One word sums up this past Saturday night at The Union in Manchester for Futureshock Wrestling’s ‘Reality Check’ show, and that was Incredible! It saw another stacked card from the promotion, with a packed crowd on hand to watch seven matches, with three titles being defended on the night.
LUCY SKY v LILY WINTER:
The opening contest saw a ‘Battle of Greater Manchester’ as Manchester’s Ice Queen in Lily Winter faced off against Wigan’s Lucy Sky in what was a very entertaining contest. Both women put up a good fight, with Sky having the much better of the match, while Winter began to get some offense in after capitalising on mistakes from her opponent and made the most of them when presented to her. Sky eventually weathered the storm from Winter, as a noisy crowd threw their support behind Lucy Sky, as a devastating spear saw her picking up the victory and setting the tone for a night of amazing wrestling.
FORBIDDEN PLANET v MEAT WAGON – 1# Contenders for Futureshock Tag Team Titles:
Next up saw an early contender for Match of the Year, as ‘Star Killer’ Dave Birch and Aiton Steen of Forbidden Planet went up against the powerhouse team of Ryan Bartram and Anderson Daniels of The Meat Wagon to determine the #1 Contender’s for the Futureshock Tag Team titles. Early exchanges saw Forbidden Planet’s offense being as potent as playing snooker with a rope, as their attacks made little to no impression at all on their much meatier opponents, and that allowed the fun loving duo in the Meat Wagon to dish out some pain. However, Birch and Steen regrouped and forced their way back into the match with some fast paced offense, as well as some double team moves that resulted in a couple of near falls
Fans were captivated by this contest, with both teams pulling out all the stops to aid their hopes of victory, with perhaps none more so than the sight of Ryan Bartram performing a ‘Frankensteiner’ on ‘StarKiller’ Dave Birch which left him seeing stars, but this was a star making match in itself. It was one of those matches where no one deserved to lose, and in a weird turnabout way that is actually what happened. This was thanks to Gorgon, a former ally of the Meat Wagon who helped screw them out of the number 1 contendership last time out, and informed everyone that he had a new partner in crime. This led to the monster Solomon coming out and attacking both teams to force a no contest from referee James Greenwood, and leave us without a challenger for the North West Saviours.
JOE BLAZR (C) v BIG DAMO – Futureshock Men’s Championship:
For the Main Event of the first half, it saw Joe Blazr defending his Futureshock World title against BIG Damo and was going to be the toughest assignment for the current holder to date, and that is exactly what happened. Damo completely dominated from the first bell and saw the ‘Beast of Belfast’ having his way with the much smaller champion, where it even saw him narrating the match as went on to control the contest. Joe tried his best to get some offense in on the challenger, but they had no effect on the big Irishman at all and saw him continuing the beatdown of the Futureshock champion. It wasn’t all just big power moves coming from the challenger, as it saw a sprinkling of athletic moves included and had many contemplating if we were witnessing the beginning of the end of Joe’s reign as champ.
This was very much a one-sided battle, with the giant just using him as a step and then having his entire 300 lbs plus fully standing on Blazr’s chest and stomach with some posing for good measure. Joe, who had been battered more than a fish in a chip shop, saw him starting to mount offense and have him lifting up Big Damo on his shoulders, before gaining a near fall. The final stages saw the champion picking up the challenger once more, but hit his finishing move the ‘Blazr Glory’ to score the win and retain the title, when it looked for the majority of the time that it was unlikely to happen.
JOEY HAYES v SAM BAILEY:
The second half of the show started with the two Futureshock legends going one-on-one, as Joey Hayes and Sam Bailey had what can only be described as a fun, competitive wrestling match. If you took a shot for everytime the word ‘Wrestling’ was uttered by Hayes early doors or even in the match itself, you would be on your back very quickly. Hayes’ ability to get the crowd involved, saw him using different methods to have the crowd clap along, even using Bailey’s own hands to start the claps, with Sam looking bemused and saw the comedic side to this match. However, wrestling soon took over and saw just two great professionals putting on a wrestling clinic. An entertaining match that really could have gone either way, saw Joey Hayes hitting his ‘JKO’ finisher on Bailey to secure the victory.
After the match, it saw Bailey left alone in the ring and looking a bit despondent following his loss. But upon leaving the ring it saw the playing of Briac Strong’s music video appear on screen, to which the Futureshock PC coach looked towards the entrance way awaiting his arrival. However, it saw Strong coming from behind through the crowd to attack Sam Bailey and hit him with the ‘hunted’, with Hayes coming out to make the stop and have Strong departing the way he came with a smirk on his face over his handy work.
LEAH RAVEN (C) v H.C.C (HELEN CHARLOTTE CAMPBELL) -Futureshock Women’s Championship:
In the second title match of the night, it saw the Futureshock Women’s Championship being fought over between Champion Leah Raven and the challenger in H.C.C (Helen Charlotte Campbell) and saw another hard hitting match involving the two. As the bell sounded for the match to start, it saw HCC making a beeline straight for Leah Raven but she managed to dodge those early attacks. Raven was having the better of the things early on, that was until the power of HCC took over and saw her gaining control of the contest, overpowering the champion and really taking it to Leah and putting her title in doubt.
The Manchester crowd was right behind Leah Raven, even if there were a smattering of HCC fans who had made the short journey down the road from Oldham. Helen Charlotte Campbell then hit her rival with a couple of separate powerbombs, with the second powerbomb looking like it had secured the win only for the champion to show her fighting spirit and kicking out. As HCC was revelling in bossing the matchup, it saw Leah firing up or ‘Raven-ing up’ you could say to swing momentum her way. After a nearfall for the champ, it saw her performing a super Rebellion off the top rope to secure the win and successfully defend her title, with the ‘Reign of the Raven’ continuing in Futureshock Wrestling.
LANCE REVERA v CHRIS RIDGEWAY:
Up next, was the match that I was looking forward to the most, where North West Strong’s Chris Ridgeway faced Lance Revera and saw the only storyline match on the show. This rivalry all started back in January at Lotto Thunder, when the ‘Playboy Prince’ posted about how he didn’t fear Ridgeway and had his opponent wanting Revera to face him in the ring and prove it. With Revera already in the ring and just laying across the top rope in a cool manner, it saw Ridgeway charging at his opponent with a big boot and proceeded to whip him with his coat on the outside before the bell even rang. With the match being mostly outside to begin with, it soon became a little ‘cat and mouse’ battle between the two, as neither wanted to allow the other in the ring, with Ridgeway using the ringpost to keep his distance and taunt Lance Revera.
Ridgeway gained the upper hand in the contest when Revera was stepping through the ropes and saw him quickly grabbing his leg and performing a dragon screw while between the ropes. From then on, it saw Ridgeway inflicting as much pain and damage as possible to the ankle, with Lance trying to loosen his boot as he was struggling to put much weight on his ankle. In a week that saw the 20th anniversary of Wrestlemania XX, there was a little call back to the Eddie/Angle match, where Eddie loosened his boot to get out of the ankle lock.
Despite Revera attempting to execute that same ploy, it saw the boot refusing to play ball, with Ridgeway very wise to what he was doing. Instead, it saw Chris putting Revera in a grounded leg hold while down on the mat, as he tried to rip the boot off himself which would really expose his ankle and allow him to really crank up the pain, plus it also took away Lance trying the same tactic again.
TONY WRIGHT v DYNAMITE LEE DAWSON (C) – Futureshock ADRENALINE Championship:
The Main Event of Reality Check saw the ‘Leading Man’ Tony Wright challenging the title holder of the Futureshock Adrenaline Championship Dynamite Lee Dawson. Both men fought tooth and nail in the match, with Dawson and Wright putting on a thrilling bout, as it saw the contest ebb and flow throughout with neither man really in firm control. As Dawson began to get a bit of foothold in the match late on, it saw him being distracted by a shadowy dark figure image watching on from the stage, and when the lights came on it was none other than Chris Ridgeway.
His appearance clearly distracted Dawson from his opponent, and that allowed Wright to score a nearfall on the champion, with Lee just kicking out. Dynamite regrouped to pin Wright to stay champion, while Ridgeway mockingly clapped the Adrenaline champion from afar. Ridgeway hasn’t forgotten about his loss to Dynamite in the opening round of this year’s Lotto Thunder back in January, and has since dropped little comments that he may challenge for the Adrenaline title in the near future, as it remains the only championship to elude him at Futureshock in his career. The night ended with Dawson signalling him to come to the ring and face him, so Ridgeway stripped off ready for a fight, before he then smiled and turned back round and headed to the locker room.