Ringside Report: NBW Southside Wrestling: Ill Manors (30/11/12)

After attending Southside's Supremacy in August there was no chance I was going to miss the natural follow on event which was Ill Manors. SWE have run a number of shows in between the two events; including their 2nd Anniversary show; but this show was billed as SWE vs House Of Pain (HOP) whose rivalry had been boiling over since Supremacy with this seemingly being the 'pay off' event. 

The event took place in a different part of the arena than the last event, presumably down to the fact the event had changed date, with the ring side area feeling more open than last time with dual entrance tunnels  and the ring being lower than normal. Again I was seated at ringside, on the opposite side of the ring to last time, but again on the HOP side which I chose to embrace this time round. 

The show kicked off in similar fashion to last time with Harvey Dale and Diamond Dale Mills taking to the ring to set up the show and start banter between the two sides, with both men being the ring announcer for their sides and responsible for riling up their side of the crowd respectively. Dale is so entertaining on the mic,   is always in character and can draw heat with the best in the business, he reminds me of Paul Heyman and if he keeps up the good work will be one of the biggest characters in the industry.

BBB and El Ligero take things high risk

The first match saw El Ligero pick up the first victory for SWE against Bam Bam Barton. I had previously seen Ligero before in his 1000th match at LCW and he had left a good impression mixing high flying action with comedy and in this match he brought intensity to match the serious nature of the evening. The match was solid but did little to last in the memory with the dueling chants from the crowd taking over a little from the in ring action.

Up next was Max Angelus; who at Supremacy rolled up TNA British Boot Camp contestant Rock Star Spud after being told to lie down by Harvey Dale; against former SWE Champion T-Bone. The two put on a good showing and I was glad to see more of Max this time round, although he played to the HOP side of the crowd despite the underlying issues he seems to have with the organisation, but he picked up the win evening up the scores.

The Predators showing unity

The third match saw the Tag Titles on the line as The Hunter Brothers made their debut for SWE against The Predators. The Champions looked a tighter team than the last time that I saw them as they were now wearing matching ring gear and looked like they had toned up, whilst I had seen the Hunters a couple of times before and have been impressed with the brothers who remind me of the Hardy Boyz circa 1999. 

The match lived up to my expectations as both teams are up there as the best in the country, both teams gave it there all which saw the champs retain their belts although I expect a rematch will be booked for one of the next events.

Robbie X defended his Speed King Championship against Alex Gracie who was defending his Full Throttle belt in a 10 minute time limit match (which is Full Throttle rules). Despite the time limit the two seemed to not want to go 'full throttle' until the second half of the match, once the last minute had been announced Robbie X locked in a few different submission moves but Gracie held on until after the bell without tapping out ending the match in a draw. 

Once the ring bell had rang Max Angelus' music played to bring him out with his MITB briefcase in hand with Harvey Dale yelling at him to win him the title (Speed King) as he wanted it, this caused Max to turn on Dale who threatened to fire him before Max quit and left through the fan entrance. 

Devitt playing to the crowd

The last match of the half was billed as an 'International Dream Match' between ROH's Michael Elgin and New Japan's Prince Devitt, and boy did it live up to it's billing. The two pulled out all the stops to impress the crowd which showed what true pro's they are as they could have done half as much and still put on a excellent match.

Although the two wrestle different styles with Elgin being more power orientated to Devitt's 'high flying', they showed that two different styles can work together really well with risks, reversals and great mat wrestling thrown in. Devitt picked up the win but the real winners were the crowd, I would highly recommend tracking down a copy of this match!

After the intermission it was back to the theme of the night with HOP leading 2 -1 going into the second half, with the odds looking stacked in their favour going into the next match as it was a triple threat match pitting SWE's Nathan Cruz against HOP's 'Diamond' Dave Andrews and the HOP Champion LJ Heron who was billed as a tweener for this due to him wanting to become a full time member of SWE roster. Heron's alliances or lack there of were made clear straight away by helping Cruz clear Andrews out of the ring, who spent the majority of time out of the ring but his personality shone through for me with out bursts like 'come on sunshine' which made him my favourite in the match. The match took on a familiar triple threat formula with two guys in the ring with one outside, with the odd triangle moments thrown in including a three man suplex from the top. Cruz picked up the victory after Heron hit 'Dave' with a spear and Cruz then dispatched  LJ with a punt to pin Andrews.

Up next in the penultimate match of the evening was SC Supreme (HOP) taking on Mad Man Manson in a light hearted affair before the seriousness of the main event. The match was as expected to be with Manson including nipple twists and comedy moves all to aggravate SC, which worked with Supreme taking multiple trips to the outside of the ring to vent his frustration until finally picking up the victory.

Heading into the Main Event, Southside were 3 - 2 up, bringing on the title re-match of Stixx defending against Mark Haskins in a Last Man Standing match. The last time these two faced each other at Supremacy was brutal so expectations were high and these two didn't let down the crowd as they started brawling outside the ring straight away which saw Haskins Irish whipped into a wall and then Stixx take out multiple members of the crowd as he charged at Haskins who avoided contact with a leapfrog. The match found its way into the ring eventually where the action was back and forth until the introduction of a chair which is when all hell broke lose, brutal chair shots, ref bumps and the emptying out of the locker room which saw Robbie X hit a moonsault to the outside of the ring onto the ensemble of wrestlers brawling at ring side.
Once everybody had brawled to the back Haskins put Stixx through a table causing both men to be down, the ref started the count to ten, at the seven mark Haskins started making his way to his feet but was nailed with a chair by Harvey Dale and just before the ten Stixx rolled out of the ring to his feet to be declared the winner and to retain the title.
The match was excellent until the end, I am only able to tell you the ending because that is what I have read online, from my viewpoint I thought Haskins had won after seeing him get up and not seeing Stixx up until after the bell so was slightly confused.

Max celebrates his title win over Stixx with the crowd 

After the match Stixx re-entered the ring to celebrate with Harvey Dale which was short lived as the music  of Max Angelus hit again with him holding the MITB briefcase in hand. After entering the ring Max nailed Stixx with the briefcase and despite Harvey pleading and apologising for his actions against him, he cashed in the title shot to become the new Southside Heavyweight Champion.
Max left the ring with the belt and celebrated with the Southside fans as Stixx lay prone in the ring to end the show.

The show as a whole was solid and the rivalry between the two promotions was stunned into silence with the ending but left open as technically the scores finished at three apiece. The card may not have been as strong as Supremacy but it was still worth the price of admission just for the Devitt / Elgin match, Southside have recently celebrated their second anniversary and from this showing they will be having many more years with quality events; just looking at some of the stars they have lined up for the start of next year is an exciting enough prospect for all British grapple fans.

Words and Photos by @Robbie_G_CH  

Ringside Report: NBW Southside Wrestling: Supremacy (19/08/12)

Back in January the Maximum Impact IV tour inspired me; I have been a wrestling fan for many years but before my venture to the Capital FM Arena, I had only previously been to two wrestling live events, both held by the WWE and both over 10 years ago; but watching the likes of A.J. Styles and Austin Aries in person made me want more. Last month I attended Leicester Championship Wrestling's 'Summertime' event and now I had a front row ticket for Southside's 'Supremecy' event in which the main attraction was to see Ring Of Honor's Davey Richards in person as he is regarded as one of the best in the world.

Arriving at the venue I wasn't sure what to expect, the LCW show I attended was good but had a crowd made up of kids; but walking into the bar waiting area I could tell this would be different, a large array of different people but only a small number of children to be seen and a variety of wrestling t shirts ranging from the everyday WWE CM Punk shirts to the rarity of ROH merchandise. 

After a lengthy delay, presumably down to the Q&A session taking place we were allowed into the arena, we were sat on top of a bowling green, but I guess finding  places to hold events is tough and once I was seated I was in a wrestling arena rather than anywhere else.

Seated at ringside, right in front of the corner of the ring near to the wrestlers entrance way and sound desk, it was worth the extra fiver not to have anybody in front of me to have the perfect view, only spoilt on occasion by the camera men trying to make their living. 

The show kicked off and the ring announcer 'Diamond Dale Mills' made his way to the ring to a chorus of boo's, but only from the side of the crowd that I was in! Having not read up on the history I was a little taken aback, but on the introduction of Harvey Dale it became clear there was a divide between Southside and the House of Pain which are two promotions (but seemed more like factions such like the WWE Invasion angle) and the crowd behind me was made up of HOP trainees. The two in the ring had a good back on forth on the mic and set the tone of the rest of the show and then introduced the opening bout of Lionheart vs. Ego Dragon, Harvey was then sent packing to the back and DDM took a spot on the commentary table. The match was a solid opener and I was familiar with Lionheart having seen some of his matches on the internet, but the crowd heat died off from the opening promo and the in ring action suffered slightly from it, Ego Dragon picked up the win which continued his undefeated streak    

The second match on the card was a treat as it was unscheduled, Gresham and MK Mkinnon took on the 'LDRS of the New School'  Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr in tag team action. LDRS are regarded as the best British tag team and from this showing its easy to see why, once the novelty of referring to 'Party' Marty as that guy from ITV's Take Me Out has worn off. The match built from comedy moments at the start including lots of hugging and 'wrestling friends' to a hard fought, hard hitting bout which showcased the talents of all involved including some great technical wrestling and excellent selling by ZSJ who spent a large period of the match looking out of it right by my feet. LDRS picked up the win and Zack challenged Marty for a shot at his Speed King Title for later on this evening. 

The entrance of Rockstar Spud

The next 'match' segment brought out HOP's Max Angelus with Harvey Dale to face Rockstar Spud; who coming to the ring to the whole of Living On A Prayer rivalled any Wrestlemania entrance in length; Spud grabbed a mic and said he didn't want to be there so tried to strike a deal with Dale to make Max lie down for him, this went back and forth with Max initially refusing and riled up the crowd giving back and forth opinions with the HOP side yelling for him to do it and the rest telling him to stand up for himself. After a period of time Max hesitantly got on his back while Spud instructed the camera man and referee to do exactly what he wanted, after the two count though Angelus reveresed the pin and rolled up Spud for the three count. Dale was angry at Max clearly setting up a further angle between the two. 

During the segment I have to say how great Spud was on the mic, his entrance gave him a sleazy feel but his mic work made him despised, especially as he talked down to audience members and bossed around the employees, but he played his part elevating this segment. 

The next contest was a six man tag splitting the audience as it was House of Pain (The Predators and SC Supreme) vs. Team SWE (Martin Kirby, Robbie X and Mad Man Manson). The match showcased everybody's abilities and having read about Mad Man in Fighting Spirit Magazine was amused to see his act in person, with drawn on ring boots, straight jacket and random moves such as nipple twists which added to the match making sure it didn't go too much in one direction.

Noam Dar - Future Superstar

Noam Dar came out next which meant it was time for Davey Richards, going into the event this was the match I was most excited for and it delivered! From stiff looking kicks to hard hitting knocks in and out of the ring this was an excellent match up. Davey picked up the victory but Dar came out looking like the winner, going toe to toe with one of the best in the world, a few more matches like this and it wouldn't surprise me if he was called up to one of the big American companies.
After the match Davey grabbed the mic and put Dar over, then it was time for the interval where Richards stayed in the ring for photo's while selling a very serious limp, whilst Lionheart was selling merchandise in which I quizzed him over a number of things and am hopefully looking forward to seeing him on the Maximum Impact Tour next January.

Richards - Best In The World

After the break it was time for the Speed King title match between LDRS members Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr. The match started slowly between the two friends and tag partners with holds taking part between jokes and reversals being more a 'you can do it, I can do it' mentality but this built into another excellent match with each willing to do anything to become the victor. The crowd were a little flat during this match but I think it was mainly down to not knowing which man to cheer for!  Scrull retained his title in the end after hitting a tombstone and ZSJ was upset with the loss and almost went straight to the back, but Marty won him over and the two embraced to send Zack off on his tour of Japan, with a promise of a rematch in the future to whet out appetites.

The Main Event was to crown a SWE Heavyweight Championship and started with Stixx coming to the ring in street clothes as no opponent had been named for him. After another two and fro between Harvey Dale and 'DDM' the HOP side of the crowd were demanding Stixx just be awarded the strap, but then Mark Haskins was announced as his opponent and the match was a NO DQ match! The match was wild and spilt into the crowd on multiple occasions, the crowd were all on their feet lifting the roof off the venue with the noise being made as the two athletes threw everything at one another, well mostly chairs! HOP got involved in the match but SWE members came to chase them to the back, duelling referees played their part and eventually Stixx picked up the victory, after Harvey Dale took a super-kick off the apron.

The HOP side of the crowd went mental for Stixx winning and he made his way to celebrate with them as Haskins pulled himself together in the ring as stated this wouldn't be the end between them. The crowd continued to be at war with one another with the HOP rubbing the title win in the faces of the rest of the crowd. Once the excitement had died down a little Stixx and co went backstage to draw an end to a fantastic show.



I can only recommend that if you see a promotion close to you holding a show then you should give it a try and if you can make it to a Southside show then what's stopping you! From reports I may have been lucky and caught one of the best independent shows ever in this country but it shows that with quality talent and booking this was from top to bottom an excellent card and definitely worth the price of admission with the only down point to the show was that Juvi Guerrera pulling, but the talent on show and getting to meet most of the card afterwards more than made up for it!
I saw Stixx open the LCW show I attended before this and little could I have predicted he would have been beating a TNA superstar the next event, it just goes to show that you never know what to expect!

Written and Photos by: @Robbie_G_CH

Full set of photos at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.395327070531472.94499.225595667504614&type=3

Trash Talking: Destination X Fallout

The landscape of TNA has changed, Bobby Roode has lost his prized possession and Austin Aries has forced his way into the history books as the man who dethroned the longest reigning champion. The match between the two headlined the Destination X pay-per-view and was a thrilling end to yet another decent TNA event.

The crowd were hot for the title change as everybody was resigned to another Roode cheap win, yet this would have been more enjoyable live as by the time the event was shown on Challenge TV images of Aries with the title had been circulating the internet for days, for casual fans this would have been no problem but for those who read wrestling sites and follow social networking sites the title change was ruined, if the event was aired on the Monday night it would have been possible to avoid spoilers but by Wednesday the secret was out of the bag, it's good that viewers in the UK get events for free but it would be nice to have them a little earlier. 

It's excellent that Aries has gone from fighting for a contract a year ago to being the top dog, but his performances and promo's have proved why the company should have faith in the man, it just depends how long they will let him run for, whether it be to have a quick switch before Bound For Glory back to Roode to have the eventual Roode / Storm title match or whether he will walk into the biggest event of the year with the belt on his shoulder.

Ultimate X

Destination X also crowned a new X Division Champion, after a tournament involving signed and non-signed talent Zema Ion captured the belt in an average Ultimate X match involving Sonjay Dutt, Mason Andrews (Scorpio Sky) and Kenny King. The match was hindered by the fact Dutt was carrying a shoulder injury sustained in his opening match against Rashad Cameron which showed during the closing spot of the match. 

The other qualifying matches were entertaining but more of the same spotfests that had been shown on Impact in the lead up to the event to showcase what the talents could do. The four losers from the earlier qualifying matches were allowed a final shot which showed the lack of depth TNA had, its a shame that Mark Haskins wasn't given an opportunity as his role seems to just play home town hero on the UK tours.  

The X Division needs to rebuild now that Aries has progressed and Zema Ion was the logical step for the short term being the only contracted wrestler in the match. It is clear that TNA would have liked to have given this to Jesse Sorensen and is building a feud between the two based around the injury Jesse sustained earlier in the year but it is doubtful Ion will hold the belt for the length of time before he comes back especially with the wealth of talent being brought in with the likes of Dutt, King and the recently announce Chavo Guerrero. Aries elevated the championship with his undefeated reign and now it's up to everybody else to build upon that legacy and restore the division to the forefront of TNA and with the added incentive of the option of a shot at the Heavyweight Championship at next years Destination X there is no reason why it shouldn't.

The event whilst showcasing the X Division also had two other excellent matches involving ex X Division champions, A.J Styles defeated Christopher Daniels in a bloody last man standing match after Styles hit the Clash of the ramp through a table. Although many hoped this would be the end of the feud that has been ongoing for a year it appears not as Claire is claiming that A.J. is the father of her baby although nobody actually cares as it is this type of soap opera story that the 'wrestling matters' motto was trying to rid from the company. 

The other match had no such overhanging story where Samoa Joe claimed 10 points in the BFG Series against Kurt Angle after a hard fought match that nearly went the time limit distance after Angle was deemed passed out after refusing to submit. The match showcased the competitive nature of the series and continued to build up to BFG and proved the unpredictability of the competition as Joe went on to lose to RVD on the following Impact. Joe and James Storm remain the break outs of the competition so far but as last year showed that an winning streak or injury can change everything.

Besides the BFG series the biggest story is the Aces and Eights invasion, a bunch of masked men attacking Sting, Hogan and a number of TNA wrestlers. Whilst not being opposed to a faction storyline as TNA has always seemed to have factions around such as the Main Event Mafia and more recently Immortal and Fortune, this story so far goes against everything we are currently being treated to as fans. We as viewers are to believe the masked men; who's message is the 'dead man's hand'; have broken into Universal Studios during a live television show and attack Sting in the middle of the ring whilst nobody from the back, security or wrestlers come down and help him! With Gut Check using inside terms and the BFG series making matches more like a sport where wins matter, this invasion story feels out of place and slightly out of time.

When the NWO went to WCW and when ECW invaded WWE there was an excitement about the angles, wrestlers from other promotions turning up on television, but the fact these guys are hiding behind masks and have yet to reveal why they are there, what they are doing and what they hope to achieve. Hopefully once these intentions are announced then maybe this can move along although why Dixie Carter or Hulk Hogan would offer any of them on contract in storyline terms remains to be seen, or maybe we are meant to overlook that small fact, making the Gut Check segment pointless if you can just walk in and not need a contract. 

Luke Gallows and Wes Brisco are rumoured to be two of the gang which doesn't excite that much at present but maybe it's good that they are not more superstar names arriving from WWE or ROH to not over stack an already crowded roster, while the others are unknown, maybe an angle involving guys like Garret Bischoff who have nothing else to do and have decided to join the group to make a bigger name for themselves and force some television time.

Finally Joseph Parks black hole slammed Bully Ray after 'spacing out' while bleeding post match to add another far fetched angle, the television title is still MIA or should that be non-action and the most interesting angle is continuing online with Joey Ryan continuing to post videos on youtube continuing his feud with Taz, it is not known whether this is a work but it is very entertaining non the less. 

Until next time;

@Robbie_G_CH

Pictures by  Impact Wrestling (http://www.facebook.com/ImpactWrestling/photos)

Trash Talking: 03/07/12

Going into July and the Destination X event TNA can hold there head up high, despite ratings not showing it the quality of product has been top notch most of the time with some great matches, promos and invasions. 

TNA has done a great job transforming the product in recent months, mainly since Vince Russo has parted ways with the company, for the most part the product feels fresh, this may just be down to the Bound for Glory Series and the X Division Championship tournaments but at the minute the stupid angles seem to have been cut down.

Claire Lynch clogging up TV time 

Unfortunately the amount of good on show highlights the bad, the main culprit being the 'affair' angle between AJ and Dixie Carter, which has been just awful from the start. Daniels and AJ have enough between them to make us want to watch their matches, even if we have seen the pair match up on numerous occasions, but this has been a big fail and a reminder that soap opera remains within the wrestling business.

Another reminder of this is Madison Rayne crushing on a mystery wrestler which is just dragging the Knockouts back into Diva territory by taking away the strong independence the division is known for, there is nothing wrong with pairing wrestlers up, just look at EY and ODB, but don't reduce a former KO Champion to a giggling teenager. 

Joseph Park's character still remains to entertain, but we all know he is Abyss and the sooner this reveal is made the better, hopefully the challenge laid down to Bully Ray on Impact (28/06) will bring about the end of this angle and match where Park's reveals the secret we all know. As much as Abyss has done in TNA the business seems to be at a point where supernatural situations and parts unknown are not needed any more, with more realistic characters such as Aries and Roode taking president which leaves the Abyss character looking dated and more of a throwback to the early TNA years, hopefully the coming weeks will blur old and new although has the damage been done with two separate characters already?

Security? 

Sting remains off air since his beat down on Impact (14/06) by three masked men, although just a tool to take The Icon off TV for a while and get him out of the feud with Roode we are still left with the fact three guys jumped the barriers and no one came to the rescue, no security stopped these men and not one of the wrestlers praising Sting for being the first inductee to the HOF cared that he was being taken out!

The Bound For Glory series is under way and is more structured than last year, whilst annoying that some of the matches have been over in a matter of minutes in typical television matches its good to see random matches that actually matter. Samoa Joe is making up for his poor outing last year with a number of submission victories with the crowd behind, a match with Kurt Angle taking us back to 2007 is on the Destination X card which is making the event a must watch.

Ryan gets in Taz's face

Gut Check continues and is very hit and miss, it is a good way of getting new talent on TV but seen as Alex Silva hasn't actually appeared on Impact since is it worth while? Silva and Taeler Hendrix have both wrestled previously in OVW so were likely on there way to having a shot on Impact at some point anyway.

The highlight of Gut Check so far has been Joey Ryan, since getting turned down in May he has started posting videos on YouTube against TNA and on Impact (28/06) invaded the Gut Check segment holding up a sign saying '87% of people can't be wrong' in reference to the percentage of people who voted for him to get a contract. This work has been the biggest talking point so far and hopefully will launch Ryan who could be this years Austin Aries.

high flying X Division action

With Aries trading in his X Division title for a shot at the Heavyweight Championship the mad scramble to become his replacement has started with independent wrestlers taking part to qualify for a tournament taking place at Destination X. Doug Williams, Kid Kash and Zema Ion get automatic spots in the first round as they are the only people left in the X Division following last years reboot and hopefully Mark Haskins may make an appearance as he to is still on the books. 'The original playa from the Himalaya' Sanjay Dutt returned after three years to book his spot at the ppv as did Rashad Cameron (Sabian). The matches on display on Impact showed the X Division style off and the crowd were lapping it up, it's just a shame that most of these wrestlers such as the losing pair of Rubix (Jigsaw) and Mason Andrews (Scorpio Sky) will likely not be seen in the division again, much like last years fan favourite Jack Evans; if TNA wants the X Division to be a weekly talking point again then these high flyers are the way to go! This week's Impact has some more qualifying matches to look forward to, although no one has been announced it's exciting to see who will come down to the ring!

Hulk Hogan said the TV Title was to be defended every week on Impact, Devon said he was a fighting champion, so where is it?

Finally, this week sees Angelina Love and Shannon Moore leave TNA, both have had great moments in their careers but have recently been given little opportunity to shine, we wish them best in their future endeavours.

Writer: @Robbie_G_CH
Photos by: Lee South and Impact Wrestling (@LeeSouthPhoto) (http://www.facebook.com/ImpactWrestling/photos)

International Impact

The set of Ring Ka King
(http://www.wrestlestars.com/2011/12/tnas-ring-ka-king-set/)

TNA have gone International. With Ring Ka King being in full swing and Impact Wrestling from London's Wembley arena airing this week and next, a different side to TNA can be seen opposed to the usual site of the Impact Zone. 

Don't take that as a dislike to the Impact Zone, having a business head on my shoulders I know the benefits of that the 'zone' brings to TNA but seeing the intro to this weeks Impact and being in the crowd at Nottingham it is refreshing to see crowds who care for the product rather than being there to be entertained whilst on holiday (again not saying that all the crowd are Disney tourists) as the atmosphere in the 'zone' can sometimes deter away from the product. The financial implications to take Impact on the road could be crippling doubled up with the extra travelling the wrestlers would do but it would be nice to see shows similar to last years ventures on the road, even it is just a taping every other month or the odd PPV just to add the extra buzz into the show. 

Anyway with the television launch of Ring Ka King and the great crowd's at the Maximum Impact tour I was deliberating the idea of whether TNA could hold a similar event to Ring Ka King here in the UK? well of course my answer was a yes but to what extent is the problem I am stumbling over. I'm not very knowledgeable of the UK wrestling scene but after going to the TNA show in Nottingham I have done a little research, well actually my first research occurred oddly after watching the ITV show 'Take Me Out' when Marty Scrull's appearance drew comments on twitter from Nick (Magnus) Aldis; but anyway I know there are multiple regional promotions and a lot of talented guys that appear across the different promotions, I have watched a few matches on TV this weekend and have to say I'm impressed and sad that I have overlooked the UK scene for so long which is mainly down to the minimal exposure I have had to the scene. 

Mark Haskins has appeared occasionally on TNA
(http://www.pbwwrestling.com/roster/mark-haskins)

TNA could do a television taping in the same way they have done so with Ring Ka King to crown a King of the ring of England, or something to that extent. I don't think that a title need be involved but a trophy would be a nice touch. The format would be a knockout tournament so that it would not get bogged down with storylines and would include (if possible) the best wrestlers on the UK scene and throwing in some lesser used TNA stars to bring some recognised names to entice viewers who may be put off my 'unknowns' and could take place once or even twice a year. 

This venture would not only give UK fans a taste of televised wrestling that looks set to be an annual event on the Maximum Impact tour but would also promote the talent that is under our noses in the UK, Mark Haskins (@Mark_Haskins) has had little time to make an impression in the brief appearances he has made on Impact, but he among with others such as the aforementioned Scurll (@MartyTakeMeOut), Lionheart (@LionheartUK) and Noam Dar (@NoamDar) to name but a few would have their time to shine on the biggest platform with the wider viewers that TNA brings in.

It is about time the UK had some home grown talent on TV and this seems like the perfect way to do so,they could use the footage on Xplosion and it would boost the growing profiles of the UK talent and could benefit TNA in multiple ways, they would receive increased exposure too and have access to new talent that the may consider signing. 

In the meantime I intend to check out more UK shows and I advise you all to do so too! 

@Robbie_G_CH