ACTION Wrestling - Action for Kids 29/06/2018

AC Mack & Ike Cross vs the Lynch Mob

Good opening bout, the Lynch Mob are well served to fast paced matches like this, and the heel team of Mack and Cross look really good in opposition. The Lynch Mob hit huge dives from the off, before working some quick double teams. Mack takes over on Matt Lynch in a really neat way, as Mack forces him backward through the ropes and Irish whips him throat-first into them. Cross is clearly a terrific athlete, getting nice height on a corner splash and he takes a big bump off a backdrop to the floor. Matt Lynch eats a huge spear from Cross for two, with Joey pushing Mack on top to break the fall. The Lynch Mob pick up the win with a rolling senton/frog splash/moonsault combo, enjoyed this. Good start to the show.

James Ryan vs James Bandy

I’d been impressed with Bandy on the debut show, so it was nice to see what he could do here in singles action, and what he did seemed really good. Nice jumping knee, sharp elbows in the corner and a nice dropkick on the floor through the ropes. Ryan played to the crowd well, though his offence seemed a bit softer than Bandy’s. Bandy makes a comeback after a short Ryan offensive spell, hitting some nice kicks before nailing a running dropkick for the win.

Tragedy Ann vs Aja Perera

Probably the weakest match of the show, albeit still decent in places. There were little bits I liked, such as Ann hitting a mule kick after a compactor legdrop and Aja had a few nice moves, with a facebuster and a running knee both looking good. However, there were a few awkward bits that dragged the match down – Ann running Perera into all four corners looked weak, an odd spinning slam didn’t really work and there’s a strange moment when Ann runs at Perera and bends down into position for a piledriver for no reason. Perera hits a Franchiser into a flatliner for the win.

Cain Justice vs Anthony Henry

This, on the other hand, was really good. Loved the opening matwork, with both guys jockeying for position, felt super competitive. Henry escaping a single-leg crab by forcing himself backwards through Justice’s legs looked great, and I liked Justice trying to get control by yanking Henry off the apron to the floor, only for Henry to immediately hit a forearm instead. A big exploder through the chair follows, must really have sucked for Cain. Justice finally gets control by using the ringpost to his advantage, contorting Henry’s hand over the top and through the loop on the side of the post. Cain from this point works the arm nastily, maintaining good focus. There’s a really clunky roll up sequence mid-match that doesn’t really work, but after that they get back to the good stuff. Loved Justice catching a kick, with Henry rolling though from there to lock in a submission, the commentary suggesting that Henry might have deliberately given the leg to allow him to transition to the submission. However, Justice gives a low blow behind the refs back and locks in the Twist Ending to win. Really good stuff.

Team TAG (Kevin Blue & Chris Spectra) vs Michael Spencer & Chance Rizer

Dominant victory for Team TAG, with Spencer and Rizer getting just enough hope spots to keep it competitive (including Rizer briefly getting the visual pin on Blue with the ref distacted). Rizer gets a nice run of offence to start, before Spectra cuts him off as he goes for a dive. Team TAG then work over Rizer, including a nice belly to belly by Spectra. They don’t do anything fancy, just nice simple control, keeping Rizer in their part of the ring. Tag Team 101, essentially. After a melee, where Rizer scores the visual pin, Spectra hits a huge shoulderblock, with Rizer taking a nasty looking bump, and a double team assisted DDT gets the win.

Billy Buck vs Cabana Man Dan

This immediately follows the previous match, with Dan making the save as Team TAG and Buck continue a beatdown. Dan is a short little spitfire, seems to have real energy and physical charisma, and he looked very good here. Dug him avoiding being blindsided at the bell by side-stepping a charging Buck, and taking him down with a fun mixture of takeovers and pins. Buck stomps on the bare feet of Dan to get an advantage, and allows Team TAG to beat Dan down on the floor. Buck controls CMD nicely and even gets to show some ring smarts as well, avoiding Dan leaping out of the corner and slamming his head to the mat. When he does make his comeback, Dan is like a bouncing ball, leaping up into a chinbreaker, hopping over and nailing a mule kick to the jaw. Team TAG try to interfere, but CMD chops them both down with his flip flops. However, this leaves him exposed as he turns around into the Buckshot superkick for the loss. Really enjoyed this, CMD comes across as a really likable fired up face, whilst the heels come across as suitably nefarious and smart enough to take advantage of their openings.

Slim J vs Cam Carter

Really loved the opening to this, with both guys countering and rolling through moves, gave the air of competitive one-upsmanship. I’d never seen Slim J before, and I was really impressed. He’s really fluid in the ring, just feels totally natural in the ring. Carter continued the good impression he made on the debut show, ending a nice kick combo with a really high German suplex. I liked how the veteran Slim J didn’t give Carter a second to breath, at one point nipping to the top rope and hitting a big spinning kick so quickly. Slim J commits to a big missed moonsault and we get a nice strike exchange that actually feels like a fight. Slim J takes a big kick to the face, and stumbles into the corner, subtly hooking the top rope with his arm to stop himself falling down. Lovely bit of selling. Carter hits a destroyer and a really nice 2^nd rope 450 for two. Slim J hits a superplex that he chains into a guillotine that feels like it should be the finish, but Carter powers to his feet and hits a double underhook brainbuster for the win.

Tracy Williams vs Arik Royal

This is for Williams’s Powerbomb title. Loved the commentary putting over Royal having two victories over Williams already, and throughout the match they make the suggestion that Royal might have his number. They tell a really good story here, with Williams working a limb, in this case Royal’s arm, and taking advantage of his openings to try and damage to his chosen damage point. For his part, Royal goes for big shots, using his raw power to break Williams down. Williams’s offence to Royal’s arm looks convincing, with nasty kicks to the armpit, hitting big downward chops with the arm propped on his own shoulder, plus his opportunistic attacks are really well worked. He lures Royal into throwing a wild punch just to yank the arm over the ropes, he lets Royal take his time going to the top in order to catch him with a crossface mid-dive and, when he gets caught on the top rope a la Ric Flair, he grabs the arm and drops it over the top rope again. When Royal is on offence, he beasts Williams, hitting a huge overhead toss, crushing him in the corner with a shoulder charge before sprinting Williams to the other corner to crush him again. He also hits a lovely stump piledriver, making it look like a struggle to get Williams up. Royal gets a two after a big tackle, with the ref recovering from a bump to keep him looking strong, before Williams locks in a Fujiwara armbar to get the tap. Thought this was excellent.

Scenic City Invitational 2018 Night Two

Darius Lockhart vs Scorpio

Glad to see another showing from these two, despite going out in the first round. Scorp has some nice kicks on display, including getting great height on a spinkick. Lockhart hits a few nice elbows to the face, and a decent cradle hammerlock DDT, which gets him a two, and he got to look decent working even exchanges with Scorpio at the start. The two shows have definitely made me want to see more of him. Scorp hits a flipping kick and a moonsault leg drop to win.

Corey Hollis vs Nick Gage

Hollis continues his performance from night one by heading straight out of the ring. This may not have been his best plan, as Gage isn’t opposed to fighting outside the ring. It’s very much his playground. Hollis gets hurled into chairs and gets taken to the top of the bleachers, only for Gage to throw him back down again. Liked the continuity, as Hollis tries the same sneaky low blow that won him his match on night one, only for Gage to catch the kick and hit a chokebreaker. Hollis is undeterred though, and when the ref prevents Gage from using a hammer as a weapon, Hollis does get the kick to the groin and a small package to win. Kudos to Hollis for selling the win by sprinting to the back.

Jake Parnell vs Gary Jay

Both were guys who went though against potentially more interesting opposition the night before, so I was hoping to be impressed on night two. Thought Parnell was really good here, looking really fired up. He hit a nice dropkick into the corner, before catching the third of Jay’s suicide dive trilogy and hitting a big Northern Lights suplex on the floor. He also takes a backdrop straight onto rows of chairs, which must have been a horrible landing. Jay seemed fine, but Parnell gets the best of the offence, hitting a lovely half Nelson suplex and a stomp to the floor. Parnell comes off the top to the floor with another stomp to the neck, and looks for the countout victory. Jay does this cringeworthy comedy sell of realising he’s about to get counted out before getting back in the ring. Parnell tries another stomp, but eats a big forearm to give Jay the win.

AJ Grey vs Fred Yehi

This was good stuff, like how they played off some of the spots from their matches in night one. At one point, AJ tries the Yehi “stuff your opponents arm inside the ringpost” spot from the previous night, but Yehi elbows him in the head to escape and sends him crashing to the floor with a dropkick. Yehi controls a lot of this match, wearing Grey down, but Grey stays in the fight, including a lovely reversal when Yehi tries a top rope German, only for Grey to roll through and nail a springboard dropkick whilst Yehi is still in the tree of woe position. However, the end sees Grey miss a twisting moonsault, and Yehi stomps him down and locks in the Koji Clutch. Grey won’t tap, so Yehi stomps him twice more and reapplies the Clutch whilst punching Grey in the face until the ref stops it. Really loved the ending, showed Grey’s heart whilst still putting over Yehi as a wrestling machine.

PCO vs Joey Lynch

I enjoyed this a stupid amount, just non-stop from start to finish, which is really what a match like this needed. After the huge abuse PCO withstood on night one, Lynch does the right thing in taking the fight to him right away, and following him out with a suicide dive. This is really a match of big hits, and my notes contain a lot of moves followed by exclamation marks. Lynch hitting a superplex on PCO onto the apron is utterly insane, and it’s followed by Lynch hitting a moonsault to the floor that looks like he’s only just caught. PCO is playing a sort-of Undertaker-esque unstoppable monster role, and he’s soon back in control, hitting a tombstone and a moonsault for two. This is played up as Lynch desperate to win in his hometown, so I can kinda forgive him kicking out of what should be a death move. Lynch hits a top rope Canadian Destroyer and a moonsault, but PCO sits up. Lynch hits a second – PCO sits up. A third has the same result. A fourth….finally keeps him down. Lynch plays it safe, hitting three more moonsaults to finally put PCO away. Utterly, utterly daft, but hugely enjoyable.

Marko Stunt vs Shaggy vs Matt Lynch vs Ike Cross vs AC Mack vs Cyrus the Destroyer

This is a neat scramble match that’s just to kill time before the finals. Cyrus is aptly named here, as he just bulldozes through everyone. Cross eats a huge Samoan Drop, before Stunt is speared through Mack and Shaggy. He also wipes them out with a cannonball later in the match, which is particularly satisfying coming after some weak comedy between Stunt and Shaggy. Loved Cyrus grabbing Stunt by the ankles, swinging him around as a weapon. Eventually, Cyrus is taken out of the match by Cross spearing him to the floor, and Stunt nails the tilt-a-whirl codebreaker on Lynch…only for Mack to sneak in with a roll up for the win. This achieved what it needed to.

Cain Justice & Mance Warner vs The Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy)

This was underwhelming. Justice is really misused here as Warner’s stooging partner. Not to say he isn’t good at it, as he’s a lot of fun here, but it’s the second night in a row that I’ve been left wanting more from him. He does get to show a bit of what he can do, locking Iggy in a cross armbreaker and twisting away at his fingers while doing so before Awful breaks it by dropping Warner on top with a death valley driver. Aside from that, Justice is getting hit in the face by his partner accidentally and generally being made to look like a goof. The Carnies are a team I enjoy, though they do have the single shittiest move in tag wrestling, where they contrive to make one opponent accidentally hit a Canadian Destroyer on his partner. The end comes quite abruptly, as the Carnies hit a double-team piledriver on Warner from the apron through a table, and the pin is quickly counted on the floor.

Joey Lynch vs Fred Yehi vs Gary Jay vs Corey Hollis

This is the four-way final to declare the 2018 winner. Hollis sticks to type and immediately leaves the ring as the bell goes. Liked Yehi dragging Hollis out from under the ring, where he was hiding, and holding him in place for a Lynch moonsault. Hollis plays up his opportunist role, sneaking in and trying to gets pins wherever he can. This turns into a real Lynch showcase, as he pins Yehi after hitting a moonsault whilst Yehi has Hollis in a Koji Clutch, and then pinning Jay after a Canadian Destroyer and a moonsault. This leaves him against Hollis, which is smart booking as Hollis is the one guy in the match guaranteed not to get cheers. Hollis gets another low blow, but this time only gets two, and as he argues with the ref Lynch rolls him up for a close two. A Canadian Destroyer and a moonsault finally give Lynch the win.

Scenic City Invitational 2018 - Night One

Curt Stallion vs Joey Lynch

This was a majorly hot opener, really set the tone for the rest of the night. Both are working face, though Stallion does some nasty things to ostensibly play the heel role – taking a cheapshot on a test of strength or standing on Lynch’s throat in the ropes. Both guys looked really good – I’ve been impressed with Lynch in the past, albeit with one or two reservations, but this was the best I’ve seen him look. There are some great moves from both, with Stallion hitting a nasty German suplex and beautifully reversing a Canadian Destroyer into a cradle neckbreaker. Lynch makes a nice comeback after slipping out of a back suplex, great looking knee to the face and a nice falcon arrow. Loved the DDT Stallion hit, pulling Lynch off the mat into the move in one slick motion. Stallion heels it up cockily with some casual slaps to the face, but this leads to a lovely spot where Lynch hits a Canadian Destroyer from running the ropes. Moonsault only gets two, which is sold as a big deal. Stallion hits a huge German suplex from the top, but Lynch rolls into a crucifix to get the win. Great stuff.

Jake Parnell vs Darius Lockhart

Really impressive performance from Lockhart here, seemed to have a natural charisma and he looked really smooth working the mat early. Parnell gets his big opening with a stomp from the apron to Lockhart’s back. Parnell hits some slightly goofy offence, with a series of falling splashes and the JYD crawling headbutts. Both guys have nice strikes interspersed through the match. Lockhart hits a lovely cradle hammerlock DDT, but Parnell gets his foot on the ropes. After the nearfalls of the previous match, I really liked how they worked this ending as a contrast. Lockhart misses a charge to the corner, and Parnell swoops to hit a chicken wing suplex, a big lariat and a top rope stomp in quick succession to get the win. Rather than risk a kickout, Parnell just hit three big moves in a row to get the victory.

Corey Hollis vs Ike Cross

Hollis is great working the crowd, stalling and giving a real impression of not giving a fuck. Cross is apparently only a two year pro, but he seems really impressive so far, loved him attacking Hollis straight away when he finally gets into the ring. Cross is all motion, as if he realises he can’t afford to let Hollis escape again. This culminates with a big suicide dive. Dug Hollis using his smarts, using Cross’s momentum against him and avoiding a corner charge to take over. Hollis then hurls Cross into the corner, looked terrific. Hollis gets on the mic, though the sound quality isn’t great, and he runs down the ref and his opponent. Cross gets a few hope spots amidst the Hollis control, but Hollis stops him dead with a huge lariat. Cross misses a massive top rope splash, but Hollis is too cocky and gives Cross time to recover and nail a spear. However, Hollis uses the ref to block a second, and hits a low blow in the confusion to get the win.

Cyrus the Destroyer vs PCO

This is a clash of two big boys. No storytelling here, and barely any real selling, as these two just exchange big moves, which is fun if unsubstantial. Initial impressions are bad, as Cyrus blocks a suicide dive with a weak elbow and PCO looked like he’d never had any intention of actually trying the move. After that though, things heat up and it’s a lot of fun. Big running dropkick by Cyrus, PCO hits two chokeslams and a cannonball, Cyrus gets a big overhead suplex and finally PCO does hit a suicide dive. A Cyrus slingshot senton looks great for a near 400lb man, but he misses a second rope headbutt and a PCO moonsault gets the win. Just good fun.

AJ Grey vs 2 Cold Scorpio

This is fought with a much friendlier feel, with the commentary putting over that Scorpio is Grey’s idol. Lovely even matwork to start, with Scorp showing he’s still got some agility as he flips out of a wristlock. Nice spot as Scorp does a lovely dropdown and leapfrog on a rope running section, with Grey aping it just moments later. Grey hits a terrible attempt at a rana, but makes up for it with a great leg lariat. Aggression starts to increase and they exchange some nastier blows. Scorp has a few sloppy moments, with a powerbomb reversal looking off and a somersault legdrop only just grazes the side of Grey’s head, but he does hit a nice moonsault for two. Grey catches a spinkick and turns it into a slam and a frog splash gets the win. Match was only decent, rather than good, but it was nice to see Scorp and this was another welcome change of pace.

Cain Justice vs Gary Jay

This ended up being pretty short, but it was a neat ending. Justice attacks at the bell, but gets sent out and ends up eating three suicide dives. Jay is put over as a super striker, though it’s hard to buy a his average looking clothesline warranting a 360 sell from Justice. Justice briefly works the arm after Jay chops the ringpost, but this doesn’t last long as Jay catches Justice with a forearm to the face as he comes off the ropes, and wins on a knockout. Bit disappointing as I’d have liked to have seen more Justice, but the ending was really effective.

Mance Warner vs Fred Yehi

This is intense from the start, and I loved Yehi as the better wrestler suddenly getting a takedown during a strike exchange, to allow him to rain down blows on the mat. Warner sets up some chairs on the floor, but Yehi blocks a superplex attempt by shoving Warner’s arm down a hole into the ringpost, and just pummels it. It comes out covered in grease and grime, which makes it look much worse, gives the impression of a mangled limb. Yehi then throws Warner into the chairs for good measure. From this point on, Yehi is in full control, though Warner gets a few comebacks by irritatingly attacking with the bad arm. Yehi just stomps him down, and looks comfortable in control, before avoiding a running knee, crushing Warner in the corner and hitting a powerbomb for the victory. Good hierarchy match, as Yehi takes control early and doesn’t really relinquish it until the end.

Kerry Awful vs Nick Gage

This doesn’t go long, and really isn’t pretty, but it’s very effective. They go outside, and Awful eats a backdrop into the bleachers right off the bat, nasty looking bump. Awful blows his nose onto Gage when he gets him onto the floor, and this feel like a big mistake on a guy like Gage, who blasts him with a chair. Awful does a little armwork, stomping the arm of Gage onto a chair then hitting a senton onto the arm, before hitting a huge seated senton in the ring. Gage gets the chokebreaker for just two, before Awful locks in an unlikely figure four. Gage escapes, hits a second chokebreaker and a piledriver for the win. Again, selling was at a scarcity, but it was a fun spectacle.

ACTION Wrestling Debut Show 27/4/2018

AC Mack vs Joey Lynch

Good opener. I liked Mack as a loud-mouth braggart, and his attempt to get in Lynch’s face sees him get met with a big elbow to the jaw. Loved Lynch holding a wristlock and clapping using Mack’s hand to get the crowd into it. The commentary makes mention of Lynch returning from a knee injury, which nicely pre-empts him jarring his leg on a floatover. Mack works it over, but the selling is inconsistent. At one point Lynch can’t even run the ropes without collapsing to the mat, then moments later he’s landing on his feet flipping out of a back suplex and sprinting across the ring. Wouldn’t stand out so much if he’d not oversold it in the first place. Lynch misses a moonsault but reverses a figure four attempt to a cradle for the victory.

Arik Royal vs Michael Spencer

Spencer isn’t the most intimidating looking character, and he’s pretty awkward throughout this. Right at the start, he hits an ugly looking wheelbarrow armdrag. Royal is far better here, taking control with a nice cheapshot where he puts his body between the blow and the referee. Royal hits a kind of kneeling pounce that looks good. This is basically a squash, but at least the right guy won, as Royal slams Spencer’s skull to the mat with a leaping dunk before nailing a spear to win. Liked Royal a lot here.

Ethan A Sharpe vs James Bandy vs Donnie Dollars vs Adrian Hawkins

The only guy I’ve seen here is Dollars, who’s pretty good. He’s easily the best wrestler in this match, looking really impressive, with a really nice slam-facebuster and a great big boot to the face. Hawkins slips on a springboard on his very first move and I don’t know if it affects him, but he’s a bit sloppy throughout. Sharpe has all the look of a comedy wrestler, and his strikes are indeed laughable. Bandy seemed fine, but it’s probably for the best this is short, with Hawkins slipping out of a Dollars pumphandle slam and rolls him up to win.

Billy Buck vs Cam Carter

Buck is accompanied by Team TAG, Kevin Blue and Chris Spectra. Carter is the leaner competitor here and makes the most of his speed advantage. Early on, he sends Buck out of the ring with a headscissors and hits a neat dropkick to the stomach as Buck tries to get in. There’s some lovely camera work as Buck takes control by hurling Carter shoulder first into the corner, with Carter almost coming straight into the viewer. Dug Buck’s control on the shoulder, with him wrapping Carter’s left arm around the corner post and really yanking on it. Buck continues to impress with come great height on a dropkick, and I loved how he just casually threw Carter to the floor to be picked off by his henchmen. Carter makes a nice comeback, taking out all three opponents with a plancha and hitting a neat springboard 450 splash back into the ring. However, there’s a ref bump and Buck takes advantage of a missed 450 to hit the Buckshot superkick to win. Really good stuff here.

Matt Sells vs Big Bite Martinez

Sells looks like a knock-off of 1992 DDP whilst Martinez is a guy wearing an interesting looking mask with a big tooth-filled mouth. This is short, with some sloppy looking offence before Team TAG come back and beat both men down.

Cain Justice vs Fred Yehi

This right here was terrific. I’d heard a lot about Justice from various people who’s opinions I trust, and I liked his performance in the CWF Mid Atlantic rumble I watched, but this is the match that made me a believer. Loved the focus both guys had on their matwork, with Yehi trying to lock on a Koji Clutch right on kicking out of a pinfall while Justice dropped his guard for a second. The kind of matwork where the wrestlers have to be alert or they’re done for. Yehi works over the arm of Justice viciously, jamming the arm over his shoulder. They fight outside the ring, and this is where Justice takes over, breaking Yehi’s fingers by snapping them through a small look on the outside of the ringpost. Real nasty looking shot. I like how instead of this being just a one off spot for a pop, it dictates how the rest of the match goes, which it really should. With every hold Justice applies, he makes sure to include the fingers in some way, making escape harder for Yehi. Every time Yehi tries to comeback, he goes for Justice’s shoulder, which he worked over earlier. It means the early matwork has consequences. Justice locks in a triangle, grabbing the fingers in the process, but Yehi is able to power up and slam him down to escape. The end is perfect, as Justice goes for a knee strike, only for Yehi to avoid and use the momentum to send Cain to the mat, swiftly locking in a Koji Clutch with elbow strikes to the head for the victory. Great, great match.

Gunner Miller vs Dominic Garrini

Interesting clash of styles here, with the power of Miller vs the technique of Garrini. In the initial stages, Garrini is really fun at trying to grab a limb from anywhere to down Miller, trying to force a submission. Miller finally gets some separation with a big overhead belly-to-belly suplex. There’s a nice spot where Miller tries some shoulder barges in the corner, only for Garrini to lock in a front choke. However, because they’re so close to the ropes, Miller is able to force the break and hit a knee strike as Garrini lets go. Garrini has nice open palm strikes, though he does kind of telegraph a missed back elbow. Both gets close nearfalls with the CTE pounce for Miller and a stump piledriver by Garrini getting two. Finally, the end sees Garrini lock on another front choke from a Miller spear, but Miller holds on a powers him up into a jackhammer for the win. Good main event.

Scenic City Rumble 2017

So I recently signed up for Powerbomb TV, a streaming service that brings a load of indy promotions under one umbrella. I'd heard a lot about the Scenic City shows, and thought this seemed like a decent place to start. Plus everybody loves a Rumble

The Lynch Mob (Matt & Joey Lynch) vs The Carnies (Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful) vs Tank & Iceberg

Fine fast paced opener. Really felt like Tank and Iceberg were the standouts of the match, two big, burly men who aren’t afraid to use their size as a weapon. Loved their big corner splashes, absolutely adored them hitting cannonballs in the corner to both teams and even Tank putting the full stop on a fun dive train with an unlikely cannonball from the apron. The other two teams seemed fine, though the Carnies were responsible for the single worst spot of the match, where through some convoluted means they forced one member of the Lynch Mob to give the other a Canadian Destroyer. Can’t put into words how much I hated that. Quite liked the end, where Tank is taken out with a low blow, before Awful locks a Boston Crab on Iceberg and Iggy drops repeated knees to the back of his head for the stoppage.

Shane Marx vs Kyle Matthews

This was a pleasant surprise, with Marx not wrestling at all like you’d expect. He’s a chubby looking guy so you wouldn’t expect him to be working complex matwork and reversals like a portly World of Sport worker. Marx also looks good cutting off a corner charge by Matthews with his size and his hangman neckbreaker has real nice slap to it. Matthews looks really good too, really liked the dive he hits. There’s a nice moment where a Matthews tornado DDT lands pretty softly, but it’s called as such by commentator Brad Stutts and Marx hits a brainbuster straight from it, so it works. The end sees Matthews hit a corner dropkick and immediately take Marx down with a quick cradle for the victory. Enjoyed this.

Matt Knicks vs Stevie Fierce vs Rob Matter

This is a showcase match for Freelance Wrestling. The only one of these guys I’d seen before was Knicks, who randomly turned up in a four-way at a HOPE show last month. He seemed decent then, and I liked him here too. This had the usual issues the most three-ways do, as one guy always seems to be on the outside of the ring. Knicks not only take a big bump early, but hits a big suicide dive and an Asai moonsault to the floor. Liked Fierce here too, though I can’t really remember anything Matter did in the match. Fierce picks up the win, dropping Knicks on his head with a spider German suplex and hitting a Tomikaze on Matter for the win.

Torque vs Anthony Henry

Fine little match, and I appreciated the story they told, that of the overmatched Torque going for broke to win Henry’s PWX title. To start with, Henry dominated with some big shots: loved him circling the ring to hit Henry with a big running kick and his big overhead belly-to-belly looked great. I didn’t mind Torque doing a bit of no selling as he fired up on the comeback – this was portrayed as the biggest match of his career and as such it makes sense that he would go a level above. Loved the commentary, highlighting that Torque winning would get him guaranteed more bookings, especially as he didn’t wrestle for PWX. Loved Torque’s rana from the apron to the floor, but some of his other moves looked quite sloppy. His two suicide dives didn’t look particularly devastating. Henry though is the superior competitor and his work looked great. He got a convincing 2 count with a big kick to the head after Torque missed a 450, and his match-winning snap DVD looked terrific.

Sal Rinauro vs Austin Theory

Haven’t seen a Rinauro match in 14 years before this, unsurprisingly looked a bit different to how I remember. This is worked as wily veteran vs dynamic young gun, with Theory being only 19. He looks great early on, really nice quick combo of moves. This forces Rinauro to take a quick break. Loved how Rinauro used his wits to take control, taking a swig of water, throwing the bottle into the ring to distract the ref, then spitting it into Theory’s face. I like the running story that, every time Theory tried to speed things up, Rinauro was fully aware that he couldn’t keep pace and would slow things back down, including hitting a sneaky low blow to maintain the advantage. Theory hits a nice cradle neckbreaker for two, but misses a shooting star and Rinauro rolls him up for three. Wasn’t expecting a Rinauro win, but this was decent enough.

The Hierarchy (Chip Day, Adrian Armour & Murder One) vs Gunner Miller, Kevin Blue & Corey Hollis

This was fine, but mainly worked for an angle, where Hollis didn’t really want to be part of his team. Really impressed by Miller, he was a beast chucking Day with three consecutive overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. Heat ends up being worked on Blue, but Hollis manages to accidentally cause a distraction by falling into the ring, thus causing the ref to miss the hot tag to Miller. Miller again looks great on the hot tag, big strong house of fire. The Hollis storyline comes to a head when he makes a save on a pinfall, which leaves him at a 3-1 disadvantage. This convinces Hollis to walk out on the match, leaving it 2-1. The numbers game ends up giving the Hierarchy the win, Day rolling up Blue with a handful of tights to win. Mainly forgettable stuff.

Scenic Invitational Rumble

Always found indy rumbles an odd beast, as it’s hard to get any kind of impression of the wrestlers and you’ve no real idea of the hierarchy of the combatants, as a load of guys I don’t know come into the ring. As a rule, I pretty much work on the principle that the fat lads and the ones with the best tights will be the favourites. There were a few guys who stood out: Mecha Mercenary, a masked fat guy who looks to be pretty agile and has some real heft to his moves, Cyrus the Destroyer, another large chap who looks great as he eliminates a load of deadwood and amusingly hurls a guy called Baniac all the way to the floor in a massive press slam bump and Chris Crunk, who has a real nice fluidity. The end sees all three members of the Hierarchy left with Tank, and in a satisfying finale, he gets to eliminate them all. For a match with a load of guys I’d never heard of, this was a fun match that flew by.