Fresh off the back of my first time attending a TIDAL Wrestling event and I was not disappointed!
From the loud and vocal crowd, to great, entertaining matches, to Joseph Conners singing a highly unique version of “Living La Vida Loca”, TCW’s High Tide 2018 was an absolute riot and blast from beginning to end.
Before I go on, on a personal note, other than being a wrestling fan, the main reason I wanted to attend this event was because I discovered Mia Yim would be participating in a match. Those who know me well, know I am a huge fan of hers since she debuted at Impact….
Speaking of Mia Yim, she was in the first match of the night facing Reigning, defending Women’s Champion, Li’l Miss Roxxy, a match that was definitely befitting of the phrase “go hard or go home”. This, for me, was one of the best matches of the night, culminating in the crowning of a new Women’s Champion and a victorious, Mia Yim.
After the match, Mic in hand, she then issued an open challenge for her newly won Championship. A challenge, answered by non other than…. Ligero. This was in fact a brilliant unexpected match, with a good few laughs thrown in, especially when Mia Yim told Ligero “You hit like a bitch!”. Was great and entertaining with the expected end result of Mia retaining her Women’s Championship.
Next up was a tag match pitting The Proven (Crash & Wilder) against The Purge (James & Krowbar). This was the first time I had gotten to see The Purge but found them to be very impressive, (A side note, they so reminded me and had a hint of a look of a young Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt, no insult intended!). This was a match I really enjoyed. Great ability on both sides ending in The Proven taking the win.
Next match, one I was I was looking forward to, was for the TCW Open Championship, seeing Champion, Brady Phillips take on the Challenger, Sean Only.
Have to state that, after multiple friends told me about Sean Only I went on the hunt for some of his matches, YouTube is great!, so I knew who he was and how good he is,and have to state he is just as brilliant as my first opinion of him was. The match, which was awesome from the start, was rudely interrupted by Kayman’s attempt to insert himself into the match, a move which was unsuccessful and ended in him being given a stunner by the Ref. Now, able to get back to the match that was originally scheduled we saw a brilliant showing from both Men but in the end Phillips retained.
The Women’s three-way match of Charli Evans, Isla Dawn and Millie McKenzie was a great example of the level of brilliance there is within the World of Women’s wrestling. This was a great exhibition of all three Ladies in ring prowess. I can honestly say, I have huge respect for all three competitors and I am now a fan of Charli Evans. Was a great match and a pleasure to watch and saw Isla Dawn pick up the win.
The tag team Championship match was a bit of a treat for me, this is because I had never seen Lion Kings or Kings of catch in competition before. In honesty, this match was one of my favourites of the night. Both teams easily boast good in ring ability and just as entertaining. Each move as good as the last and resulting in Lion Kings retaining.
A victory short-lived as The Proven laid into Lion Kings (see above) , announcing they were coming after the TCW tag team Championships.
Now, in what was the match of the night for me, saw the TCW Heavyweight Championship being defending in a four-way match, of which Champion, Joseph Conners against contenders HT Drake, Dara Diablo and Naoki Tanizaki.
As Tanizaki made his entrance, the loud and proud crowd (IN LEEDS…. People who attended know, when you know, you know ) in attendance began vocally expressing and singing their appreciation for the presence of Tanizaki, much to the annoyance of the Heavyweight Champion.
The Champ refused to compete til everyone stopped, encouraging the crowd to continue and hijacking the match for a good 10 mins. Conners, who was hilariously still refusing to enter the ring then took to the mic with a song of his own….. Living La Vida Loca with “Shut your fucking mouth” taking the place of the song lyrics. (It was at this point that I was so pissed with myself for not hitting the record button).
As hilarious as the antics of the crowd, the match did eventually get underway, action was fast, furious and spilled out into the crowd. A hard-fought match and every bit as awesome as my expectations hoped it to be. The end of the match saw bloodied mouths for Naoki Tanizaki and Joseph Conners and a new Heavyweight Champion in HT Drake…. Who had a short celebration, when former Champ, Conners, attacked him and disappeared with the Championship.
The last match of the night between Rampage Brown and Josh Alexander came to an unfortunate end as Rampage suffered a dislocated shoulder in the match. Rampage then posted, via his Twitter that he had his shoulder put back in place at the hospital and he will be out for a few weeks.
Here’s wishing Rampage a speedy recovery!!
So, here I am writing this article on my first TCW event, which, in all honesty and sincerity was one of the most enjoyable and entertaining nights I have ever had. All matches were awesome, I don’t have a bad word to say, the crowd we’re loud and proud, the event and atmosphere were an absolute perfect reminder of why I became a fan of Wrestling in the first place.
If you have never been to a TCW event before, you don’t know what you are missing! Get yourself to one of their events. You will not regret it. Their next event, will be at Temple of Boom, Leeds, on Sunday 22nd July, beginning in the afternoon with all Women’s Wreatling event, “Hell Hath No Fury” and continuing later in the evening with the 2nd annual, “Battle of skulls”.
To the rest of my readers, regulars and new who don’t live in the UK and want to see what TIDAL Wrestling is about, head to YouTube, there are match videos and you can also subscribe to their YouTube channel.
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