Wrestlers on the card :-
With that being said, let's dive in...
The ol’ double-header: Two Brit-King Pro shows in two days. Two new Champions, one of the greatest live matches I’ve ever seen – possibly the best live match when you add in the emotion, the story, the 2.5-year build, and the crowd. I’ve been going to live wrestling almost my whole life. My first WWE show was when I was a young kid and my first indie show was 2006 when I was 16. So when I say that Chris Bronson vs. Saime Sahin, Heavyweight Championship vs. Saime’s Career, is possibly the best live match I’ve ever witnessed, I want everyone to understand my full meaning. I’ve seen, God, 500+ live wrestling shows in my life. From WWE to AEW, to TNA. From 4FW to Brit-King, to Attack!, to New Wave, to Chaos, to South-West, to Evolution, to Bridge Pro, to No Mercy, to Overdrive. From PROGRESS to RevPro…even Matt Jarrett’s old events in Gloucester, where he brought in AJ Styles and Hiroshi Tanahashi. For my money, Saime vs. Bronson in-ring was one of the greatest wrestling matches of them all. Definitely worth watching on-demand when Brit-King release it….but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Saturday’s show in Swindon was Dave Sharp’s 22nd anniversary of running wrestling shows. I believe my first show of Dave’s was 18.5 years ago. So I’ve seen a lot. The highs, the lows. Covid. 4FW’s closure because of it. The birth of Brit-King. Remarkably, when I attended my first of Dave’s events, JD Knight was the Heavyweight Champion. Fast-forward nearly two decades and JD Knight is still wrestling, still working Dave’s shows, and still a fantastic talent. We got to see him wrestle in Cardiff on Sunday.
Without doubt, Swindon is Brit-King’s Mecca. It’s spiritual and ancestral home. It has been for 22 years. There was no more fitting place for the anniversary event than the Deanery Theatre. I’ve been vocal many times before about Brit-King being “our” company. Myself and Susie go to lots of wrestling shows every year. We enjoy many of them. I’ve gotten to know the owners and crew, and wrestlers in many of them…but Brit-King is home. Brit-King is family. Plus, even objectively-speaking, Brit-King put on the best events. Especially main events. Dave’s core group of talent – Saime, Bronson, Tiger Ali, Eddie Ryan, Prince Phoenix, Nico Angelo, JD Knight, and Nadia Sapphire to name a few – are all phenomenal wrestlers. Great fundamentals, great storytelling in the ring, and, dare I say a dirty word in 2026…great “selling”.
While on the subject of Brit-King being “home”…in January my Father-in-Law passed away, which meant we missed a few wrestling shows we’d bought tickets to. It was – and is – a devastating time for us. We were very close. I talked to Dave and Nadia at Brit-King. Not a problem. The tickets carried over to the next shows in Swindon and Cardiff. Wasn’t an issue at all. In fact, they suggested it before I even asked. The other company said no. My problem, not theirs. Fair enough, it’s their prerogative…but I’m unlikely to return to that company. Customer service at its finest.
On the drive to Swindon, Susie asked me what my predictions were for the weekend. I predicted the following :-
Saime would become the new Heavyweight Champion in Swindon. The justification being that Saime can’t retire. He’s too good.
Tiger Ali would win the Junior Heavyweight Championship in Cardiff. Flight and fuel costs are high and Brian Kendrick lives in America. He’s been a fantastic Champion to launch the on-demand era with, but after 8 months it was probably time for a change. Especially if Saime were to become Heavyweight Champion. Having two babyface Champions for your two company Championships presents logistical challenges. Plus, Ali hasn’t won gold in Brit-King and he’s more than earned it.
The announced card for Swindon was absolutely stacked for the anniversary :-
- Tiger Ali vs. Charlie Sterling
- Brian Kendrick defending the Junior Heavyweight Championship against Chris Ridgeway
- Nico Angelo vs. Leyton Buzzard
- Eddie Ryan vs. Kouga (formerly Owadasan)
- Chris Bronson defending the Heavyweight Championship against Saime Sahin. Title vs. Career.
That’s literally ten talents that could main event shows. Nobody on the card would be out-of-place closing the show.
On paper it looked phenomenal…but would it live up to the hype?
Two final things before diving into the play-by-play…
It was very strange and saddening to have a Deanery Theatre show without Prince Phoenix, who is off living his best life in Mexico for 4-6 months. Honing his skills, picking up some new moves, and creating a larger international name for himself. He’s smashing it – we all knew he would – and it’ll be great to welcome him back around the end of the summer!
Secondly, Brit-King female stand-out and all-around fantastic human, KT Electra, tore her ACL in a match recently and requires surgery as soon as possible to improve her chances of returning to the ring. The NHS waiting list is extensive, so a JustGiving has been setup to help her get the surgery. Please can you donate if you’re able to do so. It would mean a lot to the wrestling community as a whole to get this sorted. We need her back and performing. Any help is appreciated. Here’s the link - https://www.gofundme.com/f/kt-acl-surgery-help. There is about £4k more left to raise!
Match 1: Tiger Ali vs. Charlie Sterling
I’m a big fan of both men. Nearly 15 years since first watching Ali perform live, you could definitely argue he’s better than ever. Still fast, accurate, and deadly in the ring, but with experience and savvy that was still being formulated in years gone by. I truly believe that Tiger Ali has been doing some of the best work of his career over the last 6-9 months. He’s changed his entrance music, his gear, his attitude. He’s more ruthless. More outspoken. More engaging with the crowd. I must admit though, I do miss RJ Singh being his mouthpiece. They had a special chemistry together.
In-ring Ali has always been tremendous. I’ve always been impressed with his ability to work with anyone – any size, any shape, any nationality, any language barrier – and still have great matches. His recent bout against the teenage Archie Cole in Portishead was a particular highlight.
Charlie Sterling can play a babyface or heel, and do an impeccable job of either. In Brit-King, Sterling is a babyface. He’s easy to like, easy-to-root for. Great smile. The type of guy that women want to be with and men want to be friends with. Being a babyface in the 21st century is harder than being a heel. It’s easier to get people to hate you than love you. Hell, it feels as though everyone hates everyone all day, every day in 2026! But how do you get people to like you? To love you? Especially if they’ve never seen you wrestle before and don’t know you? It’s a gift. An art. Sterling has that ability.
It was a good choice of opener because both are capable of delivering high-impact, fast-paced, exciting matches, which is typically what you want to start a show. Get the crowd involved. I wrote in my last review (Overdrive’s “Mayhem”) about some wrestlers, particularly – but not exclusively – younger or unconfident wrestlers being afraid of silence. A crowd cannot be “up” for hours at a time. It’s not possible. Humans only have so much energy. So there will be natural peaks and troughs throughout matches and cards that are expected. Ali and Sterling are experienced. They don’t mind grabbing a resthold or letting the crowd build. If you do it right, the audience will come…and they did just that.
Ultimately, Ali dropped Sterling with a brainbuster and was declared the winner. Ali winning added more credence to my “Tiger Ali wins the Junior Heavyweight Championship in Cardiff” theory. Getting a win over a main-eventer and perennial Heavyweight Title challenger, Charlie Sterling, means a lot in Brit-King. It was a sign of his elevating status. Fun start to the show!
Match highlights! :-
Match 2: Brit-King Pro Junior Heavyweight Championship – Brian Kendrick (C) vs. Chris Ridgeway
This was a polar-opposite match to the opener. While the opener was a 21st century match – fast-paced, high-impact, with moonsaults, brainbusters, and flips – the follow-up was a throwback to the wrestling days of yesteryear: almost exclusively mat-based. It was hold, counter, counter the counter, and so on. Both Kendrick and Ridgeway shined in this environment. Ironically, a lot of today’s wrestlers couldn’t have this type of match. I don’t believe this style of wrestling is taught in many schools these days…but it’s so important! Understanding “amateur” wrestling and chain wrestling gives you an amazing foundation with which to build upon. If you look back at classic Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko matches from the mid-90’s, they’d typically start a match like this, then move into a more modern-style wrestling second half. It was art.
As I alluded to earlier, Brian Kendrick has been great for Brit-King Pro. Having a familiar face on the card while launching your on-demand service is smart. People are more likely to subscribe. It will bring in some WWE fans that might not otherwise have heard of Brit-King. It’ll shine a spotlight on the people that Kendrick works with while here – Prince Phoenix, Chris Ridgeway, Tiger Ali, Nico Angelo, etc. He’s been an important flag-bearer for the company.
It’s also nice to have Chris Ridgeway back in Brit-King. I know he was wrestling less for some of the last year because of injury…I believe a neck injury of some kind. Ridgeway has an aura. No frills or flair, or showing off. Go in, kick ass, leave. I know that Kendrick and Ridgeway were excited to work against each other. Kendrick publicly declared so when the contest was announced.
The match itself was solid. Totally different to everything else on the card. Totally different to everything I’ve seen in years actually. Good ol’ fashioned hold-for-hold chain wrestling. Ridgeway worked on the knee of Kendrick throughout and Kendrick sold it consistently. Good storytelling. Eventually the crafty veteran was able to roll Ridgeway up for a quick win after being dominated for most of the match. The Champion lives to fight another day…exactly one day…where he’ll face both Ridgeway and Tiger Ali in Cardiff.
Match highlights! :-
Match 3: Nico Angelo vs. Leyton Buzzard
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A repeat of the epic match we saw them have at Pro Wrestling Chaos in November. Without doubt, Nico and Leyton have amazing chemistry. Also, massive congrats to Leyton for winning the RevPro British Cruiserweight Championship the day after this event. It’s a great achievement in a company that’s doing very well.
I’m running out of ways to say that Nico Angelo is arguably the best wrestler in Britain today. He’s probably my favourite. “Favourite” is a hard thing to choose because I love different wrestlers for different reasons. Character and promo? Charles Crowley. Entrance? Tommy Vril. In-ring? Chris Bronson. Best heel? Prince Phoenix. Best matches? Lots of people are in the conversation, including people mentioned above, plus Saime Sahin, Tiger Ali, Jay Joshua, Danny Jones, Brendan White, and a bunch of others. Best overall? Combining everything above?…Nico might be first for me. I love the theme song, I love the entrance, I love the attire, I love the attitude, the presentation, the in-ring work. I love that he sells. Most of all, I love how aggressive he is. As a wrestling fan I need to be able to suspend my disbelief. I need to get lost in it. It’s why hokey stuff or overly-choreographed matches, or punches and kicks that don’t come close to landing are a bug-bear for me. We know it’s pre-determined. It’s not 1970. But for the duration of the match, I want to get lost in it. Wrestlers like Nico are gold-dust in that regard. He makes it feel real. He’ll hit you, then keep hitting you. He’ll keep on top of you. His kicks and punches look great. I love it.
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.
The match was brilliant, as anticipated. I always thought it was a potential show-stealer. While it wasn’t quite the best match of the night (Saime-Bronson was an all-time classic), it was still bloody excellent. Some of my favourite moments were Buzzard reversing the powerbomb attempt into a hurricanrana and then diving onto Nico on the outside of the ring. Buzzard’s moonsault is perfection, as is Nico’s front dropkick to the face. At one point Nico scooped Leyton off of the turnbuckle and delivered a sit-down Dominator, but the Brit-King banner had accidentally wrapped around Leyton’s feet, so that was draped across them both and went down to the canvas with them. There was a young fan in the front row wearing a Rey Mysterio mask that kept jeering Nico. At one point Nico yelled over “I know who you are under there!”. Great stuff. Ultimately, Leyton caught Nico coming off the top turnbuckle with a cutter. One Frog Splash later and we had a winner! Awesome win for Leyton!
Match highlights! :-
Match 4: Eddie Ryan vs. Kouga
Two polished, professional, hard-working athletes. I need to say again just how incredible this card was. It’s mind-boggling that Eddie Ryan vs. Kouga, Charlie Sterling vs. Tiger Ali, Saime Sahin vs. Chris Bronson, Leyton Buzzard vs. Nico Angelo, and Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Ridgeway were all on the same card. Most cards on any wrestling show have at least 1 or 2 matches that don’t catch the eye quite as much as the others, but all 5 of these were spectacular. I wonder if part of it is because Dave keeps the shows to 5-6 matches consistently? Quality, not quantity.
An all-time British great, an unsung hero, against one of Japan’s most promising young prospects. It was a technical masterclass in building a wrestling match, working through a language-barrier, and delivering a great end result that engaged the crowd. A solid outing and a worthy addition to the card.
Match highlights! :-
Match 5: Brit-King Pro Heavyweight Championship vs. Saime’s Career – Chris Bronson (C) W/Nadia Sapphire vs. Saime Sahin
What. A. Match.
My only wish is that a video package was created and released a month before the event because if this was hyped up more on social media, the building would have been a total sell-out (the crowd was decent already though).
Two and a half years in the making. Out of the ashes of 4FW came British Kingdom Professional Wrestling. Same owner, a lot of the same wrestlers, different name, different attitude. The inaugural Heavyweight Champion was crowned in the same venue as this event: the Deanery Theatre in Swindon. The first Champion was going to be crowned in the company’s ancestral home. The participants that made it to the final? “The Silverback” Saime Sahin and “The Stallion” Chris Bronson. Saime won the match and became the very first Heavyweight Champion. A feud was born that day. Saime dropped the Title to Bronson a few weeks later.
Over the last 2 years and 4 months of the Championship existing, Bronson has held it for 2 years. He’s been the man in Brit-King. The Champion. The headliner. The main event. Always finding a way to win. Always, somehow, leaving with the gold…often times with a little help from his friends, Nadia Sapphire, Prince Phoenix, and Tiger Ali.
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Saime has had opportunities to win the Championship back a few times before. Most notably a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match in Thatcham. But, ultimately, like so often happens…Bronson walked away with the Championship around his chiselled waist.
When Saime won the Rumble and earned another Championship opportunity, Bronson threw up a caveat: “I’ll defend against you one last time, but I want your career on the line.”. The stipulation was accepted. The match was set. The battlelines in the sand were drawn.
Chris Bronson. Saime Sahin. Saturday 16th May. Deanery Theatre, Swindon. Title vs. Career.
Saime is the most popular, most beloved, most adored member of the Brit-King roster, especially in Swindon. For 14 years the squared-circle at Brit-King and 4FW has been his home. His sanctuary. His escapism. He loved the people; they loved him right back…but the allure of being Champion again was too much. After nearly two and a half years Championship-free, Saime wanted the gold. He needed the gold. He needed to validate two and a half years of sacrifice. Of overcoming a near career-ending back injury. The bumps, the aches, the pains, the miles, the matches. If he’s not Champion, what’s it all for? Saime was willing to put his entire career on the line for one last chance to chase glory. One last throw of the dice.
To say the crowd was invested is an understatement. They were loud and vocal throughout the match. From entrances to the final bell must have been 40 minutes…and the crowd barely dropped an octave the whole time. Bronson was the most hated man in Swindon for those 40 minutes. Saime was a hero. The hero.
The Champion entered first alongside Nadia Sapphire. He was in-shape. Confident. Dare I say cocky. He’d found a way to beat Saime during their last few matches, he knew he could do the same again here and end Saime’s career once and for all. Saime entered to a thunderous ovation. Would we be watching Saime enter the ring for the last time?
The match started with Saime on the advantage. He dived to the outside onto Bronson. He brawled with Bronson in the crowd, delivering multiple echoing chops across the theatre. Once they returned to the ring, Nadia grabbed Saime’s leg, giving Bronson respite and the chance to fight back…but soon enough Saime took control yet again. Bronson attempted a moonsault off the top turnbuckle to a standing Saime. Saime caught Bronson and dropped him with an inverted piledriver for a fantastic near-fall. Saime was one-fifth of a second away from being Champion and saving his career!
Nadia stood up on the apron and distracted Saime yet again. This was enough time for Tiger Ali to enter the ring and try to attack Saime – nope! Saime moved out the way! Saime dropped Ali with a German suplex. During the commotion, Drew (referee extraordinaire) got knocked down, leaving an opening for the Terrible Trio to gang up on Saime. Bronson grabbed a chair from under the ring and smashed it across Saime’s back. It was at this point the crowd started to boo heavily. Saime was about to lose. A grown man from the crowd rushed to the ringside area to yell and swear at Bronson…that’s heat, brother!
1…2…NO! SAIME KICKED OUT!
Bronson propped the chair between the 2nd and top turnbuckles. Bronson whipped Saime towards it, but Saime reversed! Bronson went head-first into the chair and landed outside the ring. When he was next seen, there was blood trickling down his face from his forehead.
Meanwhile, inside the ring, Tiger Ali blasted Saime in the head with a chair. Bronson returned to the ring and hit a piledriver on Saime.
1…2…NO! SAIME KICKED OUT! THE CROWD WENT WILD FOR THAT ONE! THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OVER!
Bronson went to the turnbuckle and delivered a devastating elbow drop. Saime kicked out.
Frustrated, Bronson turned and looked to the entranceway scaffolding, which stands taller than the top turnbuckle by some margin. He left the ring and started to climb. When he stood at the top, people in the crowd started yelling to Saime, desperate for him to move…to save his career…he didn’t. Bronson soared off the scaffolding and landed a picture-perfect elbow to Saime.
1…2…NO! SAIME KICKED OUT AGAIN!
Everyone was screaming. Bronson was raging. Nadia was in disbelief. Ali was in disbelief. The crowd were in disbelief.
Charlie Sterling stormed the ring. He RKO’ed Bronson. RKO’ed Ali. The crowd finally had something to get behind. Sterling was here, the day was saved! It was going to be okay after all…until Bronson and Ali rallied. They attacked Sterling. They took him outside the ring and handcuffed him to the ropes. Saime would be getting no help. It was still 3-on-1. Drew was still unconscious.
Bronson lined Saime up and delivered his finisher – a knee drop to the back of Saime’s head while Saime was bent over. Ali stripped the referee shirt off of Drew and put it on himself.
1…2…NO! SAIME KICKED OUT AGAIN TO THE LOUDEST REACTION OF ALL!
Saime wouldn't stay down.
Saime managed to get back up. He fought off Nadia. Fought off Ali. Both were down. It was just Saime and Bronson remaining! Man vs. Man! Warrior vs. Warrior!…But Bronson had the upper-hand. He lined Saime up for another knee drop. As he started to run, Sterling grabbed Bronson’s foot, while still handcuffed to the ropes. Bronson stumbled…and ran right into a pop-up powerbomb from Saime. He landed in the perfect position for Saime. Saime ascended the turnbuckle and delivered a Saimesault (read: moonsault)!
1…2…3! WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!
Everyone lost their minds. 20+ children couldn’t contain their emotions any longer and stormed the ringside area. Saime went out to greet them and celebrated with them, holding up the Championship in triumph.
What. A. Match.
What a main event. What a story. What emotion. Both wrestlers left with higher stock than they entered with. THIS is wrestling. A new Champion. A new era. A company-defining main event. Bronson deserves his flowers. He’s been amazing as Champion. The best in-ring wrestler in the country…but it was Saime’s day. With his music blaring throughout the venue, the event came to a close.
Match highlights! :-
After the show, we did the usual meet-and-greet with the guys. Bronson, Ali, and Ridgeway were nowhere to be found…which makes sense given that they’re heels and given the events of the night. We congratulated Saime, grabbed a picture, and grabbed an autograph. It was – as always – delightful to chat to Drew, Nico Angelo, Leyton Buzzard, Kouga, Eddie Ryan, Charlie Sterling, and Brian Kendrick. I bought Leyton's new t-shirt too. It's very, very cool...
For my money, it was the greatest Brit-King event in company history. Top-to-bottom. Five matches, five successes. All “good” to “spectacular” on the scale. You can ask for no more as a paying customer or on-demand subscriber. You’d be a fool not to check out the main event in full via Brit-King’s on-demand. My highlights is but a taster of the action that took place.
We headed home very happy…but there was no time to rest! Tomorrow afternoon was the Brit-King show in Cardiff!
The review of Cardiff will be shorter because I’ve already written about most of the wrestlers during the review of Swindon. It was largely the same talent at both shows – no Leyton (who was at RevPro) or Saime, but the additions of JD Knight, Ruby Manitoba, Ricardo Neto, and Declan McCarthy.
It was our first time at Walkabout in Cardiff, which is a unique venue for wrestling. On the ground floor level is a bar, a restaurant, and – through a door – the balcony area, overlooking the ring and ringside area, which is on a sub-floor below. Very unique. Very cool. After attending indie shows for 20 years, I decided to try balcony seating for the first time ever. It was a totally different experience. Both good and bad. I love the birdseye view of the action. I love seeing turnbuckle moves from a totally different angle…but being on the balcony made me feel further away from the action as well. I’ve realised I like being ringside. First or second row. Close enough to feel like I’m in the ring too. Close enough to get fully immersed…but it was a unique, interesting experience.
We took our seats at the front of the balcony and the show began…
Match 1: Nadia Sapphire W/Chris Bronson vs. Ruby Manitoba
Our fifth time seeing this match; our first time from the balcony. Nadia and Ruby have worked together a lot so their chemistry is great. They have a wonderful rhythm and pacing when working together.
With Phoenix away in Mexico, Nadia is probably the best heel in the company. Bronson and Ali are in the conversation too…as will Nico be once he’s been a heel in Brit-King for longer. Nadia’s ability to generate heat is remarkable. She can make you hate her…and her scream…Vickie Guerrero, eat your heart out!
Ruby is a very likeable babyface. Especially with the kids in the crowd. They really do love her. She has a genuine connection with them.
The match was decent, as per usual. Bronson made his presence known throughout the contest, but Nadia was able to rally, stay focused, and ultimately pick up the victory. A fun opener!
Match highlights :-
Match 2: Nico Angelo vs. Kouga
I really enjoyed this one. Two wrestlers that aren’t afraid to get hit and like to strike with force. It’s easy to suspend your disbelief when Nico and Kouga are in the ring.
Some of the best moments of the match included Kouga’s spinning wheel kick to Nico – a fairly “basic” move for Kouga, but it looks so good! – and his devastating-looking DDT to Nico. Nico focused on Kouga’s injured shoulder for most of the match. Kouga entered the ring with it taped up. Nico’s aggression when attacking the shoulder was brilliant. I also really love Nico’s sit-down Dominator. Great move.
Just when it looked like Nico had the match won, Kouga delivered a kick to Nico’s head out of nowhere and submitted Nico with an armbar. A very, very rare submission loss for Nico! Kouga has been booked very strong this weekend. Beating two Brit-King staples back-to-back in Eddie Ryan and Nico Angelo.
Match highlights :-
Match 3: Brit-King Pro Junior Heavyweight Championship – Brian Kendrick (C) vs. Chris Ridgeway vs. Tiger Ali (Elimination Match)
Kendrick’s second time defending the Championship against Ridgeway in 2 days. Ouch. Only this time we’ve got the wildcard that is Tiger Ali. Ridgeway and Ali ganged up on Kendrick for most of the match. The heels consistently battered Kendrick with strikes and high-impact manoeuvres, but the long-time Champion wouldn’t stay down.
Kendrick rallied and hit a tornado DDT on Ali off of the turnbuckle, but Ali kicked out. While Ali was down, Kendrick hit a Sliced Bread on Ridgeway and managed to eliminate him. We were down to two.
After some back-and-forth action where both men had chances to win, Ali hit Kendrick with a Brainbuster and followed it up with a running dropkick to the face. We have a new Junior Heavyweight Champion!
That’s two new Champions in two days. Both Brit-King Championships have changed hands. Saime Sahin and Tiger Ali are reigning supreme in Brit-King once again. Two deserving Champions. Two veterans that are able to have great matches with anybody. I’m so happy for both. I’m particularly happy that Tiger Ali won his first Championship in Brit-King. He’s so deserving. Probably the most underrated competitor in Britain – and has been for 15 years. He’s always been brilliant. I watched him tear the house down with Pete Dunne in Gloucester 13 years ago. The only thing that’s changed in that time is that Ali’s hair has gone from shoulder-length to scalp-length. A worthy Champion.
I’m interested to see where we go from here…
A babyface Heavyweight Champion. So who will the challengers be? Bronson, for sure. But who else? Eddie Ryan is a babyface. Tiger Ali has his own Title. Nico Angelo perhaps? He does have great chemistry with Saime…or…perhaps…a returning Prince Phoenix? That would be epic.
A heel Junior Heavyweight Champion? Intriguing to see who challenges Tiger Ali next.
Match highlights :-
Match 4: Eddie Ryan & Ricardo Neto vs. JD Knight & Declan McCarthy
Interesting paradigm here. We’ve got two long-time veterans that I’ve been watching perform for many, many years (Eddie & JD), alongside two people I’ve rarely/never seen before. We’ve seen Ricardo Neto wrestle once before – ironically against JD Knight. Declan was totally new to us. I believe he came down from “up north” with Chris Ridgeway. Two teams that, to my knowledge, have never tagged before.
It was a decent tag match. I really liked the uppercuts and strikes from McCarthy. Eddie Ryan and JD Knight appeared to lead the match and involve the crowd at the right times, which you’d expect from two savvy veterans.
I loved watching Eddie Ryan’s double clothesline off the turnbuckle from the balcony seats. He jumped off from the turnbuckle we were sat next to. Very cool to see. Eddie and JD continue to perform at a high level into their 40s. Kudos to both. The match itself followed a traditional tag team format – babyfaces start strong, a little cheating, heels take over the match by isolating one of the team (Neto in this case), beat down, hot tag, babyfaces take over, finish of the match. In this case, the heels won. Two heel winners in the last two matches…it looks good for Charlie Sterling in the main event!
Match highlights :-
Match 5: Chris Bronson W/Nadia Sapphire vs. Charlie Sterling
The Stallion’s 3rd major match in 3 days. He had a last man standing match against CJ Rawlings for South West Wrestling on Friday, followed by the all-time great against Saime on Saturday. He must be shattered before this match.
We’ve seen Sterling vs. Bronson before – at Portishead in March to be specific – and it was brilliant. Genuinely fantastic. You have two athletic, talented performers in the ring. It was always going to be great…and it was. Sterling is a brilliant babyface; Bronson is an epic heel. The crowd were engaged, the action was fast-paced and ferocious, and Nadia added the wild-card element to proceedings.
The match soon spilled to the outside, where Sterling used a child in the audience to chop Bronson. That was fun. Some other cool moments were Sterling’s sit-out powerbomb and the Superplex from the top turnbuckle. It was even cooler to see that from the balcony. You don’t appreciate the height or impact on the body quite as much from the ground. From above it looks really high and devastating upon impact.
Drew inadvertently got superkicked by Sterling – that’s twice in two days he’s been knocked out. Poor Drew. Bronson and Nadia took the opportunity to get a chair and hit Sterling with it. Drew stirred and counted…1…2…Sterling kicked out! When all looked lost, Ruby Manitoba made the save. She crossbodied Bronson from the turnbuckle and chased Nadia backstage. This gave Sterling enough time to regain his composure, RKO Bronson onto the chair, and get the victory. Awesome match.
Match highlights! :-
We were planning on going to the meet-and-greet, but just after the show finished we bumped into Dave Sharp (the owner). We ended up talking to him for 30 minutes and missed the meet-and-greet entirely. But it was worth it. We have a long, deep conversation about future plans and our respective opinions on wrestling, psychology, and the local scene.
We drove back to the Shire (Gloucestershire), feeling euphoric from a weekend of fantastic Brit-King action. Two great shows. Lots of brilliant matches. One all-time classic. Two new Champions. Two happy attendees.
We’ll be back at Brit-King on Saturday the 30th of May in Gloucester. No travelling this time! Then Brit-King in Portishead the weekend after, Attack! Pro Wrestling at the Loco Klub the weekend after that, up to the Lake District for a holiday the weekend after that, Evolution Wrestling and No Mercy Wrestling the weekend after that, Overdrive Wrestling the weekend after that…you get the point. We’re busy! But loving it all.
Stay safe, stay strong, and keep fighting.
- Your Friendly Neighbourhood Shangel
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