Drew McDonald (born Charles Shaw, name changed via deed poll; 16 June 1955 – 9 February 2015) was a Scottish

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

. He was best known for wrestling in the United Kingdom since the 1980s.

Professional wrestling career

McDonald, born Charles Shaw, first got into wrestling when friend of his who ran a school in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

for wayward children was promoting a wrestling show to make funds for the school. Ian Law who held a splinter claim to the British Middleweight Championship at the time (the main lineage being held by Brian "Goldbelt" Maxine) was helping his friend run the show. One of the wrestlers had been seriously injured two weeks out from the show and a friend asked McDonald if he would stand in for the injured man. McDonald had a two-week crash course before first pro match against Wild Angus, The match lasted 5 rounds with Angus beating McDonald by the final bell. McDonald stayed in Scotland wrestling for another year after that first match, in April 1984 he went down to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to work for

Joint Promotions Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over one hundred years but became popular when the then new independent television network ITV began showing it in 1955, firstly on Saturday afternoons and then also in a late-night midweek slot. ...

, the biggest promoters at that time (in the United Kingdom). The next five years saw McDonald wrestle against the likes of Ray Steele and Gill Singh and become a frequent face on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's televised wrestling coverage. Outside of the ring, McDonald would also develop friendships with the likes of Danny Boy Collins,

Fit Finlay David Finlay Jr. (born 31 January 1958) is an Irish retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a trainer/assistant coach. He is known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Fit Finlay from 1995 t ...

and referee Jeff Kaye. McDonald at one point would join the army at the Guards Depot at

Pirbright Pirbright ( ) is a village in Surrey, England. Pirbright is in the borough of Guildford and has a civil parish council covering the traditional boundaries of the area. Pirbright contains one buffered sub-locality, Stanford Common near the nati ...

where he joined with the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the E ...

. During his time there he met Dave Taylor, later of

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

fame, who had enlisted in the same regiment as McDonald, as a bandsman on the same day. A match screened as part of ITV's 1984 FA Cup Final coverage saw McDonald team with Big Daddy to defeat

Giant Haystacks Martin Austin Ruane (10 October 1946 – 29 November 1998) was an English professional wrestler of Irish parentage, best known by the ring name Giant Haystacks. He was one of the best-known wrestlers on the British wrestling scene in the 1970s ...

and Finlay. Three years later, he adopted the persona of the masked Spoiler, managed by the German Doctor Monika Kaiser, played by his lifelong partner, Monika Markwart. Teaming with King Kendo to face Daddy and Andy Blair, he was unmasked by Daddy but preserved his identity due to a black nylon stocking worn over his head and under the mask, concealing his identity so he could get away. A subsequent match pitting the Spoiler and Rasputin (Shawn Doyle) against Daddy and Jason "Kashmir" Singh saw the Spoiler again unmasked and this time identified clearly as McDonald. A rematch between the four with a "Hair vs Hair" stipulation ended in the defeated McDonald being shaved bald. He would retain this look for all his remaining matches on ITV. After the demise of ITV's wrestling coverage, McDonald moved to

All Star Wrestling All Star Wrestling (ASW) is a British professional wrestling promotion operated by Brian Dixon and based in Birkenhead, England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star P ...

. For some time, he continued to be managed by Kaiser in All Star. In the early 1990s, he adopted the image of "The Ultimate Chippendale", later forming a tag team of 'Chippendales' with Dale "The Model" Preston. Aside from wrestling for all the top promotions in the UK, McDonald traveled worldwide, wrestling for promotions like

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pro ...

under the name Ben Doon McDonald, and feuding with stars like

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestlin ...

. McDonald won many UK top titles including Scottish Championship Wrestling's Scottish Heavyweight Championship, and

's British Heavyweight Championship. He won the British title when he defeated

Robbie Brookside Robert Edward Brooks (born 11 March 1966), better known by his ring name Robbie Brookside, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works as a trainer/producer for the NXT brand. He has toured all ov ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

on 7 July 2005. McDonald teamed up with many long time wrestlers, including Dave Finlay (in the Catch Wrestling Association),

Ulf Herman Ulf Nadrowski (born April 4, 1966) is a German professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ulf Herman. He is best known in the United States for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling where he was part of The Full Blooded Ital ...

, and

. Later McDonald would team with rookie stars like Thunder, and Raj Gosh. During a time when both Thunder and Gosh wrestled in

Frontier Wrestling Alliance Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) was a professional wrestling promotion in Britain. Established in 1993 as the Fratton Wrestling Association it soon became the Frontier Wrestling Alliance six years later and until 2007 when it lost a scripted ...

at the same time as McDonald the group banded together under the stable name "The Triad". In January 2006, Steve Sonic defeated McDonald in a ladder match for All Star Wrestling's British Heavyweight Championship. Throughout 2006 McDonald would continue to wrestle in All Star as well as with other British independent promotions. McDonald also ran his own wrestling school along with former wrestler and referee Jeff Kaye in

Stanningley Stanningley is a district of Pudsey, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Leeds city centre on the A647 road, the original main road from Leeds to Bradford. The appropriate Leeds Metropolitan Ward is Bramley and Stann ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. In 2008, he began working for Superstars of Wrestling. His last match took place at GL1 Gloucester Leisure Centre in 2013 Drew worked for an independent crowd management company called The SES Group - Show and Event as a security manager

Death

McDonald died at the age of 59 on 9 February 2015 from cancer. He is survived by his partner Monika Markwart aka his manager Doctor Monika Kaiser. WWE Wrestler Paige paid tribute to him on that night's episode of ''Monday Night Raw'' with the words "RIP Drew McDonald" written on her arms.

Championships and accomplishments

** ASW British Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *European Wrestling Promotion **Iron Man Tournament (2005) *

FWA Tag Team Championship The Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in the British Frontier Wrestling Alliance promotion. The title was only contestable by male tag teams and in tag team matches. B ...

(1 time) - with

*Scottish Championship Wrestling **SCW Scottish Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *The Wrestling Alliance ** TWA British Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Luchas de Apuestas record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Drew 1955 births 2015 deaths Sportspeople from Perth, Scotland Scottish male professional wrestlers Place of death missing Stampede Wrestling alumni