The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 16 - Conquer (Review)

Wow. I laid off previewing The Walking Dead for the past few episodes because of work etc, but I feel as though I'd be doing myself an injustice if I didn't write even a small review of the season finale. Don't expect in depth analysis of everything that happened in the episode, just a roundup of biggest scenes, my thoughts on them, and then I may even make a case for why season five has been, hands down, the best yet of The Walking Dead.

ICW: Barramania & Wrestlemania Review

So myself and Danny boy decided on Sunday prior to Barramania that we would record a wee audio review of both Manias. It was more of a chance for me to test my new mic, so as the saying goes, two birds. We recorded this yesterday, and it's basically us talking about the wrestling for a solid hour and a half. Listen to it if you dare. I think it's no bad for a first attempt, and where I'll get back to writing the ICW stuff regularly, I may start doing audio reviews of WWE shows. With all that being said, give it a listen, give me some feedback. Aye. Enjoy.

ICW: Barramania Preview

Jesus is that the time? It seems like just yesterday I was reviewing the Square Go and pondering what would happen when ICW returned to the Barras in March. I've been drifting in and out of obscurity since then, mainly due to the fact I now have a steady job (I know, what a fuckin dick, eh?) and that's been keeping me busy for a couple of months. A few things have happened in my absence... Drew Galloway has won more belts across the globe, Red Lightning has made good on his promise to make cunts' lives miserable, and Chris Renfrew has lost his fucking mind entirely. With all that being said, here's the matches we know we're looking forward to this Sunday, within the confines of the sold out Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow.

ICW.

BARRAS.

THE RETURN.

The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 13 - Forget (Preview)

I'll admit it, I was waaaay off with my preview of last week's episode, but I enjoyed writing it. So much so, that I'm doing another one. Plus, last week's preview done absolute wonders for exposure of the site in general, and I'm not above clickbait. I know, I'm Satan's spawn. Sue me. Anyway, let us talk The Walking Dead, and what's to be expected from tonight's episode, which is called "Forget". Like last week, I'll tell you the synopsis given for the new episode before going on to discuss what I think we may be in store for tonight. Simple enough, here's what AMC has given us to work with... 

"Rick and the group continue to acclimate to their new surroundings. Will they be able to go back to normalcy? Better yet, what is normal now?"

Here are my thoughts...

The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 12 - Remember (Preview)

So this is new. Maybe it's because I've found myself at a loose end in terms of things to write wrestling wise. Inspiration normally crops up around the time of ICW shows and WWE PPVs, so later this month will be productive. For now though, I'm going to do a preview of The Walking Dead, which airs episode 12 of it's season 5 later on tonight. The episode is called Remember and the description of the episode is as follows:

"Molding into a new lifestyle is proving difficult to the group. Has life on the road proven too treacherous to go back to who they once were?"

Here are some of my thoughts on what we can expect from tonight's episode.

NXT Review 25/2/15

I like to think that the "NXT!" chants start about an hour before the camera starts rolling, and every single fan just monotonously shouts it without any breaks until the music of the first guy in the first match hits. Just a thought. It's a shame that in the "bigger picture" (or perhaps the narrower picture, given your taste) the fans that pack out NXT Arena are simply known as a big bunch of smart marks. That's not the case. Well, it is kinda, but that's not the point. They're actually passionate about the product they see, and that's because the product they see is the best on the fucking planet. All respect to ICW and that, they're heading in that direction, but the pool of talent in NXT is the absolute cream of the crop. Every week they deliver and make people want to tune in the following show. Each and every fan that goes to Full Sail University to see NXT are emotionally invested in the wrestling matches they're paying to witness, and that's quite lovely, considering you can hear a pin drop for 80% of the main shows. This didn't fill the weekly one hour time allotment, had only 5 matches and was still better than RAW on Monday, which is pretty tragic. I live in hope that Vince will one day watch NXT properly and come to the realization that "maybe it IS me that's out of touch." Pigs will fly when that day comes, so for now let's review some cracking wrestling. Yes, let's.

ICW: International Superstar Wrestling Deluxe Preview

The second stop on the Insane Entertainment System Tour is a wee trip to the nation's capital. Truth be told, this is probably the most gutted I've been about missing an ICW show, because see every match on the card? They make me want to squeal like a pig. Too much brawness for one show, it'll be bloody delightful. I won't waste time doing a pure long intro, so here's some of the quick details. This is at the City Nightclub in Edinburgh, be there for 7 sharpish, tickets are still available (I think, dinny shoot me if I'm wrong). If you have the means to be at this show and you've been mulling over the idea of going - dae it. If you've decided not to go and reading this right now - don't be daft, and dae it. Aye, Edinburgh. This will be a cracker. Lets get on with the matches.

A Chat With David Bateman

Really quite excited about this one troops. This is an interview with David Bateman, a journalist and former editor of a wrestling and MMA magazine, who has taken it upon himself to delve into the deep history of Scottish professional wrestling. Not only that, going the extra mile and writing a fucking book about it. Going back as far as the very early centuries all the way up to the current wave that is taking the world by storm, there's no doubt that this will be a great read for wrestling fans of all ages. I don't want to babble on here, so I'm going to pass you all over to David to tell you a bit more about the project, how he first became a fan of professional wrestling, and how you can contribute through the kickstarter page that has been set up. Appropriate links will follow, but for now, enjoy his words...

TNA Lockdown Review 6/2/15

Your eyes do not deceive you people. This is a TNA review. This past Friday night saw TNA Lockdown make it's first ever appearance on free television, as was stated several times throughout the night. It's a traditional TNA PPV, but no more! I've been doing my best to keep up to date with TNA but it gets lost in the shuffle sometimes, which is a bit sad. Lockdown is a personal favorite of mines though, so I made a decision to get it watched and get it reviewed. Easy enough. Every match is a Six Sides of Steel match, which means the entire show will be organised carnage... so what the fuck are we waiting for?

A Chat With Emily Hayden

Been a wee while since I last done an interview on here so I decided to rectify that as soon as possible. Now, like the old saying about buses goes - wait all day for one, then two come at the same time. I can use that here... well, kinda... only it's about interviews with folk, and there will be THREE coming your way. Starting off with this one right here. Emily Hayden is another fresh talent coming up just now in the Scottish wrestling scene. Coming out of the PBW Academy, she's made appearances for ICW, BCW and recently made her full roster debut for her home promotion PBW, after appearing on the Academy shows. I asked her a few questions about how she got started in wrestling, who she looks up to in the business, and the benefits of having some of the elite performers in Britain as her trainers. Now that the pleasantries are out the way, here's an interview. Enjoy!

NXT Takeover: Rival Preview

These are quick becoming some of the most anticipated shows in WWE today. Takeover. The crowning jewels of NXT, where the troops in Florida get to go out for a two hour live show on the Network and tear it up. The last event, R Evolution, ended with the betrayal of Kevin Owens against his long time friend and newly crowned NXT Champion, Sami Zayn. It's been building since then, but it was made official a few weeks ago that Zayn and Owens would meet one on one here for the NXT Championship. We'll get to that later though, because there's a full card of excellence to run through before we get to the main event.

Prime Suspects - Who Wants Whiplash?

Someone is out for Mikey Whiplash. If you were at the Square Go or have watched it On Demand since, you'll see that one of the favorites to win the match in Whippy was eliminated after being distracted by a video playing a few seconds of his "Gradomania is Dead" promo. I won't lie, witnessing it first hand, I was feart. I think everyone in the room was feart. None more so, apparently, than Whiplash himself, who was distracted enough to allow Lewis Girvan to dump him over the top rope. As you might have gathered from the very well thought out title, I'm going to be running down some of the guys who I think were behind playing that video, and who Mikey Whiplash may need to be taking on somewhere down the line. Since his epic return at Fear & Loathing 7, joining the Sumerian Death Squad to form the group known as Legion, Whiplash has been on a roll. Picking up wins over Darkside and 2015 SQUARE GO WINNER DICKIE DIVERS, as well as the NAK as a whole on the night of that return. He's been a new prospect, he's in the wrestling and physical shape of his career, and was looking to get back into the Heavyweight Title picture. Already, this has got the ICW fans intrigued, and why shouldn't it? Here's but a few of the possible people who may be baying for the blood of Whiplash... Including prices, because I love writing up odds for stuff.

ICW: 4th Annual Square Go Review

First show of the year aye? How to make as big an impact as possible? How to set the tone for what could be the, no, WILL be the biggest year in ICW history? The answers lay within the 4th Annual Square Go event. Those answers were pretty neat indeed. As we entered the ABC, there was a sight to behold. Suspending high above the ring, engulfing the disco ball, was the steel cage that would play host to one of the most personal and highly anticipated matches in British wrestling history. BT Gunn and Wolfgang's destination was set to go, but they would have to wait a wee while to get in and down to business. Who would go on to win the Square Go, and have a contract for a heavyweight title match at any time of their choosing? We would have to wait until the top of the show to find that out. Who would come out victorious in the biggest match of Chris Renfrew's career, when he cashes in the 2014 Square Go contract against Drew Galloway? We'll get to that in just a bit. First up was the Square Go tradition. The Iron Man match. Joe Coffey has embodied the title of being ICW's Iron Man, and threw out an open challenge to anyone in the world of wrestling to answer it. The time for the challenger to make himself known was now...

4th Annual Square Go - The Odds

Seeing as I tend to enjoy a flutter every now and again, I thought it would be fun to draw up some odds for the ICW Square Go on the 25th. The odds will be compiled based on how good a year each wrestler had in 2014, championship reigns, big match wins, all the important stuff really! As I said, it is just a bit of fun, but if you want to take advantage of some cracking prices, you can give me a mail and I can organize it for ye, although there's literally 0 chance of you being paid out if your bet wins. So I can't stress enough - FUN ONLY, DO NOT TRY AND GIVE ME YER MONEY. I won't take future title shots into account (Joe Coffey in particular) and it'll be split into "Favorites" and "Best of the rest" because there's no such thing as having an outsider's chance in this match. The "Surprise entrant" odds are the chances I think of them making an appearance in the match, not of winning it.

ICW: Square Go Preview

At the time of writing this, we're now just shy of a fortnight from ICW's first show of the year - the fourth annual Square Go. ICW's take on the Royal Rumble, only it isn't predictable every single year. Just look at last year's Square Go for example. Grado seemed to overcome all the odds, when eliminating Chris Renfrew and seemingly winning the Square Go match itself. Everyone exploded, it was probably the best moment in Grado's career... for all of about ten seconds. With the officials preoccupied with making sure Wolfgang and BT Gunn were alright on the floor, they missed Grado throwing Renfrew over the top rope, and when he realized that for himself, Renfrew slid back in and sent Grado over, being called the official winner of the match. An iconic moment for ICW in itself, it is only fitting that it should directly affect this year's event, with Renfrew's Square Go contract being cashed in exactly one year after his famous victory - the night that the contract expires - against Drew Galloway. On top of that match being set in stone, we have ICW's first ever Steel Cage match between bitter enemies BT Gunn and Wolfgang, as well as the Square Go match itself, which will determine the next man (or woman) who will have the luxury of lying in wait with a title match at their disposal any time they want it.

NXT Review 8/1/15

Two from two in 2015... aren't I doing well? We were geared up for this week's NXT with the announcements that, this week, we would not only get Hideo Itami vs Curtis Axel, but the return of our new NXT Champion, Sami Zayn. Excellent stuff. Before we've even time to go get a nice cold beverage and a packet of Doritos, that all-too-familiar music started to echo through Full Sail University...

NXT Review 1/1/15

Trying to keep to my word by reviewing every NXT. This might be a wee bit late but it's been a hectic few days of lying in bed and watching a whole load of wrestling and other such combat sports, then being undeniably raging because I fucking hate Jon Jones. Prick. Anyway, here's a review of the New Year's Day episode of NXT. Happy New Year and aw that patter.