Hammerlock Wrestling memories and musings

[Snitsky's back acne]

Apparently Andre did not like his talent working other shows. I'm sure I read that's why Doug left, because he felt he could only go so far wrestling the same people in front of the same crowds etc.

I remember Hammerlock getting a six week TV deal in the Kent region in 2000. It was studio wrestling and it seemed really naff to my teenage 'ECW/WWF Attitude' era self but in retrospect it was a decent enough "meat and potatoes" wrestling show and it was cool to see the same wrestlers that had been on TV at my local venue.  

Plus I remember Gary Steele getting a TV documentary about his trip to America and winning the NWA belt so Hammerlock certainly got the marketing aspect right and seemed to run regular shows. 

[Carbomb]

27 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Apparently Andre did not like his talent working other shows. I'm sure I read that's why Doug left, because he felt he could only go so far wrestling the same people in front of the same crowds etc.

I remember Hammerlock getting a six week TV deal in the Kent region in 2000. It was studio wrestling and it seemed really naff to my teenage 'ECW/WWF Attitude' era self but in retrospect it was a decent enough "meat and potatoes" wrestling show and it was cool to see the same wrestlers that had been on TV at my local venue.  

Plus I remember Gary Steele getting a TV documentary about his trip to America and winning the NWA belt so Hammerlock certainly got the marketing aspect right and seemed to run regular shows. 

IIRC it wasn't just Doug; a big chunk of the FWA's roster was formed from a lot of Hammerlock's students getting pissed off with Baker and leaving, like Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm, Flash Barker, Alex Shane, the New Breed (I think?). Was Johnny Moss one of them? Or Guy Thunder?

EDIT: Seems the Castaño brothers also trained there. Nikita as well, and Justin Richards.

Edited January 23, 2025 by Carbomb

[mim731]

1 hour ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Apparently Andre did not like his talent working other shows. I'm sure I read that's why Doug left, because he felt he could only go so far wrestling the same people in front of the same crowds etc.

I remember Hammerlock getting a six week TV deal in the Kent region in 2000. It was studio wrestling and it seemed really naff to my teenage 'ECW/WWF Attitude' era self but in retrospect it was a decent enough "meat and potatoes" wrestling show and it was cool to see the same wrestlers that had been on TV at my local venue.  

 

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

IIRC it wasn't just Doug; a big chunk of the FWA's roster was formed from a lot of Hammerlock's students getting pissed off with Baker and leaving, like Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm, Flash Barker, Alex Shane, the New Breed (I think?). Was Johnny Moss one of them? Or Guy Thunder?

EDIT: Seems the Castaño brothers also trained there. Nikita as well, and Justin Richards.

Was the UWA on L!ve TV before or after the roster went off to the FWA? I seem to remember Alex Shane, Doug Williams, and Johnny Storm on that show, alongside Gran Naniwa who seemed to have randomly ended up there for a stint.  

[Carbomb]

1 minute ago, mim731 said:

 

Was the UWA on L!ve TV before or after the roster went off to the FWA? I seem to remember Alex Shane, Doug Williams, and Johnny Storm on that show, alongside Gran Naniwa who seemed to have randomly ended up there for a stint.  

Yeh, it was! I didn't see much of it though. Didn't know Gran Naniwa was there - I know Kendo Ka Shin has shown up for the odd stint in Premier, though.

[mim731]

19 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Yeh, it was! I didn't see much of it though. Didn't know Gran Naniwa was there - I know Kendo Ka Shin has shown up for the odd stint in Premier, though.

Likewise, and I'd not thought about for about two decades until now. Turns out it's all here on YouTube, which feels like a nice find!

 

EDIT: Christopher Daniels and Tiger Mask IV too!

Edited January 23, 2025 by mim731
Added value

[neil]

3 hours ago, Vegeta said:

Andre Baker trained my trainer, however I never met the bloke. My trainer who trained us under the NWA banner never mentioned Andre much either so never really felt the need to push it or ask.

This was very interesting and I really learned a lot from it. Thanks for posting. Following to see what other deep dives you're able to come up with.

[Captain SlackBladder]

Didn't Hammerlock start a venture up in Sheffield too?

I'd be interested to know more about this. 

[ReturnOfTheMack]

6 minutes ago, Captain SlackBladder said:

Didn't Hammerlock start a venture up in Sheffield too?

I'd be interested to know more about this. 

Yeah, the trainers were (initially) Alan Johnson and Johnny Moss. I did my first training there.

[Chili]

I'm getting the feeling Andre Baker wasn't a particularly nice bloke to deal with from some of hoo-ha in here. I do remember one of his trainees winning the NWA title when it meant sod all, sure Power Slam covered it.

[FLips]

I know this isn't an Alex Shane thread but it's worth bringing up that he ran a training seminar once when I was a trainee back in 2005-2007 and he spent the entire thing talking about how HHH evoked Hitler and The Nazis to get over with the use of things like the iron cross. Even for a teenager who was knees deep in Raven shoot interviews at the time I thought it was a weird old load of bollocks.
Double stinger too as he to my recollection was the most expensive extra fee for the training session we had, and we'd had the likes of Matt Sydal in.

[HarmonicGenerator]

45 minutes ago, FLips said:

I know this isn't an Alex Shane thread but it's worth bringing up that he ran a training seminar once when I was a trainee back in 2005-2007 and he spent the entire thing talking about how HHH evoked Hitler and The Nazis to get over with the use of things like the iron cross. Even for a teenager who was knees deep in Raven shoot interviews at the time I thought it was a weird old load of bollocks.
Double stinger too as he to my recollection was the most expensive extra fee for the training session we had, and we'd had the likes of Matt Sydal in.

He got several pages in an issue of Fighting Spirit to explain the same theory!

[Captain SlackBladder]

1 hour ago, ReturnOfTheMack said:

Yeah, the trainers were (initially) Alan Johnson and Johnny Moss. I did my first training there.

What time frame was that?

[ReturnOfTheMack]

12 minutes ago, Captain SlackBladder said:

What time frame was that?

I think around 1998/99. 

[Jesse]

4 hours ago, FLips said:

I know this isn't an Alex Shane thread but it's worth bringing up that he ran a training seminar once when I was a trainee back in 2005-2007 and he spent the entire thing talking about how HHH evoked Hitler and The Nazis to get over with the use of things like the iron cross. Even for a teenager who was knees deep in Raven shoot interviews at the time I thought it was a weird old load of bollocks.
Double stinger too as he to my recollection was the most expensive extra fee for the training session we had, and we'd had the likes of Matt Sydal in.

I'm pretty sure I got my first booking with him because I was the only person in the class who had seen Loose Change (the 9/11 conspiracy 'documentary')

Edited January 23, 2025 by Jesse

[herbie747]

5 hours ago, FLips said:

I know this isn't an Alex Shane thread but it's worth bringing up that he ran a training seminar once when I was a trainee back in 2005-2007 and he spent the entire thing talking about how HHH evoked Hitler and The Nazis to get over with the use of things like the iron cross. Even for a teenager who was knees deep in Raven shoot interviews at the time I thought it was a weird old load of bollocks.
Double stinger too as he to my recollection was the most expensive extra fee for the training session we had, and we'd had the likes of Matt Sydal in.

Alex was well into conspiracy theories around 2007