Indy Wrestling Express

The off-season is over and British wrestling is back in full swing! Here’s what’s happened and what’s happening on this side of the pond:

Next Level Wrestling held their ‘Open Challenge’ Show on the 13th in Smethwick. Here are the results:

Handicap match: “Loco” Mike Mason defeated Kid Lykos & The Firefly 

“Dynamite” Pete Dunne defeated Ryan Smile 

Jon The Yob defeated Sean Midnight 

Lord Graham Thomas III defeated Chainsaw Psycho 

Damien Dunne defeated “Pride of Wales” Eddie Dennis

Marshall X defeated Corey “1” Dem

Kid Fite defeated Mark Andrews

Thoughts: The main event (Fite vs Andrews) sounds very good. From what I’ve heard, the show was solid but dragged a little towards the end.

New Generation Wrestling (NGW) will hold their ‘Dawn of Heroes’ event tomorrow (the 21st) at the Eastmount Recreation Centre in Hull. The card so far looks fantastic, with a host of top UK names and both the NGW Championship and Tag titles being defended:

NGW Championship: Matt Myers (c) vs ‘Showstealer’ Nathan Cruz

NGW Tag Team Championship: Los Amigos (El Ligero & Dara Diablo) (c) vs Bhangra Knights (RJ Singh & Darrell Allen)

Rampage Brown vs Joey Hayes

Stixx vs Martin Kirby

The Storr Brothers vs Sam Bailey & Zack Diamond

Plus more to be announced.

Thoughts: Wow. The two title matches will undoubtedly be top-notch, Nathan Cruz and El Ligero are two of my favourite UK wrestlers. The first-time-ever encounter between Stixx and Martin Kirby should be excellent too.

Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) present their first annual ‘Square Go!’ event on the 22nd of January at the Classic Grand in Glasgow. The event is now sold out, which is a first for ICW. The show is going to be taped for TV and will be shown in the UK on TVMyChannel (Sky Channel 219). Here’s the lineup:

30-Man Square Go to determine the number 1 contender to the ICW Heavyweight Championship: Two men start, another enters at random every two minutes. Five random entrants will be drawn to enter with weapons. Confirmed to appear are Chris Renfrew, Lionheart, Jack Jester, Kid Fite, Wolfgang, Joe Coffey, Andy Wild, Noam Dar and Liam Thomson, with many more set to be announced.

ICW Heavyweight Championship: James Scott (c) vs B.T. Gunn

Red Lightning vs Lionheart

Jack Jester vs Mikey Whiplash

6-person Intergender Tag Team Match: Bucky Boys & Lambrini (w/The Wee Man) vs The S.T.I.  (William Grange and Dick Divers) and Sara

Thoughts: The first ever Scottish wrestling show to sell out in advance, and without a single poster or flyer to advertise it. Fantastic work from everyone involved. This TV deal is great news too. And the card looks great - the Square Go match is certainly an interesting concept, and should be brutal.

LDN Wrestling’s live events of 2012 start tomorrow (21st) at the All Saints Arts Centre in Totteridge, London. The main event will see LDN Capital Champion Yorghos Christopolous defending against number one contender Hakan. Also confirmed so far are Pirate Paulie vs Bam Bam Barton, Kid Dynamite vs Damian Dunn, and a special open challenge from LDN British Heavyweight Champion Alan Lee Travis.

Then on the 25th LDN will be at the Chequer Mead Arts Centre in East Grinstead. Confirmed so far for that show is Yorghos Christopolous vs Mal ‘Superstar’ Sanders, as well as an appearance from Tom ‘UK Kid’ Jones, appearing at his first LDN show for four years, and new talent Leon Shah.

The show on the 27th at the Hazelmere Centre will feature an over the top rope Rumble main event, as well as a Champion vs Champion bout as Travis faces Yorghos one-on-one. Then the next night in Staines, World of Sport legend Johnny Kidd will face ‘Lone Wolf’ Matt Walters in the only match confirmed so far.

Thoughts: Some fantastic matches to start the year with. Yorghos vs Travis should be a great contest, as should Johnny Kidd’s return to the venue he won the British Heavyweight Championship from last year.

Finally, congratulations to British women’s star and girl of my dreams Britani Knight, who made her debut in FCW, WWE’s developmental territory, earlier this month, under the name ‘Saraya’ (her real first name). We at IWE, along with the entire UK wrestling community, wish Britani all the best. She certainly has both the looks and the in-ring ability, so let’s hope the ‘E don’t screw this one up like they’ve done with so many before her.

Have any news or results from the UK? Do you know if Britani Knight’s received any of the poetry I’ve sent her? Let me know at lonelybitterman@gmail.com.

Sources:

http://ukff.com

http://ldnwrestling.com

http://wrestleview.com

-Adrian