Welcome to the New Golden Age

During the weekend of April 14th - 16th, three promotions held huge events, Fight Club: Pro hosted the three day Dream Tag Team Invitational in Wolverhampton, Manchester and London, Insane Championship Wrestling held Barramania III in Glasgow and Over the Top Wrestling presented ScapperMania 3 in Dublin. Now why have I highlighted these events from the others? Each one of those events drew crowds of over 2000 fans, each, and that isn’t including the fans who tuned in to watch the shows on their preferred streaming service. 

Seriously collectively that's 6,000 people, think about that, that's amazing right? And it shows the incredible popularity that wrestling, British wrestling, has with the fans nowadays. I haven’t even mentioned the sold out Rev Pro show that happened on April 13th or the other shows by 3 Count Wrestling, House of Pain Wrestling, Pro Wrestling 4U and Absolute Wrestling that still drew good numbers over that weekend. Could you imagine that happening a few years ago? Nah, me neither. 

How has this happened? Now, some may say, its down to the imports coming across, The Elite and many others arriving. Sure that is indeed a factor, A factor. But many times before in British Wrestling we have seen big names booked, big names arrive, the show a sell out, and directly afterwards not one person talking about how good that show was, they may have only mentioned that import wrestler but that’s all. Well, this weekend that wasn’t the case, social media was a buzz of fans talking about all the shows and more importantly fans talking about every wrestler on it and even the production involved in making each one of those shows a success. 

Now like I said, imports are one thing, but to have fans talk about the whole show, that's a different thing altogether. That takes time, months, perhaps years to reach that level, and to have homegrown wrestlers trained, developed and connect with the fans to such a level that they have their own fan base, again that takes time. But it looks like that time is finally occurring. The UK and Irish Wrestling scene has finally reached a level after years of building that could act as the modern golden age, after all, WWE, NJPW, ROH and IMPACT are all casting their eyes on the talent that have been entertaining the fans for years and wrestling promotions are drawing record numbers across the country, that's a great thing. That is down to the training schools, the promotions and the hard work of each wrestler involved in progressing their own work rate to excel better at what they do.

One thing that should be said though is that while this is happening what about the future? Wrestling promotions can’t stop now, they need to make sure they have plans in place to keep this momentum going, that they have an influx of wrestlers ready to be pushed into the public eye and ready to seize the fans attention at a moments notice, because that one way they can keep this going. Case in point, don’t surround the hype of your show based around one big name import, how many times have fans seen a superstar name pull out from a booking or been forced to cancel on a show at the last minute and then fans go, they want a refund because there isn’t anyone that promotion hasn’t invested time or effort on demonstrating on why the public should see them. Why sacrifice a lot of money on a one show pay off if you can invest that money on training, vignettes, time and effort in showcasing new talent, that way in the future, that new wrestler you have helped develop, will draw more money over a longer time. Sure it’s slower, but the dividends will be greater, financially and more so to the fans. It is disappointing to me that we still see short term gains overshadow long term prospects. Also, if you are booking a big name import, have them face your biggest star, showcase your own talent and book them strong, it casts awful memories of the dark days in UK Wrestling when fans would see big names arrive and destroy a companies wrestler. I'm just saying, if you have invested months on building a star in your own promotion only for that star to be an afterthought in a match why should the fans pay money to come back to watch an afterthought, it makes no sense. The fans demand and deserve better and so do the wrestlers themselves.

Personally, I feel wrestling is changing, the fans are demanding more from promotions, they don’t just ask for good wrestling or entertainment, they now demand excitement and interaction. If they are paying the hard earned cash that they work for, and promotions are charging extra to cater for more imports, you better be giving those fans more than ever before. Fans will go away pissed off if they don’t get that interaction or excitement and hell mend you if you don’t give them that, thanks to social media, it takes less than a minute for someone to bad mouth a promotion and that status or tweet to gain traction and afterwards, other fans will see it and possibly lose interest.

Welcome to wrestling in the new golden age, with high rewards comes greater risk and if you’re a promoter, plan ahead, and get ready for story lines as well as financial spreadsheets to have short, medium and long term plans because, I say this only as a fan, with over 100 promotions in the UK and Ireland, the competition has never been bigger and expectations have never been higher.

Writer - Craig Hermit 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

Winners and Losers of the 2016 WWE Draft

Since Raw and SmackDown split their rosters in the middle of last year things have been overwhelmingly positive from my point of view. Many stars managed shine brightly after being given extra exposure on TV and natural fears of watering down the entire roster were wavered by WWE’s brilliant slow build to many WrestleMania feuds including, Wyatt v Orton, Jericho v Owens, Rollins v HHH.

Admittedly, Raw has struggled to produce 3 hours of good television most weeks but SmackDown Live in particular has become a cesspool of joy and wonder; with interesting angles, top-class matches and by going they have ditched the god awful piped crowd noises, making for much more enjoyable viewing.

People will moan about Roman and the booking of champions forever and a day but with every negative there are more positives and I am here to run down my selections for biggest winners and losers since WWE did away with their ‘Super Show’ and divided the wrestler into two.

 

Winner – The Miz and Maryse

Hands up, who thought The Miz would be one of the most entertaining and must-see wrestlers of the last calendar year? Nobody? Yea, seems about right. What a turnaround year this guy has had, since being drafted to SmackDown alongside his lovely wife, the twosome have been on a tear.

Moving to the blue brand as Intercontinental Champion set him in good stead anyway but ever since THAT promo on Talking Smack with Daniel Bryan, he’s been on another level entirely. His intensity, his promos, his matches (see @ No Mercy versus Dolph Ziggler) have all been better than ever before and having recently shifted back to Raw, he’s sure to gain another fresh burst of life. 

Everyone is talking highly of the Miz now and he’s worked him damn ass off to be in the discussion as one of the best in the company at the moment, so massive props to him. I wish his Intercontinental Championship tour had never stopped but all good things must unfortunately come to an end; hopefully he continues to show his absolute best side this year, and with Maryse by his side, I see absolutely no reason why that shouldn’t happen.

 

Loser – Kalisto

Imagine being 5 foot, 6 inches tall, weighing in at 170 pounds. Now imagine a Cruiserweight division is re-birthed on Monday night Raw. Now imagine being drafted away from that and onto the Tuesday night show whereby you will not really achieve anything of note and have to watch you fellow shorter professionals, such as Neville, smash it out of the park under the umbrella of the purple-roped division.

Kalisto was actually cooking on gas before the draft hit, he was a former US Champion and had a couple of very respectable matches with Ryback (5 star Classics according to the Big Guy himself) but since turning to the blue brand he’s all smoke and no fire, with loss after loss after loss building on his resume. Safe to say, he did not do really good Lucha things as he promised…

Honestly, I don’t think Kalitso is a bad wrestler per say; is he the next big Mexican star WWE is looking for? No, he’s a little botchy and Cien Almas is clearly a better luchador, but he can have really fun matches – such as his chairs match @ TLC versus Baron Corbin – and is capable of amazing athletic feats. Hopefully now he’s back on Raw he can kill it with the other Cruiserweights and input some extra diversity to the rather thin roster too. In fact, I would be surprised if he was the champion soon.

Winner – Alexa Bliss/Naomi

I must admit, when I first saw how the female wrestlers had been split across Raw and SmackDown, I feared for the state of the blue brand’s performance. With Becky Lynch the only true main event level star moved over initially, the star power didn’t really feel apparent; but then stepped up the other women, especially these 2, as they both epitomised perfect heel and face champions at the top of the division.

Bliss was the first breakout top woman as she tussled with Becky Lynch in a programme which, despite leaving a little to be desired in the ring, truly delivered on weekly television with bitter scathing promos from the pair. Alexa managed to de-throne Lynch and carried herself as a brilliant champion, vastly improving from her NXT days, becoming a wrestler who we just love to hate.

The championship baton was then taken by Naomi as she twice knocked off Bliss, at both Elimination Chamber and in her home state, at WrestleMania. Slapping the title on Naomi instantly rocketed her from lower-midcard to main eventer, and thankfully the fans have got behind her and she’s really, really over now; her ‘Feel the Glow’ persona is turning heads and making people take notice, which is a complete 180 from her Funkasaurus days.

Both look set for a solid 2017 too, Naomi has the belt and can hopefully put in a good stint against Charlotte, whilst Alexa has just moved to Raw where she got a bigger pop than a can of Pepsi and perhaps has a henchwoman in the form of Nia Jax. Overall, a very interesting scenario for both, onwards and upwards for them.

Loser – Rusev

Rusev is such an odd commodity in WWE, he blows hot and cold with the season as some months he’s an unstoppable force and the next he’s a beatable object. The Bulgarian/Russian has all the talents to make it to the top of card; solid wrestler, easy gimmick and most of all awesome, amusing promos, the man doesn’t take himself too seriously.

I wish however, that WWE had taken Rusev a bit more seriously since the draft. Unfortunately for RuRu he ran into the Roman Reigns first, leading to him losing his precious US title and then he fell much, much further. He was paired with infinite jobber Jinder Mahal before getting absolutely pummelled by Big Show and taking a break from TV in order to address his current injury. I had such high hopes for the brute but he really wasn’t given a great platform to deliver the goods from.

SmackDown becomes home for the handsome European as he aims to rebuild his shattered status, honestly a face turn could be massively effective for him as long as they make sure he is a serious threat to opponents rather than going full Euro-Joke character a la Santino and Vladamir Kozlov before him. Just like I did with the last draft, I have huge hopes for Rusev getting to the main event scene at last.

Winner – Baron Corbin

By debuting with a win in the Andre Battle Royal at Mania 32 and instantly stumbling into a stale rivalry with Dolph Ziggler, big banter man Baron Corbin looked set to be another flash in the pan, who would never elevate beyond the level at which he debuted. But wow, has SmackDown Live treated him well!

He shook his early woes and is now right amongst the main players on Tuesday nights, now rubbing shoulders with Cena, Styles and company without looking even slightly out of place. Credit to the man himself too because he’s clearly been putting the hours in to improve his craft too; his promos are far less wooden than before and he holds his own in matches, no longer being carried or helped along by his more experienced foes. Hell, he even wrestled his first PPV main event after being out of NXT for less than a year when he took part in the Elimination Chamber this February; impressive stuff for sure!

Corbin will be the WWE or Universal Champion one day, I have little doubt about that, will it be before the next draft is carried out though? Well since he is confirmed to be staying put on SmackDown it feels he is closer than ever to getting his grasp on a top championship belt, so keep a watchful eye on the big man this annum.

Loser – The SmackDown Live Tag Team Division

Nothing sums up the SmackDown tag teams’ struggles quite like the fact that theirs was the only title not to be defended at this WrestleMania, and to be sadly honest, I doubt many people cared as the build between American Alpha and The Usos was very poor despite a good start when the teams first exchanged promos.

Things started well for the division as the undrafted Heath Slater’s surprising rise become the unlikely feel-good story of the summer. Following his crowning moment with Rhyno the roster quickly cooled off and become largely redundant on SmackDown; the Wyatts held the straps as a small part to their larger story and American Alpha had a forgettable run before dropping to the Usos but all of this has been carried out with a murmur, rather than with a bang.

What makes matters worse is the talent is there and SmackDown have built people beautifully, but the tag titles have fell by the wayside as everything else has accelerated past them. New Day joining team blue is exactly the sort of star power they required but my hopes are still resting on FaBreeze getting a title run at some point, they could really inject some fun and life into it!

 

Winner – Braun Strowman

I wanted to finish on a high, and there is no larger high than that which has been experienced by Braun Strowman since being drafted to Raw. I’ve always been a massive mark for this giant bastard since day one but after getting to Raw exclusively he’s rose more than anyone could have ever imagined. 

After crushing a huge list of jobbers and lower card talent he became a legitimate and threatening player on Raw during his entertaining feud with Sami Zayn and his role amongst the Raw Survivor Series team. He is living proof that slowly building somebody and using enhancement talent in the correct manner can make somebody into an absolute superstar, in both the eyes of management and of the audience. 

Sure he may have lost to Roman Reigns but that won’t stop this freight train of destruction, he is set to be a mainstay at the pinnace of Raw for the foreseeable future. Though it is unlikely I would really love to see them go all-in on Braun and have him trade a win back with Roman, but who knows? His segments are something very enjoyable and must-see every week, the polar opposite of his stature before the draft.

All in all, Braun is bloody brilliant.

Conclusion

So like I said beforehand, most things since the draft have been superb; the build from the initial draft until Mania was done extremely well and we have a whole host of very impressive men, women and tag teams across the two brands. Hopefully the rough edges are smoothed out over the course of the year and we see yet more successes as part of the most recent Superstar Shakeup, here’s to WWE delivering again!

Words - Thomas Brady 

Editor - James Marston

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

Ain't No Party Like a Dan Severn Party - Your Guide to WrestleMania and Beyond.

Bayley had a great line on Raw the other night, one that once again underscored her relatability to us die-hard fans, when she confessed that WrestleMania was her favourite day of the year. For me, Mania is right up there with the first day of the football season and Christmas: it evokes an energy and excitement that is palpable. And listen, I reckon that deep down all wrestling fans feel this way: from the markiest of marks to the smarkiest of smarks, we can all get enthusiastic about WrestleMania and what it entails. Hell, I’m currently navigating a frantic week in which I’m juggling multiple work deadlines and dealing with the reality that my wife is due to give birth at literally any minute. Despite such serious commitments, I’ve still spent an undue amount of time pondering whether the Smackdown women will be stuck on the pre-show again (yes, they will as it happens).

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of UK fans will be making the familiar trans-Atlantic commute to be a part of it all but for those who can’t be there in living colour, there are more ways than ever to sample the various action. Streaming services such as WWE Network and FloSlam are offering hours of coverage to ensure that all corners of fandom can find something to suit their fancy. Remember, WrestleMania  isn’t just one night, it’s not even just a weekend event: it’s a week-long celebration of the art form and pretty much every company that plies their trade within this wonderful, crazy genre is at the party.

So with so much on the horizon, what should we, the insatiable wrestling fan, be looking out for? Here are some choice picks of the week’s action.

Dan Severn is in the house.

As was aforementioned, the streaming potential for this year’s indie offerings have been enhanced by the emergence of Floslam, a pro wrestling division of Flosports.  I’ll be sampling this service for the first time this weekend and I must confess that the reason for my imminent subscription is rather left-field: it’s not the EVOLVE cards that see Brit hero Zack Sabre Jr. mix it up in main events with ACH and Michael Elgin; it’s not WWN’s Supershow of PROGRESS vs EVOLVE match ups; no, it’s something far more random and ridiculous. It’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break show, an offering from Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) which airs in the UK at the frankly offensive time of 5am this Friday morning. This show is a gift that keeps on giving. Matt Riddle vs Dan Severn! Marty Jannetty vs the eponymous Joey Janela! Glacier will be there. Dink the Clown is advertised and an Earl Hebner run-in has been promised. I always wanted to do Spring Break and that was before I realised that Dan Severn would be there. Hook me up Floslam. 

