Take a fanatical Manchester crowd, a collection of superbly talented British hardcore wrestlers, and an assortment of dangerous weapons, put them together – and what do you get?
Mostly madness, insanity and blood – and lots of it – but more significantly, you get three hours of non-stop entertainment.
More than 200 extreme wrestling fans squeezed into MMU’s student union on Saturday night to witness the return of HXC Wrestling.
Their debut show One Dark Night was a huge success back in April, but CHAOS A.D. took the violence, the humour and the entertainment up another notch.
The first match, featuring local boy Sam Bailey, was a great opener as he grappled with the man mountain and formidable beast Cyanide.
Entering the ring to Happy Mondays, Bailey was an instant hit with the crowd. And he managed to keep them on side with an impressive array of agile moves.
Despite the obvious difference in height and weight, the pair’s contrasting styles helped put on a unique match – with the local underdog beating all the odds to get the win after a running bulldog off the top rope.
A highly entertaining tag team match followed between The Blackpool Blonds and The Models – where haribo sweets were used as weapons and a game of musical chairs randomly broke out.
Still, the comedy provided some light relief and the crowd interaction was superb, the blond bombshells from Blackpool in particular were experts at drawing heat from the crowd.
A short but sweet filler match followed between the talented Ashton Smith and a member of the peculiar Brotherhood of Purity.
The match won’t stick long in the memory but ticked things along nicely before the first main event of the night.
Jimmy Havoc and Jack Jester are well known throughout the UK wrestling scene, and they put on a back-busting bout which was just about as hardcore as you can get.
The likeable Havoc received what appeared to be a large cork screw device to his forehead, only for him to respond by scraping a cheese grater across Jester’s bloodied face.
Once again, the crowd interaction was second to none. Jester, playing the role of the typical bad guy, swiped a beer from the hands of an abusive fan, soaking him to the amusement of his fellow fans.
The action even ventured into the crowd, before returning to the ring where they brutalised each other with staplers, steel chairs, tables and even barbed wire.
The crowd were captivated, chanting ‘this is awesome’ as the blood dripped down the wrestlers’ faces and torsos.
Havoc took most of the bumps – and there were many – but eventually got the three count after slamming Jester through a table sprinkled with thumb tacks.
During the break, most fans were asking: how does the final main event top that!? Somehow they managed it.
Easily the best bout of the night, and by far the most hardcore, saw Clint Margera win a thrilling duel in a ladder match with T-Bone.
T-Bone, when asked by MM before the show if he was looking forward to the match, said: “No, it’s going to hurt.”
And boy was he right.
The ladders were operated in a number of creative scenarios. One ladder, lined with carpet grid, tore into T-Bone’s back, before Margera received a crowd-wincing bump of his own after being slammed on top of a ladder lined with light tubes.
Both guys took a beating. In fact, one move was botched when Margera was slammed onto the mat falling awkwardly on his neck.
But it didn’t seem to affect him, and the bout continued at a ferocious pace, culminating in a show-stealing finish when T-Bone was launched off the top ropes onto a ladder propped up by two chairs.
The bump left the crowd stunned, most standing there open-mouthed as Margera hooked T-Bone’s leg and secured the three count.
Elsewhere, there were a couple of other matches that caught the eye but for strikingly different reasons.
The Nordic Warrior chokeslammed crowd favourite Mad Man Manson for the pin.
The bearded Manson had previously entertained the crowd arriving to the ring barefooted, wearing a strait jacket, and a knee pad with the word ‘left’ labelled on it positioned on his right knee.
The other was also centred around a comical gimmick – with Loco Mike Mason escorted to the ring by his wife via a dog collar and chain.
His opponent Mikey Whiplash got the win after the referee was distracted, but only after stepping on a number of thumb tacks without any shoes on.
There were a couple of teething problems during the night – for example the show started 30 minutes late and the ring announcer’s mic cut off a few times.
But this didn’t seem to deter the crowd, and it certainly didn’t detract from the entertainment.
GM Lauren Soar – billed as the ‘English Dixie Carter’ by the Mirror this week – along with promoter Mike Hough, have exploited a gap in the market and deserve praise for doing so.
The show was a huge success with the fans, with many praising the event for its crowd interaction – something that is vital in such an intimate venue.
There is certainly an appetite for extreme wrestling in Manchester, and I wouldn’t expect it to go away anytime soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqEULcXceXc&feature=youtu.be
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