The Preston City Wrestling Thread

[GPW Kristian Zane]

I enjoyed Dar vs Lionheart and I didn't so much mind that Lionheart won with a cheeky rollup pin.

 

What did bug me though was Dar leaving the ring, in the MIDDLE of the match tohave a go at the promoter and then come back. I thought it would have been better if say, Fludder had actually come to the ringside area and then Dar took his focus off Lionheart to have a go, whilst still being in the ring and THEN turn into a pin attempt, I think that would have been better. The match as a whole though was fair decent.

Edited November 21, 2013 by GPW Kristian Zane

[king_dezeeuw06]

To be honest I felt like the last shows were too comedy heavy so I'm relieved that the 4 main comedy guys are all in one match on next show rather than being spread out. I don't mind the odd comedy match and all the guys are good at what they do but one per show is enough for me.

 

I have no idea how much Vader can do these days so I was expecting to see Vader just destroy someone (somone like Bubblegum or Rayne), get his signature moves in and look like the monster and gernally have a squash match that would protect him. But now he's got Mastiff it's going to have to be competative so it will be very interesting to see how that goes.

 

Also Steen had best match on every show from past weekend, please bring him back.

[air_raid]

Also Steen had best match on every show from past weekend, please bring him back.

 

And completely contradictory to his (very believable) evil psychotic cunt heel routine, he's a really nice bloke in real life. I love when someone that's actually really sound is talented enough to convincingly portray a complete arsehole.

[GPW Kristian Zane]

To be honest I felt like the last shows were too comedy heavy so I'm relieved that the 4 main comedy guys are all in one match on next show rather than being spread out. I don't mind the odd comedy match and all the guys are good at what they do but one per show is enough for me.

 

I have no idea how much Vader can do these days so I was expecting to see Vader just destroy someone (somone like Bubblegum or Rayne), get his signature moves in and look like the monster and gernally have a squash match that would protect him. But now he's got Mastiff it's going to have to be competative so it will be very interesting to see how that goes.

Also Steen had best match on every show from past weekend, please bring him back.

Could well be a "Passing of the Torch" moment.

[apsouthern]

Fourth match announced for Festive Fury is...

 

Kris Travis vs Joey Hayes in a Hair vs Hair Match

[Big Benny HG]

Kris Travis vs. Joey Hayes, HAIR VS. HAIR, announced for 6 Dec.

[air_raid]

Kris Travis vs. Joey Hayes, HAIR VS. HAIR, announced for 6 Dec.

 

At least after that, we'll be able to tell them apart.

 

Although, I think Joey with a grade 1 would look like Lionheart.

[ClassicsGuy]

 

 

[air_raid]

Just watching the extras disc on the No Retreat No Surrender "Big Bad Booty Edition" - fucking hell, Freebird channeling Monsoon with "main event anywhere in the country" regarding Trav v Ligero.

 

Possibly truer of that line for that match in 2013 BritWres, than it was of Tito Santana v Honky Tonk Man in the WWF in 1989.

[ClassicsGuy]

WWE spoiler:

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Wow, exactly 3 weeks in between Davey Richards wrestling for PCW in Preston to wrestling for WWE at the NXT tapings in Orlando. Amazing when you think about it.

 

[close spoiler]

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Edited November 22, 2013 by ClassicsGuy

[Richie Freebird]

What was the main event on that show 'Raid? Was that just randomly shouted out during the match or in a fan interview clip of some sort?

Edited November 22, 2013 by Richie Freebird

[air_raid]

What was the main event on that show 'Raid? Was that just randomly shouted out during the match or in a fan interview clip of some sort?

 

It was on the afternoon show which was main evented by Doug/Dar predictable 15-minute broadway. It's on the "Magic Mark interviews the fans" section of the extras disc. Mark has just finished chatting to Mrs Fludder and is about to get the thoughts of RP, but you inserted yourself and he got your thoughts instead. I think he was a bit scared, you had a manic look in your eye.

 

Here's a collage I knocked up of the encounter (click to enlarge) :

 

[Richie Freebird]

Ah right, cheers. I'm glad somebody stole my DVD of that show this weekend.

[cobystag]

I really enjoy your reviews, there's always at least one thing I'd forgotten about that pops up

 

Thank you very much for the kind words Ap, it's greatly appreciated. That was still intended to be brief, random thoughts... And yet I still do all that. But there was one major thing I forgot about on Night 1:

 

-After Lionheart had beaten Dar, Hayes came running out with the briefcase. The crowd was on fire. They didn't care that Hayes was a "heel" - I'd argue he's become more popular with the fans since the turn - All they wanted was the belt off of Lionheart, so I loved Lionheart superkicking Des to void the cash in before it could happen. Lionheart smugly got in Hayes face before walking out but in that moment, after the wars with Trav and, in my eyes, being the PCW success story of 2013 in booking and matches, Hayes really did get to look a star at that time.

 

-Further thought, am I the only one who see's that Lionheart's heel turn was completely in the right? He retired and the fans kept asking him to come back. He makes a one off appearence in April's rumble, wins it and gets a future title shot as well as vengeance over Hayes for beating him in his "retirement" match. Things are quiet for a few months, most fans forget about the title shot, so he comes back at the end of Doug/Ligero, a match in which in my eyes Doug had definitely veered across that heel/face divide in order to keep the belt against Ligero, and Lionheart takes the belt from Doug after cashing in, similiar to how Kris Travis beat him the year before. At that moment Lionheart definitely had not acted heel-ish in any way, but still the crowd turned on him. Still that now means we have heel Lionheart who I feel is better than his face persona. After all, Lionheart was originally the "bad" guy in the feud with Travis until the crowd came round and began to start cheering for him before the end of his first PCW run.

 

Anyways, afternoon show:

 

-During Doug/Moss I was having flashbacks to six years ago when I saw this match-up for the first time. As it was back then it was a solid match up between two heavyweights as you had Doug's technical skills frustrate Moss and some genuine power on display from Moss with the overhead belly to belly suplex. It felt like the match was really just about to start to step up when it finished at under 8 minutes. I'm not going to complain tho as they had a good opener and a rematch on a main show one day will be better.

 

-Danny Hope had tassles. Uhaa was amused. Uhaa wanted to wrestle. Hope claimed he'd forgotten how to wrestle. Uhaa was surprised by a snap powerslam to show Hope still has some moves. Hope showed more moves by dancing. Uhaa didn't. Hope hulked up. Uhaa killed him. A haiku written by cobystag.

 

-D'Lo and Holly were clearly enjoying themselves in the ring and having a laugh, unable to contain their laughter in front of that crowd and it's chants. They did a completely different match to what you'd expect two former WWF Attitude era wrestlers - They had an All Star match complete with "chicken" chants, stalling and crowd interaction that felt totally against their little blow-up the night before. The rest of the crowd loved it and you're never going to see that match up happen in England again.

 

-Dave Rayne came out wearing a fake muscle body suit that made him look like he had bitch tits for the Masterlock challenge. Just as the mic work was taking place I was thinking it would be a novel idea for Rayne to attempt to put Masters in a Masterlock of his own, and that's exactly where they went with it. The explanation behind it being that Rayne believed that while Masters had been taught the Masterlock - or Full Nelson to give it it's "proper" name - As a rib the trainer never taught him how to break out of a Full Nelson so Masters, as he would be unable to reverse the move himself, believes the hold to be unbeatable. Before Rayne could apply the hold to Masters, Dave Mastiff came out to intercept Rayne's Full Nelson Lock challenge and accept the real Masterlock. Rayne argued that his challenge came first and when a straight punch to Mastiff's mighty beard literally had no reaction from the big man himself, Mastiff gave him the Finlay roll and the big running Senton splash before challenging Masters for the next time he's back in the country. Now THAT match up is going to be something big.

 

-Post intermission saw a ludicrously entertaining six man to hype up that evenings Tag Title match between reigning Champions, Team Single (Rampage and Bone) against Project Lucha (Kirby and Ligero). The third Team Single member Bubblegum joined his partners whereas Mad Man Manson joined Project Lucha. Going in you'd expect Single vs Lucha to be the driving focus on this match with Manson and Bubblegum reprising their on-going feud as a little break from the serious nature of the match, but Manson was of a form in this match. Kayfabe killing remarks, in-jokes for all six people in the match in regards to T-Bones living arrangements, and some physical comedy involving Bubblegum repeatedly attempting the Karate Kid crane kick and a run through of Lady Of The Lake's on the face side culminating in Manson failing to perform the move. Eventually things did get a bit more serious as Team Single and Project Lucha battled on the outside and towards the entrance way as in the ring Bubblegum's attempt at the crane kick was again foiled but Manson kicked him low in full view of the ref as the face team was DQ'd.

 

-Johnny Kidd and Noam Dar put on some of the finest technical wrestling displayed all weekend. This is the kind of match Kidd was brought in for and Noam was able to keep up with the veteran every step on the way. Whereas the match against Myatt you could hear the crowd murmur and talk amongst themselves, the crowd seemed a lot more gripped with this back and forth struggle over holds, most likely due to Dar's popularity as the silence was silent with people transfixed on the ring. Mind you there also were less people in the venue than the night before so that could also be a factor. Kidd put Dar over clean and I wouldn't mind seeing him return to a Preston ring, but against the right opponent.

 

-Steen vs Travis was for me the match of the afternoon and was a complete contrast to the match they followed. This was anything but technical, this was a brawl, this was a fight. While I wasn't at the April show I got the impression that this match wouldn't have been as good, but it was still immensely enjoyable. There were some hijinx outside the ring involving forced sexual positions and flash photography. These two have great chemistry and I would love to see a third match between the two occur on an evening show. The finish was incredible with Trav jumping back off the middle(top?) rope onto Steen's shoulders and nailing him with a reverse 'rana before a Tiger Driver got him the victory. I got the impression the move was supposed to be his Death Star Piledriver but Steen flipped himself over not realizing. Still an impressive finish and a great match to bring to a close the afternoon show.

 

-The DVD/Blu Ray boxset will be worth it to have the Q&A included as you'll hear Steen talk about which wrestler gave him the best career advice he could ever hope for, which wrestler did Hardcore Holly attempt to kill as part of a prank story and an incredible tale involving El Generico and Daniel Bryan.

 

 

 

 

 

Ugh, these were supposed to be brief, small write up's and I still end up talking far too fucking much....

[cobystag]

-Kicking off Night 2 I thought So Cal Val had made a mistake when she announced the opening match as a tag match rather than a fatal four way, but that turned out to be my mistake. For whatever reason I had it in my head that the match involving Lionheart, Doug Williams, Noam Dar and Uhaa Nation was a four way, especially with the stip that if anyone bar Lionheart won the match, they would challenge him for his PCW Heavyweight Title on Dec 6th. But I was wrong and the tag match felt weird as a result. Why was Doug allowing Lionheart to make pinfalls when you'd think he'd want another crack at the Title after missing the previous nights show? I'd made a bold prediction the night before that after how Uhaa beat Ligero, he would win the four-way (I know...) and then beat Lionheart for the belt in December. But Uhaa got slightly lost in the shuffle during this tag match and didn't get to look as impressive as his previous two matches. And this match was all about Noam Dar against Lionheart as Noam had vowed before the match to win and then beat Lionheart in December. But after his knee bar submission on Lionheart was thwarted by Doug's top rope bomb scare knee drop it was Noam himself who was pinned by Lionheart. Lionheart post match said that there would always be a debate as to who was the better wrestler between himself and Noam, but there was no argument as to who the smarter of the two was, alluding to some sort of backstage alliance with the promoter? He said that in December, Noam would not be his opponent as he wanted to face someone more "Phenomenal" and with that the crowd went mental. If that match is to take place, that would be a bigger coup than John Morrison 12 months previous.

 

-I didn't really get into Holly vs Moss and I can't really blame that on my pre-match expectations. I was expecting a brawl, an intense, stiff fight and got... Nothing like that. Holly said Moss looked more like a bodybuilder than a wrestler. Upon asking if he was there for a bodybuilding competition, Moss replied he was there for a FIGHT and then I thought things were going to kick up a gear... But it didn't. This match plodded along until it ended consisting of elbows and clotheslines. Holly was probably the import I was impressed with the least over the weekend, but he clearly loved his time over and the crowd loved him. He did seem very genuine on the mic post match although I sincerely hope we don't see a rematch as was teased at the end.

 

-Mastiff vs Steen was for me the match of the weekend. Probably the best Steen match I've ever seen live and the best match Mastiff had had in a while. This was everything I had hoped for and more. I am guilty of having my expectations set too high which only results in my own disappointment. But I could not have loved this match anymore. Two big guys beating the hell out of each other and throwing bombs. So much good stuff in this match. The build up and tease of both men missing cannonballs in the corner. The insane nearfalls down the closing stretch as the match could have genuinely gone either way. This was the kind of match where both men end up coming out of it looking the better whether it was victory or defeat and this was Mastiff's biggest win in PCW to date. Steen definitely needs to be brought over again next year.

 

-The decimation of Bubblegum was more of a segment than a match (well, a LOT more of a segment) but it was a thoroughly entertaining one. Bubblegum attempted to woo Kong after his failed attempt the night before. And it looked like things were going well between them until he took off his Man City jacket to put around Kong, he revealed the back of his Team Single t-shirt which claimed he was "Ready To Mingle" with in smaller writing underneath "But we're fussy - No fat chicks". That obviously caught Kong's eye and when Bubblegum attempted to explain it away by saying he wasn't all about the "Skinny dip" and that he liked to "Chunk dunk" Kong did the crowd a favour by squashing him within a minute. Very fun and rewarding segment after Bubblegum's actions over the weekend.

 

-With Bubblegum destroyed in the match beforehand and the Beast from The Chase managing Project Lucha, it seemed like a Tag Team Title change was likely. And these four had a really good back and forth match that genuinely had you believing that PL were going to take the belts until The Beast betrayed them. There was still a hope spot after that but a brutal DDT from T-Bone with Kirby's legs on the top rope confirmed the Champions retaining. Team Single now tie with Fight Club for the most defenses of the Tag belts with two apiece and they really have become a fantastic team together. Individually in ring they are both good heavyweight wrestlers but as a tandem they are not just two good singles wrestlers thrown together, they have become a GREAT tag team. Which is something I wasn't expecting when they were first put together in April. They work very well as a team, one little aspect that I love is that when one of them is on the ring apron, they will be shouting out encouragement and throwing punches into the air to match their partners offense. Just the little touches you wouldn't expect from two primarily singles wrestlers. And speaking of singles wrestlers, Project Lucha aren't teamed up in any other promotion but you wouldn't think it by how they work together. This is now the second time Project Lucha have challenged for the belts and the second time they've been screwed out of them so I could see them eventually taking the belts third time lucky. But Team Single need to dominate the tag division for the time being.

 

-Liger vs Allmark was an unexpected treat in how good it was. Whereas Liger vs Kirby was the big, long, epic main event style match, this was more of a sprint. Well, as sprinty as Liger can get these days but he is still quick on his feet. I was surprised at how much offense Allmark got in, especially with the fact that he won. It seemed like all match they were building up Liger's Shotei as he missed it/got reversed at least four times and then Allmark got the surprise pinfall victory with a La Magistral cradle that looked smart enough to get a real three count but also lucky enough for Allmark to pin Liger like that. I'll be honest, in the moment I was pissed. I was annoyed that the match had ended, I was annoyed that Liger had lost and I was annoyed that he had lost like that. But after a moment of two of being butthurt, I realized you couldn't really have asked for a better match between the two with it's placement on the card and how Allmark beat Liger. I was pissed after all that build up for the Shotei it never happened, but that's what made Allmark's pinfall so surprising and all the more satisfactory that Liger was caught so off guard like that he didn't even get his key move in.

 

-When Joey Hayes music hit I was wondering what was going to happen. Southside had already posted that Shannon Moore wasn't on their show the next day and he wasn't seen at the meet and greet but I can't remember PCW saying anything about whether Moore was or wasn't there. And when Richard Parker told Hayes that his "scheduled opponent" hadn't shown up, they really weren't going to mention the name Shannon Moore. And why should they? Fuck him for being a druggie loser. I'd be surprised if there was anyone who was gutted he wasn't there. But I'm going to go against the general consensus of people who liked D'Lo vs Joey as I could only tolerate it. I was waiting for D'Lo to put Joey over, but it never happened. Joey had been booked fantastically in Preston in 2013 with big victories over Paul London and Super Crazy, a narrow, epic losing battle against Noam Dar and then two well deserved victories over Kris Travis, so I hated that he had to beat D'Lo via DQ and then D'Lo immediately got his heat back by no-selling a forearm to the back and then disposing of Hayes with a Sky High and then the Lo Down. But it made the crowd happy.

 

-I loved The Rocky Horror Picture Show segment although I know a few friends hated it. But then I'm a fan of the film so seeing Hope as Rocky Horror and Manson as Dr. Frank N Furter had me in hysterics. Manson really *was* Frank N Furter at that time with the make up, black corset and stockings and the conviction in which he lip-synched along to "Sweet Transvestite". Mastiff as Riff Raff was an inspired choice especially when I feared he would come out as Eddie - Although I would love to have seen Mastiff come riding out on the motorcycle!

 

-And then the main event. I remember going into Festive Fury 2012 not expecting that much from Kris Travis vs Chris Masters and thought it was an odd match-up but they completely blew me away and had one of the better matches of the night. In May, even with loving the first match up, I again wasn't expecting that much from the rematch as the first match could have been a fluke but they managed to BETTER it and have one of the best matches of 2013 in the UK so far. Again, despite myself, I was trying not to get my hopes up, to not expect too much, but I do have to say I thought this match was the weakest out of their trilogy. But please don't take that as a bad thing by any stretch, this was a really good match and a fitting close to Supershow 3. They would have been hard pressed to beat their second match to begin with. And there was a fair amount of drama in the match with Travis throwing himself out of the ring at Masters only to come crashing through a table out on the floor. Masters was really aggressive in dominating Travis and working over his back, demanding he stay down and being vicious with chair shots to the back. Travis showed great fire and determination in his comebacks and surviving the Master Lock. But I hated the finish with the ref getting knocked down, Hayes came out and punted Trav, Masters put Hayes in the masterlock but as soon as he let the limp Hayes go, Travis caved his head in with a chair shot that floored Masters for the ten count and the victory. I didn't like that Travis got the win in the series like that and how ineffective it made Joey look twice in the one night.

 

All in all three great shows. Preston have been on a roll for all of 2013 and are becoming one of the most consistent promotions in England with show quality and big names imports. Not a single bad match all weekend and Steen vs Mastiff was MOTW for me. In fact Steen was MVP of the entire weekend and I really do hope he gets brought over again.

 

Now December is stacked with a potential AJ Styles vs Lionheart match and even if that match doesn't take place, you've still got Mastiff vs Vader, Travis vs Hayes in a hair vs hair match and Addy Starr making her Preston debut where I feel she's going to be a natural fit for a future match against April Davids.