BritWres to Impress // PROGRESS // ICW // FutureShock [Nov. '17 Wk. 3]

Hot diggity dog, ATPW's weekly preview of British Wrestling is back and we're not messing around! With so many mid-week shows, I felt it was silly to keep calling this Ready for the Weekend, so after a quick Twitter poll...welcome to BritWres to Impress! Each and every Monday we'll be taking a look at three of the biggest shows across the week and around the British Isles. This week we're focusing on PROGRESS Wrestling Live at the Dome on Wednesday (15th Nov.) at The Dome in London, Insane Championship Wrestling's double header with France '98 on Saturday (18th) at The Garage in Glasgow and the massive Fear and Loathing X on Sunday (19th) at the SSE Hydro in the same city and FutureShock Wrestling Uproar 97 on Sunday at Stockport Masonic Hall in Stockport, Greater Manchester. 

*Disclaimer - All cards are subject to change*

Also This Week  

Saturday // 4FW Live! // Thatcham, Berkshire // 4fw-online.com

Sunday // ATTACK! Pro Wrestling SRVRSRSLY (This Time It Really Isn't a PPV Tie-In Event) // Cardiff // SOLD OUT

Sunday // 4FW Live! // Portishead, North Somerset // 4fw-online.com

Wednesday // PROGRESS Wrestling Live at the Dome // The Dome, London // www.tickettailor.com/all-tickets/15857/eb5f

Hot off the heels of Chapter 57: Enter Smiling in Manchester, PROGRESS returns to the Dome on Wednesday with a card mixing up and comers with some of the promotions top stars. 

The biggest match on the card features someone who has had a change of heart in recent months, that man is Eddie Dennis. At Chapter 57, Dennis cost former tag team partner Mark Andrews his PROGRESS World Championship match and on Wednesday, Dennis will have his first match with the company since breaking up FSU at Chapter 55: Chasing the Sun. His opponent? The exciting and likeable Chuck Mambo. The gnarly ass pro wrestling surfer might not have the best singles record in PROGRESS, but with The Dome behind him and Dennis' mind elsewhere there's always a chance he could off an upset. The powerful and angry Dennis will have a point to prove and will be looking to back up the points he made in an emotional promo video released last month, whether this will translate to a victory is yet to be seen, but this clash of styles as power and aggression takes on speed and good vibes will no doubt end up being a thoroughly entertaining affair. 

The last show at The Dome, Revelations of Divine Love, featured a Women's tournament that would eventually be won by Charli Evans. The Women's action continues on Wednesday with a pair of intriguing matches. Tournament standout, Millie McKenzie takes on a returning Laura Di Matteo, who hasn't been seen in PROGRESS since losing a Women's Championship match at Chapter 52: Vote Pies in July. The two have a similar intense style and with both women looking to make cases for future appearances, the bout has a boat-load of potential. Coming off a Chapter debut on Sunday, but still without a win to her name, Candyfloss takes on the debuting Nina Samuels, who is seen most regularly in Pro Wrestling: EVE. Whoever comes out on top will be walking away with their first win for PROGRESS and with the Women's roster getting more competitive each and every month, now is certainly the time to start chalking up some Ws! The two have met previously in EVE and Battle Pro Wrestling this year with Samuels currently 2-0 to the good.

The theme of returns continues when Damon Moser faces off with Roy Johnson. Both men are Projo trained but have made limited appearances in 2017 and will be looking to do everything to make sure that isn't the case in 2018. Expect this first time ever clash to be a rough and tumble scrap between two men with a point to prove. Elsewhere on the card, The Bhangra Knights (RJ Singh & Darrel Allen) are back to face the undefeated duo of Big T. Justice and the OJMO, whilst in further tag team action Connor Mills tags with Maverick Mayhew against Never Say Die (Alex Cupid & Dillion D'Angelo).

Saturday // Insane Championship Wrestling France '98 // Glasgow // ticketmaster.co.uk/search?tm_link=tm_header_search&user_input=ICW&q=ICW

Sunday // Insane Championship Wrestling Fear and Loathing X // Glasgow // ticketmaster.co.uk/search?tm_link=tm_header_search&user_input=ICW&q=ICW

The night before the massive Fear and Loathing X at the SSE Hydro, ICW have a taping of their Fight Club series, interestingly named France '98. With the biggest show of the year literally right around the corner, there's a chance that everything could break down! Nowhere is that more evident than the waiver signing that will take place for the much anticipated King of Insanity Death match. Just one night before they step into what is being promoted as one of the most dangerous matches in history, for a company that has made on a name on presenting gritty and violent professional wrestling, Jimmy Havoc, Mikey Whiplash, Chris Renfrew and Stevie Boy will all be at The Garage and chances are the night won't end with them all 100% heading into Sunday! 

The card is littered with intriguing match-ups, but the one that stands out for me is El Ligero's return to the promotion for the first time since 2013, to take on Kenny Williams. The pair are known for their high-pace, action-packed offence, so this should be an exciting clash that sets up Williams for his high profile encounter the following night. Elsewhere, Ravie-Davie has a chance to earn some payback and a spot in a #1 Contenders Ladder match at The Hydro as he faces Bram, the ICW Women's Championship match from the Hydro is previewed as champion Kay Lee Ray teams with the debuting Katie Forbes to battle her two challengers Viper and Kasey Owens in tag team action, Stevie Boy pulls double duty teaming with Filthy Generation teammates Aspen Faith & Lewis Girvan against The Kinky Party (Jack Jester & Sha Samuels) and Jody Fleish in a match featuring an intriguing array of talent, The Marauder's Iestyn Rees battles Aaron Echo, whilst new group The Fite Network (Krieger & Lou King Sharp, with Kid Fite) take on a team who have built momentum in the second half of 2017, Krobar and Stevie James, The Purge.  Then there's the small matter of the first ever Carlos Vanderama Invitational Battle Royal.

Onto Fear and Loathing X, the biggest show promoted by a British wrestling company in 2017. There's a reason I decided to bring back weekly previews this week! After last years event offered spectacle by the barrel load, but lacked an in-ring punch, this years card looks to marry the two concepts. 

With three former WWE Champions on hand, the show also combines homegrown talent with major household names. Kevin Nash will be appearing, with the founding nWo member acting as guest commissioner for the show the chances for shenanigans are high. Nash will be joined by Cruiserweight pioneer Rey Mysterio Jr., in only his second appearance in Scotland since leaving WWE. Mysterio goes one on one with ICW's own Kenny Williams. Williams has never lost at Fear & Loathing, but has also never had a match as a high profile as this one. It'll be youth vs. experience here, as Mysterio looks to wind back the clock one more time and Williams looks to continue building a name for himself. Also appearing, for the first time in Scotland outside of WWE and TNA, is the "Whole F'n Show" Rob Van Dam, who will collide with Lionheart and Zack Gibson in an eclectic three way dance. The feud between Lionheart and Gibson lit up quickly with Gibson beating Lionheart at Eleven in Edinburgh last month, with Liverpool's Number One demanding that he be added to the contest. With Gibson getting his wish after goading his rival repeatedly, this has the potential to be a very heated affair, something which RVD is very familiar with. A win for either Lionheart or Gibson would propel them into the title picture, but their dislike towards each other may end up costing them the opportunity on the grandest stage in British wrestling.

The biggest match for ICW regulars has to be the clash between Joe Coffey and BT Gunn, with both Coffey's World Heavyweight Championship and Gunn's Zero G Championship on the line. After defeating Trent Seven at Barramania III in April, aligning himself with Red Lighting, Coffey has gone through a who's who in title defences, picking up victories over Kassius Ohno, Colt Cabana, Pete Dunne, Moose, Joe Hendry and more. BT Gunn has been on a similar roll in the Zero G Division, since receiving a shot at the WWE United Kingdom Championship at Shug's Hoose Party 4 - Day 1 in July, going on to win the Zero G belt the following day. Since then Gunn has retained against the likes of Jimmy Havoc, Jody Fleisch, Wolfgang, Jordan Devlin and James Drake. The two have clashed multiple times in ICW, as well as WhatCulture Pro Wrestling and Target Wrestling, but never has so much been on the line. This should be a barn-burner.

Jimmy Havoc. Mikey Whiplash. Chris Renfrew. Stevie Xavier. One of these men will walk out of the Hydro with the title of King of Insanity. There's been a weaving and dark story being told involving all four men at various points on Fight Club, but whether that will matter once they step into the ring on Sunday is anyone's guess. What will matter is that these four are known for their risk-taking, their willingness to inflict and take pain,  their cringe-inducing violence and that's what to expect here. The idea that a death match is taking place in a building like the Hydro is a tantalising prospect and knowing these four, this will be something that people won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Elsewhere on the show,  Kay Lee Ray will defend her ICW Women's Championship against Kasey Owens and Viper, as the three women step inside a steel cage for the first time in company history, The Marauders (Wild Boar & Mike Bird) put their ICW Tag Team Championships up against Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey), the odd-couple Kinky Party (Sha Samuels & Jack Jester) clash with The Kings of Catch (Aspen Faith & Lewis Girvan) and Bram, DCT, Jody Fleish, Joe Hendry, Aaron Echo and Kid Fite battle it out in a Ladder match for a future title shot.
KLR vs. Kasey vs. Viper.

Sunday // FutureShock Wrestling Uproar 97 // Stockport, Greater Manchester // futureshockwrestling.co.uk/upcoming.html

In August, Ashton Smith won the FutureShock Championship at 13th Anniversary SuperShow in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, defeating Zack Gibson, that same night former champion Tyson T-Bone put his feud with Rampage Brown to bed by winning a Trailer Park Street Fight. In September, during a presentation ceremony, Smith declared that he'd defend the Championship against anyone the fans thought deserved it, this bought out T-Bone, who after a short confrontation landed a headbutt on the champion, leaving Smith on the mat as he held the title that he held between September 2015 and April last year above his head. The two met in June with Smith coming out with the win, after an appearance from Rampage Brown, but with the title on the line will the result be the same? Or will Smith lose the title at the first time of asking? 

It seems like it's a good weekend for returns for El Ligero. After Travis Banks had to pull out, Ligero was drafted in as his replacement in a FutureShock Adrenaline Championship match against Xander Cooper. The last time Ligero stepped into a FutureShock ring was over seven years ago at FutureShock 48 and in that time away it's safe to say that the El Ligero in 2017 is a whole different beast. Xander Cooper, however, took the title from current WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne in September and has been known to enjoy an underhanded tactic or two, to keep a championship belt around his waist. "The Man For All Seasons" and "The Mexican Sensation" have clashed in Preston City Wrestling and Full House Wrestling previously and their clash of styles should produce a tremendous encounter for the Stockport faithful. 

Another change to the originally announced card, sees Chris Ridgeway replace Zack Gibson in a contest against James Drake. It's a shame that the original stipulation of Gibson potentially losing his championship deposit has been lost, but that doesn't mean that this bout won't be just as physical. Ridgeway is yet to taste victory in FutureShock and Drake has been on a downward spiral after winning the Lotto Thunder Tournament in July, so that might just produce the most ferocious contest, from two competitors known for their unforgiving ferocity. No matter who leaves with their hand held high, expect both "Smash Mouth" and "Mr. Mayhem" to leave a mark on each other.

Elsewhere on the show Don Meacho is looking for revenge on Cyanide and the Legacy Tournament begins as "Deadly" Damon Leigh faces Joey Hayes and Danny Hope goes one on one with Abel Stevens in two First Round clashes. 

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Until next week!

Article by James Marston 

Day of the Dead Review // Aussie Open vs. Moustache Mountain

On 27th October 2017, Fight Club: Pro held Day of the Dead at Starworks Warehouse in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. The show featured a clash between Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) and Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven), Mark Haskins taking on David Starr in a first time encounter, as well as appearances from Penta El Zero M, Pete Dunne, Rey Fenix, the Callous Hearts (Jimmy Havoc & Clint Margera) and Kay Lee Ray. But was it any good? Lets take a look! 

All event photos courtesy of Fight Club: Pro and The Ringside Perspective.

Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) def. Aussie Open ("Dunkzilla" Mark Davis & "The Aussie Arrow" Kyle Fletcher) via pinfall // 17:01

Before the next match began, loud duelling chants echoed around Starworks Warehouse creating an incredible atmosphere inside the building that both teams played into.

A terrific tag team match, that started red-hot and somehow managed to take get hotter by the time it reached it's climax. A near twenty minutes of four lads going nuts on each other, hitting big strikes, big moves and getting big pops. Things started simple enough, Mark Davis hit Trent Seven really hard and often then Tyler Bate and Kyle Fletcher did a cute mirror sequence, before Fletcher dropped into the Aussie Arrow in peril role. But things didn't stay in your regular tag team format for long as Davis came blaring in with a rambunctious hot tag, Bate accidentally gave Seven bop n' bang and from that moment on we were off to proverbial races. With Aussie Open rolling and the pace lifting and lifting, almost everything that happened seemed to be a hit. Davis caught Seven in wristlock and then somehow also hit a powerbomb on Bate, Tyler took a pop-up diving cutter situation and the big boy Davis did a freakin' Arabian press onto everyone and it was just silly. Silly, silly wrestling. 

The bout powered towards its finish as the momentum swayed back and forth and the relentless nature of the contest continued. It felt like the crowd didn't stop popping, constantly being surprised by what these four were capable of doing together and just how much they were going to pull out. Building from kneeling forearms featuring all four men, the bout built to it's crescendo well with the rookie team of Aussie Open pushing Moustache Mountain to the limit, as they themselves looked for their first win in Wolverhampton since April 2015. The strongest near fall came off a Fidget Spinner from Aussie Open that came moments after Davis nailed Bate with his magnificent pull-up piledriver, but after some lvoely back and forth it was Bate & Seven who walked out with the W, after Bate countered Fletcher to hit a mid-rope exploder suplex and following a Seven burning hammer to Davis, Bate picked up the pin with Tyler Driver '97. Part of what made this match so well was that all four gave so much and it was full of action, but I ended up wanting more. I wanted to see these teams wrestle again and again and then again, because even with so much crammed into it, knowing these teams and what they've done elsewhere, you know that there's a bucket load of more cool shit and different directions they could take it.

Mark Haskins def. David Starr via submission (16:40) 

I adored this match. Having spoke to others, I know that it didn't do it for everyone, but by Jove it did it for me, so fuck those nobbers. It perhaps didn't have the crowd interaction and atmosphere that was present for some of the other bouts, there was no storyline to get your teeth into and both lads worked babyface, but the wrestling was fucking gorgeous. From the Goldie Lookin' Chain wrestling of the opening sequence, a pair of wicked suicide dive from both men, some tasty well-hit forearms, kicks and strikes off all shapes into a wonderful series of submission exchanges with Starr able to escape a number of leg-based holds from Haskins, the Star Attraction and the Cream in Your Coffee were flowing, smooth and physical as fuck. For me, this was sexy wrestling. 

A couple of sequences and moments stand out in particular from this one. The first saw Haskins nailed a ridiculous suicide dive, before a series of reversals ended up with Starr nailing his Cherry Mint DDT, followed up with a lariat for a near fall. Each step of the way felt logical and the momentum swing of the two big moves that bookended the sequence produced spikes at the right moments. The second sequence was the finish as the two ran through a series of near misses of signature moves, at sick pace, before Haskins was able to hook in a modified sharpshooter, making the most of the work he'd put in previously and picking up the submission win. Haskins has had a good 2017 in FCP with wins (in various formats) over Chuck Taylor, Tyler Bate, Angelico, Jimmy Havoc and now David Starr, I'd love to see him get a shot at Chris Brookes' FCP title, because they'd have a hell of a match together and seeing as they haven't met in FCP since 2013, it's about time. 

"Bruiserweight" Pete Dunne def. Omari via pinfall // 14:56 

Pete Dunne cut a vicious promo on Omari, initially seeming to be complimenting the Big O, before ripping into the prospect, describing him as "pathetic".

It feels like it's been a while since I've seen utter bastard Pete Dunne, like complete and utter bastard who no one would want to cheer for Pete Dunne. But by gawd was that what we got at Day of the Dead as he beat the ever loving shit into our boy Omari. Just over a year after debuting in dark matches, Omari has become a massive part of FCP, gradually improving and winning fans over every time he performs. So, seeing him scrap from underneath against the WWE United Kingdom Champion, eat a beating on the outside, withstand Dunne's underhanded tactics and skullduggery for nearly fifteen minutes and kick out of Dunne's Bitter End finish was a pro wrestling rollercoaster. The bout played on Omari's shock victory over Keith Lee from July, playing on similar themes (with added Dunne chicanery), with some tremendous near falls in the stretch, including a well-timed roll-up sequence and Omari's O-Zone standing out, alongside the Bitter End kick-out. Eventually, Dunne would hit another Bitter End to take the victory, but here's hoping that this won't be the last time these lads get to tangle inside Starworks Warehouse.

"The Kiwi Buzzsaw" Travis Banks def. Rey Fenix via submission // 14:04

This international first-time clash took a little while to find it's feet, but once it settled produced some great action as the pair threw the kitchen sink at each other. Coming directly after Aussie Open vs. Moustache Mountain was the first knock the match took, with a crowd that was more than ready for an interval taking a while to re-energise, whilst a wonderful creative arm-drag sequence using the ropes was let down by the slackness of the apparatus. The second two-thirds to a half of the match saw the two take things up a notch, trading big moves, near falls and hitting nasty chops and kicks along the way.  Fenix almost had the former FCP Champion beaten with a Crucifix Driver, Fire Thunder Driver and superb Spanish Fly, whilst the Slice of Heaven, Kiwi Krusher and Lion Clutch almost did it for Banks. Throw into the mix a pair of diving double stomps from both men and a post-Lion Clutch reverse rana and by the time it was over, the match had developed in an absolute PWG-style belter. Banks have to unload all of his signature arsenal to get the victory was the cherry on top, bringing the match to a fitting conclusion.

FCP Championship Match: Chris Brookes (C) def. Penta El Zero M [Pentagon Jr.] via pinfall // 13:46

After a killer show, I couldn't help being a little underwhelmed by this relatively short main event. However, on many other shows, this would've been the showstealer, as it was still a high-quality wrestling match. A good portion of the bout was a wild brawl around ringside and into the crowd, with Penta taking it to Brookes, with chops, whips into the barricade and even the signature CCK baking tray. Talking of CCK, that pesky Kid Lykos also played a big part in the match, despite having a cast on his arm, like some kind of canine Bob Orton. The outside interference gave the match a different edge to the rest of the show and also created a real moment when Penta's brother Rey Fenix came out to counter the numbers game (after Lykos got involved following a Panama Sunrise from Penta) and then that bothersome wolf took a package piledriver on the apron from the current Lucha Underground Champion. The highlight for me came directly after this with Penta able to escape the Death by Roll-up, a move that had previously proved fruitful during Brookes' reign, nailed a pumphandle half-nelson driver and got a late two count. The reaction for the roll-up kick out was nice and there's potential there to develop more interesting situations and near falls in future matches. A different roll-up would be enough to see Brookes retain, because he's a slug pellet.

After the match, Penta had a man dressed as Jesus Christ come in the ring to bless him and Fenix, in one of the trippier moments of a pretty trippy 2017 in wrestling.

Jack Sexsmith def. Kay Lee Ray, "Flash" Morgan Webster, Eddie Dennis, Stevie Boy, Dan Moloney, El Phantasmo and Shay Purser // 11:36

During the entrances for the opening match, Dan Moloney attacked Shay Purser, seemingly taking him out of the bout...

A varied eight-way opening match with a cast of characters, both regulars and new faces. Stevie Boy impressed on his debut, with a lovely sequence with Morgan Webster as the rest brawled, whilst Dan Moloney was at the centre of most of the action, initially denying a tower of power, only to end up at it's peak later on. There was also Shay Purser... who returned to the match with a sword drawn on his chest and to the sounds of Brock Lesnar "Next Big Thing" entrance theme and took us all on a detour to Shay-plex city. Perhaps, not everyone's bag, but Purser locking Moloney in the Kimura was a brilliant moment and got a good pop. There was the usual multi-man goings on as well with some lovely dives from Jack Sexsmith, Xavier, El Phantasmo and Webster, as well as Dennis' crucifix powerbomb to Purser. The bout was let down slightly by some timing issues in the stretch, with Phantasmo seeming to miss his cue on a save for Purser and the finish seemingly coming out of nowhere as Sexsmith hit a sick diving double stomp on Xavier and got the pin. It looked like there was potentially more to come, but perhaps that was to enhance the surprise of Sexsmith getting the pinfall. 

Callous Hearts (Clint Margera & Jimmy Havoc) & "Session Goth" Martina def. the Anti Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne, James Obstruction [Jim Hunter], Leigh Obstruction [Leigh Hunter] & Los Federales Super Santos Jr.) // 6:59

Callous Hearts wanted a fight and after the Anti-Fun Police (including the former Hunter Brothers, James Obstruction & Leigh Obstruction) answered the challenge, Martina would end up joining Clint Margera & Jimmy Havoc, as the "Session Goth"

A comedy match pre-main event, which settled the crowd nicely followed the emotional rollercoaster of Omari vs. Dunne. There were sweets everywheres, Los Federales Super Santos Jr. did a suicide dive and Martina doing various Undertaker inspired moves, including a ridiculous assisted version of Old School. The comedy was done well, the match was kept short and sweet, featuring mostly babyface offence. It won't make any match of the year lists, but in it's slot on the card, it was a fun jaunt, that gave the show a little more variety, which is never a bad thing. Martina picked up the win with the Wombstone on Dunne.

After the match, Martina wanted to celebrate in the proper Goth way, but Callous Hearts decided to leave her to it when she started rocking out to Avril Lavinge's 2002 hit Sk8r Boi.

Another good show from Fight Club: Pro as they continue to have a wonderful 2017. For me, the card could have done with a re-shuffle, as it felt a little disjointed a times. However, this was one of the most varied FCP shows of the year, with a lot of different styles on offer. Whether that be the big boy relentless tag match between Aussie Open and Moustache Mountain, the slick, liquid sexy wrestling of Starr vs. Haskins, the firey Dunne vs. Omari, the comedy sweet fight or the pacey spot-fest (with Shay-Plex city detour) there was nothing on the card that felt similar to something else. With just one show left in 2017, I'm looking forward to seeing the direction that FCP takes now that it appears to be settled in Starworks Warehouse. Personally, I'd like to see more of the heated feuds that were a highlight of the Fixxion shows and it'll make more sense to do something like that now that the larger Starworks crowd is more familiar with the performers.

Review by James Marston 

ATTACK! (Thank God It's Not) WinterSlam 2 Review (Live)

On 20th August 2017, ATTACK! Pro Wrestling held it's 16th event of the year, (Thank God It's Not) WinterSlam 2 at Walkabout in Cardiff, Wales. The show featured "Flash" Morgan Webster challenging for Chief Deputy Dunne's "No Fun" ATTACK! Championship and ATTACK! Tag Team Champions Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) teaming with "Fat Cat" Lloyd Katt against the Anti-Fun Police's Brothers of Obstruction (James Obstruction & Leigh Obstruction) and the newly-christened Cones McSafety (formerly Splits McPins, more on that later), as well as the likes of Sergeant Banks, Chris Brookes, Charlie Sterling, Eddie Dennis and Mike Bird in action, but was it any good? Here's our review from the event. 

All photos credited to - This is the End photography.

