WCPW Fight Back Preview

So, this was initially supposed to be a look at the return of WhatCulture Pro Wrestling's Loaded Youtube series, scheduled to run every week at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester from this Friday. However, things have changed. Earlier this week, the company announced that due to changes in Youtube's monetization policy that now lists wrestling content as "non-advertiser friendly" broadcasting a show on the channel was no longer a clever move financially. 

Before I get into what WCPW have come up with to replace the 2nd June event, lets talk about Youtube and the changes they've made. To classify a whole genre of entertainment as "non-advertiser friendly" is quite frankly ridiculous, especially considering some of the other content that the site hosts. The move to make their website suitable and safe for all is a commendable move, but I can't get my head around cutting off the majority of the revenue stream to professional wrestling. There is pro wrestling out there that is all about the violence and I couldn't imagine straight-laced advertisers wanting to be associated with Japanese Death Matches but to generalise when the medium is so diverse, doesn't add up. Imagine banning advertising on all music videos, because some of them having swearing in them? Or advertising on all films because some have sex scenes? Ridiculous. Professional Wrestling at it's core is storytelling, mixed with athleticism and while there's been a few complaints levied at WCPW since their debut last year, no one could accuse them of producing content as "inappropriate". Youtube is a brilliant tool for professional wrestlers and professional wrestling companies, it would be a real shame if that was taken aware permanently.

Luckily, WCPW decided to still run on 2nd June and have created a bigger card of action featuring some of the top talent in the UK, including WCPW Champion Joe Hendry, El Ligero, Rampage, Dave Mastiff, Martin Kirby and more. The Fight Back against the new Youtube rules begins here, let's take a look at what WCPW has prepared for us. The event will air live on YouTube. Tickets are still available from wc.pw 

 
The main event will see Martin Kirby attempting to get the WCPW title back from Joe Hendry in a Last Man Standing match. After Kirby won the title from Drew Galloway in a 30 man Rumble at No Regrets in Newcastle on 29th April, it would be in his very first title defense that Kirby ended up losing the title to Hendry following a referee stoppage at Pro Wrestling World Cup - Mexican Qualifying in Coventry a day later. With Hendry willing to kick Kirby in the head, despite the then champion being clearly knocked out, in order to take the title from him, to say that Kirby wanted revenge goes without say. Last Saturday at Hendrymania in Edinburgh, Kirby got his rematch, only for Hendry's fellow Prestige member Joe Coffey to get involved and cost Kirby the match. There's plenty of animosity here with Kirby desperate to get one over on Hendry, not just for taking his title but the way in which it was done, whilst we know that Hendry will stop at nothing to stay on top of the mountain. This has the potential to be an all out war tomorrow night.

The Four-Way Number One Contenders match features an intriguing mixture of styles and personalities as Joe Coffey, Dave Mastiff, Rampage and El Ligero. Coffey's alignment with champion Joe Hendry and the Prestige could lead to some interesting developments and with one of the strongest records heading into the bout, having only two losses in 2017, one against Rampage last week and the other in a title match with Drew Galloway in March, as well as advancing to the Pro Wrestling World Cup. Mastiff debuted at No Regrets impressing in the World title Rumble and having to be ousted by the all star team of Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes, he's got history with all three of his opponents so it'll be interesting see how he slots into this one and WCPW at large. Rampage has picked up two victories over the Prestige recently and after taking part in the first WCPW title match he'll be desperate to get back in the hunt. El Ligero is the wild card here, not just in having a completely different wrestling style and is at least 70lbs lighter than everyone else, but he also hasn't been in a bit of tailspin since dropping the WCPW Internet Title to Cody Rhodes. There's no mistaking that Ligero is the underdog, but with three big lads battering the piss into or out of each other, he may get the opportunity to use his agility to his advantage. There's huge potential in this bout and a hell of a lot of talent, who comes out with the win though is anyone's guess. 

After using a wrench to defeat Sha Samuels last week, Drake finds himself in a Hardcore match with a man who has been known to take it to the extreme in WCPW, Primate. With victories in a Boiler Room Brawl and a Chairs match against Rampage, as well as two recent Hardcore wins against Scott Wainwright and Bad Bones, this is a position that Drake didn't look too happy with when Adam Blampied placed him in it. Either way this is gonna be too big blokes beating each other up with some toys. Also on the show, Zack Gibson gets a shot at Gabriel Kidd's Internet Championship and there's also Tag Team Gauntlet to work out who gets a shot at The Swords of Essex's (Wainwright & Will Ospreay) belts as Kid Fite & Lou King Sharp, Prospect (Alex Gracie & Lucas Archer), Johnny Moss & Liam Slater, Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Damien Corvin) and Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey) battle it out. 

Also appearing - Viper, WCPW Women's Champion Bea Priestley and "Session Moth" Martina.

WCPW Fight Back airs live on YouTube at 7pm BST. 

Tickets are available from wc.pw. 

Doors open - 6:15 

Event Time - 7:00-10:00

Wrestling Isn't What It Used to Be...But Why Does That Always Have to Be a Bad Thing?

So, after what has seemed like a lifetime since I found out I would be doing this, it is time for me to write my first piece for Across The Pond Wrestling.

