{"id":12440,"date":"2019-05-07T20:49:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T19:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=12440"},"modified":"2019-05-07T21:05:38","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T20:05:38","slug":"realising-a-wrestlers-value-starr-shines-brightest-at-sss16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/07\/realising-a-wrestlers-value-starr-shines-brightest-at-sss16\/","title":{"rendered":"Realising A Wrestler’s Value: Starr Shines Brightest at SSS16"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No matter what the outcome, everyone was guaranteed to leave\nSuper Strong Style 16 talking about David Starr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, it was Starr or bust. Following a predictable\nroute to the quarter finals for many of the name wrestlers in the tournament, a\nno-contest with Travis Banks had people wondering in what direction PROGRESS\nmight go. With the company\u2019s name rarely far removed from that of the WWE, the\nconcern was that some edict from on high necessitated the victory of a contracted\nemployee. Could Starr, a man who has been vocal in the past about the way WWE\ntreats its workers, be successful in a promotion whose links to the American\nmonolith were there for all to see with the involvement of Kyle O\u2019Reilly? If\nnot, what did that say for the relationship between PROGRESS and WWE, which had\narguably ended the chances of the crowd favourite bar none?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either Starr was going to win the tournament and create\nnews, or be defeated and create news. There was liable to be no middle ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, Monday evening was a time of celebration. As confusing as the political landscape with regards to wrestling can be at times, the victory of Starr over Jordan Devlin should rise above all that finger pointing and name calling. Whilst his current popularity has been bolstered by some notable professional decisions and an outspoken belief in the importance of being independent, to boil his success and the fan\u2019s desire for him to win to just this runs the risk of presenting it in a facile manner that underplays Starr\u2019s rise to being one of the best wrestlers in the world at this point in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Starr after winning SSS16 2019. Credit: The Head Drop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It also risks dismissing Starr\u2019s current popularity as one\nborne purely of chancing his arm at taking a swing at the big fellows; a stance\nmade even more complex by his \u2018independent\u2019 presentation on a PROGRESS show\nthat saw fans cheer the aforementioned O\u2019Reilly. As many fans were there to\nsupport Starr because of his wrestling exploits in recent years as his stance\non the wrestling world at large, myself included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the well-timed (in terms of exposure) promo after\nhis losing effort against Lucky Kid on a WWN-affiliated wXw show (both\npromotions with links to WWE) that called out the treatment of the workers by\ncorporations like WWE did indeed get more eyes on the product, so to speak. During\nhis time wrestling for CZW, Adam Cole told Starr to figure out how to stand out\non every card he was on, especially when compared specifically to other\nwrestlers on the show. Starr not only seems to have taken that mantra to heart,\nputting on some of the best matches in the world in the past year and a half,\nbut he has built upon it and taken it into his everyday interactions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having spoken to the press at the start of the weekend and\nafter his triumphant victory, Starr was never less than clear on his own views\non the wrestling world around him. The three days may have seen a company\nfinally put stock in him enough to have him win one of the big tournaments (he\nhad competed once in BOLA, three times in 16 Carat Gold and twice before in\nSSS16), but the message remained the same \u2013 wrestlers needed to realise their\nown value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘I want labour in general to realise the power we have,\u2019<\/strong> said Starr pre-tournament, believing that his ultimate goal was to make other wrestlers realise that it was cool to say no and not mortgage their livelihoods on the potential for greater exposure. Even after his tournament victory, he continued to champion the rights of his fellow wrestlers, or as he dubbed it \u2018the many versus the few\u2019.<\/strong> Rather than looking to knock those who had contracts, most of his vitriol was aimed at the bigger companies making money off of the blood, sweat and tears of the workers around him. As he stated, ‘<\/em>Why would we want someone to go through the same ridiculous thing that we had to?’<\/strong> as he mentioned unrealistic expectations, poor pay-offs and the hazing of rookies in particular as things that he resented existing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That isn\u2019t to say that Starr hasn\u2019t had contact with the WWE in the past. Following his WWN Live promo, some booked a route through which Starrr might have ended up involved in the WALTER\/Pete Dunne match at Takeover that weekend. Naturally, that never came to be, but the company has reached out to him in the past. Above all, there was one clear sticking point. ‘A thing that doesn’t hit home with European fans is the healthcare,’ <\/strong>an issue that has also seen Starr recently immigrate to the United Kingdom. When you put your body on the line every time you step in the ring, the knowledge that one bad bump won\u2019t bankrupt you must be a load off of your mind and allow you to focus on the task at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more cynical might see Starr\u2019s \u2018independent\u2019 positioning\nas self-serving, a way to promote himself whilst denigrating others. Alongside\npositioning it as \u2018the many versus the few\u2019, Starr sang the praises of many\nwrestlers, whether in the ring or the press room. Names such as Kurtis Chapman,\nChuck Mambo, Spike Trivet, Connor Mills, and Session Moth Martina were UK\ntalents that earned a kind word or more; Jurn Simmons was celebrated for his\nwork in Germany; Jordan Oliver, Darius Lockhart and Jimmy Rave were mentioned for\ntheir work over in North America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Trent Seven, a contracted talent, was celebrated for\nhis desire to consistently give back thought his work with Fight Club Pro and\nothers. A discussion about British wrestling spoke of a darker time in the past\nthat saw the scene have to look within to rebuild; Starr was clear that there\nwere more than enough talents already working shows up and down the country who\ncould fill those spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps more knowledgeable than letting on, Starr suggested\na route to the final that saw him defeat Travis Banks, Ilja Dragunov and Jordan\nDevlin for what he considered vengeance. Aside from this, a desire was also\nposited for a semi-final including Kyle Fletcher, Chris Brookes and Chris Ridgeway,\nwrestlers who embody the ethos that Starr wants to celebrate. Whether there was\na knowingness about his predictions for his path to victory, Starr was\nunderstandably tight-lipped about the machinations behind the scenes throughout\nthe weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘No-one\u2019s going to really understand how wild this whole weekends actually kinda been’<\/strong> was one of the few concessions to how decisions may have fluctuated from moment to moment, whilst also encapsulating the genuine wide-eyed awe that Starr presented with in the immediate moments after victory. Perhaps jokingly, a shoot interview or podcast three years down the line to discuss the events that led to his win was mooted, implying a story worth telling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of the often smoke and mirrors world of wrestling booking and the intrigued inherent within, what stood out most was twofold. Twice, Starr was effusively clear: ‘Wrestling’s not my ultimate goal’<\/strong>. Admittedly, this was spoken before the events took a turn in his favour, but it hinted at a reason why Starr could be more outspoken than some. When you feel like you have something to fall back on, you can be willing to take more risks in the here and now. Perhaps this realisation bred an environment that allowed Starr to go above and beyond, challenging a system that is just accepted by many. Saying things that not everyone likes, but everyone probably needs to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, for a man that was open and honest about \u2018waiting\nfor somebody to invest\u2019 in terms of making him the focus of a promotion, his\nplans for celebration were the definition of low-key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Go home. Watch two, maybe three episodes of Game of Thrones. I’m gonna hang out with my cats. I’m gonna hang out with my girl…and just relax. That’s it – back to reality.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is debatable whether reality, as it once was understood to exist by Starr, will ever be the same again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The next PROGRESS World Champion? Credit: The Head Drop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As part of getting access to wrestlers across the weekend, we agreed to include a pre-sale link to the next PROGRESS Alexandra Palace show.<\/em>
http:\/\/bit.ly\/chapter95<\/em><\/a> – this link becomes live on 12pm Friday. Any would-be ticket buyers can get presale access by joining the PROGRESS mailing list at
<\/em>progresswrestling.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter what the outcome, everyone was guaranteed to leave Super Strong Style 16 talking about David Starr. For many, it was Starr or bust. Following a predictable route to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-editorials","category-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-3eE","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/3_David-Starr_SSS16_Photo-Credit-The-Head-Drop.jpg?fit=5636%2C3758&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12440"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12446,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12440\/revisions\/12446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}