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.

NYWC Draw The Line 2017

Blake Morris vs Tracy Williams

Strangely, this is probably my favourite match I’ve seen from either guy, even though I’ve seen them both working better opposition. Nice snug matwork to start, with a really competitive battle over a wristlock which shows a side to Morris that I hadn’t previously seen. Williams manages to get control, at first only in part but gradually maintaining control longer and longer. Morris gets a brief bit of respite by yanking Williams’ arm over the top rope, but makes the mistake of going for a sleeper on the mat. This is Williams’ domain and he’s soon able to take control again. Williams offence looks the best I’ve seen it, loved his back suplex and this is the first time I’ve bought him taking someone down with a clothesline due to the force he used. Morris has real great arsehole charisma, he’s really good at being unlikable and he has a sensible gameplan of using the ringside area to his advantage, throwing Williams into things. Morris gets the win after surviving a brainbuster and hitting a tombstone. Really enjoyed this.

The Punk Relics (Jaden Valo & Ugo) vs The Rep (Nate Carter & Dave McCall)

Really quick match, but it’s all action. Punk Relics started hot, until they got caught in the corners and hit with a Super Collider. The Rep look good bullying Ugo about, and Valo gets to come in again with a burst of quick offence before Ugo gets pinned with a two man flapjack. Goes only four minutes, but it’s a fun four minutes.

Bull James vs King Mega

Man, they’ve really not given Bull the best opponents to work in his title run – 55yr old Scott Norton, shitty comedy mode Joey Ryan and now the weakest worker on the NYWC roster. James manages to fend off being blindsided by Blake Morris, and Mega does the worst “charge and almost hit my partner in the corner by accident” spot, as James had already moved before Mega starts his ambling run. His punches are noticeably bad and James spends most of the match selling after Morris continues to interfere. James breaking a chokeslam with a headbutt was cool and James drags the match up to having a semi hot ending as they exchange and counter moves before Bull hits a pedigree to win.

The Big O vs Johnny Radke

Interesting stuff here, as Big O basically squashes the shit out of Radke hitting a massive clothesline and a big powerslam before a ref bump sees 6 men in black hoodies (I spotted the Punk Relics among them) come in and beat the crap out of Big O. Radke hits a superkick and get the win to pick up the Fusion title. Curious angle, feels like some commentary would have enhanced it, but I’m interested to see where it goes.

Bam Sullivan & Jeff Cannonball vs Stockade & G-Raver

Really loved this match. Some real big boys in here, with Stockade and Cannonball being legit super heavyweights (and the other two aren’t exactly cruiserweights). Cannonball uses his size to control early, until he gets sent outside by an unlikely flying armdrag by G-Raver, then hit by an even more unlikely suicide dive by Stockade. G-Raver hits a huge dive to the floor from the top and the faces do some nice double-teaming until Bam is able to send Stockade into G-Raver to take control. Enjoyed the heat on G-Raver, big boot into the face by Sullivan looked great. G-Raver doesn’t wrestle like you’d expect, doing a fair bit of high-flying despite looking like a generic death match worker, and he hits a nice Asai moonsault to Cannonball to break the control. Stockade is awesome as a hot tag, really like how he uses his size to his advantage, throwing his weight around to make everything have more impact. We get a melee, and G-Raver hits a good looking Swanton on Bam, only for Mouse to interfere with a barbed wire covered surfboard to give Sullivan the win. This was really great stuff, all four guys looked terrific.

Willow Nightingale vs Terra Calaway

Interesting to see Willow working from below here, as she’s the smaller wrestler for the first time. Calaway is obviously more used to her role in the match, as she’s in control early with a big legdrop and a nice sideslam early. She follows this with a big corner splash and the cannonball, and all her offence looks great. Nightingale has to hit and run for a change, getting in kicks to the head and a missile dropkick. Willow hits a sloppy looking backcracker and a nice second rope moonsault to win. Surprisingly brief, as Calaway seemed to yield pretty easily, but this was fun.

