Joseph Conners (born 28 May 1987) is an 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 ...

. Conners competed in many British wrestling promotions, most notably New Generation Wrestling (NGW) and What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW), where he was a one-time WCPW Champion. In 2017 and 2018 he took part in

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 vari ...

's UK Championship Tournament, and until 2021 competed on WWE's

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.

Training

Joseph Conners trained at the House Of Pain Wrestling Academy under veteran UK wrestler

Stixx Stixx are crisp wafer sticks with candy creme filling attached to the inside and Nestlé chocolate coating attached to the outside. The brand was owned by Nestlé, who sold it to by Brynwood Partners' DeMet's Candy Company in 2008. In 2013, Brynw ...

Professional wrestling career

What Culture Pro Wrestling (2016–2017)

On 24 August 2016, at What Culture Pro Wrestling's Stacked event, Conners defeated

Big Damo Damian Mackle (born 20 February 1985) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Killian Dain and since his departure from WWE he has reverted back to his ring name on the in ...

Joe Hendry Joseph Samuel Hendry (born 1 May 1988) is a Scottish Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler, Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, and musician better known as Joe Hendry. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). H ...

(whom he had betrayed) and Rampage in a Fatal four-way match to become WCPW Champion. Conners would successfully defend the championship against

El Ligero Simon Musk (born 7 January 1985) is an English professional wrestler better known under his in-ring persona of masked Mexican luchador, El Ligero (or simply Ligero). He is most known for his time in WWE, on their NXT UK brand. Professional wre ...

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 ...

, Martin Kirby,

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (''né'' Runnels; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AE ...

and Joe Hendry, at various WCPW events, as well as against "Darkside" James Scott outside of WCPW territory. At Delete: WCPW on 30 November 2016, Conners lost the championship to

in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, also featuring Joe Hendry. At WCPW KirbyMania, Conners returned for the first time since signing his WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament contract, attacking Joe Hendry during his match with Drake, setting up a no holds barred match between the two, ultimately losing via submission After an almost 9-month absence Conners returned to WCPW as a surprise entrant into the Pro Wrestling World Cup round of 16 replacing

Michael Elgin Aaron Frobel (born December 13, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Michael Elgin. He most recently worked for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion with Masa Kitamiya ...

who had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. Conners defeated Joe Coffey in Elgin's stead to advance to the quarterfinals the next night where once again he was successful in defeating his opponent,

Hiromu Takahashi (born December 4, 1989) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he is a member of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' stable. Takahashi made his debut for NJPW on August 28, 2010, and worked ...

, and advancing to the semifinals. However, two nights later, he would lose his semifinal match against

Kushida is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as Impact Wrestling. He is best known for his tenure in NJP ...

after passing out to Kushida's Hoverboard Lock.

WWE (2016–2021)

On 15 December 2016 it was revealed that Conners would be one of 16 men competing in a two-night tournament to crown the first ever

WWE United Kingdom Champion The NXT United Kingdom Championship was a men's professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was primarily defended as the top championship of the NXT UK brand division, a sister brand of WW ...

on 14 and 15 January 2017. Conners defeated James Drake in the first round, advancing to the quarter finals, where he was defeated by Mark Andrews. In November 2017 Conners returned to WWE and competed in several dark matches and on several house shows. On the November 7 episode of 205 Live, Conners returned to WWE programming for one night in Manchester, England to participate in an in-ring segment with

Enzo Amore Eric Arndt (born December 8, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. In WWE, he came to prominence for his partnership with Big Cass, whom he teamed with from 2013 to 2017. Together, they won the NXT Year-End Award for Tag Team of the Year ...

and other wrestlers from the WWE UK tournament. Later in the episode he would team with James Drake in a tag team match against

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Alexander worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2010 until 2016. He started as part of C&C Factory, ...

and Mark Andrews in a losing effort. He returned to 205 Live in 2018, teaming with

Drew Gulak Drew Gulak (born April 28, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand. He is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion and an eight-time ...

and James Drake in a losing effort to Cedric Alexander,

Flash Morgan Webster Gavin Watkins (born 13 April 1990) is a Welsh professional wrestler. He is most well known for his time in WWE where he performed under the ring name "Flash" Morgan Webster. Webster was one of the first Welsh Champions in WWE history alongside t ...

, and

Mustafa Ali Adeel Alam (born March 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Mustafa Ali. Prior to signing with WWE, Alam worked on the independent circuit afte ...

. He would then go on to compete in the 2018 WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, losing to Ashton Smith in the first round. In late 2021, Conners left NXT UK.

Independent circuit (2022–present)

In January, 2022, Conners made his Italian return at SIW mothership show "Giorno del Giudizio". After taking part to a No.1 contendership battle royal, he was a fixture to SIW's Twitch weekly telecast, "SIW System", finally forcing his way to an Italian Title match against champion Tempesta at their February "Back to War" System TV special, which he lost via roll-up. On February 5, 2022 it was announced that Conners was to make his return to the ring North Wrestling Triple Threat Match for the NW Championship Rory Coyle vs Liam Slater. He then returned to SIW, defeating the No.1 contender Darko, making the match for the Italian championship at "TuttoxTutto" a triple threat. At "TuttoxTutto" he lost the match when he tapped out to Tempesta's Sharpshooter.

Championships and accomplishments

*APEX Wrestling **APEX Heavyweight Champion (1 Time, Current) *British Wrestling Revolution ** BWR Heavyweight Championship (2 time) **BWR Heavyweight Championship Tournament (2017) **Riot Rumble (2019) *Dansk Pro Wrestling ** DPW Tag Team Championship (1 time, currant) - with Dan Evans *Leicester Championship Wrestling **LCW Championship (1 time) **LCW Tag Team Champion (2 times) – with Paul Malen (1) and Stixx (1) *Norton British Wrestling ** Shining Star Tournament * ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' ** Ranked No. 235 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' in 2019 *Scoula Italiana Wrestling **SIW Wild Championship (1 time) *Southside Wrestling Entertainment ** SWE (World) Heavyweight Championship (3 times) ** SWE Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Paul Malen (1),

Jimmy Havoc James McAhren (born 19 March 1984) is a British former professional wrestler best known under the ring name Jimmy Havoc. He is known for his work with Progress Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Major League Wre ...

(1), and

(1) *Sovereign Pro Wrestling **Sov Pro Wrestling World Championship (1 time, Current) *Tidal Championship Wrestling **TCW Championship (1 time) *TNT Extreme Wrestling ** TNT World Championship (1 time) * What Culture Pro Wrestling ** WCPW Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conners, Joseph 1987 births Living people English male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Leicestershire