"The Pride of Wales" Eddie Dennis def. Sergeant Banks

In a rematch from May's Soundtrack to a Head Drop, Eddie Dennis and the Anti-Fun Police's Sergeant Banks produced a good opener, that played to the crowd well and warmed up Walkabout nicely for the rest of the evening. The match initially began with a couple of comedy spots, with both men being naturally able to hold a crowd whilst pissing about tripping up and during beer based shenanigans, before beginning to rise in intensity, with a big forearm strike from Dennis. One of my favourite things about the Sgt. Banks character is the facial expressions and utterances from Banks during his appearances, which are almost always laugh out loud funny, but in a way that makes you want to see him get beaten up even more! The pendulum of momentum swung back and forth between the two as they traded big moves inside and outside of the ring, including a cool spot where Dennis caught Banks on a second suicide dive attempt, before sending the Kiwi crashing onto the apron with a swinging side slam. The best example of this however (and probably the best sequence of the match) was arguably a sequence that saw Dennis go for his second Crucifix Powerbomb of the match, repeating the pattern that going for a move twice would not have the desired effect as Banks reversed the move into a hurricanrana that sent Dennis into the corner, however when the Sergeant went up top to attempt his corner-to-corner front missile dropkick, Eddie caught him in mid-air with one of his wicked forearms and nailed a Next Stop Driver for a brilliant near-fall. After another last-gasp kick-out, this time from Dennis following a Kiwi Krusher, the Pride of Wales managed to power out of Banks' Lion Clutch and in a lovely piece of action turned it straight into the second Next Stop Driver of the match to pick up his second victory in a row over Banks in ATTACK!. As an opener the bout more than did it's job, providing a sound mix of comedy and developing that into a snug, well-worked wrestling match, but I got the feeling that this barely scratched the surface in terms of what Dennis and Banks can do together, given the opportunity. I hope to get to see them tie up again soon on the basis of the two matches I've seen them have, there's a possibility that they could create something special. 

• Post-Match - Dennis offered a handshake, but Banks rolled out of the ring and to the back, as the face turn continued to be teased.

Charli Evans def. Charlie Sterling, "The Urchin Prince" Drew Parker, "Bronco" Brendan White, "The Original Badman" Beano and Posada in a Six Person Scramble 

An interesting mixture of talent here, including two debuts (Charli Evans and Posada), that produced an energetic, but sloppy six way contest. The spine of the scramble was the interaction between Charli Evans and Drew Parker, with the two having issues throughout the match following Parker attempting to dismiss the debuting Australian female early doors, before a back drop driver from Evans kicked off the action. This was my first look at Parker's "Urchin Prince" character live, following his recent heel turn and his character work in the contest was strong, standing out alongside the comedy from elsewhere. There was your usual series of dives to the outside, which is always fun, with the variety of performers bringing a cool variety of flips and tricks, including a big arse tope conhilo from Charlie Sterling. Of course, there was also a tower of doom spot, which looked very impressive once all six performers got involved. Beyond a comedy moonsault spot that didn't land for me, the first half to maybe two thirds of the match was going quite well, sticking to the tried and tested formula of the multi-person scramble with some sprinkling of comedy, but unfortunately it was in the last three or four minutes that the match unravelled a little. An slightly awkward "superkicks for all" spot, was followed up by slips on a big move from Sterling and Brendan White and then White and Posada. Whilst a lot of the match wasn't particularly crisp, these moments stood out in particular as damaging the pace and flow of the contest, as there were a number of sizable spots around them like a Spiral Tap from the six foot plus Sterling, that meant had the flubbed moves gone the right way the match could have been taken to the next level. The finish ended the match on a high, however, as after hitting a leaping meteora to Sterling, Parker missed a springboard 450 splash, allowing Evans to capitalise with a kneeling powerbomb to pick up a win on her debut.

Splits McPins and Los Federales Super Santos Jr. Hostage Trade-Off

So basic catch-up on the storyline here. At Damplified in September, the Brothers of Construction kidnapped Bowl-a-Rama's Splits McPins and in reply "Fat Cat" Lloyd Katt kidnapped Los Federales Super Santos Jr. with the help of a so-called "fun burrito". There's a shit load more backstory, including the Brothers of Obstruction being the ones who provided CCK with the dynamite to blow up Bowl-a-Rama's Bowling Alley, but let's keep things (relatively) simple. This was the supposed trade-off, where Katt would return LFSSJ and the Anti-Fun Police would return McPins. Those in attendance seemed convinced that the man the AFP bought out, with his head under a sack wasn't McPins and there would be shenanigans a foot. In a way, this was correct, as after LFSSJ had been returned to AFP, it was revealed that Splits McPins had joined his captors and been renamed Cones McSafety in a dramatic twist. Very much the sort of over-the-top antics that anyone whose been following ATTACK! has come to expect. Tag Team Champions Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis), who had been scheduled for an open challenge title defence, came out to make the save and we had a six man tag on our hand.

Aussie Open & "Fat Kat" Lloyd Katt def. The Anti-Fun Police (The Brothers of Obstruction & Cones McSafety)

The best match on the first half, this was super good fun house, with six over characters and performers. If you're not keeping tabs on Aussie Open right now, you need to be, because pretty much anything Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis do is "must watch" and the structure of the bout allowed them plenty of time to show off what they can do. The classic heel antics of the Anti-Fun Police, eye rakes, distraction and the more modern technique of referee Shay Purser being a casual twatcake, were almost always swiftly bought to a stop by a pacy hot tag from Fletcher or Davis, leading to mental moves and strikes done at speed. At one point we even got both lads making the hot tag, after Lloyd Katt had spent a while as the bowler in peril. Mixed into Fletcher and Davis being generally great and the Brothers of Obstruction being rascals of the highest order, we had the story between Katt and Cones McSafety. Throughout the match we saw Katt pleading with his former partner, attempting to relive some of their signature spots to no avail. Despite this we saw very little offence from McSafety for his team. Then in closing moments of the bout, McSafety removed his new mask, to reveal he was still Splits McPins all along and the crowd went apeshit. I'm not doing this moment justice because I was too busy hugging people around me and jumping about like loon, to note anything more detailed than "SPLITS IS FUN". I think I almost cried. The final five minutes around that moment were ridiculously entertaining fare including the BoO using their helmets to block strikes and even a piledriver from Aussie Open, a silly suicide dive from big lad Los Fedarales Super Santos Jr. and then the closing flurry of fantastic shit from the Aussie lads that sealed the victory once James and Leigh were left alone. 

• It was Mark Davis' birthday so before the interval he got a sing song, which was lovely.

Bird & Boar def. "The All-Day Star" Ryan Smile & Chris Brookes 

To say that Wild Boar and Mike Bird's victory over Ryan Smile and Chris Brookes was an interesting bout would be an understatement. There was a lot of moving parts that went into the creation of the contest that was originally scheduled as two singles match (Bird v Smile, Brookes v Boar) and I think it's safe to say that not all of them worked. A lot of this hinged around the mostly (or at least, loud) negative reception for Smile, probably due to recent comments on Twitter being poorly received. This wouldn't have caused a massive issue, if the structure of the match hadn't been pivoted around Smile being a popular blue-eye (which up until this show, he had been doing fairly successfully in ATTACK!). Let's do a little play-by-play and attempt to explain what went down here. With Wild Boar and Chris Brookes ready for their match, Boar's regular tag team partner Mike Bird jumped Brookes with a forearm shot and the two fan favourites began to beat down the villain, in what seemed to be a double turn, but without any real acceptance from the audience. Then Smile made his entrance with a flashy save for Brookes, which got a loud boo, followed by "Fuck you Ryan" chants from not all, but definitely a loud portion of the crowd. When Smile offered Brookes a handshake, that same portion was violently against Brookes joining up with Smile, to the point where when Brookes left Smile to himself against Bird & Boar and headed to the back, he was cheered for doing so. We then headed into the match as a handicap bout.  

 After a few minutes of Smile getting beat down by Bird & Boar, Brookes came out to make the save and we had a tag team match and supposedly this completed Brookes switch to a good guy, although you wouldn't have known it where I was standing. Smile was clearly unhappy with the audience, some of whom took things too far (although admittedly I didn't hear the "Kill yourself" remark that was reported afterwards), even beginning to shout things towards that part of the crowd when on the apron. Of course as fans, we've been conditioned that if a wrestling character tells you to stop something, the performer behind the character is actually encouraging you to do so even more. I don't think that was the case here. Even when hitting his truly spectacular tope conhilo over the ringpost, Smile was met with "You still suck" from a section. I'm not sure if there was a conscious decision between all the performers, but Bird & Boar definitely seemed to switch things up in the later portion of the match becoming more fan-friendly and playing into the mostly positive reaction they were receiving. The content of the match was fine and under normal circumstances would've been a cool way to open the second half of the show, with lots of double team attacks, powerbombs and piledrivers, but it came unstuck on the crowd's reaction to the mildly-complicated alignment switches. 

*I was obviously stood in a very specific part of a big building, if you were stood on the opposite side of the bar then you may very well have had a completely different experience of what went down here.*

ELIJAH def. Omari 

A solid pre-main event bout, that kept things short and simple, going just over six minutes. It wasn't a blowaway memorable classic, but the two up and comers held their own and produced a couple of nice reversal sequences, whilst not really putting a foot wrong either. The structure was straightforward, paint by numbers stuff, with ELIJAH getting some decent heat when in control, with kicks in the corner and a nice knee on the apron. Omari is yet to gain as much traction in ATTACK! as he has in Fight Club: Pro, but he gave a good account of himself here, showing off his power catching a dive from ELIJAH into a powerbomb and later hitting a gutwrench variety of the move, whilst pulling out a lovely moonsault as well. The strongest part of the match came from Omari attempting his modified lifting reverse STO finish, only for ELIJAH to swing round mid-move and hit a crucifix driver. It was a well-timed reversal and a slick piece of action. After a number of shenanigan filled bouts, it was nice change of pace, that refreshed the crowd ahead of the main event and provided good opportunities to two lads who have come on leaps and bounds over the last six months. 

• In-Ring - Ruddy hell, the Anti-Fun Police came out with "No Fun" riot shields! 

"Flash" Morgan Webster def. Chief Deputy Dunne to win the ATTACK! Championship

A wild, sprawling main event, with shed-loads of interference, referee shenanigans, cool high spots, dramatic near falls and swervey finishes, this was ATTACK! Pro Wrestling at it's most ATTACK! Pro Wrestlingieist. There were certain similarities to Travis Banks'beating Pete Dunne to win the Fight Club: Pro title earlier in the year. Every potential obstacle was put in Morgan Webster's way, but there was just no chance that he wasn't walking out of Walkabout as the ATTACK! Champion. Things started regularly enough with Flash locking on a guillotine choke and then cleaning house when the Brothers of Obstruction broke up the hold, nailing a sweet reverse rana and then a tope conhilo. The crowd were ready for this one and they had to be as Webster and Dunne took the match to them, with all sort of madness going on as part of an intense, rowdy crowd brawl. The pair went all around the lower portion of the building, stopping only to cause each other a bit more pain. Some of this was obviously a little difficult to see, but I did catch a tasty hurricanrana on the floor, which happened near us. It was quite a while before the two got back in, as they continued to brawl closer to the ring, with Webster continuing to shine as he nailed a tilt-a-whirl DDT on the floor. 

Whilst crowd brawls are fun and all, the match took things to the next level inside the ring, with Dunne taking advantage of referee Shay being a dick and nailed Webster with a kick to his. Shay's smiling face whilst Dunne stomped on Webster's head was a brilliant visual. Purser's role in matches like this one has become instrumental and perhaps sometimes overlooked. The little shit helps garner extra heat for the villains (and the Anti-Fun Police are already nuclear hot) and also helps to provide dramatic "near falls", like when he refused to count the three count after a double underhook piledriver looked like it could have won it for Webster (which was followed up by former 24/7 Champion Warren Owens returning to nail his former rival with a spear). Talking of near falls, there certainly wasn't a shortage of them here, as the match was loaded with sensational last-second kick outs, with a handful of them convincingly feeling like they could've seen the match come to a close. Webster jumping off the top rope into a spear, a double-knee facebreaker from Dunne, the aforementioned double-underhook piledriver and then a somersault reverse DDT from Webster (that included the drama of a new referee having to appear) all produced great moments. 

The last five minutes were utterly bonkers stuff. Locker room emptying brawls (Chris Brookes on the face side, so that answer that question), Eddie Dennis hitting a ridiculous crucifix powerbomb on Los Federals Super Santos Jr, another incredible near fall for Dunne, a tense showdown between Dunne and Sgt. Banks and then the gripping final moments that saw Webster clinching the win to become just the third ATTACK! Champion. It was busy and chaotic, but wonderfully so. There was so much going on in that last block of action, with so many people involved, that it could've been a disaster. One wrong move could've sent the rest of the bout into a bit of a shambles, but that didn't happen. Each building block came together to create something special, taking the story that had built up for months and months, since Webster's return from injury in April, pulling in a number of narrative threads along the way. Of course, none of the story twists and turns would've been possible if it weren't for the two being two of the best the country has to offer right now, as they took each change of style and direction in their stride, with the foundation of the contest always being very good pro wrestling. 

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.34/10

Believe it or not I've purposefully left out or been vague about certain moments in the main event, because I'd like everyone who reads this that hasn't seen the match to go and check it out (and preferably go back and watch the last year or so of ATTACK! shows because they're well worth it and you'll appreciate this cracker even more) You can do so here - https://vimeo.com/attackprowrestling. The rest of the show was another good edition to the library, with Sgt. Banks vs. Eddie Dennis and the Anti-Fun Police vs. Aussie Open & Lloyd Katt both being well-worth checking out, for different reasons. There were a few things that didn't work, but this is something to be expected with a promotion that likes to experiment and try new things. As always, ATTACK! was fun!

Ooh look our brand new banner from Turning Face! 

Chuck Mambo Interview (08/08/2017)

On 8th August, we got the opportunity to sit and chat with PROGRESS Wrestling's Chuck Mambo about all kinds of wrestling goodness. This is that interview. We discuss getting into PROGRESS, landmark matches, tagging with Pastor William Eaver, wishlist opponents and promotions and a whole lot more.

Across the Pond Wrestling - I wanted to start about about talking about how your weekend went? You were at Riptide against Eddie Dennis and Battle Pro against TK Cooper...

Chuck Mambo - Yeah that was mad fun. Really nice. Riptide is super cool because the guys that run it are musicians so they really want to make sure that everyone's took care of backstage. So the first time round there was crates of beer and this time there was a keg backstage. We got there at 12 or something, so we went for a swim on the beach and to all the old arcades, so that was super fun. The match with TK was really cool, we've wrestled a few times, before he went back to New Zealand... so we've got a good thing going on in the ring there. Then Battle Pro, obviously that's super cool as well because our friends run it and it's a new place to work in London, which is really nice. I've been wanting to wrestle Eddie for like four years, so I was mad nervous about that one, but it was really really fun. 

ATPW - Did you get up to anything else at the weekend? 

CM - There's these summer camps in the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, called Phoenix Wrestling, but more properly known as MinelliMania. They have these traditional old school rounds matches and they were so much fun. I had a brawl around a fun fair. 

ATPW - So let's go with the basic opener question, how did you get into wrestling? What made you become a fan of pro wrestling? 

CM - Well the earliest thing I remember for wrestling was my friend Dan came across the road and he had an Owen Hart and The Rock action figure set. I was like "These action figures are cool" and he said "Yeah, they're wrestlers". Our brother were both five years older or something, so they were kind of keeping up to date with WrestleMania X-7 and talking about Rock/Austin all the time and I was like "No, The Rock's going to win because he's the best" even though I'd never seen him but I'd seen the action figure! Then I got a Kane/Mankind double set and we were playing with them all the time and then eventually at a car boot sale I bought a wrestling video, but then I realised that Hulk Hogan wasn't on it so I cried until they gave me on with Hulk Hogan on. Which was WrestleMania IX which apparently everyone says is a bad WrestleMania but I thought it was pretty good! From there, I just started watching WWF I suppose. My friend had Sky, so I'd go over on a Friday night and watch RAW and you know there was like SmackDown and Superstars and then another one, something like AfterFlame (Afterburn?), well we'd watch about six hours of wrestling. I guess, that's it really? 

ATPW - What year was that? What was going on in WWF/E at the time? 

CM - I guess, it would've been just after WrestleMania X-7, it was sometime around then that I started watching the programming. I can't really remember any of the storylines from early on, but then the first one I remember being really excited about was Rock and Hogan and being like "This is going to be the maddest!". But then when was the triangle ladder match, because I definitely watched that. That was like WrestleMania 2000. So somewhere between (WrestleMania) 16 and 18 I started watching it! You don't remember everything from when you're that young, I would've been like five, maybe. I can't really remember too much of the storylines, but I remember being mad for Matt Hardy! 

