THUNDERSTRUCK Preview (1/2)//Sat 15th July

By Harry Miller

The best wrestlers on the planet at the biggest show of the year put on by one of the premier promotions in the country. It’s the perfect storm.

NORTH Ultraviolet Championship: Clint Margera (C) vs Joey Janela

It may not be Spring but there will be a lot of breaking in this match, whether that be furniture or bones.

Clint Margera is potentially the greatest deathmatch performer this country has ever produced. Unwavering consistency paired with an undying passion for violence makes the champion a perfect competitor for this type of match up.

Margera has taken extreme to new heights at NORTH, bludgeoning Rory Coyle with a concoction of metal to win the title and snatching a life from the Head Cat Gary Jay in his first defence. It would take someone really good to stand a chance against Clint Margera…or perhaps someone really bad.

The Bad Boy Joey Janela has conquered territories across the globe with his extreme hardcore antics resulting in collecting numerous championships in promotions such as GCW, DDT and WXW.

Now the Bad Boy has his sights on NORTH’s most dangerous man and the Ultraviolet Championship in a match that is set to break much more than the glass ceiling.

NORTH Tag Team Championship: Lykos Gym (C) vs Michael Oku and Robbie X vs Sunshine Machine

After a massive victory over the NORTH Champion and the number one contender, Lykos Gym are set for their first title defence against two of the top teams in the country.

Sunshine Machine are a team with more chemistry than Marie Curie’s laboratory and offence as innovative as Tony Hawk in the 1999 X Games. If you were to build an ideal tag team from scratch, they would end up being an imitation of Chuck Mambo and TK Cooper.

The radiant duo have just ended their record-breaking reign as PROGRESS Tag Team Champions, in which they defended successfully against Lykos Gym on two occasions.

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Andre 3000 and Big Boi. Micheal Oku and Robbie X. All duos that are amazing on their own but may be even better when together.

Micheal Oku is one the shining jewels in the country’s crown and it won’t be long until the Master Of The Half-Crab is known as one of the greatest performers on the globe. Oku comes into this match fresh off of defeating the Great-O-Khan to become the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion; adding the NORTH Tag Team Championships to his collection would cement the legacy of the OJMO.

Robbie X has been a stand-out performer on the British wrestling scene for almost two decades now and the King Of The Cruiserweights is only going to keep rising until his crown touches the clouds.

With their abilities combined, Oku and Robbie X could easily find themselves as the top British tag teams and winning the titles in this match would be the rocket that launches them to stardom in this division.

Lykos Gym have a humongous challenge on their hands but the nefarious collective have a knack for overcoming adversity. Having two teams to deal with won’t be foreign to Kid Lykos and Kid Lykos II as the furry family originally won the titles in a triple threat tag match.

The lack of disqualification in this bout will favour the champions as the delightfully devilish Gene Munny will no doubt find a way to stick his snout where it doesn’t belong.

Eve Bateman and Lana Austin vs Natalie Sykes and Session Moth Martina

This match has an (alleged) mob member, a sesh savant, an eccentric egomaniac and a performer packed with potential. What more could you ask for?

Eve Bateman is coming off winning her first NORTH match in a star-studded four-way and is looking to add another successful job to her resume.

The Crime Lord will be teaming with the current PROGRESS Women’s champion, Lana Austin who will be out for vengeance in this bout.

The last time Austin was in a NORTH ring, she was on the losing side to the debuting Natalie Sykes and this is the first encounter between the two since.

There is no doubt the team of the Queen of Mean and the future Don of NORTH is a dangerous duo but their opponents will not be easy targets.

Natalie Sykes suffered her first defeat against Millie McKenzie last time out, ending an impressive winning streak but this will be an opportunity to put the 21st Century Liability back on the fast lane to the top of the card. This will be the first time Sykes and Bateman have shared a ring which should prove an explosive encounter between the two prodigies.

If Sykes does end up back in the fast lane, I hope she doesn’t let her partner in the driver’s seat as I don’t think Martina has been below the legal alcohol limit this decade. Session Moth Martina is a globetrotting star, having competed in top promotions like AEW, ROH and Stardom just over the past few years.

At NORTH, Martina ranks fourth in all-time wins for a female competitor but a win at Thunderstruck could see the Session Moth fly into second place.

CAREER VS HAIR: Rory Coyle and Gangrel vs The Landed Gentry

Rory Coyle may be the greatest competitor in NORTH history: A title collection like no other, a win/loss record that can’t be matched, more appearances than anyone else in the company. Some promotions were built on four pillars but NORTH was forged on the foundation that Rory Coyle created. But now the Landed Gentry have set out to demolish this foundation and send the Sick Boy packing.

The Landed Gentry has been a thorn in the side of the Sick Boy ever since they cost him his Ultraviolet Championship. Benji and Knox scored a tag victory over Coyle thanks to the interference of Ace Matthews. The Gentry returned the favour at the next show, interfering on Matthew’s behalf to help him be victorious over Coyle.

For the first time in Coyle’s NORTH career, he has lost three matches in a row and if he loses a fourth, it will be his last match.

Outnumbered and defeated, Rory Coyle wanted one more match but this time, with his career on the line. To make the pot even sweeter, the Sick Boy coerced the Landed Gentry to put the luscious locks of Benji at risk. The only piece missing from the puzzle was who Coyle’s partner would be but we didn’t have to brood over the mystery for too long.

Gangrel is coming to NORTH to seep his fangs into a couple of Tories. What an amazing sentence. Rory Coyle could not have chosen a better partner to ensure his career does not die as Gangrel is literally an unkillable vampire. All the garlic in the world may not be enough to save Benji’s hair from ending the night on the floor of the Walker Dome.