Wrestlers on the card :-
With that being said, let's dive in...
The Deanery Theatre, how I love thee. British Kingdom Professional Wrestling was back in Swindon for their quarterly showcase event. Swindon is the home of Brit King, so their Swindon events (typically in January, May, September, and November) are usually the best cards that they produce each year. With the venue becoming unavailable for the usual September show, the September and November events were squished together to create a supershow for October.
Brit King cards usually have 5 matches: 3 matches, an interval, 2 matches. In this case, 3 matches were announced ahead of time, with 2 more being kept quiet until the show itself.
The 3 announced were…
- Chris Bronson triggering his rematch clause against Saime Sahin for the Brit King Pro Heavyweight Championship in a 2-out-of-3 falls contest.
- “Made of Stone” Danny Jones taking on Saxon Huxley.
- Tiger Ali putting his Junior Heavyweight Championship on the line in a tables, ladders and chairs match against Archie Cole, Nico Angelo, and Matt Gatlin.
Pretty spectacular on paper. Bronson vs. Sahin from May in Swindon (Title vs. Career) is currently my indie “match of the year”, so I knew that match was going to deliver. It’s impossible for Bronson and Sahin to have a bad match together. Their chemistry is off-the-charts. Plus, a Junior Heavyweight TLC sounded incredible too.
Before we dive into the review, I have something really cool to share. I was chatting to Nadia Sapphire a couple of weeks before the event and she mentioned that she was selling the old 4FW Junior Heavyweight Championship. From everything I’ve researched and found pictures of online, it was introduced during Koji Kanemoto’s 2015 run with the belt and was ultimately retired in mid-2025 during Prince Phoenix’s run when it was changed to the Brit King Pro Junior Heavyweight Championship design (the three lions 4FW logo in the middle was replaced by a Brit King logo). During the 10 years it was used, it was also held by legends such as Kenny Omega, Nico Angelo, Tiger Ali, RJ Singh, Mark Haskins, and Mochizuki Jr. amongst others.
Well…I bought it. It’s now mine. Out of all the 4FW and Brit King belts over the years, this Junior Heavyweight Championship and the current big gold Heavyweight Championship are my favourite two. The Junior Heavyweight Championship I purchased was the longest-serving version of the Junior Heavyweight Title, running for 10 years, while the current Heavyweight Championship is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It reminds me of the 2002-2004 undisputed WWE Championship.
I’m very happy with the purchase. I even like that it’s a little “used”. It’s a little bit frayed and a bit of the gold coating has chipped in places from years of use and being bashed over people’s heads. Awesome.
Another thing before getting into the review…Brit King alumnus Leyton Buzzard has recently had his second major knee surgery in the last few years (the opposite knee to the last surgery). He’s stated that he may or may not return to wrestling after the recovery as he’s now shredded both his knees while wrestling before turning 30. If he does indeed retire, I want to wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do next. I’ve no doubt he’ll succeed if he brings the same commitment, passion, and work-ethic that he brought to the squared-circle. I sincerely hope he decides to carry on wrestling – he’s too talented to give up now in my opinion.
Here’s something I wrote about Leyton during one of my previous Brit King reviews…
“Leyton Buzzard has also very quickly moved up the list of my favourite performers. Every match I’ve seen him have live has been awesome. He has the athleticism and explosive movements of a top-tier performer and has a rare ability to make every opponent look good. It’s great to have him back after spending most of 2025 in Japan. He’s such an asset to the British scene. He can work any style from junior heavyweight to main event. I’m glad to see him getting booked all over the place. I first saw him wrestle live at Pro Wrestling Chaos against Nico Angelo. It was one of the best matches I saw live all year.”
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Leyton. You’ve got this.
Back to Swindon. It’s clear that during the summer hiatus Dave and the team have been working on some new features for the shows as just before the event started fog started billowing out from near the entranceway. A cool new touch…and it led to some great pictures during the show. It made the entrances feel even more special. A great touch.
While speaking of “pictures”, I need to reiterate once again that the Deanery Theatre in Swindon has the best lighting of any venue used on the British indies right now in my opinion. Most of my favourite pictures I’ve ever taken at wrestling shows have been in that room…and I’ve been to more than 350 indie shows over the years.
The fuse was lit; it was time to start the show!
Match 1: Alexios vs. Archie Cole
“The Golden Greek God” Alexios entered the ring and challenged Archie Cole to a match. If Alexios won, he’d take Archie’s place in the TLC main event. Archie accepted.
