Hey everyone, I'm OG and today I'll talk abut some great British Wrestlers I got impressed by, the wrestlers most of them from the modern era and well known, recently I try to learn more about the British wrestling culture, and I'll learn more and sure more names will be added to the list.
So here are my top 10 British wrestlers that I got impressed by as a wrestling fan!
(Not in particular order)
#1 : Zack Sabre Junior
Might be one of the most impressive wrestler in the list, one of the greatest technicians if not the greatest technician today, a submission masterclass, technical wizard, an extraordinaire talent you gonna hear a lot from in the future. He started his career in 2004, trained by the NWA UK Hammerlock and by Chris Hero, mostly in his independent career he came an underdog who is talented but needs more experience , in 2015 it came to its peak as he wrestled in PWG's greatest match of all time against the world champion at that time, Roderick Strong. he came as a less experienced but he gave a 20 minute show stealing match with Roderick, after that match, people seemed to realize the talent of ZSJ, and since then he rose to the top of the Indy Scene and currently he even signed by NJPW and also going to be in ROH soon! Just go and check him out, you won't be disappointed, the man's making big waves and his matches are a special treat to watch, especially the match against Roderick Strong from 2015
#2 Dynamite Kid
One of the innovators from the UK area, trained by Stu Hart in the Hart Dungeon, in 1975 he made his debut, the man was a gifted talent and very stiff. very known for his diving headbutt and his technical moves, he mostly known for his rivalry against Tiger Mask, in 1977 he won his 1st title, the British Lightweight championship, and 2 and half years later he started his bookings in NJPW, he stayed there until 1984, in those four years his rivalry with Tiger Mask began taking the world by a storm, and their matches was a show stealers, specially the 1983 match which ended in a draw! After his tenure in NJPW, Kid joined WWF in 1985 and teamed up with Davey Boy Smith ( The British Bulldog) and they became the Bulldogs. They had a great feud with Bret Hart and Jim The Anvil Neidhart, in 1988 Dynamite left the WWF , and in October 10th 1996 Dynamite fought in his last match ever, day after the match Kid Suffered form an epileptic seizure, which is sad, since the epileptic seizure Dynamite didn’t returned to the ring, and he retired after the tag match in 1996
#3 Pete Dunne
One of UK's finest today, The Bruiserweight is making big waves in the wrestling world. One of the best Started his career in 2007 at age of 14, trained by Steven Edwards, started his rise on RPW and Progress, as he joined the companies in 2014,in 2016 he won one of his 1st major belts, as he won the RPW cruiserweight championship. He held the belt for 7 months until he dropped the belt to Will Ospreay. In 2017 he was a part of the UK Tournament of WWE. And competed for the WWE UK Championship , he went on to the finals where he lost to Tyler Bate, few months later, he beat Tyler Bate in a rematch on NXT's Takeover event. That match is one of the best matches in his career. And Pete holds the belt to this day, he having a 500+ days as the WWE UK Champ. And he is raising the belt's prestige. Pete is known for manipulating his opponents with holds and technical moves. One of the best mat wrestlers I have seen in a while. Pete is someone you going to hear about for a long time! I can assure you that.
#4 Will Ospreay
One of the best high flyers in the business, a young talent from Essex, England. Started his career in 2012, and began his rise in 2016 as he began working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, he was the winner of the BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS. At that Super Juniors month, Will had one of the best matches in his career, as he fought Ricochet in a match that took the world by a storm, a month later he challenged KUSHIDA and lost, but it was after a hard fought battle, Will continued his rise and in late 2017 it paid off as he won his 1st IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship, beating KUSHIDA, with that win he became the 1st British to hold the belt, he lost the belt to Marty Scurll few weeks later. As the time went on, Ospreay continued taking the world by the storm, and he started to gain a lot of reputation and momentum, and you can count on me when I say that, Will just got started. His best is yet to come. KEEP IT UP WILLY SAN!
#5 Drew Galloway/Mcintyre
Drew is currently at his prime, he's one of Raw's top talents today, he's a very talented wrestler. He returned to the WWE about a year ago, after few years in the independent scene and Impact Wrestling, his 1st WWE tenure from 2009 to 2014 wasn't going well, he needed to take that break to get improved and experienced out of the WWE and it paid off, in 2017 he came back and he was more fresh, more experienced, and it's an impressive and inspiring thing, to comeback to the WWE after you got released years ago, and to return a lot better then 1st tenure. Drew is currently on Raw's main event scene, he's teaming up with Dolph Ziggler. And they have a cool chemistry together. A good heel team. And it seems that WWE is going to go with Drew in a good direction and push him further in the future, I hope it'll happen. Drew is one of my Favorites today. It's a superstar I cannot hate. Because the whole 2nd coming is reminding me of myself at some places in life. Drew has impressed me also in his 1st WWE tenure. He's one of my favorites for a longtime. And I hope WWE going to give him this main event spot for a long time . He earned it.
#6 Marty Scurll
Marty's Villain character is one of the most colorful characters in wrestling today, he's a talented person. With a very high in ring IQ, portrayed as a villain that we usually see in movies, in 2014 Marty began his rise and he never looked back, he became a standout indy wrestler who is going to have a big future ahead of him, and it's damn true, 2017 Best of Super Juniors, Marty made his long awaited and highly anticipated debut in New Japan. He done a great impression in that tournament. And few months later he won his 1st belt in Japan, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship. And currently Marty is ROH's top star and one of NJPW's top Juniors. The man is going to get more success. I can assure you. This dude is so talented. And I really look forward to see what's in store for him.
#7 Davey Boy Smith "The British Bulldog"
1st powerhouse on our list! And it's the British Bulldog! He was known for his powerhouse type of wrestling and for also being great technician mind in the ring, started his in ring career in 1978, trained by the late great Stu Hart, 6 years after his Debut, Davey joined the WWF, teamed up with his cousin Dynamite Kid. They were mostly known in the 80's for the feud they had against the Hart Foundation, few years later, Bulldog left the WWF and wrestled in Japan, until he returned in 1990, in 1992 Davey had his best match of all time, fighting his brother in law Bret Hart for the Intercontinental championship in London, they stole the show, and Bulldog prevailed after a rollup. The fans loved it. Bulldog at that time was one of WWF's popular talents. Bulldog left in 1993 to WCW and a year later he came back again, this time he stayed in WWF for more years. And in 1997 he won the European championship after beating his other Brother in law, Owen Hart. and few months later, Davey left the WWF to join WCW, after the Montreal Screwjob. He stayed in WCW for a year, then came back to WWF for the last time, Davey tragically passed away on May 18th 2002, he died due to a heart attack, he was 39. Few weeks before his death, Bulldog teamed up with his son for few matches in his son's early wrestling matches.
I do believe Davey is one of WWE's most underrated wrestlers of all time and also one of the most fun wrestlers to watch, and I do believe he deserved a world championship push too. Currently his son Davey Boy Smith Sr. follows his dad's footsteps and he's making a great impression. He's making his dad proud. I can assure you that.
#8 Prince Devitt / Finn Balor
One of my all time favorites, the man who formed Bullet Club, and was one of the originals of the faction, he started his career in 2000, and 6 years later he was moved to Japan, where he was a part of the famous New Japan Dojo, when he joined NJPW, he was known for being a member of the CTO Stable, until in 2009 he formed Apollo 55 along with Ryusuke Taguchi, him and Taguchi won tag titles in several occasions, until in 2013 Devitt broke up with Taguchi and turned on him, then the Bullet Club was formed, Devitt led the Bullet club in it's 1st year, the 1st members were him, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Karl Anderson, and then the Young Bucks came, while Devitt was in the Bullet Club he enjoyed a great success, having his 1st Major run, as he fought against The Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi and The Rainmaker Kazuchika Okada. A year after the Bullet Club was formed, Devitt left to WWE and joined the NXT Brand, where he became Finn Balor, he had great success in NXT, he won there the NXT Championship, had a great run with the belt for 293 days, after his success in NXT, Balor joined WWE's Main Roster, as a part of Monday Night Raw, on his 1st night on RAW, Balor Beat Roman Reigns, he earned a spot in Summerslam's WWE Universal championship match, as him and Seth Rollins fought for the belt, Balor sadly got injured and was out of action for nearly a year, since he returned in 2017's April, he's currently still part of RAW and he's a major part of the show, Balor is one of my favorites ever because he's responsible for the Bullet Club's arrival and his bad boy attitude back then in 2013. I hope he'll get success also in WWE. He earned it .
Number 9: Neville/Pac
One of the greatest talents to ever come from the UK to wrestling. Trained by the IWF, few years after his Debut, he began his Independent rise, by the name of PAC, he wrestled on DragonGate and PWG mostly, he caught the fans on fire with his athleticism and his pure work in the ring. And in 2013 he caught WWE's eyes too, they signed him to NXT where he was going by the name of Adrian Neville, and in less then a year Neville won the NXT Title. Few months later he lost the title to Sami Zyan in one of the best NXT Matches in that time, in 2015 Neville got called up to the main Roster, he enjoyed some pretty good matches on that year and he almost beat Seth Rollins for the WWE World title, few months later, Neville got injured. He returned on the late part of 2016, as he turned Heel and join the Cruiserweight division, he gave more life and fuel to this division who was dying for months, won the title a month later, had a great reign but a stupid finish as Enzo beat him.. Neville's frustrations with WWE just grew, as he step aside for a whole year from Wrestling and few months ago he left WWE, to return to the ring at his former home, Dragon Gate. The comeback was so awesome, and the future outcome gonna be great too. You all need to Keep an eye on this one
Number 10 : Roddy Rowdy Piper
Glasgow's own (he was born in Canada but lived in Scotland) , one of the 1st successful Superstars to come from the UK area, an amazing person, and also one of the best heel characters of all time, his talk show "The Piper's pit" was one of the most entertaining talk shows in wrestling, Roddy made his debut in 1969, as a jobber and opener of matches in the territories, In 1979 Roddy joined the WWF, but worked full time since 1984, in 1984 Piper was 1st a manager due to injuries and later he became a wrestler. In this year he also made his infamous turn, while attacking Jimmy Snuka. A year later, Roddy was in the 1st main event of WrestleMania, as he teamed up with Paul Orndoff, the man he was his manager, they lost to Hulk Hogan and Mr. T , on August 1986, Piper turned face and the crowd connected to him, and on WrestleMania 3 he beat Don Muraco in Piper's "Retirement match" . (Piper didn't retire, he took absence for a while to be a Actor)
In 1989 Piper returned as a face, and 3 years later he won the Intercontinental Championship, beating The Mountie, two months later he lost the belt to Bret Hart.
On the fall of 1996, Piper left the WWF, to WCW at Halloween Havoc PPV, and he started a feud with the nWo, Piper stayed on WCW during the Monday Night Wars until July 2000 when he left.
He made some brief appearences on NWA(TNA) During the 2002-2005 area
Also On March 2003 Roddy returned to WWE, attempted to help Vince Mcmahon vs. Hulk Hogan , and he stayed in WWE until June 2003. And in 2006 he returned, Since the comeback Piper appeared occasionally until his 2015 Death, his Legacy still impactful to this day, as legends and superstars influenced by him, also Piper inspired me in life. His charisma was heartcatching.
And now here are some Honorable Mentions of UK Wrestlers I would've like to mention
Doug Williams
Danny Burch
Bad News Barrett
Becky Lynch
Chris Adams
Dave Mastiff
Tyler Bate
Finlay
William Regal
Now my overall opinion on British Wrestling is that the style is fun to see, very technical, including innovative holds and counters, I really like that style, the British wrestling's style is also known for being a creative one. You have to expect some unexpected moves during matches. That's very extrodnaire.
And that's some of my opinions on the UK Wrestling, Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed , Have a great week!
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