In what should have been the go-home show for Starrcave, Breed put their best foot forward with a selection of some of British (and Irish) wrestling’s future stars.
Moving away from YouTube, Breed have recently started a Patreon for access to their shows at www.patreon.com/BreedProwrestling – for $4 a month you get their entire catalogue, rather than paying that much per show. This show comes from Breed’s usual home, the Hex nightclub in Sheffield (now renamed the Temple, in case you’re going looking for it).
The show opens with ring announcer Lucy Openshaw giving us news of Callum Black and Michael May not being able to appear… they’ve been replaced by Tate Mayfairs and Shay-Fu… before we’re interrupted by Ivy, who’s bragging about being the Women of Steel champion. Ivy’s told she’s got a match later, against Shax… she’s not too pleased with that. What’s that, an MC who gets through their opening gambit in under three minutes without tailing off into DMs or whatnot?
Breed Pro New Breed Championship: Joe Nelson (c) vs. Luke Jacobs
Jacobs is one half of the Young Guns, who got a bit of a muted reaction given that he’s from Manchester… while the Wakefield native Nelson got a better reaction. Ah, the ol’ war of the roses lives on.
Nelson takes the match outside as we start with some brawling around the front row, rolling Jacobs back in for a crossbody off the middle rope for a quick two-count. Jacobs misses a stomp as Nelson rolls away, only to get booted as Jacobs opted to turf Nelson outside like yesterday’s rubbish. They’re both outside again as Jacobs roughs up Nelson with crossface punches, before he throws him into the apron repeatedly.
Back in the ring, Jacobs continues to club away on Nelson, following up with a slam as things were beginning to look easy. Jacobs takes a pop at the crowd, before he tried to take off Nelson’s head with a back elbow, but the Mancunian takes too long with a forearm, and that gives Nelson a way back in. Breezing past Jacobs with a roundhouse enziguiri and a dropkick, the champion fights back to get a near-fall, before he’s caught with an uppercut as a springboard’s merely delayed…
…then met with a sit-out side slam after Jacobs caught said springboard crossbody, dumping Nelson for another two-count. Superkicks from the champion build up into a satellite DDT as he looked to build anew, only to get his leg kicked out of his leg as Jacobs found a new gear, working into a deadlift German suplex for a near-fall. Nelson makes another comeback back body dropping his way free before he tried to stomp Jacobs into submission.
A death valley driver awaits the challenger, before some Sliced Bread finally puts him away. A perfectly fine open, with Jacobs showing some good fire and aggression, while Nelson worked real well against him. Keep an eye on both these guys… ***
After the match, Nelson shook the hands of the Young Guns – that’s Ethan Allen and Luke Jacobs – as he was told he was now able to pick his opponent for the (delayed) Starrcave. He couldn’t get a name out as he got whacked with a chair by JJ Barker, who then threatened to Pillman-ize him as he was fed up of “carrying” Jacobs. Barker demands the title shot in the cave… or else he’ll take Jacobs’ leg. Despite getting what he wanted, Barker still did it… all because one guy in the crowd asked for it.
Martina comes out for an open challenge, which was answered by… John Cena?! Martina was beside herself, even if John Cena’s never had a beard. Of course, it’s Big Guns Joe in the cosplay… and there’s our match. Thanks to the Ogdens for the new theme!
Martina vs. Big Guns Joe
Martina begs for a follow on Twitter… and gets forearmed instead as Joe strips off the Cena gear. She’ll get the follow in the end, but first… stomps in the corner!
Martina keeps crying about “John” beating her up, as Joe started to get frustrated. I hear you. People getting your name wrong is a bit of a wrench. Cue “John Cena Sucks” chants as Martina’s taken outside for another beating… but it’s the threat that John Cena will “never ever follow you on Twitter” that makes her snap! Martina charges in with shoulder tackles as she burst into a very familiar Five Moves of Doom, only to miss a Five Knuckle Shuffle as Joe responds with a ripcord uppercut. A satellite DDT gets Martina back in for a near-fall, before she slipped out of a Fireman’s carry and took down Joe with a Jägerbomb for the win. More of a skit than anything else, but the crowd ate this up, so it worked. **½
After the match, Martina stole Joe’s John Cena gear, chain and all, before we cut to a promo outside as Martina talked up her upcoming Deathmatch in a Cave (that sadly isn’t happening… yet).
Breed Pro Women Of Steel Championship: Ivy (c) vs. Shax
It’s a good job Ivy brought her gear… and her baseball bat too, as she didn’t think she was doing a wrestle earlier.
Ivy’s upset at getting booed, and quickly powders as Shax started out with some aggression. The champion gets tossed into the ring post, prompting some inadvertent comedy when she audibly replied “no” as the ref checked if she were okay… Chops follow in the crowd as Shax teased a count-out, only to break it so Ivy could be whipped into the side of the ring. That looked nasty.
Ivy turns it around before they rolled back in, with Ivy looking to whip Shax into the turnbuckles repeatedly… before decking her challenger with a forearm. Shax gets thrown back to the mat as a leaping elbow… before she pulls Ivy off the top rope to turn things around. A bridging, swinging neckbreaker’s good for a two-count, before Ivy’s dragged in for a draping neckbreaker off the middle rope for another near-fall.
Ivy tries to use her belt, but the referee stops her… so she gives Shax her baseball bat and fakes out a la Eddie Guerrero instead. The ref sees through it, but Shax doesn’t go down to cover her… instead, Ivy kicks her low and lands an X-Factor for the win. Ah well, Ivy tried foul means to win, and eventually got the job done as her title reign gets off to an auspicious start. **½
Outside, Ivy grabs a chair and declares she’ll still be champion going into… and leaving the cave. Ah man, these cave references are depressing given all the changes they had to make.
More Than Hype (Darren Kearney, LJ Cleary & Nathan Martin) vs. Escaping The Midcard (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper) & Rocky Mac
In Breed land, the Escaping the Midcard team aren’t exactly beloved, as TK claims he’s the Daddy of the North. The More Than Hype lads couldn’t find Spike Trivet, and discuss putting out a search party… until Rocky Mac was revealed as the sixth man, attacking More Than Hype from behind in an Elaborate Ruse™.
Rocky didn’t fare too well from the off as he’s chopped outside, before LJ Cleary single-handledly took down all three opponents with a tope. Nathan Martin followed with a tope con giro, before Darren Kearney’s dive got cut off with a forearm from Mambo… who then springboarded into the path of some superkicks from More Than Hype as Kearney got his leap in anyway.
All six men brawl around ringside, and into the crowd too as we had a few spills, before a sunset flip/dropkick combo continued to have More Than Hype ahead. The Irish trio look to activate for a Destroyer, but Rocky cuts it off with a ‘rana as TK and Mambo swarm the ring to help turn it around. An eye rake from Rocky stops Kearney ahead of a spinebuster, with TK snatching a near-fall from it, before those two combined to cheat behind the ref’s back.
A drop toe hold from Mambo keeps Kearney down for a surfboard, holding Darren up for a nasty TK stomp that gained another near-fall. Rocky’s back to keep Kearney down, using a low dropkick for another two-count, before Mambo came in and held up Kearney for a nice Gory bomb/Codebreaker combo with TK. Why the bloody hell are this TK and Mambo not tagging regularly across the UK??
Eventually Kearney found his way free, back body dropping Rocky before tagging in Nathan Martin, who was a house afire with takedowns on Mambo, including a nice hiptoss that almost ended things. “Psycho” Nathan keeps up too, landing a crossbody going halfway across the ring to splat into Mambo, before LJ came in to… get booted in the face. LJ keeps up to help dropkick Mambo into a side Russian legsweep for a near-fall though, before a reverse Bloody Sunday DDT took Mambo out. LJ’s back to catch out TK with a springboard crossbody, but Mac’s wise to it and instead lands a big TKO as a Parade of Moves broke out. A missed dropkick from Kearney cost him big though, as he’s sent into the ropes for TK’s corkscrew legdrop for a near-fall, before chops and superkicks while Kearney was in a Gory special ended up getting turned into a victory roll with a little help from his friends.
Headbutts from TK turn things around before an intended dropkick into all of More Than Hype was stopped, with TK getting tossed outside. On his own, Rocky tries to curry favour among his compatriots, but ends up taking an Activate destroyer as More Than Hype left with the win. You can never have a bad trios match, it seems, and this was no exception – although I do wonder how different the crowd would have been had they found Spike… ***
After the match, a petulant Chuck Mambo claimed the loss didn’t count because More Than Hype beat Rocky Mac. More cave sadness.
Rory Gulak vs. Scotty Davis
It’s a Blue Monday for Scotty Davis, as I’m a little taken aback by his different track here. On paper, this looks like it’ll be very grapple-heavy, and from the off it was as expected, as Gulak and Davis scrambled to the mat, with Rory rolling around, but unable to take an advantage.
The pair end up in the ropes, before getting back to their feet as Gulak looked for a takedown… and flipped Davis backwards. It’s Davis who looked to land a takedown, but Gulak rolled through for a pinning attempt as the scramble continued. Gulak looked to be in his element here, before he eschewed his mat-based stuff for stomps. A Northern Lights suplex gets Gulak a near-fall, so he follows that up with a gutbuster and some boot choking in the corner. From there, Gulak ties up Davis in knots, forcing the Irishman to scramble for the ropes… and when he did get free, it was a spot of boxing that got him back in it, along with a Chaos Theory rolling German suplex. Gulak’s back up as he’s brushed with a head kick, before another German led to a near-fall, but Gulak responds in kind, landing a German suplex of his own as he’d hung Davis in the ropes.
Gulak wrings the arm as he took Davis down once more, but Scotty’s got a similar idea, which he uses to roll Gulak for an omoplata… but Gulak switches up and nearly pins Davis with a roll-up. Somehow Gulak escapes a cross-legged suplex and rolled in with an ankle lock before Scotty found his way out with a crucifix roll-up for the win. Technically this was fine, but it seemed like the Breed crowd had no inkling of who Gulak was – and unlike, say, Daniel Makabe a few weeks later, the lack of buzz meant this was a stone cold outing that just didn’t connect. ***
Jay Joshua vs. Nico Angelo
Almost a Dragon Pro offer match here, as Nico Angelo took on one of the handful of Joshuas in Britwres right now with confusingly-similar names.
The pair go to ground early, as Joshua’s leglock ends in the ropes, before Angelo had to roll back to avoid a PK attempt as the two were really swinging for the fences. A standing moonsault helps Nico to a two-count, but Joshua’s quickly back with a snapmare and a hard kick to the back. Chops from Joshua repeatedly knock down Angelo, before Nico rushed back with a clothesline and Naito’s Combinacion Cabron slingshot dropkick in the corner. Joshua looks for a Waterslide, but Angelo ‘ranas free before crashing into him on the outside with a moonsault for good measure. Back inside, a Twister gets Nico a two-count, as he follows up with a series of kicks to the chest… but Joshua responds in kind as the pair begin to leather each other, trading kicks before Angelo’s sunset flip led to him getting clotheslined.
Angelo’s flying ‘rana keeps him in front, as did a nice satellite DDT, only for Joshua to respond with a German suplex out of the corner for a near-fall of his own. From there, he drags Angelo to the mat for a katahajime… and there’s the quick submission. Not much in terms of playing to the crowd, but a good, no-nonsense outing from another pair of names on this card who you’d expect to hear more from in the years ahead. ***
Tate Mayfairs vs. Shay Purser
Our replacement match sees the goddamn loud Tate Mayfairs blow my ears out as he was about the first person on this card to play to the crowd. He’s a HUSTLE trainee who’s got an “in love with himself”, kinda rock God character that’s easy to loathe. This was Shay’s first match back (it seems) after a brief trip to the US that saw him work CHIKARA… which is not something I expected to say when Shay was just a humble ref. Oh, and Fight Nation jobber… Tate doesn’t approve of Shay’s Creed karaoke, by the way.
Mayfairs stalls a little before the bell to wind up the crowd, so the crowd chant “Wetherspoons carpet” at him. I knew I’d seen that pattern before.
Tate caught Shay with an uppercut as they exchanged bows at the start, but Purser’s quickly in with a float over and a dropkick before he caught Tate with a wild overhand chop. A pratfall charge into the corner lets Mayfairs back in as he hung up Purser in the ropes, then put the boots to him ahead of a nice snap suplex that earned him a two-count. More carpet chants just wound up Tate some more as he charged in with an elbow to Shay for a two-count, following that with a running knee and some stomps. A back suplex keeps Shay on the back foot ahead of a flp senton as Tate was making this look easy – even if that three count wasn’t forthcoming.
Sure enough, Shay fought back with running elbows before a flying DDT caught Tate for a near-fall. From there, he takes the back with a rear naked choke, and that’s it! A sudden finish as Shay came from behind to snatch the win. Decent, and I did dig Tate waving the camera way… it’s a familiar trait! **¾
Outside, Tate has a multi-camera promo to whinge about the “Wetherspoons carpet” chants… the John Cena hat’s still nearby too, which he took umbrage to, as he vowed to be back. Hopefully the carpet will be cleaned too…
Brady Phillips vs. Rampage Brown
Brady’s unbeaten in singles action in Breed, and has been bubbling under the surface with Southside perhaps being the biggest proponents of him and his wacky kilts. Rampage Brown, on the other hand, needs no introduction if you’ve been following the scene for any time.
Rampage takes Brady into the corner early, before a takedown led to a side headlock on the mat as Rampage looked to wear down the fan of tartan. A slugfest quickly breaks out as forearms turn into chops, but Brady runs through Rampage… and eats another chop. More forearms ensue ahead of Rampage turning a leapfrog into a slam, as things were looking bad for Brady. A shoulder tackle follows, but Brady suddenly finds his way back in with a bunch of stomps… only for a dropkick to put Rampage right back on top. A suplex is next for a two-count, but Brady stays persistent as he took down Rampage with some ground and pound. Phillips looks for a powerbomb, but Rampage back body drops free and chops Brady for good measure, sending him outside as Rampage meets him in the aisle.
Brady joins in the chopping game, before he threatened to give Rampage a Brookesing… but instead, Rampage holds onto the apron and comes back by shoving him into the crowd instead. Back in the ring, Rampage clotheslines Brady in the corner, then followed in with a boot and a Saito suplex… but he goes for a piledriver too soon and gets rolled up by Phillips, who began to put the boots to him again.
Taking Rampage into the corner, Brady tries to fight on, but Rampage headbutts himself free and clotheslines Phillips to the outside. An attempt to suplex Brady back in backfires as Rampage got caught in the ropes ahead of a Del Rio-ish stomp, following that up with a clothesline that almost won him the match. Rampage tries to boot himself back into the match, before he planted Brady with a powerbomb for a near-fall. Another lariat drops Brady again, before he unwisely went for a crossbody… which Rampage catches, only for Brady to counter back out of with a Blackheart Buster for a near-fall. A powerbomb quickly follows, but Rampage ain’t getting put away with that, but when a roll-through brainbuster didn’t get the job won, you did begin to wonder whether it’d be Rampage’s night.
Brady blocks a piledriver attempt, so Rampage clubs away… but Rampage ends up getting caught in the corner as Phillips kicks away his legs, trapping Rampage in the middle rope as a DDT out of the corner led to the upset! A solid main event, with Phillips scoring a hell of an upset for good measure. ***¼
After the match, Phillips took the mic and gloated about how he proved everyone wrong… and how he’s going to take the Breed title from TK Cooper in the cave, whether the fans care about him or not.
“…It’s Just Grenoside” was a pretty good first show for me to watch from Breed – with a healthy handful of the undergraps on here, there’s plenty of names that all but the most hardcore fan of Britwres won’t have heard of, and if you want to get in on the ground floor, well, this is as good a place as any to start.