By Jake Clarke
HOPE 87: This Is The House That Doubt Built
19/07/19, Forest Town Arena, Mansfield
Back again with my first HOPE review in about 2 and a half months. I’ve missed this. This show was the last Mansfield show before the sixth anniversary on August sixteenth so there was a lot of setup. There is one more show before the anniversary show and that is in Leicester on August the third. After these two shows, we should have a full card set for the anniversary show. Coming into this show, I was excited, I haven’t been to Mansfield in 3 months and I do like going up there. There were some good matches lined up as well including the debuts of Connor Mills and The Hitset who I have heard a lot of good things about but haven’t had the pleasure of seeing live. Let’s talk about the show…
David Deville defeats Jack Cave
This match came about as last month at the last Mansfield show, Deville attacked Cave, his brother-in-law with a chair. This match started with Cave goading Deville, stealing his jacket and pissing about with it. The match then started as they began a good ole grapple, with both men getting the upper hand on each other. Deville then downed Cave and attacked the injured leg. This was the real story of the match, Deville really targeted Caves leg. Cave tried to fight back on numerous occasions but Deville would continuously shut him down. Cave finally went for the five moves of doom and hits five knuckle shuffle, elbow drop variation. He then hit an AA and went for a Skull Crushing Finale but Deville countered and rolled up Cave with his feet on the ropes. This was a really fun opening match. Cave has drastically improved, he still isn’t the best by any means but he is absolutely fine. Deville is also a very effective heel and did well all night. Post match, Deville continued the assault post match until Cave’s wife stepped in to stop it but she would ultimately eat a chair shot herself. Spicy stuff.
Kyle Kingsley and Luna Rox defeat Natalie Sykes and Joe Nelson (Young Guns Champion)
Intergender action was next on the agenda as the current Young Guns champion, Joe Nelson teamed with a returning and much improved, Natalie Sykes against the recently dominant, Luna Rox and the recently not so dominant, Kyle Kingsley. The heels used their size and strength to dominate proceedings throughout the match. The match began with Kingsley overpowering Joe and then Joe would use his speed to gain an advantage over Kingsley. Then he tagged in Natalie and she would also run rings around Kyle, showcasing some new offence and looking very good doing so. The heels would take control of Natalie and keep her in their corner. They beat her down viciously and made sure she would not make the tag to Joe who was desperate to get in. Eventually, Natalie made the hot tag and Joe took control hitting a flurry of offence on both Kingsley and Luna. Joe then got caught with a Samoan drop by Luna and Kingsley hit a spinning backbreaker on Natalie to get the pin. Kingsley’s booking has been poor since his dire heel turn in December. There was nothing wrong with the execution but since the turn, he hasn’t really done anything of note apart from lose quite a lot and get the occasional win like this. Joe and Natalie both looked really good. I was particularly impressed with Natalie she looked like she had stepped up her game in recent months. However, HOPE NEED new fresh female opponents for Luna who they seem to be pushing very hard as it feels like the only person she has really wrestled in HOPE is Natalie.
Charles Crowley defeat Tommy Kyle
This matchup between two future stars of the BritWres scene was set to be a solid match and it delivered. Crowley had momentum on his side after beating Kingsley at the previous show. Tommy Kyle on the other hand is yet to win a match in HOPE I believe. This match was absolutely fine, hard hitting, fast paced, one of the better performances both men have put in. Crowley getting the win is good for him as he continues his momentum, maybe he can get built up to a championship match. Crowley has it all, the build, he is a decent wrestler and he has a great gimmick. I am personally not a fan of the gimmick in a babyface role but I understand why it is a hit. It’s a matter of time until Crowley properly breaks out. Tommy Kyle is also a good talent, his gimmick is also a bit comedic but he can back it up in the ring. Hopefully, this is leading to good things for both guys.
CJ Carter defeats Chief Deputy Dunne
This match was CJ Carter’s debut in a HOPE ring and he impressed. Despite winning by nefarious means, his offence looked good, his face paint is lovely and he is an absolute bastard. The Chief also put in one of his signature excellent performances, making CJ’s offence look very effective. Furthermore, Chief doing the job for CJ makes CJ look very powerful. Hopefully, CJ gets booked more often and continues to look dominant and then we could have a future challenger for the HOPE championship/King of Flight championship. The problem now is what’s next for Dunne in HOPE. Him and Federales are set to challenge for the tag team championships at the next show but I don’t see them winning that. He has no singles momentum so he can’t challenge for singles belts. Who Knows? CJ won with a low blow to Dunne to get the huge win. What a cheat.
We then went to the interval where I got an in ring photo with multiple members of the talent which is pretty cool.
Gene Munny defeats Elijah
This was one of the matches I was most looking forward to on the card. Gene is my favourite wrestler of the year so far. He has completely broken out and I love that for him. I am also a large fan of Elijah. He is a very strong wrestler, I’m just not sure what his gimmick is. This match was supposed to be Elijah challenging Jack Jester for the HOPE championship but Jester pulled out to do a Lionheart tribute show which is obviously fair enough. The story in HOPE at the moment is that Nothing to Prove, Elijah and LK were two time tag champions but they have decided to try that hands at single competition. Elijah went first and was unsuccessful. He ate a massive Ainsley Lariat and got pinned clean. I’m not entirely sure where this is going if I’m honest. Elijah has just had a match confirmed for next show which is against Cara Noir and that could be a banger. I’m not sure though if Nothing to Prove are now broken up or if they are just taking a couple of shows away from each other but I’m slightly intrigued. With Gene, I say put the main belt on him. He is popular in Mansfeld and I know us Leicester faithful are desperate to see a champion in the main event. The last time the main HOPE belt was defended in Leicester was last October when Kip Sabian and Viper had a cracking match. I think Gene is good candidate to be the champion, as long as it isn’t on Jester isn’t champion or much longer because honestly, I do think not having your main champion on shows does affect the brand.
The Ginyu Force (Hustle Malone and Warren Banks) defeat The Hitset (Alexander Roth and Keiran Kurupt) to retain the HOPE tag team championships
The Hitset’s theme song, oh my. What a song, I loved every second of that entrance. If Roth or Keiran read this, please let me know what that song is called so I can smash it in my Spotify playlist. This was a great match. Warren always looks great, he’s got a great look and he has improved massively in the ring over the last year and a half. Hustle always puts in a major shift too to be fair to him. The Hitset hugely impressed me, Roth is very good at riling up the crowd and he is quite witty. Kurupt impressed me, he sells well and wrestles well. I really want The Hitset to come back and actually I wanted them to win the tag team championships here. I think Warren especially is very much suited to singles wrestling. However, the Ginyu Force got the win with the knee trembler and Hustle’s spinning flatliner thing combo to Kurupt to retain the tag team championships. I didn’t fix on the match much because a lot of things went on post-match. After the match, The Hitset attacked the champs, signalling may be a rematch which I would be all for. David Deville then came out and ordered the Hitset to attack the boys some more. Jack Cave then came out and made the save. Warren held Deville for a Cave head shot but Deville dodged it which lead to Warren being laid out and pinned by Deville which made Deville the new hardcore champion. After all that, Cave challenged Deville to a no disqualification match at the sixth anniversary show.
Tim Lee defeats Connor Mills and L.K Mezinger to retain the King of Flight championship
Match of the night. Tim Lee is going to do big things with this championship. There were some huge spots in this match including one of the cleanest Canadian destroyers I have ever seen from Connor Mills to L.K Mezinger. The finish of this match was great too as Tim Lee countered a springboard moonsault from Mills into a Samoan driver and then hit him with another one to get the win. As L.K didn’t get pinned, this easily set up Tim vs L.K for the next Leicester show. This match was excellent, Mills was so impressive. He was absolutely great and I want HOPE to bring him back. This match did more for the King of Flight championship than both DDA’s and Danny Chase’s reign did (sorry lads). When those two were champions, it felt like a side accessory in a feud. Now after one defense, the belt feels like it means something like it used to and when it is defended, you can expect good match. Plus, the championship has main evented the last two shows. L.K looked really great in this match, I’m excited to see what he can do in singles competition.
Overall Thoughts:
So HOPE need to bring back The Hitset and Mills ASAP. The show was great but I just have one concern. We are two shows away from the big anniversary show and one match is set up. Obviously, everything can get set up last minute but I just don’t want it to be random matches. Hoping things will go well anyways. You can check out the next show on August 3rd in Leicester and then August 16th in Mansfield.
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