GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – ICW BarraMania 2 took place in the Barrowlands and was their first big show of the year.
ICW BarraMania 2 marks The first big ICW show of 2016, Insane Championship Wrestling come back from their successful and testicle laden tour of England and Ireland to fill out the Barrowlands in Glasgow. The war between Red Lightning and Mark Dallas rages on, the battle between the New Age Kliq and the Black Label and the division that is appearing in Insane Championship Wrestling. Off the back of two solid shows (the excellent Fear and Loathing and the very decent Square Go) will the hot streak continue at the Barra’s?
Before the show stars, we have Noam Dar come out and give a lovely tribute to Kris Travis, and to also announce that he will not be in the first match Red Lightning suspended him for not asking him for permission to be in the WWE World Cruiserweight Series. I am assuming this was just storyline stuff, and he’s not injured or anything. He will be joining Billy Kirkwood on commentary however.
ICW Zero-G Championship – Scramble Match: Lionheart def. Davey Boy, Zack Gibson, Kenny Williams, ‘Local Hero’ Joe Hendry & Liam Thomson
The same rules of the WWE’s scramble match, there was a fifteen time minute and whoever has the last pinfall when the time expires wins the Zero-G title. Joe Hendry’s bespoke entrance was a great cover of the Foo Fighters ‘My Hero’ – not my favourite, but still good. This was a bit of a mess, started off with some great high impact, spot laden action but it ended up all over the Barrowlands, so it was hard to follow. The finish came when Lionheart snuck up on a showboating Davey Boy, hits him with a superkick and then a Styles Clash (the move that broke Lionhearts neck over two years ago) to get the deciding fall and the Zero G title.
It is a great narrative for Lionheart to get the belt, twelve months after he returned from a broken neck only to be booed at the Barrowlands. ‘The Bad Motherf****r’ as he is known got his revenge. Also, I think the belt needed to come off Davey Boy, he wasn’t a good fight for that division. He was also showing very heelish tendencies, so maybe a turn is in the cards?
ICW Tag Team Championship – I Quit Towel Match; Losing Manager Quits ICW: Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & ‘The Real Deal’ Mark Coffey) (w/ Coach Trip) def. The 55 (Kid Fite & ‘The East End Butcher’ Sha Samuels)
Another match that has been building for since well before Fear and Loathing, Polo Promotions go up one last time against The 55. How do we know this will be the final time? Because the losing teams manager will be gone from ICW. This however was muddled when during the week leading up to the show, Mark Coffey and Jackie Polo both said that BarraMania would be their final event for ICW. So that gives us the winner right? WRONG! As Polo and Coffey win a very intense match with a double crossface on Sha and James R Kennedy throws the towel in; selling out his team, losing the belts and therefore losing his job. This match had story and intensity out the backside but it was a bit of a mess in ring.
Following the match, Polo Promotions cut a heartfelt goodbye promo and left through the crowd. Then Samuels, Kite and Tim Wylie beat up Kennedy and left him laying (turning them face? I don’t know) and they put over Polo Promotions saying ‘its people like you that mean we are losing good wrestlers like them’ but however, they have the tag belts? I don’t know. This was a bit of a mess.
Trent Seven def. Mikey Whiplash
Up next, we have the mental Trent Seven up against the equally as mental Mikey Whiplash. These guys have no regard for their well being and proceed to beat the ever-loving crap out of each other. I could go on, but I feel this gif sums up the whole match.
Trent Seven went over after a big piledriver on Whiplash. Trent Seven offers his hand to Mikey Whiplash, who accepts – the first time he has shook someones hand in a few months. Let’s have this one more time on Shugs House Party, then Havoc vs Whiplash at Fear and Loathing yeah? Sweet.
New Age Kliq (BT Gunn & Chris Renfrew) defeated Wolfgang & Kay Lee Ray
This was meant to Wolfgang and Stevie Boy, but due to injury – the former Zero G champion cannot compete. Chris Renfrew said that he has beef with ALL of them and challenged Kay Lee Ray to take her boyfriends place and for this to become a street fight! So here we go.
This was, as Chris Renfrew put it ‘a f***ing war’. They fought all over the building, using chairs, kendo sticks, a chair covered in thumbtacks, barbed wire chairs and Kay Lee Ray taking a disgusting bump to the outside through two chairs and a table. Wolfgang also press slammed BT Gunn off the stage through a table as well in another sick bump. The N.A.K got the win when Chris Renfrew hit Wolfgang with the T-Virus onto a barbed wire chair.
Mark Dallas then came out and accepted Insane Championship Wrestling’s induction into the Barrowlands Hall Of Fame. The Black Label came out and Red Lightning told Mark Dallas that The Black Label should be thanked for the award instead. Dallas then introduced The Black Labels opponents tonight which led to….
If Grado & Joe Coffey Win, Joe Coffey Gets His Championship Match – The Black Label (‘Big Kink’ Jack Jester & Red Lightning (w/ Flex Hunter)) defeated ‘Iron Man’ Joe Coffey & Grado
Joe Coffey came out in his Punisher style facepaint. Grado came out with his face painted like a tiger from a childs birthday party. God help me that man does some stupidly funny stuff. This was your standard tag team affair, with Joe Coffey once again impressing. The finish came via SHENANIGANS! Flex Hunter, The Black Label’s bodyguard distracted Coffey long enough for a chairshot from Jester. A follow-up chokeslam from Hunter and red Lightning is dragged over for the three count.
Following the match, Joe Coffey attacked Red Lightning and demanded a match with him the next time they return to The Garage in Glasgow. Joe Coffey further demanded that if he defeated him, he would get a championship match or he would quit ICW. Red Lightning ordered the match for April 24th. So there’s that.
Doug Williams defeated Massimo
This was an alright match, nothing to really write home about. Doug Williams got the win using the ropes, and Massimo then got his heat back post-match by attacking Williams after the bell.
Loser Leaves ICW – Sammii Jayne defeated ‘The Best In The Galaxy’ Nikki Storm
One of the more heated contest of the night, Sammii Jayne is going up against her former teacher, the woman she has been verbally and physically abusing for months; ‘The Best In The Galaxy’ Nikki Storm. If you read them internets, you knew who was going to be on the losing end of this contest; but with the tag title match earlier on the night who knows anything anymore? The ICW Women’s Champion Carmel came out and said she would be on commentary, but she just wasn’t. That was weird.
Once again, an awesome video package from ICW by the way. They put this over huge.
The only issue I had at the beginning was that it was a grudge match, they should be battering eachother, not having a straight wrestling match. But that’s an annoying trope in a lot of wrestling. Nikki Storm plays a fantastic obnoxious heel and Sammii Jayne is a great babyface. Sammii Jayne got the win with a diving top rope neckbreaker, and ‘The White Chocolate Cheesecake’ is gone.
Following the match, Storm and Jayne square off one more time, before Storm has a huge tantrum (great heel moves) and is carried out by security, and out of ICW forever.
Nikki Storm is going to be a star. She is a great wrestler, a phenomenal character and a tremendous look. I expect her NXT step to be on a global stage…ahem.
Sammii Jayne is a future star of the ICW Womens division. I want to see her go the distance with Kay Lee Ray, Carmel Jacobs and Viper. She can be the face of that side of ICW.
I also had a dream following this where Nikki Storm hit on me. I annoyingly woke up.
ICW World Heavyweight Championship – ‘The Beast Of Belfast’ Big Damo defeated ‘The Chosen One’ Drew Galloway
It’s main event time, and we get another video package highlighting the last time they faced for the title, and Damo’s road to becoming ICW World Heavyweight Champion, including the beatdown in London.
Before the match, it looked like Drew was going to cheat his way to the belt with the ring surrounded by all of Red Lightning’s bannermen and women. But here comes the cavalry! Joe Coffey, Grado, Mikey Whiplash & Kenny Williams fought all the ringside cornerpeople away so we have our one on one match.
Your usual ICW hard-hitting heavyweight title match ensue with two of the best in Europe right now. Drew Galloway has proven to the world that he is main event material and the ‘true one that got away’ from Vince and Damo O’ Connor is the flagbearer for super heavyweights in this continent. They fought all across the Barra’s including a sick senton on the wooden floor. They exchanged finishers and near falls, and beat the ever loving crap out of eachother. A match fitting of a world championship. We thought it was over when Damo hit The One Winged Angel but the ref was knocked down, and when a second ref came out…SHENANIGANS!
Red Lightning clotheslines the ref down and Galloway put a beating on Damo with a kendo stick. Damo missed a cannonball into a table for a close near fall. The finish was when Jack Jester for even more SHENANIGANS but his attempt at knocking out Damo with his metal dildo backfired and he hit Galloway! Damo takes out Jester with a FutureShock DDT and then we get a ref stoppage after Damo locked in a double arm trap submission and some brutal elbows to the head of Galloway.
All in all, ICW BarraMania 2 was another solid card. The tag title match, the scramble and Massimo/Williams were a bit of a mess but the Womens match was great, the street fight was awesome and the world title match was another stellar slugfest. They are on the road to the Hydro, and so far it has been a pretty smooth but wild ride. Up next; Shug’s House Party on July 31.