Event Review: FCP Breaking Into Heaven - Clint Margera v Pete Dunne 2 *Falls Count Anywhere*

After a very good show on Friday and a superb show on Saturday in Wolverhampton, Sunday, 23rd October saw Fight Club: Pro head North for a show at Manchester Metropolitan University's Student Union in...umm...Manchester. 75 miles from their home, FCP presented a show that saw Clint Margera get a shot at Pete Dunne's FCP Championship in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, Trent Seven went one on one with Mikey Whiplash and Chris Brookes tangled with Fire Ant. With Kimber Lee, Nixon Newell, Shane Strickland, Orange Cassidy and Travis Banks featured on the undercard, could Breaking Into Heaven better the high standards that had already been set across the weekend and smash into Manchester with a cracker? 

Pete Dunne collected his second successful FCP Championship defense in as many days, with a victory over the man who last defeated him in FCP, Clint Margera. The bout began with a similar moment to Dunne's bout with Trent Seven on Pulp Fixxion Part 2, where The Bruiserweight attacked Margera before the bell, calling out the FCP management for making him defend the belt against a "Death Match Worker", only for Margera to turn the tables and make the match Falls Count Anywhere, because...he bloody did. The duo brawled around the Union, fighting on the apron, around ringside, into the fans and onto the stage area. This fracas was punctuated by elongated "Pet-er" chants for Dunne (in reference to a moment from PROGRESS Chapter 37, a week earlier just half a mile away). At times it became a little too much and distracted from the action, which may also have something to do with Margera being a relatively unfamiliar face to the Northern audience. This isn't to say that there wasn't plenty of good to very good stuff going on (Dunne hitting a Tombstone Piledriver on the stage, being the stand out moment), but that it often got overpowered. 

Just like the night before there was plenty a shenanigan in the finish of this on. Chris Brookes made the save for Dunne following Margera hitting an avalanche Death Valley driver and then it all seemed start happening. Ref bumps, biting, wet willies, all sorts of things were occuring, but the long and short of it was that Dunne retained the title with a Rear Naked Choke. There were even more antics post-match, with Trent Seven came out to help Margera, only to be beaten down by Dunne and Brookes as well. This would lead to Jimmy Havoc returning to the promotion, turning on former KYS pal Dunne and turning babyface in the process, as he hit Brookes with an Acid Rainmaker. It was a cool end to the show and after a lengthy time off it's good to see Havoc continue to make his return in different promotions and shake up their stories and rosters in the process. I can't help but feeling that having Havoc announced as already appearing on the show, impacted a little on the moment, as anyone who was paying attention could see exactly where ir was going. Potentially having Havoc come out and cut a return promo earlier in the night before coming back out for the save, would have given the moment more of a swerve factor, but preferably I would've liked this to be a complete surprise.

The semi-main saw Mikey Whiplash defeat Trent Seven, giving Whiplash his second victory in as many days over former FCP Champions. If you've been following British professional wrestling over the last twelve months, then you'll know that Whiplash and Seven have been tearing it up in Insane Championship Wrestling trading victories in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester, with things spilling over to Scottish Wrestling Alliance in Motherwell and a special show presented by Jimmy Havoc in Glasgow. So as was to be expected, this bout was slickly put together and stiff as fuck as Whiplash and Seven tore strips out of each other and hit the majority of their big moves in an intense scrappy match. There was a lot of back and forth, with reversals and strike battles, with the story playing out as two guys who are extremely familiar with one another and had an answer for seemingly even the most severe assaults. 

If I was surprised to see Whiplash defeat Margera on Saturday, I was flabbergasted that Whiplash pinned Seven with a Gotch-style piledriver, only moments after withstanding a Bret's Rope piledriver (silly, silly nearfall). With two big wins over the weekend, Whiplash would seem to be becoming a regular for FCP, but having already gone through two of the promotions top babyfaces and with FCP currently looking a little heel heavy, I'm intrigued to see how he'll fit in next year. Bouts with the likes of Tyler Bate, The Hunter Brothers and Nixon Newell should provide some great variety, with the returning Jimmy Havoc offering another attractive prospective match up. Seven sold the loss like an absolute boss and after back to back losses he looked not just hurt from the rough clash, but emotionally drained as his quest to regain the FCP Championship seems to have hit a stumbling block. 

