Infinity 2017 Tournament Preview

Whilst I'm not ready for it to be the final Fight Club: PRO show of 2017, I am super pumped for the 2017 edition of the Infinity tournament. FCP has been riding a wave of momentum in 2017, moving to a bigger warehouse and consistently putting on sick af shows, in front of one of the best audiences in the UK. So as they look to end the year with a bang, they present us with their signature singles tournament, that has been running since 2011. With a brand new format for 2017, replacing two four-way elimination semi-finals and a singles match final, we have four singles match semi-finals and a four-way elimination final. Simple enough and allows for more action across the card and hopefully wider storytelling potential come the main event. Previously the tournament has been won by a list of names that are synonymous with the brand. Current WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, Travis Banks, Chris Brookes, MK McKinnan and Clint Margera have all walked out with the trophy in years gone by, but who could possibly follow in their foot steps? Although the line-ups are yet to be announced, we know who our eight competitors will be, so lets take a look.

Kay Lee Ray

The current WCPW Women's Champion made her FCP debut last October and has quickly cemented herself as a regular member of the roster. Her high-flying daredevil style has made her a favourite in ICW and Southside, including capturing the ICW Women's Championship and only last week winning the Queen of the Ring tournament with consecutive wins over Toni Storm, Lana Austin and Kasey Owens. However, she is three matches without a win in FCP and is also yet to have an intergender one on one match in the promotion, which could put her at a disadvantage depending on the first round draw. Converting her undoubted tournament credentials into the very different environment of the Infinity Tournament will be the Scot's key to victory on Friday.

Travis Banks

Where to begin with Travis Banks in FCP?! He turned up in February 2016 and rocked our respective worlds. Killer matches with the likes of Zack Sabre Jr., Sami Callihan and Tyler Bate lit up shows in the Planet and Fixxion and Banks' losing streak angle became one of the hottest stories in British wrestling by the end of 2016. That culminated in the dramatic victory at last year's Infinity tournament, as he defeated Trent Seven in a ridiculous final, before winning the title from Pete Dunne four months later. Since then Banks has exploded all over the country and beyond, doing bits for PWG, PROGRESS and wXw. His tournament acumen has grown, winning Super Strong Style 16 and reaching the semi-finals of the Battle of Los Angeles in what has been an incredible year for the Kiwi Buzzsaw. His crisp offence and hard strikes, ability to draw an audience deep into a match and a never say die fire make him a perennial favourite, but could Banks be the first ever two time winner of Infinity?  

Jordan Devlin 

*Cheesiest line of the article alert*...The fans may make fun of Jordan Devlin's perceived massive fucking head, but there's also no questioning that Devlin has massive fucking potential. The OTT star has impressed repeatedly in FCP with sleeper outings with Travis Banks and David Starr, whilst also showing multi-man acumen by winning his debut six way scramble in May and a three way in July. The sole Irish participant in the competition started strong winning three of his first four matches in FCP, but his fortunes since then have been less favourable with three defeats on the bounce, meaning his momentum heading into Infinity isn't what it would've been had the tournament in the summer. Devlin is capable of putting on great matches with a vicious, technical style, but has a lot to prove in Wolverhampton this Friday. Will that translate into a big victory? We'll have to wait and see.

Dan Moloney

Of all the competitors in the tournament, Dan Moloney has been in FCP the longest by quite some way, making his first appearance way back in February 2013. Since then Moloney has gone from strength to strength, developing a penchant for turning on tag team partners, as Tyler Bate found out in 2014. A split from Facesmashers partner Wild Boar in September last year (after a fantastic feud with The Hunter Brothers) would see Moloney really come into his own, not just going undefeated in one on one action (a run that actually went back to December 2014) and defeating the likes of Mark Andrews, Fire Ant and Andrew Everett along the way, but also improving almost every element of his game, all whilst the crowd revelled in the fact he was wearing short boots. A feud with Barely Legal (Shay Purser & "Session Moth" Martina) has derailed Moloney slightly, including the loss of his undefeated streak, but that could also mean we see even more violence out of the WWE UK competitor. 

Mark Davis

One of FCP's newest regulars, Mark Davis has found most of his UK success tagging with Kyle Fletcher as Aussie Open. Title wins in ATTACK and HOPE  have seen the duo rise up the British tag ranks at record pace, having only tagged for the first time in July. Whilst the two have impressed with their all-action tag team style, they actually had their first match in FCP against each other, when the two tore the (Wrestle)house down in June. Unfortunately for the Aussie, that was his last and only win in FCP as despite the wild and entertaining natures of Aussie Open's tag matches they've fallen to Moustache Mountain, OI4K and the Callous Hearts. Davis has also dropped a couple of multi-man contests. Davis' participation guarantees those in attendance some marvellous action, but whether he's able to break his duck and pull out a victory is another kettle of fish.

Omari

Having begun to impress in Birmingham-based Kamikaze Pro against the likes of Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and David Starr, Omari made his FCP debut last October with a dark match win over TK Cooper and has made FCP his home in 2017. After coming up short in last year's tournament in a four way including the much more experienced trio of Trent Seven, Mikey Whiplash and Joe Coffey, Omari continued to develop and garner crowd support throughout 2017, transitioning out of opening (and often dark) match multi-mans with fellow up and comers to marquee matches with Pete Dunne, Shane Strickland and Travis Banks. Most notable though was Omari's spectacular victory over former ROH star Keith Lee in July. The victory got an electric reaction from the Wolverhampton crowd and showed that on his day Omari can hang with just about anyone on the indy circuit. Whilst he's three without a win since, there's every chance that the Big O could pull off another incredible upset on Friday night. He'll have the swell of the crowd support and the reaction to an Omari win may well surpass the atmosphere that was present after his victory over Lee.

Kyle Fletcher

The other half of Aussie Open, Kyle Fletcher has to be considered the tournaments underdog, with no singles match victories in FCP. In fact, his only win came in a trios match, teaming with Omari and Millie McKenzie against now partner Mark Davis, Shane Strickland and Fire Ant in August. Aussie Open have had success elsewhere, but in Fight Club: Pro things haven't been as easy and that narrative translates to Fletcher's solo performances also. One of the most entertaining performers on the roster, with a fast-paced, highflying style, the Aussie Arrow is often the show-stealing performer wherever he goes, but can he pull one out the bag and steal the Infinity trophy? 

Millie McKenzie 

The tournament wild card is Millie McKenzie, having only made her debut in June in a losing effort to Kay Lee Ray. As an FCP trained performer, McKenzie has a massive connection with the FCP faithful, as fans attempt to jump on the hype train early for the 17 year old. An impressive weekend at September's Project Mayhem with a shock win over Jessica Havok and Kay Lee Ray in a three way and a powerful performance in a seven way contest that featured the likes of David Starr, Mark Haskins and Jordan Devlin and was eventually won by three time Open the Dream Gate Champion CIMA propelled her further into the collective consciousness of the BritWres community, with many making her their one to watch for 2018. We may still be in 2017, but with McKenzie's tenacity and brutal suplexes, it would be a fool who wrote off from a potential upset. 

The tournament is perhaps one of the most open for quite some time, with a number of potential winners amongst the pack. There's a tonne of stories that could be told with any one of the competitors winning or anyone of the competitors going out early or having a run through the final etc. I'm looking forward to seeing how FCP go about this, as they look to set the tone for the company going forward into next year.

The show will also feature appearances from former ROH World Champions Low Ki and Homicide, former CHIKARA Grand Champion Eddie Kingston and the current Fight Club: PRO Champion Chris Brookes (supposedly with broken CCK partner Kid Lykos in tow). What these four will be up to has yet to be announced, but it's FCP it'll be fucking brilliant whatever happens. If it sounds like your bag, there's still tickets available at fightclubpro.bigcartel.com

Preview by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

BritWres to Impress // PROGRESS // Southside // BLW [Nov. '17 Wk 4]

We've got another week full of British and Irish wrestling ahead of us and this week we focus on PROGRESS Wrestling in London on Sunday with Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life, a double header of Southside Wrestling Entertainment shows in Sheffield on Saturday with Queen of the Ring 2017 and Ill Manors 2017 and Grandslam from Big League Wrestling in Yeovil, Somerset on Sunday. So let's look at this week's BritWres to Impress! 

Also this week 

Thursday // TNT Extreme Wrestling A Cold Day in Hell // Liverpool // facebook.com/tntextremewres/

Saturday // Premier British Wrestling Live // Dumbarton, West Dumbartonshire // pbwwrestling.com 

Sunday // Over The Top Wrestling Contenders 4: Road to the Elite // Dublin // ottwrestling.com/

Sunday // PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life // London // progresswrestling.myshopify.com

Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life is PROGRESS Wrestling's penultimate show at The Electric Ballroom of 2017 and they've assembled the sort of varied card we've come to expect from the Strong-Style specialists.

The event will be headlined by Travis Banks' third PROGRESS World title defence against two time PROGRESS Atlas Champion, Matt Riddle.  Banks has been on fine form since winning the World Championship from Pete Dunne in September, holding back challenges from Keith Lee in October and Mark Andrews earlier this month, but now steps in the ring with arguably his most dangerous challenger to date. In fact, The Super King of Bros picked up a victory over the Kiwi Buzzsaw back in July, as well as picking up impressive singles victories over the likes of Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, WALTER and more in the last twelve months. Riddle may be one of the few in PROGRESS who can match Banks for popularity and the lively Electric Ballroom crowd will almost certainly be treated to brutal strikes, off the scale physicality and a submission showcase when Banks and Riddle go head to head on Sunday afternoon. 

On Sunday, Jinny and Dahlia Black go to war. This rivalry has been rumbling for months, told in a wonderful promo from Black here. Things reached a head at Chapter 57, with Jinny and Black unable to control their dislike for each other in a four way number one contenders match also including Alex Windsor and Candyfloss. Before the night was over the former friends were scrapping backstage with more than a few curses thrown in each others direction. That brings us to Chapter 58, where the two will collide in a No Disqualification match, with the added caveat that the winner will receive a match for the Women's Championship. As if the pair needed any more reason to beat the shit into each other! Things could get ugly at the Electric Ballroom.

The rest of the card is full of intriguing singles matches, such as Eddie Dennis bringing his new found bad attitude to face Jack Sexsmith. Dennis has shown that his attention is completely on former partner Mark Andrews, shouting "Fuck you Mark" moments before nailing Chuck Mambo with a forearm smash at Live at the Dome last week. Even if Sexsmith hasn't had a one on one match since July and no singles victories since May, if Dennis is looking elsewhere there's always the chance that "The Pansexual Phenomenon" could cause the upset...or Dennis could just beat the shit into him... There's also a Women's Championship match with Alex Windsor getting the title shot that she won at Chapter 57. Toni Storm has proven to be pretty unstoppable as the inaugural champion, putting away the likes of Candice LeRae, Kay Lee Ray and Laura Di Matteo, so Windsor will have to bring her A-game and the intensity that we saw from a backstage confrontation earlier in the month.

Also on the card is a rematch from Chapter 56 as Strangler Davis puts his Atlas Championship match opportunity on the line against wXw World Tag Team Champion Timothy Thatcher, Joseph Conner's PROGRESS singles debut against "Flash" Morgan Webster and a qualifying match for Tetsujin's Beauty in Combat II tournament as Chris Ridgeway faces Damon Moser.

Saturday // Southside Wrestling Entertainment Queen of the Ring 2017 // Sheffield // southsidewrestling.co.uk/

Saturday // Southside Wrestling Entertainement Ill Manors 2017 // Sheffield // southsidewrestling.co.uk

On Saturday, Southside return to Sheffied for the final time in 2017, presenting a double header at Corporation. Queen of the Ring 2017 takes place in the afternoon, before Ill Manors 2017 closes out the day in the evening.

The Queen of the Ring tournament debuted last year, with 3 time WWE Women's Champion Melina walking out the winner, after a victory over Kay Lee Ray in the final. This year's tournament features an array of internationally renowned female talent and perhaps none more so than Toni Storm. The current World of Stardom Champion has shown tournament acumen in 2017, winning PROGRESS' Natural Progression Series IV, the Cinderella Tournament and 5Star Grand Prix in STARDOM and wXw's Femmes Fatales, as well as reaching the semi-finals of WWE's Mae Young Classic. It's hard not to say that Storm is the favourite to take this tournament as well. Last year's finalist Kay Lee Ray is a 2 time Queen of Southside Champion and has won titles in ICW and WCPW in 2017, as well as reaching the finals of the Pro Wrestling: EVE title tournament. The always dangerous KLR faces Storm in the first round, a match that may very well decide the winner of the whole tournament! 

Another interesting first round collision pits Shanna against Sienna [Allysin Kay]. Shanna returns to Southside for the first time since March, having won titles in Japan and Germany, whilst Sienna debuts on the back of a year that has seen her hold both the Knockout's Championship in Impact Wrestling and GFW's Women's Championship. This could be a classic power vs. speed encounter. Also in first round action, Viper faces "Session Moth" Martina and current Queen of Southside Lana Austin looks to hold onto her title against debuting EVE Champion Sammii Jayne. A non-tournament scrap see's Kasey Owens go one on one with Saraya Knight.

When you look at the Ill Manors 2017 card, it's hard to look past the Triple Threat tag team bout. Scarlet & Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) have been wowing audiences all over in 2017, with a crazy amount of creative tag team offence and individual flair, including a trip to Southside in May, as well as appearance elsewhere in the UK for the likes of RevPro, Fight Club: Pro and Lucha Forever. #CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos) might have only appeared once for Southside (a loss to Magnus & Doug Williams in March) but there's no denying that they are one of the most entertaining duos on the circuit, with a knack for the underhanded tactic. They even took the CZW Tag Team Championships from Scarlet & Graves in May. To outsiders, GBH members Damian Dunne & Kip Sabian might seem like the outsiders, but anyone who has been paying attention to Southside knows that this pairing will be no pushovers. They're undefeated in three as a duo, including a win of Scarlet & Graves in May. Expect an action-packed, shenanigan fest, that will leave you trying to get your breath back.

Chris Ridgeway is yet to taste singles victory in Southside, but has impressed against some of the world's best including Sami Callihan, Cedric Alexander and Ophidian. On Saturday, he'll have the challenge of trying to record his first win against one of Germany's best the debuting Bad Bones. Ridgeway might be known as a heavy-hitter, with bag of intensity and fire, but he'll be giving up, at least, 60 lbs to his opponent on Saturday, who is also known for possessing brutal strikes and dominating opponents. Bones is the current wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion and anyone who is yet to catch him in action is sure to be impressed by the man Bitburg when turns up in Sheffield. This has all the makings of an absolute belter. 

The card also features the controversial Bram facing Adam Maxted, former Southside Heavyweight Champion Robbie X up against Brady Phillips, the odd couple pairing of "Session Moth" Martina and Joseph Conners opposite Alex Gracie and Shanna, El Phantasmo vs. Gabriel Kidd and a trios match with Kasey Owens, Kay Lee Ray and Sammii Jayne battling Saraya Knight, Lana Austin and Sienna.

Sunday // Big League Wrestling Grandslam // Yeovil, Somerset // twitter.com/blwwrestling

I'm not sure if we've ever covered Big League Wrestling here on Across the Pond Wrestling, but the group has created a good deal of buzz for their show at Westlands in Yeovil, Somerset on Sunday, through the combination of an inter-promotional rivalry and an international first main event. 

That international main event see's BLW Heavyweight Champion Alberto el Patron [Alberto Del Rio] go one on one with one half of the PWG World Tag Team Champions, Matt Riddle. There's very little denying that this is a big time match anywhere in the world, whether you're a fan of AEP or not, his credentials in WWE and Impact Wrestling mean that he is a top calibre name, whilst very few indy performers have the same buzz as Matt Riddle has had in 2017. The two both have history in Mixed Martial Arts and employ a variety of submissions, strikes and throws to control matches. Will AEP be able to hang with a man almost ten years his junior? Will Riddle's lack of experience count for or against him? We shall see on Sunday, but if the pair are motivated and connect, there's no reason why they can't put on a match that Yeovil will be talking about for a long time to come. 

The conflict between BLW and fellow Somerset promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling has been burning for quite some time. There's been twists and turns across a number of show's, including UPW's Final Resolution earlier this month. This leaves us with an Elimination match on Sunday as both promotion have selected five competitors to represent their brand. This includes UPW Champion Josh Bodom representing Team BLW, BLW Tag Team Champions Big Grizzly and Dave Mastiff on opposite sides and the BLW promoters brother, Adam Da Silva representing UPW! The full teams are as follows; Dave Mastiff, Dick Riley, The Brothers AWE and Adam da Silva for UPW, Josh Bodom, Sid Scala, Psycho Phillips, Big Grizzly and Chris Walker for BLW. That's two talented teams, but you just know that it's not going to go down without shenanigans and hijinks. Whichever promotion stands tall on Sunday, this match should end up being a great showcase for wrestling in the south west. 

Also on Sunday, the rivalry between Eddie Ryan and Chris Andrews culminates in a Street Fight, Harlem Bravado faces off with Dean Allmark in what should be an action-packed junior heavyweight clash, former tag team partners Kieran Bruce and Jake McCluskey go head to head and Mae Young Classic competitor Ayesha Raymond faces Jamie Hayter. The whole show is available on PPV via the Fite app.

We'd like to wish everyone competiting for PROGRESS, Southside, BLW, TNT, PBW, OTT and anywhere around the country this week the very very best. To the fans enjoy the action and don't forget to send your reviews to acrossthepondwrestling@hotmail.co.uk 

See ya next week for more BritWres to Impress!

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 

FCP DTTI Hangover (Live) Review

On 19th May, Fight Club: Pro found itself a new home at Starworks Warehouse in Wolverhampton and hosted the aftermath of their epic Dream Tag Team Invitational Easter weekender. The show featured a Six Man Scramble with Angelico, Jimmy Havoc, Jordan Devlin, Eddie Dennis, Dan Moloney and Clint Margera, the DTTI winners #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) facing off with the debuting Scarlet & Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) and The Hunter Brothers (Lee & Jim) and Travis Banks defending the FCP Championship against Trent Seven, as well as appearances from Kay Lee Ray, Joe Coffey, "The Regulator" Wolfgang, Kris Wolf and "Session Moth" Martina...but was it any good? Let's take a look, shall we? 

Pre-Show
Omari def. Dallaway, Johnny T & Fletcher 

These multi-man trainee "dark" matches had become a bit of a tradition towards the end of FCP's run at Fixxion, so it was nice to see them return for the Starworks show. These usually short and pacy matches work quite nicely at whetting the appetite for some a more substantial graps feast to come, like a nice soup with a crusty cob or whatever your starter of choice is...prawn cocktail, whatever. The first half of the bout was 1i1o type stuff, with a number of big strikes that left Omari with a bright red chest, then into the obligatory dive sequence, before a double german suplex spot was aided with an Omari enziguiri. For me, the best action on offer came when Kyle Fletcher and Omari went at it, putting together hard-hitting slick strike sequence as well cool spot with The Big O slingshotting to the inside and straight into a Fletcher superkick. Overall, the timing could have been better at points, but nothing that had a major effect and with this technically being a trainee dark match those kind of things are to be expected as the four being to iron out their creases. As with any starter this was a nice lead in for what was to come, without ever threatening to fully satisfy the hunger.   

Wolfgang def. Coffey 

The opener of the show proper was an interesting choice, as Wolfgang and Joe Coffey met in their most Southern match to date. Originally, Coffey and Wolfgang were scheduled to take part in a six man match, but Wolfie cut a quick promo and we had an all Scottish affair to kick things off in Wolverhampton. Now, I've thought about how to review this match more than probably any other match on the card, because in the moment, I just didn't get it. Not that I felt I'd seen a bad match, but one that just hadn't grabbed me in the way I perhaps expected it to do. Being the conscientious reviewer that I am and knowing that I'd enjoyed both guys on previous occasions, I thought I'd ask some of my wrassle pals what they thought and almost every single one of them seemed to have a higher opinion of the bout than I did.  I wouldn't say anyone raved about it, but they enjoyed the big lads battle, Marc Pearson noted the psychology in particular, but I still wasn't buying into it. 

I'm not sure why I did...not enjoy isn't the right phrase, because there was some lovely stuff and a few spots that I'll always pop for (Coffey's triple jump crossbody)...so perhaps the best term is fully appreciate. I'm not sure why I didn't fully appreciate this match. I've purposefully not gone back and watched it since, because I wanted to give my feelings on it from being there in the space and how it affected me. Perhaps it was the new venue, which is much more spacious than Fixxion and it took some getting used to the new atmosphere. Perhaps it was the ring breaking early on, when it looked like one of the board came at the very least loose on a bodyslam, which threw me a little off. Perhaps it was coming off a four man into a singles match that I expected to be a six man did something to me. I'm not sure. Looking back on my notes, it reads like a decent opener with some big spots like Coffey's running jump over the barricade and mid-rope moonsault from Wolfgang, before Wolfie picked up his first FCP after blocking a superplex and nailing The Howling. I'm looking forward to rewatching this and hopefully reappraising in the future, as well as getting to see how both fit into Starworks plans going forward. 

KLR def. Wolf

Kay Lee Ray's first FCP singles win against the debuting Kris Wolf from Stardom was a fun bout whilst it lasted but I came away a little disappointed. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this bout and I had a ball of a time watching it, but there just wasn't enough of it. After a technical start, the two had some jokes revolving around the height differential (KLR is 5' 8'' and Wolf just 4' 10'') including a surprise appearance from Viper to even the odds, we had KLR replying to Wolf biting her arm, by biting Wolf's tail and the two looking to use the new FCP set-up as much as possible. Kay Lee jumped off the barricade with a forearm and then Wolf used the new entrance way as a set off monkey bars, initially thrusting out for a kick and then transitioning into hurricanrana onto the floor. Creative stuff on the outside with the exploration of the new venue being a bit of theme for the whole show. 

Once the action returned to the ring I was expecting business to pick up. We'd seen flashes throughout the match with some fast paced roped running stuff and a cool succession of near falls, but by this point I was chomping at the bit to see Wolf and KLR hit top gear and by the bouts conclusion I don't think we got anywhere close to seeing what the pair could have done together. A couple of near falls for each, KLR off a Gory bomb and a wheelbarrow suplex for Wolf and it seemed like the bout was heading towards it's crescendo and then Kay Lee slapped on a koji clutch and that was that. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, perhaps some more firey exchanges, perhaps a gear change, perhaps some cool submission escapes and just a general build up of aggression towards a conclusion, but I certainly wasn't expecting Wolf to tap so quickly. I'm hoping we get a rematch between the two, depending on how long Wolf spends in the country, because a second match building on the stellar work done here would take away my needy complaints. I want more, dammit.    

#CCK def. Scarlet & Graves and Hunter Brothers 

With Mark Andrews off the card, The Hunter Brothers joined #CCK's Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos and the debuting Rockstar Pro regular's Scarlet & Graves' Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz in a superb three way tag team match as the first half main event. I both hate and love #CCK, sometimes at the same time. I don't know when it happened but Brookes & Lykos have developed into one of the slickest tag team acts in the world. Ever little detail they've added over the past year or so, after branching out from Attack! into FCP, IPW:UK, Southside and elsewhere, Brookes spitting and chucking water at lads, Lykos never shutting up and never being able to hit a brainbuster and also those sicking fucking tag moves, those little details make them so easy to hate, but so entertaining to watch at the same time. When the best boys controlled, first Wentz and then Jim Hunter, they held the crowd in just the right place for the madness that was about to come our way. 

Christ, once the momentum swung towards the Tipton and Ohio connection, as Jim tagged in Xavier things became a balls to the wall sprint, with a shed load of highspots and more sicking fucking tag moves than you could shake a shitty stick at. Dives to the outside from all four of our heroes, big strikes, the Hunters swinging into dropkick, the sweet gory blockbuster that CCK do and that's not even the half of it, as Scarlet & Graves also won over a number of new fans with their high energy offence. My notes on this match got gradually less descriptive as the bout went on, to the point where my final bullet point was "Finish is a series of ridiculous things seemingly all happening simultaneously. It is fucking marvellous". If that's not a good enough description for you, go and watch the match and come back and tell me I didn't get it spot on.  

Devlin def. Angelico, Havoc, Dennis, Moloney and Margera 

OTT's Jordan Devlin picked up a big win on his FCP debut in an eclectic six man scramble, that showcased a real mixed bag of performers and went all over the building. With a variety of different styles, movesets and personas, this was never going to be boring, especially with the crowd so intent on trying to get the attention of Dan Moloney. The mach started with a series of strikes, before the six men worked a lovely sequence where Devlin and Moloney thwarted dive attempts from Angelico and Eddie Dennis, before Jimmy Havoc and Clint Margera got the better of the villain, hit stereo suicide dives and Dennis and Angelico went up and over to the floor. It was a structurally simple opening, but non the less it was effective, with the initial denial of the fan favourite flips meaning they meant a whole lot more when we got them, and more, shortly after. 

Then, of course, there was the crowd brawling. Boy was there some crowd brawling. Starworks is much larger than Fixxion so it seemed like everyone decided to make the most of the extra space. The enjoyment of this kind of stuff usually depends on where you happen to situated in the room and how much you can actually see and with most of the action happening towards the bar area at the far end of the room and me sitting front row towards the entrance way, I didn't manage to catch a whole lot of this. There certainly was some brawling, in different combinations. With six men in the match it would've been cool to have seen them split off into pairs and head into different sections of the crowd, so there was something different for each area to focus their attentions on, but unfortunately the bulk seemed to occur in the large space at the far end of the room. There was a great spot with Devlin reversing a Havoc piledriver into a backbody drop on the bar, which caused an odd series of hanging lightbulbs to swing about, as well as a sequence of back and forth forearms with the six sat opposite each other, however. 

Once back in the ring, the match produced its best action with some interesting combinations battling it out. Dennis cleaned house with forearms out of various situations, Margera and Moloney put together a good section together, Margera took an acid rainmaker as Havoc shouted "I'm sorry, I love you" for a nice pop and Dennis took out both the Callous Hearts with a Fallaway Slam/Samoan drop combination, a solid mixture of sleek sequences, back and forth wrestling, comedic near falls and multi-man spots. I would've liked to have seen a few more highspots making the most of the sheer numbers involved in the match, but that nitpicking didn't make this any less enjoyable. The finish saw each man consecutively taken out of contention with the aforementioned combination move from Dennis keeping Margera and Havoc down, before Moloney removed Dennis from the equation with a sitout fireman's carry facebuster, Angelico took out Moloney with a turnbuckle crucifix powerbomb, leading into a wicked Devlin package piledriver that gave the WWE UK competitor a surprising debut victory. 

