Since March 2016, Jozef Raczka has been a regular contributor to Across the Pond Wrestling. Having already provided content for Surprisingly Competent Media, Jozef took up a slot in our monthly opinion rotation, writing about themes predictability, humour, reality, structure and a whole lot more. Raczka took a look at Lucha Underground, WCPW, Chikara, WEW and even took on all of Dave Meltzer's Minus Five star matches. He wondered what was in Vince McMahon's Lock Box and looked at how wrestler's side projects could effect what we see in the ring.
However, all good things must come to an end and with Jozef stepping aside from the regular rotation to provide weekly coverage of NXT, I thought now would be the time to take a look back at some of our pals best articles! Of course, as we all know popularity equals quality, so here's a list of Jozef's most read pieces for Across the Pond Wrestling!
Joey Ryan- Sports Entertainment's Unsung Hero or An American Tale- The DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title Goes West
24th August 2016
A look at the King of Dong Style and the stuff he was doing with the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight title. Lots of references to the man's penis and his supernatural ability to flip grown humans around the place with it. All in all this is a celebration of the potential depth and breadth of sports entertainment, as well as a brilliant advert for Ryan's superb YouTube channel.
WCPW Loaded or How the Fanbase are now Running the Asylum
29th June 2016
A look at the very first episode of WCPW "Loaded" and a consideration of what the promotions set-up could mean for the wrestling world at large. Looking at how the promotion has developed over the last year, this is an interesting look at the direction that WCPW had when it first got going as a YouTube personality heavy, poorly produced, British pro wrestling show. With thoughts on matches like El Ligero v Martin Kirby, Big Damo (now NXT's Killian Dane) v Joe Hendry and Alex Gracie v Gabriel Kidd v WWE UK Championship Tournament Quarter Finalist Joseph Conners, this piece is just as relevant today.
4th December 2016 - 21st December 2016
Perhaps taking inspiration from his previous subject, Jozef went and put all themes in the WWE into a massive list! Split over two articles and controversially putting Mark Henry's banger at #91, this list certainly got the people interested. Full of musical and character insights, but what everyone really cared about was who made that #1 spot? Was it Sami Zayn? Finn Balor? Shinsuke Nakamura? Read on to find out.
The Problem With Gimmick Matches or How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? By Putting Her In A Punjabi Prison Match
The creme de la creme. This bad boy see's ol' Joe looking at some of the worst gimmick matches in the history of pro wrestling and questioning the need for gimmick matches at all. The Punjabi Prison, yeah that's here. The Reverse battle royal, hell yeah. There's even stops off at World War Three, Fulfil Your Fantasy and the WSX Rumble. But this wasn't just about the Wrestle Craps of this world, there was hope. Hope in the form of a match that shouldn't have worked, in the form of Yoshi Tatsu v Tyson Kidd in a Action Figure's Leg on a Pole Match! A jamboree of hilarity, this is Jozef's most read article for Across the Pond Wrestling. Read it now you jabroni.
Awesome. Good. Lovely. Keep an eye out for Jozef's weekly NXT reviews, as well as his replacement Andy Phillips' upcoming opinion pieces. All the best, loves.
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