The 2007 UKFF 50

[Big Benny HG]

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No. 9 - "Thee" Drew Galloway

2006 Ranking: 41

2005 Ranking: 29

Moving Up

 

Photo - www.wzwuk.com

 

After a 12-place drop in 2006, the 6ft 6 Scotsman shoots back up the rankings and secures a top 10 finish.

 

Drew's Scottish home has undeniably been British Championship Wrestling. In December 2006, the babyface Galloway defeated The Highlander in an "I Quit" match at "No Blood, No Sympathy 4" in Kilmarnock to become the BCW Heavyweight Champion. Galloway would go on to see off main event challenges from Martin Stone (February) and Allan Grogan (April), as well as appearing in tag team attractions alongside Sarah and Lionheart.

 

Over in Ireland, Galloway beat Seamus O'Shaunessy for the IWW International title in August 2006. Now reigning as the BCW Heavyweight Champion and IWW International Champion, Drew entered the relaunched Real Quality Wrestling with his eyes on the British Heavyweight Championship too. December 2006 saw RQW put on a free admission show at York Hall in Bethnal Green with the focus being on a one-night, 8-man tournament to crown a new champion. An impressive showing over El Ligero in round one was overshadowed by him abusing his former IWW rival SOS, who was sat at ringside. In round 2, Drew faced another small English high-flyer in Pac. Again, Galloway got in the face of O'Shaunessy, and this time SOS fought back. While all of this was going on, Drew was counted out of the ring and eliminated from the tournament. A feud with SOS seemed in the making.

 

Galloway did not lose the IWW title in the ring, instead being stripped of the belt when he left the promotion (Vic Viper won a 4-way in January to decide a new champion). Back in England, the SOS feud seemed to have disappeared from the radar....until April when it suddenly reappeared. Drew and SOS fought to a double-countout in a poor match at York Hall, before Drew finally "drew" a line under the disjointed, and ultimately disappointing, feud by beating Seamus in a no-DQ match in Colchester in June. Later that night, Galloway ran out and attacked RQW Champion Martin Stone during his defence against Takeshi Rikioh, causing a disqualification in what had been a decent main event. On RQW's most recent show, just this past weekend in Dartford, Galloway again attacked Stone, early on the event, but Stone was able to come back and successfully retain the belt in the main event.

 

Elsewhere in Scotland, Drew has featured for Premier British Wrestling, falling to England's Dave Moralez in July 2006, before going on to defeat Jay Phoenix (March 2007), IWW's Keego Ward (April) and Lionheart (June) on later PBW shows. Back down in England, Galloway has featured for Wrestle Zone Wrestling thanks to that promotion's close ties with BCW.

 

Leading the BCW/Scottish side against the WZW/English contingent on the Dual Nations Trophy show in Ponteland, Galloway was scheduled to face former Full Pack member Micky L. Attacking Micky before the match, powerbombing through a table from the stage and apparently hospitalising him, Galloway was ready to be awarded his match (and thus, the series trophy) by forfeit, until the courageous Micky returned, and somehow managed to score an upset win over Galloway in the main event. Taking his frustration out on WZW Captain Iceman in a taped backstage segment, Galloway was immediately thrust into one of WZW's most high profile matches ever.

 

Galloway vs. Iceman took place in a 15ft high steel cage, WZW's first ever contest held with this gimmick, in Peterlee, County Durham, with WZW throwing the full might of their promotional muscle behind it. A brutal and bloody contest ended with Empire member Massacre (the 7ft Tron, playing a spooky evil clown character) attacking Iceman, leaving the path clear for Galloway to score a huge victory.

 

As the summer of 2007 draws to a close, Galloway's appearances in UK rings appear to be doing the same. Why? The "E" has come calling....

 

After confusing the entire wrestling world by not playing the role of Hamish McDougal on a WWE UK tour show in April, it was announced that Drew had signed deal with WWE, and would soon be departing for the US to join their developmental/feeder system. He is wrapping up his bookings on this side of the Atlantic, and may well be appearing on a TV screen near you in the next 12 months. As such, it is unlikely that Galloway will feature in next year's UKFF 50 (should there be one....), and thus he rounds off his 3rd consecutive appearance with his highest ranking yet.

 

Photo - www.lamuscle.com

 

********************************************************************

Still to appear:

 

(alphabetical order)

Bubblegum

Darren Burridge

El Ligero

Majik

Pac

Spud

Martin Stone

Doug Williams

Edited August 14, 2007 by UK Hat Guy

[Chastity's Boyfriend]

What's a 'Thee'?

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Yeah, now he's hit 30 he's way past his prime.

I don't think age has anything to do with it John. Whenever the name Jonny Storm has been mentioned over the past 5 years or so the name Jody Fliesch has usually only been a heartbeat away from been mentioned, and look where Jody finished, even having to get into the 50 in the elimination round. Add to that the fact that internet marks can be a fickle breed at the best of times, especially the sort of fan who loves the spotfest kind of match that Jonny has competed in over the past few years. So I am also suprised that Jonny is so high up, not down to age just down to changing fashions. IMO the reasons Jonny is still held in high regard are his great crowd working skills and also his ability to blend comedy into the high flying fast paced stuff, and they are things that Jody really doe not excel in hence his drop.

[steve rayson]

El Ligero is good but it's very hard for me to understand him being so high in the rankings.

[steve rayson]

EDIT - Double post.

Edited August 14, 2007 by steve rayson

[Big Benny HG]

This one may surprise a few people....

 

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No. 8 - "Da Pukka 1" Darren Burridge

2006 Ranking: 2

2005 Ranking: 20

Moving Back Down

 

Photo - UK Hat Guy

 

After 2006's brilliant 2nd place, the co-founder of Team SHAG see a slight slip to 8th but still holds firm in the top 10.

 

As a major part of the FWA, Darren beat All Star's Five Star Flash at "Summer Classic" before a packed house in Morecambe, but lost to James Tighe's Texas Cloverleaf in a series across a number of poorly attended Midlands shows. He also got involved in a 3-way scenario with Jonny Storm and the returning Paul Tyrell based around determining who was the best "Essex boy". Storm and Burridge fell to Tyrell in an "Essex Streetfight" in.......Sudbury in August 2006, with a rematch scheduled for the next FWA show there in March, 2007. He also wrestled Colt Cabana in a rushed, disappointing FWA vs. ROH bout at "Frontiers of Honor II" in Swanley (boo) which was a move for move re-run of his Futureshock match with Dirk Feelgood a month earlier.

 

Before that, however, there was time for him to face Aviv Maayan at IPW:UK "Hotwired" at the Broxbourne Civic Hall in October, unsuccessfully challenge Robbie Brookside for the FWA British Heavyweight Title in a traditional British rules match at "Goldrush" in February, win the "Essex Streetfight" rematch in Sudbury to close off that mini-series, and lead Team (now) XWA in their National Inter-Federation Cup defence against WAW. On that particular show in Morecambe ("War on the Shore III" in April), Burridge battled Ricky Knight to a double-DQ when both men used a kendo stick and the referee was unable to regain control, before they squared off again in the 8-man elimination tag to decide the Cup. Burridge was the final member of his team in the match, and it came down to him against Ricky Knight again. When he was shockingly betrayed by XWA's Stevie Knight in the dramatic closing stages, the Cup went to WAW...

 

In addition to this, Burridge has played a starring role in the WrestleFest promotion which stages huge, pantomime-style wrestling productions in the Playhouse Theatre in Harlow, where he has been one of the leading forces against baddie WrestleFest owner PJ. After he and his mate Charlie Rage "killed" heel monster Domino by electrocution, Burridge was matched up with PJ's "friend", making his one and only wrestling appearance of the last year, "Showstealer" Alex Shane. Burridge beat Shane in what was a tryout match for the "Showstealer's" comeback, in a hilarious over-the-top comedic effort.

 

While all of the above was going down, Darren has continued to feature heavily in the promotion that brought him so much exposure and success in the previous 12 months, Doncaster's 1 Pro Wrestling. As a member of the Street Hooligan Adventure Gang with "Classic" Colt Cabana, "Da Pukka 1" went after the 1PW World Tag Team titles, held by Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch. The fans were quick to pick Team SHAG over Fleisch/Storm, and the rapturous welcome for Burridge/Cabana was the polar opposite of the increasingly frosty reception for J+J. A draw in a poor match between the two teams at "Invincible" in August 2006 led to the rematch being contested under Ladder Match rules, with No. 1 contenders Southern Comfort (Tracey Smothers and Chris Hamrick) added in to make it a 3-way. The higlight of the otherwise shitty, awkward match was the fact that somehow, they managed to halt a traditionally stunt+spot-based match type for a dance off. ~~~~~~~ indeed. Cabana and Burridge left this match (held in October at the "1st Anniversary Show") as the new champions, and definitely the people's choice.

 

After Burridge appeared as a 1PW representative in Real Quality Wrestling in November (where he faced Mad Man manson in a comedy match at York Hall), Team SHAG reunited for a successful defence against Damned Nation at "Fight Club IV" in Doncaster. With Colt Cabana not in the country in January 2007, Team SHAG took AJPW's Kikutaro and IWW's Mad Man Manson as honourary members. The Burridge/Kikutaro line-up was dumped out of the RQW Tag Team Title tournament in a hilarious match against Manson (and JP Monroe), before the next day the Burridge/Manson version lost a 4-way bout for the 1PW World Tag Team Titles to Damned Nation on what was supposedly going to be the last ever 1PW show.

 

Burridge faced JP Monroe again in an unusually straight-up wrestling match on the February RQW show, before returning to the resurrected 1PW in April. With Damned Nation's title win somehow ignored, Burridge and Cabana successfully defended their 1PW World Tag Team Championship against Doug Williams and Nigel McGuinness in a reportedly excellent match on a reportedly crappy show. With Colt joining the WWE (to become Boom Boom Cabana in their feeder system), Team SHAG were forced to vacate the belts following the win.

 

Back in RQW, Burridge fell to ANDY SIMMONZ!! in April in what has proved to be his last RQW match to date. 1PW's last weekend of events saw Darren avenge his loss to SIMMONZ!! in a really good match on the afternoon "Devils Due" card, and face the wacky Delirious and veteran Too Cold Scorpio on the 2 evening "Know Your Enemy" cards. While Burridge got the better of the masked ROH star on Night One, he wrestled to a reportedly dull 20-minute time limit draw with the former GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champion on Night Two.

 

In 1PW, F/XWA and elsewhere, Darren Burridge has been presented, and thus received, as a top star. His in-ring style (which seemlessly blends traditional British-style mat work with modern flair and a whole heap of daftness) and strong character set him apart from the pack and he can look forward to another 12 months at the very top of the British wrestling tree.

 

In an interesting development, Burridge has been announced as the 1PW representative who will take on IPW:UK's James Tighe on Night Two of the huge "3rd Anniversary Weekender". If he wins, 1PW get a shot at IPW:UK's Inter-Federation Cup on an upcoming show (November weekender seems to be a good bet). All the clever money seems to point to him doing 1PW proud and Tighe, in storyline terms, letting down IPW:UK yet again. This would also appear to make Burridge the only wrestler who has wrestled for the Inter-Federation Cup representing 2 different promotions...

 

Photo - UK Hat Guy

***************************************************

 

Still to appear:

 

(alphabetical order)

Bubblegum

El Ligero

Majik

Pac

Spud

Martin Stone

Doug Williams

[Big Benny HG]

El Ligero is good but it's very hard for me to understand him being so high in the rankings.

I personally put it down to the fact that Ligero wrestles absolutely everywhere. He wrestles in the North-East for 3CW. he wrestles in the North-West for GPW, FSW and 21CW. He wrestles in Yorkshire for 1PW. He's wrestled in the south-east for IPW:UK, RQW, SAS and PTW. He's appeared in Swindon for 4FW. He's wrestled in the Midlands for SAS and TXW. He's wrestled in Wales. He's wrestled in Scotland.Whereas a lot of wrestlers tend to stick to certain geographical regions, and thus are only seen by a certain audience, Ligero is seen by just about everyone, no matter where in the country they live. As such, he will therefore make his way onto a wider range of people's UKFF 50 voting submissions, hence his placing somewhere in the top 7.I think the same can be said for a certain extent about Bubblegum, who also appears North, South, East, West and that bit in the Middle. Edited August 14, 2007 by UK Hat Guy

[B3rry]

Hasn't Tighe also wrestled for (and won) the Interfed Cup representing 2 feds?

[Big Benny HG]

EDIT - double post

Edited August 14, 2007 by UK Hat Guy

[Big Benny HG]

Hasn't Tighe also wrestled for (and won) the Interfed Cup representing 2 feds?

Bah, you're right (FWA and IPW:UK).Every pub quiz team needs a B3rry.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Very interesting the way things are going here, Galloway would have been in my top 5 for definite. I can't really judge on the high finishes on these Scottish guys - I half feel outraged that Falcon (who to be honest I hadn't even heard of before reading his bio here) finished ahead of Robbie Brookside, yet on the other hand as I've never seen him I don't know if it's justified - but hopefully they'll start being seen further afield in the year ahead. The high finishes of Bubblegum and Ligero have also been pretty surprising. Ligero not so much as, as it was said a few posts above, he's been pretty much everywhere this year, but Bubblegum ... it's become very clear I mustn't have seen anything near his best work because whenever I've seen matches of his he's always struck me as Spud-lite.My prediction for a Doug/Pac/Stone is still working out thus far, though...

[scott_2k16]

really surprised at the pukka one been so low

Edited August 16, 2007 by scott_2k16

[Daniel Edler]

People can only represent one promotion in the Inter-Fed cup, is the reason why. When the FWA went out of business, anybody who had represented the FWA can no longer do so, so their options opened up.

[Big Benny HG]

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No. 7 - Majik

2006 Ranking: 10

2005 Ranking: 19

Moving Up

 

Photo - Majik

 

Midlands, *ahem*, "veteran" moves up in the ranking for the 2nd consecutive year, also securing his 2nd consecutive top 10 finish.

 

Majik has spent the entire year as a member of the Damned Nation in various promotions, alongside Dragon Aisu and Gabriel Grey.

 

In July 2006 Majik appeared on the tapings for the very first episode of LDN "Capital TV", where he defeated UK wrestling legend Johnny Kidd in a good bout in Romford. After he had faced Chris Wyld on an IPW:UK afternoon show in Ware (Where?), Hertfordshire, August saw another UK "dream match" as Majik squared off with Doug Williams at 3CW "International Wrestling Classic" in Northallerton, North Yorkshire. Nothing was decided between the two vaunted grapplers in a solid wrestling match, as they fought to a double-countout. Williams immediately made the challenge for a rematch the following month in Billingham, this time within the confines of a steel cage, so that the countout wouldn't be repeated. So, at 3CW's biggest show of 2006 (September's "Darkest Deeds III"), Majik captained his team of Anthony MacIntyre, Little Dragon and Vincent D White into battle against Williams and his team of Dan Evans, Chris Whitton and Kid Richie in a disappointing War Games-style encounter. Williams and Majik were the first two in the cage and so their rivalry continued, but again nothing was settled between the them as they weren't involved in the finish (which saw Evans force a submission from White). Their feud came to an end at "Night of the Damned" in November, where Williams finally beat Majik 2-1 in a 2 out of 3 falls match which suffered from high expectations.

 

November also saw Majik return to LDN, where he was one of 4 men taking part in a double-elimination knock-out tournament to determine a new LDN British Champion. Losing 2 straight matches (to Chris Wyld and Jon Ritchie), he didn't get far. He hasn't featured for LDN since.

 

Throughout 2006, Majik and Aisu had taken their Damned Nation team to 1PW, where they had appeared in the various Gauntlets and multi-ways that make up that promotion's tag division. When 1PW was apparently shutting up shop, 3CW stepped in to present the "Will Not Die" 1PW tribute show in January 2007. On the afternoon "Fight Club" card, Majik chose the man with the worst attitude in Britain, Martin Kirby, as his tag partner in a TWC-aired bout against The Kraze, and then teamed with regular partner Aisu on the main show to seemingly win the 1PW World Tag Team Titles from Team SHAG (Darren Burridge with Colt Cabana-substitute Mad Man Manson) in, yep, a 4-way. When it emerged just a few days later that 1PW wasn't actually closing after all, Majik and Aisu's title win was not recognised. More on that later...

 

Up in Scotland, Majik was appearing for SWA. Having lost to Darren Lewis in November thanks to BT Gunn's interference, January saw Majik choose "The Butcher" Scott Renwick as his mystery tag team partner as he avenged his loss against Lewis and Gunn. he then lost to Micken in dubious circumstances in February, before returning that night to support his Damned Nation team-mate Aisu to even the score against the A-List as he beat Falcon.

 

After he beat Eric Canyon in SWA in March to qualify for their "Laird of the Ring" tournament, Majik returned to 3CW, where he teamed with Aisu to defeat Dan Evans and Darkside in an excellent main event in Northallerton for "Fighters Destiny 2007". Back north of the border, Majik challenged new NWA Scottish Champion Falcon for the belt, in a 3-way that also featured Johnny Moss. I don't imagine this bout could have been anything less than fantastic....

 

Damned Nation had, by this point, made their debut in RQW. Interrupting a singles match between fellow 3CW wrestlers Cameron Kraze and Dan Evans, Majik and Aisu beat them in an impromtu tag match in March, before steamrolling through Mad Man Manson and JP Monroe in April. They then teamed with Cruiserweight Champion Red Vinny to beat the bizarre team of Phil Bedwell, Ippei Ota and Kelly Adams in June in Colchester on the first RQW TV taping outside of London.

 

Making a shock return to 1PW at the "Know Your Enemy" weekend, Majik, Aisu and Grey ran in from the crowd and stole "their" 1PW World Tag Team Title belts, before disappearing again in a sea of confusion. They reappeared on Night Two of the weekender to square off against 1PW security, wrestlers and big wigs as they called out the entire promotion in what was reportedly a superb angle. Claiming to be the real 1PW World Tag Team champions, Damned Nation then appeared in another fabulous 3CW tag team main event, falling to Chris Whitton and Kid Richie at "Festival Fury" in Thirsk. Aisu and Majik have been "called out" by 1PW for a match against the Dragonhearts (Spud and Dragon Phoenix....or possibly Ross Jordan) this coming weekend at "Invincible".

 

Throughout all of this, Majik has had somewhat of a starring role down at Triple-X Wrestling in Coventry. He defeated Chris Charizma at "Chop Him in the Face!!" in July, but failed to win Charizma's Ax Title since the 24/7 nature of that championship saw Jet Black sneak in and win it while Majik's match was going on. He was to have more TXW championship luck at the next show in September ("~"), as he took advantage of assistance from Gabriel Grey (acting as MC, or "host" for the evening) to beat Conscience and Devilman in a 3-way to become the first Smash Champion in a bout that saw Devilman break his ankle. Returning to TXW in February 2007, Majik teamed with Aisu as the Damned Nation made short work of time-travelling father/son combination CK Light and Andy Shoes. The beating continued after the bell, causing Devilman to declare himself fit again in making the save. Majik and Aisu would attempt to put Devilman out of action again later that night, only to be run off by eXodus and JekkeL, setting up TXW's next big feud.

 

The big Majik vs. Devilman grudge match took place at the "First Annual First Anniversary Show I" on Easter Sunday, with Majik retaining his Smash Title (which carries submission-only rules) in a violent Lumberfuckingjack match when Devilman tapped out to a chair-assisted ankle-lock. Post-match, Majik and Aisu got into another tussle with exOdus and jeKKel, this time leaving them laying in the middle of the ring....looking for revenge. At the last TXW show, Majik teamed with Grey to face his old SWA nemesis Conscience again, but found himself getting "potatoed" at ringside as Grey fell victim to what can only be described as a Burning Hammer. The big Damned Nation showdown with exodUs and JeKkEl, which is by far the most important match TXW could put on at the moment, will surely see further build up before 2007 is done...

 

This is by no means the be-all and end-all of Majik's last 12-months, since I have not mentioned his IPW:UK Portsmouth appearance, or his adventures on the continent, or at various other promotions across the land. One match that is hotly anticipated at present is his showdown with Spinner McKenzie on the upcoming "The Gathering " Scottish supershow in Glasgow, which will surely be mentioned in his high-placed UKFF 50 write-up this time next year...

 

Photo (left, with Dragon Aisu) - Majik

******************************************************

Still to appear (alphabetical order):

 

Bubblegum

El Ligero

Pac

Spud

Martin Stone

Doug Williams

Edited August 16, 2007 by UK Hat Guy

[Big Rob]

I would have never pegged that either Bubblegum or El Ligero (or perhaps both) would be in the top 5. That being said, Ligero is about alot and has improved as well.