So ya know, most probably gonna be S-P-O-I-L-E-R-S going on in this, I'll try keep it to a minimum, but its just a warning for those of the faint of heart.
Epic Studios was quite alright. We queued up along the street and through a window that had like an obscuring mural type thing across it, I could see William Regal having a sit down with Tony Nese, Mark Andrews and Roy Johnson. I was so in awe of Regal I walked into the guy in front of me. He understood. Got patted down on the way in, gentle human contact is always nice I suppose so I can't really complain. Then, it was just up some stairs and then you were there. We were one of the later people entering, so it was already nearly full when getting in, and it is a sight to see. A really cosy wrestling show, but I was next to an aisle with no one in front of me either, so I had some breathing room.
I was sat on the first row of the tiered seats, no garden furniture for me. Depending on whether you think it's lucky or not, I was directly opposite the hard camera, so, if you see a guy with his arm in a cast with glasses, long hair and a Cesaro shirt, have a guess at who it is. I was about eye-level with the ring, so I comfortably watched all the matches, and the entrance way was high enough that even with all of us standing, I got to see the entrances in all their glory. The ramp was a little obscured, only really seeing their heads bob along, but that was okay with me.
Though a little thing, I was so glad they kept the theme from the tournament to presumably be used for the new weekly show. I love the song and other songs by the Astroid Boys, so hearing it blaring was nice for me.
We had the usual pumping the crowd up for the opening shots, the announcer man doing the typical 'not loud enough guys!' thing. Then, we had the owner of PROGRESS Wrestling, Jim Smallman come say hello. I really like Jim, and his background in stand-up comedy showed when he was picking a few people out to chat to. When he asked a guy up front why he wasn't at the previous night's show too, and he replied saying he was working, he got 'YOU SOLD OUT!' chats that made me giggle. You can tell the man loves wrestling and must be happy with the position of his company in relation to WWE.
First match we had was Wolfgang against Joseph Conners which was alright. A good mood setting match to get us into the active crowd feel. It wasn't until we started to we got some cruiserweights from 205 Live that I started to feel really into it. TJ Perkins teamed with Brian Kendrick to face Dan (DAN!) Maloney and Rich Swann. Got to chant 'TJ is a wanker' which was fun, caused mostly from him dabbing, but this match is mainly in my memory from shouting 'DAN!' over and over whenever Maloney moved a muscle. For context to this, there is a British comedy character from Norwich called Alan Partridge who is a bit of an icon (at least I think so), and the shouting comes from this skit;
Lotta fun.
Can't really remember match order, but I think it was Tyson T-Bone against Saxon Huxley afterwards. Lotta people went for food/merch/a piss during this match. It was okay, and surprisingly despite Huxley being the most Jesus-looking person, he received the least amount of Jesus related chants, that award would go to James Drake later on.
If my schedule recollection is correct, next was Akira Tozawa versus Tony Nese that was rather good, getting to do Tozawa's "AH!" screams was cool too, though that might have been the biggest strain on my poor little vocal chords. Nese is proper big in person, a real adonis in person. Abs of a god. Also, a 'TO-ZA-WA' chant transitioned into a 'TOYS-R-US' one which was another highlight.
Intermission after this I think, which when we came back was punctuated by the appearance of Triple H! Hearing that opening riff on 'King of Kings' created possibly the largest holler from me the entire night, watching as he walked out onto the stage. Absolutely in awe of the man, hung on his every word. I did get to chant 'Alan Partridge' at him which was possibly the strangest things I have ever been apart of. He made it sound as if they'd be coming back to Norwich and I not be opposed to that in the slightest.
When we got back to the action we had James Drake taking on Sam Gradwell. Another fine match, made most memorable from all the chants if I'm honest. Due to Gradwell's lack of hair, we ended up just chanting the names of different bald people at him, as well as singing 'Dude Looks Like a Baby'. I know some people aren't a huge fan of chants like this, some outright hating such things, but personally I am fine with it. I think there is a bit of a difference being there in person and over a screen, but I like them either way.
After that came most probably the two best matches I have seen live. Pete Dunne versus Trent Seven. Mark Andrews versus Tyler Bate.
Dunne and Trent had everything I wanted from both men, Dunne doing some devastating limb manipulation and some big lariats from Trent, plus some huge spots off the top and on the apron. Dunne definitely has a presence about him, couldn't take my eyes off the man. I found myself being very conflicted with my support in this match. I started off with shouts of 'Moustache Mountain' only to find myself changing to 'Bruiserweight' a little while after. Great match.
Seven and Dunne had got some new entrance themes made for them, which are pretty damn good. But y'know who kept his awesome theme?
Huge pop when that percussion intro hit, the level of Bate's support even causing Andrews to get booed a little. Title was on the line for this one and it was incredible. Sitting at home reacting to big moments is fun, being there and jumping to your feet when things go down is even better. This match was the first time that I did so in person with some awesome spots that looked like death. I was glad I finally got to take part in a 'Tyler Bate, Tyler Bate, Tyler, Tyler Bate' sing-song, love the guy.
Post match saw Dunne come out to confront Bate and confirming them to face each other at NXT TakeOver: Backlash. Some more Bate celebrating and that was the show.
I had an amazing time and you can darn tootin' believe that when this gets put on the Network it's gonna be hard for anything to beat Bate/Andrews for match of the week, whenever it may be shown.
A lovely time was had and I cannot wait for the next opportunity to attend a wrestling show. I would love to get to a show for either PROGRESS, RevPro or a something along those lines. Plus, if ROH comes back to the UK again this year I might have a look-see, I could even be driving by then. I missed the boat this time around, but every year my school offers funding to students for independent trips, like a grand, so maybe next year I might look into going to wXw's 16 Karat Tournament.
I also encourage you, my lovely comprades, to seek out attending a quality wrestling show. There is a fair share of not great and 'trash' wrestling in the world, but if you can get chance to go somewhere reputable, it's always a blast.
That just about does it for me this time around guys and gals, hope you enjoyed this little recount of mine, and I hope to bring you another one soon. Have a good day everyone, and remember, you are all lovely.
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