Britwresdvds

Episode three out now! Featuring all of this, plus a bonus Owen Hart story! https://soundcloud.com/isitshanerichie https://www.facebook.com/conroypod/ https://twitter.com/conroypod

Episode two out now! https://soundcloud.com/isitshanerichie https://www.facebook.com/conroypod/ https://twitter.com/conroypod

Episode one of 'Is It Shane Richie? The Adventures of a Wrestling Journeyman', a new podcast by former British wrestler Carl Conroy, is live now, and can be found here.... https://soundcloud.com/isitshanerichie This week, we bring you regular features 'Short Stories', 'Quote of the Week' and 'Song of the Week' for the first time, as well as explaining where the name of the podcast comes from. I would love to hear feedback and suggestions, good and bad, and as well as on Soundcloud, you can also find us on both Facebook and Twitter, under the name Conroypod. https://www.facebook.com/conroypod/ https://twitter.com/conroypod

Is It Shane Richie? The Adventures Of A Wrestling Journeyman' - a brand new podcast by former British wrestler Carl Conroy. Carl wrestled from May 1996 to October 2012 and, while he was never anything more than a lowly journeyman, he did have lots of interesting adventures, and met lots of interesting people on said adventures. The show will feature stories, anecdotes and reminiscences both from Carl and various guests, who will be announced in due course. The first episode will be out very soon and I will post details here once it's ready. Facebook and Twitter pages for the podcast can be found here.... https://www.facebook.com/conroypod/ https://twitter.com/conroypod

Former British wrestler Stevie Knight has restarted his podcast (alongside fellow host Richard 'Youngy' Young). Some very interesting interviews, including the latest one with Roy Knight, which I listened to yesterday. Well worth a listen. Here are the links to the podcast.... And their Facebook page.... https://www.facebook.com/itsknighttime/

I'm currently (and have been for several months now) on a massive re-watch of lots of my British and European wrestling footage, for an ongoing DVD project. It's proving very interesting. I've already rewatched everything from Steve Grey, Jon Cortez, Zoltan Boscik, Mick McMichael, Brian Maxine, Vic Faulkner and Steve Wright (some of those German handhelds are brutal to get through!). Just finished going through all my Johnny Saint stuff. Next up, Jim Breaks, Mile Zrno and Pat Roach.

I know this is an old topic, so apologies for bumping it. I'm currently re-watching all of my Steve Grey footage for a DVD project. It's proving very enjoyable. It's interesting to note the differences in character, depending on the match type. It really pads out his reputation as a good, versatile all-rounder, rather than just a technical whizz. Championship defending Steve Grey, for example, is noticeably different to technical exhibition match Steve Grey, even in title matches against other blue eyes. The intensity and focus is clearly stepped up, and little details like the lack of handshakes between rounds emphasise the importance of the occasion and his focus, etc, whilst the handshakes still taking place after falls keep the sportsman-like nature of his persona highlighted. Nice to see that level of detail.

His matches with Robbie Brookside are well worth a look. From what I remember, I think there are a couple from that Michinoku Pro footage and at least one from the UK.

I don't get much time at all nowadays. I'll watch the odd match or two, here and there. That's about it.

Pitbull Johnson This was brilliant, need more stories about the dark days of British Wrestling. I have hundreds, but where to begin?!

I've been married for 11 years this year. We have an eight year old son, who is our world. Our family summer holiday is always the highlight of my year. 10 and a half weeks and counting!

I'm a hypnotherapist. Before that, I was a wrestler and promoter. I've also worked at mental health day centres and secure units and done numerous other jobs, including two short stints as a sex text operative. I've never stayed on the 'normal' career path for too long

As long as we don't have to sign any kind of register at the AGM.

Pitbull Johnson Well seeing that gimp being mentioned on here was unexpected. He bought some shows from Hammerlock when I was there in 1996. They were 'interesting' to say the least. Not least for him sitting taking money at the door, writing TICKITT in big letters on a lined pad, then tearing the pages off and handing them to the bemused punters. Not before trying to flog them promo pictures of himself standing in his garden, with a garden gnome and his neighbours looking over the fence in the background. He was from Sheerness, on the Isle of Sheppey, but couldn't pronounce the letter H, so ended up being from Seerness, on the Isle of Seppey. He also formed a very popular up and coming tag team with Alex Sane, called the Seppey Lads. He also advertised a ladder match as the main event of one show, then forgot to bring the ladder. Hammerlock MC Dean Ayass officially became my hero on that night, as he called Pitbull out to the ring before the main event. He thought Dean was going to thank him for all his efforts in promoting the show, etc. Dean then said "Now, ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we were supposed to have a ladder match for you here tonight. Unfortunately, we haven't got that match for you tonight....and here to explain why is Ian 'Pitbull' Johnson." Dean then handed him the microphone and watched him stand there like a deer caught in the headlights for about a minute, before he finally stammered "Errrr, forgot the ladder". He was also arrested whilst on the run from the law, when he promoted a wrestling show and put himself all over the posters. He couldn't work out how they'd found him! Memories

I'd like to say football, but I'm not sure supporting Nottingham Forest these days really counts.

Probably these, I reckon.... The Simpsons Fawlty Towers Blackadder Coupling Life On Mars / Ashes To Ashes The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin Brass Eye Father Ted Bottom Red Dwarf

And Brian Crabtree MCing in a bright yellow jumpsuit on at least one TV taping. What's not to like?!

After downloading the latest one, I've given up on this completely. It's become akin to listening to someone else's private joke that you either aren't in on, or just don't find funny. Boring.

I enjoyed listening to this to begin with, but then it just became a collection of catchphrases with very little new insight into anything. I'm not bothered if it's stopping, to be honest. I've switched off the last few I've listened to well before the end, as it's just been the same old stuff again and again.

Shodate has thankfully been canned, but Baker for a Hall of Fame? And Shodate's entire basis was that he trained all these guys who are seen as top talents. I'll give him Doug Williams and potentially Jodie Fleisch, but I'd be interested to here how much of a hand Baker had in actually training someone like Fleisch (I can't imagine Andre was teaching him springboard shooting stars and running up walls). Even the likes of Devitt and later Sabre Jr. who reportedly trained at Hammerlock, how much involvement did Andre have in training them? Fair point about Hammerlock's role in the evolution of British wrestling in the mid 90s, especially as it was probably the precursor for the FWA and the boom period that followed in the early to mid 2000s. Don't get me wrong, I should have made it a bit clearer that I wouldn't agree with Andre for a hall of fame spot either. I just thought he and Hammerlock deserved a little more credit in the grand scheme of things. I wasn't there from the very start in 1993, so can't comment on the very early training and how involved Andre was. I joined in early 1996 and, certainly by that time, the bulk of the actual physical training was being done by Justin and Doug, with Andre more in an overseeing capacity.

i rate promotors who bulit from Nothing more like all the ones i listed did any comments on the wreslters section also take in to account i made my HOF out of people who are Most HOFs in the world Andre Baker FFS! Yeah, cause Hammerlock left such an indelible mark on the world of professional wrestling! I might be biased here (having trained with and wrestled for Hammerlock in the mid 90s), but it has to be said that Hammerlock, and Andre Baker, pioneered the opening up of wrestling in the UK. Whether that's been a good or bad thing is debatable, but at the very least they provided opportunities for many people that were simply not there before Hammerlock came about. As someone who was looking to get into wrestling in the early 90s, I know firsthand how limited the opportunities for people not already connected to the business in some way to get in were. Hammerlock changed that and eventually spawned countless others. The amount of people who have come onto, and made an impact on, the UK wrestling scene over the past 25 years because of Hammerlock cannot be overlooked. Doug Williams. Johnny Moss. Justin Richards. Alex Shane. Jody Fleisch. Gary Steele. There are countless others who passed through the doors at different times - far too many to mention. I'm not saying Hammerlock was perfect, or even that Andre was solely responsible for its success, but when you look historically at its impact, you can't deny that it paved the way for the evolution of the wrestling scene in the UK.

Dave Taylor is definitely someone who should be talked about more. I spent a couple of weeks putting together a career DVD set for him a couple of years ago, and it turned into a really enjoyable project. There are several other British and European guys who fly under the radar on a lot of the conversation, I find. Someone like Mile Zrno is a good example of that.

This is a good time to ask if every single match that aired in the original ITV run aired on the "Movies & Men" run in the 2000s. Or were some left on the cutting room floor? In other words, are there original 70s-80s recordings out there that are worth finding and getting, or would they just be duplicates of the superior quality 2000s stuff that aired? The Wrestling Channel / Movies & Men run isn't even close to everything. I bought a lot of 70s and 80s stuff from various people, which wasn't broadcast on TWC or Movies & Men. A couple of my rarer finds were even from overseas broadcasts, although I'm unsure of the channel / country. The quality of the stuff varies enormously, as you would expect. According to a source who is very much in the know, there is a lot of footage still in the archives too.

That is fair. For me, right now I am sort of exploring strictly WOS proper, but that is really only by happenstance. I am interested in British Wrestling more generally from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I am very much guilty of sort of lumping it under the "WOS" banner. Sincerely, thanks for drawing attention to the distinction. It's helpful. No worries. Not a criticism at all. I just noticed it happens a lot. There's a lot to dive into as far as British wrestling goes, and that's without even mentioning the wider European scene.

Sorry to sound like a massive pedant here, but when you say World of Sport are you planning to look just at what aired on ITV, or at British wrestling in general from that period? I ask because there's a ton of interesting British footage from the 70s, 80s and 90s out there which isn't from WOS / ITV, such as Reslo, camcorder footage, etc. I'm never sure how much of British wrestling gets lumped in under the term 'World of Sport' in any given discussion.