LDN's Television taping report

On the 5th January 1988 ITV filmed what many thought was to be the final ever televised wrestling event from the Fairfield Halls in Croydon. This venue had been a mainstay of British televised wrestling for many years and all of the top stars spanning 30 years had appeared there, it was a sad day for British wrestling but on Sunday 17th November 2013 it was definitely lights, camera and plenty of action as once again the Fairfield Halls staged the first event to be filmed by ITV Productions at the hall in 25 years.

It was certainly as if time had stood still as the hall filled to an 800 capacity, something not seen for many years with fans of all ages clambering for their seats to see what was to be an historic day for British wrestling, fans from young children to the grannies sat at ringside, everyone had come to witness what was to ultimately be one of the best days of British wrestling in over 20 years.

The proceedings started with jovial Master of Ceremonies Steve Lytton, who certainly knows how to work the crowd, welcoming everyone to the Hall and explaining how the afternoon was to unfold, with the odd quip along the way Steve ensured that everyone was relaxed and ready for the show as the first match was introduced.

The first two wrestlers entered the ring and as had been previously advertised, all matches were to be wrestled in the World of Sport style so for the first time in many years every match was to be wrestled over rounds, with public warnings, seconds and the winners to be decided by two falls, two submissions or a knockout.

The first match of the afternoon saw ITV wrestling star Karl Kramer take on the former LDN Champion Hakan and in the early stages of the match the Peckham Playboy certainly held his own against the 35 stone barbarian and successfully secured the first pinfall. Being one fall down did not please Kramer and he soon started to use his immense size and weight to overpower the lighter Hakan and soon got the equalising fall. It was at this point that Hakan had obviously suffered a rib injury but not to be deterred he pursued the larger Kramer but soon took two hard bodyslams from Kramer who then proceeded with his favourite finishing move, the big splash from the top rope. This devastating blow was too much for Hakan who was unable to kick out of the big mans splash and Kramer won the bout by two falls to one.

The second contest of the afternoon pitted 'Gentleman' Jon Ritchie against Yorghos Christopolous. As expected, Jon Ritchie came to the ring to the chorus of boos, something that is familiar to him. As the match took hold Yorghos had all of the early running and was soon winning by one fall to nil. Throughout this bout there was a great comedy element which brought back memories to the older fans of the comedy greats of the ring such as Catweazle and Les Kellet. Despite this Ritchie soon equalled up the match and on occasions could have had the win having a number of two counts. However, Yorghos was to triumph winning the match by two falls to one much to the delight of the packed crowd who showed their distaste for Richie as he left the ring to the same chorus of boos as had greeted him when he entered.

Match number three and it was time for the LDN Heavyweight Championship to be decided. This match featured the current and defending LDN Champion Alan Lee Travis taking on the former TNA Tag Team Champion and WWE wrestler, the Canadian Joe E Legend. Legend, who now resides in Hannover is a well travelled international wrestler who has beaten many of the top names throughout the World. This was a hard fought match for both wrestlers and the action went back and forth and nobody in the hall could have predicted the result. Travis got the early upper hand but Legend soon upped his game and the match was soon one fall a piece. Travis, who appeared to suffer an injury during the match continued bravely for his country and was eventually successful in retaining the Championship and belt. This was an excellent match with non stop action and a credit to both wrestlers.

The next segment of the afternoon’s presentation was to honour one of the greatest wrestlers the United Kingdom has ever produced, this being the 10 time lightweight champion of the World Johnny Saint. Our very own Frank Rimer was introduced to the audience to oversee the proceedings and in his own inevitable style Frank gave a glowing account of not only Johnny’s career but on the whole World of Sport era in general. Prior to the presentation being made, many of Johnny’s former colleagues and former World of Sport greats were introduced in the ring and each and every one of these were given a rousing round of applause from the audience, something that was well deserved to the men who had given so much to the wrestling business. The presentation was now going to be made to Johnny Saint and to make this Frank introduced into the ring the former World Mid Heavyweight Champion Marty Jones who himself got a huge round of applause as he made his way to the ring. Marty gave a brief speech, not only on his own career and the fact that he won his first World Mid Heavyweight belt at the Fairfield Halls but also to the man everyone was there to honour, Johnny Saint. Johnny was then presented with a wonderfully engraved plaque and gave a heart warming acceptance speech before himself receiving the applause that he rightly deserved.

It was now back to action and it was time for the Main event which saw World of Sport and British wrestling legend Johnny Kidd take on the former WWE star Matt Striker. As expected, Johnny was certainly the fan favourite here against Striker who got a mixed reaction from the fans. Johnny took the bull by the horns and in round one got the first pinfall over Striker who was obviously somewhat disgruntled at losing such an early fall. The match went back and forth with both men using many European wrestling holds and Striker soon got the equalising fall albeit by placing his feet on the ropes to secure this, unfortunately, the referee did not see this and so allowed the fall to stand. The match was certainly a great advertisement for British wrestling and to everyone’s delight Johnny Kidd got the winning fall. As the crowd were showing their thoughts on Striker, Johnny Saint, who had been sitting at ringside as special guest enforcer for the match, entered the ring. The appearance of one of the United Kingdom’s greats being in the ring did not please Striker who gave Johnny a verbal ear bashing. However, Johnny, never being one to back down from a fight, informed Mr Striker that he would come out of retirement and face him if he wished to come back to the UK whether it be in a singles match or a tag team match. Striker stated that he could get a partner to take on Saint and Kidd and as he left the ring the fans are hoping that they may one day get to see this match.

The afternoon was winding down although there was one more match to go and this was to see brother take on brother as Zak Knight got to tangle with his brother The Zebra Kid. The two brothers maybe the current European Tag Team Champions but this did not deter them from giving one of the best matches of the afternoon with the match going in favour of one brother and then the other. There was some great technical wrestling in this match and if it had been a draw the fans would have gone home happy but Zak finally got the upper hand over his sibling and won the match by two falls to one. At the end of the match Zak made a speech which summed up the entire event, this was the first time that there was a real chance that British wrestling has the opportunity to get back on television and the fans, promoters and everyone else concerned needs to get behind it and give it their full support which everyone certainly did on the day.

This final match brought the afternoon’s event to a close and what a fantastic event it had been. As the fans left the building there was nothing but positive comments and praise on how great the day had been, it certainly had been a resounding success from five first class matches to the appearances of the legends of the ring and the majority of people believed that LDN wrestling, the British Wrestlers Reunion and everyone else involved was well on the way to getting British Wrestling back to where it should be.........the best in the World!

REPORT COURTESY OF BRITISH WRESTLERS REUNION

http://www.britishwrestlersreunion.com/

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LDN's Television taping report