Bobby Beltzer here from the Bournemouth International Centre. This was one of the best FRONTIER shows in some time. Great performances all around, along with a few surprises mixed in. Several of out stars spent time with the fans before the show, and it appeared that a good time was had by all.
Lets get right into things with a few words from the UK Dragons.
– VIDEO –
Cibo Matto’s “Spoon” hits the speakers. After a moment Laurel Anne Hardy and Evangelista emerge, both heavily bandaged up. Hardy even has a sticking plaster on her forehead. They stand looking out over the auditorium, smiling at the cheers which shower down on them. Slowly – very slowly – they begin their walk to ringside, tagging some outstretched hands along the way.
As the song reaches its vocal refrain, “We belong as / two, two together / we belong as / two, two together”, the twosome ascend the stairs and step into the ring. Laurel motions for the music to fade, and she raises a mic.
Laurel Anne Hardy: Good evening Bournemouth!
Cheap pop!
Laurel Anne Hardy: I hope you’re excited to see me an’ Evangelista back in action together…
…judging by the roar from the fans, yes, yes they are. Laurel pulls a poster out of her waistline and unravels it. It’s the flyer advertising this very event, with pictures of the FRONTIER stars plastered across it.
Laurel Anne Hardy: But, ahm, there are a couple of problems with the way this match was advertised. A couple of little mistakes in the billing. First off… it says “UK Dragons”. Right here – “Evangelista… Laurel Anne Hardy… UK Dragons.” But the thing is, there’s no such tag team in FRONTIER.
That’s met with some apprehension and confusion.
Laurel Anne Hardy: After the things we’ve been through lately… the things people like Alexander StarrZoe an’ Malcolm Drake have put us through, the things we’ve put them through, an’ most of all the things Leanne and I have put each other through… we are no longer rookie, juvenile Dragons. We’ve flown through the crucible of fire and come out the other side stronger than ever. We’ve tapped into the power and intensity and that was locked away inside us, dormant. We are Dragons…. Unleashed.
She smirks with her trademark slightly malicious grin, taking in the noise from the crowd, then adds something else.
Laurel Anne Hardy: An’ also, this flyer describes Rupert Royston-Fellowes an’ Nigel Kensington III as “Best of British”… but they’re not the best of British. We are. And we’re gonna prove that on the next show when we win the GFC Invitational and then – with all our love and respect to The Shoot Kings – get our World Tag Team titles back.
The fans cheer that… but two men who clearly disagree are Rupert and Nigel themselves, given the looks on their faces as they emerge to the sounds of “Rule Britannia” to get this match underway!
– /VIDEO –
Best Of British vs U.K. Dragons
Evangelista and Rupert start. He leers at her and she looks very uncomfortable, and not just because of the bandages wrapped around her. He gestures for a lockup, but she doesn’t bite. He promises he’ll be a gentleman and cautiously, reluctantly, she relents. As soon as they grapple he drops one hand around her waist and starts to tango, to her disgust. She jumps back, and he tells her he was very gentlemanly, but if she’s a more modern sort of girl, he’ll let her lead.
She swings a jumping crescent kick at him, which he easily backsteps from. He charges in with a clothesline but she grabs his arm and they both spin round. After an arm wringer, she unleashes a load of stiff kicks into his midsection, then whips him into the corner, She follows and leaps into a shoulder block but he moves aside and her bandaged chest hits the turnbuckle. She sinks back, doubled over, and Rupert hits a gutwrench suplex which leaves Evangelista coughing and spluttering. He covers.
One… he grabs the rope… two… the ref spots it and yells at Rupert. I’m not sure Leanne was going to kick out there, in all honesty. The Dragons really shouldn’t be competing so soon after their gobsmacking match against Starr and Rampage at WARPED on Friday, which saw all four competitors get stretchered out.
Rupert drags Leanne to the centre of the ring and punishes her torso further with a delayed suplex. Cover… kickout! He tags Nigel and they start working over Evangelista using rapid tags. To her credit, she keeps kicking out of everything they can throw at her, displaying phenomenal resiliency. But she can’t get any offence in at all. Any time she comes within grasping distance of a comeback, she falls to either Best of British having each other’s backs or her own injuries.
Finally BoB signal that it’s time to end it and plant her with a delayed double suplex. Nigel drops down for the cover and places his boots on the ropes for good measure, out of sight of the ref. One… two… Evangelista rolls onto her side, dragging a shoulder off the mat! She doesn’t show much more life than that, though. He stands and starts to lift her. Barely conscious, she grabs around his waist for support, apparently not realising whom she’s leaning against. Her head is right by his crotch, and he looks over to Rupert with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk. The two men exchange leery looks… until Evangelista throws Nigel clean across the ring with an exploder suplex!
She half sprints, half stumbles across to her corner and slaps Laurel’s outstretched hand. The “Living, Breathing Installation Event” leaps to the top rope and springs off with a missile dropkick, knocking Nigel down just as he’s getting up. She walks around him, throwing one arm up repeatedly to cheers from the fans, then drops into a three point stance. Nigel slowly gets to his feet… and is speared right off them!
But Hardy remains down too, clutching her middle. Between WARPED and tonight, she made a stop in FGA to assault Malcolm Drake, only to find herself on the wrong end of a beatdown from Bob Pooler and Dom Harter, so she must be in even worse shape than her partner. Rupert and Evangelista both call for tags, but Leanne is bending over and wheezing. Nigel leaps for Rupert, but Laurel throws herself on top of him to cut it off, and they’re both down for some time.
Nonetheless, Nigel is still the first to make the tag. Rupert rushes over and cuts off Laurel’s own tag attempt, keeping the Dragon on the figurative ropes and away from her tag partner, and takes control over her. Once Nigel’s back to strength, they resume their quick double teams. Laurel takes a severe pounding from the boys – albeit probably not the kind they most want to give her – but as with her partner, she kicks out of everything they throw at her. And when Nigel goes for a Boston crab, she uses her peerless flexibility to roll him into a cradle! He powers out before the one, but as he rights himself, she catches him with a hadouken to the chest. She makes a move for the now refreshed Evangelista, but is tackled by Rupert Royston-Fellowes! While the referee orders Rupert out of the ring, Nigel drops Hardy with a swinging neckbreaker and covers. The ref turns round and counts… one! Two! KICKOUT!
But she’s exhausted, and the beatdown continues, with more smart tags by Best of British. Laurel is left a beaten heap, muscles barely functioning. Rupert grins and shoots her off her ropes, and as she bounces back towards him, he swings her into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker… except no! Huracanrana! Laurel throws Rupert against the ropes, leaving him draped over them groggily. She flings herself off the opposite ropes and leaps towards him, catching him in the back of the skull with a through-the-ropes dropkick, tagging to Evangelista as she goes.
Evangelista takes it to Rupert with stiff shoot kicks to the ribs, but strikes her in the bandages across her torso and plants her with a DDT. After a couple of stomps he whips her into the ropes. As she rebounds, she stretches an arm out and tags Laurel back in! Rupert is taken by surprise for just a split second, which Evangelista capitalises on by spinning round behind him. She kicks a leg out, and pulls him into an inverted facelock just as Laurel leaps from the top turnbuckle in a diving moonsault. As Hardy connects, Evangelista drops into a backbreaker, completing the Warped Frontier! Laurel covers. Nigel enters the ring looking to break up the pin but Evangelista intercepts him, and the three is counted!
Your Winners, Dragons Unleashed!
Fair play to Best of British, who’ve definitely put themselves on the map by almost upsetting the former World Tag Team Champions in their FRONTIER debut, but the Dragons showed incredible resiliency tonight, and displayed a level of veteran awareness and composure we’ve never seen from them before. Hardy was right; they really are no longer rookies.
– VIDEO –
Nigel paces, frustrated, as the ref tries to raise the Dragons’ arms, but they’re both having trouble standing. As Rupert gets to his feet slowly, he is grabbed by the legs and dragged out of the ring by… D.C. Wiland! The current GHW Tag Team Champion kicks the brasher half of BoB in the gut and gets in a hangman’s neckbreaker position, only to turn around quickly and knock him out with a Lariat to the back of the neck. As Nigel goes to check on his tag team partner, Wiland escapes as he jumps over the railing and positions himself right behind the imposing figure of the bodyguard of The Dynasty, “The Highway Hitman” Rob Riley. Rob hands his employer a microphone and D.C., with a wide cocky smile on his face, shouts towards the fallen Chelsea boy.
D.C. Wiland: Hey there, Rupes! If you can hear anything else than buzz in your ears now, listen very, very carefully and remember this for your next time – it is not advised for stupid wankers like you to try anything with pretty women, ESPECIALLY if they have boyfriends that can knock you the fuck out when pissed off. Do you under-
Laurel Anne Hardy: Wait wait wait a second… are you sayin’ Yasmin needs you to protect her?
D.C. shakes his head in disappointment.
D.C. Wiland: All I am saying, princess, is that I stand up for the rights of my woman when pathetic turdburgers take shots at her. Which is, of course, none of your fucking business!
Laurel Anne Hardy: “Your woman.” Oh great, just what we need – another neanderthal who’s too insecure to let women fight their own battles-
She’s interrupted by Nigel, off-mic and very distraught.
Nigel Kensington III: Get down here! Get down here! You bloody cunt! Get down here!
Nigel’s pointing back and forth between Wiland and the floor in front of him. The Dynasty member, however, signals that won’t get into any more action today.
D.C. Wiland: No can do, Nige! See, me and Rob can either have a nice old fashioned brawl with the four… well, looking at Rupert, three of you, or we can catch a plane back to Santa Monica and get shitfaced in our club. The answer is obvious, I guess. Sorries!
D.C. drops the mic with a disrespectful smirk as both him and Rob Riley make their way up the rafters, escaping the arena. While the still-downed Laurel and Leanne share an uneasy look, and Rupert rubs his head trying to work out what the hell just happened, Nigel is left pointing and yelling after The Dynasty members: ‘It’s not over! It’s not bloody over!’
– /VIDEO –
Alex Jones vs Pat Gordon Jr!
Alex Jones is ever impressive eversince his comeback. Now he is looking to add another victory as he faces the former UWL World Champion, Pat Gordon Jr. Both these gifted athletes shake hands as the bell rings and then they circle the ring. They lock it up and Pat gains a slight advantage, getting behind Alex and locking in a Waistlock. He raises him up and sends down again with a nice takedown, then on the mat he tries to switch to a grounded facelock, however Jones gets out of the hold and is quick to his feet, he shoots a kick towards the head of still kneeling Pat, but the Bostonian dodges and backrolls back on his feet. People cheer for both men as they have a standoff and lock up again. Pat pushes Alex to the corner and provides a clean break, but goes for a punch right after. Alex gets out of the way and it’s PGJR who’s stuck by the buckles. He receives a Running Back Elbow and is Monkey Flipped to the center of the ring. Jones climbs the turnbuckle and as Pat gets up, Jones levels him with a Missile Dropkick. First pin attempt ends with barely a two-count.
Jones grabs Gordon into a Front Facelock, but Pat counters quickly with a Northern Lights Suplex and gets a two count of his own. Rocked Alex gets to a vertical base, but is met with a stiff kick to the gut. As he doubles over, he is snapmared into a seated position. Pat then points at the back of Alex’s neck and does a painful Flip-over Neckwhip. PGJR drags his opponent back to the vertical position, gets behind him and drops him on the neck with a Bridging German Suplex, getting a nearfall. Pat drags him up again, but this time he receives a kick to the gut. Alex runs off the opposite ropes, but Gordon counters beautifully into Blarney Breaker, dropping Alex’s shoulder over the knee of The Boston Bruiser. He wants to lock in the Crossface Chickenwing right off, but before he can roll the seated opponent into a proper position, Jones shoots rapid fire back elbows toward Pat’s mid-section and makes him break the hold. Both men get on their feet. Gordon throws a punch, but Alex catches his arm and sweeps his leg, getting him on the mat for Fujiwara Armbar.
PGJR struggles, but makes it to the ropes. Alex lets him get up on his feet, then Clotheslines him over the top rope. Alex stretches his neck, checking if it’s fine, then runs off the ropes and takes the action to the air as he Somersaults over the ropes and lands on the second generation star. He kips up to his feet and people cheer like crazy for the former World Champion from Dallas. He rolls Pat back to the ring and hops on the apron, then on the top rope and leaps off it, landing over Pat with a perfect Spiral Tap. He hooks both legs of The Boston Bruiser, but Gordon kicks out just about on time.
Alex motions for him to get up. As he does, Jones locks him in perfect position for Time to Burn, but PGJR elbows “The American Nightmare” to the side of the head, getting away from the precurious position. Jones, still rocker, goes for a punch, but Pat dodges and gets behind him. He lifts him up into a Back Suplex position… then twists him upside down and drops him right on his head! The Piledriver he calls Sunday Morning Hangover indeed does the trick as Pat hooks the leg of Alex Jones and gets the one, two, three after an impressive showing of both men.
Your winner, Pat Gordon Jr.!
A much needed victory by Pat Gordon Jr and over an Alex Jones that has been extremely impressive since his return to FRONTIER.
– VIDEO –
Looking down a hallway, we see Madman Szalinski storming out of a room, yelling through the open doorway. Voices are heard from inside yelling back, with little other than Madman’s ranting being intelligible.
Madman: FUCKING SHIT, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? AIN’T A ONE OF YOU GOT A CLUE WHO THAT WAS? NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA SAY ANYTHING? THIS GUY COMES IN HERE, FUCKS UP MY MAIN EVENT, COSTS ME MY TITLE, AND YOU’RE JUST GONNA LET IT SLIDE?
Szalinski tosses a trash can, visibly upset. Graham Clauson, Ariel Shadows, Brydon Talinsdale, and Gina Winters run up in that order to pull Szalinski away.
Madman: JESUS CHRIST, CJ! HOPE? ANDREAS, I KNOW YOU AIN’T GONNA SAY SHIT TO HELP ME, BUT THE REST OF YA? Come on, man!
Graham: It’s all good, bro..
Brydon: Settle down.
Madman: Yeah, I’ll settle down on this motherfucker’s ass when I find him…let me find out it’s someone who’s here tonight…let me fuckin’ find out…
After a couple of deep breaths, Madman finally calms down enough to put down the coffee pot in his hand, still full of scolding hot coffee.
Madman: Let me find out.
Madman goes to walk away, with the rest of the Shoot Kings following suit. The camera does not leave, only remaining focused on the back side of the open door and the hallway. Madman returns solo from around the corner, placing the coffee pot back on the burner at the table adjacent to the open door, turning to raise a middle finger back into the room, slam the door shut, and rejoin his teammates.
– /VIDEO –
Jay Pride vs Graham Clauson
The two men shake hands. Clauson works leg kicks to begin. Arm bar by Pride and Clauson escapes for a moment, but Pride gets the hold back. Hair pull by Jay Pride, Graham now escapes and takes Pride down and works the arm. Clauson stomps on the elbow, and gets a cover for 2. Early attempt from the tag champ, he’ll be lucky to end things so soon.
