BritWres to Impress Preview // RevPro // PCW // FutureShock [Dec '17 Wk 1]

Welcome back for another edition of BritWres to Impress, as we preview the biggest, brightest and best professional wrestling on offer in the United Kingdom this week. As we begin December, we've got another eclectic bunch of shows to look at. We'll be looking at a pair of double headers beginning with Revolution Pro Wrestling's BWTI debut with Contenders 17 in Portsmouth on Saturday and Live at the Cockpit 23 in London on Sunday and then focusing on another BWTI debutante Preston City Wrestling with a pair of shows, starting with Joey Janela's Big Top Adventure on Friday in Blackpool, Lancashire and then onto Live! on Saturday in Wrexham, Clwyd, before concluding with a look at Futureshock Wrestling in Manchester for Reloaded #4, also on Sunday. So lets get into it, here is the BritWres to Impress for the first week of December 2017!

Also This Week 

Friday // Fight Club: PRO Infinity 2017 // Wolverhampton // fightclubpro.bigcartel.com

Sunday // Pro Wrestling 4 U Ho Ho Ho Let's Go // Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire //  facebook.com/prowrestling4u

Saturday // HOPE Wrestling Evolution 54: Broken Bones Matilda Left a Note and a Rose... // Leicester // hopewrestling.co.uk

Saturday // Revolution Pro Wrestling Contenders 17 // Portsmouth // revolutionprowrestling.com

Sunday // Revolution Pro Wrestling Live at the Cockpit 23 // London // revolutionprowrestling.com

As the dust settles from the massive Global Wars 2017, RevPro is back for their final shows in Porstmouth and at the Cockpit of the year. 

The Portsmouth show is a smaller affair, featuring up and comers, clashing with regular roster members. The scheduled card so far see's Andy Boy Simmonz tag with Ian Logan to take on Johnny Rocket & Timo, whilst Zan Phoenix goes one on one with Rishi Ghosh in an intergender showcase.

One group who had an amazing Global Wars was CCK. Travis Banks and Chris Brookes put away Rocky Romero & YOSHI-HASHI on Night One before Lykos joined them in picking up a victory over Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Gedo on Night Two. The Legion of Lords didn't have as good a time, with Chief Deputy Dunne and Lord Gideon Grey falling to Gedo and Toru Yano on the first show, but with Rishi Ghosh returning for the first time since Dunne joined the group, maybe they'll find a new groove here. The other pressing matter is that Kid Lykos has suffered another major injury last weekend and will be unable to join Brookes and Banks for the match. Who will CCK draft in as a replacement? How will that effect their rhythm as a trio? How will Dunne try to stop anyone from having fun? There's lots of questions to be answered at the CCKpit on Sunday, but it'll no doubt be entertaining finding out! 

It appeared that "Flash" Morgan Webster had Josh Bodom's number in RevPro. Webster defeated Bodom in August 2015 in Sittingbourne, then a month later in a triple threat with Mark Haskins in Broxbourne, January 2016 saw Webster advance past Bodom in a tournament to crown a new British Cruiserweight Champion at the Cockpit, before Webster returned to the promotion with a victory over the then British Cruiserweight title holder Bodom this October. Since then their feud has escalated, with Bodom getting disqualified in a title match in Cardiff two weeks later and then cost Flash a match with El Phantasmo at last month's Cockpit show. Things seemed to be setting up for an all-out war between the two over the belt, but then Global Wars when Ryan Smile walked out as British Cruiserweight Champion in a match also including El Desperado. So now we have Webster vs. Smile for the strap on Sunday. They've clashed in ATTACK, SCW, Kamikaze Pro and FIGHT! in the past, including a couple of title matches, but at the Cockpit the stakes may never have been higher. Expect these two high-flyers to put on a spectacular showcase in the intimate theatre.

Josh Bodom will also be action, tagging with new partner Zack Gibson to take on Aussie Open's Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher. Whilst Bodom's fortunes where mixed at Global Wars dropping the Cruiserweight belt, but also picking up a big win against former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Rocky Romero, Gibson did not have the same fortunes taking two straight loses to Yuji Nagata and Toru Yano. They'll both be looking to use that weekend to push on as a duo and stop Aussie Open from regaining the momentum that they came into the promotion with in September. Either way it'll be a fascinating clash of styles and personalities. Another fascinating clash sees a debut and a return. Martin Stone has been absent since beating Eddie Dennis in August, spending time working in America for WWE, Beyond and MLW, in the mean time "Smash Mouth" Chris Ridgeway has been killing it in PCW, SWA, Southside and all over the country. The two go head to head at the Cockpit and considering how these two hit, they could very well tear each other apart!

Also Jinny prepares to be the first woman to wrestle for RevPro in York Hall on 8th December with a clash against Charli Evans, El Phantasmo goes up against Kurtis Chapman and RJ Singh faces Rob Lias.

Friday // Preston City Wrestling Joey Janela's Big Top Adventure // Blackpool, Lancashire // prestoncitywrestling.com

Saturday // Preston City Wrestling Live! // Wrexham, Clwyd // prestoncitywrestling.com

When PCW returns to Blackpool for the first time since August, the Lancashire fans are in for something a little bit different. Anyone who caught the Game Changer Wrestling show Joey Janela's Spring Break during WrestleMania weekend in Florida will know exactly the kind of madness to expect from Joey Janela's Big Top Adventure. 

Janela has had a breakthrough year in 2017, tearing it up in Beyond, CZW, AIW and elsewhere for his hardcore style and off the wall imagination. One of the elements introduced at his Spring Break was the mystical Invisble Man. At Big Top Adventure, the Invisible Man returns to go one on one with Janela. Yes, Joey Janela is having a singles match with the Invisible Man. The Invisble Man is literally...an...invisible...man. If you're someone who struggle to suspend your disbelief this will almost certainly not going to be the match for you. But if you're not a Jim Cornette type and can enjoy the more bizarre areas of the art form then you should have a whale of a time! But who could come out with the win? That's the real question, that will be answered on Friday, when the unstoppable force meets the invisible object! 

Spring Break saw Marty Jannetty, Glacier and Dan Severn make appearances and Blackpool will be treated to some more wrestling "legends" when Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and Virgil hit the Tower. A smorgasbord of guys who were below average for the 1980s, but this is gonna be retro and cool and stuff, probably. Virgil tags up with Danny Hope and Joey Hayes to take on Big T Justice, Sheik el Sham & Dave Birch in a match that is certainly happening this weekend. I have no idea where to even begin when previewing this, to be honest. The Models are comedy gold and Virgil used to managed Ted DiBiase back in the day, so there's that. Lots of comedic potential that will hopefully be realised on Friday night!

The PCW Heavyweight Championship is also on the line as T-Bone puts the title on the line against the man he took the belt from in October, Iestyn Rees. Both men spent time as the FWB faction that was rampant on PCW shows in 2015, but have since been part of fiery rivalry. The two clash in a Street Fight on Friday night, which promises to be a violent, hard-hitting affair between two heavyweight brawlers. There's also a match between two men who know each other very well as Scarlet & Graves duo Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz go head to head. The two are known for their risk-tasking as a duo, so this should be a spectacular blink and you miss it contest. Xavier got the victory on a joint PCW/CZW show in Liverpool in November 2016, so Wentz has something to prove when they go head to head again in Lancashire.

The rest of the card includes a triple threat that may well steal the show as Bubblegum returns to face Chris Ridgeway and Ashton Smith, whilst Martin Kirby, Lionheart, Matthew Brookes, Tal Benham, Arcadian and Phillip Michael have a six man Ladder match. The whole event is available on PPV through Powerbomb.TV

There's nothing announced for the free show in Wrexham on Saturday, but the promotions first and only trip to Wales in 2017 is scheduled to feature the likes of Joey Janela, T-Bone and Dean Allmark are all scheduled to appear.

Sunday // FutureShock Wrestling Reloaded #4 // Manchester // futureshockwrestling.co.uk

FutureShock Wrestling returns to 53Two Theatre in Manchester and their bringing former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal with them. It's been three month's since FutureShock were in Manchester, but they're back with another hot card of family-friendly action. 

In November, T-Bone's FutureShock Championship match with Ashton Smith ended in disqualification when T-Bone introduced the champion to a steel chain in Stockport. With Smith obviously wanting some revenge on the WWE UK competitor, things are set to taken up a notch on Sunday as the two take part in the most appropriate match available, a chain match. The match would seem to favour the rougher T-Bone, who has in the past used No DQ matches to his advantage winning a Street Fight against Mark Massa in April 2016, as well as putting away rival Rampage Brown in Trailer Park Street Fight in August. Smith is going to have to dig deep and find something to get passed the 6 footer from Worcester on Sunday. Who knows whether he'll be able to do it, but it should be fascinating to watch him try.

Jay Lethal has collected titles wherever he's gone in wrestling. In ROH he took the World, Television and Pure Championships, in TNA he took the X Division title six times, as well as the World Tag Team straps with Consequences Creed, as well as the World Heavyweight Championship in the now-defunct FWE. Now he's coming for Xander Cooper's Adrenaline Championship. The last time Lethal was in FutureShock, way back in March 2013, Xander Cooper was just beginning to find a foothold in the promotion as a singles star, having won the Trophy tournament the previous November, but since then he's developed massively, developing the Uprising faction, taking the FutureShock Championship from Jack Gallagher and is now in his second run as Adrenaline Champion. Cooper is also no stranger to defeating International stars however, he took the title from WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne in October (in three way including Soner Dursun) and having manager Bobby Gage by his side means that he always has something up his sleeve if things don't quite go his way. This could be the proverbial chess match come Sunday night in Manchester. 

There will also be two more First Round matches in the Legacy Tournament. Joey Hayes and Abel Stevens have already qualified for the next round and on Sunday, Soner Dursun will take on Kenny Williams in what is sure to be an aerial showcase. Up and comer JJ Webb is also scheduled to take on the reinvented Thomas Wolfe as the competition continues to throw up intriguing combinations. Cyanide will look to keep his path of destruction going as Joey Hayes steps up following his victory over Damon Leigh, whilst Lana Austin puts her Women's Championship on the line against Molly Spartan.

Thanks for checking out BritWres to Impress this week, hopefully we've helped you find the right show for you. Don't forget to send your reviews in acrossthepondwrestling@hotmail.co.uk. 

Article by James Marston

A Conversation with "Session Moth" Martina

ATPW recently got the chance to talk with "Session Moth" Martina (recorded 14th September 2017), this is that talk/conversation/interview. We talked about seeing red at NORTH, the appeal of Over the Top Wrestling, breaking into fresh markets, the wonder that is Fight Club: Pro and so much more. Let's get on with it, here it is, enjoy.

ATPW: I wanted to start by asking how you were following that match at NORTH? [Martina was busted open during a match at NORTH on 9th September]

Martina: Oh I'm fine! It looked a lot worse than it was, which is a good thing, in a way. I just did a dive, the footage should be up soon enough. I'm pretty sure NORTH put out their matches for free, they just put it up on YouTube. I just smacked heads with "Flash" Morgan Webster and instantly I saw blood and I thought it was him. I felt the bang obviously, but I was like "Are you okay?", then I realised it was me. It was very scary for a minute, because it wasn't a little bit of blood, it just started gushing. I checked my teeth and I checked my nose and I had so much blood in my eye at this point that I thought maybe I burst an eyeball or something. Once I blinked it out, I was like "Okay, I don't know what it is, but I can keep going". So we just kept going. People were handing me clothes and once it was out of my eyes and I knew I could see and I remembered everything and I was good to go. So, I carried on. It was a shock more than anything else, seeing that much blood, but once I knew I was okay, it was actually quite fun to work with and to power through. I'm very lucky at the same time, because it could have been crucial. 

ATPW: I suppose, that as long as you're okay, then it sort of adds something to the match...

SMM: Yeah, as it went along and we were doing brawls in the crowd, I could hear the crowd being like "Oh my God, she's a trooper!". I know it's very scary as well, being a female, in the ring, in the main event with three boys. It'd be more shocking to the crowd seeing a girl bleed. Regardless of gender, it's shocking to the crowd when they see blood, but I think being the girl in the match, they were probably like "Oh my God!", because everyone's a little more sympathetic towards women.

ATPW: We see don't blood that much these days, anyway. Especially, women, that's really rare. Then even more so because it was an intergender match...

SMM: Yeah, I remember, the promoter, instantly, before he knew it was all okay, he got worried about that. He was like "Oh no, is this okay?". But once it was fine, in a way, it gained me a lot of respect on Twitter and stuff like that and the crowd went home ridiculously happy and they were like "Oh my God, that was brilliant" and we ended up having a really good match and I was happy with it. 

Credit - The Ropes Photography

ATPW: Let's start the interview proper with wrestling interview question #1, which is...How did you get into professional wrestling and what made you fan? 

SMM: I'd always been a fan, since I was young. Me and my brothers used to watch wrestling growing up and around the time when everyone one lost interest or everyone fell out of love with WWF/WWE, I didn't. I was the only one in my circle that still liked it, but you know, life moved on and I did new things and hung around new people. Then I got a little bit older, I was out with my friends one time and something came up, when we were all out drinking and I was like "Do you remember Stone Cold? The Rock? Chris Jericho?" and we just ended up talking about a load of WWF memories. When I got home I went on YouTube and just started looking up all the old stuff and I was like "Oh my God, this is great!" and then fell into a loop of it and ended up becoming obsessed with it all over again.

The obsession just got bigger and then eventually, I never thought I would do it, because I was a lot bigger back then, I was a big girl, but I just loved wrestling, I looked up something about Irish wrestling and saw that there was a school that did it. I thought "Ah that's cool", so I looked it up on Facebook and I thought I'd love to that one day and put it to the back of my head. Then I met the guy who ran the school, by chance, because my next door neighbour was friends with him. So, we ended up meeting and I said to him one night "I'd love to do it, but I wouldn't have the balls to do it". The next day I had a message from him, saying "I set up a class for you, come down and give it a go" and I was like "Ah no, I won't be able to do it" but then I just said "Ah fuck it, I'll give it a go". Then I got in the ring and I did the few little bits and I was probably absolutely terrible, but I said "Okay, I actually like this". That was about seven years ago.

ATPW: So when you began wrestling as Kazza G, mostly in Ireland, what was the scene like back then in 2011/12? 

SMM: Compared to now it was dead. There wasn't much going on. When I first started training my training school had just started running shows and I was their ring announcer on the first few shows. Eventually, they said "Okay, you're ready to wrestle, we're gonna put you in a battle royale" and there was no other girls training at this point so I was in there with the guys from the get go. Once I debuted it just sort of took of. I remember another promotion that did smaller shows, but they were all around Ireland, they used to travel all the time, because there was so few women, he booked me for every show! So from the start I was wrestling every weekend, because of that place and my home training school shows. They got better as it went along, it was still the one big show in Dublin once a month and then we do these smaller shows around the country. But it was the same, it was very old, camp style, boo-yay kind of wrestling, but it was great experience for getting me comfortable in front of a crowd. I wasn't doing anything to the degree I do now, I was either a basic heel or a basic face, but it was great to have that amount of experience in front of a crowd and get comfortable, wrestling all the time and improving in-ring. But, looking at the scene then compared to now, it's insane to see the difference, but I think that's the same for British wrestling and Irish wrestling all the same, all sorts of indepdent wrestling has just exploded over the last few years.

ATPW: Over the Top Wrestling (OTT) started in 2014 and you were on the very first show...

SMM: Yeah, I was Kazza on that show. I'd done a fair bit now as Kazza. I'd wrestling in Switzerland and I'd won a belt in Belgium and I'd wrestled for every promotion in Ireland, so it wasn't a case of where I didn't do anything before Martina. I did a lot and I got a lot of respect in Ireland and obviously winning a belt in Belgium was a big deal and even flying over to a different country from Ireland was very rare. I definitely had experience under my belt before OTT began.

I wrestled the first show as Kazza G. The first show did have such a special air to it and everybody knew that something special was happening here. I kinda just knew straight off "wrestling as Kazza isn't gonna do it", because we had such eccentric characters on the show. The Wards were the main guys, who were a stable of characters, then we had the Lads from the Flats, who were a stable of characters. So I was in Germany for the second show, so I wasn't on that, so then I came back and I was there for the next one but I wasn't on it. I was like "Nah, gotta do something different, something's gotta change". So I was like "I'll go with the Lads from the Flats", because they were like "They need a girl with them". So I said to myself "I'm gonna need to be like a townie girl" because who would the Lads from the Flats hang out with and I thought "A Session Moth is such a popular term in Ireland right now" because a Session Moth is pretty much a townie girl. They go to clubs, they drink, they just want to party, they're real common and just want to have fun. That's all the care about. So then I thought "What would a Session Moth wear? She'd wear pajamas!" They're the ones that go, hungover the next morning, they go to the shop in their pajamas. So then I got leopard print pajamas, because leopard prints so tacky! I was like "I'll wear hoop earrings and I'll come out with the Lads from the Flats and we'll have a rave and we'll just drink and we'll do this". That was the beginning of the character and as time went on I just kept adding things to it and started to get to know Martina and fell in love with everything about her, because it was just so much fun to do. The comedy wrestling aspect just made me fall in love with wrestling all over again, because I was going out there and making a fool of myself and having so much fun.

ATPW: What do you think has made OTT stand out as a promotion in Ireland? Because it was probably the first Irish promotion that came on my radar, as a fan in England. 

SMM: I dunno. I think it's obviously I think everyone looked over at Ireland and they didn't see much, because there wasn't any "adult shows", lets say, because it was all kids shows. If you ever saw any photos or film, growing up, it was kids in the crowd. Then OTT began and it was geared towards adults, it was Over 18s and people drink at it and it was such adult content, like myself and Lads for the Flats and stuff like that. We didn't have any British wrestlers on our first few shows, except for Pete Dunne and Ryan Smile, they've been with us since the start. I met Pete and Ryan years ago in another promotion in Ireland, a small kids show again, so we've all known them a very long time and we've been friends for a very long time. So they were already known to us, so when they came over and obviously Pete started getting more exposure as the years went on. Pete would always go back home and say "There's this great place in Ireland called OTT" and he loved it there because he was so over and got his job done so well. As time went on it just became word of mouth and then social media and then obviously we started booking more British wrestlers and our production values started increasing...it was kinda the same way any of the big promotions got to be big promotions, people just started catching on and saying "Oh wow, look at that".

I think what makes OTT stand out to all the other British promotions, even now is our character content is very original and our comedy aspect are very original. There's a mix of characters, you'll have your comedy, you'll have you highflying matches, you'll have your big man matches, there's literally something for everyone. We always like to do different thing and I like to think you'll see matches in OTT that you won't see anywhere else. 

ATPW: Yeah I've seen a lot of interesting and different stuff from OTT, mainly on YouTube and social media. I think that's the stuff that catches peoples attention and goes on to catch even more attention...

SMM: Yeah, I remember a show last year, it was the show that Will Ospreay debuted on, but we had the characters from Father Ted on the show and they were involved in the same match that I was in. So it just became this big thing and the video went viral around Ireland, because everyone was like "Oh my God, it's Father Ted in wrestling!". So I was asked to be on the national TV station for it, along with the promoter, so that was really good exposure for us and obviously Will loved it, so then Will started talking about it and telling people about it and again with Pete. It had all these great aspects with and it did really boom from then on. 

ATPW: So from OTT, you started coming to the UK in 2016, initially with PCW, how was that initial experience? 

SMM: Yeah that was my first UK booking, which was quite huge at the time, because I remember people saying "Will the UK get the gimmick? Will they understand it, because it's so Irish?" And that was my fear with it and as well I wouldn't say I would know Martina as well as I do now. I wouldn't even have wrestled as much as I do now. Oh my God, I can't even remember when it was. I didn't have much more since then, but towards the end of the year last year I started getting more exposure and then before I knew it, I had to leave a job. I've been booked in the UK, I think it's been two weekends this year that I haven't wrestled, which is insane, because looking at my life last year where I was working for OTT once a month and that was it because all them kids shows had stopped. There wasn't anything happening, so it was literally just OTT. So I was wrestling once a month last year and I was looking at all my British friends I'd made, who were wrestling every weekend and I got really jealous and I was like "That's what I want! That's what I want!". Then last year just kind of boomed and I've been so lucky this year.

ATPW: You talked a little bit there about a worry that the gimmick might not have translated when you came over the UK. In December, you're working in Canada, do you have similar kind of feelings about that? (This has since been cancelled after the company turned out to be a bag of shite)

SMM: I always worried about that. I worried about that wrestling in mainland Europe as well, but then I wrestled in Germany and it got ridiculously over and I'm debuting for wXw at the end of the month and I've got a fair few dates with them for the rest of the year. I think, maybe my spoken comedy may not translate for a lot of them, but I think people just get it, when they see me drinking beer and they see me dancing, I think regardless of what it is you can understand it. I think I've toned it, to where...because I have a lot of followers from Canada and America and even Japan, that have really gotten on board with it and seem to love it. So I guess it's just going over and make the best showing that I can. 

ATPW: Have you ever had a situation where you've gone out and the crowd has gone for it? 

SMM: No, I think the majority of places that I've been have really, really taken to it, which I'm very lucky to say. There, of course, might be the case were you do one joke and it might not get the reaction you hoped it would, but usually you can cover it up pretty well, so that's fine. I've always gotten a very, very good reception. I think one of the hardest places I've worked, because I know they have mixed feelings is ICW. My character is always you love or you hate me and they're always very strong on either side of that. Which is fine and I perfectly accept that, because it is such a strong gimmick, that you can't be indecisive about it, you either like it or you don't. I mainly find it from Scotland people, "I'm not really a fan", but it's very rare that I get that, so I'm lucky. 

ATPW: I think with ICW there's very much a case of "shades of grey" with how the crowd react to things...

SMM: I always think that they're very much in favour of homegrown talent and I think that was it. I did notice, because I've been there for most of the year, as time went on they were warming to me the more they saw of me. So it definitely did get better towards the last few of them, but at the start it was difficult, because I think they weren't decided on if they wanted just plain wrestling or if they wanted a character. I think overtime they've started to grow to like the character. Especially because I like to give Martina a lot of backstory and it's not black and white, there's a lot to it. I'll always be like "Oh no, this is about Martina, this is what Martina would do, she's mad like this. This time she's going to approach it with her drinking, this time she's going to approach it with her sex, this time she's going to do it because she's angry" I like to think that there's a lot to her. 

Credit - Jamie Spaul

ATPW: It sounds like you spend a lot of time thinking about what your character would do in each situation? 

SMM: In every situation. Say it's a title match, I'm not gonna be full of jokes this time or I might be at the start but by the end of it, maybe you've pissed me off and maybe I'm gonna kill ya for it! I look so much into Martina, if you ever see me on Twitter that's why I'm always saying I've got so many kids and the number keeps changing and that's just a joke I play, even for myself, but people seem to love it and people seem to jump on it. That's the whole thing, I like to pretend I'm this mother to a million kids and I don't know any of the Dads, so it's like I'm trying to make a living, so that's what I'm doing! It just makes it a lot more fun it you actually have something when you actually have something, when you're going out there and changing into a different person. Maybe I'm fighting this girl because she's pissed me off or she's slagged what I'm wearing and I'm thinking "Bitch, I'm wearing better than you!" 

ATPW: I wanted to talk a little bit about a promotion that I got to a lot, Fight Club: PRO...

SMM: Oh my favourite! It is my absolute home from home. OTT is my home, of course and it's my all-time favourite, but Fight Club in the UK is my home from home, I adore that place. I look forward to it every month. 

ATPW: I think on your first show, when you came in and went to bar, there was a sense "What's going on here?" and then it's just sort of snowballed into a story with Shay and all sorts of stuff...

SMM: I think it was a case of I was very friendly with everyone in Fight Club and I knew they really liked my character and I know Fight Club didn't really do comedy before I came along and that's one thing they always said to me. Once I did get out there and actually did start having matches, they were like "We really like the dynamic that you're bringing to the table", because they have their insane dream matches all the time, sometimes it can be nice to just get out there and the crowd just have a laugh. They have great women talent when they come in, but the great thing about Fight Club is they only book the best, they're not just going to throw away a match. It's always going to top notch, when you're going and I think they really liked the idea that I could get in there and it's the place where...at the London show, it was such a mad scramble where it had the UK Champion and a Session Moth and Jack Sexsmith and Eddie Dennis and Jordan Devlin, the big head, thirsty to prove himself and Millie McKenzie and Charlie Evans, just all of us in the same match and everyones just looking around and thinking "What? This is such a clash of different people, what the hell is this?". I never thought I'd be in the same ring as the WWE UK Champion, we're two different sides of a card, but it happened and it was so much, it was one of the funnest matches that I've ever had, because it was just so ridiculous, but there was so much wrestling and there was so many moves and there was so many comedy spots. It was just the perfect snowball of a match and I loved it! 

Credit - The Ringside Perspective

ATPW: I was gutted I missed that weekend, I think it was the first FCP show I'd missed in a couple of years...

SMM: My match with Dan Moloney, that was another different side to me there. I went in laughing and joking, but by the end of the match he'd been beating me up so I was angry and Shay was angry. So that showed even a little bit of a different side, it's the evolution of the character. 

ATPW: It's certainly a different kind of story to what FCP had been telling previously. 

SMM: It's all based around the fact that nobody had noticed that Dan Moloney was undefeated in Fight Club and he'd never been pinned, but it's all coming around.

ATPW: If someone hadn't seen your work, what would show them to win them over to the Session Moth?

SMM: Oh wow. I'd probably show them my promos to start off with. I'd show them my highlights video at the start, that's just different clips of me doing moves and dancing to my entrance song. That kind of gives a jist about what I'm about, all over. I like my promos that I've done, I remember my very first promo. It's so long ago now, but I just pretended I'd got my pay from the social and I was going out to buy my kids food, but I ended up going out and partying all over town instead. I liked the last promo I did for ICW, for my hen night, where I just had a mad night out, with the lads. Because what else would you do on a hen? Another one where I was hitch hiking to ICW. My favourite one as well, after ICW's fanpage blew saying I'd set women's wrestling back five years, I did a promo addressing and it was called "Public Service Announcement by Session Moth Martina" and I just did a short public service announcement outside a courtroom. That was fun.

Match-wise, I really enjoyed my PROGRESS debut match with Dahlia Black, and TK Cooper ringside. I just think that was a great mix, it was just fun. The story was that I was trying to steal Dahlia's fella, because that's what I do and it just gave me the perfect opportunity to tell that story. Because yeah, I'm gonna steal her fella and she's gonna hate me for it and that's why she's beating me up and I just want him and she's not gonna get in the way of that. I really like that match, the crowd were fantastic. I love mine and Shay's "Fans Bring the Alcohol" match, I thought that was just so much fun. It was just mad. That's what I love. I'd also show that eight person scramble. Then a million ones from OTT, where you could just show my wrestling matches. I love my ones with Alex Windsor, I love my ScrapperMania matches.

Credit - Rob Brazier Photography

Yeah, there's loads, there's always different stories to tell. That's one thing I really like, that I can flip the penny. Another thing I really like is that everytime I have a match, I try to do something different, something a little bit out there, something unseen and something that you wouldn't expect. One thing I've started doing recently is calling myself a hardcore wrestling, but only having sweet fights. I'm just beating people up with sweets because it makes no sense and that's what I'm about! I just like to have fun and do something that you won't see anywhere else, you won't see another woman do it, that's for sure, you probably won't even see a man do it.

ATPW: Let's talk about goals, short term, what would you like to do? Then long time, what would like to do in the next five or ten years?

SMM: Well, in five or ten years I probably shouldn't be wrestling any more! I suppose, my goal this time last year was to get booked in the UK and I've done that. Then I had a list of promotions that ideally, before I was booked anywhere, where I was like "I want to get here" and I've debuted for every single one of them, which is such an honour. I'd love to get to somewhere outside of Europe and I'm meant to be going to Canada, I might have some other stuff in the pipeline coming up. It's pretty surreal sitting there and literally seeing your dreams come true. Little things that you've set for yourself, it's very overwhelming. It's crazy, really, because I never ever thought it would happened so far. I guess coming to end of this year, I just want to keep it going. I always want to stay at Fight Club, that would just be the place that I always want to go every month. If I've got them every month and OTT, then I'd be happy, but of course, I just want to keep wrestling, I want to continue to be someone recognisable on the scene and liked on the scene and requested to be around. To stay in demand, I guess, would be the main thing for now. Long term, I've definitely got goals and as I say some of them are coming true, which is surreal and you'll see as it unfolds. Just stay relevant is my main thing, just stay relevant and don't be boring. That's why I do everything in my power not to be boring.

ATPW: I think if there's one word someone wouldn't use to describe Martina it would be boring! To close, where can people find you online and anything else you'd like to add?

@Mothfromdaflats on Twitter. Session Moth Martina on Instagram and the Facebook like page. Buy my merch. Just keep an eye out and hopefully I'll see you on a show, just dance with me when I ask you to dance with me and bring me beer! That's all I ask.

---

Well, that was a lot of fun! Seriously, I had a blast recording this and I hope that comes across. I feel like we only scratched the surface with Martina in this interview and hopefully we'll get the chance to chat again later down the line. A big thanks to Martina for taking the time out to do this!

Article by James Marston 

A Conversation with IPW:UK promoter Billy Wood

On 12th September, we sat down for a chat with Billy Wood, the new owner of International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom, following their takeover by FIGHT! Nation Wrestling in July. The interview includes talk about the takeover and future plans for IPW:UK and whole lot more.


ATPW: How did you become a fan of professional wrestling? 

Billy Wood: How did I become a fan? Bloody hell! I actually became a fan, it must have been the early nineties, the very early nineties, even before SummerSlam '92. My Mom got cable for the first time. It was a dodgy cable situation, where you paid a certain amount and you got X amount for free as such. I remember seeing on Sky for the first time WWF Wrestling and being like "What the hell is this?" As a kid, all you see is this big, glamorous men grappling and you think to yourself "Wow, I'd love to be like that when I'm older". I then became a fan over the years and I remember all then I remember the pandemonium around SummerSlam '92 in the papers, then you get wrestling figures and you naturally become a fan as a kid. Anything that's put in front of you that's larger than life, as a kid, whether that's the Ninja Turtles, wrestling, whatever, you're drawn to it as a kid.

But I think I really became a fan, a couple of years later. I'd just moved house and I went round my friend's house and he had a VHS tape of SummerSlam '94. I remembered Bret Hart from a couple of years before and being a wrestling figure fan and he put on this cassette and it was Bret vs. Owen [Hart] in a cage and it drew me in. The drama of that match ignited a wrestling fan in me and from that moment on, I've always been a wrestling fan, through my childhood and my teen years and moving on and becoming involved in the wrestling business. I'm still a fan today, that's for sure. 

ATPW: I like that what caught your eye was the characters, but it was the classic match and the stories that eventually kept you a fan. 

BW: Oh, totally! The glitz and the glamour, the Hogans, the Ultimate Warriors, those are the ones..."Wow, what is this thing!" At the time I must have been 6 or seven, I wasn't exactly an older kid, that was the thing that made me go "Wow, what is this?", "These figures are cool!", "These wrestlers can wrestle my Ninja Turtles, great!" But at the same time going and seeing that VHS of Bret and Owen and seeing that technical match. It wasn't just the technical side of it, but also the drama of the family. The whole spectacle made sense to me and when it finally made sense and clicked, that's when I got immersed in the business and wanted to know as much as I could, every little bit from that moment onwards.

ATPW: From there, when did you first discover there was a British wrestling scene? 

BW: I found out about British wrestling through the Fairfield Halls. All Star Wrestling, they were regular though and then suddenly, Earthquake was on a tour over here and my Nan and Grandad took me to the show and I met Earthquake. But on that same card was a bunch of British wrestling, that I had no clue who they were and the gimmicks were very much carbon copies of what was going on in WWF at the time and you could see that it was just a campier version of that, but weirdly I loved it. Then following that I saw the Trans-Atlantic Challenge show on ITV, which was British wrestlers versus American wrestlers, none that I knew of, but weirdly from there I started reading Powerslam and from Powerslam I found an ad for training at Hammerlock, which I ended up starting to attend in the year 2000. 

ATPW: How long did you train for? 

BW: Not actually that long, unfortunately. It was quite funny actually, a couple of us who were wrestling fans and one of my friends was more into it than most, so I badgered him and convinced him to get his Dad to start taking us to train. Now, it was an hour and half or two hours drive there and back and the sessions used to last all day on a Sunday. His poor Dad used to drop us off in the morning, we'd spend all day there and then shoot off in the late afternoon. We did that for a few good months, probably longer, but eventually his Dad decided that "I'm not taking you guys to this, this is wasting my Sundays" and I didn't have any more travel to get there. It didn't matter how hard I tried to get there, in my teens, it was a little hard to get all the way to Kent, so unfortunately I had to stop. But at that time I made enough contacts and got to know people who ended up being vital in my return to British wrestling a little bit later on in the naughties. 

ATPW: So what happened in between you stopping training and launching FIGHT! Nation in 2015? 

BW: After training, I graduated school and went to University. Off the back of university I got into the music business, which I'm still in to this day. Then I reconnected with a few of my wrestling friends and decided that "You know what, I run a lot of music events, I'd love to run a wrestling show". I went to go and run a wrestling show and I won't name any names, but a promoter tried to block it and tried to get a wrestler to contact me to put the frightners up me to stop doing the show, that was Stu Allen. Stu Allen called me up, we had a conversation and realised that in fact we both liked each other, we both got on and we should meet. So, I went to meet Stu in 2008 and we discussed his promotion, EWW, which he ran in Witney up in Oxfordshire, this (meeting) is down in Hastings by the way, which is where Stu resides and resided then. We discussed about bringing EWW back, which we did and changed the name from Extreme World Warfare to Extreme World Wrestling and we started back in 2009 in Herne Bay in Kent. At a time when British wrestling wasn't really drawing, we drew over 400 people in Herne Bay on that first show. On that card was Andy Simmonz, Marty Scurll, Jonny Storm to name a few There was only a few places doing decent numbers and the rest were doing twenty to 40 people, so to wrestle in front of hundreds of people for those guys was a big deal then. 

I did that with Stu for a few years, we toured the UK. We did a show at the Liverpool Olympia, so did shows in Liverpool, Coventry, Herne Bay, Hastings and Warrington. So we literally toured up and down the UK for a couple of years. Then in 2010, unfortunately, the music side of my business got incredibly...well I say unfortunately, but fortunately it became hugely successful for me and sucked all the time out of wrestling. I couldn't justify the time I was putting into EWW and me and Stu decided to part ways with Stu continuing with EWW and me stepping out of the wrestling business. I still kept my links with everyone, had conversations with a few promotions about getting involved during that interim period, but nothing really made sense. 

Then in November 2014, I was going to the WWE live event and Marty Scurll was going down there too and he said "Lets meet for dinner". So I went for dinner with Marty and along came Jimmy Havoc as well. It was actually Marty's fault that FIGHT! Nation exists because I asked all the questions and he poked the bear and gave me the itch to get back involved. So after our dinner that night, I decided that in 2015, I would launch a wrestling promotion.

ATPW: So the first event for FIGHT! Nation was in Islington. Why did you choose that location for the first event? 

BW: Because it's London! My music office is based in London to this day. London's the capital city and in my opinion with the dense amount of people in London and the surrounding areas, the catchment is pretty high, so that's why I went with London first and foremost. Which, to be fair, rubbed a few people up the wrong way and because I'm very private, no-one knew that it was me doing FIGHT! Nation, so promotions like PROGRESS, who may have came around after my first initial push in British wrestling didn't know who I was (or if I) had any pedigree in wrestling, so, of course, "This new guys turned up and is trying to get on our patch". Well, the fact of the matter is that show flopped. I can admit it, we did about fourty to 50 people in the venue, but at the same time, I didn't look at FIGHT! Nation or any wrestling promotion as a one in, one out situation. It was about building a brand, building brand loyalty, showing we did have a business plan and we still do have a business plan and to grow our product and our brand to the point where we are competing. 

ATPW: In that first year, FIGHT! Nation was promoted as part of the NWA. How did that come about? 

BW: I was put in touch with Bruce Tharpe, who was the president of the NWA at the time. They had a promotion here, it was New Breed and now I get on really well with Chris Baxter, he seems to be a decent guy, but the fact was and he'd be the first to admit it, the quality wasn't that high. Bruce was very interested in the names and the production values that we were looking to use in FIGHT! Nation. For example, the likes of Marty, Will Ospreay, Doug Williams, Sha Samuels, we were using the best of British. Me and Bruce Tharpe spoke a lot about, what he wants to do with the NWA, I was sold on the idea and how he saw a UK partner as part of that affiliation and we joined the NWA. 

Whilst it wasn't fruitful for us really and it didn't help our brand in many way, it was helpful to collaborate and get to know a lot of the US promoters who were part of the NWA. Most in the same time when we were a part of it left, because they also felt aggrieved or disillusioned with where Bruce was going with it, but at the same time if it wasn't for us joining, I wouldn't have certain relationships in the States that I have now.

ATPW: Another partnership you've had was with Fite TV. How did that come about? What was the experience like filming for TV, as opposed to a regular show?

BW: The Fite relationship came really organically. Those guys were looking to add more content, they still are looking for great content and have a real platform there. We were growing as a brand, Fight! Nation from it's inception to our recent of IPW, it was gaining real traction. I can honestly say that whilst it might not have got the praise of the so-called bigger companies, the events were definitely competitive that level and deserved the recognition they were getting. Fite came about and saw what we were doing. 

Through the NWA thing I found Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, which is run by a good friend of mine, David Marquez, and I liked the way they shot their shows. It was all about TV and the concept, it was almost like the missing link between what I wanted to try to achieve with Fight! Nation. Me and Dave spoke and we looked at it and we said "We want to try and achieve that to, maybe it's a case of we look at your production values and see what you can do here". So I went over to LA and met with Dave and went and watched his production in full effect and his production crew, seeing everything that they do, from the lighting to the editing to every little aspect of how they create their TV show. Then I bought Dave over here to shoot our pilot. At the same time I was negotiating with Fite TV to do it and it just all fell in place.

The concept was very much "shot for TV", the crowd a certain way, the lighting, the feel, the vibe. It was shot in a fourty-five minute format to be very snappy for TV. I think it's a great format, but I think it was too early. I think Fight! Nation in fact is so much in it's infancy that the stuff that we want to do, we can't do yet with Fight! Nation. In this country, it takes a while to build a brand. It takes a lot of baby steps to get it right. PROGRESS aren't running Wembley Arena after their first year, they're going into their sixth year. So it takes time to really build something and create that buzz. I think that the resources and concepts and ideas that we have, in a weird way are ahead of our own brand and the fact of the matter is without the audience we can't achieve what we need to with the product. Without me going and spending £10,000 on marketing or throwing money at it, because I don't want to do that, I want it to feel organic, it just didn't sit right. 

Whilst the product that we created with Fite was great, it didn't get the eyeballs that we needed on it, so I looked at that as how I could expand our reach and how I could expand our audience and really reach our potential and that's what happened when we ended up negotiating with IPW.

ATPW: I wanted to chat about some of the recent purchase actually. The first one was Triple X in January, so why did you choose Triple X as opposed to any other promotion at the time? 

BW: Once again it was a conversation, that opened that up. For me, content is king and if contents available to purchase and it's at the right price, then I'm in the market for it. I bought the NWA Parade of Champions 2016, so I own the rights to that, we bought the Triple X library and the social media assets. It's a case of finding the right moment to strike with these things. At the time, we didn't have an on demand service, so what I was trying to do was make sure we had enough content to make doing an on demand service viable and attractive. So that's why the Triple X thing came about, it was the simple fact that there was a lot footage there, some great matches. It's a catalogue with a lot of top British guys who have gone on to achieve great things now, from your Pete Dunnes to your Tyler Bates to your Zack Sabre Jrs and it just felt right. There's a fantastic Daniel Bryan match in the archive that we can't wait to get out on the IPW On Demand service. The Triple X deal was simply that, to buy content.

ATPW: Also at the time, there was an announcement about something that was called Project X, which developed into ONE Wrestling. What makes ONE Wrestling different from a regular Fight! Nation or IPW show? 

BW: Well, at the time, when it was announced, the idea of ONE was to run dream matches in an exclusive venue. We chose this venue in Milton Keynes, Unit 9. When you see it on the footage, you'll see how crazy it is. It's a warehouse, but it's decorated in such a cool, funky way that we thought it would just fit what we wanted to do with ONE. Fight! Nation was very much for the families. It's a family show for 6 year old kids and all the way up to 60 year old Grandads, but ONE was planned to give the hardcore fans dream matches in an exclusive venue.

Now, with the purchase of IPW and the conscious decision to go forward with one brand name, which is IPW, whilst the ONE show goes ahead in October and will be delivering what we said it would deliver, those dream matches, it is going to be under the IPW banner. 

ATPW: Onto IPW, how did that come about and why did you choose IPW:UK?

BW: It came about once again through a conversation. There was no intention to buy IPW, however, in business I always have a mindset that if an opportunity arises and it makes financial sense then I will look at it and with IPW it was a case that it need fresh impetus, that it needed a change. Looking at the history of IPW, it's the founding father of the promotions you see today. Without IPW, I could argue there would be no PROGRESS, I could definitely argue there would be no RevPro, so you've got to look at what IPW means to British wrestling and where it should be to where it is. Now, don't get me wrong IPW is still in a strong position, we have the FloSlam deal, we have the incredible catalogue, but I feel like it could be in a better position. I feel like we can give it that fresh impetus that it needs, give it the spark that will kick it back into gear and make it the #1 promotion in this country.

So why did I buy IPW? Because I believe in it's history and I believe that with that history we can turn the future into something very, very profitable. 

ATPW: How have the initial shows with IPW:UK gone since the takeover? 

BW: Well, actually we haven't necessarily run those. Whilst we purchased the company, in fact the previous promoter, Dan Edler, is running his last show on 17th September. The deal was to get to the anniversary show, which is the 13th year anniversary and from there start clean and we wanted to honour that. We've obviously been helping to make sure that things go smoothly at those shows. My staff have been on hand, I've been on hand. I've addressed the whole team and I still want some values held up to, but at the same time there's things that I've seen from those shows that I'm not happy with. There's certain core values, that when it comes down to production don't appease me. What I've found is that since my takeover, whilst there is an amazing foundation to build on, there's still a hell of a lot of work to be done.

ATPW: How do you foresee IPW, Fight! Nation and ONE Wrestling coming together going forward? 

BW: The rest of the year, it's going to be a merger of the brands and the roster, that's for sure. There are similarities anyway, but everything will be going forward under one brand, which is IPW. So Fight! Nation as a promotion doesn't exist anymore. Fight! Nation is the holding name of the company that owns the brands, but IPW is the wrestling promotion that oversees every event going forward. All the events going forward will have the IPW logo on them, they will be IPW branded and by the end of the year you will fully see the effect of where IPW is going forward. December 17th, which is our end of the year show, everything from this moment onwards is like the road to that show. All the storylines will merge and make sense into that. At the end of the year show you will see, a different look in IPW. From a production stand point, it will improve, I already believe from an in-ring standpoint it will be even better than it is today and from an entertainment standpoint. I feel like Fight! Nation was doing some incredible stuff under the rader, I think that if we can take that stuff and with the history and the value of IPW and merge those two things, there's no way that IPW can't win. 

ATPW: How have you found the feedback from fans and talent since the news of the takeover broke?

BW: From talent, it's been fantastic. You always expect talent to want work, that goes without saying, but the way people have branched out from the talent to other people within the business, to promoters to production staff, it's been great. People feel that IPW has a chance again to grow and want to be part of that. I'm not just talking about local talent, a lot of international talent has reached out and has openly been very positive about the purchase. So how's it been taken by the workers? Great, especially the guys on the roster. I told each and every one of them that can come to me with any problems that they've had in the past with IPW, anything that they've seen or felt that not necessarily needed changing, that they felt uncomfortable with. But I've also said that I want IPW to be all about a great atmosphere. I want people to want to work for IPW, because of not just the great in-ring action and the great crowds that we deliver, but also that they enjoy being part of the family. That's really important to me, to make sure that each and every person that's part of our team, wants to be part of our team. 

Going to the fans, once again, fantastic. I don't like to push myself forward, it's not about me. I'm not the brand, IPW is the thing that sells tickets, Billy Wood does not sell tickets, so it's not about me. I don't want to be in storylines, I do not want to be front and centre of the TV shows or the live shows. I've got no aspiration to do that and the little that I have done will exactly stay that, it will be very little and I will disappear very, very, very quickly. The most important thing to the fans is that IPW is the show you don't want to miss and the only way we do that is with the greatest wrestlers, the greatest talent and the most enjoyable production that they could possibly see. 

ATPW: I think the closer we get to the end of the year and the clearer the picture becomes, the more the fans will get behind it. Because there was a little bit of confusion, in regards to where things where going when the announcement was made...

BW: Oh yeah, people go "Are they still going to run the same venues" and it's like "Come on!". The image of IPW has to grow and if that means that we have to move to nicer venues, then it's only going to give the customer a better experience and 2018 is about creating that better fan experience.

Credit - Beyond Gorilla

ATPW: At the end of the day, it's all about the people who come to pay...

BW: Oh yeah, totally! This isn't about me at all, it's really about the larger team delivering something that you would want to buy a ticket for. That's not necessarily me putting a name on a flyer that makes you want to buy a ticket, I want you to buy a ticket because IPW shows are unmissable. I don't want it to be "I'll go to this one because X, Y and Z are on it, but I won't go to the other one because there's the All England Champion vs. whoever". I want people to be really excited to be coming to IPW because there are unmissable.

ATPW: What have been your best and worst moments as a wrestling promoter? 

BW: The worst moment was a wet Tuesday night in Coventry in 2009, with about 35 people in the venue and Raven headlining! My best moment was watching Mark Haskins beat Marty Scurll for the British title in Weymouth in front of nearly 400 people. 

ATPW: You can't really go wrong with those two in the ring!

BW: I think we were the first to do that match in recent times, before the go to match everywhere!

ATPW: Are you yet to work with anyone who you've been starstruck for?

BW: In wrestling? I'm trying to think...who have I booked? I think I'm probably at a disadvantage with that because I work in the music industry and I worked with some major acts, like Run DMC amongst others, so I don't really get starstruck. I've never been starstruck but I did have some meetings with Rey Mysterio and it was pretty cool to sit with a guy who has wrestled across the world and is a prominent star. I wasn't starstruck by him, but I was struck by how humble he was. 

ATPW: On a day of a show, what's your role? 

BW: My role at a show is to make sure my team is doing there jobs. We have a staff, a working crew that set up the events. For me, it's making sure that the show been set up correctly from a production stand point. The logistics, making sure the seating arrangement is right, making sure the rings there, making sure everyone's ready to do their job. That's number one and number two is sitting down with the production team and going over the show with my agents, because we have agents that will agent the matches. Going through it with my camera crew and my producer and director to make sure we're all prepped on what's going on. If there's any surprises we know what's happening and are as prepared as you possibly can be for a wrestling show. Then once the show starts, whilst I do have someone who is a stage manager, I can't help myself, I will do the nitty gritty jobs as much as the high profile jobs. I'm not too precious to get my hands dirty, so if I need to go help on the door, I'll go help on the door, if I need to make sure the merch is right, I'll go work at the merch, if I need to make sure my workers are at the curtain, I'll go and make sure they're by the curtain. Ultimately, I'm just relaying the message of what we want and what we're trying to achieve at the show. Number one is with my talent to give them that creative freedom to express themselves but not at the expense of the show and I've been very fortunate to this day that each any every talent that I've worked with and I can stay this hand on heart, has respected where we're going and what we're doing and has fed into the larger plan.

ATPW: So it sounds like you've quite a large set-up behind the scenes, compared to what I'd expect from similar promotions...

BW: Totally, it's about investment into your brand and what you're trying to achieve. The truth of the matter is I'm not going to be the best person for every job. Too many people take on promotions, because they want to book or they want to be Vince McMahon or they want to be Paul Heyman, they want to be that guy that made someone a star, that's not why I'm in wrestling. I'm in wrestling because I want to make whatever promotion, whatever company I own succesful and believe I can. That's about collaborating with the right people, that's about having knowledge staff in different areas that can enhance your product and setting that ethos from the start was super important for me going into what we're trying to do now with IPW. Yeah, I can sit there and have a concept of who I see as our top talent, but am I the only guy that puts together our show? Absolutely not. There's loads of other unsung heroes in our team that are as important as me. I'll be honest, even in Fight! Nation I've missed three shows, I've not even been at the shows and if I didn't have that team in place, I couldn't do that. Don't get me wrong, one of them I was in Dubai and I was on Facetime throughout the whole show to make sure things went right but that's because I can't help myself. If I didn't have that team, there would be no show. 

ATPW: It sounds like you've got a great set up and now that you're moving over to another brand it could be something that makes the merge a lot easier on yourself...

BW: The truth of the matter is, a lot of the people around me are people that were involved in IPW, but at the same time, they're not involved as much as they should be, if you get what I mean. Me coming in and re-configuring the set up around the promotion and reinvigorating it, its not that hard. Remember IPW has the fan base and the reach that Fight! Nation doesn't  have. There's two things we can't do. We can't erase the history of IPW and we can't disrespect the history of IPW, those two things that we have to embrace to make IPW stronger going forward. If we embrace those two things but add in our work ethic with Fight! Nation, top that with how we structure shows...because ultimately does a fan really want to spend three hours at a wrestling show in this day and age. The concentration span of a human being is getting shorter and shorter and shorted, because we live in a world where we can get anything at anytime, so you've got to look at your live shows and make sure that they are punchy and impactful enough that when people leave they want more. You don't want people leaving early because you've over run by an hour. You want people to leave saying "I can't wait to come back" and that's what we're going to do with IPW.

Johnny Storm won the IPW:UK title after this interview.

ATPW: If you wanted to sell someone on your product, what matches, moments or shows would you show them? 

BW: To give you an idea of some of the elements that we'll be bringing to IPW, I would watch Marty Scurrl vs. Will Ospreay from our tournament to crown our first champion which was on the War on the Shore event which was our second show, that's one I'd definitely watch. Mark Haskins vs. Marty Scurll is one as well to definitely give you an idea of where we are going. To give you a fresher flavour of how we try to unearth these talents before they break, Mark Andrews vs. Chris Ridgeway at Chapter Three would be a good indicator of how we push these guys into prominent positions. That makes sense for people to see going into the new era of IPW. Those are the free matches I'd say to watch to give a flavour of what we've achieved. That's not discrediting the rise of Ryan Smile. Ryan Smile vs. Josh Bodom, each an every match we've done with those guys was incredible feud, that just showed the talent that both of those guys have. Look at Ryan now, he's gone on to perform on some of the biggest stages and we're super proud of him. We took him in as one of our own and gave him a platform to be seen by some of these promotions and he's gone on and taken that and now he's one of the top guys in the UK. 

ATPW: You mentioned Chris Ridgeway and he's someone that I've seen fleetling at places like SWA and Pro Wrestling Kingdom and wondered why he wasn't in more places across the country. Now, he's your Fight! Nation Champion, so what made you decide to push Chris to fore front of the promotion? 

BW: I think with Chris, I saw that this guy had incredible technical ability. I watched some of his matches and saw that he was growing in stature as a performer and I just felt that with the right platform this guy could be the next breakout star of the UK and it might sound selfish but that's why we wanted to bring him into Fight! Nation and mould him, in a sense, to show that he can step up to those main events. To be fair to him, he's delivered. If you watch the matches that he's had for us, from his match with Mark Andrews where he won the title and no one would have expected, to his match with PJ Black that same weekend, to the match he had with Matt Riddle which was fantastic, that's on Fight! on Fite, to all the way to recently when he faced Mark Haskins, he's delivered. It was only recently when he faced Shane Strickland on FloSlam in a title vs. title match for IPW. 

Going back to your question the thing that drew me to him was that I feel like he has a unique star power about him, but no ones seeing it right now or no one saw it right then. If you give someone and opportunity and they can run with it and make it their own, then they're only going to look back at what you've done in a fond way and when Chris goes on to achieve even more in his career, if he looks back at what he did with Fight! Nation and what he's going to do with IPW and he's fond of it and thinks of us as a home then that's only good for our reputation around the world. We need to continue to have wins like that and we need to continue to create stars, we need to continue to push people. Not too early, don't get me wrong, you don't get pushed until you can run with the ball. At the same time, those guys get them into the positions that they can and too believe in them and give them the matches and the exposure that they deserve. 

ATPW: Do you kind of have to give someone the ball to see if they can run with it? 

BW: That's true, but you have to be careful who you give that ball to. If you try it too many times and it doesn't work on a regular basis, what happens is your brand gets discredited and we can't have that. As an overall brand, we can't risk it too often, but taking strategical risks on new talent and growing them can only improve your brand.

ATPW: Over the past few years we've seen quite a few British wrestlers break out internationally, guys who've worked for IPW and Fight! Nation, guys like Marty Scurll, Will Ospreay, Joseph Conners, is there anyone else on your roster who could potentially follow them to that level? 

BW: Yeah, I believe so. Ryan Smile has to break out within the next year, surely. He's without a doubt someone who if he puts his mind to it he can be a world beater, but that's down to him. Rob Sharpe, I believe can go on to do great things, Sid Scala is the most entertaining character on the British scene bar none and the question is whether that will translate to America, is the toughest thing for him. But I've no doubt in his ability and I think he has huge, huge potential to break that mould.

The one guy I'm most excited about and someone I feel very proud that we've looked at and nurtured in a completely different way to others is Adam Maxted. Off the back of Love Island, a lot of promotions booked Adam and put him in this primadona heel role, well I see Adam completely different to that. Adam Maxted to me is, if you meet him, is the nicest guy you'll ever meet. Like the nicest guy. The most willing to learn, hard working kid, who deserves all the opportunities he's getting. Combine that with the raw talent that he has, he can be a huge, huge star and a real beacon of light, not just for British and Irish wrestling, because he's putting the work in and he's using his work rate and his ability to better himself every time. And he listens, the number one component that people fail on more than most is listening and Adam gets ten out of ten for listening. So, if I was going to choose one, who I think will go on to do incredible things in wrestling, it's Adam Maxted. 

ATPW: I really like how passionate you are about some of the guys on your roster. It seems like you want to see them succeed and grow and obviously that's only going to help your company to grow as they become bigger stars...

BW: The fact of the matter is wrestling on the independents doesn't make 99% of people rich. They do this for the passion. So if the promoter who is supposed to be promoting them can't have the passion that they have, then the promoter shouldn't be in the job. Simple as. If I can't feel what they feel then why should I be a promoter? 

ATPW: Do you still watching wrestling as a fan? 

BW: You have to, because if you don't...I don't buy into the idea that anyone in the wrestling business isn't a fan anymore. You have to be a fan. Lets use another analogy, say for example is was a football manager and I have to go and watch football matches to scout my opposition or I'm watching football on the TV because I want to know whats going on in the game. Are they not football fans anymore? Of course they are! So, yeah, I'm definitely a wrestling fan and I'm proud to say that I'm a wrestling fan. 

ATPW: What have you been watching recently? 

BW: I watch a mixture of stuff, to be honest with you. My taste is very diverse when it comes to wrestling. I still keep up to date with what's going on in the WWE and TNA/GFW because ultimately they are the entertainment leaders so you should know what's going on with the number one brand in your industry. I still watch a lot of independents in the US. From the TV aspect I still watch Championship Wrestling from Hollywood to keep my eyes on TV production. I'll also watch EVOLVE, I'll watch House of Glory in New York, I'm a really big fan of what those guys are doing there. Then coming over here, I'm super super happy for PROGRESS and their continual growth and think them going into Wembley next year is only a good thing for British wrestling, so massive respect and support for them and I do stay on top of their product too. I watch New Japan, I wouldn't say I'm an avid watcher of New Japan Pro Wrestling, but at the same time I do keep my eye on whats happening in the market. If people are raving about something I will check it out and try to understand why they rave and rant and what makes a wrestling fan like or dislike something, because ultimately we can disagree about what's good and what's bad, but I have to sell tickets to these wrestling fans. So do I have to tell them that they're wrong or do I have to give them a product that they're gonna enjoy? That's why it's important that I watch all these different products to get a better understanding of what's working in 2017. If I had it my way, I'd probably just watch a bunch of 90s wrestling, but that's getting me nowhere. 

ATPW: So you being a fan feeds into you being a promoter and vice versa. It's all part of the same experience...

BW: Yeah, it's part of the same thing. Knowledge is the most powerful thing and me having a landscape of knowledge of what's going on and what's working and what's not is only going to helpful for my brand.

ATPW: Where can people find you on the internet? 

BW: Twitter and Facebook is IPW:UK. You can go onto IPW's website which is IPWUK.com, that's where you can find the latest news, buy tickets to the shows, see the calendar of what's going on. And Snapchat which is IPW:UK! 

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A big thanks to Billy for spending over an hour chatting wrestling with me! Check out IPW:UK on social media and go check out a show if you can. We wish the company and Billy all the best heading towards that big show in December and with everything going on during this exciting period for the company.