[CVerse] HIW - Saving the Scene

jbdkmv · August 13, 2018

HIGH IMPACT WRESTLINGSAVING THE SCENE - A CornellVerse Dynasty

A statement by 'Sick' Nick Adams:

The British independent wrestling scene is dead.

Some of you reading this will know who I am. Most of you will not. My name is Nick Adams and I have been involved in the United Kingdom independent wrestling scene for over thirty years of my life. Originally a journeyman wrestler, I have since earned a living as a road agent. In my career I have been backstage at the biggest shows this nation has had to offer and I’ve witnessed shows which drew crowds in the single digits, plus everything in between. It is with that knowledge and experience that I can confidently proclaim that the British independent wrestling scene is the worst it has ever been. The British independent wrestling scene is dead.

Now allow me to be clear, I’m aware that wrestling in the United Kingdom is not gone. Far from it in fact. With 21CW broadcasting stars like Tommy Cornell to a national audience, it would be ridiculous to suggest otherwise. The problem lies beyond 21CW. Where promotions such as Ring of Fire and Men of Steel Combat would once provide a unique experience beyond the bright lights of 21CW, there is now nothing. Mark Carnie and his boys may profit from lingering nationalism in the far north, funded by ill-gotten money, but the United Kingdom doesn’t have a single independent promotion to be proud of. A place where all the best local fighters can come to fight the veterans of the scene and you, the Great British wrestling fan, can come to witness something special beyond the bright lights of Jeff Nova’s media empire.

Look. If you haven’t gotten where I’m going with this already, I’m starting an independent wrestling promotion.

High Impact Wrestling.

I’ve sat and moaned about the state of the British wrestling scene for long enough and it’s time for me to take what money I have and be the change I want to be. From the shadows of ROF and MOSC, High Impact Wrestling will present its inaugural show on January 15th, 2016. A show which aptly goes by the name ‘Best of Britain’.

I only have one match to announce for you thus far but it’s about as good a match as you could ask for. The main event of our inaugural show. If you come down to the Norman Blue Athletic Center on the 15th you will witness a historic three-way fight for the newly established Great British Openweight Championship. This will take place between three-time Ring of Fire champion and Ring of Fire hall of famer Merle O’Curle, four-time Men of Steel Combat champion and MOSC hall of famer Barry Griffin and finally, former star of 21CW, Keith Adams.

The rest of the card will be announced shortly.

The British independent wrestling scene is dead.

Let’s save it.

Just six days away from the inaugural show of newly founded Midlands based independent company High Impact Wrestling, creator Nick Adams has announced what appears to be a full card for the event. We at BritWres.co.uk will do our best to fill in the gaps on just who these competitors are and what you can expect if you attend the Solihull event next Friday:

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
BARRY GRIFFIN vs “Rock Solid” KEITH ADAMS vs “The Irish Stretching Machine” MERLE O’CURLE

Those of you who read the inaugural address of Nick Adams will have heard his hype for this match already. Three veterans of the United Kingdom wrestling scene wrestle to one fall to crown the initial Great British Openweight Champion, a champion who is inevitably not going to be young with Merle O’Curle as the youngest competitor at a less-than-spritely thirty-eight years of age. Most BritWres regulars will be aware but for any new visitors hoping to find out about High Impact Wrestling, I’ll give you a brief rundown. Barry Griffin was a hall of famer and four-time champion of the defunct Men of Steel Combat company, having since toured with GCG in Japan. Keith Adams is another veteran of the scene, having wrestled in 21CW before the Nova takeover, but his credentials are less impressive than those of his opponents in this match. Adams is a good worker though, although reportedly only working part time to focus on his other career as a policeman. Lastly, Merle O’Curle is an Irish technician who won the Ring of Fire championship on three different occasions, entered their hall of fame before their closure and has continued his success on the continent for UEW. This is a very tough match to call but these three veterans should deliver a good matchup.

BRILLIANT WHITE vs ‘Repeat Offender’ CARL EDWARDS

Former MOSC star Carl Edwards is a fan favourite high flyer despite being from Liverpool. He’s fun and flashy but in return he’s also a risk to himself, usually out injured due to a ridiculous risk. If you’re considering going to this show though, Edwards should certainly be a selling point as he’s bound to do something exciting. His opponent is Brilliant White. White is an oddly named high flier perhaps best known for his white phantom of the opera-like mask he wears during his entrance and his flowing golden hair. If the main event is going to highlight veteran technical wrestlers, this is going to highlight crazy spots.

JOHN MICHAEL SHARP AND MARTIN HEATH vs RAVE AND TRANCE

Heath and Sharp were Ring of Fire made, coming through the still functioning dojo in 2006. It was also there that they achieved their greatest achievement to date when they won the ROF Tag Team Championships in 2010, just before the company was bought out by 21CW. These two weren’t picked up during the buyout and have floundered a bit since then but they’re still two promising wrestlers with good looks. Rave and Trance, the Party Animals, are near veterans of the BritWres scene and have been the same drug-addled club kid characters since their spell in 21CW back in the day. Expect solid tag team wrestling here between two teams that have been tagging for a long spell.

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

Phil Cox is known for his stint under a mask in 21CW as ‘Stardust’ and by some for his disastrous run in Ring of Fire in which the fans refused to take to the newly unmasked cruiserweight. He will be hoping to achieve better success at High Impact Wrestling as his first match is against the German with the long name, Otto Hammerschmidt. Otto wrestled in UCR, where he won tag team gold twice, and then later UEW but the German veteran has never achieved anything more than midcard mediocrity.

JOAO VINCENTE AND MANUEL DIAS vs STEFAN RAYNOR AND LOUIS PAYTON

Vincente and Dias, the Portuguese Men of War, are European wrestling veterans having wrestled in both UCR and (in Vincente’s case) EWA. They were once a popular masked act but ditched those to wrestle under their real names. They’re decent high-flying wrestlers but must be the underdogs going into this matchup against Raynor and Payton, the Assassin’s Guild. ‘The Angel-Faced Killer’ and ‘The Predator’ are both just twenty-nine years old but already have had national exposure via their role on 21CW as the lackeys of Jonathan Faust. They’re decent brawlers who have the look to take them far. Just how far they’ll go in HIW, that will be interesting to watch.

CURTIS JENKINS vs ‘Trademark’ THOMAS MORGAN

Readers who follow international independents may know CJ and particularly astute followers of the Canadian independent scene may well recognise Thomas Morgan. Morgan is a 41-year-old Indy mainstay who has never had a shot at any of the big companies in his homeland for some unknown reason, despite his clear skill as a wrestler. His announcement for HIW is a surprise as Morgan looks for late success in a nation where his name is unheard of, but it will be interesting to follow his progress. Curtis ‘CJ’ Jenkins was active on the US independent scene for years, being finely tuned by the good people at Mid Atlantic Wrestling. Visa troubles forced Jenkins back home to England and it is HIW who benefit from it. These two are underrated technical wrestlers and this match could be a hidden gem on the undercard.

The card is subject to change and further matches may be added. The show will be streamed on demand on BritWres Premium and is likely going to be worth checking out, if just out of curiosity.

QUICK CARD:

HIW presents BEST OF BRITAIN
at the Norman Blue Athletic Center, Solihull

CURTIS JENKINS vs 'Trademark' THOMAS MORGAN

THE PORTUGUESE MEN OF WAR vs THE ASSASSIN'S GUILD

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

SHARP & HEATH vs THE PARTY ANIMALS

BRILLIANT WHITE vs ‘Repeat Offender’ CARL EDWARDS

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
BARRY GRIFFIN vs “Rock Solid” KEITH ADAMS vs “The Irish Stretching Machine” MERLE O’CURLE

jbdkmv · August 13, 2018

PAST SHOWS

#1 - <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2304878&postcount=5" rel="external nofollow">Best of Britain</a> (08/01/2016)

#2 - <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2305407&postcount=12" rel="external nofollow">Defence</a> (19/02/2016)

#3 - <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2305961&postcount=17" rel="external nofollow">High Impact III</a> (01/04/2016)

#4 - <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2306440&postcount=24" rel="external nofollow">High Impact IV</a> (29/04/2016)

CHAMPIONS

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - 'Rock Solid' Keith Adams (Won from VACANT at HIW Best of Britain on 08/01/2016)

John Lions · August 13, 2018

This is awesome, I have never been able to get into it but the British/European CVerse scene is one of the areas that gets the least amount of love. I'll be keeping up with this for sure.

HIW presents BEST OF BRITAIN

at the Norman Blue Athletic Center, Solihull

CURTIS JENKINS vs 'Trademark' THOMAS MORGAN

Curtis Jenkins has time to recover from this loss, Morgan does not. Depending on how long he wants to wrestle, Morgan can quickly establish himself as a solid hand for you over the next year.

THE PORTUGUESE MEN OF WAR vs THE ASSASSIN'S GUILD

The Assassin's Guild are a ready made heel tag team #1 and can rotate into being flunkies of a singles heel wrestler pretty easily.

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

Phil Cox may have his ups and downs, but I think he's going to get a shot to prove himself before he gets mauled down the card if he can't live up to the hype

SHARP & HEATH vs THE PARTY ANIMALS

From a lot of the exposition, I see HIW being very "ROF-esque", so the former ROF tag champs and dojo grads get the nod here, likely working as the team opposed to the Assassins.

BRILLIANT WHITE vs ‘Repeat Offender’ CARL EDWARDS

Toughest call for me, going to go with Brilliant White due to his creative character and marketability

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

BARRY GRIFFIN vs “Rock Solid” KEITH ADAMS vs “The Irish Stretching Machine” MERLE O’CURLE

This one is tough too, but I'm going to go with my gut. I feel like Merle and Barry are the easier choices, but Keith Adams would be the ideal choice to me because it establishes a better identity of HIW. If Merle or Barry wins, they would probably be a better wrestler at the top and a better "face" of the company, but it would just seem like MOSC-lite or ROF-lite

LlamaSquad · August 13, 2018

CURTIS JENKINS vs 'Trademark' THOMAS MORGAN

THE PORTUGUESE MEN OF WAR vs THE ASSASSIN'S GUILD

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

SHARP & HEATH vs THE PARTY ANIMALS

BRILLIANT WHITE vs ‘Repeat Offender’ CARL EDWARDS

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

BARRY GRIFFIN vs “Rock Solid” KEITH ADAMS vs “The Irish Stretching Machine” MERLE O’CURLE

jbdkmv · August 13, 2018

HIGH IMPACT WRESTLING #1

BEST OF BRITAIN

Reported for BritWres.co.uk

It’s hard to really judge just how historic this night will end up being for the British independent scene but for High Impact Wrestling and its founder Nick Adams, this is as momentous as it gets. Official attendance for the show has been reported as 101 and from my vantage point that seems about right. Word is that Adams hopes to the Norman Blue Athletic Center for the near future and that feels like a safe bet. The venue could clearly hold triple the amount of people in attendance for Best of Britain, so it would take something otherworldly for HIW to outgrow Solihull anytime soon. I was live for the show, as I hope to be for future shows, but it is worth mentioning that the full event is available on our BritWres on demand service featuring commentary from the capable duo of Martin Bloydell and MOSC alumni Lawrence Young.

It would be Bloydell who would open the show in the ring. The announcer is only 23 years of age but he’s quickly developing a capable reputation around the United Kingdom wrestling scene and is expected to end up in 21CW one day. This is all hypothetical though, as of right now he is the voice of High Impact Wrestling and he does an excellent job of running down the card to an excited midlands crowd. It is worth mentioning now that Nick Adams didn’t appear at any point in this show and for now we can only assume this will be the case continuing forward. Bloydell would be interrupted by Mark Moore, another MOSC alumni playing his usual sleazy sports agent style character. Moore is his usual detestable self and gets the crowd riled up comfortably enough. This opening segment is brief and gets the crowd engaged but the only noteworthy dialogue is when Moore promises that he will make an impact later tonight. We will, of course, get to that in due time.

CURTIS JENKINS vs 'TRADEMARK' THOMAS MORGAN

Near ten minutes after the show had begun, we have our first match of the night. Curtis Jenkins was first out, accompanied by experienced manager Bethany Hurst. CJ received a decent reaction, which is far more than you can say for his opponent ‘Trademark’ Thomas Morgan. As I mentioned in my preview for this show, Morgan’s wrestling experience is entirely in smaller Canadian indies so the best response he could muster from this Midlands audience was a polite applause, amongst a few mocking shouts. Morgan is as experienced as anybody on this show though, so a little heckling wouldn’t affect him. This contest was one I earmarked in my show preview as a potential surprise hit as both Jenkins and Morgan are solid wrestlers but that just wasn’t to be. There is obvious talent in this match and both men could be useful for the company going forward (depending on how much time Morgan is willing to put into this project) but it seems like there was too much focus on warming up a crowd which was already warmed up. Jenkins played the heel and Morgan was a straight-laced face, Hurst did her best on the outside to get the crowd involved while playing a version of her usual spoilt rich girl gimmick. Hurst would be irrelevant in the finish, however, as CJ pinned Morgan with a fisherman’s suplex. There is certainly potential here, CJ’s ceiling in HIW is surely limited but I also hope Morgan sticks around and gets a chance to show his abilities.

CAIN CARLILE VS STRIFE

Unannounced singles action followed the opening contest as two young prospects of the Great British scene got their chance to make an impact. 22-year-old Strife would come into this contest as the relative old-timer as his two whole years of wrestling experience dwarfs that of Cain Carlile. 19 years old and just one-year a pro, Carlile has already made a few one-off appearances as a jobber on 21CW and could well be one to watch for the future. Strife has a good look and seemed comfortable playing the heel in this match but it’s worth mentioning that he comes with a reputation of inconsistency. Both men have undeniable potential though. The crowd didn’t really seem to know who either man was (understandably) but the action in the ring was enough to get them at least watching with interest. The two young athletes favoured a higher paced style and that seemed to be exactly what the crowd needed after the slow burning technical opener and It would be the younger Carlile who would pick up the feel-good win with a spinning heel kick listed on the official HIW website as ‘The Mark of Cain’. Nice. Nothing too special here but potentially a fun match to look back of one day if these two men continue improving.

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

Straight into more singles action and this time it was an announced match as Otto Hammerschmidt (who for the rest of this review I may just refer to as Otto) came to the ring first for his match against Stardust Phil Cox. Otto was the clear heel for this match as is inevitable when any German fights and Englishman on English soil. Despite his name though, Otto wasn’t leaning into his heritage here and played a ruthless wrestling machine. Phil Cox is a man whose had a bit of an identity crisis ever since he dropped his mask and became ROF’s least favourite wrestler and it seems that is how HIW is going to work with his character. He came to the ring staring down at his old Stardust mask which he clutched in his hands and was a step behind Otto all match, rarely getting an upper hand for long. The crowd got behind Cox on several occasions, but it never paid off as Otto would reverse any attempts at a comeback and either plant Phil with a suplex variant or tie him up in a submission. Otto gained a victory with a Gutwrench Suplex and before the match I would have said that was a surprise result. Following the match, a frustrated Cox grabbed his mask and fled to the back. I’m not sure where they are going to go with either of these characters and the match was nothing special but I’m excited to see new things being tried and unexpected wrestlers given a chance.

JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs THE PARTY ANIMALS (RAVE and TRANCE)

Pre-intermission on an Indy show is like a co-main event in its own right and Best of British didn’t disappoint on that front. Rave and Trance of The Party Animals were the first competitors out as High Impact Wrestling would put on its first ever tag team match. Other than CJ, Rave and Trance were the first wrestlers to get a reaction from name recognition alone but any fans who didn’t know them were soon paying attention as they entered to a pounding drum and bass tune. The crowd mocked them but true to form, Rave and Trance were too distracted with their own nonsensical dance moves to notice or care. Their opponents were Jon Michael Sharp and Martin Heath, the former ROF tag team champions who came out to one of the biggest pops of the night. While the animals are former 21CW and their opponents are former ROF, it is by no means the first time these teams have faced out due to their many years wrestling around the country on independent shows. This familiarity allowed the two teams to effortlessly put on the match of the night to this point, engaging the crowd well beyond their entrance. At this point, I have to wonder if High Impact will introduce a tag team titles at any point. If they were to do so soon, you’d have to think these two teams would be involved (as well as the other teams in action later.) That said, with the reactions that Sharp and Heath attracted, perhaps it would be a waste of two promising talents with time to grow. Nevertheless, this match was solid from start to finish and it is the boys without a tag team name, Heath and Sharp, who picked up the victory when Sharp pinned Trance after the duo hit in sync flying cross bodies. This is another case where the match result is pretty inconsequential and I’m more interested to see how these men fit into the promotion moving forward. As for now though, one of the matches of the night. Worth checking out.

Intermission time! Martin Bloydell is in the ring to announce the official attendance and a few details on the second show (more on that soon) while I searched the building for a bar. In case you’re wondering, it was a success. Excellent.

BEAUTIFUL WHITE vs "REPEAT OFFENDER" CARL EDWARDS

Intermission came to an end as the music for the “Repeat Offender” Carl Edwards hit, and everybody shuffled back into position. Edwards is yet another Men of Steel Combat alumnus on this show and he comes to HIW with high praise as a capable high flier and an all-around good person. However, as mentioned in my preview for this show, Edwards also has a reputation for diving off anything and everything and injuring himself. For those readers worried about Edwards’ safety, I can assure you that the highest thing he jumped off during this match was the top turnbuckle. Well, from the top turnbuckle to the outside onto nobody but for Edwards that’s a vast improvement. His opponent for the evening was Beautiful White, a man with an interesting name and entrance attire (wearing a phantom of the opera style mask and glowing white robes to the ring) but no clear gimmick beyond that. Once his music stops and he removes the mask and robes, he is just a heel who likes to jump over ropes and onto his opponent. If you enjoy dives over the top rope, this is the match for you. If you like your wrestling to involve anything in the form of psychology or technical ability, stay well clear. Fortunately for Edwards, White and the boys running the show, this crowd were very much in the former camp. While this contest may not have been a good wrestling match, in fact you could say it was quite poor, the crowd loved it. It all ended rather abruptly with a 450 splash from Edwards and that was that. I do hope that we get to see Edwards feature in some better matches while he is in HIW but putting him against White won’t have hurt his popularity with the fans and that’s more than enough at this stage.

THE ASSASSINS' GUILD (LOUIS PAYTON and STEFAN RAYNOR) vs PORTUGUESE MEN OF WAR (JOAO VINCENTE and MANUEL DIAS)

The semi-main event of the evening is a bit of a cool down match and it was probably good foresight to place this between the spot heavy previous match and the technical driven main event. Out first were Joao Vincente and Manuel Dias. The team known as the Portuguese Men of War. It’s clear these two are being treated as the big underdogs in this match and are therefore the faces. This does wonders in hyping up their opponents, Louis Payton and Stefan Raynor. The Assassins’ Guild. Wearing matching shades and looking professional, the former 21CW hired guns are followed closely by a returning Mark Moore. It’s instantly apparent that the Assassins’ Guild are allied with Moore but the way they are presented is not that of lackeys but as two stars in their own right. This once again raises questions about a HIW tag team title and whether or not it would hold stars like Payton and Raynor down. A tag team match between them and Sharp & Heath could be a main event for a company this size itself. This creates further questions about just how much money is being spent on this show but now isn’t the time to discuss that. There isn’t a whole lot of match to run through as the Portuguese boys continuously attempt to mount a comeback. This is very rarely successful for them and when it is successful it doesn’t last long until they are taken down and the ring is cut in half again. Yet another tag team on this show who have clearly worked together for long enough to work in sync. The Portuguese lads aren’t quite there yet and they’re both coming close to forty so how far they’ll go in High Impact is questionable. The match is over in under ten minutes when the Assassins hit ‘The Last Hit’, a brutal double headbutt to Dias. This match made the assassins look vicious and teaming them with Moore prevents the crowd from getting on their side as they’re clearly being placed as top heels.

Before the main event, the Great British Openweight championship belt is presented to the crowd as Martin Bloydell reads about it to the crowd. Nothing too important to note but he does specify that it’s Openweight for a reason as anybody can challenge for it as long as they deserve a shot. Anybody? Interesting.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

BARRY GRIFFIN vs "ROCK SOLID" KEITH ADAMS vs MERLE O'CURLE

IT’S MAIN EVENT TIME! As a wrestling fan, I’ll be honest when I say that Merle O’Curle being involved in this project was the first thing that really captured my attention. Merle is one of the United Kingdom’s finest technical wrestlers and that has lead him to three Ring of Fire championships, a Ring of Fire hall of fame induction, two reigns as 21CW Strong Style champion and he is now a main event star in Europe for UEW, where he is also a one-time UEW tag team champion. When 21CW purchased ROF in 2010, O’Curle was so offended as to not be signed by Nova’s media juggernaut that he gave up on the British scene altogether and moved to Europe. Yet here we were, in front of barely over 100 people in a sports centre near Birmingham and he stood in the ring about to compete for yet more gold. His next opponent? Barry Griffin. Not many British wrestlers get to wrestle in Japan. Not for a name company. Yet after seven years in Men of Steel Combat in which Barry won their main belt four times and get inducted into their hall of fame, Griffin would be invited to join Golden Canvas Grappling, where he would wrestle for over twelve years. Here we were though, the English export long thought gone was in the ring nose-to-nose with Merle O’Curle. Now the final part of this equation is a peculiar case. “Rock Solid” Keith Adams. 41 years old like Griffin, Adams spent three years at 21CW before Nova took over and has no real title accomplishments to his name. Adams is even semi-retired from wrestling now to focus on his other career as a policeman. What Adams is though is a solid mat wrestler with a decent look and a great advert for the British scene. A man who has been fighting in front of smaller crowds than this for years and still putting on good match after good match. If you give nothing else to High Impact Wrestling, at least give them credit for a fascinating main event. O’Curle, the surly Irish submission expert was more than happy to take a role as a heel as only an Irishmen going for the Great British belt possibly could. Griffin didn’t really lean either way and instead just brought some vicious chops which might as well have been a postcard from his trips in Japan. Adams was the face, the crowd got this pretty quick and while the other two had their loyal fans in attendance, the underdog Adams captured the attention of many. The wrestling in this match was good, as was to be expected, and the best bits all came from O’Curle, proving once again that he is one of the best wrestlers in the European and United Kingdom wrestling scenes. Twenty minutes of action went by and the three men were constantly fighting, with no one man ever truly having the advantage, but it was the feel-good story of Keith Adams who would eventually pull off the victory, rolling up O’Curle after the Irishman had nailed Griffin with a huge German suplex which sent him to the outside. Was it the best match we’re likely to see all year? No but it was a damn fined contest which really laid down the marker for a company with all the potential to grow.

Overall ‘Best of British’ maybe didn’t live up quite to it’s hyperbolic name choice but it did leave the fans happy and showed that High Impact Wrestling could grow into something worth watching. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s available on our OnDemand service, I’d personally recommend catching the first tag team match and the main event. Although honestly, the whole thing isn’t too long and if you’re wanting to follow the promotion, it’s a nice easy watch to get to learn some names on the British independent wrestling scene. If you do choose to watch OnDemand, you won’t see the post show incident which took place in which Mark Moore followed through on his promise as he lead the Assassin’s Guild down to the ring, where they assaulted the newly crowned Great British Openweight champion, Keith Adams. This was a pretty standard beat down, but the most interesting moment is when O’Curle and Griffin entered the ring and went nose to nose with the Assassin’s, causing quite the cheer from the crowd, only for the two veterans to move aside and walk to the back as the beatdown continued. This clip will be available on the HIW YouTube channel soon and I’m sure it will play into the card for next month’s show. Thanks for reading.

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Under the Bonnet

Opening Promo - D-

Morgan vs Jenkins - E

Strife vs Carlile - E-

Otto vs Stardust - E

Sharp & Heath vs the Party Animals - D

Edwards vs White - E-

Assassins' Guild vs The Portuguese Men of War - E

The Main Event for the Great British Openweight Title - D

OVERALL SHOW - D

Increased popularity in the Midlands

--------------------------------------------------

I'd just like to thank you guys who have commented or even just read this so far. Much appreciated. Haven't played TEW in forever or written anything other than university essays so it's nice to be back to writing. Speaking of essays, I hope the show isn't too wordy or long, if you think it is, do tell me and I'll try to cut it down in future or change up the formatting, etc. And extra thanks to 'John Lions' because I really enjoyed you reasoning for your predictions and how you probably put more thought into it than I did. Alright, enjoy!

John Lions · August 14, 2018

Cheers! I always try to give my logic behind my predictions because I know how valuable it is as a writer, there are a lot of great writers who come up with dynasties and get burnt out/discouraged due to feeling like no one is reading.

I like the format, and I don't think it's too much, but format wise it looks very intimidating. I don't think it's 100% necessary, but I think adding pictures and delineating between matches that way could break up the text a bit.

It's funny, because I remember back in the old days with EWR and TEW05/07/10, a lot of writers put a lot of effort on writing details about the match itself, and now the focus is on key incidents and traits that define each wrestler and summaries because the reader base are all basically "bookers" themselves. I like the style of your format and it's honestly exactly the one I was planning on using for my own dynasty I was going to start in a week or so, with it being an "report" of the event itself.

Voeltzwagon · August 14, 2018

Just got caught up and enjoyed the show. Good to see someone taking on the British scene and interested in seeing how things shape up.

jbdkmv · August 14, 2018

Time moves ever so fast in the wrestling world, it was just weeks ago that I reported the inaugural High Impact Wrestling event to you readers and yet, here I am once again with another card rundown. The show has simply been titled ‘Defence’ and it is apt as Keith Adams’ first title defence is a big one. The show will once again be held at the Norman Blue Athletic Center in Solihull, or the High Impact House as Nick seems to be branding it, and it will take place on Friday the 19th February. Let’s do this:

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOEY ‘THE BREEZE’ BEAUCHAMP (UEW WORLD CHAMPION)

Keith Adams has made it very clear on social media since winning the Great British Openweight Championship last month that he hopes to represent the United Kingdom and defend the belt against all comers. What better way to begin than a World champion and one of Europe’s finest? While not all of you British wrestling fans will have seen Joey in action, you’re bound to have heard the name as Beauchamp has been making waves in Europe since he became a regular feature of UCR in 2004. Joey is a British wrestler himself, born in Oxford, but he made the jump to Europe way before Merle O’Curle was forced onto the continent and it is paying off as he is now the head booker of UEW and a four-time UEW World Champion. If Adams isn’t able to get a good match out of Beauchamp however, Nick would have to think twice about his choice of representative for HIW.

JON MICHAEL SHARP vs “THE PREDATOR” LOUIE PAYTON
“MAGIC” MARTIN HEATH vs “THE ANGEL-FACED KILLER’ STEFAN RAYNOR

For those of you who haven’t kept track and did not see the post-show footage of Best of Britain, Louie Payton and Stefan Raynor assaulted Keith Adams following his title win. The whole attack appeared to be orchestrated by wily veteran manager Mark Moore. Since then we have learned that Payton and Raynor are a part of the ‘Moore Money Enterprises’ group and Moore has hinted that there is yet another member on twitter. I do not have any insight on who that might be, but I am intrigued by these two singles matches.

CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS vs STARDUST PHIL COX

There is some interesting character work sprinkled all over the first High Impact show and these two are worth keeping an eye on for that reason. Stardust seems to be having trouble finding his identity while Jenkins looked impressive while managed by the ever-excellent Bethany Hurst. Hurst has been referring to CJ as her ‘Prize Fighter’ during YouTube promos. I’m yet to see a reason this duo can’t go to the top of this company.

“REPEAT OFFENDER” CARL EDWARDS vs STRIFE

A winner on opening night takes on a loser in opening night in what is unlikely to be a big shocker. Both high flying wrestlers, could this be the showcase for Edwards I asked for in my last review?

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs ‘TRADEMARK’ THOMAS MORGAN

Yet another winner at Best of Britain against a wrestler who came up short. Another technical match for Morgan to impress as he continues to run out of time.

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ

Fresh from a huge win in an unannounced match against Strife at Best of British, the 19-year-old Cain Carlile will be hoping to go 2-0 against a debuting Liam Lutz. Lutz is a beefy brawler from Manchester who comes with a questionable backstage reputation but a work effort in the ring. For me, this is the hardest match of the night to predict as it is unclear what role either man will play in the near future of the company.

--------------------------------------------------

QUICK CARD:

HIW presents DEFENCE

at HIGH IMPACT HOUSE, Solihull

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs 'TRADEMARK' THOMAS MORGAN

"REPEAT OFFENDER" CARL EDWARDS vs STRIFE

CURTIS "CJ" JENKINS" vs STARDUST PHIL COX

JON MICHAEL SHARP vs “THE PREDATOR” LOUIE PAYTON

“MAGIC” MARTIN HEATH vs “THE ANGEL-FACED KILLER’ STEFAN RAYNOR

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOEY ‘THE BREEZE’ BEAUCHAMP

John Lions · August 14, 2018

HIW presents DEFENCE

at HIGH IMPACT HOUSE, Solihull

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ

I think Carlile picks up his second win here

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs 'TRADEMARK' THOMAS MORGAN

I stand by my initial sentiment that Trademark can be a solid hand for you and can put on a good match with anyone, but I change my prediction last second to Otto because I don't think Thomas has the pop to win and not have people whine about it

"REPEAT OFFENDER" CARL EDWARDS vs STRIFE

Edwards had a fairly high profile win last week so I give him the nod here

CURTIS "CJ" JENKINS" vs STARDUST PHIL COX

Give it to the guy with a person in their corner over the guy who is clearly going to have a losing streak related to his identity crisis

JON MICHAEL SHARP vs “THE PREDATOR” LOUIE PAYTON

“MAGIC” MARTIN HEATH vs “THE ANGEL-FACED KILLER’ STEFAN RAYNOR

The two matches above I think go together so I will talk about both. I can see the pair from won team winning both matches and then losing the tag match against each other, but I don't think that's how it will play out. I say the heels pick up win #1 due to ILLEGAL TACTICS of some sort, and the faces catch on and even the score out 1-1 in a match that turns into a cluster

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOEY ‘THE BREEZE’ BEAUCHAMP

I am grateful you went with Adams because I would have felt bad bashing any option but him. I think Adams fighting and winning against really high profile guys who are or were champions is going to be really important as establishing him as a peer among them, and he can help give that rub to your own home grown guys. A huge win-win situation for you

LlamaSquad · August 14, 2018

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ

Cain's just won on debut, he should be able to keep the momentum going.

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs 'TRADEMARK' THOMAS MORGAN

Otto looks like someone you're trying to push, and I echo John's sentiments regarding Morgan's overness.