Spring BROKEN, Super-Kick Party

Us wrestling fans haven’t always had this much variety during Mania week. For some time, outside of the WWE shows, the only alternative that had real buzz was Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor. In recent years, ROH have had to up their game in the face of the increasingly wide array of competition and this year, they have gem of an attraction to ensure that they hold their own. In what might be the most anticipated tag team match in years, The Young Bucks face The Hardys in a Ladder match! Yes, they’ve had some brief altercations lately but they were only taster dishes: herein lies the feast. Given that Messrs Matt and Jeff have other plans from April 2^nd, this is likely the last time these teams will meet (for some-time at least), suggesting that they’ll leave it all in the ring. Spring break just landed a super kick party.

Old Man Yells at Crowd

Astonishingly, Jim Cornette has been invited to the WWE the Hall of the Fame and will be given a live microphone! Now, James E. might play this one safe. He might, out of respect for the Rock N Roll Express on their big night, toe the company line; he may even rationalise that a conservative speech and reliable performance here might paint him as a trustworthy figure and soon tempt Vince into inducting his beloved Midnight Express (an act he would surely be honoured alongside). So we might get a reflective, nostalgic Cornette who uses his time on stage at the Hall of Fame to play nice, to share some fascinating historical tit-bits and pay tribute his friends. Or he might totally lose it, burying Vince, modern wrestling, the fans, the PROGRESS dress code and Donald Trump (Linda McMahon’s career don’t need that) before telling all of America to go forth and multiply. Either way will be entertaining. But I hope he does it the second way.

KO-Mania 2

Contrary to the views of some, I think that KO-Mania 2 has a pretty good card and the build-up to the show has been consistently engaging and, at times, enthralling. The stand out match is the battle between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho: their tale of friendship gone awry has been well crafted and skilfully executed and theirs is a match that has sizzle and substance. Other match ups generate intrigue because of the significance of their result: Bray Wyatt badly needs the win to establish his title reign as legitimate whilst the finish in Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker could clarify the future of the latter performer. Other contests are intriguing due to the potential layout of the matches: will Rollins and Triple H be over-booked in a similar manner to The Game’s bout with Sting? Will Shane McMahon rely on his customary high-risk spots or will AJ draw a wrestling match out of him? Will Goldberg and Lesnar go more than 2 minutes? I doubt this will be the best WrestleMania of all time (that’s X-7, now and forever) but I expect the show to perform above the expectations of many. Just spare us an encore Pitbull, yeah?

When is a surprise not a surprise? When it’s  sensible, long term booking!

The post-Mania Raw crowd is a cliché now: it even has its own WWE 24 tribute show so it is in itself not an excuse to get particularly hyped. As for the content, the idea of this being a night when we have to have surprises has become somewhat counter-productive. Can we be shocked if we are permanently braced for a shock? Can an air of unpredictability exist when Asuku starts touring with Smackdown in March and the WWE twitter feed removes semblances of doubt by writing BROKEN in block caps whenever it tweets about old Hardy matches? I’d argue no.

Most annoying of all is that many in the crowd, programmed to be anticipating unexpected twists, might suddenly seek to derail a segment because it had the temerity to not feature someone shiny and new. The solution to this predicament is to move away from booking to pop a crowd in the moment to ensuring that hot angles are designed with a medium to long term view in mind. To that effect a triumphant debut for Shinsuke Nakamrua, a Sasha heel turn on Bayley, a quick Asuka title win and the introduction of Kurt Angle as Raw GM would be productive moments that, whilst not overly unpredictable, serve purpose. As long as the Orlando TV tapings set the table for the coming months, then the WWE will have given us shows worthy of the occasion.  

In closing, wherever you’re at right now, I urge you to fill your boots and consume as much grappling as is humanly possible. This is a week to embrace the glory of wrestling and appreciate it for what it is: an ultimately meaningless but undeniably fun distraction from the real world, a simple narrative given layers by skilled performers who are there to entertain you. If you’re attending shows live then be loud, be passionate and only chant CM Punk if he actually shows up.  If you’re at home, tweet about the moments that remind you why you’re a fan and not why Roman sucks. Wrestling should be pleasurable and if you can’t find any fun to be had this week, chances are you’re not looking hard enough.

Writer - Sean Taylor-Richardson

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

The Changing Face of WrestleMania - Part 2

The second part of this series asks how much has changed in the last 30 years of WrestleMania history and, more pertinently, has it changed for the better?

Part One - http://www.acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk/2017/03/opinion-changing-face-of-wrestlemania.html

WrestleMania 23 "All Grown Up"

In a previous article for this website, I’ve reflected that a significant factor in my wrestling fandom is pure, unadulterated nostalgia: well, WrestleManias 23 and 33 imply that a wistfulness for the past is part of Vince McMahon’s psyche too. On April 1^st 2007, McMahon took WWE back to Detroit, staging the 23^rd instalment of WrestleMania at Ford Field, thereby marking a return to the stadium show, a booking policy that is now synonymous with the granddaddy of them all. Twenty years on from the classic that was WrestleMania III and Aretha Franklin was back to reprise her "America the Beautiful" duties while it was strongly rumoured that the plan for one of the featured contests was to book a returning Hulk Hogan against The Big Show. It wouldn’t have been the greatest match in the world (it was just a tribute) but the fervent desire to pay homage to Mania 3 was testament to how McMahon perceived that particular event as a personal favourite and one of the most important shows in company history.

That aforementioned Hogan bout didn’t come to pass; indeed, this was a card that had a decidedly 21^st century feel, making it feel markedly different from the Manias of the 80s and 90s. The action was largely exciting: in the earlier shows, the excellent matches stood out amongst the short, formulaic bouts but here the duds, notably the match between Kane and The Great Khali, were more noticeable as the action maintained a fairly high standard. The booking leaned on high profile gimmicks, from ladders and special referees to the stipulation of hair vs hair and by this era, such shortcuts had overtaken championship titles in terms of adding value to a card. Take the Intercontinental title as an example: it was the semi-main event in 1987; early card fare in 1997; not even defended in 2007.

Of course, the biggest gimmick of the show was the use of one Donald’s Trump. Mr President’s role at WrestleMania has been discussed before ( see here: http://www.acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk/2016/11/opinion-donald-trump-and-wrestling.html) but his cameo served as both a link to the Manias of old while also foreshadowing the events of the future: it reflected Vince’s love of courting celebrities and mainstream attention whilst also providing the blueprint for his quick fix booking policy, demonstrating the relative ease of  importing an outsider to generate buzz in lieu of backing a lesser star on the main roster.

WrestleMania 33

WrestleMania has undergone some adjustments through the years, with its visual presentation, work-rate and celebrity involvement varying from era to era. However, this year’s version of the show has much in common with the prototype McMahon formulated with WrestleMania III. As ever, the company has striven to get everyone on the card, and not just through the shortcut of the Andre Battle Royal and multi-woman scraps on both Raw and Smackdown. If fact this year’s event seems like a throwback to those shows of old, with regard to the sheer quantity of matches; however, with two pre-show hours to play with, chances are few matches will feel as rushed as they were back in the day. All these years later, and very much in keeping with the practice of the 80s, we have McMahon’s beloved big man match in Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg (a match that also maintains a more recent tradition of relying heavily on part-timers). The celebrity involvement seems to have fallen through but we were a Shaq booking away from experiencing serious shades of those early Mania days.

I’ve seen some people online lament the quality of this year’s card and bemoan the lack of classic matches. Whilst I have some gripes with the line-up (Cena vs Undertaker is going to be the new Sting vs Undertaker, isn’t it?), I feel that this year’s show will supply exactly what the famed Mania 3 delivered in spades: a sensory spectacle on a huge scale, an extravaganza of epic entrances and a presentation of wrestling unlike that we see every other day of the year. In that respect, when reviewing/previewing the Manias of 87, 97, 07 and 17, it was the 90s version of the show that caused the most offence: for my money it had the single best match in Hart v Austin but being held in an arena, filmed like any other show, emphasised how WrestleMania is about more than just match quality. If Vince’s baby should serve one function, it should be to take your breath away. And as that opening shot from March 29^th 1987 proved, as a suited McMahon bellowed his welcoming address to the screaming masses that packed the vast expanses of the open air stadium, sometimes it doesn’t take a 6 star match to do that.

Article - Sean Taylor-Richardson

Editor - James Marston

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

The Real Lives & Side Projects of the WWE Or Publicly Exposing The Business Will Result In Being Placed On a Register

Recently, he updated it but for the longest time, Ricochet's Twitter biography read 'Yo, this is the official Twitter of The Future of Flight, King Ricochet. I also play a Prince on TV'. Not to give away trade secrets but the Prince in question is Lucha Underground's Prince Puma. Yes, I know, you're shocked, I thought it was Mickie James this whole time too. The reason I'm telling you all this is that it is faintly fascinating to see someone acknowledge that within the world of wrestling, they are playing multiple roles, let alone the question of what it means that a King is playing a Prince, what has the monarchy come to? Ever since 10th February 1989, the world has had to accept one simple truth: wrestling is not real, it actually happens, people can actually get hurt (see my earlier article on Seth Rollins' WWE24 special. WWE clearly has from the way they've been booking Seth recently) but it is fundamentally a story built for the audience's entertainment, it is a manufactured reality built to resemble the idea of an actual sport but both ramping up and simplifying the story in order to make it more satisfying (For an example of the benefits of this, look at the 12th March edition of Robot Wars, the climax between Cherub and Eruption was how the David and Goliath narrative fails in reality). Not that the people in the ring aren't wrestlers but they are people playing characters, they are people with lives outside of the show and other things going on. I don't know if you knew that Maryse was an estate agent for time between WWE runs and also has a jewellery line. See, rich lives.

Probably the most prominent display of side-projectry, in the WWE at least, is UpUpDownDown, the YouTube gaming channel of Xavier Woods/Austin Creed and friends. Within the grand tradition of 'Let's Play' channels, not much happens on there beyond Xavier plays video games, sometimes on his own sometimes with others and occasionally opens subscription boxes and other nerd stuff. Now if you watch The New Day in their promos, it's of no surprise to anyone that the bunch of them are nerds with the amount of reference comedy that they fit in but it's interesting watching the channel as a parallel narrative to the one presented over RAW, Smackdown: Live and NXT. You see there are also rivalries over on UUDD, it's not as clear cut as face-heel dynamics as these are what we call 'real people' but anyone who's watched the one-upmanship between Rusev and Cesaro in their never-ending Ping-Pong battles knows that there's something fundamentally compelling about seeing people whose job it is to make their disagreements seem like life and death just do things because they're bored and want to have a good time. Except for The Miz, to him everything is very serious and it's not entirely clear if he even has a gimmick any more or if Mike Mizanin is dead, long live The Miz (unless he's what was in that lockbox, we didn't consider that).

It is worth noting that Xavier is not the only one with a YouTube channel: Kenny Omega is an internationally regarded Street Fighter player, The Bella Twins have a constant stream of inane content, Emma's Taste of Tenille perfected the cooking show and introduced the world to the wonders of MuscleEgg, by expanding their 'brands' to include interests outside of just their day-jobs but still to an extent keeping it to normal people interests like video games, cooking, whatever it is the Bellas are doing, it makes the performers more relatable and as a result, it endears people to their characters. No one gives a shit about Titus O'Neil but if you see him having a good time playing some video games, maybe you'll give him some slack and think 'hey, he's not that bad'. Bad example, because he is that bad.

It's hard to work out how many Renee Youngs' there are. There is of course Smackdown and Talking Smack's Renee, but then there's also Total Divas's Renee, Unfiltered w/Renee Young's Renee but then there's also her podcast, Regular Girls, co-hosted with fellow Canadian, comedian and YouTube star Stacy McGunnigle, which seems to float back-and-forth between her being Renee Young or Renee Paquette. Slowly all these Renees seem to be converging in a somewhat Rick and Morty-esque manner but while personality-wise they retain similar traits, it's hard to explain why the woman who hosts a talk show where they interview murderers and arsonists also wants to talk at length about the virtues and difficulties of wearing leather trousers (far more fascinating than I can make it sound that second one). While I enjoy both sides of the coin, Regular Girls is one of the few podcasts left in my weekly rotation, it could be seen by some as trivialising the main product in that really, everyone should be terrified of Randy Orton right now, he is literally guilty of a few different crimes this month but there's never going to be an outcome where that comes up in storyline.

It's a commitment to having the cake and eating it, WWE want to both present the exaggerated theatrics of the wrasslin' and have the fun behind-the-scenes stuff like Unfiltered but they want this all to be the same person. This isn't the Indies where you can have The Young Bucks winkingly using 'insider terms' during their 'Being The Elite' travel diaries, this is a big self-enclosed universe that seems to not understand the divide between character and performer. As much as I malign the notion of referring to WWE superstars by their Indie names, perhaps if they're being interviewed behind-the-scenes, something as simple as using real names for some sequences and character names for others could help explain who they're actually talking to. If you look at the otherwise wonderful Breaking Ground series, a show that really explained the hardships of the developmental system in a simple but brilliant way, its issue is a commitment to pretending that despite showing William Regal working with people on their character, that the fights are real and the outcomes undetermined. You can't try to present a 'warts n' all' view of something and then try to just put make-up over something that is just a blank patch of skin. We want to know about the real lives of performers but we also want to believe that after the cameras stop rolling, those characters still exist in our world. 

Maybe I'm thinking too much into all of this, I mean, it's just a bunch of sweaty men and women not-punching each other right?

Article - Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

Editor - James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

What I'm Really Thinking - The Pro Wrestling Fan

‘You know it’s fake, right?’ I cannot recall the number of people who have insulted my intelligence with this question as they blabber on about how much they loved the fight scene from the latest Marvel superhero movie.

Yes, I am obviously aware it is fake; every soap opera/sitcom/thriller is fake too, everyone knows this, yet only a person’s love of professional wrestling is met with such a derogatory, demeaning reaction. But why?

Wrestling is a certain level of realism in terms of the presentation and undoubtedly it is much more Made in Chelsea than Chelsea Football Club, but that’s all very, very clear from the outset, other than for most children, so why ruin their enjoyment also?

Source - tickets.o2priority.co.uk

Whilst on the point of children, why just because children tend to enjoy wrestling, does that make it seemingly exclusive for them? There’s much more on offer than just WWE and adult-centric promotions are available across the globe, especially in the UK and Japan with the likes of PROGRESS Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Wrestling is something for everyone to enjoy, right across the board, so don’t let the negative stigma deter you from viewing.

Anyway, back to the original realism thing, I don’t watch wrestling because I think it’s real and, of course, I fully understand that they ‘aren’t really hitting each other.’ If I want to see real fighting I can happily, as I often do, turn to MMA or boxing, but the actual in-ring wrestling is only a segment of what makes pro-wrestling so enjoyable.

In fact, there is far more to the whole practice than just two wrestlers ‘fake punching one another in the ring.’ There’s an entire world of intricate on-screen intertwining and relationships that encapsulate the viewers each and every single night of the year.

Source - cagesideseats.com

Personally, I watch wrestling for the drama and emotional investment in the larger-than-life characters, and for the spectacular feats and incredible matches that the athletes pull off; you see these things happen multiple times every single week of the year and I honestly don’t think I will ever get bored of it. The whole thing is just endlessly exciting to me. Sure, sometimes it has cheesy acting and sometimes it’s incredibly frustrating but the ride never ends with pro-wrestling and fans like myself adore it.

And I’m certain that wrestlers themselves – many of whom work through incredible pain to allow the show to go on, or retire early due to the sheer strain such a business has on the body – would also appreciate people being less critical of their profession and passion.

Take Seth Rollins for example. The man suffered a horrid knee injury recently after tearing his ACL to shreds back in 2015 and is more committed than anyone has ever been to get back in the WrestleMania. He’s the embodiment of what every wrestling fan knows and loves and deserves the respect of a wider audience too, rather than people dismissing his lifelong passion as a secondary activity.

Source - 411Mania.com

Or how about those incredible characters who have honed their craft for a lifetime of bruises, take the wonderful John Cena for example, who is currently spreading his eagle-like wings into television and film, as the wider-public warms to his seismic personality. Or Chris Jericho, the man has given blood, sweat, tears and 25 plus years into being the most entertaining man on our screens, day in, day out, just for us as fans to drink in. What a marvel of a man.

There are way more layers to the entire industry than just the simple action within the squared circle and people are willing to commit their entire lives to get to where they want to be within their dream job, with great examples being Tyler Bate who is one of the youngest men to achieve his dream in the business, or Kenny Omega who turned down the biggest stage in order to become the very best, just as many in ‘real jobs’ would. If that isn’t something to get behind and commend, then I don’t know what is.

So next time you’re chatting about your favourite soap storyline or how great Game of Thrones was last night, remember, none of it is real, it is all staged, and wrestling is no different, so please refrain from attacking our intelligence as we so-often do with yours.

Words - Thomas Brady 

Editor - James Marston

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

Opinion: The Changing Face of WrestleMania

Amongst WWE fans, I’d class myself as somewhat of a veteran: I’ve been watching the product for nearly 23 years now (it’s fair to say, I’m not going to grow out of this) and I’ve gone back and watched a huge chunk of content from the 10 years that preceded my introduction to the sport. Obviously, there have been huge changes to the presentation of the product over this period: from the booking of both the stars and the venues to the structuring of the cards and the status afforded to the titles, there have been notable evolutions and deviations in Vince McMahon’s vision for his company. To consider the extent of such changes, I’ve selected snapshots in history to analyse closely: Wrestlemanias 3, 13, 23 and 33. By re-watching the Manias of old and considering the build to this year’s event, I can consider what creative and business policies have changed and what philosophies have remained constant over the course of three eventful decades. Here I begin my odyssey through wrestling history with an examination of the shows from 1987 and 1997.

Wrestlemania III - "Bigger! Better! Badder!"

This was the first time that Vince McMahon decided to try and fill a stadium for a WWF show and fill it he did: the company announced a gigantic, record-breaking attendance of 93,173. Admittedly this is a number that is disputed by many but the counter argument- that it was in fact 78,000 fans that rocked the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan on March 29^th 1987- still represents incredible business. Indeed, whilst stadium bookings remained a fairly rare policy over the subsequent decade, the success of this show was never forgotten and laid the foundations for WrestleMania as we know it today. From the singing of "America the Beautiful" by Aretha Franklin to the dramatic, patriotic video images that punctuated the performance, this was the prototype for much of what we see in today’s incarnations of the flagship PPV.

To draw the house, McMahon relied on a match of epic proportions. The main event of WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant was built over a period of months and relied on the company's tried and tested baby face/monster heel dynamic. It is, in my opinion, the most significant match in the history of the company: it delivered possibly the sport’s most iconic moment in Hogan slamming the (kayfabe) undefeated giant; represented a symbolic passing of the torch; and set a wrestling attendance record that would stand in North America for nearly 30 years. I wasn’t watching back in 1987 but in every screening of that match since, I’ve grasped the magnitude of the contest; the energy of the crowd seeps through the screen. True, the quality of their ring work is fairly poor but the bout has heat and meaning. In wrestling, what else really matters?

This was a show that enforced the old adage of the Intercontinental title being the worker’s strap. Here the IC title match between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat clearly meant something and the crowd and announcers reacted excitedly to every moment in this famed match. Interestingly, Savage received cheers on his entrance; despite being the villain, fans clearly respected and enjoyed his work. However, when the bell rang, the face and heel divide was established and the pop for Steamboat’s win wasn’t tainted by fans reluctant to play along. Elsewhere, the bout between "Rowdy" Roddy Piper against Adrian Adonis moved the live crowd who believed they were witnessing Hot Rod’s final bout. The action was poor, most notably for the interference of Brutus Beefcake, who delivered the world’s most invigorating massage.   

Truthfully, this was a three match card, although the 6 man between The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) and Danny Davis and Tito Santana and The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid) was rather good (look out for Davey Boy hitting a tombstone; Bret and Dynamite working extra stiff; and guest celebrity, Entertainment Tonight host Mary Hart calling a match better than either Byron Saxton or David Otunga could). Otherwise, this was a long card but largely lacking in quality: Vince’s desire to get everyone on the card was admirable (everyone gets a payday and to be part of history) and it was a booking policy that would continue into the 90s. Furthermore, this show was very much a reflection of its time: some of the comments regarding Junkyard Dog and little people pushed the boundaries of taste and earned the show a TV 14 rating and a warning on the WWE Network .

Commentary duties were well handled by Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura: this was an era when the announce team received adulation from the audience and largely added value to the matches. The chemistry between the two was strong and they interacted with guests in an engaging manner. Indeed, all of the celebrities added something to proceedings. Bob Uecker knowingly delivered one of the greatest lines in Mania history when commentating on the exploits of one of the little people: “There’s Beaver everywhere”.

The show was a huge success: it drew 400,000 buys on PPV and a further 450,000 on closed circuit television. Combined with a live gate of $1,590,000 and one can see why this will always be viewed as one of the most historic and successful WrestleManias of all time.

WrestleMania 13 - Heat

Fast forward to 23rd March 1997 and WrestleMania 13, which emanated from in Rosemont, Illinois and you’ll find the difference in shows to be stark. If 1987 was the WWF at their hottest, then 1997 may have been them at their most lukewarm: business was down with the buy rate for this show registering at a mere 237,000, making it the lowest drawing show in WrestleMania history. The Rosemont Horizon was full to it’s a capacity of 18,197 but it is thought that only 16,467 paid for a house of $837,150. Not great by any means but probably not unexpected. This card fell within my timeframe as a WWF fan and I vividly recall being non-plussed about the show. I was just as, if not more, hyped for the next month’s In Your House PPV as I was this. From the lack of "America the Beautiful" and celebrity involvement to the ordinary set and scale of the crowd, the visual presentation lacked spark, verve and anything that differentiated it from a bog standard TV taping.

The commentary had by now switched to a three man booth: Jim Ross provided the bulk of insight (and occasionally wandered off to conduct ringside interviews) while Vince McMahon was… enthusiastic. Jerry Lawler had an off night, most of his jokes (including some off colour remarks about Chyna) missing the mark but at least he, and the others, had a clear role. The sparky interactions shared by Monsoon and Ventura (and later Gorilla and Bobby Heenan) were not present but at least there were no obvious passengers on this announce team either.

As for the card; it was structured somewhat similarly to Wrestlemania III, showing Vince’s on screen preferences hadn’t changed hugely. Two big men contested the title in the main event (admittedly this wasn’t the original plan but remained a tried and tested fall back in times of need); two super workers competed in the stand out match of the under card; multi-man matches like a four corners tag and the 6 man Chicago Street fight tried to fit as many performers onto the card as possible. The most notable exception was the star power: it had declined greatly since 1987. Neither The Undertaker or Sycho Sid were at Hulk Hogan’s level (and neither were aided by the fact this match was afforded a few weeks build as opposed to the few months dedicated to Hogan and Andre) and the responses for the majority of mid and undercard talents were less rapturous than those garnered by the stars of old. Even the titles had lost some lustre: here the Intercontinental title felt like an afterthought, not the showpiece attraction of old. By this point, name wrestlers fighting one another wasn’t a rarity saved for PPV attractions, it was the norm on free television and therefore not something to get overly excited about. Fan burn out had begun and only the truly special could command a star’s responses.

Fortunately, for all of the negatives, there was still fun to be had on this card: like Mania III, the show boasted an outright classic as the bloody war between Bret Hart (who, along with Davey Boy Smith has the distinction of wrestling on both the ’87 and ’97 cards) and Steve Austin foreshadowed the rise of the Attitude era. Indeed, whilst Mania III may be the ultimate symbol of the 80s boom, Mania 13 is the calm before the storm, an early experiment in a tonal shift that would lead to the company scaling new heights as the century drew to a close.

Next week the focus turns to WrestleMania 23 - "All Grown Up": we’re back in Detroit but with a Presidential twist. And then a look at the build to this year’s show and a measured evaluation of whether Vince's current presentation of WrestleMania is better or worse than those which preceded it.

Words: Sean Taylor-Richardson

Images - James Marston

Editor - James Marston

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling