2012 UKFF UK50 - RESULTS THREAD

[Big Benny HG]

No. 18: Nathan Cruz

Score: 136 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 1

Percentage of 2012 ballots including Nathan Cruz: 28.1%

(2011=20th, 2010=38th, 2009=NL, 2008=NL, 2007=NL, 2006=NL, 2005=NL)

 

 

A two-place rise in the rankings this year for Kingston-upon-Hull's Nathan Cruz in this, his 3rd ever appearance in the UKFF UK50. Who knows where he would have ended up if this project had been voted by 'the workers' rather than the fans? We'll never know. The 'Showstealer' is a regular for All Star Wrestling, a gig that has seen him perform in halls all over the country. His antics under the ASW banner have included multiple bouts against regular opponents

and El Ligero, including a Falls Count Anywhere contest with the former in Hull. Another intriguing-sounding All Star bout saw Cruz team with Mark Haskins to take on the LDRS (Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr) this past February in Ipswich.

 

Back in the land of white phone boxes, Cruz has continued to be one of the lead heels for his hometown New Generation Wrestling, where he began the UKFF UK50 eligibility period as the reigning Heavyweight Champion. Successful defences against CJ Banks, El Ligero, his ASW rival Allmark, Joey Hayes and Cameron Kraze made up the second half of 2011, with the year coming to a close at 'Eternal Glory III' in December. There, the former 'Primadonna' again put the belt up in the main event, this time

. Bringing 2011 to an end with a big feel-good underdog story,

. Myer retained in their January rematch, then 2012 in NGW has seen the gradual disintegration of the Cruz Enterprises stable. Cruz and Colossus' June loss to NGW Tag Champions Los Amigos (El Ligero & Dara Diablo) was the final straw, as

', marking Colossus' official turn to the good side.

 

Cruz faced new NGW Champion Rampage Brown and Ligero in

exhibition card in central London. This wouldn't be his only appearance in the capital, as the upstart THIS IS PROGRESS Wrestling promotion brought him in and instantly made him one of their top stars. At 'Chapter One' in March 2012, Cruz first beat Colossus in a qualifying match (starts at 5:53), then overcame Mike Mason, El Ligero and Marty Scurll in a 4-way elimination final to become the first ever TIP Champion. Nathan's first defence came against Scurll at 'Chapter Two' in June, Cruz retaining in a 2-out-of-3 falls main event (starts at 8:00).

 

Elsewhere, Cruz faced Ligero on a

,

, travelled to PBW in Scotland for back-to-back Heavyweight and Tag Team Title shots in 2 nights in March, debuted for Southside Wrestling Entertainment, and continued to be a regular for XWA in Morecambe. There, Cruz, Colossus and Dave Rayne went down to Johnny Phere, Sam Slam and Stixx at 'Last Fight at the Prom 2011' in October, returned for a crap Heavyweight Title match against Phere in February, then participated in a tremendous 6-way elimination bout (with Rockstar Spud, El Ligero, Dave Rayne, Jynkz and winner Joey Hayes) at 'War on the Shore VIII' in May.

 

 

What did the UKFF think?

"Is the showstealer in NGW and with his cocky attitude and ability has shown he can be in other feds"

 

"Hands down the best story teller on the UK scene at the moment. He understands that professional wrestling isn't just about wrestling, but is about character and story, and manages to suspend the disbelief of any audience member from the second he walks out of that curtain until the second he walks back through"

 

"Just a brilliant all rounder. Can add something to any show but his real talents lie in storytelling. Long term that's what sells tickets"

 

"The Progress champion has undeniably looked good in his two performances there, and his presentation is first class in Progress, Southside and XWA. I'm just not convinced on his in-ring side yet"

[britishwrestlinglegends]

"Who knows where he would have ended up if this project had been voted by 'the workers' rather than the fans? We'll never know."

 

Higher (obviously)

[king_dezeeuw06]

20th spot for MK isn't bad at all for a debut in the UKFF 50, but if his work would of been seen by more people I think he certainly would be higher up. He is well worth a top 10 or even top 5 spot, he just needs to get on more shows and let everyone see what the FCP fans have for the last year.

[Big Benny HG]

No. 17: Andy Wild

Score: 136 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 2

Percentage of 2012 ballots including Andy Wild: 26.3%

(2011=35th, 2010=NL, 2009=NL, 2008=NL, 2007=NL, 2006=NL, 2005=NL)

 

 

A second UKFF UK50 appearance for Andy Wild, coming with a massive 18-place rise in the rankings this year. He finishes on the same points total as 'Showstealer' Nathan Cruz, but it is Wild that 'steals' the higher place by virtue of more individual 1st place rankings in this year's votes. 'Unstoppable' Andy started out with NWA:UK Hammerlock, but moved to Scotland in 2008 and now features as a regular for all the top promotions north of the border. This year has also seen him pick up 2 sets of singles championship gold.