Purser def. Martina in a Fans Bring the Alcohol Match 

I'm still trying to come to terms with the Fans Bring the Alcohol match and to be honest with you, I don't think that I ever will completely. Referee Shay Purser's first FCP show since turning 18 saw him facing off with notorious boozehound and potential sexual deviant Martina with the fans supplying the alcohol, because it would've been weird if they'd bought their own booze with them. Most of my notes on this bout were single words, written in all caps, for example..."CHRIST". There was drinking, there was singing, there was referee Joel Allen wearing a bin bag, there was a pissed up version of an international, there was bronco busters for anyone who wanted one and it all felt like some kind of glorious dream. The kind of dream that you awake from with a start, slightly confused and questioning everything you once knew to be true. This probably wasn't a match for all, I'm not even sure if it was for me, but it certainly was an experience I won't forget in a hurry. 
  
JOEL DRIED THE RING. WELL DONE JOEL!

Banks def. Seven to retain FCP Championship 

Trent Seven and Travis Banks had been to war with each other before in FCP. Back at Rise Against in March 2016 when a frustrated came out with the victory in only Banks' second match in the promotion, before nine months Trav picked up his first singles win in FCP in a thrilling conclusion to the Infinity tournament. This match took a slightly different angle, as whilst Trent had become the default heel back in December due to the sheer investment the Fixxion crowd had in Banks' losing streak story, there was no mistaking that Seven was the villain here as the challenger cheap shotted the champion out of a handshake and we were off to the races. These two lads are two of the hardest hitters currently residing on our island and holy balls on a typewriter did they hit each other hard here. Strong style kicks and forearms and chops, brawling out into the crowd and doing a wonderful version of the spot where Seven misses a chop using the trussing for the lighting rig, when Seven and Banks face off you know you're going to get something physical, the kind of wrestling that makes you wince in a weird pleasure you're not quite sure how to deal with. 

Once the early brawling was done with, the two found the kitchen sink and through that at each other as well (obviously metaphorically, just in case you were wondering). The two went back and forth hitting big high impact moves, including a series of german suplexes one after the other, a dragon suplex, a seven star lariat and a burning hammer from Seven, a springboard roundhouse kick, a ringpost crotching and double stomp from Banks. Each move looked great, hit with ferocity and intent and that's not even the half of it. The proceedings seemed to get sillier and the reactions got louder as the match went on with each near fall seeming more improbable than the last. Banks kicked out a piledriver, Seven kicked out of a ridiculous coast to coast and then the champ kicked out of an avalanche piledriver, because why the fuck not? The best (or worst, if you're a miserable old bellend) part is that that wasn't even the daftest part of the match. Oh no, as we learned that Travis is pretty much indestructible as he took his third piledriver of the match and bounced back to his feet and the crowd went apeshit, before taking another dragon suplex and no selling the fuck out of that bad boy as well. A roundhouse kick and Kiwi Crusher later and Banks was still our Fight Club: Pro Champion after a thrilling 20 minutes of international strong style professional wrestling. I could watch Travis Banks v Trent Seven every day for the rest of my life and twice on Sundays and never get bored. Each of their matches in FCP has had it's own flavour, using different stories and situations to drive them, but always include great striking, crisp and dynamic big moves, some wonderful facial expression and terrific, awe-inspiring near falls. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.88/10

A very good debut show at Starworks for Fight Club: Pro and whilst I'm not completely sold on the new venue just yet, I am still sold on the wrestling content. Was the show on the same level as the Dream Tag Team Invitational weekend? No, but it didn't particularly need to be. I think the show took a while to find it's stride, but once the first half main event had blown me away with #CCK, Scarlet & Graves & The Hunter Brothers, the show didn't look back with a wonderfully varied second half, that concluded with main event owning the match of the night spot as Travis Banks and Trent Seven did what they do best. I can't wait to see what FCP has in store for us as we had into the summer, especially when Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate are available and there's not a chance I'm missing a single show.

Photo Credit - The Ringside Perspective.