We’ve more medal chasing from the Grind, headlined by Joseph Conners and Sheikh el Sham.
Quick Results
Spartan Medal: Adam Bolt pinned Harley Hudson in 7:47 (**½)
Spartan Medal: Brad Matthews pinned David Atlas in 9:31 (**½)
Chronos Medal: Joseph Conners pinned Sheikh el Sham in 7:57 (**¾)
We’re back at the Kamikaze Pro dojo in Digbeth, Birmingham as the medal collecting continues with a trio of medal matches. Commentary comes from Conor Bailey, Lucy Simons and Jetta…
Adam Bolt vs. Harley Hudson
Bolt’s got his security detail Jackie T with him… clearly taking Harley Hudson as a threat.
Bolt backs Hudson into the corner to start, but a shoulder tackle from Hudson takes him down as the pair tried to get into the others’ minds. Hudson’s able to chain together some offence with a facebuster and a legdrop for a two-count, forcing Bolt to bail… but Hudson chases after him and took things back inside.
A spinning dropkick from Bolt sees him capitalise on a distraction from Jackie T, ahead of a rolling death valley driver and a standing moonsault as he looked to shut the match down. Bolt’s grounded full nelson is powered out of as Hudson mounted a comeback, charging through Bolt again as she came close to the win.
Hudson’s caught out with a gift-wrapped back cracker as Bolt picked up a two-count of his own, before a missed 450 splash allowed Hudson to hit back with a spinebuster. Mounted punches from Hudson in the corner were eventually walked out of by Bolt, who then distracted the referee as Jackie clung onto Hudson in the ropes… allowing Bolt to throw Hudson down to the mat for the roll-up win. A cheap finish as Bolt ended up stealing the win here. **½
Backstage, Chantal Jordan’s photoshoot is interrupted by Adam Bolt and Jackie T… and by Jay Joshua, who put him in line as this set up for a tag match with the four.
We’ve a recap of Harry Milligan’s win over the Duchess last week, and some post-match comments. Harry almost went Zack Gibson there, as the Duchess was left licking her proverbial wounds.
Brad Matthews vs. David Atlas
This was Matthews’ first match back after a year out injured, while this was a debut for Atlas.
Matthews bails immediately so he could mouth off to commentary about the rehab he’d put into his knee injury. In the ring, Matthews controls things with a hiptoss and a slam, but Atlas returns the favour before a big boot took Matthews back outside. Back inside, Matthews again runs into trouble as he’s caught with hiptosses and a roll-up, before a lucha armdrag off the top put Atlas ahead.
Atlas’ death valley driver’s escaped as Matthews hung up his opponent in the ropes, then added a back suplex as he began to put pressure on Atlas, stomping a mudhole in him in the corner. A side Russian legsweep and a grounded Octopus keeps Matthews in control, before a roll-up ended in the ropes.
Matthews upped the aggression from there, launching Atlas into the buckles before his chinlock was fought out of… allowing Atlas to come back with a Fisherman’s suplex for a near-fall. A Blue Thunder bomb’s next from Atlas, before he was cut off in the ropes as Matthews brought him down with a suplex, before an Alabama Slam got the win for Matthews. **½
Post-match, Atlas offers a handshake and gets laid out, with Matthews hitting a DDT to the leg as he seemingly tried to put someone on the same shelf he’d just come off of.
Video package time as we’re introduced to Hollie Barlow…
Next week, Barlow debuts against Angel Hayze and Joey Slade takes on Sha Samuels.
Joseph Conners vs. Sheikh El Sham
These days, Conners is part of “Bred 4 Better” alongside Riley Nova. Hey, at least he’s finally worthy…
There’s some confusion on commentary as they say this match has a time limit, but they’d earlier said all matches on this card were for the no-time limit spartan medals. With over 20 years of experience between them, this match should an extra edge to it – and we start with Sheikh catching out Conners with a dropkick.
Riley Nova pops up on the apron to distract el Sham as he climbed the ropes… and that led to a Benny Hill chase between the two around ringside… ending with Conners clobbering Sheikh with a clothesline back inside. Conners wears down Sheikh in the corner with elbows, before a knee drop and a crucifix pin ended up in the ropes, before a chinbar kept the Sheikh grounded.
Fighting free, the pair trade blows before a double clothesline left them both laying. Conners is back to his feet first, but Sheikh beats him to the punch ahead of a uranage for a near-fall. A missed spear allows Conners to hit a roll-up, but Sheikh quickly finds his way in with a camel clutch… prompting Nova to pop up for another distraction.
Nova gets knocked off the apron by Sheikh… meanwhile Conners got back to his feet… and after some attempts at a roll-up were thwarted, Sheikh’s spear almost wins it as the match entered the final three minutes of the time limit. Yet again we’ve got interference from Nova, but he’s tripped and rolled into a Sharpshooter… Conners rakes Sheikh’s eyes to break it up, then cradled the Sheikh to snatch the win. This was a solid match that packed a lot into its time, even if you’re not a fan of liberal distractions in an eight-minute outing. **¾
We’re very much still in the early days of The Grind, with nobody having appeared twice (and of course, you need to be on at least three times to get all of the medals!) – but with a mixture of veterans and up-and-comers, these shows are at least worth keeping up with to have an eye on who’ll be “next up” on the bigger promotions.