World of Sport Wrestling #3 11/08/2018

Grado vs Sha Samuels

Interesting how quickly Grado has fallen from the champion to being a comedy character. It’s arguably a role he’s better suited to, but it’s still a stark fall in just two weeks. Here’s he’s wearing a suit to show Stu Bennett that he can be a corporate champion. Samuels controls from the start, hurling Grado into the barricades. Grado finally gets a comeback by reversing a piledriver attempt on the ramp. Grado fires up, taking of his suit, and nailing Sha with the Dusty elbows. Corner splash and a cannonball both look good, and Grado catches Samuels with a diving cutter for the win. Pretty short, and the “corporate Grado” storyline was barely explored, but this was fine.

Martin Kirby vs Joe Hendry

This is a result of Kirby walking out on a tag team tournament match, leaving Hendry to take a beating. Bennett helpfully points out that Hendry should be much angrier, as he comes to the ring singing and smiling. Kirby bumps about early, stooging about by challenging (and losing to) Commonwealth games wrestler Hendry to a mat battle, before taking over with a dropkick. Kirby is lovely to watch in the ring, hitting a nice running backbreaker and a big spinebuster. Kirby misses the crabwalk elbow, and Hendry rolls through a crossbody with a fallaway slam in a really nice sequence. Kirby lands on his feet on a second attempt and nails a nice enzuigiri. Kirby feigns an injury after a Hendry ankle lock and gets the sneaky win with his foot on the ropes. This was good stuff.

BT Gunn & Stevie Boy vs Brad Slayer & CJ Banks

Nice to see the team of Gunn and Stevie wearing matching gear and facepaint to look more like a unit. Slightly odd to see Banks, who’s been firmly aligned with Rampage and Sha Samuels, here teaming with a guy we’ve not seen before. You’d think Banks and Samuels would be the more obvious team. The face team function really well here, lots of quick fluid tags and nice double-teaming. We get a brief heat worked on Stevie Boy, with Slayer looking a little basic on offence. He seems far more comfortable taking moves, as the faces quickly fire back. Gunn and Stevie nail a diving elbow Doomsday Device on Slayer for the win. Mainly a showcase for the faces, who looked terrific.

Gabriel Kidd vs Crater

This is Kidd’s “big opportunity” for winning the ladder match the previous week – 36 stone of Crater. Love Bennett’s big grin as the match is announced. This is one of those stupid angles where we’re supposed to feel outraged that the heel GM has forced a wrestler to face another wrestler, which is basically his job. I mean, Kidd won the ladder match the previous week, he’s not some feckless jobber, he’s already proven himself to be at least a competent wrestler. Alex Shane describing this as “the most disgusting act he’s ever seen from a wrestling executive” just rings hollow. Plus, Kidd does get a little offence – he nails some elbows to start and gets to break free of a Crater bear hug. He’s not getting destroyed, he’s just not as good as Crater. Crater nails an avalanche, a chokeslam and a splash to win.

Rampage vs Justin Sysum

This was pretty good stuff, felt like a big deal. Sysum is a big boy, but he’s also pretty agile, which gives him some openings here. Rampage hits him with some meaty blows, but Sysum backflips out of the corner and nails a nice high backdrop and a side slam. Rampage takes control after CJ Banks pushes Sysum off the top rope, and Rampage plants him with a big uranage. He continues the back offence, with some blows to the small of the back and a spinebuster. Sysum looks good on his comeback, nailing a big overhead suplex, before sending them both to the floor with a clothesline. However, CJ Banks is under the ring and he holds onto Sysum’s leg, causing him to get counted out. You knew that Sysum wouldn’t dethrone the champion so early, so the ending gives the story a reason to continue whilst keeping Sysum strong. Enjoyed this

World of Sport Wrestling #1 28/07/2018

So, with the return of wrestling to terrestrial UK TV, I thought it might be worth following the show on a weekly basis. They've got a really good looking roster, and it'll be interesting to see if some of these guys start getting better bookings because of it. First show? Bit of a mixed bag, but overall a promising first impression.

