Forbidden Door won’t be the last AEW show the United Kingdom hosts in 2025.
After Tony Khan teased that AEW could return earlier than expected, the promotion has confirmed that it will be back in the U.K. for two shows before the end of the year. An episode of AEW Collision will take place from Cardiff, Wales on Saturday, December 13. Dynamite will then be held in Manchester, England on Wednesday, December 17.
Utilita Arena is hosting the Collision event, while Co-op Live will be the venue for Dynamite.
A ticket pre-sale will begin on September 1 prior to tickets going on sale to the general public on September 5.
The U.K. has been kind to AEW with three of the promotion’s four biggest gates — including today’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view — taking place in London. AEW has taped TV in Cardiff before, but this will be the promotion’s Manchester debut.
These events are happening in advance of AEW Worlds End, which is set for Hoffman Estates, Illinois at the end of December. AEW’s Continental Classic tournament will likely be happening during this time.
Cody Rhodes hopes WWE brings WrestleMania to the United Kingdom within the next five years.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been actively campaigning for his city to host WrestleMania, including meeting with WWE executives Nick Khan and Paul “Triple H” Levesque this summer. If it happens, this would be the first WrestleMania to ever take place outside of North America.
“If I’m aiming, it would be cool to get it [in the UK] in the next five years,” Rhodes said. “There’s some really big venues over here that could host a WrestleMania. I think American fans would jump at the chance to come to a WrestleMania [overseas], whether that that be in Manchester or London, I think they’d go nuts for it.”
John Cena has also been vocal in his belief that WrestleMania should come to the UK. Though his in-ring career will be over by then, Cena promised that he will be there as a fan if a UK WrestleMania happens.
“When the greatest of all time, as we like to call John [Cena], goes out there and says it, it almost wills itself into existence,” Rhodes told BBC News. “I’m very much looking forward to watching that situation unfold.”
Las Vegas will be the host city for WrestleMania 41 in April 2025. Beyond that, we know that Indianapolis is getting a future WrestleMania as part of a deal between WWE and Indiana Sports Corp, but the year for that event has not been confirmed.
Rhodes — the current Undisputed WWE Champion — has headlined WrestleMania each of the past two years. He’s currently in the UK for a WWE house show tour.
With a week to go, AEW’s UK TV deal was finally announced Wednesday afternoon but left some fans frustrated at what they learned.
British free-to-air network ITV’s wrestling account tweeted that AEW Dynamite will air on their ITV 4 channel on Sundays at 8:20 AM with one-hour highlight shows airing on their main network Mondays at 11:45 PM.
Reaction from fans on Twitter wasn’t overwhelmingly positive, focusing on the delay from Wednesday to Sunday. However, the wording on the tweets seemed to indicate some details are yet to be worked out or announced:
“Announcement! ITV is to show brand new weekly wrestling show AEW: Dynamite on free to air television from next month. The run will start with the full two hour show on @ITV4 on Sun 6 Oct at 0820 followed by a one hour highlights programme on ITV on Mon 7 Oct at 11.45pm.
Shows will run sequentially leading up to PPV events, including before 9 November Full Gear, so more details, including subsequent schedule information, to follow soon…”
AEW president Tony Khan said as much, tweeting “We’ll work together to ensure there will always be a free to air broadcast of the most recent episode of AEW: Dynamite before Saturday PPVs including Full Gear. We’ll also be announcing a live viewing solution soon for the UK + many other countries with great AEW fans. Thank you!”
Our Dave Meltzer said there is more to the deal, but there is nothing to report at this time.
Adrian McCallum, best known as Lionheart on the UK independent scene, has passed away at the age of 36.
There are no current details on his death at this time.
“We are heartbroken to learn of the tragic death of ICW World Heavyweight Champion, Adrian ‘Lionheart’ McCallum,” ICW wrote on their Twitter page. “Adrian was a mainstay of ICW and British professional wrestling. Most importantly, he was our friend. His passing leaves a huge hole in the lives of those who knew him. Please respect his family’s privacy at this time.”
McCallum started wrestling in 2002, and by 2007 had made his debut for ICW, wrestling there regularly for the rest of his career. He defeated Alexander Dean for ICW last weekend.
At a Preston City Wrestling show in 2014, Lionheart broke his neck in two places after landing badly following a Styles Clash by AJ Styles. He returned to wrestling a year later.
A rather short affair that probably should have been more intense for its length. Angelico kicked Bodom in every place possible, whole Bodom equaled Angelico with strikes and throws. Eventually Sha Samuels came out to distract the referee which allowed Bodom to get Angelico in position for the Bliss Buster which got him the pin.
This was fine, but really nothing special.
Team White Wolf defeated Besties in the World
Both teams received a moderate reaction and it was clear that the crowd was maybe unfamiliar to the teams. However, by the end of the match the crowd was certainly won over. A-Kid was worked over for the first portion of the match, while Carlos Romo grew frustrated on the apron. Eventually A-Kid made a comeback and tagged in Romo who made a comeback on the Besties.
After some back and forth action, Vega tagged in Matt Fitchet who was the highlight of the match, with his hot tag wowing the audience and the building came unglued. At this point, the match reached insanity and both teams got near falls. Eventually after a splash from the top rope, and a roll-up, Romo got the pin, only to be viciously beaten up by Bodom and Samuels after the match. This was very good.
Zoe Lucas defeated Bea Priestley to retain the Undisputed British Women’s Championship
This was meant to be Zoe Lucas defending against Sammii Jayne, the winner of Queen of the Ring 2019. However, due to injury, Priestley replaced Jayne. It felt like Lucas is coming into her element as champion, having somewhat of a presence in her entrance. She is playing up her relationship with the title, almost treating it like she’s in a relationship with it.
This was shaping up to be a decent match but ended abruptly after a finish in which the referee counted despite them being in the ropes.
CCK defeated Aussie Open
For me, and many others this was the biggest disappointment of the night. These teams had the best York Hall match of 2018 at Summer Sizzler but failed the recreate the magic here.
