MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 THUNDERVERSE : THE REST OF THE WORLD HYPE THREAD http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/1940/jqda.jpg AN OFFICIAL THUNDERVERSE SPIN-OFF MOD Created by The ThunderVerse Team* Project headed by MJStark & TheEnforcer Based on the original 2010 mod by jhd1 & Shmoe THE MOD Welcome to the ThunderVerse: The Rest of the World Spin-Off Mod Hype Thread. First of all, a little overview: This mod explores the one thing in the T-Verse universe that ThunderVerse 'Classic' lightly touches on in the bios of some workers... the Rest of the World. Pretty obvious really But what we mean by that is this: The T-Verse ROTW mod contains the other four areas of the ThunderVerse, their promotions and workers. It DOES NOT contain the original three areas from ThunderVerse Classic, and is a complete, stand-alone mod. However, around 40 workers in the mod are relevant free agents from the Classic mod, and you will need the Classic pic pack to fill those workers' pictures. And this IS a complete mod, there are roughly the same amount of workers as the original release of the ThunderVerse, and as with the ThunderVerse, we will be releasing semi-regular updates and DLCs for the mod in the future. There are over 800 new worker pictures (both franken-alts and new renders), with pretty much the whole team pitching in to create a whole host of new characters (hell, I even came out of rendering hiatus for this one!). There are all the promotions mentioned in Classic bios (well, actually, one isn't there yet, its a future promotion, and is only in there because the character was created for Classic while this mod was being created and the promotion in question was going to be active at the time ) so a lot of questions will be answered. One main thing that people will notice straight away, and I therefore feel I should mention it here, the Rest of the World has no promotion larger than Regional, and only one of those. The reason is a simple one, its how it is! Why else would the Classic mod not have them?! The Classic mod covers the areas of the world where wrestling is a big deal. In the British Isles, Europe, Canada and Australia isn't really that popular for a variety of reasons. But don't worry, you'll find out all about it, as over the next few weeks we'll be posting the history of all four areas from the 60s all the way up to the present day, as well as some promotion overviews and you'll get to meet the eight brand new User Characters as well as a selection of the top workers from the Rest of the World leading up to release. PROJECT TIMELINE We began the project in March, TheEnforcer originally contacting me about belt work for a small ROTW add-on that would just import into the Classic mod. Pretty soon we decided to work together on the whole thing. After a solid couple of months graft we went to jhd1 with a proposal, combine the two mods. jhd agreed, and began re-tooling the add-on. However, with other things going on and, with jhd feeling that while he loved the mod, in his opinion ThunderVerse Classic just doesn't need the other four areas. Then we had a brain-wave... if it doesn't need them, then maybe the rest of the world should be stand-alone, just like the original three areas. After some re-construction, the mod has progressed forward nicely, and we are now in the closing stages of finalising the mod for release. And now a few words from the daddy of the ThunderVerse, jhd1: While MJ has covered this to some extent earlier on in the post, I was asked to write something about the mod and its place within the ThunderVerse. The mod began as an unofficial expansion by TheEnforcer, that is, it was done with the permission of the team, but without their input. Gradually MJStark became more involved, and eventually it reached a point where we began combining it with the main database. However, after a while it became clear that the addition of these areas to the main mod seemed to detract more from the three existing areas of the US, Japan and Mexico than we would have liked. By its very nature, having four more areas creates duplicate gimmicks, similar workers, similar promotions etc. Part of the reason the rest of the world's regions were never added is that I didn't feel they needed to be. They were, in my mind, not going to be particularly interesting setups. This mod, however, is extremely interesting which brings about the final issue we felt when combining it with the main ThunderVerse...it just didn't feel right. It was too good, too deep, too interesting. None of the things those areas should be in the main game. As a result we decided to stop adding the areas to the ThunderVerse 'proper' (or Classic, as it has become known to the team), and have both be standalone. How does that work? The main ThunderVerse mod should always be considered the only canon as far as the universe goes. The ROTW is, in essence, much like the LotharioVerse - an official 'spin-off'. Perhaps you could even describe as a parallel world; one where the rest of the world had a better wrestling backing than Universe 1! Regardless of how you line it up, the ThunderVerse ROTW mod expansion is a superb piece of work from TheEnforcer, MJStark, MichiganHero and the rest of the ThunderVerse team, and I hope you all enjoy playing it as much as I have! A QUICK NOTE Just so everyone knows, we are not taking submissions for ideas or workers, we're pretty much done in that respect DISCLAIMER We would appreciate it if people did not make a mirror of any release of the ThunderVerse or related spin-off mods - this allows us to keep control of which version is available and, in theory, to keep the mod to this forum. As I'm sure you understand, a lot of work has gone into this and we would like to retain its ownership! Credits *The ThunderVerse Team is jhd1, MichiganHero, MJStark, Sebsplex, Shmoe, James0 and TheEnforcer. The ThunderVerse and thus it's spin-off mods, T-Verse ROTW & the LotharioVerse, could not have been created without the help of angeldelayette, Bigpapa42, LoNdOn, and Trell. A huge thanks Shmoe for uploading the original 2010 data and pictures. We would also like to thank Weidt for allowing the ThunderVerse to feature a few crossovers with his excellent WMMA3 mod, the Weidtverse. Finally, a big thank you to Sockpuppet for allowing the use of his excellent Injury Mod within ThunderVerse Universe. THREAD INDEX HISTORIES The History of the British Isles The History of Europe The History of Canada The History of Australia UK WORKER BIOS Douglas Pallett Captain Scotland Elton George Mickie Violent Perry Powell Ash Evans Carl Watts & Frank Collins Kal Malarky Alroy Farrelly Mel Sims No Luck Luke EUROPEAN WORKER BIOS Akseli Hokkanen Ace Von Skull Target Anders Vradenburg Scurvy Dog The Iron Chef Meiyoshin & Shizukesa Crimson Matsuka Jason Steele InSecToR Aleksander Nordskov CANADIAN WORKER BIOS Daddy Cool Sick Mick Tuff Shagwell Dustin LeFever Sebastian St.James Reddodoragon & Burudoragon RD King Mr Maple Leaf Clancey Nadeau Corvis Jones Mason Avalon AUSTRALIAN WORKER BIOS Justice Supreme Ozzie Rhules Vicious Vikki/Psycho Sally Sackman Winter Rose Tasmanian Tiger II Xavier Morris Rough Rhonda Mick Marz Jase Michaels Skyler Kross Boomerang Bob & Kangaroo Karl USER CHARACTER BIOS Adam Britannia Dartagnan Leclerc Chairman Davis Marionette LeBlanc The Midnight Rider Mr Patel Gretta Brittaine Utamara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 THE BRITISH ISLES The 60s/70s http://imageshack.us/a/img89/9571/bxhn.jpg The Great British Wrestling Federation was set up in 1960 when it was realised by several promotion owners in Southern England that they were mostly using the same wrestlers anyway, so decided to come together, pool their resources and form a larger regional promotion. The plan worked well, and the GBWF spent the next twenty years as one of the guiding forces in British wresting and was one of the starting points of several legends of the business, Daniel Hart, Les Gotch, "Sir" Alford Evans and, more recently, The British Hart Foundation, Scott & Nick Hart and James Gilmour-Hart . Various smaller promotions came and went, but the one solid foundation was the GBWF, it's athletic pure wrestling product pretty much having the UK convinced that wrestling was a true sport. The 80s For the first few years of the 80s the GBWF continued to be the only promotion of note operating in the British Isles. That was until the WWWE, with Turner Paige keen to break into foreign markets, began running the odd show in the UK. But then the big promotion left again, and the British crowds wanted more than the stale product that GBWF were promoting at the time. http://imageshack.us/a/img23/3179/7mqx.jpg Former circus wrestler Billy Guthrey realised that the crowds didn't care if they were not the same wrestlers, as long as the shows had the same feel. So Guthrey opened 'tribute' touring promotion American Style Wrestling in 1989, repackaged a load of wrestlers and took his fake 'WWWE & RAWA Joint Tour' up and down the country. The crowds lapped it up, shockingly no one felt cheated and with characters like Tony Thunder, Randy Single & Gary Lothario on the roster the kids couldn't really tell the difference anyway! http://imageshack.us/a/img809/9610/k9gh.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img96/2466/csvh.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img7/9525/3cq6.jpg TONY THUNDER, GARY LOTHARIO & RANDY SINGLE (aka Kal Malarky, Kenneth Thomas & Chris Dettrick) Three men who the early days of ASW were built around. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 90s With new competition that the crowd really seemed to enjoy the GBWF Board of Directors changed the company's product in 1991 to a slightly more entertaining American style, which upset traditionalists, but appealed a little more to the current market. http://imageshack.us/a/img5/4952/a3p3.jpg In the early 90s both the WWWE & the RAWA made a push for the UK market, this time on TV. This second surge in popularity for the sport spurred GBWF veteran Doug Symmonds, with a little help from some of his fellow GBWF colleagues, into creating a promotion of his own, the United Kingdom Wrestling Association, in January 1992. http://imageshack.us/a/img547/6967/syrw.jpghttp://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/jhdTEW/TCW%20Diary/Cards/VS.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img853/9077/zgf5.jpghttp://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/jhdTEW/TCW%20Diary/Cards/VS.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img30/5495/2xrb.jpg The 90s saw the three promotions of the UK scene go from strength to strength and British Pro Wrestling entered its short lived Golden Age. ASW continued to tour a succession of UK talent done up as US stars up and down the country and in late 1996 even managed to get a genuine US star, Rudy Single, on board to join a tour. But due to their touring nature, not to mention Bill Guthery's happiness with the status quo, they held steady at a low Regional level. The GBWF continued to rise in popularity. By 1994 the GBWA was considered a high Cult promotion & in 1996 the GBWF began making a push into Central Europe. By the end of the century they were actually pulling in crowds in Central Europe not that much smaller than that of Royal Dutch Wrestling, their direct European competition in Holland. It was during this period that many Japanese rookies began to see the UK as the ideal place to go and get some 'life experience'. The puroresu style fitted perfectly with the traditional British technical style to provide some amazing matches and resulted in some of the best Japanese rookies becoming big names both in the UK and Japan. The GBWF even had their first Japanese GBWF Heavyweight Champion in 1997! At the same time as the GBWF began their push into Europe the UKWA, keen to try and keep up with the #1 promotion in the British Isles, pushed hard and hit Cult status. However, money troubles caused by the bigger venues and more expensive stars shipped in from the US to work short term deals (most notabley Rudy Single, who was really in the UK to work for UKWA, ASW being an extra pay-day) meant that after an eight year meteoric rise and no buyer in sight Doug Symmonds was forced to fold the UKWA in mid 1997. Many former GBWF workers were welcomed back by the GBWF, but not Symmonds, who was blacklisted by the company and walked away from the business a shamed man. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000-2004 http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9361/a4p3.jpg Many US fans, when talking about the 'Fall of the WWWE', forget that it didn't just affect America, the ripples were felt by wrestling promotions all around the world, as were its crazy, comedy style death-throes. With the product of the wrestling most people watched every week on TV, the WWWE, spiraling into a comedic mess many in the UK began turning off their TV sets and finding something else to be passionate about. When the WWWE finally closed in 2001 many UK fans simply did not care any more! This, of course, only meant bad things for the UK scene. Within two years of the WWWE closing its doors American Style Wrestling was forced to do the same after a run of nearly 15 years and the GBWF, already beginning to falter by 2001, was forced to give up its dreams of International status as attendances plummeted at home. In 2003, facing uncertainty and a dwindling cash supply, the ever changing GBWF Board of Directors decided to elect then GBWF road agent & head booker Derek Harrison to become the new GBWF Chairman of the Board. Harrison promised the Board that he knew what to do with the GBWF, and his reign heralded a further turn towards a more entertainment based product for the promotion. http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/1785/gi2g.jpg DEREK HARRISON A new Chairman for a new direction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2005-2007 Harrison, as it turned out, was not the best choice to run the GBWF. He quickly went a little crazed with power, fired a number of promising youngsters over the years for rediculous things that most bookers would have laughed about and he treated the GBWF's finances like his personal bank account. With no competition to speak of Harrison got lazy and the quality of storylines & shows overall began to dwindle further, as did the crowds. By the end of 2006 the once great GBWF was considered barely at a regional level at best and, whereas it's entertaining product used to bring in the crowds, many were actually hungering for the good old days of athletic competition. http://imageshack.us/a/img404/2894/08yv.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img17/7831/ec0s.jpg CHARLES RAVENSDALE & "SIR" ALFORD EVANS Back to the old-school The board stripped Harrison of his position and elected board member, businessman and the only man on the board to never actually had a role in the industry, Charles Ravensdale, to the Chairman's position. However Ravensdale only beat fellow board member and UK legend "Sir" Alford Evans by one vote and allowed his friend to take over the booking of the company, Evans promising the board that he would return the GBWF to its roots, and hopefully former glory. A rundown of the years 2005-2007 in the UK would just not be complete without talking about one group of men, specifically their 'leader' Simon Stanford. Stanford refers to himself as 'The King of the Internet' (despite having one of the least read wrestling blogs in the UK scene) and 'The Most Exciting Pro Wrestling Manager of All Time', most people in the industry see him as a 6' cockney, white, Brian Jack wannabe rip-off! http://imageshack.us/a/img16/903/3whx.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img268/773/p412.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img802/7079/1cgw.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img850/9576/673i.jpg SIMON STANFORD, PETEY PAIN, SUNBED STEVE & THE BIG FRO BRO Big on forward thinking, not on forward planning... However, Stanford, along with Peter Green (aka Petey Pain), Al Keith (aka Big Fro Bro) and Steve Hooper (aka Sunbed Steve), collectively known as 'The Stanford Cliq', was involved in opening and running a series of short lived local promotions between 2005-2007, Stanford acting as the Head Booker in all three: http://imageshack.us/a/img28/6693/gi5w.jpg The first promotion Hardcore Garbage Wrestling, 'owned' by Petey Pain, only managed three shows before they were shut down when the venue owner called the police after Petey Pain took a garden stripper (albeit not a very powerful one) to Tommy Roach's face and it turned out the company had no insurance. http://imageshack.us/a/img4/5519/rct8.jpg The second was Big Star Pro Wrestling, opened in February 2006 by eighteen year old Steve Hooper for 'tax reasons'. After the flop that had been HGW The Cliq took a different path this time around. BSPW emulated the product of AWF in the US, did quite well for 8 months and looked to be due a rise in popularity to be considered a true small promotion, but Stanford's expensive tastes in wrestlers flown in from the US lead to the company going bankrupt in November 2006. http://imageshack.us/a/img706/6275/ygi3.jpg The final promotion, Live Wrestling Entertainment, was opened by Al Keith just a month. Practically identical in product and roster to BSPW, but this time the Cliq took the show on tour around the UK. However having much the same roster quickly lead to money troubles again and The Cliq decided to fold the company to avoid any more debt in July 2007. However the short lived hardcore & risque entertainment based promotions exposed the UK crowds to something a bit different, priming them for things soon to come. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2007-2009 http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5581/ynjz.jpg Welsh referee Dai Williams has been part of the wrestling industry for a very long time and booked for both American Style Wrestling towards the end of it's run and for European based promotion Royal Dutch Wrestling between 2003 & early 2007. But in 2007 Dai did what he had always dreamed of doing and opened his own entertainment based company, Bulldog Wrestling Promotions. An entertaining promotion with a focus on colourfull characters and fun storylines, BWP is based in Birmingham in the West Midlands. http://imageshack.us/a/img818/3156/of2x.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img46/1/g0a4.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img827/2751/gnd7.jpghttp://img855.imageshack.us/img855/2425/i6r9.jpg BRIGADIER CLAYWORTH, SI RICHARDS, EETU OLAFSSON & ICE COLD FUNK Four main players on the early BWP roster Initially Dai Williams hired a lot of his old buddies from ASW, as well as a couple from RDW and some of the more entertaining off-casts who had fallen out of favour given GBWF's 'return to basics'. The promotion did well in its first three years, with Williams not only running the promotion but also handling the book. Although the UK had always been the place for young Japanese workers to go off and spread their wings a little, Japanese veteran Yoshi Tasuma, who spent most of his career in the UK and was the first ever Japanese GBWF Heavyweight Champion, began hearing off youngsters returning to Japan that the British Isles was not what it once was and, looking at the scene, realised that there wasn't a single young Japanese wrestler employed by either the GBWF or BWP. He didn't like what he was seeing, and decided to do something about it! http://imageshack.us/a/img9/7186/nqvu.jpg He returned to the UK and opened EURORESU in Glasgow, Scotland, feeling that the straight talking, no nonsense Scottish would embrace the hard-hitting Japanese style. But although Yoshi knew he wanted the promotion to exist he knew in his heart that he was no booker. After a very short call back to Japan he employed the services of someone that no one was expecting... Doug Symmonds! http://imageshack.us/a/img833/915/krgp.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img707/2236/9fin.jpg YOSHI TASUMA & DOUG SYMMONDS The driving force behind EURORESU Although most thought he had simply disappeared into obscurity after the fall of the UKWA he had, in fact, spent the last 12 years in Japan working as a road agent on the indie scene and was happy to return to the UK to book the shows for EURORESU. He also brought back with him from Japan one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, genuine Scottish hero Graham Mackenzie! With the incredibley over and talented Mackenzie as the figurehead, a mix of British and European talent and rookie Japanese wrestlers, EURORESU fared well in it's first year, with Symmonds booking shows and planning matches while Yoshi acted as the colour commentator and authority figure. http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/8294/8824.jpg GRAHAM MACKENZIE The Scottish Hero returns -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT http://imageshack.us/a/img89/9571/bxhn.jpg The GBWF is certainly not the company it once was but in their first five years in charge Ravensdale & Evans have begun to turn things around, although Evans' reluctance to step away from the ring did have the lockeroom muttering until recently when Ravensdale convinced his friend that three retirement shows in five years was too many and he should just hang up his boots. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and, after revamping the product to something a lot more akin to a PWI with a British twist, the GBWF has risen back up to a mid Regional level. The only question really is can the pair keep up that momentum heading forward? http://imageshack.us/a/img547/6870/pwx9.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img29/1636/sfxl.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img43/1976/1v78.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img856/2299/uu1c.jpg DOUGLAS PALLETT, LIONEL ALLEN, RICHARD GILMORE & PIERS MARTIN The veterans of the GBWF After all, a lot of the stars that made the GBWF great in the 90s are either back or still with the company and still in top positions and, while Alford Evans has been building up new stars, many feel that if six-time GBWF Heavyweight Champion and future Hall of Immortals member Douglas Pallett decided to retire it could seriously cut the company off at the knees... http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5581/ynjz.jpg BWP continue to progress well, and while the matches between the 'BWP Golden Three', former GBWF baby-kissing badass & ASW Jack Bodydrop-a-like Si Richards, former GBWF veteran Brigadier Clayworth and former WWWE cruiserweight & GBWF Heavyweight Champion Ice Cold Funk, put the promotion firmly on the map it was the title reigns of British jouneyman wrestler Jeff Russell and former RAWA legend Mr Universe that firmly cemented them just behind the GBWF in the running for the UK's #1 promotion. Now boasting a whole host of young, exciting talent, ranging from the 25 year old main eventer Cody Young to Past Futures, the cocky second generation tag team of Travis Lothario and Thomas Turnbull Jr, BWP is definitely one to watch. http://imageshack.us/a/img585/3503/41d2.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img706/4058/6lyk.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img826/4862/mbku.jpg CODY YOUNG, TRAVIS LOTHARIO & THOMAS TURNBULL JR Three up-and-coming BWP youngsters The promotion's only failing seems to be their training school which, while churning out plenty of wrestlers, doesn't seem to produce many wrestlers that stay on after their initial contract. But that isn't all bad, it does mean that at least there are some entertaining youngsters out there on the indie scene. http://imageshack.us/a/img9/7186/nqvu.jpg EURORESU have done very little of note since rising to a Small size in 2010. They certainly have the right talented mix of young Japanese wrestlers, old-school British workers, veterans from the Japanese puroresu scene and hot, up and coming British rookies to make some waves, and with a little hard work could push things through to the next level. Many see the slow rise being due to Graham Mackenzie being kept away from the title and has mainly worked with rookies in opening matches since early 2010, allowing others shine in the main event. If Mackenzie jumped back into the main event scene proper it is felt by many that they could become a regional promotion within a year! http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9044/1k8t.jpg SCOTTISH STRONG STYLE A new dojo for a new Scottish scene EURORESU's Graham Mackenzie also opened his own wrestling school, Scottish Strong Style, in 2010, which is often credited with being the main reason for Mackenzie's 'back-burner' status in EURORESU. While the school isn't actually tied to EURORESU it's first graduate, Jeremy Griffin, joined EURORESU and has come on in leaps and bounds since his debut following a feud with his mentor Mackenzie. And the second, Gene Sheridan, was recently picked up by the GBWF, so who knows what talent Mackenzie will produce next? When Irish brawler Toby O'Flanagan returned from a successful run in hardcore promotion Dangerous Wrestling: Europe in 2010 with his new bodybuilder wife in tow many were surprised. But not as surprised as when he opened his own wrestling company, Irish Hardcore Promotions. http://imageshack.us/a/img818/7323/wj33.jpg With O'Flanagan as the figurehead of the promotion, hardcore wrestlers from around the world like Mickie Violent & The Blood Brothers and a wealth of talent from the UK & Europe, IHP are looking good so far. Many in the industry are unsure if hardcore will really take off across the Irish Sea but they have certainly lasted longer than HGW, the last UK hardcore promotion that lasted only two shows. http://imageshack.us/a/img46/7456/kgne.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img94/9592/0c80.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img824/4372/biy2.jpg TOBY O'FLANAGAN, MICKY VIOLENT & OLD MAN ABUAKOJI The faces of violence in the UK. In 2012 Toby decided to push for an even more extreme product and hired the most talented unemployed Japanese deathmatch wrestler he could find, Old Man Aburakoji, to fly around the world and join the IHP roster. Having been an outcast in Japan for years thanks to an arguement with BOSS Nagata, Aburakoji jumped at the chance to be pushed like a god. With Aburakoji's push a huge success Toby has hired two more Japanese wrestlers to join the company (albeit without the massive push Abuakoji received) and IHP recently 'graduated' to being considered a fully fledged Small promotion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CURRENT SCENE http://imageshack.us/a/img543/3446/d82r.jpg UK RANKING #1 http://imageshack.us/a/img89/9571/bxhn.jpg While there is still a little entertainment there, GBWF uses a largely workrate based product but with the majority of the main event getting on in years and the scene changing around them, can Ravensdale & Evans keep hold of their momentum and build their way back up to Cult status? #2 http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5581/ynjz.jpg Entertainment & fun is the name of the game in BWP, and they don't disappoint! With their entertaining approach becoming more popular in the UK BWP really could begin to give GBWF a run for their money this coming year. #3 http://imageshack.us/a/img9/7186/nqvu.jpg In EURORESU it's all about what you can do in the ring, and if you can't take the hard hitting puroresu style you should grab your kitbag and get out of the lockeroom! With Mackenzie concentrating on his training school EURORUSU will hold steady, but if he returns to the spotlight there is no telling where this promotion could go in the future! #4 http://imageshack.us/a/img818/7323/wj33.jpg Deathmatch Heaven, no-one is really sure if IHP will make it long term in the UK, but they do seem to be getting over, and attracting hardcore workers from half way around the world has to count in their favour. Having recently signed a trade agreement with Dangerous Wrestling: Europe, Irish fans can expect to see a swathe of new faces getting mashed by IHP regulars in 2013. OVERALL The UK is a scene still recovering from the 'Great Wrestling Crash' of the early 2000s but with GBWF now regaining some popularity, BWP catching up and a couple of young upstart promotions with vastly different products starting to gain ground too, with the right moves the UK scene really could grow into something wonderfull, if the industry doesn't end up back in the toilet first! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 EUROPE The 60s/70s Throughout much of the 60s & 70s Europe was the home to a decent number of local wrestling promotions which all used their home grown local talent to entertain their locale and no further. But then in 1976 a consortium of promotion owners from around Western Europe came together, having seem the progress & success of the GBWF in the British Isles, to form Pan European Wrestling. http://imageshack.us/a/img607/4048/44zf.jpg PEW employed the same no-nonsense, old school, good vs evil European technical product that had been the mainstay of British & European pro wrestling since its introduction back in the travelling circus' of the early 1900s. But with the combined financial power of nine local promotions becoming one and, of course, the best wrestlers from all over Europe flocking to Paris in the hope of making something better of their career, PEW quickly grew in size. Indeed, by the end of the 1970s PEW dominated Western Europe and the Mediterranian, although there were still quite a few local promotions out there for the management of PEW to cherry-pick their future workers from. The 80s During the 1980s Pan European Wrestling went from strength to strength and, with no real competition, were running shows all over the continent and by 1986 were being regularly broadcast on TV as part of weekly sports programming all over Europe. By 1989 in any other area of the world they would have been considered a National promotion, the aim of the original nine owner becoming a reality as PEW truly went Pan European. http://imageshack.us/a/img40/9361/a4p3.jpg But you can't create a scene that strong and not attract attention. While the WWWE made their push on to TV in the UK, a fair few of the events that were shown by the company were actually filmed in France and Holland as the WWWE tried to take advantage of the wrestling buzz PEW had created. With such a different product to traditional Europen wrestling kids flocked to the colourful shows and larger than life characters. The WWWE also made it on to TV in Europe; tiny local stations that the company practically took over for the night to pipe the shows into people's homes live. On one historic night for the WWWE at a show in Amsterdam the cousin of the Queen of The Netherland, Prince Franco, was in attendance, and it was a night that would change the shape of the European scene for-ever. http://imageshack.us/a/img30/9766/ezzp.jpg A month after the seeing the WWWE in action the Prince himself cut the ribbon on Royal Dutch Wrestling, with His Grace plowing a large amount of money first into the promotion, and a year later into Europe's first ever dedicated wrestling academy. The Prince, of course, had nothing to do with the running of the company itself, and hired the recently retired Polish wrestler and the first ever WWWE Intercontinental Champion, Pawel Kukk, to run things along with some 'financial advisors', who's main job was to follow orders from the rest of the Royal family and try to curb the costs of the Prince's latest fancy! Of course, due to the popularity of the dotty old Prince in his native Holland and the fact that the WWWE had come and gone meant that RDW's identical product was an instant hit! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 90s http://imageshack.us/a/img607/4048/44zf.jpg For the first few years of the 1990s PEW continued to be shown as part of weekly sporting coverage all over Europe. However, as the popularity of a more entertainment based style grew ever stronger and the knowledge of wrestling's worked nature became more wide-spread TV bosses all over Europe began quietly reducing PEW's air-time and then finally axing their slot completely. By mid 1995 PEW was down to only broadcasting a half hour show in France, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg. With so little presence, and by now a very stale product, PEW began to fall out of favour with European fans. A last ditch try at the emerging PPV market did, however, see a levelling out of the decline of the company's popularity as older fans who's kids were obsessed with the WWWE would still tune in to see how their old hard working heroes in PEW were doing. Going down the PPV route was the idea of Laramie Morin, one of the sons of one of the nine original owners, and he was brought in to help run things, becoming the Head Booker in early 1997. Morin begged and pleaded with the consortium of owners to be allowed to change up PEW's product but the idea was rejected, the owners convinced that entertainment based wrestling was just a fad to be worked through. So Morin settled for bringing in a new generation of more entertaining, charismatic wrestlers into PEW, most notably the 'Parisien Playboy' Jean-Claude Giroux, to join the entertaining but under-used Hans Heinrich Houtzer and Raul Medina to rejuvinate PEW. http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4858/zccp.jpg JEAN-CLAUDE GIROUX Both the savior and downfall of PEW And for a short time the plan worked, Morin pushed the limits of how much time he could devote to angles on a show, and the crowd quickly came to love the more entertaining members of the roster. However, the most entertaining and popular, Jean-Claude Giroux, was famously head-hunted by Clay Clinton & the WWWE in late 1998. Giroux really had been the glue that held the new roster together, the PEW veterans respecting his in ring skills and his fellow rookies looking to him for advice. Without him the backstage environment Morin had created began to fall apart and worse, Giroux disappearing days before he was due to finally challenge for the Pan European Heavyweight Title completely tanked any momentum the company had built with the fans. The belt was put on Hans Heinrich Houtzer a couple of months later but he was no Giroux and ending the century PEW's audiences continued to slowly decline. http://imageshack.us/a/img30/9766/ezzp.jpg Having only opened in 1989 and after a strong first three years in business the unthinkable happened for Royal Dutch Wrestling... the promotion's benefactor, HRH Prince Franco of The Netherlands, passed away. As with many of the Prince's 'projects' the promotion was sold off to the highest bidder who turned out to be Maxwell Worthsley, a wealth businessman from North Yorkshire. However Worthsley tried to use the promotion as a tax dodge, then when that failed sold it to Hans Johanson, a Dutch businessman with no clue how things worked in the wrestling world. After a disasterous couple of events he quickly sold the company to wealthy Dutch shipping company owner and good friend Lars Schtomfeld. Schtomfeld was a huge fan of American pro wrestling himself, he regularly travelled to the US for work and always caught a WWWE, RAWA or even an independent show when he could, and when his friend Hans offered to sell RDW to him he jumped at the chance. Under Schtomfeld RDW went from strength to strength and the RDW Academy over the years produced some of the finest wrestlers that Europe has to offer. Although Schtomfeld was always happy to take the public glory for his company's success the true brains of the business was always Polish former WWWE star Pawel Kukk, who managed to keep his job as Booker, Road Agent and Academy Trainer through all the various changes of ownership by being the only one who knew how things actually worked! Kukk's booking was truly what made the company a success and by the end of the 90s RDW had managed to bag themselves a TV slot with a station that broadcast to the whole of Central Europe & the Mediterranian. Of course, with their entertaining product growing ever more in popularity this could only mean more bad times to come for their 'traditional' style rivals PEW. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000-2009 - PART 1 http://imageshack.us/a/img607/4048/44zf.jpg In June 2000 Laramie Morin was forced to give the owners of Pan European Wrestling a choice: Listen to him and change the product for the sake of the company OR ignore him and watch as PEW came crashing down around them. His father, still on the board, told him that if traditional wrestling was good enough for his grandfather it's good enough for his grandson. Morin laughed, informed his father that little Kel hated coming with his dad to work because it was 'sooooo boring', handed in his letter of resignation and left the company for good! Pan European Heavyweight Champion Hans Heinrich Houtzer was asked to take over the booking position and gave it a shot, but he was no Laramie and, after nearly twenty-five years in operation, Pan European Wrestling was forced to close its doors five months later, their final show in La Rochelle only pulling in 102 paying customers. http://imageshack.us/a/img41/6589/74ik.jpg With so many talented veterans now jobless on the European scene and with RDW yet to crack the Scandinavian region Franz Gunter decided it was time the North had its own promotion and opened Super Charged Wrestling in Sweden in April 2001. Gunter employed a similar product to Royal Dutch Wrestling, if anything it had a slightly more mainstream appeal, which served the company well. The first man Gunter contacted to join the SCW roster was Norwegian hero and the last ever Pan European Heavyweight Champion, Hans Heinrich Houtzer. Houtzer carried the company of mainly ex-PEW workers from his debut (during which he became the first SCW World Openweight Champion) until he decided to retire from the ring to pursue a TV career in 2008. http://imageshack.us/a/img163/801/gxhy.jpg ARTTU JENSEN The fresh young face of SCW However, Houtzer did not leave suddenly and was happy to work with a young up-and-coming wrestler, Arttu Jensen, slowly giving the youngster 'the rub' and by the time Houtzer competed in his final match with both his career and the SCW World Openweight Title on the line against Jensen, the youngster was ready to take Houtzer's place as 'the man' in SCW and soon found himself not only working for SCW but also touring in Japan. With Jensen as the top player SCW continued to rise in popularity, and by the end of 2009 they were considered by many to be a strong regional company. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000-2009 - PART 2 Another man who noticed a gap in the market was Greek former Pan European Heavyweight Champion Nilos Kapsis. After relaxing for a few months at his home on the Greek island of Corfu following the closure of PEW Kapsis realised that a wrestling promotion could make a fortune if it toured up and down the Mediterranean coast during the summer months, entertaining holidaymakers and locals alike. About a month later he realised that there was nothing at all stopping him from doing just that! http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/2083/yh5i.jpg NILOS KAPSIS Former Pan European Heavyweight Champion & owner of NEW Kapsis spent the winter planning and New European Wrestling opened in March 2002. Although NEW's product was very similar to SCW's Kapsis went for a far more different approach to hiring his roster, and signed many former WWWE wrestlers to touring contracts as well as a few former RDW wrestlers and some of the better known but available wrestlers from the UK. The touring promotion business model was hugely successfull and by 2008 NEW's popularity began to rival cult level promotion Royal Dutch Wrestling's in the Mediterranean. However in 2007 in between tours, and after a long chat with his teenage son about what was and wasn't popular, Kapsis decided to revolutionise the company's product. His son told him that kids were bored of the whole 'Supergood vs Superbad bit' now. What they wanted was something a bit edgier, or more silly, or more exciting! He said that in the US they have places like DRAGON & LWA that give something more to the scene, in Europe its mostly the same old thing with a different name. http://imageshack.us/a/img713/6096/nwjx.jpg Nilos agreed, and overnight New European Wrestling became Nu-Extreme Wrestling. A near completely different roster was hired for the next tour and the product changed to put more emphisis on fast-paced, harder hitting & exciting matches! Things went pretty well, with the fans flocking to the exciting new style of wrestling and Kapsis was said to be very hopefull for the future. Tomasz Novák, a successfull businessman by the age of 28, shocked his friends and family by sinking his money into something outragous in 2004, a 'Japanese Deathmatch' style promotion based right in the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague. Doubters were even more shocked when Dangerous Wrestling: Europe became a success in its own right, in as much as it was able to keep itself afloat without Novák constantly pumping money into it within a couple of years. http://imageshack.us/a/img96/5331/9lvt.jpg Featuring a product rich in brutal hardcore action, the promotion found a niche and stuck with it. Tomasz pretty much built the promotion to start with around two men: Czech former PEW midcarder Rokas Markovic, who had spent his years since PEW closed working for LETHAL Steel in Japan, and Crimson Matsuka, an exiled former LETHAL star. http://imageshack.us/a/img818/7305/69su.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img23/5918/7xub.jpg CRIMSON MATSUKA & ROKAS MARKOVIC The two main players in early DWE The ploy worked and the promotion attracted hardcore wrestlers from all over the world including current IHP & CH star Mickie Violent and Toby O'Flanagan, who has of course since gone on to open his own hardcore promotion in his native Ireland. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000-2009 - PART 3 http://imageshack.us/a/img30/9766/ezzp.jpg Royal Dutch Wrestling continued to rise in popularity during the 2000s, in the public's eyes the promotion could do no wrong. When the WWWE folded in 2001, with the WWWE having been off European TV screens for five years already unlike in the UK, the European scene carried on as normal. But RDW did bring in a couple of former WWWE wrestlers, most notably the last ever WWWE Ladies Champion, British veteran Vickie James, who went on to win the RDW Women's Title twice during the decade and, at one point, was probably the most popular member of the RDW roster! This was mostly due to the taking over of the booking position by veteran Welsh referee Dai Williams, who held the book between 2003 & 2007, one of the most popular RDW 'eras' with fans of the promotion. http://imageshack.us/a/img836/8449/kye1.jpg VICKIE JAMES Two time RDW Women's Champ and the most over female wrestler in Europe in the 2000s Disaster almost struck for RDW in 2008 when Belgian cruiserweight Aurélien Mercier, having been pushed hard and intended to become the first ever cruiserweight to win the RDW Heavyweight Title, tested positive for steroid use. Luckily for RDW the test was done in house and Mercier was quietly let go. His push was given to more experienced Dutch cruiserweight Michel Van Der Berg with fantastic results and Van Der Berg won the RDW Heavyweight Title in 2009. Owner of Nu-Extreme Wrestling Nilos Kapsis to this day publicly credits Van Der Berg's push & title win being due to RDW management trying to complete with his new, exciting product, leading to quite heated arguments online between fans of both promotions and some tension between Van Der Berg and Kapsis himself that still exists to this day. With Van Der Berg as champion and their popularity still rising RDW looked set to dominate European wrestling for the next decade. Spanish born luchador Señor España (real name Raul Guerra) spent much of his early career working in Mexican promotion CLLM, first under his own name and then as the manipulative 'patriot' Señor España. After CLLM he worked as Señor España in Mexico, the US, Canada & Japan but never really reached further than the midcard. He retired in 1999 and settled into the role of a Road Agent for hire on the Mexican indy scene. But over the years he grew restless, not content with his road agent role Señor España wanted to book shows too. Speaking on the phone in late 2008 to friend & fellow Spaniard El Toro Español, a veteran of the Mexican scene himself now returned to Europe, El Toro told him that the scene was changing back home, and maybe Europe was ready to embrace lucha libre. Señor España gave it some thought and decided it was worth a shot. He returned to Spain and opened Lucha Europa in April 2009. http://imageshack.us/a/img513/5282/nejl.jpg Señor España decided against running a completely traditional lucha libre product, instead choosing to limit the size and style of his workers to show off the more high-flying side of lucha, and was very reluctant to employ anyone on the roster who would not wear a mask. For the opening roster he employed a mix of Japanese Juniors, European cruiserweights under masks and unknown Mexican workers looking for a bit of experience, but El Toro & Español also opened the European School of Lucha and began training the first generation of European luchadors. http://imageshack.us/a/img818/5133/10pw.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img542/3674/tk99.jpghttp://img12.imageshack.us/img12/6345/qs5c.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img203/9449/7duh.jpg EL FENIX, RESPLANDOR ROSADO, STAKIRA & EL NEON Four men from the early days of Lucha Europa -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 1 http://imageshack.us/a/img30/9766/ezzp.jpg The year 2010 started with tradegy for the world of European wrestling with the shocking death of RDW owner Lars Schtomfeld. Aged only 51 Lars' car was involved in a ten car pile-up on the autobharn in Germany. Unfortunately Royal Dutch Wrestling was one of his many small ventures that were not specifically mentioned in his will and, with none of his five children interested in taking the promotion on, they instructed their lawyers to liquidate the company so that the profits could be divided equally amongst them. In May 2010 RDW put on their final farewell show to a sell-out 5,000 strong crowd in their home town of Rotterdam, Holland, before shutting down for good. However, history was due to repeat itself as, just like Pan-European Wrestling before them, the death of a giant would soon allow others to try and take it's place... "The Ukrainian Bear" Vlad Cholsov debuted from the RDW Academy in July 1995 and spent the next fifteen years with the company, happily destroying lower card guys for six months before feuding with an upcoming babyface and losing in dramatic style, have some time off, rinse, repeat. However Cholsov did get a reputation over the years as one of the stiffest wrestlers in Europe, with many young rookies in tears before their first ever match against the fearsome Ukrainian Bear! But when RDW shockingly closed in 2010 Vlad found himself with no job for the first time in fifteen years. With his hard-hitting reputation Cholsov found it hard to find a promotion that wanted to hire him, or even anyone who was willing step into the ring with him on the indy scene! So in January 2011 Vlad took all his savings and opened Elite Combat Zone in his home country of the Ukraine. http://imageshack.us/a/img833/1700/1y86.jpg At ECZ the fans don't care if you're a nice guy or a complete douche (in fact the heels often get cheered more than the faces), as long as you can deliver a brutal assault in the ring. In fact, many comparisons to Hiro Suzuki's COBRA in Japan have been made but in truth the only real similarity is that the shows are presented as a real fight. Whereas COBRA is presented as modern MMA in ECZ things are more like an old school underground cage fight, with mostly big ugly bruisers brawling their way to victory. However, there are rules in ECZ and the use of weapons is frowned upon. In the words of Vlad himself, 'If you can't settle it with your fists you ain't a man!'