Rampage vs Adam Maxted vs Crater vs Sha Samuels vs Justin Sysum

First match to kick off a new generation of British wrestling on network TV, and it’s a poorly booked mess that doesn’t do justice to the talents of the wrestlers involved. First of all, it’s an elimination match with three cheap eliminations and then the end sees a screwy finish where the winner isn’t entirely clear. To a first time viewer, this would be a confusing, convoluted mess. The first elimination sees Crater disqualified for not breaking while choking Maxted on the ropes, and the second sees Sysum rolling up Samuels after Rampage, who had been teaming with Sha, accidentally hits him with a clothesline. The final elimination sees Maxted counted out, with Sysum being declared the winner after beating the count…even though it’s then pointed out that Rampage had beaten the count too. This was the first impression that a lot of viewers will have got for the modern UK scene, and it was too short to let anyone really shine. Sysum got the most shine, getting impressive height on some flying clotheslines and Stinger Splashes, though he nearly crashes and burns on a dive.

Will Ospreay vs British Bulldog Jr

This feels like it would have been a better choice of opener, it told a much simpler story and contained enough action to impress a new audience. They told a basic speed vs power story, before going for an ending run full of nearfalls. The spot where Bulldog tried to throw Ospreay out of the ring, only for Ospreay to springboard into the ropes and rebound with a kick looked great, and deserved the sometimes intrusive mid-match replays. Bulldog tried a little legwork, not extensive focus, but enough that whenever Ospreay landed on his feet, it slowed him enough to give Bulldog an opening. Both hit some big moves in the final minutes which looked like finishers, a midring Spanish Fly by Ospreay and a huge sitout powerbomb by Bulldog. In the end, a top rope powerslam gave Bulldog the win, and I bet more fans were talking about this afterwards than the opener.

Martin Kirby & Joe Hendry vs Iestyn Rees & Kip Sabian

This is an opening round match in the tag team tournament. Really like the team of Sabian and Rees, they complement each other well in the ring and had the look of a proper team. They also came out to the ring together, unlike their opponents, which made them feel more like a unit. Their double teams looked well rehearsed, loved Kip hitting a droptoehold on Hendry, then posing whilst holding him in place for a big Rees elbow. Hendry accidentally knocks Kirby off the apron at one point, preventing him from tagging out, and letting the heel team hit a string of moves on him. Kip misses a missile dropkick, to give Hendry the opening for the hot tag…only for Kirby to jump off the apron and walk out. Hendry is still given a little shine, hitting an impressive double fallaway slam, but the numbers add up, and a top rope neckbreaker/powerbomb give Rees and Sabian the win. Good solid stuff here.

Grado vs Rampage vs Justin Sysum

So after the clusterfuck that was the opener, we get a triple threat main event, based on the fact that Rampage didn’t actually get eliminated in the opener. This highlighted Rampage and Sysum far more than the opener. Liked Grado and Sysum, the faces, repeatedly throwing Rampage out so they could have a straight up match, and Grado hitting a cannonball from the apron was a neat highspot. There’s a little bit of comedy, with Grado side stepping and outsmarting Sysum, causing him to fall on his face, before Rampage hurls Grado around the ring. The bits with all three in look really good and well timed, with Grado hitting a Wee Boot on Sysum, who was about to hit a discus lariat, looking great. Sysum looks to have the match won with a 450 on Grado, but Rampage swiftly throws him from the ring and plants Grado with a DDT to win the WoS title. Makes sense to go forward with a heel champion at this point, and all three looked really good here. Given that Grado maybe works best as a special attraction, it may work best with Sysum chasing Rampage, but it opens up some interesting options either way.

PCW Road To Glory 2018 - Show 1

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.

PCW/CZW/WXW/Beyond Wrestling World Championship Show 3

Axel Dieter Jr vs Da Mack

I’ve been far more impressed with Dieter Jr in these shows so far, and that trend didn’t buck here. Didn’t buy that Da Mack had hurt ADJ enough to perform a stupid moonwalk into a penalty kick without ADJ trying to block it, as it occurred 30 seconds into the match, though the kick itself looked nasty. I did love Dieter Jr blocking a flying headscissors by just dumping Da Mack face first onto the mat midway through, and his running cross chop is great. It felt like another match where Da Mack was facing someone better than him, as highlighted by a shitty cutter he uses to catch an ADJ dive with. Most annoyingly, Dieter Jr had been targeting the arm of Da Mack earlier in the match, but it was Da Mack who got the win with a Fujiwara armbar from nowhere.

Danny Hope vs Dave Crist

Hope had injured himself in the afternoon show that day, and I assume it must have been pretty bad, as they just work this as a shitty comedy match. More to the point, they recreate the Goldberg/Lesnar match from Survivor Series the previous week. Only here, Hope hulks up at 2 and hits a big boot (complete with 360 sell from Crist) for a nearfall. Seconds later, Crist does a springboard armdrag into a cutter, slipping on the way, for the win. Understandable if Hope was hurt, but possibly would have been better to just sub him out?

Chris Dickinson vs Tracy Williams

Good little match. Liked the opening matwork, nothing too flashy, just felt like two guys trying their best to wear the other one down. Every hold looked like it would hurt. Wasn’t as keen when they got up and started exchanging strikes – Dickinson is substantially bigger than Williams and his blows looked far bigger, so Williams winning the exchange with a clothesline was hard to buy. Williams blocks a top rope superplex by dropping down and giving Dickinson a DDT on the top turnbuckle in a nice spot. Williams is really good here at timing his counters so they fit the match – when Dickinson is giving him mounted punches in the corner, he waits for Dickinson to yell to the crowd as his opening to counter. In the end though, they are very evenly matched, but Dickinson has the size advantage, and he picks up the win with a big spinning kick.

T-Bone vs Iestyn Rees

Dug the start, with Rees taking advantage of T-Bone taking his eye off the match and spearing him. This is quite a methodically paced power match, not especially exciting, though I did like T-Bone’s fallaway slam before Rees gets a sudden win with a kind of Jackhammer slam. Very brief.

Scarlet & Graves (Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier) vs Martin Kirby & Joey Hayes

This was a fun match, really enjoyed to start where both teams were isolating one guy and hitting some nice fluid double teams. Kirby and Hayes ending a Dream Sequence with an eyepoke was a nice touch. Wentz is singled out for Hayes and Kirby to work over, which allows Xavier to look terrific on the hot tag. He’s a very fluid wrestler, moves almost effortlessly, so it gives him a nice opportunity to showcase that. Loved Xavier slingshotting Kirby into a Wentz leaping double-stomp, it looked great. Wentz has a lot of success hitting some springboard moves, but goes to the well too often, getting caught in midair and spiked with a double team DDT to give Kirby and Hayes a win.

Jurn Simmons vs Dave Mastiff

This is the final of the Openweight tournament and is a real prick tease of a match. It starts out brilliantly, as Mastiff spoofs Simmons’s overblown entrance by playing air guitar to his own theme, then air drums, before finally recruiting audience members to bean air band for him. This infuriates Simmons, who complains to the ref, allowing Mastiff to sneak in, hit a German suplex and the corner cannonball….only for the ref not to count because the bell hasn’t rung. Simmons stalls outside, then blocks another German suplex with a low blow and hits a running kick to win. Really promised to be a great match, and ended up as nothing.

Joey Janela vs Keith Lee

This was really fun, both guys blended well as personalities as well as in ring. Janela has real goofy charisma that makes him really endearing to watch, but also leaves plausible openings for him to exploit in this match. At first, he’s getting totally overpowered by the massive Lee, failing with shoulderblocks and getting caught on a cannonball outside the ring. However, with Lee not expecting it, he’s able to turn that cannonball into a rana, sending Lee into the ringpost and giving him an opening to strike with two quick suicide dives. Lee is not just huge though, he’s also quick, and he stops a third dive by leaping into the ring and nailing a shoulderblock. Huge Samoan Jackhammer gets two, before Janela hits an unlikely Canadian Destroyer and a totally ridiculous DVD on Lee for a two count. While Joey plots his next move, Lee suddenly bursts up and nails a MASSIVE Spirit Bomb to win. Really great stuff.

The Hooligans vs Sha Samuels & Lionheart

Super spirited brawl here. Lionheart and Samuels jump the Hooligans outside the ring, but are soon under attack, with Zak Knight hurtling over the top rope towards them on a huge flip dive. The Hooligans are really fun, they’ve got an enjoyably reckless looking way of hurling themselves at their opponent, but not in a way that makes them look untrained. Love Roy nailing a top rope elbow whilst Samuels is prone on a chair. Zak coming off the top with a diving punch also look great. The heels weather the storm and steal a win as Lionheart grabs Zak’s leg on a suplex, causing Samuels to fall on top for the win.

