By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
With the Pride weekend shows around the corner, my focus turns to the first time Riptide ran a sequence of shows. Titled ‘Brighton Spirit’, the first night would unfortunately see a blizzard have a significant impact on access to the venue, ticket sales, as well as see some changes made to the matches that were initially booked due to talent being unable to get to Brighton, let alone the Bright Helm centre itself. What you did begin to see at this show was the moving of pieces into position – the final five matches of the show would each have at least one person who will be part of the Brighton Championship Tournament. Plans were clearly being set in place, furthered by the shocking turn of Chris Ridgeway at the previous show that gave Spike Trivet his first victory in a Riptide ring.
Even as the serious business at the top end of the card continued to play out, Riptide still had time for comedy where it worked, none better showcased than David Starr taking on Chuck Mambo at this show – another one I was live at, having braved the cold weather and the icy pavements. Once safely ensconced in my corner of the room, I was witness to David Starr: Wrestling Lifeguard, resplendent in red trunks and with swimming themed additions to his nicknames.
No-one really likes anyone who is required to enforce the rules, so Starr played the heel by instituting a number of them that were designed to halt the offense of his aerial opponent – no dives and no running or eating around the pool area. After a ‘heavy petting’ chant allowed us to know that that wasn’t allowed either, and some stretches by Starr, the match officially got underway. Even with the rules in play, Mambo would have the best of the early exchanges until a hammerlock grounded him on the canvas and allowed Starr to mock the Mambo surfboard. Naturally, the lifeguard would soon find himself the recipient of the move he just mocked, though halted a Mambo suicide dive with a whistle blow and a reprimand moments later.
Mambo would get dropkicked off of the apron, only to run afoul of another Starr rules as he ate a banana at ringside; no eating around the pool area a rule he chose to roundly ignore. This almost cost Mambo the match as Starr tried to convince him for the need to rest before re-entering the ‘water’, almost leading to a countout. As Mambo did try to re-enter, a clothesline knocked him over to set up two ‘Baywatch’ suicide dives – a hilarious way to break your own rules. This hubristic hypocritical response to the rules cost Starr seconds later as he would slip on the peel that Mambo dropped earlier. The challenge by Mambo that Starr was a ‘phony lifeguard’ following the bursting of a beach ball launched a series of strikes exchanges, with a close fall coming off of springboard Meteora knees from Mambo and a plancha to the outside seconds later completely defying any and all rules.
After a Starr Cherry Mint DDT, Mambo was able to fight back with a superkick, only to get caught on the top rope and taken down with a belly to belly superplex. Still, it was Mambo who came out on top with a gutbuster and a springboard splash. Symbolically, Starr would leave his whistle in the ring; we’re probably not going to see Davy Swimming this Pride weekend.
It was a very different proposition in the next match as Chris Brookes took on Jonah Rock, a man who looks like his breakfast meals weigh more than Brookes does. An early takedown attempt by Brookes that saw him deposited on the apron with derisory ease only served to highlight this. As with any big man, a sleeperhold is an effective potential hold, yet Rock managed to carry Brookes’ full weight over to the ropes without too much messing. The decision to chop Rock that then entered Brookes’ mind was one of madness, the follow-up chop having Rock motioning for the ref to call for the bell. A slam and senton had Brookes in agony on the canvas, before he was crushed in the corner with an avalanche. An attempt to pick up the pace even got the member of CCK nowhere, as Rock squashed him with a running crossbody.
A fight atop the turnbuckles gave Brookes his first real opening as he took the monster down with a superplex, and though Rock would catch a suicide dive moments later, Brookes would blind him with the ring apron to set up for a stomp the face. This was followed by a tope con giro as Rock was finally looking vulnerable. A springboard cutter earned Brookes a two count, only for Rock to get the same result from a full nelson slam. Brookes would also come close with Death by Rollup and with his trademark octopus hold, yet it was a Rock pop-up Samoan drop that turned the tide enough for the New Zealander to take to the sky. A missed moonsault could have been more costly, but a ridiculous clothesline and brainbuster set things up for the Bullfrog splash and a three count for the debuting behemoth whose position in the Brighton Championship Tournament would be given to him by Brookes as a show of respect.
Some nice chain wrestling, trades and reversals opened the next UK vs New Zealand contest on the show as Candy Floss met Charli Evans, with a very early attempt at a cross armbreaker broken by Evans reaching the rope with her foot. A forearm to the face by Evans hinted at things getting a little nastier, but it would be Candy Floss who used a handshake as a means to try and win with a small package that scored a two count. A drop toehold was turned into an arm submission, one that Candy Floss used to take Evan’s hand and start a clap together. Another submission was broken by the ropes, though Evans would soon fight back with an STO into the corner and a running boot for two. After some kicks, a modified bow and arrow would be applied before Evans turned it into a pendulum, eventually dropping Candy Floss face first into the canvas.
Some strike exchanges led to a running forearm in the corner by Evans and a shotgun-style dropkick by Candy Floss, before a double knee armbreaker would see Candy Floss follow up with a suicide dive as the match spilled to the floor. The arm attack continued with a double foot stomp to the arm as Evans grabbed the top rope, yet she was able to fight off a cross armbreaker and nail a Saito suplex. A top rope crossbody would gain Evans a nearfall, but a straitjacket backstabber by Candy Floss highlighted her ever increasing repertoire of offense. Following an STO, Evans would head back to the top, but this crossbody saw Candy Floss turn it into a Fujiwara-style armbar for the tapout. What we began to saw were more wrinkles to Candy Floss’ game as she mixed up her sweet style with a more edgy element where necessary.
