Wrestle Ropes' Ready for the Weekend: November 2015 Week 4

We're fast approaching yet another weekend in the British Wrestling calendar and once again we are taking a look at just a small selection of the shows taking place. Let's get Ready For The Weekend!

Up first on Friday night, Scottish Wrestling Alliance are at The Lagoon Centre in Paisley, Glasgow. The event shall mark the Scottish debut of 'The Aerial Assassin' Will Ospreay. And what a début he is in for as he faces 'Scotland's Best Young Wrestler' Lewis Girvan. Will Ospreay has been tearing it up all over England as well as participating in this year's Pro Wrestling Guerilla's BOLA tournament. Lewis Girvan has not been having a quiet year himself as he has competed against some of the finest athletes in Scotland today including Drew Galloway. Ospreay will no doubt impress many new fans on Friday night as he makes his Scottish debut but he's facing the very best that Scotland has to offer in young talent. This match could be the match of the weekend. When speaking about the best that Scotland has to offer, a name that is often in any person's list is Mark Coffey. While often seen as part of Polo Promotions, Mark Coffey is not called 'The Real Deal' for nothing and is accomplished in singles action as he is in a team. On November 27th he will get a chance to prove that as he challenges Drew Galloway for the SWA Heavyweight Championship. Galloway won the championship in this very venue in Paisley. We could see another champion crowned on Friday as Mark Coffey will bring his A-game and give Galloway everything he has. The main event shall see Grado facing Mikey Whiplash. A must-see match for any wrestling fan. However, this match will have an added dimension as it has been announced that Gavin 'Boaby The Barman' Mitchell from hit BBC comedy show, Still Game shall be the special enforcer for this match. Grado will have the fans well behind him in Paisley but he faces one of the best technically sound wrestlers in Whiplash. Mikey Whiplash is as smart as he is dangerous and Grado will need to stay one step ahead of him to have a chance at picking up the win.

Full Card

*SWA Heavyweight Championship*

Drew Galloway (c) vs ‘The Real Deal’ Mark Coffey

*SWA Scottish Junior Heavyweight Championship*

Kenny Williams vs ‘Flyin’ Ryan Griffin (c)

*England Vs Scotland: Special Guest Enforcer – Gavin ‘Boaby The Barman’ Mitchell*

Mikey Whiplash vs Grado

‘Iron Man’ Joe Coffey vs ‘Hardcore Icon’ Jack Jester

Lewis Girvan vs ‘The Aerial Assassin’ Will Ospreay

Courtney vs Viper

‘Global Hero’ Joe Hendry vs DCT

Jack Gallagher vs Jackie Polo

Moving on to Saturday and Shropshire Wrestling Alliance are back at the Dawley Town Hall in Telford with 'GoldRush 2015'. The evening will feature two championship matches, one involving a ladder and a rumble to crown a new number contender. As we said their will be a championship match involving a ladder. The championship in question is the SWA British Lions Championship. Tyler Bate has been a fighting champion since winning the championship. This match will be his greatest challenges as he face not one but five other opponents in the shape of Mark Andrews, Nixon Newell, Drew Parker, Chris Brookes & Mike Bird. Any one of these challengers would be a worthy and challenging opponent. Add in the fact that ladders will play a vital part in the outcome of the match and really anyone could be working out of Telford as the SWA British Lions Champion this Saturday. The other championship on the line on November 28th will be the SWA Heavyweight Championship. Dan Moloney made his intentions clear at 'British Lions 2015' when he attacked reigning champion, Ryan Smile after the main event. With Moloney in possession of a guaranteed championship match, SWA had no choice but to grant the 'Super Beast' his demand. While Moloney will look to deliver another beating to The All Day Star and take the SWA Heavyweight Championship, Smile shall be out to gain retribution on the blind-sided attack that he received the last time that these two men were in the same ring. Saturday night will witness former tag team partners come face to face in a match. Chris Ridgeway and Damian Dunne are both on a quest to pick up a big win in SWA. These former partners did not part on good terms so there may be a little more spice in their offence against each other. There is a lot for both men to prove. Who is the better man and who will finally get the win they desperately want.

