Hello again and welcome to another edition of The RIPTIDE Wrestling RETROspective, with me, Mark Blake. Those of you that have followed this series will know that so far I have covered The Storm, Black Water 2017, Deep Six 2018, Spring Break 2018, and the RIPTIDE Rumble 2018. The latest has been nights one and two of the Brighton Championship Tournament. Right now, you’re reading the Night Three of the Brighton Championship Tournament. An epic conclusion to three nights of amazing wrestling.
We’re getting to the end of my RIPTIDE Retrospective run here at Pro Wrestling Post. After this piece, I will only have one more event left before you’re all caught up! The time has flown by folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed reviewing them for you all. And you can check out their on-demand service right here too. Seriously check it out as along with RIPTIDE you have access to DEFY Wrestling among others!
Brighton Tournament Semi-Final
Chris Ridgeway vs Chuck Mambo
The night begins with the evil and nefarious Money Versus Everybody member Chris Ridgeway against RIPTIDE faithful’s own Chuck Mambo. As you can expect Ridgeway jumped the bell and attacked Mambo before the match began, choking him to give him the advantage.
It was a tactic that worked as Riddy was in control when the bell did ring. Using his vast array of submissions to grab the early victory. The attacks to Chuck’s arm were to weaken it before Chris could slap on a variation of an armbar. Mambo resisted each and every time, upping the pace at every opportunity.
And with the change in the pace, Mambo got back into the match. The quickness of the now elusive Chuck too much for Riddy, even when he put on not one but two rear-naked chokes. And it was the second of these chokes that Mambo rolled back and pinned Riddy’s shoulders to the mat for the victory!
Winner – Chuck Mambo
With Chuck announced the winner Ridgeway took the opportunity to release his frustration and a vicious beatdown ensued before he walked to the back.
Lord Gideon Grey vs Jordan Breaks
A quick match here to showcase the plucky young Breaks against the wily veteran Grey.
Watching this, you can see that Jordan has been watching a multitude of old World Of Sport episodes as he wrestles like he would fit in well in its heyday.
But the veteran Grey used his many years of wrestling to his advantage when the referee was out of position, and hit a low blow and transitioned into a grounded clutch choke for the quick but fun victory.
Winner – Lord Gideon Grey
Brighton Championship Semi-Final
Spike Trivet vs Jonah Rock
A literal David versus Goliath matchup here in the smaller but vicious Spike against the larger but stronger Rock. And as you can guess, Trivet used everything at his disposal to gain an advantage. Beginning during Jonah’s entrance when Ridgeway and Moser jumped and beatdown Rock, focussing on his legs.
To be fair, this wasn’t as one-sided as you would think. Yes, Jonah was all over Spike like a rash but Trivet did capitalize when his opportunities came along. Taking away the legs of the big guy was a great plan, it’s just a shame that the guy in question was Rock as he kept ignoring (not no selling) the pain and pushing on.
But it was the teammates of Trivet that played the biggest part of the match, involving themselves again for the finish. With Spike on the canvas, Rock went for his Bullfrog Splash. Moser slowed Rock’s climb to the top rope just enough to get Spike back to his senses.
The splash landed but Spike rolled through and reversed it to pin Jonah with a small package! I would say it’s a shock but it was basically a 3-on-1 match and you can’t beat those odds.
Winner – Spike Trivet
Aussie Open Challenge
Aussie Open vs Angelico & El Phanstasmo
Still smarting from the previous night’s war with RINGKAMPF, Davis and Fletcher looked calmer on this final night, chatting to the crowd and looking like they were having fun.
ELP and Angelico (later dubbed HeadBangarang) came out the blocks super quick with quick reversals and flash pinfall attempts. When all of a sudden it was like I was watching PWG when ELP decided to slow the match down, quite literally. Slow-motion wrestling was in order now including Phantasmo walking super slow across the top rope – aka Old School – and hitting the world’s slowest Hurricanrana on Mark Davis. Superb stuff!
Fletcher was in no mood to mess around though and took the match by the scruff of its neck and finally hit a Fidget Spinner for the win in a great crowd-pleasing match.
Winners – Aussie Open
Kip Sabian & Amir Jordan vs Paul Robinson & Chikara
Paul Robinson is without a doubt the most scariest wrestler I’ve ever met. Even out of character there’s always that glint in his eye where you’re not quite sure if and when he’ll snap…..And I think he’s amazing!
The combination of Kip and Amir was new and they worked really well here in this match, with some great chemistry and tag moves. Definitely something I could quite happily see going forward.
Back to the match – the vicious street style combo of Robbo and Chikara took the fight (and this was a fight make no bones) to Sabian and Jordan, with both of them hitting gross lows with putting their fingers in their opponent’s noses and licking their fingers, dribbling on them…Just full-on gross-out. I loved it! Nothing like them out there right now, they’ve cornered the market 🙂
As you can tell, Paul and Chikara picked up the win with a great Gory Bomb from Chikara followed by a Double Foot Stomp from the top by Robbo.
A good match that made me want to see more from both teams. More please RIPTIDE!
Winners – Paul Robinson & Chikara
Brighton Championship Final
Chuck Mambo vs Spike Trivet
Spike and MVE’s quest to the title has been the underlying story of the last nine months of RIPTIDE Wrestling. Whether it was Jack Sexsmith or anyone in the way of the chase of the title, it was always about Spike and the Brighton Championship.
And how apt was it that the show closed with the tying up of the loose ends of this story……Oh, and the match wasn’t too shoddy either!
There was quite an outstanding in (and out) ring action. There were shenanigans from Ridgeway and Moser, there were ref bumps, there was a heel ref, and then…..Then there was the finish!
With the referee down, the match needed a new ref. And out stepped Shay Purser, MVE’s very own personal referee! This basically meant it was Chuck season and Purser turned a blind eye to MVE’s attacks. But the heart and indomitable spirit of Mambo meant he kept kicking out of super quick counts!
And just as Chuck’s head was in a steel chair with Spike ready to break his neck, Trivet’s nemesis Jack Sexsmith came out to make the save to the roar of the crowd. WHAT A POP! Everyone backed off as Jack took out Moser, Riddy and the bent ref Purse. Trivet went to run but walked into a superkick from Mambo who hit the springboard splash to grab the win and become the FIRST ever Brighton Champion!
Winner – And NEWWWWWW Brighton Champion, Chuck Mambo!
Chuck celebrated in the ring and beckoned the crowd to join him. There must have been around 50 people in and around the ring when all of a sudden, the ring broke! But that didn’t stop the party celebrations. RIPTIDE’s adopted son won the big one.
What A Main Event!
The tournament started a bit slow on the first day, but I think that was due to the number of tournament matches and laying the storyline groundwork. But halfway through the second day, and it was like a switch was flicked and it became unmissable. Honestly, the second half of the tournament was one of the best three-day shows I’ve ever seen. And I’ll add Battle Of LA, SSS16, and wXw 16 Carat Gold in there. I really do hope that RIPTIDE brings back the three-day tournament in 2020 as I’ll be there like a shot!
Once again I’d like to thank RIPTIDE Wrestling and as always, your wonderful selves for not only reading this piece but all the fantastic work right here at Pro Wrestling Post. Head on over to Riptide’s on-demand service to watch all of their fantastic content and much much more.
So until next week, my LAST RETROspective…..ADIOS!!!
