“In THE BEGINNING, they set a tone.
They ignited a fury within the South West.
Then that fury became a passion, a call for an Army to follow the SECOND COMING.
And as that Army set on their way, there was great rejoicing as they witnessed ACT 3.
The fury, the passion, and the rejoicing would lead to that THURSDAY NIGHT REACH, when the people learned…If you know…you know.”
The build-up and anticipation for this event has been palpable, crowds desperate for the latest event after the tremendous fun at Thursday Night Reach. The importance of this event could not be undermined, as it began the development of the company from an up-start wrestling organisation to one planning ahead for the future, as they began their lead-up to their first ever Champion. I mentioned in my Preview about the importance of a Championship, as it has to set the standard of the company, the tone of their aim in wrestling. Reach Wrestling prides itself on being a company that gives opportunity, allows you to earn your way to the top, a lack of nepotism in the company, and the Reach Heavyweight Championship had to match that belief, epitomised by an eight man tournament dedicated to the unveiling of their first ever Champion. As I made my way towards the building with my fellow Team Rasslin Blogs colleagues Gary and Taylor, as well as Taylor’s wife Hannah, we saw colour commentator and cult favourite ‘The Eye’ in the car park, who welcomed us and told us of his excitement for the night ahead.
We then entered the building, where I briefly bumped into the ever-welcoming co-owner Jason King, getting a handshake and a “Hello”. As I witnessed people welcoming one another, hugs galore, the sense of community among the audience was resounding, intensified when I bumped into Omega Luke, an excellent podcaster who I’ve recently not only bumped into at Thursday Night Reach, but have become mildly obsessed with participating in his Fantasy Booking Factions series (proper obsessed, I admit). We spitballed our theories of Jason King’s announcement that evening, bouncing around the possibilities of a Tag Team Division, or retirement, before also discussing the possibility of being interrupted, by a certain Winner who wasn’t on the match card this time? The set-up of the arena continued the feel of growing in professionalism, their REACHTron set up behind the ring, large lighting spotlights from the balcony, the entrance way with black curtains to hide away backstage. The commentators, this time looking to be the consistently reliable duo of ‘The Voice’ Carl Andrews and ‘The Eye’ Dave Rawles (‘Mad Dog’ Vinnie Clay supposedly not included unlike before), were set up at the back of the auditorium, their table taking up a substantial space in the middle of the walkway. As always, we kick off with our renowned MC Joseph Obrey, setting the familial mood with some good natured quips and a brief serious note on the health and safety fire exits, before introducing Senior Referee Callum Miller. Callum with his patented walk around the aisle, waving to the crowd, who responded with humorous chants of “We Want Cameron” and “CM3”.
Journey For Gold Quarter Finals:
‘Bronco’ Brendan White Vs Grayson Reeves
“Time to lace up your boots, and prepare for war…”
Grayson is known as one of the co-owners of Reach Wrestling, alongside his best friend and bromance extraordinaire Jason, but that distracts from the fact that he’s been involved in some tremendous matches and moments in Reach Wresting. Grayson featured in the first possible show stealer in Reach Wrestling history, during a losing effort against fellow Journey For Gold competitor, ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley, at the opening event The Beginning, as well being highly involved in an excellent ongoing war between Team Reach and the perennial thorn in their side, ‘The Winner’ PJ Jones, culminating in a wonderful throwback to classic ECW brawls when Team Reach took on Jones and Marcus Bain at Act 3. However, White has proven himself a capable competitor in his own right, the resurrection of an Arn Anderson, and a growing talent in British Wrestling, claiming victory over Beano in his debut.
White enters with possibly the biggest heat I’ve seen in Reach Wrestling history, having a companion Facebook Living his entrance on his mobile as he entered, insulting members of the crowd and getting in their face, thunderous chants of “Brokeback Mountain” and “Who Are You?” from the crowd. White would refer to himself as the “Professional Wrestling Workhorse” as the crowd bombards him with chants of “Boring!” (specifically in a manner demonstrating good heat, not ‘go away’ heat, a clear distinction) and chants of “Grayson” as White proclaimed, he would be Reach Wrestling Champion. Grayson would enter to a HUGE reaction, the crowd baying for him to defeat White, who continued generating tremendous heat with complete ease. “Now be quiet, children” by White as he lowered his hand down in a quieten motion, a little moment that I absolutely loved. Grayson started off by dropping down several times with a headlock, annoying ‘Bronco’ to the point that he jumped out of the ring, to chants of “chicken!”
