GWF Aftermath: What Went Wrong?

This week I had hoped to bring you a review of the Global Wrestling Force "Aftermath" show in Blackburn, which was due to take place this past Sunday. Sadly, events outside of the ring led to what could only be termed as a fiasco.

I had been invited to the show by GWF promoter Jon Farrer, who also writes for Total Wrestling magazine. So, along with loyal WAW-ites Doreen and Susan, and WAW stars the Sweet Saraya and the Zebra Kid, we made our long journey northwards from Norwich to Blackburn, arriving at the King George's Hall around 5pm, just as the fan festival was beginning to wind down.

The first thing that struck me was the absence of the most important aspect of any wrestling show - the ring. The doors to the hall were due to open around 6pm, with the show due to start around 7pm. I thought this was odd. As well as covering WAW shows in the past year, I had also reported on FWA, TWA, and UWA shows, and at each show, the ring had always been ready a good 90-120 minutes before the door opened. Ricky Knight once said to me that it doesn't make for good business for the punters to see the ring being put up. It detracts from the enjoyment, the believability of wrestling.

While Saraya and Zebra prepared themselves backstage, I took the time to walk around the hall, taking in the atmosphere. After a quick chat with Big Dave and the Bulk, Flash Barker, and the UK Fan Forum's number one fan, Greg Lambert, I began to chew the fat with Powerslam magazine writer Mo Chatra, who was due to work that night as a referee. After getting some advice on how to break into the magazine business, Mo told me that the ring van had broken down, just twenty miles away. Although the show would be running late, at least, at the time, it seemed like there was going to be a show. I also managed to grab a quick word with Jon Farrer. Jon was very busy, which was understandable. I could also tell that something was troubling him. I had no idea how serious the trouble was.

As time went on, more and more of the wrestlers began to arrive. "MTX" Jem Brown arrived with his BRAWL crew. Jem had recently begun to work a few dates for WAW, and we talked at length for what seemed like ages. Jem's a really nice guy, and I hope he does well in WAW.I also got the chance to talk to a few of Jem's BRAWL followers (sorry, I can't remember their names). Even though I've been working for a wrestling company for over a year now, it still amazes me sometimes that people in this industry can be really cool guys. But then again, maybe I hear too much about the political machinations that go on in the Stateside wrestling industry.

Also stood just a few feet away from none other than Jake "The Snake" Roberts. I wondered if Jake would say anything to me. I hadn't seen him in almost a year, not since his split with WAW. To be honest, Jake looked good. I considered approaching him, just to say hi, but decided against it.

The doors were opened, and the crowd began to file into the hall. However, we still had no wrestling ring. Word began to reach me that the guy driving the ring van had instructed the breakdown crew to tow him all the way home, instead of to the hall, so he could help set up the ring.

To entertain the crowd, Jon asked comedian Ted Robbins, of Phoenix Nights fame, to tell a few jokes. I could tell by the response Ted was getting that this wasn't really his sort of crowd. A few kids got on stage, and Ted asked them who their favourite wrestlers were. Kane? Jeff Hardy? I could tell that Ted hadn't heard of any of these guys.

After grabbing a quick drink in the bar, I bumped into wrestling legend Robbie Brookside. I was surprised that Robbie remembered me. I hadn't seen him since the FWA show in Walthamstow in June. I teased Robbie about supporting Liverpool, and he teased me about Norwich's 2-2 draw with Stoke the previous day. We then talked about his recent interview with Greg Lambert. Marking out a little, I told him that I agreed with a lot of the stuff he said.

Around 7.30, I met up with Greg Lambert and Marvin Kaye in the foyer. I sought Greg's advice about my upcoming WAW assignment, commentating on the Valentine's Day Massacre video. Greg, who had done a stint on the old TalkSport wrestling show, told me to relax and be myself.

It was there I also found out that about twenty punters had asked for refunds, after they had found out that the wrestling ring hadn't yet arrived, and that the show would be running late.

As the clock struck 8, I had hoped to chew the fat a little more with Greg and Marvin, but I couldn't find them. I wondered if perhaps Greg was hiding in a corner somewhere, trying to fend of an attack from the UK Fan Forum hordes. Turned out he was just in the balcony, but I didn't know that.

The CZW guys, Trent Acid and his merry men, were now on the arena floor, trying to entertain the crowd. I watched from behind a curtain on the stage. The guys seemed a little worse for wear, if you know what I mean. The fans were buying everything they did, even though it seemed to me that the Americans weren't having a joke with them, but making jokes at their expense. Seconds later, British stars Jodie Fleisch and Jonny Storm arrive on stage. Jonny was handed the microphone, and the verbal wars begin. In my opinion, this just wasn't that pretty to watch. I was simply bored stiff, and decided to return backstage.

I had left my back in Saraya's and Zebra's dressing room, and after grabbing my bag of jelly babies and sharing them around, I found out that Jon had telephoned for another ring in Birmingham, and that the ring would be in Blackburn between 8.30 and 9. Jon had also apparently revised the entire show, and that some of the matches had been cut. Saraya then told me that she had just spoken to her husband, Ricky Knight, on the telephone. News had already reached the Internet.

The next hour and half or so were actually quite enjoyable for me, on a personal level. I spent that time just hanging and chilling with the likes of Doug Williams and Klondyke Kate. I was amazed that Doug remembered me, because we'd only said a few words in passing the last time we had seen each other the previous October. Kate was a delight to talk to, the total opposite of her evil bitch character that has been seen in rings around the world. I would love to be able to sit down and interview this legend sometime.

A short time later, I heard a massive cheer coming from the hall. Saraya goes rushing out, thinking that the ring had arrived. Sadly, it hadn't. Ever the entertainers, the Pitbulls had done a Hulk Hogan-style pose down.

Then, something happened on stage that made my glad I hadn't seen it. One of the CZW guys, Trent Acid I believe, had decided to do a pose-down of his own. One of his comrades then thought it would be hilarious to pull down Trent's pants, exposing him to the world. I wondered what the hell was going on. There were, after all, young kids, some as young as 3 and 4, in the audience. What kind of impression were these guys trying to make?

Having chewed the fat with a few more of the guys backstage, around 9.30, word got back to us that Jon Farrer had finally pulled the plug on the show. Coming backstage, Jon looked a dejected man. Everything he had planned for, everything he had hoped for, had literally gone up in smoke.

Thirty minutes later, the five of us got back into the car to make our journey home, which would be even more difficult given the fact that the brakes were not exactly in the best shape they could be. Saraya and Zebra were down. Although they had been paid, they hadn't had the chance to wrestle, which is something both of them love. My own mood was similar. Jon had invited me to the show to review it for his website. I hadn't been given the chance to do what I do best.

We arrived back in Norwich around 3.30 in the morning, annoyed, hungry and tired. Ricky had been keeping a close eye on the UK Fan Forum all evening. The news was not good. Jon Farrer was taking a pasting, left, right and centre. The fans were irate. At the time, I didn't care. I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was lie down on the sofa and grab a few hours sleep before heading back to Cromer.

After grabbing a few hours on the sofa, I picked up my pad and paper and tried to write down what I thought while Ricky read through the various posts on the UK Fan Forum, taking several telephone calls at the same time. One particular post came from the guy responsible for the ring - Steve Lynskey.

Lynskey posted on the UKFF his side of the story, of how, around 3pm, his van had broken down and he had called out the AA. He said that Jon Farrer had called him on his mobile phone a number of times, wearing down his battery to the point where he could no longer make any phone calls himself. Then he said that the AA insisted that they tow him all the way back to his home on the south coast, despite the fact that he was just twenty miles from the venue.

This just seemed to enrage the fans even more. It also enraged Scott Conway, himself a wrestling promoter, the owner of The Wrestling Alliance. Conway then did something that was perhaps wrong - he posted Lynskey's mobile phone number on the UK Fan Forum. Apparently, his phone was ringing off the hook.

I decided then not to write about my experience then. If truth be told, I was still exhausted, and wasn't thinking straight.

I arrived back in Cromer that night, and after checking my e-mails, I saw that Jon Farrer had posted a message on the UK Fan Forum, explaining his side of things. I e-mailed Jon, telling him that while I had been tempted into a knee-jerk reaction, I wouldn't be writing about things straight away, that I would step back, read what was being said, and then, I would write down my thoughts.

I logged onto the UK Fan Forum the next day, and saw that the sympathy vote was starting to go Jon Farrer's way, and that Steve Lynskey was becoming public enemy number one. He had stuck to his story, and continued to take a pasting for it. Lynskey challenged Jon to a shoot fight on the UKFF, which Jon agreed to, which made many fans think that the entire situation was nothing but an angle between the two men.

But I knew otherwise, because news reached me that day, of what really happened. Lynskey hadn't broken down twenty miles from Blackburn. Lynskey hadn't even left home.

Late last year Lynskey had worked for Jake Roberts during Jake's "Real Stars of Wrestling" tour. The two men had apparently had some sort of argument, and Lynskey had decided to get back at Jake, by simply not turning up in Blackburn. What Lynskey failed to realise is that by following this course of action, he wasn't just getting back at Jake, he was bringing Jon Farrer, every wrestler Jon had booked that night, every one scheduled to work that show, and all of the paying fans into something which should have remained a private matter between the two men.

I've read, many times, over the past few days that this whole situation is nothing but an angle, a work. Well, I can tell you for certain that it isn't. I could go on about how Lynskey should feel ashamed for what he has done, but there's no point, because I know for a fact that he does. He knows what he did was wrong. He knows that he shouldn't have drawn everyone else into his private argument with Jake Roberts.

There has been talk among British wrestling promoters that he should serve an "unofficial" suspension, that no one should offer him work for 28 or 56 days. That is not really for me to comment on. This is something that the people who run British wrestling should decide upon.

One cannot help but feel sympathy for Jon Farrer. Jon had spent countless hours on this show, and had invested thousands of pounds in this project, and lost thousands more through refunds and the like. One criticism which can be levelled at Jon is that he really should have had a back-up plan. Not just a plan b, but c, d, e, f, and even g. Jon had booked workers from four different wrestling companies on his show. Things could have been a lot different if two of those companies had supplied a ring as well as wrestlers.

Will Jon try and promote another show? At this moment, I would have to say it looks doubtful. His fingers have been burned a little. Perhaps Jon will learn from the mistakes.

As for Steve Lynskey - as I mentioned before, I know for a fact that he feels genuine remorse for what he has done. He made a private argument very public. He'll find work again, but he may find it hard to earn the trust of people he's worked with for a number of years.

They say that time heals all wounds. Let's hope that this is the case here.