Reach Wrestling made its way to Bodmin Jail, Cornwall, in their first event held outside of their home base of Plymouth, Devon. As a special event, I travelled to Bodmin with two colleagues of mine, Gary Daw and Taylor Johnson, all representatives of Rasslin Blogs. The setup of Bodmin Jail is quite fascinating, you walk up a flight of stairs and enter the hall, where the ring is located next to the bar on the left hand side. On the right hand side, there’s a staircase that leads up to an overhead balcony that allows you to look down upon the ring below. The lads and I sat on the top floor in the far corner, leaving us overlooking the bar with the ring to our left (the only thing more perfect than the view would have been a bucket on a rope down to the bar, but alas, can’t have everything in life). Straight opposite to our view was our beloved commentary team of ‘The Voice’ Carl Andrews, Dave ‘The Eye’ Rawles, and ‘Mad Dog’ Vinnie Clay, up in the Sky and enjoying the view. At one point, we even saw Gisele Shaw appearing in the commentary box, and she would get involved as timekeeper during the event. It’s that little added detail of a wrestler participating regardless of whether they’re wrestling or not that really paints a positive picture of the atmosphere and connection backstage.
Our regular MC Jonjo Obrey would kick the event off by dancing to the ring to the soundtrack of “The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air”, accompanied by Referee Cameron, as I can see the commentary team opposite dancing along as well, and I already had the daftest of smiles on my face. As an aside, in an unprecedented move, Cameron would actually referee every match of this event, which is a lot of responsibility for someone who is still a relative novice in the business (he only debuted in December at ACT 3), and he rose to the occasion excellently. Senior Referee Callum didn’t feature this event and had proven himself a consummate professional in every event, helping support and control matches, and Cameron has the possibility of reaching a similar level one day. Just a brief moment to focus on an often unheralded but essential part of any wrestling company: competent and entrusted referees.
Singles Match:
JD Knight Vs Danny Jones
Knight enters first of all, having been a late replacement for an unfortunately injured Charlie Sterling, and is a supposed favourite of Reach Promoter Jason king. Danny Jones entered to some applause during his entrance, the two go for a British lock-up with the hands, Jones wrestles Knight down, both being careful and guarded in their approach. Knight shouts to the crowd “JD Rocks!” and is answered with silence, retorting with “Thank you for that reception” (I’ll admit, I smiled and laughed). Jones would go for his own “Danny Rocks!” and get a responsive cheer from the crowd. Jones would get a grounded Bow and Arrow, very much a catch-can wrestling style, Jones with the pin attempt and only a two count. There’s some good chess play on display here as the two feel each other, Jones winning (despite falling during a suplex) and following Knight out for a seven count. The two begin to get heated with one another, Knight getting frustrated and cutting corners, only for Jones to clothesline him out of the ring to a huge pop. Knight would use the eight count to generate some heat from the crowd, antagonising the crowd, not wasting any time in the match. Only thing is that, Jones would sometimes have subtle heel mannerisms when on top, such as very heavy Irish Whips into the corner, Knight bouncing out back first of the corner, the sort of element you see when a heel is battering on a babyface, and it blurs the lines slightly in terms of who to support.
Knight continues getting heat as he attacks Jones, hard chest chop to Jones that elicits an “ouch” from the crowd. Huge chant for Danny as Knight continues to lambast the crowd, Knight getting Jones’ leg tied up in the corner ropes and kicking him in the thigh. Knight is doing an excellent job of generating heat in this match, slapping an angry Jones, who hits a Teardrop Suplex and knee to the corner, following up with a T-Bone Suplex for a close two count. Exchange of roll-ups between the two as the crowd is now invested, Knight with a Double-Handed Chokeslam Sit-Out Powerbomb (A-Train’s old ChokeBomb finisher) for a close two count on Jones. Jones would lock his arms around Knight from behind, but Knight would grab Cameron in the corner and kick behind, hitting Jones in his unmentionables, Knight following up with a Double Arm DDT, and gets the three count.
Winner via Pinfall – JD Knight
This match started off slowly, gradually grew better and got the crowd involved, Knight is a good heel who trash talks a lot and Jones displays a good fire in his attack, but I do feel he suits being a heel more due to his subtle mannerisms. An okay match, but flawed, I’m not sure if the mat was a little loose, or there was a lack of chemistry between the two, as there were a few close calls with, where either one nearly landed badly, but the ending was pretty solid. I would like to see Knight return for definite as he’s a convincing heel, whilst I’d like to see Jones get another opportunity to display his style, maybe against a more obvious babyface, allowing Jones to be more heelish and vicious in his performance?
Singles Match:
‘Country Big’ Josh Knott Vs Joey Seven
Josh Knott enters first, guised in his more recent attire of trunks, a succession of boos, whilst Joey Seven comes out to a surprisingly massive ovation, coming across like a Rockstar. As Seven is posing on the turnbuckle, Knott would attack him from behind, Joey getting a huge reaction during Knott’s attack. Heavy chops and head to the turnbuckle by Knott would lead to chants of ‘Joey’, Seven pushing Knott off and hitting a successive ten count of punches in the corner, in the style of an old fashioned babyface. Knott would take back control with chops to Seven’s back, generating huge heat along the way, attacking Seven with shoulder attacks to the gut in the corner. Seven is selling well, having been on the defensive from the beginning of the match, and avoids a Splash in the corner, Sunset Flip on Knott for a two count.
Seven would attempt a dropkick but miss and Knott would hit an elbow to the back as the support for Seven would reach fever pitch. Irish Whip to the corner, Seven selling as Knott trash talks and goes up top, but takes too long and Knott misses a huge Splash. Seven with the adrenaline rush as he battles back, one clothesline, second clothesline, dropkick to Knott’s chest and a Backstabber, one, two, kick out by Knott. Applause from the crowd as they continue their chant for ‘Joey’, Fireman’s Carry by Seven but Knott escapes to the ropes, Seven removes the kneepad of Knott and threatens him with it. Cameron interferes, takes the kneepad away, and as he’s distracted, Knott uses his cowbell to the back of Joey’s head, three count victory.
Winner via Pinfall – ‘Country Big’ Josh Knott
A very old fashioned babyface and heel match, but to the credit of the competitors, they got the crowd invested and told a successful story of the dastardly heel and firey babyface. Seven sells very well and had a good battle back, the crowd cheering him along the way, he does have a habit of having dropkicks as a favourite move of his, but he isn’t great at them, he needs to get some higher elevation as he’s mostly hitting the chest of Knott. Knott himself protected Seven well and sold strongly during Seven’s battle back, helping to tie the story together. Knott was able to demonstrate how good a veteran and safe hand he is in the ring, whilst Seven demonstrates some good potential to his character. At the moment, Seven has displayed two essentials, demonstrating a convincing babyface style and a solid seller, he just needs a bit more experience to remove the slight stiffness to himself, you can see that wrestling isn’t yet second nature for him, he has to plan his next step, but that’s expected from a rookie. By this time next year, if Seven continues the route he’s currently undertaking, he might surprise some people. I will say that in retrospect, now knowing the positive response from the crowd to Seven’s entrance, it might have been better to kick off with this match, get the crowd excited, and allow Knight and Jones to have a hopefully better received match, it didn’t suit kicking the event off. But then again, we can only learn from experiment.
First Round Tag Team Championship Tournament Match:
Man Like Dick (Beano & ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley)
Vs
Experiment In Terror (Elijah & L.K. Mezinger)
Our first match in a tournament to crown a Tag Team Champion, my knowledge of Experiment In Terror is very minimal. Beano would rile up his opponents as he enters the ring dancing, intensified by Dick doing the same to a huge pop, and then completed by both men dancing in front of L.K and Elijah. Beano would kick off with Elijah, who is annoyed at Beano telling the crowd to applaud Dick. Mezinger would suddenly shout out “Richard, watch your mouth!” and is was excellently timed, the crowd cracked up, as did I, Beano in the meanwhile controlling Elijah. “Shut up Richard” as LK comes in and shoulder blocks Dick, who battles back but misses a knee. Dick with the monkey flip to Beano into a somersault onto LK, two count only. LK would retaliate with a kick to Beano’s back, taking control, with Elijah bending the fingers of Beano, ala Pete Dunne.
LK would steal a water bottle from Dick, swig some and then dribble it over Beano’s face, to the crowd’s disgust. Elijah would attack behind Cameron’s back, with LK shouting “I told you, Richard!” as Cameron would push Dick out of the ring. LK and Elijah would generate some good heat as they attack Beano, the crowd cheering for Beano as he struggles to make the tag, Elijah pulling Dick away off the apron at the last second. Hot tag to Dick, who does a Springboard twisting plancha to both L.K. & Elijah off the second turnbuckle! Huge somersault off the apron onto both, heavy landing (L.K. subtly checking on Dick), but Dick with the Spanish Fly to Elijah for a two count.
Tag to Beano, who goes up top, but Elijah crotches him by pushing Elijah into him, L.K. attacks Dick and Beano rushes in with an enziguri in the corner, huge Arn Anderson-esque Spinebuster for a close two count. Beano and Dick with a Slingshot/Cutter combo on L.K. for a two-count, then a Suplex/Moonsault combo, but Elijah breaks the count. L.K. wheelbarrows Elijah into a Hurricarana onto Beano, then an Elijah Electric Chair Drop onto an L.K. GTS Knee Lift, but the two count is broken by Dick! Then a sequence of about six double team moves that I couldn’t record in time, a huge Canadian Destroyer on L.K. by Dick, Elijah with a Crucifix Pin on Beano, but LK drops Beano on his head and all four are down! Chants by everyone involved of “This Is Awesome!” including by myself, as Dick and Beano exchanges forearms with Elijah and L.K., Beano with a Superkick to Elijah, and Elijah springboards off the top rope into Sweet Chin Music by Dick! Very reminiscent of Shawn Michaels and Shelton Benjamin on WWE Raw years past, and it was a magical image to see. Beano and Dick with a Flatliner off the top rope and Superkick combo on L.K. for the three count.
Winner via Pinfall – Man Like Dick (Beano & ‘Dirty’ Dick Riley)
This was an absolute banger of a match, the last five minutes alone was worth admission alone to the show, the pace was tremendous, and the interplay was fantastic, nonstop action that had the audience on the edge of their seats. It isn’t a surprise that Man Like Beano went over in a tournament match as they’ve both been integral members of Reach Wrestling since the first event, but to L.K. and Elijah’s credit, they both put on a cracking performance. Everybody in the audience was left massively impressed by the performance of Experiment In Terror, and there’s a void in Reach Wrestling for a tremendous heel tag team. I originally hoped to see Heritage City Hitmen take that position, but with the splitting of the team, I’d love to see Experiment In Terror fill that void. One of the highlights was the trash talking by L.K., very reminiscent of Kevin Owens as he’s always talking, throwing out insults, getting the audience’s attention, it warmed the crowd up to the team very quickly. This was probably the best match possible to occur prior to the half-time break, as the crowd were left on their feet in excitement, desperate for the next match. Well done to all four men.
Singles Match:
Jason King Vs Danny Steele
Heel Jason King enters with a Plymouth flag adorned on his shoulders, a chorus of boos raining down upon him, at one point even telling a woman to “get the f*** off me”. King would enter the ring and lay his flag upon the mat, covering the Reach logo, entering a prayer position in worship of his creation. Huge duelling chants of ‘Devon’ and ‘Cornwall’, King being absolutely lambasted and hated by the Cornish town. An interesting inclusion is that King appears in jeans and boots, as opposed to his usual trunks, an appearance he last wore when battling Marcus Bain and PJ Jones at ACT 3. Welshman Danny Steele, residing in Cornwall, enters to an ovation as he carries a Cornish flag with him, laying it over King’s Plymouth flag. This match actually featured Grayson as timekeeper, something I noticed whilst King stood flexing his pecs, Steele removing his shirt in answer and revealing a Nakamura-esque mouth guard, tremendous heat all around the ring. King outsmarts Steele early on, telling the crowd “you forget I can wrestle”, before Steele pulls a James Mason on King and surprises him. King with the wrist lock to ground Steele, chopping his chest, Steele replying with a monkey flip to escape, King rushing to the corner. Steele returns a King chop with a much harsher chop to King’s chest, King continuing to bait Steele into repeating himself, but after a beating, King would roll out and cradle into a woman’s bosom. The women would even cry out “you made him cry” at Steele.
King would end up getting into a stand off with two lads after he accidentally spits water into their face, with Steele holding King for chops from the two lads. Missed corner splash by King, Steel with a roll-up for a two-count, with referee Cameron challenging King multiple times on his actions. King would retort back to Cameron “what you going to do?” King arrogantly covers Steele by telling the crowd “pin your opponent’s shoulders to the mat like so”, Steele kicking out twice to King’s annoyance. Steel would battle back with a crossbody for a two count of his own. King would land very harsh slaps to the chest of Steele, who begins battling back with a headscissors takedown, dropkick in the corner (slightly bad landing by Steele) and a German Suplex for a close two count. Steele would follow up with Bryan kicks to King’s chest, reaches a nine count, tenth kick misses and King rolls him up, plants the shoulders, one, two, kick out by Steele. Steele would lock in the Kimura and King would scrabble in pain, just getting to the ropes. King would stay under the ropes, holding his arm, the crowd quietens as Cameron calls for help, Steele is worried in the ring, looks away, and TURNS BACK INTO A FLATLINER FROM KING! King with the cover, one, two, three, King gets the victory to a cacophony of loud boos.
