Just weeks before they return to YouTube for the weekly free episodes of Loaded, Defiant Wrestling are on iPPV, live from beautiful Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for Refuse to Lose 2018, an event that began two years prior. This year has been a tough one for the lads and lasses involved with Defiant, considering they rebranded from WCPW at the culmination of 2017. It’s been a successful year though, with many more achievements to come for the young promotion. For now though, they all refuse to lose!
The South-Coast Connection (Ashley Dunn & Kelly Sixx) vs Chris Brookes & ???
For a few members of the Defiant Discord chat, the return of The South-Coast Connection has been a long-time coming. Ashley Dunn and Kelly Sixx have made sporadic appearances in Defiant/WCPW since their surprise debut as The Swords of Essex’s opponents at Chain Reaction 2017, a match that saw them leave a lasting impression on the fans. Since that day, the SCC have been fairly successful in their Defiant careers, holding victories over guys like Joe Hendry, El Ligero, and most recently against The Hunter Brothers back in February of this year. One man that sadly hasn’t been as successful is Chris Brookes. One half of the popular CCK tandem has had a tough time in Defiant, and in many of his other home promotions, mainly due to his tag team partners going down with injuries. Just when it looked like things were back on track for he and Kid Lykos (who returned to Defiant at Built to Destroy in June), Lykos was against struck with injury. With the inventor of Death By Rollup promising to have a mystery partner here, fans’ minds have been swirling as to who it may be. The most obvious choices are Lykos, Lykos’ CCK stand-in Jonathan Gresham, and Lykos’ other CCK stand-in Timothy Thatcher. Only time will tell.
Prediction: Chris Brookes & ???
Lana Austin vs Kay Lee Ray
With Women’s Champion Bea Priestley remaining on the sidelines, it leaves Lana Austin still without her championship opportunity. Instead, she’ll face the returning Kay Lee Ray at the event, a former Women’s Champion in her own right. Lana made her return from suspension to attack Priestley after the champ’s match with Zoe Lucas at August’s Stacked event, delivering a steel chair-assisted punt kick to the skull. Bea has yet to be seen in a Defiant ring since. Her #1 contender however picked up a victory over Little Miss Roxxy last month at Fight or Flight, proving herself to be the rightful next contender. Unfortunately for her though, Kay Lee Ray will be looking to prove that same point. The start of the year saw her lose the championship to young Millie McKenzie, and then fail to regain the gold on a few occasions in some of the best Defiant matches this year in this writer’s opinion. A pinfall here would surely put her name in the running for challenging.
Prediction: Lana Austin
El Phantasmo vs Brent Banks
Another champion unable to appear at the event is Internet Champion WALTER, leaving El Phantasmo without his shot at the title. In his place comes “The One Man Dynasty” Brent Banks in a battle between two of Canada’s hottest exports at the moment. Both are bursting in to the mouths of wrestling fans, with Phantasmo recently winning the British J Cup over in Revolution Pro Wrestling while Banks has remained at home by winning both the Border City Wrestling Can-Am Tag Team Championships and Smash Tag Team Championships alongside Aiden Prince and Tyson Dux respectively, the latter being his partner in The Pillars. Brent has actually appeared in Defiant before when it was still known as WCPW, facing another Canadian sensation in “Speedball” Mike Bailey as part of last year’s Pro Wrestling World Cup. That match was easily the best of the night, and perhaps even one of the best in Defiant history. This is a match that, until recently, wasn’t even scheduled to be taking place, but has all the potential to steal the night.
Prediction: El Phantasmo
Nathan Cruz vs David Starr
Following the actions of Nathan Cruz during the finals of July’s Ringmaster Tournament, he will go toe to toe with David Starr. Both men advanced to the finals of the tournament alongside El Phantasmo (who replaced recently debuted NXT star Matt Riddle) and eventual winner ‘Bad Bones’ John Klinger. Cruz was the first man eliminated from the tournament, which resulted in him crotching Starr around the ring post to give Klinger the advantage he needed to eliminate The King of Taunts. If it weren’t for Nathan’s interference here, we could be calling David Starr the Ringmaster just now. The Professional saw an opportunity, and he took it. If he can’t be Defiant World Champion, he wasn’t going to let a man who beat him be the champ, is he? Whoever wins here has all the possibilites to move on and challenge for the championship against whoever wins the main event.
Prediction: David Starr
Gabriel Kidd vs Rory Coyle
Gabriel Kidd has, over the last few months, become a completely changed man. All it took to set him on track was one swift kick to the groin of Prince Ameen. Since he turned his back on The Indian Dream in March, Kidd has been much more ruthless in his matches, including delivering a massive lariat to Simon Miller that sidelined Miller with a serious shoulder injury. After failing in his long-awaited match for the World Championship against a returning Rampage, The Young Bull took it upon himself to slap general manager Primate in the jaw, the same part of the body that forced the former Hardcore and Tag Team Champion in to retirement. For this, Primate has slotted Gabe in to a match with one of Defiant’s most recent signings, Rory Coyle. The Last True Sick Boy is exactly what he says he is – a sick man. Don’t be expecting to see any collar and elbow tie-ups here, just plenty of strikes and brawling.
Prediction: Gabriel Kidd
I Quit Match: Joe Hendry vs Martin Kirby
The epic rivalry between Joe Hendry and Martin Kirby will have another chapter written, with the pair set to face off in an I Quit Match. Ever since the formation of Hendry’s Prestige stable in February 2017, he and Kirby have been at each other’s throats, which included the latter winning and losing the World Championship within a space of 24 hours thanks to The Prestigious One’s exploitation of Martin’s head injury. The rebranding to Defiant Wrestling saw the feud die down a little, until the Ringmaster Tournament that is, where Joe (as a commentator for the two nights) poked fun at Martin’s elimination from the opening round. As a result, they have since squared off in two matches – a double count out that turned in to a DQ win for Hendry at Stacked, and a no contest at Fight or Flight due to the combined assault on several Defiant staff members. It’s been a bitter and personal rivalry that has seen a new light for both men as of late, with the fans almost turning against Kirby in favor of Hendry. With the return of Loaded right around the corner, Defiant management must be hoping that this feud comes to an end, at least for the time being. Don’t expect it to though.
Prediction: Joe Hendry
Defiant Tag Team Championships Match: The Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) (c) vs Alpha Bad (Iestyn Rees & Kip Sabian)
The first of two championship matches sees #1 contenders Alpha Bad challenging The Aussie Open for the Defiant Tag Team Championships. Iestyn Rees and Kip Sabian were a randomly thrown together team on the debut episode of World of Sport Wrestling, but it’s team that has proven to have worked extensively well. They captured the WOS Tag Team Championships (the inaugural champs too), and have since brought their work as a single unit to New Generation Wrestling and of course Defiant Wrestling. Rees and Sabian replaced CCK at Stacked in a #1 contenders match against Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins, a match they would go on to win. A victory last month over the returning Hunter Brothers further solidified their status as the next challengers. Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher will be no easy team to beat though, with the Aussie lads having title retentions over CCK and The Filthy Kliq thus far. Having held the titles since the end of April, Refuse to Lose could very well spell the end of Aussie Open’s time on top of the doubles division.
Prediction: Alpha Bad
Defiant World Championship Match: Rampage (c) vs ‘Bad Bones’ John Klinger
The main event, one we’ve all been waiting. The Defiant World Championship will be contested as the 2018 Ringmaster Tournament winner ‘Bad Bones’ John Klinger challenges Rampage, looking to win his first taste of gold in a Defiant environment. Prior to his return at the Ringmaster Tournament, Klinger’s last appearance for the promotion came on the penultimate WCPW show in a loss to Gabriel Kidd. When his name was revealed for the two-night tournament though, it was an instant game changer. En-route to the finals, he bested Martin Kirby and BT Gunn, before lastly eliminating El Phantasmo to be crowned the Ringmaster. He earned the right to face Rampage as a result (a man just coming off the back of a shoulder injury and a title retention against Gabriel Kidd), two men who are no stranger to each other whatsoever. In February of last year when Klinger was aligned with now-Defiant commentator James R. Kennedy, he battled Rampage on two separate occasions, losing by DQ on an episode of Loaded and then losing again at Chain Reaction, this time by pinfall in a Street Fight. The German Psycho is 0-2 against the defending champion – will he be able to add his first point in the win column with a victory here?
Prediction: ‘Bad Bones’ John Klinger
Refuse to Lose airs LIVE tonight, starting at 7pm GMT on both Access Defiant ($8.99 a month) and the Fite app ($14.99 for a one-time purchase).