In a surprisingly long opener, Chris Brookes picked up his third victory of the weekend, this time besting Fire Ant. This bout was very much in the CHIKARA vein, as the pair mixed some good quality wrestling exchanges with a number of comedic spots and general hijinks. It was clear where the bout was heading from the very beginning as after being a piss-kidney to a loud fan, Brookes repeatedly asked the ref to back Ant up, causing Ant to end up actually outside the ring himself. It was corny spot, but both men, as well as referee Joel, played it perfectly. As Brookes' gimmick is developing into someone who would really rather not be wrestling, after taking control of the bout he took Ant out of the ring and out of the room, into the bar area of the student union, before legging back to the squared circle in attempt for a countout. The moment was made by a couple of verbal quips from Brookes once he got back inside the ring.

One of the spots that I was most looking forward to was Brookes (who is still a turd) going for his, now signature, wet willy spot. You can't do a wet willy on a masked man/ant. The spot didn't let me down and went flying passed what even my twisted imagination had conjured up on the drive to Manchester. After initial confusion by the lack of ears, Brookes pulled a canister of bug spray from a black fabric bag and really went to town with it. I don't know the international rules of wrestling completely, but I'd imagine that bug spray doesn't result in a DQ, because what if there's like bugs, that aren't wrestlers, trying to get involved? Exactly! Following this spot the pair mixed things up with some pacy sequences and a couple of nice near falls, including a Brainbuster from Ant and Michonoku Driver from Brookes. The Calamari Catch King would win with his now familiar closing sequence, getting a submission with his double armed octopus stretch, although Ant had previously been able to reverse the rope-hung whiplash neckbreaker, as repeating that sequence began to pay off in more interesting variations. 

The Hunter Brothers (Lee Hunter & Jim Hunter)' only appearance across the weekend saw Ashley Clementine (Kimber Lee) and Orange Cassidy unsuccessfully answer the open challenge laid down by Lee and Jim. Considering both were already on the show under different guises, it was a mild disappointment when Clementine & Cassidy came out, probably because the open challenge gimmick often leads to a lot of speculation. The match was entirely dictated by the Clementine & Cassidy's gimmick of being The World's Laziest Tag Team. At first, I was quite into the idea with Cassidy putting on weak head locks and both going to sit in the crowd after taking chops from Lee & Jim. It wasn't "laugh so much it hurts" funny, but it was still funny. However, for me it ended up dragging, as the single joke was stretched across almost fifteen minutes without really having a big punchline. It was mostly entertaining, but could have done with losing five minutes or more. Had this been the third night in a row of seeing the Hunter Brothers, then I think I would've enjoyed the change of pace for Lee & Jim, but with this being their only match of the weekend and with very little tag wrestling at all over the three days, a Hunter Brothers bout with a hot local tag team would have felt fresher than a bottle of Tropicana. 

The strongest contest on the show was Shane Strickland going over Travis Banks, in a bout that presented a nice style clash. Banks desperation to get a win in FCP was stamped all over the action once again, this time from the very beginning as Banks upped the aggression level with Strickland matching it and the pair producing a pacy and dynamic opening sequence that set the tone for what was to come. The crowd was well split between the two and both worked the Manchester audience well, keeping things fairly even with a string of top quality reversals. Banks catching Strickland coming out of a Rolling Thunder into a German suplex and Strickland swiftly hitting a Spanish Fly as Banks charged in looking for his running knee strike are the two moments that spring to mind initially, but the bout was full of similar switches and swerves.. The match didn't have as many strong near falls as the Banks v Fire Ant match from the night previously, but it managed to tell a different story within the established narrative in a distinct style. I would love to see the pair have a rematch at some point as an extra five or even ten minutes would have only benefited these two creative performers, especially as they become more familiar with each other.

In the sole women's outing on the show, Nixon Newell defeated Kimber Lee in a hard-hitting battle. The contest fell into a similar pattern that we'd seen from the other female matches that weekend, with the pair trading moves. Forearms, chops, kicks, a few more kicks and a german suplexes. A spot where the pair hit each other with bicycle kicks looked particularly well-done, as I've often seen that moment look awful if not timed right and not built to in the right manner. In comparison to the Newell v Kay Lee Ray match from the previous night, the bout had a little more aggression and omph behind it, especially in a sequence where Newell hit a head butt and a German suplex, before Lee would reply threefold. I would've liked to have seen a little bit more action before the finish to really develop the hostility between them, with Newell wanting to even the score from their previous match in May. The bout concluded with Lee missing a high-angle senton bomb and Newell nailing a picture perfect Vulture Culture Destroyer for the pinfall. 

Continuing his more than impressive weekend, Dan Moloney won a four way contest pinning TK Cooper in a match that also included Ethan Silver and Drew Parker. It was even more of an imposing victory because not only did Moloney call out anyone to face him, but he ended up with three opponents and finished the match standing tall over all of them. The bout concluded with an incredible double powerbomb on Silver and Parker, before a deadlift spinning sitout powerbomb to Cooper, making Moloney look like an absolute (super)beast. Moloney completely owned the space during this one, especially in that final stretch and after the match. Outside of Moloney looking like a top tier talent in the making, the rest of the four way was an entertaining spot fest that managed to fit an awful lot of action into a short amount of the time. Cooper, Silver and Parker could certainly play a role in FCP in the future, with the trio all offering something a little bit different to what's already on the regular roster.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.75/10

Show in a Sentence - A good start for FCP in a new city, but couldn't match the two previous show.  

Match of the Night - Shane Strickland v Travis Banks

Words - James Marston

All images are the property of Fight Club: Pro.

Event Review: FCP Pulp Fixxion Part 2 - Trent Seven v Pete Dunne

On 22nd October, Fight Club: Pro was at Fixxion Warehouse for the second night in a row, with Part 2 of Pulp Fixxion. The main event saw Pete Dunne put his FCP Championship on the line against Trent Seven, whilst Mikey Whiplash and Clint Margera went at it in a No Disqualification Match. With the likes of Kay Lee Ray, Kimber Lee, Nixon Newell, Shane Strickland and Fire Ant making up the undercard, could FCP raise the bar following a very good event just 24 hours earlier? Let's have a look, brah.

Pete Dunne retained his FCP Championship with a victory over Trent Seven in what was the best match across the two Wolverhampton shows. The pair might be PROGRESS Tag Team Champions, but in FCP there's no loved lost between the duo and that showed before the bell with Dunne striking before the announcements even began. The crowd (including myself) were hooked from that moment onwards as Dunne and Seven worked a 16 minute sprint. The bout was a mixture of Seven no-selling shit and some huge dramatic near falls. The two tropes seemed to play into each other, with Seven's ability to dig deep following taking huge moves like a superplex, giving the match a sense of momentum, allowing the fans to start to believe that Seven could take the title from Dunne at the first time of asking. This meant that each near fall had some real weight and believability. Dunne running into a powerbomb, before Seven turned it into a Single-leg Boston Crab, that he's put away Tommy End and Mark Haskins with recently, was a moment that I was completely wrapped up in, desperate to see the heel champion quit. This was helped by how well Dunne sold the hold and the previously mentioned drive of the contest.  

The finish saw a whole lot of shenanigans, beginning with a spectacular ref bump that saw Shay Purser moved into the path of a Seven suicide dive by Dunne. This caused Purser to go through the two rows of ringside seating and It looked wonderful (obviously not for poor Shay) being timed perfectly and getting a big reaction out of the Wolverhampton crowd. Every second following this was brilliant to watch, certainly helped by the emotional investment that I have within FCP as well as the two performers and characters, but I'd like to think it was equally as exciting and entertaining for those attending their first show with the company. In a sequence that was a rollercoaster of emotion, Seven hit a dragon suplex and spinning piledriver, but there was no ref to count the pinfall, but after Dunne had caught Seven low and hit his DT3 (Pumphandle Facebuster) a second referee, Joel Allen, managed to come flying out of the curtain, only for Seven to kick out at two and get another thrilling near fall off a roll-up as Dunne argued with Allen. By the time, Dunne got the submission win, it was as crushing a moment as it should have been, rounding off a wonderful final stretch and enhancing Dunne's credentials as champion. When the moment comes for Dunne to lose the belt, that moment will be all the sweeter because this bout took place. 

