Just imagine, it’s Sunday, you’re getting mentally prepared for the upcoming week. There are lunches to be prepared, washing to be folded, so many tasks to complete before you can relax, you need something to distract from the toils of real life.

*Twitch ding notification*

Iron Girders Pro Wrestling snuck in a cheeky live stream of their afternoon event in Dennistoun. It’s one of those gifts you don’t expect to receive but are thankful that there’s a present to unwrap. That’s why it always pays to have your notifications on for such an occasion to occur.

In the previous times that this has happened I’ve missed the first match so haven’t put fingers to keyboard to review but this time the stream is still available post-event so I’ve been rewatching for anything I may have missed between rounds of Ms Rachel and Bluey on the big tv.

Andy Roberts defeated Tommy Lockhart by pinfall.

Andy Roberts and Tommy Lockhart kicked off the show. Roberts wasn’t impressed with The Greatest Showman inspired entrance, not even when Lockhart tossed his hat effortlessly onto his cane being held by referee William Logan.

A fast paced tech exchanged opened the bout with Lockhart getting the better of the veteran. Roberts tried to turn a handshake into a sneak attack but Lockhart held onto Andy’s wrist like a limpet. It took Roberts switching to his power game to get some advantage.

Roberts caught a Lockhart second rope flying uppercut into a Gory Special which was so slick as he started to gain momentum. Tommy wasn’t to be denied as he continued to jump on any breathing room that Roberts attempted to fit in to try and turn the tide.

Lockhart got a near fall following a diving headbutt but his attempt to follow up with running knee saw him getting air and being thrown about by the bigger Roberts. Tommy managed to roll away from the first Vader Bomb but that just seemed to irk Andy who threw Lockhart down with a hard Wasteland and made sure the second attempted Vader Bomb was undeniable to pick up the win.

A cracking opening match, Tommy Lockhart is coming up to about a year since his return to wrestling and the character keeps evolving, there’s still plenty of flash to be added but I’m enjoying seeing the journey. Andy Roberts, like, it’s very rare to get anything below very good when it comes to an Andy Roberts match.

King of the Fling Qualifier – Charlie Vyce defeated Jordan Wolff by pinfall to qualify for the King of the Fling.

Wolff started like a house on fire with kicks for days, creasing the dapper waistcoat adorned Vyce in the early exchanges. It wasn’t long before Vyce was able to gain control with kicks of his own, elbows, chokes, just leathering his opponent while flapping his gums at the crowd and referee.

Vyce was relentless with forearms, pulling the hair of Wolff, it was a mugging for a good portion of the match as Charlie was just punishing Jordan Wolff. Charlie got cocky, attempting to throw Wolff out of the ring as a preview for King of the Fling but he found himself sailing over the top rope with the reversal which allowed the momentum to switch gears as the kicks flew and so did Wolff.

It looked like it was all Jordan Wolff as he stamped in the corner but Vyce collapsed, suckering in his opponent, grabbing him to cause a trip up that saw Wolff sent face first into the second turnbuckle that left him prone for a spinning wheel kick to the back of the head to see Charlie Vyce qualify for King of the Fling.

The sadistic nature of Charlie Vyce was coming through, the pitbull temperament he showed in not letting up on Jordan Wolff, even throwing Wolff’s offense back to him with the stinging kicks being returned. Wolff was solid, but there wasn’t too much by way of personality to latch onto to support and it was more about hating Charlie Vyce more than supporting Jordan Wolff. There are a lot of big colourful characters coming through Iron Girders right now but he looks to have the wrestling part going for him, he has a good look, so might just be the case of putting a little more focus on the character side. He says, basing that whole opinion on only that match.

As Mistress of Ceremonies Katt Wolfe was plugging the raffle and merch she was interrupted by the nauseating sound of Fat Les’ Vindaloo and CJ Banks marched out.

Banks cut an anti-Scotland pro-England tirade but had his singing efforts interrupted by Gabriel Saul. Banks jumped Saul while he removed his entrance attire like a thug and the match was on.

Gabriel Saul defeated CJ Banks by pinfall.

Saul weathered the early storm to backdrop Banks overhead to send him scurrying to the outside, following up with a running seated senton off the apron to the floor. It took a meaty clothesline from Banks to rattle Gabriel to be prone for an assault.

The momentum swung back and forth with Gabriel Saul looking to out muscle CJ Banks with big shoulder blocks and a sweet overhead belly to belly, whilst CJ Banks tried to shift the match into his lane by slowing down and picking his spots to cause maximum damage.

Banks headed to the second rope and connected with a European Uppercut but his follow up rush towards a dazed Saul saw it dodged with Banks walking into a spinebuster to put the Englishman down for the count.

Gabriel Saul in the blue and white gear sent CJ Banks packing to close the first half. SCOTLAND! SCOTLAND!

SCOTLAND!

Another fun match. Wrestling crowds love chanting for their country, it’s universal. A very simple story of Scotland versus England, a pumped up crowd, and the fan favourite winning. What is not to love.

A nice little touch after the match was Katt Wolfe clarifying that she is only half English and wasn’t happy about it after the previous ten minutes of anti-England sentiment directed towards CJ Banks.

ACME Comic Con Interpromotional Championship – Moxie Malone w/Chris Kingston defeated Mikey Devine w/RABU by submission to retain the ACME Comic Con Interpromotional Championship.

After Moxie declined Mikey Devine’s kind request for a title opportunity, Elijah Bulwark arrived to make the match for the ACME Comic Con Interpromotional Championship. Bulwak announced a whole host of extra stipulations for the Team Moxie versus Team ACME bout for Comic Con along with it to just rile up the champion before the bell including the team that gets the pinfall chooses the stipulation for Moxie’s potential title defence on day two, plus if Team ACME win then RABU gets entered into the King of the Fling. There may have been more so keep an eye on the Iron Girders social media.

Anyway, with Moxie furious at the developments, Mikey Devine took a houp of his bottle of special stuff and the title match was on!

Devine kept it traditional in the opening, controlling the tempo but after a distraction from Chris Kingston it left him wide open for Moxie Malone’s devious tactics and non-stop scraping. RABU had to be on high alert as any time Mikey got near the apron thatthe weasel Chris Kingston was there to try and get a dig in.

Mikey managed to resist sleep with a Rear Naked Choke applied, despite Moxie holding on she was finally thrown over shoulder before finding herself leaning on the middle rope for a 6-De-Vine (I don’t know if that works but it was a 619 by Mikey Devine which rhyme…s).

Malone wasn’t to go down without a fight, taking Devine with her off Bret’s Rope with a neckbreaker to crash to the mat, persisting with pinfalls to tire lower the horsepower. Kingston slid the ACME belt into the ring but it was stopped by Devine who laid Malone out with a Uranage.

Chris Kingston distracted the referee with RABU sending him to the back which allowed Charlie Vyce to appear and kick Devine in the back of the head, landing face first onto the belt, which weakened him for Moxie to lock in a Dragon Sleeper for the tap out.

Two wrestlers that I enjoy watching wrestle. This was action packed, both put in a shift to cause the tension to build which made The Moxie Crue even more hated due to the outcome. Moxie Malone brings a chaotic energy to a match.

Charlie Vyce returned to assist Moxie from the ring as RABU checked on his fallen tag team partner. There was a split second glance that I will unpack into an overly long read into. We’ve seen Vyce be a callous unapologetic bastard since his return, that glance told the story that the inference wasn’t personal, it was just business. RABU’s look in return leans into the upcoming Team Moxie versus Team ACME match that could see RABU earn a place into King of the Fling which Charlie Vyce qualified for earlier in the show so they may meet again. Did I read War and Peace out of a leaflet? Yeah probably.

I remember one of the previous Iron Girders shows that was live streamed on Twitch that had Mikey Devine in the final two of the King of the Fling against Robbie Cardwell, and even then I genuinely believed there was a shot that Devine would win. What power does this man have? Horsepower. Yeehaw.

Lou King Sharp defeated Branagan by pinfall.

Sharp tried to intimidate Branagan but his finger pointing was met by being grabbed and twisted. Lou then challenged Branagan to some catch-as-catch-can but that didn’t really end well for him as he was overpowered, catch-as-catch-can’t you could say.

Branagan was very European, grabbing a hold, throwing a big forearm as required, not looking happy with the shenanigans that Lou King Sharp was bringing. The match made its way under the ring, I can only imagine the atrocities that occurred under there as the canvas rattled and Sharp screamed. Both men looked changed by the experience.

Lou steered the match into his domain, spitting water into the face of Branagan, giving him a wedgie, horsey rides, and trying to make a fool of the normally stoic wrestler. The air went out of the venue for a moment when the fun stopped with a hard suplex from Branagan that floored Sharp, but Lou was soon back with a cutter as the match devolved into headbutts and forearms.

As Branagan looked to reset the match after throwing Sharp off the top rope, Lou got back onto his feet to alleviate the pressure of a headlock, took off referee William Logan’s glasses and proceeded to low blow and Stunner Branagan to pick up the win.

See if it was anyone else they would probably get booed, but Sharp is so charismatic, entertaining, and stubborn for staying down. Branagan was the perfect straight man to battle the over the top antics that Lou King Sharp provides. Branagan just wanted to a do a wrestle and here he was getting his pants wrenched up between his cheeks. Really enjoyed this one.

We got treated to an appearance from Tall ‘n’ Tiny, James Diaz and Kev.i.n, to draw the raffle. The crowd loved these guys.

BT Gunn & Martin MacAlistair defeated Luke Kyro & Prince Levi by pinfall.

It has been too long since I heard the Bob Sinclar’s “Everybody Dance Now” hit the speakers (rest in peace Fatman Scoop) as BT Gunn made his way out to team with the former IGPW Champion to reunite The Guardians of the Girders. After tagging himself in Prince Levi showed no fear by pie-facing Gunn, but showed plenty in avoiding Martin MacAlistair and tagging out to bring in the current IGPW Champion Luke Kyro.

Gunn and MacAlistair got the tandem offence in but eventually Kyro and Levi cut the ring off with Levi gladly tagging in to beat down a weakened Martin MacAlistair while BT Gunn could only watch on. Levi goaded Gunn but that only meant more torture for his tag team partner with Kyro and Levi taking full advantage of distractions.

MacAlistair finally got the tag which let BT Gunn loose, taking his students to school. Running through the duo with blistering chops and kicks, overwhelming them, knocking Kyro’s head off with a roundhouse kick to the head with Martin finishing the afternoon with an Attitude Adjustment to pin the champion.

A hell of a fun main event. There were some really great subtle (maybe not so subtle) things like Levi beating down Martin and shouting to BT that he used to be BT’s boy and now it’s MacAlistair which has seen his madness spiral.

Even though the main line was Levi costing Martin the title and that’s where MacAlistair’s immediate focus is, it was interesting that when it was Luke Kyro and Martin MacAlistair facing off that Kyro was still able to gain the upper hand more often than not with or without the assistance of Prince Levi. It was like Martin was still a bit rattled to suffer the defeat and was getting flashbacks to his previous long losing streak.

MacAlistair got on the microphone after the contest, firing up that he would see Levi at Comic Con and Luke Kyro should keep the title warm because it would be his again.

A brilliant show from Iron Girders Pro Wrestling, you want variety and this show had it.

As of writing the show is on Twitch, so be quick and set your notifications for future shows. They don’t stream every event so best bet is to be there in person so you don’t miss the fun and frolics that Iron Girders Pro Wrestling are gaining a stellar reputation for.