Live Review: RHP Numero Uno: Beers, Beats & Brainbusters (Marc Pearson)

Going to a new promotion can be a daunting experience. I’ve been to shows where there was myself and ten other people, on nights like that you feel embarrassed making any noise and feel sorry for the wrestlers who have to perform to an essentially empty room. On the other side of the spectrum I’ve been to shows where there was a hundred crammed in and everything was great. On the 10th of June I headed to the city of Gloucester (a city I’ve never been to by the way) to see how the new company of Riot House Promotions got on with their debut show entitled Beers, Beats and Brainbusters!

Before I go on let me just add something. I love seeing new talent, it’s something that I’ve made a mission of this year, to not just go to the same promotions that I’ve frequented the last 3 or 4 years (Futureshock, PCW and GPW to name but a few), so the draw of this show was that at least half the roster was made up with talent that I’ve never had the chance to see. 

On arrival I got a pleasant surprise, a quick head count resulted in roughly 100 people and a lovely looking venue. The show emanating from the Liquid Diva nightclub meant that there were no seats BUT that wasn’t an issue as everywhere I looked at had a decent view. The crowd was made up of a mixed bunch of rowdy fans, older folks (who I suspect were there to support their children/grandchildren) and they were vocal the whole night which made for a fun atmosphere. 

Speaking of fun (Segway!) the opening contest of the evening was pure fun as the team of The Magnums (Chris Walker & Dick Riley) defeated “Mr Massive” Chuck Cyrus and partner Robbie Roids. Having only seen Cyrus before I was looking forward to seeing what Roids and The Magnums could do. If the plan for the match was to entertain the crowd and get everyone warmed up then this was mission accomplished. Be it a mid-match drinking contest, Dick Riley being de-panted or Roids being exposed as wearing ladies’ underwear this never got boring and had a jaded old fan like me in stitches. 2 moments really stood out for me though. The first was Cyrus taking a line of pre-workout before getting the hot tag, I can’t believe I’ve never seen that spot before but man was it funny. The other was a bit mad but still entertaining as Chris Walker put a condom on his hand, liberally applied some lubricant then proceeded to administer what can only be described as an Anal Claw to Cyrus, who tapped out in quick time. Good stuff and the crowd loved it.

Match number 2 former NXT star Joel Redman beating Big Grizzly. I’ve only ever seen Redman play the white meat babyface, so to see him working heel was refreshing and I was seeing Grizzly for the first time. Redman made the match look effortless as he oozed charisma and confidence, playing up the crowd and looked great. Grizzly was super over with the fans and controlled the majority of the match which was a little odd, at times you almost expected Redman to make the big babyface comeback but then remembered he was a heel. He won with a sneaky rollup complete with heeley feet on the ropes much to the chagrin of the fans. They didn’t worry for long though as Grizzly hit Redman with a nice sit out chokeslam to gain a measure of revenge.

Match 3 saw Wild Boar defeat Charlie Garrett in a good match. I’ve only seen Boar work heel and only seen Garrett work face so seeing them in the other roles was again refreshing. Garrett brought a mop to the ring and much hilarity resulted as Boar pinched it and had a good long chat with it as Garrett was busy jaw jacking with the fans, who took great delight in telling him that he was a cunt! Back and forth with loads of nice looking strikes, suplexes and, of course, stalling from Garrett meant this one built to a frantic finish. A beautiful t bone suplex by Boar and a brainbuster from Garrett were the highlights and I for one was happy that we finally got said Brainbuster after the title of the show! Boar got the win with a lovely sit out powerbomb, he then snogged the mop to a big pop. 

Something quite amazing happened next. The ring announcer told us there would be a 5 minutes’ intermission, and, to everyone’s shock and amazement, it actually lasted 5 minutes!!! This followed the show starting bang on time made a very good impression on someone who is a stickler for time like me. 

The second half began with the massively popular tag team of The Fever (Christopher Queen & RyRy) beating The Heritage City Hitmen (Dave Eaton & Richard Diamond). 4 more men that I hadn’t see before so I was looking forward to this one, both teams have matching outfits so earn Brucie Bonus points! The Fever have a lot of fans and wear flashing glasses to the ring, which you can buy on the merch stand, that’s brilliant! This one was a much more cookie cutter tag match than the opener, with Queen playing your face in peril until he could get the hot tag to RyRy. A splash off the top rope by Queen getting the win. Nothing bad but nothing outstanding.

Match number 5 saw the Ginger Jesus Mike Bird losing to Matt Ridler. Like the previous match there isn’t really much to say about this one, nothing bad but nothing memorable. Having never seen Ridler before he looked good, cutting a decent heely promo before Bird made his way to the ring and cheating to win by distracting the ref, going low then hitting a spinning brainbuster for the win. Mike Bird shone here, looking like a star in a way that I’ve never really appreciated when I’ve seen him at promotions like Fight Club Pro.

As Bird left the ring the ring announcer said, “one bird leaves the ring, but don’t worry, 2 more are coming out” making reference to the upcoming woman’s match. I’d never have dreamed of saying a line like that in my time as a ring announcer! 

I’d tell you all about Toni Storm’s victory over Kat Von Kaige but I needed to nip to the loo as it started and in the time it took me to drain the snake the match was over, so it was short if nothing else. 

When you have men as talented as Pete Dunne, Chris Brookes and Tyler Bate in your main event you know it’s going to be a good match. I went into this one confident that because of the 2 heels (Brookes and Dunne) against one face that Tyler Bate would emerge victorious so was pretty stunned when Pete Dunne got the win. Annoyingly my phone’s battery had died so I couldn’t take any notes but everything was good and the crowd loved all 3 men. 

