Isn’t it funny that when you finally start getting somewhere in wrestling, people line up to knock you off that wave of happiness. It is a sad part of life and something that I would like to talk about today.
Yes, the UK Scene in wrestling is slowly imploding, nope, I’m not going to blame supershows, this time round I am going to blame us as a nation.
There is no longer pride in being British, let alone English, you have Scottish Wrestling, Irish Wrestling and now Welsh/Celtic wrestling all proudly bearing their nationality, yet with Devolution, we seem to think that being British is something to be avoided!
Our current attitude to British Celebrities is to build them up and knock them down, Celebrity status seems a quick road to happiness, all you have to do is look pretty, sing a bit of Karaoke on the telly and not get voted off!
Yes, life in Britain is a giant popularity contest!
Wrestling should fit in well? Actually no, because the Americans do it much bigger and better, well hold on, would you see an American tolerating a British only show on their land? Hell no! The Americans have pride, pride in their nation, pride in what they do and how the world sees them, yes they are a nation to look up to in some respects but perhaps we Brits are doing a little too much looking up.
You look up forever and one day you will walk into a lamp post.
Perhaps it is time that British wrestlers looked upon their counterparts as counterparts and stop acting like marks in lycra. No, I’m not talking about being disrespectful, but there has to be a point where the hero worship stops.
As British wrestlers we are there to do just as important a job as the WWE Superstars do, we entertain people, it may not be to as great an extent, but it is no less important.
But would you believe there are people reading this with a view to find something to criticise?
I may be the man with the voice around the UK Scene, but I have voiced a lot of opinion and sometimes it gets up people’s noses. Why? I think one wrestler described it well when they said of me writing my tenets “You must really enjoy all the power you have!”
What power?
Those who have met me and those who have worked with me will know that I don’t use my work here to justify myself as a wrestler, I state my opinion right or wrong, should you wish to discuss my views in a mature manner, there is always emailing me or using the forum to broaden my arguments.
However, sometimes I feel there is a hushed fear in the UK Scene, you are sometimes given the impression that if you don’t wrestle a certain way then you are a rubbish wrestler. Yes, there are a lot of UK wrestlers who can’t wrestle for toffee, but there are also a lot of UK wrestlers who can and can do it well, it is just a question of finding them.
Ok, I started this journey on wrestling101 as a raw recruit and you have seen me develop into a wrestler. As I learnt from people in the business I have shared discriminately with you what I have learned, perhaps idealism has been replaced with practicality, but in essence, if you read through my work you will see a gradual growth.
Of course, I will upset people along the way, I am sure of quite a few who dislike me in the business, some for obvious reasons, others for things I am unaware that I have done.
It is the way that we hold ourselves as wrestlers and how we perceive “professional”.
Why is it that I always meet people who contradict themselves? Perhaps it’s the British way, but I have listened to people say things to me and do something else, sometimes I think they expect me not to listen to them.
Everyone sees things from their point of view and we can usually see things from others’ points of view, however, communication breaks down because we find it hard to convince the other that we understand, but they don’t understand ours.
Life is such a viscous circle.
Perhaps if people took the time to open up their problems and disagreements then we would work more productively as a nation to a UK based wrestling pride.
Forgive the double paraphrase, but one respected wrestler spoke to me about a joke he had been told, which I am about to tell you.
Five wrestling promoters locked in a room, one had flour, one had yeast, one had water, one had an oven and the other knew how to make bread.
Three weeks later they had all starved to death.
The basic premise of that anecdote is “What do I get out of wrestling?”
Well, to paraphrase an American President, it’s what can I do for wrestling, not what wrestling can do for you.
You hear the term “Spot Monkey”, people “have to get that move in” or “Have to develop their character some ways”. I tend to do as I have been told, as do all the respected wrestlers in the business, if you are to spend your time losing to some guy then fine.
Let me put this to you, AS A REAL WRESTLER YOU ARE NOT YOUR PS2 CHARACTER ON SMACKDOWN VS RAW!
Wrestling is bigger than the individual, but due to selfishness, individuals are not allowed to shine!
How many times do you see the promoter in UK Wrestling somehow be the belt holder, the champion, the best ever wrestling Gaaaahhhhhhd! that ever existed?
Me?
Fifteen, because I usually know who the promoter is, the fans never see it, all they know is Vince.
Yes, you hear me talking about it all, funnily enough, it does not compare to the rumours I hear, yes there is a definite network of wrestlers that I have discussed before that chats and rumours about yourself always get back to you, such as one that is currently doing the boards about me.
Children.
Also the comments certain members of a certain wrestling company that I heard whilst I was wrestling the UK Pitbulls for MPW the other day. I’ve done nothing to you, so please grow up! It had nothing to do with my performance, I took quite a beating for your entertainment, as did they!
Having said that, they paid to make the comment, so fair play! But the question was, was the jibe a professional one disguised as an “audience” insult. People never cross the border into telling things to your face.
Speaking of MPW, I would like to offer my thanks to them publicly, it is not often that I see a bunch of guys working in total harmony to entertain people. There were special reasons as to why I joined their roster, but every single one of them accepted me as a part of their group with open arms and I appreciate that.
I am proud to consider every single one of them as my friends, they have a great promotion and I know for fact they are the hardest working promotion in the country, if you ever get the chance, give them a visit and come see MPW’s very own Pikie!
Oh and to two people who will be thinking a few things about me right now, I have said nothing about you to anyone, as I know that apparently you have been speaking to a few wrestlers I know about me.
Bitchery aside, the major problem that the UK Scene is the lack of co-operation. You have say 5 promotions in London, each one will think themselves better than the other, they will try to work against each other and bid for the same audience.
Perhaps they should look at the Dixons and Currys model, they offer the same thing, usually at the same price, but they feed off each others custom. It could be the same in wrestling, one promotion does a show at the venue, another does another show at the same venue, different types, different styles, same audience. As long as one promotion doesn’t hire crap to perform, both companies should profit from it.
But no, the UK Scene does it their way, they’ll bicker and argue over a scrap of land.
Why? When the country is there for the taking, the only people who don’t care about regionality is the Americans, and look how well they are doing!
Apologies if this tenet seemed more of a rant!
Saz