This is my first UK Wrestling Tape Review of what I hope to be many, so I thought I would start out with where British wrestling all started for me, KSW. This show is from July 2003 and was to crown the first ever KSW Great British Champion. It had a good line-up of competitors, featuring some KSW veterans and at the time some new faces. It is a single elimination, 8-competitor tournament.

Before we get onto the Tape Review, I have to just say how awesome the video itself is packaged. As with all videos/DVD's produced by WAR Productions, it comes in a full plastic case with inlay and stickers on the cassette. As for the production of the video, this is awesome too. The tape starts out with a trailer for a different show, in this case KSW Deadly Alliance. The action is shot from multiple angles, with on screen graphics and screen-in-screen action replays.

For this tape and many more British Wrestling videos, go to: Warshop.co.uk

Anyway, on with the review starting with the Opening Round...

"The Dark Angel" Carl Mizzery vs. Spirit Walker.

A solid opening match which starts out with some stalling from Mizzery, leading into a good fast paced opening sequence with Spirit Walker gaining the advantage. Decent back and forth match overall, with neither competitor gaining a clear advantage. Good offence from both competitors, solid and well executed. Spirit Walker nailed some big moves like a reverse Tiger Suplex, Fisherman Buster and Sit-Out Powerbomb. Crowd got behind Spirit Walker during the match and really got on Mizzery's back. Finish to the match came when Mizzery connected with an Impaler.

Gremlin vs. Ric Violent.

Match starts out with Violent trying to gain the advantage with some technical holds, but to no avail. Match was mainly dominated by Ric Violent, but with some flurries from Gremlin. Again, some good offence during the match including a Backdrop Driver from Violent and a Deja Vu DDT from Gremlin. Match was kept quite fast paced with some crisply executed offence. Finish came following the Violent Drop (Styles Clash) for the three count. Decent match.

"The Import" Sal Americana vs. Rob Blaze.

Another high paced start to this match, with Rob Blaze gaining the advantage following a pair of Armdrags and a Dropkick. From there though, the match was dominated by Americana, who used a varied number of suplexes during the match including an Overhead Belly-to-Belly and a German Suplex. Not much offence by Rob Blaze, but a couple of desperation comebacks kept the pace of the match going. Finish came following a Roll-Up from Americana and also illegal use of the tights.

Wolf vs. Maddog Maxx.

Wolf gained an early advantage in this match, taking Maddog by surprise and catching him with a Hiptoss, Armdrag and a Bodyslam. Maddog quickly returns the favour followed by a Dropkick sending Wolf packing. Match was back and forth with solid offence by both competitors. Wolf used some interesting move variants during the match including a Sit-Out Cobra Clutch Slam and Cross-Armed Russian Leg Sweep. Match was fairly high paced thanks in part to the high flying of Maddog. Finish came following a Powerslam by Maddog, which was followed with the Intergalactic Elbow Drop.

Now for the Semi-Finals...

"The Dark Angel" Carl Mizzery vs. Ric Violent.

This is easily the best match of this whole tournament as it was jammed full of high impact offence, high flying and went at a good pace. Match starts out with Mizzery attacking Violent on the entrance way. In the ring this was followed with some good technical holds and reversals from both competitors. From there the match was full of great offence including Mizzery hitting a Lionsault, Missile Dropkick and High Cross Body Block, while Violent nailed a Side Effect, Ricochet (Backdrop Suplex into side Elbow Drop) and a Sit-Out Powerbomb. Match was high paced, almost everything was executed very well and the crowd was really into the match. Finish came following a Somersualt Middle Rope Impaler by Mizzery. Good Match.

"The Import" Sal Americana vs. Maddog Maxx.

A classic battle of USA against UK. Sal throws the first punch by taking the Union Jack and wiping his backside with it! Maddog then retaliates with some big clotheslines and a Samoan Drop. Both competitors to the outside, but then Sal gained the advantage with a suplex. This match was slower paced than the other Semi Final match, but still had some decent offence from both competitors. Sal nailed some more of his trademark suplexes during the match, including the German Suplex. Good finishing sequence with some counter moves, finally leading to Maddog gaining the win with a Powerslam. Another Solid Match.

Special Cruiserweight Exhibition Match

Snake vs. Incinerator.

Match started out with a few high paced, well executed, back and forth technical sequences with neither man gaining the advantage. Match was very well balanced, back and forth action with some really good offence from both guys. High flying (450 Splash, Standing Moonsault), High Impact Suplexes (Dragon Suplex, Rolling Germans, Azteca Suplex) and some other excellent offence (Fireman Carry Powerbomb, STO) helped the flow of the match and kept the crowd excited by it. Finish came when Snake hit a series of rolling Brainbusters, finishing with a Ki Krusher '99 for the pinfall. Really good spotfest which was really enjoyable to watch.

The Final for the KSW Great British Championship...

"The Dark Angel" Carl Mizzery vs. Maddog Maxx.
The final of the tournament is a two out of three falls match.

First Fall - Match starts out at a really slow pace, with both competitors "felling one another out." After this, Maddog gains the upper hand with a some good power moves. Carl then makes a comeback, including him nailing the Lionsault. First fall comes after Maddog gets DDT'd off the top rope, then Mizzery using the ropes to get the pinfall. Plenty of action in the first fall, slow to start but then picked up.

Second Fall - Carl goes to work straight away on Maddog's neck with some good offence including a Springboard Blockbuster. This second fall however goes to Maddog following a Crucifix Pin. Fall was completely dominated by Carl and his work on Maddog's neck.

Final Fall - This time round Maddog dominates with a DDT and a Piledriver. Both competitors end up brawling on the floor, with Maddog hitting a Press Slam on the floor. Both competitors back in and Carl uses a chair attacking Maddog. Ref gets KO'd following this and Maddog hits the Powerslam, but there was no ref. Match ends when Mizzery hits a Tombstone Piledriver on the chair for the three count and the victory.

Match was good during the first two falls, but the ending seemed like a bit of a mess, but the match was full of well executed offence and had a decent pace. Match overall was not too long and kept the crowd guessing till the very end. Decent match.

Chris's Final Thought's

This is one of my favourite KSW shows, with solid matches from start to finish. There are no bad matches on this show, but...there is only two good matches (one, the exhibition match), all the rest are average yet solid matches. There were some good performances from all four semi finalists during the show, but decent effort all round from everyone involved. Overall, this does make this a slightly above average show and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to sample K-Star Wrestling.

Score: 6/10

Christopher Locke