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
