Current British Wrestling

[cheapshot]

I thought I'd start this thread because I believe there are a host of great workers currently working British Indie scene. Currently, in my opinion some of the best workers plying their trade in the UK are: El Ligero, Martin Stone, Kris Travis, Dave Mastiff, Zack Sabre Jr, Johnny Moss, Martin Kirby, Joey Hayes & Noam Dar.

 

I think the guys listed above are all great workers who can tell a great story in a match and have match quality that is very good.

 

Have any of the non UK posters on this forum been exposed to any of the current British guys work outside of the ones that have been brought in to WWE via NXT or in Zack Sabre Jr's case worked in Japan?

 

My U.K MOTY from 2012 was also the best match I have ever seen live which is El Ligero vs. Akira Tozawa from Preston City Wrestling's Guild Wars card on June 2nd 2012 which I'd rate at ****1/4 and it showcases what a criminally underated talent El Ligero is. (PCW have released this via YouTube if you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mKyrOCR2i0)

 

I know that another great talent is Jack Gallagher who is working and training over in Japan currently who I didn't at the mention at the beginning of this post, that some of you may interested to keep an eye out for.

 

At the moment I'd say the best talent in the UK is a shade or two below the top tier talent elsewhere in the world, but I still feel that a lot of them are completely under the radar to most people.

 

I am happy to recommend other matches which showcase the rich talent that the UK currently has to offer if anyone is interested.

[Dylan Waco]

I'll comment more when I get out of work but I really like CJ Banks, James Mason, Robbie Dynamite, Rampage BRown and to a slightly lesser degree Dean Allmark. I enjoy Nathan Cruz too and probably others I"m forgetting. Mastiff's best stuff is awesome, but I think he's hit or miss. Same with Ligero

[cheapshot]

I'll comment more when I get out of work but I really like CJ Banks, James Mason, Robbie Dynamite, Rampage BRown and to a slightly lesser degree Dean Allmark. I enjoy Nathan Cruz too and probably others I"m forgetting. Mastiff's best stuff is awesome, but I think he's hit or miss. Same with Ligero

For me CJ Banks has come on leaps and bounds over the last 5 or so years, he is very crisp indeed but to me he is lacking something intangible for me to place him in the top tier of current UK workers.

 

I haven't seen enough Mason and Dynamite stuff to really comment, but I do have to say that Rampage Brown has impressed me physically, he has a good brawling style but again I don't have him in my top tier of workers.

 

Dean Allmark is a glaring omission from my original post, and who I definitely see as a current UK top tier guy. He and Ligero work an insane amount of shows during the summer for Dixon, and just last month Ligero did a TRIPLE shot on show for Dixon in the Blackpool area.

[JNLister]

A good match from this year is Mikey Whiplash vs Robbie Dynamite from ICW:

 

To give it context, Whiplash and Dynamite are two of the main "trunks and boots" straight wrestlers on All Star who either have the clean technical bout or defend Britain against the evil Yank invaders depending on the venue and line-up. However, ICW is very different (think ECW in 1995 but in a nightclub) and here Whiplash is a heel doing a gimmick somewhere between Raven and Golddust. Dynamite is debuting here.

 

The backstory is that Whiplash won the Square Go (ie Royal Rumble) and is now the number one contender to the title, currently held by another heel. The two goals here are thus to further his move to full-on babyface and to establish him as a serious challenger for the title, all gimmicks aside.

 

As you'll see, it works.

[Alan4L]

first and foremost, I think the funniest character to come along since 2005/2006 Larry Sweeney is Scottish wrestler Grado. If you haven't seen any of his videos with Colt Cabana on youtube they are absolutely hysterical. His other youtube stuff is great too. And just look at these crowd reactions:

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ZVeYQf6Tc

 

the more serious documentary on him is fantastic too:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Sr55fI6zU

 

Cheapshot was bang on with all the names he mentioned. Johnny Moss in particular, if he didn't have other things going on in his life, could have easily become a major player in Japan or WWE. He's just never been able to make wrestling a top priority. When he does show up on shows, it's a treat. His match with Zack at 16 Carat this year was great.

 

I'm really excited about the weekend of October 18/19, when 4FW are bringing in a bunch of Michinoku Pro guys and Rev Pro are doing their biggest ever show with Tanahashi vs. Marty Scurll, Devitt vs. Ricochet, Zack vs. Davey and much more (including Grado!).

 

I think one of the coolest things about the UK scene right now is how it's filled with good people. There used to be so many scuzzballs around and loads of scandal and people trying to screw each other. Now you've got promoters, wrestlers and even fans all working together to make the scene as a whole a positive one.

 

Best UK match I've seen this year was Zack Sabre Jr. vs Fujita Jr. Hayato in 4FW on March 9th. The Ligero/Tozawa match was great but I would say it's tied with this gem as my 2012 UK MOTY:

 

[Dylan Waco]

This is my current UK MOTY

 

Dean Allmark/James Mason vs. Sam Adonis/Rampage Brown, ASW 3/3 Ladder Match

 

It's up on youtube and features a pretty awesome performance from everyone including Adonis who is really more miss than hit.

 

I should have mentioned Scurll and Mark Haskins earlier as guys who are in the second rung of guys from the UK IMO. Mikey Whiplash too. That match John posted is a ton of fun.

 

I like Moss fine for a guy that jacked, but everytime I've seen him pop up I felt like he was the "other" guy in a match with a vastly superior wrestler. I am open to suggestions though. Travis and Chris Masters had a very good match I think a lot of people here would like if they give it a chance, but I have no feel for Travis the worker from that match and have seen only clipped stuff otherwise. I'm indifferent to Sabre Jr. which I know is heresy to some, but he's not really the style of worker I generally like.

 

If pressed my top ten in the UK at the moment would probably be:

 

1. Rampage Brown

2. Robbie Dynamite

3. James Mason

4. CJ Banks

5. Dean Allmark

6. El Ligero

7. Marty Scurll

8. Mikey Whiplash

9. Nathan Cruz

10. Dave Mastiff

 

If you count Gallagher he'd be in the top four.

[Badlittlekitten]

This is my favourite match from the last year and or so;

 

Lovely chain wrestling, WOS style comedy spots and a great story of Gallagher being the cheeky artful dodger that constantly one-ups Whiplash only to get outsmarted when it counts. Bunches of fun.

[Alan4L]

Dylan I'm absolutely shocked you like Marty. I would have pegged him to be your most hated wrestler ever if you had seen him. Glad to be wrong!

[cheapshot]

GRADO is the best entertainer in British Wrestling in aeons and aeons and I will repeat the sentiments of Alan regarding him. The stuff with Cabana is tremendous. I think, for me, the appeal of GRADO is that, with all great gimmicks he is just extenuating his own personality a notch.

 

Marty Scurll just doesn't do it for me; I find him so unlikeable, to the point if I am at a show he is on I will just go to the bar and chat. He is the only wrestler ever in years and years that has that effect on me.

 

Like Alan touched on, the UK is such a great melting pot of talent and imports at the moment. In the next couple of months alone I will be seeing Ultimo Dragon and Jushin Liger for the first time as well as the likes of Steen, Masters, Bob Holly?!, Johnny Kidd~!, Kharma, Uhaa Nation, D-Lo, Shannon Moore, Davey Richards and the The Pope. Don't get me wrong, I will happily see import free shows; I just love the randomness of the people brought in to work the U.K at the moment.

 

In anyone's opinion, out of the current crop of UK guys who do you think could slot in nicely in NXT with a reasonable chance of being called up and getting a mid-card run on the main roster? For me I'd go with Dave Mastiff and Rampage Brown due to their respective 'looks'.

[Alan4L]

Rampage Brown was already on WWE's books but ended up leaving.

 

First and foremost I wanna see Martin Stone (Danny Burch in NXT) do really well there. If he succeeds then maybe Kris Travis could follow next - loads of personality, tall and developing into a good worker.

[cheapshot]

Rampage Brown was already on WWE's books but ended up leaving.

