[2003-04-27-FWA-British Breakout Tour: Night 7] Jonny Storm vs Zebra Kid

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This match is for the FWA All England Title (the FWA’s IC equivalent belt). Zebra Kid had started the Tour as champion, had lost the belt to Chris Hamrick as part of the tour, who had in turn lost it to Jonny Storm, also as part of the tour. So Zebra Kid is coming in as the challenger here. The British Breakout Tour had been designed to help expand the FWA out of its regular markets, with the multiple title changes a tactic of drawing up local interest in other parts of the county. That could also be seen by the fact the FWA Tag Titles also changed hands on this show and then changed back again the next night on the last leg of the tour. Spoiler alert: with the title ending up back where we started on the Zebra Kid, it allowed them to effectively reset as they got back to their ‘regular’ shows.

On a little trivia note, this night of the tour was back in the FWA’s original home base of Portsmouth but would be the last time the company would ever run the town.

As might be expected, this is an all action match between the two, with little let up. Initially Storm manages to frustrate ZK with his quickness, until Zebra manages to use his aggressive style and being unafraid to put his body on the line to take control. Given his strength is brawling, I liked that he was always trying to throw Jonny to the outside and take it to the floor, while Storm was always trying to increase the pace which is his strong suit – it makes for a nice dynamic and storyline through the match.

As is very much the way in indie matches, there’s a lot of back and forth, and I think that if Zebra Kid had managed to have a longer control/heat section it really would’ve helped Jonny’s comebacks get that little more steam and impact. Overall there is good fire and intensity from both - they don’t treat this as more of a ‘b show’ given it wasn’t one of the FWA’s more in canon main shows – and there’s a nice finish with Storm leaping to the top only to get German suplexed off the top. (***)