World of Sport was an iconic wrestling program for British grappling fans. Originally running from 1965 until 1985, the brand finally made its return to network television on ITV. The show debuted as a two-hour special on New Year’s Eve. It was technically a one-off event, but fingers are crossed that this show was received well enough to warrant future tapings.
Jim Ross and Alex Shane are the announcers and they introduced the program. Kicking off the show is a title match to crown the first World of Sport Champion in over 30 years.
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Grado vs. Dave Mastiff (WOS Championship Match)
Grado has a huge following and keeps the silliness to a minimum here, making him the perfect babyface for this scenario. Dave Mastiff is a massive individual, built similar to a refrigerator. What makes the big heel even more despicable is that he’s accompanied by his two goons, Sha Samuels and Johnny Moss.
Near the end of the match, Moss distracted the referee so that Samuels had the opportunity to interfere, pushing Grado off the top rope to come crashing to the mat below. This sets up Mastiff for a running cannonball into the corner, followed by a successful pinfall for the win. Dave Mastiff makes history with this win.
Result: Dave Mastiff pinned Grado to become the World of Sport Champion. (***1/4)
Backstage interviewer Rachel spoke to Mr Beasley, the General Manager. Grado showed up to complain about the interference that screwed him out of the title. Dave Mastiff and his buddies also showed up, causing a raucous as security tried to keep everyone apart.
Shortly after, Mr Beasley reviewed the footage and decided that Dave Mastiff will need to defend his newly won title, later in the night against the winner of an upcoming Battle Royale.
C.J. Banks vs. Sam Bailey vs. Delicious Danny vs. Kenny Williams (Ladder Match/Battle Royale Qualifier)
This was the most exciting contest of the show, thanks to the fast pace maintained by all four athletes involved. The spot of the match here was when C.J. Banks sprinted up the rungs to lock his arms around Kenny Williams, giving him a suplex from half-way up the ladder.
Two ladders were propped up in the middle of the ring at the end of this match, with all four men climbing for the win. Williams was the last one remaining after the rest of his foes got shoved and stiff kicked to the mat below. He grabbed the red briefcase above him to win the bout.
Result: Kenny Williams retrieved the contract to earn himself a spot in the Number One Contender’s Battle Royale. (***1/2)
Alexis Rose vs. Viper
The original World of Sport apparently had female athletes, but surprisingly never featured a woman vs. woman matchup. This contest serves as the first women’s singles match in World of Sport history.
Viper, who came to the ring with an actual snake over her shoulders, was bigger and meaner than the crowd favourite, Rose. Viper maintained control throughout most of this contest, except for a brief comeback by Alexis at the end. Rose missed a Moonsault from the corner, setting Viper up for a running senton and subsequent pinfall for the win.
This was a simple match, but these two demonstrated that they have all the tools to be the foundation of a solid women’s division if given the chance.
Result: Viper defeated Alexa Rose by pinfall. (**1/4)
Rachel talked to Dave Mastiff backstage, who was curling a dumbbell. She asked him about having to defend his title later in the show and Dave walked away frustrated about his situation.
Rampage Brown & Ashton Smith vs. The Coffey Brothers (Battle Royale Qualifier)
There was plenty of good psychology and tag team fun shown by all four members. The crowd showed that they were fans of these guys before this night every time they hummed the Black Sabbath Ironman tune for Joe Coffey. Aston distracted Joe momentarily on the outside, setting him up for a Rampage Spinebuster.
This would’ve been it for him but brother Mark made it into the ring to stop the pinfall. Rampage held Joe for an open shot and Ashton went in for the Superkick, but he nailed his own partner instead. Smith showed a brilliant expression of distress when he realised he was on his own against the Coffeys. He then took a discus forearm then succumbed to the pin.
Result: The Coffey Brothers defeated Rampage Brown & Ashton Smith by pinfall, earning their spots in the Battle Royale. (***1/4)
Rachel was backstage again, finding Mastiff and his pals trying to intimidate Mr Beasley. The GM told Samuels and Moss that they’ll be in the Battle Royale, along with a mystery competitor.
El Ligero vs. Zach Gibson
The announcers called this a clash of styles, World of Sport vs. Lucha libre. These guys proved to be worthy representations of their styles. Many fans complained of the over-use of camera cuts and one of the biggest spots of this match suffered because of it.
While Gibson was on the outside and Ligero was on the apron, the Mexican Sensation ran and jumped towards his opponent, landing in a Powerbomb setup. What happened next will never be known because the camera cut to the crowd, cutting back when Ligero was laid on the ground.
What happened? Despite this moment, this turned out to be the best match of the show.
Ligero had several high spots that connected but Gibson kept working on an arm submission. Gibson finally got caught when Ligero hit a springboard swinging DDT to put him away.
Result: El Ligero defeated Zach Gibson by pinfall, earning his spot in the Number One Contender Battle Royale. (***3/4)
Backstage, Rachel spoke briefly with all of the Battle Royale wrestlers about their upcoming match.
Kenny Williams vs. El Ligero vs. Joe Coffey vs. Mark Coffey vs. Sha Samuels vs. Johnny Moss vs. Grado vs. Davey Boy Smith, Jr. (Number One Contenders Battle Royale)
Everyone started the match inside of the ring, except for the mystery competitor. The first elimination was Kenny Williams, who was military press slammed out of the ring by the massively strong Johnny Moss.
He earned a “You Killed Kenny” chant from the crowd. Ligero went out second, thrown out by Sha Samuels. The Coffeys teased that they’d start fighting each other, but this merely served as a chance to ignore Samuels and Moss.
Mastiff’s buddies eliminated Mark & Joe. It was at this point that the mystery competitor finally came to the ring. It was Davey Boy Smith, Jr.
Smith had a good run against Samuels & Moss. Davey Boy nailed Johnny with a running Powerslam and went for a pinfall, signalling the 1-2-3 with his fingers because pinfalls are useless in this match type. It was a good moment to show that he could still beat the biggest and strongest guy in the ring, which is good because Sha eliminated him moments later.
Grado, who had been laying in a corner for the majority of the match up until this point, found himself alone against Samuels & Moss. He eliminated Sha with a clothesline out of the ring after nailing him with a Grado cutter. Moss then got eliminated as well when Grado ducked his charge and pulled down the top rope with him.
The main event became a rematch of the opening bout.
Result: Grado won the Number One Contenders Battle Royale. (***1/4)
There was a post-match attack by Samuels & Moss against Grado. Davey Boy Smith, Jr. returned to the ring to help out the Battle Royale winner.
Dave Mastiff vs. Grado (WOS Championship)
The referee ejected Samuels & Moss from ringside before the match even started. The paramedics tried to stop Grado from re-entering the match, which set him up for a running chop block by Mastiff on the entrance ramp.
Mastiff continued to focus on the injured leg of Grado’s, diving off the steel steps onto his leg and utilising a tree of woe. Dave missed a shoulder attack into the corner, ramming himself into the ring post. This set him up for a Grado cutter, which was enough to put him away via pinfall.
Result: Grado defeated Dave Mastiff by pinfall to become the new World of Sport Champion. (**1/2)
Final Thoughts:
Overall this was a solid two hours of wrestling. The crowd was energetic and chanted for the good guys, while also jeering the bad guys. After the opening title match, the entire show (minus the female match) was filled with qualifiers for the Number One Contender Battle Royale. Everything had purpose which was great.
None of the matches were match of the year contenders or anything but it was all average to above average action. El Ligero vs. Zach Gibson was the best match of the night, so seek that out if you have the chance.
Grado was presented as a star and if the show continues on then he’ll be a fine franchise player to build on. With over a million viewers tuning into the broadcast, there just might be more World of Sport for 2017.
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