From the mind of..

Do you ever feel empty? I do. Do you ever laugh and joke with room full of people, yet inside you're screaming for help? I do. Depression is something i've battled with since my mid teens, and when I say battled, I do mean battled. No matter how often I slay the beast, it comes back.. sometimes larger than before. It's an awful thing, to be scared of your own thought process, there will of course be those who know this side of me, some however will find these truths shocking. I've been dragged to the edge and back again, had moments I regret and moments that help define me as a person, but every single day I wake up and try to adjust my focus to get on with my day as best I can. I forever play the clown, the good friend, the recounter of many stories, the sentimental guy, the music guy and although they are all parts of me, they sometimes mask how I'm really feeling. I've forever had an outsider complex, never truely feeling like I'd found my place in...

The title of this one is fairly self explainatory, but I will tell you exactly what the title means. During our life we become exposed to all kinds of music, some of us avid fans, some not so much. We hear thousands upon thousands of songs and yet, some songs become special, synonymous with people, places or events in our lives. I am going to break down the amount of sentimental songs I love into just 10, no particular order, just 10 songs that for one reason or another have changed my life. Strap in, lets begin.. 1) Green Day - '2000 Light Years Away' https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0KlnDwNqIp8 Anyone that knows me knows I am a huge pop punk/punk rock fan. Obviously there needed to be an origin point and as best I recall this was it. 6 or 7 years old and given a cassette tape *google it if you are too young to know what that is lol* of Green Day's Kerplunk album, the opening track literally grabbed me and refused to let go, '2000 Light Years Away'. I fe...

Caught Live: There Is No Dana @ Chinnerys, Southend, 05/05/17 Chinnerys is a venue local to me, I've been there hundreds of times, seen some amazing bands and this particular time was no different. Essex 4 piece There Is No Dana are a pop punk band, they are energetic, slick and with 3 capable vocalists who unite to provide us with soaring 3 way harmonies, they sit somewhere style-wise between Midtown and The Starting Line. Now we all know pop punk is a lost art here in the UK, bands like There Is No Dana reaffirm my faith in that we in the UK can provide amazing sun laden melody rich bands. From their excellent Ghostbusters led intro soundbite (Bill Murray pleading with Sigourney Weaver 'I'd like to speak to Dana' met with 'There is no Dana'...genius) leading into high octane opener 'Song 8'. There Is No Dana are the kind of pop punk band that remind me of summers past, when I spent my time hanging out with my friends, chasing girls we'd ...

The next edition of my spotlight series and I prepare to tread on hallowed ground, by writing about one of the members of THE wrestling dynasty here in the UK, The Knights. Now let me precursor this by saying the Knight family rightly have full respect of professional wrestling, from the heads of the family Ricky Knight (Wrestler and Owner of WAW) and Sweet Saraya Knight (Wrestler and Owner of Bellatrix) to their children Roy and Zak (The Hooligans) and Paige (former NXT/WWE Womens Champion). I could and should spend hours gushing and paying tribute to each of these individual talents, however today im looking at the future.. the 3rd generation, I present the outstanding Ricky Knight jr. Lets just start by saying that RKJ is 17 years old, but at 17 and he already had a wealth of knowledge and experience, he constantly performs at an incredible level and is without doubt one of the future stars of the UK wrestling scene. Having been watching him perform over the last year, I mu...

My spotlight series continues and its current subject may be one of the best kept secrets in UK wrestling. I present to you all Alexander Roth. In the UK scene it can be difficult to stand out, sometimes being a great wrestler is all well and good but if you dont carry yourself correctly you wont get over. Roth is a hell of an in ring talent mixing brawling, technical prowess and aerial skills, but more important is Roth's charisma, and he has it spilling over. 'The Wolf of Brawl Street' has been tearing it up all over the UK and has begun venturing into europe. Personally I was a fan after the first match I watched him compete in. Roth has the ability to adapt to his opponants style and excel, having also performed in various last man standing and ladder matches. Each time coming up with unique and innovative attacks, as well as his usual arsenal, which includes his fantastic Nightfall DDT. Having watched him in the ring I can attest to being impressed with th...

My Spotlight series continues, this time, Nixon Newell. I want to begin by saying, just simply, Nixon Newell is fucking awesome. Let me elaborate a little, Nixon is a welsh girl who is an amazing wrestler, persistantly putting on excellent matches and gaining an ever growing fan base.. and rightly so. I am a huge fan of Nixon, she has impressed me massively, I'd go so far as to say that she is my favourite female worker in the entire industry today. To my knowledge Nixon has been competing for 3-4 years and already has a wealth of experience, crossing paths with many of the top female names in wrestling, notable opponants include current Impact Knockouts Champion Rosemary, Candice LeRae and Kimber Lee. She has also teamed with and fought many male wrestlers too including Pete Dunne, El Ligero, Mark Andrews and WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate. Personally I recommend you check her (forever) fued with Chris Brookes out, its utterly fantastic. Nixon currently employs a front flip p...

Spotlight: CCK Im an advocate for british wrestling. I love wrestling in general, but am especially proud of our home grown talent. Now UK wrestling is steeped in tradition from the days of Les Kellett and Mark 'Rollerball' Rocco to The British Bulldogs, Robbie Brookside and William Regal, we have a proud history of producing some amazing workers. With all due respect to those that competed, the WWE UK tournament didnt show the vastness of what we have, and while the guys involved have rightly used it to springboard themselves, I want to talk about the unsung, unknown or upcoming UK talents. Today you get 3 for 1 as I spotlight a tag team (s) - CCK Chris Brookes, Kid Lykos and Travis Banks. I will start simply by saying I love this group, they are innovative and exciting and could break out to much bigger things in 2017, but what they also possess is the ability to be likable, whether portraying heels or not, and that is impressive. I first encountered Chris Brookes...