Hello I’m Iwan Mackenzie and Lets get ready to Rumble, Lets get ready to Rumble, get steady and ready and rumble, everybody rumble!…
I’m back with another review this time taking me back down to Brighton for Riptide’s second show of 2019, the 2nd Annual Riptide Rumble.
Last years Rumble show is still for my money the best Riptide show ever, they had so much variety in the undercard and the rumble match itself is one of the best I’ve ever seen, certainly the best in Indy wrestling that I’ve ever seen. So previously in Riptide: Jack Sexsmith’s vendetta against Spike Trivet continues after defeating Trivet’s right hand man Damon Moser; both TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo picked up big momentum over Candyfloss and Mark Haskins respectively heading towards their title match at this show; and Cara Noir is still on the search for the win after show stealing performances at the last two shows.
Going into this show we knew that ETM stars Chuck Mambo and TK Cooper finally come to a head with the Riptide Title on the line, Spike Trivet needs to earn his place in the rumble match by facing Jordan Breaks as well as the return of the Aussie Open challenge and lots more great stuff.
After a relatively stress free day at work, I headed off straight after with a pizza in tow with me as well. Departed from Bromley South at 16:34 unfortunately having to get the stopping service but I was still able to get London Victoria relatively quickly and grab an earlier train at 17:13 so I could get down to Brighton even sooner. Got into Brighton around 18:15 and headed down to the venue which is only a three minute walk down the hill; met up with Grangier on route and then met up with Joe in the queue and headed inside fairly quickly.
What happened next though needs some explaining because I got in and saw my German friend Tobi who had said nothing about being there at all, so I had to second guess myself that it was him but I got in and said to him in a jokey way “You Cheeky Bastard!” but gave him a massive hug as I was so pleased to see him leading to this wholesome picture:Another friend of mine, Cass was there as well who also said that she wasn’t there but ended up fooling me, cheers guys.
Got to my usual space to see that Riptide now use bleachers on the right hand side of the venue which gave it a gig type look but it was very good for allowing people to see everything that was going on, I stood next to the bleachers though as I’m tall enough. After our intro and list of the rules from returning ring announcer Rosa Rose, we get our first match.
In the opening contest we get Riptide’s most hated character Spike Trivet face off against Brighton’s own Jordan Breaks in a Rumble Qualifying match. Spike cut a scathing promo before the match putting down the crowd, the company and saying that he will be Brighton champion like the most confident man in the room.
As you’d expect from a Jordan Breaks match, this was super technical, a game that Spike rarely dips into but he showed that he’s very apt at it; Very good chemistry shown between these two but that’s hardly surprising considering both men have trained at Knucklelocks together on the reg. Spike becomes more and more aggressive as the match goes along with some hard slaps across the face of Breaks but Breaks doses answer back with some stretching submission holds and European uppercuts to Spike; the finish comes when Spike gloats about winning the rumble later but Breaks catches him off guard, hooks in the European Clutch and gets the surprise pinfall to qualify for the rumble match later on!
Really surprising result to be honest as I had Spike to win the rumble match but I do like when I get a nice swerve; after the match we give Spike the HA! point of shame and the classic Football chant of “You’re shit and you know you Are!”.
This was a really good opening match though and benefited both men by dipping into each others games.Next up we have the return of The Aussie Open Challenge hosted of course by Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher; Nearly blew my voice out early doors with the “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” chant but for them I would. The challenge is answered by Team Whitewolf’s A-Kid and Carlos Romo and then is also answered by the returning Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos of #CCK, Mark and Kyle put up their ATTACK! Pro Tag Team Titles on the line as well after a Tweet that Mark had put out earlier in the day, Mark does hit Kyle with his belt though when he takes it off his waist. This now marks the second year in a row where the ATTACK! Pro Tag Titles are defended at the Riptide Rumble with Team WhiteWolf being involved.
The match is announced as being under Lucha rules which for the yet uninitiated means that tags aren’t completely necessary and once one of the legal members of the team exits the ring a new member of the team can enter. All men start the match off by just kicking each other a lot with it going outside early doors, Romo and A-Kid keep Suiciding diving onto #CCK and Aussie Open before A-Kid puts the cherry on top of the cake with is beautiful Cresent Moonsault to the outside which leads to early chants of “Riptide” from the crowd, I should mention that this all happened within about a minute and a half. More great combo moves from all the teams involved including Lykos and Brookes doing a slingshot stunner by Lykos with a follow up spingboard footstomp from Brookes; all the men except A-Kid and Lykos spill to the outside, A-Kid and Lykos go to dive to the outside but Davis and Brookes catches them respectively and throws them into Kicks from Fletcher and Romo.
Then A-Kid and Lykos get thrown onto the apron where Lykos grabs the rope to hold himself up but the jumps down grabs his shoulder and walks to the back, looks like he’s injured himself in a freak accident again, this really bummed me out as I was really looking forward to seeing Lykos wrestle again and to see him get injured just a week after Mania week is awful, this really dampened the crowd as well who were all concerned about Lykos, god known what the wrestlers were thinking as they’ve just seen one of their colleagues get injured. The five men get back in the ring and trade off with strikes but it looks like they go the finish early with Davis hitting A-Kid with the Close Your Eyes and Count to Fuck to pick up the win and retain the ATTACK! Pro Tag Team Titles.
This was an awesome sprint of a match that I was really enjoying but after Lykos’s injury, I found myself not being able to enjoy it as much as before. (Side Note: Since I wrote this review, Kid Lykos has announced his retirement, have a great retirement man)
Next up we had the battle of the 19 Year Old Candyfloss face off against 19 Year Veteran Mercedes Martinez in Candy’s biggest match to date.
They start off very technical with Candy focusing her energy onto Mercedes arm as she’s looking to lock it in the CandyCane Armbar, Mercedes does use her smarts thought to reverse it but Candy’s never say die attitude is persisting her through this match. There are several bouts of the match where Candy is in complete control of Mercedes, showing off her ZSJ inspired offence in the process which is the best version of Candy when she just wants to destroy somebody’s arm; despite getting a lot of respect from the crowd, Mercedes does take the heel role in this match which was the wise decision as Candy is one of Riptide’s most loved so nobody was going to with Mercedes over Candy. Even after all the torture being inflicted on her arm, Mercedes was still able to pick up the win after hitting the Fishermen’s Buster, Mercedes does put over Candy after the match by displaying her merch, nice touch.
This was one of Candy’s best performances to date as she didn’t look out of place against one of the best wrestlers in the world and continued a great run of form of her’s this year; Mercedes was telling me afterwards that she was working with injured ribs and as a result went softer in the ring, if Mercedes is like that with an injury then how good is she without one, she truly is great.
Afterwards we get a bit of a music malfunction as Candy leaves the ring but Su Yung makes her way out of the curtain stalking Candy back in the ring and spraying her with Red Mist before making her exit out clearly setting up Candy’s next feud with Su Yung at a future show. It was a cool debut but without the lighting and music for her, it lacked any real impact, unfortunately it paled in comparison to EVE’s Su Yung Debut.
In our last match before interval we get the tag team grudge match of Paul Robinson and Chakara against Jimmy Havoc and Jinny. This all dates back to Havoc and Jinny’s rivalry over the spring of last year which lead to Jinny defeating Havoc in a brutal no DQ match at last year’s Rumble event, afterwards Havoc suggested about them forming a team; in the summer Chakara and Robinson were thrown together as a team for a match against Kip Sabian and Amir Jordan but made it work and became a formidable force, after Havoc/Jinny’s match against Aussie Open at Black Water, Chakara/Robinson attacked Havoc and said they were the best intergender team in the UK and challenged them to a future match; at Deep Six, Jinny made the match official and then attacked Robinson.
