INSIDE: UFC VS WWE n ALEX WRIGHT n WADE BARRETT n WORKED SHOOTS n MORE

thewrestlingpress.com CONTENTS

CONTENTS world news lizzy valentine

4 “WWE have fired Carlito (Carlos 18 interview/pictorial
Colon Jr.) for an alleged Wellness "The fans treat you like royalty
Program violation and subsequent over there, and since I’m an
refusal to enter rehab.” American girl with blonde hair,
they love me even more! haha."
wrestlinG is still
6 seeminGly real to me, 22 GivinG our BlessinGs
with the wrestlinG
dammit!
priest: wade Barrett
"Are the companies who tailor
"Barrett was so impressive in the
THE WRESTLING their product to ‘fool’ the internet
ring and on the microphone that
PRESS fans radical in their booking
he rapidly became the star of the
ISSuE 9 strategy, or are they themselves
show, eclipsing even the
cover: Main shot the fools...."
courtesy of Warren exceptional Bryan (Danielson) in
Powell the process."
CONTACT 10 reliGious references in
wrestlinG
ed@thewrestling
press.com “But if characters like Brother
Love, Reverend Slick and
24 alex wriGht interview
"After my contract with Time
www.thewrestling-
press.com Warner expired, I was contacted
Reverend D’Von were harmless
twice by WWE. Both times I
enough to the majority of
CONTRIBUTORS rejected the offer because it
Phil Austin wrestling fans, the mixture of
wasn’t the right time for me."
John Milner religious symbolism and
The CYNIC professional wrestling has not
Adam Testa
David Schmida
Dark Kitty
been without its controversy.”
28 draGon Gate special
28 one year on
Darren Wood 34 messaGe from GaBe
The Wrestling Press is
13 aBdullah the Butcher
shoot dvd competition 35 mark sloan interview
an independent 5 copies of the Wrestling 38 introducinG draGon
publication and is in
Observer’s 1st ever DVD up for Gate uk
no way endorsed by
or affiliated with any grabs!
40 marty scurll
wrestling group,
including WWE and interview
could Brock lesnar do
TNA. The views
expressed by the 14 what eric Bischoff GreG lamBert interview
writers does not
necessarily represent couldn’t? 44 “Running the Coventry SkyDome
the views of The “With the current downturn in the at British Uprising 3 left a lot of
Wrestling Press. No
popularity of pro wrestling, the people in a ton of debt,” Explains
part of this publication
may be reproduced opportunity is there for MMA to Lambert. “Many of us chipped in
without the written steal away a large portion of financially to get that show off the
permission of the those fans disenchanted with ground. I personally lost about
publisher.
what they see in WWE and TNA.” £3,000. Others lost more.”
© Riot! Promotions 2010

2 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP

 thewrestlingpress.com CONTENTS

interview with ipw:uk star GorGeous GeorGe: mini

48 danny Garnell
“I’m taking the match very seriously and I
am working hard to make sure I do my
best in the cage, I think the feud has been
received well by the fans and I’ve even got
hate mail sent about it.”
50 one to one with German
powerhouse murat Bosporus
“In my opinion, the title match was built up
wrong and came too fast. If it had been
done right I could have proved that I would
have been able to lead a promotion as
champion and help build up the next big
face.”
lucha veteran arGho speaks
53 to twp
“A movie called “El Mala Pata” began
filming in my city and some wrestlers who
were extras decided to do two wrestling
events there, so I managed to meet
several of my idols who I’d seen on
television and in magazines.”
56 BioGraphy
"On November 11, 1947, Gorgeous
George appeared on television for the first
time and, with his flamboyant persona,
was an instant hit."
rene lasartesse: kinG of
59 villains
“Getting spit in the face, chairs thrown at
him, stung by an injection needle or
spitting teeth after getting batted with a
steel pipe by a spectator: only a few things
that happened to the once most hated
wrestler in Europe.”
a cynical mind: sellinG the
61 sizzle, not the steak
“These are ridiculous, stupid, pathetic
ideas. And no worse than some of the
ridiculous angles TNA have right now. Don't
believe me? Bringing back the 4 Horsemen
is bringing back the Crockett age when
we are in the Dana White age; a retread
shows that they have no new ideas.”

of the Month
Letter of the Month L ette
r
konnan has always been underated.
A Cuban/Puerto Rican American influencing Lucha Libre in Mexico and then influencing the United
States? That's unheard of. Since many wrestlers have incorporated Lucha style in their wrestling since
the mid 1990's.
Ask him about his experiences with Ole Anderson, Dusty Rhodes, and Vince McMahon. A lot of people
(workers and staff) did not even want him to return to AAA, and he turned things around for them. He
even has honest opinions on racist stereotypes casted by white promoters on Blacks, Asians, and
Hispanics.
Ask him if Masked Warriors was originally going to be an AAA Wrestling project on MTV. Ask him if he
watches the WWE product now. Is he going to do more US shows with AAA in the United States more
often?
Please try to cover and interview more AAA wrestling in the future. The La Parka vs. LA Par-K feud
has to be the feud that gave AAA new energy. Seriously, AAA in recent years, 2007 to now, has been
more consistent in storylines and action in comparison to both WWE and TNA. Konnan needs to be
acknowledged for all his accomplishments in pro wrestling.
courtney marshall (noth666@yahoo.com)

TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 3

 thewrestlingpress.com NEWS
World Newsn by Mike Aldren
Michael McGillicutty and Kaval won the FCW
tag titles over Los Aviadores (Hunico and
Epico) at the television tapings in Tampa on
Thursday 15th July. Apparently the finish
was botched as Hunico mistimed his kick
out and referee Rod Silva had no choice but
to count three. The timekeeper wasn’t ready
to ring the bell and the look on the faces of
everyone told the story. They switched the
titles back at a house show the next night in
Sebring so the title change may end up on
the cutting room floor.
Chris Jericho has announced a multi-date
Fozzy tour in the UK and France from 10th-20th
October.
Several readers noted that journeyman
wrestler Jimmy Golden played Jack Swag-
ger's dad on Smackdown. Golden, 59, wres-
tled in Alabama and Florida during the 1970s
and 1980s and also had a brief run in 1994
for WCW as Bunkhouse Buck.
Ring of Honor wrestler Jerry Lynn is among
those TNA have contacted about coming in for
the Hard Justice pay-per-view on 8th August.
Lynn was recently inducted into the ECW Arena
Hardcore Hall of Fame at the ROH tapings.
Vince Russo has scripted TNA television as
far in advance as the next four months,
according to Eric Bischoff via his Facebook
page.
The voice of Jim Ross has been removed from
the 20-second opening of Raw since he's no
longer going to be utilised as an announcer.
4 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
Courtesy of
THE WRESTLING GLOBE Newsletter
Apparently this was a decision made by WWE
Producer Kevin Dunn. It's not a major deal as
they tweaked other stuff too, including removing
clips of Hall of Famers Gorilla Monsoon,
Superstar Billy Graham and Bruno Sammartino.
A women managed to jump the rail and get
in the ring with John Cena after Raw went off
the air recently. Security grabbed her but
she latched her legs around the rope – said
to be quite the struggle which took three
security staffers and a referee to eject her.
A young boy jumped the ring during a Matt
Morgan-Mr. Anderson match. Security got the
boy out of there but apparently he ruined the
finish of the match.
Ric Flair's wife Jackie Beems was cleared of
misdemeanor assault charges after Flair
refused to testify against her. The couple had
gotton into a physical altercation at their
home in Charlotte following a night of
drinking back on 23rd February. They have
long since reconciled.
Hollywood actor Paul Giamatti said he turned
down the forthcoming WWE Studios movie
‘Chasing the Hawk’. The film will star Edge as
a lawyer hunting down a stolen car.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked AJ Styles
No. 1 in its annual Top 500 list of pro
wrestler's in the world. He's the first TNA
wrestler to hold that spot that has never
worked for WWE. The magazine goes on sale
on 3rd August.

Chris Hamrick, 43, best known for his
appearances in the original ECW, attempted
suicide recently. He had posted some strange
messages on his Facebook page including,
"BIG announcement tonight. Stay tuned. Its to
die for!" followed later by "Hey world I just took
25 sleeping pills. Goodnight !" He had also sent
out what were described as unusual text
messages to friends. Last night authorities
visited Hamrick's residence in Rutherfordton,
NC, to check on his welfare. He's said to be
getting the help he needs now with the support
of his family.
There is talk of a new upstart promotion in
Florida with a major backer in the form of
entrepreneur Milton Wilpon, who's family
own the New York Mets. The business end
will be run by Pete Karoftis and Sean Davis.
Several former WWE and TNA names have
been signed up to the project including Leon
"Vader" White and Sean Waltman. Little else
is known at this point but those involved
signed non-disclosure agreements.
An interesting note regarding Bryan Danielson.
When he originally signed with WWE last
summer, he signed over the rights to his
American Dragon gimmick, so he cannot
promote himself as the Dragon on the
independents.
WWE have another new DVD project in the
works – "Best of the High Flyers," is slated
for release in October.
During a talent meeting Dixie Carter said she
was thrilled with the Victory Road PPV, talked
about the success of TNA programming in
Australia, and also brought up that some guys
need to tighten up on their ring work, which
when needs to be said never goes over too well.
Jimmy Hart is reportedly working with a
group in Chicago to get them on cable
television in a deal that would spotlight
independent wrestlers who aren't already
getting national exposure from TNA or WWE.
To receive all the latest professional wrestling news and gossip direct to your mailbox send an
email to wrestlingglobe-subscribe@topica.com
thewrestlingpress.com NEWS
TOP STORy
Ric Flair is interviewed in the latest issue of
Bizarre magazine on sale now in the UK.
Regarding his womanising in the 1980s:
"My flings were always 'one time only'
affairs in my eyes, but my partners didn't
always think so. I wasn't trying to break
their hearts, though; I wanted to make an
impression – to give those girls a great
memory for life – and to make sure I was a
hard act to follow for the next guys in their
beds. (laughs) Once a lady's lived through
'The Legend' there's no going back!" He
said back in the day he loved to drink, but
never did any drugs. He said he once
witnessed Andre the Giant guzzle 106
bottles of beer while he could only manage
20 before getting drunk. When asked if he
would ever do a reality show like Hulk
Hogan, he mentioned the pilot he filmed
two years ago with son Reid. He claimed
they had to cancel production because
Reid got sick with glandular fever from
making out with so many women. That's a
good one. He was also asked what an adult
movie between himself and Brooke Hogan
would entail. He said: "It'd be called 'Dare
To Live The Legend', and it'd contain
everything Brooke would dare to do with
me. I make love to my wife at least twice
everyday, so I'm not sure Ms Hogan could
handle me."
Titan is releasing a special #0 prequel WWE
comic at this year's San Diego Comic Con with
a cover drawn by Jerry Lawler who will be
signing copies at the convention.
WWE have another new DVD project in the
works – "Best of the High Flyers," is slated
for release in October.
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 5
 thewrestlingpress.com WORKED SHOOTS
S
o it would appear that daniel Bryan
(or Bryan danielson for those of us
who prefer) is now done with the
wwe. But for what seemed like an
eternity on the news sites, but was actually
only a matter of days, experts were discussing
whether this was just an elaborate ‘worked
shoot’ designed to fool the internet fans.
Ah the internet. Whenever you bring up the
internet, you invariably have to discuss its
impact on the wrestling business, and how the
openness of the internet has shaped how
wrestling companies book their shows, and how
the business itself has changed to embrace a
‘smarter’ breed of fan.
But should it? Are the companies who tailor their
product to ‘fool’ the internet fans radical in their
booking strategy, or are they themselves the
6 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
fools, marketing their product to a vast minority
of their fanbase.
One thing that people seem to forget when they
decry the ‘worked shoot angle’ as trying too hard
to fool the fans is that fooling the fans has
always been part of the purpose of pro wrestling.
As far back as wrestling began being a ‘work’
wrestling has presented ‘real’ angles in order to
try and fool the fans into believing their angles
are real. Look back as far as the famous plane
crash that featured Mr Wrestling Tim Woods and
others. Woods had to wrestle straight away after
the crash so that word didn’t get out that he was
in the same plane as the heels that had been
injured in the same crash. Or the time that
Hacksaw Duggan and the Iron Shiek were
pulled over in a car for drug possession. The
actual possession was far less punishable by
Words: Phil Austin

the WWF than the two feuding stars being
caught driving together.
Speak to any old schooler, from Bill Watts to Jim
Cornette to Nick Bockwinkel, and they will tell
you how the heels and faces kept separate in
bars and hotels so as not to be seen together by
the fans.
So how did it all change?
The fans, many of whom had already realised
things in wrestling weren’t entirely ‘legit’, began
to get hold of reports on the internet that gave
away the previous ‘secrets’ of the wrestling
business. Small trickles of fans went online and
began by word of mouth to communicate with
others about what they’d found out about how
the business of wrestling was ‘put together’. And
this included information that was as false as the
rivalries being presented to them! (How many
Ultimate Warriors were there again?)
Then came 1997, and the Survivor Series and...
oh, but wait a second! Everyone likes to throw
thewrestlingpress.com WORKED SHOOTS
forward the argument that ‘oh, it was the
Survivor Series screwjob that broke the walls of
kayfabe down’. But that was only the final nail in
the coffin.
Think back a couple of years. A fledgling
promotion named ECW entered the fray.
Eastern Championship Wrestling was all about
the wild side of wrestling, with brawling, exciting
wrestling and some truly innovative angles. And
fans who liked to refer to themselves as ‘smart’.
These were the guys who, at least seemingly,
knew the insides of the business (they didn’t).
These were the guys who appreciated the truly
great aspects of wrestling and wouldn’t be fed
with the same crap the WWF and WCW
presented (not true, as can be seen by their
reaction when the likes of Sid Vicious and Scott
Hall came over to wrestle for ECW). These were
the guys who knew that there was more to the
wrestling scene than the ‘Big Two’ (ok, that was
undoubtedly true as these were the fans who
had tape-traded Japanese and independent
wrestling tapes, and who could tell you exactly
who D.C. Drake, Masato Tanaka and Kintaro
Kanemura were).
But these fans could also be easily fooled. Take
the early angle between the Sandman and then
‘pretty boy’ Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer and
sandman
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 7
 thewrestlingpress.com WORKED SHOOTS

Then there was Brian Pillman. Pillman’s

Brian pillman behaviour became increasingly erratic on WCW
TV, veering from turning a worked wrestling
match into a ‘real’ brawl, advertising his own
phone hotline on WCW TV, causing Bobby
Heenan to drop the F-bomb on live TV, to using
the insider term ‘booker man’ against head
booker Kevin Sullivan on PPV.

buT IN THE END, IT WAS

PILLMAN WHO WAS WORKING
bISCHOff HIMSELf
Most fans had no idea what was going on.
Come to think of it, most of the guys in the
back didn’t know what was going on. Eric
Bischoff and Brian Pillman decide to ‘work the
boys’ with the gimmick, even going so far as to
have Eric ‘fire’ Brian Pillman, terminate his
contract and send him to ECW where he
continued being a curiously difficult character
to pin down. But in the end, it was Pillman who
was working Bischoff himself, as the ‘fake’
contract termination enabled Pillman to
negotiate, and jump to, the WWE.
And that’s one of the problems, if you make
your angle too real, then it can become real.
So when Kevin Sullivan had Chris Benoit run
off with his real life wife Nancy Sullivan, and
even take it so far as to be seen in public with
her, then it resulted in Benoit and Nancy
Sullivan engaging in a very real relationship
Sandman were engaging in an increasingly
(with unfortunate tragic endings). Likewise
heated rivalry, when an errant can shot threw
when Vince Russo ‘shot’ on Hulk Hogan in the
Sandman’s cigarette into his eyes, blinding him
midst of a worked angle, the comments lead to
permanently.
a very real lawsuit between the two.
The ECW faithful were mortified. One of their
So what of the Survivor Series itself. This
heroes had suffered a horrific career ending
was, without a doubt, the most high profile
injury. And when the Sandman remained
event that had ever made the average fan
indoors, and was never seen in public since that
open their eyes to there being something
time, it only confirmed their fears that this was
‘below the surface’ of what was being
‘real’. So, when Sandman pulled the bandages
presented. And when Vince McMahon
off of his eyes to attack Dreamer at his
subsequently appeared on TV claiming that
retirement ceremony, their reaction was of very
Bret ‘screwed Bret’ and ‘didn’t do what was
real shock. And you know what? They liked it.
tradition in the business’. It really began
Fans liked to be surprised and fooled by these
making fans curious to find out what was
things. It made wrestling more real to them
really going on.
(dammit!)

