World Wide Wrestling League have just uploaded their recent Hooked On Wrestling offering. At the end of February there was some trouble on the Tyne. Seven matches were confirmed including a pre-show match that was aired on the W3L Network.

Riley Wallis defeated The Tormentor by pinfall.

Before we get to the main show, I dived into the pre-show that was available on the latest edition of W3L Wrestling Showdown on YouTube.

The Tormentor was coming in swinging with the punches, dominating Riley Wallis early on and catching a near fall following a Tormentor Elbow. The opening flurry was weathered by Wallis, who fought back with a dropkick to send The Tormentor rolling to the outside and being met by a flying Riley through the ropes.

A rake to the eyes by The Tormentor gave the mysterious member of The Commune the upper hand, as Wallis kept upping the tempo, he fired back from a throw through the ropes with a slingshot spear before ending the night for The Tormentor with a superkick in record time.

It lasted less than five minutes but it was a crowd pleaser, The Tormentor coming out alone and being beating in quick fashion was a throwback to pre-Commune Tormentor.

Paul Hubris & Tim Strange defeated Bozidar Branimir & Saqib Ali by pinfall.

The Bulgarian Baker was passing out the bread slices to frustrated his experienced opponents. The sliced shenanigans continued with Tim Strange being sandwiched between the dough, and while Tim was searching for a crumb of offense he was met with a mouthful of carbs.

Strange tagged out with Saqib Ali entered for some actual professional wrestling. The pace got quicker between Paul Hubris and Ali until Tim Strange tripped up Saqib for the villains to take control. Ali was on defence, but he couldn’t fight off the inevitable Rodeo Time. A burst of energy from Saqib gave him the opening to bring in a proved and rested Bozidar Branimir.

Branimir ran hot out the oven until a step up short armed clothesline from Hubris had him on his buns. Tim got involved, tying his cowbell to the turnbuckle. Bozidar managed to counter the whip into the corner to rattled Tim Strange’s head off the metal to have the cowboy on dream street and in the market to meet The Bulgarian Baker’s little chef.

A distraction from Paul Hubris gave Tim Strange time to recover, stuff the cowbell into the bread bag, then dunt it off the dome of Branimir to pick up the win.

The crowd in Gateshead were all in for the wrestling, loudly in support of Saqib Ali and Bozidar Branimir. The interactions between Ali and Hubris were slick, with Tim Strange and The Bulgarian Baker’s adding some colour to the match. A well put together contest.

Full Tilt Wrestling Championship – Thomas Blood defeated Big Kris by pinfall to retain.

In a joint production, Full Tilt Wrestling was represented with their title being defended.

Thomas Blood and Big Kris met at a stalemate for strength as Blood went for speed to rock Big Kris. Thomas got a bit too confident for a body slam but he couldn’t hoist Kris off his feet.

The match spilled to the outside as Thomas Blood held Big Kris for the fans to get some chops in. The power struggle was won by Big Kris, who slugged away at Blood and kept the pressure on upon returning to the ring.

A gasp effort Samoan Drop sent Big Kris to the canvas, and once again Thomas Blood went for the slam which didn’t land flush. Blood signalled for another go and with the third time of asking Big Kris was slammed and pinned.

As a match it was fine, it had a simple narrative and had the audience invested in what was happening. There was a slow stretch in the middle but was saved by the noise from those in attendance.

Pick Your Poison – BT Gunn defeated Luke Aldridge w/The Tormentor & Tate by pinfall.

BT Gunn goaded Aldridge into a yay-boo interaction to sneak a roll up for a near fall. Gunn got the better of Father Luke in the opening exchanges, tying Aldridge in knots. A knee to the gut gave Luke Aldridge an opening, only to have Gunn get back in control with a triangle dropkick to send Aldridge off the apron.

Following a quick glance to The Tormentor, who was holding onto Tate at ringside, it gave Aldridge enough time to avoid a BT Gunn top turnbuckle attack. The numbers came back into play as The Tormentor chucked Tate towards a groggy Gunn on the ropes for a choke outside of referee Katie Walker’s vision.

It was all about Aldridge in keeping the upper hand. An explosive recoil from the corner from Gunn had The Tormentor and Tate jumping onto the apron. A straight punch to the masked jaw dispatched The Tormentor, while a miscommunication had Aldridge knocked Tate to the floor.

Gunn landed a Flatliner to have Aldridge down for the count.

The Tormentor jumped The Oddity after the match but he, and Aldridge, were ran off by a Singapore Cane wielding Lou King Sharp.

A solid match that was well paced, BT Gunn is on another level with Luke Aldridge putting on a really great account of himself in combat even in defeat.

W3L Breakout Championship vs Sami Sparx’ Contract – Chris Renfrew defeated Sami Sparx by pinfall to retain.

Sparx struck first, but his jab was laughed off by the Godfather of Insanity. Renfrew wasn’t laughing so much when Sami brought in the chair to put Chris Renfrew on the back foot.

Sami bombarded Renfrew with chair based attacks, that was put to a full stop courtesy of a right fist to send the metal ricocheting back towards the chaotic luchador.

Renfrew took over to lay in the chair across the back of Sparx, running Sami into the corners with chairs wedged for some extra damage. Sami countered to send Chris Renfrew to the outside, but his follow up dive was met with a chair that was retrieved from under the ring by Renfrew. The action carried on around the hall, chairs and bodies flying around. Upon returning to the ring, Renfrew slammed the chair off the back of Sparx to connect with a draping DDT to a chair for a close two count.

A fired up Sami Sparx managed to hit a stunner which lit a fuse for Sparx to get the momentum built up. Unfortunately all that run up was met with Renfrew launching a chair across the ring to smash Sami in the head.

Two T-Virus piledrivers, the second onto a couple chairs, finally snuffed out Sami Sparx.

A bit of ugly chaos that flowed together. Chris Renfrew has an uncanny skill to let things reach a peak to maximise the counter strike, and because he can be so deplorable and violent, it can be built up a couple times a match without diminishing returns.

W3L Women’s Championship – Open Challenge – Moxie Malone vs Brodie Adler ended in a double count out. Moxie Malone retained.

Brodie Adler answered the call, overwhelming the champion in the first few minutes until a gouge to the eyes from Malone, followed by a chop to the back of the knee, put Moxie into the drivers seat.

Malone was all over Adler, driving her elbow into the shoulder and neck of Brodie. Moxie followed up with an impressive Wasteland and Senton for a two count. Adler rebounded out the corner with a clothesline to send Moxie airborne, and a Fallaway Slam had Malone in flight to the outside that resulted in Moxie actively avoiding having anything to do with The Dynamite while at ringside.

Moxie countered a collision to the ring post to send Brodie Adler into the metal, a Curb Stomp on the outside had Adler laid out as Katie Walker continued her count. Moxie noticed it was up to 8 and decided to let the count get to 10 to walk away with the title.

A fun heated encounter. Moxie Malone thrives in being a vicious wee horror, scratching and tearing at opponents. It was received with the desired vitriol from the Gateshead crowd and made all the comebacks from Brodie Adler electric.

Pick Your Poison – Lou King Sharp defeated Hugo Harris w/Luke Aldridge, The Tormentor, & Tate by pinfall.

After some opening poses, Harris jumped Sharp to kick start the main event. Sharp absorbed and returned with force, leathering Hugo with punches to the face to send Hugo Harris flipped inside out and upside down from a wound up fist which looked incredible.

A Cactus clothesline sent both men over the top rope to the floor which took the match into The Blood Tourist’s wheelhouse. The pair ended up under the ring as the canvas shook to convey the titanic battle occurring. When the bout returned to between the ropes, Harris hung up Sharp off the top rung to take over, using plenty of misdirection in order for The Commune to interfere.

Sharp had had enough, dragging The Tormentor up on the apron to get a right hand to the side of the head. The distractions meant that Hugo Harris could keep the momentum swung in his camp, catching near falls against a defiant Lou King Sharp. Once again The Tormentor was targeted by Sharp and in the fracas it saw Hugo Harris run into Katie Walker to knock her out for an extended period of time.

Lou wasted no time in grabbing his trusty Singapore Cane to crack it off the backside of Harris as the match ended up in the middle of the sixth row with Sharp catapulting Hugo into a concrete wall. Katie recovered in time for the action to convene back in the ring, a side step by Harris had Sharp’s Sick Kick miss and left him prone for a Curb Stomp that gained a two count. Lou came back with a Sick Kick but his thought to pin Harris was interrupted by Tate.

Once again Sharp anticipated the sneak attack to evade a rushing Hugo Harris, who stopped short in colliding into Tate, Harris turned around for a some vintage Lou King Sharp, in being picked up for a Finlay Roll to sequence to a Frog Splash that wrapped up the match for the man that challenges the W3L Heavyweight Champion Luke Aldridge at ‘Wrestlution XIX’.

Once again it was a pleasing main event where the bad guys got their comeuppance which let the crowd go home satisfied. It had all the hallmarks of your typical Lou King Sharp and Hugo Harris matches respectively with the anarchy Sharp brings that coupled with the over the top nature of Harris reacting to the offence brought towards him, which amplified the threat that Lou has for his upcoming showdown with Aldridge.

This show did two things well, it created a fairly simple standalone story for a casual crowd, while also driving some overarching points for those keeping track of the shows whether it’s on Hooked On Wrestling and/or Wrestling Showdown.

The matches were suited for the crowd to get the reactions set out to achieve. Did it mean some matches were a bit safe? Maybe, but everything on offer elicited a response with passion and emotion from the audience.

The full show is available on Hooked On Wrestling TV now to check out for yourself.