James Atkins (born 22 July 1979 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

best known under his ring name James Mason.

Career

A childhood fan of Big Daddy, Atkins began wrestling for

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 ...

in 1993, adopting the ringname James Mason, after the film actor of the same name at the behest of ring announcer John Harris. Early in his career, he also wrestled for Welsh promoter

Orig Williams Orig Williams (20 March 1931 – 12 November 2009) was a Welsh professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Williams spent his wrestling career in the persona of a villainous heel under the pseudonym "El Bandito", and after retiring as a fighte ...

under the name Jesse James (as Williams felt the actor in question was "boring" and this would reflect poorly on Atkins). In 1995, Mason was named by All Star as "Young Wrestler of 1995" and was interviewed by

Simon Garfield Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author. Biography Garfield was born in London in 1960.Danny Collins Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People * Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

when he moved up the weights. Mason lost the title to Mal Sanders a month later. Mason,

Dean Allmark Dean Allmark (born 25 August 1983), is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in All Star Wrestling and his appearance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and a performance in Pro Wresting Live (PWL). Allmark, who often go ...

and Doug Williams all faced and lost to

Kendo Nagasaki Kendo Nagasaki is a professional wrestling stage name, used as a gimmick of that of a Japanese Samurai warrior with a mysterious past and even supernatural powers of hypnosis. The name derives from the modern martial art of Japanese fencing (Kendo) ...

in a December 2001 four-way match at the Victoria Hall in Hanley, promoted as Nagasaki's retirement match. Mason was the final opponent eliminated by Nagasaki to win the match. In 2002, he and Sanders feuded for the British Middleweight Title in TWA with the belt passing back and forth between them. During the early 2000s he tag-teamed with Chad Collyer in Japan for

Michinoku Pro (originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather ...

. In 2003, while going through a temporary heel phase, Mason reached the final of a tournament for the vacant World Heavy-Middleweight title before losing to the American Dragon in the final at

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 ...

. In the United States, James Mason is best known as being the Captain of Team Britain in

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promo ...

during America's X-Cup Tournament in 2004. Team Britain consisted of Mason, Robbie Dynamite,

, and Frankie Sloan. Although Mason had several victories in America's X-Cup, Team Britain ended up being in last place. The Tournament was won and virtually dominated by

Team Mexico Team Mexico is a professional wrestling stable that was first formed in 2004 to compete in TNA Wrestling's America's X-Cup Tournament and has since returned to compete in other TNA X Cup Tournaments. History 2004 The original team consisted of ...

. After America's X-Cup ended, Team Britain did not return for the

TNA 2004 World X-Cup Tournament The TNA 2004 World X Cup Tournament was an X Division tournament that was hosted by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. It was the successor to America's X Cup Tournament. History America's X Cup Tournament was used somewhat as a preview for the Wo ...

. Mason wrestled in

usually as a blue-eye, using the name James Mason, and as a heel often on the same event, under a mask, using the name Tagori. In November 2006, Mason defeated three former champions Drew McDonald, Doug Williams, and

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 ...

in a 4-way elimination match to win the vacant British Heavyweight title which he later lost to

Brody Steele Peter Smith (born August 5, 1967) is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known as his ring name, Brody Steele. Steele starred as one of the four leading characters in the Wrestling Reality documentary-reality television series that aired on ...

in 2007. In November 2008 Mason competed for

World Wrestling Entertainment 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 va ...

at the

Manchester Evening News Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

, defeating

Montel Vontavious Porter Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr.; October 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestler and manager currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name MVP (standing for Montel Vontavious Porter) a ...

. Mason won a six-man one-night tournament at a

Welsh Wrestling Overview Welsh Wrestling is the national Welsh professional wrestling promotion, holding live professional wrestling events across Wales, as well as in Scotland and England. The wrestling is hybrid of American wrestling and traditional Britis ...

's ''King of the Castle'' in

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 19 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 1 May 2010 to become the first Welsh Heavyweight Champion, as recognized by the Union of European Wrestling Alliances. He defeated JD Knight in a semi-final match, then defeated Kade Callous and Danny Garnell in a three-way final. Mason lost the Welsh Heavyweight Championship to Kade Callous on 23 October 2010 in Builth Wells after a six-month title reign. Mason has continued to wrestle for Alan Ravenhill's Welsh promotion on a regular basis, and is regarded as one of the most popular and polished performers i
Welsh Wrestling
Alongside his appearances for All Star and promoting his own shows and hiring out his ring, Mason also wrestled for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom, LDN and several other promotions. Mason became a trainer in the UK-based

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...

facility for the now-defunct

NXT UK ''NXT UK'' is a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, th ...

brand. His legacy, alongside fellow trainers Johnny Moss,

Johnny Saint John Miller (born 29 June 1941) is an English professional wrestling authority figure and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he served as the on-screen general manager of the now defunct NXT UK under his career- ...

and

, was acknowledged in the build-up promo for the

Noam Dar Noam Dar (; born 28 July 1993) is an Israeli-Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, and is a record setting two-time NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion. He also wrestles for Scottish promotion Insane Championship Wrestling (I ...

Mark Coffey Mark Coffey (born February 13, 1990) is a Scottish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand. He is the younger brother of Joe Coffey and the pair occasionally tag team together as The Coffey Brothers. ...

match for the NXT UK Heritage Cup on August 31, 2022.

Championships and accomplishments

** ASW British Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **

European Heavyweight Championship The European Heavyweight Championship is a name used for various top titles competed for throughout the European professional wrestling circuit. The title was recognised as official by UK national TV network ITV for the purposes of their coverage ...

(1 time) **King of the Ring (2014) *British Wrestling Alliance **BWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *European Wrestling Promotion **Manfred Koch Memorial Cup (2002) *Power of Wrestling **POW Intercontinental Championship (1 time) **POW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Adrian Severe (1) and Murat Bosporus (1) *Rumble Promotions **World Middleweight Championship (1 time) *South West Wrestling **SWW BritPro Cup Championship (1 time, current) *United Kingdom Pro Wrestling **UKPW World Championship (1 time) **Rampage Rumble (2016) *Union of European Wrestling Alliances **

(1 time) *

** Welsh Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **Welsh Heavyweight Championship Tournament (2010) **King of the Castle Tournament (2011) *The Wrestling Alliance **British Middleweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

TNAWrestling.com (The Official Website of TNA Wrestling)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, James Living people English male professional wrestlers 1979 births

Career

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links