The Furious Flashbacks: IPW: UK Sittingbourne Spectacular 2009

IPW: UK Sittingbourne Spectacular 2009

 

May 3 2009

 

Andy Quildan thinks of this as the true beginning of Revolution Pro Wrestling. This was where the concept was truly born. Leaning heavily on new British talent, compared to the ex-WWE import heavy shows IPW had been running leading up to this point and bringing in world-beating stars to show the young talent the way. Host is Dave Bradshaw who talks about Alex Shane’s shock title win, which leads to tournament semi-finals chatter for this evening to see who’s the top contender. Although, for me, the draw is Danielson vs. Pac. Quildan joins Bradshaw once we get underway.

 

Mark Haskins vs. Matt Cross

This is an example of switching policy on imports. Cross isn’t a big name but he is a big talent. Cross had a run with ROH before this so he’s not a stranger to the crowd. But he’s been nowhere near WWE, which used to be the calling card of BritWres imports (last time out we had Al Snow, Doug Basham and Big Vito for example). With the exception of FWA who tended to book the best they could get. Haskins is the British Cruiserweight Champion, having bested “The British Eagle” to win the belt. He’s better known as The Lion Kid. Haskins has both Gilligan Gordon and his tag partner Joel Redman out here. The latter wearing a purple tinged chiffon…something. What the fuck is that Joel? To make matters worse someone has a squeaky toy in the crowd and isn’t slow to squeeze it at regular intervals. Gotta love that fan interaction. Cross knows the importance of getting the show off to a quick start. The crowd respond and it’s an incredibly rowdy atmosphere. I feel like I missed out here. Haskins is very deliberate about slowing everything down, because he has another match later. Considering this information, this is quite the lengthy opener. Cross looks really good, with Haskins not having the necessary experience in big matches to look on a par with the import. Cross’ performance here shows how far in advance of the UK scene the US Indie scene was in 2009. It wasn’t even close. Haskins is largely outclassed but gets the win with his feet on the ropes, capitalising on a missed moonsault. Good match. British guys needed matches like this to learn and improve. Haskins did.

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

Post Match: Gilligan Gordon points out no one can beat the Thrillers, which brings out the LDRS to dispute that. The LDRS recently beat the Thrillers in Birmingham in a non-title match. They look so young here. It’s unreal. They run in and clear out the Thrillers to lay down a challenge for the tag straps. That match will happen tonight!

 

RJ Singh vs. Sha Samuels

RJ has a fucking posse out here. One of them is Darryl Allen. It’s something for the trainees to do. RJ used to wrestle as Ross Jordan but this was around when he switched gimmicks. Sha is a babyface, which might blow a few modern minds. Instead of “East” he yells “Winner”. Singh, complete with posse, manages to dominate the bigger Sha. It’s a slowly paced encounter and a throwback to when BritWres was meticulous and sluggish. Sha as a ‘fiery babyface’ doesn’t work for me. Darryl Allen gets dragged in to take a few bumps and my God, he’s thin. RJ sneak attacks Sha with the Lungblower for the win. This was a nothing match. Basic heel stuff, basic babyface stuff.

Final Rating: *

 

Post Match: RJ and Allen drape an Indian flag over Sha and do the Bollywood dancing. It’s a joyous occasion. RJ, the fabulous prick, yells “Jai Ho” during it. That compensated me for the match beforehand. Jackass heels can win me over without necessarily being good in the ring.

 

Bryan Danielson vs. Pac

Danielson gets a huge ovation. It’s The Final Countdown that does it. He’s right at the end of his Indie run. He’s got about six months left before eventually taking the WWE’s deal. Meanwhile Pac started in Dragon Gate two years before this and is really starting to look outstanding. Pitting the best technician in the world versus the best flier (in 2009 anyway) is quite the achievement for Rev Pro. They don’t go full bore and the feeling out process is beautifully slow. They’re both great at what they do. Pac is so fast and fluid and Danielson is a technical genius. Danielson opts to take Pac’s legs with an assortment of holds. The idea being that if Pac can’t put any weight on his legs he can’t come off the ropes. Pac’s elasticity is tested in every sequence as Danielson tries out some extreme versions of his stretches. It’s perversely entertaining but anyone expecting a lot of Pac flips will be disappointed. Danielson switches to working the arm in order to allow Pac some space and opportunity to get himself over. This allows a few crowd pleasing flips. Both guys are so clean and clinical that everything they do looks great. The near falls sequence with neither man getting a one-count completely freaks out Chris Roberts. The pacing of the latter stages is extraordinary when you consider how long the match is. They go hell for leather. It’s fucking incredible. Danielson finally gets it with an inside cradle after a couple of other near falls. This was exhausting. It had a really slow burn but when they got into the business end it was unbelievable.

