Live Review // ATTACK! Pro Wrestling GooseBUMPS VI // Drew Parker vs. Splits McPins

ATTACK!'s Halloween spectacular was back for the sixth time with the Trinity Centre in Bristol as the host of the grizzly graps. This year's edition was hit by taking place on the same day as a NXT UK taping and a big RevPro event, meaning a whole host of regulars, including ATTACK! Champion Wild Boar and 24/7 Champion Pete Dunne, as well as the likes of Chris Brookes, El Phantasmo, Aussie Open, Millie McKenzie, Travis Banks, Eddie Dennis, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate were all absent. It was definitely a blow and a test of the depth of the ATTACK! roster, but offered up opportunities to the likes of Drew Parker and Splits McPins who main-evented in Halloween Havoc 2018, as well as The Hunter Brothers colliding with Team WhiteWolf in a "Grudge" match. The show also featured action involving Martin Kirby, Mike Bird, Damian Dunne, Chuck Mambo and Spike Trivet...but was it any good? Lets take a look. 

FUN fact - This was the first GooseBUMPS missing appearances from Pete Dunne and Eddie Dennis (with at least one of the pair having main evented every incarnation of the event, including together on the original and third shows), meaning Mike Bird and Damian Dunne are the only two to have wrestled on all six shows.

The show kicked off with an appearance from ATTACK! General Manager and general scamp Kid Lykos, who announced that former tag partners turned bitter rivals LK Mezzinger and Splits McPins would be taking part in Pick Your Poison at the show, with both men able to choose their enemies opponent. Cheers Lykos. 

A solid opener saw 2 time ATTACK! Tag Team Champion LK Mezinger pick up a victory over former ATTACK! Champion Damian Dunne. The bout continued the narrative of a disheartened Dunne, still recovering from the breakup of the Anti-Fun Police at the hands of Nothing to Prove in August, keeping things short and sweet as we were provided with glimpses of the old Chief including a thunderous spear that garnered a big pop from the Trinity Centre and that felt like it could have been a turning point. Mezinger didn't look out of place with a more experienced performer, working well in the spoiler role, as he mocked Dunne and provided the early ammunition with a massive slap. I'd like to see the character fleshed out slightly and a few of the disparate elements (the outfit, the cane, the nickname of "Your favourite scumbag" etc.) bought together more to create a better defined persona, but that will surely come with more singles exposure over time. Dunne attempting his springboard lungblower finish (without trademark "No Funahhhhh") was a running theme throughout, so of course it would eventually be his downfall with Mezinger able to transition into a cradle belly to back piledriver. It was a shame that the following move, a senton bomb, missed by a mile taking the punch out of the finish that really didn't require the top rope move after the more impressive piledriver.

FUN Fact - This was LK Mezinger's first singles win in ATTACK!, having previously suffered losses to Big Grizzly and Tyler Bate.

Nothing to Prove continued to gain momentum as ELIJAH put away Niwa in what was a strong showing from both performers. This was probably the best singles work I've seen from either as they paced the bout well and plotted in a few brilliant spots. I've been waiting to be impressed by both men for some time and whilst both have shown potential in multi-mans and tag outings, this was the first singles match that I've been genuinely into from Elijah, whilst in the case of Niwa, it's difficult to buy into someone you mostly see in scramble matches. It wasn't a must-watch classic, but both men took the opportunity and produced a match that was full of action and physicality. The obvious highlight of the match was the massive springboard coast to coast dropkick that ELIJAH used to knock Niwa off the apron on the other side of the ring, because it came almost completely out of nowhere and took me completely by surprise. I'm hoping both men get more opportunities like this one around the country because it will only be a benefit to both the performers and the scene in general.

FUN fact - Niwa is still searching for his first ATTACK! singles win, after previously suffering losses to Travis Banks in July and Mike Bird in August.

Okay, the first two matches had been alright, solid stuff, but where the fudge was my Halloween goodness? It came in the form of a Grudge Match for the Tag titles, which the Hunter Brothers took literally as they appeared to have been transformed into the spirit from Halloween classic, The Grudge. Team WhiteWolf on the other hand reminded us that "No one expects the Spanish inquisition" as the Spaniards arrived as the Monty Python sketch to hilarious consequences. Seriously, I struggled to breath through portions of this match, with some utter silliness displayed by both teams as they played up the roles and had a number of ludicurous interactions in the opening portion of the match. The variant on the cliche bridging pin reversal spot was the highlight, before the Hunters were offered a beer and quickly snapped back into their usual selves. From then the match shifted into something much more recognisable as The Hunter Brothers continued to show why they're thought of as one of, if not the, best tag team in the UK with a number of sleek tag team sequences including a lovely superkick spot. Whilst there was some miscommunication that lead to a really awkward dive spot, Team WhiteWolf still had a strong showing, flying about the place with ease and pulling out a number of cracking tag moves, including a missile dropkick variant of Total Elimination (Totaller Elimination?), as well as a top-rope Spanish Inquisition Fly from A-Kid. They aren't the finished article yet, but more matches like this will help them get there. 