In the semi-main slot, Mikey Whiplash picked up his first victory in FCP, by defeating former champion Clint Margera in a No Disqualification match. This was an incredibly creative contest, as the duo took a limited selection of weapons and constructed a number of breath-takingly brutal highspots. Without using the cavalcade of "toys" that were seen across Margera's series with Chris Brookes earlier this year, the bout kept things interesting by having each spot feel bigger and more impressive than the last. This was an aggressive and violent display from the beginning as the two threw forearms at each other and then threw each other into the ringside chairs and walls. This was two chaps with no real backstory, beyond the tag match from the Friday night, just battering the piss out of each other for 15 minutes, just because they bloody could. 

The final three spots of the match were stupid, silly stuff (Meant in the best possible way, that you can call something stupid or silly) Whiplash took a superplex through some chairs, Margera took a slam off the top rope through another load of chairs TO THE FLOOR and then Whiplash hit a Death Valley Driver onto a pair of interlocked chairs on their side to get the win. Any three of those spots could have ended the match and I don't think anyone would have felt hard done by had that been the case. So, is there a case to be made for their being "too much" here? Probably. Is that a case that I'm going to put forward? Fuck no. As uncomfortable as some of teases and spots made me feel at points, it kept me completely involved in the contest as I was on the edge of my seat (bad back and all), partially in anticipation of what carnage was to come and partially because I was hoping neither performer would end up seriously hurt by some of the more high-risk aspects of the bout. The victory going to Whiplash was a slight shocker, as I expected him to come in and put over the FCP regulars, but I'd certainly be up for seeing more Whiplash in Fixxion Warehouse in 2017. It'll be interesting seeing how he'll fit into the wider picture and storytelling within the promotion.

Nixon Newell picked up a big win over Kay Lee Ray, in a match that is difficult to describe because of the ridiculous amount of styles and influences the duo used throughout. Like one moment the pair were doing a cool back and forth headlock and pins thing, which mimicked what had been seen in the Three Way with Kimber Lee from Pulp Fixxion and then all of a sudden Lee and Shane Strickland were having a dance off in a scene reminiscent of the 2001 The Simpsons' episode Tennis the Menace! The match didn't need the dance off to be entertaining, but I also don't feel like it detracted from the quality of the bout either. The pair continued with the back and forth and did so very well with a series of suicide dives, strong-style forearms and a number of finisher attempts, whilst also mixing in some comedy like chopping referee Shay and having him assist Newell in an inadvertent Stunner. It was a difficult task to try and include so much contrasting content within the match but Newell and KLR created something that was entirely enjoyable, featured some excellent wrestling and looked a lot of fun to be involved in as FCP continues to develop it's women's division. This was definitely a step in the right direction. 

One of the strongest stories in FCP in 2016 has been Travis Banks' quest for a win and it was in his loss to Fire Ant (putting him 0-11 in FCP) that it really began to shine and develop into something that currently feels like it could become something particularly special into the new year. Whilst the match seemed to take a couple of minutes to fully connect and grip the crowd, the final stretch of combat was superb stuff, as Banks came agonisingly close to getting his first win in the promotion. Two near falls for Banks stand out in particular, the first being the Kiwi Buzzsaw withstanding a barrage of offense, including a tope conhilo, high crossbody and PK, only to reverse a brainbuster attempt into one of his own, with the second coming moments after when the New Zealander showed his frustration all over his face, and hit a corner roundhouse kick, only for Ant to put his foot on the ropes before the three count. I was so involved in the losing streak angle, that by the end of the bout I found myself turning on Ant, despite him not doing anything wrong at all. I just wanted Banks to win, goddamit. I love being able to get sucked in by the wrestling I watch, get lost in it and begin to engage with narratives and this angle is certainly ticking those boxes right now, with this bout with Ant being a strong continuation of the story. 