I had a really good time at this show, all the matches delivered in the ring, the crowd were decent, the show started and ended on time which is very very rare in British wrestling. I spend a lot of time in the area so I’ll certainly be at their next show

You can find out more about RHP on their Facebook Page, at this time there is no date announced for their second show. Photo Credits go to The Dude Abides Photography, who are also over on Facebook here. Get more Marc Pearson on Youtube, Twitter and Facebook. 

Opinion: Running the Ropes with Marc P - Part 5

Hi guys thanks for dropping by, my whole life is up in the air at the moment so this month instead of writing about a particular topic I thought I’d left you guys know about a few things that are going on with me and the world of Pro Wrestling.

wrestling training……

As much as I enjoyed my time at Futureshock’s training school I’m afraid that I won’t be back there. Few reasons for this. Firstly and most importantly I’ve moved away from Stoke-On-Trent and am now living in the Cotswolds so to get to the school would be a 6 hour round trip! Secondly I’m sure dear reader that you remember that I tore my MCL in my left knee, well, truth be told it’s never really properly healed, still giving me a lot of pain especially at the moment when it’s cold. Lastly, you may remember that my confidence utterly failed me on my last training session, well, it never came back, the thought of making a tit of myself in front of people fills me with dread. So no more wrestling training for Marc P. Proud of myself for giving it a try though. 

live shows….

At the time of writing I’ve been to 3 shows this year, one each for Futureshock, Alpha Omega and Fight Club Pro. I promised myself after the 40+ shows that I attended in 2015 that I would drastically cut back on my live shows but MAN, I didn’t expect to cut down this much. Don’t get me wrong I intend you fully make use of my Season Ticket for the Stockport Futureshock shows, it’s just going to take me a while to find what promotions run in the local area. Guess I’ve got no excuse not to attend my first Attack show have I. Missing shows and missing my crew are the hardest part of this move, trust me on that one! Oh and my move meant I had to resign from my position at Southcoast Wrestling, that one hurt as well!

wwe……

I’ve barely watched any of WWE’s weekly programming in weeks, and that even includes NXT. Lucha Underground has taken NXT’s place as my must watch wrestling show as it has with so many people. Fastlane came and went and other than the pre show (that I fell asleep watching) I wasn’t bothered, Shane O Mac returned and both my Facebook and Twitter feeds lit up and I just wasn’t interested (seriously, why would Taker defend Vince?). My WWE network still gets used a lot but it’s always for old shows, on Friday night for example I watched WWF’s Royal Rumble 2000 but then last night I endured the Edge & Christian show and was so underwhelmed. How James manages to watch the product is beyond me and tbh its through his reviews that I still know whats happening in WWE! (Editors Note - Cos I'm a fucking maniac)

youtube.....

Ah the big one. Regular viewers of mine will no doubt have noticed that I haven’t made a video since the 8th of January, with no explanation really given. I don’t want to say Ive retired from making videos because that sounds so final, but, don’t expect to see any videos off of me anytime in the future. Truth be told I stopped enjoying making videos a long time ago and felt that they were a chore for the longest time. Watching the vids back that I made in the last 6 months they all feel very forced, that I’m relying on the same old dated catchphrases. Basically they just aren’t very good and my lack of motivation really shines through them. One day I may return full time, or I may just pop up to do the odd review at Wrestlemania time, or of course I could just say sod it and move on with my life. I am however, eternally grateful to anyone who has ever watched one of my videos. It means the world to me. 

Marc's Youtube Page
Marc's Facebook Page
Marc's Twitter Profile

Guest Article: Running the Ropes with Marc P - Part 4

I haven't been to wrestling training for a month or so, for various reasons, so, I thought I'd tell you guys something that happened to me recently instead.


"Really enjoyable first half, great stuff in the ring and I haven't made any mistakes yet!!"
I have no idea why I wrote that on Facebook at the intermission of my second ever Southcoast Wrestling appearance, lord only knows that writing something like that means that its only a matter of time until something goes very wrong. For me the matter of time was the length of the intermission, so approximately 20 minutes!

When I got the gig of ring announcer I knew that being in the public eye for long periods meant that I would have to look the part so dug out my Granddads old suit. Anyone who knows me will know that dressing smartly isn't really my style, I'm a jeans and hoody kind of guy. The flip side of dressing in the way that I do means that when you do put on the suit everyone is surprised but that's beside the point. The point is that I was in my suit, looking great and feeling great after watching three good matches, having some banter with the crowd and, as mentioned, not making a single mistake. 


I make my way back to the ring to the chords of "Dalton Wants It All", ROH wrestler Dalton Castle's theme music and welcome the fans to the second half. Our first match of the half is a gauntlet match so I run down the rules of the contest then introduce the first 2 competitors. Then it happens! As I step through the ropes I hear what in my head is the loudest thing ever, my wonderful suit trousers decide that THIS, is the moment that they want to try and make a desperate bid to become 2 individual trousers and split from the crotch to the left knee!!!!

Marc <3 Dalton Castle

Now obviously I cannot show any emotion as I step off the apron and return to my seat but boy did I panic when I sat down and saw that my boxer shorts were on show, I had only one thought running through my head at this moment...


SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! 


A quick think made me think that I could cover the rest of the gauntlet match at the table, but the main event of the evening was a title match and there was no way I could do that from ringside. The sound guy for Southcoast, an awesome man called Marty  had a solution, SOME SAFETY PINS!!!! Aww yeah it's all good thinks I! A few moments later and my pants are back together and I'm set to go. Or so I thought! 

There's more Southcoast action in February!

As the first wrestler was eliminated I stood up to announce wrestler number 3, confident that my lovely grey boxers wouldn't be on show, and, of course, all FIVE of the safety pins came a pinging out one after another! Back to square one eh folks?! At this point I can literally only think of one thing. Knowing that I had a few moments until the next wrestler came out I ran backstage, showed the bewildered promoter what had happened and put my jeans on faster than I probably ever have at any point in my 33 years! 


I went back to my seat, flashed a thumbs up at Marty and carried on my ring announcing duties for the rest of the night, including shaming a guy for swearing during the raffle by getting him into the ring and making him apologise to the boys and girls and doing my best work to date with the in ring introductions to the main event. 

I recently spoke to my friend Chris Brooker. Chris works at a few promotions and does a spot of ring announcing from time to time, he assured me that you aren't a proper ring announcer until you've split your pants, so I guess that makes me a proper ring announcer. Chris did it on his first! 

Guest Article: Running the Ropes with Marc P - Part 3

We left our hero full of confidence, full of hope for the future and loving the adventure that was before him, will it continue to be so? Lets find out...

Jay Lethal meets the Internet Sensation

My next session at Futureshock's training school was taken by Dave Rayne and consisted mainly of chain wrestling. Learning hammerlocks, wristlocks and the like. Up until this point in the classes I had tried to partner up with someone who had been on the induction day, just to help myself feel at ease. This week I decided that to try and break out of my comfort zone as I realised that the best way to improve is to work with people who are much better than me. I worked with a lovely chap called Steven who was not only great to work with but incredibly patient. I'm a very slow learner, and have to have things shown to me again and again and then again just to make sure I've got it. Steven didn't seem to mind at all and was full of helpful tips and pointers, making me feel at ease. Annoyingly though, despite the fact we didn't take ANY bumps that session I managed to tweak my upper back, meaning it started to spasm on my drive home, that wasn't much fun at all!


I missed the following 2 weeks sessions, both for different but valid reasons in my opinion...
The first session I missed was due to driving a few friends up to the Fierce Females show in Glasgow that they were performing on. The trip was long, hard and the single most tiring thing I've ever done, but it was still a lot of fun. Doing it the weekend after driving to Bournemouth for a show though gave me a certain, disdain towards Wrestling for a few days. In fact I believe the term I used when I let the guys know that I wouldn't be attending was "Fuck Wrestling!", that's how draining the drive was! 

Marc flyered outside, whilst Bray Wyatt did his thing.

A week later I missed class again, this time was the opposite of the above mentioned "Fuck Wrestling" this time I went along to The Manchester Arena in London, wait that's not right, in Manchester. WWE was in town to tape it's Smackdown show and the guys at Futureshock thought it would a good time to hand out some flyers to the people arriving at the show and try and get a few last minute at the final Futureshock show of the year which at that time was a week away. Travelling with my partner in crime Ryan Hendrix, we cheerfully stood by one of the entrances to the arena, chatting to fans about who they were looking forward to seeing and trying to get some interest in a local promotion. It was genuinely eye opening the amount of comments, especially from mothers, that had no idea that there was wrestling on, just up the road, for a quarter of the price that they paid so that their child could see WWE. 


This may sound odd but I genuinely do love the flyering/postering side of being a trainee for a couple reasons. Firstly, I think it shows dedication to the company and that I'm willing to give up my free time - even if I can only manage it once a week - to help out with something that I'm sure can be a very thankless task for the promoters. Secondly, it gives me a chance to get out of the house. Without going into too much detail my partner is disabled and I'm her full time carer so don't really get to go out too much so to spend a day flyering is actually very therapeutic, believe it or not!

One of Futureshock's regular trainers, Xander Cooper

As I write this my last session at Futureshock was now 2 weeks ago. And it was the night my confidence just utterly utterly failed me. When Xander Cooper said we would be learning headlock takedowns my heart sank. Anyone who read my first article in this series knows that I struggled so damn hard with this relatively simple move on my second session and did not relish doing them again at all. I mentioned on my first article as well that I get frustrated when I can't do something and that night was beyond frustrating. Try as I might I could not do a headlock takedown. In my head I knew what I was doing, knew exactly where to put my hands and feet yet when it came round to actually doing it I just couldn't. Which made me get annoyed. Rinse and repeat again and again and again to the point where I was shaking with silent rage and apologising constantly. Xander began to get frustated with me, not because of my lack of ability but because I apologised so often! "Don't apologise for learning" he told me more than once. What was worse was that we then did some counters and sequences out of the takedown, and, working once more with the amazing Henry Grodd (helped on by the awesome Bobby Cash) I was at least ok with all of them, although I was so damn mad at myself I was a ball of tension. We finished the session with walking headlock takedowns, where you grab your opponent as they walk towards you. The wonderful Ellie took me over like a pro on her first attempt but yet again when it was my turn it was a move that I just could not do. 


I left the session feeling so deflated, so ashamed of myself and my performance. As I write this I haven't been back. A combination of lack of funds and family emergencies have meant that training was pushed to the back of my mind. Realistically I can't see myself attending in the month of December at all as I'm going abroad for Christmas so need every penny I can get, and while I want to be dedicated to it, the chance to see my brothers for the first time in almost a year is top priority. I'll be back in the new year though, just try and stop me. 

Ever wanted to be a wrestler? Give it a try! Seriously its great. For all the details about Futureshock and it's school check out http://www.futureshockwrestling.co.uk/

Guest Article: Running the Ropes with Marc P - Part 2

For anyone who didn't get the chance to read Part 1 (shame on you) let me bring you quickly up to speed. I attended an open day at the Futureshock Wrestling School back in September and despite having being very very nervous I loved it. 3 days later I was back again, loving it again but a freak accident meant that I tore the MCL in my left knee. My Doctor recommended 6 weeks rest. Anyone who knows me knew that that was never going to happen, and that's where we begin this time...


I did plan to rest! Stop laughing I really did. I thought I'd take a few weeks off from the gym and forget about wrestling. That was until I saw a tweet from CJ Banks that read:" When I was 16 I tore ligament fibres playing football. I still went to wrestling training every Saturday and Sunday and took notes, no excuses!" I couldn't really argue with that could I? So, despite being on crutches, I hobbled up the stairs to the school to watch the guys train and to take notes. I must confess friends, that it was not the most enjoyable experience. That sounds awful so let me explain why. Dave Rayne took the class that night and taught the class about a thing called "Hope Spots". Now I know a lot about the wrestling world and consider myself to be your generic "smart fan" but I had no idea about a hope spot, what it entailed or how it was performed. So I sat leaning on my crutches being well and truly schooled, and loving it. The reason I say I didn't enjoy this is because it hurt that I couldn't join in with such an interesting session 

DAVE RAYNE!

Dave also showed the class how to throw a punch and a chop correctly. Now, I can sit and take my notes and watch the guys do the hope spots but there is absolutely no way I'm was not going to join in with that bit! Fortunately, my friend Chris was there to watch as well and was a willing guinea pig for me to practice said chops and punches on, I loved that, sorry for being a little snug with you, matey! Watching, and joining it a little was great but on the flipside it was horrible not being able to join in with the majority of what looked like a really fun class. 


I resumed my normal workout routine a week later as my MCL felt fine (6 weeks! More like 3!) In doing so I decided to attend a seminar at the school with TNA Wrestler Rockstar Spud. The night before the seminar I was once again my usual bundle of nerves and I barely slept as the prospect of making a fool of myself in front of a man who I admire greatly filled me with blind terror! Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about. Spud's seminar was mainly talking. If you wanted to get in the ring and do something you could, but, of the 23 of us there I'd say that only 10-12 actually got up and did anything in the ring, to which I was very grateful. The day was made up of Spud asking 2 people to get into the ring and getting them to tell a story, I didn't matter what the story was, just do something. Spud would watch the 2 men or woman wrestle until stopping them at a point and explaining either what he liked, where they were going wrong or suggesting a way to improve. It would take many pages to cover everything Spud talked about or showed us in those 3 hours. Suffice to say I learned so much, a lot of things that I had never even thought of, and a lot of things that hopefully I can look back on in a few months and think to myself "so that's what Spud meant"!

Three days later I was back at the school with a new challenge to face, a new teacher -  "The Man For All Seasons"  Xander Cooper! Now I had heard that Xander's warm ups could be used by Governments as torture on terror suspects so was just a little bit nervous going into this one. After a few stretches we had to do 140 squats. I can do about 60 before I start to flag so this was tough. Then we were paired up and had to do 50 squat lock ups (making 190 total squats, 190!), then high five press ups, leg raises and a nuts type of reverse sit up over the ring apron!!! I was a tired boy after all that, BUT, I got through it, which I was very proud of myself for as it meant that my fitness is slowly improving. 


Xander's theme for the class was trust. Trusting your body in the hands of your opponent. To do this we would be learning how to do a stalling suplex and a crossbody off the ropes!!! 
As someone who has never performed a suplex or a crossbody, the familiar nerves began to creep in. Xander paired us up and I was picked to work with a young lady called Hollie. I've liked Hollie since my first session, she has a permanent smile on her face which I love. It's actually quite funny watching Hollie get chopped and see that she's still smiling. She's also got bags of talent, a great attitude  and I predict that she'll go a long way in the business. As Hollie is currently studying her GCSE's I was really scared that I would mess up my suplex and end up dropping her on her head. Fortunately Hollie didn't share this fear, confidently telling me that she probably wouldn't mind if I did. That put me at ease and on our second attempt I hoisted her high into the air and was able to hold her up! Fortunately for both of us Hollie didn't have to lift me. A nice young man called Dan was given the unenviable task. But, with the theme of the class being Trust, I wasn't afraid, I jumped when told, pushed off hard off Dan's teigh and he held me up. I felt elated and to be honest with you, a part of me wanted him to fall backwards so we could finish the suplex, but a suplex bump is for another day. 

THE MAN FOR ALL SEASONS!

Next up was crossbodies off Bret's Ropes (the second and most dangerous of all ropes). Xander showed us how to catch your opponent then put down a crash mat in case we needed it. I was determined to show that I do have some strength and actually catch Hollie but my first 2 attempts saw us both crash to the mat, don't get me wrong I caught her fine I just really wanted to be able to hold her upright.  Attempt three though saw me feeling like Lex Luger as I caught her in my arms and held her there. If I was impressed with myself it was nothing to how impressed I was a few minutes later when I dived off the ropes only to be caught first time by wrestler, Henry T. Grodd! Even with my weight loss I'm still in the 14-15 stone range and he caught me like I was half that! We finished the session doing standing crossbodies which again was a lot of fun. 
'

At the end of the session I drove home and a couple of times I actually giggled! Because I'm getting to know my classmates a little bit more I was so full of confidence in myself which in turn made me so happy that I was able to train again! Even better, I'm starting to believe in myself, something I've always had an issue with. So much so than 5 days after this class I was stood in front of 150 people working as the new ring announcer for Southcoast Wrestling! If you had told me I would be doing something like that when I started back in September I would have told you that you were crazy. But training is helping me come out of my shell and for that I am so thankful. The best part is that I'm only a few weeks into this crazy journey, and I know its only going to get better. 


Ever wanted to be a wrestler? Give it a try! Seriously its great. For all the details about Futureshock and it's school check out http://www.futureshockwrestling.co.uk/

Guest Article: Running the Ropes with Marc P - Part 1

Look who's back! Cheers to Marc Pearson for stepping in at the last minute to join our new guest writer cycle. Sit back and enjoy as Marc talks about starting wrestling training at Futureshock Wrestling School in Manchester.

I'm too old.
I'm too fat.
I'm too out of shape. 


3 motto's that I had clung to like the proverbial limpet whenever anyone from Futureshock Wrestling had ever asked if I wanted to give their Wrestling School a try. For four years these were the excuses that I trotted out time and again. Sometimes I would throw in a forth, just to make sure as it were, I am THE worst wrestler in the world. Anyone who had the misfortune of seeing me stink up matches in my old backyard fed (UBW - Ultimate British Wrestling, check on Daily motion if you have 10 minutes to kill and want to laugh at me getting the living snot kicked out of me) will know that I'm not great at the old wrestling lark. 


Unfortunately (for yours truly) 3 of my 4 mottos have been put to test this year. Namely that I've lost a boat load of weight and got heavily into keeping fit. So that's motto's 2 and 3 out of the window isn't it? We'll come back to numbers 1 & 4 in a moment. I'd given real "proper"  Wrestling training a try once before, a few years ago with Chris Curtis, in my hometown of Stoke On Trent with a group called BWA. On that day I'd taken a bump incorrectly and landed with all my bodyweight on my left elbow, tearing a ligament in there, an injury that ended both my pro wrestling dreams but also my backyard days as well. That was until earlier this year, when I was offered a chance to train for the day with the Runcorn based RWA. While I didn't do any damage to myself that day I was one of only 2 beginners there and that took me right out of my comfort zone and riddled me with self doubt, which only intensified when I performed an armbar takedown incorrectly and my opponent - a young girl - was driven face first into the canvas. It didn't matter that the girl took the bump on her nose instead of on her cheek, I was seriously shaken up and was glad when the session finished soon after. 


I forgot all about being a wrestler for a few months, well I say months, I mean weeks. As in late August, Futureshock Wrestling announced that they would be holding an Induction Day in September. I thought long and hard about whether to attend or not, as mentioned my motto's and excuses had already been dismissed by some of the guys who train at the school and because it was an Induction day, I wouldn't be the only newbie there, hell, because of my new found love of fitness, surely I wouldn't be the worst one there either. So I agreed to go.


And so, on Saturday the 19th of September, I made the drive to Failsworth in Manchester. I almost didn't make it as half way there I had a mini panic attack which made me drive round a roundabout 4 times as I tried to decide whether to go home or to stop being such a pussy and finish the drive. Obviously I decided on the latter and soon thereafter pulled up behind the old cotton mill that is Morton's Gym. Now I have to say (and you may have guessed) that I'm VERY shy, and very introverted with people that I don't know. I was expecting to be ok with this though as I've known the head trainer Dave Rayne for a number of years and  thought that I'd be alright with a group of newbie's. My heart sank then as when I pulled into the car park I noticed Futureshock Wrestlers Penny Dreadful & Henry T Grodd. For some reason I had expected the Induction Day to just be beginners. I walked slowly up the stairs to the top floor  and almost ran out of the building when I entered the training area so the sight of a room packed full of people.

Session One

Futureshock's Ring

Again, man up time for sure. I took a few brave pills and decided to stick around and see if the warm up was as hard as I'd heard it would be. And from the moment we started warming up I relaxed. Running on the spot I took the time to look around the room and realised in seconds that I wouldn't be the worst person there. As we progressed through various exercises - press ups, squats, leg raises, planks and assorted gubbins, my confidence swelled, while I'd never call it easy, it was easier than I was expecting it to be, and when I was partnered up with a wonderful man called Kevin, he not only pushed me further than I thought I could go but made me laugh doing it (it turns out Kevin is a stand up comedian so that kind of made sense). Turns out motto/excuse number 4 was another one that I couldn't use. 

After the warm up the group was divided into 2, one group being the usual advanced class that occurs on a Saturday morning (which explains why there were so many wrestlers there) and us newbie's. We were taught how to lock up, doing a drill where we had to do a lock up followed by a squat, 50 times! How do 3 different types of roles (something I was pretty good at having done many of them as part of my exercise regimes) then how to transition from a lockup into a headlock or a hammerlock. Head Trainer Dave Rayne not only showed us how to do the moves, but WHY they are done in that way. This was something I had never experienced and it really opened my eyes to some of the inner working of the art of wrestling. Dave is also an extremely patient teacher, it mustn't be easy when an idiot like me asks to be shown something for the 7th time but he never once complained and made sure that I understood everything. 

But then we all came back together and I had to show the whole class what I had learnt, feeling like I was at school again, hating the thought of all these wrestlers who I respect and admire watching me. Some of them I've criticized on my reviews of Futureshock shows so my paranoid brain told me they all wanted me to fail. Fortunately my partner at this time was a Mr Bobby Cash, who I've known for years and who went out of his way to make me look good. And then we were done. Dave held a brief Q&A and before I knew it I was on my way home. 3 hours had flown by and I was left feeling both elated yet massively annoyed with myself for how my confidence seemed to utterly fail me where I mattered the most. I resolved myself to not only return as soon as I could, but to have a  much, much better attitude than I had shown that first day. 

Session Two

My back after running the ropes.

With that, 3 days later I was back at the school. This time I learnt that the warm up we had done on Saturday was a legitimately easy one. Dave had us run to the bottom floor and back to the top 3 times, then do 120 squats, 40 press ups, 40 burpees and more! In my second session I tried my hardest to be more confident, I volunteered to try things even if it meant doing it in front of the group and worked as hard as I could. We learnt headlock takedowns and running the ropes that night. I can get quite frustrated when I can't do things and I couldn't figure out the actual takedown part of the headlock takedown and had to be taken to one side by former Futureshock Women's Champion Danni Hunter and explained that getting frustrated like that in a match situation would be really bad and that it's something I would need to nip in the bud immediately.

Unfortunately it wasn't all good that night. After the warm up we had been doing some drills which involved us slamming ourselves onto our fronts as fast as we could. On my 9th dropdown I landed really hard on my left knee and straight away knew something wasn't quite right. I carried on though, full of adrenaline and determined to be better than I had been on the Saturday. But when I got home and that adrenaline had worn off I began to realise that I couldn't put any weight on my left leg. A day later and a visit to A&E confirmed a torn MCL and orders not to train for 6 weeks. I write this after 2 weeks and the frustration of not being able to train is already driving me crazy. But at the same time I know I'll be back as soon as I'm able to. I believe I've got what they call "The Bug". And I'll be here to tell you guys all about it.

Oh and if you wondering about motto excuse number 1, I'm 33 years old, the response I got when I mentioned this.............DDP was 35 when he started training. Can't really say anything back to that can you?! 


If you want to find out more about the Futureshock Wrestling School, here's where to head.

Sites Better Than This

This article is part of #ATPW24, in aid of MIND Charity. You can help support the cause by going to www.justgiving.co.uk/acrossthepondwrestling

It's always good to share a little love for products you enjoy. So I thought while I'm here today I'd spend a brief moment talking about blogs, podcasts and the like that I happen to be digging at the moment. Digging is a great word.

Marc Pearson

Marc Pearson does wrestling reviews on Youtube. Recently he's mostly been focusing on his Ten Years Ago.. and 1999 Sucked Series, but there's a wealth of content across his Youtube channel. I could watch Marc's videos til the cows come home. It helps that we are pretty good pals, I suppose. Always informative and laugh out loud funny, Marc never minces his words when it comes to terrible wrestling. And you never know when an emergency service vehicle might turn up! You can check out his channel here. 

WrestleRopes

I have so much time for WrestleRopes. I love being able to keep up with results of shows as they happen and WrestleRopes always seem to have the quickest results for British wrestling shows on the web, all in one place. The site looks great and it's easy to navigate to find what you need to know, when you need to know it. It's clear a lot of work is put into keeping the site running, due to the sheer volume of content produced and companies they cover. They've got me out of many a long journeys boredom! Check them out here.

OSWtv

OSWtv is Billy Strachan, our man north of the border. His dedication to getting the word out about Scottish wrestling and supporting the scene top to bottom deserves to be recognised here. The site is updated regularly with interviews with numerous wrestlers and talent, as well as preview, reviews and all other sorts of good stuff. So good in fact that we asked Billy to write our Over the Border series! Check out OSWtv here.

British Wrestling Radio

This is a site that I just don't frequent enough. Put quite simply Deano Mitchell is an inspiration to us all, kicking cancers butt and raising money for anything and everything. The bloke is a machine. His shows are always entertaining, and even branch outside of wrestling. Deano will let you know what he thinks and you won't want to argue with him! You can check BWR out here.

Best of British IV - Futureshock Wrestling

In the fourth edition of Best of British, Marc Pearson puts his case forward for Futureshock Wrestling

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Do you ever do something in your life, and wonder how on earth you had never done it before? August 28th, 2011 was one of those times for me. Sitting in the 4th row in a small but beautiful hall, I watched two guys who I had never heard of put an absolutely brilliant wrestling match, and I was utterly hooked. 

In early 2011 I was at a crossroads in my life. Having been a wrestling fan my entire life I was at the point where I was bored of WWE, TNA and any other Wrestling company in the world. A friend of mine had been pestering me to go to a local Indy promotion called Futureshock Wrestling for a good 6 months and I always had a trusty excuse at hand - the fact that I couldn't get there. I live in the awful city of Stoke On Trent, Futureshock are based in South Manchester and while there is a big train station in Stockport I doubted that there would be a train after the show to get me home. That all changed when I passed my driving test in July 2011. No excuses now, eh? Well there was one, the very next Futureshock show featured SOME GUY called Davey Richards........and I already had plans. Very annoying to say the least. BUT, the show after that - Futureshock 53 - featured another NOBODY called Colt Cobana. I loved Colt's feud with Homicide so simply had to attend. I grabbed a fellow jaded wrestling fan and went to my first "Britwres" show!

The draw for Marc's first Brit-Wres show was Colt Cabana.

The 2 unknowns I mentioned at the top were Bubblegum and Jack Gallagher, nowadays 2 of my absolute favorite performers. That night I also saw The Models (Danny Hope & Joey Hayes), The Blackpool Blondes, Cyanide, Dave Rayne and Xander Cooper. All became firm favourites of mine. 

As a standalone show I had a really good time, and Colt was just as good as I hoped. We decided to go back for the next show and it was this one that really cemented my love for the company. I like storytelling in my wrestling, spots for spots sake or matches that happen JUST BECAUSE really get on my nerves. Futureshock have long term storylines, it wouldn't surprise me if they had a whole years worth of storyline planned out in advance. Everything makes sense, everything happens for a reason and I loved that, and still do. 

Current Futureshock Champion, Xander Cooper.

Futureshock became an obsession with me. I wanted everyone I knew to come and attend these amazing shows, to the point where all my friends had either heard of the company or been bullied/cajoled, threatened into coming to a show! Even better I became friends with loads of the guys who attended the show AND, even better than that, I became friends with some of the wrestlers, so I could pick their brains about the inner workings of the business, something I've always loved, things like WHY a match is happening or the thought process behind a heel turn. Things like that. 

Futureshock's core business is its training school. Because of this, you won't see a show loaded with imports or that many well known "Big Name" talents like at some companies. A lot of shows feature an unknown from the school making their debut and its really fulfilling seeing a talent expand and grow, all the while becoming more and more confident as they adjust to being in front of an audience. It's quite special to see a wrestler today and be able to say "I was there for his/her first match!" That's not to say that it's all trainees on the shows. Futureshock tends to bring one "name" wrestler in per show, which is great for us fans as we get to see talent from all over the country, men we wouldn't normally see. A great example of this was on their latest Underground show where Big Damo O'Connor debuted for the company in a show stealing performance against Jack Gallagher. Damo is a wrestler I'd heard great things about so it was amazing to see him in my "home" promotion.

Big Damo in his Futureshock debut against Jack Gallagher.

Futureshock opened my eyes to a world of Indy wrestling. Since 2011 I've attended well over 100 shows, all over the UK, from Morecombe to London and many places in between. Companies like PCW, Progress, Dragon Gate UK, House Of Pain, Fight Club: Pro, Infinite and so many more. Incredibly 2 companies (GPW and Great Bear Promotions) allowed me to achieve a lifelong dream by allowing me to commentate on their shows (I hated it, but that's another story for another time). I've seen so many talents that I never dreamed I would see, I met Terry Funk for goodness sake! And I owe it all to a little promotion based in Stockport who well and truly stole my heart. 

4 years later they are running 21 shows this year, across three venues, most of which are either almost full or sold out. They are home for me, and I implore anyone that maybe interested to give them a try, you will not regret it! 

You can learn more about Futureshock Wrestling from their website, Facebook, Twitter or Youtube pages. You can find more about Marc Pearson on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

Second Podcast Pilot with Marc Pearson, Marnix Van Der Kraan and Alex Daniels

Another podcast pilot was attempted, as four guys sit in a McDonalds somewhere near Telford and talk about wrestling. There's a lot of laughter, an attempt to review SWA's Summer Blowout show and rustling of wrappers. But mainly laughter. Enjoy.

Podcast Pilot with Marc Pearson

On Friday night, myself and Marc Pearson attended PCW's I Want To Break Free. On the drive back to Stoke we decided to record a "podcast", essentially of us just talking about wrestling.

Topics covered include TNA's TV deal with Spike, the recent WWE Network announcement and a review of PCW "I Want To Break Free" 

Give it a listen, a like, a share, subscribe to Marc P's channel and give us some feedback on Twitter (Either @ATPWrestling or @MarcRPearson101) if you'd like to see us do another.

 

Futureshock Underground 3 Review - Marc Pearson

I've had the pleasure of attending the first 2 Futureshock Underground shows in Prestwich, Manchester and while they were both good shows they were nothing special, nothing stood out for me as amazing if that makes sense, I think it's one of the problems with having such a good product that when a show is average its really noticeable. With that said this show looked like it could be very different, with a jam packed card that featured 3 or 4 matches that could easily steal the show.

We started off with a big surprise as the usual colour commentator (Metrosexual Matt Taylor) couldn't be there so making his return to the announce table was former colour commentator (and one of my heroes, but don't tell him that) G-Man. The DVD will be worth it just to hear his banter with Mark Adams, trust me on that one.

We started the show with T-Bone defeating  Josh Bodom in a really good match. A pleasant surprise as this one went at least 15 minutes, zero problem with that as it allowed the story to flow. Both men's offense looked crisp and fluid and T Bones interaction with the crowd was just brilliant, it's the part of his game that has improved the most this year. And WHAT A FINISH! You may know that I LOVE the dragon suplex, it's in my top 3 favourite wrestling moves, so imagine how much I popped for a SUPER DRAGON SUPLEX, Josh doing a full rotation in mid air and came down on his face!! BUT THAT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR T-BONE, he put Josh on the top turnbuckle and hit a draping DDT to pick up the 3. 

Next up was Justin Price was out to perform some Christmas songs complete with his sister Melanie Price and her charges The Models. Now I've loved The Models since the first time I've seen them but in all their Futureshock matches that I've seen they have wrestled as heels. To see them come out as faces was very very odd. Especially as there was no rhyme or reason for it. Over at Infinite Promotions the reaction for them is utterly deafening. The Models do get cheered by a few fans at Futureshock but not in nearly the same numbers and the fact that they have a character with them like Justin Price who is surely designed to get MEGA HEAT from any member of the audience who, like me, cannot abide Justin Beiber, it just felt weird. Someone was always going to interrupt the concert and it was The Blackpool Blondes who had the honour. 2 of my favourite tag teams in the ring would normally make me a happy chappy, here though, the match just didn't really do it for me. James Drake scored the win with a roll up. 

The third match of the evening saw the vacant Futureshock Woman's Title on the line as Scottish powerhouse Viper made her third Futureshock appearance on the year against former merchandise seller Danielle Hunter. The woman's title having been vacated on the last Futureshock show having not been defended for several months. On my predictions vid I said I expected a third or even a fourth person to be added to the match and naturally I couldn't have been more wrong as the match was a straight up one on one match.........for the most part! Danielle performed the splits as part of her entrance, something that I'm sure sent several naughty thoughts running through the minds of the male members of the audience! Considering this was her first ever match Danielle performed admirably, she didn't look at all nervous but I get the impression that something went wrong with her attire as she was  constantly adjusting her pants which was a touch off putting. My favourite part of the match was a great little sequence where both girls applied strangle surfboard stretches, both ladies were able to counter the others hold into one of their own, I've never seen that before and it was truly joyous to watch. Viper had the match won with a vicious Viper Driver but Xander Cooper and Ryan Hendrix of The Ascension came out to distract the referee and that allowed Don Meacho to come out and hit Viper with a massive lariat enabling Ms Hunter to pick up a very unpopular win. 

The last match before the intermission was a highly anticipated match between 2 of the best technical wrestlers our isles have to offer at the moment in Jack Gallagher and Noam Dar. Proving that I just shouldn't bother with predictions I said that I expected this match to be a deadly serious wrestling match, and while it did have some of the nicest, crispest technical wrestling that I've seen in a long time it also featured shenanigans a plenty. Both men looked like they were loving it and the crowd, which could so easily given up on a technical match, clung to every moment. Dar worked the leg to set up his "Champagne Super Knee Bar" finisher while Gallagher worked the arm to set up his cross armbreaker. Both men got their finisher of choice but neither were able to get the win with it, Jack resorting to a roll up to get the win. I didn't like the finish as I would have preferred a submission win but it made sense and was a truly brilliant match.

After a short intermission we got a three team match for the Futureshock tag team title pitting new champions Dave Rayne and The Nordic Warrior against The Wristlock Rovers and the team of Noah & Dan Evans. THIS was a match that I expected to be full of shenanigans. And despite my friend Andy's best efforts (Rayne made a classic "Your mum" joke to which Andy replied "you can have her she's dead" utterly killing the mood) there were plenty in the early goings with DDL confusing Warrior by explaining the offside rule to him, and the wonderful Noah singing "Silent Night" as he was on the offense. Things took a shocking turn of events when The Wristlock Rovers were pinned by Noah, at no point in the run up to the match was it announced as an elimination match so we thought there was new champions. The ring announcer said that The Rovers had been eliminated so the match continued.  After that the match was a standard tag match with Dave Rayne as your tweener in peril until he could get the hot tag (and that feels weird to write that) to Nordic Warrior who cleaned house before the champions could hit a nice double back cracker to get the win. 

Next up was my favourite match of the evening, which was a big surprise as I wasn't looking forward to it that much when it was announced. In it Sparx, Si Valour and Joe Vega defeated Ascension members Xander Cooper, Ryan Hendrix and Don Meacho in a wild and crazy match featuring Si Valour dressed as Santa Claus and giving out presents to the kids until Meacho came out and turning the jolly atmosphere into one closer to a UFC fight with some of the stiffest action I've ever seen. I must give high praise to Sparx here as he looked brilliant. Vega hit a great dive to the outside landing on friend and foe alike to a big roar from the crowd but an even bigger roar erupted when Viper came out wanting revenge from both Meacho AND Danielle Hunter who was out with her Ascension stablemates with her new gold proudly around her waist. A Viper Driver for the pair of them was just magical as the crowd roared its approval. Vega gained a popular victory after a perfect tornado DDT.

After failing to win another raffle, bringing my total raffle prizes for the year to ZERO, it was time for our main event as Andy Wild challenged new Futureshock champion Zach Gibson. I've seen Wild twice in the 2 years I've following British Wrestling and both times he looked better than the last. Here he was a revelation as an arrogant heel, flipping the bird to the fans and hitting his finishing move (a modified Pedigree) before the bell had rung. I say he flipped the bird to the fans he flipped a few fans then flipped it at me twice, must watch my vids! A Wild (Ha!) brawl round the building started the match. When the action returned to the ring it was fast paced and never ever dull, especially when you receive a text message, read it, then look up to find Gibson charging at you to do one of his trademark suicide dives, it was a close thing but I got out of the way, my chair wasn't so fortunate! The result of the match was never in doubt though and a diamond drill (lungblower off the top rope) and the Liver Driver (modified brainbuster) got the win for Gibson. 

All in all this was one of my favourite shows of the year, 4 of the 6 matches were VERY good and there was really only the one match that I didn't like and to be honest I think that's more me nitpicking than anything else. It was certainly the best of the 3 Underground shows and a strong contender for show of the year. 

I want to add one more thing before I finish and that there was a couple of drunk guys in the row in front of me who thought it would be hilarious to throw stuff into the ring, how on earth they were not throw out is beyond me and I cannot think of anything more disrespectful to do while a match is going on. People like this are very rare in my experience but they make wrestling fans look like hooligans when they do things like that. 

As always if you've enjoyed my thoughts I review all kinds of wrestling over on my YouTube channel which can be found at www.youtube.com/themarcrpears0n
Thank you for reading