The British wrestling scene is a far cry from what it used to be – and the Shropshire-based VII Pro Wrestling proves that the British scene is continuing to blossom, even if some companies still like to borrow heavily from the American side of things.
VII Pro Wrestling (pronounced “Seven”, in case you’re not up on your Roman numerals; since they’re close to the River Severn), recently uploaded their April event “Final Inception” onto YouTube.
The Bruiserweights (CJ Banks & Wild Boar) vs. The YOLO Squad (Drew Parker & Ethan Silver)
Wild Boar is Mike Hitchman, who again is wrestling for a company that uses his nickname as his name, and he starts with some grounded headscissors on Ethan Silver. After escaping the hold, Silver tried for a waistlock, but again found himself grounded, before reversing a wristlock and sending the Boar flying to the mat.
After some hesitation, Boar kicked Silver in the midsection, and whipped him into the corner, but Silver leapt over him and scored an armdrag out of the corner, before dropkicking Boar to the floor… and then indulged in some break dancing. A rolling senton on Boar followed, as did an impressive standing corkscrew moonsault for a near-fall.
Boar tagged in CJ Banks, who ran straight into an armdrag, as Silver then tagged in Parker. Parker took an uppercut from Banks, then a straight right to the head, before he was worked over in the ropes. Parker flipped over a backdrop attempt and connected with a dropkick, sending Banks into the corner, where he took a Yakuza kick (which we just about saw through the referee), then a hurricanrana that scored a one-count.
Silver came back in with a double axehandle to Banks’ arm, before Parker did the same. Wash, rinse repeat, except Silver’s second leap was a knee to the arm of Banks. Silver caught a kick from Banks, and held on as Parker took him down with a neckbreaker.
Parker took too long on the top rope and was yanked to the mat by Banks, who quickly tagged in the Wild Boar for some slams that got him a two-count, before Boar worked a headlock on the mat. Parker fought free, but was turned inside out with a clothesline and took Parker into the wrong corner.
Some standard double-teaming behind the referee’s back followed, before Banks scored a two-count with a suplex on Parker. Banks made a blind tag, which rendered a sunset flip from Parker useless, as Bar came in to break things up and toss Parker to the outside. As Boar baited Silver, Banks attacked Parker on the outside, then rolled him in for just a two-count.
Boar took a back elbow as Parker blocked a charge in the corner, and then was dropped with a tornado DDT before Parker went for the hot tag to Silver. Cue kicks from Silver, then a diving forearm smash and a dropkick, before Banks ran in with an uppercut to end the brief comeback. Silver gets the knees up to block Banks, then backdropped him to the outside, as Boar took an enziguiri that sent him to the floor.
Silver looked to go flying, but instead hooked himself in the rope, and waited for Parker to connect with a Sasuke special. Parker threw the Boar back in, then was tagged in… so Silver could go up to the top, and get cut-off by Banks. Parker picked up Banks in a Fireman’s carry, and Silver looked to leap off of Banks’ back and onto Boar, but landed on his feet.
Parker accidentally took out Silver with an enziguiri, which left him alone for a double team uppercut and a cannonball from Boar, before the Trapper Keeper (package piledriver) got the win for the heels. A really good opening act, helped by a hot crowd (well, as hot as you could for the size). ***½
Liberty vs. Toni Storm
Despite only being 22 (according to Cagematch), Liberty has been around for seven years, after originally being trained in Norwich’s WAW promotion by Saraya and the Knights. She’s also wrestling under the moniker of Alex Windsor, and was seemingly in the middle of that transition at the time of this show. Toni Storm, meanwhile, is originally from New Zealand and is en route to becoming one of the biggest names in the women’s scene… and is currently champion of the Japanese Stardom promotion.
Liberty’s platinum blonde hair and slight facial resemblence to Paige makes her stand out from Storm’s look of too-short shorts and trainers. From the lock-up, Liberty takes Storm into the corner and breaks cleanly, before Storm grabbed a hammerlock, which was reversed and turned into a headlock takedown. Storm reversed that, but Liberty turns it into some legscissors, which Storm eventually headstands out of.
Another grounded headlock from Storm now, and she works up to a wristlock whilst keeping Liberty away from the ropes. Liberty breaks free and stomps away on the New Zealander, before whipping her chest-first into the corner. Another whip into the corner saw Storm land hard in the buckles, before crumpling to the mat for a near-fall.
Storm ducked a clothesline and hit a Northern Lights suplex, then a dropkick before rolling Liberty over for a two-count. Liberty ducked an enziguiri then hit a curb stomp on Storm for a near-fall, before an elbow drop scored a similar result. Storm elbowed out of a waistlock, but Liberty pulled her back into a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near-fall.
Storm and Liberty traded forearms for the yay/boo responses, before they traded “rushing into the other one in the ropes” with strikes for similar effect. A big boot took Liberty into the corner, and Storm followed up with a hip attack, then a Fisherman’s suplex (Fisherwoman’s?) for a two-count.
Liberty caught a kick from Storm and followed up with an Alabama slam for a two-count, before going airborne and missing with a back senton off the top rope. Storm replied with an Air Raid Crash and that was enough to get the win. Given that the two women here had several years of experience throughout Europe (and in Storm’s case, the world), I shouldn’t have been pleasantly surprised… but I was. A really good women’s match, particularly when my level of expectation for indie women’s wrestling in the UK is still somewhat on the low side. ***
Ladder Match: Chris Ridgeway vs. Dan Moloney vs. Morgan Webster vs. Nixon Newell vs. Pete Dunne
This is where the lack of introductions, or indeed, commentary hurts the presentation here. Pete Dunne is pretty easy to spot by his top knot (which has since passed on, sadly), whilst Morgan Webster’s look is distinct… Dan Moloney has a lot of tattoos, Chris Ridgeway doesn’t, and Nixon Newell stands out because she’s not a guy in this one. Got it? Good!
After a bunch of clotheslines sends everyone to the outside at the bell, Morgan Webster ends up in the ring takes down Ridgeway with a swinging armdrag, then lands his Special Brew Flip. He then has to duck a kick from Moloney, before the pair try for dropkicks at the same time, and then get taken out by Pete Dunne’s double clothesline. Newell drops Dunne with a crossbody off the top, then lays into him with some kicks, before drilling him with a headbutt and a tiltawhirl into a DDT.
Ridgeway throws Newell around the ring and lands a headbutt as we enter the uncomfortable viewing side of intergender wrestling, but she’s saved by Webster who sweeps the leg as Moloney kicks him to the outside. Dunne’s interference goes awry again, and the babyfaces of Moloney and Webster take them out with dives, first a tope, and then a tope con hilo from Webster. Not to be upstaged, Newell goes up top too, and lands a cross body onto the pile (except we don’t see her take off, just the landing).
They brawl around the ring, but we see nothing, apart from Newell in the background bringing a ladder into the ring. She tries to climb, but Dunne cuts her off and tosses her to the outside. Morgan Webster then repeats it to him, then Ridgeway, then Moloney as the set is complete. Yep, this is one of those British wrestling ladders where only one side can be safely climbed, so don’t expect a lot of the American-style brawling on top of the ladder spots.
Newell tosses Ridgeway to the outside, but Dunne throws her out, as Webster hops up the unsafe side of the ladder and punches him off… and the ladder crumbles! Webster tries to climb for the briefcase, but Ridgeway catches him in a Fireman’s carry and Snake Eyes him onto the top turnbuckle before dropping him with a Michinoku driver. Ridgeway goes climbing next, and Moloney just shoved the ladder into the ropes to cut that off.
Pete Dunne slides in to stop Moloney again, and then sends him into the corner before propping the ladder against the turnbuckles… and it’s finally used as a weapon, or rather a landing pad, as the camera… pans down to show Webster pulling out a second ladder. Way to blow the intrigue for later on! Moloney crashes into the ladder with a back body drop, and Dunne sets up the ladder in the ring to go climbing again… but Newell rejoins and sweeps the leg before connecting with a Shining Wizard!
A referee slides into the ring to hold up the ladder, but Morgan Webster rejoins with a second ladder, and sets his up next to her. Hey, that ladder’s usable from both sides! They fight adop the ladder, but Ridgeway and Dunne run in to shove them down, before arguing over who should get the ladder next. Instead, Moloney just dropkicks it onto them, and then he too needs the referee to help stabilise the structure so he can go climb it.
Webster cuts off Moloney, when Ridgeway runs in with a bicycle kick to Webster… Newell cuts him off with a superkick, and climbs the ladder herself, but Pete Dunne pulls her down and lands an enziguiri, before moving the ladder and climbs it again… only for Moloney to connect with a dropkick that sends Dunne flying, and collapses the ladder into the referee.
As the referee sold the ladder like death, Moloney placed the broken ladder in the corner and grabbed the (hopefully) stronger one. Dunne slid into the ring and powerbombed him onto the now properly broken ladder, as Webster ran in and hit a reverse rana onto Dunne, before Ridgeway kicked Webster out. Newell next, and she hit a Canadian Destroyer (or maybe the Welsh Valley Destroyer, I don’t know), before grabbing the safe ladder.
Newell climbed up, but was cut off by Pete Dunne and a steel chair to the knee… then to the back, and with the ladder placed over Newell, it was a matter of time before Dunne climbed up and unhooked the briefcase to claim the win, as Moloney and Webster watched on helplessly. ***
The problem with ladder matches is simple – when done right, they’re good mixture of highspots and psychology. Here, the psychology largely went out of the window. The seven hundred words above described a series of spots as the action kept flowing from one person to the next, and to the next… and so on.
With the ring being small, and the ladders so flimsy, the match felt rushed because it had to – just in case both of the ladders broke. Don’t get me wrong, the match wasn’t horrible, nor were there much in the way of botched spots (which, for five guys at a time, could have easily happened). But perhaps British wrestling should just steer clear of whatever-in-the-bank ladder matches, or just ladder matches in general. British ladders just aren’t strong enough!
Damian Dunne vs. Tyler Bate
Some happenstance here – I’m watching this a little over 24 hours after seeing these guys in tag team action at PROGRESS. Bate, at just 19 years of age, has the tools to be a major star, especially given that he’s already worked for the likes of Germany’s WXW and CHIKARA. At 19… God, I feel old.
Dunne attacks Bate from behind to start us off, but Bate fires back with charging headbutts and uppercuts, before grabbing a headlock and using his boot to kick Dunne from a headlock. A cross body gets a two-count, before Bate works a wristlock, and flips Dunne to the mat. Bate punches at Dunne’s lower back, and works into a single leg Boston crab as Dunne grabs the ropes.
Dunne avoids a suplex, then runs into Bate with a knee to the midsection as he mounts a comeback with some stomping, before choking Bate across the middle rope. A snapmare from Dunne is followed by him standing on Bate’s face, before a kneedrop scores a near-fall. Bate tries to fight back from a knee, but gets clubbed to the mat again.
From the corner, Bate launches in with forearms, before catching a kick from Dunne and dropping him with a headbutt. A double underhook suplex gets turned into a shoulderbreaker by Bate, but he runs into a knee, before retaliating with an Exploder suplex.
Bate grabs a sleeperhold then swings Dunne around, before a deadlift version of Yuji Nagata’s Backdrop Hold gets another two-count. An airplane spin sees Bate get very dizzy, before dropping Dunne to the mat and going to the top rope, where he lands on his feet from a moonsault, before taking a spear for a near-fall. Back to their feet, both men trade forearms and chops, before Bate flips out of a backslide and into a knee strike.
Dunne ducks a penalty kick attempt and scores a two-count from a roll-up, then hits a superkick, but takes a clothesline as Bate regains the advantage, before he hits a brainbuster out of nowhere for the win. That finishing sequence seemed awfully rushed, but the action that preceded it was as solid as you’ll get. I still can’t believe Bate is only nineteen… ***¾
Chris Brookes vs. Ryan Smile
This is a champion vs. champion match, as the British Young Lions’ champion Brookes took on the VII Pro champion Smile. Neither belt was on the line.
