REVIEW: Discovery Wrestling - Friday Night Disco
Discovery Wrestling: Friday Night Disco
o2 Academy, Edinburgh
Friday, April 1, 2022
Reviewer: Jordan Deaves (@jordandeaves)
This was the first time I had been to a Discovery Wrestling event and I will say firstly, I was very impressed and pleasantly surprised by the layout, production and set up for the event.
As we arrived, there was a ‘meet and greet’ set up with some of the performers from the event, including one of the TNA Tag Team Champions and main event player, Eric Young.
The diverse crowd of men, women, adults and kids were friendly, excited and obviously hungry for wrestling.
Everyone pops as our ring announcer for the night enters the ring (and every time after this) and immediately I knew this was going to be fun and that those in attendance were up for it.
It was time for the opening contest.
BT Gunn vs Aspen Faith
Credit: Discovery Wrestling
The opening contest was a gruelling bout between BT Gunn and Aspen Faith. This match started with a huge response from the crowd for the veteran BT Gunn as the obvious face left Aspen revelling and feeding from the heat coming his way as the heel.
The match was stiff and well delivered and showcased the talent of both performers with some spots in and outside of the ring as well as some high risk spots from the top rope. Aspen really played off the crowds reaction, taking it further and further and making us hate him more and more as the match progressed.
After some back and forth and a few near falls, the match ended when BT managed to counter Aspen and deliver a thrust kick to the back of his head, resulting in the 1,2,3.
A great start to the night and a confident performance from the two that really whet my appetite for what was to come.
Jack Morris vs Ian Skinner
Credit: Discovery Wrestling
The next match seemed to be billed as a real ‘David and Goliath’ clash between Jack Morris and Ian Skinner. Morris strutted out and as he posed around the ring, it was difficult to not be impressed by his stature.
The contrast of styles was evident when Skinner made it to the ring with more energy than the ‘Duracell Bunny’ and feeding from crowd as much as he was giving out.
The match was tough to watch at times. Skinner would provide offensive move after offensive move and it seemed to take very little for Morris to chop him back down but that didn’t seem to stop Skinner in his counter attack.
There were some great spots outside the ring as the pair used the barrier a couple of times as well as some close quarters, physical attack.
The relentless attack and ‘never say die’ attitude from Skinner proved too much for Morris as he had to result to a low blow to keep Skinner down long enough for the pinfall.
This resulted in a perfectly harmonised chorus of ‘boos’ from the crowd who were firmly behind Skinner for the entirety of the match. I really enjoyed this match. It was a great example of how two very different styles and performers can meet and put on a performance that is believable and enjoyable.
Sesh Munny (Gene Munny and Session Moth Martina) vs The Double D’s (Dickie Divers and Debbie Dahmer) - Discovery Wrestling Tag Team Championship Tournament
Credit: Discovery Wrestling
It’s been a couple of days since I saw this contest and I honestly still can’t understand what I saw during this match. There was so much personality and story that it felt, at times, difficult to follow and slow to build.
The entire match felt like a pantomime with some genuine ‘they’re behind you!’ moments. In saying that, I enjoyed large portions of the match and when we did get to see some contest between all the performers it was very impressive to see, not just because this was a mixed tag match.
It was evident that these pairings were never going to be on the same page and there was a lot of back and forth politics within each team, however, Sesh Munny managed to hold it together long enough to execute a double finisher to gain the victory.
The micro feuds within each team was the main focus of this bout and without having prior knowledge of this, it made the match disjointed but ultimately, an enjoyable and hilarious bout with some great mic work.
Moxie Malone vs Lana Austin
After the intermission we came back to an announcement that Kasey wasn’t medically cleared to wrestle and that she had a replacement, Moxie Malone, for the fight against Lana Austin.
Initially, Lana came out swinging with some incredibly impressive offence that showcased her ability and dominance over Malone but as the match settled in, we started to get a little more from Malone, particularly when Kasey managed to interject as she sat at ringside.
The two had the task of bringing the crowds engagement back after the intermission and they certainly did that at the start of the match but as the match went on the atmosphere started to stall a little, possibly due to the lack of build up for the match due to the last minute change.
Ultimately, this match ended with Austin nailing Malone with a rolling elbow to gain the pinfall. Lana won me over early in the match and proved why she is one of the best wrestlers on the independent scene.
The fight ebbed and flowed and had moments of brilliance as well as some uninspiring spells but mostly just left me with my mouth agape at the ability of these two young women.
Foundation of the Future (Zach Dynamite & Bruiser Brad Evans) and Griffin w/Athena vs Deacon Matthews, Caleb Valhalla and Theo Doros
Credit: Discovery Wrestling
Much like the previous tag match, there was so much to digest here. The talent of everyone in the match was obvious, the styles of those involved was varied and with so much going on, in and outside of the ring, it made for a very exciting performance.
As with any wrestling match that has an obvious ‘big man’, The pop and on going chants for Caleb were consistent and ever present throughout the match, both while he was tagged in and standing on the apron.
The presence of Athena at ring side added fuel to the fire for fans as they delighted in jeering her as much as the rest of her team. On one side we had a team that was pretty evenly matched both in terms of ability, style and look and on the other we had a mismatch of performers that all got their chance to show their ability throughout this hotly contested bout.
Get rid of the ‘big man’. That was the aim of the game for the heels. They finally did manage to distract him in a cat and mouse chase around the ring long enough to pull him back through the curtain to allow them to overpower Matthews, while Theo Doros had been blasted out of the ring, to gain the pinfall.
A fun match that gave us the fans service that we all needed from the face team before ultimately giving the win to the heels to boost their profile. A well worked and well executed 6-man tag is rare, especially when you have so many big personas.
Andy Wild vs Eric Young
Credit: Discovery Wrestling
And now it’s time, for the main event.
Andy Wild vs Eric Young. Andy was looking for retribution after a loss to Joe Hendry last year and was looking to use the EYUK (Eric Young UK) Tour to make a statement.
The obvious fan favourite in The Wildman made his way through the curtain and to the ring and was met by intense and vigorous applause from the crowd. This positivity for Andy was met with conflicting emotions when EY made his way to the ring next.
The excitement of having this high profile talent, hailed as the best all round wrestler in the world, come up against their favourite made for an interesting atmosphere.
The match was stiff and brutal and left nothing to the imagination. EY through himself in to the match so much so that he was willing to push the limits and risk bigger and bigger moves in each passing minute.
The match was so hotly contested and too close to call that I could see it go either way. Andy pushed the TNA tag champ so much he drew blood from the champ during an altercation at the ring post.
We moved from a technical wrestling clinic to a brutal slugfest when neither could break through to an aerial battle as both pushed for elbow drops from the top rope and even a super flex attempt from Andy.
But after all this, there had to be only one winner. Andy threw everything at EY to gain the victory, including a power slam, the wildest driver and a ‘da bomb’.
The match was over and whatever conflict the crowd had about who to back in this contest was immediately solved as they erupted in applause and cheers for The Wildman.
Everything about this match screamed professionalism and was the definition of ‘pro-wrestling’. The night ended on a beautiful note when Andy extended his hand to EY in a sign of respect and it was accepted. Vindication for The Wildman and respect earned from one of the worlds greats.
Overall, this entire card was executed extremely well some highs and lows for the fans, some comedic value, stiff competition and of course some good, solid pro-wrestling. An enjoyable evening and one that this wrestling fan won’t forget in a hurry and will be looking to find again and again.
Thank you Discovery Wrestling.