At the time of writing this we are in October 2009 leading up to the annual Halloween Hell event. There have been a few changes in the company since the last update so let’s get into it.

After Seven, Neno, Luke, and Alex left it was up to Steven Crane (Nexus) and Rob Finney to pick up the pieces. It was decide that the running of the JWF had to change. Mainly so every voice in the company could be heard. It was decided the JWF was to be run as democratically as possible with the whole roster taking part in votes on the “important” decisions in the running of the company. First a committee was needed to be put together and this was the first big decision the roster had to make. With Finney and Nexus already on the committee for continuities sake 3 more roster members were needed to make up the management structure that would help take the JWF forwards. After a vote the 3 “lucky” members were Peter Brown (Billy Bob) Tom Brown, no relation, (Karn) and Adam Line (The Punisher) made his return to the management team. So the committee was set up and things were looking up as everyone was looking forward to the festival season and of course Home Is 5.

At this point in the JWF story it must be said that Rob and Steve were the driving force behind the company but as always the case with this group nothing stays stable for long. It was at Sompting festival that the JWF was hit with its second blow of the year. Rob Finney, who was taking part in a tag match, took a bad fall and injured himself severely. It turned out that he broke vertebrae and was no longer able to compete at Home Is 5. It was decided that Rob, being a great business mind, would portray the general manager starting at Home Is. However on the morning of the show Rob spoke to the whole roster and announced that he was to leave the company for good due to personal reasons. This left the committee 1 member short and left Billy Bob in charge of the business side of things. This fifth spot on the committee was to prove to be a somewhat troublesome area for JWF management over the next 2 years.

Over this summer the JWF became affiliated with a similar promotion based in Portsmouth called FXW beginning with four members of their roster fighting on the Violent Reaction card. The match was brutal with JWFs U/V style rules. The crowd loved it, as did most of the JWF roster, and both promotions became friends. The deal being that we each use each other’s guys on their respective shows. Also FXW had a very important commodity that JWF didn’t and that was FXW owned their own ring which the JWF could use after a falling out with their own ring company at Angmering festival. This set up was used to great effect until the March show - Overload. Due to some personal issues on FXWs part a number of their roster came to the show and acted in an unprofessional manner to the point in which the relationship between the two companies fell apart. To the JWFs credit when they were asked by a fellow member to support them in the up and coming FXW show they were fighting, the JWF turned up in force and acted in an adult professional manner and received an apology from the FXW that day.

The fallout between the two brands was the next issue for the committee, the replacement for Finney was Dave (Just Dragon) Dowling. He made some good friends in the FXW and opted to leave the JWF to fight exclusively with them. He has since returned home to the JWF. He was replaced on the committee by Shelia (Big Momma) Howell.

The problems came thick and fast for the JWF. In the early part of 2008 a letter was received at St. Richards Church Hall in Durrington, the JWF’s current home, citing a violation of entertainment laws.

The JWF had been accused of putting on shows with no license. I won’t lie to you, it was true, and we were. But we had never had to have one before and it was an honest mistake. A lack of homework into what we would need. A warning that the police may make their return to JWF shows prompted the JWF to look carefully at some things within the company that in fairness should have been looked into long ago. The JWF followed suit of the WWE and put in place a wellness policy. With the looming threat of the police turning up to a show it was implemented that anyone breaking the new policy would be suspended. The first show this was in place two wrestlers were removed from future cards, the blow to the company being that one was the world champion. Leading into Home Is 6 the problems got worse with the champ and before the show rolled around he was fired from the company due to personal issues with a number of the roster. So going into the biggest show of the year there was no world champion.

Things seemed to settle for a while following the summer. We went through the winter months plodding on at a nice pace, no turbulence, it seemed out of place.
The Punisher was world champion heading into the start of 2009 until he felt the time had come to leave. He had announced his intention to retire from wrestling but wanted to stay on as GM.

However, before his final match a verbal altercation with another committee member saw him decide enough was enough, and so the second champion in a row left the company without jobbing the world championship.
Things looked on the up from the beginning of 2009. The long overdue world championship reign of Karn began; LJ Rose was the newly voted committee member and the shows improved by the month. In April we had some interesting phone calls.

We were invited to return to Angmering Festival for the third year running. A local charity called Jamie’s Wish wanted us to perform on their fund raiser which we did gladly, and also Littlehampton football club was having a fun day and invited us to be an attraction.

Jamie’s wish came first, what a great day it was. The sun shone and the wrestling was almost as hot. The big story was the surprise defeat of Karn by plucky newcomer Taurian. Karn’s first clean pin or submission defeat.

Next came Home Is Where The Hurt Is 7 at Angmering festival for the second year running. The crowd was intense and the wrestlers didn’t disappoint, T-block winning the euro belt to start the show was a definite crowd pleaser, the do or die match saw ladders and kendo sticks be used much to the crowds pleasure. The golden one trying to wrestle the world title away from Taurian was a fantastic pure wrestling match to finish the day too.

The third show was a first for JWF, it was two shows in two days. The bodies ached but the matches didn’t show it. The pride from the committee over how well the entire roster did in their matches, the quality of the show was fantastic and to this day I can’t praise the guys enough.

Since then the shows have still gone from strength to strength and are improving all the time. More recruits are signing up almost weekly it seems at times and the JWF doors are still open for more.

To finish up I’ll tell you about the final big thing that happened this year. In 2005 Steve Crane suggested an idea to Ricky and Owen to approach the Nightclub on the end of Worthing pier about doing a show there, set the ring up right there on the dance floor. The lights, smoke and acoustics adding to the talent of the JWF would be a winning combination. In 2009 Steve Crane himself approached the boss of The Pier. The suggestion never came to fruition in 2005.

The boss of the Pier, Mat, liked the idea and on August 30th 2009 the JWF presented JWF Pier Pressure, right there on the dance floor.
The JWF’s first ever show with an entry fee made £150 and was viewed as a big success.

We leave you now as we approach Halloween Hell 09 with the final tidbits of news go back to that 5th committee seat. LJ Rose graciously stepped down due to his own reasons, a vote was taken and Stewart (Shredd) Reading-Brown was the ‘lucky’ winner.

With only three events left in the 2009 calendar the company looks to the 5 people at the committee desk, Steve Crane, Tom and Pete Brown, Sheila Howell and new kid on the block Stewart Reading-Brown to lead us into 2010 and hopefully it will be as eventful as the last 8 years.