8 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP

 thewrestlingpress.com WORKED SHOOTS

Fans sought out answers in the internet, the The Daniel Bryan situation was a prime
Wrestling Observer and other magazines that example. If that HAD turned out to be an angle
‘exposed’ the real deal behind the screwjob, and (and all accounts suggest it wasn’t), having
gradually more and more of these supposedly Wade Barrett come out and randomly talk about
‘smart’ fans were coming to shows. Which made it without explaining it certainly would have
life a bit more difficult for promoters. alienated a good proportion of the fans (as the
aforementioned Matt Hardy angle did). But as
Promoters were challenged with finding more and
he explained it, with them having ousted Daniel
more intricate ways to ‘fool the fans’. Some went
Bryan for ‘feeling remorse’, it enabled the
the way of continuing to produce a product that
internet followers to still see what was really
made people suspend disbelief, but others went
going on, but didn’t alienate the other viewers
an entirely different route.
who had no clue that Daniel Bryan had left the
The ‘internet angle’ was born. So you had D-X company under those circumstances.
battering down WCW’s doors asking for ‘Kevin
There is a place for the internet angle, like it or
and Scott’ to be set free, you had Matt Hardy
not. The internet is a large part of the wrestling
attacking Edge for his very real love triangle
business these days (as we see from wrestling
issues with Lita at the same time Edge and Lita
‘promoters’ who feel the only way to get the
had a worked love triangle with Kane in the same
message across about upcoming shows is to
promotion, and you had the NXT guys going on
‘post it on the net’, the fools!). But the internet
TV and talking about ‘management holding them
and ‘shoot’ angles have to be used in careful
down’.
conjunction with the rest of the package in order
IT REALLy bEGAN MAKING to give a complete storyline for all the viewers.
Everything need to be correctly explained and
fANS CuRIOuS TO fIND OuT comprehensible to all, and everything needs to
ON
WHAT WAS REALLy GOING be consistent and believable across all media.
If you don’t, we get what we’ve seen far too
But there are some major issues with doing these
often....an angle that is played out to the masses
‘internet angles’. While we would all like to imagine
that is understood by the few.
that, like ourselves, everyone goes online these
days to get their wrestling information, that really n contact phil at philuk1@aol.com
isn’t the case. There is still a large proportion of
wrestling fans that don’t use the internet regularly,
and those that do don’t always use it to get their
wrestling information. A friend of mine who works
for a particular online wrestling DVD company told
me that he regularly gets customers buying WWE daniel Bryan
DVDs off of his website that genuinely don’t know
that WWE.com exists!
So if a promoter is insistent on fooling fans using
internet angles (and I’m certainly not going
to suggest that it is a bad thing as
to me that’s just an extension of
the ‘kayfabe’ that existed before
the internet, and everyone needs a
little ‘kayfabe’ in their life!), he or she needs
to do it carefully, and still present a programme
that can be understood by those fans who haven’t
had access to that angle.

TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 9

 Words: John
M. Milner
A
bout fifteen years or so ago, i
was writing for a short-lived “dirt
sheet” my friends and i tried to
get off the ground. in one of a
handful of issues we published, i wrote “if
God were a wrestler, he’d be ric flair.”
Sacrilege? I thought not. After all, wouldn’t God
be, in my own darn opinion, the world’s greatest
wrestler?
But is it wrong to make a religious-themed
reference while discussing pro wrestling?
Certainly the industry leaders and players don’t
think so, although just how openly one should
incorporate religion into wrestling is a matter of
opinion.
Above and beyond any storylines or characters,
pro wrestlers, like other pro athletes, often
reveal evidence of their faith.
Back in the mid-80s, WWF Championship
Wrestling began with footage of then-World
Champion Hulk Hogan, who often wore a
crucifix around his neck, heading down the
hallway in Madison Square Garden, crossing
himself as he did so. And after many a
successful title, he would, as commentator
Gorilla Monsoon pointed out, “thank the Man
upstairs.”
10 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
Fast-forward to the new millennium, and Shawn
Michaels, himself a World Champion, made no
secret of his own religious beliefs, incorporating
getting down on both knees to pray to his Lord
into his ring entrance.
And while Hogan and Michaels are just two of
the many who will acknowledge their religious
beliefs inside the ring, there are many instances
of wrestlers who have taken the pursuit of their
beliefs to the next level outside. Tully Blanchard
and Ted Dibiase have both started their own
ministries. In 1989, Blanchard became a born-
again Christian and continues to teach the
gospel to prison inmates through Prison Ministry.
Having founded Heart of David Ministries in
1999, Dibiase also promotes a Christian
wrestling organisation called the Power
Wrestling Alliance.
And Dibiase’s PWA is not as unique as you
might think, as there are several wrestling
organisations that use pro wrestling events to
help spread the gospel. A quick Google search
turns up organisations with names like Christian
Wrestling Federation, Christian Wrestling
Alliance and Christian Wrestling Evangelists.
One of the earlier attempts the WWE made to
incorporate even pseudo-religious overtones

into its storylines was the introduction of The
Brother Love Show during the summer of 1988.
Despite Brother Love (Bruce Pritchard) being an
obvious jab at the televangelists of the era such
as Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, the WWE
was careful never to have Love use the word
“God”. Instead, Pritchard substituted the word
“Love” whenever a more religious-based term
might have otherwise been used.
However, in 1991, Brother Love became too
controversial for WWE after a segment where
he mimicked a faith healer. Part of the gimmick
was to restore the sight to a “blind” audience
member. Shortly after the controversial segment
aired¸ the Ultimate Warrior beat up Brother Love,
ending Love’s run on WWE television (although
he has made several return appearances in the
years since).
RELIGIOuS SyMbOLISM AND
PRO WRESTLING HAS NOT bEEN
WITHOuT ITS CONTROvERSy
While Brother Love may have been the first, he
was hardly the last religious-based character to
appear on wrestling programmes. Within months
of Brother Love’s demise, Slick (Ken Johnson)
became Reverend Slick, a veritable 180-degree
turn from his former “Jive Soul Bro” persona.
Initially his appearances were limited to vignettes,
where the WWE was again careful to limit the
references to God or Jesus. Soon, however,
Reverend Slick would return to managing, this
time taking on Kamala as his charge (perhaps in
homage to the Christian missionaries travels to
Africa). The “Reverend Slick” character came
easy to Johnson, himself a born-again Christian
who became an ordained minister in his native
Fort Worth, Texas.
And in the aftermath of the split of the Dudley
Boyz (now Team 3-D) as part of the 2002 Brand
Extension, D’Von Dudley became Reverend
D’Von. (In yet another example of wrestling
drawing from real life, Devon Hughes’s father is a
bishop and his mother is a priest.) But the
character never took off and in November of 2002,
the Dudley Boyz would re-unite and the Reverend
D’Von character would disappear, the storyline
thewrestlingpress.com RELIGION IN WRESTLING
Brother love
uneventful, save for the debut of Deacon Bautista
(later simply Batista).
But if characters like Brother Love, Reverend Slick
and Reverend D’Von were harmless enough to
the majority of wrestling fans, the mixture of
religious symbolism and professional wrestling
has not been without its controversy.
In October 1996, Philadelphia-based Extreme
Championship Wrestling ran an angle where
the Sandman was the victim of a post-match
beat down by his arch-rival, Raven. As Raven
continued to assault the Sandman with his
kendo stick, the Blue Meanie and Stevie
Richards pulled a wooden cross from under
the ring. Sandman was then tied, Christ-like to
the cross by Raven, and carried from the ring.
ECW fans had developed a reputation for enjoying
more “extreme” action than they would find in the
WWE or WCW at the time. However, on this night,
even ECW fans could not stomach what they were
seeing. The response was so negative that
promoter Paul Heyman forced Scott Levy to leave
his Raven persona behind and return to the ring to
apologize to those in attendance. Backstage, a
visiting Kurt Angle would leave in disgust, even
going so far as to threaten legal action if his image
was included in the same broadcast as the angle.
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 11
thewrestlingpress.com RELIGION IN WRESTLING
While ECW received wide-spread criticism, that
didn’t prevent the WWE, just over two years later,
from carrying out their own “Crucifixion” angle, to
further a feud between “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
and the Undertaker.
In December 1998, the Undertaker beat down
Austin and tied him to what the commentators
were very careful to refer to, not as a cross, but
as the Undertaker’s “symbol”. The WWE had
seen the controversy ECW had created. They,
therefore, went to great pains to insist that while
Austin’s predicament was adding insult to injury,
there was no religious reference intended.
(Of course, we would be remiss if we did not
mention Stone Cold’s “Austin 3:16” catchphrase,
a play on the biblical John 3:16, which was often
seen referenced at sporting events.)
But in 2006, the WWE would finally launch a
wrestling angle that would place its CEO, Vince
McMahon, on the opposite side of the ring from no
less than God. The move came as part of a larger
feud between McMahon and Shawn Michaels.
As mentioned earlier, since his return in 2002,
“The Heartbreak Kid” had made no secret of his
Christian beliefs. McMahon decided to use that
in a WWE storyline. At Backlash on April 30th,
2006 McMahon challenged Michaels to a No
Holds Barred tag team match. Vince would team
with his son, Shane, while Michaels would have
God as his tag team partner.
“God” would be portrayed by a spotlight that made
its way down to the ring. McMahon played the
gimmick to the hilt, ordering the referee to “check”
Him for foreign objects and, in mid-match, as the
McMahons assaulted Michaels, Vince announced
that “God had left the building”. Due to the
interference of the Spirit Squad, the McMahons
would gain a victory over Michaels and God.
Since that time, the WWE has largely kept religion
out of its storylines. But there still remains an aspect
of their characters that make some subtle hints
toward religious overtones. Although not so much
recently, Triple H went through a period where he
added “the King of Kings” to his list of nicknames,
alongside “the Cerebral Assassin” and “the Game”.
And in even more recent times, C.M. Punk
has adapted what many feel is a Christ-like
character, proclaiming that he is here to act
as a saviour to the WWE audiences, saving
them from the evils of drugs and alcohol
addiction.
There is an argument that could be made that
Punk’s Straight Edge Society is being portrayed
as less a religious group and more of a cult. The
head-shaving ritual and Serena and Gallow’s
devotion to their leader could be used to support
the latter claim. But even in real-life cults, religion
or one group’s take on religion plays a major role.
The crucifixion of the Sandman shows that
wrestling organisations must be careful just how
far they press that presence. There is a limit to the
religious overtones that wrestling fans will accept
as being in good taste.
So far, no matter what your take on C.M. Punk’s
current character, you have to admit it has helped
elevate Phil Brooks back up the Smackdown card.
And so far, there has been little Backlash to his
“saviour” character. Whether Punk and the WWE
can keep the storyline from crossing the line with
fans remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, for as long as wrestlers wear a cross
around their neck, as long as they say a prayer
before their match, there will always be at least a
spiritual if not religious presence in the world of
pro wrestling.
n contact John at jmilnerresume@gmail.com
 W I N ! ! ! W I N ! ! !
WIN!!!
P IE S O f T H E f IR S T EvER
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LEGEND “ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER”
on this dvd abby covers everything! flair, Brody, Japan,
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awesome impressions! all of this in the 2 hour interview, plus
over an hour of abby's classic matches, an in-depth
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for price and ordering details go to www.wrestlingobservershoots.com

Win yourself a copy of this great DVD by answering the

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Send your answer (and address) to ed@thewrestlingpress.com

Watch
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*Competition available to UK readers only. Competition closes Sept 1st, 2010

thewrestlingpress.com MMA vS WWE

The D ow n f al l
of wwe

Words: John Milner
I
n my office, my two closest cubicle
mates are very different when it comes
to the odd discussion of pro wrestling
around the lunch table.
One, let’s call him “Dale”, was a long-time
wrestling fan who still throws a mean DX Crotch
Chop when the situation warrants. However,
recently, he has found he can no longer watch
more than a few minutes of Raw or
Smackdown before turning it off
and calling it a day. The other,
we’ll tag him as “Ian”, was, like
many, a fan back in the glory
days of the mid-1980s. He lists
Koko B. Ware as his favourite
wrestler, stemming from an
appearance at a then-WWF
house show back in the late 80s,
and does a pretty fair Macho Man
impression.
A few weeks ago, my two co-
workers began discussing the
results of the recent UFC 116
pay-per-view. Ian has long
been an advocate of UFC
and other Mixed Martial Arts
organisations. He regularly
attends, and even hosts,
UFC pay-per-view view-
ing parties. For this
particular event, Ian
had hosted a small
gathering of UFC
fans to watch
thewrestlingpress.com MMA vS WWE
Brock Lesnar battle Shane Carwin in the main
event.
Just prior to the event, Ian had tossed out the
invite and Dale had taken him up on the offer.
(Ironically, that night, I was at a local indy
wrestling show in a neighbouring small town).
What Dale saw certainly impressed him,
especially when compared to those few minutes
of Raw he has been reduced to watching.
And Dale is certainly not alone in being a former
wrestling fan, tempted by MMA. In fact, over the
past few years I have talked with many people
who, after being wrestling fans for many years,
have stopped tuning into wrestling and started
watching MMA instead. Brock Lesnar’s
ascension to the top of UFC has down little to
slow down that trend.
About six years ago I interviewed an
indy worker who expressed his own
admiration for MMA. At the time he
stated that if MMA could incorporate
storylines, its popularity would soon
surpass that of professional
wrestling.
At UFC 116, that storyline
was there. UFC Champion
Brock Lesnar was
returning from health
issues; diverticulitis that
caused a previous Lesnar-
Carwin meeting at UFC 106
to be scrapped. The producers of UFC
billed Carwin, crowned the interim
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 15
 thewrestlingpress.com MMA vS WWE
UFC Champion with a 12-0 record, as a
legitimate threat to the powerhouse that Lesnar
had become in MMA. Lesnar needed to prove
his health problems wouldn’t curtail his career in
UFC. Carwin wanted to seize this opportunity to
claim the top spot in UFC. By the time Lesnar
and Carwin met at UFC 116, even non-fans
knew of the magnitude of the match.
In the audience that night were not only many
wrestling fans, but a handful of former pro
wrestlers as well. And the names of those former
wrestlers transcended the sport the way Lesnar
more recently has. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin,
The Rock and Bill Goldberg, all former Lesnar
foes, were sitting ringside to watch. Lesnar’s
former WWE manager, Paul Heyman, was also
at the event.
THEy NEED TO SEE WHAT MMA
IS DOING RIGHT AND WHAT
THEy ARE DOING WRONG
Lesnar is not the only former pro wrestler to make
a name for himself in UFC and MMA circles. Both
Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock already have
their names in the record books in both UFC and
pro wrestling. And in the future, pro wrestling fans
may see a couple of familiar faces on UFC and
MMA pay-per-views. Former WWE and TNA star
Bobby Lashley is already active in MMA and
Dave Batista, late of the WWE, has made some
noise himself about entering the sport’s ranks,
having said he would sign with the California-
based Strikeforce. And last November even
Shane McMahon, along with former WWE
Canada Head Carl De Marco, met with UFC
President Dana White. Rumours still continue
regarding Shane’s future involvement in UFC and
other MMA organisations, but at this point these
rumours are yet to be confirmed.
Certainly, there’s little doubt that MMA and
pro wrestling already share a similar fan
base, but while few MMA fans are probably
checking out WWE to see where Lesnar
came from, many wrestling fans, like Dale,
are checking out MMA.
16 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
And the trend will only continue. The more
names like Lesnar, Lashley and Austin pop up
in articles and websites associated with UFC
and Mixed Martial Arts, the more wrestling fans
will become aware of this alternative to pro
wrestling.
At any other time in the industry’s history, this
may not have been a problem. But with the
current downturn in the popularity of pro
wrestling, the opportunity is there for MMA to
steal away a large portion of those fans
disenchanted with what they see in WWE and
TNA.
In talking with Dale about his growing
dissatisfaction with wrestling, he has mentioned
certain factors such as the number of backstage
segments, the addition of Guest Hosts on Raw,
and the simple fact that there just doesn’t seem
to be as much actual wrestling on wrestling
shows anymore.
And while certainly, the “entertainment” aspect
of sports entertainment can be just that:
entertaining, I believe there is a large and ever-
growing portion of the wrestling fanbase who, no
matter how pre-determined the matches might
be, are tuning in to Raw, Impact, Smackdown or
any other wrestling program for the sport, not the
entertainment.
But if those fans have to wait for several
commercial breaks between
actual matches, they, like my
friend Dale, will soon look for
an alternative, and that
alternative looks to be MMA.
Anyone who has even seen
commercials for Mixed
Martial Arts action knows
there’s not a lot of
comedy routines, no
celebrity guest hosts,
and while there are
promos, the backstage
segments are kept to a far
greater minimum than on
Raw, etc.

What UFC and other MMA organisations do
offer is the same kind of straight-up, hard-hitting
action that was the appeal of pro wrestling to
many fans. UFC has not altered their product to
a more “family-friendly, PG-Rated” offering,
certainly not in the way WWE has.
THE OPPORTuNITy IS THERE
fOR MMA TO STEAL AWAy
A LARGE PORTION Of fANS
So far, the experiment in toning down the
violence in WWE has only resulted in the
lowering of ratings and fan satisfaction.
Meanwhile, MMA has been there to cash in,
both literally and figuratively, on that fan
discontent in WWE and other wrestling
organisations. They are able to offer and focus
on a much more physical product than the often
promo-driven presentation of pro wrestling in
2010.
thewrestlingpress.com MMA vS WWE
It’s no secret that if pro wrestling is to return to the
popularity they enjoyed in the mid-80s and late-
90s, they need to severely alter what they are
delivering to their fans. They would do well to look
to MMA for guidance. This is not to say they need
to strip away all of the entertainment from sports
entertainment. Instead, they need to see what
MMA is doing right and what they are doing
wrong. The reason why fans like Dale are
abandoning pro wrestling and finding a new hobby
in following MMA is simple: they are seeing what
they liked about pro wrestling in a separate sports
entity. They are seeing the storylines, although not
as elaborate and vastly more subtle, being played
out in a sport where those “angles”, as you might
call them, lead to ‘must see’ matches.
It’s time for Vince McMahon, Dixie Carter and
other top wrestling figures to tune in to the next
UFC pay-per-view...and to learn something from
what they see.
n contact John at jmilnerresume@gmail.com
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 17
 thewrestlingpress.com DIVA
ELIzABETH MIKLOSI IS A WOMEN WHO DOESN’T LIKE TO SIT IDLE. NOT ONLY IS SHE A
WRESTLING VIXEN, THE NEW YORK NATIVE IS ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED JAzz
MUSICIAN, ACTRESS AND MODEL. HOWEVER, TWP MANAGED TO EXPLOIT A GAP IN
HER BUSY SCHEDULE AND FIRE SOME qUESTIONS AT THE YOUNG LADY BETTER
KNOWN TO WRESTLING FANS AS.....
Lizzy valentine
were you a wrestling fan
growing up? who were your
favourites?
I was always a huge fan of
wrestling! I grew up playing with
wrestling dolls and barbie dolls.
Barbie was in love with Macho
Man, haha. I was a really big fan
of Jimmy Snuka! I jumped off the
couch and broke my arm when I
was 3 trying to do a splash, haha.
what was it like being trained
by current tna wrestler
homicide early in your
career?
“Its really hard I couldn’t have asked for a better
trainer. He trained me for about 3
to make a hours a day for 3 months. He
female was preparing me for a tour I
promotion work, was about to do for the troops.
Homicide was pretty tough on
and I don’t think me, but it was worth it. He was
people excited because I was his first
female student. I am still so
understand the grateful to him. He’s the best!
humour of
Wrestlicious, what memories do you have
and that its of your professional debut?
Hahaha well, I was wrestling in a
meant to be a bar in a 10x10 ring…what else
joke....” can I say, hahahaa.
18 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
you have spent a little time
with tna. what was that like,
what roles did you play and
did you form any
friendships?
I was in the group Bytch Slap
with Nurse Veronica and Trinity.
It was short lived. I was
“Cheerleader Valentina”. We
basically feuded with the cage
dancers. It didn’t go any further
than that. My only really good
friend in TNA is Homicide.
did you have high hopes for
mtv’s wrestling society x
and what do you attribute to
its downfall?
I seriously had the best time
working for WSX and I thank
Kevin Kleinrock for giving me
the chance and believing in me.
I thought the show was
amazing, and really wish it
would have taken off. The show
had great ratings the first 2
weeks, but then MTV stopped
playing commercials for it, and I
think that’s what caused it to
fail. People just didn’t remember
that it was on, and it was also
up against ecw at the time.
 © michael Bell
photoGraphy

thewrestlingpress.com news

Lizzy Stats
height: 5'4 weight: 120
years pro: 10
signature
moves: Tornado DDT off the ropes
websites: www.myspace.com/lizzyvalentine
www.facebook.com/lizzyvalentinexoxo
www.twitter.com/iamlizzyxoxo
ambitions: To make a difference in this world...

worldwide wrestling magazine 19

 thewrestlingpress.com news

© MICHAEL BELL
PHOTOGRAPHY
QUICKIES
favorite male Justin Timberlake,
wrestler? Danity Kane, Luis
Shawn Michaels and Fonsi
Homicide favorite tv shows?
favorite female 90210, Nip/Tuck,
wrestler? reality tv
Sunny and Maryse favorite movies?
favorite Dirty Dancing, The
band/musicians? Notebook

20 worldwide wrestling magazine

 thewrestlingpress.com DIVA

WRESTLICIOuS have you ever encountered jealous

press play or click here for external link
co-workers or heard comments that you’ve
only experienced success due to your
looks?
Hmm, well yes I do have my fair share of
haters, but for the most part, people that I
have worked for respected me and know what
I’m capable of, even if they might have
thought I was just some dumb blonde model
before they hired me. I don’t get too many
complaints!

your favourite place/country to wrestle in?

Definitely Mexico! The fans treat you like
Lizzy’s Wrestlicious debut as pop superstar Kandi
royalty over there, and since I’m an American
Kisses. girl with blonde hair, they love me even more!
haha.
you’ve also had a short spell in mexico with
Juventud Guerrera, leaving amid some what would you rank as your top 3
controversy. would you care to comment on competitive matches?
that? When I was 18 I wrestled for the troops in the
Juventud had drama with a lot of the wrestlers middle east against Malia Hosaka….those
in AAA, which led to a really bad backstage were my toughest bouts.
fight. I wasn’t involved in it, and I don’t have any
issues with the company. who has been your favourite opponent of
all time?
what were your first impressions of Jimmy I really like working with Morgan. I feel like we
hart’s all girl promotion wrestlicious, and really click. I also loved working with Malia
how successful do you think it could be? Hosaka. She taught me so much.
I thought it was really cool that it was
an all female group. There aren’t SINCE I’M AN AMERICAN GIRL
many of them, so it’s nice to WITH bLONDE HAIR, THEy
showcase the females. However, LOvE ME EvEN MORE!
it’s really hard to make a female
promotion work, and I don’t think any advice to other girls
people understand the humour of wanting to get into wrestling?
Wrestlicious, and that it’s meant to It really depends what your
be a joke. I think most people are goals are…if you want to go to
under the impression that some of WWE, don’t waste time on the
the material on the show might be indies. Move to Florida and
a little outdated for 2010, haha. enroll in FCW. If you want to
work for TNA, establish yourself
is there much competitiveness on the indies. Be healthy, and
among female wrestlers? train your body in many different
Yes of course! There are only so ways. You need to be really
many spots available for women, strong, so wrestle, do weight
and we all want it! training, cardio, yoga, etc.

TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 21

 I
n this crazy world of wrestling there are The first recipient of the TWP
men and women who achieve, there blessing is....
are men and women who entertain, and
there are men and women who make wade Barrett
us proud. men and women who deserve the
Imagine you are a
blessings that The Wrestling Priest will dish
young wrestler who
out each issue.
has not long started a
Every issue The Wrestling Press will give an- TV role, and you find
other deserving individual the blessings they yourself thrust into the
so rightly deserve. Blessings bestowed due to spotlight as the main man
outstanding contributions to the sport, spectac- in the hottest angle to ap-
ular matches, great achievements, or other no- pear in the largest wrestling
table qualities.
company in the world for some
time.

WADE Stats
Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? So do you let
it overwhelm you, or do you run with it and
prove yourself worthy of the push? Do you sink
or do you swim?
Billed height: 6ft 5in
Wade Barrett started his career in Hammerlock
Billed weight: 265 lb wrestling and the Dropkixx wrestling school in
Born: 10th August, 1980 2004. After just a couple of years working in the
Preston, England UK, Barrett gained a developmental contract
Billed from Manchester, England (alongside Paul Burchill) with the WWE.
trained by: Jon Richie The reaction of many UK fans when they heard the
Al Snow wrestler then known as Stu Sanders was signed
debut: June 2004 was ‘who?’. Having not been a star in the FWA or
IPW:UK, many just had no idea who this man was.

22 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP


Barrett honed his skills both in the ring and on
the microphone in Florida Championship
Wrestling, particularly working behind the
announcer’s booth as FCW’s
version of Jesse Ventura.
Then it was time for NXT.
Barrett was called up as
part of the first season. But
it was Bryan Danielson
(now known as Daniel
Bryan) who was clearly
the man who was being
groomed for success.
Barrett
was so
impressive
in the ring
and on the
microphone
that he
rapidly
became the
star of the
show....
thewrestlingpress.com bLESSINGS
I’ll pause here. Let me take you back to the
WWF of 1997. The WWF wanted to build an
exciting international Light Heavyweight divi-
sion to counter WCW’s Cruiserweight Division.
They pinned their hopes on one man, the Great
Sasuke. But they needed an opponent for
Sasuke at the Canadian Stampede PPV to in-
troduce him to the fans, so they chose another
man from the Michinoku Pro organisation,
TAKA Michinoku. While Sasuke was impres-
sive, it was Michinoku who the fans and man-
agement ended up being amazed by and who
got the big contract and push as star of the di-
vision.
Fast forward back to Daniel Bryan and Wade
Barrett in NXT. When NXT started, the ‘smart’
money was on Bryan being the star of the
show. But Barrett was so impressive in the ring
and on the microphone that he rapidly became
the star of the show, eclipsing even the excep-
tional Bryan in the process.
Then NXT was all over, Wade Barrett had won,
and gained a WWE contract.
End of story? Not so much. Barrett came out
on Raw and instigated the now infamous
angle where the NXT guys ripped apart
announcers, wrestlers, the ringside area
and even the hallowed (and previously
kayfabe protected, as Lance Storm revealed
on an edition of Figure Four Daily that Vince
wouldn’t even let outsiders touch the ring let
along see under the canvas) ring.
It was an auspicious debut on Raw for the NXT
crew, and Wade Barrett, with his crew of guys
who were still a little too green and inexperi-
enced (Daniel Bryan not included) to come to
the forefront of the angle, had to step forward
and run with the angle.
And run he has. Barrett has come across like a
confident, professional, polished performer on
Raw, someone who can make this angle work,
and who can be relied on to not drop the ball
on what he has been given.
For someone so young in the business this is
outstanding. And for that, TWP bestows its first
blessing on Wade Barrett.
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 23
 alex wright appearing at a German
wrestling promotion in 2007
© www.dragonhearts.de

Words: DAviD schMiDA

He was known as “Das Wunderkind”, wrestled as one half of the Boogie

Knights and punished his opponents as the obscure Berlyn. Alex Wright is
the only German who ever achieved success in World Championship
Wrestling (WCW). TWP talked to the 1996 WCW Rookie of the Year, who
is now running his own wrestling school and promotion.

24 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP

 thewrestlingpress.com ALEX WRIGHT

your father is a famous wrestler (steve wright).
therefore, wrestling is in your blood. tell us a
little bit about the time when you started in
wrestling, especially the catch wrestling
association (cwa). how did you deal with the
pressure of being the son of steve wright?
It was already hard enough to start out in such
a tough business as a 16 year old. In addition to
that you have to consider that my father had a
big name in the business. He was a 16 time
CWA World Middleweight Champion, CWA
European Champion and CWA European Tag
Team Champion. Of course, every single one of
my new colleagues was eager to see what I was
capable of and many of my opponents tested
me. That means: “Grit your teeth and get to it”.
If you have respect, give your best and fight
back when necessary. This period is over fast
though. That’s why I was granted a match for the
CWA Junior World Championship at the sold out
arena in Bremen against Japans Hiro Tenzan.
That was the night I felt the biggest pressure in
my, at that point, short career. Japanese
wrestlers are known for their tough technical
style. Everybody, my father, who wrestled very
successfully for New Japan Pro Wrestling, my
colleagues, the promoter, the fans, wanted to
see if the son of Steve Wright came to stay. That
was pressure! The bout was great and I
managed to pass my first huge test. But of
course it wasn’t the last.
constantly have to be on top of your game or
someone else gets your spot. That kind of life is
a lot of fun but you shouldn’t forget your
principles and you should always try to make the
right decisions. It was a huge chance for me that
WCW trusted in me and gave me a PPV match,
especially at Starrcade. Levesque and I were two
young upcoming wrestlers who got their
opportunity to prove themselves and we did the
best we could. We had a good match and the
bosses were happy.
you didn’t just establish yourself in wcw but
were able to win a few titles there. describe
the feeling you had after beating chris
Jericho for the world cruiserweight title.
That’s right. I won the World Television Title, the
World Tag Team Title and the World Cruiserweight
Title in WCW. It’s a fantastic feeling to win a World
Title in front of thousands of people. It’s even
1997, wcw
world
television
champion
© alex wright

relatively fast after your debut as pro

wrestler for cwa in october 1992 you were
taken under contract by wcw and had
your first ppv match in december 1994
against Jean paul levesque (triple h).
how did you perceive that time?
It was life on the fast lane, every day a
different city, different people, different
arenas and different wrestlers. You have
many matches and become known
quickly. But there’s a constant pressure
from the office. If you have too many bad
matches in a row, they don’t see any
progress. If you have many injuries or TV
ratings go down as soon as you have a
segment, you can be gone very quickly. You

tling magazine 25
 thewrestlingpress.com ALEX WRIGHT

better if it’s against such a great wrestler like Chris my best. I wouldn’t have been able to meet
Jericho. You realise that all the years of hard work these goals at that time. I was totally burned out
and the extreme training pay off. It’s simply a great mentally and physically. Don’t forget that I was
moment. one of the wrestlers who continuously worked
for WCW for a long period of time. That means
you retired from wrestling when you were 25, a lot of travelling, many fights, many injuries and
except for a match against chris raaber in the backstage politics. The worst was the
2003. that’s very early considering that backstage politics though. That can really take
many wrestlers step into the ring for much away the fun and it was one of reasons why I
longer. needed the distance and the time out.
I was 26 when WWE took over WCW. Actually,
I never officially retired. I’m just taking a long i was told you worked at a gym after your
time out. return to Germany. you also had rare
appearances at wrestling shows. how was it
to return to a “normal job” after working as
if wcw hadn’t been acquired by wwe,
a pro wrestler for so many years?
would you have taken a time out anyway?
I got the job at the gym due
No, I think I wouldn’t
to a coincidence. I worked
have taken it at that
out there on a regular
time. If you have that
basis and became friends
kind of life you don’t
with the owner. One day
give it up that easily.
he needed someone on
You don’t realise how
short notice and I took the
much you actually
job because, I didn’t want
need a time out.
to leave him hanging. It
That’s why many
wasn’t really difficult to
wrestlers end up so
get used to that job since
tragically. From that
it was only part time and
point of view I’m very
training people is a lot of
glad that the end of
fun. I’m receiving many
WCW made the
after his match vs offers to get back in the
decision easier for me.
chris “the ring or for appearances.
Bambikiller” raaber Whenever it was
wwe took over many © www.dragonhearts.de possible, I made one or
contracts of wcw two guest appearances
wrestlers. did you
have an offer from the promotion based in in 2007 you opened your wrestling school
stamford at that time or later? “the wright stuff” in nuremberg. why did
WWE wasn’t able to take over my contract you decide to do so in Germany and not in a
because I had one with Time Warner and not country where wrestling is more popular?
WCW itself. There were only a handful of guys That’s right. What made me decide to do so? It’s
who did too, like Diamond Dallas Page, simple; I love wrestling and want to help elevate
Goldberg and Sting for example. After my the wrestling in Europe and especially in
contract with Time Warner expired, I was Germany. My wrestling roots are here in
contacted twice by WWE. Both times I rejected Germany, I had my first fight in Wuppertal,
the offer because it wasn’t the right time for me, Germany. Through my father, with whom I went
for WWE or my fans to return. If I step in the ring, on tour, I grew up with wrestling in Germany and
I have very high aims and always want to give Austria. I have many beautiful memories of cities

26 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP


like Hannover, Bremen, Dortmund, Vienna, Graz
and more. Germany has a lot of loyal fans and
many people who are interested in learning how
to wrestle and do it as a profession. The sport has
given me so much that I want return the favour in
form of new young and talented wrestlers. They
are the ones who are going to secure the future
of the sport in Germany and represent it proudly.
in october 2009 you had your debut as
promoter. the card consisted entirely of your
former students. why did you decide not to
hire any established wrestlers from Germany
and europe?
Right, with my new promotion “new european
championship wrestling” (new) I had my
debut as promoter with the event “Hoch Explosiv”
(Highly Explosive). The reason why I didn’t use
any established guys is simple; the card was
already full. I would have really liked to add one
or two. On the other hand I’m committed to giving
these young wrestlers a chance, especially if they
were trained by me. Every one of the wrestlers
who had a match that night trained at least 18
months with me. They worked very hard and
proved to me that they really wanted to be a pro
wrestler. I think hard work, discipline and respect
should be rewarded.
the venue was, if i’m informed correctly,
sold out. tell us a little bit about the show.
was it a success and what are the plans for
new?
Yes, from my point of view it was a success. I
received a lot of positive feedback and I think the
audience really liked it, which is the most
important thing. For my part, I was able to gain
valuable experience and learned what to do
better the next time and what not to do again at
all. I was very proud of my students for what they
achieved that night. For a coach it’s wonderful
thewrestlingpress.com ALEX WRIGHT
NEW WRESTLING
press play or click here for external link
“Hoch Explosiv” – Alex Wright’s first show as a
promoter.
to see how your former students apply what they
learned in the ring. As a promoter it’s great to
see that you chose the right wrestlers for the
event. Of course it was very stressful and the
whole event meant a tremendous amount of
organisational work. But it was worth it. new is
still facing some hurdles which it has to
overcome but plenty of things are planned.
what are the chances to see you back in the
ring?
Well, it’s fifty-fifty. As mentioned earlier I haven’t
retired yet and I get plenty of offers. But right now
I want to concentrate on my wrestling school, my
students and new european championship
wrestling. If there’s time left, it’s possible that I
might get back in the ring. Wrestling is in my blood.
If you want to find out more about “The Wright
Stuff” and New European Championship
Wrestling go to www.prowrestlingschool.de or
www.new-wrestling.de.
n contact david at dschmida@hotmail.com
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 27
 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE

Dragon Gate uSA

One Year On
Words: ADAM testA

O
n July 25, 2009,
dragon Gate usa
ushered a new
brand of profes-
sional wrestling onto the
american independent
scene.
Supported by Japanese promo-
tion Dragon Gate and led by former
Ring of Honor booking agent Gabe
Sapolsky, the company aimed to mix top-
tier talent from both the United States
and Japan to produce a product unrivaled
by anything on the market.
Despite low attendance at some live events –
including the promotion’s first double shot in
Phoenix during WrestleMania weekend –
DGUSA has found a foothold and established
itself as a niche product with a loyal following that
seemingly grows with each outing.
From the opening bout of the “Enter the Dragon” pay-per-
view, subsequently released on DVD as “Open the Historic
Gate,” the promotion has offered high-quality bouts earning
praise and support from fans, critics and the media alike.

28 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com

 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE
While many Dragon Gate performers - including
Naruki Doi, SHINGO, and Genki Horiguchi -
have graced American wrestling rings in the past
for promotions like ROH, Pro Wrestling Guerrila
and even the short-lived MTV series “Wrestling
Society X,” DGUSA has presented them in a
new light to a more widespread North American-
based audience.
In addition to placing these foreign stars in the
spotlight, the promotion has also highlighted top
American independent talent like Bryan Danielson
and Davey Richards, as well as contributed to the
meteoric rise of others like Matt
and Nick Jackson of the Young
Bucks (known as Max and
Jeremy Buck of Generation
Me in TNA Wrestling), Jon
Moxley and up-and-comer
Johnny Gargano,
who recently
became the first
wrestler to sign
an official
DGUSA contract.
Now, after expanding
from the independent wrestling
comfort zones of Philadelphia and Chicago into
new markets including Phoenix and Toronto, the
company finds itself preparing for its hallmark
one-year anniversary show, “Enter the Dragon
2010,” which will be hosted at The Arena in South
Philadelphia on July 24.
This show will see the culmination of one of the
promotion’s most prominent rivalries, as well as
thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 29
Dragon Gate uSA
1st Anniversary Celebration, July 24th
Main Event *1 - Open The freedom
Gate Title Match
bxb Hulk defends vs. Masaaki
Mochizuki
Main Event *2 - battle Of The Aces
bryan Danielson vs. Shingo
Main Event *3 - Elimination Match
CHIKARA Sekigun - Open The Dream
Gate Champion Masato yoshino, Mike
Quackenbush, Jigsaw and Hallowicked
vs.
Kamikaze uSA - yAMATO, Akira
Tozawa, Gran Akuma and Jon Moxley
Special Challenge Match
Naruki Doi vs. Dragon Kid
the reemergence of the American
Dragon in a DGUSA ring, as Danielson
returns to the independent circuit after a
disappointing stint in World Wrestling
Entertainment.
DEvELOPING THE STORy
From the opening bout between BxB Hulk and
YAMATO to its main event between Doi and
SHINGO, DGUSA’s “Open the Historic Gate”
show clearly completed its objective: Showcase
the Dragon Gate stlye and remove any doubt
that existed in open-minded naysayers.
But as the company moved forward with its
shows, the unanimous praise began faltering,
though just enough for a few unsatisfied critics
to slip their opinions through the cracks, and for
the most part, they spoke with a unified voice.
DGUSA had nearly every component to be
successful: A very strong talent roster, access to
top-level talent from the U.S. and Japan, a
national pay-per-view deal and, perhaps most
importantly, affordability.
 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE

on the tandem of SHINGO and Dragon Kid at

November’s “Freedom Fight.”
In storylines, Dragon Kid had sacrificed his
opportunity to compete in the Open the Freedom
Gate Championship tournament to square off
with his rival once again. Therefore, he earned
the opportunity to face the inaugural champ at
January’s “Fearless” show in Chicago.
Their rivalry also took a backseat during the
“Open the Ultimate Gate” DVD taping in Phoenix
during WrestleMania weekend in March, but the
next night, it reignited as Yoshino joined BxB
Hulk and Doi to represent World-1 and do battle
with Dragon Kid, Gamma and CIMA of Warriors
in an intense and unforgettable main event.
And in May, the two superstars seemingly put an
end to their back-and forth rivalry in superior
fashion with a 2-out-of-3-falls match-up at the
“Open the Northern Gate” DVD taping in
Dragon Kid Windsor, Ontario, which marked DGUSA’s
official expansion into the Canadian market.
But the one thing that really seemed to be
missing in the eyes of critics was the presence
of clear-cut storylines.
The absence of over-the-top antics and
challenges clearly drew the ire of some, though
the presentation of building feuds and
developing stories were as plain as day to those
willing to look a little deeper than the surface and
use their own minds could see what was
brewing.
Language barriers made the concept of DGUSA
promos a limited option, and most of the
storytelling happened in the confines of the ring.
At the forefront of the promotion’s story angles
were two battles being waged in very different
ways.
First, the masked Dragon Kid engaged in a
competitive rivalry with Masato Yoshino, which
saw the duo face off on nearly every card
throughout the year.
They took each other to the limits in singles
matches at July’s “Enter the Dragon” and
September’s “Untouchable” before dueling in a
tag team match that saw Yoshino and Doi taking

30 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com

 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE
Watching the feud between these two blossom
from a purely competitive affair to a more
personal matter and, ultimately, into stable
warfare before coming to an exciting climax has
been an enjoyable, engaging and fascinating
ride. If DGUSA cards weren’t so stacked, these
two could easily steal any show.
A CROSS-bRAND bATTLE
The other top storyline, which will come to a
close at the one-year anniversary show,
stemmed from DGUSA’s working agreement
with another top independent promotion and has
evolved into the creation of stables and factions
specific to DGUSA.
On the debut show, the technico team of Mike
quackenbush, Jigsaw, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant
battled the rudo squad of Amasis, Icarus, Gran
Akuma and Hallowicked (actually a technico but
forced to side with the bad guys for this one) in
Yamato vs Jigsaw
thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 31
KAMIKAZE uSA
press play or click here for external link
a CHIKARA showcase that some reviewers say
stole the show.
A meshing of Philadelphia-based CHIKARA,
which adopts its style from both Japanese
puroresu and Mexican lucha libre, and a Dragon
Gate affiliate was literally a dream-come-true for
many independent and international wrestling
fans, and this contest and the post-match antics
didn’t leave any sense of disappointment.
quackenbush cut a promo before the
Philadelphia crowd talking about the connections
between the companies that come through Jorge
“Skayde” Rivera, the famed lucha performer who
has served as a trainer for both companies. He
also says there’s a brewing friendly rivalry
between his company and DGUSA and issues a
challenge to any Dragon Gate star in the back.
YAMATO answered the call and attacked
quackenbush. As Jigsaw and Gran Akuma
came to make the save, Akuma turned on his
CHIKARA cohorts, aligning himself with
YAMATO.
The CHIKARA versus Dragon Gate battles
would continue through coming shows, as
quackenbush and Jigsaw battled YAMATO and
Akuma in September and quackenbush
participated in the Open the Freedom Gate
Championship tournament in a “Salute to
Skayde” qualifier also featuring CIMA, Super
Crazy and Rivera himself.
In Phoenix, the battle continued brewing as
YAMATO and company made their presence felt
 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE

a rudo on the debut show, he could return in his

Ryo Saito and Matt Jackson
current technico role with partner Ophidian.
(Young Bucks)
Rookies Frightmare and Green Ant could also
benefit from the experience of working with
international talent and competing on a bigger
stage.
No matter what winds up as stipulations and
team representations, this match will surely be
a satisfying and exhilirating culmination of the
CHIKARA versus Dragon Gate feud. It also
creates interest in seeing how the relationship
between the companies develops and grows in
the wake of this inaugural storyline.

A fIGHTING CHAMPION
DGUSA competitors participated in a uniquely
styled 14-man tournament to crown the first ever
Open the Freedom Gate champion in
November.
The tournament featured four opening round
bouts, and the winner of each advanced to a
fatal fourway elimination bout later in the night.

Naruki Doi and

Bryan Danielson
after quackenbush and Jigsaw defeated the
Young Bucks in what will likely be their final
DGUSA.
All that and more has led to the formation of two
factions: CHIKARA Sekigun of quackenbush,
Jigsaw and Hallowicked and Kamizake USA of
YAMATO, Jon Moxley, Gran Akuma, SHINGO
and Akira Tozawa.
These two stables will meet in the ring on July
24 to settle their score once and for all. DGUSA
officials have not announced how many men will
participate in the match or if there will be any
stipulations, but there are plenty of likely
candidates to be added to the CHIKARA side of
the equation, especially Jimmy Jacobs, who has
found himself in a bit of a brewing war with
Moxley in recent months.
This could also create an opportunity to
introduce other members of the CHIKARA roster
to a DGUSA crowd. While Amasis competed as

32 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com

 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE

BxB Hulk and Brian Kendrick battled in
“Redemption,” an opportunity for each winless
athlete to literally redeem his standing in the
company. Ultimately, BxB Hulk would earn the
victory on his path to championship gold.
The stars of tomorrow were on display when
Gran Akuma defeated Matt Jackson, Nick
Jackson, Hallowicked, Gargano and Lince
Dorado in a six-man, one-fall contest that teased
tension between the Young Bucks and ultimately
shaped Kamizake USA.
Breakout stars also collided as Dragon Gate’s
YAMATO clashed with American standout
Richards in an epic battle that justifiably drew
unanimous praise from critics. In the end, the
future Open the Dream Gate champion emerged
victorious, attempting to add American gold to his
resume.
In the other opening match, CIMA defeated
quackenbush, Super Crazy and Rivera in the
aforementioned “Salute to Skayde.”
At the end of the night, however, it was BxB Hulk
who walked away from The Arena with gold
around his waist, and in the year since, he’s
turned back challenger after challenger.
The champ has successfully retained gold
against a slew of top challengers, including
Dragon Kid in January, Doi in March and Yoshino
in May. A match against Richards had been
scheduled, but contract issues with ROH
removed the American Wolf’s presence from
future DGUSA events.
While BxB Hulk has not failed to produce
entertaining and exhilirating title defenses, none
of the bouts this far have really had that sense of
impending doom, where it seems plausible that
the champion may lose his gold. The same can
be said for his upcoming defense against Masaaki
Mochizuki at the one-year anniversary show.
BxB Hulk has proven himself a fighting
champion, accepting challenges from even his
own teammates, but the time has come for a
serious threat to enter the title picture.
Whether the challenge comes from an extended
program with a certain returning Dragon or a
multi-show feud culminating with a title vs. title
match against YAMATO, something needs to be
done to continue giving fans a reason to
recognise BxB Hulk’s reign and accomplishment.
A fighting champion can only go so far without a
credible nemesis.
Genki
Horiguchi
ONE-yEAR RETROSPECTIvE
DGUSA has come a long way in the past 12
months, and with each show, more people seem
to take notice.
The company has taken great strides in the right
direction: Establishing a long-reigning champion,
developing slow-building but compelling
storylines and entering new markets where fans
can emerge.
But while the company’s still young and growing,
continued success and expansion in year two
will be crucial to keeping the promotion alive and
at the forefront of an ever-crowding U.S.
independent scene.
Coming out of its infancy, DGUSA will soon
find itself in a sink-or-swim predicament, but
the foundations are there to build not only a
raft but a battleship to keep the company
above water.
n contact adam at adamtesta@gmail.com
All photos courtesy of dgusa.tv

thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 33

 Message from uSA promoter
Gabe sapolsky
A
nniversary events always stand out
to me a little more. the main reason
is that it marks a good time to look
back and reflect on the past year.
as we approach the first anniversary of the
debut dragon Gate usa event, "open the
historic Gate", i can't think of a better time to
sit down and think of the last year.
The email that changed the course of my life came
in early 2009. CIMA contacted me about holding a
stand alone event on Wrestlemania weekend in
Houston. You see, Wrestlemania weekend was
when Dragon Gate first made its name in the
United States. Wrestling in front of those fans from
all over the world, who all congregated on this one
weekend, was something the entire Dragon Gate
roster took great pride in. They always would
change their schedule, fly far distances and
sacrifice to perform in front of the fans that traveled
in for this weekend. At the time, I told them it was
far too late to get a building, start advertising and
attract fans to the show. However, it certainly didn't
end there.
As we sat and thought about holding a Dragon
Gate show in the United States, new possibilities
came up. Why can't we hold several events every
year so fans in various cities and areas of the
country could attend the shows? Why couldn't we
release highly collectible DVDs of these shows?
Why can't we put this on pay-per-view? Why can't
we take the extremely talented and charismatic
Dragon Gate roster and use it as the backbone of
34 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com
creating pro wrestling's premium brand? It was
suddenly clear that all these things were possible.
We all got together, presented a plan, went over
some numbers and Dragon Gate USA was born.
Over the past year we have seen some tweaks
and additions to the business plan. Originally, we
were going to just have single shots. Then it
became clear that it would be more beneficial to
us and the fans if we ran double shots. We
introduced Seminars / Tryouts for American
independent wrestlers, giving them the opportunity
to train under Dragon Gate wrestlers, learn a
different system and even possibly get booked in
Japan. Some other interesting ideas also came
on the table that you will hear about soon. The
year has had its ups and downs, but everything
has led to another lesson, more dedication and
reinforced our will to persevere. It remains clear
that our best days are ahead of us, not behind us.
The most important thing about anniversaries is to
make sure to give an extra big "Thank You" to
everyone that got you there. That includes our
partners, the wrestlers, the refs, the crew, the
unheralded people that spend countless hours
working on websites, editing and promoting. Most
importantly, it goes to the people that supported you.
For every person that bought a ticket to a DGUSA
event, bought a DVD, shirt or other merchandise
and spread the word, we can't thank you enough.
There is no saying more true than we wouldn't be
here now without you. Thank you all and here is to
many anniversaries together in the future!!!
 Interview with uK promoter

MARK SLOAN
Words: DArren WooD

A
fter successfully bringing dragon Gate to the uk last
year for their debut show at the regal in oxford. mark
sloan, who has previously promoted frontier wrestling
alliance, will once again be bringing
the Japanese promotion to these shores
for two shows this september.

TWP: you were instrumental in bring-

ing dragon Gate to the uk last year,
how proud are you to have brought
stars from the company over two years
in a row now?
MARK: I wouldn’t say proud was the right
word; honoured may be a better term. Dragon
Gate is an extremely professional company and I
was blown away by just how good and how profes-
sional the talent was, the 3 days (in Spain, Germany
and then they arrived with us) left them very tired
and some of them sick, having picked up a virus,
but come Showtime they did what they do best
and that is entertain every single person in that
room, from the sceptical security guards right
through to the seasoned pro wrestlers who were in
attendance. Nobody was expecting to be quite that
good.

DG:UK superstar Lion Kid

© amerchandise.co.uk

thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 35

 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE

TWP: how did the idea for the dragon Gate

shows in the uk come about? Mark Haskins
© dragon Gate
MARK: Originally the idea was pitched to us just
nearing the Pro Wrestling Noah event and we de-
cided to wait until after the shows to go any fur-
ther but credit is due to WXW of Germany, they
(as long time partners) were in direct contact with
Dragon Gate and around a month after the Noah
event we started talking seriously about bringing
DG to the UK.
TWP: what were your opinions on the
matches that the uk wrestlers had last year
on the shows?
MARK: I was happy with all of the British partic-
ipation on the main show. The bonus match I was
disappointed in and although it was still decent, it
wasn’t what we needed and therefore we have to
make sure the same mistake doesn’t happen
again. Storm and Scurll had a seriously under-
rated match with Real Hazard, Marty showed why
he belonged on the show with an excellent outing
and Mark Haskins proved why he was consid-
ered at the time to be one of the best young un-
signed talents in the world. Of course that was to
change given his strong showing….
TWP: mark haskins gained a roster spot after
his match last year do you think uk wrestlers
could do the same?
MARK: It wasn’t so much a roster spot but they
offered him a chance to tour with them, and so
impressed with him were they, that upon the end we had already sold out the event in the lead up,
of the first tour the offered him a longer tour, which the deciding factor would be the show. Which
is where he is right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they couldn’t have been happier with. They re-
he gets another one too. There are plenty of guys ally enjoyed the show, the set-up and most im-
who could do the same but the question is who portantly the fans, that’s what sealed the return
WANTS to do it? You have to dedicate your life in 2010. I would hope these shows aren’t any
to being the best in your field, you can think different and when they think about their plans
about, dream about, talk about it but it is another for 2011 they remember just how good the Eu-
thing actually go out there and do it. Haskins ropean shows are.
made the choices to get it done and is now living
out his dreams, nobody can quite understand TWP: haskins vs lion kid is a match con-
how much it changes your life, Haskins could try firmed for dragon Gate on september 10th
to tell you but he is having the time of his life. what can fans expect from this match?
TWP: after last year’s tour where you imme- MARK: They can expect a fast paced en-
diately setting out a plan for a follow up in counter which is likely to prove just how talented
2010? both men are, Haskins has already established
MARK: Not really a plan, they had indicated himself as one of the best cruiserweights around
that they were open to the idea, but given that and Lion Kid has really come into his own this

36 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com

 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE
year. Both have incredible matches on the sec-
ond night but if I know one thing they will both
put in the fight of their life for the fans in Brox-
bourne.
TWP: for fans who have not watched a lion
kid or mark haskins match what do you
think people can expect and what wrestlers
would you compare them to?
MARK: Each fighter is unique, Haskins, while
looking very much like a more defined version
of CM Punk is a perfect fusion between work-
rate, charisma and just raw talent. The guy has
unlimited potential and if he so chooses, he
could end up wherever he wants in the industry.
You can expect the hardest working talent in Eu-
rope to go out there and try and steal the show
and giving a performance like nobody else. Lion
Kid is currently wrestling all over Europe from All
Star to BCC in Belgium to possible outings in
Spain and Germany. He is primarily known as a
high flyer, but is also ridiculously charismatic and
his ground skills far surpass his aerial ability. LK
is probably one of the most underated guys on
the scene at the moment and he is rated rela-
tively highly, that in itself shows just how talented
he is. I wouldn’t really compare either one to
anybody else. They are their own men.
HASKINS HAS ALREADy
ONE
ESTAbLISHED HIMSELf AS
ISE RWEIGHTS
Of THE bEST CRu
TWP: marty scurll vs cyber kong has been
confirmed as well. what can fans expect
from that match and what are your opinions
on scurll and kong?
MARK: Cyber Kong was somebody who I really
wanted for the first event, but due to various rea-
sons he was unavailable, so when the opportu-
nity came up again, it was a must have. He is
soo different to the rest of the roster and he re-
ally adds a different dimension to the events.
Scurll is somebody who has been around for a
while but has never really had any guidance, he
has just been kind of there. You know he is tal-
ented but it wasn’t somebody you had to have
thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 37
on your event. That’s all changed now, Scurll is
one of the most sought after UK fighters and
proved his worth at last years event. I think it
also really benefited him in another way, as he
saw what it was like to try and hang with world
class opponents and since then he has really
stepped it up, training like a madman and come
Sept 11th, when Kong and Scurll meet, it will be
explosive! Kong is a monster but Scurll in his
hometown, as fired up as he is, I wouldn’t bet
against him….
TWP: some fans may have not seen a
dragon Gate uk show before; please de-
scribe what they are in for and explain the
differences between this company and oth-
ers.
MARK: The sheer pace and perfection of
everything they do has to be seen to be be-
lieved, not one person left last years show with-
out knowing they had witnessed an incredible
show. The last two matches were just simply
amazing, and so diverse, the heart and soul of
Shingo and Yokosuka as they literally destroyed
each other in one of the most brutal matches I
have ever seen and then it moved on to the sig-
nature 6 Man tag team match, which really de-
fies description but if I had to try, I guess I would
say the spectacle of 6 super athletes and going
at it with no regard for their own bodies and ac-
tion all over the place, the last 10 minutes were
something that you, as a wrestling fan, owe it to
yourself to experience live. At a lot of shows they
give standing ovations and such but the fans we
brought to their feet for over half the matches
and the air of genuine respect for the fights they
witnessed is something I won’t soon forget.
TWP: thanks for agreeing to this interview.
TWP would like to wish you every success
in the future. finally do you have anything
else you would like to add?
MARK: Not really, I don’t need to plug the shows
but the one thing I would say, is if you don’t go
you’ll probably end up wishing you did when you
read the reports/magazines and watch the DVD.
It’s going to be one if not the two best shows in
Europe this year. No doubt about it.
 Introducing
DRAGON GATE UK
Words: DArren WooD

I
t was truly an amazing night in which
500 fans witnessed one of the best CIMA in
action
shows ever to grace British soil. last
© warren
year unique Japanese promotion drag- powell
on Gate hosted their debut uk show at the
regal in oxford which was hailed by many
as the best wrestling event of 2009.
At the end of the incredible Dragon Gate: Inva-
sion UK event British superstar and Dragon
Gate regular PAC sent out a clear message to
the fans in attendance when he said: “We prom-
ise, we’ll be back”.
Not a company to let its fans down Dragon Gate
(in association with A-Merchandise, organisers
of last year’s event) are back and ready to take
these shores by storm once again, with not
one... but two shows.
Dragon Gate left a huge mark that night in Ox-
ford, since then fans have eagerly anticipated
the world’s most exciting wrestling promotions
return to the UK.
The two night tour starts with the first venue
being the Broxbourne Civic Hall in Hertfordshire
on Friday 10th September, finishing up at the
Burgess Civic Hall in Cambridge on Saturday
11th September.

38 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com


DvD TRAILER
press play or click here for external link
TWP spoke to CIMA, Dragon Gate’s number
one star and easily the most recognisable face
on their roster about what he expects from fans
coming to see the shows.
“I expect the British fans to be there with the
highest tension and highest voltage. I am look-
ing for a historic show.”
Dragon Gate was originally named Toryumon
Japan and most of the performers were trained
by ex WWE and WCW star Ultimo Dragon, but
when he left the promotion in 2004 the company
was forced to come up with a new name.
RES
READy TO TAKE THESE SHO
E AG AIN , WIT H
by STORM ONC
NOT ONE ... buT TWO SHO WS
Over the years Dragon Gate has had compar-
isons with the high flying Mexican wrestling style
Lucha Libre but CIMA, who is a two-time Open
the Dream Gate Champion, the highest acco-
lade in Dragon Gate, is quick to stress that the
promotion has its own style.
“A lot of our wrestlers were trained in Mexico.
However, Dragon Gate style is totally different
from Lucha Libre.
“Please be ready to see and feel only Dragon
Gate-style wrestling. CIMA has never been a
high-flying wrestler. What I can tell you is that I
love my style, no matter what other people say.”
Also making the trip from Japan to join CIMA will
be Dragon Gate regulars Susumu Yokosuka,
thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 39
TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE
Shingo and Cyber Kong. Fans can also enjoy
seeing some of the best wrestlers that the UK
has to offer, scheduled to appear are Pac, Mark
Haskins, Marty Scurll and Lion Kid.
It’s worth noting that as this issue goes to print
there are currently two matches signed for the
September 10th event at the Broxbourne Civic
Hall. Both of these contests already has TWP
drooling with excitement as Shingo will go one
on one with Susumu Yokosuka in a rematch
from their epic first encounter at last year’s
show.
TWP hopes that this match can live up to the
huge expectations set by last year’s breathtak-
ing meeting between the two.
In a battle between two extremely talented UK
stars the second match announced sees Lion
Kid go up against Mark Haskins, these two had
an intense contest last November for IPW:UK
and it wouldn’t surprise TWP if this match ended
up stealing the show on night one of the tour.
Night two of the tour sees Marty Scurll who put
in a truly career making perform-
ance last year go up against the
monstrous Cyber Kong. Kong
is completely unique, having
picked up huge wins over
some of the very best
talent Dragon Gate
has to offer and it is
fair to say these
shores have never
seen anyone quite
like him.
Dragon Gate comes to the uK live for
two nights only on September 10th at
the broxbourne Civic Hall,
Hertfordshire and September 11th at
the burgess Civic Hall, Cambridge.
for more information or to buy tickets
please e-mail
mark@amerchandise.co.uk or go to
www.dragongateuk.com
 Interview with DG-uK Wrestler

MARTY SCURLL
Words: DArren WooD

L
ast year he was asked to perform on dragon Gate’s debut
uk show and put on what many have described as a ca-
reer-making performance, since then marty scurll has had
some tremendous clashes in singles action and with tag
team partner Jack sabre Jr as the ldrs of the new school.
TWP caught up with Scurll about his upcoming appearance on Dragon
Gate’s second UK tour, the difference between tag team and singles
wrestling and his thoughts on the UK wrestling industry.

TWP: you had a great match alongside Jonny storm against

ryo saito and Genki horiguchi at last years dragon Gate
event what were your thoughts on the match?
MARTy: I remember being extremely nervous and having
no idea how the crowd would take to me! It was certainly
my biggest match to date and I put a lot of pressure on
myself to do well. Even though I was very nervous, I
was still totally excited and couldn’t wait to get in the
ring and try and see how I measured up with such
notable talents. I was satisfied with my performance
although it showed that professionals like Saito and
Horiguchi are on another level, it helped me step
up my own game, certainly my career highlight
thus far.

TWP: did you ever think that you would get

the opportunity to appear for the company
again?

40 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com

 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE

DG:uK INTERvIEW in Japan I believe more companies focus on the

press play or click here for external link in-ring action. Companies in the UK like
IPW:UK, FWA and such will help benefit me on
both aspects leading up to the two big shows in
September.

TWP: you face cyber kong as part of the

MARTy: When I was asked to do the first show
I was ecstatic and certainly felt honoured, but to
be asked to be involved with the next shows is
an even bigger deal to me. The first time I think
the fans didn’t know exactly what to expect of
me, so to be asked to return and perform on
such a big stage among some of the best
wrestlers in the world is truly the biggest honour
I have had.
TWP: when did you find out you were going
to be working the dragon Gate shows in the
uk this year?
MARTy: Promoter Mark Sloan contacted me
earlier this year to see if I was free for the spe-
cific dates. I wasn’t told at first it was Dragon
Gate but when I did find out, not only was I
overwhelmed but was so grateful that I have
been given such a fantastic opportunity.
Mark Sloan has been a massive influence
on my career thus far and I can’t thank
him enough.
tour, what are your opinions on your oppo-
nent and have you seen many matches of
his?
MARTy: I have to admit that I have a huge
amount of respect for Cyber Kong. His look and
his intensity, it makes him standout, there’s no
one in Dragon Gate like him and that immedi-
ately made him stand out to me when I first saw
the Dragon Gate product. The fans have waited
long to see Cyber Kong debut in the UK, and
now he is finally coming here I have the oppor-
tunity to compete against him, it’s certainly going
to be the toughest match in my career. I have
been studying tapes of him no end as I want to
be 120% prepared and give it my all in my home
county of Cambridgeshire on September 11th.
TWP: it’s fair to say that fans in the uk have
never really seen anything quite like kong,

TWP: what are the main differ-

ences between uk and Japanese
wrestling?
MARTy: Both have a wide se-
lection of companies’ special-
ising in different aspects but
in UK wrestling there are Cyber Kong
more than cater towards au- © warren powell
dience involvement where as

Marty Scurll thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 41

© amerchandise.co.uk
 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE
what can uk fans expect from him and what
wrestlers out there would you compare him
to?
MARTy: I think you’ve hit the nail on the head,
no one has ever seen anything like Kong on
these shores. I think it would be unfair to try and
compare someone to him as he is one of the
most unique wrestlers I have seen in some time.
When I showed my family footage of Kong and
told them this is what I am up against, they
couldn’t believe it. It’s safe to say I haven’t come
across any wrestlers like Kong yet!
TWP: what do you think fans can expect
from this match?
MARTy: Like I said before I will be bringing my
all, a lot of heart and determination. Last year I
matured as a performer and went into the show
having prepared like never before. Afterwards
on reflection, I learnt I have to step it up so much
more. I have left a full time job and gone part
time so I can train and recover quicker – I have
been waiting for this match for a long time. My
schedule is now catering more for training than
competing in the lead up to the shows and I’m
positive it’ll be exciting and dramatic.
42 worldwide wrestling magazine thewrestlingpress.com
Marty and Horiguchi
© warren powell
TWP: are you optimistic that if you have an-
other good match with kong then you could
well be offered a slot on the dragon Gate ros-
ter like mark haskins?
MARTy: It would be a dream come true to com-
pete on that level. Mark Haskins who followed in
the footsteps of Pac has done us so proud, he’s
really made an impression and I’m made up for
him. He is one of my best friends and I would love
to join him in Japan, he put in the work and that’s
what I am aiming to do, it is something that is al-
ways my focus.
TWP: for people who have not seen a dragon
Gate uk show, please describe what they are
in for and what are the differences between
this companies shows to others.
MARTy: Last year’s show, I was in the first
match which made it easier for me to witness
most of the event. I can honestly say it was the
most exciting show I have ever had the privilege
of watching. The atmosphere was like I have
never heard and the wrestling itself was to the
very highest of standards, I had certainly not seen
anything quite like it in person before. Dragon
Gate brings the excitement of Japanese
 TWP SPECIAL fEATuRE

Wrestling at its best and adds to it the most

UK standout
colourful and interesting characters and gim-
Pac
micks. So many shows you hear about are billed © dragon Gate
as ‘can’t miss!’ but that statement has never been
so appropriate for these shows.

TWP: you are in a successful tag team with

zack sabre Jr as the leaders of the new
school, how different is tag team wrestling to
singles action?
MARTy: Tag team wrestling you need to know
that you can rely on your partner. Fortunate for
me, myself and zack have been friends for years
and I know I could trust him to always be there.
Singles though, you can only rely on yourself. You
always have to bring your A-game, if stuff doesn’t
go to plan you can hold nobody responsible but
yourself. Its great teaming up with zack and at the
same time I love the experience of competing in
singles matches, so being able to do both at the
moment is a great happy medium.

TWP: for fans who have not watched a marty

scurll match what do you think people can ex-
pect and what wrestlers would you compare
yourself to?
MARTy: I tried to pride myself on having a hy-
brid style – an outgoing interesting charisma
mixed with a technical wrestling skill and an ability
to show crowds unique manoeuvres that they
haven’t necessary seen before. People have said
I am similar to the likes of Alex Shelley and a Pre
year 2000 Chris Jericho. Each of which I am huge
fans of and I wouldn’t compare myself to them,
but can see why fans draw similarities, I believe
my style of wrestling is similar to theirs. I also try
and model myself after British Wrestling legend
Danny Boy Collins, and you could often see stuff
in my matches which I would have taught myself
from watching hours of footage of him.
TWP: what do you think of the uk wrestling
landscape at the moment?
MARTy: There are some fantastic promotions
out there and we have some amazing talent, I
think more so now than ever. The recession I be-
lieve has hit a lot of shows hard but there are still
many who are putting on such strong shows that
the fans keep coming back. I would certainly say
it is a great time to be involved in British Wrestling
and I truly believe it is only going to get better.
TWP: thanks for agreeing to this interview.
TWP would like to wish you every success in
the future. finally do you have anything else
you would like to add?
MARTy: My pleasure. I’d certainly like to do a
quick shout out to my fans that support me, your
messages and support always makes everything
worthwhile. For anyone that is interested you can
keep updated with my progress leading up to
Dragon Gate UK by following me on twitter.com
@martyscurll. Thanks again and I hope to see
you all there!
Marty Scurll will be in action on both nights of the
tour, teaming up with Jack Sabre Jr as The LDRS
of the New School face The Allstars – Robbie Dy-
namite and Mikey Whiplash in the bonus match
of the Friday 10th event. Then on Saturday 11th
September Scurll will face the monstrous Cyber
Kong in singles action.
n contact darren at news@thewrestlingpress.com

thewrestlingpress.com worldwide wrestling magazine 43

Words: DArren WooD
Portrait: tony Knox

H
e debuted as an obnoxious heel
manager in 2003, but now seven
years on xwa owner Greg lambert
is one of the uk’s finest wrestling
promoters.
The 38-year-old was a recognisable face in the
original FWA managing many talents including
Britain’s own hardcore legend Iceman and heel
stable The Family. But it wasn’t until the summer
of 2004 that Lambert started to get more
involved with FWA shows, asking Alex Shane if
he could become his assistant booker.
“I wanted to learn more about the business,” re-
calls Lambert. “As his assistant I was responsible
for writing and booking the shows, although Alex
still had the final say on everything. At the start of
2006 he decided he wanted to make a clean
break from FWA altogether and from this point,
I booked the shows alone.”
Lambert admits making mistakes at that
time due to inexperience and fully believes
that the FWA worked successfully for a long
period because many people involved
with the group were willing to work for
little reward, happy sharing a vision of
what they wanted for the company.
“Running the Coventry SkyDome at
British Uprising 3 left a lot of people
in a ton of debt,” Explains Lambert.
“Many of us chipped in financially
to get that show off the ground. I
personally lost about £3,000.
Others lost more. Some of them
didn’t want to be involved with
FWA any more after that.
“The big problem we had was we
weren’t in a financial position to fly in
overseas talent any longer. The fans’
expectations had been set so high that the
cheaper shows we ran in 2005/6 dominated by
British talent, failed to spark anywhere near the
same level of interest as previous shows.”
With the FWA in turmoil Lambert considered
walking away from the wrestling business
altogether but instead decided to do something
that would mark a huge change in the UK
wrestling landscape.
thewrestlingpress.com GREG LAMbERT
“I spoke to Alex and told him I wanted to promote
under a new name and ‘kill’ the FWA.”
For Lambert the name ‘FWA’ was like an
albatross around his neck, carrying a massive
weight of huge expectation from fans and
wrestlers alike. He no longer wanted to be
associated with the big budget events that the
FWA was famous for.
“Alex suggested the FWA v IPW:UK ‘Losing
Promotion Must Fold’ storyline which actually
regenerated some of the fans’ interest in the
FWA. The story culminated at the Final
Frontiers show of March 2007, when Flash
Barker lost to Martin Stone and the FWA was
forced to close.
“That whole feud was really successful, a lot
of fun and at least ensured this stressful
chapter of my life had a happy ending.”
Lambert felt he was spreading himself too thin,
struggling to juggle his personal life and
promoting shows every couple of weeks up and
down the country. He decided his new
promotion would run solely in Morecambe,
which was a place where FWA drew big crowds
and always had so much success.
In 2007, less than a month after the FWA
closed, XWA was born and held its first show on
April 7th in front of a sellout crowd at the
Morecambe Dome. Knowing there was a loyal
fan base to the FWA in Morecambe; Lambert
ensured there was as much continuity as
possible going into the first show.
His new outfit started exactly where FWA had
left off. Champions from FWA were now
recognised in XWA, and event names like ‘War
on the Shore’, which were synonymous with
FWA, were now being used and unfinished
storylines continued to develop in XWA.
“I wanted to be faithful to the legacy of FWA,
which held great memories for so many people.
The XWA British Heavyweight Championship is
one of the most important titles in British
wrestling today. That belt has direct lineage to
the original FWA Title stretching all the way
back to Mark Sloan, the first FWA champion, in
1999.”
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 45
 thewrestlingpress.com GREG LAMbERT

Since the inception of XWA, Lambert has made “The Morecambe fans love Phere because he’s
a conscious decision to focus more on British a Steve Austin-style anti-hero.”
talent.
Believing that some UK promotions keep costs
“American wrestlers have two, arguably three down but their shows aren’t much of a spectacle,
places in the States where they can work, make Lambert sees the XWA as getting the balance right.
a decent living and gain TV exposure. They don’t
“We put on a fantastic show and always has
have to come over here. The British wrestling
done,” Lambert explains. “The best part about
scene needs all the help it can get. I would much
our show is the atmosphere. Those fans react to
rather spend my time, energy and money helping
everything, which creates an amazing setting for
to establish a platform for homegrown stars.
the wrestlers to perform in.
“I’d rather not put myself through the stress of
“They truly believe what’s happening in the ring
worrying if the big name import has actually
and have a genuine emotional attachment to the
managed to get on a plane. What’s the point
characters and storylines.”
when I’ve got British wrestlers down the road
who are just as good and will draw just as many results from xwa vendetta. Attendance 250.
if the show is promoted properly?” • Nathan Cruz pinned Joey Hayes
• Axl Rage beat Action Jackson by submission to
So far 2010 has been a groundbreaking year retain the XWA Best of the North West Cup
for XWA, which has seen the Morecambe • El Ligero defeated ‘Bollywood Dream’ RJ Singh in a
based company grow in leaps and bounds. ladder match to regain the XWA British Flyweight Title
• ‘Heavyweight House of Pain’ Stixx pinned ‘Rockstar’
In April the company moved from their long time
Spud
home of The Dome to a new venue in More-
• ‘The Ascension’ Alex Shane and ‘The Psychotic
cambe, The Carleton. In many ways Lambert be-
Warrior’ Johnny Phere fought to a no contest.
lieves this new home to be a better suit for XWA.
Big screen music videos are now used at shows MORE DETAILS AT www.xwawrestling.com
and inside the ring, wrestlers can push the
boundaries a little more because unlike its pred- n contact darren at news@thewrestlingpress.com
ecessor, The Carleton is not a council-owned
venue.
On July 17th 2010 XWA presented Vendetta at
the new venue and there was one match
Lambert was particularly looking forward to; ‘The
Ascension’ Alex Shane vs “The Psychotic
Warrior” Johnny Phere.
“When Alex was in charge of the old FWA, I
touted Phere to him for years” Lambert
explained. "I tried to get him to see what an
amazing performer he is and how much potential
there was. Alex never saw it, only when he came
into XWA in 2009 and saw Phere’s work first-
hand, he realised he had developed into a
well-rounded main eventer.
“Alex and Johnny are very similar in a lot of ways.
I don’t know of two other people in British
Wrestling who are so dedicated, who put so
much effort, intensity and attention to detail into
their matches and their character.

46 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP © tony knox

www.tonyknox.org.uk
 oD
Words: DArren Wo
b br Azier
Portrait: ro

W
ith the motto ‘pro
wrestling at its best’
ipw:uk since being
founded in orpington
six years ago has delivered some of
the greatest matches that the uk
wrestling scene has to offer.
Matches such as Bryan Danielson vs.
Pac, The epic rivalry between The
Thrillers & The Leaders and Dave
Mastiff vs Takeshi Morishima have
helped strengthen the promotions
claim as one of the leading companies’
in British wrestling.
Now IPW:UK is set to put on another
night of world class action with their
biggest show to date as they
celebrate their sixth year in business
with the ‘Six year anniversary show’
live from Swallows Leisure Centre in
Sitting-bourne, Kent.
A fantastic line-up has been put in
place as James Tighe will face Joel
Redman, Japanese star Go Shiozaki
challenges Dave Mastiff for the
Undisputed British Heavyweight Cham-
pionship and Martin Stone challenges
long term rival Danny Garnell inside a
16 foot high steel cage.
TWP spoke to Garnell about how he
feels stepping inside the cage with
Stone.
“I’m taking the match very seriously
and I am working hard to make sure I
do my best in the cage, I think the feud

48 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP

 thewrestlingpress.com DANNy GARNELL

“He has a tremendous attitude, is a great talker

and now he is getting the chance to work with a
higher calibre of opponent. I’m sure we will see him
progress leaps and bounds to the extent where he
© rob Brazier is considered the top guy in the whole of UK.
robbrazier123@gmail.com
“I firmly believe him to be one of the top
heavyweights in the country. With every
performance he is getting better and better
and that’s a scary thing for the rest of his
competition especially Martin Stone, come
Sunday August 1st.
“The fans are going to see a heated, hard hitting
has been received well by the fans and I’ve
war. This has been one year in the making and it’s
even got hate mail sent about it.”
going to be something quite special.”
Garnell, who was voted in Pro wrestling illustrated’s
top 500 wrestlers poll in 2003, has been a mainstay
in LDN wrestling for many years. Coming into
IPW:UK he was immediately put into a feud with
Stone which for the last 12 months has entertained
fans all over the country.
He first watched wrestling when he was 8 years
old, enjoying WWF Summerslam in 1991 and it
was that event that got him hooked. His father
took him to wrestling shows at Lewisham theatre
and once he realised there was a British version
of what he watched it was all he wanted to do.
Whilst reading a wrestling magazine, Garnell
found an advert for the Hammerlock training
school and convinced his dad to take him down
to Sittingbourne to see what it was all about. At
just 14 years of age, Garnell started training at
Hammerlock, learning from Andre Baker, Justin
Richards and Jon Ryan.
© rob Brazier
“It taught me a great deal of respect for the robbrazier123@gmail.com
business and taught me first-hand the effective-
ness some of the moves and holds we used can IPW:UK is regarded by many as the finest
have when applied in a shoot situation. promotion in the country at the moment and TWP
“Everything I could have wanted to learn was strongly urges any fans with an interest in the UK
taught there. Andre always made sure we were wrestling scene to attend this show on Aug 1st.
being taught correctly and that what we were IPW:UK proudly celebrate their 6th anniversary
doing looked credible.” with the ‘Six year anniversary show’ live from
Garnell uses everything he was taught in Swallows Leisure Centre in Sittingbourne, Kent.
Hammerlock and IPW:UK booker Andy Doors open at 5:00pm, show starts 5.30pm. For
Quildan believes that before he came to the more information please visit www.ipwuk.com
promotion he was one of British wrestling’s
best kept secrets. n contact darren at news@thewrestlingpress.com

TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 49

 M u r a t B o s p o r u s
DA
Words: DAviD schMi g
 and Ge rma n hurricane Wrestlin
Photos: www.dragonhearts.de

M
urat Bosporus, former amateur wrestler, who de-
buted as a pro wrestler in 2002 after being trained
by tony st. clair and christian eckstein, has
worked for promoters all over europe and the
rest of the world.
The man born as Özgür Bakar continues to rise ever since his first
match for the European Wrestling Promotion (EWP). “I started out at
the EWP wrestling school run by Tony St. Clair and Christian Eckstein.
The first units went well so they told me I had talent and should
continue. My first match was a battle royal during a EWP tour
in 2002. I took a tremendous beating. Also participating
were guys like Doug Williams, who later helped me
on many occasions throughout my career, Drew
McDonald, Robbie Brookside, James Mason
and many more. A man who particularly
supported me was Tony St. Clair. He made
my WWE try out happen, supported me
very much in my development and al-
ways had very helpful tips. Without him
I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
E
I LOST THE bOuT buT WAS AbL
THA T I bEL ONG ED IN
TO SHOW
THE MAIN EvENT

Soon after his first year in pro

wrestling was over, Bosporus went
on to work for westside Xtreme
wrestling (wXw), where he was
able to start a long list of accom-
plishments. After advancing to the fi-
nals of the prestigious 16 Carat Gold
Tournament in 2006, where he lost to the colos-
sal Baron von Hagen and important victories over
Steve Douglas, Chad Collyer, Nigel McGuinnes and
Absolute Andy in the following months, he set his eyes
on the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title held by Pro
Wrestling NOAH’s Takeshi Suguira, whom he faced
for the strap at wXw’s True Colors in July 2006. He
lost the match but winning wXw’s Tag Team Titles

50 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP

 thewrestlingpress.com MuRAT bOSPORuS

twice in 2007 eased his pain a little bit. In August

2007 Bosporus suddenly left wXw. He and the Murat confronting
people behind wXw had a dispute which resulted Christian
in Bosporus getting excluded from wXw shows. © dragonhearts.de
Until this day, he has never wrestled there again.
In 2003, the man known as the “Turkish
Wrestling Machine” made his way to German
Stampede Wrestling (GSW), the pendant to
wXw. He quickly found himself battling it out with
Crazy Sexy Mike for the Breakthrough Title.
After losing a Best of 3 Falls match against the
champion, he came back even stronger and was
able take the strap away from Mike in October
2004 in a four way match at International Impact
2. “I had the impression that GSW trusted me
right away. I had my first title match there, which
I won. I was able to prove that I could be a
champion and lead a division. Later they gave
me the chance to work with guys like TJ Wilson,
Joe E. Legend, Kid Kash, Chistopher Daniels,
Abyss and many more. That helped me to
continue progressing.”
He defended the title in a technical
treat against TJ Wilson, but eventually
lost it to Absolute Andy in a classic
European rules match in July 2005.
Bosporus’ fallout with wXw led
GSW to use the confusion
among fans and turned him

heel. After feuds against Eric Schwarz and Joe E.

