GOOD Wrestling’s third show from last year saw a mixture of well known names from the UK scene putting on a good night’s graps!
We’ve covered GOOD Wrestling before here on BackBodyDrop, – a group whose shows run out of the Craufurd Arms in Milton Keynes. They’re in the midst of a comeback – with their fourth event taking place this coming July. To mark that, they’ve released their last show – The Power of 3 – on YouTube. For free. The lighting is a massive improvement from their last show, in that there’s not random dark spots everywhere.
Damian Dunne vs. Jack Sexsmith
Dunne berates the referee after the referee refused to admonish Jack Sexsmith’s playful slap. Sexsmith poses to wind up the anti-fun loving Dunne, before a hammerlock forces Dunne to the outside as the crowd started to take shots at the oiled-up Damian.
When Dunne returned to the ring, he found himself on the receiving end of some offence from Sexsmith, before pulling him into the middle rope, which he then kicked. Dunne takes over, but falls to a small package counter to a suplex, then flattens Sexsmith with a clothesline as the offence resumed with a snap floatover suplex.
Sexsmith sidesteps a charge in the corner, then mounts a comeback with a series of hip attacks to leaves Dunne laying in the corner… and it’s bare arsed stinkface time! Not really… Dunne boots him away, then takes a Pearl Neckbreaker before catching Sexsmith in search of Cocko, landing a knee and a speak to almost win it. That springboard codebreaker’s sidestepped by Jack, who blasts him with a DDT… but then the Dazzler Team emerge on the stage.
Yep, Jack – who’s feuded with Darrell Allen and Earl Black Jr on prior shows – gets distracted by their presence, and then takes the springboard Codebreaker for the win. As an opener, this was really good – slow-paced, but deliberate, with these guys working a perfect style for the room. **¾
Wild Boar vs. Mike Bird
This was before Bird shaved his head, so we’ve got plenty of flowing locks on show between the tag partners.
We start with a wristlock takedown from Bird, but the favour’s returned as Boar tweaks away on Bird’s fingers before he stomps on the hand. From there, they decide trading blows is the best course of action, before Bird takes a spill to the outside with an Irish whip into the corner. Boar keeps on top of him, dropping him onto the apron, then throwing him into the wall, then into some fans, who hold Bird so Boar can pick his nose.
It’s a disgusting habit…
Back in the ring, Bird gives Boar a hotshot, and they’re back outside as Boar gets posted… then chops the post by mistake. Bird bites away at the damaged hand, but Boar makes a comeback with a back senton for a near-fall, as Bird grabs Boar’s hand to force him to end that particular cover. They go back to the paintbrush-like slaps, but Boar runs into a fireman’s carry gutbuster as Bird almost wins it with a German suplex. Boar snaps back with a spear into the corner, a T-bone suplex, and a cannonball senton, all as preparation for the Trapper Keeper package piledriver as the Boar won the war. Again, slow-paced, but everything they did here was solid and worked well with the crowd on hand. ***¼
Dazzler Team (Darrell Allen & Earl Black Jr) vs. This Ain’t No Picnic (Big Grizzly & Panda Cub)
Panda Cub and Darrell Allen start us off here, working around wristlocks, before things quicken as Cub hits the apron hard as he flipped over the ropes, then rebounded in with a sunset flip for an early near-fall.
Earl Black Jr comes in but quickly falls to a cartwheel dropkick and an imploding standing senton as Big Grizzly tagged in for the first time. Poor Earl. Poor, poor Earl. Grizzly whips Black hard into the corner, then suplexes him for a back senton that nearly flattens Earl for a near-fall.
The Dazzler Team double-team Cub as he went for a frog splash, and the Dazzler team take over from there with double-teams all whilst the referee tried to deal with a wound-up Grizzly. We get a cheating abdominal stretch, which Cub gets payback for after switching places and using a complacent Earl to help add some torque.
Allen works free and hits a back senton – much to the annoyance of Big Grizz – but it’s Panda Cub who keeps taking a beating, this time in the form of gutwrench suplexes from Earl. Darrell chokes Cub with some towels as Big Grizz got even more angry, and the towels them get replaced with ring jackets as the Dazzlers took ever more shortcuts. Panda Cub escapes a double-team suplex, but then all of a sudden Jack Sexsmith’s music hits… and he’s out to distract the Dazzlers after their interference earlier.
Big Grizzly tags in and attacks the Dazzlers, flattening Darrell and Earl in the corner… to the point where the TOP ROPE BREAKS! GOOD were ahead of the curve, it seems… Earl tries to stop a powerbomb, but he manages to distract Grizzly briefly. Grizz still hits a clothesline on Allen, then flattens Darrell with a powerbomb for the win. This was fun in parts, but it’s always nice to see some bad guys get flattened by a huge dude in the end! **¾
Chris Brookes vs. Gene Munny
That top rope’s been fixed since the last match, and Munny, who’s been on GOOD before, seems to fancy himself as a bit of a sexual predator. Brookes easily snaps him down with a wristlock takedown, and after a water break for Munny, Brookes makes light work of him with a in inverted figure four before rolling him into the ropes.
Brookes has commandeered Munny’s captain’s hat, and ties him in an Octopus to inflict more pain on his shoulder – leading to some comedic selling from Munny – who then found himself on the mat again as Brookes used a drop toe hold to escape a waistlock. We’re back to the inverted figure four that switched into almost a Sharpshooter, and it remains one-sided for a while.
Brookes dropkicks Munny into his manager, Hustle Malone, and it’s his manager who gets more offence in as Munny distracts the referee whilst Malone attacked a downed Brookes. Munny gets into it with Alan Boon at ringside, then throws Brookes out of the ring so Malone could attack him some more. A suplex gets Munny a near-fall, who then gets upset about the lack of noise the crowd were making for the self-proclaimed “Sexual Gammon”.
Munny throws a big lariat, then a big boot as he suddenly spots Brookes’ shoulder brace and uses that as a target for some knees. A neckbreaker gets Brookes back into it, as does a roundhouse, before he dropkicks away a spear from Munny, who’s only saved by his manager pulling his leg onto the rope. A Yakuza kick in the corner rocks Munny, but he comes back with a powerslam for a two-count, as Munny tries to start his own chants. Brookes kicks his way back into it, before he goes back to the kneebar, which is only stopped when Malone dragged Munny to the ropes. From there, Munny catches Brookes with his “Swank” powerbomb for a near-fall, before a big boot takes down Gene, then Malone.
Munny’s taken to the outside for a tope con hilo from Brookes, and the end is nigh from there as another kneebar takes down Gene for the tap-out. A fun match, and Munny’s one of those guys who’s got the act, but you feel isn’t in enough places to develop. ***
Ryan Smile vs. Ashley Dunn
Dunn is a regular for HOPE Wrestling in the UK, but recently had an amazing match teaming with Kelly Sixx as a “no-hope” enhancement team that almost came good against Will Ospreay and Scott Wainwright in WCPW.
Ryan Smile calls out RJ Singh who’s in the crowd before he mugs off Dunn as “a joke”, and its Smile who starts out on top with some wristlocks that Dunn switches out of, but some elbows and a hair-pull get Smile in it again. A waistlock takedown sees Smile try for some stomps, but Dunn’s too quick and ends up matching Smile’s every move as they squared off once again. Shrieking Smile takes an armdrag to the outside, then a tope con hilo onto the steps, before a Japanese armdrag sends Ryan back to the floor. Alex Windsor, who was accompanying Ryan, tried to provide a distraction, which eventually worked, as Smile got into it, with Windsor throwing in some copious cheating behind the ref’s back.
A series of knee drops to the back of Dunn’s head get Smile a near-fall, before he misses a shoulder charge into the corner… but Smile distracts the ref again so Windsor can push Dunn off the top. That’s good for a near-fall, as is a clothesline from Smile before Smile mocks the crowd for not cheering him on. An enziguiri leaves Smile wobbly for an eventual Flair flop, before a standing shooting star press nearly nicks it for Dunn.
Some elbows and knees from Smile take Dunn down for a near-fall, before Smile succeeds with a brainbuster – again for a two-count – as Dunn refused to die. A springboard cutter just gets cut-off with a dropkick as Dunn almost wins it with a tornado DDT… but Windsor reached in to pull up Smile at two, before she tried – and this time failed – to push Dunn off the top rope. Ashley comes in with a back heel kick for a two-count.
Windsor actually gets in the ring, but takes an accidental big boot from Smile, who then throws in a superkick, then a springboard cutter that Dunn flipped for for the win. That finishing sequence – the bump in particular – was insane, and a really good match given how little these guys were known at the time. ***½
Pastor William Eaver vs. Pete Dunne
Eaver was into his final 48 hours as PROGRESS champion here, but the belt wasn’t on show (nor on the line) for the main event. Dunne kicks away the offer of a handshake from the Pastor, and we start with hammerlocks and wristlocks galore!
A single-leg trip sees Dunne take down Eaver, as Dunne goes to town with a headlock and some biting, before they go back and forth with shoulder tackles off the ropes, which quickly gives way for forearm smashes and then finally, headbutts. Finally Eaver scores with a shoulder block, but his desire to have Peter pray gets… his hand bitten.
The two brawl around the ring for a spell, but Eaver capitalises on Dunne chopping the ring post by hitting a tope to take Dunne into the stage steps. Back in the ring, Dunne stomps away on Eaver, before stomping the Pastor’s knees into the canvas as he proceeded to take Eaver to the floor for more stomps and kicks, brutally leaving the Pastor prone in the front row.
Some more forearms send the Pastor reeling, but his attempted comeback quickly ends by way of an eye rake, before a Pope-ish Hammer takes Dunne down. Eaver follows up with some corner uppercuts, including one off the middle rope for a near-fall. An upkick from Dunne only earns him a uranage backbreaker and a Fisherman’s suplex as the Pastor pressed ahead, but a knee from Dunne quickly cuts him off.
Dunne fails with a side suplex, so he bites away on Eaver before laying in some stomps as a prelude to a Bitter End attempt… but Eaver slips out and hits an uppercut before the Clothesline from Heaven decks Dunne for the win! A lot of this was the Pastor taking a beating, but he came through with the win when it mattered – a fine main event as the show ended with Eaver celebrating his hard-fought win. ***½
All-in, a really good six-match card packed with names you know and names you perhaps should know, putting on a quality product. For a free 90 minute show, you really can’t go wrong, and if you live within the vicinity of Milton Keynes, why not check out their shows? Visit http://www.goodwrestling.com/ for more details!