Professional wrestling championship
British Heavyweight Championship |
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Details |
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Date established | 1930 |
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Current champion(s) | Oliver Grey |
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Date won | 14 October 2022 |
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Statistics |
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First champion(s) | Atholl Oakeley |
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Most reigns | Billy Joyce (6 reigns) |
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The British Heavyweight Championship is a top British wrestling championship found throughout the country's circuit. The championship was recognised and defended on matches screened by UK national television network ITV as part of the professional wrestling slot on World of Sport as well as standalone broadcasts.[1][2] Pre-publicity for these championship match broadcasts was given in ITV's nationally published listings magazine TVTimes.[3][4]
Multiple versions of the British Heavyweight Championship may exist in the wrestling circuit of the United Kingdom at any given time, however some versions have been undisputed by dint of being the only active version during that period. The British Wrestling Association version was undisputed 1930-1934 and 1938-1950. The Joint Promotions version was undisputed 1952-1958, 1966-1974 and 1975-1982. This version was then transferred to All Star Wrestling where it remained undisputed until 1985 and became so again from 1989 until the late 1990s (as smaller, often American-style promotions increasingly set up their own versions).
Title histories
This is the combined list of different versions of the British Heavyweight Titles, each of which was probably the most significant version at the time. Each version may or may not be connected to another. However, all title changes are either actual or "official" unless indicated otherwise.
- Key
Symbol | Meaning |
No. | The overall championship reign |
Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
Event | The event in which the championship 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. |
British Wrestling Association 1930–1950
No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
1 | Atholl Oakeley | 1 | 1930 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | Won a series of matches to become the first champion. | |
— | Vacated | — | 1935 | — | N/A | N/A | Vacated when Oakeley retired due to injuries | |
2 | Bill Garnon | 1 | 1935 | [Note 1] | London, England | Live event | | |
3 | Fazal Mohammed | 1 | 1937 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | | |
4 | Alan Muir | 1 | 1938 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | | |
5 | Michael O'Leary | 1 | 1939 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | | |
— | Vacated | — | — | — | N/A | N/A | Michael O'Leary was killed during the outbreak of the war, he died undefeated. | |
6 | Bert Assirati | 1 | 27 January 1945 | [Note 1] | Manchester | Live event | Assirati had been claiming the title since 1940. | |
— | Vacated | — | 1950 | — | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated when Assirati left Britain for India. | |
- Disputed claims 1934-1938
No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
1 | Bill Garnon | 1 | 1934 | [Note 1] | London | Live event | Some claim Garnon's first reign began one year earlier | |
2 | Douglas Clark | 1 | 2 November 1934 | [Note 1] | Manchester | Live event | | |
3 | George Gregory | 1 | 1938 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | Won by default when Clark fails to appear for a scheduled defence. | |
— | Vacated | — | — | — | N/A | N/A | Until Bert Assirati is recognised as champion | |
Disputed Branch: British Wrestling Federation 1958–1966
No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
1 | Bert Assirati | 2 | 1958 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | Stripped by Joint Promotions - Continued to claim title and was recognised by BWF | |
— | Vacated | — | 1960 | — | N/A | N/A | Assirati stripped by BWF while recovering from injury. | |
2 | Shirley Crabtree | 1 | 1960 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | Won a tournament | |
— | Vacated | — | 1966 | — | N/A | N/A | Crabtree retired after a legitimate campaign of harassment by Assirati.[7] No replacement was crowned, making Joint Promotions' Billy Joyce an Undisputed Champion. | |
All Star Wrestling 1974, 1982–present
Disputed Branch: The Wrestling Alliance 1999–2003
No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Eventd | Notes | Ref. |
1 | Robbie Brookside | 1 | 1999 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | Recognised as champion by TWA | |
2 | Drew McDonald | 1 | March 2001 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | | |
3 | Justin Starr | 1 | 7 May 2001 | 66 | Weymouth | Live event | | |
— | Vacated | — | 12 July 2001 | — | N/A | N/A | Following a controversial finish in the Starr/MacDonald rematch. | |
— | Vacated | — | 16 December 2001 | — | N/A | N/A | Brookside was suspended and stripped of the belts-after sanctioning his own defences resulting in a breach of contract. | |
