5 Star Wrestling [Live] Review // 15th February 2018

On 16th February 2018, 5 Star Wrestling came to us live from the Fly DSA Arena in Sheffield, England. Our main event for the evening saw a Teddy Long Special occur as the previously announced match of Rampage Brown against Rey Mysterio became a tag match with the additions of Zach Gibson & Rob Van Dam respectively. With action also featuring 5Star Tag Champions Max Money taking on the UK Hooligans, 5Star Champion Jake Hager taking on Ryan Hunter as well as Colt Cabana, Flash Morgan Webster and many more. It' not exactly controversial to state that 5Star have picked up a bit of reputation in the BritWres community, not necessarily a good one, but could they counter that and put on a show good enough to silence the doubters?

'Tango' Timm Wylie def. Ricky Knight Jr. // Pinfall

This was a reasonably standard face v heel, junior v heavyweight encounter but with some nice touches with Wylie using the tech fuck-ups that plagued the show right from the start to generate some heel heat, in fact considering the crowd was half not in the room and the other half were reasonably unresponsive, it must be said Wylie and Knight Jr. did a good job of actually getting people into the match. Extra points for Wyle using the Brian Danielson 'I have till five' shouts. Wylie would eventually get a pin with a Twisting Suplex Slam.

Matty Mayhem def. HT Drake and Anthony Young // Pinfall

Not much to comment on here really as this was 9 minutes of crowd-popping spot work, though I must commend them for actually never breaking down into the rotating singles match structure and keeping all three men in the ring practically for the entire match duration. Drake played the bigger lad in this throwing suplexes like no one's business, Young pulled off the night's second Danielson tribute by hitting Yes Kicks on both men, Mayhem hit a GTS, indie-galore. The finish came when Mayhem got a surprise reversal into a Paul Smackage on Drake. Nice stuff, did the job, got the crowd's energy up a bit.

So we opened on a shite promo from Jake Hager which left the crowd going '...k' only for it to be interrupted by a very good promo from Zach Gibson who railed on Hager for being dull and said he's the reason people are switching over to Takeshi's Castle. It was at this point the crowd started to wonder, 'do we like Gibson now? He's right and Hager's the bad guy. But Gibson's also the bad guy...what?' After Gibson left, Hager said he would defend his title, not against Gibson but against one of the UK's best talents. What do you bet this sets up the 'Hager beats up a jobber' story?

Joey Axl def. El Ligero // Submission

We come to part three of the evening's Danielson tribute as Ligero and Axl reinterpreted the classic 'you can't pin a ball' spot from when Daniel Bryan fought Tyson Kidd on Saturday Morning Slam. Beyond that glorious moment, this was a solid match with Ligero giving Axl his best match so far of the 5Star tour. The problem this match had was that it had to follow a laboured Hager promo (more on that later) and an ad-break so any excitement the crowd might have had from the dark matches had been lost by this point so it had to build it back up again. The finish came as Axl tapped out Ligero with the Ayers Rock Lock stretch muffler. Decent enough stuff.

Gibson would pop up again, attacking Rey Mysterio before his match with Rampage Brown, opening the door for Rob Van Dam to make the save, setting for our main event: Gibson & Brown vs Mysterio & Van Dam.

Eddie Ryan def. 'The Wrestling Vegan' Marcus Burke // Pinfall 

First off, Burke walking around the crowd shouting 'I am a vegan! Nooo meat!' was perfect character work, I got where he was coming from and Marcus, if you're ever back in Sheffield, hit me up, we can get some Avocado Wings from Make No Bones. The match itself was a little light on action as there seemed to be a lack of connection between both men thought Ryan, positioned as the top UK babyface of the roster was beloved of the younger fans in the audience. Worth mentioning: this match broke the Danielson tributes with instead Ryan entering with his lion mask and cape combo and Burke hitting a Tiger Driver for a good near fall suggesting a move to Tiger Mask tributes. Ryan eventually won with the Sitout Side Slam for the pin. During the match, Bram was at ringside in a baseball cap and what looked like one of those ponchos they give you at Splash Canyon at Drayton Manor.

Colt Cabana & Grado def. Carlito & Chris Masters // Pinfall

There was another edition of Morgan Webster's Modcast but before it could begin properly, the Masters of Cool interrupted, complaining that they wanted to make it an episode of Carlito's Cabana. Talking of cabanas, actual guest Colt Cabana turned up and was attacked by the Masters but Grado made the save. It wasn't entirely clear to the audience that this was a heel turn as the announcer came out during the ad-break to make sure we knew to boo Masters and Carlito and cheer Cabana and Grado. Luckily once the match began, the team known to many as Irn Jew made sure there was no doubt who to cheer for as they delivered an incredibly fun match, putting on not just the best match of the night but probably my favourite pure piece of entertainment from this entire tour thus far. They worked a simple tag structure but they peppered it with a lot of fun details and most importantly didn't outwear their welcome. It's harder to describe comedy focussed matches than pure wrestling as it's akin to explaining the joke but suffice to say, you won't see a more joyous moment this week than Grado trying to put the Master Lock on Chris Masters. The finish came as Carlito when to spit apple at Grado but he dodged, the apple hit Masters, Cabana pulled Carlito out of the ring opening up Masters for an R-Grado out of naewaer for the pin. Not exactly complicated but just good, clean fun plus Colt and Grado turning up were a genuine surprise and an extremely pleasant one at that.

5 Star Championship // Jake Hager (c) def. Ryan Hunter // Submission

Hager came out first to introduce his opponent, AOW regular Ryan Hunter. This was the standard 'heel champion beats up a jobber but occasionally the jobber does something close to a move which pisses off the champion so he drags out the match to beat the piss out of his opponent' match with Hunter being massively over in a way that you almost felt they could have put the title on him that night and the crowd might not have complained. It went on far too long, all things considered as the crowd weren't into it at all. Hager hit the Ankle Lock for an easy tapout.

Joe Hendry def. Big Grizzly // Pinfall

This match happened because Dave Mastiff and Big Grizzly called out Joe Hendry for hiding behind the commentary desk, so, of course, Mastiff took over on commentary because nothing says 'I'm calling you out' like then not wrestling and instead taking his job. A quick match with Grizzly playing the big man heel and Hendry working underneath till he got a good comeback and shocked the crowd by getting a pin off a Fallaway Slam. Hendry, Grizzly and Mastiff have enough charisma to make this work but this didn't really feel like it achieved much, especially if Hendry is going to stay behind the commentary desk for the foreseeable future.

PJ Black def. Flash Morgan Webster // Pinfall

This was probably the evening's best singles action as the former 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion took on the current ATTACK! Champion is a fast paced bout full of the signature high-flying action that both men are known for. The main things that hurt this match were a lack of time but also that the short snippets of commentary they played in the arena suggested that this was meant to be building the story of plucky underdog Webster seeking his first win in 5 Star yet they put him against Black who was just as over, especially amongst one very vocal group of children. It's not that Webster wasn't able to build sympathy nor Black incapable of working a good subtle heelish performance, more that especially in the arena, a lack of crowd support for the chosen hero hurts the storytelling. Perhaps they could have come out before all the matches and told us who to cheer for, it would have made things easier. Black got the pinfall victory off a Lionsault.

5 Star Tag Team Championship // Charlie Sterling & Adam Maxted (C) def. Roy Knight & Zak Knight // Pinfall

If there's one thing that I hope comes from this 5Star tour, it's more bookings for Charlie Sterling and Adam Maxted as they work well together, really showing a lot of tag team fundamentals and heel characteristics that a lot of people forget. It probably helps that the Hooligans were probably the most over thing on this entire show, well, if judging by the row or two behind me who all were constantly doing the 'hoo-hoo-hooligans' chant and as that was directly in my ear, I can't tell about anything else. They worked a good, solid tag match, making the crowd believe that there was a chance that Norwich's finest might take home the belts and making them all the more upset that they lost their chance due to a surprise roll-up. I did feel oddly sorry for Maxted early on as the Knights seemed to be throwing some particularly stiff-looking shots his way but I guess that is their style. Not much to add but still impressive that this far into the show they were still getting responses as fatigue had set in for this writer somewhere around Jake Hager's title match. Before the match, Pure Dead Brilliant (Kid Fite, Lou King Sharp & Krieger) would invade the ring and talk about once again being deprived of a match and issued a challenge for a tag match before the Hooligans scared them off. The lack of booking for these lads is a really bizarre storyline as they were some of the talents brought to the Press Conference announcing the roster, quite similar to their limiting of Jack Jester to pre-show or not at all this week. In kayfabe, why do it?

Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam vs. Zack Gibson & Rampage Brown // No Contest

By this point, it became quite difficult to actually see what was going on from floor level as a hoard of replica mask-wearing children had surrounded the ring, leaning over the barricade to see two true legends of the sport. They also seemed interested in their opponents, some pair of former WWF guys I think. The match worked an odd structure as they seemed to let Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam make their opponents look like fools for the longest time before they were able to cut off the faces, twice, because both men wanted to have their hot tag sequence. What worked very well about this match was the psychology behind the heels approach as they could see the crowd were waiting for Rey and RVD to hit their finishers so they knew to wait for them to try and use that to cut them off, making the crowd wait and hate them more each time they delayed their gratification. The faces did work hard to make their opponents look good, Rey, even if he's not quite as quick as he used to be, still is a damn sight better than most and it was a treat to get to see him. Rampage is a sure hand and a great, vicious performer though it really can't be said enough, Gibson is the best thing about 5Star, with every little action he does being used to push forward his agenda, especially with little details like pointing out to the referee about his opponent's breaking rules before using it as a distraction to break some of his own. The finish was a fascinating clusterfuck as after Rampage had taken a 619 and a Five Star Frog Splash, Gibson would pull the ref out of the ring and knock him out before Max Money came in to beat down Rey and RVD but Irn Jew would come in to even the odds, this would lead to a No Contest in theory but it wasn't entirely clear as after they'd sent the heels packing, the faces just raised each others hands and left, no actual bell, no referee response, just a 'let's hear it for Rey and RVD, ok bye everyone'. This did however feature the best moment of the show as after clearing out the heels, RVD seemingly got a bit confused and superkicked Grado out of the ring before trying to go for him while Cabana did the 'Chris Pratt calms the velociraptors' pose. Hilarious stuff. This wasn't necessarily a bad finish to a match but certainly, not exactly the most exciting high-point upon which to end an episode. But if it leads to Cabana and Grado challenging for the tag titles, I'm all-in.

