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1 Stop Wrestling (now known as BritishWrestling.co.uk) Column #16 |
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Saturday, 13 August 2005 |
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Its been a while since Ive written for 1 Stop Wrestling, so I thought it would be good to return here with something thats kind of been getting on my nerves over the past year or so. It seems that every wrestling fan in Britain has read Powerslam magazine at one point over the years, and even though I dont agree with the style and content of the magazine at times, I have to admit that Fin Martin and his team have done a hell of a job. After all, Powerslams been going for over a decade, so they must be doing something right. But there is one thing about Powerslam that for me is a real let down, and thats the lack of coverage that British wrestling gets from this magazine. To me, it seems that unless a big American indy star is appearing on a show, then theres no chance of any promotion getting any coverage. So you can imagine how surprised I was when Ricky Knight told me that members of Powerslams staff would be in attendance at WAWs May Mayhem III show in Bournemouth. It seemed that Powerslams editorial policy was changing, and beginning with the first British Inter-Federation Cup tournament, wrestling in the UK would be getting more coverage. So it was with great anticipation that I got the latest issue from my local paper shop. I rifled through the pages, and at first, I couldnt find anything. Then, upon my third viewing, I found it, and it was so small I was surprised I found it. On the results page, buried under various WWE results, it was there. However, the journalist who wrote the results didnt mention the show name, got the attendance wrong (even though WAW released the attendance figures on the internet), and they seemed to play down the importance of the whole show. To say that those of us connected to WAW were disappointed would be an understatement. What made it all the more frustrating was that a New Japan show received extensive coverage. So a promotion that is on the other side of the world, and isnt even seen on The Wrestling Channel anymore, gets a full-page spread, but a show on Powerslams doorstep gets just a few lines with a few snippets of information. I think its a real shame that Britains one and only professional wrestling magazine shows absolutely no interest in covering the wrestling scene in its own country. They see fit to cover promotions thousands of miles away that your average Joe Public wrestling fan knows next to nothing about, but wont help pique the interest in the ever growing British wrestling scene. With the FWA gaining national exposure on TWC, and countless other promotions now releasing shows on DVD on a regular basis, the British wrestling scene is almost as healthy as it was when Greg Dyke kicked it off ITV in 1988. If a national publication like Powerslam helped out, even if it was just a listing of upcoming shows, then that would be a great help. Not every wrestling fan in Britain has access to the internet, and some of them dont know that theres a wide world of wrestling outside of WWE. I think its a shame that Bill Apters Total Wrestling magazine folded. It may have had its critics, but the magazine did a hell of a lot to promote British wrestling. If Total Wrestling was still around today, then things might have been different. But unless someone else launches a new wrestling magazine, and offers some focus on British wrestling, things will stay the same. That is unless Powerslam suddenly has a radical change in editorial policy.
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