The Preston City Wrestling Thread

[BomberPat]

22 hours ago, ClassicsGuy said:

It's really unfortunate that a few people didn't get a particular DVD and the promotion's customer service probably could improve, in that respect. At the shows if you actually attend them, the merch team couldn't be more friendly or helpful.

 

A particular DVD in tribute to a deceased star who did more for that company than just about anyone, certainly more than a promoter booking names so he can get them to sign his title belt collection, and who was respected, I daresay loved, by his colleagues and the fanbase. Who the promotion feel they've "earned the right" to stick his name on "tribute shows" without a penny going to his family, or any relevant charity?

I don't think it's overblown for that to piss people off, and I couldn't give a shit if they're on "extremely sound financial footing" - an asshole with money is still an asshole. And if they're on sound financial footing, they shouldn't have any trouble producing a product they promised customers in good faith. That's not an excusable mistake that we can happily write off with "oh well, at least they're booking more British talent now", that's a company taking customers' money and failing to produce the product after nearly two years, while still clearly having the money and means to do so. That would be inexcusable from any company in any line of business, it's irrelevant that it's a wrestling promotion we're talking about.

Edited June 26, 2017 by BomberPat

[bradfordcity]

22 hours ago, ClassicsGuy said:

They drew over 2000 fans combined for three shows over the past two days, including a major show last night at Preston Guild Hall.

 

Free Tickets and still wasnt a sell out.

 

[Benno]

I went to the Friday Preston show and had a great time, but Evoque was half full and the shows were indeed free. I got there 15 minutes late and could still join 2nd row of standing. No way was that happening 4 years ago. 

It's great that they're on the road but most of those venues are doing 100-200 people. Fludder himself jokes he makes no money on those shows. 

The academy is providing solid undercard talent with fun gimmicks, so it's doing its job but that shouldn't be overblown as some overriding proof everything is fine. I loved The Hooligans against the Knight kids on Friday but I can't imagine them having a MOTY candidate Sunday - so the Hooligans either did something really really special with those two 17 year olds or there's some heavy PCW confirmation bias there. I know which I think it is. 

"The guys who work the shows will tell you how great it is" is such a load of shit as well. Of course they will. The amount of wrestlers Fludder has fell out with, tells a different story though. 

I have no axe to grind here, Fludder was perfectly nice to me and the people I was with on Friday. Doesn't mean there aren't things to critique about how he speaks to other fans and how the promotion is doing though. 

The rest of Brit Wres is in a boom period as far as buzz goes. PCW feels like it's gone in the opposite direction, sadly. I do wish it wasn't the case, but on all available evidence, it is. 

Edited June 26, 2017 by Benno

[Daaaaaad!]

ClassicsGuy, you're such an embarrassing shill. 

23 hours ago, ClassicsGuy said:

It's really unfortunate that a few people didn't get a particular DVD

Is a massive oversimplification of a farcical company that should not be afforded any sort of sympathy for their constant and consistent failure to deliver what is asked of them. You wouldn't accept it anywhere else, yet you're really, really fucking quick to defend your beloved PCW despite the evidence against their piss poor ownership. It's a disgusting lack of regard for people who have parted their hard earned cash, and your sycophantic attempts to justify it just make you look less and less credible. 

Being wrestling fans, we've almost certainly all been taken by con artists in the past. There's no shame in admitting it. I was a huge fan of 1PW at a time when, looking back, they were clearly defrauding customers, but at some point you have to take the rose tinted spectacles off and start looking at what is really going on. PCW are treating their potential fanbase with disdain. Stop acting like it isn't happening.

edit: also, having members of the Knight family isn't an instant guarantee of credibility, as a certain infamous West Yorkshire based promotion would suggest.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Daaaaaad!

[Jon-Carr_92]

Here it is. http://www.prestoncitywrestling.com/shop/dvds/dvd-kris-travis-the-ultimate-collection

Expected to ship: December 2015. Presumably they were aiming for Xmas with the release. Wonder if they were ever able to do the interview in the end? Maybe it was the plan if he was well enough to do it before he passed. Obviously, his comeback was unfortunately brief. He had about 6 matches after this. Last was at Progress Chapter 21 v Marty Scurll. He had a few big ones in the pipeline. Another match with Chris Masters after their acclaimed trilogy at PCW and he was originally booked for the first NJPW/Rev Pro Weekender. He would be replaced by Martin Kirby for that.

They eventually updated this saying "Due to ship November 2016" Perhaps in time for the Wrestling World Championships and to a lesser extent, the Kris Travis Memorial Tournament this year. Yet they've kept the graphic with the originally expected December 2015 date which doesn't do much favours considering many will have ordered in good faith by then.

It really has got to the point where enough is enough, If they have money to bring in an import. Pay their fee, fly them over, etc. They can go to the graphics people. Get them to sort the DVDs out and send them. People won't stick around if they don't receive the goods they've rightly paid for and should expect. If it isn't possible. They should be promptly refunded. That goes for anything they offer. Ignoring messages on social media and blocking people over the matter is just going to fan the flames.

[Edgehead]

ClassicsGuy is right.

I am being very unreasonable and should just be patient. They are an amazing company.

[ClassicsGuy]

7 hours ago, bradfordcity said:

Free Tickets and still wasnt a sell out.

 

There were 1200 people there. How many British promotions draw more than 1000 people? PCW did it two Saturdays in a row, regardless of how much the tickets cost. They were paid shows, everyone made money - the promotion, the wrestlers and the fans got to see wrestling for a £2 booking fee. WIN WIN WIN and nothing to be mocked. The fact the shows were underwritten by local councils shows the value of what the promotion brings.

Edited June 26, 2017 by ClassicsGuy

[ClassicsGuy]

4 hours ago, Daaaaaad! said:

ClassicsGuy, you're such an embarrassing shill. 

What exactly am I shilling?

I have a different opinion to you. That doesn't mean I'm a shill. Honestly, you and anyone else using that term towards me is an embarrassment.

I get it; PCW isn't as 'fashionable' as the likes of PROGRESS, ICW, FIGHT CLUB PRO, ATTACK, etc.

Geez, point out the positives of a promotion that I happen to like and have never ever had a problem with and you get labelled all sorts.

I've been a UKFF member for nearly 15 years, nobody's going to run me off no matter how many not very nice names I get called or how much negative rep I keep being given.

Edited June 26, 2017 by ClassicsGuy

[The Dart]

I guess sending people stuff in the post when they pay you money for it is pretty fashionable these days.

[ClassicsGuy]

5 hours ago, Benno said:

I went to the Friday Preston show and had a great time, but Evoque was half full and the shows were indeed free. I got there 15 minutes late and could still join 2nd row of standing. No way was that happening 4 years ago. 

It's great that they're on the road but most of those venues are doing 100-200 people. Fludder himself jokes he makes no money on those shows. 

The academy is providing solid undercard talent with fun gimmicks, so it's doing its job but that shouldn't be overblown as some overriding proof everything is fine. I loved The Hooligans against the Knight kids on Friday but I can't imagine them having a MOTY candidate Sunday - so the Hooligans either did something really really special with those two 17 year olds or there's some heavy PCW confirmation bias there. I know which I think it is. 

"The guys who work the shows will tell you how great it is" is such a load of shit as well. Of course they will. The amount of wrestlers Fludder has fell out with, tells a different story though. 

I have no axe to grind here, Fludder was perfectly nice to me and the people I was with on Friday. Doesn't mean there aren't things to critique about how he speaks to other fans and how the promotion is doing though. 

The rest of Brit Wres is in a boom period as far as buzz goes. PCW feels like it's gone in the opposite direction, sadly. I do wish it wasn't the case, but on all available evidence, it is. 

There was no show on Sunday. There were two shows on Saturday, afternoon and evening.

As far as shows on the road goes, it depends which shows you're referring to. They're a draw in Blackpool. They had over 1000 fans in Blackpool Tower Circus 9 days ago. They're returning to Blackpool on Aug 5th in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. 

It's a shame that you missed Saturday evening's show at Preston Guild Hall, as it was so much better than Friday evening's show. It was actually one of the best shows in PCW's history. There were 1200 fans there, a far from inconsiderable sum and deserves credit, regardless of how much tickets cost.

I really don't have to justify my own opinion but other people than myself thought the Saturday show and the matches on it were really good. Check out UKFF poster Big Benny HG's twitter at https://twitter.com/BritWresAwayDay if you think it's just me.

Regarding wrestlers who Fludder has fell out with - who are they? Name them. Are they good wrestlers? Are they draws? Are they valuable commodities? I see the same core group of wrestlers working for PCW all the time - Hayes, Kirby, Hope (yes, who he fell out with and reunited with), Lionheart, Sha Samuels, Iestyn Rees, Bubblegum, T-Bone, Allmark, Smith to name just the core guys. Many of have worked for Fludder for years. They all seem quite happy. You make out that Fludder is going through talent all the time and there's some sort of revolving door with angry wrestlers who he's 'fallen out with' storming out. It's laughable. PCW is - by and large - a happy ship. Just as happy as any of the other British promotions.

Let's not be wrestling snobs here. PCW is part of the British wrestling boom period. They run lots of shows all the time. They draw decent sized/good crowds. The crowds they draw are heated. Saturday evening's show was great and pretty universally acclaimed. You're doing yourself a disservice if you think otherwise. I loved Kris Travis and was privileged to be present for many of his great PCW matches including his FSM UK Match of the Year 2013 vs Chris Masters, and I can definitely say that the Bubblegum vs T-Bone cage match and the Allmark vs Smith 2 out of 3 falls match was just as good as the Travis vs Masters match - in my opinion.

As for the 17 year olds, Ricky Knight Jr was the name on many people's lips following the shows. He was terrific. There was a buzz about him. He's already been announced for the August 12th card. For someone who was originally not even on the card and was only going to be a one show stand-in, that's some going.

Creatively, maybe PCW over the past 6-12 months hasn't been what it was at it's peak, but it now has a new booker and the shows over the weekend made that pretty evident. It's disappointing when people can't give credit to a promotion when they put on some really great shows and have to resort to dated opinions and tired stereotypes. 

The August 12th Sixth Anniversary show has Rees vs T-Bone vs Bubblegum for the PCW title, Allmark vs Jody Fleisch for the cruiserweight title, and UK Hooligans vs CCK

 

(so PCW Tag Team Champs vs PROGRESS Tag Champs, as things stand).

Edited June 26, 2017 by ClassicsGuy

[ClassicsGuy]

4 minutes ago, The Dart said:

I guess sending people stuff in the post when they pay you money for it is pretty fashionable these days.

I bet if you asked enough people you'd probably find something that upset someone about any of the 'fashionable' promotions I named.

It sucks that people bought something and never received it, but just a suggestion - perhaps continually moaning about it on a message board isn't the best way to go about getting the product you bought and/or a refund. 

 

[The Dart]

What else can you do the company blocks you on twitter/facebook?

[Big Benny HG]

1 hour ago, ClassicsGuy said:

The Saturday evening show sold out. All 1400 tickets were fully distributed. You weren't able to get a ticket for the evening show for at least 2 weeks before the event. Just because there were empty seats at the show doesn't mean it wasn't sold out. There were 1200 people there.

I got a ticket for the evening show 4 days before the event. There were over 100 left on the Guild Hall website, across nearly all seating blocks, at that time (you pick your actual seat from those available on an interactive map). They were also still available (unreserved seating) on the PCW website up to the day itself. 

I'd agree there were over 1'000 people in there on the night (rough headcount), and the show itself was excellent,  but with the bit I've quoted above you are literally making things up...

 

Edited June 26, 2017 by Big Benny HG

[Edgehead]

52 minutes ago, ClassicsGuy said:

perhaps continually moaning about it on a message board isn't the best way to go about getting the product you bought and/or a refund. 

 

Reading would be your friend, we have a legit gripe over this and Fludder has ignored all messages and blocked people on twitter that have brought it up.

[ClassicsGuy]

34 minutes ago, Big Benny HG said:

I got a ticket for the evening show 4 days before the event. There were over 100 left on the Guild Hall website, across nearly all seating blocks, at that time (you pick your actual seat from those available on an interactive map). They were also still available (unreserved seating) on the PCW website up to the day itself. 

I'd agree there were over 1'000 people in there on the night (rough headcount), and the show itself was excellent,  but with the bit I've quoted above you are literally making things up...

 

I stand corrected. Hands up, honest mistake. It was the Blackpool Tower Circus show on June 17th that was sold out more than 2 weeks in advance. I got the two confused, my mistake.

 

That said, there was over 1000 people there on Saturday evening at Preston Guild Hall and I'm glad someone else other than me said the show was excellent.

Edited June 26, 2017 by ClassicsGuy