Guests met and
discussed in this review (with the franchise(s) I most associate them with
personally) :-
• Saime Sahin (Wrestler)
• Tiger Ali (Wrestler)
• Eddie Ryan (Wrestler)
• Chris Bronson (Wrestler)
• The Saint (Wrestler)
• Antonio De Luca (Wrestler)
• Nico Angelo (Wrestler)
• Prince Phoenix (Wrestler)
• Tristan Lee (Wrestler)
• JD Knight (Wrestler)
• Mega Pegasus (Wrestler)
• Bullit (Wrestler)
• LA Taylor (Wrestler)
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With that being said, let’s dive in…
Ahh, the blank page. My old nemesis. What I'm loving about reviewing Brit-King Pro recently is that writing the reviews - unlike some TV and Comic Con reviews I've done - isn't a chore. It is incredibly time consuming to collate the pictures, find some videos, write notes on what the review will contain, create the collages, and then actually write it - hence me starting this at 5am this morning - but the process of doing so is exciting. There is something about independent wrestling and particularly Dave Sharp's shows that just ignites my soul. After the Swindon "Global Takeover" show in September, I was literally buzzing for days. I've been a wrestling fan since I was three years old and a lot of my early childhood memories involve rooting for Bret Hart or playing with the old Hasbro wrestling figures in the classic blue WWF ring with the red, white, and blue ropes. However, there is something about indie wrestling that's different. Is it the personal connection with the team because the events are smaller and more family-feeling? Absolutely. With each passing show I find myself more and more engaged...but it's beyond that. The quality of the wrestling is stellar, the characters are awesome, and it's easy to get invested and escape from real life for a while. Some of the guys on the card like Saime Sahin (currently battling a back injury), Tiger Ali, The Saint, and Eddie Ryan, I've been watching wrestle for 10-15 years, so there's also an element of reliving phases of my life that have since passed.
Before diving too deeply into the euphoric show from Thatcham, I'm going to share a few videos. The first is a promo video showing you just what you're missing if you're not attending Brit-King Pro events. Seriously, if you're pretty much anywhere south of Birmingham, they're going to be performing somewhere relatively near to you. Do yourself a favour and buy tickets. The subsequent videos are some of the highlights from September's event in Swindon - the last one I reviewed - so you can watch some of the things I wrote about last time play out in real time. All the videos are courtesy of Brit-King Pro themselves, so please go follow their socials.
(Promo video)
(Nico Angelo vs. Tiger Ali)
(Eddie Ryan saving Saime Sahin, and Antonio De Luca turning on Chris Bronson)
I believe what the above shows is that story-driven wrestling is the way forwards and it's how the great indie companies differentiate from the average. Watching a wrestling show is usually fun, but watching characters and stories develop, and needing to go next time to see what happens next...that's the art to growing. There's a reason WWE's Bloodline story has been captivating, right?
I digress...time for Thatcham!
Match 1: JD Knight vs. Mega Pegasus
Two old school veterans to kick off the show. I found out later that JD - and half the guys - are currently battling illnesses or just recovering so kudos to everyone for showing up. Dave Sharp was ring announcing for this show, which was fun. As you'd expect from professionals like JD and Mega Pegasus, the match was decent. Mega Pegasus still moves around well for a guy that's been wrestling a high-flying, fast-paced style for quite a long time now and JD's cocky heelish character and crowd involvement is always a treat. Ultimately, Mega Pegasus got the victory and started the overall trend of babyface's coming out on top for the night.
Match 2: Bullit vs. The Saint
Originally this was billed as Bullit vs. "The Silverback" Saime Sahin. This was changed due to the aforementioned back injury that Saime is now facing. The crowd in this match was...surprising. Poor Saint. I can only assume that it's because he's been a heel for quite a while until very recently, but he got booed during his heartfelt potential retirement speech in Swindon last month and the crowd was very pro-Bullit (the heel) during this match as well. This was a meeting of two Heavyweights. There was a lot of meat-slapping-meat during this match, I can assure you. I'd never seen Bullit wrestle live before this and I must admit he's a damn good character and wrestler. The only thing I'd say is that his entrance theme is far too enjoyable and catchy for such a dastardly heel. The next-level heels give you absolutely nothing to root for or like about them and I found myself quitely rooting for Bullit to win just so I could hear the entrance theme again. His prescence, however, is undeniable. He walks and moves like a monster. Bullit also currently wrestles for ITV's "World of Sport Wrestling" as part of the Kartel stable with Gloucester's (my home city) own Iestyn Rees and Sha Samuels. The match was good and Bullit got the victory.
Post-match, Bullit shook The Saint's hand as a sign of respect...
...Then proceeded to chokeslam him and crotch-chop the crowd. What a gentleman. Chivalry is still alive and well, I see.
Match 3: Prince Phoenix vs. Tristan Lee
Arguably the two break-out stars of Brit-King Pro for 2024. Unlike the other stars who were established before, both Tristan and Phoenix have made names for themselves during this calendar year. I have seen this match live twice, but I was interested to see it again because I feel as though every subsequent time I watch it, they've improved. Whether it's in-ring, character work, selling, or crowd engagement, both continue to flourish. Bright futures for both of these guys. However, the match didn't happen due to Phoenix attacking Tristan Lee while Lee was making his entrance...that bastard.
Without his new bodyguard, Mulligan, there to carry him to the ring ("star's don't walk"), Phoenix decided the best way to come across as a douche this time was to wear sunglasses indoors in a darkened theatre. It worked. From where I was sat, Phoenix had the biggest boos of the night. The crowd ate up everything he did. One moment everyone but myself and my Wife, Susie, missed was when Phoenix was walking up to the front row of the crowd to mock them, he briefly took his sunglasses down to acknowledge me (*points finger in the air*), then went straight back into heel character. It was a cool moment and appreciated. I'm slowly becoming Brit-King Pro's "Straw Hat Guy" from ECW...."Bandana Guy", if you will. I've said it before, but Phoenix is a star waiting to happen. He's already starting to flirt with being main event level in Brit-King Pro and it's only a matter of time before he's Junior Heavyweight Champion in my opinion. The issue then would be having two heel champions isn't good for business, so someone would have to slap the taste out of Chris Bronson's mouth to make sure the company had a babyface that could take pictures with the crowd during the intermission...I've clearly spent too much time thinking about this when I should have been sleeping.
When Tristan Lee entered, Phoenix struck.
Phoenix collected a yellow folding chair from under the ring and was about to take Tristan's head off when Nico Angelo made the save. Man, I love Nico. He's my favourite new discovery for 2024. Nico actually started wrestling about 7 years ago so I don't know what took me so long to discover him, but he's fantastic. Appearance, outfit, gunstock war club (A.K.A. the murder spike), moveset, aggression, match quality, charisma...the man has it all. "The black heart of gold" grabbed the chair off of Phoenix and challenged Phoenix to a match. Phoenix accepted under the stipulation that the Junior Heavyweight Championship had to be on the line. Nico agreed.
Match 3 Revision: Brit-King Pro Junior Heavyweight Championship Match - Nico Angelo (Champion) vs. Prince Phoenix
I'm really glad this match happened. After Phoenix and Mulligan attacked Nico post-match in Swindon last month, this match was announced for Swindon's show in November - a show I may or may not be able to make as it clashes with LFCC Winter (Comic Con) in London. The potential missing of this match in particular sucked as I knew it would be amazing...and it was here. Best match of the night for my money. Nico was having his way until Phoenix dropkicked the previously mentioned yellow folding chair into Nico's face. Another highlight included Phoenix Irish-whipping Nico into an empty audience chair, which then skidded across the floor, with Nico and the chair crashing into the wall. Great spot. Phoenix also gave a Magic Mike style lap-dance to an elderly gentleman in the front row and the man unexpectedly got up and crotch-chopped Phoenix to a huge pop from the crowd. Amazing. When all was said and done Nico retained the title. What a match.
It was then intermission. At all Brit-King Pro shows intermission involves a wrestler - a babyface - taking pictures with the audience in the ring for £5 each. The pictures are taken by a professional photographer and uploaded to Facebook after the show. At this event, Nico was the honouree. It's a testament to Nico's popularity that the queue was particularly massive here. It didn't seem to end and the second half of the show started a little later than planned due to the photo session demand.
What the second half of the show demonstrated to me is that Dave Sharp's experience comes in handy when unexpected things arise. Whether it's the ring issue in Swindon last month or having to pivot the card due to injuries, double-bookings, and no-shows. That was the case here.
Match 4: Tiger Ali W/"The Stallion" Chris Bronson & LA Taylor vs. "The Italian Stallion" Antonio De Luca
Before the match began, Brit-King Pro's Heavyweight Champion, Chris Bronson, came to the ring with LA Taylor to slate the crowd and hype up Tiger Ali.
The match between Tiger and Antonio De Luca was, predictably, fantastic. Two absolute pros. I've said it before and I'll say it again, how nobody has scooped up Tiger Ali is mindblowing to me. I watched Tiger Ali battle Pete Dunne (now wrestling for WWE) for the 4FW Junior Heavyweight Championship in Gloucester 11 years ago and it is still one of the greatest matches I've ever seen live to this day. It's a travesty that Tiger Ali isn't with WWE or AEW, or NJPW. He's so, so good. As is Antonio De Luca. His return to England to wrestle for Dave Sharp is amazing.
As you can see above this match was marred with interference from Chris Bronson and LA Taylor. Even with this interference and a ref-bump, Antonio De Luca got his hand raised.....only to be forearm smashed from behind by Chris Bronson right afterwards...
Eddie Ryan made the save and challenged Chris and Tiger to a tag team match to main event the show.
Match 5: Brit-King Pro Heavyweight Champion, "The Stallion" Chris Bronson W/LA Taylor & Tiger Ali vs. "The English Lion" Eddie Ryan & "The Italian Stallion" Antonio De Luca
The match started as a wild brawl, with Antonio and Ali battling up the stairs into the crowd past where we were sitting, while Chris Bronson and Eddie Ryan battled up the other side. I was so engaged watching Antonio and Tiger, I didn't notice a kid punching Chris Bronson repeatedly in the stomach over the other side. While I don't encourage this in any way, it was a great moment. That's heat.
The match eventually made its way into the ring and started to resemble an actual tag team match.
During the course of the match, LA Taylor grabbed Chris Bronson's Heavyweight Championship, presumably to use as a weapon. The injured Saime Sahin made his way over to grab the title off of Taylor. As you can see from the picture below, Sahin still very much has his eyes on reclaiming the title one day soon...
It was a great main event with a lot of star power. Fair play to Chris Bronson too. His body transformation this year has been pretty spectacular.
Not the best quality pictures to show a side-by-side, but he's gone from being in relatively good shape back in February to being in great shape now. He looks like a Champion. As I said before he kind of gives off Curt Hennig vibes in appearance and movement, which is high praise.
Ultimately, Antonio De Luca and Eddie Ryan were the victors to send the crowd home happy.
But the Heavyweight Champion, Chris Bronson, lives to fight another day...
Post-show you do have the option of a meet-and-greet/autograph session/photo opportunity with the wrestlers for just £6. Great value for money if you ask me. I grabbed a picture with Bullit as he was the only one at the meet and greet that I don't already have a picture with. I also took the opportunity to finish the first custom-made art piece that I commissioned to Tony Blake by having Mega Pegasus sign it. Isn't it beautiful?!...
I also commissioned Tony to make another one, which received signatures from Prince Phoenix, Tristan Lee, and Antonio De Luca. JD Knight (who missed the meet and greet due to illness), Jakk Sellstrom, RJ Singh, and Charles Crowley are still to sign it.
All in all it was another spectacular night out at Brit-King Pro. Even with the 90-minute drive there and back it still felt worth it. Myself and Susie always have a blast at Dave's shows and you should definitely get yourself to one as soon as possible. I'll potentially see you at their next Swindon show on November the 16th, but if not I'll definitely see you at their Bristol show on November the 30th.
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