‘Bronco’ would start showing off with a few head tosses, to a chorus of boos, only for Grayson to get two hip tosses and a powerslam, ‘Bronco’ rolling out. Grayson would follow and attack ‘Bronco’ with chops, only for ‘Bronco’ to get rolled back in and Grayson getting caught with stomps and chokes by ‘Bronco’. He would stay on top of Grayson, even choking him with his own shirt, the match style had been quite simple so far but had tremendous crowd heat throughout, those little moves had huge reactions regardless. Grayson tries battling back but ‘Bronco’ locks in a bearhug, followed up by a Middle Rope Moonsault for a two count, Grayson finally retaliating with a Flapjack, leaving both men down. Grayson would start levelling ‘Bronco’ with forearms in the corner, followed up by a Blockbuster off the second rope, only gaining a two count. ‘Bronco’ would retaliate with a Neckbreaker, also only getting a two count himself, then get a sequence of onslaught, hitting a German Suplex, a Fireman’s Carry into a Neckbreaker to the Knee, and looking to cap it off with another second rope Moonsault, only to crash and burn! Grayson was too tired to capitalise, leaving himself open for a John Woo Dropkick and a Claymore by ‘Bronco’, who got another two count!
‘Bronco’ would lock in a Crossface on Grayson, who would try to drag himself to the ropes, only just making it. A frustrated ‘Bronco’ would start degenerating into just ground and pound attacks, slaps to Grayson’s head. ‘Bronco’ would attempt the Okada special, The Rainmaker, but Grayson floats over (not smoothly unfortunately) and hits the Canadian Destroyer, which always gets a pop from me! Underhook Facebuster by Grayson, and it’s a three count on ‘Bronco’.
Winner Via Pinfall – Grayson Reeves.
Overall, this match had some tremendous heat, the crowd were completely invested and popped hugely when Grayson got the victory over the hated ‘Bronco’. This match wasn’t entirely up to some of the standards both Grayson and ‘Bronco’ have had previously, but to be fair, that’s purely due to the high expectations achieved by Reach Wrestling beforehand. I admit to thinking ‘Bronco’ should have won due to the tremendous heat he’d achieved, and he had the best potential to surprise audiences by being the first heel REACH Champion. However, I have previously had similar reactions to some of the decisions in NXT, and they went on to prove the reasoning behind the booking was the right one. Due to this, despite thinking ‘Bronco’ should have won, Reach Wrestling has earned the right for me to await their reasoning behind the decision, and the decision to put Grayson over was popular with the audience, so from a booking point of view, elements do make sense. But I’m curious to see where ‘Bronco’ Brendan White goes from here, as possibly the best heel main eventer in Reach.
Tag Team Match:
Heritage City Hitmen (David Eton/Joshua Goodwin)
Vs
The Brothers Awe (Otis/Alfie)
With a growing tag team division in Reach Wrestling, thanks to matches at the last two events featuring Team Reach (co-owners Grayson Reeves and Jason King), the dastardly double team of ‘Bronco’ Brendan White and ‘Country Big’ Josh Knott, a makeshift team in Man Like Dick (Beano and ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley), and a returning team in Sinners and Winners (Marcus Bain and PJ Jones), it feels appropriate to see the return of Heritage City Hitmen, last seen at The Beginning. They recently unveiled an excellent promo video lambasting the growing Tag Team division, referring to them as ‘thrown together’ tag teams, used to end feuds, but not true tag teams, and find themselves here facing one of the most popular tag teams in South West Wrestling, The Brothers Awe.
Huge reaction for The Brothers Awe (my notes have them as Otis and Alfie, but I couldn’t identify for definite which is which, so I’ve had to go with their real names, Scott and Joey) as they jump and bounce through the crowd, geeing the crowd up, whilst HCH were mostly regaled with chants of “Justin Bieber”. The characteristics of both teams were demonstrated in their early attempts, The Brothers Awe being much more playful in comparison to the unimpressed Heritage City Hitmen. Eton would kick off with the shorter haired Brother (I believe is called Scott), with Scott on top quickly, leading to Goodwin responding to the crowd’s chanting with “You’re distracting him!” Goodwin would be tagged in, attacking Scott, quick tags between Eton and Goodwin as they declared to the crowd “proper tag team”! Longer haired Joey would be tagged in with a Splash on Goodwin and a TBA double team, with loud screams from Joey at the same time. Joey with a slightly sloppy roll-up, but the Hitmen would quickly be back on top, even utilising a classic tag team move when Goodwin would distract the referee, allowing Eton to choke Joey, a small detail I loved.
A long heat spot on Joey wasadded to by some great facial expressions by Eton. Joey would get a hot tag to Scott, who would hit double jawbreakers on both Hitmen. Scott would hit a Buckle Bomb to both Goodwin and Eton in opposite corners, then a Buckle Bomb on his own partner so he could throw him into both Hitmen, ending with a Scott Cannonball on both men. Scott would get thrown out, and Hitmen would hit a Magic Killer on Joey, getting a close two-count! Joey would escape, hit a German suplex and a Big Boot on Goodwin, for a close two-count of their own! Joey would attempt from the inside a Suplex on Goodwin from the apron, only for Eton to slide across, take Joey out at the leg and hold it down from the outside as Goodwin would achieve the three count, victory for the Heritage City Hitmen.
Winner Via Pinfall – Heritage City Hitmen (David Eton and Joshua Goodwin).
I’ve been looking forward to seeing Hitmen return for months, after being briefly impressed by them in the debut Reach show, they have a very clean and crisp style with a smashmouth violence, reminiscent of The Revival in that they pride themselves on being a pure tag team, sacrificing themselves for the overall of the team. In comparison, The Brothers Awe weren’t as technical, being messier and eclectic in their style, lots of screaming and gurnering faces. TBA are quite popular and the majority of the crowd got hyped up by them, they come across as quite fun and entertaining, which most people like. Unfortunately, I’ve never really been a fan of more comedic tag teams, I didn’t enjoy The B-Team, I’ve not rated the whole Shane McMahon/The Miz debacle, and the less said about Nicholas as Braun Strowman’s partner, the better.
In no way am I comparing TBA in ability to the three previous teams, they’re a lot more talented and capable (in one YouTube video they mention being taught by Zack Sabre Jr), but their wrestling always seems to be secondary to their characters, which are successful, but I just felt that the match could have been more equal between two capable teams of wrestlers, as opposed to a mash of wrestlers against characters. This is the second time I’ve seen The Brothers Awe, and both times their matches seemed to come secondary to their characters or the storyline; I guess I’m just waiting to see the match that makes me think The Brothers Awe can back their characters up with match quality, and unfortunately, I haven’t seen it yet, not for want of hoping. If Reach Wrestling do continue with their burgeoning Tag Team Division, I sincerely hope Heritage City Hitmen get a deserved position of importance in the Division.
Singles Match:
Lance Cole Vs Beano
If there’s one guy who has been quickly taken to the hearts of the Reach Army, it will be the perennial underdog that is Beano. Beano has been an ever present from day one, and despite early setbacks in consecutive losses to ‘Bronco’ Brendan White and ‘Country Big’ Josh Knott at The Beginning and The Second Coming, has refused to back down against any man. This would culminate in a wonderfully cathartic victory over White and Knott alongside tag team partner ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley at ACT 3, which left fans cheering wildly and proudly for their adopted favourite. Even at Thursday Night Reach, when fans were least expecting it, Beano would come out to surprise his fans, battling in an excellent Six-Pack Challenge, but yet again, he would lose out to his old foe, ‘Country Big’ Josh Knott. Beano has proven himself a consistently likeable and hard working individual who has faced some of the least liked members of the roster, and this will now include the posturing, self-flagellating peacock that is Lance Cole, who recently was embarrassed by ‘The English Lion’ Eddie Ryan at Thursday Night Reach.
Before the match, Referee Cameron was brought out to some good natured cheers, which is always good to see, as he’s still quite new as a referee and is working hard. Chants of “Wa’ You Sayin?” as Beano entered to a great reaction, whilst Cole was dismissive of Beano’s chances despite a chant of “Anyone but Lance Cole”, which would morph into “Wa you savin Lance Cole?” after some leading by Beano, which garnered a huge chant. Cole and Beano would start off with a pose-off, Cole even tapping into Rick Rude inspiration with a gyrating shuffle of his hips, the crowd booing him in disgust and cheering Beano. Cole would quickly overpower Beano and follow up with another pose to the Rude shuffle, the crowd responding with chants of “Rip off”. Cole would challenge Beano to a test of strength, Beano building it up by doing press-ups to get himself hyped up, the crowd getting hyped up with him. Cole would quickly take control of the test of strength and end up with Beano on his knees, Cole again doing his hips shuffle to Beano’s disgust.
In desperation, Beano would stamp on Cole’s foot to get into control, following up with stamps on Cole’s hand and forearms. Beano would hit a kick to the middle and a Neckbreaker for a two count, with Cole complaining to Callum and pushing him, before throwing Beano to the middle rope. Cole climbs on top and starts punching and kicking Beano as the crowd chants support, regaling Cole himself with “a**hole”, who responds with another pose and a Leg Drop, for a two count. Beano tries punching back but Cole would hit a Reverse Flying Elbow to cut him off. Beano’s battle back would lead to an Enziguri in the corner and Flatliner for a two count only, leading to a desperate Cole rolling out. Beano would motion for a dive, only for Cole to jump onto the apron in an intelligent move, until Beano retaliated with a Roundhouse Kick to Cole’s face.
Beano would hit a Roman Reigns-esque Drive-By down the stairs and build up to a second version from the very top of the stairs, carefully running down the stairs and across the floor, only for Cole to move again. This time, Beano would attempt a dive, get caught and thrown in for a two-count only. Cole would hit a hangman on the top rope, the referee would be in the corner, Beano behind Cole, who would hit a low blow kick to Beano’s unmentionables, Cole only getting a two count. Lance Cole would hit a Neuralizer but would pull Beano up at the two count? Cole would hit a Powerslam and then a beautiful Superfly Splash, one, two, thr-pulls Beano up again. Cole stood and posed arrogantly, pulling a limp Beano up, going for an impressive delayed vertical suplex, Beano with an Inside Cradle, and gets the three count! Cole would be furious as Beano crawled to the outside and celebrated amongst the cheers of the audience.
Winner Via Pinfall – Beano.
This was a solid match, one that capitalised on Cole’s own hubris for Beano to steal the victory, at one point I thought they were planning a loveable loser role for Beano ala classic ECW alumni Mikey Whipwreck, but they surprised me by putting him over. Cole may be referred to as a Rick Rude rip off, but I actually think he demonstrates some good charisma, solid in the ring and he generates heat from the audience. One thing I was also surprised at was that we didn’t see any continuation on his supposed partnership with ‘The Winner’ PJ Jones at Thursday Night Reach. MC Obrey had erroneously named this as a Tournament match, and jokes that he was slapped on the head by Grayson and spanked by Jason for his mistake. Referee Callum would come out next, to a round of good natured boos.
Journey For Gold Quarter Finals:
Adam Maxted Vs Eddie Ryan
“Tape up your wrists and march on out the door…”
‘The English Lion’ Eddie Ryan has been a mainstay of Reach Wrestling, with a tremendous undefeated record featuring wins over Charlie Sterling (who has never gotten over the loss in a top class match), Big Grizzly (excellent comeback against a man mountain) and Lance Cole (very entertaining battle), as well as a time limit draw against Joel Redman (after a great back and forth battle), leading to him being the favourite when announced as a member of the tournament to crown the first ever Reach Wrestling Champion. However, this impressive undefeated streak has left Ryan with possibly the biggest target on his back, as every wrestler will be battling to be the one to end his undefeated streak. Originally Ryan was to take on Ricky Knight of the infamous Knight family (you might have recently seen a film based on his sister, Paige, called Fighting With My Family), but he unfortunately had to back out, being replaced by World Of Sport star Adam Maxted, whose underrated talent is unfortunately underappreciated amongst certain fans, his fantastic look and charisma hiding a solid worker capable of holding his own against any opponent.
Adam Maxted would enter first and take a microphone, declaring he’s a bigger star than Eddie Ryan, with a better physique and better gym selfies. Maxted mentions he’s been on World Of Sport every week, whilst Ryan jobbed once on NXT UK. Ryan would straight away kick off with some chops, only for Maxted to hit a beautiful dropkick (Maxted would even get on the microphone to call it the best dropkick in the business today). Ryan would then surprise Maxted with a lovely dropkick of his own, to be fair. Ryan follows up with a Gutwrench Suplex on Maxted to some huge cheers, but his Superkick attempt would be reversed, and Maxted would hit a snap Powerslam, followed up by some show-off press-ups, ala Scott Steiner in 2003. Ryan battled back with a middle rope dropkick, but missed the Superkick again, this time Maxted hitting a Springboard Spear for a close two count. Maxted’s second attempt at a Springboard would miss and he would turn into a huge Superkick by Ryan, finally hitting it on the third attempt, but only acquiring a two count. Ryan would attack with two German Suplexes, when he attempted the third Maxted would grab at the referee, attacking Ryan, but his Springboard attempt this time would have Ryan hit another Superkick, ala Adam Cole on Ricochet. Ryan would follow up with White Noise and get the three count over Maxted.
