| The Snake Pit | |
| Aka: | Riley's Riley's Gym 蛇の穴 / スネーク・ピット Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club Aspull Wrestling Club Wigan |
| Date Founded: | 1948 |
| Country: | England |
| Founder: | Billy Riley |
| Head: | Roy Wood, Andrea Wood |
| Arts: | Catch wrestling Freestyle wrestling |
| Notable Pract: | Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Bert Assirati, Jack Dempsey,, Les Thornton, Dynamite Kid, Maria Dunn |
The Snake Pit is a wrestling gym and organisation in Aspull, Wigan Borough, England. It hosts the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club. Founded in 1948 by Billy Riley in the town of Wigan, it was originally known as Riley's Gym. Riley was succeeded by Roy Wood, one of his last living students. In December 2023, Wood was recognised on the 2024 New Year Honours and awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) "for services to wrestling and young people" after coaching for almost 50 years.[1] [2] [3] An exhibition about Riley and the gym began at the Leigh Town Hall in April 2024.[4]
The gym has been a significant influence on the evolution of catch-as-catch-can (CACC), freestyle, and professional wrestling, as well as mixed martial arts (MMA), especially in Japan. Riley was the head coach for over 20 years, teaching the Lancashire style of catch wrestling, and the gym became known in Britain and internationally for producing skilled wrestlers. Riley closed the gym in the early 1970s due to theatrics overtaking legitimate skills in pro wrestling but it was soon revived through a community effort, with Roy Wood becoming head coach, assisted by Riley and other veteran wrestlers. The gym switched to freestyle wrestling, producing champions and international competitors, and hosting the Aspull Freestyle Wrestling International for over 35 years. The gym moved to Aspull during this time, establishing the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club.[5] [6]
The gym continued to be one of the most essential sources for preserving catch wrestling and began to formally promote the style again in 2012 through competitions, training, and certification.[7] [8] The Snake Pit has hosted the Catch Wrestling World Championships since 2018. The 2024 Catch Wrestling British Championships are scheduled for August 10, followed by the World Championships on September 7.[9] [10]
Billy Riley was a skilled professional wrestler in an era where bouts were still legitimate.[11] Riley trained in pubs like the Crispin Arms or at his home before he and a handful of other wrestlers, who were also tradesmen, combined their resources to purchase a plot of land and build a dedicated gym in the Whelley area of the town of Wigan. The gym opened in 1948 to teach Lancashire style catch-as-catch-can (CACC), freestyle, and professional wrestling (termed "show wrestling").
The original building was described as a shed or shack with a tin roof, bare bricks inside, a worn wrestling mat stuffed with horse hair, a coal stove for heat, no toilet, rusting weights, and a shower in the corner that only had cold water.[12] [13] [14] Riley was an active coach, known for hard training and demanding every opponent be approached as world-class, even if they were only a novice. He wanted to be confident in his students' skills and was known for phrases like “you can never train too hard” and "do it again."[15] [16] He also kept a room of books and reference materials for wrestling. and other veteran wrestlers would regularly coach alongside Riley. Many of the trainees were miners and hoped to boost their incomes by wrestling. There was a common saying that someone reaching into a local mine would grab either a wrestler or rugby player.[17] The professionals usually trained in the morning and worked shows in the evening, then the wrestlers with day jobs trained after work.[18] Since there had been legitimate wrestlers in every family, it became impossible to hold theatrical-style pro wrestling in Wigan.[19] Riley did not make much money as a coach because he kept his member fees modest. In 1964, they were only two shillings and six pence (2s. 6., a half crown,), despite a wrestler like Karl Gotch reportedly earning £30,000 annually. Although the training was tough and many visitors were one-time-only, the gym had unwritten rules against breaking limbs, eye-poking, hair-pulling, and similar behaviour.[20] Women and children were also disallowed in those days.
The hard-nosed environment produced some of the most popular and skilled wrestlers of their time, such as Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Bert Assirati, Jack Dempsey, Les Thornton, and Billy Joyce (Bob Robinson). Other wrestlers from the gym included Ernie Riley (Billy Riley's son), Joe Robinson (Billy Joyce's brother), Melvyn Riss (Harold Winstanley), John Foley, Alan Latham (Francis Sullivan), Mick and Seamus Dunleavy, Billy Chambers, Len Wetherby, Jackie Cheers, Frank Riley, Jimmy Hart, Alan Hartwood, Harry Duvall, Ken Baldwin, John Naylor, Brian Burke, and Roy Wood.[21] [22] [23] As well as Bob Sherry (Jimmy Niblett),[24] [25] El Diablo (Tony Francis),[26] George Gregory,[27] Count Bartelli (Geoff Condliffe),[28] Jack Mountford, Johnny Eagle (Roy Boyd),[29] and Tommy Heyes.
The gym became well-known internationally and hosted wrestlers from countries including France, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Spain, India, Pakistan, Turkey, the United States, and Canada.[30] Riley also encouraged his wrestlers to bring knowledge back from other gyms and styles. During Billy Robinson's eight years at Riley's, he was sent to Hungary to learn Greco-Roman wrestling, and to Sweden and Germany. Gotch, Robinson, Joyce, Thornton, and other Riley's wrestlers toured Japan, where the wrestlers and their style developed an enduring popularity. Rumours of the gym's reputation inspired the "Tiger's Den" in Tiger Mask, a manga and anime series about pro wrestling, and Robinson inspired the manga/anime character Robin Mask.[31] [32] [33]
Although Riley's was the most well-known gym, it had several rivals such as the Belshaws, who were a family of undertakers that specialised in takedowns. They had been trained by Billy Riley's coach Willie "Pop" Charnock, who also had his own gym.[34]
Riley's was featured in "The Wrestlers", a documentary by ITV Granada, which premiered on September 5, 1967. The documentary focused on the lives and personalities of popular pro wrestlers outside the ring, featuring Billy Robinson, Les Kellett, Johnny Eagle, Vic Faulkner, Abe Ginsberg, Jim Hussey, Alan Dennison, and Roy "Bull" Davis, along with Billy Riley. It was directed by Michael Elster, filmed by David Wood, produced by Denis Mitchell, edited by Leonard Trumm, with sound recording by John Muxworthy.[35] [36] [37] [38]
By the 1970s, the theatrical elements of pro wrestling had completely overtaken legitimate wrestling ability and Riley closed his famous gym. However, the gym was revived when Roy Wood's son Darren and a friend wanted to wrestle, but it needed repairs first. Using materials donated by Bill Swiers, a group of locals rebuilt the gym to twice the original size. Wood then became the head coach and Riley returned to mentor from his chair, along with Tommy Heyes. Riley's converted to freestyle wrestling because there were no opportunities for catch wrestlers in Britain coupled with safety concerns for training youth. Riley's grandsons Mark and Paul, and nephew Patrick Burns also trained at the revived gym.[39] After a lifetime in wrestling, Billy Riley died on September 15, 1977.[40]
The gym consistently produced British champions and top competitors. In 1986, Darren Wood won gold in freestyle wrestling at the European Cadets Championship followed by gold at the 1987 Cadet World Championships and the 1987 British Senior Championships.[41] [42]
On February 7, 1989, the documentary series First Tuesday premiered "The Wigan Hold", produced by Roger Finnegan, focusing on Riley's gym.[43] [44] The piece focused on the lives of Ernie Riley and Tommy Moore (Jack Dempsey); Riley, Moore, and Roy Wood coaching youth; retrospectives on wrestling history in Wigan, Billy Riley, the gym, and theatrical pro wrestling. It also included archival footage from "The Wrestlers" documentary of Riley coaching a young Wood. The deteriorating state of the facility and lack of resources shown on the programme prompted a government offer to renovate the gym. Instead, the decision was made to relocate, establishing the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club (AOWC).[45] The original gym was later demolished after a fire and houses were built on the land.[46]
In 1990, Japanese pro wrestlers Kazuo Sakurada and KY Wakamatsu approached Billy Joyce, who directed them to Wood, with an offer to coach in Japan for Super World of Sports (SWS). After a training session, Wood and Joyce took them to the ruins of Riley's, where the visitors looked noticeably upset by the famed gym's condition and offered financial assistance to rebuild it. Wood then travelled to Japan and coached the SWS roster in Lancashire-style catch wrestling. He ended his tour with an exhibition match in front of 17,000 spectators at Yokohama Arena.[47] During this trip, Wood broke the leg of a Japanese wrestler who challenged him, which convinced the others of his ability.
In 1993, the club had another visitor from Japan, Osamu Matsunami. An 18-year-old Matsunami had learned about the club from an article about Dynamite Kid in Weekly Gong magazine (No. 257, May 25, 1989). A quote by Joyce in the article inspired Matsunami's interest in Lancashire wrestling, which grew when Wood coached for SWS in 1990. In May 1993, Matsunami made his first trip to the club, despite knowing little English or the location.[48] [49] [50] After an extended journey and the assistance of several people, Matsunami met Wood, who introduced Matsunami to his family and the community. Matsunami accompanied Wood for several days, including wrestling practices, meeting Riley's wrestlers, and visiting the ruins of Riley's. His visit was covered by the Wigan Post. Matsunami made several more journeys to Wigan, staying for several months at a time. He trained with Wood, Ernie Riley, Billy Joyce, and several other wrestlers, and helped Wood coach kids classes. Matsunami also competed, including a trip to France early-on and placing fifth at the 1995 British Freestyle Wrestling Championships.[51] [52]
In 1995, Osamu Nishimura visited and trained at the gym. Soon after, Wood was recruited by Nishimura's mentor Tatsumi Fujinami, a popular pro wrestler and then-president of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), to train NJPW's roster.[53] In Japan, Wigan and Riley's were regarded as the spiritual home of wrestling, and Fujinami viewed CACC as the foundation of pro wrestling and wanted it to be preserved. Wood was accompanied by five wrestlers including Shane Rigby, a three-time Commonwealth silver medallist from Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club, who learned catch wrestling under Wood.[54] [55] [56] After the success of the first tour, Wood coached in Japan several more times and NJPW held several Lancashire wrestling-style shows featuring Wood's wrestlers under the brand "Muga" .[57]
Other visitors from Japan included Shigeo Miyato, Yoji Anjo, and UWF booker Shinji Sasazaki. In 1999, Miyato founded a gym based on Riley's, the UWF Snake Pit Japan (now), with Billy Robinson and Lou Thesz as the first head coaches.[58]
In 2000, Roy Wood and his daughter Andrea helped establish freestyle wrestling programs at several schools in Greater Manchester, one of which quickly won back-to-back British championships for boys and girls.[59] Wood had pushed for more female participation in wrestling since the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club's opening. He also worked with the St Helens and Wigan Warriors rugby clubs to introduce wrestling into professional rugby, with St Helens quickly going on to win the Challenge Cup several times. Paul Stridgeon, a student of Wood and a British freestyle champion, transitioned to professional rugby, coaching for clubs including the England national team and Wales national team.
In 2008, Wood coached the British wrestling team for the Commonwealth Youth Games in India. In April 2009, Wood was voted as the England-Northern representative for British Wrestling's then-newly established Nations & Regions Committee.[60] In May 2010, AOWC was among the first clubs to receive British Wrestling's Clubmark certification.[61] [62]
Wood coached Maria Dunn, a freestyle wrestler from Guam, for the 2012 Olympics.[63] Wood and Ben Johnson also served as torchbearers for the Olympic flame.[64] Dunn later married Bolton wrestling coach Nathan Tully and they founded the Snakepit Wrestling Academy in Guam. Tully died in 2020 after a battle with cancer.[65] [66] The Nathan Tully award "for dedication to grassroots/paying it forward" is presented in his memory at the Catch Wrestling World Championships.
The club hosted the Aspull Freestyle Wrestling International for 35 years as of 2012.[67]
In February 2009, Wood was named "coach of the year" at the ninth annual Wigan and Leigh Borough Sports Awards for mentoring coaches, coaching British wrestlers at the Commonwealth Youth Games, and preparing 2012 Olympic hopefuls. Nicky Slack, also from AOWC, was named "volunteer of the year."[68]
In 2011, Wood was the North West regional winner of the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award, recognising "outstanding contribution by individuals at the grassroots level of sport."[69] In November 2012, Wood received the "coach of the year" and the "be inspired" awards at the Greater Manchester Sports Awards,[70] and AOWC was named "club of the year" at the Borough Sports Awards.[71]
In December 2023, after almost 50 years of coaching, Wood was recognised on the 2024 New Year Honours and awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) "for services to wrestling and young people."
The often-anachronistic "Snake Pit" name was popularised in Japan. In Britain, the gym was known as "Riley's." Wood was unaware of the "Snake Pit" moniker until his trip to coach in Japan for SWS.
The Snake Pit took its current form around 2011. Due to prior frustrations, Wood maintained his focus on freestyle wrestling until his daughter, Andrea, convinced her father to help preserve the sport of catch wrestling by coaching again. Alongside the 35th Aspull Freestyle Wrestling International in November 2012, The Snake Pit held the first catch wrestling matches to take place in Wigan in fifty years, with participants from Britain and Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan.[72] [73] The Snake Pit also held its first certification that month. Osamu Matsunami and Ian Bromley became the first certified coaches and Riley's Gym Kyoto became the first certified affiliate gym. Since then, The Snake Pit has held regular workshops, interclub competitions, and annual "international weeks" for foreign visitors.[74] [75]
The Snake Pit marked its 70th anniversary with the first annual Catch Wrestling World Championships on November 2, 2018. The event was held at the University of Bolton Stadium and featured competitors from the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, South Africa, Sweden, Lithuania and New Zealand.[76]
After the death of coach Ian Bromley in February 2019, The Snake Pit partnered with the charity Andy's Man Club (AMC) to raise awareness and combat stigma around mental health. The 2019 Catch Wrestling World Championships in November were held in tribute to Bromley. A message from the charity's founder and footage of Bromley's final interview were played between matches. A voluntary group was also set up, promoting the hashtag #17:17. AMC donated wristbands, flyers and other items to be given out at the event.[77] [78] The award for best/outstanding wrestler at the World Championships was named in Bromley's honour. The number of entrants for the event doubled from the previous year, including accomplished grapplers and mixed martial artists such as Olga McGlinchey (2012 world championships bronze medallist and Olympian), UFC fighters John Hathaway and Tom Watson, and Nathaniel Brown, a 2019 British freestyle silver medallist.[79]
In January 2022, documents found in the Snake Pit's archives helped reveal Britain's first black Olympian - Louis Bruce, a biracial wrestler and tram driver from Edinburgh, Scotland. It was previously thought that Harry Edward was Britain's first black Olympian.[80]
After a two-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on June 4, 2022 at the University of Bolton Stadium. The event featured 33 competitors wrestling in a total of 29 matches.
The Snake Pit held the 2023 Catch Wrestling British Championships on August 5 at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan, England. The tournament was open to competitors residing in the British Isles.[81]
The 2023 Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on October 28 at the University of Bolton Stadium. Previous champions Josh Barnett and Owen Livesey faced each-other in the headline bout.[82] [83] This event had the most international competitors to date, including an American team assembled by Barnett - the ACWA Warbringers, all of whom reached the finals in their divisions.[84]
In April 2024, Leigh Town Hall began hosting an exhibition about Billy Riley, catch wrestling, and the gym. Supported by funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, it preserves and displays memorabilia contributed to the collection by The Snake Pit and others.
Under head coach Billy Riley:
Under head coach Roy Wood:
The Snake Pit's certified coaches are Greg Crompton and Chris Lomas, along with level 2 coaches Kevin Lloyd, Wei Tran, Mark Ganaden, Rikk Georgiades, and level 1 coach Jimmy Kelly.[98]
At present, Riley's Gym Kyoto is the only Snake Pit certified affiliate club in the world.[99] Wood named the gym in Riley's honour. Its head coach, Osamu Matsunami, made several extended trips to Wigan to train with Wood and other Riley's wrestlers, and trained in Tokyo with Billy Robinson and Shigeo Miyato.[100] Matsunami and Ian Bromley were the first two coaches to be certified in 2012.
The gym has been well-known in Britain[101] [102] and internationally for decades, being regarded as a home and mecca for wrestling due to its influence on catch-as-catch-can, professional, and freestyle wrestling, as well as mixed martial arts (MMA). The gym's Lancashire catch wrestling style produced some of the most popular and skilled professionals of their time (see above) before transitioning to freestyle wrestling and consistently developing top wrestlers and British champions, with pro wrestlers occasionally training there as well. The gym became one of the most essential sources to preserve catch wrestling as the style struggled to survive.
Outside of Britain, the gym's influence has been felt most in Japan, where Riley's wrestlers including Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Billy Joyce, Les Thornton, Dynamite Kid, and others regularly toured, with Gotch and Robinson in particular becoming very popular in the country. The gym's reputation was an inspiration for the "Tiger's Den" in Tiger Mask, a manga and anime series about pro wrestling, and Robinson inspired the character Robin Mask in the Kinnikuman manga/anime series.
Along with their in-ring careers, Gotch and Robinson became prolific coaches and trained students in the Riley's style for decades. Gotch was a trainer at the JWA and NJPW dojos, and a booker for NJPW. His students included Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Satoru Sayama (the first Tiger Mask), Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, Minoru Suzuki, and Masakatsu Funaki. Robinson's students included Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura, Shigeo Miyato, and Hideki Suzuki. Gotch, Robinson, and their students innovated a realistic pro wrestling style, leading to Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki, the UWF and Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, and setting a foundation for modern MMA. Sayama founded followed by Shooto in 1985, to combine catch wrestling with striking for legitimate competition. Shooto held its first professional event in 1989, several years before the UFC was established.[103] In 1993, Suzuki and Funaki co-founded and competed in Pancrase, a shootfighting promotion which held its first event a month before UFC 1. Gotch suggested the name as a reference to the ancient Olympic sport of pankration.[104] [105] Maeda founded RINGS, a shoot-style pro wrestling promotion that transitioned to MMA. And Takada co-founded PRIDE, one of the most popular MMA promotions in history. These promotions and their associated training facilities produced many of the top Japanese and international MMA fighters of their time.[106] Among them were Sakuraba and Tamura. Sakuraba utilised catch wrestling to regularly defeat the best fighters of his time despite often being much smaller, and was nicknamed "The Gracie Hunter" for his victories over four members of the Gracie jiu-jitsu family including Royce.[107] Tamura performed well at the top levels of MMA, later founding the gym and the promotion U-STYLE.[108] [109] Other notable gyms include, founded by Sayama's associate Noriaki Kiguchi, who also founded ;[110] [111], founded by Sayama's student Yuki Nakai;[112] and, founded by Miyato as UWF Snake Pit Japan, with Robinson and Lou Thesz as the first head coaches.
After establishing itself in Japan, the style expanded abroad. In 1989, Shooto instructor Yorinaga Nakamura immigrated to the United States. He became training partners with Dan Inosanto and they established the first Shooto school outside of Japan.[113] In 1993, Ken Shamrock brought the style from Pancrase to the UFC, became the inaugural Pancrase Champion and UFC Superfight Champion, and founded the first MMA team, the Lion's Den.[114] Americans Maurice Smith[115] [116] and Frank Shamrock,[117] [118] and the Dutch Bas Rutten[119] also trained in the catch-based Pancrase style and went on to become UFC champions. Erik Paulson trained under Nakamura and Inosanto, becoming a Shooto champion and coach. According to Paulson, the Shooto submission lock-flows are all based on the Riley's style.[120] Paulson coached notable fighters including Brock Lesnar, Sean Sherk, Renato Sobral, Cub Swanson, and Lesnar's team on The Ultimate Fighter 13, which included winner Tony Ferguson.[121] [122] In 1994, Matt Hume began his MMA career fighting in Pancrase. Hume was a pioneer of American MMA, having co-founded the AMC Pankration gym several years prior to combine grappling and striking. He cited Suzuki, Funaki, and Ken Shamrock as significant influences on his career.[123] Hume was a primary coach for world champions Josh Barnett,[124] [125] Demetrious Johnson,[126] Jeff Monson, and Rich Franklin.[127] [128] Barnett became one of the most prominent modern catch wrestlers, also trained under Robinson and Paulson, and coached Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shafir, and Victor Henry.[129] [130] He founded the American Catch Wrestling Association (ACWA), which assembled a dominant team for the 2023 Catch Wrestling World Championships. The ACWA then held the first modern US National Championships for catch wrestling in December 2023, with over 90 wrestlers competing across 10 weight classes.[131] [132]
After Wood coached her for the 2012 Olympics, Maria Dunn and her husband Nathan Tully, a Bolton wrestling coach, established the Snakepit Wrestling Academy in Guam.[133]
Wood also worked with the St Helens and Wigan Warriors rugby clubs to introduce wrestling into professional rugby, with St Helens going on to win the Challenge Cup soon after. Paul Stridgeon, a student of Wood and a British freestyle champion, transitioned to professional rugby, coaching with the Wasps, Toulon, Broncos, England national team, and Wales national team.
The Snake Pit held its first Catch Wrestling World Championships on November 2, 2018 at the University of Bolton Stadium, featuring competitors from the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, South Africa, Sweden, Lithuania and New Zealand. Results:[134]
Additionally, super heavyweight champion Josh Barnett and heavyweight runner-up Ian Jones faced each-other in a challenge match that went to a draw. Heavyweight champion Wade Barrick was named the "best wrestler" of the event, Ian Bromley, Ian Jones and Greg Crompton were recognised for coaching, and Roy Wood received a lifetime achievement award for sixty years of service.The 2019 Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on November 1 at the University of Bolton Stadium. The event was held in memory of coach Ian Bromley.[135] Results:[136]
Chris Lomas United Kingdom | Ian Jones United Kingdom | John Hathaway (2) United Kingdom | Dinu Bucalet | Brett Hawthorn United Kingdom | Olga McGlinchey United Kingdom |
After a two-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on June 4, 2022 at the University of Bolton Stadium.[137] The event featured 33 competitors wrestling in a total of 29 matches.[138] Results:[139]
| Chris Lomas (2) United Kingdom | Owen Livesey United Kingdom | Bobby Warde United Kingdom | John Hathaway (3) United Kingdom | Tommy Hawthorn United Kingdom | Brett Hawthorn (2) United Kingdom |
The 2023 Catch Wrestling British Championships took place on August 5 at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan, England. Entries were open to competitors residing in the British Isles. Results:[140]
| Khizar Rehman | Wade Barrick | Adam Berry | Johnny White | Ben Robson | Alex King-Zhang | Gareth Melia |
The 2023 Catch Wrestling World Championships took place on October 28 at the University of Bolton Stadium. Previous champions Josh Barnett and Owen Livesey faced each-other in the headline bout. Results:[141]
John Olivieri United States | Angel Verduzco United States | Brett Pfarr United States | Thomas Higgins | Finlay Marshall United Kingdom | Jonathan Powell United States | Ewan Lister United Kingdom | Nikki Hilton United Kingdom |
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