So, today is the 10yr anniversary of the demise of the GWF, a British indy that ran one show (which you're about to read below) and had their second cancelled on the day by the ring never turning up on 02/02/03. This infamous episode in British Wrestling is captured nicely in Greg Lambert's excellent book "Holy Grail", but I felt like today was the perfect day to revisit their only show. The focus of it is an 8 man title tournament, with four Brit wrestlers (Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch, Paul Sloane and James Tighe) and four international talents (Little Guido, Trent Acid, Justin Richards and Michael Kovac) battling for the GWF title.
Graham Hughes vs Mark Sloan
Christ, these two rattle through a meaningless selections of highspots like there is no tomorrow. Hughes takes a rana and busts out a moonsault in the first 30 seconds. Within two minutes Sloan has nailed him with a sunset flip powerbomb for two. Sloan then hits Angels Wings for two. We do get a nice jumping kick by Sloan, but this is totally lacking in storytelling. The match is interrupted by heel manager Ross "The Boss" Gordon dancing at ringside, and all the international talent booked for the show jumps in for a double DQ. Not a great loss to have this cut short.
Justin Richards vs James Tighe
This is the first match of the tournament. They run through a nice little series of holds and counters to start. Richards soon starts heeling it up by yelling at the ref before grinding Tighe's eyes on the top rope. Richards maintains control by cutting off Tighe's offence with an eyepoke. They keep the moves simple compared to the first match, but tell a straightforward story where the face/heel divide is easy to follow. Tighe gets two on a roll-up, which I suspect was supposed to end it as he follows win a small package for 3 right away.
Little Guido vs Jody Fleisch
We get a nice little opening sequence, which sees both men try to out-do one another. Jody is more of a risktaker than Guido, so despite a successful flurry of high-risk offence, he crashes and burns on a springboard dropkick to give Guido the advantage. Guido keeps it to the mat, playing a safer game. Guido shoves Fleisch to the floor on an attempted springboard, sending him flying into the railings. Jody manages to get two from a bridged pin, which obviously worries Guido's manager Jake Roberts enough to throw Guido a foreign object for the cheap win. Too short, and lacking decent structure. Twice Guido locked in a cross-armbreaker, with no build up or aftermath.
Robbie Brookside vs Jack Xavier vs the Zebra Kid
One of the things I like in the opening sections is that the wrestlers would tactically just stop and let the other two fight, rather than have a load of convoluted 3-way spots. Zebra dives off the top to the outside, but the camera is static and thus totally misses it. This is followed by Zebra hitting a cannonball from the apron on the opposite side of the ring to the camera, so not a good day for his highspots. Zebra and Brookside both seem to be focusing their assault on Xavier, taking each other out so they can concentrate on Jack. Zebra nails a sick looking piledriver on Xavier, before yet ANOTHER Zebra dive is missed, so all you see is him leaping off the screen. The ringwork is mostly crisp, though they aren't helped by the ref telegraphing a false finish by dramatically slowing his count before Zebra makes the save. A top rope elbow on Xavier gets the win for Zebra Kid. This wasn't bad, but I hoped for a bit more structure, rather than just guys taking it in turn to hit moves.
Michael Kovac vs Paul Sloane
Kovac, I believe, is a German wrestler. Sloane is the guy I know least about in this tournament, but his first in ring act is to hit a spear followed by some of the worst forearms this side of the Divas division. Kovac seems to be the more experienced of the two, as he carries himself nicely in the ring and busts out some nice offence including a swank torture rack dropped into a facefirst slam. This gets three, total squash. I'm looking forward to seeing more Kovac in this tournament.
Trent Acid vs Jonny Storm
CZW was pretty popular in the UK in 2002, so Trent gets a decent reaction here. Ross Gordon returns and cuts a promo that I can't hear very well. Acid stalls like Hell to start. The highlight of an overly-flippy opening segment is Acid smoothly reversing a hiptoss into an abdominal stretch. Acid really has his character work nailed on here, waiting until Jonny turns around before hiding behind him, then following him in a hilarious, OTT manner. They brawl into the unlit crowd, with something impossible to see earning a "Holy Shit" chant. Acid feigns a leg injury in the corner, then suddenly strikes to attack Storm in a classic heel spot. Acid's mannerisms are great in his control spot, and I like the way that, for a guy who often did too many choreographed looking moves in his matches, he works simply here, drapping a leg over Storm's throat whilst posing to soak up the boos. I also like him following up a backbreaker with a full Nelson camel clutch to focus on Storm's back. Storm's offence at this point was mainly high-risk and flashy, so he was perfect for comebacks that pop the crowd, with a top rope leg-lariat looking great. A triple jump rana gets two for Storm. They work a pin reversals sequence before an Acid Yakuza kick gets two. A second attempt misses and Storm hits a rana for the win. It broke down in places, but overall this was damn good.
Little Guido vs James Tighe
We're now in semi-final territory in the tournament. Tighe is slightly bigger than Guido, so I liked him using a few shoulderblocks to establish his strength advantage. Tighe hits a poor looking bridging German suplex, but makes up for it with a swank looking 2nd rope moonsault. However a distraction from Jake Roberts allows Gordon to come back and nail Tighe with a weapon, gifting the win to Guido. Short match, but it puts more heat on Guido getting an easy route to the final.
Michael Kovac vs Jonny Storm
Storm is still selling his injuries from the Acid match, and Kovac is much larger, so the story should write itself here. Storm goes for broke early, nailing a dive on Kovac (which the camera caught!) but as soon as Kovac takes control, he slows the pace down to his comfort zone and starts to tie Storm up to work over the back. Kovac uses a camel clutch here, which plays back to the Acid match in a nice touch. Storm gets a few hope spots, but Kovac is great at turning them to his advantage, reversing a sunset flip into a belly-to-back piledriver. He hits the torture rack facebuster, but Storm turns his cocky pin into a crucifix to win. Normally I hate that finish, but it worked here as Kovac had essentially killed Storm, so it shows Storm's desire to win, whilst keeping Kovac looking like a monster. Kovac is really someone I'd like to see more of.
Shak Khan vs Lee Butler
This is a hardcore match to kill time before the final. It's probably fair to say these two are a bit bulkier than the contestants in the tournament, so this should be a change of pace if nothing else. Brilliantly, within 2 minutes they're brawling in the unlit crowd away from the hard camera. No idea what is happening. This is probably for the best, because this is total shit when it gets in the ring. No weapons get involved, just some slow, plodding action as neither guy looks particularly bothered. Butler misses a moonsault and Khan rolls him up in the ropes, which the ref somehow counts for 3. Seriously, Butler's shoulders were pretty much on the ring apron when he was pinned, with the refs hand hitting the bottom rope everytime he lifted his arm to count. Nonsense.
Little Guido vs Jonny Storm
Storm is still selling his battering in the two previous matches. They start off, making as if to run through a quick exchange of moves, but Guido abruptly drops a low elbow on Storm to give himself an advantage. Guido dominates, but does allow Storm a few hope spots, with Storm getting two from a moonsault. Guido holds Storm to allow Ross Gordon to attack him, but Jonny ducks and Guido gets nailed instead. Storm rolls him up and...wins? Christ, that was abrupt. Really feel like all of Guido's matches were way too short, though at least Storm gave a great accounting of himself throughout the event. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the entire output of the GWF
Showing posts with label Robbie Brookside. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robbie Brookside. Show all posts
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Monday, 29 November 2010
Best Of Reslo: Volume 1
Another fantastic purchase from IVP Videos, this time a compilation of the awesome Reslo show that used to air on S4C in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Hosted by the ever-so suave Bryn Fon and Welsh wrestling legend Orig Williams, the Reslo broadcast would generally show two matches and featured a style of wrestling that is distinctly European, focusing on matwork and wrestler schtick to entertain the crowd. As a half-Welshman, I felt it was my patriotic duty to dive straight in...
Johnny South vs. Frank Lopez
First thing to notice is how much of the audience is made up of kids, which is great because all these kids are clearly into the matches. They react to everything, which really helps a match like this shine. As matches go, it’s pretty basic, but both guys do things purely designed to get the crowd reacting- Lopez, the face, chants and claps to rally the kids behind him, South begs off and pleads with the kids to be quiet. The result is that the whole match entertains without being that good. The ending confuses, South has control over Lopez, but then elects to whip him with a chain, drawing the DQ win for Lopez.
