Here’s five things you need to know about British wrestling this week:
1) The World of Sport tapings were postponed
While usually this column is reserved for things that have happened, once in a while you have to report on things that haven’t, and might not be for a while. This is the case with the upcoming World of Sport tapings, which were announced last month in a blaze of publicity, with the men from Impact Wrestling handed the keys to the valuable vintage property.
In the middle of last week, however, rumors circulated that the tapings — which should have been taking place at the end of May, at the Guildhall in Preston — were to be postponed, and soon after that some of the talent involved were announcing their availability to work on those dates through Twitter.
It wasn’t until Tuesday of this week — almost a full week after the news first broke — that an official announcement was made, blaming “contractual negotiations” and promising full refunds to those who’d bought tickets to the shows, with no hint of a replacement date. What may have complicated matters is that Impact are due to embark on a tour of India at the beginning of June, but this has been on the books for a while now, and certainly before they were given control of the tapings.
Whatever the truth, and whatever your opinion of the latest attempt to revive the sport in a mainstream setting, it’s a disappointment not only for those who had purchased travel and accommodation for the shows (which will, of course, not be refunded), but also for the wrestlers who signed with WOS in good faith, forgoing other opportunities to do so.
Let’s hope that things can be sorted before too long.
2) The WCPW title changed hands…twice
Some of the talent that were due to work the World of Sport tapings at the end of the month, and had hitherto not appeared for the promotion before, turned up at What Culture Pro Wrestling’s No Regrets iPPV, held last Saturday at Sports Central in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
The main event of the show was a 30-man Royal Rumble-style battle royal, with the WCPW Heavyweight title on the line.
That current champion Drew Galloway had already appeared on NXT, and was therefore leaving the promotion, may have led some to believe a title change was a forgone conclusion, but Galloway’s inclusion in the match — and a backup plan by WCPW officials to take “desperate measures” should he succeed in retaining his title — did a good job of maintaining storyline suspense, right up until the champion was eliminated, by Joe Hendry, three from the end.
El Ligero and Rey Mysterio Jr. face off at No Regrets
That left Hendry and Martin Kirby, and Kirby triumphed to take the title for the first time. The next night, as part of the supporting card for the Mexican qualifiers of WCPW’s Pro Wrestling World Cup (strangely held at the SkyDome ice rink in Coventry), Kirby gave Hendry a shot at the belt, and this time the Scotsman won, after Kirby suffered a concussion midway through the match.
Penta El 0M and Rey Mysterio Jr. were the qualifiers from Mexico for the PWWC, from a field which included Alberto El Patron, Juventud Guerrera, Drago, El Ligero, Rey Fenix, and El Hijo del Dos Caras, and the weekend’s shows also featured Cody Rhodes, who dropped the WCPW Internet title to Gabriel Kidd at No Regrets before beating Galloway in the latter’s farewell to the company in Coventry.
The former “Bad News” Barrett, Stu Bennett, also got involved in proceedings on both nights, although did not wrestle, and you can see the Mexican qualifier on YouTube, for free, from this Saturday.
WCPW return in July with the Japanese qualifiers for the PWWC (in Manchester) but are co-promoting the German and Canadian rounds before then. All will air free on YouTube.
3) There was ATTACK! and DDT 24/7 title Chaos in Bristol
Returning to Yate Leisure Centre, on the outskirts of Bristol, last Saturday with an event titled Sweet Dreams, Pro Wrestling Chaos lived up to their name with a cavalcade of title changes featuring two titles from outside the company that can be defended anywhere in the world, anytime!
With Joey Ryan (carrying the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship) and Nixon Newell (who held the ATTACK! Pro Wrestling 24/7 title) booked against each other — and with “Dirty” Dick Riley thrown into the three-way as a wild card, there was bound to be shenanigans, and the night ended with Ryan and Newell having swapped titles (as well as a very short ATTACK! reign for Riley).
Modern Culture and The Marauders hit each other very hard — photo by Turning Face’s Jim Maitland
Alongside all that, the show featured two other title matches, one a double, as the ICW Tag Team Champions The Marauders and Knights of Chaos Champions Modern Culture went to a no contest, and King of Chaos Champion “Flash” Morgan Webster beat Alex Steele in the main event. After the match, Webster and his Modern Culture cohorts began beating on Steele, until Steele’s tag team partner Eddie Dennis made the save.
Dennis had beaten Charlie Sterling in the show’s opener, and there were also wins for Mikey Whiplash, The Brotherhood, and Tommy Dreamer (who defeated Eddie Ryan in a no disqualification match).
Like all Chaos shows, Sweet Dreams will soon be available to watch on UK Wrestling On Demand, and Chaos are back in action on June 3rd, with Matt Riddle in for UnBroLievable.
4) …and also in London!
Joey Ryan and Nixon Newell took their respective belts — having effectively swapped which gold they were holding — down the M4 the next day for IPW:UK’s Extreme Measures 2017, held at the Clapham Grand in London.
Before Ryan got to the ring, however, ATTACK! Pro Wrestling regular “Fat Cat” Lloyd Katt relieved him of the ATTACK! 24/7 title, and thus it was only Newell’s DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship on the line in their scheduled encounter.
Ryan won that, to at least return his status to where it had been at the beginning of the weekend, and the same can be said of both the IPW:UK Heavyweight and IPW:UK Tag Team titles, with Jimmy Havoc escaping an Extreme Measures match against Tommy Dreamer, and DnD surviving #CCK’s latest gold-grab.
#CCK look to add more gold to their collection — photo by Robyn Goding
With IPW:UK’s shows being filmed for broadcast on FloSlam (either live, or — as in the case of this show — on delay), WWE-contracted talent are forbidden from appearing, meaning Pete Dunne’s first ever encounter with Matt Riddle was a pre-show attraction for those live in attendance.
Riddle pulled double-duty, replacing X-Pac (who was detained trying to fly to the UK allegedly carrying controlled substances) in a six-man match later in the card, teaming with Scott Star & Chakara to beat the Havoc’s Army team of Sammy Smooth, Adam Maxted & Livvi Grace.
The show also featured wins for The London Riots (over Los Gueros Del Cielo) and Sid Scala (who beat Jonathan Windsor), and you can see IPW:UK on FloSlam, as well as their own On Demand service. They’re next in action on May 12th, with Future 24 in Swanley.
5) Battle-Pro had a distinctly progressive flavor to it (and other stuff)
In the absence of regular outings for its ENDVR and PTNTL brands, the trainees and graduates of PROGRESS Wrestling’s ProJo academy have had to spread their wings to find match experience this year.
However, they didn’t have to go too far, and were amongst familiar company, last Friday when Battle Pro Wrestling promoted its first show at the Tudor Livesey Memorial Hall in south London.
Candyfloss hits a dropkick on Laura Di Matteo — photo by Rob Brazier
The card was topped by a match to crown the first BattlePro Champion, which was won by “Bodyguy” Roy Johnson over fellow ProJo alumnus Kyle Ashmore, and the night also featured other graduates, students, and teachers from the school, including Earl Black Jr., Chuck Mambo, Candyfloss, Laura Di Matteo, The London Riots, Darrell Allen, Dillon D’Angelo, Spike Trivet, and RJ Singh.
Also on Friday, but out in east Kent, Fight!Nation presented ECF!N Friday Fightro at the Westgate Hall in Canterbury.
Despite F!N Z-Force Champion Ryan Smile being absent, there were still two title matches as Chris Ridgeway successfully defended his F!N British Championship against Doug Williams, and Joey Ryan put his DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship on the line against Robert Sharpe, which saw the belt switch back and forth between the men (and also include a brief reign for Tommy Dreamer).
Dreamer earlier teamed with “Extremely Confused” Drew Parker to beat #CCK, and the show also featured wins for Adam Maxted, Mark Haskins, Josh Bodom (who challenged Smile to a title match after), and the Souls of Smashmouth, James Castle & Sammy Smooth. Fight!Nation taped TV on Monday, in Eastbourne, for broadcast on the Fight Network soon.
Lastly, and once again on Friday, Kamikaze Pro Wrestling opened the doors of The Cadbury Club in Bourneville, Birmingham, for Sky’s The Limit 4!, which was headlined by a Kamikaze-Pro Relentless Division Championship match.
That saw Ryan Smile dethrone Dan Moloney, and led to a dispute between Moloney’s pals in The Bigger Picture and the good guys, led by Kamikaze Pro Champion Clint Margera and the Hunter Brothers.
The capacity crowd for Kamikaze’s Sky’s The Limit! 4
The upshot of all this is that Margera will face Smile and Moloney for the Kamikaze-Pro title on the promotion’s 4th Anniversary show on June 30th, with Money in the Bank briefcase holder Marshall X waiting in the wings.
The show also featured wins for Omari, Tristan Archer, Joel Redman, El Ligero, Xia Brookside, and Impact Wrestling’s Spud, and Kamikaze-Pro are back on June 17th in Collingwood, Birmingham.