Manchester-based Futureshock Wrestling took over the Green Quarter’s Fairfield Social Club last month to present their ‘Hangover’ show.
Just a few hours removed from WWE’s marquee UK event ‘Clash at the Castle’, the event was a proper family-friendly affair with fun inside and outside the ring.
The intimate venue provided good food and drink to audience members too, and the hipster vibes made a bit of a change from the working men’s clubs and leisure centres that usually play host to indie pro-wrestling.
Like a lot of UK indie shows, the show was introduced by the ring announcer acting as a funny and engaging compère, particularly for the younger members of the audience.
The show then kicked off with by far the best in-ring effort of the night, as the Adrenaline champion Chris Ridgeway battled against Futureshock student Matt Tucker.
The two exchanged in a match which was hard hitting, fast-paced at times but overall a gruelling technical affair as Tucker took Ridgeway to his limits.
However, it wasn’t to be for the student as Ridgeway targeted the knee of Tucker and kicked through his tough opponent to pick up the win.
The rest of the show could not keep up this level of in-ring action.
The main event, for example, saw FSW champion Joe Blaze take on challenger Lance Revera in a contest between two men who seemed to be very similar to each other – both had clearly watched the new Barbie film as you could tell from their attire alone.
It was an average match which was easy to watch but nothing to set the world alight. Blazer retained.
A tag match which saw the Scouse duo of Jack Critchlow and Tom McColl (FTM) take on fan favourite Nadjei and his chosen partner OJ Barton also was pretty standard.
FTM played their heel role well, and being from Liverpool there was only one way the Manchester crowd would react, but it wasn’t a remarkable bout as FTM picked up the win.
That being said, Nadjei impressed with his high flying manoeuvres whilst his partner Barton fit in as the strong man of the contest.
The comedy matches on display during the event were better, however.
For example, we saw an old-looking debutant in ‘The Gentleman’ Jim Maguire, who took on HT Drake.
The Gentleman wasn’t much interested in wrestling, instead opting for chivalry and tea in a gimmick akin to a mish-mash of Jack Gallagher and Orange Cassidy.
It made for some good laughs which the kids enjoyed – there was even a tea spot where Maguire’s mid-match tea-break backfired as he took a ‘hot’ cup of tea to the eyes.
Drake won with a pin, but the winner in this didn’t matter much and was rather beside the point.
A bit more of a balance between the comedy and the in-ring action was struck with TNA Gutcheck 2023 winner Harley Hudson taking on known ‘criminal’ Eve Bateman.
The ring announcer’s introduction to Bateman set the tone, as Bateman was billed as having been recently freed from prison, and we were told we must under no circumstances ask where she got her rings from (all of which were removed before the match).
Both put on a great match as both women showed off their talents in technique and power, from hair grab spots to tight sequences with impactful exclamations.
Hudson won with a pinfall one of Hudson’s final UK matches before she jets off to America, and you can see why she won Gutcheck based on her performance in the contest.
It didn’t reinvent the wheel, but the show did its job as it provided variety in both in-ring action and comedic elements which made for an easy remedy for those who consumed the drunken heights of the previous night.