It was very shrewd booking because it meant that the opener was a fast-paced, exciting match between two genuinely talented young men, while also introducing Archie to the Swindon crowd so they could get to know him and care about him ready for the main event where he’d be the main babyface…if he won this match.
Alexios has definitely become a favourite of mine over the last few years. He’s a great performer, works hard, seems comfortable on the microphone, has some brilliant moves in his arsenal, and seems to have chemistry with pretty much everyone he steps into the ring with. You can see why the Japanese promoters love him and keep bringing him back for tours.
This was our third time seeing Archie Cole perform live. During our second time – when he faced Tiger Ali in Portishead – I had the following to say about Archie…
“He’s every bit as good in the ring as any teenager or young adult in Britain. He doesn't yet have the notoriety of a Leon Cage or Shane Hook, but he's most definitely in the same conversation when it comes to skill and athleticism. Ali worked on the knee of Archie during the first section and Archie - showing psychology and ring savvy beyond his years - constantly sold the leg. Even later in the match when Archie was on the comeback, he still sold the knee. He'd do a move, grab the knee. Do a high-spot, grab the knee. He'd constantly be holding his knee or tweaking his knee, or hitting his thigh to bring feeling back into his knee. It was very impressive.”
In the 6 months between that review and Swindon, Archie seems to have improved yet again. It’s striking how polished he looks in the ring for such a young man. Everything he does looks crisp and is executed beautifully.
The match started with Archie looking strong, performing a great springboard arm-drag to Alexios. As Archie was on the turnbuckle, Alexios pulled Archie’s foot forwards so that he landed on the back of his head on the top turnbuckle. It was a great spot. The next few minutes were dedicated to the heel Alexios dominating and getting some near-falls, including a particularly well-executed back body drop.
Archie started to fight back, but was cut off after a Matrix-like move from Alexios, where he went from the standing position, down to his shoulders and the back of his head (in the kip-up position), then kipped up. All in one fluid motion. I’ve seen Alexios do that a few times now and it’s always phenomenal. Such a great move. Archie managed to pull off a handspring cutter out of nowhere and the match became more competitive once again. Alexios had a very close two-count after hitting Archie with a double-armed Codebreaker, but ultimately Archie won with an amazing Swanton Bomb. Brilliant start to the show.
Match highlights! :-
Match 2: “Made of Stone” Danny Jones vs. Saxon Huxley
Firstly, Danny Jones’ entrance theme is an absolute banger. “Loner Boogie” by Boy Azooga. I’m fairly certain I was captured on video multiple times raving and singing along while Danny walked up into the stands and around the ringside area. That’s one of the great things about going to lots of shows – you get to know the talent, the entrance themes, and the lyrics. It becomes a gig and a wrestling show in one.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Danny Jones feels destined to end up working for a big company long-term. He’s got the size, the presence, the in-ring ability, the charisma, and thanks to his work with Hunter Maul, he’s in great shape too. It feels like a matter of time before he’s snatched up by WWE or AEW, or somewhere else.
I haven’t seen Saxon wrestle in quite a few years now. I watched him on WWE NXT UK and PROGRESS back in the day, but we seem to have been on opposite schedules when it comes to his Brit King matches lately. He’s on shows we couldn’t make, and he’s not on shows we could. Our paths finally crossed once again and we got to see him do battle with Danny Jones. Two big, strong Heavyweight behemoths together.
It was another solid match, with Danny Jones’ stiff chops echoing throughout the theatre. Some other highlights included Huxley’s snake eyes/crossbody into the ropes combination, followed by a running big boot. Very cool. Jones countered with a backstabber – a move you don’t see performed by many Heavyweights. Huxley hoisted Jones up for a Baldo Bomb. Jones managed to wriggle free…only to run straight into a Black Hole Slam for a two-count.
Jones suplexed Huxley and turned him over mid-air for a pin, but Huxley kicked out. During the 2nd attempt, Huxley was able to successfully catch Jones with the Baldo Bomb for the 1-2-3. That was fun!
Match highlights! :-
Match 3: Brit King Pro Heavyweight Championship match; two-out-of-three falls - “The Silverback” Saime Sahin (C) vs. “The Stallion” Chris Bronson W/Nadia Sapphire & Caprice Adams
As I alluded to earlier, I knew this match would deliver. Two of the very best in Britain. Two pros with excellent chemistry. Both should be wrestling for a big, international company quite frankly. But I’m not gonna complain too loudly as it means we get to see them live and in living colour basically every month. Two legends of Brit King Pro.
