WLH PPV Prediction League Phase 2: A Great Prize To Be Won

This is the prize for the second half of the 2011 WLH PPV Prediction League as long as we have 20 plus taking part.
It is a WWE R1 (NTSC) Backlash 2006 DVD signed by Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Edge, Triple H, Kane, Big Show, RVD & Trish Stratus. It comes with the COA (Certificate Of Authenticity)Picture at the bottom of this post.

So for those who don't know, what you have to do from now until the last PPV of the year in the WWE or TNA you have to predict the winners of each match, 2 points for a correct prediction. A table will be created and posted on the right side of the site, the new one is there so you can see what I mean. This is open to ANYONE, ANYWHERE in the world. All predictions MUST be submitted to me by 22:00 hrs GMT on the night of the PPV via email wlhstu@aol.co.uk. Good Luck guys.

Here is the line-up

Hell in a cell match: WWE Champion John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk
Hell in a cell match: World Champion Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton
WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix
Christian vs. Sheamus
Sin Cara vs. Heel Sin Cara

Classic British Wrestling – World Of Sport Years By Alex Kirkham

I was born in 1991, I was brought up with wrestling, learned to love wrestling, and especially love British wrestling. I was educated by my granddad about classic British Wrestling, the stuff he had watched in the 70’s and 80’s, and was so fond of. He was the man who taught me about the true groundbreaking stars of years gone by, who really paved the way for all past, present and future British stars in the wrestling business.

Whereas British wrestling is barely mentioned on British TV in the current times of reality television, in the 70’s it was one of the main ratings grabbing tea time shows in the UK. People would crowd around the television to watch stars like Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki, Johnny Saint etc ply their trade on a national stage, giving us an insight into the world of wrestling and more importantly showing a generation the sport.

I think it is only fitting that i kick off talking about the genuine passion that British wrestling evoked in the British public when it was at its height. It was genuinely a well respected, highly anticipated part of weekend sport, one which would be seen by thousands every week. Though the ring was smaller, and the venues only held a few hundred people, the atmosphere was electric. Fans would even get out of their seats and smack the heels with their handbags at points, which showed that crowd interaction played a key role in making the sport so big.

In my view, one of the biggest and most successful names to come from the British Wrestling scene was that of Johnny Saint, widely respected in both the UK & America as one of, if not our finest export wrestling wise. One of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time, Johnny Saint was simply a fine example of someone who had trained hard and gained the respect of his fans and peers because of this. He is of course the creator of the wonderfully named Russ Abbott Special, a move which arguably has shaped many a wrestling finisher over the last 20 to 30 years in my eyes. His matches with the likes of Johnny Kidd, Colin McDonald & more recently his appearances for Chikara fighting the likes of Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli stand out for me, in a career which was one which lacked titles or belts, but was simply phenomenally respected by the world of wrestling.

As well as Johnny Saint, 2 big names dominated the world of British wrestling in the 70’s, and big is no understatement. Weighing in at 26 stone and 38 stone respectively, Big Daddy & Giant Haystacks were 2 of the stalwarts of the era. They used their size and strength week by week, often beating smaller wrestlers, but on many occasions feuding with each other, in what can only be described as the best feud British Wrestling may have ever seen. Haystacks impressed so much in British wrestling that he eventually found game in Stu Harts Stampede promotion, before eventually becoming a member of the WCW roster and member of the Dungeon of Doom as Loch Ness, a run which was sadly cut short by Cancer in mid 1996. Whereas Haystacks looked to the USA, Big Daddy always stayed in the UK, where he was loved by fans, worshiped if you will. He feuded with the best talent of the generation, and always put on matches that are still things of legend. He is credited with helping start the career of Gentleman Chris Adams within wrestling, as well as helping push young talent like Steven Regal, Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith into the public eye by teaming with them.

Now I can’t go any further without speaking about the Dynamite Kid & the British Bulldog. Together they are two of the finest and most well known stars to come out of the UK, due to their runs with the WWF & New Japan. Smith started wrestling in the UK at the age of 15, with his cousin the Dynamite Kid, who by then had become a fixture of the British Wrestling scene. Davey Boy worked hard in tag matches, teaming with the likes of Big Daddy & Dynamite to further expand his reputation, leading to a series of extremely entertaining matches with Jim Breaks, for the British Welterweight Title. While Dynamite, already established would compete against the stalwarts of the UK scene like Mick McManus & Kendo Nagasaki. It was these matches, these performances in British Wrestling that would see both Dynamite & Bulldog scouted by Stu Hart and taken out to Canada to compete for the illustrious Stampede Wrestling.

Onto a personal highlight for me from classic British wrestling, a favourite tag team of mine had to be Steven Regal, now known as William Regal and Robbie Brookside. These two great competitors would often find themselves paired together; facing some of the toughest opponents the company had to offer. One of my favourite matches of all time was Brookside & Regal vs Nagasaki & Barratt, which for me showed why British wrestling was such a great spectacle for the fans. Regal of course is one of the most successful, decorated and well respected British guys to have made it state side, and to know he got his break following his displays in the UK, always makes watching his matches slightly more sweet. Brookside also found success in the US, competing on WCW Nitro on many occasions as well as a plethora of dark matches for the WWE on their frequent tours of the UK.

I’d like to finish my analysis of stars, by talking about a masked star that graced British Wrestling, and went by the name “Kung Fu”. He brought with him a healthy mix of black belt martial arts and Judo, to be my favourite of the old crop if you will. He wasn’t the most popular wrestler, didn’t always have the best support, but he made up for that in exciting and entertaining matches. He would often wrestle, in what looked like a velvet dressing gown and a mask made of Velcro and abandoned felt. But let me tell you, if you ask me who i remember from the old British wrestling shows, with the most memories, it will always be Kung Fu. I cannot say enough good words about him, and if you ever get the chance to watch one of his matches, then by all means, take my advice and watch it!

I’d love to go into detail about every star who worked in the classic British wrestling scene, but that would take well months, and as much as I’d love to do that, I simply haven’t got enough free time. I’d like to mention some of the guys who made British Wrestling what it is today, that I wasn’t able to mention. The likes of:
• Kendo Nagasaki
• Mark Rocco
• Blondie Barratt
• Clive Myers
• Fit Finlay
• Dave Taylor
• Marty Jones
• Steve Veidor


Above: Marc Rocco (third from left) with friends (left to right) Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castignoli & Colt Cabana)

And to be honest there are countless others I respect, for both their amazing entertainment value, and for their work in paving the way for the young British guys currently trying to breakthrough in both the FWA and in North America. Without doubt the world of sport years were phenomenal for British wrestling, it really was sport at its finest, and I’m just grateful I had a grandfather who shared my passion for wrestling, and could teach me about it all.

Any comments, hit me up on twitter @WholeKirknShow

The Indy Corner 25/9/11 - ROH Back on TV & More

I wasn't able to call in fo the Indy Corner this week on TWS but this is what I sent the guys.

ROH’s first TV show is now in the books, 50 minutes without ad breaks but only 2 matches, OK, the matches were a decent amount of time but there seemed quite a bit of talking but I hope this won’t put the people who are giving the ROH product a try for the first time as it’s supposed to be a ‘more wrestling, less talking’ show.
As for the TV show, there is a bit of confusion as how to view on the ROH site, well - The ROH site says, Ringside members - Monday. General access members - Thursday http://rohwrestling.com/membership So yes, if you want to watch it via the site on a Monday then you have to be a paid member, to watch it for free then it’ll be available on Thursdays.

In other ROH news:

In addition to ROH talent not being allowed to work iPPV events for other promotions, ROH stars are also not being allowed to work with promotions that have any kind of local television. The contracts with Sinclair are exclusive to ROH when it comes to appearing on television and iPPV. They are still allowed to work indy dates when they aren't booked for ROH.

On to other things:

I am not on the TWS pre-show this week as I am at FightClub: Pro’s Project Mayhem show, it is a 3 day event featuring workers from CZW, WXW (Germany), BJW & of course some of Fight Club's very best. The first night of the shows was Friday 23/09 which I didn’t attend but I was at Saturday’s show and I’ll be at Sunday’s. The UK has had CZW guys over here before such as former owner (John) ZANDIG & Wifebeater, and they did a ‘death’ match but this time around, CZW have brought over a few more guys including Adam Cole (from ROH’s Future Shock team), Devon Moore (current CZW champion), Sami Callihan and current CZW owner DJ Hyde. Night 2 was amazing, good wrestling in the Junior heavyweight tournament that featured MK McKinnan, Rockstar Spud, Jonathon Gresham and that aforementioned Adam Cole. The Bound To Violence tournament was CRAZY – barbed wire boards, thumbtacks, panes of glass oh yes, proper wild. Sunday will feature the finals of both tournaments. Danny Havoc of CZW didn't make the show as at customs over here, when asked he said he was 'visiting friends' but apparently, passport control googled his name realized he was a wrestler and sent him packing. DJ Hyde put it across another way during the show however.

Night 1 Results (Thanks to Sam Bradley):

1. Jonathan Gresham def MK McKinnan
2. Yushihito Sasaki def Yuko Miyamoto
3. Rockstar Spud & Adam Cole def Blue Dragon & Jim Hunter
4. Trent Seven def Sami Callihan - Amazing
5. Clint Margera def Dan Ryder

Night 2 Results:

1. MK McKinnan def. Emil Sitoci & Jim Hunter
2. Big Van Walter & Dan Ryder def. Trent Seven & Dave Mastiff (post-match Mastiff clobbered Seven with a sweet lariat)
3. Adam Cole def. "Rockstar" Spud & Jonathan Gresham
**DJ Hyde promo, explains Danny Havoc won't be there, he's in charge of CZW business so Callihan has to face Yoshihito in Round 1 also**
4. Best 2/3 Boards: Yoshihito Sasaki def. Sami Callihan incl. assistance from DJ Hyde to advance to Round 2 tomorrow.
5. Assorted Weapons: Devon Moore def. Clint Margera to advance to Round 2 on Sunday.
6. Light-Tubes Match: Yuko Miyamoto def. Jimmy Havoc to advance to Round 2 on Sunday. Miyamoto moonsaulted into a ceiling beam also. It was nuts.
7. Panes of Glass: DJ Hyde def. Sami Callihan to advance to Round 2

Keep your eyes open on http://wrestlingslasthope.com early in the week where I will post pictures of nights 2 & 3. Search YouTube for username dahardcoreone where you will find a couple of videos I posted from night 2 - Please ignore the Bruno Mars video up on there ;)

Edit: On the YouTube page there are now videos from night 3 as well, as stated, later in the week there will be a write up with pictures etc.

For or Against: Hogan vs Goldberg on Nitro With Matt Husson & Shaun Nichols

Matt Husson: (For) Granted Hogan vs Goldberg could have been one of the highest earning PPV’s in WCW’s history! They weren’t looking for a one off pay day, they were looking long term! Held in the sold out Georgia dome in Atlanta (The home town of Goldberg’s American football playing career) Goldberg beat Hogan clean to become the new WCW Champion and in turn helped the match draw a 6.91 rating for the quarter-hour, the highest rating recorded in the ratings war up to that point! Not easy considering Steve Austin had only just beat Shawn Michaels for the WWF title two weeks prior at Wrestle Mania XIV. Holding the title match on Nitro was a deliberate tactic to draw both fans away from the WWF and the casual wrestling fan over to WCW. Not something you could expect to happen if the match were to be held on PPV. In today’s terms that would be like asking a UFC fan to buy a Strikeforce show. Not everyone has the luxury to buy both shows at $40(?) a pop so you stick to what you know! Also, let’s not forget the heavily hyped Starrcade from the previous year. You know the one that was supposed to be the nail in the WWF’s coffin! But after the atrocious ending (The fast count that wasn’t a fast count!) all but killed the fan’s faith in WCW’s PPV’s which is well documented in the PPV buy figures for that time. Nitro proved to be unpredictable and offer something the WWF wasn’t prepared to do at that time, Nitro had an exciting advantage. From the 6th of April till the end of the 1998, the ratings rarely went below 4.0, ranging from 3.6 up to 6.0, staying steady right all the way up to the middle of 1999.

Shaun Nichols: (Against) There is a reason why Sting vs Hogan at Starrcade 1997 was the most successful WCW PPV of all-time by a large margin, it was a match that was bulit over a long period of time and when it came down to it people paid their money to see it. Rather the match was executed well is irrelevant and while I agree with Matt that the match failed, the build up did not. Even though 1998 is seen overall as a year that WCW performed well there is clear signs that the writing was about to be put on the wall, WCW became obsessed with using stars outside of professional wrestling and used such greats as Karl Malone, Dennis Rodman, Kevin Greene, Jay Leno followed by none other than the Ultimate Warrior as PPV main eventers. Goldberg beating Hogan on Nitro is simply down to panic, the show itself drew 39,000 fans before anything was announced such was the drawing power of WCW as a brand at that point. Hogan wanting to impress Turner execs wanted to face Goldberg in a dark match where he would lose in front of such a large audience confident that they would believe that it was Hogan that drew the crowd even though that was false. Infact once that WCW announced Hogan vs Goldberg would take place they sold a mere 2,000 extra tickets so well short of a sell-out. Bischoff running scared of the WWF now benefiting from Steve Austin, felt that he had no choice but to put Hogan vs Goldberg on TV. Yes it popped a great quarter rating but in a matter of weeks counted for absolutely nothing. WCW fell behind the WWF when it came for Monday Night ratings, Hogan continued to be the center of attention and although he had the belt, Goldberg was seen by WCW as very much as an afterthought. I must also point out that this match took place more than 3 months after Wrestle Mania XIV so I see that argument as very weak but must point out that because Steve Austin reached his pinnacle by winning the WWF title on PPV it solidified him as a TV draw as became evident in the months and years that followed. Goldberg also would have benefited from winning the title on PPV and so would WCW as they missed out on an easy PPV money. WCW chose to win a weekly TV rating rather than make money and in less than three years they paid the penalty for such a ridiculous strategy which they continued to repeat and they ended up going to out of business.

Hit me up on twitter @WLHSTU as none of the guys have twitter accounts with your thoughts or via email wlhstu@aol.co.uk

Pipe Bomb Poof by James A. Caine

Okay so by now we all have heard about it, seen it on television, watched it countless times on youtube, read about it, posted in forums and on blogs about it. We all have the knowledge of CM Punk's now infamous and illustirous ranting that was 'cut short' by WWE audio guys because he was 'saying to much real life personal shit' about a multi-million, possibly billion dollar company. This one little act skyrocketed CM Punk into the limelight back in June of 2011 during which time he was no longer under contract with WWE, but clearly discussing contract options with them.

Let's tangent a second here. Wrestling is fake. There are stories all over, and in today's modern age we sometimes blur the line between what's real and Kayfabe anymore. This particular angle with Punk and his WWE title theft not only blurred that line, but seemingly erased it altogether.

I digress, CM punk suddenly was a household name. A guy who's been wrestling since the mid to late 90's. Suddenly this guy was everywhere. Even now, I'm sitting here writing about him. A guy I personally passed and overlooked on the basis of a meet and greet one night in the early 2000's where punk proved that he was undoubtedly, (at least to me) an asshole in real life, someone who truly believed his own super ego. Since that day I never truly appreciated Punk, or his wrestling abilities. Now that he's all over the place I can't seem to get away from him, and therefore... I have to speak up. He's getting the push, or at least he was. But what is there I can say about a man who has essentially proven himself to be a dickheaded human being? I can start by saying, HOLY SHIT THIS GUY CAN ACTUALLY WRESTLE.

Okay, so he always could. He was well trained, and "paid his dues" as Bret Hart would say. I admit I overlooked that in him for my own selfish personal reasons, but in today's WW-Cena atrocity, guys like Chick Magnet Punk (yeah that's what the CM stands for, go look it up.) need to be given more spotlight. Unfortunately the way things are going, Cena's 15 minutes of fame are over, and the alarm clock has rung for him. OR has it?

As of this past Monday, CM Punk has been given another title opportunity, this time it is a triple threat hell in a cell with John Cena, and Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio himself, while being in general a mexican version of John Bradshaw Layfield (Which is a horrid angle or gimmick to have), is actually (like Punk) a VERY talented wrestler... at least in this writer's eyes.

CM Punk calls the microphone a pipe bomb, and what he did with that bomb in June was set off a nuclear reaction that roused everyone who has ANYTHING to do with WWE or it's product. However that reaction was short lived as the most likely and possible outcome of the next WWE Pay-per-view will be the same old borish trash we've come to expect from WWE. Cena overcomes the odds, and goes home champion leaving CM Punk holding a dud, instead of an all out explosive... Then again... he used that bomb once... maybe he's still got some atomic words to drop for the voiceless fan out there, and WWE writers realize this. For now one can only speculate what will happen, and this writer personally hopes to see a change in WWE, and John Cena disappear. Whatever the outcome, CM Punk will be one to watch. The reason why? Nobody in WWE needs to give him that (kayfabe) 'push', CM Punk pushes himself, and he has pushed himself above an otherwise biased opinion of him, and probably in more people than just me... I could be wrong though.

Rockstar Spud – The Baby Jesus Of Professional Wrestling By Alex Kirkham

As British wrestling goes, there are many stars who can put their hat in the ring to be the best. But there is only 1 baby Jesus of professional wrestling, and that is of course Rockstar Spud.The young Birmingham native, who has plied his trade in a plethora of wrestling companies, including TNA, PWG & FWA. He is 5ft 3inches of charisma, charm and talent, and has a bright future within the business. He may be considered the smallest mainstream wrestler in the UK, but he sure makes up for it when he steps inside the squared circle.
Spud, who can name Jack Storm, Chris Gilbert & Don Charles amongst his trainers, broke through into main stream wrestling around 2003. After initially competing for a number of independent companies both in the UK and abroad, Spud made his debut for the IPW promotion from its creation in 2004. It was here, where he would start a long and hard fought feud with British wrestling stalwart Jonny Storm, a feud which would help shape modern British Wrestling in my view.
Spud would also become an integral part of the 1PW promotion, where he would notably feud with Independent superstar Stirling James Keenan and the TNA Wrestling monster Abyss. In each feud, Spud would play the role of the underdog, beating the odds to come out on top against the larger athletes. Along with his long time partner Luke Dragon Phoenix, he found success within the tag division, as well as a reign as the open weight champion.
As well as wrestling for IPW and 1PW, Spud also soon made his debut for the FWA into the flyweight division that the company was about to start. He would go on to compete in the inaugural FWA flyweight title tournament and lose to Ross “RJ Singh” Jordan in the final, a match filled with controversy and that would stem into a long lasting feud between the pair within the FWA. What would end up being a 14 month feud would see both men push themselves to the limit in many hard fought contests, resulting in Spud winning a last man standing match at FWA Last Fight At The Prom.
Soon after his feud with Singh, the FWA began a talent exchange deal with prominent US promotion Ring Of Honor. It would see Spud appear on 2 ROH shows, as well as on their 2 UK events of the same year. As well as competing for ROH, Spud would go on to compete for PWG while they toured the UK. Within this tour, Spud was able to gain experience of seasoned independent wrestlers like Excalibur & Joey Ryan, providing him with both big match experience and notoriety amongst a larger audience. 2006 was definitely a standout year in the career of Rockstar Spud, he gained so much experience throughout the year, shaping him to be a batter athlete in years to come. Spud would there after continue to be a main stay in British Wrestling, finding increasing success within the FWA.
But Spud isn’t just a wrestler, he is a classic performer. This was highlighted best when he appeared on the BBC3 show “Snog, Marry, Avoid” where by people with questionable dress sense, are given a revamp and made to look in a sense normal. Spud appeared on the show, in his Rockstar Spud persona, to be “made-under”. It wasn’t as much the actual make under that was important here, it was the way Spud carried his character into a non wrestling environment and kept it believable and entertaining. He showed what a skill he has when it comes to the acting side of wrestling, not just the physical side.
When you look at Spud, from an outside perspective, you see a hard working young guy, who has worked his way up the food chain in British wrestling. His hunger for the business is 2nd to none in my view. A man who is only 28 years old, but is a 16 time multi belt champion, whose career is sure to last many many more years with yet more accomplishments.
As a personal favourite of mine, Spud along with RJ Singh, Zac Sabre & El Ligero are the real future of British wrestling, and i personally can’t wait to see how they help shape the industry in Britain, Europe and the rest of the world.

Hit me up on twitter @WholeKirknShow

Mark Henry As World Champion By Ben Ford

Hello people of the wrestling world before I start my first article I would like to thank Stu who gave all of us the chance to do articles.

I thought I would hit the ice with an simple article Mark Henry has been wrestling since the late 90's which is interesting since his career pretty much up to now was not really big up before this year. The wrestling of WWE has changed quite recently since we have had Randy Orton losing the world heavyweight championship. This must of be one of the biggest upsets in WWE for quite an long time. Who ever said he would be world champion at the time before Night of Champions must be lying. It will be interesting for Mark Henry moving forward, will he hold the championship for long or will it be quite short?

I want to get your guys feedback its your opinion what I will do for the next article and I will bring this up on TWS So hopefully you will all tune in the link to TWS is on this site on the right hand side.

My facebook is on Stu's facebook and any questions you have I will respond to them

Yours sincerely
Ben Ford