Also known as | Riley's Riley's Gym 蛇の穴 / スネーク・ピット Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club Aspull Wrestling Club Wigan |
---|---|
Date founded | 1948 |
Country of origin | England |
Founder | Billy Riley |
Current head | Roy Wood, Andrea Wood |
Arts taught | Catch wrestling Freestyle wrestling |
Ancestor arts | Lancashire wrestling |
Practitioners | Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Bert Assirati, Jack Dempsey, [lower-alpha 1] Billy Joyce , Les Thornton, Dynamite Kid, Maria Dunn |
Official website | snakepitwigan |
The Snake Pit is a wrestling gym and organisation in Aspull, Wigan Borough, England. It hosts the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club. [lower-alpha 2] Founded in 1948 by Billy Riley in the town of Wigan, it was originally known as Riley's Gym. Riley was succeeded by Roy Wood, one of his last living students. [2] [3] In December 2023, Wood was recognised on the 2024 New Year Honours and awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) "for services to wrestling and young people" after coaching for almost 50 years. [4] [5] [6]
The gym has been a significant influence on the evolution of catch-as-catch-can (CACC), freestyle, and professional wrestling, as well as mixed martial arts (MMA), especially in Japan. Riley was the head coach for over 20 years, teaching the Lancashire style of catch wrestling, and the gym became known in Britain and internationally for producing skilled wrestlers. Riley closed the gym in the early 1970s due to theatrics overtaking legitimate skills in pro wrestling but it was soon revived through a community effort, with Roy Wood becoming head coach, assisted by Riley and other veteran wrestlers. The gym switched to freestyle wrestling, producing champions and international competitors, and hosting the Aspull Freestyle Wrestling International for over 35 years. The gym moved to Aspull during this time, establishing the Aspull Wrestling Club. [2] [3] [7] [8] [9] An exhibition about Riley and the gym began at the Leigh Town Hall in April 2024. [10]
The gym continued to be one of the most essential sources for preserving catch wrestling and began to formally promote the style again in 2012 through competitions, training, and certification. [2] [3] [7] The Snake Pit has hosted the Catch Wrestling World Championships since 2018. [11] The 2024 Catch Wrestling British Championships are scheduled for August 10, followed by the World Championships on September 7. [12] [13]
Billy Riley was a skilled professional wrestler in an era where bouts were still legitimate. [2] [14] [15] [16] Riley trained in pubs like the Crispin Arms or at his home before he and a handful of other wrestlers, who were also tradesmen, combined their resources to purchase a plot of land and build a dedicated gym in the Whelley area of the town of Wigan. [3] [17] [18] [19] [20] The gym opened in 1948 to teach Lancashire style catch-as-catch-can (CACC), freestyle, and professional wrestling (termed "show wrestling"). [2] [20]
The original building was described as a shed or shack with a tin roof, bare bricks inside, a worn wrestling mat stuffed with horse hair, a coal stove for heat, no toilet, rusting weights, and a shower in the corner that only had cold water. [2] [21] [22] : 35:25 [23] [24] [25] Riley was an active coach, known for hard training and demanding every opponent be approached as world-class, even if they were only a novice. [3] [26] He wanted to be confident in his students' skills and was known for phrases like “you can never train too hard” and "do it again." [22] : 48:00 [27] [28] He also kept a room of books and reference materials for wrestling. [29] Billy Joyce and other veteran wrestlers would regularly coach alongside Riley. Many of the trainees were miners and hoped to boost their incomes by wrestling. [2] [22] : 42:11 [30] There was a common saying that someone reaching into a local mine would grab either a wrestler or rugby player. [22] : 36:37 [25] The professionals usually trained in the morning and worked shows in the evening, then the wrestlers with day jobs trained after work. [31] Since there had been legitimate wrestlers in every family, it became impossible to hold theatrical-style pro wrestling in Wigan. [32] [33] Riley did not make much money as a coach because he kept his member fees modest. [2] In 1964, they were only two shillings and six pence (2s. 6., a half crown, equivalent to £3.2in 2023), despite a wrestler like Karl Gotch reportedly earning £30,000 (equivalent to £767,899.5in 2023) annually. [32] Although the training was tough and many visitors were one-time-only, the gym had unwritten rules against breaking limbs, eye-poking, hair-pulling, and similar behaviour. [3] [34] [35] : 34ː43 Women and children were also disallowed in those days. [14] [24] [36]