ATPW - From watching WWF, how did you find out about there being a British wrestling scene? 

CM - When I was 15, I just googled "wrestling schools" and luckily enough there was one opening up near me...near where my Dad lived, at least. It was called Pro Evolution Wrestling and they're stilling running, they're really cool. So if anyone's in the South West and gets a chance to see Pro Evolution Wrestling it's worth checking them out. I went to train there for a bit, but I don't think I had enough focus and I could only make it if I was at my Dad's, so rather than training a couple of times a week, it was one every two weeks. So it wasn't very much and with time I ran out of money and fell out of it the first time round. Then I came to London for Uni when I was 18/19, so I spent a year doing amateur wrestling, because I didn't realise there was much going on with wrestling in London, even though PROGRESS had been going like that whole year. But then I saw a DEFEND Indy Wrestling sticker in a toilet in Shoreditch and googled that and then somehow through the powers of Facebook found out about PROGRESS. I guess because DEFEND Indy were doing their thing against Screw Indy on PROGRESS. Then PROGRESS was like half an hour away from my Uni, so I ended up being able to train five times a week and then after about six months there was the first ENDVR and I ended up on that and I got rolling from there.

ATPW - What year did you begin training at the Projo? 

CM - It would've been 2013 I think, it would've been around February, I think. 

ATPW - What was your focus when you started training? Did you have a plan? 

CM - I just wanted to be wrestling, really. Not too many years before, obviously the wrestling was still good, but the shows were all quite small and I was envisaging that PROGRESS would be like town hall and family wrestling. I really should've known the product better, I guess, but I hadn't seen any of their shows online, because I really suck at the internet. So I didn't really know what to expect, but I went to Chapter 9 and it was like holy fuck, it was so good. Everyone actually really cared about everything and it had high production values. So once I'd seen the Chapter I was like "Wow, yeah I want to be on this!". It was sick when I got to wrestle in the Garage, because that was where I saw Jimmy (Havoc) turn on Jim (Smallman) and that was a mad wrestling moment, so it was really cool to wrestle in the Garage. So then I really wanted to be on the PROGRESS shows and I guess everyone wants to wrestle for WWE one day. Then there was a Doug Williams seminar where he was like "Have a long term goal, like WrestleMania or whatever, but try and have goals along the way". So then I wrote down "After one year I want to be on the Chapters", after two years or three years I wanted to be regularly booked around the country and then after four and five I wanted to start getting around all of the top British promotions and then some of the European promotions and then after ten years I guess it'd be sick if I got to wrestle for WWE. Right now, I'm just having so much fun wrestling. I mean obviously, I want to wrestle for WWE, but if I never did I'd still be pretty happy. 

ATPW - Back to the Projo, when did you start doing character work? Because when I watch Chuck Mambo, it's the character that draws me into the wrestling. So when did you start developing that or is it something that comes natural? 

CM - It's such a lame thing to say "It's just me with the volume turned up". Jim Smallman was at the Projo one time and I was like "I don't really know what to do" and he said "Do you own a surfboard", so I said "Yeah" and he told me just to roll with that then. Then because I actually do like surfing, I felt like I didn't need to...I was watching some old WCW wrestler, not Raven when he was a surfer guy, he was called "Surfer Ray...something" and he'd come down in a wetsuit and be really loud about being like a surfer and I didn't want to be too hokey. Which I know is a little silly now, because I'm pretty hokey! I managed to just be me in the ring, which is nice. 

Then I guess the big thing over the last year or so probably, has been trying to progress from just me, who's like happy-go-lucky, having fun being in a wrestling ring to actually being a credible threat to the person I'm in the ring with and trying to actually get the win and look competitive, which I guess doesn't come quite as naturally to me, but with time I'm feeling it more. More of...not...well yeah aggression, yeah I guess aggression. 

I feel like because the character stands out in some ways on PROGRESS, it's cool to have this easy going guy, but you also need to hold your own and be competitive because why else would you be there, but you don't want to get lost in the mix being another super serious guy. So it can be a bit of a balancing act sometimes. 

ATPW - So when you made your debut in September 2013 at the first ENDVR show was that your first proper full match in front of a crowd? 

CM - I had done a few actually when I was a teenager, but real small stuff and I don't know if I'd want to watch any of them back! But that was the first time I wrestled as Chuck Mambo and I've got a match book with all my matches in and it start with that match against El Pantera Negra.

ATPW - At that time, did you feel ready for that match? 

CM - Yeah, yeah I did. I think I'd actually messaged Jon Briley, I'd been on holiday and I messaged him, "Hey man, I feel like I'm super ready for this show. If there's a spot available" and he messaged back saying "Yeah man, we're already considering you" so that was cool. Actually, quite luckily, when I went out, the match was super simple so I could just be me and enjoy it and I guess that was the first time that the character started working. Just reacting how I would react in real life works, I didn't have to worry about "Would the dead zombie react like this?" because it was just me, so that was handy to know. Yeah, I did feel really ready for that match. 

ATPW - Can you remember getting any feedback from anyone on the match afterwards?

CM - Yeah, like little bits and bobs. Mostly people said it was kind of cool, but like tricks and tweaks, like not being funny if you're in a move, because obviously you're in a move, so you should be trying to get out of the move. Stuff like that was quite helpful. Then the feedback from the second ENDVR that I did was that I needed to get some boots because I broke my heel, doing a double axe handle. The first ENDVR I was wearing just board shorts and flip flops! But I guess it's fine if you work like Matt Riddle, but it's not so fine if you're doing the dives and stuff.

ATPW - Moving onto Chapter show debut, which was in July 2014, so not too long after your PROGRESS debut, it was a triple threat with Ali Armstrong and William Eaver. I was there on that show, it was my first PROGRESS show and it had Samoa Joe, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Noam Dar

CM - Dude, Samoa Joe vs. Rampage Brown! 

ATPW - How did it feel to be so well received? Because the crowd were so into that match and gave all three guys a really good reception. 

CM - I remember feeling like a total rockstar! I remember thinking that we smashed it, looking back now I'm sure we'd have a much better match with we did it now, but at time I remember thinking "Yeah...this is sick!". It was mega, mega exciting. That's the cool thing about PROGRESS, it's a really big platform to have, so if you do well, then it feels really good, because you know that people are watching. The crowd is also mega supportive, so if you're trying new things, like trying to be a time-travelling surfer or you're a bit nervous, they're really supportive, as well as really rowdy. Even though they have the funny chants for the bad guys, more often than not they cheer the good guys and are on side, which is really cool. It makes it a lot more fun and then because you're having fun, it becomes a lot more fun to watch. 

ATPW - So when I was doing a little bit of research, I was looking at your cagematch profile, I noticed you worked in CZW in 2014, just after your chapter debut, so how did that come about? 

CM - Well, at the time, I didn't know that the summer was the busy time for wrestling in Britain. I really should have done, but I didn't. I think I'd just turned 21 and then I had some friends in America, who I promised I'd go out there and meet when I was 21. The tickets to America were maybe five hundred quid, so I thought "If I go for five weeks, then that will justify the price of the ticket", but I totally didn't think about how expensive it is to live for five weeks. So I ended up just bumming around the country, so poor the whole time, but it was mega fun. Just before I went Drake Younger was doing some final seminars and shows in England before he went to NXT. He was super duper nice and they were some of the best seminars I've ever been to. So inspiring and he was talking about how the business is such a gift and he was just a great guy. Then he added me on Facebook, so I was like "Hey man, if I'm in America is there anywhere good to wrestle?" and he was saying about CZW and going down to see DJ Hyde. So I trained with those guys for like two weeks, maybe two out of the five weeks that I was there and they were all super nice. They run Dojo Wars on Wednesdays, so it's like a real small show just in the training school with friends or family, more or less, and some die hards, that come to watch the matches. That was fun and then from there they were like "We need someone on this iPPV" so I said "Yeah, sweet, I can do that!". It was fun, tough crowd though. 

ATPW - Yeah, perhaps slightly different to what you were used to at PROGRESS? 

CM - Yeah, I came out and some guy was like "Who the fuck is this guy? He doesn't deserve to be here!". You know, lessons learned about how to debut. 

ATPW - Do you think it's almost as beneficial to wrestle in front of a hostile crowd as it is to wrestle in front of a supportive crowd like PROGRESS? 

CM - Yeah totally. The PROGRESS fans can be pretty forgiving about silliness and stuff. It was really helpful to learn to maybe be a bit more serious in new places. I guess, to just to work to the right audience, because I came in thinking "This is my schtick and I've got it so down" but, of course, they didn't know that, they just wanted to see CZW style stuff. Definitely a good learning experience. 

ATPW - In 2015, you began tagging up with Pastor William Eaver as Sweet Jesus. How did the tag team form and who's idea was it to put you together as a team? 

CM - I don't know who's idea it was. I guess Jon, Jim or Glen's. But when the Sumerian Death Squad (Tommy End & Michael Dante) were coming in, they need opponents and I don't know why or how, but Jon was like "Yeah, you and Pastor against the SDS!" and I was like "Ahhh shit". And then I don't know, I thought because I was "sweet" a lot and he looks kinda like Jesus, it was a cool tag name and then I think if I'm honest the tag name has taken us a lot further than anything else has! Then, it was pretty well recieved and it's quite a fun tag team to watch, with a bit of an 80's type thing, so I guess it stood out a bit. So then other promoters wanted to use us. So they put us together, I think because SDS needed opponents and we needed experience, but because it was fun it worked out for both of us.

ATPW - Not a bad tag team to step in with to get some experience!

CM - I know right! Like one of the best tag teams in the world! I guess our second matches or second or third. It was so cool. I think my nose was bleeding within a minute or two of that fight! For all of the ouch, it was a super fun experience. 

ATPW - Do you prefer tagging or multi-man matches to singles match or is it more like different shades of the same thing? 

CM - Maybe I feel more comfortable doing singles matches and I really love doing singles matches, but then when tag matches come off well then I really, really enjoy that and when multi mans come off then I really, really enjoy that. But I suppose I'm better at singles matches, so I enjoy them, because they come off better more often. Basically, any match that I get a chance to do I like doing, so I guess it's more of different shades of the fine art that we call professional wrestling. 

ATPW - So the Brixton show for PROGESS, Chapter 37, was that the biggest crowd you've performed in front of? 

CM - Yeah man, at least I think it was. I think at one night we had like 3000 at Download, but they must not have all been wrestling. But to perform in front of two and a half thousand proper, proper wrestling fans was sick! It was so cool. 

ATPW - How did you think that match went with Paul Robinson? Because that was almost a bonus match that hadn't been previously announced. 

CM - It's not even announced on the on demand. Which is kind of sad, because I had this great match against this really respected wrestler and it's not publicised anywhere. Although that's not fair to say, because Jon Briley said it was his favourite match of the year or one of his favourite matches. I'm really grateful for that match. 

ATPW - What was it liked to see all those beach balls?! 

CM - It was a wicked cool thing to see, especially from the entrance. I was really cool with everything the whole day, I felt sweet and then just as Paul went out, I kind of couldn't feel my legs and I was like "Ah shit!". I'm not sure if it was because I warmed up too much or if it was just nerves. But then when the "Hey Ho Mambo" bit happened and I heard all the crowd be onside with it then I was like "This is just going to be fun" and then I think came out of the wrong part of the stage because I got confused. But then I came out and I saw all the beach balls and I thought "Ahhh, this is super fun, this is the funnest". Then the match was wicked! It was definitely one of my favourite matches I've ever had. It hurt like fuck, it hurt so bad, but it was really, really fun. 

It was a real simple one, because the characters are so obvious and the stories are so easy that it didn't need any build up. I'm really flattered that they gave me that chance. It was sweet. The funnest. 

ATPW - You've done some stuff with PROGRESS' Freedom's Road show, what's that like to take part in? 

CM - Really fun, I think one of the coolest things about it, other than the fact that they seemed to have stopped saying "No" to ideas, is that the crowd know that don't know everything that they'll know by the time that it's on the on demand. So the first time that I was time travelling, I don't think that anyone knew that I had a time-travelling surfboard, so I had to try and let them know throughout the segment. But I feel that must be the same with lots of the other storylines, the fans get to enjoy wicked good wrestling and some of the fucking coolest matches have been on there like James Davis vs. Timothy Thatcher or Rob Lynch vs. Matt Riddle or TK Cooper vs. Riddle or Donavon Dijak vs. Kyle Ashmore, so the wrestling is definitely still sweet, but then the fans also have to be like "What's going on? I guess we'll have to wait and it will actually make sense the next time we watch it!", which is fun. Then from a wrestling perspective, it's just super duper fun. I get to do all these silly stories and funny promos. I really love it. 

I'm slowly getting my head around working cameras, but I still get way too excitable about the audience and the fans. But yeah, it has been really good practice, learning to do that! 

ATPW - To round up the PROGRESS chat, how do you feel about your position in PROGRESS at the moment? With that being still your main promotion or home base at the moment. 

CM - Yeah man, I psyched with being involved in such a big company. I never really know what's going on with their expansion or whatever, but I'm psyched to be involved. I would like to be on more regularly than I am, but I guess everyone would like to be on more regularly than they are. I'm happy to be there. I'd like to work my way up into a cool storyline or a series of matches, because I've not actually had many singles matches on PROGRESS chapters. The ones I've had have been sweet, I've got to wrestle Damian Dunne, I've got to wrestle Paul Robinson, I got to wrestle Bubblegum and then on the Freedom's Road's I got to wrestle Ashmore and Roy Johnson and loads of great people. Obviously, you always want to work more and get better and sell more merch. 

ATPW - If you had to choose one of your matches to show someone who had never seen you wrestle before, what would you choose to win them over? 

CM - Usually, I would use either the Paul Robinson match or the Bubblegum match, because I feel they are two of the best matches that I've had and because those two are such classic bad guys it shows up my character really well and their character and they're still competitive, exciting wrestling matches. Also if you're showing someone who doesn't like wrestling and there's really big crowd, then they think it's a bit cooler than a show in leisure centre or something like that. Not knocking shows in leisure centre's though, because there's been some cracking show's in leisure centres!

ATPW - Outside of PROGRESS, where have you had the most fun wrestling?

CM - The most fun? Well, the Phoenix holiday camps that I talked about are really, really fun. On Sunday, it was me and Maverick Mayhew against Pastor and Steve Minelli and it was just so much fun, because it's really all about getting the kids on board. So that's really cool. At All Star, I was a baddie. I think I'd been wrestling for about a year when they took me on as a baddie and that's super duper fun, because I never get to shout at people and stuff. That was really fun. And not that I've done a lot actually wrestling for them, but I've been along on the Fight Club: Pro Dream Tag Team Invitational tour and I did a dark match there. I really really like the way that everyone on the team is super duper nice and everyone feels respected and they just want everyone to go out there and be the best that they can be. Which obviously...is the case in any wrestling company, but that was just a super nice environment. Then maybe the funnest place of all is definitely Attack!...maybe, definitely. Well, they are all super fun, but Attack! is mad fun.

ATPW - Yeah, definitely. I think at the Attack! show, and with FCP as well, you can tell that everyone in the building is having a really really good time! 

CM - Yeah, I think more and more it seems to be the case at all of the wrestling shows because from what I can tell when I'm there, everyone is having a really good time at PROGRESS, everyone's having a really good time at Fight Club and Attack! Then even some of the smaller shows that you go to, where sometimes the crowd are quite hard to get involved, because sometimes if the lights are on and if you're in a Rugby club and there's like a 100 people, maybe it doesn't feel so much that you're watch a sweet wrestling show, but then once the shows have started, because so many British guys are becoming "names" ourselves, it's easy to get excited and to realise that you're watching a sweet wrestling show. Even if you're in a lights on venue with a really low ceiling! 

ATPW - One of my favourite venues is actually the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham that Attack! run!

CM - Ahh man, it's the best, right? 

ATPW - It's the perfect size for a small, intimate show. It's not a leisure centre with 100 people in, it's this tiny room with 100 people squeezed in! 

CM - Yeah, that's super true. It's atmospheric and kind of quirky, I can't rememeber when it was, I guess it was the time it was CCK & Shay against Team Defend and someone was like "We've just watched the WWE UK Champion tear it up in front of 80 people in a barn". It's fucking mad, isn't it? It's so cool. That's such a great venue. 

ATPW - What do you think goes into a good wrestling match? 

CM - Ah, yeah, I guess you could call it a philosophy. My philosophy on this has kind of changed a lot lately and I guess for the better. I used to try to follow that traditional thing of "You've gotta have a goodie and you've gotta have a baddie" and "less is more", but now I try to think about how the fans are going to feel and react and making sure that the fans have a great time. I think sometimes it's like "Wrestling is this and this and this" but really if the fans are having a sweet time, then that's all that really matters, isn't it? I try to just think about what's going to give the fans the funnest time. 

ATPW - Who's been your biggest influence in coming to that point of view? 

CM - One time I was talking to Pete Dunne and Eddie Dennis as well, he was talking about not worrying about your moves or anything and thinking about how to take the audience through the right level of excitement...I'm trying not to say journey because it sounds so cheesy. I guess, Pete Dunne and Eddie, but obviously they've got a little more to it than that simplified version. And then like Jimmy (Havoc) has been really influential as well, on making everything mean stuff, rather than just running a spot because it's cool. Trying to get the maximum out of it for the fans as well as just because you think it's sweet. 

ATPW - Is there anywhere in the UK or anywhere that you'd like to wrestle more? I'd love to see you in FCP and Attack! more often. 

CM - I'd really like to get into ICW still and I'm doing some holiday camps with RevPro, but obviously RevPro are a wicked place to get to wrestle because they've got wicked show. So I suppose ICW and RevPro are two of the biggies. Pretty much anywhere that there's work I'd be happy to work, because I just want to be wrestling as much as I can really. It's getting quite busy now. I'd really like to get more involved with more summer camps, I'm doing a couple, but if anyone wants me on a summer camp that would be sweet. The main two I'd like to be super regular on, other than PROGRESS, are Attack! and Fight Club and then if I could get anything with ICW or RevPro I feel like I'd feel like I was properly on top of the British scene. The big five. Oh shit, OTT would be sweet as well. That would be awesome. 

ATPW - You mentioned earlier that you'd been waiting four years to work with Eddie Dennis, is there anyone else on the scene that you'd like to work with more often? 

CM - The two other big names on my "To wrestle list" at the moment are Zack Gibson and Rampage Brown. I think it'd be really funny with the size difference between me and Rampage. I'd love to wrestle Zack Gibson, we've had bits and bobs with a four way at Manchester, but to have a one on one with Zack Gibson would be awesome. I am actually a pretty good technical wrestler, I don't get to showcase that too often, but I am actually pretty alright at the old grappling. It would be an awesome opportunity, if that every came out I would grab it! 

ATPW - Do you still watch wrestling as a fan? 

CM - Yeah man, loads. For a little while early on while I was training, because lots of people will be like "You've gotta do this" or "You've gotta do this" and then you watch RAW and you're like "But they're not doing this, does that mean they're bad?". But then I realise that everything's different and there's not "got to" and "got to not". So I just try to watch things and to think about what I like and what I don't like and to think about why it works, but for the most part when I watch wrestling I'm just enjoying it. 

ATPW - What have you been checking out of the last couple of months? 

CM - I've been trying to get my head around Japanese wrestling a little bit more, because I've got to confess, I've not seen as much as I probably should have. So I've been really enjoying Zack Sabre Jr. stuff in Japan. Also just some more WWE, I do really like NXT, I went through a phase of watching that way more than SmackDown and stuff, but I do try to keep up with SmackDown and RAW. Then just live shows and old British stuff, like Billy Robinson, Fit Finlay, all the classic. Quite a lot of Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid as well. 

As well, I've been making more use of the PROGRESS on Demand thing, like rewatching Riddle vs. Jeff Cobb, which was fucking insane match. Then old stuff with Jimmy Havoc and then obviously the British Strong Style matches because they're so fun.

ATPW - Do you ever go back and watch your own stuff? 

CM - You know what, sometimes I fairly hate watching my own matches. There's times where I'm quite happy to watch them, like the Paul Robinson match. If I'm sending it to someone and it starts playing, I can be like "I could watch this for a bit!", but for the most part I try to watch it with another wrestler or with a non-wrestler and see what their opinions of things are and to see what they react to. Quite often, wrestlers react quite differently to not wrestlers, so I find it's pretty helpful to watch things with people who are not wrestlers and see what they go for. 

I was watching a match back with Jon Briley and JD from the London Riots and Darrell Allen. I had this spot and I still think it's pretty sick, where I catch a clothesline into a Gory special and the guy escapes and I switch another clothesline into a reverse gory special, which is my favourite submission of all time and JD gave me a little wink and a nod, Darrell gave me a wink and a nod and Jon just had a blank face. But obviously he's looking at it from the angle of what you can promote and stuff like that. Everyone's picking up on different things, which is handy.

ATPW - Do you have any short term or long term goals in wrestling at the moment? 

CM - I guess my long term goal is to be able to make a good living out of professional wrestling. I never really want to be rich, but I'd really like to have enough money, to where that I could give a good amount away and still have a roof over my head. It would be sick to do that, ideally with the WWE, but however I do that. You look at the Young Bucks, I'm not saying I'm as good as the Young Bucks right now, but one day it would be sweet to be. My short term goals, going back to the Doug Williams timeline of goals, I want to get more regular on more of the big shows, like Fight Club and Attack! and PROGRESS around England, to debut in other places around Europe. So I had the show which was half PROGRESS and half wXw, so hopefully that goes in the right direction. Then me and Pastor and Jody Fliesch are going to Celtic Championship Wrestling sometime this month and later on in the year as well. Fingers crossed I can get something with OTT and there's this company Bull Fight Pro in Italy that I've been talking to. I just want to get around and wrestle as many places as possible at the moment. 

ATPW - It's crazy to think how many places there are for guys to work in the UK and into Europe at the moment and learn different styles and work different crowds, compared to when I started getting into BritWres about five years ago. 

CM - Yeah, you can still do traditional rounds matches at Premier or the Phoenix camps or you can do the holiday Butlins things and family shows. You can do the strong style, the super exciting athletic wrestling and you can go so many places. 

ATPW - I think it's brilliant for the fans and the wrestlers, that there's a place for everyone to gravitate towards. Whether they like comedy wrestling, the modern indy style, lucha...

CM - Oh dude, I totally forgot to mention how much I'd like to work for Lucha Forever, which was dumb. Mega mega shows. Another thing that's been cool is that I've had a couple of chances to work for Fight! Nation on Fite TV, getting used to working a wrestling show on a TV show and I'm really grateful to Billy Wood for that. Hopefully I get the opportunity to do more of that and get more experience with that. 

ATPW - Just to close things off, where can people catch you next and where can they find you online? 

CM - I'm going to be at the UnProffesional Wrestling show in Hackney on the 20th August. If you want to follow me on the line you can go to Facebook.com/chuckmambo, twitter.com/chuckmambo or Instagram.com/chuck_mambo, that's the one with the most picture and you can get merch from mambomerch.bigcartel.com. All of the newest stuff is earth positive, so it's got ten percent of the normal carbon footprint and they regulate their own factories to make sure that no ones being exploited and there's free association of labour and working hours are kept to reasonable standards. Pretty good merch to buy! It's bright colours!

Also, another thing that if people would like to follow it it would be awesome, on Twitter there's an organisation called Help for Refugee Children and they always need donations. Because at the French border in Calais and Dunkirk, the camps have gone and some people did get re-homed, but some of the re-homing was so bad that some people decided to go back to the camps more or less. There's a lot of people living on the streets and the last time I went there was this big national park where people are living in makeshift tents in the park. It's a bad way. Help for Refugee Children run nice activities with the kids and stuff and they're friends with all the families so if the families do get over, they can put them in touch with the right legal support and make sure that their rights are respected and they get everything they're supposed to get and that they have friends. It's a really super cool charity to support, if has the money, which I know is hard to come by. 

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A massive thanks to Chuck Mambo for taking the time to speak to us. It was a pleasure to spend an hour with Chuck and I hope that comes across in what you've just read. 

All the best, 

James xoxo