 

First and foremost I wanna see Martin Stone (Danny Burch in NXT) do really well there. If he succeeds then maybe Kris Travis could follow next - loads of personality, tall and developing into a good worker.

I forgot about Rampage, but wasn't that a similar deal as MVK. Valkabious or did he actually sign and make it over to Florida?

 

Regarding Travis, I think he has come into his own over the last couple of years. Highlights for me include his matches with Chris Masters and Kevin Steen. The match with Steen was so fun, especially the flip bump Travis took from a Steen clothesline on the apron.

 

I hope that Martin Stone has a fair crack of the whip, because at the moment in NXT the main Brit who is getting the attention is PAC (and rightly so to be honest) - I just hope WWE doesn't have a limit of how many British guys they have at any one time or something equally as stupid.

[Badlittlekitten]

If that was the case then I'd be happy to see Barrett and Neville kicked to the curb. Martin Stone as the West Ham football thug is the greatest thing of all time. Push him on NXT, push him on Raw . . push him to the moon and take my money.

[Alan4L]

Rampage Brown was already on WWE's books but ended up leaving.

 

First and foremost I wanna see Martin Stone (Danny Burch in NXT) do really well there. If he succeeds then maybe Kris Travis could follow next - loads of personality, tall and developing into a good worker.

I forgot about Rampage, but wasn't that a similar deal as MVK. Valkabious or did he actually sign and make it over to Florida?

 

yup, he was called Monty Lynch. Here he is against Bray Wyatt.

 

[rovert]

British Wrestling is really benefiting from the demographic make up of Wrestling fans and drink culture there. The people who grew up watching WWF during the early 1990s boom as children and/or watched the Attitude Era as adolescents as now in their mid to late 20s.

 

New NXT trainer Nick Dinsmore just tweeted in genuine praise of Grado:

https://twitter.com/UGeneDinsmore/status/384018669963341824

 

This praise has been prostituted so much but Grado is honestly the closesting you will see to a Junkyard Dog in modern times. His promos might impenetrable to American ears but you can see the extend Grado contects with fans here:

 

Like a Prayer is his Another One Bites the Dust. Instead of African Amercians Grado appeals to working class Scots who have had one too many to drink and are looking forward to getting takeaway later!

[Badlittlekitten]

Grado is a gem. A true underdog and every man. He's more fun and funny than Colt bloody Cabana ever was. He's promos are excellent, it's a shame they won't translate across the pond

[stomperspc]

I like Dean Allmark a ton. He is a really great babyface. I am not sure if it would translate all that well somewhere else but he is really great in his own environment in All-Star Wrestling.

 

This is my current UK MOTY

 

Dean Allmark/James Mason vs. Sam Adonis/Rampage Brown, ASW 3/3 Ladder Match

 

It's up on youtube and features a pretty awesome performance from everyone including Adonis who is really more miss than hit.

I thought this was fine but a level below some of the other Allmark vs. Brown & Dynamite matches from 2013. Brown & Dynamite are a great heel tag team that would do well pretty much anywhere. One great thing about those guys is how well they work different gimmick matches. The ladder match Dylan mentioned is okay. There is a table match between Dynamite vs. Allmark that is legitimately good match and before that I am not sure I ever saw a table match I liked at all. I think I mentioned in another thread the 8-man elimination over the top rope match from ASW in August that sounds like a messy gimmick match but was exected very well.

 

James Mason, Allmark, Brown, Dynamite, and El Ligero are all really good in ASW currently.

 

Outside of ASW I’ve liked what I have seen of Zack Sabre Jr. this year. The Johnny Moss match from wXw was sort of oddly structured but I thought it worked. Doesn’t necessarily fit in this thread since it happened in Japan but I liked Sabre’s GHC Jr. title match versus Ishimori quite a bit mainly because of Sabre. I think he is still sort of figuring things out but in terms of who he is but he has the tools and is getting there.

 

Best UK match I've seen this year was Zack Sabre Jr. vs Fujita Jr. Hayato in 4FW on March 9th.

Is this available anywhere?

