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Hello, wrestling fans!
We kickstarted the month of April with the Grandaddy of them all, the pinnacle of wrestling achievement and the biggest worldwide gathering of wrestling fans and wrestlers. It was WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia! The Wrestle Tours family once again travelled over with a fun bunch of passionate and excited wrestling fans to enjoy all the festivities and events in the City of Brotherly Love. The team consisting of Lee, Ross, Cat, Khal, Chloe, Annabelle, Tom, Martyn, Val and myself made sure our wonderful guests had the best time possible.
Our adventure began as we greeted our worldwide travellers at Philadelphia International Airport and whisked them away to our marvellous hotel located in the heart of Philly. Perfectly situated a ten minute walk from the Rocky Steps and Reading Terminal Market. The Wednesday consisted of greeting everyone, allowing them to get their bearings, Philly cheesesteaks and a few catch up drinks at the Mulberry.
Thursday was action packed as we headed to the GCW Collective at Penn's Landing Caterers, this is an amazing part of WrestleMania week as the best independent wrestlers come together in one place and give the fans the chance to see the hottest worldwide wrestling talent. This year's Collective brought together 11 unique wrestling shows over 3 days, and it all started with DEFY Wrestling. As soon as we arrived the Wrestle Tours gang were greeted by friends we had met in the UK both at Hooked on Wrestling and TNT vs GCW in Liverpool. It's always a pleasure to run into referee Dan Perch, one of the most positive guys in wrestling. Our guests were overjoyed to be greeted by Philadelphia's very own Mega Ran, and the always amazing host of the show was announcer Sam Leterna. What an epic way to start the action, DEFY delivered an excellent show including a brilliant defence of the DEFY Women's Championship by Vert Vixen, who defeated Trish Adora and Jazmin Allure. CCK reunited to face Speedball Mike Bailey and Mao in a thrilling contest packed with high flying action and innovative tag team manoeuvres. Brookes and Lykos showed they hadn't missed a beat, and Moonlight Express were super impressive as a team including a highlight reel moment hitting a moonsault and Ultima Weapon to the outside, from the same turnbuckle, at the same time! The 'Can't deny it' battle royale featuring some of the UK's best talent was next, with Charles Crowley, Gene Munny, RKJ and Luke Jacobs all taking part in this one alongside international stars Shota and Galeno Del Mal. The match was won by Schaff who retained his Pacific Northwest Heavyweight championship and celebrated with his family ringside, a heart-warming moment. The event was capped off by a bout between Gringo Loco and KENTA for the DEFY World Championship. A main event performance from Gringo Loco was spurred on by a noisy and enthusiastic crowd however he eventually succumbed to the OG Go To Sleep. A great packed out morning show to start the Collective off in style!
Our attention now turned to the charity fundraising element of our trip, as the run up the Rocky Steps organised by Charlie Crothers (Tinky Winky) took place to raise money for Marie Curie. This perfectly coincided with an epic torrential rainstorm. As the weather took a turn for the worse the group consisting of PROGRESS roster members, Henry VIII, Where's Wally and Rocky himself all managed a great group photo by the Rocky statue before the intrepid crew managed to scale the steps to victory! Tate Mayfairs arriving at the top first after a brief head start. A valiant effort by Lee McAteer and Tinky Winky, and some heroic antics from Lana Austin uncharacteristically aiding Session Moth Martina to the pinnacle all added to the fun. Over £400 was raised by our endeavours and plans are already being made for Charlie's next WrestleMania challenge! Rumours of an Elvis Presley fancy dress run through Las Vegas already doing the rounds online!
After drying off from the Rocky steps run, it was now time for So Cal Val's cocktail soiree, which included welcoming some wonderful special guests including Sunshine Machine, Clint Margera, Joe Blazr, Ringside Gabs and the Cheeky Little Buggers (Alexxis Falcon and Charles Crowley). It was also the perfect opportunity for our friend Ryan whom we met at FTLOW to get down on one knee and ask Roxanne if she would marry him. Such a special moment alongside friends and family and the very first Wrestle Tours engagement! The answer was a resounding YES YES YES! And celebrations continued late into the night. Congratulations to the happy couple who will tie the knot later this year.
Friday began with people heading off to numerous different events including WWE World, sightseeing such as the famous Liberty Bell, grabbing doughnuts at Beilers in Reading Terminal Market, pilgrimage to the ECW Arena and of course my favourite Wrestlecon! This year’s Wrestlecon was held at the Sheraton Hotel and was a who's who of past, present and future wrestling stars. From the Hardy Boyz to the ECW alumni, to Sgt Slaughter and Goldust. Abdullah the Butcher kept the Wrestle Tours and PROGRESS team entertained as he occasionally attacked his fans with the trademark fork to the head. We were also blessed to receive visits from Danhausen, Mustafa Ali and Rev Pro Champion Michael Oku who alongside Amira came for a catch up and also attracted the attention of legendary author and WWF Magazine editor Keith Elliot Greenberg. Spirits were kept high as we were situated near legends such as Tito Santana who competed in the first ever WrestleMania match (Arriba!) and Hacksaw Jim Duggan (Hooooooo!). The only concerning moments came when Papa Shango, The Boogeyman and Nailz showed up!
It was now time for PROGRESS Wrestling's show Freedom Walks Again! SoCal Val did an amazing job as always welcoming the packed crowd to the show and introducing them to the best of British Strong Style wrestling. This is one show you need to watch as the packed house at the Collective was a raucous bunch and loved the action filled spectacle provided. The show is available to watch now on Demand PROGRESS plus and one of my favourite matches from the day Yoichi vs RKJ for the ATLAS Championship can be viewed on YouTube FREE to whet your appetite. The card was stacked and featured some amazing bouts including Lana Austin taking on Rhio, Kid Lykos vs Man Like DeReiss, a triple threat tag team match between CLB, Sanity and Sunshine Machine, and a real standout for me, as Gene Munny and Session Moth tagged up to face the might of BUSSY! An action packed afternoon. It was a great opportunity to catch up with wrestling personalities from all over the world as Canada's SMASH Wrestling, Covalent TV, wXw's Norman Harris and 16 Carat winner Laurance Roman all watched on. Popping backstage briefly was even more surreal as GCW's crew watched on, Nick Wayne, MicroMan, Maki Itoh and Nick Gage all enjoying the show and watching intently. A real celebration of wrestling and a great success for PROGRESS to have a rammed show at the Collective.
With barely time to spare we all dived in cabs to the Wells Fargo centre at the Philadelphia Sports Complex (including Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park) to arrive just in time for WWE Smackdown and the Hall of Fame ceremony! Smackdown was a great way for WWE to ramp up the excitement for WrestleMania including building up the Kevin Owens, Randy Orton and Logan Paul feud. A huge win for Big Bronson Reed in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal got a huge reaction from the PROGRESS faithful amongst us who had seen him in action in the Atlas Tournament in 2022. It was also great to see Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate (New Catch Republic) showcased well in a strong tag match picking up a win over A-Town Down Under. The show ended with Cody Rhodes standing tall alongside Seth Rollins and Jey Uso, after stating that he would end the Bloodline's reign of dominance at WrestleMania! The Hall of Fame shortly followed and included the magnificent speech from Paul Heyman, an honour to be there in Philadelphia the home of ECW for that one. Seeing the reactions ringside of some of the wrestlers to Paul's comments was priceless! I was lucky enough to be sitting right near the front for the Hall of Fame only a few seats away from Linda McMahon, she was on top form especially enjoying the guest appearances from Undertaker, Muhammed Ali's wife and The Rock. Our Wrestle Tours guests especially enjoyed the induction of Thunderbolt Patterson who received a great response from the live audience and had some very important messages. A night not to be forgotten.
On Saturday morning we once again ventured to WrestleCon where I was lucky enough to catch up with a cavalcade of legends including Marty Jannetty, RVD and Katie Forbes, Trish Stratus, Demolition, Matt Riddle, Ted DiBiase and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts. I was also offered the privilege of being able to film an interview for legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter as he chatted to none other than the Enforcer Arn Anderson. Truly a special moment in wrestling that I will always treasure. WrestleCon is always a joy, especially being able to catch up with friends from around the world and social media friends who you don't get to see in 'real life' much! On this occasion, I chatted to Teal Piper, Black Dahlia and Nate Hewitt, Hollywood Haley J and also caught up with Nigel McGuinness as he bamboozled Rich Swann with his magic tricks! We also managed to get a great photo with Tom Scarborough, Simon Miller, Zaheer (the go to music producer) Real1 (fka Enzo) and the guys from Kayfabe Clothing. Not often you get all these awesome people together in one place!
Before we knew it, it was time to head to WrestleMania the Wrestle Tours gang all met in the lobby of our hotel and were allocated coaches to travel to Lincoln Financial Field, thankfully the coaches didn't have microphones so no Lana-oke on this occasion! The stadium looked spectacular for this event and on arrival we were escorted to a special entrance which led us straight to our suites. Located in the Club Suites section we bumped into numerous stars even at this early stage of proceedings, with many not in action on the first night we would run into them and NXT wrestlers in the corridor as they headed to their suites! Some of our guests were lucky enough to catch up with Drew McIntyre, CM Punk and Omos before the show began. An even bigger surprise was in store when Ricky Starks popped in to watch the start of the show with us. The atmosphere for WM 40 was electric and although it was a bit chilly the first night the crowd were in high spirits and had good voices. A haka by our guest Ben Thorpe got everyone in the mood for Mania! The song Gasoline by the Weekend was played quite a bit leading up to the show and was probably stuck in everyone's heads for a while after the event! The show itself was really enjoyable and I felt like WWE has a better format for holding two night events now where it seems to build to Day 2, building up excitement but not burning the crowd out. Starting the Triple H era with the Game booming out around the Eagle's Stadium as the stage lit up in DX colours was a great visual. The opening bout between Becky and Rhea was a great way to start the show, and other stand out matches for me were Gunther vs Sami Zayn and of course the main event of Night 1 Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns and The Rock. My suite was lucky enough to be joined by Xia Brookside and Danielle Moinet for this match which raised the excitement levels even higher! A brilliant first night of WMXL.
WrestleMania Sunday gave some guests a chance to rest, others attended brunches, wrestling quizzes and also headed to WrestleCon once again. The time had arrived though for WrestleMania Night 2, and the BIG question on everyone's mind was, could Cody finish the story? As we arrived at the stadium we caught some of Busted Open radio's live broadcast with Tommy Dreamer, Mark Henry and Bubba Ray. We then bumped into Miranda Gordy, daughter of Terry Gordy on the way through to our suite. It was great to see Miranda in attendance. Stephanie McMahon opened the show by stating how it was a lot warmer on the Sunday which was greeted with a huge ovation. Night 2 started in epic fashion as Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins battled for the World Heavyweight Championship after Rollins arrived with one of the most audacious entrances of all time! The WrestleTours guests in my suite were going crazy for this one, and the Scottish contingent was ecstatic for their hero Drew picking up the big win. Their glory was short lived however as CM Punk provided the distraction and trip which enabled Damien Priest to cash in and defeat McIntyre, a wild and emotional start to the show. Other highlights included LA Knight picking up a huge win over AJ Styles, Logan Paul once again impressive in victory over Orton and KO retaining his US Championship and the sing a long for Bayley during her Championship winning match was even louder than the Hey Bayley chant back in the Empress Ballroom Blackpool! (IYKYK). A few of the WrestleTours guests were lucky enough to get their hands on bottles of WM40 PRIME which I have heard they are now selling on eBay to fund their trip to WM41. As always the showcase of the immortals was packed with fireworks, memorable moments and memories that will last a lifetime. However, I hadn't anticipated being as heavily drawn into the Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes story as I became. Last year in LA the final images I photographed were of a dejected Cody the last man through the curtain at the end of the show empty handed. Would this year's main event be different? I will go as far as to say that I think the long term storytelling and excitement building up to this Mania has been masterful and will be difficult to replicate, a dominant champion who has been so well protected and looked invincible on so many occasions, and in contrast his opponent who has shown heart and battled against the odds to earn his title opportunity. The stage was set for this to be one of the biggest Mania main events of all time, both wrestlers arrived in style, Rhodes accompanied by his wife Brandi who herself received a massive reaction from the live crowd, and the Champion flanked by his Hall of Fame Wise man and the chords of the Philadelphia School District Orchestra adding to the aura and atmosphere of this one. It was all on the line here, and after the previous evening's result was being contested under Bloodline rules. The match itself was thoroughly enjoyable and reminded me of an Attitude era style main event including the participants fighting out into the crowd and a brutal suplex on a small staging area. After over 20 minutes of battle between the two, the inevitable occurred and the no disqualification ruling allowed The Bloodlines Jimmy Uso to interfere, this led to Main event Jey Uso spearing his brother off the stage through a table incapacitating both Usos. Solo Sikoa then appeared in the ring before he was dispatched by John Cena, his appearance bringing the crowd to their feet! The audience was electrified as the Final Boss the Rock made his presence felt and stood face to face with John Cena. Having been in attendance at their Once in a lifetime match up at WrestleMania 28 in Miami it was great to see this iconic moment recreated (I have wiped the fact they redid the match at WM29 from my version of history). The Rock hit the Rock Bottom on Cena and it was time for the Mama Rhodes weight belt to make an appearance, however, before the whippin' could begin the SHIELD music hit and Seth Rollins in full retro gear hit the ring (people in the crowd near us genuinely thought Jon Moxley was also going to appear at this point). Roman Reigns took out Rollins and it looked like the Bloodline would get the result they wanted, it was at that moment the Undertaker's gong hit and the Deadman appeared in the ring face to face with the Great One. A chokeslam later and the Final Boss had been dispatched leaving Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns to finish this 2 year long story perfectly, with three Cross-Rhodes Cody finally reached the pinnacle of sports entertainment, finishing his story and completing what he had vowed to do since returning to WWE. Finally, a Rhodes family member was crowned the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion! An amazing night, and an amazing trip for everyone who travelled with the Wrestle Tours gang. Everyone left the Lincoln Financial Field feeling like they had witnessed a huge moment in wrestling history. WrestleMania 40 was something special WWE got this one right.
This was not the end of our journey however as we still had Monday Night Raw to enjoy. And before that a Hooked on Wrestling QnA with Al Snow in the Philadelphia Eagles official Sports Bar and Restaurant Chickie and Petes. A huge thank you to Paul Benson and his son Samuel, who attended the trip and were top banter the whole time, and also for allowing me to host the Q&A session with Al which was an absolute joy. Some of the stories about Mick Foley, OVW and also Angry (a travelling companion of Al's) will not be forgotten by the fans in attendance! Meeting Pete himself from Chickie and Petes was also an honour, make sure to try the crab fries with cheese dip if you are ever in Philly!
The Raw after WrestleMania is known for being one of the most raucous and exciting evenings of wrestling in the year with WWE trying out new things, allowing opportunities for talent who have worked hard throughout the year and also making sure the fans who have travelled from all over the world leave WrestleMania weekend with a smile on their faces. Looking back at the Raw after WM39 I wouldn't say they quite achieved that brief in 2023, however, this year's Raw after WrestleMania really set the wheels in motion for WM41 and also included some surprises, great wrestling and opportunities for superstars to step up in front of a hyped audience. The opening 45 minute 'no adverts' segment between the Rock and Cody Rhodes was wonderful and set the scene for those two to have a brilliant feud somewhere along the line, A debut on Raw for Ilja Dragunov got a great response from the audience, and the 4 way main event also got some great reactions. Ricochet, Jey Uso, Bronson Reed, Drew McIntyre and CM Punk are all looking to feature heavily in the coming months. Finally, after a visit to Elfreths Alley and the Suplex Vintage Wrestling Store, it was time to bid Philadelphia and our Wrestle Tours guests a fond goodbye. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again next year, and dare I say if rumours are to be believed... Viva Las Vegas!
To join us next year please click on this link - https://bit.ly/WT41VEGAS
Flying back to the UK I was lucky enough to sit with our happy couple Ryan and Roxanne who got engaged on the trip, I'm sure they were overjoyed to see me arriving to sit next to them and spoil the relaxing quiet flight home! Upon touching down in Dublin at 6.30 in the morning I thought it would be rude not to have a Guinness whilst in Ireland, but still managed to make it to gate 333 in time to return home. That evening I surprised the crowd at Atomic Wrestling's 1st Birthday Party by appearing during the Tag Team triple threat match to ring announce for one of my favourite teams Made to Last. Unfortunately, they lost their Atomic Tag titles and were swiftly eliminated from the match. I opted to stay at ringside and offered my support to Forbidden Planet, unfortunately, the Starkiller and Aiton also couldn't quite get the job done so I completed my management duties supporting the newly crowned Atomic Tag Champions Act 2. In the process I became the most successful manager in Atomic history, a role I look forward to furthering, possibly when Atomic brings its show over to my hometown the Wirral later on in the year. SnailMania IV will be running wild on the 14th and 15th of June at Futureyard Birkenhead.
My busy month of April continued as I returned to ring announce at Alternative Wrestling World AWW in Halesowen on the 13th of April. Once again the crowd in the Midlands was loud and very invested in the great action packed family friendly show. Impressive performances by Chaddy B and Max Blayze, although both fell short against tough opponents in Anarky and The Smiler. The main event match featuring the Gasman taking on local hero Troy Jones ended in chaos with the locker room having to empty to separate the battling competitors. It seems the score will have to be settled on 11th May when AWW returns to Halesowen Town Hall for Under Siege!
On the 20th of April PEW Reckoning took place in the Ettington Community Centre, the show opened with a no holds barred match between Ivy and Women's Champion Lizzy Evo. The match went all around the community centre and included Ivy being pushed around on a trolley and also the other members of the Entitled interfering before being locked outside by the Liverbird! Somehow the ultimate Karen, Ivy managed to pick up a huge win and dethrone Lizzy Evo. The show also showed the formation of a new faction as the troublesome H Hood has aligned himself with Elano Stone, Ryden and Fordy, who betrayed his best friend Vegan Prescott to join this newly formed group. CJ Rawlings was very impressive in his debut at PEW and got a great response from the audience. In the Main Event, Brady Philips faced off against one half of the PEW Tag Team Champions Team Rice Krispies. The stage has been set for the Entitled to get their revenge against Kirby and Smashing Mike at Brave New World. Chapter 3 begins for PEW on Friday 31st May as we will see the return of last year's Fallen Angel Tournament winner Rayne Leverkusen. Also, the PEW Internet Championship will be on the line, plus Violet Nyte will face Lily Winter. This is a show not to be missed, tickets are available now!
PROGRESS Wrestling returned to the Electric Ballroom on the 21st of April with a stacked card featuring the debut of Homicide in a PROGRESS ring, and also the Yorkshire Tough team of Reece and Rogan getting a chance to show London what they are all about! One Bump or Two took place on National Tea Day and included Mark Haskins defeating Gene Munny and then declaring he was here to Save PROGRESS! Also, Cheeky Little Buggers Alexxis Falcon and Charles Crowley seemed to be in foul moods after losing their Tag Team Championships to Sanity in the USA and even defeated Reece and Rogan in their path of rage! Luke Jacobs bested Taishi Ozawa on his way to the Super Strong Style 16 Tournament next month. In the other two title matches on the card Paul Robinson retained his Proteus championship after referee stoppage deemed that Homicide was unable to continue, Malik and Kosta then chased Robbo off. Newly crowned ATLAS Champion Yoichi retained his title against the debuting Avalanche Robert Dressiker. Cracks began to show in the Lana Austin experience as confusion and heated conversation between Rob Drake and LA Taylor led to Lana levelling Skye Smitson! Finally in the Main Event of the evening, the newly crowned Tag Team Champions Sanity defeated Lykos Gym in an excellent match up. SSS16 is next up for PROGRESS with some of the biggest stars taking part in our biggest show of the year. It will take place over two days at the end of the May Bank Holiday and feature Shelton Benjamin, KC Navarro, Mike Santana and more! Tickets are available now for the 26th and 27th May at the Electric Ballroom.
I wrapped up my April shows with a brilliant family friendly show in Leek for All Star Wrestling. The crowd at Brough Park Leisure Centre were treated to a brilliant action packed show including triple champion Micky Long, The Wonderkid Jonny Storm, NXT UK's Ashton Smith and the legendary Tony Spitfire. The fans in attendance went wild for young upcoming star Callum Andrews and chanted along "lets go" to Tommy Freeman, All Star Wrestling will certainly be back in Leek in the future and is scheduled to have a full tour later on in the year.
There is a lot more wrestling action coming up in May! Here are some of my top picks of events to attend in May-
4th and 5th May TNT Extreme Wrestling, Liverpool Comic Con
5th May Top Rope Wrestling, Burnley
6th May Sov Pro, Manchester
11th May AWW, Halesowen
18th May Off The Page, Warrington
25th May Kingdom of Wrestling, Southport
26th and 27th May PROGRESS SSS16, London
31st May PEW, Ettington