Also this Week

There were some on-screen promos from Hager where Ryan turned up and challenged him for the title in Plymouth next week, that mysterious masked man who screamed about wrestling next week, Nathan Cruz spoke about how he wasn't wrestling but was there anyway to pick up a cheque because he bought an expensive watch with his cheque from last week and something from RVD, Rey and Irn Jew where the sound cut out so who knows what was said? Something about Twixes, probably.

Finally...

As a product, 5Star still has a long way to go with a lot of the book representing the same errors that overly sacrificial WWE booking has suffered from. As an arena spectacle, it is plagued with technical issues and feels empty in the arena spaces as you can hear the sound travel to the back of the room and get lost there. As a spectacle of wrestling, it has enough talent in its roster to put on a good show with obvious standouts like Gibson, Ligero & Webster really showing their talents in a larger arena setting and even certain talents like Carlito and Chris Masters surprisingly really showing up this week. As a wrestling show clearly for a family audience, it's harder to say it's a complete failure. It doesn't quite translate to the television perhaps as well as might be hoped but there was a sense of palpable excitement amongst the kids who crowded around the barrier to watch their favourites like Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam and interestingly enough, Eddie Ryan. Perhaps this really isn't designed to be a product for us, the overly informed snarkastic fans of the internet, maybe it's purely for the kids who either don't know or are willing to overlook the lack of reality. I don't know, it's hard to hate something that's so clearly trying to push beyond what it's capable of in the present yet at the same time, there's a certain air of content 'that'll do' to the overall presentation that equally it's very difficult to love. Also, where was Haskins?

Written By Jozef Raczka // @NotJoeRaczka

GFW One Night Only: Amped Anthology Part 1 Review

Remember when Global Force Wrestling taped a TV show in Las Vegas, way back in 2015? No? Well, I freaking do. I know, Jozef Raczka does too. Well, the show was called Amped and they did three tapings in July, August and October 2015. Since GFW and Impact Wrestling merged earlier this year, it seems that the new GFW has decided to cut some costs and air the tapings across four of their One Night Only PPVs. Even if it's a pretty obvious money saving method, I was still interested to see what these tapings were like. I mean, the show couldn't get commissioned for whatever reason, so my hopes weren't particularly high, but there was a decent line-up of names including Mickie James, Bobby Roode, PJ Black [Justin Gabriel], Sonjay Dutt and KUSHIDA amongst others on this first part, so out of hope and genuine intrigue (and the fact it's currently available on Channel 5's on Demand service, My5, for free in the UK) I thought I'd give it a shot. 

So let's find out if the mysterious GFW Amped was any good...

• Promo - This explains how the show will work, letting us know that what we will see isn't scripted and is real, which is a little lame but let's roll with it. It also lets us know about the various championship tournaments that will be the spine of the show and gives a glimpse into some of the stars of the show. 

Match One - GFW NEXGEN Championship Tournament First Round

PJ Black def. Seiya Sanada 

PJ Black had left WWE in January, Seiya Sanada had left TNA in February, so kicking off the show with two known international television talents, that happen to wrestle a high pace, exciting style was a pretty sound tactic. The two were presented as an even match for one another with some technical exchanges breaking out in some smooth back and forth as the duo pinged about the ring before both ended up missing attempts at different moonsault variants. The later part of the matches provided some big spots and some good near falls for the man from Niigata, Japan as he hit a frankensteiner, managing to counter Black's counter, a bridging tiger suplex and then came closer still after powering out of a crucifix attempt to hit a TKO. The finish ended up being the scrapiest part of the match as the scramble for a superplex couldn't match the action that had come moments prior and otherwise cool moments like Sanada kipping up moments before Black went for a top rope move felt a little wasted in their placement. However, once Black had pulled his opponents throat across the top rope and nailed his signature 450 splash for the victory, I was more than satisfied with the quality of this opener. Both men came out of it looking capable of pulling out a victory, whilst Black was helped by surviving a barrage of high impact offence. 

• Promo - Kevin Kross - We're informed that Kross is well travelled, up to this point he'd mainly wrestled in Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada (with a single match for IGF in Japan according to Cagematch.net)  

• Backstage - Los Luchas (Misteriosa Jr., Phoenix Star & Zokre) - The lads fire each other up in the locker room, part in Spanish and part in English, saying they'll win the Tag Team Tournament, which is a little confusing because there's three of them and it's not a trios tourney.

• Backstage - Bobby Roode - Roode's arrived pulling his wheely suitcase behind him, he's not bothered with a suit for this show.

In-Ring Segment

feat. Bobby Roode, Nick Aldis and Kongo Kong

This was an odd segment, with seemingly odd intentions and a lack of self awareness on the part of GFW and whoever was in charge of putting this together. Bobby Roode came out first, cutting a pro-TNA promo, positioning himself as an anti-GFW guy, who was coming to take the belt from the company in response for Jeff Jarrett taking the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary (28/05/15 and by mid-August Jarrett had vacated the belt on TNA television as part of the GFW Invasion angle). After just one match, expecting the audience to give a crap about GFW, especially enough to care about Bobby Roode (arguably the most established male star on the show) disparaging the company seemed like a misstep. Roode's promo about how he was always going to be a TNA guy is also unintentionally comical two years on, with then IT Factor and now Glorious One currently being WWE's NXT Champion and spending only eight more months with TNA past these tapings. The Nick Aldis [Magnus] interruption didn't do much for either guy as Aldis spent most of his promo putting over Jeff Jarrett, before being jumping by Kongo Kong with a nasty looking Samoan drop. We conclude things with a Crossface from Roode and even without looking at spoilers it's pretty clear to see that it will be these two men in the GFW Global title tournament final. 

• Backstage - PJ Black - A promo is spliced to fuck with various clips from the match and he really doesn't say anything at all of note.

• In-Arena - Chael Sonnen and Cyrus Fees - Chat about the upcoming Global Championship Tournament, talking about Brian Myers [Curt Hawkins], Chris Mordetzky [Chris Masters] and Nick Aldis, with Sonnen singling out Mordetzky as his pick to win the tournament.

Match Two -   Six Man Tag Team Match

Los Luchas (Phoenix Star &Zokre)& Misterioso Jr. def. Shamu Jr., Blood Eagle & Bestia 666

Despite the company supposedly being partnered with AAA, this Lucha showcase match that served as the first main event has no AAA talent in it, which could be to do with the launch of Lucha Underground which happened in nine months before these tapings. However, these six lads come in and do a really good job in this spot, creating something that still feels exciting to watch now, even with the influx of lucha talent that we've seen since LU's arrival on the scene. It starts of regular enough, the heel side (Shamu Jr. and pals) do some double and triple moves on one of Los Luchas, before a pop-up reversed into a rana sends us into a hot tag and it's all go from there. Everyone flies around the place, with a number of sweet highspots including a funky spinebuster from Phoenix Star, Bestia hitting a Ki Krusher, Misterioso Jr. landing on his feet from a moonsault and hitting a standing one anyway and then a series of dives from anyone who fancies it, including big chunky Shamu Jr. pulling out a suicide dive. The conclusion showcases Los Luchas nicely as Misterioso hits a lung blower and wicked af front flip piledriver, before Star and Zokre finish Blood Eagle off with a moonsault and rope-hung backbreaker combination. This was a tremendously fun match to watch, that stands out from most of the main stream TV products at the time and ended what was supposed to be the first episode on a real high note. 

• Promo - Sort of a next time trailer, which is pretty redundant in this format.

• Promo - Sort of a last time trailer, which is pretty redundant in this format. 

• In-Arena - Chael Sonnen and Cyrus Fees - We're shown the tale of the tape for Bobby Roode vs. Kevin Kross and then KUSHIDA vs. Virgil Flynn, both matches will seemingly happen within the next portion of the PPV.

• Promo - KUSHIDA vs. Virgil Flynn - A look at KUSHIDA winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, with Flynn mostly putting him over as one of the best wrestlers in the world. Whether it was a great idea to focus a major part of KUSHIDA's story around a title that he'd lose two months after these tapings took place (and just happens to have won back by the time they finally aired!) or whether it was just a case of GFW management naively expecting these episodes would be almost immediately picked up by a TV network, I do not know. 

Match Three - Singles Match

KUSHIDA def. Virgil Flynn 

We get a decent introduction KUSHIDA here and California-based Indy star Virgil Flynn does a decent job of making the Japanese wrestler look like a star in front of a fresh audience. The match is almost entirely focused on KUSHIDA looking for the Hoverboard lock (or Kimura as the commentary team decide to opt for) as he takes control of the match by applying a hammerlock and lobbing Flynn into the ringpost, before managing to transition into the hold out of a bridging German suplex. Flynn looked capable with some big offence, that made KUSHIDA look durable, but at times I felt like he could have made more of selling the arm as in between the two submissions it didn't feel like it was made the most of. A nice sequence that saw some back and forth strikes before a Pele kick from the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and then Flynn reversing a cross body into a moonsault slam is arguably the highlight of fun match. An awkward 450 splash still makes for a decent near fall for Flynn before a straight punch, a kick to the arm and the Hoverboard lock pick up the submission victory for the New Japan star. We're three for three for entertaining matches so far. 

• Promo - Lei'd Tapa vs. Mickie James vs. Christina Von Eerie - We get a look at each woman training and their personal lives, with James having the most interesting story after taking a break to have first child, but Tapa looking like the most interesting character. We also get clips of Karen Jarrett talking about how the company will be looking to focus on it's women, not calling them names like Diva or Knockout, whilst also giving them the opportunity in main events. Less than four months later Sasha Banks and Bayley main evented NXT Takeover: Respect and in under a year WWE dropped the term "Diva", so this segment is a little dated by August 2017.

• Backstage - KUSHIDA & Virgil Flynn - Both boys are lovely here, putting each other over again as KUSHIDA points to his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and calls it a dream come true. Heart warming.

• Promo - Kevin Kross - Another look at Kross who claims "if [he] needs to punch a whole in Bobby Roode's head [he] will", which is a weird thing when you're supposed to be the home-town babyface. 

• Promo - Chris Mordetzky - The Adonis chats about how he broke into the business and how he felt he was unfairly treated during his time in WWE, before closing with talking about developing a reputation in England (mostly for PCW, but also with a handful of appearances for the likes of Southside, HOPE and 4FW) after his release. These promos feel completely different to anything WWE or TNA was doing or is doing, having a genuinely real feel about them, but the main problem is it often isn't translating to what is happening in the ring.

