Only a small few factions can really be considered universally ‘cool’.
In the 80s, you had the Four Horsemen. In the 90s we were blessed with two in the form of D-Generation X and the nWo. ‘The Noughties’ were a bit of a barren period but it roared back in this current decade with The Shield and of course, The Bullet Club. However, I feel we are being given a third option in the cool faction stakes as we bring this decade to a close – and they do not work WWE, New Japan, Ring Of Honor or any of your garden variety ‘major’ promotions. They come from an independent in the Midlands, and have spread across European wrestling. They come from Fight Club Pro. I am, of course, talking about Schadenfreude.
I got my first live taste at this years Dream Tag Team Invitational and I left with a massive Schadenfreude flag and the knowledge that I get why they are so beloved. But first, some background.
After Chris Brookes stole the Fight Club: Pro Title he lost to Meiko Satomura, he began butting heads with FCP owner Martin Zaki. At International Tekkers; WALTER aligned with CCK to attack Zaki, Travis Banks and Aussie Open, injuring Kyle Fletcher. However, it was all a ruse as Kyle attacked Mark Davis, turning on him and joining the trio. Schadenfreude was born.
Later on, Mark Davis joined after screwing his partner Jonah Rock to allow Schadenfreude to capture the tag titles, as well as Timothy Thatcher replacing the injured Kid Lykos in-ring and they ran roughshod over the promotion, sticking it to Zaki any chance they got. This reached an apex when Mark Davis beat Meiko Satomura a year on from the groups formation at International Tekkers 2019.
But, why are they cool? It’s simple really, I can summarize it in one word – shithousery.
They are, in essence a group of lads just dicking about and annoying the establishment. Flicking the V’s and just being all round bullies to anyone they see. Couple that with Aussie Open and Chris Brookes AMAZING twitter game and you get the archetypal villains in 2019. This is key though, they are still HEELS. A lot of bad guys that come off so cool that they end up getting cheered but Schadenfreude are just the right shade of knob that they still get booed even though half the crowd are clad in their merch.
Case in point; at this years DTTI; Kid Lykos received a ‘thank you Lykos’ chant following his early retirement. He responded in kind with a warm and heartfelt ‘shut the fuck up’. Tremendous work.
Now, earlier I spoke about merch. That is one thing Chris Brookes and Schadenfreude are NAILING. They release these awesome t-shirts, long sleeve shirts and hoodies that are less generic wrestling t-shirt, more fashion brand. It’s gear you can wear to a show or down the pub and not get all the usual questions. It’s different than your DX or Bullet Club shirts, and I like that. The flags are a nice touch too, flags need to be more of a thing in wrestling.
It is so hard to be a bad guy in wrestling, but it does seem the second you become a good heel, the crowd decides ‘you’re cool, lets get behind you’. It’s a fine science and this group have got it down. People rate them, but it doesn’t mean the crowd universally loves them. They have a great foil in the beloved owner Martin Zaki so when he thought he finally had his companies belt back, only to find a bedsheet with the words ‘fuck you Martin’ spray painted on it – it got a laugh but the masses still thought ‘you bastards’.
They have had some bumps in the road, WALTER stood up to the group and got beaten down and packed off to Enfield but I do hope they go the same way of The New Day and never split up. They’ve even made their way over to wXw and I do hope that Schadenfreude becomes an nWo/Bullet Club-style wide ranging faction, crossing over several promotions. I want Schadenfreude in PROGRESS, ATTACK, RevPro, all of the places. They could be Europe’s answer to The Elite.
If the other factions I have compared them to are that beloved rock band or world-travelled DJ, Schadenfreude are that white label indie four-piece or Soundcloud rapper. They look cool, they act cool and it’s not if, it’s when they blow up you can say ‘I liked them before they were massive’.
Schadenfreude might not be a cult, but it’s definitely a bandwagon everyone should be jumping on.
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