The British Welterweight Championship is the welterweight professional wrestling championship competed for throughout the British wrestling circuit.[1]
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.[2] [3] [4] Pre-publicity for these championship match broadcasts was given in ITV's nationally published listings magazine TVTimes[5] [6] [7]
A British Welterweight Championship was first set up in 1938 under All-In rules and won by Harold Angus.[8] The Mountevans Committee in 1947 called for the establishment of a British Welterweight Title and so recognised the still-incumbent All In titleholder Angus as champion.[8] This lineage was recognised by Joint Promotions following its 1952 formation. The title would later be transplanted to All Star Wrestling following champion Danny Collins' defection in the late 1980s, where it would remain active until the mid-1990s.[8] In the 21st century, revivals of the title have been hosted by The Wrestling Alliance in 2000-2003 and Revolution British Wrestling in 2003-2005 before most recently being contested for in LDN's Academy/Spirit League since 2006.
The title first became recognised by RBW in August 2003, when a decider contest was held between Spud and Jack Hazard which saw Spud crowned RBW's first British Welterweight Champion. The last RBW holder would be Kid Regis who would hold the belt at the time of RBW's eventual closedown in late 2005.
Regis continued to defend the Welterweight Championship on the independent circuit, eventually losing it to Tex Benedict in 2006 in LDN, who in turn lost it to current champion Alan Travis in 2008.
This is the combined list of different versions of the British Welterweight 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.
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Place: | Notes: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harold Angus | 1 | 1938 | Champion under 'All-In' rules, granted recognition as incumbent champion by Mountevans Committee in 1947. Vacated in 1948 when Angus dies following a firearms-related accident. | ||
| Mick McManus | 1 | 1949 | Defeated Eddie Capelli. | ||
| Jack Dempsey | 1 | 1951 | |||
| Alan Colbeck | 1 | ??/05/1952 | Defeated Les Stent. |
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Place: | Notes: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Lawrence | 1 | 1953 | |||
| Jack Dempsey | 2 | 1953 | |||
| Mick McManus | 2 | 05/01/1957 | London | ||
| Jack Dempsey | 2 | 23/04/1958 | London | Vacated in October 1966 when Dempsey temporarily retired due to illness. | |
| Alan Sargeant | 1 | 26/11/1966 | Hemel Hempstead | Defeats Alan Wood in tournament final. | |
| Jim Breaks | 1 | 06/11/1967 | Leeds | ||
| Alan Sargeant | 2 | ??/09/1968 | N/A | ||
| Brian Maxine | 1 | 30/09/1969 | Croydon | May have won the title earlier in the month and defend against Sarjeant on this day; vacates in June 1971 after winning the middleweight title. | |
| Vic Faulkner | 1 | 20/07/1971 | Croydon | Defeats Adrian Street. | |
| Jim Breaks | 2 | 31/05/1976 | Bradford | ||
| Vic Faulkner | 2 | 28/08/1976 | Manchester | ||
| Jim Breaks | 3 | 09/03/1977 | Buxton | ||
| Vic Faulkner | 3 | 05/07/1977 | Leicester | Title immediately held up by Joint Promotions because of the interference by Bert Royal. | |
| Jim Breaks | 4 | 30/11/1977 | London | Defeats Faulkner in rematch. | |
| Dynamite Kid | 1 | 25/01/1978 | Preston | Vacant in 1979 when Kid left the country. | |
| Jim Breaks | 5 | 27/06/1979 | London | Defeats Steve Grey in 8-man tournament final. | |
| Alan Dennison | 1 | 11/06/1980 | London | ||
| Jim Breaks | 6 | 29/03/1983 | Croydon | ||
| Steve Grey | 1 | 25/05/1982 | Croydon | [9] | |
| Alan Dennison | 2 | 21/06/1982 | N/A | ||
| Jim Breaks | 7 | 29/03/1983 | Croydon | May have won the title from Dennison before this date. | |
| Alan Dennison | 3 | 29/04/1983 | |||
| Jim Breaks | 8 | 09/12/1983 | Barnsley | ||
| Danny Collins | 1 | 21/03/1984 | Croydon | ||
| Steve Grey | 2 | 21/06/1984 | Malvern | ||
| Danny Collins | 2 | 22/06/1984 | Bath | ||
| Steve Grey | 3 | 21/08/1984 | Malvern | ||
| Danny Collins | 3 | 01/11/1984 | Manchester | ||
| Sid Cooper | 1 | 23/05/1985 | Bristol | ||
| Danny Collins | 4 | 26/08/1985 | Takes title to All Star circa 1988 | ||
| Title vacated on 04/07/1989 when Collins wins the heavy middleweight title. | |||||
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Place: | Notes: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mal Sanders | 1 | 21/12/1989 | Bristol | Defeated Steve Grey. | |
| Doc Dean | 1 | 25/10/1990 | Southampton | ||
| Blondie Barrett | 1 | 17/12/1991 | Chelmsford | ||
| Doc Dean | 2 | 18/07/1992 | Norwich | ||
| Steve Prince | 1 | 09/10/1993 | Croydon | May have been in October. |
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Place: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonny Storm | 1 | 17/01/2002 | Southampton | Defeated Jody Fleisch. |
| Jody Fleisch | 1 | 03/10/2002 | Southampton | |
| Jonny Storm | 2 | 27/11/2002 | Plymouth | |
| Title abandoned with TWA's closure in 2003. | ||||
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Place: | Notes: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spud | 1 | 30/08/2003 | Defeated Jack Hazard in a match to be crowned first champion | ||
| Ross Jordan | 1 | 07/12/2003 | |||
| Sammy Ray | 1 | 27/03/2004 | |||
| Ross Jordan | 2 | 24/07/2004 | Chingford, London | ||
| Kid Regis | 1 | 05/02/2005 | Chingford, London | ||
| RBW closes in late 2005, Regis continued to claim title (as detailed below). | |||||
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Place: | Notes: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tex Benedict | 1 | 04/06/2006 | Walthamstow, London | Defeats Kid Regis, thus keeping continuity with RBW version | |
| Alan Travis | 1 | 20/09/2008 | Hanley, Staffordshire | ||
| LDN withdraws from sanctioning the championship 2009, recognises Travis as LDN Capital Champion. Travis, under Mountevans Rules, remains dormant British Welterweight champion pending further developments | |||||