FWA Wednesday News Update – 16-01-05
ZEBRA AND RICKY – THE LATEST
A close confidant of the Knight family has spoken to www.frontierwrestling.com to address the recent speculation about the reconciliation between The Zebra Kid and his father Ricky Knight .
Julian Radbourne , press officer with Ricky Knight’s promotion WAW, told us that Zebra and Ricky are indeed back on speaking terms after their violent feud last year.
“Both Roy (Zebra) and Ricky have had the breathing space recently to do a lot of soul-searching,” said Julian.
“Roy has given a lot of thought to what was going wrong in his personal and professional life and is keen to make changes. He is aware that he was losing a lot of matches in the FWA last year and also regrets the problems he had with his father.
“This year Roy wants to turn his life and career around. It’s fair to say that it’s very early days in the re-building of their relationship but Ricky is determined to support him every step of the way.”
Julian said this is the reason why Zebra has asked for “the toughest opponent available” for his FWA comeback match at New Frontiers on February 26. He said: “Roy just wants to prove himself and make his friends and family proud of him again.”
In related news, we at www.frontierwrestling.com are expecting a statement from FWA management any day now about the identity of The Zebra Kid’s opponent for New Frontiers. Stay tuned.
SIMMONS CLEARED TO WRESTLE
Great news for all fans of Andy Simmons – he has been given the all clear to return to action. The popular FWA star, one half of our tag team champions with The Duke of Danger, is training hard in readiness for his wrestling comeback after his recent health scare.
Andy gave us all great cause for concern when he was hospitalised in late November with a serious chest infection brought on by cystic fibrosis, which he has suffered from since birth. We are delighted to now announce that he has recovered sufficiently to return to the ring and hope to see him back in the FWA as soon as possible.
NEW FWA RANKINGS RELEASED
FWA acting managing director Elisar Cabrera has announced the introduction of a new rankings system for the three main FWA Titles.
The first set of rankings, dated January 12 2005, are as follows:
FWA BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Champion – ‘THE SHOWSTEALER’ ALEX SHANE
Number 1 Contender – ‘The Wonderkid’ Jonny Storm
Number 2 Contender – ‘The South City Thrilla’ Hade Vansen
Number 3 Contender – ‘The Anarchist’ Doug Williams
Number 4 Contender – AJ Styles
Number 5 Contender – Mark ‘Five Star’ Belton
FWA ALL-ENGLAND TITLE
Champion – ‘THE SOUTH CITY THRILLA’ HADE VANSEN
Number 1 Contender – Spud
Number 2 Contender – Jack Xavier
Number 3 Contender – Joe E Legend
Number 4 Contender – Leroy Kincade
Number 5 Contender – ‘The Righteous’ Paul Travell
FWA TAG TEAM TITLES
Champions – THE DUKE OF DANGER and SIMMONS
Number 1 Contenders – Stevie Knight and Mark Sloan
Number 2 Contenders – Stixx and Joe E Legend
Number 3 Contenders – Alex Shane and Hade Vansen
Number 4 Contenders – The Triad
Number 5 Contenders – James Tighe and Mark Belton
Only the top five ranked contenders for a particular title will be considered for title shots – unless the FWA management team gives special authorisation for a non-ranked wrestler to receive a title match. These rankings will be updated after every FWA main show.
ULF BANNED!
The FWA held a crisis meeting on Wednesday – attended by ‘The Showstealer’ Alex Shane – with the intention of making two crucial decisions regarding the FWA British Heavyweight Champion himself. But when the meeting was over, only one of those decisions had been finalised.
After an impassioned speech by ‘The Showstealer’, who had used his leverage as British Champion to sit in on the meeting, the management team agreed with his arguments that strong action should be taken against his bitter rival Ulf Herman , after his recent threatening behaviour towards the champion. Therefore, management has announced that Ulf Herman will be banned from appearing at New Frontiers. Management has decided that Ulf will not be allowed in the Broxbourne Civic Hall on the night, because they believe his vow to perpetrate violent revenge upon the person of Alex Shane makes him a potential security risk. Also, his aggressive presence would surely prevent the FWA Title defence by Alex Shane against Jonny Storm from being fair and uninterrupted .
In a comment to our www.frontierwrestling.com reporter, acting Managing Director Elisar Cabrera said: “The management team is fully aware that many FWA fans will be disappointed at our decision. However, we have stated in the past that Ulf Herman cannot get to wrestle Alex Shane until he wins a match against a ranked singles contender. As no such match is scheduled for New Frontiers, and as Mr Herman has persistently stated his pre-meditated desire to attack Mr Shane at the next given opportunity, we feel we have been left with no choice but to take this action.”
FWA officials are currently looking to bring in extra security on the night of New Frontiers, as they are fully aware the homicidal German will in all likelihood refuse to accept their decision and attempt to gatecrash proceedings on February 26.
Management also debated long and hard the request by Alex Shane to revert all FWA British Heavyweight Title matches from best-of-three falls to best of one single fall. However, as the clock ticked towards midnight, a stalemate had been reached and the meeting was adjourned with no decision having been made. It is believed the sticking point is that FWA Commissioner Flash Barker has threatened to tend his resignation should Alex Shane’s request be upheld, so passionately does he believe that FWA Title matches should be, in the best traditions of British wrestling, best out of three falls. So although Elisar Cabrera is leaning towards agreeing to make title matches best of one, he is reluctant to lose Flash, who it is universally recognised has done a magnificent job since he took over the Commissioner role at Vendetta 2004. Therefore, further discussions on the subject are planned at the next FWA management meeting.
TICKETS FOR NEW FRONTIERS…
Keep an eye on www.frontierwrestling.com for news on when tickets go on sale for FWA New Frontiers at Broxbourne Civic Hall on Saturday February 26.
Already signed for the FWA’s first show of 2005 are the following:
FWA British Heavyweight Championship Match
‘The Showstealer’ Alex Shane v ‘The Wonderkid’ Jonny Storm
Making his FWA debut
Chris Hero
FWA All-England Championship Match
‘The South City Thriller’ Hade Vansen v Spud
Returning to the FWA
The Zebra Kid
The First Ever FWA Open Door Invitational
Stay tuned to out next news update here on www.frontierwrestling.com this Wednesday (January 19).