Best of British I - Revolution Pro Wrestling

In the first of a new series of articles, that will see British wrestling fans writing about their favourite promotion from across the country, Sean Taylor-Richardson takes a look at his favourite company, Revolution Pro Wrestling.

Photo credit - prowrestling.wikia.com

In 2013, I had a moment. As a dedicated wrestling fan of 18 years, I experienced an epiphany as it dawned on me that I had only really followed the televised American promotions. During the 1990s, when my interest was piqued and my obsession formed, I was fed a steady diet of grappling from the States: from the WWF on Sky to WCW via TNT and ECW by means of Bravo. In the noughties, WWE’s presence on Sky grew greater whilst TNA regularly found its way onto my screen. However, whilst in New York in April of 2013 (for a week of WWE related festivities), I had the chance to attend my first indy show. ROH were playing the Manhattan Centre. 

Now what happened that night is, without exaggeration, a blur (I’ll revisit the evening in a future article, Wrestling and beer: the drinking chronicles). Fortunately I managed to soak up more than pint after pint of Heineken and absorbed enough of the action and atmosphere to convince me to try indie wrestling when I returned to our British Isles. So later that year, I looked at the upcoming cards on the UK Indie circuit to see what took my fancy. In a wonderful moment of serendipity, a certain name appeared. It was the same name that appeared on my Sky Sports screen when I first fell in love with Wrestling in 1994. That name was Bret “Hitman” Hart.

Photo Credit - Revolution Pro Wrestling

On Friday 18th October 2013, myself and my brother attended the Revolution Pro Wrestling event, An Evening with Bret Hart. Photos were taken with a childhood hero and we left the Walkabout venue thinking nothing that weekend could top the previous few hours. But then the very next day we attended Rev Pro’s other offering: Uprising at York Hall. And what a show it was! Prince Devitt vs Ricochet and Zack Sabre Jr vs Davey Richards were 5 star belters. Noam Dar vs Michael Elgin and Marty Scurll vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (which featured a Bret Hart run-in) delivered in spades. As well as state of the art 21st Century wrestling, there was incredible comedy as Colt Cobana teamed with Grado! This event was one of the best shows I’d ever attended and proved that Indie wrestling was as deserving of my time and money as the big leagues.

Since then, I’ve attended all three of the York Hall super shows held in 2014. Rev Pro guarantees the best quality imports on our shores. You want future WWE stars, Rev Pro books ‘em:  Kevin Steen and Prince Devitt (now going as Kevin Owens and Finn Balor respectively) spring to mind. How about a nostalgia act? Sting, Rikishi and Two Cool should be right up your street. If it’s the stars of New Japan, how about The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and The Bullet Club. Invariably these acts matched up with the best of British talent: Will Ospreay, Martin Stone, Joel Redman and Sha Samuels to name a few. Samuels is particularly entertaining as he and his stable mates Terry Frazier and Josh Bodom work the crowd into a frenzy during their entrance and remind us all just how were supposed to feel about heels (speaking of Samuels, at a show in Sittingbourne, he once threw my brother’s shoe onto a window ledge).

Photo Credit - Sha Samuels

The matches work both as stand-alone, fantastic indie spectacles but also as part of on-going stories that entice you into counting the weeks until the next card. Nothing feels inconsequential. At the recent October Uprising event, world title matches and tag team wars were masterfully built for the forthcoming February show, High Stakes. This allows regular attendees to feel attached to the product and see each show as a must-see, an episode of wrestling drama not to be missed. My anticipation for Marty Scurll vs Spud and the eventual showdown between Redman/ Stone and Team Paige is undoubtedly greater for having been part of the live crowd that witnessed the electric angles unfold. 
   
Another thing that makes Rev Pro such a hot ticket is the setting: York Hall is special. Whilst the leisure centre on Old Ford Road in Bethnal Green, London garnered its reputation for
being one of Britain's best known boxing venues, it is quickly becoming a hotbed of wrestling (as evidenced by TNA recently filming some of British Bootcamp within its famed walls). Its history and legitimacy is an aspect that adds credibility to proceedings and is a factor many other indie venues just can’t match. The stars booked are skilled and the matches captivating but it is the combination of talent and venue that creates that oh-so-special atmosphere.  And the fans are fun fans to be around, loud and passionate but not too smart for their own good. There are cheers and chants but never an attempt to steal the spotlight from what happens in the ring. The people appreciate quality wrestling and show that respect by engaging purposefully with the show.

Photo Credit - UKFF

I’ve attended multiple Indie shows in the last two years. I enjoy Progress shows from Camden and had a good time at the IPW Super 8 tournament in Tonbridge. I’ve been to see Rev Pro in my local market, Sittingbourne, fairly regularly. But it’s the York Hall shows that I look forward to like I look forward to a Summerslam or Royal Rumble. The talent, the stories, the rich history of the venue; it’s a combination that in my opinion delivers the best night of wrestling that our thriving indie scene has to offer. If you haven’t checked them out yet do: in a couple of months, at February’s High Stakes show, AJ Styles is coming to play. Daniels and Kazarian step into the ring. And the most talked about podcaster of the year Colt Cobana returns in an angle already heavily promoted on the company website. Whether its hard-hitting wrestling, high spots or big gags, I can assure you Rev Pro at York Hall always delivers all that and more.

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Best of British will return in 2015! If you are interested in championing your favourite promotion, you can get in touch at acrossthepondwrestling@hotmail.com

TNA British Bootcamp's Grado Interview

Thanks to TNA Impact Wrestling we recently got the chance to chat to British Bootcamp and Insane Fight Club star Grado. This, of course, wasn't the first time we've spoken with the former ICW Tag Team Champion, having previously had him on our (now discontinued) "Five Questions With..." series, as well as chatting to him prior to TNA TV Taping in Glasgow, which can be found on Youtube here.

ATPW - Hey Grado. The first question is quite a generic one, How have you found the British Bootcamp experience?

Grado - It's been amazing because I've got the chance to wrestle in America. I've managed to fulfil a childhood dream that I've always wanted to go and wrestle in front of a live crowd in America. There's nae better feeling in the world. Also because I've had a lot of people telling the Grado character wouldn't work in America, Grado wouldn't go over in America, I went to America and managed to get myself over with some of the crowds. I'm glad, the experience so far has been amazing. Getting to TNA and getting to share the ring with Samoa Joe, Al Snow and Gail Kim, has been a very good experience. 

Do you feel the process has helped you develop as a performer? Have you improved as the experience has gone on?

Every day is a learning day in wrestling. Every time you step in the ring, you always come back out with a few learning points for you to work on. So when you're being trained by Al Snow, Gail Kim and Joe, you're obviously going to adapt and learn and find out news ways of performing. 

If there were any TNA fans in America or elsewhere, who haven't seen British Bootcamp, what could they expect if you turned up in TNA? Would you perhaps change the character or keep to what us British fans know and love over here? 

I don't know. I'd probably keep the same character, go in there and I'm the everyman, that's the term, I'm the guy that probably shouldn't be in the ring, that's the way the other wrestlers could see me, that's the chemistry. I'm the guy whose living the dream here. I'm the guy that isn't six foot four, I don't look like a Greek God, I just go in there and try my hardest every time I wrestle. I hope that people can relate to me, as the guys who's just having a fun time. I'd probably keep the character, as a wrestling fan who's living beyond his means that's what go me to the dance so far, that's the reason I've had the opportunities that I've had. 

It's a feel good story as well. I think in the 90's you had the smaller guys, that made a lot of today's wrestlers realise they could become a wrestler and you offer something for the guys out their that aren't six foot four or whatever. Something different.

Exactly! Something different. Wrestling has been boring for too long, same six foot four, big body guys, there's never been chubby wee characters, in a long time. There's never been anything like that. It's time for a change and I think I could be able to flourish in TNA. 

Is there anyone from TNA's current roster that you think you'd work particularly well with in the ring or even in terms of a storyline? 

I love the stuff that Rockstar Spud's got going on with EC3, and I'd love to wrestle with Rockstar Spud, as well. Also, I think that me and Zema Ion would have a good X Division style match, I think that me and Rockstar Spud could challenge the Hardy Boyz to the tag titles. And probably big Magnus, he's like a big hard man bully, I'm sure that I could have a cool wee storyline with him. Me vs. Magnus would be brilliant actually, I think that could really work. Then bring in Spud and have a three way, imagine that! Me and Spud vs. Bram and Magnus!

Get it over on the tour! What effect do you think British Bootcamp will have on the British scene as a whole? Do you think we'll see a boost in local crowds?

Definitely. Even since the first British Bootcamp the numbers have been up, because a lot of the general public are unaware that there is this big brilliant British wrestling scene. So again, it's just another series for everyone to see that there is talent here in the UK and hopefully it encourages people to go and out and go their local shows and support the guys who that are trying to make a name for themselves and possibly could be on the next series of British Bootcamp. So aye, I think it's a good thing for British wrestling. 

If there was anyone who had watched Bootcamp but perhaps didn't know where to look to find British wrestling, where would you tell them to look? 

In Glasgow, there's Insane Championship Wrestling, an Over 18's company. There's loads of family shows that are run by British Championship Wrestling, Premier British Wrestling and then there's Preston City Wrestling, Revolution Pro, there's PROGRESS Wrestling which is a phenomenal outfit , that work outside Islington. I would go to these places, but if you go online and type in British Wrestling, I'm sure you could find links and stuff to local proffesional wrestling. Also www.gradowrestling.co.uk, if you want to come and see me wrestle then all the dates are on there. 

You broke into the British Wrestling "mainstream" via a social media, notably the "Get Grado Booked" campaign in ICW. What do you think social media can offer a professional wrestler in 2014? 

Well that's the thing, you're Twitter and your Facebook is your gimmick, it's your business. You need to make sure you've got a decent Twitter, you're not tweeting a load of shite, you're tweeting funny stuff or whatever suits your gimmick. So, Dave Mastiff, he is a grumpy bastard online and he is a grumpy bastard in real life. It's just another medium for you to develop your character, so if you want to post promos, pictures, anything. It's really important in 2014, that you're on the job, your on the button with Twitter and Facebook and Vine and FaceParty and things like that.

Finally, what does 2015 hold for Grado? 

Well I'm going to go on a diet, I'm gonna try and lose a bit of weight. I probably will mix up my gimmick one way or another, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. Hopefully get the chance to wrestle in America again, keep wrestling in Britain, try and get new bookings in Europe and keep on doing the TV work that I'm doing. 

Oh, one last question....When are we going to finally get the big Grado vs. Goldberg match that everyone's waiting to see?

I really hope that Goldberg has seen my GradoBerg entrance! Hopefully next year, Goldberg, if you manage to get to this article, if your listening or reading to this, add me on Twitter, let's follow each other and I'll DM you. Then next year, Grado vs Goldberg at York Hall, we'll sell it out. 

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Thanks to TNA Impact Wrestling, Grado and Simon Rothstein for putting this interview together. All photo credit goes to Tony Knox. TNA British Bootcamp can be found on Sunday evenings at 9PM on Challenge (Freeview - 46, Freesat - 145, Sky - 145, Virgin Media - 139) 

Interview with Martin Stone (FKA WWE NXT's Danny Burch)

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of chatting to Martin Stone, who you may know as Danny Burch from WWE's NXT developmental show, but a lot of European fans may know him as Martin Stone, from his days before WWE working for the likes of IPW:UK, wXw and FWA amongst others.

It's been a while since we've had an interview on ATPW and hopefully we'll be seeing them a lot more regularly, I feel now that we are slightly more established and I am more confident at interview, we can aim a little higher than an e-mailed #FiveQuestionsWith interview. Hopefully you will agree! Of course, as usual I present below a quick profile on Martin Stone, the interview will begin below! 

Bio

 

Current Ring Name: Martin Stone
FKA: Danny Burch, Joe Riot, Mark Harris
Age: 32 years old
Height: 5' 11''
Weight: 242 lbs
Promotions Competed For: IPW:UK, wXw, FWA, 1PW, GSW, SAS, WWE, RQW, PWF, LDN and many more!

Titles and Accomplishements: FWA World Heavyweight Champion, 1PW World Heavyweight Champion, Two Time IPW:UK Champion, FWA British Tag Team Champion (with Stixx), RQW Heavyweight Champion, Two Time LDN Champion, wXw World Tag Team Champion (with Doug Williams), GSW Tag Team Champion (with Matt Vaughan), 1PW Openweight Champion

 INTERVIEW

The old classic #FiveQuestionsWith First Question, of course.

ATPW: How did you first get into professional wrestling as fan, and what lead you to becoming a pro wrestler yourself? (Okay I tweaked it)

Martin Stone: I first started watching wrestling when I was seven years old, with my cousin round my nan's house, cos she had Sky when it first came out. So we used to watch [WWF] Superstars and Wrestling Challenge on a Saturday and then I'd also watch the NWA stuff that was on TV as well. 

Then kind of lost touch with wrestling when I was about ten-eleven, because I'd been boxing for quite a few years anyway, so I started doing a lot of Martial Arts and got into cage fighting. Then it wasn't between 2000, there was match between [Chris] Benoit and [Eddie] Guerrero on Raw when The Radicalz split (Editors Note: Either their 3rd July 2000 bout over the European Title or possibly their 12th March 2001 bout, both on Raw) That was the match where I thought it'd be really good to get into wrestling, so I found a wrestling school! It was 2003 that I started training. 

ATPW: How did you signing with WWE come about? 

MS: I went down for a tryout in November 2009. Went down for two days with Kenneth Cameron or Bram as he's now known in TNA. There were a few people that were quite big on the UK scene at the time. I worked a match with Bram, then Arn Anderson called me over and said "I think you've got something. Can you come back in April?" I went back in April 2010 in the O2 Arena and got signed on the spot. Pretty much. They were like "This is your deal" 

And the it kinda went pear shaped. I didn't realise but I'd actually torn my ACL. I'd been wrestling on a torn ACL and a torn meniscus for eight years! So when I got to Pittsburgh and they did the tests and all the stuff they do, I failed the first time round with my knee. So I came back from there and went through hell trying to get it fixed, so I could take the test in Pittsburgh again and pass. Got all that sorted and went back to Sheffield in 2011 for the TV tapings and retried out, but didn't really have to. Then flew over here (Florida) 2012. June 3rd 2012. 

ATPW: It seems like a really long time, between WWE showing the interest and you finally getting over to the US. How did you find that?

MS: It was a real rough time trying to get that fixed. I went to a private surgeon and he basically charged me for just opening my knee and telling me what I'd already told him. Because of that I got put on the fast-track list on the NHS, because I'd just gone through the surgery the first time, I had to wait at least six months for the anaesthetic to leave my system. 

So, the whole process was about a year, which was really, really bad. To wait to get it fixed and then the uphill battle with ACL Rehab. ACL Rehab is horrible. What made it worse was that when I reported to FCW, I was here for four weeks and then my knee re-blew out, because they'd not fixed it properly. I was on the shelf pretty much straight away. I was out for six or seven months. 

ATPW: I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been at the time!

MS: Oh, at that point, obviously I'm away from home. I'd had all my family around me when I went through the rehab process last time. For ACL it's real long battle. It's horrible. There were a few times when I was like "You know what, I'm gonna go home", because I didn't know if I'd be able to do the rehab. On my own pretty much, because I hadn't made that many friends here yet, because I'd here for four weeks. But I got through it. 

ATPW: So once we got the knee sorted, how did you find your time in NXT?

MS: I had an absolute blast, for the last two years. I've met so many people, I've got real close to a few friends. Norman Smiley is the greatest trainer, I've ever had the pleasure of being with. Such a great guy, just a real, genuine, human being. You really don't meet many people like that. An absolute fountain of knowledge. 

People see him doing the Wiggle and the Hardcore matches, that's not who Norman Smiley is. If you can get a chance and you can look him up, go on Youtube and type in "Black Magic" and you'll see his stuff in Mexico and he is an absolute mat wizard master. He is so, so good. I had a good time here for sure definitely. 

ATPW: Do you feel you've improved as a wrestler or performer over your time in FCW and NXT?

MS: Funny enough, I can't really answer that until I start wrestling shows again. That might sound stupid, but it's then I'll really know. The main thing that I learnt from Norman was how to call matches on the fly, on the spot without the crowd seeing it. That's one of those key things that he's so good at.

So, I'm looking forward to putting that into practice. There's a lot of stuff that he does that's a way of thinking outside the box, rather than just thinking "Ok, this is a wrestling match. His whole teaching is on reaction, rather than selling. Just reaction to stuff. I'll know if I've improved because I'll be thinking things differently. Which is obviously to make you stand out and to make you different. So I'm looking forward to coming home and working shows with that kind of outlook now. 

ATPW: Do you have a particular favourite moment or moments from your time over in Florida?

MS: Training wise, I got going with Norman pretty much in the last year, so that's been great, because I was training every day, which with Norman is phenomenal. Before he was Tyler Breeze, he was Mike Dalton, he's one of the best workers down there by far! We had a month run of shows together and they were absolutely fantastic matches. The match before I blew my knee out, I worked Sakamoto, the guy who used to come out with Tensai, we had a real good match. That was really really good. It's been fun. 

I wouldn't say there's a key moment, because days tend to blur into one, your training all day long, then you hit the gym, then you come home and then your trying to get some sleep. Then obviously you're doing it all again the next day. Then you're travelling to shows. The weeks go really quick, it's kind of like being in limbo really! You're up, you're training, you're wrestling, you're lifting, you're then trying catch up with sleep! Then on top of that you're trying to work out you're promo class for that week and stuff like that. 

It's been a fun time and I don't feel like it's been a waste of time. It sucks and it's not the way I wanted to go out, but it has changed me in a positive way. 

ATPW: How did you actually find out about the release?

MS: You get called into the office and they're like "Right, we've gotta release ya."  What people forget, especially when you're on the Indies, this is a business. Obviously, independent wrestling is completely different to corporate America. Even though it's not a job, it's like if you're working in Tesco's and you get fired. Exactly the same thing. 

ATPW: Moving things back towards this side of the Pond. You were booked for a Revolution Pro Wrestling show in Birmingham on 10th May, what happened there?

MS: I was supposed to fly back and last minute paperwork deals and money hadn't come through yet that I'm owed. My hands are tied. Which was the worst thing in the world, because I was so excited about coming back. Especially now, because I'm kind of just in limbo, waiting for my flight to come through and to get the rest of my money. I don't really want to be here. I wanna come home! It's very frustrating. It is really, really frustrating. So I can only apologise to the fans. But I will be back for the 24th and 25th May Rev Pro Shows. 

ATPW: From what I've heard it seems like it was another good show for Rev Pro and I'm sure that'll continue on 24th and 25th.

MS: Oh, obviously when I left it was still IPW, and Andy Quildan is bar none, one of the best guys in England for shows. He's always tried to put on real good shows. So I've got all the faith in the world that Rev Pro will just keep getting better and better and better. I looked at the clips for the York Hall show and that looks absolutely amazing! 

ATPW: If there's anyone looking at this that hasn't seen your work over here in the UK or in Germany, is there any particular matches that you'd say they should go and check out?

MS: There's not really much, I was the worst self promoted wrestling in the world. I had one batch of t-shirts and I had one set of 8X10's, throughout my entire UK career. I've always believed that you should always go by word of mouth, on how you work, rather than pimping yourself out there.  That's just me though. If you can get hold of the discs some of my best stuff was at the 16 Carat Tournament (wXw 2009 and 2010), especially the first time I worked Chris Hero (Quarter Final bout 2010, available both Chris Hero's Best of (Vol 3) for 15 Euros and the full wXw 16 Carat Gold 2010 8 DVD Boxset for 39 Euros) I actually found out later, that that was voted European Match of the Year, that was an absolute classic. A really really good match. 

There's a match with me on Youtube against Nick Riley which is pretty good from FWA. (Part 1 - Part 2) There's some stuff with Johnny Moss (Part 1 - Part 2-Part 3) but it's real old stuff, I didn't really start getting into my stride, and really starting to get good, probably about 2006 onwards.

 I had a match with Kid Kash for IPW and it completely changed my way of thinking with wrestling and that was when I really started to get a lot better. Unfortunately, you might have to try and find some old discs! I mean the stuff that I did with IPW just before I left, I had a match with Finlay, which was good and a match with Sha Samuels that sticks out a lot. I've worked a lot of guys and all the matches have been pretty good, but the one that stands out if fans want to watch is Chris Hero.

ATPW: What's the plan for Martin Stone going forward?

MS: I'm not done with wrestling. I know a lot of people get here and they say right I've been to the top of the mountain, there's nothing left. There's life outside of World Wrestling Entertainment in terms of wrestling there really is. I'm going to try and travel the world as much as possible and do stuff that I've never got the chance to do! I'd love to get the chance to go to Japan. I've worked quite a few Japanese guys and always had real good matches. I'd love to go, there's a guy who runs shows in Ireland, his shows look pretty good. I just want to get about and travel now, which is something I only really got to do with Germany and England, so it'd be nice to France and places like that. I literally just want to get back to wrestling, I'm really really excited about it. I'm ready to come home. 

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I'd personally like to that Martin Stone again for chatting with us at Across The Pond Wrestling. It was a pleasure to sit a speak to someone that clearly loves the wrestling business. I wish him all the best for the future, you can book tickets for the 24th and 25th May Revolution Pro Wrestling shows in Portsmouth and Sittingbourne respectively at www.revolutionprowrestling.com