When the Luchadores came over here, they were There are guys, like Spud, who already realise this.
marketed as colourful characters who performed Guys like Martin Stone, who plays the Essex
amazing athletic shows. And because of this they hardman role perfectly, Leroy Kincaide who is
gained access to features on mainstream shows constantly working at combining his out-of-the-ring
across the UK, a fact that garnered audiences in persona into his wrestling persona, and Darren
their thousands. Burridge who became quite the cult phenomenon
Mainstream TV is very difficult for your average
with the Pukka One character.
British wrestler to get involved in. I know this for a But where these guys have perfected their
fact - back in the early 2000s, I worked for the personalities, the wrestling promoters have failed to
original FWA, and one task I had was to try and get capitalise. They should be pushing their stars onto
FWA stars booked on mainstream TV news shows. mainstream TV, getting them work not as ‘wrestlers’
A show in the South East/London area was but as character actors who happen to be wrestling.
completely dismissed as not newsworthy by the Look at Nick Aldis and Ricky Hype as two examples.
BBC and ITV alike because it was wrestling, and Aldis was basically a nobody until he got to
they didn’t cover that sort of thing. showcase his persona on Gladiators as Oblivion. Now
But what if we introduced them to videos of such
he is recognisable not only to wrestling fans, but to
stars as Mad Man Manson, Rockstar Spud or other
fans of that show. Likewise, Ricky Hype went onto
more flamboyant of Britain’s wrestlers. These are
Total Wipeout, and let his persona shine out - anyone
people whose characters could make them popular
who watched that episode could not help but
on mainstream entertainment shows. And if they
remember Ricky Hype.
got this mainstream interest, then they would If you want to make wrestling a big money-making
make new fans and bring them to wrestling shows. empire here, which it could be if fans could be
Once at the wrestling shows, the
tremendous talents of guys like Doug
The ‘Pukka One’
Williams, Zach Sabre Jr and Martin Stone
Darren Burridge
would shine out, and would keep these
© SARAH BARRACLOUGH
new fans wanting to come back to see britishwrestlingpictures.com
more.
Its a simple formula, but a formula that
very few in wrestling seem to understand.
We are consistently presented with a
product featuring not the larger-than-life
superstars that we grew up watching, but
guys who look like they could be our next
door neighbour. And this needs to change.
Image is every bit as important to gaining
popularity as in-ring skill. Actually more
so.
I’m not suggesting that we suddenly go
the way of mid-90s WWE and give
everyone a wacky gimmick. After all, I have
no desire to see Milkman Terry Frazier or
Martin ’the army man’ Stone. But all of
these guys have elements of their
personalities that they can amp up to give
themselves a mainstream appeal.
59 The online magazine for pro wrestling fans worldwide thewrestlingpress.com
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