Based out of Milton Keynes in England, GOOD Wrestling is the newest promotion that’s looking to make a name for themselves in a crowded British scene. Taking place this past January in the Crauford Arms in Milton Keynes, we’ve got a six-match card for you here from GOOD’s debut show, appropriately titled: Good One.
This show is currently available via Pivotshare at https://goodwrestling.pivotshare.com – that’s the same platform that hosts Demand-PROGRESS, HighSpots, plus the likes of ICW, RPW and a litany of other independent promotions around the world. Now, for those companies with an extensive library, the subscription model works fine – however, for a company like GOOD, with a limited history, their stuff is only available on a pay-per-view basis. If you’re looking to stream this, be aware that the $4.99 fee only allows you to stream the show for 7 days, but you are able to download up to three copies (at varying resolutions up to 1080p) for offline viewing at a later date – something worth bearing in mind if you don’t have a fast internet connection.
Stixx vs. Chris Tyler
We’ve got CHIKARA-style pre-match intro screens here, and we’re underway with our first match. Good stuff to start us with, as the much larger Stixx was sent into the corner from the opening tie-up by Tyler, who’s the clear heel here after mocking STIXX’s age.
STIXX then grounded Tyler with headscissors, but he kipped up out of them before celebrating a la Shawn Michaels, which seems to confuse the crowd in the converted pub. Tyler returns the favour, as STIXX rolls himself free of the legscissors, and does a headstand to get out of it. Tyler slaps back at STIXX after some trash talk, but he finds himself shoved down and then taken down with a big boot, before rolling out of the ring to relative safety.
We’ve got the irritating “count ahead plus one” gimmick again (cheers PROGRESS!), as Tyler returns to the ring to beat on STIXX, who mounts a comeback with charging crossbodies into the corner, then a stiff backbreaker for a near-fall. Tyler reverses out of a torture rack and takes down STIXX with a dropkick, as commentator Chris East inadvertently sounds like Karl Pilkington in his efforts to get Tyler across as a heel.
Tyler keeps the advantage with a snapmare takedown, before dropping a couple of elbows and missing with the third. STIXX didn’t capitalise though, and ended up taking a kneedrop for a two-count, as Tyler slowed things down further with a rear chinlock. STIXX fought himself free, but got hurled out of the ring as he came off the ropes to attack the youngster, as East on commentary noted “GOOD Wrestling… are firmly cheapskates”. I know that would normally make a group sound bush league, but I found that funny for some reason.
STIXX gets a boot up to block the onrushing Tyler, then evades a splash in the corner before sending Tyler into the opposite corner for a back elbow. A scoop slam doesn’t see STIXX follow-up with a cover, instead picking up Tyler in a Fireman’s carry, where he escapes and rocks STIXX with a kick to the head. STIXX floors Tyler with a lariat out of the corner, but doesn’t succeed with a piledriver attempt, instead taking an enziguiri then a lungblower as Tyler comes close to sealing the win.
Tyler’s fate was almost sealed though when his superkick was caught by STIXX, who returned with a TKO for a two-count, but after kicking out, Tyler steals the win with a wheelbarrow roll-up. Decent opener from both men, although it took a while for the crowd to get into things. ***
Panda Cub vs. Nixon Newell
So to complete the CHIKARA comparison, we now have an intergender match featuring the masked Panda Cub. Unfortunately, the ring announcer openly asks for (and gets) the irritatingly-smarky “one fall” gimmick, which marks this group down in my eyes. I’ve not seen Nixon Newell before, so I’m curious to see over how overblown the “best female wrestler in the world” hype is.
An early lock-up sees Newell shoved down by the Panda Cub, but Newell replies with a headlock, and again gets floored with a shoulder block. At the second time around, Newell lands a dropkick and takes the Panda Cub into the corner for some Ric Flair chops, before going into the Corner of Darkness (as the Crauford Arms was badly lit in one corner of the ring). Panda Cub catches Newell with a dropkick, then lands an imploding standing senton (like Flash Morgan Webster’s Special Brew Flip. Hmm…).
Another bodyslam sees the Panda Cub get a two-count, but the grounded Newell fires back with kicks, before the Cub tries for another near-fall. Newell gets a two for herself with a sunset flip, before Panda Cub pulls off a vertical suplex for another two-count. Newell fires back with some forearm shots as the camera pans to the ceiling bizarrely, recovering in time for a dropkick from the Cub, but no pinfall attempt as Newell made the ropes.
