I finally got my fix of British wrestling off and running in 2014 with a trip up the M40 to Coventry's Club M to see a promotion that I'd not seen before - Triple X Wrestling. On the lead up to it, I was excited as it's been a while since my last show and the card looked very appealing with the talents of Zack Sabre Jr, the Dunne Brothers and Mark Andrews on show.
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| Zack Sabre Jr |
We arrived at the venue and entered the room where the show would take place... this is when my heart nearly sank. Nearly.
In previous editions of My Weekend of (British) Wrestling I have often stated my dislike of low ceilings. I feel it really limits the wrestlers to what they can do. This venue had a low ceiling. Due to it being a new promotion (to my eyes) and the talent that were due to appear, I chose to look past this... these guys could get past such an obstacle and put on a good show, right?
Before the show a comedian, Steve 'Bulk Hogan' Dodd warmed the audience up with a nice set of corny jokes. A really nice pre-show idea that already got everyone in the mood for a good time. Next up, Omar Ibrahim (a former(?) wrestler and our MC for the evening) continued to entertain and get us ready for the wrestling by telling us wrestling stories that he had been a part of. It's always good to hear accounts of wrestlers, past and present, that have been around and have first-hand knowledge. Ibrahim would do an excellent job throughout the night of adding comedy to his announcing and bringing something different to the show.
Searching through Facebook I found the show poster, which gave each match a name based on what we were going to see - Technical match; Power match etc - and I really liked this touch. To fans that weren't aware of each guy's style, this cleared it up a little.
The first match of the evening was billed (on the poster) as the 'Rookie's match', pitting 'Indy Guy' Kieran Young against 'Sleazy Bastard' Dave Mercy. I'd wondered what Dave Mercy's gimmick would be leading into the show and as his music hit and he entered ringside it became clear. R Kelly's Bump 'n' Grind would accompany Mercy - sleazily - down to ringside and I couldn't help but think of my pals The Magnums - the other sleazy geezers of British Wrestling. Maybe they could team up sometime in 2014?
This match was good fun and got everyone laughing. It also became apparent as to why the show was an adult themed, over-18s only occasion. This match would also be the beginning of a hell of a lot of swearing throughout the night. At times it really added to the matches; not only would a guy throw a punch but he would follow it up with "take that, you c*nt!"... all of us in attendance were all big enough and ugly enough to take such language, and as I said, it kind of added something to the show.
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| The Dunne Brothers (Damian & Pete) |
The second match would be for the Triple X Wrestling Championship. This was a surprise to me as I'd normally expect the company's title to be its main event of the evening. I suppose with the talent on display later in the show, this match was fitting early on. 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman would challenge Devilman for his championship in a match that was very slow to get going. This bout didn't really work for me as it lacked any flow. The audience started to get into it in the last couple of minutes when Wild Boar would attempt a Superplex and moments later Devilman would use Wild Boar's position on the top turnbuckle to deliver his Hellbound finisher.
The name of the show was the comically entitled 'Clusterf*ck III' which still baffles me as it sets itself to be called such if it goes badly. The third match shared this name. The rules were the same as a Royal Rumble match with the exception that when you got down to the final four, it then became a fatal four way with the first to get a pinfall or submission deemed the winner (and earning a championship match at a later date).
This match was due to include Jonathan Gresham, a US indy guy that if I'm honest, I haven't heard of. This isn't unusual for me when I go to shows; I'm starting to think that some promoters get these indy guys from America because they think that their audience know who they are, too. I'm pretty sure that, in most cases, 95% of their audience have no idea who they are - probably knowing wrestlers such as John Cena and The Rock, but that's it. I understand that having these guys over can be an advantage to the guys that they face in the ring (learning-wise), but in most cases I do wonder if the cost of the booking warrants a place on the card.
But anyway... Gresham was unable to make the show due to flight technicalities. The match didn't suffer as a result. The guys in this match all played their parts and made for the match of the night at that point. Although Eddie Dennis would come away victorious by pinning Local Jobber #2, there were good performances from Chris Brookes, Damian Dunne, Scotty Essex and most notably, Tyler Bate.
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| One of those dead lift German Suplexes... |
My girlfriend was very impressed with his physique and moustache... the only way I could put her off was by letting her know that he's a little young for her!
Other notable showings in this match came from Big Grizzly, who made people gasp in awe on arrival; taking down all that stood in his way and laughing in the face of smaller opponents that tried their luck with him. Grizzly's impressive introduction was equally matched when Scott Grimm entered the scene. Great power moves stamped his claim to winning the match, but it was Welshman Eddie Dennis that would outsmart everyone: Confusion fell upon everyone in what was thought to be the final four with the referee refusing to count pinfalls. This was due to the fact that Local Jobber #2 had not been eliminated. As he entered the ring again, Dennis was smart enough to toss Damian Dunne over the top rope and pin LJ#2 as everyone else laid defeated.
Along with Tyler Bate, Webster's gimmick was another that I really enjoyed. Swaggering around as a Mod (as in Mods and Rockers), Webster really played the part well and had a fitting theme music.
Fifth on the card saw a Tables match between The Hunter Brothers and fan favourites, The Henchmen. This was a impressive display between the smaller Hunter twins and the Natural Distaster-esque Henchmen. Plenty of back and forth before the tables would be broken, not just in the ring but also out amongst us in the audience - one of the Hunters being Powerbombed through one table. The finish would come when the referee was down, failing to see the second Hunter go through a table. As he came-to, the Hunters would place the second Henchman on the broken table to con themselves a win.
The main event of the evening saw two guys that have travelled to Japan to learn their craft - Zack Sabre Jr and 'Dynamite' Pete Dunne. This was a match that I felt would be really good but could be a little different to what I'm used to. I was right on both accounts. After only seeing a couple of Japanese-style matches, probably ever, this match seemed that it took on that style. It was stiff at times, it was very technical, too; both guys going for holds and submissions at every opportunity to test their opponent.
As the match went on - I would have thought it went a good 25minutes or so - I couldn't recall seeing either use the ropes (apart from to gain a little momentum). The only thing in recent memory that I can liken that to was Antonio Cesaro vs William Regal on NXT a few weeks ago. I hope that is taken as a compliment as that's how I intend it!
Results
- 'Sleazy Bastard' Dave Mercy defeated 'Indy Guy' Kieran Young to earn the #10 spot in the Clusterf*ck match
- Triple X Championship: Devilman (c) defeated 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman
- Clusterf*ck match: Eddie Dennis defeated Local Jobber #2, Tyler Bate, Chris Brookes, Damian Dunne, Scott Grimm, Big Grizzly, Terry Seddon, Scotty Essex and Davy Mercy to earn a future Triple X Championship match
- 'Flash' Morgan Webster defeated 'White Lightening' Mark Andrews to earn a Triple X contract
- Tag Team Tables match: The Hunter Brothers defeated The Henchmen
- Zack Sabre Jr defeated 'Dynamite' Pete Dunne (Match of the Night)
Check out Triple X Wrestling on Facebook and look out for future shows. I'm very pleased that I started 2014 off with this worthwhile trip!
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| Show poster complete with match types |
@jimmosangle
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