Former TNA star Wes Brisco was the feature attraction in this week’s shorter-than-usual edition of FIGHT! Nation Wrestling.
Brisco isn’t the only debutant on the ninth episode of “Wednesday Night Wrestling” though, as Nottingham-born Gabriel Kidd is also making his FIGHT! Nation debut. Against Josh Bodom… Yep, it’s the same Kidd who works for WCPW. He gets a sit-down interview, and he tells us he’s been a wrestler since he was 14. According to his Twitter, he’s 19, which makes me ponder what the early years in his career consisted of…
Josh Bodom vs. Gabriel Kidd
Or “Gabrial Kidd”. The mind boggles…
Kidd mocks Bodom’s feinted kick, and they go into waistlocks which get reversed back and forth before they stand-off. Bodom tries to kip up out of a wristlock, but he fails as Kidd keeps the hold, and eventually segued to an armbar.
Bodom finally flips out to reverse the hold, before grabbing the ropes as Kidd reversed it back. Kidd goes from a crucifix into a sunset flip, before a La Magistral cradle gets him another two-count, as the 19 year old enjoys an extended period of offence. Bodom goes to the outside, and Kidd finally rushes out to join him as he delivers an uppercut before tossing Bodom back inside.
A springboard dropkick from Bodom knocks Kidd off the apron and to the floor, before he rejoins him on the outside. Bodom chops Kidd, but back inside Kidd fires back, only to miss a Stinger splash in the corner. We go to commercial after Bodom’s floatover suplex gets him a near-fall, and then gets another two-count with a standing moonsault after the break.
Kidd fires back again with a hiptoss, but he misses a splash off the middle rope, and takes a leaping kick as he was stuck in the corner. Bodom climbs the ropes, but he gets an uppercut from Kidd as he leapt off the middle rope, and that leads to some more shots from both men. A bicycle kick takes down Bodom, as does a slam, and a big back body drop!
A suplex from Kidd gets a near-fall, but Bodom hits a rolling enziguiri as the tide kept turning. Bodom connected with the Bliss Buster for a near-fall as our commentator kept making wisecracks about how “we should call St. John’s Ambulance, stat” and “that ambulance should be here now…” Bodom went for a lumbar check, but Kidd rolled him up and earned the surprise win! ***
As a match, it was a fine way to debut Gabriel Kidd as something of a threat. That being said, my usual gripes with this group returned in the form of the eye-rollingly poor commentary which somehow managed to squeeze in references to one of Kidd’s earlier gimmicks (“Kid Danger”) whilst messing up his name in graphics. How hard can this be?!
We get some highlights from last week’s title match between Mark Haskins and Joseph Conners. The 90 second package concluded with a graphic to announce that James Castle’s getting his title shot in two weeks’ time.
We return to see Wes Brisco in the ring as he thanks the fans for letting him be in “my house”. Eh? He runs down his career CV, and sadly, this crowd doesn’t seem to be biting into what should have been cheap pops. Brisco wants to fight his way to a title shot, but he wants to beat a guy who’s only won one match but thinks he’s more deserving of a title shot. “Mr Chris”. Thankfully, our commentator filled in the blanks on the sadly typical “promo from an import who remembered virtually nothing”, and tells us that Brisco’s opponent here is going to be Chris Ridgeway.
Chris Ridgeway vs. Wes Brisco
The commentator sells this as if Wes Brisco randomly flew into the UK, found his way to Weymouth and got onto this show. Pull the other one, eh?
Ridgeway gets caught in a wristlock early on as Briscoe takes the “Priority” down early on, before he takes Brisco into the corner. Brisco nearly slips as he leapt over the ropes, before he gets a near-fall from a top rope cross-body. A lariat in the corner takes down Ridgeway, before Brisco locks him in a rope-assisted armbar.
A slingshot into the ring’s cut off by Ridgeway’s enziguiri, and they head outside for some more kicks. Ridgeway stomps and rakes away at Brisco, who largely stays on top of his American foe, with a rear chinlock almost forcing a submission. Brisco fights free and clotheslines Ridgeway, before a back body drop is turned into a swinging neckbreaker.
Brisco flapjacks Ridgeway for a near-fall, before Ridgeway elbows out of a Firemans’ carry and hits a Saito suplex for a near-fall. Another kick gets a two-count on Brisco, before Ridgeway runs into a death valley driver that nearly wins Brisco the match. Wes fires up, byt Ridgeway rakes the eye to free himself from another death valley driver, before he locks in an Achilles lock/single leg crab to get the surprise submission. As a match, it felt really slow and plodding at times, but at least they used an import to put over a local star. **½
Overall, a swift and fairly low-key episode of Wednesday Night Wrestling, as they’re clearly building to the next Haskins title match. That being said, I’m not keen on how storylines are being picked up and dropped from week to week – since the Swords of Essex debuted, Sid Scala’s been missing in action, for example – but when you’re recording a live event and turning it into TV shows, rather than recording a TV show, you’ll get these issues.
Just a friendly word though guys, the internet is your friend. Even if you just check the guys’ social media accounts… get their names right!