Final Rating: ****1/4

 

Contender’s Series Semi-Final

Dave Moralez vs. Leroy Kincaide

Moralez is the future Dave Mastiff. Kincaide is another big lad. He’s very muscular and the kind of guy who’d got pushed in BritWres before it got good. This is a precursor to the Big Lads Division. They do a lot of Big Lads spots. Unfortunately Kincaide likes to throw gimmicked punches. Big Dave controls the match thankfully. Kincaide only gets the odd sequences of gimmicked punches where he fires up. Kincaide is at, by far and a way, his most impressive when he’s throwing Moralez around like he’s nothing. The best way of imaging Kincaide, if you’ve never seen him, is like a smaller Goldberg crossed with Brock Lesnar. His offence is somewhere in between those two guys. Just when I think the Big Lads stuff has peaked Kincaide breaks out a sensational superplex. I’m stunned the ring survives. Moralez runs right into a spear and Kincaide gets the win. If you like your Big Lads, this will be up your alley.

Final Rating: ***

 

British Tag Team Championship

The Thrillers (c) vs. The Leaders of the New School

They set this up earlier, but also in Birmingham where the LDRS won a non-title match. The Thrillers have a perfectly good excuse if they lose here because Haskins wrestled earlier and Redman wrestled ROH’s John Walters on the pre-show. These guys are aware expectations are high and they’re all young, hungry and determined to steal the show. And that won’t be easy because they’re following Danielson vs. Pac. The pacing is absolutely frantic with all the guys not giving things time to breathe but at the same time aiming to pop the crowd constantly. You get the feeling they planned this out some time in advance. The ideas are innovative and the effort is breathtaking. The heel-face dynamic is largely abandoned in favour of everyone getting in exciting or different stuff. Everyone is so fired up but none more so than Sabre Jr. He’s so animated. It makes sense for the Thrillers to isolate him for heat, which eventually happens. They don’t settle into easy formula and carry on with the madness, including Scurll’s hot tag being an Air Raid Crash while dropkicking Redman while he’s in the tree of woe. Haskins back bumping to dodge a high kick before kipping up into a cutter is world beating sensational stuff. From there we have a tonne of false finishes, including some amazing timing from Gilligan Gordon in saving Haskins and Redman escaping a deadly armbar. It’s madness. The false finishes come one after another with Gordon’s involvement continuing until Sabre kills him with a superkick. Sabre gets the armbar and Haskins has to tap out. The crowd goes mental and this was a fucking incredible match. Especially from four guys who barely had move sets established. It was all about the effort. Sabre’s killer armbar was the only logical finish. My God this was great. Can you imagine how good it would have been if they had the experience to know when to let things breathe in the early going? Although the desire and hunger that was present only occur when guys have a point to prove. Everyone in this match wanted to demonstrate they were ready for the big time.

Final Rating: ****1/2

 

Contender’s Series Semi-Final

Martin Stone vs. Terry Frazier

Good luck following that lads. There’s no lack of effort, as there shouldn’t be as they’re main eventing, but it’s so tough to follow that last match. The Guvnor looks like the favourite. He’s a big fella and Frazier is badly outsized. The preview included promos from both guys about how friendly they are but that’s thrown out of the window because a title is more important. They try something different by brawling all over the building. The work isn’t brilliant. Considering they’re friends they don’t seem to have the same level of planning and determination to steal the show as all four guys in the previous match. Both guys get visual pins during a ref bump. Another ref comes out and Frazier wins with a Rock Bottom.

Final Rating: *1/2

 

 

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This show blew me away. Andy Quildan refers to this as the point where the revolution began and it makes total sense. The LDRS vs. Thrillers match was the kind of match that opens eyes to a new product. It was four young, hungry guys aiming to change the world. Flash forward seven years and that change is complete. On the flipside you have guys like Danielson and Pac who were doing great work in the UK and were so smooth that WWE felt the need to have them. Both being hoovered up into the WWE machine in the years that followed. Two outstanding matches here, you need to see them.