By Nathan P Hunt
Following the cancellation of the TV program 'World Of Sport' in December 1988, British wrestling was unable to secure itself a spot on national television. The introduction of satellite TV and the fact that the major distributor of the new platform, Sky TV, was broadcasting World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) shows from early 1989 meant that there was no longer a platform for homegrown stars to showcase their abilities and not enough demand for any channels to carry the product. The production values for WWF programming was far superior to anything that the British had been able to match at that time, and despite stars such as Big Daddy still being a big draw around the country for several years after the program had ceased airing, the numbers of fans would start to dwindle away. With no platform to create new stars, it was a bleak time for the territory and promoters would start to struggle to put on shows that could make a profit.
Wrestling had been a staple of British television for many years, and even those in the country who readily dismiss American wrestling for being too much of an entertainment product will still recall the wrestling from World Of Sport with fond nostalgia. It had always been a style which was more similar in many ways to Japanese pro wrestling than to the American counterparts, with more emphasis on believability and protecting kayfabe by presenting wrestling as a legitimate sport than on any of the soap-opera or entertainment elements which are prevalent in the international product which replaced it. There had been many petitions and movements to get British wrestling back on TV over the years, but these would fail to garner enough attention and traction, and so were dismissed by ITV (the host channel of World Of Sport) and its competitors.
A glimmer of hope would arrive for fans of the British scene, when on 15th March 2004, The Wrestling Channel launched on satellite TV in the UK and Ireland, which would broadcast classic matches and shows from the World Of Sport era, current national wrestling companies (such as FWA, LDN Wrestling, Irish Whip Wrestling etc), American independents such as ROH, MLW, CZW etc, and any other wrestling related programming such as shoot interviews and news/review shows. Essentially, it was an early independent version of the WWE Network, but exclusively with regularly scheduled programming (an on-demand style service would not have been possible at that time). Unfortunately, the free-to-air channel would fail to make enough money in advertising revenue and would be sold off, watered down and eventually scrapped on 1st December 2008. It was great while it lasted for all UK fans, but unfortunately the saturation of WWE's product into the market at that time, and the inequalities in production values (among other problems), meant that despite a wealth of exceptional talent, the project could simply not pull fans eyes away from the world's biggest wrestling company. That time was not entirely lost, as it was then that wrestlers such as Doug Williams, Paul Burchill, Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch would all begin making names for themselves at home and internationally.
Fleisch and Storm (amongst others) are credited by some for starting a revolution of cruiserweight-style wrestling becoming more accepted and common in British wrestling, which has continued and evolved to this day. Paul Burchill, along with fellow FWA alumni Katie Lea/Winter have both wrestled for WWE, and Katie Lea would go on to be a major part of the TNA Knockouts division for a time. Doug Williams has become an international star and an ambassador for British wrestling and is currently back working in this country, helping local companies build their show attendance and getting more eyes on some other homegrown talents. He has also negotiated deals between European companies and Jeff Jarrett's fledgling company Global Force Wrestling, which has caused a great deal of anticipation on the worldwide wrestling landscape, but has yet to secure the necessary TV deal and distribution to make it a viable promotion.
Over the years, the great talent that has come from the UK has been rated amongst the best in the world, including the likes of Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid, William Regal, Dave Fit Finlay (all of whom made their early appearances on World Of Sport). Over more recent years, the array of talent we have produced has not lapsed, as evidenced by the current use of stars like Magnus, Rockstar Spud & Bram in TNA, as well as Adrian Neville, Finn Balor, Paige and Wade Barrett in WWE. This and initiatives such as the introduction of TNA's British Bootcamp show have brought more eyes back to the local independent scene, as more people are seemingly ready to accept that if American companies are utilising our talent pool that there are future stars and great wrestling available to watch at home. Not only that, but there has also been a growth in the number of well-run local companies who are capable of putting on great shows, who have gained reputations and furthered their audiences on the basis of their output. Insane Championship Wrestling, Fight Club Pro, Preston City Wrestling, Southside Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Progress and a myriad of others are consistently well booked, well produced shows which utilise British talents and showcase the incredible abilities of our homegrown stars alsongside international names. This formula has been successful in bringing in bigger audiences and furthering the reputations for the companies and for the talents, who get to ply their craft on a formerly dwindling stage. By taking this combination of positive steps, the audiences for their shows are all on the rise, and regularly pull in larger crowds than some TNA house shows.
