British Heavyweight Championship - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The British Heavyweight Championship is a top British wrestling

Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom

Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over 100 years but became popular when the then new Independent Television station - ITV began showing it in 1955 firstly on Saturday afternoons and then also in a late night mid week slot...

championship

Championship (professional wrestling)

A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...

found throughout the country's circuit.

Many versions of the British Heavyweight Championship exist in the independent circuit

Independent circuit

In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...

of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

at any given time but the scene is usually dominated by one companies version. When another company becomes dominant the title often manages to unify itself or is brought into that company.

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.

British Wrestling Association

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Atholl Oakeley Atholl Oakeley Atholl Oakeley, or Sir Edward Atholl Oakeley, 7th Baronet of Shrewsbury was a heavyweight wrestler and author. Born in Rhoscolyn, Anglesey he was the eldest of four children, a son of Sir Charles Richard Andrew Oakeley, 6th Baronet and Everilde Anne Beaumont...	1	1930		Won a series of matches to become the first champion.
Vacant		1935		After Oakeley retired due to injury
Bill Garnon	1	1935	London, England
M. Fazal	1	1937
Alan Muir Alan Muir Alan Muir is a Scottish football referee.-External links:*...	1	1938
Michael O'Leary	1	1939
Vacant				Michael O'Leary was killed during the outbreak of the war World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis... , he died undefeated.
Bert Assirati Bert Assirati Bartolomeo Esserati , also known as Bert Assirati, was an English professional wrestler who became a multiple time British Heavyweight Champion, and, posthumously, a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame...	1	27/01/1945	Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...	Assirati had been claiming the title since 1940.
Vacant		1950		After Assirati left for India.

Disputed claims

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Bill Garnon	1	1934	London	Some claim Garnon's first reign began one year earlier
Douglas Clark	1	02/11/1934	Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
George Gregory	1	1938		Won by default when Clark no-shows scheduled defense.
Vacant				Until Bert Assirati is recognised as champion

Joint Promotions

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Ernie Baldwin	1	??/01/1952	Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...	Defeated Dave Armstrong in a tournament final.
Alf Rawlings	1	1953
Dai Sullivan	1	1953
Ernie Baldwin	2	1953
Tony Mancelli	1	09/09/1955
Vacant		1955
Bert Assirati	2	19/10/1955		Defeated Ernie Baldwin
Vacant		1958		Stripped by Joint Promotions; Assirati would continue to claim the title in BWF
Billy Joyce	1	15/04/1958	London	Defeated Gordon Nelson.
Ernie Baldwin	3	??/11/1959	Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Billy Joyce	2	??/12/1959
Dennis Mitchell	1	??/12/1959
Billy Joyce	3	15/07/1960	Bradford Bradford Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
Geoff Portz	1	09/03/1964	Bradford
Billy Joyce	4	26/03/1964	Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
Albert Wall	1	17/02/1966	Nottingham Nottingham Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
Gwynn Davies	1	20/02/1966	Nottingham
Billy Joyce	5	17/03/1966	Nottingham
Ian Campbell	1	04/05/1966	Perth Perth, Scotland Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
Billy Joyce	6	28/06/1966	Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...	Became the undisputed champion when Shirley Crabtree Shirley Crabtree Shirley Crabtree, Jr, better known as Big Daddy was a British professional wrestler famous for his record-breaking 64 inch chest... vacated the BWF version.
Billy Robinson Billy Robinson Billy Robinson is a British professional wrestler and catch wrestling instructor. Robinson was well known in Japan where he has trained mixed martial arts fighters in catch wrestling...	1	18/01/1967	Manchester
Vacant		??/02/1970		When Robinson left for North America.
Albert Wall	2	13/04/1970	Nottingham	Defeated Steve Veidor.
Gwynn Davies	2	01/18/1971	Loughborough Loughborough Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
Albert Wall	3	08/05/1971	Manchester
Vacant		1974		When Wall retired temporarily.
Gwynn Davies	3	15/02/1975	Manchester
Tony St. Clair	1	28/05/1977	Manchester
Giant Haystacks	1	22/11/1978	London
Tony St. Clair	2	25/04/1979	London	Moved to All-Star Promotions in 1982 with the title
Vacant		1985		Recognition was withdrawn by Joint Promotions in 1985
Ray Steele	1	14/04/1985
Pat Roach Pat Roach Francis Patrick "Pat" Roach was an English actor, wrestler and author, from Birmingham. His most famous role is that of West Country bricklayer Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. He also played a memorable role as General Kael in Willow...	1	26/04/1986
Dalbir Singh	1	02/10/1986
Vacant		1989		All-Star's Tony St. Clair becomes undisputed champion after Singh joins All-Star and renounces his claim.

