Despite having an ever increasing back load of reviews in the draft pile waiting to be tackled, Pursuit Pro Wrestling recently uploaded their first Friday Night Pursuit event. PPW is a company based out of Sheffield that I’ve become familiar with primarily through their social media content on TikTok and seeing good folks like Judas Grey, Ronan King, and Emersyn Jayne partake in training sessions and the like.

Nathan Black and Liam Slater have crafted a well admired facility merging high quality in-ring action with big characters from clips I have come across so I am finally taking the time to check out a full show.

No matches were announced prior to the event with a few names confirmed like Emersyn Jayne, Vanity, Will Kroos, and Gene Munny which is a solid line up for your money to start off with. Nathan Black kicked off the event and served as the charismatic host to get the crowd even more hyped for some professional wrestling action with Sandy Beeches in the ring all donned in the zebra stripes. We were off to the races.

Emersyn Jayne defeated Kid Lykos II by pinfall.

It was an even start with both finding ways to escape the others holds. Lykos II went for a Brainbuster but Jayne countered to send Lykos II seated in the ropes as he narrowly got away before his head could be driven to the mat with a Shadowfax German Suplex.

After having her fist bump rejected, Emersyn picked up the pace with a stunning crossbody but as she attempted a moonsault Lykos II stopped the ascent and cracked Jayne in the face with a snappy standing dropkick.

Lykos II picked up the aggression, whipping Jayne into the turnbuckle with force and swinging a hard kick to the top of the back as he began to pick apart the joints of Emersyn with twists and kicks to the limbs. Emersyn kept fighting back with forearms and with some momentum managed to snap Lykos II back with a German Suplex to create some much needed space.

Now with Lykos II on the backfoot Jayne got into the zone with a top rope Meteora to the back of the head of Kid Lykos II. A missed moonsault sent Lykos II back in charge but a Death Valley Driver could only get a near fall.

One mis-step from Lykos II had him send into the second rope and prone for a Shadowfax German Suplex, with the follow up moonsault getting the closest of two counts for Emersyn Jayne. The back and forth kept going with Lykos II landing the Brainbuster for another two.

The battle went up to the turnbuckle which Lykos II got the better of but a lunge from Emersyn managed to knock the legs from under Lykos II to have him draped on the top turnbuckle, a Spanish Fly from Emersyn Jayne crashed both to the mat and inverted tombstone sealed it for The Main Event Empress.

An excellent opening match, it’s been a minute since I’ve seen a full Emersyn Jayne bout and the levels that she had reached since seeing her for the first time in 2012 is incredible. One of the best in the country right now with her and Kid Lykos II both providing a smooth match with great escalation leading to a great reaction for the closing sequence.

Lee Thomas was handed the referee baton for the next match.

Fatal Four Way – Evan Bishop defeated Mo Ahktar, Jet Martial, and Callum Andrews by pinfall.

Evan Bishop let his mouth run a bit too long with the remaining trio quickly sending him out of the ring. The action was thick and fast with Mo Ahktar going wild with hard strikes, doing all the kicking.

It was a non-stop strike fest as all four got their moment to shine. The bodies congregated to the outside with Jet Martial diving through the ropes and catching himself for a nasty landing. Callum Andrews avoided the damage and went to the top for a moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the floor.

Callum Andrews caught Bishop in an ankle lock with Jet Martial breaking it up only to be locked into a submission himself by Andrews. The bodies continued to fly with Ahktar using Martial as a weapon to smash Andrews. Just as Ahktar had the upper hand Even Bishop snuck in with the most dangerous move in wrestling, the roll up, with a heavy hand full of Ahktar’s gear to escape with the victory.

I came into this one maybe hearing of the names Jet Martial and Callum Andrews with no previous exposure to the others in the match. The time provided a fast introduction and giving a taste of what each could do. Evan Bishop stood out for me as a character with Jet Martial’s reckless spills catching plenty attention. Mo Ahktar shone with the majority of the in-ring content while Callum Andrews could be the big body to slow things down, even if it was only for a second. A great mix and they used their minutes well.

Vanity entered for the next match but Ronan King hobbled out bearing crutches, after some choice words for those in Sheffield, King introduced his replacement for the evening, Hard Man Dan.

The Young Guns (Luke Jacobs & Ethan Allen) defeated Hard Man Dan & Judas Grey w/Ronan King by pinfall.

Ethan Allen bullied Judas Grey around the ring from the opening tie up, who had to take a respite on the outside to reset. On return Grey had a bit more luck but still found himself being dragged to the wrong corner. Before Luke Jacobs to get his hands on him, the slippery devil scuttled to the corner to tag in Hard Man Dan.

Jacobs and Dan went into meatfest mode with shoulder tackles, chops, and hard impacts. Judas tagged himself back in to invite a chop contest with two from Grey being answered by a couple gunshots across the chest in response. While Grey regretted every choice he ever made The Young Guns built up a head of steam and ran through Judas.

Thanks to a distraction from Dan, King jammed his crutch into the side of Ethan Allen’s head to give Danity a chance to put together some offense. Allen was isolated with Hard Man Dan and Judas Grey doing their best to make sure a fresh man was in and keep Ethan away from Luke Jacobs.

An Olympic Slam from Allen lead to the tag and Luke Jacobs unleashed hell, throwing Dan and Judas back with a German Suplex at the same time and big forearm for a near fall. Grey tagged in out of sight of The Young Guns but it didn’t stop him running into an elevated GTS and powerslam/enziguri combo that was only saved by Hard Man Dan breaking the fall.

It came down to a forearm exchange between Luke Jacobs and Judas Grey, Jacobs turned Grey inside out with a lariat and hoisted him on his shoulders for Ethan Allen to come flying off the top with a Doomsday Device to keep Judas down for three.

Talk about hard hitting, everything was tight and came with intent. The little bits of miscommunication with Judas Grey and Hard Man Dan in the beginning was nice in showing the differences between the well established Young Guns and this thrown together team due to circumstance.

The sheer consistent intensity from The Young Guns cut off seeing the more high flying nature of Judas Grey but I’d put that down to the arrogance of Grey like when he was trying to size himself against Luke Jacobs with chops only to get leathered in reply. It opens the doors for a rematch when Ronan King is back in action now that Judas has scouted some of the more devastating manoeuvres, maybe with those RevPro Tag Team Championships on the line…

Back from the interval, Gene Munny made his way out for his match but as his opponent was to be announced the lights went out and with a record scratch it was revealed to be a primed and ready Nathan Black who sent Munny to the outside so he could get his boots on. Gene pounced Nathan with the match beginning once both re-entered the ring.

Gene Munny defeated Nathan Black by pinfall.

Black tried to get a quick kick in but it was scouted but while Munny went to the top turnbuckle Nathan Black shot out of the corner to put Gene into a tree of woe and mercilessly removed the nipple tape that would no doubt cause some chafing down the line.

A suplex from Black had him thinking he was the top dog but Munny wasn’t ready to be put down. An extended sunset flip sequence led to Gene having his pants pulled down, then his pants pulled down, then his pants pulled down, then his pants pulled down… then his pants pulled down.

With several pairs of pants now around his ankles it didn’t stop that damn dirty dog land an impressive standing dropkick and dive to the outside to a wobbly legged Nathan Black. While Black’s eyes rolled all around Munny re-clothed and hit a slingshot spear to get back into the ring for two.

Before there could be an Ainsley Lariat, Black smacked Munny with a leather belt and kept whipping him until referee Lee Thomas got involved. Nathan Black was prepared, kicking Munny between the legs while Thomas disposed of the weapon but it couldn’t keep a good dog down.

A cocky Black decided he would go to the top turnbuckle but after taking his sweet time, Munny ran up and sent Black to the mat with a Death Valley Driver from the second rope. While Nathan recovered sat in the corner Munny dived from the opposite corner for a moonsault that saw his foot unfortunately land on the right testicle of Nathan Black. Gene Munny added insult to injury by pantsing Black and blasting him with an Ainsley Lariat to finish the night.

Absolute entertainment. That’s a few Nathan Black matches I’ve seen and the SIIIIIIIZE of his personality is hard to match up with and if anyone could it was his opponent Gene Munny. It wasn’t going to be a mat classic but nor should it ever be. It was big fun and it delivered.

A dejected Black left the room, not without trying to start a fight with an old woman in the front row, as Liam Slater took over hosting duties for the main event.

Will Kroos defeated Kemper by pinfall.

An evenly mixed crowd split for Will Kroos and Kemper as the forearms went back and forth. A kick in the gut by Kemper broke the cycle but he ran into the brick outhouse that is Will Kroos. Kroos landed a chop but a charge into the corner was sidestepped as Kemper picked Kroos up for a massive bodyslam that seemed to shock Will Kroos who took to the outside.

Kemper followed for another strike exchange with Kroos once again slicing another chop across the chest of Kemper who quickly returned Kroos to the ring to avoid another. A lariat took Kroos down but he couldn’t get Will up for a fireman’s carry and was made to pay by receiving a scoop slam of his own. Kroos followed up with the corner splashes and a senton.

With Kemper back on his feet it was another forearm exchange, Will Kroos getting the upper hand with a chop but couldn’t keep the momentum going as each met the other off the ropes with a stereo crossbody to send both to the canvas at speed.

Kroos flipped Kemper around with a sit out slam for a near fall, an Electric Chair was countered with a hurricanrana as Kemper struck with a big boot to knock Kroos down. Will broke out of a chokeslam attempt but Kemper wasn’t deterred and landed a Jackhammer variation for another near fall.

It looked like Kemper was in control but he still couldn’t get Will Kroos onto his shoulders. Kroos fought out of it, springing off the second turnbuckle with a moonsault and following with a powerbomb but it wasn’t enough to keep Kemper down. There was no wasted time, Kroos headed up to the top and landed a frog splash but Kemper rolled his shoulder off the mat.

Will went for a second but Kemper met him for a superplex which only seemed to unlock a new level of adrenaline of Will Kroos who quickly got to his feet but was sent back to the canvas with a German Suplex.

As Kroos dragged himself into a seated position in the corner, Kemper scaled to the top of the opposite corner and launched himself across the ring for an insane Van Terminator. Kemper tried one more time to get Kroos onto his shoulders but Kroos shifted his weight to reposition Kemper up into a Michinoku Driver to snatch the three.

A physical main event. The throughline of Kemper continuing to try, but fail, to lift Kroos onto his shoulders is a great moment that can be called back upon in the future. That physicality remained throughout with the reset to each portion of the match coming down to the forearm exchange like real life rock ’em sock ’em robots. It was fantastic and having the crowd being invested for both men made it all the more atmospheric as they bit on every big move or near fall. Great stuff.

Pursuit Pro Wrestling had a tightly packed first Friday Night Pursuit show that offered so much variety from the fast paced don’t blink fatal four way, to the high shenanigan filled bout between Gene Munny and Nathan Black, to electric back and forth contests from the opener to the tag, then the big beefy main event, it gave so many different genres of professional wrestling in one 90 minute episode. The set up looked slick, the editing was top quality. It was a really easy watch.

The full show is available on YouTube: