Impact Wrestling 696 Review // Eli Drake vs. Petey Williams

This week's Impact Wrestling saw the company continuing to rebuild after Bound For Glory, as the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario (taped 6th November) witness Petey Williams challenging Eli Drake for the Impact Global Heavyweight Championship and James Storm side with Moose following an assault from American Top Team. But was it any good? 

Impact Global Heavyweight Championship // Eli Drake [Shaun Ricker] (C) def. "The Canadian Destroyer" Petey Williams via pinfall // 13 minutes

The show began with separate Eli Drake and Petey Williams interview talking about their Global Championship match, over some footage of them competing in the ring. Eli Drake told Petey Williams that if he could last 3 minutes with him he'd be a Canadian Hero, because it doesn't take much, in an interview with McKenzie Mitchell. Petey Williams spoke about his Grandfather passing away and his loyalty to Impact, over highlights from his career. 

This was one of the best matches to have aired on Impact Wrestling for quite a while and for me, it was also Eli Drake's best performance in a six sided ring. The match told a simple story, with the commentary team making a point of telling us that no one had ever kicked out of a Williams Canadian Destroyer and Williams repeatedly looking to hit the move, whilst Chris Adonis ran constant interference on the outside to keep Drake in control. This meant that when Williams took out Adonis with a suicide dive, then escaped a Gravy Train and nailed the Canadian Destroyer, it felt like we could potentially see a new Global Champion, creating a world-class near fall. Drake kicking out rises his stock as champion and Williams deserves credit for selflessly allowing that to happen. Drake would eventually win with a Gravy Train, after a few near falls for each side in a tremendous final stretch that featured the momentum swinging either as Drake showed he capable of working a style more akin to the X Division. With a livelier crowd and had this not been pre-recorded then it would have been a great match, as it stands it is still worth giving a chance on My5 in the UK.

James Storm saves Moose from American Top Team // 13 minutes 

An intriguing segment as James Storm aligned with Moose in his feud with American Top Team (because why Stephen Bonnar was defending the honour of professional wrestling before I have no clue). This included the highlight of the show, when ATT's John Hartnett (wearing a neck brace) decided to slap Storm, before The Cowboy replied by smashing a beer bottle in his face in what many would call a massive overreaction! Storm's promo afterwards was utterly brilliant though. It was full of passion, it was funny, but most importantly, it felt real. Storm spoke at professional wrestling and what it meant to him. He talked about receiving advice from his Dad, he talked about America's Most Wanted and Beer Money Inc. and you could tell that he meant every word that came out of his mouth. Knowing that he's leaving the company after these tapings added an extra dimension to the promo as well. They also threw Hartnett's shoes into the crowd. On the other hand I could've given or taken Dan Lambert's promo, where he spent three minutes running down Canada. He seems like he's watched loads of pro wrestling and is trying a little bit too hard, but it wasn't unwatchable and his voice breaking at points made it quite humorous at times.

Backstage KM asked American Top Team for a chance, with Bobby Lashley telling him to prove himself. 

Impact Grand Championship // Ethan Carter III "EC3" def. Fallah Bahh [Franciz] // 9 minutes

Without the Grand Championship gimmick (three rounds of three minutes) this wouldn't have been much of a match, but with it it worked reasonably well. The first round with Fallah Bahh in control didn't do much for me, as he did his Akira Tozawa impression and tried to get a Bah chant going, alongside a number of poor comedy spots. The second round went to Ethan Carter III, taking control after Bahh ran into the post and then the rest of the round happened. The third round was probably the strongest as EC3 looked to bring Bahh down, couldn't hit the One Percenter after a rake of the eyes, but then managed to trip Bahh off the ropes, as he seemed to be attempting a Banzai Drop and then used a jacknife cover to get the win with his feet on the ropes. The wrestling wasn't great, but the gimmick allowed for a decent story to be told and EC3 came out with a win over a much bigger competitor. I was surprised we didn't get a reply from Matt Sydal after EC3 ran him down last week though.

The Latin American Xchange (Homicide, Santana [Mike Draztik] & Ortiz [Angel Ortiz]) def. Ohio Versus Everything (Sami Callihan, Dave Crist & Jake Crist) via pinfall // 9 minutes

A stylised handheld camera promo from oVe aired, mostly done by Sami Callihan, having very much a feel of the old Shield promos.

A good clash here, even if it felt like only scratched the surface of the potential the two sides have. There was frenetic feel from the very beginning as oVe launched into the ring to scrap wit LAX, before the match transitioned into a "Get your shit in" sequence and then a multiple dives sequence, highlighted a suicide senton from Homicide. It appears that oVe are the heels now, even if this had been unclear after Bound For Glory, as Callihan nailed Homicide with a mule kick blow, before Homicide became the Notorious face in peril. Homicide played the role well, scrapping against with Jake Crist, before escaping a back suplex and flying into an EYFBO hot tag. The gear change in stretch was great to watch as Santana and Ortiz flew around, oVe got a near fall off a Tombstone Piledriver from Jake on Santana, before Ortiz was able to block an All Seeing Eye attempt and LAX picked up the win with the Street Sweeper to bring a frenzied sequence to a close. There's more that these teams can do together and I hope that we get to explore that on Impact. 

Sonjay Dutt, Dezmond Xavier & Garza Jr. def. Trevor Lee, Taiji Ishimori & Caleb Konley // 7 minutes

This bout was a little overshadowed by the other six man tag on the show, having no real consequence and a surprising lack of action. The first two thirds were lethargic for this division, with a Sonjay Dutt and Taiji Ishimori in particular looking uninterested, phoning in their early work and looking way too cooperative, which both talents should be above at this point in their careers. The crowd was flat throughout, to the point that I noted that they may as well have been working in an empty building. Also Garza Jr. spent the entire match holding one arm towards his body, clearly injured, which makes the company look incredibly second rate and shows a clear lack of interest in safety of the performer. This shouldn't have happened, although Garza did pull out an impressive hurricanrana with the arm still well and truly held against his stomach. The last few minutes were a good watch with a lot going and Dezmond Xavier continuing to shine before pinning Caleb Konley with the Final Flash.

Gail Kim Retired // 4 minutes

Allie hugged Gail Kim backstage.

After this moment had been built to for quite a while it ended being quite underwhelming as Gail Kim announced that she was retiring. Part of this was damaged by the fact she had already announced she was retiring at the end of the year and also for the fact that only Allie was present for it and Kim lowballed her speech, mentioning a few people she'd wrestled and that was about it.

Also...

The GWN flashback was Ken Shamrock defeating Malice with Ricky Steamboat as special guest referee to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at NWA Total Non-stop Action #1 at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, Alabama on 19th June 2002.

In catering, Joseph Park apologised to Grado, gave him an American visa, only for a Mountie (not The Mountie) to turn up and tell Grado he was being deported from Canada.

The Pluto TV rewind was Chris Rock saying "NWA: TNA is the best professional wrestling in the world" from NWA Total Non-Stop Action #16 at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee on 9th October 2002.

A good two hours of Impact Wrestling this week, building on last week's and head and shoulders above Bound For Glory. Out of all the segment, only the X-Division six man under-performed. The main event did a great job of making Petey Williams feel like a threat and featured some brilliant wrestling, whilst the LAX v oVe match was also a good watch and EC3 vs. Bahh used the Grand title gimmick just about well enough. James Storm's promo was excellent also and with not much talking on the show it ended up really standing out. If Impact can continue in this vein for the next few months, then Anthem might finally start to shake the stink off, but the Ottawa crowd and awful venue choice might very well end up holding them back.

Review by James Marston

Bound for Glory 2017 Review // Johnny Impact vs. Eli Drake

On 5th November 2017, Impact Wrestling broadcast Bound for Glory 2017 live on PPV from Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario. Johnny Impact [John Morrison] challenged Eli Drake [Shaun Ricker] for the Global Championship, James Storm, Ethan Carter III and Eddie Edwards tagged up as Team Impact to take on El Hijo del Fantasma, El Texano Jr. and Pagano representing AAA, as well as appearances from Alberto el Patron [Alberto Del Rio], Matt Sydal, Bobby Lashley, Abyss and Gail Kim. But was it any good? Lets take a look!  

Global Championship Match: Eli Drake def. Johnny Impact (19:30) 

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Eli Drake and Chris Adonis with some terrible audio, but Drake continuing to grow into his role as Global Champion. The bad audio continued later as Johnny Impact cut a rather dull and slow promo in an interview with McKenzie Mitchell that was nowhere near the energy level you'd expect for someone competing in the main event of a companies biggest show.

