[2000-10-29-FWA (UK)-No Surprises] Paul Travell vs Justin Richards

[soup23]

A much better effort than the prior match. I will say this for FWA as a whole, the video screen and lighting effects they use in 2000 are better than most indies today and certainly on par with production ROH would have as late as 06 or 07. To fit the theme, this match would have fit on an ROH undercard in the first couple of years and not looked completely out of place. I was ready to herald it as an underrated gem five minutes in with sound ring work and working over the arm but the last 7-8 minutes of the match go too far into your turn, my turn territory. It was also tough to get a sense of who the heel was in this match as both were not shy in using underhanded tactics. Cheap finish with Travell thinking he won and looking foolish when Richards had his foot on the rope. Richards is able to immediately roll Travell up to retain. I would like to see more of these two and this was a solid match for the customers of the show. **1/2

 

[GSR]

FWA British championship match, Justin Richards the current champion.  The wrestling here is really tight, Travell keeping hold of Richards’ arm for several minutes and not letting go as he continually works that body part over.  I did like how Richards tried to snapmare Travell out of the hammerlock, only for the challenger to go with it and still keep it applied.  Eventually Richards backs him into the corner, with speed, and that causes him to release his grip.  Northern Lights suplex by the champion.  Double underhook into a backbreaker, dropping Travell across his own knee.  Richards throws him through the ropes to the outside and then drops a Cactus elbow from the apron.  Travell reverses the whip sending Richards crashing into the ringpost.  Dropkick from the apron to the floor.  Back inside he connects with that cool Savio Vega spinning kick, his own momentum taking him over the top rope.  The champion with a clothesline after reversing the Irish whip, nice that he sells the arm after Travell’s earlier working over of it, just a shame that he’d completely forgotten about it up to this point.  No problems with that arm when he runs through an array of suplexes, ending by front suplexing Travell and dumping him across the top rope.  Travell blocks having his head rammed into the corner and slams Richards’ head into it instead.  Spinebuster followed by a Lionsault.  He lands a guillotine legdrop, rather than make the cover though he decides to head back upstairs.  This time he spends too long playing to the crowd and Richards shakes the ropes causing him to crotch himself.  Superplex.  Travell catches him with a suplex before he’s off up top again, connecting with the big splash.  Richards gets his foot over the ropes to break the count, but Travell doesn’t realise and thinks the referee has counted the three.  As he grabs the belt and starts jumping up and down like he’s won, Richards snatches him with a Dragon suplex for the win.

To use a football cliché, a tale of two halves.  The opening parts of this were superb where they concentrated purely on the wrestling, each man trying to get the better of the other in the grappling stakes.  It had a real throwback feel to the classic World of Sport stuff of two decades earlier.  The second half was too high spot driven for my liking, the transitions, which were evident in the opening minutes, non-existent and a distant memory.  While Richards did sell the arm, once, with that clothesline, he really should’ve sold it more than he did.  A better match than the three way but I wish they would’ve stuck to the grappling and not ended up going down the route that they did.  Finish does Travell no favours as he looks pretty foolish, celebrating like he’s won after the ref has clearly only slapped the mat twice.