You wait for a new FCW Empire release and two full events arrived in quick succession. This time it is the February kick off for Dundee & Angus Pro Wrestling’s 2025 at The Queen’s Hotel. An intimate venue in a function room that is very easy to get to, located in the centre of Dundee.

Euan G Mackie defeated Sebastian Asher by pinfall.

Despite taking his sweet time to get into the lock up, Asher quickly employed his power advantage to muscle around Mackie. It was up to Euan to pick up the speed and it worked, spinning Sebastian around to send him flying, but Asher cut off the momentum only for it to lead to some more unpredictable offense from Euan G Mackie.

A leg trap and stretch from Mackie gave Asher some groinal discomfort that only gave Sebastian an adrenaline rush to strike and put Euan back onto defense. An ear rattling slap from Asher sparked some life into Mackie but he was soon crashing to the mat via a smooth standing dropkick.

Mackie fought back, landing a running crossbody at the second of asking, a super Boom Drop got a two count, and facebuster also failed to put Asher away. Euan gathered the momentum, attaching himself to Asher with a guillotine to counter a spinebuster attempt.

After weathering the very good storm, Asher landed a spinebuster for another near fall, a crushing spear may’ve done the job if it wasn’t for Mackie rolling to the apron. Sebastian went to finish the job, hoisting Mackie up for a vertical suplex but Mackie dropped down for a small package to nab the victory.

I enjoyed how Mackie switched his offense to essentially grab any limb to try something because matching up face to face wasn’t going to go well due to the height and strength Sebastian Asher had over him. So it came down to waiting for mistakes, nipping in to gather a combo together with Asher having to find his moment to put a full stop to the run. It was like watching a stage level boss fight, Mackie making Asher wobble then get a big hit, repeat, then defeat. Good stuff.

Junior Heavyweight Invitational First Round – Triple Threat – Oliver Green defeated Tommy Raiden, and Johnny Pressley by pinfall to advance.

The mystery man Johnny Pressley started the match with his own brand of dancing shenanigans which Raiden and Green not taking too kindly. The celebrations of Oliver Green being dispatched to the outside was premature from Pressley with Tommy Raiden striking to beat down the hound dog.

Green returned to interrupt a pin attempt in order to have Pressley to himself. The brief alliance between Tommy and Oliver quickly broke down with Pressley taking advantage, spinning both around to send all three stumbling around in a daze.

Tommy tried to reunite the truce between Green and himself with a double team to Pressley but with both going for the pin simultaneously it lead them to come to blows. Pressley took them both out by giving Green a facebuster while Oliver held Raiden up for an attempted front slam.

All three had a chance to walk away the victor but it was Oliver Green waiting for Pressley to knock out Tommy Raiden with a full nelson facebuster to slide in and plant a knee to the face of Johnny and take the pin for himself.

An action filled triple threat, what caught my attention was Johnny Pressley always electing to remove Oliver Green from the ring when he had a chance to. It was almost like the masked man picked who he thought was the bigger threat to chances to advance which ultimately lead to him him losing out on moving forward by putting his focus on wearing down Tommy Raiden.

As the shows pass the Johnny Pressley presentation gets bigger and better, the gear is better fitted, the charisma become more prominent, with the shenanigans flowing through his in-ring moveset. He has the makings of a cult hero in Scottish professional wrestling. Raiden and Green had great showings with Oliver Green managing to bust out some rapid fire gunshot offense which was hard hitting. Raiden is also finding a groove as a thunderstorm of anger ready to strike lightning.

Retro Randy Valentine defeated Sami Sparx by pinfall.

Sami Sparx delayed the start of the match, avoiding Retro Randy and enraging the crowd by staying as far away as possible. When the bell finally rung, Sparx once again decided to leave the ring.

When Sami decided it was time to get going it was an exchange of lock up stalemates before both showed off their brute strength with shoulder blocks to knock the other down. Randy used the exuberance of Sparx to put him to a dead stop with a hard clothesline.

Valentine found himself booted off the apron that looked to catch Randy by surprise from the sheer force and whiplash. Sami took control, sending Randy back with a nice standing dropkick before mauling him in the corner, sending Randy sternum first into the turnbuckle to drive the air out of Valentine.

Sparx went about to embarrass Randy, throwing him to the outside, toying with his opponent. Sami got Randy onto the top turnbuckle for a standing suplex that looked great. Unfortunately that unlocked the Retro Rage, haymaker after haymaker, big boot, and LEG DROP OF DOOOOOOOM could only garner a two count.

A massive lariat took Sami Sparx off his feet while the camera caught a hooded figure steal Casey at ringside. Valentine rolled out of a fireman’s carry to fold up Sparx with a pinning combination of his own to hold Sami’s shoulders down for three.

The joy was soon turned into confusion when Randy realised that Casey was missing as he rushed back through the curtain.

Sami Sparx, in his dark grungier aesthetic and with his petulant behaviour, against a bold coloured and charismatic Retro Randy Valentine made for a striking visual. Sparx showed plenty aggression while the crowd in The Queen’s Hotel supported Randy’s plight against the luchador. A solid match with plenty of great reactions. That suplex that had Randy seated on the top turnbuckle and Sami taking him out of the corner like a stumped Muscle Buster was tasty.

Randy’s realisation of Casey being missing after the match was heartstring pulling quality.

“King” Rich Money & Rhys Dawkins defeated Pretty Jumpin’ (Sam McMillan & William McLeod) by pinfall.

Dick Pesos arrived with Rhys Dawkins to face two the newest faces in Fair City Wrestling as Pretty Jumpin’ got a mega response from the Fair City Faithful(TM).

Dawkins went to work keeping William McLeod down with headlocks, smartly tagging his tag team partner as soon as as McLeod started to pick up the pace. McMillan sent Money scarpering to the outside following a shotgun dropkick but the resulting skirmish at ringside saw Dawkins and Money take charge.

McMillan got isolated in the corner with Dawkins and Money tagging frequently, antagonising McLeod to allow for some assistance behind the referee’s back as he dealt with an incensed William McLeod. McMillan continued to survive, with attempts at getting his tag team partner proving fruitless on the most part until he finally pushed Rhys away long enough to extend the hand and get McLeod into the fray.

Just as McLeod looked to put the finishing touches, McMillan blind tagged in, the miscommunication saw a jester skip out to distract the young duo which allowed for Money to jump McLeod and Dawkins to plant McMillan with The Fifth Act for the three.

A smug Rich Money introduced the faction, via Rhys Dawkins, as The King’s Retinue. Money put a bounty on the head of Sam McMillan to declare hunting season on the Pretty Boy. McMillan offered a handshake by way of apology to McLeod who slapped it away to hug it out.

Sam showed plenty fire as the underdog, gaining plenty support as Dawkins and Money took turns beating him down. There was no attempts to do anything particularly fancy by the treacherous team which made them very easy to dislike as they were ruthless when they got control of the bout. Though we know what happens in the future the seeds being planted of the cracks forming early in Pretty Jumpin’ was well done to pull focus into Sam’s one track mind in taking down the man that relieved him of the King of the Class crown.

Rhys Dawkins and Rich Money worked well as a team, showing some great chemistry.

The sudden jester appearance was weird though.

Eden defeated Ellie Armstrong by pinfall.

Eden tried to get the upper hand early with arm drags but Ellie Armstrong overpowered and took Eden over for a side headlock. Armstrong continued to make her strength known with a wheelbarrow slam.

Ellie took aim to the arm and shoulders of Eden, applying big pressure and weight to torture the joints. Eden got a second wind, pushing Armstrong back into the corner for a graceful handspring back elbow, following up with a standing moonsault for a near fall.

Armstrong stopped the momentum with a belly to belly suplex but Eden just got a shoulder up. Ellie argued with referee Sean Moran which gave Eden time to get the wheelbarrow victory roll for a shock pin.

A post-match handshake ended with Eden being beaten down by Ellie Armstrong, leaving to a chorus of boos.

We’re definitely seeing the comfort levels increase with Eden with every match. The first half had some going through the motion moments for her but the final stretch, once she got back into the bout and hit that handspring back elbow, we got a glimpse of confidence from Eden that can be built upon. Ellie Armstrong was a solid opponent to bring that out of her as a pure villain in Fair City Wrestling whereas her last match against Brodie Adler was two fan favourites which caused a split in vocal support.

The DAPW, and FCW, crowd are full of love for Eden and I’m seeing the potential shine through. From one perspective, the night before was Fair City Wrestling in Perth (review) that saw the civil war of Red Gate begin and Eden being chokeslammed by Kerrigan out of the blue and her boys Valek and SAMUEL abducted. You could look at it as Eden numb to the world through confusion and uncertainty of other matters.

DAPW Championship – Fulton King w/Sami Sparx defeated Jay Robin by disqualification to retain the DAPW Championship.

Robin went straight after Fulton with a ferocious front dropkick and threw fists at ‘The Juggernaut’ to rock King in the early going. A running flip senton of the second rope was enough for King to seek some respite on the outside.

Thanks to some timely interference from Sparx, Fulton brought the brawl to ringside and slammed Jay’s face across the bar. Robin fought back but was ran over by King to keep Jay at bay. A front suplex and big leg drop across the spine of Robin was only good for a near fall.

King kept the pressure on, putting the boots to Jay, cracking him with a headbutt to send The Rainbow Renegade loopy, and pulling at the face with malice. Fulton used distractions to let Sami Sparx get his licks in, who put the fists to Robin out of sight of Sean Moran.

Sparx overplayed his hand, getting caught in the act and sent packing by Moran to even the playing field. Jay tried to capitalise but King recovered and throw hands. Fulton scaled the second rope, fighting off a powerbomb counter but wasn’t prepared to be pushed to the floor. The fight reconvened to the apron for Robin to DDT Fulton King.

The match descended into a slug fest with fists flying as the two tried to return to their feet. Robin gathered the momentum, a hip toss, sling blade, and Shining Stevie run still couldn’t keep Fulton down for long. A codebreaker was only good for a two count with King landing a headbutt to send Jay wobbly legged.

A fireman’s carry saw those legs collide with Sean which allowed Sparx to return with a baseball bat but he soon felt the wood across his back courtesy of the former DAPW Champion. Fulton begged off an attack but Robin swung hard to the stomach which was witnessed by Moran who called for the disqualification.

Jay rained the punches on Fulton King post-match until wrestlers arrived to drag Robin away for Legends Never Die to make a hasty exit out of the ring.

This was less of a wrestling match and more two big lads having a scrap, Fulton King was full of champion confidence against a rage filled Jay Robin. There was a little cut to backstage before each entrance to show the combatants make their way to the curtain which was a nice addition to set it apart as the main event from the rest of the card. It wasn’t a pretty match but it was overridden by the emotions involved as you wanted Jay to smack the smirk off the face of ‘The Juggernaut’ who took great glee stretching the rules and using any advantage he could to keep Robin down.

A good show, it had plenty story beats and solid matches with every match having positives to come out of it. The Queen’s Hotel was packed with a loud and enthusiastic crowd who elevated the matches with their cheers and boos, and they were up for being entertained.

The full show is available on YouTube: