This section will cover my fifth year in pro wrestling. Previous sections:
Chapter 19 – The Land of Opportunity
With 2013 in the rear view, 2014 had to have more for me surely. A slow start to the year, I really didn’t get going until mid-February. In fact, it was a bit of a trend through most of my career, in that January was nearly always a crap month for work. You got the odd rumble match every other year, and that would pretty much be your lot.
So, mid-February kicked off my 2014, and a trip to Hull City Hall, to work for Brian Dixon’s All-Star. This was a bit of a weird match for All-Star, I thought – Myself, Joseph Connors and Hull’s Matt Myers in a triple-threat. All-Star weren’t really known for the flashy three way kind of match, generally, certainly not to me anyway. Either way, whilst I didn’t put this match in a top 10 of my greatest matches, it was enough for Tish, the promotors (Brian Dixon) daughter, to invite me back for another couple of shows. The very next week in Hanley, Stoke, where I was ‘Axl Berlin’, a repeat of the match was required, with two different opponents, but basically she wanted the other two to beat the piss out of me for 15 minutes, and do a couple of missed spots. Wasn’t quite the same dynamic, but still worked in front of the theatre crowd. I can’t remember where the third match was, but this was a shower of shit. A tag match this time, and Tish motioning for us to finish the match after about 5 minutes, said all I needed to know about it. Good road trip home though, where we sat under the ‘no punches pulled’ learning tree of Max Angelus. I love Max, because I always felt that he and I were on a similar wavelength, as far as the business of pro wrestling was concerned, so any road trip, or backstage with him there was a wonderful time to be had.
As February drew to a close, my diary was beginning to fill up again for the next few months. Pro Wrestling 4u, Leicester Championship Wrestling, the rebooted HOPE, as well as the home turf, House of Pain, all penned in. Things were looking positive, and I could look to make the most of every opportunity I had to look forward to.
I’m going to break the next few chapters up a little. It would be hard to keep a timeline going without it getting confusing, so I’ll break it up to where it makes sense.
Chapter 20 – Lady Destroyer
Early 2014 saw the short-lived ‘Lady Destroyer’ gimmick/run. In hindsight, I think I/we were way early in trying to push these kinds of matches in the UK. Specifically, intergender matches. The previous year , whilst in Thailand and Japan, I got to work with female wrestlers a lot, and the tempo and ferocity of them really stood out, and made me want to have those kinds of matches at home. I’d put the call out on my personal facebook account a few times, and whilst there was a smattering of interest, nothing came of it for a little while.
Cue the House of Pain, February rumble match, and an elimination from the match by Jenna, ironically my partner at the time, culminated in a singles match between us in mid-March. This was, as I wanted it to be, the statement piece in my wanting this angle to catch the imagination, and lead to more intergender matches, both within and outside of HOP.
I wanted to really highlight Jenna in the match, and show what she was capable of, as I knew this could be an eye catching match, and could result in both of us getting more work. We worked a bit of mat wrestling where I’d outsmart her and get and get all big headed, and then have her get on top in the match, and hit a heavy strike.. And she did. She sat me down and absoloutely pummelled my spine with THE stiffest kick I’d ever experienced. I felt a tingle from top to bottom, as I rolled over to the corner, I whined to Tony the ref, asking her to not hit me so hard. What a wimp haha!
As the match continued, Jenna took control, until I ‘punched’ her in the face, to halt her momentum. I took over for a while, and worked her around the ring a little, trying not to do too much, so that when she got her comeback, her strong moves had a real impact.
As she took back over in the match, she volleyed me with a series of forearms to the face, as I said to her ‘ fire up to the crowd’ and ‘hit me again’. She worked them up, and began a great comeback, in which she gave me a German suplex, finishing off with her top rope leg drop , which looked cracking on film, but I had my leg on the rope to negate the pinfall. I think I could have mad it more obvious, and in hindsight we could’ve had the leg drop take place from a different corner, so that the bigger side of the audience see the leg. The finish came, and was actually a great suggestion – Jenna’s leg could turn to a very odd angle, with no pain, so she suggested an ankle pick of sorts, where I twist the leg to the gross angle, she’d tap out. It looked great on film, and in photographs, I think we could’ve moved around a little more and show the whole crowd what was happening, but hindsight is wonderful, and all matches should have a learning point.
Jenna did get a bit of work off of the back of the match, as did I. Which lead into an idea at HOPE later in the year, but ultimately, didn’t go anywhere. Really, all that happened there was I ended up in the ring lifting Lana Austin up by her hair. No idea why the idea got canned, but I was really disappointed that it didn’t progress, and I didn’t get to carry the idea on anywhere else.
Whilst this wouldn’t be the last time I wrestled a female, it was certainly a while until the next, and I would have loved to have picked the idea up somewhere. Ahhh well, better just wrestle dudes instead…
Chapter 21 – A New HOPE?
Late March, House of Pain: Evolution returned, albeit under a slightly different guise – House of Pain was now no longer linked, and so was now known as ‘HOPE’. What ensued was a slight reboot for ‘Evolution 4’, and the beginnings of a stable formed with myself and Barricade, as we took on LJ Heron and El Ligero. We won, thats about all I can remember to be honest, as were most matches that included myself and Ligero. I got the impression quite regularly that he didn’t like me, and didn’t particularly want to work with me. I couldn’t ever tell why, but I don’t think I was wrong.
Next up in HOPE, a show the following month, in April, I was given the opportunity to work with Martin Kirby. I’d been an admirer of Kirby for a while, his work as a singles competitor and his tag team with Kris Travis – Project Ego.
I thought this match was only OK, for some reason I felt a step off the pace, and wasn’t quite where I’d have liked, in terms of giving a good account of myself against an experienced wrestler. In addition, I don’t think I did the best I could to have got feedback and advice from him, which I was disappointed in myself with.
I often felt like I didn’t do so great in wrestling, because to me, what I did was never good enough, I always could’ve done better, so it was always really hard to be satisfied with my work. I don’t think it was a confidence thing, from a performance perspective, but certainly a lack of confidence in asking for help and advice from people who were better or more experienced than me. I certainly think I held myself back from learning as much as I possibly could at times. But then again, there were times where I did go for that feedback, and the reply was just so confusing ( mental note; ‘the batman match’, in the next chapter…)
Next in HOPE, I took on Joseph Conners in a singles match. Joe was hot off of his feud with CJ Banks, building momentum across the country as a singles guy, after breaking up with Paul Malen and ending his ‘The Predators’ tag team (different company, different feud, very well done though). I think Joe was still throwing things at the wall to see what fit him and where he was planning to go next in his development, but he was still a very experienced hand, and someone who gave it all in ring. It was at this point where Joe and I went through a run of ‘something‘ always going wrong in a match, that stopped it from being as good as it could have been. In this match, I blew my knee out, doing a jumping stomp. I just hyper extended it, and I felt it just go from underneath me. I grabbed a hold of Joe, and told him I was hurt, and we should wrap up early. Digging in to his experience, he calmed me down “work this hold, and take your time. Give it a minute”. Fucking hell, experience and a calm head counts for a lot. Anyway, he guided me through, and we finished the match, just about how we planned. I was certainly a little slower than I would’ve liked, but thanks to Joe, we got through. Knee was a bit sore, but I was Ok, when all was said and done.
The HOPE dates were regular, and I’m grateful to Dale for keeping me working, and giving me good reps, against good people. Occasionally I’d be in there with less experienced people, but as he pout it, “you’re in there as the experienced one, and I want you to work with them”. I’ll take that. People were often critical of Dale, myself included at times, he was certainly a controversial person for the majority of his time involved in wrestling, some may be warranted, sometimes not. It’s one of those things where the water gets so muddied at times, you’re not sure who to believe. I should’ve took the decision I made later down the line, which was that he never really did me wrong, or fucked me over, so I should take him as I find him. Which certainly would’ve been the right way to behave. Some of my peers suggested there was an issue with him and someone in our peer group, but I hadn’t seen anything to support, or deny it, so it wasn’t a side I wanted to take. I suspect some won’t be happy with my conclusion of him, but in all honesty, this is the way I’ve found him, in my experience.
Still, there were more matches to be had in 2014, looking into June now, and a meeting with regular foe, Danny Chase, which we tried to keep fast flowing and action packed (win for Danny by the way). A bit of a summer break, until I returned in September, for the new brand HOPE were putting together – ‘FUTR’. Dale wanted to bring in some upcoming talent. This’ll make you laugh. Message was basically;
“On the off chance, are you available later?”
” Can be if needed”
“Tyler Bate…need a heel that I can rely on as Tyler is GOOD mate…VERY good! He and Redman tore the house down last night! You are about the only one not on that I would trust with that one so if you can do it, please do”
“See you tonight then!”
2014 Tyler Bate wasn’t the Tyler Bate on WWE TV that he is now – he was a kid, with a moustache, great physique, a ton of potential, and quickly building reputation as someone who would be a star. He was, certainly, and this was actually one of the funnest matches I had all year. Really relaxed between the two of us putting the match together The Mick Foley spot, The Flying Benoit, Big Glen uppercut. Easy work. he made me crack up laughing whilst doing the big spin, whispering bollocks into my ear. I LOVED this match, just because of how fun it was.
He’s had many better matches since, I’ve had a few, but I got joy from this just being fun. Wrestling can be great sometimes. This was one of those sometimes.
Another FUTR booking followed in November, another match against Danny Chase. This one was booked because of a match we had at Pro Wrestling 4U a week earlier, and Dale wanted a similar match to that. Finish was different though, and one of our more solid efforts.
Onto the final HOPE match of the year, and it was probably my least favourite match that I had in the company. A six man tag match with myself, Barricade and LJ Heron, against Matt Hall, Money Benjamin and ‘El Cryptico’ – later ‘Ritmo’. Yeah, it was crap, and not the way I wanted to end the year in the company. Still, next year would be better, surely..?
Chapter 22 – Batman In Leicester
2014 saw a return to Leicester for Leicester Championship Wrestling. LCW became a regular home from home over the next couple of years, and I’d say that as the company rose to it’s peak, LCW was one of the most enjoyable places to work in the country at the time. I had a really good run in 2014, building some great momentum into 2015.
We started off in March, with the match I affectionately call, ‘The Batman Match‘. So, the event was LCW Ammunition, and the match was myself and my old pal, Zak Northern. We were the opening match, and John the promoter asked us for an action packed and fast paced match. So thats what we gave him. This was the finest singles match that Zak and I had, I thought. Mat wrestling, fast paced set pieces, athleticism, character work, the lot. We wanted to set the bar high for the rest of the card. Zak won, but on leaving the ring, I felt like Zak and I had delivered a great match.
On the card that evening, was Mark Haskins. I liked Mark. He himself set high standards, and he demanded that of those he worked with. He grabbed Zak and I as we sat and chatted through the match, and broke down where we thought we could do better etc. He proceeded to break down our match, highlighting the bits he liked, but pointed out everything that he felt we had done wrong, or could’ve done better. We could’ve taken the feedback the wrong way, as he did tear into elements of the match quite ferociously, but with every negative, he gave a positive and gave alternative suggestions. I honestly couldn’t complain about the feedback he gave us that evening. Did I put it all to use? No, but parts of it made sense enough for me to bear them in mind, or put them into practice in the future. More than anything else, I appreciated the time he spent with us, and the care in which he delivered his feedback. Something else I took from his advice was the fact that he said he always watches the opening match, to gauge the audience, for what they were into. I would often do the same, but after this advice, I almost always did that. So where does Batman come into this? Well, as part of his feedback, he likened wrestling to a Batman movie, and gave comparisons. It was an odd analogy, but it always stuck with me, hence, Zak and I often referring to this match as the Batman Match.
I returned to LCW in May for their ‘Mayhem’ event. Here, I’d be facing LJ Heron. A former LCW Heavyweight Champion, I didn’t take this match lightly. Previously when I’d wrestled LJ, we often struggled to come up with much, as either I was shit, or we couldn’t come up with ideas. LJ was hard to gauge to me at first. That relationship changed over time, and especially around this period, as LJ really started going for it, in terms of wrestling, and so was I. We were starting to work on a similar wavelength and things began to click. This ended up being the first match in a series that we’d have over the next 9 months, and as we grew more comfortable with each other the matches got progressively better and smoother. A decent starting point here in May.
July rolled around, and LCW’s annual ‘Summertime’ event took place, and funnily enough, it was time to put some of the advice Haskins gave me a few months earlier into practice, as he and I faced each other. Those high standards he expected of himself were evident here, and I did my best to keep up with someone who I think was one of the very best around at the time. I thought the match was decent, but I also think that I could’ve offered more in the match, in the planning stage. Also, he was quite meticulous in his ideas and planning in certain areas. I knew that I had a brain that was rattling around in my head and couldn’t retain buckets of information. I liked to work with set pieces, and to almost freestyle the rest. I always felt I had more freedom to work with the audience and get a bit of back and forth when I had less to remember. Almost all of the matches where I had less to remember were better than those where I had to retain loads of information. I hated having to say in matches “where are we” or “whats next?” because I didn’t want to seem like an idiot. I had a couple of those here, I just needed to jog my memory at one or two points in the match. More than anything else, this was a much needed and enjoyable learning experience from someone who I looked up to, wrestling wise. Again, I gained some great feedback from Mark after the match, much of it was very useful.
LCW Face Off was next in September, and, would you believe, my very first ladder match. Myself, Paul Malen, Joseph Conners, Robbie X, Xander Cooper and Ryan Smile. Being the high flyers, Ryan and Robbie were the stars of this, it was catching practice for the rest of us. Ryan getting tipped from the top of the ladder to the outside onto a bunch of us was probably the highlight. He was very giving in this match I felt, and gave me some nice pointers on ladder matches. I don’t think I actually had another one however. Yeah, not much to say really, multiman matches were never my favourites…
Another month, another LCW show, not that I was complaining, regular work, and quality opponents all year round. That trend continued as I faced up to Chris Tyler at ‘Hallowicked’ in November. In a similar vein to the batman match, Chris and I went full pelt in an action packed match, in which I wanted Chris’ abilities to be highlighted as much as possible. Plenty of flips, and hard-hitting action, I even did the inside/out bump for the first time in two years. Still a horrible landing. I loved this match though, and I think John did too, as he strapped a rocket to Chris over the next year. We would work again in the future, and that was extremely enjoyable too. I actually really enjoyed seeing how Chris progressed over the next few years, as he really was excellent.
Another November show for LCW, as they ran their first, and indeed, only – Supershow. Their first attempt at bringing in imported talent. It was pretty fun, in a big ol’ leisure centre, with bleacher seats, a bit of production. It felt good! A continuation of the LJ Heron feud, and we beat the piss out of each other here. We wanted to get across the animosity in this feud, and the hatred. I think we did, I never saw it back however. I remember taking a bump on concrete, and thinking as LJ lifted me for his Falcon Arrow “this is pretty fun”. I took the win, and the feud rolled on into 2015…
A really exciting and memorable first year in LCW, and dates in the diary for the next year too! Ball was rolling, and gaining momentum.
Chapter 23 – Stoked To Be In Staffordshire
Back to The Potteries, and a return to Pro Wrestling 4U. This was actually supposed to be my debut for the company, but that got moved forward because of being a last minute replacement back in December 2013. I already felt at home in PW4U, because of the regular communication with promoter, Phil. Phil was great at keeping in touch with talent, and asking for feedback on ideas. That relationship only ever got better whilst we worked together over the next few years. However, we needed to get started on that singles career.
The World G-Cup, was put to me back in 2013 by Phil, with his idea being a world tournament inspired by TNA’s X-Cup, and the 2014 football world cup. Obviously, me being German played right into that. He spoke of me working to the final and earning a G^ Title shot, and probably taking it. Wicked, I’m in!
First match was a four way elimination, with some of the loosest national representation ever known. See the ‘Snap, Crackle, & Cheap Pops Podcast’ (spoilers aplenty for the next few years of my life in PW4U) for his explanation of this haha. Anyway, for my part, I was German. Other competitors were representing Japan, Jamaica and Russia. A very sloppy and unsatisfying match ensued, and I won to progress. Again, I was never a fan of multiman matches, mostly because I never felt I could control them if something went awry. This was another match to solidify that thought…
Still, we move on, and plans change. Something happened with the then G6 Champ, Marc Morgan, and the belt ended up with Max Angelus. The final was hurried up, and became a 3-way elimination. Max, myself and Damien Dunne. Max and Damien were in my mind, 2 top tier talents, I felt quite a way below them. Max, very unselfishly wanted to be eliminated quickly, and leave Damien and myself to finish up. Damien eliminated Max, and we had a back and forth contest, until I eventually won. To note, we did a foot on the rope spot that wasn’t immediately obvious, and I felt that farted on the match finish. I need to stop doing foot on the rope spots…
Anyway, first championship (actually it wasn’t, but we don’t acknowledge that one). The Pro Wrestling 4U G6 Division Champion. That’s me! And it felt good!
The only downside to PW4U at the time was that it ran quarterly, so defences weren’t as plentiful as I’d have hoped at first. We did squeeze one in though, and that was against long time dance partner, Danny Chase. The match I mentioned earlier in the HOPE chapter.
We had a solid mat based wrestling match, that picked up in intensity and pace, and had a decent tempo. I hated the finish to this, some kind of shitty surfboard into a dragon sleeper. Hated it. Danny deserved better. As for the match overall, Danny and I had many better than this, I felt awkward trying to take the lead with Danny who’d been wrestling much longer than I had. I got over that eventually, but I think it showed here, despite how confident I generally felt in the ring at the end of 2015. Weird. Anyway, the continuation of a long and fruitful relationship with PW4U. Next year looked a shitload of fun though.
Chapter 24 – Frustration at Home
Life back in House of Pain, 2014 wasn’t my favourite year. I think, as momentum gained away from my home school, I wanted to be perceived as being a bit better than I was being shown. In hindsight, I was off the mark thinking that, and my role was to work with less experienced people on the whole, as I really didn’t fit in the main event scene at the time. Matches included a singles with a nervous and excitable Steve Harris. I actually liked this match as I liked Steve and his attitude to training, and wrestling in general. His nerves showed, but I did try to put him at ease. Whether I succeeded or not is up to him, but we got there. We never got another single match, which was a shame, as by the end of his time, he became quite the ring general, if a little harsh on himself at times.
I randomly got put in a tag team title match with 15 year old Matt Hopkins, a young Gabriel Kidd, and my tag partner Stevie Mitchell. On a few websites, this has been put as a title change, and that I held the title prior to the match. This wasn’t the case, Kidd was already champion, but his partner ‘Moustachio’ disappeared off the face of the earth/got a girlfriend and walked away from ‘the job’. I’d never tagged with Mitchell either, and we didn’t click here. I think I walked out on him in the match, leaving him to get beat. Somehow that was the catalyst to him starting a long Full Throttle feud with Zak Northern.
Another tag match followed, this time tagging with Jack Birchill, the former Jack Union against Money Benjamin and Matt Hall – we lost.
Then, my least favourite match of the year, a three way against Timberwolfe and Alessandro. Two comedy based characters, this was awkward, went too long, and I just didn’t enjoy it at all. The next month was a singles with Timberwolfe, I locked him in a dog crate, but that was as exciting as it got.
Oddly, we got an afternoon show before a Southside show, so we did a joint HOP/NGW show. I faced Liam Slater, then Lazarus. I really didn’t enjoy this one either, it just didn’t mesh as well as well as I’d have hoped, as I’d only heard good things about Liam. A shame.
To finish off a quite frustrating year in HOP, another tag match. Myself and the impressive HC Dyer taking on ‘Wozzy’ and a fresh faced and timid Tommy Taylor ( who would later on find his feet and be brilliant).
Things would get better in House of Pain next year for myself personally, but the later half of 2014 felt extremely frustrating.
Chapter 24.5- Just Because I Don’t Want To End on A Negative
Whilst the year in general with HOP wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be, the year as a whole was pretty damn good. Looking back has allowed me to look at things with a fresher perspective on what I achieved across 2014. As I write this, I’m 2 1/2 years removed from any involvement in pro wrestling, I have nothing at stake, and I don’t have to say that I liked things that made me unhappy, nor do I have to like or dislike people who others feel differently about. I always found British wrestling to be a weird mix of extremely selfish people, mixed with some truly wonderful people who want others to succeed, and for the scene to thrive as a whole.
As an example, I don’t want people’s take away from this to be that I hated HOP in 2014, I understand full well that Stixx had numerous roster options at the time, numerous trainees itching to get on the card as well, when we used to run one show a month, and he couldn’t keep everyone happy. Looking at the bigger picture, I can see the role he wanted me to play in the school at the time.
My role was to gain experience outside of the school, and to share that with the newer guys. I did come to that realisation toward the end of the year, and made peace with that, I feel like I delivered that, or at the very least I tried my best to achieve that over the next few years, and what I wanted to achieve in HOP changed, along with that mindset.
My focus would change in 2015, and I’d look to help some of the newer talent, and look to build a program with them, as I wanted time with people, instead of one offs. I hope that comes across in the next instalment.
2015 is gonna be a monumental year…
Juken Pro Wrestler 