The British Beat – Mainstream Exposure for Marsden

By: John Lister | Posted: Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 1:28 pm.

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–British ring
announcer Luke Marsden is among the contestants in this year’s UK edition of
Big Brother. The GPW announcer and former NPWA authority figure is currently a
12/1 third-favourite (equivalent to +1200 in Vegas-style odds) to win the
series. Marsden’s wrestling career has already been covered in national
newspaper features.

–Tickets for
this weekend’s Lucha Libre London shows are now available at heavily reduced
prices. The website lastminute.com now has ringside seats (originally £75) for
£25, while standing room tickets are half-price at £10. The events run at the
Roundhouse in Camden
on Friday through Sunday evenings, with a matinee show on Saturday. It appears
there will be different line-ups of matches at each event.

–Mark Sloan,
the UK
promoter for the recent NOAH tour, is taking pre-orders for DVDs of both
nights, priced at £12 for one show or £20 for both. Orders can be made at www.a-merchandise.co.uk,
while a trailer is online at http://santorini.globat.com/~wrestling-training.co.uk/noahsite/euronavtrailer.avi

–This weekend
features another triple-header in the North West of England. GPW celebrate
their fifth anniversary on Friday in Hindley, Wigan
with a rumble match featuring mystery guests from the group’s past. Other
matches include TJ Cain vs Joey Hayes in an unsanctioned brawl (Cain’s
interference caused Hayes to lose a retirement match last December), Heresy vs
Simon Valour in a bullrope match and Darkside vs Johnny Phere vs Bubblegum vs
Dirk Feelgood for the GPW title.

–XPW runs
Morecambe on Saturday with its own four-way title match pitting champion Jonny
Storm against Phere, Stevie Knight and Sam Slam. Other matches include Stixx vs
Martin Stone (a clash between men who started their careers together as
‘bodyguards’ in the FWA) and Joey Hayes teaming with a mystery partner against
the Kartel.

–Futureshock
Wrestling rounds off the weekend on Sunday in Stockport
with Chris Egan vs Simon Valour, Dave Rayne vs a member of the Domino Death
Squad and the Nordic Warrior against football-lover Raynaldo.

–All Star
wrestling have drawn some disappointing crowds (by their 2008 standards) in
recent weeks, with several reports of attendances in the low hundreds and many
empty seats. Some fans were also disappointed when Bryan Danielsen did not
appear as advertised on a show in Cardiff.

It’s possible
the decision to run during the summer months, when the group has traditionally
concentrated on the holiday camp circuit, may not have paid off as well as
expected. It’ll be interesting to see how the promotion performs during its
weekly run in the 1000+ seat Tower Circus in Blackpool
which starts next weekend.

–The next major
event aimed at the internet wrestling community takes place in Wolverhampton on September 26-28. The curiously named
‘Indypendance Day’ includes shows on the Saturday and Sunday evening, an awards
dinner titled ‘The Indys’ on the Friday, a special IPW-UK show on the Sunday
evening, plus a signing session and an after-show party. Announced stars
include Nigel McGuinness, the Briscoes and Davey Richards. With every listed
performer a current or former ROH regular, there had been speculation this was
promoter Alex Shane’s replacement for both an ROH tour and the King of Europe
tournament. However, Shane has said he is not the main promoter of this show
and that there will be a King of Europe event next year.

–The WAW group
is running a ‘Wrestling Weekender’ event from 31 October through 3 November at
the Pontins holiday camp in Pakefield,
Sussex. The
event includes 12 hours of live matches, plus training sessions for would-be
grapplers and Q&A/autograph sessions. Prices including accommodation and
meals start from £150.

CATEGORIES:Wrestling