THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: twosheds316@aol.com
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
It’s time to go back to my old stomping ground as we take a look at one of the World Association of Wrestling’s recent DVD releases, “Another Night in Yarmouth”, held at the Great Yarmouth Marina Centre in August of last year. Our host for the evening is John Johnson.
We begin the show with a four-way elimination match, featuring Jo FX, Red Hellion, Swede Johanson and Nick Aldis. I have to admit that I know very little about the wrestling skills of FX, Johanson, or Aldis, so this was somewhat new territory for me. As is the case with this kind of match, it’s often difficult to follow all of the action, but it was made a little easier after Aldis eliminated Johanson after a spinning Samoan drop. FX was the next to go. Red tried a cross body-block on Aldis, who just tossed the masked man over his head onto the prone FX to get the pin. Hellion’s high-flying tactics worked against Aldis for a few moments, but it wasn’t long before the powerhouse took the smaller man down with a power bomb for the pin. An okay opener here, but it would have been nice if it could have lasted a tad longer.
On to the first title match of the evening, as Steve Quintain defends his Cruiserweight title against Jason Cross. This was the third match between Quintain and Cross in their feud over the title, and fought under the WAW championship match rules. After some great wrestling from both men, it was Cross who got the first fall in the second round, scoring with a sunset flip out of the corner, leaving Quintain with a mountain to climb as it were. It was just a round later when The Tattooed Warrior got the equaliser, scoring with a crucifix roll-up coming off the ropes. It wasn’t until the fifth round that Quintain got the winning pinfall. After a quick exchange of moves, Quintain scored the winning pinfall with a quick exchange of moves followed by a roll-up to get the winning pin. Some excellent wrestling in this bout, but, as with the previous bout, I wish it could have lasted a little longer.
The second title bout of the evening sees Tag-Team Champions the U.K. Pitbulls defend against Sam Slam and Norwegian star Isak Rain, in a match fought over three falls. This was one I was eager to see, as I hadn’t seen Slam compete since his earlier (and much slimmer) days as a member of the Thetford Connection tag-team. The first period saw the big men basically use Isak for a punching bag, throwing him around the ring. They didn’t have as much luck with Sam though, and there was one point where he was able to match strength with Big Dave. But despite working over Bulk’s arm for a few moments, it was the champions who got the first fall after Bulk’s roll-over splash onto Isak.
The second period saw Sam and Isak working over Dave’s knee after he had missed a big splash, a good tactic to use against a much larger opponent. However, the momentum shifted for a few minutes after Sam missed a 450 splash from the top. The Bulk tagged in for a few minutes, dishing out a bit of punishment to Isak, before making what could have been a mistake by tagging Big Dave back into the match. Isak and Sam again went to work on Dave’s injured wheel, before Sam showed a tremendous amount of power by lifting the Sheringham strongman onto his shoulders and taking him down for a Samoan drop to get the equalising pinfall.
The third period didn’t actually last that long, as shortly after the period began, both teams began brawling around the arena, with the referee counting both teams out. Annoyed by this, the Pitbulls asked MC/Commissioner Michael Mann to give them the remaining five minutes, something which Mann was only too happy to do. When the match re-started there was a thing of beauty as Sam speared the Bulk, completely taking him off his feet. As the time-limit approached, the Pitbulls took Isak down with their trademark power bomb, and would have scored the pin if Sam had broken it up. But the time limit soon expired, and the referee declared the match a draw, meaning that the Pitbulls retained the title. A really good match here. I’ve heard a lot about how Sam Slam has impressed since his return to WAW, and everything I’ve heard is true, and I hope to see a lot more of this boy in the future.
The fourth match sees “Rowdy” Ricky Knight taking on “The Dark Angel” Ashe, a sort of battle of the generations if you will. The bout has a couple of special stipulations – if Ashe wins, Knight retires, but if Knight wins, he gets the first crack at the winner of the Kraft/Ashe title bout at the next show. It’s a clash of styles here, with Knight’s power game going up against Ashe’s high-flying skills, and is a good match, although given the stipulation it does seem to lack in drama a little, given the fact that Knight’s career is on the line. But in all not a bad effort from both guys, with Knight picking up the win after Ashe missed a swanton from the top rope, and the old man capitalising by locking in the Boston Crab for the submission victory.
Main event time, a title v title encounter, as British Women’s Champion Destiny takes on World Women’s Champion Sweet Saraya. Before the bout began Saraya as advised by her doctors to pull out of the match because she was suffering from tonsillitis. Saraya was clearly up against it in the opening rounds, as, hampered by the illness, Destiny was able to control the majority of the bout, and score the first pinfall after an avalanche in the corner in the fourth round. As the match continued and Saraya continued to struggle, between the rounds Ricky Knight came down to ringside and pleaded with her to pull out of the match, with his plea falling on deaf ears. Even Destiny tried to get her to pull out of the match, but again, Saraya refused. Try as she might, Saraya just didn’t have the power and energy to fight back, and the match came to an end when Destiny caught Saraya off the ropes and took her out with a piledriver. Seconds later, Destiny had scored the two-nil win, giving her the World title to add to her British title. Saraya put up a hell of a fight, but in the end it was the illness that beat her. A great match here, with a good build-up and storyline, and tons of drama.
DVD extras include the usual commentary options, highlights if the British title match between The Kraft and Ashe, and another Kraft match, this time against “The Anarchist” Doug Williams.
In conclusion – not a bad little effort from WAW. Although the first couple of matches could probably have done with being a little longer, the tag and women’s titles matches more than made up for this. Sam Slam is a monster in the making, and Destiny has come on leaps and bounds in the past couple of years, which makes it a shame that she isn’t used more often by other promotions. But in all, I ended my viewing satisfied, and I suppose you can’t get any better than that.
With thanks to WAW for supplying a copy of this release. For more information on WAW, visit their website at www.waw-uk.com.
Now it’s time to plug a few of items;
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And finally, some of my work has made it into book form, with the first two stories of my 1990 Anglo-Force series, co-written with my brother Paul, and The Two Sheds Review: Wrestling Pulp Fiction, featuring three wrestling-based fictional stories, now available to buy in either book form or via download in PDF format via www.lulu.com/twosheds316.