Before the finish, I found myself surprisingly into the main event between Eli Drake and Johnny Impact, even if the same couldn't be said for the Aberdeen Pavilion crowd. Despite the uninspired build-up and lack of heat, the two worked well together to put on a series of impressive moment, with Impact's cat-like agility front and centre on a number of occasions. The former Lucha Underground Champion, produced plenty of gif-friendly action, like getting whipped towards the barricade only to slide underneath it, an avalanche Samoan drop rolled through into a standing corkscrew shooting star press and a Spanish fly, whilst Drake upped his game, mostly matching Impact's smoothness, hitting a tasty springboard moonsault and one of the best jumping superplexes that you ever did see. The pair battled against an apathetic crowd, who had been given very little reason to care, with Impact having only debuted at the end of August (on the same episode that Drake won the title) and with the duo having already had a match on TV just over a month ago. The booking let them down, but Impact and Drake did the best they could with the very little that they had to work with.   

Lets talk about that finish. In a baffling moment, Alberto El Patron would cost Impact the win, pulling the referee out of the ring, before nailing Impact with a pair of nasty looking chair-shots, hitting Drake with the title belt and then dropping champion on top of challenger for the pinfall. On which planet was this a good finish? Maybe, it would be acceptable on an episode of Impact, maybe it would be ok on B PPV (which the company doesn't run), but on your main show of the year? We didn't even get the surprise factor from an AEP return because he'd turned up to rant earlier in the night. The supposed biggest night of the year ended up feeling like any other night because they pulled a TV angle in the main event. (The unprotected chairshot from AEP to Impact was atrocious and really has no place in 2017)

Team Impact (Eddie Edwards, Ethan Carter III & James Storm) def. Team AAA (Pagano, El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr.) (15:27)

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Team Impact (Ethan Carter III, Eddie Edwards & James Storm) with horrible audio problems and EC3 mostly staring into the middle distance.

I've never really got these inter-promotional rivalries, to be honest. They only really ever work when a high percentage of the audience has a strong feeling about one or both of the promotions involved and that couldn't be said for Impact or AAA here. How is it possible for anyone to currently get strongly behind a company like Impact that doesn't seem to know what it's own identity is? Beyond some heely cheating from Team AAA and ETJ pulling out his bullrope, the dislike between the two teams that had been pushed on Impact wasn't there. The story kept the focus on Team Impact and at times Pagano, ETJ and EHDF felt like bodies to facilitate that story. Not neccesarily a bad thing, but on the big stage I'd expect a little more substance. Also, anything involving Pagano tended to be clunky, with the standout moment being him just chilling on the apron whilst ETJ and EHDF bumped and fed for the EC3 hot tag.

What did work about the match however, was the relationship between Ethan Carter III and his team mates, which whilst being a little played out, came across well, especially at the beginning and towards the end. The match built nicely towards EC3's hot tag, showing him initially reluctant to help, before roaring into the bout when needed. The finish also played into this well, with EC3 on fire, escaping a double suplex from Pagano & ETJ, before nailing a pair of low blows and One Percenters and tagging in Storm to get the victory with a Last Call to Pagano. Carter screaming "Kick his fucking head off" as he tagged in the Cowboy seemed to put to be their problems and end EC3's short heel run, tying off the story well. It's just a shame it didn't come five minutes earlier. Special shoutout to the Package tombstone that EHDF gave Edwards on the apron as well, because that was clearly the highlight of the bout.

Monster's Ball: Abyss def. Grado (10:35)

Abyss and Grado had a confrontation backstage, with a fire-up Grado cutting a pretty good promo on their upcoming match and how much it meant to him. Moments before their match, Abyss berated Grado, asking him to dance, with Grado complying only to kick Abyss in his Monster's balls.

Good goly, where to start with this? This was not a good showcase for either man. The action was a times passable, with credit needing to be given for the bump that Grado took off the top rope through a barbed wire board, but quickly devolved into something else entirely. The spots with the board later on were poorly done, with the bout not only struggling to match the earlier highspot, but also not doing a good job of performing the following moments. Clunky spots like Abyss taking a shoulder block onto the board, before having to hold another one on top of him, so that Grado could deliver a top rope splash were poorly conceived in the first place, but weren't helped by how they were performed. Laurel Van Ness and then Rosemary getting involved saw the match devolve further, even if Rosemary got a good pop for turning up to nullify LVN's "threat". Then the bell went when the referee had clearly counted two, dragging an already poor match towards shambles territory. Close off with perhaps one of the worst Blackhole Slam's that Abyss has ever hit, that ended up looking like too drunk lads falling over on a Saturday night and you have a contender for the worst worked match in Impact (and perhaps beyond) for the year.

X Division Championship Match - Trevor Lee (C) def. Matt Sydal, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Dezmond Xavier and Garza Jr. (12:26)

Six good wrestlers, a decent amount of time and you've got yourself a strong opener, that ended up being one of the best matches on the show. It wasn't always as crisp as it could've been, mostly down to how fast the action was, but we did also get a number of brilliant one on one sequences thrown into the mix. Sydal and Dutt began with a great back and forth sequence, Sydal and Xavier were smooth as silk together, concluding with Sydal nailing a standing moonsault and a brilliant stretch between Lee and Dutt ended in a wonderful Orange Crush near fall for Lee. The champion being the bouts only heel worked well, whilst the crowd backing native Williams was used well, with the two elements driving the match and helping it to fill it's time, remaining interesting without becoming an out and out spot-fest. The build to Williams hitting the Canadian Destroyer produced some excitement in the closing stages, with multiple attempts getting good reaction from the Pavilion. I feel the finish was a little bit of a misstep, with a wonderful moment being teased as Sydal missed a Shooting Star Press and ended up in Williams' path, only to escape the Destroyer. Had that spot been completed and resulted in Williams winning the belt then you would have had a great moment that would've got people talking and elevated the match as a whole. Instead Williams hit the move on Xavier and Lee stole the pin to retain and we ended up with a cliche conclusion instead.

Six Sides of Steel Match: Bobby Lashley & King Mo def. Moose & Stephan Bonnar (10:39)

Dan Lambert psyched up Bobby Lashley, King Mo and the rest of American Top Team backstage, despite saying they didn't actually need it. Later on, Moose and Stephen Bonnar touched each other quite a bit and said "in the cage" a lot. 

There were moments were I felt like this match was leading to a really good pay off. Those moments were when Moose was just ploughing through American Top Team lads, hitting daft Go to Hell's (Double chokebomb) off the top rope and looking like a real beast of a man. Looking like a star and someone the company could potentially strap the rocket on. The rest of the match wasn't for me. With very little knowledge of or care for MMA, Bonnar and Mo scrapping meant nothing to me, so having he majority of the match centre around the potential of them fighting turned me off almost instantly. The fact that the fight amounted to the pair rolling around on the floor for a little bit, whilst the crowd sat in silence or chanting "GSP" for some reason turned me off even more. All of American Top Team's representatives would eventually get in the cage, in another shitty TNA cliche and even after Moose had crawled back inside the cage (he got locked outside after following Mo out there like a silly Moose), he ended up losing to a Lashley spear. What does American Top Team winning achieve? No one wants this story to continue and a Moose win could have potentially marked him out as a future star for the company. But that would've made too much sense.

World Tag Team Champion 5150 Street Fight: oVe (Dave Crist & Jake Crist) (C) def. LAX (Ortiz [Angel Ortiz] & Santana [Mike Draztik]) (10:21)

Backstage, we see a body laid out on the floor, drapped in a Mexican flag, with a figure standing over it, before offering us a thumbs down. Could it be?

This was match of the night, but wasn't above being fucked by the terrible creative that blighted the evening. Dave, Jake, Ortiz & Santana put on a thrilling spot-fest from the very beginning. Highlights included Ortiz nailing Jake with a sitout powerbomb off the ramp through a table, Santana climbing some scaffolding and diving onto Dave on a table below, Jake hitting a superplex on Ortiz through a bunch of seated chairs and a Street Sweeper from LAX to Jake onto a stack of chairs. Then came the matches main problem, the debut of Sami Callihan. Whilst we were told that 5150 Street Fight was like nothing we'd ever seen, there was no mistaking that the gimmick was a normal street fight, with no other members of LAX present with Low Ki having left the company, Diamante nowhere to be seen and Homicide "laid out". Had we seen Jake & Dave in unbelievable peril, battling against the whole group, before Callihan came out and cleaned house, it would have felt special, it would've been a moment. Instead, Callihan seemed to randomly walk out, to no reaction, throw something in 53 year od Konnan's eyes, before destroying Ortiz and Santana in two spectacular spots. As good as those spots looked, the right notes hadn't been hit and the crowd didn't know how to react to Callihan or a group in oVe that is yet to get over with this audience. The finish was flat. I was so excited to see Sami Callihan debut in Impact and they botched it. 

oVe laid the boots into Ortiz & Santana, with a quick soundbite promo from Callihan. 

Alberto El Patron Returns (10:08)

Fuck sake. Seriously? Who thought this was a good idea? This was ten minutes of AEP complaining about being suspended after being part of an alleged domestic violence incident earlier in the year. Ten minutes of him just droning on about it, aimlessly. He also kept randomly jumping on the middle rope for reasons known only to him. "They didn't care about my family. They didn't care about my three little babies" is one of the most bizarre arguments anyone could have in this situation. However, the weirdest part was AEP threatening commentator Jeremy Borash and then not actually doing anything. At best, this was uncomfortable viewing, at worst it was an embarrassment to professional wrestling.

Knockout's Championship Match: Gail Kim def. Sienna [Allysin Kay] (C) and Allie [Cherry Bomb] (9:43)

Terrible crackly audio as McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Gail Kim ahead of Knockout's Championship match. 

This match did very little for me, with the three often looking awkward and stunted together. The big moments of the contest were more often than not detracted from by sloppiness, with Sienna taking a nasty looking double back suplex onto the barricade, that had very little height on it. Sienna's avalanche fallaway slam on Allie, followed up with a spinebuster to Kim stood out as the opposite however, being well-timed, if not for the referee fannying around on the count. Story-wise, the match focused around Sienna's dominance and Kim and Allie's teamwork, but nothing stayed around long enough to create a coherent flowing narrative, with the bout seemingly looking to coast on a feel-good finish as Kim won in her final match. Personally, I think Allie taking the belt and Kim passing the proverbial torch would have been a more effective conclusion, with the right story, but I'm not majorly against what is in essense a nice gesture from the company for one of their hall of famers. Although, I think replaying match with Awesome Kong from Final Resolution 2008 would have done her career more justice! 

Taiji Ishimori def. Tyson Dux (4:47)

Extended squash match here as Dux made his first Impact appearance since Victory Road 2008. The bout was pretty much also Ishimori for the five minutes, who picked up the win with 450 splash, in a match the crowd couldn't have cared less about.

Jimmy Jacobs made a surprise appearance, briefly chatting to the commentary team and indicating that he now worked at Impact.

I didn't hate Bound for Glory 2017. I hated the booking, the creative and the lack of anything feeling remotely special, surprising or fresh. Whatever is going on with Alberto El Patron is trash. Grado vs. Abyss was really poor all on it's own, as well. But I thought the X-Division six man showcased some real talent, whilst the 5150 Street Fight featured some spectacular spots and would have unarguably been match of the night, had it not been for the flat finish. There was so much talent and potential on this show. But they were all to greater or less extent let down by terrible creative decisions and direction that dragged the show as a whole down.

Review by James Marston 

Live Event Review: Fight Club: Pro All the Best 2016 (Lee vs. Seven *TNA X Division Championship*)

On 5th February 2016, Fight Club: Pro presented All the Best 2016 in the Planet Nightclub in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Trevor Lee defended his TNA X Division Championship against Trent Seven and Pete Dunne put his Infinity Trophy on the line against Tyler Bate...but was it any good? Let's find out.

match card

Match 1 - Tag Team - KYS (FCP Champion MK McKinnan & Damian Dunne) vs. Nixon Newell & Mike Bird

Match 2 - Singles - Chris Brookes vs. Travis Banks

Match 3 - Infinity Trophy - Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne (C)

Match 4 - Tag Team - The Hunter Brothers vs. Dan Maloney & Wild Boar

Match 5 - TNA X Division Championship - Trent Seven vs. Trevor Lee (C)

trent seven addresses the planet nightclub

The show kicked off with former FCP Champion Trent Seven heading out to the ring to welcome the fans to the show and thank them for heading out to the Planet that evening. As Seven said 2016, obviously referencing the first show of said year for FCP, I thought it was a good idea to shout out 2006, in reference to the idiotic boob Bram's recent botch on TNA Impact Wrestling. I'm not sure if this was the best idea I've ever had or a moment of utter insanity that lead to me being labelled a "walking calendar" by Seven. Either way this whole opening segment was a nice bit of fun that buoyed that crowd up for some action with Seven managing to hold the attention of a good-sized crowd of boozed-up Midlanders with his cheeky swagger and charm.

nixon newell and mike bird defeat kys

This was an open challenge bout laid out by current FCP Champion, MK McKinnan and KYS stablemate Damian Dunne. The duo kicked things off by complaining about having to start off the show and began typically running down the FCP fanbase, with McKinnan ripping into anyone who caught his attention. Whilst, the team of Nixon Newell and Mike Bird hadn't been particularly high on my list of teams to answer the open challenge, the booking here made me want to see the match a lot more than if it had just been announced before hand. We had Nixon come out first, with McKinnan cutting a misogynistic promo offering Nixon "the chance" to suck his dick, before Clint Margera made his entrance, only to be taken out by KYS member Pete Dunne with a steel chair and Bird (who presumably was just kicking about backstage) turned up to join in the fight.

The tag match itself was a cracking opening contest with the two teams forming a solid dynamic that the crowd quickly bought into. As one of the most likable faces in British wrestling at the moment, Nixon worked well as the face in peril for this one, with McKinnan and Dunne excelling in their roles also, keeping the match in their favour with a series of underhanded tactics. Bird kept things going at ringside and delivered with a good hot tag sequence, before the heels pulled out a great flurry of offense and got a convincing near fall off a double superkick and rope hung DDT from McKinnan. However, it was Nixon who picked up the win for her team with a Vulture Culture Destroyer on Dunne, and whilst the move didn't look quite a clean as it could have, it seemed there were no injuries and the messy look actually worked in the favour of the type of bout the two teams were having. A smashing way to kick off the show, with a strong heel/face dynamic, it'll be interesting to see how this victory effects McKinnan's title run and whether we'll see Nixon and Bird continue as a team in FCP going forward.

chris brookes defeats travis banks

This was my first opportunity to see New Zealander Travis Banks in action and I have to say I was impressed with the 2 time IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Champion. Banks worked a very technical bout with FCP regular Chris Brookes, and despite being the less well known worker to the Wolverhampton crowd, seemed to quickly gain the respect of those in attendance, helped along by the fact that Brookes is one of the most hated men in the promotion. Despite the technicality of the bout, one of it's stand out moments was a big highspot that saw Brookes push Banks off the top and send him into the cage that surrounds the ringside area, with the Kiwi almost going right over the top. Banks gained a number of sweet near falls via a Fisherman's Buster and Bridging German Suplex before Brookes claimed a surprisingly clean victory with a Michonoku Driver. Good use of Banks that showcased his skills and allowed him to look impressive enough that a return would be welcomed, whilst also allowing a regular to build some momentum heading into the next show on March 18th.

pete dunne defeats tyler bate to retain the infinity trophy

The first half main event was a superbly physical outing between KYS member Pete Dunne and one half of Mustache Mountain, Tyler Bate. The pairs first one on one outing for FCP, these two have a long history in the promotion going all the way back to Rise Against: End of Dave? in May 2014, having six bouts of varying stipulations, all the way up to the last show of 2015, Infinity 2015 when Dunne outlasted Bate in the Four Way Dance Semi-Final of the Infinity Trophy Tournament. If this match was the culmination of two years of waiting to get their hands on each other one on one in an FCP ring, boy did it deliver. There was lots of hard strikes and kicks to the face here, in a real show of British Strong Style as both men took a great deal of punishment from each other. This looked like two men who genuinely couldn't stand each other. The crowd was all over Dunne for the whole match and the well-rounded performer produced some quality character work as he showed frustration at the chants for Bate's mustache to give this bout a little bit of variety.

Numerous times through the match Dunne had attempted to hit his DT3 finish (Pumphandle Facebuster) and never quite hit it, this lead to blistering conclusion. With Dunne once again unable to put Bate away following another close near fall, we saw Bate begin to fire up for the second time in the match, only for Dunne to deliver a series of wicked strikes to the head and finally hit the DT3 for the win. A tremendous closing sequence that had the Planet rocking, these are two talents that have grown and grown over the last two or three years. Both men put in excellent efforts here and you have to think that there's only more to come as they continue to add different aspects to their game. 

fast-forward...Following the interval, Clint Margera hit the ring and challenged Pete Dunne to a Death Match on 18th March...

dan maloney and wild boar defeat the hunter brothers

The second half of the show kicked off with Dan Maloney and Wild Boar avenging their only loss as a tag team in FCP, by defeating the Hunter Brothers in a rematch from December's Infinity 2015. The crowd quickly picked up on Maloney's new choice of ring attire which included what appeared to be black rubber gloves, and heckled him with chants about marigolds and questions about washing up. The match itself went back and forth, with the fan-favourite Hunter Brothers putting together a lot of nice quick paced action and trading near falls with Maloney and Boar. The finish featured a lot of fun shenanigans, as the heel duo attempted to get steel chairs involved in the match, however this was a mere distraction for the referee, as Maloney would eventually clobbered a Hunter with a mallet to the knee that would eventually give his team the victory. A lot of fun to be had here, and there's surely a rematch to settle the score coming on 18th March or later on in the year.

