Poster created by Simon Humphreys / Photos provided and copyrighted By Brett Hadley with thanks to Southside Wrestling Entertainment
Coming from The Rushcliffe Arena in Nottingham, Southside Wrestling Entertainment comeback with another stacked card.
1. Pete Dunne v MK McKinnan v El Ligero (Number 1 contenders match for the Southside Heavyweight title)
Opening match of the show, and needless to say this match set the tone for the rest of the night. It opened with a feeling out process between the 3 combatants, who were out to earn a shot at the Southside title.
After the initial feeling out process, they kicked into 4th gear, with some excellent high paced moves, including MK hitting a flip dive through the ropes onto Ligero & Dunne.
Drawing towards the end of the match, Pete Dunne hit some high flying offense and nearly picked up the win, but it was MK McKinnan with the victory. Who earned a shot at Stixx at Retribution IV in Huntingdon. Great match to open with, crowd were on fire and the 3 guys in the match really pulled out all the stops and set the tone of the night and things to come ***
2. The Hunter Brothers & R J Singh v "Ego Dragon" Martin Kirby & The Predators.
Next we have a 6-man, great start to the match with The Hunters getting the upper hand early on, and Singh adding to the offensive with great technical ability.
But wasn't long before Kirby entered the match and went to town on Singh, breaking every rule he could when the refs back was turned. And to add insult to Singh, whenever they could the Predators double teamed Singh. However after many attempts to to make the tag, Singh reached his corner and managed to tag in Lee Hunter, who came with a flurry of clothslines and dropkicks, and seem to momentarily swung the momentum back in his teams favour
But when the Hunters went for the pin RJ pulled them off, saying it was his pin, and caused to decention in the ranks. Which allowed the Predators to hit the finish, And claim the victory for them and Kirby. Good 6 man tag, carried the momentum of the show well, and set up for Bhangra Knights v The Hunters at Retribution IV ***
3. Mark Haskins v Darrell Allen
This match started an peculiar note, Mr Money in the bank Mark Haskins, on his way round the ring before the match started, managed to knock a fans hotdog on the floor, to which for the rest of the match he was referred to as Hotdog Haskins.
This is one of the matches I went for because I've been watching both guys for ages all over the country, and both are great talents. So after the chorus of "Hotdog Haskins" had somewhat calmed down, we got down the match. It started with both men, exchanging holds, with Haskins getting the upper hand.
But Darrell managed to roar back with some great offense, and take the upper hand against his more experienced foe. But after a great comeback, Haskins hit a Michinoku driver for the win. It was a very fun match, with Haskins and Darrell both playing off the Hotdog incident, and the action was good too ***
(Below: Darrell Allen catches Marks Haskins in mid flow)
4. Southside Heavyweight Champion STIXX v Super Crazy
Stixx made his way to the ring with Harvey Dale and his Southside Heavyweight title. He proclaimed he was a huge fan of his oppenent, and he just wanted a clean fight with him. So he sent Harvey packing to the back, and Super Crazy made his entrance to a rowdy crowd.
Great opening exchange with neither wrestler giving an inch. Which to everyones displeasure bought out Harvey Dale to console Stixx and stay in the corner for his match.
The ex ECW star Super Crazy, hit some crazy offense, to stay on top of STIXX, who was having trouble getting to grips with the Mexican's offense.
But STIXX managed to ground the high flyer just long enough to get the upper hand, and take control of a very competitive match. after a few minutes the Crazy one re-took control of the match, and mounted a strong comeback. But it was STIXX who picked up the victory, by pinning Super Crazy for the count while using the ropes for leverage. Another great match wich the crowd going intermission buzzing ***
(Above: Super Crazy with an abdominal stretch on STIXX)
After intermission we had the arm wrestling contest between commentator Dale Mills and House of Pain advisor Harvey Dale. After much back and forth on the mic and Harvey Dale refusing to lock up they finally did. But as they did Mrs Haskins jumped up on the ring apron to distract Harvey Dale by lifting up her shirt. He was distracted just enough for Dale Mills to get the victory and claim bragging rights between the two.
