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 

Femmes Fatales 2017 Review - Toni Storm vs. Viper [Live]

On 7th October 2017, wXw held Femme Fatales 2017 at the Turbinhalle in Oberhausen, North-Rhine Westphalia. The show took the form of a seven-woman knockout tournament, featuring Wesna, Toni Storm, Melanie Gray, Viper, Jinny, Laura di Matteo and Killer Kelly with Wesna receiving a bye to the Semi-Final stage, as well as a non-tournament match between Jaxon Stone and Dirty Dragan. But was it any good live? Lets take a look! 

Femmes Fatales 2017 Round One Match: Toni Storm def. Jinny (7:05)

A decent opener, between two familiar opponents, in what turned out to be the strongest bout of the first round. Having faced off previously in WWE, PROGRESS, RevPro and Lucha Forever, it was evident that the pair were more than comfortable in the ring, stringing together a number of neat sequences, aided by clear character definition and the pairs ability to hold a crowd with their personas on both sides of the coin. The action was solid all the way through, with a couple of nice little touches, like Jinny selling the knee after connecting with a knee strike, that elevated the clash, even if there wasn't a particular standout series. The only slice of action that didn't come off quite as well as it could was Jinny's Face Lift (Middle Rope Facebuster), which ended up looking awkward from Storm to take, which in turn meant that the subsequent near fall lost a bit of the power that it might have had the move been performed perfectly. A German suplex and Strong Zero Piledriver put Storm through to a Semi-Final clash with Wesna. 

Femmes Fatales 2017 Round One Match: Viper def. Melanie Gray (4:55) 

An awful lot of sentons and not much else in all honesty, this bout was too brief to produce anything to get your teeth into. It did however look Viper look like a force to be reckoned with in the tournament, as she withstood a spear through the ropes to take a victory following a powerbomb and Michonoku Driver II.

Femmes Fatales 2017 Round One Match: Laura Di Matteo def. Killer Kelly (5:08)

This match was short and pretty uneventful, despite a cool intensity about both performers. I think, the bouts main problem was that neither performer felt differentiated enough from the other, at least from this reviewers vantage points. They both did a lot of MMA style strikes and general jostling, but not a whole lot anything else, with Kelly hitting a German suplex and a missile dropkick from Laura Di Matteo being the only things that I actually noted about the fight. The bouts pacing made it feel like it was going a lot longer than the previous two matches, as the first five minutes was a mash slow strikes, only for the final few seconds to head into a submission victory for LDM, that I actually think I ended up missing, because I was expecting at least another five minutes based on how the ladies had paced the earlier five. 

Femmes Fatales 2017 Semi-Final Match: Viper def. Laura Di Matteo (5:15) 

The best match on the show not involving Toni Storm, thanks to a simple story being well-performed. It was hardly a creative classic, but Viper vs. Laura Di Matteo took the Mae Young Classic formula and stuck to it as the power vs. speed narrative came to the forefront once again. Viper dominated LDM throughout, with the smaller competitor unable to knock down the Scot for a good portion. The best work of the bout was based around LDM going for a tornado DDT, with Viper initially able to counter the move into a Northern lights suplex, but moments later after Viper missed a diving senton, a missile dropkick gave the PROGRESS grappler the opportunity to nail the move for a good near fall. This only ended up making Viper like even more of a favourite to walk the tournament as she earned the victory with another Michonoku Driver II to book her place in the final.

Femmes Fatales 2017 Semi-Final Match: Toni Storm def. Wesna (8:10)

A wild brawl, that grabbed the audience from the get go and came out as the match of the show on the otherside. Big chops and a Toni Storm suicide dive began things as the pair meant to go on, as the 2 time GSW Ladies Champion combined with the current World of Stardom Champion. The melee on the outside was completely different to anything else of the show, with a visceral edge that was hard to look away from as the two went at it on the rows of chairs, ending with a painful looking suplex from Storm onto the hard plastic and metal. The action in the ring was just as good, if not better, with a ferocity behind every move, as Storm attempted multiple times to the Strong Zero piledriver that had seen her advance from Round One. Both got a couple of neat near falls in, with the best coming with Wesna catching Storm on the top rope and nailing a death valley driver, before a well-worked finishing sequence had Wesna initially escape a Strong Zero and get a two count off a sunset flip, only for a Storm headbutt and a snap Strong Zero to see the Aussie through to the final. 

Before the final, Jaxon Stone was out and cut an Anti-Women's wrestling promo, before being interrupted by Dirty Dragan, who wanted to fight Stone for the honour of Women's wrestling...it was better than it sounds.

Dirty Dragan def. Jaxon Stone (7:37) 

I can see some people really, really not liking this match, partly for being a male match on a female show, partly for being a comedy match and partly because those people are a little bit dull. However, I got a kick out of this as Dirty Dragan and Jaxon Stone wrestled a stereotypical piss-break women's match that wouldn't have been out of place on any WWE PPV in the naughties. Spanking, tripping, ass, more ass, the handstand rana thing in the corner, rolling with the ref, bronco busters and pillows all ended up happening in what was a pretty fun, heavily stylised piece of meta-theatre. The finish featured perhaps the best piece of no-selling in wrestling history with Dragan popping straight back up from a DDT onto a pillow. My main criticism would be that it slightly outstayed its welcome, being the second longest bout on the show to that point (with the previous segment the two probably got more time than anything else on the card).  

Femmes Fatales 2017 Final Match: Toni Storm def. Viper (7:46) 

A paint-by-numbers final, that used what had gone before well to create drama, but could have done with another five minutes to tell the story effectively and arguably even longer to have felt like an important tournament final. The match moved logically from one sequence to the next, with the pair working very well together in a crisp and impactful encounter, that bordered on the clinical at times. It was clear that the two were familiar from their clashes in WWE, Stardom, PCW, HOPE and Lucha Forever, with a real syncopated feel, not quite going through the motions, that would be unfair to say, but there was certainly sense that the two had done this match or a variation of it before. Both would get nearfalls of the moves that had won two matches previously, with Viper kicking out of Strong Zero and Storm surviving a Michonoku Driver II, playing well of the tournament setting and the work that had gone in on the rest of the show. Storm's victory came after a flurry of offence out of a fiery back and forth exchange, as ripcord spin kick and diving headbutt were enough to lead to a repeat result of the Mae Young Classic Quarter Final. This was a better match than I've conveyed in the preceding paragraph, I simply wanted more from it.

Toni Storm winning this tournament was a fitting result as she was the real standout of the tournament, opening it with energy against Jinny, having the match of the show against Wesna and closing with another chapter of her rivalry with Viper in the final. The 21 year old Aussie is on fire right now, not just in her technical ring work, but also growing in ability to control a crowd with her persona. Not many could come out three times on the same show and own the space as much as Storm did here. The tournament as whole wasn't a must-watch show, the majority of the wrestling was decent, with a few examples on either side of that. I would be interested to see how the women involved in this tournament, especially the likes of Storm, Viper, Wesna and Jinny would have performed had they been given just a little more time to tell their stories and to weave deeper narratives into their bouts and the tournament as a whole. In-Ring the show went less than an hour, which is not enough time for a six match tournament and a non-tournament bout to fully develop, in my opinion.

Review by James Marston