Another FloSlam appearance from IPW:UK saw the group return with another Supershow, headlined with a tables match for the company’s All-England championship.
We’re back at the Casino Rooms in Rochester, Kent, with Dean Ayass providing commentary for a card that also featured appearances from Grado, Mr. Kennedy, Timothy Thatcher and Drew Galloway. FloSlam’s annoying calling card remains as we see an endless loop of match graphics in the on-demand feed as we hear ring announcer Chris Hatch geeing up the crowd. Yeah, they really need to figure out how to trim these videos for the on-demand feeds…
#CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) vs. Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch
The winner of this match gets the next shot at the IPW:UK tag titles, currently held by DND – who defend against the Kings of the North later on in this show…
We get a lot of playing to the crowd at the start, with predictable responses for Brookes and his Dirty Wolf, but they come back and attack Jonny and Jody from behind, only to get taken down with a pair of pop-up ‘ranas. #CCK end up getting backdropped to the floor, where they run into each other and take a plancha from Fleisch… catching him before a tope from Storm knocks the pile down.
In the ring, Fleisch hits a handspring back elbow to Brookes, who then cowers away from Storm’s run… which ends in a slam. Lykos accidentally runs crotch-first into a downed Brookes, but the eviltons come back with an elevated Codebreaker/back senton combo for a near-fall over Fleisch. #CCK keep Fleisch in their corner, exchanging frequent tags until Fleisch mounted a comeback of sorts on Lykos, which was exacerbated by Lykos telegraphing and failing with a brainbuster.
Storm finally tags in and scores a double wheelbarrow bulldog on #CCK, before slamming Lykos to the mat for a springboard moonsault that earned a near-fall… and a back senton onto Lykos as Brookes accidentally collided with his partner. The spectacular continues as Fleisch moonsaults onto #CCK on the floor, before Jody’s 720 DDT is blocked, only for the veterans to hit a sunset flip/German suplex combo on Lykos for another near-fall.
Storm gives a German suplex-assist for a moonsault on Fleisch, but that doesn’t hit anyone, so we end up with another #CCK collision, before a Lykos enziguiri sets up for an Ink Bomb on Fleisch for a near-fall. Aah, Lykos’ shocked eyes with that mask is a hell of a picture! Fleisch leaps from the mat to take down Lykos with a top rope ‘rana, before heading up again for another German suplex-assisted moonsault that forces Brookes to make the save. Storm follows up with a Perfect Storm (Spanish Fly), but that is for nought as Lykos rolls up Fleisch with a handful of fights for the win. A really abrupt finish to what was a decent match. **¾
Big Grizzly vs. David Starr
Ah, Chris Hatch rattled off those nicknames off a sheet of paper whilst David Starr played havoc with every camera’s viewfinder during his entrance.
Starr has to sidestep a charging Grizzly at the start, before some chops seemed to hurt Starr more than Grizz. Grizz throws Starr into the corner, before blocking a sunset flip… only to land on his arse as he misses a sit-down splash. Insult’s quickly added as Starr tells the big guy to “look at it”, before thrusting his pelvis in his way. Quite…
Grizz gets low-bridged to the outside as Starr then dropkicks him back to the floor, where he rushes out… and gets some Snake Eyes onto the apron. Back in the ring, Grizzly rakes away at Starr’s face, before he clubs the American down to the mat once again. Yeah, this is incredibly one sided, as Grizz stomps on Starr’s hand, then whips him hard into the turnbuckles.
Eventually Starr made a comeback, sliding away from an Irish whip into the corner before somehow managing to give Grizz a back body drop into the turnbuckles. Starr ducks several shots and flies in with chops and forearms in the corner, before he clotheslines Grizz back to the floor… then delivers a springboard clothesline as the big man tried to fight back. A pair of topes just staggers Grizzly into the front row, before a third one finally takes him down!
FloSlam pixellation masks Grizzly elbowing out of a waistlock, but he’s quickly dropped onto the apron with a DDT that almost broke the ropes, as a running clothesline saw Starr get a near-fall. He then hit a brainbuster off the ropes, also for a two-count, before he tries for the Product Placement (strait-jacket suplex)… but of course, Grizz is too big.
Starr misses a charge into the corner and takes a flying hip attack there as Grizz hits the Grizzly Falls (choke bomb), but somehow the Product kicked out! Some rolling elbows only look to anger Grizz, who takes down Starr with a lariat before the Revenant (suplex into a side slam) gets the big guy the win. A decent David vs. Goliath match, but this ain’t figuring high in Starr’s list of matches in Europe this month! ***
Speaking of Starr, I get he was on tour in Europe, but this feels like Starr could have been anyone else given the lack of response he got from Rochester crowd. Afterwards, Grizzly’s interviewed, and he demands all of the opportunity available in IPW. He got mad at the crowd applauding Starr to the back, before demanding a match on Easter Monday (April 17)… against Jack Evans. So Grizzly’s happy beating up small folk, eh?
Tom Dawkins vs. Timothy Thatcher
This was straight-laced “Blackbelt” Tom Dawkins here, as opposed to the new character of Cara Noir that he’s been using elsewhere in the UK.
Dawkins almost trips into the referee from the start, as we have a tentative opening spell, featuring Thatcher staring into space as Dawkins tries to knock him down with strikes. He replies with a takedown, rolling from a front facelock into an armbar, before Dawkins rolls him up into a raised abdominal stretch… only for Thatcher to tweak the wrist to work free. Thatcher trips Dawkins and works into a single leg crab, before capitalising on a missed superkick to take Tom down again into an armbar. A gutwrench suplex gets Thatcher a near-fall, before a Kimura takedown sees Thatcher try for a submission again, only to stand back up into some kicks from Dawkins, chopping Timmy down to the mat for just a one-count.
Thatcher goes back to Dawkins with knees to the ribs as he’s just toying with the black belt, bringing him to the mat with a side Russian legsweep for another armbar attempt, before stomping away at Dawkins in the corner. Dawkins returns the favour with some forearms in the opposite corner, then lands with a dropkick for another two-count, only to see Thatcher go back to an armbar as confused-face Thatcher took over once more. A superplex attempt by Thatcher is blocked, before he decides to drill Dawkins with an uppercut, only for Dawkins to come back with a missed double stomp. Thatcher replies with a big boot, then a butterfly suplex for a two-count, but Dawkins kicks his way back into contention, landing a Pele kick and a roundhouse, before a standing shooting star press almost got him the win.
Thatcher replies again with a suplex as he went back to looking for the armbar, but Dawkins escaped and surprised Thatcher with an over-the-knee brainbuster… and that’s enough for the win! Pretty much an out-of-nowhere, against-the-run-of-play result, but this match didn’t do too much for the crowd, who seemed to be rather silent throughout. ***
Rampage Brown vs. Drew Galloway
Galloway towered over Rampage here – I don’t know why Drew’s height always shocks me, but it does… we start with shoulder tackles, before Galloway is forced to fight out of a shoulder tackle, only to get barged down again.
Rampage takes Drew around the turnbuckles, then hits a short-arm clothesline for a near-fall as Galloway hit back with some chops, only to get his face raked. More back and forth ends with Drew hitting a Cactus Jack-esque clothesline taking both men to the floor, where they exchanged more chops. The pair end up on the entrance way, where Galloway chops Rampage some more as he sizes him up for a whip into the entrance rig, but Rampage instantly hit back with a suplex on the ramp.
Galloway barely beats the ten-count as Rampage keeps beating down Drew, landing a back suplex that folded the Scotsman in half, before Drew somehow countered a double axehandle off the middle tope into a powerslam! That brought the match to a more even keel, until Galloway shook the ring with a sit-out sky high powerbomb for a near-fall. A Futureshock DDT is attempted, but it’s too much too soon from Drew, who takes a uranage for a near-fall.
Galloway gives Rampage a back body drop to escape a piledriver, before a headbutt rocks Rampage on the top rope as Drew went up for a superplex… he’s crotched though, before Drew pulls himself out of a tree of woe to send Rampage flying with a belly-to-belly superplex.
Rampage comes back with a spinebuster, before they battle for a backslide, ending with Galloway using the turnbuckles to flip himself over and land the Futureshock DDT for the win. A good big lad’s match, but for me it felt like it was missing an X factor. Not the move… ***
After the match, Drew takes the microphone to tell the crowd about his recent travel schedule… it wasn’t exactly light! Galloway puts over Rampage, then says that he’d been trying to fit IPW:UK into his schedule for the last two years… in fact, it’d been almost twelve years since he last wrestled in IPW:UK, and this marked his first win in the promotion. Well, if you do insist on swanning off to America!
They go to an interval – in which we see a replay from a match between Joseph Conners and Hardcore Holly from July 2016 – during the spell where Jimmy Havoc was having guys defend the title for him during his injury. Well, I doubt the FloSlam ruling covered past footage for WWE UK guys!
After the interval, we’ve got the Cuban Heat 10,000 Peso Open Challenge – the open challenge where anyone who can go against him and last ten minutes (or win) will get the equivalent of £8,000. But first, we’ve got a Cuban Heat promo to get through…
10,000 Cuban Peso Challenge: Cuban Heat vs. Maverick Mayhew
Mayhew is already a three year pro. Problem is, he’s barely 140lbs, so that’s firmly in the “young and undersized” category, especially against someone like Cuban Heat.
Heat rolls to the ropes after Mayhew almost edged ahead in the opening exchanges, scoring near-falls with a roll-up, then with a crucifix, before a superkick puts paid to Cuban Heat’s Banker. Big T gets a dropkick to the knee as he leapt onto the apron, as Mayhew continues his spree with a tope con hilo to Cuban Heat and the Banker on the other side of the ring.
Mayhew rolls Heat back inside for a springboard dropkick, getting another two-count, but a shoulder block turns things the other way. There’s liberal interference from Big T, which allows Cuban to hit a clothesline for a near-fall, before going forearm-for-forearm with Mayhew. Some diving clothesline puts Mayhew ahead, as does a roundhouse kick, but Heat was too close to the ropes and managed to get a hand and foot on the bottom rope to prevent a pin.
Mayhew slips off the middle rope as he went for a springboard out of the corner, but he was able to continue, taking an X-Factor for a near-fall. An enziguiri puts Heat on the back foot, as a running knee gets Mayhew another two-count as we go back to interference as Big T hits Mayhew with a briefcase, allowing Heat to get the win with the Super-Mang Stretch (grounded double-chickenwing). Eh, this was alright, but when you’ve got an act like this that’s run for 23 matches, you’d expect some sort of progression, no? **½
After the match, Big T picks up Mayhew for a gorilla press slam to add an exclamation mark. Maybe the progression will be Big T turning eventually?
Before the next match, Dean Ayass plugs Supershow 8 on Easter Monday – April 17 – featuring Big Grizzly vs. Jack Evans, Marty Scurll vs. Angelico, along with appearances from Rey Fenix and Penta el 0 M.
IPW:UK Tag Team Championships: Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Corvin) vs. DND (Cieran Donnelly & Danny Duggan) (c)
When the Kings were announced at Supershow 6, it drew a rather muted reaction… and unfortunately it was repeated here too. Except for one kid who tried to stare down Corvin…
The Kings jump DND at the bell, taking the action straight to the floor as a chop battle ends up hurting Bonesaw, as he chopped the ring post in error. Donnelly gives Bonesaw some armdrags, before a third one was met with a rolling kick, only for Danny Duggan to get rid of Bonesaw. Corvin comes in and runs into a dropkick, then a belly-to-back suplex as Bonesaw gets a couple more dropkicks.
Things swing the King’s way as Duggan takes the King’s Throne – a wheelbarrow into a Codebreaker, then a German suplex – for a two-count, but DND come back with a back suplex to Bonesaw before Cieran Donnelly grabs a sleeperhold-assisted reverse DDT on Bonesaw. A Flatliner/DDT combo gets another near-fall for Donnelly, but he was quickly put on the back foot once more as the Kings strung together some strikes, as a kneedrop gets Bonesaw a near-fall.
Some good, old-fashioned heel stuff leads to the Kings double-teaming Donnelly as they kept inciting Duggan into the ring. A suplex gets a two-count for Bonesaw, who followed up with a swinging side slam before Donnelly landed a double dropkick to take the Kings down, only to be held back from making a hot tag. A wonky double reverse neckbreaker finally helps Donnelly make that tag out, and Duggan takes down Bonesaw with a crossbody, before giving Corvin some rolling Germans. Duggan loses Bonesaw on a powerbomb, before throwing him towards the corner, as a clothesline set-up for a superkick party as this threatened to break down.
DND should have won it with the High Tension (superkick suplex), but Bonesaw pulled the referee out to save the match, as Corvin followed up with a sit-out front suplex, before the Blue Thunder Bomb gets the Kings a near-fall. From there, the Kings look to hit an Incendiary Device (Doomsday Device), but Duggan slips out and follows up with another High Tension for the win. This was fine, but that spell in the middle where it fell apart was starting to get scary to watch, especially when the corner powerbomb went a little awry… **¾
Grado vs. Mr. Anderson
I’m not a fan of Grado, but let’s stay objective, eh? He gets his proper entrance here since there’s zero craps given about music! I’m starting to think this crowd doesn’t like making loud noises… that, or they’ve been really badly mic’d.
The Casino Rooms doesn’t have a microphone dropping from the ceiling, so instead Mr. Anderson just intimidates Chris Hatch before we get a load of crotch chops, as Anderson finally does his own intro. With Grado getting a piggy back from referee Steve Lynskey so he can hold the microphone from above. Poor Steve’s back.
Anderson jumps Grado after he used his old name, and we start with Grado getting thrown shoulder-first into the corner. A crossbody from Grado gets a near-fall, and it’s all one-way traffic for the Scotsman with some Dusty punches… but a chop to the chest sends Grado down line a tree as he went for a Bionic elbow. A knuckle lock sees Grado beg off, before he just about gets oer for a sunset flip, pulling down both pairs of Mr. Anderson’s trunks to force him down for a near-fall. Anderson parades around the ring, showing his arse, as we get some close-ups, which leads to a tease of a Bare Arsed Stink Face. Which we thankfully don’t get.
