trainees getting in between the pair as they tried to tear strips off each other, after Galloway continued to batter Dar after the bell. Just like the previous bout, the goings on post-match intensified the want for a rematch and raised the feud to the next level, superb booking that was improved upon by two world-class performances. Big shout out to the trainee who couldn't wipe the "Look at me, I'm in the ring" smile off his face during the entire segment, because it wasn't a serious situation at all. 

After the thrill-ride that was the raffle, it was almost time for the main event. Before that though, Joanna Rose said something. She put over Bobby Lashley as her choice to dethrone Dave Mastiff as champion, which I suppose made some sense as Lashley may have gotten a more positive reaction simply because he's been on the telly. But I honestly don't think it was needed, as Lashley got plenty of heat walking out for just working for TNA and being alongside Joanna, who had already been out twice in the evening. 

Match 8 - PCW "World" Heavyweight Championship - "The Bastard" Dave Mastiff vs. Bobby Lashley with Joanna Rose

When your main event gets a "boring" chant, that pretty much says it all, doesn't it? This match was just that, boring. What would you do if the crowd was chanting boring? Slap on the fourth rest hold of the match, according to big Bobby. The match ran just shy of ten minutes; why are we having to have FOUR REST HOLDS! Yes, Lashley was "wearing down" Mastiff and all that, but there were surely more interesting ways to so, especially when the match was going less than ten minutes. Even then Mastiff had to resort to a low blow to get the victory, which I'm sure was in there to keep Lashley looking relatively strong for his TNA/Bellator commitments rather than do anything for Mastiff, before hitting his Cannonball to retain the title. 

Winner - Dave Mastiff via pinfall in 9 minutes, 53 seconds.

Iestyn Rees, T-Bone and Bubblegum were all out to give Mastiff some beats after the match, with The Bastard also taking a big spear from Lashley. The crowd clearly knew the score as the "Maaartin" shouts began, and out came Money in the Bank holder Martin Kirby. Kirby's partner Joey Hayes argued that Kirby shouldn't cash in, giving Mastiff enough time to recover and the trio fought off F.W.B to close the show. Not quite sure about this as the closing segment, as whilst it sent the fans home happy, the Kirby and Hayes stuff went on a little too long. The crowd chanting for Kirby to cash-in, despite Mastiff being their favourite Bastard was also a weird moment. One last point, F.W.B. have been trying to get the belt off Mastiff since he won the belt in July, so why didn't they want Kirby to cash in his Money in the Bank? The fact that they bought in Lashley for this show already shows they aren't too bothered about the title going to someone already in the group, right?

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating: 5.06/10

Galloway vs. Dar just about saves this show from dropping below a 5 on the ATPW Scale, with all three portions (the bout, plus action before and after) scoring high.


As you might have been able to tell from reading the review, I didn't enjoy the majority of this show, at all. If I was taking into account the fucking weird crowd (bloke who couldn't chant in time, drunken women, some shit chants that unsurprisingly didn't get going) then I think that the rating would be a lot lower, as I know that it certainly impacted on my enjoyment of the show. I wouldn't say there was necessarily a "bad" match on the show, although parts of the tag bout perhaps came close and the main event couldn't live up to the action directly before it. There was a lot of average or dull action throughout this show. More often than not the contests felt way too short to fully deliver on their potential also.


Having tickets to Shropshire Wrestling Alliance show on Halloween, I'm certain I won't be back for PCW's Halloween double header. My next trip to Preston will be for the PCW/ROH weekender in November...I'm expecting to have a much better time of things here, as last year's four shows were superb. But as it stands, I'm considering making those shows my last PCW shows for a while. 


A big thanks to Andrew Tomlinson for casting his eagle-eye over this. Very much appreciated. 

Wrestle Ropes' Ready for the Weekend: September 2015 Week 3

As we approach another weekend we face the ever increasing problem of not where can we see some quality wrestling but rather how can we decide which events we want to see/ this weekend is no exception with a plethora of shows taking place. Let's take a small look at some of the events and get Ready For The Weekend!

