Welcome to the very first article in my brand new series called G9Z Favorites! Occasionally, I will select one wrestler and list some of my favorite matches, moments, memories & more! This will be the first series on the blog primarily run by reader (yes, that means YOU) request! So if you have a favorite wrestler and want them featured here, you can contact me either via email (g9zwwe@yahoo.com) or on twitter (@g9zwrestling). This week we're going to start with reader Oliver Newman's (@brummieol) favorite wrestler and all around high flying extraordinaire, Paul London!
Now Paul London has earned himself quite the loyal following over the years, but there may be a few of you who have no idea of who he is. Well we can't have that can we? For those who're unfamiliar with Paul's work, why don't we start by running this guy's rap sheet down and letting you know just what he's been up to in this wacky world of professional wrestling....
Name: Paul London
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 180lb
Age: 32
Billed From: Austin, TX
Debut: 2000
Noteworthy Promotions Worked For: WWE, ROH, PWG, Zero1, TNA, DGUSA, Luch Libre USA
Major Championships Won: 2x WWE Tag Team Champion, 1x WWE World Tag Team Champion, 1x WWE Cruiserweight Champion, 1x PWG Tag Team Champion
G9Z Wrestling Awards Won: 2006 Tag Team Of The Year (W/Brian Kendrick)
My Personal Recollection Of Paul London
My first experience seeing Paul London was in early 2003. I had heard about his work in Ring Of Honor and particularly his matches with AJ Styles (whom I was already a huge fan of). Upon seeing some of his work myself, I was completely blown away. At the time, the folks at ROH revered London as the biggest babyface in the entire promotion. His work there was universally praised and the fans absolutely loved him. What first took me back was his fearlessness and reckless abandon in the ring. The now infamous "please don't die" chant was practically birthed off of London's work alone.
My two personal favorite matches of Paul London are his match with Michael Shane from Unscripted '02 and his Fatal 4 Way Tag Team Title match from WWE Armageddon 2006. The Michael Shane match is less revered than London's famous 2/3 Falls match with Bryan Danielson, but in my opinion, this match is more of a showcase of just how special London is. It was my very first exposure to his work and one of the very first ROH matches I had seen period. In short, this match blew my fucking mind. Two young, hungry wrestlers who were desperate to make a name for themselves. This match had that raw emotion and intensity that has now become ROH's calling card. It was a match that even with a small venue and relatively small audience, still had an unbelievable amount of spectacle. For me, it's one of the top ten matches essential to ROH's growth and survival and one of the best indie matches from that era as a whole.
The Four Way WWE Tag Team Championship match is one of the peaks of London's tenure in the world's most famous promotion. Paul London and his partner Brian Kendrick would wage war against the legendary Hardy Boyz, MNM and the team of William Regal & Dave Taylor. It's a match that has gone on to live in infamy due to Joey Mercury nearly busting his face wide open after a Jeff Hardy ladder spot gone wrong. That gruesome injury didn't stop all the other men in the match from doing their damnedest to tear the house down though. After twenty minutes of insane bumps and awe inspiring agility, Paul London and Brian Kendrick would emerge victorious. Having beat some of the more famous teams in WWE history, the battle cemented them as the team to beat in the promotion at the time and it's one of my fondest memories of what I believe, to be the WWE's last great era for tag team wrestling.
No doubt London & Kendrick are one of the best WWE tag teams of all time.
After his stints with ROH & WWE, London would travel the globe and compete in a wide variety of indie promotions. Most notably, in his run with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, he re-established himself as one of the best tag team competitors in the entire world. He even reunited with Brian Kendrick to defeat PWG Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks in a non-title dream match. More recently, he returned to PWG to face Trent? (known in his time with the WWE as Trent Baretta) where he emerged victorious and put a stamp on his return to the company after a two plus year hiatus.
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