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Professional Wrestling In The United Kingdom
The history of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over one hundred years. After a brief spell of popularity for Greco Roman professional wrestling during the Edwardian era, the first catch-as-catch-can based scene began in the 1930s,"All In was introduced to Britain in 1930 by Atholl Oakeley, a professional wrestler turned promoter" '' The Wrestling'', Simon Garfield, Faber & Faber 1996 edition page 16 when it was popularised under the concept of " All-in Wrestling", which emphasised an "anything goes" style and presentation. Following World War II, the style and presentation of professional wrestling in the UK underwent a dramatic shift, as the Admiral-Lord Mountevans rules were introduced to make British professional wrestling appear much closer to a legitimate sport. Professional wrestling entered the mainstream British culture when the newly formed independent television network ITV began broadcasting it in 1955, firstly on Saturday afternoons and then al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavyweight Wrestling At Manchester (1937)
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization. In 2020, the World Boxing Council increased their heavyweight classification to 224 pounds (102 kg; 16 st) to allow for their creation of the bridgerweight division. The World Boxing Association (WBA) did the same in 2023. Female boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major boxing organizations: the IBF and the WBC. The WBA and WBO do not have a female heavyweight world title. Historical development Because this division has no upper weight limit, it has historically been vaguely defined. In the 19th century, for example, many heavyweight champions weighed or less (although others weighed 200 pounds). In 1920, the light heavyweight division was formed, with a maximum weigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Haystacks
Martin Austin Ruane (10 October 1946 – 29 November 1998) was a British 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 1980s. He also worked in Canada and the United States under the name Loch Ness Monster or simply Loch Ness. Ruane was known for his massive physical size, billed as standing 6 ft 11 inch (2.11 m) tall and weighing from at the beginning of his career to by the end of it; at his heaviest, he weighed . In the 1970s he formed a heel team with Big Daddy. After Big Daddy turned face and the team broke up, the two engaged in a long-running, high drawing feud. During his career, Ruane held the European Heavyweight Championship and British Heavyweight Championship in the UK, and won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in Canada, with the Dynamite Kid. Early life Ruane was born in Camberwell, London, on 10 October 1946. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pete Dunne
Peter Thomas England (born 9 November 1993) is an English professional wrestler best known under the ring name Pete Dunne. As of April 2017, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, and is one-half of the New Catch Republic with Tyler Bate. He is a 1-time WWE United Kingdom Champion and 1-time NXT Tag Team Champion alongside Matt Riddle, with whom he also won the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. England began training in 2006, at the age of 12, and had his debut match in 2007. He has since worked extensively across the global independent circuit in promotions such as Destiny World Wrestling (DWW), Fight Club: Pro (FCP), Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW), Over the Top Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Progress Wrestling (where he is a former Progress World Champion), Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Singapore Pro Wrestling (SPW), and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). In addition to wrestling, England also served as p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zack Sabre Jr
Lucas James Uggles Eatwell (born 24 July 1987), known by his ring name and its abbreviated form ZSJ, is an English-born Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is the second and current leader of the group The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK) and is a former two-time and inaugural NJPW World Television Championship, NJPW World Television Champion and former IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. He also makes sporadic appearances for partner promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). Sabre is a former NWA United Kingdom Junior Heavyweight Champion and a product of the NWA UK Hammerlock training school. He started training at the age of 14 and later trained in the Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) Dojo under Yoshinari Ogawa and Naomichi Marufuji as a member of their roster from 2011 until November 2015. He joined Suzuki-gun in 2016, after defeating Katsuyori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Will Ospreay
William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former two-time AEW International Champion. He is also known for his eight year tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he held various championships, including the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Ospreay previously wrestled for NJPW's United Kingdom-based partner promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), where he is a former and longest reigning Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship, Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion. He also wrestled for British promotion Progress Wrestling, where he is a former Progress World Champion. Ospreay began his career on the UK independent circuit in 2012. In 2016, after being recommended by AJ Styles, he began to work with the Japanese promotion NJPW as part of the junior heavyweight division, becoming a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, IWGP Junior Heavyweight C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Independent Circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. Independent promotions are essentially viewed as a minor league or farm system for the larger national promotions, as wrestlers in "indie" companies (especially young wrestlers just starting their careers) are usually honing their craft with the goal of being noticed and signed by a major national promotion such as WWE, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) (which also owns Ring of Honor (ROH)), or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in the United States, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (which is owned by WWE) or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico, or New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Dragongate, All Japan Pro Wrestling, World Wonder Ring Stardom or the CyberFight promotions in Japan. It is also not uncommon for veteran wrestlers who have had past tenures w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Weekly'' website in 2008, becoming ''Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online''. The newsletter is often considered the first "dirt sheet", which is a wrestling publication covering the art from a real-life perspective. History The beginnings of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro Wrestling Torch
Wade Keller (born May 22, 1971) is an American professional wrestling journalist who runs the ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' newsletter. Keller has hosted ''The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast'' on PodcastOne since 2017. ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' Keller founded ''Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter'' (aka ''PWTorch'', or simply ''The Torch'') in October 1987, when he was a junior in high school. The newsletter is published weekly from his Minnesota home, with the content also published to an accompanying website which was launched in 1999. Keller's work includes weekly columns, news reporting and analysis, as well as interviews in both print and audio format. He works closely with wrestlers, promoters and wrestling fans to gather the information for his features. The ''Pro Wrestling Torch Livecast'' was broadcast via BlogTalkRadio until 2017. One of the first Keller's yearly features is the ''Torch Talk'', in which he conducts interviews with wrestlers. Keller is also the host of ''Pro Wre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into fields outside of wrestling, including film, football, and other business ventures, such as licensing its intellectual property to other companies to produce video games and action figures. As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE does not promote a legitimate sporting contest but rather entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that put performers at risk of serious injury or death if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling (an industry open secret) was publicly acknowledged by WWE in 1989 to avoid regulation by athletic commissions. WWE markets its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Thornley
Peter William Thornley (born 19 October 1941) is an English retired professional wrestler who was best known for the ring character Kendo Nagasaki. The character of Nagasaki was a Japanese samurai with a mysterious past and reputed powers of healing and hypnosis. He was one of the biggest draws of all time in British wrestling, especially in the mid-1970s and the turn of the 1980s – 1990s. Thornley wore a mask for most of his career, the one significant exception being several months following a December 1977 televised voluntary unmasking ceremony. He had originally retired in 1978 but returned to competition briefly in 1981 and then again from 1986 to 1993. Thereafter he made sporadic wrestling appearances. Thornley gave occasional interviews as Kendo Nagasaki, usually photographed fully masked or with his face hidden, and often speaking through a representative. The character's voice was never heard in public. His identity as the man behind Kendo Nagasaki was first reveal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dynamite Kid
Thomas Wilton Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler. Trained by former wrestler "Dr Death" Ted Betley, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). With his cousin Davey Boy Smith, he was also known for being one half of the tag team The British Bulldogs. He had notable feuds with Tiger Mask in Japan and Bret Hart in Canada. Billington is considered by many, including Bret Hart, to have been one of wrestling's most influential in-ring performers, having increased the level of athleticism involved in the art, bringing together styles from Britain, Mexico, Canada and Japan. Early life Billington was born on 5 December 1958 in Golborne, Lancashire, near Manchester. He had two sisters and a younger brother named Mark. His father Bill and uncle Eric Billington were boxers in their youth and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Veidor
Steve Bell (born 10 January 1938), better known by the ring name Steve Veidor, is a former British heavyweight professional wrestler of the 1960s and 1970s, usually billed as ''The Handsome Heart Throb.'' Career Bell was born in Ellesmere Port, a port in Cheshire, England. After service as a corporal in the Royal Air Force as a Physical Training Instructor, Veidor took up amateur wrestling. After turning professional, he initially wrestled as Hermann Veidor and Steve Bell. He won the Royal Albert Hall Tournament Trophy on three occasions. On 15 September 1978 Veidor won the European Heavyweight Championship at Liverpool, Great Britain. Veidor made many appearances on ITV's '' World of Sport'', and has wrestled across Europe, worked in films, television game shows and commercials. He appeared alongside other wrestlers in the 1968 cult film '' The Touchables'', directed by Robert Freeman, and as Muscles in Derek Ford's 1973 film '' Keep It Up, Jack''. Between the months of Febr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
