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.

The Best of Mark Andrews: Fly Or Die Trying

So, this little gem I picked up last year from Mark Andrews' Big Cartel page, a collection of 5 of his best matches against 5 different opponents. I've always liked Andrews since the first time I saw him live (as mentioned later) and it's no surprise he's gone on to win British Bootcamp II- he combines really crisp, fluid high-flying with an innate charisma and likability, and this collection is a really fun watch.

Mark Andrews vs Pete Dunne

The first bout on the disc is from AIW in the US, where the crowd don’t know either guy. Thus, the match is almost like a sampler of what both guys can do. This means it also works well as an opening match on this comp, giving a flavour of what to expect from the following matches. Pete heels it up, giving the crowd the finger early on, and as the bigger guy he bullies Andrews a bit, hitting some nice suplexes and grounding Andrews by working over the arm. I liked the way he did some nasty joint manipulation, showcasing his nastier side. Andrews pops the crowd with a lovely standing 630 senton. Dunne hits his pumphandle DDT for two, before Andrews busts out a lovely flip dive and a springboard rana for two. A reverse rana is followed by a shooting star press for the win. The crowd is totally won over by the end, giving both guys a standing ovation. Really fun match.

Mark Andrews vs Zack Sabre Jr

From Triple X Wrestling. Regular readers (ha!) might remember this was top of the leaderboard in my "Top 10 Matches of 2013" list. However, there is always a disconnect of watching a match in person and watching it on DVD, so I was curious to see how it would hold up. In all honesty, I actually like it more on second viewing. At the time, I’d never seen Andrews wrestle before, but now, having seen him plenty of times, I can really appreciate the little things that he changed up specifically for this match. It starts with Sabre Jr totally schooling Andrews on the mat, viciously working over the arm and even hanging onto the arm from an Andrews armdrag to retain control. Zack throws in some nasty little touches, such as grinding his elbow into Andrews’ eye during a chinlock. Andrews is a great underdog and, after Sabre kicks his legs out during a brief offensive flurry, he realises he has to react as quickly as possible to any opening. Thus when he gets Zack outside the ring, he immediately follows with a big flip dive.  Normally, Andrews plays to the crowd before hitting a standing moonsault, but here he just doesn’t have the time, so hits it straight away and follows it with a swift double stomp. Sabre viciously kicks out Andrews legs on a springboard attempt and hits a vicious kick to the chest. Andrews tries a few kicks of his own, but this just seems to rile Sabre, who decks him with some nasty slaps to the face. 2 Dragon suplexes only get a two count on Andrews. Andrews downs Sabre and tries to put him away quickly with a 450, but Sabre is able to move and ties up both of Andrews’ arm to get the tapout victory. Absolutely love this match. Sabre, as the former champ and longtime ace of the promotion, dominated, but Andrews made the most of his openings and looked tough as nails in surviving the onslaught.

Mark Andrews vs Will Ospreay

This is a first round match from the Progress Natural Progression Series. Both guys are really crisp high-flyers, and pretty evenly match. I dug the initial matwork, before they start to speed things up. Ospreay hits a great dive, sliding under the ropes to barrel Andrews into the crowd. He hits a standing shooting star, before going back to the mat, trying to wear Andrews down. I loved the insane backflip into a tornado DDT by Andrews, really looked like a move that would catch the opponent totally by surprise. Both of them hits nice sequences of moves which flow nicely together, meaning they hit a few big moves in succession for more realistic pinfalls. Ospreay gets a really close fall off a top rope reverse rana, but, even though he lands on his feet on a missed 450, he gets caught by a beautiful springboard rana for the win.  

Mark Andrews vs Jonathan Gresham

Another Triple X bout. I’ve never seen Gresham before, so I was looking forward to this. Though shorter than Andrews, he’s stockier and here plays subtle heel. This lets Andrews work as underdog, which is where he really excels. Gresham takes an early powder from the ring after an Andrews onslaught, and has a noticeably more vicious streak when he comes back in. He whips Andrews into the turnbuckles with real velocity, hits a nasty elbow to Andrews’ face and really snaps him to the mat with a back suplex. Andrews buys himself a little time with a Bubba Bomb, and hits a really cool looking forward roll enzuigiri. They exchange pinfalls, which Gresham ends with a “Fuck you” and a big kick to the head. Andrews fires back with a tornado DDT, which he hits from a totally different angle to the Ospreay match, which gives it a real “from out of nowhere” vibe. Andrews nails the 450 splash, but is too hurt to cover straight away, only getting a two. Gresham plants Andrews with two German suplexes, then hits a deadlift straightjacket version for the pin. Really nicely worked  match, really enjoyed Gresham’s vicious streak.

Mark Andrews vs Paul Robinson

This is the final of the Progress Natural Progression Series. I really liked the fun matwork at the start, as they rolls through a series of armbar reversals. Robinson hit a great spinning headscissors with two full rotations. The commentary mentions Robinson has a kickboxing background to go with his highflying, and he’s got some really nice looking kicks. Robinson shows a more vicious side, clawing at Andrews’ face and hitting an elbow to the spine immediately as Andrews forces a submission break by grabbing the ropes. Nice dive to the outside by Andrews. I really love the fact Andrews has a few moves he hits standing variations of, as it creates a sense of mystery as he builds up to it- in earlier matches we’ve seen a 630 senton, but here he hits a great corkscrew moonsault from the same position. Robinson misses a top rope legdrop, which he gets insane elevation on, but he hits a great twisting top rope rana and spinning kick to the kidneys. Robinson misses a shooting star press, and Andrews hits this awesome top rope moonsault belly-to-belly suplex for the win.