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ICW Fear & Loathing XIV

I was unable to do any belated recaps this week (mainly because, as the saying goes, “‘tis the season”), but I am going to kick off this week’s issue with ICW Fear & Loathing XIV. F&L took place at the Garage in Glasgow, Scotland in the United Kingdom on November 20. It was the second time, for me, to check out ICW’s F&L with the exception that this year’s event took place for one night only instead of two nights like last year’s F&L; I definitely enjoyed my first F&L last year, and I was hungry for this year’s F&L like dogs going after a Christmas turkey in “A Christmas Story.”

On the card that night were ten matches; one was a six-man ladder match where the winner would become the future contender for the ICW Zero-G Championship, four championship matches including one—that served as the main event—that was a fatal four-way elimination match, three regular one-on-one matches, a King of Insanity match and a Last Man Standing match. There were also a couple competitors that returned to ICW including one that was previously in the now defunct NXT UK.

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There were three matches, out of the ten, that I enjoyed; two of them were championship matches. The first match that I liked was for the ICW Women’s Championship; Molly Spartan defended the belt against Kasey who teased the end of the She Wolves, ever since the champion came up with this match, besides declaring herself the pinnacle of the women’s division. I’m not going to lie but seeing both members of the She Wolves clash for the belt was definitely worth watching; in the end, it was the “Beautiful Bruiser” Molly who retained the belt even while avoiding Kasey’s mind games in that bout. Not only did we see a great amount of action from both wrestlers, but also the split-up tease come into play before and during the match.

The second match that I liked was the King of Insanity match between BT Gunn and Jack Jester. Unless you’re not a big fan of deathmatches, the KOI matches—which are deathmatches of course—never disappoint me one bit especially those that Gunn participated in from his first KOI match with Stevie Boy who was the “King of Insanity” at that time. This was indeed a great match from start to finish, but this time, it was the “Hardcore Icon” Jester who came out on top besides—like his opponent Gunn—covered head to toe in blood.

I was pretty sure that Gunn would retain the metaphoric crown he received after defeating Stevie Boy last year in that bout, but this match showed that it could have gone either way; as noted, it was Jester who emerged victorious and earned that namesake. As much as I love how Gunn performs in this type of match, it’s definitely good to see a hardcore icon—no pun intended—such as Jester to earn that “crown” after seeing how he and his opponent performed that night with both wrestling maneuvers and weapons.

Lastly, I also enjoyed the fatal four-way elimination match where the ICW World Heavyweight Championship was on the line; Kez Evans defended the belt against Stevie James, Craig Anthony and Leyton Buzzard. The storylines heading into this match were James not yet finished with Evans after almost winning the belt months ago on an episode of ICW Fight Club, Anthony resuming his rivalry with Evans from over a year ago, and Buzzard wanting championship gold after officially cashing in his Square Go! briefcase. I have noted months ago in the very early issues of Pro-Darin that Buzzard definitely deserved to win gold in the future; that statement is still true today, even after seeing “El Capitan” win the belt in this thrilling main event that had “edge of your seat” moments even before eliminations were made.

One more thing, remember when I had trouble with the name of the new interviewer on ICW? Her name is Katt Wolfe; I was finally able to remember that name before checking out F&L. Hopefully, she can forgive me after misnaming her a couple times…

Okay, now that I’m done earning brownie points as well as sighing in relief, let’s take a look at the match results from Glasgow…

Match #1: Saqib Ali (w/ Chris Toal) defeated Thatcher Wright (w/ Ian Skinner and Mr. Charles Vyce), Sheikh El Sham, Luke Kyro, Levi and Che Monet in a ladder match to become the #1 contender for the ICW Zero-G Championship.

Toal joined Billy Kirkwood and James R. Kennedy on commentary. As soon as the match began, everyone went at it except for Wright who got a ladder from his Thatcher’s Cabinet members until his opponents noticed this was happening seconds later.

