It’s been a while, but NGW is back with a new season of shows, featuring several new and familiar faces…
The last new NGW show was in February, when it used to air on regular TV in the UK and also on WhatCulture’s YouTube channel. Last time we saw NGW, Nathan Cruz had lost his NGW title to Matt Myers, whilst Joseph Conners had enlisted Liam Slater into his Righteous Army. Like I say, it’s been a while, but with NGW’s business model shifting to more “holiday camp” shows, it’s perhaps expected that their TV product has been on hold for a little longer than seemed usual.
So we start with a recap of last season, before cutting to the show opening credits, featuring a lot of folks looking younger than they do now, before we throw to the ring as RJ Singh’s making his way out. We’ve still got Dave Bradshaw and Alex Shane on commentary, as they tell us that it was meant to be Grado vs. Justin Sysum for a shot in the Destiny Rumble… but plans change?
Apparently only one of Singh’s henchmen – called his “assets” here – is allowed in that match. But who? Singh cuts a promo about that, confirming that Jake McCluskey gets the spot as the camera cuts start to do my head in… apparently there’s only one tag team allowed into that Rumble too, but Singh says two of his “assets” will be involved in a qualifier for that. So, whatever happened to “only one of my guys are in the Rumble”? Anyway, we’ve got Caden Lay & Alex Gracie vs. Team Sport (Ace Matthews & David Graves) in a few weeks. RJ notes that Grado isn’t here as advertised, and he wants his spot in the Rumble? RJ’s got an opponent for his match for the spot, we get the promo in a sing-song, as Singh says it’s someone who’s wanting to make his debut “very very badly”… JD Boom.
RJ Singh vs. JD Boom
So the battle of the two initials starts with JD holding his ribs, presumably from the injury from “last season” that was a hell of a lot more recent when this was taped… It’s all one-way early as Singh took Boom into the corner, but a jawbreaker looked to give JD a way back in… until he’s met with a boot to the face. RJ hits the “Opportunity Missed” – the Angel’s Wings – as he signalled for a referee to come out… one does come out, but he refused to get in the ring as Justin Sysum also makes an entrance, and I guess we have a different match?
“After the break” we get a recap of the four-man tournament for a spot in the Davey Boy Smith Memorial Tournament, which was won by Zack Gibson in front of a massive crowd of kids in Liverpool. He’s back on the show next week…
RJ Singh vs. Justin Sysum
If this show was taped when I think it was (April?) it’d have been one of Sysum’s first matches back after a year off. He gets an insane amount of reaction from a largely static crowd as he starts by blocking a cheapshot and catching RJ in a gorilla press slam a la the Ultimate Warrior. Just without the problematic stuff.
Sysum’s got it all his own way, but Alex Gracie and Caden Lay appear on the stage… of course, RJ sees that and he instantly powders to the outside as he hides behind them. The distraction allowed Singh to attack him from behind, before Lay and Gracie throw some shots in too.
It must be an automatic rule that if you wear a turtleneck in wrestling you’re an unbearable bad guy?
Singh tries for a crossbody, but Sysum catches him… only to get raked in the eyes and schoolboy’d for a near-fall as the veteran tried to use every shortcut going. A knee to the gut takes Sysum down again, before taking way too long as he misses a senton bomb off the top.
Sysum makes a comeback with a dropkick and an Exploder suplex, but his attempt for a suplex is stopped when Lay and Gracie leap onto the apron. Their distraction sort-of work as Sysum stops… and takes them down with a plancha, but it allows RJ back into it for a brief moment, until Sysum lands a discus clothesline and a picture perfect 450 Splash for the win! Well, this was good for what it was… Sysum’s offence looked pretty good, even if there’s no way a man his size should be able to do 450 Splashes and the like! ***
So, Sysum’s in the Destiny Rumble. I hope it’s at the expense of the canned crowd noise… they announce four more names for the Rumble: Zack Gibson, Rampage Brown, Nathan Cruz and Joe Hendry. Speaking of him, they cut to a sit-down promo of the NGW tag champion Hendry, who says that with this being a new season he’s got a message for NGW’s “executive producer” Mark Labbett. Apparently there’s been threats of NGW “suing” Team Insane Fight Club for their shenanigans as champions, and of course, the Scotsmen will be on next week… also next week: Zack Gibson’s here, as is Nathan Cruz…
Well, after the better part of ten months off, NGW’s back, and it’s like it’s never been away. We surmised that Joseph Conners’ WWE deal may have curtailed the angle with Liam Slater, and although they did replay some footage from season 4, they showed nothing of that particular duo, which may confirm our suspicions… but it’s early days.
It’s weird, but the addition of the “holiday camp” shows has meant that the company is running more dates than ever before, yet somehow there’s little to no buzz among the “internet” fans. It’s weird, but even among those who hunt for shows and results, it’s as if NGW has been away since that secret show in January that provided the content for the latter part of the fourth season.
- NGW’s TV show can now be seen via their YouTube channel…