PBWFan

He has appeared on way more mainstream media, TV, radio, newspapers than any UK wrestler ever has since WoS. His Scottish humour has endeared him to the public up here. After the Insane Fight Club aired, people were and still are coming to shows to specifically see Grado (and to a lesser extent Jester).

Case in point...Aberdeen were playing in the Scottish League Cup final on 16th March. PBW had a show in Glasgow City center on the 15th. A drunk Aberdeen fan came bumbling into the box office of the Pavillion from Lauders next door and asked if Grado was there. They said yes but he didnt believe them. So Grado went into this pub full of Aberdeen supporters to prove he was there. They were all chanting his name and such. And a group of about 20 football fans came in, paid to watch Grado's match and went back to the pub.

 

In the confines of Scotland he is literally a household name. Always cropping up on BBC Scotland whether it be the radio or the TV.

 

Steady on.  He's not even a household name with Scottish wrestling fans, let alone the general public.

 

 He is mate. You're wrong.

 

ICW just announced BBC have already started filming a sequel to the Insane Fight Club documentary, due to air some time next year.

Don't know if it airs down south, but there is some sort of comedy show based on the Commonwealth Games on Monday night (BBC1) starring Grado. Don't know if it's a big part, but he's on there. Probably some amateur wrestling joke I'd imagine.

 

Lionheart was on it last week also.

I personally don't see why Grado would even want to do TNA Bootcamp.

In the confines of Scotland he is literally a household name. Always cropping up on BBC Scotland whether it be the radio or the TV.

TNA if anything would be supid not to offer him something more substantial in order to tap into that audience.

The 12 were picked long before the auditions were even announced. The auditions are probably just being filmed as filler to give it a more X Factor feel.

Didn't think this was worthy of a thread - how much do British wrestlers get paid in comparison to US and Japaneese wrestlers?

 

Few British wrestlers who live here make a full-time living from the profession. In Japan there are four or five big league companies with around 30 wrestlers each that all make a full time living, but most wouldn't be paid that well. In the US generally only WWE and big name TNA wrestlers make a decent guaranteed salary; though there are probably a lot more indie wrestlers there who are able to get enough work to not have to do any other job (since there are so many more indie feds there than here).

In Japan it's the sponsors who pay the wrestlers and not the companies themselves. So a fan will pay the wages of a wrestler and buy them dinners etc. Thats generally how it works.

As far as the UK goes...I do know that approx. 25% of the regular Scottish workers are living solely from wrestling and merchandising. ICW can be a good payday for some of these guys and there are shows every weekend in some capacity up here. Obvioulsy at the moment there are shows every day. Theres probably several more who could if they wanted to but it's the lack of a guarantee that must make it off putting for most wrestlers.

Dzeko looks a bargain at 100/1 with Paddy Power...plus 1/4 odds on being placed in top 4.

Not surprising given its one of his old buddies who oversees all the content and runs the website. In fairness I would probably put him in a Top 45....what number was he?

The sterotypical indy darlings from the 2003-2007 era are now pretty much all in WWE or in developmental, or have spent time there.

Just goes to show how diverse WWE really are in terms of who they recruit. Obviously tehse guys have improved their skills and looks in this time but most of these guys 10 years ago you would have laughed out loud if someone told you they'd make it to WWE. I remember seeing Calihan and Younger over here at an All Star show and they looked absoluely shocking. Everything about them was cheap. Same with Generico, he looked awful. All the CZW crowd.

There is so much talent over here i the UK right now who flourish developmental for one reason or another. But can only imagine that WWE dont want to fill their rosters with European/British workers because they are predominantly a North American company. They are happy with the odd Scottish/English bloke here and there. Plus all the added rigomol or work visas. A bit of a shame really.

I listened to part one of Regal today. You're all right, he's a smooth talker you could listen too for hours.Interesting stories on everything and I found it nice that Steve Austin, a guy he knows well and spent a hell of a lot of time with, obviously stills gets a kick out of sitting down and listening to the guy. He just let him speak.

 

Dunno when it was recorded but to be nitpicky, Regal said Greg Dyke is the head of the BBC which is obviously not the case now.

 

Austin referring to people as "cats" grates me a bit. Still, nice to know Dude Love rubbed off on him.

 

Just me or does Regal have brummie twang at times?

Probs just Regal not being up to scratch with whats going on this side of the pond...Am I correct in saying he is in charge of the FA now?

Wasn't at PCW but saw Vader last night at BCW and I must say he put in an astonishing shift in his match and was very involved. Did all of his signature stuff and had a big smile on his face like he was having a blast.

So did Bad Bones go through all that Gutcheck stuff online, won it, and probably isn't even going to get a shot in TNA?

Not a lot of TNA's venue booking makes sense. I dare say it has already been mentioned in this thread, but for years it has come to Glasgow and failed to sell out the small Braehead Arena (circa 5,000 capacity). As such it makes little sense to book the Hydro Arena (circa 10,000 capacity) for the 2014 show, other than to create the perception of being a big time production that is capable of selling out or at least getting close to selling out such a decent venue. I anticipate the big black curtains will be out just like the Manchester Arena shows.

The Hydro can be transformed into a 4,000 seater, and also I was told that in a bid to drum up interest, several acts were given the Hydro for free so they would bring their shows their. TNA being one of them.

Genuinely one of the best live moments I have experienced as a wrestling fan. Even to a non-fan the drama of this is evident.

Also, production etc looks not too shabby on these new ICW videos.

PBW of course!

And ICW