World Association of Wrestling

Last updated

World Association of Wrestling
AcronymWAW
Founded1994
Style Professional wrestling
Sports entertainment
Headquarters Norwich, Norfolk
Founder(s) Ricky Knight
Sweet Saraya
Jimmy Ocean
Owner(s) Ricky Knight
Sweet Saraya
Zak Knight [1]
Sister Bellatrix Female Warriors
Website https://wawuk.com/

World Association of Wrestling (WAW) is a British independent professional wrestling promotion founded by Ricky Knight, Sweet Saraya, and Jimmy Ocean in 1994 in Norwich, England. It is affiliated with the all-female promotion Bellatrix Female Warriors which is also owned by Saraya Knight. The promotion features British-style wrestling and uses British rules. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Ricky Knight, Sweet Saraya, and Jimmy Ocean formed WAW in 1994 in Norwich. [2] [3] Ocean left the business after approximately one year. [4] In 2005, Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya formed the World Association of Women's Wrestling, although the name was later changed to Bellatrix Female Warriors. [5]

In 2014, WAW ran more than 100 shows. [5] In September 2016, WAW began airing on Mustard TV. [2] American wrestler Scott Hall was previously a backstage agent for the promotion, working behind the scenes at television tapings and appeared in an on-screen authority role as WAW Commissioner. [1]

The promotion was featured in the 2012 Channel 4 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family about the Knight family. [1] It was featured in the film Fighting with My Family , which was based on the documentary. [1]

Former Norwich City striker Grant Holt and 2012 Olympics boxing bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo both began their wrestling careers with WAW. [6]

In 2020, WAW was featured in another documentary, this time on BBC Three. A four-part series, Step Into The Ring followed the lives of five young wrestlers battling against physical and mental health issues to pursue professional careers under the guidance of Zak Knight. [7]

WAW Academy

The promotion also includes a wrestling school, The WAW Academy, which trains in the British catch-as-catch-can wrestling style. [3] [5] Trainees perform for both WAW and Bellatrix Female Warriors. [5] The academy trains wrestlers of all ages, including children. [5] Interest in the school increased after Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya's daughter Saraya-Jade was signed by the WWE in 2011. [5] Zak Knight and Sweet Saraya are the head trainers at the academy, but they also bring in guest trainers, as well. [1] Past guest trainers have included Scott Hall, Dave Taylor, Mr. Anderson, Steve Grey, Mal Sanders, Marty Jones, Jonny Storm, Dean Allmark, and more.

Championships

Current

ChampionshipChampion(s)PreviousDate wonDaysReference
WAW World Heavyweight Championship Roy Knight PJ Knight2 April 2022671+ [8]
WAW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe Norfolk Killers (RKJ and Brett Semtex)The UK Hooligans (Zak Knight and Roy Knight)20 February 2022712+ [9]
WAW World Light Heavyweight ChampionshipAaron O'MalleyMarvel Marcus27 November 2021797+ [10]
WAW Open International ChampionshipBrody SteeleAaron O'Malley22 September 20181,959+ [11]
WAW European Heavyweight Championship Zak Zodiac Vacant28 May 2022615+ [12]
WAW British Heavyweight ChampionshipBrad Slayer Nathan Cruz 2 April 2022671+ [13]
WAW Television ChampionshipRicky Knight Jr.Alexander Young5 May 20182,099+ [14]
WAW People's ChampionshipTony Knight Saraya Knight 28 May 2022615+ [15]
WAW Under-23 ChampionshipJaiden DocwraDillon Slade19 February 2022713+ [16]
WAW Academy ChampionshipKobe NitroOscar Hyde9 April 2022664+ [17]
WAW Academy Tag Team ChampionshipHeavy Thunder (Keegan and Rip Parker)The Battlekats8 January 2022755+ [18]

