| British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||
| Promotion | Joint Promotions British Wrestling Federation All Star Wrestling | ||||||
| |||||||
The British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship was one of the first Heavyweight professional wrestling championships in the United Kingdom and Australia [1] [2]
The championship was recognised and defended on matches screened by UK national television network ITV as part of the professional wrestling slot on World of Sport as well as standalone broadcasts. [3] Pre-publicity for these championship match broadcasts was given in ITV's nationally published listings magazine TVTimes [4] The retirement of final champion Count Bartelli in 1986 received coverage from sources such as ITN. [5]
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date won: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotty McDougall | 1 | 29/07/20 | Newcastle, New South Wales | |
| Billy Meeske | 1 | 1931 | New South Wales | |
| Douglas Clark | 1 | 1936 | ||
| Tom Lurich | 1 | 36/05/30 | Sydney | |
| George Pencheff | 1 | 37/07/22 | Melbourne | |
| Alan Muir | 1 | 38/02/24 | Holds both British and British Empire Titles as of 38/02/24 | |
| Earl McCready | 1 | 38/08/23 | Melbourne | George Clark vs George Pencheff on 38/12/13 in Castleford, GBR (champion unknown) |
| Bill Verna | 1 | Melbourne | ||
| Geoff Portz | 1 | 1959 | Newcastle, New South Wales | |
| Vic Stewart | 1 | Brisbane, Queensland | ||
| Ray Hunter | 2 | Brisbane, Queensland | ||
| Allen Garfield | 1 | New South Wales | ||
| Ray Hunter | 3 | Sydney | ||
| Don Steadman | 1 | 64/03/04 | London | |
| Ray Hunter | 3 | 64/10/14 | London | |
| Laurie Boyd | 1 | New South Wales | ||
| Count Bartelli | 1 | 1969 | Adelaide, South Australia | |
| George Gordienko | 1 | 1971 | Newcastle, New South Wales | |
| Albert Wall | 1 | 72/01/08 | Hanley, Staffordshire | |
| Count Bartelli | 2 | 72/09/02 | Hanley, Staffordshire | |
| Hans Streiger | 1 | 1981 | Liverpool | |
| Count Bartelli | 3 | 1981 | Melbourne | Title retired on 86/01/18 when Bartelli retires |
The history of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over one hundred years beginning in the 1920s, 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 also in a late-night midweek slot. Domestically produced professional wrestling was at its peak of popularity when the television show World of Sport was launched in the mid-1960s, making household names out of Adrian Street, Mick McManus, Giant Haystacks, Jackie Pallo, Big Daddy, Mark Rocco, Steve Veidor, Dynamite Kid, and Kendo Nagasaki.
Alexander Daniel Spilling 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 and television producer.
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The British Heavyweight Championship is a top British wrestling championship found throughout the country's circuit. The championship was recognised and defended on matches screened by UK national television network ITV as part of the professional wrestling slot on World of Sport as well as standalone broadcasts. Pre-publicity for these championship match broadcasts was given in ITV's nationally published listings magazine TVTimes.
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The British Mid-Heavyweight Championship was a top British wrestling championship found throughout the country's circuit. The title's history dates back to 1952 and runs to the present day. Officially mid-heavyweights were required to weigh between 14 st 2 lb and 14 st 12 lb. The title was recognised as official by national TV network ITV for the purposes of their coverage of the UK wrestling scene and by its listings magazine TVTimes in accompanying magazine feature coverage.
World of Sport Wrestling, currently known as WOS Wrestling, is a British professional wrestling television series and occasional promotion. It was promoted as a re-launch of the popular wrestling segment of the World of Sport sports programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 and 28 September 1985. The programme was launched on New Year's Eve 2016. It was formerly associated with the United States-based promotion, Impact Wrestling. A six-date live tour of the show's stars took place in January/February 2019. In 2024, an online-only reboot was announced.
Professional wrestling in Israel has been promoted since the 1950s after the nation's establishment.
William Woodbridge known professionally as Wayne Bridges was a British professional wrestler who was most well known for wrestling for Joint Promotions in the 1960s-80 and All Star Wrestling in the 1980s. He held the British wrestling version of the World Heavyweight Championship for most of the period 1979–1989, winning either of two branches of the title a total of three times. One of his championship wins, both of his championship defeats and several defences of his title were broadcast on ITV, on either standalone wrestling programmes or as part of the World of Sport package show. These bouts were publicised in the nationally distributed TVTimes magazine.
