By Daniel Mejka

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Before the first match of the evening started, we were introduced to Marcus ‘The Glory’ Hunter’s security detail who had been hired to protect him from ‘Retro’ Randy Valentine for the duration of the show. The first two of four masked men we’d see throughout the evening safely guided Hunter to the commentary table while checking that Valentine was nowhere to be seen.

The FCW Junior Heavyweight Champion Taylor Bryden also joined the announce team and was less than impressed with the entourage.

FCW Tag Team Championship Eliminator – The Foundation of the Future (Zach Dynamite & Ryan Riley) defeated Fair City Saints (Alex Webb & Air Myles) by pinfall to advance.

This was my first time watching these two teams facing off against each other and it is safe to say that they lived up to the hype that had been built up around this match.

Naturally the Saints were the hometown favourites with us being in the Fair City itself but by the end of the match the Foundation of the Future had well and truly earned the respect of the FCW fans. After a back and forth opening came a bit of genius on the part of Alex Webb as he managed to manoeuvre the Foundation into position so that a neckbreaker he delivered to Ryan Riley caused him to DDT Zach Dynamite!

The Saints followed this up with some double team moves and Riley had to take to the outside to recover as the Saints got the upper hand early on.

Highlights of this match included a Dragon Suplex from Dynamite on Webb before Webb later got his revenge with a floating DDT while Dynamite was perched on the middle turnbuckle. Alex Webb was on fire at this point in the match and followed up with a combination of a running knee in the corner to Ryan Riley before hitting a Codebreaker and a Claymore to finally get him down but all that was only enough for two. The Foundation showed some great Tag Team tactics throughout the match that cut the ring in half and even cut the Saints off from the outside while trying to make tags in order to divide and conquer.

So much happened during this contest and it is one that cannot be done justice in a write up, the best way to get a feel for how good this was is to watch Empire as soon as it comes out every Friday at noon on FCW’s YouTube channel. After a titanic battle, Zach Dynamite pinned Alex Webb after a double team Wheelbarrow DDT to advance the Foundation of the Future into the Main Event to crown the inaugural FCW Tag Team Champions.

The crowd was initially wary of the victor’s offer of a handshake to Webb and Myles but it turned out to be a genuine gesture and change in attitude from Dynamite and Riley.

FCW Women’s Championship – Brodie Adler defeated Debbie Dahmer by pinfall to win the FCW Women’s Championship.

The Champion surprised the challenger at the beginning of this match by going straight for a double leg takedown and forcing Brodie to retreat to the outside. As you would expect with a hometown Champion this got the crowd going as they were desperate for Debbie to keep the belt in Perth and avoid having to see ‘The Dynamite’ taking it back to Glasgow. However, Adler was soon able to put her weightlifting training to good use and took control with a World’s Strongest Slam followed up with a Leg Drop.

This quickly worried the crowd and Brodie began to wear down the Champion. However, Dahmer was able to take advantage of her challenger being pre occupied with a member of the crowd to rally and deliver a shotgun dropkick with Brodie helpless in the corner before following up with a running Vader Bomb for a two count. A failed attempt to get Brodie up her shoulders allowed the challenger to hit Debbie with a big Samoan Drop for a two count of her
own.

The challenger was getting very frustrated at this point and tried to finish things off with a Blackhole Slam but instead she absolutely ate a Superkick from the Champion. Adler had seemingly had enough at this point but this was only to lure Debbie back in to hit the Blackhole Slam on her second attempt. That move is normally enough to finish off her opponents but Debbie Dahmer was refusing to stay down and ‘The Dynamite’ knew it was going to take something more if the Championship was going to change hands and this is exactly what happened.

Brodie distracted the referee by exposing both the top and middle turnbuckles before signalling for someone in the back. This turned out to be GRUM who hit a massive elbow drop behind the official’s back to allow Brodie Adler to get the pin and become your new FCW Women’s Champion. As if she wasn’t dangerous enough on her own, adding GRUM to her side means that Brodie could be Champion of this division for as long as she wants to be. As I said in my preview she has been on a path of destruction for the past year and this is a culmination of that journey.

Debbie Dahmer has been a fantastic Women’s Champion and I’m certain she will be back in the future challenging for this belt but the era of ‘The Dynamite’ has begun.

Randy’s Retrospective with Dickie Divers and Ian Ambrose

By this point in the show, Marcus Hunter’s paranoia had reached fever pitch and he demanded that all four of his security detail be out beside him to stop ‘Retro’ Randy Valentine from getting anywhere near him. The host of the show came out and reassured Hunter by stating that all he was here to do tonight was to interview his three guests, Dick Divers (as he called him), Ian Ambrose and of course, Skully.

Randy brought out his guests and revealed that FCW Management have decided that the two are going to go one on one in Tayport on February 17th at FCW’s next show (tickets available at fcw.eventbrite.com) in order to settle their ongoing beef with each other.

That announcement was enough for Dickie Divers who attempted to leave but was stopped by Valentine. Divers didn’t take too kindly to this and shoved the host into Ian Ambrose before finally throwing ‘The King of Scum Style’ over the top rope to get some revenge for the Fair City Rumble. This was a short-lived moment for Divers though as Randy followed in to do the same to him while Ambrose emoted right in front of him. Skully was then briefly taken hostage by Divers which suckered Ambrose in for a right hand. The two brawled before being separated by the referees.

This inevitable match has been brewing for months and promises to be worth the admission fee alone for FCW’s next card.

Caleb Valhalla defeated Aspen Faith by pinfall.

I predicted this as a match of the night contender and like every match on this card it more than lived up to its expectation on what was a fantastic night of wrestling. This was a must win match for Valhalla if he wants a future shot at regaining the FCW Championship that he arguably never truly lost.

Some early testing of strength ended with Aspen Faith delivering a disrespectful slap to the face of the former FCW Champion. Caleb Valhalla responded with a massive forearm and the pair exchanged a series of chops in the middle of the ring. These two are so well matched but the ‘Lost Boy’ resorted to devious tactics throughout the match in order to gain the upper hand.

Similarly to what I said in regards to the opening contest and indeed all of tonight’s matches, this clash of the titans is a must watch on YouTube when it comes out. We saw the pair brawl in the crowd before heading back to the ring where they both left it all in it. These two men beat the hell out of each other with hard strikes and big power moves aplenty.

Highlights included ‘The Mighty’ Caleb somehow kicking out both a Sit-Down Powerbomb and a Piledriver from Aspen Faith before he was able to hit him with a German Suplex followed by the Helride for the victory.

FCW Tag Team Championship Eliminator – Red Gate (Jacob Deacon Wilde & Tommy Cross) defeated Flips & Slips (Spike Tierney & Botchico) by pinfall to advance.

I can’t think of a bigger contrast in FCW than the one between these two teams. To go straight from the fun loving duo of Flips & Slips entering the Tulloch Institute to the ominous entrance of Red Gate straight after. Eden accompanied Wilde and Cross just to make things even more unnerving.

The luchadores started off strong with some double team on Tommy Cross when they managed to hit him with a hip toss but the cracks started to appear when Botchico thought he was helping by hitting a snapmare on his own partner when Spike was wanting help to take out Cross in the opposite corner. Things looked like they might be getting back on track when they successfully executed an assisted moonsault and senton respectively but Spike was clearly guiding Botchico at every turn.

The match changed when the Wilde entered the ring and immediately took control of proceedings. Red Gate began to break down their opponents until Spike Tierney managed to fight back and hit the pair with a double 01382 (or 619 if you’re not from Dundee). Spike was on a roll and had brought Flips & Slips right back into the match. Botchico was also finding his groove when he hit a massive Flatliner on Wilde before Cross took him out with a TKO, the action was frantic as both teams fought tooth and nail to make it through to the Main Event.

Spike hit a Rough Ryder on Cross only for Wilde to come back out of nowhere and deliver a devastating Curb Stomp which left Tierney standing on his head briefly but he somehow still kicked out at two. Spike began to fight back again and Botchico was complaining to the referee about Red Gate’s constant illegal double team attempts. While he was in the right, this inadvertently caused the distraction Red Gate needed to finish off Spike. Tommy Cross launched Eden into Tierney to hit a huge DDT that planted Spike upright once again. Wilde was then able to cover him for the victory.

This was potentially the last time we will see Flips & Slips tagging as Tierney rejected Botchico’s apology after the match and stormed to the back.

FCW Heavyweight Championship – Euan G Mackie (c) vs Shady Nattrass

He is a martyr; he is a Monarch of Ruin and he has seized the throne. These were the words of FCW Champion Euan G Mackie before his defence against Shady Nattrass. Mackie deemed nobody in FCW worthy of holding the Championship, not even the referee during the traditional raising of the belt before a title match and as a result of this he instructed his Neo Paradigm to keep the belt safe in a display case lie an exhibit in a museum. Mackie then threatened to go home after his challenger got the better of the opening exchanges before he took control by pushing Shady to the floor during an attempted springboard off the top rope.

Part of Mackie’s recent campaign against the ‘fight opera’ of professional wrestling as he calls it has been the naming of moves themselves so out of fear that he’ll send Valek, Jay Robin and the Monstrous unnamed member of the Neo Paradigm after me I will once again suggest that you check out the match on FCW Empire once it is uploaded to their YouTube channel.

The Champion was able to retain his title thanks to a quick roll up and he berated the crowd one last time, as he had been doing thought out the entire match, before exiting with the title belt still contained in the exhibit case.

FCW Tag Team Championships – Triple Threat – Red Gate (Jacob Deacon Wilde & Tommy Cross) defeated The Foundation of the Future (Zach Dynamite & Ryan Riley) and Glory Hunter Agencies (Sebastian Asher & Umar Mohammed) w/Marcus ‘The Glory’ HUnter by pinfall to win the FCW Tag Team Championships.

Our Main Event to crown the inaugural FCW Tag Team Champions began with a battered and bruised Foundation of the Future entering the Tulloch once again only to be jumped from behind by Red Gate. Glory Hunting Agencies them stormed the ring and took out both teams. Sebastian Asher and Umar Mohammed had been given a free pass into the final due to Game On (Duke Cannon & Nathan North) sadly having to pull out due to personal reasons.

The Glory Hunters were the clear favourites going into this match due to them being the only team not having to wrestle twice on the same night and it looked like things were heading that way in the early stages of the match. ‘God’s gift to Professional Wrestling’ Sebastian Asher nearly had the match won for his team when he nailed a Frog Splash onto Zach Dynamite but the ‘Aberdonian Ace’ got his shoulders off the canvas at two.

The attention of Glory Hunter Agencies was then turned to the entrance way as Randy Valentine’s music began to play. Marcus Hunter himself freaked out on commentary and ran into the ring behind his team along with a member of the Security detail for extra protection while the other three members guarded the entrance way. Just when Hunter thought he had managed to avoid another beating at the hands of the Retro one, Valentine unmasked in the ring to reveal himself as a member of the Security team who had been working for him the entire time. Randy kicked Marcus slightly below the belt and threw him out the ring before delivering a cross body from the top rope the outside which took out Asher and Mohammed. He then instructed the masked Security to take out the trash and they dragged the entirety of Glory Hunter Agencies to the back.

This left the Foundation of the Future and Red Gate left to battle it out for the Championships but crucially still under Triple Threat rules as this later allowed interference from Kerrigan and Eden to assist Cross and Wilde picking up the win to become the first ever FCW Tag Team Champions.

Similarly to Brodie Adler and GRUM, this tag team is dangerous enough on their own to be able to defend their titles against anyone that FCW throws at them but with challengers also having to deal with Eden and Kerrigan it is going to be a long and dark reign for Red Gate.