This weekend marks twenty years for the Manchester-based company Futureshock Wrestling, as the promotion holds its 20th Anniversary show across two nights, with Night One on Saturday taking place at ‘THE UNION’ in Manchester City Centre, before attention switches to Sunday evening at the Stockport Guildhall for Night Two. This piece will be about Saturday night’s action on Night One, with Night Two coming later in the week.
Damon Leigh/Joey Hayes VS GEN 1 (Prince Pele/James Grayson)
This match features the FutureShock past against FutureShock future – as the duo of Damon Leigh and Joey Hayes can attest to having won six titles between them over the years, while the team of Prince Pele and James Grayson have both yet to taste title success in their FSW careers to date. Leigh and Hayes will be looking to get one over the next generation of FutureShock, as the newly formed team name of GEN 1 comprises Grayson and Pele, where they will be hoping to bloody the nose of their mentors.
Lily Winter VS ?????
The Ice Queen of Futureshock Wrestling put out a video last week wanting to be included on the card for the 20th Anniversary show, as Lily Winter feels aggrieved that FutureShock has been ignoring her in the past months. So Lily has put the challenge out to face anyone from the company – be it past, present or future with Winter’s temper being more like a hot summer with rage.
‘The Leading Man’ Tony Wright VS ??????
Also on night one, Tony Wright has seen his stock rise during the last 12 months and having missed the 19th-anniversary show and also not having the best record at these shows either, ‘the leading man’ will be on hand at The Union on Saturday night to take on a mystery opponent. Who it is is anyone’s guess, but having ‘Tony Wrestling’ is always fun for the FutureShock faithful.
FUTURESHOCK ADRENALINE CHAMPIONSHIP: Teddy Reay VS Dynamite Lee Dawson VS Chris Ridgeway ©
In what could be the match of the weekend, it sees the current champion Chris Ridgeway putting his title on the line in what will be his fourth title defence of the belt since winning it back in April’s Danger Zone show, as he will face two men of who has developed a history with over the last year.
One of the two challengers is that of the former champion in ‘Dynamite’ Lee Dawson – as he was involved in that Triple-Threat match at Danger Zone that saw Ridgway winning the title from Dawson. That was after he had taped the legs of Dawson around the ring post and stared towards the former champion as he choked out Lance Revera to become the new Adrenaline title holder. It saw Ridgeway in the aftermath refusing to give Dawson a rematch and have the champion defeat challengers Lance Revera, Matty Tucker and Tony Wright.
The third member of this ensemble is that of Teddy Reay – a man who has undergone a big change in himself in 2024. It sees the man formerly known as Tu Byt having endured a rough back end to 2023 that saw him along with Joe Kessler losing their titles to the North West Saviours in November, to have his partner Joe Kessler sustain a nasty injury during their loss to the Grizzled Young Veterans in December.
It left Tu Byt in limbo moving forward with no tag partner by his side, but that allowed him to focus on being a singles star, where first up was the brutal and physical battle against Chris Ridgeway in the second part of the Invitational tournament show. The Rat King participated in the Lotto Thunder event in January, before he bowed out in the semi-finals to eventual winner Scott Oberman.
That defeat saw Tu Byt being no more, as he reinvented himself and rebranded as Teddy Reay – to which since returning to Futureshock wrestling he has been involved in some good matches, including a victory over Lance Revera to become the number one contender for the title, as the sight of him and Ridgeway having a face-to-face at ‘End of the Line’ last month just wet the appetite for what is to come.
4-WAY TLC Ladder match – FUTURESHOCK TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP – : MEAT WAGON vs FORBIDDEN PLANET vs THE HORDE vs NORTH WEST SAVIOURS ©
Over the last several months or so – the Futureshock tag team titles have been missing from shows and seemingly being an afterthought compared to the other three championships that get regularly defended on shows, with tag-team wrestling for the titles being shown a lack of love. Since Max Brooker and Rizman Khan won the belts from Joe Kessler and Tu Byt (now going by the name Teddy Reay) at Nowhere To Run last November, the champions have felt like the company has overlooked them and that not being booked on shows, as they have felt disrespect by the promotion.
While the North West Saviours are not the most likeable team in FutureShock, Max Brooker has been vocal in airing his grievances about the tag teams they’ve faced since becoming champions, as their run at the top has hardly got going at all. Their grievances do hold up when you’ve seen the likes of FTM, Forbidden Planet, Meat Wagon, and The Horde all facing each other in the division multiple matches, while the North West Saviours have been forced to watch from the sidelines and faced thrown together teams.
It was Max Brooker who threw the challenge down as he didn’t want to miss out on the biggest summer event in the North West, with him making it a four-way Tag Team TLC match for the 20th Anniversary show on Night One at the Union in Manchester. Following the three qualifying matches to determine who would be in the TLC match – it saw the Meat Wagon, the Horde and Forbidden Planet joining the current champions in the North West Saviours in that big match on August 10th.
Meat Wagon defeated Jacob North & Steven Cross to qualify, and the Beefy boys will feel like this has been a long time coming when in the discussion of title shots, having seen their last two matches to earn that spot being screwed out of the opportunity twice by their former ‘friend’ Gorgon. Their first effort was thwarted when Gorgon low-blowed Anderson Daniels to allow the North West Saviours to take victory last September, then back at Reality Check in March, it saw Gorgon unleash his monster Solomon on both Meat Wagon & Forbidden Planet during a number 1 contenders match as it forced a no-contest.
Speaking of Forbidden Planet, they have gone under the radar a bit in the tag division as they’ve beaten FTM, Scott Oberman & Ethan Kelly and almost defeated their opponents the Meat Wagon too If not for Gorgon. The only blemish on their record in recent months was a loss against The Horde as Solomon overpowered the high flyers with Gorgon instructing the destruction. But after they defeated Scott Oberman & Ethan Kelly to quality, it will see Aiton Steen & Dave Birch looking to win their first titles as a tag team.
The Horde were the last team to make it through to the final four by defeating Sam Bailey & Tony Wright at Double Down as Gorgon has been a big reason why the tag titles haven’t been defended more often. His constant interruptions have led to teams wanting to settle their bad blood over fighting for the titles more, as interrupting the number-one contender’s match has meant that the tag titles have become secondary due to his actions. One thing for sure is that he will be a wanted man come Saturday night as part of that big Four-way TLC match, as it will be a physical and bruising encounter for all involved.