Unfortunately though due to NXT UK taping’s being the week after this event, Jinny couldn’t compete due to contract reasons which was almost like a private joke in this match, Jinny does tell Havoc that she’s found him a great replacement and said she’s like the female version of him, cue Martina coming out in her Session Goth alter ego and its now Havoc and Martina vs Robinson and Chakara.
So as a result we get more of a comedy match rather than a heated brawl which I was kind of hoping for, in hindsight this was a good choice as it was a nice piece of levity after three quite serious bouts. They all go their separate ways with Havoc and Robinson brawling on the outside and Martina getting caught in a wristlock of all moves by Chakara, thankfully Havoc teaches Martina a reversal to it which turns out is just a stunner, he also helps her backbody drop Chakara. Martina and Havoc have the advantage for a bit but Robinson/Chakara is able to get the momentum back via dubious tactics, Martina is in trouble for a big portion of the match but Havoc gets the hot tag in and goes to work on both of them using uppercuts and a big time Death Valley Driver, he does his running dropkick which Martina wants to do as well but she messes it up which allows Robinson to get the jump on Havoc thus sending him to the outside; Martina does fight back briefly but Chakara rolls her up for the win for her team.
After the match, Jinny throws her high heels at Chakara/Robinson whilst Havoc asks for a beer, he gets a Desperados which he says is better than nothing. He gives a heartfelt speech about not being on the UK scene much longer due to his AEW contract but does say that he will get fired from their eventually as well, he calls Riptide one of the best crowds in the UK and that all the talents love working for Riptide, he thanks Jinny as well as call Martina ‘Alright’ before one last toast and leaving, narrowly evading a dance to April Lavine’s “Sk8terBoi” which the crowd continue to sing even after it dies down. Overall, this was really entertaining to watch even though I was a little disappointed that I will never see the originally scheduled match.
Interval now as I went over to say thanks to Jimmy for his work and entertainment in Riptide specifically, also spoke to Aussie Open and Chris Brookes about stuff in general, should note that I did pick up merch from Davis and Havoc. Decided to visit the off license over the road to get a drink as the queue for the bar was honking, decided to pick up a lovingly refreshing can of Pineapple Fanta.
Spoke to Team WhiteWolf as well, as well as pick up their sick USA tour tee before getting back to the spot as the second half started, I got lost and got on the bleachers which I felt bad as my mate Meg was behind me and I didn’t want to obscure her view so I bent down and was still able to see the match, even though my legs were hurting. Just telling you this because I didn’t have the clearest view of the next match meaning the review of the match won’t be as on point as the others.
Our next match back from interval is a personal dream match for me as Riptide Match Machine Cara Noir takes on Money-vs-Everybody’s Chris Ridgeway. They start off really technical with a lot of ground based offence which you don’t normally see from Cara Noir but considering how versatile a performer he is, is anybody surprised. Its when the kicks start to happen though is when the match kicks into next gear as they pummel each other, Cara even pulls out three JOHN WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’s in a row which made me a very happy boy indeed; it does look Cara might finally pick up that win he’s been seeking but Ridgeway is able to lock in the rear naked choke for the submission win.
Certainly a match that I’ll need to re watch on demand when it drops just because of my view issues but it was a great match as expected from two top performers, now lets get onto what happened after the match…
The rest of Money-vs-Everybody run down (Trivet, Moser and Purser) to beat down Cara Noir and break his ankle as per their MO but Ridgeway steps in the way of Trivet thus preventing from doing anything and showing respect to his opponent, Trivet says that he owns Ridgeway which angers him but Spike kicks him low and he starts to beat down Ridgeway in a almost Patrick Bateman level psycho beatdown, Moser helps Trivet break Ridgeway’s ankle but not without some resistance at least. Money-vs-Everybody essentially kick out Ridgeway out of the group as they leave a wake of destruction behind; I like this wrinkle to Spike’s character, the Brighton title is driving him mad.
In our penultimate match of the night, the Brighton Title is on the line as Escaping the Midcard stars TK Cooper and champion Chuck Mambo go head to head.
TK (sporting some new gear) and Mambo go mostly friendly for the first five minutes of this watch with some great technical stuff but when Mambo floats over to avoid TK he seems to aggravate his ankle which is already taped up, TK like a shark smells blood in the water and goes after the ankle straight away thus eliminating the friendly competition of the contest.
The physiology of this match is beautiful and something that most title matches on the UK scene lack, TK’s targeting of the ankle is deadly and everytime Mambo try’s to mount a comeback TK just knocks him back down. Even though their are some TK fans in the room, the crowd is behind Mambo as he is Riptide’s hero; When Mambo does fight back and mount a comeback the crowd is fully behind it, Mambo fights back with every ounce of this being including some big time dives, one of which is caught by TK who hits a backbreaker just off the edge of the apron, the only dodgy bit in a great match.
The nearfalls in this match were absolutely brilliant and had all of us guessing the whole time to who was going to win the match; Mambo hits his Frog Splash but doesn’t get enough spring on it so TK kicks out at two making him the first man to kick out of it in months, TK does hit an awesome slingshot springboard phoenix splash but that only gains him the nearfall. The finish comes when Mambo remove his boot to get some pressure of his ankle (he’s wearing a ankle brace as well, storytelling at its best!), TK picks him up but Mambo blasts him with a barrage of Superkicks before going for the frog splash initially hesitating because of his ankle but slaps himself in the face to fire himself up and gets the Frog Splash on TK to win the match and retain the title, Mambo does offer TK a handshake but TK just leaves instead.
This match was 20 minutes of Chef’s kiss perfection, they told a great story throughout, the moves meant more when they were hit; the character work of Mambo as a valiant hero and TK as a calculated killer heel was just so perfect. This is absolutely a MOTY candidate for me and gets my highest of recommendations to watch.
Second interval after in which I said high to my mates Will, Jessie and Ethan as well as get drinks from Nick just trying to recover from that match. About 10 mins later and we’re onto our main event.
So our main event, as you may have guessed is the Riptide Rumble match in the match I have been the most nervous to review as I have to remember a lot, thanks to @ProWresLand and @Gadget80 in advance because you fellers saved me. The way I’ve decided to review this match is tell you the entrants as well as memorable moments throughout as that will be the best for both me and you the reader, agreed?
Our first entrant is Rob Lias who runs his mouth about the fans not accepting his opinion on Intergender wrestling before being joined by entrant two Session Moth Martina, doing a semi-Foley for the night, number three is Sierra Loxxton making her the first ever two-time rumble entrant, I’m sure Lias is loving this right now. Entrant four is Chris Brookes who take his time getting to the ring not helping Lias out at all, entrant number five is Ashmore as Lias is eliminated by Martina and Loxxton, entrant seven is Cara Noir still showing signs of weakness from the earlier match, in at seven its the debuting Gene Munny! I was super excited when I heard Baker Street come on the speakers; number eight is Mike Bird who goes to work on everybody’s chest, Martina, Chris Brookes and Sierra are all eliminated in this time as we get Entrant number nine of the debuting Sugar Dunkerton coming out to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” as he sends everybody into a dancing fit in the ring by simply touching them, Ashmore and Gene Munny have some moves to be fair…
This brings out Number ten of Chief Deputy Dunne, I was having fun as well. In at eleven its Lord Gideon Grey who says that he still dosen’t care about a rumble match and will win by doing nothing at all, he promptly’s Tweets in the corner this whole time; at twelve we have the debuting Cockpit favourite Rishi Gosh who knocks everybody out with his hardman haircut headbutt until he runs into fellow baldy Ashmore, which has no effect on him; thirteen is another Riptide debut for Lucha Britannia regular Cassius, he instantly twerks on everybody and gets excited after every move he does, not a massive Cassius fan myself but he worked here. In at fourteen and fifteenth its Connor Mills and The OJMO respectively, they both make their own impacts in the match, Sugar Dunkerton tries to avoid getting hurt by OJMO by saying that Kofi Kingston is their WWE champion, I died laughing at this point, that killed me.
Sixteen is the return of Big T Justice who goes to work on everybody, eliminating several people in the process such as Gene Munny (who gets chopped to shit by Big T), Sugar Dunkerton and Connor Mills; I should mention that Mike Bird and Cara Noir were not eliminated but did escape the ring and brawled into the crowd as well the back, entrant seventeen is Charli Evans who Saitos Suplex’s two competitors but is unable to lift Big T so she try’s to chop him but Big T just chops her for her troubles, number eighteen is yet another debut in the form of Massive Jurn Simmons! big pop from our section, we all love Jurn to bits, number nineteen is Damon Moser who is able to avoid both Jurn and Big T eliminating everybody from the match so its just them two but in at twenty is another big man as its Los Federales Santos Jr! The three big men face off but in at number twenty one its Shay Purser, Shay is going to die…
Shay runs at the three but is knocked over instantaneously after he steps on their feet and eye rakes them, they all hit massive moves on him before eliminating him and then SANTOS ELIMINATES BOTH BIG T AND JURN! Massive pop from the crowd at this but Moser eliminates Santos because we don’t deserve nice things. Number twenty two is Lion Kid, no pop from me, he is shortly eliminated from the rumble which lead me to quoting the Lion King with full Jeremy Irons voice, number twenty three is Moser’s enemy Jack Sexsmith who makes a b-line for Moser as they pick up from where they left off the previous show. Number twenty four is Kurtis Chapman who dances his way out to the ring but gets eliminated straight away by Sexsmith which means Chapman has the shortest time in the rumble ever, Mike Bird and Cara Noir return by this point as well. Number twenty five is Giesele Shaw who hits a Skytwister press onto everybody to enter the match as she goes to work with superkicks onto everybody, number twenty six is Rocky Mac who gets a big pop upon his entrance, number twenty seven is the winner of the opening match Jordan Breaks.Number twenty eight is Kyle Fletcher and number twenty nine is El Phantasmo who almost gets eliminated by Shaw but he handstands outside of the ring, eventually making his way to BritWres Fan Favourite Athers electric weelchair as Athers drives him to the side of the ring to get back in the ring, I’d like to see Kofi do that.
Number Thirty is a massive return for cult hero DAVE BENSON PHILLIPS! I lost my shit at the sound of his music, he high fives everybody but TK Cooper low blows him at the ramp and takes his place, you prick TK!
@HeadDrop
After that the eliminations come thick and fast leading to the final two of Jack Sexsmith and TK Cooper, TK is so close to winning it but Sexsmith is able to dump him out to become the 2019 Riptide Rumble winner and win a Brighton Title shot in the process.
Enter Spike Trivet (who I said looked like a cunt, which he heard and said that he’d slit my throat if I said that again) he said he’ll fight Sexsmith but only if Sexsmith puts his title shot on the line, saying that its a one time only offer, Sexsmith has a great line about having to kill your demons before you go for the dreams, he agrees and the match two years in the making is set for July.
Post show, I spoke to Gene Munny, TK Cooper, Charli Evans all about different things as well as get the Zack Sabre Jr appreciation society together for a picture, also had a emotional goodbye to Tobi, more about that in my EVE review…
So Overall Thoughts: In my opinion this is the best Riptide show of all time and the best show that I’ve reviewed for this website, all the matches were entertaining with the second half of Noir/Ridgeway, TK/Mambo and the rumble being perfect. The only obvious low point was Lykos injury but apart from that I was having a great time, just a perfect event.
All roads now lead to July 5th for Point Break, I really fancy a day down the beach that day…
If you want to follow Riptide on Social Media then its @RIPTIDEWres
If you want to follow me on Social Media then its @IwanMack
Thank you for Reading
Iwan Mackenzie
