Last time out, we reviewed the first half of Breed's version of 'Super Sunday' in Hybreed and now we move on to the more traditional wrestling part of the day in 'This House Is A Circus' lets get right into it!
So kicking off the show was some tag team action with Spike Trivet and Chuck Mambo of ETM (accompanied by 'The Daddy Of The North TK Cooper) taking on The N.I.C. N.I.C came into this match on the back of a controversial loss to The Anti Fun Police back at Out Of The Box whereas the ETM boys came after a very impressive win over Schadenfreude members Lucky Kid, Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher. ETM came out looking very stylish with all three boys rocking sunglasses with N.I.C rocking their signature face paint. Anyway, enough about looks, lets get onto the action! It was quick out of the blocks with Mambo and Charlie Carter of The N.I.C locking up and trading blows early on. After the initial scuffle The N.I.C began to take control of the bout however their early dominance was soon slowed as Trivet came into the fold. The end came when Trivet and Mambo hit a wheelbarrow into a codebreaker combination for the win. So ETM's win streak continues to go on'n'on whilst The N.I.C continue to search for that elusive first win in Breed. Second on the card and its fatal four way time! Not only that, but it's a little mixture of competitors from Hybreed earlier in the day so, if you missed that, you get a little taster of the action here. Who were the four competitors then? Well, first up, it's a future no.1 contender (more on that later...) for the Breed Championship Scotty Davis! He was facing off against MK McKinnan, who was coming off his first win in Breed earlier in the day. Damon Moser, still searching for his first win in Breed and 'The Hybrid Athlete' Jay Joshua. This was a great match with hard hitting action being mixed in with a match contested at an breath-taking pace. Blows were traded, grapples were dealt out and at the end of it all, Scotty Davis came out on top hitting a big suplex for the win. After the match, Davis mentioned that despite his good record in Breed, he didn't have anything of note to really validate his domination. So, he's going to join Chris Ridgeway in cashing in his no.1 contender opportunity in the four way dance at Starrcave in September! So the suplex machine has thrown his hat in the ring for the title but who would the champion be at that time? Find out if the belt changed hands later on... It's New Breed championship time with defending champion Joe Nelson (who now has his lovely new belt) facing off against the returning Henry Faust. Both men come into this bout on the back of victories with Nelson having won the New Breed belt at Out Of The Box against Connor Mills and Faust controversially winning a three way at Breeding Ground at the expense of Leon Blade. Faust was very eager to point out the fact that he had earned a shot at the New Breed title to Blade with Blade doing well to restrain himself from attacking Faust. So the match began and it was a pretty even contest with both men feeling each other out in the early stages. However, Faust began to take control and it looked like we would have a new New Breed champion but it wasn't to be for Faust with Nelson securing the win and continuing his reign as leader of the New Breed. Just before the first half of the show ended, we were treated to trios action! And what a treat it was, with More Than Hype making their Breed return after not appearing as a threesome since Never Fight A Man With A Perm in March. They were coming up against M.O.B otherwise known individually as Dan Moloney, Omari and Jack Ball. The match kicked off with Moloney pointing out that he was once in NXT which didn't impress MTH much and they took advantage of Moloney's cocky nature and made quick tags followed by impressive tag team offense. Their dominance didn't last however and soon M.O.B had split the ring in half and were denying Nathan Martin the tag to Cleary and Kearney. Martin did eventually get the tag and from then on in it was a mad dash to the finish with bodies flying everywhere. It was More Than Hype's day however with the boys picking up another win to keep their moment going. Coming back from the break it was time to see if Alec Mikaels could find his first win in Breed. He was pitted against Brady Phillips. Phillips was also searching for his first win in Breed after losing out at The Colossal Tussle. Phillips appeared angered by the fact that he hadn't been booked on the show sooner and was even more angry that his opponent was Mikaels. Mikaels however, was determined to grab that first win and almost secured the win with a surprise roll up. It wasn't to be and the match continued with Mikaels trying to wrestle at a quick pace whilst Phillips was working at a controlled, calculated pace. Mikaels almost secured the win again with a moonsault garnering a close count. Phillips however, soon secured the victory with an elevated DDT. So although Mikaels has now gone 0/5 in Breed, he's getting ever closer to that first win and when it does come, we will all rejoice and we will celebrate to the early morning. Next up it was supposed to be Shax against Raven Creed in a qualifier for the Women Of Steel final at Starrcave. That didn't happen however, because Raven was having a try-out at the NXT UK performance centre near London. First off, congratulations to Raven Creed on having the try-out and hopefully we'll either see you at the next show or at the cave? Either way, big well done! (Side note: another big congratulation to Session Moth Martina on also participating in the try-out, she's been in Breed since the beginning and has been apart of the British scene for even longer and it's been a long time coming for her to get on the big stage, so well done Martina!) So no women's match? Oh there would be one with Ivy coming out and asking for competition. After asking various members of the crowd if they'd like to wrestle, Ivy settled on a member of the ring crew. Evelyn was thrown into the ring and was unprepared for a match but put up a brave fight. It wasn't to be for Evelyn however with Ivy dominating the match and putting Evelyn down with stomps to the back of the head. After securing the win, Ivy continued to attack Evelyn but was chased off by a waiting Shax before more damage could be done. Afterwards, Shax proclaimed that she and Raven would be fighting for the opportunity to fight at Starrcave at the next event. Penultimately it's a big one, prepare yourself people because this match is massive. And that's not just because it had the biggest henchest guy in British pro wrestling in it. It was time for Big Guns Joe to take on one half of Club Tropicana Aidan. Big Guns Joe has had a tough time in Breed. Not only has he struggled to win, but he's been constantly harassed due to his size and now he was coming up against Aidan, who was competing in his first ever singles match! So after some entertaining action, there's one thing I want to talk about and that's the spank. If you were there, you know what I'm talking about. So for those who weren't, I'll explain. Aidan managed to tie up Joe in a knot and thusly, Big Guns Joe's rear end was exposed. After distracting the referee, Aidan brought his signature paddle into play and proceeded to spank Big Guns Joe. The noise was something else. If you've ever heard the sound barrier being broken, it was louder than that. It was glorious. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to get the win. Big Guns Joe secured the win and further proved that he is indeed big and indeed hench. It's main event time ladies and gents! And it's our daddy of the north TK Cooper taking on a debuting Rampage. Rampage was hugely popular with the Sheffield crowd and was extremely aggressive with Cooper with a particular highlight being when Rampage lit up Cooper with devastating chops. ETM attempted to get involved in the match but were sent to the back by the referee, surely now was the time for a new Breed champion? No it wasn't. The ref took a hefty hit from Rampage and Cooper and ETM came back out and began to lay into Rampage. Rampage kicked out but it was in vain. After taking a hit from the belt, TK secured the win with the ref coming back around just in time to count the three. Although ETM won the belt, they were still left out cold at the end of the night with Rampage taking them all out to send the crowd home happy. It was another solid show from the Breed guys and once again I'm extremely happy that these guys are bringing top quality wrestling back to Sheffield. Come to the next show on June 26th, it's going to be good!
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It was a double show weekend for the Breed bunch and first up on the agenda was the intriguing Hybreed show. The rules of Hybreed are pretty simple. No ring ropes, only way to win is through knockout or submission. at The Colossal Tussle we saw a taster of Hybreed and it was interesting. So how would 2 hours of it compare to 15 minutes? Well, lets have a look at the card...
The day kicked off with The Prodigy Scotty Davis taking on Luke Jacobs who was a competitor in the very first Hybreed match (more on the other competitor in that match later.) Hex was deathly silent as the two engaged in various holds and grapples. Davis and Jacobs were both looking for the tap out rather than a KO and it was pretty evenly matched until Davis made Jacobs tap... I think? I'll be honest I didn't see how this match ended because a dog did a surprise run in right as the match was ending and during that one moment when I took my eyes away from the action it was over. I deeply apologise to both men for my lapse in concentration and I congratulate Davis on a first win in Hybreed! Next up was a returning Danny Jones (minus dragon tail, but he has a pretty swish jacket now which is equally as cool) vs Kevin Lloyd. This match was a technical spectacle with Jones and Lloyd feeling each other out for long periods of the bout. That was until Jones made Lloyd tap. So a first win in Breed for Jones and an impressive debut showing for Lloyd who got a lovely sporting applause on his way to the back. Third on the card and its Jay Joshua vs Dan Moloney. Now, this was a big hitter battle with Joshua and Moloney beating the absolute daylights out of each other. There was no way this one was ending in submission and it didn't with Moloney knocking Joshua out with a strike to the head. After being checked by ring crew, Joshua was able to leave the ring unaided but it was a statement win for Moloney as he put himself 1-0 in Hybreed. The last match before the interval was never announced as the man with a thousand muscles, Big Guns Joe, interrupted Lucy on ring announcing duties and demanded a match to prove he is the biggest, henchest? Man around. Joe demanded competition and he got it in the form of 2/3 of More Than Hype with LJ Cleary and Darren Kearney answering the call! Despite Big Joe insisting he could take on Cleary and Kearney all alone, (he is hench after all), he was forced to find a tag partner for the first shoot style tag match in Hybreed history. After being turned down by Scotty Davis and Dan Moloney he found his partner... Aidan of Club Tropicana! Although they would be taking each other on later in the day, the two put aside their differences to face MTH. Despite there being no ropes, the guys put on an absolutely brilliant match with highlights including Aidan being ceremoniously dumped to the floor and then hitting a super, sexy slip n slide with ref assistance! Despite this, More Than Hype secured the win with Big Joe surprisingly tapping out. After the match, Joe lashed out at Aidan and MTH came back to help their Irish compatriot. After the break, it was time for Omari vs the final third of More Than Hype Nathan Martin. This match was pretty brutal with the bloodcurdling screams of Martin sticking in the mind. It was Omari who eventually picked up the win with a move I can best describe as a twisty ball of death with Martin tapping out not long after the hold was locked in. So in the early battle of MTH vs M.O.B It was M.O.B who got the early advantage. The main event was a cracker. MK McKinnan was looking to register a first Breed win after his loss to Man Like Beano last month at Out Of The Box by taking on the man who won the first Hybreed match back in March Damon Moser. These men legitimately tried to kill each other. stiff strikes were the order of the day with both men lighting up the other by targeting any body part they could kick/punch. After a flurry of blows, McKinnan got that first win after laying out Moser. This was a brilliant match and both men can be proud of their performance. Really would recommend seeing this when it comes out. So... was the show good? Of course it was! Although I'll be honest, I wasn't to keen on Hybreed after the taster match at Colossal Tussle but this show was brilliant. The atmosphere, the matches, it really was special and I'm really looking forward to the next Hybreed show! After the events of Wednesday at Hex, Breed returned to Abbeydale Picture House for their 5th event and it was another absolute banger of a show with a second half that had some of the best wrestling that I've ever seen live. A venue review isn't really necessary here because I've already done one for this venue (read my review on Sunday Night Yeet for that). All I'll say is that the Picture House is still an incredible place to watch wrestling and is still a little bit chilly. Right, onto the review!
The night started off with a semi final in the New Breed tournament with the ever popular Shay Purser taking on the hard hitting Connor Mills. Purser came out to his battle anthem of 'My Sacrifice' by Creed and then did an excellent job of lip syncing Mills music of choice 'Without Me' by Eminem. The match started with some fluid technical offence and eventually the action spilled to the outside with Purser demanding a beer because it was his birthday. After downing it like a true warrior, Purser appeared inebriated and Mills looked to take advantage but Purser appears to be versatile in drunken boxing and kept his chances of progression alive via this technique however, it wasn't to be for the master of Shay Fu who eventually succumbed to Mills impressive kick to the back out of a suplex. Mills advances to the final later on in the night. The second semi for the New Breed title/trophy was next with Joe Nelson taking on Omari in a real David vs Goliath match up. Nelson tried early on to take away Omari's vertical advantage by aiming for the legs however it was ineffective and Omari used his power and height to take control of the match. Nelson continued to battle though and looked to have the match done and dusted but Omari's mate Jack Ball ran in to make the distraction and momentum swung back to Omari who hit Nelson with wheelbarrow facebuster for a near fall. Despite having the disadvantage, Nelson prevailed with a tornado DDT being enough to put Omari away. Celebrations were short lived however with Omari and Ball attacking Nelson after the match leading to Nelson's friend JJ Barker coming out for the save with a kendo stick. So we have our final set, Joe Nelson vs Connor Mills, who will prevail? You'll find out later on... Next up was the Gene Munny "Bag Of Cans" Open Challenge. A little bit of context for those unfamiliar with why Munny was willing to fight someone over a bag of Fosters and Tesco's own Cider, Munny and Session Moth Martina are currently competing in the longest running wrestling match of all time with the two going at it for about 2 months. The match has spanned promotions around the world and at this point, Munny just wants it to end. So in a bid to draw out Martina, Munny bought some cans and issued an open challenge which he hoped would be answered by Martina. It wasn't. Instead the man who answered the challenge was none other than Big Guns Joe! After his defeat at the hands of Sugar Dunkerton on Wednesday, Joe was looking to record his first victory in Breed and saw the open challenge as a perfect way to get it. The man who has been tormented for months about his height looked to be on his way to victory after spraying Munny with his 'special juice' but it was all for naught as a blinded Munny managed to pick up the victory. Afterwards, as we serenaded him with Baker Street, Munny appeared to challenge Martina to finally finish the match at the upcoming Starrcave event in September. Whether Martina accepts the challenge or not is still unknown at the time of this article going live so we'll keep you updated on that when more information comes to light. The last match of the first half was a number one contenders match for the New Breed championship and would see Michael May take on More Than Hype's LJ Cleary. These two men know each other very well and matched each other almost hold for hold in the opening exchanges. After claiming a win over the referee, (does that count to his win-loss ratio?) Cleary could not pick up the win against May and it looks like whoever wins the New Breed championship later on in the night will have a tough first defence in the form of the technician, Michael May. The second half kicked off with a Women Of Steel last chance qualifier between two of Sheffield's own Ivy and Shax. These two have been at each others throats for a while now with this match being made official after the events of the triple threat at Never Fight A Man With A Perm. Ivy comes into this one on the back of a momentum boosting win on Wednesday against another local competitor in Taonga. This was a scrappy encounter with the action quickly spilling to the outside not long after the opening bell rang. It was a battle of pace vs power as both women left a mark on each other as they looked to book their ticket to the final of the Women Of Steel tournament on June 9th at This House Is A Circus. This hellacious contest came to an end with Shax proving too much for Ivy and booking her place in the tournament final. Next up was a battle of the tag teams with The N.I.C taking on The Anti-Fun Police. After serenading Santos with Happy Birthday the match got underway and both teams showed some exciting offence that made it look like this match would end in stalemate, but that wasn't the case with Chief Deputy Dunne making sure of the victory with a low blow behind the back of the distracted match official. It's a first win in Breed for the AFP and although they lost, The N.I.C shouldn't be too disheartened with their performance and I for one would love to see them compete in Breed again somewhere down the line. The returning Man Like Beano took on Breed newcomer MK McKinnan in the next matchup with Beano looking to get a first win on the board in Breed after his loss to TK Cooper in the Breed championship qualifier back at Sunday Night Yeet. The match started at a calculating pace with McKinnan edging the early stages. Beano made a comeback with the pick of his comeback probably being a suicide dive to the outside and although McKinnan looked to have the match under control, it was Beano who would pick up the win with a rope assisted twisting neck breaker. After securing his first Breed win, Beano offered a sporting handshake to the defeated McKinnan. McKinnan accepted but then proceeded to attack Beano as he left the ring. The penultimate match of the night was the final in the New Breed tournament with Joe Nelson taking on Connor Mills. Oh. My. God. This was incredible. Breed continues its streak of having a match of the year calibre type match happen every time they put on a card and its no surprise that it came from the New Breed division. Nelson and Mills put on an absolute barnstormer with both men switching it up from high octane, high flying action to hard hitting and gritty all within the space of about 25 minutes. The finish of this match was incredible and I won't spoil it because it needs to be seen to be believed. I will however spoil the winner and that honour goes to Joe Nelson and deservedly so. This had has never failed to not put on a bad match so far in his Breed career and he's a worthy first champion of the New Breed. I know I say this a lot but seriously, go and see this match. And finally, it's main event time with the team of Lucky Kid and Aussie Open taking on the trio of Chuck Mambo, TK Cooper and Spike Trivet AKA ETM. Coming off the back of a loss at the Colossal Tussle where Chris Ridgeway and Scotty Davis both earned future opportunities at his belt, Cooper was looking to bounce back however he would need eyes in the back of his head because if he was pinned in this encounter, he would lose his belt. This match started at a frenetic pace with all six competitors brawling all over the Abbeydale Picture House. Highlights have to be Mark Davis chucking Cooper through the fire escape and then proceeding to pull a knife on ETM! First question, where did he get it? Second, Where did it go once he was done with it? This is the second time a knife has been pulled on a Breed show and it does give me mini flashbacks to work but that's not a bad thing! Anyway, once all that was sorted, we were treated to a bloody good trios match with innovative offense aplenty. It looked like Kid had secured a victory over Cooper when he locked in his whirlwind cross face in the middle of the ring however before the ref could see the tap, he was pulled out by the rest of ETM. After this, another ref distraction led to Mambo hitting Kid with the belt and a pin from the self proclaimed 'Daddy of the North' meant that the belt stays with Cooper and ETM for now at least. Whew, what a show! I know I say this a lot as well but what a job Breed are doing. Not only are they putting on absolutely incredible shows but they're putting Sheffield back on the pro wrestling map. Out of everything that they've done so far, that has to be the thing they can be most proud of. They've given the people of Sheffield a product that we are lucky to have. I look forward to the next show guys, keep up the good work! Midweek wrestling is always cool. It's something to look forward to whilst you either work, go to college/uni or even school. So myself, along with many others, were very excited when the folks at Breed announced they were doing a midweek show at Hex nightclub in town centre. Not only was it a £5(!) to attend but there was some cracking matches on the card which made it look like it would be a brilliant night and by and large it was. So lets crack on with the review!
