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I first started watching British wrestling in 1984. I’d just started following football and so would tune into ITV to get the halftimes at 4 o
clock and then the wrestling would come on. I was intrigued by the mixture of pantomine and athleticism. I went to my first show a couple of
years later in Rugby and saw the likes of Richie Brooks, Ian McGregor,
Jamiacia George, Scrubber Daly, Greg Valentine and Big Daddy. Once wrestling came off the air I didn’t see any British wrestling for a
couple of years until catching Jackie Pallo’s WAW promotion on ITV Central.
This show had plenty of razzmatazz and showed even in 1990 how much the
WWF on Sky was influencing the British scene.
Over 15 years after ITV pulled the plug on British wrestling some of the stars from then can still be seen in live venues up and down the
country, such as Robbie Brookside, Drew McDonald, Johnny Kidd and Alan
Kilby to name a few. Many went on to achieve varying levels of success in
the USA such as Steve Regal, Fit Finley, Dave Taylor, Doc Dean, Dynamite
Kid and Dirtbike Kid. British wrestling has seen various “new dawns”
over the last 10 years with UWA, and FWA making it onto various non-terrestrial channels whilst Hammerlock had some shows on ITV. Whilst
these have not pushed British wrestling back into the public consciousness to
the extent it was in previous decades, and many of these promotions faced much criticism, they at least gave more exposure and publicity to
some of the best young wrestlers that Britain has.
Many of todays wrestlers dream of being able to give up their main jobs to be able to wrestle full time. That is only likely to happen if they
are able to receive contracts with WWE or some of the biggest Japanese
promotions. Even in the heyday of British wrestling the likes of the
late Mal Kirk worked doors of nightclubs for extra money to support his
family. However many British stars are getting the opportunity in the
United States to demonstrate their skills be it in the likes of NWA TNA,
Ring of Honor, CZW or WWE tryout camps. We should all wish them the best of luck as they strive to make a living out of the sport they love.
We should also support British wrestling by going to the shows, many fine promotions are out there up and down the UK, put on by promoters who
love the business and many of which make little or no profit. Those readers brought up on the WWF/WWE may feel that Britain has little to
offer the wrestling world, well you might be surprised to know how much
respect and esteem the Americans have for out style of wrestling. Go out
and see some shows, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Email
John at jaol@supalife.com
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