Maddog’s February Newsletter

Hello wrestling fans!

It was an exciting February for the Maddog in the world of professional wrestling! The month started off with a bang with TNT Ignition on Saturday 3rd February. The family friendly show in Liverpool showcased some of the best the North West has to offer and also featured the Ignition Rumble, including stars such as Harley Hudson and the recently retired Declan McCarthy. The match also saw the debut of two of the hottest young prospects in the UK the Betrayed Brandon Lee and the star of the Nathan Angel 2024 calendar Nathan Angel. This guy could give Love Island's Adam Maxted a run for his money! The Ignition Rumble was won by MVK who earned himself a Championship opportunity, which he would cash in the next day at All Eyes on Me. All the TNT Extreme Wrestling shows over the weekend were streamed live on Demand PROGRESS plus, big shout out to the legendary Ant the Editor for his mad streaming skills!

The most prestigious deathmatch wrestling tournament in Europe took place on the Saturday evening as 8 competitors put their careers on the line in some of the most brutal matches imaginable. This years matches included a carpet grips, pins and needles match, a fans bring the weapons match and a barbed wire madness match. Eight of the toughest in the world battled it out with Tommbie the Deathmatch Slasher and Main Event Empress Emersyn Jayne fighting it out in the final. In a match which even saw a medieval stocks used as a weapon Emersyn Jayne emerged victorious and became the first woman to win a major international deathmatch tournament.

Following on from DOA we returned on Sunday 4th February with All Eyes on Me, the main event featured the cash in by MVK who managed to successfully wrestle away the Championship from RPD who has been a brilliant champion over the last year facing all challengers who stepped in his path. A disturbing change of heart seems to have come over MVK, who after lifting the Ignition Championship turned on his long time tag partner Jimmy Jackson. These two are now set to clash on 6th April at Fusion in Liverpool!

The 10th year of TNT celebrations truly started on the Sunday night as the 9th ever Merseyside Massacre event took place in Hangar 34 (the event didn't take place in 2021 due to lockdown). In an amazing opening bout the legendary Yoshihiko defeated the Wolverhampton legend MAO, Jordan Oliver and Leon Slater, in a match you have to see to believe! Emersyn Jayne picked up another victory in a deathmatch, following on from her DOA win AND picking up the Women's Tag Team belts with Rhio from Scouse and Proud earlier in the day. Lizzy Evo did get some revenge defeating Rhio to keep her TNT Women's championship, preventing the Apex Belt Collector adding to her already impressive collection including the PROGRESS and ICW Women's titles. In the main event Tate Mayfairs once again proved why he is the most hated man in Liverpool by earning a referee stoppage win over Joseph Connors after using ring apparatus to strangle and eventually hang his opponent in horrific fashion, leaving Connors, himself a former TNT champion requiring medical assistance. The TNT Tag Team belts also switched hands on the Sunday as La Rebellion Mecha Wolf and Bestia 666 returned to Liverpool to face Lykos Gym, an all out tag team war culminated with Kid Lykos and the problem Lykos 2 as the new champions,

My busy month continued with a debut in Halesowen at AWW (Alternative Wrestling World) as ring announcer, the company boasts its own training school and has a brilliant venue at the Halesowen Town Hall, The roster is comprised of the students from the wrestling academy and they also bring in other wrestlers from further afield. I was very impressed by the standard of wrestlers on the roster with Jesse Dynamite, Troy Jones and Brocko Black all putting in solid performances. The Smiler is another character to watch out for on their roster, the rather nefarious gentleman seems to cause chaos constantly at AWW. The match between Alfiee and Aluna was also competed to a very high standard although the use of a somewhat demonic care bear named DeeDee led many in the audience to suggest a trip to Build a Bear was necessary before Alfiee's next visit to the Midlands! The next show at Halesowen is Full Force on 9th March.

The very same week I was back in the Midlands in Dudley making a return to announcing at All Star Wrestling, continuing on the traditions of putting on the best family friendly shows in some of the most prestigious venues around the UK. All Star is now headed by Joseph Allmark, the grandson of legendary Brian Dixon who sadly passed away last year. The promotion shows no sign of slowing down as its sold out half term tour stretched all around the UK with a roster of some of the absolute best Britain has to offer including Oliver Grey, Tony Spitfire, Charlie Sterling and Jack Starz. The main event on this occasion was an over the top rumble, which was won by Oliver Grey to a huge standing ovation! All Star are next in action at Hull City Hall on 23rd March, make sure to get your tickets now! On the Sunday I was also lucky enough to be invited to Sov Pro Wrestling in Manchester where crazily enough Coronation Street former star Les Battersby was making his debut alongside the LBWO (Les Battersby World Order). Another fun show from Shotty and his team, one of the highlights being a brawl all around the bleachers between Gradwell and Brady Phillips.

Continuing on with my GM duties at TIDAL Wrestling I then headed to a SOLD OUT New Cross Inn in London for the awesome Goblins and Golems 2. This was a very special show for owner Taj who had previously lived in South London, and also gave us a great opportunity to see some different talent compete who we hadn't previously seen in the Parish up in Huddersfield. One such competitor was Bauer, the huge Belgian had a brilliant outing and brought along his own noisy fan club from all over Europe! This show also marked the start of the inaugural Iron Will Tournament, eight of the toughest competitors faced off with Artemis, Vusyk, Smashing Mike and Man Like DeReiss progressing to the tournament final on 17th March, a four way iron man match. A real David and Goliath match also took place with rising star Adonis Payne taking on the number one super heavyweight in the UK Bullit. On this occasion Bullit got the better of the young man but Adonis showed enough heart to earn a handshake from the one man armoury. Bullit then chokeslammed Adonis again for good measure, it seems we may not have seen the end between these two after all. Finally the TIDAL Championship was on the line as Scotty Rawk defended his title against the dangerous Dara Diablo, in a match which ended up on the streets of London! Scotty retained his championship with the Devlin Driver and afterwards declared he will take on all comers being a fighting champion. One such competitor has come to mind so I will be making the necessary calls this week. Ian Skinner has also messaged me, and also contacted me on social media requesting an opportunity, I'm not sure a title match is on the cards for him quite yet but I've got a great idea for him at some point down the line in 2024.

PROGRESS Wrestling had its own very special show on 26th February as the Men's World Championship was defended inside a steel cage. The vultures den as it had become known during Spike Trivets reign was the home for one of the greatest spectacles in PROGRESS history as Kid Lykos finally achieved his dream and dethroned the Sovereign Lord. The crowd in Electric Ballroom for Twisted Metal where ecstatic and crowded round the cage for the final moments of the match reminiscent of cage matches from the 80's. The show also featured the tag team titles changing hands as Smokin' Aces Charlie Sterling and Nick Riley were defeated in an impromptu match by the Cheeky Little Buggers Alexxis Falcon and Charles Crowley! It was also a personal honour to welcome a special guest to the show as legendary Japanese wrestler Meiko Satomura was in attendance in Camden Town. With new champions and exciting shows to come in March and a show in the States in early April, it is a busy few months for the PROGRESS team. Keep an eye on all the action on Demand PROGRESS Plus, trial streaming of live events is currently taking place so make sure to watch out for Diamond Dust on the 7th March. I will have more information about For the Love of PROGRESS and the For the Love of Wrestling convention in a special blog later this month.

February was a very fun month in professional wrestling, but as March begins there is a lot of excitement to come including Hammerstone making his PROGRESS debut, some huge stars descending on Manchester for FTLOW including Matt Riddle, Nic Nemeth and Mandy Sacs. And also Masato Tanaka appearing at the Dome Tufnell Park on 7th March!

Plus don't forget the final of the Iron Will Tournament and unveiling of the Iron Will belt will take place in Huddersfield at the Parish on 17th March!

I'll be back next month, as always if you see me at a show make sure to say hi, and drop me a message or email anytime with any questions, I'll do my best to get back in touch!

Cheers. Maddog