The 6’ 4” Young Lion has a shoulder heavily taped up, and he started by taking Smile to the corner with a tie-up. Another tie-up sees Smile take Brookes into the corner, and another clean-ish break followed. Wash, rinse, repeat, but this time Brookes tried for a chop, but Smile ducked before trying for a series of kicks which Brookes missed.
They go to a knuckle lock, which Brookes turned into a two-handed wristlock as Smile was taken to the mat. Another knucklelock followed as they went for some near-falls, with Smile repeatedly bridging out of the pinfall attempt. Both men bridged out of another pinfall from a knucklelock, and we ended up with a stand-off.
Brookes takes Smile to the corner but gets met with a back elbow before Smile acrobatically leaps over him and ends with a dropkick that sends Brookes to the floor. Cue a dive, but Smile lands on the apron and drags Brookes up there with him for a suplex… before they end up trading chops as Brookes dumps Smile on the apron with a back suplex.
Brookes orders some fans to vacate their seats, and ended up whipping Smile into the third row of non-folding metal seating. At least they were padded. Smile beats the count-out… barely, and walks into a chop from Brookes, who lands a kneedrop for a near-fall. A modified armbar keeps Smile grounded, but he makes the ropes as Brookes pounded away, before Smile took a Ric Flair bump into the turnbuckle, but at a much higher speed.
Smile dazes Brookes with an enziguiri, then lands a back suplex into an uranage for a two-count, but Brookes sidesteps as Smile crashes into the top turnbuckle with a crossbody, before Brookes just tosses him to the outside. Again beating the count, Smile walks into a choke, before Brookes chops him hard in the corner.
A vertical suplex gets Brookes a two-count, but Smile bit the hand of Brookes as he was being picked up. Unperturbed, Brookes put Smile on the top rope and went for a superplex, before being shoved down. Brookes raced back in though, and went again for a superplex, but was pushed away before Smile launched himself into a cross-body off the top rope.
Smile kipped up and connected with a series of back elbows in the corner, before hitting a Yakuza kick and a Blue Thunder bomb for a near-fall. After Brookes got to his feet, Smile went for a springboard cutter off the ropes, but was given a big boot in the back instead, as Brookes followed with a spinning DDT after draping Smile across the top rope. That got him a near-fall, so Brookes followed up with an Octopus hold in the middle of the ring.
Smile freed himself and landed the springboard cutter, then a brainbuster and a superkick, before log-rolling into place to cover Brookes for a two-count, as Brookes grabbed the rope. That cover looked just a little contrived, but we’ll go with it. After going to the outside, Smile climbed to the top rope and missed a double stomp, before turning into a bicycle kick and a half-nelson release suplex, as Brookes hit a kick to the head for a near-fall.
Brookes picked Smile up, but took a superkick for his troubles, and Smile again climbed to the top rope, and this time connected with a frog splash for the win. A good win for the VII champion, but there were parts of which match which didn’t seem to flow well for me. Still, the crowd were into it, and that’s what really helps! ***½
As Ryan Smile celebrated his win, he was attacked with a baking sheet by the masked Kid Lykos – Brookes’ regular tag team partner. The two combined to beat down Smile with the baking sheet, before Pete Dunne ran out to make the save… well, I say “make the save”, he came out with the briefcase he’d won earlier, and threatened to cash it in on Smile.
Dunne smashed the briefcase into Smiles’ head, but as he went to cash it in, Tyler Bate came out to stop it, and Dunne left for the back, tail between his legs and briefcase still in hand. The show ended with Ryan Smile grabbing the belt from Bate, and it looks like Smile’s got at least two obvious challengers for his title in Dunne and Bate…
For a show that lasted just over an hour, you cannot complain at the quality on offer here. Some of the best of Britain were on display, and none of the grapplers involved could be accused of phoning it in. Whilst the ladder match was a disappointment (for me, at least), there wasn’t a single bad match on this card… and for a free YouTube stream you should at least check this group out. C’mon, it’s free!