Up first on Friday night, Grand Pro Wrestling are back at The Rose Club in Hindley, Wigan for Back to School. This event has a lot of bad blood and rivalries heading into it. One main conflict that will hopefully be settled is the one between Tabu and Rio, who were once GPW Tag Team champions, as The Island Brothers. However The Island Brothers are no more after Rio returned to GPW after a long absence and sided with Simon Valour before attacking his brother. Whatever Rio's reasons for his action, Tabu wants revenge on his brother and on September 18th he looks to get it. From one rivalry to another as Nick Maguire faces the former GPW British champion, El Ligero. Maguire has been focused on El Ligero for months now, appearing whenever The Mexican Sensation was around. This has visibly unsettled El Ligero and as such these two men are now going to face off one on one. Ligero is in need of a win since losing the GPW British Championship and Maguire could make a name for himself if he can defeat the former champion. It's all to play for in Wigan. The North West Rookie League has been running for a number of months now in GPW. A league designed to pair up and coming wrestlers with more experienced competitors of Grand Pro Wrestling. However, Soner Dursun took it upon himself to change the mentor he was given in Joey Hayes. Instead he paired himself with another mentor in the shape of Dylan Roberts. Now understandably Hayes has taken offence to this and in turn Dursun has shown no respect to Hayes. So on Friday night they're going to settle their differences in the ring when they go one on one. All of this plus the final of the North West Rookie League, a six-man tag team main event and appearances from Chris Ridgeway, Martin Kirby and more. Tickets are available here  (Prices - Family (2 adults, 2 children) - £28, Single - £8)

Moving on to Saturday and Pro Wrestling Chaos are at the Filwood Community Centre in Bristol for The King is Dead, Long Live the King. Sitting right at the top of the card is the King Of Chaos Championship match which will see Wild Boar defend his newly won championship against the former champion who he cashed-in his title match on, Mike Bird. Wild Boar chose his moment very careful before cashing in his championship match, opting to use it after Bird had finished a match with Mark Andrews. This has not pleased Bird at all. So much so that he's decided to enact his rematch clause at the earliest opportunity. Wild Boar has been a dominate force in PWC but then Mike Bird has been a very dangerous since winning the championship. Boar has now reached the top of the mountain in PWC but will Bird be able to push him off on Saturday. Speaking of dominate and dangerous, The Doomsday Killers have issued another open challenge for September 19th. The Killers have always been an oppressive group of individuals but have actually gotten even more threatening since they became a group of three following Jeckel's departure from the group. At the last event they destroyed a trio of men who dared to answer their challenge. Who and if anyone will answer the challenge this time is still to be seen. Pro Wrestling Chaos is known for a number of things, one of which is great tag team matches. Continuing the tradition of Saturday night, we will see two set of brother compete as The Hunter Brothers face The Dunne Brothers. All four of these men are great wrestler individually but as teams they take it to another level. The rumours of a tag team championship becoming a reality in the near future have caused the best teams in the country to show why they deserve to be the inaugural champions. Whoever wins this match could very well be in with a legitimate claim to those future championship belts. Tickets are available here (Prices £30 family, £10 general admission. First and second row are sold out)

Finally on Sunday, Futureshock Wrestling return once again to the Stockport Guildhall with another of the Uproar events. Futureshock Wrestling have always showcased a variety of match types along with wrestlers of various sizes and style. In a match that is very much a heavyweight contest, Charlie Garrett will compete against Mark Massa. These men both have a very similar hard-hitting, agile style yet they have never competed against one another. Garrett has been making waves in Futureshock since his debut. Massa on the other hand has struggled to pick up a win. However by no way means that he'll not give it his all on Sunday. This should be a great match to show what heavyweights can do. A that has come to the attention of many in the past few months is the group of Wonderland. A trio of three very dangerous and strange individuals. This group have taken to attacking numerous members of the roster, including 'Gentleman' John McGregor. So now we have reached a stage that McGregor wants some retribution on Wonderland and he looks to deliver it to Henry T Grodd. Grodd is a big, dangerous entity and the powerhouse of Wonderland. McGregor could deliver a blow to actions of Wonderland but he'll have to overcome the mountain of Henry T Grodd, who'll want to continue his group's mysterious plans. At last month's 11th Anniversary event, James Drake defeated three other men to become the Adrenaline Champion. A feat in itself. Now comes the time for Drake's first defence and it shall be no mean feat either as he faces one of the best in Europe in the shape of Bubblegum. Drake managed to overcome three men on track to winning the championship but the real test starts now in defending it. And test don't come much bigger than Bubblegum.


That wraps up this week's preview of the weekend's wrestling schedule. Of course, there are many more events taking place over the three days. To find out more about the shows we've highlighted here as well as all the others, check us out at www.wrestleropesuk.wordpress.com for the latest show and match announcements, British Wrestling event list and more.

PCW The Fourth Awakens LIVE Review

Just under four weeks since Tribute to the Troops 2 (which saw Dave Mastiff defeat Chris Masters for the PCW Championship) PCW was back to celebrate the promotions fourth anniversary in style, with The Fourth Awakens. Packed with talent from around the world, the show was main-evented by current WWE NXT star and former ROH World Champion, Samoa Joe taking on an unannounced opponent, with the likes of Dave Mastiff, Drew Galloway, Joey Hayes, Martin Kirby, Noam Dar, Sha Samuels, reDRagon and more also appearing. The event also featured the well-anticipated return of Kris Travis, in his first PCW match since June 2014, after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Due to being stuck by the bar (outside of the main room in Evoque), I completely missed comedian Chris Brooker's opening speech, although I'd imagine it was a hilarious affair, as usual.

One Fall Six Way Match

Ophidian 

vs. 

Luther Ward 

vs. 

Dean Allmark 

vs. 

El Ligero 

vs. 

Charlie Garrett 

vs. 

Ashton Smith

 Anyone who's seen a PCW show will be more than familiar with the company's six way bouts, by now. If you're not, I'm sure you can figure out what six of PCW's cruiserweight division going at it could potentially look like. The match has become a calling card for the promotion. Plenty of fast-paced action and some quality spots spread throughout the bout, with Ashton Smith's double Olympic Slam and a superplex to the outside standing out as the pick of the bunch. The bout had an interesting dynamic, with the debuting Luther Ward impressing as the only heel in the bout. My only real complaint was that the match was fairly short, and all six of the men in the match could have benefited from a having a bit more time here. I also would have liked to have seen the bout have some kind of consequence (a shot at the Cruiser-weight title being the most obvious option), which could have added a little extra bite, when El Ligero picked up the win with a C4L on Smith.

One Fall Tag Team Match for the PCW Tag Team Championships.

Team Single (C) 

vs. 

The Broleivers

Hmmm...How to review this match? Essentially, what was supposed to happen, didn't happen, and what was supposed to happen wasn't much in the first place. Without going into it too much, Rampage Brown and T-Bone legitimately battered Josh Bodom and Ryan Hendricks for an uncomfortable couple of minutes. The majority of the Preston crowd couldn't have cared less for the debuting Broleivers or their fate chanting on for the usually hated Team Single. The finish saw the referee call for the bell with Bodom in a rear-naked choke from Brown, despite the move clearly being in the ropes and Bodom seemingly never tapping. Make of this what you will. It was not an enjoyable experience to watch this one at all, I'd paid to watch pro wrestling and this wasn't pro wrestling.

Following the match T-Bone, who for some reason was suddenly sporting a funky hat, challenged the winners of the upcoming reDRagon vs. Martin Kirby & Joey Hayes bout for a match later down the line, a strange thing for a heel tag team champion duo to do.

One Fall Match

Dave Rayne 

vs. 

Iestyn Rees

Going in, I was wondering how exactly Dave Rayne and Iestyn Rees would approach this one, with their styles of wrestling being very different. However the pair put on an enjoyable encounter, that although fairly short, played to the strengths of both men well. With a strong structure, that involved Rayne giving Rees the old fashioned run around in an attempt to take control of the match and plenty of comedy thrown into the mix, as one would expect with Rayne. The finish furthered Rayne's issues with General Manager Joanna Rose, as she appeared at ringside with Rayne's #Boom belt, allowing Rees to take control and hit a huge powerbomb to pick up the win. Plenty to enjoy in this one, with some strong storyline development, as Rees' powerbomb after the match suggested that we may see a rematch between the two, further down the line.

One Fall Match

Noam Dar 

vs. 

Drew Galloway

This bout was right up my alley, with Galloway and Dar putting together a top-quality effort. Some strong story-telling which saw Dar focus the majority of his efforts on Galloway's right knee, including hitting a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes, as well as off the top rope! The former Chosen One's selling was spot on throughout, with just enough touches  and winches on the knee, to keep the injury in the mind of fans, meaning that when Dar locked on the Champagne Super Knee Dar, twice, it meant so much more, and got a lovely reaction out of the Evoque Nightclub.

Whilst the crowd in many places around the country would have been split down the middle for these two Scotsman, Preston quickly decided they were behind the regular Noam Dar, serenading him with the usual chants. Galloway's demeanour, walking out slowly with head down and hair across his face, made it easy to side with Dar, over the more well-known former WWE Intercontinental Champion, with Galloway clearly playing to this kind of reaction, unlike previous imports who have clearly been thrown by the reaction opposite the ever popular Dar. The current leader of The Rising's offence seemed very scrappy, suiting his demeanour and adding something different to the show as a whole. 

With two huge near-falls, that got both got terrific reactions out of the live crowd, for Galloway, including a Tombstone Piledriver, it was Dar who was able to pick up the victory, capturing a frustrated Galloway in a small package for the pinfall. Whilst it was a shame not to get a true pay-off on Dar working the leg earlier in the match, it could easily be argued, in kayfabe, that the injured leg made it harder to escape the small package, so all is well with me. A post-match attack from Galloway following a handshake, turning him full-blown heel in PCW, would suggest this isn't the last we've seen of the current ICW World Heavyweight Champion in the promotion, a rematch with Dar certainly wouldn't go a miss for sure.

Elimination Three Way Match for the PCW Championship

Chris Masters 

vs. 

Dave Mastiff (C) 

vs. 

Bubblegum

I can't say I was particularly over joyed when Joanna Rose added Chris Masters to the match, mainly because Master's does very little for me, however his involvement here did provide a solid narrative, and allow babyface champion Dave Mastiff to be seen as the underdog, a role that one of our top five bastards is very rarely able to be in. The best reaction of the match came when Masters' asked Bubblegum to lie down for him, and whilst the logic may have been a little flawed (Why not wait to eliminate Mastiff?), the masses rallied behind their favourite Rent Boy, with Bubblegum eventually able to eliminate Masters with a roll-up. Strangely, Joanna Rose instantly banished Masters' from F.W.B. and PCW, turning him into an awkward babyface, whilst Bubblegum remained heel, despite having the crowd support earlier on. 

With Mastiff quickly able to take advantage once inside the ring, the big man from the Black Country picked up the win with a Cannonball in the corner to retain his title. It was a shame not to be able to see a little more of a one-on-one contest between Mastiff and Bubblegum, as I was interested to see how the dynamic was going to play out when heading to the show. However, this worked well as a way of building Mastiff as a dominant champion, who the crowd is clearly behind when placed against the right opponent. Another potential match for a future show, whilst the Bubblegum babyface turn tease seemed well received, there was a lot to take away from this bout. 

That wasn't the last we'd see of Mastiff on the night, as Joanna revealed that he would Samoa Joe's opponent in the main event, with the current WWE NXT star heading out for an intense stare down.

After a quick fifteen minute interval, with your regular wetting of whistles and perusing of the merch desk, it was back into the action.

One Fall Match

Rockstar Spud 

vs. 

Lionheart

Unannounced before the show, this match seemed to fall flat with the crowd. The problem seemed to be that both men are currently protagonists in the promotion, and so, as can often happen, the crowd was unsure on who they wanted to get behind and therefore...didn't get behind anyone. There were smattering of chants for Spud and a "Sexy Bastard" chant or two for Lionheart, but beyond that the match was mainly played out to crickets. The match having very little consequence or a build heading in, didn't help proceedings either, as there was no particular reason for anyone to care about who picked up the win.

The action in the ring was perfectly fine, as you'd expect with two of the most well-travelled performers here in the UK. The pair flowed nicely in the ring together, and every move looked crisp throughout, I don't think I could pick fault with the action at all. Rockstar Spud's selling was particularly strong, which perhaps made it even more frustrating to watch, as if Lionheart had been playing a full-blown heel role, which was teased at points, it would have completely changed the match around with the crowd being able to truly get involved in the action. Lionheart picking up the win cleanly with a Lifting Side Slam, followed by a Frog Splash, was a big win for the Pro Wrestling Elite promoter and gives him some momentum heading into PCW's autumn and winter shows, with particular eye on the collaboration with Ring of Honor in November.

One Fall Tag Team Match

reDRagon 

vs. 

Martin Kirby & Joey Hayes

With an intriguing pace and slightly off-kilter story, this was a delightful slice of tag team action from start to finish. Almost all of the story was focused on PCW regular's Joey Hayes and Martin Kirby's precarious partnership, with Hayes presenting Kirby with a brand new pair of trunks with his name on them prior to the match, setting the tone for what was toe come. reDRagon worked over Hayes for a good portion of the bout with their usual hybrid style, much to the delight of the Evoque, building nicely to a hot tag to Kirby. With the bout lifting in tempo for the closing stages, with the highlight of Kirby's run as the proverbial house of fire being a double Northern Lights suplex. 

The action was spot-on from bell to bell, and as the bout headed to a climax (following the hot tag to Kirby) the two teams lifted their respective games and the pace to create some good tag team action, with the performers seeming to gel together early on. reDRagon's combination that see's Fish hold an opponent in a wheel barrow position, followed by a double underhook DDT by O'Reilly, before O'Reilly pushes the opponent into a wheelbarrow suplex from Fish, always impresses me for it's creativity and flow, and worked nicely as a near fall here, with the teams going back and forth for a good few minutes either side. 

The Hayes and Kirby story continued to develop when after Kirby had hit Kirby's Dreamland and seemingly had the match won, Hayes tagged himself in, leading to a disagreement between the two and Hayes kicking Kirby in the stomach and tossing him to the outside. Whilst this worked as the finish to the match (after reDRagon took advantage and hit their Chasing the Dragon finish for the win), it was surprising to see Hayes and Kirby split up so early, meaning that the incident was a little underwhelming at the point it came at. reDRagon move onto a Tag Team Championship bout in November, whilst Hayes and Kirby will supposedly now be working a singles feud, perhaps involving Kirby's Money in the Bank briefcase, over the next few shows.

One Fall Match

Kris Travis 

vs. 

Sha Samuels

The moment Kris Travis walked out to wrestle for the first time in a PCW ring since June 2014, was a truly special moment. One of those moments that only pro wrestling can create, when a full to brim Nightclub can show their appreciation to a man who suffered with stomach cancer, for coming back to entertain us. Kris Travis is certainly a one of a kind performer in the ring, but making a return to pro wrestling, when many would have called it a day, makes him a one of a kind human being. Trav is the fucking man, man.

The match itself featuring some superb storytelling and Travis and Sha Samuels had the crowd in the palm of their hands from start to finish. Samuels, the cockney wanker that he is, made Travis' stomach the focus of his attacks throughout the contest, with Travis' selling being so good that at times it was uncomfortable to watch. Travis' fight back produced a stellar false finish with the Shooting Star unable to put away Samuels with a Double Underhook Piledriver. Travis even became the first person to successfully escape Samuels' sleeper hold for another big moment. It was, however, not the fairytale comeback that the crowd was looking for with Samuels able to put Travis away with another Sleeper Hold, this time with his leg wrapped around Trav's waist. For me, having Samuels win here was the right decision for everyone involved, with Samuels getting some lovely heat from the crowd, whilst Travis now has a much more interesting story to follow as his comeback continues. 

A raffle happened, who doesn't like a raffle. With the crowd being directed to the screens, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat was announced as making an appearance for the promotion on October 31st. 

One Fall Match for the PCW Championship

Samoa Joe 

vs. 

Dave Mastiff (C)

For what would many would mark as a dream match, Evoque was very subdued for this one. Maybe it was that the match started way after ten o'clock, maybe it was the crowd needed to come down after the emotional rollercoaster that was Travis vs. Samuels, maybe the match suffered from a similar problem as the previous Spud vs. Lionheart match, maybe it was because we'd already seen both Mastiff and Joe earlier in the night, I'm not quite sure what it was that caused the crowd to be relatively quiet for this heavyweight clash. 

The pace of the start of the match seemed to suggest that the match could potentially be going long, with the pair exchanging holds at a low pace and Joe especially working a headlock for a long time. Although this wouldn't come, there were a handful of nice suplexes delivered from both men (although not warranting the "Suplex City" chant that broke out) and a submission sequence from Joe also stood out, with Joe transitioning from an STF into a Crossface. With F.W.B. and Iestyn Rees charging the ring following a Cannonball from Mastiff, I was left scratching my head a little bit, as the run-in caused the disqualification that allowed Mastiff to retain the title, exactly what the pinfall on Joe would have done. 

The show closed with Chris Masters heading out to make the save for Joe and Mastiff and the trio being able to fight off the four heels. It was Joanna Rose however who had the last word, announcing that Mastiff would be defending his title on October 31st opposite former 5 time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Jeff Jarrett. With the pair having a heated exchange back in April at 5upershow - Show 3, this one looks set to be an intriguing encounter indeed, especially if Jarrett's wife, Karen, is involved.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.69

Another strong showing from PCW, that produced a number of matches that I wouldn't argue if someone wanted to call match of the night. Travis vs. Samuels had some superb emotional storytelling, Dar vs. Galloway produced top performances from both men, whilst reDRagon vs. Martin Kirby and Joey Hayes was an unusual bout, but worked well thanks to four top-quality workers.

While there wasn't a "bad" match on the card (let's not talk about Team Single's Open Challenge at this point) there were points when the match failed to capture the crowd, with the biggest example being Lionheart and Rockstar Spud's bout, which would be heavily based around the reasons mentioned above, but could also have done something with the match being chosen to open the show, in a show that seemed to struggle to a gain good flow, in terms of match placement. Having Travis vs. Samuels directly before the main event would work as an example of this. 

With some pleasing storyline development (Mastiff vs. F.W.B., Dar vs. Galloway, Travis/Lionheart vs. Samuels, Hayes vs. Kirby, reDRagon vs. Team Single) this anniversary show seemed much more focused on the future than it did the past. This is a PCW that is continuing to grow as a promotion, and it's was great to see the promotion looking to build, rather than looking back at past successes.

With just over three weeks until the promotion hits Blackpool for Bank Holiday Bash (which is free by the way), which will feature 2 time ROH World Tag Team Champions The Wolves, 3 time TNA Knockout's Champion Mickie James, former  WWE United States Champion Mr. Anderson, former IWGP Tag Team Champion Magnus and former WWE World Tag Team Champions Too Cool, you can find out more about Preston City Wrestling by clicking the name.