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WWE UK Championship Tournament


Onyx2

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So Vimeo on demand uploads... that will include ATTACK! Wrestling and Fight Club:PRO, which will be interesting considering the relationship Dunne, Andrews and Seven have with those groups.  FutureShock and GPW too.

 

PCW isn't on Vimeo but has an on demand service via Pivotshare - would assume that would be affected in the same way?

 

In fact, pretty much all independent promotions have at least some form of on demand service these days (subscription-based or buying/renting individual shows), in the same way that they would have sold DVDs once over.

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Obviously gutting news for promoters going forward, but possible foreseen since TNA tried implementing similar restrictions a few years ago.

 

[plug]

In the meantime, you can watch UK Championship Tournament competitors Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, Joseph Connors and others in old video on demand titles in a curated list on Your Fight Site VOD: vod.yourfightsite.com/collections/wwe-uk-championship-tournament-competitors

[/plug]

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At a guess, PROGRESS, ICW and OTT would be safe to keep using the guys - they look to be on board with WWE, whether that turns out to be them providing content for WWE Network or just being a 'home' for WWE UK contracted guys and the WWE UK Championship title.  As such, I'd assume they would still have access to the contracted guys.

 

RevPro, WCPW, WOS, IPW:UK, wXw, Lucha Forever, ATTACK!, Fight Club:PRO, FutureShock, GPW, (PCW?), etc. less so...

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So are Rev-Pro no longer involved with them? They hosted some CWC qualifiers and I'm sure Trips name-dropped them during the UK Tournament announcement, however I don't recall seeing Andy Quilden on screen last weekend- certainly not on-screen in the same manner as Dallas, Smallman and matey behind OTT anyway. Or Darren bleedin' Fletcher.

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So are Rev-Pro no longer involved with them? They hosted some CWC qualifiers and I'm sure Trips name-dropped them during the UK Tournament announcement, however I don't recall seeing Andy Quilden on screen last weekend- certainly not on-screen in the same manner as Dallas, Smallman and matey behind OTT anyway. Or Darren bleedin' Fletcher.

 

The Observer this week states they were approached (as you say, there was the previous relationship of qualifiers and using footage), but no deal was done as Quildan didn't want to break his ties with NJPW and ROH that currently allow them to put on unique matches you don't get anywhere else.

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So perhaps a week and a bit removed from the culmination of the tournament is a bit late to reflect on it, but regardless, we did a show review on the Royal Grumble this week, including the perspective of someone who was there live. It's a good listen and clocks in at a neat hour or so, so please check it out here: http://royalgrumble.podbean.com/e/entrant-no-42-the-british-are-coming/

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Now I'm quite the wrestling savant as you'll all know... Despite not watching a single wrestling event, or match even, in it's entirety (with the exception of the recent Goldberg/Lesnar match, cos even I can concentrate for that long), the buzz on here for this event peaked my curiosity enough to sit through almost four hours of it last night.

 

Now admittedly, I was working, so it was very much off to the side, which makes any of it grabbing my attention all the more impressive.  It's been discussed to death in here, so I've nothing of significance or new to add, but a few observations...

 

I'm fucking terrified of Pete Dunne.  Like, legit terrified.  He's the sort of man you'd encounter in a nightmare.  He might not be physically imposing in that same way, but for me, he has that Bolo type aura where it's hard to separate the man from the character.  A truly nasty bastard, whom even in a worked sport, if booked against him I'd probably be sat outback thinking 'shit!'.

 

Mark Andrews is fucking smashing.  Now like I say, I don't have an army of guys to compare him to, but in terms of high flyers I have seen perform, he's right up there.  SO smooth.  I can't recall seeing anyone look so fluid, so consistently.  I saw some highlights of Ospreay/Ricochet from WCPW earlier today on my Facebook feed, and whilst the stuff they were busting out looked amazing, it was almost as though they were wrestling in a bouncy castle at points.  I never got that vibe from Mandrews, it never strayed down that path for me, nor did I ever feel as though it was moves for moves sake - in terms of having a character which translates to in ring work, as opposed to a gimmick that's abandoned the second the bell rings, this guy has it nailed.

 

I don't know how fair a statement this is based off of a couple of one-off shows, but I still feel our promo game in the UK is lacking a little, felt the same about WOS.  All the guys featured were clearly competent on the mic, but no one really reached out and grabbed my attention - this very post proves it was possible.  No one was terrible, or even 'not that good' but at no point was I hooked although again, I thought Mandrews was very competent and sounded as though he had another gear to switch into.

 

Whilst I'm bumming him to this degree, GEAR.  Great looking ring gear, and switched it up every match with different ring jackets etc.  Stood out so much amongst the black pants brigade - I'm wondering how much of that might have been an overall creative thing?  For example, you had James Drake and Wolfgang both walking to the ring in similar shirts with cut off sleeves etc, as if there was a conscious decision to give the whole even that sort of gritty look.

 

I guess what the show drummed home more than anything, given the majority of my wrestling fandom was the pre-Benoit roids era, was just how ordinary guys looked.  Notice I say ordinary, not bad. Everyone was identifiable from the personal trainer types to big Steve who plays Centre Back for The Lamb and Flag, with plenty of variety inbetween. 

 

It took a bit of getting used to - I'm a guy who grew up on Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme etc - I'm predisposed to getting draw in by look, my first exposure to wrestling was the front cover of an Ultimate Warrior compilation tape, so you've got some shit to live up to if you want to capture my attention - but by the end of the tournament, having had some exposure to the guys on the show and having both the opportunity to, and importantly, giving myself the chance to see them in action - I'm very guilty of looking at posters and the line up, thinking 'pah' and moving on, I never gave it a second thought and would gladly seek out more of Trent Seven, Devlin, Moloney and the likes. 

 

I don't know what role T-Bone usually plays or if that's his usual gimmick, but with a WWE future in mind, thought the whole Traveller gimmick was smart, accent aside.  I don't know whether that was his decision, or some sort of creative input, but a really smart choice.  Think it speaks volumes that in a card of names I'm unfamiliar with outside of putting their pictures on posters, he was one I was most disappointed to see eliminated early on, purely because I saw potential for that character to develop.

 

Echoing the praise on here for Michael Cole too.  Thought he did a fantastic job.  Whilst I understand why, the constant crowbarred references to the UK promotions got a little tiresome, although a distant second to 'Sack of spuds' and mugging anecdotes.

 

All in all, I feel far more connected to the UK scene than I did prior to watching it.  I see and hear names talked about, and think to myself 'I don't even tune in for the Rumble anymore, not going to bother watching two blokes I don't know wrestling at a community centre' and I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned - the setting, production values etc matter to me, but they don't make a performer and there's clearly lots of very, VERY good ones in the UK at the moment I feel as though I want to know more about.  That's got to be a good thing right?

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