 

The summer of 2011 found Wild 2-0 down in a best-of-five series with Liam Thomson in Insane Championship Wrestling. Andy

with wins on ICW's July and August events, then took the series by winning the fifth and final match at 'Fear and Loathing IV' in October (this time a special 3-way including Zack Sabre Jr). After failing to win January's 'Square Go!' Rumble to earn a Heavyweight Title shot, Wild won a 6-way over Thomson, TJ Rage, Scott Maverick, Johnny Starr and Christopher at 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' for a shot at the cult promotion's Zero-G Championship. That came at 'So's Yer Maw' in April, where champion Noam Dar retained. Wild and Dar then teamed up on the next show for ICW's Tag Team Title tournament, but were beaten by The Coffey Brothers in the first round. Wild and Dar entered into a rivalry. Wild, Dar and the Coffey's clashed again in a 4-way for the Zero-G title in June, Dar again retaining, before

for the same championship at 'Insane in the Membrane' the following month. This time would be Andy's night, as he took the win and claimed the Zero-G honours.

 

Over in BCW, Andy had faced Dar and Mikey Whiplash in singles matches, but his big chance came in the 4-way double-championship Tables, Ladders and Chairs main event of 'No Blood, No Sympathy IX', BCW's biggest show of the year. Here, both Lionheart's Heavyweight Title and BT Gunn's Openweight Title up for grabs. Noam Dar was the 4th competitor and, though Lionheart retained his belt, Wild was the one who managed to escape with the Openweight Championship and claim the biggest accolade of his career to that point. Andy remains BCW's Openweight Champion to this day, having notched up successful 2012 defences over Lionheart,

, Johnny Moss and Bad Bones.

 

Across in PBW, Wild was chosen to face New Japan Pro Wrestling's Prince Devitt at the 'Maximum Impact 2011' supercard, and challenged Heavyweight Champion BT Gunn in a 3-way main event Ladder Match (with Jack Jester) in Dumbarton. Other PBW opponents have included Mark Andrews, TJ Rage, Switch, Max Mayhem, Joey Starr, Max Angelus, Liam Thomson, CJ Banks and Denmark's Chaos, a man with whom he also waged war with across in Dansk Pro Wrestling, including their

.

 

Wild has also appeared back down in England, where he faced T-Bone for the Preston City Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, had a cracking match with El Ligero for GPW, and represented PBW against PCW in a 12-man tag team match.

 

 

What did the UKFF think?

"young upcoming Scottish talent, good allrounder"

 

"Great talent, close to becoming a main eventer"

 

"only seen him the once but if he's a example of the workers scotland are producing then i hope more make the trip down here"

 

"Very solid mix of old school & new school wrestling with such a unique way of moving in the ring"

 

"most improved wrestler over the last year which is getting him noticed by more companies. Also one of the most genuinely nicest wrestlers"

 

"great technical wrestler"

 

"Hes man who could go toe to toe with Fergal Devit, need I say more"

 

"It's amazing the 12 months he's had. The series with Liam Thomson is the obvious highlight, but you can't overlook terrific matches against the likes of Mikey Whiplash, Bad Bones, Noam Dar and many more in there as well"

[stumobir]

"Who knows where he would have ended up if this project had been voted by 'the workers' rather than the fans? We'll never know."

 

Higher (obviously)

 

Then why don't you go and organise a "workers' UK50" then instead of filling this thread with bullshit that noone wants to read. UKFF UK50 is a great read and no matter how much you try to undo the tremendous work put in by Benny, noone is taking notice or is bothered by you. FUCK OFF.

 

Good and deserved spot for Andy Wild, he's been excellent in ICW this year.

[Big Benny HG]

No. 16: Bubblegum

Score: 149 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 0

Percentage of 2012 ballots including Bubblegum: 36.8%

(2011=NL, 2010=14th, 2009=1st, 2008=3rd, 2007=5th, 2006=37th, 2005=NL)

 

 

Following a one-year absence from the UKFF UK50 during a year of relative inactivity, our 2009 winner (and 3-time Top 10 finisher) returns to the rankings for his 6th placing in the 8-year history of the project. Mainly appearing in the north-west's Grand Pro Wrestling and Preston City Wrestling, the Bubblegum that returns to claim a similar ranking is mostly a very different character to that we saw in his last appearance in the list. Indeed, gone is the colourful, happy-go-lucky kid-friendly cartoon babyface, now replaced by an entirely-convincing snotty, arrogant, annoying, irritating little chav prick heel.