Moments included El Sham dropkicking Levi off the ladder until Monet gave him the Ric Flair treatment by throwing him off the top rope and into most of their opponents at ringside; Ali spinning with the ladder and hitting everybody with it until El Sham hit him with a spear; and a handful of ringside dives such as El Sham hitting his opponent with a corkscrew Plancha, Levi diving from the top of a ladder, and Monet and Wright fighting on the ladder until El Sham powerbombed the “Weapon of Sass Destruction” Monet off the ladder and into the opponents at ringside. The end of the match saw Ali and Wright fight at the top of the ladder, and Ali shoving the Margaret Thatcher book in Wright’s face before getting the briefcase for the win.

After the match, Wright took his frustrations out on Skinner and Vyce until the two attacked him and Skinner hitting the book with a curbstomp. My score: 2.75/5

Match #2: K.O.E. (w/ “Jackie Polo” and Denise) defeated Glasgow Grindhouse to become the new ICW Tag Team Champions.

As soon as the introductions were wrapped up, Adam and Marcus King blindsided Lou King Sharp and Krieger until the Glasgow Grindhouse fought back including Krieger throwing Sharp out of the ring and into Adam. Sharp cleaned house with his kendo stick earlier until “Polo” took the stick from him, giving the upper hand back to K.O.E. Adam and Marcus ended up winning after hitting Sharp with the Watch the Throne 2.0. My score: 1/5

Match #3: Jason Reed (w/ Coach Trip) defeated Andy Wild.

Early in the match, Wild chased Reed at ringside until Trip hit him with a steel chair; Reed would then use the chair as a weapon seconds later. Near the end, Wild countered the Club Deck with a back body drop and hit him with a tiger bomb until Trip put Reed’s foot on the bottom rope; then, Trip came in with a chair and Wild punched him before attacking him with the chair until Reed hit Wild with a low blow followed by a Pedigree on the chair for the win. After the match, Wild—in disbelief—said that he didn’t want to do this anymore and that there was no place for him in ICW. My score: 1.5/5

Match #4: Molly Spartan defeated Kasey to retain the ICW Women’s Championship.

Kasey appeared at the entryway with the She Wolves flag until she dropped it and kicked it off the stage. As soon as the match began, Molly offered a handshake until Kasey pushed it away. After Kasey threw Molly off the top rope with a Death Valley Driver for two, she hit her opponent with Off With Her Head for a near fall before taking the championship belt and hitting her with it for another two; Kasey then went for the second OWHH, but Molly collapsed before that finisher was attempted. Molly recovered by countering the OWHH with a pop up powerbomb before winning with a spear. After the match, Molly offered a handshake again, and then the two hugged before leaving together and holding up the She Wolves flag that Kasey had before she headed to the ring. My score: 4/5

Match #5: Aaron Echo defeated Rampage Brown.

Echo was scheduled to fight Chris Bungard in this match, but Bungard was unable to compete in this match because he was scheduled to defend the Cage Warrior Light Heavyweight Championship in London, England; this match ended up being an open challenge by Echo, who told the fans that seeing him getting his ass handed was “not happening”, instead. The end of the match saw Brown, who had the upper hand in the beginning of the match as well as have a strong showing, boot away a discus forearm attempt until Echo sent him into a post before winning with the discus forearm. My score: 3.5/5

Match #6: Jack Jester defeated BT Gunn in the King of Insanity match.

A barbed wire table (mistaken as a barbed wire board by Billy Kirkwood and James R. Kennedy for some reason), a barbed wire wrapped “Big Shiny”, a fork (that Jester brandished from his right boot), Jester’s corkscrew, a steel chair, a bucket full of glass, a bag full of thumbtacks, and a barbed wire chair came into play. (Gunn’s nightstick was also in the match, but it appeared to have been broken before it was ever used.)

Moments included Gunn busting Jester open with the barbed wire wrapped “Big Shiny” before Jester took a page out of Abdullah the Butcher’s playbook by bloodying his opponent with the fork, Jester hitting Gunn with an Alabama Slam onto a pile of glass and tacks before Gunn hit him with a Biel throw through the barbed wire table in a corner, and Gunn attacking security guards that were helping Jester before hitting him with a piledriver onto the glass and tacks pile for two. Towards the end, Jester hit Gunn—who attempted to hit him with the barbed wire chair—with a Tombstone onto the glass and tacks for a near fall until Gunn hit him with the Temple Tap, causing Jester to collapse onto the glass and tacks pile for a near fall; then, Gunn placed the barbed wire chair onto the pile and covered it with glass and tacks until Jester hit him with another Tombstone onto that pile and chair for the win. My score: 4/5

Match #7: Sha Samuels defeated “Jackie Polo” (w/ Denise).

DCT taunted the fans until Samuels went after him before the match; the security guards got involved until Samuels hit them and “Polo” with a corkscrew moonsault at ringside. Then, as soon as both competitors got in the ring, Denise slapped Samuels until Samuels hit her with a Michinoku driver; “Polo” went for a low blow until Samuels blocked it seconds before the bell rang. “Polo” used referee Chris Quinn as a shield to block a stinger splash from Samuels, and it allowed K.O.E. to run in and team with “Polo” to beat down Samuels; Denise used the unconscious referee to perform the pin count until Samuels got up at two, and the beatdown continued until all of the sudden, the returning Jaxn came into the ring! Jaxn punched Adam and Marcus King out of the way, then—after Denise got out of the ring—attacked “Polo” before hugging Samuels and handing him DCT’s polo mallet “the hammer”; Samuels hit “Polo” with the mallet and pinned him for the win while standing on top of his opponent in a Jackie Polo pose. My score: 1/5

Match #8: Dylan Thorn defeated ADM in a Last Man Standing match.

Before the match started, a messenger came into the ring and praised ADM for being a “savior” and predicting that he would be the last man standing before he introduced Thorn to ADM. Seconds after the match began, the rest of the Manifesto—Grant McIvor, Eddie Castle and Moxie Malone—ran in and Thorn fought them including hitting Moxie with the Crown of Thorns; this allowed ADM to hit Thorn with a chokeslam backbreaker until Thorn got up at eight.

Then, the Young Team (accompanied by the Wee Man) and Angel Hayze appeared and—after Angel hit ADM with a low blow before Thorn dove on everybody with a tope con giro—fought the rest of the Manifesto through the crowd as the Last Man Standing match continued. After ADM countered the Crown of Thorns with an ushigoroshi and Thorn countered a Black Hole Slam with a flatliner, ADM grabbed a chair—with the Manifesto logo on it—from under the ring as did Thorn who found a ladder underneath that squared circle. Both ADM and Thorn fought with the chair and ladder until Thorn hit ADM—who had the chair—with the Crown of Thorns; Thorn got up at nine, and ADM was unable to get up at ten. My score: 3.5/5

Match #9: Theo Doros defeated Daz Black to become the new ICW Zero-G Championship.

Doros worked on Black’s left knee as soon as the match began. Doros hit Black with the Fall From Olympus for a near fall, then went for his own curbstomp until Black rolled him up for two; later, Black went for his own Fall From Olympus until Doros shoved referee Sean McLaughlin into the ropes and hit Black with his own curbstomp for a near fall. Doros then had Black in a Figure Four, and Black reversed it until Doros rolled back; unbeknownst to McLaughlin, Doros grabbed the bottom rope for leverage and Black tapped out. After the match, Doros—in an interview by Veronica LeStrange—vowed to save the Zero-G division from “flips” and “garbage” now that he’s the champion. My score: 2/5

Main event: Leyton Buzzard defeated “The Outlaw” Stevie James, Craig Anthony and Kez Evans in a fatal four-way elimination match to become the new ICW World Heavyweight Champion.

Buzzard, whose mother was in attendance, officially cashed in his Square Go! briefcase before the match began. Moments before eliminations occurred include ringside dives such as James’ tope suicida to Evans, Buzzard’s tope con giro to the two, and Anthony’s Swanton to the three; and Evans and Anthony fighting through the crowd until—while James and Buzzard fought back into the ring—Evans threw Anthony off the balcony and into the crowd! James was the first to be eliminated after Evans hit him with an uppercut, brass knuckles and all.

Then, Anthony—who was able to recover—was the next to be eliminated after Evans hit him with a Randy Orton punt followed by a brass knuckles shot to the back of the head. When it all came down to Buzzard and Evans, Evans worked on Buzzard’s left leg after Buzzard tweaked his knee on a failed X Marks the Spot attempt to Anthony. Evans then read Buzzard’s mother the riot act until she threw a cup of beer in his face, leading to Buzzard hitting him with a superkick and X Marks the Spot for a near fall; Evans came back with a low blow and the Kez Dispenser for a near fall, then the Blood Clot Clutch followed by a second Kez Dispenser and a brass knuckles shot for another two. Buzzard dodged another brass knuckles shot and hit him with a low blow of his own, then took the knuckles from Evans and hit him with them before winning with the Buzzkiller. Buzzard celebrated with his mother and everybody else in the audience afterwards. My score: 4/5

NXT

We now head to Orlando, Florida in the United States for an episode of NXT.

We may see a match that could be added to the New Year’s Evil episode of NXT come January 10, 2023. Apollo Crews talked about coming up short in his match with Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship at Deadline, but doesn’t see himself out of championship contention yet. This led to Carmelo Hayes coming into the ring and claims to be next in line while Crews is now in the back of the line; the two then poked fun of each other for not having a title, and then Crews said that no matter how good Hayes thinks he is, there’s always someone better than him such as Crews who then vowed to show him what he was talking about.

I believe that Hayes and Crews will go at it at New Year’s Evil for a shot at the belt; if so, then I predict that—even though it was great seeing Crews and Breakker fighting for the title at Deadline—I believe it will be Hayes’ turn to go after NXT’s brass ring which is of course the NXT Championship. I agree that Crews isn’t out of championship contention yet, and I still want to see him win gold on the white-and-gold brand; Hayes, on the other hand, deserves another belt after seeing him having good runs as the NXT North American Champion.

Last week, we learned that Bron Breakker will defend the NXT Championship against Grayson Waller at New Year’s Evil. This week, Waller wanted to fight Breakker for the belt weeks before the event, searching everywhere in the arena as well as the rest of the WWE Performance Center despite being told—by McKenzie Mitchell in an interview—that Breakker was promoting NXT Vengeance Day in Charlotte, North Carolina. After searching everywhere backstage including places such as the medical facility when Alba Fyre was checked on before her match (as you’ll see in the results shortly), he came into the ring and called out Breakker, wanting the title match; Waller continued to berate Breakker calling him a “gutless champion” until Breakker appeared in the parking lot (in a Dodge Challenger if I remember correctly), and then came into the arena. Breakker hit Waller with a spear…until he ended up unconscious, mainly because Waller revealed that he was wearing a bulletproof vest with a metal plate behind it. This was a good way to buildup New Year’s Evil (as well as wrap up this week’s episode); Waller does make a good arrogant heel, and I liked how he played mind games on not just the champion but everyone else in attendance and at home including doing something that would have Bret Hart and Goldberg grinning ear to ear.

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My favorite match of the episode would go to the main event match where we saw the NXT Tag Team Championship on the line; the New Day, WWE’s Triple Crown tag team champions, defended the belts against Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen this week. It was indeed a great first defense by Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston on this week’s episode of NXT as both the New Day and Briggs & Jensen had tons of tag team chemistry in this match from start to finish; in the end, it was Woods and Kingston who emerged victorious. Not only do I want to see the New Day continue their tag team title reign on NXT (and they have had amazing tag team title reigns on both Raw and SmackDown as we all know), but I would also like to see them kill two birds with one stone just like Dolph Ziggler back when he was the NXT Champion and fighting on both NXT and Raw. As for Briggs & Jensen, they still continue to be impressive in the tag team division and I see that those two—like Apollo Crews—aren’t out of championship contention yet even if they’re in a storyline where Fallon Henley has her hands full with Kiana James per se.

Here are the NXT results from Orlando…

Match #1: Carmelo Hayes (w/ Trick Williams) defeated Axiom. Both Hayes and Axiom were in a test of strength knuckle lock, and the two climbed to the top rope where Axiom hit him with hurricanrana.