trevor lee defeats trent seven to retain the tna x division championship

What a veritable smorgasbord of wrestling action was on offer here. Things began with Trent Seven challenging Trevor Lee to put his TNA X Division Championship on the line. Of course, Lee wasn't going to just give Seven a title, oh no, he was gonna make him dance for his shot. What followed was one of those moment in a wrestling fans life, where you look at your pals and they're all losing their shit for two grown adult males dancing to Taylor Swift and you think "Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate". Wrestling is the best and I won't have anyone say other wise. As far as I can find this was the first X Division title bout at non-TNA show in the UK since Samoa Joe defended the belt against AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels at 1PW All or Nothing - Day 2 in Doncaster on 5th March 2006 (Someone tell me I'm wrong, that's the last I could find on cagematch.net) 

The earlier part of the bout featured a lot of stalling from Trevor Lee, and plenty of sports-entertainment style tomfoolery. From Lee continually going to the outside at the start of the match, to later seemingly losing his temper and grabbing a steel chair only to use it as a step up to the ring apron, this all seemed to be designed to get under the skin of the Wolverhampton crowd. The champ was certainly working the heel role throughout, with numerous underhanded tactics in blatant sight of the referee, with the excuse that "It was legal in the US" working well due to the inexperienced appearance of the ref himself. The crowd however didn't seem to want to get on Lee's back too much here, perhaps due to being more familiar with his exploits in promotions like PWG and EVOLVE, than his villainous run alongside Gregory Shane Helms in TNA (in fact, the episode where Lee won the title from Tigre Uno wouldn't air until that coming Sunday on Challenge in the UK!). The crowd however were more or less on the side of regular Trent Seven, and I didn't feel that the crowd being more amused than angry with Lee's antics effected the contest on a whole.

Once things really got going Lee and Seven put on a superb main event, choc-full of hard strikes and chops with the crowd getting hotter and hotter as the action went on. Then came one of the best false finishes I have ever seen, as Seven hit a series of moves, capped off with a jumping piledriver and seemingly got the three count on Lee. Even the most smarky of fans were seemingly fooled by this one as the roof almost got blown off the Planet. Removing what would have been one of the main negatives of having another promotions title defended on the show, the crowd for a moment genuinely believed that the title not only could change hands, but had changed hands. Of course, it wasn't to be as the inexperience of the referee was used again, as after initially awarding the bout to Seven, he realised Lee's foot was under the ropes and restarted the match! For me, the actual finish of the match was a little too similar to what had come earlier between Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate, as Seven took a number of stiff shots from Lee and continued to fire up, before eventually falling to a Small Package Driver, as Lee made his third successful title defense.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 6.95/10

Fight Club:Pro start of their year with a strong card of British Strong-Style action, with all five matches providing some quality action. The Infinity Trophy bout and the main event for the TNA X Division Championship could both have arguments put forward for why they deserved to be Match of the Night, as they both delivered lots of hard-hitting moments, and managed to tell mostly different stories inside the ring. For me, Dunne and Bate edges it, thanks to the history between the two in the promotion and my personal intrigue to see where both of the performers will go over the next year of so in FCP. 

There's lots to look forward to in the near future, with Clint Margera and Pete Dunne already scheduled to clash in Death Match on the next show on 18th March, whilst a new contender for MK McKinnan's FCP title still needs to be crowned, and despite suffering defeat in tag team action there still seems to be no cracks in KYS faction. Interesting times ahead for sure, this is a promotion that should be on every British wrestling fans radar.

Wrestle Ropes' Ready for the Weekend: February 2016 Week 1

As we fast approach another weekend in the British Wrestling calendar, we head to Wolverhampton for Fight Club: PRO before heading south to Bristol for Pro Wrestling Chaos' first show of 2016. We'll also have a brief look look at a few other shows coming up. Let's get Ready For The Weekend!

Friday night sees the weekend kick off in Wolverhampton with Fight Club: PRO All The Best 2016 at The Planet Nightclub. The event will see the 2014 Infinity winner, Chris Brookes compete against a new face to the Fight Club: PRO ranks, Travis Banks. Brookes had a change of mind since winning the Trophy, being as dangerous as he ever has been. Banks, originally from New Zealand has been making a name for himself all over the UK in the past few months. His debut at Fight Club: PRO may be his most challenging debut yet as his opponent will have no problem in making his first match his last. From one former Infinity champion to the current champion, Pete Dunne. Dunne's rise during 2015 had the entire British Wrestling community talking. His opponent, Tyler Bate is another man who has gone from strength to strength in the last 12 months. While Dunne is constantly getting better, his momentum could be stopped by a man who has his own ambitions for 2016 and one of those is becoming the Infinity champion. While Fight Club: PRO is stacked with home-grown talent, there'll also be some international flavour on Friday as 'The Carolina Caveman' Trevor Lee makes his return to face Trent Seven. Last time, Trevor Lee defeated fellow American, Andrew Everett, this time however he faces Trent Seven, a man who holds the record for the longest Fight Club: PRO Championship reign. While Lee has had success before, and currently holds TNA's X Division Championship, he now faces a man who is part of the foundations of Fight Club: PRO, 'The Super Don' Trent Seven.

full card

*KYS Open Invitational Challenge*

KYS (MK McKinnan & Damian Dunne) vs ???