Retired

ChampionshipLast champion(s)Date wonDate retiredPrevious champion(s)First champion(s)Reference
RQW World Heavyweight Championship Luke Hawx 19 March 201614 May 2016 Roy Knight Robbie Brookside [19]
RQW European Tag Team ChampionshipThe UK Hooligans (Zak Knight and Roy Knight)1 May 201514 May 2016K4 (King Kendo and Karl Kramer)Team Charming (Jack Storm and Dave Moralez) [20]
RQW European Cruiserweight ChampionshipMitchell Starr22 May 20165 June 2016Peter Nixon Bubblegum [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

Robert Edward Brooks, better known by his ring name Robbie Brookside, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works as a trainer/producer for the NXT brand. He has toured all over the world during his career, wrestling in the United States, Japan, Germany, and Mexico. He was a regular tag partner of Steve Regal in the United Kingdom and has competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's annual tournament, the Super J Cup, in 1997, where he picked up a victory over Chris Jericho.

Philip Poll is an English professional wrestler, best known by his ringname "Flying" Phil Powers, who has worked on the United Kingdom's independent circuit for over 15 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erin Marshall</span> English professional wrestler

Erin Marshall is an English professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Erin Angel. She is often nicknamed "Little" due to her short stature of 4 ft 11 in.

Roy Bevis is an English professional wrestler. He mainly competes under the ring name Roy Knight in World Association of Wrestling, which is owned and operated by his family. He has wrestled alongside his father Ricky Knight, his younger half-brother Zak Zodiac and his son Ricky Knight Jr.; with his son, he is a one-time British Tag Team Champion in Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Redman</span> English professional wrestler (born 1987)

Joel Pettyfer, is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Joel Redman. Pettyfer is best known for his work on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom, where he is a former Unified British Tag Team Champion alongside Mark Haskins in International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom and Real Quality Wrestling and was a regular competitor in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance. He is also known for working in WWE's developmental territory NXT under the ring name Oliver Grey, where he was one half of the inaugural NXT Tag Team Champions along with Adrian Neville, often collectively known as British Ambition.

The UK Pitbulls are a professional wrestling tag team that consists of brothers Bulk and Big Dave. They previously held a number of titles in the United Kingdom, United States, as well as 11 countries worldwide. Their career as a tag team ended for some years when Dave sustained an injury in a strongman contest. They held 20 tag team championships. They were named "England's Most Dominant Tag Team" by Total Wrestling Magazine. After Big Dave's injury and a sustained period of rehab over many years the pair are wrestling again as the UK Pitbulls and have featured in Fightmare Norwich 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Burch</span> British professional wrestler

Martyn Harris is an English professional wrestler best known for his time with WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand under the ring name Danny Burch. He is a former one time NXT Tag Team Champion with Oney Lorcan. He has worked in the British independent circuit under the ring name Martin Stone with promotions such as Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA), and International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK).

Daniel "Boy" Collins is an English professional wrestler. Noted for his agile, gymnastic style in the ring, he has toured successfully across Europe and Japan and held British, European and World titles in five different weight divisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jetta (wrestler)</span> British professional wrestler (born 1987)

Victoria Owen is a British professional wrestler who wrestles as Jetta. She is best known for her work on the independent circuit in England with various promotions including LDN Wrestling, ChickFight and Real Quality Wrestling where she is the current Women's Champion. She also wrestles in America with Shimmer Women Athletes, where she is part of the alliance The International Home Wrecking Crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesna</span> Croatian German professional wrestler

Wesna Busic is a Croatian German professional wrestler She mostly wrestled in Germany, but also over all of Europe as well as in Japan and America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saraya Bevis</span> British professional wrestler (born 1992)

Saraya Jade Bevis is an English professional wrestler. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs mononymously as Saraya. She is currently the leader of The Outcasts and is a former one-time AEW Women's World Champion. She is also known for her time with WWE under the ring name Paige. She was the youngest female champion in WWE history, a two-time WWE Divas Champion, and the inaugural NXT Women's Champion. The only woman to have won women's championships in both WWE and AEW, she also remains the only woman to hold both a WWE and NXT Women's Championship simultaneously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Saraya</span> English professional wrestler (born 1971)

