3rd November, 2019 – Sheriff Youth Hall, Dublin, Ireland

Episode 11 came to us from the Sheriff Youth Hall on Commons Street. The venue is incredibly central being only a 2 minute walk from the Luas. It’s a new venue for the promotion having moved from the Big Sean for Episode 10. The hall is a far larger venue and features a bar, heating and more importantly won’t be a sweatbox two matches in!

MATCH ONE: Liam Royal vs. The Rotation

The opening match was something to warm up the crowd but was also an standout on paper for the sheer clash of styles. I’ve sung Liam Royal’s praises before but he is a true standout on the Irish scene at the moment not just by virtue of his sheer size. The Rotation is also someone who I’m incredibly fond of. Someone who’s had a lot of bad luck injury wise but a reinvigorated he’s returned to wXw in the past few months and has reestablished himself as a core member of their roster.

Unfortunately for The Rotation – some early offence and some flippy stuff wasn’t enough to overcome the sheer power of Royal who’d handily put away Rotation with a vicious powerbomb in quick fashion.

MATCH TWO: Phil Boyd vs. J-Money vs. Dmitri Krakovic

The in-ring return of Phil Boyd was a very welcome surprise. Boyd (also the head coach of FFPW with Katey Harvey) is someone who has always impressed but has never gotten the spotlight that his numerous trainees have. I could watch Phil Boyd wrestle a broom and I would be thoroughly entertained. There was no sign of ring rust here from the veteran who had some great exchanges with Krakovic and J-Money – both of which have been on a barren run in Fight Factory of late.

The high paced nature of this match saw J-Money call a time out and grab a glass of red wine while leaving Krakovic and Boyd to duel this out before attempting to sneak the win on a prone Krakovic – but alas he’d end up taking the Small Package from Boyd for the three count.

This was a lot of fun and Boyd just seems to elevate anyone he wrestles. Can we have more Phil on the shows please?

MATCH THREE: “The Real Deal” Andy Steele (with Owen Richards) vs. Justy

Since I last wrote for EuroGraps, Justy has become somewhat of a unexpected fan favourite after turning on Andy Steele and Owen Richards in a previous Episode match. The master of the fishhook emerged to speak a few words but was cut off immediately by Owen Richards. Talk about the difference in a year. Richards was the last remnant of the Super Nintenbros team and was teaming with John Bernard (who we’ll come to later) before reinventing himself as a cocky, self absorbed motivational speaker instructing us to “Owen Our Destinies”. The change in gimmick has really paid off for him and has coincidentally seen an increase in bookings – most notably with Phoenix Wrestling in Munster and Titanic Wrestling in Belfast. Richards wasn’t out here to entertain Justy’s antics and promised to rid Irish wrestling of Justy and that the only pop he’ll hear is the one when his neck breaks… Ouch! His weapon to rid Irish wrestling of Justy? The Real Deal, Andy Steele.

Unashamedly, I’m a massive fan of Andy Steele. He’s someone who is criminally overlooked in Ireland at the minute. An excellent all-rounder who proved he’s got what it takes in Europe appearing as part of GWF’s Who’s Next series in 2018.

Cheap Pops. The match centred around cheap pops and Justy’s unparalleled ability to achieve them. Justy showed that he’s actually extremely talented and spent a good proportion working this match on his arse. Justy got the best of Steele in most of their exchanges frustrating both Steele and Richards. Unfortunately for Justy, Richards had enough of the antics and broke up the pin causing a DQ.  He wasn’t done there as he and Steele hit an assisted piledriver to Justy, leaving him laid out in the ring before being helped to the back. I really enjoyed this and I enjoyed the character work from Richards and Steele.

MATCH FOUR: Big Rab & Justin Daniels vs. Devon West & Conor Daye

If you ask me who I’m most excited about breaking out in the next few years – it’s got to be Big Rab and Justin Daniels who have begun working as The 03. The teenage pair have this raw talent that can’t be manufactured. Midcard Mafia have also been an absolute joy to watch on Fight Factory shows. Devon West, Troy Mendous, Jay, Conor Daye and the leader Dom Tuck have had me in tears at these shows with their antics.

With the Midcard Mafia, you don’t know who you’re getting to face or how many, however “The Winner of the 2016 Clara Battle Royale” Conor Daye and Devon West represented the MCM here. This match was a good showcase for the improvements that Daye and West have made in ring in the last 12 months. West and Rab had some great interactions as the respective big men of their teams. The 03 managed to overcome the numbers game with Daniels picking up the win with a frog splash. Thankfully this wasn’t the last of the Midcard Mafia we would see on this show.

MATCH FIVE: Michael May vs. Jay Skillet

The technician of Fight Factory has had a memorable 2019. On Episode 9 May had the match that had European wrestling talking against Jonathan Gresham in the Big Sean.

His opponent, Jay Skillet has been a stalwart of wXw with Francis Kaspin as Jay-FK and is also one of the head coaches of the wXw Academy – something Fight Factory played into in the build up to this match with May holding a similar role within the company. Unfortunately for Skillet, a small proportion of the audience was familiar with his wXw work and was thusly unimpressed with the familiar chant of Schürrle! Schürrle!

This match was a perfect blend of comedy and technical wrestling and a joy to watch live. Skillet was so good here in his Irish debut and his character translated really well. He was also able to best May here by sneaking a roll up victory.

Following the match, a familiar voice was heard –  none other than Tony Kelly! Tony berated May for his performances on recent shows and told him that this isn’t the Mick he knows. He knows Big Win Mick. I think pairing Tony Kelly with May would be a really smart move. Tony Kelly manages May in Phoenix and the Big Win Mick gimmick has worked really well. May does his best work in ring and not on the mic, so pairing him with one of the best talkers in Tony Kelly is a good decision if they go that route.

We came back from a brief intermission with the Irish Junior Heavyweight Champion Valkyrie coming out to address the crowd. She claimed that she was proud of becoming the first female Irish Junior Heavyweight Champion and that winning the title was one of her career highlights but she also realised that she hasn’t been a fighting champion therefore she’d be vacating the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship – which would have ramifications for the next match.

MATCH SIX: Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship: Amy Allonsy vs. LJ Cleary vs. Flamboyant Fabio vs. Sammy D vs. B Cool vs. Dom Tuck

This match was originally announced to be a 5 way scramble match for the number one contendership but following the announcement from Valkyrie the match was made to be for the vacated Irish Junior Heavyweight title with a sixth person added at the last moment – Dom Tuck! This isn’t an exaggeration by any stretch – Dom Tuck received a monstrous pop when he was announced for this match. The Midcard Mafia are most definitely over.

Unfortunately for Tuck, he was immediately brainbustered by B Cool and eliminated. The crowd were not happy with this.

Order of Elimination:

Dom Tuck (by B Cool)

B Cool (by Amy Allonsy)

Amy Allonsy (by Sammy D)

LJ Cleary (by Fabio)

Sammy D (by Fabio)

I loved this match for a few reasons. The story of Fabio being the underdog in the ring against two former Irish JHW champions and taking his opportunities at the right time. Allonsy also came across like a real star (She’s my most improved for 2019 in Irish Wrestling). The comedy aspects with B Cool and Dom Tuck came across brilliantly too.

MATCH SEVEN: Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship:

LJ Cleary vs. Flamboyant Fabio

Unfortunately for Fabio, this wasn’t a happy ending. LJ Cleary attacked Fabio and cashed in his Irish JHW title shot contract previously won at Episode 10 mere seconds after the match had finished.

Fabio attempted a comeback here following LJ’s attack but it wasn’t enough against the former longest reigning Irish JHW champion who picked up the win and becomes a 2 time champion.

MATCH EIGHT: Katey Harvey vs. Penny Lane

Originally scheduled to be Katey making her FFPW return against Debbie Keitel, Keitel picked up a nasty eye injury at OTT Defiant 3 and was not cleared for the match. Katey would instead face the former Bella D – Penny Lane –  in her re-debut for Fight Factory.

The newly crowned OTT Women’s champ made short work of Penny Lane here winning with the Gory Bomb to Lane. Katey shook off some more of the ring rust following her horrendous double elbow fracture she suffered in January.

After the match, Debbie Keitel came out berating Harvey allowing Penny Lane to attack Harvey from behind.

The double attack prompted one of FFPW’s trainees to come out and try defend her coach until she ended up being attacked by the pair! This caused Valkyrie to come out who then joined them attacking Harvey and the trainee. I guess things in Fight Factory just got woke.

This was more angle than match which isn’t a bad thing. I’m glad Penny lane is getting a chance on these shows again. There’s still a long way for her to go but she’s got the look and the gimmick is different. I felt like the post match beat down went on a little long and took the crowd out of it a bit especially after what happened in the match prior to this.

MATCH NINE: “Sharkbait” Adam Farrell vs. John Bernard

Ok, this is where I’m going to struggle.

Sharkbait was due to face John Bernard at Episode 10 but due to Injury, Sharkbait enlisted Liam Royal to make short work of the former galaxy explorer Bernard in a match that featured an army of sharks. The sharks made their return here accompanying Sharkbait to the ring. Sharkbait has most definitely been watching his Shark Week compilations frequently biting Bernard on his bald head. Sharkbait picked up the win with an around the world DDT which was super impressive.

This was fun and silly and I still don’t know what the hell I watched 2 weeks later. I love Sharkbait, I love the sharks. Bernard is someone who has improved a lot over the last year. I still think the “Planet JB” stuff isn’t clicking just yet and may need some tweaking but overall positive stuff from the two who managed to add their mark to a very busy show.

MAIN EVENT: Irish Tag Team Championship:

More Than Hype (Nathan Martin & Darren Kearney) (c) vs. Club Rock Shandy 

This match was set up following Episode 10. Club Rock Shandy defeated the Angel Cruzers to win the Irish Tag team titles before More Than Hype cashed in their guaranteed title shot and walked out the Irish Tag Team champions. Sound familiar?These two teams had a phenomenal match against each other in MTH’s first defence of the Irish tag team titles last year so I was eagerly anticipating how this would unfold.

If 2018 was the year that More Than Hype put their mark on the Irish scene, Club Rock Shandy take that title for 2019. Clong and Steers have been standouts on Fight Factory shows which has earned them a handful of appearances for OTT in some opening matches. The duo have improved as a team with Clong’s speed and high flying complimenting Steers phenomenal selling and facial expressions. They’ve also got the underdog likeability that More Than Hype had in the early stages of their run.

More Than Hype have been everywhere in 2019. ICW, PROGRESS, Breed, Fight Club Pro, ATTACK! and they keep getting better. There’s not much more you can say about the trio who have shown what we knew way back in 2017 when these three rookies made their mark in FFPW.

This match was built like an old school tag team match with MTH cutting Club Rock Shandy off constantly, stopping Clong getting involved in the match. I will argue that there is nothing better than a Clong hot tag in Irish wrestling currently – his explosiveness is unbeatable.

It looked like Club Rock Shandy were about to grab the win here but LJ Cleary nailed Steers with the title while Foxy was distracted allowing More Than Hype to retain.

The antics of More Than Hype brought out Flamboyant Fabio after the match not happy that he suffered the same fate as Rock Shandy did at Episode 10. The locker rooms empties here as we have a massive pull apart brawl to end the show. Club Rock Shandy and Fabio challenge More Than Hype for Episode 12. Winner takes all!

Final Thoughts

This was another strong show from Fight Factory. The first half of the show was very well paced and breezed by but I did feel the second half lagged a little with a lot of angles – some of which didn’t seem to click fully with the crowd on the day. I’m glad that they are bringing in more story elements to the shows as it really gives the roster something to sink their teeth into and gives the crowd in attendance a reason to be invested for next months show. The More than Hype title situation is something different and it’s nice to see Nathan, Darren and LJ getting to add a different layer to their amazing work in 2019.

Every match here felt that it had a story to it and felt that it had some importance and that’s something that was refreshing. Nothing outstayed it’s welcome and while the crowd didn’t go home happy, they at least made you want to come back next month and part with another €12.

Fight Factory are back in Sheriff Youth Hall on the 29th December for Episode 12. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.ie.

Follow FFPW on Twitter @FFPWIreland

✏️ @GaryOnGraps