By Harry Miller
NORTH Wrestling are set to kick off 2024 with a show in collaboration with the Mouth Of The Tyne Festival. Slamfest will take place in the Linskill Centre, North Shields on the Friday 5th of January.
The show will be headlined by NORTH Champion Leon Slater taking on international sensation, Speedball Mike Bailey. This match will be a first-time-ever occasion in a NORTH ring and will be for Slater’s NORTH Championship.
NORTH Owner/Promoter Andrew Bowers said: “Mike Bailey is one of the best wrestlers in the world and I know he will put on an amazing match. We’re really happy to have him come over here.”
NORTH Champion Leon Slater has had a meteoric rise, winning multiple championships around the country and recently signing for Impact Wrestling (soon to be TNA Wrestling) all whilst still being a teenager.
The Linskill Centre has the capacity to hold 300 fans with the majority being seated around the ring area. In previous years, this venue has hosted multiple family-friendly wrestling shows from promotions such as EPW American Wrestling.
Elsewhere on the card, NORTH’s NCL Cup winner Rhio will be facing UK wrestling icon, Emersyn Jayne. These two competitors have faced each other multiple times across the country but never in a NORTH ring. Jayne recently made her NORTH debut at the promotion’s most recent show ‘ALL CAPS’ whereas Rhio is a regular at NORTH with this upcoming bout set to be her 15th match.
Typically, NORTH Wrestling shows are only for those 18 and over due to the language used by the performers and the excess of graphic violence. This will not be the first time NORTH have put on a family-friendly show.
In July 2023, NORTH ‘Thunderstruck’ filled out the Walker Activity Dome with over 700 fans, making it the most successful show in the promotion’s history.
Andrew Bowers said: “After doing Thunderstruck we realised there are a whole generation of kids we can bring our style of wrestling to. We would love to add more family shows into the mix. Its nice to show that NORTH and the team at NORTH can do all types of wrestling, its a variety show at the end of the day.”
Another Impact Wrestling star that will be appearing is viral superstar Joe Hendry who will be making his 10th appearance at NORTH Wrestling. Hendry’s opponent for Slamfest will be the highly charismatic Gene Munny. This match is perfect for a family-friendly crowd as both competitors know how to entertain with antics and tomfoolery.
There will be tag-team action at Slamfest with former WWE superstar Rampage Brown and Will Kroos set to face Reece and Rogan. This will be a highly physical affair with the four competitors all known for hitting hard and often.
The fan-favourites Liam Slater and Rory Coyle (known collectively as the Post Modern Sick Boys) will be teaming with Natalie Sykes to do battle with the Landed Gentry (Benji and Zeo Knox) and Ace Matthews. This will be a classic tale of good vs evil but taking the role of the bad guys are two Conservative Party supporters and a motivational speaker.
As usual, Tom Campbell will be the show’s ring announcer. Campbell regularly features on BBC Radio Newcastle and has experience ring announcing for Impact Wrestling.
For the first time ever, NORTH commentator Veda Scott will be travelling over from the United States to do live commentary for Slamfest.
Andrew Bowers said: “It will be great to have Veda in Newcastle for a NORTH show, it’s something I’ve wanted to tick off for a while. They’re one of the best in the business and I hope we can have them back for Thunderstruck in July.”
There will be a rumble match on the card which is a multi-person match where competitors can only eliminate opponents by throwing them over the top rope and out of the ring until one wrestler is left standing. The winner of this match will be entered into the second ever NCL Cup which will be taking place on March 30th at the Anarchy Brew Co in Walkerville. Entrants to the rumble will be announced on NORTH’s social media pages on 24th December.
NORTH will be returning to the Walker Activity Dome on July 13th for the second iteration of Thunderstruck which will be another family-friendly show.
Tickets for Slamfest are still available here with adult tickets priced at £15 and under 12’s tickets at £10.
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