By Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames
The Irish Centre, Birmingham
Dan Moloney def. El Phantasmo
The afternoon of action picked off with this tepid affair, with the humidity in the room these guys kept the pace slow for a majority of the contest before going full throttle in the final few minutes. It started off slow with a little comedy thrown in for good measure, this isn’t my type of entertainment and it seemed the audience were not really that interested. I do like El Phantasmo and the man has impressed me at times, however I feel sometimes his comedy routine is overlong. Dan Moloney on the other hand is a man you love to hate, and hate to love, with his full on physical style he looked dominant throughout and looked menacing while doing it. Nice opening contest but a little slow early on.
Sean Kustom def. Blake, Terry Isit & Brady Phillips
The next match featured a variation of styles and sizes, the match was fast flowing, exciting and hard hitting. Each combatant was allowed to shine and got themselves over to those who didn’t know them. Sean Kustom once more prevailed and looked very impressive doing so, he looked the star throughout the contest and seemed to be the one most likely to win. This was a very good match, very technical, very athletic and very fast, just a shame a bigger audience wasn’t there to bolster the atmosphere.
Chief Deputy Dunne def. Alex Gracie
This again featured more comedy than wrestling, it worked, it was funny and the audience seemed to enjoy what was going on in the ring. Chief Deputy Dunne has really exploded in the last 18 months, but you do question what is next for Damian Dunne, could we see the gimmick evolve? This was the first time I’d seen Alex Gracie work and he looked good with what he did, it was hard to fully form an opinion as this was predominantly a comedy match. Overall this served its purpose on a humid afternoon, it ticked the boxes and the right man won.
Southside Tag Team Championship Match
The Joseph Conners Experience ft. Ligs (Joseph Conners & El Ligero) def. The Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Matt Fitchett) The first tag team contest of the afternoon was a solid wrestling affair and the first time I have seen Joseph Conners work as a face type character. His team tag team with El Ligero as you can imagine was technically sound, as was their opponents who after a back and forth opening settled down to a cracking tag team contest. The match was back and forth with both teams excelling against one another, the teamwork was technically efficient with all four men working incredibly well together. The wrestlers had the audience hooked from the get go, and what the guys gave in the ring the audience gave back in participation, it created a great atmosphere with the match split right down the middle. The Besties in the World were great opponents; however, the Joseph Conners Experience was too much and too strong. They stepped up in the closing moments and retained the Tag Titles, great contest.
Joe Nelson vs Harrison Bourne – No Contest
To calm us all down we were treated to a contest featuring two very accomplished young wrestlers who went toe to toe for around ten minutes, the in-ring contest was technically efficient. What started off slow turned into a quick fire, very competitive match which had the audience heavily invested. For two relative newcomers they worked a great match with a European/Lucha feel, they looked adept and well trained and excelled in the ring. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by a crude run in resulting in a no contest.
Monster Mafia (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) def. Trial By Violence (Gabriel Kidd & Saxon Huxley)
The second tag contest of the evening was one of the best matches of the day, Monster Mafia were phenomenal, and watching four big men throw each other around has never been better. Trial By Violence were also very impressive, especially Gabriel Kidd who has improved tremendously over the last year. The match was hard hitting and brutal, as good as Gabriel and Saxon were, Monster Mafia were better, the alliance of Ethan Page and Josh Alexander work amazingly well together. The teamwork of both was really great to see, the splitting of the ring, using the ref and breaking of the rules was so delightful to see. The dominance of Page and Alexander was exciting, the audience ate up the in-ring action and were fully behind Monster Mafia, Page on the apron talking trash throughout was highly effective. Kidd and Huxley had their moments too, they pulled no punches and were relentless in their beat down, and the match had a few close calls before the Mafia secured victory. Excellent match.
Southside SpeedKing Championship Match
Robbie X © def. Mike ‘Speedball’ Bailey
The main event was worthy of being the match to close the show, featuring two phenomenal performers in Robbie X and Mike Bailey they tore the house down in a flawless contest. The early stages featured a back and forth struggle as both men settled into a rhythm, Speedball struck first with a thunderous kick to the chest of Robbie. The match then settled down as Robbie attacked the left leg of Bailey, he worked away and kept the heavy hitter grounded. This was from start to finish an exceptional contest, Robbie X is still in my opinion one of the most underrated guys in the United Kingdom, and his exchanges with the equally impressive Mike Bailey were flawless. Speedball fought back and came back into the contest, his stinging chops and kicks could be felt by the audience at ringside, and the atmosphere was at fever pitch for this match. This was arguably one of the best matches of the day, this wrestling contest was technically efficient, incredibly hard hitting with many near falls, it personified why wrestling is an art form. Robbie X retained in one of the best matches I’ve seen live in 2018, both men should be proud and have our respect.
You can follow me Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames for South West Wrestling coverage
