Watching & Enjoying British Professional Wrestling

Once a year, I go through a phase of binging on British pro-wrestling.  Quite some time ago, I decided to create a unique video that could introduce others into this distinct product.  British pro-wrestling, specifically the variety that aired on ITV's "World of Sport"from 1965 through 1988, takes some time to get used to and appreciate.  The rounds, the rules, the style and all make it as different from American pro-wrestling as lucha libre is.  I think most anyone can enjoy a Johnny Saint match for his unbelievable "escapological" style, many could enjoy familiar faces like the Dynamite Kid or Fit Finlay and some might be curious about Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.  There is a great deal more depth however.

In these videos, I attempt to share the history, the rounds, the rules, the weight class system and the basics of the style.

I should remark that the BBC's "When Wrestling was Golden" documentary inspired me to hastily pull this project together.  There seemed to be a rare spike in interest and I hope that people will take an interest in British pro-wrestling and perhaps my contribution can fan the flames of interest a little.

In an age when the current television product in the US is so stale, so redundant and so stale, this pro-wrestling provides a level of variety of characters, technical prowess and uniqueness that I hope many will give it a chance.

While this is by no means a complete listing, below are some of my personal favorites matches that I would implore fans to check out!

BBC Video Diaries: Pro-Wrestling

Director: n/a

Distributor: BBC

Released: 1993

Talent Featured
Robbie Brookside, Ian "Doc" Dean, Brian Dixon, Bill Dundee (Sir William), Giant Haystacks,

 Ulf Hermann, Maxx Payne, Steve Regal, Johnny Saint, Dave Taylor, Steve "Skull Murphy" Young

The Good
An amazing little documentary from the early 1990s that features Robbie Brookside as he struggles to "make it" in pro-wrestling. Brookside was a hot young star in the final days of televised British wrestling as Brian Dixon's All-Star promotions utilized him well. A teenage star from Liverpool, Brookside fell into that era of excellent workers who were able to rub shoulders with many great British stars, but were too young, too small, too British or whatever to reach that next level. In 1988, British wrestling was taken off TV and the native version of the sport practically died over night. It had been ailing for several years, languishing under the influence of the Crabtrees, unable to compete with the flash of the WWF and suffering several other hardships. Many found scarce work across the country at independent shows, some traveled to Japan, some to the Continent and a select few tried to make it to the US. Other than Japan, this documentary focuses on that post-TV era. Brookside and partner Doc Dean travel from small show to small show working for Brian Dixon, but the conditions, payoffs and even some of the talent is pathetic. The two travel to Germany for a tour and you get a feeling for how vital that is for keeping many of these guys afloat. Otto Wanz and the CWA was able to give many European wrestlers a place to go and make good money for about a decade after British wrestling died. A portion of this focuses on his former partner Steve Regal (more recently known as William Regal) who managed to catch a break with WCW, reinvented himself as Lord Steven Regal and became one of the best workers in the US and one of the most underrated entertainers as well. While Regal had good size, Brookside never filled out, he looks like and kind of works like Edge (if you've never seen him). Brookside believes in the British style, but understands the need to adapt to the American approach. Unfortunately for him, Britain never had a domestic product that was able to do this and the last of the "World of Sports" generation are now retired and the independent scene over there is remarkably disjointed from the traditional British style. This is almost a tragic story and while the end is hopefully, you know fifteen years later how it would end.

The Bad
This documentary has a understandably narrow scope as it focuses on Robbie Brookside's career up to this point. He had not yet traveled to Japan, although he had opportunities with New Japan and Michinoku Pro that never panned out for him. There were a handful of great workers (Tony St. Clair, Fit Finlay, Dave Taylor and a others) who successfully bounced around and did not have a paycheck-to-paycheck career like Brookside. Many did though and it is interesting to focus on that story. People like Doc Dean, James Mason and others struggled to find their place and while some had chances abroad or even in the US, few found actual success. The sad story here, unfortunately is the real one for most British wrestlers and it has only gotten more dim as time has passed.

The Rating: ****1/2

Gentlemen's Choice





Director: Mickey Grant
Distributor: Mickey Grant Productions
Released: 12/08

Talent Featured
Chris Adams, Jean & Cyril Adams, Jeanie Adams, Julia Adams, Karen Adams, Neil Adams, Shea Adams, Tyler Adams, Balon "Booray" Bradley, Nathan Bickerstaff, Killer Brooks, Billy "L.A. Steele" Cole, Sky "Lacey" Cole, Bill Colville, Rev. Tommy Drumm, Mickey Grant, Gary Hart, Pam Hernandez, Laurie Knight, Tom Lance, Martin Leyko, David Manning, Bill Mercer, Brent Parnell,Dorothy Parnell, Trinka Porrata, J.D. Reed, Dr. Rock, Emily Urban, Kevin Von Erich, Tony "Banger" Walsh, Earnest Wilkinson, John "Raven" Wymer, Roland Zamarano

The Good
I had this documentary for many months before the circumstances were right to watch it. I expected a lot of violence, vulgarity and tales of substance abuse that does not make for a fun evening movie with the family. This certainly had plenty of that and more. Toss in a few doped up and burnt out strippers, pro-wrestlers and buddies, vindictive indy performers and crabby old ladies and you've got the total package. The cast of characters in this was truly amazing and perhaps the greatest strength of this film. Yes, there were some people missing (mostly former peers in pro-wrestling, although many of them are dead or became estranged from Chris Adams), but it included practically every direct family member he had, a variety of friends and associates as well as some of the people who spent time with him for only a passing phase of his high-speed life. The quality of this was acceptable, it seemed almost jokingly low-rent at times because many of Chris's colleagues were kind of lower class people. There was definitely a tragically interesting story here and Mickey Grant did not try to gloss things over. Little pieces in this, such as comparing Chris Adams' to the infamous gunslinger Doc Holliday (who he apparently admired and dressed like during his fourth wedding), having him explain to a camera how his children are his world as his daughter behind him throws sand until it gets in her eyes and revealing that Chris had put a hit out on an indy valet to that very valet on camera, provided this shocking insight into the type of man Chris Adams was. If anyone thinks Mickey Grant wanted to put Chris Adams over (so to speak), they'd be wrong. This is a fair investigation in the life of man who had so much, but seemed hellbent on self-destruction.

The Bad
This documentary is about a pro-wrestler, but it's not about pro-wrestling per say. Chris Adams' fame was derived from pro-wrestling, specifically his time wrestling in World Class in the mid-1980s. He, like many of the young stars of World Class, were given so much, so quickly that they turned into some of the most deplorably immoral folks in the business. Some notable characters died, many of them survived, but none left Dallas untouched by the culture there. Chris Adams, could have gone elsewhere and been successful, but he chose to stay in Dallas and try to sustain his wild lifestyle. He went from a young and promising talent who loved fast cars, blondes and the nightlife to a broken down drug addict who was abusive, cruel and unable (or unwilling) to save himself. This is an extreme case, but one that mirrors the decline of many former pro-wrestlers. If some people disliked "The Wrestler" for its portrayal of pro-wrestlers, then you certainly will not like this.

The Rating: ****1/2



  

Adrian Street [57Talk Shoot Interview]

The Good
I am fascinated by British wrestling and unfortunately there is not a lot of media coverage (that I've seen) given to those men who were such big stars years ago. Adrian Street was probably the amongst the hottest acts in Britain that became a hot act in the States, whereas many like Billy Robinson, Tony Charles, Al Hayes and such found mixed results. He, however, had this totally different life in the US while in his forties and kind of established himself in a way few others have been able to. Not one to downplay his legacy, Adrian Street explains how rough things were when he broke in, he spends a lot of time talking about Wigan's Snake Pit (which he did not attend) and just how accomplished he became during his time in Europe. In fact, his unpublished autobiography is 600 pages of just his life before coming to the US in the late 1970s. He admittedly blows his own horn and I came away knowing much more about this downplayed gimmick wrestler from the 1980s. Gary Cubeta does not have great knowledge of Adrian's career and practically none of his pre-US tenure, but he is able to get the ball rolling and how it rolls!

The Bad
Although this was excellent, 80 minutes was just not long enough. Adrian Street's career realistically spanned 30 years, but he's been active since his final run in Continental. Gary Cubeta mainly focuses on his years in the US and the development of his "Exotic" character, but Adrian clearly has much, much more to offer. They talk about the standard things, what it was like here, what was it like to work so-and-so and general reflections on Adrian's career. This was great, but it seemed to only be a scratching of the surface. Adrian Street is a braggart, no question about it. I've never thought he was a great draw, but to hear him, you'd think he was the great thing around. I tend to believe his act was a bit of a hotshot act that worked to pop houses, but he never had very long runs anywhere. I certainly rethought his contributions to pro-wrestling, but I still question just how huge he was.

The Rating: ****

Torch Talk - Bulldog from `93

The Good 
It is a funny to think how much things have changed since this interview from nearly two decades ago. Obviously, the face of pro-wrestling has changed and Davey Boy Smith has sadly passed away, but what struck me was how the nature of communication about pro-wrestling and the popularity of "dirt sheets" has changed. Wade Kellar is still around, but now these phone interview recorded on his answering machine that were transcribed for the Torch are now easy downloads and listens through new technology. In spite of all that, this was a stellar interview in a time before audio shoot interviews. Kellar knows his stuff and is pretty good about sneaking in some heavy questions as I've seen time and again.

The Bad
A loud beep every 15 seconds is a bit annoying and perhaps too maddening a distraction for some. Wade Kellar is much more smooth a talker than Dave Meltzer, but his wealth of knowledge is not as great. I suspect Dave would have done a vastly different interview, but perhaps not hammered some of the points such a steroids, drug abuse and all that quite as hard, if at all. Personally, I think Dave's obituary from the WON of Davey Boy Smith was better than this, yet this had the charm of Davey himself talking. At forty-five minutes the depth of this is respectable, but not as great as, say, an RF Video shoot generally-speaking. What I really missed and I imagine many others would have as well was the discussion of 1980s British wrestling, Stampede and Japan. Kellar hit on each of them, but perhaps in an effort to cater to his fans, kept those questions brief. One could probably complain because talk of his time in Wigan was so brief. Not to knit-pick because this predates the shoot interview era and was not originally intended for radio consumption, but it certainly had its flaws.

The Rating: ****

The Wrestling Game

Director: n/a
Distributor: Mountain Films
Released: 1963

The Good
I don't know how much 1960s British pro-wrestling is kicking around, but this is a nice sampling that shows how that style is different than elsewhere. Although it does not feature many legendary British stars, it does feature "Judo" Al Hayes, who became a star in the US. The real draw here is seeing the action. This was a feature, but it was not exactly an expose. I had heard Ron Garvin elude to an expose that killed British wrestling (I'm not sure if this is it), but this more showed and explained the draw of pro-wrestling. Also, I popped for the powerbomb in the opening bout...who expected that?

The Bad
At just over 10 minutes, this hardly gets at anything. It is a neat historical piece, but the lack of commentary and explanation could be a turn off for many modern viewers. It also did not really have the star power that you'd expect. It was more of a random filming that had a couple of familiar names, but mostly people that even I didn't know.

The Rating: **1/2