Entertainmania II: Pre-Show

If there’s one thing that becomes apparent when revisiting RWL’s early shows, it’s that we weren’t always particularly good at knowing when we’d filmed enough wrestling.

Entertainmania II was supposed to be a special occasion. The first anniversary of RWL’s recorded history, the culmination of several months of storytelling, and a show built around the long-awaited Deathmatch between Valo and Cyanide.

But somewhere along the way, we also found time to record a handful of additional matches and segments that didn’t really need to be there.

And naturally, we filmed them anyway.

Entertainmania II: Pre-Show is a slightly unusual addition to the RWL archives, because it wasn’t originally presented as a pre-show at all.

Everything featured here was recorded as part of the original event. However, while reconstructing Entertainmania II for its full-length release, the decision was made to separate some of the less consequential material from the main show.

Not because it didn’t happen, or because we’re trying to pretend it never existed.

Simply because the main event was already carrying more than enough questionable comedy without needing another helping.

And so, nearly twenty years later, Entertainmania II finally has a pre-show.

Better late than never.

A Serious Matter

Perhaps the strangest thing about the surviving footage is that it begins with something genuinely serious.

“Cyanide” Danny Cooper appeared in the wrestling area to address the dangers of wrestling, explaining that a member of the RWL crew had recently suffered an injury while wrestling outside the promotion.

It was a reminder that, however much fun everybody was having, the risks involved in backyard wrestling were very real.

Cyanide introduced Mini Lyger, who appeared alongside Overkill and Spyke, representing The Omen.

Overkill explained the situation and went a little further, announcing that he was placing a bounty on the head of whoever had been responsible.

It was the kind of announcement that suggested things might be about to get rather heated.

Unfortunately, what followed was considerably less intimidating.

Enter Kuntanese

Out came Kuntanese.

Yes, Kuntanese.

Another addition to RWL’s increasingly questionable collection of comedy characters, this time portrayed by Teddie H.

By this point, Teh Gr8 Schitzu and Teh Gr8 Phuka-U had become established fixtures of RWL’s backyard era, with their deliberately ridiculous matches, exaggerated personalities and complete disregard for the usual conventions of professional wrestling.

Apparently, somebody had decided there was room for another one.

There probably wasn’t.

Kuntanese’s arrival wasn’t particularly successful. Mini Lyger slapped him, and The Omen followed up with a Double Suplex before Spyke found himself facing the newcomer.

What should probably have been a very short comedy squash match somehow became something considerably longer.

There were a few memorable moments, including a Chokeslam onto the entrance stage door and a Tombstone onto the makeshift ramp, but the match never really found its feet.

It was awkward, the comedy didn’t particularly land, and the whole thing dragged on far longer than it needed to.

There’s something quite endearing about watching these old recordings and seeing just how willing everybody was to have a go at something new.

Unfortunately, enthusiasm doesn’t always translate into entertainment.

Sometimes you invent a character who becomes a recurring favourite.

Sometimes you invent Kuntanese.

It would be his first and last RWL appearance.

And, having watched the footage back, that’s probably for the best.

Spyke’s Busy Afternoon

Kuntanese wasn’t the only opponent Spyke found himself dealing with in the original recordings.

He also faced The Reaper, in another encounter that has been included in the reconstructed pre-show.

The match itself wasn’t a particularly significant part of Entertainmania II, but it did mark the beginning of something that would become much more important to RWL’s history.

This was the first time Ref James refereed an RWL match.

It was a relatively unassuming debut, especially given the rather chaotic afternoon taking place around him, but it marked the beginning of a long association with RWL that would see James become involved with the promotion in a variety of capacities over the years.

One of those little moments that probably didn’t seem particularly important at the time, but takes on considerably more significance when looking back through the promotion’s history.

As for Spyke, he’d already become an important part of RWL’s developing storylines, having joined Valo and Overkill in The Omen.

By Entertainmania II, he was also serving as RWL Assistant Manager, a position that apparently allowed him to change match stipulations whenever he felt like it.

And while Spyke had plenty to occupy him elsewhere on the show, including accompanying Valo and causing trouble alongside Overkill, he still somehow found time for another match.

Nobody could accuse him of not getting his money’s worth out of the afternoon.

Not that anybody was getting paid.

From Barcelona, Scandinavia

The final addition to our reconstructed pre-show is another rather questionable piece of RWL comedy.

Adam Watson vs Jelton Ohn.

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Jelton Ohn was, rather obviously, a play on Elton John.

The character was portrayed by Spyke, wearing the very same wig that Teddie H had used earlier to become Kuntanese.

Apparently, we’d invested in a wig and were determined to get as much use out of it as possible.

Jelton Ohn was billed from “Barcelona, Scandinavia”.

Which, geographically speaking, is impressive.

Not only had we managed to relocate Barcelona to an entirely different part of Europe, we’d apparently decided that accuracy was unnecessary when introducing comedy wrestlers.

Then again, this was the same promotion that had recently introduced somebody from “Dubai, Ireland”, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised.

The match itself wasn’t especially important, but it did contain one small milestone in RWL history.

This was the first recorded occasion on which Adam Watson was introduced as Adam “The Axe” Watson.

It might not seem particularly significant, but the nickname had been a long time coming.

Throughout 2007, Watson’s Axe Handle Smash had gradually become one of the most recognisable parts of his character.

What had started as a fairly ordinary wrestling move had developed into something of a running joke, with Watson increasingly determined to win matches using it and audiences beginning to associate him with the manoeuvre.

Now, finally, he had a nickname to match.

And appropriately enough, Watson secured the victory over Jelton Ohn with another Axe Handle Smash.

Of all the things to emerge from an otherwise rather disposable comedy encounter, that was certainly worth preserving.

Adam “The Axe” Watson had arrived.

Jelton Ohn, meanwhile, had at least ensured that the wig got another outing.

Making Room for the Main Event

Looking back, these recordings are a fairly accurate reflection of where RWL was in September 2007.

We had a roster full of people who loved wrestling, an ever-expanding collection of characters, and a tendency to invent additional matches whenever somebody had an idea.

Sometimes those ideas turned into something worthwhile.

Other times, they simply added more footage to an afternoon that was already struggling to find a consistent tone.

And that was particularly noticeable at Entertainmania II.

The event’s main attraction was always going to be Valo vs Cyanide. Everything had been building towards that Deathmatch, and there was an obvious difference between the care given to its presentation and some of the more spontaneous material elsewhere on the card.

By separating these additional recordings into a pre-show, the reconstructed event can now concentrate more clearly on its main storylines without losing any of the surviving footage.

It’s an editorial decision made with the benefit of hindsight, rather than an attempt to change what happened in 2007.

The injury announcement, Kuntanese’s unfortunate debut, Spyke’s encounter with The Reaper and Jelton Ohn’s geographical adventures all remain part of Entertainmania II.

They’re simply being presented a little differently.

And that’s probably a fair compromise.

After all, the point of documenting RWL’s history isn’t to pretend everything we made was brilliant. It’s to preserve what happened, have a laugh at some of the daft decisions we made, and occasionally discover something historically significant buried among the nonsense.

In this case, we found two.

The beginning of Ref James’ long association with RWL, and the arrival of Adam “The Axe” Watson.

Two little milestones tucked away in a collection of footage that might otherwise have been remembered for little more than questionable comedy and a borrowed wig.

Not a bad return for an afternoon’s work.

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An injury announcement, an unexplained bounty, two questionable comedy characters, the debut of Ref James and the birth of Adam “The Axe” Watson. It might not have needed to be part of the main show, but it was definitely still RWL.