2011 UKFF UK50 - STAGE THREE (CLOSED)

[Big Benny HG]

You have one week left to vote in this, the 3rd and final round of the 2011 UKFF UK50. I'd already had in around 50 sets of votes last time I checked, with absolutely nothing seemingly decided yet.

 

Sorry if I've missed it but is there going to be a shitlist this year?

I said I'd confirm later, but it's looking unlikely this year. The epic reaction to it last year was so, well, epic, that it would probably pale in comparison this time. Last year, the "Shit List" caused:

 

- The mam of one of the featured wrestlers complaining to both the police and my place of work that I had been harrassing her son due to my publishing of the nomination/comments. The police even called round my flat for "a chat".

- Rainz to immediately announce his retirement from wrestling and considering closing GNP/NBW as a direct result of his inclusion in the list. He didn't end up actually doing either.

- A hunt taking place at one of the wrestling training schools to try to find out who had leaked personal information for inclusion in the list.

- Another massive Peter Staniforth rant against the UKFF.

 

Maybe make it a feature every couple of years, then, perhaps....

[FishAndChips]

Ok that's understandable thanks !

[Big Benny HG]

Just over 5 days to go to let your opinions be known this year.

 

An interesting point is that 26 different wrestlers from the 50 in the list have received at least one individual 1st place ranking in the votes received so far...

 

Keep 'em coming...

[cobystag]

Y'know what's even more pathetic than doing your write up's back in May?

 

NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND THE BLOODY THING SO HAVING TO TYPE IT ALL OUT AGAIN!

 

And... Yeah I got lazy so just did a write up for the Top 5..... And you can see me getting lazier and lazier even then....

 

Only stuck with a top 10. Robbie Dynamite was supposed to be my #7...............

 

 

 

1: Zack Sabre Jnr

Between July 2010 and June 2011, I have seen Zack in some extraordinary matches. An engrossing GHC Jr Heavyweight Title match against Yoshinobu Kanemaru, followed by a master class in high-octane tag team wrestling with Marty Scurll against PAC and Haskins that very same night. Three fabulous tag team matches with Scurll against The All Star's that were the epitome of quality British tag team wrestling, the second match being my favourite match of 2010 to include English based talent only. They followed their third match against The All Star's with a victory over then PWG Tag Team Champions, El Generico and Paul London, once again that same night, in yet another tremendous tag team encounter as The LDR's solified themselves and IPW:UK as *the* place to be for tag team wrestling. In 2011 I got to see the beginning of The LDR's vs Cole/O'Reilly series that would continue into two more countries, and then Zack compete on the English dates of NOAH's European tour, not only getting to face two of the world's best Jnr Heavyweight Wrestlers in Katsuhiko Nakajima and KENTA, but also getting to hold his own and look like he belonged in there with him. So much so that Zack would earn himself a three month stay in Japan shortly after these events, and just outside this year's voting eligibility. After already seeing the guy receive a GHC Jnr Title shot, lose and win the IPW:UK Tag Team Title's, defeat the reigning PWG Tag Team Champions, and take on Japan's best, how could he top all that? What match could I see him in last of the years voting period that would equal if not top some of these accomplishments? The last match I saw Zack in during this time period was against then IWGP Jnr Heavyweight Champion, Prince Devitt. Both of them were there to celebrate the life of and honour their trainer, Andre Baker, and the two tore the house down in a tightly packed match that wouldn't have looked out of place put against some of Devitt's best defences of his Title. Devitt is in many ways what Zack would aspire to be in his career - A guy he went to Japan, trained there, and became a full time member of that companys roster, eventually becoming their Champion and seen as a true ace of the promotion. I can only hope that Zack is able to walk a similiar path and his current stay in Japan for NOAH are the beginnings of that.

 

Zack is without shadow of a doubt my #1 wrestler in the UK at present. As you can see above, more often than not, he ends up in the best matches of the night of the show he's on. But it's not just the quality of opponents and matches Zack gets, it's how he makes the most of it. He can step in the ring with guys like Kanemaru, Generico, Nakajima, KENTA and Devitt and BELONG. He doesn't look out of place or out of his depth at all. Zack can face the best in the world, put himself out there as the best that England has to offer, and you know that one day HE is going to be seen as one of the best wrestlers in the world. On the standing of the matches I got to see him in live Zack already had this won, but for a man of his considerable talents, he's already breaking out in other parts of the world. Just inside last years voting period, he became wXw's Unified World Heavyweight Champion, and in a Title defense last September managed to defeat Masaaki Mochizuki in an excellent match. In wXw's big annual 16 Carat tournament, he had a truly epic match against Davey Richards on the second night, and on the next night had the second part of The LDR's vs Cole/O'Reilly trilogy that almost stole the entire weekend. From April to May this year he spent just over a month in America, ending the trilogy of matches against Cole/O'Reilly and also getting to compete in CZW's Best Of The Best reaching the semi-finals, and also making appearences in CHIKARA's massive King Of Trios weekend and Gabe Sapolsky's EVOLVE promotion having an absolutely blinding match against Sami Callihan.

 

I know it seems like I'm just recapping what I've seen Zack do this year, but I am yet to have ever seen him have a bad match. And this year, Zack was just on another level. If you want to see the best wrestler in England, you have to see Zack Sabre Jnr wrestle. His kicks, his arm-bars, his mat wrestling, everything he does he does well and it all looks crisp and fluid. I am so happy for Zack's current success and at just turned 24, the best is yet to come.

 

2: Marty Scurll

If anybody could lay claim to help Zack reaching that #1 position, it would definitely be Marty Scurll. Marty more than held up his end in The LDR's tag matches, on some occassions perhaps even surpassing and standing out more than Zack as he made some of those tag matches *his* own - Notably the October All Stars encounter that was a Marty Scurll tour de force. Marty started breaking out just a little bit more on his own this past year with notable matches against Cyber Kong, El Generico and Kotaro Suzuki. The Kotaro Suzuki match I would perhaps put up against matches that took place on the NOAH shows as being a stand out match. While I bought the rumour about Marty going to Japan hook, line and sinker for training after the DG:UK shows, I don't think anyone can argue against Marty stepping up his game considerably after those shows. This definitely was a stand out year for Marty, it only took Zack Sabre Jnr turning into a truly elite wrestler to stop Scurll from out-shining his tag partners with the strides in improvement he made this year. If Zack does leave England to wrestle full time in Japan or America, we can rest safe in the knowledge that we will still have Marty for a little while longer until those opportunities presented to Zack open up for Marty too down the line.

 

3: Dave Mastiff

Dave has definitely become my favourite big man in England by quite some distance. He began my voting period by having a fantastic match against former GHC Heavyweight Champion, Go Shiozaki. Had a great heavyweight contest against Leroy Kincaide that showed his improvement and stand out matches weren't reserved to facing only the best Japan had to offer. He closed out my voting period by having an astounding match challenging Takashi Sugiura for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, being only the second Englishman to ever challenge for that belt, and the first on European soil. I'm sure he was my #2 in my list last year, and I predicted he could only get better and eventually take the top slot. So... Why didn't he? Honestly, I'd probably blame the booking of the matches more than I would big bad Dave's involvement. He had a fine short brawl with Sha that got thrown out and set up for a rematch down the line. His next defense of his IPW:UK Undisputed British Heavyweight Title came in a lackluster match against Danny Garnell who at that time was only doing the one kind of match, and to see a guy like Garnell cheat and attempt to dominate a guy like Mastiff.... Yeah. And his IPW:UK Title reign came to a very disappointing end with such a sub-par three way match against Takeshi Morishima and Sha Samuels. I guess expectations were built too high after his singles matches with the pair, but the three-way never even came close to what the crowd wanted. Regardless, Dave is still one of England's best and that match against Sugiura will go down as a classic and one of the stand out matches of NOAH's first night in Broxbourne. I may even go as far as saying Mastiff might have been Sugiura's best defense against a gaijin, or at least coming close to the Giant Bernard match.

 

4: Mark Haskins

Haskins, like the others before him, had a career defining performance this year. He started off this years eligible voting period in Japan, getting chance to wrestler in the opener of Dragon Gate's Kobe World PPV which are always seen as their version of WrestleMania. In England I got to see him in that amazing tag match with PAC against The LDR's, and then see him again team with PAC to defeat CIMA and Dragon Kid in what was a very fine finale to DG's UK shows last year, a match that I think I slept on live, but gets better each time of viewing on DVD. He also got to face CIMA in a very good singles match in Germany the next night. Closing out 2010 for me he had a good match against Matt Cross which more than made up for Cross' lackluster performances in CHIKARA the last time I saw him, and a DAMN good match against then ROH TV Champion, Eddie Edwards. A match that is so underrated, everybody should see it to appreciate how good it is. At the beginning of 2011 he competed on all dates of TNA European tour which impressed officials enough to sign him to a contract just outside of this years voting period. But opening 2011 for me, he began with a decent tag match with former partner, Joel Redman against The All Stars, a match I feel many expected more from and now we don't even look likely to see a conclusion to this issue. He closed out 2011 for me with a stunningly good match against Juventud Guerrera. I say stunningly good because for all it was hyped up to be, I still didn't expect Juvi to turn up with his working boots on like that, and Haskins more than kept up with him.

 

5: Sha Samuels

While Marty Scurll was definitely the most improved wrestler in the ring, for me, Sha stepped up every game of his character in 2010/11 and was more than rewarded with an IPW:UK Title win. Two fantastic matches with Terry Frazier that were both full of heated and intense brawling, March being a definite stand out. A match against Martin Stone in Oct where you could definitely feel the torch being passed, as Sha well and truly became the most hated man in Sittingbourne throughout the course of the year. I don't know how the hell he almost missed the cut - To me, Sha is a top #5 wrestler and he can only get better.

 

6: Mikey Whiplash

 

7: Terry Frazier

 

8: Joel Redman

 

9: Rockstar Spud

 

10: Johnny Moss

[Leary of Doom]

Mine are based on wrestlers I've actually seen, not been to as many shows as I'd like!

 

1) Kris Travis

2) Mad Man Manson

3) Sam Bailey

4) MVK Val Kabious

5) Greg Burridge

6) Joe Connors

7) CJ Banks

8) El Ligero

9) T-Bone

10) Martin Kirby

11) Mohmed Ameen

12) Lionheart

13) Stixx

14) Marty Scurll

15) Robbie X

[Allstar69]

You have one week left to vote in this, the 3rd and final round of the 2011 UKFF UK50. I'd already had in around 50 sets of votes last time I checked, with absolutely nothing seemingly decided yet.

 

 

I said I'd confirm later, but it's looking unlikely this year. The epic reaction to it last year was so, well, epic, that it would probably pale in comparison this time. Last year, the "Shit List" caused:

 

- The mam of one of the featured wrestlers complaining to both the police and my place of work that I had been harrassing her son due to my publishing of the nomination/comments. The police even called round my flat for "a chat".

- Rainz to immediately announce his retirement from wrestling and considering closing GNP/NBW as a direct result of his inclusion in the list. He didn't end up actually doing either.

- A hunt taking place at one of the wrestling training schools to try to find out who had leaked personal information for inclusion in the list.

- Another massive Peter Staniforth rant against the UKFF.

 

Maybe make it a feature every couple of years, then, perhaps....

i thought it was just a joke thing not to take serious or is it a serious list ? and even so some of that is OTT

[MELTUS316]

i thought it was just a joke thing not to take serious or is it a serious list ? and even so some of that is OTT

 

Which wrestling School?

[Halitosis Romantic]

I got my votes in early.

 

I voted for these 15, but I'm not gonna say what order.

 

Dean Allmark

James Mason (26)

JD Knight (44)

Joel Redman (18)

Johnny Moss (7)

Jonny Storm (13)

Lionheart (11)

Mark Haskins (8)

Marty Scurll (15)

Mikey Whiplash (33)

Paul Malen (27)

RJ Singh (24)

Rockstar Spud (3)

Stixx (12)

Zack Sabre Jr (5)

 

I'd take that as a top 15.

[The Dart]

Well, out of the 50 available. It's not even close to what I'd vote for as THE top 15 in the country though.

[fye]

Well, out of the 50 available. It's not even close to what I'd vote for as THE top 15 in the country though.

 

Who would you vote then?

[The Dart]

Who would you vote then?

 

I voted for these 15 originally -

 

James Mason

Karl Krammer

Johnny Kidd

Zebra Kid

Marty Scurll

Mark Haskins

Martin Stone

Leroy Kincaide

Jonny Storm

William Gaylord

Hakan

JD Knight

Robbie Dynamite

Mikey Whiplash

Danny Garnell

 

Bare in mind I only went by guys I'd seen live and there are some great wrestlers who I haven't seen live in the last 12 months.

[Southside crew]

I voted for these 15 originally -

 

James Mason

Karl Krammer

Johnny Kidd

Zebra Kid

Marty Scurll

Mark Haskins

Martin Stone

Leroy Kincaide

Jonny Storm

William Gaylord

Hakan

JD Knight

Robbie Dynamite

Mikey Whiplash

Danny Garnell

 

Bare in mind I only went by guys I'd seen live and there are some great wrestlers who I haven't seen live in the last 12 months.

 

 

I'm guessing you don't get up north much

[hitman89762000]

Well mikey whiplash and william gaylord have (and continue) to wrestle in the north...

[House of Pain]

Which wrestling School?

 

That would be mine.

 

Voting for people who you don't like is one thing, everyone is entitled to their own opinion on peoples performances, look and attitude. I don't mind that at all, regardless if I disagree, but the personal information that was given out about 1 certain person on the list is no ones business but his own and could've only been given out by a fellow member of the school spreading shit through spite or jealousy.

Morale is the main part of my school and I wanted to weed out who it was so I could get rid of them to stop him doing the same time and time again because at the end of the day having people in the Top 50 is a plus for the school, having people on the shitlist does nothing but give me and the school and black eye and if that person didn't give a shit about that, then I don't want them here.

 

Hope that helps.

[Whiskey_Jim]

1. Dave Mastiff - The thing that makes Dave Mastiff stand out from so many others on the list is how believeable he is, he looks like would kick the shit out of you and then go and eat a live lamb.... thats what a wrestlers should look like for me.

 

2. Rockstar Spud - Has the X-Factor that Shawn Michaels has, and whilst it may be a big stretch to compare anyone in the UK to HBK you cant help but aknowledge that Spud has the amazing ability to draw people into his matches and make you believe he will win in spite of his size. T-Bone - In a similar vein to Mastiff, which is why I love his work so much. Great to see him finally getting his props.... I saw him in his first couple of matches and you would not believe how that guy could become the beast you see in the ring now.

 

3. Mark Haskins - I actually wish I hadn't seen his TNA work because it made him look far blander than he is. Trumendous worker who, to be fair, deserves to be in companies like TNA.

 

4. Stixx - Big man, charismatic, very good worker, not signed to WWE? Hmmm, matter of time I think.

 

5. T-Bone - In a similar vein to Mastiff, which is why I love his work so much. Great to see him finally getting his props.... I saw him in his first couple of matches and you would not believe how that guy could become the beast you see in the ring now.

 

6. Johnny Moss - Another wrestler who is every bit of what WWE usually go for and for some reason not there.... odd.