The LilsBoys

Infobox Wrestling team
article_name=The LilsBoys
type=T

---

caption=Simon and Richard at WrestleMania 22
members=Simon LilsBoy
Richard LilsBoy
hometown=London, England
debut=2001
promotions=WWE, TNA, ROH, RQW, 1PW,

The LilsBoys, Simon and Richard, are online wrestling columnists for The Sun Newspaper in the UK since June 2001.cite web|url=http://www.wrestling101.com/101/article/UKInterviews/97/|author=Sibley, A|title=Celebrating a year of those LilsBoys |publisher=Wrestling101|accessmonthday=August 18|accessyear=2003|date=August 18, 2003]

It is not known where their ring name comes from, but the close friends used it in E-Feds in the late 1990s and decided to take it with them to The Sun as their real names made them sound “more like a pair of middle-aged accountants than hot young wrestling writers”.

In real life Simon is a showbiz journalist, while Richard is in banking. Unsurprisingly given this Simon does the writing, interviews and live reviews for The LilsBoys column, while Richard provides guidance and support.

The two most common questions they are asked by wrestling fans are “when are they going to put your column in the paper” and “are Kane and Undertaker really brothers”.

The Sun Online: June 2001 - Present

With the popularity of wrestling growing all the time in the UK, The Sun spotted the need for a column about the grap game. The LilsBoys were hired and wrote their first piece on King Of The Ring 2001.

They have been penning a weekly column ever since, which appears on the sports pages of The Sun's website each Thursday.

They have interviewed almost lots of big names in the wrestling business including Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Edge, Batista and John Cena.

The two biggest controversies were Flair calling Foley a “stunt man”cite web|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2003560001-2004180004,00.html|author=LilsBoy, S and LilsBoy, R|title=Ric is naughty by Nature|publisher=The Sun|accessmonthday=April 17|accessyear=2004|date=April 17, 2004] and then-Raw star Batista saying Smackdown “makes me sick” cite web|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2003560001-2005031802,00.html|author=LilsBoy, S and LilsBoy, R|title=Batista’s Bombshells|publisher=The Sun|accessmonthday=January 10|accessyear=2006|date=January 10, 2006] - which led to real-life and WWE storyline bust-ups between Foley and Flair and Batista and Booker Tcite web|url=http://headlineplanet.com/home/2006/06/10/what-started-the-booker-t-batista-fight/|author=PWTorch.com|title=What Started The Booker T-Batista Fight|publisher=Headline Planet|accessmonthday=June 10|accessyear=2006|date=June 10, 2006] .

TalkSPORT: Nov 2001 - Nov 2002

Shortly after starting their Sun Online column the boys were invited to be regular guest experts on Tommy Boyd's talkSPORT wrestling radio show, co-hosted by Alex Shane.

After Boyd was fired by the station, Simon took over hosting duties with Alex, Dean Ayass and female grappler Nikita, who is now in the WWE developmental territories wrestling as Katie Lea.

After TalkSPORT bosses decided they wanted to bring an older demographic to the station, the wrestling show was dropped for an easy listening programme fronted by 73-year-old actor Gerald Harpercite web|url=http://www.talksport1089.com/glossary.html|author=Anon|title=A-Z Of Hawksbee & Jacobs|publisher=talksport1089.com|] .

Simon is still good pals with all the team, including contributors like Greg Lambert and Mo Chatra, and dreams of bringing it back one day.

WrestleCast: June 2006 - Present

Simon returned to the airwaves in June 2006 with a grappling podcast.

He and Radio 1's Joel Ross record a show roughly once a month when a big star is in town to join them. Previous guests include Randy Orton, Mick Foley and Chris Benoit, in one of his last interviews before he died in June 2007. Simon and Joel also conducted a controversial interview with Mr. Kennedy about the WWE's Wellness Policy, released shortly before Kennedy was suspended by WWE for obtaining steroids over the Internet.

Simon and Joel also attended WrestleMania 23 together, along with Joel's Radio 1 partner JK, Dean Ayass and others.cite web|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2003560001-2007160631,00.html|author=LilsBoy, S and Ayass, D|title=On the road to WrestleMania 23|publisher=The Sun|accessmonthday=April 12|accessyear=2007|date=April 12, 2007]

External links

* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/wrestling The Sun’s Wrestling Page]
* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/section/0,,3,00.html/ The Sun’s Sports Section]
* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/section/0,,2006170000,00.html/ The Sun's WrestleCast]

References