I was deciding for a while what I wanted to write about first, and eventually decided that I wanted to start off by writing something positive, because there doesn't seem to be so much of that out of there.

It's always easier to criticise things. People like to focus on the bad things about pro wrestling these days and don't get me wrong, I'll certainly be doing that regularly in the future but I wanted to start off by doing something a bit different.

This piece is about wrestling not being what it used to be, it is about it not being as popular as in the past but it's also about why that is absolutely okay.

Now, just to add a little bit of context to my views, I'll tell you a bit about my background. I'm 24 years old and I've been a wrestling fan since roughly late 2000, when a school friend introduced me to the crazy world of the World Wrestling Federation. It's been something that bar a couple of short hiatuses, I've had an interest in ever since.

Now, as amazing as it seemed at the time, the main angles during my first year watching wrestling saw Stone Cold Steve Austin turn heel at WrestleMania X-7 as well as the infamous Invasion angle... hindsight kind of proves that I was introduced to wrestling just as its mainstream popularity began to dwindle, which was also around the same time WCW and ECW were about to close their doors.

Since the true competition disappeared, there's been a lot of discussion amongst fans about WWE's lazy approach to storytelling, with many suggesting that they need to push boundaries in order to recapture lightning in a bottle like they did in the eighties and nineties.

I personally think that this is unlikely to happen regardless of what they try to do but that is something I'm fine with, simply because it's not something I blame the industry for.

We do live in a period where pro wrestling doesn't really fit in with society's mainstream culture any more but then what does that really mean in 2017? Pop culture in general is an a perpetual state of nostalgia when it comes to film, television and music. There's very little fresh being brought to the table in any area of entertainment.

In fact, funnily enough, I think whilst the WWE in particular can be very heavy on nostalgia at times, wrestling is actually one of the few artistic pursuits that is beginning to change. For a start, wrestling is now being made for the pure wrestling fan, which means it is catering to the audience that remains. This is a smart business strategy, even if it's not always the most successful one.

Today's wrestling has become purely athletic competition for the most part, and that is a direct result of the new generation of talent. That is never going to bring in the mainstream crowd but is it really that big a deal? Popularity and quality aren't two things that go hand in hand. As long as the industry is still surviving, and it is more than doing that, it will continue to entertain generations for years to come.

People will miss the larger than life characters from the childhood without a doubt, but the pure wrestling fan is absolutely spoilt for choice in terms of content these days if they look hard enough.

You only have to look at the situation here in the UK to see how much better our scene is for this, with the likes of PROGRESS, WCPW and IPW:UK in particular flourishing in a British scene that is hotter than it has been in years. I was used to All-Star Wrestling shows as a kid with the main attractions being WWF tribute acts. It's now the other way around, and WWE are using our wrestlers to enhance their product.

Add in the likes of New Japan, Lucha Underground and NXT across the world and there has never been such a high calibre of in ring talent in the industry.

While WWE in 2017 might not always be everyone's cup of tea, even their product has suddenly started to resemble an independent promotion these days. I'm not just talking about NXT either, RAW in particular has never been less about storylines and more about in-ring action on a weekly basis than it is today.

Something else that you can look at as a positive is the way women are treated in wrestling these days. Although as a red blooded male there were always some positives to the way women were portrayed in the past, I've also always realised that it was a bit tacky, and there wasn't really any true justification for the industry to be as misogynistic as it was.

It is truly refreshing that the industry has decided to grow up a bit and champion equality. In addition to the huge strides women's wrestling has already taken, we're getting the Mae Young Classic on the WWE Network and the first ever Women's Money In The Bank Ladder match in a few short weeks, so the boundaries are being pushed all the time.

Then, there is the most important thing. The deaths. A wrestler's lifespan has been greatly increased as a result of the changes in the industry over the last few years, and there is no way, shape or form that this can't be considered a good thing.

There was a point where it seemed a weekly occurrence that another wrestler had died young, and it was quite soul destroying. You watch pay-per-views from twenty and thirty years ago now and it's often quite ridiculous how many people on those shows have passed away when you consider how young they were at the time.

It might have taken an absolutely horrific incident in June 2007 to kick start this whole movement, but nobody should ever have to die for their craft and to entertain others, which is something that the younger generation should never have to deal with when it comes to their heroes..

So, as I said at the start of the piece, wrestling isn't what it used to be, but lets not ignore the positives either, both in and out of the ring.

Written by Andy Phillips 

The Best of Jozef Raczka or This Isn't Goodbye, It's Just He Wants to Focus on Reviewing NXT

Since March 2016, Jozef Raczka has been a regular contributor to Across the Pond Wrestling. Having already provided content for Surprisingly Competent Media, Jozef took up a slot in our monthly opinion rotation, writing about themes predictability, humour, reality, structure and a whole lot more. Raczka took a look at Lucha Underground, WCPW, Chikara, WEW and even took on all of Dave Meltzer's Minus Five star matches. He wondered what was in Vince McMahon's Lock Box and looked at how wrestler's side projects could effect what we see in the ring. 

However, all good things must come to an end and with Jozef stepping aside from the regular rotation to provide weekly coverage of NXT, I thought now would be the time to take a look back at some of our pals best articles! Of course, as we all know popularity equals quality, so here's a list of Jozef's most read pieces for Across the Pond Wrestling! 

Joey Ryan- Sports Entertainment's Unsung Hero or An American Tale- The DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title Goes West‏

24th August 2016

A look at the King of Dong Style and the stuff he was doing with the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight title. Lots of references to the man's penis and his supernatural ability to flip grown humans around the place with it. All in all this is a celebration of the potential depth and breadth of sports entertainment, as well as a brilliant advert for Ryan's superb YouTube channel. 

 WCPW Loaded or How the Fanbase are now Running the Asylum 

29th June 2016

A look at the very first episode of WCPW "Loaded" and a consideration of what the promotions set-up could mean for the wrestling world at large. Looking at how the promotion has developed over the last year, this is an interesting look at the direction that WCPW had when it first got going as a YouTube personality heavy, poorly produced, British pro wrestling show. With thoughts on matches like El Ligero v Martin Kirby, Big Damo (now NXT's Killian Dane) v Joe Hendry and Alex Gracie v Gabriel Kidd v WWE UK Championship Tournament Quarter Finalist Joseph Conners, this piece is just as relevant today.

Every Modern WWE Theme Ranked - Part 1 or How I Have Too Much Time On My Hands & Every WWE Theme Ranked - Part 2 or How I Still Have Too Much Time On My Hands

4th December 2016 - 21st December 2016

Perhaps taking inspiration from his previous subject, Jozef went and put all themes in the WWE into a massive list! Split over two articles and controversially putting Mark Henry's banger at #91, this list certainly got the people interested. Full of musical and character insights, but what everyone really cared about was who made that #1 spot? Was it Sami Zayn? Finn Balor? Shinsuke Nakamura? Read on to find out. 

The Problem With Gimmick Matches or How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? By Putting Her In A Punjabi Prison Match

The creme de la creme. This bad boy see's ol' Joe looking at some of the worst gimmick matches in the history of pro wrestling and questioning the need for gimmick matches at all. The Punjabi Prison, yeah that's here. The Reverse battle royal, hell yeah. There's even stops off at World War Three, Fulfil Your Fantasy and the WSX Rumble. But this wasn't just about the Wrestle Craps of this world, there was hope. Hope in the form of a match that shouldn't have worked, in the form of Yoshi Tatsu v Tyson Kidd in a Action Figure's Leg on a Pole Match! A jamboree of hilarity, this is Jozef's most read article for Across the Pond Wrestling. Read it now you jabroni. 

Awesome. Good. Lovely. Keep an eye out for Jozef's weekly NXT reviews, as well as his replacement Andy Phillips' upcoming opinion pieces. All the best, loves. 

ATPW is "Pay as you feel". All articles, reviews and interviews are presented for free. But if you'd like to contribute to help our writers keep writing, you can do so at the following link - paypal.me/atpw 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling Instagram - @ATPWrestling

Alex Shane Interview - WOS Wrestling

On 27th March, ITV's WOS Wrestling and Anthem Sports and Entertainment, parent company to IMPACT Wrestling, held a press conference at dock10 at MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester on the heels of announcing that WOS will return to our screens for a 10 part series later in 2017. Before hand, ATPW got the chance to speak to three members of the roster, beginning with WOS commentator and veteran of the British wrestling scene Alex Shane. 

ATPW - World of Sport is back on ITV after thirty years, what's been your involvement in bringing UK wrestling back to a main stream audience?

Alex Shane - I think really, the people that really deserve credit, there's obviously a lot of people, producers and wrestling insiders, but I think what happened was ITV were smart in seeing there was a real revival in British wrestling. Nobody could have done it more than the fans done it, by supporting it and actually getting behind it. All of sudden because there was more fan interest and more promotions and because there was more promotions there was more fans. We essentially reached what ever industry needs, when it reaches it's zenith, which is a tipping point. The tipping point happened and ITV was the first major broadcaster, it happened on a few smaller channels before, but ITV, always with their finger on the pulse said "Now's the time to bring it back". I think, it really was, even though there's lots of people, who've helped this go to a series, Tom McClennon, Jeff Jarrett, the people like that who have done the inner workings of getting it going, really I think it's down to the fact that the industry was just ready.

It's taken a long time, but I think that time was needed. To get the talent ready, to get the promoters ready and even to get the fans ready. Because even a few years ago, the wasn't really the same fanbase that we see today.

Yeah and also I think the important thing is wrestling is a skill, but wrestling on television is a different skill and because there hadn't been British wrestling on television, it was almost impossible to find the guys ten years ago that were British with the experience wrestling on television and any that showed any promise were snapped up by WWE. So anytime anyone came along who had that ability, a Sheamus, a Wade Barrett, an Adrian Neville, they would be plucked for stardom in the States, but it, kind of, left a drought on our scene. Now we've got a situation where this generation, because there's lots of wrestling companies in England, some tremendous ones, that have done a lot to build the scene, now they film their stuff and because of that they use two, three, four, sometimes five cameras and that's given the guys the experience of going "Hold on, where's the hard camera?". So now the wrestlers are actually ready for television. Whereas I was trying to get wrestling on television, for most of my adult life, but if I'm honest, ten years ago, I don't think we were ready. Now, we're more than ready, that's why everyone's ready to explode and get a full series which is what today is all about! 

On the special on New Year's Eve, you commentated with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, someone you'd worked with earlier in the year at WCPW, how was that experience?

It was amazing. There's so many compliments than you can give JR, but one of the ones I had to tell him was, "When I commentate I hear your voice", which was a compliment, but was intended as me being nervous. There was one point where I said "That clothesline turned him inside out, inside out!" and suddenly as I said I thought "Oh my God, I've just done Jim Ross, to Jim Ross, on TV!" The fact that JR is such a legend and the fact that he is the voice of my childhood and some many others, if I hadn't worked with him one time before, I think I would've been terrified for the pilot. Actually as it turned out, all the planets aligned, I think in life, when something's meant to be, you feel it in the moment and I felt it was meant to be. It was great, really really great and he's a legend. 

Do you know if there's a plan to bring JR back for the series?

I hope so. At this point in time, obviously it's the last thing that anyone's going to ask him about, because of what happened with Jan, which is a really sad situation. Even though he's at the top of everyone's thoughts, I don't think his television schedule is, but let's see what happens. 

How did feel about the reaction that special got when it aired?

It was pretty amazing. I watched it at a New Year's Eve party with my family, my Mom, my Dad, my Auntie, my Uncle, my Missus, we all sat and watched it and it was surreal. I make television programmes as well, but not on the scale of ITV World of Sport. I think that was the point when all of the wrestler that were on that show, came together and realised, "Wow, this is The X Factor, but with us!". The fan reaction was fantastic.

At the moment you're working with a couple of different companies, the likes of WCPW and NGW, how will those experiences pull into creating WOS? 

I think the experience is fantastic. As a TV producer I look at what's happening on screen and I think what should the soundtrack to this be. So for WCPW because it's more tongue in cheek, I'll make it a bit more funny and not so serious. With NGW, it's essentially a brand for kids, that's also cool enough for adults to go "There's a good match", but it's aimed really at children, so I don't do any of those kind of jokes. I think with World of Sport, it's perfect, because it's exactly in the middle. It's got to be engaging enough, that you might crack a joke here or there, but it's not a joke show, also you want to make it accessible enough for wrestling fans so it's serious. So with all of those experiences, World of Sport is the perfect mixture of all those style. 

Just to turn the questions round on you, what did you particularly like about the show? 

I liked that there was something for everyone. I didn't feel it was a blowaway show, but it was sound throughout. You had El Ligero vs. Zack Gibson, the tag team match and you had the story between Dave Mastiff and Grado throughout. There was something to pull the audience in and it was a good way to introduce the product. 

I agree. It did what it needed to do. I always say if you look at World of Sport in 1988 and you look at Gladiators in '92, that's five years in real time, but in TV time it looks their thirty years apart. British wrestling needed that influx of light, sound. This press conference is better produced than most of the World of Sport stuff in 80's, which says a lot. I think that's really what it needed to show. It needed to show to a whole new audience, that British wrestling can do the production, it can do the elaborate lighting rigs, video screens. I think that's what it did and it did a great job of doing that. It showed a colourful, flashy cast of character. 

So WOS is currently scheduled to tape ten episodes. Would you prefer to tape those ten and then take a break or would you prefer to do more of a weekly soap opera style?

That is a very good question! I am a fan of series'. NGW, you mentioned earlier, I do that in seasons and now a few other companies in Britain are in seasons. I think, you have a burnout, Coronation Street is a perfect example. Not of something that's "burnt out" but of something that needs a massive turnover of writers, but then with new writers you lose people who were familiar with the product. So, what you need is a team of people who know wrestling, one, people that can write, two, that have a rapport with the wrestling, three, and also know what else a wrestler has in the tank. You go "I know, this guy has got that amazing blow-away match in him, particularly with this person", so if you actually narrow it down, even though everyone wants to be a wrestling writer, it's a really narrow group of people. You don't want those people to get burnt out by doing 52 weeks a year, plus specials, so I'm a big fan of the concept of doing series. I like it personally, all my favourite shows are in series, in fact, I don't have another show that isn't in a series. Just from my own personal tastes that's what I like, but other companies have been very successful running forever, but I think it could potentially create burn out. If you compare it to the original, you used to have one match sometimes that would go on for half an hour, depending on how many rounds it was, but now people want it quick and so I think series are the way to go. 

Do you know how many episode will be taped per taping? 

That's the magic question! Probably best for me not to say anything that might be an accidental world exclusive! "Alex Shane crucified in World exclusive shocker". That's the great thing though, when you're in the hands of a TV channel, not just a production company, but an actual TV channel, you can't find anyone better at making television. Whereas a lot of the time you have a wrestling company that tries their hand at making television, which can be a problem. Then sometimes it can go the other way, you get a television company, that's trying to do wrestling without wrestling people. Which is why I think with IMPACT Wrestling, we've got people who've got a lot of experience, Jeff Jarrett, Jeremy Borash, who have a lot of experience of doing large scale, American television, but there's enough influence from us Brits in there to keep it British as well. I think that's going to be a massive Godsend. So, the long answer to your question is...it'll be good, no matter how many they shoot. 

I think with the talent already involved and IMPACT Wrestling/Anthem Sports and Entertainment coming in as well, it should create something that the British wrestling fans can be really proud of. With ITV you've got the potential to take the product around the world, do you see the product being able to spread internationally?

Well, yeah, Anthem has the Fight Network. The Fight Network is in 36 countries. I know that because I make two shows from them. So it's in a lot of countries, it's just because we don't have it here, a lot of people don't realise, but it's everywhere. So, that's a great thing as well, because I can only imagine, that means more people in different countries will be watching World of Sport and potentially who knows maybe some of the archive stuff, it could be really exciting. I'm speculating on that, but that's exactly what I would do. It's perfect.  

I'd like to thank Alex for taking the time to talk with us on Monday. WOS Wrestling will tape at Preston Guild Hall on 25th/26th May with tickets going on sale on 7th April at 9am from Gigs and Tours, Ticketmaster and Preston Guild Hall. 

Interviewer: James Marston

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

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Supercard Review: WCPW Refuse to Lose - Martin Kirby v Joseph Conners

On 6th October 2016, WCPW presented their first Supercard event in Newcastle, Tyne & Wear. With Joseph Conners putting his World Championship on the line against Martin Kirby in the main event and a mixture of imported talent, like Kurt Angle, Minoru Suzuki and Kimber Lee, and British talent like Doug Williams, Joe Hendry and Joe Coffey, was it time for WCPW to cement it's place on the world stage, just 4 months into it's existence? Let's find out. 

Disclaimer - I've never watched an episode of Loaded or any previous WCPW adventure, so I really was going in dry here! I also watched the event a few days after it aired, so there won't be any complaining about how shitty the live stream was either (but apparently it really was the drizzling shits)...

Martin Kirby unsuccessfully challenging Joseph Conners was the main event of this show in everything but name as the pair put on a great showing for the first twenty minutes of the bout. They've wrestled a number of times outside of WCPW, in places like SWE, HOPE and RDW and that showed here with some incredibly smooth wrestling, with a clever narrative at it's heart. Kirby was painted as having the rub of the green on this occasion, getting the better of Conners at almost every opportunity, with Conners able to take advantage of the referees positioning to make sure he was able to stay in the match. Conners looked great when in control, bringing a more vicious and gritty side to the bout, but also sold well for Kirby on his comebacks, in fact both men's facial expression were marvelous throughout the contest. The contest built well into a number of near falls, including a variation of an Avalanche Fireman's Carry Slam from Kirby, whilst also keeping Kirby's Sable Bomb in the mind of the audience. 

I have to say that I was really getting into Kirby and Conners' war, they'd gone twenty minutes and seemed like the duo were about to change gear and head for home when Conners began to fire up on Kirby, then the ref got bumped and I groaned. Everything after the ref bump was so frustrating to watch, as whilst the initial moment of there not being a ref to count Kirby's victory after a Sable Bomb, was hurt by the fact that the supposed babyface Kirby, and then damaged even more so when Adam Pacitti stopped Kirby from hitting the Zoidberg Elbow and gave Conners the title win. I just didn't get why the WhatCulture personality had to be pushed to the level of causing the main event finish, effectively placing himself above the talent. Maybe it's because I don't really watch WhatCulture or that I'm completely new to WCPW but I couldn't get my head around it. It didn't make me want to see Pacitti get beat up or feel anything in particularly for anyone involved. In my personal opinion, on WCPW's first supercard, where new eyes like mine would be on the product, I would've made sure that my World title match was an absolute killer. Kirby and Conners showed they were capable, but had their legs cut from underneath them with the screwy finish. 

Okay, so I've already mentioned that I didn't enjoy the gratuitous WhatCulture personality interference in the World title bout, so I was going to absolutely hate a Street Fight involving Adam Blampied and Rampage [Brown], wasn't I? Well, to be honest I went into the bout wanting to absolute hate it, but it actually was kind of alright? It was set up quite nicely from the outset with Blampied trying to offer Rampage a suitcase of money to buy some meat, before a stream of interference left Rampage fighting from underneath. The former PROGRESS World Champion excelled in this role, with some nice selling, whilst a moment that saw him take out each member of Prospect (Alex Gracie, [H.T.] Drake & Lucas Archer) whilst Blampied cut a promo was handled well by all, even if it was a little bit corny. Adam Pacitti sending out numerous talents (including Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) who mind bottlingly weren't actually on the card) to help combat Prospect and Big Damo was a little confusing, especially with Pacitti costing Kirby the title match later on, yet it did build to a satisfying finish as Rampage powerbombed Blampied through a table. Personally, I think they could have shaved five minutes of this and made it a more concise and exciting bout, but I still found this a much more entertaining watch than I was expecting.

In the opening contest, Pro Wrestling NOAH's Minoru Suzuki made his WCPW debut in hard hitting affair with former ICW World Heavyweight Champion Joe Coffey in a match that was fought under "NOAH Rules". This match was mostly made up of hard strikes as the pair went back and forth, with the main narrative thread coming from Suzuki's second El Desperado's constant interfering on the outside. The crowd ate this up and even if the "Shit Kalisto" chant made me cringe a little bit, it was still some good heat for the heely action of Suzuki, something which is often difficult to achieve as a well known import and respected veteran. There was some nice mirror storytelling in the final stretch of the match, with Suzuki dodging Black Coffey (Discus Lariat) before Coffey hit the move for a near fall and then later Coffey would escape Suzuki's sleeper hold, only to end up back in the move for another near fall later on. The finish where Suzuki won the match with a Gotch Style Piledriver set things up strongly for a rematch as the move would regularly be outlawed under WCPW rules. There's a lot of potential in a rematch between these two as whilst this match was an enjoyable scrap, there pair seemed be holding back and never quite hit their top gear. 

Whilst Doug Williams' "Mr. Brexit" character is a jumble of ideas which boils down to another rehashed Anti-Import gimmick, his match with a debuting Cody Rhodes was a smooth encounter that gave just a glimpse at what the pair could do together. As crisp as the early wrestling was, as Rhodes and Williams appeared to exchange holds with ease, Rhodes impressed me most with his selling as he made a real effort to make Williams offence look as devastating as possible, including trying to shake some life into his arm after taking a gutwrench suplex. I feel like with an extra five minutes or so, the pair would torn the house down as whilst we saw both go to the sky, as Rhodes hit a slingshot crossbody to the floor and Williams hit a diving knee drop, that seemed to be only the tip of the ice berg for the two technicians. I would've liked have seen a few more narrative seeds planted to build to finish, but Rhodes getting the win with Cross Rhodes still left us with a delightful bout. 

6 time TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle defeating "The Local Hero" Joe Hendry would close the show, because Angle is a big enough of a star to command a show closing position. The match was a compelling watch, helped by some brilliant commentary, as Angle and Hendry told an easy to follow story, that progressed throughout the match. The idea that The Local Hero was outwrestling Angle in the early stages, given legitimacy by talk of Hendry's background in the amateur sport, leading to Angle taking a rougher brawling style to steal control. Later, the Olympic Gold Medallist would constantly go for the Angle Slam or Ankle Lock, painting The Cyborg as a veteran on the back foot, desperately trying to hold onto his status. The only spot that didn't quite work in this was the Avalanche Angle Slam as there seemed to be some miscommunication on how the move would be hit, leading to a couple of awkward seconds as Angle tried to explain to his opponent. Luckily, the finish didn't have any problems as after the straps were down, the pair would trade Ankle Locks with Angle selling for Hendry marvelously, before Angle would get the eventual win after grapevining the leg. Was it a must-see classic? No. Did it raise the profile of Joe Hendry, whilst giving fans a rare chance to see a bonafide legend who can still go? Oh hell yeah.

Nixon Newell retained her Women's Championship over former CHIKARA Grand Champion Kimber Lee in what was the most disappointing contest of the evening. Part of that disappointment was to do with the brevity of the match, part of that was too do with the commentary teams apparent indifference for the bout as they talked about previous events instead and part of that was to do with a couple of moments of sloppiness, that unfortunately came at key points within the bout. Those moments of sloppiness coming at those key moments, such as the messy finish, meant that the good work that the two women had put together previously, including a nice German suplex section, was pushed to the back of most people's minds. Lee would attack Newell after the match, I'm hoping the pair get to go at it again in WCPW, as they can do much better than they displayed here.

Perhaps one of the most curious bouts of an evening filled with curious bouts was a Triple Threat encounter, as 2 time WWE World Champion Alberto El Patron (Alberto Del Rio), 2 PROGESS Tag Team Champion El Ligero and Travis Banks came together in an attempt to become the first ever Internet Champion. This easily could ended up being a bit of a mess, with the unfamiliarity of the three competitors, but the trio managed to flow quite nicely together, with opening partnership between Ligero & AEP crumbling quickly to set the stage for the rest of the match. I would have liked to have seen some better use of the three way set up, but that would have come with the match being given a little more time to grow, as when we did see the threesome begin to look at this, like Banks blocking AEP's build to the cross armbreaker on Ligero (which was poorly shot), they produced some interesting stuff. The best work of the match came between Banks and Ligero in the first half of the contest, as they traded big moves and did so smoothly, but AEP still held up his part of the bargain including hitting a tasty middle rope lungblower on Banks in a nice swerve when they looked to be doing a tower of doom spot. The finish didn't quite hit the right notes for me as Ligero pinned Banks with a magistrale cradle, but once again it does set-up a number of interesting possibilities heading out of the show.

Easily the most head-scratching part of the show was the opening segment of the show, that involved 5 time WWE World Champion Bret Hart getting some cheap pops and putting over talent like Kurt Angle and Cody Rhodes, before James R. Kennedy and Prospect (Alex Gracie, Drake & Lucas Archer) interrupted. From this point on it was one botch after the another, as first JRK's mic didn't work, leading to an awkward moment where Hart had to hand him his mic, and then Alex Shane on commentary called the company NGW (his promotion) instead of WCPW, which certainly won't help those rumours that Shane is heavily involved in the creative for the promotion. Even without the botches, this was a dull segment lacking in any real friction or drama, that concluded with Liam Slater, Gabriel Kidd and Johnny Moss making the save. Seeing Hart is always a treat, but I'm not sure this was the best use of the WWE Hall of Famer.

Best of the Rest 

• In a "What the fuck is happening" segment, Jack the Jobber bought out some flowers for ring announcer So Cal Val, before The Primate came out and then attacked his valet Suzy...I think...whatever it was it didn't make a whole lot of sense and shouldn't have been on the PPV.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.42/10 

Show in a Sentence - Decent, above average, but needed more PW and less WC. 

Match of the Night - Martin Kirby v Joseph Conners

Words - James Marston 

All images remain the property of their respective owners.

Opinion: WCPW Loaded or How the Fanbase are now Running the Asylum (Jozef Raczka)

There's a fascinating phenomenon that becomes engaged the longer a fanbase is established; eventually the fanbase can begin to take control. We saw it happen with the reboot of Doctor Who as Russell T Davies and Stephen Moffatt are both open life-long fans of the programme, who've gone from writing fan fiction to controlling the actual product. It blurs a line, when the fans take over where does the line between legitimate product and unofficial fan production end? This brings us to  WhatCulture Pro-Wrestling (WCPW), an offshoot of Whatculture - the website formerly known as Obsessed with Film that changed it's name when it became obsessed with everything and realised they can make list articles about it. In 2014, they set up a YouTube channel, Whatculture WWE, delivering video versions of the lovely list-icles and eventually spinning it off into videos of 'How They Would Have Booked...' Or 'How They Should Book, wrestling news and even PPV predictions with their on-air talent developing something of a series of wrestling personae. Now two years later, their YouTube channel has more followers than TNA so they took the only natural next step: they've set up their own promotion in an attempt to become a serious force in UK wrestling and to prove they're not messing around, they've got El Ligero on their first taped show in one of what was probably three shows he worked that day.

Now various technical elements can be excused for being a bit rough at first. During backstage promos, clearly they haven't got much room on their green-screen because everyone is packed into a small cube and as a result, the blocking suffers. Often people seem to come in and have their back to the camera in order to fit in which results in the mic failing to pick them up (sadly resulting in us missing some of the beautiful singing voice of Joe Hendry). Their backstage interviewer constantly bobs around mugging to camera but also out of shot in a way that irritates because if there's a static camera, you learn the edges of the space and you stick to them, damnit. Also the lighting needs some adjustment as during these sequences, there are often shadows obscuring faces and the occasional block of loose pixels. It's slightly surprising as their on-channel green-screen work has always been impressively smooth and high quality but despite having given an extended bit of criticism here, it's only their first show. If it's the first of many, I'm sure they'll improve quickly.

Another issue that they will have to approach is the on-air talent. The wrestlers themselves are obviously all pros but some of the Whatculture personalities fail to translate their YouTube shtick into the in-ring action with 'King' Ross especially going overboard on the 'heel' antics on commentary. Ross and Simon Miller do a decent job of calling the action but for my money, there was too much 'colour' added with the two of them talking over people talking in the ring and during entrances. You know how annoying it is when Michael Cole drowns out the eeriness of Bray Wyatt by talking about how eery it is? Imagine that but with two of them talking incessantly over another classic Hendry singing entrance (luckily, WCPW have provided the commentary-free clip of that entrance on their channel). Equally there's a general tone of 'smark' to the product, which lends itself further to a feeling of fan-service but does occasionally also seem like at least someone on creative probably drops insider terminology on a daily basis and thinks using WWE wrestler's indie names is hilarious.

The Matches

Adam Pacitti introduces himself as the general manager and WCPW. He hits the right level of sincerity for the crowd who are clearly all fans of the channel (because why else would they pay to see it?) and doing some real palm eating. There seems to be a genuine excitement, especially for the announced appearance of Damien Sandow at next month's tapings. We transition into:

Match 1 - Triple Threat Elimination Mach - Alex Gracie (W/ Lucas Archer and James R Kennedy) v Gabriel Kidd v Joseph Conners

This opening bout featured some interesting storytelling as for the most part Kidd and Conners teamed up to keep Gracie out of the match and level the advantage of him having a stable.  Gabriel Kidd was particularly impressive, his red trunks helping this comparison, reminding me of a young Daniel Bryan with the commentary team doing their best to put him over as a newcomer playing with scene veterans and holding his own. Joseph Conners showing some truly hard-hitting offense including a fantastic springboard DDT onto Gracie while he had Kidd in a small package pin. Sadly, the match was broken up just as it was starting to get interesting as Kidd was pinned following a Righteous Kill DDT from Conners before Gracie would go for a roll-up, Conners kicks out at two, has a short comeback before Archer and Kennedy invade the ring and lowblow Conners leading to a disqualification. It seems a bold and maybe reckless move to make the first match of your new promotion have a screwy finish. Sure it could be used to build storyline with the efforts of Conners and Kidd to remove Gracie but once one of them is out of the way, Gracie's gang pounced. It's more about introducing what you do, it sets a precedent. It said, at least to this humble reviewer, that individual match quality isn't as important as overall product. This may pay off in the long run but left me feeling a tad deflated.

Joseph Conners wins via DQ (6.33)

Match 2 - Martin Kirby vs El Ligero

This was a fun, comedy match by the two performers with Kirby playing a fun jealous heel. Ligero got a much bigger reaction from the crowd so Kirby twice locked up with Ligero, transitioned to a headlock, bounce off the ropes, shoulder tackle and launched into extended celebrations that would make Bo Dallas say 'well that was excessive'. From here the match launched into a story of Ligero outwrestling Kirby at every point pulling off some lovely highflying offense including a particularly crisp hurricanrana so Kirby responds by trying to imitate Ligero. The highlight of this match comes when Kirby climbs the top rope looking to Triple H with a bottle of water only to spew it onto Ligero, he goes to repeat the indignation only for Ligero to leap up and uppercut the mouthful of water over the crowd. The match hits it's finish when Kirby lines up Ligero for a sable bomb, Ligero reverses, hits a tornado DDT for the pin. This might have been a better choice for the first match as it had everything you want from an opener: high energy, big spots, got the crowd excited and a big, clean finish. Sure it could have done with a bit of tweaking in some of the more awkward comedy spots, Kirby's attempts to replicate Ligero did lead to some clumsy dead air but for the most part, a good showing for both men.

El Ligero wins via pinfall (9.30)

Match 3 - Prince Ameen vs Joe Coffey

Ameen comes out and gives a promo that gets no reaction from a crowd who make Full Sail seem pleasant. Ameen gets in one clever line as he responds to a 'what' chant by pointing out they mean to chant 'WhatCulture'. Then out comes Joe Coffey. They have a match that shows off Coffey's resiliency, speed and strength and Ameen... He has one decent Spinebuster. The finish comes after Coffey sets Ameen up for a discus lariat but Ameen rolls out of the ring and gets counted out. This now makes two out of three matches ending in a screwy fashion. Once again, it might pay off in the long run but in the immediate, did nothing for Ameen who presents no effective or impressive offense.

Joe Coffey wins via countout (6.05)

Main Event - Joe Hendry vs Big Damo (Jack King as special Enforcer) for the position of Jack's champion and a shot at the WCPW WHC.

In the booth, Simon and Ross are joined by Whatculture's top heel, Adam Blampied. Hendry has one of his trademark singing entrances that is interrupted by Damo dragging him out from backstage. The two brawl for a while outside the ring till Hendry throws Damo inside. The two have good chemistry and a strong back and forth with some highlights including a massive running crossbody from Damo and a superb fallaway slam by Hendry. Sadly it comes after a ref bump causing Jack King to slide in and play ref as the ending is marred by a chair Damo pulls out, Hendry dropkicks the chair into Damo, Hendry and Jack tustle over the chair and Damo uses the distraction to hit The Ulster Plantation and get the pin. That makes three of four matches in their first show without clean finishes. The pre-match brawl outside the ring and the actual in match action itself is lovely and I liked the unity with Jack King, presenter of wrestling news show The Fast Count, hitting multiple fast counts when forced to step in for the referee who seems to be out for hours but it would have been preferential if they wanted Jack to be the referee, to just make him special referee and skip the ref bump shenanigans. It overbooks what could have been a promising, if surprisingly brief match.
D

Big Damo wins via Pinfall (6.37)

The show's ending segment is where everything begins to click. Pacitti returns to the ring to unveil the WCPW WHC belt, of course just as he's celebrating this moment, out comes Adam Blampied with his contender for the title, Rampage Brown. Blampied plays off the crowd better than any of the other non-wrestlers especially when someone in the crowd starts jibing him for being a 'cut-price Bischoff', he comes into his element. Rampage also is allowed to look like a monster knocking out two refs, looking like he murdered one of the 'stage crew' with a piledriver before tearing up the cardboard belt that was used as a championship on the YouTube channel. This move feels particularly well targeted as WhatCulture fans gave Blampied a Rollins-esque hero's entrance, by the end of the segment there were boos-a-plenty and even a chant of 'fuck off Rampage'. If they wanted to make people buy the team of Brown and Blampied as heels, it definitely worked.

I'm going to eschew the ATPW tradition of putting a grade at the bottom here because it feels unfair to even try and place this fledgling promotion on the scale for it's debut. It had enough promise to suggest they might keep going for a while and certainly, the in-ring camera crew deserve praise for some particularly well placed and edited action, especially by independent standards. It can be forgiven for its weaknesses because it was just its first episode and nothing's going to be perfect at first. 

What holds it together is a certain disbelief that it exists. A website expanding to feature a wrestling section is fine, that spinning off to a YouTube channel makes sense but them expanding into their own promotion is insane. These are people that love wrestling, that watched the WWE and became fans, that created a fan product that became legitimate and has now pulled in it's own fans who have in turn created fan product that could become legitimate. As a wrestling show, it wasn't the best but as a snapshot of a unique moment in time, it was fascinating. It presents a unique position of a certain 'Hey look ma, I made it' attitude that makes fans feel so close, they could almost take it and make it themselves. This isn't just them wrestling in their back garden with their friends in a trampoline, this is a proper company that in its next round of tapings has Sandow as well as Jay Lethal, Noam Dar and Will Ospreay. They've managed to create something real and that's a lot more than most fans can say. Give them time and space to grow, and maybe someday we'll be saying 'WCPW, that's where the big boys play'.

Photo Credit: WCPW & Bob Dahlstrom