RWK: The Grand Coronation I

**The Grand Coronation I** (also written as **The Grand Coronation 1** and shortened to **GC1**) is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Royal Wrestling Kingdom. It took place on December 11th, 2016, at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. It was the first ever RWK event to be hosted and produced by the promotion. Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card.

In the main event, Nick defeated KJ Kidd by submission with a Cattle Mutilation hold he called the "Brooklyn Bridge." The event received overall positive reviews from fans and critics alike. The promotion claimed a attendance figure of around 15,000.

## Production

### **Background**

The Grand Coronation is RWK flagship event and is the main show that is held regularly each year. This is the first time to show has been held and is the first ever RWK event to be produced by the promotion for live broadcast. Tickets went on sale on August 16, 2016 and on October 31, 2016, traveling packages with accommodation were sold for the event, highlighting the importance of it to those who wanted to come. The official theme song for the event was Kingdom Come by Cold Driven.

## Event

### **Preliminary Matches**

The event opened with a quick run-down of the event's upcoming matches by the RWK broadcast team, James O'Connell and Vincent Baker, in order to hype the crowds watching by livestream for the event. Fireworks were also set off after the event's opening video package to hype the live crowds.

In the first match of the night, 'Big Daddy' Dick Fagget faced El Pecador in the opening round of the four-man tournament for the RWK European Championship. During the match, Pecador connected with a trifecta of superkicks to Fagget before hitting him with the 'Sinner's Whirlwind' and pinning him for the victory.

Next on in the night, Buster Gates faced Ricky Daniels in the opening round of the RWK European Championship tournament, just like the match before. During the match, Daniels had a cross-armbreaker called 'The Wrench' locked in on Buster Gates, but it was reversed into a huge lift-up powerbomb maneuver that crushed Daniels and allowed Gates to pin him for the victory.

After that, Al Blizzard faced Aaron Harrows in yet another European Championship tournament opening round match. During the match, after multiple kickouts throughout the match, Harrows was able to rake Blizzard's eyes and set him him up for the Oscar #1 headlock driver, winning the match.

Then, Vitor Mata faced Michael in the European Championship tournament. During the match, Michael tried to attack Mata's chest with a chair when the referee was down and out, but instead caught him in the kneecap with the object. Despite this, he was able to reverse Mata's signature move into a roll-up, grabbing the tights to ensure the victory and his progression in the tournament.

Following this, Archangel defeated Victor Sokolova. During the match, Archangel gained initial offense but Victor slipped through several times and managed to defend. Victor then got some offense in, including an attack to the outside on the bare concrete, and gained significant momentum that looked to put him ahead, but Archangel went for the arm several times and managed to gain momentum once again. Then, eventually, Archangel got Victor down, went to the top rope, hit the Transcending Agony, and pinned Victor for the win.

After this, in a qualifying match to fight for the RWK Crowned Jewel, Ryan Vendetta defeated Odin Anaxagaros. The match began with early offense from Vendetta. An armbar by Odin was then countered by Vendetta, who replied with a dropkick. Odin tried to go home but he was, once again, countered and sent to the outside. Hit into the barricade, Vendetta put Odin back into the ring. This was followed by domination by Vendetta, who hit several big moves then hit the 902, followed by the Mystical Space Typhoon Tornado DDT for the 1-2-3 victory.

### **Main Event**

In the main event of the night, Nick faced KJ Kidd in a qualification match for the opportunity to fight for the RWK Crown Jewel at RWK: Carnival Games 2017. The match started with a tie-up which was turned into a headlock by Kidd. Nick then put him in a front facelock that was called for a rope break, which was in turn broken at 4. This was followed by a bridging German suplex to a kneeling Nick, but Kidd got only a 2-count from this. Nick and Kidd then got back up; Nick countered to a possible suplex, hitting an elbow to Kidd's head. Bridging German suplex to Kidd by Nick, only got a 2-count. The two exchanged further punishment for the next several minutes, momentum shifting constantly between the two. Eventually, Nick was able to get Kidd into the Cattle Mutilation he calls 'Brooklyn Bridge', forcing Kidd to tap before he could reach the ropes.

This match was followed by a post-match staredown by Archangel, Ryan Vendetta and Nick, leading into their three-way match for the RWK Crown Jewel at Carnival Games.