They often say that you never stop learning in wrestling, regardless of the amount of time you have been associated with it. The last weekend of July reinforced this statement as I found it to be a great learning experience that I believe will only take me forward.

After W3L’s Edinburgh show, I was bracing myself for a relatively quiet several weeks before W3L’s next set of shows in late-September. However, I discovered that US independent wrestler and 14-year pro Jigsaw would be hosting a seminar in Bathgate before SSW’s ‘Summersmash’ show at the Regal Theatre, so I threw my name in the hat for the seminar and on the Saturday morning I was on my way to Bathgate.

The seminar was three hours long and one of the best one’s I have been to in the seven years I have been involved with wrestling. It covered all aspects of wrestling, which included things such as conditioning, footwork and fundamentals, as well as intricate technical wrestling sequences and counters. This seminar also gave me more confidence in myself moving forward, with a particular highlight being during a drill which involved a cut-off and counter sequence. I was using a headbutt to the gut as a cut-off and it was great to hear Jigsaw himself say out loud that was his “favourite cut-off of the day.”

As well as the things done in the ring, time was also taken to speak about wrestling, with tremendous advice being given and the importance of working hard and making people see the effort you are putting into improving all aspects of your craft, from hitting the gym and looking presentable to making the long journeys to and from shows/seminars and investing in your craft. All in all, it was a great seminar and from speaking to him, Jigsaw has a great wrestling brain and I strongly encourage anyone to attend one of his seminars and/or ask him about anything wrestling-wise.

After the seminar, SSW had their annual ‘Summersmash’ show, which featured PBW Academy prospect Fallon face House Of Pain graduate Danny Thomas, as well as the in-ring return of Sara versus Emily Hayden, where it was good to see Sara back in the ring after some time away from the sport. SSW Hardcore Champion The Alpha Male defeated three different opponents in a gauntlet match to retain his title, before I made my way to the ring and made him an offer to join forces with him, so that we could take over SSW and make it our own. The end result of this was me being walloped with a Clothesline and a Chokeslam, but despite the pain and betrayal I felt from this, SSW has not seen or heard the last of Lucian Maynard Smith!

The rest of the show saw Brandon Adams defeat Jigsaw after interference from The Alpha Male (!!), GI Joe defeated El Technico to win the SPWO UK Championship after Johnathan Richards interfered. The Trinity defeated Dylan Angel and Lucha DS to retain the tag belts and Kaiden King defeated TJ Rage in a hard-hitting match to retain the SSW Worlds Championship, before Mikey Ratings returned post-match and made a statement to King by attacking him. All in all, it was a good show and it will be interesting to see what happens at next month’s show after what occurred at Summersmash. For now though, that is The Life Of Smith. Good day.

– Lucian Maynard-Smith
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