Of course it is not just the companies that should get the credit for this, as the people that the fans are paying to see, the wrestlers themselves, deserve applause for their hard work and dedication to the industry. In the same way as any other territory, many of these wrestlers perform for little or no money until they can at least start to build their name and brand into something profitable, but the level at which a lot of these guys perform is outstanding and may come as a pleasant surprise to anyone checking out a British show for the first time. Tag teams such as The Sumerian Death Squad (Tommy End & Michael Dante - not British by birth, but staples on the UK scene), The UK Hooligans (Roy & Zak Knight - brothers of WWE star Paige), The London Riots & Team Single (T-Bone & Rampage Brown) all put on a great show in various different ways, each with distinct and unique styles. Meanwhile, the cruiserweight revolution started by the likes of Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch is continued by stars such as El Ligero, Noam Dar, Will Ospreay, Mark Andrews and Pete Dunne, just to name a few. The women of the UK scene are also making a major impact, as Kay Lee Ray, Lana Austin, Nixon Newell, Viper and many more are showing that they can have great matches with each other and also that they can square up just as well with the guys when the need arises. Women's matches on British wrestling cards are far from the 'restroom/refreshment break' that they are considered to be on American shows, and often feature amazing high-flying, intricate technical wrestling and even some brutal hardcore elements that will drop some jaws and wow any doubters. There is also a wealth of heavyweight main event players such as Johnny Moss, Stixx, Big Damo O'Connor, Mikey Whiplash, CJ Banks, Dave Mastiff et al, who are all great workers and well worth seeing, either on YouTube, or if you have chance, live in person for yourself.
A glimmer of hope would arrive for fans of the British scene, when on 15th March 2004, The Wrestling Channel launched on satellite TV in the UK and Ireland, which would broadcast classic matches and shows from the World Of Sport era, current national wrestling companies (such as FWA, LDN Wrestling, Irish Whip Wrestling etc), American independents such as ROH, MLW, CZW etc, and any other wrestling related programming such as shoot interviews and news/review shows. Essentially, it was an early independent version of the WWE Network, but exclusively with regularly scheduled programming (an on-demand style service would not have been possible at that time). Unfortunately, the free-to-air channel would fail to make enough money in advertising revenue and would be sold off, watered down and eventually scrapped on 1st December 2008. It was great while it lasted for all UK fans, but unfortunately the saturation of WWE's product into the market at that time, and the inequalities in production values (among other problems), meant that despite a wealth of exceptional talent, the project could simply not pull fans eyes away from the world's biggest wrestling company. That time was not entirely lost, as it was then that wrestlers such as Doug Williams, Paul Burchill, Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch would all begin making names for themselves at home and internationally.
Fleisch and Storm (amongst others) are credited by some for starting a revolution of cruiserweight-style wrestling becoming more accepted and common in British wrestling, which has continued and evolved to this day. Paul Burchill, along with fellow FWA alumni Katie Lea/Winter have both wrestled for WWE, and Katie Lea would go on to be a major part of the TNA Knockouts division for a time. Doug Williams has become an international star and an ambassador for British wrestling and is currently back working in this country, helping local companies build their show attendance and getting more eyes on some other homegrown talents. He has also negotiated deals between European companies and Jeff Jarrett's fledgling company Global Force Wrestling, which has caused a great deal of anticipation on the worldwide wrestling landscape, but has yet to secure the necessary TV deal and distribution to make it a viable promotion.
Over the years, the great talent that has come from the UK has been rated amongst the best in the world, including the likes of Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid, William Regal, Dave Fit Finlay (all of whom made their early appearances on World Of Sport). Over more recent years, the array of talent we have produced has not lapsed, as evidenced by the current use of stars like Magnus, Rockstar Spud & Bram in TNA, as well as Adrian Neville, Finn Balor, Paige and Wade Barrett in WWE. This and initiatives such as the introduction of TNA's British Bootcamp show have brought more eyes back to the local independent scene, as more people are seemingly ready to accept that if American companies are utilising our talent pool that there are future stars and great wrestling available to watch at home. Not only that, but there has also been a growth in the number of well-run local companies who are capable of putting on great shows, who have gained reputations and furthered their audiences on the basis of their output. Insane Championship Wrestling, Fight Club Pro, Preston City Wrestling, Southside Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Progress and a myriad of others are consistently well booked, well produced shows which utilise British talents and showcase the incredible abilities of our homegrown stars alsongside international names. This formula has been successful in bringing in bigger audiences and furthering the reputations for the companies and for the talents, who get to ply their craft on a formerly dwindling stage. By taking this combination of positive steps, the audiences for their shows are all on the rise, and regularly pull in larger crowds than some TNA house shows.
Of course it is not just the companies that should get the credit for this, as the people that the fans are paying to see, the wrestlers themselves, deserve applause for their hard work and dedication to the industry. In the same way as any other territory, many of these wrestlers perform for little or no money until they can at least start to build their name and brand into something profitable, but the level at which a lot of these guys perform is outstanding and may come as a pleasant surprise to anyone checking out a British show for the first time. Tag teams such as The Sumerian Death Squad (Tommy End & Michael Dante - not British by birth, but staples on the UK scene), The UK Hooligans (Roy & Zak Knight - brothers of WWE star Paige), The London Riots & Team Single (T-Bone & Rampage Brown) all put on a great show in various different ways, each with distinct and unique styles. Meanwhile, the cruiserweight revolution started by the likes of Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch is continued by stars such as El Ligero, Noam Dar, Will Ospreay, Mark Andrews and Pete Dunne, just to name a few. The women of the UK scene are also making a major impact, as Kay Lee Ray, Lana Austin, Nixon Newell, Viper and many more are showing that they can have great matches with each other and also that they can square up just as well with the guys when the need arises. Women's matches on British wrestling cards are far from the 'restroom/refreshment break' that they are considered to be on American shows, and often feature amazing high-flying, intricate technical wrestling and even some brutal hardcore elements that will drop some jaws and wow any doubters. There is also a wealth of heavyweight main event players such as Johnny Moss, Stixx, Big Damo O'Connor, Mikey Whiplash, CJ Banks, Dave Mastiff et al, who are all great workers and well worth seeing, either on YouTube, or if you have chance, live in person for yourself.
Atmospheres at British shows are usually a combination of comraderie and good-spirited rowdiness, similar in volume and creativity to the original ECW crowd with innovative chanting and creative spins on popular football chants, but generally with more humour than their American counterparts. It is partly this welcoming and fun environment that brings people back for more, and almost anyone you ask at a live event, be it their first or 100th live British wrestling show, will invariably tell you that they would gladly see the show again. While many companies lean towards offering an adult alternative to the current WWE PG-rated output, there are equally high numbers of family-friendly shows around the country, meaning that there really is something for everyone.
Even without a mainstream TV platform on which to advertise upcoming shows, showcase talent and build brands etc, the UK scene is alive and well, and is getting healthier and stronger all the time. This is a trend that will hopefully (and almost certainly) continue, as it benefits the fans, the talent and the wider wrestling world by providing a dimension and a littany of talent to the international stage which would otherwise be lacking. If it were to decline, or even disappear completely, it would not take long before it would be sorely missed, and so many valuable lessons would be lost forever if British wrestling was to fall off the world wrestling landscape. Hopefully other countries and territories will be able to take some pointers from the UK scene, and rebuild their own independent wrestling shows to the same level of quality and success, as it can only be good for the business overall as more great shows and more great talent continue to emerge.
Even without a mainstream TV platform on which to advertise upcoming shows, showcase talent and build brands etc, the UK scene is alive and well, and is getting healthier and stronger all the time. This is a trend that will hopefully (and almost certainly) continue, as it benefits the fans, the talent and the wider wrestling world by providing a dimension and a littany of talent to the international stage which would otherwise be lacking. If it were to decline, or even disappear completely, it would not take long before it would be sorely missed, and so many valuable lessons would be lost forever if British wrestling was to fall off the world wrestling landscape. Hopefully other countries and territories will be able to take some pointers from the UK scene, and rebuild their own independent wrestling shows to the same level of quality and success, as it can only be good for the business overall as more great shows and more great talent continue to emerge.
To
keep up to date with details of other interviews, reviews &
articles from Eye On Wrestling, as well as news and trivia, please
follow on Twitter and like the Facebook page.
(This article was originally posted on the
'GetRealWrestling' website in July 2014, but was moved here after
that site closed.)