The Thrillers (Iestyn Rees, Mark Haskins, James Tighe & Ricky Hype w/ Gilligan Gordon)

• Career Highlights: The formation of The Thrillers, July 14 2007. Winning IPW Singles and Tag gold in the space of one week in September 08.

Very few people believed Gentleman Gilligan Gordon as he boasted during the latter part of 2007 that his protégés the Thrillers would become the dominant force in British wrestling. Given that they had previously been afternoon show card-fillers, it was hard for many to believe that the team of “Star Attraction” Mark Haskins, “Physical Specimen” Joel Redman and “The Fitness” Ricky Hype would pose a serious threat to IPW:UK’s finest. But by the time 2008 began, the designer suit-clad trio had started to back up their claims with a series of upset wins. People were beginning to sit up and take notice.

Brimming with confidence, Gordon recruited “Irresistible” Iestyn Rees to become the centerpiece of the group and started demanding that they be given opportunities to win championship gold. This backfired spectacularly at Royale Rewards in May when Haskins and Redman, then RQW tag team titleholders, challenged IPW:UK champs The Kartel to a unification match, which they lost. Despite this setback, the Thrillers continued to hound the Kartel and started to also turn their sights towards IPW:UK champion Martin Stone.

Gordon had promised Iestyn Rees that he would be the champion, and sent in each of his men to try and win the belt on Rees’s behalf while the Irresistible One “recovered” from a dubious leg injury. Stone beat them all, including the former WWE star Doug Basham, whose services were hired when all of the other Thrillers failed to get the job done. Finally, though, Gordon got the break he was looking for by gaining a tainted victory himself against the Guv’nor in a First Blood match at Summer Sizzler. As a result of that win, Gordon was entitled to name the stipulations for Stone’s match with Rees the following month.

By placing himself and his team around the ring, Gordon had stacked the deck against the champion but after the Kartel and Leroy Kincaide ran to the ring and evened the odds, it looked as though Rees might still be unsuccessful. Luckily for him, Gordon had a back-up plan, and Rees pinned Stone for the title after a brutal sneak attack from the returning Alex Shane. Just one week later, Haskins and Redman won the tag belts from the Kartel, and suddenly the wrestling world realised to its horror that Gordon’s promise of domination had come true.

2009 was not as golden as 2008, however, as after long and storied feuds, Rees lost the IPW:UK title to the aforementioned 'Showstealer' Alex Shane, the tag gold was lost and never regained from The Leaders combo of Scurll and Sabre, and in November of 09, the final gold was torn from the waist of the Thrillers, as The Lion Kid defeated Mark Haskins for the British Cruiserweight title.

Moving into 2010, still despised by fans and fellow wrestlers alike for their cocky attitude and underhanded tactics, The Thrillers went months without a figurehead, as the depressed Gordon was nowhere to be found. However, upon his return with former champion Rees, Gordon clearly had new plans. Rees was ready to go back for the top gold having returned from near-career ending knee surgery, while on the other side of the coin the most active member of the group, Mark Haskins, had made the voyage into the Orient, debuting for Japanese promotion DragonGate, and becoming an instant hit in the process, with many more tours now confirmed.

In June, after a defeat against TNA star Doug Williams, 'Gentleman' Gilligan removed Joel Redman from the group, replacing him with the returning James Tighe during a savage beat-down. With Rees and Tighe definately on side with Gordon, now it's just over to Haskins and Hype to make their minds up as the rebuilding of 2010 continues!