I have never been a fan of the American product when it comes to wrestling . The last few times I have seen Raw or Smackdown I always feel frustarted that people watching will think that this is wrestling. Punch punch , kick kick, slap slap, ---yes I know there are a few talented workers , but in this case the exception proves the rule. The story lines are also sexist, racist, and plain daft.

Raised on the British rounds system complete with public warnings , and workers that knew thier craft , what do I find at shows nowadays?---the American _style_ creeping , like a disease , into British rings. I sit there in open mouthed astonishment sometimes , wondering how some of the guys i'm watching , have the front to call themselves 'wrestlers' .

What ever happened to reversals?

My own kids are 'burnt out fans' at the ages of 18 and 14 ----by the second match they have seen more high spots than i'd seen in maybe a years worth of shows -------where has the build up gone?

I've seen well over 1,000 live shows in the last 42 yrs and am finding it harder and harder to go to shows . I'm not some dinosaur stuck in the past ---I just dont want to see the unique _style_ of wrestling that the Brits gave us dissapear.

People laugh when I say this but I genuinely believe that in a quest for the ultimate 'pop' a wrestler will die in the ring.

I ask you--what has jumping off a balcony got to do with wrestling?

Premier are my regular fix at the moment along with RBW and I'm told that EFW and Dropkix are keeping the faith .

I dont really know where this post is going and its written out of frustartion --so thanks for letting me get it of my chest.


Prehaps the greatest man I ever met ( my Grandfather) told me we can all be time-travellers " For a trip to the past , use your memory . And to visit the future , use your imagination."

I suppose thats what I'm asking the British Wrestling scene----dont copy the yanks----use your imagination.

well said dusty.
i seem to remember reading a commentry somewhere from drew mcdonald a wrestler who everyone on the forums seem to enjoy taking a dig at saying the same thing as you about how far do you go to get the pop and how long will it be before someone dies in the ring.
we may be younger than you guys but i think it pays to listen to older heads.
we like to think we know what we are doing when in fact we are totaly at a lost as to how to do anything other than a spot fest.

There speaks a 'wise' head on young shoulders ( assuming you are not being 'ironic' ) Mr. Unknown Wrestler.
Congratulations - there aren't many of you left in the wrestling game now.

I have to agree with Dusty on a point here - my favourite show this year has still been the Premier shown in Worthing, closely followed by... the show in Worthing a month later! And its not even my home town!

I think the problem comes with classing everything a wrestler does as their "_style_". They don't necessarily need to have a "high flying" _style_, a "mat _base_d" _style_, a "new school" _style_ or an "old school" _style_. How can people be grouped in to these categories?

I feel I have genuinely missed out. I did not see any of the "classic" shows on the British scene, and I envey Dusty's position with them. I hope that they do continue to happen, so I can at least be some the wiser as to what all the hype is about.

It's not 'hype' Chris - Dusty tells it as it was. Leave the hype to the Americans, they need it.

Oh I agree that its not hype, and I trust Dusty's judgement on it. After buying that stupid WWE UK PPV the other day, I was appauled by what they class as wrestling (and I let it known in a report I wrote, not sure if it appeared anywhere though!) and wish I could have seen the stuff which I have missed. I hope ASW do "keep the faith" as Dusty so rightly puts it at this next Croydon show. Having only seen a limited number of their events compared to others, I hold out hope!