Benson Brothers vs Anthony LaCerra & Mike Verna

Interesting team of LaCerra and Verna, but they work well together, and the opening stages of this are nicely worked. Pretty even until Verna takes Brad Benson around the ring with his ever-impressive slingshot suplexes. This is a really great Verna performance, moving really quickly and all his control looks good. LaCerra hits a massive flip dive, just avoiding the barricades in a crazy spot. Talon interferes distracting Verna who gets rolled up for the win.

Benson Brothers vs Beer Belly Bandits (JT Kasin & Bo Pritchard)

This seems to come about with the Bandits challenging the Benson’s to an immediate match, and then jumping them with a battering ram on CJ when they accept (Kasin is wearing a metal helmet to add more oomph to the move). This doesn’t seem to be a heel turn, as the BBB even admit to being bandits just before the jump, seems like Guerrero-style cheekiness rather than heelish assault. This is very short, with Brad Benson being controlled before CJ recovers and hits a huge swinging side effect. Brad escapes a Magic Killer and rolls up JT to win. Too short to mean anything, but it gave the Bensons two wins on the bounce. The Bensons are becoming a really fun team to watch.

Aidan Baal vs Matt Tremont

This is a 10,000 thumbtack match. So great to see Tremont back in NYWC, he’s one of my favourite indy guys to watch. He’s just got this aura where he manages to enhance brawls with his presence. He’s got some of the best punches on the indies, even doing that bit where he checks his hand isn’t broken after the punch. Tremont lets Baal back into the match by spending too long getting the dustbin full of tacks and, whilst Tremont is able to duck a shot with a tack covered bat, Baal is able to block a sunset flip with a mean shot to the head. Tremont takes the first big bump into the tacks, getting dumped off the second turnbuckle as he tries climbing the ropes. Tremont hits a Samoan drop into the tacks, which sees him take as much of the puncturing as Baal. The ending nicely helps build the feud between the Extricated (Sullivan, Cannonball, Baal et al) and the Awakening (Stockade, G-Raver, Tremont) as both parties comes out and brawl on the outside. In the melee, Devon Moore comes out, cutters Baal and Tremont hits a DVD onto the tacks to win. The Awakening had lost a lot of matches in the build to this, so they needed the win, and Tremont was really kingsized in this. This really builds up the Psycho Circus match, can’t wait for that to get online.

Beyond Wrestling - Bye Bye Beautiful

Mike Verna & Ryan Galeone vs EYFBO (Mike Draztik & Angel Ortiz)

Fun opener here, really liked the heel team of Verna and Galeone. Though the smaller EYFBO hit a pair of dives to kick things off, the power of the heel team soon becomes apparent. Verna hurls an opponent off the top rope onto Galeone’s knee then shows off his power by hitting a slingshot suplex that sees him go around all four sides of the ring. Wasn’t so taken with EYFBO, some of their offence like a slingshot double stunner by Ortiz looked a little corny, but this goes along at a decent pace, albeit a bit too short before the heel team get disqualified thanks to Rex Lawless using a crutch as a weapon on the floor.

Martin Stone vs JT Dunn

This was slightly disappointing, I think maybe I expected a bit more from them. Quite liked the early mat work, with Stone controlling after working over the hand of Dunn. Some nasty digit manipulation and I liked some of the big blows both guys hit. The kicks of Dunn looked nasty and Stone hit some beautiful European uppercuts and a massive clothesline. What I didn’t like was the early pointless strike exchange, and a cutter by Dunn looks a bit sloppy. The end was also pretty poor, featuring a sequence where both guys hit a finisher (Tower of London for Stone, big elbow for Dunn) only for the other guy to kick out at one. Ridiculous shit. Dunn ends up winning with a roll up and a grab of the ropes.