Five minutes into the match the teams hadn’t even touched, with CCK choosing whether Brookes or Gresham would start the match. It wasn’t remotely funny it was mind numbingly dull. They then left the ring for no reason and came back. It turned into a brawl outside the ring in which CCK took Davis out, and let loose with a staple gun on Fletcher. There was a lot of ‘nothing’ here and eventually, 22 minutes into the match they started actually fighting.
For a brief five minute spell they had a great sequence of near falls before the referee was distracted while Gresham got a visual pin on Fletcher. Then the referee came in and counted the same pin to three giving. CCK the win. Even this ending made no sense; essentially Fletcher was pinned by a roll-up for nearly 10 seconds.
The number one contenders to Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. looked like idiots and the crowd who were expecting a 30 minute barnstormer were let down severely.
El Phantasmo defeated MJF
The show needed to get back on track after the intermission and MJF was the man to do it. He came out and trashed the crowd, saying they were all losers, couldn’t satisfy their wives and that he was rich. He was booed out the building, with heat reminiscent of Zack Gibson before he had to leave RevPro. El Phantasmo came out and was a worthy opponent for him.
These two matched up very well, with similar builds and styles. They matched each other with counters early on with an extremely clear heel/face dynamic that allowed the crowd to be extremely invested. MJF tried to cheat around by holding the ropes for his submissions, but the referee kicked his hands away. Phantasmo hit his usual spots and was incredibly over here.
This reached the next level when both guys stepped it up a gear in ring. They traded Canadian destroyers but eventually ELP won with a huge splash. He motioned to the camera that there was going to be an upcoming ladder match with David Starr for the cruiserweight title, something Starr has referred to also on the Cockpit. This was excellent.
MK McKinnan defeated Kip Sabian
This match never stood a chance on the card. Initially this was MK versus the Great-O-Kharn but his absence was replaced by Chris Ridgeway. But Ridgeway’s travel issues meant he was replaced an hour before the show by Sabian. The crowd weren’t into this one bit due to the placement on the card and the lack of build or story.
Both guys kicked hard and hit a few big moves but MK submitted Sabian with a choke fairly easily. Being right after ELP Vs MJF and before the main event was going to be hard for anyone. MK continues to build great momentum and many, myself included think he’ll be the one to end The Great-O-Kharn’s undefeated streak.
Will Ospreay vs. PAC ended in a time limit draw
There is so much to say about this. The atmosphere was as good as York Hall gets, which is really saying something. Both men entered with their respective titles and received huge reactions as expected. Pac received a very split response, with him obviously trying to be the bad guy but receiving a fair amount of cheers too.
Early on, both men stared eachother down before finally locking up. Pac used his strength advantage to dominate Ospreay early on but Ospreay would flip out of anything Pac hit him with. The crowd was genuinely electric throughout all of this with duelling chants the whole match. Then they started to run the ropes, hitting dropkicks, hurricanranas and lariats on each other, with every move carrying weight.
Pac took it outside and threw Ospreay around a bit, and Ospreay just about got back into the ring before the count, but had been cut on the outside and was bleeding from what looked like the nose. It added to the match for sure, seeing Ospreay visibly scarred from the match at this early point. Ospreay hit a Sasuke special to the outside, and Pac moonsaulted onto Ospreay out the ring.
At this point in the match, the storytelling really came into the forefront, with Ospreay taking moves from his great York Hall opponents. He used Scurll’s finger break, Sydal’s shooting star press, Ricochet’s benadryller, and a Style’s clash too – Pac sucked up all the punishment, and came back with a huge superplex. With both guys down in the ring, CCK came down to attack Ospreay, but Brookes was about to use Pac’s title to hit Ospreay leading to Pac and Ospreay to team up on CCK, and even Aussie Open came down to get them out of there.
At this point, there was five minutes of time remaining and both guys were pulling out all the stops to pin the other, with suplexes, spanish flys and flips galore. With around a minute left, Pac gave Ospreay a low blow but for whatever reason, he wasn’t disqualified. He then went to hit the black arrow as the clock counted down but he chose to let the clock run down instead and it was a draw.
On one hand, it was an incredible dream match from two legendary British talents that was the best York Hall match since 2017 without a doubt. On the other hand, it was overbooked with CCK coming down, tarnished by the fact there was no winner, and undermined by the lack of logic in the finish. The crowd and Ospreay requested another five minutes but just like that, the show was over. Ospreay said this was not over.
Final Thoughts
The main event did leave a sour taste in the mouth, and many in the crowd booed at the end. There was always the issue that this would end this way, after ZSJ vs. PAC had a non-finish due to both guys being champions. Clearly as Dragon Gate champion, Pac can’t lose, and Ospreay can’t either as the NEVER Openweight champion.
As for the rest of the card, it was very weak. The absence of David Starr, and anyone from New Japan was more than noticeable, with a lot of the matches just lacking star power and therefore being lost on the crowd. There is still a lack of focus on workrate clearly, with only three of the matches actually being ‘good’, and a handful actually being noticably bad.
However the main issue was the lack of stakes. For a show called High Stakes, there was only one match with any stakes (Women’s title), and the stakes weren’t high and that match only lasted eight minutes. The fact that all the other champions were absent, and all the other matches had no repercussions was awful.
Hope this gives some insight into the show. It was an odd one and certainly not the start RevPro should have been looking for in 2019. PAC vs. Ospreay is definately worth the watch though.
Here are today’s PROGRESS Unboxing Live results at the Electric Ballroom in London. This appears to be Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne’s last appearance for the company at the moment.
– Trent Seven defeated Los Federales Santos Jr. to retain the Atlas title.
Seven defeated Santos after two piledrivers to retain the title.
– Chris Ridgeway defeated Spike Trivet, Mark Haskins, Travis Banks, Shigehiro Ire and Jody Fleisch in a six way
Ridgeway submitted Irie. This was Fleisch’s debut for the promotion.
– Jordynne Grace defeated Jinny Couture to win the PROGRESS women’s title.
– Drew Parker defeated Chris Brookes
Parker hit the Back Seat Driver on Brookes for the win.
– Will Ospreay and Paul Robinson defeated Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher to win the PROGRESS tag team titles
Robinson was said to have suffered a massive cut to the head during the match.
– Eddie Dennis defeated Marcel Barthel
Dennis defeated NXT UK’s Barthel after hitting the Next Stop driver.
– Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate
Dunne defeated Bate in what appears to be their final match in the British independent scene for now.
WALTER and PAC are set to face one another in February.
Over the Top Wrestling announced today that the two will square off at their Homecoming II event, which will take place on February 17 at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Floor seats have already been sold out.
It is an interesting match as the two are heading in different directions. WALTER has already signed a deal with WWE, and is expected to be a part of the NXT UK roster going forward.
Meanwhile, PAC, who was known in WWE as Neville, left the promotion in August after spending most of 2018 at home due to contractual issues. Since leaving WWE, he has mainly worked for Dragon Gate but is taking independent dates in the UK.
Another high profile match featuring PAC will see him square off against Will Ospreay, as the two are scheduled to meet on February 15 for Rev Pro’s High Stakes event.
Wrestling Observer Live with Mike Sempervive is back today, and he’s joined by Will Cooling of Fighting Spirit Magazine. We talk about Will’s newest column for FSM, on how he feels WWE is missing the mark creatively, and what lessons they can take from the current success of scripted American television. How WWE is influencing the scene throughout the Kingdom and Ireland, the next names everyone will know, is the Sky the limit for Anthony Joshua?, and more! A fun show as always, so check it out~!
Submitted by reader Abdulkerim Unal from York Hall
– Josh Bodom def. Ryan Smile to win the interim cruiserweight title
Pretty good match for what it was with good action throughout. At one point there was a “knockoff Lesnar” chant at Bodom.
– RPW Tag Champions Charlie Sterling and Joel Redman def. War Machine
WM got a pretty big pop while Sterling and Redman got no response. There was some good back and forth action with WM having the upper hand for most of it. There was a point when Hansen had Sterling and Redman in opposing corners and proceeded to uppercut them for about a good minute. The crowd chanted “one more time” so he proceeded to do it again for another 30 or so seconds. Eventually, Sterling and Redman took over and won the match. Afterwards CCK came out and took out Sterling and Redman.
– Yoshi Hashi def. Pete Dunne
Dunne came out to a pretty big pop and the biggest up to that point. This was a pretty good match with Dunne taking off his mouth guard a few times which got some good crowd reaction. Dunne was more over than Yoshi although there was good support for Yoshi. The crowd chanted a few times “please don’t go” at Dunne. Hashi won in what was a good match.
– Zack Sabre Jr. def. Marty Scurll
Scurll was probably the most over guy on the whole show and got a bigger pop than Zack. This was a great match with constant back and forth action and a lot of submission holds. At one point, Zack was hurt in the ring and Marty stepped outside and appeared to be grabbing something from under the apron. It turned out to be some rope which he then used to pull back on Zack’s finger with Zack selling his hand as being really hurt.
Ref teased DQ’ing Scurll but decided against it. Sabre took out the ref which led to Scurll getting his umbrella and attacking Zack. Later, both guys were outside and the ref was holding Scurll back which gave Zack time to bandage up his bad hand. There was more back and forth and the crowd was really into the match with everyone on their feet. Scurll had the upper hand but in the end, Zack managed to pick up the win in a 40+ minute match.
– Trent Seven def. Trevor Lee
Lee challenged Seven to a dance-off. Lee did some dancing and Seven started to dance but was jumped, getting some boos. This was a fairly short match with some good action. Lee shouted “I’m a TNA superstar” which led to anti-TNA chants. He kept doing the “delete” chant but the crowd didn’t really do it. Seven picked up the win after hitting a rainmaker and a tombstone piledriver.
– Jay White def. Martin Stone
– RevPro Champion Shibata def. Matt Riddle
Riddle was extremely over with constant singing throughout and lots of “bro” chants. Shibata got a good reaction as well. This was a very good match with Riddle having the upper hand to start, but Shibata made a comeback. Eventually, Matt gave Shibata a hard chop in the corner with Shibata no selling it which led to another hard chop with absolutely no selling by Shibata and with him just casually walking to the next corner and telling Matt to do it again.
Another chop again with no selling and walking to the next corner which he did for another two corners, eventually leveling Matt. The crowd started really getting into the match by this point. Matt hit Shibata wih a Bro 2 Sleep. Back and forth elbows for a good while and eventually Shibata got Matt in a chokehold and got what for me was a surprise tap in around 10 minutes.
While the specifics of what’s to come remain uncertain, it was clear as Tyler Bate stood in the ring alongside Triple H, William Regal, Finn Balor, and Fit Finlay at the conclusion of the United Kingdom Championship tournament that WWE has a legitimate path forward in the country.
Bate closed out two straight nights at Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom by defeating Pete Dunne in an excellent main event to become the inaugural WWE UK Champion. It was a match so good that it left no doubt that the two were the right choice to close what was one of the best shows WWE has produced in recent memory.
There were indications early on that Bate and Dunne would be two of the most heavily featured wrestlers in the tournament. They were among the most well known competitors to fans before it even started. And much of the first night of the tournament was built around them.
Drew Galloway is officially one of wrestling’s true jetsetters.
He works for TNA and EVOLVE n the U.S. and mainly for ICW in Scotland/UK. Just prior to this conversation, Galloway had crossed the Atlantic four times in the previous two weeks to work with the aforementioned companies.
Adding to all of this: a neck injury that has kept him on the shelf but saw him jump off the shelf this past weekend for ICW’s major Fear And Loathing IX event in Glasgow, Scotland — the biggest non-WWE show in the region in 34 years.
In this Q&A, Drew and I spoke at length about his love of ICW, how he has seen it grow since their first show in front of 60 people 10 years ago, his injury and just how close he was to something major going wrong, his hopes for ICW, TNA and more.
This interview was done prior to his appearance for ICW this past weekend, which fans can catch on demand.
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Do you even have time for jet lag anymore?
Drew Galloway: I try to squeeze sleep in there. I think I’m the only wrestler in the world that travels a lot that has some sort of travelling narcolepsy. I’m able to sleep on every flight and as soon as I hit a bedroom, I can just close my eyes and go straight to sleep, which is definitely helpful. I had the first five weeks I’ve had off in my life when I got hurt, just sitting on the couch – I went a little crazy during that – but the last couple of weeks, I’ve been back and forth and into the old routine. Getting back into it again was pretty interesting. I don’t even remember how I did it in the past, but I’m starting to get used to it again.
How the neck is these days?
Yeah, it’s grand. Technically, it’s my upper back rather than my neck. I was dropped on my neck, but thankfully it was my upper back (which got injured) and thankfully, there was no nerve issues or any disc problems or anything like that. So it was just a case of getting a couple of hairlines to heal and I’m back exactly the way I was before. I was very lucky – I never had any effects from it or any pain – or any issues at all to be honest. I was very surprised.
I was very worried when it happened. I felt how I landed and heard noises I’d never heard before. I thought ‘This is going to be bad.’ When I went and picked up the MRIs, the doctor explained that it isn’t ideal, but I was very, very lucky. He said I’d be back within 6-to-8 weeks, but it’s going to be 10 weeks (by the time I wrestle again) because he just wanted to make 100% sure that I’m 100% better and back the way I was before and with no chance of anything getting hurt again which is good news.
I’ve been going a little crazy and hitting the gym the past couple of weeks doing the rehab and strengthening exercises. It’s good to be back at that and I’m excited to get back in the ring.
You were on the first ICW show some ten years ago and now here we are in 2016 with the biggest non-WWE UK show ever. How surreal is it for you to see how far the company has come?
It’s incredible. Just the UK scene in general, is. When I first started – I’ve said it a million times – I travelled 12 hours to FWA to learn to wrestle because basically there only was the FWA and (NWA) Hammerlock. Then a few of us started the Scottish wrestling scene and I helped train a few guys. Basically, All Star Wrestling was the only full time place – and, as I say, FWA, Hammerlock and Irish Whip Wrestling – so myself and Sheamus and Wade Barrett would work together to get better because there wasn’t any other way to try to get better, besides working for All Star – which I did every Easter and Summer holiday. Then I came back 8 years later and see how it is now…
With ICW, as you said, I was the first champion and there were about 60 people at the show. It didn’t get much better in the few shows we did before I left! Coming back to ICW as the first place (after my WWE release) and having 1500 people that loud and crazy and seeing the talent and the roster that travelled places together in the UK, and seeing the wealth of talent that now exists and the incredible companies and seeing ICW grow…
My first big show was against (Jack) Jester at The Barrowlands – we got 2000 people at that show. Fast forward one year later with myself and Grado for the title when I’d gone heel at The SECC, we got 4000 people which was the British record at the time. Now, we’re breaking our own record this year. It’s absolutely insane when you think about it.
When I came back (to ICW) and said all the big things I said – that after the BBC documentary this small company could completely take over the world – I truly believed that, because I know (Mark) Dallas’ mind and I’ve seen the talent and believe in the talent and I know what I can add to the picture. Just to watch it all unfold…..Thank God I wasn’t wrong. Because as far as the world was concerned, there wasn’t much stuff they were saying (other than) “These guys are going to take over the world? We’ll see about that!” And sure enough, we have! Because I know Mark Dallas and I know the company.
ICW in particular has really gone from strength to strength. Is that due to everybody pulling in the same direction from the top down?
Absolutely. If you notice when it comes to ICW – and it’s the same with a few British companies – they don’t use many international talents. There’s maybe one or two who come in for a special reason, like some former ECW guys, what with the comparisons with ICW and ECW. Rhyno came in and wrestled myself when I was ICW Champion – he was the last ECW champion – and he endorsed ICW as the similar spirit and similar feel of ECW, which was a pretty cool moment having that match with himself.
ICW is generally ICW guys – that’s what’s grown the company. There’s so few guys who come in. You can consider me an import, but I am from Scotland and I’m an ICW guy. That’s the extent of me being an import. You’ve got Finn Balor coming back (for the show); he’s somebody who came whenever he could and loved working there and is part of the ICW legacy that helped it get to where it’s at today. We’re generally the same guys that have been there the whole time, and that’s pretty incredible that we didn’t have to rely on bringing in all these big names along the way. We’ve had certain guys on big shows who do get brought in, but generally they’re brought in for the reason that they fit the ICW mould, fit what ICW is about, and not just a random name brought in. It’s pretty cool.
How important is it that ICW bases it on the homegrown talent and continues to grow it from there?
I think that’s essential and it’s what ICW has done. That’s what’s got ICW to where it is – we’re one big family. We’ve all grown up together. A lot of the guys, I was gone when a lot of them came in, but I’ve got to know them well over the past couple of years. Everybody gets along with everybody, everybody helps everybody, everybody knows their character and adds to the show. Everybody brings something different and that’s the best part about it. The bigger shows, as you say, we bring in a couple of extra people to bring in some new eyes that don’t know ICW – and there’s not many eyes in Scotland that don’t know about ICW now. When anybody is brought in, it’s generally an ex-ECW guy or somebody that knows what ICW is all about.
Apart from the fact that your TNA and Evolve schedule allows it, what has kept you coming back?
Of all the places I was gone from when I was in WWE, ICW was the first place I wanted to come back to. (Apart from) my friend running the company and my best friends wrestled for the company, it was a company I really believed in.
It’s incredible being there. It was already on fire – and would have got their on its own, I’m sure – but it feels really to have come in and helped to put it on that worldwide stage and get more eyes on it to show the wealth of talent. Now, we all walk beside each other. If I got some eyes on the company, then we’re all walking side by side now. Every single person adds something to the show. There’s not one person on that roster that doesn’t deserve to be on the roster. I’m so proud every time I come back to see it getting bigger and bigger.
Myself and (Mark) Dallas are the original guys of Scottish wrestling. I met him when I was 14 before I even went to England to begin to train. We spoke online and we found somebody we could learn from and we were like “Finally we’re going to learn!” The first person in Scottish wrestling I ever met was Mark Dallas. We’re both able now to be doing this together, and at this level. It’s just ridiculous that 17 years ago when we were both 14 years old… it’s absolutely insane when you think about it just how far it’s come. It’s ridiculous – obscene might even be the word!
We’ve seen that ICW has grown from 60 people to what we saw this weekend. Where do you think the company can go from here?
The sky’s the limit. We had the big Barrowlands show, and then Dallas said “We’re going to the SECC next.” I was like “Really? We’re happy enough that we had 2000 at the Barrowlands, that was pretty good!” Then we did it and we sold out and had over 4000 paid.
Last year, he said “Next year we’re going to do The Hydro – the big one!” I went “What?” I should learn not to question him at this point.
I keep seeing things happening and happening. When I first came back, I had all these big ideas, but I didn’t quite see how far things could possibly go, which just shows how well wrestling is doing and how much the guys in ICW have captured the imagination. I’m living in fantasy land right now, and to be able to play a part in it is unreal.
I think it shows just how influential it is in the UK, that after they announced they were going to The Hydro that – as if by magic – the WWE decided to take their tapings there. You kind of think “Yeah, we see what’s going on here.” But it just shows to me the influence that ICW – and the UK scene – is having right across the world, not just within our own shores.
Oh yeah. They’re not silly – I’m sure they’ve heard of ICW, there’s a lot of people watching it all the time. In Scotland, there’s this crazy fan base – people will travel from England to go to (WWE) TV – it’s not far. The way I look at it is that when they show up there and see all these billboards for the ICW show, they might not have known about it. And all these people handing out flyers for the ICW show, they might not have known about it. Finn Balor was on the ICW show, which is obviously WWE’s doing, so it’s only going to benefit it (ICW) and bring more people to the show.
I had heard that when Noam (Dar) made his Raw debut recently that there were so many loud ICW chants that they turned down the crowd noise because they were afraid of the crowd noise hijacking the show.
For them to debut him in his home country and in his home wrestling town, if you like….It was the same for myself when I was in WWE and we came to Glasgow, no matter what role I was playing I was always greeted me with a huge reaction. Even when I was IC Champion and I was wrestling Matt Hardy, they told me to cut a heel promo – and I tried my best – they booed the things I said, which were blatant bad guy things, but they still cheered for me because we’re from Scotland, we’re very proud.
We’re a small country and when someone does something we’re going to get behind them. So to watch Noam make his WWE debut on Monday Night Raw, on TV finally when it had been talked about “What’s happening with Noam?” he comes out in front of his home crowd, in Glasgow, with so many fans of the home company (ICW) there, they’re going to show him respect to him and to the company that helped make his name by chanting “ICW” is such a cool thing.
Watching all of the videos – I was out of town travelling, but people were tagging me in all of the videos – everyone was chanting “ICW” at him and he had his moment , which was very, very cool. I’m very happy for him.
Now that you’re back and healthy again, what does the future hold for you both here in ICW and across in TNA?
Things are obviously looking settled in the TNA department, so we’ll get to the New Year and the tapings will begin. TV wise and whatever was going on backstage, I can’t do anything about, the guys can’t do anything about – that stuff happens and it’s just a shame about it being so public.
Show wise, everybody has finally started giving the show a chance, and it’s getting such good feedback and people are very positive. So many guys left, and so many guys were given opportunities to step up – and they did step up. People like myself were moved into World title positions, and I was given that chance to show what I could do. People that weren’t really being used were given new characters to see what they could do and Decay was created and Eli Drake was given a more prominent chance to shine.
And then, Matt came up with this ridiculous character that took over the wrestling world. People who just wanted to see the Final Deletion got to see the rest of the show. The storylines and characters and everything have been flowing so smoothly over the last few months it would be tragic if the company went away. It’s beyond the guys on the roster’s control.
The UK scene really is the talk of the industry at the minute. Why do you think we have always developed such fundamentally sound wrestlers who are connecting with wrestlers around the world?
I honestly couldn’t put my finger on it. A lot of people these days when I talk to them think like me when I was starting. They’re so determined to do it and a lot of the guys who back in the day had to go out of their way, like myself, to learn to wrestle, started going back to the wrestling school and showing what I could show and what I was learning to help develop the next generation.
There were so many passionate people who were passionate about doing wrestling. It seemed like such an American thing, such a far, out of reach thing for a lot people, who wouldn’t pursue it the way myself, Sheamus and Wade pursued it. it seemed unattainable and once they saw all of us get signed at the same time it probably started seeming like “It’s not such an American thing, it’s something that I could do also!”
And the guys who were training kept showing other people the ropes and kept pushing them to get better and as guys were travelling the world and coming back and showing what they had learned, then over time it started building and building, and the talent level got higher and the guys were learning from people around the world and now people know it can be done.
There are so many guys that have been signed and gone to America or gone to Japan and are making a living outside of WWE and it’s incredible that the UK is the number 1 scene, as far as I’m concerned, because the audiences make such a difference over here in the UK. The crowds are so loud and passionate, and there are so many of them, it’s really, really cool.
To watch it all happen, and everything’s on fire right now in the UK – it is number 1. Be it in the ring and learning to wrestle, or being in the crowd, it is the most passionate place in the world.
Submitted by Stephen Lyon from Manchester, UK’s Manchester Arena
– Cesaro beat Stardust
Cesaro won, following 10 giant swings & making him submit in the sharpshooter. Fun 10 minute opener.
– Zack Ryder & Darren Young beat Heath Slater & Bo Dallas
Finish saw Ryder pin Dallas with the Rough Ryder. Exactly what you’d think it would be.
– Rusev beat Jack Swagger
Swagger came out with the Union Jack flag. Rusev won with the Accolade submission win. Average match.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day beat Usos & Dudleys
Fun match, one of the best on the show. Dudleys came out with a Liverpool FC flag in Manchester to get heat (soccer rivals, plus Bubba is a Liverpool fan). New Day’s house show act is great. All sorts of wackiness from the trio, mostly weird dance moves.
– Sin Cara beat Tyler Breeze
SC won after hitting the swanton bomb. Average match.
– Divas Champion Charlotte beat Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch
Ric Flair was in Charlotte’s corner. Fun match. Charlotte pinned Becky with both feet on the ropes.
– WWE Champion Roman Reigns beat Sheamus
Sheamus came out and did a promo based on the Liverpool/Manchester soccer rivalry, and even sang the Liverpool FC club anthem (“You’ll Never Walk Alone”) to major heat. Reigns still came out to boos, I’d say 60/40 cheers in his favour. Standard match, Reigns won after a spear.
Notes:
It was a by the numbers house show with nothing spectacular. Obviously, there were less stars than usual due to the Smackdown tapings going on at the same time in London. But still, we got the World, Tag & Women’s champions so it wasn’t that bad. Lots of kids in attendance. Reigns got 60-40 cheers. Booing him is definitely becoming the cool thing to do, even for the kids/families that Reigns claimed he was being targeted to.
In other news, the U.K. dates for the November 2016 tour have been announced:
4th November – London (Wembley Arena)
5th November – Manchester
6th November – Newcastle & Leeds
7th November – Glasgow – Raw TV
8th November – Glasgow – Smackdown TV
9th November – Birmingham
10th November – Cardiff
Tickets are on sale starting Friday, May 6.
The notable things here are that they are doing TV from Glasgow, Scotland for the first time ever, at the Hydro Arena. This is really interesting because they’re running the Hydro Arena building less than 2 weeks before ICW is running the biggest show in their history at the same arena, which simply can’t be a coincidence.
It may be late November, and the weather may have taken a turn for the cold and wet, but things are still heating up on the UK wrestling scene. Here are five things you need to know about British wrestling this week.
1) Will Ospreay and Mark Andrews proved lightning can strike twice.
When Will Ospreay and Mark Andrews stepped through the ropes at Pro-Wrestling Guerilla’s yearly BOLA extravaganza in August, few thought they’d be two of the standout stars on a card full of the biggest names in independent wrestling (and a sprinkling of lucha, to boot). Once they’d finished their first round bout, few were in doubt of that status. Ospreay, only in his fourth year as a pro, and Andrews, criminally underused in TNA after winning last year’s British Bootcamp competition, put themselves on the worldwide map but only cemented what British fans already knew.
On Sunday, at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London, they met again, and put their summer contest firmly in the shade with a jaw-dropping display of head-dropping and acrobatics that had the sellout crowd on their feet and wowed. For Ospreay, it was just the latest in a series of 2015 contests that have seen him rocket up everyone’s top 20 lists, while for Andrews, it was a reminder that he’s back in the main event mix on this side of the Atlantic. We’re happy to see him again.
2) You can’t halt the march of PROGRESS.
As 750 people crammed into the Electric Ballroom for the final time in 2015, I’m sure the thoughts of more than a few PROGRESS “ultras” turned to the year-to-date, which saw the culmination of the Jimmy Havoc storyline, the first Super Strong Style 16 Tournament, and a string of sellout shows. By the end of the show – Chapter 23: What A Time To Be Alive! – those other shows and that other stuff, was distant history. Aside from the main event, the aforementioned masterpiece theatre for the PROGRESS title, the rest of the show (six matches, plus two pre-show bouts) reached highs in terms of hard-hitting – Rampage Brown and Austria’s Big Daddy Walter just about broke the ring in the opening bout – and lows in terms of pesky shenanigans – heel stable The Origin finagled their way to the tag-team titles AND a shot at the title at next week’s debut show in Manchester – and had just about everything in between.
While the absence of Jimmy Havoc leaves a big hole in the shows, such was his influence in a two-year reign of terror, things look very promising for 2016, with monthly London shows and bi-monthly forays up North. That begins early with Chapter 24: Hit The North on Sunday (another sellout), this time in England’s third city. Ospreay defends his title against Zack Gibson, with Zack Sabre Jr. and Tomasso Ciampa joining the regular crew. News on that next week…
3) Preston isn’t just the home of Wade Barrett; it’s also Ring of Honor’s British base.
Back in the days of Big Daddy & Giant Haystacks, it used to be that the heavyweights sold tickets but the lighter weights brought the entertainment. That still holds true but the heavyweights have been replaced in recent years by former WWE and TNA imports, and the lighter weights by younger, local talent. Nowhere has that formula been more successful than at Preston City Wrestling, whose promoter Steven Fludder has brought a parade of “name” stars (often in conjunction with memorabilia fairs) to the North West for autograph signings, special appearances, and the odd match, and kept the fans wowed with some of the UK’s top talent.
This past weekend, though, and for the second year in a row, PCW brought over a ton of ROH stars, including current ROH champion Jay Lethal, alongside Dalton Castle, Adam Cole, reDRagon, Cedric Alexander, and War Machine for the Supershow Of Honor. Although no local star was able to top Lethal, over 2000 fans attended the weekend shows to witness the ROH and UK talent trade wins across four shows. PCW heavyweight champion Dave Mastiff also fought off all-comers, but Adam Cole was able to steal away the Cruiserweight belt from el Ligero, promising to keep hold for a long time.
4) Rebellious Scots won’t be crushed.
Two weeks on from their MASSIVE Fear & Loathing supershow at Glasgow’s SECC, Insane Championship Wrestling picked up their storylines at the puntastic Fear & Lothian show, held at in the heart of Lothian at Edinburgh’s City nightclub. The success of ICW has been built on a foundation of love for WWF’s Attitude Era and classic ECW, and the swerve was in early as former general manager Red Lightning revealed he was, in fact, majority owner of the company and would do everything he could to rid ICW of its incredi-popular champion, Grado.
