Welsh Wrestling

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Welsh Wrestling
Founded 2005
Style Professional wrestling
Sports entertainment
Headquarters Wales, United Kingdom
Founder(s) Alan Ravenhill
Website WelshWrestling.com

Welsh Wrestling is the only national Welsh professional wrestling promotion. Neath-based Alan Ravenhill is the founder and promoter of the group, which was established in 2004 and holds live events all across the country.

Overview

Welsh Wrestling is the only national Welsh professional wrestling promotion, holding live professional wrestling events across the length and breadth of Wales.

File:Welsh Wrestling at Porthcawl's Grand Pavilion in October 2014.jpg
Welsh Wrestling at Porthcawl's Grand Pavilion in October 2014

The shows combine athleticism, drama and fun, with each having the primary goal of giving each paying customer an enjoyable and action-packed night out. The product is family-orientated sports entertainment, catering for adults and especially children, while aiming to provide humour, excitement and overall enjoyment for both.

The actual wrestling is hybrid of American wrestling and traditional British wrestling, with contests most often contested under ‘one-fall’ rules. Each match is overseen by a referee, dressed in traditional bow-tie and shirt, with a smartly-attired MC hosting the evening's entertainment.

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 popularised by past performers Kendo Nagasaki, Ravishing Rick Rude, Superstar Billy Graham and others.

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

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.

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. Traditional wrestling merchandise, including foam hands, is commonplace at the shows, and adds to the colourful, carnival-like atmosphere.

The Welsh Wrestling touring roster consists of wrestlers with experience from WWE, TNA Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, Ohio Valley Wrestling, Michinoku Pro Wrestling and promotions across Europe. WWE NXT athletes Oliver Grey[1] and Gavin Reid[2] worked extensively for Welsh Wrestling prior to signing their developmental contracts and moving to the United States.

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 WWE superstars to have plied their trade in a Welsh Wrestling ring are the former Intercontinental Champion, Wade Barrett. Promoter Alan Ravenhill also helped to introduce 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.

Celebrity involvement

In 2012, former Liberal Democrat MP and media personality Lembit Opik became embroiled in a feud with Welsh Wrestling's Kade Callous, with the dispute covered by The Guardian,[3]The Daily Express,[4] The Daily Mirror,[5] The Daily Mail,[6] The Metro,[7] The Daily Star,[8] The Independent,[9] The Telegraph[10] and The Huffington Post.[11]

The key incidents between the two, culminating in a tag team match in Welshpool, drew television coverage on both BBC News[12] and ITN News,[13] as well as entertainment programmes The Wright Stuff and Have I Got News For You. National radio station talkSPORT also covered the story, which appeared on the MSN, AOL[14] and Orange[15] websites and spread as far as Albania,[16] Croatia[17] and Opik's homeland of Estonia.[18]

Premiership footballer and Wales captain Ashley Williams of Swansea City has also appeared in Welsh Wrestling,[19] 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,[51] Crewe,[52] Colne,[53] Congleton,[54] 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.[55] 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. The present Welsh Heavyweight Champion is Kade Callous, who also has the most reigns, with four in total. Callous holds the record for longevity, with a reign of 480 days.[56]

Champions

Location Champion Date won Via Previous champion
Blackwood, Wales Kade Callous (4) Saturday 16 January 2016 Pinfall John 'The Machine' Titan
Barry, Wales John 'The Machine' Titan Thursday 29 May 2015 Won tournament for vacant title N/A
Llanelli, Wales Kade Callous (3) Monday 16 February 2015 Pinfall Stevie Starr
Tenby, Wales Stevie Starr (3) Thursday 31 July 2014 Pinfall Kade Callous
Barry, Wales Kade Callous (2) Thursday 29 May 2014 Pinfall Stevie Starr
Swansea, Wales Stevie Starr (2) Saturday 27 April 2013 Pinfall Bison Brody
Maesteg, Wales Bison Brody (2) Thursday 21 February 2013 Pinfall Iestyn Rees
Cardiff, Wales Iestyn Rees Sunday 23 September 2012 Pinfall Bison Brody
Blaengarw, Wales Bison Brody Friday 13 July 2012 Pinfall Mean Tommy Dean
Machynlleth, Wales Mean Tommy Dean Friday 6 July 2012 Referee stoppage Stevie Starr
Llanelli, Wales Stevie Starr Wednesday 15 February 2012 Pinfall Kade Callous
Builth Wells, Wales Kade Callous Saturday 23 October 2010 Pinfall James Mason
Harlech, Wales James Mason Saturday 1 May 2010 Pinfall Won Tournament

Affiliation

Welsh Wrestling is Wales' representative in the UEWA (Union of European Wrestling Alliances),[57] which recognises 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[58] and sent light heavyweight standout Wild Boar to represent them at the inaugural European Cruiserweight Championship tournament in Oslo, Norway.[59]

External links

References

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