"REPEAT OFFENDER" CARL EDWARDS vs STRIFE

You seem to have high hopes for both of these, but Edwards has been more favoured so far.

CURTIS "CJ" JENKINSvs STARDUST PHIL COX

Jenkins has a manager and a good gimmick. Stardust's old mask basically locks him into jobbing for the near future.

JON MICHAEL SHARP vs “THE PREDATOR” LOUIE PAYTON

and

“MAGIC” MARTIN HEATH vs “THE ANGEL-FACED KILLER’ STEFAN RAYNOR

Martin seems to be the better of his team, and the Guild need to keep doing big things after the previous main event. In true Teddy Long fashion, the two matches are split in preparation for a tag match.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOEY ‘THE BREEZE’ BEAUCHAMP

You've tied this main event and the previous matches in really well.

The list of potential interferers:

A) No one: you may want a clean match without any shenanigans. Potential for a post-match attack.

B) The Assassins' Guild: after last time, they could haunt Adams for the entire title reign.

C) Merle O'Curle or Barry Griffin: they let the Guild attack Adams on the last show, and I think Merle is Mark Moore's third member (you need it to be a big name, and he appears to be your primary heel).

This dynasty is very interesting so far, hopefully it continues going well!

jbdkmv · August 17, 2018

<div style="text-align:center;">HIGH IMPACT WRESTLING #2

D E F E N C E</div>

Reported for BritWres.co.uk

From this outsider’s perspective, Best of Britain has to be considered an overall success for High Impact Wrestling. The wrestling was solid, the crowd was engaged, and word certainly spread about what is happening in Solihull. On the online forums, however, I’ve seen one potential issue repeated ad nauseum. Money. Importing Merle O’Curle from Europe isn’t cheap, bringing in Barry Griffin isn’t cheap, running seven matches in front of 101 people, including a tag team match, isn’t cheap. Nick Adams isn’t short of cash but running Best of Britain once a month would be financial suicide in the long term. What do I think about this concern? Well, it’s certainly not an undue concern, the British wrestling scene has seen many promotions struggle with a lack of funds before. Those I’ve spoken to in the company seem well aware of this concern though and have suggested that we shouldn’t judge High Impact Wrestling on Best of Britain, a show which existed as a passion project of Nick Adams and not as a representation of HIW’s long term booking. So that brings me to Defence, the second show of High Impact Wrestling and a show which reportedly cost around two thirds the total spending for the month prior’s effort. Merle is gone, Barry is gone, how does High Impact Wrestling hold up on the unproven shoulders of ‘Rock Solid’ Keith Adams. Well. Let’s find out!

For all that talk of things being different, things seemed very much the same from the off. I was once again sat in the Norman Blue Athletic Center in Solihull and the show was once again opened by Martin Bloydell. One slight difference of note is that Bloydell’s opening recap of the card isn’t on the OnDemand broadcast this time and was done as the fans found their seats rather than as a true show opener. There was reportedly 103 people in attendance, a whopping increase of 2 since the prior month, and the show officially kicked off with singles action. So, let’s get to it.

“REPEAT OFFENDER” CARL EDWARDS vs STRIFE

The opening contest of the night was also the first of three matches in which a winner at Best of Britain would take on an opponent who had a losing first show. In this case, Edwards came into this show after a crowd-pleasing victory against Beautiful White five weeks prior. Strife, meanwhile, lost on the first show to fellow youngster Cain Carlile. Despite his unsuccessful start in the company, Strife does seem like somebody that the company has interest in long term and it’s not impossible to see why. Strife and Carlile both have good looks and a decent wrestling ability for their young age and could certainly make themselves a name through a company such as High Impact Wrestling. Alternatively, HIW could be priming the two of them for a 21CW contract in the not so distant future. It would certainly fit in with Jeff Nova’s usual business stylings. This match would prove to be a short one, but it did give Edwards a chance to show off his more-than-capable high-flying talent against a promising cruiserweight in Strife. Exactly as I was calling for after the divisive match against Beautiful White. Edwards would prove to be the victor with the same 450 splash which earnt his first win, but the match was far from one-sided as Strife managed a few near falls in the short seven-minute runtime. The scouse high flyer goes 2-0 and is clearly one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster already but Strife is worth keeping an eye on for any BritWres fans.

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ

Strife is still sulking in the ring as Cain Carlile comes out for the next match. As mentioned, the two had wrestled the month prior with Carlile coming out on top so tensions flared as they came face to face in the ring. A brief stare down was all that would come from this (for now, at least) as Strife backed down and stormed off to the back. Carlile’s opponent for the evening is the debuting Liam Lutz. Lutz is a man who has been around the British independent scene for over a decade but is still only 29 years of age and isn’t without some ability. The main thing which strikes you about Lutz is his mean look, this boy wasn’t made to play a face and he certainly wouldn’t against the plucky youngster Carlile. Fans of British wrestling who can’t quite put their finger on where they recognise Lutz may remember him from the mid-2000s as the skinny spot monkey Manchester Fly Boy. He has since packed on the mass, grown his wavy red hair and looks a thousand times the threat he did back then. This match doesn’t go on too long and the actual wrestling is minimal at best but from what we saw, these two have an excellent chemistry. Neither is the best wrestler by any means, but they brought the best of each other and I hope we can see a longer rematch between these two at some point. On this show though, the match would be thrown into disrepute as that darn Strife made his way back to the ring. While Lutz had the referee distracted as he threatened to use a steel chair, Strife snuck behind Carlile and nailed him with a low blow. Lutz flattened his opponent with his DDT finisher and the three-count followed in around five minutes.

Was Lutz in on the plan for Strife to attack Cain or was he just a very lucky benefactor of a sore loser? It’s hard to tell but the ill-gotten victor had no qualms in joining Strife in a post-match assault on Cain Carlile. Cain had no fight in him as Lutz nailed yet another DDT on the young star and then Strife hit a corkscrew moonsault. I can only assume that’s his finisher. It actually drew a slight cheer from a subsection of the crowd, as is the issue with a heel doing ultra-flashy moves, but overall the fans were not happy with the makeshift duo. Nobody ended up coming to the aid of Carlile and the beatdown ended only when the two heels decided they had done enough. It looks like we have ourselves a midcard feud in High Impact Wrestling but Carlile is very much outnumbered.

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs ‘TRADEMARK’ THOMAS MORGAN

Once Carlile had been carried to the back under an encouraging applause from the crowd in attendance, we were straight back to the action. Once again, it’s time for a victor last month to take on a loser. Thomas Morgan came out first. Morgan will forever have the distinction of being one of the competitors in the first match of High Impact Wrestling but that was an unsuccessful effort against Curtis Jenkins and it remains unseen whether the Canadian technician will ever pick up a victory in HIW. In this contest he goes up against Otto Hammerschmidt. The German grappler picked up an impressive and professional victory against Stardust Phil Cox on the debut show. It will come as no surprise that Otto picked up the victory here with the same Gutwrench suplex which put down Stardust the month prior. Otto is himself getting older at 39 and while he looks like a solid midcarder so far, the aim of his winning start remains unclear. What is interesting from this match is that the crowd appear to be getting behind Morgan against all odds. They supported him during the contest (beyond the usual pop he might get for fighting a German) and applauded him as he left the ring after coming up short. Could Trademark find a home in High Impact Wrestling yet? No after-match shenanigans here, just a straight forward contest clocking in at around seven minutes long.

The crowd were hot when the music of Moore Money Enterprises hit as Mark Moore lead Louie Payton and Stefan Raynor, the Assassins’ Guild, to the ring. This rare example of promo time within High Impact Wrestling saw a livid Mark Moore demanding answers. Payton, Raynor and Moore had made an impact on the debut show as (on top of comfortably dispatching of the Portuguese Men of War) they jumped Keith Adams following his Great British Openweight Championship victory. Payton and Raynor were booked on this show for two singles matches against Jon Michael Sharp and Martin Heath, which Moore suggested was an attempt by owner Nick Adams to punish his clients. Interesting to hear a mention of Nick Adams, who has yet to appear once as an on-screen character. Moore promised that he’d make Adams regret his mistreatment of Payton and Raynor and made his first official on-screen mention of the rumoured ‘Third Man’ of Moore Money Enterprises. No more details were given, and the segment finished as Jon Michael Sharp interrupted to kick off his match with Peyton.

JON MICHAEL SHARP vs “THE PREDATOR” LOUIE PAYTON

You know, if I had to guess, I’d say that these two were chosen to go first as they’re the least popular members of their teams. It’s not by much at all in either case and I couldn’t really tell you why other than the fact that Sharp looks slightly more heelish than Heath perhaps and Raynor maybe doesn’t have quite as good a look as his partner, who is called “The Angel-Faced Killer” for a reason. With that said, both of these singles matches were ones that I was looking forward to. Just as I’m still very much hoping that this all leads to a decent length tag team match between the two. Maybe even for some gold, huh Nick Adams? Anyway, this match is good. Nothing special and Sharp had a better match with Heath against the Party Animals last month but for two predominately tag team wrestlers, this was a good match. The action was open throughout, but the ending was tainted, as was to be expected. Jon Michael Sharp had finally gained a strong upper hand and he hit a flying cross body, which he has been known to end matches with in the past. Mark Moore and Stefan Raynor, who had remained at ringside throughout the entire match, were obviously concerned about their partner as they dragged Payton from the ring and as fast as they could, they dragged his barely functioning body to the back. A frustrated Sharp just watched this unfold in disbelief and showed no joy as the referee counted to ten to give him the count out victory. Some murmurs of disapproval from the fan, as is to be expected at such a finish, but I think most in attendance were aware that this is a brewing storyline and such finishes are to be expected for now. The crowd really go into Sharp for this match though and it will be matches like this which will likely help him if he goes solo at any point.

INTERMISSION! As with last month, Bloydell came to the ring to discuss next month’s show. Jon Michael Sharp stayed at ringside for a good portion of the break to take photos with fans. Such a face.

“MAGIC” MARTIN HEATH vs “THE ANGEL-FACED KILLER’ STEFAN RAYNOR

Just as the first half of the show closed with the first match between members of these two teams, the second half kicked off with the second match. Seemingly not learning from his partner and being such a face, Heath came to the ring unaccompanied by Sharp. Raynor did come down followed by Moore but there was no sign of Payton, who was presumably still recovering from the previous contest. Now it’s fair to say that the crowd were excited for the previous match but the tainted outcome of that and the star power in this meant that they were positively buzzing for this one and completely behind a Martin Heath victory. Following in the pattern set by the previous match, the two had a very open contest with the momentum constantly shifting as Moore had to account for occasional interference from Moore (something which didn’t really happen in the last match until the finale.) Heath managed to reverse Raynor’s finishing single arm DDT and hit his own singles finisher, a flying fist drop. The crowd were livid though as Payton sprinted to ringside and her and Moore attempted to repeat the prior finish, dragging out a dazed Raynor. Things didn’t go to plan for Moore Money Enterprises however as Jon Michael Sharp blocked off their entrance! Mark Moore managed to escape Sharp’s clutches but both members of the Assassins’ Guild were met with a big right hand from Heath’s tag team partner. Sharp threw Raynor back into the ring and dragged Payton to the back, but the shenanigans weren’t over yet. Just as Heath looked to finally be wrapping up the match, a desperate Moore entered the ring and looked to change things himself. He swung a wild right hand at Heath who managed to drop out of the way as the agent clobbered his own client! Heath dumped Moore out of the ring, hit a second flying fist drop and to a great pop from the audience, got the three count! Much surprise from the audience, including myself, at the clean sweep by Heath but it was worth it for the reaction it achieved. Where do these guys going forwards? I have no idea, but I can only hope the Assassins’ Guild don’t lose their momentum. Also, a tag team match please, Nick.

CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS vs STARDUST PHIL COX

It almost seems unfair to say this, but this match is quite clearly positioned to chill the crowd down after the excitement of the previous two contests. With that said, these two guys shouldn’t be ignored as they’re both talents in their own right. This match is also the third and final contest in which a winner at Best of Britain goes up against a loser and this match is also surely the easiest match on the card to predict. Curtis Jenkins once again is joined by manager Bethany Hurst. Hurst is a good manager, one of the best on the UK independent scene along with Mark Moore, but her role alongside CJ seems to be a bit inconsequential so far. CJ comes into this on the back of a win against Thomas Morgan. Stardust once again carries his old mask to the ring and looks dishevelled and aimless. I still have no idea where this Stardust angle is going but I’m still really enjoying it. Cox isn’t a big-time character worker but for this level, his work on this angle has been really solid and I think the fans are at the very least intrigued. Something he will certainly take over his disastrous time in Ring of Fire back in the day. There isn’t too much to say about this match. It’s another decent contest and goes at a reasonable eleven minutes but it’s clearly designed to be the cooldown match and Jenkins wins cleanly with a Fisherman’s Suplex once more. Yet again, Hurst doesn’t get involved in the match but does some fine work on the outside in getting the crowd somewhat invested. After the match as Jenkins heads to the back, he motions for the belt and shouts about how it’s his time. We shall see Curtis, but I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be at some point.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOEY ‘THE BREEZE’ BEAUCHAMP

With everything else out of the way, it is time for the main event of the evening and it’s fair to say that it’s a very interesting situation. Keith Adams may hold the Great British Openweight Championship, but he still has a lot to prove. His victory at Best of Britain was a very good match but it was clear that Merle O’Curle did much of the heavy lifting on that one. Unlike Merle, Adams has never been the star of a promotion and there is definitely questions about whether or not he is the right man at 41 years of age. On top of that, his win against Merle and Barry Griffin was a roll up, not the most convincing of wins even against such tough opponent. Adams is a capable wrestler with a great look and attitude though and the fans clearly want to see him succeed as he goes against a very different type of opponent. Joey “The Breeze” Beauchamp may be an English wrestler, but he is very much known best for his exploits in Europe. While Adams has never been the face of a company, Beauchamp is currently on his fourth reign as UEW champion and at 39 years old, he is also the booker of the Madrid based promotion. As well as that, he is a natural born charismatic heel who manages to turn the entire Solihull crowd against him in this match like a pro. The one slight issue with Beauchamp is that he isn’t anywhere near the wrestler that Merle O’Curle is and thus, this match doesn’t live up to the standards set by the first month’s main event. It’s a decent contest that holds the audience’s attendance for the 26 minutes which it goes on. Adams gets to look good against an established name and a bonified heel. So, while it may not be the best match the promotion has put on during its short time, I think its fair to say that this match does its job of making Keith Adams the likeable face of the company who can realistically take on any challengers from outside of the High Impact Wrestling bubble. It is to no surprise that Beauchamp doesn’t take the title here and I suspect his booking is a one-and-done job like O’Curle and Griffin before him. Adams picks up the clean win and we actually get to see his finisher this time, the Arrested Development, a pretty impressive delayed brainbuster. Adams passed this test, I’ll be interested to see how long he fights outside talents for. Perhaps we will see him face a HIW regular before long.

It’s déjà vu as Mark Moore leads out the Assassins’ Guild post-match to jump a tired Keith Adams. Once again, I believe this segment was left off the OnDemand broadcast and is instead on the official High Impact Wrestling YouTube channel. Things are different this time though as Sharp and Heath follow the heel tag team almost immediately and Payton and Raynor only manage to get a few kicks in on the champ before they bail. No fighting between the two teams but it’s clear that something is brewing here. I’ll give HIW credit, I’m left with many questions about this storyline. Where does Keith Adams fit in? Who is the third man and how does he fit in? And most importantly, can I please get that tag team match?

Another solid show. I don’t think this show was quite as good as the previous months which had better high points in the main event and the tag team contest. That said, at around a third less spend, I think Nick Adams has done a very respectable job of maintaining the quality and while the wrestling quality might not have peaked as highly, the storylines are starting to come together, and we have at least two established feuds already. I’m pretty certain that once again, this show will have raised the profile of High Impact Wrestling and the mission for them to fill the gap of a UK super Indy is still a go. Thanks for reading guys, I’ll be at show number three and I hope you’re back to join me. See you then.

--------------------------------------------------

Under the Bonnet

Opening Promo [PRE-SHOW] - E

Carl Edwards d. Strife - E+

Lutz d. Carlile - E- (Great Chemistry)

Lutz/Strife Attack Carlile - F+

Otto def. Trademark - E+

Moore Promo - E+

Sharp d. Peyton - E+

Heath d. Raynor - D-

Jenkins d. Stardust - E+

Adams d. Beauchamp - E+

Assassins' Attack + Save [post-SHOW] - E

OVERALL SHOW - E+

Increased popularity in the Midlands

--------------------------------------------------

Once again, I'd like to thank everybody for the support so far. You guys are great. Really interesting to see that all the predictions for this show were identical and I can honestly see why, on paper it was super predictable. Hopefully the few curveball results are appreciated ha. I should also add that I'm moving to Canada to study for a year in a couple of weeks so my update times might vary but for now I'm absolutely going to stick to this so I hope you guys stick around! Next show's card will be up soon.

jbdkmv · August 17, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45742" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>BRITWRES.CO.UK It’s all change at High Impact wrestling as the show titles have been dropped in exchange for roman numerals so I present to you the card rundown for High Impact III. This will be once again held at Norman Blue Athletic Center in Solihull on April 1st, 2016. Doors open at 7pm, the show begins at 8pm with an expected finish of 11pm and will be available OnDemand via BritWres Premium the next day. GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP ‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOHNNY HIGHSPOT Another month, another British wrestling veteran entering High Impact Wrestling and challenging for the Great British Openweight championship. For that reason, I am glad that the tournament might shake things up a little. With that said, Johnny Highspot might be a unique case. Highspot is known for his time in Ring of Fire and is a high-flying athlete who has admittedly slowed down a bit since his ROF days. What makes Highspot interesting is that he is active on the British scene, unlike Adams’ past opponents, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him stick around in High Impact Wrestling. Highspot is a former two-time ROF tag team champion and I’d personally like to see him and Jonni Lowlife, his former protegee, in a High Impact ring. Especially if a tag title comes to fruition. With that said, Highspot is another reasonably well-known veteran who is likely here to legitimize the title reign of Keith Adams. No more, no less. WINNER GETS A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT IV ‘REPEAT OFFENDER’ CARL EDWARDS vs CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS Here we go. While neither man is without experience, whomever wins this contest will become the youngest wrestler to have challenged for the Great British Openweight championship when they challenge Keith Adams or Johnny Highspot for the belt at High Impact IV in May. I don’t mind admitting that I’m hyped for this match, possibly more than the main event. Both of these men have had an impressive start to life in HIW and both have a perfect 2-0 record coming out of Defence in February. This will be a great chance for these two men to show what they’re capable of and solidify at least one of the men in the main event scene at High Impact Wrestling. JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs RAVE and TRANCE High Impact Wrestling is still a young promotion and therefore it is not a surprise that they keep having ‘firsts’. This here is the first rematch High Impact Wrestling is putting on and that probably shows a lack of depth in tag teams in HIW, something I hate to admit. That said, I don’t mind one bit that this match is happening again. The first contest between these two is probably the second-best match that has been put on by the company so far and I hope they can deliver that once more. The Assassins’ Guild have yet to be announced at all for the show but as they’re involved in the company’s biggest storyline at the moment with Sharp and Heath, as well as Keith Adams, don’t be surprised if they end up involved in this one. OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX Otto is 2-0 coming out of Defence and Stardust Phil Cox is 0-2. This match seems like a bit of a formality as Otto racks up the victories and Cox appears to be running a losing streak style gimmick. The biggest intrigue in this match is just what is the plan for both characters. I’m unsure if we’ll find out any further details in this one however, expect another efficient German victory. 2-ON-1 HANDICAP MATCH CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE The nineteen-year-old Cain Carlile demanded Lutz and Strife on social media after the two assaulted him at Defence and Nick Adams has delivered in true twilight zone fashion by giving the young athlete both at once. Strife is still searching for his first win in the company while Carlile and Lutz both have one each, but Strife has his best shot yet in this contest. You have to assume either the heels will win this easily or somebody will come to the aid of Carlile, but I wouldn’t know what to predict. Really good to see HIW building their own stars with this angle and putting such faith in younger lads who could have a bright future within the company. A real first half of the show storyline I’m looking forward to seeing continue for a while yet.</div></blockquote> -------------------------------------------------- QUICK CARD: HIW presents HIGH IMPACT III at HIGH IMPACT HOUSE, Solihull 2-ON-1 HANDICAP MATCH CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX SHARP & HEATH vs THE PARTY ANIMALS WINNER GETS A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT IV ‘REPEAT OFFENDER’ CARL EDWARDS vs CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP ‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOHNNY HIGHSPOT

John Lions · August 17, 2018

I want to tell you that your presentation with everything is really professional, you do a good job of adding all the extra details to make it seem as realistic as possible (which makes it easier to get engrossed in it instead of seeing it as "a game").

HIW presents HIGH IMPACT III

at HIGH IMPACT HOUSE, Solihull

2-ON-1 HANDICAP MATCH

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE

This probably won't be a good match in-game, but this is a pretty clever match from a booking perspective. You give Strife his first win, you establish the dynamic between these three, and you build up Cain as a lovable underdog who just needs a partner and never gives up.

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

My hunch is that Otto ends up as Mark Moore's third man? I don't think it happens this show with Keith Adams getting a title match tonight and one next show against CJ or Edwards, but I think he picks up a win tonight and another next month leading into an attack on Adams.

SHARP & HEATH vs THE PARTY ANIMALS

Rave and Trance are liabilities, but they have popularity that you can sponge onto the guys you plan on being your rocks for a while.

WINNER GETS A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT IV

‘REPEAT OFFENDER’ CARL EDWARDS vs CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS

Character wise, Carl Edwards is the dashing high flier while CJ is the legitimate fighter with a hype woman. I think a loss here would hurt CJ more than Edwards, and he has a better match up with Adams.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOHNNY HIGHSPOT

Predictable yes, but it makes complete sense to have your champ build up credibility by beating other names around the indy scene (this is fairly common in micro indies in real life). You get to build up Adams as the real deal and build up challengers from their merits in HIW which makes future match ups more thrilling and your champ doesn't bury half of your card for the sake of making your top belt more credible.

LlamaSquad · August 17, 2018

2-ON-1 HANDICAP MATCH

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

SHARP & HEATH vs THE PARTY ANIMALS

WINNER GETS A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT IV

‘REPEAT OFFENDER’ CARL EDWARDS vs CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs JOHNNY HIGHSPOT

Sorry, I won't be able to give reasons or read the show for a few days. Good luck!

jbdkmv · August 21, 2018

<div style="text-align:center;">HIGH IMPACT III</div>

REPORTED FOR BRITWRES.CO.UK

I tend to avoid rumours and backstage drama in these reviews but this likely warrants a mention. UK independent wrestler JK Lee was supposedly due to debut on High Impact III in an unscheduled contest against Beautiful White. This was scrapped ahead of time though as Lee and Liam Lutz got into a physical altercation and had to be separated by many in the locker room. Although Lutz has a questionable reputation regarding his attitude, all reports seem to suggest that Lee was the cause of the issues and that is apparently why Liam was able to wrestle still. Lee exchanged heated words with HIW founder Nick Adams and took to twitter to express his distaste for Adams and his company. It seems unlikely that we will ever see JK Lee debut in High Impact Wrestling.

Those watching High Impact III via BritWres Premium will notice that Martin Bloydell called this entire show alone. Usual broadcast colleague Lawrence Young appears to have split from the company going forward and is now searching for work in smaller intendent promotions in his adopted home of Ireland. This decision would seem to me as one made entirely financially as Lawrence was doing a solid job as colour commentator but was ultimately an unnecessary expense. I do wonder if going forward either Bethany Hurst or Mark Moore may be used in this capacity as well as managers but that is just speculation at this point. Speaking of Bloydell, he once again welcomed the attending fans to the show and ran through the card. This was once again on the pre-show and not aired via BritWres.co.uk.

BEAUTIFUL WHITE vs. “TRADEMARK” THOMAS MORGAN

As far as I’m able to tell, this is the spot in which JK Lee was going to debut. Beautiful White issued an open challenge to anybody in the back, looking to prove that his loss on the first show was nothing but a loss. That challenge was answered by “Trademark” Thomas Morgan. Morgan came out to, yet another impressive pop given his losing record to date and received an even bigger reaction when he snatched the microphone from White and promised he was going to ‘break’ Beautiful White. Morgan is a solid wrestler and is charismatic enough to make a convincing wrestling machine badass, if he was a decade younger, I’d be pegging him as a future HIW champion, if he wasn’t snatched by a bigger promotion first. White and Morgan kicked off the show though and if JK Lee was supposed to be booked just as Thomas Morgan was here, I think Lee may be one of the biggest fools in wrestling right now. Beautiful White did not get a single move of offence in against the Canadian grappler and Morgan had him tapping out in just over six minutes with an STF. The crowd were hyped for this and I will admit that I was shocked. Beautiful White is still not a particularly good worker and that was clear here. That isn’t the real story though, the real story is “Trademark” Thomas Morgan who, through an unusual series of events, has got himself his big shot to make his name in HIW. What happens next for either of these guys? I don’t have a clue, but it’ll be interesting to follow.

2-on-1 HANDICAP MATCH

CAIN CARLILE vs LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE

With the crowd already hyped following the big victory in the opening contest, we move onto the designated pre-intermission storyline and the first handicap match in High Impact history. The heels came out first here and as mentioned at the start, Liam Lutz was still wrestling as planned despite his role in the pre-show brawl. Carlile came out on his lonesome to an encouraging pop from the 95 in attendance. The nineteen-year-old cruiserweight from Cornwall is really capturing the attention of the High Impact Wrestling fans and this feud appears to already be doing his popularity the world of good. I don’t suspect Carlile will be wrestling for the Great British Openweight title anytime soon but if he gets there in a few years’ time, this will no doubt be looked at as an important time in his development. Carlile sprinted to the ring for this one, clearly looking for vengeance against his two rivals but the ultimate story of this contest is the numbers’ game being too much. The wrestling here wasn’t too great but it was a storyline driven match and, as such, the hot crowd was enough to carry it. Lutz and Strife picked up the victory in under ten minutes and it’s worth noting that Strife picked up the pin fall, meaning that all three of these men have one pin fall to their name in HIW so far. Carlile did look very strong in this match though, managing to mount several comebacks and only being halted by heelish exploitation of the numerical advantage. Lutz hit Carlile with another DDT following the match.

Next out to the ring is Mark Moore for his usual promo spot of the evening. This is a short one in which he announces that Raynor and Payton are not in the building for High Impact III. His reasoning for such is that the two are deserving of a title shot and they’re refusing to show up while the booking is so clearly biased against them. Moore then explains his reason for being at ringside. He announces that the next match is the rematch of Heath and Sharp against the Party Animals and that he is going to be at ringside on a ‘scouting mission’. What this means exactly is not clarified but Moore takes a seat at ringside, occasionally exchanging barbed insults with the crowd who don’t much care for his presence.

JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs RAVE and TRANCE

Just like the debut High Impact Wrestling event, Rave and Trance are first to the ring and look their usual dazed selves. Fun fact about Rave from the Party Animals, him and Bethany Hurst (manager of Curtis Jenkins) announced publicly that they were dating on twitter the day before this event. It’s probably a safe guess to say that the relationship will not be mentioned within High Impact Wrestling kayfabe as Hurst is helping to boost the promising career of Curtis Jenkins while the Party Animals are currently 0-1 and have seemingly little upside, at least long term. Sharp and Heath get another big reaction here, clearly occupying the spot of biggest babyfaces on the roster outside of champion Keith Adams. The face duo do briefly exchange words with Moore at ringside, but Moore swears that he is there on purely business matters and will not get involved, a claim which neither Sharp, Heath or the crowd are buying. Once this match gets going, it’s another good contest between these two teams. As mentioned during their first match, these two teams will have wrestled each other many times on the UK independents since Sharp and Heath first hit the scene and it shows. It’s probably also fair to say that Heath and Sharp carry the bulk of the good work in this match. Heath is actually a little off pace in this match but it’s a testament to him that he still manages such a good showing. Mark Moore surprisingly does stick to his word and doesn’t get involved or summon his goons, leaving as soon as the pin fall. Just like their first contest, Sharp and Heath pick up the victory, with Sharp gaining the pin fall. Another good tag team match (if not quite as good perhaps) between these two teams as Heath and Sharp continue to prove their potential in HIW.

INTERMISSION! Bloydell gives details on the next show while Sharp and Heath take photographs at ringside. I don’t usually mention anything that Bloydell says at intermission as it usually consists of date and location, etc. This month however, Bloydell announces a match straight from Nick Adams himself. It is announced that at High Impact IV, Sharp and Heath will face Peyton and Raynor in a tag team contest. The winners of this tag team contest will go onto the next show (presumably High Impact V) to take on the then-Great British Openweight Champion in a triple threat for the belt. Interesting stuff, I will get into this further on the preview for the next show.

WINNER GETS A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT IV

‘REPEAT OFFENDER’ CARL EDWARDS vs CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS

As intermission ends, we go straight into the match which I believe to be the most intriguing of the night. The winner of this contest will go on to face either Keith Adams or Johnny Highspot for the Great British Openweight Championship at High Impact IV. This will make Edwards or Jenkins the first wrestler to have appeared in High Impact Wrestling already to get a shot at the main belt, a necessary step in legitimizing both the belt and the company itself. Carl Edwards is out first and gets a good reaction from the crowd, he is currently 2-0 in HIW and one of the biggest babyfaces in the company. His opponent is out second and Curtis Jenkins is once again accompanied by manager Bethany Hurst. Jenkins is also 2-0 in HIW and is one of the biggest heels in the company. The match probably couldn’t be between two more evenly poised competitors at this stage as both men have a claim for a title shot. With that said, I did receive a bit of reaction from my preview in which I said this match could go either way. Keith Adams is the champion and will likely still be the champion at the end of the show, so it stands to reason that the heel will win this match, right? Well. Right. I stand by my claim that Edwards could have realistically won this! This match is a long one and for Edwards its pretty clearly too long. Jenkins wins a decent encounter in 18 minutes. While the end of this one dragged a little, these two clearly have good chemistry together and I’d love to see them in a better paced match sometime. Bethany Hurst did a good job of keeping the crowd engaged as always, she really is one of the better managers on the UK scene. As for whether Jenkins can win the title at the next event, I think it’s the first time it may be possible, if perhaps unlikely.

OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT vs STARDUST PHIL COX

This one is the cooldown match before the main event and that’s a slot which Stardust will be familiar with following his defeat to Curtis Jenkins at the same point in the second show. This contest is a battle between two men who seem to be biding their time and building to something. What exactly either man is building towards, I don’t have the slightest clue. This match barely goes over eight minutes long but it’s worth mentioning that Stardust puts up more fight in this match than he has in any previous contest. Cox seems to feed off the crowds energy at a few points and manages to overwhelm his German opponent with offence. It is, of course, Otto Hammerschmidt who picks up the victory with his Gutwrench suplex to join Sharp, Heath, Jenkins and possibly the champion in the elite club of those who are 3-0 in High Impact Wrestling. Where will that take him? I still have no idea. With the face champion completely booked and seemingly no storyline forming around him, I still cannot place where this Hammerschmidt booking is leading. A decent match here with very little more to add.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

It’s time for your main event and in true High Impact Wrestling fashion, it is ‘Rock Solid’ Keith Adams defending his Great British Openweight Championship against an outside wrestler. So as always, I’m here to explain to you just who Keith Adams is wrestling this month. Johnny Highspot will be familiar to anybody who has a passing interest in the UK wrestling scene, having had two years in 21CW pre-Jeff Nova and then a four-year run in Ring of Fire until it’s closing in 2010. Highspot is a decent high flier in the ring (as his name would suggest) but has mostly gotten by on a cool look. At 40 years of age, Highspot is another older challenger for the HIW belt, something which will change at the next show with Curtis Jenkins gaining a title shot. Just who will Jenkins face at High Impact IV? Well, if it wasn’t obvious enough already, the heel challenger winning basically guarantees that Keith Adams is winning this one and that is the case. Adams wins in over 20 minutes with the Arrested Development. I know this is the main event but there’s truly not much to add, it was a good match and the crowd were great for it, but the winner was a foregone conclusion and it ended without any shenanigans. It is worth mentioning though that Highspot was clearly tired by the end, similar to Carl Edwards in an earlier match. If I had to guess, these two matches were bumped up in length due to the complications surrounding JK Lee but going forward, Nick Adams perhaps needs to consider running a slightly shorter show to get the best out of the wrestlers available to him. Pushing twenty minutes is fine when Keith Adams can wrestle main event veterans like O’Curle and Beauchamp but aging high fliers like Highspot really don’t benefit. Overall though this was a good one, my second favourite HIW main event yet after the hard-to-beat triple threat of the first show.

In another High Impact Wrestling first, we have no post-show shenanigans and Keith Adams finally gets to celebrate with his championship and take photos with the fans at ringside. Overall, this show is another decent one. Much like the main event, I think it’s the second-best show, the action was better than February’s, but Best of Britain remains a difficult pedestal to aspire to. Quick shout out to the attendance here, 95 is the lowest that the company has managed to attract to date but it’s still within the same area as before and isn’t something to be worried about. As you’re all aware, the economy is struggling and interest in wrestling is struggling with it so as long as High Impact Wrestling manage to keep up consistent numbers, they should be okay. Alright, see you soon for the preview of High Impact IV!

--------------------------------------------------

Under the Bonnet

Morgan accepts White's challenge - E

Morgan d. White - E+

Strife & Lutz d. Carlile - E

Moore promo - E+

Sharp & Heath d. Party Animals - D-

Jenkins d. Edwards - E+

Otto d. Stardust - E

Adams d. Highspot - D-

Overall - E+

Increased popularity in the Midlands

--------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys enjoy this one because it was probably my least favourite one to write so far. It's all a bit predictable atm but I'm building towards things so I hope you guys understand! It's also the shortest show so far as I'm trying to make my shows slightly more accessible for any new readers! With that said, I'm still very grateful for those who are reading this and commenting. It's a British created c-verse dynasty with lengthy, wordy shows so the fact that anybody at all is willing to read something so niche is impressive. So as always, thanks and I'll have the next show preview up soon!

John Lions · August 21, 2018

I think the show length is perfect. The British C-verse, and Europe for that matter, is one that relatively few people try out (I would have said Australia a while ago but it seems like that region is gaining some traction with a lot of people). Predictable doesn't necessarily mean bad by any means, especially for a new company that has to establish some people as the "top dogs" that in game we can clearly see are the top guys because of their popularity and skills but from a realistic standpoint don't stand out from the rest if they don't have a few wins. Really sad about JK Lee, I didn't know he had behavior issues as he is one of my favorite Ring of Fire Dojo guys (behind Padraig O'Hearne).

MisterRomanini · August 22, 2018

I agree with John. The UK scene at the C-Verse is rarely explored at the dynasties, so having someone doing the work in explaining the motivations and skills of these british wrestlers help us to become more familiar with them.

jbdkmv · August 23, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45742" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>BRITWRES.CO.UK In case you feared that High Impact Wrestling was slowing down when they didn’t hold a show in the month of March, I’m here to run through the card for HIW’s SECOND show in April. This is the card rundown of High Impact IV! HIW aren’t holding back either, not only do we have a couple of main-event worthy contests, but we will also see the first women’s match in the company’s history. This will be taking place on April the 29th and, as always, it will be at the Norman Blue Athletic Center in Solihull. GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP ‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS As Curtis Jenkins battles for the Great British Openweight Championship, I feel like we have our most open title match since Keith Adams won the belt in January. Allow me to tell you for why. Keith Adams’ reign is a fresh one but Adams himself is not. He’s a 42-year-old veteran who is not even an active wrestler, still focusing on his side job as a police officer rather than taking bookings outside of HIW. Meanwhile, Curtis Jenkins is a talented wrestler in his prime who really seems to carry the biggest superstar vibe outside of perhaps Adams and those in the tag match. Adams is clearly the favourite for this match still, but this is the first time that I really feel like the result is not a foregone conclusion and I hope to see more of that going forward. With that said… BOTH WINNERS GET A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT V JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs THE ASSASSINS GUILD (LOUIS PEYTON and STEFAN RAYNOR) The next challengers for the Great British Openweight Championship are also guaranteed to be an interesting one. Regular readers will know I have mentioned this tag team match as a potential main event for HIW in the future but the first time it is happening, it appears to be sharing that title with the title match. With that said, I don’t really care as I’m just glad it is happening. There is a lot of storyline elements surrounding this match (which extend to Keith Adams himself) so I wouldn’t want to predict a winner. Just as a reminder though, Mark Moore will be a factor and he continues to promise a ‘third man’ in Mark Moore Enterprises. No predictions here, just excited to see how these four do. EWA WOMEN’S DIVISION SHOWCASE “THE RED QUEEN” THEA DAVIS vs “THE BLACK WIDOW” ZOFIA JANKOVIC Now this is an unexpected one. Not only have High Impact Wrestling never had a women’s’ match before but they have also never highlighted another promotion in quite this way before. Not even when Joey Beauchamp featured while carrying his UEW title belt. As far as I can tell, EWA does not have an official partnership with High Impact Wrestling and this appears to be a sort of one-time free publicity in exchange for a unique match type of deal. I’m admittedly not an expert on the EWA women’s division but I’m aware that these two have wrestled plenty in the past (which isn’t a surprise from their matching nicknames.) Thea Davis is a face in EWA and as a British wrestler (from nearby Coventry of all places,) that will almost certainly be the case in HIW. Zofia Jankovic is a Belarusian who holds the UEW women’s championship and is, unsurprisingly, a heel. Two talented 24-year-olds competing here, will be interesting to see how this, as well as women’s wrestling in HIW in general, progresses. LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE vs CAIN CARLILE and STARDUST PHIL COX In the feud between Cain Carlile and the dastardly duo of Lutz and Strife, all three men currently hold one pin fall. Meanwhile, Stardust Phil Cox is suffering a clear identity crisis and has yet to pick up a single victory during his time in the company. Following his defeat in a handicap match at the previous show, however, Carlile is clearly looking for any help he can get as Cox has been chosen as his equalizer for the contest. How will Cox play into this storyline? I have no idea but for Carlile’s sake, I hope he doesn’t see his future as a heel. JOAO VINCETE vs OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT Here’s a nice little titbit for you, the reason Joao Vincente is appearing on this show alone for the first time is because he recently made the decision to relocate from his home nation of Portugal to the English Midlands. At 37, the usual tag team wrestler is looking to become a regular on the UK scene and use his connection to High Impact Wrestling as a base to get bookings. Whether he actually gets a push for this dedication is yet to be seen but it seems unlikely given his age. That said, expect him to get thoroughly beaten by Otto Hammerschmidt, currently 3-0 and two years older than Joao. So, hey, what do I know? RUSS NIXON vs “TRADEMARK” THOMAS MORGAN Thomas Morgan comes into High Impact IV off the back of his first victory in the company and it was a big scalp as he defeated British Wrestling veteran, Beautiful White. His next opponent as he looks to build so momentum is Russ Nixon. Many of you will not know who Nixon is and that’s for good reason as it’s his rookie year in the industry. At just 20 years old (still not the youngest in the company, which really highlights just how young Cain Carlile is,) all of Nixon’s experience until recently has been within his own backyard wrestling league in his home town of Southport. I can’t tell you much about what to expect from Nixon, but he has a great chance to impress against a strong wrestler with experience like Morgan.</div></blockquote> -------------------------------------------------- QUICK CARD: HIW presents HIGH IMPACT III at HIGH IMPACT HOUSE, Solihull RUSS NIXON vs THOMAS MORGAN JOAO VINCETE vs OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE vs CAIN CARLILE and STARDUST PHIL COX EWA WOMEN’S DIVISION SHOWCASE THEA DAVIS vs ZOFIA JANKOVIC BOTH WINNERS GET A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT V JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs THE ASSASSINS GUILD GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP ‘ROCK SOLID’ KEITH ADAMS © vs CURTIS ‘CJ’ JENKINS

John Lions · August 24, 2018

HIW presents HIGH IMPACT III

at HIGH IMPACT HOUSE, Solihull

RUSS NIXON vs THOMAS MORGAN

While I am sad about JK Lee, I am NOT sad about Thomas Morgan getting the push he deserves. Wasn't expecting him to turn it around so quickly after his initial jobs, but it makes sense you didn't want to put him over English talent since he is a complete unknown there. I think he can slot into your "top four" faces for now with a win here.

