Feature23 March 2008
The Rise + Fall Of The FWA
What was once Britain's greatest wrestling promotion is now six feet under. This is the story of the FWA
It's all over. The smoke has cleared, the dust has settled and any number of other clichés have been written about and applied to the night of the once-mighty FWA's death on 25 March. With the XWA rising from the ashes (see this month's UK news), the Frontier Wrestling Alliance is officially finished, never to be heard from again.
For many fans, this is a monumental occasion, as the FWA was their first foray into the world of British professional wrestling. And many have both good and bad memories of the promotion that soared to such dizzying heights, but also hit some fairly deep valleys in its lifetime. This is its story, and these are the memories that will come flooding back whenever you recall that chant ringing in your ears, F-W-A! F-W-A! F-W-A
THE EARLY YEARS
From day one, the FWA had 'wrestling' at its centre. Originally the Fratton Wrestling Alliance, the company was formed in the early Nineties by Mark Sloan, who wanted to provide an outlet for himself and others to train seriously for professional wrestling. It was this vision that lead to the creation of the FWA Portsmouth Academy, probably the most revered wrestling school this country has had in the past decade.
The Fratton Wrestling Alliance eventually metamorphosised into a whole new promotion, the Frontier Wrestling Alliance. Reborn in 1999, Frontier underwent a major expansion and began to take on a more national feel, including crowning Sloan as its first FWA British Heavyweight Champion in July. A worthy champion, The Specialist would hold the title belt until February of 2000 when Alex Shane - a name that would become synonymous with the FWA for many years - captured the title on a show in Birmingham.
The next stepping stone for the FWA came on 24 March that year, as it crowned its very first tag team champions, The New Breed. Comprised of Ashe and Curve, The New Breed became a cult-like favourite during their time with the promotion, beating Scottie Rock and Jorge Castano in the finals of a tag team tournament held in Essex. (As fate would have it, the departed Rock and Castano would return in 2007 to help the FWA in its war with IPW:UK.)
At the next show in Hertford in July, the FWA British Heavyweight Title changed hands once again, as Alex Shane lost to Guy Thunder, a wrestler he had teamed with back in the UWA (the short-lived wrestling franchise on the infamous L!VE TV). Also on that show, Dominator beat the grappler known as Fighting Spirit for the second straight time, but we won't hold that against him!
The next show, in Halifax on 5 August, saw the arrival of international stars to the FWA for the first time, as Sabu and Dan Severn joined the regulars for the event. Sabu became something of a hot potato on that show as far as how easy he was (or, rather, wasn't) to deal with, but not as much of a hot potato as the FWA British Heavyweight Title was, as it changed hands yet again. This time it was decorated amateur wrestling champion Justin Richards that walked away with the gold around his waist.
2001: THE RISE TO PROMINENCE
Leading up to the summer of 2001, the FWA was beginning to heat up. A clash between Doug Williams and Nova (last seen as Simon Dean in WWE) highlighted April's When Thunder Strikes event in Bolton. On the same show, Alex Shane and Scott Parker debuted what would become something of a trademark of FWA shows, the balcony spot.
Whether it was falling, diving, moonsaulting or being thrown, the balcony became one of the key highspots of many an FWA show. It became a running gag that if you went to a Frontier event, you should look for any precarious balconies or ledges and you'd usually find a wrestler coming off the highest one at some point. The FWA returned to Portsmouth in May for its first television tapings. Filmed for local Portsmouth TV, High Potential featured Doug Williams winning the FWA Title, while Jorge and Alex Castano captured the FWA Tag Team Championship.
Then came the No Surprises event in July. Becoming an annual tradition, No Surprises was for years one of the key events on the FWA calendar, and the company pulled out all the stops to bring about something special. The first event featured the FWA debut of a young trainee named Andy Simmonz in the opener, Jonny Storm winning the newly created All England Title from Scottie Rock, Doug Williams and Kerry Cabrero putting on a mat classic (without the aid of Colt Cabana) and Alex Shane defeating ECW's Little Guido.
The card on 1 September featured the beginnings of one of the FWA's most successful feuds, as the Old School and New School collided in the ring. Both Scott Parker and Ian Da Silva were brutalised by Old Schoolers Dino Scarlo and Drew McDonald, with Scarlo destroying both men with a cricket bat he took from a glass cabinet he was put through. That was a big storyline at the time and saw me pushed into a decent position, Scott Parker told us, although this resulted in my worst wrestling beating. The cricket bat Dino broke over me hadn't been as gimmicked' as I had hoped. I was literally black and blue all over for weeks afterwards.
October's Trick Or Treat created some buzz as well. The promise of a mystery opponent for Scott Parker by the Old School had the internet fans in a frenzy. Many names were thrown around but, when none other than Steve Corino walked onto the stage of the Broxbourne Civic Hall (which would become the FWA's future home down south), pretty much everyone was shocked. It was the first genuine surprise that the FWA had thrown at the fans - and they loved it. The anything can happen' atmosphere that WWE desperately tries to create was guaranteed whenever fans went to an FWA show.
One aspect of Trick Or Treat that often goes forgotten, though, is the brutal contest between Alex Shane and Guy Thunder. Shane was busted wide open and lay in a pool of blood as the Old School stood cackling. This lead to one of the trademarked big finishes on an FWA show, as the entire locker room emptied and ran off the Old Schoolers in a scene reminiscent of the nWo's initial forays in WCW.
High School Hell in November ended with Alex Shane turned on by his security team, with the Old School threatening to set him on fire. That show also featured a three-way battle between the members of The New Breed, the FWA debuts of Ulf Herman and Nikita (WWE developmental talent Katie Lea), and Dino Scarlo being thrown through a first floor window to the outside of the hall!
Sadly, the year ended with one of the lower points of the FWA calendar. While not a bad show (although it had a pretty bad name), Lights, Camera, Acton (from Acton Town Hall) was below par for FWA standards at the time. On the positive side, Channel 4 cameras were on hand and captured some spectacular dives and spots that looked great on TV, while special guest Christopher Nowinski appeared on the show just months before debuting for WWE.
2002: A TRUE REVIVAL FOR BRITISH WRESTLING
Kicking off 2002 was one of the greatest wrestling matches witnessed in a British promotion up to this point. At FWA Crunch in Broxbourne, Doug Williams and Christopher Daniels put on a technical mat classic that many today still consider the best match in FWA history; the pre-TNA Daniels and the pre-Noah Williams both went all-out to prove that they deserved a place among the very best in the business.
Then came Revival. Billed as a SWAT show (Tommy Boyd's promotion), the event was in reality an FWA show cranked up to 11, and was unlike anything that British wrestling had seen up to that point. Alex Shane, Dino Scarlo and others had worked long and hard to make the impossible a reality, and the crowd that filled the Crystal Palace Indoor Arena was at that time unimaginable to British wrestling. It wasn't just the live gate that was impressive; a national audience was able to join in thanks to a simulcast on Talksport Radio and Bravo TV.
Fans lapped up the tremendous contests on hand, from the spectacular King Of England Tournament bouts that included Jody Fleisch versus Jonny Storm and Doug Williams taking on Eddie Guerrero, to Ulf Herman's absolute pasting of Brian Christopher (which so many people backstage also enjoyed, for reasons that we will refrain from disclosing here). And when Fleisch beat Williams in a spectacular finale to raise the King Of England crown alongside special guest The Dynamite Kid, it was hard not to be moved by the raw emotion that erupted. This was a moment to savour and one of the true high points in FWA history.
July saw Jake Roberts appear at Vendetta, where he brutalised referee Steve Lynskey with his python, with No Surprises later in the month seeing guest appearances from Kendo Ka Shin of New Japan Pro Wrestling and current SmackDown superstar Dave Taylor. No Surprises also featured the debut of a new rookie - the monster who would run roughshod over the UK scene before being snapped up by WWE, Burchill. But now it was time for the FWA to take the next step. Ever since the success of Revival, it had been management's aim to take the company to 'supercard' status on its own merits, without the outside interference of Tommy Boyd or anyone else. This took shape as British Uprising, an event that sold out Bethnal Green's York Hall - the current home of RQW.
The show was a spectacular success, packed with match after match of memorable moments: Jody Fleisch's spectacular moonsault from the balcony, the tremendous three-way between Raj Ghosh, Jack Xavier and James Tighe, the brutality between Balls Mahoney and Ulf Hermann, the technical classic between Doug Williams and Jerry Lynn, or Jonny Storm's air traffic control match with AJ Styles The FWA was truly on a rise, and Uprising sparked a run of some of the most spectacular and revered shows in the company's history.
At October's London Calling, Alex Shane and Ulf Herman managed to take the TWA Tag Titles from around the mammoth waists of the UK Pitbulls and, in an absolute shocker, Christopher Daniels walked away with the FWA Title after beating Jody Jonny Storm and Fleisch in a three-way contest. This had both good and bad points for the company; while the title was defended on a Ring Of Honor show in the US, the FWA was unable to secure the services of its champion for several subsequent shows due to scheduling conflicts. Thus, Doug Williams regained the belt on an ROH show early in 2003.
It was around this same time that the butler, Simmons, was aligned with The Duke Of Danger and began to grow in unbelievable cult status among the FWA faithful. It wasn't long before chants of Sim-mons! Sim-mons! echoed across FWA shows throughout the country. Capping off the year was the tremendous Season's Beatings card in December, featuring AJ Styles, Doug Williams, Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch and Jerry Lynn in a terrific round robin tournament, with Lynn emerging victorious under somewhat dubious circumstances.
2003: TOURING THE WORLD
The controversy arising from Season's Beatings was settled with a tremendous match between Williams and Lynn at February's New Frontiers, while Jonny Storm took on the visiting Juventud Guerrera (who thankfully never did his special 'table dancing' routine) in another of Jonny's trademark awesome contests. The show also saw the debut of heel manager Greg Lambert, who would later become a key player in the direction of the company.
On 16 March at Crunch 2003, the feud between The Family and the combined force of Alex Shane and Ulf Hermann kicked into overdrive, as Family members Paul Travell and Scott Parker captured the tag straps from their arch rivals. On the same show, Jonny Storm beat Jerry Lynn in the finals of an eight-man tournament to win the newly created (but never actually belted) XPW European Title.
Then came the tours, as the FWA decided to embark on several weeklong excursions starting in April. The first took in Cleethorpes, Morecambe, Bolton, Acton, Sudbury, Newport and Portsmouth, and featured guest appearances from Chris Hamrick (who made it his aim to torture poor John Atkins during the tour) and Juventud Guerrera. The shows on the tour ranged from terrific to pretty bad (such as the infamous Acton show, which shows what happens if alcohol and wrestlers clash the night before a card). Regardless of individual show quality, though, this was a real national expansion for the promotion and established Morecambe in particular as a new base for the promotion up north'.
Next came Frontiers Of Honor, another landmark event in the company's history, as the FWA and Ring Of Honor teamed up to present a terrific night of action. James Tighe beat Paul London (yes, that Paul London) in a stellar opener; Jack Xavier beat Mikey Whipwreck; Burchill performed a spectacular flying dive over the ring post to the outside in his match with the Double Dragons; AJ Styles beat Jonny Storm in the latest in their series of great bouts; Samoa Joe's made his first foray into the UK (beating Zebra Kid and debuting the Ole Ole chant); Nikita dove from the balcony in a breathtaking spot during a Family versus Showswearers match; Low Ki and Flash Barker battered each other senseless; and Christopher Daniels beat Jody Fleisch in a fantastic main event.
By this point, the FWA was flying in foreign talent on a regular basis. Next to visit our fair shores were Super Crazy and The American Dragon Bryan Danielson, both of whom having terrific matches against Jonny Storm and Doug Williams respectively at June's Vendetta event. The second weeklong excursion, 'The Northern Exposure Tour', took place over a weekend in August, taking in dates in Morecambe, Bolton and Cleethorpes. However, as far as Jody Fleisch was concerned that tour would be his last for a while with the FWA, as an injury took him out of in-ring action and away from wrestling entirely for the next year.
The FWA would continue without one of its brightest stars, putting on several more tremendous cards, including British Uprising 2 at the York Hall - a tremendous show somewhat marred by Paul Travell being badly burned after the now infamous fire spot with Mikey Whipwreck, but a show that was nonetheless a great way to cap off another great year for the FWA.
2004: UPRISING NO MORE
The company continued its momentum into 2004 with another tremendous New Frontiers show. Featuring such foreign stars as Steve Corino (who shocked the crowd by confronting Alex Shane from amid the unsuspecting crowd), Raven and CM Punk, the highlight was an all-British contest featuring Alex Shane and Jack Xavier in a display of brutality that was to become a trademark of their feud that year. And it was about to get a whole lot more brutal.
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 13 of FIGHTING SPIRIT - available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
It's all over. The smoke has cleared, the dust has settled and any number of other clichés have been written about and applied to the night of the once-mighty FWA's death on 25 March. With the XWA rising from the ashes (see this month's UK news), the Frontier Wrestling Alliance is officially finished, never to be heard from again.
For many fans, this is a monumental occasion, as the FWA was their first foray into the world of British professional wrestling. And many have both good and bad memories of the promotion that soared to such dizzying heights, but also hit some fairly deep valleys in its lifetime. This is its story, and these are the memories that will come flooding back whenever you recall that chant ringing in your ears, F-W-A! F-W-A! F-W-A
THE EARLY YEARS
From day one, the FWA had 'wrestling' at its centre. Originally the Fratton Wrestling Alliance, the company was formed in the early Nineties by Mark Sloan, who wanted to provide an outlet for himself and others to train seriously for professional wrestling. It was this vision that lead to the creation of the FWA Portsmouth Academy, probably the most revered wrestling school this country has had in the past decade.
The Fratton Wrestling Alliance eventually metamorphosised into a whole new promotion, the Frontier Wrestling Alliance. Reborn in 1999, Frontier underwent a major expansion and began to take on a more national feel, including crowning Sloan as its first FWA British Heavyweight Champion in July. A worthy champion, The Specialist would hold the title belt until February of 2000 when Alex Shane - a name that would become synonymous with the FWA for many years - captured the title on a show in Birmingham.
The next stepping stone for the FWA came on 24 March that year, as it crowned its very first tag team champions, The New Breed. Comprised of Ashe and Curve, The New Breed became a cult-like favourite during their time with the promotion, beating Scottie Rock and Jorge Castano in the finals of a tag team tournament held in Essex. (As fate would have it, the departed Rock and Castano would return in 2007 to help the FWA in its war with IPW:UK.)
At the next show in Hertford in July, the FWA British Heavyweight Title changed hands once again, as Alex Shane lost to Guy Thunder, a wrestler he had teamed with back in the UWA (the short-lived wrestling franchise on the infamous L!VE TV). Also on that show, Dominator beat the grappler known as Fighting Spirit for the second straight time, but we won't hold that against him!
The next show, in Halifax on 5 August, saw the arrival of international stars to the FWA for the first time, as Sabu and Dan Severn joined the regulars for the event. Sabu became something of a hot potato on that show as far as how easy he was (or, rather, wasn't) to deal with, but not as much of a hot potato as the FWA British Heavyweight Title was, as it changed hands yet again. This time it was decorated amateur wrestling champion Justin Richards that walked away with the gold around his waist.
2001: THE RISE TO PROMINENCE
Leading up to the summer of 2001, the FWA was beginning to heat up. A clash between Doug Williams and Nova (last seen as Simon Dean in WWE) highlighted April's When Thunder Strikes event in Bolton. On the same show, Alex Shane and Scott Parker debuted what would become something of a trademark of FWA shows, the balcony spot.
Whether it was falling, diving, moonsaulting or being thrown, the balcony became one of the key highspots of many an FWA show. It became a running gag that if you went to a Frontier event, you should look for any precarious balconies or ledges and you'd usually find a wrestler coming off the highest one at some point. The FWA returned to Portsmouth in May for its first television tapings. Filmed for local Portsmouth TV, High Potential featured Doug Williams winning the FWA Title, while Jorge and Alex Castano captured the FWA Tag Team Championship.
Then came the No Surprises event in July. Becoming an annual tradition, No Surprises was for years one of the key events on the FWA calendar, and the company pulled out all the stops to bring about something special. The first event featured the FWA debut of a young trainee named Andy Simmonz in the opener, Jonny Storm winning the newly created All England Title from Scottie Rock, Doug Williams and Kerry Cabrero putting on a mat classic (without the aid of Colt Cabana) and Alex Shane defeating ECW's Little Guido.
The card on 1 September featured the beginnings of one of the FWA's most successful feuds, as the Old School and New School collided in the ring. Both Scott Parker and Ian Da Silva were brutalised by Old Schoolers Dino Scarlo and Drew McDonald, with Scarlo destroying both men with a cricket bat he took from a glass cabinet he was put through. That was a big storyline at the time and saw me pushed into a decent position, Scott Parker told us, although this resulted in my worst wrestling beating. The cricket bat Dino broke over me hadn't been as gimmicked' as I had hoped. I was literally black and blue all over for weeks afterwards.
October's Trick Or Treat created some buzz as well. The promise of a mystery opponent for Scott Parker by the Old School had the internet fans in a frenzy. Many names were thrown around but, when none other than Steve Corino walked onto the stage of the Broxbourne Civic Hall (which would become the FWA's future home down south), pretty much everyone was shocked. It was the first genuine surprise that the FWA had thrown at the fans - and they loved it. The anything can happen' atmosphere that WWE desperately tries to create was guaranteed whenever fans went to an FWA show.
One aspect of Trick Or Treat that often goes forgotten, though, is the brutal contest between Alex Shane and Guy Thunder. Shane was busted wide open and lay in a pool of blood as the Old School stood cackling. This lead to one of the trademarked big finishes on an FWA show, as the entire locker room emptied and ran off the Old Schoolers in a scene reminiscent of the nWo's initial forays in WCW.
High School Hell in November ended with Alex Shane turned on by his security team, with the Old School threatening to set him on fire. That show also featured a three-way battle between the members of The New Breed, the FWA debuts of Ulf Herman and Nikita (WWE developmental talent Katie Lea), and Dino Scarlo being thrown through a first floor window to the outside of the hall!
Sadly, the year ended with one of the lower points of the FWA calendar. While not a bad show (although it had a pretty bad name), Lights, Camera, Acton (from Acton Town Hall) was below par for FWA standards at the time. On the positive side, Channel 4 cameras were on hand and captured some spectacular dives and spots that looked great on TV, while special guest Christopher Nowinski appeared on the show just months before debuting for WWE.
2002: A TRUE REVIVAL FOR BRITISH WRESTLING
Kicking off 2002 was one of the greatest wrestling matches witnessed in a British promotion up to this point. At FWA Crunch in Broxbourne, Doug Williams and Christopher Daniels put on a technical mat classic that many today still consider the best match in FWA history; the pre-TNA Daniels and the pre-Noah Williams both went all-out to prove that they deserved a place among the very best in the business.
Then came Revival. Billed as a SWAT show (Tommy Boyd's promotion), the event was in reality an FWA show cranked up to 11, and was unlike anything that British wrestling had seen up to that point. Alex Shane, Dino Scarlo and others had worked long and hard to make the impossible a reality, and the crowd that filled the Crystal Palace Indoor Arena was at that time unimaginable to British wrestling. It wasn't just the live gate that was impressive; a national audience was able to join in thanks to a simulcast on Talksport Radio and Bravo TV.
Fans lapped up the tremendous contests on hand, from the spectacular King Of England Tournament bouts that included Jody Fleisch versus Jonny Storm and Doug Williams taking on Eddie Guerrero, to Ulf Herman's absolute pasting of Brian Christopher (which so many people backstage also enjoyed, for reasons that we will refrain from disclosing here). And when Fleisch beat Williams in a spectacular finale to raise the King Of England crown alongside special guest The Dynamite Kid, it was hard not to be moved by the raw emotion that erupted. This was a moment to savour and one of the true high points in FWA history.
July saw Jake Roberts appear at Vendetta, where he brutalised referee Steve Lynskey with his python, with No Surprises later in the month seeing guest appearances from Kendo Ka Shin of New Japan Pro Wrestling and current SmackDown superstar Dave Taylor. No Surprises also featured the debut of a new rookie - the monster who would run roughshod over the UK scene before being snapped up by WWE, Burchill. But now it was time for the FWA to take the next step. Ever since the success of Revival, it had been management's aim to take the company to 'supercard' status on its own merits, without the outside interference of Tommy Boyd or anyone else. This took shape as British Uprising, an event that sold out Bethnal Green's York Hall - the current home of RQW.
The show was a spectacular success, packed with match after match of memorable moments: Jody Fleisch's spectacular moonsault from the balcony, the tremendous three-way between Raj Ghosh, Jack Xavier and James Tighe, the brutality between Balls Mahoney and Ulf Hermann, the technical classic between Doug Williams and Jerry Lynn, or Jonny Storm's air traffic control match with AJ Styles The FWA was truly on a rise, and Uprising sparked a run of some of the most spectacular and revered shows in the company's history.
At October's London Calling, Alex Shane and Ulf Herman managed to take the TWA Tag Titles from around the mammoth waists of the UK Pitbulls and, in an absolute shocker, Christopher Daniels walked away with the FWA Title after beating Jody Jonny Storm and Fleisch in a three-way contest. This had both good and bad points for the company; while the title was defended on a Ring Of Honor show in the US, the FWA was unable to secure the services of its champion for several subsequent shows due to scheduling conflicts. Thus, Doug Williams regained the belt on an ROH show early in 2003.
It was around this same time that the butler, Simmons, was aligned with The Duke Of Danger and began to grow in unbelievable cult status among the FWA faithful. It wasn't long before chants of Sim-mons! Sim-mons! echoed across FWA shows throughout the country. Capping off the year was the tremendous Season's Beatings card in December, featuring AJ Styles, Doug Williams, Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch and Jerry Lynn in a terrific round robin tournament, with Lynn emerging victorious under somewhat dubious circumstances.
2003: TOURING THE WORLD
The controversy arising from Season's Beatings was settled with a tremendous match between Williams and Lynn at February's New Frontiers, while Jonny Storm took on the visiting Juventud Guerrera (who thankfully never did his special 'table dancing' routine) in another of Jonny's trademark awesome contests. The show also saw the debut of heel manager Greg Lambert, who would later become a key player in the direction of the company.
On 16 March at Crunch 2003, the feud between The Family and the combined force of Alex Shane and Ulf Hermann kicked into overdrive, as Family members Paul Travell and Scott Parker captured the tag straps from their arch rivals. On the same show, Jonny Storm beat Jerry Lynn in the finals of an eight-man tournament to win the newly created (but never actually belted) XPW European Title.
Then came the tours, as the FWA decided to embark on several weeklong excursions starting in April. The first took in Cleethorpes, Morecambe, Bolton, Acton, Sudbury, Newport and Portsmouth, and featured guest appearances from Chris Hamrick (who made it his aim to torture poor John Atkins during the tour) and Juventud Guerrera. The shows on the tour ranged from terrific to pretty bad (such as the infamous Acton show, which shows what happens if alcohol and wrestlers clash the night before a card). Regardless of individual show quality, though, this was a real national expansion for the promotion and established Morecambe in particular as a new base for the promotion up north'.
Next came Frontiers Of Honor, another landmark event in the company's history, as the FWA and Ring Of Honor teamed up to present a terrific night of action. James Tighe beat Paul London (yes, that Paul London) in a stellar opener; Jack Xavier beat Mikey Whipwreck; Burchill performed a spectacular flying dive over the ring post to the outside in his match with the Double Dragons; AJ Styles beat Jonny Storm in the latest in their series of great bouts; Samoa Joe's made his first foray into the UK (beating Zebra Kid and debuting the Ole Ole chant); Nikita dove from the balcony in a breathtaking spot during a Family versus Showswearers match; Low Ki and Flash Barker battered each other senseless; and Christopher Daniels beat Jody Fleisch in a fantastic main event.
By this point, the FWA was flying in foreign talent on a regular basis. Next to visit our fair shores were Super Crazy and The American Dragon Bryan Danielson, both of whom having terrific matches against Jonny Storm and Doug Williams respectively at June's Vendetta event. The second weeklong excursion, 'The Northern Exposure Tour', took place over a weekend in August, taking in dates in Morecambe, Bolton and Cleethorpes. However, as far as Jody Fleisch was concerned that tour would be his last for a while with the FWA, as an injury took him out of in-ring action and away from wrestling entirely for the next year.
The FWA would continue without one of its brightest stars, putting on several more tremendous cards, including British Uprising 2 at the York Hall - a tremendous show somewhat marred by Paul Travell being badly burned after the now infamous fire spot with Mikey Whipwreck, but a show that was nonetheless a great way to cap off another great year for the FWA.
2004: UPRISING NO MORE
The company continued its momentum into 2004 with another tremendous New Frontiers show. Featuring such foreign stars as Steve Corino (who shocked the crowd by confronting Alex Shane from amid the unsuspecting crowd), Raven and CM Punk, the highlight was an all-British contest featuring Alex Shane and Jack Xavier in a display of brutality that was to become a trademark of their feud that year. And it was about to get a whole lot more brutal.
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 13 of FIGHTING SPIRIT - available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
From the Fighting Spirit Magazine archive. Byline: Phil Austin.