Welcome back to Paradigm and to more UWFI action. Tonight was boasting something different as we got four hard-hitting UWFI fights and a street fight to crown another Brass Knuckles champion. The UWFI contingent would bring us, the UWFI debut of Arthur McArthur against The Swinger Ryan Clark, Phoenix Kid scrapping with Casey Carrington IV, The Savage Gentleman Victor Benjamin vs Steve Peña, and a UWFI tag team spectacular as Jordan Blade and Max ZERO take on E.M.S. The main event slot was left wide open for the street fight as Brutus Dylan and Ron Mathis looked to tear each other apart for that title. Let’s get into the action… right after a quick rundown of the rules.

As it’s UWFI, we’re not just wrestling. There’s a specific set of rules to follow. Matches can be won by submission, knockout, ref stoppage, or, by draining your opponent of points. How do you do that exactly? Well, rope breaks, suplexes with intent to KO, and knockdowns will all drain various amounts of points. You run out of your 15 allotted points; you lose. Points can also be lost for intentionally breaking the code of conduct so fight clean or pay the price. Fights are meant to be short, sweet, and as deadly as possible. Let’s see who benefitted today, shall we?

Ryan Clark defeated Arthur McArthur via Ankle Lock

We opened tonight’s show with a new debut. The Strongest Man in all the land was making his contender’s series debut and would be bringing the strongman style to the unique rule-set. His first opponent was no stranger to the UWFI division, the Swinger Ryan Clark. We had a clash of styles to enjoy. Would McArthur be able to out-muscle the UWFI debutant curse and pick up the win? Alas, he could not. No matter how he swatted down or threw around the Swinger, Clark found a way back up and get battling on. McArthur landed some massive shots and slams that are rarely seen under the rule-set but Clark knocked him loopy with a half-and-half before sealing the deal with an Ankle Lock. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen McArthur tap before so this was not just a big win for Clark but a massive statement to make by tapping out the strongman. The Swinger is a bonafide super middleweight and he wants all the super middleweights out there so he can line them up and knock them down. All whilst enjoying a good Martini.

Phoenix Kidd defeated Casey Carrington IV via Dragon Sleeper

Up next was another new debut getting a harsh smack in the face from a UWFI regular. Casey Carrington IV, the young trendsetter was entering the UWFI Thunderdome and he didn’t care if you liked him for it or not. He was in there with Cruiser Brody Phoenix Kidd so things were going to get heavy. It most certainly did. Kidd wanted a fight and Carrington gave it to them. This was no holds barred fighting with a lot of stiff shots and head drops. Carrington seemed to have Kidd rocked on multiple occasions but could just never find the answer to make that permanent. Kidd just kept swinging and kneeing until Carrington was trapped on the mat under the barrage and quickly tapped him out with a Dragon Sleeper. It was quick, brutal, and efficient with Kidd showing a rare sign of respect when the smoke cleared. Carrington was way too pissed to accept it but eh, Kidd tried. The segment was ended by Kidd staking a claim to the Super Middleweight Title and promising that he would be the next champion. Phoenix Kidd has become one of the new gatekeepers of the UWFI division and just keeps getting better the more time passes. No one seems to have an answer for Cruiser Brody right now.

Victor Benjamin defeated Steve Pena via Tornado Kick KO

The Savage Gentleman was about to get a taste of the Bronx as Victor Benjamin continued his UWFI run with a bout against the hard-hitting Steve Peña. We had two scary good hybrid grapplers about to duke it out here. This was definitely one of the tougher ones to predict as either guy could feasibly walk out the winner. Bloody hell, this one was a war. Both guys fought like hell as a respectful beginning gave way to a back-and-forth battle of hard shots and grappling. These two nearly knocked each other out and nearly out-grappled each other throughout the runtime until Benjamin could finally get the ball rolling with some sick spin kicks and a Tornado Kick right to the back of the head. Peña was out after that but he’d definitely made Benjamin work for the win, putting the Savage Gentleman through his paces and showing that anything he could do, he could match. This was probably my favourite UWFI fight of the night. Benjamin wants Dustin Leonard next. There’s a loss to avenge and another head to kick off.

E.M.S (BEEF & Austin Connelly) defeated Jordan Blade & Max ZERO via Mad Dog Choke

Time for some tag action. E.M.S were reuniting for a special ass-kicking on the Super Middleweight Champion Jordan Blade and the handsome killer Himbo himself, Max ZERO. BEEF and Connelly are absolute monsters in the ring so it was going to be interesting to see how Blade and ZERO navigated this one. Even BEEF was having a hard time corralling the Mad Dog and they were partners. This was quite the fight. The Mad Dog was the star of the show here as he took out both ZERO and Blade whenever he was in the ring whilst BEEF was there to keep the wheels running. ZERO and Blade got big moments too, Blade especially shocked everyone with a borderline knockout blow on BEEF. Everyone got their time in the sun and Connelly got another massive win on his run of dominance. This time, he bested Jordan Blade, putting the Ankle Breaker to sleep with a choke. That has to shoot him up the ranks for title contention now, though I’m not sure the Mad Dog craves titles… I think it just wants to hurt Blade for beating him. BEEF raised a solid point too, with a UWFI tag division, he wants tag belts and E.M.S will hurt anyone to get them. Oh, and he still wants Lord Crewe. BEEF ain’t ever forgetting about Lord Crewe.

Brass Knuckles Street Fight: Ron Mathis (w/Officially licensed manager Bruce Grey) defeated Brutus Dylan (w/Ben Shearin) via White Trash Elbow Drop

Last but not least, the main event. The World Brass Knuckles Title was currently vacant so that meant we needed to crown a new champion. Someone who could run into the fire against Bobby Beverly when his rematch came up. The two chosen to fight over the belt were Ron Mathis the trashy former champion and Brutus Dylan, the Mastodon of the Ben Shearin Brand. This was going to be a street fight where victory could come via pinfall, submission or surrender. Someone was walking out with some new gold tonight. It was Ronnie Hardcore getting the W tonight as he played survivalist against Dylan. It’s rare that Mathis is the smaller man in a match but he found himself on the receiving end of a lot of horrible shots and hardcore horror shows. He had to pick his moments to wound Dylan and started working an arm. That took away some of Dylan’s power and left him open to the power plays of Mathis. Alongside their conflict, we had Ben Shearin and Bruce Grey interjecting themselves into the action wherever they could. It all made for a fun main event that was better to watch than write. I love hardcore matches and this had a nice balancing of brawling and plunder. Now that Mathis has that title back, he will be going against Beverly in an Ultraviolent Ironman match. Those two have had some horrifying wars so much, who knows what’ll happen when they get 60-minutes?

Thanks for tuning into #UWFiContenders! Be sure and let us know what you thought of the show…

We're back next week on @indiewrestling with another STACKED episode featuring a Heavy Hitters Title eliminator between @mdcon420 and @Jackson_Stone31 plus tag team action & more! pic.twitter.com/mHnUx0Dq3Z

— Paradigm Pro Wrestling (@ParadigmProWres) May 26, 2022

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