Full Card

*SWA Heavyweight Championship*

‘Super Beast’ Dan Moloney vs ‘All Day Star’ Ryan Smile (c)

*SWA British Lions Championship: Six-Way Ladder Match*

‘Calamari Catch’ Chris Brookes vs ‘Boy Next Door’ Drew Parker vs ‘White Lightning’ Mark Andrews vs ‘Ginger Jesus’ Mike Bird vs Nixon Newell vs Tyler Bate (c)

*15-Man Over The Top Rope Goldrush Rumble*

Winner Become Number One Contender To The SWA Heavyweight Championship

‘The Kid’ Ethan Silver vs ‘The Juice’ CJ Banks

‘The Priority’ Chris Ridgeway vs ‘Number One’ Damian Dunne

Finishing the weekend, Kamikaze Pro are at the The Cadbury Club in Birmingham with a stacked show where every championship will be up for grabs. One title on the line will be the Kamikaze Pro Championship as Robbie X will defend against Juventud Guerrera. Robbie X has been a fighting champion for over a year now. His opponent, Juventud Guerrera has held championship in almost every company he's wrestled in. Robbie has defeated some of the best in Kamikaze Pro as well as those from further afield during his reign. He faces as big a challenge as any now though in the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, who will look to add to his impressive list of accolades. November 29th will see one man who loves to cheat face a man who loves violence. This Sunday will see Marshall X faces Clint Margera in a no disqualification match. Marshall X is renowned for cheating during matches in any way he can. That won't be an issue for his when he face Clint Margera as he can do anything he wants. While that would normally be of benefit to Marshall X, his opponent Clint Margera is a man who will do anything. He is a lover of violence and the use of weapons. Marshall X may find that he's against a man who likes do anything it takes to win more than even he does. The main event for 'Frost Fight 3' will see 'The Man Beast' face 'The Super Beast' as Rhyno competes against Dan Moloney. Dan Moloney is the current Money In The Bank holder and has continued to get better as Kamikaze Pro has grown. He's now one of the promotion's top athletes. His opponent needs little introduction as a former ECW Champion and a current member of NXT. Rhyno is still as impressive as he ever was and will bring Dan Moloney a challenge that he has rarely faced before. However, Moloney will look to show Rhyno that there is room for only one beast in Kamikaze Pro and he's not planning on giving up that place any time soon.

Full Card

‘The Man Beast’ Rhyno vs ‘The Super Beast’ Dan Moloney

*Kamikaze Pro Championship*

Robbie X (c) vs Juventud Guerrera

*Relentless Division Championship*

‘Dynamite’ Pete Dunne (c) vs ‘Lights Out’ Tyler Bate

*Kamikaze Pro Tag Team Championship*

The Hunter Brothers (Lee & Jim Hunter) (c) vs The Bigger Picture (‘Number One’ Damian Dunne & ‘All Day Star’ Ryan Smile)

*No Disqualification*

‘The Badman’ Marshall X vs Clint Margera

‘The Wonderkid’ Jonny Storm vs ‘The Phoenix’ Jody Fleisch

Nixon Newell & Toni Storm vs Shanna & Chardonnay

*Fatal Four-Way*

‘The Big O’ Omari vs Mika ‘The Polish Punisher’ vs ‘The Wolf of Broad Street’ Elliott Jordan vs ‘The Pharaoh’ Malik

That wraps up this week's preview of the weekend's wrestling schedule. Of course, there are many more events taking place over the three days. To find out more about the shows we've highlighted here as well as all the others, check us out at www.wrestleropesuk.wordpress.com for the latest show and match announcements, British Wrestling event list and more

Kamikaze Pro Monster Live Review

In front of their biggest Bournville crowd to date, Kamikaze Pro presented Monster at Cadbury Club. Headlined by an appearance former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Abyss, the show also featured a number of established and up and coming British names including Relentless Division Champion Marshall X, Chris Brookes, Clint Margera, Damian Dunne, Dan Maloney, Ethan Silver, Project Lucha, Ryan Smile, The Hunter Brothers and more in action.

Kamikaze Pro Ring Announcer/General Manager Lawrie Neal opened the show with his usual energetic opening, in front of a congregation that featured a nice mixture of familes and adult males who were very receptive from the beginning.

A Monday Night RAW-esque opening segment followed, with current Kamikaze Pro Champion Robbie X accompanied by his cohorts from So Scandalous. It was a simple but effective segment, with the group running down their achievements in the promotion and seemingly now going by the name The Bigger Picture, before Neal snapped and placed Robbie X's title match with Kay Lee Ray as the opening bout of the show. Whilst the three Bigger Picture teammates all put in competent efforts on the microphone with maybe a little too much shouting, it was Neal that put in the star performance here for me, being both believable in his role of down-trodden boss man and getting the crowd hyped for the upcoming clash.

