5 Star Wrestling [Live] Review // 15th February 2018

On 16th February 2018, 5 Star Wrestling came to us live from the Fly DSA Arena in Sheffield, England. Our main event for the evening saw a Teddy Long Special occur as the previously announced match of Rampage Brown against Rey Mysterio became a tag match with the additions of Zach Gibson & Rob Van Dam respectively. With action also featuring 5Star Tag Champions Max Money taking on the UK Hooligans, 5Star Champion Jake Hager taking on Ryan Hunter as well as Colt Cabana, Flash Morgan Webster and many more. It' not exactly controversial to state that 5Star have picked up a bit of reputation in the BritWres community, not necessarily a good one, but could they counter that and put on a show good enough to silence the doubters?

'Tango' Timm Wylie def. Ricky Knight Jr. // Pinfall

This was a reasonably standard face v heel, junior v heavyweight encounter but with some nice touches with Wylie using the tech fuck-ups that plagued the show right from the start to generate some heel heat, in fact considering the crowd was half not in the room and the other half were reasonably unresponsive, it must be said Wylie and Knight Jr. did a good job of actually getting people into the match. Extra points for Wyle using the Brian Danielson 'I have till five' shouts. Wylie would eventually get a pin with a Twisting Suplex Slam.

Matty Mayhem def. HT Drake and Anthony Young // Pinfall

Not much to comment on here really as this was 9 minutes of crowd-popping spot work, though I must commend them for actually never breaking down into the rotating singles match structure and keeping all three men in the ring practically for the entire match duration. Drake played the bigger lad in this throwing suplexes like no one's business, Young pulled off the night's second Danielson tribute by hitting Yes Kicks on both men, Mayhem hit a GTS, indie-galore. The finish came when Mayhem got a surprise reversal into a Paul Smackage on Drake. Nice stuff, did the job, got the crowd's energy up a bit.

So we opened on a shite promo from Jake Hager which left the crowd going '...k' only for it to be interrupted by a very good promo from Zach Gibson who railed on Hager for being dull and said he's the reason people are switching over to Takeshi's Castle. It was at this point the crowd started to wonder, 'do we like Gibson now? He's right and Hager's the bad guy. But Gibson's also the bad guy...what?' After Gibson left, Hager said he would defend his title, not against Gibson but against one of the UK's best talents. What do you bet this sets up the 'Hager beats up a jobber' story?

Joey Axl def. El Ligero // Submission

We come to part three of the evening's Danielson tribute as Ligero and Axl reinterpreted the classic 'you can't pin a ball' spot from when Daniel Bryan fought Tyson Kidd on Saturday Morning Slam. Beyond that glorious moment, this was a solid match with Ligero giving Axl his best match so far of the 5Star tour. The problem this match had was that it had to follow a laboured Hager promo (more on that later) and an ad-break so any excitement the crowd might have had from the dark matches had been lost by this point so it had to build it back up again. The finish came as Axl tapped out Ligero with the Ayers Rock Lock stretch muffler. Decent enough stuff.

Gibson would pop up again, attacking Rey Mysterio before his match with Rampage Brown, opening the door for Rob Van Dam to make the save, setting for our main event: Gibson & Brown vs Mysterio & Van Dam.

Eddie Ryan def. 'The Wrestling Vegan' Marcus Burke // Pinfall 

First off, Burke walking around the crowd shouting 'I am a vegan! Nooo meat!' was perfect character work, I got where he was coming from and Marcus, if you're ever back in Sheffield, hit me up, we can get some Avocado Wings from Make No Bones. The match itself was a little light on action as there seemed to be a lack of connection between both men thought Ryan, positioned as the top UK babyface of the roster was beloved of the younger fans in the audience. Worth mentioning: this match broke the Danielson tributes with instead Ryan entering with his lion mask and cape combo and Burke hitting a Tiger Driver for a good near fall suggesting a move to Tiger Mask tributes. Ryan eventually won with the Sitout Side Slam for the pin. During the match, Bram was at ringside in a baseball cap and what looked like one of those ponchos they give you at Splash Canyon at Drayton Manor.

Colt Cabana & Grado def. Carlito & Chris Masters // Pinfall

There was another edition of Morgan Webster's Modcast but before it could begin properly, the Masters of Cool interrupted, complaining that they wanted to make it an episode of Carlito's Cabana. Talking of cabanas, actual guest Colt Cabana turned up and was attacked by the Masters but Grado made the save. It wasn't entirely clear to the audience that this was a heel turn as the announcer came out during the ad-break to make sure we knew to boo Masters and Carlito and cheer Cabana and Grado. Luckily once the match began, the team known to many as Irn Jew made sure there was no doubt who to cheer for as they delivered an incredibly fun match, putting on not just the best match of the night but probably my favourite pure piece of entertainment from this entire tour thus far. They worked a simple tag structure but they peppered it with a lot of fun details and most importantly didn't outwear their welcome. It's harder to describe comedy focussed matches than pure wrestling as it's akin to explaining the joke but suffice to say, you won't see a more joyous moment this week than Grado trying to put the Master Lock on Chris Masters. The finish came as Carlito when to spit apple at Grado but he dodged, the apple hit Masters, Cabana pulled Carlito out of the ring opening up Masters for an R-Grado out of naewaer for the pin. Not exactly complicated but just good, clean fun plus Colt and Grado turning up were a genuine surprise and an extremely pleasant one at that.

