Darren Burridge Interview.

By P.Staniforth 2005.

Darren Burridge is rapidly becoming one of the most known stars in the UK wrestling scene, with his outrageous character and solid wrestling ability. Here’s what he had to say when I caught up with him recently.

Peter ) : Hi Darren. Please introduce yourself in your own words.

Darren) : Well my pedigree chum, I am the boy with the minerals, I am ‘The Pukka One’ Darren Burridge, ‘The People’s Chav-ion’. If you wanna buy a watch or a gold chain for mum on her birthday, I’m your man; ask no questions, I’ll tell you no lies. Ya get me ???

Peter ) : Tell us about your childhood.

Darren) : It was pukka, I grew up a wrestling nut. Always knew I was going to do something different, and have something to do with the entertainment business. I was a lad, I went out every Friday night after school and got drunk on cheap drink over the park with my mates, and that was ten years ago! I had a laugh and met a few lovely ladies on the way!!

Peter) : So, when did you first view wrestling?

Darren) : I must of been about ten years old, when i first watched wrestling, around 1992. WWF springs to mind, but I also saw a couple of British shows around the Romford area, haystacks , big daddy etc. Plus some dodgy rip off feds with fakes, papa shango springs to mind, it was in a park in east london, and had no wrestling just three hours of heat building up angles on the mic - it was rotten! I was fortunate to go to Summerslam 92 at Wembley Stadium, and I remember staying up till some stupid hour at night to watch WCW on itv , it was just before ‘the hitman and her’ or ‘get stuffed’ that dodgy cooking program where people on the dole made weird food. Ahh the memories, what ever happened to those programs ?

Peter) : What’s really scary is that I was at Summerslam 92, and used to watch the programmes you mentioned too, waiting for WCW Pro, or Worldwide, or whichever one of the syndicated ones that ITV used to show at 1.30am in the morning. As for what happened to the programmes, well, I guess they’re cult classics to guys like me and you; so bad they were awesome! How did you get your first break in the business?

Darren) : Scott Conway gave me my break, I went up to him after a show at Goresbrook , told him who I was and who was training me. Basically i was being trained at ‘Dropkixx’, this was when it first opened. There were only four members when i joined , they now have around 150 wrestlers in the books. He offered me a trial at a show in Ipswich before the show, I had to wrestle a yank called Mark Manson in a ring in front of all the boys; storm ,torres, castano, mcdonald, etc. I was sh*tting it. I done three moves on Manson that he had never seen before. Scott put me in a rumble at Margate and I dont think he had expected what would walk out of that dressing room that day. He offered me loads of shows after that, he had also told Dixon about me and ‘Dropkixx’ because he was looking for boys that could do rumbles. So me and some of the ‘Dropkixx’ boys got work for dixon, my first match then was a rumble for dixon where i got kicked about, which was fair enough,then a rumble for scott, then my first proper match was a tag at butlins against Jonny Storm and Frankie Rimer Jnr. My first single was for Conway against Jorge Castano at Southampton. Even though it was 2002, I remember the crowds being bigger then.

Peter) : What would you say to those who want to learn, and share your experiences?

Darren) : I’d say, be trained by as many people as you can , i never think you should have one school or one trainer. You get as many as possible and take the parts from each that you like to come up with your overall all roundness. First off I did a weekend at Hammerlock , it was constructive, I learnt the basics, had picked it up well and could tell I picked it up better than some of the others there. I then went to Fwa London run by Alex Shane, then I went to ‘Dropkixx’. I would have travelled a million miles a week if it meant I could be a wrestler, but luckily for me ‘Dropkixx’ opened about seven miles from my house, it’s the sort of stuff kids dream of and yet it was down the road from me. So the people I owe main credit to are Tony Scarlo, Frank Rimer, Bobby Barnes, Alex Shane , Vince Randell and in recent times, Jonny Storm. He has taught me so much, I am forever grateful to that man, I owe him a lot. He has taught me so much about this business we call wrestling.