Julia Hamer-Bevis, better known by her ring names Sweet Saraya and Saraya Knight, is an English professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. She is the mother of AEW wrestler Saraya, who was known as Paige in WWE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Haskins</span> British professional wrestler

Mark Haskins, is an English professional wrestler. He is known internationally for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as well as his appearances in Ring of Honor, Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Dragon Gate, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zak Zodiac</span> British professional wrestler

Zak Bevis is an English professional wrestler. He mainly competes under the ring names Zak Knight or Zak Zodiac in World Association of Wrestling, which is owned and operated by his family. He also regularly leads training for his family's wrestling school and has done seminars for other companies.

Patrick Frary is an English professional wrestling trainer, promoter, owner, and former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Ricky Knight. He is the owner of the World Association of Wrestling promotion in Norwich.

<i>Fighting with My Family</i> 2019 film by Stephen Merchant

Fighting with My Family is a 2019 biographical sports comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephen Merchant. Based on the 2012 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family by Max Fisher, it depicts the career of English professional wrestler Paige as she makes her way to WWE, while also following her brother Zak Zodiac, as he struggles with his failure to achieve similar success. Florence Pugh and Jack Lowden star as Paige and Zodiac respectively, alongside Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Vince Vaughn, and Dwayne Johnson, with the latter also acting as producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellatrix Female Warriors</span>

Bellatrix Female Warriors, also known as Bellatrix, is a British independent women's professional wrestling promotion based in Norwich. The company was founded by Sweet Saraya in 2006 as the World Association of Women's Wrestling, a sister company to her husband Ricky Knight's World Association of Wrestling. The promotion tours theatres, leisure centres, and town halls.

Yasmin Josephine Lander is an English professional wrestler best known under the ring name, Charlie Morgan. She is known for her appearances in Progress Wrestling, Bellatrix Female Warriors, World Association of Wrestling, Southside Wrestling Entertainment, as well as Pro-Wrestling: EVE where she is a former champion. Morgan also worked for WWE in their NXT UK division.

Ricky Bevis, better known by his ring name Ricky Knight Jr., is an English professional wrestler, currently working with Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), where he is a former Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion.

Alice Olivia Walker, better known by her ring name Alex Windsor, is an English professional wrestler currently working for Revolution Pro Wrestling, where she a former Undisputed British Women's Champion. She is best known for her time in Pro-Wrestling: EVE and various promotions from the European independent scene.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Evans, Aaron (April 30, 2017). "Zak Knight talks about the growth of WAW, Paige's future and The Rock falling in love with his family". Memorabilia Guy. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Hannant, David (August 12, 2016). "World Association of Wrestling set to hit the screens of Mustard TV". Norwich Evening News. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "The History of WAW". WAW. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  4. ↑ "INTERVIEW: ZAK KNIGHT, SWEET SARAYA AND RICKY KNIGHT". The Student Pocket Guide. July 1, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Murphy, Dan. "Europeans stars ready to shine at Bellatrix 8". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  6. ↑ "From Premier League player to wrestler, Grant Holt on his love of grappling, meeting Billy Gunn and WWE". Talksport.
  7. ↑ "BBC Three - Step into the Ring". BBC. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  8. ↑ "WAW World Heavyweight Championship". WAW. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "WAW World Tag Team Championship". WAW. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "WAW World Light Heavyweight Championship". WAW. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "WAW Open International Championship". WAW. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  12. ↑ "WAW European Heavyweight Championship". WAW. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "WAW British Heavyweight Championship". WAW. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "WAW Television Championship". WAW. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  15. ↑ "WAW People's Championship". WAW. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  16. ↑ "WAW Under-23 Championship". WAW. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  17. ↑ "WAW Academy Championship". WAW. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  18. ↑ "WAW Academy Tag Team Championship". WAW. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  19. ↑ "RQW World Heavyweight Championship". WAW. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  20. ↑ "RQW European Tag Team Championship". WAW. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  21. ↑ "RQW European Cruiserweight Championship". WAW. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.