FUN Fact - The Hunter Brothers have been undefeated since the break up of the Anti-Fun Police at WinterSlam 3, with their run as a duo extending back to the second night of Press Start VI.

The second half began with more Nothing to Prove success as Chuck Mambo (as a creepy face-painted Love Making Demon) defeated Martin Kirby (as Uncle Fester off of The Addams Family). A little bit spookier than the previous Nothing to Prove singles match, but with similar structure, it's difficult for those match not to merge into one in my head, but this was probably the strongest of the three. Whilst it lacked the emotional element of the opener and the big spot from ELIJAH vs. Niwa, this was just a good solid wrestling match, with the two working nicely together in their first one on one bout. Whilst it feels like Mambo is still settling into his heel character, the role allows for him to explore his style in ways that the happy-go-lucky surfer gimmick doesn't, with Chuck able to display (perhaps oxymoronically) both his technical talents and fiery brawling side. Kirby is, of course, one of the most dependable and consistent performers in the country and worked well in his role, getting the crowd behind him with ease, despite having not performed for ATTACK! in Bristol since December 2016, thanks to some offence like his springboard dropkick and by not being a part of Nothing to Prove. A nasty bump of heads on an O'Connor roll into sleeper hold could have derailed the finish, with Mambo suffering a nasty wound under his eye, but they kept on with a couple of good near falls for each, before the dreaded sleeper hold sealed the win for Mambo. 

FUN Fact - Martin Kirby has never won a match at ATTACK! in Bristol.

HALLOWEEN MADNESS! If there's one thing this show will be remembered for it's that Spike Trivet dressed up as Theresa May and came out to Dancing Queen. As soon as I realised what was about to happen, a few seconds into the famous song, until the end of the match I was in absolute stitches, with Trivet owning every second of his Bristol ATTACK! debut. He was part of a four way scramble, that also featured Mike Bird (as Big Mummy), Shay Purser (as Kung-Fu Panda) and Nico Angelo (as Tarzan), that was stacked full of the silliness that ATTACK! is most loved for. There was the ridiculous Big Mummy character, a parody of World of Sport legend Big Daddy, full of lots of insider stuff to pop those who got it, the delightful Purser just trying to Kung Fu shit and Angelo with a more animalistic twist on his super flippy and athletic self, what more do you want from a batshit mad four way? Trivet pulled it all together with his various Spinnatory attempts, with the match peaking when Trivet offered £20 to Angelo to do a dive for him, quickly swapping for banana when he realsied Tarzan didn't understand the concept, before striking Angelo in the junglefruits. The finish saw Bird going nuts with piledrivers and Steiner Screwdrivers for all, before Purser completely no sold a top-rope over the shoulder Tombstone and won with a swift punch to the stomach. This had actually been set up earlier in the match with Purser unable to use the move because of Big Mummy's big belly (a hoodie inside Bird's singlet) but with the belly now gone Purser was clear to hit the move and pick up the win. Side note: Purser moving up the belt classes of pro wrestling is really cute gimmick that will hopefully become even more interesting and dramatic as things progress. 

FUN fact - Mike Bird ties Travis Banks for most ATTACK! four-way appearances in 2018, although neither man has managed to win one.

The best thing to come out of all the absences on the show was that Splits McPins and Drew Parker got a big opportunity to main event in a singles match and grabbed that opportunity with both hands. With a Halloween Havoc No Disqualification type gimmick, this was a rough and tumble clash with plenty of menace behind it, with the pair having issues since the start of the year (including McPins' tag partner LK Mezinger (fka Lloyd Katt) defecting to NTP). The match built well throughout, shifting through the gears well, moving from back and forth seated punches to big shots with plastic wet floor signs to stapling balls and apron bumps, there was pretty much no let-up or lull as McPins and Parker consistently upped the ante. Parker's experience in the Hardcore zone/sphere meaning he was able to come out on top of number of exchanges was a nice little story, that threaded the match together, making this feel more main event than throwaway plunder brawl. Some big highspots helped towards this aim as well, with a nasty death valley driver on the apron from McPins and Parker's avalanche falcon arrow through a table being the most memorable. The finish saw things develop further with a clever ref bump that involved Parker stapling McPins mask back to front and putting referee Huw in place for a superkick, before thumbtacks and LK Mezinger arrived on the scene. Mezinger accidentally clobbering Parker with his cane almost immediately was a nice way of playing with the audiences expectations, especially after three previous Nothing to Prove victories, whilst McPins ended up with a convincing victory after a Full Moon and a solo More Bowl for your Buck into the drawing pins. These lads stepped up and using a few tricks to get there, produced a good main event that didn't look out of place on regular ATTACK! event. 

Post-match - There seemed to be issues between Mezinger and Parker, I'm intrigued to see if that leads to anything on the last few shows of 2018.

FUN Fact - Splits McPins has only lost one singles match in ATTACK!, to Tyler Bate at Club One Hundred #2 in September 2016. 

This was a lovely fun show, with every match being somewhere in the solid to good range and nothing looking to outstay it's welcome. Whilst it would be wrong to say the absences weren't noticeable and that no match was without its issues, pretty much everyone that had to step up on these shows did and I think that's part of what made it such a lovely experience as a fan. Perhaps ironically this was most notable with the group that calls itself Nothing to Prove with all four members proving their ability and/or potential as singles guys across the card and whilst it's arguable that the group was seen too much on a six match card, the experience will be invaluable to all four as they continue to grow. ELIJAH out performed my previous estimations, whilst Drew Parker looked extremely comfortable in the main event. It's difficult to pick a match of the night, because I wouldn't class any one match as "must-watch", but there were certainly stretches of the Hunters vs. WhiteWolf, the four-way scramble and Parker vs. McPins main event that would make any of those three worthy winners. It's been questioned recently the effect that WWE running NXT UK events reguarly in the UK will have on the Indy scene, but If GooseBUMPS VI is anything to go by ATTACK! Pro Wrestling and British wrestling as a whole has enough talent coming through to keep things entertaining for quite some time and perhaps not having to rely on big names will allow new and fresh talent to come through.

You can check out the On Demand version of this show for yourself here - https://vimeo.com/ondemand/goosbumpsvi/295116631

Review by James Marston 

Photo credit - Ringside Perspective 

Event Review: Attack! Pro Wrestling X Pop Punk - FSU v Chief Deputy Dunne & Pete Dunne

On 12th November, Attack! Pro Wrestling presented a unique event, alongside Pop Punk band, Junior at The Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham, Gloustershire. The two elements were intertwined throughout the show, with the main event featuring band member Mark Andrews tagging with FSU partner Eddie Dennis against Chief Deputy Dunne (Damian Dunne) and Pete Dunne. With the likes of "Flying" Mike Bird, Chris Brookes, Wild Boar, "Ravin'" Danny Jones and Chuck Mambo also on the card, how would Attack!'s second trip to Cheltenham go down? 

Venue & Crowd - I love the Frog & Fiddle. This is only the second show that Attack! have run in the building and I'm absolutely in love with it. It's small and compact in the barn and even with just 100 fans in attendance, it can be incredibly tight with a ring in the middle, but that allows for a great atmosphere and brilliant interactivity. The crowd was hot throughout, for both the wrestling and the music, reacting to the action well and jumping on any opportunity to have a good ol' sing song. The mix of wrestling and music was used well and even with the ring only leaving room for a few people directly in front of the stage, it was still pretty sweet down the front when Junior were giving it the big ones. I'm not a music reviewer, so I'll be mostly sticking to the wrasslin' portion of the show as we continue.

The main event was an unannounced clash that saw FSU (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews) get a crowd-pleasing victory over "The Bruiserweight" Pete Dunne & The Anti-Fun Police's Chief Deputy Dunne in tag team action. The build-up made use of the unique set-up as after Junior appeared to be rounding off the evening, Andrews made reference to just how much fun he was having, of course, bringing out CDD, who used a Twitter exchange from earlier in the week as his fuel. CDD was quickly joined by Pete and a beatdown ensued, until Andrew WK's Party Hard hit, the crowd went nuts and Dennis came out to make the save. It was a flurry of excitement, that moved from one moment to the next at the right pace and concluded with an big main event being set up straight away. What's not to like about this? Nothing. That's what. 

The Dunne Bros and FSU have collided in PROGRESS and Fight Club: Pro and all four guys have plenty of history all over the UK and that showed throughout this tag tangle. The two groups have such a chemistry together that I'm actually surprised that they haven't faced off on more occasions. Because I'm a fool, all my methods of writing notes botched on me for the main event, so unfortunately I can't go as in depth as I would like to this, but the whole match was as crisp and pacy as you would expect. Andrews and Dennis are two of the best babyfaces on the scene right now, the Dunnes are two of the strongest heels, add into that the pre-match build and you had four wrestlers who had the crowd in the palm of their hands throughout. There was flips and tricks and reverse ranas and finisher teases and near falls and all sorts of good stuff, that was made stronger and more enjoyable by a solid structure that unfolded at a nice pace, as well as the hugely satisfying finish. Because my description of the contest is awfully vague (for the aforementioned reason) I would urge you even more than usual to check it out through the on-demand service! 

Match in a Sentence - Four clever workers with a shit tonne of chemistry and a great knowledge of what their audience wants, with a cool and unique set-up.

After some tunes from Junior, the wrestling portion of the show kicked off with #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos) successfully retaining the Tag Team Championships against Bowl-A-Rama ("Fat Cat" Lloyd Katt & Splits McPins) in a humourous comedy encounter, that got the crowd more than warmed up for the rest of the evenings festivities. The early portion of the contest was wall to wall silliness, that included a multi-man wet willy spot, before referee Shay Purser apparently lost his mind and grabbed Lykos' signature baking tray (not sure what use a damn dirty wolf has for a baking tray) and just started twatting people with it. Everyone went down to the almighty tray of baking. Then there was Katt needing to smoke a cigar for reasons, his cigar getting broken and then Bowl-a-Rama got their bowling ball involved in the action. The bowling ball actually looked pretty damn painful (because it was a bowling ball), especially when thrown into Brookes lower back (I have bulging discs in that region and almost fell to the fall just imagining how that would feel for my old old spine (I'm 23)) 

The final stretch of the match was all about the near falls, as the pace picked up and things seemed to get more serious with Bowl-a-Rama looking desperate to take those tag belts from Brookes & Lykos. The action went back and forth, there was a sick reverse rana from McPins, some brilliant last ditch kick outs and saves that were well-timed. The Gory Special/Blockbuster combination that #CCK do is a great piece of business, everything about it is just lovely. More of that move, everywhere, please. I still hate Brookes though, because Brookes is a slugpellet. Lykos is still a damn dirty Wolf. My hatred for the two characters will always make a match about seven times more intense. By the matches end, I felt like Bowl-a-Rama had been raised up a notch for having competed with #CCK for over 15 minutes and shown that there is perhaps more depth to their act than one might expect on a first glimpse. #CCK are developing into one of the best villain tandems on the scene and continued to show a versatility and willingness to mix up their style that will see them well in the new year.  

Match in a Sentence - A strong mix of comedy and graps, that set the tone for an Attack! show perfectly. 

Wild Boar in singles action! Boar went 2-0 in Cheltenham, with a victory over "The Human Drewplex Machine" Drew Parker. If you haven't seen Parker's "Extremely Confused" gimmick in Attack!, Parker took a knock to the head in September and has since taken on the personae of various ECW alumni, including Sab-Drew and Drew Jack. If you hadn't guessed this time around Parker believed he was 3 time ECW World Tag Team Champion Taz and it was glorious. From the entrance to the no selling with crossed arms to some Drewplexes, if you weren't enjoying this match with the glee of a child hearing sleighbells on Christmas Eve then we can never ever be friends. The japes of Parker's character were met with brutality by Boar, as he threw everything he had at Parker, including a brilliant Pop-up Powerbomb nearfall. Boar even managed to withstand a number of Tazmission attempts. The two characters slotted together well, with Boar's build and style suiting Parker's Tazz parody and creating a match that was ridiculously entertaining. The loss will only help endear Parker to the audience as the gimmick continues to gather steam.

Match in a Sentence - Stupidly entertaining stuff.

Another bonus match saw "The Not-So Ginger Anymore Jesus" Mike Bird best "Bronco" Brendan White, Chuck Mambo and "Ravin'" Danny Jones in a Four Way scramble match. This wasn't a lengthy encounter (8 minutes), but was choc-full of action, with all four guys able to get in a good showcase of their characters and what they could do in the ring. PROGRESS Wrestling's Mambo made a strong first impression on the Attack! crowd, with his laid-back surfer gimmick being easy to like and the ability to get a pop from a surfboard stretch showed that he'll fit in well in the weird and wonderful world of Attack! Taking bumps as Jones blew his rave whistle at him also helped to endear Mambo to his new audience. White also continued to impress as he develops including being involved in a freaky suplex spot with Bird and Jones. After a number of dives to the outside, Bird let his experience show as he conquered all three of his opponents with a flurry of offense including a double knee gutbuster as part of another sweet multi-man spot. With Bird heading into a match with Eddie Dennis to crown the first ever Attack! Champion on 20th November, this was definitely a cool way to set Bird up! 

Match in a Sentence - Fast and exciting four way with a vast array of strong personalities.

Any Other Business

• The show concluded with Jim Lee celebrating his birthday with a cake, before Chief Deputy Dunne ended up taking a stunner from Junior's Si, complete with the iconic glass smash and Jim Johnston's I Won't Do What You Tell Me! 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - Fun (or 7.38/10)

Attack! is a brilliant promotion and this was another great show out of the outfit. Seriously, I love Attack! The main event was superb stuff, #CCK v Bowl-a-Rama was very good in a totally different way, Parker v Boar was just the right shade of silly and the Four Way was everything you'd want from that type of match and more. Not for a single moment did I find myself even feeling a little bit bored as every performer worked hard to keep everything they were doing interesting, entertaining and different. Junior's music was a good fit for the feel of the show and continued that interesting, entertaining and different style that I've began to associate with Attack! 

Show in a Sentence - Interesting, Entertaining and Different.

Match of the Night - FSU (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews) v Chief Deputy Dunne & Pete Dunne

All - James Marston

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Wrestle Ropes Ready for the Weekend: August 2016 Week Four - RevPro, PWC & PROGRESS

Hard to believe that another week has passed and it's time for another edition of Ready For The Weekend. This week we are first off to Portsmouth on Friday night before heading to Bristol on Saturday. The weekend will finish off on Sunday (as is traditional for a weekend) in London. So let's get Ready For The Weekend.

We start off the wrestling weekend with a trip down to Portsmouth for Revolution ProWrestling's event at the Portsmouth Guildhall. 

The show will see New Japan's Jay White back in action at RevPro after a successful out at Uprising 2016 against Josh Bodom. This time he'll be facing world-class opposition in “The Star Attraction” Mark Haskins. White is currently on tour to gain more experience and he's guaranteed to get that against Haskins who is currently on possibly the best run of his career so far. 

While White has only recently come to RevPro and will hopefully continue to do so, this Friday will be the last time that “The Beast Of Belfast” Big Damo steps between the ropes of RevPro. With that being the case, RevPro management have granted Damo the right to choose his last opponent. The Northern Irish heavyweight has decided to face a man who he has had close ties with, Psycho Phillips. Damo has been a mentor to Phillips and this will be the bout for Phillips to show Damo what he's learned during their time as allies. However, Damo will be out to prove that while he's taught Phillips a lot of what he knows, he's not taught him everything that he knows and shall look to leave RevPro with one last win. 

The main event for this Friday came about at the conclusion of Uprising 2016. Pete Dunne was a direct cause of Will Ospreay losing to Vader in the sold out York Hall. After the match, an angry Ospreay informed Dunne that if he wanted his rematch for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship then he was more than willing to give him it. Well why wait any longer than we have to? This Friday night, Dunne gets his chance at Ospreay and the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship in Portsmouth. Dunne ruled the Cruiserweight division until his loss to Ospreay, whilst Ospreay wants revenge for Pete Dunne costing him his match against The Mastodon. Let's have a fight this Friday night!

Match Card

Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship

“The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne vs “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay (c)

Jay White vs “The Star Attraction” Mark Haskins

“The Villain” Marty Scurll vs Moose

“The Beast Of Belfast” Big Damo vs Psycho Phillips

Zoe Lucas vs Bea Priestley

Moving on to Saturday and Pro Wrestling Chaos will be at the Hanham Community Centre in Bristol with Choose Your Weapon. 

The event shall see the debut of one of the top heavyweights in Europe in the shape of Dave Mastiff. He will look to make an immediate impact as he challenges Wild Boar for the King Of Chaos Championship. Boar has been a fighting champion and will welcome the challenge that Mastiff will bring. Two of the hardest hitting men in British Wrestling will meet and only one of them will be a champion at the end of it. 

Gideon has been after the Doomsday Killers and more specifically their leader Ian Williams for what seems an eternity. Williams has always found a way to escape or just avoid being in the ring with Gideon. Gideon has had to resort to the ultimate risk in order to just get a match with Williams. He has agreed to put his career on the line in a No Disqualification match this Saturday against Williams. The leader of Doomsday Killers is as cunning as he is devious and has in a way gotten Gideon right where he wants him. However, Gideon now cannot be stopped by any rules and with the anger and fury inside him for Williams, I doubt that anyone would dare get involved during the contest. If anyone does, they may suffer the same fate as what may await Williams. Either that or we've seen the last of Gideon in PWC. 

The war for control of PWC began a few months ago with the return of Dave Mercy. Since then, General Manager Jimmy Havoc, have announced that there will be an 8-man tag team match at All Or Nothing on 29th October with the winning team gaining full power for their respective leader. However before that match takes place, there will be a match this Saturday where Pariah Khan's Jeckel and a partner of his choosing will face Mercy's Mike Bird and his partner in tag team action. This is the first battle in this war of control. A win for either team will be a great boost ahead of 29th October and could also help the winning team to recruit more members. The battle lines have been drawn and now the fight is on and there can only be one eventual winner.

Match Card

King Of Chaos Championship

Wild Boar (c) vs Dave Mastiff

Jeckel & ??? vs Mike Bird & ???

Knights Of Chaos Tournament Semi-Final

Project Lucha (Martin Kirby & “The Mexican Sensation” El Ligero) vs The Swords Of Essex (“The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay & Paul Robinson) (w/ Scotty Essex)

No Disqualification – If Gideon Loses, His Career Is Over

Gideon vs Ian Williams

King of Chaos Championship Number One Contender

Eddie Ryan vs “The Pride Of Wales” Eddie Dennis

Wild Galleons (Captain Dick Morgan & Roger The Cabin Boy) vs Panda Club (Panda Cub & Panda Cub II)

Finally we end the weekend back at PROGRESS Wrestling with Chapter 35: Writing Nirvana On Other People's Bags at the sold out (Editor's Note: Return tickets still available) Electric Ballroom in Camden, London. 

After this Sunday we'll know what the final of the Atlas Championship tournament will be with both semi-final matches taking place. The first semi-final will see “Iron Man” Joe Coffey face The Origin's Dave Mastiff while the second semi-final shall feature Rampage Brown and T-Bone. Any combination of these four men would be a worthy final to crown the inaugural Atlas Champion. This championship was designed for true heavyweights and that is exactly what we shall have with these two semi-final matches. Heavyweight encounters are coming this Sunday. 

With the next Natural Progression Series being used to determine the first PROGRESS Women's Champion, the women's division in PROGRESS will be growing in the coming months. That starts at Chapter 35 when both Alex Windsor and Nixon Newell make their debut when they compete against each other. Both are well known in British Wrestling and have a wealth of experience. These two women have met before in SWE and VII Pro and put on stellar performances. They'll look to deliver another this Sunday and put themselves in serious contention for inclusion in the next Natural Progression Series. 

The main event this Sunday will see Marty Scurll defend the PROGRESS World Championship against Mark Andrews. Andrews has been on an impressive run of wins recently and PROGRESS have deemed him worthy of a championship opportunity. While Scurll is the first ever two-time PROGRESS Champion, if  Andrews were to win, he would become a two-time champion himself. While Scurll may be looking ahead to the PROGRESS Championship triple threat match in Brixton with Tommy End and Mark Haskins, to look past Andrews as a credible threat could well mean that Scurll doesn't even make it to Chapter 36 as champion.

Match Card

PROGRESS Championship

“The Villain” Marty Scurll (c) vs “White Lightning” Mark Andrews

Atlas Championship Tournament Semi-Final

“Iron Man” Joe Coffey vs Dave Mastiff

Atlas Championship Tournament Semi-Final

Rampage Brown vs T-Bone

“The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay vs Shane Strickland

Alex Windsor vs Nixon Newell

“The Star Attraction” Mark Haskins vs “The Deity Of Deviance” Mikey Whiplash

Fatal Four-Way

“The Mexican Sensation” El Ligero vs “The Extraordinary Gentleman” Jack Gallagher vs “The Pride Of Wales” Eddie Dennis vs “Liverpool’s No.1” Zack Gibson

British Strong Style (“The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne & Trent Seven) vs “Number One” Damian Dunne & Tyler Bate

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, interviews, exclusive columns, reviews, reports and results!

Written Content - Andy Scotland

Media Content & Editor - James Marston 

Picture Source - Facebook.com

Wrestle Ropes' Ready for the Weekend: July 2016 Week 1 - ATTACK!, LCW & RevPro

This week's edition of Ready For The Weekend shall be seeing us firstly heading to Bristol for ATTACK! at The Trinity Centre. Then we're off to Leicester for a stacked LCW event before we round off the wrestling weekend in London at the Cockpit Theatre for RevPro. Phew! Right that's the itinerary out of the way, let's get Ready For The Weekend!

The weekend kicks off on Friday night when ATTACK! Pro Wrestling cross the border into England and head to The Trinity Centre in Bristol for 'RaffleMania II: Stripwrecked'. 

The event will see the continuation of the ATTACK! Championship tournament with an opening round contest between Mike Bird and Zack Sabre Jr taking placing. These men are both well known to the Attack! Pro Wrestling fans with Bird being a foundation of the promotion while ZSJ's star continues to shine brighter with every passing week. Bird has finally put his issues with "Flash" Morgan Webster to bed and will be looking to focus now on winning some championship gold. However, he'll have to bring his all against ZSJ who is currently in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic as well holding the top titles in PWG & RevPro. ZSJ will be looking to add more accolades his to resume but a win for Bird would be a huge statement to everyone else in the tournament. 

Speaking of the tournament, Wild Boar and Eddie Dennis have already secured their place in the next stage of the tournament. They could find themselves as tournament opponents in the near future, but this Friday they shall be on opposing teams when Boar and CCK's Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos face the trio of Dennis and The Brothers of Construction in six-man tag team action. The B.O.C. and CCK also have previous between them. CCK won the Attack! Pro Tag Team Championship from The B.O.C., who have yet to get the chance at getting the gold back. A win for The B.O.C. could slingshot them straight back into the title picture. There is a lot of variables in this match with tournament competitors and tag teams fighting over gold. Could go either way this one. 

This Friday will also see a rematch from Attack! Pro Wrestling's last event at Walkabout in Cardiff as Tyler Bate will compete against Travis Banks. These men tore the roof off Walkabout last time so we hope that The Trinity Centre in Bristol have checked theirs as we could see history repeat itself once again this Friday.

Match Card

Attack! Pro Wrestling Championship Tournament Opening Round
‘Ginger Jesus’ Mike Bird vs Zack Sabre Jr

Six-Man Tag Team
CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) & Wild Boar vs Eddie Dennis & The Brothers Of Construction (Lee & Jim Construction)

Travis Banks vs ‘Textbook’ Tyler Bate

Bayside High (Nixon Newell & Mark Andrews) In Action

Moving on to Saturday and Leicester Championship Wrestling are at Brockington College in Leicester with 'Summertime 2016'. 

At LCW's last event, 'Aftermath', White Tiger defeated LJ Heron and in the process became the number one contender for the LCW Young Guns Championship. Well now he is going to get his chance to win the championship when he faces TK Hayward this Saturday. The LCW fans have been behind Tiger for a long time and have wanted him to have this chance. Hayward has went to great lengths to remain champion and he'll be looking to do the same on July 2nd. Only time will tell whether Tiger and his unanimous support will be enough to dethrone the current champion. 

Alexis Rose and Toni Storm have been at each other's throats for a number of months now with wins being exchanged back and forth. Rose wants another match with Storm and she's going to get it but with the added elements of Xander Cooper as her partner and Tyler Bate joining with Storm. While Cooper may be a help to Rose, Bate is an equal counter to that advantage. The Rose and Storm rivalry looks set to create another chapter this Saturday. 

The main event this Saturday will see the current LCW Heavyweight Champion; Stixx in action when he joins with Joseph Conners to challenge Cy Gregory and Marc Massa of DNA for the LCW Tag Team Championship. The match was made a few weeks ago after Gregory failed to win the LCW Heavyweight Championship from Stixx. DNA are indeed a very slick team, hence why they are champions, however their opponents have both held the LCW Heavyweight Championship, Stixx being the current champion. DNA winning would be a huge feat for them and something they would no doubt be sure to boast about. If Stixx and Conners win, they could well become the most dominant team in LCW history.

Match Card

LCW Tag Team Championship
‘The Heavyweight House Of Pain’ Stixx & ‘The Righteous’ Joseph Conners vs DNA (Cy Gregory & Marc Massa) (c)

LCW Young Guns Championship
TK Hayward (c) vs White Tiger

Alexis Rose & ‘The Man For All Seasons’ Xander Cooper vs Toni Storm & Tyler Bate

HC Dyer vs Paul Malen

Open Challenge
Ladz Ladz Ladz (Zak Northern & Gabriel Kidd) vs ???

Finally we round off the wrestling weekend in London at the Cockpit Theatre with Revolution Pro Wrestling. Amazingly this will be the tenth event that RevPro have held at the Cockpit Theatre in what seems like still a new venue for the promotion. The match card for the show however feels very familiar with it being stacked full of British stars. 

For a number of weeks, The Legion Of Lords' Rishi Ghosh and Lord Gideon Grey have been campaigning for an Undisputed British Tag Team Championship match. This Sunday they will get their wish when the challenge Charlie Garrett and Joel Redman for the gold. The L.o.L. truly believe they are the best and their run of wins can't be argued with. The champions can't be dismissed easily either though as they defeated the longest reigning champions in RevPro history to become the champions. The L.o.L. want championship gold badly, Garrett and Redman will have a real test of their hands to show they want to remain champions even more. 

Originally at RevPro's last event at the Cockpit Theatre, Mark Haskins was scheduled to face Trent Seven. However due to illness, Haskins was not able to compete and the match did not take place. This Sunday, Haskins is back and he's 100%! Add in the element and Seven also bring his A game any time he's in the ring and we have the makings of a show-stealing match when The Super Don faces The Star Attraction. 

The main event this Sunday will see the current Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion; Zack Sabre Jr join forces with the number one contender to the champion, 'The Villain' Marty Scurll in a reformation of The LDRS. Their opponents will be the duo of Jake McCluskey and Kieran Bruce. McCluskey and Bruce are a slick tag team who have found success in various locations in England. This will be the biggest match of their career but the one chink in the armour of the The LDRS is the relationship between Scurll and ZSJ right now. Scurll's actions of late have been questionable and not to the liking of ZSJ. Scurll has told his partner that there is nothing to worry about but does the champion 100% believe that and trust 'The Villain'? We might find out this Sunday.

Match Card

The LDRS (Zack Sabre Jr & ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll) vs Jake McCluskey & Keiran Bruce

Undisputed British Tag Team Championship
Legion Of Lords (Lord Gideon Grey & Rishi Ghosh) vs Charlie Garrett & Joel Redman (c)

‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne vs Noam Dar

‘The Knightsbridge Fashionista’ Jinny vs Zoe Lucas

Trent Seven vs ‘The Star Attraction’ Mark Haskins

'The Phoenix' Jody Fleisch vs Josh Bodom


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, interviews, exclusive columns, reviews, reports and results!

Live Review: RHP Numero Uno: Beers, Beats & Brainbusters (Marc Pearson)

Going to a new promotion can be a daunting experience. I’ve been to shows where there was myself and ten other people, on nights like that you feel embarrassed making any noise and feel sorry for the wrestlers who have to perform to an essentially empty room. On the other side of the spectrum I’ve been to shows where there was a hundred crammed in and everything was great. On the 10th of June I headed to the city of Gloucester (a city I’ve never been to by the way) to see how the new company of Riot House Promotions got on with their debut show entitled Beers, Beats and Brainbusters!

Before I go on let me just add something. I love seeing new talent, it’s something that I’ve made a mission of this year, to not just go to the same promotions that I’ve frequented the last 3 or 4 years (Futureshock, PCW and GPW to name but a few), so the draw of this show was that at least half the roster was made up with talent that I’ve never had the chance to see. 

On arrival I got a pleasant surprise, a quick head count resulted in roughly 100 people and a lovely looking venue. The show emanating from the Liquid Diva nightclub meant that there were no seats BUT that wasn’t an issue as everywhere I looked at had a decent view. The crowd was made up of a mixed bunch of rowdy fans, older folks (who I suspect were there to support their children/grandchildren) and they were vocal the whole night which made for a fun atmosphere. 

Speaking of fun (Segway!) the opening contest of the evening was pure fun as the team of The Magnums (Chris Walker & Dick Riley) defeated “Mr Massive” Chuck Cyrus and partner Robbie Roids. Having only seen Cyrus before I was looking forward to seeing what Roids and The Magnums could do. If the plan for the match was to entertain the crowd and get everyone warmed up then this was mission accomplished. Be it a mid-match drinking contest, Dick Riley being de-panted or Roids being exposed as wearing ladies’ underwear this never got boring and had a jaded old fan like me in stitches. 2 moments really stood out for me though. The first was Cyrus taking a line of pre-workout before getting the hot tag, I can’t believe I’ve never seen that spot before but man was it funny. The other was a bit mad but still entertaining as Chris Walker put a condom on his hand, liberally applied some lubricant then proceeded to administer what can only be described as an Anal Claw to Cyrus, who tapped out in quick time. Good stuff and the crowd loved it.

Match number 2 former NXT star Joel Redman beating Big Grizzly. I’ve only ever seen Redman play the white meat babyface, so to see him working heel was refreshing and I was seeing Grizzly for the first time. Redman made the match look effortless as he oozed charisma and confidence, playing up the crowd and looked great. Grizzly was super over with the fans and controlled the majority of the match which was a little odd, at times you almost expected Redman to make the big babyface comeback but then remembered he was a heel. He won with a sneaky rollup complete with heeley feet on the ropes much to the chagrin of the fans. They didn’t worry for long though as Grizzly hit Redman with a nice sit out chokeslam to gain a measure of revenge.

Match 3 saw Wild Boar defeat Charlie Garrett in a good match. I’ve only seen Boar work heel and only seen Garrett work face so seeing them in the other roles was again refreshing. Garrett brought a mop to the ring and much hilarity resulted as Boar pinched it and had a good long chat with it as Garrett was busy jaw jacking with the fans, who took great delight in telling him that he was a cunt! Back and forth with loads of nice looking strikes, suplexes and, of course, stalling from Garrett meant this one built to a frantic finish. A beautiful t bone suplex by Boar and a brainbuster from Garrett were the highlights and I for one was happy that we finally got said Brainbuster after the title of the show! Boar got the win with a lovely sit out powerbomb, he then snogged the mop to a big pop. 

Something quite amazing happened next. The ring announcer told us there would be a 5 minutes’ intermission, and, to everyone’s shock and amazement, it actually lasted 5 minutes!!! This followed the show starting bang on time made a very good impression on someone who is a stickler for time like me. 

The second half began with the massively popular tag team of The Fever (Christopher Queen & RyRy) beating The Heritage City Hitmen (Dave Eaton & Richard Diamond). 4 more men that I hadn’t see before so I was looking forward to this one, both teams have matching outfits so earn Brucie Bonus points! The Fever have a lot of fans and wear flashing glasses to the ring, which you can buy on the merch stand, that’s brilliant! This one was a much more cookie cutter tag match than the opener, with Queen playing your face in peril until he could get the hot tag to RyRy. A splash off the top rope by Queen getting the win. Nothing bad but nothing outstanding.

Match number 5 saw the Ginger Jesus Mike Bird losing to Matt Ridler. Like the previous match there isn’t really much to say about this one, nothing bad but nothing memorable. Having never seen Ridler before he looked good, cutting a decent heely promo before Bird made his way to the ring and cheating to win by distracting the ref, going low then hitting a spinning brainbuster for the win. Mike Bird shone here, looking like a star in a way that I’ve never really appreciated when I’ve seen him at promotions like Fight Club Pro.

As Bird left the ring the ring announcer said, “one bird leaves the ring, but don’t worry, 2 more are coming out” making reference to the upcoming woman’s match. I’d never have dreamed of saying a line like that in my time as a ring announcer! 

I’d tell you all about Toni Storm’s victory over Kat Von Kaige but I needed to nip to the loo as it started and in the time it took me to drain the snake the match was over, so it was short if nothing else. 

When you have men as talented as Pete Dunne, Chris Brookes and Tyler Bate in your main event you know it’s going to be a good match. I went into this one confident that because of the 2 heels (Brookes and Dunne) against one face that Tyler Bate would emerge victorious so was pretty stunned when Pete Dunne got the win. Annoyingly my phone’s battery had died so I couldn’t take any notes but everything was good and the crowd loved all 3 men. 

I had a really good time at this show, all the matches delivered in the ring, the crowd were decent, the show started and ended on time which is very very rare in British wrestling. I spend a lot of time in the area so I’ll certainly be at their next show

You can find out more about RHP on their Facebook Page, at this time there is no date announced for their second show. Photo Credits go to The Dude Abides Photography, who are also over on Facebook here. Get more Marc Pearson on Youtube, Twitter and Facebook.