It’s always very interesting seeing people mix up opinion with fact, especially in an opinion driven subject such as wrestling. The exacerbation of the internet, the ability to be able to say any rubbish without any form of fact checking makes the whole thing even more confusing.

Just so we are on the same page:

Opinion:

1. A belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty

2. A personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

Fact:

1. Something that actually exists; reality; truth.

2. Something known to exist or to have happened.

3. A truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true.

In short a fact is something that can be measurable and recorded, where as an opinion is something that is concluded from the digestion of facts.

Most people swim in a pot of bullshit when it comes to wrestling, some add more ingredients to it and some stir the pot for their own amusement.

As a wrestling promoter, I have to sift through the bull to find the opinions and the hard facts that really matter to my business and it is a tough job, as a pro wrestler I listen to opinions given by almost everyone concerned with wrestling, wrestlers, smart fans and casual fans alike.

For example, there have been many occasions where wrestlers have said to me “You should employ blah blah, they are really good!”. I go and find them out on Youtube and find their match riddled with mistakes and absolutely no story whatsoever in the match, just a load of flips and nonsense that will probably end their career earlier than it should. Basically, someone I wouldn’t have on my shows.

So why would our opinions differ? A word called cognitive dissonance, the human being’s ability to see no fault in themselves. I can almost guarantee that they or a close friend of theirs has wrestled that person and felt, in their opinion, that they have had a good match and therefore because they felt good about it, the feeling has transferred to the opponent’s ability, whilst, from my less emotionally driven perspective, I’ve looked at the wrestler from a set point of view, which is “Will this wrestler add anything to my company?” and found the guy wanting from my set criteria.

Then there are the facts, they were trained by blah blah, they had a one day session with blah blah, they’ve wrestled for blah blah and they’ve wrestled against blah blah. Because of that, they have to be good!

My response? Just because you’ve been trained by blah blah doesn’t make you blah blah, just because you’ve wrestled for another promotion doesn’t give you justification to wrestle for mine and once again, wrestling blah blah just shows testament to the professionality of blah blah for being able to wrestle you, not your ability to wrestle them.

Oh, and I nearly forgot the classic “fact”, I’ve been wrestling for X amount of years, so that automatically makes me good. No, the fact is you’ve been wrestling for a long time, whether you are good at wrestling because of it is a matter of opinion.

The strange part is that this sort of “These facts make me good” attitude is completely opposed to what really makes a wrestler, the ability to entertain fans, which is what I, as a promoter, look for in a wrestler.

Here’s a couple of facts:

1. People pay good money to see a wrestling show.

2. If they don’t like what they see, they won’t come back again.

So the simple opinion to draw from this is making sure that people who come to see your shows feel entertained. Hence, all the stuff that wrestlers have measured themselves on previously is only part of the puzzle. 13 years wrestling makes no difference if the tumbleweed is rolling around the audience.

Here’s another couple of facts:

1. A UK based company is registered with Companies House and is given a distinct numerical number to define them.

2. Any company offering goods or services need to display their company number on their website by law.

Now, I challenge you to look through all the websites you know that have a wrestling promotion on them and see which ones are legitimate companies.

It’s another “fact” that by using the term promotion or federation, it legitimises something as a business. That’s bollocks by the way. It’s really some guy who wants to play at wrestling and is sticking all the money in his back pocket.

If you want an answer to why UK wrestling is so poor, one of the reasons has been given above, because anyone can do it and anyone does.

Before I was asked to become a promoter, I was doing some work for Wrestling 101 with a wrestling-savvy fan named Mitchell and we were invited to come see a brand new promotion, we got to interview and talk with a few famous wrestlers and it was a neat time. However, the one thing that struck me was the fact that the promoter’s assistant proudly claimed that they had paid for the flights (yup), accommodation (fine) and also paid the wrestlers in advance…. WHAT NOW????

I looked at Mitchell and he looked at me and we had already known what was going to happen on the night. Most of the wrestlers just called it in, hell, why not? They got paid, so it’s not like the promoter had any grounds with which to control them.

That promotion was registered as a company, so I’m certainly not letting myself off the hook by saying just because you’re registered and pay your tax, you’re actually good.

Funnily enough, it wasn’t until I was promoting that I heard a real life example, where a fairly famous British performer was asked to follow a storyline, he refused to do it and did his own thing. The promoter still paid him, basically because he was scared of the consequences of not paying. When a wrestler has more stroke than the promoter, then you know there is a problem.

I will be the first to say I haven’t seen it all, because wrestling is like the universe, ever expanding and ever changing, so you cannot pin it down to any real fixed laws.

However, one thing that will always exist in British wrestling is ego, it makes me laugh, you see, I know from experience as a pro musician that ego is the reason you get up in front of an audience and the reason you try to be the best you can be. Sooner or later ego gives way to confidence, in the end you know you are good at what you do, so you approach it in a very matter of factly way.

Wrestling egos in Britain amuse me, because people always try to circumnavigate the “try to be the best you can be” part and skip to the top of the bill.

Let’s compare to the US, professional wrestlers are exactly that, they work entirely as a wrestler, hence, their whole lifestyle is defined by their success, they will be the best they can be, lie, cheat and steal their way to the top because simply they make more money at the top of the bill and therefore will have more money to feed them and their families.

UK wrestlers are mostly semi-pro, they support their lifestyle with a paid job, they don’t need to be at the top because usually wrestlers are paid the same amount of money by the promoter, unless they are someone who will draw and they will be paid more. There’s no desperation or risk of starvation with the lack of work and there is no need to try to politic your way to get to the top or the belt. Wrestling in the UK should be about the love of doing the job, so why are so many wrestlers scrambling to get to the top of something that, in effect is meaningless apart from to satisfy one’s ego?

I take great offence to someone saying that they should not job to so and so, that, I think, lacks any form of professionality and gives way to the ego of the individual wrestler, some use the excuse of character, I think it’s a lack of character in the individual.

Wrestling is about telling a story, it’s not about who can politic the events to make themselves look better.

Another classic is “Well, who else is there [apart from myself] to be able to do the job? I am the most experienced/celebrated/loved wrestler on the roster. It’s just common sense to make me win.”

My answer to that is that if you’re constantly on top, there will never be anyone else will there? If a promoter is not willing to take a few risks here and there, then he will not progress, people complain about Vince constantly shifting his focus, but he doesn’t want to make things static, British fans are a hell of a lot more fickle than US fans, if you keep things the same way constantly, then they will tire of it very quickly.

Of course, in the end, if you stand in the way of the ego, they’ll say they’ve had enough and do their own thing, because, as said before anyone can be a wrestler and anyone can put on a show, hence why we have a surplus of wrestling companies in Britain, all claiming they are the Number 1 promotion, when really it’s the promoter promoting himself and a load of other people who just happen to be on on the night as well.

Then there are the wrestlers who have been told in training that they need to work harder before getting on shows and thinking “Sod this” and go off to wrestle for people for free because promoters get a free act for their show that really stars them and they don’t really care about the rest of it anyway.

So are there any positives? Yes, there are the wrestlers who are willing to learn, who realise that they need guidance, are willing to listen and not just hang around with the elite crowd and talk their way onto shows.

There is also something very liberating running a legitimate business, it allows you to explain in proper terms to people why you have made the decisions you have, it allows you to straight talk to people. Simply put, I have let every one of my wrestlers know that their spot isn’t safe and competition for places on a show makes for better performances. It’s not a personal decision, it’s a financial one. I’ve learned never to be personal in business and promoting, someone wants to politic in my locker room, they will find themselves out of the door very quickly. I tolerate none of the shit that goes on behind the scenes.

Of course, someone with a little bit of guile would respond with “Yes, but aren’t you just like all the other promoters, vying for a little bit of power?” I’d agree, except I was asked to run the promotion, I was given the task being the only one with the finances to support growing a company. I’ve had to deal with a lot of unfair crap during that time and strangely, it’s just made me a stronger person and a hell of a lot more confident that my opinion matters, only in my little world of course!

Whatever I write here, someone is going to have thought of a counter argument for it and it is up to you how you take on the information brought here. Wrestling is a sea of opinions and in the end the only one that matters is yours, that’s cognitive dissonance for you!

There’s a saying in wrestling.

The person who says that wrestling is fake knows nothing about wrestling at all.

Say fake to people like Chris Benoit whose “fake” concussions turned him insane, say fake to Sid whose leg broke in half after the merest of falls, say fake to every single wrestler who has been through agony just to entertain people.

Critics of wrestling make me sick to my stomach, who approves you? You who have never felt the pain, or has had to go through any sort of agnony to decide that it is enough to make you an expert!

You watch us, you tell us how good you think we are and you don’t have the balls to go through what we have gone through, just for the approval of people like you.

You make me sick.

let’s get one thing straight, wrestling can be predetermined, wrestling can have a fixed outcome, but do not insult the time that has been spent in entertaining you as fake.

For those that have never experienced wrestling past the WWE and Smackdown vs Raw… Wrestling hurts, Wrestling demands and Wrestling will take every ounce of life from you.

Whatever anyone tells you Wrestling will never, ever be fake.

So imagine my amusement when someone opens their “look at me, don’t I know all about wrestling” with the line “Wrestling is fake, I hope I haven’t scared anyone away with that shocking revelation” tells me two things, one, the person doesn’t know anything about wrestling, the second, the person doesn’t have the respect to see wrestling for what it is!!

And this abuse of what wrestling is all about tends to sum up the shit that some poor bastard who earns from nothing to thirty quid has to put up with.

And that is what you are said abuser, nothing but an ungrateful abuser of what is an art, like a drug addict criticising your Heroine. The drug is there and you are addicted, else why turn up each time to criticise.

You can’t stand to be without us, you cannot stand to be apart from us and you cannot stand to be not one of us.

So you hate us and criticise us.

And this is the description of a Smark, a resenter of wrestling.

Being a professional wrestler can be such an enjoyable experience, yet, sometimes such a frustrating one.

There is that old school opinion that wrestling is built from respect and that your time and your actions deserve the opportunities that you get. I know my place in the scheme of things, I have my rung on the ladder, but regardless, when it comes to the show, it is just as valuable as those who rest on the rungs above me and I appreciate that there are people below me who contribute to a show just as much.

The frustration lies in the false buddy buddy attitude of just getting on. I have seen people being false just for exposure and this culture is getting more popular in the UK Scene. It worries me that if you are someone’s mate you’ll get more exposure than someone who works damn hard for their reputation.

The easiest route though is TV exposure, there are so many wrestlers who crave it. Even I must admit the appeal of watching yourself wrestle but it is becoming the wrong goal I feel, the wrestler’s first duty is to entertain the audience and, as I have heard criticisms of some of the TV based wrestling companies, the focus can be lost from the live audience to the TV audience.

Remember that the UK Scene is predominantly small promotions working small regions, so national coverage is a little bit of overkill. No, really, why the hell would someone from Portsmouth visit a promotion in Liverpool?

Which brings the mystery of the draw, what exactly makes a draw? A famous person? Someone from TV? Let me ask you, unless they are from popular wrestling culture (i.e. WWE) would your average wrestling punter know or care about your wrestling channel champion?

The other question is would a TV watcher get off his/her butt for anything but a TV program?

1PW has proved in the past that if you have enough draws you’ll pull the interest of a good base of smark, TV fan and wrestling fan to make a reputation for yourself, but we have all learnt from 1PW that draws cost more money than is reasonable to run a promotion.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of good draws are classic workers, Johnny Storm for instance knows how to entertain an audience and help his fellow worker at the same time, I should know, I have worked with him and alongside him enough to pick up his ethics to a show. Good draws can inspire a locker room to put on the best show they can and that is what you need to bring up an audience watching your show live.

Brandon Thomas summed it up succinctly to me once, he said “The worst thing is with a really good show is that video [or TV] can never show the atmosphere of a show, there is always something missing.”

And you know what, he is right!

I feel sorry for our TV watching UK Scene fans, they are missing out on the integral part of what makes UK wrestling so great, the atmosphere.

You know, when I came back from Spain, a few things dawned on me.

The first being how stuck up our own arses we Brits are. Bear with me on this, I am going somewhere with this.

You see, as a nation we have always had pride in our acheivements, we beat the Germans in the war, they built superior cars to us, but at least we beat them in Munich all those years ago.

We make people famous, only to turn on them and knock them down a peg or two.

We are the violent scum of Europe, yet we always look down upon our neighbours across the channel.

We as English are a sorry state, we think we are so much better than everyone else when in fact we are no better than pigs vying for scraps.

We’re still stuck in a class system that makes us envy those that have more than us and detest those who want what we have. We call ourselves a society when in fact we are spoilt little children crying out for what we want.

And it is the pure reason why British wrestling will never get off the ground, take a look at American audiences, they can suspend belief, they can genuinely support someone without turning on them when “they get a bit too big for their boots”. We Brits see suspicion and backstabbing as a social norm.

Wrestling promotions will think they are better than other wrestling promotions, there is never anything good to be said about anything but what they know.

This is why we are doomed, we refuse to have fun because we think we are better than everyone else. I’ll point a little known fact out, that there are very, very few wrestlers out there that should be wrestling. Tv blinds people to poor technique, wrong manouevers and plain shit apery.

let’s face it, half the British roster couldn’t wrestle its way out of a paper bag, but they spend hald of their time wrestling and poisoning people’s view of British wrestlers.

They are the first to talk about egos, they demand wages above their skill and they are deluded about their abilities.

It’s a class system,they will look down on you and attack everything else because they want to be famous.

Ah yes, the celebrity status, the REAL reason why there are so many wrestlers in Britain. How many slut themselves out for a bit of exposure? How many of them have bothered to be in the wrestling gym honing their skills? How can they when they are chasing the limelight?

You know who you are, so read this… quit wrestling shitape, you don’t deserve to step into a ring. You know you know nothing about wrestling, so stop trying to bullshit your way through a roster.

Maybe then we can do something with this scene.

Howdo,

Your friendly neighbourhood Saz here, coming to you live from Tarragona, that would be on the South coast of Spain for all you non geography types.

Yup, ole Sazza is sitting here supping Cevesa enjoying the sand, sea, sun, sangria and senoritas!

So what on earth could I write that’s UK Scene wrestling related?

Well, as I have had time to think about things and matters, I felt a little reflection over the past few months would be wise, so once I did that I noticed that, within certain camps, an amount of arrogance is beginning to set in with some of the “more established” wrestling companies.

From the stories I have been told from my friends who have been in the business a lot longer than me have, there have been many times when professional wrestling in Britain has been in a golden period. However, as quickly as they come, they go.

There is another saying in the business “Be careful of who you step on when climbing the ladder to success, because they will be there on the way back down again.” In short, don’t be a pretentious asshole or you will make things pretty bad for yourself when the glory is taken away.

The same applies for conduct, if a wrestler is known to work for a particular company, they are expected to tow the party line, simply because a bad word, a comment will reflect on the company as a whole and I will make this very clear, no wrestler is bigger than any company, that’s ANY company.

The same mistakes always seem to happen though, I hear on the inside of wrestlers who’ve pushed things too far, categorical mistakes made by promoters and more evidence for the Old School wrestlers to look at their heritage and shake their heads sadly at what the business has become.

I was even witness to one occasion as well, a wrestler took it upon himself to challenge the champion under the pretence of wanting a photograph with him, I won’t go into details, but suffice to say, that wrestler found local work dried up very, very quickly.

Then there is the new journeyman phenomenon, which, I will state for the record is keeping the British Wrestling scene alive in times of troubled American wrestling programming. To explain, a journeyman is a wrestler who will willingly work for any company as long as expenses have been paid and a little (or a lot) of money exchanges hands for their brand of expertise. However, as my inbox swells with applications for work every day, there seems to be an influx of new wrestlers who are out there to gain experience.

Not a problem, but they need to actually be good first, no one should be wrestling for free and if they are it’s usually because they need the experience, the worse thing is, greedy promoters are willing to take use of these free people and stick them in half arsed matches that serve no purpose as to fill a card and sit back and count the money whilst British wrestling fans get turned off wrestling by two greens fumbling through a match trying to do as many spots to make them look as good as possible.

Whenever a promotion shows the audience a new wrestler, especially if they are new to the business, the company is taking a risk on the individual and should make 100% sure that the new guy is going to learn from their experience in the ring, I mean, if you have two new kids facing each other, what are they going to learn? Absolutely nothing.

Promoters are the keepers of British wrestling’s reputation and you can understand why the old schoolers tend to be hypercritical of new promotions popping up here and there. The problem is that it is too easy to start a promotion up, bring in a load of wrestlers looking for work and willing to work for free, get an old boxing ring, that’ll do and a mate’s dad’s club as a venue and you’re now your own promotion, helll bent on beating Vinny Mac at his game.

New wrestlers should spend time with their training schools, working their way onto the circuits instead of doing 5 minutes worth of training and then declaring themselves professional, have patience, your time will come!

So back to the arrogance. It is easy to start up a promotion, it is easy to keep it running on minimum overheads, or if you have a little bit of money you can pay some of the bigger names of the UK Scene to wrestle for you, then you can get on TV and once you’re on TV, you are the only thing that matters!!!

I remember when wrestling used to entertain the audience and not just the wrestlers and promoters who perform.

I sit here and envision some of the things I have seen in wrestling that make me want to pack my bags and leave it behind, hell, I can say I am not the best wrestler in the world but I know that the person who pays to see me is the most important person in that room.

Anyway, I need another beer… “Oh Senorita!”

Saz

I mentioned in the UK scene that I think that British wrestling is beginning to carve out a niche of its own, separate to the direct influence of the Americans.

There will always be influence of course, that can’t be denied a good idea that works should always be used and the great thing about the history of the WWE is that it is full of good ideas that captivate an audience or create new role models for our younger generation.

As a promoter, I look for the next thing to captivate my audience. I run a business and if something can bring bums to the seats then I will exploit it. If you read my earlier tenets you will see an idealistic view of the world of pro wrestling, sometimes I was right and sometimes I was wrong.

I have learned a lot in the 4 years I have been wrestling, coming up to my 5th year and I still have a lot to learn.

My company’s history has been steeped in controversy, I’ve heard all the stories from all the parties involved and I came to a decision. That the past is in the past and now it’s time to stride forth with a new product and create a new history.

Growing up from the ashes of the former self is a hard thing to do, fighting forces and opinions that do not reflect what the company is anymore and it’s a fight worth fighting, it’s time to focus on the important thing, making money whilst entertaining people.

The best thing about wrestling in the Midlands now is the end to the animosity of the past. I won’t go into the reasons but about a year ago, wrestling in the Midlands was factional, people aligned themselves to one promotion and arguments ensued about who was the best, I walked into wrestling under this banner and I have to admit, I was drawn in as well, making the classic mistake of believing what I was told instead of working things out for myself.

But then again we are only human and we are prone to make mistakes, in fact, if we never made a mistake, we would learn nothing.

It’s encouraging to see more and more people use the UK Scene forums, no, I’m not going to harp on about the differences between it and the US scene, why it doesn’t seem to be as popular as there isn’t really much point.

We know UK wrestling is always going to play second fiddle to the US due to the grandiose nature of the American ideal. Everything is bigger, louder, more vivacious and we as the British people are reserved, modest and withdrawn. A friend from the US looked at some of the UK video montages once and wondered what the hell was wrong with the audience.

It seems in wrestling the audience is much more impressed with less, we Brits love to criticise instead of doing what we loved to do as kids, which is watch wrestling. Yup, in Britain, wrestling is the domain of the family, dominated by the want of the kid.

If you honestly think you’re ever going to set up your own ECW then you are sorely mistaken. Many companies have come and gone, some have spent big and failed, some made measurable headway but then lost its way. Our current list of boys at the top have accusations of daddies’ little rich kids spending their pocket money on making their own dream WWE competitor to self worshipping ego maniacs who will bankrupt a company and tarnish the already sordid reputation of British wrestling.

They got the money, so why are they not now the talk of every county?

Because, in general, the British public do not give a shit about wrestling.

Kids, drunks and geeks, that’s all you get as an audience, so pick one and make your show viable for them to watch, but lose the dream of running the country, no one cares that much for wrestling to make it mainstay.

Why? The word “fake”

Yes, old fireball himself Vinny Mac’s real legacy was to reveal to the world the “pre-determined outcome”, to avoid paying sports tax!!!

It was a tax dodge.

We now have the “smart” marks pretending they know everything about the business and doing a “santa clause don’t exist” to the rest of the populace.

I mean for God’s sake, why do wrestlers bother?

I’ll tell you why, because we get a thrill out of hearing the audience react to us, hey fake, pre-determined outcome, violent soap opera, I don’t care, I will still put my body on the line to entertain you the gentle fan, everytime. You don’t see the risks and frankly you don’t care, so i’ll highlight it.

Sweet Saraya had her kneecap tendons severed when accidentally landing on a Coke can.

Think about that for a second.

She injured herself entertaining people like you dear reader, so I hope that you are grateful.

UK wrestlers take the same risks as their US counterparts, some even more so because they are trained poorly, but that’s another story. UK wrestlers want the same thing as US wrestlers as well.

Think about it before you pass judgement on any UK wrestler, would you go out for 10-20 minutes knowing that you may not come back with your kneecap attached?

Sweet Saraya and all her counterparts have, regardless of the risk.

So pay your respects to UK wrestling.

And get well soon Saraya.

So there was me with my mouth wide open in shock at my placement in the TWO UK Top 50 votes. The only thing I can say to the people who voted for me is “thank you” and I hope I can justify your votes in the future.

Yes, I know, there will be backstage “discussions” about the voting and “isn’t it all convenient” or other excuses to either pull down the results. However, people who know me know one thing about me, I am honest to a fault.

I hate thieves mostly, I can never reconcile with someone who has stolen from me for instance, they would never factor as a part of my life again.

Well, unless they returned what they stole with a deep felt apology.

My other classic honesty thing is that I usually say what I think and that can lead to the usual social car wreck, though I have recently taken lessons on how to put it across positively.

Dealing with people is something that a person has to do every day, except hermits… for obvious reasons. It is how we convey the information and get people to understand us that is how we are perceived externally by others.

So in a locker room, you are being perceived so you have to make a good impression.

You also have to make the right impression to your audience and I guess that is what the TWO Top 50 is all about. A lot of people mistake it for the list of the best wrestlers, that isn’t true, as I stated last blog entry, things can be misperceived, such as the great body meaning a great wrestler.

I think the TWO top 50 is all about the whole package, ability, charisma, look and action. A part of that package has struck a chord with someone and they remember it.

This is why there is usually a lot of new comers to the top 50 every year, the new guys should always make an impression, or perhaps that some of the longer serving wrestlers have learned how to make a better impression.

Either way, I’m reckoning my rise is due to the greater exposure I have had with other companies, especially 2 that have vocal fanbases.

So what’s my next goal after the weight loss?

Well first there is the muscle building I need to complete to get me back to an impressive size (but for all the right reasons), then I need to work on my game and “mature” as a wrestler to be good enough to carry a company.

I like to think that I am very level headed when it comes to my wrestling career and ability, I have improved vastly over the last year, which I put down to several factors, one being the encouragement of my peers in training, however, there is a saying that when you think you’ve learnt everything you need to know about wrestling then you need to give up, no one knows everything about wrestling.

Though I’m sure there is a smark out there who can research a response to that…

Speaking of the laminated keyboard brigade, I have had some interesting encounters with “opinions” recently, some of which were pretty harsh and I got to thinking about why people even bother with wrestling if all they can do is criticise it.

Now one (popular with the wrestling fraternity) is that smarks are just jealous because they cannot do what a wrestler does and go out to attack the wrestler for not doing it how they would do it, if they ever had the balls to do it. No, I’m not talking about a week’s worth of training either, that just means you know shit and can’t even do that right!

I was wondering if perhaps though, that it might be a refusal to get away from something that they have loved as a child, but the adult is telling them that they should be seeing it logically. Basically they have cheated themselves of the magic and the spectacle by working out to 3 decimal places the optimum bending motion for a German Suplex.

Anyhoo, some of you long timers will recall that KSW regularly did town hall shows. Finally the company is getting closer as they will be doing a show at West Bromwich Town Hall and I am as excited as hell!

When I first joined KSW they were about to do the final town hall show at Walsall, I was invited to come along, but I knew no one really and I left it. So now I have time to make amends for missing the opportunity and this time actually be a part of the show.

I do revel in big shows though, I had a blast at SLAM in Corby and it showed in my wrestling that night, so I am hoping that I will step up to the plate for my home promotion as well and put out a corker of a match.

The anticipation is killing me!!!

Back to the present, I’d like to give a shout out to Tommy Gunn, who is having back issues at the moment. Get well soon matey.

I’d also like to give young Devilish Angel another public pat on the back for making my job so much easier, but then again, I give her a reward every month!

You need to clean your mind out son.

Saz

Hi,

Old Sazza here to pop down his thoughts finally after a while away.

Well things have changed a bit for me over the last year, opportunities have opened up for me with different wrestling companies and I have been able to work with differing talent and getting used to working against people of different styles.

The other major difference is that I have managed to drop 6 stone and this is causing a little bit of upheaval in my life, first, let me show you the difference:

Old me: New me:

Now there are many reasons for losing the weight, health being one, I mean, at 24 stone I was heading for an early grave, type 2 diabetes, you know the drill. Secondly, I noticed that a few wrestlers were getting audience heat despite the fact they weren’t very good. I honestly believe that audiences are fooled to believe that great body means great wrestler. So I wanted some of that and that has been my motivation to lose the weight and put on muscle.

The only problem was that, with advice from beeeeeefcaaaaake Saul Adams, I’d have to lose the weight first before I put on the muscle. Now here I am looking a lot smaller than I did, the only issue is that my wrestling style will have to change for the moment while I look like an average sized wrestler.

The worst thing is the loss of strength, as was explained to me, because there is a larger distance for my muscles to stretch, I have to put more effort into lifting things and, while I was benchpressing 100k, I now struggle with 60k.

But Saul warned me that I would have to start again. My gym buddy Carl Mizzery has seen a lot of muscle growth over the period I have been losing the weight and he really looks good. I hope to put on a lot of muscle over the next 6 months and get back to doing what I do best… being a monster.

But hey, there are plenty of advantages to not being a fat bastard anymore, the fact I have stopped sweating for no apparent reason, the fact that I am never blown up in a match and can give it my full concentration, the fact that I have finally started receiving some positive comments and of course, there’s the increased interest from the opposite sex. Cha-ching!

Some people have questioned whether I should call myself Staxx anymore, well, internet moaning over the rumours of me being the fictional son of a fictional character aside, I quite enjoy doing the Staxx gimmick and Staxx isn’t all about size, I have Staxx of charisma, Staxx of potential, Staxx of power and my opponents get Staxx of pain!

Slam wrestling have Stixx and myself on the roster and there’s the potential for a St*xx stable, imagine it, the high flying Stexx, the muscular Stoxx, though I doubt we could get anyone to be Stuxx…

So, yeah, I’m really enjoying my wrestling at the moment and I hope it shows as I have grown to love performing in front of the kids and families, except the one kid who shat himself after slapping me round the face.

Well that’s it from me until I have something else to say.

Saz