In intergender action, Chris Brookes went over Kimber Lee in a fun bout that told a decent story. In my review of Pulp Fixxion, I spoke about how much I hate the Brookes and his asshattery in FCP, which if you've read any of my reviews (or even just another paragraph of this one, I suppose) then you'll know I think that this is a wonderful thing. Before the match began the Calimari Catch King attempted to get out of the bout, revealing that he was actually in love with Lee, giving this as the reason that he lost their previous bout during the CHIKARA Anniversario Tour in May. This was played well by both performers, with it being clear that Brookes simply wanted a night off and Lee wanting nothing to do with it. After an early flurry from Lee, Brookes would control the match following a big boot, grounding Lee and just generally being a cockwomble about it all. It all worked nicely into a strong comeback from Lee, which included a sharp near fall after Brookes ran into a sit-out powerbomb. Brookes finishing sequence was being heavily put over across the weekend, as he hit a superkick and rope-hung whiplash neckbreaker, before locking in a double armed octopus stretch for the submission victory. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how this plays into future matches in FCP. 

The opening match of the show saw Dan Moloney defeat Shane Strickland with his deadlift spinning sitout powerbomb, in what was one of the best, if not the best match I've ever seen out of the Superbeast. There was some tremendous wrestling in this one, as Moloney and Strickland's styles connected well, with Moloney able to operate in the powerhouse role, whilst also showing some real skill in being able to up his pacing and go toe to toe with one of the speediest performers on the Indy circuit. As much as Strickland is a hugely impressive wrestler to watch, thanks to his pace and varied offence, including a wonderful sequence that concluded with a rolling thunder into a jumping cutter, most of my attention was on the local Moloney. He handled the crowd's chants surrounding his smaller than usual footwear well and genuinely looked to be developing into potential top tier star. FCP continued to build it's roster of villains with the Moloney victory, joining the wins for champion Pete Dunne, Mikey Whiplash and Chris Brookes, across this show, seemingly with an eye on the Infinity tournament on 25th November.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 7.84/10

Show in a Sentence - A very good evening of wrestling, that upped the quality in a number of areas from the stellar card the night before.

Match of the Night - Trent Seven v Pete Dunne

Words - James Marston 

All images are the property of Fight Club: Pro.

Event Review: FCP Pulp Fixxion - Clint Margera & Trent Seven v Pete Dunne & Mikey Whiplash

On 21st October 2016, Fight Club: Pro returned to Fixxion Warehouse in Wolverhampton, West Midlands for the first show of three across the weekend, as they presented Pulp Fixxion. With a main event that saw FCP Champion Pete Dunne team with the debuting Mikey Whiplash to take on former champions Clint Margera and Trent Seven in a No Disqualification Match, as well as Kay Lee Ray, Joe Coffey, Kimber Lee, Nixon Newell and Shane Strickland in supporting matches, could FCP start the weekend in style? 

The headline bout of the evening saw Clint Margera and Trent Seven pick up a momentum building victory over FCP Champion Pete Dunne and Mikey Whiplash in an action-packed tag team collision. From before the bell, when Margera came flying onto Dunne and Whiplash, this was brutal fight that had plenty of energy and a boat load of intensity. The first couple of minutes saw all four on the outside of the ring, with Seven hitting a suicide dive onto Dunne who had been seated at ringside, before Margera was launched into the chairs on the other side of the ring by Whiplash. Both moments looked vicious and the blood-thirsty crowd wanted more. They certainly wouldn't be disappointed as all four men delivered top draw performances, pacing the encounter well and picking things up when needed. This was a great example of British strong-style.

The idea that these two teams were evenly matched was spread throughout the bout, with neither getting the upperhand for long. This was seen during a seated strike battle on the outside and became even clearer when all four went for running front dropkicks at the same time, leading to the foursome hitting multiple strikes on each other one after another. This would play nicely into the closing stages of the bout, as Seven was able to save Margera from taking a con-chair-to from the dastardly duo and Whiplash would save Dunne from taking a piledriver from Seven. By this point, having watched the two teams pull out their biggest moves and bring steel chairs into the mix, it felt like it would take some special or a big mistake to conclude the bout. In the end, it took a tiger suplex from Seven, a hard forearm from Margera and a Piledriver from Seven to get Whiplash's shoulders pinned to the mat. What about Dunne? The Bruiserweight simply watched the pinfall before walking out. Not only had Whiplash saved Dunne from taking a piledriver earlier, but he also stopped the pin when Dunne took one earlier in the clash! As hard-hitting and violent as the match was, it could be easy to miss the story that was told throughout the outing, but it created a satisfying watch for those keeping up. 

