The Best of Times…The Worst of Times // WrestleMania

The SuperBowl; The World Series; The World Cup; WrestleMania: the fact that Vince McMahon’s showpiece event is regularly mentioned in the same breath as these mainstream juggernauts is testament to his vision and drive, proof that his legacy goes beyond wrestling and touches the worlds of sport and entertainment. Whichever city secures the show of shows becomes the epicentre of the wrestling word, hosting a week-long festival that draws in grap-fans from across the globe. As exciting as all of the supplementary shows are, for me, WrestleMania always remains the most significant: the grandeur of the national anthem; the first shot of the epic set design; the pageantry of the entrances. For 33 years, this show has forged some of the greatest moments in professional wrestling history, as well as some that would be better forgotten. For one last time, I roll out the best of times, worst of times treatment to examine the granddaddy of them all...

Best WrestleMania: WrestleMania 17

This is the only sane choice for best Mania ever and in my humble opinion is the GOAT of all wrestling shows. Want to know how much I love this card? I had My Way by Limp Bizkit played at my wedding (it wasn’t the first dance or anything but yeah, it was in there).

The first hour is a little slow (Kane in a golf cart though) but business picks up in hour two. Angle vs. Benoit isn’t a classic but it’s much better than it gets credit for while the battle of the McMahons over-delivers more than any match in Federation history. That pop Linda gets when she kicks her old man in the plums…wow. TLC is magical, the Edge-Jeff Hardy spear spot absolute perfection while the Undertaker and Triple H have a spirited tussle. The legends’ battle royale is harmless fun: Bobby Heenan’s last stint at a WWF commentary table the undoubted highlight. And then there is the main event: in hindsight the turn was a bad idea but many wrestling commentators were calling for it at the time. And the match itself was superb. The epoch of attitude era brawling: multiple finishing moves, big near falls and genuinely exciting punch-kick combos, this match is action movie wrestling at its finest.

Honourable Mentions: Mania 19/ Mania 31

Worst WrestleMania: WrestleMania 11

For most fans, WrestleMania 9 usually takes this category hands down but at least the Vegas show is fun to look at. True the matches are at best bang average and at worst Undertaker vs Giant Gonzales but there are good moments: sick bumps in the Steiner-Headshrinker war; respected announcers in togas; Todd Pettingill interviewing clearly pissed up fans. By contrast, WrestleMania 11 is just a bit boring. It emanates from their home state of Connecticut, a metaphor for the play it safe nature of the PPV - and features one good match: HBK doing the J-O-B for his kayfabe foe Diesel. Lawrence Taylor may have been big news in the States (and to be fair he performs pretty well here) but as an 11 year old from the UK, this felt like such a nothing main event and I can’t shake that feeling watching the card years later. Elsewhere Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart is so poor while King Kong Bundy versus Taker is every bit as mundane as it sounds.

Honourable Mentions: Mania 2/ Mania 9

Best Match: Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 25

I was fortunate enough to be in attendance in Houston, Texas when the Deadman went to war with the Heartbreak Kid in the greatest WrestleMania match of all time. Walking into the Reliant Stadium, I knew Taker would win a; indeed, everyone I spoke to that day shared that conviction. We knew Taker’s streak was now the WrestleMania storyline and that if it was ever to be vanquished, it would be offered up to someone other than the near-retired Shawn Michaels. However, half way through this incredible, absorbing contest, I stopped believing that: I reacted to near falls as though either man could win, as did the rest of the crowd. This match shut off the “smart” part of our wrestling brains and retreated to the naïve, purity of fandom that we enjoyed as children; we didn’t question the booking of whether Micheals could or should win, rather  we just lived in the moment,. When HBK kicked out of the Tombstone I took pause and glanced around me: some fans were pumping their fists while others were shaking their heads, the emotion as real and raw as any legit sporting event. A father and son sat next to me, the former cheering on Taker, the latter supporting Michaels, shared a gasp, unable to believe the ride they were being taken on. The feeling among the thousands in attendance was mutual.

Honourable Mentions: Savage vs Warrior (Mania 7)/ Michaels vs Ramon (Mania 10)/ Dudleys v Edge and Christian v Hardys (Manias 16 and 17), Austin vs Rock (Mania 17)/ Michaels v Angle (Mania 21)

Worst Match: Al Snow and Steve Blackman vs. Test and Albert: WrestleMania 16

Al Snow is the worst good wrestler in the sport’s history: he is a pretty capable performer but his back catalogue is full of undisputed train wrecks. This is no different: his odd man team with Blackman was entertaining in skits but really struggled in the ring. This clunky mess, played out before a largely disinterested crowd and topped off by a violent attack on a little person dressed as a block of cheese (!), was better than Snow’s previous nadir (Kennel in the Cell) but only just.

Honourable Mentions: Hulk Hogan vs Sid (Mania 8)/ Undertaker vs Giant Gonzales (Mania 9)/ Sable vs Tori (Mania 15)

Best Promo: Hogan- Austin-Rock at WrestleMania 30

The best promo in Mania history started with two flubs as Hulk Hogan forgot what a) building and b) decade he was in. However, this error provided the base for a great running joke as Steve Austin and The Rock joined him in-ring to provide fans with a real life wrestling Rushmore. Comedy (love Austin’s “great to be back in the Silverdome” line), catchphrases and nostalgia proved a heady cocktail as fans laughed, chanted and cheered through this genuine once in a lifetime moment. Star power never shone so bright.

Honourable Mentions: Hulk Hogan at Mania 4 (he claims that in the event of Trump Plaza sinking, host and future Prez The Donald would abandon all materialistic possessions (!) in order to doggy paddle his family to safety: to illustrate the point, Hogan then backstrokes out of frame); Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts- Mania 6; Pete Rose laying waste to the Boston sports’ scene at Mania 14.

Worst Promo: Rhythm and Blues- WrestleMania 6

In a bloated show, the last thing the fans in Toronto needed was a terrible tag team wasting their time with a poor, pointless promo, singing not so bad it was funny, just so bad as to be really bad. Especially frustrating was that this whole mess existed simply to set up a Bushwhackers run-in. I love cartoon wrestling but this material would drive away hardened fans, let alone non-believers.

Honourable Mention: Brutus Beefcake at Mania 4: he literally just chats waffle for 30 seconds while staring at his scissors. No clue what he was trying to do here.

Best surprise moment: Seth Rollins cashes in at WrestleMania 31.

To qualify as a truly effective surprise, the moment in question should feel spontaneous and unexpected but on closer inspection make total sense for all performers involved. Such was the case when Rollins became the first man to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania, interjecting himself into a great title bout between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, not diluting the match but adding to it. All three men prospered: for Rollins, the moment was an arrival for him, a chance to close the biggest show of the year title in hand; for Lesnar, the title was dropped but as the odd man out in the fall, his aura was preserved; and Reigns maybe benefited most of all. Had he won, the crowd may have rioted and destroyed his push once and for all; by putting over his well-liked Shield alumni, he did business and lived to fight another day.

Honourable Mentions: Rowdy Roddy Piper interferes in Hogan v McMahon- Mania 19; Ronda Rousey appears at Mania 31.

Worst surprise moment: Hogan beats Yokozuna at WrestleMania 9

To the above point: if the surprise benefits no-one going forward, it really shouldn’t happen. Take this infamous night in Vegas: Yokozuna cheated to win the world title, a few grains of salt once again proving too much for a main event wrestler to withstand. Hogan, consoling the defeating Bret Hart, soon decided to enact revenge for the Hitman or ‘Merica or something and within seconds, Yoko was beaten and the Hulkster was the new champion. This match, impromptu and unadvertised as it was, didn’t boost buy rates, it made the Hit-man and Yoko look weak and cast Hogan as, at best a shrewd political mover and at worst, a conniving, attention-hungry schemer. Often fans view Hogan’s antics at Manias 6 and 18 as his most self-serving; this was far worse.

Honourable Mention: Vince turns heel (again) and re-unites the McMahons (again)- Mania 16

Quick Hits:

To sign off the series, here are some quick hits to cover the great and not so good of ‘Mania history.

Best Promoted Main Event: John Cena vs The Rock- Mania 28 (a year in the making and the biggest money show at the PPV box office).

Worst Promoted Main Event: Triple H vs Chris Jericho- Mania 18 (this was all about Steph- glad they don’t take that approach anymore…)

Best Opening Match: Bret Hart vs Owen Hart- Mania 10 (one of the underrated feuds in Fed history)

Worst Opening Match: Tag Team Battle Royale- Mania 14 (I only remember that LOD were in fancy dress and they had Sunny knocking about).

Best Set Design: WrestleMania 29 (an ode to New York: the Statue of Liberty above the ring was something else)

Worst Set Design: WrestleMania 11/13 (these could have just been any old television tapings).

Best Celebrity Involvement: Donald Trump (love him or loathe him, Trump was big business).

Worst Celebrity Involvement: Akebono (I can never unsee Big Show in a nappy).

Written by Sean Taylor-Richardson // @GrownManCenaFan

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times // Survivor Series

Consider this dear reader: Survivor Series- the second major PPV concept created by Vince McMahon- has been a thing for 30 years now. It’s so old it should by this stage of its existence have a career, be in a long term relationship and at least be thinking about kids. Basically, Survivor Series is a full-blown grown-up, wrestling with the realities of adult life, ready to put a misspent youth behind it. But let’s not consign said youth to the dungeons of the past just yet: its formative years offered much to celebrate as well as some seedy and unfortunate nights it would probably rather forget. So here it is: the best and the worst of Survivor Series. But rather than starting with the matches, let us begin with something for which this event is synonymous: debut performances.

Best debut: The Undertaker (1990)

As was aforementioned, the Survivor Series is an event renowned for a big debut: The Rock, Kurt Angle, Sting and eh, Steve Blackman but none was bigger than that of the Deadman himself. Accompanied by Brother Love and serving as the surprise member of the Million Dollar Team, he made an instant impact, eliminating Hall of Famers Koko B. Ware and Dusty Rhodes before exiting the match himself via count out. In many respects this was the perfect setting to bring in the Undertaker: alongside colourful acts such as The Honky Tonk Man and Messers Ware and Rhodes, his direct, calculated ring style and fearsome look was greatly enhanced and his status as the antidote to the cute, cuddly characters of the era was confirmed. Yes, he was cartoony but in his own distinct manner. This was no Adam West; this was 1980s Frank Miller Batman: cool, cold, iconic.

Honourable mention: Sting (2014)

Worst debut: Chuck Norris (1994)

Okay, I’m cheating a bit here but let’s go with it. Technically his role as ringside enforcer in the Undertaker vs Yozozuna Casket match was a debut for Chuck Norris in the WWF so it kind of counts. Now, Chuck Norris wasn’t as cool in 1994 as he is now: these were the days of the long forgotten Walker, Texas Ranger; there had yet to be any Chuck Norris facts; he hadn’t yet been immortalised in Dodgeball. However, he was still enough of a straight to video action movie badass that I expected high drama of the violent variety. Surely he would kick someone’s face off, maybe fire a bazooka at the casket? Sadly no: while Double J did eat a kick from Norris, his face remained intact. And while Norris was distracted at ringside, IRS interfered in the match anyway. Poor show, Mr Norris, poor show.

Honourable mention: The Gobbledy Gooker (1990)

Best traditional elimination match: Team Eric Bischoff vs Team Steve Austin (2003)

10 men competed here: Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Christian, Scott Steiner and Mark Henry representing GM Bischoff and Shawn Michaels, The Dudleys, RVD and Booker T fighting for Sheriff Austin (that’s right, he was a sheriff back then). However, whilst all worked hard, this was ultimately a one man show: The Heartbreak Kid delivered a GOAT worthy performance, selling to a level seldom seen today, masterfully teasing comebacks that built the audience’s expectations before finally succumbing to the rising star Orton. I recommend that you fire up your Network if you haven’t seen this for a few years: an undoubted classic.

Honourable mention: Team Cena vs Team Authority (2014)

Worst traditional elimination match: The Royal Family vs Clowns R Us (1994)

When I started to love wrestling, I was already an 11 year old. Essentially, I was getting into WWF at the point most of my friends were starting to outgrow it. That fact didn’t bother me but I was determined to get my dad to accept wrestling as a credible pastime; this was an uphill battle. He didn’t see it as a sport: more of a pantomime. 

On one family jaunt to Blackpool, seeking a respite from the lights and sugar charged children, he slipped into a pub one afternoon. Knowing full well that WWF Wrestling Challenge would be on Sky Sports at that exact time, I asked him to check a result for me (a title match between Bret vs Owen if memory serves). What he reported when he returned from the pub was not the result of a Hart family athletic showcase that fostered an undying love of the graps game: now, he told a tale of three little clowns running around and falling over in the ring while a big clown squirted water in the face of a hapless interviewer. I could hear the disgust in his voice. With this Doink the Clown monstrosity, I had lost him forever.

A couple of weeks later, this angle culminated in a match in San Antonio, Texas. Doink and Jerry Lawler did some bad wrestling and then 6 little people did some even worse wrestling. Forget my dad, this abomination nearly put me off wrestling for life.

Honourable mention: The Four Doinks vs Bam Bam Bigelow. Bastion Booger and the Headshrinkers.

Best non-elimination match: Bret Hart vs Diesel for the WWF championship (1995)

Legend has it that Bret Hart was frustrated that this match didn’t get the credit it deserved: from Vince McMahon, from Dave Meltzer, from everyone really. It is one of only two great matches Kevin Nash would enjoy in the WWF/E and credit must go to the Hit-Man here: from his (at the time) innovative commentary table bump to the ingenious finish- playing possum to hit an inside cradle- this match had the audience leaping out of their seats in astonishment. This praise may be a bit late for Bret but better late than never: this was WWF story-telling at its finest and a slice of action worthy of inclusion on a greatest hits list.

Honourable mention: Undertaker vs Batista for the World Title in Hell in a Cell (2007)

Worst non-elimination match: Randy Orton vs Big Show for the WWF championship (2013)

I honestly don’t know why they bothered with this match. The build-up was more focused on Big Show’s interactions with Hunter and Steph, undermining Orton in front of a crowd already pining for Daniel Bryan. Inevitably the Universe got bored and turned on the contest; usually, that annoys me but given this listless action, it was kind of understandable.  Orton, as he sometimes does with vocal crowds, got flustered, Show lacked the baby face chops to steady the ship and the sloppy finish capped this mess off fittingly. A boring match to end a dull feud on a painfully average PPV: this was WWE story telling at its worst.

Honourable mention: Big Boss Man vs Nailz (1992)

Best overall event: Survivor Series 1995

I debated this one intensely and my final pick may well split the room but I really love Survivor Series 1995. I’ve already laid bare my love of the main event but the show has a bit of everything: it has decent work rate, most notably in the opening exchanges between 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty and Hakushi; it has Japanese women’s wrestling playing to the sounds of a highly confused Vince McMahon; it has the Wild Card match in which faces and heels team together (a novel concept for the era);and it has a first rate Bill Clinton impersonator who gets the line of the night (after Bill is made to jump by some pyro, Todd Pettengill comments he seems nervy: Clinton shoots back “you would too if you lived in my neighbourhood”). Possibly my favourite thing about this show is also the worst match on the card: to tussle with King Mabel’s hodgepodge of royalty themed heels, Undertaker forms the weirdest Survivor Series team of all time: Henry Godwinn, Savio Vega, Fatu. Mark Callaway basically rounded up his drinking buddies (brilliantly named the Bone Street Krew) and went to war as the most diverse collection of gimmicks ever assembled in one squad. And they won with a clean sweep. I bet the beers tasted good that night.   

Honourable mentions: Survivor Series 1988/ Survivor Series 2002

Worst overall event: Survivor Series 1999

An oft-forgotten truth of the Attitude era is that while the weekly TV shows were excellent, the PPVs could really suck. And this one sucked something powerful. It is best remembered for two things (and when one of the Survivor Series teams was British Bulldog and the Mean Street Posse you can be forgiven for wanting to forget the remainder). The first, is the debut of Kurt Angle who wrestled a match that was, by design, dull. His initial gimmick was to bore the crowd through a combo of technical wrestling and morality (never of which were too common in late 90s WWF) and whilst his evolution was swift and exciting, some of his early weeks were trying, most notably this one. That, however, was not the low point of the show. That dubious distinction belonged to an ill-judged angle, an unadvertised main event and a hot-shot title change.  

The hit and run on Stone Cold was poor on first viewing: it took the industry’s biggest star out of a heavily hyped match up and in did so in a rather lacklustre fashion: we’d all seen Austin get into mischief with cars dozens of times by this point so it lost points for imagination. On second viewing, with the knowledge that the driver was Rikishi, working on instruction from Triple H, well, let’s just say I was glad I’d given up on trying getting my old man into this. To confound matters further, the Fed injected a lukewarm Big Show into the mix and ended up putting the title on him: his win, on the back of a bizarre storyline about his dead father, was supposedly meant to be a joyous moment: the subdued pop that followed the pin spoke to an audience that had come to see Austin and were left with a teary giant.

Honourable mentions: Survivor Series 1993/ Survivor Series 2013

Article by Sean Taylor-Richardson (@GrownManCenaFan)

A Conversation with IPW:UK promoter Billy Wood

On 12th September, we sat down for a chat with Billy Wood, the new owner of International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom, following their takeover by FIGHT! Nation Wrestling in July. The interview includes talk about the takeover and future plans for IPW:UK and whole lot more.


ATPW: How did you become a fan of professional wrestling? 

Billy Wood: How did I become a fan? Bloody hell! I actually became a fan, it must have been the early nineties, the very early nineties, even before SummerSlam '92. My Mom got cable for the first time. It was a dodgy cable situation, where you paid a certain amount and you got X amount for free as such. I remember seeing on Sky for the first time WWF Wrestling and being like "What the hell is this?" As a kid, all you see is this big, glamorous men grappling and you think to yourself "Wow, I'd love to be like that when I'm older". I then became a fan over the years and I remember all then I remember the pandemonium around SummerSlam '92 in the papers, then you get wrestling figures and you naturally become a fan as a kid. Anything that's put in front of you that's larger than life, as a kid, whether that's the Ninja Turtles, wrestling, whatever, you're drawn to it as a kid.

But I think I really became a fan, a couple of years later. I'd just moved house and I went round my friend's house and he had a VHS tape of SummerSlam '94. I remembered Bret Hart from a couple of years before and being a wrestling figure fan and he put on this cassette and it was Bret vs. Owen [Hart] in a cage and it drew me in. The drama of that match ignited a wrestling fan in me and from that moment on, I've always been a wrestling fan, through my childhood and my teen years and moving on and becoming involved in the wrestling business. I'm still a fan today, that's for sure. 

ATPW: I like that what caught your eye was the characters, but it was the classic match and the stories that eventually kept you a fan. 

BW: Oh, totally! The glitz and the glamour, the Hogans, the Ultimate Warriors, those are the ones..."Wow, what is this thing!" At the time I must have been 6 or seven, I wasn't exactly an older kid, that was the thing that made me go "Wow, what is this?", "These figures are cool!", "These wrestlers can wrestle my Ninja Turtles, great!" But at the same time going and seeing that VHS of Bret and Owen and seeing that technical match. It wasn't just the technical side of it, but also the drama of the family. The whole spectacle made sense to me and when it finally made sense and clicked, that's when I got immersed in the business and wanted to know as much as I could, every little bit from that moment onwards.

ATPW: From there, when did you first discover there was a British wrestling scene? 

BW: I found out about British wrestling through the Fairfield Halls. All Star Wrestling, they were regular though and then suddenly, Earthquake was on a tour over here and my Nan and Grandad took me to the show and I met Earthquake. But on that same card was a bunch of British wrestling, that I had no clue who they were and the gimmicks were very much carbon copies of what was going on in WWF at the time and you could see that it was just a campier version of that, but weirdly I loved it. Then following that I saw the Trans-Atlantic Challenge show on ITV, which was British wrestlers versus American wrestlers, none that I knew of, but weirdly from there I started reading Powerslam and from Powerslam I found an ad for training at Hammerlock, which I ended up starting to attend in the year 2000. 

ATPW: How long did you train for? 

BW: Not actually that long, unfortunately. It was quite funny actually, a couple of us who were wrestling fans and one of my friends was more into it than most, so I badgered him and convinced him to get his Dad to start taking us to train. Now, it was an hour and half or two hours drive there and back and the sessions used to last all day on a Sunday. His poor Dad used to drop us off in the morning, we'd spend all day there and then shoot off in the late afternoon. We did that for a few good months, probably longer, but eventually his Dad decided that "I'm not taking you guys to this, this is wasting my Sundays" and I didn't have any more travel to get there. It didn't matter how hard I tried to get there, in my teens, it was a little hard to get all the way to Kent, so unfortunately I had to stop. But at that time I made enough contacts and got to know people who ended up being vital in my return to British wrestling a little bit later on in the naughties. 

ATPW: So what happened in between you stopping training and launching FIGHT! Nation in 2015? 

BW: After training, I graduated school and went to University. Off the back of university I got into the music business, which I'm still in to this day. Then I reconnected with a few of my wrestling friends and decided that "You know what, I run a lot of music events, I'd love to run a wrestling show". I went to go and run a wrestling show and I won't name any names, but a promoter tried to block it and tried to get a wrestler to contact me to put the frightners up me to stop doing the show, that was Stu Allen. Stu Allen called me up, we had a conversation and realised that in fact we both liked each other, we both got on and we should meet. So, I went to meet Stu in 2008 and we discussed his promotion, EWW, which he ran in Witney up in Oxfordshire, this (meeting) is down in Hastings by the way, which is where Stu resides and resided then. We discussed about bringing EWW back, which we did and changed the name from Extreme World Warfare to Extreme World Wrestling and we started back in 2009 in Herne Bay in Kent. At a time when British wrestling wasn't really drawing, we drew over 400 people in Herne Bay on that first show. On that card was Andy Simmonz, Marty Scurll, Jonny Storm to name a few There was only a few places doing decent numbers and the rest were doing twenty to 40 people, so to wrestle in front of hundreds of people for those guys was a big deal then. 

I did that with Stu for a few years, we toured the UK. We did a show at the Liverpool Olympia, so did shows in Liverpool, Coventry, Herne Bay, Hastings and Warrington. So we literally toured up and down the UK for a couple of years. Then in 2010, unfortunately, the music side of my business got incredibly...well I say unfortunately, but fortunately it became hugely successful for me and sucked all the time out of wrestling. I couldn't justify the time I was putting into EWW and me and Stu decided to part ways with Stu continuing with EWW and me stepping out of the wrestling business. I still kept my links with everyone, had conversations with a few promotions about getting involved during that interim period, but nothing really made sense. 

Then in November 2014, I was going to the WWE live event and Marty Scurll was going down there too and he said "Lets meet for dinner". So I went for dinner with Marty and along came Jimmy Havoc as well. It was actually Marty's fault that FIGHT! Nation exists because I asked all the questions and he poked the bear and gave me the itch to get back involved. So after our dinner that night, I decided that in 2015, I would launch a wrestling promotion.

ATPW: So the first event for FIGHT! Nation was in Islington. Why did you choose that location for the first event? 

BW: Because it's London! My music office is based in London to this day. London's the capital city and in my opinion with the dense amount of people in London and the surrounding areas, the catchment is pretty high, so that's why I went with London first and foremost. Which, to be fair, rubbed a few people up the wrong way and because I'm very private, no-one knew that it was me doing FIGHT! Nation, so promotions like PROGRESS, who may have came around after my first initial push in British wrestling didn't know who I was (or if I) had any pedigree in wrestling, so, of course, "This new guys turned up and is trying to get on our patch". Well, the fact of the matter is that show flopped. I can admit it, we did about fourty to 50 people in the venue, but at the same time, I didn't look at FIGHT! Nation or any wrestling promotion as a one in, one out situation. It was about building a brand, building brand loyalty, showing we did have a business plan and we still do have a business plan and to grow our product and our brand to the point where we are competing. 

ATPW: In that first year, FIGHT! Nation was promoted as part of the NWA. How did that come about? 

BW: I was put in touch with Bruce Tharpe, who was the president of the NWA at the time. They had a promotion here, it was New Breed and now I get on really well with Chris Baxter, he seems to be a decent guy, but the fact was and he'd be the first to admit it, the quality wasn't that high. Bruce was very interested in the names and the production values that we were looking to use in FIGHT! Nation. For example, the likes of Marty, Will Ospreay, Doug Williams, Sha Samuels, we were using the best of British. Me and Bruce Tharpe spoke a lot about, what he wants to do with the NWA, I was sold on the idea and how he saw a UK partner as part of that affiliation and we joined the NWA. 

Whilst it wasn't fruitful for us really and it didn't help our brand in many way, it was helpful to collaborate and get to know a lot of the US promoters who were part of the NWA. Most in the same time when we were a part of it left, because they also felt aggrieved or disillusioned with where Bruce was going with it, but at the same time if it wasn't for us joining, I wouldn't have certain relationships in the States that I have now.

ATPW: Another partnership you've had was with Fite TV. How did that come about? What was the experience like filming for TV, as opposed to a regular show?

BW: The Fite relationship came really organically. Those guys were looking to add more content, they still are looking for great content and have a real platform there. We were growing as a brand, Fight! Nation from it's inception to our recent of IPW, it was gaining real traction. I can honestly say that whilst it might not have got the praise of the so-called bigger companies, the events were definitely competitive that level and deserved the recognition they were getting. Fite came about and saw what we were doing. 

Through the NWA thing I found Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, which is run by a good friend of mine, David Marquez, and I liked the way they shot their shows. It was all about TV and the concept, it was almost like the missing link between what I wanted to try to achieve with Fight! Nation. Me and Dave spoke and we looked at it and we said "We want to try and achieve that to, maybe it's a case of we look at your production values and see what you can do here". So I went over to LA and met with Dave and went and watched his production in full effect and his production crew, seeing everything that they do, from the lighting to the editing to every little aspect of how they create their TV show. Then I bought Dave over here to shoot our pilot. At the same time I was negotiating with Fite TV to do it and it just all fell in place.

The concept was very much "shot for TV", the crowd a certain way, the lighting, the feel, the vibe. It was shot in a fourty-five minute format to be very snappy for TV. I think it's a great format, but I think it was too early. I think Fight! Nation in fact is so much in it's infancy that the stuff that we want to do, we can't do yet with Fight! Nation. In this country, it takes a while to build a brand. It takes a lot of baby steps to get it right. PROGRESS aren't running Wembley Arena after their first year, they're going into their sixth year. So it takes time to really build something and create that buzz. I think that the resources and concepts and ideas that we have, in a weird way are ahead of our own brand and the fact of the matter is without the audience we can't achieve what we need to with the product. Without me going and spending £10,000 on marketing or throwing money at it, because I don't want to do that, I want it to feel organic, it just didn't sit right. 

Whilst the product that we created with Fite was great, it didn't get the eyeballs that we needed on it, so I looked at that as how I could expand our reach and how I could expand our audience and really reach our potential and that's what happened when we ended up negotiating with IPW.

ATPW: I wanted to chat about some of the recent purchase actually. The first one was Triple X in January, so why did you choose Triple X as opposed to any other promotion at the time? 

BW: Once again it was a conversation, that opened that up. For me, content is king and if contents available to purchase and it's at the right price, then I'm in the market for it. I bought the NWA Parade of Champions 2016, so I own the rights to that, we bought the Triple X library and the social media assets. It's a case of finding the right moment to strike with these things. At the time, we didn't have an on demand service, so what I was trying to do was make sure we had enough content to make doing an on demand service viable and attractive. So that's why the Triple X thing came about, it was the simple fact that there was a lot footage there, some great matches. It's a catalogue with a lot of top British guys who have gone on to achieve great things now, from your Pete Dunnes to your Tyler Bates to your Zack Sabre Jrs and it just felt right. There's a fantastic Daniel Bryan match in the archive that we can't wait to get out on the IPW On Demand service. The Triple X deal was simply that, to buy content.

ATPW: Also at the time, there was an announcement about something that was called Project X, which developed into ONE Wrestling. What makes ONE Wrestling different from a regular Fight! Nation or IPW show? 

BW: Well, at the time, when it was announced, the idea of ONE was to run dream matches in an exclusive venue. We chose this venue in Milton Keynes, Unit 9. When you see it on the footage, you'll see how crazy it is. It's a warehouse, but it's decorated in such a cool, funky way that we thought it would just fit what we wanted to do with ONE. Fight! Nation was very much for the families. It's a family show for 6 year old kids and all the way up to 60 year old Grandads, but ONE was planned to give the hardcore fans dream matches in an exclusive venue.

Now, with the purchase of IPW and the conscious decision to go forward with one brand name, which is IPW, whilst the ONE show goes ahead in October and will be delivering what we said it would deliver, those dream matches, it is going to be under the IPW banner. 

ATPW: Onto IPW, how did that come about and why did you choose IPW:UK?

BW: It came about once again through a conversation. There was no intention to buy IPW, however, in business I always have a mindset that if an opportunity arises and it makes financial sense then I will look at it and with IPW it was a case that it need fresh impetus, that it needed a change. Looking at the history of IPW, it's the founding father of the promotions you see today. Without IPW, I could argue there would be no PROGRESS, I could definitely argue there would be no RevPro, so you've got to look at what IPW means to British wrestling and where it should be to where it is. Now, don't get me wrong IPW is still in a strong position, we have the FloSlam deal, we have the incredible catalogue, but I feel like it could be in a better position. I feel like we can give it that fresh impetus that it needs, give it the spark that will kick it back into gear and make it the #1 promotion in this country.

So why did I buy IPW? Because I believe in it's history and I believe that with that history we can turn the future into something very, very profitable. 

ATPW: How have the initial shows with IPW:UK gone since the takeover? 

BW: Well, actually we haven't necessarily run those. Whilst we purchased the company, in fact the previous promoter, Dan Edler, is running his last show on 17th September. The deal was to get to the anniversary show, which is the 13th year anniversary and from there start clean and we wanted to honour that. We've obviously been helping to make sure that things go smoothly at those shows. My staff have been on hand, I've been on hand. I've addressed the whole team and I still want some values held up to, but at the same time there's things that I've seen from those shows that I'm not happy with. There's certain core values, that when it comes down to production don't appease me. What I've found is that since my takeover, whilst there is an amazing foundation to build on, there's still a hell of a lot of work to be done.

ATPW: How do you foresee IPW, Fight! Nation and ONE Wrestling coming together going forward? 

BW: The rest of the year, it's going to be a merger of the brands and the roster, that's for sure. There are similarities anyway, but everything will be going forward under one brand, which is IPW. So Fight! Nation as a promotion doesn't exist anymore. Fight! Nation is the holding name of the company that owns the brands, but IPW is the wrestling promotion that oversees every event going forward. All the events going forward will have the IPW logo on them, they will be IPW branded and by the end of the year you will fully see the effect of where IPW is going forward. December 17th, which is our end of the year show, everything from this moment onwards is like the road to that show. All the storylines will merge and make sense into that. At the end of the year show you will see, a different look in IPW. From a production stand point, it will improve, I already believe from an in-ring standpoint it will be even better than it is today and from an entertainment standpoint. I feel like Fight! Nation was doing some incredible stuff under the rader, I think that if we can take that stuff and with the history and the value of IPW and merge those two things, there's no way that IPW can't win. 

ATPW: How have you found the feedback from fans and talent since the news of the takeover broke?

BW: From talent, it's been fantastic. You always expect talent to want work, that goes without saying, but the way people have branched out from the talent to other people within the business, to promoters to production staff, it's been great. People feel that IPW has a chance again to grow and want to be part of that. I'm not just talking about local talent, a lot of international talent has reached out and has openly been very positive about the purchase. So how's it been taken by the workers? Great, especially the guys on the roster. I told each and every one of them that can come to me with any problems that they've had in the past with IPW, anything that they've seen or felt that not necessarily needed changing, that they felt uncomfortable with. But I've also said that I want IPW to be all about a great atmosphere. I want people to want to work for IPW, because of not just the great in-ring action and the great crowds that we deliver, but also that they enjoy being part of the family. That's really important to me, to make sure that each and every person that's part of our team, wants to be part of our team. 

Going to the fans, once again, fantastic. I don't like to push myself forward, it's not about me. I'm not the brand, IPW is the thing that sells tickets, Billy Wood does not sell tickets, so it's not about me. I don't want to be in storylines, I do not want to be front and centre of the TV shows or the live shows. I've got no aspiration to do that and the little that I have done will exactly stay that, it will be very little and I will disappear very, very, very quickly. The most important thing to the fans is that IPW is the show you don't want to miss and the only way we do that is with the greatest wrestlers, the greatest talent and the most enjoyable production that they could possibly see. 

ATPW: I think the closer we get to the end of the year and the clearer the picture becomes, the more the fans will get behind it. Because there was a little bit of confusion, in regards to where things where going when the announcement was made...

BW: Oh yeah, people go "Are they still going to run the same venues" and it's like "Come on!". The image of IPW has to grow and if that means that we have to move to nicer venues, then it's only going to give the customer a better experience and 2018 is about creating that better fan experience.

Credit - Beyond Gorilla

ATPW: At the end of the day, it's all about the people who come to pay...

BW: Oh yeah, totally! This isn't about me at all, it's really about the larger team delivering something that you would want to buy a ticket for. That's not necessarily me putting a name on a flyer that makes you want to buy a ticket, I want you to buy a ticket because IPW shows are unmissable. I don't want it to be "I'll go to this one because X, Y and Z are on it, but I won't go to the other one because there's the All England Champion vs. whoever". I want people to be really excited to be coming to IPW because there are unmissable.

ATPW: What have been your best and worst moments as a wrestling promoter? 

BW: The worst moment was a wet Tuesday night in Coventry in 2009, with about 35 people in the venue and Raven headlining! My best moment was watching Mark Haskins beat Marty Scurll for the British title in Weymouth in front of nearly 400 people. 

ATPW: You can't really go wrong with those two in the ring!

BW: I think we were the first to do that match in recent times, before the go to match everywhere!

ATPW: Are you yet to work with anyone who you've been starstruck for?

BW: In wrestling? I'm trying to think...who have I booked? I think I'm probably at a disadvantage with that because I work in the music industry and I worked with some major acts, like Run DMC amongst others, so I don't really get starstruck. I've never been starstruck but I did have some meetings with Rey Mysterio and it was pretty cool to sit with a guy who has wrestled across the world and is a prominent star. I wasn't starstruck by him, but I was struck by how humble he was. 

ATPW: On a day of a show, what's your role? 

BW: My role at a show is to make sure my team is doing there jobs. We have a staff, a working crew that set up the events. For me, it's making sure that the show been set up correctly from a production stand point. The logistics, making sure the seating arrangement is right, making sure the rings there, making sure everyone's ready to do their job. That's number one and number two is sitting down with the production team and going over the show with my agents, because we have agents that will agent the matches. Going through it with my camera crew and my producer and director to make sure we're all prepped on what's going on. If there's any surprises we know what's happening and are as prepared as you possibly can be for a wrestling show. Then once the show starts, whilst I do have someone who is a stage manager, I can't help myself, I will do the nitty gritty jobs as much as the high profile jobs. I'm not too precious to get my hands dirty, so if I need to go help on the door, I'll go help on the door, if I need to make sure the merch is right, I'll go work at the merch, if I need to make sure my workers are at the curtain, I'll go and make sure they're by the curtain. Ultimately, I'm just relaying the message of what we want and what we're trying to achieve at the show. Number one is with my talent to give them that creative freedom to express themselves but not at the expense of the show and I've been very fortunate to this day that each any every talent that I've worked with and I can stay this hand on heart, has respected where we're going and what we're doing and has fed into the larger plan.

ATPW: So it sounds like you've quite a large set-up behind the scenes, compared to what I'd expect from similar promotions...

BW: Totally, it's about investment into your brand and what you're trying to achieve. The truth of the matter is I'm not going to be the best person for every job. Too many people take on promotions, because they want to book or they want to be Vince McMahon or they want to be Paul Heyman, they want to be that guy that made someone a star, that's not why I'm in wrestling. I'm in wrestling because I want to make whatever promotion, whatever company I own succesful and believe I can. That's about collaborating with the right people, that's about having knowledge staff in different areas that can enhance your product and setting that ethos from the start was super important for me going into what we're trying to do now with IPW. Yeah, I can sit there and have a concept of who I see as our top talent, but am I the only guy that puts together our show? Absolutely not. There's loads of other unsung heroes in our team that are as important as me. I'll be honest, even in Fight! Nation I've missed three shows, I've not even been at the shows and if I didn't have that team in place, I couldn't do that. Don't get me wrong, one of them I was in Dubai and I was on Facetime throughout the whole show to make sure things went right but that's because I can't help myself. If I didn't have that team, there would be no show. 

ATPW: It sounds like you've got a great set up and now that you're moving over to another brand it could be something that makes the merge a lot easier on yourself...

BW: The truth of the matter is, a lot of the people around me are people that were involved in IPW, but at the same time, they're not involved as much as they should be, if you get what I mean. Me coming in and re-configuring the set up around the promotion and reinvigorating it, its not that hard. Remember IPW has the fan base and the reach that Fight! Nation doesn't  have. There's two things we can't do. We can't erase the history of IPW and we can't disrespect the history of IPW, those two things that we have to embrace to make IPW stronger going forward. If we embrace those two things but add in our work ethic with Fight! Nation, top that with how we structure shows...because ultimately does a fan really want to spend three hours at a wrestling show in this day and age. The concentration span of a human being is getting shorter and shorter and shorted, because we live in a world where we can get anything at anytime, so you've got to look at your live shows and make sure that they are punchy and impactful enough that when people leave they want more. You don't want people leaving early because you've over run by an hour. You want people to leave saying "I can't wait to come back" and that's what we're going to do with IPW.

Johnny Storm won the IPW:UK title after this interview.

ATPW: If you wanted to sell someone on your product, what matches, moments or shows would you show them? 

BW: To give you an idea of some of the elements that we'll be bringing to IPW, I would watch Marty Scurrl vs. Will Ospreay from our tournament to crown our first champion which was on the War on the Shore event which was our second show, that's one I'd definitely watch. Mark Haskins vs. Marty Scurll is one as well to definitely give you an idea of where we are going. To give you a fresher flavour of how we try to unearth these talents before they break, Mark Andrews vs. Chris Ridgeway at Chapter Three would be a good indicator of how we push these guys into prominent positions. That makes sense for people to see going into the new era of IPW. Those are the free matches I'd say to watch to give a flavour of what we've achieved. That's not discrediting the rise of Ryan Smile. Ryan Smile vs. Josh Bodom, each an every match we've done with those guys was incredible feud, that just showed the talent that both of those guys have. Look at Ryan now, he's gone on to perform on some of the biggest stages and we're super proud of him. We took him in as one of our own and gave him a platform to be seen by some of these promotions and he's gone on and taken that and now he's one of the top guys in the UK. 

ATPW: You mentioned Chris Ridgeway and he's someone that I've seen fleetling at places like SWA and Pro Wrestling Kingdom and wondered why he wasn't in more places across the country. Now, he's your Fight! Nation Champion, so what made you decide to push Chris to fore front of the promotion? 