. http://imageshack.us/a/img24/6023/xvu7.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img405/5660/idoq.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img854/7875/gx40.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img24/7096/iwdx.jpg Owner VLAD CHOLSOV, OLAF MAGNUSSON, JASON STEELE & THE BARE KNUCKLE BRUISER Just four of the rough & tough ECZ roster -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 2 http://imageshack.us/a/img96/5331/9lvt.jpg Always mindfull of the industry around him, even though mainly cut off from it due to his promotion's product, Tomasz Novák had always intentionally kept Dangerous Wrestling: Europe as a big local promotion to avoid getting into any kind of Regional Battle with Central Europe's 'King of the Hill' Royal Dutch Wrestling and the expanding N-EW. But with RDW gone Novák felt the time was right to push forward. He altered the product to include faster paced action & unbelievable risk-taking and has seen a good return so far. In fact, some of the current crop of European hardcore stars would happily fit in in PWSUX or LETHAL Steel and, indeed, the German "Future of Ultra-Violence" Light-Tube Lou is currently making waves across the pond in Canadian Hardcore as well as at home in Central Europe. http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7566/wtg7.jpg LIGHT-TUBE LOU The Future of Ultra-Violence Keen to keep up hardcore appearances Novák actually trained a little for the ring himself, and almost every member of staff in the company can be called on to 'put their money where their mouth is' and jump in the ring themselves. Novák also signed a Working Agreement with former DWE star Toby O'Flanagan's Irish Hardcore Promotions in late 2012 that will see both parties involved be able to freshen up their respective rosters without hiring new workers to long term contracts. http://imageshack.us/a/img513/5282/nejl.jpg Lucha Europa continued to improved it's status and debuted a host of new luchadors between 2010 & 2012 and in late 2012 El Toro handed the role of head trainer to Mexican veteran El Neon. With many of the original stars that made LE great like Resplandor Rosado, El Fenix and STAKIRA having moved on the card is now a mixture of former RDW cruiserweights, UK & European indy flyers and homegrown lucha talent, all under masks. http://imageshack.us/a/img209/3447/b1mv.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img708/5585/uitr.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img18/4200/5rsn.jpg ALBANIAN EAGLE, LA VENEMOSA & LA INVASOR DE CASA Just three of the luchadors that debuted from the European School of Lucha between 2010 & 2012 It is said that it would take a lot for owner Señor España to allow an unmasked wrestler on his roster. Indeed, when former RDW Heavyweight Champion Michel Van Der Berg joined LE following the fall of RDW España conducted a special masking ceremony on Van Der Berg's first show with the company, 'crowning' him the Dutch Prince. Many cruiserweights around Europe & the UK now carry a mask in their kit-bag in the hope of being signed by Europe's true home of the high-flyer. http://imageshack.us/a/img41/6589/74ik.jpg At the start of 2010 Super Charged Wrestling looked set for big things and their runaway star Arttu Jensen found himself not only in big demand in Europe but also in the UK where he had a six month run as the EURORESU Openweight Champion, as well as continuing to tour Japan. In fact, it was Jensen's work in Japan that would nearly lead to the company's downfall... While visiting family in Japan in 2011 DRAGON Michinoku saw Jensen in action and decided there and then that he had to have him for DRAGON Pro Wrestling. A star-struck Jensen immediately agreed, cancelled all his existing contracts and was working on DRAGON shows a month later. But for Super Charged Wrestling this was the worst thing imaginable. The entire premise of SCW had always been to have one man at the top to carry the shows. Last time that man left he had the good grace to build up his successor but when Arttu left for the US in 2011 the SCW creative department didn't have time to build anyone up enough to take his place, and with the fall in show attendance SCW was forced to let go some of their more expensive stars, which obviously lead to lower attendances. Owner Franz Gunter was forced to file for bankruptcy in March 2012. However road agent Jakob Hansen came to the rescue and bought the company, also taking over the booking of shows. He set up a tournament to try and build some momentum which saw the incredibley over midcard tag team & then SCW Tag Team Champions The Thrillers, Klaus Haaga & Victor Habermiester, wind up facing off for the SCW World Heavyweight Title. The ploy worked and the feud that followed saw SCW at least keep their long-term fans. Meanwhile Hansen hired and built up his own new breed of SCW wrestlers, guys like the still green but fearsome Mongolian Giant and the retro tag team The Soul Brothers. http://imageshack.us/a/img32/6991/uht6.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img812/1514/qpsv.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img833/2042/1keb.jpg KLAUS HAAGA, MONGOLIAN GIANT & VICTOR HABERMIESTER Three of the top men in SCW SCW is a shadow of it's former self but, with Hansen's leadership and booking skills, combined with the respect of his roster, things are beginning to look up for Super Charged Wrestling's future. Especially given that Hansen managed to secure one of the most popular European wrestlers in the world Aleksander Nordskov, who recently returned from filming the fantasy TV series "Swords of the White Knights" in the US, to a short term contract in late 2012. http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/1405/gswc.jpg ALEKSANDER NORDSKOV Currently one of the most famous European wrestlers in the world -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 3 When Hans Heinrich Houtzer left SCW at the top of his game in 2008 to pursue a career in television many thought he was crazy. While it was assumed he would go the same route as Rudy Single in the US and get his own TV series, that was never Houtzer's plan. He began slow with an appearance on Danish 'reality' TV show Das Hous: The Stars, which saw celebrities from all over Europe live together in a house with the public voting out each in turn until one remained. Houtzer made it through to the final two, mainly due to his sharp wit and his fatherly nature towards eventual winner, Swedish music starlet Heidi Schwartz, who had a near breakdown during week four of the seven week show that the big Norwegian helped her through. Although Heidi may have won due to the sympathy vote, bagging herself a #1 hit in the European charts & a few months on the talk-show circuit, the real winner was Hans. http://imageshack.us/a/img854/1253/v4uj.jpg HANS HEINRICH HOUTZER One of the first European cross-over stars Now he was a well known face across Europe and not just in wrestling circles! After a year of being entertaining in guest spots on TV panel shows he was hired as a judge on the panel of Europe's Got Talent in 2011. In 2012, inspired by the shocking success of The Club in the US, Hans Heinrich Houtzer took an idea to the show's producer: Why not combine pro wrestling with a talent show? http://imageshack.us/a/img7/6956/5c0n.jpg The idea is that each season 'acts' compete to be the Best in Category (Solo, Double Act & Group Performance), with the goal being to claim the coveted Best Act of the Season. The Best Act is voted for on the show towards the end of the season, the live studio audience being given the chance to vote who goes through to the semis & the finals. Of course, the audience only thinks they have a vote, it doesn't matter what button they press, but it goes over pretty well on TV, with fancy graphics during the 'voting phase' and 'real life' interviews with the 'acts' in-between matches & 'performances'. The company is owned by Danish4TV, a small network which broadcasts to Scandinavia & Central Europe, with producer Ida Haugen handling the day-to-day running of the project. Houzter himself puts together the cards and acts as the 'Host' of the show. Wrestling wise they are probably the closest promotion to the older entertainment based product used by SCW & the now closed RDW, but there is a lot of emphisis on the more fun side of entertainment and while there are obvious good guys and bad guys the lines are pretty blurred, with every 'act' having their eyes on the coveted Best in Category titles. But the one true success for the show has come in the form of lounge singer Harry Manalow, who's first 'official' single, 'Fighting for your Love', went straight in at #1 in the Danish Singles Chart (after being paid for and heavily promoted by Danish4TV) and his second, 'A Smooth Christmas', bagged Manalow the Christmas #1 spot too! http://imageshack.us/a/img17/5922/qju4.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img10/7923/jn36.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img845/4332/aikg.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img202/7076/ylzv.jpg Lounge singer HARRY MANALOW, Japanese Olympic gymnast KANDASHI, stunt motorcyclist MAKS PETROV & Radial Insanity leader J-ROD Four talented wrestlers of WGT WGT went over pretty well in its first Season (Sept 12 - Dec 12) and Manalow's success, plus having a TV show, appears to have catapulted them to the #2 spot in Europe. This year seems to be heating up nicely with Season #1's 'Public Vote' winners, dance crew Radial Insanity, looking to win another €250,000 and former Croatian professional stunt-bike rider Maks Petrov keen to pull off a stunt so massive that "... the folks at home realise that anyone can sing, but only Maks Petrov can defy death on a motorcycle!'... well according to the constantly running ads on Danish4TV anyway! http://imageshack.us/a/img713/6096/nwjx.jpg Nilos Kapsis' new direction for N-EW that kicked off in 2007 continued to pull in new fans for the company and since the fall of RDW N-EW have even begun to make decent head-way in Central Europe, cementing them as the #1 promotion in Europe. http://imageshack.us/a/img829/1812/drux.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img690/638/t3zz.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img577/6760/zdkn.jpg ANDERS VRANDENBERG, JOIQUE CHARBONNEAU & STEPHAN HADDAD The N-EW main event and three of the top workers in Europe Many feel that N-EW really could easily make the push to regional, but word has it Kapsis is pretty happy with the way things are right now. Of course, if another promotion took N-EW's top spot in Europe it may well be different matter... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CURRENT SCENE http://imageshack.us/a/img819/8615/4f2m.jpg EUROPEAN RANKING #1 http://imageshack.us/a/img713/6096/nwjx.jpg With N-EW's focus on a more modern, fast-paced product, combined with their touring nature, it's no surprise they are the #1 promotion in Europe, but with several other promotions hot on their heels can they continue to hold on to the top spot in 2013? #2 http://imageshack.us/a/img7/6956/5c0n.jpg Considering they only opened at the end of summer 2012, WGT has done amazingly well thus far with its 'talent show' format. The only promotion in Europe currently on TV, many in the industry fully expect WGT to be the most talked about thing in European wrestling by the end of 2013. But what would that mean for the industry as a whole? No one is really sure... #3 http://imageshack.us/a/img96/5331/9lvt.jpg After nearly ten years owner Tomasz Novák has decided it's finally time to push forward to bigger things. One of the oldest hardcore promotions in the world, DWE's new, more fast paced product should see them gain ground in Europe this coming year. #4 http://imageshack.us/a/img513/5282/nejl.jpg Lucha Europa has come along well since its debut and the current crop of home-grown luchadors are working out well. And given the fact that the majority of cruiser style workers in Europe, and even the UK, have worked out a masked gimmick on the off-chance of being picked up by the home of high-flying in Europe, everyone is pretty confident that lucha libre is here to stay! #5 http://imageshack.us/a/img41/6589/74ik.jpg The once regional SCW has certainly seen better days, but with new owner & booker Jakob Hansen in charge, a crop of new stars and one of the most over guys in Europe currently on their roster, no-one expects SCW to be down for long #6 http://imageshack.us/a/img833/1700/1y86.jpg While at the bottom of the pile, ECZ definitely fills a niche market. But is that enough going forward to keep the company alive? OVERALL Although the Fall of the WWWE, unlike in the UK, had very little effect on the European scene it has certainly seen a fair few ups and downs over the decades. Right now Europe has almost as diverse a range of wrestling products as the US and, in truth Europe has never really had a 'Golden Age' of wrestling because for so very long wrestling in some form has been a constant in continental Europe. But with current crop of promotions, as they mature Europe's 'Golden Age' may be still to come, with some forward thinking pundits claiming that in 10 years time Europe could be the main player in the wrestling world if things continue the way they are! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 CANADA The 60s/70s http://imageshack.us/a/img5/2804/ebql.jpg Inspired by World Wide Wrestling in the US Canadian brothers Mike & George Verne opened Royal Canadian Wrestling in 1964. Mirroring the success of the WWW in the US, RCW quickly became the only real game in town in Canada and by the early 70s was being beamed into homes all over Canada and the Northern United States. For a short while in the late 70s they even signed a talent trading agreement with 'Doc' McBride's newly named World Wide Wrestling Entertainment and heading into the 80s it truly looked as though McBride & the Verne Brothers were happy to share North America between the two National level promotions. The only other promotion of note in Canada during the period is so not because of their size, but their product. Opened by French Canadian Pierre Crystale (better known as in Mexico as the Quebecan patriot Fleur de Lys), Masked Mexican Wrestling was a revolutionary idea in Canada at the time. http://imageshack.us/a/img208/1284/7p63.jpg FLEUR DE LYS A man who's ideas were way ahead of his time Employing a traditional lucha libre product, the Canadian fans just were not ready for something so very different from what they were used to and unfortunately the promotion closed after just a year. However, Crystale is credited as the first man to try a completely foreign wrestling product in a new area, something that is truly revolutionising the face of pro wrestling today. The 80s http://imageshack.us/a/img40/9361/a4p3.jpg The early 80s saw RCW continue to be as popular as their south-of-the-border partners the WWWE, with the RCW Canadian Heavyweight Title even being defended at a WWWE event in 1983. But in 1984 'Doc' McBride sold the WWWE to global media mogul Turner Paige. One of Paige's first moves was to cancel the long-standing trading relationship with Royal Canadian Wrestling and heavily raid their roster, stealing Canadian favorites like Captain Olympia and Dan Reede (who went on to have a TV Title run as Bobo the Clown) and later The Manificent Mounties, Jean-Jacques Lejosne & Pierre LaPoint. Despite the WWWE having been moved to the widely viewed Paige-Two: Canada when Turner Paige took over the company RCW perservered and managed to hold on to their National status by building new stars. But Turner Paige still saw the Verne brothers as a threat and, in a move that has been scrubbed from the WWWE's official history, Paige-Global bought out the entire CTV network in 1988. This included CTV1, which had been airing RCW's weekly TV shows for over 15 years and CTV-PPV, a recent addition to the network that showed big ice hockey games, US American football games and, of course, RCW's monthly PPVs. It goes without saying, RCW lost their slot almost immediately and never showed another PPV. Having to settle for airing shows on a string of local stations across Canada, RCW ventured ever onward, although without decent TV coverage they began to lose ground in their own country to the WWWE. To combat this (and give the finger to Paige) the Verne brothers signed up to working agreement with the WWWE's direct competition RAWA. http://imageshack.us/a/img5/4329/i9nd.jpg This seemed to stop the ever dropping popularity of the promotion, but lead to the short lived 'North American War' of the late 80s/ early 90s that saw hostilites between the RCW/RAWA 'alliance' and Turner's WWWE turn into a full blown war and this is indeed the first time Royal Canadian Wrestling is mentioned in the 'official' WWWE company history. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 90s http://imageshack.us/a/img5/2804/ebql.jpg The war between RCW & the WWWE escallated, with Paige ensuring that a WWWE show was airing on Paige-Two: Canada whenever RCW was on a smaller local channel and even turning up to RCW shows with free tickets to WWWE shows for fans provided they handed over their RCW tickets. For their part RCW did very little in retaliation, they plain didn't have the money to! The working agreement with RAWA unfortunately, while providing the Verne brothers with the stars they needed to keep their heads above water, took a huge toll on the financial reserves of the company. One fateful night in April 1992 the brothers had hired RAWA star Guy Lothario for a one-off appearance but men working for Turner Paige ripped down every single RCW poster in Vancover! http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6391/ztdq.jpg GUY LOTHARIO A superstar too far... The turn-out was awful, and the brothers found at the end of the night that they not only didn't have enough money to cover Lothario's $32000 fee, they didn't even have enough to pay for the venue rental! Lothario was furious, laided out RCW World Champion Robert Nadeau who tried to calm him down, picked up the title belt and walked out of the company! Two weeks later the brothers were forced to close the company and file for bankruptcy. In one final act of aggression Turner Paige purchased the company and completely liquidated it, leaving the WWWE with no real competition in the great white north from 1992 all the way up until the WWWE's closure in 2001. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000-2009 - PART 1 The closure of the WWWE spelt disaster for many a Canadian wrestler's career. However Pierre LaPoint, or the 'other Mountie' as he became known, had been released by the WWWE years earlier, just before his tag partner Jean-Jacques Lejosne received his singles push as The Magnificent Mountie. LaPoint felt it should be Lejosne who changed up his gimmick if he was getting the push. WWWE creative disagreed and, rather than reason with the lesser Mountie, LaPoint was simply let go. http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7152/ryiw.jpg PIERRE LAPOINT ...the 'other Mountie' But with the WWWE no longer around it meant that, for the first time since the mid 1970s, where was absolutely no wrestling showing on Canadian TV and nothing larger than the occasional indie show for the fans to enjoy. LaPoint decided to use his connections to his advantage and opened Great North Wrestling in his home city of Montreal, Quebec in January 2003. http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/8632/19rj.jpg Making good use of some many former WWWE workers being at a loose end LaPoint hired several known faces, including his old friend Jean-Jacques Lejosne and up-and-coming French youngster Jean-Claude Giroux, who got over very well the the French speaking Quebec crowds. LaPoint also hired the recently retired Canadian Brett Massey to act as his road agent and also to be the Authority Figure of the promotion. While Massey is no Guy Lothario on the mic his popularity in Canada at the time ensured that the promotion hit the ground running. In fact the only real problem for LaPoint & GNW turned out to be the industry itself. With so little exposure to home-grown pro wrestling for so long the popularity of the sport was at an all time low and the Canadian economy for a large amount of the 2000's wasn't much better off either. Despite losing Giroux to the AWF and his friend Jean-Jacques to CWT, LaPoint made good use of the various WWWE stars while he had them and by the end of 2009 the company had finally risen in popularity above a local level, but with no other wrestling to be found, by the end of 2009 GNW wasn't the only promotion looking for a slice of the Canadian scene... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000-2009 - PART 2 Canadian wrestler Cooper Tremblay debuted in 1994, just two years after Royal Canadian Wrestling closed. With no promotions of note in Canada and with Tremblay not wanting to travel to the US he settled down into life as an indy wrestler, at times having to hold down two jobs to be able to afford gas money to make it to indy shows. http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/3883/ve7t.jpg COOPER TREMBLAY One of the top Canadian indy workers of the 2000s By the time Great North Wrestling opened in 2003 Tremblay, like many on the indy scene, was a seasoned veteran without ever having working for a 'name' company. And, like many others, Tremblay tried out for the opening GNW roster. But, with Pierre LaPoint intent on hiring as many former WWWE wrestlers as he could, very few indy workers got a spot on the roster. Tremblay spent another five long years on the indy scene before he finally snapped and decided that if no one else was going to do something about the Canadian scene he'd do it himself! http://imageshack.us/a/img20/1254/hqvs.jpg Based in Tremblay's home town of Saskatchewan in The Prairies region of Canada, The Prairie Wrestling League's shows have a very indy feel about them, with very few non-wrestling segments at all and the fans just as interested in a wrestlers in-ring performance as they are how popular he is. Tremblay himself quickly realised that trying to run the company and wrestle was just not viable so he semi-retired from the ring and acts as the company's Authority Figure, doubling in the commentary booth as Lead Announcer to keep the costs down. At the end of the decade PWL had firmly cemented themselves in The Prairies as a local promotion. Tremblay himself, when asked, said that the company was quite happy where it was with its current following and, as far as he was concerned, as long as he could provide a steady pay-cheque to the cream of the indy scene he was doing things right! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 1 http://imageshack.us/a/img580/8632/19rj.jpg Since 2010 Great North Wrestling have done little but further solidify their position as the obvious #1 in Canadian wrestling. However in mid 2012 LaPoint did have to hire a new road agent, former RCW & GNW Canadian Heavyweight Champion Robert Nadeau, when Brett Massey declared he was going to begin training, ready for a return to the ring! Whist Massey is yet to actually wrestle a match many expect his first bout back to be in the GNW ring even if it's just a one off before heading over the border for work in the US. http://imageshack.us/a/img199/7560/wb6f.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img51/7839/vifh.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img203/3340/q83v.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img405/6918/mo7e.jpg JEFF RUSSELL, BRYAN MITCHELL, "STUN-GUN" BRETT STONE & SHANE BURROUGHS The four top men in GNW With a main event that currently comprises of Welsh journeyman veteran Jeff Russell, Canadian veterans Bryan Mitchell & "Stun-Gun" Brett Stone and former WWWE midcarder Shane Burroughs GNW seemed to have hit on a winning formula in 2012, with Russell & Stone's feud for the GNW Canadian Heavyweight title even making it into Brian Jack's "Top 10 Feuds of the Year" blog! http://imageshack.us/a/img20/1254/hqvs.jpg Likewise PWL has done very little of note since 2010, but what they have done is provide a home for the best rookies and veterans the Canadian scene has to offer outside of GNW. http://imageshack.us/a/img843/445/95c0.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img534/5274/yi31.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img138/7443/b6v1.jpg RICH PHOENIX, PORKCHOP BISCUIT JR & CHRIS RAYMOND Three men at the top of the Canadian indy pile Guys like Rich Phoenix, a pioneer of what he calls "Canadian Strong Style" (essentially a solid all-round game with a puro influence), guys like Porkchop Biscuit Jr who struggled to move out of his father's enhancement talent shadow in the US, and guys like Chris Raymond, who has evolved with the times to keep himself at the top of the scene. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 2 Canadian hardcore wrestler Carl Rousseau, better known these days as Deadeye, debuted in 1990 but immediate moved to Japan and spent many years working for the ultra-violent LETHAL Steel. Carl even lost an eye to a lighting tube accident in 1995 but was back just two months later sporting an eye-patch and became the vicious Deadeye with the gimmick of a man bitter at the world. http://imageshack.us/a/img694/1394/y1b6.jpg DEADEYE Hardcore to the extreme! Rosseau was let go from LETHAL in 2009 after an over fifteen year run with the company and chose to return to his homeland rather than try to hash out a career on the Japanese indy scene. Once home he chose to take some time away from the ring and worked hard to earn all the money he could. http://imageshack.us/a/img5/3163/qyhm.jpg In November 2011 he was finally ready to realise his dream, his own wrestling promotion, Canadian Hardcore! Modelling itself on LETHAL Steel's product, the promotion caused huge controversy in its very first show when Swiss hardcore wrestler Grizzly Gustafson Grizzlybombed Nic Hardcore from the ring through a pane of glass, a layer of light tubes and a flaming table onto a bed of nails, leaving Nic paralysed from the waist down! The clip has had over 500,000 views on u-view.ca and is a favorite of both fans and North American critics who hope to get promotions like CH, ECXW & PWSUX closed for good. http://imageshack.us/a/img826/6382/44i5.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img716/2826/0z3j.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img5/6963/56u4.jpg RYAN STRONG, BAR-TAB MALLOY & JUD RUUD Three men from "The Land of Misfits" Despite this shaky start CH kept on showing rediculously violent matches and is finally starting to get a bit of a following. CH used to be refered to as 'The Land of Misfits' as, barring international hardcore icon "American Punk" Mickie Violent, many members of its roster are those who don't fit in or are unwelcome elsewhere. But in 2012 Dead-Eye went on a hiring spree and, amongst others, signed the German "Future of Ultraviolence" Light-Tube Lou to a main event contract. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CURRENT SCENE http://imageshack.us/a/img6/9261/8vge.jpg CANADIAN RANKING #1 http://imageshack.us/a/img580/8632/19rj.jpg GNW have done well to survive possibley one of the worst periods of professional wrestling anywhere in the world, and they are finally beginning to get the respect they deserve. But with the "Canadian Indy" style becoming more popular in resent years LaPoint may have to change things up a bit and lose some of the more gimmicky characters from the roster if he wants GNW to remain at the top of the Canadian scene. #2 http://imageshack.us/a/img5/3163/qyhm.jpg Although they are the youngest promotion in Canada CH managed to overtake PWL in the Canadian rankings in 2012 with the addition of Light-Tube Lou to the roster. His matches with "American Punk" Mickie Violent have put the promotion on the map and many in the industry are questioning why the pair haven't been picked up full time by PWSUX but, for now at least, it looks like owner Deadeye is on to a winning formula. #3 http://imageshack.us/a/img20/1254/hqvs.jpg PWL owner Cooper Tremblay has gone on record as stating that he's happy with how things are currently in the promotion, but word has it that if the company doesn't show some progression soon many of it's star are going to start looking for more exposure elsewhere. OVERALL Canada has always suffered with being considered America's 'little brother', and the wrestling world has been no exception. Being dominated for so long by the WWWE and having lost so very many homegrown stars to the US, twelve years later the Canadian scene is finally starting to recover. But with Great North Wrestling being the only company considered more than a local promotion the scene really needs some life injecting into it soon not to slip into oblivion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 AUSTRALIA The 80s Wrestling was something that didn't rear its head in Australia until the 1980s, bare-knuckle boxing having been the Australians' violent pass-time of choice in the land down-under for decades. So when former GBWF star and New Zealand native 'Kiwi' Bruce Gardener returned home for good to look after his father in 1985 it was to a world without wrestling. Gardener started to go a little stir-crazy and, simply for something to do, offered to teach the art of British pro-wrestling at the local social club for free. Two years later Gardener had trained enough wrestlers to actually put on a show and so he arranged a one-off event during the summer of 1987 in the local high-school's gym for a local cancer hospice, his father having passed on the winter before. Gardener went on the radio to advertise the event and shockingly people from all over New Zealand turned up to watch, packing out the small gym. The show pulled in over $5000 for the charity and Gardener realised that there might just be a market for pro wrestling after all. http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/4784/sfcw.jpg A month later he opened Commonwealth Wrestling: New Zealand and based the promotion on the premise that his company was just the New Zealand branch of a worldwide wrestling organisation based in the UK. With nothing and no-one to say differently the crowd bought it hook, line & sinker. By the end of the 80s CW:NZ had taken a firm hold of New Zealand and word had it that Gardener had every intention of spending the 90s extending the reach of his promotion, the aim to eventually rename the company Commonwealth Wrestling: Australasia! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 90s http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/4784/sfcw.jpg By the start of the 90s CW:NZ was beginning to attract a variety of potential and self trained wrestlers from mainland Australia, most notably The Goat-Herders, Willie & Albert (aka Bushtucka Bill & Bushtucka Burt, later of RAWA fame), who's brutal style saw them win the CW:NZ Tag Team Titles in 1991 and hold them for two full years. Unfortunately for Gardener though, the very premise that gained his promotion popularity initially became his downfall. With the WWWE beginning to air its shows on Australian TV in 1994 suddenly there were 'wrestling experts' everywhere, and it soon came out to CW:NZ fans that the Commonwealth Wrestling World Alliance was a work of pure fiction! This caused a massive loss of confidence in the promotion, and Gardener was forced to close the company in 1996. But not only that, he was also forced to fight a ridiculous court case during which the true kayfabe nature of pro-wrestling worldwide was uncovered to the Australian & New Zealand public for the first time. With the public burnt by their experiences of home-grown wrestling, not a single promotion opened in Australia & New Zealand for the rest of the decade and the Australian public went back to their old ways of enjoying watching a good punch-up in the back room of the local bar! Even the WWWE's TV shows struggled, being considered by most to be 'something make-believe for the kiddies to watch'; the WWWE's death-spiral into ridiculous characters and stupid storylines didn't help matters either! The company finally pulled their shows in from Australian TV for 'cost cutting' reasons in 1997. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000-2009 http://imageshack.us/a/img833/3986/btz2.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img266/5721/u9cp.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img703/1452/yk9y.jpg With the rise of the internet in the early 2000s the Australian public finally began to get back into pro wrestling and homegrown wrestling returned to Australia in 2003 when, in the space of six months, first Ayers Rock Wrestling in Central Australia, then Total ONE Wrestling on the East Coast, then finally Logan City Wrestling on the West Coast all opened their doors. Mainly using the same upper card wrestlers with a few home grown talent all three did surprisingly well, albeit more with the family crowd. http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1286/rjc3.jpg OUTBACK JACKSON Founder of Total ONE Wrestling However it seemed the peaceful co-operation couldn't last for ever. In 2005 Outback Jackson's slightly larger Total ONE Wrestling began a huge popularity push, signing the best Australian workers to Exclusive PPA contracts and putting on shows in ARW & LCW's regions. Within two years TOW was by far the most popular promotion in the country, but by the end of 2006 Ayers Rock Wrestling and Logan City Wrestling had both been forced to close their doors for good. By the end of the decade T-ONE had become a true regional promotion on the East Coast, was making good headway in Central & Western Australia and was even beginning to gain some fans in the still soured New Zealand market with their shows being shown nationwide, albeit very late at night! However Outback Jackson didn't have it all his own way. While the family crowd were lapping T-ONE up, the much sought-after 15-31 male demographic had no real interest, preferring instead to stick with their local back-room boxing fights and taking some interest in the emerging MMA scene. However, there was one man who's notoriety crossed those scenes, hardcore wrestler Willie Graham. Famous for once wrestling a 2 tonne crocodile and originally a well known bare-knuckle boxer in the 90s, Graham had wrestled all over the world, but in his homeland he had always found work hard to get. In fact, Graham had approached Jackson and owner of Logan City Wrestling Hank Maynard many times about work and was always turned down. With every promotion but T-ONE closed by the end of 2006 and a guarantee that he would never appear in the T-ONE ring from Jackson, Willie snapped. http://imageshack.us/a/img7/8338/2efx.jpg In 2007 Willie Graham's Dangerous Insane Notorious Grappling Organization (or D.I.N.G.O.) opened its doors in Western Australia. With Graham also handling the booking, D.I.N.G.O. hired a number of rough & tough workers from the local indy scene to it's early roster and even started up a women's division headed by Graham's daughter & former T-ONE Women's Champion Sheila. http://imageshack.us/a/img841/7996/7tmm.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img163/9711/tw2z.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img94/681/cshd.jpghttp://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3058/8h43.jpg DEREK DEEDS, VICIOUS VIKKI & THE LOGAN CITY BADBOYS Four of the early D.I.N.G.O. roster The promotion made quite a splash in their first three years, attracting the demographic that T-ONE just didn't cater to and leaving their local roots behind, surpassing T-ONE's popularity in the west of the country by the end of the decade. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 1 By the start of 2010 Jason Morraine, one of T-ONE's most loved stars and their top cruiserweight, was beginning to become frustrated. Having been promised a run with the T-ONE Title twice in 2009 before Outback Jackson repeatedly changed his plans, he felt he was owed more by the company. http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/8619/vzf4.jpg JASON MORRAINE The top T-ONE cruiserweight of 2009 When his contract came up in May of that year Morraine went to Jackson and politely inquired if he re-signed would he get that title run he'd been promised. Jackson laughed in his face and informed Morraine that if he wanted to get a sniff of the title he'd better get bigger and '...stop all that flippy floppy crap!'. Morraine hit the roof, walked out of the promotion, took his savings, opened his own promotion practically on Jackson's doorstep and went to war! http://imageshack.us/a/img32/2766/qek8.jpg Gold Coast Wrestling took T-ONE's product and tweaked it to involve more modern, fast paced action which, just like D.I.N.G.O. before them, attracted that one demographic that T-ONE just could not reach. By the end of 2010 Morraine and his crew, a mix of former T-ONE stars and solid indy workers, were actually gaining a lot of ground on T-ONE in their home region, and regularly took shots at T-ONE, principley Outback Jackson, on GCW shows. http://imageshack.us/a/img266/5721/u9cp.jpg With new local competition, from 2010 Total ONE Wrestling actually began to first level out, then begin to drop in popularity as some former TOW wrestlers went off to the US to make a name for themselves (most notably former staple of the women's division Vickie Rhodes and former multi-time T-ONE Champion, 'Mr Hawaii' Dwaine Kai), rather than help push the company forward. http://imageshack.us/a/img692/8631/o1s2.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img31/3799/iyil.jpg MR HAWAII & VICKI RHODES T-ONE 'deserters' This certainly didn't help matters and an awful Christmas show combined with a very good national newspaper article in favour of GCW at the end of 2010 saw T-ONE take a big hit in popularity. With many fans now taking the free GCW tickets being banded about outside T-ONE shows by Morraine's crew, the TV network panicked, and in early 2011 they pulled the plug on T-ONE's nationally broadcast shows. With the sudden lack of exposure T-ONE's popularity began to drop further in the rest of the country. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 2 http://imageshack.us/a/img7/8338/2efx.jpg D.I.N.G.O. continued to progress nicely and even attracted globetrotting star Mickie Violent to it's roster for a short run in mid 2010. Also in 2010, Willie Graham, on the insistence of his daughter Sheila, took a bold step and decided to integrate the genders of D.I.N.G.O. Under the new direction men & women were given equal measure in the promotion. The Top Dog & Top Bitch Titles still remained exclusive to their respective genders for obvious reasons, but the Pack Hunter Titles could now be won by anyone and within a month the intergender team of Vicious Vikki & veteran Knifeblade Nelson were holding the titles. http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/8083/3qik.jpg SHEILA GRAHAM The brains behind a new direction. When 'alternative' TV network CRASH:TV introduced their new channel CRASH:TV Pacific to Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands at the start of 2011 they knew they wanted to put 'something different' on the channel and, after a bit of research, contacted Willie Graham about the possibility of a one off show for the debut of the channel. Graham accepted and the show was a roaring success... so much so that when the next season's shows were being planned out a slot was automatically left for an hour long, late night TV show for D.I.N.G.O.! http://imageshack.us/a/img547/5464/bnz8.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img200/9986/0dgv.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img23/2962/lh2y.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img843/132/07a2.jpg JASE MICHAELS, CRIME SCENE, SKYLAR CROSS & C.J. MORRIS Four stars of D.I.N.G.O. In Your Face! The show was a huge success for CRASH:TV Pacific and, indeed, D.I.N.G.O. who, with their solid mix of violence & Sports Entertainment, while not having reached the level T-ONE once held, start 2013 as the undisputed #1 promotion in Australia. http://imageshack.us/a/img32/2766/qek8.jpg While GCW had an excellent first year in operation, with some workers even choosing GCW over T-ONE, by late 2011 Gold Coast Wrestling was in trouble. Despite putting on much better shows than their competition the Australian economy was in the toilet and, with no years of operational profit behind them like T-ONE, Morraine was force to file for bankruptcy, despite having just put on their best ever show. http://imageshack.us/a/img18/5532/sazc.jpg Gold Coast Wrestling was sold to Australian horror/comedy/sci-fi movie director and wrestling fan Charlie Gant, who wanted a wrestling show for his new TV Network CGI. Gant gutted the roster, kept some of the more gimmicky workers, repackaged others and added characters from his movies too. http://imageshack.us/a/img706/4450/syfd.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img849/1179/c2p1.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img41/1568/2qsz.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img31/5890/ptwp.jpg AMERICAN WARRIOR, THE FLYING GOAT, DEAD JED & THE HELLBILLY The first two got to keep their gimmicks, but The Logan City Badboys were repackaged as characters from Gant's teen horror movie "Not Alone in the Woods". The reaction from the fans was immediate, with probably 70% of the live audience never attending another Gold Coast Wrestling show and returning to T-ONE! The other 30%, however, seemed to love it! http://imageshack.us/a/img196/5004/iwdh.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img801/441/0lyb.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img191/5821/tlej.jpg BRIMSTONE, ALEXANDROS & ANITA BITE Three more creations from the mind of Charlie Gant Over 2012 GCW has managed to gain a new following: Wrestling fans who love the craziness of D.I.N.G.O., but prefer the more comedy horror approach of GCW. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010-PRESENT - PART 3 After CW:NZ was forced to close and, after the law-suit, for a number of years Bruce Gardener stayed away from the business he loved. But he did still have one connection with it, his son Frank. Bruce trained his son in the technical, hard-hitting British style of pro wrestling and in 2003 Frank joined the starting roster of Ayres Rock Wrestling. Two years later he was one of the first men to be signed to an exclusive contract by Outback Jackson at T-ONE. http://imageshack.us/a/img707/5720/a0jo.jpg FRANK GARDENER The top dog in ARW back in 2005 Gardener did well in T-ONE, but never even got a shot at a title, let alone a title run, thanks to a falling out with Head Booker Butch Baker early on in his exclusive five year contract. Unsurprisingly Gardener was released from his contract when it came up in 2010. With Morraine refusing to hire Gardener and no where else to go he strongly considered making the move to the US or Japan after bumming around the indy scene for most of 2010. But on visiting his dad in New Zealand at Christmas the retired veteran went up to his attic and brought down a box containing his old wrestling gear, a ring bell, and the old Commonwealth Wrestling: New Zealand title belts. Bruce asked his son not to go, but instead try and clear the family name. http://imageshack.us/a/img12/3198/d2u4.jpg The two men talked long into the night and in January of 2011 Frank opened Commonwealth Wrestling: Reborn, running the first show from the same high school gym that Bruce had put his first show on at all those years before. Bruce himself joined the company as it's road agent and also took on the booking of the promotion while teaching Frank the ropes. While CWR retains a lot of the traditional British style product of CW:NZ, Frank has added a much more entertainment based element to shows to try and catch the eye of any New Zealand based T-ONE fans they can. In 2012 T-ONE fan favorite Xavier Morris (brother of DINGO star C.J. Morris) actually jumped ship from T-ONE to the local New-Zealand promotion! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CURRENT SCENE http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4442/lz53.jpg AUSTRALIAN RANKING #1 http://imageshack.us/a/img7/8338/2efx.jpg DINGO has a fantastic few years and starts 2013 as the country's #1 promotion. Having the solid backing of CRASH:TV, things can surely only get better for DINGO this coming year. #2 http://imageshack.us/a/img266/5721/u9cp.jpg With the drastic change in product of GCW T-ONE have regained some of the local audience they lost in 2011 & early 2012 but DINGO has overtaken then in both the West and Central regions of the country and CWR are quickly stealing away their crowd in New Zealand. #3 http://imageshack.us/a/img18/5532/sazc.jpg While Charlie Gant's new direction did initially push some fans away now the formula is worked out and Charlie Gant's Fright Fight TV show has been running for a while they are picking up momentum and could be once again be giving T-ONE a run for their money by the end of 2013 #4 http://imageshack.us/a/img12/3198/d2u4.jpg CWR, while still by far the smallest promotion in the area, is coming along well and the addition of former T-ONE star Xavier Morris has given them a solid boost But given the popularity of a more outlandish product in mainland Australia no one expects the Gardeners to try and make the push to a new region any time soon. OVERALL While there has been wrestling in New Zealand and Australia for close to three decades the scene has been through some tough times over the years, with the scandel of CW:NZ almost wiping out wrestling down-under for ever. But with the rise of the internet bringing it back to the public, T-ONE, LCW & ARW giving it back some credibility in the 2000s and now the recent "Weirdness" revolution, it seems the already rough-&-tumble Australian scene may have taken the "Attitude Era" a little too seriously! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd1 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Great to see this up and running, MJ! Looking forward to finding the time to sit down and play a long-term game with one of the new promotions <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnightnick Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 I'm hyped, so hyped. Everything Thunderverse related, i've loved. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/cool.png.f00d2562b2c1d873a09323753efdb041.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nedew Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Yessssssssssssssssssssssssss! More ThunderVerse content is always alright by me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Kobain Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 <p>Guys thank you! This is perfect!!!!! More ThunderVerse content is just amazing. If I could help you in any kind of way, just ask.</p><p> </p><p> BTW, I love the fake 'WWWE & RAWA Joint Tour'. In the 90s it was common to see here a fake WCW tour.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Any idea how simple it would be to combine both mods when this gets released? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 <p>As simple as combining any other two mods... not that simple.</p><p> </p><p> I'm pretty sure there must be an order to import items of another database so that it all lines up correctly, but I'm buggered if I know what it is.</p><p> </p><p> As it is, it would require quite a bit of work to combine the two, purely based on the import mechanics <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd1 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="36663" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Any idea how simple it would be to combine both mods when this gets released?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> You can import virtually everything, except for Employment Histories and Company rosters. People might not be too fussed about the former, and the latter should be easy enough to do if a list of workers (and alignments) was provided for each company (I <em>may</em> end up doing that at some point for this very reason).</p><p> </p><p> Title lineages are now imported along with title belts, so as long as you do things in the correct order (i.e. import Workers then Companies then Title Belts) everything else should line up okay.</p><p> </p><p> EDIT: I believe the minimum correct order would be...</p><p> </p><p> Moves</p><p> Move Sets</p><p> Gimmicks</p><p> Workers</p><p> Companies</p><p> Title Belts</p><p> </p><p> And then the rest should be okay in any order. If you import Moves first then Move Sets should be okay. If you import Move Sets before the workers then the workers have the correct move set assigned. If you import Workers before Title Belts then the lineages will be assigned correctly, and you can't import Titles without having a Company assigned (which may mean temporarily assigning a company to 'free' belts and then setting them back to nobody afterwards).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="jhd1" data-cite="jhd1" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="36663" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>You can import virtually everything, except for Employment Histories and Company rosters. People might not be too fussed about the former, and the latter should be easy enough to do if a list of workers (and alignments) was provided for each company (I <em>may</em> end up doing that at some point for this very reason).<p> </p><p> Title lineages are now imported along with title belts, so as long as you do things in the correct order (i.e. import Workers then Companies then Title Belts) everything else should line up okay.</p><p> </p><p> EDIT: I believe the minimum correct order would be...</p><p> </p><p> Moves</p><p> Move Sets</p><p> Workers</p><p> Companies</p><p> Title Belts</p><p> </p><p> And then the rest should be okay in any order. If you import Moves first then Move Sets should be okay. If you import Move Sets before the workers then the workers have the correct move set assigned. If you import Workers before Title Belts then the lineages will be assigned correctly, and you can't import Titles without having a Company assigned (which may mean temporarily assigning a company to 'free' belts and then setting them back to nobody afterwards).</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Sounds simple enough really. I love the ThunderVerse, so I'm stoked for this <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 <p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><span style="font-size:18px;">THE BRITISH ISLES</span></strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The 90s</strong></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> With new competition that the crowd really seemed to enjoy the GBWF Board of Directors changed the company's product in 1991 to a slightly more entertaining American style, which upset traditionalists, but appealed a little more to the current market.</span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img5/4952/a3p3.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> In the early 90s both the WWWE & the RAWA made a push for the UK market, this time on TV. This second surge in popularity for the sport spurred GBWF veteran Doug Symmonds, with a little help from some of his fellow GBWF colleagues, into creating a promotion of his own, the United Kingdom Wrestling Association, in January 1992.</span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img547/6967/syrw.jpg</span><span>http://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/jhdTEW/TCW%20Diary/Cards/VS.jpg</span><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img853/9077/zgf5.jpg</span><span>http://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/jhdTEW/TCW%20Diary/Cards/VS.jpg</span><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img30/5495/2xrb.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> The 90s saw the three promotions of the UK scene go from strength to strength and British Pro Wrestling entered its short lived Golden Age. </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> ASW continued to tour a succession of UK talent done up as US stars up and down the country and in late 1996 even managed to get a genuine US star, Rudy Single, on board to join a tour. But due to their touring nature, not to mention Bill Guthery's happiness with the status quo, they held steady at a low Regional level.</span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> The GBWF continued to rise in popularity. By 1994 the GBWA was considered a high Cult promotion & in 1996 the GBWF began making a push into Central Europe. By the end of the century they were actually pulling in crowds in Central Europe not that much smaller than that of Royal Dutch Wrestling, their direct European competition in Holland. </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> It was during this period that many Japanese rookies began to see the UK as the ideal place to go and get some 'life experience'. The puroresu style fitted perfectly with the traditional British technical style to provide some amazing matches and resulted in some of the best Japanese rookies becoming big names both in the UK and Japan. The GBWF even had their first Japanese GBWF Heavyweight Champion in 1997!</span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> At the same time as the GBWF began their push into Europe the UKWA, keen to try and keep up with the #1 promotion in the British Isles, pushed hard and hit Cult status. However, money troubles caused by the bigger venues and more expensive stars shipped in from the US to work short term deals (most notabley Rudy Single, who was really in the UK to work for UKWA, ASW being an extra pay-day) meant that after an eight year meteoric rise and no buyer in sight Doug Symmonds was forced to fold the UKWA in mid 1997. Many former GBWF workers were welcomed back by the GBWF, but not Symmonds, who was blacklisted by the company and walked away from the business a shamed man.</span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>NEXT UP: 2000-2004</strong></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="36663" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Sounds simple enough really. I love the ThunderVerse, so I'm stoked for this <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Also, I'd import gimmicks near the top of that list too, otherwise they won't line up either <img alt=";)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> And also, thanks to everyone for the Rest of the World love, I hope we deliver something worthy of your excitement <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd1 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="MJStark" data-cite="MJStark" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="36663" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>And also, thanks to everyone for the Rest of the World love, I hope we deliver something worthy of your excitement <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Good thinking (although almost all will already be there of course). I have edited my list to add it in, just in case someone doesn't look further down the page <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Also, its great to see the response to the mod and thanks for the kind words Jaysin!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEnforcer Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="MJStark" data-cite="MJStark" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="36663" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Also, I'd import gimmicks near the top of that list too, otherwise they won't line up either <img alt=";)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> And also, thanks to everyone for the Rest of the World love, I hope we deliver something worthy of your excitement <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Seconded! Thank you guys so much for the support and kind words.</p><p> I'm still in shock about what this mod has turned into and I really hope you guys enjoy all the hard work the team has put into it. I think there will be a little "something" for everyone and they're own game play style to enjoy!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 <div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong><span style="font-size:18px;">THE BRITISH ISLES</span></strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>2000-2004</strong></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span>http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9361/a4p3.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Many US fans, when talking about the 'Fall of the WWWE', forget that it didn't just affect America, the ripples were felt by wrestling promotions all around the world, as were its crazy, comedy style death-throes. With the product of the wrestling most people watched every week on TV, the WWWE, spiraling into a comedic mess many in the UK began turning off their TV sets and finding something else to be passionate about. When the WWWE finally closed in 2001 many UK fans simply did not care any more!</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> This, of course, only meant bad things for the UK scene. Within two years of the WWWE closing its doors American Style Wrestling was forced to do the same after a run of nearly 15 years and the GBWF, already beginning to falter by 2001, was forced to give up its dreams of International status as attendances plummeted at home.</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> In 2003, facing uncertainty and a dwindling cash supply, the ever changing GBWF Board of Directors decided to elect then GBWF road agent & head booker Derek Harrison to become the new GBWF Chairman of the Board. Harrison promised the Board that he knew what to do with the GBWF, and his reign heralded a further turn towards a more entertainment based product for the promotion.</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/1785/gi2g.jpg</span><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:8px;"><strong>DEREK HARRISON</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:8px;"> A new Chairman for a new direction.</span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> --------------------------------------------------------------------------</div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">NEXT UP: 2005-2007</span></strong></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 <div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong><span style="font-size:18px;">THE BRITISH ISLES</span></strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">2005-2007</span></strong></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Harrison, as it turned out, was not the best choice to run the GBWF. He quickly went a little crazed with power, fired a number of promising youngsters over the years for rediculous things that most bookers would have laughed about and he treated the GBWF's finances like his personal bank account. With no competition to speak of Harrison got lazy and the quality of storylines & shows overall began to dwindle further, as did the crowds. By the end of 2006 the once great GBWF was considered barely at a regional level at best and, whereas it's entertaining product used to bring in the crowds, many were actually hungering for the good old days of athletic competition.</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img404/2894/08yv.jpg</span><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img17/7831/ec0s.jpg</span><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:8px;"><strong>CHARLES RAVENSDALE & "SIR" ALFORD EVANS</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:8px;"> Back to the old-school</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The board stripped Harrison of his position and elected board member, businessman and the only man on the board to never actually had a role in the industry, Charles Ravensdale, to the Chairman's position. However Ravensdale only beat fellow board member and UK legend "Sir" Alford Evans by one vote and allowed his friend to take over the booking of the company, Evans promising the board that he would return the GBWF to its roots, and hopefully former glory.</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> A rundown of the years 2005-2007 in the UK would just not be complete without talking about one group of men, specifically their 'leader' Simon Stanford. Stanford refers to himself as 'The King of the Internet' (despite having one of the least read wrestling blogs in the UK scene) and 'The Most Exciting Pro Wrestling Manager of All Time', most people in the industry see him as a 6' cockney, white, Brian Jack wannabe rip-off!</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img16/903/3whx.jpg</span><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img268/773/p412.jpg</span><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img802/7079/1cgw.jpg</span><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img850/9576/673i.jpg</span><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:8px;"><strong>SIMON STANFORD, PETEY PAIN, SUNBED STEVE & THE BIG FRO BRO</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:8px;"> Big on forward thinking, not on forward planning...