NXT #265 Review - Pete Dunne vs. Wolfgang

On 14th September 2017, WWE aired its 265th episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 23rd August. The show's main event match would see the WWE United Kingdom Championship on the line as 'The Bruiserweight' Pete Dunne would take on 'The Last King of Scotland' Wolfgang. With an undercard formed of the team of Street Profits taking on the Ealy Brothers, Johnny Gargano fighting Riddick Moss & Ruby Riot and her mystery partner against the Iconic Duo of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, it had a lot of potential as an hour of television but as always, was it any good?

Ruby Riot & Nikki Cross def. The Iconic Duo 

For this tag match, Riot comes out alone, it's not clear whether she couldn't find a partner or doesn't want one. Kay starts for the Icons, Riot immediately goes in with a single leg takedown before grounding and pounding away, Royce comes in but is hit with a dropkick, Kay uses the distraction to hit Riot with a rolling forearm, tag to Royce who clubs the back and taunts Riot screaming 'where's your partner?', drives Riot to her corner and tags in Kay who begins working over Riot. As she does, SaNItY's Nikki Cross enters through the crowd, tag to Royce, Riot and Royce trade strikes, Riot runs the ropes, on the apron, goes for a slingshot shoulder barge but Royce catches her in the ropes with a kick before holding a modified tarantula for a 4 count. Tag to Kay and they hit a double-team slam for a 1 count, which pisses of Kay to no end. Tag in Royce who repeatedly kicks Riot in the gut, tag in Kay, Royce holds Riot still for Kay to hit a forearm but Riot ducks resulting in Kay taking out Royce, Riot rests in the corner for a second and Cross climbs up on the apron and tags herself in which is legal I guess. Cross runs Riot (which I know is Ruby's job but I can't keep making that joke) taking both of them out with big wild strikes, flattens Royce with a running crossbody and hitting her Swinging Fishermans Neckbreaker finish on Kay, she tags back in a confused Riot who hits a top rope senton for the pin. This was a short, but effective match. It's nowt to shout home about in terms of what happens but is worth it for the potential storyline build considering we never got a proper finish to Riot v Cross but also the thunderous reaction to Cross' hot tag. Once again, I must ask, what are the plans for the Iconic Duo because they don't seem to have any sustained momentum or real positioning for the vacant Women's title nor do they actually have a proper storyline running at the moment. Hopefully good things are coming soon for all four competitors as they're all too good to waste.

• Re-cap of Johnny Gargano's interaction with Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli last week.

• No Way Jose is interviewed about Lard Sullivan. He's an animal, a monster, a freak, he attacks during a conga line in Brooklyn, he keeps attacking before and after matches, he has a screw loose and needs to be taught that he can't just get away with that shit so Jose is challenging him to a match next week.

Johnny Gargano def. Riddick Moss

The crowd are firmly behind Johnny for this singles encounter. Lock-up to start, Moss uses his size and power advantage to push Johnny into a wristlock, Johnny wrestlings into a headlocks, Moss escapes, whips Gargano into a shoulder tackle, begins ragdolling Gargano as he hits a side angled body slam and a biel throw, Gargano retaliates with strikes, runs the ropes goes for some form of headscissor takedown but is caught by Moss, he gets Johnny in the fireman's carry but Johnny escapes, Moss throws clothesline but Johnny ducks till he can duck no more and is felled by one, picked back up, gut knees and Johnny is thrown straight into the turnbuckle as we head to the ad-break. Back from the back and Johnny is caught in an abdominal stretch, he escapes with palm strikes but is speared to the corner by Moss, strikes, stomps and Irish whips keep Johnny down but not for long as he responds with lariats and slaps to get Moss to the floor and hits him with the seated roundhouse, back on his feet and Moss is knocked out of the ring with a clothesline and off his feet with a baseball dropkick and an apron cannonball. Rolled back in the ring, Gargano about to follow till Sabatelli provides a distraction allowing Moss to pick up Gargano into what looks like a Razor's Edge set-up but Johnny escapes and uses a tilt-a-whirl transition into the GargaNo Escape but Moss crawls to the ropes. Gargano seems out of it, Moss hits a clothesline and a fallaway slam knocking Johnny out of the ring. Sabatelli goes for another distraction and Gargano hits him with a back thrust kick and takes down Moss with a Slingshot Spear for the pin. I get that the story they're trying to tell is of Johnny still missing something in the wake of his attack by Ciampa but the problem with this match is that Moss wasn't compelling enough as the controlling heel which considering he had about 90% of the offence left Moss with an open canvas to display but he did not rise to the occasion. That said, I think there's a lot of potential here to build Gargano while still keeping him with another win under his belt helps build his character's credibility.

• We get a lovely treat in the form of a Street Profits package. They're in action next. Lovely.

Street Profits def. The Ealy Brothers 

Quick Squash m8. It's happened, Dawkins has finally managed to get the crowd to do that 'stir the pudding bowl' dance, or at least the few of the crowd they show but certainly the 'displaying a picture of a red party cup' like frat house Fireflies seems big. Ford and Uriel start off proceedings, Uriel powers Dawkins to the corner, he tries to take his headbands but Dawkins is having none of it, they lock up, Uriel grabs the headband to which the crowd react like some straight fire rhymes have just been dropped. Dawkins responds by dropping Ealy with a straight forearm to take back the headband, tag to Ford, they hit a basement dropkick-standing splash combo before in comes Gabriel who takes a rope-hung leapfrog back buster. Uriel's back in and gets the same treatment, the Profits do a 'cool' squad handshake, Gabriel powers over Ford using his big lad skills, tags in Uriel for an assisted Irish whip-shoulder block combo, whip to the corner for a corner splash but Ford ducks, both teams tag out. Dawkins hits clotheslines, a dropkick a spinning elbow and corner 360 stinger splashes before tagging Ford and hitting the Spinebuster-Frog Splash Combo for the pin. They celebrate in the crowd who clearly love them. Good for them. Now can we see what they can do with a longer than three minute match? Also the Ealy brothers are very much work in progress but the potential is there.

• We get a retrospective on Asuka in NXT with talking heads from everyone from Ember Moon & Bayley to Corey Graves & a cool girl in the crowd with an Asuka mask. It's a really lovely, high-quality package (the kind WWE seem to do better than anyone else. Anyone, even real sports companies. Prove me wrong) that simultaneously makes me so happy I got to see it and terrified that RAW might fuck her up. If you fuck her up, RAW, we fuck you up. It's that simple.

• William Regal is interviewed about what his plans are for the Women's title post-Asuka. He says he has plans. Good interview, 10/10 illuminated.

• Next week: Aleister Black will words.

• Christie St. Clair is backstage with Wolfgang. Wolfie has never been more ready for a match in his life, he pinned Bate three weeks ago and tonight he will make the UK title the crown of the last king of Scotland.

• Christie St. Clair is still backstage, now with Pete Dunne, she asks for his thoughts, he stares at her, puts the belt in his mouth, smiles and his music hits. Belt leather ain't vegan, lad.

WWE United Kingdom Title

Pete Dunne (c) def. Wolfgang

This is only the third time these two have competed in singles action with Wolfgang having victories over Dunne in Cardiff for ICW and Greenock for PBW. They lock-up to begin, Dunne goes straight for the wrist, wrenching the fingers, Wolfie picks him up but Dunne maintains wrist control, powering him into a knee leverage armbar and eventually to the ground where the finger socket manipulation really starts. Dunne drops onto Wolfie and into a crossface cover for a 2 count. Back to standing and back to the wristlock but Wolfie reverses it into a waistlock, into a hammerlock and settling on a cravat hold but Dunne powers to the ropes, sneaking under them, the ref separates the two men giving Dunne an avenue to hit a sneak forearm, grounding Wolfie. Dunne kicks mockingly at his head but Wolfie powers up, he uses waistlock takedowns, a gutwrench slam and a corner splash to take out Dunne, he goes up top but Peter follows him and hits the finger snap and a slingshot apron DDT to head to the break. Back from the break and yes, Dunne is working over the wrists, he gets Wolfie in double wristlock bodyscissors but Wolfie is able to turn it into a suplex, corner splash from Wolfie, running enziguri from Dunne, spear from Wolfie sends Dunne out of the ring, Wolfie powers through his injured arm to hit a beautiful tope con hilo, rolling Dunne back in and he hits a second rope moonsault for a 2 count in what is surprisingly only the second pin attempt of the match. Nige comments on how great the tope was while the replay shows the moonsault, before an X-Plex from Dunne for a 2. Up top and Wolfie follows hitting Dunne with a delayed superplex, back up top for The Howling but Dunne pulls him back down to the mat for an armbreaker, moving into a triangle, Wolfgang powers out Irish whipping to the corner but Dunne hits a Danielson-esque flip over him, forearm by Dunne, a boot by Wolfie, an enziguri by Dunne and he runs into a pop-up powerslam for another 2 count. A release German suplex by Dunne leads into duelling forearms but Dunne comes out on top hitting the Bitter End for the pin. This was a very good, verging on great match but held back by its relatively short time limit at just shy of 8 minutes and a general lack of belief that the title might change hands. Still Dunne, as always, came across as a true star and Wolfgang showed his versatility having played a subtle heel at times during the United Kingdom Championship Tournament, playing a valiant babyface even managing to get the normally terrible Full Sail crowds behind him. I would love to see a rematch between these two with a little more drama to it. What I want to know is with there being no separate UK title show on the horizon, where does the title go from here? Hopefully the UK lads don't go the way of the cruiserweights but with Dunne especially already garnering more reactions than the entirety of 205 Live, I don't think that's going to happen just yet. 

After the match The Undisputed Era (which according to the WWE shop is the team name of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) hit the ring, they surround Pete Dunne who looks to bail, putting his title on the apron but fuck that he takes out O'Reilly with a forearm, the rest of the gang jump in, Wolfie comes in to rescue Peter but the number's game is too much, Peter rolls out and considers leaving before looking back at the pummelled Wolfgang and rushing back to grab his title before bailing. Priorities, like. The team once known as ReDragon hold up Wolfie as Adam Cole hits a shining wizard, they retreat through the crowd as Moustache Mountain hit the ring shouting something about being undisputed.

• In an online exclusive, after the show, Tyler Bate & his mysterious new tag partner Trent Sevenc would hallenge O'Reilley & Fish to a match. I don't know who this Trent Sevenc is but if Bate likes him, he's Ok by me.

• Tino Sabatelli would also set a post-show hallenge, this time to Johnny Gargano for some revenge after Johnny got 'a fluke' win over Riddick Moss.

• Johnny 'Wrestling' Gargano would accept Tino's challenge saying that Tino and Riddick do a lot of talking but he is Johnny Wrestling not Johnny Talking and he's going to show them that lightning does strike twice.

ATPW Scale Rating: 5.2/10

A fun if not entirely essential edition of NXT here with no real complaints about the in-ring action beyond its truncated running times. With the build-up to NXT TakeOver: Houston beginning here, I'd love to see some more energy and intensity injected into proceedings as beyond the UK participants (Nikki Cross included), what what presented felt a tad lackadaisical. Even when NXT is going through some of the motions. it's fun and this was that but still, can't help but feel like this was a case of 'good work, must try harder'.

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

WWE NXT #262 Review (Aired 23rd August 2017)

On 23rd August, WWE aired its 262nd episode of NXT, taped at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York on 19th August before the TakeOver special later that evening. The show's main event had the WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne team up with one-time ICW Champion Wolfgang to take on the team of Moustache Mountain, the man who beat Wolfie for the ICW title Trent Seven and the man Peter beat for the WWE UK Title, Tyler Bate. With appearances from the Iconic Duo: Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, No Way Jose, Sarah Logan & No Way Jose, could it break the post-TakeOver curse and deliver a knockout hour of television?

No.

• No Way Jose comes out to a big reaction from the Brooklyn crowd, grabbing a bunch of people from the crowd for a conga round the ring, when out comes big Lars Sullivan who I hope is going to start a new gimmick as John Lithgow from Footloose and try to get all dancing banned from NXT. He does a murder at the ringside. At least it's a step up from attacking his tag partners, he's now just attacking random people.

• We get a re-cap of Johnny Gargano vs Andrade "Cien" Almas. Kayla Braxton chats with Johnny backstage. He talks of how the road to mediocrity is paved with excuses, Johnny is owning his defeat and promises his fans and himself that this is far from the end.

• Asuka has a press conference, she covers her usual beats, Ember Moon is strong but she is stronger, she is still the champion, something in Japanese, find her some competition etc...

• The team of Pete Dunne and Wolfgang (who I will insist on calling Peter & The Wolf) are backstage, Peter considers his winning the title to be the beginning of the UK brand and that his every successful defeat only goes on to elevate the brand. Talking of his title, Wolfie would like a title shot after they beat Moustache Mountain later. Hold your horses, Peter says, let's just see how tonight goes...

Peyton Royce (w/ Billie Kay) def. Sarah Logan

Between her outfit, theme music, titan-tron and the commentary team, they are really playing up how much of a 'country gal' Sarah Logan is, did you know she wrestled a goat? They begin with a lock-up, Logan takes control with a headlock, broken by Royce, Wristlock, broken by Logan who lifts up Royce, Royce escapes, headlock, rope bounce into a shoulder tackle, drop toe hold into an armbar takedown, Royce breaks out, throws Logan to the ropes and hits a spinning heel kick, in the corner Royce continues her kicks and chokes her with the sole of her boot till the referee breaks it up, slap, middle rope hanging knee, rope assisted octopus hold, strikes, Irish whip, Royce goes for another heel kick but Logan does to hit a lovely delayed release German suplex, she controls the action with strikes and shoulder barges hitting a front dropkick for a 2 count. On the ropes, Logan goes for another suplex but Kay on the apron, holds on to stop Royce being hurt but ends up with Kay taking the bump, O'Connor roll by Logan for a 2. Roll-up by Royce for a 2. On their feet and Royce hits a knee strike and a Bridging Fishermans Suplex for the win. I don't know what the point of playing up Logan's involvement in the Mae Young Classic only to have her lose is. The match itself was as good as you can expect from a just over 4 minute standard NXT match but really it just seems like a wasted opportunity, just use a Liv Morgan or an Aaliyah for this and it's perfectly fine but if you want to make the MYC seem like it could be anyone's to win, don't have them taking relatively clean losses just days before.

• Recap of the Tag Title match and the ensuing nonsense.

• Recap of the NXT Title match and the ensuing nonsense.

• Bobby Roode is backstage after his match, he wants to get out of Brooklyn as quickly as possible, the backstage crew turn up to try and interview but he doesn't want to talk to them, Roderick Strong turns up in the doorway in a suit, he blows Bobby a kiss and tells him he'll see him soon. Bobby shouts at his assistant to get the car.

• Bobby is being interviewed again, this time about his Smackdown: Live debut. He talks of how the one thing that's true about Bobby Roode is he leaves no unfinished business, he wants to first get revenge on Roderick Strong for blowing him a kiss? Then he'll get his rematch, take back his NXT title, head off to Smackdown and make it glorious. Well, I guess if Kevin Owens and Sasha Banks can do it...

• Aleister Black does not care for your interviews, he has somewhere to be. Also, damn does he look fly in a suit.

Pete Dunne & Wolfgang def. Trent Seven & Tyler Bate

As they make their entrances, Tyler is over as fuck, Trent is over as fuck, Peter is over as fuck (almost too over, once again Brooklyn, boo the damn heels), Wolfgang is there too. Pete and Tyler start off the action giving us some proper catch-as-catch-can graps on the ground with Peter nearly getting a pinfall early, kip-up from Bate as they bask in the glow of how good they are for a combined in-ring age of 43! Back from the break and Bate hits a dropkick, tags in Seven who hits something like Wade Barrett's old Wasteland finisher before Bate bounces off his shoulders to hit a meteora, Peter hits Seven in the jaw, tags in Wolfie, Seven fights back with some of the best chops in the game and a lovely DDT, Peter distracts Trent in the corner, allowing Wolfie time to recuperate and hit a running uranage slam for a 2 count. Wolfgang tags Dunne back in who works the shit out of Trent's arm joint twisting it almost into itself before curb stomping the shoulder, kicking and twisting it repeatedly, Seven and Dunne seem set to win the gruntiest match of the year award for this. Peter having all but broken Trent's arm goes for a pin but only gets a 2. Peter & the Wolf work on stopping Seven getting the pin, Wolfie tagged in hits two gutwrench takedowns,  gets Trent in a fireman's carry but Seven escapes, the two men trade waistlocks and Seven hits a dragon suplex, the duo crawl to their respective corners and tag in their partners. Tyler hits a gutwrench suplex followed by a deadlift German but Dunne flips out of it, throws Tyler to the ropes who hits his springboard rebound lariat, followed up with an airplane spin which goes on for ages till he drops Dunne back and Wolfie stops a pinfall happening but takes a massive chop from Seven for his effort. Trent then in turn takes a big forearm from Dunne who in turn gets both Bop and Bang from Bate, step-up enziguri from Dunne, allowing him to blind tag Wolfgang, Bate thinking Dunne is still the legal man hits a Tyler Driver '97 but Dunne rolls out of the way as Wolfgang connects The Howling Swanton Bomb for the pinfall victory. Wolfie can't take his eyes off that lovely UK title belt as they celebrate. The in-ring action was excellent as you could expect from these four who work hard to get the crowd excited and excited they do indeed get. It does suffer from that overall feeling that singles competitors doing a tag match can where it feels like it's fully going through the motions in terms of structure and invention. Hopefully the potential Wolfgang vs. Dunne match lives up to expectations as Wolfgang did get a lack of response in comparison to the British Strong Style lads but then, Brooklyn does seem to have a lot of beach-ball loving dickheads in the audience. That said, still a very fun match.

ATPW Scale Rating: 3.5/10

Well what did you expect from the post-TakeOver NXT? If you really expected anything amazing, well you're just being silly. The main event was a very fun tag match but really by now we all know an accept that this is an episode of water treading TV. Check back in next week to see if I care again yet.

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

FCP DTTI Hangover (Live) Review

On 19th May, Fight Club: Pro found itself a new home at Starworks Warehouse in Wolverhampton and hosted the aftermath of their epic Dream Tag Team Invitational Easter weekender. The show featured a Six Man Scramble with Angelico, Jimmy Havoc, Jordan Devlin, Eddie Dennis, Dan Moloney and Clint Margera, the DTTI winners #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) facing off with the debuting Scarlet & Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) and The Hunter Brothers (Lee & Jim) and Travis Banks defending the FCP Championship against Trent Seven, as well as appearances from Kay Lee Ray, Joe Coffey, "The Regulator" Wolfgang, Kris Wolf and "Session Moth" Martina...but was it any good? Let's take a look, shall we? 

Pre-Show
Omari def. Dallaway, Johnny T & Fletcher 

These multi-man trainee "dark" matches had become a bit of a tradition towards the end of FCP's run at Fixxion, so it was nice to see them return for the Starworks show. These usually short and pacy matches work quite nicely at whetting the appetite for some a more substantial graps feast to come, like a nice soup with a crusty cob or whatever your starter of choice is...prawn cocktail, whatever. The first half of the bout was 1i1o type stuff, with a number of big strikes that left Omari with a bright red chest, then into the obligatory dive sequence, before a double german suplex spot was aided with an Omari enziguiri. For me, the best action on offer came when Kyle Fletcher and Omari went at it, putting together hard-hitting slick strike sequence as well cool spot with The Big O slingshotting to the inside and straight into a Fletcher superkick. Overall, the timing could have been better at points, but nothing that had a major effect and with this technically being a trainee dark match those kind of things are to be expected as the four being to iron out their creases. As with any starter this was a nice lead in for what was to come, without ever threatening to fully satisfy the hunger.   

Wolfgang def. Coffey 

The opener of the show proper was an interesting choice, as Wolfgang and Joe Coffey met in their most Southern match to date. Originally, Coffey and Wolfgang were scheduled to take part in a six man match, but Wolfie cut a quick promo and we had an all Scottish affair to kick things off in Wolverhampton. Now, I've thought about how to review this match more than probably any other match on the card, because in the moment, I just didn't get it. Not that I felt I'd seen a bad match, but one that just hadn't grabbed me in the way I perhaps expected it to do. Being the conscientious reviewer that I am and knowing that I'd enjoyed both guys on previous occasions, I thought I'd ask some of my wrassle pals what they thought and almost every single one of them seemed to have a higher opinion of the bout than I did.  I wouldn't say anyone raved about it, but they enjoyed the big lads battle, Marc Pearson noted the psychology in particular, but I still wasn't buying into it. 

I'm not sure why I did...not enjoy isn't the right phrase, because there was some lovely stuff and a few spots that I'll always pop for (Coffey's triple jump crossbody)...so perhaps the best term is fully appreciate. I'm not sure why I didn't fully appreciate this match. I've purposefully not gone back and watched it since, because I wanted to give my feelings on it from being there in the space and how it affected me. Perhaps it was the new venue, which is much more spacious than Fixxion and it took some getting used to the new atmosphere. Perhaps it was the ring breaking early on, when it looked like one of the board came at the very least loose on a bodyslam, which threw me a little off. Perhaps it was coming off a four man into a singles match that I expected to be a six man did something to me. I'm not sure. Looking back on my notes, it reads like a decent opener with some big spots like Coffey's running jump over the barricade and mid-rope moonsault from Wolfgang, before Wolfie picked up his first FCP after blocking a superplex and nailing The Howling. I'm looking forward to rewatching this and hopefully reappraising in the future, as well as getting to see how both fit into Starworks plans going forward. 

KLR def. Wolf

Kay Lee Ray's first FCP singles win against the debuting Kris Wolf from Stardom was a fun bout whilst it lasted but I came away a little disappointed. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this bout and I had a ball of a time watching it, but there just wasn't enough of it. After a technical start, the two had some jokes revolving around the height differential (KLR is 5' 8'' and Wolf just 4' 10'') including a surprise appearance from Viper to even the odds, we had KLR replying to Wolf biting her arm, by biting Wolf's tail and the two looking to use the new FCP set-up as much as possible. Kay Lee jumped off the barricade with a forearm and then Wolf used the new entrance way as a set off monkey bars, initially thrusting out for a kick and then transitioning into hurricanrana onto the floor. Creative stuff on the outside with the exploration of the new venue being a bit of theme for the whole show. 

Once the action returned to the ring I was expecting business to pick up. We'd seen flashes throughout the match with some fast paced roped running stuff and a cool succession of near falls, but by this point I was chomping at the bit to see Wolf and KLR hit top gear and by the bouts conclusion I don't think we got anywhere close to seeing what the pair could have done together. A couple of near falls for each, KLR off a Gory bomb and a wheelbarrow suplex for Wolf and it seemed like the bout was heading towards it's crescendo and then Kay Lee slapped on a koji clutch and that was that. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, perhaps some more firey exchanges, perhaps a gear change, perhaps some cool submission escapes and just a general build up of aggression towards a conclusion, but I certainly wasn't expecting Wolf to tap so quickly. I'm hoping we get a rematch between the two, depending on how long Wolf spends in the country, because a second match building on the stellar work done here would take away my needy complaints. I want more, dammit.    

#CCK def. Scarlet & Graves and Hunter Brothers 

With Mark Andrews off the card, The Hunter Brothers joined #CCK's Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos and the debuting Rockstar Pro regular's Scarlet & Graves' Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz in a superb three way tag team match as the first half main event. I both hate and love #CCK, sometimes at the same time. I don't know when it happened but Brookes & Lykos have developed into one of the slickest tag team acts in the world. Ever little detail they've added over the past year or so, after branching out from Attack! into FCP, IPW:UK, Southside and elsewhere, Brookes spitting and chucking water at lads, Lykos never shutting up and never being able to hit a brainbuster and also those sicking fucking tag moves, those little details make them so easy to hate, but so entertaining to watch at the same time. When the best boys controlled, first Wentz and then Jim Hunter, they held the crowd in just the right place for the madness that was about to come our way. 

Christ, once the momentum swung towards the Tipton and Ohio connection, as Jim tagged in Xavier things became a balls to the wall sprint, with a shed load of highspots and more sicking fucking tag moves than you could shake a shitty stick at. Dives to the outside from all four of our heroes, big strikes, the Hunters swinging into dropkick, the sweet gory blockbuster that CCK do and that's not even the half of it, as Scarlet & Graves also won over a number of new fans with their high energy offence. My notes on this match got gradually less descriptive as the bout went on, to the point where my final bullet point was "Finish is a series of ridiculous things seemingly all happening simultaneously. It is fucking marvellous". If that's not a good enough description for you, go and watch the match and come back and tell me I didn't get it spot on.  

Devlin def. Angelico, Havoc, Dennis, Moloney and Margera 

OTT's Jordan Devlin picked up a big win on his FCP debut in an eclectic six man scramble, that showcased a real mixed bag of performers and went all over the building. With a variety of different styles, movesets and personas, this was never going to be boring, especially with the crowd so intent on trying to get the attention of Dan Moloney. The mach started with a series of strikes, before the six men worked a lovely sequence where Devlin and Moloney thwarted dive attempts from Angelico and Eddie Dennis, before Jimmy Havoc and Clint Margera got the better of the villain, hit stereo suicide dives and Dennis and Angelico went up and over to the floor. It was a structurally simple opening, but non the less it was effective, with the initial denial of the fan favourite flips meaning they meant a whole lot more when we got them, and more, shortly after. 

Then, of course, there was the crowd brawling. Boy was there some crowd brawling. Starworks is much larger than Fixxion so it seemed like everyone decided to make the most of the extra space. The enjoyment of this kind of stuff usually depends on where you happen to situated in the room and how much you can actually see and with most of the action happening towards the bar area at the far end of the room and me sitting front row towards the entrance way, I didn't manage to catch a whole lot of this. There certainly was some brawling, in different combinations. With six men in the match it would've been cool to have seen them split off into pairs and head into different sections of the crowd, so there was something different for each area to focus their attentions on, but unfortunately the bulk seemed to occur in the large space at the far end of the room. There was a great spot with Devlin reversing a Havoc piledriver into a backbody drop on the bar, which caused an odd series of hanging lightbulbs to swing about, as well as a sequence of back and forth forearms with the six sat opposite each other, however. 

Once back in the ring, the match produced its best action with some interesting combinations battling it out. Dennis cleaned house with forearms out of various situations, Margera and Moloney put together a good section together, Margera took an acid rainmaker as Havoc shouted "I'm sorry, I love you" for a nice pop and Dennis took out both the Callous Hearts with a Fallaway Slam/Samoan drop combination, a solid mixture of sleek sequences, back and forth wrestling, comedic near falls and multi-man spots. I would've liked to have seen a few more highspots making the most of the sheer numbers involved in the match, but that nitpicking didn't make this any less enjoyable. The finish saw each man consecutively taken out of contention with the aforementioned combination move from Dennis keeping Margera and Havoc down, before Moloney removed Dennis from the equation with a sitout fireman's carry facebuster, Angelico took out Moloney with a turnbuckle crucifix powerbomb, leading into a wicked Devlin package piledriver that gave the WWE UK competitor a surprising debut victory. 

Purser def. Martina in a Fans Bring the Alcohol Match 

I'm still trying to come to terms with the Fans Bring the Alcohol match and to be honest with you, I don't think that I ever will completely. Referee Shay Purser's first FCP show since turning 18 saw him facing off with notorious boozehound and potential sexual deviant Martina with the fans supplying the alcohol, because it would've been weird if they'd bought their own booze with them. Most of my notes on this bout were single words, written in all caps, for example..."CHRIST". There was drinking, there was singing, there was referee Joel Allen wearing a bin bag, there was a pissed up version of an international, there was bronco busters for anyone who wanted one and it all felt like some kind of glorious dream. The kind of dream that you awake from with a start, slightly confused and questioning everything you once knew to be true. This probably wasn't a match for all, I'm not even sure if it was for me, but it certainly was an experience I won't forget in a hurry. 
  
JOEL DRIED THE RING. WELL DONE JOEL!

Banks def. Seven to retain FCP Championship 

Trent Seven and Travis Banks had been to war with each other before in FCP. Back at Rise Against in March 2016 when a frustrated came out with the victory in only Banks' second match in the promotion, before nine months Trav picked up his first singles win in FCP in a thrilling conclusion to the Infinity tournament. This match took a slightly different angle, as whilst Trent had become the default heel back in December due to the sheer investment the Fixxion crowd had in Banks' losing streak story, there was no mistaking that Seven was the villain here as the challenger cheap shotted the champion out of a handshake and we were off to the races. These two lads are two of the hardest hitters currently residing on our island and holy balls on a typewriter did they hit each other hard here. Strong style kicks and forearms and chops, brawling out into the crowd and doing a wonderful version of the spot where Seven misses a chop using the trussing for the lighting rig, when Seven and Banks face off you know you're going to get something physical, the kind of wrestling that makes you wince in a weird pleasure you're not quite sure how to deal with. 

Once the early brawling was done with, the two found the kitchen sink and through that at each other as well (obviously metaphorically, just in case you were wondering). The two went back and forth hitting big high impact moves, including a series of german suplexes one after the other, a dragon suplex, a seven star lariat and a burning hammer from Seven, a springboard roundhouse kick, a ringpost crotching and double stomp from Banks. Each move looked great, hit with ferocity and intent and that's not even the half of it. The proceedings seemed to get sillier and the reactions got louder as the match went on with each near fall seeming more improbable than the last. Banks kicked out a piledriver, Seven kicked out of a ridiculous coast to coast and then the champ kicked out of an avalanche piledriver, because why the fuck not? The best (or worst, if you're a miserable old bellend) part is that that wasn't even the daftest part of the match. Oh no, as we learned that Travis is pretty much indestructible as he took his third piledriver of the match and bounced back to his feet and the crowd went apeshit, before taking another dragon suplex and no selling the fuck out of that bad boy as well. A roundhouse kick and Kiwi Crusher later and Banks was still our Fight Club: Pro Champion after a thrilling 20 minutes of international strong style professional wrestling. I could watch Travis Banks v Trent Seven every day for the rest of my life and twice on Sundays and never get bored. Each of their matches in FCP has had it's own flavour, using different stories and situations to drive them, but always include great striking, crisp and dynamic big moves, some wonderful facial expression and terrific, awe-inspiring near falls. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.88/10

A very good debut show at Starworks for Fight Club: Pro and whilst I'm not completely sold on the new venue just yet, I am still sold on the wrestling content. Was the show on the same level as the Dream Tag Team Invitational weekend? No, but it didn't particularly need to be. I think the show took a while to find it's stride, but once the first half main event had blown me away with #CCK, Scarlet & Graves & The Hunter Brothers, the show didn't look back with a wonderfully varied second half, that concluded with main event owning the match of the night spot as Travis Banks and Trent Seven did what they do best. I can't wait to see what FCP has in store for us as we had into the summer, especially when Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate are available and there's not a chance I'm missing a single show.

