Well, it's certainly been another busy year in WAW, with some highs and lows throughout the year, and as we head towards 2005, I thought I'd take a look back at the events of the past twelve months.
January
The year begins with some sad news, as the Sweet Saraya announces her temporary retirement from wrestling, citing several reasons, most notably the catalogue of injuries that were building up, and the lack of competition in the women's division in Britain, including the fact that a match-up between her and Nikita still seemed a long while away.
February
WAW returned to The Talk in Norwich to present Valentine's Day Massacre II, a good show which again highlighted the growing rivalry between WAW and the FWA. "The Showstealer" Alex Shane defeated Stevie Knight on the show, and was appointed as a temporary referee by Commissioner Steven Howard-Platt during the Crusher Mason Trophy match between the Superflys and the U.K. Patriots. This didn't sit well with a certain Ricky Knight.
WAW also finally realised their dream with the release of Fightmare Part 1 on DVD. WAW had experienced a great deal of trouble with the production company who filmed the show in April, 2001, which resulted in the loss of a great deal of money and a possible television contract with Sky. The release was well received by the fans, and needless to say that the powers-that-be were pleased with the end result.
Ricky Knight won a tournament for the vacant Premier Promotions British Heavyweight title, defeating Doug Williams and Burchill.
March
Another successful show was presented at the Town Hall in Hunstanton, with the Zebra Kid winning a one night tournament, defeating Hot Stuff in the final.
May
WWF legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts made his Hunstanton debut, teaming with Ashe against Ricky Knight and the Zebra Kid. Karl Kragious, who would later change his name to Ethan Moore, made his first appearance in a WAW ring for over eighteen months, competing in a three way dance with the Bulk and Hot Stuff.
The Zebra Kid was profiled on the FWA's television show on The Wrestling Channel. A few weeks later, his All-England title match against Hade Vansen was also shown.
The U.K. Pitbulls won a six team tournament to become the first DAM Tag-Team Champions, defeating the New Breed and the Van Kunders in the final in Holt. On the same show, Ricky Knight defeated Hot Stuff to win the vacant DAM Open title.
June
After All-Star Wrestling owner Brian Dixon publicly criticised the use of foul language on FWA shows, Commissioner Howard-Platt announced that he was banning all swearing from WAW shows.
July
The WAW Championship Committee announced introduced a new set of rules for their championship matches, which included the introduction of the rounds system for all championship matches, and the use of judges to decide championship contests.
The Sweet Saraya finally undergoes surgery on her injured elbow.
Fightmare Part 2 was released on DVD.
The Zebra Kid's controversial ladder match against Hade Vansen was broadcast on the FWA's weekly TV show.
WAW began their first weekly show at the Atlantis Arena in Great Yarmouth. The show was good, and perhaps a little unspectacular, but proved to be a good start for the weeks to come. New Tag-Team Champions were crowned when the U.K. Pitbulls defeated the New Breed to win the title that had been vacant since the previous October.
August
Television crews from The Wrestling Channel were in attendance as the Summer Sizzler 2004 show took place at the Atlantis Arena in Yarmouth, with an action packed show featuring the likes of Frankie Sloan, Phil Powers and Jake Roberts. The main event featured the Zebra Kid and Paul Tyrell battling it out for the WAW British Heavyweight title, and ended in controversial circumstances when both men were counted out. Commissioner Howard-Platt held up the belt, before the Championship Committee returned the title to the Zebra Kid a few days later.
Ricky Knight and the Sweet Saraya made their debut on the FWA's TV show on The Wrestling Channel. Knight cost the Zebra Kid his match against FWA Champion Doug Williams, while Saraya was collected the bounty that had been placed on Nikita's head by Jane Childs. A few weeks later, Knight made his in-ring TV debut for the FWA, defeating Aviv Maayan.
Tragedy struck Sweet Saraya during a show at the Pontins Holiday Camp in Hemsby. Just weeks after undergoing surgery on her elbow injury, Saraya suffered a torn lateral muscle in her back during a match with Destiny, which sidelined her for a number of weeks.
In the third Hunstanton show of the year, Ashe defeated the Zebra Kid to win the WAW British Heavyweight title, with the Zebra Kid's attempt to feign injury backfiring on him as the referee referred the decision to the judges and awarded the title Ashe.
The Kraft cemented his status as one of the best up-and-comers in WAW by winning the Atlantis Cup tournament, defeating Ashe in a cracker of a final. Other standout moments in August included the return of Jonny Storm to WAW after a near two year absence, his great match with Jimmy Ocean, and the performances of Ricky Knight, Paul Tyrell, Zak Zodiac and Jamie Lee during the Atlantis Arena run.
Ricky Knight was stripped of the DAM Open title for refusing to defend it against the Zebra Kid. The Zebra Kid went on to beat Conscience for the vacant title in Weybourne. The Zebra Kid also won the annual Premier Promotions Worthing Trophy tournament.
September
WAW celebrated their tenth anniversary in style with The War of 2004 at The Talk in Norwich, highlighted by the battle of the promotions as the Superflys, representing WAW, went up against Alex Shane and Aviv Maayan, representing the FWA. For many the highlight of the show was the appearance of rookie sensation Burchill, who cleaned house as WAW wrestlers attacked their FWA counterparts.
The Sweet Saraya made her in-ring debut on the FWA's TV show, destroying Minx in short order. A few weeks later, in what was described as possibly the best and most brutal FWA match of the year, the Ricky Knight v Zebra Kid match was shown.
The Zebra Kid was sentenced to nine months in prison for drunk and dangerous driving this month, and while the Knight family earned a great deal of praise for their openness about this situation, some fans accused them of using the situation in an attempt to gain sympathy.
October
Ricky Knight and the Sweet Saraya made their debuts for Future Championship Wrestling at their Deliverance show in the Midlands. At the show, Knight defeated Spud, while Saraya defeated Shelby Beach and Pippa L'Vinn in a three way dance.
Having put in exemplary performances since his debut in December 2001, Jake Roberts' personal demons come back to haunt him at October Outrage VI in Canvey Island. Turning up at The Paddocks, Roberts embarrasses himself and everyone on the show and in attendance with his shameful performance. A few weeks later, Roberts disappears from the British wrestling circuit completely after his legal problems with the RSPCA.
Following their match at The War of 2004, Bash & The Kraft engage in a tremendous Last Man Standing match at October Outrage VI.
Another title changed hands at the Battle of the Champions show in Lowestoft, as Klondyke Kate defeated Sweet Saraya, with a little help from Destiny, to become the WAW British Women's Champion. The match was surrounded in controversy from the start, as Kate refused to compete under the WAW Championship Match Rules, at one point threatening to pull out of the event. It was only when Saraya agreed to Kate's request that there be no judges for the bout that the match went ahead.
Also on the show, Britain's youngest wrestler, Zak Zodiac, became the number one contender to the WAW British Heavyweight title when he defeated Ricky Knight in a number one contender's match. Knight's attempt to get an easy route to the title match involved holding a Championship Committee meeting with Commissioner Howard-Platt was away on business, but his plan backfired badly when Zodiac gained the victory and earned at shot at Ashe's title, Ashe successfully defended his British Heavyweight title against Justin Starr, and the U.K. Pitbulls faced their toughest tag-team title defence for ages, only defeating Bash & The Kraft when Bash turned on his partner.
The show was also filmed by The Wrestling Channel for future broadcast.
November
November saw the debut of the U.K. Round-Up show on The Wrestling Channel, as the first show featured Frankie Sloan v Hot Stuff from the Summer Sizzler show in August. Some viewers were put off by Hot Stuff's hip swinging antics, while others were put off by the lack of research on the commentator's part.
Sweet Saraya made her debut for Italian Championship Wrestling in Genoa, Italy, losing against Croatian star Wesna, and sustaining a head injury in the process.
The WAW web site was re-launched with a new look.
December
The Wrestling Channel came in for a great deal of criticism when the Zebra Kid v Paul Tyrell match aired on U.K. Round-Up. The bout, for the British title and fought under the WAW Championship Rules, was cut to ribbons leaving viewers confused about the match and those who were there wondering what the film editors were up to.
The U.K. Pitbulls won the ICWA World Tag-Team titles, defeating the Van Kunders in France.
After re-launching the WAW web site, the assault on the Internet continued with the launch of Radio WAW. Hosted by Julian Radbourne, it featured interviews with Ricky Knight and the Sweet Saraya. A few days later, Saraya launched her new official web site.
Ricky Knight filmed the first in the WAW Shoot Interview series, with a release date scheduled for early 2005.
WAW announced the formation of an offshoot promotion, the World Association of Women's Wrestling. Headed up by the Sweet Saraya, WAW announced that they wanted to put women's wrestling on a par with the men's division.
The Zebra Kid was released from prison on a tag a week before Christmas, making his return to the ring at the Pontins holiday camp in Hemsby, showing no signs of ring rust at all.
Ricky Knight made an appearance on the U.K. Round-Up show, his match with Dirk Feelgood from the IWP show in Hull in August main eventing the show.
Well, that's about it for this year. As you can see, it's certainly been an eventful one. I'd like to thank everyone connected with WAW, be they wrestler, staff, of whatever, for a great year.
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