It was my fourth wrestling show of the weekend and by this point I was already feeling tired and worn out by the time I got to Wolverhampton for AWW. I only went to the show to see Mark Andrews for the very first time against former WWE superstar Brian Kendrick in the main event, but the undercard had other matches that caught my eye such as Kris Travis vs Kid Fite, T-Bone vs Robbie Dynamite and Kay Lee Ray vs Shanna. Ultimately the first half of the show left me feeling very uninspired and while there was nothing out-right bad (moments in the six man tag featuring wrestlers I've never seen before aside) there was just nothing that stood out or was particularly memorable. They had a packed crowd in Wolverhampton, a lot more people than I was expecting to see in all honesty, and it was very family friendly with young children lining up in front of the first row to stand up against the barrier. The second half of the show was a lot better and there was one match that caught the attention of almost every single person in the building as it got a very well deserved standing ovation by the end of the match. But it wasn't the main event I'd traveled and paid to see. In fact it wasn't even a match originally scheduled to take place.
On the second match after the interval Shanna defeated Emi Sakura in one of my favourite matches of the weekend and perhaps the best women's wrestling match that took place that weekend. And the second out of the four shows I went to that weekend was an all-women's wrestling show from Pro Wrestling EVE. I'd heard rumours before the show started that Kay Lee Ray had been injured the night before and would be replaced by Emi Sakura who had only left her native Japan to wrestle in England this weekend in order to defend the EVE Championship in a losing effort to Nikki Storm the day before. I'll be honest that when I thought of a potential Shanna vs Sakura match I didn't think much to it. Sakura is an incredible women's wrestler, perhaps one of the best in the world today, and she proved that with her epic Title match against Storm the day before. But while I'd seen Shanna before and she looked absolutely fine in the few previous times I'd seen her, I didn't know she was capable of having a match of this quality. But this match blew my mind.
To begin Shanna first came out and took the microphone to show why she is Portugal's Perfect Athelete by speaking Portuguese and then insult the crowd for not having the intelligence to learn a second language. She announced officially to the crowd that Kay Lee Ray was not there, so she should simply be declared the winner. This prompted Pro Wrestling EVE promoter to come out and state that Shanna did have an opponent this evening, that Britain has had an undeniable influence on wrestling, name-checking Daniel Bryan who spent many years traveling to England to learn his craft - And that got a YES! chant from the crowd - And stated that influence was keenly felt in Japan so introduced Emi Sakura as one of the best women's wrestlers alive in the world today as her opponent. It wasn't the best promo in the world but at least it did it's job to help put over Emi Sakura to the crowd and make her seem like a big deal to people who would have no idea who she was.
This was a different kind of match to Sakura vs Storm the night before. Whereas that was a Title match and therefore had to be seen as a little bit more "epic" in scale, Shanna and Sakura only needed 10 minutes or so to get the match over perfectly. This wasn't a main event Title, it felt more like a proving ground match for Shanna to be able to show her stuff and show that she belonged in the same ring as someone considered one of the best wrestler's in the world. And she more than showed it as on this night she was definitely on the same level as a wrestler the like of Emi Sakura. The crowd by this point may have been expecting something they would ordinarily see on TV and at the time I was thinking that this match would not work in front of this family friendly crowd that was conditioned to expect Eve vs Kelly Kelly in 5 minute matches. But I was wrong. So very, very wrong and I couldn't have been happier.
They started by battling for control over such a simple move as a wrist lock, Shanna really wrenching and pulling away at the arm, but Sakura was able to show off that British catch-as-catch style is escaping. Sakura took control of both of Shanna's hands to bring them down to the mat and stamp on them, the same thing she did against both Storm and April Davids the night before. Again with a staple move from her offense Sakura took hold of Shanna's hair and threw her across the ring, before following that up with a dropkick. Much like the night before Sakura hit some of the stiffest chops not to man, but that only served to fire Shanna up with a flying clothesline. Sakura was able to retort with some mongolian chops but Shanna grabbed hold of her hair and returned the favour from earlier as she used her body weight to throw them both down into the canvas, Sakura's face taking the brunt.
I remember Sakura hit a dragon sleeper swinging neckbreaker and by this point the crowd's pre-conceptions were being changed. Sakura then put Shanna into a rolling mexican surfboard and really wrenched Shanna's back as she pulled her down by her chin, in a little move that I absolutely adored began slapping her face dismissively before releasing and throwing her back down onto the canvas. Emi continued with more dismissive tactics as she simply kicked away at Shanna's head as she attempted to regain her footing, something which only served to rile Shanna up as when Sakura turned her back for that split-second Shanna was able to gain her footing and began to elbow Sakura in the face. In another little moment after Shanna had spent the entire match having "Not so perfect" chanted at her by the audience, when she was able to hit a picture-perfect dropkick she screamed out "PERFECT!" defiantly to the audience.
By this point you could tell the crowd was really beginning to enjoy this and when Sakura effortlessly maneuvered Shanna into an octopus hold there was an audible gasp of appreciation. The night before Sakura had delivered a series of double underhook backbreakers and tonight was no different, the second one with a long delay as she held Shanna up in the air before delivering the knee into the back was a great sight. Sakura hit a running cross body into Shanna in the turnbuckle but when she went for her corner body splash from the second turnbuckle, Shanna got a foot up under her jaw. After that Shanna attempted to take to the air from the top rope but Sakura cut her off, climbing up the turnbuckles herself but both women fought tooth and nail and Sakura found herself hanging from the turnbuckles with both legs trapped looking up at Shanna going down on her full force with a nasty looking double footstomp. By now the crowd was captivated.
Within seconds of the move you could see Sakura bleeding from the mouth but she was able to kick out of Shanna's Perfectplex. Shanna showed some great facial work as she was in disbelief that Sakura kicked out. This momentary pause allowed Sakura to fight back with hard slaps to the face but Shanna cut her off with a roaring elbow. Shanna then took to the top to again go for the move she was looking for earlier and hit her perfect press and by this point I was thinking Shanna had done it, she was going to beat Sakura in the biggest upset of the weekend and if it wasn't revealed that the ref had almost *accidentally* counted three I would have bought that being the finish and Shanna a very worthy winner. With everything exhausted, a desperate Shanna was quickly dumped on the back of her head with a tiger driver, but not even that could keep her down! In the end it took the biggest move in Emi's arsenal, a breath-taking 450 splash from the top rope to put Shanna down for the three count.
I can't remember where in the match the "This is awesome" chants started, but after that finish you saw several people raise to their feet in a standing ovation and I was one of them as a much louder "That was awesome" chant echoed around the Wulfrun Hall. I'm not one to chant that. I feel there are too many matches where people chant that *just* to chant it. But this match more than deserved the chant and the justified standing ovation. I really can't wait to see where the publicity from this match takes Shanna in the future as she gave a performance of a lifetime. I went into this match not expecting anything more than a good match. What I witnessed was far and away the best match of the night and the best women's match of the weekend. I know it would be hard to compare Sakura/Storm and Sakura/Shanna but while you knew to expect something epic out of the former, the latter blew away all pre-conceived notions and in the end turned round a 300+ strong family friendly crowd. How many women's matches in this day and age can say that?
(Left: Kris Travis Nailing T-Bone With A 'Rock Bottom' - Photo Credit To John Searle)
After such a strong showing the night before I was really looking forward to Night 2 and the final night of Preston City Wrestling's Road To Glory tournament. In the three quarter finals Martin Kirby faced Brian Kendrick, Noam Dar faced CJ Banks and Super Crazy faced Bubblegum with the winner of that match to face Joey Hayes in the semi-finals as Hayes got a bye due to the no contest between Mastiff and Manson the night before. To go along with the tournament as per the actions of the previous night T-Bone was set to put his PCW Heavyweight Championship on the line against the man he almost had to kill to retake the belt two weeks and a day ago, Kris Travis. Their previous two matches had ever increasing brutality in stipulations so this match was declared to be a straight up singles match between the two to potentially resolve their feud. Unfortunately due to the EVE show over-running I missed the Dave Rayne promo used to open the show as he came out with The Owen Twins and his newly won PCW Cruiserweight Championship. But I did make it to my seat right before the opening match which was a stroke of luck.
Super Crazy defeated Bubblegum in what may have been Bubblegum's last ever match. As noted in my review of the previous nights show Bubblegum has a very public injury to his knee right now which is waiting on surgery and it is unknown right now whether he will return to a wrestling ring after the surgery. So in facing an international star with the experience of Super Crazy in his last ever match is not a bad way to go out. Before the match began Bubblebum asked, as a parent, for Super Crazy's autograph. Even though Crazy swore at him - Repeatedly - He still turned his back to sign an autograph only for Bubblegum to attack. Crazy was irish whipped to the corner so hard his head hit the buckle and he somehow went flying out of the ring. Bubblegum dominated Crazy until Crazy was able to roll through a sunset flip and hit a dropkick onto a seated Bubblegum, following it through with his standing moonsault and at that point T-Bone attempted to climb into the ring and as a result he was ejected from ringside. Crazy was in the drivers seat and even brought in a chair to plant Gum face first onto it for his running dropkick, but Bubblegum was able to cheat and sneak his way back into the match, posing triumphantly at the head of a downed Crazy only for Crazy to snare him with a victory roll for the pinfall. Good opener to the show and a high profile match for Bubblegum to bow out on if it comes to that.
In the next quarter final match Brian Kendrick beat Martin Kirby. Very good match the two were evenly matched on the mat exchanging wrist locks and holds, the pace increasing to hip tosses, eventually Kendrick getting visibly frustrated as Kirby managed to stay with him every step of the way, if not get the better of Kendrick on occasion. Things escalated after Kendrick attempted to school boy Kirby with the tights as then Kendrick began to work the arm in various submission holds but Kirby refused to give it up, constantly coming back his STOP! Enziguiri kick being a highlight and he did find a way to work a variety of kicks to rattle Kendrick. Towards the end of the match Kirby was desperate to get the pinfall with repeated backslide attempts and in the end it was all a matter of weight and positioning as Kendrick rolled Kirby up with an oklahoma roll and also had his hands free to hold down onto Kirby's heels to ensure he wouldn't be able to kick out. Very good match, Kirby was able to stay in there with a former WWE superstar and not look out of place at all to show why he is rated so highly on the UK scene. Brian Kendrick may have teased a little heel-ish nature with holding the tights and cutting corners when necessary but it showed he had to go to those lengths in order to beat Kirby and move on to the semi-finals to face the winner of Noam Dar vs CJ Banks.
(Right: CJ Banks Has Noam Dar All Tied Up - Photo Credit To John Searle)
With only three quarter finals due to Joey Hayes having a bye, Pro Wrestling EVE put on a guest exhibition match between Emi Sakura and April Davids. Sakura had only the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship a few hours earlier and Davids is a student of Sakura when she travels to Japan so this match was announced with a 10 minute time limit. So a 10 minute draw with a mentor/student relationship seemed like the natural result and with nothing on the line, no Title belts, no animosity, these two just went out there to have a back and forth wrestling clinic and to show the strength of womens wrestling today and they did that with some nice technical wrestling exchanges including a mexican surfboard exchange from both women, Sakura bending and contorting David's in ways a normal body should not be put through. Sakura's chops were still as hard as they were in the Storm match and David's trademark running yakuza in the corner found it's mark with Sakura's face as a receipt for the stiff chops. Davids worked towards an armbar submission whereas Sakura hit a variety of backbreakers onto April. Sakura stretched out April's back but when she went to plant her face first into the mat, April was able to reverse and from there the intensity increased as Davids went hell for leather with suplexes and it really seemed like the match had moved beyond friendly exhibition by the time that the 10 minutes expired. The crowd was very eager to see another 5 minutes but Sakura declined saying she was tired and then ran around ringside slapping the fans hands before leaving, the cheeky monkey. Great little match.
Noam Dar vs CJ Banks was everything I love about pro wrestling. It was intense, it looked stiff, it was heated and believable that these two really were going above and beyond to get the victory. It's been said that Banks is underrated and some people do genuinely believe him to be one of the best in England but in every time seeing Banks I've never got it. Good, but just nothing mindblowing. This match was an eye opener as this was an out and out war in which he faced off against someone I consider one of Britain's best and he more than held his own. After the sneak attack the night before from Banks to Dar which then resulted in Dave Rayne being able to steal away the PCW Cruiserweight Championship from Dar you knew this was going to be heated, but it started off with a bang as Dar came flying out at the ring onto Banks during his entrance. Dar didn't spend long in charge of the match as Banks stepped up his game considerably and matched Dar strike for strike as these two battled for supremacy with hard hitting blows and a multitude of suplexes, Banks snap german suplexes really reminiscent of the fabled Dynamite Kid. The previous night also came into play as Wild softened Dar up for his boston crab finisher and Banks main offense focused on the back all leading towards his texas cloverleaf finisher. This was the best CJ Banks match I have ever seen and it shows that when presented with the opportunity Banks can stand toe to toe with anyone in the battle of strikes, suplexes and submissions. But while Banks was having the performance of a lifetime, this was still Dar's knight as he destroyed CJ's knee with the double stomp from the top rope and then the kneebar submission in which it had only just been applied when Banks immediately had to tap. Fantastic little match and one I would love to see a rematch. If Banks could show this fire, this intensity and face off against wrestlers bound to bring out these qualities from him then he could get work anywhere up and down the country.
In his first semi-final match of the night Joey Hayes was able to defeat Super Crazy in the semi-finals in order to be the first man to take his place in the finals. After defeating Paul London the night before Joey Hayes was on a career high as he was able to make Crazy tap to the crippler crossface. A good little match but honestly a week later not that much remains in mind other than Crazy's language and getting frustrated with the ref, picking a fight with Dave Rayne on commentary and Joey Hayes being able to use Crazy's own chair spot against him as this time it was Crazy to go face first into the chair and then have it kicked into his face for further insult. Crazy hit a standing corkscrew elbow splash that for a man of his size was an impressive sight. But then all it took was the one teenage kick and then a dogged refusal to let Crazy escape the crossface before he could tap to give Hayes yet another massive win over a former WWE superstar.
A man who is considered "wrestling's future" in Noam Dar took the remaining spot in the finals when he managed to pin Brian Kendrick. This was similar to Dar's match against John Morrison in December in that he stood toe to toe with a big name import but this time Dar finally got the win. In 2012 he spent the year facing the best America had to offer in regards to former WWE stars like John Morrison and ECW legend Jerry Lynn, current TNA mainstay AJ Styles and American Indy stand out's like Davey Richards and Sami Callihan and the re-occurrence in each of those matches was that Dar lost them all. On this night, in 2013 it was a different year and a different story as he was finally able to get that big name victory that had eluded him for so long. Like the Kendrick/Kirby match they started off with a feeling out process before they came to blows, most notably outside the ring. Kendrick went up top for a move but Dar ran towards him with a dropkick which knocked Kendrick completely out of the ring and then Dar was able to follow that up with a suicide dive. The two had a great back and forth match with Dar once more going for the knee and Kendrick again kept the pressure on Dar's back with a full nelson camel clutch. In the end it wasn't a kneebar that took the victory for Dar for a change as a fisherman buster was able to put Kendrick down for a three count and Dar advance to the finals.
The advertised T-Bone vs Travis match ended up as more of a bait and switch to further advance the feud and hatred between the two men. Travis came out to the ring ready and fired up for the chance to regain the PCW Heavyweight Championship but T-Bone came down to ringside with both Shanna and Alpha Female holding his Title belt in tow. T-Bone said that he would not wrestle Travis on this night as planned, but that he fully intended to honour their match later down the line. He claimed that the two women in the ring had worn him out the night before so he was in no fit state to compete - Especially Alpha Female, the sexual freak. But as a sign of good faith he offered Shanna to Travis for the night as a peace offering between the two but Trav rather than less politely declined the offer of T-Bone's "sloppy seconds". Shanna was understandably irate by that remark and began mouthing off at Travis, enough distraction for Alpha to blindside Travis with the heavy Title belt with busted Travis open. And he was bleeding like a stuck pig within a matter of seconds. T-Bone then decided at that point that a Title match would occur tonight after all, but was surprised with a rock bottom from Trav which got a near-fall. With the blood loss it was only a matter of time before T-Bone was able to take control of the match and he did so with a massive clothesline that turned Travis inside out and sent blood flying. Miraculously Trav was able to find an opening back into the match but when he went to the top rope he was crotched by Shanna. T-Bone then followed it up with a DDT with Travis hanging from the feet on the top rope and then a big powerbomb to retain the belt. Post match T-Bone gloated and posed over Travis, but Travis still had fight left in him as he was still trying to get back to his feet as T-Bone left the ring.
Before the main event Lionheart made a brief return to PCW in order to draw the PCW raffle, make shots at Dave Rayne and his taking the Cruiserweight belt from Noam Dar, his involvement in TNA gut check and to make a vague mention of an offer the PCW promoter extended to him in order to return to the ring down the line. He didn't answer the offer on this night but said when he makes his reply, he will make a statement in doing so.
And in a very worthy main event and a match that will strongly be considered for an all UK MOTYC down the line, Noam Dar beat Joey Hayes to win the Road To Glory tournament and a future PCW Heavyweight Championship shot. Joey Hayes had an easier route to the finals only wrestling the once before that night but on his way there defeated two former WWE superstars in Paul London and Super Crazy. Noam Dar had a harder slog defeating perennial rival Andy Wild the night before, CJ Banks in a hard-hitting war and then finally getting that elusive victory over an American import in Brian Kendrick. So both were on career high's going into this match and it definitely had a main event feel about it. With the toll of the previous matches affecting both men they were very cautious in the early going, neither man affording to make a mistake so early in the match but that only changed when Dar dropkicked Hayes from his seated position on the turnbuckles and then hit an incredible suicide dive. The same fisherman buster that put Kendrick away wasn't able to keep Hayes down and then Hayes got back into the match by hitting a piledriver in which he twisted his body on the way down. That just looked plain lethal. Dar was able to survive and then managed a top rope suplex onto Hayes. Hayes then returned the favour with a top rope falcon arrow that knocked a few lights loose from the chandelier. Dar managed his top rope double stomp onto the knee, but Hayes leg was on the second rope so it looked even more nastier than usual. Dar had the kneebar firmly locked in but Hayes refused to give up, rolling both of them out of the ring and onto the hard floor. Noam was relentless with the kneebar and only released when Hayes tapped out, but with it being outside the ring it didn't count. Hayes was then able to lock Dar into the crossface until he tapped, but again it was still outside the ring. The two then climbed back onto the ring apron and exchanged elbows, kicks and then Hayes hit another twisting piledriver right down onto the frame of the ring apron. Nasty, just plain nasty. Dar was able to break the 10 count outside the ring and Hayes got him with a teenage kick but Dar kicked out at one and the crowd went mental! Dar climbed back to his feet and in an act of defiance he gave Hayes the finger only for Hayes to grab the arm for a crippler crossface. From there the two fought and clawed with reversals between the crossface and the kneebar but neither man gave it up. Dar returned to his feet and fired kicks at Hayes, kicking his knee out in the process and then hit a fisherman buster and then locked in a kneebar for the submission victory in an incredible, epic contest that will strongly be remembered by all in the audience that night. This really is a match for you to go out of your way to see and was the best match I have ever seen Joey Hayes in. I know he's had some much talked about matches in 2007 and 2008, but this is the first time I've seen him in such a high-profile match and he delivered on all levels. This tournament was all about Noam Dar and really showed why so many consider him one of Britain's best as he was in four great matches through the weekend, this being the best match I have seen live in 2013 so far.
The Saturday night show ended up with every single match reaching it's potential and while the Friday night show was good and better than expected for a Night 1 show, the Saturday night show has to be seen by all fans of BritWres. If both shows get released together on DVD it's well worth a purchase if only to see Dar/Hayes as that could be the match to write Hayes ticket to be seen on a much larger scale. This could end up being a strong competitor for UK show of the year by a UK promotion as it'll take something truly special to beat it.
(Left: Alpha Female - Picture credit to John Searle)
Let me begin by stating that I am a fan of women's wrestling. I enjoyed watching the likes of Trish, Lita, Molly, Victoria, Jazz, etc back in the WWF/E. In 2006 I began following American female wrestling company SHIMMER and became a big fan of the likes of Sara Del Rey, Cheerleader Melissa, MsChif, etc etc. In 2007 I went to my first and only Chick Fight (a former promotion of EVE promoter Dann Read) show which was enjoyable enough and this was my second Pro Wrestling EVE show after their Saturday evening show in Nottingham in October 2011 after a Southside afternoon show, and the main event of that EVE show, April Davids vs Jenny Sjoden in an almost 25 minute classic remains one of my favourite women's matches ever to this day.
So in saying that I have to say I was very disappointed with this EVE show and didn't want it to appear like I was merely just another person not willing to give women's wrestling a chance and being unnecessarily critical. There was unfortunately a lot of sloppy, uncoordinated wrestling at times and a lot of hesitation between moves that you would expect from green rookies first breaking into the business, not by a promotion claiming to use the best women's wrestlers in all of Europe. But in saying that when the EVE show was good, it was *really* good as perfectly exemplified by the EVE Championship match between Emi Sakura and challenger Nikki Storm.
I'm not one to complain about late doors and show starts. In BritWres it's a common occurrence. However, and pardon my language, this show just completely took the piss. Whereas doors were only 10 minutes late opening at 2.40pm instead of half past, the show which was due to start at 3pm didn't kick off until well after 3.35pm with no conceivable reason as to why or no explanation given. Before the show even began fans were becoming bored and restless and women's wrestling can be a hard sell in front of certain crowds, especially the nightclub atmosphere in Preston. But then I'd estimate there was only a crowd of 150+ maximum and they did seem either keen on women's wrestling or willing to give it a fair shot as something to do in the afternoon before the main crowd. But while 150+ is by no means a bad draw in this day and age in England, this was the emptiest I've ever seen the Lava Ignite before first bell and there was almost an entire front row empty so me and a friend switched seats to that side.
The show got off to a great start with a three way between Kay Lee Ray, Shanna and Alpha Female. This was originally supposed to be two separate singles matches as Kay Lee Ray was due to face Blue Nikita until Nikita was involved in a car crash a few days before the show and KLR was inserted into the grudge match between Shanna and Alpha as Shanna was partly responsible for Alpha losing the EVE Championship to Nikki Storm in November. So you had Alpha immediately going after Shanna, but KLR wasn't afraid to get stuck in against Alpha and to show she was a very active part in the match and wouldn't take a back seat to Alpha's revenge on Shanna. The two smaller ladies were forced into teaming up briefly as Alpha was a lot larger and stronger than both of them individually but then when Alpha was removed from the ring. Shanna capitalized on KLR, throwing her out and then jumping off the top rope with a Perfect Press to the outside of the ring. This match flowed along nicely and was a great little match with a good story and the finish of Alpha hitting Shanna with her dominator finisher, but KLR breaking up the pinfall (something which the ref cocked up) only for Sara-Marie Taylor and a hooded Carmel Jacobs to attack KLR shortly after outside the ring so Alpha was left alone to hit yet another dominator onto Shanna for the emphatic three count.
She-X, Viper and Bette Noire, were attacked from behind at the top of the stairs at the entrance way by their opponents Ama-Reilly, Amazon and Rhia O'Reilly so the next match began with a bang as they were beaten down the stairs and then the two teams brawled around ring side. This was the first match where sloppy and uncoordinated became a running theme. Now in the context of a brawl between two teams sloppy and looking less than perfect works as it sells the hatred and intensity, but there was just too much awkwardness and weak strikes inbetween the two teams looking like they genuinely wanted to harm each other. And it annoyed me that considering the finish was a no contest from the two teams brawling around ringside, the first time the bell rang was when the match was thrown out. So officially the match never even started and it was ruled as a no contest, even when they did spend brief amounts of time in the ring against each other. So the finish left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't an out-right bad match, it had it's moments.
In the next tag team quarter final match the Owen Twins, twin sisters Kasey and Leah defeated The Lovely Peppers, Kirsty Love and Pollyanne Peppers. First time seeing the Owen Twins and I can see why they're getting so much publicity lately as they are two very attractive ladies. The Lovely Peppers were more quirky and alt as shown by using Gangnam Style as entrance music, but they didn't go all out with the dancing! This was just alright. This was the match where the sloppiness and attempting for stuff beyond their limits was really evidenced and the two teams just didn't gel well at all. The Owen Twins were the worthy winners but do need their fair share of work in the ring so that they can have the look as well as the skills, but they have got the raw natural talent for now.
Things got a little bit better as April Davids lost a handicap match against the Glamour Gym of Carmel Jacobs and Sara-Marie Taylor as her mystery guest partner failed to show up. I was expecting Kay Lee Ray to become Davids tag team partner after the Glamour Gym attacked her earlier in the night but it just never happened and I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking that way. April Davids vividly colourful language on the mic made sure she was the biggest babyface of the night to the point that the ring announcer had to take the mic in order to apologize for some of the words used. April valiantly battled the odds with elbows, suplexes and eventual running yakuza kicks in the corner (which are a great sight as it really looks like she hammers them home) but the two against one ratio meant that after an initial fiery start and comeback towards the end, the Glamour Gym dominated the match. A decent match, April was always going to be favoured as the underdog after that promo at the start, but I couldn't have helped to want an actual tag match to see April and Carmel face each other on equal ground.
(Right: Emi Sakura Before Her Title Loss To Nikki Storm - Picture Credit to John Searle)
Nikki Storm regaining the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship from Emi Sakura was far and away MOTN (or MOTAfternoon) and practically worth the price of the ticket in itself. For everything I said about instances of sloppy wrestling and hesitation in the previous matches, that made this match look all the more incredible as they did a lot of technical wrestling including reversals and counters, strike exchanges which actually looked like they connected and a fair amount of tense near-falls in the finishing stretch which really were gripping, edge of the seat stuff. And they did all this with everything looking crisp, fluid and above all believable as these two were determined to steal the show and ensure the one lasting and remaining impression of this show was the absolute classic these two put on. And while I took issue with the late start and over-all poor time keeping, some poor wrestling skills at moments and weak booking decisions, they will fade in time and the one thing that I will remember is Nikki Storm having the match of her life and standing toe to toe with one of Japan's best and holding her own. While I am a fan of women's wrestling I have seen very little Joshi to my shame (something which I will eventually rectify) but I can only summarize after a match like this and both April Davids and Kay Lee Ray going to Japan that it's not going to be long at all until Storm gets that opportunity herself. The match itself was a slow burner as they wrestled and struggled for basic holds which then built into the elbow exchanges and some incredibly hard chops from Sakura that soon left Storm's chest red raw as they headed more and more towards the big moves being exchanged. I felt for sure Sakura would retain the belt as I couldn't see her losing the belt on her first English defense of the EVE Title, and especially not on an afternoon show away from their home base in front of a crowd that may not have appreciated it, but in the end they had the entire crowd captivated and Nikki Storm was a more than deserving victor to take back what was hers. Absolutely fantastic match and at that moment in time was the second best women's wrestling match I have ever seen live.
Post match Storm attacked Sakura after the former Champion gave her respect so April Davids as a friend of Emi and someone who has traveled to Japan to train with her came to the ring to her aid but Storm attacked her too and laid her out. I've seen April and Nikki face off the once before so would really love to see them have a big time epic main event match for the EVE Championship down the line.
Annoyingly before the second co-main event and the last match of the afternoon the show took a long intermission. I have no earthly idea what could justify that after starting the show over a half hour late. There should be no excuses for such unprofessional display by EVE management there. But anyways the last match of the afternoon was a 15 woman 3 Minute Warning match. This was a combination of a rumble and a gauntlet match as the match would begin with two wrestlers (Kay Lee Ray and Carmel Jacobs as announced the night before) and eliminations could happen via pinfall, submission or over the top rope. If 3 minutes were to expire without an elimination then another wrestler would enter the match. If an elimination occurred within that time period, it would prompt another entrant until all 15 woman had entered the match. Of course with April David's partner no-showing this was announced as a 14 woman 3 Minute Warning match. Of which only 13 women entered as April David's did not come out with no explanation given as to why if you weren't counting that the match was a woman short. KLR and Carmel quickly ended up leaving the ring and brawled around the venue, Ray leaping off the bar onto Jacobs. By the time Peppers came out as the third entrant, Jacobs had crawled back into the ring while KLR decided to take a rest outside the ring and Pollyanna was dispatched via Jacobs air raid crash before the 3 minutes expired. Leah Owens was out next so her and Carmel double teamed Ray briefly but when Jacobs set KLR up in the corner for a running attack from the twin, Carmel instead clotheslined her as she was running for a very pitiful looking three count. The other Owens Twin was out immediately after but rather than get revenge on Jacobs for eliminating her sister, she instead attacks Ray and allows Jacobs to rest? Wrestling logic bafflement. But then Ray eliminates Kasey via a swanton bomb. By this point I can't remember if anyone else had come out by then but Shanna, Bette Noire, Rhia O'Reilly, Kirsty Love and Amazon all entered the match as KLR and Jacobs had brawled away from the ring and back up the entrance way, still officially both in the match. Kirsty Love was thrown over the top rope by the team work of O'Reilly and Shanna. Amazon entered the ring with authority, teaming with Shanna and O'Reilly to eliminate Noire. Viper entered the match after her partner had already entered - Wrestling logic bafflement #2 as it would have made booking sense to feature a little of the earlier tag match which went to a no contest - But then Viper was quickly eliminated by the AmaReiNna trio. Alpha Female came out next to square off against the trio and the visual of Alpha and Amazon face to face did look like a big deal. Sara-Marie Taylor came out next as Jacobs and KLR returned brawling through the crowd and Alpha eliminated O'Reilly and Amazon over the top rope, but Alpha and Shanna both went over the top rope themselves together which I missed as my view point was on KLR eliminated Sara-Marie Taylor. Obviously I wasn't the only one distracted as SMT got in the ring to state it didn't happen and her elimination was never noted. Steve Austin at the 97 Rumble it was not. KLR threw Jacobs over the top rope and began to celebrate her victory on the turnbuckle but Taylor pushed her over the ropes to win the match. A 14 women match featuring 13 women and won by someone who was eliminated a minute before the end - Wrestling logic bafflement #3. A lackey heel winning a match to be able to challenge the strong heel Champion - Wrestling logic bafflement #4.
(Below: Shanna & Carmel Jacobs Double Team Kay Lee Ray - Picture Credit To John Searle)
This show was a shambles. From the late bell time to the unexplained interval between main events this meant the show ran overly late and only gave a 40 minute gap between it and the announced first bell time for the PCW evening show. If it wasn't for the Storm/Sakura match I would have written the show off entirely as while you can overlook a little sloppy wrestling and the annoyance I felt with the late start time and un-needed interval will fade in time and be forgotten about, you can't deny that there are talented female wrestlers in Europe right now and others with potential down the line if nurtured correctly and promotions like EVE are needed to ensure that this happens. I would pay to watch any show featuring Nikki Storm, April Davids, Kay Lee Ray, Carmel Jacobs, Alpha Female and Shanna as they stand right now and hope that one day some of the other wrestlers on the card I felt needed work eventually step up to that level. But there was just too many little things that overall dragged down what should have been a quality showing for the strength of women's wrestling in Europe right now.
By Nikita Koloff, as told to William Muldoon, published by Crowbar Press, released February 2012, 220 Pages, paperback.
From Russian Nightmare to East Coast Representative for Fellowship of the Sword, Nikita Koloff has accomplished more than most in his life during short spans of time. In only 8 years inside the squared circle he achieved a five star match as acknowledged by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, along with a Pro-Wrestling Illustrated Feud of the Year with the Road Warriors and Dusty Rhodes Vs. the Four Horsemen. Nikita and Ivan Koloff captured the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) World Tag Team Championships on two occasions, in addition with Krusher Khrushchev (Barry Darsow) they won the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Titles. As a singles Nikita would find himself carrying gold on 4 separate occasions, NWA & UWF (Universal Wrestling Federation, previously Mid-South) versions of the World Television Belt, the NWA National Heavyweight Title, and the once prestigious United States Heavyweight Championship.
Nikita Koloff presents a relatively short autobiography fitting of his short in ring career. Starting with a foreword by Lex Luger, followed by a preface by Ted Dibiase Sr. two of the most recognisable names in the history of Sports Entertainment. Nikita goes on to explain his childhood in short, mentioning he is aware he only wanted to provide enough history on himself so the reader gets a taste of what helped him grow into the man he became. From simple beginnings he explains of his passion for attending the gym would lead to him finding friendship with Joe Lauranitis (Animal of the Road Warriors) and eventually his career in the NWA. At times Koloff can become tedious with repetition, and his persistence in giving history lessons on just about every subject you can imagine, other wrestlers, championship belts, territories and more. Unfortunately in some cases his time line is off and certain trivial information is inaccurate. Nikita explains his fast track to stardom, and why he feels this garnered heat for him with other boys in the locker rooms on more than occasion. Koloff goes into a great deal of explanation as to why he protected his character so much, why he went as far as talking in broken English even to his step children at home and legally changing his name. He seems to manage to cover all the major events in his career, the completely random turn to good guy, his dealings with Bill Watts, friendship with Dusty Rhodes, encounters with Ric Flair, camaraderie with Barry Darsow and Ivan Koloff, and the general state of WCW in the early 90's. This autobiography however does not end in 1992 as Koloff's professional career did due to a difference in personal situations and a severe injury. Nikita goes on to tell his story of redemption, his life after the ring, finally breaking his character in public, and what would lead him to finding the Almighty. Finally finishing off the book with his two cents on the current product and his opinions on Vince McMahon Jr. running the wresting world.
Overall A Tale of the Ring and Redemption is average for a wrestling autobiography. Yes, Nikita has had an interesting life story with a meteoric rise to stardom between the ropes. The writing of Nikita Koloff the wrestler is interesting along with his reasoning behind career choices, the history lessons however are unnecessary (Especially with the trivial inaccuracies) if the reader wanted to learn about the past he would have purchased an entirely different book. Not only that, something is just lacking through-out the book, it just did not grab attention as you would expect. At the rear there is a photo gallery featuring 118 black and white photographs. Nikita at times can come across pretentious but nonetheless NIKITA offers a different perspective to professional wrestling. It is worth a read if you were interested in the Russian Nightmare or the NWA/WCW during that period of time. This is not a must read book by any means, but it is one to read when you have finished the major autobiographies that have been released.
(Left: Kid Fite shoots Brian Kendrick into the corner - Credit John Searle)
The Road To Glory tournament started on Friday the st of February and only two weeks to the day since PCW's 2013 opener, More Bang For Your Buck (review elsewhere on this site). With only two weeks in between shows you would ordinarily worry that the draw could be massively affected, but if anything the Friday night show had just as many people in the crowd, if not more, than the January show. This is in part due to the PCW's promoter, Steven Fludder, making sure all his events are well publicized and advertised well in advance. Also this show marked the start of PCW's first ever double shot as the tournament would conclude the next night and also include a bonus afternoon show presented by Pro Wrestling EVE so the appeal of a wrestling weekender attracted a fair share. Not content with a tournament line-up, a good amount of the best wrestlers currently active in the UK today and EVE as a bonus for fans of womens wrestling, PCW also brought over former WWE wrestlers Brian Kendrick, Paul London and Super Crazy. All three were rare treats to the UK Indy scene as London was only last seen in December 2010, Super Crazy last wrestled a UK Indy in June 2003 and this was Brian Kendrick's UK Indy debut.
Opening the show was what I would consider my MOTN as Martin Kirby beat Dean Allmark. This was a great opening match, fast paced, some high spots and tense near-falls by the end of the match. Even though they've been in the same ring together this was a first time ever singles match and they worked together really well with the obvious intention of going all out to steal the show. Things started with a feeling out process as they exchanged holds and reversals before they built up to the big moves like Allmark's suicide dive onto Kirby going into the second row, a top rope superplex, the back-cracker onto Kirby hung up in the ropes, Kirby's release powerbomb/facebuster, Allmark's top rope double stomp to the back of Kirby caught on the second turnbuckle. Kirby stole Marufuji's flipping snapmare move which was an incredible sight and will be a brilliant addition to his repertoire, and the audience was stunned when it wasn't the finish. Allmark managed to hit his second corner springboard moonsault but Kirby managed to kick out. In the end the finish came as both men had each other in what appeared to be a double pin small cradle, but the ref raised Kirby's hand as winner. Fantastic start to the show and the weekend.
Before the next match between Bubblegum and April Davids could take place, Bubblegum took the mic to speak from the heart as the man behind the character, Pip, stating that this match could end up being his last as he is due for knee surgery and had cancelled his March bookings. He requested to be able to go out with his head held high in a fair match against Davids but when he went to shake April's hand he instead raked her eyes and went for a roll up victory which she managed to kick out. From there a furious April rocked Bubblegum quite convincingly with elbows and even though April was the smaller and lighter of the two, her forearms and elbows looked deadly. But she didn't stop there as she began to german suplex Gum repeatedly and when he went to reverse it she laid him out with a belly to back suplex with her arms crossed through his legs and also hit a suicide dive onto Bubblegum outside the ring. PCW Heavyweight Champion T-Bone proved to be a distraction on the outside and it was his presence that Bubblegum used to gain control of the match as for one of the few times in his career, he was the one with the strength and power advantage. He even displayed that dominance with a "sex pin" cover onto Davids, which he later admitted gave him a little bone. After that Davids used a display of colourful language that really endeared her to the crowd and almost took Bubblegum's head off with a yakuza kick in the corner. But T-Bone still had a larger part to play in the match as when Bubbleum took time to regroup outside the ring, Bone stepped into the ring and punched April square in the face. All it took was a running double knees onto the laid out Davids for Bubblegum to take the win and advance. Great little match, one of the best matches of the night.
Next up CJ Banks scored the upset win over former PCW Heavyweight Champion Kris Travis via count-out as once again T-Bone made his presence felt. This was a decent match that started back and forth but Banks began to press the advantage to show just how much Travis losing the Title to Bone only two weeks before really took it's toll on him. Banks really worked the back with a series of backbreakers as he worked towards his Texas Cloverleaf finisher. In all honesty I can't really remember that much about this match, it wasn't bad by any means, it was just there until the finish. A finish which I know did not sit well with most. Bubblegum ran in and got onto the ring apron to distract the ref, but Trav saw T-Bone climb onto the ring apron on the other side and kicked him down. Travis hit a dive through the ropes onto Bone, but Bubblegum immediately pounced and the two attacked Travis together outside the ring, T-Bone powerbombing Travis down onto the floor and the two continued to stamp on Trav as the ref counted Travis out. Very weak finish, especially with the ref counting Travis out while watching Bone and Bubblegum attack him through out the count and the fans were very upset with that and took it out on the ref with several chants. Post match T-Bone shook Banks' hand and then took the mic to state that he cost Travis this match because he wanted to face Travis one on one in a straight singles rematch from the previous fortnight, Title on the line. That at least took out some of the sting of the finish to the match.
Brian Kendrick made his UK Indy debut by defeating Kid Fite in a fine back and forth match. Kendrick was very over as soon as he made his entrance, wearing the ring jacket used during his "The" Brian Kendrick days and he had the swagger and poise you'd expect from a former WWE superstar. I've never been really keen on Fite singles matches and felt he always excelled as a tag team wrestler as part of the PCW Tag Team Champions, Fight Club, with Liam Thomson but he managed to hold his own and go back and forth with Kendrick. Starting with a little bit of comedy as Kendrick had the overwhelming crowd support against a vocal minority of Fite fans which resulted in both encouraging the dual chanting. Again like Travis and Banks before it, I can't really remember that much about the match except for enjoying it at the time and that Kendrick looked motivated and didn't half-ass it. They had a brilliant strike exchange near the end and it took Kendrick's third attempt at the Sliced Bread #2 before finally hitting it and getting the three count. Not a bad little match but after 4 shows, not that much of it was ingrained in my memory.
After one former WWE superstar it was Kendrick's former tag team partner Paul London making his PCW debut against Joey Hayes. I was wondering what kind of Paul London would make it to Preston, the one who returned to the Indies in 2010 with new found fire after his release from WWE or the one from 2011 he began to drift out of wrestling, no-show and have lost a lot of his motivation and love of wrestling. By the time his 15 minute (!!!) entrance as he went around the venue several times shaking fans with practically every single fan in the building while dressed in his spaceman suit and genuinely looking to be having the time of his life, it almost didn't matter how he performed in the ring after that entrance and London and Hayes facing off with chairs, two chairs, kids and bigger kids as weapons outside the ring. But I'm happy to report that London more than pulled his own weight and his drop-sault continues to be a thing of beauty. This match was an exercise in the mastery of stalling. This was almost the art of stalling. After spending so long on his entrance going up and down the venue it wouldn't be hard to imagine London being blown up by the time he got in the ring, so Hayes constantly wrangling London's arm, chinlocks, sleeper holds, etc all kept him grounded so when London exploded backs with the drop-saults, leg lariats, etc, it looked all the more impressive and was built up very well. Hayes accidentally busted London open on his forehead which created an extra level of drama towards the end of the match. Paul London managed to hit a double stomp from the top rope onto Hayes back, but had to do his Shooting Star Press off of the second rope to avoid the chandelier above, but Hayes moved after London's delay. One teenage kick took London down, but it was the crossface that finished him for Hayes to get the submission victory in his biggest ever match. It's rare for Hayes to get to face an import, let alone a former WWE superstar so for him to get the win like that in such a clean manner was a big deal. Post match Hayes continued to attack London until Brian Kendrick made the save and in a little moment I loved London grabbed hold of Hayes' leg when he tried to escape so Kendrick could rain fists down before he was finally able to break free and high-tail it out of the ring.
(Right: Andy Wild has Noam Dar in a Boston Crab - Credit John Searle)
In a match I really looking forward too, Noam Dar beat Andy Wild. I know after seeing Wild two weeks ago I was yet to be overly impressed with Wild as while there's no denying he's a fantastic wrestler, he was just lacking that spark in his match against Hayes. Here against Dar he was a lot more focused, concentrating entirely on out-wrestling and keeping up with Dar as Dar allowed himself to play to the crowd just that little bit so Andy came across a lot more intense with his one-track mind. The two exchanged hold for hold wrestling and strikes as they showed off how well they knew each other with little counters and reversals to keep the match at an even keel. Just some great wrestling on display between two of Scotland's best right now and I am sure their well praised match in the finals of Pro Wrestling Elite's Title tournament is more than deserved as these two had the chemistry together to have a gripping contest in their sleep. I do still think Wild is this generations Doug Williams - Not a bad thing for the places he's been, promotion's he's wrestled for and the people he's shared a ring with - And Dar truly is the most talented young wrestler I've seen in quite some time. Wild is also a little hoss as he was able to throw Dar around with belly to belly suplexes, the second one throwing Dar right into the turnbuckle. Dar hit a great suicide dive through the ropes that really fired up the crowd. The two threw a lot of bombs as Wild was able to kick out of Dar's fisherman buster and Dar survived Wild's tiger driver. Wild utilized the boston crab whereas Dar prefers the knee bar. In the end it was the knee bar that took the win, Dar capitalizing on Wild climbing the turnbuckles from inside the ring and kicking Wild's leg out from under him. After Dar's incredible double stomp directly onto the knee with the leg hung on the bottom rope, always a move that gets an audible reaction from the crowd, Dar finally got Wild to tap with the knee bar. Great little match but not the show stealer I was hoping for unfortunately but still a damn good match.
Post match CJ Banks attacks Dar with a flying knee, making a clear statement in regards to their match tomorrow evening. But then Dave Rayne's music hits as he saunters down to the ring, MITB briefcase in hand as the crowd goes crazy. Banks steps aside to allow Rayne to cash in, but Dar takes Rayne by surprise and takes him down with a knee bar. Bare in mind that just over two weeks ago Rayne was involved in a car crash and at the show two weeks ago was on crutches with an obvious knee injury, but Rayne managed to get to the ropes. With Dar exhausted from the previous match, that was his last ditch effort to save his PCW Cruiserweight Championship and in a relatively short space of time Rayne was able to hit his pedigree finishing move to become the new Cruiserweight Champion and the crowd went absolutely bat-shit mental at his victory.
After the technical skills displayed in the previous match, Kay Lee Ray vs Carmel Jacobs was an intense brawl from start to finish. These two have had several high profile battles against each other all varying in their match stipulations and levels of brutality. On this occasion they had to work within the confines of a regular match although when they got outside the ring, the rules were a little bit more lax. Carmel attempted to attack KLR as soon as her back was turned on the turnbuckle but Kay Lee was able to flip over her and take advantage of the match. Minutes later Carmel was sent flying through the front, second and third row after an irish whip from KLR. The addition of Sara-Marie Taylor as Carmel's stable mate helped sway the match back in Carmel's favour and inside the ring they exchanged holds and submissions but with more intensity behind them than the game of human chess seen in Dar/Wild. Kay Lee Ray showed exactly why she was offered the chance to wrestle and train in Japan over the Christmas and New Year period as she's never looked better, but Carmel really kept up with her every step of the way and it's obvious to see why PCW put this match on as a replacement of what should've been Emi Sakura defending the Pro Wrestling EVE Title against Jacobs. In fact, with the girls history, this may have been the better match. Kay Lee Ray hit an insane hurricanrana off the steel crowd barrier onto Jacobs, narrowly avoiding banging her head on nearby chairs on the way down, but it was those high-risk spots that proved to be her un-doing as Carmel got her knees up on KLR's swanton bomb attempt and an air raid crash took the victory for the leader of the glamour gym. Great match and a taste of what was hopefully to come on the EVE afternoon show the next day as KLR and Jacobs were announced as entrants #1 and #2 for the 15 Women 3 Minute Warning match main event.
And now for something completely different as Dave Mastiff faced Mad Man Manson. This was the third time I've seen this match-up and they managed to completely mix it up from the two previous matches as while it was short, there was a lot of big laughs in this one. Starting with a headlock into the ropes for the shoulder tackle, Manson was unable to move Mastiff at all. And he wasn't able too on the next running shoulder tackle. He tricked Mastiff into trying to knock him down, but Manson merely slapped him with authority. Later Manson teased a dive out of the ring onto Mastiff, but then stopped himself to ask Mastiff if wrestlers really fly over the top rope? And whether Mastiff would promise to catch him if he did> Mastiff promised to catch him, but Manson didn't believe him. Instead Manson demanded that Mastiff prove he would catch him as means of a trust exercise. Mastiff got back into the ring and positioned himself behind Manson as Manson shut his eyes and prepared to fall into Mastiff's arms.... But Manson install tipped forwards instead of backwards and went face first into the mat. Mastiff didn't appear to be too terribly bothered about this and went back to striking Manson, but when he whipped him into the turnbuckles Manson, very unsuccessfully attempted to perform Nigel McGuinness' turnbuckle headstand but couldn't quite work out how you did it. To show him how it was done, Mastiff was able to get his 300 pound frame and hold it in perfect position up-right on the turnbuckle, even doing jumping jacks with his legs while perfectly balanced. For Manson there was only thing to do with Mastiff in this position - Spiderman upside down kiss!! This royally pissed Mastiff off so he laid into Manson with punches in the corner and had to throw the ref away. Manson reversed and began to return the favour to Mastiff but again the ref got involved so Manson pushed him down. Both men continue to go at it and then both threw the ref down so the ref called for the bell and declared the match a no contest. Dave was very annoyed by that and showed it by punching the ref, but Manson then pleaded mercy for the ref and in one of my favourite moments of the night began to cut a promo like the Old Spice commercial used in Manson's very famous "I'm on Dave Mastiff" video. Yep, that's where it was all heading as Manson ended up tripping down to the mat and then momentarily climbing onto his back.
I'M ON DAVE MASTIFF!!
And in the main event Super Crazy defeated El Ligero in a result which took me completely by surprise. Crazy arrived to the ring carrying his GHC Jnr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship which was an unexpected bonus. Ligero has been wrestling UK Indy's for years now but this was I believe the very first time he ever stepped in the ring with an authentic luchadore in an English ring so he really stepped up his game and the lucha inspired offense between the two of arm drags and hurricanrana's all looked crisp. Outside the ring Crazy threw Ligero through the chairs and then even wheelbarrowed him down jaw first onto the steel railing. Reliving ECW's glory days he brought a chair into the ring to kick it right into Ligero's face and even referenced his former adversary, Tajiri's tarantula move in the ring ropes. After an extended mexican surfboard, Crazy went for his triple moonsaults but Ligero was able to avoid the third from the top rope. Super Crazy went to the outside to regroup but was met with an incredible tope from Ligero. The two then brawled around the venue and in a surprising turn of events it was Ligero to hit a moonsault from an elevated platform onto Crazy, the same move that Crazy is known for. Back inside the ring Crazy was able to claw back into the match with an elevated high-angle facebuster and a standing moonsault that looked all the more impressive due to Crazy's ever increasing frame. Ligero turned the tide with a springboard kick and a big splash from the top rope but Crazy kicked out. Ligero managed to take Crazy down with the C4L (springboard swinging DDT) but the momentum took Crazy outside the ring. It was only a short while later that Crazy hit Ligero with a high-angle Liger bomb for the three count. A great main event match, but I'll be honest that Crazy's lack of selling and out-right shrugging off a fair bit of Ligero's main offense irked me probably a lot more than it should have.
Ordinarily I would say Friday night shows of a weekender usually end up being weak or disappointing. You'll find there's a fair few matches that don't achieve that potential due to wrestlers saving something for the next night. But this was another strong PCW show and the equal of the January show. You had a fantastic opener with Kirby and Allmark and I would love to see a rematch down the line as you could tell they both gave it their own, but there's still something more left to discover. Bubblegum vs April Davids was the best inter-gender match I've ever seen and Davids is in my eyes the best female wrestler active in England today. Neither Kendrick nor London disappointed in their matches and the match between London and Hayes ended up exceeding expectations. Dar and Wild had a great technical match. You had a special moment when Rayne cashed in the MITB and won the PCW Cruiserweight Championship. Kay Lee Ray and Jacobs had an intense women's match. Mastiff and Manson a very funny comedy match and worth it alone for the "I'm on Dave Mastiff!" moment. And then a very worthy main event between Super Crazy and El Ligero. So a fantastic start to the weekender and did not suffer from Night 1 syndrome at all.
Good day to all who have once again found Wrestling’s Last Hope!
The whole internet wrestling community were sent into shock that Dixie Carter has finally delivered on a massively important statement, this being that TNA were to go on the road. This is needed for a company like TNA, their global reputation is on the up, and more importantly, WWE need a challenger.
WWE have been on the slow descend since the Attitude era finished, and almost hitting rock bottom a few times, see what I did there? TNA’s announcement could push WWE back into the limelight, but it isn’t this easy, WWE have a lot of wrongs to make right, it wouldn’t come over night.
TNA are doing so well for a few reasons, they’re searching for full blood wrestlers, and this is before the entertainment aspect comes into it. WWE look for entertainers over quality wrestlers, for easy comparison, look at the TNA Knockouts compared to the WWE Divas, the Knockouts are in a whole different league, and they can actually wrestle!
The X division is another massive plus for TNA, WWE collapsed the cruiserweight division, bad mistake. TNA are constantly hiring new talent into the X Division to keep it alive and different. WWE stuck with the same constant faces and it really didn’t feel right. WWE need to have something similar in place, just to mix up Raw, it’s a massive 3 hour show, which includes 2 hours of sleeping.
WWE have a brilliant developmental base in NXT, we need to see more of the developmentals on raw, we got lucky seeing Bo Dallas, the number of views will go up dependant on surprise, there are a lot of amazing talents in NXT, you only have to look at the Shield, Ryback and Bo Dallas to figure that out.
TNA are going to develop no ends when out and about on the road, Different fans will see new content, and it won’t take long before SkySports are looking them up wanting to broadcast them!
The WWE really have a fight on their hands, how they react could define the future of them and International wrestling as a whole.
Many of you guys don’t know, that I’m not that great of a TNA fan, although James Storm is my favourite wrestler of current! But I really want them to challenge WWE, we want better programming!
The Rock, as we all know, is an actor, but he’s not just any actor, he is a massive Hollywood movie star. Many people take digs at his movies: ‘Race to Witch Mountain’, ‘Tooth Fairy’ and ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’ but what they don’t know, or do know but don’t mention, is that those three movies combined earned in excess of $540,000,000 in the Box Office. Compare that to WWE movies that the likes of John Cena and Kane were in and it will put it into perspective. WWE’s golden child, John Cena’s ‘The Marine’ earned just over $22,000,000 whilst Kane’s ‘See No Evil’ only earned around $15,000,000.
As well as kids movies that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson appears in; he is also in a lot of well known action and comedy movies too: he was in ‘The Other Guys’ with Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell; ‘Be Cool’ with John Travolta and ‘Get Smart’ with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway.
In the first half of 2013 he has 4 movies coming out: Snitch, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Pain & Gain and Fast and Furious 6. Between now and Wrestlemania 29 he will be either on Raw progressing the storyline he’s involved with or out promoting movies…with the WWE Championship.
The Rock will show up all over the country; for interviews, movie premiers – you name it; and all the while he will be holding the WWE Championship. He also has over 4,000,000 Twitter followers; just imagine the amount of people over the coming weeks; wrestling fans or non wrestling fans that will see him with the title.
The Rock as WWE Champion, especially if he holds it until Wrestlemania 29 can bring in a lot of PPV buys and at the end of the day that’s what’s best for business, right?
The Rock came in to Wrestlemania 27 to guest host, granted, the PPV wasn’t great, but the WWE still managed to surpass their goal and got a buyrate of over 1,000,000 which I believe was up at least 150,000 from the year before. The Rock came back for Wrestlemania 28 and the buyrate increased yet again this time to 1,300,000. If it isn’t clear already…The Rock is a draw. Having him as WWE Champion can only mean good things for WWE.
Regardless of whether he faces John Cena, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton or someone else; know that, he will drop the title, probably and hopefully at Wrestlemania and thus, putting someone over. I know a lot of the smarter and more hardcore fans if you will, hate the idea of a Cena vs. Rock 2; but the fact of the matter is – most kids and casual fans; which there seem to be more of these days; would love for ‘The Great One’ and ‘Mr Hustle Loyalty Respect’ to have another match. Who knows; maybe John Cena wins and then Dolph Ziggler cashes in on him. Now, no one would see that coming, would they?
All in all I think people should stop moaning all over Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Internet forums. People on the Internet; and I know I am on the Internet; but people on the Internet that constantly moan about WWE, TNA and any other wrestling promotion should just quit watching it! I don’t watch TNA because every time I try to get into it I just cringe at the storylines and use of old wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and Sting; but I’m not online posting negative comment after negative comment like a lot of people tend to do. That is pointless.
Raw is on tonight and The Rock won’t be there and so what! The WWE Champion doesn’t have to be on every show. I’m sure people will moan “WWE Champion doesn’t appear on Raw” or “The Rock is never here, so much for never going away” etc. Again; if you don’t like the product, don’t watch it. It’s that simple.
Anyway he’s probably away promoting his new TV Show that’s coming out soon called ‘The Hero’ and guess what he’ll have with him? That’s right! You guessed it, the WWE Championship.