BW: I think with Chris, I saw that this guy had incredible technical ability. I watched some of his matches and saw that he was growing in stature as a performer and I just felt that with the right platform this guy could be the next breakout star of the UK and it might sound selfish but that's why we wanted to bring him into Fight! Nation and mould him, in a sense, to show that he can step up to those main events. To be fair to him, he's delivered. If you watch the matches that he's had for us, from his match with Mark Andrews where he won the title and no one would have expected, to his match with PJ Black that same weekend, to the match he had with Matt Riddle which was fantastic, that's on Fight! on Fite, to all the way to recently when he faced Mark Haskins, he's delivered. It was only recently when he faced Shane Strickland on FloSlam in a title vs. title match for IPW. 

Going back to your question the thing that drew me to him was that I feel like he has a unique star power about him, but no ones seeing it right now or no one saw it right then. If you give someone and opportunity and they can run with it and make it their own, then they're only going to look back at what you've done in a fond way and when Chris goes on to achieve even more in his career, if he looks back at what he did with Fight! Nation and what he's going to do with IPW and he's fond of it and thinks of us as a home then that's only good for our reputation around the world. We need to continue to have wins like that and we need to continue to create stars, we need to continue to push people. Not too early, don't get me wrong, you don't get pushed until you can run with the ball. At the same time, those guys get them into the positions that they can and too believe in them and give them the matches and the exposure that they deserve. 

ATPW: Do you kind of have to give someone the ball to see if they can run with it? 

BW: That's true, but you have to be careful who you give that ball to. If you try it too many times and it doesn't work on a regular basis, what happens is your brand gets discredited and we can't have that. As an overall brand, we can't risk it too often, but taking strategical risks on new talent and growing them can only improve your brand.

ATPW: Over the past few years we've seen quite a few British wrestlers break out internationally, guys who've worked for IPW and Fight! Nation, guys like Marty Scurll, Will Ospreay, Joseph Conners, is there anyone else on your roster who could potentially follow them to that level? 

BW: Yeah, I believe so. Ryan Smile has to break out within the next year, surely. He's without a doubt someone who if he puts his mind to it he can be a world beater, but that's down to him. Rob Sharpe, I believe can go on to do great things, Sid Scala is the most entertaining character on the British scene bar none and the question is whether that will translate to America, is the toughest thing for him. But I've no doubt in his ability and I think he has huge, huge potential to break that mould.

The one guy I'm most excited about and someone I feel very proud that we've looked at and nurtured in a completely different way to others is Adam Maxted. Off the back of Love Island, a lot of promotions booked Adam and put him in this primadona heel role, well I see Adam completely different to that. Adam Maxted to me is, if you meet him, is the nicest guy you'll ever meet. Like the nicest guy. The most willing to learn, hard working kid, who deserves all the opportunities he's getting. Combine that with the raw talent that he has, he can be a huge, huge star and a real beacon of light, not just for British and Irish wrestling, because he's putting the work in and he's using his work rate and his ability to better himself every time. And he listens, the number one component that people fail on more than most is listening and Adam gets ten out of ten for listening. So, if I was going to choose one, who I think will go on to do incredible things in wrestling, it's Adam Maxted. 

ATPW: I really like how passionate you are about some of the guys on your roster. It seems like you want to see them succeed and grow and obviously that's only going to help your company to grow as they become bigger stars...

BW: The fact of the matter is wrestling on the independents doesn't make 99% of people rich. They do this for the passion. So if the promoter who is supposed to be promoting them can't have the passion that they have, then the promoter shouldn't be in the job. Simple as. If I can't feel what they feel then why should I be a promoter? 

ATPW: Do you still watching wrestling as a fan? 

BW: You have to, because if you don't...I don't buy into the idea that anyone in the wrestling business isn't a fan anymore. You have to be a fan. Lets use another analogy, say for example is was a football manager and I have to go and watch football matches to scout my opposition or I'm watching football on the TV because I want to know whats going on in the game. Are they not football fans anymore? Of course they are! So, yeah, I'm definitely a wrestling fan and I'm proud to say that I'm a wrestling fan. 

ATPW: What have you been watching recently? 

BW: I watch a mixture of stuff, to be honest with you. My taste is very diverse when it comes to wrestling. I still keep up to date with what's going on in the WWE and TNA/GFW because ultimately they are the entertainment leaders so you should know what's going on with the number one brand in your industry. I still watch a lot of independents in the US. From the TV aspect I still watch Championship Wrestling from Hollywood to keep my eyes on TV production. I'll also watch EVOLVE, I'll watch House of Glory in New York, I'm a really big fan of what those guys are doing there. Then coming over here, I'm super super happy for PROGRESS and their continual growth and think them going into Wembley next year is only a good thing for British wrestling, so massive respect and support for them and I do stay on top of their product too. I watch New Japan, I wouldn't say I'm an avid watcher of New Japan Pro Wrestling, but at the same time I do keep my eye on whats happening in the market. If people are raving about something I will check it out and try to understand why they rave and rant and what makes a wrestling fan like or dislike something, because ultimately we can disagree about what's good and what's bad, but I have to sell tickets to these wrestling fans. So do I have to tell them that they're wrong or do I have to give them a product that they're gonna enjoy? That's why it's important that I watch all these different products to get a better understanding of what's working in 2017. If I had it my way, I'd probably just watch a bunch of 90s wrestling, but that's getting me nowhere. 

ATPW: So you being a fan feeds into you being a promoter and vice versa. It's all part of the same experience...

BW: Yeah, it's part of the same thing. Knowledge is the most powerful thing and me having a landscape of knowledge of what's going on and what's working and what's not is only going to helpful for my brand.

ATPW: Where can people find you on the internet? 

BW: Twitter and Facebook is IPW:UK. You can go onto IPW's website which is IPWUK.com, that's where you can find the latest news, buy tickets to the shows, see the calendar of what's going on. And Snapchat which is IPW:UK! 

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A big thanks to Billy for spending over an hour chatting wrestling with me! Check out IPW:UK on social media and go check out a show if you can. We wish the company and Billy all the best heading towards that big show in December and with everything going on during this exciting period for the company.