This past Sunday night saw the countdown beginning towards the big 20th anniversary weekend for Futureshock Wrestling next month, as ‘End of the Line’ was the final stop ahead of that weekend of August 10th (at the Manchester MMU) and 11th (at Stockport Guildhall).
TAG TEAM MATCH: FTM vs Zubaweights
The opening contest saw FTM (Finely Tuned Machines) Jack Critchlow and Tom McColl take on the debuting team of Jack Baron and Philip Michael in the Zubaweights. After Critchy regaled us all with his thoughts, the loud Stockport crowd got right behind the debutants in their first match at Futureshock, as it saw them putting on a great display against FTM, to which they showed just why they are one of the best young and up-and-coming teams around. Baron and Michael displayed some high-risk moves by diving to the outside at their opponents, and despite a battling effort, it saw FTM take victory through their double-team move of a stomp off the top rope and assisted cutter. After the match, the Zubaweights left the ring to a huge crowd reaction, and while they lost the match, what they did get was a lot of love from the Futureshock faithful.
Number #1 Contender’s Match for Adrenaline Title – Lance Revera vs Teddy Reay
Next on the card was the Number One Contenders match for the Adrenaline championship, where it saw two of the top young guys in the company facing off: “Playboy Prince” Lance Revera and Teddy Reay. Revera has been in the title picture going back to April at Danger Zone when Chris Ridgeway choked him out en route to becoming a grand slam champion and saw him lose out to Ridgeway at May IV in a battling effort. In the last few months, it has seen a rebirth of the ‘Rat King’ in Teddy Reay, with the former Tag Champion now looking towards singles gold, having put in some memorable performances against his brutal battle with Chris Ridgeway in December.
Both men put on a cracking match, with Lance being the aggressor for most of it as the self-proclaimed ‘number one’ put on a beating towards his opponent, evening straying at times to the old Revera, who would bend the rules. Most would have stayed down and lived to fight another day, but Teddy Reay is not like most men, as the “Rat King” seemed to revel in the punishment despite the pain. Be it put in a ‘Muta Lock’ or ‘Sharpshooter’, Teddy Reay somehow fought back and saw the momentum swing in his favour before performing his trademark biting of the arm of his opponent, as well as the ankle too, before successfully forcing Revera to tap out via submission and see “The Rat King” as the new number-one contender for the Adrenaline championship.
Futureshock Women’s Title Match – Leah Raven (c) vs Gia Adams
In keeping with hard-hitting action, it brought us to the Futureshock Women’s title match, with the champion Leah Raven defending her title against Gia Adams, as both played to their strengths in what saw a very even contest. Both played to their strengths, as it saw Adams using her power and body as a weapon, hitting some high-impact moves to weaken the champion; meanwhile, Leah Raven took the punishment and incorporated quickness with stiff shots to combat the challenger. While the action inside the ring was hot, the crowd was equally hot, with both women having their supporters and having duelling chants. The closing stages saw Leah weaken the legs of the challenger before hitting Adams with the Rebellion DDT off the ropes to see Leah Raven retain her title in a hard-fought contest.
Almost immediately after the match, a video appeared on screen from one Lana Austin as the former four-time champion made a challenge to the champion at the big 20th-anniversary show, with the cocky Austin having the champion choose the stipulation. It saw the champion take the microphone before making an impassioned speech about her and the past champions in the company, with Leah Raven saying you have to earn your titles. Her choice for the stipulation was a new one for Futureshock, as she wanted a Three Stages of Futureshock match. What that means is unsure for now, but it does play into their encounter last year at the 19th Anniversary show, as it was a 2-out-of-3 falls match, where Lana Austin won 2-0.
Futureshock Adrenaline Title Match: Chris Ridgeway (c) vs Tony Wright
The opening match of the second half saw the Futureshock Adrenaline Championship on the line, with Chris Ridgeway defending against “the leading man” Tony Wright. Beforehand, fans were hopeful that the fun-loving Wright could pull off a shock against a master technician and hard-striking opponent in Ridgeway. The Adrenaline champion tried to adopt his usual intimidation methods early on, which has him attempting to put fear into his foes. However, this wasn’t the same Tony Wright we all know and love. This Tony Wright wasn’t the fun-loving, charismatic showman we see on every show he appears on. Instead, it saw a determined Tony Wright surprising Chris Ridgeway by engaging and being on the front foot, as it seemed to have the champion taken aback a bit, as he wasn’t expecting this from the challenger.
Ridgeway constantly pushed the rules and was more than happy to indulge in it despite constant pleas by match referee James Greenwood to keep to the rules, as he would pretend to play by the rules, only to happily break another rule almost immediately. Having had Wright in the anklelock but him reaching the ropes, Ridgeway then threw him to the outside to apply the submission again, with the referee powerless to do anything but start the ten-count with both men on the outside. Despite the pain and the agony, Wright stormed right back and saw him hit the ‘Pedigree’ on the champion to score the pinfall victory and see a new ‘Adrenaline champion’, or so we thought.
Amid the celebrations, Greenwood noticed that the hand of the champion was under the bottom rope, meaning that it should have been a rope break, to which he apologised to the crestfallen Wright, who thought he was the champion. It saw this match continuing and moved into the discussion of a match of the year candidates – with Chris hitting the brainbuster on Wright, only to the shock of the champion having Tony kicking out at two. Ridgeway then picked his opponent up and slapped Wright to disorientate him before going for a second brainbuster to keep his opponent down and score the hard-fought victory.
After the match, Teddy Reay came out and grabbed Ridgeway’s coat and championship title, as the number one contender came out to confront the champion and saw Ridgeway grabbing both from Reay and saw no words spoken, but a picture painting a thousand words.
Nadjei vs ‘The Hunter’ Briac Strong
We then saw the ‘Rookie’ in Nadjei taking on the un-suspended Briac Strong, as ‘the Hunter’ has his plans set in stone already with a Hair vs. Hair match with Futureshock’s Head Coach in Sam Bailey at the 20th Anniversary show next month. Nadjei, while trying to use his speed and agility against his opponent, saw his stronger opponent (pardon the pun) in Briac controlling the fight, and despite a valiant effort from the newest Futureshock performance centre recruit, Strong nailed the ‘Hunted’ to pick up the win and continued the assault after the bell. With his opponent lifeless on the mat, Strong grabbed a bag with some scissors and a razor to cut the hair of his fallen prey, but thankfully Sam Bailey came rushing to make the save and saw Strong leave the ring, smirking and laughing before telling Sam that he was next.
Futureshock Heavyweight Title Match: Joe Blazr (c) vs Jenson Vesper
In the penultimate match of the night, we saw Jason Scoot…sorry, Jenson Vesper coming out with a sign that read “NOT JASON SCOOTER”as he took on Joe Blazr for the Futureshock Heavyweight title, with Blazr more concerned at his opponent’s stress levels than the match itself, with the crowd was on his back from the second he came out. The challenger mounted some offense in the contest, but Joe made quite easy work of his opponent and saw the “Ace of Hearts” taken down by the ‘Blazr of Glory’ to see another successful title defence for Joe Blazr.
CAREER MATCH MATCH: Chris Egan vs Sam Bailey (If Egan loses he must retire)
Your main event of the evening saw Chris Egan put his career on the line against Sam Bailey, where Egan’s next loss in the company will be the last in his professional wrestling career. Both men are savvy veterans of the sport and saw fans genuinely torn over who they wanted to win, as while Bailey is a fan favourite with the Futureshock faithful, the Performance Centre coach didn’t particularly have the support in the crowd compared to that of Egan. It saw “Denton’s finest” nailing a top rope elbow drop on Bailey that brought a two-count before Sam began to take over and saw his package piledrivers see Egan barely getting a foot on the rope to stay in it. After a second package piledriver it saw Bailey on course for victory, but that was until Briac Strong came out to distract his foe, which led to Egan reversing a roll up to score the win.
What happened next can be easily summed up in two words: UTTER CHAOS! Firstly, Bailey leapt outside to trade punches and brawl with Strong, with the Hunter then getting in the ring and taking a shot from Egan, which had Bailey slide in the ring and set off a wild brawl that saw officials, referees, and the locker room trying to restore order and hold them back. But such is the animosity between these two men that they kept breaking free and going at it time and time again. Eventually, they separated and were sent to different exits, but that was not to be all on this show. It saw Joe Blazr, who had been playing peacemaker, going to pick up his title, only for Chris Egan to stand on the belt and stop him from doing so.
Egan asked for the microphone and spoke about his career in Futureshock wrestling, saying how he was coasting before C.P Reilly made it where he had to retire after his next loss and it lit a fire under him. He added how hadn’t won the title and saw Blazr accepting his challenge for a title match next month by saying “I look forward to retiring you”; so next month we’ll see either a career come to and end, or a new heavyweight champion crowned. Blazr for a title match at the 20th-anniversary show. So come that weekend, we’ll either see a career end or a new heavyweight champion crowned.