British wrestling's resurgence continues with inaugural Wrestling MediaCon
In a year where the sports-entertainment world of professional wrestling has reached its strongest level outside of industry leader WWE since the days of WCW and ECW, a year in which the genre has finally returned to terrestrial screens via ITV’s World of Sport show on Saturdays, the continual development of British wrestling’s inner strength continues on Saturday September 8 and Sunday September 9 with Wrestling MediaCon.
With the rise in popularity of independent promotions providing an alternative to shows such as Raw and Smackdown has come a rise in wrestling conventions, where promoters combine with famous faces from decades past to provide a festival of action, souvenirs and meet-and-greets. And for the first time, Britain will host one on this scale.
Held at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, not too far from Man United’s Old Trafford home, diehard wrestling fans this side of the pond have the chance to meet some of the biggest names in the industry and watch several critically-acclaimed companies such as Impact Wrestling and Revolution Pro all under one roof within a 48-hour span.
And for those unable to make it to Manchester next weekend, many key parts of MediaCon will be streamed live on FITE TV around the globe.
Select events – including the first ever Wrestling Media Hall of Fame, a live episode of Colt Cabana’s hit podcast ‘The Art of Wrestling’ and the first ever live stage show from two of the world’s biggest wrestling YouTube channels WrestleTalk vs Cultaholic – will be aired live on the combat sports platform.
FITE is available as a free mobile app on iOs and Android mobile devices, on the web at www.FITE.tv and on Roku, Apple TV and Android TV boxes. Programming content features pro wrestling, boxing, MMA and kickboxing.
“Fans across the world have been messaging us constantly to express their frustration about not being able to attend Wrestling MediaCon due to their distance from the UK,” said Wrestling MediaCon organiser, Paul Benson.
“With that in mind, we are delighted to be able to offer them access to a huge part of the MediaCon experience wherever they are in the world through this partnership with FITE. It promises to be a weekend filled with fascinating, unique, must-see content and that content deserves the biggest platform possible. We look forward to interacting with our fans all over the world.”
One of the event’s highlights is the first Wrestling Media Hall of Fame ceremony, at 8pm BST on Saturday, September 8.
Inductees are Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer, promoter Martin Goldsmith, who played a huge part of bringing WWE’s Summerslam to Wembley Stadium in 1992, former NWA world champion Colt Cabana and Findlay Martin, editor of Britain’s biggest wrestling magazine Power Slam for 20 years.
The ceremony will be hosted by IMPACT and WOS Wrestling star Joe Hendry and WOS Wrestling commentator SoCal Val.
The FITE schedule also includes a special live episode of Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast at noon on Sunday as well as a Q&A with Dave Meltzer at 6pm the same day, hosted by Kenny McIntosh from Inside The Ropes.
“IMPACT Wrestling has always maintained a strong dedicated fan base in the U.K.,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling.
“We are excited to be bringing an action-packed show to Manchester and we look forward to a phenomenal weekend of activities featuring IMPACT Wrestling’s biggest stars and some of the most passionate professional wrestling fans anywhere in the world.”
