British Heavyweight Championship

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For the boxing championship, see List of British heavyweight boxing champions.

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[edit]

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[edit]

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  

Joint Promotions 1952–1982 & 1985–1989[edit]

No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Ernie Baldwin 1 January 1952 [Note 1] Newcastle Live event Defeated Dave Armstrong in a tournament final.  
2 Alf Rawlings 1 1953 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
3 Dai Sullivan 1 1953 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
4 Ernie Baldwin 2 1953 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
5 Tony Mancelli 1 9 September 1955 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
— Vacated — 1955 — N/A N/A Championship vacated for undocumented reasons.  
6 Bert Assirati 2 19 October 1955 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Defeated Ernie Baldwin  
— Vacated — 1958 — N/A N/A Stripped by Joint Promotions; Assirati would continue to claim the title in BWF  
7 Billy Joyce 1 15 April 1958 [Note 1] London Live event Defeated Gordon Nelson.  
8 Ernie Baldwin 3 November 1959 [Note 1] Glasgow Live event    
9 Billy Joyce 2 December 1959 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
10 Dennis Mitchell 1 December 1959 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
11 Billy Joyce 3 15 July 1960 1,333 Bradford Live event    
12 Geoff Portz 1 9 March 1964 17 Bradford Live event    
13 Billy Joyce 4 26 March 1964 693 Middlesbrough Live event    
14 Albert Wall 1 17 February 1966 3 Nottingham Live event    
15 Gwynn Davies 1 20 February 1966 25 Nottingham Live event    
16 Billy Joyce 5 17 March 1966 48 Nottingham Live event    
17 Ian Campbell 1 4 May 1966 55 Perth, Scotland Live event    
18 Billy Joyce 6 28 June 1966 204 Edinburgh Live event Became the undisputed champion when Shirley Crabtree vacated the BWF version.  
19 Billy Robinson 1 18 January 1967 [Note 1] Manchester Live event   [5]
— Vacated — February 1970 — N/A N/A Championship vacated when Robinson left for North America.  
20 Albert Wall 2 13 April 1970 280 Nottingham Live event Defeated Steve Veidor to win the vacant championship  
21 Gwynn Davies 2 18 January 1971 110 Loughborough Live event    
22 Albert Wall 3 8 May 1971 [Note 1] Manchester Live event    
— Vacated — 1974 — N/A N/A Championship vacated when Wall "retired" (in fact left Joint to work for independent promoters and continued to claim title - see All Star below) [6]  
23 Gwynn Davies 3 15 February 1975 833 Manchester Live event    
24 Tony St. Clair 1 28 May 1977 543 Manchester Live event    
25 Giant Haystacks 1 22 November 1978 154 London Live event    
26 Tony St. Clair 2 25 April 1979 [Note 1] London Live event Moved to #All Star Wrestling in 1982 with the title  
— Vacated — 1985 — N/A N/A Recognition was withdrawn by Joint Promotions in 1985  
27 Ray Steele 1 14 May 1985 377 Croydon Live event    
28 Pat Roach 1 26 April 1986 159 [Note 2] Live event    
29 Dalbir Singh 1 2 October 1986 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
— Vacated — 1989 — N/A N/A All Star's Tony St. Clair becomes undisputed champion after Singh joins All Star and renounces his claim.  

Disputed Branch: British Wrestling Federation 1958–1966[edit]

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[edit]

No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
0 Albert Wall 3 8 May 1971 [Note 1] Manchester Live event Continued to defend title on shows by Wrestling Enterprises (as All Star then known) for some months after 1974 "retirement" from Joint [6]
— Vacated — mid/late 1970s — N/A N/A Championship vacated when Wall retires completely. [6] 
1 Tony St. Clair 2 25 April 1979 [Note 1] London Live event Came to All Star in 1982 with the title from Joint Promotions. No direct lineage to above Albert Wall splinter claim.  
2 Kendo Nagasaki 1 1988 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event    
3 Tony St. Clair 3 1988 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Became undisputed champion after Joint Promotions' champion Singh joins All Star in 1989 and renounces his claim.  
4 Dave 'Fit' Finlay 1 5 February 1990 425 Croydon Live event    
5 Dave Taylor 1 6 April 1991 759 King's Lynn Live event    
6 Tony St. Clair 4 4 May 1993 [Note 1] Croydon Live event    
— Vacated — 1995 — N/A N/A Championship vacated for undocumented reasons.  
7 Dave Taylor 2 August 1995 [Note 1] Croydon Live event Defeated Marty Jones in a tournament final.  
8 Marty Jones 1 1996 [Note 1] Croydon Live event    
— Vacated — 1996 — N/A N/A Upon Marty Jones' retirement  
9 Karl Krammer 1 circa 1998 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Claimed title by 1998  
10 Doug Williams 1 2001 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Claiming title by 2001. Would later take the title to the Universal title tournament.  
11 Robbie Brookside 1 29 September 2002 982 Liverpool Live event Williams was still considered the Universal champion  
12 Drew McDonald 1 7 June 2005 224 Croydon Live event    
13 Steve Sonic 1 17 January 2006 129 Croydon Live event    
— Vacated — 26 May 2006 — N/A N/A Sonic would relinquish the title to return to WWE's developmental promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling.  
14 James Mason 1 12 November 2006 232 [Note 2] Live event Mason defeated Drew McDonald, Doug Williams, and Robbie Brookside in a 4-way elimination match to win the vacant title.  
15 Brody Steele 1 2 September 2007 162 Liverpool Live event   [8]
16 Robbie Brookside 2 11 February 2008 Liverpool Live event    
— Vacated — May 2009 — N/A N/A Championship vacated due to a knee injury.  
17 Rampage Brown 1 16 May 2009 270 Hanley Live event Won 4-way elimination final of an 8-man tournament against James Mason, Doug Williams, and Karl Kramer.  
18 Dean Allmark 1 2 October 2010 774 Hanley Live event    
19 Rampage Brown 2 25 March 2012 356 Croydon Live event    
20 Dean Allmark 2 16 March 2013 566 Hanley Live event    
21 Thunder (Darren Walsh) 1 3 October 2014 333 Croydon Live event    
— Vacated — September 2015 — N/A N/A Championship vacated due to a knee injury. ;
22 Sam Adonis 1 3 October 2015 <332 Croydon Live event Defeats James Mason in tournament final    
— Vacated — August 2016 — N/A N/A Stripped of title due to lack of defences. ;
23 Robbie Dynamite 1 30 August 2016 <1 Rhyl Live event Defeats James Mason in match for vacant title    
24 Dean Allmark 3 30 August 2016 150 Rhyl Live event Earned title shot at new champion Robbie Dynamite after winning Money In The Bank earlier in the evening    
25 Harlem Bravado 1 27 January 2017 273 New Brighton Live event    
26 Oliver Grey 1 27 October 2017 2,353 Ipswich Live event    
27 Niwa 1 19 February 2020 1,508 Gravesend Live event Niwa returned to his native New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to the UK in 2022. He was excused from defending his title during this period.  
28 Oliver Grey 2 14 October 2022 540 Telford Live event  

Disputed Branch: The Wrestling Alliance 1999–2003[edit]

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.  

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ ""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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b c Fighting Spirit Magazine issue 165, Greetings Grapple Fans column by John Lister on Wall & Davies, pp 66-69
  7. ^ "House of Deception - History of British Wrestling".
  8. ^ Plummer, Russel (3 September 2007). "All Star Wrestling Grapplevine". bigtimewrestlinguk.

External links[edit]

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