Give and Take

Have I mentioned my obsession with British Pro Wrestling from the 1980s?  This obsession is still in full force because the eager young athletes, the wild and colorful gear they wear, the complex and unusual wrestling holds all just keep grabbing me by the hair and dragging me back into the Brit Pro ring.

Here is a very entertaining match featuring young Richie Brooks (looking solid and beefy) in the powder blue tights, and fit, aggressive Ian McGregor sporting blue trunks with white cross stripes.  Nice flashy gear on a pair of hopeful lads, and you can bet there will be a slew of great holds — You Brits were so bloody lucky to have this on the Telly!

One lesson Americans can learn from watching the British wrestlers in action is that you don’t always need a Jobber vs. a Heel in order to have a good match.  One wrestler doesn’t always need to be trying to destroy and bamboozle the other, bending the rules at every opportunity.

The Brits loved to pit their eager young Baby-faces against one another in friendly back-and-forth matches.  No need for blatant cheating and displays of pure evil.  The focus instead is on the aesthetics of the holds, the bodies, the wrestling.

Brooks and McGregor take turns controlling the match, with first one then the other having an opportunity to display some moves.  In many ways, the British wrestlers were ahead of their time by presenting competitive, no nonsense matches by talented grapplers who are just regular guys (not characters), much like we’re seeing now-a-days in the Independent federations.