The British Middleweight Championship is the Middleweight professional wrestling championship competed for throughout the British wrestling circuit. [1]
The title was recognised as official by national TV network ITV for the purposes of their coverage of the UK wrestling scene [2] and by its listings magazine TVTimes in accompanying magazine feature coverage. [3]
Joint Promotions established a British Middleweight title in 1952 in compliance with the resolutions of the Mountevans Committee. By 1971, this title was in the possession of Brian Maxine who continued to claim the title without dispute in an unbroken reign until 2000. Also a successful musician, Maxine wore his championship belt on the cover of record releases.
A new version of the championship was created in 2000 for TWA which became the focus of a feud between Mal Sanders and James Mason.
Meanwhile, Maxine, wrestling for Premier Promotions, continued to wear his old championship belt but no longer laid claim to the title. A contest for the belt between Maxine and Johnny Kidd on 15 March 2003 in Midhurst was strictly billed as being only for the championship belt as a possession. [4] Maxine would still be wearing the belt for appearances with LDN in 2007.
A new version of the championship was created out of a four-man tournament which saw "Golden Boy" Cameron Knite qualify over "Sadistic" Jack Storm during December 2003 in Sheffield while Johnny Kidd overcame "The Gift" Ross Jordan in Nottingham during December as well to qualify.
The final was held in Enfield, London on 24 January 2004 and saw Johnny Kidd defeat Knite, two falls to one, to be crowned first champion.
On 22 May 2004 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, "Misfit" Jorge Castano defeated Johnny Kidd for the Championship, in his third attempt, following previous contests between the two in Chingford and Nottingham, and would hold the belt up to RBW's eventual closure in late 2005. Until and unless steps are taken to reorganise this championship, Castano remains as dormant champion for the rest of his professional career.
This is a history of all combined versions of the British Middleweight title. [1]
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| # | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| N/A | The 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. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Moores | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | live event | First recorded champion | [5] |
| 2 | Billy Reilly | 1 | N/A | N/A | Wigan | live event | [5] | |
| 3 | Jack Dale | 1 | 1935 | N/A | London | live event | Won a tournament for the title. | [5] |
| 4 | Robert H Cook | 1 | 1950 | N/A | London | live event | Atholl Oakeley promotions show | [5] |
| No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tommy Mann | 1 | 1952 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 2 | Harry Fields | 1 | 1952 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 3 | Cyril Knowles | 1 | 1954 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 4 | Les Stent | 1 | 1954 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 5 | Guido Ronga | 1 | 1956 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 6 | Tommy Mann | 2 | 1956 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 7 | Harry Fields | 2 | 1958 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 8 | Bobby Steele | 1 | 1958 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 9 | Harry Fields | 3 | 1958 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 10 | Alan Colbeck | 1 | 1961 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 11 | Tommy Mann | 3 | May 1961 | 184 | Leeds | live event | [5] | |
| 12 | Chic Purvey | 1 | December 1961 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 13 | Tommy Mann | 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 14 | Chic Purvey | 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 15 | Tommy Mann | 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 16 | Chic Purvey | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 17 | Tommy Mann | 6 | May 1963 | 123 | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 18 | Bobby Steele | 2 | October 1963 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 19 | Tommy Mann | 7 | N/A | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| 20 | Bert Royal | 1 | 26 October 1963 | N/A | Manchester | live event | [5] | |
| 21 | Tommy Mann | 8 | 1963 | N/A | N/A | live event | [5] | |
| — | Vacated | — | 1963 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated upon Tommy Mann's retirement. | [5] |
| 22 | Bert Royal | 2 | 26 October 1966 | 33 | Sheffield | live event | Defeated Peter Preston for the vacant championship | [5] |
| 23 | Clayton Thomson | 1 | 28 November 1966 | 350 | Nottingham | live event | [5] | |
| 24 | Mick McManus | 1 | 13 November 1967 | 72 | London | live event | [5] | |
| 25 | Clayton Thomson | 2 | 24 January 1968 | 1,224 | London | live event | [5] | |
| 26 | Brian Maxine | 1 | 1 June 1971 | 10,076 (at least) | Croydon | live event | Maxine also held the British Welterweight championship at the start of his reign. | [5] [6] |
| Maxine continued to claim the title until 1999 [5] and last wore the belt in public at a wrestling show in 2007. | ||||||||
| No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Mason | 1 | 2000 | N/A | N/A | live event | Won the revived title in a tournament | |
| — | Vacated | — | 15 June 2002 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated after Mason failed to make weight. | |
| 2 | Mal Sanders | 1 | 18 June 2002 | 279 | Southampton | live event | During this reign, Maxine wrestled Johnny Kidd on a Premier Promotions show but only for his old belt, not the championship | |
| 3 | Steve Grey | 1 | 24 March 2003 | N/A | Southampton | live event | ||
| — | Vacated | — | 2003 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated when the TWA closed. (Grey, in any case, was also British Lightweight Champion at the time.) |
| No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Kidd | 1 | 24 January 2004 | 119 | Enfield, London | live event | Defeated Cameron Knite in a match to be crowned first champion | |
| 2 | Jorge Castano | 1 | 22 May 2004 | 7,823+ | Hitchin, Hertfordshire | live event | ||
| Under Mountevans Rules, Castano is considered a dormant champion and will remain so until he retires or the championship is reactivated. | ||||||||
Brian Maxine acknowledged as British Middleweight Champion] by anchorman Dickie Davies (Event occurs at 0:09) and by commentator Kent Walton (Event occurs at 11:14)
side panel to George Kidd interview - lists Brian Maxine as British Middleweight Champion
