Between a Rock and a hard place; Wrestling survives loss of TV with help from USA.

Byline: NEIL MACDONALD 

WHEN ITV pulled the plug on its weekly wrestling shows, many observers felt they had dealt the sport a serious and potentially fatal blow.

Without the regular exposure, it was predicted wrestling would die off, but pro motor Brian Dixon found that the exact opposite was thecase.

Many people, starved of their regular bouts every Saturday,got out of their armchairs and went down to their local village hall to see some matches for real.

``We honestly didn't know what the scene was going to be like,'' said Brian, the owner of All Star Wrestling.

``We had loads of dates booked for shows and were living on promises from the television, so when it came to an abrupt end, it was a shock. I remember Pat Roachgiving a poignant speech at the end of the last televised show.

``However as we had bookings for the next 12 months I felt we should honour them and it was fantastic. Because people couldn't watch wrestling at home, people were coming out to see it more than ever.''

At around the same time, the WWF, now the WWE, were starting to take off in Americaand with the exploits of the likes of Hulk Hogan, the UltimateWarrior and Jake `The Snake' Roberts broadcast on the fledgling Sky Sports, a new generation was waking up to the sport.

Brian was quick to jump onto the American bandwagon which reenergised the British scene.

``The American wrestling people were watching was massively over the top and on a different scale to what we had been used to,'' he said. ``The likes of Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker were massively popular characters and we adapted the American style so they could watch us instead, as well as doing tribute shows with the American characters in.

`That was how we continued to survive because the stars from British wrestling were fading as time went on. Eventually it was a problem as people like Stephen Regaland Fit Finlay -who were both prodigies of All Star Wrestling -went overseas to America and Europe to make their living and did very well.

``That meant there wasn't a lot of talent coming into British wrestling and we needed something new again which was not easy to find.''

Indeed Brian himself drifted out of the scene for two years,instead promoting a troupe of Full Monty style male strippers, until an appearance on the Billy Butler show convinced him to give the sport another try.

``Billy asked me what did I think of the future of wrestling in Britain and I said it was dead and buried and would never return,'' Brian remembered. ``However I kept on getting calls about wrestling and loads of people were asking me about it, so I looked into the wrestling scene again.

``In America they had overcome the loss of the likes of Hulk Hogan and developed new stars like the Rock and I thought if we could get into that,and bring the American stars over to face the best British wrestlers, then we have got to be in with achance.''

Brian started to contact some WWE stars such as the Bushwhackers and Greg `The Hammer' Valentine who were now independent wrestlers.

``They were still big names, but they had had their time in the big spotlight so I asked them if they would want to come over here,'' he said.

``What I found was that they were all desperate to wrestle in England, which to this day has a reputation as the home of true wrestling ability. English wrestlers are regarded as knowing the basics of hold for hold, move for move wrestling better than anybody and the magic of the sport is seeing how adept they are at looking after themselves and turning the tables on opponents. That means our top names -like James Mason and Liverpool's Robbie Brookside -are very well regarded. They fly the flagallover the world.

``Even in the WWE as it is now, their stars have a lot of charisma,but in terms of wrestling ability some of them are not on a par with a British wrestler.''It he shows he puts on now across the country, Brian and his team try to mix the razzmatazz of the American style with the skills found in Britain. ``This year we have brought over David Flair, who is the son of the Nature Boy Ric Flair,and a real monster called Gangrel, so everyone I have talked to is looking forward to seeing them,'' he said. ``In fact I ammo re certain than ever that wrestling will never die. The sport has proved me wrong. Of course in the 30 and more years I have been doing it, it has had its ups and downs. There havebeen times when I haven't had two pennies to rub together, whereas 18 months ago we had had the best two years wehaveever had.

``It has evened itself out now but the sport is in a healthy condition. I even had a call from a television company the other day,from the makers of Wife Swap who want to swap with a wrestling family. It keeps coming up and I believe it won't be too long before a British television company puts wrestling backon,'' Brian added.

``If they asked me to do it. I can't say I would say no, but it would be tricky to promote it in the right way because of the success and size of the American scene. Following them would not be easy, because you would have to go back to the real basics. If you concentrated on true wrestlers with realability, that wouldbeagood place to start.''

CAPTION(S):

MONSTER: Gangrel is wrestling in Britain this year; SURVIVAL:American wrestling stars like The Rock, seen in the film The Scorpion King,drew a new audience of fans to the sport, whichBrian and All Star Wrestling catered to