AR Fox vs Bubblegum

This is the final of the cruiserweight tournament, and thankfully goes a bit longer than the openweight match. Thought this went just the right length, as they got to the point of kicking out of a few big moves by the end, but none that you’d call a definite finisher. They start with a little matwork, throwing in nice little touches like Bubblegum pushing at the knee of Fox with his feet to gain extra leverage on a wristlock escape. The kind of details that make it look like a struggle, rather than holds just being given up. Fox increases the tempo with an insane dive over the turnbuckles to the floor. The commentary plays up the fact that the two men had faced each other just 7days previously, so were aware of the moves the other might try. This is highlighted by Fox blocking a satellite DDT by Bubblegum, turning it into a brainbuster. Bubblegum hits a huge bulldog that Fox bumps huge for, and the 619 gets a nearfall. By the end, both guys are selling their fatigue, and this costs Bubblegum, as he takes a little too long going up top and gets caught with a split-legged Spanish Fly and a brainbuster to give Fox the victory. This was really good, great main event.

PCW/CZW/WXW/Beyond - World Wrestling Championships - Day 2 Afternoon Show

Second show from the Wrestling World Championships. Bit of a shorter show - I know the PCW day shows are sometimes known as the "hangover" shows after the Friday night drinking, which might explain this, but still a fun selection of matches.

Danny Hope vs Axel Dieter Jr

Shortened match, as Hope seems to legit injure himself early door. Dieter hits an uppercut as soon as the bell rings, but Hope lands awkwardly after taking a cross-chop to the throat, and the match is called off. An ominous start

Jurn Simmons vs T-Bone

Bit of a big lad sprint here, though not in the form of Simmons’ never-ending entrance. By way of contrast, T-Bone bursts to the ring in less than 10 seconds to kick this off.  This doesn’t go long, but see some nice big shots from both guys. Ultimately, this comes down to a battle of the finishers, with both guys using piledriver variations. T-Bone goes for one early, but Simmons reverses and hits his own for the win. Would have been up for a longer version of this.

Bubblegum vs Tracy Williams

This was a good step forward. Williams is terrific on the mat, but Bubblegum matches him early doors, chaining holds with Williams, which soon moves onto the two chaining pinfall attempts. I liked how this built up, with Williams slightly ahead on the mat, so Bubblegum starts to quicken the pace to swing things into his favour. Williams controls Gum with some big suplexes, but misses a corner charge after showing off. There’s a few awkward moments of miscommunication, but they’re soon forgotten with both guys hitting some nice sequences. Williams going from a brainbuster into a crossface looks killer, and I dug the finishing section, Bubblegum hitting a satellite DDT and the 619 to win.

Joey Janela, Dave Crist, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs Sha Samuels, Joey Hayes, Lionheart & Martin Kirby

This was just a big goofy match designed to warm up the crowd with comedy spots. Not much of a match to call, but there’s some enjoyable sequences – Xavier goes through a sluggish exchange with Kirby until he downs a can of Red Bull to re-energize himself. Janela works a section against an invisible man, just in case you weren’t sure how seriously to take this. The CZW team hits a nice dive series, and it all breaks down in the ring, before Crist nails Kirby with a diving stunner and Wentz hits a standing moonsault to win. Forgettable but enjoyable.

Da Mack vs AR Fox

This was fine, but I get the impression that Da Mack may not be my kind of wrestler. His dancing kicks still look goofy, and nothing he does convinces me it’s going to help him win a match – all looks a bit wimpy, despite Fox bumping about for him. He keeps going for these uppercut/palm strikes which never come close to connecting. Fox looked good though, loved the height he got on a big dive and his match winning fisherman’s buster was choice. Brief match, but that might well be for the best.

Iestyn Rees vs Keith Lee

Non-title match here, with Rees not defending the PCW title. Two big boys here, though Rees decides to stall a good chunk to kick this off. Lee is a force of nature, so I dug Rees’s use of cheapshots to seize control – nothing fancy, just not breaking cleanly and eye-gouges. Loved the massive slingshot crossbody Lee hits, such agility for a guy his size and it’s an impressive visual. Rees isn’t able to get the Alphalock on Lee and instead gets caught in this insane Samoan drop into a Jackhammer by Lee, which looks killer. This persuades Rees to take the count out loss. Felt like the first half of a good match, but it needed a better finish.

