It’s the middle portion of Dundee & Angus Pro Wrestling’s event at The Queen’s Hotel, the filling if you will, and this episode was filled with championship implications.
Retro Randy kicked off this edition of FCW Empire by unveiling the ArdlerMania IV poster. As the banner was paraded around the ring by the officials, Sebastian Asher slid in and burst through to spear Randy hard onto the canvas. After a brawl the pair were separated, and while Sebastian was dragged out of the room, the FCW Heavyweight Champion was enraged and put the challenge out for their return to Dundee, putting the gold on the line.
A cool way to make an impact to put some spice on seeing a future showdown between Sebastian Asher and Retro Randy.
FCW Junior Heavyweight Championship – Oliver Green defeated Sam McMillan by submission to retain.
After a rendition of “Elgin sucks” from the DAPDubbers, the match got underway with Oliver Green going for the cheap shots at any opportunity, slapping McMillan, then cowering away from retaliation and using referee Sean Moran to sneak in for a chop block to the back of the knee of the challenger. McMillan returned with a barrage of pin attempts, before sending Green all over with hiptosses and driving his feet into the side of Oliver’s head via a point blank dropkick.
The champion sought a rest on the outside, grabbing Sam’s leg when he got near and driving the knee off the apron. Green targeted the knee again, locking in a Figure-4-Leglock. A slap from McMillan sent Oliver over to reverse the pressure and release the hold to give Sam a moment to recover. The match lead to the apron as the pair struck back and forth until Sam McMillan connected with the a cutter on the apron. Green swept the leg of Sam to send the Pretty Boy chasing the referee ten count to get back into the ring.
McMillan dodged a cannonball in the corner to limp his way through striking Oliver Green. A pump kick had Green knocked out but by the time Sam crawled over to turn Oliver over it wasn’t enough. A discus pump kick was too much for McMillan to deliver as he stopped short, clutching the joint in agony. A desperation jawbreaker bounced Green off the ropes onto the shoulders of McMillan, who tried to get up for a fireman’s carry that Oliver Green wriggled out of and clutched the left leg of his opponent and tied Sam up with an inverted Figure-4-Leglock to gain the submission victory and to retain.
A solid match, there’s a through line here of wrestlers targeting the joints of Sam McMillan that has stemmed from his admission of living with Crohn’s. It not given as heavy focus but it does make it interesting to see when his opponents make use of that, it shows tactical awareness to use whatever advantage could be found. I’m not sure where the endgame lies if it’s Sam overcoming an onslaught of submissions or unleashing one of his own to combat it. There’s something there to build upon. Oliver Green has settled into being an arrogant bawbag, showing no redeeming qualities to cheer for as it should be.
ADM defeated Duke Cannon by pinfall.
A forgiving Dundee crowd cheered for Duke Cannon, the newly dubbed High Tech Low Life, as he locked up with “Poundland Jesus” ADM, who prepared to put mustard on those words, for they were soon be consuming them along with a slice of humble pie that came direct from the oven of shame, set at gas mark ‘egg on Duke’s face with a mighty hard forearm to Cannon’s jaw. Cannon had to use the five rules of dodgeball to land a sit out lariat but he met with a big boot that could’ve given Duke a case of Cockney Neck.
The Clyde River Killer contained to hold control over Duke Cannon, taking aim at the neck and spine of Cannon, and finding an answer to Cannon’s attempts to turn the tide. Duke kept punching and kicking his way through. The match got scrappy as the support for Duke Cannon rose in The Queen’s Hotel. ADM connected with two more discus forearms to rattle Cannon. Duke fired in with a discus lariat and a pump kick that could only get a two count thanks to a rope break.
One more discus forearm and a piledriver gave ADM the win.
It did get a bit disjointed towards the conclusion where Duke was scrambling, but it did well add to the ruthlessness of ADM to not rush and almost let Duke tire himself out before going in for the kill. That also let the crowd allow themselves to cheer for Cannon, even after the majority of time was spent previously hearing that DE music, sometimes multiple times a night, and Duke’s smug face bursting through the curtain. After a couple high profile losses in FCW/DAPW a merciless win was what ADM needed to maintain that cold aura when he enters, and he got it here. A lot was done to benefit the competitor’s future standings in FCW.
A quick 30 minutes, a set up for a future match, a good title match, and two lads punching each other for an extended period, all made for a variety show on this week’s Empire.
The show is available on YouTube: