British Wrestling

[mizfan]

Ah, was thinking of Super Strong Style 16. Had no idea they ran another tournament so close to that. From what I've seen of Mambo he's not bad but doesn't feel like someone who will dethrone Banks. Looking at that bracket, I wish they'd gone with someone a bit more exciting, like Bad Bones or Naoki Tanizaki, but maybe they were concerned about getting them back in the country for a timely title shot.

[Prime Time]

Apparently Stevie Boy has a stipulation if he loses at ICW Shug's Hoose Party 5 then he'll need to leave the country. I wonder if he's been picked up by the 'E....?

[mizfan]

I've never even heard of the guy, and for me that's really saying something!

[Prime Time]

Have ICW made much of an impression stateside?

[mizfan]

I heard a bit about then when Grado and Drew Galloway drew some reasonably good sized crowd, but mostly you don't hear about them near as much as PROGRESS or RevPro.

[Prime Time]

That's interesting because here they are probably the best-known indy, thanks to that documentary on them. I don't know how they would compare in terms of the size of the fanbase proper but I certainly get the impression that they have more casual name recognition than, say, Progress. You never hear someone who just watches a bit of WWE mention them, for example.

[mizfan]

Huh, that's really interesting. I think PROGRESS and RevPro might be bigger in the US as they've actually done shows over here and are associated with bigger acts, PROGRESS with WWE and RevPro with New Japan?

[Prime Time]

I'm sure that is part of it. Generally more recognised talent too.

But I've looked into their attendances and it seems ICW have done bigger shows (packing in 6000 in some cases) but Progress are looking to surpass that with their show in September, which in scale should be considered the British equivalent of All-in... Though I am sceptical about their ability to sell out Wembley Arena.

[mizfan]

Yeah, I have heard ICW does some big crowds. Do you have any idea what they do to draw? Like I said the main thing I know about them is that Grado/Galloway was a big feud, and considering I don't really care for either guy I have definitely wondered what they're doing right. Should probably finally check them out when I have the chance.

[Prime Time]

I was surprised an American promotion ever took a chance on Grado. Not because I don't like him but because his appeal was quintessentially British. And it's not a surprise to me that Impact haven't really known how to recreate the magic he had in front of Scottish crowds.

As to what they do to draw... The documentary helped raise awareness of them. But it's a combination of the hardcore style, a sense of humour that works here, and getting big talent from the British scene in. It doesn't seem to be stunt driven so much as content led. There's also a pretty decent group of fans of Mark Dallas's style so perhaps a bit of a Diddy Heyman mentality at work?!

[mizfan]

Huh, quite interesting. Do they do angles/character stuff, then? That'd be the biggest draw for me to be honest, so few indy promotions do this (and fewer do it well).

[Prime Time]

Oh yeah, it's a full on soap opera. If any thing, the model seems to be the Attitude Era. People who don't like it complain of the stories being swerve heavy and the like.

[mizfan]

Ah, interesting... I actually might prefer that to the exhibition style a lot of other places rely on.

[Prime Time]

Perhaps. Though a complaint a few years ago was they did too much of that worked shoot stuff you hate. Whether or not they still do I'm not sure but it's something to consider.

[mizfan]

That's a good warning! I'll take the pure exhibition stuff about a warmed over Russo-riffic hash!