My name is Josh and I am one of those smart marks Brian Pillman warned you about.
I initially got into when I got SmackDown Just Bring It as the first game for my PlayStation 2 at that time it was the only way I could get access to wrestling as we didn’t get the pay channels that carried the WWF. After much begging and pleading I got my Grandad to start making VHS tapes of the shows that were replayed on Sky Sports for me and I started watching SmackDown any time that I could falling in love with guys like Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle and Chris Beniot. The thing that sticks out most in my mind from that time though is a SummerSlam TV ad that involved a shark an F5 and Brock Lesnar. Like most kids I fell out of love with wrestling when I was starting secondary school and kept away for nearly 5 years but that is when I found we had access to Spike tv and on Sundays they would have something I had never seen before TNA pay per views on all day for free.
The X division immediately made me fall back in love with wrestling guys like Petey Williams, Aj Styles, Samoa Joe, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelly and Jay Lethal. The tag division made me fall in love with tag team wrestling with the likes of LAX, Americas Most Wanted, Team Canada, Beer Money, Generation Me and the Motor City Machine Guns. To make things even better one of my other favourites Kurt Angle was back and it became a ritual to grab all the snacks in the house and spend my Sundays watching TNA all day.
But I wanted more I was curious what had happened to all the guys in the WWF and what it was like now two of my favourites were dead, Lesner was in UFC and the white boy rapper I had kinda liked was now the top guy in the business and I hated him for it, as a teenager I needed someone who went against the grain of the WWE someone different someone who stood out the gun powder was there to create a wrestling fanatic I just need a spark to light it, I got a pipe bomb. CM Punk turned me into the wrestling fan I am today, I love the look, the promos, his in ring work, the theme and the fact he was now the WWE champion and kept John Cena at bay only made me love him even more. Slowly but surely I started to appreciate the other under rated diamonds in the WWE Daniel Bryan (back when he was a “LOSER A NERD” – Michael Cole) Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Evan Bourne and Drew Galloway.
Then I heard rumors some WWE starts were coming to do a show at our local town hall NGW New Dawn event with Brian Kendrick and Paul London one of my favourite tag teams in WWE back in the day (at that time the longest reigning tag champs as well to boot) but the most important match was the first of a night, it was the first time I saw the man who would go on to be my current favourite wrestler a fur coat, a top knot and an umbrella the newly christened Villain Marty Scurll, I was hooked.
Since then I have attended events for ROH, ICW, WWE, NXT, Lucha Forever, Progress, 5Star Wrestling (an evening to remember for the wrong reasons) and nearly every WCPW since the promotion started last year. I’ve also amassed a huge collection of wrestling dvds and blu rays from the likes of PWG, ROH, WxW and New Japan. If I had to nail it down I’d say I mostly watch Japanese and indie wrestling now but I still keep up with WWE storylines and watch every PPV they put out.
For anyone who cares my personal top 3 matches would be
3. AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura Wrestlekingdom 10
2. CM Punk vs John Cena Money in the Bank 2011
1. Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada Wrestlekingdom 11
And the best match I have ever seen live would be Travis Banks vs Zack Saber Jr at WCPWs Lights out event earlier this year, though seeing Will Ospreay and Ricochet break a ring in Milton Keynes was pretty impressive as well I also saw my first ever live title change last November for ROH when Will Ospreay beat Bobby Fish for the ROH TV Championship on his first night in the promotion.
I’ll be covering Insane Championship Wrestling for this site I’ll try and keep the reviews as PG as possible but you must remember this promotion is based in Scotland where the air is blue to make up for the lack of blue skies. I hope while I’m writing here I can keep making more fans of independent wrestling as a whole because the more fans the more shows and the more great content we’ll all get.
You can find me on twitter @Juliejwl777
I initially got into when I got SmackDown Just Bring It as the first game for my PlayStation 2 at that time it was the only way I could get access to wrestling as we didn’t get the pay channels that carried the WWF. After much begging and pleading I got my Grandad to start making VHS tapes of the shows that were replayed on Sky Sports for me and I started watching SmackDown any time that I could falling in love with guys like Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle and Chris Beniot. The thing that sticks out most in my mind from that time though is a SummerSlam TV ad that involved a shark an F5 and Brock Lesnar. Like most kids I fell out of love with wrestling when I was starting secondary school and kept away for nearly 5 years but that is when I found we had access to Spike tv and on Sundays they would have something I had never seen before TNA pay per views on all day for free.
The X division immediately made me fall back in love with wrestling guys like Petey Williams, Aj Styles, Samoa Joe, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelly and Jay Lethal. The tag division made me fall in love with tag team wrestling with the likes of LAX, Americas Most Wanted, Team Canada, Beer Money, Generation Me and the Motor City Machine Guns. To make things even better one of my other favourites Kurt Angle was back and it became a ritual to grab all the snacks in the house and spend my Sundays watching TNA all day.
But I wanted more I was curious what had happened to all the guys in the WWF and what it was like now two of my favourites were dead, Lesner was in UFC and the white boy rapper I had kinda liked was now the top guy in the business and I hated him for it, as a teenager I needed someone who went against the grain of the WWE someone different someone who stood out the gun powder was there to create a wrestling fanatic I just need a spark to light it, I got a pipe bomb. CM Punk turned me into the wrestling fan I am today, I love the look, the promos, his in ring work, the theme and the fact he was now the WWE champion and kept John Cena at bay only made me love him even more. Slowly but surely I started to appreciate the other under rated diamonds in the WWE Daniel Bryan (back when he was a “LOSER A NERD” – Michael Cole) Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Evan Bourne and Drew Galloway.
Then I heard rumors some WWE starts were coming to do a show at our local town hall NGW New Dawn event with Brian Kendrick and Paul London one of my favourite tag teams in WWE back in the day (at that time the longest reigning tag champs as well to boot) but the most important match was the first of a night, it was the first time I saw the man who would go on to be my current favourite wrestler a fur coat, a top knot and an umbrella the newly christened Villain Marty Scurll, I was hooked.
Since then I have attended events for ROH, ICW, WWE, NXT, Lucha Forever, Progress, 5Star Wrestling (an evening to remember for the wrong reasons) and nearly every WCPW since the promotion started last year. I’ve also amassed a huge collection of wrestling dvds and blu rays from the likes of PWG, ROH, WxW and New Japan. If I had to nail it down I’d say I mostly watch Japanese and indie wrestling now but I still keep up with WWE storylines and watch every PPV they put out.
For anyone who cares my personal top 3 matches would be
3. AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura Wrestlekingdom 10
2. CM Punk vs John Cena Money in the Bank 2011
1. Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada Wrestlekingdom 11
And the best match I have ever seen live would be Travis Banks vs Zack Saber Jr at WCPWs Lights out event earlier this year, though seeing Will Ospreay and Ricochet break a ring in Milton Keynes was pretty impressive as well I also saw my first ever live title change last November for ROH when Will Ospreay beat Bobby Fish for the ROH TV Championship on his first night in the promotion.
I’ll be covering Insane Championship Wrestling for this site I’ll try and keep the reviews as PG as possible but you must remember this promotion is based in Scotland where the air is blue to make up for the lack of blue skies. I hope while I’m writing here I can keep making more fans of independent wrestling as a whole because the more fans the more shows and the more great content we’ll all get.
You can find me on twitter @Juliejwl777