February 23, 2021
An introduction; PROGRESS Wrestling fails first Speaking Out test; On My Screen This Week
An Introduction To Riffing On Wrestling
When it comes to being a writer in 2021, there are two sides of the coin to consider.
One side is inscribed with the three century-old Samuel Johnson quote that "no man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money." The other is summarised by The Guardian’s Shelley Hepworth, who last year wrote that Substack has “variously been hailed as the future of the media industry, a home for writers who don’t want to be edited, and a place where those who have already made a name for themselves find success.”
Having been in charge of Fighting Spirit Magazine from 2010-19, and in newspapers and magazines since 2005, the only editor I now care to answer to is myself. Thus, this is Riffing On Wrestling, a place where I can engage freely about the aspects of pro wrestling that I find fascinating, without being a slave to the all-too-prevalent cold, tired, and banal reporting of news.
I go into a little more detail on the subject on this site’s About page, but as a writer my goal has always been to present the reader with something to discover, or at least to offer some wider context to consider. In this first issue of Riffing On Wrestling - which, ongoing, will cover various pro wrestling-related topics based on the news or them simply coming up in conversation - there’s an article on the plight of Progress Wrestling and its attempts to return after the Speaking Out Movement, as well as some thoughts about the matches I’ve recently been watching, such as the intoxicatingly brutal Aja Kong versus Yumiko Hotta from 1994 in All Japan Women.
When you watch those, I hope you’ll leave a reply or comment so that I know I pointed you in the right direction.
In any case, I hope you get some real enjoyment from Riffing On Wrestling, directly or indirectly, especially since it will remain entirely free until at least the end of major COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom. If you do, please share it with like-minded friends and family using the button below.
If you are able to take up a paid subscription in lieu of a voluntary donation, you can also do so below, with my sincerest gratitude.
NB. A version of this introduction is cross-posted from my classic rock newsletter, Rock Rules.
A Natural Progression
Independent wrestling is dead, and the coroner's determination is suicide.
Sure, even in the midst of a global pandemic, dozens of indy shows are still set to take place across Wrestlemania weekend, but for the conscientious consumer, it's all over: the Speaking Out movement has proven that if promotions aren't big enough to include safeguarding and human resources teams, they aren't big enough to run at all.
And yet, those that are big enough, have not done enough. This was exemplified this week by Progress Wrestling, which returned to the WWE Network with Chapter 104 on February 20, but failed to live up to the most basic of safeguarding standards on its first show back.
Tragically, it was always inevitable that the scene would never be entirely free of manipulative or even abusive people, but in a July 30, 2020 statement by its new lead safeguarding officer, Lucy Cave, Progress claimed that “the talent will be scrutinised and the highest standards expected from them”. It therefore seemed assured that Progress would exercise due care when it came to its roster, staff, and fans, and would provide a practical example of safeguarding that other, less qualified groups could follow.
Progress did, however, fail on several counts, and almost immediately so. Certainly, it was not transparent regarding the status of Proteus champion Paul Robinson, who was named during Speaking Out as having an affair with a 16-year-old girl in 2014, when he was 26. The age of consent in England is 16, but the moral objection here needs no explanation, and by failing to declare that Robinson worked the late-January tapings as a producer/agent, Progress either believed this behavior to be compatible with its “highest standards”, or that it could get away with him being in a position of such authority.
It is not possible that these allegations were unknown to management, and in any case, neither did the company subsequently apologise for any oversight, nor did it confirm that Robinson would not work there in the future. Instead, in a February 22 statement, Progress moved the onus for safeguarding onto the wrestlers, many of whom were concerned with making a potentially life-changing debut on a WWE platform, noting that “all talent were aware who would be working backstage on the show, and no issues were raised.”
The issue of actual illegality has been a hot topic amongst some wrestlers since Speaking Out began, and on February 21, Progress took the distanced stance that “if you had things to share that are evidential of criminal activity please also contact your local police force.” (Interestingly the word “share” is used four times in this 450-word document, seemingly as a means of suggesting transparency with the reader.)
Of course, while it would be preferable for abusers to face conviction, it is well-known that victims often feel that they cannot report abuse to the police, and so it was particularly important for the UK’s leading wrestling promotion to have implemented its safeguarding measures correctly at the first time of asking.
Naturally, the question is begged as to how this happened. At the very least, a safeguarding document was indeed produced, which included a flow chart stating how the promotion intended to deal with such concerns. Presumably, this document was written or signed off by Lucy Cave, whose credentials were not listed when she was named as the lead safeguarding officer in July 2020. She was previously known to be a Progress Wrestling attendee and fan, and a staunch supporter of wrestler Trent Seven, who himself denied an allegation made against him at the time of Speaking Out. Whether or not transparency is forthcoming about how she was selected for the job, Cave’s position is now untenable, and a new appointment must be detailed publicly.
