Two Years of ATPW

Yes ladies and gentleman, it has been two whole years since the first proper article was posted on the then acrossthepondwrestling.blogspot.com. Over those two years we've developed into acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk, built a strong social media following with nearing 2000 followers on Twitter and over 1250 likes on Facebook, created partnerships with TNA Impact Wrestling and WWE Home video that continue to grow, featured numerous British wrestling promotions, and changed from a one man blog to featuring some of the most talented wrestling writers from across the United Kingdom. I'm truly proud of what ATPW has become and I look forward to seeing what the future holds. Believe me, I've got big plans for what ATPW should and could be in two years time.

I wanted to use this article to look back at our ten most popular articles over the last two years, in chronological order, to showcase the story of ATPW (so far) with the ten most important moments. Better get on with it, I suppose!

Five Questions With...Jay Hunter

Wednesday, 12th June 2013. 19:30

Five Questions With... was our first series of article, in which I interviewed a wide variety of wrestling personalities, from wrestlers to bloggers and everything in between, in a thinly vieled attempt to gain a viewership! Our most popular FQW article (and most popular article of all time) was with OSW Review's Jay Hunter. Gaining over 3000 views, Hunter discusses getting into wrestling, how OSW Review originated, the differences between 80's and modern wrestling, his top three matches of all time and more. A big thank you to Jay Hunter for the interview once more, and if you've never caught OSW Review you can check out their website here.

WWE Money in the Bank 2013 Review

Tuesday, 16th July 2013. 00:07

Our most popular PPV review ever (I'm not sure why this one get's more views than any other) with over 350 views. Money in the Bank 2013 featured Randy Orton and Damien Sandow winning Money in the Bank briefcase, whilst John Cena and Alberto Del Rio defended their respective World titles against Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler respectively. The show received a fairly positive review from ATPW, and can viewed on the WWE Network here. 

WWE Smackdown 19th July 2013 Review

Wednesday, 24th July 2013. 00:12

The most popular review of a TV show from ATPW, was the 19th July 2013 episode of Smackdown! Back when ATPW was reviewing almost every wrestling TV shows on the market, for some reason this review has stood out and continued to get views. Whilst criticising Randy Orton for going through the motions in a main event bout with Alberto Del Rio, the review had praise for Vince McMahon announcing Vickie Guerrero as the new General Manager of Smackdown, with a rather optimistic hope that a strong heel Vickie could revitalise the waning brand.

WWE ECW Unreleased Volume 2 DVD Review

Friday, 16th August 2013. 04:30

DVD Review have been a big part of ATPW since it's inception and this one has received over 850 views, proving that there's still a hunger for ECW content out there. There's big praise for the set throughout, notably the variety of matches present on the three disc set and strong presentation from Joey Styles and Tommy Dreamer. A triple threat bout between Bam Bam Bigelow, Sabu and Taz is noted as the strongest of the set, which is still available for purchase here.

Five Questions With...Matt Striker

Wednesday, 21st August 2013. 19:30

Just two months removed from his WWE release ATPW was able to secure an interview with Matt Striker, under the FQW banner. Striker talks getting into wrestling, the circumstances involving his WWE release, his fondest memories of working for WWE, his three favourite matches and more. This is one of my personal favourite FQW interviews, with Striker engaging well with the interview style. 

WWE NXT 21st August 2013 Review

Friday 23rd August 2013. 01:47

August 2013 continued to provide articles that have kept people coming back to ATPW with this review of WWE NXT, in it's pre-WWE Network days. Of course, this was the episode that featured Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro battling it out in a Two out of Three Falls match. The review of this match was one of my favourite to write and one of the earlier pieces of writing I am most proud of for ATPW. The review also includes an interesting look at a bout between Dolph Ziggler and Rusev, as well as AJ Lee defending her Diva's Championship against Bayley.

TNA Impact Wrestling's Christopher Daniels Interview

Saturday, January 25th 2014. 22:42

The most popular article of 2014 was a BIG interview with then TNA star Christopher Daniels ahead of the 2014 Maximum Impact tour of the UK. Infamous for breaking the news that Daniels contract with TNA was up in April, and gaining coverage from the dirt sheets, this was an article that put ATPW on the map in terms of big name wrestler interviews. It's one of my biggest disappointments that half of the interview was lost due to a recording error, but still I spoke to Christopher Daniels for twenty minutes and no one will ever know what we spoke about!

TNA British Bootcamp's Grado Interview

Tuesday, 25th November 2014. 22:24

Recorded on the telephone in a hospital car park in Aberystywyth (it's a long story), this interview with Grado came at a time where he was featured in the final six of TNA's British Bootcamp. Actually ATPW's third interview with Grado (following a FQW interview and one recorded on the streets of Glasgow for Youtube), this one features a lot of talk about British Bootcamp, getting "over" in America, British wrestling, social media and more. Oh also the possibility of a Grado vs. Goldberg dream match!

Making Noise, Drinking Cider: Maffew at PCW Road to Glory Night 1

Friday, 27th March 2015. 19:53

The only writer other than creator James Marston to make the Top 10 is Botchamania's own Maffew! Proving instantly popular on ATPW, Maffew brought his own fanbase over to ATPW and introduced a different style of writing to the site, as he looked at the first night of PCW Road to Glory tournament. Featuring a no holds barred looked at the show, with a refreshingly honest review, Maffew also offered plenty of laughs and gags to keep things entertaining. Brit-Wres reviews always prove popular and this is the most popular of them all on ATPW.

TNA's Rockstar Spud Interview

Monday, 30th March 2015. 23:16

Coming as part of the #ATPW24 campaign that raised over £200 for MIND, there was a special interview with then TNA X Division Champion Rockstar Spud! Spud discussed the previous night's WrestleMania, changes in the Spud character, his on-screen feud with Ethan Carter III, his involvement in the second series of British Boot Camp, his return to the British indy scene and what the future might hold for Spud. It's our most popular article of 2015 so far, and for interview conducted by someone nearing 60 hours without sleep, is bloody good if I do say so myself!


I hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I have have, or if this is your first ATPW article has enjoyed what is ensentially a starter pack to knowing what we do here at ATPW. To all those who have viewed ATPW in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, China, Israel, Canada, Ukraine, Turkey and anywhere else over the last two years a big thankyou and I hope we continue to produce content that keeps you coming back for more. Peace, love and wrestling. James.

Making Noise, Drinking Cider: Maffew at PCW Road to Glory 2015 (Night 1)

Botchamania's Maffew makes his debut on ATPW, discussing his experiences at the first night of Preston City Wrestling's Road to Glory Tournament on 13th March.

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It's always fun going to re-visit Preston, which is surprising considering how miserable the place is. I spent three years there at UCLan and felt relieved when I left, safe in the knowledge I’d never need to visit the North-West section of GreyLand. Then as soon as I leave, Preston City Wrestling takes off in a big way and I find myself buggering back to it on a semi-regular basis. Life, eh?

I wasn't actually going to go to their Road To Glory two-day event due to a lack of commitment from mates. Going to wrestling by yourself can sometimes be fun but like a lot of things, they're much more fun with someone else. A vote of confidence, really. But on Friday afternoon one of my friends informed me''oh yeah, me and this guy are going and you can sleep on this guy's couch so you don't need to get a hotel'' and I fucked out of bed (Not to self: change to ''I left work'', makes me look more proper) as quick as possible and ran to the train station to get to Preston via Carlisle.

The wonder of Carlise train station

Oh yes, bloody Carlisle station. Every other train station in England has realised how useful those big neon boards are that tell you which trains are going where but OH NO, NOT CARLISLE. That's for those upper-class train stations. So everybody runs around looking for a station helper (or whatever they call Fat Controllers in 2015) to ask which train is theirs. ''The last VHS in Oxfam'' as Malcolm Tucker would say.

PCW's 'thing' is mixing up a range of imports new and old with the best wrestlers in the UK. That already makes for a unique experience but the shows being held in the Evoque Nightclub (in the middle of a dance floor, in fact) with fans nearly drowning in booze ensures there's no such thing as a dull PCW show. On the journey there, I was notified that Alberto Del Rio and Justin Gabriel (the two most prominent wrestlers in the advertising) would not be there. Gabriel was out due to VISA issues (a UK wrestling tradition almost as old as Big Daddy) and Del Rio was out with a leg injury (that didn't prevent him from wrestling days later elsewhere, just saying) but PCW managed to secure Carlito and Christopher Daniels as replacements so ''wunderbar'' as Tudor Tenpole might say. 

I missed the first few matches (but I got to read some of Rik Mayall's autobiography on the train so swings and roundabouts) but arrived in time to see Bubblegum pin Ashton Smith to advance in the tourny. My mates and I stood next to the entrance ramp, so I was in fair position to throw praise at the good guys and hurl death at the baddies.  I’m old fashioned though. In 2015, crowds are more than happy to cheer whoever the bloody hell they like, which presents us with situations like Matt Hardy vs. Rampage Brown. 

Now, you’d expect the special guest to be the fan favourite, but because Rampage is generally considered one of the best wrestlers in the UK and is a PCW mainstay, the crowd was fairly split. This despite Rampage being part of the main Heel stable Team Single. Making this crowd even more complicated, PCW brings in people from everywhere (I currently hail from Newcastle and the guys around me had travelled from Leeds) and in the UK a wrestler’s hometown has an impact on if he gets booed or cheered. So even though big, bad Rampage spent most of the match pounding away and gloating against a former teen heart-throb,  the air was filled with conflicting ‘’We all hate Leeds Scum’’, ‘’We all love Leeds Scum’’ , ‘’V1’’ and ‘’We Want Jeff’’ chants. So yeah, got all that? Christ that was like typing out a Games Workshop manual. 

The anarchic crowd response fuels the action, even if sometimes the crowd loses itself and focuses more on entertaining themselves than respecting the match. Matt Hardy won after squeaking a pin to the sounds of high-pitched cheers and gravelly-voiced boos. The amount of imports PCW brings in gets criticised by some (to be cynical, they’re usually from UK wrestlers who probably see it as a spot they could be taking. BLOODY YANKS, COMING OVER HERE AND TAKING OUR JOBS etc.) But there’s no arguing with moments like Matt Hardy taking photos during the intermission at £20(!) a pop...and a large queue immediately forming. There’s method to this ma(tt)ness. Fair play to him but I went and got some Hooch (which like Matt Hardy was popular years ago).

Erm...

Second half started and forget everything I said about the Heel/Face/North-East/North-West divides as Carlito wrestled T-Bone. T-Bone is a large tattooed man who everyone hates. And fears. There’s been a lot written about how the age of the Heel is over because wrestlers focus on cool moves to ensure they get a reaction (and get booked again), there’s no wrestlers that can be considered actual Heels. It’s a good debate to have, which is why it’s refreshing to see T-Bone wrestle. As soon as he hits the ring and the people next to me are sure he’s out of ear-shot, they start telling me stories of how T-Bone is genuinely T-Bone all the time. Other wrestlers may be cordial with wrestlers after shows....but not him. The best story told during his intro is how T-Bone stared at a fan for the entire time during his match, after the match and then after the show too, all the time staying silent. In the age of the fan feeling smarter than the wrestlers because they have the internet,  T-Bone’s smarter than all of them put together. If Team Single is The Four Horsemen, T-Bone is Tully Blanchard: the evillest and most irredeemable of all Heels.

Carlito’s loved by the crowd because he’s cool and not T-Bone. To the dismay of the crowd, Carlito loses and T-Bone continues to make people uncomfortable.

Crowd gets really hyped for the next match, which is between the always lovable John Morrison and the beloved Will Ospreay. Last time I saw Ospreay wrestle was in IPW:UK and there were members of the crowd attempting to run in to save him from the beating he was receiving from Paul Robinson. I try and get a ‘’JoMo’’ chant going to the tune of Gary Glitter’s ‘’I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am)’’ but North-West people think that chanting a song by a nonce is in bad taste. They were all singing to Michael Jackson later on so fuck ‘em. Anyway, Ospreay is really making a name for himself as The Next Big Thing of UK Wrestling, which I think is unfair as the guy’s already made it in my eyes. Both men showcase their physical prowess (and JoMo still looks stunning) and ability to flip and flop without destroying the low ceiling with eventually JoMo taking it. Ospreay has that Daniel Bryan level of over, whenever he loses he gets cheered after. Good times here.

Next up, long-time favourite Martin Kirby took on surprise star Christopher Daniels. Daniels has been wrestling for donkey’s years but since the Bad Influence change he’s never been better. Both men take it up to Tim Curry levels of ham and embrace the crowd’s chants of ‘’Crystal Maze’’, ‘’which one’s which?’’ and best of all ‘’Martin Kirby’s wrestling his dad.’’ Both men excel in the fun, fast-paced wrestling genre and the result is...a fun, fast-paced match. Kirby took the win and danced to Numa Numa.

And your first main event (of three) was a big deal. A year ago, AJ Styles delivered the Styles Clash to Lionheart who ended up landing the wrong way and getting legitimately fucked up. No storyline or bullshit, the poor sod thought he would have to retire. One of the realest reactions I’ve been a part of was Lionheart announced his return at the PCW/ROH weekender to take on the former model (but still a cock) Joey Hayes. The crowd were overjoyed at the idea of the underdog returning, especially because they hate AJ Styles now (When Cedric Alexander explained his favourite match was against AJ Styles, everyone in PCW stopped what they were doing and booed unmercifully) and tonight in the main event, he returned...

...to a less than great reaction. Man this was sad. The noticeably quieter crowd (apparently because some people left now the imports had gone) were respectful but it didn’t stop people saying loudly ‘’yeah, Lionheart’s not very likable is he?’’ and being convinced Lionheart was going to turn heel in his big comeback match. Some crazy logic there. Despite teasing some neck-related moves, Hayes thankfully fell to Lionheart to give us a vaguely happy ending. Grim.

After the show, there was comedy from the reliably rugged and rough Chris Brooker and Billy Kirkwood. I don’t want to recap anything as it’d mean telling their jokes and that’s their bread and butter so just take my word for it (Lots of nob gags.) They finished their set with Karaoke with Dave Mastiff, the ref who looks like Garfunkel, Dave Rayne and Uhaa Nation. By now, everybody was aware of Uhaa’s imminent departure but it didn’t stop him tearing his shirt to ‘’Real American’’ and doing the Vince walk to ‘’No Chance In Hell.’’

The rest of the night got blurry as more Hooch was consumed, words were said and Chris Masters blanked me. Then we went to The Dog (the last open pub in Preston) and sang to ‘’Wanna Be Like You’’ and had those Vodka Slushies that are cheap and...none of this has anything to do with wrestling so I’ll end it.

UNTIL THE NEXT SHOW.

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You can find out more about PCW on their website, Facebook and Twitter pages. You can catch Mr. Anderson, Davey Richards and Angelina Love there on 29th March, as well as Kevin Nash, Rob Van Dam, Eric Bischoff, Justin Gabriel, Juventud Guerrera, Maria Kanellis, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven on April 24th and 25th.

Don't forget our 24 hour Challenge begins at 4am on 30th March, with site founder James Marston attempting 24 articles in 24 hours for MIND, the Mental Health Charity. If you'd like to donate, you can do so here www.justgiving.co.uk/acrossthepondwrestling