Newell got out of the way of a charge in the corner, then drilled the Cub with a kick, before a drop toe hold and a Shining Wizard got her close to a win. The Panda Cub escaped the (not Canadian) Destroyer, delivering a roaring elbow to deck Newell, then went up to the top rope… and this Panda can’t fly, as his frog splash got nothing but mat. Newell then popped up to hit the Destroyer, and that was it. Fun little match, even if it was intergender/interspecies, but at least it wasn’t massively violent. **¾
Cy Gregory & Rob Lynch vs. Danny Jones & Terry Isit
This was originally advertised as the London Riots vs. Cy Gregory and Terry Isit, but James Davis wasn’t there. That led to Rob Lynch asking Terry Isit how serious he was about doing a tag match, and for some reason he was attacked by his own partner (Cy Gregory), with Gregory becoming an honorary member of the London Riots, as Isit gained a new partner in Danny Jones.
The match breaks into a four-way brawl from the start, with Lynch and Gregory going to the outside as they missed shoulder tackles into the ropes, before Isit lands a cannonball dive to Gregory on the outside. The badly lit building played into things again as we struggled to see Danny Jones take a beating at the hands of the makeshift Riots, with Lynch slamming Jones through one of the pub’s chairs.
Isit took a similar slam onto the floor by Lynch, as the match finally shifted into the ring, with Cy Gregory beating down Danny Jones, before tagging Lynch back in as the pace slowed down with a rear chinlock. Gregory scored a two-count from a snap suplex and a side suplex, as the makeshift Riots made frequent tags, keeping Jones well away from his partner.
Danny Jones pulled out an enziguiri to drop Lynch, and finally made the hot tag to Terry Isit, who took down Gregory with headscissors, before landing a springboard back elbow for a near-fall. Jones monkey-flipped Lynch into Cy Gregory, with the latter awkwardly being caught by Lynch, but the babyfaces stayed on top of things, taking Gregory down with a double dropkick, followed up with stereo missile dropkicks for a two-count as Rob Lynch made another save.
Terry Isit thought he’d gotten back into it with a superkick on Lynch, before Gregory booted him out of the ring, only for Danny Jones took out Gregory with a tornado DDT. However, Rob Lynch ran in with a clothesline before Jones could capitalise. The match came to its conclusion when Cy Gregory dropped Isit with a German suplex, before Rob Lynch ran in for a spear to give the makeshift MK Riots the win. Decent match, but it seemed badly hurt by the change to the card. ***
Darrell Allen vs. Jack Sexsmith
We start with Sexsmith attempting to sexually assault the referee as the flustered ring announcer went ahead with his intros. Sexsmith starts off with a series of bodyslams on Allen, following up with an uppercut and an atomic drop, then dropping a low headbutt to the “Dazzler”.
The two run a criss-cross spot, at least until Sexsmith fools Allen into looking up and slapping him… and then doing the same again when Allen tries to pull the wool over his eyes. A bodyslam gets Sexsmith a two count, before he gets crotched in the middle turnbuckle after trying to judge the height of the venue. That opens the door for Allen to work over Sexsmith’s left leg, keeping the Sexually Frivious, Morally Ambiguous one grounded. Sexsmith’s selling was comedic, as you’d expect with his character, including musical “ow’s” in a surfboard stretch, as Allen got a bunch of near-falls.
After a legbreaker, Allen stopped to jawjack with the crowd, only to be taken down with a sunset flip for a near-fall from Sexsmith, who ended up showing his rear end as Allen pulled down the trunks as he tried the same move. A small package showed Sexsmith’s arse, and we got a few attacks of Colt Cabana’s Flying Asshole, including one in the corner… which led to the inevitable stinkface.
Sexsmith reached into the front of his trunks and pulled out Mr Cocko, but Allen retaliated with the Razzle Dazzle enziguiri, and then locked in the Allen Key (Trailer Hitch/modified Figure Four). A rope break saved Sexsmith’s skin, as he finally locked in Mr Cocko, with Allen hitting a blatant low blow for the DQ. Good, unclean comedy fun, but you know what you get with Jack Sexsmith… **¾
Post-match, Allen trapped Sexsmith in the Allen Key once more, and we fade to black…
“Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman vs. “Pastor” William Eaver
Hitchman loses his name here, and is just the “Wild Boar”, and Eaver’s cutting a pre-match promo for once. The promo cements Eaver’s role as a heel, burying Milton Keynes and the usual heel stuff as he cowers away from the onrushing Boar… it’s so jarring from what we’re accustomed to in PROGRESS.
After having the Boar bow down before him, Eaver gets caught in an armwringer as we get underway, some some comedically loud begging off. The Boar bit Eaver’s hand, which led to Eaver charging in, and eventually getting sent down with a shoulder tackle. Eaver remained on the defence as he was sent into the turnbuckles, before a good old-fashioned “he’s behind you!” spot led to another headlock, but this time it was Eaver who took down the Boar, with a forearm and eventually an uppercut.
The Wild Boar took a back elbow into the corner from the Pastor, before an eye rake cut off an attempted comeback. An Irish whip into the corner sent the Boar down to the mat once more, as Eaver got what I can only describe as half-hearted boos from the crowd in Milton Keynes. Eaver encourages the Boar to rise, as he goes for a Crucifix powerbomb, but the Boar gets out of the way and trips him with a log-roll, following up with a back senton splash. A big boot and a Pope-ish Hammer decks the Boar though, as the Pastor calls for the Clothesline from Heaven but the Boar ducks and lands a release German suplex.
Eaver follows up with a uranage backbreaker for a near-fall, before going to perhaps the weirdest spot in his arsenal… the baptism. Yep, the Pastor literally baptised the Wild Boar with some “holy water”. That angered Hitchman, whose response was to throw Eaver into the corner with an Exploder suplex, then drill him with a cannonball in the corner. One Trapper Keeper package piledriver later, and the Wild Boar took the win.
A good little outing for both men, even if heel Pastor was completely incongruous with what I’ve seen from him before. ***½
Doug Williams vs. Joseph Conners
Our main event now, as the 23-year veteran Williams took on Joseph Conners. Not too sure on booking two men with a similar “righteous” gimmick on the same show, but here we go. This should be a good match, especially given who’s involved!
Williams takes down Conners to start off with, and works a bridging hammerlock, which Conners escapes with a drop toe-hold, only for the veteran to regain the advantage with a wristlock and an arm-wrench. A shoulderblock from Williams decks Conners once more, as Williams goes to a headlock takedown to maintain control.
Conners really struggled to get out of the blocks, and was sent to the outside following another shoulder block, before taking a roll-up, a backside and a crucifix for a series of one counts as Williams frustrated the Righteous One, who spent a fair amount of time outside killing time.
Conners got shoved into the stage as he tried to drag Williams out of the ring, and the action continued outside, as Williams punched Conners in the head, but Conners shoved Williams into the ringpost at the count of 9… and then the referee stopped counting as Conners beat the count.
Williams quickly returned to the outside, where he beat down on the former X-Division champion. The pair took turns to choke the other with a ring jacket, before Conners used a baseball slide dropkick to send Williams into the front row. Back inside, Conners snapmared Williams to the mat and kept on top with a rear chinlock, before scoring a near-fall from a clothesline. Williams kicked Conners in the hamstring as he was in the corner, but that was quickly shook off, as Williams found himself on the mat once more. A head crank saw Conners come close to taking the win, but Williams powered out, only to be floored once more with a knee to the midsection as he came off the ropes. Conners used the ropes to aid an abdominal stretch, but ended up being hiptossed after the referee caught the tactic in action, and the Williams comeback was on from there.
Williams ducked a couple of punches and rolled up Conners in a small package for a near-fall, before whipping him into the corner and racing in with a jumping knee. An overhead belly-to-belly suplex scored a two-count for Williams, who then teased a Vertebreaker, instead sending Conners upside down into the turnbuckles.
Conners came off the top rope, but missed Williams, before landing a swinging neckbreaker for a two-count as the momentum looked to change. Williams countered a telegraphed back body drop attempt with a Tiger Bomb for a two-count, and then looked to finish off Conners with the Chaos Theory (rolling German suplex). However, Conners avoided it and dropped Williams with the Snake Eyes and a shoulder tackle, before a Michinoku Driver got him a near-fall.
Conners dropped Williams onto the top turnbuckle, looking for a superplex, but found himself shoved to the mat as Williams followed up with a shoulder block, then an Exploder suplex, before switching a Chaos Theory into a schoolboy for a near-fall. Out of nowhere, Williams set up for a vertical suplex, before switching to a waistlock and then pulling off the Chaos Theory for the win.
A fine technical display from Doug Williams, and really nothing less than we’d come to expect from him throughout his long career. ***½
For five dollars, this was a fun show – and no matter how badly the pound falls against the dollar, you can’t go wrong with this for just under an hour-and-a-half’s action. It’s refreshing to see a new promotion start up that just delivers wrestling. No ostentatious storylines, no urge to create their own stables, titles and the like – just simple, honest-to-goodness wrestling. Of course, the titles, storylines etc will need to follow as GOOD Wrestling grows, but for a debut show, it lived up to its title. GOOD Wrestling’s first show really was a Good One!
If you live anywhere near Milton Keynes, keep an eye on this group, and make it along to one of their upcoming shows… like July 29th, back at the Crauford Arms, featuring Pastor William Eaver vs. Pete Dunne, and Jack Sexsmith vs. Damian Dunne. For more info, check out http://www.goodwrestling.com