The future of Liam Slater and Joseph Conners was on the line in the main event of the latest episode of NGW’s British Wrestling Weekly.
In the main event, we’ve got Joseph Conners and Screwface taking on Liam Slater and El Ligero – with the stipulation being if Conners loses, he leaves NGW; if Slater loses, he must join Conners’ stable.
You know how these shows open… December’s Eternal Glory 2016 card is the scene as Stevie Aaron geeing up the crowd, and somehow NGW managed to screw up Joseph Conners’ name in the graphics. There’s also an advertised match between Bubblegum and JD Boom… but first, a five-minute-long recap from last week’s four-way ladder match.
The JD Boom/Bubblegum match didn’t happen as Chardonnay comes out by herself – with no Bubblegum. They go to a break, and hopefully that video screen will be fixed by the time we’re back… Chardonnay takes the microphone and she tells us that Bubblegum apparently isn’t here.
Instead, out comes RJ Singh, along with a barrage of wrestlers: April Davids, Little Miss Roxxy, Alex Gracie, Jake McCluskey, Alexander Hendry and a sixth guy who they don’t name. Singh identifies himself as a veteran of the British scene… and he’s looking to take a piece of the British wrestling pie, now that “big money contracts” are on offer.
He’s put together a band of six wrestlers that he calls the future of British wrestling – and Singh’s calling NGW a stepping stone “to the big money… and to those TV contracts”, before calling JD Boom “the epitome of everything that’s wrong with NGW”. McCluskey and Gracie jump Boom from behind, but Boom tries to fight back. So in comes Alexander Henry and the big guy – who’s finally identified as Caden Lay (an All Star regular) – join in, as the pair dump Boom with a powerbomb/neckbreaker.
Team Sport – Ace Matthews and David Graves – come out, but of course, they’re out-numbered – and Matthews’ cross body is caught and turned into a big slam from Lay. That just leaves Chardonnay, and she gets cornered by April and Roxxy, before April dumped her on the back of the head with a back suplex.
Well, that’s a good way to make a statement – and as medical staff check on Chardonnay, we fade away from “The Future” to a recap of the promo from Joseph Conners a few weeks back to set-up for tonight’s main event. Then there’s a commercial break, and a recap of the Zack Gibson promo from last week where he was asking to defend the Davey Boy Smith Memorial Cup. Nothing new here folks…
El Ligero & Liam Slater vs. Joseph Conners & Screwface
After the long entrances, we start with Slater and Screwface – with Slater ducking some clotheslines before falling to a distraction from Conners that allowed Slater to get attacked from behind.
Slater’s turfed to the outside as Ligero comes into the ring to avoid a charge in the corner from Screwface, then hit a 619-like move in the ropes to avoid the newcomer as Conners again provides a distraction. A Blue Thunder Bomb gets Screwface a near-fall as Slater rushes in for the save, but the Conners/Screwface combo look to keep Ligero as far away from a tag, with Screwface raking through the mask to get to Ligero’s eyes.
Screwface knocks Slater off the apron as Ligero tried to get a tag, and we get another commercial break, returning to see Screwface get a powerslam for a near-fall – yep, Slater breaks up the pin. In comes Conners to wear down Ligero with a backbreaker, before the masked man’s kicked to the outside, where Slater heads out to try and protect his partner… but he does nothing as Screwface jumps out to pick apart Ligero.
Ligero finally fights back, booting Conners in the face, but he takes a sit-out spinebuster as another tag is blocked. A typical babyface, Slater’s making a rod for his own back as he keeps interfering in the match – which leads to a public warning for him, “which will result in him being disqualified or sent to the back if his actions continue”. Erm, so a referee’s going to eject someone involved in a tag match? Makes sense!
Finally Slater tags in as he unloads on Screwface with elbows in the corner, before a missile dropkick takes the big man down. Conners gets slingshotted into the ring – but the referee doesn’t do anything as instead Slater’s fascination with Conners results in his leg being taken out. Still, Slater gets back to shove Screwface into Conners, before Screwyface is lowbridged to the outside as Liam lands a full nelson Flatliner. Remember, Conners isn’t the legal man here, but that doesn’t stop Liam from going up for a crossbody… and now the referee reminds Slater that Conners isn’t legal.
In comes Screwface with an ankle lock, which heads to Conners taunting Slater as the hold’s held on… at least until a Mexican wave from Ligero breaks it up. Slater and Conners go toe-to-toe, but remember, Conners still isn’t legal! Slater gets slapped, but he fires back with forearms, until Screwface comes in to boot Slater, then land an awkward looking Cross Rhodes for the win. That was an unpopular result, but the whole time, Slater was the architect of his own downfall, continually focused on Conners rather than what was going on. ***¼
The show ended with Conners, Screwface and Lillith standing over Slater, before the quartet head to the back. Well, they gave this plenty of time – but for me, having a babyface effectively cost himself his own future felt pretty unedifying. Let’s see how this pans out, but it did precious little for Slater’s credibility in my mind.
Nothing was built up for “next week”, but we do have Nathan Cruz vs. Matt Myers for the NGW title down the road – so we’ll probably have several weeks of sit-down promos for that beauty of a match. All in, a good episode, with plenty of happenings – it’s just a shame that the NGW format means it’ll be months before there’ll be any advancement in these angles!