By Jake Clarke @JakeCCK
HOPE Evolution 84: See you on the Kip side, Superbad leaves
19/04/19, Forest town arena, Mansfield
Back again with another HOPE review as I returned to Mansfield for Kip Sabians last Mansfield show hence the incredible show name, ‘See you on the Fip side’. This was also my thirteenth show of the year. So, heading into this show I probably wasn’t as excited as what I have been for previous events. It was a fine card, but you know, I just wasn’t optimistic and you know what, I think I was fair to be that way. Let’s run through the show and I will explain what I thought was lackluster about the show and what was great.
Jake McCluskey defeats Tommy Kyle
Tommy Kyle made his Mansfield debut against a man making his Mansfield return, Mr Jake McCluskey. McCluskey always delivers and he did tonight in this opener with Tommy Kyle. The crowd were relatively good throughout this first half. The match began with a lockup and the technical basics with Jake getting the edge on the lesser experienced Kyle. From then onwards the match took a faster pace and it felt like constantly Jake would gain the upper hand, just proving to be a tad smarter in his delivery of offence. Eventually, Tommy would gain control grounding McCluskey and working on him methodically. He then hit a springboard forearm for a close 2 count. McCluskey would then regain control, taking it to Kyle and would put him away with that wicked inverted Michonoku Driver face slam thing. Great move. A really good back and forth contest to kick off the show. Both men looked good and a win for Jake on his first show back gives him some good momentum going into future shows. McCluskey also looks like a really serious wrestler which adds some legitimacy to his character, he doesn’t really do a lot of the Moonsault-schtick now and he’s became a very good all-round performer. His gear is beautiful too. So, book him everyone. I dare you!
Warren Banks defeats Alexander Hyde to become Hardcore champion
This match was another one of the better things on the show. The only minor issue with it is that it didn’t feel like a hardcore match in places, but I don’t think that effected the match overall because it was still solid. Probably Hyde’s best match in a HOPE ring so far. Anyway, the match began with a chair off, both men hitting their chairs together which caused a loud noise which hurt my ears. The strikes started flowing afterwards and it went to the outside. Banks chased Hyde around the ring and through a toy dinosaur at him which was funny. Hyde responded by throwing a chair at his face. The match went back into the ring and a ladder was brought into the match. Warren Banks took a massive back body drop onto the ladder which looked painful to say the least. From this point onwards is where the hardcore kind of stopped and we went to a wrestling match, but it was solid nonetheless. After some great back and forth, Hyde bought out some mini eggs and scattered them across the mat. Warren would down him though and feed Hyde an egg. This caused Hyde to hulk up only to receive a spear for his troubles which put him down for the three count. You know what, this was really entertaining, the wrestling was great as it always is when these two step in a ring and they put on a really fun match. Putting the belt on Warren may have been a good choice in the long run thinking about it because the guy can do hardcore matches really well so I’m excited to see where it goes although I can’t help but feel bad for Hyde because a good reign with the Hardcore belt could have potentially raised his stock within the company.
Anti-Fun Police (Los Federales Super Santos Jr and Chief Deputy Dunne) defeat Escaping the Midcard (Chuck Mambo and TK Cooper)
The best match on the show for me. Was really great to have four top talents goat it in what I dare say was a really fun match. I do have to say TK looked uncomfortable at first but I think as the match went on he gradually became comfortable. The match began with Mambo and TK noticing me in the second row wearing their merch and me and the guys had a lovely moment where we just you know, it was magical. Moving on, the match began with Mambo and Dunne taking it to the mat which resulted in Mambo doing that wicked phone into a wristlock spot he does. Dunne then tried to do it back and the ETM boys weren’t having any of it. Federales then took the call which was great but it resulted in Mambo still continuing control. I have to say this match all the way through was great comedically. TK and Federales then came in and they had a shoulder block contest, neither man was able to ground the other. They then did some smooth sequence stuff which resulted in a flip from Federales because he is agile and well good. TK then did a kip up, messed it up and did another one and landed on his feet. The crowd then encouraged Federales to do a kip up but he failed to do it three times. After TK laughed at Federales, Federales pulled the gun out but TK kicked it up into the air and both guys just looked at the ceiling for a solid minute. Then out of nowhere, Federales delivered a huge forearm to TK. From here on, some great wrestling happened, double team moves and some rad spots. The finish came with a roll up but I feel like that was a suitable choice with how the match was. Overall, great match, the four guys shared good chemistry, the wrestling was really crisp. TK does a beautiful standing shooting star press. It was also comedic gold this match and everything worked. I wouldn’t say it was anything too memorable but it was still lots of funnahhhh.
Rene Dupree defeats Cara Noir
Weird decision from a fan’s perspective to put Rene over Cara who it seemed like they might’ve been building up as a potential challenger to Jack Jester’s championship. Maybe if the finish ended in interference, I could have accepted it. This match was physical from the get-go. Rene came out to applause but that soon ended as the crowd quickly became pro-Cara. The match didn’t begin with your typical lock up, it started with the two men kicking the piss out of each other. Cara began with the advantage but eventually Renes power would be too much for Noir. They would exchange chops and power moves all match long. A convincing near fall came from a snap German, superkick and brain buster onto knee combo from Cara to Dupree but Dupree kicked out at 2. The finish would come when Rene would hit a huge splash onto Cara for the three count and a shock win. This match was technically good, probably the best match I have seen Rene have. Rene just looked really slow in parts, you could tell he was trying but it came across as half assed which I know it wasn’t. This was where the weird booking decisions began. Like I said good match, hard-hitting stuff, was 100% my graps but just the result caused it to fall flat with some audience members and as I said, from a fans perspective, the result didn’t make much sense.
The interval was next and I tell you it felt like it was going on forever. Must’ve gone at least 20-25 minutes. I spoke to TK Cooper and a couple other people but after that it felt like I was waiting around forever. Not good.
Danny Chase defeats ‘Diamond’ Dave Andrews by countout to retain the King of Flight championship.
The wrestling was good throughout this match, tacky in places but it wasn’t bad. There were some decent spots like a backdrop on the apron and some decent near falls but it just didn’t feel like it was a match that was a part of a blood feud between former partners. Chase won what was a fine match with a low blow to DDA on the outside which got DDA counted out. The feud’s obviously going to continue which as well isn’t something I’m overly keen on. Looking at this match then, the match as I have mentioned was technically fine but I felt like I was watching the same match from last month and therefore it was hard to keep engaged. I’m trying to sound fair in all of my criticisms of the show. This feud is supposed to be former tag partners that are now embroiled in this blood feud and I feel that if they wanted to add something to these matches then a stipulation maybe would have worked. Like I said I struggled to keep engaged and a stip added on may have helped. They might be leading to something but I literally cannot tell what it is. Furthermore, it feels like the King of Flight championship is now just a side accessory within a feud. That title is supposed to be one of the more prestigious belts in the company but now it’s an afterthought and something that just brings these two together, the belt never needed to be involved in the feud. So I guess my main criticisms are that the feud doesn’t feel like a blood rivalry and that the second most important title within the company is now essentially a tool to continue a feud.
Nothing to Prove ( LK Mezinger and Elijah) defeat Jack Cave and Sugar Dunkerton by disqualification to retain the HOPE tag team titles.
