The following is a fan review of Insane Championship Wrestling ‘1st Annual Fear & Lothian’ by Pixie.
As ICW made its return to Studio24 in the nations capital it promised to be an intimate affair, with a much smaller venue and around half the crowd that ICW has now become accustomed to,many had doubts of the quality of the show… They were wrong.
Opening
Billy Kirkwood came to the ring alone after Dr Sean David claimed he was no longer working ICW’s ‘B shows’ it wasn’t long however before he was joined by his broadcast partner for the evening, Sebastian Radclaw. Radclaw who last week charmed his way into the hearts of the ICW massive with his video looking for friends was understandably nervous, that is until he taught Simon Cassidy his trademark “gremlin dance” Billy and Sebastian then made their way to the stage and the night got under-way with the first match.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
James R Kennedy made his way to the ring accompanied by Kenneth, we would later find out that Christopher couldn’t be there. In the words of James R Kennedy, “The ‘Teen Sensation’ Christopher couldn’t be in attendance at ICW, due to strain placed on his vocal chords during a concert in Paris, France on Saturday evening. His handlers and I took the decision to pull him from performing on Sunday, and wrapped him up in cotton wool, to ensure he’d be rushed back to better health.” James R went on and on until Kenneth who had clearly had enough, snapped and told him to shut up. Kenneth cut a promo and Fight Club stormed the ring, beating down both James R Kennedy and Kenneth, they then demanded a match with The Bucky Boys.
The Bucky Boys, not wanting to face another defeat at the hands of Fight Club who, at Fear and Loathing VI threatened to stab them with a broken bottle, upped their game and broke out an array of new and as yet unseen moves such as a double figure four leg lock and really made fight club work like ICW fans haven’t seen in a while, the fans were really behind The Bucky Boys for the majority of the match and many chants appeared to be having an effect on Kid Fite. It was towards the end when both Stevey and Davey attacked Kid Fite, that Liam hit the back cracker on Davey and looked like he was going to get the pin however The Bucky Boys weren’t giving up that easily and continued to wear down Fight Club before Kenneth came to ringside, distracting Fight Club allowing The Bucky Boys to get the win with a double school boy pin on both members of Fight Club.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
Next it was time for the match that was tipped as match of the night and saw Joe Coffey take on James Scott in singles action. When these two powerhouses clashed it was a totally different experience to those we are usually used to at ICW. In a match similar to those you would witness if Robbie Dynamite were in the ring, every minute of this match was filled with grappling and wrestling holds showing the amount of sheer talent of the men in the ring. With both men displaying nothing but strength and brutality towards each other with vicious shoulder barges and clotheslines, coupled with the electricity in the building, there was continuous speculation over who would pick up the win. However after all was said and done and both men had ground each other down it was Joe Coffey who managed to pick up the win after a hard fought display of technical wrestling.
Following the match, Joe Coffey took to the mic and after chants from the crowd of “Joe for champ” stated that he thought now was his time to get a title shot. He then accused Mark Dallas of paying for comedians instead of paying to fix the ring. He went on to call out Sebastian Radclaw, demanding that he came to the ring. Despite attempts by fans to stop him, Radclaw got into the ring only to be knocked out by Coffey.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
The next match would see Bete Noire face off against Carmel Jacob who following her devious tactics at Fear and Loathing VI had not only managed to play part in the injury of Bete but claimed full responsibility with no remorse at all. There was no telling what effect this had on Bete’s mental state however before Carmel made her entrance Bete could be see wringing her hands and pacing around the ring. Carmel, never one to face up to her responsibilities alone was accompanied by Sara who throughout the match acted as both a helping hand to Carmel as well as taking over the beat-down of Bete while Carmel caused a distraction to the referee. Both girls gave as a good as they got with several huge moves such as a fantastic tarantula hold. Thanks to Sara helping out with the beat-down Carmel overpowered Bete Noire and got the pin, but i don’t think this is the last we will see of these two.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
In a match requested by both competitors, Mikey Whiplash went one on one in ICWs first inter-gender singles match against the champion of his own company, Kay Lee Ray. It started off as nothing more than a beat-down on Kay Lee at the hands of Mikey Whiplash, however after a short time the Fierce Females champion was back on for and showing that regardless of gender she would give as good as she got, brawling spilled into the crowd for a short period before the in ring action continued. Whiplash delivered three consecutive powerbombs to Kay Lee before covering for the three count only there was never a three count as the referee refused to count the pin on account of the sheer brutality he had just witnessed. By the time a replacement referee came out Kay Lee had regained momentum and was now on the offensive, hitting Whiplash with everything she had left before eventually getting the pin and picking up the win.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
Following a short interval it was time for Dickie Divers w/ BT Gunn to take on Grado. Grado, who was out for revenge after being knocked down at the hands of the New Age Kilq in October, forcing him to miss Fear and Loathing VI refused to continue the match as BT Gunn got involved making it a 2 on 1 handicap match. Soon though Wolfgang came to the aid of his best pal evening the numbers and making it officially a tag team match. Grado, who appeared to be enjoying standing in the corner booting anyone who came his way successfully fended off both Divers and Gunn however the problem came when he lost concentration and hit his own partner in the chest causing Wolfgang to stumble to the corner. Soon after the NAK were up to their usual tricks including BT retrieving his trademark scissors from he backstage area and chopping lumps out of Wolfgang’s hair. It wasn’t long before Grado had had enough and pinned BT Gunn clean picking up the win, much ti the dismay of NAK fans all over the venue.
Joe Hendry & Damian O’Connor
Joe Hendry came to the ring and cut a promo on how he was thankful of the fans support and said that he was issuing an open challenge to anyone back in the ICW locker room. His challenge was answered by none other than Damian O’Connor who took to the ring and pinned him instantly, got up and left the ring. Joe however wasn’t going down that easily and called O’Connor back out, yet again O’Connor beat him down, using his own tie to strangle him before pinning him yet again.
Following the match Joe Hendry had this to say: “Well the support from the fans for their local hero Joe ‘The J-Train” Hendry has been quite unbelievable. As they know as well as the wrestling world knows, Damien O’Connor unfairly used my fantastic tie as a weapon to assault me in a completely unsanctioned match. So whilst the fans and I are upset, we’re glad the wrestling community understands I’m still the local hero and still absolutely undefeated”.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
It was then time for two of the newest members of the ICW roster to sign their contracts Lionheart made his was to the ring first, followed by Red Lightning. Lionheart apologised to the fans for ever leaving and admitted that he was being slightly selfish in doing so. He signed on the dotted line without even reading it, clearly just happy to be back. Red on the other hand was about to speak when former Gold Label member James Scott got into the ring and challenged both Lionheart and Red Lightning to a street fight, falls count anywhere in Edinburgh match. Before anyone could accept or reject the request the forth member of the former faction, Wolfgang came to the ring. Lightning cut a promo on how they were and are all brothers before claiming that he didn’t walk out on gold label but gold label walked out on him. Wolfgang and James Scott left the ring and Lightning who had apparently contacted Mark Dallas stated that he wouldn’t be signing his contract until his demands were met. He left the ring and Lionheart and Dallas shook hands and Dallas joined the fans in welcoming him back into the ICW family.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
The Zero-G Championship was on the line next as defending champion, Mark Coffey went one on one with Noam Dar. As a former Zero G champion, Dar knew exactly what was required of him and this honestly couldn’t have been more perfectly matched, with both men determined not to let the win slip through their grasp. With Dar’s burgeoning popularity with the ICW fans and Mark’s focused approach to his in-ring work, the crowd were treated to a brilliant display of talent that would easily rival anything that any other UK promotion has to offer. Both men were offensively strong, with a real ‘to and fro’ feel to proceedings. Dar and Coffey both mounted impressive attacks and defences, with neither gaining much ground. Not even the distraction of Coffey’s brother, Joe, joining Billy Kirkwood at the commentary table drew Dar’s focus away from the task at hand. Unfortunately for him, his efforts were in vain as Coffey’s final offensive salvo seen him hit a series of brutal moves, including the pump handle slam, finally rolling Dar up for the pin.
Photo Credit: Insane Championship Wrestling
In his first title defence since becoming champion, Jack Jester faced off against the New Age Kliq’s Chris Renfrew. Before the bell had even rung Jester had gone under the ring in search of weapons, emerging with a black chair and then a white one. As the bell rung both men attempted to leather each other with said chairs before getting into some proper grappling action. Renfrew got hold of Jack Jester’s corkscrew and looked like he was about to do some damage, but before he could, Jester rolled from the ring and made his way backstage to fetch an even more dangerous weapon… A baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. After striking Renfrew on the head several times, Jester ground the bat right into the face of his opponent and bloodshed ensued the action spilled out of the ring and up towards the back of the venue and after fighting on and behind the bar jester delivered a brutal elbow drop on a fallen Renfrew who was laid out across a table below. The action slowly made it’s way back to the ring and as Jester was capitalising on the fact that Renfrew was visibly ground down the other members of the NAK rushed the ring and began attacking Jack Jester, the champion however proved exactly why he is worthy of the title and fended off both Dickie Divers and BT Gunn before pinning Renfrew and retaining his title.
Conclusion
All in all a fantastic show and despite being a smaller venue the crowd were behind every second of it.
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