Here are five things you need to know about British wrestling this week:
1) Chris Brookes thrust himself into the RevPro spotlight
As if winning the Revolution Pro Wrestling Undisputed British Tag Team titles on his first night in the company wasn’t enough, CCK’s Chris Brookes has also earmarked a singles opportunity for himself as a result of the team’s latest win at Live At The Cockpit 17 in Marylebone last Sunday.
Teaming with Travis Banks to take on the Suzuki-gun duo of Zack Sabre Jr. & Davey Boy Smith Jr., Brookes submitted the RevPro Undisputed British Champion and has earned a shot at the big gold at August’s Summer Sizzler.
After making a splash on his debut last month, Ashley Dunn got a shot at Josh Bodom’s Undisputed British Cruiserweight title. Despite Bodom firing up the challenger by calling him “Britain’s third best Dunn(e)”, there was no title switch, but the challenger once again earned the plaudits of the fans.
The same could be said of El Phantasmo, a Canadian making his debut appearance in the UK, who lost to David Starr in the opener but impressed the capacity crowd.
Zack Gibson takes down Angelico — photo by ShootWrestle’s JD Howells
Those fans, who commendably carried on with their wrestling fun despite the horrible events in the capital the night before, were also treated to wins for Jinny (over the debuting Nina Samuels), Zack Gibson (who added Angelico to his list of aerial victims), and Donovan Dijak, who beat Eddie Dennis in a match which tested the considerable height of the Cockpit ceiling. In addition, the Portsmouth School of Wrestling duo of Josh Wall & Kurtis Chapman earned a big win over the London Riots.
RevPro return to the Cockpit on July 2nd, with the British J-Cup (in association with New Japan) following less than a week later. Live At The Cockpit 17 is already available on RevPro On Demand.
2) Eight-man action topped Tidal’s latest outing
Gathering the biggest names in the promotion together for a big eight-man main event is a risky strategy which sometimes leaves the undercard looking a little bare. Fortunately, Tidal Championship Wrestling’s shows have such a depth of talent that this wasn’t the case at High Tide 2017 last Sunday, even with both the promotion’s singles champions named in the closer.
The show began with title action, as Sean Only overcame HT Drake to win the vacant Tidal Open Championship. Both men reappeared, on opposite sides, in the main event, with Drake joining Tidal Heavyweight Champion Rampage Brown (and Jason Prime & Sebb Strife) to earn a measure of revenge over Only, who sided with Jimmy Havoc, Dara Diablo & Dan Evans.
The unique Church setting — photo by Ben Corrigan
The stacked lineup helped to swell the crowd at the Church in Leeds, where Tidal call home, and they were on hand to witness Tidal Women’s Champion Lizzy Styles retaining her title in a three-way against Evee Black and ProJo trainee Chakara.
The latter wasn’t the only graduate of the PROGRESS training school to make the trip north — Roy Johnson beat Amir Jordan in an all-ProJo affair, and Chuck Mambo teamed with Brady Phillips to beat Jack Bandicoot & the Pop Punk Kid.
There were plenty of northern regulars on hand, too, as El Ligero beat Bubblegum, CJ Banks defeated Joseph Conners, and Gabriel Kidd pinned JD Boom. Tidal return on July 23rd with The Battle Of LS2, headlined by Rampage Brown vs. Jeff Cobb.
3) ATTACK! had a glitch and Chaos welcomed a Bro
The South West played host to two very different wrestling shows in two days last weekend, with much of the same talent showing their versatility across the double-shot. First up, at the Secret Bingo Hall in Cardiff last Friday, ATTACK! Pro Wrestling held their yearly celebration of video game fun, Press 5tart, but with a difference.
The glitch-affected Anti-Fun Police
At ATTACK!’s previous show, the enormous butt of Super Santos Jr. damaged the Sacred GameCube that controls ATTACK!, putting a glitch in the system. Come Press 5tart, this manifested itself in the ATTACK! regulars appearing as each other, from #CCK being Bowl-A-Rama (and vice versa) in the opener, to Australian import Kyle Fletcher becoming Nixon Newell, and Sergeant (Travis) Banks playing Mark Andrews in the main.
By the end of the show, which is already available on ATTACK!’s Vimeo service, everything had returned to normal following the brave sacrifice of the Brothers of Construction, and ATTACK! move on to The Neon Wristlock on July 16th.
Across the Seven Estuary, in Bristol, Pro Wrestling Chaos promoted UnBroLievable at Newman Hall, headlined by Chaos regular Mike Bird against the debuting Matt Riddle for Riddle’s PROGRESS Atlas Division title.
Riddle triumphed, which is more than can be said for King of Chaos Champion, Flash Morgan Webster, who lost a non-title match to Eddie Dennis.
Mike Bird and Matt Riddle before their battle — photo by Turning Face’s Jim Maitland
Webster did pick up a new recruit for his Modern Culture stable, however, when Matt Horgan interfered in the Knights of Chaos Championship match between Modern Culture’s Richie Edwards and Danny Jones to ensure they beat Project Lucha.
Elsewhere on the show — which is available on UK Wrestling On Demand — there were wins for Cara Noir, Alex Steele, and the trio of Gideon, Jeckel & Mikey Whiplash (subbing for the injured Sierra Loxton). Next up is Heir To The Thron3 on July 8th, which will see a number one contender crowned.
4) Kasey Owens earned double gold at BEW
Just two weeks after Pro Wrestling EVE’s Babes With The Power two-dayer, the strength of the British women’s wrestling scene was shown with another weekender, across London at the Tram & Social in Tooting.
British Empire Wrestling staged their annual International Grand Prix, and welcomed talent from the UK, the US, Germany, Italy, and Australia to fight it out for the IGP trophy.
In addition, BEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm put her belt on the line in her opening round match against former-WWE star Katarina Leigh, and lost, with Leigh continuing the defense of the title in her semifinal with Kasey Owens.
Owens won that, and then the final — a three-way over Desi Derata and Shotzi Blackheart — to not only win the IGP trophy but also leave with the belt.
Psucho Lolita puts the hurt on Mischa East — photo by Nigel Richardson
The tournament also featured Jetta, Melanie Gray, Santana Garrett, Laura Di Matteo, Little Miss Roxxy, Zoe Lucas, Christi Jaynes, and Nina Samuels, and there were non-tournament appearances from Psycho Lolita, Mischa East, Wesna, Candyfloss, and Jamie Hayter.
The show should be available to buy on DVD soon, and BEW are part of Mitcham Carnival this Saturday.
5) WCPW upset YouTube (and other stuff)
After finding their income drastically reduced as a result of decisions made by YouTube regarding video classification, What Culture Pro Wrestling’s Fight BACK — which was taped at Bowler’s Exhibition Centre last Friday — was yanked off air on Saturday when the promotion were given a “strike” for reasons unclear.
This has since been rescinded, and the show featured last man standing title drama between Joe Hendry and Martin Kirby (and a turn by El Ligero, beloved of WCPW fans).
Adam Blampied cuts a promo on YouTube
Fight BACK featured one other title match, and built a number of top contenders, with Gabriel Kidd defending his WCPW Internet Championship, and Kay Lee Ray, Prospect, and Rampage Brown becoming the number one contenders to the Women’s, Tag Team, and Heavyweight titles, respectively.
Less contentiously, Over The Top Wrestling — who are streaming on their own On Demand service now — returned to the Tivoli in Dublin last Sunday for Outer Space Odyssey III: Stranger Things Have Happened.
The show was topped by a No Limits title match between Ryan Smile and Matt Riddle, but the big news was a win for the previously verboten British Strong Style — WWE UK’s Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate — over Angel Cruz, B-Cool and, erm, Tyler Bate.
WWE UK’s Jordan Devlin also returned to OTT, which may signal a policy turn from one or both parties, to lose to Impact Grand Champion Moose, and the show also featured Kenny Williams, “Pastor” William Eaver, Mark Haskins, Sami Callihan, Sha Samuels, Charlie Sterling, Kay Lee Ray, and Kris Wolf, as well as local favorites The Lads From The Flats, Justin Shape, Katey Harvey, and Martina the Session Moth.
Shropshire Wrestling Alliance sold out Dawley Town Hall on the outskirts of Telford for the first time since they retook the venue from VII-Pro Wrestling for Sledgehammer last Saturday. Tyler Bate headlined the show, beating Ash Draven in the main event after two referees were knocked out before Joey Ozbourne appeared in a referee shirt and counted the win.
Tyler Bate in action at SWA — photo by Matt Johnson
The show also featured wins for Ozbourne, Kat von Kaige, Joe Black, and Ashley Dunn, and the CZW Tag Team titles were on the line when #CCK appeared unannounced and turned the scheduled Chris Ridgeway & Bubblegum vs. Kip Sabian & Drew Parker match into a three-way!
SWA action is available on UK Wrestling On Demand, and they return to Dawley on July 15th when they will crown their first champion.