(Below right: Arm wrestling with Harvey Dale & Dale Mills with Adam Curtis looking on)
Jay Lethal taking on for Speed King champion Robbie X. Robbie X had lost the title at Speed Kings, so he was out to try and unseat the man who won the 6 man at Speed King back in May Jay Lethal.
The crowd were hot for this match, with both guys, going all out pretty much from the bell ringing. Lethal took the upper hand on the former champ, including hitting a handspring elbow. The crowd were really into this one.
Robbie managed to get back into the match by hitting some quick offensive moves and take the control over Lethal. Robbie on several occassions thought he had the match won, but Lethal kept kicking out and coming back for more.
Lethal who had the experience edge came back slowly but surely and managed to hit the 'Lethal Combination' but he only got a near fall. With Lethal growing frustrated, Robbie managed to make a quick comeback and nearly become Speed King champ for a second time.
But as the match wore on Lethal regained control and after both hitting some big kicks Lethal Picked up the victory and retained the title. Great match, Robbie X has really come into his own and has grown into a great performer ****
6. wXw Unified Heavyweight Champion Tommy End v Zack Sabre Jr
This match was sanctioned by wXw in Germany and was an official match and will also appear on an upcoming wXw dvd release.
This match pitted 2 very well travelled men, both with experience in Japan and the USA against one another as wXw champion Tommy End took on England's own Zack Sabre Jr. Both these men have met before in wXw and wrestled in the final of this years 16 Carat Gold Tournament and on a side note of interest, Zack was the first ever unified champion in wXw.
This match started very cagey, with guys hitting hard Kicks to each other. But after the opening exchange, Zack went straight for the armbar, but Tommy managed to scramble for the ropes.
After the initial excahnges, Tommy tried to lock in the Dragon Slayer sleeper, but Zack managed to squirm free. With some more hard hitting strikes, Tommy hit a kick to Zack's head that dazed the former champ and may have stunned him a bit.
Tommy made it to the top rope, and managed to hit a double stomp right to Zacks chest, that winded Sabre, but didnt keep him down for the 3. While Tommy was trying to restructure his gameplan, Zack took the upper hand with some hard kicks off his own and and locked in the armbar once again, and this time Tommy only just made the ropes. After several more exchanges, Tommy End locked in the 'Dragon Slayer' sleeper and forced Zack to pass out. Great match, good to see the title get defended on these shores and hopefully not the last time we see Tommy End in this country ****
7. Sabu v Jimmy Havoc (Hardcore Match)
The ECW legend v Britain's own deathmatch worker. In what was the main event of the evening, Sabu went to work early on Havoc using anything that wasn't nailed down to try and keep Havoc grounded.
But Havoc made a brief comeback, nailing Sabu with a few chair shots. But the ECW legend, used his experience and regained the upper hand, and took the match to the Extreme getting a table from under the ring and setting up on the outside, both brawled round the ringside and eventually Jimmy was back dropped through the set up table. Sabu threw a chair at Jimmy which cut him open deep.
Sabu then promptly set Havoc up on a chair, got back in the ring and after a few attempts ran off the ropes and jumped on the chair onto the ropes and dropkicked Jimmy head first into another chair. Sabu dragged Havoc into the ring and made a pin attempt but Havoc kicked out.
So Sabu set up another table, near the turnbuckle and placed Jimmy on the table head first, he then proceeded to head to the top rope and hit the Arabian facebuster, and put Jimmy through yet another table. He crawled over onto Jimmys motionless body and picked up the victory. The crowd roared with appreciation for both guys, and the fans went home happy ***1/2
(Above: Sabu prepares to go airborne on a prone blood Jimmy Havoc)
Another top notch show, with some great wrestling invovled. Southside is one of the top promotions in the UK and it was truly a great show and I urge you as soon as the DVD is available to buy it. It was one of those shows if you missed it, you missed out.
The next Southside show in Nottingham is Crossing the Line, on September 28th, featuring CZW champ Drew Gulak, Drake Younger, Ricochet & the high flying sensation AR Fox as well s the usual Southside crew.
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Tom Linberry - Follow me on twitter @mr1985TAL
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