Hello, Bonjour, Gutentag, and welcome to all as once again I give to you the Pro Wrestling Post IPW Inside Take with yours truly!
As always I am reviewing the IPW:UK show that is featured on The Fight Network UK each and every Friday at 9 PM, and as you know the deets (as the cool kids are saying, so I’m told), let’s crack on with a great show! Enjoy!
Stixx vs Rob Lynch
If this match wasn’t an advertisement for British Big Boi wrestling then I don’t know what is! This was a really good heavyweight match here made for some great different viewing.
Proper British heavyweights are few and far between over here. Dave Mastiff, Rampage Brown, and the two competitors in this match to name a few that come to mind. It’s not a division that’s well catered for but the guys that are in it sure more than make up for the thin numbers.
Stixx is a veteran of the British scene, a nearly 18-year veteran to be precise. He was there when wrestling was at it’s lowest over here and is now reaping the rewards with the huge boom in popularity that the sport is now having. Lynch has been part of the forefront of British wrestling for the past five or so years, picking up tag titles in various promotions.
Being two huge dudes you just knew that this was going to a hard-hitting affair. And it was….until a double clothesline broke the support under the center of the ring! (I know this as I was at the taping). But being the pros that they are, both men carried on regardless while the crew went under to assess and fix the damage.
Rob Lynch picked up the well deserved and hard fought win, marking the beginning of his comeback, with his eyes firmly on the prize that is the IPW World Heavyweight Championship.
Winner – “Battle Tested” Rob Lynch
Pretty Deadly vs Darius Lockheart & Sugar Dunkerton
When this match was announced I was really looking forward to seeing Sugar Dunkerton. Heard nothing but great things about him from close friends and luminaries such as Jim Smallman and David Starr among others.
And I was NOT disappointed! The guy has so much charisma, he reminds me of a young Rocky Maivia in that regard. And let’s not forget Darius Lockheart.
He was the perfect straight man to Sugar’s comedy. He had a militant feel to his character, like a Farooq type vibe. And it worked so well, they both did. I’m hoping to see more of the pair of them going forward.
Howley and Stoker aka Pretty Deadly look great, sound great and work together even better. They are seamless with their offense and synchronicity and they look like they’ll be banging on the door of IPW Tag Team Champions, Team Storm, soon.
For all of Darius’s swagger and Sugar’s charisma, they fell short to the Pretty Deadly in this contest, but I have a sneaky suspicion that Dunkerton and Lockheart will be seen again in an IPW ring.
Winners – Pretty Deadly
IPW World Heavyweight Championship
Kip Sabian vs PAC vs Mark Haskins (c)
Main event time and WHAT a main event! The current Dragon Gate Open The Dream Gate Champion (the top championship in the promotion), former WWE Cruiserweight and NXT Champion, and a legit frickin bad ass – PAC is back in my neck of the woods for the first time in over EIGHT years! To say I was stoked to see him would be an understatement of massive proportions!
To see him in action against the young buck 😉 Kip and current champion Haskins is a dream match that I didn’t know I wanted to see! And BAH GAWD the match was something else, even when the ring broke again!
Yes, the damage done in the earlier bout came back to haunt the competitors in this match, but it didn’t pahse them one bit. All it did was send the action outside the ring into the crowd while running repairs were made once again. And myself and the rest of the crowd didn’t mind one bit as the tweet below shows –
Once the ring was patched up again, the action made it’s way back inside and it didn’t let up. High octane technical wrestling with some hard-hitting action. What else would you want? A simultaneous Boston Crab and Camel Clutch you say?…..
The only thing missing from the match was a Black Arrow by PAC, but it is such a minor gripe from a great and different style of three way match. Haskins retained the IPW World Championship and goes on to the IPW:UK New York shows next month.
You gotta go out of your way to see this match, even if it is to see and hear the crowd lose their shit when PAC walks out with the beautiful Open The Dream Gate championship.
Winner – And STILLLLLLLL IPW World Heavyweight Champion, Mark Haskins
Blake’s Take
- Ricky Slatter was joined on commentary by Brit
Wres legend Dean Ayass at this event and I have to say, it raised Ricky’s game. Very impressed. Hopefully, it continues. - It was really great seeing Stixx. He is a man that deserves to be a part of this BritWres boom. And SHEEESUS he looks great too!
- Sam Stoker and Lewis Howley are destined to become IPW Tag Team Champions at some point, and maybe possibly more in the future?
- Sugar Dunkerton has mine and many other’s hearts after this showing. He had the entire crowd in the palm of his hand, and bigger things are coming his way.
- PAC – Even with a busted finger (he dislocated it a few days before) he tore the house down with Haskins and Sabian. Can’t wait to see what he gets up to in AEW!
And that’s that folks! What did YOU think of it? Was my Blake’s Take spot on? Any thoughts, feelings, or questions about the show or my review can be left in the comment section or via my social media links, which are located below.
Mark Blake Facebook – MarkBlakeSmart
Mark Blake Twitter – @Smart_Mark_B
