The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[Matt D]

I watched Veidor vs Davies. There's only the one, right? I thought it was top notch stuff. Davies was obviously somewhat (but only somewhat) more subtle than Hayes as a heel, but I liked his cutoffs and attempts at control whenever Veidor started to get fiery upon him. When he finally did manage to pick up the pace, that first fall may have made me do a fist bump into the air. May. I have my emotionless work-the-arm reputation i need to hold on to here or something? Davies really held himself as the aloof, mostly controlled champion well, so whenever something didn't go his way, it meant something when he reacted. If you're going to have a finish like this which makes everyone look pretty good but still sort of screws the fans, this was as solid a way to do it as anyway. Veidor's selling as the match goes on is by far the strongest thing I've seen out of him. It's tremendous.

 

There's a sense in these matches that I hate calling "Real sports feel" but it's the closest I can get to, things like the way they use the round system to tell stories as the match progresses, just the way they structure things with them, that there can be offensive or defensive wrestling if someone gets a fall up or down, the chance for a draw, and something that reminds me of soccer, the way that someone can press an advantage. It doesn't really feel like shine or heat to me so much as it feels like someone pressing the offense and having the ball continuously on the opposite side, with the occasional breakthroughs and goal attempts by the defending team. Does that make any sense at all?

[ohtani's jacket]

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR

 

Ep 51

 

Crusher Brannigan vs. Johnny South (5/28/83)

 

This is what I mean by Dale Martin & Joint Promotions making guys seem boring. Johnny South didn't resemble in any way, shape or form the Johnny South I know. Of course, his express purpose here was to job to Brannigan, but he could have been any poor sod. This was pretty boring compared to Brannigan's other bouts.

 

Danny Boy Collins vs. Robbie Hagan (Machynlleth, taped 2/5/91)

 

Generic biggish vs. small man bout. They tried hard, I suppose, but the motions were there for all to see.

 

Steve Casey vs. Buffalo Brehney (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

Brehney was a Wigan wrestler who was an ex rugby league player. They started out on the mat and Orig Williams made the same point that I'm always trying to make -- namely, that by the early 90s British wrestling had become more "Americanised" with fewer holds and more clotheslines and suplexes. The matwork Casey and Brehney were doing wasn't particularly great, but it was a salient point from Williams. Then Brehney bust out a whip and it turned into an Americanised brawl. No egg on Orig's face, I suppose.

 

Kamikaze vs. Tally Ho Kaye (5/11/82)

 

Kamikaze has got to be one of the worst characters to grace the small screen. This was over in a flash and was still pretty awful.

 

Giant Haystacks/Crusher Brannigan vs. Ray Steele/Steve McHoy (6/15/82)

 

Not sure if I've seen Steele in a tag before. The faces started out well here. They effectively double teamed Brannigan for the first fall and were looking pretty sharp. Then Haystacks happened. This was back when Stax was a lot more mobile. He wiped Steele out with a Samoan drop and that was all she wrote. Decent little skirmish.

[GSR]

I watched Veidor vs Davies. There's only the one, right?

 

Yeah, 05.26.76 from Royal Albert Hall. Jon Cortez vs Jim Breaks from that same show is also well worth watching if you've not seen it yet. Probably my favourite WOS match from the 70s.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Matt, Psycho uploaded the Breaks/Saint match from '78, which you'll probably be interested in.

[Matt D]

I will take a look. Cortez vs Breaks I've seen, but early enough in the process I might have to revisit.

 

I watched Veidor vs Tony Charles the other night and I really enjoy how much effort Veidor puts into getting out of every hold. He's a very interesting defensive wrestler. In this specifically I like how they balanced the sportsmanship with the competitiveness, especially Charles' reactions as he was flummoxed. There were a couple of times that he held onto a headlock off the ropes or locked in a really complex reversal that were just great. Some of the fall teases were really solid too. I'm going to keep watching Veidor. (Well after Saint vs Breaks of course).

[Britwresdvds]

I don't know if anyone has waxed lyrical about it already in this thread, but the Jim Breaks vs. Zoltan Boscik bout from 2/12/1972 is one of my favourites.

 

Even as a wrestler with more than ten years' experience behind me at my first time of watching it, I was marking out hugely and was actually pulling for Boscik to win, unlikely an outcome as it would have been. One of those matches that really draws you in and makes you forget. Absolutely excellent and well worth a look.

[ohtani's jacket]

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR

 

Ep 52 53

 

(Screwed up the numbering of these.)

 

Catweazle vs. Shane Stevens (11/25/86)

 

Short Catweazle squash. I was never much of a Catweazle fan unless he was wrestling McManus and Stevens hasn't shown me much thus far. Instantly forgettable.

 

Greg Valentine vs. Ted Heath (10/15/86)

 

Heath was an old school submission brawler who worked in the Amarillo territory for a number of years. He probably could have torn Valentine apart if he'd wanted, but instead was a total pro and got some nice heat for comedy spots like crotching himself on a posting. Fun little performance.

 

Jimmy Ocean & Doc Dean vs. Danny Boy Collins & John Harvey (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

These guys worked hard but it really was the new wave of European wrestling and not the kind of stuff that first attracted me to the British style. I can't recall seeing Harvey before. He pinched Steamboat's fire breathing entrance, which was another bit of WWF aping. I guess that's to be expected since the WWF boom came later in the UK. Match set up a singles bout between Ocean and Collins, which was another sign the bookers had one eye on the WWF.

 

Danny Boy Collins vs. Jimmy Ocean (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

This had the potential to be kind of neat, but like a lot of Collins matches from this era it was nothing special. Collins was obviously a talented guy but something's not clicking when I watch his stuff.

 

Andy Robin vs. "Ripper" John Raven (5/7/87)

 

I can't say I'm much of a Robin fan, and I get sick of hearing about Hercules the Bear every time he's on, but he was a real throwback to the way wrestlers used to be on ITV. He was clearly a hard nut off screen who pranced about and acted eccentric in the ring. And he was unpredictable in the ring. He tossed the ref about in this particular bout for no particular reason despite being a blue eye and gave Raven the fingers a couple of times. He reminded me a bit of Billy Torontos the way he moved about the ring and that gruff Mike Marino look to him. If he'd worked some cool holds I'd probably like him, but outside of the power lock he didn't have much. Raven had even less and certainly wasn't doing any ripping. Pretty average.

[conker8]

The Rambo and Herodes matches are from France in November/December 1991.

[ohtani's jacket]

Watched a bunch of random shit.

 

Gypsy John Kenny vs. Geraint Clwyd (Porthmadog, taped 1987)

Gypsy John Kenny vs. Jack Davey (Caernarfon, taped 1988)

Johnny Saint vs. Gypsy John Kenny (Caernarfon, taped 1987)

Gypsy John Kenny vs. Flesh Gordon (Eurosport circa 1991)

John Kenny vs. Robbie Brookside (10/19/85)

Kung Fu vs. John Kenny (9/17/87)

 

Kenny is the kind of guy you hope will be a fun journeyman with some entertaining shtick and a few carny holds, but isn't the character you hoped for. He tries, in much the same way that Jimmy Ocean and Ricky Knight tried, but it's all a bit second rate. He was awesome against Orig Williams, and I liked his matches against Palance and Saint, though the latter was Kenny being plugged into a Johnny Saint bout like most Johnny Saint bouts, but he lacked that little something when it comes to showmanship. He was a decent hand who knew his way around a ring, but you can't teach showmanship. His squash matches in Reslo weren't as entertaining as they might have been and his comedy based shtick in All-Star wasn't that funny, which kind of pains me for a guy with as alluring a name as "Gypsy" John Kenny.

 

Blondie Barratt vs. Kashmir Singh (Dubai, 1989)

 

This was a handheld from a Dubai show. Brian Dixon was the ref. Pretty much what you'd expect from a house show bout, especially in a foreign land: comedy, shtick, the heel getting his comeuppance. Barratt was an entertaining performer and made it work. He was doing a rock gimmick (at least on this show) and I liked that he came out to The Sweet.

 

Clive Myers vs. Axeman (WAW 1981)

Dave Finlay vs. Billy White Cloud (WAW 1981)

Princess Paula & Blackfoot Sioux vs. Lolita Loren & Spitfire (WAW 1981)

Johnny Kincaid vs. John Kowalski (WAW 1981)

Jackie Pallo & JJ Pallo vs. Adrian Street & Steve Kelly (WAW 1981)

Next up is a commercial tape that Jackie Pallo and his son released in 1981. Pallo and his son quit Joint Promotions in the mid-70s to promote their own shows on the independent circuit (prompting a rare send-off from Walton in Jackie Jr's last televised bout.) The name of their promotion was Wrestling Around the World (WAW) and this '81 cassette is noteworthy for a few reasons. Firstly, it's one of Dave Finlay's earliest appearances on tape. Secondly, it shows Princess Paula working as a babyface. And thirdly, it has an elusive Adrian Street match. It's only an hour long, which means the matches are clipped, and the audio quality is amazingly shoddy with the commentary sounding like it was taped in someone's flat, but the Pallos are easier to listen to than those guys on Screensport. Watching Finlay in '81 is like watching a guy ready to explode onto the scene. Billy White Cloud wasn't much of an opponent and the bout wasn't much on its own, but if you were following the scene in '81, I reckon Finlay would have looked like the most exciting new talent since Jones, Rocco and the Dynamite Kid. That's the sort of presence he had about him. I'm not sure when he hooked up with Paula in real life and when they started doing shows here, but she was a workrate blue eye and was hustling about like the better female workers from 1981. In another life, she might have toured Japan. The main event is short but fairly entertaining. Palo Jr does most of his dad's act, but he was a decent worker. Pallo Sr. was dirt old and seeing him do his thing was like watching McManus struggle in the early 80s. But the key guy is Street, right? I forgot how short he is. I'm not sure if Steve Kelly was tall or if Street was really that short, but he looked tiny. It's incredibly weird and creepy seeing him with a full beard while still doing his exotico shtick. The peroxide blonde hair and dark beard make him look like some sleazy Southern worker smeared with make-up. He puts in a decent performance, but nothing overly compelling. I wish we had more of him because to this very day I have no idea whether the Breaks match was indicative of his usual performances or an outlier. A collector I know was trying to source one of his 60s bouts but that'll probably never see the light of day. Aside from the Barrie match, I haven't really seen anything else from Street in the UK I'd consider strong. The mystery continues.

 

Pete Lapaque vs. Patrick Flyer (8/27/86)

 

Flyer was a tiny 5'4" worker from Harare, Zimbabwe, who was clearly supposed to be a bit of a flyer but didn't get to show it much against an obstinate Pete Lapaque. Walton had the strangest way of announcing Tommy Lorne's death. You'd think it would be slightly more sombre but instead it was pretty much "sorry, for the bad news but it's nice to see Pete Lapaque back." I don't know if it was related to the accident, but Lapaque was never the same afterward. Then again, perhaps that was the reason why he was tagging as he didn't see to have the knack for singles wrestling anymore.

[ohtani's jacket]

More random shit:

 

Steve Logan vs. John Elijah (mid-80s)

 

Think crotch-o-vision only exists with Joshi handhelds? Think again! It's kind of hard to tell what's going on in a bout when you're having a sneak peak at Stevie Logan's butt he entire time. Logan's butt looked pretty good, not sure about the bout.

 

Alan Dennison vs. Rick Wiseman (5/28/83)

 

Last few moments of a bout that had "better luck next time, Ricky Wiseman" written all over it.

 

Pete Lapaque vs. Danny Boy Collins (2/2/84)

 

Lapaque delivers a fair-sized beating to Collins then Danny Boy wins on one of the quickest count-outs ever.

 

Big Daddy/Andy Blair vs. King Kendo/The Spoiler (9/16/87)

 

Kendo and The Spoiler were being managed here by Dr. Monika Kaiser, a German woman who was allegedly a taxi driver from Leeds. She showed plenty of thigh stepping into the ring and Walton seemed to fancy her. His exact words were "slicey," and yeah, I had to look that up too. Kaiser berated Daddy in German, Daddy took care of business, and the Spoiler was very nearly unmasked. Haystacks showed up at ringside for the next bout and they teased Haystacks/Daddy II for the millionth time. Surely, they didn't think that would turn things around in '87. A bunch of local kids flooded the ring to join the "easy" chants and tell Haystacks what a wanker he was. From a safe distance of course.

 

Mick McManus vs. John Naylor (11/18/80)

Tally Ho Kaye vs. Pat Patton (11/18/80)

Tally Ho Kaye vs. Young David (11/18/80)

Chris Adams vs. Mick McManus (11/18/80)

These were heats for the 25th Anniversary Knock Out Trophy that would eventually be won by Al Kilby. It was new footage, but don't get too excited because they're short tournament bouts followed by two quarterfinals where the first to 10 throws advances to the semis. The McManus/Adams bout was hokey as shit as McManus was leading 9-1 before Adams' comeback.

Mohammed Butt vs. Barry Douglas (10/15/86)

This was shockingly decent considering how awful Butt was and how boring and bland Douglas could be. Maybe I was in a trance while watching it, but the slower pace seemed to help Butt work through his holds.

Pat Roach, John Elijah & Jamaica George vs. Giant Haystacks, Scrubber Daly & Rasputin (12/16/87)

Poor old Jamaica George. Even in a six-man tag he was the one taking a beating and that was with Walton reminding us constantly of how good looking he was. I wonder if woke up in a cold sweat having nightmares about Stax. Of course what he all wanted to see was Roach kick the shit out of Stax, and of course we didn't get to see it. Same old bullshit when it came to the big man's booking.

[Matt D]

I finally got to see the Breaks vs Saint match that Arthur Psycho posted. It felt very much like a cliff notes version of their longer matches but kept all the structural bits that the matches rested upon so it still worked.

[ohtani's jacket]

I hoped you watched the '78 one and not the All-Star one from '85.

[Matt D]

I think I caught the All Star one (three rounds, cable). I'll go find the 78 one next.

 

For what it's worth, I thought the All Star one was an interesting diffusion of the style, sort of a big picture version that lacked some of the build and nuance, but that could have worked as a style in and of itself. Almost like the WWE ten minute TV match version.

[ohtani's jacket]

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR

 

Ep 54

 

Jim Breaks vs. Johnny Saint (3/1/86)

 

I've seen this before at some point but was able to enjoy it more this time as two vets in "touring match" mode. Saint looked better than Breaks, which is in keeping with how good he's looked in '87-88 footage lately and the fact he was younger. Breaks looked like the guy who appeared on ITV in '86 and '87 as well as in later handhelds. The '84 classic with Collins is a clear end point for high quality Breaks, but this isn't bad as far as either Screensport or post-prime Breaks go.

 

Prince Mann Singh vs. Bearcat Brody (WAW circa 1990)

Young Apollo vs. Sledgehammer Baker (WAW circa 1990)

 

These were from a short-lived TV series that Pallo's WWA promotion had that aired on Central TV in the Midlands. I didn't think the matches were particularly bad (of course they weren't great), but apparently they were aimed at the American market and put Pallo offside with his fellow promoters. Watch the latter bout if you're interested in them from either a kitsch or historical point-of-view since it has a Cornette style manager in Megamouth Vincent and a worker who's kind of trying to be jacked up.

 

Scrubber Daly vs. Greg Valentine (2/12/85)

 

Part of him wondered if Max Crabtree would rather incredulously have his son beat Scrubber Daly but then sanity prevailed and Valentine wasn't able to continue because of injury. He did get the surprisingly opening fall, though, which meant he was a talent.

 

Steve Wright vs. Larry Cameron (Eurosport circa 1991)

Steve Wright & Dave Taylor vs. Larry Cameron & The Barbarian (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

These were crap as you can imagine. Sometimes I daydream that there are endless Steve Wright matches out there like the Bull Blitzer match against Marty Jones and the long early 70s match against Keith Martinelli.

[JNLister]

Trivia note is that Baker went on to open the first major training school where anyone could turn up and pay their fee rather than it being a closed shop deal. That produced the likes of Doug Williams, Alex Shane, Jodie Fleisch and Johnny Storm who went on to be the main guys in the FWA era of "new school" promotions (and in turn inspired many of the guys wrestling and promoting today), and in later years gave a grounding to Zack Sabre Jr and Prince Devitt.

[ohtani's jacket]

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR

 

Ep 55

 

Johnny South vs. Patrick Lopez (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

According to Orig Williams, rugby man Patrick Lopez used to play tighthead prop for the French club, Toulouse, which in today's cashed-up scene would have earned him mega bucks. Surprising that the Frenchman would have gotten such little offence on a EWF taping, but also weird is Williams going on about Johnny South's 19 inch biceps, which is a far cry from the lanky South that was a foil to Les Kellett on 70s ITV television.

 

Franz Schumann vs. Takayuki Iizuka (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

This was okay, though fairly generic. I think the problem with Schumann is that he had too much muscle. His physique is Benoit-ish without Benoit's quickness and snap execution. Williams name drops Antonio Inoki and the fight with Ali. I swear Inoki got more mileage out that fight among the wrestling fraternity than any other contest. He also mentioned the Japanese system of farming young boys out to overseas territories but fucked up by calling Iizuka an All Japan protegee. Dunno if Iizuka was versed in sambo, either, but Williams knew how to spin a semi-legit tale.

 

Big Daddy/Steve Logan vs. Ripper Raven/Red Devil (8/11/82)

 

Arthur Psycho had a great line on this upload about how poor Kent Walton always had trouble getting masked wrestlers to speak to him. I've seen so many of these Daddy matches that I'm either immune or desensitised to how poor they are, but this seemed especially lacklustre.

 

Dave Duran vs. Alex Munroe (10/28/87)

Bernie Wright vs. Ian McGregor (10/28/87)

Andy Robin vs. Barry Douglas (10/28/87)

Ian McGregor, Alex Munroe & Andy Robin vs. Dave Duran, Barry Douglas & Bernie Wright (10/28/87)

 

This was a special England vs. Scotland episode that featured an interesting take on the rules for these sort of "Davis Cup" ties. This time, the teams got points for the number of pinfalls or submissions they scored irrespective of the wins and loses. They were also penalised for any public warnings incurred in the event of a draw. Interesting concept in theory, but as usual Dale Martin botched the way they handled it. The Scots, for some inexplicable reason, were babyfaces while the English had a legit heel in the guise of Duran, Barry Douglas working heel for some unexplained reason, and Bernie Wright grinning like a dickhead. Duran faced a guy on his televsion debut and ate him alive. Wright vs. McGregor was okay, but heatless like most of the bouts, and Robin vs. Douglas was over in a flash. The best bout was the six-man tag, which is unusual in these episodes. Robin was all fired up and acting like a deranged old man. Duran seemed to bust Munroe's nose open hardway and there was blood all over his face. Robin wanted a piece of Duran, Douglas and Robin scuffled with more intensity than a dozen Barry Douglas bouts combined, and there was even cool spots like McGregor locking Wright in a hold and offering Bernie's hand to Duran to make a tag. Weird that there be such an edge to the usual throwaway six-man, but credit to the workers who put on a show at least.

[ohtani's jacket]

Also watched The Final Bell, which was a commemorative episode to mark the end of wrestling on ITV. I'd always wanted to see it and didn't realise it was available on YouTube on a couple of channels. It was basically a highlights show narrated by Kent Walton. I have no idea how they chose the wrestlers they opted to feature, though more than a few of them appeared to be Walton favourites. The interesting thing about the footage they showed is that just about all of it ended up being shown on The Wrestling Channel. The two exceptions were the 60s footage. I'm not really sure why the producers chose to include a Jeff Kaye match from 1969 (against Mexican worker Pancho Zapatta, whom I seem to remember was also in a Bob ALPRA upload if I'm not mistaken), but the Riki Starr footage from 1964 was interesting. Starr was massively over with the Belle Vue audience and the heat was unlike any TV bout I can remember seeing. As a finale the episode was kind of slight (esp if you've seen all the 70s footage they showed), but it was interesting seeing who they chose to feature. A lot of workers were only mentioned by name or shown in stills (be it photographs or wrestling bills), but I was surprised by how little presence the likes of Pallo, McManus and Breaks had. That seemed to run counter to how much they featured on television. I was also disappointed that George Kidd was mentioned twice but no footage aired. The show finished with a snippet of Pat Roach's farewell speech from the last taped show after his classy bout with Caswell Martin and then it was goodbye to all that.

[GSR]

I intend to try and intersperse my Smoky Mountain watching with some World of Sport that I haven't seen, and anything for anyone who does't have a thread in the microscope I will whack up here. First up, someone who at times irritates the hell out of me, and at others I just find a joy, Vic Faulkner.

 

Vic Faulkner vs Roy Paul (03.08.78)

This match is part of a team tournament where the 'TV All-Stars' (of which Faulkner is a member) are taking on the 'Liverpool Skinheads'. Paul is not a skinhead, but it transpires that at least he is Liverpudlian. These tournaments see each team comprise of three men and there are three single bouts before a one final six man at the end of the night. This is my first time seeing Paul and he is wearing what looks like Daisy Dukes with a pair of braces!

 

Paul sets the tone for the bout early by healing it up (attacking Faulkner when he's on the ropes, using headbutts), almost admitting that he's is not going to be able to compete with Faulkner is a scientific contest. Arm stretch by Faulkner before Paul traps him in a headscissors. Headstand escape and Faulkner turns his attention to Paul's left leg. Nice single leg into full boston crab but Paul powers out. Headscissors by Faulkner, but this time Paul starts biting his leg to force the escape. A closed fist behind the ref's back from Paul and the bell rings to signal the end of Round One. Faulkner comes straight out with a dropkick at the start of the second but Paul steps out the way and Faulkner just hits fresh air. More biting from Paul, but this time Faulkner retaliates by biting his hand. Both become more aggressive (no comedy from Vic today!) before a sloppy criss cross spot. Paul drags Faulkner's arm along the ropes and Max Ward has had enough, finally giving him his first public warning. Paul with a headlock and Ward gets trapped in the corner. As Faulkner breaks he goes to forearm Paul who moves and he hits Ward instead. For some reason Ward blames Paul and as he admonishes him, Faulkner comes through Ward's legs and attacks Paul. Into the third and Faulkner is on top. Paul reverses something resembling a nerve hold with one of his own and as Faulkner gets the escape he backs Paul into the ropes, however he comes back immediately with a bodyslam and covers Faulkner. Vic's leg is outside the ropes but Max Ward doesn't see this and counts the pin. Ring announcer Tony Harris then steps into the ring, tells Ward what happens who then disallows the fall and says the match will continue. Paul goes to argue with Ward and the bell rings to restart the bout. Faulkner dropkicks Paul who then rebounds back off the ropes and falls over Faulkner who had crouched behind him in a schoolboy. Folding press and Faulkner gets the pin in just 7 seconds of the restarted bout.

 

This was an okay 'opener' and supposed served its purpose for the team tournament, but I didn't think much of it and it didn't really do anything for me. Despite being a supposed six year amateur prior to turning pro Paul wasn't very good. He was awkward in his movements and it appeared he was trying to combine parts of Jim Breaks and Sid Cooper with his heel tendencies, but clearly wasn't in the league of those two. Faulkner was fine and worked pretty hard but the issue was with Paul, although he did get the crowd into the bout. The false finish was a nice surprise, but what came after wasn't as you 'knew' what the end result was going to be.

[JNLister]

I noticed a lot of the stuff in the Final Bell came from 74, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they simply grabbed a handful of tapes and then picked stuff from there.

[ohtani's jacket]

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR

 

Ep 56

 

Dave George vs. Flyer Gibbs (WAW circa 1990)

 

Sweet Euro trash, how I've neglected you. George looks like Terry Rudge if Terry Rudge were your untrained father. He plods about barefooted against a truly awful worker named Flyer Gibbs. Pallo Sr. gets involved at ringside setting up that big Pallo/George match you all want to see.

 

Scrubber Daly vs. Flesh Gordon (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

It's that dipshit Gordon. Scrubber Daly in his prime was like a mini version of Giant Haystacks only mobile and a lot more giving. He wasn't a bad worker for a big man, but was morbidly obese by the time the 90s rolled round. Gordon spent most of the bout making fun of Daly's obesity, the dick. Even morbidly obese he was still a better worker than Gordon.

 

Joe Cruz vs. Rambo (Eurosport circa 1991)

 

I have no idea why this made TV other than a chance for Orig Williams to gloat about how an American found European wrestling tougher than he expected. "Like all Americans, [Cruz] has a lot to say for himself." Feels like Military Industrial Suplex fodder for how American wrestlers are perceived in overseas countries.

 

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Giant Haystacks (Croydon, 10/91)

 

This took forever to get started. Nagasaki's manager, Lloyd Ryan, didn't want Pat Roach to ref the bout and MC Paul Chalmers spent an eternity relaying messages between Roach and the Nagasaki camp. Instead of whetting folks' appetites it just made them restless. Finally, team Nagasaki agreed to Steve Grey as ref. Haystacks and Nagasaki fucked about for a bit and the Croydon crowd grew fairly rabid as they were wont to do. Haystacks bled, Nagasaki did his Kamikaze Crash finisher on Grey, and Stax unmasked Kendo. Nagasaki refused to return to the ring because he was maskless and the belt they were fighting over changed hands on a technicality. Further explanations were needed and Chalmers spent more time gabbing than Haystacks and Nagasaki had done wrestling. Just a shitty piece of business.

 

Tiger Dalbir Singh vs. Steve Casey (6/15/88)

 

This was during Singh's disappointing run as the Joint Promotions version of the British Heavyweight Champion. But it was 1988 and the wheels had fallen off the wagon years earlier. Still the kind of thing that holds Singh back a bit in my eyes.

[ohtani's jacket]

Forgot to mention the finish to the Singh/Casey bout, which was referee Jeff Kaye taking a bump to the outside and selling it like he'd knocked himself out. The second ref Dave Rees refused to take over the contest and the bout was ruled a no-contest. No idea why they booked that finish.

[Ryan Faulconer]

Is there a backstory explaining Bubblegum's name? I don't think it has any other meanings here in Canada outside of the obvious. I'm not hip to the lingo that the young(er) people use anymore. I'm also behind on news and after weeks of watching iCW/NGW/RPW/Progress/IPWUK/etc I didn't know about Kris Travis passing away. Ugh. That is too young to lose someone.

 

We have a free preview of the Fight Network on my cable system recently. I now get eight different wrestling promotions on the channel alone. Watching CMLL/AAA/NJPW with english commentary is a little jarring after fifteen or so years of tape and DVD buying and trading. I've also seen NGW and ICW episodes over the last few weeks. I'm getting used to the size of the rings now. I'm pretty sure they are recent episodes of Insane Championship Wrestling and British Wrestling Weekly. I would prefer Progress or RPW and I'll probably signup for their streaming channels once I can figure out which component I'll use to hook up to the TV. I don't think I can watch streaming channels on my PS3 web browser.

 

I saw the preview for the WCPW group last week. After seeing the staff and shields that Progress used for belts I was really expecting WCPW to use the cardboard belt. If they end up PWGesque with actual storylines I'll probably add them to the list of watchable youtube wrestling each week.

[JNLister]

Bubblegum's name came way back when he started out as a fresh-faced, lovable, wholesome youngster, at which point the name was along the lines of bubblegum pop - favourite of the kids and mums, and all that.

 

For Progress, Rev Pro and anything else that uses Pivotshare, Roku works perfectly and seems to be the only platform that does so.

[ohtani's jacket]

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR

 

Ep 57

 

Haven't done one of these in a while.

 

Billy Joe Beck vs. Ringo Rigby (11/20/84)

 

Rigby was never that great after returning from the States, but this was a solid enough television debut for Beck. It's a "Waltonism" if ever there was one, but he called Beck a "boy" despite the wrestler being grey and middle-aged. Beck was from Belfast but his style didn't really resemble FInlay or Moran unfortunately.

 

Mel Stuart vs. Caswell Martin (1/9/79)

 

Stuart was a seventh rate Dick Murdoch in his prime and he was already past his best here. You know you're on the slide when you're tinkering with your gimmick and here he was trying to do some "Pretty Boy" character that was going nowhere fast. Martin made this watchable but Walton had a bee in his bonnet about how Martin was giving Stuart too much "leeway" and would just not let it go. All-time great he may be, but he could sure be irritating at times and didn't he have his moods?

 

Crusher Brannigan vs. Giant Haystacks (9/1/83)

 

Wrestling Haystacks was an exercise in futility. Brannigan was a loud American heel who was the latest to suffer the indignity. I can't say he put much effort into it, but he did gig which was banned on TV so I guess he thought he'd make it colourful.

 

Caswell Martin vs. Giant Haystacks (1/25/84)

 

One of the dumber things about Dale Martin & Joint Promotions is that they'd fed Haystacks quality wrestlers like Caswell Martin, Marty Jones or Johnny Wilson for no good reason. And it's not like they get a fall against him or look like they have any chance of scoring an upset. They just get squashed, which is stupid. And they wonder why wrestling's popularity slipped.

 

Steve Logan vs. Tiger Dalbir Singh (5/21/86)

 

This was a good match, especially the first few rounds where the local lad Logan was looking to score the upset. Singh eventually took over and slowed the pace a bit, but he finished Logan off with some cool leg submission work instead of a bullshit injury finish or some other generic shit. Lacked a bit of meat in the middle but clearly the match of the day.

 

Eddie Riley vs. Alan Gregg (6/8/88)

 

Riley was one of the smallest men in the history of World of Sport and this was a quick "little" match against a newcomer to television. Mostly just falls. Inoffensive.

[Matt D]

Did people know about this channel?

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcC3kWhXsYG0GeuXOr_LTfw/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=0

 

I don't think it's a lot that's not already up (OJ?) but it's in one part instead of 3 and maybe better VQ? Could be a promise of more though.