The Genius Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 The U.S promotions have had a regular supply of former professional athletes/spots men etc becoming wrestlers since forever. Some might have only played at college/university level such as The Rock but there are many like Steve "Mongo" McMicheal who were at Hall of Fame level before taking up wrestling. Quite often their sports careers are a heavy part of the promotion behind these wrestlers leading up tho their debut and their promotions always seem quite proud of their genuine sports mans "heritage". Â Other than maybe Pat Roach I'm struggling to think of many in the UK that have made this transition. We've had a few Gladiators, maybe a few amateur boxers and a few UK strongmen but where are the former Premier league Footballers or Rugby players. If David Haye (or Ricky Hatton) took up wrestling when they quit boxing that would be bigger news for a UK promotion than if they booked Sting for a show! Some names like say Frank Bruno would have been a huge draw too as well as bringing mountains of press coverage I mean it's in the news whenever he did a Panto! If you had a stable of Vinny Jones, Julian Dicks, Neil Ruddock & Dennis Wise with Souness as their manager nobody would want a match with any of them cos they are all mental ditto the tag team of Zidane & Cantona (every match would end with a Cantona kung fu kick in the corner followed by a Zidane head butt for the 3 count!) Â To me it seems it would be easier to teach professional athletes to wrestle than it does to make many wrestlers look like professional athletes (Obviously i'm talking about people in the shitarse level). Â Oh and does anybody also know of anyone who has made the Kurt Angle like swap from freestyle to pro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted May 18, 2011 Moderators Share Posted May 18, 2011 Big Daddy played League for Bradford Northern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Genius Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 Big Daddy played League for Bradford Northern. Â I forgot about that! Shame his nephew doesn't have owt to do with wrestling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted May 18, 2011 Moderators Share Posted May 18, 2011 Mason Ryan played in the League of Wales as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshC Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Yeah, he played for Porthmadog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Genius Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 Yeah, he played for Porthmadog. I think if I saw him lining up against my team i'd suddenly find myself with an "injury" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Atkins Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Showjumper Harvey Smith wrestled several times in the 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrestlescotland Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I think money could be the big reason that no big UK sport stars have became wrestlers. They can probably make more money on the after dinner circuit and making live appearances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted May 18, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2011 I think money could be the big reason that no big UK sport stars have became wrestlers. They can probably make more money on the after dinner circuit and making live appearances. Â I hate to say it, but nail on the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trout Stain Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I'd love to see Neil Warnock in a managers role, screaming at the referee at every opportunity, screaming "what the fuck is happening" and ultimately cutting promos that are heavily centred around his catchphrase of "deary me, disgrace" Â I'd even have his music open with a Miz-style "AWESOME", except obviously it would be the sound of an angry, gruff Yorkshireman shouting "DDDDIIIIIIISSSSSGGGGRRRAAAACCCCEEEEEEE" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reychampion Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 If former sports stars could make money in Wrestling, they would. Considering top british stars make Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvera2006 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Oh and does anybody also know of anyone who has made the Kurt Angle like swap from freestyle to pro? Â Justin Richards was, and still is, an awesome amateur wrestler....I might be wrong but he may have been Olympic level? Â Not sure about the levels of acomplishment, but Charlie Rage also knows his amateur stuff well. Â Jon Ryan i hear has a good amateur background. Â Karl Kramer, and also Doug Williams, are both excellent Judoka. I believe Doug was national level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdh85 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Oh and does anybody also know of anyone who has made the Kurt Angle like swap from freestyle to pro? Â Didn't most World of Sport era wrestlers have some level of amateur experience, or a background in martial arts or some kind of combat sport? Obviously not on anything like Angle's level, but in the kayfabe era I thought they only really let amateur wrestlers and genuine hard men into the "inner circle." As opposed to any old skinny seventeen year old with a set of kickpads. That was certainly the impression I got from Al Marquette's book, though he might well have just been working me like an old pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvera2006 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Oh and does anybody also know of anyone who has made the Kurt Angle like swap from freestyle to pro? Â Didn't most World of Sport era wrestlers have some level of amateur experience, or a background in martial arts or some kind of combat sport? Obviously not on anything like Angle's level, but in the kayfabe era I thought they only really let amateur wrestlers and genuine hard men into the "inner circle." As opposed to any old skinny seventeen year old with a set of kickpads. That was certainly the impression I got from Al Marquette's book, though he might well have just been working me like an old pro. Â Â I just commented on the exact same thing in the other thread about british wrestling. Â You are correct sir, unless you had some sort of fighting/ wrestling background you had no chance of getting in. Shame it had to change, in my opinion. Maybe id work with less guys who flinch every time i throw a chop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denzel_maggiore Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Jonny Storm played for Harlow Town I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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