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THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: twosheds316@aol.com
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
Red Church Productions recently released their first ever DVD, The Chris
Hamrick Shoot Interview. Filmed in 2003 during the FWA’s British
Breakout tour, the production crew filmed several segments backstage at
the shows, as well as talking to Hamrick about his career in the wrestling
business.
Hamrick tells of how, like many of us, became a fan of wrestling at a
very young age. But unlike a lot of fans, Hamrick’s parents brought
him a wrestling ring for his ninth birthday. It was in this ring that
Hamrick basically trained himself, copying the moves he had seen on television,
inspired by wrestlers such as Brian Pillman. Training yourself is something
that the majority of those in the business today would discourage.
Hamrick tells of his start in the wrestling business, working the indy
circuit at the age of 16, and of his time in the WWF, appearing as a jobber
on early editions of Raw, putting over the stars of the day, before moving
on to his time in ECW, and talking about the downfall of the company.
Like everyone else who worked for Paul Heyman, he has nothing but good
things to say about his time in the company.
He then moves on to his time in Rob Black’s XPW, although by the
time this interview was filmed, XPW was on it’s last legs. Hamrick
speaks affectionately of XPW, and his hopes that they can put their problems
behind them.
Of course, the FWA is mentioned, and Hamrick puts over guys like the Zebra
Kid, Jonny Storm, Doug Williams, and many of the other FWA wrestlers he’s
met on the tour. He describes Alex Shane as “the fucking man!”
when it comes to women and drinking. Yep, I’ve heard those stories
too!
The downside of this interview is that because it was filmed in 2003,
we don’t have Hamrick talking about his successful tag-team with
Tracey Smothers. The team won the IWC and IWA Mid-South tag straps in
2004.
Backstage segments are aplenty. The Zebra Kid looks somewhat perplexed
after their match, and looks as if he doesn’t know what to make of
some of Hamrick’s antics. Zebra’s expression says more than
words ever can! We also see the FWA crew travelling between shows, with
Hamrick stealing Paul Travell’s shoe, and John Atkins becoming “one
of the boys”. Did we really need to see Atkins’ boxer shots?
Or a blurred shot of Atkins taking a leak by the road?
Match-wise, we see Hamrick against Raj Ghosh and Juventud Guerrera during
the tour. Hamrick really plays up to the crowd, something we don’t
seem to see much of from our American indy wrestling cousins, and some
of the comedy spots in his match were a joy to watch. But despite acting
like a clown, Hamrick showed that in both bouts he can really go, especially
in his match with Guerrera, which is definitely the best bout of the two.
In conclusion, I wasn’t expecting much from this DVD, having not
really been a fan of Hamrick’s work in the past, but it’s still
good viewing, even though the footage is a little out of date as far as
releasing it this year is concerned. It’s a good look into the life
of a professional wrestler, and well worth watching, especially for those
who want to see John Atkins’ underwear.
The Chris Hamrick Shoot Interview, priced at £9.99, can be purchased
by visiting the Red Church Productions website at www.redchurch.net.
With thanks to Red Church Productions for sending me a copy of this DVD.
