crud wrestling tv shows seem to be everywhere on channel 5 channels and itv channels and Freesport. when ITV decided to re-image world of sport it was an insult
what was missing in these shows compared to the 60s and early 70s. to me they are extracting the urine. they are as bad and sometimes worse then the big daddy circus
The worst thing at the moment us no matter what is being broadcast is a show without the fans, its surreal, the one that has got the closest to delivering is probably AEW , not everyone's cup of tea but at least they are producing a tv product. One of the things that tends to endear fans to a tv show is the sound of a familiar voice on the commentary. TV wrestling in this country was quite unique as apart from a few weeks the only voice we really heard were the tones of Kent Walton. Its probably jarring for some people to hear any other voice than Kent whose laidback style was in total contrast to probably any other wrestling commentator on the planet back then or now. AEW have two very familiar voices in Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone who are both recognizable voices on both sides of the Atlantic and to older fans too, this will obviously attract some fans to the product. Will we have a UK based programme in the near future that doesn't have WWE links? I doubt it, when we come out of the restrictions that we are presently in I believe the wrestling scene in the UK will be very different, a lot of Promotions wont reopen their doors, we will have a lot less shows, and a fair few wrestlers may well hang up their boots. It will take time but wrestling will build itself back up., it has had highs and lows and will continue to do so but it will come back, not the way we remember but it will be back.
The commentating is almost always the most offputting thing in most independent products, it seems like it shouldn't be so difficult to get right.
You either get a very Americanised style, loud and brash with lots of forced excitement, usually completely missing the subtleties and storytelling of the match, or the few that do try and at least sound British end up sounding more like a poundshop Alan Partridge, desperately trying to be funny. And that's not even getting into the painfully terrible microphones they usually seem to be armed with.
have a look at the NWA show on youtube a real throwback to the 1980s studio based usa shows, one of the most entertaining shows out there, they will hopefully start filming again soon and the champion is British.