2012 UKFF UK50 - RESULTS THREAD

[cobystag]

Robbie X is 17. I was saying to someone the other day that the first time Robbie was used in the ring was still early days into his training as a fake El Ligero in a really poor match against Stixx. Nothing against Robbie at that time seen as he was still young, I think it'd only been a month or two after the 1PW Academy opened, and he was put in a squash match in the Dome that absolutely should not have happened as we all know how overbooked and overran the Dome shows were at that time, so this match was not needed at all.

 

Five and a bit years later and Robbie's match on Saturday against Jonathan Gresham was one of the best matches of the night including other matches like Davey Richards vs Stixx and Project Ego vs The Predators. Robbie was flawless in his performance, there was no hesitance or apprehension, all his moves looked crisp and fluid and on that night he didn't just look like someone with potential, he is getting closer to wrestling at a very high level.

 

I have a feeling that after his recent matches against Scurll and Gresham that he is dangerously close to having that real break out match.

[uk_wrestle_fan_1981]

Couldn't agree more! I witnessed both Robbie's Southside matches over the weekend and he has come along so much over the past 12 months! Really pleased to see him climb in the top 50, his match with Gresham on Saturday was fantastic as was his match with Scurll. So much ability for one still so young!

 

Robbie X is 17. I was saying to someone the other day that the first time Robbie was used in the ring was still early days into his training as a fake El Ligero in a really poor match against Stixx. Nothing against Robbie at that time seen as he was still young, I think it'd only been a month or two after the 1PW Academy opened, and he was put in a squash match in the Dome that absolutely should not have happened as we all know how overbooked and overran the Dome shows were at that time, so this match was not needed at all.

 

Five and a bit years later and Robbie's match on Saturday against Jonathan Gresham was one of the best matches of the night including other matches like Davey Richards vs Stixx and Project Ego vs The Predators. Robbie was flawless in his performance, there was no hesitance or apprehension, all his moves looked crisp and fluid and on that night he didn't just look like someone with potential, he is getting closer to wrestling at a very high level.

 

I have a feeling that after his recent matches against Scurll and Gresham that he is dangerously close to having that real break out match.

[gadge]

Have to third the thoughts on Robbie X after this weekend, fine performances.

[Leary of Doom]

Yay, my quote was used for BT Gunn!

 

Am so glad Steves bringing him back to PCW, means I dont have to take a megabus to see him wrestle!

 

Think he's the only one of my 15 to feature so far, so the rest will obviously be quite high!

[Rosler28]

Too many kids in this. Arent there any grown ups that wrestle in this country ?

[BoomBoomBoom]

Age is a number, Noam Dar is 18-19 years old and look at how talented he is, and who he has worked upto now

[Richie Freebird]

Age is a number, Noam Dar is 18-19 years old and look at how talented he is, and who he has worked upto now

 

I was shocked to find out how young Noam was last weekend. With the ability he has I assumed he was at least 24/ 25.

[gadge]

Too many kids in this. Arent there any grown ups that wrestle in this country ?

It really wasn't a great year for the heavyweights in the last qualifying period... IPW:UK as the product I see most for one, whereas I'm already lining Stixx up for a vote next year, for example, based on increased exposure in the last 3 months.

[Southside crew]

Just wanted say that this year I didn't vote or comment but like to mention that Robbie X has being putting in consistently great matches with the likes of Scurll , Cruz and Gresham .

 

His match with Scurll on YouTube although I'm afraid I'm on my phone so can't look at - please check it out and see just how much he has improved !

[AshC]

Too many kids in this. Arent there any grown ups that wrestle in this country ?

 

Getting lots and lots of bookings around the country goes hand in hand with long car trips/Megabuses and sleeping on people's sofas/floors. Something that older guys with naturally more responsibilities are going to be less willing/able to do. This is probably why many of your older talents are generally found in places like All Star that run lots and thus can guarantee them the decent regular wage to make the travelling etc. worthwhile. As we've already established that these promotions are not your typical Internet-friendly ones likely to trigger votes from UKFF posters, I think the amount of younger guys in the list doesn't reflect a shortage of older guys working around the country.