Christ. If it wasn’t for the controversial finish, I might’ve said this match was my favourite of the night. It had it all, good comedy, good wrestling and a great story. That story being that Cave couldn’t get the job done and he did at the end, or at least we thought he did. So the match began with Suge beating down both NTP boys and then tagging Cave who accidentally hit Suge. They then started arguing with either NTP member continuously trying to break it up but Cave and Suge would stop it. Every time Suge would go for a cool move, Cave would tag in which was funny. I have to say this was Cave’s best ever performance. I don’t know if he’d agree but he was convincing and he sold well as well as delivering his moves well. He looks like he is improving which is good because I really like his character. Eventually, NTP would take control, battering Cave but Cave kept kicking out showing major resilience. Cave would fight back and Suge told Jack to get the tables but then decided not to because he didn’t want to get disqualified. They then went for the 3D but LK broke it up, taking Suge out with a huge clothesline. NTP then hit Cave with a forearm in the corner, followed by an LK cannonball and a beautiful coast to coast from Elijah but Cave kicked out at 1. Shane McMahon is sitting somewhere, pissed off that Cave just kicked out at 1 from his finisher. After Cave took out Elijah and had LK in the corner but LK pulled the ref in the way which resulted in Cave taking the ref out. Magic Mark Adams who was managing the two got another ref and then Cave and Suge hit LK with the 3D to win the HOPE tag team titles and Cave finally got his first win. Wait, no. The original ref came and ruined the celebrations, disqualifying Suge and Jack, I’m assuming because Jack ran into the ref. This led to Nothing to Prove retaining which garnered heat to them. On twitter, I said this was a horrible finish and essentially took a large shit on it. This is storyline progression at the end of the day and I’m a sucker for a good long-term storyline, which this of course is. I do believe that this was an appropriate time for Cave to get his first win but is what it is. It also makes Elijah and LK mega heels. I do think whilst the finish was creative, it wasn’t executed very well and that’s why it kind of killed the match for me. My issue with this match overall is just that I would’ve booked it differently. I was legit pissed at the finish so ultimately, I got worked bro. Good job all involved, great match.
Brad Slayer defeats Kyle Kingsley
This was weird. For starters, Kyle had to come out to his babyface theme because the sound guy played the wrong one. This must’ve been a rib. This whole match felt like a rib actually. From the get-go, Brad was just getting the upper hand on Kyle, out wrestling him continuously. Thinking about it I don’t think Kingsley had an actual control segment. Brad shone throughout this match and he is one of my favourite guys. After some good back and forth, Brad locked Kingsley in a European clutch pin predicament. The ref counted the three but then decided that Kingsley’s shoulder was up. It wasn’t. So was this supposed to be the finish? Looked like it. From then on, the lads continued having a wrestle until Brad finished Kyle off with a sunset flip powerbomb off the middle rope. This was weird because like Kyle is a top guy and Brad isn’t around often. If this means a mini push for Brad, then I will be elated because Brad deserves it. it probably won’t be that though. I also wasn’t too big of a fan of Brad playing up to the crowd. When he was at HOPE last time and when he was at RevPro, he was a serious wrestler who looked like he could kick the shit out of anyone. Whereas because of the playing up to the crowd, it felt really pantomime. I get that the crowd needs to be involved, just wasn’t a fan. It was a fun little match though.
Kip Sabian defeats Hustle Malone
What a match. Easily the best match I’ve ever seen Hustle have. I probably would’ve appreciated the match more if it didn’t start at 10:25pm and I wasn’t bloody knackered. The match began with Kip going straight for Hustle with dropkicks in the corner. Hustle thought back. This match contained some great spots and some really good near falls. Hustle hit Kip with his spinning facebuster thing. Kip hit his tornado DDT. They managed to keep some of the crowd going at this part as well. Eventually, Kip won with a gorgeous burning hammer. This match as I mentioned was really great. It was a good sendoff match for Kip. I think maybe it would’ve been better for the company to put over Hustle because that would have raised his stock drastically. I think also it could’ve been cool if his last match was with somebody, he had history with in HOPE like Cara Noir. As I said though a good main event to end a mixed show.
Overall: A really mixed show with a few weird booking decisions. A couple of good matches though that pulled the show back into decent. Probably the weakest show of the year so far but definitely not a bad show. Their next show is Friday April twenty sixth, a star studded card with Aussie Open, Chris Brookes etc. Come along at Club Republic at Leicester, it’s an over 18 show.
Matches to check out: Anti Fun Police vs Escaping the Midcard
Follow @JakeCCK for wrestling show coverage and discussions
Expect two reviews from me next weekend as I have HOPE again and Wrestling Resurgence!