The hard-nosed environment produced some of the most popular and skilled wrestlers of their time, such as Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Bert Assirati, Jack Dempsey, [lower-alpha 1] Les Thornton, and Billy Joyce (Bob Robinson). Other wrestlers from the gym included Ernie Riley (Billy Riley's son), Joe Robinson (Billy Joyce's brother), Melvyn Riss (Harold Winstanley), John Foley, Alan Latham (Francis Sullivan), Mick and Seamus Dunleavy, Billy Chambers, Len Wetherby, Jackie Cheers, Frank Riley, Jimmy Hart, Alan Hartwood, Harry Duvall, Ken Baldwin, John Naylor, Brian Burke, and Roy Wood. [2] [3] [36] [37] As well as Bob Sherry (Jimmy Niblett) [38] [39] El Diablo (Tony Francis), [40] George Gregory, [29] Count Bartelli (Geoff Condliffe), [41] Jack Mountford, [25] and Tommy Heyes. [14]
The gym became well-known internationally and hosted wrestlers from countries including France, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Spain, India, Pakistan, Turkey, the United States, and Canada. [42] Riley also encouraged his wrestlers to bring knowledge back from other gyms and styles. During Billy Robinson's eight years at Riley's, he was sent to Hungary to learn Greco-Roman wrestling, and to Sweden and Germany. [43] : 141 Gotch, Robinson, Joyce, Thornton, and other Riley's wrestlers toured Japan, where the wrestlers and their style developed an enduring popularity. Rumours of the gym's reputation inspired the "Tiger's Den" in Tiger Mask, a manga and anime series about pro wrestling, and Robinson inspired the manga/anime character Robin Mask. [44] [45] [46] [47]
Although Riley's was the most well-known gym, it had several rivals such as the Belshaws, who were a family of undertakers that specialised in takedowns. [27] They had been trained by Billy Riley's coach Willie "Pop" Charnock, who also had his own gym. [2] [9] [48]
Riley's was featured in "The Wrestlers", a documentary by ITV Granada, which premiered on September 5, 1967. The documentary focused on the lives and personalities of popular pro wrestlers outside the ring, featuring Billy Robinson, Les Kellett, Johnny Eagles, Vic Faulkner, Abe Ginsberg, Jim Hussey, Alan Dennison, and Roy "Bull" Davis, along with Billy Riley. It was directed by Michael Elster, filmed by David Wood, produced by Denis Mitchell, edited by Leonard Trumm, with sound recording by John Muxworthy. [42] [49] [50] [51] [52]
By the 1970s, the theatrical elements of pro wrestling had completely overtaken legitimate wrestling ability and Riley closed his famous gym. However, the gym was revived when Roy Wood's son Darren and a friend wanted to wrestle, but it needed repairs first. Using materials donated by Bill Swiers, a group of locals rebuilt the gym to twice the original size. Wood then became the head coach and Riley returned to mentor from his chair, along with Tommy Heyes. Riley's converted to freestyle wrestling because there were no opportunities for catch wrestlers in Britain coupled with safety concerns for training youth. Riley's grandsons Mark and Paul, and nephew Patrick Burns also trained at the revived gym. [2] [3] [14] [24] [25] [53] After a lifetime in wrestling, Billy Riley died on September 15, 1977. [54]
The gym consistently produced British champions and top competitors. [22] : 35ː19, 43ː35 In 1986, Darren Wood won gold in freestyle wrestling at the European Cadets Championship followed by gold at the 1987 Cadet World Championships and the 1987 British Senior Championships. [55] [56]
On February 7, 1989, the documentary series First Tuesday premiered "The Wigan Hold", produced by Roger Finnegan, focusing on Riley's gym. [57] [58] The piece focused on the lives of Ernie Riley and Tommy Moore (Jack Dempsey); Riley, Moore, and Roy Wood coaching youth; retrospectives on wrestling history in Wigan, Billy Riley, the gym, and theatrical pro wrestling. It also included archival footage from "The Wrestlers" documentary of Riley coaching a young Wood. [22] The deteriorating state of the facility and lack of resources shown on the programme prompted a government offer to renovate the gym. Instead, the decision was made to relocate, establishing the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club (AOWC). [7] [25] [36] [59] The original gym was later demolished after a fire and houses were built on the land. [3] [60]
In 1990, Japanese pro wrestlers Kazuo Sakurada and KY Wakamatsu approached Billy Joyce, who directed them to Wood, with an offer to coach in Japan for Super World of Sports (SWS). After a training session, Wood and Joyce took them to the ruins of Riley's, where the visitors looked noticeably upset by the famed gym's condition and offered financial assistance to rebuild it. Wood then travelled to Japan and coached the SWS roster in Lancashire-style catch wrestling. He ended his tour with an exhibition match in front of 17,000 spectators at Yokohama Arena. [2] [20] [19] [61] During this trip, Wood broke the leg of a Japanese wrestler who challenged him, which convinced the others of his ability. [53]
In 1993, the club had another visitor from Japan, Osamu Matsunami. An 18-year-old Matsunami had learned about the club from an article about Dynamite Kid in Weekly Gong magazine (No. 257, May 25, 1989). A quote by Joyce in the article inspired Matsunami's interest in Lancashire wrestling, which grew when Wood coached for SWS in 1990. In May 1993, Matsunami made his first trip to the club, despite knowing little English or the location. [62] [63] [64] After an extended journey and the assistance of several people, Matsunami met Wood, who introduced Matsunami to his family and the community. Matsunami accompanied Wood for several days, including wrestling practices, meeting Riley's wrestlers, and visiting the ruins of Riley's. His visit was covered by the Wigan Post. [60] [62] Matsunami made several more journeys to Wigan, staying for several months at a time. He trained with Wood, Ernie Riley, Billy Joyce, and several other wrestlers, and helped Wood coach kids classes. Matsunami also competed, including a trip to France early-on and placing fifth at the 1995 British Freestyle Wrestling Championships. [62] [65] [66]
In 1995, Osamu Nishimura visited and trained at the gym. Soon after, Wood was recruited by Nishimura's mentor Tatsumi Fujinami, a popular pro wrestler and then-president of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), to train NJPW's roster. [36] [64] [67] [68] In Japan, Wigan and Riley's were regarded as the spiritual home of wrestling, and Fujinami viewed CACC as the foundation of pro wrestling and wanted it to be preserved. [69] [70] Wood was accompanied by five wrestlers including Shane Rigby, a three-time Commonwealth silver medallist from Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club, who learned catch wrestling under Wood. [71] [72] [73] After the success of the first tour, Wood coached in Japan several more times and NJPW held several Lancashire wrestling-style shows featuring Wood's wrestlers under the brand "Muga" (無我, selflessness). [64] [67] [74] [75]
Other visitors from Japan included Shigeo Miyato, Yoji Anjo, and UWF booker Shinji Sasazaki. In 1999, Miyato founded a gym based on Riley's, the UWF Snake Pit Japan (now CACC Snake Pit Japan ), with Billy Robinson and Lou Thesz as the first head coaches. [45] [64] [76]
In 2000, Roy Wood and his daughter Andrea helped establish freestyle wrestling programs at several schools in Greater Manchester, one of which quickly won back-to-back British championships for boys and girls. [77] [78] Wood had pushed for more female participation in wrestling since the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club's opening. [3] He also worked with the St Helens and Wigan Warriors rugby clubs to introduce wrestling into professional rugby, with St Helens going on to win the Challenge Cup soon after. [2] [6] Paul Stridgeon, a student of Wood and a British freestyle champion, transitioned to professional rugby, coaching for clubs including the England national team and Wales national team. [56] [79] [80]
In 2008, Wood coached the British wrestling team for the Commonwealth Youth Games in India. [81] In April 2009, Wood was voted as the England-Northern representative for British Wrestling's then-newly established Nations & Regions Committee. [82] In May 2010, AOWC was among the first clubs to receive British Wrestling's Clubmark certification. [83] [84]
