Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW) is an Irish-owned

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

established in January 2002. The company is named after a wrestling move called the 'Irish Whip'. IWW runs shows Nationally throughout the whole of Ireland, both in The Republic and Northern Ireland. The company has appeared on numerous terrestrial and digital channels and had a weekly show called WHIPLASH TV on

The Wrestling Channel The Fight Network (formerly The Wrestling Channel, TWC and TWC Fight!) was a free-to-air digital satellite television sports channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland, devoted to airing programming related to boxing, mixed martial arts, pro-w ...

, which aired from 2005–2006 throughout the UK and Ireland. They also released over a Dozen VHS tapes & DVDs of original IWW content. These were shipped to over 17 countries worldwide on 5 continents. Irish Whip Wrestling was the first ever modern day wrestling promotion in Ireland & the first to tour nationally with former

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

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 ...

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

& Japanese wrestlers. They were the first wrestling company in Ireland to produce Irish wrestling VHS & DVD content & the first and only Irish promotion to have a wrestling television show aired in Ireland.

History

Early years (2002–2004)

Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW) ran its first two shows in June 2002 in the

National Basketball Arena National Basketball Arena, also known as Tallaght Arena, is an indoor sporting arena located in Tymon Park, Tallaght, South Dublin, adjacent to the M50 motorway. The capacity of the arena is 2,500 people and it opened in January 1993. It is u ...

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, which featured wrestler Tatanka. After these two shows, IWW returned to the ESB National Basketball Arena on October 9 for a show that was headlined by

Jake "The Snake" Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is be ...

. IWW continued to promote shows around Ireland through 2003 and 2004. On December 2, 2004, IWW held a show in

Lucan, Dublin Lucan ( ; ga, Leamhcán) is a town in Ireland, located 12 km west of Dublin city centre on the River Liffey. It is near the Strawberry Beds and Lucan Weir, and at the confluence of the River Griffeen. It is mostly under the jurisdiction o ...

, and the main event featured an

FWA British Heavyweight Championship The British Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the XWA. The championship was originally created and contested for in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) but moved to XWA when the former company ...

match in which

Alex Shane Alexander Daniel Spilling (born 15 November 1979) is a British professional wrestler and professional wrestling commentator who is best known by his ring name "The Showstealer" Alex Shane. Spilling also works as a promoter, wrestling coach an ...

pinned Sheamus O'Shaunessy. Also in 2004, IWW opened up their 'Lock-up' training school in Dublin. Trainers at this school have included Blake Norton, "Middleman" Lee Butler and "The Pukka One" Darren Burridge. The training school has also been host to the company's Gym Wars shows which gives trainees a chance to show their skills to IWW management and to a crowd.

Growth (2005–2007)

On March 20, 2005 IWW presented its first-ever SuperShow, held in the SFX City Theatre in Dublin. On March 28, O'Shaunessy was crowned the first-ever IWW International Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Darren Burridge in the tournament final. American wrestler

D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1970), better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling and WWE. Brown is also known for h ...

unseated O'Shaunessy as IWW Champion at D-Day on May 20th, 2005. Brown reigned for 126 days, before dropping the title back to O'Shaunessy at a Main Event Wrestling Event in Newcastle, England. Also in 2005, IWW got its own TV show called ''Whiplash TV'', which was broadcast on

on Sky Digital. The show ran for two seasons. Throughout May and June 2006, IWW taped several episodes of its ''Whiplash TV'' show in the Laughter Lounge in Dublin City. In 2006, IWW ran shows in cities across Ireland. From August to October 2006, the first ever King of the Gym tournament was held over the course of four Gym Wars events. The key IWW feud of this period was between O'Shaunessy and

Drew Galloway Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June 1985) is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. McIntyre is a two-time WWE Champion, one-time WWE In ...

who battled in a series of gimmick matches (Lumberjack, Two-Out-of-Three Falls, Last Man Standing) between January and August 2006 until Galloway successfully defeated O'Shaunessy to win the IWW title and the end their rivalry. At the beginning of 2007, the IWW Zero Gravity Championship was created, and a tournament was held to crown the first champion. The 12-man tournament included wrestlers from seven countries. In March 2017, IWW held its second SuperShow, and in the main event, Vic Viper defeated

Christopher Daniels Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Head of Talent Relations. He is best kno ...

to retain the IWW International Heavyweight Championship.https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=10475 On July 6, IWW returned to the Forum in Waterford for its ''Global Impact'' show, which was taped for DVD sales. The match between the Ballymun Bruiser and Doug Williams was featured on TV3's ''Diary of a Sportstar'' program. In late October 2007, it ran 14 shows between the October 19 and 28. Several matches on the tour were taped for the ''International Hits, Vol. 1'' DVD.

Return of Gym Wars; Memorial Tournament & Tours (2008–2019)

On June 1, 2008 Gym Wars returned after a 10-month absence. Later that month, IWW returned to the

in Tallaght, Dublin for the first time in six years. All the matches were taped for IWW's television show on

Buzz TV Buzz TV was an Irish user-generated television channel that was launched in June 2008, it closed 2 years later in July 2010. The channel allowed viewers to upload their own content, as well as focusing on independent productions, and broadcast o ...

. IWW continued running shows in 2011. Around this time they branched into

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

events and summer circuit shows. From 2011 onward IWW focused on exhibiting Irish talent. The roster of wrestlers from all over the world slimmed down. Touring performers from Canada, America, the UK and Europe were still used. Presently, Irish Whip tours nationally doing the festival & agricultural show circuit. Approximately 30 shows a year in 2019, compared to its peak of 60+ a year at one time.

Hibernation

Due to the Global pandemic of the Covid-19 Virus, Irish Whip Wrestling went into Hibernation in 2020 & 2021.

Championships

Current champions

IWW International Heavyweight Championship

The IWW International Heavyweight Championship is the primary title for IWW. The championship was created in 2005. A tournament was held in Naas, Co. Kildare in March 2005 to crown the first ever champion. The former champion Mandrake was the longest reigning champion in history of the company. On February 5, 2010, the Zero Gravity Title was unified with it and it became known as the Irish Whip Wrestling Unified Heavyweight Championship. On April 30, 2011, The Supermodel defeated Mandrake for the IWW International Heavyweight championship. The Zero Gravity championship was un-unified with the International Heavyweight Championship after this match.

IWW Zero Gravity Championship

The IWW Zero Gravity Championship is professional wrestling championship in IWW. The championship was created in early 2007. The tournament to crown the inaugural champion was a 12-man tournament including wrestlers from seven countries. On February 5, 2010 it was unified with the IWW International Heavyweight Championship and retired. It was later reactivated, after Mandrake lost the IWW International Heavyweight Championship.

King of the Gym winners

*2006: Wayne Daly *2007: Brother Skelly *2008: Keith Connolly

Danno Mahony Tournament winners

* 2008: Mandrake * 2009: The Supermodel * 2010: Mandrake * 2011: Captain Rooney

Alumni

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* Michael Kovac *

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* Xavier *

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* Pineapple Pete *

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* Rene Dupree * Eugene *

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* Darryl Sharma *

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* Kenny Lush *

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* Wolfgang *

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* Doug Williams * Pac * Neil Faith *

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* CIMA *

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* Sandman *

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* Hannibal * Scotty Mac * Jessica Black * Mad Man Manson *

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* Ballymun Bruiser * Sunny * Eddie Edwards *

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* Domino *

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References

External links

* {{Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom Irish professional wrestling promotions 2002 establishments in Ireland Entertainment companies established in 2002