July 2002

This was the annual Leyenda de Plata Torneo Cibernetico Semi Final. Hijo del Santo came to the ring at the beginning wearing his father's original costume, which threw me off a bit. This was a fun Cibernetico. I feel as though people always hold Ciberneticos to the standards of those matches from '97. If you do that then no Cibernetico is ever going to compare. I prefer to focus on the action and the flow and the pairings that we get. There wasn't anything mind-blowing in this match, but there were plenty of excellent exchanges. There were a lot of boxes ticked for me personally -- Casas had a deep run, Satanico was actively involved, Black Tiger rose to the fore, and Fel…

Kanemaru is the first GHC junior champ and he's a dick. Sugiura is the Kurt Angle of NOAH. Almost. His Olympic Slam looks a lot more devastating (headrop baby). Again, this is a slow burner turning into a hot sprint at the end. Hearing the crowd slowly and slowly getting louder and louder is a pleasure, really. Instead of simply busting out intense sequences at the start, Kanemaru is dominating by being a veteran, keeping Sugiura down (and not exposing him as green). So yeah, it starts kinda mundane, but then Sugiura catches Kanemaru outside and slams the fuck out of him, which is nice since that's the kinda of dick stuff Kanemaru likes to do. Sugiura is all about amaresu…

It's a 60-minute Iron Man match, so it's a real long boy. It's compelling for the whole runtime though; some parts are interesting, and then some parts are VERY interesting. I thought that Doug Williams was the highlight of the first 20-something minutes w/ his great, submission-heavy work. He even started that attack on Low Ki's leg, which created for some nice little drama, and was indeed a joy to watch. That "Torture Device" submission looked superb. That legwork created for some other highlight moments for me as well, notably with Daniels stopping Ki's attempts at getting something going w/ those vicious looking chop blocks. If I had to name my favorite move of the ma…

That is Squire Dave Taylor of WCW fame, and of course a British veteran. He’s brought in here as a mystery opponent for Drew McDonald, as part of the show long storyline that if any members of the Old School lose then they will be fired. On the face of it a slightly jarring, given Dave Taylor would seem a natural fit for the Old School, but it’s played up as him coming back to the UK to help the younger guys. Going into this match I was excited at the prospect of two tough veterans just laying into each other, but, while this match is technically solid, it’s really dull. I don’t mind a methodical pace, and there is a contrast in this match to what the younger guys o…

This is another match that is part of the FWA’s overarching ‘Old School v New School’ feud that dominated the company in 2002. Parker had become No. 1 contender by defeating Justin Richards at the previous show Vendetta, in a match interestingly reffed by Jake Roberts. Flash is coming in as the FWA Champion, and with the belt on the line here, this is the first match on the show that creates some drama with the crowd and this starts with some good intensity. In doing this FWA re-watch, I’ve been really impressed by Barker, who is never less than solid in his matches. Here he is nicely vicious working over Parker’s ribs, which is a nice bit of continuity from them bei…

This is a No. 1 contenders match for the FWA British Title, and part of the overarching Old School vs New School storyline in the FWA. Storm is the young up and comer, while Richards was a former champion who had been with the company since the beginning. The storyline for the night was that the Old School wrestlers had all been set the ultimatum that they would need to win their matches on the evening or be fired. The match has some fun exchanges, but is way overbooked with lots of interference from the Old School’s manager Dean Ayass. While Jonny is a high flyer, Richards is looking to ground him, but aside from a nice top rope German suplex, he doesn’t bring much …

We are at the Pyramids Centre in Portsmouth for this show. Portsmouth on the south coast of England was the original home of the FWA when it was initially the Fratton Wrestling Alliance, but despite the FWA Academy being based there this would end up being the last but one show they would run in the city. Speaking of the FWA Academy, this is a master vs. student match, with Sloan being the trainer of Tighe who has been his star pupil and protégé. Tension had been teased between the two of them due to Tighe accidentally costing Sloan the All England Title to the Zebra Kid at the previous show Vendetta. The teacher/pupil relationship is the narrative for the match; wi…

It’s topical as I’m writing this, given just this week Kendo Kashin has been rather randomly named as a trainer at the WWE Performance Centre. Indeed, this is a battle of PC trainers, although not sure there’s much in this match that those down in NXT need to study too hard to learn from… Brookside had been a heel and member of the Old School stable that had been feuding with the younger FWA guys in the company’s main storyline for most of 2001 and 2002, but after clashing with Drew McDonald had been kicked out of the group and had now turned face. Kashin at this time was the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion, although the title is not on the line. He was an All Japan…

This is a mixed tag team match, with the main heat being on the Saraya Knight and Nikita interactions. Saraya Knight is the mother of Paige, while many will know Nikita as the future Katie Lea Burchill. Because of the very small number of active women wrestlers on the UK scene at this time, Nikita was often put in there with men, so it’s good to see her mixing things up with another female competitor. For anyone that’s seen Saraya Knight in action, you’ll know that she brings great intensity to her matches and as anyone that’s seen her Shimmer run will probably back up, she’s a fantastic heel. That’s in evidence in this match where she’s really vicious and full on in ever…

This is essentially the beginning of the Family stable, a religious cult group that would become home to wrestlers on losing streaks or going nowhere with their career, with the idea that Brandon Thomas – ‘The Messiah’ – would give them direction. After the end of the Old School storyline, they would become arguably the top heels in the company in 2003. Before the match Paul Travell turns heel in his home town to become Thomas’ first member. In this match they are up against the New Breed, who in the early days of the FWA were it’s top tag team, but who are close to the end of their run as they would soon get squashed by the UK Pitbulls and then taken out by Paul Bu…

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