While it’s technically not branded as a PROGRESS show, MCW Ballroom Brawl will have all but one of the PROGRESS talent that are currently on tour in Australia. The lone exception is Travis Banks, who will be wrestling in New Zealand for Southern Pro Wrestling’s Battle Lines event. Banks’ opponent will be one of New Zealand’s best wrestlers and a top prospect from the Oceanic, Kane Khan. Wish them all the best. Anyway, let’s look into one of Melbourne City Wrestling’s biggest show of the year.
Toni Storm vs Avary
Avary has been a meddling manager for former MCW tag team champions Brat Pack, but she hasn’t wrestle very much for MCW. So, it will be interesting to see how she goes with a top tier wrestler like Toni Storm. This will be a valuable experience for Avary and I hope she does well. The Brat Pack are heat magnets in MCW and known to be weasley cheaters. So, expect a lot of boos and some antics.
Mike Burr vs Lochy Hendricks
These two had recently faced each other. The grizzled veteran Mike Burr would defeat the brash and egotistical ‘Loverboy’ Lochy Hendricks after Lochy’s ex-girlfriend Emily distracted him and became Burr’s manager. This was a result of Emily getting revenge on Lochy for breaking her heart by dumping her (which a part of his transition to becoming his heelish Loverboy persona). Emily will be a presence at ringside in this match and is likely to play into the result. Also, Lochy Hendricks’ former mentor KrackerJak (who Lochy retired in an emotional hardcore match) will be attending the show and he could get involved. So, there are a few stories heading into this match and it’s likely to be a very story orientated match.
Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) vs Brat Pack (Nick Bury and Mitch Waterman)
This could go two ways. It could either be a very comical match or they can try to steal the show. The Brat Pack are a very shtick heavy act as the Aussie Rules football jocks who get in people’s faces and rile them up. Although, they do have some great tag team work and creative offence. This is a big opportunity for Bury and Waterman, who had recently got a big win over MCW’s top stars Dowie James and Mr Juicy. I hope they can take their game to another level.
Kellyanne vs Indi Hartwell
It’s been a rivalry that has been happening for a while (mainly because they are the only two regular female wrestlers in the women’s division). After Evie (now WWE’s Dakota Kai) left MCW, ‘Impressive’ Indi Hartwell was brought in. She has been Kellyanne’s antagonist after stealing a win from her and has been constantly berating her. While Kellyanne is one of the best female pro wrestlers in Australia and a great brawler, Hartwell is a wrestler who still needs development in particular areas (for example, expanding and tweaking her moveset). However, she has shown to be a good heel and is constantly getting better.
Pete Dunne vs Slex
‘The Business’ Slex is in career-best form so far in 2018, looking very cool and confident with his ‘Business’ persona to go with his smooth wrestling ability. He had won the Intercommonwelth championship from Robbie Eagles in a brutal ladder match at MCW Clash of Titans and has been having some great matches with the likes of Eagles, Matt Riddle and Davis Storm. Also, he looks set to have a future match with Will Ospreay after calling him out on the same show that he won the title.
Ballroom Brawl Rumble
The Ballroom Brawl is a 20-man ‘over the top rope’ rumble where the winner will receive a championship opportunity which they can cash at any time (much like the Money in the Bank). There have been a couple of entrant announcements which include Jimmy Havoc, former MCW champion Elliot Sexton, two time runner-up JXT and rising star Tome Filip. Last year’s Ballroom Brawl winner was a returning Jonah Rock, who surprised everyone in the crowd with his appearance. He would win the MCW championship on the same night during the Dowie James vs Mr Juicy main event (which is also the main event of this show). So, it’s tough to predict a winner. Sexton would be a good prediction to win as he has history with both James and Juicy.
MCW Heavyweight Championship – Dowie James vs Gino ‘Mr Juicy’ Gambino
This is match with a fair amount of history.
In 2015, Dowie James defeated Mr Juicy to become the first ever MCW Intercommonwealth champion in a heck of a match. It would be a career-defining match for both wrestlers. They had their rematch at last years’ Ballroom Brawl when Mr Juicy had a short run as MCW heavyweight champ, but Rock interfered as I mentioned previously. A year later, Gambino had requested another shot at the MCW title and James accepted out of respect for Gambino.
This long awaited match has finally arrived. Juicy has become one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in Australia and gained more exposure through his Bullet Club membership. He brutalised Will Ospreay in February which resulted in him having a bruised face. However, it will take a lot to beat MCW’s ace ‘Super’ Dowie James, who has shown to be capable in taking down bigger men like Juicy and J-Rock. If this match is better than their first match, it will be an Australian MOTY candidate.
