Added 06/10/2017 by Keagan Barnes

Thursday the 5th of October was the night of Lucha Forever’s inaugural Ultimo Battle, The card was stacked, the ring was gorgeous and the drinks were terribly overpriced (£3 for a bottle of water). I got the honour of meeting Naomichi Marufuji and I was so blown away. Also, I’ve got to say I was pleasantly surprised at how organised the event was. Apart from VIP doors opening the same time as GA, there was no issues at all.

Road To Glory Contract Match – Kip Sabian vs Bea Priestly vs Paul Robinson vs Maverick Mayhew vs Cara Noir vs Chief Deputy Dunne

This match was a nice opener. It felt a little short but there was a bunch of cool spots. A lot of the nights highlights came from this match. You had Robinson entering from the Crowd before the match, Cara Noir licking Dunne who was hanging from a ladder, Bea hit Dunne with a double foot stomp onto a ladder, Cara hit a Package Piledriver on Bea onto a ladder draped across the second rope etc. etc. However, the spot that got the biggest pop was the finish.

Kip Sabian was scaling the ladder from the side with the few rungs. Bea noticed this, went over and hit him with a Cheeky Nando’s kick. Bea then went around the ladder, Kip still managed to climb to the top and the pair began fighting. Kip pushed Bea off of the ladder. Bea landed on another ladder and it looked like such a horrible bump to take. Kip retrieved the briefcase and everyone around me was happy with that.

Winner: Kip Sabian

Omari vs Moose

I always think I can praise Omari enough, then I see him wrestle again. You know, I didn’t expect too much from this match. The card was stacked already and I’ve never really been a moose fan but boy, this was a good match.

I’m also loving the Omari against *insert sick import here* thing we’ve got going on in BritWres. Moose was next on the list, the pair had a good contest and I was quite shocked with the outcome.

YES OMARI!

Winner: Omari.

Moustache Mountain vs Aussie Open

Okay. Let me start by saying that face Trent Seven is the greatest thing in all of Proffesional Wrestling.

This match was great. Thoroughly enjoyed the entire match. It was a mix of comedy and intensity. This match lead to me wanting singles matches between the two teams. We need this match everywhere before the Moustache boys are off to the E full time.

Davis had Tyler in a position for a piledriver, Trent ran around screaming “leave him alone” and then decapitated him. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. This match illustrated how strong Mark is, how athletic Kyle is and how consistently fantastic British Strong Style remain to be.

Aussie Open are definitely the next big thing in Tag Team wrestling and it’s made even better by the fact that they enter to Run The Jewels. Seven hit a piledriver, followed by Bate hitting Tyler Driver ’97 on Kyle to get the win.

Winners: Moustache Mountain.

Pete Dunne vs Naomichi Marufuji

MY GOD DID I ENJOY THIS. 1 fall, 20 minute time limit and awfully loud chops from Marufuji. Pete played a softer version of the heel he plays so well here but still got the majority of the crowd support.

Ryan asked the crowd who’s first show it was and 70-80% of the crowd raised their hand. I believe that this match drew most of the crowd.

This technical encounter pitted Japanese legend “The Immortal Bird” Naomichi Marufuji against British star “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne. The only thing that annoyed me about this match was the not so practical time limit.

I’m struggling to find the words to describe this match for the simple reason that you have to see it to believe it. The pair battled for the full 20 minutes and there was multiple near falls but none quite got the job done.

Naomichi hit a sliced bread from the top rope and before he got the pinfall, the bell rang.

One of the best matches I’ve seen live, all the stars.

Draw.

-intermission-

At the interval there was the VIP in-ring photo. Which the VIP got with their ticket. Or, if you had other tickets like myself, it cost £5. The star was Bea Priestly.

Toni Storm vs Viper

I was pretty excited for this match heading in. Toni is definitely one of my favourite wrestlers and it’s the first time I’ve seen Viper live. The pair light up the venue no matter where they’re wrestling. Japan, America or England, they never disappoint.. This match was a gem and definitley something you should look out for. Cool moments included Toni still managing to push her bridge higher with Viper on top of her, Suplexes to Viper and of course Viper just being Viper in general.

One of the better matches of the night and I’m honoured I’ve managed to see one of the Toni vs Viper matches live.

Toni took the win with a piledriver.

Winner: Toni Storm.

Lucha Forever Championship – Last Man Standing Match: Mark Haskins vs Chris Ridgeway

The crowd were solidly behind Ridgeway and completely against Haskins and his shit theme. Ridgeway got booed when he was announced as from Liverpool.

The match was intense and I really like heel Haskins. If we had this Haskins everywhere, I’m sure his doubters/haters would definitely decrease. Ridgeway should be booked everywhere too. There was repeated charishots, chair battles and Ridgeway had a few broken over his back. There was a spot where Haskins launched Chris through all the rows.

This match is also something you need to look out for. Haskins picked up the win with a piledriver on a chair.

Winner: Mark Haskins.

LDRS 2000 (Marty Scurll, Zack Sabre Jr, Will Ospreay) vs CCK (Chris Brookes and Travis Banks) & Jimmy Havoc w/Kid Lykos

The match we were all waiting for. LDRS 2000 against CCK. This match kinda disappointed for me. It was more of a taunt off and had cool in sync moves. Nothing we haven’t seen before. I guess I might have got my hopes a little too high but it just didn’t seem to meet my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good match. But when you put 6 of the best talent available in the country in a match, you’d expect something amazing.

The highlight of the match for me was the gear the matching gear LDRS 2000 had. The match did have points that made me laugh though, especially when Havoc stood in the empty LDRS corner and Will tagged him in under the impression that he was on his team. Followed by Zack calling Will a ‘fucking idiot’.

Winners: LDRS 2000

After the match British Strong Style came out to confront LDRS 2000.

All in all I’d class Lucha Forever – Ultimo Battle as one of the more solid all around shows I’ve been to all year. Dunne/Marufuji was excellent, Aussie Open/Moustache Mountain was great and the Road to Glory ladder match was pretty nice too. The Venue was superb and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Be sure to watch it when it comes out on demand.