Noam Dar

Noam Dar is a Scottish professional wrestler. Dar is arguably best known for his appearances for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) and its "British Boot Camp"^[2][3] series, but has been a mainstay for notable UK promotions such as PROGRESS Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling (PCW) and Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW). Additionally Dar has appeared for other stand-out promotions like Dragon Gate UK, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), Global Force Wrestling (GFW) as well as numerous UK Ring of Honor "Supershows".^[4][5] Dar is a former two time ICW Zero-G Champion and a former PCW Cruiserweight Champion, among other championships and accomplishments.^[6]

As a prominent figure in European wrestling, Noam Dar has wrestled the likes of AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Rob Van Dam, Drew Galloway, John Morrison, Zach Sabre Jr, Grado, Davey Richards, Rockstar Spud, Sami Callihan, Brian Kendrick, Paul London, Doug Williams, Cedric Alexander, Chris Hero, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, ACH, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong, Mark Andrews, YAMATO, Bram, Jimmy Susumu, Kid Kash, Timothy Thatcher, Christopher Daniels, Matt Cross, Steve Corino, Masaaki Mochizuki, Al Snow, Adam Cole, Michael Elgin, Jerry Lynn, Prince Devitt and once challenged Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship.^[7][5][8]

Professional wrestling career

Independent Circut (2008-Present)

Noam Dar debuted on the British independent circuit at the age of 15, working for Scottish promotions like British Championship Wrestling and Premiere British Wrestling.^[9][10] Dar would get his first international experience wrestling in Spain for Dragon Gate's "European Invasion" and Zero1 Spain with winning efforts over Colin McKaye and Sean South respectively.^[11][12]

On May 1, 2011, Dar captured his first championship by becoming one half of the Premier British Wrestling (PBW) Tag Team Champions with Liam Thomson, holding the titles for over 11 months, with six title defenses, before losing them to the team of Lionheart & Wolfgang.^[13]

Dar entered a tournament to become the One Pro Wrestling 1PW World Heavyweight Champion in February 2011, he was unsuccessful but later that year went on to become the final 1PW Openweight Champion, winning the vacant title in a four-way with Marty Scurll, Kris Travis and Joey Hayes and successfully defending it against Bad Bones and Kid Kash at 1PW's final show.^[14]

In October 2011, Dar worked the Dark Match for Dragon Gate UK's "Yosuka vs Shingo 3" event, in a winning effort against Daniel Robert.^[15]

Dar finished 2011 with another trip overseas, scoring a win over MK McKinnan for Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw),^[16] which qualified him to return in 2012 to compete in a series of matches at the wXw 16 Carat Gold 2012 shows.^[17][18][19]

In 2011, Dar began working higher profile matches, challenging multiple times for the BCW Heavyweight and Openweight Championships, albeit unsuccessfully and wrestling bigger name opponents such as Eddie Edwards for IPW, and this continued into 2012. For the Revolution Pro Wrestling promotion, Dar wrestled Jerry Lynn and challenged Prince Devitt for the RPW Cruiserweight Championship.^[20] Dar entered the SWE Speed King Championship tournament, qualifying for the finals with a win over Spud but failing to capture the championship.^[21]

Dar competed unsuccessfully in two tournaments for IPW, losing to Sami Callihan in a Quarter Finals match for the IPW:UK Cruiserweight Championship and a first round loss to Zach Sabre Jr in a tournament to crown the first British National Champion.^[22]

In April 2012, Dar began competing for Lionheart's Pro Wrestling Elite promotion, debuting with a win over Mark Haskins, before a loss to high profile star AJ Styles.^[23] Dar was entered into a tournament to crown a PWE World Heavyweight Champion, defeating El Ligero and Mikey Whiplash before losing to Andy Wild in the finals.^[24]

Dar captured the PBW "King of Cruisers 2012" crown in a Six Way match to finish a successful year in the promotion.^[25][26]

2013 saw Dar return to Dragon Gate UK, working a series of matches against Yamato, Jimmy Susumu and Masaaki Mochizuki.^{[27][28][29][30]}

RPW invited Dar back for a run of shows which saw him defeat Mark Andrews in his return but lose contests to Michael Elgin and Marty Scurll.^{[31][32][33][34]}

Dar ended 2013 by finally capturing the BCW Openweight Championship from Andy Wild,^[35] Dar would hold the championship for well over a year before losing it to Kenny Williams in April 2015.^[36][37][38] Dar was granted a rematch for the title against Williams in a triple threat also involving Will Ospreay but Williams retained.^[39][40]

Between 2014-2015, Dar had a three match feud with Grado over the PWE World Heavyweight Championship, where Dar first scored a DQ victory, in a subsequent rematch they wrestled to a no-contest before Grado was finally victorious in a third defense, ending their feud.^[41][42][43] During this period, Dar also scored a notable win over Christopher Daniels.^[44]

In late 2015, Dar debuted for Global Force Wrestling (GFW), defeating Chris Ridgeway.^[45][46]

Insane Championship Wrestling (2010-Present)

Dar debuted in Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) with a win over The Highlander before winning a tournament to become the inaugural ICW Zero-G Champion.^[47] Dar held the title for 266 days (the longest reign in the title's history) before losing it Lionheart. Dar won the championship back less than two months later to become the first two time ICW Zero-G Champion. Dar's second reign would last 252 days, where he was defeated by Andy Wild.^[48][49]

Acros 2012, Dar would challenge unsuccessfully for both the ICW Tag Team and ICW Heavyweight Championships.^[50][51]

From 2013 to 2015, Dar would continue his pursuit of Championships in ICW, he challenged subsequent champions Mark Coffey, Wolfgang, Kenny Williams and Stevie Boy unsuccessfully to regain the ICW Zero-G Championship and began teaming with Kenny Williams as Champagne Superbollocks to challenge Polo Promotions for the ICW Tag Team Championships on two occasions, one (swiftly interrupted) no-contest and one loss.^[52][53] However, following a Best of Five series with Joe Coffey where Dar was bested 3-2 and a lengthy feud with ICW authority figure Red Lightning Dar would end 2015 on a high in ICW having defeated Joe Hendry in an ICW World Heavyweight Championship No.1 Contender match and a win over former two-time champion Drew Galloway.^[54][55]

Preston City Wrestling (2011-Present)

Dar debuted in Preston City Wrestling (PCW) in 2011, fighting his way to finals of a tournament to crown the first PCW Heavyweight Champion before being bested by T-Bone.^[56] However, Dar would remain in title contention and in 2012 he became the inaugural PCW Cruiserweight Champion, holding the championship for 168 days before losing the title to Dave Rayne in 2013.^[57][58]

Dar bounced back into title contention by winning the 2013 "Road to Glory" tournament, with wins over CJ Banks, Brian Kendrick and Joey Hayes. The tournament win earned him another shot at the PCW Heavyweight Championship. Cashing in his title opportunity, he wrestled champion Doug Williams to a time-limit draw,^[59] before challenging later champion Lionheart in a losing effort.^[60] Dar rounded up 2013 with a loss to Doug Williams, a victory over Johnny Gargano and a Tag Team loss to both Williams and Lionheart where Dar was teamed with Uhaa Nation.^[61]

Following the championship loss, Dar would remain a prominent figure in PCW in 2014 and 2015, wrestling established names like Paul London, Steve Corino, Chris Hero, Tommaso Ciampa, John Morrison and Rob Van Dam.^[62][63] Dar had a violent three match feud with former WWE star Drew Galloway, which Dar won 2:1.^[64][65][66]

Due to a working relationship between PCW and Ring of Honor (ROH),^[67] Dar has competed on a number of ROH/PCW "Supershows", wrestling the likes of Cedric Alexander, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and ACH - as well as challenging Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship.^{[68][69][70][71][72][65][73][74]}

PROGRESS Wrestling (2012-Present)

Dar competed at the first ever PROGRESS Wrestling show in 2012, entering a tournament to become the inaugural Progress Champion, he was unsuccessful in the tournament but then began a winning streak that would last the remainder of the year and continue into 2013 when he became the No.1 Contender to Progress Championship with a win over Dave Mastiff, but Dar was unable to unseat El Ligero for the title.

In 2014, Dar entered and won the first ever Progress "World Cup" tournament, representing Israel he defeated Darrell Allen, Grado and Rampage Brown.^[75] The tournament win earned him another shot at the Progress Championship, however new champion Jimmy Havoc was successful in defeating the challenger.

In 2015, at "Chapter 18" Dar again challenged Havoc for the championship but was once again defeated. Dar entered the inaugural "Super Strong Style 16" tournament but was eliminated in the first round by Dave Mastiff due to referee stoppage and a storyline injury.^[76][77]

At present, Dar's last match for Progress was a loss to William Eaver at Chapter 20.^[78][79] Following a post-match moment where Dar draped a Progress t-shirt over the ropes and thanked the audience, it is unclear when Dar will return to the promotion.^[80]

Total Non-Stop Action (2014-2015)

Noam Dar was a contestant on Season 2 of Total Nonstop Action's British Boot Camp which was televised nationally in the UK on Challenge TV. Dar advanced to the final six but the competition was eventually won by Mark Andrews.^[81][82]

Dar worked a handful of matches for TNA in the UK and US, most notably a loss on Xplosion to former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries.^[83] As one of the final six, Dar accompanied TNA on their UK stadium tour where he was victorious in a pair of Tag Team matches and wrestled to a no-contest with Rampage Brown.^[84]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Champagne Superkneebar (Kneebar)^[1]
• Nicknames
  • "The Israeli Icon"
  • "The Jewdi Master" (ICW)
• Entrance themes
  • "Fair City Riots" by Titors Insignia (ICW)^[85]
  • "Morning Glory" by Oasis^[86]
• Tag Teams
  • Champagne Superbollocks (with Kenny Williams)
  • The Final Cut (with Liam Thomson)

Championships and Accomplishments

• British Championship Wrestling
  • BCW Openweight Championship (1 time)^[37]
• Insane Championship Wrestling
  • ICW Zero-G Championship (2 times, first)^[87]
  • ICW Zero-G Title Tournament (2010)^[88]
• Preston City Wrestling
  • PCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time, first) ^[58]
  • Road to Glory Tournament (2013)
• PROGRESS Wrestling
  • PROGRESS World Cup Tournament (Israel, 2014)^[76]
• Premier British Wrestling
  • PBW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Liam Thomson^[89][90]
  • King of Cruisers (2012)^[26]
• One Pro Wrestling
  • 1PW Openweight Championship (1 time, final)^[91]

References