Would You Watch British Wrestling

With absolutely no disrepect intended to your father, some people can't get over the fact that it's not "real".

I presume they're the same with everything else that isn't "real" on TV.

Did you know that, in the back end of 2002, Ladbrokes were taking bets on WWE.

There was only one market, "who would be champion Dec 31st 2002"
 
Inspired by the childrens TV thread i've had memories of sitting on a saturday afternoon watching Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.

So I was wondering what memories people had of the world of sports days and wondered if anyone would watch british wrestling on TV or has its day gone?
 
There is no way i could watch repeats of wrestling bouts with Big Daddy,Giant Haystacks,Pat Roach & co now.I tried watching a clip on youtube a few weeks ago but it was just utter crap.I do watch the WWE & TNA product.
 
WWE coined the term "Sports Entertainment" do try and differenciate from a competitive sport.

WCW used to refer to it as "The Wrestling Business"

Most other companies just call it Pro Wrestling.

Even if people do call it a sport, it doesn't hurt anybody.
 
It's not a sport.

In sport you play the match or run the race to decide the winner.

It's not decided beforehand.

In a fighting sport such as judo if a wrist lock/ankle lock etc is applied the contest is over immediately. You can't fight your way out of such a hold the way these posuers do it.
 
Lot's of people get hung up on it being "not real". Eastenders and Corrie aren't real, but lots of people still like them. It's been a long time since anyone tried to sell pro wrestling as real. Indeed the wife of the chairman of WWE, Linda McMahon, is currently running for the US senate, and has been running TV aRAB saying pro wrestling is a soap opera.



Indeed, exposure to WWF is really what killed British wrestling on tv, it wasn't really the Crabtree's stranglehold on it that did it; ITV showed a wild Hogan/Randy Savage match at a sold out Madison Square Garden, and neither of the major brit promotions had any way to compete.
 
I think it's gone.
I think you either have the professional sport which probably won't intrest many or you have the overhyped scripted melodrama of WWE. (That's not proper WRASLING!!! :mad:)

There are other avenues to take if you want fighting such as MMA or UFC
 
Wrestling is seen as very low brow, tv won't show it unless it can get more viewers than pretty much anything else in the slot, (due to less ad money generated from wrestling,) which wouldn't happen as wrestling isn't seen as being cool at the moment, a lot of former fans, at least in the USA, now prefer UFC/Mixed Martial Arts.

And I think it unlikely, even aside from that, a major channel would show wrestling again, for reasons of political correctness, or fear of getting a bad reputation from it. When Channel 4 showed WWF in 2000/2001 the TV watchdog upheld complaints about it pretty much every month.

I guess I'm saying it's unlikely!
 
I know British wrestling still survives, but it's a shadow of what it was in the seventies and the Americans have taken over the market. It could take off if it's promoted properly as not many people can fly off to America every week end.
 
I remember watching the old World Of Sport on the wrestling channel a few years ago. It looked so dated compared to wrestling now (WWE, ROH, FWA etc) but I quite enjoyed it. Also enjoyed the really low budget Irish Whip Wrestling (I think) looked like promos were filmed in their bedrooms but it was good none the less imo.
 
I would happily watch the current crop of Brit Wrestling should it ever get televised. The modern breed such as the FWA, 1PW etc are a mile away from the memories of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.

It's a shame that those are the only two names that people remember from those days, as there were some excellent wrestlers back then.

The likes of UFC et al have been mentioned, but not everyone wants 1 on 1 violence, some people would prefer to sit down to watch some scripted entertainment. Two good wrestlers given 15 minutes in a ring and tell a great story.

Not watched WWE in about 8 years, but there's so many great wrestling companies out there, I don't need to.
 
It's low budget because the money just isn't there for a large budget. Mention wrestling to anyone these days and they will think WWE.

If a UK wrestling company could get a Ted Turner-esque person to bank roll it, then it might be interesting. The talent is there for a successful Brit Wrestling company, just look at how many of our wrestlers turn up in the States and Japan, just the money isn't.
 
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