My Weekend of (British) Wrestling 7 (Wrestlemania weekend)

It's been more of a 'Week of Wrestling', than just a weekend. Along with my usual viewing of WWE Raw, Smackdown, Main Event, NXT and ROH TV, there was also a Pay-Per-View offering of a little show called Wrestlemania on Sunday night - anyone heard of that? I also had an enjoyable evening on Thursday watching some old ROH matches, as well as some old BAWA (British Allstar Wrestling Alliance) - a defunct local, Banbury-based wrestling promotion.

Saturday 6th April 2013 - Pro EVW - The Capital Venue, Gloucester 

In a lot of respects my Saturday night of wrestling was more important than all of it. I attended a Pro EVW show in Gloucester with some friends that were working on it. This show was a special one as it was a tribute show in honour of Kamil Ciemniewski - a young trainee of Pro EVW wrestling that sadly passed away a few weeks ago.

I would hazard a guess that around 300 people were in attendance - including many of Kamil's family and friends - to support this night and to raise as much money towards charity as they could. I should point out here that all proceeds - whether it be ticket sales, backstage passes, merchandise sales - would go towards a charity of Kamil's family's choice. Huge credit to those at Pro EVW for doing this. Credit is also due to the wrestlers that took part on this show as they all donated their fees to charity, too.

The Pro EVW crew stand in tribute to Kamil as British Wrestling veteran Roy Harley conducted the 10-bell-salute

I can't claim to have known Kamil, but after hearing the tragic news I thought back to the one time that I did meet Kamil. It was the first Pro EVW show that I had attended and I was sat watching the set-up through the day. Kamil approached me, which at first surprised me as we'd never met, but Kamil knew that at least we had wrestling in common to talk about. He seemed very excited about the evening ahead and that he was able to be around guys that he saw as idols. He reminded me of me when I was his age - a fan that was excited about wrestling. I think of this encounter fondly.

The night was a success, with the audience getting into the action and being very noisy at times. This was helped by MC Hank McCoy's enthusiasm, as well as all the wrestlers putting in great showings to get everyone either on their side or firmly hating them!

Results

• Pro EVW Heavyweight Championship: 'The Shark' Chris Andrews (c) defeated 'Big Bad' Dave Mastiff
• T-Bone (w/ Gilligan Gordon) defeated JD Knight (T-Bone became last entrant in Rumble match; Knight became 1st entrant as a result of loss)
• Iestyn Rees, Sam Andrews & Zak Garrett defeated Pro EVW Tag Team Champions The Magnums (Walker & Riley) & Jules Lambrini
• UK Dominator defeated Dan Splash
• Tyler Hawke defeated Kidd Lycos
• Rumble match; winner - JD Knight 

By the end of the night, Kamil's favourite wrestler came through and won the 25+ man Rumble match to end the show in the right way.

Other highlights of the show included a great opening match from Pro EVW Heavyweight Champion Chris Andrews beating Dave Mastiff. Some really impressive strength was shown by Andrews as well as getting the audience excited and 'into' what they were seeing. I said to a friend that Andrews has a kind of Batista look to him, which instantly impresses you when he comes through the curtain - you know that this guy is a wrestler - and his intensity and enthusiasm makes it easy for you to back him and want him to come out on top.

The Pro EVW Tag Team Champions The Magnums - 'Dirty' Dick Riley and 'Filthy' Chris Walker - were also in fine form again. They have the right amount of comedy and sleaziness on the way to the ring mixed in with the right amount of aggression when the bell rings - ultimately, an entertaining showing as always. Their opponents put on a great babyface showing with Zak Garrett, Sam Andrews and Iestyn Rees picking up the victory before making their way through the crowd to give thanks to everyone for coming.

As always, I'm pleased to see UK Dominator at his rulebreaking best; this time defeating Dan Splash. Dom is possibly my favourite heel as he is what I look for in a heel - he's an aggressive, imposing, nasty bully. He's not a 'cool' heel, he's simply someone that you can easily hate. What more do you need?

Rumble winner JD Knight; Kamil's favourite wrestler (with Kamil in the photograph)

I really enjoyed this show and I think everyone in attendance did, too. It was for a great cause and I tip my hat to everyone at Pro EVW for putting the event on - I personally think they did Kamil proud. I hope his family and friends felt the same and had a great evening.

If you haven't been to a Pro EVW show yet then you should treat yourself to the next show - Cinderford, Gloucestershire on Saturday 27th April 2013 - check the Pro EVW Facebook page out for further details.

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@jimmosangle