Wood coached Maria Dunn, a freestyle wrestler from Guam, for the 2012 Olympics. [3] [85] Wood and Ben Johnson also served as torchbearers for the Olympic flame. [86] Dunn later married Bolton wrestling coach Nathan Tully and they founded the Snakepit Wrestling Academy in Guam. Tully died in 2020 after a battle with cancer. [87] [88] The Nathan Tully award "for dedication to grassroots/paying it forward" is presented in his memory at the Catch Wrestling World Championships. [89]
The club hosted the Aspull Freestyle Wrestling International for 35 years as of 2012. [3] [90]
In February 2009, Wood was named "coach of the year" at the ninth annual Wigan and Leigh Borough Sports Awards for mentoring coaches, coaching British wrestlers at the Commonwealth Youth Games, and preparing 2012 Olympic hopefuls. Nicky Slack, also from AOWC, was named "volunteer of the year." [81]
In 2011, Wood was the North West regional winner of the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award, recognising "outstanding contribution by individuals at the grassroots level of sport." [91] In November 2012, Wood received the "coach of the year" and the "be inspired" awards at the Greater Manchester Sports Awards, [92] and AOWC was named "club of the year" at the Borough Sports Awards. [93]
In December 2023, after almost 50 years of coaching, Wood was recognised on the 2024 New Year Honours and awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) "for services to wrestling and young people." [4] [5] [6]
The often-anachronistic "Snake Pit" (蛇の穴 / スネーク・ピット) name was popularised in Japan. In Britain, the gym was known as "Riley's." [3] [53] Wood was unaware of the "Snake Pit" moniker until his trip to coach in Japan for SWS. [35] : 12ː00
The Snake Pit took its current form around 2011. Due to prior frustrations, Wood maintained his focus on freestyle wrestling until his daughter, Andrea, convinced her father to help preserve the sport of catch wrestling by coaching again. [2] [3] Alongside the 35th Aspull Freestyle Wrestling International in November 2012, [90] The Snake Pit held the first catch wrestling matches to take place in Wigan in fifty years, with participants from Britain and Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan. [94] [95] [96] [97] The Snake Pit also held its first certification that month. Osamu Matsunami and Ian Bromley became the first certified coaches and Riley's Gym Kyoto became the first certified affiliate gym. [94] Since then, The Snake Pit has held regular workshops, interclub competitions, and annual "international weeks" for foreign visitors. [2] [98] [99]
The Snake Pit marked its 70th anniversary with the first annual Catch Wrestling World Championships on November 2, 2018. The event was held at the University of Bolton Stadium and featured competitors from the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, South Africa, Sweden, Lithuania and New Zealand. [11] [100]
After the death of coach Ian Bromley in February 2019, The Snake Pit partnered with the charity Andy's Man Club (AMC) to raise awareness and combat stigma around mental health. The 2019 Catch Wrestling World Championships in November were held in tribute to Bromley. A message from the charity's founder and footage of Bromley's final interview were played between matches. A voluntary group was also set up, promoting the hashtag #17:17. [lower-alpha 3] AMC donated wristbands, flyers and other items to be given out at the event. [101] [102] [103] The award for best/outstanding wrestler at the World Championships was named in Bromley's honour. [104] The number of entrants for the event doubled from the previous year, including accomplished grapplers and mixed martial artists such as Olga McGlinchey (2012 world championships bronze medallist and Olympian), UFC fighters John Hathaway and Tom Watson, and Nathaniel Brown, a 2019 British freestyle silver medallist. [102] [105]
In January 2022, documents found in the Snake Pit's archives helped reveal Britain's first black Olympian - Louis Bruce, a biracial wrestler and tram driver from Edinburgh, Scotland. It was previously thought that Harry Edward was Britain's first black Olympian. [106]
After a two-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on June 4, 2022 at the University of Bolton Stadium. [89] [107] The event featured 33 competitors wrestling in a total of 29 matches. [19]
The Snake Pit held the 2023 Catch Wrestling British Championships on August 5 at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan, England. The tournament was open to competitors residing in the British Isles. [108] [109]