Then, behind the referee’s back, Williams yanked Axiom to the mat before Hayes hit him with a Codebreaker followed by the Nothing But Net for the win. After the match, Axiom hit Williams with a moonsault at ringside. My score: 3.25/5

Match #2: Zoey Stark defeated Nikkita Lyons.

Zoey attempted to blindside Nikkita at the entryway until Nikkita, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, dodged her and fought her to the ring. After Nikkita hit Zoey with a Samoan drop for two followed by a superkick, both wrestlers traded rollups until Zoey grabbed the ropes while pinning her for the win. My score: 0.5/5

Match #3: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defeated Toxic Attraction and Tatum Paxley & Ivy Nile in a triple threat tag team match to retain the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship.

Mandy Rose is no longer part of Toxic Attraction because she was released from the WWE hours after losing the NXT Women’s Championship to Roxanne Perez. After all six wrestlers took each other down with superkicks, Tatum fought Kayden on the top rope until Katana tagged in and took her off of Kayden with a hurricanrana before Ivy broke up the pin. Then, after Ivy tagged in, Kayden and Katana went for a 450/neckbreaker combo until Tatum pushed Katana off the top rope and into Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne at ringside; this allowed Ivy to put Kayden in the DCL until Kayden bounced off the ropes and turned it into a jackknife pin for the win. My score: 3.5/5

Match #4: Elektra Lopez defeated Indi Hartwell in three and a half minutes.

Elektra pulled brass knuckles from a top turnbuckle pad and, while Indi went for a back suplex, hit her with them to score the win. My score: 0.5/5

Match #5: Sol Ruca vs. Alba Fyre never took place at all.

Earlier in the episode, Alba was heading to the ring until Isla Dawn blew red powder in her face. After being checked and released, Alba got to the ring until Isla reappeared and yanked her off the apron; Isla then trapped Alba’s right hand in the steel steps and hit the steps with Alba’s bat before leaving. No score.

Main event: The New Day defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen (w/ Fallon Henley) to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship.

Kiana James and her assistant Giovanna watched the match in the audience. After Briggs cleaned house on both Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston at ringside, he and Jensen hit Kingston with an inverted atomic drop/big boot combo for two, then Briggs surprised Kingston with a moonsault for another two. Woods ran in and knocked Jensen off the top rope and to the announce table, then Kingston hit Briggs with the Trouble In Paradise before hitting Jensen with a tope suicida; then, Woods—who tagged in before Kingston’s tope—hit Briggs with a tightrope elbow drop for the win. Both teams and Fallon shook hands afterwards. My score: 4.5/5

NXT: LVL UP

Staying in Orlando, we wrap things up with an episode of NXT: LVL UP.

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My favorite match of the episode was the opener, and it definitely kicked off this week’s episode with a bang. In the match were Charlie Dempsey and Myles Borne; Borne was looking to shake off his losing streak while searching for another win in this match while Dempsey continued to have a strong showing with technical submission maneuvers that slowing his opponent down a handful of times. Dempsey, who ended up victorious, has been doing great in the WWE—as well as the indies including Progress—from his time on NXT UK to moving to the United States to compete on NXT; also, he is indeed a splitting image of his father William Regal fighting ability wise and not just person wise.

Here are the NXT: LVL UP results from Orlando…

Match #1: Charlie Dempsey defeated Myles Borne.

Dempsey worked on one of Borne’s arms during the match. Borne came back with a suplex and a back body drop, but missed on a top rope crossbody attempt; this allowed Dempsey to hit him with a Regalplex for the win. My score: 3.5/5

Match #2: Sol Ruca defeated Dani Palmer in three minutes.

After both exchanged pin attempts for back-to-back two counts, Sol hit Dani with a dropkick followed by a backflip from the middle rope into a cutter (now known as the Sol Snatcher) for the win. My score: 1/5

Main event: Trick Williams defeated Hank Walker.

After Walker hit Williams with a powerslam for two, Williams came back with a swinging neckbreaker for two followed by the Trick Kick for the win. My score: 3/5

Next time…

I’m hoping to get a belated recap or two in, starting with a lookback at wXw Femmes Fatales, besides my usual shows.

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Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment! I’ll see you next time!

Also, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings to all!

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