REVIEW: Sacrifice Pro Wrestling - Game of the Year Edition

Sacrifice Pro Wrestling: Game of the Year Edition
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Bedford Town FC, Bedford
Reviewer: Hannah Bee (@beeheynah)

Sacrifice Pro (or as the cool kids call it, Saccy Pro) has always been a solid shout for BritWres promotions to watch out for. With quality family-friendly wrestling and an immense mix of established names and up-and-comers.

Venturing to Bedford for it is made even sweeter by the fact that the proceeds of the show all go to charity — with this current chapter’s beneficiary being Young Epilepsy, in honour of a member of the Saccy Pro faithful.

With this being my second show of theirs, I was so eager to go back, having had a wonderful time at last November's show. The Saccy Pro community is very tight knit, and I was surprised how friendly they were too.

I was chatted up in line by a child on how much they love Jayde and Evie, and that they remembered me from the last show.

Bedford Town FC, Sacrifice Pro's current home, was a bit emptier than the first time I saw it, but that feeling was shaken off by the ever-energetic crowd, who took it upon themselves to make it seem full!

Now to see the main menu of what Saccy Pro has to offer this time.

Memes Opens Show, Has Gout :(

Wrestling Memes, the host of the current chapter, comes out to rev up the crowd's pipes and also took the time to let them know that he has gout. He does a grand job getting the room pumped for the action ahead, while being the face of #GoutAwareness during the whole show!

Whilst this time, he acknowledges the overlap between UBW and Sacrifice fans and performers, which was weird at first, but was addressed later on the show.

First to start up the show…

Alexander Roth vs Kent Nelson - Coburn Cup 1st Round

With a tournament named to honour the memory of another famed Saccy Pro crowd member, it wasn’t a surprise that they are pulling the stops for this!

Only knowing a bit of the history between the two wrestlers didn't hinder my utter enjoyment of this match.

Alexander Roth, with the newly-won Cash in Briefcase in hand and fellow The ‘87 member Roy Johnson on his side, walked with so much confidence in his step that you can't help but just wish him fail.

Kent Nelson winning the matchup looked improbable at first, but people counting him out is proven to be a big mistake as he gets the upset.

Failing to capitalise on their advantage, the losing team suddenly starts to argue, wanting to keep the cup within the faction. Is this a sign of a rift between The ‘87?

The Rebellion (Jack Toreno and Taylor James) vs Guerilla Warfare (Alexander Hyde and Nathan Bryne)

Looking into my show notes for this match has been cringy, especially when it just said "Rebellion!!!" over and over during their entrance, clearly fangirling with their Sacrifice Pro debut.

As a well-decorated heel tag team in the south of England pro wrestling scene, I was very eager to see them mark their arrival in Saccy Pro against Guerilla Warfare, who also was a team with something to prove in the promotion.

As arguably my personal favourite of the show, it was a masterclass of quality tag team wrestling, a showing of the wonders of the usage of well-established tag teams.

Jack Toreno, known for his quips, was stellar in playing up to the crowd! I got worried when a portion of the crowd decided that it was respectful to chant "Cheap John Silver" at him, but he managed to deflect it off.

Also nothing short of amazing were Guerilla Warfare, who's definitely on my list of teams to watch out for, especially after that well-won match!

If nitpicking is needed, the match felt a bit longer than usual, but there were absolutely no boring points to it at all. Here's to wishing Saccy P put this up for other people to enjoy.

David Grant vs. Jayde vs. Twister vs. Roy Johnson vs. Man Like Dereiss - Coburn Cup 1st Round

With the fact that this was a mix of representatives of the present and the future of British Wrestling, and that this was a multi-man matchup, the understandable worry would be that there wouldn't be enough time for everyone to get their shine and it might get too confusing for the crowd to follow.

Happy to report that on the contrary, everyone came out of this match as stars shining brighter than ever before. And to top it all off, a last minute addition of Man Like Dereiss (01! 21!) helped liven up the venue and made the Coburn Cup more prestigious than it already was!

Highlights were the crowd backing Twister the whole while (cue the "Twisty Boi" chants!), Dereiss and Jayde bickering, and the back and forths between two very hench men in Roy Johnson and David Grant.

In the end, David Grant manages to ragdoll Twister for a win, which takes him a step closer to the Coburn Cup.

Ultimate Sacrifice Championship Match — Frankie Vegas vs. Tim Lee vs. Kyle Kingsley (C)

As both contenders were known for their tag team wrestling in the Saccy timeline — Frankie of "Los Palaminos", who just lost the tag titles to the later-competing Nightfury in the last chapter, and Tim of "The Reckless Old Youth", a team forged with his former great adversary Jack Cave (in which they had a physical blood feud, check out their hardcore match from Paint the Town RED!) — it was intriguing how they could present themselves as formidable opponents to Kyle Kingsley, a no-nonsense hulk of a champion of Sacrifice.

With Kingsley's overarching presence and his championship defence providing a big fight feel, it provided the much-needed foil for both trickster incarnate Vegas and comedy wrestling genius Lee to work with, making this match spectacular.

Danny Mayhem, the ace of Frankie's Hawaiian shirt sleeve, just caps the whole match off with his meddling, but I still wish that there were times that Frankie shined on his own. On the other hand, the choice they went with was understandable as this fuelled the Saccy P crowd's hatred for the former tag champions.

Tim, with all due respect, played his part perfectly as the wildcard. He was expectedly less involved in the match, and yet he still got to showcase his comedic chops and his wrestling prowess all the while.

In the end though, Kingsley emerged victorious despite the chaos mostly caused by Los Palaminos, and has yet again defended the Ultimate Sacrifice Championship.

Sacrifice Pro Wrestling vs Ultimate British Wrestling Announcement

Coming off the break, Memes broke the news — we're getting a versus show next month! To feature the best of both Saccy P and Ultimate British Wrestling (with shows mostly based in Biggleswade), it surely is an exciting way to feature local favourites alongside what Bedford's neighbours could offer.

Addressing once again the overlap between UBW and Saccy P talent, Memes has encouraged wrestlers with the same predicament as him to pick a side. I’m very intrigued as to how this will all play out, especially since most overlapped talent work vastly different between both promotions.

As interesting as the next show was, the current one hasn't finished yet...

PS. If you decide to see this show with your own eyeballs, please feel free to say hello, and most importantly, give Memes a gift for his birthday! Maybe skip the beer for the poor gout-stricken lad.

Loserweight Championship — Tommy Kyle vs. Truman Roswell (C)

As the bell rang, Tommy sat Truman down for a chat and the Truther opens up to the Top Gun about his disdain of the title he got from losing to Jack Cave last show. As he offers a sympathetic ear, Tommy decides that he wouldn't dare to even earn the Loserweight belt, so off he sneak attacks Truman and the match finally starts.

As someone who has found their love with the less intense, less serious side of wrestling the last couple of years, this was the kind of match that I absolutely dig.

With the additional fact that these two have worked so many times together, it was a given that they'd have a tremendous coming out, but the Loserweight Championship Title made this matchup absolutely fresh!

Both are definitely understated talents that I hope the rest of the country gets on with my hype for the both of them.

Unfortunately during the middle of this match, a slight bump in the middle of the ring appeared, which didn't look good whilst watching.

I was actually a bit worried that the ring was unsafe, but I was told that it was just bunched up ring foam after the show, plus it mysteriously fixed itself up towards the end of the match. A conspiracy? Me and Truman Roswell certainly think so.

Saints of Sacrifice Championships — Act Two (“Sweet Prince” Benjamin Harland and Jack Knudsen) vs. Nightfury (Mia Cortez and Evie Madden) (C)

After being unsuccessful with their match for the New Wave Pro Tag Team Champions against Sid and Eden Von Engeland, which transpired in FUTR Wrestling last December, Act Two sets off to the South to answer Nightfury's challenge to tag teams in the country who hasn't wrestled in Saccy P.

As newly-crowned champions, they were determined as ever to prove themselves, but that didn't stop the team from having fun with their unusual team of a Dragon Goddess and a Locksmith.

As the newcomers were met warmly by the majority of the crowd, Act Two proved that they weren't there to play second fiddle against the Saints of Sacrifice.

The wrestling was impeccable, as the two tried to weaken and to isolate Evie to ensure their victory. Unfortunately, the lads forgot to account for the fire these ladies had, and the intensive history just to secure the belts.

Unfortunately, this match was hijacked by some audience members, who decided that chanting "Cheap Mad Kurt" to Jack Knudsen was needed, amongst other chants that I personally found unnecessary.

The bothersome chants didn't help to mask the fact that the matchup has gone on too long. Despite all this, the hype of seeing Nightfury's first title defence and the fact that Act Two didn't look fazed by the matter helped me to focus on the match at hand!

In the end, Nightfury successfully defended their titles, and has proven that they are, indeed, fighting champions. Terribly excited to see who will try to topple this elite tag team next!

Hustle Malone vs. Warren Banks vs. Caiius Payne — Three-Way for the Vacant Ticking Time Bomb Championship

The Ticking Time Bomb Championship is such a great, unique concept — no-nonsense, decisive title defences that last ten minutes or less.

One for the fans of technical wrestling, matches for this strap has been nothing but a wonder and this time was no different. The rules for the division are easy to follow, and are explained in the get go before every bout!

First contested between Hustle and Payne last year when it was unveiled in Saccy P's comeback show, both have failed to get a clear win, and inserted Warren Banks into the title picture.

With the bad blood between local favourite Payne and the Protagonist, and the drive of Warren Banks to add this to his ever-growing collection of gold, this match had no problem bouncing back from the previous bout.

As the minutes tick down, every single competitor looked like they had it in the bag. The crowd were on the edge of their seat, up until the last seconds where we see Payne in a double submission, and as the rules state, they'd need to have another go with each other, now with an inclusion of another competitor.

This made heels Hustle and Banks angry, which prompted them to take their frustrations out to Payne. This prompted the returning Chase Williams to come out and save Payne, then Memes delivers the news — the next time the Ticking Time Bomb Championship comes to play, Chase Williams gets a slice of the action to finally crown the first Ticking Time Bomb Champion.

As with all promotions dealing with live events, hitches here and there & points of continuous improvement will pop up here and there.

Most of my gripes are about the small things, like a space behind the chairs to let the audience pass without blocking the view, which matters especially to the little ones in the front row!

Personally, the wrestling can't be faulted bell to bell, but the arrangement of the card to optimise the crowd hype needs work.

As one of my discoveries the past few months, Sacrifice Pro Wrestling has become one of my can't miss promotions! It can be a pain to go to, but what's a bit of Sacrifice? ;)

See you in the next Saccy P show!

REVIEW: Sacrifice Pro Wrestling - Game of the Year Edition

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