I'm taking a break from wrapping presents, roasting chestnuts and thinking of festive cliches...because it's time for some ICW Fight Club! I'm an absolute sucker for cheesy Christmas wrestling, so I was extremely excited for this show. On commentary (and in lovely yule tide attire) we are joined by Billy Kirkwood and William Grange.
ICW Tag Team Championship Number One Contenders Match - The Govan Team vs. The Purge vs. The Fellas in Yella vs. The Fite Network (Lou King Sharp & Krieger) Look how stacked the ICW Tag Division is! We have 6 really fun and talented teams on the card tonight, and next episode we have The Kinky Party and the Polos for the title. What a time to be watching ICW for all the tag wrestling fans out there! This was a good (and chaotic) match, that was elevated to a great match by how plausible it was for any of the teams to win. Both members of The Govan Team stole the show with huge moves to the outside (Zander with a cannonball over the ropes off Ravie's Back, Davie with a springboard moonsault from the inside of the ring...be still my beating heart). Every team got over and looked stronger going forward after this Number One Contenders match. The Govan Team are a great "Big Spot" pair, The Purge are a force of brutality, The Fellas are the most fun team on the roster, and The Fite Network have the ultimate ragdoll that is Lou King Sharp. After a video played showing the Martina heel turn, Ravie left in a huff as Zander pleaded. Then after Kid Fite ran in to take out the Fellas with a chair, we were left with two teams. One MDK (double team tombstone finisher) later and the Purge look to dethrone the winners of next week's title contest. This was my match of the night. We had a fairly middle of the road promo from Dickie Divers, calling out Atterhagen for a rematch later. Then Jennifer Louise backstage was looking for an interview when she was stolen by The Filthy Generation. Lewis and Aspen talk about both Sabu and the team of Kenny Williams & Aaron Echo not having what it takes to bring down the Generation. They dominate the world. The fact that Stevie Boy let his underlings do all the talking for him just makes him look like a huge star. I loved this segment! The Govan Team dissension begins with arguing backstage, the Martina heel turn has affected Davie really badly and the storytelling is incredibly interesting. Dickie Divers vs. Tor Atterhagen It's time for a squash match from ICW's new Goldberg, Atterhagen. So far I'm enjoying the monster that is Tor, although time will tell how his act will progress with potentially longer matches. After some great big man power moves (Lariat and Gorilla Press fun time!) one Fallout Wave Spear put Divers away. A good squash and a dead Dickie! Veronica interviewed the victorious Purge backstage, who planned on demolishing vodka to celebrate (which I have a headache just thinking about) and look forward to their Square Go Title match. Wolfgang congratulated his baby boys and issued an open challenge for the next episode as Bram cannot make the show, interesting stuff. DCT and Coach Trip cut an impassioned and fantastic promo in our next segment. DCT isn't interested in Frankincense and Myrrh, and next year he's making sure he gets some Gold! Just a delightful, unique speech. Veronica continues her adventures in interviewing, and gets a word with the newly destroyed Divers. He is certain he won the match, and then collapses onto a booth. Funnier than even a joke from a cracker. Kenny Williams & Aaron Echo vs. The Kings of Catch After telling the crowd his next goal is the 2018 Square Go winner, Kenny Williams was once again abandoned by another competitor in the match - as Aaron Echo's music played and he didn't come out. I am entirely unsure if this is the start of a really weird angle, or if Williams is just really unlucky that everybody who is supposed to join him in the ring is slightly late! Echo did join him after only a minutes or so of handicap beat down. Commentary did a fantastic job of selling the friendship of Kenny & Aaron, immediately dispelling my assumption that the Kings would win due to prior teamwork. The buddies backed up these comments with some delightful tag moves, my personal favourite being William's tope through the big lad's legs. The Kings of Catch were as cohesive a unit as ever, giving their opponents a run for their money with possibly my tag move of the year. A Doomsday Device on the outside, with the top rope clothesline replaced by a tope! The back and forth action came to a close when Kay Lee Ray interfered (shocking nobody) and allowed the Kings of Catch to hit an Apter Burner for the victory. This contest finally sold me on Aaron Echo, fueled my adoration of Kenny Williams and also continued to build The Kings of Catch as future tag team champions (I would bet my rented house on it!). Another great match where everyone involved got over. We then cut to Lionheart, with a message to ICW fans. He wants us to know that even though Bram & BT Gunn is booked at the Square Go, his title match next week is not just filler. He has momentum from winning the biggest match of his career against RVD and plans to win the title next week. As always Lionheart's promo felt intense and real, and sows a few seeds of doubt in the outcome of next episodes quest for the gold! Continuing backstage, we find Aaron Echo feeling blue that he let Kenny down when he took the pin in the previous match. The Bollocks reassured Aaron (because he is a lovely boy) and said he'd need backup to win the Square Go. We already have the narrative building for the ICW rumble equivalent. All of the best rumbles have a few story threads going in, so colour me excited for February! Now it's time for the segment of the evening! Enter Joe Hendry and Leyton Buzzard for the Xmas Extravaganza. The Prestigious One began to shush the crowd, but then stopped?! Because it's Christmas and he had cards! Joe then (successfully) tried to get the crowd to chant "I WOULD LIKE A CARD"...which was simply wonderful. Leyton has a card for Joe, which says "Merry Christmas Dad, you're one in a Minion" (because Leyton is weird and fantastic). Unfortunately Joe soon turns on the fans, telling them that they are the reason (although he's had a successful year in a multitude of ways) he's not in the main event. For all of our insolence Christmas is cancelled. The Christmas Cards are ripped (including Buzzard's), Santa's face torn and Leyton is told to give a freak of nature to the tree. Only one man can stop this festive destruction, and a festive countdown reveals Santa (played this evening by Chris Renfrew!). Joe ate a Stoner and Leyton went through a tinsel coated table with a disgustingly nasty Rolling Fireman's carry! This was everything I love in cheesy stupid wrestling, and I'm intrigued by the bizarre match up of Renfrew and Hendry. A double feature from Santa Renfrew lead us to our main event. Firstly he came to the aid of poor Dickie Divers, hugging him whilst maniacally wishing him a Merry Christmas repeatedly. Then as Hendry excitedly told us that he was going to get his big break in a marquee match against Chris Renfrew at the Square Go, Santa ran in and attacked poor Leyton Buzzard with a plastic sled. Never change Chris! Stevie Boy vs. Sabu w/ Genie I have an interesting relationship with Sabu, in that I think he is entirely awful but sort of love him for giving us so many botch compilations. I was beyond intrigued in his ability in 2017. There were 2 ways in which Sabu managed to get through a match in 2017. He taunted a lot instead of wrestling, and he caught chairs thrown by Genie and threw them at Stevie. Luckily for me we did also get to see Sabu's signature jumping-off-a-chair botch. After taking almost every bump in the match (including an unexpected leg drop through a table) Stevie Boy was saved by his Kings of Catch. Thanks to the distraction he was able to hit the Glasgow destroyer for the victory. The fact that our King of Insanity needed help to beat a man that finds walking a struggle didn't sit well with me. This was (despite my perverse enjoyment of this car crash) my worst match of the night. After the match Stevie tells his lackeys to "Get that piece of shit out of my ring" and proceeds to take over the show. All 4 members of The Filthy Generation take seats in the ring as Stevie cuts a great promo, officially putting himself in the Square Go to finish off the episode. Overall Thoughts I really enjoyed how much this was just "The Filthy Show". Pushing Stevie Boy as a main eventer after his victory at Fear & Loathing feels very natural, and I'm going to predict right now that he will win the Square Go. There was enjoyment to be had from every match on the card (even Sabu!) and we have some exciting new feuds going forward. I'm already looking forward to the Square Go. Rating: 9/10 We have one more Christmas show to go before we are dragged kicking and screaming into 2018. With all the ICW titles on the line but very little chance they will change hands, it will be an uphill battle to make the matches to feel in any way meaningful. Although I'm concerned, I'm sure that the baby Jesus (who would not be over in ICW) will provide us with a decent show! Until then, enjoy your winter celebration of choice.
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It's time for the drum roll to end, for the pizza to arrive after a long hunger, and for the playlist to run out of songs...assuming it's not on shuffle. It's time for Fear & Loathing X. For the last couple of months, I've been slowly pumped full of hype juice, and it's finally time to relieve my bladder! After a brief introduction from our commentators (the lovely fleshbags Billy Kirkwood and William Grange) we open with a word from our commander and dictator, Mr Mark Dallas.
Dallas was in his element here (with his entourage in tow), and after hyping up the importance of this event 10 years in the making, he introduced our commissioner for the evening, Kevin Nash. Big Sexy is as unbearably cool as ever, and after some incredibly laid back comedy (including a Kevin Spacey joke!) he made us aware that he'd be ready with a steel chair for any misbehaviour. Nash would have talked for hours if they'd let him, and I wouldn't have complained! Number One Contenders Ladder Match - Kid Fite vs. Aaron Echo vs. Jody Fleisch vs. DCT w/ Coach Trip vs. Joe Hendry w/ Leyton Buzzard vs. Bram w/ Red Lightning vs. Ravie Davie I'm always happy to kick off a big show with a fantastic ladder match! I was even happier, however, that we were treated to another big DCT live music entrance. My first exposure to DCT was his live entrance at last year's F&L - I was so confused and overjoyed that I went into a vegetative state. As you may expect, this match was packed full of big stupid spots and shenanigans. We had run-ins from the Fite Network and the Purge, nasty ladder bumps and manager interference. Highlights include Jody hitting a huge Moonsault from a ladder to the outside (perfect form as ever!) and Kid Fite taking a freak of nature through a ladder at an odd angle! Outside of the big hardcore moments, the action centred around the rivalry of Davie and Bram. They started the match together brawling, they continued the match together when Davie hit a huge spear to Bram off a ladder, and they ended the match together. Calling back to Shugs, Bram was hitting his nasty little rabbit punches to try bust open our young hero. Martina and Xander came to "save the day" though and brought Bram down from the ladder. Sorry romance fans, but love's young dream was all a sham! Martina and Bram tipped Ravie Davie off the ladder, and the King of all Evil climbed the ladder to victory. So much happened in this opening contest, and we have a lot to unpack! I'm interested to see more of heel Martina, as I have no idea how that will play out. I think Bram is a great number one contender, and the intrigue of potentially facing his Rudo ally was an interesting hook for the rest of the night. ICW Tag Team Championship Match - Polo Promotions vs. The Marauders (c) After almost an entire year of feuding, we come to the (assumed) final chapter of this rivalry. The champions have had a fantastic year with the belts, and have really made a name for themselves in ICW. I was firmly behind the Welsh lads going into the contest, which was my first mistake! Before the action could get started, Iestyn Rees was banned from ringside. When he refused to follow the rules, he ate a 3D for his troubles (Hydro callback!). Going into this match I thought that either team could win. This, coupled with the tag wrestling talent of the teams, kept me biting for the near falls throughout. Bird and Boar were dominant for the majority of the contest, but once Coffey became the first man to kick out of the Jam Sandwich (a great moment for the big stage) the tide shifted. The teams had a fantastically timed spot where they threw punches at each other in pairs in perfect synch. The conclusion came as Jackie locked in a brutal Rings of Saturn to Bird, then moved before a top rope splash from Boar broke the hold. One Pop-up German Suplex later and we had new champs, and after such a great match it was hard for me to be sad! An enraged Rees came out to attack the victors but was interrupted by our "Big Sexy" enforcer. He may not have got a match on the card, but he did get to take a beating from a Hall of Famer! The big man then raised the arms of our new champs and we got a great feel-good moment. This was probably my favourite Polos match to date, and I'm intrigued by where they go from here. Kenny Williams vs. Rey Mysterio The first big import match of the night was next, and a big moment for our homegrown hero Kenny. In recent years I've not really enjoyed the Indie appearances of Rey but was very interested in how he'd pair up with The Bollocks. For some reason, Mysterio didn't come out when his music played the first time, and Kenny had to cut a little promo to kill some time. Even once the former World Heavyweight Champion did come out, the crowd (and me) were way more into Kenny! The Bollocks spent the early parts of the contest getting dropped in position for a 619 twice, as an indicator of what's to come! We got to see all of our favourite offensive moves from Kenny, lots of back elbows and skinning the cat. The match came to an abrupt end when, following a 619, Mysterio went to a splash. Williams rolled through for the pin and the win. The entire affair was over way too quickly, the action never really made it into second gear. I'm really glad that Kenny got the rub, but it would have meant a lot more if the victory was following a great match. This was my worst match of the night. King of Insanity Match - Stevie Boy vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Chris Renfrew vs. Mikey Whiplash Ok...put the kids to bed. They'd be far more scarred watching the next 20 minutes of wrestling than the time they walked into your bedroom on S&M night. Obviously, this sickening spectacle was one of my most anticipated F&L contests. We had some fantastic entrances before this match, with Jimmy Havoc coming out in his traditional white deathmatch attire and Mikey Whiplash being carried to the ring in a coffin! In the ring already was a set of barbed wire steel chairs, a crucifix made of carpet grips (maybe the most despicable creation of all time) and some cinder blocks...lovely. Almost immediately Stevie Boy was launched into a barbed wire chair and spent the rest of the contest bleeding profusely, this basically set the pace for the evening. Some vile spots included Whiplash dropkicked into the crucifix and making his back more hole than flesh, a Zombiemaker through a barbed wire board (that was too head first for my enjoyment) and at least 3 different moves onto thumbtacks. The end this ultra-violence Stevie ties Havoc to the ropes and hit a straitjacket Glasgow destroyer followed by another destroyer to Mikey...off a ladder...through a table. I can't believe that nobody died! This was such a beautiful bloodbath. I'm incredibly hopeful that the King of Insanity becomes a yearly tradition. I'm really excited that Stevie Boy won. He's one of those performers that never ceases to impress in every situation. Let's hope that this continues his push up the card! This was almost my match of the night. ICW Women's Championship Steel Cage Match (Guest enforcer - Carmel Jacobs) - Kasey vs. Viper vs. Kay Lee Ray I love a good steel cage match, and the inclusion of the structure in this contest made it feel like one of the main events of the evening. With two-thirds of the wrestlers taking part in last years triple threat match, the women had an uphill battle to fight in putting on a fresh show. It took a long time for the match to actually start, as Kay Lee Ray thought it was more important to hit everyone with chairs. Kasey was thrown into the crowd barrier and locked out of the cage for a long while.The in-ring action itself was solid but was constantly interrupted by run-ins and shenanigans. I expected to see The Kings of Catch help out Kay Lee at some point, but they spent at least half the match in the cage with the competitors. Alongside this, we had an attack on Kasey by Jamie Winters that felt entirely unnecessary. Regardless of the distractions, we still got to witness a lot of huge cage dives (including a KLR Senton Bomb and a Viper Cross Body!). We got a classic cage escape finish. KLR had almost reached the outside, when Kasey grabbed her legs and tied her up in the cage. Despite the Kings of Catch best efforts, Ray was handily tangled long enough for Kasey to escape and become a two-time champion. These three have great chemistry together and had the means to put on a classic match. It was unfortunate that the chaotic booking took away from the contest. I'm assuming that Kasey's first feud as champion is going to involve Jamie Winters. I'm not particularly familiar with Winters, but I'm interested to see the division create some new stars. Three Way Dance - Zack Gibson vs. Lionheart vs. Rob Van Dam As with any segment involving Zack Gibson, we started with a promo and more Boos than a Super Mario ghost house. I'd go as far to say that Gibson is currently the best heel in wrestling today. He is the main reason that this match was the part of Fear & Loathing I was most hyped for. I suppose Rob Van Dam was exciting too! Zack got to dominate the two crowd favourites for the early portion of the contest. Unfortunately, this was because he was eliminated fairly early, thanks to one of Lionheart's beautiful kicks and a Five Star Frog Splash. The small detail of Lionheart throwing RVD out of the ring to be the man who pinned his antagonist was glorious. The singles portion of the match was a lot of fun, with both men hitting their signature moves and trading momentum. RVD looked fairly gassed by the latter half of the contest, but it didn't detract from the enjoyment. As is becoming F&L tradition, the import took the loss as Lionheart hit a Frog Splash for the win. A great result for the local talent, and a lot of entertainment for me! The Filthy Generation (Lewis Girvan & Aspen Faith) vs. The Kinky Party The Wee Man took a moment prior to the match to let us all know that he'd be offering his managerial services to the winning side (the actual promo was obviously cruder and more entertaining!). He'd be an interesting addition to either team, and his presence would definitely push an act up the card. The Kinky Party had some sort of exciting and probably funny video prior to their entrance, that at the time of writing is just a black screen on the video playback. If you're watching after reading this hopefully you'll see it in all its potential glory. Regardless, Sha did come out in "No Kinky No Party" trunks, which means they're in this for the long haul! The matchup of these guys was great, a brawling and technical match up at it's finest. Obviously, we had a lot of brawling on the outside, coupled with some train wreck top rope offence from Sha (and even Jester this time!). The match ended with an Apter Burner getting broken up, and the Kinky Party hitting their similar finisher "Meat on the Table". Fun was had by all, and can you imagine how much fun the Wee Man interacting with Sha and Jester is going to be! Champion vs. Champion Undisputed ICW Heavyweight Championship Match - BT Gunn vs. Joe Coffey w/ Red Lightning Our main event for the evening had such a big fight feel going in, along with the intrigue of a double champion going forward. It felt great to watch the finale of the biggest show of the year feature two homegrown talents. BT Gunn was also given a badass entrance, with two past forms of the oddity coming out with him. These two men were given a lot of time to put on a classic contest, and they used it wisely. The action got off to a slow start, and slowly built to a crescendo. As things started to heat up, Coffey obviously realised that laying out Gunn would be much easier with a chair. For the third time of the evening, enter Kevin Nash, who actually took a chair shot. BT obviously took advantage of this to do some sweet kicks, but this potential finish was only halfway through the match. We continued onward with a kick out extravaganza, including the first-ever kick out from BT Gunn's Technodrome. All of this combined meant the whole affair felt so "Main Event". The conclusion came when Joe killed the ref and started to just stomp the piss out of BT, and then the arena went black. Upon the light "malfunction" being solved, the ring had both of the other BF Gunns from the entrance. A triple superkick wasn't enough to finish the Iron King, but the Crossface Gunn locked in immediate after was. The two men, after going through such a war with each other, finally embraced... I entirely loved this! I've never really been the hugest Joe Coffey fan, but this match sold me on his tremendous talent. This match would not have looked out of place headlining any show worldwide. It had the perfect amount of shenanigans, big moves and unexpected kick outs. This was my match of the night. Overall Thoughts This show had something for everyone! Multi-man brawls, huge feuds coming to an end, sickening hardcore spots, imports, traditionally slow building contests... This was exactly what I wanted from Fear Loathing, and there was very little to complain about. The very worst matches were still good! It's rare for me to watch an entire three-hour event in one session, so it's a testament to the quality that I barely blinked throughout F&L. Rating: 9/10 So what's next for ICW? A big show is traditionally the finale of most story-lines, so I'm expecting some fresh feuds and a fun build to the Square Go! After the last 6 months of Insane Championship Wrestling, I'm cautiously confident that whatever's next I'll enjoy. No, you are not reading a 19 year old review of football. ICW, as ever, have done a weird fun job of naming their shows. France 1998 is pretty much the only world cup (at the tender age of 8) that I remember watching, so I guess I'm the target audience?
Billy Kirkwood and William Grange were back together on commentary, introducing this night of football chants and glorious stupidity. Kenny Williams vs. El Ligero The idea of this match was brilliant, the UK's most well known Luchador (and a man who has faced Rey Mysterio in the past) playing the role of gatekeeper to the biggest match of Kenny's career. Coupled with this being Ligero's first match in ICW in almost 5 years, and I was all in. Unfortunately this match just didn't click for me, the action felt a bit stilted and I just wasn't particularly invested. Kenny got to hit all his signature offense and showcase what's to come at the hydro, but I just felt (outside of a spot where he teased the 619) Ligero brought very little.Williams scored the obvious win with the Quiff Buster, and I'm still excited about his match with Rey regardless of this rather average contest. Viper & Kasey vs. Katie Forbes & Kay Lee Ray I probably have to talk about Katie Forbes. There is nothing that irks me more in wrestling, than when we travel back in time and a female performers' only character trait is "sexy". There is a reason I don't search the network frantically for Torrie Wilson matches, and that's because I'm not a teenage boy (apologies to any teenage boys out there, you probably aren't that disgusting and desperate either!). Thanks to Kay Lee Ray, this tag contest got thrown out very quickly as she hit all the other women with her Belt (including her partner, thank God!). Enter the entire Filthy Generation to help her destroy her competition at the Hydro. Kay Lee didn't count on a ghost from her past returning to ruin her dominance however, as to the joy of the crowd - Carmel's music hit and she came running out with a chair to clear the ring of muck and grime. I never got a chance to see Carmel outside of her final match at last years Fear & Loathing. She was incredible on the mic! Her promo was very simple: hyping up how fantastic the women's division is now, and announcing that she will be the special guest enforcer at the cage match! This was a great angle to build to the upcoming triple threat match. I loved that all of the competitors were in one contest, and that Kay Lee Ray despises the others so much that they couldn't finish it. Carmel is an exciting addition to the affair too. Unfortunately to our new enforcer, the Filthy weren't done with her yet and surrounded the ring. I love chaotic wrestling, so our 3rd run in of the segment was fine by me. The Kinky Party were the perfect team to interrupt their current rivals, with their partner for the evening Jody Fleisch. The Filthy Generation (Stevie Boy, Lewis Girvin & Aspen Faith) vs. The Kinky Party & Jody Fleisch Before the madness continues, I've never gotten chance to gush over Fleisch. Despite his illustrious history, the first time I saw him wrestle was at Shugs this year. I can't believe I missed so many years of my athletic prince! The chaos continued with a mad brawl, and some lovely dives! Sha's Moonsault is a thing of ridiculous beauty, but my favourite Sha moment was how sad he looked when Jody hit a much more impressive springboard Moonsault! The stupid fun had to end at some point though, and the more cohesive unit of the Filth hit a Glasgow destroyer and an Apter Burner to pin Fleisch. These two back to back segments were almost too chaotic, which was somewhat the theme of the night! It's now time for the Joe Hendry sports and entertainment open challenge, something I didn't know I needed in my life! Crowd plants are personally a trope in wrestling that I adore, and this was no exception. Hendry plucked one man from the crowd who wanted to wrestle him, and obviously destroyed him. Then (in my personal favourite part of the night) he called out my favourite unknown local wrestler 'Magnificent' Matthew Brooks. Because I know and love Brooks, I knew what was coming when Hendry challenged him to an Entertainment challenge. I imagine, however, that the majority of the ICW crowd were not expecting to hear a man sing opera at France 98! Hendry obviously hated that somebody else was getting the spotlight, hittinga low blow and pummeling Brooks. Because of our insolence, there is now no special entrance at Fear & Loathing. If anybody at ICW reads this humble review, PLEASE bring back Matthew Brooks again to confront Joe. If only for the fact I'll squeal in excitement! The Carlos Valderrama Invitational Battle Royal Not enough ridiculousness has happened yet this show, so lets have a gimmick battle royal! I'll just cover some fun and stupid spots. The Wee Man took some "gear" and hit an F5, then got sad, scared and left the ring. At half way through the match, the remaining contenders ate oranges and swapped sides. The STI reunited briefly until Dickie Divers eliminated Grange. And finally DCT won and was presented with the world cup. We then had an annoyed Dickie Divers issue an open challenge to show he's not a joke. Dickie Divers vs. Artur Henig I don't know who Henig is at all, but he won in seconds...I guess Divers is a joke. Bram vs. Ravie Davie Before this rivalry, I thought Bram was just awful. It may have been somewhat a carry over from his "Suck my Fuck" trunks. I also can't remember the last time Ravie Davie seemed important prior to Bram hating. Now I'm invested in both of them, and want Davie to regularly kill The King of all Evil. Everything about this match was so intense, with brutal offense from Bram and more defiant "never give up" moments from Ravie Davie. I really loved Red Lightning on commentary (who dived onto the booth for this match) mentioning that Bram didn't want him to interfere, as this would be easy for him. After brawling with Bram outside The Garage, and taking a lot of chair shots; Davie managed to hit Bram with a chair (as he was on the top rope) and the scene was set for the moment of the night. From the balcony Ravie Davie hit a huge Somersault Cutter for the 3 count, in one of the most innovative spots I've seen in years. I'm so happy Davie's on the card at F&L, and the number 1 contenders ladder match is looking exciting! Also, this was my match of the night. We had a waiver signing for the King of Insanity match next, with all four men having to sign away their health and safety for 24 hours. I'm not a huge fan of this set up usually but Mikey Whiplash put an interesting spin on the affair. He told the other three men that everybody knows that somebody is going through the table, but this match is about bragging rights and if they don't all go in at 100% then they would lose that. This made so much sense, that I wasn't expecting Whippy to attack Havoc with scissors as he was signing! Then, after Jimmy met table, Mikey finished up by signing the waiver in the goth's blood. The perfect final standoff before they get blood all over the Hydro. The Purge vs. The Fite Network (Lou King Sharp and Krieger) I must admit, I thought this mini feud was over and these teams would be moving onto something else. The idea of them having another brawl, but without their more interesting leaders didn't fill my body with giddy juice. The match was fairly dull, outside of Lou getting dropped off the balcony (like a baby held by Micheal Jackson) onto so many security guys. A few moves whiffed throughout, and there was a particularly terrifying moment where Krieger took a flapjack face first as his size wasn't accounted for. Kid Fite emerged to save us all from this snoozefest, and laid out The Purge with a pipe and a table. During this destruction the Fite Network got the pin, At least Kid Fite looks strong going into his tenth Fear & Loathing I guess... Aaron Echo vs. Iestyn Rees I have yet to become in any way invested in Aaron Echo. I'm hoping to be proven wrong soon, and maybe to also to learn what an Echo Bible is. What this show didn't need, is two consecutive matches that made a Dentist's waiting room look exciting and fun. I'm a huge Iestyn fan, and was really hoping for this to be the match that made me appreciate Aaron Echo. All it made me appreciate is the comparative thrill of a good session of watching paint dry. The saving grace for this match was that Mike Bird joined commentary to talk up how Rees should be on the Hydro card with his large undefeated streak. Somehow I think he may be there to help our tag champs at the very least. Oh and Iestyn won the match, this was my worst match of the night. Up next we had the weigh in for the champion versus champion main event at F&L. This segment started (as you might expect) pretty slowly, as we watched men be measured on scales. After some brief promos, Coffey and Gunn had an intense face to face standoff. This was soon interrupted by recent loser Bram, who attacked Gunn from behind for the second time in two shows. A chaotic selection of run ins ensued: - Lionheart took out Bram (after his attack last week) - Gibson took out Lionheart (for obvious Three Way Dance reasons) and then attacked BT - Renfrew came out to defend his NAK brother - Whiplash (and a flock of Cenobites) swarmed the NAK -And FINALLY Rob Van Dam cleared the ring for the good guys. Dallas announced that he didn't know what the fuck was going on, and started an 8 man tag match to close the show! Such chaos, such fun! Rob Van Dam, BT Gunn, Chris Renfrew & Lionheart vs. Joe Coffey, Bram, Mikey Whiplash & Zack Gibson I loved how many dream matchups we got to see in this multi-man throwdown. I would love to see RVD come back to face Whiplash or Coffey especially! As you can imagine, this match was utter madness. We got a load of back to back finishers thrown around, and it was just a lot of fun. Competitors slowly got taken out of contention for different reasons. The two champions brawled to backstage, The Filthy Generation stole away Renfrew with punches and Ravie Davie attacked Bram to the back. The remaining 2 on 2 came to a close when Havoc ran out to take out some Cenobites, and hit the Rainmaker on Whiplash. RVD took advantage and hit a 5 Star Frogsplash on the supine Whippy for the happy ending to the show. This was very in-keeping with the rest of the evening, and at no point did I stop enjoying the riot level of carnage and confusion. To end the show we had an incredibly fun feel good moment. Loads of Faces flooded the ring and danced to world cup themed music! The crowd got incredibly into it, with people getting topless, singing and chanting ICW. Absolutely everyone was having an absolute blast, the talent got into the crowd, dancing, and just had the best time as the show finished. Overall Thoughts Although this was the go home show for Fear & Loathing, we were treated to a night of ridiculous fun as opposed to focusing as much on the build to the Hydro (as I assume they realised they would both be uploaded at the same time on demand). So much of the show was glorious mayhem. Unfortunately some of the matches just didn't live up to the rest of the chaos. Rating: 7.5/10 Next time I'll be talking about Fear & Loathing. I really hope it lives up to the hype. I think the match I'm most excited for is the Three Way Dance (the Gibson and Lionheart promos have been phenomenal). I'm so excited to watch my first F&L as a fully invested ICW fan. It's your friendly neighbourhood Chips here. I've been drafted in to cover some hardcore, adult and (dare I say) Insane wrestling. This show is all build up to the Scottish Wrestlemania. Billy Kirkwood leads commentary, with Simon Cassidy and Red Lightning playing musical chairs and lending a hand for some of the night.
Chris Renfrew vs. Lionheart The episode started with immediate in ring competition. With both men in high profile matches at F & L, this match was a great way to build towards the Hydro. Renfrew was hungover after last episode's Scottish Rules match, which was appreciated (if stupid) continuity! The match was short but action packed, although a bit finisher-kickout-heavy for my taste. Zack Gibson's music interrupted, causing that classic distraction for Lionheart. One Stoner later gave Renfrew a big victory going into the King of Insanity match. I thought the finish was perfect, and Gibson scoring another mental victory makes me so intrigued for their match with RVD. Backstage Veronica was given the unfortunate task of interviewing the constantly intense Bird and Boar. It was a great little promo (as it always is with these guys) selling the importance of winning tonight before their match with the Polos. Boar was grunting, and I was happy! Our champion Joe Coffey and "Mr Rudo Brand" Red Lightning were out to belittle the Welsh fans. The promo started incredibly flat. Coffey was determined to use Rugby as the main insult to Wales, and it was clear incredibly quickly that the fans didn't care. You watch sports Joe, we get it...the rest of us would just rather have a nap than hear you talk about it! Fortunately our savior arrived in the form of BT Gunn. A quick stand off was ended by an attack from the other Rudo Brand member Bram. The Oddity fought hard against the two big men, but was quickly overwhelmed and Coffey stood tall with the two belts. The champion versus champion main event is one of the matches I was least invested in before this episode; but this segment built the men up enough that I'm interested in the match, and have no idea of the outcome. We went backstage next to an interview with Lionheart, that almost started before Red Lightning interrupted! Looking to expand Rudo Sports and Entertainment, Red was interested in adding him to the books. The refusal was met with another sneak attack from Bram. I'm really interested with where the Rudo Brand goes from here. We seem to be building them up as a big part of the show, but realistically it's never had more than two members! I predict a slow build for this one, so feel free to tweet abuse at me when I'm wrong. Sierra Loxton vs. Viper vs. Kay Lee Ray Somebody pinch me, I'm writing about a match with women! Thank you ICW for actually including fantastic female talent on your shows! I'd also like to take a moment to talk about how much I adore the ICW version of Kay Lee Ray. Nobody is more smug, sneaky and effective! I loved how well this hyped up the cagematch, with 2/3 of the competitors getting to show their hatred of each other. Sierra was a great third competitor to fill this match,and to basically allow neither of the others to take a loss. Loxton and Viper teamed up for most of the match to keep the champion out of the picture. They were a really fun team, hitting scoop slams of each other onto KLR and bumping butts (a true sign of friendship!). Once the Queen of Filth was out of the picture, the two babyfaces had a great face off (future feud please promoters?). Unfortunately for them, nobody can stop Kay Lee from stealing a victory. After Viper hit a Viper driver, Kay Lee blasted her with a kick and stole the pin on Loxton. This match was great! The women's division in ICW has never been stronger, and I can think of so many women I'd love to get a title run! Bird and Boar are apparently not done with promos tonight. Bird wanted to tell us all how they had to claw their way to the top, and how they were never supposed to be the face of the companies' tag division. Good promo, and more grunts! The Kinky Party (Jack Jester & Sha Samuals) vs. The Marauders (Mike Bird & Wild Boar) The ICW tag division at the moment is fantastic. We have some great teams with a long standing history (like the Polos) and exciting new alliances, the highlight of which is the glory of The Kinky Party. I'm so happy both of teams are on the Fear & Loathing card! This match was entirely what you'd expect from a Kinky Party match, a big dumb brawl around the venue (albeit initiated by Bird and Boar). We had some great spots throughout, my personal favourites being Sha hitting a massive moonsault off a wall onto concrete, and Boar taking a huge rolling bump onto a row of fans chairs! There was only one team that could win though, and one Jam Sandwich later The Marauders got the victory. They then cut a THIRD promo, which was basically the same as the last and a bit overkill. We cut to Joe Hendry backstage grilling everyone's favourite intern Leyton Buzzard. It was actually a funny little skit, and Buzzard promised not to let Joe lose another match. Continuing the promo festival. here's Bram! Another good promo in an afternoon of good promos. He let us know that he was going to win, and that he was going to drag anyone stupid enough to not be at the hydro live there himself. I'm excited to see how late he arrives to the show, and more tales of his Santa Claus magic in the future. We now have the moment that everyone in British wrestling knows is coming. In the ring was the happiest looking Mark Dallas you have ever seen! He talked about being friends with the WWE (to the sound of significant boos), and that WWE talent could appear at any time. Pete Dunne came out to a great reaction. After hyping British wrestling, he said he wasn't ICW's only friend...enter HHH! The crowd didn't believe he was coming out until they actually saw him through the curtain, then they exploded with joy and possibly other cruder substances. Trips said that WWE wouldn't be where it is today without companies like ICW, and all the talent backstage. This was an incredible moment to witness. The reaction of both the crowd and Dallas was brilliant, and it was a legitimately heartwarming moment. I can only imagine the emotion backstage (and we find out more about that later!). Joe Hendry w/ Leyton Buzzard vs. Beano Back in my WCPW reviewing days, I rarely had anything positive to say about The Prestigious One. However in ICW his character fits in so much better. His disdain for and refusal to take part in swearing is the biggest heel move imaginable in the world of ICW; and the amateur wrestling shtick is a close second! I also can't decide if Leyton Buzzard is untalented and entirely absent of charisma, or if it's part of the act! The in ring action (as is so common in Hendry matches) was uneventful. I really liked what I got to see of Beono (a wrestler I'm not particularly familiar with) and his graceful kicks, but he didn't get to spend too much time on the offense here. A freak of nature ended proceedings very suddenly, and Leyton kept his promise! This was my worst match of the night (but maybe I was supposed to feel this way?). Next we had a Stevie Boy promo backstage about his upcoming match with Big Grizzly, which was intense but not particularly noteworthy. Continuing our journey behind the curtain we had a short interview with Beano, which ended with him worried that Dallas hasn't got to see his potential yet. I'm hopeful this means more Beano to come. Red Lightning decided next that the crowd hadn't had enough of his public speaking for one show. The promo was actually really good, and was basically just him fantasy booking that at the Square Go it will be Joe Coffey versus Bram (as both of his clients will win at F&L). Afterwards he joined commentary for the latter half of the show. Ravie Davie vs. The Purge (Stevie James & Krowbar) After being told to beat some respect into Davie, Wolfgang had a better offer in the form of his boys The Purge. Thus the bold text you read before. This match made everybody look great, The Purge got to showcase how much damage they could inflict, whilst Ravie Davie refusing to give up was incredibly valiant (to the point that I'm hoping for a big push to come his way). The Purge expectedly used their numbers to score the victory, and Wolfgang was impressed enough by Davie to show his respect. Back to the locker room with everybody's favourite goth, Jimmy Havoc, who cut a short but sweet promo. He's not afraid to die, and I've watched his matches enough to know he's not kidding! Big Grizzly vs. Stevie Boy w/ Kay Lee Ray I have ashamedly not seen much of Big Grizzly prior to this match, so I was intrigued to see how he paired up with my favourite wrestling couple (because lets face it, every Stevie Boy match is a handicap match). You'll be pleased to hear I was not disappointed - I do love me a big lad! This contest took the classic David and Goliath formula, but this David was a sneaky dick who brought his girlfriend along for good measure. Grizzly hit some great "big man" offense, with huge throws and avalanches. This meant Stevie took some crazy bumps in the match and sold like an absolute champ! As one would expect, Kay Lee Ray wasn't just out here for a good view, initially Big Grizz didn't want to get physical with her...but KLR is pretty persistent. After saving Stevie from a Chokeslam with a low blow, she took the move herself. This was enough of a distraction for Stevie to get a cheeky rollup victory and drag Kay Lee's limp body backstage in triumph. This was my match of the night. After the match, out came Thatcher Right. I can't believe this is a real thing! Wrestling is so stupid and I bloody love it. After a brief moment riling up the crowd, Grizz came back to the ring and blasted Wright with Thatcher's autobiography. More of this man please! A really cute message from Jack Jester (plus Sha) was next, he admitted to trying for 2 hours to stop crying enough to record this promo. He couldn't believe he got to see Triple H standing in the ring, on the logo of the company that made him. He couldn't believe a star like him would put over this company. This was incredibly passionate, and quite frankly adorable. Sha obviously lowered the tone afterwards with the perfect line "Big Kink, more like Big girl's Blouse". Jimmy Havoc vs. Mikey Whiplash The build to the King of Insanity match has been a lot of fun. With all 4 men having singles contests with each other, you would think some of the intrigue would be lost; but you just know that at the Hydro that these loons will pull something disgusting out the bag. At this point, surely you know what you're getting from a match with these two! Outside of the hardcore aspect both guys are great to watch brawling as well. Getting back to the gore we had papercuts, thumb tacks, and barbed wire just for starters. The match had two implements of pain I was not expecting: light tubes and cinder blocks (such joy, such blood). Havoc scored the pin with a Zombie Maker onto the blocks followed by a rainmaker on the thumbtacks (A brutal finish to a wretched match). The night ended with a simple but effective line from Jimmy, "See you at the Hydro Motherfucker". Overall Thoughts This episode of Fight Club was fantastically booked. So many feuds and matches for Fear & Loathing were furthered, and the amount of promos throughout the show was warmly welcomed by me. Alongside that most of the in ring action was great, with only a few moments that I wasn't gripped to the screen (courtesy of a pair of Joes!). Rating: 9/10 With France 98 already uploaded to On Demand, I'm so excited to watch the last show before the Hydro! If it manages to build up to Fear & Loathing as well as this episode did, then I won't be sleeping until I've watched so many hours of wrestling. Stay tuned for back to back ICW reviews here, as I cover this huge event. Well it's been quite the month...week I’m not sure. I mentioned at the end of my last review that three men had appeared in my back garden with what appeared to be an old refrigerator box. After approaching them I was invited inside and was told it was in fact a time machine, due to certain ice cream bar related accidents we jumped back and forth across many times and visited many wrestling shows before they dropped me back as close to my own time as they could. But enough about that and onto the important stuff it's July 2017 and we live in Glasgow Scotland at the 02 ABC for the first night of ICWs big weekender Shugs Hoose Party IV. We have title matches, grudge matches and the return of the prodigal son so without further ado let's get right into the action.
As we go to the ring for the introductions of the first match we are interrupted by the arrival of Red Lightning and his client Grado. Red Lightning rambles for a bit before getting to the point and informing us that due to conflicts with his entertainment contracts Grado will be unable to compete in tonight's main event with Joe Coffey against Sha Samuels and Noam Dar. Red Lightning legitimately doesn’t look pleased about only finding out about this 24 hours ago himself and says as a result of this Mark Dallas has decided to add a stipulation to the match between Grado and Sha Samuels on night two tomorrow and that match will now be a loser leaves ICW match. Upon hearing this Sha Samuels makes his way to the ring and Grado ducks outside the ring. Sha gets in Red Lightning's face yo make it well know how upset he is that due to Grados actions he now has to put his ICW career on the line, Red Lightning makes it well know that he isn’t happy with Grado either and that this has cost him no end of money and grief. Grado tells Red Lighting that he is just like everyone else in this company a jabroni and that all he needs in this world is him sel. With that Grado leaves and Sha gets back into Red Lightning's face when a figure appears running down the ramp with a chair in hand it's Bram and he leathers Sha with the chair and begins laying in punches from the mount. Red Lightning informs us that Bram will replace Grado in the main event and that he is the newest signing to the Rudo Sports Entertainment Brand. Dog Collar Match - Stevie Boy vs Mikey Whiplash - *** There’s a thing about stipulations in my opinion stipulations should only be added to matches to make them better and a dog collar stip usually slows a match down and limits the wrestlers move sets. This match wasn’t greatly affected by the collar but that is probably in part due to Stevie Boy taking off his collar part way through the match which begs the question why he put it on in the first place. There were some cool moves using the chain, Stevie yanking Whiplash off the top into a cutter using the chain and when Stevie Boy went to do a dive Whiplash pulling the chain taught so Stevie was stopped by the neck. There was also the inevitable hanging spot in which Stevie hung Whiplash over the top rope, this was followed up by a big superplex which left Whiplash bleeding from the forehead, Stevie then took off his collar and tied it to the ring post leaving Whiplash like a dog tied to a lamp post. The next few minutes revolved around Whiplash trying to fight back before being cut off by the chain as he tried to punt Stevie in the corner but the chain was too short and went taught. Eventually Whiplash untied the chain and then wrapped himself in it before hitting a splash off the top that left him with some nasty marks on his body and got him a two count. Stevie fought back and hit two super kicks on Whiplash before trying for the Glasgow Destroyer but Whiplash fought out and hit three power bombs without letting go of Stevie and then hurked him up into the Zombie maker for the three count and the pinfall. Winner by pinfall - Mikey Whiplash After the match Mikey grabs a mic and tells Stevie he has a present for him and it's from his past, it will bring back some difficult memories for him. A group of masked figures carries a coffin in and places it at the top of the ramp, the coffin is the same one from last years fear and loathing. Whiplash drags Stevie up the ramp by the chain around his neck for a closer look, he opens the coffin and turns back to Stevie but a hand rises from the coffin and its Jimmy Havoc who walks out and poses behind Whiplash, as Whiplash turns around Jimmy lays a beating on him sending him down the ramp and back into the ring and now Jimmy has the mic. He says he's been watching while he was away and saw that Mikey and Stevie were trying to prove who was the craziest in ICW and that he couldn’t be left out of that conversation incase they hadn’t noticed he’d won tournament of death this year. So at the Hydro they are going to have a deathmatch but it won’t just be the three of them, Havoc gets Whiplash in a choke and tells him to call his bitch, Whiplash screams for Renfrew who appears on the ramp. Havoc says that Renfrew used to stand for something but now he is nothing more than Mikeys bitch and at the Hydro he is going to show Renfrew what he can still be but at the end of the day he will beat him. Whiplash and Renfrew leave and Stevie applauded Havoc in the ring. Havoc says I don’t really care what you think but this is happening at the Hydro right? and extends a hand to Stevie who shakes it with aplomb but as he does Havoc wraps him up and hits an acid rainmaker turning Stevie inside out and poses for the fans. Jimmy Havoc is back in ICW and he will make it rain blood. Mark Dallas is next to head to the ring and tells us that he was going to make a big announcement for the Hydro last night but due to Grados actions he feels he owes the crowd one tonight. He hums and haws about how to reveal it and says you know what I’ll phone them, he goes through a few area codes before settling on 6.1.9 Rey Mysterio will be making his ICW debut at the Hydro in November. Kid Fite w/ Krieger & Lou King Sharp vs Bull James * This match was Bull. Moving on. ICW Women's Championship match - Kay Lee Ray © vs Kasey ** 42 seconds. Kay Lee Ray talked down to Kasey before the ring saying she is nothing special, oh yeah she's good but she's not on her level. Kasey responded to this by dropping Kay Lee Ray and hitting her shining wizard for a two count. She followed this up with a tope to the outside threw Kay Lee Ray back into the ring and then hit Kay Lee Ray's Gory Bomb in the middle of the ring, sat her up and hit another shining wizard for the win and we have a new ICW womens champion. 42 seconds. Winner by pinfall and New ICW Women's Champion Kasey Super Crazy vs Jody Fleisch ** This was perfectly fine but it was more of a showcase of two older guys than a lucha libre style masterclass. There were some cool moments with Super Crazy pulling out a tarantula on the ropes and Jody hitting a moonsault from the post to the floor. There was some brawling on the outside towards the beginning of the match and Jody took a nasty bump right on the top of his head on the concrete from an overhead belly to belly by Super Crazy. The finish of the match came when both men tried their finishers with Jody missing a shooting star press and then Super Crazy missing a moonsault Jody staggered towards a downed Super Crazy who wrapped him up in a wacky lucha hold for the pin. Winner by pinfall Super Crazy Unsanctioned match - Lionheart vs Joe Hendry ** With this match being unsanctioned and at the end of a blood feud you’d think these two would start by knocking lumps out of each other but instead Hendry takes Lionheart to the mat and goes about trying to put him in wrestling holds. The match made its way to the crowd and they fought around the ABC. Lionheart hit a flip dive onto Hendry from a raised area and moved him back to the ring. Hendry got ahold of a chair and worked over Lionhearts back with it until Lionheart jumped to his feet and hit a dropkick knocking the chair into Hendry's face. With Hendry down Lionheart retrieved a big table from under the ring and set it up in the corner. Hendry fought off Lionheart who then slipped out of the freak of nature and hit a uranage before going to the top rope. Hendry launched a chair twice into the head of Lionheart as he was on the top rope splitting his forehead open. He then hit the freak of nature from the second rope and through a table before applying a head and arm choke on the mat and Lionhearts arm went limp causing the ref to stop the match. Winner by submission Joe Hendry After the match Joe Hendry tries to get Lionheart to shake his hand he says they may not be friends right now but he still respects him, the crowd is booing Hendry at this point. Lionheart takes his hand and Joe lifts him up but Lionheart hits a uranage and lays out Hendry so it looks like this feud aint over. Lionheart leaves to chants of Lionheart is a hero and Hendry leaves to chants of Joe Hendrys a fanny. Quite the role reversal here. ICW Zero G Championship - Ladder Match - Zack Gibson © vs Kenny Williams *** Heated back and forth to begin from these two, with Zack telling Kenny that he won’t allow a ladder in this ring until Kenny is knocked out. This lead to a few attempts from Kenny to get the ladder in the ring only for Zack to drop kick the ladder into his face not once but twice. Kenny came back in the ring with a wheelbarrow facebuster but then Gibson took control and started working on the arm and wrist of Williams. Eventually GIbson went to the mount and began laying in strikes to Williams before dumping him out of the ring and introducing the big ladder to the match. Williams fought back and brought in one of the shorter ladders which he used as a battering ram to Gibson's midsection. Gibson then again fought his way back to dominance using his power to cut Williams off before wedging the smaller ladder between the big ladder and the turnbuckle and dumping Williams on it. Williams fights back and dumps Gibson outside he tightrope walks along the ladder but thinks better of it and comes back to the turnbuckle hitting a splash to the floor he then gets back in the ring and climbs the ladder again but Gibson gets onto the apron so Williams uses the smaller ladder as a base and hits a springboard elbow. Gibson makes it to his feet before Williams can grab the title and yanks him down to the mat then slams him down again shoulder first. He sends him to the outside and wraps his shoulder in a chair before throwing him into the ring post. Gibson gets back in the ring and tries to climb but he can’t keep the ladder steady and so uses the other two ladders to keep it still. Williams comes back in and climbs the wrong side of the ladder and they get into a chop battle on top and Williams ends up knocking Gibson to the mat and reaches out to grasp the Zero G Championship once again and the crowd goes wild for him. Williams makes history as the first ever three time Zero G Champion. Winner and new Zero G Champion - Kenny Williams Dickie Divers vs Thomas Kearins * This was a match set up by Thomas Kearins who is a usually a referee in ICW giving Dickie Divers during a match that he was reffing that got a lot of traction on social media, I don’t think that this match will have quite the same level of exposure past the first five seconds of the match. Before the lights came up during his entrance Kearins scaled the ropes and when the lights came on attempted something off the top rope but simply appeared to fall face first off the ropes and crash to the mat unmoving like a man who had been shot with a large gun. The rest of the match was the typical wrestler vs non wrestler match, slaps suplexes kicks and pulling the non wrestler up on a clear three count to deliver more punishment. In the end Divers got the win with his Northern Lights driver in a match that really didn’t offer anything that needed to be seen on a special event card like this. Winner by pinfall - Dickie Divers WWE UK Championship - Pete Dunne © vs Trent Seven vs Wolfgang vs BT Gunn ***1/2 The match starts out with Pete Dunne and Trent Seven popping onto the apron to do the HHH water spit spot which was swiftly followed by BT Gunn and Wolfgang knocking the other two off the apron. This began the classic one in one method of setting out a fatal four way. Wolfgang showed off his deceptive strength with a set of gutwrench powerbombs on the champ but Pete fought his way back eventually leading up to him leaping over the ropes and giving Wolfgang a ddt on the ring apron and then following it up by hitting him with a double stomp from the ring apron to the floor. Trent followed this up by hitting a beautiful suicide dive onto Dunne. BT Gunn wound up like he was then going to hit a dive on the two of them but was taken out by a spear from Wolfgang in the middle of the ring for a near fall. Wolfgang followed this up with a flip dive to the outside onto Pete and Trent and by the time the three of them made it to their feet BT was on the top rope facing away for them and proceeded to just jump backwards without turning almost ending up in the front row as he nearly overshot the pile but Wolfgang was able to catch him enough to keep him on their side of the barricade. Pete and Trent met back in the ring and with the others laid out Pete offered the British Strong Style salute and as Trent went for it he kicked him low and hit a pedigree for a two count. We were treated to everyone hitting kicks on each other and then punches leading to a stop where everyone hit a stiff punch to the man standing to their right and they all hit the deck unmoving. This lead on to everyone slowly making it to their feet and throwing punches at all the other competitors which looked like a scene out of a cartoon where the characters run at each other and enter a little dust cloud and all you can see from outside it is the fists and kicks flying. Eventually Wolfgang was left standing tall and went for his finish the Senton from the top rope, he hit it on BT Gunn but only got a two count from it. Trent and Wolfgang fought to the top rope and Trent hit a piledriver from the second rope the same move that won him the ICW championship earlier this year in Newcastle but it only got a two count. Wolfgang introduced brass knuckles and laid out BT Gunn but he rolled to the floor before Wolfgang could catch him. Trent hit a sit down piledriver on Wolfgang as he turned around but Dunne threw him out of the ring before he could get the pin. Dunne then hit Wolfgang with the bitter end right in the middle but BT Gunn caught Dunne in a school boy for a two count. BT hit a series of hard kicks to Dunne and went for the Gunn shot out of the corner but as he soared backward Dunne caught him in midair with a hard forearm and then followed that up with a bitter end right in the middle of the ring for the three count to retain the WWE UK Championship. Winner by Pinfall - Pete Dunne There were a lot of moves in that match and the pace was good but it felt like it was missing something people were hitting big big moves and then within a minute they were taking another big move from the person they’d just hit a move on, could have done with a few spots just to slow down and let the impact of the move settle in before moving on again. After the match Dunne got all the other guys in the match to join him in a HHH water spit as the crowd cheered and chanted “That was awesome” I think this would be a prime example of a match that was much better live. Main Event time. Sha Samuels & Noam Dar vs Joe Coffey & Bram * 1/2 Took 15 minutes all told from the end of the last match to first contact in this match, really didn’t need a 15 minute break 3 hours into this event where nothing actually happened past guys came to the ring. Match started out well for Dar and Samuels as they cut off the ring and worked over Brams arm for a while with arm wringers and quick tags. Eventually the size of Bram overwhelmed Dar and he and Coffey cut off the ring and beat him down at a slow plodding pace with kicks and punches. Noam fought his way back and got the hot tag to Sha as Bram tagged in and the two went at each other for a short time before Bram got the better of proceedings and took us right back to the slow plodding pace with not alot happening and the crowd having to amuse themselves chanting no pinkie no party while Noam stood on the apron and watched Sha get lumps knocked out of him. Sha manages to get the tag to Noam who knocks Bram off the apron but then gets caught by Coffey who delivers more blubbering punches. Noam’s speed gives him an opening and he is able to get some distance and knock Bram off the apron he delivers some uppercuts to Coffey then stops unprompted and looks at Sha who suddenly rushes Bram halfway around the ring before throwing him into the crowd which was odd looking to say the least. Bram pulls Sha over the barrier and into the crowd and Noam goes to the top rope but Coffey cuts him off and goes for his double jump moonsault but Noam kicks his leg out from under him and hits a suicide dive from the ring into the crowd and onto Sha and Bram in a cool moment. Sha is the first to his feet and climbs the top rope Joe cuts him off and goes to suplex him to the crowd but Sha knocks him down and hits a crazy moonsault to the crowd where he was coming down headfirst, scary. They brawl into the crowd for the british wrestling main event special, brawl through the crowd grab a drink and a breather before heading back to the ring. Once we get back to the ring all four men hit big moves and the ref gives us a standing 10 count. They fight to their feet and Noam and Sha get their opponents in either corner they both go for a splash and Sha splashes the ref, Bram hits a low blow on Sha, Noam hits a low blow on Bram and Coffey hits Noam with a discus lariat and covers him for the three count, but there's no ref to count the fall. Coffey goes to examine the ref and turns round into a leg lock from Dar and Coffey now taps but there is still no ref. Another ref runs to the ring as Coffey is tapping but as he comes in Bram clotheslines him and so the match continues. Sha staggers to his feet as Bram and Coffey beat down Noam, Bram hits Sha and Darr with a chair then hits a Canadian Destroyer on Sha who no sells it and hits one of his own, Coffey then hits Sha with a discus lariat and the first ref is up but it's a two count as the ref is still feeling the effects of being splashed in the corner and counts slow. Jack Jesters music hits and he and Coffey brawl to the back, which begs the question if that wasn’t a dq why did the announcers tell me that Bram pulled the ref in the way so he could hit a low blow without being dq’d. Then Red Lighting runs into the ring and grabs a chair, he goes to hit Dar with it but stops and hands the chair to him, makes the money symbol with his fingers and Dar turns round to hit Sha with the chair he arches the chair back over his head and Sha shouts fuck you then shows him the pinkies and Darr hits Bram with the chair instead, Red Lighting runs out of the ring and Dar hits a running boot on Bram for the pinfall. Winners by pinfall - Noam Dar & Sha Samuels Well this match certainly didn’t feel like a main event bar the fact it had Noam Dar in it and he wrestles for another company, really boring two ref bumps, brawl to the back, teased turns that last for five seconds and in the end the guy who gets the pin won’t be here next week. The commentators tell us how this was a great tag team match, I really must disagree with this. After the match Noam cuts a nice little promo about how he loved coming back, how he cut a promo in an ICW ring four years ago about job seekers allowance but he stands here now a WWE superstar. He thanks the fans and says he will always be an ICW original. So that was night one of Shugs Hoose Party, let's hope the in ring action picks up on night two, the only two matches I’d suggest going out of your way to see would be the Zero G championship match and the UK title match everything else just felt flat and not really up to the standard of what is essentially a pay per view, instead this felt like two episodes of insane fight club stitched together with no backstage segments. If you have three plus hours to kill there are better shows on the ICW network to watch than this, maybe night two will be worth the watch. To find out keep an eye out for my next review of Shugs Hoose Party Night Two coming out (Pivotshare willing) very soon. Until then keep it too hot to handle, too cold to hold. @Juliejwl777 |
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