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XWA WAR ON THE SHORE IV: THE ANNIVERSARY SHOW

Saturday April 12 2008, The Dome, Morecambe

After one of the most thrilling and controversial British Heavyweight Championship matches in history rounded off a night of celebration for all XWA fans, wrestlers and staff, a face from the past gatecrashed and ruined the party, leaving everyone in a state of shock, horror, anger and with thoughts of violent retribution…

War On The Shore IV: The Anniversary Show began with XWA owner Greg Lambert reminding everyone that tonight was the first anniversary of the XWA, the 25th show in the Morecambe area, and the fifth anniversary of the FWA/XWA coming to The Dome. And as such, it was a night to party!

The Kartel v The Manchester Massive

The opening match of War On The Shore was a North v South tag match pitting the debuting East London duo of The Kartel – Terry Frazier and Sha Samuels – against the popular chavs Declan O’Connor and Joey Hayes, who emerged proudly carrying his newly-won Best of the North West Cup.

Frazier and Samuels, sporting his ever-present flat cap, did everything possible to rile up the Dome crowd, who were firmly behind O’Connor and Hayes during this matchup. Despite some dastardly tactics from The Kartel, The Massive looked well on the way to a victory that would extend their recent excellent form, until disaster struck.

Declan collapsed in a heap after executing what appeared to be a simple leapfrog, his knee having apparently blown out on landing. Then when a distracted Joey took his eyes off The Kartel to show concern for his fallen partner, the opportunistic Londoners blasted Hayes with their Winning Combination finisher, and scored the three count.

After the match Hayes and officials helped the limping Declan away from the ring. With O’Connor clearly in considerable pain, this was not the start to The Anniversary Show the Morecambe fans had hoped for.

Winners: The Kartel

‘The Heavyweight House of Pain’ Stixx v Zak Zodiac

Now here was an unfamiliar experience…Stixx emerging to the sound of rapturous applause and cheers. The former rulebreaking ‘hired gun’ had the fans firmly in his corner against the cowardly Zodiac, thanks to his actions at Goldrush when he had planted the hated Stevie Knight on his head with a piledriver.

WAW’s masked man spent the early going doing everything possible to avoid locking up with Stixx, but when ‘The Heavyweight House of Pain’ finally caught up with Zak, his immense power was demonstrated by one Irish whip into the turnbuckle that snapped the middle rope and left the ring looking like a bomb had hit it! As officials frantically sought to make repairs, Zodiac decided to ignore the absence of the middle rope and climbed to the top one anyway. Such an ill-advised move was always going to end in tears for Zak, and indeed Stixx easily evaded his flying drop kick, then annihilated the teenage tearaway with a Black Hole Slam for the comfortable one-two-three.

Winner: Stixx

Following his impressive win, Stixx – usually a silent assassin who had previously allowed others to do his talking for him - took the microphone and shocked the Dome with an eloquent and confident speech. The ‘Sheriff of Nottingham’ said he no longer wanted to be seen as a henchman who stood behind the likes of former paymasters and cohorts Alex Shane, Dean Ayass, Martin Stone and Stevie Knight, but from now on would be much his own man. He paid tribute to The Dome as “British Wrestling’s greatest venue” and a place where he had experienced his greatest achievements in the past. Finally, Stixx promised that as the guest ringside enforcer for tonight’s British Heavyweight Title main event, if anyone tried to stick their nose in and interfere, he would slap said nose right off their face!

Sam Slam v ‘The Psychotic Warrior’ Johnny Phere – no disqualification

Stixx was interrupted by the music of Sam Slam – someone who might well have been considering “sticking his nose” in the main event to get his hands on sworn nemesis Stevie Knight. ‘The People’s Champion’ entered the ring with focussed intent and the two behemoths stood face-to-face, neither giving an inch. At Greg Lambert’s behest, Stixx was persuaded to leave, only for Johnny Phere to emerge and also get in the face of ‘The Heavyweight House of Pain’. The psycho told Stixx in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to interfere in tonight’s main event to attack his bitter rival Jonny Storm, then he would do just that!

With matters threatening to boil over, Greg Lambert diverted Phere’s attention by announcing the referee for tonight’s No DQ rematch – none other than Ashley Steel. As Stixx calmly walked backstage, ‘The Psychotic Warrior’ immediately threw a wobbly and as usual, began moaning about conspiracies against him – after all, Steel was on the receiving end of a brutal assault by Phere after their match at the previous XWA show, Best of the North West. But Lambert, suppressing a wry grin, was adamant there was no conspiracy and the versatile Steel, who has refereed in the XWA before, was a licensed and perfectly legitimate official.

Still grumbling, Johnny was off his game in the early going as Slam dominated. Phere regained the advantage after kicking Sam low to avoid losing a Test of Strength, then took the fight outside the ring. Fans scattered, running for cover as the two intense warriors took turns hurling each other into the steel post, before Sam effortlessly body slammed Phere, right on the wooden floor!

Back inside the ring, Phere was on the receiving end of a hefty clothesline, a press slam into a stomachbreaker and a spear that nearly cleaved him in two. Somehow, the madman summoned up the energy to catch an onrushing Sam and deliver one of the most convincing Ram Slams of his career. It looked as though Phere would repeat his victory over the fans’ hero from last September’s Battle of Britain tournament final, but no! Sam kicked out at the last possible moment.

Frustrated beyond belief, Phere slid to the outside and returned carrying the same weapon he had used to defeat Sam last year, a wooden table! ‘The Psychotic Warrior’ propped the furniture up in the corner, then trapped Sam in the opposite corner and whaled away with vicious blows. Slam looked done for, but with one final burst of superhuman strength he picked Phere up onto his shoulders, carried him halfway across the ring and hurled him through the table, sending Johnny crashing to oblivion with an impact that rocked The Dome. The three count was academic. To a berserk crowd reaction, Sam Slam had avenged his only pinfall defeat in the XWA.

After the match Ashley Steel, who had done himself credit by refereeing without bias, could barely hide his smirk as he stood over the fallen Phere. Eventually the lunatic, without any help from XWA officials, hauled himself to his feet, clutching his agonised lower back, and staggered to the dressing room, all the time swearing that this wouldn’t be the last Greg Lambert and the XWA supporters would see of him tonight.

Winner: Sam Slam

‘The UK Luchador’ El Ligero v Spud for the British Flyweight Title

The Dome was still buzzing from the spectacular ending to the No DQ match as Greg Lambert apologised for some technical difficulties with the arena lighting, which he hoped hadn’t spoiled the first-half for the fans and were hopefully now fixed. Then, it was time for the long-anticipated one-on-one match between the UK’s two leading and most beloved Flyweight stars, El Ligero and Spud. And what a match it was!

The bout began fairly, with both men trying to outdo each other within the laws of the game. High-flying dives, reversals, fluid and fast chain wrestling sequences…it was all on show as both competitors pulled out all the stops. The fans clearly appreciated the intense combat, as duelling chants of “EL LIGERO!” followed by “SPUD, SPUD, SPUD, SPUD!” echoed around The Dome…although it was noticeable the shouts for the masked Mexican champion were the louder.

Perhaps ticked off by this, Spud’s demeanour became more mean and desperate throughout the battle, to the point that it appeared he had the edge and would finally win the British Flyweight Title that has always eluded him. As the bout zoomed past the 20-minute mark, the Brummie battler moved out of the way of a top rope flying splash, hit a bulldog headlock, then smartly evaded ‘El Campeon’s patented C4L to deliver his own Spud-e-llite DDT finisher…but Ligero kicked out! ‘The Pocket Dynamo’ sat on the canvas, pulling at his big blonde mane of hair in anger, face twisted into disbelief and fury at himself for not finishing the job.

Ligero was still down on the mat, barely conscious, as Spud stood over him. The blonde rocker tried to haul the luchador to his feet, but Ligero was rubber-legged and could barely stand. The fans gasped in anticipation…surely Spud’s time had come? But the Dynamo suddenly had a crisis of faith.

Clearly struggling to believe in his own ability to win the title using skill, he slid to the outside and grabbed the British Flyweight Championship belt, returning intending to use it to cave Ligero’s skull in two. “No, Spud!” yelled Lambert and the fans, not wanting to see the diminutive star’s desire to become champion overwhelm his previous good character. Indeed, Spud had second thoughts, the moment of madness passed as he dropped the belt and strode over to try to finish off Ligero cleanly and fairly. But as the Spudster bent over his fallen adversary, the hooded hero hooked his neck and rolled him up into the tightest small package Morecambe has ever seen. One-two-three!

“THAT WAS AWESOME!” chanted The Dome-ites as Ligero hauled himself upright, as Spud looked on the verge of tears at once again blowing an opportunity to become British Flyweight Champion. But to a spine-tingling ovation, the Midlander found it within himself to shake Ligero’s hand…only to race back into the ring, seize the microphone from Greg Lambert and challenge the Los Sancho flyer to a title rematch at XWA Vendetta on July 5, only this time under the rules of Last Man Standing. Judging by their reaction, the Morecambe fans clearly liked the idea of seeing El Ligero and Spud go at it at Vendetta, one more time!

Winner and still British Flyweight Champion: El Ligero

Dirk Feelgood v ‘Dangerous’ Damon Leigh

It was now time for fans to get their breaths back and enjoy the fifth anniversary of the Biggest Cult Experience in British Wrestling, The Morecambe Raffle! And with original host ‘Hardcore’ John Atkins and current incumbent Dirk Feelgood at the helm, and with five prizes on offer to mark the fifth anniversary show, this was perhaps the greatest Morecambe Raffle ever…especially with Dirk using every opportunity to take verbal pot-shots and poke fun at his enemy ‘Dangerous’ Damon Leigh.

Clearly DDL had been seething in the back listening to Dirk’s humiliating words delivered with typical razor-sharp wit, because as soon as The Raffle was over the ice-cold technician charged to the ring, with referee Richard Young in tow, and blindsided ‘The Monk of Funk’. Their match was on and DDL – remembering how ‘The Altar Boy of Sexual Joy’ had embarrassed him at Best of the North West last month - looked hell-bent on causing Feelgood to feel bad through some painful submission holds. But Dirk refused to give in, and mounted a spirited comeback with a soaring top rope clothesline and his patented two-rope Stinger Splash.

Dirk set up for a superkick, but Damon blocked it, slammed Feelgood hard on his back and grabbed his leg. The fans gasped in horror, they knew the lethal STF was coming…but suddenly Leigh released his grip and grabbed John Atkins, who had remained at ringside to cheer Dirk on. The dastardly Leigh dragged the helpless ring announcer and author into the ring, and was halfway through applying the STF that would surely have crippled the mild-mannered Mr Atkins when Feelgood managed to recover and hook DDL’s arms in a backslide that not only broke the hold on ‘Hardcore’ John but also lowered Leigh to the canvas for a shocking three count.

As Dirk and the bedraggled Mr Atkins celebrated with the fans, Damon Leigh was beside himself with rage. In the heat of the moment, he bitterly spat out that if he can’t beat a joke like Dirk Feelgood, then he doesn’t want to wrestle any more. And with crowd chants of “LOSER!” ringing in his ears, the Dangerous One stormed off.

Winner: Dirk Feelgood

MAIN EVENT – ‘The Wonderkid’ Jonny Storm v ‘Mr Deal or No Deal’ Stevie Knight for the British Heavyweight Title

“IF KNIGHT WINS, WE STORM.”

This sign, held up by one member of the audience, was a reminder of what happened when Stevie Knight cheated his way to winning the Goldrush on the last show at The Dome and the outraged fans responded by causing a riot. But at War On The Shore, Greg Lambert had promised there would be no such climax to the show. The despised Knight would indeed receive his promised British Title match with Jonny Storm, but with Stixx patrolling the Dome as ringside enforcer and second appointed official, there would be a clean and decisive winner, no controversy, and that justice would be done.

After the motormouthed ‘Shining Light’ spent an eternity boasting on the microphone about his past achievements in Morecambe and vowed to become British Heavyweight Champion just to rub it in everyone’s face, he attacked Storm from behind and the match was on. ‘Mr Deal or No Deal’ and ‘The Wonderkid’ soon ended up brawling at ringside, around the Dome, and even disappeared backstage. For a few moments, nobody knew if they would return. Then the champion re-emerged, claiming Knight had chickened out and disappeared. Richard Young began to count Stevie out, but the cunning veteran was again just stalling for time and raced back to ringside to beat the count at eight.

Such was his desperation to become champion, Knight tried every trick in the book. He grabbed Greg Lambert’s chair from ringside and tried to use it on Jonny, but Stixx did his job and snatched it off him. Then when ‘The Grimsby Gob’ had Storm’s shoulders down using his feet on the ropes for extra leverage, the ringside enforcer shoved them off and broke up the illegal pinfall. To say Stevie looked furious at Stixx’s intervention was an understatement.

The fight increased in intensity, with Stevie even pulling out moves he’d never done before, such as an attempted ‘Cactus Jack’ elbowdrop from the ring apron to the floor. But ‘The Wonderkid’ dodged, sending Knight crashing hard to the solid and unforgiving surface. Badly winded, the veteran looked ripe for the pickings as he lurched back into the ring, but then suddenly Johnny Phere appeared on the stage. Holding his injured back with one hand, ‘The Psychotic Warrior’ pointed at Jonny Storm with the other, making it clear he had come for ‘his title’. But the deluded dangerman thought better of tangling with Stixx, who blocked his path to the ring, and XWA officials were able to surround and subdue the weakened Phere, who kicked, screamed and struggled as he was dragged back behind the curtains.

Ever the opportunist, Stevie Knight took advantage of the distraction caused by Phere to engineer his big moment to cheat his way to victory. Richard Young was ‘accidentally’ sent flying, so Stixx climbed up on the ring apron. Knight swiftly sent Jonny Storm crashing into ‘The Heavyweight House of Pain’, then produced some white powder from his trunks and flung it into ‘The Wonderkid’s eyes before rolling him up. Young regained his bearings in time to make the count. One-two-three. New champ! NEW CHAMP? As Knight’s music played, the XWA fans were stunned. They were in disbelief. And they were angry. Was Stevie Knight – the man they hated most of all - really the new British Heavyweight Champion? Had he got away with murder, yet again?

Not this time. Unlike at Goldrush, Greg Lambert had seen what had happened. And the evidence of Knight’s dastardly deeds – a vast spread of white powder - were all over the canvas for Stixx and Richard Young to see. As Knight demanded his title belt, ‘Youngy’ realised he couldn’t allow an injustice for the second Dome show running. With a little persuasion from Stixx, Lambert and the fans, he reversed the decision and restarted the match. Livid, Stevie flattened the ref with a right-hand punch and shoved Stixx. Big mistake. The ringside enforcer clotheslined ‘Mr Deal or No Deal’ out of his boots and when Stevie tottered back to a vertical base, Jonny Storm was there to meet him with a superkick – or Wonderkick - square in the mush.

Stixx counted three, the bell rang, and the entire Morecambe Dome exploded in celebration.

Then the lights went out.