Peter) : How would you describe yourself as a wrestler?

Darren) : British technical, I like to think I portray the British style, a hybrid of British and charisma entertainment, sort of like a modern ‘World of Sport’. I am proud to be British and believe that the British should wrestle the style that put wrestling on the map. But we need to modernise it to a modern day crowd in a way they understand and connect with. I think the sole reason John Cena is over because the first time in years, the fed have caught up with modern day culture and portrayed that in him, and I like to think I do the same thing in Britain. I like to think that I am a fairly decent enough technical wrestler but also an entertainer at the same time.

Peter) : Tell us about how you came up with your character?

Darren) : It’s just me hyped up ten level, and that’s why it works. Because I am myself, I’m not fake, I’m not over the top, I am myself. I am a wrestler who happens to be a chav, iIwouldnt call myself a chav who hangs on corners etc, I’m too old for that! I started off as a Essex boy and doing the things Essex boys do, wearing burberry etc and then all this chav thing came along; so it was easier to call myself a chav. I was the only one for a while then all these s "fakes" started coming aong and ruining the image, and not wanting to dilute the image I strayed away from the obvious and did it my way by being myself. All these wannabee portrayers what i call evil chavs had better watch out because the pukka ones are out to get them. I hate those ‘mutha pukkas’ that stand on the street corners doing nothing but robbing old people etc. I don’t want to be associated with that, this is not a chav; they give it a bad name.

Peter) : Who do you consider your friends in the business?

Darren) : My best friends happen to be wrestlers, jonny storm and charlie rage are like brothers to me, we do everything together - we are the Essex boys! Other good mates of mine are Paul Tyrell and Alex Shane and Hade Vansen. Sean Herbert and Jody from the ‘Wrestling Channel’ are also very good mates of mine, i love them guys, I will forever be grateful to those two guys for what they have done for me and my career; big up yourselfs homeboys! You got to respect those guys for what they have done for wrestling, that is such a achievement to go out there and start a channel about wrestling from scratch.

Peter) : What has been your lowest point in wrestling so far?

Darren) : There’s been a few, but the reason we fall over is so we can get straight back up again. One bad experience was a couple years back when I notoriously slapped a punter at a show in Bolton. That week I wrestled fourteen times in seven days. The day before, I seriously damaged the heel of my foot whilst wrestling, and I forced myself to go to Bolton that next day. By the end of the week I was in agony. I wrestled Doug (Williams) on the last day and I was rotten, I got a bollocking but that was fair enough. I limped out the arena that night thinking I’d had enough, but ‘The Pukka One’ don’t quit! I learnt a valuable lesson and grew stonger from it. Another bad experience was when I was tossed out the ring in a rumble head first, I broke my shoulder and couldn’t hold a knife and fork for six months, and to this day it is wrecked. I went from 245 pounds down to 200, and that was depressing for me. The second worst was when we went to Thailand and got screwed and had to come back, that was the lowest of the low and I can’t even describe in this interview what I felt. You will just have to wait for the special dvd that myself, Jonny, and Charlie will be releasing shortly; watch this space.

Peter) : What do you like to do in your spare time?

Darren) : I like to go clubbing , find some slags, and also to watch the ‘Wrestling Channel’ on Sky channel 427.

Peter) : What five words you feel describe you best?

Darren ) : Pukka, furry dice, sexy, tattoos, charisma.

Peter) : What are your plans for the future?

Darren) : I hope to be wrestling when I’m old (30)!

Peter) : Hey, do you mind?! I’m 30!

