Wrestlers on the card :-
• "The Stallion" Chris Bronson
• "The Main Character" Prince Phoenix
• "The Silverback" Saime Sahin
• "The English Lion" Eddie Ryan
• Nadia Sapphire
• "The Hossfather" Curt Atlas
• JD Knight
• Brian Kendrick
• Christon Creed
• Carla Nemes
Before starting with the review, a quick note - I've
recently started a YouTube channel for independent wrestling content in
the UK. It has near-daily 15-second videos I've dubbed "Smackdown
Showcase", it has match highlights (some of which are embedded in this
review), and more. The purpose of the channel is to shine a spotlight on
the incredible talent we have in the UK. Memorable moments, memorable
matches, hard-hitting action...if you'd be so kind, please could you
check out the YouTube channel. Like, comment, share, and subscribe!
With that being said, let's dive in...
Another week, another awesome Brit King show! Independent wrestling shows are becoming a near-weekly occurence for Susie and myself. This time it was South West Wrestling from Tewkesbury on Saturday and Brit King Pro from Thatcham on Sunday.
It's not a shock or secret to tell you that Brit King Pro is "our" company. We go to other awesome shows as well - New Wave, Attack!, SWW, No Mercy, Chaos, Evolution... - but Brit King is home. My first live show for 4FW (Brit King's spiritual predecessor) was some 18 years ago and in the suceeding years I've seen many, many of Dave Sharp's events. For the last 2 years my Wife has joined me during these expeditions and has become as invested as I am in the wrestling, the stories, and the awesome human beings behind the company. As I alluded to in the promo for the YouTube channel above, I truly believe that the South West of England and the South of Wales has become a hot-bed for incredible wrestling talent and wrestling shows in the UK, and I want to be a big part of the process shining a spotlight on the talent, the companies, and the events. They deserve it. People like Chris Bronson, Prince Phoenix, Saime Sahin, Tiger Ali, Nico Angelo, Danny Jones, Tommy Vril, Charles Crowley, Jay Joshua, and a host of others are well known in certain circles, but it's a travesty that the wider world doesn't know about them enough...yet.
But back to Brit King.
"Imperium" in Thatcham had a big-fight feel before the event even started. Former WWE wrestler Brian Kendrick (A.K.A. THE Brian Kendrick, A.K.A. Spanky) was on the card taking on the longest-reigning Brit King Pro Junior Heavyweight Champion in history - 283 days - Prince Phoenix, "The Stallion" Chris Bronson was defending the Heavyweight Championship against the loveable Saime Sahin in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, and "The English Lion" Eddie Ryan was battling "The Hossfather" Curt Atlas. Those were the 3 announced matches, with 2 more unannounced to take place as well. We couldn't wait to watch all of the action from the centre of the front row.
Match 1: "The English Lion" Eddie Ryan vs. "The Hossfather" Curt Atlas
An intriguing match. Curt Atlas the angry monster, Eddie Ryan with the technical mastery. It was a good choice of opener. You want something relatively fast-paced, with a babyface that is well-known or easy to like (ideally both) and a heel that can generate a reaction from the audience to keep them mad and yelling for the rest of the night.
Eddie Ryan is a fantastic babyface and has been for most of his career. He's naturally a very likeable person and he always does a great job of getting the crowd engaged, invested, and to stop sitting on their hands. Contrastingly, Curt Atlas is naturally a heel. His appearance is heelish, the way he walks and moves his body is heelish, his mannerisms are heelish. It felt like a classic babyface vs. heel match-up. No frills, no double-triple-quadruple somersaults. Just good old fashioned wrestling with a well-told story.
Match highlights below! :-
I must make a point of saying here how much I respect Eddie Ryan's work ethic. 17 years into his career, he's still smashing it in the gym and he's still out-working most of the people around him. He wrestled 5 times in 2 days. 3 different companies, 3 different cities, 5 matches. We witnessed 4 of them from the front row - the first 3 were at SWW. It was their "Lord of the Ring" tournament, where Eddie won his quarter-final match and his semi-final match, before succumbing to the dastardly Chris Bronson in the final. This was the 4th. Then it was straight out of the door and driving to Frome for another match. What a man! Eddie first started wrestling in 2008 and I first saw him wrestle in 2009. He wasn't even called "Eddie Ryan" yet. He was "Eddie Reyes". I watched him grow as a performer, form the Lionhearts with Jason Larusso, return to being a singles wrestler, wrestle for NXT UK, and ultimately become the well-respected veteran he is today. He's got his own training school - Lion's Den Pro in Plymouth - where he's training the next generation of talent like Toby St. John, Jordan Sparkes, Ruby Manitoba, and Alex Campbell...but he's still not slowing down. When he could rest on his reputation, he doesn't. He keeps going. That has to be respected.
Match 2: JD Knight vs. Christon Creed
Of all the wrestlers I still watch live frequently, JD Knight has been there the longest. My first time watching him wrestle live was in 2007 for 4FW - it was my first 4FW show from memory - and he's still here, still wrestling, and still putting on a great show 18 years later! Standing in total opposition was Christon Creed. I'd never seen him wrestle before. Could the rookie beat the master? Christon is a graduate of the New Wave Wrestling Academy in Cardiff - a company building a reputation of creating great talent, much like Brit King's training school and Lion's Den Pro. Christon has a good look and a good prescence in the ring. With a little more seasoning he could be really good!
JD Knight recently said "one day this will all be over, but until then I will enjoy each performance". I for one want that time to be far into the future. He's still decent in the ring and a fantastic character. His facial expressions are second-to-none.
The match itself was solid. An enjoyable, decent wrestling match.
Match highlights below! :-
Match 3: Brit King Pro Junior Heavyweight Championship Match - Prince Phoenix (C) W/Nadia Sapphire vs. Brian Kendrick
This was the first match of the night that had a "big fight feel". It was the long-time Champion taking on a former WWE Superstar - and someone that Phoenix grew up watching! After spending the last couple of years working with newer Junior Heavyweights, then most established British Junior Heavyweights, then flirting with the Heavyweights, it was time to test Phoenix against a big international name - an honour usually reserved for a Saime Sahin, Tiger Ali, or Chris Bronson. Phoenix is getting tested right now. Brian Kendrick this month, Lio Rush next month. Getting put into Heavyweight contests with former Heavyweight Champions...I feel as though he's being groomed for a Heavyweight Championship run down the line. I hope I'm right. He gets more heat than anyone else on the roster, he frequently has grown men almost punching him, and his crowd reactions are as big as anyone else's in the company. At this point I don't need to make an argument for his Heavyweight Championship reign, I need you to give me a compelling reason why not to.
One thing that was cool to see was that Brian Kendrick is predominantly a mat-based wrestler these days. Lots of holds and counter-holds. Proper old school stuff. It was fun to see Phoenix in that environment as well. We always knew he was a great wrestler, but getting to see some more technical stuff alongside the high-flying and impactful kicks was awesome.
Another improvement was that the cameraman wasn't in the way anywhere near as much this time. Brit King are currently in the process of launching an on-demand service, which is fantastic, but it resulted in a lot of the action being missed by the front couple of rows in Swindon as the cameraman was in the way. It rarely happened this time. The cameraman largely stuck to the turnbuckles or off to the side. Much better!
Brian Kendrick hasn't missed a beat. He's still a great watch and looks significantly younger than his 46 years. His experience shone through here and he was great foil for Phoenix and the ever-vocal Nadia Sapphire. What really struck me was how much Phoenix looked like he belonged here. Wrestling WWE guys. Moving up the ladder. He didn't look remotely out of place. Quite the opposite.
After a great back-and-forth match, shockingly, Brian Kendrick defeated Prince Phoenix to become the new Junior Heavyweight Champion! A smart move short-term to have a known name be a Champion for the launch of the on-demand service. It puts more eyeballs on the product.
We've been blessed to see the last 4 title changes live! We saw Eddie Ryan defeat Chris Bronson for the Heavyweight Championship in Thatcham in front of a rowdy crowd. We saw Bronson win the Championship back in Emersons Green on my birthday. We saw Phoenix win the Junior Heavyweight Championship from Nico Angelo and now Brian Kendrick take the Title off of Phoenix after a record-setting 283 days as Champion.
Match highlights below! :-
Phoenix was visably distraught after losing the Junior Heavyweight Championship. He was shocked. He was stunned. He was in disbelief!
Nadia took it well too....
Match 4: Nadia Sapphire W/Prince Phoenix vs. Carla Nemes
Predictably, after the conclusion of the Junior Heavyweight Championship match, Phoenix and Nadia returned to the ring to complain about how it was everyone else's fault that Phoenix lost...especially the referee! How dare she count to 3 when Phoenix's shoulders were down and didn't come back up for three seconds! The nerve! After a well-cut promo by Phoenix - who is ever-improving on the microphone - a match was set: Nadia Sapphire vs. the referee, Carla Nemes.
For most of the match Nadia was on the offence. She smothered Carla on the mat...with a little help from Phoenix occasionally...
I'm sure he was just trying to help dry the sweat off her neck.
Nadia Sapphire is just frickin' fantastic as a character. She can generate heat so easily with her facial expressions, shrill voice, and I'm-better-than-you personality. She's gotten herself into great shape, she's healthy, and she's truly become one of the top performers in the UK.
Much like Christon Creed earlier in the review, this was my first time seeing Carla. She has great potential. She has believeable acting, her selling is on point, and she fired up well during her counter-attack.
The surprise really came when Carla defeated Nadia after a miscommunication between The Kingdom's Prince Phoenix and Nadia Sapphire. It was not a good night for The Kingdom thus far! Two losses, including a Championship. Could "The Stallion" Chris Bronson turn their fortunes around?
Match highlights below! :-
Match 5: Brit King Pro Heavyweight Championship TLC Match - "The Stallion" Chris Bronson (C) vs. Saime Sahin
Out of all the wrestling we've seen over the last few weeks, Phoenix/Kendrick and Bronson/Saime in a TLC were the ones we were looking forward to the most. Last month in Swindon we saw Bronson defend the Title against Saime, Eddie Ryan, and Prince Phoenix in a 4-way TLC match that was one of the greatest matches I've ever seen live. Link here to highlights. The anticipation for Bronson vs. Saime in a solo TLC match was palpable. With the Championship suspended high above the ring, it was time to begin...
Le Stallion came out to the ring to a chorus of boos, while Saime received a heroes welcome. We're off to a good start, Ladies and Gentlemen!
The match began at a frenetic pace. Saime chased Bronson around the ring and outside of the ring until Bronson managed to clock Saime on the head with a steel chair. Bronson and Saime tore the house down. They brawled in the crowd, they tried to put each other's heads in bins, Bronson moonsaulted from the turnbuckle to the outside onto Saime, Bronson threw a chair at Saime's head, Saime put Bronson through a table, Bronson performed a beautiful elbow drop off of a ladder onto Saime, Saime scrambled Bronson's brains with a chairshot to the head...the match had it all. From start to finish it was fantastic.
As I said in my last review, Bronson, in my opinion, is the best wrestler in the UK right now. He has "it". Whatever "it" is. He has the look. He can talk. He's got the physique of a Champion. He carries himself well. He is incredible in the ring. Everything he does looks flawless. His selling is impeccable. He can technical wrestle, he can brawl, he can utilise chairs, and ladders, and tables. When Bronson is wrestling, you know it's going to be great.
Saime has been at the top of the card for 10+ years now. He has done it all, seen it all, and consistently has top-notch main event matches. Brit King's style of main event is unrivaled. They always knock it out the park.
Much like Eddie Ryan earlier in the review, Bronson is absolutely smashing it as well. He wrestled 5 times in 3 days. 4 times in 2 days - 4 matches, 2 main events, 1 TLC, and we watched all 4 live from the front row of two different shows! Great time to be a fan!
Just as Saime had the match won, Tiger Ali interfered. Saime managed to knock him down and re-climbed the ladder...only for Prince Phoenix to interfere too! Saime yet again managed to get the upper hand...until Bronson smashed a chair into his head and knocked him off a ladder backwards through a table! The Champion reached up and retrieved his Championship, victorious yet again. What a great match.
Both Saime and Bronson were feeling the effects afterwards....
I don't know how Brit King can top the two recent TLC matches, but I'm sure they'll find a way.
Match highlights below! :-
With the show concluded, it was time for the meet-and-greet. The day before at SWW, I'd gotten two incredible prints signed by Eddie Ryan. They are new promo pictures and they look amazing.
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Myself and Susie chatted to the usual suspects, which is always a pleasure. I got to catch up with Brian Kendrick too. I first saw Brian wrestle live in 2014 for Matt Jarrett's "Superstars of Wrestling" and have seen him wrestle live a couple more times since, so it was nice to see him again. Brian is so humble. A genuinely warm, kind, appreciative man.
I also got to say "hi" to Carla Nemes and Christon Creed for the first time.
Yet another unforegettable night at Brit King Pro. Can't wait for the next one in Swindon on Saturday the 29th of November. Until then, stay safe and keep pushing forwards.
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