On June 3rd 2017, Pro Wrestling Chaos returned to Newman Hall, Westbury-on-Trym to bring us an event that was fantastic, it was phenomenal, it was...UnBroLievable! Six matches which all delivered either by way of storyline purpose, the quality of the in ring product, or both. There were several debuts, twists and turns and above all else, there was plenty of chaos! And that's what these shows are about! I've been a fan of Chaos since their second event (as per my recent blog My Life as a BritWres Fan over on the Facebook page) and I still get just as excited before a show as I did back in 2013. That's a credit to those who run this little promotion in Bristol.
Credit must also go out to Jim Maitland of Turning Face who got this show out on the UK Wrestling On Demand channel within days of it taking place. Record time to the best of my knowledge so huge credit and respect to Jim for this and for finally getting pyro at a Chaos event! Something that man has been campaigning for for the last 18 months on social media and he finally got his wish! Cheers Jim! Dave Mercy addressed the live crowd before the show began to thank everyone for their support of Chaos as the promotion will soon be celebrating its fourth birthday. In that time Chaos has seen many wrestlers come through the doors who've either been to the big dance prior to their Chaos appearances, or have since gone on to bigger things. We've seen names such as Kenny King, Jonathan Gresham, Chris Hero, Rhyno, Tommy Dreamer and Hardcore Holly to name but a few in a Pro Wrestling Chaos ring over the years. A who's who of North American wrestlers to go along with a few of the British wrestlers who've been working for WWE in recent times such as Jack Gallagher, Pete Dunne, T-Bone, Roy Johnson and Mark Andrews. With names like all of those mentioned, it proves that Chaos has developed a fine reputation in their four years as a staple of wrestling here in the south-west. Charlie Sterling vs Cara Noir vs Brendan White There were two debuts in this match. Well, sort of anyway. Brendan White was making his official Pro Wrestling Chaos in ring debut and put in one hell of a performance against a recent regular for Chaos in the hometown boy Charlie Sterling and the man who once previously competed in a Chaos ring as Tom Dawkins - Cara Noir who is one of the most mesmerising and intriguing wrestlers I've ever seen live. I'd seen Cara on a Lucha Forever iPPV a few weeks prior to this event and thought that everything about him oozed awesomeness. From the mystique of his entrance to the flamboyance of his motions and his killer instincts in the ring, Cara Noir could become a force to be reckoned with in British wrestling for a long, long time to come. Charlie Sterling has featured in several opening bouts at Chaos events in recent months and I honestly couldn't think of anyone better suited to that role. That's not intended to come across in a negative way whatsoever. Charlie has a natural charisma about him that very few possess where he can work as a heel or as a face and either way you're still entertained. He doesn't mind making a fool out of himself, like he did in this match by having his backside exposed by Brendan White, but at the same time, he's so good in the ring that he can draw you in with his amazing high flying and technical ability. Certainly one to watch for the future! It was Cara Noir who picked up the win in this match by pinning Brendan White after scoring with a neckbreaker across the knee (think Adam Cole's finisher the Last Shot) for the three count. I certainly hope that we get to see a lot more of Cara Noir and Brendan White in Chaos moving forward. I'm a huge fan of both men and although I haven't touched too much on Brendan, I'm sure I will very soon when reviewing a Chaos event. He's a great, humble guy who in my opinion will go on to have a very successful and prosperous wrestling career. Winner - Cara Noir King of Chaos Number One Contender Match - Alex Steele vs Eddie Ryan This one has a fantastic backstory to it. Alex felt as though he was screwed out of the title at Sweet Dreams in April while Eddie has felt as though he's been screwed by Chaos management for a long time having never received his one-on-one King of Chaos title opportunity which he earned last Summer after defeating Eddie Dennis. So with both men having a legitimate claim to a match at the main man in the company, Chaos owner Dave Mercy signed this contest which didn't disappoint. As you'd expect, Alex had his hometown crowd behind him for the entire match. The Heavy Metal Hero has always had a great amount of support in a Chaos ring and I can't see that stopping any time soon. On the other hand, to say that Eddie Ryan isn't the most liked person in Pro Wrestling Chaos would be a gross understatement. Usually flipping out or claiming to be cheated out of things makes the fans think that Eddie is nothing more than a cry baby who can't earn what he feels he deserves. Once again, Eddie felt cheated by the result of this match and with good reason this time. Alex appeared to suffer an injury to the foot which he broke eight months prior at All or Nothing and when Ryan moved in to take advantage of the situation, ref Paz prevented him from doing so due to Alex's apparent injury. However, it was seemingly all a ruse by Alex to lure Eddie into a pinning combination to pick up the win and once again become the number one contender to 'Flash' Morgan Webster's King of Chaos Championship! Winner and new number one contender - Alex Steele The Brotherhood vs Team H8 & Mikey Whiplash w/ Sierra Loxton It's fair to say that The Brotherhood and Team H8 despise one another and won't stop fighting one another until they're satisfied that the job is done on the other. Another person who has legitimate beef with The Brotherhood is Sierra Loxton who was attacked by the rabid pack of wolves the last time Chaos was at Newman Hall in January of this year. Unfortunately for 'The Freaky Princess', she'd sustained a broken hand recently meaning that she wasn't cleared to compete on this show. She had, however, found a more than adequate replacement in British wrestling legend 'The Necromancer' Mikey Whiplash! The thought running through my mind throughout this match was whether or not Jeckel and Whiplash could co-exist knowing their history over the last twelve months. Regular attendees will remember the brutal Last Man Standing match from Total Chaos 2016 which led to Mikey being fired by then owner Pariah Khan as well as both men being on opposing sides during the huge elimination tag team contest at All or Nothing last October. There were frequent tags early on for the fan favourites in this one and none of them were between Jeckel and Whiplash which I thought had answered my question. That was all up until after sustaining a vicious beat down at the hands of The Brotherhood, Whiplash managed to make a tag to Jeckel. The issue was that the younger trio of Mezinger, Dahl and Bane were seemingly too much for Jeckel until he managed to make a tag to his Team H8 partner, Gideon. Whiplash soon after found himself in the ring as the legal man along with Nathan Bane. Both men traded some big shots in the ring and when Bane thought he had 'The Necromancer' down for long enough, he went after Sierra Loxton on the outside. Whiplash managed to get Bane back to the centre of the ring and soon after hit him with the Zombie Maker to pick up the win for his team. This feud is by no means over between Team H8 and The Brotherhood! Winners - Mikey Whiplash and Team H8 The interval was next where there was an opportunity to have an in ring picture taken with either Matt Riddle or Sierra Loxton. I'd already ordered a pre-show meet and greet with the 'King of Bro's' which I was unfortunately unable to attend but the good people at Pro Wrestling Chaos were cool and allowed me to do this during the interval. Riddle was cool, super friendly and seemingly had a great time talking to the fans. Amazing to see someone who genuinely wanted to spend time meeting and talking to people. 'Flash' Morgan Webster Announcement After the interval Morgan Webster made his way to the ring to announce that due to a contract stipulation, he didn't have to defend his King of Chaos title but was however willing to wrestle a non-title match against an opponent who met certain criteria. Initially, Webster hand picked Dragon Pro Academy graduate Matt Horgan who was working as part of the ring crew for the night. Just when it looked as though Horgan was going to get his biggest opportunity yet, the sound of Eddie Dennis' entrance music hit and out came 'The Pride of Wales' to accept the challenge set out by 'The Modfather'. Initially Webster refused Eddie's acceptance, however tried to blindside his fellow Welshman but the wily veteran Dennis was wise to Webster's attempted cheap shot and caught 'The king of the Mods' with a huge right forearm which led us into... Eddie Dennis vs King of Chaos 'Flash' Morgan Webster - Non-Title This started off with a brawl on the outside, at the beginning of which Dennis seemed to injure either his right arm or right hand. This didn't stop him competing a hard fought match however. That's an admirable trait to have in all honesty. Showing signs of an injury but going as close to 100% as he could. My hat goes off to Eddie here. A few minutes latter, I doffed my cap to Mr. Dennis once more as he picked up a huge victory over 'The Modfather' to earn arguably the biggest victory of his Pro Wrestling Chaos career. This situation has become even more interesting as Eddie Dennis has been named as Webster's next challenger despite the fact that Alex Steele earned the honour of being named the number one contender to Webster. Eddie will challenge Webster at Heir To The Thron3 on July 8th at Hanham Community Centre. Winner - Eddie Dennis Knights of Chaos Championships: The Modern Culture (c) vs Project Lucha Now if ever there was a time where you'd want Michael Cole to say 'vintage', the start of this match would be it with Project Lucha having plenty of fun at the expense of their opponents including Edwin Ricci being on the receiving end of a Martin Kirby wedgie! Yes, you read that right ladies and gentleman, a wedgie in professional wrestling. The first time I'd ever witnessed such an event at a show! If the beginning of this match was designed to spread joy and laughter, then the ending certainly was no laughing matter here as we saw a shocking turn of events. As El Ligero scored with a splash from the middle rope and went for the pin, Matt Horgan pulled ref Mark from the ring and struck Ligero which gave Modern Culture enough time to re-group and hit their finisher to pick up the win and retain the Knights of Chaos championships. Horgan revealed a 'Flash' Morgan Webster shirt after the match and had aligned himself with Modern Culture. The three men, proud of how the end of the match turned out, were joined by their leader on stage and celebrated as a unit. What does this mean for the tag team division in Chaos? Will Project Lucha get another shot at the titles, or will Chaos owner Dave Mercy have something else up his sleeve before the next event for Modern Culture? As always, make sure you're following Chaos on social media to find out the latest developments in the tag team division and also to find out if there will be any ramifications for Matt Horgan's actions. Winners and still Knights of Chaos - The Modern Culture PROGRESS Wrestling Atlas Division Championship - Matt Riddle (c) vs Mike Bird For the first time ever, the PROGRESS Wrestling Atlas Division championship was defended in a British promotion other than PROGRESS. The only requirement a wrestler needs to meet to be able to compete for this title is to be 205lbs or heavier. Bird weighed in at 206lbs and Riddle 215lbs in a match where strong style was at its absolute finest between one of the best kept secrets of British wrestling and the 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Rookie of the Year. If I tried to breakdown this match for you, I would not be able to serve it the justice it so richly deserves. I've been to over 20 Chaos events and for what my opinion is worth, this is the best match I've ever witnessed at a Pro Wrestling Chaos event. That's not to discredit the first Eddie Dennis vs Chris Hero match, or the efforts of 'Flash' Morgan Webster and Dave Mercy in 2015, but this match just had everything I look for in a main event. Despite the fact that there was no real backstory, these two certainly stole the show and if I was to dig out my Dave Meltzer match rating system, this would be in the five star category. The Chaos Club were split throughout this brutal, hard-hitting contest with lots of chants in favour of one of Chaos' favourites Mike Bird as well as several countering chants and songs as many fans rallied behind the King of Bro's. The atmosphere only added to the great action that was taking place inside of the ring and the more these two warriors threw at each other, the louder the fans got. Likewise the louder the fans were, the harder these two men went at each other. A fantastic dynamic! Unfortunately for the Chaos favourite, he wasn't able to pick up the win as he passed out to Riddle's devastating 'Bromission' hold as referee Paz called for the bell. Bird may have not won the PROGRESS Wrestling Atlas title on this night, but he certainly earned the respect of the champion and we also witnessed Riddle show a great level of respect for the Ginger Jesus as well. Bird congratulated Riddle on his victory and offered Riddle a shot at his and Wild Boar's ICW Tag Team championship. Riddle accepted the challenge for the match to close out a fantastic show. Winner and still PROGRESS Wrestling Atlas Division Champion - Matt Riddle Thus ends another Pro Wrestling Chaos review and in my opinion, this was the best Chaos show of 2017 so far. Once again there were lots of questions left after this show and one of these has since been answered with Eddie Dennis being named as the next challenger to 'Flash' Morgan Webster's King of Chaos Championship at Heir To The Thron3, Chaos' version of Money in the Bank. To keep up with the latest developments for the upcoming event at Hanham Community Centre, make sure you're following Chaos on all forms of social media for the latest announcements.
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By Darren Dyer17 year veteran of viewing graps. Archives
February 2018
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