Dan Moloney's victory over Fire Ant featured a nice mix of good banter and solid wrestling, as Moloney continues to get more and more comfortable with every match he has. The crowd latched to Moloney's slightly small boots and began to serenade him with the Roderick Strong hymn book. The Superbeast's reactions to this were priceless and I hope that this only develops across the weekend, as there is some real opportunities for more comedic moments and to create even more heat for Moloney. The contest itself was very good stuff, with Ant always seeming to have Moloney's number, until that it is Moloney went for Ant's antennae, in a similar way to how the crowd grabbed onto the opportunity to sing "Shitty Little Boots" in various formats. The pair created some smooth wrestling inside the ring, with a number of tight reversals, whilst Ant got a strong near fall off a trio of big moves as he hits a Frankensteiner, a PK and then a brainbuster in quick succession. Having split from Facesmashers partner Wild Boar at Project Mayhem V, a victory for Moloney has set him on the right path with Boar conspicuous by his absence. 

Chris Brookes continued to get under the skin of the Wolverhampton faithful as he got a win over 2 time CZW Wired Champion Shane Strickland. This was strong blend of slick wrestling and comedic japes as Strickland made his debut in FCP and quickly got over with the crowd, partly because he wasn't Chris Brookes and partly because he's got some fun offence. The match played out fairly simply as Strickland's lucha stylings went up against Brooke's general twattery. Notes I wrote on this match include "Wrestling with Brookes being a general wanksock" and "Brookes is dick", I feel that they kind of sum up how fucking angry Brookes makes me. He put Strickland in a camel clutch and gave him a wet willy. Who does that? The wrestling was paced well, with Strickland getting to show off in exciting bursts, that made Brookes' ways even more frustrating. It would often be Strickland's pacy, risk-laden offence that would catch him out and that would be how the match concluded, because after a missed 450 splash, Brookes would finish off his opponent with a superkick and elevated spinning neckbreaker, before locking in the Octopus Stretch for the submission victory. A fun opener to the main show, that got the crowd nice and warmed up for more wrestling.

Outside of the main event, Joe Coffey pinning Travis Banks was the strongest fight of the night. Banks had suffered nine consecutive losses since joining FCP in February, despite coming close against world class talent like Zack Sabre Jr, Sami Callihan and Trent Seven, and that story really drove the match for me. Each near fall for Banks had so much more behind it, as like his previous FCP matches, Banks appeared to come as close as you can come to winning a match without having your hands raised. Banks hit a number of his big moves including the Running Knee, Brainbuster and a springboard roundhouse, but couldn't hold Coffey down for long enough. This was a real ding dong strong style battle, with the pair not holding back, as the action went mostly back and forth throughout. The finish would see Coffey having to dig deep, removing his elbow pad and after a flurry of action, he'd connect with his AwRaBestFurThaBells lariat combination to pick up the win. It was another tough loss for Banks, as the desperation that had caused him to hit a huge suicide dive earlier in the match, turned to frustration at having lost once again. It feels like it's only a matter of time before Banks snaps and with matches against Fire Ant and Shane Strickland still to come this weekend, it may happen sooner than we think. 

Kimber Lee would come out on top of an entertaining women's match, that also including Nixon Newell and Kay Lee Ray. This bout was almost entirely "Everything you can do, I can do better" as the trio traded headlocks, pinfall variations, forearms, German suplexes, reverse ranas, before beginning to go for their trademark moves. Despite just seven minutes of ring-time, the three way seemed a lot longer for how much the ladies managed to cram into the match, that seemed like it never took a pause for breath! The reverse rana sequence is one of the silliest things I've seen in a while, for all the right reasons. Having three all play babyfaces could have easily caused issues, but the trio worked hard to keep the crowd interested and the audience was happy to chant for all three in various combinations and simply enjoy the grappling. The sequence of near falls in the last leg of the bout were quality stuff, with KLR coming close on a Gory Bomb, Newell nearly winning with the Shiniest Wizard you ever did see, before KLR was able to block a Vulture Culture Destroyer attempt, only to find herself on the receiving end of a massive powerbomb from Lee. With Newell scheduled to face KLR on Saturday and Lee on Sunday, there's more to come from the women of FCP this weekend! 

A special pre-show match saw the debuts of Omari and TK Cooper, with the Big O coming out successful in a decent contest that showcased each man well. With just five minutes, both men established themselves well with the audience, with Omari receiving a strong reaction after being announced as an FCP trainee. Cooper controlled the majority of the outing, after catching Omari with a tasty axe kick on the apron, going on to hit a variation of the Blue Thunder Bomb. It was interesting to see Cooper attempt to pull out a number of tricks and flips, which he almost always missed to give Omari an opening in the match. Cooper has a lot more in his locker than I think I've seen from him previously and I'd very interested in seeing him join the main FCP roster to see just how much he can do when given the chance. Omari has quickly developed into a promising pro wrestler also and it was nice to see a different side to him having watched him come up through Kamikaze Pro. I'd like to see him use his size more and up his aggression levels at points, but this is certainly a young man with a lot of potential.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.93/10 

Show in a Sentence - Really good fun, good solid start to the weekender. 

Match of the Night - Clint Margera & Trent Seven v Pete Dunne & Mikey Whiplash

Words - James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

Five Questions With...Wiggy

After last week's interview with Hashtag Wrestling Promoter Christopher Pugh, it's time to head back to our Canadian cousins and speak CHIKARA as we speak to Wiggy.

Name: Wiggy
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Known For: Hosting The CHIKARAtorium, Pantsless Radio and The View From Filsinger Headquarters. Media Co-ordinator for Smash Wrestling in Toronto.

1. When did you first get into wrestling and what was the drew you to the sport?

I started watching/following WWF when I was about 7. I was in love with Bret Hart. I watched here and there when I was a teenager but mostly fell out of it until 2004 when I discovered indy wrestling. I was a big ROH fan and then in 2006, I discovered my one true wrestling love: CHIKARA. As the years went by and my interest (and free time) decreased, CHIKARA became the only promotion that ALWAYS held my attention. It's the one thing wrestling should always be to me: Fun.

2. Tell us a little about CHIKARAtorium and that came about?

As I said, I was already a huge CHIKARA fan and I was approached by someone at the network Pantsless was on about doing a strictly CHIKARA show. My co-host on Pantsless is Sugar Dunkerton who wrestled in CHIKARA for years and I had interviewed and gotten to know several wrestlers there. I contacted some people and the powers that be liked the idea and gave me their blessing to do the show under the CHIKARA banner. Things didn't work out with that original person and I was pointed in the direction of the newest referee, Daniel Yost. We emailed a bit, he agreed to do the show and we recorded our first episode literally the first time we ever spoke. You can definitely tell too haha.

3. For those who aren't familiar with Chikara, could you explain a little about the promotion and what's been going on as of late? 

Chaos mostly. Chikara is a very lucha libre influenced, family friendly promotion full of amazing characters and the most fun you'll find anywhere in wrestling. Except lately, it hasn't been very fun. For the last year, the Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur has been making some very questionable decisions. Splitting up long standing trios, adding people to other ones and generally making a lot of people miserable. It got so bad this spring that several longstanding wrestlers actually got so fed up they quit the company. Things came to a head at the last show, Anniversario: Never Compromise which was shown live in IPPV. Just after intermission, former Chikara ref Derek Sabato got into the ring and announced he had a file he was about to tweet that had something to do with WMD, the company that owns Chikara and would somehow expose Wink. He managed to tweet it but was immediately escorted out by Condor Security. then during the main event, Wink and security came out and stopped the show. The Grand Champion Eddie Kingston and his opponent Icarus were both dragged from the ring. Condor guys were yelling at everyone to get out and the entire stage and set was torn down. I was there and it was absolute chaos. A riot nearly broke out. There were fights and someone broke one of the doors to the venue. Since then, all the scheduled shows for the rest of the year have been cancelled but beyond that there's been no word from the company. It kills me to say it but it looks like Chikara is done.

4. What are your Top Three matches of all time and why?

I think my answers are probably going to be very different from anyone else's. I've seen a lot of matches that many people would put on their list but my criteria is different than most I think. I like matches that make me feel something, that I'll rewatch (a rarity for me) and that I have fun watching. Chikara gives me all of that more than any other promotion ever has and my top 3 come from their universe.

3. Dragon Dragon vs Kobald Wrestling is Fun!

Ok, this match is less than a month old and I've watched it dozens of times already, laughing my ass off every single time. Dragon Dragon was one of the first characters to get me into Chikara and has been the furry love of my life for about 6 years. An all time favourite. Kobald is someone I've worked with quite a bit on my shows and while he revels in making my life miserable, I absolutely love the character and he's my current favourite. The WiF! show it was on was being live tweeted and the match had been unannounced. When it began, I immediately got NINE messages telling me my dream match was happening!

2. The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black, Hallowicked & Frightmare) vs Team ROH (Mike Bennett & The Young Bucks) King of Trios 2012

This was the finals of last year's KoT tournament and I was lucky enough to be there live for it. The Envoy were the heroes led by Ultramantis Black, a man(tis) who's been a part of Chikara from the very first show who, despite countless factions and diabolical plans, has never held any sort of title in his 11 year tenure. Team ROH were the invading baddies. There'd been a running Chikara vs ROH feud all season so the Envoy weren't just fighting for themselves, they were fighting for all of Chikara. In the second round, they faced long time hated rivals, The Batiri. The Batiri didn't take their loss well and after the match brutally attacked the Envoy, specifically Frightmare, injuring his surgically repaired knee. They again made their evil presence felt coming out during this match hoping to ruin the Envoy's chances. This led to the return of Crossbones who came out to even the score and an incredible superplex the outside on to the sea of humanity. When Hallowicked made Bennett tap out, the place exploded. Everyone was screaming and cheering and a ton were crying, myself included. I've never been a part of such an emotional scene at a show before. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

1. Vin Gerard vs Fire Ant YLC 2008

This is another one I was live at. As much as I love the KoT finals, this match takes top spot simply because I wasn't an especially huge fan of either guy at the time. I liked them well enough and enjoyed their matches but neither were anything close to a favourite and honestly, I was a bit underwhelmed going in. That did not last long. This match was amazing and it didn't take long before they had me caring about everything. Chikara has a 20 count on the floor and at one point, Vin took the badly beaten up Fire Ant out of the ring, across the floor before beating on him more and dumping him at the front door. The place was going insane screaming for Fire Ant to make it back as he desperately inched his way back. When he finally got to the ring at 19, I had no voice left and when he finally pinned Vin, I was jumping up and down and generally losing my mind with everyone else. Such an emotional match that I remember like it was yesterday 5 years later.

5. Where can our readers find your work and what have you got coming up?

You can find every episode of The CHIKARAtorium and our bonus interviews at www.chikaratorium.com, on twitter @Chikaratorium and we have an awesome fan made/run tumblr at www.chikaratorium.tumblr.com.

Every episode and interview from Pantsless Radio is at www.pantslessradio.com. On twitter @PantslessRadio and on tumblr at www.pantslessradio.tumblr.com.

The View From Filsinger Headquarters is available at www.filsingergames.com. There's also facebook pages for all 3 shows and the shows can be streamed or downloaded through our amazing network at www.kopixproductions.com and on iTunes under Kopix Productions.

Personally, I'm going to be at Smash Wrestling events in Toronto all through the summer (details at www.smash-wrestling.com) and I'll be a guest at Galacticon in Jamestown, NY July 13-14. You can follow me and everything I do on twitter @Wiggygator. Thanks!    

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We'd like to thank Wiggy for this great interview, go check out The CHIKARAtorium, Pantsless Radio, The View from Filsinger Headquarters and Smash Wrestling NOW!

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