Robbie Brookside vs. Lee Thomas
Brookside is a wrestler I’m very familiar with, having seen him live in 2004 dragging a decent match out of Darren Walsh at an All Star show in Leamington. Brookside is again awesome here, and this match is far more fast-paced than the last, for sure. Brookside takes control of the match early doors and works in quite a few spots where he outsmarts Thomas, much to the delight of the child audience. Thomas looks like the love-child of Bobby Eaton and Chris Candido, and, while not up to the high standard of either, he does keep up pretty well with Brookside. Brookside hits a nasty looking backdrop suplex, then hits a springboard suplex for the win.
Franz Schuman vs. Salvatore Bellomo
This is from the CWA promotion in Austria, and works under a round system. To be honest, this is a really dull match. Bellomo brings nothing to the table except some chokes and tedious brawling, while Schuman may have the right look (imagine a third Young Stallion) but none of the in-ring chops to back it up. Schuman rolls through a crossbody for the win.
Giant Haystacks vs. Pat Roach
Another match fought under a round system, this time best 2 out of 3 falls. Here we get 2 legends of UK wrestling, with Roach being the only person bar Harrison Ford to appear in the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Sadly, the match is awful. Haystacks dominates most of the match, and his moveset is based entirely on restholds, be it chinlock or nerve hold, and Roach doesn’t help by making his first offensive move a bear hug. Haystacks wins the first fall with a sleeper, before Roach FINALLY fires into life with a series of running shoulder blocks to win the second fall. Roach continues where he left off for the final fall, but collides with the ref, allowing Haystacks to hit an elbowdrop for the win.
Dave Taylor vs. Drew MacDonald
Not just Dave Taylor, but “Dancing” Dave Taylor! So unusual to see the future Squire Dave as a happy, smiling babyface, but it actually works, with Taylor showing some great babyface fire. MacDonald dominates the early stages and, like Haystacks, uses a nerve hold to down Taylor. However, unlike Haystacks, MacDonald really works the hold, grinding a forearm into Taylor’s face at the same time. Taylor makes a neat face comeback, using moves like a flying forearm and a splash which are more likely to pop the crowd. He also still has a ridiculously good European uppercut. Dancing Dave gets the win with an anticlimactic suplex, but this is the best match on the disc so far.
Danny Boy Collins vs. Kid McCoy
Until now, that is. This is a fine junior heavyweight match between two guys who seemingly have no problems getting a little stiff with each other. Collins impresses more initially, with a nice snap to everything he does, including a swish floatover butterfly suplex. McCoy seems to take a bit longer to warm up, but soon gets into his stride until he’s confidently working Mexican surfboard reversals with the seemingly more-experienced Collins. For an early 90’s match in the UK, it seems very ahead of it’s time, and it’s a shame when it finishes with a time limit draw, could happily have watched more of this.
The Superflies (Jimmy Ocean and Ricky Knight) vs. Tony Stewart and Geraint Clewd
You only have to look at the Superflies to know they’re heels: with bleached blond mullets and garish multicoloured tights, they ooze scummy heat. Stewart and Clewd seem much younger and less experienced, but have a great babyface energy and swiftly win the first fall with a Clewd rollup on Ocean. The ‘Flies pull out all the stops from the “Heel Tagteam” playbook, with tag-rope chokes and ref distractions a-plenty. A handful of salt to the face of Stewart evens the score to 1-1. A pin in the corner with feet on ropes almost earns the Superflies the win before the ref spots it, before allowing the young faces a chance to make their comeback. At this point, the Superflies turn into stooges of the highest order, frantically grabbing the ropes to avoid submission holds and each taking huge bumps to the outside from face offence. Clewd and Stewart more than hold up their end of the bargain, and pick up the win when Ocean accidentally hits Knight with some barricade meant for Clewd, allowing the face to pin Ocean following a sunset flip. Good tag action made more enjoyable by the efforts of the heel team.
