James Curtin

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James Curtin
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Spud
Billed height	5ft 3in (1.63 m)
Billed weight	130 lb (57 kg)
Born	January 30th 1983 Birmingham, West Midlands
Trained by	Jack Storm Chris Gilbert Don Charles
Debut	October 2001

James Curtin is a British professional wrestler best known by the ring name Spud. Curtin, known for his small stature, is considered the smallest mainstream wrestler in the United Kingdom and his high-flying high-risk style of wrestling is often compared to The Amazing Red, another small wrestler from the United States.

Through out his career, the Spud persona would wrestle matches as the babyface underdog; often facing off against much larger wrestlers.

1 Career
2 In wrestling
3 Championships and accomplishments
4 External links

[edit] Career

Curtin, who was originally trained by Jack Storm and Chris Gilbert within the K-Star Wrestling promotion before eventually coming under the tutilidge of "Charming" Don Charles at the SAS Wrestling Academy, would go on to perform in many independent promotions within the United Kingdom under the ring name Spud.

While on the indy circuit, Spud's first major appearances came with the Revolution British Wrestling promotion in 2003. On August 30, 2003, Spud would defeat Jack Hazard to become RBW's first British Welterweight Champion; a title Spud would hold for several months before losing it to "The Gift" Ross Jordan in a Maximum Falls contest sometime in December 2003.

[edit] International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom

Spud would compete regularly for the International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom promotion right from its creation in 2004. Through 2005, Spud would have a high profile feud with Jack Storm, which culminated in a street fight in January 2006.

While in IPW:UK, Spud would become one half of the tag team Dragon Hearts, with fellow wrestler Dragon Phoenix. On September 24, 2006, Dragon Hearts defeated The Untouchables in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match to become IPW:UK Tag Team Champions.

The Dragon Hearts would also get involved with IPW:UK's inter-federation feud with Frontier Wrestling Alliance, and even though Spud is a regular for that promotion he wrestled on the side of IPW:UK in a match against Team FWA. The Dragon Hearts teamed up with Leroy Kincaide to face off against Iceman, Jonny Storm, and Jorge Castano in a match that saw both Phoenix and Spud suffer injury. Phoenix deep wound to his head while Spud suffered what appeared to be a separated or dislocated due to a dropkick at the hands of Storm. Storm and Spud are set to face of in a grudge match in early 2007.

[edit] Frontier Wrestling Alliance

Spud would also work for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, and was brought up into the main roster to be used as a jobber for a short time, competing against many larger opponents. However, during the start of 2005, FWA would begin showcasing their flyweight division, later that year Spud would be entered into a tournament to crown a Flyweight Champion for promotion. Spud would make it to the tournament final, where he would be defeated by Ross Jordan, who would become the first FWA Flyweight Champion. However, Jordan was only awarded the match after the referee stopped the contest due to a (kayfabe) injury to Spud's leg. The pair continued to feud for over 14-month with Jordan repeatedly attacking Spud in attempts to re-injure his leg. The feud culminated in a Last Man Standing match at FWA Last Fight at the Prom on September 30, 2006 with Spud picking up the win.

Following a talent trading agreement with the FWA, Spud would make his first US appearance in April 2006, competing for Ring of Honor during their two-night Weekend of Champions shows. Spud would also appear during ROH's first shows in the UK.

The-then 21 year old Spud would also compete under the FWA banner during the British Wrestling United National Under 23's Championship event, being FWA's entry into the tournament to crown the first under 23 champion. However, Spud failed to win the tournament losing to its eventual winner Sam Slam in the first round.

[edit] 1 Pro Wrestling

Spud would also become one of the top British stars in the 1 Pro Wrestling roster since it's inception in 2005. Still competing under the out matched underdog gimmick, Spud would have a long time feud with American wrestler Sterling James Keenan, and the super heavyweight Abyss.