5 Star Wrestling [Live] Review // 15th February 2018

On 16th February 2018, 5 Star Wrestling came to us live from the Fly DSA Arena in Sheffield, England. Our main event for the evening saw a Teddy Long Special occur as the previously announced match of Rampage Brown against Rey Mysterio became a tag match with the additions of Zach Gibson & Rob Van Dam respectively. With action also featuring 5Star Tag Champions Max Money taking on the UK Hooligans, 5Star Champion Jake Hager taking on Ryan Hunter as well as Colt Cabana, Flash Morgan Webster and many more. It' not exactly controversial to state that 5Star have picked up a bit of reputation in the BritWres community, not necessarily a good one, but could they counter that and put on a show good enough to silence the doubters?

'Tango' Timm Wylie def. Ricky Knight Jr. // Pinfall

This was a reasonably standard face v heel, junior v heavyweight encounter but with some nice touches with Wylie using the tech fuck-ups that plagued the show right from the start to generate some heel heat, in fact considering the crowd was half not in the room and the other half were reasonably unresponsive, it must be said Wylie and Knight Jr. did a good job of actually getting people into the match. Extra points for Wyle using the Brian Danielson 'I have till five' shouts. Wylie would eventually get a pin with a Twisting Suplex Slam.

Matty Mayhem def. HT Drake and Anthony Young // Pinfall

Not much to comment on here really as this was 9 minutes of crowd-popping spot work, though I must commend them for actually never breaking down into the rotating singles match structure and keeping all three men in the ring practically for the entire match duration. Drake played the bigger lad in this throwing suplexes like no one's business, Young pulled off the night's second Danielson tribute by hitting Yes Kicks on both men, Mayhem hit a GTS, indie-galore. The finish came when Mayhem got a surprise reversal into a Paul Smackage on Drake. Nice stuff, did the job, got the crowd's energy up a bit.

So we opened on a shite promo from Jake Hager which left the crowd going '...k' only for it to be interrupted by a very good promo from Zach Gibson who railed on Hager for being dull and said he's the reason people are switching over to Takeshi's Castle. It was at this point the crowd started to wonder, 'do we like Gibson now? He's right and Hager's the bad guy. But Gibson's also the bad guy...what?' After Gibson left, Hager said he would defend his title, not against Gibson but against one of the UK's best talents. What do you bet this sets up the 'Hager beats up a jobber' story?

Joey Axl def. El Ligero // Submission

We come to part three of the evening's Danielson tribute as Ligero and Axl reinterpreted the classic 'you can't pin a ball' spot from when Daniel Bryan fought Tyson Kidd on Saturday Morning Slam. Beyond that glorious moment, this was a solid match with Ligero giving Axl his best match so far of the 5Star tour. The problem this match had was that it had to follow a laboured Hager promo (more on that later) and an ad-break so any excitement the crowd might have had from the dark matches had been lost by this point so it had to build it back up again. The finish came as Axl tapped out Ligero with the Ayers Rock Lock stretch muffler. Decent enough stuff.

Gibson would pop up again, attacking Rey Mysterio before his match with Rampage Brown, opening the door for Rob Van Dam to make the save, setting for our main event: Gibson & Brown vs Mysterio & Van Dam.

Eddie Ryan def. 'The Wrestling Vegan' Marcus Burke // Pinfall 

First off, Burke walking around the crowd shouting 'I am a vegan! Nooo meat!' was perfect character work, I got where he was coming from and Marcus, if you're ever back in Sheffield, hit me up, we can get some Avocado Wings from Make No Bones. The match itself was a little light on action as there seemed to be a lack of connection between both men thought Ryan, positioned as the top UK babyface of the roster was beloved of the younger fans in the audience. Worth mentioning: this match broke the Danielson tributes with instead Ryan entering with his lion mask and cape combo and Burke hitting a Tiger Driver for a good near fall suggesting a move to Tiger Mask tributes. Ryan eventually won with the Sitout Side Slam for the pin. During the match, Bram was at ringside in a baseball cap and what looked like one of those ponchos they give you at Splash Canyon at Drayton Manor.

Colt Cabana & Grado def. Carlito & Chris Masters // Pinfall

There was another edition of Morgan Webster's Modcast but before it could begin properly, the Masters of Cool interrupted, complaining that they wanted to make it an episode of Carlito's Cabana. Talking of cabanas, actual guest Colt Cabana turned up and was attacked by the Masters but Grado made the save. It wasn't entirely clear to the audience that this was a heel turn as the announcer came out during the ad-break to make sure we knew to boo Masters and Carlito and cheer Cabana and Grado. Luckily once the match began, the team known to many as Irn Jew made sure there was no doubt who to cheer for as they delivered an incredibly fun match, putting on not just the best match of the night but probably my favourite pure piece of entertainment from this entire tour thus far. They worked a simple tag structure but they peppered it with a lot of fun details and most importantly didn't outwear their welcome. It's harder to describe comedy focussed matches than pure wrestling as it's akin to explaining the joke but suffice to say, you won't see a more joyous moment this week than Grado trying to put the Master Lock on Chris Masters. The finish came as Carlito when to spit apple at Grado but he dodged, the apple hit Masters, Cabana pulled Carlito out of the ring opening up Masters for an R-Grado out of naewaer for the pin. Not exactly complicated but just good, clean fun plus Colt and Grado turning up were a genuine surprise and an extremely pleasant one at that.

5 Star Championship // Jake Hager (c) def. Ryan Hunter // Submission

Hager came out first to introduce his opponent, AOW regular Ryan Hunter. This was the standard 'heel champion beats up a jobber but occasionally the jobber does something close to a move which pisses off the champion so he drags out the match to beat the piss out of his opponent' match with Hunter being massively over in a way that you almost felt they could have put the title on him that night and the crowd might not have complained. It went on far too long, all things considered as the crowd weren't into it at all. Hager hit the Ankle Lock for an easy tapout.

Joe Hendry def. Big Grizzly // Pinfall

This match happened because Dave Mastiff and Big Grizzly called out Joe Hendry for hiding behind the commentary desk, so, of course, Mastiff took over on commentary because nothing says 'I'm calling you out' like then not wrestling and instead taking his job. A quick match with Grizzly playing the big man heel and Hendry working underneath till he got a good comeback and shocked the crowd by getting a pin off a Fallaway Slam. Hendry, Grizzly and Mastiff have enough charisma to make this work but this didn't really feel like it achieved much, especially if Hendry is going to stay behind the commentary desk for the foreseeable future.

PJ Black def. Flash Morgan Webster // Pinfall

This was probably the evening's best singles action as the former 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion took on the current ATTACK! Champion is a fast paced bout full of the signature high-flying action that both men are known for. The main things that hurt this match were a lack of time but also that the short snippets of commentary they played in the arena suggested that this was meant to be building the story of plucky underdog Webster seeking his first win in 5 Star yet they put him against Black who was just as over, especially amongst one very vocal group of children. It's not that Webster wasn't able to build sympathy nor Black incapable of working a good subtle heelish performance, more that especially in the arena, a lack of crowd support for the chosen hero hurts the storytelling. Perhaps they could have come out before all the matches and told us who to cheer for, it would have made things easier. Black got the pinfall victory off a Lionsault.

5 Star Tag Team Championship // Charlie Sterling & Adam Maxted (C) def. Roy Knight & Zak Knight // Pinfall

If there's one thing that I hope comes from this 5Star tour, it's more bookings for Charlie Sterling and Adam Maxted as they work well together, really showing a lot of tag team fundamentals and heel characteristics that a lot of people forget. It probably helps that the Hooligans were probably the most over thing on this entire show, well, if judging by the row or two behind me who all were constantly doing the 'hoo-hoo-hooligans' chant and as that was directly in my ear, I can't tell about anything else. They worked a good, solid tag match, making the crowd believe that there was a chance that Norwich's finest might take home the belts and making them all the more upset that they lost their chance due to a surprise roll-up. I did feel oddly sorry for Maxted early on as the Knights seemed to be throwing some particularly stiff-looking shots his way but I guess that is their style. Not much to add but still impressive that this far into the show they were still getting responses as fatigue had set in for this writer somewhere around Jake Hager's title match. Before the match, Pure Dead Brilliant (Kid Fite, Lou King Sharp & Krieger) would invade the ring and talk about once again being deprived of a match and issued a challenge for a tag match before the Hooligans scared them off. The lack of booking for these lads is a really bizarre storyline as they were some of the talents brought to the Press Conference announcing the roster, quite similar to their limiting of Jack Jester to pre-show or not at all this week. In kayfabe, why do it?

Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam vs. Zack Gibson & Rampage Brown // No Contest

By this point, it became quite difficult to actually see what was going on from floor level as a hoard of replica mask-wearing children had surrounded the ring, leaning over the barricade to see two true legends of the sport. They also seemed interested in their opponents, some pair of former WWF guys I think. The match worked an odd structure as they seemed to let Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam make their opponents look like fools for the longest time before they were able to cut off the faces, twice, because both men wanted to have their hot tag sequence. What worked very well about this match was the psychology behind the heels approach as they could see the crowd were waiting for Rey and RVD to hit their finishers so they knew to wait for them to try and use that to cut them off, making the crowd wait and hate them more each time they delayed their gratification. The faces did work hard to make their opponents look good, Rey, even if he's not quite as quick as he used to be, still is a damn sight better than most and it was a treat to get to see him. Rampage is a sure hand and a great, vicious performer though it really can't be said enough, Gibson is the best thing about 5Star, with every little action he does being used to push forward his agenda, especially with little details like pointing out to the referee about his opponent's breaking rules before using it as a distraction to break some of his own. The finish was a fascinating clusterfuck as after Rampage had taken a 619 and a Five Star Frog Splash, Gibson would pull the ref out of the ring and knock him out before Max Money came in to beat down Rey and RVD but Irn Jew would come in to even the odds, this would lead to a No Contest in theory but it wasn't entirely clear as after they'd sent the heels packing, the faces just raised each others hands and left, no actual bell, no referee response, just a 'let's hear it for Rey and RVD, ok bye everyone'. This did however feature the best moment of the show as after clearing out the heels, RVD seemingly got a bit confused and superkicked Grado out of the ring before trying to go for him while Cabana did the 'Chris Pratt calms the velociraptors' pose. Hilarious stuff. This wasn't necessarily a bad finish to a match but certainly, not exactly the most exciting high-point upon which to end an episode. But if it leads to Cabana and Grado challenging for the tag titles, I'm all-in.

Also this Week

There were some on-screen promos from Hager where Ryan turned up and challenged him for the title in Plymouth next week, that mysterious masked man who screamed about wrestling next week, Nathan Cruz spoke about how he wasn't wrestling but was there anyway to pick up a cheque because he bought an expensive watch with his cheque from last week and something from RVD, Rey and Irn Jew where the sound cut out so who knows what was said? Something about Twixes, probably.

Finally...

As a product, 5Star still has a long way to go with a lot of the book representing the same errors that overly sacrificial WWE booking has suffered from. As an arena spectacle, it is plagued with technical issues and feels empty in the arena spaces as you can hear the sound travel to the back of the room and get lost there. As a spectacle of wrestling, it has enough talent in its roster to put on a good show with obvious standouts like Gibson, Ligero & Webster really showing their talents in a larger arena setting and even certain talents like Carlito and Chris Masters surprisingly really showing up this week. As a wrestling show clearly for a family audience, it's harder to say it's a complete failure. It doesn't quite translate to the television perhaps as well as might be hoped but there was a sense of palpable excitement amongst the kids who crowded around the barrier to watch their favourites like Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam and interestingly enough, Eddie Ryan. Perhaps this really isn't designed to be a product for us, the overly informed snarkastic fans of the internet, maybe it's purely for the kids who either don't know or are willing to overlook the lack of reality. I don't know, it's hard to hate something that's so clearly trying to push beyond what it's capable of in the present yet at the same time, there's a certain air of content 'that'll do' to the overall presentation that equally it's very difficult to love. Also, where was Haskins?

Written By Jozef Raczka // @NotJoeRaczka

5 Star Wrestling Review // 8th February 2018

5 Star Wrestling's show on FreeSports was back for a second week, this time seeing the promotion return to Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena. This week's episode featured Jake Hager receiving a shot at John Morrison's 5 Star Wrestling Championship, Rey Mysterio facing 5 Star Tap or Snap Champion Mark Haskins in a non-title match and Rob Van Dam seeking to gain some revenge on Zack Gibson as the two faced off one-on-one. Last week's show had been poorly received by most, surely this week couldn't be worse? Lets take a look. 

*No pics yet unfortunately because 5 Star hasn't published any at time of posting.

Jake Hager interrupted Zack Gibson

then...

Rob Van Dam def. Zack Gibson // Disqualification 

then...

5 Star Wrestling Championship // Jake Hager def. John Morrison (C) // Submission 

This week's main story continued to push RevPro's Zack Gibson as the promotions top Brit, as he was all over the show. First, he had a verbal confrontation with Jake Hager [Jack Swagger] about Americans and what have you, before losing to Rob Van Dam via disqualification after pushing the referee and refusing to let go of the Shankly Gates whilst in the ropes and then inserting himself into the main event and inadvertently causing Hager to win the 5 Star title from John Morrison with the Patriot Lock. Gibson's promo was along similar lines as last week, a worked shoot type deal ripping into the company for giving American's preferential treatment. Calling potential opponents "washed-up" is questionable, but it's difficult to question the energy that Gibson brings to the show which is often lacking in other areas. Some of the content about promoter Daniel Hinkels having a weird obsession with Hager, brought out the former WWE star, who said some things about some thing, mostly ripping on Britain for being a shithole. Not quite sure what the aim of this thing was and the lack of back and forth hurt the segment on the whole. 

Gibson's match with Rob Van Dam was not good and it appeared like that had absolutely nothing to do with the efforts of Gibson. I'm not sure it even had anything to do with the efforts of RVD because he seemed willing, but seemingly not able to perform. Almost every move in the match looked awkward at best and laughably bad at worst, with Gibson having to work extra hard to get the former WWE Champion up for moves. There was the overhead arm drag/suplex situation that ended with both men sort of falling over leaving no real idea over who had actually hit the move and a monkey flip on the outside that lacked any power behind it whatsoever. A DQ finish is usually deflating, but here it felt like the match was being put out of its misery. It's sad to see RVD in this way at the moment and the fact that he's booked for future matches for 5 Star does not fill me with hope, especially when you can't even justify that he's a draw, because of the sheer amount of empty seats in the arena, including some front row on camera side. 

Continuing the trend of shitty finishes in top matches, the main event saw Jake Hager win the 5 Star Championship from John Morrison, after Zack Gibson interfered once the referee had been knocked down. Gibson introduced the 5 Star title belt into the fray and after Morrison had sent Gibson to the outside, Hager took advantage, clanging the belt off Morrison's knee, before locking in the Patriot Lock to become the second 5 Star Champion via submission. The finish was moderately exciting in a hot mess, car crash kind of way, but after a handful of screwy finishes on the show having another in the main event was major overkill. The rest of the match was solid, but dull, with a crowd seemingly uninterested by either guy and seemingly a number of extra empty seats where people had decided to go home. The overall story of Swagger having counters for a number of Morrison's signature moves was nice and there was a good sequence into the Hager Bomb (please Greg Lambert or Joe Hendry start calling it this). Hager is a decent technician, but for me lacks that special something that makes him capable of being the figure head of a company. 

Rey Mysterio def. Mark Haskins // Disqualification

For the second week in a row, Rey Mysterio won his match by disqualification. This week's match with PROGESS' Mark Haskins was heating up nicely before Rampage Brown appeared, attacking Mysterio for the DQ and nailing a piledriver in the ring. That's three matches discussed so far and the third screwy finish. I understand the need to build storylines with weekly shows, but if all the matches end in interference or DQ to make another match for the next week, that then has a similar finish, then why is anyone supposed to be expected to invest in this product? That wasn't the only issue as the match had been pushed throughout the show as for Haskins' Tap or Snap Championship, a submission only strap, with Lambert and Hendry pushing the idea that Mysterio wasn't known for his submission prowess. This was switched just as the competitors made their entrances, with no explanation and the commentary team forced to flounder to come up with any reason whatsoever for this happening. Considering the finish, I'm not quite sure why the match couldn't have been for the belt, with only a few changes needed. The action was actually pretty good, apart from a sloppy rana on the floor, with the two connected nicely for a number of Haskins' signature sequences, whilst lifting the pace nicely. Free of the oppressive booking, Haskins and Mysterio could have a memorable match. 

5 Star Tag Team Championship // Charlie Sterling & Adam Maxted def. El Ligero & Jody Fleisch // Pinfall

After two semi-finals last week, 5 Star crowned their first Tag Team Champions this week as OTT's Charlie Sterling & IPW:UK's Adam Maxted, teaming as Max Money, got a victory over Defiant's El Ligero & ICW's Jody Fleisch with their tag finish, the Flex Account (Mid-rope dropkick into a spinebuster). This opened the show and was a sound way to bring the audience in, with lots of action as Ligero & Fleisch stayed on top for almost the whole match. The opening sequence with Fleisch out-manoeuvring Sterling was super slick and there was also a number of sweet double team moves thrown out there, especially in the closing stages. The story that Sterling & Maxted's power wasn't enough to match Ligero & Fleisch's pace was well defined with Max Money eventually resorting to underhanded tactics to gain any form of control. At points it was a little rough around the edges and there's some polishing that needs to be done by both teams, but at least all four guys was trying to entertain the audience and worked hard throughout the contest. We later found out in an interview with So Cal Val, that Max Money with defend the belts against the debuting UK Hooligans, Roy Knight & Zak Knight, next week. There was no reason given to why Knight & Knight were receiving a shot at the titles. 

Primate on the Modcast

then...

Joey Axl def. Morgan Webster // Submission 

This week saw the debut of chat show segment "The Modcast", based around the fact that ATTACK!'s Morgan Webster has his own podcast, with Defiant's Primate making his debut as the guest, before Joey Axl interrupted. Axl brawled with both men, before being challenged to a match by Webster, that concluded with Axl picking up the submission win with the Ayers Rock Lock. The chat show did not go particularly well, especially watching at home, as the set was embarrassing and I learnt nothing about Primate except that he is from Newcastle and happy to be there. The angle where Axl brawled with both was fine, even if these use of the set (which include a rack of clothes and chairs supposedly from someone's breakfast bar) ended up looking a bit shit. Having Webster challenge Axl to a match gave the audience a reason to come back after the break and the match itself was alright. Webster looked good on offence and sells well, but Axl appeared a step or two off pace at times. If we're to see another Modcast on the show hopefully it's got a bit more structure to it and allows the subject more time to get over an actual character or sell an ongoing feud.

Carlito & Chris Masters def. Dave Mastiff & Big Grizzly // Pinfall 

The teams that lost their semi-finals on the Liverpool show went head to head in Newcastle, with The Masters of Cool, Carlito & Chris Masters, going over RevPro's Dave Mastiff & Southside's Big Grizzly after Carlito pinned Grizzly with the Backstabber. The highlights of this came with Mastiff & Grizzly in control of Masters, mostly a sequence of moves in the corner that concluded with a cannonball from Mastiff, with big lads bringing some chaotic energy to their offence. Carlito's hot tag was flat for me and most of the audience it seems with both Masters of Cool being poorly cast in the babyface role, whilst Grizzly appeared to actually murder 17 time WWC Universal Champion when hitting a rolling fireman's carry slam. Seriously, that move looked horrible here. Making the babyface casting even more baffling, the Masters of Cool got the win when Master spat apple in Grizzly's face, leading into the Backstabber. Neither of the ex-WWE lads did all that much for me when they were with the fed and they do even less for me in this role.

Eddie Ryan def. PJ Black // Pinfall

Another impressive performance from PWC's Eddie Ryan this week as he picked up the victory over PJ Black with in one of the stronger matches on the show, with a variation of the Air Raid Crash. The crowd was quiet for most of it, but Black worked well in the heel role and managed to start getting some reaction in the second half of the contest, even if babyface commentator Greg Lambert no sold the underhanded tactics and kept saying both men were playing fairly. The story of Black's experience giving him the upperhand over a naive opponent was simple but worked for getting Ryan over as he managed to over power Black with a series of lovely suplexes. Black also pulled out a cute springboard moonsault, recovering well from the loose ropes to nail a good looking version of the move. This was a big victory, who mostly works in the Southwest and he's beginning to show why he's earned his spot on the show. He's certainly someone I'd like to see more of on the strength and potential of his matches with Black and Hager over the last two weeks. Later in the show, Hager interrupted Ryan as he was being interviewed by So Cal Val and whilst Hager's words had no correlation to what Ryan had actually being saying and the segment itself was trash, it will be interesting to see if Ryan gets a shot at the belt and I'd say that match is pretty much a lock for when the show rolls into Plymouth in two weeks time. Towards the end of the match, Bram was seen clearly front row, but this wasn't mentioned by the comms team and nothing actually happened.

BT Gunn def. Nathan Cruz // Pinfall

BT Gunn picked up his first victory in 5 Star, with a small package win over Nathan Cruz in a solid contest, with a weak finish. Cruz had cut a rambling promo about professionalism before the match, calling out Joe Hendry and talking a lot about his arse being exposed last week. Cruz attacking Gunn before the bell made sense as he sought revenge for Gunn bearing his arse last week. Even if the storyline was pretty lame, at least there was a storyline. The wrestling was all satisfactory, with both getting a stellar near fall as the pair wrestling a couple of nice sequences that saw Gunn come close with a rolling flatliner, before Cruz almost picked up the win with a double knee facebreaker. It was a shame that the small package that got the win looked awful, with it being unclear who's shoulders were supposed to be on the mat, because the call-back with Gunn pulling Cruz' tights down only to reveal Cruz had remembered to wear underwear this week actually made me chuckle and a good finishes would've pushed the match towards the match of the night spot. Still, it was one of the better matches on the show.

Rampage Brown def. Moose // Referee Stoppage

The referee of Rampage Brown vs. Moose had an absolute nightmare at the finish and pretty much ruined what could've been an impactful angle as Lambert and Hendry scrambled to explain what was going on. Basically, Brown attacked Moose before the match and then continued the assault in the ring, the bell rang, Brown hit a piledriver and the match seemed to be done, until the referee wouldn't let Brown cover him. Brown hit another piledriver, the ref refusing to count the pin and then called for a no contest. It was an utter fucking mess. The explanation from commentary made things worse after the break, explaining that the referee didn't award the match to Brown because "he didn't feel like he deserved to win". Just no, stop it. Surely, what happens is that the referee stops the match before the first piledriver, when it was clear Moose was out on his feet and the commentary team were discussing concussions, which is then followed up by Brown hitting a piledriver, to make him look like a real bastard and even more of a bastard when he comes back to hit another one moments later. A few tweaks and there was a really good angle in this, but the attention was on the wrong details and the referee seeming to botch his moment killed it. 

Also This Week

- ICW's Kid Fite and PBW's Lou King Sharp and Krieger kicked off when they found out they weren't booked again from So Cal Val, before heading out to the arena only to be removed by security wearing lime green.

- For the second week running a bloke holding a gas mask was shown standing outside the arena menacingly.

ATPW Scale Rating // 3.3/10

Greg Lambert Interview - Ropes and Glory: The Emotional Rise of British Wrestling

At the end of last month, ATPW had the pleasure of talking to Greg Lambert, known for his work as a manager, commentator, promoter and Master of Ceremonies across the UK for the likes of PCW, RQW, FWA, Southside, IPW:UK and others. With Greg's new book Ropes and Glory: The Emotional Rise of British Wrestling, a sequel to Holy Grail: The True Story of British Wrestling's Revival out now, there couldn't have been a better time to speak to the 15 year veteran of the Brit Wres scene. 

ATPW - Tell us a little bit about Ropes and Glory, what's it about and what can people learn from reading it? 

Greg Lambert - It's about the last ten years of British wrestling history, through my own eyes and my experiences. Things that I've been involved in as a promoter or a commentator or a manager on the UK wrestling scene and also things that I've experienced by going to shows and also watching on the telly. Things that I've been aware through studying the British scene. It's the journey from 2007 to where we are now. British wrestling has never, it's just never ever been as good as it is now. Even back in the glory days of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, it's never had the attention and received the opportunities that we have now. So, it's the journey of where it was ten years ago, through the triumph and the tragedies along the way, to the return to British terrestrial TV with an episodic series.. It's amazing.  

When did you begin work on the sequel? 

Straight after the first book came out. Holy Grail: The True Story of British Wrestling's Revival was the first book and that was really picking up the story from the World of Sport era up to about 2007, but mainly focused on the FWA, which is the promotion even now that I'm most synonymous with. Straight after that came out in November 2012, I went on a book signing tour. Some of the material in this book is from when I was on that tour, that was the first time I went to an ICW show for example, going to PROGRESS Wrestling for the first time, as well. A lot of research spans from back then. 

How else did you go about collating the material and writing up the book in general? 

I think I'm blessed with a really good memory, I think that helps. I've got a pretty good memory for dates, but I've also got a book, which every show I've worked on I've kept a list of where the show was, the date of the show, matches on the show. So that's a good reference and some of it comes from the internet as well. There's a lot of interviews as well, with some of the top names in British wrestling. So you're getting their memories, their perceptions of what's happened over the last ten years. The likes of Rockstar Spud, Drew Galloway, Rampage Brown, Noam Dar... So it's not just my narrative, there's different opinions. 

The Foreword is written by Rockstar Spud, what do you feel was Spud's importance to the book and to the scene as a whole around this time? 

I'm extremely grateful to Spud for taking the time to write the foreword, because I really wanted him to do it, because he's one of my favourite people and favourite performers in British wrestling for the past ten years. The significance is I think Spud broke the mould for a lot of British wrestlers who aren't the stereotypical size, they aren't the stereotypical look, that you would associate with becoming an international star. There's been people like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage, who came before and broke the mould for lighterweight wrestlers, but when Spud started out in the FWA in 2004, he was a different level of not looking like a wrestler. He worked on the body, he worked on the performance skills, he working on everything to the point where he became a champion with my promotion, the XWA, as it was. How Spud became the champion and the story, how he evolved from then and how he did in the second coming of the FWA and then to get to British BootCamp and to end up with TNA. That's a great achievement, he basically knocked the door down for a lot of British wrestlers to become stars in America, because he wasn't supposed to do it. He was never supposed to do it. He was told "You'll never make it, you're too this, you're too that" and he just didn't take no for an answer. He preserved and through brains and talent and drive, he made it. I think he set a great example for others.

You mentioned earlier that about the numerous interviews that you conducted for the book, did you discover anything new from participating in these? 

Lots of things. Rampage's interview sticks in my head, as you read the book you'll discover a lot about Rampage Brown, his mentality as a professional wrestler and how it was for him going over to America as a young man and being a part of WWE developmental, before it became NXT. He was there with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, but he struggled over there to make any kind of an impact and he talks very candidly about that. He also talks very candidly about his experience on British BootCamp 2, which surprised me, some of the things that he said about that. I think a lot of people that read Rampage's thoughts will find those quite eye-opening. 

Dave Rayne is interviewed for the book. People will know Dave as the former promoter of FutureShock Wrestling and his role in PCW, predominantly, but I think people will get a different opinion of Dave when they read the contributions that he makes to the book. What an intelligent and quite emotionally sensitive guy he is, but also very clued up on wrestling as a whole. That's how I know him, but I think a lot of people will see a side of Dave that they may not have seen before. 

Also, Alex Shane. With the Second Coming of the FWA, which in itself is a great story, which is written out in a lot of detail. I think people will be really interested to read what he has to say about that. I think that people's perception of Alex, who can be quite a polarising figure, people's perceptions might change, for the better.

Greg, you've had numerous roles in pro wrestling over the years, but what brings you the most enjoyment professionally? 

Good question! Still booking, I would say. I've just started again, doing some storyline writing for PCW and I think when things go to plan and seeing an audience react, the way you want them to react and you see performers execute your vision, I don't think there's anything greater. I've never experienced anything greater. 

Commentary I'm really enjoying at the moment, really really enjoying, the commentary side of things. I did the Five Star Wrestling show in January on Spike, which was an incredible moment, personally and professionally, because it was the first live broadcast by a British-based wrestling company on UK television in almost fifty years. To be able to work with an incredible television company, the production people too, because they were really top level people that I was working with. The director was a guy who worked on World Cup Football, World Cup Rugby and some big big fights. To work with that level of people was great. To work with some of the wrestlers as well, some of the biggest names in the industry today likes Rey Mysterio, Drew Galloway, that was just incredible. It's great to commentate for PCW as well, being doing that for five years now, PCW is still a great promotion to work for. Lots of exciting things coming up. 

Within the book, you reveal a list of instructions you try to stick by as a booker, why do you think they are so important when writing and booking pro wrestling? 

I think, they're more reminders really. It's very easy when you're booking to lose sight of the big picture, so it's quite handy to have these guidelines in the back of my mind. Which I can always go back to and refer to. They do work. I've got numerous example of them working, but the main one I think is what the book is all about, the book is an emotional rollercoaster and done right booking should be an emotional rollercoaster. The quote by Dusty Rhodes that I talk about in the book "Wrestling is built on emotion" that's my mantra for booking and I think that's very much the mantra of the book as well. 

As a viewer, I certainly prefer to watch pro wrestling that has a clear vision. 

Yeah, I think this year's WrestleMania, you can tell, that they've got a much clearer vision, than they did last year. Every match seems to have been built up over time, with a purpose and you can kind of see where they are going, but some of the results of the matches are in doubt as well, which I think is great. Despite the fact you've got that clear direction, there's still a bit of uncertainty about which way they're going, but everything's logical and makes sense and that's what wrestling should be, I think. 

You've worked with a variety of performers throughout your career, from big international stars to young kids getting their first break. Is there anyone in professional wrestling that you'd like to work with, that you haven't got the chance to just yet? 

That's a good question! Yeah, loads of people actually I think. On the British wrestling scene, there's a young lad down south, who I really really rate, he's like the new Spud, a guy called Sid Scala. I love the character, I love his passion, he's a protege of Barry Charalambous, who was also a mentor to Spud and a lot other guys as well. You can see Barry's influence in Sid, because like Spud, he knows the value in cutting a promo, of making sure people remember him. It's not always about having the best wrestling match, it's about making sure that you're remembered and Sid does that. From a British perspective, I think he'd be a great person to work with.

I think if you read the book, you'll see the respect that I have for Mark Dallas as a promoter. I get on very well with Mark, I think he's great guy and I love his ethos for ICW. I love everything about ICW, in fact Scottish wrestling as a whole. It really does have a special place in my heart, the Scottish wrestling scene. I have a lot of respect for Mark. We're not the same in a lot of ways, but I think in terms of our theories of wrestling, there's a lot of parallels. It would be nice to do something with Mark at some point. 

I nearly had the opportunity to work with Kurt Angle, with Five Star Wrestling, but that fell through because he signed on to do WWE Hall of Fame. Which is great, absolutely great and well deserved. I didn't mind in the end, because I ended up commentating with Joe Hendry and Joe Hendry is a guy I really rate and respect and is thoroughly talented and enthusiastic. When you get the opportunity to work with a guy on Kurt Angle's level, it's a big deal and I still hope I get to work with Kurt in the future. 

In the first book, The Holy Grail, the Holy Grail was British wrestling returning to television, since then British wrestling has exploded and has indeed returned to television with WOS Wrestling, Five Star and WWE UK (depending on your definition of TV), what's that been like for you personally? To see British wrestling return to the big time? 

It's had me on the verge of tears, quite a few times, to be honest with you. Not miserable tears, the opposite. It's tremendous. I can't really put it into words. All I can really say about it is that when I started with FWA, when I worked closely with Alex Shane, that was always Alex's vision. Talk Wrestling, the TalkSport Radio show, it was always the vision. When you've worked closely with someone like him, bought into the vision and worked hard to bring the vision about...and in later years, there's other people who've taken up the baton and brought that vision forward and to the next level. I think when you've been involved for as long as I have and worked with the people that I have and seen them struggling and when you've done shows in front of 25 people and you've seen shows cancelled because you've not sold enough tickets and you've seen things go wrong and when you've seen terrible things happen...that when you get to this level, you're bound to be emotional about it. 

When the World of Sport special was on on New Year's Eve, it was quite something for me, as it was for everybody who has been involved in that struggle for years and years and years.

I think that's the real power of wrestling, that not only does it effect those outside the business, but it can have such a profound effect on someone like yourself. 

Yeah, it is. Done right, it's an incredible artform. It's so difficult to explain. One of the hardest things I find about wrestling is trying to explain it to non-fans, who just don't get it at all and in the end, it's not worth it. People are either going to get it or they're not. But those that do get it, there are a lot of us and it's really nice to share experiences like that. To share the same mentality with such a big group of people.

Do you have any future project lined up at the moment? What's next for Greg Lambert? 

I'll be at PCW, I'm still commentating for them, I'm doing the booking for the main shows and in regards to Five Star Wrestling, I'd expect an announcement soon. 

A special thanks to Greg Lambert for taking the time to speak to us. We'll have a full review of Ropes and Glory: The Emotional Rise of British Wrestling on atpw.co.uk soon. You can purchase your copy now, either in Paperback or on Kindle from Amazon and Lulu.

You can find more about Greg and Ropes and Glory here. 

Twitter - @RopesandGlory
Facebook - Greg Lambert - Wrestling

Interviewer - James Marston 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

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Rampage Brown Interview - WOS Wrestling/IMPACT Wrestling

Recorded at ITV's WOS Wrestling press conference on at MediaCityUK in Salford on Monday, here's our interview with former PROGRESS World Champion, Rampage Brown! 


ATPW - So Rampage, how does it feel to be here today with WOS Wrestling and ITV and to be part of such a big project?


Ramage Brown - Yeah, it feels really good. Obviously anything to do with British wrestling being on TV again is "sign me up". I'm happy with that. It feels great to be apart of it. 


On the special, you tagged up with Ashton Smith, how do you feel that went? 


Yeah, it was good. Surprsingly, because no one had seen me and Ashton as a team before, but we got a lot of good feedback. Me and Ashton are good close friends, that's the thing with a good tag team, you've got to get on outside the ring as well as inside the ring. It was good to share the ring with him definitely. 


You faced off against the Coffey Brothers, who've you've worked with in the past, how was it to share this stage with them?


It was an experience as always, you're in their running about, blowing up and slamming yourself around. It is what it is. But they're a highly respected tag team. I've got so much respect for them both. Good guys. I couldn't think of a better think of a better team to share the ring with. 


The WOS taping is coming up in Preston in May, obviously a place you're very familiar with from working for PCW, what do you think the city will bring to the show? 


They will bring their own atmosphere. As long as other fans don't get intimidated by that and jump in their and have fun, because not everybody's a wrestling fan in that capacity. There'll be families and things like that. Yeah, it should add to the atmosphere, as long as they're aware that there's other people around as well. I think it'll be great and add to the show. As long as it's lively. 


I think that came across on the special and created a good soundtrack for the show...


There's nothing worse than when people sit on their fingers and do nothing. Without a doubt, they definitely did a good service to the show. 

You've worked both sides of the coin in wrestling, you've been a good lad, you've bad lad, do you have preference or is it all about getting a reaction? 


No I don't have a preference, I used to do, but now I don't really care. It's all about going out there and doing your job, going out their and doing what you're hired to do. 


With IMPACT Wrestling coming in, you were on the second series of TNA British Bootcamp, did you take anything from that experience or was it all about the opportunity?


It was just a situation that came up at the time and it was a just a way of making money. I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything other, but that's just what it was at that time. 


Do you think there's going to be an opportunity for guys who work for WOS to get seen on American TV? Would you be open to that?


Possibly. Only the future will tell. 


What was it like to be featured on a main stream channel and get such a prestigious slot on New Year's Eve? 


It was one of those things where it just kind of came out of nowhere, so it was hard to take it all in. When you actually saw it on the TV at the time, it was a bit surreal. But again, it's all apart of the journey.


Did you ever, ever think this was going to happen? 


Not in my lifetime, not in my time in the ring. I feel fortunate that it has and that I'm apart of it. 

I'd like to thank Rampage for taking the time to speak to us on Monday and we'd love to get an opportunity build on this short interview in the future. WOS Wrestling tapes for TV at Preston Guild Hall on 25/26 May and tickets go on sale on 9th April at 9am for Gigs and Tours, Tickermaster and Preston Guild Hall.

Interviewer - James Marston 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

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TV Review: World of Sport Wrestling - Coffey Brothers v Ashton Smith & Rampage Brown

On 31st December, World of Sport Wrestling made it's return to ITV, with a one-off two hour special. The show was structured around qualifiers for a battle royal that would crown a new #1 contender, after Dave Mastiff won the promotions belt under suspect circumstances against Grado in the opener. This was highlighted by a tag team clash where The Coffey Brothers (Joe Coffey & Mark Coffey) faced off with Ashton Smith & Rampage Brown. With the likes of Johnny Moss, Viper, CJ Banks, Zack Gibson and El Ligero also in action, would the special lay the foundation for a World of Sport return? Let's take a look. 

The show's lone tag team contest produced some of the best action across the two hours as The Coffey Brothers advanced to the #1 Contender's battle royal with a victory over Ashton Smith and Rampage Brown. This match didn't exactly re-invent the wheel, but it didn't have to, taking the regular tag team structure and filling it out with strong believable performances from all four and some bloody good wrestling also. The two tandems dispositions and chemistry were put over well, with the big man/small man dynamic of Smith and Brown working much better than I had expected, considering they worked the villain role. The build towards the hot tag was exciting, with Mark getting a nice inside cradle near fall, before the tag to Joe got a pleasing pop from the audience. Everything from that point onward was spot on, with each team getting a good near fall in, including a very well worked distraction false finish off a Brown spinebuster, before heel miscommunication resulted in Smith taking a forearm and lariat combo for the pin. 

Match in a Sentence - A very good, simple tag structure, fleshed out by strong performances all round.

The strongest match was a cracking technical outing, that saw "The Mexican Sensation" El Ligero defeat Zack Gibson. These two have clashed numerous times over the last five or six years in places like Grand Pro Wrestling and FutureShock Wrestling and that familiarity was on show throughout with some silky smooth grappling as the two told a clear story. Gibson looked for the submission win with his Shankly Gates (Grounded top wrist lock), Ligero was just trying to keep away from the move, doing all his lucha things in search of victory. The match was taken up a notch when Gibson swung Ligero into the announce table, injuring the Mexican's arm and bringing a whole heap of drama to the rest of the match. Ligero sold the injury magnificently, helped by Jim Ross and Alex Shane on commentary, with some slick sequences, like Gibson reversing a second modified wheelbarrow facebuster attempt and locking the Gates, producing some thrilling television. Both men came out of looking like stars, with Gibson coming across as a vicious non-nonsense villain, whilst Ligero picked up the victory with C4L (Springboard Tornado DDT), despite the injury. If WOS Wrestling does get commissioned for a full run, a series of matches between these two has major potential.

Match in a Sentence - A very good wrestling match with a stellar story and well defined characters.

The seven man over-the-top battle royal saw Grado earn a title shot against Dave Mastiff in the show's main event, after he outlasted Johnny Moss, Sha Samuels, surprise entrant Davey Boy Smith Jr (Harry Smith), Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey, El Ligero and Kenny Williams. Whilst it was a shame to see talent like Williams and Ligero leave the match so early, their exits allowed for the unit of Moss and Samuels to built up, considering they were the only two who were yet to be involved in a match. DBSJ's participation was a well kept secret, especially considering the event was taped in November, and while the logic of him getting to enter whenever he pleased was flawed, it did allow for a cool moment when he came to Grado's aid when the Scot was left alone with Moss & Samuels. DBSJ's involvement produced the matches finest action when the former 2 time IWGP Tag Team Champion mixed up with Moss & Samuels with a number of impressive suplexes, before the numbers game caught up with him (Grado was supposedly too star struck to help out). The crowd was hot for the final flurry, with the TNA performer out maneuvering the villainous pair to advance. The post-match attack from Samuels & Moss appeared cut short the sugary sweet conclusion, with paramedics checking over Grado, although this was only putting the inevitable on hold.

Match in a Sentence - A battle royal that worked for the specific needs of the show, featuring a great moment in Davey Boy Smith Jr's entrance.

World of Sport got it's introduction to the Ladder match, with Kenny Williams earning a battle royal spot with a victory over Sam Bailey, CJ Banks and Delicious Danny in a fun affair that built nicely throughout, making the most of it's slender seven minutes run-time. The action might not have always been as crisp as it could have been, the camera team may struggled to keep up with the gimmick and Alex Shane was uncomfortably annoying on commentary, but when the match clicked it produced some lovely stuff, that went above and beyond my expectations of what the lads would be allowed to do. The winner Williams shone throughout with a lighting quick opening flurry, a nice sequence with Danny, as well as taking a German suplex from Banks off the ladder, before battling off all three of his adversaries at the top of a pair of ladders to claim the briefcase. A special mention has to go to Danny's dive off the top of ladder also.

Match in a Sentence - Despite some awkward moment, when it worked it worked very well and produced an entertaining match that stood out from the rest.

The opening contest saw Dave Mastiff win the World of Sport Championship by defeating Grado, with more than a little help from Johnny Moss and Sha Samuels. This was a solid opening contest that introduced the two characters in the match, the individuals at ringside and the general concept of professional wrestling well. This created an engaging match that was easy to get into, helped by the lively studio audience. With his experience working for TNA, Grado was almost definitely the right man for the role, with his selling in particular being very TV, allowing Mastiff to look like the rough and tough bastard that we know and love to hate. I would have liked to have seen Mastiff have little longer in control, but with the plans for the rest of the show it makes sense that this one would be kept relatively short. The interference finish, that saw Moss push Grado over the top rope, in the very first match bugs me just a little bit, but again with the plans for the show long story, it was almost necessary for things to happen like this.

Match in a Sentence - Introduced the concept and the characters, but wasn't long enough to do much else.

Any Other Business

• Viper went over Alexis Rose in a short contest, that made Viper look like a beast.

• In the main event, Grado overcame the odds to win the World of Sport title from Mastiff in a match that was way too short to tell the "injury" story, that had seen paramedics trying to keep Grado from competing, effectively. 

• The backstage antics, conducted by interviewer Rachel and also involving General Manager Mr. Beesley, gave the show a different dimension, whilst never feeling like they were about to take over from the in-ring content.

• The vignette's sprinkled throughout, looking back at the history of the show, featuring interviews with former stars and retrospectives on the likes of Big Daddy and Kendo Nagaski gave the show a nice link to the past.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.2/10

The return of World of Sport Wrestling produced a good television product that had an appeal across a number of age groups. The Coffey Brothers v Rampage Brown & Ashton Smith, as well as El Ligero v Zack Gibson produced the strongest wrestling, but there was a good variety across the card. Some elements of the booking did mean that parts of the show weren't quite suited to their placing on the event, however the ongoing story also managed to give a feel of momentum, leading up to the feel-good victory from Grado to cap off the two hours. 

There's certainly potential to make this into a series of hour long episodes, perhaps with more two hour specials, with the ground work already being laid for a number of future stories and matches. More WOS Wrestling, ITV pls.

Review - James Marston
Picture Credit - ITV

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