Wikipedia

British Championship Wrestling

British Championship Wrestling (BCW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion[1] based in East Kilbride, Scotland, UK. It is currently owned and operated by promoter Graham McKay (who also performs under the name Charles Boddington)[2] after being founded by his brother Colin McKay (who performed as The Highlander)[3] in 2003. It is one of the oldest promotions in Scottish professional wrestling.[4][5][6]

British Championship Wrestling
AcronymBCW
Founded2003
StyleBritish Wrestling
HeadquartersEast Kilbride, Scotland, UK
Founder(s)Colin McKay
Owner(s)Graham McKay

History edit

British Championship Wrestling was founded by Colin McKay[7] in 2003, now run by his brother Graham McKay.[8][9][5][6] As part of the fledgling Scottish wrestling scene in the 2000s,[10][6] it hosted talent like Drew Galloway (where he held his first title[11]),[12][13] Wolfgang, Noam Dar,[14][15] Lionheart,[16] Grado,[17] and others in their early careers.[18][19][20]

BCW has hosted a number of title matches for other notable companies. These include Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, EVOLVE Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, WhatCulture Pro Wrestling, Westside Xtreme Wrestling and the Union of European Wrestling Alliances.[21][22][23]

Examples of these interpromotional title matches include Drew Galloway vs. Jack Jester for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Galloway vs. Marty Scurll for the EVOLVE Championship and Open the Freedom Gate Championship, Galloway vs. Matt Hardy for the WCPW World Championship, Andy Roberts vs. Doug Williams for the European Heavyweight Championship, Tracey Smothers vs. GTS for wZw Heavyweight Championship, Grado vs. Sha Samuels for the PWE World Heavyweight Championship and GTS & Iceman vs. T2K (Darkside & Wolfgang) for the WXW Tag Team Championship.[24][25] [26][27][28][29]

BCW was forced into inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic before returning on 9 April 2022 with ‘’Back 2 Business’’ which featured Joe Hendry, BCW Heavyweight Champion BT Gunn, UEWA European Heavyweight Champion Andy Wild, ICW World Heavyweight Champion Kez Evans, Doug Williams and Jody Fleisch.[4][30]

Controversies edit

In April 2012, BCW founder Colin McKay was arrested after the police were alerted that he had engaged in inappropriate conduct with minors.[31] McKay was sentenced to three years and ten weeks in prison[32] and was added to the Sex Offenders Register after pleading guilty to grooming teenagers and the statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy.[33][34][35][36]

In 2017, BCW had a public dispute with Matt Sydal about a no-show and unreturned deposit.[37][38][39] Eventually Impact Wrestling, Sydal's employer, stepped in to resolve the issue.[40][41][42]

In 2020, former BCW Heavyweight Champion Ross Watson (Kid Fite), who also has a "working relationship" with BCW through his Premier British Wrestling school[43][44] was named during Speaking Out. In the fall out of this, promotions like Discovery Wrestling ceased using Watson.[45][46] BCW have kept him on their roster[47][48] and have continued to book and promote him on their cards.[4][49][50]

References edit

  1. ^ Paglino, Nick (29 December 2016). "What Does WWE Hope to Achieve with The UK Championship?".
  2. ^ "Charles Boddington". CageMatch. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Highlander". CageMatch. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Lambrou, Andrea (30 May 2023). "BCW wrestlers are back in East Kilbride for 20th anniversary smackdown". Daily Record.
  5. ^ a b Highet, Lochlin (31 March 2023). "Wrestling boss delighted to be celebrating 20 year anniversary with special show". Daily Record.
  6. ^ a b c McIntyre, Drew (2021). My Story: A Chosen Destiny. Gallery Books. pp. 48–50, 58–61, 265. ISBN 978-1-9821-8505-3. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  7. ^ Silvester, Norman (15 April 2012). "Wrestler banned from coaching under-16s after arrest on indecency charges". Daily Record.
  8. ^ "Tribute fight night for Cumnock wrestling legend Lionheart". Cumnock Chronicle. 29 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Prime Target: NXT UK TakeOver Blackpool II video and recap".
  10. ^ Haverford, Joey (13 January 2017). "The Odd Couple: 20 Things You Didn't Know About Cesaro And Sheamus". TheSportster.
  11. ^ Chin, Michael (5 May 2020). "Ranking Drew McIntyre's 10 Greatest Title Wins". TheSportster.
  12. ^ "This Is Happening | By Drew McIntyre". The Players' Tribune. 22 August 2020.
  13. ^ Ross, Rory (10 April 2021). "WWE superstar Drew McIntyre: the skinny Scot who wrestled his way to global stardom" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Noam Dar". www.sportskeeda.com.
  15. ^ "NXT UK premiere results: Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar".
  16. ^ Morrison, Adam (20 June 2019). "ICW Champion Lionheart Passes Away, Aged 36".
  17. ^ "Major wrestling stars head to Ayrshire for British Championship". Cumnock Chronicle. 8 April 2019.
  18. ^ Soucek, Andrew (2 September 2017). "WRITTEN PODCAST RECAP: Colt Cabana's "The Art of Wrestling" - Glasgow live show with Billy Kirkwood, Jody Fleisch, Lionheart, the rise of UK wrestling, Grado's rude friend, and Colt has his bike stolen! (#364)".
  19. ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=124&page=16&year=2006
  20. ^ Reynolds, Michael (17 April 2017). "Past, present and future wrestling stars set for Ayrshire collision". Daily Record.
  21. ^ "9.03.14 | Dragon Gate USA". 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014.
  22. ^ "Drew McIntyre". 5 October 2023.
  23. ^ "Drew McIntyre". 3 October 2009.
  24. ^ "Results — British Championship Wrestling". 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  25. ^ "British Championship Wrestling (BCW)» Results". CageMatch. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  26. ^ "WCPW Reloaded #4 – A Surprise Title Match Appears". 16 December 2016.
  27. ^ "History of Matt Hardy in Timeline". populartimelines.com. 23 September 1974. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  28. ^ Wilson, Stuart (8 April 2016). "Hometown hero Drew Galloway returns to Ayrshire with world title". Daily Record.
  29. ^ Lambrou, Andrea (1 April 2016). "Wrestling boss to host TNA superstar". Daily Record.
  30. ^ "BCW wrestling given green light to bring show back to Lanarkshire for 20th anniversary smackdown". MSN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Former champion wrestler Colin 'Highlander' McKay facing jail for sex crimes against teenage boys". Daily Record. 29 July 2012.
  32. ^ "Colin McKay – East Kilbride". UK Database. 4 September 2012.
  33. ^ "Family disown jailed paedo wrestler". Daily Record. 4 September 2012.
  34. ^ Marie, P. J. (10 January 2017). "8 Wrestler Who Did The U.K. Proud And 7 Who Disgraced It". TheSportster.
  35. ^ "PWTorch.com - Former British Hvt. champion arrested". www.pwtorch.com.
  36. ^ "411MANIA". Former British Heavyweight Champion Arrested For Sex Crimes.
  37. ^ Boone, Matt (3 December 2017). "Matt Sydal Misses BCW Shows, Promotion Claims He Is Refusing To Return Deposit | EWrestling".
  38. ^ Payne, Johny (4 December 2017). "Impact Wrestling News: Matt Sydal accused of ripping promoter off; Sydal fires back". www.sportskeeda.com.
  39. ^ Powell, Jason (3 December 2017). "Matt Sydal misses BCW events, promotion calls him out for not returning his booking deposit".
  40. ^ "IMPACT Helps Matt Sydal Resolve Financial Issues With BCW".
  41. ^ "Matt Sydal In Hot Water Over Refusal To Pay Back Deposit After Missing A Booking, Impact Steps In | Fightful News". www.fightful.com.
  42. ^ Boone, Matt (4 December 2017). "Impact Wrestling Helps Matt Sydal Resolve Issues With BCW Promotion | EWrestling".
  43. ^ "An insight into the world of British wrestling with Ross "Kid Fite" Watson". RealSport101. 3 March 2016.
  44. ^ "PBW Academy - Premier British Wrestling". www.pbwwrestling.com.
  45. ^ Kean, Gary (26 July 2020). "Scottish Wrestling Unites In Response To SpeakingOut Movement".
  46. ^ Lugris, Mark (27 July 2020). "Scottish Wrestling Supports #SpeakingOut Movement". TheSportster.
  47. ^ "British Championship Wrestling Wrestlers". www.bcw-wrestling.com.
  48. ^ "Kid Fite". British Championship Wrestling.
  49. ^ "Kid Fite» Matches". CageMatch. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  50. ^ "BCW 2023 Roster". Cagematch. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
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