The FWA Academy TV Tapings will be held on a massive all-day event at the Horizon Havant Leisure Centre, Portsmouth on Saturday 18th December. Entrance to the whole event, which will be broadcast on Sky TV over 16 episodes, is FREE of charge.
The tapings will be based around a tournament featuring 12 Academy wrestlers. The wrestlers are split into 2 groups of 6. Each wrestler will fight every opponent in their group once, gaining a point for each win recorded. The top two wrestlers will advance to the semi-finals. The semi-finals and final of the tournament will also be recorded at the Tapings.
The wrestlers in Group A are Aviv Maayan, Max Voltage, Dan Head, Dan James, Ollie Burns, and Mark London.
Aviv Maayan must go into the tournament as one of the favourites to win. Aviv has enjoyed a breakout year this year, gaining exposure for many wrestling promotions all over Britain, most notably for the FWA. Maayan is in the best shape of his life, and is tipped to enjoy even more success in 2005 by many insiders. Winning the tournament would be a fitting way for Aviv to end his year, which by all accounts has been a resounding success.
Max Voltage, one of the country’s top high-flyers, must, along with Aviv Maayan, be considered a favourite to qualify from Group A into the semi-finals. Max has been training since he was 14 years old, and has dazzled many a crowd with his death-defying leaps and manoeuvres. Voltage is currently a main player in the Academy Title scene, having defeated current Champion Mark Underwood, but to date has been unable to prise the Title off of Underwood’s waist.
Dan Head, Voltage’s regular tag partner, has had an extremely impressive year of Academy shows, and would love more than anything to record the biggest achievement of his career to date by winning the Tournament. Head’s displays over 2004 have certainly suggested that he has the potential to do this. Head will meet Max Voltage in Group A competition, and it will be intriguing to see who emerges victorious out of the team of fan favourites.
Dan James has riled Academy crowds as of late, as a result of his change of attitude following the enforced split of his tag-team with Harry Mills. A fully-fledged member of the part of society we all hate, James hails from any bus stop he pleases. A thuggish character, Dan James is an unpopular character, but may just be a dark horse for the tournament.
As the youngest, and least experienced wrestler in Group A, Ollie Burns is the rank outsider. The vast majority of his wrestling matches to date have come in tag-team encounters, pairing with Mark Sloan, and Ollie will need to adjust quickly to singles competition if he is to make any mark on the tournament.
Mark London has made an immediate, large impact on the Academy scene. Opportunistically answering an open challenge from Max Voltage a couple of months ago, London’s ability impressed many. His resorting to cheating tactics however is less popular. London will look to make even more of an impact within Group A.
The wrestlers in Group B are Eamon Shrahan, Mark Underwood, Tyrone Johnson, Steve Bellenger, Harry Mills, and Alan Gallagher.
Eamon Shrahan left everything he knew behind to follow his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Having left his home in Ireland, Shrahan turned to the Academy to make this dream a reality. Eamon is a 2-time former Academy Champion, and is certainly a favourite to emerge from the group and win the whole tournament. Eamon will no doubt be looking forward to his match with the man he lost the Academy Title to in October, Mark Underwood, as a chance to avenge the savage beating Underwood dealt him.
Mark Underwood is, at time of writing, the FWA Academy Champion, the youngest man ever to have worn the gold. A man of imposing stature, Underwood’s brute force and power have seen him dominate many an opponent, and his path of destruction has led to his capture of the Academy Title. With the Title round his waist, Underwood sits on top of the Academy tree, and will be looking to cement his position with overall victory in the tournament.
Tyrone Johnson is something of an unknown quantity. Having only competed in a recent 10-man-tag on Academy events, experience is certainly not on his side. Tyrone can commonly be found outside the ring, motivating his allies and riling their opponents and the crowd alike, rather than competing within the squared circle himself. Tyrone’s ability outside the ring is of no question – he is one of the most charismatic men in the Academy. His ability inside the ring will be put to the test in Group B.
Steve Bellenger has the physical stature and power to make a big impression. It is hard to bet against a man the size of Bellenger in the entire tournament. Very little is known about Bellenger, and his recent brutal attacks on Academy wrestlers have yet to be explained. A silent, dominating warrior, Bellenger could well decimate his way through the Group.
Harry Mills has struggled to assert himself since the enforced split of his team with Dan James. Mills & James were one of the Academy’s most successful tag-teams, enjoying victories over just about every other team at some point of their tenure. Mills will be looking to translate his success in tag-team competition into success in singles competition, and a successful tournament is the best opportunity for him to do so.
Alan Gallagher has enjoyed a measure of success recently, since joining EntouRAGE. Gallagher has become more and more willing and able to bend the rules to his advantage, and EntouRAGE have aided him in doing so on several occasions. During Gallagher’s recent matches, Steve Bellenger has made his destructive presence known, clearly petrifying Alan. One of Gallagher’s rivals in Group B is Bellenger, and Alan may well have to conquer his fear in order to advance from the group.
The tapings will be split into 3 shows, spread throughout the day. Admittance to each and every show is FREE OF CHARGE, and fans are encouraged to attend as many of the shows as they like.
The 1st show will begin at 11am.
The matches to be recorded are as follows :
- Harry Mills vs Mark Underwood (Group B)
- Max Voltage vs Dan James (Group A)
- Tyrone Johnson vs Alan Gallagher (Group B)
- Dan Head vs Ollie Burns (Group A)
- Eamon Shrahan vs Alan Gallagher (Group B)
- Max Voltage vs Ollie Burns (Group A)
- Steve Bellenger vs Mark Underwood (Group B)
- Tyrone Johnson vs Harry Mills (Group B)
- Dan Head vs Aviv Maayan (Group A)
- Dan Head vs Mark London (Group A)
- Tyrone Johnson vs Steve Bellenger (Group B)
The 2nd show will begin at 2pm.
The matches to be recorded are as follows :
- Aviv Maayan vs Ollie Burns (Group A)
- Eamon Shrahan vs Harry Mills (Group B)
- Harry Mills vs Alan Gallagher (Group B)
- Aviv Maayan vs Mark London (Group A)
- Eamon Shrahan vs Mark Underwood (Group B)
- Dan James vs Ollie Burns (Group A)
- Dan Head vs Max Voltage (Group A)
- Steve Bellenger vs Harry Mills (Group B)
- Dan Head vs Dan James (Group A)
- Mark London vs Ollie Burns (Group A)
- Alan Gallagher vs Mark Underwood (Group B)
The 3rd and final show will begin at 5pm.
The matches to be recorded are as follows :
- Tyrone Johnson vs Mark Underwood (Group B)
- Max Voltage vs Mark London (Group A)
- Eamon Shrahan vs Steve Bellenger (Group B)
- Aviv Maayan vs Dan James (Group A)
- Steve Bellenger vs Alan Gallagher (Group B)
- Mark London vs Dan James (Group A)
- Eamon Shrahan vs Tyrone Johnson (Group B)
- Max Voltage vs Aviv Maayan (Group A)
- Semi-Final 1 : Winner Group B vs Runner-up Group A
- Semi-Final 2 : Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group B
Final