…. and 85 stops in between.

During my 20 years going to live pro wrestling shows, I have seen an awful lot of Britain, and of course, I have seen Japan. I have been to a variety of shows from tiny shows in sports halls and community centres to arena shows on Pay Per View with title changes and tournament finals, from a huge variety of companies across 87 separate wrestling shows. What follows is not intended to be a full documentation, just a flavour. I will start with a brief look at certain milestone shows and some of the places I have been, athletes I have been to see, and what kind of matches I’ve seen them contest and for what honours.

THE FIRST SHOW
FRIDAY 25TH MARCH 1994 * WWF EUROPEAN TOUR * TELFORD
(1) Kwang pinned Koko B Ware after a spinning heel kick.
(2) Earthquake pinned IRS after the Earthquake.
(3) Diesel pinned 1-2-3 Kid after a big boot.
(4) Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Tatanka with a schoolboy (Tatanka was distracted by IRS).
(5) Jeff Jarrett pinned Doink with a schoolboy.
(6) WWF Tag Team Champions The Quebecers beat Men On A Mission.
(7) WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart pinned Owen Hart with a small package.

The show was a mere five days after WrestleMania X, which I had not seen yet due to not having borrowed the tape from my friend with Sky yet. I knew very little about what I was going to get to see, other than it was the WWF and it was in Telford. To this day, I’ve yet to have a reason to return to Telford. By the by. In the queue to get into the building, my old man kept my expectations in check by telling me “It probably won’t be anyone you know off TV.” It wasn’t an intentional ruse, that was just his nature. I heard another child refer to Owen as being “flukey” and suddenly guessed that he must have beaten his big brother at WrestleMania. I was quite upset. Upon buying the program, I was thrilled to see that all the major stars were on the European tour, and I wondered who I would get to see. During the undercard my personal memories are the shock I felt when I saw Tatanka pinned – to my knowledge at the time, only Ludvig Borga had done that – and my old man’s reactions. He couldn’t believe how tall Diesel was, and when Luna Vachon came out with Bam Bam he exclaimed “What the hell is that?” When the main event was announced as for the belt, I got excited. I didn’t know who the champion was after Mania. When Owen Hart came out as the challenger, my 11 year old brain rationalized that he probably wasn’t wrestling Luger or Yokozuna. Sure enough, my hero came out with the belt around his waist, and I went crazy like only hyperactive children do. I still treasure the memory.

THE COMPANIES
I have been to see a myriad of companies over the years, and without doubt I have watched every promotion I’ve ever been passionate about and followed religiously. I have placed in brackets the amount of times I have seen each promotion, in bold the five companies I have seen most often.

The American Feds
WWF/E (4), WCW (1), TNA (10) ROH (4)
The Japanese (Male) Feds
New Japan (11), All Japan (2), Pro Wrestling Noah (4), Zero-One (3), Dragon Gate : UK (9), DDT (1)
The Joshi Feds
Wave/ZABUN promotions (3), JWP, Stardom, Ice Ribbon (1 each)
The British Feds
PCW (10), 1PW (9), IPW:UK/Rev Pro (2), FWA, FCW, AWW, FutureShock, Pro Wrestling EVE (1 each) One-Off Supershows (6)

THE TENTH SHOW
FRIDAY 6TH JANUARY 2006 * 1PW NO TURNING BACK NIGHT ONE * DONCASTER DOME
(1) Jerry Lynn pinned Petey Williams.
(2) Spud pinned Elix Skipper.
(3) Masato Tanaka vs Steve Corino went to a no contest.
(4) Southern Comfort beat Al Snow & The Blue Meanie.
(5) Jeff Jarrett pinned Harry Smith.
(6) Low Ki won a triangle match over Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch.
(7) Sterling James Keenan pinned Ulf Herman.
(8) Darren Burridge pinned Doug Williams.
(9) AJ Styles won a four-corners over Chris Daniels, Samoa Joe and Charlie Haas.
(10) Abyss pinned Sabu in a no-disqualification match.

After several years of dipping in and out of going to wrestling, 1PW was a fed that captured the imagination purely down to its combination of loads of imports and affordable tickets. This business model soon fell apart and once AJ and friends stopped coming over, I lost a lot of interest because they hadn’t done enough with the British guys to keep me interested – something which PCW so spectacularly get RIGHT these days. The cheapest tickets at the Doncaster Dome up in the balcony were actually my favourite, the view wasn’t bad and you got to harass people blatantly lost looking for the roller disco. No, I’m not making that up. The card here was ridiculous fun in a “something for everyone” manner – Bret Hart was the special guest and introduced the Baby Bulldog as Jarrett’s “mystery opponent” which went down a treat with patriotic Yorkshiremen who did not seem too keen on the then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The main event was chaotic without being messy, and Sterling Keenan (now Corey Graves) was a great heel that I really took to booing, despite not knowing who he was previously. This was 1PW’s second ever show, and for a while, they really had something special going on.

THE PLACES
Here are the towns and cities, small and large, that I have watched pro wrestling in during the 87 shows.
England
Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Preston, Coventry, Oxford, Preston, Stockport, Morecambe, Doncaster, Wolverhampton, Telford, Stockport, Castleford (Yorkshire), Hoddesdon (Hertfordshire), St Ives (Cambridgeshire), Gornal (West Midlands)

– The biggest arenas being the NEC and the NIA (both Birmingham), the Manchester Evening News Arena, and the Coventry SkyDome, all for some of the bigger shows you could see in England since 1994 – TNA, Pro Wrestling Noah, the WWF One Night Only PPV. The smallest being the Baggeridge Social Welfare Club in Lower Gornal which amounts to little more than a bar with a ring put up. But hey, even there I saw someone that made it to international TV, (now Rockstar) Spud. I actually had a pint, ciggy and packet of scratchings with him after the show, and I told him who I thought was going to win every match in the 1PW title tournament the week after, from first round through to final. “You’re not far wrong” were his exact words. I wasn’t even slightly wrong, as it happened.
Japan
OK, so you wouldn’t get much joy from “Tokyo, Yokohama, Warabi” so here are the actual buildings, for anyone that may be interested :
Korakuen Hall – Dome City, Bunkyo, Tokyo
Ryōgoku Kokugikan (a/k/a Sumo Hall) – Sumida, Tokyo
Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium 2 – Shibuya, Tokyo
Shinjuku FACE – Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring – Kōtō, Tokyo
Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium (a/k/a Cultural Gynasium) – Yokohama, Kanagawa
Warabi Dojo (a/k/a Isami Wrestle Arena) – Warabi, Saitama

A packed house at Sumo Hall (13,000 capacity) can’t be beaten, and my memory of going to Gas Panic in Roppongi after far too many mojitos with my host and friend Sean, the incredible superfan Tsukasa Kojima and the then-JWP Openweight Champion Hailey Hatred, will be with me forever, but an equally memorable time were my trips to probably the smallest venue, Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. Essentially a disused warehouse by the side of the road, a two minute walk from the train station in an industrialized dump of a town (the only part of Tokyo I’ve ever seen litter strewn on the pavement), the place has a certain charm for wrestling. Incidentally one of my YouTube videos is one of the first things that appears if you Google image search the place. A journey to see Pro Wrestling Wave was especially notable because spotting a six-foot Westerner in the queue – the only one in a crowd of 191 fans – they stuck a camera in my face and interviewed me through an interpreter. A pretty, female interpreter who insisted on giving me a hug and posing for a photo, which was nice. They were surprised to learn I wasn’t that interested in the ongoing London Olympics, despite the fact I had flown 6000 miles to watch pro wrestling in their country instead! The second time I went to 1st Ring was no less memorable, for DDT’s “Beer Garden Fight 2013,” which featured a beer tent and barbecue, where despite the extortionate mark-ups, I doubt I’ve ever drank or eaten that much during a show before, or since. I’ve never had my sausages cooked by the roster anywhere else either.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH SHOW
THURSDAY JUNE 12TH 2008 * TNA UK TOUR * LIVERPOOL OLYMPIA
(1) World X Champion Petey Williams won a triangle match over Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt, pinning Lethal after the Canadian Destroyer.
(2) James Storm & Awesome Kong beat Doug Williams & Gail Kim, Storm pinning Williams after a superkick.
(3) Abyss pinned Rhino after the Black Hole Slam.
(4) A.J. Styles pinned Bobby Roode after the Styles Clash.
(5) World Tag Team Champions Homicide & Hernandez beat The Motor City Machine Guns, Homicide pinning Shelley after an Ace Crusher off Hernandez’ shoulders.
(6) World Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe beat Booker T by submission to the Kokina Clutch.

This was the first of four nights of TNA’s very first tour of Britain, which I attended three of, and started a run of going to see TNA every year they came over, until a depleted roster and my apathy towards their product made me stop in January of this year. Though an injury to Kurt Angle was terrible timing, I was nonetheless thrilled to see AJ again after two years without, a recurring theme of “go to a show, Doug’s there” continued with the news that he’d actually signed a TNA deal, and even though this show wasn’t quite as good as the next night’s in the same building (blame jetlag I guess) there was still an impressive “balls to the wall” showing in one match, sparked by the effort of two guys – The Motor City Machine Guns. I genuinely don’t think those two guys differentiate between a “house show” and any other card, and as good as their match here with LAX was, their opener the next night with Petey Williams and Sonjay Dutt was even better. True high octane stuff.

“Doug’s There….”
I have alluded to it above, but I think I need to point out just how remarkable it is that whenever I seem to go to any promotion long enough or almost any foreign promoter touring, over the last ten years at least I can always rely on seeing one face – Doug Williams. The guy is absolutely everywhere. He’s the most ubiquitous wrestler of all time.

• Alex Shane organizes a supershow or a big intercontinental tournament which I attend – Doug’s there.
• 1PW create a roster that mixes homegrown talent with expensive imports – Doug’s there.
• Ring Of Honor make their international debut in England – Doug’s there.
• IPW:UK stage “IPW vs The World” with homegrown vs imports – Doug’s there.
• TNA make their UK debut – Doug’s there.
• Pro Wrestling Noah stage THEIR first show in Europe – Doug’s there.
• A mix of British, European and American stars come to Wolverhampton for Indypendence Day – Doug’s there.
• 1PW reboots again and runs Liverpool – Doug’s there.
• I check out PCW for the first time – Doug’s there. Winning their Heavyweight title, no less.
• Rev:Pro bring over Jushin Liger and build a show around him – Doug’s there.

The only decent-sized promotion that uses local talent and have ever come over and failed to use Doug has been Dragon Gate – and that’s kind of understandable given their style. Otherwise the message is clear – in Britain? Need wrestlers? Call Doug. Of the 87 shows that made up my first twenty years as a wrestling fan, Doug Williams was on exactly 30 of them, making him the wrestler I have seen wrestle the most – by a CONSIDERABLE margin.

Note – I’m going to 4FW’s World Cup in October, three nights in Swindon, Bristol and a TBA venue, a mix of American, Japanese and homegrown guys. Doug’s there.

THE FIFTIETH SHOW
FRIDAY 21ST OCTOBER 2011 * DRAGON GATE UK INVASION 3 * BROXBOURNE CIVIC HALL
(1) Akira Tozawa pinned Dragon Kid with the Package German Suplex. (12:21)
(2) Gamma pinned Naoki Tanizaki with the Gamma Special. (13:10)
(3) Mark Haskins, Marty Scurll & Lion Kid beat CIMA, BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi, Scurll pinning CIMA after a Back Buster. (16:59)
(4) Susumu Yokosuka pinned Masato Yoshino with a Jumbo No Kachigatame. (18:43)
(5) Shingo Takagi pinned Pac after Made In Japan. (21:16)

This was the first show I went to after I had got back from my first trip to Japan, and I had wondered if anything could ever come close to that experience again. While nothing domestic has really ever touched the emotions of seeing Tetsuya Naito’s plucky campaign brutally ended by the imperious Shinsuke Nakamura in a packed and emotional Sumo Hall, I needn’t have worried that I wouldn’t enjoy other shows as much any more. Mark Sloan’s fabulous setup delivered in spades. I’m tempted to say that this show was only truly an appetizer for the night after which featured the staggering aerials of Pac vs Dragon Kid for the Open The Brave Gate belt and the epic rubber match between Shingo and Yokosuka, and that the “Pick Your Poison” nature of Shingo and Yokosuka’s matches on the night made it too predictable that both would win, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a blinding show.

THE GOLD

Here is a nice little list of some of the more prestigious titles I’ve seen contested over the years, the asterisk indicating that I saw that title change hands. I’ve only gone for the biggest promotions and in the case of Zero-One, its biggest title, as it has a myriad of minor titles, mostly affiliated with the NWA. Maybe harsh since the match where I DID see the NWA United National Heavyweight title change hands was a really good one, but in the big scheme of things in terms of that particular belt… who cares, right?

WWF/E Championship, WWF Tag Team Championship, WWF European Championship*, United States Championship, World Cruiserweight Championship
WCW World Tag Team Championship
TNA World Heavyweight Championship, TNA World Tag Team Championship*, TNA X Division Championship, TNA Womens Championship, TNA Global Championship
ROH World Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship*, ROH World Television Championship, ROH Pure Championship*
GHC Heavyweight Championship, GHC Tag Team Championship*, GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship*
Open The Brave Gate Championship
Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship*

It’s worth noting that the European title change I witnessed was when the title still had some prestige to it – Shawn Michaels upending Davey Boy Smith, which went on last at One Night Only ahead of the Hart/Undertaker WWF title match. I was privileged to see Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji dethrone Doug Williams & Scorpio for Noah’s tag belts in – of all places – the Morecambe Dome, and I was in attendance at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton – of all places – when Takashi Sugiura pinned Kotaro Suzuki to draw level with Kenta Kobashi’s record for successful GHC Heavyweight title defences, a record of which he would surpass over in Oberhausen, Germany. Without doubt one of the most emotional title matches I saw was when Bryan Danielson defeated a bloody Nigel McGuinness in the Liverpool Olympia to unify the ROH World and Pure titles. Very visible on the DVD, when Dragon puts Nigel in Cattle Mutilation, you can see me put my head in my hands. Also, the emotions of wanting so desperately to see Austin Aries & Bobby Roode take the tag titles from Hernandez & Chavo, getting to see that match, AND it coming true – to a big pop – was a fantastic experience. That TNA’s shoddy sound engineering robbed the TV broadcast of ANY atmosphere from that match and moment is one of the many reasons I started to sour on them.

In addition to these titles defended, I am particularly pleased to say I’ve seen three Fire Festival finals and three G1 Climax finals, which have been some of the best and more emotional matches I’ve ever seen, and since the passing of my 20th anniversary going to shows, I’ve also seen the NWA World Heavyweight title defended. In a leisure centre in Gloucester – of all places.

THE SEVENTY-FIFTH SHOW
WEDNESDAY 7TH AUGUST 2013 * ICE RIBBON #488 * ICE RIBBON DOJO, WARABI
(1) Neko Nitta & Meari Naito defeated Cherry & Kurumi (13:01) when Nitta used a Cat Space Nyan Revolution on Kurumi.
(2) Tsukushi defeated Risa Sera (06:01) with a Harukaze.
(3) Hikaru Shida wrestled Misaki Ohata (10:00) to a time limit draw.
(4) Hamuko Hoshi & Kasey Owens defeated Tsukasa Fujimoto & Miyako Matsumoto (12:06) when Owens used a cross legged ankle lock on Matsumoto.

One of my more interesting journeys brought up my 3/4 century of shows – a lengthy train ride unaccompanied into Saitama, then a ten minute walk down the side of the train tracks as the sun was coming down, in – let’s be fair – an utter dive of a suburb. What is there to see in Warabi? Car park, love hotel, car park, love hotel, car park, motorbike park, love hotel. And the Isami Wrestling Arena, which isn’t even as big as my bungalow. Pay hardly any money to see a little snapshot of what the roster can give you as they build to the next Korakuen show? Yes, please. The roster made you feel really welcome as they did everything from set up the ring, take your money for tickets, sell the merchandise and ring announce. They also shook every fan’s hand after the card and the dork in me felt a little weak in the knees shaking Shida’s hand, I won’t lie. I was a tiny bit disheartened that her match with Misakitty went to a draw, but it was a good match, and that kind of booking is to be expected when one of your aces wrestles a respected outsider. The other thing that fried my brain about this show needs a backstory – on a Joshi Facebook page I used to frequent, I had asked for directions to the dojo from the train station, and a German lad called Oliver replied and told me how to get there. So come show time I’m sat down minding my own, when another Western face comes up to me and says “Excuse me…. are you Steve Rich?” Of course, what had happened was that Oliver was attending the show himself, and seeing one other Western face in a room full of natives, put two and two together. Not understanding what was going on at the first, all I could think was “A complete stranger has recognized me. I’ve FINALLY made it. I’m internationally famous.”

THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL MATCHES
I have seen some rather odd matches over the years. As well as your regular gimmick matches like cage, tables, gauntlet and best-of-three falls and your normal three, four, five and six-way matches, I’ve also seen the fabulously old-school “Brititsh Rules” round system, and the “losers wear a dress” stip, although I think Tracy Smothers enjoyed it rather too much. I’ve seen “Survival Of The Sickest” matches in 1PW that involved drawing pins and flaming tables, I’ve seen various different types of Rumble, I’ve seen Ayako Hamada wrestle Amazing Red in a believable match (and nearly beat him), and I’ve seen the Masterlock Challenge more than once. But the best wackiness, like in all walks of life, you obviously have to go to Japan. Japan, where in DDT I saw a four way dance between two men, a woman and a lad who thought he was a cat, where you could be eliminated by failing to down a beer at the same time as your opponents, and best of all, a best of three falls match for the Garter title, which is what it sounds – pull your opponents garter off to win a fall. After the match, the loser (Mio Shirai) was doused with Super Soakers by her stablemates. Obviously.

20 NOT OUT – THE 87TH SHOW
SATURDAY 1ST MARCH 2014 * PCW ROAD TO GLORY 2014 FINALS * EVOQUE, PRESTON
(1) Joey Hayes won a triangle match over Dave Rayne and Robbie X, making Rayne submit to a crossface.
(2) Chris Masters pinned Chris Hero with a victory roll cutback in the Semi-Finals of the Road To Glory Tournament.
(3) Dave Mastiff pinned Kris Travis after a cannonball in the Semi-Finals of the Road To Glory Tournament.
(4) ROH World Television Champion Tomasso Ciampa pinned Martin Kirby after Project Ciampa.
(5) Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis beat Mad Man Manson & Danny Hope when Maria pinned Hope.
(6) PCW Tag Team Champions Team Single beat Battle Squad Awesome via combination powerbomb (Rampage) and flying elbow (T-Bone).
(7) Papa Shango pinned Bubblegum after a shoulderbreaker.
(8) Chris Masters beat Dave Mastiff by stoppage with the Masterlock to win the Road To Glory Tournament.
(9) PCW Heavyweight Champion Lionheart pinned AJ Styles with a schoolboy.

Just look at some of those names, and tell me that isn’t one of the most eclectic cards you’ve ever seen. ROH “serious wrestlers” mixing with Delicious Danny Hope, Mad Man Manson and…. Papa Shango. There is too much greatness here overall, although I particularly enjoyed T-Bone and Rampage (dirty Leeds!) squashing Battle Squad Awful like the pair of trampoline-troubling Pleather Clad Lads that I suspected them to be, then seeming to doze off during a dreadful taped promo from (then) ROH tag team champions reDRagon (yawn). Also, the mixed tag was one of the funnest experiences I’ve ever had as a wrestling fan, enhanced a little by me and Darren meeting Maria and Bennett that very morning over a Premier Inn buffet breakfast, And finally, one of the saddest and scariest experiences I ever had as a wrestling fan, as Lionheart tucked on a Styles Clash after escaping title intact and ended up with his neck broken in two places, casting a shadow over a match that had completely exhilirated me due to that most important element for a wrestling match for me – caring about who wins.

Tragic ending aside, the show was a complete triumph in the ring and a fitting bookend for twenty years of going to live wrestling events for your author. On the horizon I already have HXC for their combination card/WrestleMania party, more PCW, the WrestleMania Revenge Tour (Shield come over or I cry), and the aforementioned 4FW World Cup. Here’s to the next twenty years!

 

In Part II – a breakdown of my ten favourite matches I ever saw live, and brief notes of some of the ones hardest to cut.