Thursday 21 June 2012

Interview w/ Phil Allely

- originally published June 21st, 2012-

http://www.famemagazine.co.uk/2011/08/24/irish-wrestler-bingo-balance-talks-indy-grappling/

FAME Columnist and Wrestling Expert Phil Allely was lucky enough recently to catch up with veteran Dublin born wrestler Gary ‘Bingo’ Ballance. Their conversation took in many aspects of Indy wrestling in the UK/Ireland and offered forth some interesting things about just what life is like for someone in Bingo’s place. Having toured Ireland, the UK and Europe the 26 year old now has his sights firmly set on cracking America.

PA: So Gary, firstly thanks for taking the time to chat with me, can you tell me how long you have been in the wrestling industry and how has it changed since then?

GB: I’ve been involved in wrestling since 2005, a little over six years, now. To be honest, I don’t think things have really changed that much. If anything, I tend to see the same trends, and the same things, popping up over and over, like a numbing, never-ending carousel of inevitability! (laughs) not to put it too bleakly! The industry itself hasn’t changed much, to my mind, since I began.
All I have to go on, really, is the Irish scene, and that’s receded quite a bit over the years. There was a notable boom period during 2006 and 2008, but it’s not been repeated since. Shows are still being run, and there’s still some great talent in the country, but the lack of cooperation between promoters- even on the most rudimentary level- prevents the scene from growing and reaching a larger audience.
It’s a shame, but there are a lot of personal issues, residual bad blood, and people grinding axes, and I don’t think the scene will ever reach the heights it did a few years ago. Pessimistic, perhaps, but that’s my own outlook.

PA: Even with the faltering audiences do you still enjoy what you do?

GB: Oh, definitely, yeah. If I wasn’t still enjoying it, I wouldn’t be doing it. There are aspects of being involved in wrestling that drive me mad, I’ll admit, but I still get a buzz from performing, and being in the ring and, overall, the good outweighs the bad. I take pride in my work, so if it ever got to the point where I was “phoning it in”, I’d just stop. I never want to be at the stage where I’m just going through the motions.

PA: So Gary where have you been fortunate enough to travel?

GB: I’ve had the pleasure, first off, of seeing a lot of Ireland itself. If I wasn’t involved in wrestling, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to see a lot of the places I’ve seen, explore the country I live in, and experience the things I’ve experienced, good and bad.

I’ve had the chance to wrestle in front of huge audiences in Waterford, Tallaght, Balbriggan, Donnycarney and Cork, but also in front of tiny audiences in places like Wicklow and Offaly. I’ve been to places where we’ve had plush dressing rooms and conference rooms to hang out in, but also spent shows getting changed in caravans, corridors of restaurant kitchens, alleyways, outdoor sheds, or in the back of a ring van. To get to experience both is quite sobering, and keeps you grounded.
Travelling to- and seeing- a lot of the UK has been really enjoyable too. I’ve worked a lot in England, and in Scotland, and always enjoy travelling over. The only minor negative is that sometimes you don’t fully get to “take in” a place, if you get me. You’d pretty much just arrive at the Airport, get picked up, go to the venue, wrestle, and go back to where you’re staying. That said, I’ve enjoyed times where I’ve had a few hours to kill in a place I’m not used to. I had occasion to hang out for a few hours in Newcastle, Milton Keynes and Stonehaven, recently, in Scotland, and enjoyed the chance to see those places very much.

I’ve also been over to Germany a few times, which was cool. The last time, though, was a bit of a trial. It involved a ten hour car journey (round-trip) in the company of guys that didn’t speak English, it was bitterly cold, and I had to spend about six hours at the airport before my flight. I was dying to get some sleep, but was paranoid about someone stealing my stuff, or missing my flight! I’m back in Germany in November, though, so I’m hoping that trip will go a little better!
I’ve really valued being able to travel around, though, and see a bit of the world, while doing something I really enjoy.

PA: Have touring former WWE, TNA, WCW stars proved to be helpful and inspirational to you, do any of them pass on ideas/help?

GB: Some have, yeah. Irish Whip had a good few ‘imports’ back in the day, and it was a great learning experience picking up bits and pieces from them. Assimilating advice has been something I’ve tried to do, and get better at, over the years; some advice I’ve gotten wouldn’t necessarily work for what I do, while other advice might definitely help flesh out my performance, so I’ve found it helpful to mentally filter stuff I’m told, and see what I can use.

Most of the guys that came over were sound, bar one or two, maybe. Most inspirational to me, I think, was Doug Basham. I really liked his attitude, he was refreshingly down-to-earth, and he had a great work ethic. Along with that, he never played the “veteran” card, despite having infinitely more experience than the rest of us. There have been guys that came over that threw the whole “veteran” thing around, who I might respect out of courtesy- purely for having been in wrestling longer than me- but not as people. I respected Doug as a worker, though, and as a person. I was disappointed not to have gotten a chance to work with him while he was over, and think we would’ve had quite a good match together.
  
PA: so for those of us on the outside looking in, can you describe your life as a wrestler today, what does a week/month offer you?

GB: I’d generally have a few shows per month, at home or in the UK. It depends on the month, really. Some, I could have a load of bookings, while others I might just have one or two. It depends how many I’ve managed to secure.

Sending off mails seeking bookings is one of the most soul-destroying aspects of independent wrestling, I have to say! A lot of places won’t even bother responding, which is frustrating, but not unexpected. It pays off, though, when you manage to get your foot in the door somewhere. I get enough to keep myself busy and active, anyway. Sometimes, a promotion might get me to do a training seminar, as well, which I enjoy. I was the Head Trainer in IWW for a number of years, and have always liked teaching, and helping guys along.

Along with shows, I go to the gym a few times a week, play football- which I’ve found great for helping with my cardio- and spend time with my girlfriend and family, and some of my wrestling mates like Seán South, Bam Katraz, Brother Skelly ,The Ballymun Bruiser and Vic Viper.

PA: so tell me Gary is this your dream job?

GB: On balance excuse the pun I think it is, yeah. As I said, there are aspects of it that vex me a little, but that’s the same with every job. You take the good with the bad. If I could comfortably make a living through wrestling, though, it would be a dream job, yeah.

PA: So what if one of the big US league’s (WWE/TNA/ROH) came calling would you go? and would you miss the smaller local shows you do?

GB: I don’t expect WWE to turn up at my front door with a lucrative contract any day soon, though I obviously MIGHT consider it if they did! (laughs). I actually tried out for TNA earlier this year, in London, and was happy that I gave a good account of myself. I knew that I wouldn’t get a call-back, and that I wasn’t what they were looking for at the time, but I was glad to have done it and put myself on their radar at least. I got good feedback from D’Lo Brown afterwards, which was encouraging.
I have a realistic view of my own performance, and what I have to offer, and I genuinely don’t think the idea of me turning up in one of the bigger promotions one day is that crazy, to be honest. Would I take up the offer if it arose? I would. Absolutely. I’ve been working away for the past six years, and I’d be kicking myself when I’m older if I didn’t take the chance, and go for it. I’d miss the shows I do domestically, but I think any wrestler who’s serious about what they do wants to wrestle in front of larger audiences, and do it on a bigger scale. I’d have to give it a shot. Definitely.
  
PA: if you were forced to retire tomorrow, what would be the one moment that you would want to be remembered for?

GB: I hope my most memorable moment is still to come, to be honest, but if I did have to retire tomorrow, I guess it would probably be the Zero Gravity tournament win in 2007. It was a big night for me, and truly a surreal moment to become IWW’s first Zero Gravity Champion. There was an opening ceremony at the start of the show, where all fourteen participants were introduced to the crowd, and it was a truly humbling experience standing there in the ring with some of the best cruiserweights around- guys like Kid Kash, Pac, El Ligero- knowing that at the end of the night, I was winning the belt.

It was weird! My worry at the time was that me winning would be an anti-climax, considering some of the other competitors involved, and the fans would s**t on it. (Not literally- that would be hideous.) The atmosphere in Balbriggan was electric that night, though, and the crowd responded fantastically when I got the win. I couldn’t have asked for a better reaction. It was an incredible night.
Good as that was, though, I’d hope to be remembered for more than one moment, and that I’d left a decent body of work behind. As I say, I hope my best moments are still to come. Here’s hoping…

PA: For those people that have never had the opportunity to see Bingo Ballance in action describe your style and why those people should see you in perform?

GB: I wrestle a fast-paced, high-flying style, but without a lot of the superfluous flips, and bells-and-whistles associated with “indy” wrestling. I have nothing against that kinda thing; done well, it can look fantastic, and there are guys out there that can put together and perform these intricate spots superbly. For me, personally, though, I couldn’t work a loaded sequence of flips, leaps, ducks and switches in without making it look horribly choreographed, and I try to avoid that, wherever possible. I hate stuff looking overly-rehearsed.

I’ve been influenced by guys like Austin Aries, Paul London, Evan Bourne, Amazing Red, Chris Jericho, Brian Kendrick and Eddy Guerrero, amongst others, for most of my career, but my own style has evolved over time, albeit subtly. I would’ve been a big ROH fan when I started out, and enjoyed that type of wrestling; its influence could be seen in my early stuff. Nowadays, though, I’d favour WWE’s style of pacing matches, and feel I can work better within that kind of structure. Condensing that waffle into a snappy, media-friendly soundbite: “I’m a high-flyer.”

People should see me perform as, regardless of the number of people in the crowd, I always aim to give an audience their money’s worth. I still remember what it was like to be a fan, myself, and never want to short-change someone who’s taken a chance on local wrestling. Along with that, I would wrestle a style uniquely different to what’s in WWE at the minute, so you would definitely see something in one of my matches that you hadn’t seen before. I enjoy innovating, and coming up with my own moves, and a number of the ones that I use are my own creations. That’s really the extent of my “hard-sell”!
 
PA: So what does the future hold for Bingo Ballance?

GB: Though I’d love to say, “a lifetime of RIDICULOUS wealth”, I think, realistically, that’s a little unlikely! For something actually achievable, though, I want to venture into the States and Canada next year, and sort out some bookings there. I’ve wanted to do that for quite some time, but due to commitments over here, and my own procrastination- the eighth deadly sin- I haven’t gotten around to organising anything. I’ve only myself to blame! I hope to give that a proper go next year, though, and sort something out. Long-term, I still want to be doing this in five years’ time, if my body hasn’t packed it in by then!
    
PA: Do you think UK/Irish wrestling is losing out due to a lack of TV programming? Could we claw back the old Big Daddy style of popularity if we tried?

GB: That’s a really good question, I have to say. Truthfully, I don’t think British/Irish wrestling will ever be as popular as it was back in the World of Sport days, or as popular as WWE is at the moment. That may be a little bit negative or pessimistic, but I just don’t see it happening.

For it to happen, there would need to be a British promotion getting a regular, prime-time slot on terrestrial television, and I don’t see that as feasible. If Channel 4 couldn’t get a decent following airing WWE, I definitely don’t think it would get one airing British wrestling. Don’t get me wrong: I think the level of quality in British wrestling at the moment is phenomenal- and there are some truly terrific workers out there- but public perception, I’ve found, towards British or Irish wrestling isn’t good.

The growing trend for a lot of promotions is to advertise “American pro wrestling” or “American-style pro wrestling.” It’s smart, and it’s good marketing, but it’s very revealing. Certainly, in Ireland, the prevailing attitude of your average Joe Soap is that anything Irish-made- be it TV, films or whatever- is inferior to its American equivalent.

Thus, promotions tend to exclude “Irish wrestling” from posters and promotional material. I can’t presume to speak for the average British punter, but the fact that “American pro wrestling” is touted does say something. To get the public to follow British wrestling again would involve radically changing perceptions, and I think in the modern age of consumerism and self-entitlement, that is a huge uphill battle. Huge.

That aside, to even get a show “TV ready” you’d need super production values, and a lot of financial backing, and I think wrestling’s too big a gamble for any investor.

PA: Thanks for your time Gary, I’m sure all of our readers will be watching out for your name on upcoming local wrestling cards and we’ll maybe even see you grace the ring of the WWE/TNA someday soon too.

By Phil Allely

The Ballance Sheet, Blog XXI

- originally written May 5th, 2012-

Hey, folks. Been quite a while since I did one o’ these. Sometime last year, if memory serves.



My last show was at the end of November for Total Action Wrestling, in Dunstable. Since then, I’ve been enjoying an extended break. Without really realising it, half a year has passed since I’ve been in the ring; definitely the longest time I’ve been away since I started wrestling in 2005.



Do I miss it? Well, yes and no. I miss parts of it. I miss the actual matches- planning them, executing them, performing, meeting fans; what drew me to it, in the first place. That’s what I love- and have always loved- about wrestling. It was a creative outlet for me; a chance to go out there, and try to create something special, something memorable.



As much as I’m tempted to say I’m out with an injury or something, that’s not really the case. I could easily say something like, I dunno, I suffered a distended anus from a top rope legdrop gone horribly wrong, or my head came off from a slightly overzealous Yakuza kick- and had to be reattached- or I spontaneously combusted in the middle of a tornado tag match, but it’s bullshit. Fact is, while I did have some lingering knocks or niggles, it was nothing that I couldn’t work through, or haven’t previously worked through.



The break, more than anything else, was a mental one. A chance to clear my head and, frankly, come up for air.



Don’t get me wrong: I love wrestling, and have really enjoyed being a part of it. The problem was that I was too into it, prior to this. It was all-consuming. It would be on my mind throughout the day. Spots I wanted to try, lines I wanted to use for promos, tracks that would make good entrance music, reminding myself to send off a mail to ‘X or Y promotion’ about an upcoming show, and so forth. Bingo was in control, and Gary took a backseat. That’s the best way that I can describe it.



These past six months or so have been refreshing, as I’ve felt a bit of a weight come off my shoulders, and have felt more like myself again. I’ve enjoyed, actually, the simple pleasure of just watching wrestling again. Just watching and enjoying, rather than analysing or picking out spots that would be cool to use. (Subconsciously, I think I still do it, but it’s not as distracting as it was before.)



Describing a “weight” coming off my shoulders might give the wrong impression of my feelings towards wrestling; like I don’t miss it. I do. I find it hard watching back old matches. I found a match from 2010 online earlier this year, where I teamed with Shawn Maxer against Damien Corvin and Silas Black. Watching it, and remembering the fun I had that night, and how much of a buzz it was, was… difficult. I’ve a wardrobe/closet/whatever you want to call it, at home for my wrestling gear, and I’ve found it tough, too, opening it. (Not physically—some WD40 would clear that right up.) Hearing the likes of ‘Map of the Problematique’ and ‘Closer to the Edge’, too, have been reminders, as I used them both as entrance tracks, so they’re emotionally bound-up with all the feelings I’d have in my head when I go out to face an audience.



I’ve had other people in my life, too- folks not involved with wrestling- ask me about it, and I’m never really sure what to say. “I’m taking a break” is the usual soundbite, but I find it extremely hard to describe why, exactly. Even now, I don’t really know how to get across the reasons for just wanting to step away for a bit.



As many sound people as I’ve met through wrestling, there have been a lot of arseholes too. I heard a quote once, that was attributed to Robbie Williams, and it always stuck with me, as it gave an interesting insight into his frame of mind. I’m paraphrasing, but the gist of it was that he could go out every night to an arena full of people that loved him, adored him, and sang his lyrics back at him, but it would be the people that told him he was shit that stuck in his head. In a way, towards the end of last year, I started to feel like that. As many good things I got from wrestling; as many enjoyable matches I had or genuinely nice people I met, the bad experiences, the bullshit, and the arseholes stuck with me, and I got bogged down in it.



I needed a reprieve.



Since leaving Irish Whip in 2009, I’ve been firefighting, in a sense. Rather than have a regular place to work, I’ve had to fight for bookings, to stay on my game- send the emails, keep up contacts, network, and so forth. 2010 was fine, and it was a busy year. 2011 wasn’t as busy, and I put the largest portion of that blame pie on my plate. (With a dollop of cream.)



There were places I’d worked in 2010 that I could’ve exploited for further bookings, but I chose not to. (That’s not intended to sound big-headed, even though I appreciate how that comes across.) Fact is, I didn’t like the way some promoters/promotions did business, or didn’t like the atmosphere in their place, so didn’t go back. Simple as that. “Simples” as the animated muskrat says. (Is it… is it a muskrat?)



Yes, it was very much a case of cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I’m a stubborn bastard, as anyone who knows me will tell you…



Last year, I got involved with DCW. In a way, I’m curious what would’ve happened if I hadn’t. The road not taken, as they say. Though I had some good matches there with Vic Viper and Andy Phoenix, got a chance to do some creative promos, and was able to work locally (saving myself the hassle of travelling abroad) the overall experience left a bad taste, and no desire to work so close to home again.



Once the end of the year approached, like Mr Williams, the bad stuff started to outweigh the good, and I just said ‘fuck it.’ I stopped trying to fight the tide, to keep the bookings going, and just let go. And it felt good.



Months have passed and, while I do miss being in the ring, I’ve enjoyed having the time to do other stuff. I did another acting course this year, and it was excellent. A thoroughly enjoyable and insightful class by Terry McMahon (director of the upcoming ‘Charlie Casanova’) that actually helped me see wrestling in another light, as well as just being great fun, and a chance to do something else I liked.



Over the years I’ve been involved in wrestling, I’ve seen other guys take breaks, or just stop doing it. (I don’t use the word retire, incidentally. That’s one of my big pet peeves with wrestling at this level, guys with less than twenty matches using the phrase ‘retire’ or ‘I’m retiring from wrestling’ along with people describing themselves as being ‘in the business’ or saying they ‘have heat’ with someone, when they simply don’t like them. No offence to those that do use the lingo- it just ain’t for me. I’m sure there’s stuff I do that annoys other people.)



Some guys who have been away will usually have some kind of a spark that gives them the itch to want to get back in the ring. When The Rock came back last year, Facebook lit up with a load of posts from guys looking to get back into it. A friend of mine took a break for a while, but was drawn back by seeing a CM Punk/Daniel Bryan match on SmackDown. Chris Jericho admitted in interviews that seeing the WrestleMania 23 match between John Cena and Shawn Michaels is what helped inspire him to come back. Anything can do it. Another friend of mine was inspired to come back by a dream he had! (An actual dream, not the figurative use of the word.)



I’m not there yet. I haven’t had my epiphany, or my inspirational ‘Eureka!’ moment. Maybe it’s not coming.



Next month, I’m back to WrestleZone in Aberdeen; a place- and promotion- that I always enjoy travelling to. (As mentioned in previous blogs.) I have friends there, and think a great deal of the place. I genuinely hope- and I’m probably jinxing the experience by saying this- that it’ll be a pleasant reminder of what I’m missing, and how much I want to continue doing it. Time will tell.



In August, I’m doing another show over here, for the débuting CCW promotion. Wrestling in Ireland is a major fucking headache, all told, but it’s a new setup, and the guy in charge seems bang-on (or “sound”) so we’ll just see how it goes.



Wait-and-see. Pretty shitty way to wrap this up, isn’t it? Heh heh. Apologies, dear reader, but this is still a work in progress. Now we play the waiting game………



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Ah, the waiting game sucks. Let’s play Hungry, Hungry Hippos!



That’s that for the wrestling portion of this bad boy, anyhow. Now for the random asides…



Really gotten into Arrested Development during the last few months, thanks to a recommendation from a friend of mine. Cheers, Ger. Any salads? (Bit of an in-joke, there.) Excellent show. Definitely one of the wittiest American comedies I’ve ever seen. Naturally, it would have to get cancelled…



Also started watching The Killing- the US version. Not 100% sure how I feel about it. It’s watchable enough, but the characters are incredibly annoying and badly-written, particularly the younger characters on the show; they only serve to annoy the adults, and be grating. The only halfway-likeable guy was turned evil towards the end of the first season, while the female lead is such a cold, unlikeable bitch, it’s genuinely hard to care about her. Wait, why am I watching this again?!



Cabin in the Woods was outstanding. I’ve always enjoyed Joss Whedon’s work (being a fan of Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse, in particular. Firefly, too, is on my ‘to-watch’ list.) This was superb. A really creative and inventive take on the genre, and bloody clever too. Great blend of humour and horror. This year, I’ve also seen and liked Chronicle, Safe House, The Muppets, Contraband and The Hunger Games. Looking forward to seeing The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, too; the latter, in particular. The trailers have been deadly so far.



I actually bypassed anger, recently, when a woman driver cut me up on the Malahide Road roundabout in Swords (north Dublin.) I was so shocked and outraged that I couldn’t find the horn to blast at her! That was definitely a first! I’m not a rage-a-holic in the ol’ car, but I definitely have my moments.



I’m not a big ‘gamer’ by any stretch, but I p-p-p-picked up a PS3 last year, and have really enjoyed playing the likes of LA Noire and Arkham Asylum, along with some of the WWE titles, like WWE ’12. Games have come a long way since the classics of my day, like Clayfighter 33.3…



Had a chance to read the Alan Partridge ‘autobiography’ just after Christmas. Great attention-to-detail for fans of the series, and very amusing indeed. Apparently, there’s a film on the way—much as I like the series, I’m always a little cautious about TV comedies being turned into films. There’s not a great precedent for success in this department, but I hope I’m wrong.



A shout-out and ‘thanks’ to my friend Seán for hassling me to do another one of these! That was some quality badgering, man! Hope it was worth it! Thanks also to my buddy Bam Katraz for some inspiration too-- here's a link to his own blog: http://bamkatraz.blogspot.com/ (Bit of a plug, there.)



If you’ve gotten to the end here, thanks for reading, and… eh… “mind ‘ow you go”, as they say. Heh heh. Farewell.

The Ballance Sheet, Blog XX

- originally written Dec 24th, 2011-

One more blog to cap off the year, folks. Been a fair old hiatus since the last one—back in August or so, I think. Haven’t really been in the humour to write for the last while. Anyway, down to business. This is a sort-of ‘year in review’ kinda thing…

Speaking completely honestly, 2011 wasn’t a fantastic year. I tend to be a little overly-critical, but it was fairly disappointing on the whole, and I’m hoping to have a more productive and, frankly, happier 2012, all told.

One major thing from this year that sticks out in my mind is DCW; that is to say “Dublin Championship Wrestling”, the short-lived, notorious Irish promotion that caused its fair share of controversy in its year of operation. I did a few shows for them this year, beginning with a début in February in a so-so match with LA Warren. Warren’s a nice guy, and we get on well, but our chemistry together has never been absolutely tip-top, as it were. Our styles clash, and I don’t think either of us bring out the best in each other; my style doesn’t complement his strengths. Along with that, the ring ropes were appalling that evening in East Wall, which hindered the flow of the match.

I worked two matches the following month in Clondalkin, on a ridiculously stacked fourteen match card, which went on for ages. Tucker and I faced off for the first time, and we had a respectable match for not having worked together before; I also worked Vic Viper later on the card in a pretty good match, with a ludicrous angle to finish it. Vic’s stable- the Family Against Sinners, Kev Rocks, Brother Skelly and Sister Laura- “kidnapped me” in full view of the ref, who proceeded to count me out. The kidnapping plot was their way of writing me out for a month, as I had prior bookings in the UK for their next two shows.

My eventual return was in mid-May, on a show in Beaumont, near my home. I had helped get the venue, and had hopes for a great turnout, considering its location. Back during my time in Irish Whip Wrestling, I had run two shows in Clontarf, which drew decent numbers, along with helping organise the Gym Wars shows. I had experience, and knew the area, and where to promote the heaviest and the strongest for a good return. Ultimately, they decided not to rely on this.

One of the promoters was going through personal problems at the time, so the other one- the chap from Cork, Ger- stepped in to oversee this show. He asked me to help poster and flyer it, which I was happy to do. I just wanted to be paid for my time. I wasn’t prepared to do it for free. I’ve done my fair share of postering and flyering back in the day, with IWW, and I wasn’t gonna do it again in DCW for nothing. Ger elected to do it himself, and made a hames of it. The show was on a Saturday, and he had begun the promoting for it on the Monday of that week. The show drew alright, and far more than it deserved to, considering how poorly it had been promoted.

The poor promoting didn’t extend merely to the advertising of the show locally, but to the advertising online too. A match between, I think, T&K and English lads The Dunne Brothers, was advertised as a ladder match, despite the fact that Ger had not been out to see the venue. If he had, he’d know that the roof was huge- it was a big sports hall- and there was nowhere to hang a belt from. He subsequently turned up on the day, and had to rejig the match to make it “no DQ” instead, reneging on the advertising. Though the lads used ladders, the match before them- another gimmick match, a “first blood match”- also incorporated ladders!

No direction had been given to any of the wrestlers beforehand, and there was no card/running order up in the dressing room- it’s a personal preference of mine, but I think there should always be a running order, with match times, results and any other notes from the promoter/booker on their expectations for the card and matches. It’s certainly how I’d do things. So, with no direction from the “booker”, every match ran over time, and guys threw ridiculous amounts of false finishes into their matches.
Another personal preference but, for me, everything on the show should build to the main event. The Rock/Austin-esque false finish sequence should be reserved for the main event, or the match with the “highest stakes”, when it can have the most impact. (It may come across as biased, considering I was in the main event for this show, but I adopt the same attitude even when I’m not. A show, from start to finish, is a team effort and, personally, I think it helps if everyone knows what role they’re intended to fill.)

The Artane/Beaumont show was an absolute mess, truth told, opening and closing with kayfabe-killing sequences. All the wrestlers, bar me and three others, filed out to the ring to open the show, to pay a ten-bell tribute to the then-recently departed “Macho Man” Randy Savage. I didn’t know the man personally, so I didn’t think it in good taste to head out. Same thing with Eddy Guerrero’s death in 2005. I was on a show the evening after his death, and guys were wearing black armbands, saluting to the heavens and so forth; which was completely fine, by the way. It’s just not for me. Unless I knew someone personally, I wouldn’t pay tribute publicly. Each to their own.

Anyway, the show opened with that. To any casual fans, it would be an unusual first impression. The show ran way over time, too. Three hours after opening, and I was just heading out for the M.E. with Vic Viper. The match itself was decent, but the festivities post-match were ridiculous.

First off- the booking of the Ballance/Family feud. I face Vic in Clondalkin, and am kidnapped mid-match and “held captive” for months. I subsequently return, lose to Vic in my hometown, and the feud is dropped. Honestly, what the fuck. The reason given to me for why it was dropped was that “not enough promos had been filmed” to build up the feud (despite no one asking me to shoot any!) Even if they wanted Vic in a title feud with someone else, the feud could’ve been continued with me seeking vengeance against Skelly, who had shot a promo on me a few days before the Beaumont show, and helped cost me the match with Vic. Logic!

Instead, post-match, Andy Phoenix (holder of DCW’s money in the bank briefcase) came out, and hit me in the head with the briefcase, making absolutely no sense whatsoever. Why not “cash in” on Viper? It was another in a long, long, long line of DCW’s Russo-esque nonsensical booking decisions. Andy and I had had no previous interactions on shows in any way, shape or form, so this feud arose from nothing. Ger, the promoter, sprung this whole post-match nonsense on me five minutes before Vic and I were due to go out, and I was irritated and utterly nonplussed for why it was being thrown in, as it was gonna end the show on a further downer. The babyface has lost, isn’t given a chance to send the crowd home happy or save face, and is hit with a briefcase, too? I was assured, though, that a downer wouldn’t happen as they were going to have an in-ring birthday celebration for one of the other wrestlers (Working Class Jones, a heel/tweener on the show) to end the show (and obliterate kayfabe.)

There was no promo, either, to open the show and set up the match with Vic and me. I was just to come out to my own music- which they also fucked up- and act like I was “under the influence” of the Family’s brainwashing. I’ve done some acting, and had a little experience in that regard, but I definitely couldn’t call on that to bring this dreck to life. It was appalling stuff, and it was one of the worst shows I’ve ever been a part of in six and a half years. Embarrassing stuff, and made all the worse by the fact that I have to pass the venue every day, and be reminded of it!

The one positive to come from it was that my frustration and, frankly, anger over the hare-brained booking sparked my creativity, and began a short series of promos where my barely-veiled contempt shone through. Along with that, the match with Andy Phoenix turned out very well, Andy was great to work with, and the match- in one of my favourite venues, Balbriggan- turned out to be one of my favourite ones this year.

There was also the short-lived DCW Training School, which lasted for a few weeks, before shutting up shop. I agreed to be a trainer there, and was looking forward to teaching again. The place was a kip, though, and badly-promoted, and attendance was pathetic. It bled money, and was done within six to eight weeks. My association with it, too, as a mere trainer, had a detrimental effect, and stopped me being able to get ring time elsewhere. That’s Ireland for you.

The DCW experience on the whole was largely mixed- with the scales tipping more towards the negative than the positive- and more than likely marked my final foray into Irish wrestling. I enjoyed working with guys I hadn’t had the chance to work before, like Andy Phoenix and Anthony Idol, working with old IWW alumni, and getting the chance to hone my promos, but the frustration was maddening. Considering the experience at their disposal, seeing the lack of organisation and cluelessness on display was infuriating. (I should note, though, to give a properly balanced view, that Dave, the slightly more vilified of the two promoters, was open to constructive criticism, and did put into practice things I'd told him, which was appreciated.)
The phrase “you can never go home again” made a lot more sense to me, after the experience. Seeing the former IWW lads was nice, but it wasn’t IWW. Our time back then was what it was. A shared experience, fun, and unforgettable, but it can’t be repeated, and to try is futile. (Ever the optimist…) Nice seeing them again, though, however briefly.

Trips abroad this year were mostly fine. I had three shows with DPW in Yorkshire, which were grand. Unfortunately, the promotion has since shut up shop. Admirably, Toga (the promoter) recognised that he had done everything he could, but the shows weren’t returning the types of numbers he was looking for, so took a business decision to cease promoting. Fair play to him; a smart move, under the circumstances. I’ve worked with him, and DPW, since 2007, and performed on their début show in an enjoyable match with El Ligero. I had some very pleasing matches over the years with Ligero, Cameron Kraze, CJ Banks, Bubblegum, and others. It’s a shame it’s over, but it was a very good experience, and nice meeting a load of different guys.

I had fun return trips to WrestleZone in Scotland, and Total Action Wrestling in England, along with débuts for NEWS (England), EWP (Ireland) and PWF (Germany). The NEWS match allowed me another chance to work with Pac, who I had a very satisfying series of matches with in 2006/2007. The PWF experience was cool, and the German fans were very friendly and welcoming. My match with Leon van Gasteren turned out well, and it was my first time wrestling as Gary ‘Bingo’ Ballance. I’ll more than likely stick to being “Bingo Ballance” (due to it being catchier), but it was interesting trying it out once.




I also had the TNA Gutcheck thing in January of this year, which was interesting, as expected, and amounted to nothing, even more expected! It was fun working with RJ Singh again, though in retrospect, I would’ve loved to have been able to work ‘face, and chuck in some of my ‘flashier’ stuff, considering it was a tryout, at the end of the day. I find working ‘face more natural, Ross is a fantastic heel, and I think our natural dynamics would’ve played a bit better. Spilled milk, though. It turned out well, anyway, and it was an experience in itself working in an empty Wembley Arena. Memorable.

Wrestling-wise, I think I’ve covered most of the notable stuff from this year in other blogs: working under a mask for the first time, the six-way ladder match, my male modelling for John Morrissey (heh heh) and so forth. Average year, slightly disappointing from my own standpoint, but hopefully something to build on for 2012.

Off-topic stuff now…

Films! My favourite film this year was Warrior, which was absolutely fantastic. Brilliant acting, gripping story, and head and shoulders above anything else I saw this year. Other notable mentions, and films I thought were very good, were Super 8, Insidious, Scream 4, X Men: First Class, and Fright Night. Superhero films like The Green Lantern, Captain America and Thor were ok, but not fantastic, Captain America being the best of the three, I felt. The final Harry Potter was quite good, but I don’t think matched the build up from The Deathly Hallows Part 1. I also enjoyed The Thing, The Wicker Tree (belated sequel to The Wicker Man from 1973), Kill List, Fast and the Furious 5, Real Steel, Cowboys and Aliens, The Ides of March and Source Code. In Time, I felt, had a great premise but was horribly executed. Dream House was a mess, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was dull and convoluted and, perhaps controversially, I didn’t like Drive, finding it a little pretentious. The Next Three Days was a little disappointing, and I was a tiny bit let down by The Inbetweeners Movie- good, but the TV series had set the bar high. Hoping to see M:I-4 before the year ends, too.

Looking forward very much to The Dark Knight Rises next July, as are many. I’m sure it’ll live up to the hype. Christopher Nolan’s series has been brilliant so far.

TV! Season 7 of House was considerably better than I’d heard, and the addition of Amber Tamblyn’s character, Martha Masters, was an excellent breath of fresh air… I got through Seasons 2, 3, 4 & 5 of Dexter this year, enjoying all, albeit to varying degrees. Season 4 was a high, I must say, with John Lithgow’s arresting performance… Family Guy’s quality hasn’t dipped, to my mind, and is still extremely witty and on-the-mark… I found Season 6 of Supernatural to be a mixed bag, truth be told. A very “busy” season, but something felt like it was missing. Still some good stuff on display, though. Just wish they’d ditch some of the forced dialogue they use at times. (“Ganking” demons being one phrase I never want to hear again!)… Season 3 of In Treatment was very compelling, as with the other seasons, and finished off the series nicely…

Against my better judgment, I watched this year’s X Factor too. The switch-up in judges was a good one, I felt, especially since three of the four of them can actually sing this year! Tulisa was far better than Cheryl Cole, though Kelly Rowland was incredibly irritating (apart from telling Little Mix that “y’all have worked y’all’s butts off”. Heh heh.) The choice of winner’s song was, in a word, “pants”, however! Frankie Coccozza’s very appearance proved irritating, week after week. Do women actually find specimens like him attractive? The mind boggles…

That’s it, in essence. Thanks to the four or five of you continuing to read these, or visiting my page. Much obliged!

Happy Christmas, and all the best for 2012.

Ballance

The Ballance Sheet, Blog XIX

- originally written Sept 6th, 2011-

My first bit of wrestling action in August took me back to WrestleZone in Scotland, to Stonehaven. For the second time this year, as well, I’d have a travelling companion in Brother Skelly. He & I headed over to Total Action Wrestling back in April, and it was cool to have his company again for this trip.

Travel-wise, everything went nicely to plan. There was no Dublin-to-Aberdeen flight that morning, so we flew into Edinburgh, got the bus into Edinburgh city centre, and got the train to Aberdeen. We had about an hour to hang around Edinburgh city centre before the connecting train, and it was great to see it again. I’d had a nice break there a few years ago with ‘the missus’. The train journey was relaxing and enjoyable, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the train was going to be stopping off in Stonehaven, so Skelly & I got off there, rather than in Aberdeen. Gave us a few hours to chill out, and explore.

It was an absolute scorcher of a day, so we sat by the river awhile, shooting the shit, figuratively-speaking, along with shooting pigeons and children, literally-speaking. (Well…, not really..) It was cool having Skelly there- as I probably would’ve just wandered around the place awhile if I were ‘on my Tobler’- and it allowed for a rare “stop-to-smell-the-roses” moment, appreciating the opportunity to see the places we’ve seen; places we would never have got the chance to, if not for our involvement in wrestling. We probably never would’ve crossed paths, ourselves. I could apply that to most of the guys I’ve known, and formed friendships with, in wrestling. Would we ever have met, if not for our mutual involvement in this crazy activity? Who knows? It’s funny how life works out, and the various people you encounter, and collide with.



Stonehaven Town Hall was a great venue and, though the “unpredictability factor” kicked in, since the place hadn’t had a fix of wrestling in ten years, such worry proved unfounded, as the place was nicely packed out, once bell-time came around. Before that, however, I had the chance to do another training seminar with the WZ lads, who put in a terrific amount of effort again, as with previous seminars I’d done with them. It’s encouraging, and pleasing, to see them improving each time I come over. As well as that, they’re a great bunch of lads, so I like to see them progress.

Skelly opened the show in a very nice match with Johnny Lions, who I’d previously worked with twice in 2009, and enjoyed working with thoroughly. My own match was against the masked Blue Thunder, after the interval. There were two minor notes of interest, prior to this bout, though.

First, I was trying out tights for the first time. Pretty much since I started in 2005, I’ve gone with pleather, and I like it. As much as others tend to look down on pleather and kickpads- and regard them as “indy”- I like them. Fuck the “gear snobs”- I like my gear, and think it looks well, and suits my character and body type. That said, I do like to branch out on occasion, and try different things, so I wanted to give tights a shot. They felt good, and AWP did an awesome job with the gear design again, surpassing my expectations. I’ll be mixing and matching over the next while, I reckon.

The second point of note- and of slight concern to me- was that my right elbow was massively puffed-up with fluid at the time of that show. I’d banged it a few times in weeks leading up to the show, doing my big plancha to the outside- the “Sexual Harassment Plancha”- and having had a fall on it in a game of indoor football. The obvious answer would’ve been to wear an elbow pad, but I’d sold my only pair a few weeks before, to a trainee over here. I’ve never worn elbow pads, and just don’t like wearing them, but really could’ve done with one on this occasion, as I feared that one bad fall on it would pop the fluid sac in my elbow. I didn’t know what would happen if that was to occur, but I didn’t want to find out. Thankfully, one of the WZ trainees- a nice chap named Dave- loaned me a pad for the match, so I was all set.

The match with Blue Thunder went well, and I enjoyed it, but it was slightly marred by some idiot who jumped into the ring, early into the match. Full credit to the security staff, who had him out of there in very swift fashion. It took away from the match a little bit, though, and distracted the audience. Though we got them back, it was an unwelcome interruption to proceedings. Weirdly, when I took off my elbow pad after the match, the fluid had gone, and my elbow was back to its normal size. I probably bumped it out, or the fluid’s gone elsewhere; probably, my brain. That would explain a lot, actually…

As with previous trips to WZ, I stayed over in ‘Chateau Stirling’, with Alan & Cara. Regular readers of this blog (heh heh- yeah, right) might recall that last year, I hit a woman; granted, just a light, retaliatory slap, to a particularly foolish woman, but the point stands. Could I possibly sink lower, you’re wondering…? Heh. How about beating up an infant? Poor Jake- Alan and Cara’s two year old son- got a fair old pasting from this visiting Irishman, suffering an ankle lock, Walls of Jericho and my own G-17 finisher! He was quite a trooper, though, and sold them all nicely. He’s got a bright future ahead of him! The stay-over was, as always, very nice, and it was cool seeing Alan, Cara, Jake and Oliver again.

Skelly & I flew back from Aberdeen, though the flight was delayed by an hour or two. I usually find delays rather vexing if I’m flying solo, but it was fine having a bit of company, on this occasion, and we actually got to have a bit of lunch at the Airport, before the flight. The Sunday we flew back, incidentally, was the weekend that the London riots kicked off, so it was interesting to see that unfold over the course of the next week. An extremely bizarre situation. Nevertheless, we made it back to Dublin without any hassle, and parted company. It was a fun weekend, and enjoyable travelling with Skelly again.

The following week, wrestling writer Phil Allely dropped me a mail, and asked if I would be interested to do an interview for him. I was, and did, and the interview is here: http://www.famemagazine.co.uk/2011/08/24/irish-wrestler-bingo-balance-talks-indy-grappling/

The next weekend, I worked for Emerald Wrestling Promotions, in Galway, in the west of Ireland. EWP is Eamonn O’Neill’s promotion, and I found him a nice, sound chap to deal with. I drove to Galway with Joe Cabrey, Shawn Maxer and Phil Boyd, and the trip was fine. The show drew quite well for a Sunday matinée, and I worked Maxer in the second match.

For only the second time in my career, for lack of a better term, I was wrestling masked, as Eamonn wanted a masked wrestler on the show. Understandable, considering the popularity of guys like Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara. It was quite a knock to my vanity, though! Heh heh. (The other time I wrestled masked, by the way, was as a “Blagger Boy” for IWW, back in 2006. The Blagger character was a masked jobber, in a boiler suit and balaclava. Nearly everyone on the roster had done ‘Blagger detail’ at one point or another , and it was fun. There were a load of complaints about the Blagger characters, actually, when they appeared on Season 1 of Whiplash, in 2005; many thought they were IRA-type paramilitary characters!)

Rather than a balaclava this time, though, it was a standard lucha mask I’d be wearing. The mask, incidentally, was the gold ‘Space Cadet’ mask from IWW, previously worn by Brother Skelly, and the DCW/original incarnation of Space Cadet, who very kindly loaned it to me for the occasion.

The match went grand, though I have to admit I found it difficult working under the mask (as ‘The Lightning Kid.’) For one thing, it kinda fucked with my depth perception, particularly jumping for my springboard crossbody, a move I’ve done countless times over the last six years. It became slightly more difficult to judge the jumping distance, and so forth, but I landed the move alright. Following the unwritten rule that masked wrestlers on indy shows have to hit a 619, I hit the old.. eh.. the old 619, didn’t I? Heh heh.

After the interval, there was a royal rumble-type match, which was fun, as they usually are. I worked a bit with UK wrestler Stixx, who I hadn’t seen in a while. Nice fella.

It being a matinée, it was nice getting back on the road back to Dublin early, and I was home, myself, around half seven, with a few hours left in the weekend, to enjoy. That was a nice plus.

I was due to work my rematch with Andy Phoenix the following weekend, for DCW in Drimnagh but, due to some controversial goings-on, shall we say, the show was cancelled, the promoter abdicated, and the promotion has since been wrapped up. (I use that expression in a casual sense, not a business one.) All DCW’s faults and failings aside- most of which have been publicly aired in the weeks that followed- I enjoyed the few occasions this year getting to work locally, on shows with some of my mates, even getting to work with some of them. I hadn’t worked Vic Viper since 2009 or so, and it was great getting to have a few matches with him. It was nice to see some of the ‘old guard’ again, along with meeting a few new faces.

The following weekend, I flew back to Edinburgh. Though I’d been there only three weeks before, it felt a lot longer, weirdly. The flight over was hassle (and hen/stag party) free, which was refreshing. I spent the journey over getting stuck into a puzzle book. The turbulence made it somewhat difficult to colour within the lines. Heh heh. Nah, it was one of those puzzle compendium dealies, with crosswords, arrowords, Sudoku, etc. Passed the time quite quickly.

I was working for SWE in Dundee, and I got picked up by one of their workers, Claymore, and his fiancée, Charlotte, both of whom I’d stayed with when I worked the Hell for Lycra show last year. Nice seeing them both again, and catching up.

There was a fair bit of time to kill before the show, but it gave the opportunity to catch up with the WrestleZone lads, who were there as well, and Rob Cage, who I hadn’t seen since March of last year, when we worked a triple-threat match in SSW. Very sound man. Along with those lads, the show featured a few former WWF guys, in Ted Dibiase, Sr., Virgil and Tatanka, all of whom were very polite. I’d heard stories before that Tatanka was a bit of an asshole but, to be honest, he seemed like a nice guy, and was professional and friendly to everyone. Goes to show that most of what you hear in wrestling is bullshit, and you’re better off judging someone on your own experiences with them, rather than on stuff you hear. Unfortunately, more often than not, that’s not what happens, and hearsay generally becomes fact. Such is life…

The show was ‘Hell for Lycra VIII’, and was at the same venue as last year: Bonar Hall, in Dundee University. It’s a nice place, and a good venue for a show. Last year, I faced Scotty Swift in a very enjoyable match. This year, I was part of a six-way ladder match, with Rob Cage, EG Mackie, Don Roid, Martin Stallyon and Ian Ambrose. I was reticent about it in advance, due to the dangerous nature of matches like this, and because trying to plan six-way matches is insanely headache-inducing. My reservations about the latter proved fairly well-founded; planning was not fun. That said, it got done, and the actual execution of the match was great. Certainly turned out to be a lot more fun doing it than planning it! The crowd of around 300 or so were into the action, and it seemed to be many people’s favourite match on the card, which was cool to hear.

Regardless of the hassle trying to put everything together, it was very enjoyable working with all five of the other lads, and a really nice team effort pulling off the match, particularly the innovative finish; Rob and Martin were trapped under the bottom rungs of the ladder, Ian Ambrose and I were hung upside down (“tree of woe” style) on opposite sides of it, and Don Roid seemed to be making his ascent for the SWE Future Division Title. EG Mackie snuck in, though, and managed to grab it first, much to the approval of the crowd. Fun match, anyway.



SWE trainee Sam Ross very kindly put me up for the evening, after the show, and ran me back to the Airport the following morning, which was much appreciated. Very nice chap. The flight home was grand, and that was that for August.

In other stuff… I never had any major beef with Bruno Mars prior to recently. I found ‘Grenade’ to be a ridiculously overplayed, mildly irritating song, but that was a classic compared to the woeful ‘Marry You’, currently polluting the airwaves. Having had to wake up to that song for a few mornings in a row- as my alarm clock radio is set to Dublin station Spin 103.8FM- I have grown to DETEST it with a passion. It is the epitome of “crap” and- as someone who’s not really a morning person to begin with- has put me in fairly bad humour, the few occasions I’ve had to wake up to it… Grr…

Ending on a positive note, I give my thumbs up to the remake of Fright Night, which was a very entertaining, and fun film, and one of the few 3D films I’ve seen that used the technology fairly well. That said, I’m still not a fan of the whole ‘3D craze.’

That’ll do it. Cheers for reading, folks.

Ballance

The Ballance Sheet, Blog XVIII

- originally written July 31st, 2011-

Bumper edition here, covering both June and July’s activities, such as they were…

June was fairly quiet, with just the one bit of wrestling-based action, and a return to Wrestling.IE, in Northern Ireland. I hadn’t wrestled for the promotion for almost a year and, though it wasn’t a show in the traditional sense, it was nice to be back wrestling in Northern Ireland.

The show was more of an exhibition, with four matches being put on display during a “sports day” in Portadown. Across the town, various clubs and associations were doing displays and demonstrations for their particular sport, and we ended up doing our wrestling exhibition alongside the surface car park of the High Street Mall (after marching in the parade, of course, which was pretty mortifying.) It was me, Shawn Maxer (who I travelled with) and Dunkan Disorderly in a round robin—everyone faces everyone—and then finishing off with a triple threat match.

I opened with Dunkan, and enjoyed the match quite a bit in spite of the shit crowd, who were reserved throughout, and weren’t a wrestling audience. Despite the poor atmosphere, we put on a good match, and I was happy with what we did. It’s quite tough wrestling outdoors, though, I have to say, particularly during the summer. It may sound like a ridiculously obvious statement, but if you’re wrestling indoors and it’s warm, once you’ve finished, you can at least go outside, and get some fresh air, and try to cool down. If you’re outdoors already, though, it becomes just that little more difficult to get your breath back, and wind down. (We didn’t have anywhere to go inside, incidentally. We got changed in the back of the ring van, and stayed there between matches. We also made our entrances from the back of the van, like a low budget ‘A-Team.’)

The humidity notwithstanding, we- at the very least- avoided the rain that day, which was lucky. Having been lashed on whilst doing an outdoor show for Irish Whip in 2007, I can assure you that that’s no fun! Especially when the canvas and mats get absolutely soaked through (as illustrated below), and you have another show later that day.. 





Steve the promoter was well prepared, though, and had bought a new vinyl canvas just in case it rained. As someone who doesn’t wear elbowpads- but probably should, since my right elbow’s nicely puffed up with fluid!- I much prefer wrestling on a vinyl mat, rather than canvas; less mat burns that way…


Maxer and I went on third, finishing off the singles matches. (There were just three of us, by the way. Three wrestlers, I should say, and the ref Anto Wylie.) I, again, need to stress how bad the crowd was, and could probably, comfortably say (without hyperbole) that they were possibly the worst crowd I’ve ever worked in front of. We did a nice, fast-paced opening spot that was pretty much spot-on, from a technical point of view, and got nothing from the audience. Not a clap, not a golf clap, not even that finger-clicking thing beatniks do at poetry readings. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Bubkis. It was soul-destroying!

Soul-destroying would’ve been far more preferable to neck-destroying, though, which is what I came close to, once the top rope snapped early into the match. I was, thankfully, only running the ropes ¾ speed; if I’d been hitting them at full speed, it would’ve been game over. (A former IWW trainee of mine- currently wrestling in MSW as ‘Big Bad Hynesie’- suffered a rope snap in training a few years ago, and was very lucky to have landed on the judo mats around the ring.) Aside from that, the match went well, and was enjoyable. The finish had to be improvised due to the rope snap, but it had no major adverse effects.

After a short break, Dunkan, Maxer and I returned to finish off the day’s events with a triple threat. Like the matches that preceded it, the action was good, and the work solid, but the crowd just sat there, despite attempts to ‘rouse them from their apathy. The only notable outburst was from some gobshite smart-ass in the crowd, who thought he was clever, pointing out that I “landed on [Maxer’s] shin-pads” when he gave me a fireman’s carry gutbuster manoeuvre. I took a quick moment from selling the move to growl at him to “shut the fuck up”, and Maxer did likewise, though far more vociferously. The guy kept quiet for the remainder, surprisingly. (Usually, something like that would only egg idiots like that on.)

A few weeks later, I had another impromptu show for Wrestling.IE in Enniskillen, making the trip up after work on Friday afternoon/evening with Joe Cabray, Johnny Notaro, and Kazza Glennon; the latter two, trainees with Dublin-based outfit Main Stage Wrestling, and very sound individuals. Despite unsettled weather—and the ridiculousness of encountering two toll booths on the way up—the trip was grand, and we arrived in good time for the show. I faced Niall Rice in a solid singles match. We’d faced off in a tag match at PWU last December, but this was our first singles, and it went well. After the interval, a big 8 person tag took place. It was messy- quite messy- but such is the nature of those types of matches. Loading the ring back up, after the show, in the lashing rain was about as much fun as it sounds, but it abated by the time we got back on the road to Dublin, ourselves. The crowd for the show was fairly lively, despite the relatively low, but respectable, turnout.



The next weekend, I was back for DCW in Dublin, as they had a double-header. My previous show for them in Artane (May) was disappointing. Overbooked, chaotically-organised, and badly-run, it was disastrous, to be completely frank. Three hours after opening bell, Vic Viper and I were only going out to begin our main event match. The crowd were tired, we were tired, and it was rather aggravating to be starting our match at 10:30pm, especially with a fuckload of post-match shenanigans planned as well, dropped on us a few minutes before we were due to go out. It was a frustrating experience. The difference between that show and the weekend of shows in July, though, was like night and day. Both shows—Ballyfermot and Balbriggan—were organised very well backstage, and ran to a much leaner time. Good progress for the place. I was familiar with both venues, having wrestled there with IWW a few years back.

I’d wrestled twice in Ballyfermot before, having a very well-received singles match with El Ligero in 2008, and another very enjoyable entry in my series with Vic Viper there, in 2009. On this Saturday in July- an absolute scorcher, weather-wise- I teamed up with Anthony Idol to face LA Warren and Andy Phoenix. The lads were very easy to plan with and get on with, and it was a fun match; a lot of fun, actually. This was my first match, incidentally, being accompanied by my new second, Barry. (My evil chimp roommate, who I’d introduced in a previous promo.) Seemed to go down fairly well with the audience.



A former Irish Whip trainee, ‘The Kid’ Keith Connolly- who I had a number of very enjoyable matches with in 2008- also worked the show, and it was cool to see him again, with him rockin’ a radical new haircut. I got home at a reasonable hour, and watched some Curb Your Enthusiasm (which I’m loving at the moment; I was a big Seinfeld fan, and love Curb, as well. Superb stuff.)

The tag was fairly gentle on me, bumps-wise, so I was, thankfully, heading into Balbriggan the next day pretty fresh. The Ballymun Bruiser, Irish Dragon and Danny Deans had a brutal three-way the previous evening, though, so were quite banged-up going into the show. That Sunday was another absolute scorcher of a day, reaching highs of 23’C at times; almost unheard-of, for Irish weather! The trip to Balbriggan was short and sweet—only about 30 mins down the M1—and I was glad to return. Balbriggan is one of my favourite venues. I’ve had some really, really enjoyable matches there, with the likes of Pac, Bam Katraz, Red Vinny, Vic Viper, The Hornet, Kid Fite, and Brother Skelly, amongst others; superstitious, perhaps, but some venues just bring a bit of luck with them, and Balbriggan’s been lucky for me.

I worked a singles match with Andy Phoenix, and it was really good. Everything went to plan, additional stuff added in worked nicely, and the crowd were into it. Couldn’t ask for more. I was very happy with it- very happy indeed- and Andy was great to work with. My happiness was amplified when I managed to sell a nice bit of merch during the interval, and make some cash money. (Jeah!) Along with that, I managed to procure myself a 99 (an ice cream cone with a Cadbury’s Flake stuffed into it) after the match, not exactly typifying my 26 years of age! It was a great cone, though, for the warm day that was in it.

Bam Katraz made his return later on the show in a great match with Pierre Marceau. Bam took his time with the return (from a 2-3 year absence), putting in a lot of effort training since the start of this year. He was a frequent training partner for me and Seán South, and it’s a credit to him that he takes enough pride in his work that he spent time going back through everything before getting back in the ring. Definitely commendable. The match was a reflection of that, and he and Pierre had a very entertaining bout.

That was that for July. A very enjoyable weekend, I have to say, and a pair of great matches. I’m back for DCW next month, in a rematch with Andy Phoenix; looking forward to trying to top the last match!

That’s that for the moment. Two minor things before I wrap this up. One for my Formspring page. If you have anything you wanna know (within reason), post your question (anonymously if you wish) here: http://www.formspring.me/BingoBallance. Secondly, please feel free to recommend this page to anyone you know. Not too far away from the ol’ 300 likes yet, so that’s the next milestone! Thanks, guys.

‘Til next time.
Ballance

The Ballance Sheet, Blog XVII

- originally written June 3rd, 2011-

Take THAT, writer's block! Jeah..
The rather illustrious seventeenth instalment of this self-serving rubbish! So, what did May have on tap, as it were? (Look at me trying to be hip! I’m not. Not even a little bit. Just to… just to get that clear.) Anyway…

Training continued during the month of May, as I took classes in DCW’s school, on the outskirts of Dublin city centre. Unfortunately, due to underwhelming attendance and interest, the plug had to be pulled, which is a shame. Right call, though. No point haemorrhaging money over time. The thing with this country is that there are a number of good facilities out there and, to be honest, not a great deal of demand right now for guys looking to start wrestling. Most memorable, I think, during the short time I was there was the progress made by a trainee called Nina, who was probably the most frequently-attending trainee in the place. It took a little while for her to get the hang of things, but her perseverance and determination to get better really stood to her and, by the time things wrapped up, she was making some nice progress. Just a shame the place closed when it did.

My first bit of in-ring action during the month took place in Artane, not far from where I live. I had helped book the venue a few months before, so was interested to see what sort of a crowd DCW had drawn for it. This would be my first appearance for them in two months, as I had missed their ‘Mania’ and ‘Aftermath’ shows, due to prior bookings I had in the UK.

As I’ve absolutely HAMMERED home repeatedly in previous blogs, I’d gotten used to not wrestling in Ireland, so ‘show days’ for me had become synonymous with heading off to the Airport, and going through the whole rigmarole of air travel. Wrestling with DCW, though, obviously comes with the benefit of not having to go far from home, so it was nice to have a show day, while still getting a much-needed lie-on in bed that morning! I actually spent the morning of the Artane show in bed, watching Family Guy! (The “..And Then There Were Fewer” murder-mystery episode; a darned good one! The Patrick Stewart talking cat, in particular, gave me a good chuckle!)

I spent a few hours before the show hanging with Bam Katraz, a guy who’s been a friend of mine for a good few years. As well as being a friend, I would definitely count Bam as one of my favourite ‘opponents’. We’ve had four singles matches together, and I genuinely feel that they’re all distinct, quality bouts, as it were. Bam, himself, has been working hard towards getting back into wrestling this year, and that’s been great to see. Rather than rushing back into things half-assed, he’s held off patiently until he could return, and put forward the best version of himself as possible; something I respect a great deal. (Bam and Seán South are the two guys I would regularly spar/train with and, though we’ve different styles, I think our approach to wrestling would be similar, as would be our attitudes towards training, and its importance in trying to stay as sharp as possible.) Anyway, long story short, Bam & I hung out for a while before heading to the show, shooting the proverbial shit, and so forth, and it was enjoyable and relaxing.



The show itself was grand, drew a decent crowd for the night that was in it, and generated a nice atmosphere. Only problem was it went a bit long, and by the time my match came around, the show had been running three hours, and it was 10:30. I worked Vic in the main event, and enjoyed it. I always like working with Vic.

I had imagined that my feud with his faction (The Family Against Sinners) would have continued over the next few shows, in light of the kidnapping angle that had been used to explain my absence for two months, but it was decided that the feud would be dropped, and I’d work with Andy Phoenix on the next show, on foot of him hitting me with a briefcase after the match. While I warmly welcome the opportunity to work with Andy- and anyone I haven’t worked before, in general- I will admit to being a little disappointed that the Family angle was dropped so quickly, as I truly felt it had a lot of mileage left in it.

I don’t know how best to describe my thought process behind it, but I cut a promo shortly after the Artane show, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1nBdDge48 . Genuinely, I think it’s the best promo I’ve ever cut. Not that that’s saying much—I’ve no delusions that I’m a great promo guy. That said, it’s the most comfortable I’ve ever felt delivering one, and I think that comes across in it. (I imagine the acting classes I’ve taken over the last few years have helped contribute to that.)

Promos are an interesting animal—some people love ‘em, some hate ‘em. For the longest time, I would’ve been in the latter camp. I hated them passionately, and hated watching my promos. I wasn’t comfortable in my skin- as the expression goes- wasn’t sure who my character truly was, and they were just awkward, and clichéd. The promos I cut for Whiplash were godawful, and cringeworthy, and most of the ones I cut weren’t used. (Thankfully!) Worst of all, they SOUNDED like someone cutting a promo, if you get me…? As a trainer, I never taught promos or, at least, not regularly. I could watch guys cut them, and give feedback on body language, delivery, cadence, and so forth, but I didn’t feel that I could teach someone how to speak, or get their character across. That was something inherently personal to them, and it was up to them to try and let their character out. From my own standpoint, I favour promos that have a ‘natural’ feel to them; where you feel the speaker IS their character, as opposed to someone PLAYING a character. I know that’s a very, very fine line, but it’s a distinction that I feel often takes a promo to the next level. (Forgive the preachy tone—again, I have no claims to being any sort of promo wizard; I’m not. This is just my own preference regarding the types of promos that catch my attention, and leave an impression.)

For the promo above, as I say, I just felt it; felt comfortable enough to let my character, and my own personal traits and so forth, come out. I’ve felt it before during live, in-ring promos, as I have an audience to work off of, and I like to have a bit of fun with them. Regular ‘camera’ promos, though, were never my forte, particularly with people watching. I always found that it distracted me, and just took me out of the mindset and zone I needed to get into.

Outside wrestling, I’m fairly introverted. Unless I know people especially well, I keep to myself—this may be interpreted by people as me being standoffish or arrogant or a dickhead, but I’m just a quiet person, to be honest. As a result, stuff like promos- and even making a decent, attention-grabbing entrance- were foreign. They were unnatural to me. An expression I heard during my stint doing drama intrigued me: “If you can’t feel it, fake it.” For ages, I’d faked it. I’d sorta feel the excitement of going out there in front of a crowd, but it was just me PLAYING “Bingo Ballance.” This year, though, I’ve felt more like I AM “Bingo Ballance” when I go out there, and I actually AM “feeling it” now. It’s only taken about five and a half bloody years! What’s taken so long? Heh heh! I guess the point I’m trying to make- eventually- is that if you’re comfortable in yourself, that comes across, and I think my gradually arriving at a point of comfort in myself, and in my character, has taken me to the point of no longer hating promos, but actually welcoming the opportunity to allow my character to develop.

Wow. That was… incredibly long-winded! Anyway, let’s move on…

Less than a week after DCW in Artane, I had my second show of the month, over in the UK. I flew over to Newcastle on a Friday morning. This was my third time flying over to Newcastle (after two trips to IWF last year), and the third rowdy, and irritating flight! Every time—EVERY time—I’ve gone over to Newcastle, there’s been either a stag party or a hen party, or a group of rambunctious fellow passengers who feel the need to absolutely BELLOW across to each other through the entire flight. At that hour of the morning—as all the flights have been morning ones—that level of volume is really unwelcome, and downright inconsiderate. “Hell is other people” is the expression, I believe!

The trip over to Newcastle, itself, though, was a very enjoyable one, as I débuted for the North East Wrestling Society (or “NEWS.”) The NEWS setup is very impressive, and the promoter Paul really has his head screwed on, which is hugely refreshing. As well as being sensible, and smart with his resources, he’s a nice guy, and I enjoyed dealing with him. Definitely one of the better promoters I’ve encountered in quite a while.

I opened the show in a three-way with Pac, and Lowthian (the ‘Tyneside Titan’- a brilliant moniker.) I’ve worked with Pac a few times down through the years. Along with facing off with him in the finals of the Irish Whip Zero Gravity tournament in 2007, he was the first ‘outside talent’ I worked with early in my career, back in 2006. In fact, a TV match we had- which opened the second season of IWW’s Whiplash programme- helped launch my singles run, and I’d regard it as my first ‘breakout’ match. (At that point, plans had been in place for me to be a ‘jobber’ during the series, but the audience reaction that night, along with the quality of the match itself, changed the plans a little bit, and I was given more to do on the tapings, and more of a role in the Zero Gravity division, which I was delighted with.)

Pac, along with being an exceptionally nice, down-to-earth guy, is excellent to work with, and I’ve enjoyed the matches we’ve had over the years, and feel we’ve good chemistry together. I hadn’t worked with Lowthian before, but he was great to work with as well, and has a terrific look and presence, in addition to very solid and impressive ring work for the amazingly short amount of time he’s working. (Lowthian’s manager, Julian Werther-Chambers, was also a very sound guy, and I enjoyed chatting to him while I was over. He, in turn, enjoyed putting the boots to me, as I lay on the outside, during the match…!) The match itself was very enjoyable, and I think came off nicely. The crowd of (I think) close to 200 people seemed into it, too, which was cool.

I had an early flight back from Newcastle Airport the following morning, so had booked into a B&B near the Airport, in Ponteland. (“Pon-tee-land.”) The show was in Peterlee, in Durham, a good half-hour from the Airport, so Pac very kindly gave me a lift there once we’d finished our match. I hadn’t seen him in about four years, so it was good catching up with him, and chatting to him and his friend Natalie, who was also very nice.

I stayed in the Stonehaven Lodge, a ten minute walk from the Airport. A comfortable stay, definitely, though the proprietors were a little bit… I dunno. A tiny bit “off”, I guess. That said, it had little bearing on the rest of the evening. The earlier-than-usual departure from the show allowed for a nice few hours’ relaxation, stuffing my face with a pizza pie from Papa John’s, (that we’d gotten on the way), and watching episodes of Seinfeld on my portable DVD. Great stuff, and definitely needed after a long week of work thrown into the bargain.

Not so great was my night’s sleep, which was interrupted rudely by the people in the room next to me, who got in from a Take That pop concert after midnight, and were very loud. It didn’t help that the walls were paper thin, either—you could’ve talked them into coming down! My namesake Mr Barlow can advise one to “have a little patience”, but it’s quite difficult to, at that hour… At any rate, I drifted back off into a peaceful slumber after a little while, was up in good time for my flight the next morning, and got back home to Dublin with minimal hassle. (I would generally have one or two songs that I might play a few times on my iPod on certain trips. For some reason, I might just be in the humour to hear one particular track a few times. For this trip, anyway, Howie Day’s The Longest Night was that song, and had me suitably mellowed. Link for those interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiqUXVmKfrQ) All in all, a very enjoyable trip.

And now, we move onto the non-wrestling portion of things… Picked up Family Guy Season 10 during May, and enjoyed it a lot. Of particular note were episodes like “And Then There Were Fewer”, “Brian and Stewie” (which started on a rather revolting, gross-out note, but moved onto something surprisingly deep and poignant for FG), “Brian’s House of Payne”, and “Quagmire’s Dad” (including Brian’s hilarious reaction to hearing some unpleasant news)… Along with Family Guy, I re-watched the fantastic Seinfeld (as mentioned earlier), and finished off the second season of Lie to Me, which I enjoyed a lot… I saw Insidious during May, a film which has really divided audience opinions. Personally, I thought it was excellent, and legitimately one of the creepiest, most suspenseful horror films I’ve ever seen. The “explanation” halfway through the film is make-or-break; you either like it, buy into it, and continue on invested in it, or you think it’s bullshit. I liked it, personally, and thought it was an interesting direction to go in… The state visits of Queen Elizabeth II and Barack Obama to Ireland were very well-conducted, in my view, and I was pleased to see that both went off without a hitch, particularly the Queen’s visit, which had the potential of being a political powder keg, but turned out fine. Her speaking a little bit of an Irish was a very classy move, I felt. Though large sections of Dublin were closed to accommodate the visits, I was largely unaffected, luckily…

That’s it for May and, as always, thanks for reading, guys. ‘Til next time, take care.
- Ballance

The Ballance Sheet, Blog XVI

- originally written May 1st, 2011-

Sweet sixteen for this bad boy. (The blog. Not me. It’s been a good ten years since I was sixteen…) Anyway, let’s get down to business: April. Brace yourself: this is a long one. (Giggity.)

The first weekend in April, I headed over for DPW’s 3 Years Old show. (This was my second weekend on-the-trot flying over for a show; the previous one I had worked for SSW, in Scotland.) I should’ve gotten a better sleep the night before, but I stupidly decided to start watching My Soul to Take (the Wes Craven horror film) and ended up finishing it, and only getting a few hours’ rest. I’m a silly, stupid, foolish man, so I am!

Though DPW’s show was in Pontefract, and I usually fly into Leeds for them, flight costs were fairly high that weekend, so I flew into Manchester, instead. I was out at the Airport around 5am, which was as fun as it sounds, and got my flight at 6:30… I had a few hours to kill before I could check into the Travelodge near the Airport, so got a bit of breakfast, read the Irish Independent newspaper cover-to-cover, and watched a few episodes of Extras on the portable DVD. (Including the Sir Ian McKellen one, which is superb.) Around 12 noon, I got to check into the Travelodge.


Though they call it “Travelodge Manchester Airport”, it’s really not that close to the Airport. The one near Leeds Bradford Airport is literally within walking distance; this one, however, was a 5-10 minute drive away, so it involved getting Travelodge’s £5 “airport shuttle”. (A taxi with a surly prick for a driver.) Staff at the hotel were unhelpful and didn’t give a fuck - particularly when I tried to arrange a “shuttle” back to the Airport for early the following morning. The room was adequate, and did the job, though, I guess, and I at least got to spend about 90 minutes in it before I had to leave again to head on to the show.

Like SSW the week before, the journey involved an almost-labrynthine series of connecting trains to get to my final destination. I headed from Manchester Airport to Huddersfield, from Huddersfield to Wakefield Kirkgate, and from Wakefield Kirkgate to Pontefract Monkhill, then walked to the venue- Pontefract Town Hall- which took a little while to find. That said, I arrived with about an hour and a half before doors, and whiled away the remaining time until the show began.

I was in a tag match—the tag title tournament finals, actually—teaming with El Ligero to face Martin Kirby and Mad Man Manson. It came off very nicely, and was received very well by the fans in attendance—well, most, apart from these two fucktards in the front row; y’know, the typical “smart marks” who try to get themselves over by starting “witty” chants? Them. Them aside, anyhow, the match was a nice blend of comedy—which I wouldn’t be completely au fait with, as I wouldn’t do comedic spots very often; a welcome change, actually, doing them—and fast-paced (or slow motion, in some cases) action! It was a fun match, and Ligero, Manson and Kirby were excellent, as always, and cool to work with.



Like SSW the previous week, again, I had to leave pretty much straight after the match, to catch my train back to Manchester Airport. Ricc the ref, who did a great job in our match again, very kindly gave me a lift to Leeds train station, and I made the train in good time. This time around, it was Leeds to Manchester Piccadilly, and Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport. The adrenaline from the match wore off during the final leg of the journey, and I crashed! Pretty knackered at that stage. I headed back to my room at the Travelodge, had a well-needed shower, and got a few hours’ sleep before heading back to the Airport for my flight home to Dublin, the following morning.

The next weekend saw the launch of the DCW Training School, in Dublin. Though I’ve had seminars for the likes of DPW, SPWA and WrestleZone (amongst others) in the last few years, it had been about two-and-a-half years since I’d been a full-time trainer, when the IWW School wrapped up in the autumn of 2008. I was looking forward to getting back into it. I took the opening class of the launch weekend, and was impressed by the effort put in by the trainees there. I’ve since taken about two or three classes; attendance has not been overwhelming for my own classes thus far, but I hope it’ll be onwards and upwards from here. We’ll see… It’s nice to be back training, anyway, and to have my friends Bam Katraz, The Ballymun Bruiser and Vic Viper, as co-Trainers, in the School. If you want more info on the School, see the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002234918108 (Shameless plug!)

On a partially wrestling-related note, I completed another acting/drama course in mid-April. Beginning in February, I had ten weeks with the Abbey School of Drama, doing their Scene Study course, which involved going over acting and improvisation techniques, and learning the lines for a scene which would be performed publicly at the end of the course. Due to an odd number of people in the course, someone had to do two scenes on the night, and that person was your humble narrator. I had to learn the lines for the two scenes—as there would be no scripts on the night—and arrange to meet both of my ‘scene partners’ over the course of the… well, of the course- heh heh- to go over the scenes, and get the rhythm and timing perfected, as much as possible. Initially, I was a little overwhelmed at the idea of having to learn two sets of lines, but I got them down, thanks to some help from The Ballymun Bruiser, Seán South, my work mate Ger, and ‘the missus’, who all ran the lines with me at some point.

The performance night was on Monday, the 18th. I headed to the theatre straight from work, went over the scenes a few times with my partners again, and before I knew it, the “house was open”, as they say, and the public had been let in. (The public were, mainly, friends and family of the “players”.) The night was set out as a sort of anthology, in a way, in that four different scenes were being played out. I was on second, and fourth/last. I rarely get nervous before matches anymore, but I was absolutely bricking it, as it were, before my first scene! I’d learned the lines and gotten them down, but I kept thinking I was just gonna blank out there, and forget everything. The first scene ended, though, and it was time for me to be “Ray” in our version of Joe Penhall’s Some Voices.

Once I got out there, my memory recall kicked in, and I just felt the lines flowing; the scene came off nicely. Sabrina, my Italian scene partner- playing the part of Laura- did a great job too. We finished, took our bow, and headed backstage, where I had to hastily change from a tracksuit (Ray was a bit of a working-class scumbag) into a suit, for my second scene. Revisiting a character I’d played in my last Scene Study course, I was playing Vinnie in Sam Shepard’s Simpatico. The third scene wrapped up, then I was out with my other partner, Cassandra, to perform the Simpatico scene. Having had the chance to warm up with Some Voices, I felt very comfortable with Simpatico, and was happy with how it turned out. Where my first scene with Sabrina was semi-comedic in tone, this one was bristling with tension and drama, and was a nice contrast. (For anyone who cares enough to look up the scenes performed, they were Act 1, Scene Six of Some Voices, by Joe Penhall, and Act 3, Scene One of Simpatico by Sam Shepard.) After a short interval, the second half of the show focused on improvisation, and was a lot of fun, just going on-the-fly, and acting out scenarios that were completely off-the-cuff. The course was great fun again, and I think the experience of doing acting, however small-scale, has managed to add another dimension to my wrestling performance, in a way. A very rewarding experience.

My mate- and fellow Irishman- Seán South recently asked me the interesting question of whether I preferred travelling alone or with people to foreign shows. He & I both head abroad a fair bit, so we occasionally swap stories, experiences and so forth. In actuality, travelling with folk hasn’t been an issue for a while—the last time I headed abroad to a show with anyone was April 2009, when I headed to Osnabrueck, in Germany, with JC Williams. (I also headed home from a show with Southy, himself, a little over a year ago, when we both wrestled for PBW, in Barrhead.) It’s been a while, anyway, is the crux of the matter! In a way, I’ve gotten used to the regimented nature of the travel. I neither like nor hate it. It is what it is, and I’m completely neutral to it. I usually bring enough stuff to entertain myself, be it an iPod, portable DVD, book, or what have you, so it’s fine. I’ve gotten used to travelling on my own, and really don’t mind it. For my final show of April, though, I would have some company, in the form of Brother Skelly.

Skelly & I go back about five years. I helped train the young maestro over the course of his time in Irish Whip and was- and am- very proud of how he’s developed, and the work he’s put in. At the Zero Gravity show in January 2007, he & I had a match, in the quarter finals of the tournament; it was his first high-profile singles match, to my recollection, and was my first singles match with someone I’d trained. I was really happy with it and, from a sentimental point of view, is one of the matches I look back most fondly on. We’ve had matches since then that I’ve enjoyed very much, as well, and tagged once a few years ago. Coincidentally, we both ended up on the same show for TAW at the end of April, so we elected to travel over together. For the sake of ease and so forth, as I live about ten minutes from the Airport, he stayed over in my place the night before—my Castillo de la Muerte, as it were. (Roughly translated as “castle of the dead”; a somewhat inaccurate title for the premises. It’s more of a duplex than a castle.)


(Me vs Skelly, from 2007)


The whole journey was, genuinely, more enjoyable with someone to head over with, and kill time with, and I was glad for the company, however much I tortured poor Skelly with my bad jokes. (“What’s a shih tzu? …….. A zoo with no animals.”) I pushed him for a high five for it until he eventually provided it just to shut me up (and hopefully put an end to the awful jokes!) If you’re reading this, man, my sincerest apologies…

TAW’s Samson very kindly met us at Luton Airport, picked us up, and we all headed to his training place. Along with catching up with him on the way, I caught up with Blue Lightning (who I teamed with last time—see Blog IX) and Sam Steel, and after a while, Lewis Cooper showed up. I’d become mates with Lewis since the last time I was over, and he, Skelly and I hung out in the MK Centre for a while “having de craic”, as it were. Lewis mocked/paid homage to our Irishness—it’s a fine line!—but he was outnumbered on this occasion! (Well, until Sam Steel, and Lewis’ mate Brendan showed up…) Skelly & I DID manage to teach him a bit of Irish, though: An Capall Dubh (“On cop-al dove”), and An Cloigín Gorm (“On cligeen gur-um”). Both of these are stops on the Irish LUAS tram system which runs through Dublin. An Capall Dubh is “Black Horse”, and An Cloigín Gorm is “Bluebell.”

The show—TAW No Limits—was on in Dunstable Leisure Centre, and the backstage area was terrific, in a very spacious and comfortable dance studio. I was teaming with Skelly to take on Shane Summers and Jet Valentine (who I faced last time when I teamed with Blue Lightning.) Having seen the match back since, I have to say I was very happy with how it turned out, and the flow of it. The only lacking element was the crowd, who were quite subdued, despite my best efforts to get chants for Skelly going while he was in peril! Shane and Jet were great to work with again (and took my unusual signature moves fantastically) and it was a lot of fun teaming with Skelly.

The show- and the TAW experience, in general- was, once again, very enjoyable. Really nice bunch of lads, and very easy to get on with. Always cool when people make you feel welcome, and put you at ease. If any of ye are reading this, lads, thanks. Post-show, Skelly headed off with family to London, and I stayed with Samson who, very nicely, put me up in his place again, and dropped me back to the Airport in Luton for my early flight home to Dublin. Gentleman.

At the time of him asking, I told Southy that I preferred travelling on my own. I’m not certain now. I guess it depends who’s with you, but it was nice having a bit of company for the TAW trip.

And, in the “random stuff from April” section…. I saw- and loved- Scream 4. Definitely worth the wait. As a fan of the series, I thought it was an excellent film. It was a little bit lacking in characterisation, but that aside, I thought it was a very clever movie, suitably tense, and just fun. So good, I saw it three times, and it’s very rare I’d go to see the same film more than once… There were a load of kids on the flight Skelly & I got to Luton and yet, amazingly, there wasn’t a peep out of them. They were really well-behaved, and didn’t cause any disruption. I was very impressed, especially in an age where I’ve become used to seeing lazy parents letting their kids run around restaurants disturbing other diners. That’s one of my pet peeves... I set up a Formspring account recently, so if any of ye have any questions, please feel free to post them. I believe you can post anonymously. http://www.formspring.me/BingoBallance


This is truly a blog of Michael Bay proportions—akin to Transformers 2, which was WAY too long, and could’ve done with a good working over with the editing scissors—so I shall wrap here. Thanks for reading, guys. Until next time, take care.

Ballance