Continuing our “reviewing Southside slightly out-of-order”, it’s their Sixth Anniversary Show!
Held in Stevenage, England, Southside’s anniversary show was headlined by a TLC match as Joseph Conners defended against El Ligero, whilst TNA’s world title also found itself on the line in the middle of the card.
Kendo Stick Match: Robbie X vs. Mark Haskins
This was the culmination of a feud between the two – a feud that may have been rushed a little as a result of Mark Haskins’ injury-enforced lay-off. Robbie came out painted like a panda for some reason… they had around a dozen kendo sticks wedged into the ring ropes, and Haskins started on fire, sending Robbie to the outside with a kick early on.
A low dropkick disarms Haskins as he went for a kendo stick, but Haskins was the first to swing and miss with the weapon, before diving into Robbie with a tope as he rolled to the outside. Robbie takes some kicks to the chest against the ringpost, before he ducks a kendo stick shot as Haskins ended up smashing the stick against the ring post.
Back inside, Robbie blasted Haskins with a shot to the ribs, then again to the back, before a Kendo-stick assisted Russian legsweep gets Robbie a near-fall. Haskins hit back with a kendo stick as he swiped away a tope from Robbie, but Haskins couldn’t follow-up, as Robbie wedges several Kendo sticks in the ropes whilst Haskins stayed down.
Haskins leaps over Robbie, who charges head-first into those wedged Kendo sticks, before Robbie gets dumped with a powerslam off the ropes. Again, Haskins doesn’t make a cover, as he grabs another Kendo stick, but gets suckered in as Robbie pulls him into the corner and uses the stick for a variety of shots to Haskins chest and back. Robbie lands a springboard Ace crusher for a two-count, as he then uses the Kendo stick to the back of Haskins’ legs.
Robbie uses the Kendo stick to force Haskins into a full nelson, but another OsCutter attempt is blocked as Haskins frees himself and strikes down Robbie with the stick. Plenty more stick shots follow from Haskins, who then manages to kick out from an obvious low blow from a bleeding Robbie X.
Another Kendo stick shot is ducked, as Haskins counters with the bridging armbar – and we have a winner! A surprisingly short match… until you realise that this was Haskins’ penultimate match for the time being. ***¼
We’ve got a pre-taped promo from Damian Dunne, who demands a Southside tag team title match… apparently Southside won’t give him the match because Damian doesn’t have a partner. Damian reckons he’s got to pick between Alex Gracie and Marshall X… so he’s putting the two choices together to impress him in a match against Bram and Adam Maxted.
Marshall X & Alex Gracie vs. Bram & Adam Maxted
Marshall’s music gets cut-off early as Alex Gracie interrupts his entrance. They’re already playing the dissenting partners stuff, which is a little disconcerting. For some reason, Gracie’s wearing two pair of trunks, with the second pair being heavily influenced by Pringles…
Gracie tries to start a pose-off with Adam Maxted. Yeah, that’s only going to go one way… Maxted starts by shoving Marshall into the corner from a tie-up, and that leads to a forceful tag to Gracie… as Maxted shoved both men into the corner from a double-tie-up. Maxted hits a leaping elbow drop for a near-fall on Gracie, before tagging in Bram.
Marshall gets slingshotted into the ring the hard way as he resisted coming in, before Bram dispatches both Marshall and Gracie. Maxted comes in and gets taken down with a dropkick as he went for a back body drop, as Marshall X finally landed some offence in the form of forearm strikes.
Alex Gracie comes in and goads Bram into the ring as Marshall attacks Maxted on the floor. There’s more of the same as Gracie and Marshall work over Maxted whilst keeping the referee distracted, but eventually the tactic backfires as Maxted rolls away from an attempt at a “Whazzup” headbutt, with Gracie taking the headbutt instead.
Bram finally gets the hot tag as he charges into Marshall with forearms and a high knee, before dumping Gracie with a pop-up powerbomb for a near-fall. Maxted catches Marshall with a fallaway slam, before Gracie knocks him to the floor, and somehow manages to string together a second move in the form of Eat Defeat to Bram.
Then it goes to hell… Gracie rolls Bram back in to get the pin, but Marshall X breaks up his partner’s own cover. They get into a shoving match, which ends with Bram landing a knee to the back of Gracie, then an implant DDT, before Maxted comes in to finish off Gracie with a swinging side slam for the win. A good match, although they’ve pretty much buried Gracie and Marshall with that finish… ***
Queen of Southside Championship: Dahlia Black vs. Ruby Summers vs. Alex Windsor vs. Nixon Newell vs. Kay Lee Ray vs. Melina (c)
A lot of truncated entrances here, which seems bizarre for an indy show. Kay Lee attacks Nixon at the bell as everyone paired off in a frantic opening which drew “this is awesome” chants for some reason.
Summers got a near-fall from a backslide to Dahlia Black as the camera missed some action in the opening minutes, instead focusing on what was happening outside. Alex Windsor works over Summers for a while, before Nixon Newell came in to replace Summer after she was sent to the outside.
Again, the camera misses some stuff in the ring as they focus on Melina selling… before Melina returns to the ring as we suddenly get duelling double suplexes that morph into duelling triple suplexes, with the heel trio winning out in the end. The heels back out of a trio of dives, so they get dragged to the outside by Melina, Nixon and Ruby, who then give us our aerial attacks courtesy of a tope and a pair of planchas.
They return to the ring where Kay Lee works over Melina with a boot in the corner, before Melina gives a receipt with a snapmare driver for a near-fall. Kay Lee drills Melina with a Gory Bomb for a near-fall as they teased a title change, before Ruby Summers gave it a go with a Code Red to Kay Lee for another near-fall. Dahlia hits a uranage on Ruby, then misses a moonsault as Nixon Newell rushed in with a Shining Wizard… but Alex Windsor knocks her down with a diving dropkick before a cover could be made. Melina completed the set with a facebuster, but Dahlia makes that save at the count of two.
Melina stared a hole through Black after that save, before dumping the Kiwi with a Sunset Split to retain the title. Good enough for what it was, but this seemed to lose a lot in the transition to video – as most multi-way matches do. **¼
Southside Tag Team Championships: Lucha Overground (Shane Strickland & Matt Cross) vs. Stixx & Flips (Stixx & Chris Tyler) (c)
We start with Stixx doing flips over Shane Strickland… I wasn’t expecting that!
Strickland lands his first blow with a 619 from the apron before slingshotting himself in to a roll-up for a near-fall. We get Tyler and Cross for a spell, with Tyler hitting kip ups from shoulder tackles, before Cross backflips out of a dropkick attempt that would have hit thin air. A blind tag to Strickland seemed to catch everyone off guard, but he quickly found gear with a hand-walking headscissor takedown and a couple of dropkicks to take down the 19-year-old Tyler.
The Lucha Underground pairing obliterate Tyler with a kick to the head and a standing shooting star press for a near-fall as Stixx comes in a little too late… but when he does come in, he manages to reverse a double-team suplex. Stixx dumps Tyler onto Cross with a wheelbarrow facebuster for a near-fall as the champions try to keep Cross away from a tag.
Finally, Cross rolls into the corner to tag in Strickland who lays into Tyler and Stixx with kicks, before rolling up into an Ace crusher on Tyler for a near-fall. It’s Tyler’s turn to be isolated for a while, but he tries to roll away from an elbow drop which seemed to graze the youngster. A roundhouse kick finally knocks Cross down as Tyler tags out to Stixx, who dumps Cross with a big boot, then charges Strickland into the corner.
A diving crossbody in the corner flattened Strickland, before Stixx hit an Electric Chair into a powerbomb for a near-fall. Strickland breaks up the count, but falls to a moonsault on the outside from Tyler as the champions take over, ending with a Finlay roll from Stixx and a 450 Splash from Tyler… only for Strickland to make the save at the last second.
Strickland looks to take Stixx out of the match with a death valley driver on the apron, before Cross blasts Tyler with a bicycle knee as Strickland hits a double stomp from a Doomsday Device position. Cross adds to it with a Shooting Star Press, but Stixx recovers to pull Cross out of the ring to end the cover. Stixx countered a slingshot cutter from Strickland into a Black Hole Slam, before leaving Strickland in place for a 450 Splash… but Strickland gets the knees up, and makes the cover for a near-fall as Stixx breaks that up. The end comes seconds later as Cross accidentally blasted Strickland with a bicycle kick, before turning around into a small package from Stixx for the pin. This was a really good tag team outing – well above my expectations going into this! ***¾
TNA Heavyweight Championship: Bubblegum vs. Eddie Edwards (c)
Well, if this isn’t random, I don’t know what is! Bubblegum’s Speed King title isn’t on the line here, but Eddie’s TNA/Impact Wrestling title is.
We’ve got a nice even start as both men exchange headlock takedowns, before Bubblegum took an advantage with hiptosses to start a period on top, until a handspring back elbow was caught and turned into a Blue Thunder Bomb as Edwards almost ended things early. Edwards went to the outside and accidentally chopped the ringpost as Bubblegum ducked, before recovering to dump his challenger with a back suplex on the ring apron for a near-fall.
Back inside, Bubblegum pratfalls Edwards for a near-fall, then trips him again into the ropes for a 619, but Eddie rolls onto the apron and instead gets wiped out with a dropkick as Bubblegum sent himself flying over the top rope to the floor. Edwards recovers and boots Bubblegum on the top turnbuckle and brings him back in with a superplex for a near-fall, before missing a moonsault off the top rope.
A swinging neckbreaker gets Bubblegum a two-count as he looked to capitalise, getting a similar result from a tornado DDT. Edwards avoids a corner dropkick and lands an enziguiri, before catching Bubblegum out of the corner with the Chin Checker (backpack stunner) for a near-fall.
Edwards misses a double stomp off the top and follows in with a superkick, only to be caught with a handspring roundhouse kick by Bubblegum. A 619 from the challenger misses, as Edwards flies in with a flying Codebreaker, only to be caught with a roll-up out of nowhere for a near-fall from a resurgent Bubblegum.
At the third time of asking, Bubblegum lands that 619, but before he can capitalise, Edwards hits the Boston Knee Party (diving leg lariat) for the win. A hell of a match here, even if you did have to stretch your suspension of disbelief with the idea of Bubblegum winning the title. ***¾
After the match, Edwards teases a return match – but this time for Bubblegum’s Speed King title. Needless to say, the crowd were more than happy to see that, and Bubblegum was more than willing to oblige. Let’s see when that happens, eh?
Pete Dunne vs. Cody Rhodes
Before the match, Cody gets some cheap pops by throwing t-shirts to the crowd, but Dunne cuts it off by jumping him with a forearm from behind.
Cody goes straight to the Goldust uppercut and kick to the midsection, only to be sent flying to the outside with a back body drop. Dunne chops the ringpost as he goes after his foe, leading to Cody taking them into the crowd where a fan’s drink is thrown into his face. Dunne retaliates with an eye rake, before he slams Cody as we get the least opportune camera cut of all time as they switch to a crane camera for the spot.
Back in the ring, Dunne stamps on Cody’s hand and ties his arm in the ropes, before he rakes away at Cody as he tried to escape the ring. More fighting on the floor follows as the pair trade chops, but Cody misses and hits the ringpost, before Dunne throws him back into the post for good measure. After returning to the ring, Dunne goes for some finger biting, before settling for a knee-stomp instead.
It’s all Dunne for a while, who weathers a storm of Dusty punches and lands an enziguiri, but that only hastens Cody’s comeback as a reverse DDT sends Dunne to the mat. A snap German suplex takes down Rhodes, but he comes back with another attempt at the Goldust uppercut… and Dunne bites away at the hand instead, before hitting a forearm to swat away Cody’s Disaster kick.
Dunne nails a sit-out powerbomb for a two-count, then gets another two from a double stomp. Another double stomp off the top misses as Cody hits an uppercut from the ground instead, before sending Dunne to the apron with a springboard dropkick. Cody lands a massive superplex, but Dunne almost scores a pin with a roll-up upon impact, only for Cody to kick out at two and spring back with a Cross Rhodes as he took a two-count for himself.
Cody looks to finish off Pete with a moonsault, but Dunne pulls the referee in the way as both men go down awkwardly. With the ref down, Cody blocks a Drop Dead and lands a Disaster Kick for a visual pin, which of course means nothing. After Cody checks on the referee, he turns around into a low kick from Dunne, who finally hits a Drop Dead… for a near-fall!
Angered, Dunne shoves the referee into the corner, and with the official unsighted, Cody returns the favour with a low blow and follows back with the Cross Rhodes, and that’s all folks! Pretty good, but yet again the pattern for Cody matches continues – start, fight outside, fight outside again, then have a screwy finish. ***¼
Cody and Pete shake hands after the match… but Dunne punts him low yet again to get his heat back. Cody then gets the mic after the match and puts over Southside before kissing the canvas and exiting amid a mob of kids.
Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for Southside Championship: El Ligero vs. Joseph Conners (c)
Ligero grabbed a chair on the way to the ring – and like Cody, he had a mob of children surrounding him too! Conners came out with his ribs taped up, and was on the back foot from the start as Ligero hit a springboard dropkick to get us underway.
They go outside where Conners hits the ringpost with a chair as he was in search of Ligero, who then went under the ring for a ladder… but Conners cuts him off with a chairshot to the ladder. Both men try to climb the ladder early on, before Ligero simply shoves the ladder into Conners’ face after he’d baseball slid under it.
Ligero lines up the ladder into Conners crotch, then baseball slides into it for our first big ladder-related spot. That’s then followed up as Ligero sets up four chairs opposite each other to create a landing pad, but Ligero’s attempt to powerbomb the champion gets blocked, before wrestling logic dictated that Ligero ended up taking a Falcon arrow through those chairs.
Conners heads up to the stage for a table, then returns to drop Ligero with a slingshot DDT as he weirdly didn’t go for his title straight away. Ligero finally recovers and manages to place Conners against a propped up table, before landing a shotgun dropkick as Conners bounced off of the table. Third time was the charm though as Conners finally got hiptossed through the table, producing that satisfying crunch that all wrestling fans love.
Ligero starts to climb, but Conners pulls him down… only for Ligero to reply by throwing Conners into the ladder once more. The ladder’s propped into the corner, but wrestling logic returns as Conners shocks Ligero with an Exploder into the ladder, before the champion disappears once more to pick up another ladder from the stage. Problem was, that second ladder was barely the same size as Conners… so he just climbed the original one, as Ligero grabbed the short ladder and tried to prop it between the ropes and the tall one. With eventual success!
Finally, Ligero pulled Conners down and made-safe his ladder bridge construction, which was then used by Ligero to get a leg-up, before both men stood on that unsafe bridge contraption, ending with the challenger dumping Conners with an Ace crusher off the ladder bridge.
For some reason, Alex Gracie comes out and decides to try and climb the ladder… but he gets caught by the two guys who are in the match and is shoved off. Not quite sure what that was all about…
They announce during this that the winner of this match faces Pete Dunne on the next show (whoops!), as Ligero grabs another table whilst Alex Gracie tries in vain to make himself conspicuous. Conners lawn-darts Ligero into the ring post as they stay outside, before setting up a second table at ringside – and having seen enough TLC matches before, I don’t think I’d trust those tables as a landing pad!
