By Jake Clarke
Wrestling Resurgence presents Angry Dancing
08/06/19, Martin Hall Theatre, Loughborough
Back again with another review, a Resurgence review. The last review I did was off Resurgence and that was like a month ago. I’ve watched barely any wrestling since then because I have been very very busy. I was looking forward to this though because we had matches like ETM vs Aussie Open, an Artcore match and many more. This was also in a new venue for Resurgence and they actually packed it out quite well so good job to them. Let’s go over the wrestling.
Kanji defeats Gabriel Kidd and Sadie Gibbs
So, this match was supposed to be Gabriel Kidd and Sadie Gibbs one-on-one. Sadie came out to a massive pop. If you watched AEW Double or Nothing, you would’ve seen the vignette of her. Here she was scheduled to take on the “Young Bull” Gabriel Kidd who came out to basically zero reaction. Despite this, Gabe managed to rile up the crowd and get himself a reaction. Gabe said that Sadie wasn’t a good enough opponent for him and out came the returning Kanji. She said that she wants to make this a 3 way and Gabe and Sadie both accepted. The match started with Sadie and Kanji took Gabe out and began to go for each other leading to a nice sequence. There were a few memorable spots throughout this match including Kanji hitting Gabe with around 5 springboard elbows, Gibbs going for her signature Sasuke special but Gabe reversing it, hitting her with an uppercut in midair and the Gibbs finally hitting her Sasuke special. Kanji hit her springboard stunner which she beat Charli Evans with a couple months ago but the pin was broken up. Gabe then went for a tombstone on Kanji but she reversed it into a pinning predicament and got herself a huge win. This was a really great opener. Resurgence have a knack for hosting really great opening matches and this one delivered once again. Kanji getting this win worked as she is set to face Charli Evans in an ironwoman match in August. Kidd was good and an effective heel and he was always going to be the fall guy in this match. Finally, I was really impressed with Sadie, I thought she performed excellently and trust me, she is going to be a huge name in AEW within the coming years.
Roy Johnson defeats Mike Bird
This match might’ve been the weakest of the night but that isn’t to say that it wasn’t good because it was. Roy came out to a good pop and did his usual schtick. Mike Bird then came out and threatened to spit some hard bars on Roy but decided to clock him with the microphone instead. This put Mike on top straight away and he was in control of Roy for a while. Roy then began fighting back and managed to gain some momentum. Mike then floored Roy and went for a diving headbutt but Roy moved out the way but couldn’t finish the job on Bird. Bird went for another splash, missed again and this time Roy finished the job and got the 3. Decent match, nothing to spectacular but the wrestling was absolutely fine. Mike Bird really impressed me. This was the first time I had seen him and he carries himself well and he wrestles really good. I don’t know what it is but I can just imagine that he might be a better babyface but I haven’t seen him in that role yet. Hopefully in the future.
Escaping the Midcard (TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo) defeats Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) to advance to the semifinals of the tag team title tournament
This match was the first match of the tag team championship tournament and it was set to be a banger. This was the first time Mambo and TK had teamed together in a Resurgence and Aussie Open were returning for the first time since November. This match was always going to be good and it lived up to the hype. All 4 men in this match are elite level athletes so therefore this was just a cracker. They began with exchanges and quickly transitioned into a fast paced, back and forth match. Aussie Open took the heel role in the match despite arguably being the more popular team out of the two. Mark Davis was ruthless, using his powerful chops to constantly down both ETM members. ETM were continuously trying to fight back and gather some momentum but the Aussie boys would shut them down over and over. Eventually, ETM would fight back and put Fletcher away with a double foot stomp/Air raid crash combo. My words couldn’t really do this match justice, it was hard to follow all the action as the guys were all over the place. I suggest checking this match out when it hits on demand. ETM getting the win makes sense because Mambo and TK appear more regularly then Aussie Open although saying that, this was TK’s Resurgence return also. My one little nitpick with this tournament is that I feel it is a bit predictable which I will get too later.
Spike Trivet defeats Cara Noir, Zoe Lucas, Chris Brookes and Jayde in an Artcore match
An Artcore match is essentially a hardcore match but with art related objects. Also, the winner of this match would go onto face Gene Munny in the main event for the vacant Resurgence championship, which was vacated by Jack Sexsmith due to injury. In this match, we had the undefeated Spike Trivet, a returning Cara Noir who hadn’t been seen since his loss to Trivet in January, Jayde who has been making serious waves in Resurgence, Zoe Lucas and Chris Brookes. The latter two were making their Resurgence debuts. I’m not even going to begin to try and go over everything that went down in this match. We had multiple insane spots. Trivet putting a drawing piece over Cara’s head, Trivet putting Zoe through a table, a Canadian destroyer from TJayde on Cara and much more. Trivet eventually picked up the win, stealing the pin from Cara Noir. This match was wonderful and probably the match of the night. I urge you to check this out on demand if you want to watch a unique take on a hardcore match. Everyone got their signature moves in and looked really impressive. Brookes was good, he always impresses, arguably one of the best wrestlers on the UK scene and I hope he has a very successful tour of Japan. This was my first time seeing Zoe Lucas, she was really good, she was actually quite easy to get behind as a face which slightly surprised me as she is more well known as a heel in RevPro and over in America. Jayde put in another star making performance, she is coming on leaps and bounds every time I see her, growing into such a fantastic performer. Unfortunately, Jayde has broken her wrist again so I hope she recovers fast and safely. It was nice to see Cara back in a Resurgence ring and it looks like he has unfinished business with Spike Trivet. Speaking of the devil, he was so great on this night, his exchanges with crowd members were fantastic and he’s another wrestler who is coming on leaps and bounds in the ring. Spike winning this meant he was going to be the man facing Gene in the main event.
Hunter Brothers defeat The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne and Los Federales Super Santos Jr) to advance into the semifinals of the tag team title tournament.
The returning Anti-Fun Police were taking on The Hunter Brothers who ended the unbeaten streak of The Henchmen. These teams have really good chemistry and this was another good match despite maybe being a little bit on the short side. In this match, The Hunters would use the same tactics they did against The Henchmen. They would corner and beat down both members of the AFP, displaying great tag team work. Both members of the AFP made the hot tag to one another and hit their best hits on The Hunters but couldn’t put the brothers away. Eventually, The Hunters won, rolling up the bigger Federales to get the win, gaining another victory albeit a little bit fluky. Great match, predictably, The Hunters get the win. When I said earlier that the tournament was predictable, it was not a critiscm and it is definitely not a bad thing. It just is going to be The Henchmen vs The Hunters in the finals unless they throw a swerve at us.
CandyFloss defeats Chakara
This was super good. CandyFloss, the cowardly heel and her ex best friend, Chakara went to blows. Chakara bought a fire and intensity to this match that I hadn’t seen from her before and I think this was a star making performance from her. They traded forearms and CandyFloss tried to slow down Chakara and trap her in submissions. She did this once and Chakara escaped, biting the top rope to force a rope break. However, CandyFloss would lock in a rings of Saturn esque submission and Chakara was forced to quit. Check this out on demand. This was the strongest match I have seen both ladies have and I’m excited to see where this rivalry goes from this point onwards.
Gene Munny defeats Spike Trivet to become new Resurgence champion
Before this match began, Jack Sexsmith came out and officially relinquished the Resurgence championship and announced his intentions to come back for the belt when he is fully healed. This match started hot as Trivet attacked Munny before the match with a steel chair and inflicted a huge beating on Gene, gaining the advantage. Gene refused to give up though, bringing the fight to Trivet. With the crowd on his side, Gene rallied and hit his greatest hits on Trivet. Trivet then fought back but still couldn’t put away Munny. Munny went for a splash and Trivet moved. He then grabbed the belt with malicious intent. However, when Trivet went to use this belt, the lights went out and Cara Noir was stood in the ring. Munny then hit the Ainsley Lariat to win the big one. Excellent way to end an excellent show.
Final Thoughts:
Great show as per usual. Just phenomenal.
@JakeCCK follow for discussions, show coverage and many more
