FIGHT! Nation’s Wednesday Night Wrestling was taken over this week for a rather unusual episode that seemed to forget what they’d advertised!
The start of the show was interrupted by Lord Gideon Grey, who announced that he had bought out today’s show, which was now becoming Lord Gideon Grey presents Wednesday Night Wrestling sponsored by Lord Gideon Grey with special guest MC Lord Gideon Grey. Snappy!
We’re straight into action, with Steve Lynskey as our referee. I wonder if he’ll count in a funny accent? What we don’t have, though, are graphics to reveal who’s who… did the sponsorship money not cover that? We did get Grey telling the fans “not to call him Sharpie”, which worked out well for him!
Robert Sharpe vs. Jonny Storm
Despite there not being much of a size difference, they did the David and Goliath spots early, with Jonny Storm struggling to take down Sharpe with shoulder tackles. Sharpe uses the referee for a distraction so he can attack Storm from behind, before accidentally crotching himself on the middle rope, with Storm aggravating things further.
Jonny Storm then whipped Steve Lynskey into Sharpe in the corner, before missing a Stinger splash himself… Sharpe does the same thing and we get a do-se-do, before a pratfall gets Storm a near-fall. What the hell am I watching here?
Sharpe catches Storm’s slingshot plancha, but the “Wonderkid” (who’s far from a kid these days!) pushes off and shoves Sharpe into the ringpost. Okay, now it gets good, as Storm uses a fan’s foam finger to poke Sharpe in the eye, before returning to the ring with a crossbody off the top for a near-fall. Apparently the last time Jonny Storm was in FIGHT! Nation, he was pinned by Lord Gideon Grey… which is odd, because I don’t think Grey’s been on this Wednesday Night Wrestling product outside of the title screens! Storm’s decked with a forearm smash, before Sharpe works away in the corner, but only manages to get a couple of near-falls.
Storm eventally fights back with some chops, but he’s taken down with a back elbow, before he ducks a corner charge and pushes away Sharpe. A missile dropkick follows for a near-fall, only to be spiked with a DDT by Sharpe for another two-count. Sharpe then calls for his finisher – a cradle piledriver – but Storm backdrops out of it, and levels Sharpe with a superkick, before a springboard moonsault out of the corner almost gets him the win.
Storm misses a second moonsault, before another referee distraction leads to the weakest mule kick I’ve ever seen by Sharpe, as the cradle piledriver eventually got him the win. A bit of a surprise win for someone who’d never even been a part of this product before, but as a match this wasn’t too bad considering the crowd they’re working in front of. **½
Liquid Dreams (Jakey & Brucey) vs. Sid Scala & Lewis Howley
Oh God, Liquid Dreams are gonna end up going Russian again… at least in the commentator’s eyes. This time they have a manager, “Hot Chocolate” Ricky Suave, who used to be a trainee at Revolution Pro Wrestling, if my quick Google was right.
Straight out of the gate, we have “Bruce-ski” against Scala with some back and forth shots, before Brucey stomps away at the smaller Scala. Again, Ricky Slatter on commentary throws in a reference to a match that wasn’t shown on this product, mentioning that Scala and Howley recently teamed with Mark Haskins to take on the Swords of Essex and James Castle… which would have been a nice callback, had it been shown on this Wednesday Night Wrestling show! But it wasn’t, so calling out matches that are (effectively) dark is a waste of time on a televised product.
We get a tag as “Jake-ski” comes in for a series of armdrags from Lewis Howley, but a big boot cut off Howley’s offence. Jakey chops away at Howley, but a double-handed chop turns the tables, before a crossbody gets Howley a near-fall. Scala returns to work over Jakey’s arm, before faking out and finally landing a cross body to both members of Liquid Dreams.
Scala and Howley team up for some assisted dropkicks, before Howley throws Scala into their opponents. Howley lands a standing imploding senton for a near-fall, and then keeps working away on Brucey’s left arm with kneedrops and an armbar. We see Jakey praftfall into the ring, but not how he did it… before Ricky Suave ends up on the apron for some distraction.
That gets Liquid Dreams back into it with… a stomp, then Jakey throws back Scala by the head. We get more typical heel tag team stuff, including some choking from Suave, which leads to Suave doing a lap of honour with Jakey on his shoulders for some reason. Brucey tags back in for another stomp, and we get more choking from Brucey and Suave.
Jakey tags back in to knock Howley off the apron, then suplexes Scala before that cursed leapfrog spot that led this time to a stomp in the corner. Brucey returns for a rear chinlock, before Scala finally makes a comeback with an enziguiri and finally gets a tag back out to Lewis Howley, who cleared house with dropkicks.
Howley takes out Suave and Brucey with a tope to the outside, then returned to the ring with a sunset flip on Jakey. The match almost ended with a Blue Thunder-style powerbomb from Howley, before Scala tagged in and landed an assisted standing Shiranui for a near-fall as Brucey broke up the pin. A double superkick puts paid to Howley, as Jakey sold a knee injury, which allowed Suave to come in and accidentally punch Brucey low… and that finally gets Suave thrown out of the match.
In the ring, Howley and Scala square up to Jakey and get some retribution with a double low blow, as they then go airborne with a rocket launcher, with Sid Scala claiming the win. For a change, they don’t immediately dub over things, which means we hear Sid Scala’s ring music, which seems to be a first in this promotion.
As a main event, this just dragged at times – there’s matches with Liquid Dreams which work, and others that just bore me. This one was firmly in the latter category, I’m afraid. **
Next week threatens to be a “best of” special, as they take a look at “what’s going to be happening on November 19” for the company’s end of season special. Erm, what happened to the main event they advertised last week? Last week’s show closed with a promise of Doug Williams & Mark Haskins vs. Joseph Conners & James Castle for this week’s main event – a match that neither aired, nor was referenced. Did FIGHT! Nation accidentally skip a week and miss it out?