JOAO VINCENTE vs OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT

The man I expect to be Mark Moore's "third man" wins again, and if I had to guess he shows up and beats the hell out of Adams in the main event leading to a singles (or tag) match against Sharp and Heath next show

LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE vs CAIN CARLILE and STARDUST PHIL COX

Bad guys keep winning by doing bad things, and the enthusiastic Carlile is able to get Stardust to pick an identity before they can conquer the dastardly duo once and for all.

EWA WOMEN’S DIVISION SHOWCASE

THEA DAVIS vs ZOFIA JANKOVIC

If this is just an exhibition match with no future implications, the win goes to the hometown gal.

BOTH WINNERS GET A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT V

JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs THE ASSASSINS GUILD

They get their match with Adams after their attack a couple shows ago that has been building up to this.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Jenkins would be an interesting choice and certainly not a bad one, but Adams is smack dab in the middle of the biggest story you have running and the belt plays an important part in that story.

LlamaSquad · August 24, 2018

RUSS NIXON vs THOMAS MORGAN

The Trademark needs more wins.

JOAO VICENTE vs OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT

I know it's early, but Otto's streak must not die.

LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE vs CAIN CARLILE and STARDUST PHIL COX

Stardust's first win should be bigger.

EWA WOMEN’S DIVISION SHOWCASE

THEA DAVIS vs ZOFIA JANKOVIC

Zofia is champion at game start, she's someone you can build a division around.

BOTH WINNERS GET A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT V

JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs THE ASSASSINS GUILD

This is an interesting one, but the stable needs it more.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

You wouldn't dare. If the Guild win, they don't make for the best title opponents, so the third man could be revealed and get the shot as well.

jbdkmv · August 24, 2018

<div style="text-align:center;">HIGH IMPACT IV</div>

REPORTED FOR BRITWRES.CO.UK

I’m thrilled to tell you that this recap of High Impact IV will be brought to you without any news of backstage drama and fights. No, this recap will instead begin with good news as the official attendance for this show is being reported at 103, making it the joint highest attended HIW show alongside Defence in February. Those in the back will be hoping that this number is smashed in the near future but for now, at least, it shows a steady loyal audience. It barely feels worth mentioning anymore but Martin Bloydell once again welcomed the crowd before the show began. That’s literally all there is worth mentioning in this pre-show ramble and I’m delighted for it. Let’s get going.

RUSS NIXON vs “TRADEMARK” THOMAS MORGAN

I’ll get this out of the way very quickly. Russ Nixon isn’t a very good wrestler. That is to say that the 20-year-old veteran of the backyard scene is still only in his first year as a professional wrestler and is as green as green can be. His role in this contest with Thomas Morgan is probably the ideal usage of Nixon currently as the Southport based high-flier never really got going and was given a masterclass by a man literally over twice his age. As mentioned in my preview for this match, if Nixon is to ever progress as a wrestler, Morgan is a fantastic opponent to learn from with his wealth of knowledge and experience as an independent wrestler. Whether or not Nixon does progress, we shall see. The wrestling wasn’t great here, but the crowd were still hot for Morgan and he really does seem to be picking up a fanbase amongst the High Impact faithful. He forces Nixon to submit in around seven minutes with the STF he used to beat Beautiful White the month prior.

EWA WOMEN’S DIVISION SHOWCASE

“THE RED QUEEN” THEA DAVIS vs “THE BLACK WIDOW” ZOFIA JANKOVIC

This contest was an exhibition match in every sense of the phrase, but it unfortunately was never able to force a crowd reaction. Davis played the babyface and attempted to hype up her West Midlands roots to get a reaction from the crowd but the best these two really achieved was polite applause from most. Both of these women are two-time EWA champions, with Zofia currently holding the title, and it was clear that they’re both capable wrestlers which stopped this from being a total dud of a match. I’m not sure if Nick Adams has designs on building a women’s division in the style of EWA but I also wouldn’t be surprised if this is a one-time deal in order to showcase something different. I am lead to believe both of these women were on one-night only deals to wrestle and Britain really doesn’t have any established unemployed ladies to carry such a division so I have my doubts.

LIAM LUTZ and STRIFE vs CAIN CARLILE and STARDUST PHIL COX

I’m still unsure as to where exactly this storyline is heading for all involved but I can assure you that it is doing wonders for the heel duo. Liam Lutz and Strife is not a pairing I’d have naturally put together from what I’ve seen of them in the past, but they are already drawing big heel heat as of only the fourth show in company history. This is no doubt helped by the plucky underdog performances of young Cain Carlile. The outlier in this match is quite clearly Stardust Phil Cox who the crowd are unsure of how to react to and has yet to pick up a single win in the promotion. Unfortunately for you Stardust fans out there, that wasn’t to change tonight as Lutz pinned the former ROF and 21CW star in around nine minutes. I went into this match expecting a heel turn by Stardust or something, so it was a pleasant surprise when Cain saved him from the customary post-match beatdown by the heel duo and he appeared to be genuinely grateful. Is Stardust going to be involved in this storyline going forward? It’s hard to tell just yet so we shall see.

BOTH WINNERS GET A TITLE SHOT AT HIGH IMPACT V

JON MICHAEL SHARP and MARTIN HEATH vs THE ASSASSINS GUILD (LOUIS PEYTON and STEFAN RAYNOR)

Many of the audience were expecting an intermission here based on the format of former HIW shows but it seems they want to do everything possible in order to portray this match as a co-main event and I don’t blame them. These four men have honestly been four of the stand outs of this young promotion so far and I was as excited as anybody to see them in their element of tag team wrestling. The bookers are also clearly behind these guys as they were given a surprising twenty-four minutes to show what they could do, and every single minute was all out action. Although that perhaps wasn’t for the better as the men lagged a little by the end. Also, it’s worth mentioning that Stefan Raynor just wasn’t up to speed like the other three men in this one. Certainly not when compared to Martin Heath who, not for the first time, carried this match. Heath is popular with the fans, has a good look and really seems to be impressing with his matches. He could really be the face of this company in time. Or a different company, the idea of a 21CW raid has to be on the back of Nick Adams’ mind at all times. Anyway, this match. The wrestling was open throughout, showing that there is faith in the Assassin’s Guild beyond lackeys for the mysterious third man. This was proven even further when Mark Moore pulled Heath from the apron and allowed Peyton to roll up Sharp with a handful of tights. The main event at the next show will see a triple threat in which the reigning Openweight champion has to face both Louis Peyton and Stefan Raynor. I’ll be interested to see how both men do in a main event non-tag team setting. No third man though, just a dishonourable heel manager. Really good match this, worth checking out. Hopefully we see a rematch sometime with slightly better pacing and maybe even a clean finish.

And it’s finally INTERMISSION TIME! There is discussion amongst fans in attendance of potentially a surprise extra match as there is only two more contests but that eventually proves to not be the case. Bloydell hypes up High Impact V. The show resumes.

JOAO VINCETE vs OTTO HAMMERSCHMIDT

If ever I saw a match that was designed to allow the fans to calm down a bit following a big match, this was it. Hype surrounding the tag team match had taken over the intermission, so Joao and Otto were sent out with the intention of regaining the attention of the crowd and it worked. The winner of this one is no surprise as Otto Hammerschmidt goes 4-0 with yet another professional, efficient performance. When he first appeared, I suggested that Otto wasn’t playing up to German stereotypes but I’m now not so sure with that blatant efficiency! Jokes aside, Otto gets the win with the Gutwrench Suplex and nobody is surprised. These two Europeans actually did seem to have great chemistry though and somewhere, probably in a different universe in which these two are much younger, they could probably have a pretty good match together. Otto wins, I still wait to see where this is heading.

GREAT BRITISH OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Just like that, it’s time for your main event of the evening! As I had predicted last show, the runtime of this one was trimmed a little in order to put on a more concise show and to get the best out of the available workers. I doubt Nick Adams reads my reviews for ideas but if he does, well, good work there, Nick. For this match, however, we focus on the other Adams as Great British Openweight Champion Keith Adams takes on the challenger capped at High Impact IV, Curtis Jenkins. Before this match, Bethany Hurst takes the mic for what I believe is the first time in the company as she hypes up her client and gives him a long, extended ring introduction. It’s nice to see Hurst get involved somehow and it was her lack of involvement during Jenkins’ prior matches in the company which gave a little intrigue to this one. Hurst was an X-factor if you will. This was undoubtedly the championship match I had been most looking forward to other than the inaugural one as we finally got to see Adams against a homegrown talent, for lack of a better term. With that said then, I have to unfortunately tell you that these two just did not click at all. It’s one of pro wrestling’s big mysteries when two talented and experienced wrestlers just do not work together but from what I saw here, that seemed to be the case. Adams did pick up the clean victory with the Arrested Development once more as Bethany Hurst once again didn’t get involved in a Curtis Jenkins match. High Impact IV was a good show up until this point and this match was by no means awful, but it was an awkward watch at times and probably HIW’s worst main event to date. I’m hoping this is just a slight blip for Adams who has impressed so far. I’m still excited to see him face the separate members of the Assassins’ Guild at High Impact V.

It is probably worth mentioning the post-match shenanigans posted to the HIW YouTube channel once again. Adams is filmed walking backstage after his match with Jenkins, looking tired and sweaty, when he is jumped by the Assassin’s Guild. Adams’ opponents for next month lay into the champion in a brutal assault, utilizing nearby steel chairs and a conveniently placed baking tray. No Sharp or Heath save this time, Mark Moore eventually calls off his attack dogs and the camera zooms in on a beaten Keith Adams, laying in a heap on the concrete flooring. This show was another decent one and was certainly good enough to maintain HIW’s growth, but the main event was an unfortunate one and hopefully both men can bounce back with a much better performance next time at High Impact V. I’ll see you there.

--------------------------------------------------

UNDER THE BONNET

Bloydell opening - E

Morgan d. Nixon - E

Thea d. Zofia - E+

Strife and Lutz d. Cain and Stardust - E+

Assassin's Guild d. Sharp & Heath - D-

Otto d. Vincente - E+

Hurst segment - E+

Adams d. Jenkins - E

Post show assault - E-

OVERALL SHOW E+

Increased popularity in the Midlands

--------------------------------------------------

From my least favourite show to write last time to my favourite this time. It's also shorter but I don't believe that is due to lesser quality (I hope anyway!) Just less matches and less need for details. Just counting on past shows and show previews to provide enough details so you readers can all feel attached to whatever wrestlers you like! Show preview should be up soon, hopefully a bit sooner than last time. Thanks again lads!

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