July 18th 2004

It's been an interesting month.  It began with me making the trip to Wembley for FWA Carpe Diem.  I actually greatly overestimated how long it would take to get there and arrived about 90 minutes before doors opened.  Still, I had a game of spot the star as I waited outside.  Hade Vansen, Buttercup, Burchill, Five Star Flash, Mal Sanders and Paul Travell all walked past me going into the building.

The show turned out to be the best FWA show since British Uprising One, nearly 2 years ago, in my opinion.  The surprise heel turn of Jayne Childs, the return of Sweet Saraya, and the debut of Ricky Knight were all great moments, and the Steve Grey vs. Mal Sanders match was a classic.  Zebra Kid vs. Doug Williams also was an outstanding match.

After the show I said hello to Alex Shane and was shocked to discover he knew me as "The Dart".

Of course one of the big stories coming out of Carpe Diem was Steve Corino's no show due to travel problems, which I was not bothered about, as I still struggle to see the appeal of him.  The other big story was the FWA booking Jake "the Snake" Roberts to replace Corino, only to send him home with half his pay cheque before the show started.

Some very interesting developments there!

The next week I took the afternoon off my new job to go and see my first UKPW show in Hackney.  I was going to see them earlier in the year in Walthamstow, but or some reason which I can't remember now I didn't go.

The show was an interesting event, with a crowd of just 19, the wrestlers put in as good a performance as they could.  This was also my first chance to see FWA announcer Nick London wrestle, under his real name Andrew Coyne.  I also got some of his insight into the wrestling world on the travel home.

That weekend I was back with UKMMAC and using my new camera for my first professional job.  The event, unlike past shows, took place in Rochester, Kent, which I was assured was a lovely place, and I was not disappointed.  The town centre, the castle and the cathedral were all really nice, and I hope to go back there again soon.  The event took place at the Casino Rooms, and we were surprised to see pro wrestler and UWA star D-Ron Rulz there, ready for a professional fight.  Fighting under the name Daron Russell he won the fight, which was good for him.

A couple of weeks later Main Event Promotions made their debut at the Witham Carnival.  Of course I was filming the matches which were Phil Powers vs. Ghloom and Stixx vs. Ross Jordan.  The chaos that ensued during the day was amazing, it was a very unique day.  Of course, the mixture of free entry to the carnival, the lack of wrestling fans and complete idiots making up a large portion of the crowd caused some trouble.  Fans were trying (and some succeeded) getting in the ring and casuing general problems.  Also the poor organisation of the carnival meant other things were going on at the 3.30 start time, so it was delayed until 5pm.

The matches turned out to be very enjoyable and the relavtively large crowd were into it as much as they could be.

The large number of wrestling personalities in attendance was outstanding, with Sammy Ray, Mark Shaman, Flaming Red, Erin Angel and 1stopwrestling's Chris Hatch and Sarah Barraclough there.

I had planned on going to Four Star Wrestling's showcase at the Dagenham Town Show today, but an unexpected illness forced me to cancel my plans.

I should be going to FWA Vendetta in Broxbourne later this month and UKPW's return to Hackney, and possibly WAW's first of 5 shows in Great Yarmouth.

So, see you there hopefully.

August 10th 2004

OK, welcome once again to The Rampage.  As I slowly prepare for my short holiday this year, the wrestling action continues, and these last 3 weeks have been no exception.

Towards the end of July I ventured into Broxbourne once again for FWA Vendetta.  I had mixed feelings about whether to go or not, but the announcement of a Ricky Knight vs. Zebra Kid match made me decide to go.  I actually thought they would have this match a little later and let it build some more, but I assume the fued has only begun and there is still plenty more for us to see.

As it turned out the rest of the card was moslty very enjoyable, and well worth the 10 quid entrance.  Trouble is, for the second Broxbourne event in a row I arrived relatively late, so failed to soak up the atmosphere before the show started.  Five Star Flash and Aviv Mayaan kicked the show off, with Five Star now a fully fledged heel.  Aviv showed much improvement since Carpe Diem, so you have to wonder if it was Mark Sloan holding him down, or if he has just been working very hard in the last month.  I suppose fans who have seen Mayaan vs. Sloan in Premier Promotions and those who are going to see them wrestle in WZW will be able to help us with that one.

Double C vs. X Dream was a WXW Guest match and while not terrible it was the worst match on the card. 

Ricky Knight and Zebra Kid had a brutal and very violent clash, which resulted in Ricky Knight's other son Zac Zodiac (without the mask) trying to stop them from fighting and getting a  Zebra Kid kick to the face for his troubles.

The highlight of the evening was Simmons turning heel on the Duke of Danger and joining The Family........only to then turn on Raj Ghosh and reveal it was a setup all along to help him and Duke win the Tag titles.  Not only did it really get the crowd's emotions going (a, because they love Simmons and b, because the couldn't bare the thought of another guy joining the Family), but it was hilarious and perfectly executed. 

James Tighe vs. AJ Styles would have been a classic encounter, had it not been for 50% of the crowd being complete moronic Internet Nerds who know nothing about wrestling.  Tighe won by DQ and turned heel incidently.

I had planned on going to WAW in Great Yarmouth the next day, but travel plans forced me to cancel.

So that thursday I went to UKPW in Hackney again.  The crowd was small, at 13, but the card was highly enjoyable, particularly the second half, with Jorge Castano and Anton Green wrestling in a very excitable match, and a 7 man Royal Rumble.

The next monday I finally made it to Great Yarmouth for WAW's second of five weekly shows at the fantastic Atlantis Resort.  You have to believe me when I say this is an almost perfect venue for British Wrestling.  Its location is fantastic, right on the seafront, althought a lengthy walk from the train station.  Unfortunetly I missed the first 2 matches due to travel problems:

I got the bus at 3.33 from my house to the train station, with the intention of a 2 hour train journey, and a half hour walk, giving me half an hour to soak up the fantastic atmosphere of Great Yarmouth seaside before meeting up with Baz and heading into the venue at 7.45.

That was my plan.  I got the bus, all good.  But when I got to the station I was in for a shock.  Just slightly down the line someone had either killed themselves or accidently been killed by a train, I don't know the details of that, so won't get into it.  Either way, trains were to be delayed by up to 3 hours, and the advice was unless your journey was absolutely neccessary it wasn't worth making.  I was annoyed to say the least, had the card not been so fantastic I might have just said "screw it" right there.  But, I had an hour to wait before my next bus home anyway, so I thought I'd give it an hour and see what happens.  If only I had left my house an hour earlier, everything would have been fine.  The hour was close to coming, when replacement buses started to arrive.  So doing my calculations I figured it should be OK, and I should make it in time.  The buses, however were not going all the way to Ipswich, as I had hoped, instead just to Colchester.  From Colchester I had to get another one....to Manningtree, then from there another one to Ipswich.  When I got to Ipswich I had to wait 20 minutes for a train to Norwich.  However, I worked out if I get a taxi to the venue, rather than walk, I might make it on time for the 8 o'clock start.  But when I got to Norwich, I had to wait 40 minutes for the next train to Great Yarmouth.  Whose idea of a joke is that.  One train every hour on a monday evening in the middle of summer to the country's number one holiday resort.  What a joke.  I was very angry at this point.  So, I got that train, got the taxi and arrived inside the venue at 8.40, just as the 2nd of 6 matches had ended, and they were setting up the rematch.

Luckily the next 4 matches were worth the 8 pounds admission and I still had a great time, but I was not happy at all!!!

So, that was all the wrestling I saw since last time, but the day before yesterday it was the annual British Wrestling Reunion.  So, along with Dan and JB I went down to Kent arriving at about 12.30 with a good hundred people already there.  Among the wrestling personalities in attendance were Johnny Saint, Mick McManus, Alex Shane, Flash Barker, Johnny Kidd, Mel Staurt, Brian Dixon, Ashe, Joe Riot, Dino Scarlo, The UK Pitbulls, Leroy Kincaid, Steve Grey, Mal Sanders, Nikita, Rich 'n' Famous, Baxter Burridge and Tony Sefton.

The day was highly enjoyable, and a good time was had by all.

I might be going to RAMWA's event in London this thursday, and possibly WAW in Great Yarmouth on monday, but we will see.

Until next day, tata.