How I would Book Survivor Series '12 By Daniel Bradley

How I would book Survivor Series ’12 to Wrestlemania 29 for The Rock, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk & John Cena and why I think it is the best way to go.

First of all, I’ll tell you what matches I’d have at Wrestlemania 29: The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar and John Cena vs. CM Punk.

Now I’ll explain why: The Rock is the biggest draw. Non wrestling fans or old wrestling fans may just buy the PPV to see The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar. It could be built as ‘Hollywood Actor and WWE Icon vs. Former UFC Champion’ (since WWE have no problem acknowledging Brocks UFC run). The Rock is one of the WWE’s biggest draws of all time and Brock Lesnar is one of UFC’s biggest draws of all time. No matter how you put it, it sounds interesting. The Rock is 6’4, 260lbs and Lesnar is 6’3, 275lbs; they are two big, strong, well known, men who could put on a show and have had a feud in the past. This would be the rematch, (The Rock put over Brock Lesnar big time in 2002 at SummerSlam). As far as CM Punk vs. John Cena goes; why not have the face of the company and the top heel face off in the main event of “The Grandest Stage of Them All”? It would be the final blow off. After all that’s happened this year; after all the losses and I don’t care what you say; John Cena deserves the WWE Title, and yes, this would be the WWE Title match.

Survivor Series ‘12

No WWE Title match. This match would be replaced with a 10 man elimination tag match. Ryback, John Cena, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz & The Prime Time Players. What better way to elevate the tag division by making 2 teams a part of the main event of one of the ‘Big Four’ (The other three being Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania and SummerSlam, obviously). Same with Kofi and Miz; what better way to keep their feud interesting; mix them in with the guys at the top. You might be thinking that there’s nobody to fill the rest of the card, I’ll just throw in a few names who can be used to build the rest of the card: Orton, Barrett, Del Rio, Sheamus, Big Show, Kane, Bryan, Rhodes, Sandow, Brodus Clay, Cesaro; need I go on? In the end; Cena and Ryback would be victorious, with Ryback pinning Punk.

TLC ‘12

WWE Title: Who has this been surrounding recently? That’s right: CM Punk, John Cena and Ryback. Put the three of them in a TLC match, you might not have the best TLC match ever but it makes the most sense. I won’t go into too much detail, Punk retains. Due to the fact he isn’t pinning anyone to win; Ryback will still not have been defeated cleanly by pin fall so the loss doesn’t hurt him too much.

Royal Rumble ‘13

Royal Rumble Winner: Ryback, he has the momentum now, may aswell give him a Rumble win and send him after the World Title.

The Rock vs. CM Punk: I have previously stated the reason, I would have Punk retain so that it’s CM Punk vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania. No one would see it coming. Everyone expects The Rock to win. The finish of the match would be: The Rock hits a Rock Bottom and a People’s Elbow and goes for the pin. Referee is pulled out of the ring by Heyman and thrown into the steel steps. Rock see’s Heyman and chases him backstage. Backstage; Lesnar appears and attacks Rock, forcing him back down the ramp and into the ring. Punk hits a GTS on Rock but the referee is still down. Whilst Punk is out moaning at the referee to get up; Rock gets up and drags Punk into the ring where he attempts another Rock Bottom but is attacked again by Lesnar, who gives him an F5. Heyman throws the ref back into the ring before Punk drops an elbow off the top for the win, retaining his WWE Title.

We later find out that Heyman knew Lesnar would be there, Lesnar says Heyman told him if he helped Punk he’d get a Title Shot a Wrestlemania. Punk says no way, stating he never needed help which causes an argument between Punk, Lesnar and Heyman. Later in the night (RAW) The Rock calls out Lesnar and the show goes off the air after a brawl with Rock and Lesnar involving half the roster (Similar to the one in April involving Cena). Eventually; Lesnar ends up forgetting about the Title and his main focus is proving to The Rock that he was better in 2002 and he is still better in 2013.

There are Elimination Chamber qualifiers in the weeks leading up to the PPV. The six superstars involved end up being: CM Punk, John Cena, Miz, R-Truth, Kidd & Cesaro.

Elimination Chamber ‘13

John Cena enters first with The Miz, followed by Cesaro, R-Truth, Kidd and CM Punk. Cena eliminates everyone (except Miz) before Punk has even entered. When Punk enters; he and Miz double team Cena. Punk hits a surprise GTS on The Miz; eliminating him from the Chamber. After a little back and forth; CM punk defeats Cena cleanly, but of course CM Punk entered last and Cena was first so the loss doesn’t hurt Cena, but gives a tonne of heat to CM Punk.

Wrestlemania ‘29

The Rock defeats Brock Lesnar and John Cena defeats CM Punk to become the new WWE Champion. Both wins are clean and the matches run about 25-30 minutes.

This leaves the door open for The Rocks vision. To one day become WWE Champion again; perhaps Wrestlemania 30?

Who knows!

PWG Failure To Communicate Preview By Jose Haze

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla returns to the American Legion Hall in sunny Reseda, Ca. October 27th, 2012 for "Failure to Communicate". After an almost two month lay off, FTC is the follow up to "Battle of Los Angeles 2012" a two day extravaganza that took the indy wrestling world by storm. (There were a few changes made to the card, so we decided to update this preview.)

Packed to the rafters with an abundance of indy wrestling talent from all over North America, this card has a little something for pretty much every type of wrestling fan.

PWG tag champs Super Smash Brothers will not be on the card for the second straight show due to personal commitments. BOLA '12 champ Adam Cole decided to not take advantage of his title shot that came with his BOLA victory.

In spite of these three great talents not participating in the show, PWG, with all the last minute changes has still put together another superb card that no doubt will once again have the Indy world in an uproar.

Singles Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin

In one of the additions to the card, Michael Elgin will be "pulling a Steen" and working a double on the show. Wrestling Edwards early then in the Main Event. Elgin is no stranger to pulling double duty at a PWG show, as seen in his heroic runner-up finish at BOLA '12. Elgin is having a phenomenal year, participating in match of the year level matches seemingly everywhere he goes.Eddie Edwards meanwhile with his reality based, somewhat Japanese style of wrestling is always a treat to watch, and is always competing at a high level as we saw in his recent ROH match vs 2012 BOLA champ Adam Cole. Regardless of the opponent you know you will always get 100% from both men. So you pit these two men against each other in the early part of a stacked card and let me tell you,this match will no doubt have some fireworks.

Singles Match: Roderick Strong vs. Rich Swann

In another of the rearranged matches, Roderick Strong will be facing Rich Swann. Previously Roddy was set to team with Eddie Edwards vs The Bucks, while Swann was set to face El Generico. This match none the less I find intriguing. Strong, though not flashy has always been very creative and innovative with his offense meanwhile Swann is the consummate DG/Evolve talent. Cruiserweight size, acrobatic and ultra talented. What separates Swann from other DG/Evolve wrestlers is his charisma. The guy can work a crowd, not only with his wrestling but with his confidence and humor. One would assume Strong will look to pound the smaller Swann with his high impact offense and Swann will look to the air, but in PWG YOU NEVER KNOW what will happen. I could be wrong, but I think this could be the "You will never know what we are up to" match of the night.

Singles Match: Sami Callihan vs. Davey Richards

In a rematch of their incredible match at AAW's "Bound by Hate" think its safe to say that this match will be an all out war. Non stop destruction. In recent PWG appearances the human battle ram Callahan has gotten way over with the SoCal fans. With his hard hitting and no fear style, Callahan is pitted against someone who just might be the perfect candidate to catapult Sami up another notch. With his ultra-realism, high intensity, shoot style wrestling Richards I feel is a perfect fit vs Sami. Say what you want about Richards, but he has shown he is not afraid of giving shots to up and coming young wrestlers.

Singles Grudge Match: Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack

At Threemendous 3, Brian Cage channeled his inner Booker T while cutting a promo on both Steen and Mack, who battled that night. The high jinks and run - ins between the three have continued ever since. Recently Willie Mack's father, affectionately known as "Foot's" passed away, so no doubt he will still be wrestling with a heavy heart. I anticipate Willie coming out and giving the performance of his life as a tribute to his father. Cage meanwhile will no doubt look to "get his shit in" with the intention of taking another step toward the PWG title. Considering those involved, I think we will be provided with a few moments that will no doubt make the "hype' video for this show.

Tag Team Match: Kenny Omega & El Generico vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

At the last minute PWG announced that the prodical son would return. Kenny Omega, after a lengthy absence from PWG will be teaming with Senor Charisma El Generico. Both men have been doing some great things in Japanese Fed. DDT. Generico is coming off a breathtaking trilogy vs Kota Ibushi. Omega meanwhile, not to left behind has had some brilliant performances in DDT against the likes of Ibushi, Yoshihiko and Shigehiro Irie to name a few. Together these men will no doubt be looking to hit a homerun in front of the PWG faithful, and who better to do it against than The Young Bucks? The Bucks with their sinister, belt guitar playing, win at all cost style are the right foes, at the right time for a show stealing performance vs Omega and Generico.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Championship Title Three-Way Match: Kevin Steen (Champion) vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Ricochet:

Three very unique styles come together for this incredible three - way match. You have Steen's mix of brawling and speedy big man skill set. You have Ricochet's acrobatic aerial assault style. You have "Unbreakable" Elgin's power, explosion and strength. This match allows for so many possibilities.

The main theme of this match is Payback. Steen was upset by Ricochet in the 1st round of BOLA. Meanwhile Elgin defeated Ricochet in the semi - finals of the event. throw in the ROH connection between Steen and Elgin and I look for this match to be as brutal as possible. With Elgin wrestling earlier in the night, he will surely be at a disadvantage in stamina, but that said I still expect Elgin to put in a first rate performance. Steen will no doubt look to take advantage of Elgin's having wrestled earlier in the night. With his wide array of flips, moonsaults and aerial tactics, Ricochet looks to be the wild card n this match. With an offense that he unleashes on his opponents from many angles, Ricochet will no doubt look to keep both of his opponents off balance. Regardless of who wins, I feel this match will no doubt have the crowd in a frenzy.

Also on the card B-Boy and Famous B will be taking on SoCal hipster tag team The Rockness Monsters and Joey Ryan will be facing Ryan Taylor.

When other feds make last minute changes to their cards, it usually means the show got worse. Well the last minute changes to "Failure to Communicate" have not only not dropped the level of expectation,in my opinion they increased our expectations. "Failure to Communicate" will no doubt be another classic PWG production.

Follow me on twitter @Jose_LL_00

A Bird's Eye View Column #03: SWE, The Place To Be! By Glenn Bird

Hello one and all I’m back for the third edition of A Bird’s Eye View here for Wrestling’s Last Hope. When I started here a few editions ago I stated that not all my columns would be WWE related and that I’d get down to some BritWres stuff in the future. I think it’s time to get down to that BritWres stuff here in edition three which will be all about Southside Wrestling Entertainment.

So Saturday morning I get a phone call from Dale Mills saying I’m booked for commentary for SWE! Not the Saturday I was expecting at all but I was more than happy to lend a helping voice if I was needed. I got my gear and waited for my lift, and then it was off to Stevenage for a night of Wrestling.

The venue was a good one, it was nice and big with a great entrance way, a long entrance way. I kinda felt sorry for Old Man Mills having to go back and forth from the Commentary table to the ring after every match; needless to say he was knackered after the first two matches!

On to the show which opened up with a one fall to a finish four way match which featured the SWE Speed King Champion “Party” Marty Scurll, Bengal Tiger, the undefeated Ego Dragon and the debuting Kid Fite. The title was not on the line in this match though as Scurll has a massive four way title defence on Sunday October 28th against Martin Kirby, Robbie X and Johnathan Gresham which will be a fantastic four way. All four guys in this match worked really, really well together and it was a great way to open the SWE Raw Deal show. At the end though it was Ego Dragon who continued his undefeated streak on this night. Dragon will face El Ligero in a huge Mask vs. Mask match on the October 28th show, it’ll be the ending of a rivalry that has lasted around a year. The build up has been excellent and the Mask vs. Mask match will no doubt be even better!

The Southside versus House Of Pain rivalry continued right before match number two as “The Man With The Golden Tongue” Harvey Dale interrupted SWE’s Dale Mills. Harvey informed Mills that he would be handling all H.O.P. announcing duties tonight before bringing out SWE Tag Team Champions Joseph Conners and Paul Malen, The Predators. For me Conners and Malen are one of if not the best Tag Teams in the country, every time I see them they just seem to get better and better. Their opponents on the show were The Dunne Brothers, Pete and Damien, who were making their Southside debut. This was my first time seeing the Dunne Brothers in action and I must say that I was really impressed with them and the match as a whole was fantastic. Anyone who has read my previous columns may know that I’m a huge fan of Tag Team Wrestling and this was one of the best tag team matches I’ve seen live in a while. Just like the match before it this was a non-title match as Conners and Malen are defending the belts against CZW starts OI4K (Jake and Dave Crist) at the show this Sunday. Conners and Malen won the match with their Trophy Kill finishing move on Pete Dunne. Excellent match.

The next match saw T-Bone return to SWE for the first time in four months. For those that don’t know T-Bone was attacked by the H.O.P crew four months ago and it put Bone out of action so this was Bone’s return to the ring, his opponent was reluctant House Of Pain member Max Angelus. Also for those that don’t know Angelus is the Southside Money In The Bank holder and can cash it in on any champion at any time. As this was official House Of Pain business “The Man With The Golden Tongue” Harvey Dale was ringside as extra insurance for Max. This match showed the heat between Southside and House Of Pain well but it didn’t last long as the rest of team H.O.P. hit the ring to once again attack Bone, this caused a disqualification. The confrontation ended with Bone standing tall in the ring staring down the H.O.P. crew. It was a heated ending to the match and fuelled the rivalry between the two companies even more.

There was just one more match remaining before intermission and that saw El Ligero go one on one with The Star Attraction Mark Haskins. This match could certainly be a main event match in any promotion in my opinion and they both went all out this night to put on an amazing match. This was one of those matches that I don’t believe anyone wanted to end, even the crowd seemed to be split right down the middle, one minute cheering Haskins, one minute cheering Ligero, it was crazy. It also seemed to be back and forth the entire match with equal amount of offense too; nobody could predict who was going to win. It was Ego Dragon though that cost Ligero the match after a stomp to the head, which Haskins followed up with Made In Japan for the three. It’s also worth noting that Haskins apologized to Ligero after the match for winning with Dragon’s help as he didn’t want or see Dragon getting involved. Fantastic matchup between two of the UK’s best.

After intermission we had a singles match between Robbie X and Noam Dar. Robbie hasn’t won a match in Southside in sixteen months; his last win was in June of 2011 over Keith Myatt. Noam Dar was also on a little bit of a losing streak in Southside too, losing to both Marty Scurll and Davey Richards so both were looking for big wins in this match. Both Noam and Robbie are two of the brightest young talents in this country and although Noam won the match with his Knee Bar (The Dar Bar?) submission move both came away from this match looking like huge stars. Robbie has another huge match this Sunday and could end that losing streak in a massive way by winning the Speed King title in that huge four way match.

All through the night I was thinking to myself ‘how does one prepare to commentate on a Mad Man Manson match?’ and now I have the thought of ‘how does one write about a Mad Man Manson match?’ Well, I’ll give it a go! On this night Triple M fought RJ Singh in a... match? Can we call it a match? I have no idea, RJ and Manson did go one on one in something though and it was comedy from the get go with Manson killing wrestling at every opportunity. Manson got the win over Singh after a springboard crossbody from the second rope, yes folks, no Haduken’s here, Manson won with a wrestling move!

After Manson’s tomfoolery, shenanigans, craziness and downright madness it was on to the none title main event between Southside Heavyweight Champion, the Heavyweight House Of Pain Stixx and Martin Kirby. At least we thought it was a non-title main event until right before the match Dale Mills said he had word that the title was on the line! So Southside’s Raw Deal main event was now a title match between Champion Stixx and Challenger Kirby. What a main event it was too, it was amazingly heated and emotional; the fans firmly behind Kirby who they wanted to bring the title back home to Southside. It always makes a match that little bit better when the crowd are as hot as they were for this one, Stixx and Kirby are both phenomenal wrestlers in my opinion and the match that they had showed that. Near fall after near fall from Kirby got the fans on the edge of their seats. They all wanted to see Stixx and his manager Harvey Dale go back to House Of Pain with their tails between their legs but it was not to be as Kirby went face first in to Stixx’s steal chain and lost the match after a three count. House Of Pain prevailed over Southside again, much to the chagrin of the fans, Kirby, Dale Mills and the Southside management. After the match though T-Bone hit the ring to clean House (of Pain) and assist Kirby. Sunday October 28th Southside Heavyweight title, Stixx defends the gold against the former champion and the only man to ever beat him in Southside, T-Bone.

I didn’t intend for this column to be a review of the show but once I got started I couldn’t really help it. My overall thoughts on the show are that it was a good solid show from top to bottom with not a bad match in sight. The feud between Southside and House Of Pain is one of the most heated feuds I’ve seen in BritWres for a good long time and that does nothing but positive things for not only Southside and H.O.P. but for BritWres too. Overall a fantastic debut in Stevenage for Southside with Raw Deal and I think everyone would agree with that.

Southside has another show this Sunday night at The Priory Centre in St. Neots and it’ll be their Second Anniversary show. It’ll feature a mask vs. mask match with El Ligero taking on Ego Dragon; at the end of that match someone will lose their mask. The Southside Tag Team titles are on the line as The Predators make their first defence against the CZW Tag Team of OI4K. Current CZW Champion Masada will face Southside Money In The Bank holder Max Angelus in possibly the biggest match of Max’s career. In a special CZW Guest Match Greg Excellent takes on DJ Hyde in one on one action. In what will no doubt be a six star match up Mad Man Manson will go one on one with old friend and rival the Invisible Man for only a second time in their highly decorated careers. Marty Scurll will defend his Southside Speed King Championship in a massive four way match against Martin Kirby, Robbie X and Johnathan Gresham. Mark Haskins returns to Southside to go one on one with CZW star Alex Colon and finally the Southside Heavyweight title will be on the line as The Heavyweight House Of Pain Stixx who is sure to have Harvey Dale in tow will defend against the only man to ever beat him in Southside, the former Southside Heavyweight Champion T-Bone in which is to surely be a super heated match up.

So there we go, that’s my review and my thoughts on SWE’s Raw Deal show, I hope you all enjoyed. Before I sign off though, back by popular demand (By its originator DDM) its random thought time!

Will be at T.I.W. this Friday in Mansfield, be sure to come and watch the show...

So Eve is the only person in the world that doesn’t know Teddy Long stole her iPad...

Seen the first picture of Ben Kingsley as Mandarin in Iron Man 3, nerdgasms ahoy...

WWE 13 looks amazing this year, only two weeks to go now. Can’t wait!...

Busy couple of weeks ahead and I can’t wait, must not kidnap AJ Lee at the signing though...

Big thanks to Ben Auld and Dale Mills for the Southside gig this week, really enjoyed it...!

Be sure to add me on facebook and follow me on Twitter @Glencyclopedia, have a good week folks, I’ll be back with more column goodness next week!

(Thanks to Brett Hadley for the picture of Noam Dar)

Bound For Glory Thoughts By Shaun Nichols

TNA's Bound For Glory PPV is their biggest show of the year, the TNA version of Wrestlemania. What it was clear watching the show is that there is very little buzz or excitement about the promotion. It was a decent PPV offering but it did not come across as anything really special, it did not have a fantastic build up. It was basically just another show in which for the second time this year was built up to Hulk Hogan having a match and then finding out that he couldn't wrestle. But let's start at the beginning with Rob Van Dam winning the X-Division title from Zema Ion. RVD was one of the most over wrestlers on the show that tells me that a decent percentage of the crowd were ECW/WCW fans from the late 1990's. RVD has not been a part of the X-Division at any point of his TNA career but was given the title shot because TNA couldn't find a different opponent for Ion and they also wanted Van Dam on the show. Giving RVD the title clearly indicates that TNA at the moment really do not care about the X-Division and it will probably be a minor part of TNA in the next few months.

Up next was Samoa Joe successfully defending the TV title against his former tag team partner Magnus, this was a pretty good match because Joe had his working shoes on so it was probably in the *** range. The last couple of minutes was actually very good with the reversals and Magnus avoiding Joe's attempts to lock in the choke. However what became evident to me is that Magnus who has a decent look and is a good talker, really missed the chance to go out and make a strong impression. He has improved a lot in the last few years but here the match was all about Samoa Joe.

Up next was the battle of Beer Money which for most of 2012 was expected to be the show's main event. Bobby Roode and James Storm still had a really good match but the fans didn't care as much as you would think. The fans cared more about RVD then watching James Storm finally get his revenge against his former tag team partner. The feud seems to have come to an end as Storm used a beer bottle to help him get the win which was the same tactic Roode used to beat Storm for the TNA title nearly a year earlier. I also have no idea why they had King Mo out there, he wasn't involved in the finish and he doesn't look to be heading into a programme with either Storm or Roode. He just look awkward and out of place, he wasn't helped by the fact the fans didn't know who he is.

Worst match of the show was Joey Ryan winning a TNA contract by defeating Al Snow, Snow wrestled in gear that should only be worn on a low budget indy show. Did he not realise this was his employers biggest show of the year? Anyway the story was that Ryan was hopelessly outclassed by an agent but got the win thanks to the returning Matt Morgan. Why should we care about a wrestler who is booked to be so bad that he can't be competitive by someone who isn't even an active wrestler. I have no interest in seeing Ryan, Snow or Morgan anytime soon.

One of the most anticipated matches were the WTTCOTW (Daniels & Kazarian) defending against Kurt & AJ and the team of Chavo & Hernandez. This started out pretty slowly and then became excellent when Kurt Angle got the hot tag and went wild on the other two teams. Match carried on really well from there with lots of big spots including Kaz nearly killing himself with a huracanrana to the outside on Hernandez. Chavo got the win on Daniels after the frog splash, fans did not react that big to the title change but that might be because although Chavo & Hernandez are a decent team they are not at the same level as the other two teams. Hopefully Daniels & Kazarian get the belts back pretty soon as their tag team name only works when they are the champs. Chavo mentioned Eddie in his post match interview which the fans liked.

Tara won the Knockouts title from Brooke Tessmacher in a match which was ok and only went about 6 minutes. She then made out with her Hollywood boyfriend which was revealed to be someone called Jesse who was in Big Brother. Nobody cared.

Speaking of something that TNA fans don't really care about it was time for Aces & Eights to go up against Sting & Bubba. Fans expected Bubba to turn on Sting, the problem with the Aces & Eights is that we don't know who they are and the feud as basically not moved in the last two months. We really need to see this feud start developing quickly, will it happen here? The Aces & Eights team are represented by Luke Gallows & Mike Knox although they aren't actually revealed. Running interference was Wes Brisco and making the save was Joe Park who finally weeks after been kidnapped broke his handcuffs so we assume is now a free man. A second masked man ran in and gave a Bubba a spinebuster through a table for the win. This allows Aces & Eights access to the Impact Zone, how exciting is that? Before then though we got to see Hulk Hogan hobble his way to the ring. The masked men then very nicely ran into his fist and then acted dead, this left the mystery man alone with Hogan, Sting & Bubba. They than unmasked him to reveal Devon Dudley who despite facing a 3 on 1 situation started laughing, our babyface heroes looked shocked and let him leave as Devon said 'It was me all along'. Can't see Devon as the leader, surely Eric Bischoff will be the final reveal because TNA obviously thinks we need to see another tedious Hogan vs Bischoff feud. Fans again that did not react to any of the Aces & Eights antics and the problem is that this is going to be the focal point to TNA for a long time to come.

What the fans did care about was the main event which saw Austin Aries defending the TNA title against the company's biggest star and babyface Jeff Hardy. The major problem with that is the crowd in Phoenix was very pro-Aries and Jeff Hardy found himself being booed on a numerous occasions despite Mike Tenay trying to claim otherwise. This was a very good main event and was pretty close to being in the **** range, Hardy became the new champion after hitting Aries with the twist of fate followed by a senton for the clean pin. Fans did react positively to that but they saw a good match and a title change.

The show on it's own was a thumbs up show it had three very good matches which were the main event, the three way tag team match and the Bobby Roode vs James Storm brawl. The only thing which was bad was the Joey Ryan vs Al Snow match and that can be blamed on how the match was laid out which was terrible. The big issue for TNA is that the biggest feud in the company is not clicking with their audience and they do not seem to be aware of the fact.

Back at the Impact Zone, Jeff Hardy should not be met by the boos he encountered in Phoenix and a re-match with Austin Aries should deliver another strong match. It'll be interesting to see just how quickly Jeff signs a new contract now he's been giving the title.

Revolution Pro Wrestling Uprising - Night 2 Review By Charman Morris

Sunday 14th October 2012

Swallows Leisure Centre, Sittingbourne

Following the split of Daniel Elder and Andrew Quildan's working relationship last month, I was intrigued to see what Revolution Pro Wrestling was going to bring to the table of UK wrestling. The show announcements and appearance of Jerry Lynn on both nights showed real promise and gathered a lot of excitement from the IWC. However in the week leading up to the event, an injury to Sami Callihan, along with the withdrawal of TNA British Bootcamp participants Marty Scurll and Rockstar Spud created a lot of last minute changes to the weekends match ups. Initially I was really disappointed that I wasn't going to see Rockstar Spud vs Jerry Lynn as initially advertised, but when it was announced that Noam Dar was going to step up and take that match, I was really eager to see it. Thankfully all the changes didn't affect the quality of the show as a whole.

Swallows Leisure Centre is a nice cosy venue, and created a good atmosphere. However the PA system was fuzzy, leading to the crowd not being able to hear the announcements properly.

Six Man Tag Mark Haskins & Project Ego (Martin Kirby and Kris Travis) vs Lion Kid, El Ligero and 'The Future' MK Mckinnan

Haskins came out first and cut a promo demanding that he be put into the British title picture, as he had beaten Jerry Lynn, and any other competitor they put in front of him, and yet he never gets a main event slot. He demanded that Quinlan give him that opportunity, which was not taken up.

The team of McKinnan, Ligero and Lion Kid had the early advantage, clearing the ring of Project Ego and Haskins. Once the match settled, the heel team were soon on top, culminating with Project Ego taunting Lion Kid with a piece of string, in order to distract him. That only worked for a couple of minutes before Lion Kid taking both Kirby and Travis on with powerful kicks and punches. Travis soon had enough of Lion Kid and went to the back, leaving it as a 2 on 3 handicap match. El Ligero took advantage of the numbers game, hitting a hurricanrana on Kirby. Several quick tags in for McKinnan and Lion Kid on Kirby, showing that they were taking no chances over Travis not being at ringside. Travis made a surprise return in a monkey onesie, declaring he was king of the jungle, and came back to join the match. Oh so funny! Travis tags in, acting the chimp all over the ring, and giving a monkey flip to McKinnan. Kirby was tagged in and Project Ego double teamed McKinnan. Haskins then tagged himself in and went for a pin, only getting 2. Kirby tagged back in taking McKinnan to the top rope for a big suplex, but still not managing to finish off the match, only getting a 2. MK finally managed to get into his corner, tagging in Lion Kid, who cleared the ring for a short while, before being overpowered and triple teamed by Haskins and Project Ego. El Ligero finally got into the ring, gained the upper hand, and then everyone got involved. Ligero and Lion Kid somersaulting onto Haskins and Kirby outside the ring, while McKinnan took on Travis, hitting the Shining Wizard, only for Haskins to break up the count. McKinnan was then pinned, for Lion Kid to break up the count. Project Ego got involved, performing the famous Hart Attack on Lion Kid, but only got the 2 count with El Ligero breaking it up. Haskins and El Ligero were both tagged in and soon after Haskins hits El Ligero with the Made In Japan finisher for the win

Winners: Mark Haskins and Project Ego

A great match with a lot of action and some brilliant comic moments, and good to see MK McKinnan back in action after his shoulder injury at Fight Club Pro's 3rd Anniversary show last month.

It was announced that on December 2nd, Project Ego would defend their tag team titles against the reforming 'Leaders of the New School' Zac k Sabre Jr and Marty Scurrll

T-Bone vs Terry Frazier

I was expecting a fairly quick match from this, as T-Bone outweighs and out muscles Frazier but quite a considerable margin. However the fan favourite Frazier really took it to T-Bone, and again the action went outside the ring. T-Bone gained advantage, hitting a back breaker into a suplex combination and throwing Terry Frazier back into the ring. T-Bone has the upper hand in this match, but the tide turns when he misses a top rope knee drop. He regains control, hitting Frazier with a top rope suplex taking a lot out of both wrestlers. T-Bone goes for the pin, but Frazier manages to get to the ropes to break up the count at 2. Frazier somehow manages to get back into the match, and lifts up T-Bone and give him a Rock Bottom for the win, although T-Bone's shoulders weren't fully on the mat

Winner: Terry Frazier

Andy Boy Simmonds interrupts Frazier's celebrations and announces that he was the new Executive Assistant to…Big Van Walter!!

Big Van Walter enters the ring, delivers a thunderous chokeslam on Frazier. Just as he's about to hit a powerbomb, the familiar 'OLE! OLE! OLE! OLE!' music hit, and then appears El Generico!

Big Van Walter vs El Generico

El Generico takes BVW on with lots of kicks, punches and chops. He gets Walter into the corner, and hits him with more chops and a dropkick, but Walter catches Generico with a slam and starts to gain advantage, choking Generico. When Generico comes back into the match, they have an exchange of massive chops. Generico then tries to take Walter off his feet with a series of clotheslines, and finally succeeds, then goes to the top rope for a somersault. However BVW catches Generico and gives him a power bomb for a near fall. He also scores a couple more 2 counts after another power slam and a massive clothesline. Generico gets back into the match with his own near fall, using his kicking strength to take it to Walter. However, Big Van Walter regains control, hitting Generico with a spin suplex for 2, and then finally putting Generico away with his evil powerbomb. A great 10 minute match.

Winner: Big Van Walter

Walter tries to continue beating on El Generico, only to be saved by 'Big Bad' Dave Mastiff! He cleared Walter out of the ring, took the mic and proclaimed he would be the next British Champion

* Interval*

The Hooligans vs London Riots

The referee didn't even have time to ring the bell, as the action kicked off straight away. This was an all out brawl, with most of the fight being out of the ring, and in the crowd. At one point The Hooligans threw a pint all over the Riots (and most of the audience nearby too!) A lot of slams onto the floor and being thrown into the wall. Roy Knight hit a beautiful flying elbow off a chair onto the merch table, but it didn't break!! So he went through it again, still no breaking of the table! Zak also took a Michinoku Driver which looked absolutely evil! Roy placed James on a chair on the outside, and jumped off the ring with an elbow drop onto the chair, ridiculous! When the match finally gets into the ring, The Hooligans are on top, with flying headbutts and even a 'Whassup!' on The Riots. But in a surprise move, Roy gets smashed over the head with a hubcap and The Riots steal a win

Winners : London Riots

That was an absolutely mental match, if you can call it that. So much going on around the ring, I missed a load of it from not knowing where to look! There was barely any wrestling, it was brutal. I loved it! Really picked up the crowd after the interval

Co Main Event Undisputed British Championship Match 'Big Bad' Dave Mastiff vs Sha Samuels

I totally forgot that as this was a family show, I could not get away with chanting B*STARD at Dave Mastiff for too long. So I settled down to one of my personal highlights of this card. Samuels and Mastiff have had some decent matches in the past, and this was no exception

Sha Samuels really took it to Mastiff in the early part of the match, but Mastiff soon fights back. 'Big Dave' gives Samuels a big power slam and then a knee drop for the 2 count. Mastiff then hits a running clothesline for another near fall, and in an act of desperation, Samuels manages to give Mastiff a DDT, also for the 2 count. Mastiff gets back up, hits a belly to back suplex on Samuels, putting him in the corner, and going for the running thunderbomb. As the ref goes for the 3 count, T-Bone appears, and pulls the ref out of the ring, to a mass chorus of boos. While the ref is out of the of ring, T-Bone gets involved with the match. T-Bone shows a great feat of strength picking up Mastiff and slamming him. However Big Dave managed to get the upper hand on T-Bone and taking him out. The ref then notices the extra man. While the ref is distracted with T-Bone Samuels picks up his title belt and smashed Mastiff in the head with it. T-Bone drags the ref back in the ring to make the count, but Big Dave still kicks out at 2 and a half! After a couple more pin attempts and kick outs from Dave, Samuels managed to have enough in the tank to slam Mastiff and get the clean pin.

Winner and STILL Champion: Sha Samuels (with liberal interference from T-Bone)

This match was damn impressive, and really cemented Sha Samuels as a credible champion. However, I do wonder where the title picture does go from here. With Kincaide out injured still, there doesn't seem to be a queue of credible contenders for Samuel's title

Co Main Event - 'International Dream Match' Noam Dar vs Jerry Lynn

First a handshake and several wrestling holds into this, Dar is being taken to school by Jerry Lynn.

A nice chant went round for Jerry, who told the fans it's a family show, so can the words be changed to suit! Soon a 'Mess him up Jerry, mess him up!' chant went around the audience, to Lynn's approval

After some more wrestling 101 moves from Jerry Lynn, Dar soon shows his true colours, gets frustrated and leaves the ring to some boos. Lynn holds the ropes for Dar to come back and continue the match. Lynn soon gets the upper hand, and gets Dar into the surfboard. Dar somehow reverses this for the 2 count. He then throws Jerry to the outside, and while going out to inflict more damage onto Lynn, spams a kid in the audience, to some heel heat. Once the action gets back into the ring, Dar superkicks Lynn for another 2 count. He then targets Lynn's left leg, jumping on it and putting it in a leg bar. Somehow Lynn manages to get out of this and reverses into the figure four leg lock to a round of WHOOs from the crowd. Dar gets out of this submission hold and hits a beautiful fisherman suplex for the near fall. Frustrated with the 2 count, Dar throws Jerry into the corner. Lynn avoids the run in, jumps onto the turnbuckle and over Dar into a roll up and gets the 3 count.

Winner: Jerry Lynn

After the match, Noam took to the microphone and thanked Jerry for the opportunity to wrestle him in his last showing in the UK. When Lynn went to take the mic, Dar slapped it out of his hand, and Jerry Lynn responded by giving Dar a now rarely performed cradle piledriver

There was a standing ovation for the last UK showing of Jerry Lynn, and a genuinely emotional and heartfelt speech from him thanking the British fans for always making him feel welcome when he comes here

All in all, I really enjoyed this show. I got to meet Mark Haskins, El Generico and Jerry Lynn, all of whom were really good to chat to. I have high hopes for the next Sittingbourne show as Colt Cabana and Michael Elgin were announced for the December 2nd event.

If you have any comments or you wish to follow me on twitter, this is me @MuckyMorris

5 Forgotten Points About WrestleTalkTV By Adam James Bullivant

I’m starting to feel like the black sheep of the Wrestling Last Hope team sometimes. It’s been a while since I last posted something, as it’s been a frightfully busy few weeks. But I’m back now. You lucky lucky people… Even though it’s about the often debated topic, I wanted to officially throw my 2 cent on the issue of WrestlingTalk TV.

WrestleTalk TV is to British Wrestling, depending who you talk to, either the anti-Christ or the shining light. And no, I’m not talking about Stevie Knight…

For the people among you who don’t know what it is, WrestleTalkTV is a former internet wrestling chat show, now running bi-weekly on Challenge TV after being commissioned by the channel itself. If you want to know more than a quick Google will do. Now, about a week ago, fellow Wrestling Last Hope columnist Robert Shade did an in depth piece on the matter. It was a pretty negative view on the product. And although I understand and agree with many of his points, I do feel, as a whole, a lot of wrestling fans are missing a few vital points about this show. A few technical points I wish to run through now. Before I begin, I should state that this information is based on my knowledge from certain sources/understanding. It may not be 100% correct in certain details. But I believe it to be so. Either way, let’s begin!

1) It is a “Wrestling Chat Show”.
A point so often forgotten when people actually talk about it. It’s a chat show. If Challenge TV wanted a show that featured full UK matches, that is what they would have commissioned. So often, on many sites/blogs, I’ve heard “If they showed full UK matches on there, it could really help built the credibility of the BritWres scene”. And however much I agree with this in principle, they can’t. It’s that simple. The UK has some truly world class matches to be seen, that is without doubt. When just an independent Youtube series, they had the choice to show UK matches (If given the copyright by the company to do so). But choose not to. Because they were, for all intents and purposes, trying to show television channels what kind of program they could have on their network if they commissioned them for a series. Or more likely, given the assumed shared contacts between Alex Shane (show creator) and TNA, showing Challenge alone what they can offer. That being what Challenge wanted, which, if over 20 year of absences shows, is not British Wrestling matches. At least not at this point anyways.

2) They can’t plug events.
Legally, due to those strict TV regulations Charlie Brooker famously just loves to rant about, they are unable to plug upcoming events. Simple as. Or to be more precise, I believe, it’s any upcoming events that are being promoted by an individual or company intended to make profit from doing so. It could be even more strict then that. Which is why, they can’t, even they wanted to, highlight all the premier UK based events happening up and down the country most weekends. Luckily we have Fighting Spirit Magazine to help on that front.

3) They can’t plug websites.
Like point two, they are not actually able to plug any other website then their own, www.challenge.co.uk. I have no idea why this is, but I know it too be true. However much I would love to see them plug great UK companies’ websites, they can’t.

4) Choice of guests.
This one is more aimed at a certain point made in Robert Shades piece, which I will quote now:

“We could have chats with people who work within the business and how they got into it, what does a show day mean for them, why did promoters set up their promotion, why did a wrestler get into the business”. – Robert Shade

Two points here. Firstly, promoters. Now, I have to be careful how I word this. Mostly, because knowing a handful of promoters myself, they all pretty much have the same story anyways. They loved wrestling. Never wanted to be, and/or gave up trying to be, a wrester. Wanted to make the wrestling scene better. And brushing any element relating to ego or “wanting to be one of the boys” under the rug, for the sake of professionalism, that really is about it. Plus, to horribly generalise an entire profession, promoters tend to fall into two camps. They either love the sound of their own voice or are very sharp, very on the ball, but not all too engaging when put in front of a camera. Whichever side of the fence they fall, it’s more than often just going to lead to cringe worthy viewing.

Point two, wrestlers. They do interview wrestlers, and they tell them about their life story anyways. Mark Haskins spoke about how he broke into the business, admittedly in a Youtube extra. At least with someone like Leroy Kincade, who I can’t say I’m personally a huge fan of myself, he comes off as a pretty interesting bloke. Plus, he looks the piece. When it comes to what I would like to present to the world as “A British Wrestler”, he fits the bill at least half decently. He is jacked to the high heavens. He is well dressed. He is confident with only a mild sense of egotistical, which for a wrestler is pretty good really. He can string words together better than your typical sports personality. And the “Paranormal Investigation” stuff will always interest a certain group of people. Even if I think it’s a load of codswallop. Wrestlers are people. I don’t really want to hear Leroy, or anyone else, spend twenty minutes talking in kayfabe about their feud with “insert wrestlers name here” at “insert company name here”. Wrestling fans have evolved past that. With the landscape of entertainment as a whole in 2012, I honestly believe most people prefer seeing entertainers as the human beings behind the gimmicks. Probably why Colt Cabana’s “Life Podcast”, The Art Of Wrestling, is so hugely successful. How dull would The Kings Speech have been if it was just about him being a King, and not about the troubled stammerer who just so happens to be King? The story is with the human, not just the wrestler. Kayfabe is dead, and I’m quite OK with that. As long as it’s not thrown in my face.