Pride rolls to the floor, regroups and comes back in. Lock up, to the ropes and a kick to the leg by Pride, working the right knee. Hammerlock by Clauson, takes Pride to the mat and then works the other arm.
Lock up, off the ropes and a tackle by Jay Pride. Headlock takedown on Clauson, they work to the feet, off the ropes, another tackle by Pride but now Clauson works for a surfboard. Double stomp on the knees, and now uppercuts by Clauson. Back to the arm goes Clauson, hammerlock takedown and then drops back with the legs locked on the arm. Clauson now pulls at the other arm at a bad angle, and then gets a cover for 2. Off the ropes and a big clothesline by Clauson, and Pride rolls to the floor. Pride recoups on the outside, Clauson to the apron and gets a big dropkick off of the apron.
Back into the ring they go, and Clauson stomps the heck out of Pride. To the corner, Clauson misses a charge, kicks by Pride and traps the knee in the ropes and clotheslines Clauson down, trapping the knee in the tree of woe. Pride grinds the boot into the face. Snap mare into the ropes by Pride, and then works for the surfboard. He then opts for the double stomp on the knees, and then kicks away at the knee of Clauson. Single leg crab by Pride as he has focused in on the leg. He breaks and then applies a standing figure four. Drops down and really cranks on the leg, and gets a cover for 2. Spinning toehold by Pride, and then into the figure four-leg lock!
Clauson fights back with uppercuts, and then some by Pride. They trade uppercuts now, boot by Pride, off the ropes and a charging knee by Clauson. Kicks to the back, and then a charging kick to the face by Clauson. Least that was the plan, Pride moves out of the way of the kick and catches Clauson by surprise with a “Pride Eater” (Sitout belly to belly piledriver)
Your winner, Pay Pride!
Jay Prides gets another win as he make his case for another shot at the GFC Championship. Graham Clauson also gave all he had in a fantastic match.
– VIDEO –
We cut to a pre-taped footage. Sylar Drake is seen laying on a hospital bed with one of his legs in a sling.
Sylar Drake: Hey there guys. I have some really bad news for you. This past Sunday, I went to war with Brett Sands in the EXODUS ring. I have stood toe-to-toe with him, but in the end, he managed to get away with the win thanks to… snapping my ankle. As you can see, it doesn’t look good. It’s broken on two different places, in fact. So the bad news is that I am gonna need to take some time off. That “some time” is from 6-8 months… but believe one thing. When, not if, but WHEN I come back, I’m finally going for that World Championship. That is a promise.
With a smirk that may be a little bit forced, Sylar points at the camera with the signature pistol taunt as we fade to black.
– /VIDEO –
Madman Szalinski vs Michael Hopkins
Michael Hopkins is first to enter the arena, receiving a very large reaction from the capacity crowd. He soaks in every bit of it, slapping every hand he can reach on the way to the ring. While his opponent Madman Szalinski also receives a massive ovation, he contrasts the Welsh Dragon by simply marching straight down to the ring, not even wearing his GFC Tag Team Championship.
When Szalinski slides into the ring, he merely throws his jacket onto the floor at ringside and bounces off the ropes a couple of times. Hopkins stood ready in his corner, waiting for the bell to ring. When the bell rang, Michael had to dodge a running double-foot front dropkick thrown by a raging Madman, who slams both feet into the turnbuckles behind the dodging Hopkins. Madman gets back up, and is thwarted again after attempting a jumping kick, swinging lariat, leg sweep, and a backhand chop all within the span of five seconds…but when Hopkins locks horns with him, Madman finds his groove with an armdrag and is able to work on Hopkins’ arm, calming down almost instantaneously.
