Before I begin, I would like to wish Adrian ‘Lionheart’ McCallum a full
and speedy recovery. Lionheart recently broke his neck in two places at the end
of a wrestling match. I was not at the show, nor do I know him personally, but we
have many mutual friends and we are both obviously involved in British
wrestling. This is a cruel reminder that whilst what we do is entertainment, it
can also be very dangerous. However, I am pleased to read that Preston
Championship Wrestling, where the incident occurred, handled the situation
incredibly well and that Lionheart is making great progress.
I suspect that most of you reading this will be aware that most
wrestling matches have a good character and a bad character. Historically I was
always the bad one (also known as a heel or a villain). However, I recently stepped
out of my comfort zone and played the good character (also known as a babyface
or a blue-eye). Also, this month – an old familiar face re-appeared from the
wilderness.
An
Unscheduled Blond
My originally scheduled opponent for GPW was ‘Dangerous’ Damon
Leigh. He could not make it as his wife went into labour shortly before the
show – I am pleased to confirm that ‘Dangerous’ Daddy Leigh now has a beautiful
baby girl - congratulations to you both! However it did leave JC Thunder with
no opponent.
The man who stepped up to the plate was James Drake of the Blackpool
Blonds, who proceeded to tell everyone I was too old and a has been (who knew
turning 30 was so rough!). He then blind-sided me with a cheap shot. I soon got
the better of him and after a back and forth tussle I hit the Thunder Crunch
for the pin.
I struggled with this match if I’m honest. Drake is good, but I was
not on great form. I am not comfortable with the happy clappy good guy routine
and I felt my ring rust in terms of actual wrestling ability showed here too. That
said, the crowd responded well and it was by no means a disaster. I am very
happy to be back with GPW and look forward to next month.
Beverley
Brothers
The next stop was NGW in Beverley, near Hull. The day started with
an autograph signing in a music store. I must admit I feared no one would
attend and it would be embarrassing. However, it went well and the only
embarrassing moment for me was when one kid pointed to a wrestler on the poster
and said with open eyes ‘wow is that you?’. Rather than burst his bubble and
explain that it was my first time wrestling for NGW, I just went with the blatant
lie option instead, ‘yes that’s me’. All well and good (if you’re okay with
lying to kids) until a few seconds later the wrestler he pointed at (who I was
sure wasn’t meant to be there) walked around the corner… I quickly moved the
confused child on and soon it was time to go to Beverley.
NGW saw the ‘Beverley Brothers’ (me and a wrestler named Matt
Slater) face Danny Jaxx and Tommy Ray. I still played the role of happy clappy blue
eyes, but the sell out crowd was so energetic my apparent dislike for being
good was not an issue and we had a decent tag match. For the second night in a
row I also experienced a kid ask me if I was alright as I lay hurt outside the
ring. A lot better than the usual ‘you suck JC Thunder’. Hmm maybe this being
good thing isn’t so bad after all….
The
Russian Nightmare
Бойтесь! Be Afraid! Ladies and gentlemen, after a 5 year absence and
last seen wrestling in a match for his UK visa (he lost), I can now confirm
that the ‘Russian Nightmare’ Radik Ananco is back and this time his paperwork’s
legit.
Radik is a gimmick I did quite early on in my wrestling days and he
also had a brief appearance again in 2009. In our bit for International
relations, Ananco wrestled that ‘Masked Mexican’ El Ligero at All Star recently.
In a stark contrast to my quite generic blue eyes routine, I found it easy to get a reaction from the crowd with this very ‘character heavy’ wrestler. It was great
fun to do and is also topical. Hopefully this won’t be the last we see of Radik
Ananco. Long live the Cossack Leg Drop!
A
Self Review
Good news everyone! Finally we have some unseen and uncut footage of
JC Thunder wrestling. My first match back is now available for public viewing at
the link below. I can already hear mouse buttons clicking in excitement, but
before you all give it a watch please take a moment to read my self-review.
I cringed watching myself a few times, but for better or worse this is my first match back. We’ve
already covered my bad choice of music in a previous blog. The wrestling itself
is ok, but could be crisper in parts. The crowd wants to get into the match, but
we lose them at times. It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen. I did
laugh as the audience and I shout ‘Come on Micky’ a lot, but never quite break
into ‘you’re so fine, hey Micky’. I also chuckle at the end when I shout to the
audience ‘I’m JC Thunder’ and then meekly add ‘I’m back’.
I think it’s critical to keep watching these and looking how I can
improve. Expect plenty more footage to come your way soon.
Final
Thoughts
The main thing taken from this blog edition is my lack of identity as a good guy and after watching my first match back - as a bad guy too.
I found Radik so much easier as it is a clear character. The goal now is to do
the same for JC Thunder. Who is JC Thunder? A very deep question! You’ll have
to tune in next time to find out…
Thanks for reading!
JCT
JC Thunder vs. Micky Mayakiss
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