• Promo - The Bollywood Boyz - Harv & Gurv Sihra (currently Jinder Mahal's trusty sidekicks in WWE) discuss wanting to portray India culture without resulting to stereotypes (their examples are turbans and swords) so they decided to celebrate Bollywood instead. I'm not sure I completely follow their logic, but they talk a bit about Ring Ka King so all is forgiven. 

Match Four - GFW Global Championship Tournament Qualifying Match 

Bobby Roode def. Kevin Kross 

For a match that has been built up with two promo videos on Kevin Kross, an in-ring segment with Bobby Roode, the commentary chatter about the tale of the tape and at various points with on-screen graphics during other matches, this was disappointingly one sided. Had their not been so much fan fare about it (and also had the previous bout not focused on the same body part) then Roode targeting Kross' shoulder to set up for the crossface with a series of vicious attacks inside and out of the ring would have been a decent squash match, that put Roode over as a technical veteran who would be a force to be reckoned with in this tournament. However, seeing Kross get in very little offence after having so much time dedicated to how he was a shooter and prepared to punch a whole through Roode's face, left the bout feeling a little flat. The TNA star would eventually get the win after reversing a sunset flip attempt straight into the Crossface for the second submission victory in a row.

• Promo - The Akbars - In a poorly advised move, GFW have Omar and Ali Akbar [Mohammad Ali Vaez] cut a promo, spliced with pictures of busy streets and flying planes as they ask the audience "What would you do if someone who looked like us sat next to you on a plane?". It's got similar vibes to what Jinder Mahal is doing at the moment, but taken two or three steps to far, in my opinion.

• Promo - Another last time trailer, with an added promo from Kevin Kross where he called Bobby Roode a douchebag, but said he respected him, because he didn't know what he'd gone through. 

• In-Ring - Some lad called Henry Maxwell [Maxwell Chicago], who apparently wrestled for the likes of FUW and BELIEVE in Florida, hammed the fuck out of the American national anthem, before getting the shit beaten out of him by The Akbars. It was tonally off with both acts working heel, with it feeling like whoever was supposed to sing the anthem pulled out when they heard about the Akbars dated gimmick. 

Match Five - GFW Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match

The Bollywood Boyz def. The Akbars

I'm going to be totally up front and say I despise everything about The Akbars gimmick and believe that there is absolutely no reason to have to resort to shouting "Allahu Akbar" in 2015. As much as The Akbars talked about being American and tried to spin their gimmick (similar to Jinder Mahal in WWE) as being upset for the way they were treated by Americans because of their looks, there's no doubt that this sort of gimmick attempts to stir up xenaphobia and bigotry, whilst appeal to the lowest common denominator in order to get a reaction. The match itself was a perfectly fine paint-by-numbers tag team match, with nothing out of the ordinary, as we got some cliche heely tag tactics from the Akbars, followed by a comeback from the Bollywood Boyz. A pair of superkicks, a diving back elbow and an elbow drop later and the future Cruiserweight Classic competitors found themselves in the next round of the tag tournament. 

• Promo - Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw - We got a look at the lives of Dutt and Jigsaw here, with Dutt telling a great story about being signed with TNA whilst still studying at University as well as being set up as a family man. Jigsaw was presented as someone with a fresh, interesting style and look (despite having seen a six man tag earlier in the show where everyone wore a mask) and came off a little awkward on camera with a couple of oddly worded statements. 

• Promo - Chris Mordetzky - The Adonis is back again, this time with lots of footage of his time in PCW and whilst it's lovely to see Kris Travis on my TV screen in 2017, comparing the promotion to a trip to Japan is a little bit of a stretch. 

• In-Ring Segment - Karen Jarrett, Lei'D Tapa & Royal Red - A pretty pointless segment, that involved Jarrett telling Tapa that she didn't need her husband to talk for her, which didn't exactly helped the monster image that Tapa was trying to portray.

Match Six - GFW Women's Championship Tournament First Round Triple Threat Match 

Christina von Eerie def. Lei'D Tapa and Mickie James 

As arguably the biggest name on the show and with six reigns on top of WWE's Women's division and three at TNA, it was some what surprising to see Mickie James as the element that held this match back. Yes, James had only given birth for the first time less than a year previously, but she'd also been back in the ring since November 2014 and wrestling regularly on the Indies in 2015, so I would've expected her at least be able to hit a handful of signature moves effectively. A flapjack on CvE and a Mick-DT on Tapa both looked red reels. The bout did have a decent dynamic though with James and CvE fighting against the larger Tapa, which allowed Lei'D took look like a monster when she dominated the competition, including hitting a cool double samoan drop to the pair (even if James landed awkwardly on her leg). The move that CvE picked up the surprise pinfall on Tapa with looked brilliant as she nailed a straight-jacket backstabber after leaping off the middle rope and the star of California's AWS made a good account of herself throughout. Chael Sonnen's commentary continued to grate on me here as he made a comment about preferring skinny women, whilst his commentary partner would know a thing about bigger women like Lei'D Tapa. Considering the promotion had pushed how it was looking to present it's women as credible competitors, the comment about which type of women he fancied and their body shapes really didn't fit. 

• Promo - As Christina von Eerie was walking to the back, her post-match promo began airing over the top, I'm not sure whether I liked this style but it was different and gave a nice pace to the production.

• Commentary - A tale of the tape for Kongo Kong vs. Nick Aldis, as well as a look at the brackets for the GFW Global Championship and GFW NEXGEN Championship tournaments, before another tale of the tape for Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw.

Match Seven - GFW NEXGEN Championship Tournament First Round Match

Jigsaw def. Sonjay Dutt

Two underrated performers pulled out the match of the PPV with a really good Junior heavyweight style match as the NEXGEN Tournament became the highlight of Amped. The two opened up with a wonderful series of quick near misses and crisp reversals that would grab any audience and seemed to get quicker as it went on. Jigsaw's Gory special looked beautiful and the sequence of near falls that followed was only let down by a referee who couldn't keep up with the pace. After the technical battle, both began to show off their high-flying arsenal with Jigsaw nailing a tasty tope conhilo and missile dropkick, before Dutt answered with a leaping hurricanrana and a running shooting star press. The pendulum of momentum swung back and forth throughout with a feeling that either man could pull out the victory, producing a great sequence with Jigsaw blocking a shiranui attempt, only for Dutt to able to counter once again with a Satellite DDT for a near fall. After a big german suplex near fall for Jigsaw, the CHIKARA star was able to block a superplex, before hitting a double stomp to the back of Dutt's neck and advancing with the Jig N' Tonic (cradle belly-to-back piledriver). This match flew by, with both men's offence looking crisp as they kept up a good speed throughout, getting just enough time. With five more minutes I think we could have seen a couple of extra near falls and highspots that would've taken things to the next level, but both men worked hard to create the best match on the show. 

• Promo - Nick Aldis vs. Kongo Kong - This was the most baffling part of the show, as we got a load of footage that hadn't previously aired, showing that the singer from earlier, Henry Maxwell, was Kong's manager and he'd had a couple of run ins with Aldis as well. The booking of Maxwell in the Akbars segment earlier was even more confusing now. 

• Backstage - Sonjay Dutt spoke to Jigsaw, putting over their match as the best they'd have to date (they'd previously worked in CZW and TNA) as well as wishing Jigsaw well in the later rounds of the tournament. 

• Promo - Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend) - From this I learnt that these two lads are a tag team and we saw some footage of them in the gym, even having seen them on a couple of episodes of Impact earlier in the year, I feel I know less about them now than before I saw this promo.

• In-Ring - Henry Maxwell announces Kongo Kong to the ring, which was nice of him.

Match Eight - GFW Global Championship Tournament First Round Match

Nick Aldis def. Kongo Kong

This match outdid my expectations, but my expectations weren't incredibly high to begin with. Until a final stretch of near falls, the bouts highlight was the antics of Henry Maxwell at ringside, which lead to him being the most over part of the match and actually getting a chant from the Las Vegas crowd. Vegas didn't seem to give a flying fuck about Nick Aldis or the peril he faced. The match felt a little bit out of it's time with the monster facing the good looking hero, whilst featuring plenty of interference from a flamboyant manager and a grand total of three bear hugs, whilst Sonnen essentially took the piss out of Kong's look on commentary. The last few minutes however were well put together as Aldis hit a nice-looking superplex before getting a convincing near fall from his diving elbow drop finisher. This was followed up by a well-worked distraction false finish, as Kong got two off a cannonball, before the 400lbs Kong missed a moonsault and Aldis advanced with a weak looking Spineshaker (Belly-to-back side slam). Whilst no one came away looking particularly impressive in the bout and it seems a shame to have the potential monster of Kong lose in his first match, the closing stretch was entertaining stuff and ended up saving what could have been a dud of a main event.

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.46/10 

As a PPV, this show wasn't great. It was poorly put together at points and also difficult to follow, with it being clear that whilst the earlier episode had been put together with care to shop to Networks, the later stuff on the show was thrown together to make up the show. However, the majority of the in-ring action was of a high quality, especially when involving the NEXGEN division as Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw and PJ Black vs. Seiya Sanada were both good to very good matches, whilst the Lucha trios match and KUSHIDA vs. Virgil Flynn also producing some entertaining action. Parts of the show were dated already and some of the booking decisions were questionable (The Akbars and Henry Maxwell segment and the Akbars character in general, Bobby Roode being positioned as against a company that I had no reason to care about yet) and the commentary was awful (Sonnen was almost unbearable at points) but as a show that was available to me on an on demand service in the United Kingdom for free and with no ad-breaks, it provided me with more than enough to be satisfied by on a Sunday afternoon with my brother (@DaveAtTheGraps on Twitter). I think we'd both quite happily watch the next PPV, as we found a lot to enjoy and even the stuff that we didn't think was much cop was still fun to discuss. 

You can check the show out for yourself in the UK here - https://www.my5.tv/impact-wrestling-one-night-only/season-1/impact-wrestling-one-night-only

Review - James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

Lucha Underground #3.20 - All Night Long...Again Review (31st May 2017)

On 31st May, Lucha Underground aired the 20th episode of their 3rd season, taped 24th April 2016 at the Lucha Underground Arena in Los Angeles, California, on El Rey. The show featured Johnny Mundo [John Morrison] defending the Lucha Underground Championship against The Mack [Willie Mack] in an All Night Long contest. But was it any good? Let's take a look. 

• #ICYMI - All the build towards towards The Mack challenging Johnny Mundo for the Lucha Underground Championship tonight in an Iron Man match. 

• Some live mariachi music before Vampiro and Matt Striker welcome us to the show and put over the match that's about to come.

Mundo and Mack battled to 3-3 draw, Mundo Retains Lucha Underground Championship

Gosh, if you're gonna do a mid-season break, you better come back with a bang and that's exactly what Lucha Underground did with as Johnny Mundo and The Mack went to war over the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match that went the entire length of the show. The match unfolded across fourty minutes of television time, twisting and turning, weaving a compelling story that built up Mundo as the villainous veteran willing to do anything to keep his title, whilst Mack was the talented underdog who didn't look like he could last the length of the show. The wrestling almost took a back seat to the epic storytelling, but when called upon both guys worked crisp and fast, with the first ten or twelves minutes was almost all in the ring and held it's own. 

Both men's character performances were terrific throughout, but the act Mundo has going at the moment with PJ Black [Justin Gabriel] also, is something else entirely. He just oozes pure dickhead in everything that he does and that makes it super easy to get behind whoever is against him. All of Mundo's falls played into this. The first saw him back out of some back and forth strikes on top of turnbuckle, holding onto the ringpost and leaning back, getting some good heat, before catching Mack, knocking him off the turnbuckle and hitting End of the World (Split Legged Corkscrew Moonsault) for the pin at around the 6 minute mark. Three minutes later and Mundo was at it again, grabbing hold of the ropes after slipping out of a Mack pin with roll-up to take a 2-0 lead. Then for his third, Mundo upped the game as he feigned an ankle injury after hitting a corkscrew plancha, only to kip up and DDT Mack onto a stretcher (that was bought in to take Mundo out of the match). Add the moment where he hid under the ring and then appeared to run away out of the other side, only to appear from under the ring after Mack had given chase to what turned out to be PJ Black, before both men took Mack down with kendo sticks, as well as asking the band to play a victory song with minutes left of the bout and you had an intensely dislikable character, who had cheated his way into the lead and who the audience wanted to see get the shit kicked out of them. 

The bout was chockful of massive spots, as Black, Son of Havoc [Matt Cross], Sexy Star and Ricky Mandel all got involved off the match, not just upping the drama as they caused the momentum to swing one way or another but also being part of some of the matches creative highspots. The first big big spot in the match involved Mack getting his revenge for the DDT on the stretcher by tying Mundo to the board and sending him down the Arena's steps, which was as visually thrilling as it sounds. Then the other lads started to arrive as Havoc countered Mundo and Black arriving with Kendo sticks and awoke a shattered Mack with some beer. Then in the aforementioned moment that saw Mundo implore the band to play a victory song, Star was revealed as the groups maraca player, leaping off the balcony onto Mundo and Black to a big pop. The way Mack equalled the scores at 3-3 was probably the most spectacular fall of the match as the Battle of the Bulls winner hit an over-the-shoulder piledriver off the apron through a pair of tables. There was so much woven into the fabric of the story that was told, with each spot coming at just the right time, building the excitement without taking away from what was about to come, that it never felt like the match was dragging and there was always something either happening or right around the corner. 

Ending a match like this with a draw is a brave decision, as there's always the chance that the viewer can feel let down by having spent 40 minutes plus with a match only to have it conclude with no decisive winner. However, the last two minutes of the match, made me desperate to see a rematch and even more desperate to see someone knock Mundo off his perch (what a mark, right?), that slippery bastard. It felt like pretty much everyone inside the temple felt the same way, as Mundo missed an End of the World onto a ladder and Mack slowly made the climb up the ladder after draping Mundo across the table. After Havoc and Star had dealt with Ricky Mandel's interference (with the clock still ticking away in the corner of the screen), Mack reached the top exhausted and splashed the Mayor of Slam Town through the table, only for time to run out just as he made the cover. Helped by the crowd's enthusiasm this was a captivating piece of television that pulled me in deeper as the story unfolded and by the end of the show I was hyped to see them go at it again on next week's episode. 

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 7.8/10 

There isn't much more to add in this part, the match was great, the whole episode was the match. Go and watch it and enjoy the silliness.

Wrestle Ropes Ready for the Weekend: August 2016 Week Three - GPW, IPW:UK & ATTACK!

After a few weeks of being away due to one thing or another we're back and with quite a tasty looking weekend coming up, it's just in the nick of time! This week we are off back to Hindley in Wigan for Grand Pro Wrestling on Friday night. Saturday shall see IPW:UK back in Snodland, Kent for their 'Future #20' event and Sunday will round off the weekend with a trip to Cardiff for Attack! Pro Wrestling's return to Walkabout. Let's get Ready For The Weekend!

Friday night kicks off the the wrestling weekend with Grand Pro Wrestling holding their Midsummer Madness event at The Rose Club in Hindley, Wigan. 

The show will see the return of the Fast Track 4-way match where the winner will challenge for the GPW Heavyweight & British Championship the same night. This time will see Jimmy Jackson, Ashton Smith, RJM and Joey Hayes compete in the match. This is a huge opportunity to jump right to the top of the mountain in GPW and become a champion. 

If the Fast Track winner decides to challenge for the GPW Heavyweight Championship, they could be facing one of two men this Friday. Current champion, T-Bone is already scheduled to defend the championship against Dylan Roberts in what shall no doubt be a nasty and brutal match. Both men will also have to keep in mind that they could well be defending the championship again the same night if they win. 

We're in for organised chaos at Midsummer Madness as two sets of tag teams teams will have to co-exist in an 8-man tag team match when The Island Brothers and The Midnight Bin Collection face the duo of Martin Kirby and The Sheikh and The Hate League. Soner Dursun and Danxig of Hate League are the current GPW Tag Team Champions which will be on the mind of everyone in the bout. Island Brothers and Midnight Bin Collection would love a win over the current champions as a way to have future championship match. One question to be answered is can Hate League trust Kirby and Sheikh to have their back or will they have their own agenda at The Rose Club.

Match Card

GPW Heavyweight Championship

Dylan Roberts vs T-Bone (c)

GPW Heavyweight Championship/GPW British Championship – Fast Track Cash-In

T-Bone (c) or Bubblegum vs ???

Travis Banks vs “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne

8-Man Tag Team

The Island Brothers (Rio & Tabu) & Midnight Bin Collection (Ste Bin Mann & Jet Fashion) vs The Hate League (Soner Dursun & Danxig), Martin Kirby & Th Sheikh

Fast Track Four-Way

RJM vs Ashton Smith vs Joey Hayes vs Jimmy Jackson

Issiah Quinn vs “Magnificent” Matthew Brookes

Moving on to Saturday and the Snodland Community Centre will play host to International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom Future #20. 

Scott Star who has been on a winning run in recent months will be taking on the biggest and toughest opponent of his career this Saturday when he face world-traveled star, PJ Black. Star is used to facing high flying opponents and has matched them every time. Now is a step up in skill with 10-year+ veteran PJ Black as his adversary. If Star can continue his winning ways this will be the biggest win yet of his young career and could lead to amazing things. 

Championships will be on the line this Saturday at Future #20 as Danny Duggan and Cieran Donnelly defend the IPW:UK Tag Team Championship. DND have had a lengthy reign as champions and are as close as brothers in the ring. Their challengers, they are possibly even closer as they are actual brothers. The Dunne Brothers. Pete and Damian Dunne are highly skilled individual wrestlers and together are exceptional. DND have welcomed all challengers so far and will indeed face a challenge in Dunne Brothers. A tag team classic in IPW:UK could well take place at the Snodland Community Centre. 

Chakara is a young star from the IPW:UK training academy with a lot of potential. She has competed in a few matches in IPW:UK and has impressed each time. She faces a real test this Saturday though as she'll be competing against former IPW:UK Women's Champion, Jetta. While there may be a revolution taking place within women's' wrestling right now, Jetta was fighting all over the British Isles longer before it started. She's faced some of the best in the world. Chakara will learn a lot in this match regardless of the outcome. She'll also learn what it takes to face someone of a calibre like Jetta and if she has what it takes at this point in her young career.

Match Card

Over The Top Rope Rumble

“DareWolf” PJ Black vs Scott Star

IPW:UK Tag Team Championship

DND (Danny Duggan & Cieran Donnelly) (c) vs The Dunne Brothers (Pete & Damian Dunne)

Jack Clover vs Briggs

Mike “The Strike” Broly vs Brandon Croft

Cuban Heat’s 1,000 Cuban Peso Open Challenge

Cuban Heat vs ???

MathFight (Fentos & Garry Mitchell) vs The London Riots (Rob Lynch & James Davis)

Jetta vs Chakara

The wrestling weekend rounds off with Attack! Pro Wrestling making their return to Walkabout in Cardiff with (Thank God It’s Not) Winter Slam. 

The show will see the semi-finals of the ATTACK! Championship tournament take place. 
The first semi-final will see “The Pride Of Wales” Eddie Dennis take on Wild Boar while “Ginger Jesus” Mike Bird shall compete against Los Federales Santos Sr. If you can pick the winner of these matches then you're either guessing or have the gift of foresight. The only think we do know is that after Sunday we will know the final of the tournament to crown a new champion in Attack! Pro Wrestling. 

This Sunday will see the return of Pete Dunne who will compete for the first time since being suspended for attacking a member of Attack! Pro Wrestling's staff at a previous event. His opponent will be another man making his return, “The Mexican Sensation” El Ligero. Often attributed as being the hardest working wrestler in Britain, Ligero has faced Dunne on numerous occasions. Each time they have met, they've been memorable. There is little doubt that these two men are going to deliver another cracking match this Sunday. 

The main event at Walkabout in Cardiff will see Bayside High's Nixon Newell and Mark Andrews defending the ATTACK! Tag Team Championship against Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos of CCK. These two teams have met before over championship gold and they tore the house down. This time they may actually tear down Walkabout as this defence will be a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match. All four of these competitors take big risks in normal matches in the pursuit of a win. The carnage that is going to take place with tables, ladders and chairs all being legal is unfathomable!

Match Card

Attack! Pro Tag Team Championship – Tables, Ladders & Chairs

Bayside High (Nixon Newell & “White Lightning” Mark Andrews) (c) vs #CCK (“Calamari Catch King” Chris Brookes & Kid “Mondai” Lykos)

Attack! Pro Championship Tournament Semi-Final

“The Pride Of Wales” Eddie Dennis vs The Wild Boar

Attack! Pro Championship Tournament Semi-Final

Los Federales Santos Sr vs “Ginger Jesus” Mike Bird

“The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne vs “The Mexican Sensation” El Ligero

Fatal Four-Way

??? vs “Ravin” Danny Jones vs “The Boy Next Door” Drew Parker vs “Smashmouth” Chris Ridgeway

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!