2012 UKFF UK50 - RESULTS THREAD

[Up Chuck]

Kirby looks twenty times harder with a shaved head. Top marks.

[uk_wrestle_fan_1981]

Manson is testament to the fact that people still love to be entertained as well as see the mat style wrestling, really good to see him so high. Kirby, like Ligero should make it into anybodys top 15 simply because there never seems to be a weekend night that you can't find him working somewhere and always gives you 100% everytime he does. Great looking top 6 still to come, amazed that Zack has ranked higher than the likes of Kirby, Haskins, Scurll, Mastiff & Stixx etc due to the fact he has missed half of the qualifying period by being overseas but that just shows that when he is around he obviously impresses people so much that they still put him in.

[Tommy!]

Kirby looks twenty times harder with a shaved head. Top marks.

I don't know, I always think he just looks ill.

[The Cum Doctor]

My first impression was "he looks like a lunatic" and I've not been able to shake it off.

[AfRo]

Kirby looks twenty times harder with a shaved head. Top marks.

I've read this so many times now and I still don't think it's true. I wouldn't say his current look is crap, but i much preferred his look with hair.I think the bald head makes him look more generic.

[king_dezeeuw06]

I also think Kirby looks better for the shaven head, what you look like doesn't have as much to do with what you do in the ring, but I have found it a lot easier to buy into Kirbys character since he lost his hair.

[Tommy!]

Massively off topic and I really hate to quote the massive pic but I like the shirt, where can I get one?

I'm told Dave had it custom-made, from itailor.com.

That's amazing, why am I only discovering this site now.For me this justifies Dave Rayne's place, Sorry Britishwrestlinglegend but has Rampage Brown helped me buy a cool shirt? I don't fucking think so.

Just to follow on from this, my shirt arrived on Tuesday, I wore it for work wednesday and was the talk of the office for looking so ace.It was a fantastic fit and feel, I'm going to see how it washes and get some more.Thanks Ben, and Dave Rayne too. He's got my vote for #1 next year, unless Rampage Brown inadvertently helps me find a site selling really good slacks or shoes cheap in the interim, naturally.

[britishwrestlinglegends]

Massively off topic and I really hate to quote the massive pic but I like the shirt, where can I get one?

I'm told Dave had it custom-made, from itailor.com.

That's amazing, why am I only discovering this site now.For me this justifies Dave Rayne's place, Sorry Britishwrestlinglegend but has Rampage Brown helped me buy a cool shirt? I don't fucking think so.

Just to follow on from this, my shirt arrived on Tuesday, I wore it for work wednesday and was the talk of the office for looking so ace.It was a fantastic fit and feel, I'm going to see how it washes and get some more.Thanks Ben, and Dave Rayne too. He's got my vote for #1 next year, unless Rampage Brown inadvertently helps me find a site selling really good slacks or shoes cheap in the interim, naturally.

[britishwrestlinglegends]

Massively off topic and I really hate to quote the massive pic but I like the shirt, where can I get one?

I'm told Dave had it custom-made, from itailor.com.

That's amazing, why am I only discovering this site now.For me this justifies Dave Rayne's place, Sorry Britishwrestlinglegend but has Rampage Brown helped me buy a cool shirt? I don't fucking think so.

Just to follow on from this, my shirt arrived on Tuesday, I wore it for work wednesday and was the talk of the office for looking so ace.It was a fantastic fit and feel, I'm going to see how it washes and get some more.Thanks Ben, and Dave Rayne too. He's got my vote for #1 next year, unless Rampage Brown inadvertently helps me find a site selling really good slacks or shoes cheap in the interim, naturally.

My boy Rampage would have you suited & booted in no time, His "Selling" is a lot better than the 64 people (mainly in the Preston area) give him credit for

[Southside crew]

Massively off topic and I really hate to quote the massive pic but I like the shirt, where can I get one?

I'm told Dave had it custom-made, from itailor.com.

That's amazing, why am I only discovering this site now.For me this justifies Dave Rayne's place, Sorry Britishwrestlinglegend but has Rampage Brown helped me buy a cool shirt? I don't fucking think so.

Just to follow on from this, my shirt arrived on Tuesday, I wore it for work wednesday and was the talk of the office for looking so ace.It was a fantastic fit and feel, I'm going to see how it washes and get some more.Thanks Ben, and Dave Rayne too. He's got my vote for #1 next year, unless Rampage Brown inadvertently helps me find a site selling really good slacks or shoes cheap in the interim, naturally.

My boy Rampage would have you suited & booted in no time, His "Selling" is a lot better than the 64 people (mainly in the Preston area) give him credit for

Loving it

[Big Benny HG]

No. 6: Jack Gallagher

Score: 266 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 4

Percentage of 2012 ballots including Jack Gallagher: 45.6%

(2011=15th, 2010=NL, 2009=NL, 2008=NL, 2007=NL, 2006=NL, 2005=NL)

 

 

'The Grappler' Jack Gallagher breaks into the Top 10 in only his second-ever UKFF UK50 appearance, improving his debut ranking by 9 places. Billed as hailing from the infamous shooters' training ground the 'Snake Pit gym in Wigan', Gallagher is the top star for Stockport's FutureShock Wrestling, having also been a regular feature for GPW, XWA and Infinite Promotions in the north-west and NGW across in Hull.

 

In Stockport, 2010 FutureShock Trophy winner Gallagher was on a march towards the top of the promotion, testing himself in a series of challenge bouts before challenging for the promotion's main belt. Having already defeated RJ Singh and Joel Redman in singles bouts earlier in 2011, the biggest match of Jack's career to date came when he faced then-ROH World Champion

. Though he came out the losing end, Gallagher attracted much attention and praise for his performance from fans, critics, peers and even Richards himself. Not to be deterred, Gallagher pressed on in his quest, overcoming Bubblegum and Mikey Whiplash in August and October respectively. On the final show of the year, Gallagher finally received his title shot against FutureShock Champion Dave Rayne. Rayne attacked and injured Gallagher backstage earlier in the night, then thought he'd fulfilled his title defence obligations with a replacement victory over rookie Josh Bodom. Gallagher wasn't done, however, and 'The Grappler' made a heroic comeback to

and end 2011 on a major high note. As champion, Gallagher hit 2012 rolling with successful title defences against Rayne, Whiplash, Zack 'Diamond' Gibson (at the BritWresFest 2012 celebration in London) and CJ Banks as he looked forward to the rematch a year in the making when he would again test his ever-improving skills against Davey Richards. That bout took place after the end of the 2012 UKFF UK50 eligibility period at FutureShock's 'International Supershow', where

. Richards turned heel, screwed Gallagher and escaped back to the US with the FS Championship.

 

Gallagher was no stranger to singles championship gold elsewhere in the north-west, as he had beaten rival Zack Diamond to win the GPW British Championship at 'Heroes and Villains' in June 2011. A non-nonsense, no-frills, super-serious heel in this organisation, Jack was supposed to defend the belt against the winner of the evening's opening 4-way match, Mikey Whiplash, at 'Friday Night Thriller V' in October. That bout had to be put-off, however, when a ring-collapse in the 3rd contest on the bill saw the show come to a premature close and the aforementioned 2011 FutureShock win over Whiplash ended up being sanctioned for the GPW Brit strap. At 'Night of the Brave' in November, Gallagher successfully retained over guest challenger Zack Sabre Jr in a tremendous technical tussle, that left room for more in an eagerly-anticipated rematch. His next challenger was determined that same night, when the insanely popular Ste 'Bin' Mann emerged the winner of the North West Rookie League and, in doing so, earned a crack at Jack. That bout took place at 'Do or Die', the final GPW show of 2011, where BINMAN beat Gallagher in a huge roof-raising upset to take the belt. Having lost the British Title, Jack started 2012 with a fresh outlook. Sick and tired of shenanigans and denouncing all gimmicks, comedy and entertainment in the promotion, Gallagher introduced his own championship belt, 'Gallagher's Gold', which was intended to represent no-nonsense serious pure pro wrestling. He destroyed '100% Welsh Beef' Dylan Roberts both verbally then physically in February, then beat Joey Hayes in March to retain his new title. At 'Only The Strong Survive 2012' in May, Gallagher scored the winning pinfall for the heel team when he beat GPW Heavyweight Champion Martin Kirby in the climax of the 4 vs. 4 elimination tag headliner. As a result, Jack was entered into the 'High Stakes' 4-way main event of the 'Battlefield II' show in June, where each competitor was required to put something on the line. Jack ended up retaining Gallagher's Gold in a fantastic bout when Kirby pinned Dirk Feelgood, forcing the end of Dirk's career.