Winner Via Pinfall – Eddie Ryan.
After the match, Ryan and Maxted would shake hands together, hinting at a rematch. The match itself was relatively solid, but the result never really felt in doubt, Ryan losing would have been a hell of a shock and blown the entire tournament open in terms of possibilities, but at the moment, he is the overall favourite to reach the Finals. There was a weird feeling to the end of the match, it felt like it was still in the development stage, preparing to kick into the final third, but instead suddenly cut to the finish, as if the two were told to wrap it up quickly. I did wonder whether it was because Maxted had an actual injury, considering he was selling his leg after the match, but it seems unlikely. I would like to see Maxted return and feature in another match, he looks a lot smoother and impressive than World Of Sport’s editing usually allows him to be, whilst Ryan has been very solid in every one of his matches so far, with his undefeated streak now reaching 5-0.
We would go to break afterwards, with many of the wrestlers out interacting with the audience in the outside area, and interestingly enough, so was John Harding, smartly dressed in a suit very similar in style to Jason King himself. There are some later actions by Harding that leads me to believe he’s being position in the role of an authority figure, but not yet revealed to the audience, gradually including him in little moments (that’ll I’ll highlight when they occur) so as to let the audience become used to him.
After the break, the audience were surprised by the reveal of ‘The Best Man’ Jason King, who got a rapturous welcome. Clad in his smart suit, he definitely came across as more nervous than usual, telling the audience that he had both good news and bad news. First of all, he asked the audience if they fancied Thursday Night Reach 2, announcing to huge cheers that it will occur on August 15th. King then began hinting to a neck injury, mentioning that he’d spent the last four months seeing a chiropractor, numbering over twenty visits in total. As King began to suggest he may have to retire, he was interrupted by a video from former Reach competitor, Adam Flint! Flint would bemoan the fact that after appearing at the first event, he was quickly dropped and forgotten, but now he plans to return in vengeance. Flint would lay the challenge down, himself against Jason King, on May 5th at The Final Four. Flint would entice King by referring to Team Reach as featuring “the worst member of Kings Court and a fat Chris Hero wannabe”. After asking the audience, King accepted.
Journey For Gold Quarter Finals:
‘Country Big’ Josh Knott Vs Joel Redman
Former NXT veteran Joel Redman made an excellent debut at ACT 3, instantly impressing audiences with a smooth and clean style, with a tremendous engine befitting of being one of the most respected wrestlers in the United Kingdom. So far, Redman has proven himself to be the equal of one of the few undefeated wrestlers in Reach Wrestling, Eddie Ryan, and he has been named as a possible favourite for the tournament. However, he would be taking on Josh Knott, who has been one of the most successful members of the Reach roster, having debuted winning the Battle Royal for a one-year contract, followed that up with a tainted victory over Beano at The Second Coming, and won a huge Six-Pack Challenge at Thursday Night Reach.
Knott would enter to familiar chants of “Where Is Linda?” from the crowd, having changed from his usual singlet attire to pants, whilst Redman would enter to a huge reaction (which proves a theory that at ACT 3, he’d probably have been a much more popular babyface if not against local hero Eddie Ryan). Redman would begin with a wrist lock and takedown, bending Knott’s hand back, as the crowd began to chant “Ee-ee-i-oh on the farm he had a sheep”. Redman is in total control as he holds onto the arm, Knott shouting at the crowd to “Shut Up”, which left him open to Redman spanking his backside. Redman would break a Masterlock from Knott with relative ease, and lock in his own on Knott, whose attempt to break the lock failed dramatically. Knott would accidentally roll-up referee Callum with a Sunset Flip, and Redman would playfully count to three; Callum would have MC Obrey announce that Knott was to receive a warning and a £100 fine (whilst an interesting element, it would demonstrate a slight lack of continuity later in the evening). Watching Redman is quite easy and enjoyable, he’s so crisp and smooth in the ring, displaying not a single wasted motion.
Every move Knott attempts, Redman escapes with relative ease, only to then lock Knott up in exchange, demonstrating the difference in class between them, though Knott does well to keep up when chain wrestling against Redman. Redman hits a Calf Kick (leg clothesline) to wipe Knott out of the ring. Redman would acquire an inflatable blow-up Linda and hit Knott over the head with it to a huge pop, but whilst posing on the middle rope, Knott would pull Redman down and gain the advantage. With Knott on top, he would jump off the second rope, but Redman would reverse with a Spinebuster, following up with a Sharpshooter, Knott scrabbling to the ropes. Redman would hit a Release German Suplex, end up skinning the cat and turn into a huge Knott Lariat that would gain him a close two count. Knott would climb up top, but Redman would cut him off, chops to the chest, Redman ending up on the inside suplexing Knott from the outside into the ring.
Redman would climb up top and hit a Jumping Knee Drop for another close two count! Knott would battle back with a Samoan Drop and Senton combo, before hitting a Piledriver on Redman’s head, only gaining a two count. Knott would go outside to grab a steel chair, the ref taking it away and the distraction allowing Knott to use his cowbell, getting another close two count. Knott would climb onto the second rope with the cowbell, but a boot from a prone Redman off the floor would hit the cowbell into Knott’s head. Redman would take advantage and hitting a Twisting Tombstone, achieving the three count.
Winner by Pinfall – Joel Redman
This was a relatively enjoyable match, Redman looking impressive in his second appearance for Reach Wrestling, whilst Josh Knott rose to the occasion. Whilst there was a difference in class, Knott deserves credit for raising his game and putting on a good performance. The match result was never really in doubt, Redman is too big a star to be wasted in one appearance when he has the possibility to become the first Reach Champion, and the current expected final of Eddie Ryan Vs Joel Redman is still on track.
Singles Match:
Joseph Miller Vs Xander Grey
Miller has become a fearful name for wrestlers invited to Reach Wrestling, having gained a cruel reputation. It seemed it would take a man of darkness, with no fear, to rise to the challenge against Miller, and in the end, he not only took on the challenge, but Xander Grey would request to take on Miller.
Miller would attempt to take early advantage by attacking Grey from behind in the corner, but Grey’s scouting of Miller allows him to avoid the attack and hit a huge Spear off the ropes for a two-count that the audience almost thought could have been three! Sensing the momentum, Grey would go for another running Spear off the ropes and get another unsuccessful two count. The third Spear attempt would miss, and Miller would hit a Release German Suplex, following up with choking Grey in the corner. Miller would attack the left leg of Grey with knee drops, before locking in a Figure-Four Leglock, leading to Grey tapping out.
Winner via Tap-Out Submission – Joseph Miller.
It’s safe to say that Miller does not get paid by the hour, as once again he takes advantage of a dastardly attack to leave his opponent injured and having to tap out. After successfully doing so to Vinnie Clay, Blake Harrison and now Xander Grey, I’m starting to believe that Reach is looking to build Miller as the first heel challenger of whoever wins the Reach Championship. This is mildly reminiscent of the old territory set-up, where they would bring in a big heel, have him win several matches with ease, before taking on a babyface champion. I would be curious to see how Miller performs in a match longer than five minutes, as he has mostly stuck to less than five minute palate cleansers before the main event. Grey would limp out of the arena, refusing any help from referees.
Journey For Gold Quarter Finals:
Charlie Sterling Vs ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley
“As they prepare for sacrifice on their Journey…For Gold.”
You would probably be unlikely to find two more contrasting experiences in the history of Reach Wrestling. The hugely popular ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley was in probably the first match stealer in Reach history, defeating Grayson Reeves in a tremendous match at The Beginning, before continuing his victorious ways over ‘Bronco’ Brendan White at The Second Coming. It would be at ACT 3 that he returned to tag team action, teaming with Beano to defeat both White and ‘Country Big’ Josh Knott, and even teamed up with former tag team partner ‘Filthy’ Chris Walker at the tremendous Thursday Night Reach, where he suffered his first loss to Team Reach. However, in singles action, Riley has proved himself an excellent and capable wrestler, one who fans have grown to love for his cheeky and saucy nature. On the opposite side of the ring, his opponent Charlie Sterling has had a subtle and ongoing storyline since The Beginning, losing to Eddie Ryan in an amazing main event. He would accost Grayson Reeves for a rematch with Ryan but would be informed that he would need to earn his right to face Eddie Ryan. He would firstly take on Big Grizzly at ACT 3 but would lose cleanly and would retaliate by viciously attacking Ryan after his own match with Joel Redman. Sterling’s next opportunity would be at Thursday Night Reach, where he faced a legend of the British wrestling scene, ‘The Phoenix’ Jody Fleisch, but even despite his nefarious attempts, Sterling still couldn’t achieve victory. Now, Sterling has been informed that his only chance of facing Eddie Ryan is going the hard way, winning his tournament matches.
Whereas the other three Quarter-Final matches, I had a good feeling on who would win (having been right about Ryan and Redman, but wrong about ‘Bronco’), this one I legitimately didn’t know who would win, and to be honest, either could win without disappointment. Riley would enter to huge chants of “We Love Dick!”, showing the tremendous goodwill and support he’s gained since debuting at the first event. Whilst Sterling has previously featured in two cracking main events (Eddie Ryan at The Beginning and Jody Fleisch at Thursday Night Reach), this would be Riley’s first main event in Reach Wrestling, and I feel a deserved reward after his stellar work. Sterling would grab Riley’s jacket and obnoxiously use it to wipe his hair, only Riley to retaliate with towelling himself off between the legs with Charlie’s jacket. Sterling would push Senior Referee Callum Miller into Riley, which would lead to chants of “Fine Him” by the crowd, but the lack of follow-through from Callum does unfortunately stand out, considering the usual high standard of continuity from Reach Wrestling. It was at this point, I noticed John Harding making his way down to ringside in his suit. Sterling and Riley would tie up twice, both times Riley winning and swivelling his hips, Sterling meanwhile reacting in frustration at every crowd chant, including “Sterling Loves Dick”.
Riley would go for a third hip swivel and earn a forearm from Sterling for his troubles. Sterling would go to punch Riley and end up hurting his own hand, following up with a backflip and pose, only for Riley to knock him out the ring. Riley would bounce off the ropes but Sterling would run in to cut them off. Riley would end up throwing Sterling into the crowd, Sterling sprawled out on a kids’ seat. The two of them would fight through the crowd, ending up in front of us, going between Gary and Hannah, behind us, and even generating a chant of “KFC” after an empty bucket was thrown on Sterling. Riley would then use an empty bottle on Sterling, and the two would go out the double doors into the foyer, prompting a rush of audience members to their feet, Grayson Reeves looking like he was about to have a cardiac on the balcony and John Harding grabbing a microphone to request people to stay in their seats.
The two of them would return down the right sided stairs, with Sterling dropping Riley back first onto the apron, the crowd having woken up hugely. Moonsault attempted and missed by Charlie, with Dick landing on top of him after. Tiltawhirl Backbreaker by Riley, then an Underhook Powerbomb for a close two count on Sterling, the two end up on the apron, with Sterling missing a splash attempt onto the turnbuckle. The two battle on the apron, Superkick from Riley, he lifts Sterling up to attempt a Death Valley Driver, but Sterling rakes the eyes and hits a Piledriver on the apron! Sterling, in a moment of madness, demands his music to be played, and ends up near the entrance, ending up insulting a man leant against the wall, who turned out to be the UK Dominator (a British wrestling legend who is known for being extremely tough and renting out rings to companies, which would explain him being there)! The UK Dominator is unimpressed, making his way towards a retreating Sterling, with John Harding running down to hold him back! But it doesn’t work, as the UK Dom knocks Sterling down to a huge chant of “UK DOM!” There’s Sterling, Senior Referee Callum, John Harding and UK Dominator all amongst each other, and then the crowd reacts, everyone looks up and DICK RILEY JUMPS OFF THE BALCONY, WIPING EVERYBODY OUT! Sterling is down, Callum is down, UK Dom is down, Harding is down, and Riley is plastered on top of them, as the crowd chants “UK DOM!” Everybody staggers up, with UK Dom grabbing Riley, lifting him up and telling him to finish Sterling off.
Sterling enters on the left side of the ring, Riley on the right hand side, they crawl towards each other, start exchanging punches and forearms, Sterling attacking the eyes, Riley with an Enziguri, Sterling still standing, hits a Superkick, Riley still standing, Spanish Fly by Sterling and both men are down! Sterling is first up, hits another Superkick and a Cutter, one, two, thr-Riley kicks out! Riley, desperate, goes for a roll-up, two count only, so Sterling responds with a Styles Clash, but two count only, as the crowd starts chanting “Fight Forever!” Riley would hit a Hooked Twisted Landing, Sterling would roll him up, two count only, Sterling would run and jump for Cutter, but Riley ducks and Sterling HITS THE CUTTER ON CALLUM! That looked awesome, such tremendous timing, but Callum is now out. UK Dominator is now at ringside, trying to wake Callum up, as Sterling hits a low blow on Riley. Sterling starts motioning to his intelligence and leaves, going backstage and returning with a steel chair. Unbeknownst to him, referee Cameron is following and STEALS THE CHAIR OFF STERLING! The crowd with a huge chant of “Cameron”, myself included! A frustrated Sterling and Cameron both jump in, Riley with the roll-up, two count only, Riley jumps onto the second turnbuckle, springs off with a Moonsault, but Sterling ducks and Riley WIPES OUT CAMERON! Both referees are now down, UK Dom still trying to wake up Callum.
Sterling grabs the steel chair, and wipes Riley out with it ferociously, Callum begins to stir, crawls over as Sterling covers Riley, one, two, thr-RILEY KICKS OUT, and Sterling is throwing a temper tantrum as the crowd begin changing “This Is Awesome!” Callum gets pushed out of the ring as The UK Dominator makes his way to Cameron, now checking on him, and Sterling grabs a second chair, turns out, RILEY WITH THE SUPERKICK TO THE CHAIR INTO STERLING’S FACE! Callum is awake, Riley flops on top of Sterling, Callum drags himself over, one, two, THREE, and there is a standing ovation as the crowd cheers profusely, Riley raising Callum’s hand as he celebrates. As I clapped along, I happened to look up and saw John Harding face timing on the balcony.
Winner via Pinfall – ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley
I’m very sorry, but there is only one response appropriate, and that is “what a f***ing match”. Imagine all those classic main events featuring brawling, interference, high spots, controversy, ref bumps, ear falls, crowd involvement, and imagine every part being done to superlative brilliance, that’s this match. I haven’t seen a crowd react to a match like this at any live event I have been at, a standing ovation from the entire crowd for just the pure brilliance of the match. I’ve watched live Joe Coffey, Trent Seven, Eddie Dennis, Jimmy Havoc, Mark Haskins, Kip Sabian, even PAC, and even though the matches were all good to excellent, I haven’t seen a crowd react like this match, and I think I know why: the history of the match.
Without having seen Sterling lose to Eddie Ryan, fail against Big Grizzly and be beaten by Jody Fleisch, you can’t appreciate the desperation required from him in order to achieve his victory. Without seeing ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley debut defeating Grayson Reeves, outsmart ‘Bronco’ Brendan White, and team with Beano for a cathartic victory, you couldn’t obtain the heartfelt appreciation the crowd has for Riley and seeing him in his biggest singles match. Knowing that Riley is undefeated in singles competition in Reach, and Sterling still has yet to win, but is consumed by the desperation to get his rematch against Eddie Ryan, it creates an environment of uncertainty, either man could win, and it would make sense. By taking the context of this story and adding what is an absolute barnstormer of a match, with possibly the biggest spot of Reach Wrestling yet, it’s no wonder the crowd loved this match. I’m even willing to go to bat and say, that match could have appeared at any PPV this calendar year and stolen the night.
The overall night didn’t feel up to the best standards of Reach Wrestling, there felt something missing a little from the matches, none of them were bad, they just didn’t have that sprinkle of star dust that usually epitomises a Reach Wrestling event. But that main event, the best match in Reach history, elevated the entire night. I do feel that the event, given time, will still be appreciated, but my instant reaction at the end of the night was that the rest of the event was just good, not Reach’s usual great. But that’s the issue with putting on such excellent events previously, it sets the standard so high that even a solid match pales in comparison. Most of these matches could have probably stolen most other companies’ entire event, here they are the weaker matches, it’s like not being the best match on an NXT Takeover card.
Jason King and Grayson Reeves have created something truly special. This is the fifth event in a row that has featured at least one absolute diamond of a match, with some featuring as many as three or four at a time. Even the decisions I’m uncertain of (putting Grayson over ‘Bronco’), Reach Wrestling have earned my trust in that every result or decision seems to have a reason to it, nothing is wasted, and it’s because of that I find myself in hot anticipation for their next event, May 5th, where The Final Four will meet on the path to crowning the first ever Reach Heavyweight Champion…
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