Dave Mastiff vs Chris Dickinson

Another pair of big lads, but they defy convention by having a clean, technical bout to start off. This is something both are surprisingly adept at, with Mastiff hooking out Dickinson’s ankles from the mat and locking in an impressive straight-jacket sleeper. Dickinson tries to cheap shot on a hand shake, which ups the match pace, but this doesn’t give him the control as Mastiff still dominates. Loved the enzuigiri that Dickinson hits, looked really impressive for a big guy and he gets great height on it. Despite his skulduggery, the crowd seem pretty pro-Dickinson, especially when he powers up Mastiff for a huge death valley driver. Ultimately though, Mastiff has the advantage in power and technique, as he rolls through a sunset flip attempt and locks in an unlikely sharpshooter to win. Enjoyed this.

PCW/CZW/WXW/Beyond - Wrestling World Championships Night 1

So, this is the first night of a 3-show tournament that PCW booked to replace their annual Supershows of Honor after differences with RoH. This involves WXW, CZW and Beyond wrestling, and has openweight and cruiserweight brackets. The line up of wrestlers is really good too, so it promises to be a good show

Da Mack vs Zachary Wentz

This is a WXW vs CZW match. Pretty decent opener, without setting the bar too high for the following matches. I wasn’t a big fan of Da Mack’s goofy dancing kicks, but he had some other strikes that looked a lot better. The opening matwork was a bit perfunctory, but it allowed Wentz to speed things up a bit to get a bit of personality over. Loved Wentz’s through-the-ropes codebreaker and handspring leaping knee, but the end was a bit weak, with Wentz going to the top to hit a diving nothing right into an RKO to give Da Mack the win.

Tracy Williams vs Martin Kirby

Beyond vs PCW. First time I’ve seen Williams, who I know is pretty hotly tipped. They work a really nice sequence of counters on the mat, which isn’t something you always see from Kirby, though he is capable of doing so. Williams is pretty slick on the mat though, and is always one step ahead. When they get off the mat, Kirby’s running shoulderblock in the corner looks typically great. I liked the way they built up to the strikes too, culminating in a big Williams clothesline that puts Kirby on his head. The end was pretty good, as Williams only gets 2 off an Emerald Frosion, so chains into a crossface right away to focus on the neck. Despite the best efforts of Kirby’s partner Joey Hayes to interfere, Williams is able to get the tap from a second crossface to win. Good stuff.

Axel Dieter Jr vs Bubblegum

WXW vs PCW. Was really impressed by Dieter Jr here. Loved his controlled armwork early on, making Bubblegum work to escape. Dieter catching a Bubblegum dive and hitting a European uppercut instead was pretty choice, and I loved how he had Gum in control in the corner, casually sauntering up with his arms behind his back. Just tremendous character stuff. Sliding diving elbow looked great, and Bubblegum also looks good on the comeback, with a top rope stomp looking good. I liked how the ending saw both guys upping the tempo, but both of them made their offensive openings by reversing the other’s move, not just randomly recovering from the last move hit on them. Bubblegum wins with a 619

Dave Crist vs Jurn Simmons

CZW vs WXW. Simmons takes a ridiculously long time to get to the ring – we’re talking Undertaker levels here – so Crist pump kicking him out of the ring as soon as the bell goes feels fair enough. Crist makes a rookie mistake by trying to chop Simmons against the ringpost, but only hurts himself when Jurn ducks. From there, it’s all one way traffic, and Simmons looks great throughout. Great looking power offence, with a power slam looking terrific and I loved him whipping Crist to the turnbuckle with real force. Crist seems to be a better seller than on offence, as a lot of his stuff looks sloppy here, but him taking a 360 bump from a Simmons shoulderblock is impressive. Simmons hits a big piledriver and wins a borderline squash.

Joey Janela vs Chris Dickinson

CZW vs Beyond. This is worked around Dickinson having a power advantage over Janela, and Janela having to work on a hit and hope basis. This is established early when Janela hits a cannonball from the apron, but Dickinson rolls through with it and hoists him up to powerbomb Joey on the apron. Janela manages to create some distance and dives on Dickinson from a balcony, as this is the only way he’s able to hurt him. When Dickinson does have Janela in his grasp, he does blitz him, with his kicks looking immense – his legs are nearly the size of Janela. Joey has to keep taking risks to try and stay in the match, but when they don’t pay off, he’s really in the shit. He sits Dickinson in a chair and goes for a top rope flip, but Dickinson moves and sends Joey ploughing through the chair. Janela is really winning the fans over here pretty much by killing himself. Joey does manage to hit a tilt-a-whirl tombstone, but gets caught by Dickinson and takes a face-planting version of a burning hammer on the apron. Janela kicks out, which makes him look amazing, but he’s basically out and a Dickinson lariat gives him the win. Really good bout here, with Dickinson looking unstoppable and Janela gutsy and fearless in defeat. Both guys left the bout looking great.

Dave Mastiff vs Keith Lee

PCW vs Beyond. These are two big boys here, but both guys who are able to move about. They work this really smartly, building up to the big spots. They exchange really thunderous looking blows early on, moving to running the ropes before Lee snaps off an impressive looking running rana. He makes the mistake of shit-talking though, and Mastiff whiplashes him into the ropes and hits the bathtub senton. What’s great is, both guys are agile enough to bump and make the other guy look immense, with Dave taking a huge powerbomb from the corner. Lee misses a moonsault and Mastiff hits a German suplex into the buckles and the Bastard Bomb for three. Enjoyed this.

T-Bone vs David Starr

PCW vs WXW. Starr plays the early stages as a smart-ass, outwrestling T-Bone and trying to make him look stupid. T-Bone responds by just beating him up. They brawl outside, and there’s a fun spot with Starr getting fans to hold T-Bone in place while he takes a run up, but by the time he reaches him, T-Bone is free and superkicks him. Starr hits this really cool looking DDT to the apron, with T-Bone draped over the ropes from the inside. Starr tries going to the top, but gets caught with a draping DDT and a tombstone for 3. This was fine.

The Hooligans & Danny Hope vs Sha Samuels, Lionheart & Iestyn Rees

Odd deal this. The vast majority of this is a big brawl on the outside of the ring that’s pretty entertaining, highlighted by a big suicide dive by Roy Knight. They take nearly 5 minutes to reach the ring, which is when Rees and Hope make it there. They have a brief sequence, ending with Hope trying his own version of the Alpha Lock, getting hit by a Rees low blow and Rees getting his own Alpha Lock for the anti-climactic win. Very strange.

AR Fox vs Dezmond Xavier

Beyond vs CZW. This is the final match of the night, and as such you get the sense that they’re going out to steal the show, especially as they aren’t exactly the biggest names of the evening. This is a full on spotfest, and those live and die on how good the spots are. Well, the spots here are really fucking nuts. Fox hits a huge inverted somersault to the floor that just looks nuts, and Xavier flies out with an insane handspring somersault. These guys both look like they’re actually trying to hurt each other, with a minimum of superfluous flipping, whilst still hitting some bonkers stuff. I could really have done without the piss-poor strike exchange in the middle, but that aside, this was really fun. Xavier escaping an RKO attempt by just slipping out looked great – it looked like he was going down, but his head slips out at the last moment. Fox gets the win with a brainbuster, which oddly means CZW have lost all four of their matches on the show, which is odd. This was a worthy main event though.

PCW/GFW Global Conflict 2016

This is a co-promoted Preston City Wrestling/Global Force Wrestling show, though only 3 Global Force guys wrestle on the show. Still, it's quite a fun line-up and a pretty decent show all in all...

Lionheart vs Kenny Williams

Williams is quite a gangly looking guy, and his offence doesn’t look like it could cause too much damage. I enjoyed Lionheart’s control here, as he’s prepared to use his size advantage to outman Williams. Loved him putting Williams on the top rope only to punch him in the face. Williams further disappoints me by taking a superkick flush in the face, only to hit a rebound lariat. Still, Lionheart looked good, with the end seeing him superkick Williams in the head on the top rope then absolutely plant him with a Rock Bottom for 3.

Joe Hendry vs Dave Rayne

There’s more time spent here on angle than match, but it served to get a debuting Hendry over, so it served a purpose. Hendry’s schtick sees him singing a lot (including coming out to his own version of “In The Air Tonight”, with lyrics referencing his own name) and promising to sing in lieu of his match with an injured Joey Hayes. This prompts Rayne out to face him, but first lead the crowd through a singalong of “Sweet Caroline”. Being a true heel, Hendry attacks Rayne from behind before he even gets to the chorus. This was brief, but Hendry was pretty solid. Loved his fallaway slam before he hits a dominator for the win.

Sonjay Dutt vs Bubblegum

This is for Dutt’s GFW Next Gen title, which is a huge belt. Some really nice matwork to start, with Bubblegum maybe a little ahead on points. The pace picks up, and Dutt nails a massive baseball slide dropkick. Dutt’s octopus stretch looks nasty. Bubblegum is good at fighting from underneath, but he doesn’t get a whole load of offence here, mainly limited to hitting some swank kicks on his comebacks. They botch a backslide, but that aside everything looked good here. Dutt picks up the win following a tornado DDT and a top rope splash, before attacking Gum after the bell to cement himself as heel. Maybe a little too one sided, but this was fun.

Johnny Moss vs Chris Dickinson

Two big muscle-bound lads here. Their similar looks (bald heads, black trunks, ripped torsos) see the crowd yell Mitchell brothers references, which must have baffled Dickinson. Enjoyed the opening matwork and roll ups, as both guys strength made it look like they could power the other one down for a win and hold them there. Moss looks great here, nasty elbow drop and a lovely capture suplex. Dickinson for his part has some great footwork, with his standing kicks to the torso thudding like logs into Moss. They trade rolling German suplexes at one point, which is the kind of thing I normally hate, but it works here, as both guys show the effects of being worn down, getting up slower and slower each time. The end sees Dickinson maybe getting up a bit too quickly from a tombstone (though Moss takes his time getting to the top rope)and hitting a top rope falcon arrow to win. Really good big man match.

Jeff Jarrett vs Noam Dar

The commentary points out that Jarrett is 48 to Dar’s 22, so it’s probably no surprise that Jarrett brings out a whole heap of schtick. Loads of stalling at the start with Karen Jarrett getting into arguments with fans. Jarrett hits a pair of armdrags, both followed by a strut, so predictably Dar follows with one of his own after his first piece of offence. Jarrett actually keeps up with Dar pretty well – normally in matches like this the younger wrestler has to noticeably hold back to not show up the veteran, but Jarrett still moves well. Plus, he’s also wise enough to fall back on a load of cheap moves, poking the eyes and choking behind the ref’s back to maintain control. Dar’s comeback offence is a little flurry of quick, crisp offence that looks nice, before they pay off the continued Karen interference by having her accidentally slap Jarrett instead of Dar. Dar locks in the Champagne Superkneebar, but more Karen distraction allows Sonjay Dutt to sneak in and nail Dar with his oversized belt for the Jarrett win. A masterclass in cheap heat and stalling by Jarrett.

Team Single vs Jack Baron & Jack Garvin

Team Single are supposed to be fighting the Hooligans, but an injury to Roy Knight means that they instead offer an open challenge, answered by two rookies from the PCW academy. There’s a big size difference, and I’ve seen plenty of matches where the big veterans just guzzle up the rookies, but Team Single give a surprising amount to the two Jacks. Baron and Garvin seem green but have the fundamentals down. They logically focus on T-Bone’s arm and use their speed to try and avoid Rampage, but Brown catches Baron in midair on a Poetry in Motion attempt, dropping him on Garvin. Despite a decent period of control on Baron, Team Single still let the rookies back in, as Baron hits a nice tilt-a-whirl DDT to tag out. It’s played up that Team Single have underestimed the rookies, but it still lets Baron and Garvin look good. The end sees T-Bone German suplex Baron into the corner, crotching a climbing Garvin on top. Brown hits a superplex on Baron, with T-Bone following with a top rope splash for three.

Sha Samuels vs Dave Mastiff

For Samuels’ PCW title. Love the start with Samuels getting into Mastiff’s face, and getting grabbed with two overhead suplexes. They fight in the crowd, including some stiff headbutts from Mastiff. The camera does lose them a bit as they brawl in the audience, before Samuels suddenly reappears, thrown through a load of chairs from the back of the room. Samuels takes control by ramming Mastiff into the ringpost 3 times, before locking on a sleeper in the ring. He makes the mistake of jawing with the crowd though, which lets Mastiff break free and hit two big German suplexes. He looks set to hit the cannonball, before 3 masked men come out, causing a distraction for Samuels to hit the match-winning low blow. This was good, but felt too short and we missed a chunk of the crowd fighting due to the camera losing them, but what we did see was fun.