Michael gets to his feet, but Szalinski uses wrist control and even his feet (with a couple of kicks to the side here and the footwork for a hiptoss there) to keep an advantage. Hopkins backs Madman to the ropes, but is only whipped off, taken down with a European uppercut (which draws gasps from much of the crowd) and before Hopkins hits the canvas, Madman is back on the arm. Coming back up, Hopkins manages to get a side headlock applied. Szalinski pushes Hopkins to the ropes again, but Hopkins ducks Madman’s heavy-handed lariat and comes back with one of his own…Szalinski is spiked on the crown of his head, left standing upside-down briefly before his feet fall.
The crowd starts a rhythmic pounding of the bleachers as Hopkins takes a moment to strategize while Madman lays prone on the canvas. He decides to pull Szalinski to his feet, who gives little resistance. Hopkins first goes for a front face lock, but decides to transition into a front waistlock. He heaves the much lighter Madman high into the air for a belly-to-belly suplex, but Madman is able to catch an arm, flipping Hopkins over with an arm drag! Michael is quick to his feet, but Szalinski is not as resilient as he is still feeling the effects of the clothesline. Hopkins gets a hold of him again, and this time delivers the belly to belly! He goes for a cover, but only gets two before Madman pops a shoulder up.
Hopkins pulls Madman up once again, getting his hands slapped away a couple of times. Szalinski tries to back Michael away, but the two lock up anyway and Madman is hoisted into the air. Hopkins holds Madman in the air with the vertical suplex, while Szalinski can do nothing but wait to be slammed. After a few seconds Madman can be heard yelling out “NOW’S GOOD BRO!” The crowd gets a laugh at this, but Hopkins still holds Madman up for a few more seconds…finally Hopkins takes two charging steps forward, slamming Madman and himself back with a huge suplex! The crowd shows its approval and appreciation with near deafening cheers! Hopkins floats over! He covers! Somehow, Szalinski manages to kick out at two and a half!
Hopkins brings Madman back up again. When his hands are knocked away this time, Madman also throws a slap to the face in the mix. Hopkins shoves Madman back, but eats a second open hand to the face. Hopkins lays a forearm onto Madman’s chest, sending him several steps back. Madman jumps in three steps and lands the single most vicious, loudest, and stiffest open hand strike we have seen from him yet in FRONTIER…
Hopkins freezes after bending down from the recoil. He slowly rises back up, his eyes fixated on a still Szalinski. The two meet nose-to-nose in the center of the ring. Words are exchanged, and the crowd actually gets louder…HERE THEY GO! It’s an all-out brawl now in the center of the ring! Michael Hopkins is bleeding from the nose, and Szalinski’s got blood all down the side of his mask from the eyebrow…they’re exchanging so much stuff, so quick, I couldn’t begin to tell you what was going on…
…Hopkins seems to have an advantage, he’s got Madman pushed back…Hopkins with a European uppercut…Szalinski with an elbow…Hopkins with a knee to the gut. He hits the European uppercut and spins Szalinski around…the Backstabber? No, Madman gets behind him! Madman’s going for a backdrop suplex, maybe? He has Michael’s feet up…Michael is back down, he’s flipped Madman over with a side headlock takwdown…no, Madman kips up and breaks out of it! He’s got Michael in a rear waistlock again! No, he transitions MIchael into a front face lock – THE DEATHTRAP! MADMAN HAS IT LOCKED IN! LEGS AND ALL! MICHAEL IS DOWN! Madman has the hold cinched in, pulling for dear life…is Michael going to tap?
Hopkins is on his knees…he’s about to stand up with Madman clinched onto him…Madman still has the Deathtrap locked in! Michael stumbles out into the center of the ring… Hopkins pushed himself up again, and manages to force the Madman off. Madman leaps up for hurricanrana, but The Welsh Dragon catches him and drops the Madman with a powerbomb pinning combo. Szalinski tries to kick out
You Winner, Michael Hopkins!
Yet, another top notch performance by both the Madman and The Welsh Dragon. Hopkins pulls out a win over one half of the tag champions. This is a match, I for one would love to see again and soon.
Join us next time for the final show of 2013 when we have the GFC Tag Team tournament.