First off, lets start with the obligatory venue review. Hex nightclub is situated across the road from Grosvenor casino and is easily accessible by any means of transport with tram stops and bus stops located nearby so getting there was very easy. Once myself and my friend got to the venue we were greeted by a handshake from one of the owners of Breed which I thought was a really nice touch and another reason why this company has been so good so far. They've really created a family/community feel to the promotion and that has been really endearing. Hands have been shook and we took our seats. The view was good and the room was very spacious. The seats were a little bit uncomfortable to be sat in for a long period of time but that isn't a fault of Breed. another slight grumble that I had was the stickiness of the floor however, it's a club by trade, so again that isn't a fault of Breed's. All in all, the venue was a decent place to hold wrestling and I'd gladly go there again. Now onto the wrestling! The night started with debuting Adam Bolt vs the returning Alec Mikaels. The match itself was good with Bolt and Mikaels wrestling at a high pace and busting out springboards aplenty. The one downside was perhaps the crowd with very little noise being made, but that was just a small nit-pick. The match was won by Bolt after he hit a top rope diving stunner to Mikaels. This leaves Mikaels 0-3 in Breed so far however I believe that that crucial first win is just around the corner he just needs to keep on doing what he's doing and believe in himself because we all believe in him. Next up was triple threat action with all three competitors making their Breed debuts. It was Henry Faust vs Leon Blade (who has always been in and around the ring crew at previous events so its nice to see him get an opportunity here) vs Harry Peerpoint. For a big man, Peerpoint moves extremely quickly and he more than kept up with the two smaller men in the match. Blade and Faust were extremely entertaining to watch and bust out some jaw dropping moves. The match looked wrapped up for Blade when he took out Peerpoint but Faust rolled up Blade for the opportunistic win. Another debut next and this time it was a tag team with Young And Reckless coming out for their open challenge. Rumours were ripe about who they'd face. The Revival? The Young Bucks? Anti-Fun Police? It turned out it was none of those, it was the team of Joe Nelson (who is criminally young) and his best mate JJ Barker (who is also very young) this match was great and any chance to see Nelson and Barker wrestle again so soon after their barn burner at The Colossal Tussle is always welcome. Barker and Nelson were very fluid as a team and put away Young And Reckless with a roll up combination. After the match there was a show of respect between the two teams and although they lost, Young And Reckless were extremely entertaining to watch and I hope they get the chance to come back and wrestle again soon. The first half main event was an international dream match between Chris Ridgeway (congratulations on signing for Pro Wrestling NOAH!) and one half of Team Whitewolf Carlos Romo. This. Was. Sensational. It had technical wrestling, hard hitting strikes and some high octane stuff sprinkled in (a code red!). Ridgeway put away Romo with a submission and after the match there was a show of respect between the two competitors and that led nicely into the interval. I highly recommend that anyone reading this goes out of their way to see this match because it was excellent. It's becoming a pattern that a Breed card will have at least one match that is simply must see and that is nothing but good news for Breed going forward. Long may it continue. The second half kicked off with another debut with the absolutely sensational Matthew Brooks vs the returning Sandy Beach. Brooks showed off his opera lungs throughout the match, first during his entrance and then during the match as he flung Beach around. An opening night victory wasn't to be however as Sandy Beach picked up a contentious victory however, Brooks went home with his head held high as he imprinted himself on the minds of the Breed faithful. Women's action up next and it was a battle of Sheffield with Ivy taking on Taonga. Ivy was looking for a first win in Breed after her defeat in the triple threat at Never Fight A Man With A Perm and Taonga was looking to introduce herself to the Breed crowd with a victory. This was an entertaining encounter with both wrestlers putting on a slick and hard hitting encounter. Ivy built momentum for her match against Shax on Sunday at Out Of The Box as she put away Taonga and then declared Breed as her queendom afterword's and beating Shax on Sunday will be the first step to her capturing the Women Of Steel title. Our penultimate match of the night was the ever popular Sugar Dunkerton vs everyone's favourite body builder Big Joe. This was great. The clashing ideologies of Dunkerton and Joe led to a match that was a nice change of pace for the evening and left everyone with a big smile on their face. Dunkerton picked up the victory which has left Big Joe with a 0-2 record so far. Hopefully our Big boy will be able to get that big win soon Finally we come to the main event and it was unexpectedly Kyle Kingsley vs Sheffield's Mark Sanders in a hard hitting brawl that led to both men leaving it all out in the ring. Special mention must go to the third competitor in the match the chair that Kingsley took particular distaste to. Sanders picked up the victory with a powerbomb and celebrated with the chair as we filed out into the drizzly Sheffield night. In conclusion, for a £5, this was a top quality night of wrestling and has once again proved that Breed is creating something special in Sheffield and that if you get the opportunity to go to one of their events you really should. Next up is this Sunday's Out Of The Box which again, looks like a very tasty card. Well after the simply stupendous Never Fight A Man With A Perm, Breed put on their Wrestlemania weekend show tonight and once again, they absolutely killed it. I sound like a broken record at this point but Breed are putting Sheffield back on the map of British pro wrestling and I couldn't be happier for them. I won't go into as much detail as last time, instead I'll just look at the highlights of a show that had so many of them.
Lets start with a regular feature of my reviews, the venue! So where did we watch some Sunday night graps this time I hear you ask? Well it was Sheffield's Walkabout (a stone's throw away from the magnificent Sheffield City Hall) which was once an old church but is now part of the aforementioned Walkabout chain of pubs. The venue is brilliant with things like old pews from when it was a church being incorporated into the layout of the main floor. It leads to a real intimate feeling, especially when watching wrestling. From my balcony space I got to witness the wrestling from an elevated angle which is quite different from the usual floor layout of most shows. It really felt like you were on top of the wrestling and made moves seem more brutal due to the proximity. The fans were once again brilliant with a lot of long chants going over incredibly well with those gathered (the guy who managed to piece together a rendition of 'Rio' deserves extra credit) along with a general buzz of excitement as match's went on. So, the wrestling, it was a 7 match card with highlights including the fatal four way between Sugar Dunkerton, Man Like Dereiss, Callum Corrie and Gene Munny for Munny's mysterious briefcase which happened to include Dunkerton's work visa and, more interestingly, a contract for a match for any championship in any company the owner wished. It was a fast paced encounter with Man Like Dereiss particularly impressing however, it would be Sugar Dunkerton who would pick up the victory and the briefcase. With champion TK Cooper looking on from nearby booth, Dunkerton cashed in his contract but before the match could properly start an allegedly absent Spike Trivet showed up and helped his ETM stablemate beat up Dunkerton. The match started and although Dunkerton tried to fight back valiantly, it was ultimately for naught as Cooper secured the win and therefore kept hold of the title. After a very good Women Of Steel encounter between Kanji and Rhio, it was time for the battle of Yorkshire with the North's Martin Kirby taking on the South's (and Sheffield's own) Alec Mikaels. It was a minor technical classic with both men matching each other move for move until Kirby managed to pick up a hard fought win. Although Mikaels is 0-2 in competition so far he has been mightily impressive and I can see big things for this man in the future. The first half ended with a hard hitting encounter between Brady Phillips and Will Kroos which started off slow but when it got going it was breathless and included some incredible feats of power and strength that I won't spoil here. The second half kicked off with an early contender for my match of the year and its perhaps one of, if not the greatest match I've seen live. JJ Barker and Joe Nelson tore. The. House. Down. It was an absolute high flying masterclass with code red's and a Canadian destroyer just a flavour of some of the incredible things these two guys put themselves through. The fact that both men are younger than me is a little sobering but it shows that British wrestling will be in good hands for many years to come if these two are anything to go by. Seriously guys, well done. You were incredible. After that, there was an intriguing exhibition match showcasing the match stipulation of the upcoming Hybreed1 tournament between Damon Moser and Luke Jacobs. The stipulation of the match stated that there are no pinfalls, only knockouts or submission will do to win, and competitors have three rope breaks each. It was fascinating to watch a blend of MMA meets amateur wrestling with Jacobs coming out the eventual winner via submission. Its an interesting concept that certainly interested my friend and I. After a match between Big Guns Joe and Fraser Thomas it was time for the main event between Chris Ridgeway and Scotty Davis with the winner getting a chance at the Breed title at a later date. After a technical start to the bout, ETM (minus Chuck Mambo) once again interrupted and caused the double DQ however, that wasn't the end of the show, with management coming out to make an impromptu tag match (playa) with Ridgeway and Davis both getting shots at the Breed title if they could beat ETM. A highly entertaining encounter saw cracks seemingly forming between Cooper and Trivet as Ridgeway and Davis picked up the win. It was another absolutely cracking night of wrestling with something for everyone. I think the second half just about edged the first half but that was only because of the incredible Barker/Nelson match it was another great show and I can't wait for the next show in May. Now excuse me as I go and contemplate my life decisions for 7 and a half hours. They always say the sequel is harder to top the original. For every Dark Knight, there's Last Jedi but when it comes to Breed Pro Wrestling there never really was a worry that they'd suffer from second season syndrome and unlike Michu, they have continued with bringing top quality wrestling to Sheffield with a stacked show that included an international dream match, a contender for longest match of all time and a man who ditched his dungarees to worship a sponge who lives under the sea. Let's get on with it then shall we?
First the venue and its another corker. Sheffield Memorial Hall was a cracking venue and the aesthetic of the building was a throwback to the World Of Sport venues seen in the 70's/80's. The layout of the seating was even more intimate than the that of APH so much so that sitting next to the entrance way made me feel like a tripping hazard. Props must also go out to the crowd who's wit and vociferous chanting really added to the whole experience of the event. To top it all off, there were more original chants that made the experience even more memorable. Various renditions of 'I just can't get enough' among others will definitely go down in the Breed songbook with Purple Rain. So, onto the wrestling, Session Moth Martina made her return to Breed however was restricted to Ring Crew duties after a man with a great moustache but with a definite lack of humour, Juan Fall, came to make sure there were no repeats of drinking like at the last event. After a brilliant match between Club Tropicana (Captain Sexsea and Aidan) and the returning Anti Fun Police, which included the return of the Anti Fun Gun, Martina let the occasion get to her a bit (it was St Patrick's day though...) and began having a cheeky drink, unfortunately Juan didn't like that and after Martina put her right to drink on the line in a falls count anywhere match Juan brought out his enforcer Gene Munny. After a little bit of a scuffle, the two left into the women's toilets and the card continued. Another qualifier in the New Breed tournament was next up between Shay Purser and The O.J.M.O. It was another entertaining bout which saw the master of Shay -Fu progress despite taking on a leg injury. The O.J.M.O was frustrated with his loss and lack of crowd support and made the decision to furiously make a fan clap (thanks O.J.M.O by the way, you have strong hands). Next up was ex tag team partners Jack Sexsmith vs ETM's Chuck Mambo. After trying to make Mambo remember the good ol' days when they toured as a tag team, Mambo appeared to be coming around to re-joining his old friend however that was short-lived and Mambo (who did have incredible hair and sparkly pants) went on to brutally attack Sexsmith however Sexsmith did manage to beat Mambo with a cheeky roll up but Mambo and ETM did have the last laugh after attacking Sexsmith post match with a chair being used. Next up was arguably the most anticipated matched of the night, it was Smashmouth vs Unbiesiegbar, Chris Ridgeway vs Ilja Dragunov. This match was absolutely incredible. It was a hard hitting encounter with plenty of chops and kicks lighting up the chests of both competitors along with plenty of technical wrestling and grappling mixed in for good measure. If you've not seen this match, I implore you to see it because it was bloody incredible and words don't really fully do it justice. After that breathless encounter between two leading lights of technical wrestling it was time for a break. The second half kicked off with a first match in the World Trios league competition with the ever popular More Than Hype taking on the debuting Wild Boys made up of Andre Cartier, Angel Cruz and Dirty Dragan. A match full of quick, snappy wrestling which included Cruz bringing out a shank, led to the More Than Hype boys chalking up a win. Next up was ETM's Spike Trivet taking on Carlos Romo of Team Whitewolf. It was a high paced encounter with Romo looking to impress the crowd on his Breed debut and it may have been that eagerness to impress that led to him ultimately losing the match. It was an unfortunate loss for the young Spaniard who had controlled the match for the most part but ultimately lost out to a wily Trivet. In our penultimate match of the night, the second qualifier for the Women of Steel tournament took place with Raven taking on hometown girl Ivy and Debbie Keitel in a triple threat match that was full of brutal action with the ring post and Ivy's baseball bat being used. Raven eventually secured the win by pinning Keitel who appeared to have picked up a head injury. So congratulations to Raven and hopefully the injury to Keitel wasn't too serious and I hope she recovers quickly and comes back to wrestle for Breed again. After the match, Shax grabbed a mic and challenged Ivy to a match for the May 12th event at Hex Nightclub which was confirmed shortly afterwards. Now its time for the main event and TK Cooper (with Trivet and Mambo in tow) took on Scotty Davis in a match that was full of athleticism with highlights including Davis doing three consecutive dives to the outside and sending Cooper crashing into the ringside seats. However, the numbers game caught up to Davis and after being laid out by Mambo and then Cooper, The ref who was also taken out by Mambo, secured the win for ETM who continue their stranglehold on the main event scene of Breed. Davis went out to a round of applause and gets his chance to fight for the title again that is if he can beat Ridgeway at The Colossal Tussle on April 7th. After this ring announcer Lucy Openshaw sent the crowd home with a lovely message about maintaining a positive mental attitude and on that note, the show was over! But John, I hear you shout, what about Martina vs Munny? Well I think the match is still going on as of the time of me finishing this article with Martina being that dedicated to finishing the match that she didn't catch her flight back home. This surely has to be contender for the longest match of all time so if you want to see how the match will end (if it ever does) stay tuned to either Breed's, Martina or Munny's social media. All in all, Never Fight A Man With A Perm was a great follow up show and had a little bit of something for everyone. The guys and gals who run this company have their fingers firmly on the pulse of what's relevant in the world of pro wrestling and I'm extremely excited to see how the third show goes. Congratulations again Breed! I'll be seeing you on April 7th. After months of waiting and anticipation, Breed Pro Wrestling's campaign for a wrestling revolution in Sheffield kicked off at the Abbeydale Picture House and what a show it was. An incredible venue mixed with incredible wrestling and a brilliant crowd (if I do say so myself) led to an astounding afternoon/evening of entertainment and made certain that Breed's first show was a very, very good introduction to the world of Pro Wrestling. Let me take you through how the night unfolded.
Let's start with the venue and what a venue it is! At first, myself and my friend were perplexed at how a wrestling ring would be fit into an old cinema, turns out all you need to do is get a slightly smaller ring (or so it seemed) and have the entrance ramp directly next to the ring. This setup coupled with the old style layout of the cinema room already gives Breed a unique and intimate feeling and fears of wrestlers not being able to perform dives to the outside due to limited room was quickly put to bed. The crowd was also very good and apart from maybe one or two matches, was very noisy throughout. Memorable chants were aired throughout the night including various renditions of Prince's Purple Rain probably being the most likely to stick in your head. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety in age and sex of the audience. Usually wrestling is seen as a sport enjoyed only by testosterone filled men who are just there because its a cheap night out and there's beer involved. This was completely different at Breed with everyone from children to teenagers to those who may be a little bit older along with a large amount of women at the event. This is a very good sign for both the company and wrestling as a whole because it shows that the bygone stereotype should no longer be a stereotype and that wrestling is indeed, for everyone. Now, lets get onto the wrestling, I won't go into great detail about every single match that happened but I will say that there was no bad wrestling on this show. Everything was very slick and impressive to watch so full credit to all of the performers on the show. Highlights of the night include an entertaining opener between The Anti Fun Police with reserve officer Martina against two thirds of More Than Hype which got the night off to a fun, fast start. The qualifiers for to become the inaugural Breed Pro Wrestling champion threw up great matches with highlights including TK Cooper versus Man Like Beano, Chris Ridgeway versus Danny Jones, Chuck Mambo versus Scotty Davis (aka Purple Pants) and Lucky Kid versus Spike Trivet. Away from qualifiers, a match that I think went under the radar a little was the match immediately after the break, Maverick Mayhew and Connor Mills put on a very hard hitting and entertaining bout that possibly suffered due to the crowd coming back from the break but towards the end, the crowd did get into it. The main event was a culmination of the four men who won qualifiers earlier in the night. Chris Ridgeway, TK Cooper, Lucky Kid and Scotty Davis put on a very fast paced and dramatic match that led to eventual winner TK Cooper winning against crowd favourite Lucky Kid thanks to help from Chuck Mambo and Spike Trivet. So, is this the start of something special in the pro wrestling world? I think so. Breed showed that there is a hunger for pro wrestling in Sheffield and proved that anyone can come and watch wrestling no matter who you are or where you come from. All in all, Sunday Night Yeet was a cracking show and has me very excited for the next show on Sunday the 17th of March. Well done guys, your revolution is well and truly under way. It seems strange to me that Sheffield, one of the biggest cities in England, doesn't have a major wrestling promotion that sets up its 'home' shows here. We have Progress coming and doing about two chapter shows a year and Southside Wrestling does frequent Sheffield along with other great promotions like ICW and Defiant and that's great. But it seems strange why no one has thought about setting up a home promotion. There seems to be a big wrestling following in Sheffield and this is proven that whenever a show is on, its usually always sold out or well attended. This is where Breed Pro Wrestling comes in.
Breed Pro Wrestling is a wrestling show made for wrestling fans, by wrestling fans. They seem like a genuinely great bunch of people and have the community at heart in its opening proclamation in its Twitter header. They want to create a regular place for wrestling fans in Sheffield to come and talk and see the thing that they love the most. Whilst promoting their first show in February, Sunday Night Yeet (which is an absolutely incredible name) the promotion are giving away pin badges with tickets that are purchased. That might not seem like a big thing to some people but its a really nice gesture and further reiterates their promise of looking after wrestling fans. Its not just the nice little things like free pin badges, but its also the pricing. wrestling can be an expensive hobby and to go and see a WWE house show your looking at paying upwards of £30 for a ticket. To some that might not seem that expensive but to a lot of people it is. Breed Pro seem to understand this and thus you can buy tickets to their debut shows for a starting price of £12. £12! So what do you get for your £12 I hear you ask? Well, you'll get to see wrestlers like Chuck Mambo, El Phantasmo, The Anti Fun Police and many more talented men and women. All in all, its about time Sheffield had a promotion to call its own and Breed Pro Wrestling could be the start of Sheffield being put back on the pro wrestling map. Good luck guys, I'll be sure to be going to those shows. Breed Pro Wrestling are based at the Abbeydale Picture House S7 1FS Sunday Night Yeet is on the 10th of February and their second show, Never Fight A Man With A Perm is on March the 17th There's nothing quite like a Shinsuke Nakamura entrance. Whether it be as a face or a heel, Nakamura is truly one of the most captivating talents in the world of professional wrestling. The way his body moves to his music is altogether different and his dramatic rope fall is a spine tingling sight. I have been lucky enough to see Nakmura wrestle once. It was at a house show in Sheffield earlier on in 2018 and you could sense the atmosphere change in the arena as Nakamura made his way to the ring. So what goes on in the mind of the self proclaimed 'King Of Strong Style?' That's what the book of the same name aims to answer.
Written in the rather unusual format of an interview (Japanese journalist Yu Suzuki asks the questions) Nakamura is an enthralling story teller and is very vivid in descriptions of his whole career up to the point of 2014. Stories are told, including one about being berated by Jushin 'Thunder' Liger as a Young Lion in his early days in New Japan which is a highlight. Not only is the book a story about the journey of Nakamura but also of New Japan itself. Nakamura shares his thoughts on how early to mid 2000 cards were sort of glued together at the last minute and how boardroom turmoil was treated as the norm at points. Its interesting seeing how the company that many laud as THE place for pro wrestling was aimless in the early part of this century as they tried to form a corner piece stable between Nakamura, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi which the men were reluctant to buy into according to Nakamura. Nakamura's relationships with other wrestlers, particularly the aforementioned Shibata and Tanahashi, are fascinating to read about. Nakamura talks about a rivalry with Shibata that went back to their days as amateur wrestlers and how a tag title run with Tanahashi didn't mean that they had to be the best of friends but that there was a respect of one another in the pairing. Nakamura's relationship with New Japan founder Antonio Inoki is also explored in depth and seeing how a man operated effectively the second biggest wrestling company in the world through the eyes of someone who was close to him in Nakamura is of particular interest. Not only is Nakamura's pro wrestling career covered, but also his short but successful MMA career. This led to discussions on fighting in Brazil and training in the US with Team R.A.W. and how Nakamura's two matches with Alexey Ignashov eventually shaped his later career as a wrestler. You get the feeling the Nakamura really did want to promote pro wrestling as a form of competition that shouldn't be brushed away but should be embraced as an artform. In conclusion, King Of Strong Style 1980 - 2014 is a brilliant read and really gets under the skin of its subject. Nakamura does not hold back and his honesty is refreshing in regards to other autobiographies by sports personalities that sometimes beat around the ugly details whereas Nakamura attacks them head on, usually with a lick of humour. All in all, I would highly recommend this book to both pro wrestling and MMA fans who want to know more about the ins and outs of their respective sports and it is a must read for any self respective Shinsuke Nakamura fan. Rating: 4/5 7 hours. From 10pm BST to 5am BST I, along with many other British fans, stayed up to watch the biggest wrestling show of the year. Squeezed into that mammoth run time were 14 matches with 3 on the 2 hour pre show. Lets look at each match in varying degrees of detail shall we? God help us all if mania goes longer next year...
Pre Show Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Winner: Matt Hardy Length: 15:45 Didn't see this match as my Wi-Fi went down. Still haven't seen it and probably never will. But glad Matt Hardy won. Gives him something to do. Tournament final for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship Winner: Cedric Alexander Length: 12:20 Again, didn't see a lot of this match due to Wi-Fi being down. Did see the finish though and have to say that that was perhaps the most brutal lumbar checks that Alexander has ever delivered. Again, right person won and Alexander is the right person to build the cruiserweight division around. Wrestlemania Women's Battle Royal Winner: Naomi Length: 9:50 The first match that i got to see properly from start to finish. Carmella, who went on to win the Smackdown Women's title 48 hours later, was the first woman out and it was a nothing match with the biggest spot probably being the ending when Bayley threw out ex best friend Sasha Banks and it looked like she had won, but then Naomi slid back in the ring due to her being threw out of the ring but not over the top rope. A rear view later and Bayley was tossed over the top rope with Naomi becoming the first Wrestlemania Women's Battle Royal winner. So after a grand total of 37 minutes 15 seconds of wrestling on a TWO HOUR PRE SHOW. Wrestlemania began. Wrestlemania Main Card Triple Threat match for the Intercontinental Championship Winner: Seth Rollins Length: 15:30 Wrestlemania started with a bang with the triple threat match being one of the highlights of mania. The match consisted of defending champion The Miz facing off against Seth Rollins, who was chasing a grand slam, and Finn Balor. The match started at a quick pace and never really let off with highlights including Rollins performing suicude dive's first to The Miz and then running back in the ring and launching himself back outside at Balor. Rollins also hit a huge frog splash to break up a figure four leg lock between Miz and Balor. This was closely followed by Balor breaking up a pinfall by performing a Coup De Grace onto Rollins back. The match ended after Balor initially hit a Coup De Grace on the Miz, however, Rollins came back into the ring and performed a curb stomp onto Balor and got the pin thus becoming a grand slam champion. A hugely entertaining opener with a lively crowd that made the match go quickly. A good way to start Mania. Smackdown Live Women's Championship Match Winner: Charlotte Flair Length: 13:05 My personal choice for match of the night. This match was incredible. Both women but their bodies on the line to make this the best women's match to ever happen at mania. The match included an Asuka suplex from the ring apron to the ringside area, a moonsault reversal into an armbar/triangle lock and Charlotte performing a Spanish fly from the second rope. Asuka tapping out to Charlotte's figure eight was one of the most shocking but also welcome moments in recent Mania history. So far so good for Wrestlemania but its about to go a little bit sour... Fatal four-way match for the United States Championship Winner: Jinder Mahal Length: 8:15 So... the guy who has been getting the most consistent fan support of anyone who isn't AJ Styles or anyone of his ilk, was beaten by the guy who arguably had the worst WWE Championship run in recent memory. This match was vastly disappointing with WWE still seemingly wanting to keep project Jinder going. But at the expense of Rusev? This result made no sense and killed the crowd dead. But hey... that Indian market still needs to be exploited right? Right? Mixed Tag Team match between Kurt Angle/Ronda Rousey VS Triple H/Steph McMahon Winners: Kurt Angle/Ronda Rousey Length: 20:40 The match that could have gone so wrong... went so right! And what a natural Ronda Rousey is! Her perfromance in this match proves that she can go in the WWE. This match was a lot of fun with some intergender stuff even happening. One minus from the match could be Stephanie McMahon being able to block an armbar from Olympic and ex UFC champion Rousey but apart from this, the heels were excellent with Stephanie really doing a good job in putting Rousey over. All in all, this match was the best suprise of the whole card and had it not been for the Smackdown Women's match, thias would have been my MOTN. Triple Threat tag match for the Smackdown Tag Belts Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers Length: 5:50 This is the beginning of the end for the good portion of Mania with a match that looked like it could steal the show leaving a lot to be desired. The work that The Usos (making their first appearences on the Mania main card) and The New Day had done in previous matches along with adding capable workers like Harper and Rowan this match should have been good. But it was effectively a squash match and was very disappointing. A real shame for everyone because we know what all these wrestlers are capable of if given time to do their thing. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Undertaker VS John Cena Winner: Undertaker Length: 2:45 Don't look twice, this match was the shortest of the night and was a squash match with Cena getting virtually no offence in against Undertaker who looked much better than when we last saw him in the ring. But after the intresting build of the match, which Cena carried, it left a lot to be desired. Maybe due to Takers old age this match was short to make sure there was no repeat of a Lesnar or Reigns situation. But still, another disappointing match that if done 5 - 8 years ago could have been great. Daniel Bryan/Shane McMahon VS Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (if Owens and Zayn won, they would be rehired to Smackdown Live) Winners: Daniel Bryan/Shane McMahon Length: 15:25 Daniel Bryan having a Mania match in 2018 seemed unthinkable as little as 4 months ago, but after being cleared by WWE after 2 years of inactivity, it was brilliant to hear the Rock version of Rise of the Valkryies followed by Bryan leading a Yes! Chant. The match itself however was all about Bryan's partner. Once again, Shane McMahon had wormed his way into a marquee match on a PPV and his third straight Mania. McMahon having to fend of Owens and Zayn whilst Bryan recovered on the outside after being jumped by the best friends was tiring to watch. a middle aged man being able to keep up with two guys in their early 30's who are two of the best wrestlers on the planet was so boring but very paint by numbers when it comes to Shane. Eventually, Bryan got into the match and hit all his signiture spots and won the match with a Yes! Lock on Zayn. A capable match although was hindered by Shane being the main focal point once again. Raw Women's Championship match Winner: Nia Jax Length: 10:15 The build up to this match was particulary intresting. Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax were best friends but then in a promo backstage that was convieniently shown on the titantron whilst Jax was still in the ring after a match. Bliss told new bestie Mickie James that she was only using Jax as a pawn and Bliss started at shaming Jax. This continued for several weeks with Bliss running away from Jax whenever there was a chance of confrontation. All this led to the match at Mania. The match started with Jax taking out Mickie James, who was ringside for the match, in brutal fashion. After evening up the odds, Jax went onto dominate Bliss. During the middle of the match, Bliss managed to hit the Twisted Bliss to the outside in the spot of the match. However, after this normality resumed and Jax but Bliss away with a falling Samoan drop from the middle rope and claimed the Raw women's championship in convincing style. This was the correct end to the storyline with Jax always seemingly on the precipice of the title in the past year or so, now she has the title I hope she will go on to have a great reign as champion. A fine match. WWE Championship match Winner: AJ Styles Length: 20:20 This match should have been excellent. This match should have been the match that fans would be talking about for months. This match could have been the first 5* match on a WWE main roster PPV since 2011. This match was average. That is perhaps the biggest dissapointment of this Wrestlemania, that the match that everyone wanted to see was fine. Perhaps we should have seen it in the relatively poor build up to the match but we ignored that because that doesn't matter... its AJ Styles versus Shinsuke Nakamura in a re match from their classic at New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 10. The match started and never really seemed to get out of second gear with the only real notable spot being the finish being Styles rolling through a Kinsasha and countering it into a Styles Clash for the win. The reason for the match never really getting going could be that it was constrained by time. When Nakamura/Styles began, there had already been about 3/4 hours gone of a five hour main show. So perhaps if the match had gone longer, it could have been the match we fans thought it would be. The post match angle of Nakamura turning on Styles was a genuine shock and may lead to a reinvigoration of Nakamura's character and a rematch at Greatest Royal Rumble could deliver where this match failed but this was my personal biggest disappointment of Mania. A match that should have been great being average. Tag team match for the Raw Tag Team Championships Winners: Braun Strowman and Nicholas Length: 4:00 I mean... a child won the Raw tag belts... I don't think i need to say anything else about this match apart from one thing... this was wrestling at its strangest. Universal Championship match Winner: Brock Lesnar Length: 15:55 After 6 and a half hours of WWE content, with 3 HOURS of that being ACTUAL WRESTLING, we come to the main event. The believed to be leaving Brock Lesnar took on the biggest dog of them all, Roman Reigns. We were led to believe that Lesnar would be leaving after this match with the Beast Incarnate fluttering his eyelids at Dana White in the UFC for the past three or four months. This would be the Big Dog's moment... finally he would take his place as the undisputed Big Dog and rule all who stepped in his yard but that didn't happen... Roman Reigns got destroyed with only a few Superman Punches being the majority of his offence. Apart form this, it was complete domination by Lesnar. The match itself was bad. It was just suplex after suplex after suplex after F5 after F5 after F5. The worst bit was probably when Lesnar took off his gloves and went full mount on Reigns and, in a repeat of the Randy Orton debacle at Summerslam two years earlier, forearmed Reigns so hard that blood began pouring out of Reigns head. After a final, fifth F5, Lesnar retained to the suprise of many. It later came out that Lesnar had signed a new deal with WWE with the possibility of a UFC fight being inserted into the contract to tide Lesnar over. The actual length of the contract is unknown with some reporting its a long term, multi year deal and others saying its as little as two more matches. Whatever the length, this was perhaps the worst Mania main event in a long time. The split head of Reigns was completely uneeded and the match itself was just repeating the same thing over and over again. All in all, a bad way to end a Wrestlemania that started with promise and ended with disappointment. |
AuthorHi I'm John and I am a wrestling fan. Archives
December 2019
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