British Light Heavyweight Championship
The British Light Heavyweight Championship was a top British wrestling championship found throughout the country's circuit. The title's broken history dates back to the 1920s. After going inactive in 2004, the title was re-activated in 2014.
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]
Title history
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.
Original
Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Place: | Notes: |
Sam Clapham | 1 | 1920s | First recorded champion.[5] | |
Atholl Oakeley | 1 | 1930 | Legacy from Clapham uncertain[5] | |
Dick Wills | 1 | 1932 | [5] | |
Robert H Cook | 1 | 1936-1938 | Manchester | Won title from Wills 08/05/1936. Won European Light Heavyweight title from Milo Popocopolis 22/05/1936.[5] |
Bill McDonald | 1 | 1947 | Legacy from Cook uncertain[5] | |
Charley Fisher | 1 | June 1950 | [5] | |
Sonny Wallis | 1 | July 1950 | Vacated title[5] | |
Norman Walsh | 1 | February 1951 | Edinburgh | Defeated Tony Baer to win the title.[5] |
Les Kellett | 1 | [5] |
Joint Promotions
Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Place: | Notes: |
Dennis Mitchell | 1 | 1952 | [5] | |
Ernie Riley | 1 | 1952 | Defeated "Iron Man" Steve Logan to win the title.[5] | |
Charley Fisher | 2 | Legacy from Riley uncertain. Vacated the title in 1955 after leaving the Light Heavyweight division.[5] | ||
Ernie Riley | 2 | 1955 | Defeated "Iron Man" Steve Logan to win the vacant title.[5] | |
Billy Joyce | 1 | 1957 | [5] | |
Ernie Riley | 3 | [5] | ||
Roy St. Clair | 1 | 1960 | Nottingham | [5] |
Ernie Riley | 4 | May 1961 | Riley retired as champion in December 1969.[5] | |
Billy Joyce | 2 | 27/03/1971 | Blackburn | Defeated Tony Charles for the vacant title. Retired as champion in 1976.[5] |
Marty Jones | 1 | 12/11/1976 | Wolverhampton | Defeated Mark Rocco for the vacant title. Jones vacates the title in 1982 after winning the World Mid-Heavyweight Championship.[5] |
Dave Finlay | 1 | 24/2/1983 | Oldham | Defeated Ringo Rigby in a tournament final[5] |
Marty Jones | 2 | 26/11/1983 | Manchester | [5] |
Dave Finlay | 2 | before February 1984 | N/A | [5] |
Marty Jones | 3 | 8/2/1984 | Leamington | Jones vacated the title in 1984 after regaining the World Mid-Heavyweight Championship.[5] |
Alan Kilby | 1 | 16/1/1985 | Walsall | Defeated Steve Logan[Note 1] to win the vacant title.[5] |
All Star Wrestling
Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Place: | Notes: |
King Ben | 1 | 25/3/1988 | Keighley | [5] |
Alan Kilby | 2 | 1988 | [5] | |
Skull Murphy (Peter Northey) | 1 | 25/3/1995 | Norwich | [5] |
Alan Kilby | 3 | Before September 1995 | [5] | |
Danny Boy Collins | 1 | 2/4/1996 | Croydon | [5] |
Alan Kilby | 4 | Before January 1998 | [5] | |
Ian Wilson | 1 | 10/10/1998 | Norwich | [5] |
Alan Kilby | 5 | November 1998 | Norwich | Last claimed the title on 1/11/2004.[5] |
Dean Allmark | 1 | 2014 | ||
Seiki Yoshioka | 1 | 6 July 2014 | Tokyo, Japan | [6][7] |
Dean Allmark | 2 | 19 August 2014 | Rhyl | [8] |
Footnotes
- ↑ unrelated to the Steve Logan listed above
See also
References
- ↑ "Marty Jones capture of vacant British Light Heavyweight title in tournament final over Mark Rocco in Wolverhampton 12 October 1976". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 23 October 1976.
- ↑ "Fit Finlay capture of vacant British Light Heavyweight title in tournament final over Ringo Rigby in Oldham 24 February 1983". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 12 March 1983.
- ↑ "For the vacant British Light Heavyweight Championship: Marty Jones v Mark Rocco"". Saturday 23 October - Friday 29 October 1976 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes.
- ↑ ""For the vacant British Light Heavyweight Championship: Fit Finlay v Ringo Rigby"". Saturday 12 March - Friday 18 March 1983 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Europe - Great Britain: British Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 403. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ↑ "Fighting Entertainment Wrestle-1 「衝撃~Impact~」". Wrestle-1 (in Japanese). 2014-07-06. Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
- ↑ "イングランド遠征中の吉岡世起選手初防衛戦決定のお知らせ". Wrestle-1 (in Japanese). 2014-08-15. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
- ↑ "イングランドでの吉岡世起選手、初防衛戦結果のお知らせ". Wrestle-1 (in Japanese). 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2014-08-20.