The final sixteen are all in action as British Boot Camp 2 took to the ring in York Hall!
We open with clips of the final sixteen, complete with spots from ICW, ATTACK! and PROGRESS, before we’re taken to York Hall. Jeremy Borash and Spud are on commentary… according to Cagematch, around 950 were here, but still the balcony is sparse. Cue tight shots!
El Ligero vs. Noam Dar
Entrances have been edited out here, as we see Al Snow, Gail Kim and Samoa Joe watching on from their judges desk in the aisle.
Headscissors from Ligero get just a one-count, before a springboard was cut off with a dropkick by Dar. Ligero perhaps going for the C4L finish too soon, as Dar gets free and goes for a swinging Fisherman suplex that almost wins it. A Figure Four’s kicked away by Ligero, before Dar bites Ligero’s hand… A superkick from Ligero leaves Dar laying, but a springboard’s caught as Dar comes back with the Champagne Super Knee Bar… only for Ligero to get to the ropes. Dar stays on the leg, Dragon screwing it in the ropes, but Ligero responds with a death valley driver on the apron that gets another one-count. Dar fires back up, but eats a C4L, and that’s the win for Ligero. Very brief at three minutes in length, and I really hope this was just edited down!
Richard Parliament & RJ Singh vs. Joel Redman & Martin Stone
Again, we’ve no entrances as we start with Redman and Stone coming out of the blocks.
Parliament and Singh dropkick them to the outside, as we settle down to Parliament suplexing Stone for a one-count. Singh tags in and hits a low dropkick for another one-count, while Parliament returns for some old school cheating as he rakes Stones’ eye on the ropes. A missile dropkick from Stone gets him a two-count, while Redman came in with an overhead wristlock – not unlike Zack Gibson’s Shankly Gates – which end in the ropes. Parliament pulls Redman into the ropes, but a turnaround led to a corner dropkick on Parliament, before Redman hit a pair of Northern Lights suplexes on Singh and Parliament for a near-fall.
Stone’s back, but so is RJ, as he unloaded with clotheslines and uppercuts… along with a moonsault that wiped out Redman! RJ waits for Stone, but gets caught as a blind tag brought in Redman, as a powerbomb from Stone, a flying knee drop from Redman, and an elevated DDT got the win. Very brisk, and I suspect, very edited… Singh got a good amount of time, even if he took the fall.
Nikki Storm vs. Kay Lee Ray vs. Kasey Owens vs. Leah Owens
Kay Lee Ray gets an entrance, without music, as we started with all four women trying for a knuckle lock… except for Nikki, who didn’t have the height.
She stomps out and sits on the apron in a huff, as the Owens double-team Kay Lee Ray, before she countered a pancake with a dropkick.The Owens come back though, double-teaming Kay Lee, then Nikki, before Kay Lee Ray joined them outside with a tope. Storm’s rolled back in for a one-count, but she’s able to get back up to crotch Kay Lee on the top rope. That sets up for a Tower of Doom, with the Owens landing a double superplex as they both went for the pin… which got counted as a two-count. They argue over it, as Storm tried to steal the win, before the Owens hit a double-team sidewalk slam/legdrop for more pinning attempts.
They argue again, and get caught by Kay Lee Ray, who dumps Kasey onto Leah with a Gory Bomb. Kasey’s literally covering Leah, but the ref doesn’t count, so Kay Lee hits a senton bomb onto the pair, then gets a near-fall on the Owens as Nikki ends up rolling up Kay Lee for the win. Another short one, with a weird finish for those who are sticklers for rules.
Kris Travis vs. Mark Andrews
Only Andrews gets an entrance, and we start with Travis attacking Andrews from behind.
Travis takes Andrews into the ropes, but a switcheroo sees him thrown outside as Andrews came at him with a tope con giro. He waited and went for a ‘rana off the apron, but Travis caught him and powerbombed him onto the edge of the ring, getting a near-fall and giving himself a tantrum from it. A leg lariat from Travis lands for another near-fall, as Andrews recovered to hit a springboard crossbody to turn the match around. That nearly gets him the win, before he ran into a back elbow. Travis gets caught with an enziguiri in the corner, as a top rope ‘rana took him down, with a standing shooting star press almost getting Andrews the win.
Another flying ‘rana’s met with another powerbomb on Andrews, as Travis manages to hit a suplex/powerbomb that had Spud incredulous at the fact it didn’t get the job done. A second suplex/powerbomb’s countered into a ‘rana as Andrews comes back with a Side Effect, before a shooting star press off the top got the win. Still absurdly short, but they packed a TONNE in here, with both men looking great for their four minutes.
Dave Mastiff vs. Rampage Brown
Rampage gets a promo before the match, calling himself the Alpha Male of British wrestling. Where’s Monty Brown when you need him? He called an open challenge, which was odd because we knew the match, but this at least redeemed Rampage for his tryout promo.
So, we have a hoss fight, beginning with the headlock, shove off and shoulder tackles, before they traded impressive dropkicks. A shoulder tackle off the middle ropes gets Rampage a near-fall, before Rampage got caught with a clothesline as he came off the ropes again. Mastiff throws Rampage with a German suplex next, but Rampage responds with a diving boot and a Samoan drop for a near-fall. Another German suplex from Mastiff has Rampage in the corner, as a cannonball followed, which was enough for Big Dave to get the win. Way, way, way too short – at least on TV – but really fun for what we saw.
Sha Samuels vs. Grado
This was playing off of their scrap in the London tryouts, while Grado danced to the ring to his overdubbed music. Al Snow is cringing heavily in the background, as Grado came back up for high fives. Of course, Al wasn’t biting.
Grado plays to the crowd too much and gets jumped by Sha, who put the boots to him… and gave him a slapping. Off come the suspender straps, but referee Steve Lynskey stops Sha from using them… but he missed the scarf! Stopping to push Grado outside, Sha followed up by introducing Grado to the guard rails as he went around ringside, past Baby Mad Kurt (and no, I’m not joking). Sha drags Grado up onto the stage to get some approval from Al Snow, but he ends up taking a back body drop off the raised podium to the floor. That had to have sucked. Grado makes it back to the ring and made a comeback, quickly finishing off Sha with a running boot for the pin. The crowd exploded for that one – so at least the story worked!
The next day, the judges critique the wrestlers, and tell them who made the cut. Kay Lee Ray, Mark Andrews and Kris Travis were the first three – but Kris’ subsequent illness meant he had to pull out, with Noam Dar replacing him. Dave Mastiff and Rampage Brown also went through, as did Grado, which Al announced through gritted teeth.
So, as a format, the “six matches in an hour” bit worked in as far as it ticked the box marked “show us how you work,” but they were all way too short. Heck, the longest match of the six barely scraped four minutes – and I’d like to think that the live crowd saw way more than that! The final six now move onto the States… as the going gets tough!