By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
Throughout the year of Riptide’s existence, the Pride Brighton Championship Tournament shows were the ultimate end goal. At every show for the past half year, matches and rumbles had taken place, all to earn a spot and a shot at the gold. It was a chance to celebrate a critically successful period of time that saw increased focus brought to wrestling on the South coast for once, and a grand statement of intention for a company who had earned a lot of support from fans across the country. Even with poor weather causing the scaling back of operations for the rest of the year, the Brighton Championship Tournament was intended to be a chance to enjoy everything that the promotion had offered, become and represented for its fans.
The opening match on the VOD would see the man every Riptide fan loves to hate, Spike Trivet, versus The OJMO, who had already wrestled in a four way qualifying match to take the last Wildcard spot. Trivet set out his stall early by trying to target the arm that had kept OJMO out for a significant period of time. As a ‘shit Gareth Southgate’ chant rang around the room, the OJMO was able to use his wiliness to grab nearfalls on two flash pins, but a running Trivet forearm and a reverse on an Irish whip in the corner allowed Trivet to take control. OJMO’s athleticism was his main weapon, as an avoided charge would allow him to execute a third flash pin attempt, though a Trivet clothesline moments later did almost turn him inside out. After winning a strike exchange that started on their knees, the OJMO would nail an impressive moonsault press for two, only to almost get pinned off of a suplex/codebreaker variation by Trivet as the OJMO was unable to capitalise. Trivet’s finisher would initially be avoided and turned into a half Boston crab, but a brutal powerbomb left the OJMO unable to fight off a move that Trivet seemingly dubbed the Birth Right, the butterfly suplex turned into a neckbreaker over the knee. A perfect position for the number one heel as he bullied the OJMO around, almost got caught out, and has had an ‘easier’ route through than most, if not all.
The second match saw the opportunity for Candy Floss to get at Cara Noir, with the Black Swan having been in Floss’ business for several shows. A John Woo dropkick the moment the bell went set the tone as Floss would try and apply several arm submissions early in order to tap out her rival. Noir showed impressive strength to catch a suicide dive and a jumping rana, though both times it would end with him in a kimura and armbar respectively. Noir’s first singificnt offense came as he held Floss by the wrist and flat foot kicked her several times in the face, though Floss would hold onto Noir’s wrist as well in order to retaliate with a big clothesline. A flip up kick sent Floss back into the corner and almost prey to Noir’s trademark lick, whilst a leglock that ended up with Floss sitting cross legged almost sent her into Noir’s kiss. Another cross armbreaker attempt saw Noir escape by stepping on Floss’ face, before landing a Rude Awakening-style neckbreaker. Suddenly, a trip and a jacknife pin would earn Floss the three count and the route to the Quarter Final. Knowing Noir, this doesn’t feel to me like things are truly over, or that he won’t get involved elsewhere in the tournament.
One of the wildcard entrants, Angelico, would be making his Riptide debut as he took on Chuck Mambo. A handshake between the two men began a contest that saw the opening moments spent on the canvas as the two men traded holds, then trips and pins. A top wristlock would see Mambo utilise the top rope to escape, but his second venture to the top would not be as successful, Angelico halting a dive to the outside by pushing Mambo’s legs off of the top rope. This allowed Angelico to wear Mambo down with submissions, including a seated surfboard and a tequila sunrise. A stomp on the back of Mambo earned Angelico some boos, whilst it also seemed to fire up Mambo who kicked away a corner charge, nailed many, many palm strikes in the corner and dumped Angelico with a tiltawhirl backbreaker. Mambo was on fire at this point as a blockbuster, gutbuster and a double foot stomp off of the apron seemed to have him in control, only for him to springboard and dive into an Angelico dropkick. After Angelico showed his quickness by avoiding strikes from Mambo whilst picking away with his own blows, Mambo would twice escape an attempted crucifix buckle bomb. The first time lead to an air raid crash, the second to meteora knees off of the top and his springboard splash (after an initial slip) for the three count and a popular victory.
Mark Davis definitely had the power and size advantage over Damon Moser, advantages he would showcase at the start as he toyed Moser with an offer of a test of strength and a waistlock takedown had the heel hanging off of Dunkzilla’s body. Moser’s best bet was to hit and move, and he would have some success by targeting the bigger man’s legs, though an attempt to match strikes was always going to see Moser come off the worse for wear as Davis dropped him with one punch. Two huge chops fired off like shotgun blasts had Moser writing in agony, yet he would catch Davis coming back into the ring moments later and go back to working the leg with a dragon screw legwhip and some stomps to the limb. Even with the injured leg, Davis was able to counter a charging Euro uppercut with a vertical splash out of the corner, before earning nearfalls with his sliding forearm and a powerbomb. Moser would escape a first attempt at the Around the World slam, and as Davis went for it again after avoiding a piledriver and nailing two punches, Moser would turn it into a roll up with a handful of the ropes for the surprise three count and the second Money versus Everybody member in the Quarter Finals.
Another match between two popular wrestlers amongst the Riptide faithful followed as David Starr took on Charlie Morgan. The match begun with a handshake, before multiple nip-ups by Morgan allowed her to break a top wristlock. From there, she viciously targeted the arm, even holding on to an armlock through a monkey flip and a slam from Starr. A shoulderblock collision had Starr feeling his arm, whilst his cartwheel escape also suffered the effects from Morgan’s limb attack. A stiff strike would put Starr in control, but after he landed a slam and a suplex, Morgan returned to the arm with a standing armbreaker. After landing her trademark corner kick and pose, Morgan hit a superkick to the arm and slapped on a short arm scissors, only to get powerbombed out of the hold. Some more strikes would work Starr’s arm, but he would dig deep in his playbook to take Morgan down with a chopblock, a rope assisted drop on her knee and a modified cloverleaf/bow and arrow submission for the win. The match would end as it started: with a handshake.
The best match of the night up until this point followed as Jordan Devlin and Kyle Fletcher met in a very competitive contest that opened with some trading of holds before Fletcher threw Devlin six times in succession, the latter with a slingshot over the top ropes for good measure. Devlin would walk away before Fletcher could launch a dive his way, whilst moments later showcasing his own aerial ability with a moonsault press off of the apron. When the match returned to the ring, Devlin worked the arm with stomps, as well as nailing a uranage that flowed straight into a standing moonsault for two. A desperation Minchinoku-style driver by Fletcher had both men down, but it was the Aussie who looked to take control with a crossbody off the top.
After a brief comeback by Devlin with a slingshot cutter and an armlock, Fletcher would nail his opponent with a tiger suplex, a sitout powerbomb, his trademark flip plancha to the outside and a frog splash for a nearfall. Devlin would quite literally use his head to stop the onslaught, landing a headbutt after a succession of strikes for a two count. Flecther would think he had the match won after the Aussie Arrow and a facebuster, but Devlin’s foot was in the ropes. Devlin utilised the confusion to hit a Canadian Destroyer and a package piledriver to completely eliminate Aussie Open from the tournament.
Another contender for match of the night followed as Chris Ridgeway looked to make it a Money versus Everybody clean sweep by defeating Mille McKenzie. To start with, Ridgeway toyed with McKenzie, though she was no slouch on the canvas as she traded holds and reversals, even forcing Ridgeway to ringside with a shove as he sought to regroup. As the match pace picked up, McKenzie would land a jumping rana, suicide dive and wheelbarrow facebuster, only for Ridgeway to take control with a hammerlock and arm stomp. This allowed him to continue to work over the arm and batter McKenzie with strikes, though nearfalls followed soon after for McKenzie with a spear, an ace crusher and a spear.
Realising the need to finish McKenzie off quickly, Ridgeway would drop her with a fisherman buster and apply the Rings of Saturn. However, his deadlift German suplex only sparked a fire in McKenzie, who nailed three of her own in succession. Unfortunately, McKenzie would jump into Ridgeway’s choke when going for an ace crusher, although she managed to escape the first time by rolling under the ropes. When it happened a second time following a brainbuster, and Ridgeway pounded McKenzie across the back of the head multiple times, the ref had little choice but to wave the contest off. Money versus Everybody were three for three, a situation that Ridgeway, Trivet and Moser celebrated on the stage.
The match that most excited a lot of people when the brackets were first announced was the WALTER versus Jonah Rock contest. Both men had been presented as monsters in the promotion, so something had to give. WALTER would kick away an early handshake offer, whilst Rock would earn the wrath of the big Austrian as he feinted a chop. A big shoulderblock exchange would be won by WALTER, but he collapsed on an attempt to slam Rock. Moments later, Rock would come back off of the ropes and WALTER would use the momentum to land the body slam.
Rock would find himself dumped on the ring apron and locked into a half Boston crab, but fired back with a huge clothesline after taking a big boot to the face. Impressively, Rock managed to then get WALTER up for a suplex, following up with a uranage for a two count. WALTER would briefly apply the choke after a forearm exchange, but an attempted German was reversed into a Rock DDT. Rock would also escape a powerbomb attempt, only to get caught going to the top and dumped with a German suplex! The hits kept coming as a Samoan drop by Rock led to a missed moonsault, a John Woo from WALTER and a huge powerbomb for a nearfall. With the two men teeing off on each other – including some of the stiffest chops I’ve seen from WALTER – Rock would drop WALTER with a clothesline, hit the Bullfrog splash and take the victory. Post-match, WALTER did finally accept the handshake from the better man this evening.
The first night of a three night tournament is rarely going to set the world alight; what it does is set the tone for the rest of the contest. That is not to say there wasn’t good wrestling, as the three match finishing stretch amply highlighted. With Money versus Everybody through in their fullest form, and the pre-tournament favourite eliminated, there were plenty of stories that remained to be told come Night Two. Oh, and Dave Benson Phillips, of course. Can’t forget that now, can we?