Kensuke Sasaki and Klaus Kauroff vs. Eddie Steinblock and Hercules Boyd
Back to Austria we got for this largely pointless tag match, again best 2 out of 3 falls. Boyd overpowers Sasaki to start before Steinblock gets the first fall for his team with a power slam. Orig namedrops Antonio Inoki while Sasaki is in the ring, though I can’t tell you what he said due to the fact I don’t speak much Welsh. Boyd and Steinblock continue to out power Sasaki, before Boyd pins Kauroff following a hiptoss. Too short and a not particularly fun squash.
Johnny Saint vs. Barry Douglas
Johnny Saint was one of my main lures behind buying the DVD, as he specialises in the fluid, clever and above-all, fun matwork that the UK scene was known for. Saint comes to the ring to Reslo’s rather excellent theme tune, which is another reason to like him. The overall feel of the mtch is that Saint is letting Douglas get him in holds just so he can try and work out some elaborate way of escaping, which he does time and again. The highlight of this is a swank escape from a headscissors into a Boston crab. Saint is always one step ahead of Douglas, and the end comes as Saint outmanoeuvres and confuses Douglas, allowing him to get a roll-up for 3. A good, fun exhibition of a style that is becoming a lost art.
There is a ladies match from the US next featuring Heidi Lee Morgan and another, unknown, wrestler, but it isn’t much cop and is pretty short, so I’ll move on to the last match, which is...
Col Brody vs. Boston Blackie
Brody looks like your stereotypical 1940’s military man, down to his thick moustache which Blackie threatens and pulls on to the delight of the crowd. Brody does a great job of keeping the crowd into the match, bumping huge for Blackie (including a big spill to the outside) and always allowing Blackie to stay one step ahead of him. A missed knee drop allows the Colonel to work over Blackie’s knee, including a pair of snapmares which send Blackie knee first into the ropes; After Blackie misses a top rope splash, Brody wins by ramming him chest first into an exposed turnbuckle and hitting a fireman’s carry roll for the three. Fun match made all the more enjoyable due to Brody’s antics and selling, and a good way to end an unique and entertaining collection.
Johnny South vs. Frank Lopez
First thing to notice is how much of the audience is made up of kids, which is great because all these kids are clearly into the matches. They react to everything, which really helps a match like this shine. As matches go, it’s pretty basic, but both guys do things purely designed to get the crowd reacting- Lopez, the face, chants and claps to rally the kids behind him, South begs off and pleads with the kids to be quiet. The result is that the whole match entertains without being that good. The ending confuses, South has control over Lopez, but then elects to whip him with a chain, drawing the DQ win for Lopez.
Robbie Brookside vs. Lee Thomas
Brookside is a wrestler I’m very familiar with, having seen him live in 2004 dragging a decent match out of Darren Walsh at an All Star show in Leamington. Brookside is again awesome here, and this match is far more fast-paced than the last, for sure. Brookside takes control of the match early doors and works in quite a few spots where he outsmarts Thomas, much to the delight of the child audience. Thomas looks like the love-child of Bobby Eaton and Chris Candido, and, while not up to the high standard of either, he does keep up pretty well with Brookside. Brookside hits a nasty looking backdrop suplex, then hits a springboard suplex for the win.
Franz Schuman vs. Salvatore Bellomo
This is from the CWA promotion in Austria, and works under a round system. To be honest, this is a really dull match. Bellomo brings nothing to the table except some chokes and tedious brawling, while Schuman may have the right look (imagine a third Young Stallion) but none of the in-ring chops to back it up. Schuman rolls through a crossbody for the win.
Giant Haystacks vs. Pat Roach
Another match fought under a round system, this time best 2 out of 3 falls. Here we get 2 legends of UK wrestling, with Roach being the only person bar Harrison Ford to appear in the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Sadly, the match is awful. Haystacks dominates most of the match, and his moveset is based entirely on restholds, be it chinlock or nerve hold, and Roach doesn’t help by making his first offensive move a bear hug. Haystacks wins the first fall with a sleeper, before Roach FINALLY fires into life with a series of running shoulder blocks to win the second fall. Roach continues where he left off for the final fall, but collides with the ref, allowing Haystacks to hit an elbowdrop for the win.
Dave Taylor vs. Drew MacDonald
Not just Dave Taylor, but “Dancing” Dave Taylor! So unusual to see the future Squire Dave as a happy, smiling babyface, but it actually works, with Taylor showing some great babyface fire. MacDonald dominates the early stages and, like Haystacks, uses a nerve hold to down Taylor. However, unlike Haystacks, MacDonald really works the hold, grinding a forearm into Taylor’s face at the same time. Taylor makes a neat face comeback, using moves like a flying forearm and a splash which are more likely to pop the crowd. He also still has a ridiculously good European uppercut. Dancing Dave gets the win with an anticlimactic suplex, but this is the best match on the disc so far.
Danny Boy Collins vs. Kid McCoy
Until now, that is. This is a fine junior heavyweight match between two guys who seemingly have no problems getting a little stiff with each other. Collins impresses more initially, with a nice snap to everything he does, including a swish floatover butterfly suplex. McCoy seems to take a bit longer to warm up, but soon gets into his stride until he’s confidently working Mexican surfboard reversals with the seemingly more-experienced Collins. For an early 90’s match in the UK, it seems very ahead of it’s time, and it’s a shame when it finishes with a time limit draw, could happily have watched more of this.
The Superflies (Jimmy Ocean and Ricky Knight) vs. Tony Stewart and Geraint Clewd
You only have to look at the Superflies to know they’re heels: with bleached blond mullets and garish multicoloured tights, they ooze scummy heat. Stewart and Clewd seem much younger and less experienced, but have a great babyface energy and swiftly win the first fall with a Clewd rollup on Ocean. The ‘Flies pull out all the stops from the “Heel Tagteam” playbook, with tag-rope chokes and ref distractions a-plenty. A handful of salt to the face of Stewart evens the score to 1-1. A pin in the corner with feet on ropes almost earns the Superflies the win before the ref spots it, before allowing the young faces a chance to make their comeback. At this point, the Superflies turn into stooges of the highest order, frantically grabbing the ropes to avoid submission holds and each taking huge bumps to the outside from face offence. Clewd and Stewart more than hold up their end of the bargain, and pick up the win when Ocean accidentally hits Knight with some barricade meant for Clewd, allowing the face to pin Ocean following a sunset flip. Good tag action made more enjoyable by the efforts of the heel team.
Kensuke Sasaki and Klaus Kauroff vs. Eddie Steinblock and Hercules Boyd
Back to Austria we got for this largely pointless tag match, again best 2 out of 3 falls. Boyd overpowers Sasaki to start before Steinblock gets the first fall for his team with a power slam. Orig namedrops Antonio Inoki while Sasaki is in the ring, though I can’t tell you what he said due to the fact I don’t speak much Welsh. Boyd and Steinblock continue to out power Sasaki, before Boyd pins Kauroff following a hiptoss. Too short and a not particularly fun squash.
Johnny Saint vs. Barry Douglas
Johnny Saint was one of my main lures behind buying the DVD, as he specialises in the fluid, clever and above-all, fun matwork that the UK scene was known for. Saint comes to the ring to Reslo’s rather excellent theme tune, which is another reason to like him. The overall feel of the mtch is that Saint is letting Douglas get him in holds just so he can try and work out some elaborate way of escaping, which he does time and again. The highlight of this is a swank escape from a headscissors into a Boston crab. Saint is always one step ahead of Douglas, and the end comes as Saint outmanoeuvres and confuses Douglas, allowing him to get a roll-up for 3. A good, fun exhibition of a style that is becoming a lost art.
There is a ladies match from the US next featuring Heidi Lee Morgan and another, unknown, wrestler, but it isn’t much cop and is pretty short, so I’ll move on to the last match, which is...
Col Brody vs. Boston Blackie
Brody looks like your stereotypical 1940’s military man, down to his thick moustache which Blackie threatens and pulls on to the delight of the crowd. Brody does a great job of keeping the crowd into the match, bumping huge for Blackie (including a big spill to the outside) and always allowing Blackie to stay one step ahead of him. A missed knee drop allows the Colonel to work over Blackie’s knee, including a pair of snapmares which send Blackie knee first into the ropes; After Blackie misses a top rope splash, Brody wins by ramming him chest first into an exposed turnbuckle and hitting a fireman’s carry roll for the three. Fun match made all the more enjoyable due to Brody’s antics and selling, and a good way to end an unique and entertaining collection.
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