We’re at the Larick Centre in Tayport for the latest edition of Fair City Wrestling’s weekly Empire release. It was a compact venue in Tayport with the seats filled.

Triple Threat – Euan G Mackie defeated Tom Atlas, and Oliver Green by pinfall.

Euan G Mackie gyrated his way to the ring, with Tom Atlas taking exception to his former mentor’s antics by starting a shoving match while Oliver Green took to the floor to warm up.

Green returned with a couple claps to briefly reunite Atlas and Mackie on the same page, but Tom was quick to renege on the nostalgia trip that saw him being thrown through the ropes by Mackie onto the unsuspecting Oliver Green on the outside.

The dives kept coming, first with Mackie soaring off the top turnbuckle to the pair, rolling Green back into the ring for the Skyripper to have his turn. Atlas was chucked harshly into the ring post by Oliver to take him out of the equation for the time being.

Tom returned to break an Oliver Green near fall with all three making their way into the centre of the ring. Euan grabbed Atlas and Green for a double Sliced Bread.

The three got their shot of offense, with Tom finding himself being locked in a double submission by Oliver and Euan that lead to a momentary truce between the pair for the release.

A circumstantial tandem face buster by Atlas and Mackie to Green had Oliver rolling out of the ring. Tom and Euan fought on the turnbuckles with Mackie getting the best of the exchange to knock Atlas to the canvas, a top rope leg drop kept Tom down for the three.

This was a nicely flowing opener, there were some nice little callbacks to Euan G Mackie and Tom Atlas sharing a little bit of history, Oliver Green expressed himself well, it wasn’t anything fancy and it told a simple story of competitiveness to win. An enjoyable match.

Ryan Roode defeated Kevin Williams by pinfall.

The antagonisation of Ryan Roode being a former FCW Heavyweight Championship was in full effect from the ring announcing to Kevin Williams twisting the knife in further.

Roode overpowered Williams early on, with Kevin rattling Ryan with some test of strength dodging to set up a quick slap to the chops. Williams got a flurry in but was soon being picked apart by Ryan Roode including a nasty looking knee lean to the back of the head of Kevin to press him into the middle turnbuckle.

An explosive discus lariat opened up the match for Williams, only for Ryan to grab referee Chris Dior for the distraction that allowed for Shaun Faegan to hang Kevin off the top rope and walk into a Michinoku Driver to give Roode the victory.

Faegan continued the attack post-match with the assist from Roode until Retro Randy Valentine rushed out to make the save.

Valentine offered to put the title on the line to shut Shaun Faegan up later that night.

The match put across the aggressiveness that Ryan Roode is coming with, dominating long stretches of the match while a Kevin Williams absorbed the support from the crowd to hang on to get a last gasp burst of energy. The immediate panic of Ryan grabbing the referee to bring Shaun Faegan in for the unfair advantage also added the threat that Kevin can pose.

It told all that effectively, and set up the further arc of the Ryan Roode and Retro Randy tale with Ryan being vocally pissed about Randy offering a title shot to Faegan, which was a nice bit of subtlety thrown in.

Duke defeated Kidd Bandit by pinfall.

Initially Duke tried to use his height leverage to his advantage but a crafty Kidd Bandit found their way out of some precarious situations to twist Duke up into a cross armbreaker.

A handshake was jumped on by Duke but he was soon being barraged with strikes in return. Duke took a quick refreshment break with Bandit giving chase. Once they were back between the ropes a clothesline from Duke sent Bandit to the mat at speed.

Duke took control to wear down Kidd Bandit, his confidence go the better of him to run into another kick to the face. Duke shook it off to catch a diving Bandit and sending them overhead with a Fallaway Slam for a near fall.

Kidd Bandit held on, kicking out, then getting a shoulder up after a Codebreaker. The Bandit comeback saw them catch Duke into a Boston Crab that was stopped by a rope break.

The strikes were exchanged once again with forearms and kicks back and forth. Bandit got the best of Duke once more to land a Sling Blade and 619, a missed spin kick left Bandit open to receive one of their own.

Bandit ducked a pump kick to lock in the Boston Crab again that lead to the rest of DE rushing out and interfere. Kidd Bandit fought off Tom Atlas, Sebastian Asher, and Spike Tierney quickly but couldn’t evade a pump kick from Duke that kept them out for the count.

Quite possibly the best Duke match I’ve seen, seeing the control Kidd Bandit has in their movements is extraordinary, they have sharp placement and have such a clean transition around the ring, an outstanding individual.

A solid episode of Empire, it introduced the Tayport crowd who were up for a bit of the wrestling, and it set up a match for next week’s edition effectively in Retro Randy versus Shaun Faegan. The added draw of a Kidd Bandit match, plus a fun opening bout, made for an easy watch overall.

The show is available on YouTube: