REVIEW: Sovereign Pro Wrestling - Warpath

SovPro Wrestling: Warpath
Academy 2, Manchester
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Reviewer: David South (@DavidSouth1980)

Having missed the initial SovPro shows, I was determined that even the prospect of Easter break travel chaos wouldn’t keep me from crossing the Pennines this time, as some of my favourites were making their debuts on a hot looking card.

Immediate confession time, I promise I had a ticket, but I think I ended up accidentally breaking into the venue via a fire escape, so apologies for that. I took a great seat, at the back next to the hardcam and the show began.

Leon Slater vs Kenny Williams - Commonwealth Title Match Qualifier

With Ninja Mack already confirmed, one of the objectives for today’s show was to determine the other three competitors in a Fatal-Fourway for the Commonwealth Championship, taking place on June’s show.

Up first, the Youngest in Charge, Leon Slater (who, I have learned, will dance to anyone’s entrance music) against the Scum of the Earth, Kenny Williams.

The veteran made the most of his experience in the early going, keeping the highflyer grounded and focusing on his legs following a chop block. It’s tough to keep Slater down for long though and, following a missed kick, he hit a frogsplash to take over.

A handspring elbow would then get Slater the bouts first pinfall. Williams would recover though and gets his knees up to block another splash attempt. He followed that with a cartwheel Death Valley driver and a running clothesline for a very near fall.

Williams then tried to rollup Slater and get extra leverage on the pin with his legs in the ropes, but the referee caught him. Having failed to end it there, Williams decided to remove the turnbuckles, with the referee distracted putting it back on, he tried to hit a back kick low blow.

Slater caught it though, lifted him out of the corner with a blue thunder bomb and hit a 450 splash for the victory. Gaston LaBoeuf attempts to get a word with both competitors, Slater tells him that he plans to go on and win the whole thing.

Williams though would spit a foul black mist into his face and laugh manically one last time, as LaBoeuf was helped to the back.

Kelly Sixx vs Joe Wade - Commonwealth Title Match Qualifier

Sixx comes to the ring with the rest of his Killective stablemates, LA Taylor, who stays at ringside, and Bullit, who looms his way to the commentary position.

Respect between both these competitors is in short supply, and it’s a bad-tempered start. Wade would make the early running though with a high boot knocking Sixx to the floor, and then hitting a knee strike off the apron.

Taylor would make her presence felt for the first time, stopping Wade from capitalising and allowing Sixx to throw him back first into the barriers. Wade would absorb, and perhaps even encourage, Sixx to kick him in the back and hit some trapped-arm knee strikes after he had missed a moonsault.

The contest would remain even, until a brainbuster by Wade encouraged Bullit to return to ringside, carrying with him a customised Killective chair.

He’d distract the ref and slide the chair to Sixx, but Wade ducked his swing and had the match won with a Michinoku driver, but now Taylor had the ref’s attention.

Bullit slid into the ring and hit a massive chokeslam on Wade and Sixx crawled over to claim a tainted victory.

Aurora Teves vs Ivy

The Steel City Siren (more like Fargate Foghorn) attacked Teves before the bell rang and began a vicious assault of choking in the ropes, Irish Whips into the corners and snapmares out of them.

Teves though would recover and gain two near falls, coming of the top rope for the first and a slingblade for the second. Having made it to the ropes to escape Ivy’s Boston Crab, they went to the floor where Ivy threw Teves into the ring post.

Back inside, Ivy hit a double underhook DDT and clearly thought she had the match won, but it was only a two count. Moments later, and against the momentum of the match, Teves caught Ivy in a small package and claimed a popular victory.

Ivy is apoplectic on the floor, but before she can react The Easter Bunny comes to the ring. Having waved to the children, the bunny gets in the ring and congratulates Teves, before cracking a chocolate egg over her head reminiscent of Rowdy Piper and the coconut.

The Bunny removes their head and it’s Lana Austin. She gets a mic (sigh!) and embraces her friend Ivy. They say that they are going to team in SovPro under the most apt name possible “The Decibelles”.

Venues, get ready to replace your PA systems.

The Wright Way (Thatcher Wright and Charles Vyce) vs The Banter Bus (Danny Proper and Tom Thelwell)

In perhaps the most optimistic moment I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring, Thatcher Wright requests a moment of silence from the crowd to honour 10th anniversary of ‘her’ passing. It goes about as well as you’d expect…

The Banter Bus arrive, with Proper having his popular T-shirt Logo written across his chest and not, as you might have expected, with Uncle Ryan, but instead with their Auntie Maggie.

Like a good Tory, Wright profits from the work of others, allowing Vyce to manhandle their opponents and only tagging in when Proper or Thelwell are down.

After a prolonged period of beating down Proper, he manages to make the hot tag to Thelwell, whose been on the outside for a while. He has a successful spell against both men and, with Vyce incapacitated, they catch Wright in a 3D but Wright kicks out at Two and 3/4s.

Vyce, ‘Auntie Maggie’ and Thelwell brawl together from ringside up to the stage area. With the referee looking at that situation, Wright levels Proper with his copy of Thatcher’s biography and steals the most unpopular win of the afternoon.

The Wright Way make a quick escape and there is just a hint of tension between Thelwell and Proper when Proper rips the mic out of his hands before he can speak. He proposes that they go to the bar though and the moment passes.

Lucia Lee vs LA Taylor - SovPro Women’s Championship

The Killective make their presence felt again though, still recovering from his match, Kelly Sixx returns to the back. Bullit remains at ringside though and immediately distracts Lee allowing the champion Taylor to attack.

She almost finishes the match off early with a sidewalk slam and remains in control, twisting Lee’s neck and following up whips into the corner with running elbow strikes.

Lee would fight back somewhat and earn a near fall of her own from a shining wizard and another following a gut wrench suplex. Her determination won her a lot of crowd support, but LA Taylor was too powerful and clinched victory with a choke powerbomb.

Bullit comes into the ring and intimidates Lucia. LA Taylor drags her back to the middle and they look like their planning to inflict further damage.

But Harley Hudson and Joey Hayes come from the back to make the save. Satisfied with their work, The Killective leave, but that story is just beginning.

Man Like Dereiss vs Tallon Jnr - Commonwealth Title Match Qualifier

I said that this whole card was strong, but if there was one match that I was most looking forward to it was Dereiss against Tallon Jnr, a talented luchador I saw at ICW Fear and Loathing a couple of years ago.

This match was for the final spot in the Commonwealth title match. Dereiss is the bigger of the two men and takes the early exchanges, but Tallon is fast and if you see one clip from the show, try and make it his rope-walk rope-bounce wrist-flip, which is genuinely something I’d never seen before.

Dereiss is back in charge though and, after the 0-1-2-1 stomps, he hit a big suplex for a two count. He tries the suplex again but this time Tallon reverses it into a snap suplex of his own.

He followed that up with a running forearm and then a Michoku driver for a near fall. That would prove the beginning of the end though, as Dereiss ducked under a kick, and then nipped up into a driver.

He hit a powerbomb and then a sit out powerbomb for the three count.

The pair shook hands and Tallon indicated for him to go and win that title. So, it will be both Dereiss and Leon Slater representing the “0121” against each other, Kelly Sixx and Ninja Mack.

HT Drake vs Alton ‘King Freak’ Thorne - Rory Coyle’s Video Nasty Casting Tapes Match

Rory Coyle and HT Drake come to the ring together and Coyle takes the microphone, he provides a commentary on the whole upcoming match, but first he bemoans RP Davies for not being there to face him today.

He says he’s been looking at the tapes submitted for today’s challenge and one man stood out above the others, his audition goes to ‘King Freak’ Alton Thorne.

Coyle slides a pair of Kendo sticks into the ring, though they both have one, Thorne decides to offer himself up an allows Drake to hit him until the sticks break.

Next come the chairs, and here is where Thorne decides to fight back. Having levelled Drake with the chair, Thorne asks Coyle to pass him “the bag”. Even Coyle thinks the contents of the bag is a bit much, as it’s stinging nettles, but Thorne, showing how crazy he is, takes a big bite.

Drake uses a school crossing sign to regain control, then having seemingly run out of weapons, Coyle runs to the back and returns with literally the kitchen sink. After some fighting over that, Drake catches Thorne sat on the top turnbuckle, then puts a bin over his head.

With him incapacitated, Drake then hits a coast-to-coast springboard dropkick on him. Coyle brings in a table and Drake positions Thorne on it, but he’s slow climbing the ropes and Thorne rubs a handful of nettles in his face and the biels him through the table.

Coyle is loving every moment of this and slides a door into the ring, which is set up in the corner, he’s not prepared to see his first protégé lose though, so then climbs on the apron and smacks Thorne in the head with a video tape.

Drake then drives him through the table (with an enormously satisfying popping sound) and pins him. He wasn’t successful, but Coyle is mighty impressed with what he’s seen and adds King Freak to his SNUF collective.

Ian Skinner comes to the ring and bemoans his position in the company. He’s here, even though he’s not booked for a match and Simon Miller, who was just handed a title match isn’t.

Miller is here though and comes to the ring offering to fight Skinner tonight, if that’s what he wants. It’s a set up though, and Skinner has aligned himself with Big T Justice, who sidles into the ring and flattens Miller.

Skinner hits a running knee strike and then the pair leave, point made.

Sam Gradwell vs Nathan Cruz vs Will Kroos - SovPro Championship Number One Contender Match

The opening patten of the match saw Gradwell and Cruz identify Kroos as the threat, so worked together to remove him and then fight each other. Kroos would recover though and return to make his gargantuan presence felt at regular intervals.

The most devastating of these was when, with Gradwell on his back applying a sleeper hold, Kroos would hit a rolling splash into the corner, where a prone Cruz could only watch in horror.

They would both feel the pain of Kroos’ mass a second time, when he broke up Gradwell’s pin attempt, following a splash off the top onto Cruz, with a senton.

Cruz’s life would flash before his eyes again as, with Gradwell on his back, Kroos would look for the corner roll once more, but this time he reacted quickly and moved to a drop-toe-hold.

With both down, he’d try a crossface on both opponents simultaneously, but they managed to escape before tapping out. Gradwell tries to lift Kroos into a slam, but he can’t manage it.

Kroos powerbombs Gradwell onto Cruz but can only get a two count. Gradwell powers up one more time and manages to slam Kroos. He then lifts him onto his back and hits a driver and wins the match.

He will now face Joseph Conners, for the SovPro heavyweight title on the June show.

Given some of the issues that I understand SovPro had with their previous shows, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from this. I knew the matches would be good because of the talent in them but everything surround that was professional and even things like clearing the ring of chocolate, or stinging nettles, was done quickly.

There was a friendly welcoming atmosphere and, something important in this day and age, the ticket was real value for money too. I enjoyed it a lot and I’ll certain try and come again next time.

REVIEW: Sovereign Pro Wrestling - Warpath

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