- originally written Oct 15th, 2010-
Eh, it was the end of May I believe we left off at… I’d one more booking at the end of the month, and that was with PWU (Pro Wrestling Ulster) in Belfast.
The PWU show was on a Sunday. The Friday before, I’d taken part in a 5-a-side football blitz with some of my colleagues from work, at this astro turf place in Dublin. The pitches were absolute crap—like a thin layer of carpet, with a sand/gravel base, as opposed to some of the more modern pitches which, I believe, have a rubber base. At any rate, it was the first bit of actual competitive football I’d played in donkey’s years, and I was near-crippled by the end of it! Every- EVERY- muscle ached, and my knees and elbows were cut to ribbons by the crap playing surface. I was in bits on Saturday, and felt even worse on Sunday. I was moving like an arthritic 80 year old, and wasn’t exactly certain this was gonna help me make the best first impression in the promotion!
Atmosphere-wise, I really liked PWU. There were guys there that I’d previously interacted with a lot in Wrestling.IE (like Tron, Corvin, Vice, DJ Marshall) and other guys I was meeting for the first time (like Tucker, JDP and Brian Corr, amongst others) and nearly everyone there was sound, and nice to deal with. My match, on the night, was against JDP, who’s a fair bit taller and heavier than me, and I think we had a nice match, working with the size differential. JDP is surprisingly agile for a guy of his size, and I enjoyed our match. The only drawback- if there was one- was the roof height in the Balmoral Hotel, where the show was on. The height itself in the middle of the ring was fine, but there were these really weird ceiling fixtures above all four of the corners, so top rope stuff was essentially off-limits. Not a huge problem, and I still managed to hit a top-rope move, anyway; using the low ceiling, I managed to walk across the top rope, out of the way of the ceiling fixtures, and nail JDP with a frog splash. It was a really risky, really stupid thing to try- heh heh- but I wouldn’t have done it any differently! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say.
The adrenaline carried me through, I must say—once it wore off later, I was back to feeling shattered, and I think it’s the worst state I’ve ever wrestled in, bar an 8-man tag a few years ago, when I had a bit of whiplash, and neck pain. It’s amazing what adrenaline can do! Heh heh. Nevertheless, a post-show pizza from Domino’s, when I got home, managed to pick up my spirits a little!
A week later, the first weekend in June, I was back to the north of England for IWF. Making it a two-for-two on flights to Newcastle (after last month’s), this journey was marred by morons, too. (If you recall, my flight last month had that raucous hen party on it.) This time around, there was this complete fucktard behind me, BELLOWING a running commentary to his seatmates as we were preparing to land: “OI DAZ, LOOK- THERE’S THE TOON!!” he roared at one point. I’ve never wanted so much to just reach over the seat behind me and rip out someone’s vocal chords! It amazes me how people can have such little consideration for those around them. Flying is difficult enough—particularly with the lack of space you’re afforded on a Ryanair flight—without having to listen to gobshites around you trying to outshout each other. Morons.
The show was decent but, if I’m honest, the venue was an absolute dive. It was the Dunston Mechanics Social Club; L-shaped, with a low-roof, and just generally not very pleasant. Along with that, we ended up having to get changed out the back of the venue, in this cramped, overgrown garden. It was lucky it was summer; otherwise, it would’ve been even more unpleasant. It was probably the worst backstage setup I’ve worked this year, and actually brought to mind some of the unique places and situations I’ve had to get changed in before. (*cue flashback*)
The IWW Gym Wars shows were some of the most fun shows I’ve ever worked on. They were held in the training school in Baldoyle, in north Dublin. The changing conditions were always interesting! For the majority of them, we were in the lane alongside the lock-up. In good weather, that was no bother at all. However, when Gym Wars 18 was held in January, 2007, it was a whole different kettle of fish. It was absolutely FREEZING; even INSIDE the gym it was cold! We had those outdoor heater things they have in pubs, but it was still very chilly. (ROH stars Daizee Haze and Lacey were over for that show, and were real troopers about it, as far as I recall. Never complained.) At Gym Wars 16, in autumn 2006, it was absolutely lashing rain, so that wasn’t the nicest either! Eventually, the prick of a landlord locked off the lane, so we had to get a bit more creative with how we set up the backstage. For one of the GW shows- 20, I think- we parked a van and a few cars across a section of the car park, blocking it off to the public, and allowing us a place to leave our gear, and plan our stuff. (That show I remember, though, mainly for being the bloodiest GW on record! I split my chin, and another guy- Skelly- got busted hardway, when his forehead was slammed into an exposed part of the apron, and he hit the corner of one of the boards. Ouch. He bled quite heavily, and needed stitches, himself.) In spite of the backstage conditions- which usually added to the atmosphere anyway- the shows were, as I say, a great deal of fun. Other novel backstage environments included getting changed in a caravan (for an outdoor IWW show in 2007), in a hotel room (IWW- 2009), in a corridor adjoining a room with a “DANGER- ASBESTOS” sign (WrestleZone- 2009) and in The Granby for 1PW. The Granby’s changing area was a very narrow stage, and I remember that mainly as they had Abyss over for that show. He was using a chair to climb up onto the stage, lost his footing, and nearly crushed this poor fella behind him! Abyss is massive in person, and I’m sure the fella’s life flashed before his eyes as he saw this behemoth tilting toward him, blocking out the sun!
Anyway, the backstage conditions aside, the match I was in went fairly well. It was a fourway match, with KATSU, Reece Jordan and Lewis Beardsley. Planning multi-person matches of this nature are a headache, I have to say, regardless of who’s in them. Things tend to get overcomplicated, and you’ve more people to worry about; you have to ensure everyone hits their cue, as it were, and give them reasons to be out of the match, if they’re not involved in the action. That said, I enjoyed the match for the most part, and think it went alright. The lads were very sound, and I enjoyed working with them.
A main highlight of the trip over was getting to meet John Hopper, a guy who designed my BingoBallance.com website a few years ago. We’d been in touch since about 2006, but had never met face-to-face. He’d seen some of my matches on The Wrestling Channel around that time and, very generously, offered to design a website for me. It was great to meet him for the first time, and though my own website hasn’t really been updated in quite some time, I’m glad to say it’s for a good reason, and John’s getting plenty of work in designing sites. He’s a good guy, and deserves it.
I was due to work a Wrestling.IE show the following weekend, but that was one of the ones I’d been cancelled from, in order to facilitate the new “NXT” movement the promotion was working towards. From what I’d heard, the show drew absolutely catastrophically, and the idea went down in flames. Ah, well… Having kept the 12th open anyway for Wrestling.IE, the late cancellation meant that organising another show for that date would be nigh-on impossible-- and it was-- so I had a few enjoyable weeks off for some relaxation; definitely needed since the last weekend in June would be the first of three weekends in a row where I’d be heading over to Scotland.
The original plan for the first weekend was to head over to WrestleZone (in Aberdeen) on the Friday, to do a training seminar, and then do a show on the Saturday. Unfortunately, the training venue was unavailable on the Friday, but I headed over, anyway, and hung out with the WZ guys for the day, which was nice. A few of us went to see ‘The Collector’, which was alright, but I was astonished by the amount of ads on before the film—at the very least, it was 25 mins. The film was listed as 12:30, but didn’t begin ‘til 12:55 or thereabouts. Madness. Unutterable madness! In the evening, a good few of us went out for a bite to eat in the Cocket Hat, a pub serving some rather tasty food. In the traditional Scottish fashion, all the main courses were served in a man’s hat. Well, maybe not, but wouldn’t that have been something! (I think The Cocket Hat was a Wetherspoon’s franchise.) It was a nice experience, and I found it very comfortable with the WZ guys and girls. Great people. (Scotty Swift gets a special mention for being able to polish off three desserts! At least I THINK it was three. Most impressive, anyhow.) I stayed over with Alan Stirling and his fiancée Cara (and their little boy, Jake.) Alan & Cara were really nice, and made me quite welcome; we got along very well. I’ve never been exactly used to dealing with small children, or babies, but Jake was a really nice kid, and eventually warmed up to the strange Irish man occupying the family’s front room!
Saturday morning was spent chilling in front of the TV. It was in this capacity that I heard- for the first time- a song that I’d later use as entrance music: ‘Closer to the Edge’ by 30 Seconds to Mars. I wouldn’t be a huge fan of theirs, per se—I like a few of their songs, like ‘The Kill’, ‘Kings and Queens’ and ‘From Yesterday’—but this song immediately grabbed me. Entrance music is, for me, an essential part of the character. Everyone approaches a match, or a show, in their own way, but ideally, I like to know what music I’m coming out to, and when to make my entrance. It helps me focus. Whether it was Plug-in Baby (Muse), Map of the Problematique (Muse), Spitfire (The Prodigy), Everyday Combat (Lostprophets) or Switch On (Oakenfold and Ryan), I’ve always had my cue for when to head out, and switch into “Bingo Ballance" mode. It helps; especially for a babyface, when you need something to amp you up, as it were, before you head out. I find it quite fascinating, the varied ways in which people prepare themselves to head out and perform. Down the years, I’ve seen some guys say a prayer before they go out, others will joke with the lads to settle their nerves, others may spend a quiet moment to make sure the match is ‘in their head.’ Everyone approaches ‘the performance’ in their own way. Personally- as cheesy as it sounds- I take a moment (as my music is kicking in) to remind myself that I’m doing something I love, that I’m not gonna be able to do it forever, and to simply enjoy the moment, and what it brings. That gets me psyched, and in ‘The Zone.’ Having my own entrance music- as opposed to some random, generic track someone else has picked out- is a big help, and I can time my “enjoy the moment” bullshit with the track’s intro!
Saturday afternoon was a busy one, and I had two training sessions in the Summerhill Hotel, in Aberdeen, for WZ. The first one was with some of their more experienced trainees; while the session went alright, I wasn’t 100% happy with it. I was a bit pushed for time, and the disparity in levels and experience made it a little difficult to do stuff suitable for everyone in the session. (I got a chance to avenge this, however, two months later, when I took another seminar which, I felt, went better.) The second session, with two of the newer trainees, James and Fraser, was much better, and I was satisfied that I’d gone over enough stuff with them, and helped them along. The show, too, went very well, and drew a great crowd. I tagged with Bryan Tucker to face the WZ tag champs Sterling Oil, in a very enjoyable match, and later won a battle royal (or “regal rumble”, to avoid copyright infringement!) Fun times.
In a rare bit of “going out after the show”, we headed out to The Basement in Aberdeen afterward. Despite the very loud music, I had a good evening, chatting away to Andy Anderson, who was also on the show, and had travelled from Glasgow. I’d met Andy on previous trips to PBW, and he actually reffed my match with Wolfgang back in March. Nice to see him on a show, in a wrestling capacity. While most of the WZ guys headed next door to a nightclub, once last orders were called, we headed back to Cara & Alan’s. Considering the fact that I’m not familiar with Aberdeen, it was nice having Andy there, too, especially since I was a little buzzed after three or four pints! (I don’t drink much, really, and when I do, I don’t do so to excess; I prefer to be in control of myself. I was a little buzzed, alright, but thankfully still in possession of most of my mental faculties, as it were!) We headed back, anyway, and played a little Mario Kart on the Wii, with Cara. I came to the sobering realisation that I’m crap at Mario Kart. Heh heh.
My flight back to Dublin- and Andy’s train back to Glasgow- wasn’t until Sunday afternoon, so we spent the morning chilling out, and playing the Wii. Eventually, I said my goodbyes to Cara, Alan and Jake, and headed to Aberdeen Airport. My flight back was grand, and that was that for the first of my three Scottish weekends; a very enjoyable way to start off, with the WZ folk.
And that’s June. Thanks for reading, guys.
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