Although I understand the negativity towards British Wrestling to some extent. I myself have seen a lot of good/great wrestling that sometimes gets overlooked by the negative views people have towards British Wrestling.

So I ask who are the British Wrestlers that make you proud to be a fan?

For myself, I have only seen different promotions on the Midlands scene and certain promotions around the UK, so I can only talk on what I have seen. So here are the British Wrestlers that make me proud to be a fan of British Professional Wrestling (in no particular order):

Zack Sabre JR
Stiro
Chris Stone
Falcon
Ashton Smith
Jon Ryan
Jonny Storm
Geraden
Tommy Gunn
Danny Devine
British Born Steele
Mad Dog Maxx
Dan Ryder
Dave Moralez
Spud
Carnage
Jetta
Stixx
Ross Jordan
Dragon Aisu
Majik
Devilman
El Ligero
Mark Sloan
PAC
Doug Williams
Darren Burridge
Skye
Sykes
Jimmy Havoc

With the 30 wrestlers I have listed, I feel it's fair to say Britain has some great wrestlers. I honestly think British Wrestling could be great again, we have the wrestlers, the promotions, all we need now are legions of fans!

Who are the British Wrestlers that make you proud to be a fan?

Stopped following the Brit scene properly a year or two ago, some time after the TWC supershow thing. I got real sick of the reliance by all the promotions on bringing in name foreigners to draw a crowd because I thought it made every promotion seem exactly the same... which is probably why the FWA closed shop and 1PW drew so bad and went out of bidness.

As for wrestlers around at the moment I used to really, really love Doug Williams when he was FWA champ and a regular for ROH but the last I saw him he seems to have really gone down hill and half assed. Is he still touring with NOAH? [EDIT - scrap that, I just read the wrestling results for yesterday and he went over strong in both main events of the NOAH shows] I've quite liked what I've seen of Mad Man Manson but I think that character would be 10x better as a Necro Butcheresque psychotic heel. I mean, the goofy face shenanigans are great n'all and the kids love it but I think he would better as a nutter heel

There's a bunch of guys I really love to watch wrestle:

Jack Storm is a great heel, while Spud plays the awesome 'face-in-peril' role.
Luke Phoenix is tremendous as are Martin Stone and Pac.
Jonny Storm has ably stepped way beyond being the 'other' Jodie Fleisch to being so much better.
Doug Williams is Doug Williams. Nuff said.
Have to share some love for Mad Man Manson as well as his sometime tag partner JP Monroe.
And when you mention JP, can't forget the wonders of Jezebel Eden Black!
Mark Sloan and Wade Fitzgerald's series has been a joy.
Goddammit if I'm not getting into the Damned Nation as a team-who'd've thunk it?
Dave Morales is another guy who is just damn great.
Sam Slam-how can you not mark for Sam Slam!!
El Ligero has gone from being pretty 'meh' when I first saw him to being great.

And I've probably missed a whole bunch of people!

Listamania~!

The Knight Family - Zak, Ricky, Saraya, Zebra and Britani. I haven't seen Ricky in a match that's been bad. It just can't be done. Zebra getting back on the scene full time should be great news indeed, after working a couple of WAW shows earlier in the year and looking like he hasn't lost anything. Saraya right now, fucked leg and all, could probably wrestle circles round many of the guys on the scene. Zak is gonna keep getting better and better, and much like Spud - if you've never seen him as a heel, it's a joy to watch and you need to go to a Premier show some time that he's booked on. Britani will go far, she's got everything going for her right now, and will take her mums place one day. One day.

The Kartel - Sha Samuels in particular, but he and Terry are a great team. They probably wrestle a better match as heels, but you can't help but cheer them on as faces. And I get to see them as IPW this weekend and Swindon next weekend, yay!

El Ligero - Much like Phil, I didn't think much of him the first few times I saw him. Lately he's improved a ton, probably because he works almost everywhere! Plays a great underdog, and his team with Bubblegum is tremendous.

Sam Slam - Oh yeah, I'm proud to say I've seen Sam rise from his days in the WAW Academy to main eventing shows around the UK. It's just insane the amount of intensity he brings to his matches. He can chain wrestle very well, as one would expect with Jason Cross as the WAW Academy trainer, but does the hardcore stuff to a tee as well. And he does a 450 splash. AND spears people so hard they throw up. Nice.

Yorghos Christophalos - This guy, given a few years and the chance to maybe wrestle a wider variety of opponents and a more full time schedule, will be one of the best technical wrestlers in the UK. He's already up there, having a good series with Jon Ritchie, and some damn good matches with the awesome Phil Powers.

Phil Powers - Wrestles great, and can do the flying stuff as well. Bags of charisma and can get a crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Does a good interview as well, something that's lacking in the UK scene. The fact he wrestles all Summer, every Summer on the holiday camps (sometimes 2-3 shows a day for about 8 weeks) is freaking insane. Proves his dedication.

Jason Cross - Injured at the moment, but a great chain wrestler. In fact, he reminds me alot of a Welsh Phil Powers. Doesn't wrestle much any more, but is a tremendous all rounder, and has put on some great matches with Brett "The Kraft" Meadows before fudging up his ankle.

Dean Almark, Robbie Dynamite, Drew McDonald, Darren "Thunder" Walsh, Robbie Brookside, Mark Sloan, Jack Storm, Andy Simmons, Martin Stone, Doug Williams, Steve Grey, Johnny Kidd, Sykes, Jonathon Hardwick, Ashe, Paul Tyrell, UK Pitbulls, Jon Ritchie, Dave Moralez, Mad Man Manson, Ross Jordan, Stixx, Spud, Brett "The Kraft" Meadows, Jon Ryan~!, Destiny, Jetta <3, Skye, Eden Black, Erin Angel, Klondyke Kate (managed to see a few matches of hers now - book her more often people!). All these people rock.

Shit, there's a lot of good people. Don't get me wrong, some of these people aren't crazy awesome, best wrestler EVAR kind of thing, but they all are real good and definitely worth going out of your way to see if you've never watched them wrestle before.

Ahem... Matt Vaughn

William Regal
Doug Williams
Johnny Moss
Martin Stone (when not doing his Austin impersonation)
Jon Ryan

I knew Pac as far back as 2002, a fair old time before he even began training to wrestle so it tickles me to see him scoring wins in Dragon Gate and showing up in ROH etc and being lauded as one of the best flyers in the world (moreso since he apparently would prefer to work technical). The fact he's so bashful about things is just a bonus. The first time he appeared for 1PW, he drove me down along with Dragon Aisu and Stevie Lynn and the thing I remember most (apart from getting lost, the nameplate game and his worrying about meeting 'the big stars') was his complaint about how badly out-of-shape he'd become!

I also think Chris Whitton deserves a lot of plaudits. Equally capable as am arrogant, self-righteous, self-absorbed asshole heel or a loveable, chirpy babyface he'll hopefully get more recognition around the UK in the next couple of years, even if he claims not to be the unbrightest.

And having watched a couple of old tapes recently, does anyone else remember when Jody Fleisch used to be really fucking good?

Have to say that I'm not a big fan of Pac at the moment. He does GREAT flips, but I've never seen him have a really good match since a WOS rules contest with Paul Robinson over a year ago. Despite all the flips, he just seems so bland and uninteresting. At the very least, he could do with a flashy costume and a mask.

Yoda?

Add Sam Slam to the list. He is fucking awesome.

Then I recommend watching his match with Dragon Kid from westside Xtreme wrestlings True Colors show from July if I'm correct, which was just AMAZING!!!! And NOT because of the filps or highspots, but partially because of the athleticism, and mostly because of the tremendous body of the match. Way better than anything else I've ever seen from PAC.

And why has nobody mentioned Joel Redman? I've only seen one match, the one he had in wXw, which was fantastic, so I'm kinda surprised he doesn't get any praise from you british fans.

I loved Jim Breaks, Johnny Saint, Dave Finlay, Steve Grey, Clive Myers, Dynamite Kid and so many others from the World of Sport days. I generally like smartly wrestled matches far more than seeing great athletes wrestle a match without anything noteworthy apart from the moves and atlethicism, and there were lots of smartly wrestled match in WOS.

But the one british wrestler I'd rank above all would be Billy Robinson, an integral part in the, beside the UWFi, greatest product ever in wrestling, All Japan in the 70s.

I actually saw Joel Redman tonight, he had a great match in LDN teaming with Mark Sloan against Chris Wyld and Mark Haskins. Definitely one to watch when it hits the TV screens.

I can't follow the british wrestling scene like i would love too,but my favorites over the last couple of years are

Andy Boy Simmonz
Alex Shane
Doug Williams
Ulf Herman
Mark Sloan
Spud

(yay my first post lol)

Absolutely concur-great match. In fact overall, a great show. Look out too for John Ritchie's innovative rulebreaking when Johnny Kidd gets tangled in the ropes...markaholic moment!

And big props for Yorghos being just as great as I remember him from when I last saw him wrestle too.

What did John do, I must have missed that? He's another great talent, he's the closest we have to a Jim Breaks nowadays.

What were the full results from that show?

British Rules, Best Two out of Three Falls
Yorghos Christophalos beat "The Bombay Dream" Ross Jordan (2-1)

Rich N Famous beat Money Muscles Mansfield

British Rules, 2/3 Falls for the LDN British Championship
"Gentleman" John Ritchie beat Johnny Kidd (2-1)

Best Two out of Three Falls
"The Specialist" Mark Sloan and Joel Redman beat Chris Wyld and Mark Haskins (2-1)

Sugar Ray Hammer beat Barry Ryan

Mainly Nigel McGuiness and Doug Williams.

I've been watching PAC live for years, and I think he's great at the flips he does. I prefer to see him live as I like the "oooh" factor his moveset brings, but I couldn't watch him on video all day. Jonny Storm's someone else I enjoy. I really liked Fleich, although not as much since he returned to wrestling and got all chubby.

Anyone else think there is a lot of markyness for UK guys, simply because they are British? Unless Martin Stone's suddenly took off as a performer, all I see is a limited guy with a decent look (when compared to the other UK skinny as hell pleather wearers). This Yorgos guy was on LDN plenty, and the matches I've seen him in are rubbish to middling quality.

I know everythiing boils down to personal taste, and that's fine. Great if you enjoy something. It's just sometimes I think that a "good for the UK" wrestler is over rated as a "best in the western world" worker.

Oh, and back to the UK opinions (leaving my rant): I enjoyed seeing Zebra Kid live recently, as well as Zak Zodiac, but to a lesser extent.

There's a few guys who are not particularly well known, but are frequent in my local wrestling shows, who I look forward to seeing: T2K (Wolfgang and Darkside), Carbon (when he's not injured), Lionheart, and Martin Kirby. Chris Whittion, too, and his partner Kid Richie (who has a massive cavity for a mouth).

EDIT: Anyone else catch something of Generico's recent tour of the UK? I saw him in Carlisle, facing someone called Shady in an enjoyable match. I was chuffed to see most of his moveset live.

The standouts from my regular visits to All Star in Croydon are:

Dean Allmark. He never seems to have a bad match and executes some good highspots without ever being too spotty a wrestler.
Robbie Dynamite. As Dynamite Kid tributes go, he does a damn fine job. His match with Deano sometime last year has taken over the mantle of "best match I've seen live".
Mikey Whiplash. He's not the most amazing wrestler, but when he dons his fluffy pink robe and becomes the Chippendale, he's the best cowardly heel in Britain. It's a shame he so often portrays All Star's standard plucky British babyface.
Drew Galloway/McIntyre. When I first saw him I said "That guy will be in WWE someday". He's still pretty green, but the guy oozes babyface charisma from every pore of his being.

Robbie Dynamite is easily in the top 5 wrestlers in the UK. Pity all that's really available of him is the TNA show, as he's a fantastic talent.

I became a huge mark for the Kartel during their brief appearance during King of Trios.

Two guys who never seem to get pimped out anywhere but have become recent favourites are Cameron Kraze and Caiman. Neither are going to do anything to appeal to fans of movez. Kraze has a very appealing line in Kevin Steen-like dickishness, and can play the mummy's boy bully very well. Caiman is a charismatic madman in the Crowbar mould who can put on a really stiff-looking brawl.