Luckily for ICW’s fans, Red Lightning’s chosen man, Lionheart (fresh from being HATED at PCW’s Supershow Of Honor weekend), came up short, but New Age Kliq main man Chris Renfrew announced he would cash in his title shot at the company’s next big show, Square Go in Glasgow on January 24th. Noam Dar also earned a title shot at Square Go by winning a number one contenders’ match for Davey Blaze’s Zero-G championship – that’s if Blaze makes it through the next couple of TV tapings without Stevie Boy and the NAK taking him out.
5) There’s so much going on!
Elsewhere, the Scottish Wrestling Alliance held a big show at the Lagoon Centre, in Paisley, which saw Mark Coffey pin Drew Galloway to become the new SWA champion and appearances from Will Ospreay, Grado, Jack Gallagher, Kenny Williams, and Viper. Ahead of bringing in Pentagon Jr and Drago (and, erm, Tatanka) in January, 4 Front Wrestling opened their doors in Emerson Green in Bristol on Saturday night, and drew a healthy crowd for a show headlined by an eight-man elimination match, featuring the Hunter Brothers and Saul Adams.
Earlier in the week, PROGRESS held the third of their PTNTL trainee shows at a new venue, Nambucca, in north London. The show featured ProJo trainees of all levels of development, and was main-evented by a six-man featuring the promotion’s most senior rookies which saw the team of Sweet Bearded Jesus – California hippy surfer Chuck Mambo, full-bearded Kyle Ashmore & Pastor William Eaver defeat Hong Kong’s Shen Woo, the bruiser Damon Moser & the outrageous Jack Sexsmith by pinfall. Also of note was Kamikaze-Pro’s latest show in the chocolate town of Bournville, Birmingham, starring Rhyno, Juventud Guerrera, Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm, the Dunne Brothers, and Tyler Bate.
Next weekend sees PROGRESS make their way to Manchester for the first time, Lucha Britannia run a rare Saturday, Pro-Wrestling CHAOS end their year in Bristol, and WAW & Bellatrix promoting a double-shot in Norwich, featuring the top UK women’s talent, as well as WWE star Paige’s father, mother, and brothers! Join me then for all the news that’s fit to print!
(Special thanks to Ben Corrigan for contributing to this report!)
PROGRESS put their 2016 season tickets on sale: valid for every one of the eleven events held at Camden’s Electric Ballroom next year. They sold over TWO HUNDRED of them with the front row (priced at £264, roughly $400) and the gold (second and third rows, £242/$360) selling out in under a minute. The promotion has always had a great record of selling out shows without announcing a single match, but this is a leap of faith that demonstrates just how essential their shows have become to UK fans. Later in the week on the heels of their triumphant Fear & Loathing VIII show at Glasgow’s SECC, Insane Championship Wrestling put tickets on sale for Fear & Loathing IX at the Hydro, a building set up for 11,000 seats. On the first day alone they sold FIFTEEN HUNDRED tickets, which is more than TNA sold the last time they ran the Hydro in January of this year. All that for a promotion with no TV and a niche product which owes more to classic ECW than a mainstream pro-wrestling product.
2) One of the UK’s best kept secrets is Lucha Britannia, presenting chaotic and innovative showcases in a disused railway arch in London’s East End.
The promotion started way back in 2006 out of the ashes of RAMWA – Rock And Metal Wrestling Alternative. Showing no sign of – nor desire to – moving out of the two-hundred-capacity Resistance Gallery (which they own), their monthly shows sell out to a crowd made up of wrestling fans, hipsters, and curious onlookers. As well as products of their training school, the London School of Lucha Libre, their shows are populated by a who’s who of the UK’s brightest with Will Ospreay, Paul Robinson, RJ Singh, and even WWE World Heavyweight champion Sheamus having walked through the tightly-packed crowd to the ring. The school, by the way, has regular guest training spots by lucha legends Juventud Guerrera and Cassandro who are the only people from “our” dimension to have entered the “RetroFutureVerse” unchanged.
Last Friday’s show saw Jimmy Havoc return to the promotion, resurrecting his exótico alter-ego Glamsexico to face Juventud Guerrera, as well as the debut of “Anunaki Pharaoh” Marduk Malik, a “Sumerian god” who hit an EIGHT-FOOT dropkick on his way to winning the opening Lucha Chaos match, which also featured Freddie Mercurio, the resurrected rock star.
3) Another bold diversion from the traditional pro wrestling route trodden by most UK promotions is Tetsujin, who held their first show on Friday night in Liverpool.
Aiming to present a shoot-style spectacle, along the lines of classic UWFI and Battlarts, and with bouts decided only by submission or knockout, they engaged a ton of the UK’s top names for a one-night only tournament, as well as two of Europe’s finest in Tommy End and Big Daddy Walter for a non-tournament slugfest. Fittingly, Jack Gallagher – a northern-based pure grappler who works a traditional British style of holds and reversals – came out on top, overcoming Zack Gibson, Dave Mastiff, and Chris Brookes on his way to the title. The show, held at the Black-E nightclub, did not draw fantastically well, but it’s a sign of the breadth of the UK scene that this promotion can exist and run on the same night as a lucha show.
4) Zack Sabre Jr. made his final appearance for Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Although he spends most of his time outside the UK, we still claim Sabre Jr. as our own and he made his final NOAH appearance with his future endeavours somewhat shrouded in mystery at this point. The smart money has him moving to California, where presumably he will continue to be a regular for Pro-Wrestling Guerilla, as well as EVOLVE and other US indies. The California aspect raises questions of whether Lucha Underground is in his future, but him being featured in a WWE.com article on EVOLVE’s best talent – along with the aggressive acquisition policy of NXT lately – can’t rule out a run in Orlando. Like Neville, who worked all over the UK for the best part of a decade as Pac, Sabre Jr. is held in high-regard by British indy fans, and his any further success will shine brightly on the scene that birthed him.
5) After two quiet weeks show-wise, things woke up with a score of shows last weekend from the southwest of England to Scotland’s capital.
