Fight Club: PRO returned for its tenth show this year and their third show at the new WRESTLEHOUSE with a show called International Tekkers: Big Men, Big House. The show would be Fight Club: PRO's second biggest show this year drawing between 500 to 700 fans to a little warehouse in Wolverhampton. In fact, Fight Club: PRO had reconfigured the warehouse to fit more fans in.
This was my first experience of seeing this new venue up close and personal. It's a nice venue but it still didn't leave a much of an impression on me like the Fixxion. It will take time to grow on me but I like this venue but it's lacking that something special. This show Fight Club: PRO announced a huge main event as British Strong Style (WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) teamed up yet again to face Travis Banks, former ROH world champion, BOLA winner, former Super 8 winner, former multi time TNA X Division champion, PWG Champion and NWA Tag Team Champion Low-Ki along with another former ROH World Champion, former multi time ROH World Tag Team Champion, former multi time TNA Tag Team Champion, former PWG Tag Team Champion and former PWG Champion Davey Richards. Unfortunately, Dr Davey couldn't make the show due to him focusing more on his career as a paramedic so he was replaced by a man already booked on the card in 'Mr Athletic' Jeff Cobb. This was probably as big in some people's eyes when BSS faced The Elite at the DTTI Elite Friday show back in April. I myself really wanted to go and see Low-Ki wrestle as I hadn't seen him live since 1PW - Know Your Enemy in 2006. Ok so that was a lot of love directed at Low-Ki let's move on shall we with the actual review. This isn't like one of my normal DVD reviews. It's from a live perspective. So expect lots of mark out moments to make it onto this review. I can only apologise for this in advance. Anyway, let's get to the review already. As before every show Trent Seven came out and warmed up crowd with some jokes and then he was joined by Martin Zaki in the ring and they directed our attention to Twitter. It was announced on FCP's Twitter that British Strong Style would be facing Team Dragon Gate (Mochizuki, Eita and CIMA) and OI4K (Sami Callihan, Jake & Dave Crist) at the next double shot show (Project Mayhem) on September 22nd and 23rd. This made this reviewer very happy being a big Dragon Gate fan. Singles Match: Mark Andrews vs. Elijah Ring announcer Matt Richards-Taylor announced the opening contest would be between two Fight Club: PRO trainees. Out came Elijah who is a pretty talented guy already and from what I've seen of him in ATTACK, I was looking forward to watching him here. The next guy out was 'White Lighting' Mark Andrews, who was making his long awaited return to FCP. It was a joke this reviewer laughed at. Onto the match. Overall I can't say I remember too much from it if I'm honest. Elijah looked competent but there was nothing he did during the match that stood out to me. During the closing stages, Andrews attempted and failed to land his shooting star press which with each attempted was thwarted by Elijah. In the end, Andrews nailed Elijah with a Stundog Millionaire and the Shooting Star Press to pick up the win. Winner: Mark Andrews Singles Match: Mark Haskins vs. Kyle Fletcher This was by far the biggest and toughest match to date for the 19-year-old Aussie Arrow since his arrival onto the BritWres scene. He went up against former PROGRESS champion Mark Haskins. Throughout most of the match, Haskins targeted kyle's Arm but the young Aussie battled back and out of Haskins arm bar at every attempt. Haskins began to beat on the youngster but he battled back and showed his fighting spirit throughout by refusing to stay down from Haskins offence. Kyle fired up and battled back nailing Haskins with a number of big kicks for a series of near falls. Fletcher put up a good fight but couldn't overcome Haskins once he had him trapped in the sharpshooter, and was forced to tap out to the experienced pros devastating hold. This match told a simple but effective story and that is what I love about pro wrestling. Even though Fletcher tapped out clean he was made to look like a star on this night against Haskins. This match couldn't come any more highly recommended by myself once the DVD/VOD drops. Go out of your way to see it. Winner: Mark Haskins Triple Threat Match: Jordan Devlin vs. Mark Davis vs. Spud Jordan Devlin was out next he came out to mega heat and ran down the crowd for chanting at him about his big head. He even had senior official Joel Allen measure his head and Joel even said it was big. Once the comedy was out of the way Jordan called out the biggest man here tonight to come and face him one on one but he got something completely different as Spud came out and accepted Jordan's challenge. Devlin wasn't happy and called out another big man as he wasn't in the mood for beating up some rookie. Out came Mark Davis and we had a 3 way for our next match. Again this match was ok but nothing special. It featured lots of comedy but was more acceptable for this reviewer. Its place on the card was fine and wasn't designed to be anything other than filler. Young rookie sensation, Spud came close on several occasions to getting the pinfall but was out of luck. Davis did some cool power spots and Devlin had a tonne of heat as always. The finish saw Spud come close with a swinging DDT but Devlin kicked out at two. Davis entered and drilled Spud with his fucked up reverse DVD piledriver and covered him but Devlin broke up the count at two and threw Davis to the outside. Devlin then pinned spud for the three count. I hope Alex Shane was watching that young rookie Spud because I can't wait to see him in the FWA tearing it up with the likes of Doug Williams, Jodie Fleisch, Flash Barker, Hade Vansen and Johnny Storm! In all seriousness, I'm in love with this retro Spud gimmick. It certainly has a place in BritWres while TNA...I mean GFW, tries to figure out what it's doing with Spud. Winner: Jordan Devlin Tag Team Match: #CCK (Kid Lykos and Chris Brookes) vs. Extra Talent-ed (Aaron Solow and Ricky Starr) This was another #CCK match I didn't enjoy. My number one pick for the BritWres tag team of the first half of the year awards had another stinker. Yep, I said it. Hate me now on Twitter. Maybe it was because of Extra Talent-ed who I find have very little talent. They have go away heat with me similar to what X-Pac had in 2001. Remember Brookes and Lykos have been on a tear this year so far, but they've had some stinkers with DND in IPW: UK being at the one match that sticks out in this reviewers mind. This was one of them and I think people in the Starworks agreed thanks to gift of silence that was heard throughout the venue. Maybe it was the fact that it was a heel vs. heel match and it just didn't click. Maybe it was the fact most of the action was sloppy or maybe it was because both teams had no chemistry with one another even though both teams tried incredibly hard to put on a watchable contest. #CCK had very little heat which was unusual in Fight Club: PRO. Maybe at this point people just respect them so much they are not willing to boo them anymore even if I tried to get an "if you all hate Lykos clap your hands" chant going which went nowhere. Also, remember this, it was Brookes' first appearance with his newly won Fight Club: PRO title and people really seemed to praise that on Twitter and show love towards Brookes for his title win. It's not like I don't think he