Travis Banks vs Chris Brookes

Tyler Bate vs ‘Young And Bitter’ Pete Dunne

Dan Moloney & Wild Boar vs The Hunter Brothers (Lee & Jim Hunter)

Trent Seven vs ‘The Carolina Caveman’ Trevor Lee

Moving on to Saturday and Pro Wrestling Chaos are back at the BAWA Club in Bristol with Everyone Must Stand Alone. The event will see the beginning of the Knights Of Chaos Tag Team Championship tournament. The first quarter-final match will see Massive Party's Chuck Cyrus & Robbie Caine face the duo of Eddie Dennis & Alex Steele. Cyrus & Caine have had tag team success in other promotions and will be looking to continue that success in Pro Wrestling Chaos. Their opponents, Dennis & Steele have been a part of Pro Wrestling Chaos since it's inception and will be keen to be a part of another piece of the promotion's history. Speaking of history, February 6th shall see a first time ever meeting between Pete Dunne and British Wrestling legend, Johnny Kidd. As we have already mentioned, Pete Dunne is a man on the rise right now. That rise is partially due to his style which combines hard hitting offence with a more traditional World Of Sport technicality. When it comes to World Of Sport technicality, there are few who can match Johnny Kidd. This is very much a match of New School vs Old School but a winner is impossible to predict.  The main event this Saturday will see the winner of the Chaos Rumble, Jeckel waste no time in utilising his number one contender status as he challenges Wild Boar for the King Of Chaos Championship. Jeckel has been tearing through the Pro Wrestling Chaos ranks for months with no-one safe from the heavyweight. Boar on the other hand has been involved in a war with Mike Bird for the past few months with him eventually ending the war with the King Of Chaos Championship. However as one battle ends, another looks to begin in the shape of Jeckel. Both these men are harsh, heavy hitters who will go to any lengths to win. With Jeckel also having the new Pro Wrestling Chaos owner, Pariah Khan in his corner, Wild Boar faces a big challenge in Bristol.

full card

*King Of Chaos Championship*

Jeckel vs Wild Boar (c)

‘Flying’ Mike Bird vs ‘The Carolina Caveman’ Trevor Lee

Johnny Kidd vs Pete Dunne

*Knights Of Chaos Championship Tournament Quarter Final*

Massive Party (‘Mr Massive’ Chuck Cyrus & ‘The Fame’ Robbie Caine) vs ‘The Pride Of Wales’ Eddie Dennis & Alex Steele

Flash Morgan Webster vs Panda Cub

Gideon vs Big Grizzly

Grado In Action

Also this weekend, Preston City Wrestling are holding their annual Road To Glory tournament over three shows this Friday & Saturday. The shows will see a plethora of international names such as Matt Hardy, Billy Gunn and Tajiri to name a few along with some of the best of British. Some very intriguing match ups include Noam Dar vs Timothy Thatcher, Chris Dickinson vs Rampage and Drew Galloway vs Martin Kirby. A whole variety of potential quarter-final, semi-final and final are possible and it is a tournament for anyone to win. Future Pro Wrestling also have a show this weekend. On Saturday they will host 'Reloaded 5.0' at The Thomas Wall Centre in Sutton. A number of matches are scheduled with The GZRS challenging The London Riots for the FPW Tag Team Championship, Jimmy Havoc defending the FPW Championship against Paul Robinson plus the continuation of the FPW Zero-G Championship tournament. There will also be the annual Reloaded Rumble with the winner earning a future FPW Championship match. Speaking of rumble matches, Leicester Championship Wrestling will also be holding their annual rumble match at Brockington College. Along with the rumble where the winner earns a championship match there are four other matches scheduled, three of them for championships. The LCW Tag Team Championship shall be defended in the fatal four-way match, Chris Tyler is defend the LCW Young Guns Championship against Jurgen Heimlich and Xander Cooper will have the odds against him as he defends the LCW Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match against former champions, Alex Gracie and Joseph Conners.

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!