The main event of the evening started with William Wallace and Jackson, the first of the ten men who would battle it out to be named the FRONTIER top dog. These two did battle not too long ago, Jackson coming out on top that day, but Wallace has promised that he will survive all the way to the end of this match, eliminating every FRONTIER foreigner in the process. But one of those foreigners, Jackson, had other plans.
Wallace tried to take the fight to the Mechanical animal in the early stages but Jackson was more than up for the fight and the two hit an early stalemate. Three minutes in and they were joined by “The American Nightmare” Alex Jones.
Jones sat back and let the other two go at it, which they did until they realised that Jones was getting off lightly. Wallace was the first to turn his attentions to Jones and pushed him into a corner, unloading big blows before whipping him out of the corner into a powerslam from Jackson. Jackson picks Jones up and plants him with a DDT straight away, while looking at Wallace. Wallace shakes his head, pulls Jones off the mat to try and match Jackson but Jones fights back and takes him down with a hurricanrana.
Six minutes into this match now and Aaron Arcadian makes his way to the ring as entrant number four. He heads straight for Wallace who’s just getting back to his feet. He nails a clothesline but misses a second as Wallace nails a neckbreaker. He drags Arcadian to his feet, hoists him up onto his shoulders and goes for the Highland Fling, tossing Arcadian over the top rope, landing on the ring apron before crashing to the floor. And all the time he kept his eyes locked on Jackson! What an emphatic first elimination, the crowd LOVED it!
Aaron Arcadian is eliminated!
Jackson smiles and shakes his head at William Wallace as he turns his attentions back to Alex Jones. He looks for a suplex but Jones blocks, reverses and takes Jax over with a suplex of his own.
The nine minute mark signals the arrival of Cody Williams who goes straight for Jones. The two brawl for a moment until Jones nails a dropkick that sends Williams staggering backwards. He turns around and is met by Jackson who hoists him up onto his shoulders, looking set for the Head Trip, a version of the Burning Hammer. Jackson steps to the side, right by the ropes, and tosses Williams over. He lands face first on the ring apron before landing hard on the building floor. He flashes a smile and a wink at William Wallace.
Cody Williams is eliminated!
Wallace looks annoyed that Jackson just pretty much copied him. Alex Jones uses that to his advantage as he connects with an AJ-guri that sends Wallace into the ropes. Jones instantly grabs the big Scots legs and tries to lift him up and over the ropes while Jackson watches on.
Another three minutes up, Jacob Rollins made his way to the ring and locked up with Jackson. Wallace manages to avoid being eliminated by Alex Jones and pushes him away. Jones charges in, Wallace drops a shoulder and sends Jones up over the ropes. But he lands on the ring apron, leaps up, bounces off the ropes and connects with a flying clothesline on Wallace.
Jackson has overpowered the debutant Rollins and has him pushed up against the turnbuckle as he tries to push him up and over the ropes, but Rollins has grabbed the ropes and isn’t going anywhere.
15 minutes into this match and in comes another former GFC Champion, Kevin Hardaway. Hardaway notices to brawls going on and stays back for a moment before finally going straight for Alex Jones. Wallace sees him coming and pretty much pushes Jones towards him, seeing an opportunity to sit back and catch his breath for a moment.
Hardaway nails Jones with some big right hands, some kicks and then tries to throw Jones over the ropes. But Jones puts on the breaks, elbows Hardaway in the stomach and nails a Russian Legsweep. Wallace charges in with a clothesline but Jones ducks and nails a dropkick that sends Wallace to the canvas. Jackson steps away from Rollins and goes for Jones too, but Jones again gets the upper hand and a DDT later Jackson is down on the canvas.
Jones doing well, almost cleaning house here. But Rollins charges in and connects with a flying forearm that takes AJ down. Rollins making his first real impact here in FRONTIER. But just then the spotlight returns to the entrance curtain as we await entrant number eight.
Number eight was supposed to be Kenchi Yamamoto but due to unforeseen circumstances he had to cancel his appearance at late notice and was replaced by… is fellow Japanese star Nana Moto!
Moto, a former FRONTIER star, got a good reception from the Doncaster fans as she made her way to the ring. Rollins looked confused, not expecting to see Moto and probably wondering who she was.
Everyone was now back up to their feet as Moto climbed into the ring. Moto, Jones, Hardaway, Jackson, Rollins and Wallace all standing around the edge of the ring and looking at each other. None seemingly want to make the first move. Then a fan shouts “fucking kill ‘em!” and it seems to trigger an all out brawl. Moto struggles due to her size, managing to escape the fracas and using the ropes to springboard onto a group of others, taking them down.
Jackson and Wallace are brawling, Jones and Hardaway are brawling and Moto and Rollins are also hooked up in the ropes. Jones takes K-Hard down with a snap suplex before connecting with the Xtreme Combo. He stands back, waiting for Hardaway to get back up. He then charges in for a spear but Hardaway dodges, grabbing Jones’ head and sending him over the top rope. But Jones holds on, much to the crowds delight, and stabilises himself on the ring apron. But Hardaway is charging towards him, connecting with the GTFO~! which sends Jones to the floor!
Alex Jones is eliminated!
The crowd go wild at that one as a “Holy Shit” chant rings out around the Doncaster Dome. Hardaway stays in the match as he dived THROUGH the ropes as opposed to going over them, smart move? The amount of pain he appears to be in suggests otherwise!
Hardaway clambers onto the ring apron, holding onto the ropes just as Nana Moto is whipped across the ring by Jacob Rollins. She flies out over the rope to the floor just as Gabriel Gambino, the ninth man in this match, makes his way to the ring.
WAIT! Moto has landed on the fallen Alex Jones! She’s still alive in this match, the crowd don’t believe this! Neither do I! Somehow she’s managed to land on her feet, on the back of Alex Jones. I think Jones will be thanking his lucky stars that it wasn’t Kenchi Yamamoto that just did that!
Moto thinks quickly, jumping up onto the guard rail and then leaping onto the ring steps. She wipes her brow and smiles at the crowd. But Gambino runs right for her and pushes her off the apron where she falls to the arena floor.
Nana Moto is eliminated!
The crowd boo at the way Moto is eliminated; Gambino eats it up as he shrugs his shoulders. With one entrant left to come we now have Gambino, Hardaway, Jackson, Wallace and Rollins still in the ring.
Having just eliminated one key enemy Hardaway turns his attentions to Gambino and the two trade massive blows before locking up in the ropes. In the other corner Jackson and Jacob Rollins are both trying to lift William Wallace over the ropes. Wallace powers them off him, connecting with big elbows to the heads of both men before whipping Jax into the turnbuckle, whipping Rollins in after him and then connecting with a big splash on both men!
Hardaway and Gambino are pulled apart by Wallace who grabs them both and smashes their heads together. He traps the arms of Gambino and connects with a Glasgow Kiss! He repeats the move on Hardaway! He turns around to be met by a kick to the gut from Jackson who then nails Therapy. He pulls Wallace to his feet and tries to toss him over the ropes but Wallace grabs the ropes and rolls back in under the bottom rope.
Gambino, the freshest man in this match, has now tied up with newcomer Jacob Rollins. Rollins gets some stiff kicks in before Gambino blocks one and sweeps the standing leg. He legdrops Rollins’ leg and then locks in a leglock, trying to keep the high flyer grounded. First piece of real tactics we’ve seen so far in this match which has thus far been an all out brawl!
24 minutes have now passed and it’s time for the final entrant into this match, Jason Talbot!
Talbot rushes in and grabs Kevin Hardaway, who was recovering in the corner. Talbot goes for a DDT but Hardaway blocks and reverses into a Northern Lights suplex! Talbot is up and looks dazed. Out of nowhere Gambino charges in with a lariat which sends the man from Northern Ireland flying over the top rope and to the floor below!
Jason Talbot is eliminated!
And with that we were down to five. No-one else due to enter the match, one of these five men will be GFC World Champion; debutant Jacob Rollins, Kevin Hardaway, Jackson, William Wallace or defending Champ Gabe Gambino. The five men look at each other briefly before Hardaway and Jackson turn to Rollins and grab him. The two of them are trying to eliminate the man making his debut while Wallace and Gambino trade blows in the middle of the ring. Rollins fights his way free and sends in some big kicks to both his attackers. Hardaway blocks one and connects with a big kick of his own before connecting with the Decapitation Lariat that sends Rollins to the floor and out of this match.
Jacob Rollins is eliminated!
Quite the debut from Rollins, he outlasted some key FRONTIER guys in this match. But he became the second person to be eliminated by Kevin Hardaway in this big match. No sooner did Hardaway turn around after eliminating Rollins then he was met with a European uppercut that rocks him. Jackson nails a second before locking in the Mandible Claw! He’s right by the ropes and lifts K-Hard up, tossing him out of the ring with the Mandible Claw Chokeslam!
Kevin Hardaway is eliminated!
A series of quick eliminations and we’re down to the final three! Hardaway is fuming, realising that his next match with Alex Jones can no longer be for the GFC Title as they both had hoped. Hardaway’s losing streak continues as he heads into the biggest match of his career, but he did come close here tonight.
