We’re still at St Ninian’s in Kirkintilloch for a loud and feisty VALOR crowd. There was no cold open, we were right into the opening match of this edition.

Dru Marshall defeated Tommy Lockhart by submission.

Irn Dru Marshall, with Chris Renfrew, stalked around the ring. Marshall didn’t lose focus on Tommy Lockhart, maintaining strong eye contact upon entering the battleground.

The respective entourages made their way to the back as Dru called his shot, he wanted to go hold for hold and keep it as a straight up wrestling match and citing his connection to the Knight family. Lockhart accepted a handshake to confirm the terms set. The show of respect from Dru really split the audience into putting their voice equally behind Marshall and Lockhart, and the New Age Kliq’s trash talking tyrant was keeping a lid on his usual brazen antics.

Of course it wasn’t made to last, the lock ups got a bit more aggressive, the shoves came with more force, a rattled Tommy Lockhart swung a southpaw left fist at Marshall which reset Irn Dru back to who VALOR had been treated to for months, a smash-mouth creator of chaos. He delayed this return to the ring, causing irritation for Lockhart who didn’t seem to be enamoured by the tactics on display.

A knuckle lock ended up with Tommy getting his fingers snapped, a back and forth exchange of pin attempts showcased the level playing field that they were on as the chess match continued. Each man switching gameplans and counters. Marshall tied Lockhart into a unique surfboard stretch, wrenching the neck of Tommy back with Dru’s own feet to gain the verbal submission.

The crowd chanted in unison that the match was awesome, Lockhart offered a handshake that was waved away for Marshall to offer one of his own, only to pull it away and gloat about his victory to the back.

On a match by match basis, I don’t think there’s many better than Tommy Lockhart in VALOR right now. Tommy Lockhart creates art. We got a little bit of W3L’s Irn Dru Marshall with the show of respect, and I did like that it got chipped away as the match went on to confirm Dru’s true colours and that is he is a bastard through and through. A good match, a strong showing for both with no outside shenanigans.

As Tommy made his way to the back we moved seamlessly into the next match with Big Mick of Cirque du Catch made his way out, joined by The Magnificent Mackie.

Big Mick w/The Magnificent Mackie defeated Stone Malone w/Frank of the Cross by pinfall.

In the battle of beef, it was Big Mick that had Stone Malone on the back foot. A barrage of heavy hits has Malone seeking sanctuary on the outside. Thanks to a momentary distraction from Frank of the Cross, Stone drove Mick into the ring post as the buff received while in the church hall powered up Stone Malone to aim his assault onto the left shoulder of Big Mick.

Mick held on, side step to dodge a rush into the corner was enough for the powerhouse from Easterhouse to slam Stone Malone, and run full pelt for a hip attack in the corner. Stone broke out of a chokebomb attempt to connect with the discus lariat that netted him a two count. Malone missed another rush in the corner to earn himself a Deep Six for a near fall.

Frank slid a chair into the ring and caught the attention of Big Mick once again, Malone tried to take advantage but his swing of the metal was met with air as Mick ducked the attack. Big Mick landed a big chokebomb to Stone Malone to make it an even score for Cirque du Catch on the episode.

Big Mick grabbed the microphone to put the challenge out to Tim Strange to meet him in a bullrope match in Paisley.

This was a short match but packed everything needed to have Stone look menacing, and capture the resilience of Big Mick before his challenge to Strange. The VALOR crowd were hot for it, and that made it a holy entertaining experience.

Kayleigh was joined by August Artois to talk about his match against BT Gunn. August drips charisma, and even though Kayleigh wasn’t interested in The International Draw, Artois was confident that he was coming home with two titles.

The Heretics (Brodie Adler & Hera) defeated 2BadBitches (Penelope Grace & Aerin Taylor) by pinfall.

Penelope Grace and Aerin Taylor riled up everyone upon entering that translating into Brodie and Hera getting a raucous response when they burst through the curtain. Referee Archie Williams tried to get some order as the chorus of “Brodie’s gonna kill you” rang around St Ninian’s.

Hera locked up with Aerin Taylor, and immediately had Taylor hurtling backwards with raw strength. Aerin kept trying but kept being overpowered, a gouge to the eyes almost had Taylor get the upper hand but she was soon being flung about with Brodie Adler getting tagged in to continue torturing Aerin as the fans ate up every moment.

Aerin finally managed to tag Penelope Grace, who ran into the brick wall that is Hera, immediately being scooped and slammed to the canvas. Penelope kept pushing back but was overwhelmed by Hera, who took her for a spinning sidewalk slam for a near fall. Brodie was brought back in to pound away at her rival, crushing Grace in the corner.

Stereo Samoan Drops almost had it but Penelope got a shoulder up. Adler went for the Black Hole Slam that was spin through for Grace to land the Fall From Grace. Brodie grabbed the hair of Penelope Grace that ripped out her extensions and sent her for another Black Hole Slam. Aerin Taylor made the blind tag to connect with a pump kick to knock Brodie into her corner that gave Hera the chance to re-enter. Another Samoan Drop left Aerin looking at the lights.

A heated tag team match. Brodie and Penelope not being involved in the decision was a nice thread to keep the feud simmering. It was mayhem, an all out brawl, fun stuff.

Brodie and Hera were caught backstage with Kayleigh. They put the challenge out for a Hearse Match at Red Dead Wrestling III.

UEWA European Heavyweight Championship/Pride of Wrestling Florida Heavyweight Championship – BT Gunn vs August Artois ended in a draw. BT Gunn retained the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship, August Artois retained the Pride of Wrestling Florida Heavyweight Championship.

August Artois reintroduced himself to the VALOR crowd by running down Scotland. BT Gunn made his way out with both men using the other’s respective flags as handkerchiefs to set the tone for the match.

A fast and furious opening stretch had Artois flailing, eating a straight right hand punch to the jaw to have him crashing down to the mat. August headed to the outside with Gunn in pursuit, a sweep of the legs has BT faceplanting the apron as the fight continued around the hall. August squealed in agony following a suplex into the wooden floor, and his night didn’t get any better with a famous BT Gunn chop blistering the chest of August Artois that probably felt real and raw.

The carnage carried on, and after getting a wet willy and smacked about, it was August that got the strike in to roll BT back into the ring and take control. A single leg dropkick off the top turnbuckle had Gunn writhing as Artois went about putting the pressure onto the spine of BT with a Camel Clutch. The confidence of August grew as he took extra digs at The Oddity, who continued to fight back to scoop Artois up. A missed flying headbutt swung the momentum back to August Artois.

That swing refused to rest, Gunn would fire back to bombard August with strikes. BT set up for the flatliner until a timely distraction from Irn Dru Marshall gave Artois an opening to deliver a reverse DDT. Marshall brought the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship, striking Artois in error. Dru ate a killer boot superkick that sent Marshall on his way. Artois got one of his own with Gunn landing on August in such a way that a double pinfall was declared by referee Sean Moran.

The New Age Kliq, Marshall, Renfrew, and Sparx, attacked BT Gunn after the match, ending with Chris Renfrew giving Gunn the T-Virus, and Dru Marshall holding the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship aloft as the boos reigned.

I need this match be ran back without the chicanery because the core of the match was outstanding. BT Gunn is one of the best in Europe against someone so naturally gifted for professional wrestling in August Artois that it’s a bout that can’t be done the once. The finish was done well, the audience bit for the near falls. The post-match assault was given the reaction deserved. It ticked all the boxes.

Case in point of how great August Artois is at keeping everything switched on. He got a BT Gunn chop in the match, later he gave Gunn a chop and just looked at his own hand confused as to why it didn’t cause the same amount of damage that he suffered at the hand of BT. Little bits like that keeps the narrative flowing with organic callbacks to weave an excellent story. I really enjoyed this one.

A strong episode of This Is VALOR with a return to Paisley next on the agenda for ‘808s & Ropebreaks II’. Each match had a different flavour to it that was well balanced. After the last episode I had put a question mark on something potentially missing from the crowd response in Kirkintilloch when compared to the Opry in Glasgow but this was a totally invested audience that were fed well with engaging stories.

The show is available on YouTube: