AJ Styles’ final indies run continues with John Morrison match, preps for Rey Mysterio match
Submitted by Darren Hubbard
Show was advertised for a 7.30pm start, but started at 8.05pm.
The show kicked off with an contract signing angle for the AJ Styles/Rey Mysterio match the next night in Sheffield. AJ Styles came out and challenged Rey Mysterio to a match that very evening. A skinny Mysterio impersonator came out and Styles beat him up. The real Mysterio came out, cleaned house, both signed contracts, and Mysterio wanted the match tonight, which got what little crowd that there was excited. However, Mysterio signed the contract for the next night, meaning that the match couldn’t take placetonight. A stupid angle which made Mysterio look like a dick for signing the contract, and even worse, pissing off the crowd who thought that they were going to get a Styles/Mysterio match.
Joe Coffey beat Will Osprey
Solid match, nothing outstanding though. Coffey had his fans from ICW, Osprey clearly holding back.
Grado beat Carlito by DQ with a low blow
Five minute comedy match, Carlito beat him up afterwards calling Grado a joke. Was going to spit an apple in his face, but Carlito said he wasn’t even worth that. Crowd seemed annoyed at the length of the match, justifiably so.
Jamie Hayter beat Zoe Lucas
Nobody knew who these were (I got the names via the Wrestle Ropes site) – apparently they were trainees from the Revolution Pro group here in the UK. A terrible match – they just weren’t ready, and it felt insulting that half the crowd paid £50 ($72) for this.
Rey Misterio beat ROH Champion Jay Lethal via DQ after a belt shot.
Crowd pissed at the finish again. Both put a mild bit of effort in, Rey is still really over with the kids. Lethal’s great, even when he coasts. Lethal pulled Rey’s mask off afterwards, and Rey had to go back with his shirt pulled over his face.
Magnus & Big Damo beat Lou King Sharp
Sharp is literally under five foot tall, and they did an angle where Sharp is oblivious of his actual size and acted like he was a giant. He demanded somebody to wrestle, and out came Magnus (with GFW belt), who towers over him. Sharp, still deluded, said that this wasn’t a fair fight and Magnus should have a partner, so out came Demo. Demo killed Sharp, and Magnus gave him a middle-rope elbow drop for the finish. Demo and Magnus did a staredown post-match.
Jimmy Havoc beat Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr.
Very good stuff, but too short. Crowd, hardcores and kids alike, enjoyed this, some really cool technical stuff from Zack, as per.
UEWA Cruiserweight Championship: Kid Fite def. Jason Prime
Scarlett from UK TV show Gogglebox was Kid Fite’s sidekick for the night – apparently she’s a massive wrestling fan. Kid Fite’s manager (didn’t catch name) distracted the ref and Fite got the win with a belt shot. Bog standard stuff.
P.J. Black beat Colt Cabana with a top rope Asai moonsault
Good match with some comedy spots. Again, too short though, but we were running late.
5 Star Champion John Morrison beat AJ Styles
By this time it was 11pm, and lots of people had to leave to get public transport home. So, again, short match where an average amount of effort was put in, but I wouldn’t bother making an effort in front of 600 people on a rainy night in the UK either so fair play. Rey interfered, and Morrison won with a Starship Pain, which ended up with Morrison in a senton position on Styles, rather landing on his front, moonsault style. Not sure whether that was a botch, to be honest. Carlito challenged Morrison for the championship after the match.
All in all, and I hate to say it, pretty depressing. There was a great range of talent on the show, but there were tons of awful finishes, the show started late, overran, and hardly any atmosphere with 800 people in an arena. Pretty grim stuff. I’ve been to worse shows on a local level, but folk paid £35-£50 for this.