[Big Benny HG]

Too many kids in this

 

No. 36: The Lion Kid

Score: 80 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 0

Percentage of 2012 ballots including The Lion Kid: 19.3%

(2011=NL, 2010=45th, 2009=NL, 2008=NL, 2007=NL, 2006=NL, 2005=NL)

 

 

RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRWRWWWWWRRRRRRWWWRR!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hailing from "The New Forest", the high-flying, high-kicking, high-energy masked man returns to the UKFF UK50 after a one-year absence, improving his previous best ranking by 9 places.

 

The Lion Kid had returned to IPW:UK in the first half of 2011 and found himself right in the middle of the main event scene, as he was one of the lead babyfaces in the promotion tackling the new heel trio of Sha Samuels, Rockstar Spud and T-Bone. Lion and Dave Mastiff beat Samuels and Spud in the spirited headliner of 'Summer Sizzler' in July 2011, with the mysterious feline even scoring the winning pinfall over British Heavyweight Champion Sha. This granted him a shot at the gold at the next Sittingbourne event, the '7th Anniversary Show' in November. On that night, Samuels retained.

 

The previous month, however, Lion Kid had been a central part of Japanese promotion Dragon Gate's latest UK tour, involved in high profile bouts on all 3 nights representing Team UK. First, in Hoddesdon, Herts, Lion teamed with Marty Scurll and Mark Haskins to best the Blood Warriors trio of CIMA, BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi in a splendid encounter. The next night in Nottingham city centre, LK tangled with Hulk again in another strong offering, this time going down in a singles match. Finally, in Beeston, Notts, he faced CIMA in another fine match, but again came out on the wrong side of the result. The three events did much to change the minds of many previous doubters and showcase the steps he had taken.

 

Following an early 2012 appearance in Italy for NWE (including beating fellow Brit Mark Andrews in a Ladder match), The Lion Kid was back in IPW:UK as the Kent promotion returned to Swanley. He first faced returning former 2005-2006 rivals Paul Robinson and Ashley Reed in a triple-threat, then participated in the evening's main event 'Battle Royale', the return of one of the promotion's most noted signature gimmick attractions over previous years. From there, The Kid was back in the cruiserweight mix, facing Noa Dar, Martin Kirby, Paul Robinson, Kris Travis and Matt 'M-Dogg/Tough Enough' Cross in a

at the 'Revolution' supershow in the London Docklands. Just before the end of the 2012 UKFF UK50 eligibility period, The Lion Kid beat old nemesis Haskins for IPW:UK in Swanley then made his debut for the London-based THIS IS PROGRESS Wrestling the next day, beating

 

While all of this has been going on, our boy has continued to also perform without the furry boots and hood as plain old Wade Fitzgerald for the traditional stylings of Premier Promotions on the south coast, enjoying a run of success. Indeed, he has beaten ANDY SIMMONZ!! and Wild Boar, downed James Danmar to win the 2011 Ian Dowland Trophy, and knocked off Jonny Storm to win the PWF Lightweight Title.

 

And finally, of course,

 

What did the UKFF think?

"He seems to have relaxed and is enjoying himself more now and that lets his talent show as opposed to previous years when nerves seemed to get the better of him"

 

"Lion Kid had received a lot of stick over the years for his gimmick, but his stunning career best performances at last year’s DragonGate shows surely silenced his doubters. He went toe to toe with DragonGates finest and didn’t look out of place and also showed he is equally adept playing the plucky underdog in his great match with the much larger Sha Samuals. One of the UK’s most exciting high flyers and definitely worth a place in the top 15."

 

"Ever increasing popularity is much deserved... looked particularly good on the Broxbourne and Beeston legs of the Dragon Gate UK tour last October... pinfall on IPW:UK Champion Sha Samuels in a tag match at Summer Sizzler 2011 was unexpected, but a reward for IPW:UK fans who had got behind him in a big way... not getting the title shot until the November due to IPW:UK being inactive in Sittingbourne derailed that momentum a bit... winning one half of a tag team title shot at IPW:UK Battle Royale led to a match with Mark Haskins at Royale Rewards that was more than satisfactory and showed Ashley Reed and Paul Robinson how far IPW:UK Cruiserweight wrestling has come... was massively popular in a tremendously fun bout with Stixx at Progress Wrestling Chapter Two... beginning to get around the country more, which will help a lot... RRRAAAWWWRRR!!!"

[PunkStep]

Too many kids in this. Arent there any grown ups that wrestle in this country ?

 

No. 36: The Lion Kid

 

Looks like a 'no', Rosler...

[Mark Sloan]

Hailing from "The New Forest", the high-flying, high-kicking, high-energy masked man returns to the UKFF UK50 after a one-year absence, improving his previous best ranking by 9 places.

 

Just for completeness sake, the reason he was absent from the previous year is because he spent 3 month's in Japan with Dragon Gate and then spent every Friday-Sunday of January '11 - August '11 working for the French TV promotion Wrestlestars which legitimately meant he made less than 3 or 4 notable appearances in the UK from September 2010 to July 2011.

[dangerously420]

Too many kids in this. Arent there any grown ups that wrestle in this country ?

 

So given if this was a football forum where there are a lot of talented young football players under 25 which I would consider to be young you would be complaining at that as I'm guessing your saying for a better way of putting it "lacking the experience" to warrant being put on the list? The same logic applies here. Lots of young talented people coming through. Just remember a few years ago when Arsene Wegner had his young squad of kids and they won a lot for a while then those young guys became experienced and moved on to pastures new and now he is trying to find that new young winning squad again.

[Big Benny HG]

No. 35: Sam Bailey

Score: 80 points

Total 1st place rankings in 2012 votes: 0

Percentage of 2012 ballots including Sam Bailey: 19.3%

(2011=41st, 2010=35th, 2009=29th, 2008=48th, 2007=NL, 2006=NL, 2005=NL)

 

 

Manchester's Sam Bailey seals his 5th consecutive appearance in the UKFF UK50 with a 6-rank rise, bringing him equal to his 2010 standing. He was tied with The Lion Kid on points, as well as on the number of 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed votes in this year's ballot. As such, Bailey gets the nod over Kid by way of more 4th place votes (2 vs. 0). This time out, he's been a regular feature for Futureshock Wrestling, PCW, XWA, Infinite Promotions and GBP in the north-west, as well as NGW over in Hull. Sam is currently known as both a singles star and a member of various tag teams with numerous different partners.

 

For his 'home' Futureshock promotion, 'Super' Sam beat The Nordic Warrior in October's opening round of the 2011 Futureshock Trophy Tournament, but crashed out to eventual winner CJ Banks in the semi-finals the next month. Since then, he has focussed on tag team competition, forming a new duo with Sean Daniels known as the Notorious BAD (Bailey And Daniels, I guess...) and taking a run at the titles. In the 2012 tournament to determine number one contenders, BAD beat Ring of Horror (Cyanide & Mark Massa) in the quarter-finals, The Bhangra Knights (RJ Singh & Darrell Allen) in the semis and then finally The Blackpool Blondes (Axl Rage & JD Sassoon). This sets up Sam and Sean for a long-awaited shot at The Models (Joey Hayes & Danny Hope) and the tag straps this Saturday at Futureshock's 'International Supershow'.

 

'Disco' Sam Bailey was squashed in a singles contest by newcomer Kraig Kollinzz at XWA's 'Goldrush 2012' in February, then put in an entertaining turn in the main event rumble. Under this guise, he has also formed the 'Disco Madness' combination with Mad Man Manson for Preston City Wrestling,

, and engaged in a suitably fun feud with Dave Rayne and his various partners (including

, Terry Frazier and Mikey Whiplash). All this silliness culminated in an all-male tag team Bra n' Panties match at June's 'Guild Wars' event...

 

Over on Humberside for New Generation Wrestling, Sam has been able to display a more vicious streak as he and Zack Gibson formed the heel Team GB (Gibson, Bailey) and

. This led to a hardcore tag bout at the promotion's '4th Anniversary Show' this past June.

 

What did the UKFF think?

"Always entertaining"

 

"As a face he has a very likeable quality, maybe not his strongest year but he's a top worker"

 

"extremely entertaining"

 

"fun fun fun can always bring a smile to your face. Great tag team with mad man Manson. Consistent performer who is full of personality and energy"

 

"Has been a revelation as a heel in NGW & Infinite Promotions this year. While, he'd have the occasional slip up, his work has tightened up in the last 12-18 months to the point where he is the best he's ever been right now and only getting better. A great year for Bailey"