[Dylan Waco]

Funny enough I thought the Allmark v. Dynamite tables match was really disappointing and one of the worst matches I've seen from ASW all year

[Alan4L]

I like Dean Allmark a ton. He is a really great babyface. I am not sure if it would translate all that well somewhere else but he is really great in his own environment in All-Star Wrestling.

 

This is my current UK MOTY

 

Dean Allmark/James Mason vs. Sam Adonis/Rampage Brown, ASW 3/3 Ladder Match

 

It's up on youtube and features a pretty awesome performance from everyone including Adonis who is really more miss than hit.

I thought this was fine but a level below some of the other Allmark vs. Brown & Dynamite matches from 2013. Brown & Dynamite are a great heel tag team that would do well pretty much anywhere. One great thing about those guys is how well they work different gimmick matches. The ladder match Dylan mentioned is okay. There is a table match between Dynamite vs. Allmark that is legitimately good match and before that I am not sure I ever saw a table match I liked at all. I think I mentioned in another thread the 8-man elimination over the top rope match from ASW in August that sounds like a messy gimmick match but was exected very well.

 

James Mason, Allmark, Brown, Dynamite, and El Ligero are all really good in ASW currently.

 

Outside of ASW I’ve liked what I have seen of Zack Sabre Jr. this year. The Johnny Moss match from wXw was sort of oddly structured but I thought it worked. Doesn’t necessarily fit in this thread since it happened in Japan but I liked Sabre’s GHC Jr. title match versus Ishimori quite a bit mainly because of Sabre. I think he is still sort of figuring things out but in terms of who he is but he has the tools and is getting there.

 

Best UK match I've seen this year was Zack Sabre Jr. vs Fujita Jr. Hayato in 4FW on March 9th.

Is this available anywhere?

 

just a music video they made. They're taking painfully long to release the DVD. At this point they should just put it on youtube.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pVY-RlEKPU

[ButchReedMark]

If you're fans of ASW, give Welsh Wrestling a try. We use a lot of the same guys, similar style of shows, so on and so forth.

[cheapshot]

Saw Robbie Dynamite last night vs. Davey Richards, and to be honest I didn't see any evidence of him being a TOP TIER UK guy. To me he was devoid of any charisma and just plodded along in his match; maybe it was an off day?

[Dylan Waco]

Don't know. I have a list of Dynamite matches I really enjoy I could point to, but not sure what you have or haven't seen. I will say that I wouldn't judge anyone based on a match with Richards who I regard as one of the worst wrestlers alive.

[cheapshot]

Don't know. I have a list of Dynamite matches I really enjoy I could point to, but not sure what you have or haven't seen. I will say that I wouldn't judge anyone based on a match with Richards who I regard as one of the worst wrestlers alive.

That was the first match I have ever seen of his, so I'd be interested if you could point me in the direction of better matches as you aren't the first person who holds Dynamite in high regards.

[Badlittlekitten]

This has Dynamite in it. It might be my favourite indie match of the year. Old school southern tag with a British twist. Robbie has plenty of charisma as far as I can tell and is a pro at drawing heat. Both tag teams are generally excellent.

 

Dean Allmark/James Mason v. Rampage Brown/Robbie Dynamite 22/2 ASW

[cheapshot]

This has Dynamite in it. It might be my favourite indie match of the year. Old school southern tag with a British twist. Robbie has plenty of charisma as far as I can tell and is a pro at drawing heat. Both tag teams are generally excellent.

 

Dean Allmark/James Mason v. Rampage Brown/Robbie Dynamite 22/2 ASW

Thanks, will check this out. I always try and go to Dixon shows as they run A LOT round here in the Summer (3 shows on one day in September within a 10 mile radius of my house for example) but never had chance to see him until this weekend. See all the others before plenty of times so know what to expect from them.

[ButchReedMark]

Worked a couple of James Mason promoted shows this weekend just gone. His work as a villain against a midget was absolutely fucking tremendous. He's an hilarious villain as well as his always fine blue eye performances. He nearly got the referee lynched on Friday night working as a blue eye and losing due to the ref not seeing the villain's feet on the ropes. He's fantastic at getting the crowd into things.