Brandon Watts vs Zenshi

Hadn’t seen Zenshi before, and I’m still not sure how I felt about him. Some of his stuff looked pretty goofy, but he hit some unique high-flying offence that actually worked with the goofiness. Liked his flipping cannonball headbutt from the apron and the way he slipped out of a tornado DDT attempt looked great. Didn’t come off as rehearsed, Zenshi felt more like someone naturally flexible just sliding out of the move. Even a bottom rope 450, which sounds stupid, was really effective thanks to how Zenshi whipped himself into the move. For his part, Watts was reliably good, really liked his STO on the apron and how smoothly he caught a handspring into a backcracker. The end was nice too, as Zenshi tries a 630, misses but tries to roll through, only for Watts to pin him to the mat as he tries, getting the win.

Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb

Some absolutely hard hitting big boys here, and this match doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. The fun part was how well the early matwork was thrown in as Riddle and Dickinson tussle on the ground. Felt like the Steiners/MVC matches where you expected big blows from the off, but you got to see collegiate athletes showing their mat skills first. When we do get to the suplexes, the sheer size of these guys makes everything look impressive. It’s probably lucky for Riddle that his lovely rolling gutwrenches on Jaka get highlighted first, because the ease with which Cobb just hurls Jaka around is mindblowing. Dickinson and Jaka can’t compete with that, so they work some big strikes instead. Dickinson’s legs are like tree trunks, so his big kicks look and sound vicious. Riddle isn’t one to back down from a strike battle, and soon both Riddle and Dickinson have bright red chests. At one point, Riddle hits a series of chops to Dickinson’s chest that just sees a sheen of sweat fly off his body. The end run is pretty hot, but the Doom Patrol win through smarter tag team tactics, as Dickinson takes out Riddle with a bucklebomb, which leaves Cobb isolated for a high/low to give them the win. Really great match.

John Silver vs Zack Gibson

Really nice mix of characters here. Gibson’s pre-match promo sees him getting booed constantly, he’s barely audible. For his part, Silver is a little pocket rocket, and I love that after all Gibson’s big talk, Silver just blasts him at the bell, nearly picking up the win right away. Match was really nicely worked, with Gibson focusing heavily on the left arm of Silver in preparation for the Shankly Gates. The hammerlock slam on the apron was nasty looking. Silver peppers in a few nice comebacks, and something about his compact frame makes his strikes look more forceful. Superkick to a kneeling Gibson looks great, as does a pump kick, but Gibson always has the arm as an opening. Eventually, Silver hits a Batista Bomb (should be ridiculous from a guy so small, but he whips Gibson down with real force) and a knee to the head to win.

Travis Banks vs Tracy Williams

This was good, but not without flaws. For starters, I couldn’t tell if either guy was playing heel or not. Banks seems to be early on, going for a kick when offering a handshake and kicking Williams from a rope break, but after that he wrestles the match pretty straight with the crowd supporting him. Williams, as I’ve felt in previous matches, has strikes that don’t look particularly effective, but are sold as being on a par with Banks’, which look much stiffer. Banks hits a corner cannonball at speed that looks great. Williams applies a crossface that I initially thought looked sloppily loose, but when Banks rolls out to escape it, Williams is there to meet him and hook him into a piledriver, so it works. Banks ends up winning with the Slice of Heaven.

Donovan Dijak vs WALTER

This was a really interesting match, really well worked. This is Dijak’s last match for the promotion before heading to NXT, and he really takes a beating here. Despite his size, Dijak is the underdog throughout as WALTER just keeps on him like a bear. There’s one lovely spot where Dijak breaks a sleeper hold by making the ropes, but before he can turn around WALTER launches him with a big German suplex. Even though you suspect Dijak rarely works from beneath in matches, he’s really good at timing his hope spots, but he doesn’t get too many. The corner combo, as Dijak turns and levels WALTER with a series of shots including a rolling big boot, looks great, but soon his comebacks feel like they’ve got less and less behind them as WALTER wears him down. Dijak flipping out of a powerbomb attempt is super impressive, but he promptly eats a WALTER lariat. Even when Dijak gets to hit Feast Your Eyes, WALTER hits a massive clothesline as he falls to stop any momentum. In the end, Dijak uses his last scrap of energy to power up from a sleeper, hit a second Feast Your Eyes and barely win. Really great bout.

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.