In a match that would be main event on the night but be in the semi-main on the VOD version of the show, we would see our next qualifiers for the Brighton Championship Tournament come from a triple threat tag team contest involving Aussie Open, South Pacific Power Trip, and British Strong Style. After a lot of pre-match shenanigans (including Trent Seven trying – and failing – to sing their own theme song as Tyler Bate played the drums on stage), the match would get underway with Travis Banks and Kyle Fletcher. A sequence of quick blocks and reversals, as well as a Banks handshake and subsequent trip of Fletcher set the tone for the match early on; at once hard hitting and fast paced. A facebuster and a neckbreaker combination would earn the Trip the first nearfall, though Mark Davis soon redressed the balance with a right hand to TK Cooper’s face. When Seven would get his first time in the ring, he would unleash a series of chops on both members of Aussie Open, though an attempted assisted senton wasn’t pretty but did crush Kyle Fletcher.
A sequence that saw all six men miss attempts at crossbodies then heralded the beginning of the aerial ringside bombardment. Suicide dives from Banks and Bate hit their mark, though Bate would cut off Fletcher from hitting his step up rolling senton, instead landing a rolling senton into the ring own for a nearfall. Some more misguided Seven aerials saw him crush (once again – poor fellow) Fletcher with a slingshot rolling senton that relied heavily on leverage. Upon getting the hot tag, Davis would take the fight to both members of the Trip, including an Around The World on Cooper that relied on Bate breaking the pin at two. BSS weren’t exempt from his righteous fury; a single armed powerbomb on Bate and a punch to Seven left them in position for Fletcher to finally hit his dive to the outside.
Having played second fiddle for a lot of the contest, it would be the SPPT who came closest to getting the next pinfall after a combination inverted driver/double foot stomp had to be broken up by Seven. Seven would again try and ape Bate, making a pretty apathetic attempt at Bate’s bounce back from the top rope, yet Bate would do it properly moments later to hit a lariat/German combination for a two count on Davis. An elevated double DDT almost scored the win for the SPPT, but Davis would punch a Slice of Heaven attempt out of midair. The assisted cutter by Fletcher wouldn’t be enough to finish the contest, and Banks would eventually hit a Slice of Heaven. However, a Fidget Spinner and a Close Your Eyes And Count To Fuck on Cooper was enough to win a frenetic contest and see the Aussie Open qualify for the Brighton Championship Tournament.
After a profanity-laced tirade, Spike Trivet would make it clear that unless his matches had anything to do with the Brighton Championship Tournament, he would want nothing to do with any contest, let alone one against Zack Sabre Jr. Whilst this match had been one that a lot of fans had looked forward to as they hoped to see Sabre Jr. beat Trivet to within an inch of his life, Trivet would offer Chris Ridgeway as his stand-in: a more than capable opponent and one that could match Sabre Jr. in terms of strikes and on the mat. The early exchanges were sloppy, signposting each man’s desire to outgrapple the other, before the first of what would be several strike exchanges would see both wrestlers using a range of slaps and a kicks, before a Pele kick to the arm and a trip had Sabre Jr. in control. Every exchange saw the men battling for supremacy, though a stamp on the elbow and a neck twist seemed to finally offer Sabre Jr. a chance to work his submission offense.
Ridgeway was content to break the rules to get ahead, using a handful of hair to force a submission to be broken, but earning a slap to the face for his troubles. A rolling leglock slam – for lack of a better description – had both men then try to apply kneebars and then mix it up with slaps, only for Ridgeway to go to the eyes to halt his opponent. A brutal brainbuster scored a two count, whilst the kickout would just see Ridgeway transition into an armbar that would subsequently by shifted into another pin for a nearfall. Still Sabre Jr. came back – a dragon screw legwhip and a PK-style kick followed up by a second rope tornado DDT and suplex as he sought to build enough momentum to end Ridgeway’s resistance. A Northern Lights suplex almost allowed Sabre Jr. to apply one of his many armbar variants, only for Ridgeway to end up in the ropes.
It was still Sabre Jr. who was coming out on top of the exchanges, blasting Ridgeway with two PKs and myriad other kicks, yet a kick to the shin would lead to a spinkick and piledriver by Ridgeway for a close nearfall. After a sequence of reversals, Ridgeway would use a suplex setup to transition into a choke, only for Sabre Jr. to instantly reverse it into a submission. With the referee pulled out of the ring by Damon Moser, Spike Trivet would enter the ring to get that slap around the face that everyone in the Bright Helm Centre had been waiting for. Unfortunately, the distractions would end up costing Sabre Jr. as a rope assisted rollup was enough to keep him down for three and give Ridgeway the win. Worse was still to come; a post-match assault saw Trivet score the visual pinfall on Sabre Jr.
With Night Two to come, the main thing of note outside of the matches covered would be a segment that saw Jack Sexsmith attacked by Lord Gideon Grey and Kurtis Chapman, only for the heels to be run off by Chuck Mambo. However, Money Versus Everybody had got what they wanted – Sexsmith appeared a broken man, one who couldn’t even trust that Mambo wouldn’t turn on him either. The two were scheduled to team up for Night Two, but after what Ridgeway perpetrated the show before, Sexsmith had to have eyes in the back of his head.
In the battle of Money Versus Everybody, money was definitely winning.
