THUNDERSTRUCK Review (2/3)//Sat 15th July
By Harry Miller
Thunderstruck was an unforgettable night that needs no real introduction but if you would like to see one anyway, you should read Part 1 (linked below) and for the full Thunderstruck experience, make sure you read Part 3 afterwards (linked at the end).
Eve Bateman and Lana Austin (with Isaiah Quinn) vs Natalie Sykes and Session Moth Martina
Usually, a pair of Queens is a winning hand and the team of the Queen Of Crime and the Queen of Mean looked to continue this trend but it seemed a Joker had infiltrated the deck before the match even began. During an impromptu Lana Austin photoshoot, Isaiah Quinn hit himself below the belt with a confetti cannon. As if the night couldn’t get better, out came Natalie Sykes and Session Moth Martina who brought a party atmosphere and also a delightful pair of golden light-up sneakers.
Despite potential intoxication, Sykes and Martina took control early on, showing great chemistry between them. After a double-team manoeuvre, Sykes delivered a train of uppercuts that were only derailed by a strong slam from Bateman. Now the Queens had the momentum, hitting Sykes with a brutal dual attack.
Lana Austin hit the 21st Century Liability with an extremely aggressive shotgun dropkick that would leave the strongest of skulls dazed
Sykes found space to deliver a picture-perfect northern lights suplex but before she could build on this, Eve Bateman intervened with a massive exploder suplex. Natalie Sykes desperately needed to tag out and made an opportunity for herself with a stunner reversal on Bateman.
Session Moth Martina tagged in and instantly turned the tide, hitting Austin with a ferocious spear followed by a fisherman’s cutter
With the duo now rejuvenated, Sykes and Martina took down Bateman together before the former locked in an excruciating armbar. When Natalie Sykes has you locked in this position there is only one way to escape and that is to tap out before your arm dislocates. A few painful seconds later and Bateman had submitted.
The team of Natalie Sykes and Session Moth Martina got their well-earned victory and made history in the progress as Martina has now become the woman with the second most wins in NORTH history.
NORTH Ultraviolet Championship: Clint Margera (C) vs Joey Janela
Two giants of the deathmatch genre battle it out for the most violent title in all of wrestling.
Margera started early with the pounding offence and went to amplify the pain by bringing out a door but before the match could get too unhinged, Janela slammed the door on his face with a basement drop kick. The Bad Boy went for some toys of his own, finding a steel chair from under the ring. Not to be outdone in his own backyard, Margera brought five steel chairs in the ring.
The two duelled with the chairs until Janela chucked his metal seat into the face of his opponent.
Janela went to jump off of a chair onto Margera but the champion was prepared and caught the aerial attack before responding with a devastating driver onto the same chair. The chair-based punishment didn’t end there as Margera hit a springboard legdrop onto his opponent’s chair-covered body.
The defending champion was in full control and went up to the top rope but was hit with a flying chair courtesy of the recovered Bad Boy. Janela quickly scurried up top and delivered a massive superplex before quickly following up with a piledriver onto a steel chair. A move so devastating would end a regular opponent’s match but Clint Margera is borderline unkillable.
Knowing this, Joey Janela had to find something so excruciating to try and slay the Deathmatch Devil and this came from a cardboard box found under the ring.
Janela revealed the contents were none other than hundreds of LEGO pieces and spread them all over the canvas. Before he could revel in his despicable scheme, Margera was revived and hit a Death Valley Driver onto the colourful bricks. With his challenger downed, the champion did some building of his own, setting up a door across two chairs. Before Margera could enact the next step in his wicked plan, he was met with a face full of LEGO followed by a face full of Janela’s boot.
The Bad Boy laid Margera across the door and delivered a double foot stomp off of the top rope, caving through both the chest of Margera and the door. Despite this amazing feat of destruction, Margera kicked out at two in an incredible show of resilience or perhaps, a foolish show of disregard for his own health.
.Joey Janela quickly went to work setting up the same door/chairs contraption but this time with added LEGO to ensure the Deathmatch Devil would be smited.
This delay allowed Margera to rise again like the morning sun and scorch any chances of a title change tonight.
The defending champion caught Janela before delivering a brutal Death Valley Driver through the LEGO-covered door. One, two, three and still NORTH Ultraviolet Champion: Clint Margera.
NORTH Tag Team Championships: Lykos Gym (C) vs Sunshine Machine vs Robbie X and Michael Oku
Tag team wrestling has been thriving at NORTH since these titles were introduced and this match did nothing but fuel the fire of a red hot division.
The action was immediate and the adrenaline was pumping with bodies flying around the ring, the highlight being a massive springboard arm drag from Chuck Mambo. There was a gathering in the ring that had each competitor set up for a six-way Russian leg-sweep but, not to be left out, the seventh man Gene Munny entered the fray and was taken along for the ride in the form of a suplex.
It was time for Sunshine Machine to shine bright was their patent innovative offence that was cut short by a Robbie X/Michael Oku collaboration project.
As mayhem attracts more mayhem, Lykos Gym invaded the ring with Kid Lykos II hitting a stupendous springboard moonsault onto Sunshine Machine while Gene Munny and Kid Lykos I dealt with X and Oku.
Both Lykos’ doubled up on Oku with their dastardly offence but their victim was able to reach his partner for the hottest tag of all time. Robbie X was moving as he had just downed a pint of nitrous, striking everything in sight with kicks and flips and a huge poisonrana followed by an even huger springboard moonsault.
The King Of The Cruiserweights went for a double handspring back elbow but was caught with a double superkick from Sunshine Machine. TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo delivered a second double superkick to anyone who dared enter their reach.
The colourful collaborators hit a flurry of tandem offence before being cut off by the returning X and Oku. Robbie X hit a standing moonsault on Cooper before Oku hit a tremendous top rope springboard moonsault of his own that was almost enough to end the match if not for the Lykos intervention. Kid Lykos II used the commotion as a distraction so he could hit Mambo with a top rope Spanish fly followed by a Lykos running knee strike which again was only good enough for a two count.
Everyone was back in the ring, hitting their best shot with Oku finding an opportunity to lock in his signature half-crab submission on Cooper. Mambo ran to his partner’s rescue but was subsequently caught by Oku and locked into a new half-crab submission. It took both Lykos Gym members distraction to end this submission but Oku quickly laid them both out.
On opposite corners, both Mambo and Oku delivered duelling frog splashes on Lykos Gym. Not to be outdone, Robbie X and TK Cooper hit mirrored spiral taps on the Lykos Gym. Kid Lykos I and II went outside to try to escape but Oku followed with a Fosbury Flop onto the champion. Robbie X followed his partner’s lead with a springboard 450 splash onto the Lykos Gym.
As if this was a challenge to see who could inflict pain in the most astonishing way, Sunshine Machine made a human tower but before they could do something insane, Kid Lykos II flew off the top rope and toppled the tower. Lykos II quickly hit a low blow and rolled up Cooper for a three count that successfully retained their titles.
After you’ve caught your breath from this exhilarating instalment, go read the third and final part of this mega review: