2017 - A Year in Review

2017 was the first full year of attending wrestling shows. I've seen some of the best wrestlers on the circuit such as Travis Banks, Mark Andrews and Mark Haskins as well as international talent such as Matt Riddle, Keith Lee and 'Speedball' Mike Bailey. Seeing Will Ospreay live was also a big moment, as he was one on the checklist I really wanted to see.

Overall, I've been to 16 shows this year, all great shows. Here's the run-down:

#1 - PROGRESS Wrestling - Life, the Universe and Everything - 15/01/17
#2 - ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational Night 1 - 04/03/17
#3 - ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational Night 2 - 05/03/17
#4 - ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - Press S5tart - 04/03/17
#5 Lucha Forever - All Rise - 18/06/17
#6 ATTACK! Pro Wrestling and Dragon Pro Wrestling - Thursday Night Throws - 22/06/17
#7 ATTACK! Pro Wrestling and Dragon Pro Wrestling - Thursday Night Throws - 03/08/17
#8  ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - Thank God It's Not Winterslam 2 - 20/08/17
#9 Lucha Forever - SomethingMania - 17/09/17
#10 Rev Pro - Live in Cardiff - 15/10/17
#11 Lucha Forever - Card Subject to Change - 02/11/17
#12 ICW - Fear and Loathing Tour - 5/11/17
#13 ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - SRVRSRSLY - 19/11/17
#14 Dragon Pro Wrestling - Ultraviolet - 03/12/17
#15 ATTACK! Pro Wrestling and Dragon Pro Wrestling - Festive Night Throws - 14/12/17
#16 ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - Under the MistleTour: Cardiff - 16/12/17

That's
x9 Attack
x3 Lucha
x1 Progress
x1 Rev Pro
x1 ICW
x1 Dragon Pro

In these shows I saw some amazing matches including ladder matches, a deathmatch and a Snow Holds Barred bout. I saw surprise appearances from WWE contacted wrestlers including Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Finn Balor, Tommy End and Triple H. Despite all the guest appearances, there are a few wrestlers who I've seen at most shows and they always give it their all. Travis Banks is always a joy to watch, Aussie Open went from singles opponents to one of the best teams on the circuit but my favorites around are 'best boys' Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos, CCK. 

ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - Under the MistleTour 2017: Cardiff - 16/12/2017 - Live Report

ATTACK! Pro Wrestling - Under the MistleTour 2017: Cardiff - 16 December 2017 - Cathays Bingo Hall

1) Mark Andrews beat Ryan Smile

2) Chris Brookes beat Inflatable Kid Lykos beat Mark Davis and Inflatable Kyle Fletcher: Real Kid Lykos killed Inflatable Kyle Fletcher with a scissors. Brookes then choked Davis out with the dead body of his tag partner.  

3) Nothing to Prove (Elijah, Drew Parker and Jayson Bishop) beat Jack Sexsmith, Love Making Demon and El Phantasmo

4) Snow Holds Barred: Travis Banks of the Anti-Anti Fun Police beat Chief Deputy Dunne: The match included a Coast to Coast with a Christmas Tree and Dunne being slammed into Christmas decorations. Santos was also blinded by snow and sent into the crowd where he cheered on Dunne despite his inability to see. 

5) ATTACK! Championship: 'Flash' Morgan Webster beat Eddie Dennis, Mike Bird and Wild Boar: This was a rematch from what was supposedly Mark Andrews' last match at "Mandrews' goes to America" way back when he joined TNA. During the match Webster dived off a ledge by the entrance way.

6) Danny Jones beat Kyle Fletcher

7) ATTACK! Tag Team Championships: Bowl-A-Rama (Splits McPins and 'Fat Katt' Lloyd Katt) beat The Brothers of Obstruction: This was a heated affair and after a good start, Splits tried a suicide dive but got smacked by a wet floor sign in mid air. Splits' face was busted open (again), he tried to carry on but then went to the back. Fatt Katt struggled with the 2-on-1 but then made the comeback until Chief Deputy Dunne and Santos made his way out and Katt was slammed off the apron through some presents. Splits somehow returned  and both Santos and Dunne were sent packing. The Brothers of Obstruction ripped open Splits' mask but Bowl-A-Rama managed to overcome to win the titles in a true feel good moment to end 2017. MOTN

ATTACK! Wrestling & Dragon Pro Wrestling - Festive Night Throws - 14/12/2017 - Live Report

ATTACK! Wrestling & Dragon Pro Wrestling - Festive Night Throws - 14 December 2017 - Cathays Bingo Hall

I've missed the last couple of Thursday Night Throws but was available to make this one which was a special festive edition which included Beano behind the bar and Santa being the host for the evening.

1) Drew Parker beat Jeff Ramsey

2) 'Flash' Morgan Webster and Chris Brookes (with Kid Lykos and inflatable Kid Lykos) beat Posada and Josh Holly

3) Mark Andrews beat Elijah

4) Mike Bird beat Brendan White MOTN

5) Chief Deputy Dunne beat Oliver Sudden

6) Bowl-A-Rama (Splits McPins and Fat Kat Lloyd Katt) beat Danny Jones, Wild Boar and Sierra Loxton

Dragon Pro Wrestling - Ultraviolet - 03/12/2017 - Live Report

Dragon Pro Wrestling - Ultraviolet - 03 December 2017 - The Neon, Newport

This was my first full Dragon Pro show after seeing a lot of the Dragon Pro wrestlers at Thursday Night Throws and Attack shows throughout the year. The main event was originally Pete Dunne versus Mark Andrews but Dunne was pulled due to WWE commitments and Jimmy Havoc was subbed in. 

1) Golden Opportunity Ladder Match: Danny Jones beat Wild Boar, Brendan White and Beano

2) Dean Winter beat Big Grizzly

3) DPW Tag Team Championship Open Challenge: The Brotherhood (Elijah and Joe Mezinger) beat Jayson Bishop and Jay Jewell

4)  #1 Contenders to the Women's title: Sierra Loxton beat Kay Lee Ray and Sofia Ari

5) Posada and Josh Holly beat Jeff Ramsey and Oliver Sudden

6) Mike Bird beat Matt Horgan MOTN

 7) All Wales Championship: Jimmy Havoc beat Mark Andrews

Havoc celebrated cheating to win the belt but was interrupted by Danny Jones who cashed in his Golden Opportunity

8) All Wales Championship: Danny Jones beat Jimmy Havoc

ATTACK! Wrestling - SRVRSRSLY - 19/11/2017 - Live Report

ATTACK! Wrestling - SRVRSRSLY - 19 November 2017 - Cathays Bingo Hall, Cardiff

Dark March) Charli Evans beat Jeff Ramsey

1) Kyle Fletcher beat Dick Riley

2) Drew Parker beat Elijah, Jack Sexsmith, Danny Jones, El Phantasmo and Love Making Demon

After the match, Drew Parker, Elijah and Bishop formed a group

3) ATTACK! Championship: 'Flash' Morgan Webster beat Kid Lykos

4) Eddie Dennis beat Mark Davis

5) Jim Obstruction and Los Federales Santos Jr beat Bowl-A-Rama (Fat Katt Lloyd and Splits McPins)

6) Chief Deputy Dunne beat Travis Banks

ICW - Fear and Loathing Tour 2017 - 5/11/2017 - Live Report

ICW - Fear and Loathing Tour - 05 November 2017 - Tramshed, Cardiff 

A year ago, I attended my first indy wrestling event. I went to a ICW event in the Tramshed. I've been lucky enough to attend plenty other indy shows since them from the best UK promotions such as Progress, Attack, Lucha Forever and Rev Pro. It's only fitting on my one year Anniversary that I attend my second ICW show. ICW has a different vibe, it's more serious and adult and is quite story driven. Given that their big show, Fear and Loathing is a few weeks away, there was a bit of story development in this show which was the last in a series of tour shows outside of Scotland.

1) Chris Renfrew beat Lionheart - music kept playing that distracted Lionheart

ICW World Champion, Joe Coffey ran down the crowd before being interrupted by his opponent for Fear and Loathing, BT Gunn. BT's scheduled opponent for tonight, Bram then showed up and Coffey and Bram beat down BT.

2) Non -title: ICW Women’s Chamion, Kay Lee Ray beat Viper & Sierra Loxton

3) Cardiff Streetfight: ICW Tag Team Champions, Bird and Boar (Mike Bird & Wild Boar) beat The Kinky Party (Jack Jester & Sha Samuels) - in a match that included Samuels moonsaulting off a brick wall outside the building!

ICW Owner Mark Dallas made his way out and spoke about the early start was due to WWE taking place in the Motorpoint Arena. He mentioned he had friends in WWE and brought out WWE:UK Champion Pete Dunne. Dunne spoke about going from struggling to sell 100 tickets in Cathays to now and Dallas then said that Dunne wasn't his only friend and welcomed Triple H! Everyone lost their minds as Triple H showed up at the Tramshed, he put over ICW and indy wrestling and thanked everyone for coming. Unreal.

4) Joe Hendry beat Beano

Wolfgang confronted Ravie Davie then introduced the Purge who he would allow to take his place.

5) The Purge (Stevie James & Krobar) beat Ravie Davie - afterwards Wolfgang said that Davie had earnt his respect

6) Stevie Boy beat Big Grizzly

7) Death match: Jimmy Havoc beat Mikey Whiplash - They traded fists at first before there was a loud bang and I turned to someone to ask what that was. It was Havoc using a staple gun on Mikey's head! Havoc then stapled Mikey in the balls and they traded throwing each other into the barricade taking a few fans out. Havok then did papercuts to Mikey's fingers and between the balls and legs. Havok sent Mikey back first into a chair wrapped in barbed wire in the corner before Havok went head first into a chair in another corner. They threw each other into tacks before Havok brought out lighttubes. He busted one over Mikey's head then taped another to the outside ringpost which Havok was sent back first into. Cinderblocks were then brought into play and after a bit more back and forth, Havok dumped Mikey onto the blocks for the win. Absolutely brutal. I'm not a big deathmatch fan but like any style, when done right it's brilliant and it was done right here. MOTN

The pure shock of Triple H was worth the price alone. Every match was fun, special mention to Beano, a graduate of the Dragon Pro Academy who has all the ability to make a name for himself.  Meanwhile, his opponent, Hendry has improved on his build since I saw him a year ago. Although his gimmick is a bit ropey, he is an excellent heel and I wouldn't be surprised to see more of him in the future. But the main event takes MOTN for bring so damn brutal.

Lucha Forever - Card Subject to Change - 02/11/2017 - Live Report

Lucha Forever - Card Subject to Change - 02 November 2017 - Banking Hall, Cardiff Bay

Lucha Forever returned to Cardiff Bay with the very apt title "Card Subject to Change". All the show's they have put on have been plagued with problems like wrestlers pulling out and arena changes, however, everything was running smoothly until we got the show and they informed us that the ring hadn't arrived yet. Ryan Smile took to the ring to explain that was only one the problems they faced as they nearly didn't have the venue and the two big guest appearances weren't even here yet. Regardless, Ryan said they will put on a great show and he wasn't lying.

1) Chris Brookes, Travis Banks & Toni Storm beat Mike Bird, Drew Parker & Chief Deputy Dunne - originally meant to be Brookes versus Bird this changed due to the show being Card Subject to Change. MOTN

2) The 198 (“Flash” Morgan Webster & Wild Boar) beat Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) - Dunkzilla Mark Davis got injured pretty early on and so they wrapped this up early. Not the best of starts for the debut of the 198.

3) Chris Ridgeway beat Jimmy Havoc

4) Kip Sabian beat Jack Sexsmith

5) Non-title: Lucha Forever Champion, Mark Haskins beat Matt Riddle

6) Eddie Dennis beat WWN World Champion, Keith Lee

Overall a great night, the opener gets MOTN for being a wild match but the main event comes a close second, the fans love Eddie and he made a great comeback to overcome Lee. Both Lee and Riddle put on fun showcase matches and rather surprisingly, both went away with two loses. "Superbad" Kip Sabian continues to shine on Lucha Forever shows.

Revolution Pro Wrestling - Live in Cardiff - 15/10/2017 - Live Report

Rev Pro - Live in Cardiff- 15 October 2017 - Tramshed, Cardiff

Rev Pro is one of the UK's best promotions with massive shows in London including appearances in the past by the likes of AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura alongside top British talent like Will Ospreay, Pete Dunne and Marty Scurll. This was their debut in Wales. Sadly it was badly attended due to a Dragon Pro show in Newport being held the same day. Nevertheless, the talent still put on a good show.

1) Chief Deputy Dunne and "Lord" Gideon Grey beat Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher)

2) Junny beat Charli Evans and Veda Scott

3) Chris Brookes beat Eddie Dennis

4) El Phantasmo beat Ryan Smile and Kurtis Chapman

5) RPW British Cruiserweight Championship: "Flash" Morgan Webster beat Josh Bodom by DQ

6) Travis Banks beat Mike Bailey MOTN

Lucha Forever - SomethingMania - 17/09/2017 - Live Report

Lucha Forever - SomethingMania - 17 September 2017 - Banking Hall, Cardiff Bay

Lucha Forever was back in Cardiff but they've moved out of the Bingo Hall and moved down the Bay. Like the last show, there was a few talent changes. Joey Ryan was originally booked but pulled out (due to no fault of Lucha Forever's) and Tyler Bate was

also scheduled to appear but also dropped out.

1) "Superbad" Kip Sabian beat Bea Priestley

2) Underground Urchin match: El Ligero beat Drew Parker

3) Dahlia Black beat Alex Windsor

4) FSU (Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis) beat Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) Close 2nd Place MOTN

Eddie Dennis announced that this would be FSU's last match as a team.

5) Chief Deputy Dunne beat Jack Sexsmith

Kid Lykos was originally meant to tag with Brookes and Elijah but has broken his paw. He sat at ringside and Jim Hunter was his replacement. Alongside Santos Jr who was at ringside.

6) Chris Brookes, Elijah and Jim Hunter beat Rickey Shane Page and Bowl-A-Rama ("Fat Katt" Lloyd Katt & Splits McPins)

7) Lucha Forever Championship: No Disqualification: Mark Haskins beat Travis Banks MOTN

Overall, an absolute blast. Possibly the best top to bottom card I've been to. Ryan Smile got in the ring and addressed the issues with the previous two Cardiff shows but thanked the fans for their support and announced the next Cardiff show.

Thumbs up from Lykos

Attack Wrestling - Thank God it's Not Winterslam 2 - 20/08/2017 - Live Report

ATTACK Wrestling - Thank God It's Not Winterslam 2 - 20 August 2017 - Walkabout, Cardiff

1)  Eddie Dennis beat Sergeant (Travis) Banks

2) Six-Way: Charli Evans beat "Bronco" Brendan White, Beano, Posada, Charlie Sterling and Drew Parker

"Fat Kat" Lloyd Katt was to trade Los Santos Federales Jr in exchange for the Anti-Fun Police handing back Splits McPins. But McPins turned on Fat Kat and joined the Anti-Fun Police. Aussie Open made the save leading to six-man tag.

3) The Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) and "Fat Kat" Lloyd Katt beatThe Anti-Fun Police & Code McSafety

During the match, Code McSaftey returned as Splits McPins and reunited with Fat Kat.

4) Bird and Boar (Mike Bird and Wild Boar) beat Ryan Smile and Chris Brookes

5) Elijah beat Omari

6) Title versus Career: Attack Championship: Flash Morgan Webster defeated Chief Deputy Dunne MOTN

The whole roster got involved in the match including referee Shay Purser and announcer Jim. Sergeant (Travis) Banks turned on the Anti Fun Police and attacked Dunne.

Attack Wrestling & Dragon Pro Wrestling - Club 100: Thursday Night Throws 2 - 03/08/17 - Live Report

ATTACK Wrestling & Dragon Pro Wrestling - Club 100: Thursday Night Throws 2 - 3 August 2017 - Cathays Bingo Hall

1) Flash Morgan Webster beat “Bronco” Brendan White MOTN

2) Wild Boar beat Josh Holly

3) Ten Person Tag Match: CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos), Elijah, Posada and Kaggy beat Alaskan Bush Brothers, Reg, Beano and Sofia Ari

4) Big Grizzly beat Fat Kat Lloyd - The Brothers of Destruction caused a distraction which led to Fat Kat suffering the loss. The brothers brought out Splits McPins who they kidnapped at another show. Fat Kat fought them off but Splits unmasked to reveal it was Shay and all three beat down Fat Kat. The brothers gave Kat an ultimatum, if he wants to see Splits again, he must join the Anti Fun Police.

5) "Urchin Prince" Drew Parker beat Cal Adams

6) ATTACK Pro Tag Team Titles: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) beat the Anti Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne and Los Federales Santos Jr)

Attack Wrestling & Dragon Pro Wrestling - Club 100: Thursday Night Throws 1 - 22/06/17 - Live Report

Club 100 are the shows Attack runs where they include a few lesser known names who are in training. This was the first Thursday Night Throws which is the first show devoted to the lesser experienced wrestlers. The show was in joint promotion with another Welsh promotion, Dragon Pro Wrestling. The Dragon Pro Academy trains up many of the newer faces on the Attack roster, so they are closley linked.

The show was for the live audience only and not filmed. There were still a few big names, most notably ATTACK Tag champs CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos), ATTACK Champion Chief Deputy Dunne and the main event which saw the two of ATTACK's best tag teams face-off.

ATTACK Wrestling & Dragon Pro Wrestling - Club 100: Thursday Night Throws 1 - 22 June 2017 - Cathays Bingo Hall

1) Danny Jones beat REG
 
2) Brothers Of Obstruction (Jim & Lee Obstruction) beat The Alaskan Brothers

3) Eight Person Tag Team match: CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos), Elijah & Los Federales beat "Bronco" Brendan White, Oliver Sudden & Jeff Ramsey
 

4) "Aussie Arrow" Kyle Fletcher beat Mark Davis MOTN 

5) Chief Deputy Dunne beat Beano

6) #1 Contenders match for the ATTACK Tag Titles: Bowl-A-Rama (Split McPins & Lloyd Katt) beat Mike Bird & Wild Boar 

Lucha Forever - All Rise - 18/06/17 - Live Report

This was one of the first Lucha Forever shows announced. I heard about it first from Will Ospreay on Twitter and immediately booked. The show originally had a four way ladder match between Ospreay, Pete Dunne, Ryan Smile and Travis Banks then David Starr replaced Dunne and Banks would have to beat Shane Strickland for the title to get in. Marty Scurll was also originally announced and was meant to face Mark Andrews (Mandrews pulled out late after suffering an injury at NXT's Download festival shows. The card all changed around but still looked good. 

In addition to the roster change, the venue also changed from a nightclub to the familiar Cathays Bingo Hall. It looked more professional than an Attack show with an actual entrance and two video screen either side of the entrance. 

It's also worth noting that the show occurred during a heatwave. The show was delayed which meant the crowd spent longer in the sun. Not the best way to start. Even the wrestlers felt the heat with guys like Katt and Webster joking about the heat and Dan and Robinson wearing changed attires to combat the warmth. 

Lucha Forever - All Rise - 18 June 2017 - Cathays Bingo Hall

1) Bowl-A-Rama (Split McPins & Lloyd Katt) beat Elijah & Jeff Ramsey

2) “Flash” Morgan Webster beat Kip Sabian

3) Chief Deputy Dunne beat Bea Priestley by DQ

4) Dan Molesey beat David Starr

5) CZW World Tag Team Championship match: CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) beat The Swords Of Essex (Will Ospreay & Paul Robinson) MOTN

6) Six Person Tag Team match: El Ligero, Eddie Dennis & El Mother (Definitely not Martina) beat Mike Bird, Wild Boar & Sierra Loxton

7) Jinny beat Mia Yim

8) Lucha Forever Championship Three-Way Ladder match: Travis Banks beat Mark Haskins and Shane Strickland

Attack Wrestling - Press Start 5 - 03/06/2017 - Live Report

The first time I heard bout Attack Wrestling was watching the trailer for Press Start 2. It introduced me to the weird and wonderful world of Attack and I followed the promotion for years. I attended my first Attack show this year in the Kris Travis Tag Team Tournament and yesterday I attended Press Start 5.

This was always going to be an interesting event. It was made even more intriguing since Santos Jr, under the instructing of Chief Deputy Dunne, destroyed the console which runs Press Start. Attack Wrestling was broken and full of glitches, no body knew what to expect. Especially since there were no matches announced.

ATTACK Wrestling - Press Start 5 - 03 June 2017 - Cathays Bingo Hall

1) ATTACK Tag Team Championships: CCK (Lloyd Katt & Splits McPins) beat Bowl-a-Rama (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos): This was a repeat of the first Attack match I saw live in the Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational. However, with Attack broken, Katt was dressed up as Chris Brookes, Splits was Lykos while Lykos was Splits and Brookes was Katt. The champions retained. Top marks to CCK for staying out at intermission in character.

2) WCWDrew (Drew Parker as Sting) beat ECDrew (Danny Jones as Sabu), ECDrew (Beano as The Sandman) and ECDrew (Brendan White as the Blue Meanie): Drew Parker has been dressing up as the stars of ECW for a while now but his opponents dressed up as former ECW wrestlers and Drew drew inspiration from WCW dressing as "the Icon" Sting.

Announcer Jim Lee (who was dressed as a woman carrying water) spoke about how two guys from Attack stole NXT Takeover. He then announced we were having a rematch between them tonight for the Attack 24/7 Championship.

3) Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne went to a no contest: Bate came out dressed as Dunne, he had the mannerisms nailed and even had a crude drawing of a bear on his knee. Dunne then arrived as Bate, it was strange to see him playing to the crowd. Dunne even had a little moustache but Bate ripped that off and threw it into the crowd. These two went through their usual spots but reversed the roles so for example, Bate used joint manipulation while Dunne hit an aeroplane spin.

Both men hit their opponents finishes then they went into a straight up slugfest. Chief Deputy Dunne then arrived in a wheelchair pushed by Santos Jr (he broke his foot at a previous show). Dunne then introduced the Anti-Fun Police. First Mark Andrews, then Eddie Dennis then Flash Morgan Webster! They took out Pete Dunne and announced they are holding Attack to hostage.

4) Tetris Table Match: Bird and Boar (Mike Bird and Wild Boar) beat Ryan Smile (as Eddie Dennis) and Kyle Fletcher (as Nixon Newell): This was the welcome back from the break. There were two tables on both sides with cardboard Tetris cardboard boxes on each side. Fletcher was fun as Nixon, screaming in a high pitched voice and hitting both the flip Piledriver and the Shinning Wizard. Bird and Boar were also pretending to be each other. Nixon put Boar through the table on one side but Bird went backstage and found another life (a big inflatable heart with plus 1 written on it). This restarted the match and allowed Boar to piledrive Smile off the apron through the second table.

5) Elijah beat Love Making Demon: Elijah has been raging a war on the silliness of Attack which included Love Making Demon. They swapped roles here with Eljiah coming out in the yellow Freddie Mercury jacket and Demon in the black tights and WWE transfer tattoos. The tattoos led to several John Cena style chants.

6) Anti-Fun Police (Mark Andrews, Eddie Dennis and Flash Morgan Webster) beat Travis Banks (as Mark Andrews) and the Brothers of Construction (Jim and Lee Hunter): Banks and the Hunters are usually part of the Anti-Fun Police but were the good guys here. Banks, fresh off his SS16 win in Progress, was dressed as Mandrews complete with skateboard. When the real Mark Andrews was beating down his doppelganger, he told him to "go back to TNA".

The match broke down with Chief Deputy Dunne instructing Santos Jr to destroy the console once and for all, the Brothers of Construction saved it and found the disk to change everything back. Dunne said that if they did this they would be returning as heels with the Anti-Fun Police. Cue the "Moral Dilemma" chant from the crowd. The Hunters said they will do what they always do and fix things. They put in the disk and the lights went on and off. Mandrews, Dennis and Webster returned to their usual selves and danced around. The Brothers of Deconstruction emerged from under the ring but were taken out and Mandrews got the win with the SSP. 

After the match Dunne got superkicked out of his chair and Travis Banks came to wheel his Anti-Fun Police partner to the back. More faces from Attack joined in the in-ring party as normal service has been resumed to Attack. 

WWE WrestleMania 33 Review

There's not a load of stand out matches on the WrestleMania card this year but it's always the highlight of the wrestling year. For the first time,  I've tried to fit in as much wrestling over this weekend as possible and it's been great. In theory, this should be the highlight but with so many promotions running top draw cards it's going to be tough.

Let's start with a quick review of NXT Orlando which took place the night before. The eight person tag match between Sanity and Team Perfect 10 was a great choice for an opener. It was fast paced and never let up. Ohno was obviously the fourth person on Tye's team and was far better in this role than No Way Jose. After his awesome "Fade to Black" promos, the former Tommy End delivered against Almas (who is seriously underrated). The three way tag match was the match of the weekend, just straight up awesome. I would question the booking of having DIY being eliminated first but maybe it was more of a send off for the Revival. I had high expectations for the Women's match and considering we've only seen Ember Moon in short matches, I feared it wouldn't live up. I was glad to be disappointed. Ember showed that she can hang with Asuka. I'm surprised Asuka retained but the dusty finish is the right call to set up a rematch. I do fear what the women's division will become when Asuka inevitably gets called up. The main event was good, not great but the crowd helped make it a main event style bout. I've never been impressed by Roode but he did good here. Overall, as normal a great show to watch. All matches above average which is what you expect from a TakeOver.

Onto the WrestleMania Pre-show. I expected Aries to go over but Neville cheating to win (like Asuka the previous day) opens up to a rematch. Neville has been great since returning and is the main reason why 205 Live is still interesting. The Battle Royal was a disappointment. Who the hell booked Braun to go out early and Jinder to be in the final two. I guess it makes sense for the celebrity involvement but I just don't understand how someone as awesome as Sami Zayn made it in here. I would have had Sami, Braun and Dolph as the final three. The IC title match was okay but nothing special, if it was on the main card they could have done with a hard-core stipulation but this was just the pre-show. I'm sure they'll get a rematch. A bit of a comedown for Dean as his Shield buddies take prominent positions on the card and he's stuck in a match that no one cared for.

Onto the main show. The New Day opened. I don't understand why they are 'hosting' and not in a match. Plus, I can't look at Xavier Woods in the same way anymore. AJ versus Shane was a blast and had the benefit for a very hot crowd. Props to AJ who could wrestle air and make it entertaining. He deserved better. It's not like he's a young guy with plenty of Mania's ahead of him. Also credit to Shane, not only did he pull out his insane stunts but he also looked like Zack Sabre Jr with his submission work and busted out a freaking SSP. Probably match of the night. Jericho and Owens went out next and put in a great match. Owens' finger on the bottom rope continues to show why he's one of the best. I bet facing Jericho at Mania meant a lot to Owens and he deserved it. The Raw Women's Four Way felt rushed for time. Considering the awesome match Charlotte, Sasha and Becky put on last year it felt a bit of a let down. The booking leading in wasn't the best either, clearly Bayley should have lost at the Rumble and won the title here.

The only spoiler I read was that the Hardys were back because WWE sent an email about it. Damn it. But it didn't stop me marking out when they came out. They were possibly my second favourite thing about wrestling when I first started wrestling (after the Rock) so it took me back to my childhood to see them hitting the Poetry in Motion and Twists of Fate. I've also seen their recent work for ROH including a contender for match of the weekend 24 hours prior to WrestleMania against the Young Bucks in a ladder match. Jeff did his silly dive like it's 1999 again and Matt got the belts to win. Strange they are doing the delete taunt but not the Broken gimmick. The mixed tag match was fine for what it was. Without the Miz it would have sucked but it worked in a kind of retro way.

I though Seth versus Hunter was a great match. The crowd didn't seem to agree but they may have been tired by this point. I read another review which I agree with which said if you watched the match on mute it may have been match of the night. After his sucky match last year, it showed Triple H can still go if he has the right opponent. Despite a long and interesting build, Orton versus Wyatt always felt like an afterthought. Both can put on great matches but probably need the right opponents, together it didn't quite work. Luckily, they had the projections onto the canvas of worms and other creepy crawlies which kind of saved this match. I'm sure they could have come up with a better finish but it was kept short so it's fine. Lesnar versus Goldberg must be the best under five minute match ever. Just pretty perfect. You have got to question bringing in Goldberg and leaving him squash the monster and win the title when he can't last more than 5 minutes in the match due to his age but nevertheless, the match rocked. Brock is a beast again and hopefully Goldberg is done. The Smackdown Women had to follow, it was fast a little sloppy and over pretty quickly. Did not care about Naomi. Yeah, it's a decent story that she had to give up the title and come back to win it in her hometown but I couldn't care less. After all this Women's Revolution talk, both women's matches were just thrown together multi-women matches that felt rushed.
I

wondered why Reigns versus Taker went on last. When they brought out JR for commentary I assumed this was the end for Taker. It sucks because I would have loved to see him against Demon Finn Balor and a blockbuster match against Cena. Taker started strong and it looked like we'll see a great showcase. But Taker looked beaten up and a shell of his former self. Roman didn't really know how to build a match around him so he stuck to his familiar routine. It sucked quite frankly and was a let down in the main event to a pretty great Mania. Reigns won and Taker left his hat, gloves and coat in the ring to retire. It was an awful main event but looking back at it in pure storyline terms it kind of works. Reigns was like the new lion in the pack putting out the old alpha male. Taker tried but couldn't keep up with him and lost.

I'm always going to love Mania even if it sucks (see last year) because all of the pomp and ceremony but this one was everything you'd want in a WrestleMania.

On other WrestleMania Weekend shows, Evolve's highlight was Ricochet versus Keith Lee. Whilst from what I saw from Supercard of Honor, the ladder main event between the Hardy's and the Young Bucks killed it. I still need to watch Mercury Rising and hopefully the Progress event but overall, what a weekend for wrestling.

ATTACK Wrestling - Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational 04/03/17 - 05/03/17 - Live Report

I've wanted to attend an ATTACK wrestling show for years, ever since I saw the trailer for Press Start 2 on YouTube years ago. Since they run shows in Cardiff, I should be attending a lot more. These shows were held over a weekend and were a tag team tournament in honour of the late Kris Travis who passed away last year. This tag team tournament set up in his name took place over two nights with the winners being crowned the Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational Tournament winners.

ATTACK Wrestling
Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational Night 1
04 March 2017
Cathays Community Centre, Cardiff

1) Quarter Final: Bowl-a-Rama (Lloyd Katt & Splits McPins) beat CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos): This was a pretty big match to kick off, Bowl-a-Rama are the tag team champions whilst CCK are the big heel team in ATTACK. Splits broke his nose (or as Katt later joked "Broke his face") after diving face first into the ropes on the suicide dive. Despite this, the Champions advanced.

2) Quarter Final: The Models (Danny Hope & Joey Hayes) beat The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.): This was my first time seeing the Models and also the the debut of Los Federales Jr after Sr has gone onto better things. Los Federales was hilarious, screaming high pitch Spanish phrases, he even unintentionally ripped his pants. Despite being the ATTACK Champion, Dunne was eliminated in the first round.

3) Drewy Funk (Drew Parker) versu Elijah Dahl went to a no contest: Drew Parker is currently in a EC-DREW gimmick where he dresses up as ECW wrestlers, he did one of my favourites, Terry Funk whilst Dahl is on a mission to get rid of silly gimmicks in ATTACK. I didn't get to see most the match as they fought away from the ring. They then went onto the balcony section where Drew fell through four tables. That was the end of the match but Dahl continued the attack until Flash Morgan Webster made his return.

In the interval, the ATTACK 24:7 title currently held by a fan named Warren switched hands, a 6 month old baby made him tap. The heel referee Shay ruled that the title had to be returned to Warren because the baby couldn't be shown on the show.

4) Quarter Final: Bird and Boar (Mike Bird & Wild Boar) beat CJ Banks & Sam Bailey: I was unfamiliar with Banks and Bailey outside of their small appearance on the World of Sport special but they quickly assimilated in with the ATTACK culture and won over the fans. Despite being heel, Bird and Boar were also very entertaining and it's good to see them breaking out in other UK promotions. Banks called for beers after a WhatsUp and went to the back to get some, Bailey then fell the numbers. Banks turned back up after the match with beers but was to late.

5) Quarter Final: Project Lucha (El Ligero & Martin Kirby) beat FSU (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews): I believe Ligero is the most underrated guy in the UK indies, Andrews is one of the best whilst Kirby and Dennis are both capable of pulling out big performances, therefore, this was a worthy main event. Looks of quick action from all me with near falls all around. Project Lucha won which set them up as favourites to win the tournament.

ATTACK Wrestling
Kris Travis Tag Team Invitational Night 2
05 March 2017
Cathays Community Centre, Cardiff

1) Semi Final: Project Lucha (El Ligero & Martin Kirby) beat Bird and Boar (Mike Bird & Wild Boar): Both teams were very entertaining as they were in Night 1 and got the second night off to a great start. Some good back and forth wrestling with plenty of near falls and of course, a little bit of comedy too. Project Lucha won to advance to the final.

2) Semi Final: The Models (Danny Hope & Joey Hayes) beat Beer-a-Rama (CJ Banks & Lloyd Katt): Because Splits "broke his face" in Night 1, they did a Raffle (RAFFLE!) for his tag team partner. The winning ticket was 316 which led to CJ Banks coming out. Thanks to performance on the previous night, the fans took to him right away and led to duelling Beer and Bowling chants. The Models were not to be outdone and played to the comedy too, including a section where no one could move Katt's bowling ball, like it was Thor's hammer. The Models advanced which I wasn't too pleased about at first (more on that later).

3) Kid Lykos beat Mark Andrews: With the finals set, there was extra non tournament matches. The first was a straight up high flying showdown. There wasn't a lot of comedy but there was some great wrestling. Mandrews made Lykos look great and put him over in dusty fashion. From a pure wrestling standpoint, this was probably the best of the weekend.

4) Morgan Webster beat Elijah Dahl: This was Flash's in ring return to ATTACK after many months away. Webster managed to get revenge for the likes of Poppa Sunflower,  Love Making Demon and Ravin' Danny Jones by beating Dahl with a little help from Drew Parker.

In the interval, there was a massive raffle (RAFFLE!). One of the prizes was a photo with the ATTACK! 24:7 Champion Warren. A fan named Luke won which led to a Luke chokeslaming Warren to take the title. Heel referee Shay took the title off Luke and passed it back to Warren claiming they couldn't show Luke on the show.

ATTACK Champion, Chief Deputy Dunne made his way out with the hilarious Los Federales Santos Jr and said no man can beat him. Leading rather obviously to Nixon Newell showing up and laying down the challenge.

5) ATTACK! Title Match: Chief Deputy Dunne beat Nixon Newell: There's been rumours of Nixon signing the WWE for the last few months and it seems like she is finishing up but there is some uncertainty. This was a good straight up fight with Nixon looking like she was going to detrhone the new champion. Some shady tactics led to Dunne retaining.

6) Brendan White defeats Danny Jones and Drew Parker and Sam Bailey: Drew was dressed up as Rhino tonight. This was a welcome come-down from the previous matches just before the main event. There was some good multi-man spots. Drew injured his ankle late and Brendan got the feelgood win.

7) Finals: Project Lucha (El Ligero & Martin Kirby) defeat The Models (Danny Hope & Joey Hayes): I was a little bit confused as to why the Models made the finals, they put in good performances but I expected a regular team to face Project Lucha in the finals. Possibly Splits' injury changed that but then the Models went ahead and shut me up. It's impossible to describe this match, I bet it won't even translate onto the DVD, it was just fun, pure fun. There was hardly any wrestling in the first 20 minutes of the match, just four blokes messing around. There was dance contests, taunt-offs, a chicken fight and even a call back to one of Kris' most memorable matches in ATTACK when he faces Martin Kirby and stuck a plunger to his head. The heel referee eventually had enough and called the match a no contest, declaring himself the winner. The new fan favourite of ATTACK, CJ Banks turned up an hit a stunner on the referee. He pulled out his own referee shirt (which was too small) and took over as ref (even if he did go for a crowd surf during the match). Project Lucha won the match, honestly, I don't know if I'll ever laugh so much at a match ever again.

The wrestlers then came out and surrounded the win. Even though they lost, Danny Hope said heartfelt few words about Kris and thanked Mark Andrews for bringing everyone together. Amazing end to a brilliant weekend.