Discovery Wrestling presented Live In Edinburgh, and brought TNA bootcamp stars Mark Andrews, Grado, and Rampage Brown in, alongside ICW’s Joe Coffey & Joe Hendry, Nikki Storm, and the “Beast of Belfast” Big Damo. Across Scotland, in Glasgow, Pride Wrestling also brought in Big Damo, Joe Coffey, and Nikki Storm, while further south in Manchester, Futureshock Wrestling held a tournament won by Zack Gibson. HOP:E did a quick two-day shot, in Mansfield and Milton Keynes, with el Ligero, Jack Jester, Doug Williams, the GZRS, and Martin Kirby featuring, and Mark Andrews and former-NXT prospect Joel Redman pulled on their boots for Pro-Wrestling Evolution in Trowbridge.
The biggest show of the weekend, though, was Tidal Championship Wrestling’s 2nd Anniversary show at the University of Leeds, which drew a decent crowd to witness Dara Diablo retain his TCW title over el Ligero, on a show which also featured Rampage Brown, Tyler Bate, and Addy Starr, a former Inter-Species Wrestling (Quebec) competitor.
*****
Next weekend is a HUGE one for the UK scene, with PROGRESS opening their doors for their latest chapter and Preston City Wrestling presenting their Supershow Of Honor weekend, with Ring of Honor sending over reDRagon, Roderick Strong, Dalton Castle, and ROH champion Jay Lethal to mix it with the UK’s best.
British wrestling is on the up, with some of the bigger promotions drawing huge crowds, some of the smaller ones doing very interesting things with pro-wrestling, and some of our homegrown stars making waves outside their home territory. Here are five things you need to know about the scene this week:
1) ICW drew the biggest British wrestling crowd in over thirty years on Sunday night, when they presented Fear & Loathing VIII at the SECC in Glasgow.
The promotion, formed in Glasgow in 2006 by Mark Dallas, have had a banner year, with two national tours, two documentaries on BBC TV, and a series of sell-out shows in ever bigger halls in their hometown. For Sunday’s show, they booked an almost entirely British crew, with only Rhyno – who is involved in storylines as a regular import – and the Sumerian Death Squad from Holland, flying in. Mick Foley was brought in as host, but it’s clear that the huge majority of the four thousand tickets were sold on ICW’s reputation for a great show. Before the show started, they announced that Fear & Loathing IX would be held at the Hydro, a thirteen thousand capacity venue across the city. It may be a step too far but few would bet against Dallas and his crew making it.
As for the show itself, Grado became the new ICW Heavyweight champion, defeating Drew Galloway after a typically-ICW series of run-ins and surprises, with the whole roster celebrating in the ring with him afterwards. Earlier in the show, Viper became the first ICW Women’s champion, and Davey Boy beat Stevie Boy in the battle of the Buckie Boys to win the ICW Zero G title. The show will be up on ICW On Demand by the time you read this, and is well worth a look.
2) It’s WAR!
Well, it’s not really, but there is a big clash coming up in January, when PROGRESS’ next ENDVR show goes head to head with Revolution Pro-Wrestling’s next TV taping, just three miles away. ENDVR is the middle of three tiers that PROGRESS operate at, and while it’s not the big shows that sell out the 750-seat Electric Ballroom every month, it does sell out the 300-seat Garage in Highbury Corner. RevPro’s tapings, at the perfect-for-TV-wrestling Cockpit theatre in Marylebone, are stacked with talent, and the promotion had advertised Zack Sabre Jr before he was booked by PWG, and have now booked Will Ospreay versus ACH. It will give the hardcore fans a tough choice, but with ENDVR tickets having been on sale a week before RevPro announced their date, PROGRESS have the upper hand. RevPro owner Andy Quildan has gone on record as saying he prefers to work with other promotions rather than against them and this seems to be a case of an unavoidable clash. But WAR makes for a better story…
3) British talent continues to turn heads in the U.S.
Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, and Mark Andrews – who competed in PWG’s BOLA 2015 – are making a return trip to the Los Angeles promotion next month. While Andrews and Scurll might be known to some from their TNA connections, Ospreay is the real surprise package this year, and it’s been reported that AAA offered him a deal last month. Ospreay is only three years into his career, yet carries himself like a seasoned pro – there are few better babyfaces (“blue eyes” in old school British parlance) out there, with everything he does having meaning and impact. He’s just turned heel (or “villain”!) for IPW:UK and this reporter, for one, is interested to see how he pulls that off. American fans could do worse than get in on the ground floor – the Ospreay bandwagon starts here.
4) As well as our guys going over there, the Americans came here last week, with WWE touring the UK and Ireland (and bits of Europe, too).
While they were here they took a look at some of our talent, with try-outs being held before Raw in Manchester last Monday. Seen trying to impress WWE scouts were Scottish standout Nikki Storm, North East powerhouse Jason Prime, sometime luchadora Nina Samuels, Australian émigré Toni Storm, and the “Beast of Belfast” Big Damo. Damo’s had quite a year already, having faced Tomohiro Ishii, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Hiroshi Tanahashi for RevPro, and he’d certainly be comfortable in NXT.
5) While most of the UK’s attention was understandably focused on the ICW show, there were still a dozen shows on Friday and Saturday, up and down the UK.
Target Wrestling ran both Carlisle and Workington, and drew decent crowds with Grado and Rockstar Spud along for the ride, while NGW left their usual east coast base to run Lancashire’s west coast in Ormskirk, where Nathan Cruz defended his NGW Heavyweight title against CJ Banks. One of the more interesting shows took place in Northwich, where Great Bear Wrestling – sister promotion to RAWlternative standouts (and Chikara-Pro King of Trios entrants) Attack Pro-Wrestling – promoted Teach Me How To Dance With You, featuring teenage phenom Tyler Bate, and a Great Bear Heavyweight title match between Axel Dieter Jr and Jack Gallagher. Also on the card was Chris Brookes, continuing his brilliant heel run of defeating women, this time taking down Alexis Rose. Nixon Newell looms large in his future, I’m sure…
After two fairly quiet weeks – if you count almost 4000 people flocking to an indy show a quiet week! – next weekend hots up, with a TON of shows on offer. Join me again next week for a rundown of the movers, shakers, and headline makers!
