By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
Having survived ‘Point Break’, things were heading into ‘Black Water’ as the genesis of what would become Money Versus Everybody had shocked the fans at the previous show. ‘Black Water’ would be the last show of 2017, a show that would be main evented by a six-way tag contest which saw CCK (the Chris Brookes and Travis Banks variant) and Jinny team up against Jimmy Havoc, Mike Bird, and Wild Boar, a match which CCK and Jinny would win. Outside of this contest, there would also be two Riptide debuts as Matt Cross defeated a man who would grow to become a more important feature of the promotion: Flash Morgan Webster. The number of debuts on the show was notable, and testament to the burgeoning scene down on the Southern coast of England. The ability to cycle in and cycle out a raft of the best British, European and even American talent was testament to what Riptide had created within six months.
However, our night began in the second contest of the evening as Chuck Mambo looked to ride the wave of momentum that had seen him defeat TK Cooper and Chris Brookes. This time, he would arguably be meeting the most challenging of his foes so far in Zack Gibson. If not, he was definitely the least liked. Gibson would initially warn Mambo to take things seriously after Chuck had spent some time fixing his hair, yet a sequence of flash pinfalls ended up with both men looking something akin to a beetle turned upside down as shoulders were raised to avoid a sudden loss. A dropdown and trip allowed Mambo to surf on the back of Gibson, whilst a wheelbarrow armdrag showcased his athleticism. Mambo would even spring back quickly from getting hit by a Gibson suicide dive, taking advantage of Gibson’s desire to jaw with the fans to land one of his own almost immediately afterwards.
This aerial offense would catch Mambo out as a springboard saw him leap straight into a punch. After punching Mambo around ringside and sending him into the crowd at one point, Gibson would cut off some valiant fighting from underneath with a forearm. This only served to fire Mambo up, leading to the two men trading strikes before Gibson was dropkicked off the top rope and hit with Mambo’s springboard rolling senton to the outside. Meteora knees earned Mambo a two count, but he would get caught with a lungblower in the corner after a trip on the second turnbuckle. Gibson wasn’t initially able to capitalise as he missed the Helter Skelter, yet was able to kick out of Mambo’s springboard splash. The Shankly Gates would be briefly applied, whilst Gibson would also land Helter Skelter, but an uncharacteristic mistake – a slip by a Liverpudlian being all too on the nose – saw Mambo hit a running boot in the corner and his White Noise variation for the win. 2017 in Riptide had been a banner year for Mambo, a year that saw him end up knocking on the door of becoming a viable independent main eventer.
What followed was a first for Riptide when focusing on the Brighton Championship Tournament – a singles or tag match between two would be qualifiers. With an alliance spawned out of one kneeing the other in the face and a whole lot of money, Spike Trivet and Damon Moser were not starting off lightly as they would face off against perennial Riptide favourites, Aussie Open. To give them a lot of credit, it was Moser and Trivet who chose the match, answering the Aussie Open challenge, showcasing a hint of guts amidst the antagonism. That isn’t necessarily clear in the opening exchanges as Trivet tries to avoid Davis, whilst Fletcher uses a Davis pancake on Moser as a means to land a shoulderblock, basement dropkick and second rope crossbody. After a corner splash and dropkick combination by the Aussies, Moser had had enough and tagged Trivet in as the privileged one looked at the crowd rather than the action. A decision to duck out of a high five only earned Trivet two chops across the chest, one for Moser (trying to save Trivet), and a face full of Water for Moser as a superkick halted an attempted Spike spit at Davis. To top it all off, Davis would mount the top rope and pour water over Trivet, a move that fans charitably dubbed a ‘golden shower’.
Unsurprisingly, it would take an illegal move to get Moser and Trivet back in the contest, with Moser entering the ring to hit Fletcher from behind, setting up for a springboard codebreaker by Trivet. Running double knees to a seated Fletched would score a two count, before strikes and quick tags kept the Aussie Arrow isolated. However, he would soon slap his way out of the corner, flipping over an opponent to tag out to Davis who wrecked everyone’s shit upon entry. Chops and kicks gave way to a powerbomb on Moser and a sliding forearm in the corner on Trivet, yet a pinfall following a fidget spinner is broken up and an attempt at Close Your Eyes And Count To Fuck is cut off with bicycle kick. Ever industrious, Moser and Trivet would use multiple kicks followed by a set of cable ties to try and neutralise David by tying him around the ringpost, only for the monster to break his way out, eventually hitting Close Your Eyes And Count To Fuck on Moser for the three count. Never a man to go quietly into the night, Trivet would have the last word as he attacked Aussie Open with a chair before Moser Pillmanized Fletcher.
Fresh from her victory over Dahlia Black, Candyfloss would again be place in a multi-person match just like at ‘The Storm’. Her opponents at this event would be Charli Evans, Kaggy, Laura Di Matteo and Rhia O’Reilly, a raft of debutants facing off against Riptide’s sweetest wrestler. An early offer of a lollipop didn’t go down too well with Kaggy, though a punch in the face from Candyfloss made it clear how she felt about this snub. With five women in action all at once, the action kicked into high gear quickly, with Candyfloss utilising her tiltawhirl into an armbreaker on Di Matteo within the opening minute, though Di Matteo turned it into a two count to force the break on the kickout. A couple of other pinfall attempts sought to take advantage of the three other women fighting outside the ring, yet the next opportunity to finish the match saw a cross armbreaker on Kaggy after Di Matteo was dragged to ringside.
Next was the time for Evans to shine as she blasted Kaggy with a facewash, though multiple running knees in the corner had the weird newcomer briefly in control – until O’Reilly threw her with a T-bone suplex and then dumped Evans on top of her with a rolling Samoan drop. Candyfloss proceeded to take to the sky as the risks increased, hitting O’Reilly with a top rope dropkick and landing a suicide dive to the outside, only to be followed by the same move from Di Matteo. A bit of variety saw a straight dive off of the top rope from Evans which leg all five women down at ringside. All five women would return to the ring and trade strikes, before a sequence of moves saw Kaggy hit an Impaler on Evans, Candyfloss drop Kaggy with an armwringer takedown, Di Matteo hit a backcracker on Candyfloss, O’Reilly wipe out Di Matteo with a double arm DDT, and Evans take down O’Reilly with the Stroke. It was Kaggy who still had enough left to break the subsequent pin and steal the win in a result no-one really saw coming.
There was time for another debut as Millie McKenzie competed for her first time in a Riptide ring. Omari would be her opponent, looking to recover after a loss to Eddie Dennis the show before. The match started off at a ridiculous pace as McKenzie quickly showed she was capable of matching Omari’s technical ability with an armdrag out of a collar and elbow tie up, before showing she was no slouch in terms of athleticism with a sequence of reverses, trips and avoidances that ended with a roll up for a two count. Omari struggled to get a foothold in the match in the opening exchanges, getting sent back into the corner with two dropkicks and initially getting rocked with two running forearms. However, a move that saw him turn a third running forearm into McKenzie sailing through the air and colliding face first with the canvas was enough to turn things around and earned Omari a two count.
The two would trade strikes, but a tiltawhirl DDT attempt that followed looked like it had been stalled by Omari, only for McKenzie to reverse the reversal and dump Omari on his head with a German suplex. McKenzie would then hit the stalled DDT and land a suicide dive moments later, almost grabbing the victory with a Code Red as the fight returned to the ring. A huge leg lariat cut off her momentum, Omari scoring his own nearfalls with a suplex variation and a gutwrench into sitout bomb that bounced McKenzie hard off of the mat. McKenzie was able to avoid an initial attempt by Omari to finish, only to charge back into his grasp moments later and get drilled into the mat with what was a swingout End of Days for three.
McKenzie would have her chance to stand tall a few minutes later, whacking Kurtis Chapman over the head with his own keyboard as the Keyboard Warrior was dressed as Santa.
With 2017 in the books, the growth of the promotion as a place to go and see the top talent and view great wrestling action was clear. The upward trajectory showed few signs of slowing down as a season ticket for 2018 showed the vision of the company in terms of their long term future. If it wasn’t already clear that Riptide were sticking around, there were signals of intent all over the shop.
Notably, there was no Jack Sexsmith on the show this time. Though this meant there was no interaction between Sexsmith and Trivet, it allowed Trivet and Moser ‘bed in’ as a unit, before a huge angle at the first show of 2018 would only serve to further their bond of hatred that inextricably linked them together.