4 | Justin Starr | 2 | 17 January 2002 | 9 | Southampton | Live event | | |
5 | Doug Williams | 1 | 26 January 2002 | 0 | Bognor Regis | FWA Champion, Williams defeated Justin Starr to win recognition by The Wrestling Alliance. | | |
6 | Robbie Brookside | 2 | 26 January 2002 | Bognor Regis | | | | |
— | Vacated | — | 1 February 2002 | — | N/A | N/A | Rumble match would be held the same night to declare new champion. | |
7 | Justin Starr | 3 | 1 February 2002 | 160 | Exmouth | Live event | Won a royal rumble match to win the vacant championship | |
8 | Ricky Knight | 1 | 11 July 2002 | [Note 1] | Weymouth | Live event | | |
9 | Justin Starr | 4 | November 2002 | | Bristol | Live event | | |
— | Vacated | — | 2002 | — | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated due to injury. | |
10 | Alex Shane | 1 | 23 March 2003 | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | Defeated James Mason for the vacant belt. | |
— | Vacated | — | 25 March 2003 | — | N/A | N/A | TWA's owner, Scott Conway would strip the title from Shane following his actions in a match against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. | |
— | Vacated | — | 2003 | — | N/A | N/A | Conway closes the company and emigrates to Thailand. | |
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al The length of the championship is too uncertain to calculate.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x The location of the match was not captured as part of the documentation.
Universal British Heavyweight Championship
On 10 July 2002 All-Star's Champion, Doug Williams along with other top title holding wrestlers entered into a tournament to be recognised as Universal British Heavyweight Champion by The Wrestling Alliance, Frontier Wrestling Alliance, World Association of Wrestling, All Star Wrestling, and Premier Promotions. Doug Williams would first defeat the then-TWA British Heavyweight Champion, Justin Starr (though Starr would continue to be recognised as champion), before going on to defeat The Zebra Kid in a tournament final to become the Universal British Heavyweight Champion.
The Universal version of this title would not last long with all the promotions splitting out their British Heavyweight titles, but Williams continued to be recognised as the Universal British Heavyweight Champion.
See also
United Kingdom portal
References
- ^ "Gwyn Davies successful defence of British Heavyweight Championship against challenger Steve Veidor at Royal Albert Hall, London, 26 May 1976". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 24 July 1976. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Ray Steele successful defence of British Heavyweight Championship against challenger Colin Joynson at Morley 25 May 1985". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 8 June 1985. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021.
- ^ "British Heavyweight Championship: Gwyn Davies v Steve Veidor". Saturday 24 July - Friday 30 July 1976 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ ""British Heavyweight Championship: Ray Steele v Colin Joynson"". Saturday 8 June - Friday 14 June 1985 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (18 January 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/18): Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for WWWF title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ a b c Fighting Spirit Magazine issue 165, Greetings Grapple Fans column by John Lister on Wall & Davies, pp 66-69
- ^ "House of Deception - History of British Wrestling".
- ^ Plummer, Russel (3 September 2007). "All Star Wrestling Grapplevine". bigtimewrestlinguk.
External links
- wrestling-titles.com
- solie.org (title histories)
- Wrestling Information Archive
Mountevans Titles | British | |
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European | - European Heavyweight Championship (1932–present)
- European Mid Heavyweight Championship (1939–1981)
- European Middlweight Championship (1936–1995)
- European Welterweight Championship (1938–1994)
- European Lightweight Championship (1932–1994)
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British Empire/ Commonwealth | - British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (1936-1938, 1959–1986)
- British Empire/Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1964–1981)
- British Empire/Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Championship(1926–1966)
- British Empire/Commonwealth Middleweight Championship (1923–1984)
- British Empire/Commonwealth Welterweight Championship (1954–1966)
- British Empire/Commonwealth Lightweight Championship (1971–1976, 1991)
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World | - World Heavyweight Championship (1947-1950, 1979–1989, 1991)
- World Mid Heavyweight Championship (1952–1999)
- World Heavy Middleweight Championship (1981-2004, 2008–present)
- World Middleweight Championship (1948-1975, 1976-1981, 1991-1996)
- World Lightweight Championship (1950–2001)
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Other Titles (non-Mountevans) | |
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Brand Titles (non-Mountevans) | |
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