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Doug Williams


tiger_rick

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Fucking loved Doug. When I got into British Wrestling via FWA 16 years ago, he was one of the three stand-outs along with Jody and Jonny. But Doug was king. He was our Angle/Benoit/Bret in terms of technical ability, a class above the others. Had a decent look and physique, too. He was the untouchable daddy over here for so long.

Enjoyed his TNA run and he did really well for himself at a time when the promotion was arguably at its peak. Always looked stellar during the early days of RoH as well, was nice to see him part of the four-way to determine the first ever RoH champion.

Shame he wasn't born 10 years later, as surely given the sheer British talent hoovered up by WWE in recent years he would've been at (or near) the top of the pile if he was younger.

A class act as well. Let's all go and watch him VS Eddie.

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Punkstep said better than I ever could. In my case, he went a long way to not only introducing me to the British independent scene, but the global independent scene because of his ROH work. From there I wasn't just obsessed with WWE, but the wider wrestling landscape. I was 17 when I once met him after a show in Littleport sometime in 2006 and he was as good as gold - gave us the time of day and nothing was too much trouble for him. Top man. 

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He was the bridge to me starting to watch and adore the likes of Johnny Kidd, Steve Grey, Johnny Saint and Mal Sanders. Appreciating his work led me to appreciating the work of those aforementioned wrestlers (via recommendations from other fans) and becoming a WOS fan.

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Remember when he joined TNA and was the best thing on it by a mile? First with Magnus and Rob Terry (who were both barely pro wrestlers at that point) and then that period in 2010 when he was basically the only thing keeping the X Division going.

What gets lost with Doug is just how great he was on the microphone and as a character actor on TNA. He was slap bang in the middle of the Hogan/Bischoff regime, so unless you were a 90s wrestler you dont tend to remember much, but he was excellent as a TV presence. Especially on the non-scripted ReAction and guest commentary portions of the show. He was brilliant, and if it was modern WWE (where TNA doesnt have the TNA stink) he'd have been snapped up within a month. Also Doug's a good brother for bumping like a mad man on Scott Steiner's final date in 2009 to try and get the big man re-signed. It worked as well.

That's not forgetting his work in Hammerlock, the FWA, ROH, Noah, OVW and everywhere else. He leaves the business with some career doesnt he? Who can say they wrestled Eddie Guerrero, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Daniel Bryan, Ric Flair and Virgil on British soil? Not many.

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He's one of those PowerSlam superheroes I always read about. Sadly, I've only ever seen him in TNA, but he was very good value with anything he was given. For all the "he's right good at technical wrestling" talk I've read through the years, he was very good at the character/entertainment portion of wrestling, which should never be taken for granted. Reminded me of Regal, in that regard.

I thought his X Division run is a very underrated part of the Hogoff era. Him hamming it up over his fear of heights in the ladder match, and what not, immediately coming to mind and putting a smile on the face.

EDIT: Ian typed it better.

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There was a running joke between me and my ex that Doug Williams was on every wrestling show I'd been to live. I went to a handful of FWA shows, then nothing until TNA's second UK tour, where I saw him wrestle Ric Flair. Nothing again for a couple of years, and then I took the (then) ex to see Jushin Liger's UK "debut" for RevPro - and, at the very last minute, Doug Williams (released by TNA that week) replaced Noam Dar as young lion Hiromu Takahashi's opponent. I loved it - it being Doug's return match, it was a real Greatest Hits match, and so much fun to watch.

I've only seen him a couple of times since then, but he was always a guy I loved watching perform, and even back in the FWA days stood out to me as a "British wrestler" in the William Regal mold before I really knew what made British wrestling different to the US. 

To this day, Chaos Theory is still my favourite move.

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Not great at articulating these things but Doug's impact on wrestling over here in the UK cannot be understated.

He is one of a select group that helped drag British wrestling back out of the toilet in the early 2000's by working internationally and helping companies like NOAH get their wrestlers booked on shows/tours over here which, in turn, helped raise awareness of the British scene again internationally.

Enjoy the retirement Doug. You've bloody earned it mate. Thank you for your contribution to wrestling. 

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4 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

There was a running joke between me and my ex that Doug Williams was on every wrestling show I'd been to live.

I was there too. Go to the ROH tour, Doug's there. Go to the TNA tour, Doug's there. Go to the Noah show, Doug's there. There is no professional wrestler I've seen live more times. I've seen him drag great matches out of some mediocre shite too in that time, I can tell you. A great wrestler.

One of my first "five favourites matches" things I did once I'd discovered indies featured his match with Chris Daniels where he takes the FWA title back on an ROH show (Night of Champions possibly) - the "work a body part" stuff in that is great from both wrestlers. From Doug, its working on Daniels' neck. There's a lovely swinging full nelson right before the Chaos Theory, and I love when the work you've done all match makes the difference. Doug also used to do one of my favourite little bits of chain wrestling where if an opponent has you in an ankle hold, you put your foot behind the knee of the held leg so the weight bends your leg, drawing your opponent into your body so you can reapply that headlock you were using two minutes earlier.

A great wrestler.

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Loved Doug. Ten or fifteen years younger and I reckon he would’ve been snapped up to join NXT. It makes me wonder actually, do you think Regal and Robbie Brookside would put a good word in for him to come in as a coach?

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I reckon Ligero is the only wrestler I've seen more times live than Doug. Had the pleasure of calling a couple of his matches. Wonderful wrestler, really nice bloke too. Last Saw him wrestle against Silas Young at the ROH tour earlier this year and they were easily match of the night. Really good pacing and psychology. Just one of those guys that when you see his name on a card you know you're going to get something solid.

Is there a chance of a performance centre run for him? You'd hope Regal, McGuinnes or any of the ex-indy guys he wrestled would be singing his praises.

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Along with Jonny and Jody, Doug Williams was one of the ‘three kings’ of British wrestling for me, with Doug being the ‘pure wrestler’ of the three. Never saw much of him in TNA but from FWA to ROH to NOAH I don’t think I ever saw him have a bad match. So hugely important to keeping British wrestling and the British style alive, I don’t think his contribution can be understated.

Favourite Doug match was an FWA one against a masked Daniel Bryan. Might have been 2-out-of-3 Falls. It was a technical masterclass and probably a contender for my top 20 favourite ever matches.

Lovely guy when I met him too. It’s just a shame he came along a bit too late for WWE UK but I’d love for him to get a coaching spot somewhere. 

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I don't think we'll see Doug go to the Performance Center - I remember him saying after his TNA run that he had no intention to work full-time in the US again, so unless that's changed, I imagine he'll stay put. Depending on what shape NXT UK takes, he'd be a good shout to work alongside Johnny Moss on the training/agenting side of things.

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