For years, British wrestling was a fixture on Saturday Afternoon TV in the UK. As a youngster I fondly remember hearing Kent Walton welcome us ‘grapple fans’ to another exciting show. And hey, we actually produced some tremendous wrestlers… Dynamite Kid, Mark Rocco and Johnny Saint among them. Of course, we also produced some of the most abysmal workers this side of Zeus… Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks (Loch Ness) are perfect examples of that type of worker. The smaller, more exciting wrestlers were never pushed to the same extent as the huge, immobile lumps who refused to step out of the spotlight, and with WWF wrestling becoming the newest buzz in the UK, Brit wrestling took a downturn in popularity which eventually led to the cancellation of the TV show and practically the end of the British scene.
Wrestling never totally died out in the intervening years in the UK, but the ‘done thing’ was often to promote ‘WWF tribute shows’ where local talent dressed up as WWF wrestlers in order to con young children into persuading their parents to take them along. UK worker Rick Masters became a laughing stock on the UK scene with his performance as ‘The Undertaker’, while Johnny South donned a Road Warrior Hawk get-up as the ‘Legend of Doom’. No, you couldn’t make this stuff up…
So in early 1999, probably not too many people really cared when aspiring young wrestler Mark Sloan promoted a show known as FWA-ONE in Portsmouth. But incredibly enough, this upstart young federation (comprised in the most part by defectors from Andre Baker’s NWA affiliate ‘Hammerlock’ promotion) steadily built up a following in the south of England. These people were young guys, weaned on both old school British wrestling and a steady diet of WWF style sports entertainment, and they were going out there and performing without so much as a WWF Tribute character amongst them. They would describe themselves as the New School of British wrestling, and with several sold out events under their belt they actually landed a TV deal with the local MyTV outfit in Portsmouth for a weekly wrestling show. It wasn’t national yet, but Brit wrestling was back on TV.
Veteran TV & Radio broadcaster Tommy Boyd decided that the time was right to tap into both the existing WWF craze and the growing interest in the British scene when he started to devote two hours of radio time on the national TalkSPORT radio station every Saturday night from 8-10pm. Not being particularly well informed with the product, he brought in the FWA’s ‘Showstealer’ Alex Shane to offer his opinions and expertise to phone in callers. The show was proclaimed a success, and although the show originally focussed heavily on the US scene, the presence of the talkative Showstealer clued people in that there might be something worth seeing on their own doorstep. Inspired by the failure that was WrestleXpress (where a delusional teenager tried to promote a super card in Coventry featuring top stars from the USA and Japan) and the success of the World Wresting All Stars tour of the UK, Boyd decided to take the jump into the world of promotion himself and proclaimed what he called ‘The Greatest Ever Night Of British Wrestling’ which was to be held in January 2002. Originally the night would’ve featured Jerry Lawler, Ken Shamrock & Chyna along with the British guys, by the time the show came round on 9th February (and the title had been altered to the more snappy ‘Revival’), those names had been replaced by Eddy Guerrero & Brian Christopher and the concept of an 8 man ‘King Of England’ tournament. The show would be taped to air on a prime time Sunday slot on Bravo several weeks later.
The show was originally broadcast live on TalkSPORT radio in the UK, and on the internet at www.talksport.net by the FWA’s regular commentator ‘The Voice Of British Wrestling’ Mark Priest, and for the first time he was joined by a colour commentator Dean Ayass. This report is based on the TV show which featured several clipped matches and recently re-dubbed commentary by Priest & Ayass.
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Priest and Ayass welcome us to the show, and Ayass delivers the first groan of the evening when he busts out Roddy Piper’s old ‘knee high to a grasshopper’ line a mere 30 seconds into the show.
The show begins with a draw for the bracketing of the tournament. There are 17 names in the hat for only 8 spots in the tournament. The 17 names were Eddy Guerrero, Brian Christopher, Ulf Hermann, Alex Shane, Guy Thunder, Doug Williams, Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm, Scott Parker, Flash Barker, Drew McDonald, Robbie Brookside, Ashe & Curve of the New Breed, Tyrant, Dominator and Pliers.
Tommy Boyd himself drew the numbers from the bag to decide the 8 first round competitors. At one point Tommy drew out number 14, which was his radio co-host Alex Shane’s number, but Tommy claimed he was mistaken and that the spot actually went to Eddy Guerrero… which miffed the Showstealer no end. Either way though, he was out of the tournament and it seemed that Tommy was to blame.
Doug Williams is the spearhead of the FWA. He is a worker in the traditional British style, and has garnered quite a huge following from knowledgeable fans outside the UK too. Those who witnessed it declared his match with American Dragon at 2001’s King of the Indies tournament for APW a minor classic, and there is a prevailing opinion that it won’t be long before Williams find himself being headhunted by either a US organisation or a Japanese organisation. He has been undefeated in the FWA since his debut, but for a shock upset against former ECW star Nova at the ‘When Thunder Strikes’ event last year. He is also the current British heavyweight champion and the red-hot favourite to win the tournament. When I say favourite though, that’s not to say Doug is working babyface in this tournament… his black tights say “Screw Britannia” across the back. Classy. Barker first entered the FWA as the head of security for Alex Shane (dubbed Mr Blonde). He has since severed ties to Shane and has worked under his regular name ever since. Both men are British veterans.
Quite a few of the matches on this show tonight have been clipped for TV, and in the case of these first four Quarter Final matches, that clipping basically evens out at only a couple of minutes per match. As a result, it’s quite difficult to gauge how good the matches were. In this match we see Barker getting the advantage with a somersault plancha from the guardrail into the crowd (which looked to take out some ringsiders rather than Williams) and a top rope rana. Williams rallies and hits his revolution DDT for the three count to advance in the tournament.
Parker is one of the FWA’s most promising young talents, reaching the finals of the tournament to crown the British Champion (where he fell to Doug Williams) and contesting several super matches with Alex Shane around the country. Eddy Guerrero is, well, Eddy Guerrero. He’s one of the world’s most talented stars, and looks to be in the shape of his life for this tournament. Eddy oozes sheer class and is seriously over with the crowd.
There is not a lot of this match shown, sadly, and we’re very quickly at the finish when Alex Shane interferes, trying to help Parker eliminate the man who he thinks has taken his spot in the tournament. He swings a chair at Guerrero, who moves out of the way resulting in Shane clobbering Parker. Eddy shoves the chair back into Alex Shane’s face (legitimately breaking Shane’s nose in the process) and follows up with a frog splash for the 1-2-3.
This is the match that the fans were waiting for. Jody and Jonny contested a fantastic TLC match at the WrestleXpress event last October (I was there, and it was superb) and this is the rematch. Mark Priest foolishly states that the surrounding area has been searched for tables and ladders before the match, even though we blatantly saw a ladder sitting ringside during the previous match, and indeed it doesn’t take long for the two competitors to get over there and start the show.
This match is brutally clipped; especially when you consider the general buzz coming out of the live event a few weeks ago was almost totally about this match. This is a spotfest in the very best sense of the word, with Storm and Fleisch having the fans almost literally eating out of their hands. In ladder orientated spots, Storm hit a somersault senton to the floor at one early stage and Fleisch hit a springboard spinning heel kick, knocking Storm off (and over) the ladder as he was climbing it mid-ring. Storm countered a rana attempt into a sit-out powerbomb for a great near fall, and eventually Jody hit the Phoenix 720 DDT (Asai moonsault into a tornado DDT) for the win.
Although what we saw of the match was really amazing looking, this match suffered hugely from the editing process. A source told me that someone who knew nothing about wrestling did the editing, and in this match I totally agree with that statement. Live (and on the radio broadcast) we were told about some fantastic build up with both men establishing how well they know the other with some great countering and chain wrestling. Here we see none of it, as the editor of the show seemed to forget the internal storyline and psychology of the match in order to get to the stunts. In my opinion it is important to build a match like this slowly so that when the big spots come along they actually mean something and make sense in the psychology of the match. That’s not a knock on the guys in the ring, because remember, that’s what they actually did on the night. My beef here is with the editing process solely. Another example of this is Jody’s show stopping moonsault off the ladder. What moonsault off the ladder? Exactly. Perhaps the most amazing move of the night from all accounts is left off the match because apparently the set-up took too long for the TV people. Bah.
Don’t get me wrong here, since the match seemed fantastic from what they showed, but both guys have to be disappointed that all the work they put in to make the match a potential classic was lost on an editor who had no ‘feel’ for the product.
Drew McDonald is on a resurgence of popularity in the UK at the minute since he started to work with the FWA. McDonald has been around the UK scene for twenty years or so, working as ‘Mad’ Drew McDonald and (inexplicably) ‘The Ultimate Chippendale’ as well as his current persona. Past his prime from an in-ring perspective, Drew’s main remaining strength is his ability to get heat from the crowd. His matches often feature as much jawing with the front row audience as they do any in ring work. His position in the FWA is as the leader of an ‘old school’ movement, featuring he and fellow veteran Dino Scarlo. Robbie Brookside has been around for quite a while now too, and has worked in Japan a few times, including New Japan’s Best Of The Super Junior tournament in 97 (where, as Mark Priest comments, he picked up a win over Chris Jericho).