Darren) : I think I’m gonna put some size on and try and get into the Japan and American scene. I have got into acting, and have joined some agencies and have done a couple of things now, in particular I did something for Ford last week with Hade Vansen, that was cool. I would love to do stuff in Thailand, there is a big market for wrestling out there and I will definately do something whether tv or wrestling in the country of Thailand. Whatever i do, I can say that I have lived my dreams. I have even wrestled my idols, like robbie brookside and Carrie Cabrero. I also had a good match with Chris Sabin this year, and I proved to myself I could wrestle with the big boys. I had one dream that I thought would be impossible but has come a reality, I always loved watching vampiro. I thought he was the greatest wrestler i had ever sene, he had the whole package, if I could ever wrestle him I would and could say that I am a wrestler and no-one could take that from me. Well, this year I wrestled Vampiro in a casket match in front of 10,000 people. That’s what this business is about, living your dreams, and to someone outside the business, they will never understand our dreams, but to us they are the greatest achievements a man can achieve. If you believe in yourself your dreams come true. But, don’t dream it - live it. Don’t let anyone ever EVER tell you that you cant achieve it!

Peter) : What are your thoughts on WWE and TNA, and the indy's?

Darren) : I think I would be good for TNA. When i wrestle in Italy , I am considered a English thug, hooligan type, which works well. The italians would never understand the concept of chav, that’s where i have a skill because I make ‘The Pukka One’ work in all countries by slight modifications. In the States i would be more like a ‘Snatch’ , ‘Lock Stock’ look, Japan the same or even as just a tatooed crazy orange wearing Brit who dances with a pair of furry dice on his pants. I don’t watch the WWE. I went to Dublin for a assesment by Ricky Steamboat and Dave Finley, I dont think they gave a damn about us. The way I look at it is that the fed is like football, like Man Utd or Chelsea and everything else is like those lower league clubs that train players and produce great footballers with a lot of time and money. Then when they are ready they come and buy them for pennies, not having to train them etc because the lower leagues have done that for them. They don’t want to spend time training thse potential future stars, they let us get that doing the indies etc they want the ripened wrestler they can just snatch from people, only to screwthem up and sell them abroad to some cheap club where they are never the same again and end up just back where they started but with drug addictions and dodgy knees.

TNA is good, they are like West Ham, Middlesborough; they get the old boys with the new , so the old teach the new; and the new boys can even learn a thing or two from the new boys. So to sum it up support your local fed , it’s like WWE’s a big shopping mall and the indies are that small little newsagent on the corner of your road with that nice little old lady behind the counter, and if you keep goiing to the superstore then that little old lady wont be there for long.

Peter) : That’s a fascinating analogy of wrestling and football. My beloved Luton Town FC are the smaller team who big clubs take from, so it’s an analogy that makes a lot of sense to me! Who do you like to watch or learn from?

Darren) : Jonny Storm taught me a lot about the showmanship side to wrestling, the timing and selling gimmicks. I think he is the greatest wrestler in Europe today. I like to watch technical wrestling or any kind of wrestling that keeps their feet on the ground for more than three seconds. I am a big believer in credibilty. Spot fests are not, but I understand there has to be room for both. I like to watch Dynamite Kid, Marc Rocco, Johnny Saint. Alex Shelley is good because he wrestles British, I would love to work him one day, we would have a pukka match. I love Japanese wrestling, love the pure force of NOAH, NJPW, and the entertainment and athleticism and charisma of Torymon. But I mostly learn from going to the gym and going through new stuff ideas or trying something new out that i have been shown, usually I do this at ‘Dropkixx’. Some wrestlers don’t understand that wrestling is not about moves , it’s about how you do the moves and most importantly when you do them. And not just that, it’s the showmanship that contributes to those moves, it’s an art form - you have to have both these attributes. You have to tell a story and make those people hate you or love you. They have to believe in you, because if not then your match is not worth a damn. A good place to learn these skills is by doing the holiday camp circuits here in England.

Peter) : And to wrap up, the chance to say anything you want…

Darren) : I would like to thank all of my fans, I love them. The Wrestling Channel on Sky channel 427. if you call yourself a fan then watch that channel and support it, because if that disappears off our screens only then will you understand how much you take it for granted. I thank my family and I thank god for making me a wrestler and giving me the chance to live my dreams.

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