Time for The Three Count to return with a preview of this Sunday’s FWA event at the Broxbourne Civic Hall. Hotwired is the companies last major show before British Uprising 3 so expect plenty of fireworks.
ALEX SHANE V STEVE CORINO
Did I say fireworks, well that’s certainly going to be the case in the main event which sees the long-awaited match between Alex Shane and Steve Corino. It was at New Frontiers at this war of words between Shane and Corino erupted but the arguments go back a lot further than that. They actually date back to last years Frontiers of Honor card. Now that was the event that saw the stars of the FWA go up against the best wrestlers in ROH, a match eventually won by ROH thanks to the interference of Jonny Storm in the deciding contest between Jodie Fleisch and Christopher Daniels. However, what we didn’t know at the time was that Steve Corino, who had previously wrestled for the FWA, wanted to be part of that event representing the FWA but had been blocked by Alex Shane…
The arguments were kept secret until New Frontiers when Corino made a surprise appearance. Just why did Corino take so long to make his views known? Well I recently interviewed Steve Corino for my new (and now published) Piledriver magazine and he told me “For a long time it was out of my mind until I was having dinner with my son and CM Punk an he mentioned that he was doing a FWA tour and all the anger came back to me and I thought ‘How do I make a point’ and my son says ‘Why don’t you just buy a ticket and get him that way.’ The full interview is in Piledriver, email me at [mageditoruk@yahoo.co.uk] to find out how you can get hold of the 52 page magazine.
Back to the war between Corino and Shane. The war of words broke out that night at New Frontiers but Shane was in no mood for a match. Instead he set up an FWA Title shot for Corino with Doug Williams. Later that night Shane interfered in the match and cost Corino his chance of winning the title. The arguments continued over that weekend. In Enfield, Alex Shane issued an open challenge, anyone could come out and meet him as long as their name wasn’t Steve Corino!
Corino was due to take on Shane in a tag match at Carpe Diem but flight problems prevented that, but the time for the one-on-one showdown between the pair is now booked for this Sunday. So what does Corino really think of Alex Shane? Back to excerpts from that Piledriver interview, Corino told me: “He is an egomaniac of the worst sort and bad for the FWA.” It promises to be an all-out totally unmissable match this Sunday.
COLT CABANA V MARK BELTON
Top American Indie star Colt Cabana makes a welcome return to the FWA on Sunday after his well received match against CM Punk at last years British Uprising 2 event. A major star in ROH and many other Indie federations Cabana isn’t just a great wrestler but a pretty funny one too! He’ll need to be on top form as he takes on Mark Belton this Sunday. Belton has had a good year so far in the FWA. At New Frontiers he beat James Tighe to take his Number one challengers spot, leading to an unsuccessful crack at Doug Williams title in Morecambe. Belton has also had wins this year over Mark Sloan, Jack Xavier and Aviv Maayan. It promises to be another excellent match and Belton needs a victory if he’s to get back into title contention.
JAMES TIGHE V SPUD
If there’s one wrestler in the FWA who’s had an up and down year then it’s James Tighe. He started the year as Number One challenger to Doug William’s FWA Title and had put up a great show against Williams in a title match at British Uprising 2. He’d also found himself at number 50 in the Powerslam Top 50 list, a great achievement for someone so young. But 2004 hasn’t been the greatest of years. He foolishly put that Number one ranking on the line against Mark Belton at New Frontiers and promptly lost the match. More defeats followed against CM Punk, Eammon Shrahan, Doug Williams in an FWA Title match and Low-Ki. He did manage to save his FWA career by beating Jonny Storm in a loser leaves the FWA match in Morecambe but any chance of another title match was getting slimmer by the day. Then at Vendetta, Tighe came up against AJ Styles. A new tougher Tighe emerged and the former gentleman of the ring resorted to using a steel chair on his American opponent. Of course the minute Styles got hold of the chair he ended up getting disqualified giving Tighe a much needed if tainted win.
He was due to take part in the Round-Robin tournament held at Enfield last month but pulled out because of illness. His place was taken by Spud who has spent most of the year impressing FWA bosses in cards around the country and in the FWA Academy. So far this years for FWA he’s beaten Jack Storm and Cameron Knite in Unsigned matches before receiving that big break at Enfield. He managed to beat Jack Xavier before losing to Aviv Maayan and suffering an ankle injury. Now fully fit he’s been given his main card debut and the high-flying star could be ready to spring one of the biggest upsets of the year in the FWA.
TEAM VANSEN V TEAM XAVIER
Jack Xavier wants Hade Vansen’s All-England Title, it’s as simple as that. Well, not quite because he also wants revenge on Vansen for interfering in his feud with Alex Shane. Xavier received a title shot against Vansen at Vendetta only for it to end in a double knockout. However he did beat his great rival when winning the Round Robin tournament at Enfield. No title shot tonight but a six-man tag match guaranteed to end in mayhem!
Hade Vansen is partnered by Stixx and Martin Stone, both part of the Alex Shane security team. Jack Xavier is partnered by Aviv Maayan and Ross Jordan. With possible interference by Alex Shane who still loathes Xavier, this should be a highly explosive affair hopefully setting up an All-England Title match between Vansen and Xavier at Uprising.
SIMMONZ V MARK SLOAN
An important match for Mark Sloan and Stevie Knight. Sloan has to win this to guarantee that he and Knight meet Simmonz and The Duke of Danger for the FWA Tag Titles at Uprising. Sloan recently beat Simmonz on an FWA card in Enfield, a repeat of that will earn his team the big title shot. It’s a long way from the days last year when Sloan and Simmonz were partners being fed to that man monster himself Burchill! I expect plenty of interference here but for Sloan to eventually get the win.
RAJ GHOSH V PAUL TRAVELL
A Family at War with a great big monster lurking in the background and one very worried manager. That sums up this match. Travell and Ghosh are both members of The Family but relations have been pretty strained recently. Arguments aplenty between Travell and Greg ‘The Truth’ Lambert resulting in the actions that cost The Family their tag titles at Vendetta. Ghosh and Travell were up against Hampton Court but then Travell simply left Ghosh on his own. The title belts soon disappeared and now Travell is very much an outsider in The Family. If he wins this match he gets five minutes in the ring with Lambert. They could be the longest five minutes of his life! But there’s more to this match than the rows in The Family.
Burchill was thrown out of the arena at Vendetta and is not allowed to be at the Civic Hall this Sunday after interfering in that tag title match. Will Burchill find a way of getting into the arena? Will he get his hands on Drew McDonald who cost him his unbeaten run in the FWA? Could this all be a swerve and may Burchill one day end up as part of The Family? All questions that may or may not be answered at Hotwired.
Six great matches with plenty of questions to be answered. There’s also a guest appearance by Danny Williams who recently beat Mike Tyson in the States. Williams is a great wrestling fan but just what will he do at Hotwired. Another question of course is what will FWA Champ Doug Williams be doing at Hotwired? Williams is scheduled to meet an opponent picked by Alex Shane at Morecambe on Saturday (more about that card in a moment) but has no title defence scheduled for Hotwired. All very strange indeed. Williams certainly has issues with Alex Shane so don’t be surprised if he turns up in the main event.
And then there’s Jonny Storm. Forced to leave the FWA after losing to James Tighe, Storm is now back in the country after his visit to Thailand and desperate to get back into the FWA. He’s currently on a WonderWhirld tour trying to get fans to sign his petition and get him back in the FWA. So far the company refuse to let him back in, just what will happen next? Storm has asked the FWA for permission to come to Hotwired on Sunday, will it be to return to the company or to say goodbye?
As I mentioned there’s also a card on Sunday in Morecambe. That’s headlined by the FWA Title defence by Doug Williams. Also there’s James Tighe v Colt Cabana, Ross Jordan v Leroy Kincade, Dirk Feelgood/Damon Leigh v Stevie Knight/Mark Sloan and other matches,
Well finally it’s finished!
Piledriver is my new wrestling fanzine that looks at British and American wrestling, packed with top interviews and columns written by some of the best writers around. It’s 52 pages (only the back page is an ad) and A5 b&w. To get a copy, send a cheque/postal order for £2.50 to: Steve Ashfield, 29 Graham Road, Southampton SO14 0AX. Cheques/postal orders made payable to Solent Rainbow.
BUT the great news is that for £15 you can subscribe to Piledriver for twelve editions and receive a weekly email newsletter.
Here’s the contents for the first edition that’s fresh from the printers:
- Tribute to Flash Barker by ‘Rowdy’ Ricky Knight and Premier Promotions
- Tribute to Pat Roach by Eddie Hamill aka The Amazing Kung Fu
- The Video Vault looks at WAW Fightmare and Starrcade ’89
- Shelflife reviews ‘The Wrestling’, ‘The Encyclopedia of Professional Wrestling’ and ‘WWE Unscripted.’
- Adam Sibley looks at the State of British Wrestling
- Double A writes about the fall-out from Summerslam including a review of that PPV.
- The history of WAW is written by Julian Radbourne
- This months Indie Interview by Pete Staniforth is Lowlife Louis Ramos
- There’s five and half pages of News from the Indies, WWE and the UK including the RBW Heavyweight Title Tournament, FWA Academy news and Jushin
- Liger and Mick Foley in ROH.
- There’s a preview of Hotwired and an exclusive three page interview with Steve Corino
- The Cynic writes about JBL and Linda Robin tells us about TNA Impact.
- There’s my interview with Mick Foley about his book ‘Tietam Brown’ and a chance to win a signed copy of the hardback.
- Then it’s THE ROCK talking about ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Walking Tall.’
- Mitchell Gadd counts down the Worst 5 World Champs of all-time
- On the Forum looks at ‘Tracing Nagasaki’
- More interviews, this time with Scar and Chaos from ‘The Backyard’ DVD
- Kriss Sprules is our most controversial writer discussing the FWA’s contract with TWC.
- ‘The Legend Lives On’ recalls the career of Kendo Nagasaki in a three and a half page section that includes an article by Eddie Hamill (Kung Fu) recalling his fight with Nagasaki at The Royal Albert Hall.
- Scott Denning opens the Feud File and then it’s Webworld looking at some of the top sites around.
- This action packed fanzine ends with The Final Cut written by Dean Saliba looking at the roster split in WWE.
For more info email me at [mageditoruk@yahoo.co.uk]
Stephen Ashfield