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What Culture Pro Wrestling
Nottingham, England at Harvey Hadden Sports Hall
Report by Dot Net reader Rob Clark
Potential spoiler alert: This show will be broadcast the WCPW YouTube channel at 19:00 GMT on Saturday 25th March and will be available to view thereafter. Very recommended viewing.
This is a new 64 man tournament taking place over the coming months. This evening features the quarter and semi final matches for the English competitors. A seriously loaded card and keen ticket prices have meant a full house has been drawn out on a cold and wet evening in the English Midlands.
1. Will Ospreay defeated Martin Kirby in a quarterfinal match. First up the ‘Aerial Assassin’ Ospreay, who drew some heat from the crowd and was the subject of ‘Essex Wa**er’ chants. Kirby, a former chairman of the company, has the support of large sections of the crowd. A lively opener, with Ospreay taking the win after a diamond cutter off the roops.
2. Rampage defeated Nick ‘Magnus’ Aldis in a quarterfinal match. Nick drew a lukewarm reception until the ring announcer reminded everyone that he was the first TNA champion from the UK. Typical slow, big man power match. Rampage reserved a small package to get the win, a rather weak ending to an unspectacular match.
3. Liam Slater and Matt Riddle defeated Prospect (Alex Gracie & Lucas Archer). A fast paced tag match broke up the tournament action. A random wooden stick fight broke out mid match. I am not familiar with these teams, but I am sure that had some significance there! Slater and Riddle go over and it is back to tournament action.
4. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Marty Scrull in a quarterfinal match. The pick of the first round matches. Both guys are well over with the crowd. An impressive contest of innovative mat wrestling, Scrull is very impressive interacting with the crowd and drawing heat and humour. After his trade mark finger snap routine, Sabre breaks out of the Chicken Wing and gets the pin fall. Match of the night so far and a minor upset.
5. Jimmy Havoc defeated Zak Gibson in a quarterfinal match. Gibson got instant heat from the crowd due to being from Liverpool. He took the mic and proclaimed he is the number one in Liverpool and the best in England, cue more heat and ‘What’ chants. Havoc took the win and it was time for interval.
Interval
5. Christopher Daniels defeated El Ligero to retain the ROH Championship. This bonus match was announced after the interval. Daniels was a late addition to the card following Cody Rhodes being called away to film Arrow. The crowd was not as hot for Daniels as I expected, maybe they expected a higher profile opponent for him. A solid match with some high flying spots and several comedic moments. Daniels got the win following a moonsault. Never really felt like a credible title match but great to see Daniels nevertheless.
6. WCPW World Champion Drew Galloway defeated Ricochet. My tip for match of the night going in. A good reception for both competitors, TV does not do Galloway’s size justice. He is in full on beast mode early on, tossing Ricochet around like a rag doll. It soon settles in to a very impressive even contest, with numerous credible near falls on both sides. Both men gave their all and had the crowd on its feet. Galloway got the win in the end after a Claymore kick and three implant DDT’s in a row. One of the best matches I have seen live, make sure you watch it on YouTube.
7. Will Ospreay defeated Rampage in a semifinal match. Ospreay was out first and sold a back injury from his first match. A fierce contest with plenty of outside action. The standout moment came when Ospreay performed a frog splash from the top onto Rampage, who was four or five rows deep into the crowd at the time. Ospreay took the win after a ref bump and interference from the Women’s Champion.
8. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jimmy Havoc in a semifinal match. Jimmy started off at a fast pace, performing several high spots in the early going. Sabre predictably took the win and moved on to face Ospreay in the finals event in August.
9. The Prestige (BT Gunn, Joe Coffey, Joe Hendry, and Travis Banks) defeated Adam Cole, the Young Bucks, and Gabriel Kidd. Local favourite Gabriel Kidd took the place of Cody in the main event, alongside Bullet Club. He had been screwed out of a title shot by the Prestige the night before in Manchester. Bullet Club are understandably well over with the crowd and didn’t disappoint throughout the match. They played the reluctant team mate to Gabriel for most of the match, comically refusing to tag him in or include him in celebrations. The expected superkick party broke out on several occasions, before the Prestige managed to take out Bullet Club and isolate Gabriel. A ref bump then leads to them picking up a surprise victory. After the match, Bullet Club took to the mic and start to console Gabriel before turning on him with a triple super kick. Further celebrations followed to send the crowd home happy.
A top notch show, over three hours of action from a very high quality card. It was well above the standard of your typical house show from the major companies. The crowd was brilliant throughout and it should come across very well in the taping. This organisation may only be a year old but they are certainly making an impact!
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