Photo Credit - The Ringside Perspective.

The Merch Table - June 2017 - CZW, NJPW, PROGRESS, OTT, Marty Scurll, Into Absence & Wolfgang

So, we are back for this month and bringing your Wrestling Merchandise needs or at least wants.

And we thrust ourselves directly into the heart of 

Combat Zone Wrestling...

Combat Zone Wrestling you say? You mean the promotion that just held The Tournament of Death, yup that's the one and to celebrate that fact they have released this new T-shirt. 

Looking damn good and with the names of all who sacrificed themselves for your entertainment. Combat Fucking Zone Wrestling people.

At £29.99 available in all sizes

https://www.shopczw.com/collections/shirts-1

Next up, we head across the seas…even more to 

New Japan Pro Wrestling...

You may have seen that they held an event, Dominion. And people what a show it was. Now. The plan was to go onto the NJPW Europe shop website to showcase what was on offer, but due to the sheer demand of their Merch nearly all products were sold out. So I kept hunting and step forward Pro Wrestling Tees.

Presenting an excellent T-shirt right now and I can't guarantee how long they will be around at £29.99 available in all sizes.

http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/promotion-tshirts/new-japan.html

Heading back into the UK...

PROGRESS Wrestling... 

have announced some new incredible events, and even ones that expand to Europe and the USA. Awesome right?

So celebrate that by looking at their new Merch. No, do it, it looks great. Featuring new items from new T-shirts, shorts and all lot more. Each one in my opinion would look great even if you are wearing it out or going to a wrestling event. 

Available in...say it with me, all regular sizes and starts are various depending on items and designs.

https://www.progresswrestling.com/collections/all

What about the awesome wrestling fans in Ireland or the incredible fans who have witnessed...

Over The Top Wrestling...

Hosting events that you just know are going to be riotous on July 1st, 16th and August 5th, you'd might want to visit their website to see the latest offerings. This T-shirt I've selected hits you at £20.

https://www.ottwrestling.com/shop

Now to look at an individual wrestlers Merch and this man is...

Marty Scurll...

This year, alone making an incredible impact and everyones favourite Villain has taken the statement "must see" to "if you miss his matches what's wrong with you".

So anyone say Merch. And the link below will take to his full page of Merch on Pro Wrestling Tees, including this cheeky little number.

http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/martyscurll

Now to focus on Brands that tie in with wrestling and this month we look at...

Into Absence...

This team have celebrated their year anniversary and in doing so revamped their Web site and the Merch. Available in all sizes for men and women, absolutely worth a look.

https://intoabsence.com

And a late early from a man who has incredible in the last few years...

Wolfgang...

His pins have been excellent this year and this is another one due for release at £6.99

http://wolfgangyoung.bigcartel.com/product/big-bad-wolf-pin

That's this month, I think, I may bring out a supplement version later on, I'm @craighermit have a good one.

TV Review: WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Parts 1 & 2 - Pete Dunne v Tyler Bate

On 14th & 15th January, at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, WWE held the first ever United Kingdom Championship Tournament. With the likes of Danny Burch [Martin Stone], Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven all involved, would the British Wrestling scene shine bright on the WWE Network? Let's have a look.

*Triple H started the show, on the stage, welcoming everybody to the event*

First Round

Trent Seven def. HC Dyer (5:25)

A solid opener here, with Seven's natural charisma and energy coming over strongly on screen. The Fight Club: Pro star's ability to communicate to the audience with ease made this simple bout extremely watchable as he provided the little touches that allow a crowd to invest and get behind a character. The action wasn't always as fluid as it could have been, especially in the second half where the pair's lack of any particular chemistry was apparent, but the basics were done right and the crowd was well and truly warmed up. The highlight of this one was how Trent sold chopping the ring post after Dyer had ducked, holding onto his hand moments later after delivering some machine gun style chops. I'm hoping that this appearance leads to Dyer getting more opportunities around the UK, as he seems to have some real potential.


Jordan Devlin def. Danny Burch [Martin Stone] (8:55)


The finish was the main talking point coming out of this, which is a shame because Burch and Devlin seemed to be clicking in the latter third of the match after struggling to find a groove early on. Burch suffered a gash to the back of the head after taking a jumping roundhouse kick, leading to Devlin getting the win, despite a clear kick-out. It was unclear exactly what happened and certainly wasn't what the tournament needed just two matches in. I felt like neither man grabbed the opportunity up to this point and the confusing ending ended up taking the spotlight away from pretty much everything they did in the ring. Michael Cole would repeatedly refer to the match as controversial going forward.

Sam Gradwell [Ricky J. McKenzie] def. Saxon Huxley (6:06)

One of the weaker first round matches, Gradwell and Huxley never seemed to get going. Gradwell wasn't particularly well suited to the "Hometown Hero" role that WWE attempted to slot him into and after an initial pop, the audience decided they'd sing about Huxley being Jesus, because he has long hair and a beard. It felt like a missed opportunity that neither man acknowledged what the crowd was doing and attempt to bring the crowd back into whatever the pair were doing in the ring. The wrestling was perfectly acceptable, but felt like both were going through the motions and not being from Blackpool I had absolutely no reason to care about Gradwell getting the win.

*Post-match, Burch would attempt to shake Devlin's hand, Devlin responded by delivering a nasty looking superkick to Burch's already gashed head.

Pete Dunne def. Roy Johnson (7:50)

This was the strongest match, to this point, thanks in part to the duo having clearly defined characters and Pete Dunne being one of the finest pro wrestlers anywhere right now. Dunne's intensity throughout was spot on, bursting through the screen almostly instantly, it is almost impossible not to pay attention when The Bruiserweight is on-screen. This was best displayed during an assault on Johson's arm on the outside. There's certainly room for improvement from The Body Guy, but for someone who's not got a whole lot of experience, he acquitted himself well here, especially with his character work. I would have liked to have seen him selling the arm that Dunne had worked on the outside more, but apart from that Johnson showed he has real potential. The crowd being mostly pro-Bruiserweight perhaps took a little bit of sting away, but this was still a good showing.

Wolfgang def. Tyson T-Bone (6:20)

The sleeper bout of the First Round, with the two big lads putting on a bruising heavyweight encounter. With a proper sense of urgency behind from the beginning, as T-Bone nailed a vicious headbutt before the bell and moved quickly into a Wolfie face shine, the pair utilised their time well. Each move was hit with purpose and both men looked desperate to get the win. A pair of near falls, a mid-rope moonsault from Wolfgang and a German suplex followed up by a superkick for T-Bone, allowed both to sell their desperation and worked well to set up the finish with both on an even footing. I'd love to see what these two could do together without the restrictions the tournament setting placed on them.

Joseph Conners def. James Drake (7:17)

This match didn't do much for me at all, unfortunately, only really grabbing me when Conner's hit a pair of cool looking moves at the finish. The wrestling was mostly solid, the two are technically sound and experienced competitors, but both characters felt like villains, meaning that the bout lacked a catalyst to push it forward and neither man got to show us their best work in the ring. The story of Drake focusing in on Conners injured ear and Conners returning the favour later on was potentially interesting, but perhaps a little too intricate a tale to tell during a seven minute double debut. Also, two guys grabbing each others ears doesn't lend itself to creating exciting and engaging graps.

Mark Andrews def. Dan Moloney (5:45)

A cracking showcase for the former PROGRESS World Champion Andrews here, as he brought his silky and dynamic style to the WWE. Whilst the match was too short for Moloney to get his teeth into the match, he worked well as a base and spoiler for Andrews' highflying offense. The main points of Andrews' act were all on display as he ran through a "Greatest Hits" of his back catalogue of stunning offense, showing just enough of what he could do to grab anyone coming in cold. This tandem is capable of better, but did exactly what they needed to do here and ended up producing one of the stronger matches of the First Round. A rematch in ATTACK! or Southside would be lovely.

Tyler Bate def. Tucker (10:40)

The best was saved for last in the First Round, with Bate v Tucker producing the strongest action as well as the loudest crowd as one half of the CHIKARA Campeons de Parejas Champion Bate (along with fellow competitor, Seven) proved to be one of the most universally popular acts of the tournament. The two wrestled a back and forth battle, that started quickly, with both dodging a number of attacks. Bate and Tucker traded moves and moments throughout, with each always appearing to have an answer for whatever the other threw at them, creating a nice feeling of building momentum. Little touches like the introduction of Bate's Tyler Driver '97 finish earlier in the match, as well as Bate rolling to the outside following Tucker hitting his spectacular Super Duper Kick, managed to give the bout depth that some of the other contests were lacking. A great finish to a steady introductory show.

*At the conclusion of Part 1, Pete Dunne attacked Quarter Final opponent Sam Gradwell on the ramp, with William Regal furiously shouting in Dunne's face*

Quarter Finals.

Pete Dunne def. Sam Gradwell [Ricky J. McKenzie] (4:49)

Following an attack at the end of Part One, Dunne eased past Gradwell, in a solid start to the Quarter Finals, as The Bruiserweight continued to be presented as a force to be reckoned with.

Mark Andrews def. Joseph Conners (8:12)

The quality of the Quarter Finals continued to improve as Southside regular Joseph Conners turned in much better performance, as Mark Andrews continued to impress. In a rematch of a November clash at Fight! Nation Wrestling in Eastbourne, the two matched up well, with Conners given the opportunity to work much more aggressively, taking on the true heel role that suits him so well, whilst Andrews flourished as the likeable blue eye with the sick as fuck moveset. The two utilised their time on the outside of the ring well, with a good sequence leading into Conners sending Andrews head first into the steps with a drop toe hold, before Andrews was able to hit a somersault senton off the barricade as a reply later on. Like all the Quarter Finals, it didn't quite have the next gear to shift it into something special, but still by the time Andrews headed to the top for his Shooting Star Press the crowd were on their feet and like them I was more than happy with what I'd seen.

Wolfgang def. Trent Seven (6:43)

A WWE friendly version of their chaotic scraps in ICW, this was perhaps the most surprising result of the evening as many had pegged Trent Seven as the favourite to win the entire tournament. With less than seven minutes, the pair produced an all action contest starting strong with 255lb Wolfgang moonsaulting off the barricade before Seven came steaming through the ropes, bringing one of the suicide dives in the business to the WWE. The rest of the contest was big heavy strikes and developed into a real hoss battle by the time Seven hit a wicked Dragon Suplex and his Seven Star Lariat for a convincing near fall. The ending was neat stuff, with Seven showing how far he was willing to go by attempting to hit his mid-rope Piledriver, before Wolfgang took advantage of the desperation by sending Seven crashing to the floor and hitting his The Howling (Swanton Bomb) to earn the victory. I would've liked to have seen some development on Wolfgang injuring his knee off the moonsault, especially with Trent occasionally using a Boston Crab as a finish, which have given the bout a little more depth.

Tyler Bate def. Jordan Devlin (6:06)

Another solid Quarter Final, with Bate continuing to impress and Devlin managing to make amends for not quite making the most of his opportunity the evening before The bout was built around a handful of moves, as both proved they can easily work the "WWE Style", whilst also throwing in some lovely technical wrestling early on. The Blackpool crowd, who seemed to be in love with the Dudley lad, witnessed both men attempting a number of their signature moves at various points, as Bate went for the Airplane Spin and the Tyler Driver '97, whilst Devlin attempted a Moonsault on numerous occasions. The story boiled down to Bate being able to land his signature moves, whilst Devlin didn't land his. The use of Devlin's 540 kick, that had seen his match with Danny Burch called off the previous night, was a great piece of business, with Bate selling the moment well by desperately holding onto his head, as an attempt to stop the ref calling off the clash.

Semi Finals

Pete Dunne def. Mark Andrews (10:44)

As fans of ATTACK! Pro Wrestling, Pro Evolution Wrestling, Combat Sports Federation, Absolute Intense Wrestling, Pro Wrestling eXpress, Tidal Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Kingdom, Over The Top Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Guerilla have learnt since 2011, WWE found out that when Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews meet inside the ring, they create magic. The White Lighting and Bruiserweight characters fit together almost perfectly and the familiarity of the two performers behind the gimmicks, brought us the first must-see bout of the tournament. The styles clash of Dunne bullying Andrews with his rough and tumble style, including X-Plexes (X-Plexi?) on the apron and onto the ramp, with the former TNA performer always looking capable of pulling out something spectacular like a Standing Moonsault Senton, makes for some wonderful television. The near fall Andrews got after countering the Bitter End (Pumphandle Lift transitioned into a Flatliner) got a huge reaction from the live crowd and was arguably one of the moments of the entire tournament, thanks in part to the great ground work laid down by the four other matches the two had taken part in. If you enjoyed this contest, then I urge you to check out some of their back catalogue at the companies mentioned above, because as good as this was, the pair have had better bouts before and will most likely do again, whether in WWE or elsewhere.

Tyler Bate def. Wolfgang (6:00)

The main thing I took away from the second semi was that Blackpool adores Tyler Bate. The wrestling at points almost became secondary to the outpouring of emotion that came from the crowd and their passion for the 19 year old from the Black Country. Considering Wolfgang had been a babyface earlier in the tournament, he did a superb job of allowing the crowd to build and build behind Bate, taking his time in almost everything he did, not quite heeling it up, but doing just enough to allow the swell of support for Bate to continue to grow. The wrestling itself wasn't quite as strong as I would've liked for the semi-final, but it was pleasing to see Bate's Tyler Driver '97 finish being pushed so heavily as he managed to hit the move for the win after taking a battering from the Scotsman. Like a lot of the tournament, this match did the job it needed to do to make the tournament as a whole stronger.

*Following the match, Pete Dunne blindsided Tyler Bate, throwing him should first in the ring post and supposedly separating Bate's shoulder*

Singles Match: Neville [PAC] def. Tommy End (8:38)

A nice bonus match here as former wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion Tommy End made his televised WWE debut (he'd already faced the likes of Roderick Strong, TJ Perkins and Lince Dorado on NXT house shows). The reaction End got made him appear like a star from the very outset, especially considering that Blackpool had point blank refused to boo Neville despite a heely promo from the Geordie jumper. Even Charly Caruso's interruption couldn't stop this one from being a good match as End and Neville showed real chemistry to produce a well-paced match, that mixed a variety of styles. The only thing that held this back was the length, as an extra five or six minutes could have allowed the duo to produce something special, although End and Neville worked well with the 9 minute limit and it certainly wasn't the occasion for a show-stealer. Hopefully, we'll get to see these two square off again at some point, whether in the Cruiserweight Division (End is slightly outside the 205lb limit currently) or elsewhere. 

*Finn Balor spoke to the crowd about the success of the tournament before introducing the Final*

Final

Tyler Bate def. Pete Dunne to become WWE United Kingdom Champion (15:13)

Where to begin with the main event? Bate and Dunne was exactly what it needed to be, following the story of the two nights, building upon it and delivering a second must-see contest, in front of one of the most invested WWE audiences in a very long time. Neither man has faced anyone else more than they have each other, having deep history in places like wXw, PROGRESS, Southside, Fight Club: Pro, Kamikaze Pro and Great Bear and all that experience lent itself to create a compelling and concise title match, that was full of urgency and drive. The Blackpool audience had appeared to have fallen in love with Bate across the weekend, for his fiery, entertaining and varied offence and likeable underdog character, this support seemed to grow throughout the match as he provided all the elements of what had made him so popular. On the other hand, Dunne upped his nasty dickhead levels that we'd seen develop against Sam Gradwell and Mark Andrews and the crowd completely went with it. It really does make a difference when the crowd follows like they did here, with the work that had been done across the two shows creating a marvelous viewing experience for this final, aided by some strong commentary from Michael Cole and Nigel McGuinness that complimented the story being told in the ring.

The West Midlands duo worked a simple contest, based around Bate's injured shoulder. The action was smooth as Dunne targeted the injury, often using it as a way of slowing Bate's building momentum, whilst the Netherton lad sold the damage superbly, not just through his movement, but all over his face. It was easy to buy into the high drama of the contest, as Bate scored numerous near falls, including reversing Dunne's Bitter End into a small package, fought against the a variety of painful submission holds, like a Triangle Choke and Double Wristlock, and pushed himself outside his comfort zone in search of victory, with a mind blowing Fosbury Flop followed up by 450 double knee attack. Each layer to Bate's struggle, was met with Dunne's aggressive and belligerent offence, creating storyline depth, that went beyond the straightforward premise. My only niggle with the contest was that there were some moments that perhaps over-egged the pudding, such as Bate's escapes of both triangle choke and double wristlock, which he turned into a powerbomb and brainbuster respectively, I feel the story of the match would have benefited from having one or the other, with Bate perhaps getting to ropes on the second. Even with that, I had a hell of a time watching this at home and both men did themselves and British Wrestling proud.

*The show came to a close with Bate celebrating with his newly won championship alongside Triple H, William Regal, Finlay and Finn Balor*

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating

Part 1 - 4.84/10 

Part 2 - 6.81/10 

The UK Championship Tourney was exactly what I expected it to be, with the level of talent involved and the format that was chosen. As a strong advocate for the British scene, I do hope that those unfamiliar with British wrestling and these wrestlers in particular stuck with the show after an underwhelming first episode. In a very similar way to the Cruiserweight Classic, the first episode was all about introducing the movesets and personalities of those heading to the next round, to make those next rounds more rewarding for those who stuck with it. The second episode built on that solid, yet unspectacular, foundation, continuing to build guys like Pete Dunne with a number of good matches at the Quarter Final stage, before producing two greats in Dunne's semi final with Mark Andrews and then the Final with Tyler Bate. By the end of the show, WWE had captilsed on Bate and Dunne's popularity and raw talents and had two bonafide stars at their disposal. There's a potential to build a brand around those two, as well as Andrews, Wolfgang, Seven and others, the rest of 2017 should be an interesting time to be a British wrestling fan.

Review - James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

Editor - Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

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