5 Star Championship // Jake Hager (c) def. Ryan Hunter // Submission

Hager came out first to introduce his opponent, AOW regular Ryan Hunter. This was the standard 'heel champion beats up a jobber but occasionally the jobber does something close to a move which pisses off the champion so he drags out the match to beat the piss out of his opponent' match with Hunter being massively over in a way that you almost felt they could have put the title on him that night and the crowd might not have complained. It went on far too long, all things considered as the crowd weren't into it at all. Hager hit the Ankle Lock for an easy tapout.

Joe Hendry def. Big Grizzly // Pinfall

This match happened because Dave Mastiff and Big Grizzly called out Joe Hendry for hiding behind the commentary desk, so, of course, Mastiff took over on commentary because nothing says 'I'm calling you out' like then not wrestling and instead taking his job. A quick match with Grizzly playing the big man heel and Hendry working underneath till he got a good comeback and shocked the crowd by getting a pin off a Fallaway Slam. Hendry, Grizzly and Mastiff have enough charisma to make this work but this didn't really feel like it achieved much, especially if Hendry is going to stay behind the commentary desk for the foreseeable future.

PJ Black def. Flash Morgan Webster // Pinfall

This was probably the evening's best singles action as the former 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion took on the current ATTACK! Champion is a fast paced bout full of the signature high-flying action that both men are known for. The main things that hurt this match were a lack of time but also that the short snippets of commentary they played in the arena suggested that this was meant to be building the story of plucky underdog Webster seeking his first win in 5 Star yet they put him against Black who was just as over, especially amongst one very vocal group of children. It's not that Webster wasn't able to build sympathy nor Black incapable of working a good subtle heelish performance, more that especially in the arena, a lack of crowd support for the chosen hero hurts the storytelling. Perhaps they could have come out before all the matches and told us who to cheer for, it would have made things easier. Black got the pinfall victory off a Lionsault.

5 Star Tag Team Championship // Charlie Sterling & Adam Maxted (C) def. Roy Knight & Zak Knight // Pinfall

If there's one thing that I hope comes from this 5Star tour, it's more bookings for Charlie Sterling and Adam Maxted as they work well together, really showing a lot of tag team fundamentals and heel characteristics that a lot of people forget. It probably helps that the Hooligans were probably the most over thing on this entire show, well, if judging by the row or two behind me who all were constantly doing the 'hoo-hoo-hooligans' chant and as that was directly in my ear, I can't tell about anything else. They worked a good, solid tag match, making the crowd believe that there was a chance that Norwich's finest might take home the belts and making them all the more upset that they lost their chance due to a surprise roll-up. I did feel oddly sorry for Maxted early on as the Knights seemed to be throwing some particularly stiff-looking shots his way but I guess that is their style. Not much to add but still impressive that this far into the show they were still getting responses as fatigue had set in for this writer somewhere around Jake Hager's title match. Before the match, Pure Dead Brilliant (Kid Fite, Lou King Sharp & Krieger) would invade the ring and talk about once again being deprived of a match and issued a challenge for a tag match before the Hooligans scared them off. The lack of booking for these lads is a really bizarre storyline as they were some of the talents brought to the Press Conference announcing the roster, quite similar to their limiting of Jack Jester to pre-show or not at all this week. In kayfabe, why do it?

Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam vs. Zack Gibson & Rampage Brown // No Contest

By this point, it became quite difficult to actually see what was going on from floor level as a hoard of replica mask-wearing children had surrounded the ring, leaning over the barricade to see two true legends of the sport. They also seemed interested in their opponents, some pair of former WWF guys I think. The match worked an odd structure as they seemed to let Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam make their opponents look like fools for the longest time before they were able to cut off the faces, twice, because both men wanted to have their hot tag sequence. What worked very well about this match was the psychology behind the heels approach as they could see the crowd were waiting for Rey and RVD to hit their finishers so they knew to wait for them to try and use that to cut them off, making the crowd wait and hate them more each time they delayed their gratification. The faces did work hard to make their opponents look good, Rey, even if he's not quite as quick as he used to be, still is a damn sight better than most and it was a treat to get to see him. Rampage is a sure hand and a great, vicious performer though it really can't be said enough, Gibson is the best thing about 5Star, with every little action he does being used to push forward his agenda, especially with little details like pointing out to the referee about his opponent's breaking rules before using it as a distraction to break some of his own. The finish was a fascinating clusterfuck as after Rampage had taken a 619 and a Five Star Frog Splash, Gibson would pull the ref out of the ring and knock him out before Max Money came in to beat down Rey and RVD but Irn Jew would come in to even the odds, this would lead to a No Contest in theory but it wasn't entirely clear as after they'd sent the heels packing, the faces just raised each others hands and left, no actual bell, no referee response, just a 'let's hear it for Rey and RVD, ok bye everyone'. This did however feature the best moment of the show as after clearing out the heels, RVD seemingly got a bit confused and superkicked Grado out of the ring before trying to go for him while Cabana did the 'Chris Pratt calms the velociraptors' pose. Hilarious stuff. This wasn't necessarily a bad finish to a match but certainly, not exactly the most exciting high-point upon which to end an episode. But if it leads to Cabana and Grado challenging for the tag titles, I'm all-in.

Also this Week

There were some on-screen promos from Hager where Ryan turned up and challenged him for the title in Plymouth next week, that mysterious masked man who screamed about wrestling next week, Nathan Cruz spoke about how he wasn't wrestling but was there anyway to pick up a cheque because he bought an expensive watch with his cheque from last week and something from RVD, Rey and Irn Jew where the sound cut out so who knows what was said? Something about Twixes, probably.

Finally...

As a product, 5Star still has a long way to go with a lot of the book representing the same errors that overly sacrificial WWE booking has suffered from. As an arena spectacle, it is plagued with technical issues and feels empty in the arena spaces as you can hear the sound travel to the back of the room and get lost there. As a spectacle of wrestling, it has enough talent in its roster to put on a good show with obvious standouts like Gibson, Ligero & Webster really showing their talents in a larger arena setting and even certain talents like Carlito and Chris Masters surprisingly really showing up this week. As a wrestling show clearly for a family audience, it's harder to say it's a complete failure. It doesn't quite translate to the television perhaps as well as might be hoped but there was a sense of palpable excitement amongst the kids who crowded around the barrier to watch their favourites like Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam and interestingly enough, Eddie Ryan. Perhaps this really isn't designed to be a product for us, the overly informed snarkastic fans of the internet, maybe it's purely for the kids who either don't know or are willing to overlook the lack of reality. I don't know, it's hard to hate something that's so clearly trying to push beyond what it's capable of in the present yet at the same time, there's a certain air of content 'that'll do' to the overall presentation that equally it's very difficult to love. Also, where was Haskins?

Written By Jozef Raczka // @NotJoeRaczka

Wrestle Ropes' Ready For The Weekend: June 2016 Week Four - W3L, MEW, OTT, PCW, 4FW, HOPE, Grapple, HOP, EVW, BWP, PROGRESS and Kamikaze Pro

So we have another weekend of wrestling action taking place over the next three days and it wouldn't be fair to just focus on a few. That being said we're going to have a quick look at all the shows taking place over the weekend so everyone gets a little bite of the cherry. Now let's get Ready For The Weekend!

First up tonight, that being Friday, World Wide Wrestling League kick off their summer tour in Portree all the way up in the North West of Scotland. No matches or stars have been announced for the show so far but W3L will be looking to start their tour off with a bang. 

Back down in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne at the Innisfree Sports & Social Club in Longbenton, Main Event Wrestling will be holding their 'Toon Tussle' event. The show shall see the eponymous Toon Tussle match where the winner shall receive a championship match. It's a stacked match with Rampage Brown, Liam Lazarus and the current MEW Tag Team Champions; Micky The Dragon and HT Drake all competing. The event will also see three championship defended as Jason Prime is challenged for the MEW Championship by BT Gunn. Elsewhere, Alexander Henry shall make his first defence of the MEW North East Championship against Assassin. Little Miss Roxxy will also be fighting for gold when she challenges Leah Owens for the RQW Women's Championship. 

Friday shall also see Over The Top Wrestling return to Limerick at Dolans Warehouse. The show will feature Colt Cabana who has been challenged by The Gymnasties. What the challenge is, is anyone's guess but we'll find out tonight. 'The Mexican Sensation' El Ligero will also be in action when he faces former OTT No Limits Champion; 'The Bruiserweight' Pete Dunne. And if that wasn't enough to get you through the door, The Wards will be facing The Kings Of The North in a big six-man relaxed rules tag team match.

Moving on to Saturday and Preston City Wrestling will be hosting their annual Tribute To The Troops event, this year taking place at the Preston Guild Hall. As always, the show is packed with international names and this will be the first event PCW have hosted that shall be broadcast worldwide in iPPV. After winning the There Can Only Be One gauntlet match, Drew Galloway will be challenging Sha Samuels for his PCW Heavyweight Championship. The feud between The London Riots and Team Single will rage on as they meet once again in tag team action in the hope of ending their disputes (though it's doubtful!). The team of Billy Gunn and Ken Anderson, affectionately known as the New Age Assholes will be competing against The Hooligans' Roy & Zak Knight. Lionheart will be stepping in the ring with Rob Van Dam while there shall also be women's action when Toni Storm faces Carmel with a threat that Saraya Knight may be in the vicinity of the event. 

W3L will continue their summer tour with one of their biggest events of the year, '7 Deadly Sins' at the Kirkclady Leisure Centre. The show will see Kevin Williams challenge Joe E Legend for the W3L Heavyweight Championship. The event will also see the 7 Deadly Sins tournament where 7 wrestlers will compete in a one-night tournament. 

4 Front Wrestling will be in action this weekend when they head to one of their regular venues at the Thatcham Catholic Hall. While no matches have been confirmed, 4FW are well known for their great family friendly shows and this event shall likely be no different. 

HOPE Wrestling will be making their debut on Dunstable this Saturday and have announced two matches for their event so far. Firstly, Ashley Dunn shall be facing the undefeated, Joey Ozbourne. The main event shall see a triple threat match take place with Mark Massa, Gene Munny and Chris Tyler all fighting it out. 

