Preston City Wrestling - One But Not Forgotten - 1st Anniversary

[Tim R-T-C]

Vincent McFludder by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

Joey Hayes flies onto Steven Walters by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

Noam Dar is the first PCW Cruiserweight Champ by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

Banks uncertain about laying into Kay Lee by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

Kid Fite celebrates a second Scottish title win by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

Ligero flies from the top rope by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

Lionheart as PCW Champion by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

Kris Travis takes the championship by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

 

The complete photo gallery PCW One But Not Forgotten

[hbkforest]

Another big WOW night in the life of British Wrestling!!!

 

Got to Preston absolutely STOKED for a huge 3 days of wrestling ahead and what a way to start it off! I don't get a chance to write many reviews due to my working hours but with a whole week off I thought that the 3 shows I saw this weekend really deserved a few words.

 

PCW was my first of a huge 3 nighter and I already knew that there was going to be something special happen tonight. I am a huge Kris Travis fan and with the announcement that Travis was to cash in his MITB tonight it was set to be a special night already.

 

On that note let me start with Travis, his match with Rampage Brown. Rampage is a guy I have seen a lot of over the past few months and I wasn't sure Travis was a great fit for him as he seems better facing real heavyweights. He has had some great matches with Stixx at NGW and would be a great fit for Moss or even Lionheart but I just wasn't buying into him versus Travis and it felt a little out of place. Rampage Brown as a babyface against Mastiff would be amazing though! This was the match where Travis's shoulder popped out and looked horrific! The crowd ate the match up though, as they do anytime Travis is in the ring and all in all, with the exception of the injury it seemed to go down very well. At this point I was very concerned for Travis and wondered if indeed we would see him back later in the evening or not.

 

Actual first match of the night was the Cruiserweight battle, yet more embarrassment heaped upon Dave Rayne who is being used perfectly at PCW as he is another who you have to be careful with when using as his in ring work is a little sub standard but his personality and the fact that you seem to be able to make him do just about anything make him one of the most entertaining parts of the show everytime. Great to see Noam Dar winning the title, that lad has a bright future ahead of him! Not so pleased to see the Scottish lads winning the tag titles but I suppose it is better than them being on the MOB. Personally speaking I am a huge admirer of the Blondes and think they would do a great job with a long run with the tag titles. There are a load of great tag teams in the UK at the moment, obviously using Project Ego wouldn't benefit the shows as Travis is so over as a singles guy but there are The Hunter Brothers, The Predators, Notorious B.A.D., The Hooligans and The Leaders all knocking about so it is becoming an exciting time for UK Tag Teams. The England vs Scotland feud is always gonna be a good one though so it is a good choice to get the belts north of the border...bring on some English teams to kick their butts!!

 

Kay Lee Ray vs CJ Banks..... Banks is your consumate 2003/04 Jericho style character, brilliant in the ring and able to work guys (or indeed girls) of any size or shape and make it look fantastic...this little exchange was no different, very comical in places and a great little edge to the match. Great booking as guy vs girl is not something we get a lot of in the UK (probably because we seem to have such a distinct lack of good female workers who could pull it off) and a very well worked segment. Kay Lee Ray is one of the most talented and beautiful ladies on the UK scene at the moment and her match wih Angelina Love should be fantastic...I may have to sit front row for a better view of that one though! Would love to see both Kay Lee Ray and CJ Banks working further afield with some of the bigger promotions over the next 12 months as they seem to very rarely make any appearances that far south (presumably due to geographical location) but they are always worth their money and paying that litlle bit extra for to get into a promotion.

 

Ligero vs Mastiff : For me the second show in a row in which Ligero has stolen the show, his match with Tozawa is going to take some beating and this was maybe never going to quite reach the dizzy heights that match did but they gave it a bloody good go! If Ligero doesn't win the UKFF Top 50 again this year I will eat my hat! Wonderful match back and forth and Mastiff again proved why he is one of the top big men in the UK with his agility and speed, most of which should not come so naturally to a guy of his stature. Fantastic finish to the match and really got the heat from the crowd that the match deserved. Mastiff just has one of those faces that the crowd love to hate!!

 

Hammer vs Gresham, now I am a huge Gresham fan and think that what he brings to the table for such a small guy is amazing but this match was a bit of a car crash. Not PCW's fault as it sounds as though there were a few major issues with traffic getting the wrestlers to the venue so this was somewhat thrown together but having a guy who is 5ft 3 or so against Hammer, who is easily 6ft 6 or above was a littel strange. I remember watching Terry Frazier vs Dupree at IPW earlier this year and thinking the same sort of thing. Hammer is so over with the PCW fans, mainly down to his size that he is always going to be on their cards, just a shame he is so limited with what he can do in the ring.

 

The title match was as expected, a brutal battle with some top hard hitting guys, I think most of what needs to be said about it has been said, Lionheart coming out on top teased that the Scots were going home with all the titles and with Travis's clear injury from earlier it was a real shock to see him actually come out to cash in. He deserves a lot of credit for coming back out and although there perhaps wasn't the classic Lionheart vs Travis confrontation that we had a few months back this was a great end to the show and a wonderful way to send the crowd away on a huge high note. That is a feud that may have some more miles in it as yet!

 

Well done PCW, again you deliver a hugely entertaining show, you have certainly risen to within the top 10 companies in the UK at the moment and in such a short space of time, few teething issues with some of the roster used to really make the push into the Top 5 but every company starts the same way and it takes time to find your feet and push on! Very very much looking forward to the next shows! Keep up the great work and keep pushing forward!