British Wrestling Federation

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Bert Assirati	2	1958 (stripped by Joint Promotions)		Continued to claim title and was recognized by BWF
Vacant		1960		Assirati stripped by BWF while recovering from injury.
Shirley Crabtree Shirley Crabtree Shirley Crabtree, Jr, better known as Big Daddy was a British professional wrestler famous for his record-breaking 64 inch chest...	1	1960		Won a tournament
Vacant		1966		No replacement was crowned, making Joint Promotions' Billy Joyce an Undisputed Champion.

All Star Promotions

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Tony St. Clair	2	25/04/1979	London	Came to All-Star in 1982 with the title from Joint Promotions
Kendo Nagasaki Peter Thornley Peter Thornley is a British professional wrestler known as Kendo Nagasaki. He was one of the biggest draws of all time in British Wrestling, especially in the mid-1970s and the turn of the 1980s/1990s....	1	1988
Tony St. Clair	3	1988		Becomes undisputed champion after Joint Promotion's Champion Singh joins All-Star in 1989 and renounces his claim.
David Finlay Dave Finlay David John "Fit" Finlay Jr. is a Northern Irish professional wrestler and road agent. He is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and WWE as an active wrestler and later as a road agent...	1	05/02/1990	Croydon Croydon Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
Dave Taylor David Taylor (wrestler) David Taylor is an English professional wrestler best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...	1	06/04/1991	King's Lynn King's Lynn King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
Tony St. Clair	4	04/05/1993	Croydon	Vacated in 1995.
Dave Taylor	2	??/08/1995	Croydon	Defeated Marty Jones in a tournament final.
Marty Jones Marty Jones Marty Jones is a retired English professional wrestler best known for his work in All Star Promotions throughout the 1980s and 90s. Jones was also responsible for training Darren Matthews. Jones was trained by Billy Robinson....	1	1996	Croydon
Vacant				Upon Marty Jones' retirement, no new champion was crowned. The Wrestling Alliance would later claim the titles history
*TWA title history*
Doug Williams Doug Williams (wrestler) Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...	1			Revived by All-Star even though TWA was using the title. Would later take the title to the Universal title tournament.
Robbie Brookside Robbie Brookside Robert Edward Brooks , better known by his ring name Robbie Brookside, is a British professional wrestler. He has toured all over the world during his career including such countries as the United States, Japan, Germany, and Mexico...	1	29/09/2002	Liverpool	Doug was still considered the Universal champion
Drew McDonald Drew McDonald Drew McDonald changed his name by deed poll to Drew McDonald is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom since the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:...	1	07/06/2005	Croydon	The official title returned under the All-Star banner, after TWA closed.
Steve Sonic Steven Lewington Steven Paul Lewington is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment where he competed as DJ Gabriel.- All Star Promotions and Ohio Valley Wrestling :...	1	17/01/2006	Croydon
Vacant		26/05/2006		Sonic would relinquish the title to return to WWE World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales... 's developmental promotion OVW Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1997 until 2000... .
James Mason James Mason (wrestler) James Atkins is a British professional wrestler best known under his ring name James Mason.-Career:A childhood fan of Big Daddy, Atkins began wrestling for All Star Promotions in 1993, adopting the ringname James Mason, after the film actor of the same name at the behest of ring announcer John...	1	12/11/2006		Mason defeated Drew McDonald Drew McDonald Drew McDonald changed his name by deed poll to Drew McDonald is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom since the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:... , Doug Williams Doug Williams (wrestler) Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams... , and Robbie Brookside Robbie Brookside Robert Edward Brooks , better known by his ring name Robbie Brookside, is a British professional wrestler. He has toured all over the world during his career including such countries as the United States, Japan, Germany, and Mexico... in a 4-way elimination match to win the vacant title.
Broady Steele	1	02/09/2007	Merseyside
Robbie Brookside	2	??/02/2008
Rampage Brown	1

Disputed claims

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Karl Krammer	1	1996		Defended a title that claimed to be All-Star's title, during All-Star promoted tours

The Wrestling Alliance

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Drew McDonald Drew McDonald Drew McDonald changed his name by deed poll to Drew McDonald is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom since the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:...	1	??/03/2001
Justin Starr	1	07/05/2001	Weymouth
Vacant		12/07/2001		Following a controversial finish in the Starr/MacDonald rematch.
Rob Brookside Robbie Brookside Robert Edward Brooks , better known by his ring name Robbie Brookside, is a British professional wrestler. He has toured all over the world during his career including such countries as the United States, Japan, Germany, and Mexico...	1	1999
Vacant		16/12/2001		Brookside was suspended and stripped of the belts-after sanctioning his own defences resulting in a breach of contract.
Justin Starr	2	17/01/2002	Southampton
Doug Williams Doug Williams (wrestler) Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...	1	26/01/2002	Bognor Regis Bognor Regis Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...	FWA Champion FWA British Heavyweight Championship The British Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the XWA. The championship was originally created and contested for in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance but moved to XWA when the former company became defunct... , Williams defeated Justin Starr to win recognition by The Wrestling Alliance.
Rob Brookside	2	26/01/2002	Bognor Regis
Vacant		01/02/2002	Exmouth Exmouth, Devon Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort in East Devon, England, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe. In 2001, it had a population of 32,972.-History:...	Rumble match would be held the same night to declare new champion.
Justin Starr	3	01/02/2002	Exmouth	Won a royal rumble match
Ricky Knight	1	11/07/2002	Weymouth
Justin Starr	4	??/11/2002	Bristol
Vacant				Due to injury
Alex Shane Alex Shane Alexander Daniel Spilling is a British professional wrestler who is best known by his ring name "The Ascension" Alex Shane. Spilling also works as a promoter and wrestling teacher.-Early career:...	1	23/03/2003		Defeated James Mason James Mason (wrestler) James Atkins is a British professional wrestler best known under his ring name James Mason.-Career:A childhood fan of Big Daddy, Atkins began wrestling for All Star Promotions in 1993, adopting the ringname James Mason, after the film actor of the same name at the behest of ring announcer John... for the vacant belt.
Vacant		25/03/2003		TWA's owner, Scott Conway would strip the title from Shane following his actions in a match against Jake "The Snake" Roberts.
Back to All-Star				Conway close the company and immigrates to Thailand Thailand Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the... , renouncing their claim and returning the history to All Star Promotions.

Universal British Heavyweight Championship

On the 10th of July 2002 All-Star's Champion, Doug Williams along with other top title holding wrestlers entered into a tournament to be recognized as Universal British Heavyweight Champion by The Wrestling Alliance, Frontier Wrestling Alliance

Frontier Wrestling Alliance

Frontier Wrestling Alliance is a British professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1993 as the Fratton Wrestling Association it soon became the Frontier Wrestling Alliance six years later and until 2007 when it lost a scripted inter-promotional feud with International Pro Wrestling: United...

, World Association of Wrestling, All Star Promotions, and Premier Promotions. Doug Williams would first defeat the then-TWA British Heavyweight Champion, Justin Starr (though Starr would continue to be recognized as champion), before going on to defeat The Zebra Kid

Roy Bevis

Roy Bevis, better known by his ring name Zebra Kid is a British professional wrestler. Bevis is the son of the well-known wrestler-turned-promoter, Ricky Knight...

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 recognized as the Universal British Heavyweight Champion.

External linkis

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