Those who know me in real life will know that my love of all things theatrical began at a very young age with wrestling. Me and my Aunty would travel across Wales to attend wrestling events that were organised by one of her work colleagues where we actually met many of the big names before they became insanely famous in the WWE (who we were lucky enough to see in Cardiff which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2022/09/04/wwe-clash-at-the-castle-experience-review/) such as Eugene and Shaemus! As I grew older I lost my ability to stay as up to date with the entire wrestling circuit however I have kept that love of professional wrestling (in fact I was actually able to recently interview ex-WWE, TNA and New Japan wrestler PJ Black which you can watch at https://youtu.be/1vJILrIxJRE?si=HxwjBxzAli2h4lBI) While I have transitioned to more traditionally camp and queer-centric events in recent years, I for one would have never expected that a wrestling event would take place as apart of a local pride weekend and so when I discovered that New wave wrestling would be hosting a pride infused event at St Andrew’s Church I know this was something I could not miss out on!
The opening match of this pride-inspired iteration of new-wave wrestling was the classic tale of speed vs strength as the intimidating Alexander Hyde took on the energetic LJ Cleary. These two performers clearly have fantastic chemistry between the ropes with the two contrasting wrestling styles working extremely well together. The audience clearly loved this match as an opening to the entire event as they were instantly engaged with every move throughout the match! A highlight of the match saw LJ Clearly showcase an incredible, high-energy sequence of impactful kicks that clearly rocked his opponent. The closing moments saw LJ Cleary bust out a surprise roll-up on his opponent and claim the victory which I thought fitted perfectly with the clash of style established throughout the match! The end of the match also teased that this may not be the final time these two athletes will fight against each other as the surprise win visibly annoyed him and hinted that Hyde (like his name suggests) might have a darker side to him with LJ being their first victim.
One of the most chaotic matches at this event was the new wave scramble match which saw six wrestlers battle against each other to claim a spot in the number one contender scramble at a later event. This match contained performances from Alex Vane, Franco Fate, MJ Grayson, Leon Brando, Tommy Vrill and fan favourite Leon Cage with the latter securing the victory after showcasing their incredible rope-assisted double stomp to power-bomb combo which will always look absolutely spectacular! As you would expect from a match containing six wrestlers all of whom desperately want to secure their place in the number one contender match, this match was absolute bedlam! One of the most chaotic moments from this entire event saw all of the wrestlers flooded into the ring while showcasing multiple, simultaneous submissions which created an immense amount of tension from the audience as they wondered what would happen if someone in the cluster of submission would tap. I have to say however that one of my favourite performances of the evening came from the incredible Tommy Vrill who portrayed the character of an unhinged danseur noble (male equivalent of a prima ballerina.) It is very clear that Tommy had clearly thought about every aspect of the character as he walked to the ring to the intense El tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge which instantly established the type of character we would see throughout the match. On top of this, after the match, Tommy violently attacked the winner of the scramble with a points shoe which not only makes sense in terms of the character but also could genuinely be a painful weapon as they are known to have a wooden block at the front to enable dancers to stand on the tops of their toes.
The main event of the first half of the show saw the women’s title be put on the line as the reigning champion Aluna took on the fan-favourite contender Kanji. I would have to say that this was a match that really played with the audience as it was painfully clear that they wanted Kanji to dethrone the champion and this was used to create multiple exciting moments throughout the bout. We saw the classic troupe of the audience chanting to re-vitalise their hero only for them to shut down a few moments later. On top of this clear support (and conversely lack of) the style of the match again helped to amp up the audience with a much more technical focus. This was one of the few matched in this pride-infused card that focussed on more of a psychological side of wrestling as Aluna noticed very early in that match that their opponent was enduring an existing injury to their arm with the champion targeted multiple times throughout the match with a series of submissions and precise attacks to the weakened limb. Despite the public outcry, however, it was Aluna who walked away from the match with the win and therefore kept hold of their championship!
The biggest reaction to someone walking to the ring was when ex-general manager (but more on that later) Brendan White made his way down the stage as the crowd erupted into thunderous applause. Facing off against the clear the clear fan favourite was James Taylor who instantly took on the role of the heel of the match. Similarly to the women’s title match, the audience was deeply involved in this match as they spent the majority of the match cheering, clapping, booing etc which created a thunderous atmosphere throughout! One of the highlights of this match saw the two pull out an insane Canadian destroyer (essentially a flipping piledriver) which was not only incredible to watch but also had the audience going absolutely crazy! Brendan walked away with the win in this match which I personally think was the best choice due to the public support throughout.
As previously discussed a clash of wrestling styles can oftentimes help to create a exciting match, but sometimes two wrestlers trying to prove who is best at a certain style can be just as effective. This idea was never clear that when the towering Hunter Maul faced off against the intense Wild Boar. From the moment that Maul stepped out from the entrance curtain, it was clear that not only were they an intimidating figure but also they were considered the villain of this match the audience instantly erupted into a chorus of boos as the giant walked to the ring with an intense glare showcased throughout. A highlight of this match saw Maul lift his opponent into the air and drop them onto his knee three times without them once touching the ground and then chucking them with ease over their head into a wonderful fall-away slam. The closing moments of the match saw Wild Boar go up to the top rope and soar through the air to showcase a spectacular splash onto his opponent which brought a definitive end to the match!
The frantic new wave scramble was not the only multi-person match on the pride edition of this event. The audience was also treated to a six-person tag match (three people versus another three people) Prior to this event I chatted to a friend who was questioning what made this event a pride-infused event and they questioned if there would be drag queens in the ring which I obviously quickly dismissed. However, I was totally wrong! Joining the fan-favourite side of this match was the iconic Visage who clearly made a point to represent the drag community wrestling in full drag with a wig and everything! The aforementioned wig was actually used as a part of a spot within the match where the opponents went to grab Visage’s hair but it came off which caused a distraction and allowed the faces to get back in control of the match! They then proceeded to force the opponent into the wig before launching it into the crowd and very close to where we were sat. At one point in the match, Visage pulled out an incredible hurricanarana off the back of a crouched partner which was absolutely incredible to watch! This match involved Tea Jane Watson, visage and Jay Joshua facing off against Alex Vaughan, Abigail and Josh Knott. As you can imagine, having this many people surrounding the ring led to some very chaotic and frantic moments. The end of the match saw the faces walking away with the win this match after Tea Jane Watson performed their incredible finisher and covered their opponent for the three count!
The main event of the entire show saw the new wave champion Josh Holley (who we saw earlier with his henchman Hunter Maul) face off against the challenger Harrison Bennet. As an almost antithesis to Brandon White earlier in the night, Josh received the loudest negative reaction of the evening as he has made a name for himself doing anything within his power to keep a hold of the championship and this match was no exception. At one point in the match, Josh delivered a devastating DDT to his opponent on the outside of the ring which sounded absolutely horrific, how Harrison was able to carry on after this was an absolute miracle. The closing moments of the show saw the referee get knocked down which led to Josh utilising his henchman Hunter Maul, who blasted Harrison with the belt to lead to Josh walking away with the win. However, it was the aftermath of the match that was really a shocking twist. After Wild Boar came to rescue Harrison from a post-match beat down, Brendan White re-emerged to announce that he had stepped away from his general manager position in the company and a mystery person would be taking over these responsibilities. This mystery figure was revealed to be none other than the creative genius Nathan Wyburn who Holley has been tormenting for the past couple of months (including actually having a match between the two at a precious event) Nathan revealed that at the next event, it will be Josh Holley vs The wild boar with Hunter Maul being banned from ringside! This announcement came at a fantastic point in the evening as the audience left St Andrew’s excited for the next event which can only have a positive effect on ticket sales the next time they return to the church!
Overall, new wave wrestling was a hard-hitting evening of fantastic entertainment with each match offering a different perspective on the dynamics of professional wrestling. From technical chain wrestling, and high-flying demonstrations to displays of pure strength, new-wave wrestling has a stacked roster of professional wrestlers with many outlandish characters to keep the casual fans entertained! I would rate this event 4.5 stars out of 5!
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