ITV World of Sport Wrestling (anyone catch it)?

Almost forgot this was on, until I saw a trailer on TV.

Have to admit I was somewhat sceptical and lowered my expectations accordingly. Also have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

For starters it was great to watch a wrestling show where the crowd were fully invested in the action. They cheered the faces, booed the heels and gasped and wowed appropriately at the clever / high risk stuff. It makes SUCH a difference to the viewing experience.

Presentation-wise it seems the ITV bods have been watching a lot of modern pro wrestling - the arena set-up, backdrops, on-screen graphics etc. were all very familiar. As were the backstage segments.

The commentary team of Jim Ross and some British fella whose name escapes me, were pretty good. Definitely better than TNA, though not as good as WWE. Thought they split their time between the in-ring action and other stuff just about right.

As to the talent - it was a good mix of the classic "fat boys" like Grado and Dave Mastiff, more "buffed" big guys and smaller, more acrobatic wrestlers. Only criticism would be that female wrestlers were under-represented with just the one match, which wasn't really that good IMO.

The structure of the show was mostly logical, though it both started and ended with a title match (the WOS title natch), which I thought was a bit "meh". In between were a series of "eliminator" matches, building to a battle royale, the winner of which fought in the second title match. The show also included tag team wrestling and a ladder match.

Spoiler:

Can't look for any video footage as I'm at work at the moment. If I find anything on YT or elsewhere, I will post links.

I watched it on the ITV Hub app on New Years Day, should still be there for free or online.

It was a good family wrestling show, and it was nice to see some familiar faces get recognition for their work on the indy scene.

Found these vids...enjoy...

Thought it was a very good, coherent, fun show. It flew by. And JR was just a superb touch.
Exactly the right kind of thing to get wrestling back into the mainstream.
Agree with Dyrewolf - so refreshing and actually enjoyable to watch a crowd who boo and cheer the right people

A big problem I have with it is on social media. Modern wrestling fans dont seem keen because its too family friendly and alot of older people are complaing because its not like World of Sport 'used to be' because they dont understand that wrestling has evolved massively since then.

It was a fine show that showcased talent well but I dont see it going any further unfortunately because I cant see a demographic.

Good family show. But i personally hated it.

I'm a bit bemused by these "family show" references.

WWE is supposed to be PG and suitable for kids, as well as adults...so where is the difference?

There's WWE 'family' show and ITV primetime 'family' show.

For me the WOS showcase was horrific, it was like they were trying to rewind the clock back to the olden days and didn't realise that the surge in popularity in the UK wrestling scene is due to a new breed of wrestlers and new style that was escaping the pantomime past.

The U.K. Scene style will never be "popular" though. Not TV popular.

Anyone who finds the pantomime of WOS ridiculous are likely to find the guys on the non-PG scene even more ridiculous - because at least the WOS guys seem to know what they are and play up to it. Because that's what non-wrestling fans think of wrestling.

The best you can hope for is a good old fashioned entertainment show that will draw youngsters in, fall in love with the form, and then go on to discover the deeper elements that we all love. And that's what this was. It was a good show.

No-one is going to start loving wrestling post-20 years old. They need an entry level. And if they don't have Sky, it doesn't exist anymore.

How do they know it won't be popular though until it's given a crack of the whip?
It was the surge in interest of this scene that made ITV take the gamble to then do a primetime showcase of it, not what was then produced on tv, that's Butlins level wrestling what was shown.

I agree with Hero here. It's caught a buzz from people because it's showcased what a big marketplace want. The family who sits together and watches one of 2-3 channels is gone, so the only way they'll capture audiences is by being cool, which is what WWE did in the 90s.

Hero wrote:How do they know it won't be popular though until it's given a crack of the whip?
It was the surge in interest of this scene that made ITV take the gamble to then do a primetime showcase of it, not what was then produced on tv, that's Butlins level wrestling what was shown.

Thats harsh.

For a pilot (possibly a one-off) I think they played it safe and made sure it was unlikely to attract any letters of complaint, but it wasn't that bad.

As I said I did lower my expectations, bearing in mind they might essentially try to reboot the old formula. They did to an extent, but I think they gave it enough of a modern twist, to make it somewhat appealing to modern pro wrestling fans.

I  mean there was a ladder match, with a briefcase and chairs were used at one point...what more do you want?


I think its unfair really to compare ITV and WWE. For starters WWE have one product and one product only. They know their target audience and they cater to it. They have focused on one thing exclusively for the past 30-odd years.

ITV offers all sorts of content and has to spread its budget accordingly. They don't have anything like the budget or expertise that WWE have (not to mention the talent at their disposal).

Also I get the impression US wrestling fans and UK fans are a bit different. Americans seem to take it a lot more seriously, whereas we don't mind a bit of pantomime...






...go on, say it (oh, yes we do!)