After the success of the Fightmare event in April, and their failed attempt at getting a television contract with Sky, I attended this event with some doubts, the main one being the main event was the WAW Women's World Championship contest between Sweet Saraya and Klondike Kate.
As I entered the arena, I could feel something different from Fightmare. The whole arena seemed different. There were no barricades separating the fans from the ring. There were numerous empty seats, unlike Fightmare, which was a complete sell-out. Even the PA system sounded different, more tinny. There were times when I couldn't hear the MC Michael Mann at all.
So, having brought a coke, and a programme, I settled down in my front row seat, not knowing what to expect. There had been rumours of an "invasion" from TWA wrestlers. An original notion, I thought.
The first change from Fightmare was that the main MC duties were not handled by Michael Mann. They were handled by TWA ring announcer Scott Conway. I have to admit, Mr. Conway did seem a little more passionate about things.
Portions of the event were also being filmed for an Anglia Television show about women's wrestling. Look Ma! I'm on TV!
So it was on with the show.
BASH & CRASH w/ The Beast From The North East v BATTLEKAT AND TOMMY LEE
This was an okay contest. Some good exchanges throughout, and it was obvious that the face-painted Bash and Crash had been together as a team for much longer. We had the usual outside interference from The Beast, a portly fellow who took to threatening the ringside crowd with his baseball bat, and who also claimed that his body was "all muscle". He also endeared himself to the crowd by calling us all a bunch of wankers!
Probably the high point of this contest was when the ref, old Charlie Frary, head-butted the Beast when he leapt off the ring apron. It was probably one of the biggest pops of the night.
The match ended when, with the referee distracted, Crash hit Tommy Lee with the baseball bat, and Bash gained the pin.
ADAM ANGLE V JUSTIN STARR
There was some disagreement between Michael Mann and Scott Conway as Conway announced Starr as the TWA English Heavyweight Champion. Mann reminded Conway that this was a WAW show.
This was an extremely good technical contest. After seeing a picture of Starr in the programme, I thought he would be nothing more than an X-Pac rip off, because he was the spitting image of him.
Angle (no relation) played the typical heel role by decrying the Norwich crowd, which was greeted with cries of "you suck dick". And the crowd were treated to a sight of Angle's hairy ass! Angle had lowered the straps of his one piece ring costume, only for Starr to pull the entire costume down during a sunset flip attempt.
Starr won the contest after a top rope head butt.
WAW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP - TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION CONTEST
JULIO TERRASSO (c) V JAMES MASON V KENDO WARRIOR
It was originally announced that Kendo Warrior, nothing more than a cheap imitation of the great Kendo Nagasaki, would be facing Rob Brookside tonight. But with Brookside a no-show, Kendo was put into this contest.
The only good thing I can say about Kendo is that he had an impressive ring entrance, even if the music, "Pretty Fly For A White Guy", was totally wrong for him. A short, fat, out of shape man trying to be like the great Nagasaki is totally wrong, and whoever had this idea should be shot.
Mason, quite an impressive grappler, was announced as the TWA Middleweight Champion. Again, more debate between Mann and Conway.
Terrasso, who I had never seen or heard of before, was your typical American heel visitor to Britain. Garbed in a NYC shirt, he said that unlike Bash & Crash, who also wore NYC shirts, he was from NYC.
With two heels (Kendo & Julio) against one face (Mason) it was obvious that Mason was going to be double-teamed early on, and while Terrasso impressed me, Kendo did not, and I was more than thankful when he was the first man eliminated after a Mason flying body press.
This meant that Terrasso and Mason could put on a good contest. There were some really good exchanges in this bout.
Terrasso retained his title when Kendo, who had remained near the entrance, ran down to the ring and pushed Mason off the top rope.
MINI MICHAELS V JASON HAWKES
This match was announced as a "Novice's Contest", and in my opinion, should never have been on the card in the first place.
We first saw a 14 year old lad by the name of Jason Hawkes. Hawkes came down to ringside with his skateboard, and when he tried to get on it, he fell off! I'm not sure if this was intentional or not. Frankly, I didn't care.
His opponent was 10 year old Mini Michaels, a small imitation of the Heartbreak Kid himself. In fact, he was Zack Knight, the son of Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya, who previously wrestled with a clown gimmick, and who had competed with the big boys at the Fightmare battle royal.
This was a very poor contest. When there wasn't poor selling of moves, there was overselling of moves. There was no happy medium here. And the sight of a Mini Michaels swivelling his hips in the middle of the ring left a somewhat bitter taste in the mouth.
I could make several jokes here, something like wasn't it past their bedtime, or shouldn't the NSPCC be informed, but I won't.
After a Rock Bottom, People's Elbow, Stink Face and Superkick, Mini Michaels gained the pin. But after this match, I was left to ponder what the f**k WAW were thinking of.
WAW WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP
SWEET SARAYA V KLONDIKE KATE
This was the match the folks at Anglia Television were really interested in. Saraya came down to the ring with Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" playing, with occasional tag-team partner Nikki Best. With her new hair colour, and her short, short jeans, it seemed like our Julia had taken a leaf out of the Lita book of fashion, and she looked very sweaty!
KK came down to the ring to the usual boos. She's been a heel all of her career, so why change now?
As soon as I heard about this contest, I had my doubts. There were the usual David v Goliath-type exchanges here.
Now, I know this may make me sound like a male chauvinist, but the blade job Saraya did was, in my opinion, totally unnecessary. And from looking at the people around me, I could tell that many of the fans agreed with me. With blood pouring down Saraya's face, Kate pawed and clawed at the wound, before getting Saraya in the corner and smothering her with her huge body. The match was ended when Nikki threw in the towel, and Kate was declared new Women's champion.
Although Ricky Knight himself, through a third party, had told me that this would be a good contest, to be honest, I was a little sickened by this. An event that was designed to attract families, and in particular, young children, should not have had a match like this. The woman next to me was visibly shocked by what she had seen. After the match, I looked around, and could see some of the expressions on the faces of the children. There were looks of shock on their young faces, and if WAW wanted to provide family entertainment, then they were going the wrong way about it.
Our WAW MC Michael Mann then announced that WAW would be returning to the Sport Village in January, and were hoping to sign Earthquake, Dustin Rhodes, Brian Lawler and Horace Hogan for the show.
WAW TAG-TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - TLC MATCH
THE UK PATRIOTS (c) V THE SUPERFLYS
After seeing the last match, the announcement that this title match was in fact a TLC match got the fans excited.
The Superflys, Jimmy Ocean and Ricky Knight, were first out, back to their old ways as the heel team. Someone said to me not long ago that Ricky reminded him of Bob Hoskins. I could see why.
The UK Patriots, Hot Stuff and Zebra Kid, along with their manager/valet, Crystal Clear, came down to the ring to the ECW theme music. With his new blonde on top hairstyle, Zebra Kid, actually Ricky's son, looked like a skunk!
This was your typical TLC/hardcore type match. Zebra Kid was the first to let the juice run, only a few moments into the bout. Once again there were some good exchanges here, but while seeing Ricky and Zebra pound away on each other, I remember saying to the people next to me that me and my Dad never behaved like that!
Even though this was a TLC match, the tag-belts were not suspended above the ring. A good thing, I thought, as the only ladder they had seemed to be in a very poor condition. I felt like ringing my boss and asking him if he could get his old wooden ladder over her pronto.
Despite this, this was probably the best match of the night. Some have said that Knight and Ocean are past it, but they were still able to pull out a good enough match.
One major critique though - a few bamboo canes bound together with insulation tapes does not a kendo stick make!
The match ended when Hot Stuff pinned Ricky Knight after a body cross off the top rope. There was the usual after match stuff, but still, a good contest.
TAG-TEAM TURMOIL MATCH
In a match which had not been announced in the Eastern Evening News, none other than The UK Pitbulls, Big Dave and The Bulk, probably the most popular stars WAW have produced, made a surprise return. Well, to be honest, I had an inkling they would be there. After all, why would they be selling Pitbulls posters at the merchandise table? Their departure from WAW in August had surprised everyone, including me, and I had said to Ricky Knight, through the aforementioned third party, that they should get the Pitbulls back. Could it be that the Rowdy One had been listening to me all along?
Along with the Pitbulls, there were four other teams in this match. I would like to mention the other teams, but due to the fact that the sound system was poor, I couldn't actually hear the names of three of the teams. All I can tell you is that on one of the teams was the boy who had sole me my programme.
It didn't matter anyway. The first three teams were essentially jobbers. They tried their best but didn't stand a chance against the Pitbulls. The last team into the ring I did recognise though - Steve Quintain and The Terminator.
It was only when these two came into the match that it became interesting. Terminator, who had obviously gone to the Mark Calloway School of No Selling, took all that the Pitbulls could throw at him, and along with Quintain, put up quite a fight.
Quintain and The Terminator won the contest when they began to choke Quintain with the dog collar and chain.
The Pitbulls reluctance to cease their attack brought out Bash and Crash, who attacked the Pitbulls. This seemed to bring out the entire locker room, and it then became clear that the Pitbulls appearance was part of the TWA invasion angle.
After what looked like an amazing Ricky Knight choke-slam on the Bulk, Big Dave issued a challenge on behalf of his TWA comrades, for every title to be contested at the January event at the Sport Village in January. Ricky accepted the challenge.
In conclusion, an enjoyable evening, which was severely let down by the novices and women's match. It was obvious that WAW wasn't going to put on as good a show as Fightmare last April. But still, if they do manage to attract the likes of Lawler and Rhodes to their next show in Norwich, then there is hope yet.
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