British Lightweight Championship

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The British Lightweight Championship is a top British wrestling championship found throughout the country's circuit. The title's broken history dates back to the 1930s and it has most recently been claimed actively since 2021 under the auspices of Rumble Promotions who have named their version in honour of late referee Mal Mason. The official upper weight limit for the belt is 11 stone (154 pounds). [1]

Contents

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. [2] [3] [4] Pre-publicity for these championship match broadcasts was given in ITV's nationally published listings magazine TVTimes . [5] [6] [7]

This is a history of the title from its earliest recorded origins in 1933. As indicated in the table a few claimed reigns are of dubious provenance and, whilst these have been noted, they are not included as official reigns.

Title history

Key
SymbolMeaning
No.The overall championship reign
ReignThe reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
EventThe event in which the championship changed hands
N/AThe specific information is not known
Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
[Note]Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details.
No.ChampionReignDateDays heldLocationEventNotesRef.
1 George de Relwyskow 11933 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
Vacated 1940-1945N/AN/AChampionship vacated after Relwyskow is injured during the Second World War. [8]
2Joe Reid11948 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
3 Jack Dempsey 11948 [Note 1] Middlesbrough Live event   [8]
4 George Kidd 11948 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
5Alan Colbeck11949 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
6Johnny Stead11950 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
7Eric Sands130 April 1953313 Middlesbrough Live event   [8]
8Johnny Stead29 March 1954 [Note 1] London Live event   [8]
9Melwyn Rees1before December 1958 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Legacy from Stead uncertain [8]
10 Jim Breaks 116 October 19631,218 London Live event   [8]
11Alan Miquet115 February 1967671 London Live event   [8]
12Jim Breaks217 December 1968183 Leeds Live event   [8]
13Zoltan Boscik118 June 1969692 Sheffield Live event
14Jon Cortez29 June 1970 [Note 1] Aberdeen Live event   [8]
15Zoltan Boscik24 August 1970692 Aberdeen Live event
16 Johnny Saint 112 May 1971101 Sheffield Live event   [8]
17Jim Breaks321 August 19711,001 Manchester Live event   [8] [9]
18Bobby Ryan118 May 197428 Hanley, Staffordshire Live event   [8]
19Jim Breaks415 June 1974 [Note 1] Hanley, Staffordshire Live event   [8]
20 Dynamite Kid 123 March 1977 [Note 1] Manchester Live event   [8]
Vacated 1979N/AN/AChampionship vacated after Dynamite Kid won the British Welterweight Championship [8]
21Steve Grey15 April 1978448 Blackburn Live event Defeated Bobby Ryan in a tournament final. [8]
22Jim Breaks86 April 198249 Wolverhampton Live event   [8]
23Steve Grey325 May 1982331 Croydon Live event   [8]
24Jim Breaks921 April 198313 Colne Live event   [2] [8]
25Steve Grey44 May 1983323 Bradford Live event   [3] [8]
26Kid McCoy17 May 19871,126 Adwick le Street Live event   [4] [8]
Vacated After 6 June 1990N/AN/AChampionship vacated Kid McCoy leaves All Star Wrestling. [8]
27Steve Grey625 October 1990 [Note 1] Southampton Live event Defeated Boz Berry in the final of a tournament for the vacant championship [8]
28Jimmy Ocean13 September 199115 Croydon Live event   [8]
29Tony Stewart218 September 199115unknown Live event   [8]
30Jimmy Ocean117 July 199315unknown Live event   [8]
31Steve Grey7October 1993 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Still defending championship as of 1 July 2002 Only relinquishes claim on retirement (see below) [8]
Vacated 2020N/AN/AChampionship vacated after Steve Grey retired. Rumble Promotions with Grey's approval, held a 2021 tournament for a new champion in memory of referee Mal Mason. [8]
32Nino Bryant129 October 2021791+ Sittingbourne, Kent Live event Defeated Lewis Mayhew in final of tournament for vacant title renamed Mal Mason British Lightweight Title. (Grey was orginally due to be special referee for this match) [8]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 The length of the championship is too uncertain to calculate.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The location of the match was not captured as part of the documentation.

See also

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References

  1. Peter Bills, Wrestling, David & Charles, 1983, p. 62
  2. 1 2 "Jim Breaks capture of British Lightweight title from Steve Grey in Ardwick Le Street 21st April 1983". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 7 May 1983. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Steve Grey capture of British Lightweight title from Jim Breaks in Bradford 4th May 1983". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 28 May 1983.
  4. 1 2 "Kid McCoy capture of British Lightweight title from Steve Grey in Ardwick Le Street 7th May 1987,". Professional Wrestling. ITV. 27 June 1987. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  5. "British Lightweight Championship: Steve Grey v Jim Breaks". Saturday 7 May - Friday 13th May 1983 - Saturday listings page]. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  6. ""British Lightweight Championship: Jim Breaks v Steve Grey"". Saturday 28 May - Friday 3rd June 1983 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  7. ""British Lightweight Championship: Steve Grey v Kid McCoy"". Saturday 27 June - Friday 3rd July 1987 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Europe - Great Britain: British Lightweight Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 402. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
  9. "British Lightweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.