Ch-ch-ch-changes. Life is full of change. Sometimes it’s beautiful. Sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s both or neither but it’s a part of everyday life.

My life is full of change, at the moment. I turned 30 recently which is apparently a big deal. It feels pretty normal right now but people do look at you differently when you’re 30. I was asked three times about when I would be “settling down” at a family event last week – fuck off, Margaret, you nosy bat.

I’ve also been promoted at work. Somebody decided it’d be a good idea to make me responsible for a whole team of people and people are hard work. It does mean I’ve got more ability to sod off at the weekend to go to wrestling though, which is ace.

My work is based in children’s mental health and this time of the year means a heavy focus on Y6-7 transition, one of the most important but undervalued changes we go through in life. Remember going from primary school to “big school”? It was horrible.

This bit of self-indulgence is just to reiterate that change is all around us and fittingly, True Grit’s Left Bank Lock-Up show had the potential to usher in a raft of changes to the promotion’s landscape.

That was apparent from the word go as the new Co-General Managers Bobby Cash and Ivy welcomed fans to the Left Bank prior to the showing going live on Triller. Well, Bobby welcomed the fans and Ivy had a go at Bobby.

These two bounce off each other well and we should be in store for plenty of one-upmanship, put-downs and shenanigans as the overarching Regime/battle for True Grit story goes on.

Cash and Ivy’s tit-for-tat exchanges bled into the first contest of the night as Adam Bolt (accompanied by that dastardly Jackie T) defended the True Grit Pride Championship against Tony Wright, with Bobby taking announcing duties for Tony before Ivy announced her “best friend” Adam Bolt.

Bolt straddles the line of being a villainous champion and an exciting in-ring talent incredibly well, in a time period where that is becoming near impossible as a lot of fans seem to want to be “in on the joke, wink wink” as far as pro wrestling goes.

While he still drags out plenty of “oohs and ahhs” from the crowd during his matches, Adam Bolt is still firmly a dickhead and gets battered with boos. This often comes from dipping into his big bag of skulduggery and this match was no different with Bolt’s personal security Jackie T involving himself right from the offset.

While both Bolt and Tony Wright are technically adept and carry a good level of finesse, this match showed a vicious side to both as they seemed to put an extra squeeze or two of sauce on their strikes.

After Tony Wright landed a massive Cheek to Cheek (top rope hip attack) that nearly took Bolt’s head off, the shenanigans ramped up tenfold.

Jackie T was caught red-handed trying to intervene as Wright took to the top rope, a tactic that had previously led to a number of Bolt’s title defences.

As Ref Sandy signalled for Jackie’s ejection from the ringside area, Tony landed a stiff superkick to Bolt which would’ve resulted in a new champion being crowned if it wasn’t for Jackie’s histrionics on the outside causing enough of a distraction for an eventual kick-out.

With the Pride Championship under the most significant threat Bolt had faced in his reign so far, he gave Wright a hairspray spritz to the eyes that would’ve made Vidal Sassoon cringe, rolling up Wright for the win.

In the aftermath Wright, who has been the victim of Bolt’s cheating on multiple occasions, demanded one more shot at the title.

Our co-GMs went back and forth with Bobby granting the match, Ivy adding the caveat that if Tony loses he can’t challenge for the Pride Championship again while Bolt is champ and Bobby coming right back by making the match a Ladder Match at the annual Pride Show on Leeds Pride Weekend!

As Ivy tried to add another stipulation, Adam stopped her from going any further before she could “make it worse”. Remember what I said about one-upmanship?

A seismic change in the promotion was brought to the fore as True Grit Traitor Joey Slade made his way to the ring to face off with his Hellbound crewmate Harley Harris.

After betraying Wesley Nsereko at Redemption and joining The Regime, resulting in the fan favourite being banished forever from True Grit, Slade had been tasked with proving his loyalty to The Regime by facing his friend.

With new ring gear that looked suspiciously like it had been picked out by Sash, Slade rejected Harley’s pleas to see sense and threw the Hellbound t-shirt that she’d presented him back at her.

Anyone that had hoped that Joey’s decision at Redemption was a regrettable moment of teenage angst was out of luck, as he laid into Harris, someone that the youngster has travelled up and down the UK with in recent years.

While there were brief moments of conflict in between the beatdown, with Slade staring at his hands or pulling back early on, they were soon laid to waste as he looked up to JC, the Regime leader and company owner, in his spot in the old church pulpit.

As the realisation dawned on Harris that she couldn’t break through to Joey, she fired back and looked to be getting the upper hand before Joey went down screaming in pain reaching for his shoulder with Harley shell-shocked by what she’d done to her friend.

It looks like Sash hasn’t just bought Slade some new trousers, he’s also started to introduce him to shithousery, with Slade faking the injury to open the doorway to victory and taking advantage of Harley’s concern.

It remains to be seen whether The Regime have more plans for Joey to “prove himself”going forward or whether a certain deathmatch specialist may be True Grit-bound to check-in on his stablemate.

As an aside, I’ve often credited with True Grit for truly going about making their shows and overall promotion inclusive without crowing about it, as other promotions do. This was an “intergender match” but at no point in the build up was it overly promoted as such. It was just a match between two wrestlers. Good stuff.

Before the first of two intervals, NashBoat defended the Tag Team titles against CrashBoat and Misery Business.

The major talking point coming into the match was if Joe Wade would turn up and compete alongside his partner Alan Kay after a number of issues between the pair, stemming from Alan accidentally eliminating Joe from the Rumble in January.

Well, he did turn up and did eventually compete, though Wade was slow to join Kay in the corner.

With all men present and ready to perform, we had The Emos of Misery Business vs. The Pop Punk kids of CrashBoat vs. erm…whatever the heck NashBoat are.

NashBoat are the only men who can get me involved in a Mexican Wave. That’s what they are.

The energy of CrashBoat and the antics of NashBoat are infectious, but Joe Wade was intent on souring the mood by being a moody Muay Thai SADBOY. He refused to tag AK into the match and then refused to join in a three-way chicken fight, shaking his head at all of the fun going on in the ring. Lighten up, dude.

While some will accuse NashBoat of failing upwards to claim the titles and we all love to have a laugh with them, we’re gradually seeing more of the wrestling acumen of both Ace Matthews and Wing Commander Nash come out as their reign takes shape.

Ace is technically adept and flashes a surprising amount of raw strength while Nash is the wily tactician of the duo. Yes, he gets scared going off the top rope and is often the butt of the jokes, but he can lull his opponents into a false sense of security as he did here when he knocked Kay into Wade before getting the pinfall.

This was the second time this year that Kay had knocked Wade off the apron with title implications in the balance.

Wade stormed off in a huff towards the doors while Kay tried to apologise, with the future of Misery Business hanging by a thread.

With CrashBoat not being a part of the final result, they made it clear they were still after the titles but showed respect to the champions, because they’re nice lads.

The Regime, however, are not nice lads. They are dicks and they ran down to lay a beating on the four nice lads.

As the boots rained in Alan Kay, who had walked up the entrance way, battled with himself. Technically, it had been NashBoat that had caused further dissension between him and Wade, while Misery Business have had a long-time rivalry with CrashBoat in True Grit. Plus, what did Alan Kay have to gain from taking on The Regime?

With Kay battling those thoughts, what he had to gain became clear, as the crowd chanted for Alan to do the right thing. Even if he didn’t have Joe Wade anymore, he still had the fans and Kay charged back to the ring.

Despite his efforts, Kay was outnumbered and he quickly fell to the canvas under the boots of The Regime.

Five of True Grit’s favourite tag team competitors were in need of a hero. He had to be strong, he had to be fast and he had to be fresh from the fight and he was exactly that, as Joe Wade came steaming back into the Left Bank to turn the tide and scatter The Regime.

Wade and Kay embraced and all was right in the world of Emos and SadBoys again.

Following the interval, Alexxis Falcon challenged Rhio for the True Grit Women’s Championship. At the previous month’s York show, the championship belt had gone missing.

To the surprise of nobody, it had managed to end up in the clutches of Ivy who accompanied Alexxis at ringside with the title over her shoulder, hellbent on winding Rhio up.

Despite being a former active member of the True Grit roster, in her role as co-GM nobody is allowed to lay a finger on Ivy, something she gleefully reminded Rhio of numerous times throughout this match.

If you’ve got a TrillerTV+ subscription and want to dive into True Grit, or squeeze an extra bit of value out of your monthly sub, this is the match from the show I’d recommend jumping on first.

On a night where months and even years of story were woven into every match, this is the one that had the most straightforward build-up for a first timer.

The belt mischief from Ivy aside, this was simply the champion defending against the #1 contender.

It was an absolute fucking banger, too.

Rhio is one of the best wrestlers in the UK. That’s the tweet (do people still do that?).

Either way, Rhio is a faultless performer who checks every box when it comes to what I want from a professional wrestler. Looks cool? Check. Looks like she could batter anyone in the room? Check. Has that intangible factor that makes you believe and care about her in equal measure? Check. Brings all that together in impactful, enthralling matches? CHECK.

Alexxis Falcon is on the way to that, as well. After all, she is the best thing to come out of Hull since Dean Windass.

The pair of them traded holds, power moves and signature attacks in a match that further emphasised Rhio’s dominance in the True Grit Women’s Division while also highlighting Falcon’s ability both in-ring and as an underhanded villain.

It feels like Rhio’s current run in the UK independent scene could come to an end at any time, so enjoy seeing her up close and personal at local shows while you can.

That thought made every nearfall in this contest land twice as hard, especially the ones that came at the crescendo of the match when Falcon clocked Rhio with the belt, which had been conveniently slid into the ring by Ivy. I think I’ve just done a training module on biased managing…I’ll send it over to you, Ivy.

Thankfully good prevailed, when Rhio tucked up Alexxis with a pinning combination to remain champion. It all seemed to be too good to be true when Ivy gladly handed over the belt, drawing Rhio’s attention long enough for Falcon to launch a blindside attack and run off with the title.

While Rhio and Alexxis Falcon’s rivalry has quickly come to the boil, the next match has simmered away for over a year.

We often talk about THE STORY when it comes to professional wrestling but it’s rare that one gets to touch on societal issues so openly.

HT Drake has haunted fan favourite Priscilla for months, claiming that the only reason they held the Pride Championship was to stay out of Drake’s way, because Priscilla is terrified of him.

Whenever they have crossed paths, even when Drake has openly embarrassed Priscilla, Priscilla has been unable to fight back.

That resulted in Ollie Burns, the person behind the Priscilla character, to upload an incredibly personal and revealing video addressing the situation, with a match between Ollie Burns and HT Drake set for Left Bank Lock-Up.

This wasn’t just a match between two wrestlers with a grudge against each other. This wasn’t even just about wrestling. This was about identity, fear, acceptance and hopefully for someone, vindication.

For the opening part of this match, it was HT Drake who could feel vindicated. Ollie Burns had turned up to the Left Bank almost unrecognisable – sporting a beard, wearing a singlet, knee pads and trainers – and was scared to fight.

After the initial lock-up, Ollie had frozen, giving Drake the opportunity to take the piss. Drake was throwing Ollie around with ease. It was uncomfortable to watch.

Throughout the match, elements of Priscilla bubbled to the surface and meshed with Ollie Burns. When Drake stamped down on Ollie’s hand, it looked like Priscilla was about to burst forth and exclaim that Drake had “broke my nail”. Instead, Ollie raised a middle finger.

Ollie’s defiance only angered Drake further. Rather than slapping Ollie about, Drake spat at, snapped and slammed them with increasing violence.

To further embarrass Ollie after some nasty backbreakers, Drake placed his foot across Ollie’s chest, thinking that enough damage had been done to secure the pinfall with minimal effort.

Prior to the match, Drake had got onto the microphone and said that nobody cared about Ollie. While he might have been right about many things in this rivalry, Drake was wrong about that.

Whether as the flamboyant “Queen of the Ring” or the stripped-back to the core Ollie Burns, people care greatly about the person who stood across the ring from HT Drake. That wrestler gets some of the best reactions in independent wrestling.

Ollie Burns came back with a flurry that was almost directly from the Priscilla playbook. Almost. Rather than delivering the 5 Slaps of Doom, Ollie balled up that right hand and delivered punch after punch to HT Drake’s jaw.

HT Drake might have been right. Maybe Priscilla was scared of him. Maybe Priscilla couldn’t beat him. It looked like Ollie Burns could though, as Ollie continued the attack, with the Left Bank rocking behind one of their favourites.

That was until that balled up right hand opened again. As Ollie and Priscilla, having battled between two identities throughout the match, finally dovetailed to deliver the final slap, they froze again. HT Drake was there for the taking, but something stopped that final slap from landing.

At a moment’s notice, Ollie Burns had gone from a lion hunting down it’s prey, to a deer in the headlights.

Ollie Burns, dumbfounded, rolled out of the ring and walked backstage to be counted out.

Whether it’s acceptance, identity or fear that held Ollie Burns back, only they know. For now, at least, HT Drake has been vindicated. I hope that Ollie or Priscilla is able to wipe that smile off his face soon.

It was a relief for the crowd, after a match that had been so thick with heavy connotations, that Sean Only and Billy O’Keefe didn’t leave anything up for debate at the start of their Last Man Standing contest.

There is not a lot worse in wrestling than when two people who are in a “blood feud”, a storied rivalry that spans moths or years, finally face off in a do-or-die contest and start the match with a lock-up or exchanging holds.

Sean Only and Billy O’Keefe’s rivalry stretches back to 2022 and has seen a number of personal attacks, mind games and assaults. Only has attacked True Grit staff, constantly targeted Billy in matches and put him through a table at the last York show.

So when these two fellas launched at each other before the bell had even rang and began to tear pieces out of each other, I let out a guttural roar of approval. That’s how you do it.

O’Keefe is one of the future stars of True Grit and this was his breakout match, on a big stage and he didn’t disappoint. I did take a great deal of joy out of seeing Sean Only wig him with a chair, though that’s nothing against Billy.

I just haven’t seen Sean Only swing a chair around since the old Tidal days at Stylus and it give me a fuzzy feeling inside – it was either that or the several pints of Left Bank lager.

O’Keefe repaid several favours in this match, first by slamming Only through the merch table then by doing his best Sean Only impression with a superkick and curbstomp before choking Only out with a rear-naked choke to ensure he was the Last Man Standing.

Billy then waved Merch Guy Stu into the ring to take his own slice of revenge, namely a chunk of Only’s hair after being on the receiving end of the Sean Only Barbershop Experience during the course of the feud.

In a fantastic bit of British Wrestling, the crowd were ushered outside for Bobby Cash and NashBoat to announce the raffle while the team from Fight Factory assembled the steel cage.

And oh boy, was that a steel cage. As we were let back into the venue, a sense of grandeur and an “OH SHIT” factor definitely washed over the crowd.

This was it. The main event of the evening. Brady Phillips vs. Kemper inside a steel cage. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide for Brady, who had narrowly held onto his title, almost always through nefarious means, for the past 426 days.

Whether by hook or by crook, Riley Nova or Regime interference, Brady Phillips was the True Grit Heavyweight Champion but this time, four sides of steel separated Brady from his mates. He only had Kemper for company and Kemper’s gonna kill ya.

As Kemper, the towering destroyer of True Grit, dominated the early proceedings, a nagging thought clawed at the back of my head.

It was something Paul had mentioned on the Work The Left Side pod preview for the show. One of his boys had picked Brady to win this match because he’d never seen Brady lose.

Then when Brady started to showcase his technical prowess, because despite being a cheating wanker Brady Phillips is a fantastic wrestler, that nagging thought got louder and more intrusive.

When Brady kicked out at Referee Scott as he was being chokeslammed, letting Kemper get the visual three count, it started to play my skull like a bongo drum.

When Brady low blowed Kemper and Ref Scott was taken out, meaning the refereeing team had to open the cage door to get another official in there and Riley Nova leapt into the ring and The Regime came charging in to attack Kemper; that thought became my reality.

Despite Bobby Cash rounding up the troops, CrashBoat and NashBoat coming from the back to try and even the odds, The Regime controlled the ring, chaining up Kemper and preventing the good guys from scaling the cage.

Brady Phillips does not lose in True Grit. Not even a gigantic monster, a steel cage or “good ol’ wrestling logic” could change that.

Even when Vusyk’s music hit, getting the True Grit faithful off their feet, and the Czech maniac tore off the lock to signify a proper old school goodie vs. baddie tear up in the ring, I didn’t see the night ending how we all wanted it to. I was even scared Vusyk was going to turn his back on the fans for a second until he slammed the cage door into Brady’s face.

With everyone cleared out from the ring and Kemper and Brady going back and forth on the cage, my eyes were going back and forth from the entrance. I was still convinced something was going to save Brady.

It was only when Kemper sent Phillips to the canvas, threw his leg over the top of the cage and began climbing down did that nagging thought begin to quiet, before shattering into pieces when Kemper’s feet hit the floor.

Brady Phillips does lose in True Grit. Brady Phillips lost and Kemper is THE NEW TRUE GRIT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

This is what I want from pro wrestling and this is why I like going to True Grit. They make your time spent with them worthwhile. Your time matters to them. Do you get the results you want every month? No, but the results matter and your time is valued.

Every time Brady Phillips escaped with the championship made the moment Kemper’s feet touched the floor of the Left Bank matter ten times more than if he’d beaten him at the first time of asking.

Brady screwing over Vusyk made him being the one that finally turned the tide matter ten times more than if he was just the popular guy on the roster.

His actions aside, Brady Phillips has been an outstanding champion for True Grit. He’s an outstanding professional wrestler and the fact that he isn’t being used by the other top-level UK promotions regularly is a crime.

Knowing that Brady Phillips is on a card makes me feel comfortable paying for a ticket because I know that no matter what else goes on, I’m going to see a Brady Phillips match and that means I’m getting my moneys worth.

After 426 days there are changes afoot in True Grit Wrestling. Kemper is the Heavyweight Champion. It wouldn’t be a shock if he eclipses Brady’s reign.

If it took this long to beat Brady, who the fuck is going to beat Kemper?

Image Credit: True Grit Wrestling, @Elliottt93