| Lucha Britannia | |
| Acronym: | LB |
| Established: | 2006 |
| Style: | Lucha libre Vaudeville |
| Location: | Bethnal Green, London |
| Founder: | Garry Vanderhorne |
| Owner: | Garry Vanderhorne |
| Website: | http://www.luchabritannia.com/ |
Lucha Britannia is a British lucha libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Bethnal Green, London since 2006.
Lucha Britannia was created by Garry Vanderhorne in 2006 from Rock & Metal Wrestling Action (RAMWA), as an alternative form of physical theatre, music, cabaret, comedy and professional wrestling. In 2007, Lucha Britannia held the first of its six sell-out shows at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. By November 2007 The promotion had outgrown the Working Men's Club and moved to SeOne, a large nightclub beneath London Bridge station. In December that year they were listed by Time Out in their (London) top five Best alternative nightlife of 2007.[1]
In the summer of 2008 Lucha Britannia featured on the BBC's coverage of the Reading and Leeds festivals and in October that year they co-hosted the inaugural Bizarre Ball in conjunction with Bizarre Magazine.[2] In 2009, Lucha Britannia became the first UK based wrestling promotion to feature on live British television in twenty-five years when they featured in their coverage of the Brit Awards after-party at Earls Court hosted by Rufus Hound. Later that year they returned to co-produce and host the second Bizarre Ball again for Bizarre Magazine.[3]
During 2011, Lucha Britannia put on seventeen events in London and around the UK. In 2016 the promotion increased to hosting semi-monthly shows called Lucha Underground at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, East London on Friday nights.
Events continued at the Resistance Gallery until 2020 when it briefly closed during the Covid Pandemic. It triumphantly returned in April 2023 at Village Underground in Shoreditch where there are now regular shows.
Lucha Britannia combines the Lucha Libre style of wrestling that is characterized by the wearing of colourful masks, rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, tag-teams and "high-flying" with the traditional British technical style, North American and Japanese Puroresu wrestling format.Aside from wrestling, Lucha Britannia events also include risqué cabaret performances, comedic interludes and side acts.[4]
All the characters and performers in Lucha Britannia loosely fit into a fantastical narrative called the "RetroFutureVerse" wherein a fractious band of outlawed prize-fighters (known as the "United Resistance Movement") battle for justice and dignity against the dastardly representatives of tyrannical rulers (known either as "The State" or "The Yankee Boche") in an ornately cruel, futuristic dystopia.[5]
The promotion runs regular monthly shows from the Village Underground – a venue in Shoreditch in London's East End. Lucha Britannia spawned the London School of Lucha Libre, Lucha Britannia's own professional-wrestling training academy,[6] [7] as well as hosting a variety of other events.
Lucha Britannia has also been an attraction on television and at major UK festivals including the Glastonbury Festival, Download Festival, Reading Festival, Leeds Festival and The Brit Awards.[8] [9]
Regular events include immersive theatre with many elements of wrestling, comedy, and sinister cabaret in their shows.
As only months are known, each reign is listed as beginning on the first of the month although this may not be true.
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion | |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | The information is not available or is unknown | |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||
| 1 | Leon Brittannico | January 20, 2012 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [10] | ||
| 2 | Santeria | October 19, 2012 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [11] | ||
| 3 | Metallico | March 15, 2013 | March Madness | London, England | 1 | [12] | ||
| 4 | Dark Brittanico | May 31, 2013 | The Super Lucha Summer Extravaganza | London, England | 1 | [13] | ||
| 5 | Metallico | October 18, 2013 | October Frightmare | London, England | 2 | <1 | [14] | |
| 6 | Santeria | October 18, 2013 | October Frightmare | London, England | 2 | |||
| 7 | Anteios | November 29, 2013 | I Was Santa's Love Slave | London, England | 1 | [15] | ||
| 8 | The Bengal Tiger | March 21, 2014 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [16] | ||
| 9 | Dark Britannico | May 16, 2014 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | [17] | ||
| 10 | Glamsexico | June 20, 2014 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [18] | ||
| 11 | Leon Britannico | August 15, 2014 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [19] | ||
| 12 | Santeria | October 31, 2014 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 3 | [20] | ||
| 13 | Freddie Mercurio | January 16, 2015 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [21] | ||
| 14 | Santeria | April 17, 2015 | April’s Atonement | London, England | 4 | [22] | ||
| 15 | Cassius | June 19, 2015 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [23] | ||
| 16 | Fug | November 20, 2015 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [24] | ||
| 17 | Cassius | December 18, 2015 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | [25] | ||
| 18 | Freddie Mercurio | January 8, 2016 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | [26] | ||
| 19 | Cassius | January 15, 2016 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 3 | [27] | ||
| 20 | La Diablesa Rosa | March 18, 2016 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [28] | ||
| 21 | Lord Reginald Windsor | August 19, 2016 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 22 | Jerry Bakewell | October 21, 2016 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [29] | ||
| 23 | Malik | November 18, 2016 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | [30] | ||
| 24 | Cassius | December 16, 2016 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 4 | [31] | ||
| 25 | La Diablesa Rosa | January 20, 2017 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | |||
| 26 | Hombre Del Rocka | April 21, 2017 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 27 | La Diablesa Rosa | June 16, 2017 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 3 | |||
| 28 | Pavo Real | August 18, 2017 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 29 | La Diablesa Rosa | January 19, 2018 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 4 | |||
| 30 | Jerry Bakewell | July 20, 2018 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | |||
| 31 | Fug | September 21, 2018 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | [32] | ||
| 32 | Triffidos | February 15, 2019 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 33 | El Ray Anansie | June 1, 2019 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 34 | Triffidos | June 1, 2019 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 35 | El Ray Anansie | July 27, 2019 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | |||
| 36 | Triffidos | July 28, 2019 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | |||
| 37 | Hanuman | October 16, 2019 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 38 | Cara Noir (Pava Real) | November 15, 2019 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | |||
| 39 | Disco Diablo | January 17, 2020 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | |||
| 40 | Bradford W. Bush | July 13, 2023 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | First match after the Pandemic | ||
| 41 | Marduk Malik | November 23, 2023 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 2 | |||
| 42 | Bullito | March 22, 2024 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 1 | Champion for only eight minutes! | ||
| 43 | La Diablesa Rosa | March 22, 2024 | Lucha Britannia | London, England | 5 | + | ||