Lots of sites have done reports about the results and matches at the event and as I was actually at the event I thought I would write slightly differently and talk about my personal experiences of the day and how it all panned out for me. This is so I can give you guys a taste of the atmosphere for those who have never been to an FWA event.
After a 4 odd hour car journey with not a wrong direction taken I found myself at the Pyramids Centre at just gone 3pm way ahead of schedule. With this in mind I parked up and went for a look inside the venue as it was my first visit to the Pyramids. It is then when I noticed FWA ref Andrew Coyne, Drew McDonald and others making their way in to the hall. So after bumping in to them and having a look at the set up I decided to go outside for a look around Portsmouth but just as I was venturing outside the main entrance who did I bump in to but none other than “The Show Stealer” Alex Shane he remembered me so we stood on the step chatting for a bit until he had to make his way inside. Heading back to the car park we saw other including Scott Parker getting out of their cars.
I made it back to the arena for doors at 5pm as I went in we were greeted with the SST and FWA merchandise stalls from which I brought my budgeted purchases (message to SST bring more HWA tapes) and chatted with Mr. SST himself about various things he was a really nice chap. I then noticed that Jonny Storm was at the FWA stand selling merchandise and signing autographs so I had a good chat with him as well about his match and the event tonight. After I had completed all that I said hi to a few other selected people I knew and took my seat.
I had brought two of my friends along with me who had never watched a UK show so for them this was quite an experience and as I have a lot of involvement with the UK Scene I was anxious to know their thoughts. I looked at the event in a different light to most as I knew a lot of the guys on a personal level and had seen most of the guys on the bill live and on tape before. My friends though picked up who was who quite quickly and were constantly asking questions which was a good sign.
The event itself I enjoyed thoroughly my favourite match being Jonny Storm vs. Justin Richards because of it’s contrasting styles. The match that surprised me for it’s quality was the opener between Chris Justice and Raj Ghosh who put on one hell of a match. It was brilliant to see FWA again keeping to their philosophy of not hyping stars to sell tickets but bringing them in as a reward for the fans like Kendo Ka Shin .
I had high expectations for the event unlike my unknowing friends and the event far exceeded my expectations which made me very happy as if I had taken them to an event which was no good I would have to admit defeat and stop talking to my friends about how good the UK Scene is. This though I thought was the best event since Revival and there have been some classics since I couldn’t of picked a better event to take my friends to.
After the event, I chatted with all the guys I knew about the event and their thoughts and feelings. Alex Shane was very friendly and forthcoming he spoke his mind. I had good chats with Dean Ayass who has one of the best wrestling brains out there at the moment, The New Breed about the tag division, Jack Xavier about how his match had panned out and Jane Childs about the event and FWA. It was an hour and half since the event had finished but I was still there not even realising how the time had flown. The most interesting chat of the night I had though was FWA on screen Commissioner Victoria Demontfort who grew up in the same area as I have and still live proving what a small world it is that we live in.
On the way home taking a wrong direction which added an hour or more to our journey dampened our spirits after what we had just witnessed. The best feeling of the night was though was when both of my friends asked when the next show was their approval meant more to me than anything else. So it is another victory to chalk up for the UK Scene as it gains two more followers. This is the way I feel we need to go is to do what I did and take unsuspecting friends to UK events as until it gets on national TV we need to keep drumming up more followers.
So it was with high spirits we finally reached home at 4am after setting off at 10am the previous morning. We had seen the beginning of the Jody era as FWA champ but most importantly a brilliant event. I could sleep easy with my spirits still as high as ever for the UK Scene. If only every event was like this one.
Until next time,
Adam Sibley