One Fall Match for the Kamikaze Pro Championship

Robbie X (C) 

vs. 

Kay Lee Ray

This match worked like a charm, for one simple reason, it's easy to hate Robbie X and it's easy to cheer for Kay Lee Ray. The two performers took advantage of a crowd that was completely into everything that was going on to put together an enjoyable encounter. Kay Lee especially put in a strong performance, with some superb facial expressions getting over her frustration and pain when unable to put Robbie X away with a series of nice near falls. Whilst the wrestling was solid throughout, it was the big highspots that stand out amongst the crowd, with both wrestlers taking big bumps during with Kay Lee getting sent into the ringside chairs standing out as particular highlight of the bout, for sheer visuals alone. Unfortunately the finish didn't quite work for me, as Kay Lee seemed to have the contest finished with a Gori-Bomb, only for Ryan Smile to jump up on the apron as the referee was about to count to three. It's about points like this when it becomes difficult to suspend disbelief, as I couldn't get my head around the referee not just counting to three at this point. Things would have been just fine had Smile pulled the referee out of the ring instead, surely? With Robbie X retaining his title thanks to a school boy roll up, it was a shame to see a match that was entertaining, end with the unsatisfactory finish.

Winner - Robbie X via pinfall

One Fall Tag Team Match 

Omari & Liam Doyle 

vs. 

"The Polish Punisher" Mika & "The Wolf of Wall Street" Elliot Jordan

This is a difficult one to review, because it features four competitors from Kamikaze Pro's training school, all of whom have had limited experience in front of a live crowd. However, due to this encounter being featured on a main show, and not on separate academy match or as a pre-show, it would unfair of me to review it in a fashion different from how I would approach any other contest on the card. To their credit, all four of these men were nicely over with the Cadbury Club, with Omari especially seeming to have special connection with the crowd. All four also looked very comfortable in front of a crowd, with Mika and Elliot Jordan looking strong and confident in their character during a smattering of interactions with those at ringside. 

The match was a basic tag team contest structure, with Doyle taking the majority of the beatings from the heel duo. It was a shame to see Doyle's gimmick (that of a drunken Irishman) never really play apart in the bout, in which anyone else could have been playing Doyle's role. Also, after taking a rather long beating, for Doyle to seem perfectly fine after the hot tag was a real shame, essentially rendering the previous sequence redundant. Not having Doyle take a swig from his whisky bottle to fire himself up again seemed like a missed opportunity. A handful of the bumps weren't as crisp as they should have been, with the finish seeing Omari hit an awkward Modified lifting reverse STO (think NXT's Baron Corbin's End of Days) standing out. Whilst Doyle, Omari, Jordan and Mika all showed some potential here, there's still a long road ahead for these four trainees.

Winners - Omari & Doyle via pinfall

Six Way Elimination Match for the Kamikaze Pro Relentless Division Championship

"Bad Man" Marshall X

vs.

"All Day Star" Ryan Smile

vs.

"Number 1" Damian Dunne

vs.

Ethan Silver

vs.

Dan Maloney

vs.

Chris Brookes

Almost as if Kamikaze took notes from our Fight Club: Pro review last week, this match was made an elimination matchup and given plenty of time. There was strong performance from all involved, but Ethan Silver's outing in the early section of the contest jumps to mind straight away. Silver took an extended beating from the likes of Damian Dunne, Ryan Smile and their untrusting ally for the bout, Dan Maloney. Silver's stature made him the perfect guy to have this spot, bringing to mind TNA's Mark Andrews in his ability to garner support from the crowd from taking a beating. His sequence with Dan Maloney a little further into the clash showed an ability to mix it up with the bigger man, and create an exciting back and forth sequence. 

The match kept a great pace throughout, with things ebbing and flowing nicely, with some exhilarating dive sequences that one would expect of a division entitled "Relentless", with Smile's conhilo over the ringpost being the cream of the crop (even if the pop didn't further his cause as a top heel in the company). Alongside those highspots, there was a lot of storyline and character development, with the continuing efforts of Smile, Dunne and Maloney to dominate Silver and Brookes, whilst Marshall X did his best to stay out of everyone's way, with the bout sharing similarities with a tag team elimination encounter at times. 

