The Magnus Analysis- FWA Academy Supercard III

I bought this show after I saw a recommendation for it in Fighting Spirit magazine here in the UK. This was considered to be the FWA Academy’s best show, and if you are wondering what the FWA Academy is, it was a training school for British wrestlers directly linked to the FWA. It closed down quite a few months ago since head trainer Mark Sloan felt people were taking advantage of it (i.e. dropping out after a few months thinking they were fully trained wrestlers when they weren’t).

After an opening introductory video, we head to our first match

Three Way, No 1 Contenders Match- Stixx vs James Tighe vs Eamon Sharen
Stixx and James Tighe are long established members of the UK wrestling scene, while I have not seen Sharen before. This match was a decent little three way, although it wasn’t anything special seeing as there have been better three ways involving UK wrestlers in the FWA in the past. This match was fairly even, with all three men using a mix of power moves and technical wrestling, with lots of reversals and submission attempts. We got a few dives to the outside later on. Then the match ended when Tighe pinned Sharen with the Tighe-Tanic (Hooked Leg Northern Lights Driver)- **1/2

There is an advert next for A-Merchandise, where you can pick up this DVD along with many other FWA and British shows.

Wayne Fitzgerald vs Spud
This match was not too good at all. Fitzgerald is green, and he looks like some little 14 year old kid (he makes Spud look like a giant). Fitzgerald wrestled with a mix of strikes and submission holds, almost like he’s trying to wrestle a UFC gimmick. Spud used all of his usual high flying offense, but he was sloppy, perhaps due to his small opponent. The match just felt awkward at times and I did not enjoy it too much, but it had the occasional decent moment. Spud won it with a Frog Splash- *

Next we get an advert for the FWA Academy Supershow. Buy that at A-Merchandise.

No Holds Barred- Gallagher vs Justin Richards
Just a horrible, awful match. Heck, there isn’t enough words in the dictionary to saw how bad this was. Gallagher could very well be the worst wrestler I have ever seen, and I’ve seen Evan Starsmore. Justin Richards was better, but incapable of carrying his opponent to something watchable. Basically a lot of poor brawling around ringside, with the occasional decent mat based move, and the crowd didn’t like this any more than I did. Gallagher eventually ended this by throwing powder in Richards eyes, then rolling him up for 3- DUD (I really should go into negative stars)

Jody Fleisch vs Pac vs Jonny Storm vs Max Voltage
Finally the show has it’s first good match, with this being an exciting and fun four way match that I enjoyed. As you would expect, this was basically a flippy spotfest with high flying moves all over the place. However, the action was crisp and would not have looked out of place in the X-Division in TNA. This is the sort of spotfest I like and overall I thought it was a great match. Jonny Storm won the bout by pinning Pac after a Reverse Hurracarana off the top rope- ***1/2

We get a video hyping the upcoming Steel Cage match.

Steel Cage Match- Mills and James vs ‘The Specialist’ Mark Sloan and Ollie Burns
This is the first ever Steel Cage match in FWA history. This is the match of the show, just beating the four way, as there was a lot of innovative offense in this one. The cage was perhaps not as used as much as it could have been, but I feel that helped the match as these four got to wrestle straight out for a good part of the match. The move of the match would have to be Mills hitting an amazing Senton Bomb off the top of the cage, a move that could have ended a lot worse for him. Mills and James eventually got the win here with a Double Team Falcon Arrow off the top rope for three- ***1/2

Next a video hyping the next FWA Academy event, featuring a six sided ring.

IPW-UK Title Match- Aviv Mayaan vs Martin Stone (c)
IPW:UK is a small UK fed that uses some top US Independent wrestling talent, as well as building it’s own stars that have gone on to big things in the UK. Stone is a bruiser, and he wrestled a powerful and hard hitting style to try and rough up Mayaan. Meanwhile Mayaan wrestled a high flying style, flying around the ring to try and counter the sheer power of his opponent. However it would not be enough to beat Stone as Stone would retain the belt with the London’s Bridge (DDT with assistance from the ropes) after a Lariat. A good match overall, I was impressed by Stone- ***

We get our final shill of the night as a promo is shown for Supercard II.

Next a promo with the FWA Champion Hade Vansen (now in WWE’s development territory OVW). It was basically a statement of confidence in his own ability. He cut another promo before the match disrespecting the crowd and saying they all want to be like him. Vansen must have been worshipping The Rock when he trained to be a wrestler.

Title Shot Match- Hade Vansen vs Dan Head
Vansen is the FWA Champion while Head is the FWA Academy champion, meaning the winner of this match gets a shot at the other wrestlers belt, which I think is a good concept. Head wrestled quite a ground based game with the occasional high flying move, and also put his head to use literally (hence the name Dan Head) to get an advantage. Vansen also wrestled on the ground, using a mixture of mat wrestling and strikes. So as a result this was more of a mat wrestling style of match. James Tighe came out to distract Dan Head, ahead of his future title match, allowing Vansen the time needed to pick up the win with a Top Rope South City Drilla (Inverted DDT). A good enough main event- **3/4

The 411: Overall this event was good enough, but it was not perfect by any means. The Spud and Gallagher matches were very poor, plain and simple. However, the rest of the card ranged from decent to great. If you get the chance then you should pick up this event to see some of Britain's fresh new talent, but don't go out of your way to see it.
Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]