Ringside Report: TNA Wrestling: Road To Lockdown Tour: Nottingham (24/01/12)

Written by @Robbie_G_CH
Full set of pictures can be seen on Facebook

'TNA in the UK' has taken over Challenge TV this February with four Impact's recorded in Manchester and London as well as a few specials entitled 'Backstage Pass' which will feature backstage footage and matches from the other non televised dates of the January UK tour, so this seems the right time to give my views on the Nottingham leg of the tour.

The show was held in the same venue as last year, Nottingham's Capital FM Arena, with the layout being identical to the point where it felt like I had walked in the next day rather than a whole year later. The arena was unfortunately little over half full; likely a victim of the two dates that are hosting the Impact recordings; with many completely empty blocks around the upper tiers.

Jeremy Borash was the host of the evening, taking over ring announcing duties from the absent Christy Hemme and worked the crowd well with his ever-present enthusiasm. There were a few local independent wrestlers around the ring side area such as Stixx and LCW Champion L.J. Heron, in which I later found out that Nottingham based promotion 'House of Pain' had helped with all of the ring setup.

In the first match of the evening the TNA Tag Team champions Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez beat Bad Influence (Daniels & Kazarian) to retain the Tag Titles. The crowd was very vocal in support for Chavo, who rubbed this in Daniels's face with a 'Who can get the loudest cheer?' contest to start the match. Bad Influence quickly gained the upper hand with Daniels dominating the in-ring action as Kaz showboated to the crowd with his back to the action. Daniels repeatedly gave Chavo's arm to his partner until Guerrero reversed, allowing Kaz to put Daniels in an armbar, only realising his error when the champions appeared in front of him. The action continued back and forth until the heels took control again until the eventual hot tag. One highlighted spot was Hernandez holding Kazarian in a suplex while Chavo bounced Daniels's head off all four turnbuckles. Chavo picked up the victory after hitting the frogsplash. The match did it's job as it got the crowd going ready for the rest of the evenings matches, it's just a shame that the masses view Chavo as a big deal due to his involvement in WWE.

Earl Hebner was introduced to the crowd and there were only a few "You screwed Bret" chants heard. JB then talked up British Boot Camp and brought out the winner of the show, Rockstar Spud, and his fellow competitor, "Party" Marty. Both got good reactions, but Spud took the role of heel as they locked up once again to take each other on.

After a minute of action, Spud got into an argument with Hebner that instigated the "Bret" chant they were looking for. Marty slapped Hebner's hand in a "naughty child" manor and then Hebner revealed his "Yes I Did" t-shirt which is his staple at house shows. The match was very similar to the one they had on the last episode of Bootcamp, but without Marty's dive to the outside and with Spud picking up the pinfall by hooking Marty's trunks.

To carry on the 'Bootcamp' theme the next match featured the Blossom Twin's taking on the tandem of Gail Kim and Tara, but out first was the special guest referee Velvet Sky who 'let the pigeons loose' in Nottingham. The match was fairly back and forth with some impressive spots such as Tara putting one of the Blossoms in the tarantula. The heels soon started to dominate the match with Tara being very vocal making some hilarious taunts at the twins. The Blossoms picked up the victory after switching places behind Sky's back as Tara and Gail had a falling out. After the match, the Blossoms felt the anger of the defeated heels until Velvet stepped in and took both of them out. 

The arena erupted when Rob Van Dam's music hit to bring him out for a defence of the X Division Championship against Zema Ion who got a less favourable "who are ya" chant.  After a back and forth, Zema went to use his hairspray to "straighten up," but the can was taken from him by RVD, who proceeded to do Hebner's "hair" and then random crowd members. RVD hit his signature moves to please the crowd and picked up the victory after hitting the Five-Star Frogsplash leaping over Earl Hebner in the process. RVD seemed fresh in this match which is something that hasn't been said for a number of years but unfortunately that was short lived when it was brought to my attention the two had an identical match the night before. As the two made there way to the back it was announced that it was time for the intermission. 

After the break Austin Aries made his way to the ring to a good crowd reaction while Bobby Roode came to the ring to his old music ("Off The Chain" with lyrics) and accompanied by darts player Paul Nicholson, it may seem like a random pairing but the two met last summer and shared some PR dates. James Storm then came to the ring to a huge reaction and took to the mic, he said the next match should have been a three-way, but after the heels double teamed him last night he wanted it changed to a tag match. Magnus was then introduced with new intro music and video to another loud hometown reaction. 

Storm spent the majority of the match in the ring. Aries and Roode were their usual excellent selfs and to keep up with their recent comedy moments. There was a spot where the heels crashed into one another out of the corner, Roode fell first arse-up with Aries falling on him, and then both exited the ring sharply looking disgusted at one another. The match spilled to the outside on one occasion. Storm brought about the end of the match by hitting the Last Call Superkick on Aries - after a previous failed attempt - and then tagged in Magnus, who hit the elbow of the top rope for the pinfall.

Spot the Wrestler - Storm and Magnus in the crowd

After the match, Storm took to the mic again, working the crowd with "Beer" chants. He then proceeded to run into the crowd while the cage started to be put in place for the main event. After posing with fans in various parts of the crowd and spraying lots of beer, Storm and Magnus then made their way to the back with JB taking over microphone duties. Working the crowd, Borash announced that the show was being recorded for 'Backstage Pass' although not much of the footage actually made it to the show. After doing a couple of laps of the crowd, announcing random 'famous' people in the crowd and asking people who their favourite football teams are, showing that JB has a better grasp of British culture than many Americans, the cage was finally in place for the "Main Event of the Evening." 

The steel cage match was oddly announced as being No DQ. I wasn't sure if you could get disqualified in a cage? Aces & Eights made their way to the ring down the entrance ramp for a change; a fair amount of heat for the pair of Devon and DOC. The arena was then plunged into darkness and exploded for Kurt Angle's entrance with Sting receiving an even bigger pop, clearly the loudest of the night.

Tables and Cages

Mike Knox took out Angle from behind as Sting took to the ring two-on-one, which is where the logic in booking comes undone, as the same happened the night before and Kurt didn't learn unlike Storm earlier in the night. Aces soon overpowered Sting as Angle struggled to get into the ring as Knox kept taking him out. Angle eventually made his way into the ring, but after hitting the Angle Slam another masked member of the biker gang hit the ring with hammer in hand to take Angle out. The Olympian kicked out of a pin attempt and after the introduction of a table, Bully Ray hit the ring to a massive reaction to make the save. DOC was eventually put through a table by Sting and Angle who picked up the pin.

Post-match, the heels soon left as the faces stayed in the ring to close the show, Bully took the mic and hailed both Angle and Sting as legends. After working the crowd into a frenzy, they pulled a kid into the ring and gave him a piece of the table, which they all signed. They left the crowd to go home happy.

Overall, the show was solid, but didn't quite match up to last year with a focus on the British stars at the expense of other roster members, the most notable name missing beside Hardy was Samoa Joe. The Aries/Roode vs. Storm/Magnus match was the match of the night, with Marty vs. Spud claiming second place for me. 

The merchandise being sold didn't make much sense, with numerous t shirts available for wrestlers not at the event such as Jeff Hardy, Hogan,  Mr Anderson and A.J. Styles, I know they are fan favourites but when they edge out any merchandise of wrestlers working the show it seems a bit unfair. 

TNA will return to these shores again the same time next year, but the rows of empty seats are on obvious reason why TNA won't be returning to Nottingham, favoring Birmingham instead.

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