Marshall X would go on to retain his title for the second time, after things had been whittled down to just he and Brookes. Marshall's performance throughout the whole match, in term of character, made this finish extremely satisfying to watch, whilst also getting a great reaction from the crowd. From staying out of the ring for as long as he could, to stealing a pinfall on Silver after a disqualified Maloney had attacked Silver with a TKO, to getting Smile disqualified by throwing Smile a steel chair with the referee's back turn (Marshall had already hit Brookes with the chair), it was difficult not to be frustrated to see Marshall not get his comeuppance at the end of the contest, in all of the right ways. 

Order of Elimination

1st - Maloney via disqualification
2nd - Silver via pinfall (from Marshall X)
3rd - Dunne via submission (from Brookes)

4th - Smile via disqualification
5th - Brookes via pinfall (from Marshall X)

Winner - Marshall X

After, the match, Lawrie Neal announced that Marshall would defend the title at Brute Force in Great Barr on August 29th, against a returning Pete Dunne. With Neal referencing that Dunne was still in China, Dynamite coming out and battering Marshall X got a great reaction from the crowd. With the two both hot with the crowd in their respective roles, their bout on August 29th may very well steal the show.

The interval was a length half an hour, that did seem to go on for an age. Lawrie Neal welcomed us back to the show, in a shortened version of his opening for the first half, which was much needed after that lengthy interval.

One Fall Tag Team Match for the Kamikaze Pro Tag Team Championship

The Hunter Brothers (C)

vs.

Project Lucha

It would be almost impossible for these four men to have a bad encounter, wouldn't it? One of the most established tag teams in the country and two of top singles stars in the country, this was a smooth, quick paced tag team match that worked well as the opener for the second half of the show. A back and forth affair that saw both teams trading tags, and seemingly just having a great time inside the ring working with each other (as their Twitter accounts would stand testament to). A highlight for me was a spot that saw Martin Kirby through Jim into the bar area (almost the whole width of the building), allowing Lucha to dominate and get a very nice near fall because of it.

When the contest finished following the Hunter's swing into low dropkick signature double team move on Kirby (even this was a call back to an attempt at the move earlier on in the match) I'd have to say I was a tad disappointed. I wasn't entirely ready for things to end and was expecting both teams to really push things into the next gear for another three or four minutes before the close of the bout. That's more of a statement on my sky high expectations of all four men, than it does for the actual match itself. It would be great to see these two teams go at it again in a different slot on the card, or even without the lengthy interval before hand which, alongside both teams working babyface, took a little out of the crowd. A good tag team contest, that could have been better.

Winners - The Hunter Brothers by pinfall

One Fall Match

Sebastian Radclaw Ruby Summers

vs.

"The Chavette" Chardonnay

With Sebastian Radclaw off the show, this match took a bit of turn becoming a "Fighting Females" division matchup with Ruby Summer stepping in to replace Radclaw. A rather basic match would follow, with three errors that stand out in particular hurting my enjoyment of proceedings. Firstly, Chardonnay kicking out of a well-done Fisherman's suplex bang on the count of two felt like a huge waste of a big move that could have worked as a nice false finish, and secondly, the referee counting a pinfall on Ruby when her shoulders were clearly off the mat, and finally, the finish of the contest that saw Chardonnay lock in a crossface with Ruby's legs way past the ropes, and instead of Ruby calling for the ref to break the hold with Chardonnay moving her to middle of the ring and getting more heat doing so, Ruby moved her legs inside the ring and held them up in the air away from the ropes, before tapping out. 

Winner - Chardonnay by submission 

A wild raffle appeared, much to the wonderment of all in attendance.

Monster's Ball 

"The Monster" Abyss

vs.

Clint Margera

If you came to this show to see Abyss then you wouldn't have been disappointed by this one, as it worked almost as "Best of Abyss" situation with The Monster running through a series of his best-known spots and moves, including ending up with chair to the nads, chokeslam, black hole slam and an appearance of his favourite weapon Janice, the only thing that was really missing here was a Shock Treatment. That isn't to say that Clint Margera was merely there to make up the numbers and take Abyss' offence, the Wolverhampton fellow look impressive in there also, bringing out a number of weapons that suited the match-type. The start of the bout with Margera standing face to face with Abyss was a great moment, that was well-performed by both men.

Exactly what you would have expected if you were aware of either man, a brutal hardcore clash that spilled across the Cadbury Club, including a spot that saw Abyss go through a table on the outside. Steel chairs, baking trays, tables, thumb tacks and Janice all sent the crowd into a wild frenzy, as everyone in attendance lapped every moment of this match up with "Holy Shit" chants a plenty, especially when Margera took a chokeslam onto the tacks for a near fall. The finish came soon after as Abyss hit a Blackhole Slam to pick up the victory, much to the delight of the Bournville crowd. It was an occasion where having the import go over the regular was the right thing to, with Abyss putting Margera over after the contest, and putting him over strong. It would seem Margera has turned babyface in Kamikaze Pro, a role that he excels in for Fight Club: Pro up the road in the Wolverhampton, so it will interesting to see how his character progresses in the promotion over the next few months.

Finally...

In front of an animated Bournville crowd, Kamikaze Pro provided an enjoyable show, that had a little bit of something for everyone. The three title matches all provided plenty of entertainment with the Six-Man Elimination bout narrowly claiming the Match of the Night from me. Abyss came across as a hard working import, who seemed out to help the promotion and Clint Margera, rather than just take an easy paycheck. The other two matches weren't close to being able to compete with the rest of the card, but at least the four trainees continued to show promise in their on-going development.

The record crowd (just under 300 people) inside the Cadbury Club shows that Kamikaze is doing something right in Bournville and I'm pretty certain the majority of those in attendance will be back on 27th September when the company rolls into the venue again, and on the strength of this show, they may bring even more with them. 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.42

Kamikaze Pro Hostile Takeover 2 Review

Kamikaze Pro's first show of the year took place at the Collingwood Centre in Great Barr on 21st February 2015, with former WWF Tag Team Champion's Too Cool in attendance, challenging So Scandalous' Ryan Smile and Damian Dunne. Elsewhere on the show, Marshall X went up against The Magnums' "Dirty" Dick Riley and Robbie X put the Kamikaze Pro Championship up against El Ligero. It had been three months since the last Kamikaze show, but would it be worth the wait?

Tag Team Match

Too Cool vs. So Scandalous 

 

I had one request going into this match, and I'm many people shared the same request. I wanted to see Scotty 2 Hotty hit the Worm on someone. I didn't care who, I didn't care how, but I wasn't leaving the Collingwood Centre without seeing a Worm. I would have literally caught Scotty 2 Hotty in a net, and forced him to perform the move if by the end of the show he hadn't performed that move. Luckily for Scotty, he did perform the move and to the delight of the fans in attendance it was to both Ryan Smile and Damian Dunne. I lost my head as the nostalgia mist descended, belting out "DOUBLE YOU-OHHHH-AAAAARRRR-EEEEEEEMMMM" at the top of my voice.

Apart from the Worm, how did the rest of match fare? Entertaining is the word, that would most fairly some up. Whilst I don't think anyone would tell you the match was a technical masterclass, everyone involved in the match worked hard to make it as entertaining as it could have been. Hotty and Sexay clearly know their limitations in 2015 and Smile and Dunne's sneaky heel tactics to stay in control of the middle section of the match kept the crowd engaged in the action. As larger than life as Too Cool can be, So Scandalous matched them every step of the way. 

The match was laid out nicely, with a few big spots that allowed the match to peak at the right times. Smile teasing hitting Sexay's signature Hip Hop Drop on Hotty, whilst bad mouthing Sexay, only to miss the move, felt like a big moment because of what was built around it. Classic tag team moves like the Double Noggin' Nocker and just whipping your opponents into each other were also on offer from Too Cool. The strongest wrestling section of the match came between Hotty and Dunne who did string together a decent sequence of action.

With Smile and Dunne picking up the win, with Smile escaping the first Worm attempt with a roll up whilst holding the ropes, it gives them momentum as a team going forward, as even though they got battered post-match they can talk about how they beat former WWF Tag Team Champions, and get even more under the fans skins. Personally, with Smile and Dunne part of a three way bout for the Relentless Championship on March 8th, I would have liked to have seen one of the pair leave the other to take the Worm solo, to add an extra element to their bout on the next show. 

Singles Match

Dick Riley (with Chris Walker) vs. Marshall X

Dick Riley gives one lucky fan some attention.

Beginning the second half, this match may very well have stolen the show. Two (or three) big characters going head to head in a psychology-based match up, it was almost as if they knew I'd be reviewing the show! Following an arm wringer that caught Riley across the top rope, Marshall X (No relation to Kamikaze Pro Champion Robbie X) went to work with a series of moves focused on the arm, including a lovely arm-trap scoop slam and a dropkick with the arm caught in the ropes. Of course, this type of match would fall apart without the appropriate selling, and luckily Riley pulled this off almost perfectly, with little hints and touches throughout his comebacks to how much pain his arm was in and the match was all the better because of it.

The match built well towards it's climax, with all participants got involved as both Riley's tag team partner cum manager Chris Walker and the referee were dragged into the action. With the ref down, Marshall took out Walker with a steel chair, before Riley managed to dodge the chair himself, meaning the chair ricocheted off the ring ropes hitting Marshall in the face. But with the ref down and Riley unable to get the pin, that left things open for another chair shot from Marshall, this time directly to the injured arm of Riley, before locking in the third cross-armbreaker attempt of the match, with the referee making his recovery, Marshall made it seem like Riley was tapping out. A finish deserving of play-by-play, had me hooked and kept Riley looking strong, whilst keeping the heat on the dastardly Marshall X.

Despite an enjoyable technical encounter, it was the sheer adolescent enjoyment of hundreds of men shouting "We Want Dick" and various other chants, that had me howling in my seat. The comedy wasn't just bound to the fans however, as both Riley and Walker played up their Magnums personas, gyrating on fans laps, crotching Marshall on the ringpost and even getting some kids involved in the action, it was difficult not to get behind these two. Even Marshall has an air of comedy to his character, his over-the-top persona can be laugh out loud funny, whilst seeing him fail can be even funnier. Whilst this comedy could have potentially have detracted from the match, it was done sparingly and timed-well, allowing the more serious action to breathe.

After the bout, Marshall was straight out for a promo, asking for a match with Juventud Guerrera on 1st May, however General Manager/Ring Announcer Lawrie Neal revealed that the Rumble winner at Over The Top 2 on 29th March in Birmingham would win the right to face Guerrera on 1st May. However, Marshall would face an international star on 29th March, as he will take on TNA's Robbie E. To finish the segment Marshall lost his shit delivering telling Robbie that come 29th March it would be "GYM, TAN, WASTEMAN" A short segment, that set up two future matches nicely, can't really complain with that!

Kamikaze Pro Championship Match 

Robbie X (C) vs. El Ligero

If you've got us liked on Facebook, you'll most likely have seen El Ligero delivering a beautiful sit-out powerbomb to Robbie X during this match (in slow-motion for fulling effect). However, that was just the tip of the iceberg in what was a belting back and forth outing, with each man throwing a number of heavy hitting moves into the mix, with Ligero's aforementioned Sitout Powerbomb, as well as Robbie X's Brainbuster and Jumping DDT standing out as particular highlights. Seeing two men go at it like this made the title seem like something that was worth winning, and hopefully would have had those fans who'd come in for Too Cool chomping at the bit to make a return to Kamikaze Pro in the future.

Alongside the big moves, there was a strong foundation of storytelling, with a clear and visible divide between Ligero's excitable, Masked persona and the brash, annoying nobhead character of Robbie X. Robbie's really grown into this role, since turning heel at Born and Raised in July, and has added a few little touches to the character that make it easier to boo to him and get behind his opponent in a match. Teasing a Standing Shooting Star Press and not delivering is the mark of an utter bastard, as we all know. I haven't seen as much spitting since my last trip to the Llama enclosure at Dudley Zoo! Of course, it isn't exactly hard to get behind Ligero anyway, he wasn't one ATPW's Top British Babyfaces of 2014 for no reason! 

The two performers were clearly comfortable together in the ring, having worked together previously in Kamikaze Pro as well as other companies around the country, and bar a few minor slips on more high risk moves, the action was crisp throughout the match-up. Both men showed what they can do in a brawling scenario as well, battling around the crowd at the merchandise stands, before Ligero hit a dropkick on a seated Robbie. Robbie returned the favour by irish whipping Ligero into multiple chairs on the other sides of the centre. This intensity that the two bought to the performance made me clamour to see them put into a stronger feud, as you could sense that if given a full storyline to get their teeth into Robbie X and El Ligero could really shine.

