I will eventually finish the 2022 Combat League Wrestling season reviews then start the 2023 season. I promise.

Fair City Wrestling uploaded their November event onto YouTube over the weekend… so let’s have a gander.

It took place at their home venue of the Tulloch Institute in Perth. Hot off the heels of a chaotic Fair City Rumble that saw a new FCW Heavyweight Champion crowned.

ADM defeated Jay Robin by pinfall.

There was a bit of a mixed reaction for Jay Robin when he entered with his previous affiliation with the Neo Paradigm lingering, or maybe because this match was supposed to be Caleb Valhalla in action. That mixed was swayed into his favour when ADM stalked out demanding Valhalla like the ruddy menace he is.

ADM looked to underestimate his opponent in the early going, getting rocked with dropkick but returned with a lariat and a neck twist into a forearm to the back of Robin’s head for a near fall.

Robin continued to hold on, surviving a rolling elbow to the face which was followed up by a spike DDT. Another attempted comeback was halted by a stamping big boot to send Robin on the back foot once again.

It looked to be over with ADM dropping Robin neck first over his knee but Robin kicked out at one that left ADM perplexed. Robin fired up with flying clothesline, sling blade, a sweet springboard senton, and straight jacket neckbreaker but ADM wouldn’t stay down for the three.

A second springboard senton was dodged which left Robin prime to be hit with a deadly spike DDT, neck drop, and Uranage backbreaker chain of events to wrap up the job.

ADM lead a solo SKOL chant and his Jay Robin with a spear.

A good opener, the final flurry by Robin was slick. I half expected this to be a massacre but Jay Robin looked tough even in defeat. Robin did a great job in getting the fans on his side after the initial disappointment of Caleb Valhalla not being there. It did help that ADM was a big bastard.

Taylor Bryden defeated Rob Mills by submission.

Originally due to be Taylor Bryden versus Andy Roberts, Rob Mills entered to ‘who are ya?’ chants which continued when Mills was in control.

Bryden tied up Mills in the early goings, maintaining a grip in the opening to keep Mills grounded. A sweep of the legs on the apron to send Bryden front first onto the outside gave Rob Mills some sort of offense.

Taylor transitioned a sunset flip kick out into an STF to send Mills clawing to the bottom rope to break the hold which was a nice little sequence.

The back and forth continued, Mills attempted a piledriver but Bryden pushed out, Bryden tried the STF again but found his eyes getting raked.

Mills sent Bryden to Teardrop Town with a couple Teardrop Suplexes but Bryden kicked out. Mills went for a Cross Rhodes but Bryden dropped down and rolled Mills through to lock in the STF to get the tap out.

A match that had its moments, Bryden was in charge for the vast majority of the match and the crowd was not having Rob Mills, constantly asking who he was. The repeated callback to the STF, and ways it was applied, was a good plot point. It felt like there was a gear that it could’ve went up to but it was a fine bout that showcased Taylor Bryden.

FCW Tag Team Championships – The Foundation of the Future (Zach Dynamite & Ryan Riley) defeated Game On (Nathan North & Duke Cannon) by pinfall to WIN the FCW Tag Team Championships.

In a bit of a twist, Game On got a very mixed reaction from the crowd which was a surprise. After helping save Fair City Wrestling from Marcus “The Glory” Hunter, and being a fair tag team, pardon the pun.

Cannon and Dynamite traded blows in the early exchanges, before bringing in their respective tag team partners and the crowd came alive for Ryan Riley and Nathan North hitting big uppercuts and slams, with the cheers firmly in The Foundation of the Future camp.

Game On hit quick tags to hit a trio of double axe handle double teams, the third saw Duke feign an injury to his ankle but took take a cheap shot on Riley which turned the tide in the attitude of The Foundation. North looked confused on what happened, and it just pissed off Riley who started reigning forearms to North, with Dynamite getting a piece of The North Star with spicy chops. Nathan North fought off Riley and Dynamite, managing to launch Dynamite off the top rope with a superplex.

Despite him appearing to feign injury earlier, The Foundation targeted the right ankle of Cannon when he looked to tweak it for real. Punishing him for the apparent disrespect after Riley showed concern before the cheap shot earlier in the match.

As the match broke down, Riley barely got his shoulder up after a float over DDT from Duke and top rope splash from North. North ended up eating a double V-Trigger from The Foundation, and a Wheelbarrow DDT combo for a near fall.

North managed to hit his least crooked Crooked Moonsault onto Dynamite but Riley broke the fall. North and Cannon hit double team move onto Dynamite but the lights went out to reveal Bruiser Brad Evans. A triple team spike piledriver to Nathan North and a one foot pin from Dynamite saw Game On’s title reign end.

An absolutely fantastic match with so many layers involved. The Foundation came in the heavy fan favourites and left as the terrors that I know them as up in the North East.

I loved that it was Duke Cannon that did the scumbaggery in the early going but it was Nathan North that ended up getting punished for a long period. The desperation from Duke to retain saw him swing wildly. The Foundation was respecting the sportsmanship in the contest until Duke tried to make them look foolish so they started laying in the hits harder before the reveal of Bruiser Brad Evans to put the final nail in the coffin in Game On’s FCW Tag Team Championship reign.

There was a moment near the conclusion when Dynamite pressed North’s face in the turnbuckle and shouted in his ear that he would end Game On. Considering what followed in Fair City Wrestling since with Duke assaulting North, North calling time on his wrestling journey for the time being, Duke forming a new group with Sebastian Asher, Tom Atlas, and Spike Tierney, Zach Dynamite was the prophet of Game On’s downfall. Outstanding work from all involved.

Now that Zach Dynamite and Ryan Riley are FCW Tag Team Champions, with no word of a Freebird Rule in effect, I am excited to see what Bruiser Brad does in singles action in Perth. There is going to be some destruction coming to The Fair City.

Botchico defeated Euan G Mackie w/Tom Atlas

Mackie looked dismissive but walked into a Flatliner to send Mackie scurrying to the outside. After a further exchange it looked like Botchico hurt his shoulder which looked to slow down the masked man.

Atlas got involved to get some digs into Botchico while Mackie distracted the referee which lead to Euan gaining complete control of the match. Botchico dodged an Atlas drive by kick on the apron, then a running hip attack from Mackie to send him off the apron onto Atlas. Botchico went for a dive to both but Mackie pulled Atlas into the direct path for the full body weight of the crossbody.

The back and forth continued with Botchico favouring that left shoulder, Mackie hit a Sliced Bread which saw Botchico slowly get his left shoulder up for a big cheer. Botchico hung on, despite Tom Atlas trying to get involved. Mackie went to the top rope but Botchico stumbled into the ropes which Mackie crotched on the top turnbuckle, Atlas tried to get involved again but was knocked down, a draping DDT later and Botchico picked up the pin.

Atlas hit Botchico with a running knee and continued the beatdown after the match, teeing Botchico up for Mackie but Botchico threw a Mackie’s School For Rejected Luchadors shirt to Mackie which seemed to soften Mackie’s stance, showing Botchico some respect before walking away. Which left Atlas confused, who turned around to be planted with an Impaler DDT from a rested Botchico.

The shoulder injury really had the crowd solidly support the gutsy performance from Botchico. Was it a mat classic? No, but the story being told was great. Mackie starting irritated to be there, then becoming frustrated that Botchico wasn’t staying down despite throwing everything in, including Tom Atlas, before finally respecting Botchico, then planting seeds of frustration between Atlas and Mackie. A rollercoaster of emotions in this one.

I have to commend Tom Atlas’ and his goblin-like eccentricities. He was sticking his nose in, skulked about, and was nearby for anything Mackie required. The only thing missing was an evil laugh, mwahaha, mwahahahahaaaa.

Sebastian Asher came out for a Moment Of Glory segment which was initially interrupted by a homeless looking JD Wylde wandering into the ring. Body Guy Brandon tried to eject him from the ring but ended up with a boot up the arse to send him flying over the top rope before Wylde headed back into the shadows. Asher announced that Marcus “The Glory” Hunter was somewhere exotic… Blackpool, before introducing TV’s Umar Mohammed as the guest.

Mohammed irritated Asher by pointing out how he’s been wrestling around the country, rattling him into shouting at kids to tell them to shut up. Mohammed challenged Asher to a match the next month, Asher accepted but rejected the handshake offer and slapped Umar in the face. Mohammed retaliated by throwing forearms and throwing Asher out of the ring as security dragged him to the back kicking and screaming.

A short talking segment, set up the match the next month, simple.

FCW Heavyweight Championship – Ladder Match – Dickie Divers defeated Ian Ambrose to retain the FCW Heavyweight Championship.

After a little scrap to begin with Ambrose went and got the ladders but found himself at the business end of a baseball slide as the match continued on the outside. Divers disappeared for a moment to return with a sledgehammer, cracking it off the ringpost as Ambrose ducked at the last moment.

Ambrose cracking the ladder off the back of Divers, Divers returned by slamming Ambrose onto the steel as the crowd chanted “we want violence”. Divers thwarted an Irish Whip into the ladder, popping Ambrose up and powerbombing him into the corner where a ladder was situated to leave a big dent. Ambrose avoided a second powerbomb into the corner, sending Divers into the ladder with a hurricurana. Ambrose looked to be favouring his knee which gave Divers time to get up and throw a ladder into the face of Ambrose, slamming him again into the remains of the ladder.

Divers, in complete control, grabbed Skully, ripped off his jaw then destroyed it with the sledgehammer. As Ambrose looked over the remains, Divers drove the sledgehammer into the stomach of Ambrose, hit the Pedigree, threw Ambrose out of the ring, punted what was left of Skully behind the curtain, before casually climbing to the top to retrieve the belt.

It was brief and barbaric. Divers was clinical and ruthless in demolishing Ian Ambrose. He did so single handedly with no assistance from Sirena Rose, just him, a sledgehammer, and an incredible aim with ladder launching.

This show was great especially when you consider how snake bit it seemed. The opening two matches were last minute changes due to Caleb Valhalla and Andy Roberts being unable to appear, who are two big names to miss, then injuries in the final two matches with Botchico’s shoulder, and Ian Ambrose’s knee. It’s a miracle that overall this was an easy watch. The tag team title match was incredible with the twist at the end with The Foundation of the Future now being complete in Fair City Wrestling. The story of Mackie and Botchico was nice, and the main event was brutal.

The first two matches were perhaps hampered by the changes, but Jay Robin put in a solid performance, ADM continued his chase to get to Valhalla, and Bryden was showcased effectively against Rob Mills.

The full show is available on YouTube now: