He's finally here.
For any wrestling fan from 1990 onwards, this Sunday's Survivor Series was a helluva reason to mark out, and I mean MARK THE F*** OUT. Whether you watched him in WCW or his later career in TNA - when the lights went out and you saw the promo vid, the '10 year old you' went crazy, and that's absolutely fine. Welcome to WWE, STING.
Coming around faster than yet another Cena title win was TCW's 1st Anniversary (Happy Birthday!) at Leeds University Union. A card packed full of talented UK wrestlers who are busting their asses every night to put the UK Indy scene on the map - and show why we're slowly rising to the top of the ladder.
Before I sink my teeth into the show, it's worth noting that this event showcased wrestlers from TNA British Bootcamp 2. Anyone who has had the chance to watch the show may agree (or disagree) that in terms of showing how good the British scene is within wrestling, the show has managed to make it look a bit, well..... shit. For example, Rampage Brown (Main Eventing tonight) 'stumbling' over a promo. This guy is one of the top workers throughout the UK scene and cuts some immense promo's, the fact that they had to pick up on this was a bit of a kick in the teeth, but maybe that's another article for another day (or check out our FREE weekly podcast 'That Wrestling Podcast' for more discussions on Bootcamp and more! #FreePlug).
On to the card;
- MIKE BIRD vs DAN JAMES
- DARA DIABLO vs SEBASTIAN RADCLAW
- ADDY STARR vs LANA AUSTIN vs NIXON
- THE PROVEN vs MATT MYERS & SEAN ONLY
- UHAA NATION vs "Dynamite" PETE DUNNE
- JOSEPH CONNERS vs CHRIS BROOKS
- LIAM LAZARUS vs (Mystery Oppoenent) - EL LIGERO!
(No.1 Contender match for a Championship match!)
- MAIN EVENT:RAMPAGE BROWN vs DAVE 'THE BASTARD' MASTIFF
(TCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP Match)
I think you'll agree that card is very strong, and with so many highlights it's hard not to waffle on about every match! Every match was good and well worked, chants were awesome "WRESTLING!", "T-C-DUB! T-C-DUB! T-C-DUB!" and of course the fan favourite after the announcer told us 'This match is scheduled for one fall.....' "ONE FALL!" The crowd were hot and the matches didn't disappoint at all. The first match (Bird v James) had some of the loudest chops I've ever heard. These guys have been watching Ric Flair DVD's since they were in the womb, I'm telling you it echoed all around the hall. A nice angle slam featured in the finish as Bird picked up the win.
A women's triple threat match featured Lana Austin (fresh from being booted out of TNA Bootcamp after Al Snow asked her how she could bear leaving her three children if she won? What a dick.) against Nixon and Addy Star (who was in USA ring gear, leading to a 'Blame Canada!' chant haha). The match got weird in the middle with a screaming, giggling girl and 2 luchadores in the crowd. The finish was a really good powerbomb followed by a chokeslam by Lana for the win.
Other highlights included Dara Diablo (billed from Hull, Mexico) against JD Boom featuring "Don't Diss Primark" and "He's got a moustache on his cock!" chants - Diablo picked up the win.
A tag-team match-up with Wilder and Crash vs Sean Only and Matt Myers featuring a start to the match with Myers rolling around the ring and floor "Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' chant", some fantastic suicide dives to the outside and a stunning top rope moonsault from Myers. The heel's picked up the win though with a modified Dudley Death Drop! Cue the crowd booing.
Joseph Connors against Chris Brooks (due to Mark Andrews picking up an injury) highlighted some more aeriel moves, as well as the #RighteousArmy getting behind Connors. Brooksy wanted to start the match with a hug ("Hug It Out!") but the Righteous one wouldn't, and they locked up only for Brooks to reverse the lock up into a hug! Cue the cheers! More loud chops throughout the match (do the TCW wrestler have free Flair dvd's given out when they join?) and a brilliant suicide dive to the outside from Brooks! The fantastic finish however was a beautiful Hurricanrana from the top rope for the victory!
After the interval the main man was up - UHAA Nation v 'Dynamite' Pete Dunn. UHAA is an absolute beast, and definitely looks like he isn't far away from signing with WWE. He is their typical build and would do very well there, but here we are treated (for those who haven't seen a UHAA match) a man with the build of Bobby Lashley and the aerial talents of Evan Bourne! Again, amazing chants such as "Oh Ee Oh UHAA HA, ting tang walla walla bing bang" and "Heyyy Baby, U-HAA, I wanna knoooooow....." when they finally got their match underway it was violent. Strong punches and over the ropes to the outside, aerial moves throughout and Pete Dunn got a damn good hiding. The finish was 2 standing moonsaults by the ONE MAN NATION to pick up the win.
Liam Lazarus vs a Myster Opponent was up next - and as the lights circled the entrance ramp, familiar music played out of the speakers and with a flash - Olé! - EL LIGERO was here to fight!! I certainly wasn't expecting to see him here and neither were the fans!! Lazarus got some "Yorkshire Tea" chants and Ligero got "Olé,Olé,Olé,Olé!!" chants. This was a fast paced, high flying match which was also to be a NUMBER 1 CONTENDER match! With a shot at Rampage Brown for the title on the line, these two took no prisoners. In the ring, out of the ring, moonsaults, suicide dives, they gave us absolutely everything. The penultimate match finished with a sneakily quick roll up by Lazarus for the 3 count - earning him a match against Brown at next months show for the TCW Championship.
MAIN EVENT
This was the big one, the one that people were here to see and showcased two of the best wrestlers on the UK scene at the moment - RAMPAGE BROWN V DAVE MASTIFF. The hometown hero against everyone's favourite bastard. Quick to start, they were soon outside the ring - punches, kicks, dives and Mastiff driving Brown into outside wall!! soon they were up in the crowd, above the ring Mastiff got Brown up for the suplex to a 10 foot drop only for Brown to reverse and spare his life for however much longer.
The intensity of the match grew as they went to the merch stand, the crowd followed as Mastiff launched Rampage straight through the table of DVD's!!!!! Cue the crowd *HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!*. It was a breathtaking moment in wrestling (not for the first time that night for those who saw Survivor Series afterwards).
After Mastiff grabbed himself a pint of water and spat it in Brown's face, they brawled back to the ring and continued knocking the shit out of each other. Mastiff had the upper hand toward the end as Brown was sent to the corner and slumped to the floor. Ever wondered what a locomotive train driving towards you at 100mph would be like? Cue Mastiff's finisher, the CANNONBALL - Rampage managed to dive to safety at the last second as he went for his own finisher - the PILEDRIVER. Brown connected and got the 1,2,3 for the victory - AND STILL your TCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION - RAMPAGE BROWN! The crowd went nuts as Brown celebrated with the fans ringside.
Quick Results:
Mike Bird beat Dan James
Dara Diablo beat Sebastian Radclaw
Lana Austin beat Addy Star and Nixon
The Proven beat Matt Myers and Sean Only
UHAA Nation vs "Dynamite" Pete Dunne
Chris Brooks beat Joseph Connors
Liam Lazarus beat El Ligero for the No.1 Contendership)
MAIN EVENT: Rampage Brown beat Dave Mastiff (to retain TCW Title)
This was a brilliant show, and well worth the ticket price in terms of value for money. I'm looking forward to attending plenty more UK shows and discovering more home grown talents. I will be penning my thoughts along with results here for your reading pleasure after each show, thanks for reading and if you did attend the show - let us know your thoughts below, or Tweet us @WrestlingMANIAx!
For more info and next events, check out the TCW FB page at:
https://www.facebook.com/tidalchampionshipwrestling
I have just finished watching this weeks edition of TNA British Bootcamp 2.
For those of you unaware, TNA have got together a group of UK Independent wrestlers (who are all well known on the UK scene) with the winner of the show bagging themselves a place on the TNA Roster.
This weeks episode was, well, pointless. The recent shows have been hitting an hour (and that hour has been going fast) we have seen great wrestling skills, banter between the TNA crew and the wrestlers and watching their characters unfold. This week however showed them all sat in an RV travelling to a dinner with Dixie Carter, a couple more shots of Grado drinking and burping and farting, and one of the worst American Bus Tours by Rockstar Spud I have ever seen.
The show has had the feeling since the beginning that it is set for Grado to win, and again this weeks episode had him acting the fool with Dave 'The Bastard' Mastiff stating at the end of the show that he is going to ".. let him drink on the bus and get into even worse shape" presumably so he doesn't win.
But we all know that he's been chosen as the golden boy by TNA after a good reception at the London shows.
Here (left) is the final 6 competitors that have made it to the USA.
With 3 episodes remaining (2 x 30 minute show's and the final show is 1 hour again) I'd like to know if you think it's a fix? If not, who do you hope goes on to win? Let me know below!
Huxy
No words needed.
Full respect given.
9 years on: Viva La Raza
Rest In Peace - Eddie Guerrero.
Wrasslin' was in my home town and I managed to secure some pretty good seats when the tickets went on sale. When you hear the WOO's from the crowd, the YES! YES! YES! chants and of course the UCE-OOOOOO from the excited kids, it;s hard not to get excited.
With an impressive looking card showcasing a good set of matches, my expectations were high. Not as high as the cheapest seats though, those nosebleeds up there would give the Attitude Era a run for it's money.
Anyway, the matches didn't disappoint and I was left feeling like the £70 price tag per ticket was about average. Read on for my review of #WWELeeds!