The match is all Brookside, at least from the clips we see, the highlight of which was Brookside’s Iconoclasm Slam on McDonald. Interference from fellow old-schooler Dino Scarlo lead to a sudden and disappointing win for McDonald after a Stunner. Brookside did what he could with McDonald, but unfortunately the match looked very pedestrian.
From all accounts, this match was really sloppy on the night, and of all the matches, this is the one that required some judicious editing for TV. Before the match we saw a clip of Lexie leaving the referee’s room after apparently seducing the official for this match, Mark Sloan.
The match then featured the continuing storyline of the crooked Sloan slow counting Nikita’s pin attempts and fast counting for Fyfe. Eventually Nikita’s boyfriend (former Gladiator) Ace jumped the rail and attacked Sloan. Hilariously, Ace was incapable of clotheslining Sloan over the top rope, needing three attempts to manage it. The end of the match mercifully came when Ace dragged the out-cold Sloan back to the ring and slapping his hand on the mat three times to register the pin.
It’s a shame that the match turned out so badly. If there is a real push to try and make women’s wrestling somewhat comparable with the men it’s important that on real showcase nights such as this there isn’t a repeat of this kind of car crash match. Both girls looked fine in this 2 minute clip, so there really isn’t all that much left to say.
Remember my mini rant about editing during the Fleisch-Storm match? Well, Jody is involved in yet another match with some atrocious editing. This time though, they gave this match far, far too long. The match was just an extended heat sequence where Drew (along with Dino Scarlo and Vixen) double and triple team Fleisch while the referee has been knocked out. McDonald looked lethargic and old (despite Ayass and Priest’s increasingly desperate attempts to put him over as a vicious bad ass), actually letting Scarlo do the majority of the work. Eventually Robbie Brookside puts us out of our misery by running in to help Jody who rolls up McDonald in a sunset flip to get the three.
This was awful, and not the kind of stuff that we need to broadcast on the show that hopes to restart British wrestling. McDonald wasn’t the ‘evil, dominating heel’ that was required to make a match of this kind work, and makes this writer again wonder why he is still held in such high regard by the movers and shakers in British wrestling.
I understand that the decision was made to heavily clip the first round, and show the semis and finals in pretty much their entirety, which is why this match was allowed to run on for as long as it did, but looking back, the booking should’ve meant that the Storm-Fleisch match was allowed to take the featured semi final position, with Fleisch having beaten McDonald in the first round, and Storm having beaten Brookside (which wouldn’t have been a waste of Robbie’s talents).
Huge German Ulf Hermann makes an appearance, breathing fire on the rampway, and he is apparently shocked and disappointed that he was left out of the KoE tournament. He pulls a fan (plant) out of the ringside area, and delivers an impressive looking Piledriver on the floor. After a few more seconds of Hermann beating up the security, the former ‘Grand Master Sexay’ Brian Christopher makes his entrance.
We get an impromptu match on our hand, which seems to be just an excuse for Ayass to break out some references that will impress his half dozen fans. Christopher gets compared to 80s kids TV presenter Timmy Mallet a couple of times and Ulf Hermann’s camel clutch gives Dean a chance to air his Iron Shiek impersonation, and wasn’t the national audience just waiting for that…
The match is pretty standard, with an ECW brawl through the crowd, and a couple of blown spots. A ref bump resulted in Christopher’s pin attempt following the Hip Hop Drop being missed, and Hermann turned the tide with a chair shot to pick up the three count. There was nothing wrong with this match, although they never really seemed to click.
Well… this match should rock bells.
Indeed, Guerrero and Williams’s styles are so evenly matched that they are able to construct an absolutely fantastic match. This is the kind of match that the editor of the Fleisch-Storm match should be forced to watch a few dozen times, as Eddy & Doug demonstrate the art of ‘building’ a match magnificently. There is some enthralling work by both men on the mat, with Eddy working over Doug’s legs, including using a British (standing) Figure 4 Leglock, which allows the commentary team to put over how much Eddy has been studying the British style in order to become successful in the tournament. Eddy also busts out the Gory Special, although I would’ve loved to see him utilise the spinning variant of the move.
Moving the momentum up, Guerrero hits two rolling Brainbusters (~!) to set up a frog splash. Williams gets up and Eddy vaults over the top if him only for Williams to sneak in an attempt at a revolution DDT. Eddy tries to take advantage by surprising Doug with an Oklahoma roll attempt, but Williams shifted his weight to stop being taken over and cinches Eddy up for a shocking three count!
A wonderful match which managed to announce Doug Williams’ true arrival on the scene (the commentators had been making note of how he is regularly referred to as ‘the greatest wrestler you’ve never scene’ and ‘the most underrated wrestler in the world’) and Eddy’s return to form after his personal problems. I could’ve easily watched this match go another 15-20 minutes given the amazingly smooth and innovative nature of both men, which is truly as great a compliment as I can pay. You NEED to see this match. Nuff said.
This match was set up after a backstage angle where Parker was hot at Shane for costing him his match against Guerrero in the first round of the tournament. Alex is totally over with the crowd, since he is the regular co-host of the TalkSPORT radio show. He is the closest thing that the FWA have produced who could realistically be successful in the WWF. He’s 6’7, wrestles an exciting match, and is at ease cutting promos.
These men know each other quite well; with this too being a rematch from the WrestleXpress show last October. I believe this match has lost about 50% to the cutting room floor, and moments after the start of the match they’re brawling up through the crowd to the balcony. Alex takes a fall off the balcony onto a waiting group of people (his wrestling trainees?) and Parker follows him down with an impressive cross body from the balcony. Almost immediately the action moves back into the ring with neither man selling the effects of the balcony spot (probably not interesting enough for the editors…) and we move to the finishing sequence. After yet another ref bump, Parker hits his Golden (Falcon) Arrow finisher with no one there to make the count. Moments later, with the referee back in the match, Shane hits his One Night Stand (Chris Chetti's 'Amityville Horror') for the three count.
This was a very good-looking match, although the balcony spot was a repeat of the same spot they did at WrestleXpress. I can’t criticise them for that though, since they want to display their wares on the national stage. I’d have loved to see a bit more of the match though.
I hope Drew McDonald is watching this match, because here is how a really talented wrestler works with Jody Fleisch. Exactly like Jody’s semi final, he is playing the face-in-peril role as Doug works him over with some style. Williams works Jody’s injured left arm with several impressive and innovative submission holds.
These men met in the semi finals of the tournament to crown a British Champion, and in that match I was pleasantly surprised how much the heavyweight Williams was willing to bump and sell for the Jr heavyweight Fleisch. Underlining Williams’ unselfishness he allows Jody some breathtaking comeback moves such as the much-lauded Springboard Shooting Star Press from the ring to the outside. Every time Jody got some offence on track though, Williams hit back with some EVIL looking manoeuvres such as a German Suplex off the top rope, which almost pitched Jody to the other side of the ring, and a dangerous looking sit-out powerbomb off the apron to the floor. Incredibly, after some attempted hurricanranas and victory rolls, Fleisch was able to roll up Williams for the upset 1-2-3! Great match, which wasn’t quite up to the standards of the Guerrero semi final, but still managed to really deliver with a superb performance from both men.
The crowd roar their approval for Jody as the FWA’s babyface ranks come down to the ring to raise the jubilant Jody as a huge confetti and tickertape storm falls from the ceiling. However, there is a surprise left in the show yet, as there is a special guest to present Jody Fleisch with his King of England medal… the fans seem genuinely shocked and happy when the ring announcer introduces “Tommy Billington… The Dynamite Kid!”
Tommy comes out to the top of the ramp on his wheelchair, and presents Jody with his huge medal in a symbolic and touching passing of the torch from one generation of British wrestling to the next.
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Overall Thoughts
Well, if this show isn’t the show that gets British wrestling back on a regular national TV spot, nothing will. This was a tremendous showcase opportunity for the FWA talent and, with the notable exception of Drew McDonald, everyone shone very brightly. Doug Williams established himself as the class of the field with no doubt, having two superb matches, and Jody Fleisch was given a tremendous (and deserved) push as the #1 babyface. While Doug and Jody are the top two names in British wrestling, there is a very solid foundation immediately beneath them in the form of Scott Parker, Alex Shane, Jonny Storm and Robbie Brookside. The production values on the show were on par with (or even better than) some of ECW’s PPV shows, and the Brit crowd loved every minute of it. Unlike the XWF or WWA, which features almost exclusively people who have been dropped by the WWF, the FWA features all new talent from the ground up, with hand picked extras such as Eddy Guerrero on this show (and also in the past Steve Corino, Christopher Daniels, Nova and Little Guido).
You need to see this show. Not everything is spectacular, by any means, but when it’s good… it’s as good as anything in the world. If you’re living in the UK or Ireland and have access to the Bravo TV channel on cable or satellite, there are re-runs of the show on Monday 4th March at 11pm, Wednesday 6th March at 6pm and Saturday 9th March at 4pm. For those who are reading this in the USA or Canada (or indeed anyone who uses NTSC tapes) you can order this tape from Bob Barnett who is receiving an original tape of the show as we speak. For those in the UK who have already seen the show, I urge you to Email Bravo at enquiries@bravo.co.uk and tell them that you want to see more British wrestling on your TV.
High reccomendation.