REVIEW: Purpose Wrestling - Lightspeed

Purpose Wrestling: Lightspeed
Merton Arts Space, London
Friday, June 10, 2022
Reviewer: Iwan Mackenzie (@iwanmack)

My journey to Purpose started after finishing up with my work’s BBQ, as I headed to Waterloo to meet my brother Leighton before we headed over to Wimbledon. By the time we got there it was time to get into the venue which was swiftly dealt with, even if the doors did open late.

The venue was as good as ever and they’ve finally opened up the second toilet, which is a lot better for the audience instead of queuing for just one toilet. Our host was Chris Hatch, who I’d stick with as the permanent MC for these shows, he’s really good at his job, has good humour about him and doesn't waste time creating fake banter either.

TWA (Mark Trew & Kieron Lacey) vs Cali Gray & Harry Sefton

Credit: Purpose Wrestling

Gray was replacing Tommy Kyle who was ill on the day, we mocked Gray for still being in My Chemical Romance mode which he said wasn’t a phase. As an opener, this was very messy, it felt like the action was fast but couldn’t really be sustained and I was failing to get into it - plus it felt like the crowd was making noise but not engaging into the match itself.

I unfortunately failed to get into this despite liking everyone involved, we had TWA win this match after a Crossbody and Leg Sweep Combination.

Laura Di Matteo vs Skye Smitson

Credit: Purpose Wrestling

I thought this was a decent enough match between the two, it technically fine in between the ropes but the crowd really distracted me and took me out of this match; you had us usually cheering for LDM but a small contingent cheering for Smitson and it went on for too long.

I get getting an atmosphere but I didn’t like this, especially after the 0121/Sunshine Machine chant went on for too long in PROGRESS a couple of weeks prior. I don’t want this to become regular things at show.

Wish both Smitson or LDM would have played into the crowd a little bit to enhance the match but they just stuck to what they were doing, which I don’t think was a good idea. We had Laura win this with 3 V’s Submission Hold.

The East City Sovereigns (RJ Singh & Jordan Saeed) vs Two Good Eggs (JJ Lynch & Rex Armstrong) - Losing Team Disbands

Credit: Purpose Wrestling

This was set-up after the promo battle between Saeed & Armstrong at the Previous show. The Eggs came out first as the Sovereigns cut them off with a pre-match attack with them focusing on Lynch’s taped up Knee.

Big brawl on the outside with the momentum shifting back and forth but The Sovereigns were back in control after they threw JJ Lynch into three nearby ring crew members and attacked his knee.

They went to work on Rex inside the ring with Lynch fighting to get back on the apron but RJ kept attacking and cutting him off, this culminated with JJ pulling RJ out on a pinning attempt on Rex.

When JJ finally got in it felt like a hot tag and there was even a first time JJ Dive to the outside, for me this is when the match really got going as despite the good work it felt like the crowd wasn’t into it until this moment. From that point one it worked.

That being said, I did feel that the finish came just as the emotion was coming through and I do think, with a few more minutes, the climax would have meant even more.

We had Rex held back by Jordan, RJ took out JJ’s knee and hit him with the DDT to get the win as he taunted Rex, this now means Two Good Eggs are no more, UKPW will be on the phone getting their tag team championships sorted.

At first, I wasn’t buying into the moment but then when it settled in that this was a proper goodbye of the team and of JJ himself, it did feel emotional. JJ pointed me out on his way out and thanked me for the support over the years as he said he’s stepping away from the ring.

I’ve said this publicly but I’ll say it again, I just want to thank JJ for the entertainment over the years and being genuinely one of the best people in wrestling that I’ve met.

Overall a very good match, and does set up RJ and Jordan well as a top heel act for Purpose going forward, especially if Tag Team Championships are on the horizon.

Connor Mills vs Nino Bryant - Purpose Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match

Credit: Purpose Wrestling

I was failing to really get into it outside of bits of that tag match before the interval but this really got me into the show, this did feel like a level above and Nino delivers once again for the second show in a row. 

These two just have insane chemistry’ Mills bumps so well for Nino’s offence and Nino allows himself to be thrown around and kicked as much as Mills wants which makes Mills look great. I absolutely loved this combination and I could have watched even more, one of the best matches I’ve seen this year. 

We had O.J.M.O (I’m just going to refer to him as Micheal Oku for the rest of this article) interfere and was unsuccessful on the first few tries, as Nino kept fighting him off but it worked enough for the ref to be distracted. Mills hit Nino right down in the Borehamwood, Mills-Shot, 450 Splash and finally the LewisHammer for the win to advance to the finals.

They attacked Nino afterwards until lights went down and Solomon Lamb was here to confront Oku, Nino got Mills down low as a piece of revenge, as the Last Man Standing Match was on. 

The O.J.M.O vs Solomon Lamb - Last Man Standing Match

Credit: Purpose Wrestling

Solomon had months of rage to unleash on Oku in this match, it was an instant brawl around the library with us lot chanting “use a book” towards Solomon, it was Oku who used the book.

Later on Oku was set up on a chair but Solomon missed with the Cannonball after Oku moved, Oku tried to use one of the children’s soft toys on Solomon but that was ineffective.

A Chair was introduced and used, they went on top of the stage where Oku knocked down Solomon for the ten count but Solomon sat up and the fight continued.

Solomon trapped Oku in a box and then ran him into a ringpost. We then Solomon introduce a barbed wire 2x4 and himself and Oku both used in this match. Now, I was uneasy about this as there was young children in the crowd and in the wake of the CGW controversy I wasn’t sure how wise this was.

It should be said they weren’t going buck wild with it and carving each other up, plus Purpose isn’t advertised as an all-ages show- as on the website it says anybody under the age of 16 needs to be accompanied by an Adult. I just think if this kind of match was going to happen again then a content warning should be issued.

We had Oku climb a bookshelf by me and drove straight into Solompn who had his hand wrapped in barbed wire. A box of Fruit & Fibre was introduced with it actually being thumbtacks, Solomon went through the tacks and was laughing at the pain Oku dished out.

Finish came when Oku retrieved his RevPro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship, wore it around his waist and hit the frog splash to keep Solomon down for the ten count.

This was a very entertaining plunder match and a good way to end their rivalry, probably the best match I’ve ever seen Solomon have. The initial Barbed Wire spots did rub me up the wrong way in the building but, upon reflection, they weren’t totally wrong to be doing that kind of content, but I do feel a warning should have gone out. 

Raffle was on after this, I have to say that I’m not a fan of the Purpose Raffle, overpriced for what it is and the prizes aren’t great, it’s still GOOD and Resurgence in the Best Raffle of the Year stakes.

Jordon Breaks vs David Francisco - Purpose Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match

Credit: Purpose Wrestling

Now I found it odd that we’d just had this crazy brawl beforehand and we were going to have a Technical Bout to main event the show, it was an odd decision and one I wouldn’t have gone with, it didn’t feel like a main event to me either.

At the start of this match, I was firmly behind Breaks and still bitter towards David for beating Dereiss the month before and I wasn’t shy about complaining about it. David asked why he was in the semi-finals so I responded back with “you book your own promotion mate!” (a joke that’s been around since the second show, so the use of this I didn’t feel was out of the line as it’s become a joke). The reaction I got was like just telling a load of kids that Santa isn't real, David just said he hoped I enjoy this match.

Now, I can recognise that this was a good match, very good in fact and there was some good aggression that I dug but at this point of the night I was too hot. It was getting later and later and I just wanted to get going home as the night had already felt very long.

Did enjoy David’s aggression and actual heelish nature in this bout, actually made his goody-two-shoes character in Purpose feel interesting, apparently he called me Ian but I didn’t hear it, so it doesn't count.

We had Breaks eventually win this match with a Kimura Lock to advance to the finals to face Connor Mills. I am worried about Breaks as our potential babyface champion.

This match and the Angelo match, whilst I can recognise as good matches, have just come too late into the night and it feels that nobody is able to invest in them. Plus, David was getting more cheers here than Breaks; I hope things can be fixed before the final in August.

Overall as a show, this is an odd duckling to deal with. It’s a Tuesday night as I write this with the show being firmly in the past now, but I’m not sure how to sum it up.

I found the first half to be very quick with not a lot feeling like it was allowed to breath and the second half being a bit lopsided, despite the standout match of Bryant/Mills.

I think this show did run too late and the heat didn’t help it either, for me a bump in the ride in what's generally been a very good run for them. I’ll hopefully come to the July and August shows, even if August does involve Tristan Archer, who is one of the most boring wrestlers I’ve ever seen live.

Thanks for Reading

@IwanMack