Legend, he went on the hunt for GSW’s World
Heavyweight Championship. Together with his new
manager, German rapper Eko Fresh, he turned the
promotion upside down and certainly had to be
taken into consideration for a title match. “They
could have done so much more with Eko Fresh.
The feud he had with Eric Schwarz was very good
but not the office’s idea. They should have done a
lot more PR in general to create more buzz in the
media. Instead, later they only used him to accom-
pany me to the ring and create heat”
After winning an important four way including
Murat vs Atsushi Aoki Ares, Legend and Chris Hero, he seemed to be
© dragonhearts.de
the next in line for a match for the Heavyweight

TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 51

 thewrestlingpress.com MuRAT bOSPORuS
Murat vs Doug Williams
Title but still had to go through four other men in
a Gauntlet match in September 2008.
The day had finally arrived: at X-Limits in Novem-
ber 2008 he faced champion Michael Kovac. He
actually held the title in his hands after pinning the
Austrian, but the officials decided to restart the
match due to outside interference and Kovac re-
tained his title. “I lost the bout but was able to show
that I belonged in the main event. I think I wasn’t
made champion because the promoter preferred
to use me to solely build up other guys and take
heat. That’s my job as heel but I lost too many
bouts during that time and therefore wasn’t able to
build up the heat. They didn’t realise how much po-
tential I actually had and relied on the same
wrestlers as before. No one had reactions on the
same level at that time. In Addition, in my opinion,
the title match was built up wrong and came too
fast. If it had been done right I could have proved
that I would have been able to lead a promotion as
champion and help build up the next big face.”
Bosporus didn’t stop at being successful in Ger-
many. While 2004 saw his first fights in the USA
for IWA Mid-South and Chikara, in October 2006,
the Far East in the form of Pro Wrestling NOAH
was calling and Bosporus listened. Bosporus be-
came the first German since Horst Hoffmann and
Wolfgang Saturski to wrestle in Japan. “I had very
good matches against some of NOAH’s wrestlers
in Germany. Besides that, Doug Williams put in a
word for me. He thought I would fit in well at
NOAH. Every match there was very special to me.
But if had to name one in particular it would be the
bout at Korakuen Hall teaming with Doug Williams
against Naomichi Marufuji, the GHC Heavyweight
champion at that time, and Takeshi Morishima. Not
only was it my first match there but it was the main
event and live on TV.”
52 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
By this time WWE and later TNA certainly took
notice of him. While WWE tested him before
their shows during their tour through Germany
in April 2007, TNA decided to add him to their
cards, which meant that Bosporus opened two
TNA shows in Germany in September 2009.
“The try out at WWE was a very good experi-
ence. It was conducted by Ricky Steamboat and
Mike Rotunda. I had practice matches with Ab-
solute Andy, Santino Marella, who is actually a
very good wrestler, and Val Venis. We didn’t ac-
quire contracts but I was told that we left a very
good impression. The tryout with TNA was great
since I had the chance to wrestle two actual
matches in front of live crowds. I wrestled Ab-
solute Andy in Nuremberg and Axel Dieter Jr. in
Hannover. Both fights went really well.”
Regular appearances on South Africa’s World
Professional Wrestling’s (WWP) TV show Thun-
derstrike and touring in Canada round up his in-
ternational success.
NOT ONLy WAS IT My fIRST
MATCH THERE buT IT WAS THE
MAIN EvENT AND LIvE ON Tv
His achievements in the ring made it possible for
him to expand his career into German TV and
print media. He remains a welcome guest on nu-
merous talk- and sport shows. This summer he
will be part of a prime time show on one of Ger-
manys’ most important channels. “I always tried
to use these appearances to show that clichés
about wrestlers are wrong and that it’s an hon-
ourable business which deserves and needs
more attention.”
The 30 year old, who is in a relationship with
German female wrestler Jazzy Gabert, currently
very successful as Alpha Female, thinks that
“the business doesn’t owe you anything. If you
want something from it, go and get it. You need
to have endurance to be able to get through the
tough times, when bookings are canceled or you
are short on money for example. Fortunately my
girlfriend and I can support each other during
those difficult times.”
n contact david at dschmida@hotmail.com
INTERvIEW WITH
by Dark Kitty
W
restling in the state of mi-
choacan has had several
highs and lows since it was
started, a faithful witness to
this is former state welterweight champion
argho, with his 20 years of experience in
the ring (he debuted in June 1990), and a
total of thirty years being around wrestling
as a child and as an amateur.
Here Argho talks to TWP about the past,
present and future of wrestling in Michoacan,
Mexico and of his career.
twenty years ago you started to fight and
struggle in the world of wrestling, what do
you remember about those early years
and
darkas anwith
kitty amateur?
oro
The first event I at-
tended featured wre-
stlers of Michoacan,
and it left me with a
very high opinion of
Máscara Plateada
and Licántropo, a
couple of faces that
were so refined in
the ring. Although the
match was very
tough and they were
being massacred,
they managed to re-
cover and eventually
win the bout. Their
desire to please the
fans made me want
to be a fighter, so
shortly after I started working some matches
with local fighters such as Bombero Atómico,
Magisterio and Corsario.
A movie called “El Mala Pata” began filming
in my city and some wrestlers who were ex-
tras decided to do two wrestling events there,
so I managed to meet several of my idols who
I’d seen on television and in magazines,
Súper Bengalí and Gran Kendor were meas-
ured up against zafiro Infernal and Mensajero
de la Muerte. The seed was planted in me
and many of the people of my city and in the
fighters that eventually began to compete reg-
ularly in the city, I had the opportunity to meet
most of the stars of Azteca Pavilion.
who do you remember from that time?
Look I’ll tell you a story that almost nobody
knows. Since I began buying magazines
there was a wrestler I wanted to be like, right
down from the beautiful mask he wore to his
wrestling techniques. So one day in 1987 I
got to meet my idol, Mano Negra. I began to
explain that I admired him and wanted to be
a wrestler just like him. He told me to look for
him at the end of the show. After he and
Korak beat Rambo and Cuchillo, Mano in-
vited me to the locker room and meeting him
without a mask was an indescribable mo-
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 53
 thewrestlingpress.com ARGHO INTERvIEW
ment, he was, is, and always will be my hero
and role model. Just by telling you that the
day he lost his mask to Atlantis I cried. I am
not ashamed to say it, but it was a sad day
for me.
tell me a little bit about your admirers
and enemies. who are they and why?
In twenty years I have had the opportunity to
meet and compete against many wrestlers.
Rey Mysterio of the WWE and I have been
partners many times as we were both starting
our wrestling careers at the same time. How-
ever the wrestlers who I have become
stronger wrestling partners with were
Tiburón, Tritón and Rey Payaso. I started to
train with Tiburón when I got to Morelia. We
started learning wrestling holds together, and
got to know each other not only as wrestlers
but as friends. In the case of Tritón I identified
with him because is a humble and simple
guy, very charismatic. Rey Payaso was one
of my teachers and I learned a lot, I admire
and respected him.
Out of my rivals, although there have been
many, four of them come to my mind: Sable
Rojo, Cara Dura, Maniaco Crazy and Obitu-
ary,
Sable Rojo was the first opponent for me to
face, it seems that Gardel was right when he
said: “Twenty years are nothing”, because
from being bitter rivals for so many years we
54 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
ended up having a great deal of respect for
each other, so we have made a pact – we will
both wrestle mask for mask when the two of
us decide to fight our last fight.
Cara Dura was also one of my first rivals, we
had bloody battles and one day in front of my
fans in Apatzingan we wrestled for our iden-
tity. Although we both had the same amount
of fans I still wanted to go out and win. We
also had a follow up match in Arena Morelos,
which I fortunately won.
Maniaco Crazy is a young man who is eager
to excel and does not stop for anything. It will
be a good battle if I ever get to wrestle a
mask for mask match with him, but he has to
remember he defeated me for the welter-
weight championship from the State of Mi-
choacan and I’d be out for revenge.
Obituary is the best heel of the state, and as
I am used to fighting the best it was obvious
that we would have to fight each other. We
had an epic match which ended with me win-
ning his mask.
RE y My ST ER IO Of
TH E WW E AN D I
HAvE bE EN PA RT NE RS
MA Ny TIM ES
from all the places you have fought, which
do you consider to be the best?
The question is not very difficult to answer, I
have fought in many places but I don’t think
there has been a place like the Arena More-
los, located in downtown Morelia. It was great
to get there, if only to train. In that place I met
people such as Obituary, Ángel Dorado II and
Maniaco Crazy. There were about thirty
wrestlers training, but only ten or twelve had
the opportunity to participate on a weekly
basis, so it was a healthy competition, you
had to train and prove you wanted to be part
of the cartel.

well time is running out arhgo, what
would you like to say to your fans?
God has surrounded me with many very
good people, but there is one person I met
WSUWrestling.com
thewrestlingpress.com ARGHO INTERvIEW
around 1993 and I began to follow in 1994.
We became engaged and in December
1998 I married my most passionate fan,
Adriana Maria Cano Tinoco. My greatest
critic, I owe her much of what I have in my
life, especially the beautiful family that we
have formed.
Along with my wrestling career, a few months
ago I met this young lady who trains hard and
has the intelligence to stick it out in this sport.
Her name is Dark Kitty. She reminds me of a
younger me, a person who wants to stand
out, understanding that it’s a long way to get
where you want to be but remembering you
need patience and discipline. Believe me she
will get there in the near future!
n contact dark kitty at
medianoche@corp.paltalk.com
even decades after his death in
1963, the career of Gorgeous
George still has a profound impact
on professional wrestling across the
globe. But George’s influence was
not limited to simply the world of
the squared circle. muhammad ali,
James Brown and even Bob dylan
all admit to owing some of their
public and professional personas
to Gorgeous George.

56 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP


Before he was Gorgeous, however, he was
George Raymond Wagner, coming into the world
in Seward, Nebraska on March 24, 1915. In the
early years of his life, Wagner lived in small-town
Nebraska, Waterloo and Sioux City, Iowa and
finally Houston, Texas.
It was in Houston that Wagner began training at
the local YMCA and staging matches with his
friends. At the age of 14, Wagner dropped out of
high school, needing to work odd jobs to support
his family. He began wrestling at local carnivals.
A win netted him 35 cents.
Although he was never physically imposing or a
gifted athlete, he was a solid in-ring worker who
caught the eye of Morris Siegel, the region’s top
promoter. Siegel began booking the 17-year-old,
and in 1938, Wagner defeated Buck Lipscomb for
the Northwest Middleweight Championship. A
second title, the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight
Championship, came Wagner’s way on May 19,
1939 in Eugene, Oregon.
It was in Eugene, Oregon where he met Betty
Hanson, a local cashier whom he later married in
an in-ring ceremony that was later repeated when
Wagner realised the drawing power of the event.
thewrestlingpress.com HISTORy
Shortly after Wagner began wrestling, he read an
article in Vanity Fair magazine about Lord Patrick
Lansdowne, who came to the ring clad in a velvet
robe and accompanied by two valets. Wagner
admired Lansdowne’s bravado, but believed he
could do more himself.
BeGinninG in 1941, waGner created an in-
rinG persona that involved a level of
s h o w m a n s h i p  n o t  s e e n  B e f o r e  i n
professional wrestlinG. He enlisted Betty’s
mother to sew him capes and robes that he would
wear to the ring. He grew his hair long and dyed it
blonde. His ring entrance became a show all onto
itself, as Wagner, in an elaborate robe, strode a red
carpet, laid down by his valet “Jeffries” to the ring.
Once in the ring, Jeffries would spray disinfectant or
perfume and spread rose petals at Wagner’s feet.
He was often referred to as “the Human Orchid”
but after overhearing several female audience
members call him “Gorgeous” he adapted the
name “Gorgeous George”. And while this new
persona would be enough to incense the fans,
once the bell rang, George’s non-stop cheating
drew incredible heat with the fans.
As George’s fame began to increase, promoter
Johnny Doyle took him to the West Coast to
wrestle in Los Angeles. On March 26, 1947, he
defeated Enriques Torres to win the Los Angeles
Heavyweight Championship.
They say timing is everything and the timing of the
transformation from George Wagner to Gorgeous
George could not have been better. George
became one of the industry’s top draws at the
same time a new invention called television was
becoming widely popular. TV stations were looking
to fill schedule time with cheap programming and
pro wrestling, a spectator sport that didn’t need
much more than the primitive cameras in use at
the time could provide, fit the bill.
And with the advent of television, the professional
wrestling industry changed forever, and Gorgeous
George was the biggest reason why.
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 57
 thewrestlingpress.com HISTORy
on novemBer 11, 1947, GorGeous
GeorGe appeared on television for
the first time and, with his flamboyant
persona, was an instant hit. In fact, many believe
that George was equally responsible as Milton
Berle for selling so many early TV sets. Soon he
became a household name, spoken in the same
breath as Lucille Ball and his good friend, Bob
Hope.
And as professional wrestling and the Gorgeous
George character grew in popularity on
television, the industry began to put more
emphasis on theatrics and characters like
George in order to increase ratings.
Pro wrestling had not been booked in New
York’s Madison Square Garden in over a decade
until, on February 22, 1949, it returned with
Gorgeous George in the featured
bout. Ironically, George’s appearance, (a victory
over Ernie Dusek) was a flop, drawing only
4,197 fans and being panned by New York
newspapers who didn’t take to George’s
character.
As the 1940s ended and the 1950s began,
Gorgeous George was perhaps the top draw in
the industry, and he reaped the benefits of that
status. He was making over $100,000 a year
and was able to demand 50% of the gate for his
performances.
58 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
On May 26, 1950, George became involved in a
controversial title change. Don Eagle held the
Boston-version of the AWA World title and was
booked by Fred Kohler on a Chicago show
against George. Boston promoter Paul Bowser
allowed Kohler to book Eagle on the condition
Eagle would retain the title. Instead, with the help
of Toledo promoter Jack Pfefer and a referee’s
fast count, George was given the victory. He
would leave with the title, although was never
officially recognised as champion.
By 1951, Wagner had divorced Betty and married
Cherie Dupre, who later became his valet.
During the late 1950s, he had a long-running
rivalry with Whipper Billy Watson. That rivalry
would cost him his famed gold locks, shaved
after a loss to Watson on March 12, 1959 in
Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. A week later, the
loss of a rematch with Watson cost Cherie her
hair as well.
as the 60s BeGan, the career of
GorGeous GeorGe would come to an
end. That career crossed paths with an up-and-
coming Bruno Sammartino before George
stepped into the ring for the last time on
November 7, 1962. He lost a hair-vs-mask match
against the Destroyer in Los Angeles Olympic
Auditorium and his hair was shaved once again.
His doctors advised him to quit wrestling. After
years of alcoholism, he had developed a serious
liver condition.
Although he owned a 195-acre turkey ranch in
Beaumont, California, “Gorgeous George’s
Ringside Restaurant” cocktail in Van Nuys and
had made reportedly $2 million during his career,
bad investments and wild spending had robbed
him of any fortune.
On Christmas Eve, 1963, “Gorgeous” George
Wagner suffered a heart attack. He passed away
two days later at the age of 48.
In 2010, Gorgeous George was inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame.
n contact John at jmilnerresume@gmail.com
All photos kindly provided by
duff Johnson: www.houseofdeception.com
 D schMiDA
Words: DAvi

G
etting spit in the face, chairs
thrown at him, stung by an
injection needle or spitting teeth
after getting batted with a steel
pipe by a spectator: only a few things that
happened to the once most hated wrestler
in europe. in a time when tv had yet to take
over the wrestling world in europe, rene
lasartesse was the king of villains.
After his father forced a young Rene, who was
born in Basle, Switzerland, to take lessons in
amateur wrestling so he’d be able to fight back
against bullies at school, he was hooked. Rene
finished school and joined an amateur wrestling next shows in Germany. They used their chance
club so he could continue doing what he loved and went on to wrestle their first tournament in
so much. Only interrupted by a short stint as an Bielefeld. At that time, wrestlers who started out
amateur boxer where he participated twice at the wouldn’t get a fixed wage, only the stars had
Swiss amateur boxing championships, placing guaranteed pay offs. Promoters used the
second on both occasions, he returned to his collective system, which meant that after they
real love - amateur wrestling. deducted their expenses, the wrestlers got their
share according to their ranking in the tourn-
It was 1953 when Erich Mäder, an official of the
ament. After three days he had earned his first
amateur wrestling club who wanted to manage
50 Deutsche Mark as a pro wrestler.
Lasartesse, back then 25 years of age, towards
pro wrestling, informed Lasartesse and his friend Not even one full year around as pro wrestler, the
that a group of pro wrestlers under the admin- Swiss won his first tournament. Lasartesse was
istration of Paul Berger, a wrestler himself, would announced the winner of the 1953 Grand Prix of
hold a show in Basle. They went to see Berger Cologne and placed second in the tournament for
and persuaded him to give them a shot. So it the 1954 “German Championship” behind “The
happened that after being trialed by two of Stranger of Vienna” Hans von Waldherr. Through-
Berger’s wrestlers the two were allowed to out the following years the Swiss would work
wrestle at the show without pay. If they proved himself up the cards. But he knew something was
themselves worthy, they would be booked for the still missing. A coincidence helped him figure out

TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 59

 thewrestlingpress.com HISTORy

what it was. It happened in 1954 in Karlsruhe. The

usual wrestler’s parade at the beginning of the
show, where wrestlers were introduced to the
audience, was already underway. The announcer
introduced Lasartesse’s name but he didn’t react
at all, he was actually thinking about something
else and simply overheard his spot. Spectators
started booing and there it was. He waited a little
bit more, the announcer called him twice already,
and then he slowly walked towards the middle of
the ring giving the audience a snobbish look, letting
them know that he was better than them. A new
character was born.
Promoter Gustl Kaiser didn’t really like his new
persona, he wanted to advertise him as a clean good
looking technician. But Lasartesse knew he was onto
second or third rope drilling his knee into the
something. From now on Lasartesse was working
chest or throat. After using that move in Krefeld,
his way up to being the top heel. He became the
Germany against Horst Hoffmann a riot broke
snob who would use any dirty tactic to win a match.
loose and he was never allowed to wrestle there
The audience started to really hate him.
again. By this time, just seeing Lasartesse on
Soon after his first “European Championship” in posters or hearing his name drove people mad.
1957, where he beat Rudi Saturski in the finals,
After negotiations with worldwide promoters to
he received an offer to work in the United States
have a universal “World Champion” failed,
for promoter Kola Kwariani. For the next couple
European promoters decided to crown their own
of years he would wrestle as Ludwig von Krupp,
“World Champion”. In September 1970 a huge
a stereotypical German of course, up and down
tournament with forty wrestlers from all over the
the east coast. He was the number one in Europe
world was organised by promoter Edmund
but now in the United States he was just one of
Schober in Hannover, Germany. Lasartesse,
many, and he knew he had to learn from a world
already a multiple “European Champion” and
that seemed to be much more colourful regarding
winner of numerous tournaments throughout
its characters. So he observed, took notes and
Europe, was one of the favourites. So it happen-
soaked up everything like a sponge.
ed that after eight weeks, Lasartesse and the
With a suitcase full of ideas to cause more heat, German Axel Dieter qualified for the final match.
astonishment, sometimes hate and disgust, he Lasartesse won the match after 45 minutes and
returned to Europe. He was more evil than ever. held on to the title until 1978 where he lost to
Inspired by such legends as “Nature Boy” Buddy another German named Roland Bock.
Rogers and Gorgeous George and Dr Jerry
The Catch Wrestling Association Hall of Famer
Graham, from whom he learned the work on the
went on to win many more tournaments in his
microphone, he took his persona to a new level.
career and eventually retired in 1988 at the age
He, now wearing a glamorous cape, would walk
of 59, only returning for a legend’s match in 1996
towards the ring, holding his head very high
against Big Otto Wanz. He certainly changed the
indicating that he wouldn’t even breathe the same
sport in Europe and remains to be one the
air as average people. At the same time he added
biggest names in the history of European
manoeuvres to his repertoire such as the
Wrestling. With his analytical way of thinking, he
piledriver. The audience was shocked - yes,
constantly evolved his character, always walking
literally shocked - the first time he used that move
on the edge of what was acceptable at that time.
on his opponent. Another manoeuvre he used
was launching his prostrated opponent from the n contact david at dschmida@hotmail.com

60 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP


NICA L
y
C MIND
wit h
D
on’t panic. let’s not panic.
no need to panic. Just
because i’m out of work in
the worst recession since
1929. stay calm. i knew labour
wouldn’t win. But i didn’t
think i’d get the curly finger.
and even less the
order of the golden
boot. it was the
Bigotgate thing
that did it. or
the pie eating
contest with eric
pickles. anyway, i’m
out. slightly cowed. fairly upset.
But unbowed. i’ve got some
cash. But only some. who shall i
jump to: david? ed? diane? Get
it wrong and it’s a generation in
the wilderness.
I might actually have to sign on.
I might have to make savings. And
the Virgin box would be the first
thing. So no wrestling. No TNA. Ah
well, every cloud...
Except, I’d miss Ditsie’s big an-
nouncement. Something’s coming
that will change the face of wrestling
A
TH E CyNIC
forever! No, not a washed-up 90’s star. That
would be foolish.
But something’s going to have to pull their
conkers out of the fire. They are
spending lots of money and get-
ting no growth. Unlike Jordan.
What they need is some-
thing that transcends
wrestling; AJ Styles
finding the cure for
cancer or Hernandez
inventing a car that
runs on cardboard.
Exciting, isn’t it? Like
Christmas. Before your dad
gets pissed on advocaat and feels up
Auntie Jean. Come on, admit it; you
can’t watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”
without curling up in a foetal position.
But if Hogan can’t halt the slide by
the force of his blond ‘tasche and
inane mumblings, who can?
What about Bill Watts? There’s not
enough (alleged) casual racism in
wrestling is there? He could bring
in Col DeBeers as champ and
Papa Shango to do his voodoo
schtick. Actually, Charles could
pull double duty as the Goddfather
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 61
 thewrestlingpress.com A CyNICAL MIND
and maximise the stereotype. And Watts could
then ban all top rope moves, thus cutting all
wrestling down by 90%, all matches down to 2
minutes each and clearing the decks for many
more Russo-written skits. Happy days!
Or Jim Helwig? In these Obama-supporting, lib-
eral, Socialist times, what TNA needs is a sup-
posedly right-wing, public healthcare-despising,
alternative lifestyle-debunking onecewas who
gets out of breath running to the ring and doesn’t
know a surfboard from an ironing board. He can
snort, wear ridiculous clothes and hog the lime-
light way past his sell-by date. Like that McBloke
in WWE. You can’t go back. Can you, Terry? Can
you Eric? Can you Ric?
Or they could pick up short-term business by just
bringing in a big bloke to run through a few mid-
carders until the top blueye stops him. Abdullah
just needs to wipe his brow to bleed these days
and can fork off just like he used to. And he’ll gets
an old age pension, so you won’t have to pay him
so much! Imagine that heavy breathing face atop
rolling waves of blubber and curly shoes. That’s
buys right there! If Abdullah is busy (and
strangely, he still is), get Giant Gonzalez to
halfheartedly chop and nervehold his
way through the best that TNA has to
offer. Shouldn’t take long. And
you get some merchandise out
of selling the fake Gonzalez
beards. It’ll look more real
than the one he grew. Or
call Nailz. He could be an
aggrieved tin tack
salesman who Abyss
done wrong. Here’s a tip
though; if you’re travelling
with him and you need fuel, don’t ask him
to “pump gas”.
These are ridiculous, stupid, pathetic
ideas. And no worse than some of the
ridiculous angles TNA has right
now. Don’t believe me? Bringing back
the 4 Horsemen is bringing back the
Crockett age when we are in the Dana
White age; a retread shows that they
have no new ideas. That’s why your
62 worldwide wrestling magazine TWP
love of repeats of “You’ve Been Framed” (“Oh
look, he’s fallen into a large vat of acid!” “Oh
look, his head’s come off!”) marks you as mi-
crobe – yes, even with Harry Hill doing the
voiceover.
But at least the Horsemen recalls a time of some
success, unlike the decision to call in Easy E and
Terry B to repeat exactly the mistakes they made
when they lost millions of billionaire Ted’s
money. And as for the Desmond Wolfe/Abyss
valet story, we don’t know what they’re doing with
it and neither, I posit, do they. (Posit Is a word
that’s not used very often and since you mouth
breathers don’t even know words that are used
very often, you have no chance. And no, I won’t
help you.)
TNA is in a frightening mess. We have been here
before. We know what happens. People lose
money, then interest, then hope. And it all ends in
a fire sale. Vince thumbing through a glossy auc-
tion brochure isn’t good for wrestling. See my
columns on wrestling capitalism for examples.
Well, look them up. On the internet. No, you won’t
find them at www.hunksintrunks.com. TNA has
had an expensive refit. It hasn’t worked. They are
on a time limit. They are running out of money.
Call Carter and Hogan the Stradivarius Twins.
Perhaps because I feel humble.
Perhaps because I now see how
the other half live. Perhaps
because I might soon be
standing in line with you. I’m
going to give TNA advice to
keep their business afloat.
This is what the big
surprise should be:
keep the ratings But
improve it
How many times? Half a
dozen. That’s how many times
I’ve raised this. Now TNA have
done it; a ratings system, which
adds some much-needed
excitement and point to the
matches. But don’t make it too
difficult; it seems that ROH

have it right, their system works like this - beat an
opponent and get his spot. The brass usually cry
about the restrictions of a top ten system, but
here there’s flexibility built in; work your way up
the ladder or push your way to the top with an
outrageous act. See, it’s simple but it’s exciting.
Welcome to entertainment.
sack sting
He’s not sure he wants to be there. His work isn’t
exciting. He seems to be in two minds. Make his
up. Junk him. Sting is an old man with an old
gimmick. We’ve seen it. It can’t go anywhere. It
just provides us with a link to the past; in an
exciting Fed, that’s the kiss of death. And another
thing. It shows that when management don’t
understand what they’re doing, they pander to
what they think the fans want. What do Feds
always look longingly at? ECW. And why?
Because they attracted a hardcore audience and
had a huge impact. Did they do that by second
guessing the crowd? No, they just gave the
wrestling they wanted to and the fans reacted to
their honesty. Honesty, Ditsie. Can’t buy that.
hogan see sting.
Honestly, what can this old man tell us about
wrestling now?
sort out the crowds
They are almost completely silent, aren’t they?
Even us who are in the know can’t help but think
it’s a moribund show. We are then proved right, of
course. Watching “Slammiversary” recently, the
crowd was dead, even when Dessie Wolfe went
through the stage, except for a woman doing
her Daffney bit by screaming AARHG! annoyingly
AARGH! every few AARGH! minutes. What’s to
be done? Stop aping the WWE. McMahon’s folly
has a history and a long list of hardcore fans.
TNA doesn’t have that. What they should do is
stick to smaller venues for recordings and slightly
smaller ones for PPV. No-one is going to think
they can’t compete, they’re just going to seem
plugged into their fans. The atmos will be great
and those punters will hear a vibrant, exciting
product. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Pack
‘em in. Squeeze ‘em close. Make ‘em howl.
That’s the way.
thewrestlingpress.com A CyNICAL MIND
find some wrestlers
Yes, I know they have some, but they need more.
Many more. Don’t listen to what the lowest
common denominator commentators say, the
WCW was getting popular with wrestling fans
before the NWO angle caught fire. And that was
because of grapplers like Eddy G, Chris J and
those Lucha masters. This is simple. Why not be
good at what your business is about?
Diversification can add cash. But if you lose your
focus and become a brand, you are good at
nothing. So grapple. Grapple as if your life
depended on it. TNA’s does.
wolfie works
Desmond has it. Not all, but most. He can
wrestle. He has a great turn of phrase. He has a
superb character. Fans live to hate him. And he’s
predictably fine. Won’t let you down. Oh, for
God’s sake, give him a limited run at the title. It
would be a great to and fro with RVD too.
starters for 10.
All free. Unless you wanna get to Paypal, DC, EB,
HH. A band once had a lyric “Don’t change your
focus in the hope of getting one”. It’s XTC.
They’re an undiscovered gem. Rather like yours
truly. Long-burn angles keep fans. Think of
your fave wrestling bit ever. Was it a bit that lasted
a week? Or one that developed every week to
pull you in? Like comparing “The Wire” to “Skins”.
Well, Darren likes it, but he’s morbidly obese
with adenoid trouble; and he couldn’t even feel
up Mandi Palmer, and she was just marginally
easier than your mum. Yes, yours, Rob.
TNA is sick. This is essential medicine. Don’t con-
centrate on changing wrestling. Just
change your little bit of it. If
you don’t, Ms Carter,
you’ll have nothing
to play with. Get-
ting our hopes up
and then present-
ing Tommy Dreamer
just won’t do it.
n contact the cynic at
hearditallbefore@hotmail.com
TWP worldwide wrestling magazine 63