deserves it because I do. I pointed out in my last review why I felt it was wrong to have Brookes win the belt and I still believe it was a bad idea to have Brookes win the title. I hope at the next show they at least have a singles title defence lined up for him on the on August 25th or in London on August 26th. Anyway, rant over. The finish saw #CCK nail the incredibly annoying Starr with the assisted codebreaker to pick up the win. Afterwards, Jimmy Havoc and Clint Margera hit the ring. Havoc reminded us #CCK are the current CZW Tag Team champions and Havoc reminded us he had won CZW Tournament of Death. So he challenged #CCK to a Deathmatch at Project Mayhem with the titles on the line. Um ok then! Jimmy and Clint hit the bar and handed out shots to the punters while taking a few swigs for the working man. Winners: #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) Singles Match: Omari vs. Kieth Lee This was one of those matches that had a very satisfying ending to it and was very good as well. Early on Lee dominated the much smaller Omari with power moves and beat him down with clubbing blows. Omari was not to be kept down and kept making his comeback time and time again towards Lee. Omari wasn't staying down and Lee couldn't believe this young skinny lad's resiliency. Omari battled back even giving the big Lee a massive German Suplex and belly to belly. Omari was great in the role of the underdog babyface here and Lee played his role of big bad brute tremendously. Both men should be applauded for their hard work. Omari kicked out of Lee's massive moonsualt and battled back to finish off Lee with his O-Zone finisher to pick up the crowd pleasing win. While many who attended this show would probably say match of the night honours go to Fletcher and Haskins, in my opinion, this was match of the night simply for the reaction to the entire match. The crowd in the Starworks were 100% behind Omari in his biggest win to date. The reaction to the entire match was far louder than what Fletcher and Haskins were able to achieve. Omari has star written all over him and Fight Club: PRO can clearly see him as its next big star after big wins over Will Ospreay and now Keith Lee. I would hope Omari continues this year beating imports then next year put him in a long programme with either DAN Moloney or Pete Dunne. He's certainly deserved it and Fight Club: PRO's fan base and I treat this guy like the star that he is. Winner: Omari Barley Legal (Session Moth Martina & 'Stone Cold' Shay Purser) vs. The Worlds Cutest Tag Team (Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae) What can I say about this match other than I loved it? You're either going to love or hate it and I can say I loved every minute of it and it certainly lived up to the hype. I think the people in the Starworks agreed as they howled with laughter just like myself. Shay and Martina are a brilliant comedy double act and I hope both are here to stay in BritWres for a long time. I can't get enough of either of them. Early on, Shay refused to touch joeys penis but Martina was more than willing to touch the 'King of Dong Style's' pecker. Shay got protective of his woman and squared up to Ryan. I honestly can't remember much in the way of serious wrestling between the two teams, but then that was not what we had paid to see. In the end, Joey did his penis plex flipping both Shay and Martina but Martina battled back with a bronco buster for a near fall. Martina even busted out her own version of the penis plex doing a vag plex to Joey. The finish saw Candice drill both Shay and Martina to pick up the win for her and Joey. Afterwards, Shay was carried to the back and Martina did a sexy dance for some lucky stag in the crowd then out of nowhere DAN Moloney attacked Martina and left her lying to monstrous levels of heat for the man who has seen many things. Winners: The Worlds Cutest Tag Team (Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae) Main Event Six Man Tag: British Strong Style ('The Bruiserweight' Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) Vs 'The Kiwi Buzzsaw' Travis Banks, Low-Ki and 'Mr Athletic' Jeff Cobb This was the match that may have been the draw for some fans old and new to come and see as it was Low-Ki's first trip to the UK in a very long time. Early on all six worked with one another in the ring trying to get the upper hand. Then it all broke down into a massive brawl as all six men fought throughout the Starworks warehouse. The highlight of which was Trent Seven, hiding over in my row but I bet he didn't do that as he was stalked by some fans who were crying TRENT every few seconds while drunkenly falling over others to get to their hero. Trent made a quick retreat away from those fans. Back in the ring, BSS did its tribute to Triple H. Either love it or hate it, these spots genuinely work regardless of this reviewer starting to get sick to death of seeing it. Low-Ki was surprising here. He really could have phoned it in but chose not to by doing all of his signature spots including the shining wizard, tidal kick, double foot stomp and K-Krusher. The finish saw Banks mistime his Slice of Heaven and connect with Ki. BSS throw Banks to the outside and PETER drilled Ki with the Bitter End to pick up the win. Afterwards, Ki grabbed a microphone and basically said he teamed with some very talented performers tonight but next time he promised to bring his family with him to face BSS and added it would be with Homicide and Eddie Kingston (yes fucking please) against PETER, Tyler and Trent. Ki then got up in Travis Banks' face and the two seemed to have genuine heat with one another for the miscommunication which led to their downfall, but Jeff calmed the two down and both shook hands to end the show. It was a tease this reviewer is foaming at the mouth over. Overall it was decent main event. One I'm happy I got to see live and in person (take that Darren) and a match I want to see again on VOD because I thought it was great seeing it live but might, as usual, find some faults with it when watching it back. Winners: British Strong Style (The Bruiserweight Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) This was another solid show by Fight Club: PRO the Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Haskins match, Omari vs. Keith Lee, BSS vs. team Travis and Barely Legal vs the Worlds Cutest Tag Team all delivered as well as the other matches on the under card. This was a tremendous show to see live and can't wait to watch it back on VOD. I urge you the reader who hasn't checked out Fight Club: PRO before to go to their Vimeo channel and buy a show now or even a DVD from their Big Cartel store. It's worth the investment and time. Thanks again for reading my review. It's from a live perspective so it may be a little too jaded and will not read like my normal reviews. Thanks again and I'll finish as always with: see you at the matches! @Billy_Jay83
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Fight Club: PRO returned for its second show in its new WRESTLEHOUSE with the 'Stranger Than Fixxion'. The group promoted two big matches ahead of time as Fight Club: PRO champion Travis Banks would defend his title against former champion 'The Bruiserweight' Pete Dunne. Also scheduled was DTTI winners #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) taking on Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) going in I had high expectations so rather than going on and on, let's start the review she'll we.
The show opens as per usual going right into the action and the first match of the night is a singles match between to Aussies out of the Fight Club: PRO Dojo. Singles Match: Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Davis The show opened with Fight Club: PRO trainee/contenders/young lions match and this was a real hot opener. Davis is over from Queensland, Australia and is a 10-year pro while Kyle is a 2 plus year pro from Sydney Australia. Both men looked confident and didn't seem to show any nerves whatsoever. Davis and Fletcher did their big spots as soon as the bell rang and the crowd picked up on it almost immediately by reacting to the two young men's big spots. Fletcher got a near fall with an impressive looking Michinoku Driver while Davis got a near fall with a sit down powerbomb. Fletcher, who's incredibly young and still new to the business, looked really good in the closing stages and his striking ability is up there with Travis Banks. Davis has a tremendous upside as well as he seems to have a real presence about him in the ring. Davis got two more near falls with a DVD and another powerbomb then began to toy with a downed Fletcher which only fired up the young man. Fletcher hit some sort of fucked up Canadian destroyer then followed it up with a running big boot but didn't go for the pin. Then Davis battled back with another DVD and a pump handle Piledriver to pick up the win. Winner: Mark Davis Three Corner Tag Team Match: Wolfgang & BT Gunn vs. The Hunter Brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter) vs. Extra Talent-ed (Ricky Star & Aaron Solow) Solow and star cut a generic heel promo before the Hunter's are introduced, talking about how they paved the way for the UK guys in WWE because they were in CWC last summer. This crowd was supposed to boo the heels for that but laughed much like this reviewer. Early on, the Hunter's did some sick double team moves to Star and Solow. BT Gunn came in and kicked some ass for a bit along with Wolfgang. Then it got taken up a notch as all three teams battled back and forth. Again a match in Fight Club: PRO suffering from the legal man syndrome. Anyway, after more back and forth action which really wasn't anything special the Hunter's picked up the win over Solow with a Swanton Bomb. This match was really nothing special it existed to get these guys onto the card and it really wasn't needed if I'm honest but still a fun spot match. Winners: The Hunter Brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter) Singles Match: 'Remorseless' Dan Moloney vs. Clint Margera Dan comes out and starts pushing around announcer Matt Richards and referee Joel Allen and gets Matt to call him the "hardest mofo in Fight Club: PRO" and he doesn't care as he will fight anyone now and out comes Clint Margera. Clint mocks Dan and then says "If you're the hardest mofo in the room, then let's make this a no DQ match!" This was your typical Clint Margera match and I do enjoy a good Clint Margera walking brawl. He and Jimmy havoc are the best at it in this country. Both men brawled all over the new WRESTLEHOUSE knocking each other's head off of ring barricades, walls, onto people's chairs, into the top of the bar and basically anywhere in the building. Some of the action was missed as the two cameras set up couldn't capture the action so there were prolonged periods of the ring just being shown but then that happens a lot in indy wrestling and is nothing new. Finally, they get back into the ring and DAN introduces some chairs. Then both men trade strikes and nail one another with a pair of suplexes. Clint throws a chair at DAN then goes to drill him with a suplex off the top onto some unfolded chairs. Dan counters and puts Clint through them with his Worldstar finishing move to pick up the win. Afterwards, Dan gets the microphone and says some things and out comes the Session Moth Martina who begins to flirt and wiggle her hips in Dan's direction, of course, Dan nails Moth with a big right hand. Then 'Stone Cold' Shay Purser hits the ring and he goes toe-to-toe with Dan. I would assume the youngster was hitting the beers with his mates outside the Spar beforehand because he had grown some beer muscles to step up to Dan. Then session Moth and Shay work over Dan and give him a double stunner and a new tag team is born and I'm calling it now: these two are going to win the DTTI in 2018. Winner: 'Remorseless' Dan Moloney Four-Way Match: Will Ospreay vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Mark Haskins vs. Omari This was originally scheduled to be Haskins vs. Devlin then changed to a triple threat, then a four-way before the bell as Omari came out and held up his four signalling this was now a four-way. Early on all four men went back and forth which then lead to Will Ospreay's new spot where he gets some Stretch Armstrong like martial and flings it back into his operants first on the receiving end of this spot was Omari who got whipped in the head then Jordan who took it in the balls! Jordan looked annoyed by this new spot Ospreay is doing but it got a good reaction from this crowd. They then hit some dives which were to be expected in a match like this. Back in the ring, Haskins had Devlin trapped in a sharpshooter but Ospreay broke up the hold. Omari came close with an armbar but this time Devlin broke it up. All four men broke out a number of variations of kicks to one another as the crowd chanted Fight Club: PRO. Devlin nailed Haskins with a brainbuster for a near fall. Devlin took control of the action and worked over Omari to boos. Omari fired up and nailed Devlin with a big roundhouse kick for a near fall. Ospreay entered the ring and nailed Omari with a phenomenal forearm. Ospreay did a Spanish Fly and a sky twister press for a near fall on Devlin. Devlin countered the Os-Cutter into a German then Haskins returned and nailed Devlin with a DVD and took Ospreay down into a Sharpshooter. Omari was back in and kicked Haskins in the jaw. Ospreay worked over Omari with some kicks then Omari hit the big O to Ospreay to pick up the win. I think I would have enjoyed this flippy-do match more if I was there live but watching it back on DVD it kind of felt flat to me. Anyway, I'm overjoyed for Omari. He deserved this big win and he's only going to become more of a star with a clean pinfall win over Ospreay. Winner: Omari Women's Match: Kay Lee Ray Vs Millie Mckenzie I can't say I know too much about Millie but she was pretty much over the second she came out to the ring which was a good sign and as usual Kay Lee Ray was over because she's Kay Lee fucking Ray. Early on both girls exchanged some solid looking strikes. KLR then works over Millie with some chops but the youngster battled back with a hurricanrana and a dive out onto KLR. Millie gets a near fall off of those dives then KLR battles back with some solid looking forearm strikes. KLR no sells a number of Millie's strikes then removes her shirt and the two go back and forth with chops to each other's upper pectoral region. KLR follows it up with a suplex for a two count. KLR then has her Guerrero Bomb countered into a Code Red by Millie for another near fall. Millie looks impressive here with her strikes and selling. KLR and Millie do another strike exchange and then Millie nails KLR with a wheelbarrow smash for a near fall. KLR is making Millie look great here and that's her talents as a performer shining through. KLR battles back with her Guerrero Bomb for a near fall then KLR applies the Koji clutch and Millie is forced to tap out. This was a really good solid 10 minute plus encounter. Millie was made to look like a million bucks and I would argue she currently wasn't carried but she was lead to a good outing thanks to one of BritWres' better female grapplers. So far this has been my match of the night, I really enjoyed this one. Winner: Kay Lee Ray Fight Club: PRO Title Six Man Scramble Match: Travis Banks (Champion) vs. Trent Seven vs. 'The Bruiserweight' Pete Dunne vs. Kid Lykos vs. Tyler Bate vs. Chris Brookes So before we start the match review a little backstory. Before the show the announced main event and semi main event was Travis vs. Pete in a rematch from the First Female of Fight Club show back in March along with Moustache Mountain vs. #CCK earlier on in the show (which was not on the DVD here) Fight Club: PRO owner and brother of (nope I won't kill kayfabe) Martin Zaki revealed a new Fight Club: PRO title belt which he presented to champ Travis Banks. Anyway, this lead to Dunne, Bate, Brookes, Lykos and Seven hitting the ring and after some back and forth it was announced tonight's main event was now a six-way. It seems kind of odd they didn't add this to the DVD or VOD, but then who really cares? Early on BSS all join with one another as #CCK all come together and the crowd chants their respective favourite team now back and forth. Then all six go back and forth with one another eventually the Pete, Lykos, Banks and Bate spill to the outside as Brookes and Seven are left in the ring. The two trade chops then Brookes applies an Octopus stretch. Bate saves his partner then Lykos is in and both teams square off and nail each other with dropkicks. Seven and Brookes roll to the outside as Lykos and Bate are left in the ring. Bate marches around the ring then locks up with Lykos and does some fancy work with Lykos. The two do some cartwheels and show off as people call Lykos a "shit wolf". Lykos does a backflip and bate does one as well as the crowd chant "You got served!" at the Shit Wolf. Both then do it and out of nowhere, Pete enters and bites both Bate and Lykos' fingers. Finally, Banks and Dunne come face-to-face as the other four sneak around ringside not even pretending to sell. Eventually, all six men are in the ring and now I can't keep up. #CCK and BSS square off again then PETER goes around poking everyone in the eye. BSS do the Triple H water spitting gimmick and work over Travis as a trio. Lykos is in and he gives Bate a Spanish Fly. Banks dives out onto BSS and then Brookes and Lykos do the same. Trent does his best dive then Tyler leaps out onto #CCK at ringside. PETER goes up to the second rope and nails everyone with a moonsualt. Lykos then does another dive. Back in the ring, Lykos gets worked over by PETER. Brookes gives seven a twisting brainbuster then Bate hits Brookes with a Rock Bottom. Banks is back and he works over Bate and nails him with a German of his own. PETER is back and he drills Banks with a bitter end for a near fall. Dunne works over banks some more which only fires up the Kiwi Buzzsaw. Then all six battle back and fourth as PETER forearm smashes everyone. Bate does his big Nigel McGuiness lariat to Lykos then Lykos nails Dunne with a swinging DDT. Banks traded kicks with Bate and Seven then misses a dive to the outside onto Dunne. Travis does a Coast-to-Coast dropkick to Brookes before nailing Lykos with a Michinoku style cradle shock for another near fall. PETER comes in and low blows everyone - even poor old Joel Allen. Dunne drills banks with a Pedigree then former two-time Fight Club: PRO champion MK Mckinnan (the only two-time champ in history may I add?) jumps into the ring. Last time he appeared, he helped to cost PETER the championship. MK nails Dunne with a spin kick and dives out onto Dunne and Trent. Travis and Tyler come face to face and exchange slaps and forearms with one another. Brookes and Lykos return while Dunne and Trent have disappeared to the back with MK. Bate nails Lykos and Brookes with a pair of superkicks as #CCK have Bate all to themselves. Eventually, the numbers game catches up on Bate but he does a good job of battling #CCK. Trent Seven returns but Pete does not I would assume him and MK are off fighting in the back. Brookes hoists Lykos up onto his shoulders and flings Lykos off and Lykos nails Bate with the assisted code breaker/senton splash combo move Brookes and Lykos are so good at. They then point to Travis to nail Bate with a Tridal kick but as Travis comes off his #CCK brothers show their true colours and turn on him when Brooke's nails Banks with their cooking sheet. Another assisted Codebreaker senton splash by #CCK and Brookes covers banks for the one, two and three. Wow, the crowd comes unhinged as we have a new Fight Club: PRO champion and its Chris Brookes! Well, what do you say about a main event like that? Well, I didn't like it in fact. I felt it was worked far too much like a six man tornado tag for my liking rather than a scramble. I can appreciate Brookes getting his moment and winning the big one in Fight Club: PRO because, let's face it, no one has worked harder than him in that promotion in the last two years, but what really got me annoyed was the fact Travis lost the belt. It was too soon after such a long journey to the belt to take it off of him in my opinion. Now if Brookes is only holding the belt for a few months then yeah ok I get it but was it really time for Travis to lose the belt already in this reviewers opinion no It was not. I would argue all day that this was not the right time to have Travis lose the belt. Going forward it makes no sense to me why they did this title change as #CCK, the Brookes and Lykos team, have more of an upside as a unit. Why not create some sort of tag team title belt for them as they had won the DTTI recently? Brookes' hard work needed to be acknowledged but at the expense of Travis Banks losing the title who I would argue has been success as champion for Fight Club: PRO? Yes, the argument could be there is more money to be made in the chase but Fight Club: PRO have already told that story last year. This move makes no sense to me but I must admit I'm happy for Brookes getting the belt even if it's a caretaker reign. Anyway, rant over and feel free to argue with me over this at Twitter but I think I've made my point pretty clear on this. Winner: Chris Brookes (And NEW Fight Club: PRO Champion) Overall it was another easy watch as it totalled in at just under 2 hours. There were a lot of good matches on this show but nothing was really special in my opinion. I really enjoyed the KLR/Millie Mckenzie match as well as the four way (even though that under delivered for me). This wasn't Fight Club: PRO's best show this year by far, in fact, it may be the worst show of their's I've seen this year. That's not saying it wasn't good because it was and had its moments. It's just Fight Club: PRO have had so many great shows this year you kind of feel disappointed when they don't live up to their expectations. Anyway, head on over to Vimeo and buy this show or head on over to Fight Club: PRO big cartel and buy the DVD. Again thanks for reading my review and as always I'll finish with I'll see you at the matches. @Billy_Jay83 Fight Club: PRO returned after its majorly successful DTTI Easter weekend triple shot with the Fight Club: PRO Hangover show which would be taking place in FCP's new WRESTLEHOUSE, the Starworks Warehouse in Wolverhampton. After a year in the Fixxion in Wolverhampton, FCP had moved on to a bigger venue. But will it be a better venue? Only time will tell on that question. This show featured a huge FCP title match as champion Travis Banks defended his title against Trent Seven, ICW Women's champion Kay Lee Ray took on Stardom regular Kris Wolf in a special international challenge match and referee Shay Purser took on Martina the Session Moth in a fans bring the alcohol match.
It's right into the action as Joe Coffey's music hits for our opening contest of the evening. Singles Match: Wolfgang Vs Joe Coffey This was a fairly decent opener that did exactly what it needed to do and that was to get the crowd fired up for the rest of the card. Before the bell Wolfgang cut a mediocre promo on Coffey where nothing of importance was said in my opinion. It did what it needed to do though and that was get heat on himself. The match never really got going until they brawled on the outside and in the crowd. Joe forgot to sell his shoulder and knee which early on Wolfgang had worked over. It got sloppy in places between the two but they recovered for the ending sequence where The Regulator introduced some brass knucks and the two worked that spot well which ended with the babyface using the knucks against the heel. Wolfie came back nailing Coffey in the ribs with the knucks then rammed Joe's head into the steel on the top turnbuckle which had been removed earlier on by Wolfgang. Wolfie scored with the Swanton Bomb onto Joe for the one, two and three. Winner: Wolfgang International Woman's Match: Kris Wolf Vs Kay Lee Ray Another decent match but it was nothing special. My expectations were so high for this one that whatever they did, I probably would have felt they like they under delivered either way. I liked Kris' facial expressions and some of her spots but nothing she did here really stood out. Maybe it was the fact the two relied far too much on comedy here to get the match over. Early on Kay Lee Ray worked over Wolf's tail (which is apart of her attire). Kay Lee was solid as ever and you can only ask so much of her. They did some fun spots throughout where KLR wanted to do a test of strength but Wolf was too small to reach. So Kris went up to the second rope and challenged KLR to the test of strength however this time KLR couldn't reach of course and enlisted the help of former ICW Women's champion Viper who was conveniently sat in the front row. Viper laid down in front of the buckle and KLR stepped on her back to reach Wolf. After all of that Kris Wolf just arm dragged KLR to the mat. It certainly made this reviewer chuckle! Another fun spot was one where Wolf decided to hang onto the bars above the entrance way. She hang there like a child would on a jungle gym while KLR had a hard time wondering how to get Wolf down. She needn't worry as Wolf swung her legs up and locked KLR into a headscissors hurricanrana onto the floor. Wolf was protected here by getting to kick out of KLR Gory Bomb. KLR then applied a Koji Clutch and Wolf was forced to tap out. Winner: Kay Lee Ray Three Corner Tag Team Match: #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos) Vs Scarlet & Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) Vs The Hunters Brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter) #CCK brought out their ATTACK! Pro Wrestling tag team titles as well as Brookes bringing out his half of the Rev Pro tag titles. After the ring introductions the despicable #CCK spat water onto the then CZW Tag Team champions Scarlet & Graves. The Hunter's work over Brookes early on with sick fucking double team moves of their own. Then Dezmond spits some water of his own into Brookes' face. Unsurprisingly, Scarlet & Graves then show that they can do some sick tag team moves as well but then get cut off with a superkick by Brookes. Lykos is in and the fans chant at him, calling him a "shitty little wolf". Brookes is back and the crowd chant at him that he is a "wanker". Lykos works over Wentz in the corner with stomps then applies a chinlock. #CCK go for a double back drop to Wentz but he escapes and tags in Jim Hunter. The brothers nail Lykos with a back breaker leg drop combo for a two count. Brookes battles back and gets Jim all caught up in the middle rope so hoists up Lykos onto his shoulders and tosses Lykos off who comes down and catches Jim with a code breaker to the back of his head for a near fall. #CCK continue to work over Jim in their corner then Brookes does his wet willy spot which is still sickening (sort it out Chris). Lykos gives Jim a seated senton for a two count then goes back to the chin lock. Jim battles back but is unable to make the hot tag. Lykos goes for a brainbuster but it's countered into a small package by Jim for a two count. Lykos tries the move again but Hunter counters it again this time into a brainbuster of his own. Jim goes to tag his brother but Brookes knocks Lee off of the apron. Brookes then grabs Jim by the ankle and he's forced to tag in Dezmond Xavier who drills Brookes with a reverse Russian leg sweep and a punt which sends Chris to the outside. Lykos is in but he gets taken out by a running elbow smash delivered by both Wentz and Xavier. Wentz nails Lykos with a standing shooting star for a near fall then all six men battle on the outside. Wentz does an AJ Styles Flosberry Flop out onto the Hunter Brothers and #CCK. Dezmond Xavier follows it up with a handspring sky twister press out onto all of Scarlet & Graves' opponents. Back in the ring Scarlet & Graves nail Lykos with a back breaker double stomp combo for the nearest of near falls just broken up by Brookes. Brookes then eats a pair of superkicks beofre Lykos springboards up to the top and nails both Xavier and Wentz with a knee smash. The Hunter's are back and they nail Lykos with a double superkick. Dezmond pops back up and wipes out both Hunter's with a enziguri. The Hunter's give Dezmond a big swing dropkick combo move for another two count then Lee nails Dezmond with a BME for another near fall broken up by Brookes again. Brookes hoists up Wentz into position for the Ink Bomb as Lykos springboards off the top rope to nail the move which Zachary somehow kicked out of! Wentz fights back but gets cut off with a double superkick. The Hunter's are back but Jim is no match for #CCK or so they think as they go for the assisted codebreaker but Lee cuts them off by super kicking Lykos who falls into Brookes arms. Jim goes up top and goes for a sunset flip on Brookes as he holds onto Lykos. Brookes doesn't go over so Lee goes up top and comes off with a swinging neckbreaker to Brookes who sends Lykos half way across the ring. Wentz returns with a superkick to Jim while Lee battles it out with the CZW tag team champions but eats a superkick for his troubles. Then Dezmond assists Wentz with a damn fine looking moonsualt. Meanwhile Brookes hoists Lykos up onto his shoulders again and tosses him off and he nails Xavier with a codebreaker while landing on top of Wentz and one of the hunter brothers. Brookes then crashes down onto all four men with a senton for the win. Wow what can I say about that match other than it was damn good? Yeah I could argue they did too much blah, blah, blah. I could argue they went go overkill with all the near falls blah blah blah but I won't be. Why? You ask. Well it was because this match had me marking out throughout. It was great to see Dezmond Xavier in an FCP ring as I've been a big fan of his work in AAW in matches with Ricochet, Zack Sabre Jr. and others and hopefully I get to see him and Wentz at least once before they go back to the U.S. This was a genuinely fun indy match which everyone should go out of their way to see. Winners: #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos) Six Man Scramble Match: Jimmy Havoc Vs Jordan Devlin Vs Clint Margera Vs Eddie Dennis Vs Remorseless Dan Moloney Vs Angelico How do you follow a insane tag team match like that well with a wild six man scramble of course. This match was actually a lot of fun due to the fact it wasn't like your conventional six way with dives and lots of insane spots. No they decided to have an all out brawl but then would you expect anything less when the match had Jimmy havoc and Clint Margera in it. They did a long brawl spot over by the bar where it ended with that "shit Finn Bálor" Jordan Devlin being back dropped onto the bar by Jimmy havoc. Back in the ring and after all the brawling all six men worked with one another while the other patiently waited (selling) on the mat. Dan as always was incredibly over here. In fact all six were over but Dan seemed to be the most over out of all of them but then that is what a prolonged push will do for you. Then you would expect Dan to pick up the win wouldn't you? Surprisingly he didn't as Jordan Devlin went over clean by nailing Angelico with a package piledriver to pick up the win. Winner: Jordan Devlin Fans Bring The Alcohol Match: Shay Purser Vs The Session Moth Martina Up next was the match I was most looking forward. No seriously this was the match I was most looking forward to. Why you ask dear reader? Well it's simple. Who doesn't find either of these two entertaining? You'd have to not be alive not to find either of these two entertaining and with the stipulation like that how could not be sports entertained? The second Shay came out to Stone Cold's Disturbed theme, you knew shit was about to get real. After the ring introductions, Session Moth did her best Marilyn Monroe impression by singing Happy Birthday to Shay and then ended up by grabbing the naughty boys pecker. Shay wasn't fazed. Which would have been hard (expect plenty of double innuendos here) for any other teenager. Shay then spat his water into Martina's face and she fired up and unloaded onto shay (Yep, I just wrote that). Shay went for a sunset flip and i let out a whelp as Martina sat on his face literally. I was beginning to feel sorry for the snot nosed little punk by now, but then I said to myself well it is Shay and he does deserve it. Martina pulled out a beer from her tights and poured it down shays throat. Shay then fired up and downed the beer. This didn't sit well with Martina who grabbed the beer back from him and took a swig. Shay got angry and decked Martina so he could finish the beer. He grabbed beers from punters at ringside and took a swig for the working man. Martina and Shay then battled back and fourth on the outside while punters gave them their beers. Shay then popped a balloon over Martina's head and the two then exchanged strikes and I use that term loosely on the outside while fighting over who got to drink a beer from the punters at ringside. Martina grabbed a super soaker full of alcohol and went to spray Shay but ended up spraying it into her own mouth obviously. Shay grabbed it and sprayed it into his mouth and the Moth nailed him with it. Both Session Moth and Shay traded chops while taking swigs from their Carlsberg tins. Both acted half cut as they tried to trade chops. Martina hit a alcohol fuelled clothes line and both fell into one another. Shay then grabbed Martina and kissed her while Moth followed it up with a bronco buster to the lucky young lad. Shay liked what happened to him and gave Martina a bronco buster of his own. Joel Allen must be applauded for being able to keep a straight face during these bronco buster spots. A lesser man would have broken character. Shay acted as if he had a boner and sold it while Martina grabbed a condom and applied the Mr Cocko. Shay countered with a stunner and pinned Martina for the one, two and three. Afterwards shay revived Martina with a beer as both celebrated like Stone Cold. I seriously loved this match and had a good laugh reading back through the review I wrote for it. If you don't take wrestling seriously and enjoy a little...I mean a lot of comedy in your matches, then you'll love this match. Seriously I would put this in my match of the year candidates at the end of year by the amount of enjoyment I had from watching it. I've watched it three times and laughed my ass off every time! Winner: Shay Purser MAIN EVENT Fight Club:Pro Title Match: Travis Banks (Champion) Vs Trent Seven Early on both men went to shake hands but Trent Seven swerved and turned on Travis and slapped him directly in the face. Both men traded strikes in and out of the ring and even battled on the outside and Trent did his chopping of the ring post spot and they even ended up taking the fight into the crowd at one point. Back in the ring Trent went to work on Travis. He came close with a Dragon Suplex and piledriver for a near fall on the champ. Trent worked over Banks some more with stiff forearm strikes and a German suplex. Trent nailed Travis again with a German but the champ popped back up and gave Trent a stiff looking lariat. Both beat the hell out one another in the middle of the ring with strikes and Trent got a near fall on the champion with the seven stars lariat. Travis came back with a big sit down powerbomb for a nearfall and then pulled Trent testicles first into the ring post. Travis went up top and dropped down with a double foot stomp to the prone challenger. Banks then scored with an RVD esque Coast-to-Coast dropkick for another near fall. Trent then spiked the champ with a piledriver from the middle rope for the nearest of near falls. Trent then hit Banks with a reverse DVD and a lariat for another near fall. The champ was running on empty but he was about to get his second or third wind. Trent couldn't believe his luck and began to kick the champ in the head and back. Trent spiked Travis again with a piledriver but the champ no sold it and was back up quicker than Hawk. Trent was in shock so he gave Travis another dragon suplex but again the champ no sold it better than HBK did a Hulk Hogan big boot. The crowd was on fire and Travis sensed victory. Travis leapfrogged up to the top rope and came off with a big tridal kick. Travis then gave Trent a Michinoku driver to pick up the win. Another strong main event outing from travis and let's face it, he was in there with one of FCP's better big match wrestlers in Trent seven. The strong booking of their champion Travis Banks continues and I for one could not be happier. Winner: Travis Banks (And Still FCP Champion) Overall this was another solid show from Fight Club: PRO that delivered where it mattered in the matches that mattered. The main event was your blow away wrestling match loaded with big spots, big bumps and crazy near falls. The tag team match was full of sick fucking double team moves that only #CCK, Scarlet & Graves and The Hunter's can do better than anybody. The comedy match was so much fun and couldn't come anymore highly recommended by this reviewer. As for the six man scramble and two under card matches, they were solid and not over excessively sloppy like you get on some cards in BritWres. So they were decent but only really passable at best. As for the new WRESTLEHOUSE, I must admit I like it. It's a venue that will take time to grow on me. It's currently not the Fixxion or the Planet in terms of a venue I've instantly fallen in love with but it's still a nice venue and one I can't wait to visit myself. This show is well worth the ten pounds I paid for it from Fight Club:PRO's big cartel website and is a steal on Vimeo for only eight pounds, so go give it a watch you really won't be disappointed. @Billy_Jay83 Thankfully rather than a full on DVD review this one features a live and DVD retrospective as I was there this time on my own but it was an excellent afternoon out at the graps yet again courtesy of Fight Club: PRO. This show was just as stacked as the Manchester show as it featured the semi finals and finals of the DTTI and another big Fight Club: PRO title defence as Travis Banks took on PWG, Evolve and Rev Pro Champion Zack Sabre Jr aka Zacky three belts.
Five Way Match: Omari Vs Chuck Mambo Vs Splits Mcpins Vs InstaGraham Vs Killian Jacobs This was a decent dark match that did the job in getting the crowd warmed up and ready to go for the main show. It was nice to see Chuck Mambo on the show having seen him most of the weekend working as part of the ring crew. Chuck was over here as well but I did notice a few PROGRESS hoodies, caps and tees and as he predominantly works there it would make sense he was so over with this crowd. Splits Mcpins is one of my favourite gimmick wrestlers. So I was happy to see him back in Fight Club: PRO. Omari, who FCP see big things for, went over clean with his O zone. Unfortunately this match being a dark match did not make it onto the DVD which is a same because it was a genuinely hot opener. Winner: Omari It's your usual DVD open as its a long shot of the crowd as some familiar music hits and out come British Strong Style. Six Man Tag: British Strong Style (Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Pete Dunne) Vs 'The Villain' Marty Scurll, Jimmy Havoc and Sami Callihan BSS come out to Triple H 2000 theme and all three are about to do the water spit spot when Jim Smallman's music hits...I mean Sami Callihan's music hits and he comes out he is joined by his mystery partners who are 'The Villain' Marty Scurll and 'The King of the Goths' Jimmy Havoc. Havoc, Callihan and Scurll all hit the ring, the bell sounds and all six men brawl. Trent, Tyler, Havoc and Sami all go to the outside as PETER and Marty battle it out in the ring. Pete drops Marty with an enziguri and Sami is in who drops Pete with a big clothesline. Trent nails Sami with his cricket chop then Jimmy enters and he nails Trent with a big lariat. Tyler and Jimmy go back and forth and Tyler drops Jimmy with a German. Marty is in and he gives Tyler a back and chest rake before the two brawl to the outside then Trent, Sami, Tyler and PETER all do dives to the outside. Trent does his Chop to the post spot missing Sami in the process. While Jimmy, Marty, Tyler and Pete brawl. Marty mocks the ten count then Sami, Jimmy and Marty do the run around the ring and face wash their opponents. Marty then used a small child and throws him into Trent. Seven then chops the post again as all six men continue to brawl as BSS then get the upper hand and finally do the Triple H water spitting spot. Then they try to take aim at the babyfaces but all three get umbrellas up to block the water and nail all three BSS members with their respective umbrellas. Marty inserts the umbrella in a place the sun does not shine. After the madness Pete nails Sami with an X-Plex then Jimmy gives both Tyler and Pete an Acid Rainmaker. Big boot by Sami to Trent then Marty does the superkick...just kidding spot. Tyler then gives Jimmy a deadlift German and a standing shooting star for a near fall. Marty teases the chicken wing but Tyler blocks it. Scurll then snaps Tyler fingers and Sami hoists up Tyler into a tombstone while Marty and Jimmy jump from the middle rope and Sami drops Tyler with the indy taker for a near fall which was just broken up by Pete and Trent nailing Sami with a pair of umbrellas. Then all three babyfaces do the superkick...just kidding spot and all three tease a Chicken Wing but BSS cut them off with a low blow and drill all three with a Pedigree for the win. Afterwards all six did an entertaining promo dropping in as many references to other wrestling promotions they could. Then all six shook hands then Jimmy, Sami and Marty kicked BSS low and BSS did the same back to them. This all lead to all six raising each other's hands for some strange reason. This was a very strong opener and was probably better watching it live than on DVD. From a live point of view I really got sucked into the action and popped for every big spot but watching it back on DVD I felt they did far too much and too much was going on for to really take in what was happening. Winners: British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) DTTI 1st Semi Final Tournament Match: #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos) vs Hunter Brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter) This was a fun match which was worked well between the ropes and featured some very solid action. The crowd and myself ate up spots involving Lykos and the heat he got was insane at times. He seemed to be the most over man in the match in my opinion. Lots of people told him to "shut up" and chanted "Lykos is a shit wolf!" "if you all hate Lykos clap your hands!" as well as my favourite "na na na na na shit wolf!" (basically the Beatles Hey Jude). Brookes, Lykos and The Hunters were on top of their game here transitioning from spot to spot flawlessly. Their was some tremendous looking double team moves as well but then you wouldn't expect anything less from these four when it came to sick double team moves. The finish saw #CCK hit the assisted code breaker and seated senton to pick up the win. Winners: #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) DTTI 2nd Semi Final Tournament Match: Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero M & Fenix) Vs FSU (Eddie Dennis&Mark Andrews) The next DTTI semifinal was of course another good outing. Their was Some nice exchanges between all four men and I was really hyped live to see what Andrews and Fenix could do together and it was only a little tease but I really want to see a BritWres promoter book a one on one match between these two as I only got a little taster here and from what I saw I want to see more please! There was also a run in from Eddie Mysterio and I haven't seen that guy in a while. Eddie Mysterio never fails to entertain me and I bet Penta and Fenix got a kick out of it like myself and the crowd did. I suppose I had one gripe again and that was the over use of the Canadian Destroyer which reared its ugly head in this match as it was used three times and not once was it sold properly but then that happened all Easter weekend. After lots of back and forth and the over use of Canadian Destroyer and package piledriver for that matter were out of the way Penta and Fenix nailed Eddie with the package Piledriver double stomp combo to pick up the win. Winners: Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero M & Fenix) Fight Club:PRO Title Match: Travis Banks (Champion) Vs Zack Sabre Jr During the introductions both men are staring a hole into one another then square up to one another before the bell. When the bell rings both men grapple with one another on the mat trying to get an advantage over the other. Both men lock up and go down to the mat to work over the other. Both men stand up to applause from the crowd. They then go into a test of strength but Zack counters into a elbow lock. Zack takes down Travis and goes for a knee bar but Travis reaches the ropes. Zack works a headlock which Banks powers out of it and sends Zack Into the ropes and leapfrogs over Zack and goes for a buzzsaw kick but Zack gets out of the way. Both men trade stiff forearms and elbow shots and then Travis works over Sabre in the corner. A respectful hush falls over the crowd as they intently watch the action, much like a Japanese crowd. Both men trade chops then Zack gives Travis a single leg take down and applies a single leg crab. Travis again reaches the ropes to break the hold. Zack is called a tease unionist by someone in the crowd which even pops him. The challenger applies a headscissors and begins to work over Travis' ankle. Both men again trade forearm and elbow smashes then Travis drills Zack with a German. Both men again battle back and fourth and then Travis does his cannonball onto Zack in the corner. Sabre comes back with a kick to Travis' knee and then a penalty kick for a near fall. Zack goes for an armbar but Travis again reaches the ropes. Travis takes down Zack with a front face slam but Zack rolls through and has the arm bar back on. This time Travis escapes the hold. Banks comes back with a buzzsaw kick but then Zack comes back with another penalty kick and a sit down powerbomb for a near fall. Zack connects with a third penalty kick but from out of nowhere Travis nails his challenger with a cradle powerbomb for a near fall. Zack counters a bridging Suplex into an arm bar but again Travis battles out this time with a powerbomb. Both men stare at the other and while sitting down open hand slap the shit out of one another! Zack resorts to stomping on Travis over and we again. Travis battles back with a lariat for a one count to utter bewilderment of Travis who then counters a penalty kick and nails Zack with a tridal kick and applies the crossface and Zack is forced to tap out. Another really good outing by Travis and by both men who brought there a game. I was shocked that Travis won by tap out as well but then Zack has always been known to do what's right for business. In fact I would say it was by far my favourite match from Travis Banks that Easter weekend and that includes his tag match on the Thursday in Rev Pro and his outing in Lucha Forever against Shane Strickland. Winner: Travis Banks (And Still Fight Club:PRO Champion) Intermission Thankfully this intermission was much shorter than the Wolverhampton intermission. It was brisk only going 20 minutes or so. Giving me enough time to get a beer and look at the quality merch on sale upstairs. Triple Threat Match: Shane Strickland Vs Mark Haskins Vs Angelico What is the best way to get the crowd back up after a intermission? Well the answer is obvious. Give them a three way which was spot heavy, contained a shit load of dives, sickening bumps and all your usual tricks to get the crowd fired back up and Fight Club: PRO couldn't have chosen three better men to do it. Strickland looked the best he had all Easter weekend here (note his match the next day with Travis Banks at Lucha Forever was by far his best match on these shores and proved to this reviewer he can do a lot more than spot heavy multi man matches), Angelico excels in these types of matches and Haskins is such a solid performer. He can do these types of matches in his sleep. Yes in my opinion there no one more well rounded than him in BritWres at the moment. In fact it was no surprise Haskins went over clean with his arm bar yet again and Strickland was the man who was forced to tap out this time. Winner: Mark Haskins Singles Match: Will Ospreay Vs Jack Evans This was a surprise addition to the card basically the entire show had a mystery vortex fill it with no matches expect the DTTI matches, BSS v Callihan and two mystery partners and the FCP title match being announced ahead of time and what a surprise it was. I was actually quite hyped when Jack Evans came out and insulted Vicky Haskins and Will Ospreay. Being a big fan of Jack's style for almost a decade, I was pretty hyped to see this match. It was a dream match for me personally and the moment Jack started to talk shit about Will I was already marking out at the prospect of what these two could do with one another in that ring. After the trash talk Will sneaked out and then Jack began to back paddle on his comments. After lots of back and fourth early on. Vicky even got in on the action chopping Jack for insulting her earlier on. But something was off about this match maybe it was the fact I expected so much from these two that I was going to feel short changed after watching this even though it was a solid match. After going through their usual spots it all lead to Jack getting in the face of referee Shay Purser. TThey teased a confrontation then Shay unloaded on Jack which sent the crowd crazy. Shay nailed Jack with a twist fate then missed a swanton bomb but Jack didn't move when will caught him in mid ring off of a spring board with a Oscutter to pick up the win. That finish was something different and this crowd and reviewer ate it up! Afterwards an upset Jack challenged Will to a dance off and the DJ hit the Uptown Funkers tune and the dance off was underway. After the two served one another with some fancy break dancing moves. Will then went and grabbed the locker room who all came out to partake in a conga line around the ring. Also some fans got in on the act to end this crazy dance off! Winner: Will Ospreay MAIN EVENT DTTI Final Tournament Match: Lucha Bros (Fenix & Penta El Zero M) Vs #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos) Brookes came out throwing his water and spitting everywhere and boy do I hate this guy for getting me soaking wet as I wasn't paying attention as I was Tweeting results on @BritWresReview. I guess that will teach me won't it! To start out the match both teams square up to one another then out of nowhere #CCK throw powder into the eyes of Penta and Fenix. Brookes and Lykos then hit the ropes and run into a pair of superkicks by the brothers and it sends #CCK to the outside. Back in the ring, Penta works over Brookes while Fenix works over Lykos. Next Fenix nails Brookes with another pair of superkicks then hits a rolling thunder to Brookes. More double team by the Lucha Brothers who drill Lykos with a wheelbarrow code breaker. Lykos comes back with a Spanish Fly and then Magic Killer by #CCK to Fenix. Penta is back and he walks into a swinging DDT by Lykos. Brookes hoists his partner up into a powerbomb position and Lykos moonsualts off of Brookes down onto Penta for a two count. Lykos then does a sky twister press out onto the Lucha Brothers. Back in the ring Fenix ties Lykos in the tree of woe and Penta German suplexes his brother into Lykos. Brookes tosses Fenix to the outside and then drills Penta with a springboard cutter for a two count. Fenix returns with a superkick and a spin kick in the corner to Brookes for a two count. Lykos and Fenix trade elbow and forearm smashes in the middle of the ring. Then Lykos scores with a dragonrana for a two count. Penta returns and superkicks Lykos. Mondai mocks Penta and gets drilled with another superkick and package piledriver but Brookes just breaks up the fall at two. Enziguri by Fenix to Brookes then Penta nails Lykos with a Canadian Destroyer onto the ring apron. Back in the ring Penta hoists Brooke's up into a Gory Guerrero special and at the same time picks up Lykos into a package piledriver. Then Fenix holds onto Brookes and drops down while his brother does at the same time for a near fall. This Match is turning into something special. Another superkick by Fenix then the Lucha Brothers suffer from some miscommunication and Penta accidentally drills his brother with a Destroyer. Lykos dives out onto Penta while Brookes directs traffic in the ring. Brooke's calls for Lykos and they do their sick assisted code breaker senton combo spot for another near fall. Lykos nails another sky twister out onto Penta to knock him down again as Brookes hoists Fenix into the Gory Guerrero special position. Lykos springboards to the top rope and comes off with a neckbreaker to Fenix as Brookes drives Fenix into the mat for the one, two and three and #CCK are the first ever DTTI champions. Afterwards things get a little bit emotional as Brookes and Lykos are close to tears. Referee Joel Allen then presents them with the DTTI trophy and #CCK celebrate. Then both teams shake hands to the delight of the crowd and before Penta and Fenix handover the trophy to Brookes and Lykos. To end the show #CCK get to celebrate some more as the crowd cheer their favourite villains. This was one hell of a match to cap off a long Easter weekend of Fight Club: PRO shows. It was a worthy main event to end all of the insane action we had seen that Easter. I have to applaud Chris Brookes and Mondai Lykos for stepping up to the plate and delivering with a home run. After this match they really elevated themselves as stars. For instance the next day at Lucha Forever they were treated like stars and I was at IPWUK two weeks later and again even though they were heels were treated as stars and got a babyface reaction in there match against DND and I for one couldn't be happier for both of them. As much as I like to tell Lykos to shut up I now respect him and as much as I like to chant "If you all hate Chris Brookes clap your hands" I respect him even more now after these stand out performances. I can only see good things for both men going forward as a team or as singles stars. I must also applaud Penta and Fenix for getting playing big shots and refusing to lose to a team who was actually not their level but was brought up to their level. Thanks Penta and Fenix. Those two are smart and understand they have a built in rematch with #CCK anywhere around the world as every promoter will be scrambling to book this match now. Winners: #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) So after three long days the question you have to ask yourself is was Fight Club: PRO successful and did it draw a new fan base over the three shows? I would answer yes they did because as recently announced FCP is moving to a new home due to overwhelming support they were able to achieve not just that weekend, but over the last 15 months. This company has only grown stronger and stronger with consistent booking and making its shows feel special each and every show they promote now. Some people have compared FCP to the PROGRESS and I can see why they would say that but in my eyes it's FCP and it will continue to grow and grow as long as the booking remains consistent and they are able to maintain the buzz they've so far been able to gain over the last 15 months. As for this show it was another quality show. Yes I could moan about overkill of certain spots but then I would just sound like Rip Rodgers and I think I've pointed out enough times move the last three reviews why I don't like it. This show had a lot of good on it and every match delivered. So if you're still on the fence about buying these shows then go over to fightclubpro.bigcartel.com and order the DVDs or even easier, go to Vimeo and pay the low, low price of ten pounds to see it. Honestly you won't regret it. As always I'll thank you for reading my review and encourage you to leave a comment and tell me how wrong I am and will as always by ripping off my favourite wrestling writer Bill Apter by saying see you at matches. @Billy_Jay83 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 |
Billy Johnson25 years of watching graps Archives
December 2017
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