5) Everyone is skint.
They might have a show on Challenge, but if commissioning budgets in general TV have been hit as hard as Animation one have in the last few years , animation being the industry I am currently studying to enter, then that is probably a lot less then what you are all thinking. Now, one has to be careful when talking wrestling and money, and all this is assumption based on basic research. But this is probably why they are using your own clique of people. I’d love to see a mainstream TV personality host this show. Let’s say Ant & Dec. It would be better than that Red & Black rubbish they are currently peddling. But clearly finance is not going to allow that to happen. Now maybe I’m somewhat biased, having rose tinted memories of a childhood listen to JK and Joel on local Hull radio station Viking FM on a daily biases, but for the level of experience this crew is working with, I think they have done quite well bagging Joel Ross in the role as lead presenter. Read his wiki page, it’s surprising where and who he has actually worked for. However, the shared view of most is that Patrick Lennon is, to put it nicely, not overly likeable as a presenter. I’d love to see someone like stand-up comedian and Progress Wrestling’s owner Jim Smallman take over the role. He was excellent in his guest role on the original Youtube series. Again, if/when this program makes a decent long lasting profit (which I can only assume is not yet), then maybe a switch about in its cast is possible. Bringing in professionals to fill roles that are, at the moment, being filled with enthusiastic amateurs. For time being, that is probably not an option.

Other few quick points. The set. I’d actually like the set, if they just removed the bloody t-shirts from it. The big TV in the middle is nothing but a distraction to me. Playing the same 6 clips of famous wrestlers we have already seen multiply times. The sound editing and lighting could do with a bit of work, but that has improved since the first episode and can only assume will continue too.

The show is not perfect. At all. Sometimes, the show is not even very good. From the two TV shows I’ve seen, it’s pretty hit and miss. Saying this, where else am I going to see clips of great talent like Kris Travis, El Ligero, Martin Kirby, Nathan Cruz, Stixx, Dave Mastiff and the alike? It’s a platform. One British Wrestling has not had in a long time. I guess, for us “insider fans”, how much you like WrestleTalkTV, along with such past projects as the British Wrestling Council, the rebirth of FWA and the “was that even a thing?” Jobs In Wrestling, depends how much you like or respect Alex Shane and his clique. I like Alex. I don’t agree with everything, dare I say most things, he has done in the last few years. But I give him respect for at least trying them. This latest project included. In closing, I don’t think it has any negative effect on the British Wrestling scene. No matter how certain people like to think. It can only improve, given time.

Adam James Bullivant can be found at:
Twitter at @TME_AJB (for banter)
Tout /adamjamesbullivant (for pointless videos)
Facebook /adam.james.bullivant (for Reffing & Design Work)

Cynical, Disillusioned and Honest AKA The Long Awaited Rant By Shaun Nichols

As hopefully you can tell by this blog's heading I am not particularly in the best of moods and I have been thinking over the last couple of months of writing something similar to this. As a lot of contributors to the site and Stuart himself will probably disagree with a lot of what I am about to say, so this could be the end of an era as I have been a major part in WLH dating all the way back since 1999. So what I am going to go on about? Well read on.

Over the last 12 months regular visitors to this site will have noticed that the vast majority of blogs and articles that have appeared have been glowing reports about the UK scene. But when you read blogs that are always positive with only the most minor hints of criticism than you have to wonder are these blogs actually telling you the truth or do they have an agenda?

Wrestling fans especially those who write for blogs or are major contributors to the various wrestling forums tend to be a particularly closed circle, a clique if you like. If you’re not in, then you’re out of luck. It reminds me very much of my time in University when I lived in Halls if you are not considered 'cool' then you’re not going to enjoy it.

Dragon Gate UK sent WLH copies of the three shows from last year, Stuart asked me to review them. To be honest the time as long gone when I enjoy reviewing shows as you have to take lots of notes while watching the show which takes away from enjoying the DVD and then doing a fairly lengthy review. Still it gave me the opportunity to watch the other two events without actually buying them so fair enough.

The first show from Broxbourne which was called 'Dragon Gate UK Invasion 3' I gave a very positive review and overall gave at 8.5 out of 10, the Nottingham event 'Shingo vs Yokosuka 3' was even better so I scored it 10/10 which was because it really was an all time great event which in my opinion was even better on DVD than live. Finally was the Beeston show called 'Dragon Gate vs UK' this was the weakest of the three but still had some very good stuff on it and I scored it 7/10.

You may think then that Mark Sloan would be a very happy man to get such positive reviews especially about the first two events. Well not exactly, he was happy with my review of the Nottingham show, thought that I nearly got the Broxbourne review right and thought I was very negative on the Beeston show. That tells you a lot when someone thinks that 7/10 score is too critical and negative.

What Mark obviously wanted was all three reviews to score 10/10, well if he wanted that then there is an easy option he can write his own reviews and post them. But then wouldn't that by a little bit suspicious to the buying public? Recommending all three events which in essence is what I did was not enough. I think that if any fan watched both the Nottingham and Beeston shows then surely they could tell that the Nottingham show was the better show, they would also know if I scored both shows the same then I would be full of shit trying to push a particular line. I wasn't going to do that instead I was going to be as I always am which is honest.

I don't have any issue with Mark, I've never spoken to him but I'm not going to give a false assessment. Which brings me onto the UK shows I've been asked to review.

Normally when I'm sent a UK show to review it usually comes with phrases such as 'try and be kind', 'put over how it's got a great atmosphere', 'say wrestler x had a really strong performance'. This is before I've even had an opportunity to put the DVD into the machine. Some shows are easier to watch than others and only once have I actually refused to do a review but I couldn't in all seriousness say that it was good show. The best thing about the DVD was I could use it as a coaster. I'm not going to name the promotion in question as that wouldn't be fair.

There are so many previews, live show reports etc which indicates that you the public are missing out on great wrestling shows. And I understand that fans, promoters and bloggers want to get the word out and build the fanbase up. But on many of these blogs they forget that you have to be realistic otherwise you run the risk of making out that these wrestling shows are better than they are. New fans go into the show with false expectations and when they are not met which will generally be the case. What happens? The new fan who could have been turned into a long term paying fan feels letdown and doesn't go again, doesn't buy the t-shirt or the DVD.

You may have noticed that while I did a review of PROGRESS Chapter One, there was no review for Chapter Two. Well it certainly didn't see the light of day but it was something that I did. The fine people at PROGRESS wrestling were not overly happy with some of the comments I made about some of the show and therefore said they would prefer if the review wasn't used. Stuart decided to pull the review. On the plus side, I got a copy of New Japan Dominion 2012 which was an excellent show that you should check out.

What puzzles me is that after the Chapter 2 show, there were two extremely positive reviews of the live event which was posted on the WLH site. So I really don't see what harm a more balanced DVD review would have caused, there were quite a lot of positives to the show which I identified. Also in the scheme of things I would be very surprised if whatever review I gave the show caused PROGRESS to gain or lose DVD sales.

Still this is yet another clear indicator that while those of us contribute to sites like WLH can be critical of WWE, TNA, ROH or UFC if we feel the need to be, than the UK scene is all together different animal. Though no-one as actually being able to explain why this should be case. Everything should be judged equally on its merits not where it comes from.

One UK wrestling related topic has come under some scrutiny including on this site and that is WrestleTalk TV. Now I did a review of the show a while back and said that in my view wasn't something you needed to go out of your way to see. But in Robert Shade's recent blog he was critical because it wasn't doing enough to promote the UK scene and instead focused on the upcoming TNA Bootcamp. There is a very obvious reason why that would be the case, both Wrestletalk TV and TNA Bootcamp when it starts in a couple of months will both have the same TV home which is Challenge TV. If your not expecting the hosts to talk and push the Bootcamp than frankly how blinkered are you?

People also have to realise that WrestleTalk TV as to try and appeal to the broader wrestling audience it can. The general wrestling fan in the UK is a WWE fan and it's quite likely that they will watch TNA as well. Especially for WrestleTalk TV show as they follow TNA Impact on Sunday nights. What most UK wrestling fans don't have much interest in is anything else whether that be US promotions like ROH, PWG, Chikara, DGUSA or CZW, UK groups like Fight Club, PROGRESS, SWE or PCW or more international scenes like Japan or Mexico. If they spent more time away from WWE or TNA then they will lose viewers and if that carried on they would likely be cancelled.

The popular view that the UK is the small leagues was also illustrated by the recent Channel 4 documentary about the Knight family called 'Wrestling with My Family' which followed their efforts to put on shows but also followed the children's efforts to get a WWE contract. The son Zak was rejected, the daughter Saraya (who wrestled as Brittani in the UK, and appearing on WWE NXT as Paige) was signed on the spot without actually doing any wrestling or any promos. What became clear is that to the entire family doing the rounds in UK is very much the minor leagues, the parents want their children working in either WWE or TNA because that is that they class as being successful.

On a final note on TNA's British Bootcamp, am I the only one who is struggling to undertstand how this concept is going to work when they have 3 participants in Marty Scurll, Rockstar Spud and the Blossom Twins? Surely in reality shows like this you need at least 10 competitors, after all could you see WWE Tough Enough getting picked up if all they were offering was 4 contestants and a coach. Can't see it lasting as a series, it would have been better as a one-off special.

If you want to comment on any of the points that I've raised please feel free as always.

Twelve Months of Fight Club: Pro By Derrie Catton

Why? Because the timing just seems perfect. Fight Club Pro (FCP) just racked up it’s third anniversary event, and I myself have racked up twelve months of the promotion’s shows (the actual math puts it at thirteen, but that title would be far less catchy). What we have is an opportune time to look at the past, take stock of what FCP is capable of and consider what to expect from their future.

There May Be Some Bad Language
One of Fight Club: PRO’s compelling elements is it’s atmosphere, one that draws people to the venue before they even know that wrestling occurs. FCP sets up shop in a small nightclub called The Planet, perhaps more known for it’s hard music and drunken antics involving a stripper cage (see, you already want to come don’t you). Once a month, a ring is put together atop the dance floor and a metal fence is put up, to border the ring area. The bar is of course left open, encouraging patrons to have a rowdy night out and get loud for the event, and when it comes to volume, the pounding of the cage with both feet and fists is always resounding. Toss into that mix the fearless and fun chants that this atmosphere evokes, never expect any tame ‘you suck’ chants. This atmosphere could be described as unique, almost like an underground fight club feel and the fans of FCP love it. That’s why when ring announcer Mark Adams delivers the house rules, and states “there may be some bad language,” he is always met with a great cheer.

Spotlight: Rockstar Spud
A name known to those who know things, but it was a surprise for everybody last August when the opening bars of Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer began ringing out and the ‘Baby Jesus of British Wrestling’ made his presence known. The man was an instant hit, but more impressively it was before he had even set foot in the ring. His arrogant persona displayed in his ring entrance is stand out and is the epitome of entertainment. It stems from attitude to body language to verbiage and is in full flow at all times, resulting in all eyes being on Spud at all times, whether he be in the ring, or ringside supporting. Unafraid to engage, The Rockstar Spud always has a retort for fans and engages them with ease to create some of Fight Club: Pro’s most memorable instances. The man is set to take over the world once he gets the right platform.

The Home Team
Also known as an excuse to lower the number of wrestling spotlights in this articles, but the fact is that Fight Club: Pro offers a tremendous display of talent who have made their home Wolverhampton. Perhaps more impressive is the variety, ensuring a taste of everything from the world of professional wrestling. Trent Seven, the aptly named Super Don, offers what he labels as British Strong Style, a display of strength and endurance if there ever was one. Clint Margera favours himself as a hardcore specialist, and seems to have little qualms with taking punishment along with a knack for showing off his creative set ups. MK McKinnan, referred to as The Future, shows more technical prowess, with a greater array maneuvers and holds, and an ability to reel them off impressively in quick succession. In essence, covered is a wide spectrum of wrestling – something for everyone, and everything for someone who can embrace it.

Spotlight: Jonathan Gresham
Hailing from a background in CZW is a man who made a lasting impression on the FCP faithful. As it happens, his debut was coincidently a year ago at Fight for Honour, in a match many lauded as the best from the promotion. From the word go, the fans gained affinity for the American who was able to wow the audiences with his ability. Always receiving a positive reception, Gresham has made Fight Club: PRO his spiritual home. One doesn’t have to have doubts when they label Jonathan Gresham as one of the most talented wrestlers making the circuits today. From his displays he is clearly a disciplined man who puts a lot of stock into developing his craft and then sharing it with audiences he performs before. Anyone he wants reason to stand up, cheer and applaud wrestling, should seek him out.

International Flavour
It’s an outstanding thing. Little old Wolverhampton wouldn’t be expected to bring in the cream of wrestling’s crop, and yet a year ago at Fight for Honour they kicked off their twelve months by bringing in the then Ring of Honour champion, one Davey Richards. That heavyweight appearance is a great example of FCP’s penchant for bringing in the elite of wrestling talent. Such names include Mike Quackenbush, Colt Cabana, Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards, Johnny Gargano and that is a reduced list of examples. Some of those have also made return appearances, suggesting that they are happy to return to FCP’s venue. When entry fee is in single digits, the chance to see some of the best the world has to offer is a welcome one, and one of FCP’s strongest assets. FCP has also displayed working relationships with companies such as Big Japan Wrestling (BJW) and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), resulting in a multitude of crossovers and impressive imports.

Wrestler spotlight: Chris Brookes
Chris Brookes has quite the story, going from an aspiring wrestler putting his time in behind the scenes, to a core element of one of FCP’s rivalries. Brookes’ journey is great example of the promotions ability to craft an engaging story, one that leaves people keen to see how it develops when they return to The Planet. It has been a path filled with twists and turns that liken themselves to the infamous sports entertainment at times (not that that’s a bad thing), and the crowd has been invested in the man that they brought to success through chants, tweets and clothing. They’ve revelled in his opportunities, cursed at his setbacks, and on command have brought masses of toilet paper to toss at his enemies. Fans still look forward to the ragin’ climax that Fight Club: Pro offers as Chris Brookes is set on a collision course for the aforementioned Rockstar Spud.

In conclusion
Three key elements that make for an impressive promotion and three wrestlers you should seek entertainment from in the future. As it stands, Fight Club: Pro is the only one putting them all on one show, and these are only some of FCP’s credentials. After seeing emerging superstars and being allowed to witness great talents from the world, one wouldn’t be wrong to think that FCP has so much more to offer. Year two to year three was filled with grand improvements, now give me one good reason why you shouldn’t be here for year four?

You can find Derrie Catton on twitter at @DerrieCatton, and you can follow and like Fight Club: Pro at @FightClubPro and facebook.com/pages/Fight-Club-PRO/234516669556 Don’t forget to follow and like The Indy Corner at @TheIndyCorner and http://facebook.com/TheIndyCorner

IPW-UK & Revolution Pro Moving Forward By Adam Joyce

Something was off when I walked into the Wyvern Hall last August for the IPW:UK Summer Sizzler but I wasn't sure what it was. Everything looked like it was in the right place but there was defiantly something different looking round. It wasn't till someone came through the curtain I noticed it was on the wrong way round. Then it dawned on me, all the branding was gone, the aprons and posts were bare, the entrance way and lighting rig only had A-Merchandise flags on and the posters for the next event bore no promotion logo. In fact the only IPW:UK branding I saw was a few crew shirts dotted around.

It turns out a couple of days before that IPW:UK promoter Dan Edler and booker Andy Quildan had had a falling out and as a result were now treating their shows as 2 different companies. Edler's keeping the IPW:UK and Quildan is going with the name Revolution ProWrestling while still acknowledging the IPW:UK history. While I have spoken to both guys since the split I've not bothered bringing it up. I feel if the reasoning is going to be known it will, at some point, come out. While publicly both have claimed it was, for the most part, amicable there must still be some level of friction between the two for business partners of close to 8 years to drastically separate. The break up may not be as public as the likes of the WAW/EVE it's still worth noting that Andy was pushing all his back IPW:UK DVD stock at near clearance prices on Facebook.

As I said before I've not pushed for the reasons so this article is purely my observations. As I mentioned I was at the Summer Sizzler, which in this instance we'll look at as the first RevPro event, I was also at Elder's first event following the split IPW:UK Samuels vs Kincade Frazier. Rather then do a straight up review of either I'm going to make to make observations on both and put forward my opinions on the direction both are going.

For those who've not been to a Sittingbourne show before over the last couple of years they've gained a track record of being made up of good to great matches featuring a combination of top level American/Japanese imports and some of the top UK talent. This one featured Prince Devitt (I know he's Irish but he spends his time mainly over in Japan so that counts in my book) and DragonGate USA's Open the Gate Champion, Johnny Gargano taking on Noam Dar and Zach Sabre Jr respectively in what were top class matches. It's great to see matches of this quality but on their own this can come across as quite lazy booking. If you are constantly bringing in workers who aren't top level stars for high class matches with no story behind them then it's easy for a more casual fan just pick and choose which shows they come and see. Chances are they could wait for someone they want to see live and just opt to pick the rest up on DVD at some point. I stated in a recent review you can either book based on the strength of your matches or on the strength of your storylines and I am a strong believer that without the stories you risk losing your connection with the audience.

Fortunately their current main angles are strong enough for fans to keep coming back for. The current story lines features Sha Samuels as the champion and retaining the belt at every show with the help of his lackeys Rockstar Spud and T-Bone, who on occasion will insight potential challengers into matches to draw them away from Sha, at least temporarily. Most notably Sha's former partner Terry Frasier who every time it looks like he's in line for a shot at Sha one of the others gets in his way. Along side that there is the feud between Spud and Marty Scurll that seemingly stemmed from an appearance Marty made on Take Me Out and escalated from there crossing into various other promotions as well as encompassing Scurll's recent cruiserweight title win reaching the point where at Summer Sizzler where Spud not only possibly cost Scurll the undisputed British title but also aided Project Ego in their cashing in of the MITB briefcase to win the IPW:UK tag titles as well as making them the (first?) RevPro tag champs.

Mentioning titles it's an interesting story looking at the IPW:UK side of things. The first thing that happened on the IPW:UK show was Sha came out to announce 2 things. One being that his scheduled opponent had been forced to pull out due to, what was later revealed to be, a long standing back injury. The second was to announce that he was un-unifying the Undisputed British title breaking it back up into the All England title and the IPW:UK title, which on a side note is now a world title. It's debatable whether the IPW:UK title is worthy of being called a world title but when you look at the talent that has been brought in to contend for it there certainly is a case that it has earned it with names like Al Snow, Takeshi Morishima and Jimmy Jacobs included on that list. With the tag titles they are following on from the title change at Summer Sizzler and with Zach spending most of his time with NOAH and so many good teams waiting in the wings was probably the best choice. One thing that stood out to me was that the history of the cruiserweight title has disappeared off the website. While it's understandable if they have decided to drop it for a while as the champ and his main rival have gone away to TNA British Boot Camp there are still a slew of credible contenders regularly appearing on IPW:UK shows however who could put on some impressive rankings and exhibition matches till the chance comes to get the belt back.

Keeping with the theme of diversity of styles that is certainly one thing the Swanley IPW:UK events have going for them. On their last show they had a Mad Man Manson comedy match, Iyesten Reese squashing some no-names in a 'Skinny Boy Challenge' and gimmick wrestlers like Earl Jonathan Windsor. All of which would have stood out at a Sittingbourne show but all worked fine here. That's not to say they wouldn't have worked, the Knight boys got over great at the last Sittingbourne show seemingly in part because of how different they are compared to the Sittingbourne regulars.

The thing that Swanley definitely shares with Sittingbourne is the quality of main event talent. While the focus of IPW:UK is still Sha's heel reign there is defiantly less focus on his entourage. Although, as mentioned earlier, his main follower is currently tied up with TNA British Boot Camp but instead of having T-Bone at his side he had his unnamed head of security. IPW:UK defiantly seem to be building up at a big Samuels/Frazier match in the future with the dusty finish that this match had and the fact there has not been a clean finish in any of their matches. One thing it did demonstrate was the difference between the two venues in terms of what the talent can do. One thing I don't like about Swanley is how open it is. It makes the moderate crowds the it pulls in seem smaller as well as losing a lot of the crowd noise into the high ceiling, along with all the heat in winter shows. The space does give room for big brawls though that the more intimate setting of Sittingbourne negates.

The venues themselves are seemingly set up with their target audience in mind. The intimate setting of Sittingbourne working better for the Internet crowd that RevPro thrives on where as Swanley's space is better for shows that seem to be aimed more at large family groups. The venues are not the only thing that got divided up in the split. With the second IPW:UK training school opening both of them have been divided. IPW:UK have kept the original school that boasts starting the careers of current upstarts like Darrell Allen, the London Riots, the monster Snare and Carl Morina amongst others. RevPro have gotten the new one which, although it doesn't have any track yet, is run by the original trainer from the IPW:UK school in Andy Boy Simmonz who would have had a hand in training some of the above. The summer camps were not divided up as fairly as RevPro has wound up with both of them, on paper it seems odd seeing as how the family friendly atmosphere at holiday camps seems custom built for the style IPW:UK books it should be noted that these were both set up by Andy Quildan and as a result went with him when he set up RevPro. One other thing that didn't get divided up it seems was the A-Merchandise involvement in the IPW:UK shows. While I felt the lighting rig at Swanley was deemed moot by the fact that it was so bright in there the entranceway added an air of professionalism. It's also a shame that A-Merchandise hasn't come to some sort of agreement with IPW:UK with regards to the branding as the ring looked bare with just plain aprons and I'm sure Mark Sloan has little use for everything he now has bedecked in IPW:UK branding.

The question now is what does the future hold for these two promotions? Both have their 8 year celebrations lined up both with shades of their past. Quildan has opted to bring back a couple of his more regular imports with El Generico and Sami Calihan (who has sadly been forced to pull out) as well as the last UK matches of Jerry Lynn. Edler has thrown it back to the past as well announcing what looks to be the last ever IPW:UK match between Paul Robinson and Ashley Reed, arguably the series that put IPW:UK on the map those 8 years ago. From there both have announced further shows and new venues pointing that both are looking to the future, although Edler possible more so with, what looks like, a string of open trials for undiscovered wrestlers to demonstrate their skills and possibly gain some more bookings as well as their Future shows becoming more common means that while both claim to be 'Pro Wrestling At It's Best' IPW:UK may also be the window to the future. When it comes to sticking to the moniker RevPro defiantly live up to it with the stars they book but with the announcement of the return on the British National Championship year long tournament IPW:UK are showing they are determined to as well without having to reach across oceans, just other UK promotions. I guess it all just depends on your preference to what style of wrestling as to which promotion is better. I know I am happy to support either as diversity is important when it comes to promotions because, as any wrestling vet will tell you, no two crowds are the same and it is important to learn to work different styles. Also one more prospective place, that is at the same time reputable, where talent can get bookings can only be a good thing right?

For info on Revolution Pro you can check out their site at www.RevolutionProwrestling.com or on twitter @revprouk. For IPW you can check all their latest at www.IPWUK.com or on twitter @ipwuk.

For all my random musings I’m on twitter @el_j. Feel free to let me know what you think on this article or anything in general. I can’t guarantee I’ll listen but you’ll never know if you don’t try

Remembering Eddie By Jose Haze

Imagine you are the youngest son in a large wrestling family. Your father is one of the all-time wrestling gods in Mexico. Your older brothers have all had success in the wrestling business, all around the world. You love wrestling and decide to follow in the footsteps of your family. Many people tell you how hard the wrestling business is. They tell you stories of the struggles your father had to deal with in Mexico and the U.S. They tell you stories of your brothers constantly traveling all over the country, encountering racism, shady promoters and working through injuries to ultimately get to where they did.

You hear all this, but you decide you want to go for it anyway. Your father and your brothers are your hero's and you love wrestling, plus it's in your DNA..... You were born to wrestle.

So the years pass, you train, travel and wrestle. Sometimes for little money, sometimes for no money. Many nights you are alone probably asking yourself why you do this? As you become better and better, you hear some say you will never be as good as your father or brothers but you press on.

Mexico, Japan, all over the U.S. Eventually you catch a break and start to find success. All over the world. Your name begins to gain a reputation. Finally after all your hard work, you get the call to the big show. You have your ups and downs. You fight through that and some
how you manage to reach the very top.

The first time I saw Eddie Guerrero wrestle, I was 14 years old. He and his tag team partner Love machine (Art Barr) made up the team called "Los Gringos Locos" in the upstart Mexican lucha fed, AAA. They were arguably the two most hated men in Mexican Lucha at the time, mostly because Eddie had turned on his original partner in AAA, El Hijo de Santo. With their stars and striped gear and antagonizing swagger, these two men were capable of inciting a riot at the drop of a hat. They berated their opponents, fans and anyone who got in their way. Unlike many foreign heels who wrestled in Mexico, they did not resort to cheap antics like throwing tortillas at the crowd or calling them racist names. Little things like a wry smile, a hand gesture or a stare at the perfect time were enough to drive the rabid fans crazy.

Aside from being master phsychologists, both were excellent in the ring. With an athletic, superbly technical and high wire style, Los Gringos Locos were two of the best to ever set foot in a AAA ring. They eventually engaged in a heated fued with my favorite wrestlers at the time "El Hijo de Santo" and "Octagon" which resulted in one of the greatest matches ever (Dave Meltzer gave it 5 stars) at "When Worlds Collide", AAA's 1994 PPV that received high praise in the wrestling community at the time.

At the time I hated Eddie. His smug demeanor, the way he mocked his opponents used to hook me. I could appreciate his ring work, but whenever he stepped into the ring I wanted very bad things to happen to him! In retrospect, I realize that already way back then, he was a master of the mind. Even back then he knew how to manage a crowd. He paid attention. Unlke many wrestlers of today, who many times map out a match and regardless of the response work that match, Eddie moved and flowed off the crowd.

In that match vs Hijo de Santo and Octagon the stipulations were 2/3 falls and masks vs hair. In a see saw battle, Los Gringos Locos ended up losing the match and their hair. I watch the match now, and I am in awe of the ease in which Eddie and Love Machine were able to play up the cutting of their hair to bring utter joy to the fans that hated them so!

Eddie eventually made his way to ECW probably not knowing at the time how much this move would impact his career. While at the fast rising promotion, Eddie and his buddies Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit brought something completely different from anything previously seen in ECW. Extended, high level, technical matches. slow buildingin ring storytelling, that was a change of pace on the ECW cards.

Eddie had some great performances in ECW. The match that stands out for me is the farewell match Eddie and Dean Malenko had right before they were to leave for the greener pastures of WCW. By the time the match was to begin the crowd at the ECW arena was aware that both Eddie and Dean were leaving. Joey Styles introduced the two men. Throughout the introduction, the crowd was electric yelling Eddie's name in unison. As this was going on, you could see the emotion in Eddie's face. The appreciation. To start the match, the two men shook hands.

As the bell rang, the crowd broke out into a "please don't go" chant. You could see that the two men, really wanted to leave these fans with a lifelong memory. Throughout the technical clinic the crowd hung on every move.

At the time I remember no longer hating Eddie, rather feeling pride. I was proud to see someone that looked and talked like me being so great at the sport I loved. Someone who not only was Mexican but American too. watching Eddie get the respect of a hard to please crowd was better than watching my favorite football team win the super bowl.

Ultimately on the last fall of the 2/3 match both men's shoulders were down at the count of three, which was only fitting. After the match both men thanked the crowd for accepting them and appreciating them. After they were done many wrestlers came out of the locker room to send them off. A truly special moment in wrestling hstory. At the time I thought it would be tough for Eddie to have a better and more emotional moment in his career. How wrong I was.

While in WCW Eddie was part of a wrestling revolution. Even though luchadores and cruiserweights began to gain some popularity through ECW, they did not hit the mainstream of wrestling till they arrived in WCW.

I remember no matter what I was doing, I always dropped everything 5 minutes before Nitro started. You see Nitro would kick off with a cruiserweight match damn near every show. The matches were fast high flying, exciting. Growing up watching Lucha, then transitioning into American wrestling, those matches were made specifically for me I thought.

The world got to know guys like La Parka, Psicosis, Silver King, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and many others. Those guys were great, but for me Eddie was the king of the cruiserweights. Whether he was a face or a heel, I always rooted for Eddie.

Eddie had some memorable matches in WCW. Many vs Rey, some vs Dean. Others with Chris Benoit. With trips to Japan mixed in where he wrestled as Black Tiger, In my opinion I thought Eddie was the best wrestler in the world at this time. Regardless the opponent or the style, Eddie could work a great match and make his opponent look great. Something he continued to do right up until he left us.

I always thought Eddie was at his best when he incorporated portions of his own personality and maybe drew from things in his life. At times in WCW you could tell he did things other people who had no clue how to use him, would have him do. It wasn't him and it did nothing for him. At times you could see the frustration come out. It was only a matter of time.

Eventually Eddie and his pals packed their bags and made their way to WWE. Around this time as the internet became more prominent, I started watching more and more Japanese wrestling and sort of lost touch for a while with Eddie and WWE. After some hits and misses, I guess Eddie was dealing with some personal stuff and ended up being let go.

Eddie evetually worked through his problems, got back on the horse and worked his way back through the Indies. Along the way taking part in the historic first Ring of Honor show, where he put aside his personal ideas for the better of this company that had just started, and put over Super Crazy in an IWA Intercontinental title match.

This match was special for a couple reasons. First of all I think it shows how much guts Eddie had. He could have played the high status card and bragged about having wrestled in all the major promotions and told Ring of Honor there was no way he would allow himself to be beat. I'm sure it happens all the time, but he didn't. After expressing some frustration, he put over Super Crazy and gave him a nice rub helping to add a little more credability to the Mexican luchadores career, knowing it was the best thing for the show and Ring of Honor. This match was also special because many say this match helped springboard him back to WWE. Personaly I don't know if its true, but I'd like to believe it because it makes a hell of a story.

When Eddie returned to WWE you could tell he was a man on a mission. You could see it in his ring work and his promos. he was gonna let it fly. he was going to be Eddie and you know what? It worked.He got over with the fans and had a ton of success, and if you looked closely you could see he was having fun.

Before I wrote this, I watched several of Eddie's matches to gain some inspiration and refresh my memory of some things. The last match I saw was his WWE title match vs Brock Lesnar at "No Way Out. The two engaged in a super entertaining match, with a ref bump, Goldberg run-in spear(WTF?), near fall and flying DDT on the belt finish, with Eddie pinning Lesnar. Immediately after he won, Eddie did a Lambeau leap into the crowd.You can see the genuine joy in his face. I rewound that part several times. Each time pausing right as the camera zoomed in on his smiling face. I couldn't help but try and figure out what was racing through his mind at that moment. He looks so happy. As I watch, I think back to moments in my life that have made me feel really good and wonder if thats what he felt. Michael Cole references Eddie's mother and his brother Mondo. The camera cuts to his mother and brother, and they look so proud of him. As I watch alone at my desk, I can't help but applaud. As if I was watching it for the first time.

Eddie Guerrero came into my life 20 years ago through a TV while I watched Lucha with my mom. Throughout those 20 years my life has changed dramatically, but through it all wrestling has been the thing that I can turn to that always brings a smile to my face, and Eddie Guerrero was one of the main reasons. In my mind there might have been some just as good, but there will never be better. We miss you Vato.

Follow me on twitter @Jose_LL_00

What Does It Take To Run An Indy Promotion And Is It Fun with Robert Shade

(Left: Southside Wrestling Entertainment Promoter Ben Auld)

I have wondered about this question for some time, if I had the wherewithal, the time and financial opportunity in theory it is something which I would love to do but like the vast majority of us I think about it, I dream about it but I do not actually do it.

(Below: This is the finish to a match from SWE's Speed King Show as 'The Man That Gravity Forgot' PAC faced off against Kris Travis)



I spoke to somebody who has done it and in my book having experienced a number of his events has done it extremely well, Ben Auld who runs Southside Wrestling which is a promotion for those of you who are not aware that runs shows in St Neots, Stevenage and Nottingham.

The main emphasis of the shows is a mixture of high quality wrestling matches which utilise a combination of the best UK talent and imports but also integrates into that some extremely promising young wrestlers coming out of the outstanding House Of Pain Wrestling School in Nottingham which has the reputation of being one of the best if not the best wrestling school in the UK, in addition to the matches you get comedy from the hilarious Mad Man Manson, some outstanding tag team action, there are themed events such as their annual Speed King Tournament which is all about if you like x division type of wrestlers, the small quick guys and they also have outstanding storylines running which currently have two fantastic themes running, one is the longest running feud in UK wrestling history and that is two masked men Ego Dragon and El Ligero who have had a series of increasingly hard hitting matches and at St Neots on 28 October the feud will end and the loser shall be demasked in a no ropes no rules match.

(Below: a great promo video for the match mentioned above - Ego Dragon vs. El Ligero)



In addition to that an outstanding invasion angle has been running with the aforementioned House Of Pain Wrestlers invading Southside shows with the story being that House Of Pain have long been the only wrestling company in Nottingham now Southside is invading their territory and House Of Pain want it back, House Of Pain (HOP) currently hold the Southside Heavyweight title and the tag title and plan to move in on the Speed King title next, the feud is currently due to conclude in Nottingham on November 30 and is main evented by a last man standing match between Stixx and Mark Haskins, these two have already held what I consider to be the best singles match I have ever witnessed in person so this is something not to be missed.

So that is a bit of background, the show in St Neots on 28 October is their 2nd anniversary show so they have come a long way fast so I asked Ben Auld some questions in relation to Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) and both the questions and Ben’s responses are below, I hope and I think that you will find it fascinating reading.

What made you decide to form an indy company?

I decided to form my own promotion as I was travelling all over the country to watch shows and realised there was a big gap here.

What were your main concerns before you started building it about what could go wrong?

I guess my biggest worries were that it might not work in so many ways , financial , quality wise.

What were your biggest hurdles to making it happen?

I don't think there were any particular hurdles , quite a lot of small ones. I guess one of the most difficult things is dealing with international talent with regards to organising everything to make sure they arrive at show.

Since you have set SWE up has it gone how you hoped?

It has definitely gone to plan , I had a plan of stages I wanted at at certain times and have achieved them. Everything that we have made financially has been invested back into Southside , we have got to the point where we have grown the shows slowly in regards to talent , building up trust with the fans but now have almost all equipment we need , lots of merch , belts , website etc etc so now we can take the next step and invest even more into the shows.

What have been the biggest benefit to you personally about running the promotion?

Biggest benefit - I guess just the killer buzz of when a show goes very well !

What has been the worst part since you have been up and running about running the promotion?

Worst part is easily the time and sacrifices that I have given.

Onto more specific questions:-

SWE is quite unique to my knowledge in the UK in terms of being a small company which actually runs shows from fairly diverse geographical locations, this has both positives and negatives from I guess, it builds your fan base across the southern and central parts of England but the drawback to the fan who is unable to travel is because you run really good consistent storylines you can miss the next part or even the conclusion of a story you’ve been following carefully, do you consider this an issue or do the benefits outweigh the potential downsides?

It certainly takes a lot more thought running storylines across different towns , it helps with the internet but if you do it right on show day and tell the right story then it can work . It's just a more complex way of doing it.

The current feud with the House Of Pain in my book has been expertly done, the most recent event in Nottingham was as good a show as I’ve ever been to from any promotion of any size, everything was clearly planned out so carefully and performed so expertly, do you have any concerns given the amount of heat and promotion on the social media being generated from this feud that once it has concluded the aftermath may feel quite flat in contrast e.g. less traffic on social media with no feuding to be done on there, lower crowds at Nottingham without the House Of Pain contingent present?

Well if the SWE v HOP fued does die out then it's my challenge to grip the fans with something new , I have lots of plans for next year and am really excited about them. I'm at the point now that fans keep coming back , they know we are going to put on a great show , with great talent and do things that will entertain on the night.

Along with others I heard on The Indy Corner podcast recently the interview with Kris Travis, whilst it was an entertaining listen and apparently a typical Travis interview he was pretty scathing about Southside and you personally as a businessman although he did qualify that by stating that he holds a high opinion of you in your personal life, he strongly hinted that you were up to your neck in it which I could only interpret as being you were struggling financially with Southside, would you like to put your side to this story to enable the public to hear both sides and also to reassure us SWE fans that all is well?

No I won't comment on Kris Travis , I can confirm that Southside is very strong , people love to talk rumours in this business but there is not a single fact why anyone could suggest that we are struggling financially. How many other companies can go into a bowling green and transform it like us . Everyone is always paid on time , in fact often early.

Would you consider merging Southside with other midlands promotions if it was felt that it would benefit the UK indy scene if there were less indy promotions but more good ones?

No I would never merge Southside at the end of the day I have worked far too hard to share it, it’s my baby and it’s staying that way!

Do you subscribe to the notion of creating a regulatory system which all promoters new and current have to register with and had your H&S procedures independently assessed then assuming you pass! Your name goes onto a register of approved promoters, this would be to protect the wrestlers from appearing for a dodgy promoter who takes risks with their health?

I could talk for ages about all of these poor companies out there - somebody is going to get really hurt.Everything about them is hurting British Wrestling but the fact is that there really isn’t a way to govern them - I wish that there was.

What is the best match in your opinion that you have put on?

I really couldn’t tell you which the best match I’ve put on is far too many, I guess I could say the Ego Dragon/El Ligero is my favourite thing that I’ve done - proud of what the 3 of us have achieved.

What is your dream match that you would like to put on if you could use any current wrestler from any promotion including WWE/TNA?

Dream match wow - Dolph Ziggler vs. Austin Aries at the moment but I could name 100 if asked lol(just to mention that I came very close to booking the dream match for me PAC vs. Davey Richards)

What would your dream match be if you could use any wrestler including retired/deceased?

So many of my favourites are dead Curt Henning, Eddie, Benoit

Who is your favourite big name in wrestling that you’ve met and why?

Probably Steve Austin although I’ve met so many cool guys, really liked Rey Mysterio and Vickie Guerrero

Where do you see Southside in five years time?

I see Southside getting bigger and better, bigger venues, bigger names, same quality shows.

Where do you see UK indy wrestling scene in general in five years time?

Not sure about the British scene it really all depends upon TV.

Can I thank Ben Auld for this interview please, like so many of our other promoters Ben besides running and promoting Southside also holds down a full time job and is a family man,he makes big sacrifices of his time to enable us to go along and have a fantastic time and I for one am very grateful to him and other promoters for doing that.

I would like to finish off by highly recommending taking in a Southside show to anybody out there who enjoys indy wrestling events, you will be blown away trust me!

For more details on forthcoming Southside events you can contact them on the following social media outlets:-

Twitter:- @SouthsideWE
Facebook:- Southside Wrestling
Website:- http://www.southsidewrestling.co.uk/home
YouTube:- Southside Wrestling

You can follow me on @Shadetheshoot.