The 2023 Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on October 28 at the University of Bolton Stadium. [110] Previous champions Josh Barnett and Owen Livesey faced each-other in the headline bout. [111] [112] This event had the most international competitors to date, including an American team assembled by Barnett - the ACWA Warbringers, all of whom reached the finals in their divisions. [113]
In April 2024, Leigh Town Hall began hosting an exhibition about Billy Riley, catch wrestling, and the gym. Supported by funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, it preserves and displays memorabilia contributed to the collection by The Snake Pit and others. [10]
Under head coach Billy Riley:
Under head coach Roy Wood:
The Snake Pit's certified coaches are Greg Crompton and Chris Lomas, along with level 2 coaches Kevin Lloyd, Wei Tran, Mark Ganaden, Rikk Georgiades, and level 1 coach Jimmy Kelly. [123] [124]
At present, Riley's Gym Kyoto is the only Snake Pit certified affiliate club in the world. [123] Wood named the gym in Riley's honour. Its head coach, Osamu Matsunami, made several extended trips to Wigan to train with Wood and other Riley's wrestlers, and trained in Tokyo with Billy Robinson and Shigeo Miyato. [62] [125] Matsunami and Ian Bromley were the first two coaches to be certified in 2012. [94]
The gym has been well-known in Britain [42] [49] [126] [127] and internationally for decades, [42] [73] being regarded as a home [69] and mecca [22] : 35:19 for wrestling due to its influence on catch-as-catch-can, professional, and freestyle wrestling, as well as mixed martial arts (MMA). [3] [25] The gym's Lancashire catch wrestling style produced some of the most popular and skilled professionals of their time (see above) before transitioning to freestyle wrestling and consistently developing top wrestlers and British champions, with pro wrestlers occasionally training there as well. [22] : 43:35 [25] The gym became one of the most essential sources to preserve catch wrestling as the style struggled to survive. [3] [19]
Outside of Britain, the gym's influence has been felt most in Japan, where Riley's wrestlers including Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Billy Joyce, Les Thornton, Dynamite Kid, and others regularly toured, with Gotch and Robinson in particular becoming very popular in the country. [19] [44] [46] [47] The gym's reputation was an inspiration for the "Tiger's Den" in Tiger Mask, a manga and anime series about pro wrestling, and Robinson inspired the character Robin Mask in the Kinnikuman manga/anime series. [44] [45] [46]
Along with their in-ring careers, Gotch and Robinson became prolific coaches and trained students in the Riley's style for decades. Gotch was a trainer at the JWA and NJPW dojos, and a booker for NJPW. His students included Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Satoru Sayama (the first Tiger Mask), Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, Minoru Suzuki, and Masakatsu Funaki. [8] [19] Robinson's students included Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura, Shigeo Miyato, and Hideki Suzuki. Gotch, Robinson, and their students innovated a realistic pro wrestling style, leading to Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki, the UWF and Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, and setting a foundation for modern MMA. Sayama founded Super Tiger Gym followed by Shooto in 1985, to combine catch wrestling with striking for legitimate competition. Shooto held its first professional event in 1989, several years before the UFC was established. [8] [128] In 1993, Suzuki and Funaki co-founded and competed in Pancrase, a shootfighting promotion which held its first event a month before UFC 1. Gotch suggested the name as a reference to the ancient Olympic sport of pankration. [129] [130] Maeda founded RINGS, a shoot-style pro wrestling promotion that transitioned to MMA. And Takada co-founded PRIDE, one of the most popular MMA promotions in history. These promotions and their associated training facilities produced many of the top Japanese and international MMA fighters of their time. [8] [131] Among them were Sakuraba and Tamura. Sakuraba utilised catch wrestling to regularly defeat the best fighters of his time despite often being much smaller, and was nicknamed "The Gracie Hunter" for his victories over four members of the Gracie jiu-jitsu family including Royce. [115] [132] Tamura performed well at the top levels of MMA, later founding the gym U-FILE CAMP and the promotion U-STYLE. [133] [134] Other notable gyms include Kiguchi Dojo , founded by Sayama's associate Noriaki Kiguchi, who also founded combat wrestling ; [135] [136] Paraestra , founded by Sayama's student Yuki Nakai; [137] and CACC Snake Pit Japan , founded by Miyato as UWF Snake Pit Japan, with Robinson and Lou Thesz as the first head coaches. [45] [64] [76]
After establishing itself in Japan, the style expanded abroad. In 1989, Shooto instructor Yorinaga Nakamura immigrated to the United States. He became training partners with Dan Inosanto and they established the first Shooto school outside of Japan. [138] In 1993, Ken Shamrock brought the style from Pancrase to the UFC, became the inaugural Pancrase Champion and UFC Superfight Champion, and founded the first MMA team, the Lion's Den. [139] Americans Maurice Smith [140] [141] and Frank Shamrock, [142] [143] and the Dutch Bas Rutten [144] also trained in the catch-based Pancrase style and went on to become UFC champions. [131] Erik Paulson trained under Nakamura and Inosanto, becoming a Shooto champion and coach. According to Paulson, the Shooto submission lock-flows are all based on the Riley's style. [145] Paulson coached notable fighters including Brock Lesnar, Sean Sherk, Renato Sobral, Cub Swanson, and Lesnar's team on The Ultimate Fighter 13, which included winner Tony Ferguson. [146] [147] In 1994, Matt Hume began his MMA career fighting in Pancrase. Hume was a pioneer of American MMA, having co-founded the AMC Pankration gym several years prior to combine grappling and striking. He cited Suzuki, Funaki, and Ken Shamrock as significant influences on his career. [145] [148] Hume was a primary coach for world champions Josh Barnett, [149] [150] Demetrious Johnson, [151] Jeff Monson, [149] and Rich Franklin. [152] [153] Barnett became one of the most prominent modern catch wrestlers, also trained under Robinson and Paulson, and coached Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shafir, and Victor Henry. [150] [154] [155] He founded the American Catch Wrestling Association (ACWA), which assembled a dominant team for the 2023 Catch Wrestling World Championships. [113] The ACWA then held the first modern US National Championships for catch wrestling in December 2023, with over 90 wrestlers competing across 10 weight classes. [156] [157]
After Wood coached her for the 2012 Olympics, Maria Dunn and her husband Nathan Tully, a Bolton wrestling coach, established the Snakepit Wrestling Academy in Guam. [88] [158]
Wood also worked with the St Helens and Wigan Warriors rugby clubs to introduce wrestling into professional rugby, with St Helens going on to win the Challenge Cup soon after. [2] [6] Paul Stridgeon, a student of Wood and a British freestyle champion, transitioned to professional rugby, coaching with the Wasps, Toulon, Broncos, England national team, and Wales national team. [56] [79] [80]
The Snake Pit held its first Catch Wrestling World Championships on November 2, 2018 at the University of Bolton Stadium, featuring competitors from the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, South Africa, Sweden, Lithuania and New Zealand. Results: [11] [100]
100+ kg Super heavyweight | 100 kg Heavyweight | 90 kg Light heavyweight | 82 kg Middleweight | 74 kg Welterweight | 68 kg Lightweight | 74 kg Female | 63 kg Female |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Josh Barnett | Wade Barrick | John Hathaway | Greg Crompton | Dominic Dillon | John Byrne | Sami Fletcher | Chareen Millward |
Additionally, super heavyweight champion Josh Barnett and heavyweight runner-up Ian Jones faced each-other in a challenge match that went to a draw. Heavyweight champion Wade Barrick was named the "best wrestler" of the event, Ian Bromley, Ian Jones and Greg Crompton were recognised for coaching, and Roy Wood received a lifetime achievement award for sixty years of service. [11] [100]
The 2019 Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on November 1 at the University of Bolton Stadium. The event was held in memory of coach Ian Bromley. [102] Results: [104]
100+ kg Super heavyweight | 100 kg Heavyweight | 82 kg Middleweight | 74 kg Welterweight | 68 kg Lightweight | 63 kg female Featherweight |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Lomas | Ian Jones | John Hathaway (2) | Dinu Bucalet | Brett Hawthorn | Olga McGlinchey |
Additionally, middleweight champion John Hathaway faced Nathaniel Brown in a challenge match, which Hathaway won. Hathaway received the Ian Bromley trophy as "best male wrestler of the night" and Olga McGlinchey received the Arthur Silcock trophy as "best female wrestler of the night." [104]
After a two-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on June 4, 2022 at the University of Bolton Stadium. [107] The event featured 33 competitors wrestling in a total of 29 matches. [19] Results: [89]
100+ kg Super heavyweight | 100 kg Heavyweight | 90 kg Light heavyweight | 82 kg Middleweight | 74 kg Welterweight | 68 kg Lightweight |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Lomas (2) | Owen Livesey | Bobby Warde | John Hathaway (3) | Tommy Hawthorn | Brett Hawthorn (2) |
Additionally, Tommy Hawthorn was awarded the Ian Bromley Cup as "best wrestler of the night", Greg Crompton received the Nathan Tully Award for "dedication to grassroots/paying it forward", and John Hathaway received the Jack Carroll award for fastest win (pin or submission). [89]
The 2023 Catch Wrestling British Championships took place on August 5 at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan, England. Entries were open to competitors residing in the British Isles. [109] Results: [108]
100+ kg Super heavyweight | 100 kg Heavyweight | 90 kg Light heavyweight | 82 kg Middleweight | 74 kg Welterweight | 68 kg Lightweight | 59 kg Bantamweight |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Khizar Rehman | Wade Barrick | Adam Berry | Johnny White | Ben Robson | Alex King-Zhang | Gareth Melia |
The 2023 Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on October 28 at the University of Bolton Stadium. Previous champions Josh Barnett and Owen Livesey faced each-other in the headline bout. [111] [112] Results: [110]
100+ kg Super heavyweight | 100 kg Heavyweight | 90 kg Light heavyweight | 82 kg Middleweight | 74 kg Welterweight | 68 kg Lightweight | 63 kg Featherweight | 59 kg female Bantamweight |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Olivieri | Angel Verduzco | Brett Pfarr | Thomas Higgins | Finlay Marshall | Jonathan Powell | Ewan Lister | Nikki Hilton |
In the main event, Owen Livesey (2022 heavyweight champion) defeated Josh Barnett (2018 super heavyweight champion). Angel Verduzco was named the Ian Bromley Cup "outstanding wrestler", Brett Pfarr was named "best male wrestler of the night", Nikki Hilton was named "best female wrestler of the night", Jordan Stott received the Nathan Tully award for "dedication to grassroots/paying it forward", and Mike Clark received the Jack Carroll Award for fastest win (pin or submission). [110]
Aloysius Martin Thesz, known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler. Considered to be one of the last true shooters in professional wrestling and described as the "quintessential athlete" and a "polished warrior who could break a man in two if pushed the wrong way", Thesz is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers and wrestling world champions in history, and possibly the last globally accepted world champion.
Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission (ISC). Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 1989 as a mixed martial arts promotion. It is considered one of the first true mixed martial arts competitions, with its Vale Tudo Japan events being essential to the rise of Pride Fighting Championships and the development of modern MMA. Many Japanese MMA fighters had their start at Shooto and the organization still holds both professional and amateur tournaments.
Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit (Puroresu) of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their excitement, diminishing or eschewing the theatrical elements and acrobatics, looking more similar to an actual, unscripted fight. The name "shoot wrestling" comes from the professional wrestling term "shoot", which refers to any unscripted occurrence within a scripted wrestling event. Shoot wrestling incorporated realistic moves from submission grappling and various kickboxing styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch wrestling, a form of wrestling with submissions that was the predominant style of professional wrestling in the 19th and early 20th century, at the time not yet predetermined.
Lancashire wrestling, commonly called Lancashire catch-as-catch-can or Lancashire style, is a folk wrestling style that originated in the historic county of Lancashire in North West England. It became notable as the most aggressive and least restrictive style in England. It was popular across Britain and abroad, becoming the primary influence on catch wrestling, through which it is an ancestor of freestyle wrestling, American folkstyle wrestling, theatrical professional wrestling, luta livre, and associated styles like vale tudo, Shooto, and mixed martial arts.
Aspull is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, Aspull, along with Haigh, is surrounded by greenbelt and agricultural land, separated from Westhoughton, on its southeast side, by a brook running through Borsdane Wood. The ground rises from south to north, reaching 400 feet (122 m), and has views towards Winter Hill and the West Pennine Moors. It has a population of 4,977.
Karel Istaz, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch, was a Belgian-American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, catch wrestler, and trainer.
Adolph Ernst, better known for his ring name Ad Santel, was a German-American professional wrestler, considered one of the greatest practitioners of catch wrestling. He was a World Light Heavyweight Champion for several years. Santel also billed himself as the World Judo Champion during his feud with the Kodokan judo school.
Catch wrestling is a classical hybrid grappling style and combat sport. It was popularised by wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed their own submission holds, or "hooks", into their wrestling to increase their effectiveness against their opponents. Catch wrestling derives from various different international styles of wrestling including several English styles. The training of some modern submission wrestlers, professional wrestlers and mixed martial artists is founded in catch wrestling.
William Alfred Robinson was an English professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and coach. Robinson was one of the leading practitioners of catch wrestling, a national champion in freestyle wrestling, and a professional wrestling world champion. As a wrestler, Robinson had a successful career in Britain and internationally, especially in Japan. He was known for training professional wrestlers and mixed martial artists in the catch wrestling style, including Josh Barnett, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura, and Shayna Baszler. His favourite saying as a coach was "do it again", which came from his trainer Billy Riley. Robinson acted in several movies including The Wrestler and inspired the fictional manga/anime character Robin Mask.
Billy Riley was an English practitioner and teacher of catch wrestling. As a trainer in the sport, he taught some of the leading post-World War II figures in catch wrestling at his training school "The Snake Pit" in Wigan, Lancashire, England.
A snake pit is a place of horror, torture, and death in European legends and fairy tales.
Les Thornton was a British professional wrestler who competed in Great Britain, Japan, European and North American regional promotions throughout the 1970s and 1980s including Joint Promotions, Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance.
Travis James Wiuff is an American mixed martial artist competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2001 and veteran of over 100 fights, Wiuff has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Bellator, World Victory Road, and the Quad Cities Silverbacks and San Jose Razorclaws of the IFL.
John Lawrence Hathaway is an English mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. He has also competed in catch wrestling, winning gold at the World Championships three times.
Olga McGlinchey is a Ukrainian-British wrestler. She became Britain's first medalist at the World Wrestling Championships by winning bronze in 2012. She is also a two-time European Championship bronze medalist and a 2013 Commonwealth Championship silver medalist. She was Britain's sole wrestler the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Oliver Westfield Claffey, better known by the ring name Jack Gallagher and most recently Jack Claffey, is an English mixed martial artist and a former professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed on the NXT and 205 Live brands, mostly under the ring name Gentleman Jack Gallagher. On 25 January 2022, BKFC announced Jack has signed a deal to fight for the organisation, making his debut on 6 May at BKFC 25.
Owen Livesey is a British judoka, submission wrestler, and mixed martial artist. He competed in judo at an international level for Great Britain and England and won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the men's 81kg judo. Livesey then transitioned to submission grappling and MMA, competing internationally. He won the heavyweight division at the 2022 Catch Wrestling World Championships.
Shigeo Miyato is a Japanese catch wrestling instructor and retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). A former student of legendary wrestlers Billy Robinson and Lou Thesz, Miyato is the founder and head coach at the CACC Snake Pit Japan, which he based on the original Snake Pit in England.
Victor Henry is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Muhammad Muradovich Mokaev is an English professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He formerly competed in Brave Combat Federation (BCF). As of 30 April 2024, he is #6 in the UFC flyweight rankings.
Bennett, Ian; Todd, Mike (2004). Catch: The Hold Not Taken. Riverhorse – via YouTube.