World Association of Wrestling (WAW) is a British

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 * Independe ...

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 mana ...

founded by Ricky Knight, Sweet Saraya, and Jimmy Ocean in 1994 in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

, England. It is affiliated with the all-female promotion Bellatrix Female Warriors which is also owned by Saraya Knight. The promotion features British-style wrestling and uses British rules.

History

Ricky Knight, Sweet Saraya, and Jimmy Ocean formed WAW in 1994 in

. Ocean left the business after approximately one year. In 2005, Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya formed the World Association of Women's Wrestling, although the name was later changed to Bellatrix Female Warriors. In 2014, WAW ran more than 100 shows. In September 2016, WAW began airing on

Mustard TV Mustard TV was a local television station based in Norwich, Norfolk. It broadcast to over 400,000 people, covering Norwich and much of Norfolk reaching Cromer in the north of the county, Dereham to the west and parts of south Norfolk and north S ...

. American wrestler

Scott Hall Scott Oliver Hall (October 20, 1958 – March 14, 2022) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name and under the ring name the Diamond Studd and with the ...

was previously a backstage agent for the promotion, working behind the scenes at television tapings and appeared in an on-screen authority role as WAW Commissioner. The promotion was featured in the 2012

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary ''The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family'' about the Knight family. It was featured in the film '' Fighting with My Family'', which was based on the documentary. Former

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

striker

Grant Holt Grant Holt (born 12 April 1981) is an English former professional footballer who is currently a scout at West Ham United. During his football career, Holt played for a number of non-league and professional clubs, making nearly 100 league appeara ...

and

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

boxing bronze medallist

Anthony Ogogo Anthony Osejua Ojo Ogogo (born 24 November 1988) is an English professional wrestler and former professional boxer signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). As a boxer, he competed from 2013 to 2016 as a professional, and won a bronze medal in the ...

both began their wrestling careers with WAW. In 2020, WAW was featured in another documentary, this time on BBC Three. A four-part series, ''Step Into The Ring'' followed the lives of five young wrestlers battling against physical and mental health issues to pursue professional careers under the guidance of Zak Knight.

WAW Academy

The promotion also includes a wrestling school, The WAW Academy, which trains in the British

catch-as-catch-can wrestling Catch wrestling (originally catch-as-catch-can) is a classical hybrid grappling style and combat sport. It was developed by J. G. Chambers in Britain . It was popularised by wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed their own submission ...

style. Trainees perform for both WAW and Bellatrix Female Warriors. The Academy trains wrestlers of all ages, including children. Interest in the school increased after Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya's daughter Saraya-Jade was signed by the WWE in 2011.

Zak Knight Zak Bevis (''né'' Frary; born 29 May 1991) is an English professional wrestler. He mainly competes under the ring names Zak Knight or Zak Zodiac in World Association of Wrestling, which is owned and operated by his family. He also regularly l ...

and Sweet Saraya are the head trainers at the academy, but they also bring in guest trainers, as well. Past guest trainers have included Scott Hall, Dave Taylor, Mr. Anderson, Steve Grey, Mal Sanders,

Marty Jones Marty Jones is an English retired professional wrestler best known for his work in Joint Promotions and All Star Wrestling throughout the 1980s and 1990s. During this period, he was the predominant holder of the Mountevans World Mid Heavyweig ...

Jonny Storm Jonathan Whitcombe (born 19 April 1977) is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jonny Storm. He has worked for many independent promotions across the United Kingdom, including the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, Real ...

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 more.

Championships

Current

Retired

References

External links

Official website
{{Knight wrestling family British professional wrestling promotions Entertainment companies established in 1994 Entertainment companies of the United Kingdom 1994 establishments in the United Kingdom