A powerbomb from Conners on the floor is reversed by way of a backdrop from Ligero, as both men end up on the stage towards the commentary table… where he accidentally superkicks the ring announcer instead of Conners. As everyone scurries towards the commentary desk, Ligero escapes a Righteous Kill DDT, then disappears behind the curtain to retrieve an even bigger ladder.
Ligero climbs to the top of the entrance structure and dives onto Conners – plus Alex Gracie and some of the trainees who were handily nearby tending to the superkick’d ring announcer – and we’re now without commentary as Ruby Summers heads out to try and tend to Ligero. He crawls away from her and back into the ring, before scaling the ladder… but Conners grabbed Summers and threatened to pull all of her hair out if Ligero took another step.
Conners again outed the couple, as Ligero headed up to the stage to save his now-fiancee… except the heel Conners just dumped her with a DDT anyway and went to the ring to reclaim his belt as Ligero tended to Summers. Well, briefly, as Ligero rushed into the ring and powerbombed Conners off the ladder as the entrance way remained littered with fallen bodies.
Ligero moves the ladder and scales it to hit a Mexican wave onto Conners as Stixx helped Ruby Summers to the back. With Conners on the outside, Ligero slowly scaled the ladder, before HC Dyer came out and dumped him off the ladder with a spinebuster, seemingly helping Conners to retain. The former Pledge then went to grab a table from the stage, and was then ordered to put Ligero through it… but not before Conners headed out and grabbed a pencil case full of drawing pins! A delightfully British touch on the canvas sack of pins!
Dyer seemed conflicted at the order, so he took a backhand slap from Conners, before finally snapping and slamming the champion – sending some of those pins flying off the table and into the ring. After all that, Dyer just left the building, allowing Ligero to climb the ladder, only for Conners to land a low blow to stop the challenger’s ascent.
Conners and Ligero fought on the apron, before a back suplex from Conners ended up sending both men through those two tables on the outside. Well, at least it wasn’t as bad as being thrown off the ladder into those tables… by the way, only one of those broke on impact, just to add to my own belief that they were imported from Japan.
Both men managed to pull themselves back into the ring, and back up the ladder too, before Conners tried to remove Ligero’s mask and shove him down. Ruby Summers makes another appearance to delay things, as Ligero recovers and shoves Conners off the ladder and into the drawing-pin covered table. That looked nasty! With Conners out of action, all that was left was for Ligero to climb up and retrieve the title! ***½
That main event was really good for a ladder match within the restrictions of a family promotion like Southside. It was a touch overbooked at the end with Alex Gracie, HC Dyer and Ruby Summers coming out – although they did play into the match, having all three seemed to be overkill. Ligero and Summers celebrated in the ring as the crowd filed out of the building.
This was a really good, solid show from Southside to mark their sixth anniversary – with the only “bad” match being the multi-person women’s match; and in my defence, a lot of that was due to the camera work not being able to capture all of the action.
What Worked: Almost everything. El Ligero dethroning Conners opens up the title picture for a slew of new opportunities – and marks (for me) the true ending of the Righteous Army, particularly since the former Pledge played into Conners’ loss. Bubblegum looked great in defeat to Eddie Edwards, and I’d have guessed that a rematch with Mark Haskins for the Speed King title may have been on the line had injury not stepped in first.
What Didn’t: I get the idea of the six-way women’s match marking the sixth anniversary of Southside, but with the time it got, it felt like a massive waste. The pairing of Marshall X and Alex Gracie seemed wonky to me, especially as they were meant to be impressing Damian Dunne… only for the duo to ruin their chances arguing. February’s Southside shows will see this pay off, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dunne picked someone completely different for his tag title shot.
Thumbs: Up – there’s some real gems of matches on this show, and the main event too… as long as you don’t set your expectations for an insane, stunt-filled ladder match… but this isn’t 2001 anymore!