 

In NGW, Gallagher formed Team Venum with Scott Adams and reached the semi-finals of the Tag Team Title Tournament before being eliminated by Los Amigos (El Ligero & Dara Diablo). He also faced touring international stars Finlay and Nigel McGuinness in separate singles encounters and had a couple of contests

(himself also fresh off matches with Finlay and McGuinness for SWE). Jack also defeated Paul Robinson in a 'dark' match on the first night of the 2011 Dragon Gate UK tour, appeared in Scotland for SWA and carried rookie Kraig Kollinz to a thoroughly entertaining bout for XWA. Elsewhere, he made his sole (to date) P

, faced Chikara and Dragon Gate USA headliner Chuck Taylor for Great Bear Wrestling in Cheshire and

hosted by Infinite Promotions and BWP.

 

 

What did the UKFF think?

"very good technical wrestler"

 

"Keeping old school British wrestling alive bringing a modern twist to the style and gives a huge challenge to any wrestler with a modern day wrestling style. Fantastic bouts with Dave Taylor and Nigel McGuinness in NGW and a classic with Davey Richards at Future Shock Wrestling! "

 

"Jack Gallagher has had a great year, he started it out by pushing Davey Richards to the limit and finishes it heading into their eagerly anticipated rematch having finally become Futureshock champion not to mention having MOTN on every single FSW show in between. Besides the often talked about Davey match he has also had great matches with Bubblegum and Mikey Whiplash as well as his eventful title win over Dave Rayne and an impressive showing in the DGUK dark match. Jack has a very technical style which is somewhat old fashioned, but mixes it up with hard strikes and a fast pace to make him a very well rounded and versatile performer who is capable of some truly great things between the ropes. When someone the calibre of Davey Ricahrds says his favourite / best ever match was against jack Gallagher it shows that he is doing something very right!"

 

"Top talent, usually has the motn, especially in Futureshock"

 

"Continues to impress every single time I see him"

 

"Great year in Gpw with great bouts with whiplash and zack gibson being standouts. And his bout with davey richards was out of this world"

 

"Had in my opinion one of the best matches I

[Polish Dad]

Would have liked a top five finish for him, but then I probably should have voted (Didn't, because it seemed sketchy to only vote for FutureShock guys). Absolutely love him, along with Dave Rayne is one of my favourite wrestlers to watch.

[Big Benny HG]

No. 5: 'Rockstar' Spud

Score: 276 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 2

Percentage of 2012 ballots including Spud: 54.4%

(2011=8th, 2010=3rd, 2009=2nd, 2008=9th, 2007=4th, 2006=4th, 2005=9th)

 

 

Birmingham bad boy 'Rockstar' Spud improves on his 2011 ranking by 3 places to earn his 8th consecutive UKFF UK50 appearance. In doing so, he has not only featured in the UK50 every year it has been running, but also becomes the first and only wrestler to have appeared in the Top 10 in each and every one of those 8 years. Spud appeared as a heel for IPW:UK, Southside Wrestling Entertainment and Fight Club: Pro, as well as being one of the top babyfaces for XWA. Spud, along with Marty Scurll and Holly & Hannah Blossom, is also confirmed as part of TNA Wrestling's spin-off series 'British Bootcamp', which will be aired on Challenge TV and see all 4 travel to the US to compete for a TNA contract.

 

in Wolverhampton for FCP, Rockstar Spud beat local boy Blue Dragon and CZW stars Drew Gulak and Jonathan Gresham in a 4-way at 'International Tekkers' in August 2011. The following month, FCP was joined by America's CZW, Germany's wXw and Japan's BJW for the 'Project Mayhem' weekender. Over the course of the 3 consecutive nights, Spud tangled with Dragon, Gresham, Jim Hunter, Emil Sitoci and Adam Cole in tag, 3-way and 4-way contests. 2011 came to a close with another 4-way, as Spud, Jim Hunter and Dave Williams lost out to MK McKinnan in the first round eliminator in the 'Infinity' tournament in November. In 2012, Spud has mainly featured in more multi-man matches, facing off with Blue Dragon, Gold Dragon, Chris Brookes, Gresham and Lee &

, before being reluctantly forced into a

at 'Fight For The Future' in June.

 

IPW:UK saw Spud form an alliance with Sha Samuels and T-Bone, and the Rockstar assisted Sha in defeating Dave Mastiff for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. Mastiff and The Lion Kid beat Spud and Samuels in the main event of 'Summer Sizzler 2011', then Spud joined Sha and T-Bone in mocking and then beating down Mastiff at the '7th Anniversary Show' that November, Spud goading Big Bad Dave into appearing by coming out in a fat suit. Spud was also instrumental in the Samuels vs. Mastiff title match at 'No Escape' in February, when it was his championship belt shot to the head of Dave that allowed Sha to earn a tainted defence. All of this led to a 6-man tag team elimination match at 'Revolution', IPW:UK's big show at the Troxy in London Docklands. There, Mastiff, Martin Stone & Terry Frazier vs. Spud, Samuels and T-Bone ended up with Mastiff vs. Spud as the final two competitors and, having managed to avoid Dave the entire bout, Spud was soon made to pay for his year off interference as Mastiff killed him dead.

 

While all of this was going on, Spud has also engaged Marty Scurll in a personal Twitter and YouTube feud, which turned 'real' in a post-show incident at the aforementioned 'No Escape'. Spud still recognised himself as the true IPW:UK Cruiserweight Champion after he had been stripped of the belt through injury. Marty won the vacant belt in the tournament final at 'Revolution', taking the feud between the pair to the next stage.

 

In SWE, an out-of-control Rockstar beat Keith Myatt in November 2011 but was beaten by Mad Man Manson at 'Seasons Beatings' the following month. He then beat Nikki Storm in an inter-gender bout in February and lost a Heavyweight Title shot to champion T-Bone in March, before next being eliminated in the opening round of the 'Speed King' tournament by Noam Dar. He made his first and only Preston City Wrestling appearance in June in defeat to Martin Kirby in a wonderfully entertaining contest, then returned to Southside in a losing effort to Max Angelus at 'Supremacy'.

 

Elsewhere, Spud finished second in August 2011's one-night number one contendership round-robin tournament in NGW, defeating Dara Diablo but losing to Joey Hayes. He also lost to top babyfaces Cameron Kraze in West Yorkshire's DPW, Jason Larusso in Wiltshire's 4FW and Carnage in West Midlands' AWW. Up in Morecambe, Lancashire for XWA, however, Rockstar Spud had become a beloved babyface after splitting from the devious Team Stallion. He beat former stablemate Axl Rage at 'Last Fight at the Prom' in October 2011, then returned to a superstar reaction at 'Goldrush' in February 2012 as part of the annual 15-man Rumble. He received another shot at becoming the number one contender to the XWA British Heavyweight Title at 'War on the Shore VIII' in May, but he, Nathan Cruz, El Ligero, Dave Rayne and Jynkz lost out to Joey Hayes. Up next, as one of the most popular wrestlers in the organisation, he was firmly part of Team XWA as they went to war with GPW at 'Vendetta' in July. Spud first beat Kris Travis in a heated opening contest to put the home promotion 2 points ahead against Team GPW, then fought as part of the 4 vs. 4 'Only The Strong Survive' elimination tag team main event later that same night. Spud went down to the last 2 for his team, but was eliminated by BINMAN as Team GPW went on to claim overall victory.

 

 

What did the UKFF think?

"What a little cunt! But by god do I love him. He lives, eats, breaths and shags that Rockstar gimmick and manages th keep it thoroughly enthralling each and every time I see it. Getting closer to my number one spot and next year could well be his year!"

 

"Great gimmick, played to perfection by someone who gets the role he needs to play on each show. Great story telling that fits the dynamic of the match he is in. Thumbs up!"

 

"Can enrage any audience or get them to love him and Bon Jovi. When he has to he can wrestle as well as anyone although injuries and his character being so amazing mean he doesn't go all out as often as he used to. Hope the Spud_scurll feud explodes soon"

 

"He really gets on my tits, BUT thats his job so that means he is good at his job !"

 

"He’s been best character based wrestler on the British scene for so long and last year was no exception. Spud knows how to work his gimmick and how to get a response out of a crowd, he can play the clumsy fool and get everyone laughing, or play the cocky heel who whips up the crowd into an angry frenzy. You know when you book Spud that he is going to get a reaction and he is head and shoulders above everyone else in the UK when it comes to establishing his persona and intertwining his character and real life situations. He can work but he is often at his best when he is playing up the other parts of his character, his feud with Marty Scurll and hilarious You Tube character assassinations highlight this. While wrestling wise his surprising recent death match against Clint Magera and the insane bumps into the cage he took at Project Mayhem are some of the unusual highlights in what has been another strong year for Spud"

 

"it’s Spud, he’s had a great match before he even enters the ring. One of the best characters in the UK right now"

 

"If only was slighty bigger would be in TNA/WWE by now as got the gimmick of a lifetime"

 

"Promos are to die for just great"

 

"Promos just amazing best heel in country hands down"

 

"oozes more charisma than the rest of British wrestling put together, his habit of causing small riots at FCP is exceptional"

 

"What more can be said about him than he is a great heel. Had some great rivalry with Marty Scurll over twitter & youtube, works as a great heel in any environment, be it FCP where he can run his mouth; or like he did in a more “weasel” sort of heel when IPW was at the Troxy"

 

"Somewhat of an Enigma. Was everywhere in the UK a few years back but now his appearances are few and far between. Wish he would make more trips to the north of England for shows"

 

"Really in the groove of doing stuff now"

 

"hes the rockstar.. hes super over at xwa the bastard! and hes someone i want to see back at gpw hes the complete fucking package"

 

"He's loved yet people want to see him get beat up. Makes for the perfect heel"

 

"Mr. Personality, a heat getting machine for IPW:UK and Southside, almost single handedly made the feud with Marty Scurll which really has barely begun... personality almost makes the in-ring side of his work an afterthought, but that's not a criticism... alliance with Sha Samuels and T-Bone in IPW:UK was pretty reliant on Spud's heat, in fact... also an object of hate in Fight Club Pro, which I almost forgot... on the other side of the coin, massive superstar babyface Rockstar Spud was one of the best things I've seen all year at XWA Gold Rush and War on the Shore"

 

"Total star aura, great usage of the internet to create interest in his on goings, hilarious or skin gratingly annoying, but always a treat to watch"

 

"Completely reinvented and utterly versatile"

 

"One of the best gimmicks in the UK today. 100% belief in his character makes him a must see wrestler"

 

"best entrance in the world?"

 

"Pint sized man, but larger than life. Brilliant in the ring, and his promos are both hilariously good and effective in making me want to see the match he's promoting. Top man"

 

******************************************************

 

Still to come.... THE FINAL FOUR:

 

(alphabetical order)

 

El Ligero

Kris Travis

Noam Dar

Zack Sabre Jr

[Arch Stanton]

Amazing achievement to make the top ten for eight years straight, he really is a top talent, easily the most assured performer I've seen in the UK. Really believe he would have made it in a major promotion if he wasn't so small.

[Carbomb]

That's my mind made up. I'm definitely going to vote in next year's 50, because I'm of the opinion that Spud has been the best in the UK for the past five or six years at least, and it's a shame he's never been No.1. It's good he's the only one who's been in the top ten every year, but to me that just says he should've been top a lot more than he has. I honestly believe his size is the only thing stopping people for voting for him to the top year after year, especially when he consistently gets reactions (and, consequently, reviews) like that.