Jimmo's Angle Special: Interview: Chris Andrews

Chris Andrews

During my journey through the best (and sometimes worst!) of British wrestling, I have been lucky enough to rub shoulders with some great talents; experienced, inexperienced and underrated. It dawned on me whilst looking at this months 'One to Watch' in Fighting Spirit Magazine (plug!) that there are some great young, and unearthed talents that warrant showcasing in this way. I hope, in some small way, that I can give a little spotlight on such talents and maybe get them the recognition and exposure that they deserve.

I met Chris Andrews about a year-and-a-half ago and was instantly impressed by him both as a man and a wrestler. Although I can't claim to know him very well, I have always felt sure that he is a kind, polite, at times very quiet guy, that has a desire to do his best in everything that he attempts. I've always been sure that he has the look and skills to take him far in wrestling. I'm pretty sure that if you read any of my weekend of British wrestling reviews I have never had a bad word to say about Chris. This isn't due to a need to ass-kiss, but because I am genuinely entertained and impressed by what Chris brings to shows.

When Chris enters to his (usual) music of 'The Power', you're instantly blown away by the physical presence he has: clearly, Chris looks after himself and is a great example to any young and aspiring wrestler of how a you should look. If Vince McMahon is into big, chiselled, muscular wrestlers then he should look no further than Chris! I had quite a few questions for him that he was kind enough to get back to me on:

Jimmo's Angle: What got you into wrestling?

Chris: I think my Gramp used to record WCW in the early hours of the morning for me. My first real memory was seeing a match between Nailz and British Bulldog while my dad was flicking through the satellite channels. I asked if we could watch it and I then became a fan. The first big show I remember was Summerslam 92; shortly after that WWF did a world tour where they held a show in the Westpoint Arena, Exeter. Me, my brother, best friends and dads went to watch. There were some massive stars there: Legion of Doom; Shawn Michaels; Bret Hart; Yokozuna - all the big names except The Undertaker, which I remember being disappointed about; I wasn't really old enough to appreciate it, though.

How long have you been wrestling for?

9 years

Who trained you? Where did you find out about wrestling training?

I was trained by the UK Kid in 2005 at the VPW School of Excellence in Portsmouth. I knew I wanted to start training for a long time before I managed to start full-time. I did a few weekend camps at FWA [Frontier Wrestling Alliance] etc. Then a small school started in Exeter where we were trained by guest trainers each week, one of them was The UK Kid. He saw potential in about six of us including my brother Sam and close friend Joel Redman [WWE/NXT's Oliver Grey] and took us to Portsmouth to start full-time training.

How long did you train before being 'show ready'?

I was lucky really as I was a fairly gifted athlete growing up so found the physical side natural and seemed to pick up the movements and timing quickly. I think Tom (UK Kid) took us up there at the beginning of March and I did my first match on a show in May.

Did you feel ready when you debuted?

I felt ready; I don’t know how ready you can be really. Like a lot of trainees, my first match was with my trainer so I could be pulled through it and made sure I got a good pasting throughout [laughs]. I remember wanting to know everything that was going to happen in the match and memorise the whole thing. You don’t really start to understand the psychology and drawing real crowd emotion until you work a lot of shows so I didn't really get why we couldn't just do that; its all part of learning.

Early memories?

I started working for All Star, wrestling a lot to start with and usually did either one, or both, of the Butlins Minehead shows each week. That was great experience for learning how to control the crowd and share a dressing room with some very experienced veterans. I was lucky enough to wrestle some great talent very early in my career, one of which was against Daniel Bryan. The massive one for me (due to him coming off WWF TV/being in TNA at that time) was Billy Gunn. It was such a big opportunity for any wrestler let alone someone with only a few months experience in wrestling.

Impressively suplexing Dave Mastiff

What companies have you worked for?

I don’t think I could list them all but VPW (Varsity Pro Wrestling), RQW (Real Quality Wrestling), All Star, Premier Promotions, Wrestling.IE (Ireland), DWA (Devon), Pro EVW, LDN, Pride Promotions, Kamikaze Pro, House of Pain: Evolution, Wrestleforce, PWA (Plymouth)...

What companies do you see as the best/most established in the UK?

All Star have been running for years and run shows everyday so they would still have to be considered most established.

Who would you like to work for that you haven't yet?

There are a few companies that have caught my eye. Unfortunately, everyone else also wants to work for them, too; they include PCW, ICW, Rev PRO and Southside.

You're now branching out more-and-more from the South-West; what factors do you give credit for this?

Getting rid of my fuel guzzling truck [laughs]. I guess it probably comes down to having more time for wrestling; the more shows you do, the more people see you and the more shows you get offered. I drastically cut down my bookings around 2009 to free up some time to build a house for myself. I couldn't afford to take time off work for this so my evenings and weekends were pretty much taken up by it. It was a hard decision but I had to think about the future and there are no guarantees with wrestling. I was still able to squeeze in some shows but it was more like one-a-month or a small tour than the two-to-three shows a week I had been doing. When I finished the house I could get going again properly with wrestling.

Who are your closest friends in wrestling?

I don’t know if they would really be considered “in wrestling” as they were already my friends before and we got into wrestling together: my brother Sam Andrews and good friend Joel Redman. They are obviously both lifelong friends. The only other wrestlers I'm close to - who came to my wedding - are Nick Riley, PJ Jones and UK Dominator. I met them in about 2009 through Joel. I have recently been travelling with Iestyn Rees a lot, and have been joined by Nick [Riley] and Chris [Walker] (collectively, The Magnums), and Charlie Garrett who are all good company. I remain good friends with Tom (The UK Kid), too.

What are your ambitions in UK wrestling?

Mainly to enjoy it; it's hard to say something like “to make a good living from it” as the money isn’t really there in Britain at the moment.

What are your ambitions in wrestling overall?

I would love to think I could make a good living from it. As I said before the money isn’t really there to do that in England so it would really mean moving overseas. I still want to give it a go and definitely won't write it off.

Biggest achievement to date?

Being asked to go to WWE try-outs and being invited back. Also, obtaining work in wrestling overseas.

What established wrestlers have you competed against?

Billy Gunn, Bob Holly and D'lo Brown (for VPW), Daniel Bryan and Sheamus (for All Star), and Kid Kash (for PWA) would be the most well-known due to them working with WWE. I have also been lucky enough to work with top British talent such as James Mason, Doug Williams and Karl Kramer.

You're wrestling TNA's Gunner soon; what are your thoughts on that?

Yes, that’s for a show in Plymouth for PWA on Sunday 4^th May. I'm really looking forward to it! Anytime you get to work with someone who has made it into a good position in the business can only be a good thing. He looks like a big, tough guy so should be good. On that show I am also looking forward to being introduced by Duke Nukem [laughs] - Jon St. John is doing the MCing who did the voice for the video-game.

• TNA's Gunner's message to Chris Andrews (link)

As I've said before, Chris is a top talent in the UK. Maybe his name hasn't reached as far as it should have by now but that will surely change the more people get a chance to see him perform. He has the look and experience that should be used on more shows across the country. He has had great opportunities against some big names that have been stars and are currently plying their trade in the biggest organisation in the world (WWE).

If you would like to know and see more then look out for him on local shows, Facebook and Twitter (@chris84shark)...

Support British Wrestling

@jimmosangle

My Weekend of (British) Wrestling 30 - Pro Wrestling Chaos

Saturday 12th April 2014 - Pro Wrestling Chaos ' Triple Threat' - Filton Community Centre, Bristol

The 30th weekend of (British) wrestling saw me head down Bristol-way with MC Hank McCoy for another potentially top night of British wrestling at Pro Wrestling Chaos. The last show that I attended for Chaos was really pleasing and this looked like being no different as there were more wrestlers on the card with the added bonus of more talent on show. The main event would see a first-time-ever match with the triple threat between Mark Andrews, Eddie Dennis and Pete Dunne. That alone was a mouthwatering prospect as these are three of the biggest and brightest stars in the UK.

The night would start off with a tag team match as local favourites Dave Mercy and Alex Steele would take on the sleazy, sweaty Magnums (Chris Walker and Dick Riley). This was the first time that I'd seen The Magnums in a while and that realisation disappoints me; unfortunately whenever I've gone to a show they've been booked elsewhere?! Nothing has changed as far as they go, though - they still get the huge reactions from audiences with their drawn-out entrance that gives them time to connect with the fans and get inside their heads. Now their routine has added the bonus of being a little more aggressive. I like this; as much as they are funny a lot of the time, it's nice that, as heels, they've adopted a more aggressive side as it makes it easier to hate them. It's nice that instead of kind-of hating them AND laughing at them, the aggression means that you can hate them as is intended.

The next two matches didn't get my full attention due to outside factors and this also disappoints me as I was really looking forward to the 'Flash' Morgan Webster vs Damian Dunne match. These guys were two-thirds of the previous shows MOTN and from everything I've seen of them in the past, this was bound to be a top match. From the glimpses that I did see, it was flowing and exciting, with Dunne gaining the victory. 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman would also defeat Kay Jutler before the interval.

T-Bone

The second half would have my full attention and started with a hard-hitting, heavyweight bout between Jeckel and T-Bone. Although Jeckel was clearly the heel (based on the last show and his reaction this time out), it could've been seen as a heel vs heel match as T-Bone didn't give too much indication that he was to be cheered on arrival! Luckily, he's a guy that doesn't need to do much to get the appropriate reaction. Credit should be given to Jeckel, too, as he continually goaded the Filton crowd and made them hate him even more; this made T-Bone's job easier as being the one to shut him up. Two things that are worth noting from this match were the 'salad dodger' chant that was directed at Jeckel, as well as my assessment of T-Bone's face routine: two claps from him was all it took to get the audience to join in and get behind him. Simple but effective! This match also drew the loudest responses from the crowd at that point of the show.

The penultimate match saw the always entertaining Wild Galleons (yes, I say that after just two times of seeing them!) defending their places at Pro Wrestling Chaos against Gideon and his henchman 'Killbain'. It seems that Gideon's plan is to rid Pro Wrestling Chaos of the Galleons; picking them off one by one. They already have the 'scalp' of The Kraken and this time around they were looking to take out Roger The Cabin Boy. After a dominant display, which saw both Roger and Captain Dick both take a hell of a beating, The Doomsday Killers (Gideon and Killbain's collective name) picked up the win over Roger before abducting him, leaving Captain Dick alone moving forward. I also felt the hard chop that Roger took from Gideon at one point in the match, too... ouch!

The main event was next up and would have extra attractions added to it. Not only were we going to see three of the top talents in British wrestling but we would see championships, too. I'm still undecided about how I feel about having other wrestling promotions titles on your show, but I suppose it's a nice touch and in some ways gives an extra feeling of importance to the match.

This would be announced as an Attack! Pro Wrestling 24/7 Championship match pitting the champion Pete Dunne against Mark Andrews against new Triple X Wrestling Champion Eddie Dennis (also sporting his belt for this contest). I have to admit that I firmly believed that Dunne would retain his championship due to it being from another promotion... I'm happy that I was wrong. Mark Andrews would capture the title after a fine finishing sequence: Dunne performed a German Suplex on Dennis and, a split second later, Andrews would land a Shooting Star Press on Dunne (whilst he was still on the mat). This match was easily the Match of the Night due to the flow, excitement and combinations of moves throughout.

Results

• The Magnums ('Filthy' Chris Walker & 'Dirty' Dick Riley) defeated Dave Mercy and Alex Steele
• Damian Dunne defeated 'Flash' Morgan Webster
• 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman defeated 'The Male Model' Kay Jutler
• Jeckel defeated T-Bone
• The Doomsday Killers (Gideon & Killbain) defeated The Wild Galleons (Captain Dick Morgan & Roger The Cabin Boy)
• ATTACK! Pro Wrestling 24/7 Championship: Mark Andrews defeated 'Dynamite' Pete Dunne (c) and Eddie Dennis (Triple X Wrestling Champion) to become NEW champion (MOTN)

Overall, a really nice show. Six matches with some top UK talent that is testament to how well this young promotion is doing. This is only their fifth show and they already have cards with guys like Mark Andrews, Pete Dunne and Eddie Dennis headlining AND putting on top class, exciting matches. It should be noted that the venue was a new one for Pro Wrestling Chaos and as a result I don't think that the Filton locals were schooled in how to react to certain things. Luckily, the entire cast of wrestlers and MC Hank McCoy know how to give the right pointers to get them to participate in the appropriate way - I'd give credit to McCoy's night-long enthusiasm and determination to keep the audience's attention as well as The Magnums, Jeckel, and the main event guys (as well as all on the show) for giving this audience a good starting point to wrestling shows.

I have no doubt that this venue will be a great venue to come back to. I can't put my finger on it yet, but Pro Wrestling Chaos offers something that the Bristol area WANTS and that's great for them, the fans and British wrestling's reach.

Check out Pro Wrestling Chaos' Facebook and Twitter pages for more, and up-to-date information... definitely a show you should go and see!

Support British Wrestling

@jimmosangle

My Weekend of (British) Wrestling 29 - PROGRESS: Chapter 12

Sunday 29th March 2014 - PROGRESS Wrestling - Chapter 12: 'We're Gonna Need A Bigger Room' - Electric Ballroom, Camden Town

Leading up to this event I had an unusually high level of excitement. With PROGRESS' ascending level of popularity and reputation this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, but for people that know me, a high level of excitement for anything BEFORE it happens is very rare. I'm more the kind of person that is excited when that particular event; whether it be a holiday, party, show, whatever; actually starts. That way I can brace myself for any disappointment there might be. Somewhat negative, but there you go!

This show, on the other hand, just COULDN'T disappoint... from everything I'd seen (thanks to Ref Paz lending me previous show DVDs) and everything I'd heard (Ref Paz giving them great praise), along with the great looking card, there was just not going to be any disappointment at all.

The show started and we were welcomed by MC/Co-owner/Comedian Jim Smallman. I'd already seen Smallman on the PROGRESS DVDs that I'd been leant and understood his popularity and connection with the PROGRESS faithful. This guy is SO over with the crowd like nothing that I've ever seen before. As well as the audience being completely into the show before it even started, Smallman had the easy job of getting them even more ravenous before the first match!

That first match would see two guys that I'm not that familiar with but are clearly VERY popular with the PROGRESS crowd; Tommy End and Paul Robinson. This was a hard-hitting affair and a really great opener. It's unusual for me to see a face-vs-face opener and the fans be SO into it but already I could tell that I was part of a very different, and special, kind of audience than I'm used to.

The second match would be a unification match pitting Grado (equipped with his Bumbag Championship) going up against Mad Man Manson (with his Balls). This was, as expected, pure comedy from start to finish with a comedy staredown at the start to purposely-botched spots to add to the hilarity. I can imagine that some old-school wrestling fans would hate this mockery of wrestling but these guys (and this type of match) have a place on shows - ESPECIALLY with a smart crowd such as this one. The bottom line here is that this match was highly entertaining - with the standout moment being Grado and Manson performing the Titanic tribute in the corner. Grado would unify his Bumbag title with Manson's Balls after delivering a Rock Bottom, Stone Cold Stunner AND a Pedigree for good measure.

Match three saw a Natural Progression series bout between Will Ospreay and Liverpool's Zack Gibson. Again, I wasn't too familiar with either guy beforehand but Ospreay, in particular, really impressed me. AGAIN, he was hugely popular with the PROGRESS crowd.

In the fourth match a rivalry would come to a violent end (?) as The Bhangra Knights would take on long-time nemeses The London Riots in a Street Fight. Things got out of hand in the early going as RJ Singh took a hard kendo stick shot to the back. The Riots dominated for a large chunk of the match before the tide turned briefly. But, after laptops, road signs, keyboards and crutches, The Riots would get the win and leave the Bhangras laying helpless in the middle of the ring.

During the interval, Jim Smallman would continue to work tirelessly to entertain and please the show-goers by suggesting that he and fellow PROGRESS owner, Glen Joseph go around ALL of the fans and do Ellen-inspired-Oscar-selfies. Huge credit should go to both of them, as well as third owner, Jon Briley, for giving the fans every bit of them throughout the day.

After this pick-me-up, and also contributing to a DVD extra, the Camden crowd were ready for the second half of the show which started with the crowning of first-ever PROGRESS Tag Team Champions as F.S.U (Mark Andrews & Eddie Dennis) took on Screw Indy Wrestling's Mark Haskins and Nathan Cruz and Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby). For me this was the match of the night. There was so many great sequences between the three in the ring (various combinations) as well as double and triple team moves. Two standout moments (amongst MANY) saw Eddie Dennis deliver a Samoan Drop AND a Fallaway Slam simultaneously to Travis and Haskins, and a moment of madness when all six guys would take each other out with stiff punches and kicks.

The match would finish when Andrews and Dennis would combine to become the FIRST holders of the Tag Team Championship - and as PROGRESS don't do things the conventional way, the championships wouldn't be belts, but instead a SHIELD; two halves (one for each wrestler) that combine to make up one complete piece with the PROGRESS emblem on the front. Different and refreshing.

The sixth, and penultimate match of the evening would be a match that I had looked forward to since seeing the card - Doug Williams vs 'The Bastard' Dave Mastiff. It's with regret that I say that this didn't live up to my expectations. It was a hard-hitting, SLOW affair. Maybe a little too slow at times. Something that also took away from the match was Nathan Cruz' valet getting involved (ultimately leading to her getting Powerbombed by Mastiff). I realise that this sets something up in the future between Cruz and Mastiff, but it would have been nice to see both guys really go at it without interference. There were definitely positives to this match, though; Williams schooling, and getting the better of Mastiff early on was funny to see, and the everything-shattering Cannonball delivered by Mastiff to get the win was a sight to see, too.

The main event of the evening would see a Fatal Four Way for the PROGRESS Championship; hated champion Jimmy Havoc would have to overcome the odds of three men trying to take the title away from him. Marty Scurll, El Ligero and Rampage Brown would all get their chance to inflict pain and violence on him throughout this match.

After seeing previous DVDs, I knew that Havoc was despised by the PROGRESS fans as well as having a very personal feud with Jim Smallman. Everything about this feud and the fans investment in it is just another positive for this company; to have the fans foaming at the mouth in this way is genius and so different to a lot of other shows in the country.

This match saw absolutely NO punches pulled. Credit to Havoc as he took a tremendous amount of pain throughout, being thrown into chairs multiple times, being hit with chairs and taking some really stiff-looking moves, most notably the powerbombs (and later Piledrivers) from Rampage Brown. All guys gave everything before Havoc would steal the win over Scurll at the expense of Brown.

Andrews confronted Havoc ahead of their rematch at Chapter 13

Results

• 'The Anti-Hero' Tommy End defeated 'Mr Wrestling' Paul Robinson
• Bumbag Championship/Balls Unification Match: Grado (c) defeated Mad Man Manson
• Natural Progression Series Match: 'Liverpool's No. 1' Zack Gibson defeated 'The Aerial Assassin' Will Ospreay w/ Paul Robinson
• Street Fight: The London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) defeated The Bhangra Knights (RJ Singh & Darrell Allen)
• Inaugural Tag Team Championship: F.S.U (Mark Andrews & 'The Pride of Wales' Eddie Dennis) defeated Screw Indy Wrestling ('The Star Attraction' Mark Haskins & 'The Showstealer' Nathan Cruz) and Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby) to become FIRST EVER Tag Team Champions MOTN
• 'The Bastard' Dave Mastiff defeated Doug Williams
• PROGRESS Championship: Jimmy Havoc (c) defeated 'Party' Marty Scurll, Rampage Brown and 'The Mexican Sensation' El Ligero

Wow. Overall, the best wrestling show that I've ever been to. And that isn't a negative to any other promotion that I've been to - PROGRESS just raised the bar for me when it comes to wrestling shows and it's due to two things:

• Jim Smallman: I briefly met Jim before the show and he seemed a really nice guy who CARES about his wrestling and his wrestling show. I've said this recently about another promoter, and it kind of seems an obvious statement, but not only it came across to me that Jim cared then, but throughout the show he conveyed his passion and commitment to the PROGRESS cause by performing and being a part of a hugely entertaining day/evening of British wrestling. He also MC'd the show... now, I'm used to the traditional MC (a la [my pal] Hank McCoy) but Jim brings something completely different. He doesn't dress like your typical MC and he doesn't have the usual mannerisms of your typical wrestling show MC. What he does have is one hell of a connection with his audience. They LOVE him and he loves them. I don't know if this is the main reason the fans are so passionate at these shows (apart from the 100% effort from the wrestlers) but it MUST be part of the reason.

  

  Jim Smallman

• The fans: The biggest credit of all goes to the fans. Yes, the wrestlers put on one hell of a show and Jim, Glen and John have done an absolutely fantastic job of getting PROGRESS to where it is today, but the fans are something else... before the show even started, they were READY. They were ready for their heroes, and they were ready to give Jimmy Havoc, The London Riots and whoever else they didn't like the abuse that they deserved; and why not? they paid for their tickets so why not make the afternoon as memorable as possible. The chants were epic and hilarious throughout, latching onto anything that could be chanted. Even the refs (Paz and Chris Roberts) seem to have a great connection with the audience as they mock them in the nicest possible way! 

One other thing of note was about the PROGRESS t-shirts. The one I bought was the Ramones-style shirt, and it's not hard to see why fans climb over each other to get one. It's a great looking shirt that highlights PROGRESS and wrestling itself. I couldn't help but feel that it's free advertising for the company outside of shows - fans (myself included) can wear the shirt with pride. Ultimately, more attention for this great, growing company!

If you would like to know more information about PROGRESS wrestling (and TRY to get tickets for future shows) then please regularly visit:

• Progress Wrestling Facebook page 
• Progress Wrestling Twitter page 
• progresswrestling.com 

 Support British Wrestling

@jimmosangle