Grapple Wrestling will be hosting an event on Saturday which will showcase a number of their academy students. One match on offer will be see Nsereko defending the Grapple British Championship against Liam Lazarus. B.A Rose and Seb Strife shall be competing against each other in singles action will six-person tag team action will see Ward 13 facing Jack Star, Ruby Summers and a mystery opponent. 

House Of Pain Wrestling will be holding another one of their weekend long set of events. They'll be in St Anns, Nottingham. The first show which takes place this Saturday will see Gabriel Kidd defending the HOP Heavyweight Championship against Alton Thorne while Warwick shall be challenging Tommy Taylor for the HOP Full Throttle Championship. Danny Chase and Kyle Kinglsey have been fighting back and forth for months now in a Best Of 5 Series. They're tied at two wins each so this fifth match will be the decider. The match has such significance that HOP have inserted Joseph Conners as the special guest referee to oversee the contest. 

Pro Evolution Wrestling are in Bristol at the Longwell Green Community Centre. The show will see The Bristol Boys defend the EVW Tag Team Championship against former champions, The Renegades while other regular EVW stars will be in action. 

Britannia Wrestling Promotions will be holding the first BWP Young Dragons tournament this Saturday in Denbigh at the Town Hall. The tournament shall consist of 4 competitors each with Lana Austin, April Davis, Lizzy Styles and Violet Vendetta participating in the women's tournament while the men's tournament will see Ethan Beach, Soner Dursun, Troy McCarthy and Drew Parker competing.

Finally on Saturday, Over The Top Wrestling will be in action for the second time this weekend when they head back to the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin. While Colt Cabana will be making his debut on Friday, he could be leaving OTT on Saturday with gold when he teams with Workie to face The Gymnasties for the OTT Tag Team Championship. Luther Ward shall be facing 'The Beast Of Belfast' Big Damo in what is bound to be the definition of hard hitting. Martina will also be in action in Dublin when she faces Katey Harvey while a triple threat match between Ryan Smile, Tyler Bate and Jordan Devlin is scheduled to take place.

On Sunday, W3L will be in Dumfirmline at the High Valleyfield Community Centre for the third stop of their summer tour where Joe E Legend shall be in action. Whether he will still be the W3L Heavyweight Champion or will be a former champion by then is still to be seen.

PROGRESS Wrestling will be hosting an event for the second week in a row when 'Chapter 32: 5000 To 1' takes place at The Electric Ballroom in Camden, London. The show is already sold out and you can see why when Marty Scurll will be defending the PROGRESS Championship against Tommy End. There will also be two Atlas Championship tournament matches taking place as Damo O'Connor face Rampage Brown and T-Bone joins forces with Dave Mastiff to face Big Daddy Walter and Iestyn Rees in a tag team match. Jinny will be in action as well as she will face her former PA, Laura Di Matteo in a match that is filled with bad feelings. Johnny Gargano will also be in action this Sunday as he'll be defending the SMASH Championship in an open challenge.

The second show of HOP's weekender will take place in Calverton, Nottingham at the Working Men's Club. There are six matches set to take place such as Danny Chase facing Lucas Archer and tag team action between the teams of Johnny Concrete and Alex Gracie and Garrett Bond and Barricade. HOP Heavyweight Champion; Gabriel Kidd shall also be competing when he faces Steven Harris in singles competition.

And finally on Sunday, Kamikaze Pro will celebrate their third anniversary at the Meadway Sports & Social in Birmingham. The event will see all three championships on the line with Robbie X defending the Kamikaze Pro Championship against Clint Margera in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match. Elsewhere, Ryan Smile's Relentless Division Championship will be on the line a four-way match including Omari, Tyler Bate and Chris Brookes. The Bigger Picture's Marshall X and Damian Dunne will look to add to their gold collection when the challenge The Hunter Brothers for the Kamikaze Pro Tag Team Championship in a ladder match. Not to mention that Jonny Storm, Dan Moloney, El Ligero, Lana Austin, Jody Fleisch, Alex Windsor and Pete Dunne will all be in action as well.

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!

Interview: ICW's Bobby Roberts

It's a pleasure to welcome Craig Hermit back to atpw.co.uk. This time Craig's back as interviewer!

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This heavyweight competitor is incredibly agile for his size and able to out-power some of the most dominant opponents. With his ever-growing ability in the ring and his strength and tenacity, Roberts aims to make waves as he stands alone as a singles competitor like he has done in Insane Championship Wrestling, Scottish Wrestling Alliance, Pride Wrestling, Caithness Pro Wrestling, Alpha Omega Wrestling and many others.

ATPW - The obvious opening question then, did you get into the wrestling industry and when did the interest develop?


Bobby Roberts - I’ve always been a fan for years and years. Obviously, growing up with (Hulk) Hogan, (The Ultimate) Warrior and Macho Man, all the way through the cartoon period kinda thing, then growing up, the teenage years, WWE had the Attitude Era, so that got me right into it, I was rebellious and that fitted in.


Then I watched the documentary, Beyond the Mat, famous documentary, it opened my eyes to the world of wrestling, being backstage, the politics, the drama, the production and everything about it. I just said to myself, I wanna do this, unfortunately at the time I had no money to train and where SWA was originally based, I was unable to get to via public transport on a Sunday cause I stayed in Ayrshire, and travel was equivalent to using a horse and cart. Turning 18, I went to the army, met my wife, started playing football for a while, got bored of it, wasn't a passionate thing as I was still into wrestling so I thought, right bugger it. If I didn't do it now, I never would. So, 30th April 2011 came around, I stepped into Source Wrestling School, my first training session was with Paul Tracey which was brutal and ever since then I've never looked back.


I débuted on 18th November 2011 and the same year, I won trainee of the year award. I was going 4 days a week, sometimes constantly, just applied everything I could to get to training. I mean, I'm married so, I didn't get to see a lot of my family. I was borrowing money to get to training constantly off my wife, my parents and everything I done was wrestling related. I lived and slept wrestling through that period of time, still do, just at that period of time I wanted it, went for it and I'm still here.


When you started your training, within Source Wrestling School, how did you find it and was there anyone who has been influential in your training?


Damian O’Connor and Mikey Whiplash by far, Damo trains you hard but it’s worth it, he sees the potential in people, exact same as Whiplash. He just sees the potential oozing out of some people and pushes you that much harder because if you've got it, he wants to see you come through, Damo as well. I had a lot of personal problems, spoke to him face to face and he gave good advice on it. Whiplash is constantly pushing me as much as he can, always helping me on wrestling. Both have a completely different way of telling you the same thing but both make so much sense. One piece of advice that always stuck with me, “Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should!”, I’ll always remember that.


You have been part of Reckless Intent Wrestling, what are your thoughts on the progression that has made in the last few years?

Absolutely fantastic, they have just grown, any company has to start from somewhere and they have just grown and grown. Some of the people they have brought in, myself, Chris Renfrew, DCT, Damian O’Connor and Colt Cabana. Last year Cabana was there and that was a sell out show. It went from the Reckless Intent Unit to Morrisson Scout Hall and it’s been selling out every time we are there. 


You are not just part of Caithness Pro Wrestling in the North of Scotland, but you are the CPW Heavyweight Champion, what are your thoughts on the progression of CPW and the next step? 

Photo Credit - Ferguson Studios

Well, the next step is for it to continually grow, the promotion is bringing in new people, myself, Viper, Solar and the potential of the main roster itself is absolutely phenomenal. Look at them, Kitty Trouble, who has embraced a new image change, Big Bob, I've already said how much of a powerhouse he is, you still have former Champion Solomon and even as we spoke about before The Abandoned who are a completely new faction in CPW, who may be targeting me but that's only at the moment, everyone show watch out for them. I've only mentioned a few of the CPW roster there, so it's clear to see the CPW is growing as a company at more and drawing more attention from fans all over Scotland & down in England.


Staying with CPW, you have had issues with the faction known as The Abandoned who have made you their next target?


The Abandoned are a strange one,  I've wrestled Eric before, I've fought the Son's of Solomon before both in hard fought matches at CPW Ransoms something has just appeared to click in his head and they have made me their target for some reason. The thing is though, he's playing a very dangerous game if he's coming for me, like I said at the last show, I'm the CPW Champion, your welcome to TRY and take this Championship away from me.


Recently at CPW's last event, ' Pride of the Highlands, Big Bob won a fantastic tournament to be granted a title shot anytime of his choosing, your thoughts?

That will certainly be one hell of a match, he's legit 6 foot 8, he's built like a bear and there's very few people not just in CPW but in the UK with his frame and his ability. He's a man I will concerned about when he cashes in that Title shot and if I'm still the Champion when he does, but he will realise the I'll do everything I can to keep this Championship.


In Alpha Omega Wrestling in Morecambe, you are part of the Referendum, the Scottish representatives who are on a continuous winning streak at the moment since last year, what do you feel about the reactions you get from the fans?

It is a kinda typical English reaction to Scotland winning, isn't it? They can't handle the fantastic Scottish talent we have, it is as simple as that. Everyone mentions the British Wrestling scene, there wouldn't be a British Wrestling scene if it wasn't for the Scottish talent in Scotland. Scottish talent is the best, we, The Referendum, showcase that Scottish talent every single time we are at Morecambe in Alpha Omega Wrestling. I mean look, we have Viper, the most dominant female in Britain never-mind Scotland, there's Davey Boy who has yet to unleash just how crazy he can get, you've got Lewis Girvan, just an amazing talent and you've got me, the Enforcer of the Referendum.


ICW fans are continually taking about the partnership you have with Joe Hendry, your unique entrances especially? How did the idea come about?

I say Joe comes up with the ideas for the entrances and he thinks I've got real comedic timing, I'll agree to that, but Joe has a great comedic mind and we do have great chemistry. I feel comfortable with him for the things we do at the entrances but we'll see if there's more to come.


You have wrestled for numerous promotions across the UK, what ones would you love to wrestle for?


PCW is certainly one I would love to wrestle for along with my tag team partner Lewis Girvan, the fans down there are superb and fantastic range of talent they have is phenomenonal. PROGRESS as well, just amazing what that promotion has been able to achieve but honestly any promotion that I'm a part of I make sure the fans will always be entertained.


Lastly, where can fans see you next?

Reckless Intent in Livingston on the 3rd, Alpha Omega Wrestling in Morecambe on the 11th and I'll be making my début for Heritage Wrestling in Sunderland on 30th October. Also buy my range of T-shirts and Hoodies available from:

http://www.shopping.mickmickdesigns.co.uk/bobby-roberts--wrestler-376-c.asp

You can also keep up-to-date with Bobby Roberts on Facebook and Twitter at - 
Bobby Roberts

@BobbyRobertsAGC

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A big thanks to Bobby Roberts for taking part in the interview, as well as Craig Hermit for conducting it. You can find Craig on Twitter here. 

Best of British IV - Futureshock Wrestling

In the fourth edition of Best of British, Marc Pearson puts his case forward for Futureshock Wrestling

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Do you ever do something in your life, and wonder how on earth you had never done it before? August 28th, 2011 was one of those times for me. Sitting in the 4th row in a small but beautiful hall, I watched two guys who I had never heard of put an absolutely brilliant wrestling match, and I was utterly hooked. 

In early 2011 I was at a crossroads in my life. Having been a wrestling fan my entire life I was at the point where I was bored of WWE, TNA and any other Wrestling company in the world. A friend of mine had been pestering me to go to a local Indy promotion called Futureshock Wrestling for a good 6 months and I always had a trusty excuse at hand - the fact that I couldn't get there. I live in the awful city of Stoke On Trent, Futureshock are based in South Manchester and while there is a big train station in Stockport I doubted that there would be a train after the show to get me home. That all changed when I passed my driving test in July 2011. No excuses now, eh? Well there was one, the very next Futureshock show featured SOME GUY called Davey Richards........and I already had plans. Very annoying to say the least. BUT, the show after that - Futureshock 53 - featured another NOBODY called Colt Cobana. I loved Colt's feud with Homicide so simply had to attend. I grabbed a fellow jaded wrestling fan and went to my first "Britwres" show!

The draw for Marc's first Brit-Wres show was Colt Cabana.

The 2 unknowns I mentioned at the top were Bubblegum and Jack Gallagher, nowadays 2 of my absolute favorite performers. That night I also saw The Models (Danny Hope & Joey Hayes), The Blackpool Blondes, Cyanide, Dave Rayne and Xander Cooper. All became firm favourites of mine. 

As a standalone show I had a really good time, and Colt was just as good as I hoped. We decided to go back for the next show and it was this one that really cemented my love for the company. I like storytelling in my wrestling, spots for spots sake or matches that happen JUST BECAUSE really get on my nerves. Futureshock have long term storylines, it wouldn't surprise me if they had a whole years worth of storyline planned out in advance. Everything makes sense, everything happens for a reason and I loved that, and still do. 

Current Futureshock Champion, Xander Cooper.

Futureshock became an obsession with me. I wanted everyone I knew to come and attend these amazing shows, to the point where all my friends had either heard of the company or been bullied/cajoled, threatened into coming to a show! Even better I became friends with loads of the guys who attended the show AND, even better than that, I became friends with some of the wrestlers, so I could pick their brains about the inner workings of the business, something I've always loved, things like WHY a match is happening or the thought process behind a heel turn. Things like that. 

Futureshock's core business is its training school. Because of this, you won't see a show loaded with imports or that many well known "Big Name" talents like at some companies. A lot of shows feature an unknown from the school making their debut and its really fulfilling seeing a talent expand and grow, all the while becoming more and more confident as they adjust to being in front of an audience. It's quite special to see a wrestler today and be able to say "I was there for his/her first match!" That's not to say that it's all trainees on the shows. Futureshock tends to bring one "name" wrestler in per show, which is great for us fans as we get to see talent from all over the country, men we wouldn't normally see. A great example of this was on their latest Underground show where Big Damo O'Connor debuted for the company in a show stealing performance against Jack Gallagher. Damo is a wrestler I'd heard great things about so it was amazing to see him in my "home" promotion.

Big Damo in his Futureshock debut against Jack Gallagher.

Futureshock opened my eyes to a world of Indy wrestling. Since 2011 I've attended well over 100 shows, all over the UK, from Morecombe to London and many places in between. Companies like PCW, Progress, Dragon Gate UK, House Of Pain, Fight Club: Pro, Infinite and so many more. Incredibly 2 companies (GPW and Great Bear Promotions) allowed me to achieve a lifelong dream by allowing me to commentate on their shows (I hated it, but that's another story for another time). I've seen so many talents that I never dreamed I would see, I met Terry Funk for goodness sake! And I owe it all to a little promotion based in Stockport who well and truly stole my heart. 

4 years later they are running 21 shows this year, across three venues, most of which are either almost full or sold out. They are home for me, and I implore anyone that maybe interested to give them a try, you will not regret it! 

You can learn more about Futureshock Wrestling from their website, Facebook, Twitter or Youtube pages. You can find more about Marc Pearson on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

Best of British II - Insane Championship Wrestling

The Lestrange Lock's Lily Lestrange puts her case forward for Insane Championship Wrestling being the best wrestling company in the United Kingdom today!

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           It was about 2011 when my passion for wrestling rekindled itself.  I casually watched WWE whenever it was on TV before that, following the career of CM Punk as he claimed The Nexus as his own before finally winning the WWE Championship. After that I was hooked. I would talk to my fellow fans online every Monday whilst watching RAW and then the same went for any PPVs as well. This went on for ages as my amazement with the promotion grew but it wasn’t enough. I was beginning to get bored and needed something more. I asked about on Twitter and it was suggested to me that I go to live shows right here in my hometown of Glasgow, held by a promotion called Insane Championship Wrestling. Wrestling? In Glasgow? Surely there wasn’t a promotion right on my doorstep that I had no idea about?! Turns out that there has been for a good while now, more the fool me!

         I was told that ICW were branching out by putting on a show in the Edinburgh Playhouse that had matches featuring Colt Cabana and Sabu. I’d known of Colt from following Punk’s career and every wrestling fan knows of Sabu, so I got myself a ticket and off I went to their sold-out show “Dave’s Not Here Man”. This was my first time going to a live show and my first experience with an indy promotion so asides from the obscure references in their event names and the imported stars I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I mean, how could a promotion based in my city ever compare to WWE? Well let me tell you, ICW blew them out of the water that night and they have continued to do so for me to the present day. 

 

The second match on the card for that night was Kay Lee Ray vs. Carmel in a Last Woman Standing match and I was completely astounded that women could wrestle like that these days; after having to deal with the Divas division in WWE for years before now I just couldn’t believe what was in front of me. At one point Carmel DDT’d KLR from the bar and for want of a better term I marked out something stupid. These two are some of the best female wrestlers that the UK has to offer; I was sure of it at the time and after watching them feud over the past year I’ve never been more convinced of it. As soon as that DDT happened that was it; I was already booking my tickets to the next show in my mind. I was still chanting away as I wandered lost about Edinburgh on my own after the show and I didn’t even care because I had so much adrenaline running through me that I would’ve superkicked anyone that looked at me the wrong way.

      I stayed true to it as well; for the remainder of 2013 I only missed one show and I’ve only missed a handful this year. I’ve watched the promotion go from struggling to sell out a community centre to having its own documentary on the BBC (and a sequel soon to follow), be the only promotion in the UK to have an online streaming service and selling out one of the greatest venues in the world, the Barrowlands. But how has ICW managed to achieve such greatness, you ask? Bringing in talent from overseas has definitely brought in a wider audience: we’ve had people like Prince Devitt, Paul London and Brian Kendrick become regular faces at shows plus some one-offs like Hardcore Holly who only a few weeks ago managed to leave our own Chris Renfrew’s chest looking like a pound of mince. Even WWE’s Drew McIntyre, who started his career in the ring at ICW as Drew Galloway, has come back to his roots and is currently the ICW Heavyweight Champion. 

 

      Of course, their regular roster deserves the most credit for their success. B.T Gunn and Wolfgang have been feuding for the best part of a year now and we’ve seen Wolfgang throw Gunn from a sound system and the pair of them nearly hanging each other from the ropes in a dog collar match, this year-long spat is yet to get boring. In Newcastle, Chris Renfrew vs. Jimmy Havoc in a Geordie Rules match saw Havoc spewing at ringside after having one shot of whisky too many and him jamming a dildo into Renfrew’s mouth after knocking him silly with a baking tray. Because rule one of a Geordie Rules match is that there are no rules and dildos are fair game, right? There's also been the Best-Of-5 feud between Noam Dar and Joe Coffey, two lads who don’t need gimmicks because all they have to do is step into a ring together to wow the crowds. If you like pure, unadulterated wrestling then these matches are gonna be your thing. Then of course there’s Grado, Scotland’s answer to Scotty 2 Hotty; people may question his wrestling abilities but he’s undeniably one of the greatest entertainers in the business today. You could hate him in the ring but still sing his entrance song “Like A Prayer” every time; there’s just no hating the guy, he’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face at every show. 

 

       The uniqueness of these kinds of feuds, matches and wrestlers is what makes ICW special; we have absolutely no idea what we’re going to get with the next event and that’s why we love it. Hell, they’ve even sold out shows without even announcing a match on the card before. ICW has something for everyone (as long as you’re over 18) and the sense of kinship from not only the roster but the fans themselves will have you never wanting to miss a show again. 

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      We'd like to thank Lily Lestrange for taking the time to write for us. You can find her other work at thelestrangelock.blogspot.com, as well as follow the blog on Twitter @LestrangeLock. ICW can be found at insanewrestling.co.uk, as well as on Twitter @InsaneChampWres and on Facebook here.

ROH CM Punk: Icon DVD Review

ROH CM Punk: Icon is available on two disc DVD set now from rohwrestling.com priced at $19.99 (about £13 plus shipping). This set fits in between previous DVD sets The Second City Saint and The Summer of Punk, looking at events between July 2004 and June 2005, as well as Punk's surprise appearance at Unscripted II in November 2006.

Content Listing 

Disc One

CM Punk-Ricky Steamboat: The Final Confrontation
ROH Reborn Completion, 17th July, 2004

ROH World Tag Team Championship Two Out of Three Falls Match
The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) (C) vs. The Briscoe Brothers (37:29)
ROH Death Before Dishonor II Part 1, 23rd July, 2004

Chicago Street Fight
The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Ace Steel) vs.Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer (27:42)
ROH Death Before Dishonor II Part 2, 24th July, 2004

ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) (C) vs. The Havana Pitbulls with Julian Smokes (19:09)
ROH Testing The Limit, 7th August, 2004

CM Punk vs. Austin Aries (22:47)
ROH Weekend of Thunder Night 1, 5th November 2004

No Disqualification Match
The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Ace Steel) vs. Generation Next (Austin Aries & Roderick Strong) (20:02)
ROH Weekend of Thunder Night 2, 6th November 2004

CM Punk vs. Spanky (14:41)
ROH Third Anniversary Celebration Part 1, 19th February 2005

CM Punk vs. Alex Shelley (22:00)
ROH Third Anniversary Celebration Part 2, 25th February 2005

CM Punk with Davey Andrews & Traci Brooks vs. Jimmy Rave with Prince Nana & Fast Eddie (19:43)
ROH Third Anniversary Celebration Part 3, 26th February 2005

Disc Two

The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) & Steve Corino with Bryan Riegel, Davey Andrews & Ricky Landell vs. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Oman Tortuga & The Weapon of Mass Destruction #3) with Prince Nana (4:57)
ROH Trios Tournament 2005, 5th March 2005

The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) vs. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave & Fast Eddie) with Prince Nana (14:12)
ROH Best of the American Super Junior Tournament, 2nd April 2005

CM Punk with ATPW Hall of Famer Bobby Heenan vs. Mike Kruel with The Embassy (Nana/Chung) (4:00)
ROH Stalemate, 16th April 2005

Dog Collar Match
CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave with The Embassy (Santiago/Chung/Kruel/Tortuga/Nana) (13:38)
ROH Manhattan Mayhem, 7th May 2005

ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Ace Steel) vs. BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs (C)
ROH Final Showdown, 13th May 2005 (16:42)

Steel Cage Match
CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave (24:16)
ROH Nowhere to Run, 14th May 2005

CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong (24:05)
ROH The Future is Now, 12th June 2005

CM Punk & Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave & Adam Pearce with Prince Nana (29:02)
ROH Unscripted II, 11th February 2006

Review

Ring of Honor continues to munch through it's catalogue footage at an alarming rate, with their most recent set CM Punk:Icon, focusing on Punk's work in ROH between 2004-2005 (not including his fantastic series with Samoa Joe). If you're a fan CM Punk's work in WWE over the last few years, then this will be a great set to get you interested in his work for Ring of Honor, and I'm sure that is what ROH is hoping for. They have released a number of other set's on The Straight Edge Saviour over the last few years including The Second City Saint, Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk and The Summer of Punk. It does feel a little bit of an over kill, and ROH might have been better spreading out these sets a bit, with pretty much all of Punk's ROH career now covered in these sets.

That however, doesn't stop this from being a very good watch, with a ton of top notch wrestling content. If you're looking for a documentary feature or a commentary on Punk's career, there isn't one, this is simply a compilation of Punk's best matches during that period. Similar to WWE's most recent DVD on ECW, this DVD set is helped by the variety of matches available. A number of best of set's can become a little repetitive, with similar matches, luckily this set doesn't go down that route, which is really a testament to the good work that Punk did for the promotion. From solid tag team action with Colt Cabana against The Briscoes, to teaming with Ace Steel in an awesome Chicago Street Fight against BJ Whitmer and Dan Maff in a bout that will surprise those only familiar with Punk's WWE work, to good singles outing against the likes of Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, there is enough to keep you engaged throughout the entire set.

It's a really a testament to Gabe Sapolsky's booking that there is not just one clear narrative throughout this set but a handful, starting with Punk's face turn saving Ricky Steamboat from Generation Next, before the introduction of Punk's feud with The Embassy and specifically Jimmy Rave. I guarantee if you weren't watching ROH during this time period and even if you were by the time Punk collides with Rave at Nowhere to Run in a terrific Steel Cage battle, you'll be willing on Punk to pick up his victory of Rave.

If you're used to Punk's work for WWE, you should settle yourself in for a long ride, with most matches running over twenty minutes, with a lot of stories to be told. The only short matches by ROH standard are Punk teaming with Cabana and Steve Corino to take on The Embassy at Trios Tournament and poor outing for Punk against Mike Kruel from Stalemate. Luckily both matches include either pre-match brawl in the case of the Trios Tournament match, which more than makes up for the actual contest being a little on the short side, and the Kruel bout, features Bobby Heenan putting Punk over after the match, followed by a great brawl between CM Punk and Jimmy Rave.

The only downside to this DVD, is that there is no space in between the matches, with no entrances for the competitors, you are kind of flung straight into the action. Whilst this down mean that the set can include more matches, it does mean that it takes a while to recover from the previous match and truly get into the next one, luckily the match quality is good enough that it doesn't take particularly long. It would have been nice to see some linking narration between the matches, maybe from someone like Steve Corino, who was involved with Punk around this time and currently still works for ROH, which would have given little bit of breathing spaces for the matches, as well a little extra explanation as to what was going on in ROH at the time.

Overall, this is very strong DVD set, with some top notch matches across both discs, a great story to discover or relive between Punk and Jimmy Rave, as well as the interesting inclusion of Punk's one night return to ROH, after TNA stopped talents from appearing, in a cracking tag team bout teaming with Bryan Danielson (WWE's Daniel Bryan) to take on Rave and Adam Pearce. If your looking to check out Punk's work outside WWE then this would be decent place to start.

Three Matches to buy this set for...

1. Chicago Street Fight: The Second City Saints vs. BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff from Death Before Dishonor II - Part 2

2. Two Out of Three Falls Match: The Second City Saints vs. The Briscoes from Death Before Dishonor II - Part 1

3. CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong from The Future is Now