After Robbie X picked up the win, following a Schoolboy roll up and with more than a handful of Ligero's colourful tights, he moves to face the veteran Jonny Storm at Storm Warning in Bournville on March 8th with the title on the line. It's a big match for Robbie both the performer and character, as a match with a British Cruiserweight pioneer and World travelled athlete with hopefully offer Robbie the opportunity to grow even further as performer, whilst a win over the veteran gives the cocky and arrogant Robbie X character something to play off and boast about heading out of the victory.

Four Way Elimination Match

Tag Team Champion Dan Maloney vs. Omari vs. Sam Wilder vs. Lee Hunter

Tasked with opening the show, this was an entertaining bout that settled the crowd into the show well. The encounter featured strong storytelling, with Lee Hunter and Omari pairing up, whilst Sam Wilder and Dan Maloney formed a tentative partnership that clearly wasn't as comfortable as the babyface pairing was. This played into Wilder's exit from the match as Hunter ducked an attack from Wilder, who collided with Maloney, allowing Hunter to hit a nice DDT. There was one moment that jarred a little however, this being Maloney preventing Wilder from getting a pin on Hunter, despite the match being an elimination bout. 

A lot of credit has to go to Maloney, who has come on leaps and bounds over the last year or so, and his performance here was impressive throughout. Most notably his character work and crowd interaction were spot on, garnering decent heat from the crowd. The finish had one eye on Storm Warning on 8th March in Bournville, as Hunter and Maloney (who will be on opposite sides of Tag Team Championship match, also featuring Jim Hunter and Tyler Bate respectively) were the final two in the match. Wilder managed to distract the referee for long enough to allow Maloney to hit Hunter with his title belt and pick up the victory. A post-match promo from Maloney, explaining issues between himself and partner Tyler Bate, was short and sweet, and adds an extra dimension to the aforementioned tag team match on 8th March.

Singles Match

Danny Steel vs. Clint Margera

Hmmm...I'm not sure what to make of this match. Danny Steel came in as a replacement for the advertised Morgan Webster and offered a completely different match to what I'd been expecting. Steel is clearly a more than competent worker, but his "Shall I hit him?" approach rarely gets me engaged in a match, although he did manage to get a decent reaction out of some of the crowd. Of course, this is a personal preference, but I also felt this style didn't gel well with Margera's more in-yer-face offence, or, at least, this clash wasn't played up to as well as it could have been by either man.

For someone coming in as a big heel for the promotion, having attack Chris Brookes at Frost Fight 2, Margera didn't really get a lot of offence in here. Beyond a bit of brawling and the huge out of nowhere, Top Rope Death Valley Driver that finished the match, we didn't get to see a whole lot of Margera. Usually this wouldn't be too much of a problem for a heel, but on a debut I would've expected a little more out of the Fight Club: Pro regular to build him up as a force to be reckoned with in the promotion and someone who could genuinelly make Brookes' life hell, as promised at Frost Fight 2.

Singles Match

Pete Dunne vs. Chris Brookes

Perhaps not what I was expecting from a Pete Dunne vs. Chris Brookes, it was almost certainly not as long as I was expecting. To compensate for the lack of time, Dunne and Brookes went hell for leather with a series of big moves early, sitout powerbombs, tope conhilos, Regal Suplexes and some lovely reversal sequences as Brookes looked to lock in an Ankle lock. The bout was however cut short by Clint Margera who distracted Brookes and allowed Dunne to hit an enziguiri and a DT3 to pick up the win. As a clear set up to get Margera and Brookes feud over, the fact that Dunne is also a babyface hurt the reaction that the finish should have gotten from the crowd, which was a shame. Hopefully the feud is allowed to grow a bit more, with Brookes getting a shot the Relentless Division Championship at the next show there's another perfect opportunity for Margera to cause shit for Brookes.

Finally...

The top three matches on the show all delivered and remained varied enough that the audience didn't seem to lag at all, perhaps only quieting for the Dunne-Brookes Face vs. Face bout. A little too much stalling for my personal taste with almost all the heels engaging in such tactics, with similar effects, a little more creativity would be nice in this area.

A very good show from Kamikaze Pro and certainly an improvement from the product I reviewed over the Summer. I look forward to being able to catch another show soon.

Kamikaze Pro can be found on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links. Credit to David Marston for the photos, mucho respecto.