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The 1st BraddersGrappers Awards - 'The Bradders' · Bradders Grappers

• 0:29
  Very, very, very special episode of Brothers Grappas.
• 0:35
  As you can see, I have made the unenviable task of dressing up
• 0:43
  for this. So it looks like I'm either
• 0:46
  going to a court case or I'm going to a funeral to which
• 0:52
  arguably my podcasting career could be dead and buried by the
• 0:55
  end of this episode. But we will chug on as it is
• 1:00
  welcome, as I say to this special award show.
• 1:05
  A look back, if you will, of all the shows that I have seen, it
• 1:13
  has been brought to my attention Before I carry on that I have
• 1:18
  been saying I've attended 69 shows and it feels that Google,
• 1:28
  well, Google effectively has screwed me over because I have
• 1:37
  not done 69 shows. I have done 68.
• 1:45
  So somewhere Google thought I had done an extra show and I
• 1:50
  hadn't. Unless it is one that I have not
• 1:56
  put down or I have forgot. So with that I'm still saying I
• 2:04
  have done 69 shows because if you attend AWWW, if you attend
• 2:12
  Fraudulent Slip, if you have ever attended an AEW show, it
• 2:18
  effect, it effectively counts for two shows and if you have
• 2:26
  attended one of them, you will realise very quickly that you're
• 2:34
  there for the long haul. And staying with that trend.
• 2:42
  This episode is going to be long, it's going to be emotional
• 2:49
  and I say if you're an AW fan you'll be used to long shows.
• 2:56
  You'll be acclimatised to him, but this will feel very much
• 3:02
  like it's a half marathon compared to a full marathon.
• 3:10
  If you are AWWE fan, you will be happy to know that while it will
• 3:17
  be a long show, it it will not have about 20 ads so you can
• 3:25
  relax. But with that said, strap
• 3:30
  yourselves in ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls and
• 3:35
  everyone in between because we have for you effectively a
• 3:42
  Taylor Swift marathon. And when I say Taylor Swift
• 3:47
  Marathon, we're looking at 22 awards to give out and I blame
• 3:57
  you, you The Phantoms. I blame you because I asked for
• 4:04
  categories and you gave me too many and I couldn't disappoint
• 4:14
  the the public that listen, I'll probably about 12 of you, but I
• 4:22
  have had a couple because I struggled and I'm still
• 4:29
  struggling on one or two of them.
• 4:34
  So and one of them I still haven't even decided yet, which
• 4:42
  is absolutely crazy. But again, that is more so as it
• 4:51
  is a an award ceremony and I have come in my very big coat.
• 5:01
  Oh enough. And if we're going, the whole
• 5:05
  brothers experience. I will put on one of my baseball
• 5:23
  jerseys because it is. I actually.
• 5:31
  Look like a rabbi now or I'm a judge.
• 5:37
  It's one of the two. Choose how you.
• 5:40
  Want to go with that analogy? If you will, but we will start
• 5:46
  off with your first category of the show.
• 5:53
  So we come, as I say, to the opening category, which is best
• 6:01
  entrance. So I'll mention those that made
• 6:09
  kind of the final few, but just did not get there.
• 6:15
  So we have the viral connection at Morecambe.
• 6:25
  I genuinely don't know how to explain it.
• 6:27
  It is ridiculous. Yeah, it works.
• 6:37
  I think you have to be there to fully get the entrance for this.
• 6:45
  We also have Amir Jordan at North during the lead show.
• 6:52
  This is Leeds. I think it was Gene Money with
• 6:57
  the saxophone rendition playing him out at Thunderstruck Free.
• 7:05
  And also we have one one person who on any other year not even
• 7:18
  bother kind of what's the word I'm thinking of this man would
• 7:25
  win it hands down every single time.
• 7:30
  And that is Scott Olbermann. However, I saw one entrance this
• 7:37
  year that, despite all those put together, completely blew it out
• 7:45
  of the water. Was it PCI?
• 7:51
  No, no, very much probably wasn't.
• 7:58
  However, the winner of the first ever Bradders Award for the best
• 8:09
  wrestling entrance this year goes to none of her.
• 8:14
  Then Leonardo Darwin for his portrayal of the Native American
• 8:21
  Indian at Effie's Big Gay Brunch.
• 8:30
  I applaud you. It's it was a thing of beauty.
• 8:39
  It had everything. Again, probably not that PC, but
• 8:47
  if we're looking at entrances and the one that kind of
• 8:52
  activated everything about wrestling being as as stupid and
• 8:59
  fun as you can, a Darwin Hand wins hands down over everything.
• 9:08
  It was. It kind of still lives rant free
• 9:13
  in. So congratulations to Leonardo
• 9:20
  Darwin and we move because in wrestling, while you do have
• 9:27
  wrestlers and you have a wrestling ring.
• 9:32
  You need a. Referee, and I feel that
• 9:35
  referees do not always get given credit, actually have to do in
• 9:45
  the ring, despite the fact of counting some being very much
• 9:53
  like the record. I can only count to 4 because
• 9:57
  sometimes you rarely see him ever count to 5, so there must
• 10:00
  be something in that. However, before we announce
• 10:08
  referee for 2025, you will probably guess who has won this
• 10:17
  after the honourable mentions. So starting off in no particular
• 10:24
  I can do that, we have ref Katie.
• 10:29
  Katie, who does an absolutely incredible job, as they all do
• 10:37
  in fairness. But Katie just has this bundle
• 10:43
  of energy that you don't see in a lot of referees, mostly
• 10:48
  because that's not their job. But Katie just gives off a very
• 10:54
  enthusiastic and can sometimes make a match seem better than it
• 11:01
  is. So Katie, unfortunately you just
• 11:07
  miss out Reece, who I've seen a fair few times.
• 11:13
  Again, sterling work Sir. I I Duff my woolly hat to you
• 11:20
  Sir. You have done a fine year.
• 11:26
  Referee Liam, my, my friend, you have had an interesting year,
• 11:35
  haven't we? But we, we do joke back and
• 11:41
  forth a fair few times on the old gramme Instagram.
• 11:46
  Not drugs, but you know, refste Grimshaw, just to put that full
• 11:56
  title out there. A stalwart if you will across
• 12:03
  the Northwest scene. Unfortunately ref Steve for all
• 12:09
  he has done, even taking the biggest bump this year at
• 12:13
  Salford when the step broke but Steve battled it out and did the
• 12:20
  rest of the show. Thumbs up to you Sir, you have
• 12:26
  had a sterling work. Adam Evans, who those in the
• 12:33
  Northwest will probably not fully be aware of, but if you're
• 12:37
  from the Midland scene then you will.
• 12:43
  Adam, who traditionally refs every single bridge pro match.
• 12:52
  There has been occasions this year where there have been other
• 12:56
  referees on hand but for all the work that Adam Evans has done he
• 13:04
  he is up there as one of the best in the UK by far.
• 13:10
  But again just and just misses out.
• 13:17
  And with that, your winner and taking home the imaginary
• 13:24
  Bradders Award for 2025. As much as it begrudges me to
• 13:32
  say this, being a Bears fan. James Greenwood.
• 13:39
  Congratulations Sir. Very well deserved, though I
• 13:45
  still don't like the Packers. Well done to you Sir, you have
• 13:49
  done a sterling job. And for those that were at catch
• 13:55
  a few weeks ago, this man did a lot during the the title match
• 14:03
  between Scotty Rock and Teddy Ray.
• 14:08
  When during the match the cable with the the lighting had come
• 14:13
  down and it was up to Mr Greenwood to take immediate
• 14:19
  action and duct taped the lights to 1 of the higher frames while
• 14:26
  the match was going on. Standing on Brett's rope.
• 14:30
  As we all know that is a dangerous rope to be on, risking
• 14:36
  life and limb for us. So that did kind of just edge
• 14:43
  the the win for you there. So again, congratulations James
• 14:51
  Greenwood, very well deserved. But we move to our third
• 15:00
  nomination and we now come to something that I feel a lot of
• 15:07
  wrestling promotions need. And this is best commentary
• 15:14
  team. So I don't have many honourable
• 15:21
  mentions, not because of they don't deserve it, it's purely a
• 15:31
  case of 1 I haven't heard or secondly I don't really know.
• 15:45
  To which I can guarantee if someone listens to this that I
• 15:50
  know very well and pulls me up in my DMS that I have not
• 15:56
  mentioned them. I apologise Trevor.
• 16:04
  So I will leave that there and cover my ass basically.
• 16:12
  So one I have not put on but it will be on the honourable list
• 16:18
  and that is Tom Campbell and Vader Scott.
• 16:24
  I haven't listened to much N this year if truth be told.
• 16:29
  I've been to I think 3 shows this year.
• 16:34
  I actually had the Patreon but certain things have led me to
• 16:40
  temporarily freeze that. But yes they do great work.
• 16:46
  Up for the Newcastle promotion. Another honourable is DJ King
• 16:54
  and Simon Hill who have worked for TNT for quite a while.
• 17:03
  Another honourable mention is that of Lucy Simons and Mark
• 17:09
  Adams who do OPW and catch Sterling work them to seem to be
• 17:20
  all over the place. Adams and Simons however, taking
• 17:28
  home the imaginary Bradders award for the best commentary
• 17:33
  team this year, Lucy Simons and Isaiah Quinn.
• 17:39
  Congratulations to you both both Atomic and now at Future Shock
• 17:49
  and probably other places that I do not know of but I have give
• 17:54
  it to you too because I have enjoyed the the commentary that
• 18:01
  you both produce when together. So congratulations to you #4 on
• 18:12
  the list is best gear. And no, this is not drug talk.
• 18:23
  And in fairness, there are only really two kind of people.
• 18:37
  That's not the right term. There are two ways this could
• 18:41
  go. So the ones that just narrowly
• 18:48
  misses out by the barest of margins is the leading man
• 18:53
  himself, Tony Wright. The the man has so much drip
• 19:03
  when it comes to wrestling attire.
• 19:06
  The black and the white, kind of like fevery pants, the metal
• 19:14
  chest, chain guard, whatever that is.
• 19:21
  I have seen other things this man has wore.
• 19:25
  He just narrowly, narrowly loses out.
• 19:35
  And I know people will complain over this, but I'm giving it to
• 19:40
  hyperactive. They have had I've got wind near
• 19:49
  the kite. Albeit they may have almost the
• 19:55
  same attire, it is still great attire.
• 20:01
  I always enjoy seeing the kind of neon green and purple, but
• 20:08
  they have, you know, shook it up a tiny bit.
• 20:14
  But I don't think you can mess with perfection.
• 20:18
  And so Hyperactive win my award for Best gear.
• 20:26
  So as we come to our next particular category and as my
• 20:36
  notes would tell me that is breakout Stars.
• 20:41
  So I have opened this to a male and female section just to make
• 20:58
  it a bit fairer if you like. So honourable mentions and some
• 21:05
  I feel don't fully fall into that criteria.
• 21:14
  I think it's just little. When I thought about it, it's
• 21:20
  made more sense to be in a breakout part than what was
• 21:27
  originally going to be future stars.
• 21:30
  But I don't think you can really do an award on that personally.
• 21:36
  But breakout stars, I have got 2 for the women, 2 for the men.
• 21:45
  For the men, which we will do first, Scott Olbermann, who has
• 21:52
  done everything across the Northwest.
• 21:56
  He has won almost every title there is in the Northwest this
• 22:00
  year. The man is on fire, to be fair,
• 22:06
  and it has been great to watch him in All in all fairness, the
• 22:13
  other person who I feel has had a bit of a breakout or starting
• 22:18
  to at least, and that is Mr Look at the goddamn size of him.
• 22:31
  Of course, I mean Nathan Black. I don't mean anyone else.
• 22:34
  The man who I think I saw maybe last year and I didn't think he,
• 22:48
  what he was doing at the time, was working as a fan.
• 22:54
  So, you know, take that what it's worth.
• 22:58
  But over the last 12 months, he's kind of kept what he was
• 23:03
  doing and just, like, tweaked it and kind of like, cut the fat
• 23:10
  away and is so much better for it.
• 23:16
  So Nathan Black and Scott Oberman just miss out my
• 23:23
  breakout star for 2025 Is Tony right again, This was such a
• 23:37
  hard decision. I did toy with Olbermann and
• 23:45
  there will be a lot of people listening or watching and
• 23:50
  thinking that Olbermann, the argument is a fair 1.
• 23:57
  Olbermann could easily be the breakout * but I just think that
• 24:06
  for everything that Tony has done this year, I think going to
• 24:13
  different places and how he's kind of fought across all those
• 24:21
  different promotions. Scott, you could say was
• 24:26
  arguably the breakout from last year and just kind of exploded
• 24:34
  this year, winning title upon title upon title.
• 24:39
  But I think when you're winning titles, that doesn't always have
• 24:45
  to be a breakout. I think breakout is when you're
• 24:49
  just about to kind of like Pop and Scott is.
• 24:56
  I'd have, I'd actually say Scott is past being a breakout star.
• 25:02
  He's kind of moved so much higher in the Northwest that I
• 25:09
  would actually put him as a breakout star.
• 25:11
  I'd put him on a much higher scale.
• 25:15
  Tony, I think is where Scott was last year.
• 25:21
  So he's on the fringe of exploding and I think we may see
• 25:26
  that in 2026. For the women's side, there are
• 25:35
  a couple that I I originally were going to put here.
• 25:43
  So Holly, I was going to say, but I feel Holly is again like
• 25:52
  Oberman. She has exploded all over the
• 25:55
  place and while the winner has equally done the same, I think
• 26:08
  there's just a slight difference between the two plus the other
• 26:19
  two I have down 1 is Amira, who I suppose you could say in the
• 26:28
  last, say, six months has began to kick on as a kind of more
• 26:37
  wrestling. More people know her as like the
• 26:41
  valet about her time at Eve with Zoe Lucas and pretty Psycho is
• 26:49
  so entertaining that over the course of the last kind of six
• 26:55
  months she's kind of built. Built to which I think next year
• 27:00
  she may, she may even be the breakout star for me next year.
• 27:08
  It's just it will be great to see how she does getting more
• 27:13
  wrestling and kind of you can keep the goofiness.
• 27:20
  We all love goofiness, but I think you do have to get some
• 27:25
  wrestling matches in and sometimes I think with Amira,
• 27:31
  people look past her wrestling ability and just focus on comedy
• 27:39
  so she can still do comedic wrestling.
• 27:42
  She I've watched Amira do comedic wrestling and it is
• 27:45
  good, but I think sometimes people buckle, don't put her in
• 27:52
  or don't take her seriously enough.
• 27:55
  And I think this year, well, I'll say this year, next year, I
• 28:00
  think a mirror will change a lot of views.
• 28:08
  And Melissa Fears, who has just been announced or was announced
• 28:14
  yesterday, I believe to wrestle Alexis Falcon at Revpro.
• 28:20
  I think that just shows kind of where she, you know, I'm going
• 28:26
  to change that. Sorry, I had to alter something
• 28:33
  then. So the other person just to miss
• 28:40
  out is that of Lucy Skye, who much like a few I've already
• 28:48
  mentioned, has began to have the rocket strapped to her.
• 28:56
  And if not for this injury she had, I think we would have seen
• 29:01
  her being one of the the stars on the the Eve wrestle Queendom.
• 29:10
  I mean, she could still be on the show, but I think it would
• 29:14
  have been nice to have seen her in the She Won tournament one
• 29:20
  match that we will definitely mention later on, that being her
• 29:26
  match against Willow Nightingale back in November.
• 29:30
  I think it was one of the highlights for me in 2025.
• 29:39
  However, your winner of the breakout star on the female side
• 29:48
  is Melissa Fierce. Melissa, who Let me applaud both
• 29:55
  Tony and Melissa. Melissa who for a long time I
• 30:02
  had been wanting to try and see because I've heard nothing but
• 30:07
  good things about it in the past.
• 30:11
  And then after seeing her, I believe it was a future shock.
• 30:18
  I think it was last December at the invitation show.
• 30:26
  I could be wrong, but she ended up doing 20.
• 30:30
  No, sorry, I tell a lie. So she wrestled Lana Austin and
• 30:37
  I think I could be wrong with this and I probably am, but
• 30:41
  there were rumours that she had sustained a concussion and then
• 30:50
  she came back a few months later, did a second match, Alana
• 30:55
  equally as good if not better. And if that wasn't enough, later
• 31:00
  on we should have had a women's title match between Lucy Skye
• 31:06
  and Holly. Holly was injured because she
• 31:10
  had a Melissa, ended up doing double duty and won both matches
• 31:23
  and just just seeing her stock rise this year has been so much
• 31:29
  fun. Watching her at TNT where she
• 31:34
  came to the ring as a fan favourite and very quickly
• 31:40
  changed almost because we didn't sing along with Misery Business,
• 31:47
  Which on the second of all Melissa had every right to have
• 31:53
  a go at his fans for not singing along.
• 31:57
  But it was the really high part of the song and unless I catch a
• 32:02
  certain part of myself in a zipper or stand on a plug, that
• 32:08
  ain't happening. But yes, congratulations to
• 32:13
  Melissa Face and to Tony Wright, 2 very worthy winners on the
• 32:19
  breakout stars for 2025. We now come to my new favourite
• 32:31
  promotion of 2025. Now this was, this was a really
• 32:43
  hard decision because I've been to a a fair few new ones this
• 32:51
  year and I have enjoyed pretty much all, if not most of them.
• 32:58
  So we had Evolution Pro Wrestling, which is in Bristol,
• 33:11
  EVW. I think it's Liam Jones's
• 33:15
  promotion. I love the show.
• 33:22
  It was a special women's, a women's show called Burning Down
• 33:29
  the House. The card they had was really
• 33:34
  good. The the turn out may not have
• 33:40
  been that good, but those that were there saw a hell of a show
• 33:47
  and those that didn't turn up missed out on a hell of a show
• 33:51
  equally. Would I go back there?
• 33:55
  Yes, I yes I would. I really enjoyed myself.
• 34:02
  It was I really enjoyed kind of the venue as well was nice the
• 34:09
  matches they had. I enjoyed that there was no bad
• 34:14
  match. The only problem I had with one
• 34:19
  of them was because it went very very short, which could have
• 34:22
  been time issues, time curfew, but other than that I did not
• 34:31
  have a problem with it. I really loved it.
• 34:36
  So thumbs up to them in the southwest.
• 34:41
  And then the two promotion, oh sorry, 3 promotions I saw one
• 34:47
  was LFW a couple of weeks ago for the fight Med before
• 34:52
  Christmas. That was a solid show.
• 35:00
  OPW Odyssey pro wrestling in Morecambe.
• 35:04
  The tagline It's Real in Morecambe is not a marketing
• 35:11
  slogan, it really is like the Real McCoy.
• 35:18
  Interesting crowd at Morecambe, I may wonder back in the future.
• 35:28
  More on that very much later. We also have GPW Grand Pro
• 35:36
  wrestling in Wigan. I really enjoyed this show
• 35:42
  honestly it was so much fun. It had a absolutely killer title
• 35:50
  match with RPD and Sandy Beach. The sight of a inflatable shark
• 36:00
  being hoisted by little kids is it's almost on a level with
• 36:07
  watching grown men and women dancing along to I think.
• 36:11
  I think it's Kraftwerk for when the VC come out.
• 36:21
  It really is a case of you have to be there to see all this.
• 36:27
  Plus you had the I think it's the British title.
• 36:34
  I can't remember what the actual title is, my bad, but it's all
• 36:40
  Sonna Derson and Jack Johnson triple threat match and it was a
• 36:47
  really solid match. One of a few good matches that
• 36:52
  were on that card. It does really make me want to
• 36:57
  go back out of any promotion this year that I've been to.
• 37:07
  Of all of them. I really would love to go back
• 37:09
  to Wigan. I really enjoyed that promotion
• 37:13
  but alas, it was not to be for GPW.
• 37:21
  And what I hear you say will take home the new favourite
• 37:29
  promotion. It's probably a an obvious one
• 37:36
  if you think about it. My winner is Catch Pro
• 37:41
  Wrestling. It dawned on me writing the list
• 37:48
  of new promotions that this really was my first year
• 37:52
  watching Catch. Catching him on the phone at the
• 37:58
  Deaf Institute in Manchester City centre.
• 38:03
  Nice venue and not a wrestling venue by any stretch of the
• 38:08
  imagination. Watching Big T having to duck
• 38:14
  out of the stairway under the stairs was something.
• 38:20
  Ethan Allen shouting at the music people to turn his music
• 38:24
  up. All words to that effect at
• 38:28
  least the rest of the year Catch put on absolutely incredible
• 38:36
  shows. The Enigma series I loved.
• 38:42
  The storytelling with a lot of matches was so good as well.
• 38:52
  Seeing people you don't normally catch again on the puns here up
• 38:59
  in the Northwest, so you don't really see kind of the likes of
• 39:04
  Molly Spartan, Robbie X, Brady Phillips, you don't see much
• 39:11
  this way. Michael Oku, how could I forget
• 39:16
  him? Millie McKenzie, we I've seen in
• 39:20
  the past. Charlie Evans.
• 39:24
  Who else have we feel I'm missing people out.
• 39:27
  LA Taylor, for God's sake. LA Taylor, who I love I There's
• 39:33
  so much good of Catch and you'll hear me say it many times across
• 39:40
  the podcasts. Catch is one of those promotions
• 39:45
  that should be getting bigger crowds again.
• 39:50
  Could easily might because it's a wet Monday.
• 39:56
  Could be just little. That their last show at the
• 40:02
  bread shed. God God bless you bread shed.
• 40:08
  So a sellout crowd there shows that people care about catch.
• 40:14
  I love catch. I've got the Patreon.
• 40:17
  I am a massive fan of the promotion.
• 40:20
  Biggest regret is not having heard about them sooner.
• 40:27
  I'll be. I was going to see their show
• 40:32
  before they went into hiatus, but yeah, the new favourite
• 40:41
  promotion that I have seen this year is Catch.
• 40:45
  Congratulations to all of you at Catch.
• 40:48
  You all do an incredible job. I've not got my ticket yet for
• 40:53
  next month but I will do so you can you can be well informed
• 41:00
  that I will be there in some shape or form.
• 41:07
  Worst feud. I'm just going to say this one
• 41:14
  quick because out of all the ones we have, this is only one
• 41:22
  real winner. And I've explained why.
• 41:28
  It's not been the best on previous podcasts, but it was
• 41:33
  Kemper and the Rob Drake trilogy, Atomic two big men.
• 41:40
  For some reason, it just did not click with them.
• 41:46
  Again, as I said a few weeks ago, if all say six months down
• 41:54
  the line and it works fantastic, fair dues.
• 41:59
  But the matches they had I don't think worked at all.
• 42:08
  But again, I'm running before I can walk here.
• 42:12
  But they take on the worst feud of 2025, the funniest wrestler
• 42:25
  of 2025 that I have. I only have a few.
• 42:33
  So while there are a lot of people that are comedic and will
• 42:39
  kind of be a bit funny in the ring, this is purely on those
• 42:45
  that have made me laugh or chuckle.
• 42:49
  I'll take a quick drink. So in honourable mentions
• 42:59
  Charles Crowley the the the twat himself and a word I said a few
• 43:13
  times when he accidentally sprayed me with water a few
• 43:16
  weeks ago. Purely accidentally as the video
• 43:21
  will show, but just his whole demeanour as that character, I
• 43:29
  do love it has an endearing quality to it.
• 43:35
  He when you see he's on a card, you do want to just buy a
• 43:42
  ticket. I know there's a lot that don't
• 43:45
  like comedy or a few that don't like the ACT.
• 43:50
  I am one of those that love the ACT and always happy when I see
• 43:55
  it. But yes, Mr Charles Crowley
• 44:02
  misses out on funniest wrestler. This person would have took it,
• 44:10
  but he's been edged out slightly.
• 44:14
  And the person who is the last honourable mention in this quota
• 44:22
  is Peter Sidor. And normally I am pro Peter, not
• 44:31
  the animal rights thing, but I kind of am with a lot of what
• 44:35
  they do. But Sidor is it's he is a very
• 44:43
  weird one. It's fair to say.
• 44:47
  Despite being the bad guy he does come out with a few
• 44:51
  zingers. The best one that it had me
• 44:56
  doubling up in laughter at one future shock show was him in
• 45:03
  pain and a kid shouting at him and his reply was your dad
• 45:08
  doesn't even love you, which is so cutting for a little kid to
• 45:17
  hear. But it had me in hysterics and
• 45:24
  hearing him do it again a few months later.
• 45:27
  It didn't have the same cutting that that previous time did, but
• 45:39
  there's been a few times where Sidor's been in a match as A tag
• 45:44
  partner and we've ended up chatting to him during the
• 45:48
  match. Oh, he's heard a zinger, we've
• 45:52
  said, and he shot Zinger's back. So it's all in love and war, as
• 45:57
  you say. But yeah, Peter Sidor takes home
• 46:02
  after the thing. I'd give him the runners up spot
• 46:06
  on this. But funniest, this man is a two
• 46:11
  time award winner now. And it's Leonardo Darwin.
• 46:18
  Since I saw him in September over that whole TNT weekend,
• 46:24
  every time I hear Darwin and I'll see clips or whatever and
• 46:32
  friends of mine from the group, the group chat podcast are all
• 46:41
  kind of Darwin fans. But having never have never
• 46:49
  heard of Darwin before that weekend to now loving the fact
• 46:55
  that whenever I get to see him I will watch because I feel he is
• 47:00
  must watch and he's so entertaining.
• 47:03
  That's that's what I look. He's a great wrestler but he's
• 47:07
  so damn entertaining. Albeit his his humour is very
• 47:15
  not PC on a few occasions to which the chant which will live
• 47:26
  with me this year was Fe's Big Gay Brunch and he came out and
• 47:33
  tried to start a chant for straight white, straight white
• 47:37
  males. Owen Lee Darwin could come out
• 47:42
  with that and actually get a couple of people chanted and if
• 47:49
  anyone else tried that there would be a riot and people be
• 47:53
  fuming online. However, because it's Darwin, we
• 48:00
  kind of accept it and we love it.
• 48:05
  But yes, taking home the funniest wrestler of the year is
• 48:11
  Leonardo Darwin. A2 time champion now or two time
• 48:18
  award winner of this year's awards.
• 48:26
  We move very quickly to worst match, and as I mentioned
• 48:34
  earlier, the Kemper Rob Drake trilogy had three real stinkers
• 48:43
  across three different atomic shows.
• 48:48
  I don't know why they were terrible matches again, just
• 48:53
  might be that they didn't mesh the styles.
• 48:59
  But I saw one match this year that was worse than all three of
• 49:04
  them. And again, it was one person
• 49:10
  that made it awful. It was a truly terrible match.
• 49:21
  Was there can come out with anything by way of a positive or
• 49:31
  a positive thing to say about it other than it the free count and
• 49:37
  it was the match with Bullet and Liam McCarthy.
• 49:45
  Bullet did a hell of a great job in that match.
• 49:50
  Just nothing seems to be going to plan it.
• 49:56
  It was horrible. It really was again, could be a
• 50:02
  bad day at the office. I don't know, but it it's it's a
• 50:08
  past three terrible matches and it's weird that the worst
• 50:18
  matches have come at arguably the best shows I've seen as well
• 50:30
  at kind of like TNT and Atomic. They've all been banger shows
• 50:34
  when I've been, but it's just been those matches that have
• 50:38
  kind of like let it down. But every promotion will have
• 50:46
  like a bad match now and then. But yeah, that unfortunately
• 50:54
  takes home the worst match of the year, the start, if you
• 51:03
  like, of the worst hotel and best hotel of 2025 as we
• 51:10
  approach the midway point of our show.
• 51:17
  And the worst hotel was that of the Clarendon in Morecambe, a
• 51:26
  venue that I was minutes with a mate pressing the bell to come
• 51:35
  in. The bloke that was working on
• 51:39
  reception had his earbuds in and was not paying attention that
• 51:43
  there was people trying to get in.
• 51:47
  Had a go at me because I didn't use my key card.
• 51:50
  That's because I didn't check in, you prick.
• 51:56
  What else? Oh yes, had the details of my
• 52:00
  friend who was staying there. Had all these pretty much
• 52:08
  details up so data protection is definitely not a priority.
• 52:13
  The TV did not work and one thing that I always determine
• 52:18
  how a hotel is good if I want to take a shit and watch TVI can't
• 52:24
  there. So I didn't like it.
• 52:29
  That's the following day. I ended up with loads of bites.
• 52:31
  So thanks Glenn. The best hotel is between 2:00.
• 52:42
  So the if we're looking at honourable ones, we have the
• 52:49
  Travelodge for London City Airport where I stayed with
• 52:54
  friends to watch for Bindor, Premier Inn at Bristol, the
• 53:04
  Travelodge at Walthamstow when I went to see Eve the McCarthy's
• 53:10
  Arms in Liverpool and it was an OK place.
• 53:20
  Not great if you want to just get a good night's sleep because
• 53:24
  it's literally right by the bars and the clubs.
• 53:28
  But venue very nice, have no problem there.
• 53:34
  Would recommend it if you are staying in Liverpool though.
• 53:39
  Breakfast was fine as well. Just what I'd say and despite me
• 53:46
  staying at this one more than anywhere else, Premier Inn
• 53:50
  Sourbridge is normally my favourite go to because it's so
• 53:58
  much easier to get food. It's also easy to walk to the
• 54:03
  venue. Maybe not so much walking back,
• 54:10
  but Stourbridge. I am going to book there soon so
• 54:14
  I look forward to heading back to Stourbridge town.
• 54:23
  But the best hotel I'm giving is the Premier Inn at the Gate in
• 54:28
  Newcastle. The staff there are the
• 54:32
  friendliest you'll ever come across.
• 54:36
  Really really lovely people. Always had a good laugh with
• 54:41
  them. Rooms like any other Premier
• 54:45
  Inn. Plus it does give you the bonus
• 54:52
  of giving you the longest walkway to the room.
• 54:58
  Or it does for me at least, and I feel like I'm Goldberg walking
• 55:02
  from out the door to wherever I'm going, to the left or to the
• 55:08
  room. I've probably got the same style
• 55:13
  as Goldberg, minus the muscles. But yes, the Premier Inn at
• 55:20
  Newcastle at the Gate takes home the best hotel of 2025.
• 55:31
  And before, before we come to our midway point of the show, we
• 55:43
  have the underrated match of the year.
• 55:50
  And there were a hell of a lot of them.
• 55:58
  So this is because there's a few that we have on this kind of
• 56:06
  similar style categories. So underrated is it was really
• 56:14
  good, better than I imagined but just wasn't expecting a whole
• 56:24
  really lot from it. Still expect a good match
• 56:30
  though. So looking at it, there's a few
• 56:37
  actually, and a couple of them are from the same people.
• 56:41
  Jack Baron and Phil Michael of the Zuba weights had a couple of
• 56:47
  absolute classics at Salford City Wrestling.
• 56:52
  My God, them two can put on a show I'm seeing.
• 56:58
  If there's any I have not written down, that's on my
• 57:02
  board. Liam Carr and Louis Johnson TNT
• 57:10
  underrated match was superb. Scotty Rock and Vusic at catch.
• 57:18
  Days of future catch. I did not expect it to go that
• 57:25
  well. I knew going into it them to
• 57:28
  would put on like a hell of a match, but not to that level.
• 57:35
  Derice man like Derice, who surprisingly does not get much
• 57:41
  of A mention on this, mainly because I haven't seen him much
• 57:45
  this year. His match against Amir Jordan,
• 57:51
  one could say that it's purely down to the entrances that that
• 57:59
  match really struck A chord with me, but the match itself really
• 58:04
  was a good one. I have watched it back a couple
• 58:08
  times since and still still stands up to to this day as one
• 58:15
  of the kind of the best matches. Holly and Haley, Holly and Lily
• 58:25
  even, they've had a couple of really good matches, equally
• 58:32
  different in their own way. Holly Barlow winning the women's
• 58:38
  title was an absolute joy to be there for my friend who is with
• 58:46
  me, she didn't know what was going to happen, but she said
• 58:52
  there's a lot of Holly shirts here today and I thought, yeah,
• 58:57
  there are quite a few. I think I kind of telegraphed
• 59:00
  it. But still, still good to see
• 59:05
  their match at. I think it was Attitude Era one
• 59:13
  where they dressed as Mario and Luigi.
• 59:18
  Wasn't funnier matches I've seen this year.
• 59:26
  Definitely bouts I saw this year so there was that as well.
• 59:36
  However, my underrated match of the year goes to now.
• 59:47
  This is where it's going to be contentious.
• 59:51
  It wasn't specifically between two people.
• 59:57
  I got a quick drink. It was the King's Gauntlet, I
• 1:00:07
  believe. I should have wrote this down
• 1:00:11
  but you know I've never been the the the most people are messing
• 1:00:19
  messaging me for no particular reason.
• 1:00:25
  So I've never been the most, you know, prepared person.
• 1:00:29
  However, it was on the last show at Take the Throne 2 and was for
• 1:00:35
  the King of Salford title #1 Contendership Gauntlet match and
• 1:00:41
  featured Nishki, Joe Young, Jensen, Vesper Decker, Alex
• 1:00:52
  Boiling. But it was two men that made
• 1:00:59
  this match one of the standouts I feel, and it could easily go
• 1:01:09
  in one of the categories you have down the line.
• 1:01:16
  But this was a match I expected to be good anyhow, so it stays
• 1:01:21
  more to this. And it was Bentley and Jack
• 1:01:25
  Johnson who tore the house down for a good, I don't know, 15
• 1:01:31
  minutes, both men hitting big moves.
• 1:01:39
  It's went one way and then the other.
• 1:01:42
  You genuinely had no idea where we were going with it.
• 1:01:47
  It was so interesting. Johnson beat Bentley, which we
• 1:01:55
  kind of expected that to be the end.
• 1:01:59
  Vespa then got his backside kicked very quickly and we saw
• 1:02:03
  the debut of Big T in Salford. I was the only one that really
• 1:02:09
  popped for it because no one knew whose music it was.
• 1:02:15
  But then in Salford, I am kind of a big heel fan, so there is
• 1:02:19
  that. But yeah, the the part of
• 1:02:26
  Bentley and Jack Johnson's in that match, I don't think you
• 1:02:33
  will find a better contest on a smaller show than that
• 1:02:42
  particular match. I would like to be proved wrong,
• 1:02:49
  but what I saw that night I still have up there as one of
• 1:02:53
  the best matches I've seen. So that one takes the underrated
• 1:03:00
  match of the year for 2025. Congratulations.
• 1:03:10
  But we have hit that midway point of the show, so if you
• 1:03:16
  want to go for the toilet, get a cup of tea and pause it while
• 1:03:24
  you go and get one. It does have to be said though,
• 1:03:33
  that there comes a time when you do award shows and it's the
• 1:03:43
  customary thing to do where when you hit a certain part of the
• 1:03:48
  show, we tend to look back on those that have departed this
• 1:03:54
  mortal coil and joined that rumble up in the sky.
• 1:04:03
  And as we know, there was one person in particular above all
• 1:04:09
  that we've all missed here. So I think with that, I think
• 1:04:15
  it's time to watch this little video.
• 1:04:18
  I've put together a little moment of reflection to
• 1:04:23
  celebrate, to celebrate everything, to be serious for a
• 1:04:29
  minute, to celebrate the life of an absolutely incredible man.
• 1:04:39
  The man, the myth, the legend. Roll Video When we think back to
• 1:04:52
  this man, we look not just at his incredible work ethic, but
• 1:04:59
  that he was one of the best workers in the Northwest scene.
• 1:05:04
  A man who came from humble beginnings and yet saw his
• 1:05:09
  career looking over before it even got started.
• 1:05:15
  It was back. In the least problematic decade
• 1:05:19
  of the 1970s, during the rise of platform shoes, flares, perms
• 1:05:28
  and football hooliganism, we also saw someone that shone.
• 1:05:34
  Like the glitz and glamour that was the 70s.
• 1:05:40
  There are superstars, then there are greats, and then there was
• 1:05:46
  icons, but this person was a legend in the making.
• 1:05:54
  With his customary pink and. Black attire and the soundtrack
• 1:05:58
  of Muds tiger feet. Brian Strong blazed a trail that
• 1:06:04
  no one in the Northwest. Could.
• 1:06:06
  Apprehend working for companies like the WWF, No not that one,
• 1:06:14
  The Witness Wrestling Federation and also ECW again not that one
• 1:06:22
  Edgeley Championship Wrestling. The man was a fan favourite
• 1:06:27
  which ever territory he went to, taking on foes like the
• 1:06:33
  villainous Anti Tony Connor Bond, while having more
• 1:06:38
  memorable title bouts with Joey Travolta and Tony Wright Junior,
• 1:06:43
  now Tony Wright Senior. But despite Strong joining that
• 1:06:48
  roster up in the sky, it saw him still not wanting to disappoint
• 1:06:54
  fans. He.
• 1:06:55
  Made the special trip to the Fairfield Social Club this past
• 1:07:00
  November to come and see him as he made a cameo of sorts during
• 1:07:05
  the Coffin match back at Attitude Error 2 Point O during
• 1:07:11
  the Jensen Vespa and Peter Sidor Coffin match.
• 1:07:16
  Proving still what a legend he was that even being dead he
• 1:07:23
  still wanted to turn up for the fans.
• 1:07:28
  We did and considered trying to get a comment with his son
• 1:07:32
  Briak, but then we thought about it and thought, no, we can't be
• 1:07:37
  bothered. As we say, thank you for the
• 1:07:43
  memories Brian, thank you for all your service and we will
• 1:07:48
  certainly miss Tiger Feet himself.
• 1:07:51
  Brian Strong, welcome back to your second-half of the show.
• 1:07:59
  Hopefully you had a good break if not.
• 1:08:05
  Nothing I can do. We move to the start of the
• 1:08:11
  second-half and when you do 2 halves you need a second person
• 1:08:18
  I feel. So with that really poor ass
• 1:08:22
  analogy we move to the tag team of the year.
• 1:08:29
  Now there are a few for this so I will just run through cheeky
• 1:08:37
  little buggers Alexis Falcon and Charles Crowley, the Luke
• 1:08:44
  Douglas and Alex Connors at Bridge Pro, the 05 at future
• 1:08:52
  Jacques that being Dec Henry and Harvey Dukes FTM in Critchy and
• 1:09:00
  Tom McCall Pretty psycho and mirror and so are Lucas.
• 1:09:08
  Who else have we got? Meat waggon sadly of this parish
• 1:09:17
  sadly with no more meat waggon to speak of due to the horrible
• 1:09:26
  injury suffered by Anderson Daniels and if Anderson is
• 1:09:31
  watching this. Get well soon mate.
• 1:09:36
  Good to see the recovery is going well.
• 1:09:41
  Other tag teams hyperactive My normal favourite tag team kills
• 1:09:51
  me. I have not awarded them this
• 1:09:53
  despite this as my voting and one that I heard the other day
• 1:09:59
  on Augie's podcast on Grabs N Claps that I genuinely cackle
• 1:10:05
  that for Tag team of the year being Scott Olbermann and Ant
• 1:10:10
  the Editor really that that should have won this award hands
• 1:10:17
  down. Really because it should.
• 1:10:22
  However, they do not win the title of the first ever Braggers
• 1:10:31
  award going to A tag team that instead is going to the team of
• 1:10:39
  Lolly in Holly Barlow and Lana Austin.
• 1:10:44
  Congratulations. Sorry Lana, but Holly's taking
• 1:10:49
  it. Lolly who have been a revelation
• 1:10:53
  anywhere they've been, whether they've been good, bad,
• 1:10:59
  indifference, everyone loves Lolly.
• 1:11:03
  I think even Lana can see that even though she doesn't want to
• 1:11:06
  admit it. But Lally, I mean possible bias
• 1:11:14
  being Mancunian as well, but I could take as Lana through my
• 1:11:20
  hat twice at Bridge Pro and Holly very lovingly brought it
• 1:11:25
  back the first time, did not bring it back the second time.
• 1:11:29
  But I'm not going to split hairs over this, but congratulations
• 1:11:36
  to the tag team of the year in Lally.
• 1:11:42
  Congratulations. It is a thoroughly deserved win.
• 1:11:53
  This is a fun one that someone suggested and it is called a
• 1:12:02
  match that hit and had no right to be as damn good as it should.
• 1:12:09
  So this is one of those matches where you kind of see anything.
• 1:12:17
  It's it could be good, but I don't think it will be.
• 1:12:24
  And then it well and truly surpasses it or even you kind of
• 1:12:30
  think it's going to be good and it's even better and you think
• 1:12:35
  it shouldn't be that good, but it is.
• 1:12:40
  So honourable mentions and there are quite a few.
• 1:12:47
  So we have, if you bear with me here, we have the frill kill
• 1:12:56
  final in TNT. We have, I've kind of put this
• 1:13:03
  one on here, but it could go elsewhere as well.
• 1:13:07
  Lucy Scott and Willow Nightingale at Elite encounters
• 1:13:13
  W danger versus party boy at LWF, Jacobs against Fenwell
• 1:13:22
  progress in Manchester, The Bentley Jack Johnson King's
• 1:13:28
  gauntlet match again, I didn't know really where to put this.
• 1:13:32
  That was there earlier. And then we have Samuel Hughes
• 1:13:38
  against TJ Rex in a no hold barred match at brand new level
• 1:13:45
  along with Chantelle Jordan taking on CJ Rawlins at
• 1:13:52
  Bridgepro as well. Bridgepro.
• 1:13:56
  I'll chat further down the line too but they have put on some
• 1:14:04
  bangers this year. Another one I could put in.
• 1:14:08
  I don't know if I've put in under the match of the year 1,
• 1:14:15
  but it was Zach Walker and Edgar Adams at the Wollaston Village
• 1:14:24
  Hall, which was a very cramped venue, very nice venue, has to
• 1:14:31
  be said, but a very narrow, small venue they use.
• 1:14:38
  But that match, absolutely, it was incredible.
• 1:14:45
  One of my my matches of the year, one of the 26 matches I
• 1:14:50
  had written down. So that tells you what you need
• 1:14:54
  to know and how you how I thought about it.
• 1:14:58
  However, the match that hit and had no right to be that damn
• 1:15:03
  good came at Futureshuck Reboot Show 1 and was a chairs match
• 1:15:13
  between Briak Strong and the vigilante Bentley.
• 1:15:21
  My God, the amount of people that saw that match and we all
• 1:15:32
  came away from it saying match of the year, match of the year
• 1:15:40
  and now we have come to the end, quite literally we have come to
• 1:15:45
  the end of the year and that is by far my favourite match of
• 1:15:51
  Future Shock this year. It's when they said it was a
• 1:15:57
  rival or a feud, which I suppose was a bit of a feud, but to then
• 1:16:05
  have this as kind of like a blow off match and the way they went
• 1:16:11
  about it, you have to watch the match to fully understand how
• 1:16:17
  good it was. I mean, when you hear a chairs
• 1:16:20
  match it, it doesn't really kind of grab your attention.
• 1:16:27
  It's like a ladder match nowadays.
• 1:16:30
  It's like you, you'll see like a good spot and that's, and that's
• 1:16:33
  it. A chair's match, not a whole
• 1:16:36
  reel. What you can do different with a
• 1:16:39
  chair. But they got creative and I
• 1:16:45
  think that's how and why I rate this match so well.
• 1:16:50
  It was just so well done. We did not expect who won this
• 1:16:57
  match to win it. I genuinely can't express how
• 1:17:06
  much I love this match, which is why I've literally chosen it as
• 1:17:13
  that as the winner. Congratulations Bentley and
• 1:17:18
  Briak strong absolute hell of a match and talking about.
• 1:17:28
  I will probably go and watch it in a wee bit while I still have
• 1:17:32
  the video on demand service. Yeah, an incredible an
• 1:17:39
  incredible match. If you haven't seen it.
• 1:17:42
  I do just buy that particular show on the Future Shop on
• 1:17:51
  Demand service because that match was superb.
• 1:17:58
  How it was put together. Yeah, it was.
• 1:18:04
  It was great. Nicest venue at a wrestling
• 1:18:10
  show. Now I'm going to use creative
• 1:18:16
  licence, so there were two venues that were really nice but
• 1:18:26
  they don't win it. So the Deaf Institute in
• 1:18:32
  Manchester really loved the venue.
• 1:18:37
  Everything about it I really liked, but it does not win
• 1:18:47
  equally. Shirley Town Hall for LWFI made
• 1:18:55
  the reference that Jasper Carrott once said it looks like
• 1:18:59
  being inside a birthday cake. It it's such a beautiful
• 1:19:06
  building and there were times when I got caught watching
• 1:19:13
  looking around the venue and not the matches.
• 1:19:17
  Again, My my bad, but it's such a lovely venue.
• 1:19:23
  It's a town hall, the nicest venue I've gone for and will
• 1:19:31
  easily be Poultry Ribbons, I feel.
• 1:19:37
  And I think it's more because of the whole the place and watching
• 1:19:46
  matches and kind of watching a match and being around people
• 1:19:57
  and the atmosphere. But I've give it to catch at the
• 1:20:02
  Bread Shed. Now some will say this is more
• 1:20:08
  of a recency bias and it's because the Bread Shed is going.
• 1:20:15
  Well, it's not going but. There's no more wrestling at the
• 1:20:19
  Bread Shed that has possibly played with why I'd give it.
• 1:20:30
  But even watching Nomad shows I genuinely used to love watching,
• 1:20:39
  like going to the Bread Shed, it was one of my favourite venues.
• 1:20:43
  So to no longer now be going there for wrestling is really
• 1:20:48
  sad. Injury for a Mancunian.
• 1:20:51
  Because while it's not the nicest kind of ascetic ascetic,
• 1:20:58
  it's not the most aesthetically pleasing venue.
• 1:21:02
  It has character, which is not what a lot of venues have.
• 1:21:09
  Some maybe sports halls, some maybe kind of, I mean future
• 1:21:16
  shot. You can say the Masonic Hall has
• 1:21:20
  a bit of character to it, but just something about the
• 1:21:26
  breadshed special. I've heard one or two people say
• 1:21:32
  it's a dump, but even if it's a dump it has character and that
• 1:21:39
  is why I am giving it to the Breadshed Ring Announcer of the
• 1:21:46
  year now. This is one that will draw a bit
• 1:21:54
  of interest I feel. So Honourable mentions the duo
• 1:22:03
  at Bridge Pro of Pete Crockett and Stuart Summers who both do
• 1:22:10
  sterling work watching him Pete with his his footwear.
• 1:22:19
  I would love to see a match with Pete Crockett and Anger because
• 1:22:29
  they both have has a good way to put it, are very flamboyant in
• 1:22:38
  their choice of footwear and clothing, mostly the footwear.
• 1:22:45
  So that would be an interesting contest.
• 1:22:53
  Neil Bradbury, no relation to me.
• 1:22:56
  I will say now I've had a couple look at me and say are you
• 1:23:00
  related to Neil? We are not.
• 1:23:04
  But the closest we come is his surname is Bradbury.
• 1:23:10
  My surname is Bradbury and we're both male and we both go to
• 1:23:17
  wrestling shows and we both have a beard and that's it.
• 1:23:23
  That's where the that's where the bloody similarities stop and
• 1:23:26
  end. Tom Campbell at North,
• 1:23:33
  incredible job. When has won announce of the
• 1:23:37
  year at WTL SS Ring Announcer of the year for the third year I
• 1:23:45
  think so. Congratulations Tom on your
• 1:23:50
  victory on that and the final person to give an honorary
• 1:23:57
  mention to or honourable I should say is Chay Burnley who
• 1:24:03
  does Atomic and Salford City wrestling.
• 1:24:10
  One of the best ring announcers in the northwest I find.
• 1:24:17
  Always love watching him. I mean being a comedian, he's
• 1:24:24
  automatically a funny guy but does not over play the fact that
• 1:24:32
  he does a lot of comedy stuff. Some comedians can come into it
• 1:24:37
  and just like Bang Bang Bang Bang bang and does not come
• 1:24:43
  across well at all. Che does it superbly and I tip
• 1:24:51
  my woolly hat to you Sir. However, though that does beg
• 1:24:58
  the question of who takes home the ring Announcer of the year,
• 1:25:05
  and my winner is Mr Mark Adams. A absolute fucking legend, if I
• 1:25:15
  may say so, Sir. A national treasure even.
• 1:25:20
  However, it's been at Effie's Big Gay Brunch catch or it has
• 1:25:27
  been at other promotions. He has announced that he is a
• 1:25:33
  bonafide legend. Fair play to you, Sir.
• 1:25:39
  Very, very much deserved and the man is a legend.
• 1:25:47
  What? What can I say?
• 1:25:49
  Absolute legend. Feud of the year, honourable
• 1:25:58
  mentions. So we have Gene Money and the
• 1:26:05
  Slaters at North Wrestling. It it was a rivalry that they
• 1:26:14
  needed to to build up a head of Thunderstruck Free.
• 1:26:22
  Originally it was going to be Money and Leon Slater, but the
• 1:26:26
  inclusion of Liam did help quite a lot I felt.
• 1:26:33
  Plus the dynamic of that match, the triple threat contest really
• 1:26:38
  made it fun. So that is in there.
• 1:26:45
  We have Chantelle Jordan and Brandon Jordan, who despite
• 1:26:52
  being siblings, it's it's not been a typical feud.
• 1:26:59
  It's been more of a healthy, friendly rivalry, or sibling
• 1:27:06
  rivalry if you will, which last saw a hardcore match between the
• 1:27:13
  two and Brandon smashing a baking tray over his sister's
• 1:27:21
  head in midair was interesting. Asking my mate to give him the
• 1:27:31
  tray while she was about to fly out.
• 1:27:35
  But they have had some cracking battles against each other at
• 1:27:41
  bridge. A really fun feud again.
• 1:27:48
  Another one at bridge, Joe Blaser and Steve Valentino, the
• 1:27:53
  people's captain. This has been a it was a short
• 1:28:00
  feud, but it was an exciting feud at the same time.
• 1:28:08
  I think it's one that's gone under the radar a lot, even at
• 1:28:12
  Bridge Blazer getting the best ahead of Valentino.
• 1:28:21
  But you knew when it was going to come to like the final clash
• 1:28:26
  that Steve was probably going to just have the better of it.
• 1:28:31
  But it did not diminish how good that rivalry was.
• 1:28:37
  But I, I personally loved that rivalry.
• 1:28:42
  I thought it was one of the best ones I've I've seen.
• 1:28:45
  It was like a proper, a proper feud, which you don't really get
• 1:28:49
  these days. We also have again another one
• 1:28:57
  at Bridge Xile path. The hang on.
• 1:29:09
  I will have to get this one because I have not got the name
• 1:29:19
  of the tag team name. There we go.
• 1:29:28
  So the Exile Pack and the Dead Sea Souls, that being CJ
• 1:29:33
  Rawlings and Steve Valentino. The Exile Pack is the 21st
• 1:29:41
  century hero Luke Douglas and the Inquisitor Alex Connors.
• 1:29:52
  The tag team of the Exile Pack is 1.
• 1:29:56
  I feel that is very underrated. If you go to Bridge Pro, they
• 1:30:02
  will always garner a response. They'll always get you booing.
• 1:30:09
  They are great heels. They love to be booed.
• 1:30:16
  I don't feel there's many teams that want to have more crowd
• 1:30:26
  involvement than than they do because I think Douglas is very
• 1:30:32
  much the the more wrestling focused 1 and Connors is the
• 1:30:38
  more character get the crowd against us and does that role so
• 1:30:47
  well is a guilty pleasure of watching The exile part.
• 1:30:52
  Shouldn't, shouldn't admit that really, but I do, and the only
• 1:30:59
  other feud that I felt could trouble was Troy Bentley.
• 1:31:05
  Sorry Troy Ryan and Bentley. Sorry Troy Ryan and Jack
• 1:31:09
  Johnson. Even at Salford City Wrestling,
• 1:31:14
  it has been going on since the first show a couple years ago
• 1:31:20
  now. Where we saw Troy Ryan, Jack
• 1:31:27
  Johnson and Dave Birch in the triple threat match for the King
• 1:31:32
  of Salford tournament, Johnson got took out by Eitanstein.
• 1:31:40
  Who would have thought it so? He never got a chance to fight
• 1:31:45
  for that crown. And since then Johnson has
• 1:31:49
  wanted to regain. Oh, not regain, but he's wanted
• 1:31:54
  to take the King of Salford mantle from Troy, Ryan.
• 1:31:59
  But the monarchy, which is the faction that includes Ryan,
• 1:32:04
  Jensen, Vesper and now Big T, that faction is one of my
• 1:32:14
  favourites to watch because it's so weird.
• 1:32:18
  It really is a weird little stable if you like.
• 1:32:24
  They just fall second one. Another one I could throw in is
• 1:32:32
  Nay Jane Stairs, but that would be a bit cruel to the Stairs.
• 1:32:38
  Best feud though. I think everyone in the
• 1:32:44
  Northwest will know where this is going, and it is going to
• 1:32:49
  Tony Wright and Scott Oberman. An incredible feud that went all
• 1:32:58
  summer long. Not the dreaded Kid Rock song,
• 1:33:04
  but it's the only feud I can think of where it spanned
• 1:33:11
  different promotions in the Northwest.
• 1:33:13
  And every promotion seemed to play along with it, which I
• 1:33:18
  really love when other promotions actually kind of help
• 1:33:24
  others because, I mean, you get in the same wrestlers on every
• 1:33:30
  near enough on every single show anyway, in the Northwest just
• 1:33:36
  because, not that there's not a lot, but I think you'll get
• 1:33:43
  certain ones that are always going to be on them.
• 1:33:46
  And Tony Wright and Scott Olberman are two of the biggest
• 1:33:51
  stars in the Northwest right now.
• 1:33:54
  Olbermann, who is now doing progress, Great to see him doing
• 1:33:59
  progress, deserves it for all his hard work.
• 1:34:03
  Oh, you could say, And the editor does a lot of it as well.
• 1:34:09
  But this feud, I'd actually, not to kind of blow my trumpet, but
• 1:34:19
  I'd written a long piece on the entire feud between Tony and
• 1:34:24
  Scott, which I genuinely enjoyed writing about.
• 1:34:29
  And that doesn't normally happen for me.
• 1:34:33
  Normally it can be tiresome, but I enjoyed getting more in depth
• 1:34:38
  with the whole back story for both men.
• 1:34:42
  And it was honestly, it was so nice to have both Tony and Scott
• 1:34:48
  reach out and say they enjoyed it, which did genuinely mean a
• 1:34:53
  lot to me, as soppy as that may come.
• 1:35:00
  Because you can do things and you think, oh, I'm just doing
• 1:35:04
  this because I'm, I enjoy doing it.
• 1:35:07
  But when people actually take the time to thank you and enjoy
• 1:35:14
  what you're doing is such a big thing.
• 1:35:23
  A lot of you know this anyway. I'm not like personally, even
• 1:35:31
  though I'm seeing very chatty now and personable, I'm not
• 1:35:39
  always the most sociable and like like mentally illness, kind
• 1:35:46
  of like depression, anxiety. I do struggle a lot with it at
• 1:35:50
  times. And sometimes you can have a bad
• 1:35:53
  day and then you'll just have two people just reach out and
• 1:36:00
  you put things out like this. I'll probably shit myself over
• 1:36:04
  this, but when you put something out, you don't expect to hear
• 1:36:11
  back. I mean, if you get like a like
• 1:36:14
  or something you think it's like the best day, but when they
• 1:36:19
  reach out and genuinely express like a thank you and tell you
• 1:36:24
  they enjoyed it, it really means a lot.
• 1:36:31
  So that's if I have had to have like my own personal moment,
• 1:36:36
  it's probably that. But yes, I'm being too soppy
• 1:36:42
  now. Let's move forward.
• 1:36:45
  But Wright and Olbermann take the best feud for 2025, the best
• 1:36:54
  show of 2025. There were a lot, but I'm just
• 1:37:03
  going to kind of cut this down and I'm going to be biassed.
• 1:37:13
  I'm going to go Holiday Havoc Bridge Pro Spinebuster Media's
• 1:37:18
  benefit show for Miller McKenzie.
• 1:37:23
  Every match that took place was a banger.
• 1:37:29
  Some matches I had no kind of perceived notion of what I was
• 1:37:36
  going to get, but everyone on that show was superb.
• 1:37:45
  And to basically have it all for a benefit of 1 of Brit
• 1:37:51
  Wrestling's nicest and loveliest people in Milly.
• 1:37:57
  I mean what? What better way to end 2025 than
• 1:38:05
  having the British wrestling community come together and help
• 1:38:10
  out someone that's been a staple over so many years?
• 1:38:17
  So yeah, I am. I'm going to vote for that.
• 1:38:22
  So well done to Bridge Pro and Spinebuster Media Moment of the
• 1:38:35
  Year. There were a few of these.
• 1:38:42
  So Mark Adams in the Big Gay Brunch rumble attacking LA
• 1:38:48
  Taylor and then getting thrown out.
• 1:38:52
  Not one of his brightest moments there, Mark, but it was
• 1:38:56
  enjoyable nonetheless. Nonetheless.
• 1:38:59
  Even Sandy Beach winning the GPW title from RPD in Wigan.
• 1:39:08
  We also have Forbidden Planet beating Meatwagon for the tag
• 1:39:18
  team titles in Future Shock and it's probably the rare time.
• 1:39:27
  I actually had a. As someone once said, a tear in
• 1:39:32
  my eye was the look on Eytan Steen's face after the free
• 1:39:39
  count and had one of the tag title belts because you could
• 1:39:44
  genuinely see it overwhelmed them.
• 1:39:49
  And Steen's emotions took over. And honestly, I had a, I nearly
• 1:39:59
  had a tear in my eye or nearly had a tear run down my eye from
• 1:40:05
  my eye. So that was a moment.
• 1:40:11
  Holly Barlow, as I said, winning the women's title after
• 1:40:15
  everything she'd gone through to get to that point, that was a
• 1:40:21
  great moment. The last one was Danny Hope
• 1:40:27
  turning on Joey Hayes at the last Future Shock show, which no
• 1:40:34
  one expected to happen, but they did that so brilliantly well up
• 1:40:43
  until the actual turn. So that was definitely a moment.
• 1:40:51
  However, I think those of us that are looking for moments, we
• 1:41:02
  really can't look past what we saw back in December at Eve's
• 1:41:09
  Let's Slam Santa. It was the Eve's talent show and
• 1:41:17
  had a mirror doing a nose trumpet.
• 1:41:22
  I've played this before, but I feel it needs to be played again
• 1:41:27
  to illustrate the talent that Amira has.
• 1:41:32
  So let us just sit back and take in this hot rock action.
• 1:42:18
  None. None.
• 1:43:59
  None. So with that, Amira takes home
• 1:44:16
  the moment of the year with Amira's nose trumpet.
• 1:44:22
  Congratulations Amira. Superb Sue Bloody perp.
• 1:44:32
  Best promotion in 2025 and I am I've seen hang on.
• 1:44:50
  So I've seen 12345678910111213141516171819202122
• 1:45:03
  different promotions this year and personally there were three
• 1:45:13
  or there were four in truth that could vie for top spot.
• 1:45:21
  So the ones that missed out were TNT because I feel much like the
• 1:45:31
  next one I'll mention in Eve. I've just kind of sank my teeth
• 1:45:37
  into him and it would be unfair to basic purely over a couple of
• 1:45:44
  shows so I'd need to see more. That was despite despite the
• 1:45:50
  fact I saw about 6 shows. I think of TNT roughly this year
• 1:45:57
  but I think I need to see more Eve.
• 1:46:02
  I have massively enjoyed becoming one of my favourite
• 1:46:07
  promotions. Salford City Wrestling was so
• 1:46:17
  close to making this a AAA triple threat, so to speak for
• 1:46:25
  best promotion. Atomic who?
• 1:46:31
  I am a massive fan of Atomic. Huge fan of Atomic, but there's
• 1:46:39
  been times this year where I've a bit like Future Shock last
• 1:46:46
  year where it just at times kind of didn't kick on or it didn't
• 1:46:59
  hit something. So you come away from a show
• 1:47:03
  enjoying it, but sometimes you'll come away from it thing
• 1:47:09
  and it didn't hit where I thought it was going to hit.
• 1:47:16
  Miles in May have mentioned one or two shows we've seen where we
• 1:47:22
  went into it like full of like high hopes and we came away
• 1:47:27
  thinking it wasn't as good as we thought it was going to be, but
• 1:47:33
  it was still good. So they just miss the cut.
• 1:47:40
  However really struggle to separate these two and I've done
• 1:47:51
  it as a joint winner and it is Bridge Pro and Catch because
• 1:47:59
  both promotions have put on bangers.
• 1:48:05
  Have they all been superb shows? No, they've they've been good to
• 1:48:17
  great. But I really couldn't separate
• 1:48:24
  the two out of all of them. It's it's I couldn't I Pros and
• 1:48:32
  cons are equal, but Brid Pro and Catch will take home half an
• 1:48:38
  award or they will be like those triple jump, not triple jumpers,
• 1:48:44
  the pole vaulters who are no high jumpers.
• 1:48:50
  What's high jumpers that just kept jumping and jumping?
• 1:48:54
  What was it? Pole vaulters?
• 1:48:57
  You know the one of me where they asked, have you just share
• 1:49:01
  a gold medal? And this is the only way I feel
• 1:49:05
  I can actually do that. So I am giving the best
• 1:49:11
  promotion to both Catch and Bridge Pro.
• 1:49:19
  Now we come to the third from last category to which I have
• 1:49:35
  altered things around. So we are going to start off
• 1:49:42
  this final three topics now with the female wrestler of the year.
• 1:49:53
  And this was, I think this was harder than the men's by far.
• 1:50:07
  To which, no, I'm going to change that.
• 1:50:09
  I'm going to do the men's first because of that fact.
• 1:50:15
  So on the men's side, there wasn't a whole lot of people
• 1:50:23
  that I could see as like a like my favourite male wrestler of
• 1:50:33
  the year. So the honourable mentions I
• 1:50:38
  have are the following. Scotty Rourke who brilliant work
• 1:50:44
  at Catch Pro. His work he's now doing at North
• 1:50:51
  is seems to be doing equally as well.
• 1:50:55
  We saw him at Leeds where he just started to work at North.
• 1:51:03
  Great to see Scotty travelling more and doing more.
• 1:51:10
  Brandon Jordan at Bridge Pro has done a great job with the Bridge
• 1:51:17
  Pro grand belt that he won. Had some superb matches this
• 1:51:25
  year. Some absolute cracking matches.
• 1:51:31
  Take Mayfair's. I could easily have put him as
• 1:51:38
  arguably a breakout in a sense because he's travelled the
• 1:51:45
  world. He's defended the TNT title
• 1:51:49
  belt, which I believe he has held for a grand total of a lot
• 1:52:00
  of days and has him holding it for a total of 836 days as we
• 1:52:09
  recalled this at the moment. I mean the man is superb.
• 1:52:19
  I cannot say anything bad. I'd love watching Tate in the
• 1:52:25
  ring. Love just Tate's promos as well.
• 1:52:31
  He could easily have won this RPD very solid year for him in
• 1:52:42
  2025. S more of him this year than any
• 1:52:46
  other year and I can get the hype that people have over him.
• 1:52:53
  So he was up there. Tony Wright, who has been a
• 1:52:59
  battling competitor on a lot of fronts this year.
• 1:53:06
  However, I think, I think it could only really be one person
• 1:53:14
  really and he had to win something on this list and he
• 1:53:21
  finally has. So congratulations to Scott
• 1:53:24
  Overman, my Wrestler of my Men's Wrestler of the Year.
• 1:53:32
  Congratulations Sir, and well done to winning one of the
• 1:53:41
  prestigious Imaginary Bratters Awards.
• 1:53:47
  You are in good. Can't think what that word was,
• 1:53:55
  but I'll leave it there. My Women's Wrestler of the year
• 1:54:01
  will easily draw Iyer. I think because of the names.
• 1:54:09
  I will mention Lucy, Skye, Lilysa Fierce, Natalie Sykes,
• 1:54:22
  Lily Winter, Chantelle Jordan, Rio, Lana Austin, Alexis Falcon,
• 1:54:34
  Sapphire Reed, Anita Vaughan, Nina Samuels, Seshemoth Martina.
• 1:54:47
  All of the following women I have mentioned could easily
• 1:54:53
  easily have won this. However for me and the shows I
• 1:55:05
  have watched, which is pretty much where all these kind of
• 1:55:10
  winners come from, I have give it as my 2025 Women's wrestler
• 1:55:19
  of the year. Congratulations goes to a now
• 1:55:27
  equal technically two time champion herself in Holly
• 1:55:33
  Barlow. Congratulations Holly.
• 1:55:37
  It is a well deserved accomplishment.
• 1:55:43
  Holly, who has wrestled on probably nearly most of the
• 1:55:50
  shows I've been to this year, and the energy, the comedy, the
• 1:56:01
  just storytelling and just everything she does has been so
• 1:56:10
  fun to watch. And when you hear the words
• 1:56:15
  Lolly, the first person you think of is normally going to be
• 1:56:20
  Holly, because you know, whether it's a promo, it's her presence
• 1:56:26
  in the ring, just Holly, full stop.
• 1:56:32
  You know you're going to be treated to a fun time.
• 1:56:39
  One of my favourites on the scene as well.
• 1:56:45
  Again, another time it could easily have gone to any of them,
• 1:56:51
  and I know some people will probably argue with that, but
• 1:56:58
  again, I say it's my, it's my podcast.
• 1:57:02
  It's my choice. If you don't like it, tough
• 1:57:07
  luck. With all that said, we have
• 1:57:12
  finally, finally, whoops, finally come to your main event
• 1:57:23
  of the podcast. It is match of the year and
• 1:57:34
  there were I have 26 matches that I've put down this year and
• 1:57:46
  a lot when I thought about them I have considered and crossed
• 1:57:51
  out but looking at the matches I have so RPD Sandy Beaches was an
• 1:58:05
  epic contest. Lucy Skye and Willow Brandon
• 1:58:11
  Jordan versus Liam Jones for the Bridge Pro title a couple weeks
• 1:58:18
  ago. My God, they actually followed
• 1:58:24
  one other match on here that I have which was Rio and J Joshua
• 1:58:31
  that went hard. You don't expect to get 2
• 1:58:38
  bangers on an actual card. Normally you get 1 banger and
• 1:58:45
  the rest are very good. We got two that night and if you
• 1:58:50
  haven't seen Brandon Jordan and Liam Jones for the bridge title,
• 1:58:56
  I believe it will be put out by Spinebuster because they
• 1:59:00
  recorded the Miller McKenzie benefit show.
• 1:59:04
  Watch it. It was hard hitting, high flying
• 1:59:15
  and very well done storyline wise.
• 1:59:20
  I it really is up there for me for much of the year, which is
• 1:59:27
  why it's on the list. Tony Wright and Scott Olbermann
• 1:59:32
  Part 1 because the future shocks show I don't think hit fully as
• 1:59:42
  much as their match at atomic that much they did at content
• 1:59:50
  was so much better and the storyline they did with it was
• 1:59:59
  so much better as well. So that is why I put that one in
• 2:00:07
  Chris Ridgway versus Scott Oberman for the catch #1
• 2:00:12
  contendership. I believe it was a new art riot.
• 2:00:20
  At the bread shed, this was such a great contest.
• 2:00:29
  The promo video that Ant the editor did with with Scott, who
• 2:00:36
  else really told a good story? Even Ridgeway with Anne did an
• 2:00:43
  equally great story putting them together.
• 2:00:46
  The whole Northwest strong connection and then the match
• 2:00:52
  itself, Superb. There's a lot of matches I
• 2:01:03
  haven't actually wrote on there. Baron and Michael Oku and
• 2:01:10
  Manders, what else have I got? Jacobs and Felwell, Cruz and
• 2:01:23
  Joshua at Progress Lever, Leverkusen and Emmy at Eve.
• 2:01:33
  How on earth have I not spoke about Rain?
• 2:01:36
  Never Leverkusen? She's been an absolute star this
• 2:01:40
  year. Can't believe I haven't
• 2:01:42
  mentioned her on this. But yeah, that that was a great
• 2:01:49
  match. There's been so many great
• 2:01:53
  matches, but then when I had to kind of get it down one match,
• 2:02:04
  which no one speaks about at all, but for me it was the best
• 2:02:15
  match I think I saw of the year. And again, it's all opinion
• 2:02:21
  based and everything. However, in August at Eve we saw
• 2:02:29
  A tag team contest, we saw Millie McKenzie teaming up with
• 2:02:38
  Sapphire, read 1/2 of Hyperactive and they took on the
• 2:02:43
  team of Sky Blue and Julia Hart at Eve versus the World and it
• 2:02:56
  went to a time limit draw. The crowd after that match all
• 2:03:03
  gave it a standing ovation and as far as I can think of it was
• 2:03:11
  the only match this year that I have seen a standing ovation
• 2:03:16
  for, which I think tells you how good this match was.
• 2:03:25
  Julie Hart and Sky Blue, who I think Julie Hart isn't seen as
• 2:03:32
  being a great wrestler, very good but not brilliant.
• 2:03:41
  Sky Blue, who is very accomplished, we see a lot of
• 2:03:48
  Sky Blue and she is kicked on a lot from where she was when she
• 2:03:54
  used to be on Dark. But I feel for them that this
• 2:04:00
  match helped them a lot in a in a way, because the crowd was
• 2:04:06
  very split between 1,000,000 Sapphire and I think it's the
• 2:04:13
  Sisters of Sin they're called. And the crowd were cheering for
• 2:04:18
  Julia and Sky. But then the crowd constantly
• 2:04:23
  seemed to move one side and then to the other, back and forth.
• 2:04:31
  The match itself was amazing. Are there matches that Eve have
• 2:04:41
  seen that have been better? Yes, probably.
• 2:04:49
  However, no match at Eve has gripped me as much as this one
• 2:04:56
  did. I could watch this back many,
• 2:05:01
  many times and never get bored with it.
• 2:05:05
  And because of that, I'm giving it my match of the year.
• 2:05:10
  It will not be seen by anyone to have been a spectacular match or
• 2:05:17
  a standout match, but for me, this is what I think.
• 2:05:25
  When I look at the board of matches I have, I see that match
• 2:05:30
  and I immediately think that was a great match.
• 2:05:35
  Not saying that the others aren't good matches, but this
• 2:05:40
  really was superb and even kind of the way they messed with the
• 2:05:47
  fans as well. Like there was a lot going on
• 2:05:53
  which I think helped it. So on that basis, my final award
• 2:06:01
  of this Bradders Grappas 2025 Bradders Award goes to Millie
• 2:06:10
  McKenzie and Sapphire Reed against Sky Blue and Julia Hart
• 2:06:17
  for their time limit draw at Eve versus the World.
• 2:06:25
  Well done to all involved. And that, my friends, is the end
• 2:06:35
  of this award show. Thank you so much.
• 2:06:40
  If you have stayed to the end, genuinely thank you for all of
• 2:06:48
  your award ideas and generally and all, thank you for just, you
• 2:07:00
  know, listening to the show full full stop.
• 2:07:05
  It's always appreciated. But yeah, that is the end of
• 2:07:12
  this year. I can now take this off because
• 2:07:17
  it is too warm in here. But thank you so much for this
• 2:07:27
  helping me see the year out podcasting.
• 2:07:32
  Hopefully we'll be back on on Monday or sometime next week
• 2:07:39
  because Future Shock have their special show at the Fairfield.
• 2:07:44
  So if you see me there, just give us a wave.
• 2:07:51
  Other than that, thank you again for listening.
• 2:07:55
  Round of applause for all our winners and our runners up.
• 2:08:00
  And so thank you to all the promotions I've been to this
• 2:08:05
  year. There have been far too many to
• 2:08:07
  name. Congratulations to our winners
• 2:08:12
  again, as I say so much I could say I've massively ran over time
• 2:08:21
  here. But thank you again.
• 2:08:25
  And yeah, I will see you in the new year at a wrestling show.
• 2:08:31
  So for me, Petterbradders, for as far as 2025 goes, thank you
• 2:08:39
  so much, genuinely for listening to this Trialling a Video
• 2:08:47
  podcast as well. Hope you've enjoyed this as much
• 2:08:51
  as I have putting it together. I now have a sore throat, so I'm
• 2:08:56
  taking on lubricants. Lubrication, not lubricants.
• 2:09:01
  That's it. Very quickly on, Peter.
• 2:09:05
  Yes, Thank you for listening, watching however you're doing it
• 2:09:12
  and really, I'll get you soon.