Greetings, grapple fans and welcome to another addition of the UK Scene wrestling news. This is my last week with you as Adam should soon be back from sunning himself on holiday ready for next weeks column. So as usual make yourself a cuppa or even better get someone else to do it for you, grab the chocolate biscuits and enjoy catching up with all the latest UK Scene wrestling news.
Now I started this column with the immortal words “Greetings, grapple fans” as those of you who recognise these words will know them as the opening lines of the 1970s/80s World Of Sport television show, where wrestling was prominently featured weekly. These words were uttered by Kent Walton who I am saddened to inform you died last week at the age of 86. Now I did want to write about Kent in last weeks column but as I had a lot of UK news to cover and catch up with I thought I would leave it to this week where I can go into a little more depth about this legend who will always be remembered for his husky tones and for commentating on Saturday afternoon wrestling.
Kent was fortunate enough to be around British wrestling in the often quoted “golden age of British wrestling”. I always remember sitting down with my dad watching the Saturday afternoon wrestling coverage at 4pm followed by the full time footie results. This was my first introduction to any form of wrestling and even at that very young age was mesmerised and totally entertained by the sport. Kent an excellent commentator in my opinion was the voice of the show and one who truly believed in the business even going as far as to learn wrestling moves himself to prove all the doubters wrong and always sticking to his beliefs that wrestling was not fixed. He remained fond of wrestling but unfortunately won’t get to see how the UK scene is evolving today with companies like the FWA leading the way.
Now moving onto the UK wrestling world as it is today and onto All Star Wrestling. As mentioned in last weeks column they held another show on Tuesday night at Fairfields Hall, Croydon, where I reported that the FWA were invading and putting the tag team belts on the line. As it turns out this match with Alex Shane and Nikita taking on The Family (Raj Ghosh and Paul Travell) was in fact a non title, no disqualification match up with Shane and Nikita being the eventual winners. Other FWA stars who performed on the card were Flash Barker teaming up with Hade Vanson who defeated Thunder and The Dominator. One of my favourite All Star workers even though he’s not British is Joe E Legend otherwise known as Joe X Legend who was also on the show facing our very own 5 Star Flash who improves every time I see him. Legend in my opinion is a great asset to All Star as he has an amazing presence and can keep an audience fully entertained with his awesome heel routine and great mic skills. For all the latest All Star news visit http://www.bigtimewrestlinguk.com
The FWA have announced that they are again holding a Fan Fest before their British Uprising II show. This time though the fest will be taking place BEFORE the evenings show, starting at 12pm until 4pm. This is great news for those of us who do not want to have to spend the night in London and should serve as a great warm up to the evenings entertainment. It will be held at The Backyard Comedy Club, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green on October the 18th. Goings on include Q&A’s with the stars of Uprising, star photo signings, wrestling merchandise, stalls and more. The wonderful Bill Apter is also tipped to be there, I was fortunate enough to meet Bill at the FWAs Vendetta 1 show last year and he truly is a gentleman taking the opportunity to chat to fans and share his vast knowledge. This is reason enough in itself to get down there in my book. The only drawback so far is that the Fan Fest seems to be for over 18s only which in my opinion isn’t the greatest idea as a lot of FWA fans are younger than this and these are the fans who are most likely to spend their money on souvenirs and merchandise. Still I shall be there as I always enjoy having the opportunity to chat to the wrestlers and fellow fans alike and probably spend a fortune in the process lol!
Continuing with the FWA here’s a reminder that the FWAs wrestling training classes for women are growing from strength to strength with each class. If you are a woman who has always thought she would like to get into wrestling then email fwawomensclasses@hotmail.com for more info on these exclusive sessions run by Showstealer Alex Shane. This can only help the UK Scene as I do think we are lacking talented female wrestlers. The likes of Nikita, Klondike Kate and Sweet Saraya are excellent ambassadors for us girls and do a great job and there is many more talented girls coming through the ranks, but I can’t help but notice a shortage of female stars on the UK circuit.
As I was browsing the net catching up with the latest UK news this week, which there wasn’t a great deal of. I came across a very interesting column written by Gary Graham of wZw Promotions and Wrestle Zone UKs webmaster. Now Gary was talking about how he thinks that British Wrestling could benefit from working on the production of their shows and how the average fan would prefer to see a clean set up, with barriers, pyros, music, decent lighting and a ring in a decent condition as opposed to a ring witch has a dirty canvas, scratched paint work, no entrance way and no barriers. To read the full column visit: Here (will open in a new window).
Now I know Gary was worried about getting heat for this column and as a wrestling fan first and foremost who goes to watch lots of different promotions I just wanted to add my thoughts on this. I think Gary has hit the nail right on the head. As a paying fan I think first impressions make all the difference. It is part and parcel of your evenings or in some cases afternoons entertainment. The whole build up, the music, lights etc. is all part of the show and help make the event a memorable occasion. Don’t get me wrong, if you have all of this I just mentioned and the wrestlers on the card are no good then of course it won’t count for much, but for the most part the UK have some awesome talent who can only benefit from having a decent setup to work with. First impressions do count and this all helps to keep us fans returning to shows.
For all this weeks show results and upcoming events please check the TWO Newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. As I mentioned earlier Adam will be back with you next week to give you his unique insight into the wonderful world of UK wrestling, as I sign off I want to once again quote the late Kent Walton and finish this column as he would finish a show with the line…. have a good week, until next week!
Goldy