Winner via Pinfall – Jason King
That was a great heel moment from King, that shocked the audience and infuriated them, King arrogantly demonstrating his intelligence and tactical approach. Steele had a few moments where his shoulders weren’t fully down, so King incorporated it into the match, making references to being Steele’s coach and telling the crowd “This is what we call going home”. It was refreshing to have King demonstrate his ability in the ring, I enjoy his other matches but his more ‘fun matches’ do detract from people’s recognition of his ability. It was interesting to notice that both of the Academy members, Joey Seven and Danny Steele, featured in matches with two consummate professionals in both Josh Knott and Jason King, allowing them to work around whatever strengths Seven and Steele have, and protecting their weaker elements. Steele held up his end of the match and the crowd were invested strongly in him, which shows a potential for a fan favourite, and King’s manipulation of his injury demonstrated that he had begun to view Steele as a possible threat, which puts Steele over strongly.
Singles Match:
‘The Winner’ PJ Jones Vs Eddie Ryan
Jones enters to a good reaction, chants of “wiener” as he intimidates Obrey. Ryan enters to a big reaction and intimidates Jones to the point that PJ falls between the ropes to the floor, sunglasses still on. Chants from the crowd of “keep your shirt on”, only for PJ to reveal an Eddie Ryan shirt, to Ryan’s shock. Ryan would grab the microphone and suggest that Ryan might be his number one fan, only for PJ to respond by spitting on the shirt, rubbing it on his nuts and throwing it on Ryan. One shoulder block from Ryan and PJ would end up holding on the ropes, before hitting his own shoulder block, Winner pose and a Ric Flair strut. Ryan would then knock PJ down with another shoulder block of his own and his own Winner pose, Jones knocked out of the ring again. Jones would storm into the ring and plant his foot just right to trip over the bottom rope (the timing of this is very difficult to pull off without looking obvious, and it’s a demonstration of how good Jones’ timing is), Ryan taking advantage with an arm lock and finger snap. Chants from the crowd of “One More Time” as Ryan does another finger snap. Jones would suck his sore finger, and then throw Ryan out of the ring before diving through the ropes, squashing a woman against the bar! Jones would battle Ryan around the ring, dragging him up the stairs, throwing Ryan into some chairs. Jones would stand at the top of the stairs, attempting to suplex Ryan down, second attempt, but Ryan would reverse with a huge Uppercut to send Jones down the stairs! Jones is such an impressive bumper, there should be more attention given to him for it, as he mentions how he should be in the Final of the Championship Tournament.
Double axe handle attempt off apron gets caught by Ryan, and a Full Nelson Slam to Jones onto the apron, Ryan putting on his shirt and sunglasses as he would chop Jones and strut around, Jones crying for his mummy. Ryan tells the crowd “this is going to hurt” and chop Jones horribly hard, to the point that Jones rolled out to escape, Ryan grabs him but Jones with the water spit to Ryan’s face, follows up with the Running Knee, but only a one count on Ryan! Jones chokes Ryan and hits hard kidney punches, as well as a wincing chop to Ryan’s bare chest. Jones would miss a chop, Ryan would miss his own, and then a huge Jones chop, bodyslam and Diving Knee, one, two, kick out by Ryan. The crowd begins a huge ‘Eddie’ chant as he starts battling back, first an Uppercut, a second Uppercut diving off the mid turnbuckle, one, two, Jones kicks out. Jones would rake Ryan’s eyes and hit an Angel Wings, but starts trash talking Grayson Reeves in the balcony, who throws a middle finger back! Jones proclaims, “You picked him (Ryan)” to Grayson, as a dropkick gets a two count on Ryan, who then rolls Ryan into a Crucifix Pin, one, two, Jones kicks out and attacks again, sarcastically shouting “Really?” in reply to chants of ‘Eddie’. Jones would lambast Ryan, who slaps him so hard my testicles tightened, PJ responding with an Uppercut and a two count. Jones throws Ryan out of the ring, and takes a gulp of water, only for a Ryan Uppercut to cause a massive spit take! Ryan would follow up with another water spray into Jones’ face, and then hits a huge Somersault off the bar onto Jones!
Both men are in pain as the crowd chants for Eddie, both men rolling into the ring on opposite sides, Jones assisted by a cameraman. The two exchange forearms on their knees, Ryan feeling The Lion roaring as he Uppercuts Jones onto the ropes, Jones with an Uppercut of his own, Ryan with a painful Superkick! Dropkick by Jones to the corner, Avalanche attempt by PJ reversed into a Ryan Sunset Flip, one, two, Jones kicks out and Ryan transitions into a deadlift Powerbomb! One, two, another kick out and Ryan transitions into a Crossface, yanking back on Jones, who is battling back but starts to fade. Cameron starts lifting Jones’ arm, one drop, second drop, but Jones is still alive, reaches out and grabs the ropes. Jones escapes to the apron, Ryan climbs onto the second rope to pull him inside, but Jones hits a Cutter on the top rope, both now on the apron. Punches galore, Avalanche by Jones onto the apron! Ryan rolls inside the ring, Jones climbs up, and hits a SHOOTING STAR PRESS!! The audience lose their s*** as Jones goes for the cover, one, two, thr-RYAN KICKS OUT!! “Oh, why won’t you die, Eddie?!” Jones tries hitting a Back Suplex off the apron, but Ryan escapes, hits the Chaos Theory (Rolling German Suplex out of the corner, British wrestling legend Doug Williams’ old finisher), follows up with a Piledriver, one, two, thr-JONES KICKS OUT! Ryan is up top, but Jones catches him and hits a Spanish Fly off the second turnbuckle!! Jones with a Fireman’s Carry, Moonsault by Jones, one, two, thr-RYAN KICKS OUT AGAIN?! Jones is despondent to Cameron’s assertion of it only being a two count, crying out loud “how is it?”
Jones starts to stamp his feet in preparation of a Superkick, Ryan catches it, misses his own, hides his face but Jones with a clever Superkick to Ryan’s knee, Ryan drops down and gets a Superkick to the face, Jones goes for a Tombstone but Ryan floats over, hits his own Tombstone, gets the cover, one, two, three!
Winner via Pinfall – Eddie Ryan
This was an excellent match, nonstop action with a great story, good back and forth between both men as they battled for supremacy, this match could have legitimately been a Tournament Final, it was that good. This was without doubt Ryan’s best match since The Beginning against Charlie Sterling, a reminder at how good Ryan can actually be, in the right circumstances. What I mean by that, is that Ryan is good old fashioned babyface, one who works best when facing an out-and-out heel, a clear line between the two, but lately Ryan has been facing mostly either fellow babyfaces (Grayson Reeves) or ones who are on the line, not completely heel (Joel Redman, Adam Maxted). Those matches would work with some solid entertainment, but the matches that get the audience most involved is when Ryan is the clean cut hero battling the cheating, dastardly villain, and you can’t get a more perfect example than battling PJ Jones, the arrogant braggart. Jones himself is vastly underrated in his role, most people know he’s entertaining and a great character, but reminiscent of King earlier in the night, people forget he’s a good wrestler.
I’ve mentioned several times my belief that Jones is the equivalent of Ric Flair in the 1980s, in that he is able to take tremendous punishment but win in a convincing manner that still keeps his opponent strong. He elevates his own character whilst keeping his opponent looking strong, which makes Jones one of the best workers in the UK Wrestling scene today. There was tremendous heat throughout the match, Ryan being offered an opportunity to add some variety to his character due to Jones’ strength, and the crowd were sucked in completely. This was a Reach Wrestling dream match that met the hype, and both men deserve excellent credit for their work. Ryan continues with the momentum on his way to the biggest match for Reach, but both he and Jones came out looking better than ever.
This event was an absolute success, it put on an event that allowed several young rookies to get some experience, put on an amazing main event, and also generated interest in a new location. Bodmin Jail has a great set up that is made for wrestling events, and the audience was definitely mostly Cornwall-based, which meant the majority were likely newbies who gave Reach Wrestling a try, and nobody was leaving disappointed. The matches could be separated as an opening match that was flawed but successful in the end, two matches featuring rookies that told good stories, and two cracking matches that deserve repeat viewing, the tag team match had a flawless closing sequence and fan interaction, whilst the main event is one of the best in Reach history. Reach Wrestling will be continuing to focus on their bimonthly family events on Sundays in Plymouth, and then an over-18s event occurring every half year, but in their first attempt at branching out to beyond Plymouth, they hit a homerun. Invasion 2 has already been announced and that shows confidence in a brand that will cement their standings in Plymouth and slowly broaden out to a larger audience. This event was a precursor to the one year anniversary that will be a celebration of the tremendous work put in over the last twelve months to create an engrossing wrestling company telling stories that matter with wrestlers that entertain. This brand continues to successfully grow and every event will give you at least one match or moment you do not want to miss, and as always, I shall be at the next event, anticipating something special.
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