I think the best thing for Dusty to do is bring out the old World of Sport tapes and watch them if he needs more than 3 groups to be able to watch live. The "sports-entertainment" dominance is too extreme now and the younger fans are being brought up on Vince McMahon and when they look further, they only go as far as US independent groups offering more sports-entertainment and more spot-fests. And with wrestling no being ridiculed as "kid's entertainment", groups tend to adopt the pantomime _style_ if their audience is younger children, or spot-fests if their audience is teenagers. Some groups, like Premier, can attract the nostalgic, older crowd but you'll never find them touring far from where they're _base_d unlike an All-Star.

The traditional British _style_ wasn't my cup of tea, so this doesn't really matter to me much. The more I watch the more my thoughts is re-inforced; that the wrestlers would hide behind the "we're trying to present wrestling as a sport, as realistic as possible" so they didn't have to put in the 100% effort to make the moves mean something on an artistic level, and that the matches themselves weren't remotely realistic at all, unless we're spekaing comparatively to the modern day WWF product.

That said the situation is similar to mine in that, with standards globally decreasing steadilly, I'm seeing less and less of the wrestling I want to see; only Toryumon as a full group/product consistently entertains me, and that's because it's *fun*, it's not afraid to make fun of itself and it's entertainment without resorting to insulting soap storyline plots of the WWF's sports-entertainment _style_. So I find myself watching older tapes more and more, the same way I'm listening to older music because the music produced was of a much higher standard than contemporary bands [Besides Radiohead are there any *great* bands out there, wanting to develop artistically rather than sell as much records, and make as much money, as possible? And considering songs like that Cheeky Girls one, pathetic hip-hop with their pathetically-commercial pop choruses, and this one about the fats food franchises are at the top of the charts, wanting to sell the most records means producing seriously *bad* music].

After all, I'm a *wrestling* fan, the wrestling is superior on the older tapes than it is currently, so why bother with most of the current stuff, just because it's contemporary? So I don't come off as old-fashioned, overly-nostalgic and stuck in the past?

The point is, if you're _style_ of choice is steadilly being de-emphasised even in its home country (and my first _style_ of choice, Oudou/King's Road/Classic AJPW died a few years ago, *before I'd even discovered it*) then why not just watch older tapes if they provided you the greatest pleasure? Similarlily to my complaints about contemporary British wrestling having no depth or meaning behind the moves and thus not exactly being good wrestling, why would your complaints about the lack of the "traditional _style_" change anything. Granted, in this country, your in less of a minority than I for what I'd want (and what I beleive would be much better for wrestling in this country in the long-run, where's the traditional _style_ you ask for couldn't work on a national level now, it'd incite more ridicule rather than diminish the ridicule which, ultimately, must be the single greatest aim of any group wanting to get national exposure) but still, as I've found out the hard way, most promoters do not give a flying fuck about the standard or _style_ of show they produce, only if it sells well and makes them money. Those wanting to run a product they could be proud of, if such a product isn't as popular, will forever remain at the lowest rung of the ladder.

Bottom line, don't be going to the majority of contemporary British shows if they don't offer you what you want, and there's no point complaining (no matter how fair your comments) because it's not going to get you anything but shit (how hard a way I found this out!). If you want old British Wrestling back, you can, just slip it in the VCR and abracadabra it's on your TV screen for your viewing pleasure. And it's much better to watch something your enjoy on television, than somehting you don't live.

Guys, this thread is one of the most gratifying I've ever read on here.

I can only echo what you say with regards to keeping the Brit _style_ going, and voice my total frustration at the "neo-american" _style_ which pops up more and more frequently on domestic cards. I personally stopped watching wrestling on TV a long time ago and wouldn't even be able to name half the wrestlers in the WWE now. I make no apologies for this and don't feel I'm missing a thing.

I wrestle in the Brit _style_, I encourage others to do the same (in vain most of the time) and would rather work with a wrestler in this _style_ than any other.

One day, hopefully things will come full circle (maybe when the yanks go too far for that "ultimate pop") and we will once again enjoy Brit wrestling in its truest form.

"I HAVE A DREAM!!"

Is this perhaps why William Regal is considered "boring" by WWE fans?

The reason Steve Regal is considered boring is because since about 1996 he has been; slow, plodding and awkward. And not in a loveable way, and his matches don't have the depth to counter-act the awkwardness unlike an Akira Taue.

Steve Regal was once a useful young heavyweight. Willian Regal has succumbed to one of the great WWF/E equations:

" The bigger the pillock you are prepared to make yourself look = the bigger the bundle of dollars you get in your wagepacket"

Too many good workers with potential have fallen for that one.

Sorry, off the thread a bit - but Regal is English

hey boys i think theres some crossed wires about,im sure the wwe would be the 1st to admit that they call it sports ENTERTAINMENT i think if you want to watch the british _style_ of wrestling the wwe is not for you.
why not let them do their thing and try and get your old school product back on tv yourself :olympic: