Academy Pro Wrestling - Ground Zero

The Burning Truth was in attendance at The Academy Pro Wrestling, after having to miss the previous show, which was a shame as The Academy Pro Wrestling Shows are always great to attend, having entertaining matches and they always know how to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. As we arrived at the Kyushinkai Martial Arts Centre, there was something in the air that was calling out that the show was going to be special and there was only one way to find out, by being there.

Match 1

King of the Kingdom Championship Match

Kieran McQueen Vs Joe Black (c)

When you look at this match on paper, most would assume that it would be a one-sided fight and that Joe Black would be having an easy night. The reason why most would assume this would be because this was Kieran McQueen’s 3rd Match in his whole wrestling career, plus Joe Black has been on a winning streak while being involved with The Purge and since Winning the King of the Kingdom Championship from Joey Sanchez.

However, that wasn’t the case in this match, as Kieran McQueen quickly aimed to show that management had made the right choice in picking them but also showing everyone who has any doubt and Joe Black personally, McQueen had something to prove.

Now on the flip side, Black was feeling confident in having to face against Kieran, as he knew that Kieran doesn’t have the experience that most of the APW Roster has and was going into this match with bags full of confidence and even gloating that the match was already over before it had even begun.

As the match began, it was clear which one was going to be the stronger of the two of them but also at the same time, who would be the quicker one as well. Joe made it clear in this match to make sure to give a good beat down whenever he had the advantage and used his ring experience to his advantage to bend the rules as much as possible.

However, Black would soon enough find out that Kieran wasn’t going to allow him to have an early/easy night and that if he was going to successfully defend his championship, he was going to have to earn the victory.

Kieran was really taking it to Black, he even had it at one point where it was close to a 3 count, but it was only 2.9, he couldn’t have gotten it any closer than that without getting the victory. However, Kieran went to the well too many times (possibly because he was so close to victory or maybe due to inexperience) and Black made him pay for it by crashing him down on to the canvas face first, then following it up by climbing to the top rope and hitting a thunderous Swanton Bomb to bring the match to a close with the 3-count right after.

Winner and STILL King of the Kingdom Champion - Joe Black

Joe Black may have got the victory, but I am sure that he won’t be underestimating his opponent again, anytime soon. Kieran did put up a valiant effort and yes Kieran may have not come away with the victory, but he left with the crowd firmly behind him and the knowledge that it was only a fraction away from earning his first championship.

Match 2

Triple Threat Match

RJ Mann (w/ Gareth D Holloway) Vs Connor Clyne Vs "The Blue Arrow" Damo Scorpio

Before the match started, it was meant to be a 1-on-1 contest, RJ Mann Vs Connor Clyne but management felt that they could improve the match and decided to add “The Blue Arrow Damo Scorpio and making it a Triple Threat Match. It was very clear before the bell rang who was the fan favourite in this match was.

As soon as the match started RJ quickly tried to get the jump on Damo, who quickly started to fight back but then Clyne made his presence know as he tried to attack Damo, while he was focusing on RJ. So, then Damo had to keep switching his focus on both, turning around after a short-burst attack on one and then on the other.

Damo kept using his speed to his advantage against his larger opponents, as they were they trying to team up and make it a 2-on-1 for a short time. However, soon enough when they did manage to get the advantage, they soon turned on each other like vicious animals trying to get claim the victory, breaking up pinfall attempt, after pinfall attempt.

Eventually, Damo managed to get an advantage, in all the confusion of them fighting against each other, which then became the turning point in the match as Damo quickly grabbed RJ, to then dropkick Connor almost out of the ring and then using the momentum to land a Shiranui on RJ, which lead to the pinfall victory.

Winner - "The Blue Arrow" Damo Scorpio

Match 3

Number #1 Contenders Match for the APW Championship

CJ Connors Vs Joey Sanchez

Before this match started, the Academy Pro Wrestling fans knew this was going to be a heavily fought contest as both do have a history against each other but then to also include the facts that CJ Connors’ partner in crime, Joe Black had defeated Joey Sanchez to become the current King of the Kingdom Champion on 2 shows ago and successfully keep the championship at the previous show. Also, to increase the tension this match was to decide who will be fighting for the APW Championship on the 21st April Show, however that could be whoever is the winner of this shows Main Event.

So, with the stakes of this match being so high and the personal history that these two have against each other, this was going to be a battle to decide the Number 1 Contender for the APW Championship. The bell rings to start the match and Sanchez, gets the fans behind him as he was the clear favourite in this match. However, Connors over-powers Sanchez and showboating, almost as if he was sending the message I don’t need the fans to kick your ass, Sanchez.

The fans then slowly start to irritate Connors, as they start chanting names at him, which clearly, he didn’t like as he started to get frustrated as, during the next lock-up, Sanchez was able to get one up on him, which also showed that the fans were getting under the skin of Connors. Sanchez used this fact to his advantage and managed to get the advantage early on as Connors kept moving his focus onto the fans when he really should always keep his focus on someone like Sanchez.

Connors did use his ring awareness and used the ring itself as a weapon to take control of the match and start giving a beat-down to Sanchez. Connors kept on top of Sanchez being very aggressive, but each time Connors attempted to go for the pin, he only managed to acquire a 2 count. Now with each time Connors got a 2 count, you could see that the frustration of not getting victory was slowly getting to him and it was allowing Sanchez at times to get some strikes in, to attempt a come-back but Connors was quick to cut him off.

Eventually, the frustration was getting to Connors, who then attempted to put an end to Sanchez with a Top Rope Superplex but they allowed Sanchez to quickly start fighting back and send Connors crashing to the Canvas with a thud. At this point, Sanchez decided to take a leap of faith and hit a Top Rope Flying Crossbody but didn’t get the job done as it only managed to get him a 2 count with his pinfall attempt.

The action then quickly started to get pacier which works to Sanchez’s odds, as he managed to hit a Russian Leg Sweep, which was followed up by another pinfall attempt that only got the count of 2. Frustration was slowly starting to affect Sanchez, who decided that it would be best to hit the Superkick to bring the match to an end. However, much to everyone’s shock, Connors managed to avoid it and hit his own Superkick and followed it up with a Modified Irish Curse Backbreaker. Everyone assumed that the match was over, but Sanchez kicked out at 2.

Connors was in complete frustration at this point as he started to scream at the referee for not counting 3 and then trying multiple pinfall attempts to only get a 2 count each time. Connors by this time has had enough and decides to be bring it all to end as he attempts to hit Sanchez with a Tombstone Piledriver, but Sanchez quickly counters into a roll-up for the count of 2, then manages to hit a quick Superkick and followed it up with a Code Breaker that was a clean knockout.

As Sanchez goes to claim his victory, some unknown masked fan managed to jump the guard rail and placed Connors foot on the rope, just before the count of 3 without the referee seeing them do this. The referee calls for a rope break, which confused Sanchez. Tommy Gun & APW Management quickly come out to try and capture the masked fan, which made Sanchez take his focus off Connors, which Connors was clearly going to make him pay for that mistake, as Connors then quickly picked up Sanchez onto his shoulders and hits a Damaging TKO for the 1, 2, 3 and become the New Number 1# Contender for the APW Championship.

Winner - CJ Connors

The masked fan who had gotten involved in the match and cost Joey Sanchez the match didn’t quite seem finished with Sanchez, as it was soon enough to be revealed to be none other than “The Infamous” Jayme Future. Once again Future had cost Sanchez another Championship opportunity, even though he had been suspended by Tommy Gunn & APW Management.

It was clear that the Sanchez/Future rivalry was far from being over as it was getting more personal each time, it has even got to the point that Sanchez grabbed the microphone from Tommy, then demanded Future to be reinstated to the APW Roster and to book a match between them at the next show on Saturday 21st April.

To everyone’s surprise, however, Future refused the offer to do the match, as it wasn’t on his terms and that he was too busy being the Number 1 Wrestling Book Seller on Amazon, but he would agree to the match if there was a special stipulation added. The stipulation being that if Joey Sanchez Wins, then Jayme Future would have to leave APW for good. However, if Jayme Future Wins, then Sanchez would have to become Future’s Trainee (which means he would have to do anything and everything that Future wanted or demanded) or Leave APW.

The stakes are at an all-time high, there would be no room for mistakes. It could quite possibly be Sanchez only chance to get his hands-on Jayme Future for everything that he had caused or cost him, it would have most people having to maybe re-think on what to decide on, but for Sanchez, he has had enough of Future, of him being a pain in his side and wants him gone, so much that in his mind, it was the easiest choice to make and accepted without hesitation.

So, on Saturday 21st April, it will be Jayme Future Vs Joey Sanchez – If Sanchez Wins, then Future Leave APW for good but if Future wins, then Sanchez would become Future’s Trainee or Leave APW.

Match 4

Eddie Cobain Vs Ajax

Eddie arrived with a chip on his shoulder and oddly it wasn’t just because he was the first-ever APW Champion but that today was in fact St Patrick’s Day, so he came out celebrating his Irish Traditional Holiday, whereas Ajax was getting himself ready and psyched up for the match against Eddie as he knows, that even though Eddie may seem like he is not as focused, he knew when the bell rang that Eddie was going to bring his A-Game because you don’t get to be a Former Champion by taking it easy. 

The match got underway when the bell rang and at first, it seemed that it could go either way, the match could depend on who made the first mistake, as they were going hold for hold against each other. However, as soon as a display of power came into play Eddie took advantage of it and pushed Ajax to the corner, then pushed his hands into Ajax’s face while he was in the corner. 

Eddie quickly moved his hands off Ajax before the count of 5, so that he wasn’t disqualified by the referee, but as soon as he moved his hands away, Ajax quickly turned the tables and started to give back some punishment to Eddie for going against the rules with a few corner jab, which then he also stopped before the count of 5 as well.

Ajax in his haste attempted to jump off the top rope to catch Eddie off guard, who moved out of the way. Ajax was lucky that he managed to land on his feet, however by the time his focus returned to Eddie, Eddie had managed to quickly clothesline him and gain the advantage. Eddie was relentless in his beat down, numerous times being told or warned by the referee to follow the rules of the match.

Ajax managed to get a lucky break when Eddie attempted a Back Body Drop, which Ajax countered into a DDT because Eddie ducked down too early and gave it way, so Ajax made him pay for it. Ajax then showed that he was no weakling by Body Slamming Eddie. However, Ajax didn’t go for a pinfall attempt and went for a Penalty Kick on Eddie, but Eddie quickly avoided it and countered it with a Penalty Kick of his own.

Eddie started to get cocky as the match went on, as he was beating down Ajax for a good length of time but still couldn't get the 3 count finish. It was only when Eddie attempted a Corner Splash that Ajax quickly moved and answered with a Flying Corner Clothesline and attempted for a pinfall but only a 2 count again.

Eddie then used his experience to regain the advantage and then threw Ajax out of the ring to try and win the match with a count-out, but Ajax would return to the ring before the count of 10. As the action returned to the inside of the ring, the pace started to quicken as Ajax managed to get multiple knockdowns on Eddie.

Ajax then tried to attempt the 10 head punches in the corner, but as he got to the count of 9, Eddie quickly turned the tables on him with a unique counter, that could have done some serious head trauma. Eddie then returned to his usual cocky self as he went to hit Ajax with his finisher a modified Sister Abigail, but Ajax counters it and even managed to hit a Backstabber for the 3 Count Victory.

Winner - Ajax

Match 5

Shane Hardy Vs Regan

Now before the bell could even ring, Shane quickly left the ring while Regan was making his entrance with his towel on his head and tried to get a jump-start advantage, catching Regan off guard and sending him into the ringside railings. Now, most people would have most likely been down for the count or maybe even injured. Regan, on the other hand, was something else, he wasn’t hurt at all, in fact, all that Shane had managed to do was anger him.

Regan then quickly turned the tables on Shane by grabbing him and demanding who the hell he thinks he is and then immediately started to throw Shane all over the place, outside the ring, slamming Shane spine first against the post before finally throwing him into the ring to then enter, so the match can begin.

Now usually I would say that in most matches that anyone has a chance of gaining a victory. Now in the case of this match, it was very clear from the start that Shane was going to be in a whole world of hurt, against a very angry, enraged Regan. Regan was Vicious and full of Malice as he was beating down and punishing Shane for even attempting to attack him during his entrance.

Shane managed to get the odd shot in against Regan but then he was just swatted as if he was just a fly. However, each time Regan attempted to go for a pinfall, Shane managed to kick out at 2, but it was looking bad for Shane because each time he kicked out, you could see Regan smiling and enjoying coming up with new ways to punish Shane.

Eventually, when Regan looked to be attempting to use a Figure 4 Leglock to try and break Shane’s legs, Shane managed to push Regan off with his free foot to have him crash into the corner turnbuckle headfirst. While Regan was possibly dazed and confused, this allowed Shane to start what could possibly have been an amazing comeback, hitting Regan multiple times and followed it up with 2 Corner Clotheslines, but Shane went to the well too many times and as he attempted a 3rd Corner Clothesline, Regan countered it with a Back Shattering Spinebuster to finally get the 3 count to bring this match to an end and to put an end to the punishment that Shane was receiving or at least so we thought.

Winner - Regan​

Regan then quickly grabbed the mic and demanded his music be stopped and stated that no one didn’t listen to him, no one paid attention. Regan then decided to end his statement by stated he wasn’t finished, to then pick up Shane onto his shoulder and just planting Shane into a whole world of hurt with a Nasty Modified Flapjack, that sent Shane crashing to the canvas face first and then finally stating that he was finished. Shane had to be helped to the locker room so that the medical staff could check for any injuries and apply any required medical treatment.

Match 6 - Main Event

APW Championship Match

Steven Keane Vs Luke Basham (c)

Welcome to the Main Event of the Show. Now, this match is for the Main Prize of Academy Pro Wrestling and as all the Academy Faithful know, both Luke Basham & Steven Keane are no strangers to each other and have had might battles against each other, be it a 1-on-1 contest or APW against The Purge. The Stakes for these two couldn’t be any higher as they were fighting for the grandest prize of Academy Pro Wrestling and that’s the APW Championship.

As the bell rang to start the match, Both Basham & Keane started to feel each other out with some chain wrestling and a few knocks against each other, but it seemed that they were evenly matched. It was only until the action spilled to the outside that things started to pick up for Basham.

As the match started to get more aggressive with some brawling, Basham managed to get the advantage and slammed Keane’s head on the edge of the ring and even managed to get some assistance from the Academy Faithful, which should have been a disqualification, but the referee allowed some leniency on the rules for this match as it was for the APW Championship and also for the fact that he knew the history of Basham & Keane and as such thought that a disqualification wouldn’t allow them to settle the score between each other.

The referee wouldn’t allow the rules to be broken outright or go too far, as they were giving them the 10 count, while they were brawling outside but both Basham & Keane broke the count and quickly returned to the outside to continue the fight.

Soon enough the action returned to the ring, where it was getting more fast-paced and more aggressive between Basham & Keane. They were slowly but surely to work each other down so that they could either get the pinfall victory or a submission victory, as each other them did attempt several holds to try and get the other to tap out.

The action soon started to escalate to the top rope as they started to fight it out to see who could go for the big move and well soon enough they both came crashing down to the canvas when Basham managed to hit Keane hard enough to be able to Superplex him.

As both started to get back to their feet, the action started to build more and more, it went from the ring to the outside and back into the ring. It looked to be getting personal between them. It got to the point that the referee somehow managed to get knocked down, which didn’t go unnoticed by Keane, as he started to bring out his favourite weapon of choice, his hockey stick.

Keane managed to level Basham with his Hockey Stick but even that wasn’t enough to finish Basham off. Basham eventually even managed to get the Hockey Stick for himself but couldn’t use it as the referee, had made a recovery, and took it way from him. Keane used the distraction to quickly re-gain the advantage.

The end of the match eventually arrived when Keane attempted to outright hit Basham with a Steel Chair, for him to miss, hit the ropes, and the chair bounce back onto Keane himself. While Keane was dazed and knocked for a loop, Basham quickly managed to hit a Corner Springboard RKO and follow it up with a Thunderous Spear, for the 1, 2, 3, and successfully defend the APW Championship.

Winner and STILL APW Champion - Luke Basham

After the match, while Luke Basham was celebrating his Championship Defence, CJ Connors came out and quickly made his intentions known by viciously attacking Basham. Basham did his best to try and fight back even though he had just been through a grueling contest but soon enough Steven Keane got involved and the Numbers Game came into play then, which allowed CJ Connors to Tombstone Basham onto a Steel Chair.

CJ Connors looked pleased with his handy work, but you could also see that he might not be finished as he attempted to go for a 2nd Tombstone onto a Steel Chair but Big Mike Wyld quickly came to Basham’s rescue and possibly try to settle an old score with CJ Connors as they have encountered each other in the past.

Connors & Keane quickly scarpered for the nearest exit, as they didn’t want to mess with an angry Wyld, but the damage to Basham had already been done. Basham had to be helped to the backstage by numerous staff members so that the medical staff could quickly attend to any injuries that he may have occurred during the vicious beating. So, the Main Event on 21st April could have already changed, as there has been no indication from General Manager Tommy Gunn, if Basham will be able to compete or what condition he will be in if he does compete against CJ Connors for the APW Championship. Well to find out all the answers, there will be only one way to find out and that’s to be there.

All ringside & action images are copyrighted by Academy Pro Wrestling & UK Wrestling Media