Undeniably, Progress got it wrong with its return event, and a cloud will now loom over the group at least until the final show of these tapings, Chapter 108, airs on the WWE Network.
Despite the rock to fan confidence, however, Progress Wrestling is not ready for an autopsy yet. It’s only option, though, is to choose whether it wants to be a professionally-run organisation, with all of the scrutiny that follows, or one of the dead-in-the-water indies to which empathetic fans can never again give their money.
Further listening:
On My Screen This Week
Serena Deeb vs. Riho (AEW; February 17, 2020)
I don’t watch Dynamite as much as I could, but this match was recommended to me by Twitter’s @TheBarryLad as something worth going out of my way to see.
As it happened, the most impressive thing about this fine contest was Serena Deeb’s performance; the current NWA Women’s champion has truly embraced her veteran status, and here showed leadership quality, poise, and pacing inside the ring. Riho has a charisma that clearly appeals to some fans, but when watching this tournament bout, you got the feeling that anyone could’ve been on the other side of the ring with Deeb, who is now a startling 15 years into her pro career. ***
Nineteen ninety-six was a great year for New Japan Pro Wrestling, including its junior-heavyweight division, which had noticeably begun to incorporate some UWFi-style matwork into its matches. That’s certainly how 23-year-old Shinjiro Otani went after El Samurai in this bout, utilising fast transitions to give himself the best chance of victory. He was the competitor more interested in the ground attack, and the strategy really played out in what eventually became an excellent mix of matwork and perfectly placed aerial attacks. ****
Yumiko Hotta vs. Aja Kong (AJW; January 24, 1994)
There was a point early on in this match where you truly feared for Yumiko Hotta. It wasn’t just because she was in there with the fearsome and violent Aja Kong, but because Hotta didn’t appear to be much interested in selling for her.
Needless to say, this was a horrible strategy, and as the bout progressed you came to dread what Kong - still only 23 but at the peak of her powers - was going to do to her.
Although Hotta took some brutal thumps throughout the fight, none of these led to the most gruesome visual: a cut to Hotta’s hand that required ringside treatment.
The injury did, at least, encourage her to sell some more.
This was a fascinating struggle, with a finish just as brutal as had been foreshadowed. ****1/2
Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW; July 24, 1998)
The thing about All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1998 was that while the promotion was certainly past its peak - which arguably came as early as 1990 and the Tsuruta-gun versus Super Generation Army feud - it still had the ability to astound. Here, Kenta Kobashi was in his second reign as Triple Crown champion, defending against Jun Akiyama, whom he defeated in the latter’s pro debut on September 17, 1992.
Early on, you got the feeling that it was going to be a long struggle - a signature of main events in this era of All Japan. The first half of the bout was generally slow, but knew when and how to keep the crowd invested, mostly with a hot move. There was some great leg work in the second half of the bout, and both men took a lot of punishment, though it was undoubtedly Akiyama who took the worst of the bumps.
In many ways, then, it was the junior grappler who came out the star, with some incredible selling at the end helping to leave no-one in doubt that he would be capable of taking up Kobashi’s mantle sooner rather than later. ****1/2
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW; August 19, 1990)
Just one day after another of their classic six-man tags, the Super Generation Army and Tsuruta-gun feud returned to the house show circuit for a bout that recently surfaced as a handheld recording.
That’s fortunate, because this tag team encounter was even better than the TV bout!
It was a fast start between the teams, with some great, clean wrestling suggesting that they were going to work a fairly safe albeit fast-paced match for the paying audience. Things changed, though, when Kawada was accidentally cut by a big stomp from Tsuruta, which really helped to rally the crowd behind the man who was just days away from adopting the black and yellow colours that symbolised his “Dangerous K” persona.
It’s worth noting how shockingly hard the ring appeared to be, at one point making a simple body slam a believable near-fall, and adding to the big bumps Misawa took from his adversary, Tsuruta. Misawa also took a terrifying, clearly unplanned spill from the top rope to the floor.
The contest did have a slightly awkward finish, but the preceding action was so good that it really took very little away from it. ****3/4
Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis (AAA; September 22, 1995)
Rey Mysterio Jr. and Psicosis wrestled scores of matches against one another in Mexico, Japan, and the United States, with none being more famous than the Bash At The Beach 1996 opener that set the tone for the biggest angle in WCW history.
This AAA contest, from just under a year earlier and at which time they were also feuding in ECW, was arguably better than anything they did together outside of Mexico. A bout for the WWA World welterweight title, the pair struggled for supremacy in a manner befitting the stage, and the importance of the moment was visually displayed by the photographers eagerly snapping shots at ringside.
This match actually became a submission battle, in the sense that all three falls were decided that way, but there was plenty of thrilling highspot action to match the drama. At one point, Psicosis hit an all time-level top-tope topé, only for Mysterio to fire back with his own element of serious hang-time. There was also a Mysterio dive so impressive that it could’ve believably led to a double count-out finish. ****1/2
This Tag League The Best tournament match was fascinating for a few reasons, but firstly because the regular team of Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada were on opposite sides of the ring, partnering with Akira Hokuto and Kyoko Inoue respectively. Indeed, Toyota and Yamada were back together on the following evening’s house show.
The Toyota/Hokuto team paired the two most popular wrestlers in All Japan Women at the time, but who got over with the audience in different ways: Toyota by being the fastest and most fluid wrestler, and Hokuto by being the most charismatic, and appearing to have the most fighting spirit. It’s interesting to contrast them as team-mates, and consider why you favour one over the other.
Another fascinating element to this match was that it was not a tournament final, but rather the last bout in a round robin series, and in this case, when Inoue and Yamada came out on top, it forced a separate sudden death encounter to find an overall winner. The first match was brilliantly done, insomuch as that it stood as being of high-quality on its own, but impeccably set up the true “final”.
When that second stanza started, you did wonder if it would be with a quick finish, but the quartet brought the match back down so that it could peak as they planned. It was pacy but brutal, and the near-falls were incredible exhibits of in-ring drama.
Overall, this was as good a 30 minutes of professional wrestling as you will ever see. ****1/2
UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns
On a weekend less full of sport I might have stayed up on February 13 to catch the UFC 258 main event live, but it was more than worth it to catch up the next morning, as Kamaru Usman defended his UFC welterweight title against former team-mate Gilbert Burns in Las Vegas. This was a bout that you should see if you want to keep up with UFC storylines for the remainder of 2021.
This was a battle of big-hitters at 170lbs, although Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt Burns had more than one submission in his arsenal, too. Still, it was a little unexpected when he rocked the champion early with a tight right cross, but Usman recovered his bearings quickly and laid in some nasty kicks to Burns’ hamstrings and glutes as the latter tried to tempt the champion to the ground.
Burns got off to a good start in the second round, too, his compact frame creating the type of power that smashed Dan Hooker and Demian Maia in recent years, but when Usman started to improve the timing on his jab, he found the way to stun the Brazilian. Both men took heavy hits in this round, but Burns fared much the worse, and by the end of the five minutes was really feeling the earlier assault on his legs.
The tide had completely turned, and it only took Usman a further 34 seconds to see the bout through, knocking Burns down with a skull-shaking jab and then throwing looping fists from above for the TKO victory.
After the bout, Joe Rogan proclaimed Usman one of the greatest fighters of all-time for breaking Georges St-Pierre’s 13-fight winning streak, also at welterweight. Usman, for his part, challenged the tough-talking Jorge Masvidal, whom he defeated in July 2020 after Masvidal had stepped in for Burns on six days’ notice.
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis
A week after UFC 258, the heavyweights were the main attraction on a card low on star power, as 14-2 Curtis Blaydes faced 25-7 Derrick Lewis. From its announcement, the style of the fight seemed set: Blaydes, while a strong striker, would attempt to get Lewis to the ground and take away his knockout power. Lewis, who always appears fatigued, would try to catch Blaydes in the act, and knock him out.
The latter is exactly what happened.
Although Lewis ate a number of heavy punches in the first round, when Blaydes dove for a takedown in the second, the surprisingly spring-heeled “Black Beast” stooped to catch him with a low uppercut, knocking him senseless even before the two further punches that landed as referee Herb Dean was in the midst of calling it off.
This is another fight worth your time, especially in the highlight form above.
A Little Bit Of Housekeeping
I’ll be back on Wednesday, February 24 with a brief story on the UWFI, which recently came up in conversation with my former colleague Alan Counihan. I have not included it in this issue of Riffing On Wrestling as a little test to see if people prefer articles sent to them separately, or in this more newsletter-type format.
I still often get pitches sent to me for Fighting Spirit Magazine, so I will consider article submissions here on a rare basis. If there’s something you want to pitch to me, you can do so at brian(at)hardcopy(dot)ie.
I am available for further editing and occasional writing work, with my expertise being in pro wrestling, mixed martial arts, football (soccer), and classic rock music. You can inquire about my rates by emailing brian(at)hardcopy(dot)ie. I can also provide professional editing feedback, or offer advice or mentoring, by prior agreement at the same email address.
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