Welsh Wrestling

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Welsh Wrestling at Trecco Bay in August 2015 Welsh Wrestling at Trecco Bay in August 2015.jpg
Welsh Wrestling at Trecco Bay in August 2015

Welsh Wrestling is the national Welsh professional wrestling promotion, holding live professional wrestling events across Wales, as well as in Scotland and England. [1]

Contents

The wrestling is hybrid of American wrestling and traditional British wrestling, with contests most often contested under 'one-fall' rules.

Wrestlers on the card will typically be larger-than-life, both in persona and physique - with the heroes drawing influence from wrestling stars like Hulk Hogan, Big Daddy and Rey Mysterio and the villains bringing with them traits popularized by past performers Kendo Nagasaki, Ravishing Rick Rude, Superstar Billy Graham and others.[ citation needed ]

Throughout each year, the roster perform in front of several thousand fans at primarily theatre-based venues. The live events run around two hours in duration, with a short interval, and are typically headlined by either a Battle Royal, Royal Rumble or multi-man tag team match, with an array of singles bouts on the undercard.[ citation needed ]

At the conclusion of each event, Welsh Wrestling offers a backstage pass – allowing spectators to meet the evening's wrestlers, take photographs with them and collect autographs.

The Welsh Wrestling touring roster has showcased wrestlers with experience from WWE, TNA Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, Ohio Valley Wrestling and promotions across Europe. WWE NXT athletes Oliver Grey [2] and Gavin Reid [3] worked extensively for Welsh Wrestling prior to signing their developmental contracts and moving to the United States.

In 2017, Ravenhill set up the Welsh Wrestling Training Academy, based in Morfa, Swansea.[ citation needed ]

International stars

In the early days of Welsh Wrestling, international talents including Billy Kidman, Chad Collyer and Joe E. Legend were brought in for various big events. However, in recent years the promotion has maintained a policy of promoting quality domestic talent. Among the British WWE superstars to have plied their trade in a Welsh Wrestling ring are the former Intercontinental Champion, Wade Barrett, as well as Mark Andrews, Pete Dunne and others. Promoter Alan Ravenhill also helped to introduce former Impact Wrestling star Rob Terry to the wrestling business, after a chance encounter in the Swansea area in the mid-2000s. Through his association with Orig Williams, Ravenhill has been a long-time advocate of North Wales grappler Mason Ryan, who has also wrestled on the Welsh Wrestling circuit.

Celebrity involvement

Premiership footballer and Wales captain Ashley Williams has appeared in Welsh Wrestling, [4] participating in an in-ring angle with Mean Tommy Dean.

Venues

Grand Slam Wrestling

Welsh Wrestling also hold wrestling events in England under the Grand Slam Wrestling banner, in towns including Abingdon, Bude, Banbury, Brackley, Cheltenham, [36] Crewe, [37] Colne, [38] Congleton, [39] Craven Arms, Didcot, Eastbourne, Henley-on-Thames, Kidlington, Kettering, Newbury, Oswestry, Ormskirk, Oxford, Plymouth, Poole, Reading, Walburton, Witney and Weymouth. These shows typically use a similar structure, ethos and talent pool as the Welsh Wrestling shows.

Roster

The Welsh Wrestling touring roster typically consists of 8-12 heavyweight and super heavyweight wrestlers at any one time, with light heavyweights and guest talent featuring often as further attractions. Women's matches are a rarity in Welsh Wrestling, but have been known to occur as a special attraction.

Welsh Heavyweight Championship

History

The inaugural Welsh Heavyweight Champion was crowned at a special "King of the Castle" tournament in Harlech on 1 May 2010, run in association with Cadw at the Harlech Castle site. [40] The six-man tournament consisted of three singles matches, which saw contenders Dafydd Rhys, The Saint and JD Knight eliminated. The final match was contested under triangle rules, and saw James Mason defeat both Kade Callous and Danny Garnell to win the championship.

In 2023 the Welsh Heavyweight Champion is Ricky Bamba, who beat Big Dog for the championship. [41]

In 2023 Stevie Starr holds the record for longevity, with 6 reigns lasting a total of 2050 days [42]

Champions

#Order in reign history
ReignThe reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed
EventThe event in which the title was won
—Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
N/AThe information is not available or is unknown
+Indicates the current reign is changing daily
#WrestlerReignDateDays heldLocationNotes
1 James Mason 11 May 2010175 Harlech, Wales Defeated Danny Garnell and Kade Callous in a tournament final three-way elimination match to become the inaugural champion.
2 Kade Callous 123 October 2010480 Builth Wells, Wales
3Stevie Starr115 February 2012142 Llanelli, Wales
4Tommy Dean16 July 20127 Machynlleth, Wales
5 Bison Brody 113 July 201272 Blaengarw, Wales
6Iestyn Rees123 September 2012151 Cardiff, Wales
7 Bison Brody 221 February 201365 Maesteg, Wales
8Stevie Starr227 April 2013397 Swansea, Wales
9 Kade Callous 229 May 201463 Barry, Wales
10Stevie Starr331 July 2014200 Tenby, Wales
11 Kade Callous 316 February 2015102 Llanelli, Wales
— Vacated —29 May 2015—N/A
12 John „The Machine" Titan 129 May 2015232 Barry, Wales Won a tournament for vacant title
13 Kade Callous 416 January 201684 Blackwood, Wales
14 John „The Machine" Titan 29 April 201655 Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
15Stevie Starr43 June 2016266 Barry, Wales This was a three-way match, also involving Kade Callous.
16 Kade Callous 524 February 201798 Swansea, Wales
17 John „The Machine" Titan 32 June 201792 Aberdare, Wales
18 Sterling Gold, Esq. 12 September 2017119 Cardiff, Wales
19 Kid Cymru 130 December 2017111 Lampeter, Wales
20 The Klown 120 April 2018370 Trecco Bay, Wales This was a three-way match, also involving Sterling Gold, Esq.
21Stevie Starr524 April 2019865 Trecco Bay, Wales
22Chris Recall14 September 202122 Trecco Bay, Wales
23Stevie Starr625 September 201196 Swansea, Wales
24Chris Recall28 April 202213Caerphilly, Wales
25Big Dog120 April 2022139 Tenby, Wales
26Ricky Bamba124 August 2022371 Tenby, Wales

Affiliation

Welsh Wrestling is Wales' representative in the Union of European Wrestling Alliances (UEWA), [43] which recognizes the Welsh Heavyweight Championship as the country's premier title. As part of their membership, the promotion has hosted one of the few European Heavyweight Championship title matches on UK soil [44] and sent light heavyweight standout Wild Boar to represent them at the inaugural European Cruiserweight Championship tournament in Oslo, Norway. [45]

See also

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References

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