Walking into Carrow Road you could feel the excitement building. It was a huge day for WAW, the biggest independent wrestling company in Norfolk.
Carrow Road is a Norfolk treasure, home to Norwich City Football Club. An event like this has never taken place there. As we walked to our seats it was clear to see that it was going to be a family-friendly show.
Kids running around with foam fingers, with their parents looking just as excited. The main attraction to the show was that WWE legend Mick Foley was not only going to make an appearance, but he was also going to be the ref for a match! It was so nice to see that the kids were excited to see their favourite wrestlers and their parents got to see their old favourite superstars such as Mick Foley and Hardcore Holly. Before things got underway the announcer said that special guest commissioner Mick Foley was going to talk to the crowd … three runs of his entrance theme later, the announcer tell the crowd he’s going to be late because he’s ‘in the little boys room’.
What a way to open a show. Stay classy Norwich!
Zak Knight vs. Tony Knight – WAW British Heavyweight Title
The first match of the 12-match card was British rules match, for the WAW British Heavyweight Championship belt. It was a heated match I must say; I’ve never seen a British rules match before, I was curious to say the least. As Zak came out to his theme music blaring through the speakers, I was amazed at what I saw. He was being carried out into to ring by six guys, on a makeshift throne that wouldn’t look out of place in a comic book convention. Complete with cape, the crowd were on their feet as he made his entrance.
Tony’s entrance was less impressive, but props to the guy. He was wearing a head to toe lycra suit in the blazing 28-degree sun. C
It was at this moment I realized that they
The match itself was boring but the crowd were really into it. You could visibly see that Zak was not himself, having suffered a back injury prior to the show. You could tell they were both showmen but with him not 100%, it wasn’t the best. Tony beat Zak with a 2-1 in the 7th round.
Zak was handed the mic and made a heartfelt speech to the crowd. He admitted he was nearly physically sick during the match because of the pain in his back. He then regretfully informed everyone that he would be taking some time off due to not being able to perform as the best version of himself physically. The crowd seemed genuinely taken aback by this.
WAW World Light Heavyweight Championship – “King Of Couture” Brad O’Brien vs. Villman vs. Peter Nixon vs. Alexander Young vs. Jaiden Docwra
Next up was a five-way match for the vacant WAW World Light Heavyweight Championship.
Going into this match I could tell right away that Nixon was the crowd’s favo
The match overall was okay, they seemed more interested in getting the crowd cheering rather than actually wrestling. With a suicide dive to the outside the crowd were on their feet.
It was a close match but Brad O’Brien pinned Peter Nixon to win the vacant gold.
WAW Tag Team Championship – The UK Pitbulls (Big Dave and Bulk) vs. Senior Citizens (Steve Quintain and Nemisis ) vs. The Queer World Order (Priscilla and Mitchell Starr) vs. The Foji (Onkar and Rishpal Singh)
Up next was a four-way tag team match. I feel like the entrances to this match need a special mention. The
It’s the first time I’ve seen them and my god they were fierce and sassy as hell! This match was one of my favourites of the show, there was a lot of hard-hitting action, with the crowd fully behind the champions. It was weird because I thought they were heels but the crowd were cheering for them. In a close call, Bulk pinned Onkar, and the UK Pitbulls are the new WAW tag champions.
International Heavyweight Championship – Cody Hall vs. Luke Hawx vs. Hardcore Holly
It was a blast from the past when Hardcore Holly came out to his old WWE theme music – AND WE NOW HAVE A BELL! The crowd were the loudest for this match because I’m guessing because all of the mums and dads in the crowd used to love Hardcore Holly and were amazed to see him in person. In a short but sweet match Hawx pins Hardcore Holly.
A WILD DOGGO APPEARS ON THE PITCH AND FETCHED A BALL AND EVERYONE CHEERED. HE WAS A GOOD BOI.
WAW International Championship – Sinn Bodhi vs. Brody Steele
I feel like the crowd were a bit deflated after seeing Hardcore Holly and cheering for him so much that the next match was a bit of a haze. The atmosphere was not the best as the sun was full on beaming down on us, so much so that I have sunburn for the first time in my life. Wear sunscreen kids. With a chokeslam, Brody Steele defeated Sinn Bodhi to retain the gold.
WAW World Heavyweight Championship – Roy Knight vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
Next up was the last match before half time (yes I know, match six and we are only half way through, WrestleMania who?). It was the match that I thought would be the main event if I’m honest. It was
This was hands down the match of the whole card. The hometown heroes both got a standing ovation. Plus, we had BBC Radio Norfolk’s Rob Butler as the ref. A high flying RKJ fully showed his dad who had the power in this match. With run-ins from Roy’s boys, Tommy Lee brought out a chair and handed it to Roy. Roy knocked out ref Butler with it, and ref Peter Edgar replaced him. The highlight of the match for me was RKJ delivering a Swanton Bomb from the top rope onto a table outside the ring. After Butler recovered, he took the chair and struck Roy with it. Roy Knight was defeated by his son RKJ with a cobra clutch tap out to make Ricky Knight Jr. the new WAW Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.
Lee and Peter came back out to attack RKJ but were stopped by Roy. He then declared RKJ as the new sheriff in town. They then invited Ricky Knight into the ring and he announced a new era in WAW with the company in good hands as his grandson is paving the way as the next big star in the family.
Shoot Fight for WAW European Championship – Dale Broughton vs. Demolition Davis
Demolition Davis was replacing an injured Ricky Knight. This match also had a special guest ref in the form of Mick Foley (and yes, he was actually out on time.)
To my disappointment, there was no steel cage as previously advertised. The ring announcer did not state what the rules of this shoot match were, which left the crowd a bit unsure as to what they should expect.
The crowd was very confused as a big tapout was waved-off. As the match was getting in full swing, referee Foley ordered Lee out of the arena, while this was happening we are not sure what actually happened because as Foley ordered Lee out, the bell rang and the announcer stated that Broughton was the new European Champion.
Foley then got out Mr. Socko (or as the announcer said ‘Mr Foley and his sock’) and gave the Mandible Claw to Lee for his troubles. The crowd popped so hard (me included) for Mr. Socko.
PJ Knight vs. Dean Allmark
I don’t know how many Knights there are either; they seem to be multiplying by the minute. It was supposed to be Allmark against Jody Fleisch but he was evaporated into thin air and no one seems to know why he wasn’t there.
In this short but decent match PJ Knight pinned Allmark for the win.
Bellatrix Championship – Mercedez Martinez vs. Saraya Knight
Finally a women’s match! The crowd were all on their feet when Saraya came out. This was my second favorite match of the card. It was hard hitting and you could tell both women put their all into it.
Now in a strange turn of events it feels like the match was cut short.
Saraya was in a submission hold, and furiously tapped out. The ref didn’t realize what was happening and took ages to ring the bell and break the hold. The ring announcer then declared Martinez the new Bellatrix world champion. The ref then threw up the X and medics ran to the ring. Saraya was laid in the middle of the ring for a while, before being helped up and out of the ring – as the announcer said the worst part of an injury is getting out of the ring.
No, I’m not joking, he actually said that.
She got a standing ovation as she hobbled out of the ring.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship – Nick Aldis vs. Brad Slayer
Having seen Nick Aldis before I knew I was in for a treat. As he made his entrance the crowd went wild. Slayer certainly knew his way around a ring! The match was a perfect example of how wrestling should be done. The only thing I would say is the match could have more time as everybody was really into it.
Brad went to run into Aldis, Aldis moved out of the way leading to a ref bump. Aldis ran out of the ring, grabbed the belt and hinted at hitting Slayer with it;
Grant Holt, Billy Gunn & Rene Dupree vs. KOSS Industries (Kosta K and Malik) & Charlie Winston
This was the match most people were there to see.
It basically cheap pop central, with Gunn wearing a jacket that said ‘KOSS KISS MY ****’ and starting Norwich City chants so he was massively over. For a former footballer, Holt had good ring awareness and took me by surprise because he didn’t look out of place. In an average match Gunn picked up the win and the crowd went wild and immediately left.
Over half the people left before the main event. Holt then thanked the crowd for him being able to grow as a wrestler, he was then joined by the UK Hooligans who invited Holt to team up with them at Fightmare 4 next year.
Dynamite Kid Memorial Battle Royal
I would try to name them all but I need sleep (and aftersun).
It was thoroughly enjoyable with such spots in the match such as Little Legs doing a 619, Big F’n Joe showing everyone who was boss and someone dressed as Foley that was immediately eliminated.
As with most battle royals it was hard to watch all the action. When it was down to the last two, Big Joe and Destiny, Olympic boxer Anthony Ogogo stopped Joe from hitting Destiny with a chair.
Ogogo had no reaction from the crowd and most people forgot he was going to be there. After a grapple between the two, Destiny threw Joe over the top rope and won the Dynamite Kid memorial trophy. British wrestling legend Johnny Kincaid presented her with the trophy, to the like six people that were left in the crowd.
All in all, it wasn’t the best show. I wish they would have done half the matches in the amount of time they had. As I didn’t know many of the wrestlers there, I wish they had more time to actually tell a story. It didn’t leave me very captivated, which it a real shame as this is my local promotion and this was my first show of theirs.
Considering they’ve already announced a Fightmare for next year, it gives me time to go to more WAW shows and learn everything about the roster so hopefully in a year I will enjoy it more.
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