The Story Behind The Fall Of 1PW

More than one website has asked me, over the past few days, to comment on the end of England's 1PW promotion.

I've resisted to a degree because there's more to telling this story for me than the recitation of facts. I know that many of Tha O Show readers have been asking for the scoop, so here it is.

I joined 1PW in the summer of 2005, several months before their inaugural show, to handle color commentary as well as to take part in the creative team. In the fall of 2005, shortly after that first show was in the books, I was named the promotion's head booker.

In the spring of 2006, in the company's first round of cost-cutting measures, I was released. Even from the day of my release, however, 1PW promoter Steven Gauntley and I remained on very friendly terms and in October of 2006, I was asked to return to the promotion (this time strictly as a performer) to help celebrate the company's first anniversary.

So, my memories and opinions of 1PW are both bitter and sweet. 1PW was an incredible experience for me, exhilrating and humbling and maddening and a range of emotions in between.

But the point of this article is to explain how and why 1PW closed its doors. The answer to that is as simple as it is complex. The reason 1PW closed down is the reason it existed to begin with: Steven Gauntley. Here, in more detail, are a few of the less slanderous things I can point to along the road to the public closure and liquidation of1PW...

1PW shows, from the very beginning, were deeply overloaded with American talent. The very thing that made the shows so unique in the British marketplace was also the first spike in the promotion's eventual coffin. Flying in as many as 20 or more wrestlers, announcers and even referees for some shows may have gotten 1PW noticed as a potential big time player but even the deepest pockets have a bottom.

This early financial over-extension was also fed by Mr. Gauntley's desire to constantly top himself with either more or bigger names. Sometimes both. October's Raven VS. Sandman VS. Tommy Dreamer three-way dance would get trumped by January's Bret Hart appearance. March would welcome Christian Cage to the Dome in Doncaster. And more and more TNA talent was brought in with each passing show even in the face of the crowd's rabid acceptance of lower-priced indy talent such as Sterling James Keenan and Ulf Herman in main event roles.

That quest for marquee names even led me, as head booker, to try and contact the notoriously reclusive Dynamite Kid, Tom Billington. At the end of the company's road was the announcement at the First Anniversary Show that the Great Muta would make his UK debut at 1PW's January 2007 event. This was a deal officially completed less the 36 hours before the announcement was made but weeks after news of the negotiations were leaked to a UK wrestling website.

By the time of the FAS, however, the company was already in deep financial distress. The first public sign of this distress came when tickets to the January show went on sale in August. The five-month pre-sale period drew attention by some as a possible cash grab. Was 1PW attempting to mortgage its future to pay for its heavy spending past?

Over the course of 1PW's turbulant life, promoter Gauntley also had a series of run-ins with various employees, business associates and other industry people. Oftentimes these disagreements became very public.

From an early rivalry with Alex Shane to a falling out with D-Lo Brown to the firings of Peter Staniforth, Rick Peters, Phil Lowe and Joe Dombrowski. From the repeated replacing of video production companies to the dissolution of the promotion's broadcast deal with TWC to the now-well publicized problems with a Los Angeles-based travel agency.

And regardless of whether or not he was right or wrong about the issues involved, being at odds with Gauntley usually meant being on the receiving end of some of the most bitter and venomous speeches many were likely to hear all year. Mr. Gauntley often reacted very emotionally to the perception of even minor slights and especially to behaviour he considered "disloyal" to 1PW.

In more than one instance, Mr. Gauntley's newly-made adversaries resorted to bringing legal action against him and the promotion in order to settle differences and recoup funds.

And so, in the end, with debts rising and certain unfortunate realities sinking in, Steven Gauntley folded both his 1PW wrestling promotion and the 1Up Games wrestling retail store which had spawned it. And while there is more... much, much more... to the story of 1PW's birth, life and death than has been related here, I think this has been as politely told a summary as you're likely to find anywhere.

As I said to begin this article, 1PW holds special meaning for me. The man who created it, his family, the staff, the roster and the most electric crowd I've had the good fortune to perform in front of... they will all always hold a unique standing for me that nothing and no one will ever be able to diminish or duplicate.

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