Well, Adam’s off in the land of the free, which leaves Goldy and myself in charge of his column. I must admit, I have never been in the position to make my opinions known about the UK scene in general, so it is with a little reservation that I am writing this. I’m sure it gets easier after a while, but for the moment please excuse the tentative start.
Of course this is the week of Talk Wrestling Online’s (TWO) 4th year as an entity, I must admit that I haven’t been here for very long and it came as a huge surprise when Kam messaged me and said he enjoyed reading my posts and offering me the position as a staff writer.
It has to be said though, that Kam’s vision of a centre for Wrestling is as successful as any online venture could be, as I have been told it has adapted with the times and has always kept on top of the news. It has truly become the number one web site for wrestling news, simply because of its friendliness and ease of read.
When I first decided to join TWO it was after long deliberation, I went on each open forum as a non-subscriber and read the posts. As a mature wrestler I felt that TWO was the best for proper discussion and joined quickly thereafter.
Ok, so I could kill Jackbibby sometimes (amongst others), but even then, he is part of the group, in fact I could say that I would defend him to the hilt if someone criticised him unfairly, it’s almost like TWO has its own wrestling philosophy amongst its users.
I am glad to be a part of TWO and Wrestling 101, It is a great honour to be able to put my voice across and have you listen to me, all I have had in the way of emails is support and congratulations on another tenet.
But remember this, without discussion on TWO, I would not have anything to write about, so keep it up, keep the Internet community alive and keep Talk Wrestling Online….
Onto the scene.
First of all though I’d like to talk about Wife swap and their search for wrestling families. Now in theory this could lead to great TV and great exposure for the UK wrestling scene, it makes me suspect that the producer has a soft spot for “Sports Entertainment” but there is one thing that might make this more like wishful thinking.
You see, the stipulation is that to successfully apply, you have to have a family that means kids which, by the current average of wrestler age, drops that qualifying person to about 10% of the UK wrestling population. The major problem is the big lull that every wrestler in the UK is working towards getting out of at the moment. I could be wrong, but it is unlikely that there are many professional workers out there who began in the 80s and 90s and are at the family making age. Let’s face it, the kids have to be young and at that bratty age to add spice to the program, so the World of sport era wrestlers are most likely out.
I hope I am wrong as I would like to think that any wrestler who is of a mature age would most likely recognise the need to promote the UK scene as a whole, rather than dwell in their own fame. The last thing we need is a repeat of the scandal that surrounded that welfare state family in the last series.
The FWA will be staging another “Unsigned” series on 26th June, which will feature non other than Spud V Cameron Knight. Now personally I think it is very magnanimous of the FWA to do this. With them being the top dog in UK wrestling at the moment (and apologies if that statement offended some other companies) FWA has the power to do a WWE and buy up contracts for every decent wrestler that roam these lands. I think they recognise that that would be a very bad thing for the UK scene. Centralising decent talent would alienate the rest of the country and leave the fans waiting months before they came around again to do another show.
With the unsigned series though, they are giving exposure to the wrestlers who work around the country, practically giving their stamp of approval on them, which will draw crowds when they are booked at other shows across the country. Good idea don’t you think?
One company I have a lot of time for is RBW, I was gutted when I wasn’t able to go see them at the Wolverhampton Civic, but you have to admit, it took a lot of guts to try pull a venue that size off!
Well they are returning to Chingford, which is, as they describe, one of the most successful events they have had. RBW are an example of a forward striving company, who, as a promotion, tours the country putting on shows for people. They aren’t afraid to take gambles, which sometimes is needed to strive further forwards, I am the first to hope they don’t break the bank along the way, but good luck in your show guys!
I have to say I like how IWF have promoted their next bash for the belt that was made vacant by the retirement of Billy Graham. It has made me want to be there, but unfortunately I am wrestling at the same time. But if you are anywhere near St Joseph’s Church Hall (The Ring of Faith), Gateshead on 3rd July, pop in and see, it’s only a fiver for a night’s entertainment and this one reads like a corker of a show!
I am looking forward to seeing who will become the next FCW champion, yup, you heard that right, I shall be attending the Baggeridge social club event (27th June). Not that I am happy that Celt Kennedy has retired, far from it, but it certainly has upped the tempo of the match that was scheduled for this date. On one side we have 4-play, or should I say 3-play, leaderless and reeling from the retirement of Celt. On the other side, all of Celt’s previous victims, never to be able to get revenge on Kennedy but have three of his associates to vent their frustration on, in the words of JR, this is going to be a slobberknocker.
Finally, I’d like to mention my troupe of reprobates. KSW are holding an academy show on 26th June. I can say from personal knowledge that there are a lot of hard working individuals there and they love entertaining the fans. I can say that some of them have bright futures in the wrestling scene, Corey Americana, Danny Devine, Marcus Kool and Kade Callous to name a few. I’ll be in a particularly bad boy mood during the show against Karaoke King; he thinks he can take me on, so we’ll just have to see….
It will be Goldy writing her thoughts next week, so email her at goldy@wrestling101.com if you have news for her. If there’s anything you’d like to discuss with me about, you can grab me at saracen@wrestling101.com.
Take care.
Saracen