My Weekend of (British) Wrestling 32: Pro EVW

Saturday 24th May 2014 - Pro EVW - Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire

I got myself along to only my second Pro EVW show this year on Saturday. In my attempts to get along to as many different wrestling shows, it has been difficult to juggle shows that fall on the same day. This coupled with life getting in the way has meant that this show was long overdue!

I always feel a level of loyalty when I do go down to a Pro EVW show as this is where I first got to see 'behind-the-scenes' of a wrestling show and I'll always be grateful for that. It's always nice to go along and see the likes of Tom (Logan), Kayleigh, Chris (MC), Chris (Ref), Lee (big), Lee (small), Justin (Hammertime), Smudger and of course, the gaffer, Robbo. It's nice to catch up and see how previous shows have gone. On Saturday, I was told how great the previous nights show had gone with Justin going up against former WWE star Chris Masters. In his time as champion, Justin has been fortunate to step into the ring with some pretty decent, and experienced, competition. He's always come out looking great and learning something along the way (I'd hope?!).

Although Saturday's show could've been seen as a lesser show, there were still huge talents on display. Unfortunately, the Ross-on-Wye locals wouldn't come out in force as the audience was the least I'd seen at a Pro EVW show. As the night went on, they would get more and more enthusiastic, and make as much noise as you could hope for from such a low turnout.

Nixon

The first match of the evening would see 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman taking on Nixon in an inter-gender match that I found intriguing. I was sure that Nixon would take a pounding from the bigger and stronger Boar, but there had to be more to this match than just a straight-up squash. Despite Boar gaining the decisive victory, Nixon really showed balls (for want of a better word!); she was resilient throughout and even got some impressive moves in along the way. The audience were a little flat through this match, but Boar and Nixon did wake them up as best they could leading to the second match.

One half of the Pro EVW Tag Team Champions, Charlie Garrett would take on 'Mean' Tommy Dean in the second bout. This would be something completely different from the first match as Tommy would bring the comedy in waves. I'm used to seeing him on local family shows around the Oxford area (and towards Wales) and his act works a treat wherever. It can be said that Tommy has the complete opposite look of Charlie: Tommy having a 'real man's body' compared to Charlie's chiselled, 'earned' look. My girlfriend would agree with this assessment as Charlie became her new favourite wrestler on this night! Both guys should be on more shows across the country for very different reasons!

The third match would be the standout one for me as Big Grizzly would take on the other half of the Tag Team Champions, Iestyn Rees. I really enjoyed this match as, normally, Iestyn is really good at matching men slightly bigger than him for power. He's great at making you believe that despite him being smaller (which isn't too often!) he can still overcome. In this match, both guys did a great job of showing that despite what Iestyn brought, Grizzly cut him off and gave him a kicking that you wouldn't normally see at every opportunity. Iestyn was probably within an inch of being beaten before Tommy Dean would return to beat on him further, causing a disqualification. This would bring out Charlie to even the odds and set up the main event of Grizzly/Tommy vs The Alpha Males (Iestyn/Charlie) later in the night.

After a short interval, we would be greeted with the presence of The System; Logan and Luthor, accompanied by fellow member Tower. They would be taking on Chris Walker of the Magnums and a mystery partner. This turned out to be Ricky Diamond. I took lots of positives from this match. Ricky and Logan are still learning their trade, but unlike a lot of trainees, they look the part and you can see the improvements both are making all the time. I haven't been to a Pro EVW show in a few months and both guys have definitely improved since I saw them last!

'Filthy' Chris Walker

Walker also impressed me. With the crowd needing waking up after the interval, Walker would constantly rally them behind Diamond, as he took a beating in the ring, with "Ricky" chants. This gained everyone's support and would help get everyone invested in the rest of the shows matches.

The fifth match would be an impromptu Pro EVW Championship match between Justin Sysum and Sam Bronson. During a raffle draw, Bronson would charge to the ring and hold Nixon (from earlier) hostage, threatening to harm her unless Justin would grant him a title match. Justin agreed and the match commenced with Bronson giving Justin a beating throughout. This was a good match but the finish would baffle me a little. Justin is as babyface as you can get in a wrestler/champion; he's a fighter, a fair guy and does everything by the book. On this occasion he rolled up Bronson due to interference from Nixon. In all the time I've been watching wrestling, this is the exact thing that a heel manager would do to distract the popular champion before 'stealing' one. The Ross faithful seemed happy enough with the win, but it did puzzle me a little.

The Alpha Males; Charlie Garrett & Iestyn Rees

The main event would see the Tag Team Champions, The Alpha Males take on their foes from earlier in the night, Big Grizzly and Tommy Dean (collectively, The Welsh Warriors).

All in all this was a nice tag team contest and reminded me of tag team wrestling from when I was a kid. One guy (Charlie) would take a beating for 80% of the match before tagging in his team mate (Iestyn) who would eventually get the win. This really worked and went well with The Alpha Males' new tag-line of 'bring back 80s wrestling'. I think as heels, this line will make more sense, but as I have just described how the match went, it also worked as a babyface team. When Charlie eventually got to Iestyn to tag him in the audience gave one of the biggest pops of the night. That's a huge thing missing from wrestling these days that just WORKS.

Results

• 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman defeated Nixon in an inter-gender match
• Pro EVW Tag Team Champion Charlie Garrett defeated 'Mean' Tommy Dean
• Pro EVW Tag Team Champion Iestyn Rees defeated Big Gizzly by DQ
• The System; Logan & Luthor (w/ Tower) defeated 'Filthy' Chris Walker & Ricky Diamond
• Pro EVW Championship: Justin 'The Hammer' Sysum (c) (w/ Nixon) defeated Sam Bronson
• Pro EVW Tag Team Championship: The Alpha Males (c) defeated The Welsh Warriors

A nice return to Pro EVW for me. They always deliver and put on a nice family show. Also a little shout-out to Ref Chris - I have no clue about refereeing but I liked his authority over the competitors and his counts didn't seem as rushed as I'd seen them before. Another shout-out to MC Chris - I'm not sure if it's his accent that makes me think this, but he seems to have his own ways of doing things at times and it's nice to see. He seems 'into' the show and does add something to the presentation of the show.

A third shout-out to the masked cameraman... I know who you are; you're not fooling anyone...

If you haven't already; get yourself along to a Pro EVW show. Find them, follow them and like them on Facebook and Twitter, too.

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@jimmosangle