XWA Wrestling promoter Greg Lambert announced the formal coalition between the FWA and XWA:
Adrenaline events, which are a showcase for the best UKs young up-and-coming talent and a feeder promotion for XWA and FWA, will now become part of the XWA brand.
Lambert, who has now officially joined the FWA’s management team, will now book the XWA Adrenaline shows. Also, the XWA British Heavyweight Title, currently held by Alex Shane, will be defended on Adrenaline events.
Greg Lambert also announced that three other UK wrestling promotions, Future-Shock Wrestling in Manchester run by Dave Rayne, New Generation Wrestling in Hull run by Richard Dunn, and the Devon Wrestling Association run by Joel Redman, had entered into a talent sharing agreement.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
A SHOT OF ADRENALINE FOR BRITISH WRESTLING
British Wrestling promoters CAN work together to bring about positive change in the UK wrestling scene.
That is the message from UK brand leaders the Frontier Wrestling Alliance and XWA Wrestling, who have formed a working partnership which also involves three other UK wrestling promotions, which will give the best young wrestling talent in the country a platform to show their skills.
XWA Wrestling promoter Greg Lambert announced the formal coalition between the FWA and XWA on Sunday, June 20 as he took the live microphone prior to the first ever Adrenaline event at Sports Nottingham, Notts County football ground, where some of the top wrestling students in Great Britain competed.
In a rallying cry on a landmark day for British Wrestling, Lambert said that these regular Adrenaline events, which are a showcase for the best young up-and-coming talent across the British Isles and a feeder promotion for XWA and FWA, will now become part of the XWA brand.
Lambert, who has now officially joined the FWA’s management team, will now book the XWA Adrenaline shows. Also, the XWA British Heavyweight Title, currently held by Alex Shane, will be defended on Adrenaline events giving young UK wrestlers a major championship prize to aspire to. At the first Adrenaline event yesterday, Manchester wrestler Raynaldo won a four-way to earn a future title shot.
The agreement between FWA and XWA means there will also be a defined path of career progression for young wrestlers. The very best young talent from training schools affiliated to British Wrestling’s first ever governing body - the British Wrestling Council - will be chosen to compete at XWA Adrenaline events. Selected Adrenaline talent will receive opportunities to wrestle on the XWA main shows. And the very cream of the crop will be selected to progress to the biggest stage of all, the FWA events.
The main event of the first Adrenaline show saw Nick Riley defeat PJ Jones and Dave Fury in an athletic and hard-hitting three-way match, Riley finishing the match and the show in spectacular style with a dangerously breathtaking one-man ‘Spanish Fly’ off the top rope.
Afterwards, Lambert said:
“I was really impressed. The depth of talent in British Wrestling has never been greater.
“Almost all of the young wrestlers who performed tonight still have room for improvement, but their potential, desire and attitude was obvious to see.
“Before Adrenaline, I called these young wrestlers ‘diamonds in the rough’ who we were giving the chance to shine. They definitely shone.”
Lambert explained his motivation for entering into this coalition with the FWA.
“The XWA was formed when the original FWA died, to keep the legacy of the old FWA alive because I always had a great passion for the FWA and what it stood for – which was high quality and entertaining wrestling from the very best British wrestlers.
“Then the FWA came back, but the new team behind the FWA has come back having learned from the organisational mistakes made by the old team. This means the future of British Wrestling is now looking brighter than in a long time.
“So now the time is right to put the ‘X’ back into the FWA.
“The time is right because now, not only does the FWA have the best production values of any British wrestling promotion and the best talent roster of any UK promotion, and its own weekly on-line TV show, but there are firm behind-the-scenes foundations in place that were never there before.
“The formation of the British Wrestling Council has brought about so many positive developments already, and not just in the fields of health, safety and insurance for British wrestlers. There are firm foundations in place now to ensure that young wrestlers coming into the industry have a proper and professionally-run career path to follow, more opportunities to learn their craft than ever before, high quality TV footage of their matches for their own personal viewing so they can continue to learn and improve, and better training and guidance at grass roots level supported by the BWC’s excellent grading system.”
Lambert also said:
“The XWA will remain autonomous, and our fantastic Morecambe events will not be affected, but this coalition opens up new doors for both the FWA and the XWA and creates a strong and united front in the battle for respect for British Wrestling.
“I want to break the mould and prove that British Wrestling promotions can work together to bring about great things in the UK scene.
“We’re now so close to that big breakthrough which we’ve worked so hard for so long to achieve. I won’t rest until British Wrestling gets the respect it deserves.”
Lambert also said the coalition between FWA and XWA would lead to further announcements and developments in the weeks and months ahead.
Alex Shane, in his role as FWA head of content, was also present at the Adrenaline event.
“I have always felt that Greg Lambert is one of the most visionary men in British Wrestling and because of this, I passed the torch to him when I stepped down from the original FWA,” said Shane.
“With the XWA he proved that as well as being a great on-screen talent, journalist and regional promoter he was also a tremendous booker with an eye for talent second to one.
“I originally gave (FWA managing director) Tony Simpson a list of the people he should try to get on board with the new company should the opportunity arise and Greg was at the top of that list. To now have him joining our management team but in a way that allows him to groom, book and promote the next batch of UK stars is an amazing coup for (FWA parent company) The Grapple Group as anyone in the know will understand.
“The fact that this links the XWA to the company that spawned it, is as poetic as any merger or coalition in history. The result will mean big things for British Wrestling.”
In his speech before the show, Greg Lambert also announced that three other UK wrestling promotions, Future-Shock Wrestling in Manchester run by Dave Rayne, New Generation Wrestling in Hull run by Richard Dunn, and the Devon Wrestling Association run by Joel Redman, had entered into a talent sharing agreement.
This means wrestlers from FSW, NGW and DWA – who have also now come under the umbrella of The Grapple Group - will now appear on each other’s events, giving young wrestlers who previously mainly appeared only in front of their regional fans the chance to compete and gain experience and exposure elsewhere in the country.
“The further addition of FSW, NGW and DWA to The Grapple Group umbrella is monumental,” said Alex Shane.
“It allows a clear route from British Wrestling Council schools onto these feeders and then directly over to XWA once the talent is ready.
“Once in the XWA, this talent will be under the watchful eye of Greg (as booker) and myself (as XWA Champion) where they can be prepared for a spot in the FWA.
“The Grapple Group will use its impressive production capabilities to step up the overall look of said companies and the quality of how their shows are filmed, as it has already done so with FSW and NGW. This allow younger wrestlers greater experience of working for TV – a skill they will shortly require more than ever due to several key developments soon to come for the UK scene.
“There has never been a more exciting time for our domestic industry in my near two-decade involvement in it.”
The Adrenaline event was followed by the FWA’s latest live extravaganza ‘The Art of War’ which culminated in a pulsating and dramatic main event between rival factions The Agenda (Martin Stone, Joel Redman, Dave Moralez and Iestyn Rees) and The Resistance (Leroy Kincaide, The Kartel and Alex Shane). Kincaide pinned Stone to win the match for The Resistance following shock appearances by TNA star Magnus and British Wrestling legend Robbie Brookside.
For more on the fallout from FWA The Art of War please see
www.fwauk.com
For more on the XWA see
www.xwawrestling.com
Footage of Greg Lambert’s announcement will soon be available to view at The Grapple Group website
www.thegrapplegroup.com [Modificato da WrestlEurope 24/06/2010 11:24]