Hello there wrasslin’ fans! My name is Steve Dawson and I’m psyched to be part of the BritWres Review team!
Though I have very hazy memories of watching the original World Of Sport on TV, I became a proper wrestling fan through my Dad buying me Wrestlemania 7 one day (I remember being fascinated by Hulk Hogan snarling at Sgt. Slaughter on the video box!). While I was an undoubted Hulkamaniac by the time the show finished, I was blown away by the Randy Savage v Ultimate Warrior bout, and consider it a huge part of why I’ve been a fan for nearly 25 years. I had to rely on my parents buying random PPV videos for the next few years, until I lost interest in 1995. I picked it up again in 2000 after Channel 4 (a channel I actually had!) started showing a few PPV’s, and I borrowed a few tapes off my little cousin who was becoming a big fan in his own right. When I got Sky in 2001 I was able to finally become a full time WWE fan, and I’ve been watching ever since (maybe taking breaks for a few months occasionally when it went to shit).
If we’re going to talk about favourite wrestlers of all time, then the 3 that would be first off my lips would be Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart. The Savage match at Mania 7 is what hooked me in as a child, and even back then I saw he had that incredible charisma I’ve still yet to see from anyone else. I missed out on Shawn’s first main event run (but have since revisited parts of it thanks to the Network), and even after he came back from his injury, he still performed to his very best. The amount of 5 star matches he’s had is insane! And finally to Bret Hart, who was my hero from 1992-1994. Even back then as a youngster I could see how crisp and precise he was, and to see someone rise from the midcard of Mania 7 to WWE Champ in little over a year was so cool!
In terms of British Wrestling, although I went to a Revolution Pro show in 2014 (great wrestling, but treated terribly when my seats were double-booked, which almost soured me on the whole of British Wrestling) it was Progress Wrestling that made me fall in love with the whole BritWres scene. I’m still yet to miss a Chapter show based in London since Spring 2014! Seeing the big British indy stars of today like Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll work their way up has been incredible to see first hand. I’m also a massive fan of everyone’s favourite psycho Jimmy Havoc. The atmosphere when Jimmy first came out at my first show is something I’ll never forget.
I’ll finish off by mentioning a few of my favourite matches I’ve seen live. I was lucky enough to be in NYC for Summerslam weekend last year, and witnessed the 2 best live WWE matches I’ve seen. From the NXT Takeover show, DIY vs The Revival was just a masterclass of tag team wrestling and nearfalls. Never experienced a crowd like I did for that match. And from the Summerslam show, the fantastic AJ Styles v John Cena match exceeded all expectations! Moving on to BritWres, I have to mention the amazing Ricochet/Rich Swann v Swords Of Essex match from Revolution Pro. I’d never seen tag wrestling like it before, and even back then I could see Ospreay had ‘it’! And from Progress the first one that springs to mind is the amazing Mark Haskins v Johnny Gargano match which was actually for the Smash Wrestling Title. Just a totally hard-hitting wrestling clinic with a super-hot finish and amazing post-match celebrations!
So that’s me! Have to say I’m really looking forward to seeing more great graps in 2017 and beyond and letting everyone here know what I think. You can mainly find me at Progress but I also pop up at Southside, IPW, and I’ve even booked up my first Fight Club Pro show in a few months!
Follow Steve on Twitter - @TopRopeElbow
Though I have very hazy memories of watching the original World Of Sport on TV, I became a proper wrestling fan through my Dad buying me Wrestlemania 7 one day (I remember being fascinated by Hulk Hogan snarling at Sgt. Slaughter on the video box!). While I was an undoubted Hulkamaniac by the time the show finished, I was blown away by the Randy Savage v Ultimate Warrior bout, and consider it a huge part of why I’ve been a fan for nearly 25 years. I had to rely on my parents buying random PPV videos for the next few years, until I lost interest in 1995. I picked it up again in 2000 after Channel 4 (a channel I actually had!) started showing a few PPV’s, and I borrowed a few tapes off my little cousin who was becoming a big fan in his own right. When I got Sky in 2001 I was able to finally become a full time WWE fan, and I’ve been watching ever since (maybe taking breaks for a few months occasionally when it went to shit).
If we’re going to talk about favourite wrestlers of all time, then the 3 that would be first off my lips would be Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart. The Savage match at Mania 7 is what hooked me in as a child, and even back then I saw he had that incredible charisma I’ve still yet to see from anyone else. I missed out on Shawn’s first main event run (but have since revisited parts of it thanks to the Network), and even after he came back from his injury, he still performed to his very best. The amount of 5 star matches he’s had is insane! And finally to Bret Hart, who was my hero from 1992-1994. Even back then as a youngster I could see how crisp and precise he was, and to see someone rise from the midcard of Mania 7 to WWE Champ in little over a year was so cool!
In terms of British Wrestling, although I went to a Revolution Pro show in 2014 (great wrestling, but treated terribly when my seats were double-booked, which almost soured me on the whole of British Wrestling) it was Progress Wrestling that made me fall in love with the whole BritWres scene. I’m still yet to miss a Chapter show based in London since Spring 2014! Seeing the big British indy stars of today like Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll work their way up has been incredible to see first hand. I’m also a massive fan of everyone’s favourite psycho Jimmy Havoc. The atmosphere when Jimmy first came out at my first show is something I’ll never forget.
I’ll finish off by mentioning a few of my favourite matches I’ve seen live. I was lucky enough to be in NYC for Summerslam weekend last year, and witnessed the 2 best live WWE matches I’ve seen. From the NXT Takeover show, DIY vs The Revival was just a masterclass of tag team wrestling and nearfalls. Never experienced a crowd like I did for that match. And from the Summerslam show, the fantastic AJ Styles v John Cena match exceeded all expectations! Moving on to BritWres, I have to mention the amazing Ricochet/Rich Swann v Swords Of Essex match from Revolution Pro. I’d never seen tag wrestling like it before, and even back then I could see Ospreay had ‘it’! And from Progress the first one that springs to mind is the amazing Mark Haskins v Johnny Gargano match which was actually for the Smash Wrestling Title. Just a totally hard-hitting wrestling clinic with a super-hot finish and amazing post-match celebrations!
So that’s me! Have to say I’m really looking forward to seeing more great graps in 2017 and beyond and letting everyone here know what I think. You can mainly find me at Progress but I also pop up at Southside, IPW, and I’ve even booked up my first Fight Club Pro show in a few months!
Follow Steve on Twitter - @TopRopeElbow