TCW - Tidal Championship Wrestling 1st Anniversary, Leeds

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

TNA British Bootcamp 2

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

News: HUGE WWE Network update for UK Fans!

Today is the day wrestling fans!

As we have all been patiently waiting here in the UK, we can now FINALLY say WE ARE GETTING THE WWE NETWORK! And to all the doubters, YES! YES! YES! it is going to be the full version that the USA has. It is going to launch Monday 3rd November at 8:00 GMT - and to make the thing even sweeter, we get all of November absolutely FREE!



I can not wait for this seriously - every PPV EVER from not only WWE, but WCW and ECW as well. That alone is worth the money. I'm also looking forward to reliving WrestleMania 30 and spotting me and my mate in the crowd!

The monthly cost will be the equivalent of $9.99 USD (which is roughly £6 per month) BARGAIN!!

Bring on Monday!

Huxy

Kevin Steen's WWE Name

PWInsider are reopting that WWE have applied for the trademark "Kevin Owens" for a professional wrestler on 24th Oct.

The name is thought to be derived from Steen's son (who was named after his favourite wrestler, Owen Hart).

Predictions: Hell In A Cell

Hello Wrestling Fans!

After a few slow edition's of Raw it seems that things have picked up again. 
I was really impressed by the Orton/Ziggler match on Raw, which featured a very impressive 'RKO Out Of Nowhere!'*

Here are my predictions for the next PPV - Hell In A Cell.

These prediction post's will be before every Pay Per View (or "Event for those of you watching on the network**) and will offer my thoughts on the card and what I think the outcomes will be.

- John Cena vs. Randy Orton (Hell in a Cell, Winner gets No1 Contender for WWE World Heavyweight Championship) 

This "Losers Match" seems to be rumoured to be on last. 
Really? A Main Event (with a match thats happened 300 times before) is going on after the Winner's Match of Ambrose/Rollins?
I can't really see the advantage of this, which also takes away the importance of Ambrose winning the Contract On A Pole match on Raw.
Bad move, WWE. Way to sell a PPV.
However, I hope Orton goes on to win to hopefully set up a feud against The Authority and Rollins. Eventually on to challenge Brock Lesnar. 

Prediction: Randy Orton 

- Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins (Hell in a Cell)

For me, this is going to be the match of the night. I do expect some kind of interferance, be it from The Authority or Cena - but as logn as we get to see a good solid match from the atart I'll be happy.
I'm not sure where this story will lead onto from here, as I see this as the big finish with Ambrose finally getting his hands on 'The Sell Out' Seth Rollins, I can envision an ending that leaves a chase. Which is why I believe Seth will likely go on to win the match. 

Watch out for a big spot during in this match. 

Prediction: Seth Rollins

-Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro (Intercontinental Title 2 out of 3 falls match) 

This is going be a great match. A close second to match of the night I think. What a feud these two will hopefully go on to have, two future main eventers and hopeful WWE WHC's. 

Given that the IC Title has done a fair bit of changing I'm thinking that Cesaro may go on to win here. Ziggler is a great champ and will no doubt end up with it back again very soon if so. 

Prediction: Cesaro 

- Big Show vs. Rusev

This one is going to be interesting, after The Rock came and made a show of Rusev and Henry's failed attempts I can see a couple of outcomes here.
Big Show is definitely able to beat Rusev clean, we have seen him knock him out on SmackDown! so the option for a clean win and a 'beast slaying' could be possible.
Mark Henry is probably going to be involved at some point in the match - but who's side will he be on? If he is on Show's then a distraction could lead to a pinfall over Rusev, if not maybe he is so pissed with Big Show aiming for the glory in beating Rusev that Henry goes for a heel turn and distracts Show to lead to a loss.
If neither of the above happen then I'm sure Rusev will continue his domination for now, leading to bagging himself a place on "Team Heel" for Survivor Series.

Prediction: Rusev 

- Sheamus vs. The Miz (United States Championship)

Two wrestlers that I'm not really bothered for at this moment. Sheamus is a talented wrestler don't get me wrong, I just feel his character has become a bit stale.
The Miz I like as a wrestler - and Damien Mizdow is possibly the best new character of the last few years in my opinion! An equal match up but I can see Sheamus retaining for now and this feud going on some more.
The only result that I would love to see would be a switch at the finish, leaving Mizdow pinning Sheamus and winning the title! Imagine the crowd!

Prediction: The Miz (or Mizdow) 

-Gold & Stardust vs. The Uso's (WWE Tag Team Championships)

I don't know why, but I have a hunch that The Uso's may be victorious here. I haven't seen a rumour, or read a report anywhere but for some reason I just think that Dust Bro's title reign hasn't been as good as WWE expected it to be. In my opinion, Wyatt's should be the champs here after winning at Summerslam but, meh. In an ideal world The Uso's will get the win and The Ascension will finally debut and make their presence known. In reality, the WWE Universe will go USO CRAZY and the Dust Bro's engine runs out of fuel.

Prediction: The Uso's NEW Tag Team Champs

- Brie vs. Nikki Bella (Loser must become the winner's personal assistant)

This 'feud' has lost all momentum. Is there even a good reason for the winner to win here? *shakes head*
I really couldn't care less if a Bella Twin gets to be a PA for 30 days, 30 hours or 30 minutes.
Next.

Prediction: Nikki to win

-AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige (WWE Divas Championship)

A feud that I have enjoyed so far, whichever team you are on you can't deny that both are very talented wrestlers. The 'frenemies' go head-to-head and with Paige being announced for the next series of Total Diva's, I'm gonna take an educated guess that AJ will retain.

Prediction: AJ Lee

*If you don't get this joke then you've been living in a cave for the last 2 weeks as Randy Orton Vin'es go viral online. See #RKOOutOfNowhere on Twitter

**That's an interesting point, once the PPV's are all (eventually) transmitted online via the WWE Network - Do we still call them Pay Per View's? Will WWE acknowledge that fact and rename them "WWE Event"?



Thanks for reading!
Until next time,

Huxy

The Wrestling Tag!

The Wrestling TAG!

Name your Top 3 favourite heel characters of all time. 

1. CM Punk - I wanted to kill him during his WrestleMania feud with The Undertaker! 

2. Chris Jericho - Calling the crowd 'hypocrites', in his suit. Amazing work. 

3. Vince McMahon - Do I need to explain why? THE DON of heels. 

If you could create your own Women’s division, who would be your top 5 picks? 

Paige, Kharma, Beth Phoenix, Gail Kim, Charlotte Flair. 

You have to name, create (give it a theme) and choose various matches for a PPV. Go wild and be creative. 

Name: Chairmageddon (In a world before chair to the head shots were banned!) 

Theme: Chairs! Chairs! Chairs!
Matches: Fatal Four Way, winner must hit a chair shot and get the pinfall to win. 

Hell In A Cell "I Quit" match for the WWE WHC. Flaming Chairs match; Speaks for itself! 

Ladder Chair Match - Hardcore Championship: The winner must climb the ladder, retrieve a chair, use it on the opponent and re-climb the ladder for the title. 

Make your own announce team. JR, Heenan, JBL, Lawler. 

What old school match do you wish you seen live in person? 

Mankind v Undertaker - King Of The Ring 1998 (Hell In A Cell) 

What would be your theme song and who would sing it? 

Monster Truck - The Lion 

Tag 5 friends and let it grow! 

• Michael Whitaker 
• 
  

  Quinn Smith 
• 
  

  Dean Puckering 
• 
  

  Richard Hughes 
• 
  

  Billy Johnson

Have A Nice Day!

Hi wrestling fans! 

I'd like to take you back in time, to talk about my favourite ever superstar that has graced a WWE ring. Whether he is Mankind, Cactus Jack or Dude Love. I've never been inspired and amazed so much by someone like Mick Foley.

The NXT Factor

Hello wrestling fans! 

After some exciting new signings, matches being talked about more than Raw and of course the next live episode of NXT Takeover airing I thought I'd take the time to talk about NXT and what I hope the future holds for both the wrestlers and the show itself. After being launched as the developmental brand for WWE I certainly didn't expect it to take off as much as it has. I caught the occasional SmackDown show but this has overtaken my interest in that and would say after these new signings I will be watching it a close second to Raw. For those who don't follow it I will give you a run down of who's hot, who's not and who's just penned their most important contract of their professional wrestling career.
I don't promote myself to be a huge Indy follower, I watch the occasional ROH when I can, but being in the UK doesn't help (excuse to pack up and leave?). I do read up on the names getting a buzz though, right here! on WrestlingNewsSource.com, not for 9.99 - for free!!

Monday Night Bore

Hello wrestling fans! 

Thanks for checking out my last column on the European Championship. I had some pretty good feedback on that, especially the comment about bringing back a TV title which should be defended each week. I think with Brock Lesnar being the current champion and being part time, the absence of a champion waters down the program a bit, for me. I can see the I.C. title is obviously being used as the next best thing, and Dolph (<3) is doing well with it. So, this week I am going to discuss my thoughts on the current, and slightly stale, program that we subject ourselves to weekly and how what I would choose at Survivor Series, if I could have an hours meeting with WWE Creative.

The European Championship

Hello wrestling fans! 

Thanks for your all your great feedback on my last column ‘The NXT Factor’ – I hope you all enjoyed NXT Takeover as much as I did, and have also seen the debut of Hideo Itami (aka Kenta) against Justin Gabriel. I think there is big things ahead for Hideo and can’t wait to see more of him in his journey within WWE.

Anyway, I’d like to take the time this week to talk about the European Championship. A bit about its history and if we would benefit from seeing it resurrected back into today’s WWE. Would you like to see it back and if so, how would you bring it back? Who would you give it to as the saviour?

Whats next for Brock Lesnar?

Hi Wrestling Fans! 

Well, how unpredictable was SummerSlam!? Our Predictions League was shaken a little, thanks to several new champions and I was definitely led to believe the opposite was going to happen. WWE took me for a ride, but the results (after thinking I was bottom of our league table!) made me excited for the upcoming Raw’s and Night Of Champions, leading into Survivor Series. So this week, I am going to look at what is Best For Business with regards to our NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar as well as who I think he should face at WrestleMania 31.

The Summerslam Wishlist

Hello wrestling fans!
With only a couple of weeks until the biggest party of the summer, I'm going to take a look at the SummerSlam card and pick out some things that I would love to see happen. 
I'll also throw in a few fantasy ideas which are probably unlikely but still stuff I would love to see happen! If you have any matches or moments you would like to see, leave them in the comments box below!

1. Brock Lesnar to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion
Aside from the fact that he ended the Undertakers undefeated streak at WrestleMania (if you didn't know for some reason) I think it would be really dumb of WWE to slow down the momentum of The Beast Incarnate from his match from Mania. I also think John Cena has had enough time as champion as he hasn't done anything with it. It pains me to say that if he does win it again though, he will be tied with Nature Boy Ric Flair at 16 times. I think they should hold off of Seth cashing in on Brock just yet to let Paul Heyman brag about Brock a few weeks.

Gimmick Street - The Miracle From Milan

Hello wrestling fans!

Thanks for joining me once again for my new feature which I am calling 'Gimmick Street'. Once a month I am going to talk about the gimmick of a superstar, including their background and growth into it, as well as my thoughts on the current programme and a look to the future and where the character can go. If you have any superstars you would like me to talk about then feel free to get in touch on the Twitter . So let's get into it!

Welcome!

Hello wrestling fans!

Welcome to my wrestling blog, where we shall talk about the wonderful world of sports entertainment.

I have been writing columns for around a year, so firstly I will post up my previous columns for you to have a look over and see just what I've been babbling on about.
I will also put up reviews of Monday Night Raw and the monthly Pay Per View's.

I'm really looking forward to this blog and hope you enjoy it! It will be a mix of creative input, silly humour and generally putting the wrestling world to rights!

All feedback appreciated so don't be shy. :)

Huxy.