Instead, we do get Grado taking some chops in the corner, before he returns the favour… which ends up hurting himself. Anderson takes over again with an armbar, but Grado fights free and eventually Hulks up… which leads to Anderson getting his head rammed into the turnbuckles, before he finishes off by ramming his own head into the top, middle, then bottom ones.
More Dusty punches follow, as does a Bionic elbow, before Grado rushes into the corner with a cannonball for a two-count. He goes for the R-Grado, and eventually gets it on the second attempt, and that’s the win. A perfectly fine comedy match, but while some people may like Grado’s rubber-faced stuff and his comedy. I really don’t. So, please take this rating with an asterisk of “your milage will vary”. *½
Ahead of the main event, they announce that #CCK will challenge DND for the IPW:UK tag titles on their Extreme Measures show at the end of April in Clapham, London.
Tables Match for the IPW:UK All-England Championship: Sammy Smooth vs. Scott Star (c)
On the last Supershow, Smooth’s heel turn damn near caused a riot. He’s out this time with Livvii Grace – the former Tennessee Honey – who’s parading Sammy’s old leather jacket.
We start with a dropkick to the head by Star as this starts off hot, including a fallaway moonsault slam from Star. They try for a lot of big things early, before a clash of heads sends Star tumbling to the floor, only for Livvii Grace to throw him back in… and get a superkick for her troubles.
They head outside, where Smooth throws Star into an empty seat for a big boot, before sending Star into the VIP area. Smooth returns, where he takes a ‘rana from Star over the railings, before they head through the ring and out the other side as a tope from Star keeps the match on the outside.
We get a tour of the bar and merchandise area, where Smooth whips Star into the bar, but a moonsault off the bar helps turn things around, as they land right next to a conveniently-placed table. The match moves towards the entrance ramp, where Smooth takes a DDT, before he runs back into the ring as Star pulled out a table from backstage. Smooth ironically starts a chant of “tables”, before sliding it under the ring… but he needs that to win, so that’s hardly a smart move. Star comes back with a chop, but he just gets lawn darted into the top turnbuckle by Smooth, and now it’s time to grab that table, as it gets propped up against the corner.
Star gets rolled towards it, before Smooth lawn darts him into the table – but it doesn’t break, so Star just bounces off it. Star sidesteps a charge as Smooth bounces into the table, then takes a Sliced Bread that bounces the table into Smooth on the mat, before the table’s set-up in the middle of the ring. Smooth’s placed on it, but Livvii Grace crotches Star on the top rope and pulls Smooth off the table – and shoves the ring to the outside for good measure! That lets Smooth and Grace double-team on Star for a spell, and out comes Chakara to make the save, booting Smooth low before getting into a fight with Grace, eventually rolling to the floor as they brawl towards the bar and out of the venue.
Meanwhile, in the ring, shoves down Smooth off the top rope, only to get booted there and brought down with a brainbuster onto the top turnbuckle. That looked nasty as hell, but Star recovered and slung himself into the ring into a Code Red, before some kicks wore down Smooth. A tornado DDT follows, along with a death valley driver, before Star kicks Smooth onto a table outside the ring…
Star looks to finish off the match by diving through the table, but all of a sudden Adam “Flex” Maxted makes an appearance, dropkicking Star off the top rope. We just about see that dropkick, but we get to see a Full Nelson Driver and a Jackhammer from Maxted, who’s clearly still on the side of Jimmy Havoc’s Army alongside Smooth.
The two combine, setting up the table outside the ring in a different position, adding a second table on top of it for added crunch. Star pushes free of an attempted double team, then catches Smooth with a Wrecking Ball back senton as he looks to put Smooth off the top rope and into the tables… but Maxted gets involved, knocking Star down, allowing Smooth to flip Star through the table (which technically breaks, but at best bent in two)… and Sammy Smooth is declared the new champion!
Well, it doesn’t get the riotous reaction of the last Supershow, but the crowd weren’t best pleased – with some visibly leaving as soon as the decision was rendered. This perhaps was the right match to put in the main event for the story, but as a match, it probably could have done with being lower down the card, since it felt a little lacking to me. **¾
Another decent show from IPW:UK – nothing stunk, but likewise, nothing stood out above the pack either. This felt like a weird show – missing some of the group’s bigger names that were on other shows, whilst a lot of the imports didn’t seem to click in front of this crowd, with names like the Kings of the North, David Starr and Timothy Thatcher barely eliciting reactions. Perhaps the whole supershow concept, which (as we saw with the MVP show on FloSlam), is too jarring compared to the run-of-the-mill IPW shows which focus more on home-grown names.
As a show, it’s worth the watch if you’re a fan of any of the names on it, but otherwise, you’re better off skipping and waiting for the Easter Monday Supershow next month.