Jackson takes a moment, resting against the ropes as he watches Wallace and Gambino brawl. Wallace manages to block a punch and takes Gabe down with a slam. He looks over at Jackson and shakes his head, not believing that the two men who started this match are still here at the final three. Wallace turns his attentions to Jackson. The two trade blows until Jackson connects with a jawbreaker and then locks in a seated sleeper hold, trying to wear Wallace down even more.
Gambino is back up and waits for a moment before deciding what to do. He connects with a kick to the head of Jackson, forcing him to break the hold on Wallace. Gabe pulls Jackson up and takes him over with a vertical suplex. He stomps Jackson some before turning to Wallace and doing exactly the same to him. Gabe’s the freshest man in this match and it shows, the other two have been brawling non stop for well over half an hour now and you can tell they’re both drained. Jackson does manage to dodge a clothesline from Gabe tho, only to be met with one from Wallace instead. Gabe then nails a lariat to Wallace and looks to suplex him out of the ring. He hoists Wallace up but he escapes, landing on the ring apron. Gambino turns around and tries to punch Wallace off but the Scot blocks it and nails a massive right to the Champ. Gambino staggers back and in that moment Jackson leaps from the middle rope, connecting with a sweet diving European uppercut that sends Wallace flying backwards off the ring apron.
Time seemed to move slowly for me at this stage as Wallace twisted his body in mid air, landing on the floor with his hands. His feet still leaning on the ring apron and avoiding being eliminated! The crowd go nuts. As much as they hate this guy they have to admit that was special. Jackson can’t quite believe it and before he can nail a baseball slide to the feet of Wallace he’s grabbed by Gabe Gambino and tossed over the top rope!
Jackson is eliminated!
I couldn’t quite believe how that panned out. I was sure Jackson had taken Wallace out but Gabe popped up out of nowhere and suddenly things look a little different. Jackson, in from the start has fallen at the second to last hurdle. And now Wallace, also in from the start, was going to be in this right to the death. Wallace had used this last few moments to push himself feet first backwards into the ring, showing great arm strength in the process. Gabe actually waits for him to get back to his feet, probably still a little surprised at Wallace himself. The two look at each other for a moment, Wallace looks out to Jackson and flashes him a smile that says “a told ya!” Jackson responds by flipping him the bird before walking away.
And so, of all the stories that could have happened in this match we have this one. Either the new champion defending for the first time will be successful against the best we have to throw at him or the man entering from number one, who wanted to enter at number one, will have achieved his life’s goal. Guys, you can’t write stories as engaging as this one. The Doncaster crowd were on their feet as the final two men hooked up. Wallace, despite being the more tired, overpowered Gabe and lifted him into the air, dropping him onto the top rope so that a leg sat on either side. He stepped back, looking for a big boot but Gabe swatted his leg away while leaning back and Wallace ended up in the same position! The two traded slaps while perched on the rope until Gabe tried to lift one leg up and kick Wallace. Wallace ducked and Gabe’s leg went all the way over the rope and left him standing on the ring apron. Now Wallace tried the kick and Gabe blocked it, pushing William’s leg back and making him fall off the ropes INSIDE the ring. Wallace tried to charge into Gambino but the Champ nailed a forearm and then a big kick to the head. He locked in a headlock and tried to pull Wallace over the rope, which he does. Now both men are stood on the ring apron! Wallace tries to nail a European uppercut but Gabe steps back out of the way and lands a boot to the midsection of Wallace. He moves quickly to apply the standing head scissors and butterflies the arms. No! Really!? NO!! THE FONGUL TO THE FLOOR!!! HOLY MOTHER OF SHIT! What a way to end this match!
But wait, the referees at ringside are arguing with each other. Each saw feet touch the floor at the same time! They go over to a camera man and ask him to replay his footage for them. This is what they saw…
— VIDEO —
We see Gambino lift Wallace into the air with The Fongul then jumping up and sideways, flipping his feet out in front of him. The two men drop to the arena floor in slow motion and we can clearly see that Gabe’s left foot hits the floor first. Then Wallace’s right foot. Then… Gabe’s right foot!! Just nanoseconds before Wallace’s left!
— / VIDEO —
Gabriel Gambino is eliminated!
Your winner, and NEW GFC World Heavyweight Champion, William Wallace!!
The ref gives Gabe the news and he collapses to the floor, his hands in his face. He knows how close he came to retaining the title against nine of the toughest opponents. But he loses out by mere millimetres and it’s William Wallace who walks out of Doncaster as the 6th GFC Champion! I say walks out, he’s still dazed from that Fongul from the ring apron. I’m not even sure he realises just what happened here tonight. He’s going to have one hell of a party when he realises!