 

In the Wigan-based GPW, Bubblegum was aligned with The Masterplan group and had feuded with the lead babyfaces in the promotion since his return in September 2010, notably his former Hubba Bubba Lucha tag parter El Ligero over the first half of 2011. At 'Friday Night Thriller V' in October, 'Gum and Masterplan bodyguard Jason Logan took on Martin Kirby and the massively popular British Champion Ste 'Bin' Mann, a bout memorable for irreparably destroying the ring and, in a first for GPW, forcing the cancellation of the rest of the show!! The following month at 'Night of the Brave', Bubblegum battled Kirby again as part of the massively dramatic 6 vs. 6 CMLL-style 'Torneo Cibernetico' elimination match, the heels going down to the blue-eyes. Then, on GPW's final show of 2011, Bubblegum and Kirby put their mini-series to bed in a singles match, the Yorkshireman going over the Masterplan member.

 

2012 began with Bubblegum as one of 6 wrestlers entered in GPW's now-annual year-opening 'Money in the Bank' match. That one would be won by the newly heel Danny Hope, sneaking in incognito to replace the masked Ken Zen at the finish. That match had seen Bubblegum clash with rookie sensation LA Austin, and the pair would be matched in singles competition the following month at 'Northern Soul'

, then again on opposing sides of a

at 'Only the Strong Survive' in May. Coming out of that, BG found himself at odds with ever-popular 'Dangerous' Damon Leigh, leading to the two meeting in an excellent slow-burn, story-driven singles encounter at 'Battlefield II' on the next show. Damon won that one, but the situation does not appear to have been settled yet. After the end of the 2012 UKFF UK50 eligibility season, 'Gum and Cyanide met Kirby and Joey Hayes at 'From Wigan With Love', with Bubblegum running off backstage when Leigh came out to save Kirby after Hayes had been taken out of action.

 

Across in PCW, Bubblegum has played the same cocky charver persona, but amplified to 11. After appearing in a couple of

in his first appearances, 'Gum beat Greg Burridge by countout at 'Blood, Sweat and Beers' in February 2012 to earn a crack at PCW Heavyweight Champion T-Bone. There, Bubblegum came out the victor by disqualification, meaning the championship did not change hands. The next chapter in the story ended with 'Gum making off with the belt anyway. It was then revealed that, true to form, the pesky mite

. This meant that PCW had to present a brand new championship belt for the Bubblegum vs. T-Bone rematch at 'Guild Wars' in June, where an angry TB smashed his way past a cowardly BG in a hugely entertaining match to retain the honours. Then, in a wonderful twist, it was revealed that Bubblegum was to take the place of the absent Mad Man Manson in an all-male tag team Bra n' Panties match later that same night. While obviously (and hilariously) reluctant to get down and dirty in a sexy Ann Summers number, the deal was that if Bubblegum and Sam Bailey beat Mikey Whiplash and Dave Rayne, then 'Gum would get another Heavyweight Title shot. If they lost, then Bubblegum would have to face punishment in the form of massive bruiser Shaun 'The Hammer' Davis. 'Gum and Bailey were stripped down in defeat, but 'Gums apparent destruction at the hands of the Hammer had to be postponed when Jonathan Gresham's travel issues meant a hasty card re-arrange, with Bubblegum instead entered into a 6-way 20-minute Scramble for the first ever PCW Cruiserweight Championship. That one went the way of Noam Dar. The Hammer match was initially rearranged for the September show, but has been swapped again to take advantage of the availability of ROH star Michael Elgin, who now faces Bubblegum this coming Friday in an intriguing-looking match.

 

Elsewhere, 'Gum went to the 6-way final in Southside Wrestling Entertainment's 'Speed King' tournament, eventually won by Marty Scurll, and has appeared for FutureShock Wrestling in Stockport, Phoenix Pro Wrestling in West Bromwich and was beaten by CJ Banks for the vacant Championship on the debut event for Infinite Promotions in Liverpool.

 

 

What did the UKFF think?

"I

[The Cum Doctor]

I had Andy Wild down as my #1 and happy with where he's placed here.

 

Bubblegum is someone who I need to see more of, which can be said for most of the English guys on this list, but again, what I HAVE seen has been exceptional, although in the 12 month timeframe, I've seen very little.

[cobystag]

12 out of my list have made it into the top 15 this year so I'm pretty happy about that.

[Big Benny HG]

So, from all the individual Top 15s submitted, the 'combined' Top 15 will be:

 

(alphabetical order)

 

Dave Mastiff

El Ligero

Jack Gallagher

Joey Hayes

Kris Travis

Lionheart

Mad Man Manson

Mark Haskins

Martin Kirby

Marty Scurll

Mikey Whiplash

Noam Dar

Rockstar Spud

Stixx

Zack Sabre Jr

 

Means that Manson and Dar, at least, are guaranteed their highest ever finishes.

 

I'll get another couple out tomorrow, including one that I reckon a lot of people will see as a huge shock....

[hitman89762000]

Mikey whiplash is pleased!

 

Broke the UKFF top 15 1st i'd like to thank all of the SWA trainees for voting for me, you'll get your free training sessions at later dates. Now i'm off to convince Mark Dallas to let me do a public sex show with a laptop at the next ICW show with UKFF as the screen page.

[hbkforest]

So, from all the individual Top 15s submitted, the 'combined' Top 15 will be:

 

(alphabetical order)

 

Dave Mastiff

El Ligero

Jack Gallagher

Joey Hayes

Kris Travis

Lionheart

Mad Man Manson

Mark Haskins

Martin Kirby

Marty Scurll

Mikey Whiplash

Noam Dar

Rockstar Spud

Stixx

Zack Sabre Jr

 

Means that Manson and Dar, at least, are guaranteed their highest ever finishes.

 

I'll get another couple out tomorrow, including one that I reckon a lot of people will see as a huge shock....

 

Excellent looking Top 15, really pleased for Noam Dar who has already had such a fantastic year

[Big Benny HG]

No. 15: Joey Hayes

Score: 152 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 0

Percentage of 2012 ballots including Joey Hayes: 42.1%

(2011=14th, 2010=10th, 2009=9th, 2008=5th, 2007=39th, 2006=NL, 2005=47th)

 

 

Hailing from "14 Bridge Street, Leigh, Lancashire", Joey Hayes drops a single place in the rankings this year, but claims his 7th UKFF UK50 appearance in the 8 years it has been running. Over 2/5 of the voters included Joey in their personal Top 15s, meaning he manages to retain his Top 15 spot for the fifth consecutive year. Supposedly taking his ring name from a character on a ZX Spectrum wrestling game, Hayes has appeared for wrestling promotions all across the north of England over the course of this year's eligibility season and is one of the regular northern contingent to appear on an almost full-time basis in Scotland too, for PBW, BCW and Pro Wrestling: ELITE.

 

In Morecambe, Lancashire's XWA, Hayes beat Max Angelus at 'Last Fight on the Prom 2011' back in October, amongst a storyline in which he was deliberating whether to rejoin the 'Manchester Massive' tag team with his supposedly-reformed former treacherous partner Declan O'Connor. This time, it turned out 'Manchester Devil' Declan could be trusted, and a harmonised Manchester Massive defeated The Blackpool Blondes (Axl Rage & JD Sassoon - now James Drake) in a massively fun bout at 'Gold Rush' in February. Later that same night, though, was Joey's standout singles performance in the promotion so far, going down to the final two in the annual Gold Rush Rumble. There, he and Stixx went to war in a thrilling closing stretch, before the 'Heavyweight House of Pain' eliminated Joey to earn the number one contendership. The massively popular Hayes wouldn't have to wait long to get back into the mix, however, as the same night Stixx received his title shot, Joey was involved in a 6-way elimination match to decide the next challenger. Hayes outlasted El Ligero, Nathan Cruz, Dave Rayne, Jynkz and Rockstar Spud in another smashing contest to become the official number one ranked contender to Johnny Phere's British Championship. The next event was the special 'XWA vs. GPW Vendetta' show, where Hayes faced Bubblegum in a technically-strong but low-key 'neutral' match (since both men appear as regulars for both promotions, they did not back one side or the other in one of British wrestling's best feuds of the last 12 months). With that being the case, and Hayes almost being forgotten, he made his presence felt at the end of the deciding XWA vs. GPW 8-man elimination tag match, running out during a massive roster vs. roster brawl. There, Hayes stunned the crowd by nailing Phere, gifting the easy win to BINMAN and GPW. While at first it seemed Hayes had sided with the team from Wigan, he shunned them on the way out, making it clear he was acting on his own and only has eyes for Phere's XWA British Championship belt. With XWA having been defeated, the storyline now sees promoter Greg Lambert refusing to run any more shows, so Phere has decided to run his own event this November, and has invited Hayes to show up...

 

In GPW itself, G.I. Joey has been one of the lead babyfaces, fighting against heel squadrons in a 12-man Torneo Cibernetico, an 8-man tag, an 8-man elimination tag and, most recently, teaming with Martin Kirby to face Bubblegum and Cyanide "in a tag team match, playa". In amongst all that, Hayes was also one of the mixture of people to fail at the 'Cyanide Body Slam Challenge' in December, and was the first official challenger for 'Gallagher's Gold', the new personal championship introduced by 'The Grappler' Jack Gallagher, in March. Over at Preston City Wrestling, Joey beat CJ Banks as part of the Championship tournament on the debut show in August 2011, but then

the following month. He faced PBW representatives Lionheart and BT Gunn in singles matches, and competed in all manner of multi-man

, elimination and scramble contests.

 

In NGW, Joey beat Dara Diablo and Spud in a one-night round-robin tournament in August 2011 to earn a crack at the Heavyweight Championship, but was beaten by Nathan Cruz in his October title shot. he was then beaten by Rampage Brown the following January. In FutureShock Wrestling, however, Hayes is a cocky heel and part of The Models with Danny Hope and valet Melanie Price. The pair reigned as the FutureShock Tag Team Champions for the entire duration of the 2012 UKFF UK50 period, turning away Vitamin C (Carl Clinch & Xander Cooper), Wristlock Rovers (the football-themed duo of Damon Leigh & Raynaldo) and Notorious BAD (Sam Bailey & Sean Daniels). The Models also faced Project Ego (Martin Kirby & Kris Travis) for Infinite Promotions, and travelled to Glasgow to be eliminated from ICW's tag team title tournament by the Superior Talent Initiative (William Grange & Dickie Divers).

 

Finally, keeping with tag team action, Joey was one of a very select few domestic talents to be chosen to perform on the 2011 Dragon Gate:UK tour. Linked with Martin Kirby to represent Team UK, the Brit pair faced Blood Warriors unit BxB Hulk & Naoki Tanazaki and Junction3's Dragon Kid & Masato Yoshino in a 3-way encounter on the

. It was a strong performance which has already had fans calling for his inclusion when DG:UK returns in February 2013...

 

(Left, with Mel Price & Danny Hope)

 

What did the UKFF think?

"Although one of his weaker years as a performer, he has still brought some of the best matches to the many of promotions he has worked for, it says a lot about this young man's history and the high levels of his performances in the past few years"

 

"Tag team with Hope is my favourite tag team currently in the uk"

 

"Consistent talent, who can get the crowd behind him or against wherever he is"

 

"He’s everywhere, still fantastic"

 

"Love him or hate him still one of top UK workers"

 

"Very entertaining, awesome look"

 

"Great at what he does can wrestle a multitude of styles. GI Joey indeed"

 

"Personally feel he is wasted in tag team competition. Has the look and ability to go far outwith the UK Scene"

 

"He should have got higher in this for making those xwa fans cry . hes still super over at gpw and another who should be going abroad to wrestle more"

 

"Has this amazing ability to be loved by every crowd he works in front of"

 

"One half of the models and perhaps the slightly more charismatic of the two"

 

"A lot like El Ligero, his consistency means he is often much relied upon, but rarely the centerpiece... looked particularly good in the XWA, where he was runner up in the Gold Rush, then became number one contender by winning the Hexagon match at War on the Shore in May... can't wait to see where his XWA storyline goes from here, after he cost Team XWA their encounter with Team GPW at Vendetta"

 

"Havent seen muc of him this year but has always been one of the most consistent workers and can really put on a show"

 

"grafter"

 

"a likeable Kris Travis, quite a fucking achievement"

 

"equally adept at being a face or heel. Another amazing wrestler"

 

"Another guy who I haven't seen as much, but in the short time I've seen him he's been amazing, and capped with the showstealer he had with Whiplash at the end of 2011"

 

"Lets go Joey! Joey sucks!. Trav in disguise, surely? Great worker, goes well with everyone"

 

"It's Joey"

[cobystag]

When you said a huge shock, I thought we were going to get Zack at 15.

 

Zack is I feel England's best and that's been shown by spending half of the eligible year wrestling in Japan. Something which will have an effect on his ranking.

[patiirc]

Joey is an odd one, got it all, rarely gets all the plaudits, seems to be stuck in a rut. Wonder if a Trav/Hayes switch angle could work

[PunkStep]

"It's Joey"