ARTICLE: From Behind The Announce Desk #7
Posted by Daniel Edler
IPW:UK commentator Dave “Stats” Bradshaw looks back on an anniversary show unlike any other...
Replace “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” with “Pin the Eagle to the Canvas”. Substitute “Pass the Parcel” with “Run the Gauntlet”. Instead of playing “Musical Chairs”, have a good old game of “Tables, Ladders and Chairs”. Yes, IPW:UK became five years old this past weekend – but this was never going to be an ordinary birthday party. Our 5th anniversary show was arguably the most hotly anticipated show in the company’s history – one fan even travelled across an ocean just to see it – and I doubt anyone was disappointed. Sunday’s extravaganza in Sittingbourne was something a bit special to say the least.
I explained last month why I thought TLC would be a match for the ages, but I still wasn’t prepared for just how much of a rollercoaster ride it would be to sit at ringside and call such a dangerous type of match for the first time in my career. One minute I was excited at the spectacle I was about to witness. The next minute I was sick with worry – watching any wrestler lay motionless after getting dumped on his head through two chairs would be harrowing but when the young man in question is someone you know, it is almost unbearable. The same could be said of witnessing someone leap off a 20 foot balcony into a crowd, or seeing a man get driven through a table to the arena floor. At other times in the match my main feeling was one of awe – I remember looking around the hall at one point and seeing everyone in the building on their feet, totally transfixed by what they were watching. At the end of the match, I had this weird sense of watching history unfold in front of my eyes as the Leaders celebrated their decisive title win. And now, a few days later, my main feeling about the match is one of gratitude – the risks that these four young athletes took with their bodies for the sake of our entertainment were simply mind-blowing. I can’t deny there were times during the match when part of me wished it would end for the sake of their well-being, but when the final bell rang I just felt fortunate that I will always be able to say “I was there for the Leaders and the Thrillers in TLC”.
On the subject of well-being, I should probably give you an injury update at this point. I spoke with Marty Scurll on Monday afternoon and he is fine – battered and bruised but no serious damage. Miraculously, it now seems that Zack Sabre Jr only suffered a severe stinger from that tombstone piledriver through the chairs. Zack refused to go to hospital after the show but is apparently recovering nicely and should not miss any ring time. As for the Thrillers, they refused to speak with anyone after their defeat but I gather that neither Joel Redman or Mark Haskins are suffering from any physical injuries that were worse than the damage done to their pride.
One man who did head to the hospital on Sunday night after some convincing was our first ever unified British Heavyweight Champion. Leroy Kincaide had some pain in his arm after his brutal war against Alex Shane so went to have it checked out, but he was still smiling from ear to ear as he left the building. It is quite a moment in any wrestler’s career to win the British Heavyweight Championship for the first time, but to make history by unifying two belts with such rich histories as the IPW:UK and All England titles is an achievement that almost defies description. I have always found Leroy to be a thoroughly humble and decent guy, and I know how much it means to him to be the owner of that belt. I don’t think there is anyone on the UK scene right now who has more star potential than he does, and I couldn’t be more pleased to see him crowned as our champion. I expect his will be a long and memorable reign.
I suppose I cannot go any further into this month’s column without addressing Leroy’s opponent from Sunday. Let me first say this: I do not believe for one second that Alex Shane is a racist. That being said, I do believe that “The Showstealer” is one of the most self-absorbed men in wrestling, and that there is no line he will not cross if it will help him to retain the glory and wealth that comes with being a champion. Shane had clearly decided that he could not beat Kincaide for strength or agility, so he tried to play his trump card: psychology. Without ever saying anything overtly discriminatory, the wily veteran used a string of double entendres to get in his opponent’s head, like talking about how Leroy likes to “throw a spear” in his matches. His strategy for the match clearly depended on using his allotted microphone time to whip Kincaide into such a rage that the young powerhouse would stop thinking clearly. It almost worked too – Leroy foolishly went to the top rope early and made a nearly fatal mistake, but he was able to recover after the IPW wrestlers and fans stunned Shane by blocking his path as he tried to walk away from the match. What happened next was very satisfying - there is surely no more resounding response to a man who will stoop so low in pursuit of victory than to spear him out of his shoes and take his title. That’s what Leroy did on Sunday, and that was part of the reason he received such a passionate ovation from the capacity Sittingbourne crowd.
The good news for all of Shane’s critics is that I sincerely doubt we will ever see him in an IPW ring again, for reasons that run far deeper than his pre-match comments on Sunday or his assault on a fan at ringside during the match. The more knowledgeable IPW fans in the crowd on Sunday were jeering the champion from the moment he entered the arena, despite the fact that he had not done anything in the ring to turn them against him since they cheered his title win five months ago. In fact, that was the exact problem –Shane had not been seen at all in an IPW ring since that fateful night in April. This was because of an ongoing dispute with the company’s management – Shane claims he was never offered a fair amount to defend the title, while IPW bosses and many fans think that he was reneging on his promise to be a fighting champion, making unreasonable demands so that he could cling on to the gold for as long as possible. This argument is as real as it gets – I can assure you that ring announcer and matchmaker Andy Quildan meant every word when he told fans after the match that they had seen the last of “The Showstealer” in IPW.
Among the other big stories coming out of Sunday is the unexpected and unwelcome arrival of Danny Garnell, who blindsided Martin Stone after the Guv’nor picked up an impressive victory in the heavyweight gauntlet. It now seems that this was part of a calculated plan on the part of Garnell and his allies the All Stars to mount an assault on IPW:UK by targeting the most successful champion in its history. Thankfully, Stone’s friends the Kartel were still in the building after a freak accident had cost them their match earlier in the evening. Frazier and Samuels quickly put a dampener on their new rivals’ plans – hopefully they and Stone can rid the company of this invading force altogether in the annual Brawl at the Hall when we return to Sittingbourne on 22nd November.
For what it’s worth, my opinion of the gauntlet match itself was that it was a very entertaining bout, especially considering how ill-fated it seemed to be – first Dave Moralez and then Erick Stevens had to withdraw through injury shortly before the event. Moralez is suffering from a cracked ankle bone and some ligament damage which will put him on the shelf for a few weeks – hopefully he can make a quick recovery before heading off to spend the autumn training at Ohio Valley Wrestling. Meanwhile, Erick Stevens injured his knee while delivering a powerbomb to Jon Ryan at a match in Germany the night before his scheduled IPW debut – hopefully the Ring of Honor star will still be able to pay us a visit in the near future, because I am sure he would be an impressive addition to our hugely competitive heavyweight division.
Aside from the Leaders’ main event victory, the other big feel-good moment on Sunday was watching Spud finally get a win against Nick “Oblivion” Aldis. The former Gladiator has developed a lot during 2009 and is a much tougher proposition than he was even as recently as February when the two first collided, so Spud’s victory at the weekend was all the more impressive. Throughout IPW’s history Spud has proven that he is one of the most versatile performers on the roster, and you can tell how much the fans love him from the rock star reaction he received when he finally scored the pinfall. Similarly, the British Eagle has become a real favourite in recent months and was impressive again this week despite narrowly losing to Jonny Storm. I would love to see Spud and the Eagle collide somewhere down the road.
Before I go, I want to echo the Leaders’ sentiments at the end of Sunday’s show about Andy Quildan. After IPW:UK lost its regular homes in Orpington and then Bromley during 2008, there were plenty of people at the start of this year wondering whether the company could recover. But, quietly and without much fanfare, Andy has transformed IPW by running with three distinct types of show at one time: as well as establishing a new home in Sittingbourne for the type of bi-monthly show that made IPW famous, he has run more family-oriented shows than ever before including a great summer season at a holiday park in Selsey, and has brought in wildly entertaining over-18s shows like last week’s “Hardcore Lottery” at Chatham’s Tap n Tin. You can tell just by his ring announcing that he understands the vibe of each different type of audience, and the way he has booked and promoted shows this year puts that fact beyond any doubt. He is one of the four or five people responsible for breaking me into the wrestling business during the past 12 months, and I owe him a lot – as does everyone who was in Sittingbourne on Sunday to see how healthy IPW is as it enters its second half-decade. Thank you, Andy.
That’s all for now – I’m looking forward to starting my second year and IPW’s sixth when we head to Swanley three weeks from now for “Make or Break”, featuring the return of former WWE star Dave Taylor. Then we are back to Sittingbourne for the Brawl at the Hall in November, as CZW’s Sabian comes back to the UK with his tag partner Rukkus. Both nights should be awesome – hopefully I’ll see you ringside…
Replace “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” with “Pin the Eagle to the Canvas”. Substitute “Pass the Parcel” with “Run the Gauntlet”. Instead of playing “Musical Chairs”, have a good old game of “Tables, Ladders and Chairs”. Yes, IPW:UK became five years old this past weekend – but this was never going to be an ordinary birthday party. Our 5th anniversary show was arguably the most hotly anticipated show in the company’s history – one fan even travelled across an ocean just to see it – and I doubt anyone was disappointed. Sunday’s extravaganza in Sittingbourne was something a bit special to say the least.
I explained last month why I thought TLC would be a match for the ages, but I still wasn’t prepared for just how much of a rollercoaster ride it would be to sit at ringside and call such a dangerous type of match for the first time in my career. One minute I was excited at the spectacle I was about to witness. The next minute I was sick with worry – watching any wrestler lay motionless after getting dumped on his head through two chairs would be harrowing but when the young man in question is someone you know, it is almost unbearable. The same could be said of witnessing someone leap off a 20 foot balcony into a crowd, or seeing a man get driven through a table to the arena floor. At other times in the match my main feeling was one of awe – I remember looking around the hall at one point and seeing everyone in the building on their feet, totally transfixed by what they were watching. At the end of the match, I had this weird sense of watching history unfold in front of my eyes as the Leaders celebrated their decisive title win. And now, a few days later, my main feeling about the match is one of gratitude – the risks that these four young athletes took with their bodies for the sake of our entertainment were simply mind-blowing. I can’t deny there were times during the match when part of me wished it would end for the sake of their well-being, but when the final bell rang I just felt fortunate that I will always be able to say “I was there for the Leaders and the Thrillers in TLC”.
On the subject of well-being, I should probably give you an injury update at this point. I spoke with Marty Scurll on Monday afternoon and he is fine – battered and bruised but no serious damage. Miraculously, it now seems that Zack Sabre Jr only suffered a severe stinger from that tombstone piledriver through the chairs. Zack refused to go to hospital after the show but is apparently recovering nicely and should not miss any ring time. As for the Thrillers, they refused to speak with anyone after their defeat but I gather that neither Joel Redman or Mark Haskins are suffering from any physical injuries that were worse than the damage done to their pride.
One man who did head to the hospital on Sunday night after some convincing was our first ever unified British Heavyweight Champion. Leroy Kincaide had some pain in his arm after his brutal war against Alex Shane so went to have it checked out, but he was still smiling from ear to ear as he left the building. It is quite a moment in any wrestler’s career to win the British Heavyweight Championship for the first time, but to make history by unifying two belts with such rich histories as the IPW:UK and All England titles is an achievement that almost defies description. I have always found Leroy to be a thoroughly humble and decent guy, and I know how much it means to him to be the owner of that belt. I don’t think there is anyone on the UK scene right now who has more star potential than he does, and I couldn’t be more pleased to see him crowned as our champion. I expect his will be a long and memorable reign.
I suppose I cannot go any further into this month’s column without addressing Leroy’s opponent from Sunday. Let me first say this: I do not believe for one second that Alex Shane is a racist. That being said, I do believe that “The Showstealer” is one of the most self-absorbed men in wrestling, and that there is no line he will not cross if it will help him to retain the glory and wealth that comes with being a champion. Shane had clearly decided that he could not beat Kincaide for strength or agility, so he tried to play his trump card: psychology. Without ever saying anything overtly discriminatory, the wily veteran used a string of double entendres to get in his opponent’s head, like talking about how Leroy likes to “throw a spear” in his matches. His strategy for the match clearly depended on using his allotted microphone time to whip Kincaide into such a rage that the young powerhouse would stop thinking clearly. It almost worked too – Leroy foolishly went to the top rope early and made a nearly fatal mistake, but he was able to recover after the IPW wrestlers and fans stunned Shane by blocking his path as he tried to walk away from the match. What happened next was very satisfying - there is surely no more resounding response to a man who will stoop so low in pursuit of victory than to spear him out of his shoes and take his title. That’s what Leroy did on Sunday, and that was part of the reason he received such a passionate ovation from the capacity Sittingbourne crowd.
The good news for all of Shane’s critics is that I sincerely doubt we will ever see him in an IPW ring again, for reasons that run far deeper than his pre-match comments on Sunday or his assault on a fan at ringside during the match. The more knowledgeable IPW fans in the crowd on Sunday were jeering the champion from the moment he entered the arena, despite the fact that he had not done anything in the ring to turn them against him since they cheered his title win five months ago. In fact, that was the exact problem –Shane had not been seen at all in an IPW ring since that fateful night in April. This was because of an ongoing dispute with the company’s management – Shane claims he was never offered a fair amount to defend the title, while IPW bosses and many fans think that he was reneging on his promise to be a fighting champion, making unreasonable demands so that he could cling on to the gold for as long as possible. This argument is as real as it gets – I can assure you that ring announcer and matchmaker Andy Quildan meant every word when he told fans after the match that they had seen the last of “The Showstealer” in IPW.
Among the other big stories coming out of Sunday is the unexpected and unwelcome arrival of Danny Garnell, who blindsided Martin Stone after the Guv’nor picked up an impressive victory in the heavyweight gauntlet. It now seems that this was part of a calculated plan on the part of Garnell and his allies the All Stars to mount an assault on IPW:UK by targeting the most successful champion in its history. Thankfully, Stone’s friends the Kartel were still in the building after a freak accident had cost them their match earlier in the evening. Frazier and Samuels quickly put a dampener on their new rivals’ plans – hopefully they and Stone can rid the company of this invading force altogether in the annual Brawl at the Hall when we return to Sittingbourne on 22nd November.
For what it’s worth, my opinion of the gauntlet match itself was that it was a very entertaining bout, especially considering how ill-fated it seemed to be – first Dave Moralez and then Erick Stevens had to withdraw through injury shortly before the event. Moralez is suffering from a cracked ankle bone and some ligament damage which will put him on the shelf for a few weeks – hopefully he can make a quick recovery before heading off to spend the autumn training at Ohio Valley Wrestling. Meanwhile, Erick Stevens injured his knee while delivering a powerbomb to Jon Ryan at a match in Germany the night before his scheduled IPW debut – hopefully the Ring of Honor star will still be able to pay us a visit in the near future, because I am sure he would be an impressive addition to our hugely competitive heavyweight division.
Aside from the Leaders’ main event victory, the other big feel-good moment on Sunday was watching Spud finally get a win against Nick “Oblivion” Aldis. The former Gladiator has developed a lot during 2009 and is a much tougher proposition than he was even as recently as February when the two first collided, so Spud’s victory at the weekend was all the more impressive. Throughout IPW’s history Spud has proven that he is one of the most versatile performers on the roster, and you can tell how much the fans love him from the rock star reaction he received when he finally scored the pinfall. Similarly, the British Eagle has become a real favourite in recent months and was impressive again this week despite narrowly losing to Jonny Storm. I would love to see Spud and the Eagle collide somewhere down the road.
Before I go, I want to echo the Leaders’ sentiments at the end of Sunday’s show about Andy Quildan. After IPW:UK lost its regular homes in Orpington and then Bromley during 2008, there were plenty of people at the start of this year wondering whether the company could recover. But, quietly and without much fanfare, Andy has transformed IPW by running with three distinct types of show at one time: as well as establishing a new home in Sittingbourne for the type of bi-monthly show that made IPW famous, he has run more family-oriented shows than ever before including a great summer season at a holiday park in Selsey, and has brought in wildly entertaining over-18s shows like last week’s “Hardcore Lottery” at Chatham’s Tap n Tin. You can tell just by his ring announcing that he understands the vibe of each different type of audience, and the way he has booked and promoted shows this year puts that fact beyond any doubt. He is one of the four or five people responsible for breaking me into the wrestling business during the past 12 months, and I owe him a lot – as does everyone who was in Sittingbourne on Sunday to see how healthy IPW is as it enters its second half-decade. Thank you, Andy.
That’s all for now – I’m looking forward to starting my second year and IPW’s sixth when we head to Swanley three weeks from now for “Make or Break”, featuring the return of former WWE star Dave Taylor. Then we are back to Sittingbourne for the Brawl at the Hall in November, as CZW’s Sabian comes back to the UK with his tag partner Rukkus. Both nights should be awesome – hopefully I’ll see you ringside…