When it was announced early Friday that GPWA would be live streaming that evenings Five Pound Wrestling show, I cleared my busy schedule to make sure I could load YouTube up in plenty of time.

Being up in the North East it’s simply not as easy as jumping on a train/bus/plane to Glasgow. Between financial constraints, time, and everything else you can think of it’s great that the facilities are in place to be able to see what GPWA have been producing while being a couple hundred miles away.

Throwing their students into the deep end, streaming on ICW’s YouTube channel boasting a couple hundred thousand subscribers and a potential worldwide viewership. No pressure eh?

Reiver defeated David Metters by submission.

Following the introductions by famed master of ceremonies Simon Cassidy, we were welcomed to David Metters strutting out.

After a bit of crowd riling from Metters with a cracking line of that the audience are lucky to only pay £5 when it should cost them at least £50 to see him, he was eventually interrupted by Reiver, “The Knight In Shining Armour” was complete with a knights helmet and a moustache you could set your watch to.

The match started with some family friendly yay-boo to ease us into the evening. The crowd were up for everything that was coming their way. There was a little Simpsons homage with some windmill arms from Metters and blind kicking from Reiver.

Metters was arrogant on the offensive with Reiver looking to hold on, at one point having a tight grip on the nose of David Metters to make him squirm.

Reiver busted out a second turnbuckle crooked moonsault but it was an Ankle Lock with a grapevine that would have Metters tap out.

A solid opener. Reiver looked nervous which may’ve made some of his moves look a little stilted in moments. The pressure will have played a factor but for a first major exposure to the world they both gave a good account of themselves. Metters showed plenty of confidence.

Fraser Girvan defeated Leo McLean w/Bella by pinfall.

I don’t think I’ve made much a secret about it, but I think Fraser Girvan is great. He’s just so expressive, an absolute pitbull. He was up against a wrestler I haven’t seen in ages, Leo McLean made appearances for Source Wrestling and the short lived Renegade Wrestling before primarily finding his footing over the border.

McLean tried to wear down Girvan, slowing the match down to avoid the juggernaut building any momentum, but he couldn’t avoid the big swing as Fraser grabbed the legs of a front dropkick attempting McLean and spun him around like he was nothing.

Bella got a couple digs in when the referee was distracted to try and keep the match in favour of McLean but a flying headbutt from Girvan turned the tide.

Girvan dodged another attempt to interfere from Bella which saw McLean knocking her off the apron in the process. A Cradle Piledriver wrapped it up for the younger Girvan brother.

Another good match. McLean and Bella provided a fine antagonist for Girvan to overcome. I recently compared Fraser to a Jim Neidhart, he’s a barrel of kinetic energy that just keeps going with a slight unhinged edge about him.

Triple Threat – Colton Davis defeated Austin Brookes, and Landon Riley by pinfall.

In our first half main event it was some triple threat action. Colton Davis towered over his opponents, but during the pre-match he shared more than a passing glance with Jack Jester who was stood behind the barrier watching his students.

Brookes and Riley both had a go at Davis on their own to little avail before teaming up to send Colton over the top rope.

After a brief back and forth between Riley and Brookes, Davis returned to play spoiler. After dispatching of Riley, Davis took aim at Brookes for a beat down.

The action was thick and fast with all three getting some big moves it. An Austin Brookes German Suplex to Landon Riley was stunning, with Riley showing plenty of high flying offense with forearms and dropkicks being the order of the day.

Colton Davis returned by emerging onto the apron to grab Riley by the throat, entering the ring and booting Brookes in the face before throwing Landon onto a prone Austin Brookes with a chokeslam before pinning Brookes for the win.

The celebrations for Davis was short lived as he turned around into another tandem superkick from Brookes and Riley who dragged him to the apron to dispose of his lifeless body.

A great showcase for all three with Colton Davis eventually standing tall. A fantastic way to close the first half. The charisma that Landon Riley possesses is enigmatic, Austin Brookes was in fine form, but the star of the bout was ‘Sky High’ Colton Davis who found his groove as the biggest man in the match quickly and used it to his advantage.

Theo Doros defeated Cody Crawford by pinfall.

We returned to the action with current ICW Zero G Champion Theo Doros in a dresstoga, against ‘The Big Unit’ Cody Crawford.

After an extended back and forth between Theo and the crowd over what his entrance attire actually is we moved into the match which saw Crawford overpower Doros in the early going.

Doros eventually went low with a kick and starting wailing on The Big Unit to take control. Crawford swung back the momentum his way with a big spear but it wasn’t enough to get the three count.

It was a Superman Punch counter out of a Pop Up Powerbomb attempt that left Crawford prone for the Pedigree to get the win for Theo Doros.

One of the slower matches on the show with Cody looking a little unseasoned and much like Reiver earlier on just a bit nervous and stilted at times. In saying that though there is plenty of potential though with my mind immediately putting him with Colton Davis as some sort of terrifying Skyscraper duo.

Doros controlled the pace throughout, busted out some higher risk moves like the top rope crossbody, and used the experience advantage to find the opening to hit that Superman Punch to leave Crawford wide open to be prone for the finish. Good stuff.

Sean Summers defeated Thomas Avery by pinfall.

As soon as Thomas Avery made his way out I turned to my wife and said, “if he’s half as good as he looks we’re in for a hell of a match”. There was a superstar aura from Avery straight off the bat, a name that I hadn’t heard of, and going through the Five Pound Wrestling results I’d been able to gather in the past I had nothing on the guy.

Next out was Sean Summers, another total unknown, who got a big reaction from the crowd. Definite plucky underdog energy and I appreciated the Cyclops (the X-Men one) inspired gear to go with the Summers surname.

Summers relied on his agility and speed to get some quick attacks in but when Avery took control he made Summers pay for it through big kicks and a beautiful short lariat. Summers continued to fight back, kicking out of a nice backbreaker into a Sister Abigail combo from Avery who tried to slow the pace down, targeting his attacks on the back and knee of Summers to keep him grounded.

Avery should’ve finished the match with a spear but pulled up the shoulder of Summers break his own count which he regretted minutes later after a roll up scored Sean Summers the three count.

A great match, neither showed any sign of stage fright as they both brought it. Sure there were some very minor miscues that I spotted but for a first run out there is very little to complain about. Summers has a bit of a Colin Delaney vibe right now, but looked very comfortable in the ring being the underdog.

Thomas Avery is money. He antagonised the crowd, took full advantage of the cameras with a couple extra poses, bringing in audience in the venue and those watching from home. A standout debuting performance, even if he was hoisted by his own petard at the end.

Ben Rodgers defeated Venus by pinfall.

After the raffle, it was time for the main event. Venus entered all mysterious and gave off a bit of a Raven-esque something about them.

Ben Rodgers arrived and looked like an absolute star. The match started with a little bit of yay-boo to bookend the night with the crowd firmly behind Rodgers.

With the power advantage on the side of Rodgers he made use of it with a snap powerslam for a near fall. Venus took to the apron and managed to hung up a marching Rodgers over the top rope to gain the upper hand.

Venus went about causing punishment, taking aim for the shoulder and back of Rodgers, hitting a jarring backbreaker over their knee that had plenty of snap. Despite the barrage of manoeuvres, Venus couldn’t keep Rodgers down and was visibly frustrated.

Rodgers fought back with a shoulder block from the top rope that had a lot of airtime, crashing into his opponent to turn the tables. The momentum switched between Rodgers hitting a Spinebuster but Venus returned the favour with a Pumphandle Slam, neither move could gain the victory.

Using the momentum of a running opponent, Rodgers managed to get Venus onto his shoulder for an Oklahoma Stampede to slam them down to pick up the one two three.

A worthy main event with Venus not looking out of place. They didn’t let the occasion get to them, proving that their place was in the closing match against a proven young star on the GPWA/ICW roster.

For a near last minute announced live stream, GPWA provided a lot of action that saw the two hours fly by. Thomas Avery and Venus were the standouts from the new faces but all of put in a good performance at a base level with all the matches delivering memorable moments.

If GPWA decide to go forward and live stream more, which I hope they do, I’d love to hear some commentary. I don’t mean, or expect, getting the full ICW shebang with Billy Kirkwood etc. but maybe Simon Cassidy with a guest co-commentator from the school to sharpen the lyrical tools for promos and working on the fly, and to give more of a background to the GPWA graduates and future ICW stars in preparation of them moving forward to a Blockbuster show or up to a Triller+ PPV.

Definitely worth a watch.

The show is available on YouTube: