There’s no rest for the wicked as No Sleep ‘Til Ardler reached its conclusion. I judged the previous half was solid, with a lot happening with title changes and story progression. There was variety, the second half had a lot to live up to keep that pace going with ArdlerMania drawing near.
Anarchy Ink (Ryan Roode & Matty Mayhem) defeated The Justified (Oliver Green & Tommy Raiden) by pinfall.
Oliver Green tried to get an “Anarchy Stink” chant going… 5 stars. That just goaded a duelling chant debating if Elgin sucks. It has The Dandy Lion for goodness sake! What more do you want???
Ryan Roode walked Tommy Raiden into the corners, eventually throwing Bedlam corner to corner to invite the FCW Junior Heavyweight Champion into the match with Matty Mayhem joining the party. An overzealous Green gave Mayhem a couple slaps to get his campaign started as he and Matty went back and forth. A tornado snap suplex put the momentum into the side of Anarchy Ink as Mayhem and Roode kept Oliver Green isolated.
A timely intervention from Tommy Raiden provided the space for Green to take control with Mayhem being their chosen victim to wear down as a tandem while Roode could only watch on in the corner. Tommy missed a charge into the corner that Matty jumped on for a slow rising German Suplex with a running knee for good measure. Tommy got a shoulder up, and the pair traded forearms until they both swung for a clothesline to reset the match.
After champing at the bit, Ryan Roode was reinserted and he start throwing around The Justified like they were discarded wrappers. A Michinoku Driver caught a near fall on Green thanks to a lunching Tommy Raiden, following a party of big impact moves, Raiden once again saved the blushes of Oliver Green being downed by another Michinoku Driver from Ryan to break the fall.
Green felt a superkick from Matty Mayhem, and with a package piledriver/superkick combo to Raiden, The Justified were put to bed.
A decent match. The crowd loved them some Anarchy Ink. it still amuses me that Ryan Roode was public enemy number one in Fair City Wrestling for a portion of last year and it’s all but forgotten due to his sheer charisma. Matty Mayhem had some fun encounters with Raiden and Green which I wouldn’t be mad at seeing a revisit to them having a bit of a scrap again.
Matty Mayhem grabbed a microphone to introduce themselves and put the challenge out to the new FCW Tag Team Champions. The Lancadores headed out to accept but were soon followed by Filth and The Fury. Sami Sparx and Jay Robin threw their name into the hat for some FCW Tag Team Championship gold. Kev Williams broke up the shoving to declare a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at ArdlerMania for the titles.
FCW Heavyweight Championship – Retro Randy vs Ian Ambrose ended in a no contest.
Ian Ambrose walked out flanked by his children, Miles Ambrose and Eddie Devine as the boos were loud for The Infamous. Stevie Wizard hosted the championship introductions with ArdlerMania implications hanging in the balance. Ambrose pushed back from the lock up but it was Randy who took the challenger to the ground with a side headlock takeover. There was clear apprehension from both competitors to go all in too early with strikes exchanged to chip away.
Randy broke through to land a neck snap, Ambrose managed to dodge an attack to send the champion into the ropes for a choke as Ian took to moving the match into a methodical tempo, striking with precision, and landing hard with a senton following a Wasteland. A three point stance pushed Ambrose off to drive a back elbow into the chest of Randy, and for him to be flung with a belly to back suplex. Randy tried to unlock the Retro Rage only for the finger point (of doom) to be immediately grasped and turned into a crossface. Ambrose found his spot, locking in an armbar on the left arm as Randy fought back.
The damage to the left shoulder of Retro Randy switched gears on his tactics, keeping the left arm away and positioning Ian onto the right hand side as much as possible. A rouge straight jacket neckbreaker could have been it but with Randy landing on his left shoulder it delayed a pin attempt. Ambrose continued to test Randy, lifting a foot to stop and elbow drop and rolling Retro Randy through for a pin that could only muster a two count.
A trio of bit boots were delivered for Randy to land the Leg Drop (of Doom) that could only arrive to a near fall. Randy missed the top rope elbow drop to jar his right shoulder but Ian couldn’t capitalise as his dive also missed the mark. A cutter from Ambrose kept Retro Randy on defense. Ian tried to lock in an ankle lock which brought out Eddie Devine to cause a distraction. While the referee’s ushered Devine out, Miles Ambrose struck Randy with the title and Ambrose pinned Retro Randy for three.
Confusion erupted with the referee’s disagreeing what the outcome was, while simultaneously trying to separate Randy and Ambrose. Patryk Peterski marched out with the Game Changer briefcase and chucked Ian Ambrose out of the ring to put the situation on blast, saying that he didn’t care who the champion was with Kevin Williams returning to set a three way dance for the FCW Heavyweight Championship. In the midst of all that Williams claimed Retro Randy was still the FCW Heavyweight Champion so I’m guessing the conclusion and shenanigans caused the match to be scratched off.
Patryk left Randy to celebrate whilst gesturing that it was almost time to cash in.
A chaotic ending to what was a very main event feeling match, funnily enough. This recent iteration of Ian Ambrose has felt right, there’s no fluff around, he has a mission and is set out to complete it with an unhealthy amount of bitterness swimming around him. The reaction to the pin wasn’t one of anger but more of a disappointment and I think that’s because, simply put, the villain won. A stunned silence to see Retro Randy’s long reign being ended in such circumstances, even if the result was thrown out a few minutes later.
It was a busy show over the two halves, this half felt more controlled and there was more direction to get to post-match aftermath and to push forward with the match announcements for ArdlerMania. There was a lot set up over the course of No Sleep ‘Til Ardler with Kevin Williams doing his best Oprah impression and giving out all the title matches for the biggest night on the Fair City Wrestling calendar, but before we get there there is one more stop and that’s Tay of Reckoning.
The show is available on YouTube:
