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Let's talk FWA


Herne's Son

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13 minutes ago, PBWFan said:

Don't suppose anyone has old footage on VHS or converted to DVD?

 

Would be great to look back at what was the very nucleus of today's ressurgance

I lost my VHS collection in a storage fire.  I don't have DVDs when they eventually came out as I was never sent any by my successors despite me having produced a lot of the the VHS releases.

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10 minutes ago, Teedy Kay said:

I still have a vast majority of my FWA shows on VHS.

I loved FWA in the day, travelling down south once a month, it was great.

It sadly got up it's own arse after Uprising at Coventry however.

*cough* I had left before then, is that a coincidence? *cough* 

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19 minutes ago, Teedy Kay said:

It sadly got up it's own arse after Uprising at Coventry however.

Yeah, agreed. I was right into it from Crunch 2002 (I think? Daniels VS Williams) until just before Uprising 3 at Cov. Didn't go to the show and thought it had lost it's spark a bit. Too much emphasis on 'imports! imports! imports!' thereafter, they lost the previously well-struck balance. In fact, I'd say Uprising 2 was - in many ways - the end of the great run.

The cards were superb around 2003, so well balanced. You'd have a tag bout, a bit of strong style, some high flying, a Doug Williams technical masterclass and the obligatory New Jack-inspired fun hardcore brawl, usually featuring Ulf Hermann. You'd also have the odd bit of comedy as well, highlights included Duke of Danger and Simmon's public workout, any promo by Ulf, Jonny Storm after his heel turn, Colt Cabana and surprisingly Chris Hamrick (who was very funny in his match VS Jonny). Oh, and Burchill running in to destroy a couple of fools always broke up the show nicely too. I was also a sucker for the odd WoS style match, like Steve Gray VS Mal Sanders, however most of the crowd weren't into it at the time. Today those kinds of crowds would probably lap it up, how times change eh.

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On 7/10/2018 at 10:51 AM, elisarcabrera said:

Here it is. I am in it too. It was uploaded many years ago when YT only short videos hence why it's split up. 

Part 1: On The Ropes Part 1 (FWA Wrestling documentary)
https://youtu.be/UgHvMFLcm4I 

Part 2: On The Ropes Part 2 (FWA Wrestling documentary)
https://youtu.be/cH8zOhVjBlA 

Part 3: On The Ropes Part 3 (FWA Wrestling documentary)
https://youtu.be/lpFaAYSQ2TA

Hi, can I ask what the take was on the inclusion of the bigger wrestlers, the Dominator and Flatliner, knocking the smaller wrestler? I don't think the knock was necessarily unwarranted, but always thought it was odd that it was included.

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3 minutes ago, returner82 said:

Hi, can I ask what the take was on the inclusion of the bigger wrestlers, the Dominator and Flatliner, knocking the smaller wrestler? I don't think the knock was necessarily unwarranted, but always thought it was odd that it was included.

Well it was up to the director what was included. We provided access and wrestlers to interview but we had nothing to do with the production or the edit.

I just took it as a way of getting themselves over.  Dominator and EWW were very close with the FWA during this time.  EWW and FWA were partners in promoting New British Wrestling and were working close together with the Combat Performance Academy wrestling schools.  The FWA website carried plenty of EWW updates and news.  Flatliner, I believe (and I may be wrong as I don't really know) may have had personal issues with Mark's school and his remarks were more aimed at the kids who he observed were being trained by Mark. Flatliner had started training at Mark's and I think may felt out of place because of his sheer size compared to the average Portsmouth trainee - hence finding a home he preferred at the EWW school. I have no idea why he chose to call the house of over 300 people only 50.  It's not one I was able to contradict on camera on the night (hence my inability to answer the question at the end) as it was the venue taking bookings not us so we wouldn't know the final tally of attendance until the next venue office day.

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FWA (the original not the relaunch) needs to come out on DVD for this generation of wrestling to see the true revolution (some can also say the true Revival of British wrestling)

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@elisarcabrera  Wonderful contributions to this forum, mate. Absolutely loving this trip down memory lane. Definitely needs to be a documentary about the FWA. It's got such an interesting story to tell. Please keep the posts coming.

If you're looking for FWA footage, every episode of the My TV shows are on youtube.

 

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I discovered all of the My TV episodes online about 6-8 months ago and watched them all over a few days. First time I’d seen them since the time I got more or less the whole lot in 2001-2.

Genuinely a very good, logical show with action that was good at the time (and some of it stands up today). And the production was revolutionary given the scale and locality of the series. The music, scenes and segments were really well produced. I got a real kick out of the segments Alex Shane did with his bodyguards (who were given actual personalities as well as names a la Reservoir Dogs) and the genesis of the Old School vs New School storyline featuring the introduction of Dino Scarlo and his (at the time) frightening ‘vulgar display’ when he brutalised Ian Da Silva and was thrown out by the rest of the roster for being unsuitable for television. 

I won’t say too much more in case anyone unfamiliar with the series wants to watch on the link Ian has provided but at 20+ minutes a go, it’s worth a watch and an example of how far ahead the FWA was in several aspects from the rest of the scene as it was back then. 

In a large way it actually served as a lead-in to Revival. 

A lot of the credit goes to Elisar Cabrera, Alan Boon/Mark Priest (Linus on here, I think?) and Dino Scarlo for Writing the series and not tinkering with continuity as well.

 

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9 hours ago, deadmaninc said:

FWA (the original not the relaunch) needs to come out on DVD for this generation of wrestling to see the true revolution (some can also say the true Revival of British wrestling)

Absolutely. Sure you had UWA, Scott Conway and Hammerlock at first- but this British Wrestling explosion we've had in recent years I strongly think started with the foundations laid by FWA 15+ years ago. They created a scene which has evolved through the likes of IPW:UK, RQW, 1PW, RPW and Progress to where we are today. Half of the British wrestlers around today (those above a certain age) became wrestlers in the first place after watching FWA regularly. I'd bloody love a full-length documentary.

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Had to log in after years to reply to this topic, but oh the memories of the FWA, something me and my mum fondly speak about whenever wrestling comes up.

I still have a whole stack of programmes and pictures spanning from Trick or Treat (when Steve Corino made a surprise appearance which blew my mind) up to Goldrush where by that time, like many, felt that it was no longer for me. 

But that run between those years was spectacular. 

Some particular highlights 

  • The Seasons Beatings round robin tournament with Jerry Lynn!!!! coming out at the to make it a 3 way dance
  • The hardcore matches between Alex, Ulf and The Family
  • Cheese on toast my mum would make when I got home.
  • Winning the No Surprises 4 Talksport competition with my idea for the sign "Parker vs Barker, a commentators worst nightmare"
  • Broxbourne in general, the atmosphere there was amazing and was the best venue for the London area
  • Meeting , and having embarrassing pictures with, people who went on to be stars including CM Punk, American Dragon, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe
  • Some of the music was hilarious, and I heard that a DJ in Camden would actually play Alex Shane's Disturbed rip off music on a Saturday night
  • Seeing Christopher Daniels win the title just 2 weeks after British Uprising
  • The atmosphere at the first British Uprising, something I don't think was replicated, I think it was the excitement of it being the first one, I felt British Uprising 2 was a bit of a let down actually, but the first one had the perfect mix.

As mentioned though, the main take away is my mum having been there for the majority of the shows, we first started going in 2001, just over a year after my dad passed away, so we were both in a weird state, but wrestling became this world that we could immerse ourselves into and look forward to every month, even though we would both be knackered on a Monday after a trip to Broxbourne. My mum fondly remembers how nice everyone was there and has often said she would like to go see wrestling again at some point. 

 

Edit: Couple of my pics that I had posted on Facebook

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The state of it

Edited by Heyyyyyyyy
added images
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