Fight Club: PRO was back for night two of the DTTI and this time it was onto Manchester which was another sell out. This time out its a full DVD review as unfortunately I couldn't make this show, so don't expect any live notes from myself on this review. This show featured two big first round matches of the ongoing DTTI and another big Fight Club: PRO title match as defending champion Travis Banks took on former Progress champion and one half of the Rev Pro British tag team champions Mark Haskins. So let's get into the review itself shell we?
Dark Match: Drew Parker Vs Killian Jacobs This did not make the cut on the DVD. So I can't really tell you anything about it but it ended in a non contest. Winner: No Contest 2nd Dark Match Tag Team Match: Jimmy Havoc and Clint Margera Vs The Hunter Brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter) Another match that did not make the cut. Which I was a bit upset about. Clint Margera an FCP regular since its early days deserved to be showcased at least once on DTTI DVD but alas he wasn't. Personally felt bad for Clint as it was his birthday on the day of the show and that was probably why he got booked. Anyway the Hunter's won which makes sense as they were still alive in the DTTI at this point. Winners: The Hunter Brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter) Singles Match: Zack Sabre Jr Vs Angelico This was the official opener on the DVD and was actually rather good. Both men seemed to click and worked a tight solid little match together. I do enjoy seeing Zack in there against flyers he really knows how to work guys who like to leave their feet. Early on Zack worked over Angelico with a variety of submission holds including a headscissors, knee bars and arm bars. The crowd were super hot for Zack's offence as well. Angelico proved he was no slouch when it came to mat based offence as he went to work on Zack's knee with a variety of holds. Angelico continued the ground work by targeting Zack's arm but that didn't lead to much. Zack came back with a snapmare and rubbed his elbow into Angelico's face. Zack then began to work over Angelico's neck before the two then traded forearms and elbow smashes. Zack followed it up by stomping and standing on Angelico elbow and then hand. Zack continued to target Angelico's elbow then the South African made a comeback with a dragon screw leg whip and began to kick Zack over and over again in the back. Angelico targeted the knee again and applied a variation of an Indian death lock but Zack reached the ropes to break the hold. Angelico worked over Zack's knee some more which fired Sabre up to come back with a penalty kick. Zack went back to work on Angelico elbow by kicking him over and over again. Angelico came back with some more Eric Bischoff friendly roundhouse kicks then nailed Zack with a big roundhouse kick for a near fall. Angelico went for splash mountain but Zack countered it with a roll up and the two did a bunch of false finishes. Zack eventually went back to work on the elbow and kept trying to cinch in the arm bar but Angelico had enough in him to battle out of the hold. Zack slapped Angelico hard in the face and then the two traded slaps with one another. Sabre began to work over Angelico with elbow smashes in the corner and toyed with Angelico by kicking him while he was down which fired up the Lucha Underground regular. Angelico went for the mount splashmore again but Zack countered again with a headscissors take down but Angelico was able to reach the ropes. Angelico got in a knee bar but then Zack was able to reach the ropes. More trading of stiff strikes and then Angelico finally hit his mount splashmore (razors edge buckle Bomb) but only got a near fall. Angelico went up top and flew off but Zack caught him in a arm bar and Angelico was forced to tap out. Afterwards the two SPLX sponsored wrestlers shook hands and posed with the SPLX flag. Winner: Zack Sabre Jr Singles Match: 'Remorseless' Dan Moloney Vs 'White Lighting' Mark Andrews w/ Eddie Dennis It was time to see my favourite asshole DAN as he was going up against fellow BritWres WWE superstar 'White Lighting' Mark Andrews aka Mandrews for you TNA fans. Mark came out first on his own with his usual theme. He then went to the back and brought out Dennis to the Andrew WK theme but again the music stopped and when it returned it was Limp Bizkit's 'Rollin' playing. After a few minutes Eddie was on a bicycle with Andrews on the back of it. The Welsh badasses if you will! DAN had seen enough and attacked both members of FSU knocking them off the bike. The two brawled around ringside for a bit after that and then returned to the ring. Once there the two traded big moves as DAN got a near fall by giving Mark a gut buster onto the ring apron. Andrews battled back with a hurricanrana and a standing shooting star for a near fall. DAN then nailed mark with a big running knee smash for a two count. Andrews then nailed DAN with another hurricanrana for another near fall then out of nowhere DAN dropped Andrews with his electric chair sit down powerbomb to pick up the win. Short but sweet outing from these two which was more an enough for these two to do. It continued to push DAN and kept his winning streak alive as well. So didn't have as much as some people might have hoped who might complain it was two short blah blah. Winner: 'Remorseless' DAN Moloney Fight Club:Pro Title Match: Travis Banks (Champion) Vs Mark Haskins Up next was the big title match and a match I'm really looking forward to seeing. Early on the two lock Up and go back and forth trying to apply an arm bar. The two trade holds on the floor with Haskins and Banks both trying to get an arm bar on the other. Both men get up to applause as they square up to one another. Mark then takes down Travis with a arm bar but Travis reaches the ropes. Headlock by Travis but mark is able to battle out of the hold and nails Banks with a dropkick to the knees. Haskins works over Banks' knees with a dragon screw leg whip and stomps on Travis' knee over and over again. Haskins catches Travis with a big lift sending the Kiwi Buzzsaw to the outside and Mark dives out onto him. On the outside the two trade stiff strikes with one another then Travis kicks Haskins' head off with a big kick and does a dive of his own out onto Haskins. The two continue to fight on the outside and then both try to suplex the other on the ring apron. Eventually Mark hoists Travis up onto his shoulders and drills him with a DVD onto the ring apron. Mark rolls a dead Travis into the ring and covers him for a near fall. Mark stalks his pray and kicks Travis over and over again then gives him a snap suplex for a two count. Mark continues to work over the champ but he refuses to stay down. Mark goes for a back drop but Travis battle out. Mark sweeps the leg of Travis and applies a leg lock but then champion valiantly grabs the bottom rope to break the hold. The champion and challenger trade more strikes with one another then Travis hits his running cannonball splash to Haskins for a two count. The crowd is very much split still at this point of the match. Haskins hits a quick snap powerslam for a two count then applies a crossface but the Banks battles out of it. Haskins begins to go the Sabre route and stomp on Travis's arm over and over again. Both men nail the other with running knee smashes then Haskins drops banks with another DVD for another near fall. Banks then nails Haskins with a Michinoku driver for a near fall before going for the tridal kick but Haskins catches him in ankle lock. Banks counters it into a cross face but Haskins counters that into a arm bar. Banks then re-counters it back Into the crossface. Haskins battles out and applies his arm bar to Travis who works his way out of the hold to only get dropped with a cradle bomb by the challenger. Haskins covers Banks for another near fall and this time the challenger cannot believe his luck. Mark begins to get desperate and drops his knee into Travis' ribs over and over again then applies the sharpshooter to Banks but the champ battles out and rolls up Haskins for a near fall. Banks then nails Haskins with a tridal kick for another near fall. Travis then traps Haskins in the middle of the ring out of nowhere in another crossface and this time Haskins is forced to tap out. Afterwards Zack Sabre Jr. came out and squared up to Travis shoving his three belts in the face of the champ. This upset Travis and this crowd and the two began to trade elbows back and forth until Joel and shay came in to break it up. It was made official later on Twitter that the two would meet the next night in London with the Fight Club: PRO title on the line. Another quality contest from Travis that Easter weekend. This story was simple which was that Mark was clearly the favourite and had the edge over the less experienced champ but Travis overcame all the odds to beat the battle tested vet in Haskins. It's simple but effective story telling in my book and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. In fact that was the story Fight Club: PRO tried and successfully told with Travis that weekend. If you enjoy story telling with a bunch of near falls and big bumps then this match is for you. Winner: Travis Banks (And Still Fight Club:Pro Champion) DTTI First Round Tournament Match: Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) Vs #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos) Early on their is lots of hijinks with a towel, fans telling Lykos to shut up and both teams spitting water. After the hijinks they got down to doing Hunter and DX inspired poses. #CCK then had enough and attacked Trent and Tyler and the bell rang. After the comedy Trent and Tyler passed Lykos around in a vertical suplex then Tyler powerslammed his partner onto Lykos and then did the same to Brookes powerslamming him on top of Lykos. They tried to do the same with ring announcers but were cut off by Shay. #CCK did some sick double team moves including the assisted code breaker. Brookes gave Trent his sickening wet willy spot and Lykos then gave Trent a noogie. #CCK worked over Seven in their corner. Lykos went for a brain buster but Trent countered it into a small package for a two count. #CCK then went for double brain buster but Trent countered it by suplexing Lykos and Brookes. Trent tagged Tyler who cleared house. Tyler got a two count on Brookes after his dead lift German. Tyler then got cut off with a swinging ddt by Lykos. #CCK went for the assisted code breaker but Tyler caught him and threw Lykos back into Brookes who caught the shit wolf. Tyler then KO'd Lykos with a short punch and then did the same to Brookes who fell backwards while German suplexing Lykos at the same time. Tyler gave Brookes and Lykos the aeroplane spin/big swing at the same time then Trent gave Lykos a short piledriver but only got a two count as Chris broke up the pin. Brookes battled back with some roundhouse kicks and a dragon screw leg whip (this spot is being as over done as the reverse rana's and Canadian destroyer's from the previous evening). Anyway Tyler fired up and dropped both Lykos and Brookes with a double clothesline and all four men were out. Trent recovered and went up top and came off with a foot stomp to Lykos but he cut him off with a boot to Trent's face. #CCK then nailed Seven with the magic killer for a two as Bate broke that up. Tyler and Lykos exchanged big kicks and forearm smashes before Tyler unloaded on Lykos with punches dropping the shit wolf in the process. Brooke's returned and he and Lykos gave both Trent and Tyler a pair of superkicks. Trent then gave both #CCK members a German suplex at the same time and went for a dive to the outside but got cut off by Lykos. Back in the ring Lykos nailed Tyler with swinging DDT and went for another brain buster which Tyler countered with one of his own for a near fall. Trent and Tyler went for a devastation device but Lykos countered and spring boarded over the top rope and moonsaulted out onto Tyler. Back in the ring Brookes returned and nailed Trent with a big boot before going up top and Lykos joined him. Brooke's pushed Lykos off the top and he nailed Trent with a sloppy looking code breaker (but I'll forgive you Lykos) and held onto Trent. Brooke's then came off the top landing on top of Trent's back. Lykos then pinned Trent for the one, two and three and #CCK got the upset win over the favourites. Another really good outing between these four with a surprising finish. Actually that weekend I didn't expect that results and I'm sure that was what they were aiming for. This win really gave the rub to #CCK and would set them up nicely for the next night in London. Winners: #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos) Singles Match: Shane Strickland Vs Jack Evans Early on Jack cut a promo on Man City, Man Utd and the city of Manchester and to cut a long story short, Jack embraced Liverpool and got Zack Gibson levels of heat for this. Jack followed up all this Manchester bashing by singing You'll Never Walk Alone until Shane grabbed the microphone from him. Shane then challenged Jack to a dance off because why not? Jack did some insane break dance moves (like he's been doing for years), Shane followed it up with some pop and locking then Jack cut him off and the match began. Well this Match was what you'd expect it too be. It was a proper flippy do match. Psychology wise you could argue this match made no sense but then who cares when these guys can do these things as athletically gifted as these two can. After lots of spots you'd expect like dives, high flying moves etc they did something you wouldn't expect as Jack did a silly spot were he allowed fans to chop him. Obviously he's a tough guy if he's allowing marks to chop him. Jack followed this up with my favourite PWG spot involving him as he downed a punters drink and pretended to be shit faced. After some back and fourth spots, Shane nailed Jack with the roll through Os-cutter then a 450 splash and a double stomp to pick up the win. Winner: Shane Strickland MAIN EVENT DTTI First Round Tournament Match: The Bruiser Cats (Sami Callihan & Pete Dunne) Vs The Lucha Bros (Fenix & Penta El Zero M) It's now main event and the final match of the first round of the DTTI. Early on all four men brawl with one another as Fenix and Callihan work over one another in the ring. Dunne brawls on the outside with Penta. Back in the ring Dunne gives Penta a drop toe hold Into Fenix's groin. Penta then nails Dunne with a superkick sending the cat to the outside. Penta goes to work on Sami with a superkick. Sami comes back with a big European uppercut and works over Penta and Fenix. Both teams do some sick looking dives. The pick of the bunch was Fenix's sky twister press out onto everyone. Back on the outside all four men brawl around ringside. The Bruiser Cats run around ringside as Sami nails Penta with a big boot and Pete nails Fenix with an elbow smash. The crowd chant "meow" as Fenix and Penta have time to recover and nail the Cats with another pair of superkicks. Still on the outside the four continue to brawl as the crowd goes mental. Finally Fenix and Pete get back in the ring only for Pete to send Fenix to the outside. Penta comes in and the two trade chops then Pete nails Penta with a Canadian destroyer and a Pedigree for a near fall. Fenix hits Pete with a reverse rana for a near fall and Sami gives Fenix a tusion fusion for a two count. Callihan follows it up with a face wash but then gets cut off a second time with a big chop from Penta. Penta nails The Space Cat with a cradle bomb for a two count then the brothers double superkick both Pete and Sami for another near fall. All four men trade strikes including superkicks, forearm smashes, running knee smashes and big boots. Pete nails Fenix with the Bitter End out of nowhere for a near fall. Pete and Sami work over Fenix now and give him a version of the indytaker for another near fall. Sami and Pete continue to work over Fenix then they do the tower of doom spot. After no selling that Penta puts Pete in the package piledriver spot as Fenix goes up top. Penta holds Pete upside down as Fenix comes off with a double stomp and Penta drills Pete at the same time with a package piledriver for a near fall. Sami then rolls up Penta out of nowhere for a two count then Sami gets cut off with a superkick. Penta then grabs a groggy Sami and drills him with a package piledriver and Fenix then grabs Sami and drills him with a Canadian destroyer for the win. Afterwards Penta and Fenix cut a promo putting over the Bruiser Cats and all four men hug and shake hands. Sami then thanks the Lucha Bros and puts over Pete Dunne. All four men then go to raise each other's hands and out of nowhere Pete kicks Sami low and turns on him. Then after Sami recovers he challenges Pete to a six man no DQ match tomorrow night in London. To end the show Sami and the Lucha Lros hug. Penta and Fenix celebrate as we fade to black. This Match actually annoyed me in places. Yeah they went out there to have a really good match and delivered but like the previous night I had to question the selling and overkill of spots which were once finishers. It's a gripe I have about modern wrestling not others just mine so that hurt my opinion of this match. You would either love it or hate and I think I was in the middle when it came to this match. Winners: The Lucha Bros (Fenix & Penta El Zero M) Night two was nowhere as good a night one obviously and wasn't going to be to be now was it? I really enjoyed the whole card and thought it achieved three things: 1) Making the DTTI look important by letting one of the maybes headline the show. 2) Travis Banks' ongoing story and building of Travis's character in FCP. 3)The angle to set up Travis' title defence the next night against Zack Sabre Jr. I would add that this show was another solid outing for FCP that Easter weekend and had some really good matches on it and would be well worth a watch on DVD (available from fight club:pro page on Big Cartel) or from Fight Club: PRO's Vimeo account. So onto night three then and the final stop in the big Fight Club: PRO Easter weekend shows. @Billy_Jay83
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Billy Johnson25 years of watching graps Archives
December 2017
Categories |