Dean Allmark vs Adam
Brooks
Really fun opener. Allmark
is a really fun guy to watch – he’s deeply uncool, with his long “Deano”
emblazoned shorts and his dad bod, but he’s so polished and precise with his
movements that you don’t even notice. Brooks heels it up a bit here, slapping
Allmark after escaping a headscissors. Brooks takes control after getting his
knees up on an Allmark standing moonsault and is pretty good in control. I
liked the backpack stunner he hits from the corner. I like that the Allmark
comeback comes from Brooks’ own decision to mock Allmark’s trademark dabbing,
as it gives Allmark time to avoid a running knee. Allmark nails a combo of
kicks and nails the Smiles Clash, a sitout powerbomb from the Styles Clash
position, for the win. Good start to the show.
Big T Justice & Tel
Banham vs Danny Hope & Joey Hayes
Hard not to find Banham
the kind of character you love to hate. He’s an angry little Scrappy Doo
character, small of stature and large of mouth, especially given that he has a
huge backup in the form of Big T Justice. Given how irritating Banham is, it’s
fun watching Hope work him on the mat, grabbing him by the ear to force him
into a headscissors, before Hayes just clowns about to make him look foolish.
Justice is a big lad, but he needs to lay in some of his moves more – his standing
leg lariat and missed corner charge look soft, although his match winning ax
kick looked vicious. Banham making the cover after Big T’s big move is a
perfect bit of character work.
Polo Promotions (Jackie
Polo & Mark Coffey) vs Team Single (Rampage Brown & T-Bone)
Not a long match, but it
didn’t need to be. Rampage is the surprise partner for T-Bone, and the reunited
Team Single batter Polo to start. With four big lads in there, it’s a hard
hitting match with some really big blows. Polo Promotions manage to isolate
T-Bone briefly, until a Polo standing armbar is broken by T-Bone hitting an
electric chair. Rampage looks great whenever he’s in there, catching Coffey
mid-leapfrog with a huge slam looks great. T-Bone plasters Polo with a spear
before Rampage hits a sudden-looking piledriver on Coffey for three. Short
sharp shock of a match.
Apollo Crews vs Iestyn
Rees
I had sort of considered
that Crews might take it easy, making his cameo from WWE, but this was a really
good match. This was probably better than any of the matches I saw with Rees as
champion. Rees jumps Crews from behind, only for Crews to avoid a charge and
take a big backflip almost as a taunt. Crews seems legit happy to be in Preston,
and that helps make this more fun. Rees looks good in his control, his elbow
drops had great height on them. However, Rees allows his frustration to get the
best of him and his complaining to the referee allows Crews time to recover.
Rees hits a great looking spinebuster, and I like that everything he does here
look crisp. Nothing fancy, but nicely executed. Crew is able to make his full
recovery and hits the press slam/moonsault to win.
Interracial Love (Charlie
Sterling & Ashton Smith) vs Kings of Leon (Sha Samuels & Lionheart)
This is played out with an
angle in the background, as both teams seem to have a bit of tension. Curiously
though, Sterling and Smith seem to have their issues at the start of the match,
but operate as a team throughout, whilst in contrast Samuels and Lionheart let
their issues affect their performance. Lionheart blind tags himself into the
ring when he want to be in, but then refuses tags from Samuels when he doesn’t.
Smith is isolated, but you can tell that the heels tension, instigated by
Lionheart, will cost them in the end. Lionheart manages to knock Samuels off
the apron, with the collision allowing Smith to tag out, and Samuels seems to
have a back injury. Despite this, Lionheart tags him and shoves him into the ring,
where Sterling’s offence seems to focus primarily on the back. Lionheart
refuses to tag in after Sterling misses a top rope move, and the faces blast
Samuels with a double-superkick for the win.
The Henchmen (Jim Diehard
& Benton Destruction) vs Dunkamania (Matthew Brooks & Sugar Dunkerton)
Long-time readers of the
blog will know how much I love the Henchmen, and they were on really good form
here. Brooks is working an opera singer gimmick, and sang a version of “I
Believe I Can Fly” on the way to the ring, with lyrics changed to big up his
team before this match. This kicks off with a comedy bit, where Benton and
Dunkerton go for a basketball tip-off, and Dunkerton low blows him whilst the
ref is throwing the ball up. Nicely, Dunkerton tries this again with Diehard
and takes a huge punch to the face. The Henchmen were great brick walls here,
using their size to dominate large parts of the bout, like catching Brooks
mid-flying headscissors to drop him with a backbreaker. Brooks moves really
nicely, hitting his “Singer’s Splash” beautifully and selling the Henchmen’s
offence nicely. Loved Benton standing on Brooks’s stomach and dropping down
with a big splash. Dunkerton does a bit too much comedy shit, but he’s insanely
over. The end sees Dunkamania hit a double slam on Diehard from the top rope
(huge bump!) and a double pin gives them the victory. Enjoyed this, nice to see
the Henchmen still on form.
Moose vs Sheikh El Sham
It’s a sign of the overall
quality of the show that this is probably the weakest actual match, and even
this is pretty decent They start this nicely, Sham failing to take Moose down
on two shoulder blocks, so going for an eyerake and then knocking him down,
only for Moose to kip up and nail him with a big boot. Sheikh takes control
after Moose hits the ringpost on a charge, and Sheikh has some nice basics.
Loved the height on his dropkick and his punches. His control is only brief, as
Moose starts pumping himself up, getting the crowd to chant along, before
finishing Sham with a big spear.
Zack Sabre Jr vs Matt
Riddle
Yeah, this was
unsurprisingly terrific. They really work the mat to start, and there were some
nice little touches like ZSJ accepting a test of strength, and instantly
switching to a leglock because it favoured his style more. There’s a great
moment where Riddle almost seems to flick a switch, suddenly hitting Sabre with
two rolling gutwrench suplexes. Riddle shows some really great core strength,
able to catch ZSJ in midair to throw him. Riddle hits three sentons, but takes
a little too long to pose and Zack catches a fourth attempt into an armbar.
These guys are so closely matched, you can see either guy trying to take
advantage on any small opening knowing it may be the difference, with Sabre
maybe slightly better at spotting those moments where Riddle is momentarily
distracted. What I love is how a reversal in this match won’t necessarily lead
to an escape, as at times a reversal just puts the escapee into position for
another move which can be locked on instead. Riddle beautifully escapes a ZSJ
submission by using his only available option, biting the ropes. In the end
though, it’s not enough, as Sabre escapes a tombstone and cradles him for the
win. Just absolutely lovely stuff.
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