Bronson’s ability to generate heat is impressive. Perhaps a little too impressive. A grown man – and I use that term loosely – headbutted him in the stands. It was more of a gentle banging of heads than a full-on headbutt, but still…guys, you cannot touch the wrestlers under any circumstances. Ever. Plus, for the record, you don’t wanna fuck with Bronson anyway. He’s a legit fighter that recently had his first amateur boxing contest (and won). Bronson could have decked him if he chose to do so, but he didn’t. He refrained. You could tell he was legitimately pissed off though.
Also, while on the subject of unacceptable crowd behaviour….
No swearing if it’s a family-friendly show. If it’s an 18+ event, go ahead. It’s part of the fun. But yelling profanities with little kids present is a no-no.
Also, whether it’s a family-friendly show or an 18+ event, no body-shaming.
What have we learned, gentle readers?...
- Calling someone a “bitch” at a family-friendly event: no
- Calling someone a “bitch” at an 18+ event: yes
- No putting your hands on the wrestlers. No body-shaming. Can’t believe any of that has to be typed, but here we are.
Back to the match….
It still feels weird seeing Chris Bronson enter the ring without Championship gold around his waist. Technically speaking you could certainly argue Bronson is Britain’s greatest right now. Every movement looks impeccable. His bumping and selling are amazing. Like a blend of some of the finest from the 80s/90s such as Curt Hennig. His offence looks believable. He’s comfortable on the microphone…and he’s always looking to improve or tweak something existing. Two good examples are his leg flails while performing an elbow drop from the top turnbuckle or – as is the case in this match – his top rope backflip DDT ala Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero from Halloween Havoc 1997. I’m not sure if he’s ever done this move before. I haven’t seen him do it. Fair play! He’s always surprising us. It’s great to see him continuing to go from strength-to-strength, such as his recent wrestling appearance at Cyprus Comic Con or his imminent match against Drew Parker for the Attack! Pro Wrestling Championship at the Loco Klub in Bristol on Sunday the 25th of April. Cannot wait for that one. He deserves all the opportunities.
Saime Sahin is the greatest babyface in Brit King Pro history, especially in Swindon. He is absolutely, categorically beloved. Kids love him, adults love him – men and women, which is rare. He’s clearly a very likeable personality, but I think it goes deeper than that. He’s so spectacular in the ring and his selling is so good that the crowd care. They’re willing him to win. If you want proof of this, go watch my highlights video of Bronson vs. Saime, Title vs. Career from Swindon back in May. Every near-fall had the crowd exploding and when Saime finally won, the place came unglued.
Saime is one of my Wife’s favourites, and one of mine too. I was there for Saime’s origin story. He started wrestling professionally in late 2012 from what I can tell and I first saw him wrestle in early 2013, so we go back a long way. Not far off 15 years now. His rise from an energetic opening act to a Bonafide main eventer has been brilliant to see. Outside of 4FW/Brit King Pro, he’s so grossly underrated. A legitimate world-class talent.
Sahin vs. Bronson, one more time. 2 out of 3 falls. Winner is the Heavyweight Champion.
The match started with a great back-and-forth of strikes and moves, including Saime monkey-flipping Bronson. Incredible agility for a Heavyweight. Saime dived off the top turnbuckle to the outside onto Bronson and Adams, before Bronson and Saime battled up into the stands. This is where the idiotic fan headbutted Bronson. The match worked its way back into the ring, where Bronson delivered a low-blow behind the referee’s back, hit a piledriver on Saime, and got the first fall. 1-0 Bronson.
Soon afterwards, Saime ducked during some interference from Nadia Sapphire and Caprice Adams, rolled Bronson up with an inside cradle, and levelled the match once again. 1-1.
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This is where the match really picked up the pace and moved into another gear of excitement. Bronson and Saime did everything they could to put each other away. Saime superplexed Bronson off the top turnbuckle, then hit a double-armed powerbomb!
1…2…NO!
Bronson hit the aforementioned top rope backflip DDT, followed by his breathtaking elbow drop from the top rope.
1…2…NO!
Frustrated, Bronson hit a Canadian Destroyer.
1…2…NO!
Saime won’t stay down!
Saime hit his Saimesault for the 1…2…3. Still the Champion!
Another great match in the storied rivalry of Sahin vs. Bronson. The best feud in Brit King Pro history. A video package should definitely be made to showcase the whole thing from start to finish. Make it happen, Brit King!
Match highlights! :-
Match 4: Nadia Sapphire W/Caprice Adams vs. “The Spanish Dragon” Carla Nemes
Remember when I mentioned badass entrance themes earlier? Carla Nemes’ “Ten Thousand Fists” by Disturbed is another one. It’s a song I’ve known since the album “Ten Thousand Fists” came out when I was starting college in 2005. It’s a banger!
Carla is a product of the All Style Wrestling Academy and has been wrestling professionally for about 2 years. We’ve been watching her perform live since around the 1-year mark. Over the course of the last year, we’ve seen her grow from strength-to-strength, both in the ring and in confidence. Her personality and presentation are louder and flashier now than they were a year ago. She’s starting to make waves (no pun intended) and become a force on the South-West England and South Wales wrestling scene.
Nadia Sapphire is an unsung hero of British independent wrestling for women. She’s been a pro for 19 years. Read that again…19 years! When Nadia debuted, the WWE Divas Championship hadn’t even been created yet. It was still the old-school Women’s Championship and Beth Phoenix had just debuted. She’s a pioneer for female wrestlers in the United Kingdom…and she still wrestles and looks better than ever! It would be nice to see her get the recognition she’s earned.
Nadia vs. Carla is a match we’ve seen before, but they always do a good job. The hot crowd throughout the match is a testament to Nadia’s ability to generate Vickie Guerrero-level heat and Carla’s ability to sell and play to the crowd as a sympathetic babyface. Some of the highlights included a great sequence of mat wrestling between the two, Nadia’s Fisherman’s suplex to Carla, and Carla’s roundhouse kick to Nadia. Ultimately, Caprice Adams was the difference-maker and he distracted Carla long enough for Nadia to get a roll-up 3-count.
Match highlights! :-
Match 5: Brit King Pro Junior Heavyweight Championship match; Tables, Ladders & Chairs (oh my!) – Tiger Ali (C) vs. Archie Cole vs. Nico Angelo vs. Matt Gatlin
Also gonna add Nico Angelo (“Dark Nights” by Dorothy) & Tiger Ali (“33” by Ho3ein ft. Epicure)’s themes to the “bangers” list.
We’ve got a lot to dissect here…
Tiger Ali has held the 4FW/Brit King Pro Junior Heavyweight Championship more times than anyone in history and his track-record with putting on top-tier performances with the belt is legendary. You can go all the way back to 2010 and his matches with Owen Phoenix for the Title. Over that intervening period, Tiger Ali has been a consistent world-class performer. While he’s wrestled in Japan and WWE NXT UK - and a few other places - I still feel he’s grossly underrated. He should have been in TNA’s X-Division or WWE long ago. He can do it all. Mat wrestling, chain wrestling, brawling, striking, high-flying, technical wrestling…you want a Heavyweight match? He can do it. You need him to be a Junior Heavyweight because someone couldn’t make the show? No problem. Need an old-school mat wrestling match with Brian Kendrick? He can do it. The man is a phenomenon and an absolute workhorse for Brit King; wrestling with a knee injury.
It’s been about 6 months since we were able to watch Nico wrestle live last and he’s been missed. Probably my personal ‘favourite’ wrestler in Britain right now. Effortlessly gifted, charismatic, cool, and talented. Badass entrance, ring gear, gunstock war club draped over his massive shoulder…it’s hard not to be impressed by Nico. I’ve been a walking billboard for his various merch drops over the last few years for that reason.
Throw in the winner of the opener, Archie Cole, and the consummate professional Matt Gatlin, and you’ve got a recipe for a great match.
One of my favourite things to do during a TLC match is watch Dave Sharp’s face when a big bump is about to happen. He gets so nervous. He legitimately cares about the performers and their well-being…which, sadly, isn’t the case for all promoters.
After the Heavyweight Championship TLC last September between Chris Bronson, Saime Sahin, Prince Phoenix, and Eddie Ryan, our expectations were high for the Junior Heavyweight Championship equivalent. The Heavyweight TLC was one of the “matches of the year” last year. I still have a broken piece of one of the tables signed by all four men on display.
As expected, the match was fast-paced and ferocious from the get-go, with Archie and Gatlin delivering two top-rope crossbody’s onto Ali and Nico, before all four men started brawling around the ringside area and up into the stands. The first big use of a ladder in the match almost happened by accident between Archie Cole and a fan in the front row. As Archie maneuvered the ladder into the ring, he almost cracked the fan in the head! Thankfully, he missed him by a couple of inches. Soon after this, Nico grabbed Archie and threw him out one of the doors so that he was outside the Theatre. Great fun!
A chair battle between Ali, Nico, and Gatlin ensued, with all three men taking chair shots. Gatlin grabbed the ladder that Archie had left in the ring earlier, put it on his shoulders, and spun around, knocking Nico and Ali down. Archie returned out of nowhere, ascended to the top turnbuckle, and dropkicked the ladder into Gatlin’s chest.
Ali was close to retaining his Championship when Archie pushed Ali off the ladder and Ali crotched himself on the top rope. Ali’s yells of pain were amazing…it even had Dave Sharp quietly chuckling to himself out the corner of my eye. With Gatlin down, the heels (Nico and Ali) started to double-team Archie. Archie fought back bravely but was cut-off. Nico brutalised Archie with elbows and knees. Nico set three chairs up in the middle of the ring, laid Archie out on them, and climbed the turnbuckle…Archie sprang to life and Frankensteiner’ed Nico off the turnbuckle, crashing into the three chairs. It was a great spot and looked brutal for Nico.
The match then had three big moments in quick succession…Ali DDT’ed Archie onto a chair in the middle of the ring, Gatlin suplexed Ali onto an open chair (which broke and looked rough as fuck for Ali!), and Nico Angelo powerbombed Gatlin through a table that was propped up in the corner of the ring. Three epic spots. Nico had fingertips on the belt when Ali pulled him down. Ali and Nico battled to the outside, while Archie scaled the scaffolding entranceway set. He dived off onto Ali and Nico; much to the delight and screams of the audience.
Archie and Ali crawled back into the ring and were fighting either side of the ladder that was setup in the middle. Archie knocked Ali off the ladder backwards onto a table (that didn’t break)…he reached up…and pulled down the Junior Heavyweight Championship! We have a NEW Champion! I’m rarely surprised by title changes at this point, but this one shocked me. Ali only won the Championship back in May. Given the summer hiatus that Brit King had, Ali didn’t defend the title very much at all. Plus, Saime retained the Heavyweight Championship earlier in the night. I didn’t think Dave would have two babyface Champions. I love it when I’m surprised.
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Archie is a very deserving Champion. Witnessing him win the prestigious 4FW/Brit King Junior Heavyweight Championship live for the first time was tremendous. The crowd absolutely loved it. They loved Archie. He was the co-most popular babyface on the card alongside Saime. I have a feeling that Archie is going to have a memorable run with the Championship. He’s etched his name onto a title that has a lineage of names such as Pete Dunne, Kenny Omega, Mark Haskins, Tiger Ali, RJ Singh, Nico Angelo, Owen Phoenix, and Prince Phoenix. Not bad for the C.V.
A fantastic match that lived up to the hype!
Match highlights! :-
After the event concluded, it was time for the meet-and-greet with the talent.
I had a lot to get signed. There was a new Brit King poster for the meet-and-greets. It was time. The new poster looks tremendous…
I also had the 4FW Junior Heavyweight Championship I purchased from Nadia to get signed by Ali & Nico. Nico was nowhere to be found. I assume he had to dash away straight after the main event concluded, but I got Ali to sign it. I also had some 8x10s for Bronson, Saime, and Matt Gatlin to sign. Plus, I purchased an 8x10 from Danny Jones, who also kindly threw in a signed trading card of himself for free. What a legend! I have a rule: if I have an 8x10 to get signed, but the wrestler is selling their own, I buy that instead. I have a collection of 8x10s that dates back many years and includes various big names through my work in Comic Cons, including Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Ric Flair, John Cena, Edge, Christian, Shawn Michaels, and a bunch of others. So, I love getting 8x10s signed. But if a wrestler is selling one, I prioritise that because it helps the talent out too. Win-win!
It was great to chat to the wrestlers. I’ve known most of them for a long time now. 14 years in Ali & Saime’s cases, and a number of years in almost every other case. It feels like a family reunion at this point more than a meet-and-greet. It’s one of the things that makes indie wrestling so special. It’s one big community. When my Father-In-Law passed in January, myself and Susie received literally dozens of messages from the wrestling community, including Dave Sharp, Nadia Sapphire, Prince Phoenix, and Tiger Ali, plus really lovely voice messages from Nico Angelo and Charles Crowley. It’s a special community. We’re really happy to be a part of it.
Another fantastic event by Brit King Pro. If you haven’t been to a show of theirs before, you’re missing out. Get your tickets. You won’t be disappointed.
Until next time, I’ve been your friendly neighbourhood Shangel
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