</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> However, Stanford, along with Peter Green (aka Petey Pain), Al Keith (aka Big Fro Bro) and Steve Hooper (aka Sunbed Steve), collectively known as 'The Stanford Cliq', was involved in opening and running a series of short lived local promotions between 2005-2007, Stanford acting as the Head Booker in all three:</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img28/6693/gi5w.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The first promotion Hardcore Garbage Wrestling, 'owned' by Petey Pain, only managed three shows before they were shut down when the venue owner called the police after Petey Pain took a garden stripper (albeit not a very powerful one) to Tommy Roach's face and it turned out the company had no insurance. </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img4/5519/rct8.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The second was Big Star Pro Wrestling, opened in February 2006 by eighteen year old Steve Hooper for 'tax reasons'. After the flop that had been HGW The Cliq took a different path this time around. BSPW emulated the product of AWF in the US, did quite well for 8 months and looked to be due a rise in popularity to be considered a true small promotion, but Stanford's expensive tastes in wrestlers flown in from the US lead to the company going bankrupt in November 2006.</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img706/6275/ygi3.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The final promotion, Live Wrestling Entertainment, was opened by Al Keith just a month. Practically identical in product and roster to BSPW, but this time the Cliq took the show on tour around the UK. However having much the same roster quickly lead to money troubles again and The Cliq decided to fold the company to avoid any more debt in July 2007. However the short lived hardcore & risque entertainment based promotions exposed the UK crowds to something a bit different, priming them for things soon to come.</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">NEXT UP: 2007-2009</span></strong></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 THE BRITISH ISLES 2007-2009 http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5581/ynjz.jpg Welsh referee Dai Williams has been part of the wrestling industry for a very long time and booked for both American Style Wrestling towards the end of it's run and for European based promotion Royal Dutch Wrestling between 2003 & early 2007. But in 2007 Dai did what he had always dreamed of doing and opened his own entertainment based company, Bulldog Wrestling Promotions. An entertaining promotion with a focus on colourfull characters and fun storylines, BWP is based in Birmingham in the West Midlands. http://imageshack.us/a/img818/3156/of2x.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img46/1/g0a4.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img827/2751/gnd7.jpghttp://img855.imageshack.us/img855/2425/i6r9.jpg BRIGADIER CLAYWORTH, SI RICHARDS, EETU OLAFSSON & ICE COLD FUNK Four main players on the early BWP roster Initially Dai Williams hired a lot of his old buddies from ASW, as well as a couple from RDW and some of the more entertaining off-casts who had fallen out of favour given GBWF's 'return to basics'. The promotion did well in its first three years, with Williams not only running the promotion but also handling the book. Although the UK had always been the place for young Japanese workers to go off and spread their wings a little, Japanese veteran Yoshi Tasuma, who spent most of his career in the UK and was the first ever Japanese GBWF Heavyweight Champion, began hearing off youngsters returning to Japan that the British Isles was not what it once was and, looking at the scene, realised that there wasn't a single young Japanese wrestler employed by either the GBWF or BWP. He didn't like what he was seeing, and decided to do something about it! http://imageshack.us/a/img9/7186/nqvu.jpg He returned to the UK and opened EURORESU in Glasgow, Scotland, feeling that the straight talking, no nonsense Scottish would embrace the hard-hitting Japanese style. But although Yoshi knew he wanted the promotion to exist he knew in his heart that he was no booker. After a very short call back to Japan he employed the services of someone that no one was expecting... Doug Symmonds! http://imageshack.us/a/img833/915/krgp.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img707/2236/9fin.jpg YOSHI TASUMA & DOUG SYMMONDS The driving force behind EURORESU Although most thought he had simply disappeared into obscurity after the fall of the UKWA he had, in fact, spent the last 12 years in Japan working as a road agent on the indie scene and was happy to return to the UK to book the shows for EURORESU. He also brought back with him from Japan one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, genuine Scottish hero Graham Mackenzie! With the incredibley over and talented Mackenzie as the figurehead, a mix of British and European talent and rookie Japanese wrestlers, EURORESU fared well in it's first year, with Symmonds booking shows and planning matches while Yoshi acted as the colour commentator and authority figure. http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/8294/8824.jpg GRAHAM MACKENZIE The Scottish Hero returns -------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEXT UP: 2010-PRESENT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="jhd1" data-cite="jhd1" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="36663" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Good thinking (although almost all will already be there of course). I have edited my list to add it in, just in case someone doesn't look further down the page <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"><p> </p><p> Also, its great to see the response to the mod and thanks for the kind words Jaysin!</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> No need to thank me! Thank you guys for such a great world to play in. I've started and stopped working on my own mod for years. Going back to TEW2008 and it's never even been close to release.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 THE BRITISH ISLES 2010-PRESENT http://imageshack.us/a/img89/9571/bxhn.jpg The GBWF is certainly not the company it once was but in their first five years in charge Ravensdale & Evans have begun to turn things around, although Evans' reluctance to step away from the ring did have the lockeroom muttering until recently when Ravensdale convinced his friend that three retirement shows in five years was too many and he should just hang up his boots. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and, after revamping the product to something a lot more akin to a PWI with a British twist, the GBWF has risen back up to a mid Regional level. The only question really is can the pair keep up that momentum heading forward? http://imageshack.us/a/img547/6870/pwx9.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img29/1636/sfxl.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img43/1976/1v78.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img856/2299/uu1c.jpg DOUGLAS PALLETT, LIONEL ALLEN, RICHARD GILMORE & PIERS MARTIN The veterans of the GBWF After all, a lot of the stars that made the GBWF great in the 90s are either back or still with the company and still in top positions and, while Alford Evans has been building up new stars, many feel that if six-time GBWF Heavyweight Champion and future Hall of Immortals member Douglas Pallett decided to retire it could seriously cut the company off at the knees... http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5581/ynjz.jpg BWP continue to progress well, and while the matches between the 'BWP Golden Three', former GBWF baby-kissing badass & ASW Jack Bodydrop-a-like Si Richards, former GBWF veteran Brigadier Clayworth and former WWWE cruiserweight & GBWF Heavyweight Champion Ice Cold Funk, put the promotion firmly on the map it was the title reigns of British jouneyman wrestler Jeff Russell and former RAWA legend Mr Universe that firmly cemented them just behind the GBWF in the running for the UK's #1 promotion. Now boasting a whole host of young, exciting talent, ranging from the 25 year old main eventer Cody Young to Past Futures, the cocky second generation tag team of Travis Lothario and Thomas Turnbull Jr, BWP is definitely one to watch. http://imageshack.us/a/img585/3503/41d2.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img706/4058/6lyk.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img826/4862/mbku.jpg CODY YOUNG, TRAVIS LOTHARIO & THOMAS TURNBULL JR Three up-and-coming BWP youngsters The promotion's only failing seems to be their training school which, while churning out plenty of wrestlers, doesn't seem to produce many wrestlers that stay on after their initial contract. But that isn't all bad, it does mean that at least there are some entertaining youngsters out there on the indie scene. http://imageshack.us/a/img9/7186/nqvu.jpg EURORESU have done very little of note since rising to a Small size in 2010. They certainly have the right talented mix of young Japanese wrestlers, old-school British workers, veterans from the Japanese puroresu scene and hot, up and coming British rookies to make some waves, and with a little hard work could push things through to the next level. Many see the slow rise being due to Graham Mackenzie being kept away from the title and has mainly worked with rookies in opening matches since early 2010, allowing others shine in the main event. If Mackenzie jumped back into the main event scene proper it is felt by many that they could become a regional promotion within a year! http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9044/1k8t.jpg SCOTTISH STRONG STYLE A new dojo for a new Scottish scene EURORESU's Graham Mackenzie also opened his own wrestling school, Scottish Strong Style, in 2010, which is often credited with being the main reason for Mackenzie's 'back-burner' status in EURORESU. While the school isn't actually tied to EURORESU it's first graduate, Jeremy Griffin, joined EURORESU and has come on in leaps and bounds since his debut following a feud with his mentor Mackenzie. And the second, Gene Sheridan, was recently picked up by the GBWF, so who knows what talent Mackenzie will produce next? When Irish brawler Toby O'Flanagan returned from a successful run in hardcore promotion Dangerous Wrestling: Europe in 2010 with his new bodybuilder wife in tow many were surprised. But not as surprised as when he opened his own wrestling company, Irish Hardcore Promotions. http://imageshack.us/a/img818/7323/wj33.jpg With O'Flanagan as the figurehead of the promotion, hardcore wrestlers from around the world like Mickie Violent & The Blood Brothers and a wealth of talent from the UK & Europe, IHP are looking good so far. Many in the industry are unsure if hardcore will really take off across the Irish Sea but they have certainly lasted longer than HGW, the last UK hardcore promotion that lasted only two shows. http://imageshack.us/a/img46/7456/kgne.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img94/9592/0c80.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img824/4372/biy2.jpg TOBY O'FLANAGAN, MICKY VIOLENT & OLD MAN ABUAKOJI The faces of violence in the UK. In 2012 Toby decided to push for an even more extreme product and hired the most talented unemployed Japanese deathmatch wrestler he could find, Old Man Aburakoji, to fly around the world and join the IHP roster. Having been an outcast in Japan for years thanks to an arguement with BOSS Nagata, Aburakoji jumped at the chance to be pushed like a god. With Aburakoji's push a huge success Toby has hired two more Japanese wrestlers to join the company (albeit without the massive push Abuakoji received) and IHP recently 'graduated' to being considered a fully fledged Small promotion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAST UP: THE SCENE OVERALL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Kobain Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Guys, this is just amazing. I love every single wrestler, promotion, everything. Bulldog Wrestling Promotions its going to be my first company! Thanks for the effort!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnightnick Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 IHP is definitely going to be a first-run promotion thus far! Euro-trash garbage hardcore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJStark Posted September 6, 2013 Author Share Posted September 6, 2013 <p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:18px;">BRITISH ISLES</span></span></strong></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> </span></strong></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> </span></strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:14px;">CURRENT SCENE</span></span></strong></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img543/3446/d82r.jpg</span><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">UK RANKING</span></strong></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>#1</strong></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></div></div></div></div></div><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img89/9571/bxhn.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> While there is still a little entertainment there, GBWF uses a largely workrate based product but with the majority of the main event getting on in years and the scene changing around them, can Ravensdale & Evans keep hold of their momentum and build their way back up to Cult status?</div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>#2</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5581/ynjz.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Entertainment & fun is the name of the game in BWP, and they don't disappoint! With their entertaining approach becoming more popular in the UK BWP really could begin to give GBWF a run for their money this coming year.</div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>#3</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img9/7186/nqvu.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> In EURORESU it's all about what you can do in the ring, and if you can't take the hard hitting puroresu style you should grab your kitbag and get out of the lockeroom! With Mackenzie concentrating on his training school EURORUSU will hold steady, but if he returns to the spotlight there is no telling where this promotion could go in the future!</div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>#4</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><span>http://imageshack.us/a/img818/7323/wj33.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Deathmatch Heaven, no-one is really sure if IHP will make it long term in the UK, but they do seem to be getting over, and attracting hardcore workers from half way around the world has to count in their favour. Having recently signed a trade agreement with Dangerous Wrestling: Europe, Irish fans can expect to see a swathe of new faces getting mashed by IHP regulars in 2013.</div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">OVERALL</span></strong></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The UK is a scene still recovering from the 'Great Wrestling Crash' of the early 2000s but with GBWF now regaining some popularity, BWP catching up and a couple of young upstart promotions with vastly different products starting to gain ground too, with the right moves the UK scene really could grow into something wonderfull, if the industry doesn't end up back in the toilet first!</div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>NEXT HISTORY: EUROPE</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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