In fact it must have been over 30 years since I screamed in Kendo Nagasakis' face following some dastardly salt throwing at the Hexagon in Reading. I finally got to meet and chat to him curtesy of an All Star meet and greet. I was impressed at how warm he was toward the fans, giving each one plenty of time for pictures and chatting about battles with Andre the Giant. He clearly still cares a lot about the business.

I wonder if anyone else has noticed the increase in local wrestling shows on offer? I have been to 3 shows from 3 different companies no more than 15 miles from home in the last month. What has been good to see is an emphasis in building on previous shows giving matches some meaning. I wonder if promoter cooperation may be next as the likes of Joel Redmam are already working across promotions.

I am interested in how managers worked pay wise in wrestling. From Kendo's autobiography we learned that he has to share his pay with George Gillette. I am assuming that many managers were just happy to be in the limelight or accompanying a family member or partner. But Charlie McGee doesnt seem to fit those categories. Any have any idea what his relationship with joint was? Did he draw a salaray or was he just a superfan. I know WAW based in Norwich like to use fans in creative ways.

While looking through YouTube, I watched a match between Marty Jones and Jean Pierre Avert (excuse the spelling), Jones's opponent wasn't known to many over here and the contest was billed as a title eliminater for the Mid-heavyweight title. So it seems that at some point a lot of effort was made to give titles a similar sporting status as in boxing, with rankings and eliminators and some sort of meritocracy. This was a departure from our American Cousins who seemed to give a title to the current flavour of the month. There were other touches like natonal anthems being played and flowers presented to the winner. Titles in Britain no longer seem to have this status, the why is happen is probably more obvious than the when. Do people have memories of the late 80's and early 90's where Title matches still had a level of prestige? Do we think a credible set of titles and a ranking system to earn a title shot would benefit wrestling again?

For those who knew Allstar and WCW undercard wrestler Doc Dea. He sadly passed away today at the age of 48. I know him best for his tag work with Robbie Brookside and from Robbies Video Diaries. He has lived in the States since 1998 but managed one appearance on the old WOS televised shows. RIP Ian Doc Dean.