One Pro Wrestling
1 Pro Wrestling logo | |
Acronym | 1PW |
---|---|
Founded | 2005 - 2007 |
Headquarters | Doncaster |
Founder(s) | Steven Gauntley, Rosie Gauntley |
Owner(s) | Steven Gauntley, Rosie Gauntley |
1 Pro Wrestling (or 1PW) was an English professional wrestling promotion based in Doncaster. It existed from 2005 - 2007. It was run by a leading UK wrestling store, 1 Up Games (now out of business) and chaired by Steven Gauntley.
History
1PW was formed at the beginning of 2005, with the aim of becoming Britain's number one wrestling promotion (hence the name). It soon attracted big-name stars such as D'Lo Brown, Matt Hardy and Abyss. Joe Dombrowski and Anthony Kingdom James, then part of the announce team for International Wrestling Cartel, were hired. 1PW announced that its first show was to be held on October 1, 2005 and was to be called '1PW A Twist Of Fate' as a thank you to Matt Hardy for appearing.
More well-known American independent wrestlers signed up to be part of 1PW, such as Low-Ki and Chris Sabin, as well as former WWE/WCW/ECW star Raven. Several UK wrestlers also signed on the dotted line; Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm to name but two.
All seemed well until, based on fan reaction, World Wrestling Entertainment re-signed Matt Hardy, who subsequently cancelled all his independent wrestling dates. 1PW lost its main draw for the night, (although the promoter insisted to the fans with days to go that Matt Hardy would be appearing even though he knew that Hardy would not) and, with that, a lot of casual fans and the show name (WWE trademarked "Twist Of Fate"). It also left Abyss with no opponent. With mere days to spare, it was announced that The Phenomenal AJ Styles had signed a contract to work the main event at the renamed A Cruel Twist Of Fate. Notably, Styles had agreed to work the show despite having been booked originally for a Ring Of Honor show on the same weekend - the logic being that, whilst the ROH show would not have suffered greatly by Styles' absence, 1PW would benefit hugely from his appearance.
A Cruel Twist Of Fate was a successful debut for 1PW. They announced their next shows, entitled No Turning Back, to be held on January 7, 2006 at the Doncaster Dome and January 8, 2006 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. Five major new superstars were signed to appear on both nights: The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Charlie Haas, FMW Legend Masato Tanaka and Sabu. However, the Blackpool show was quickly cancelled due to legal complications with the Winter Gardens, so a second show was added on January 6, 2006, also at the Doncaster Dome. 1PW's increased reputation meant that it sold out the 1600 seat Doncaster Dome [1], as well as 450 Q&A tickets for the Saturday afternoon.
On February 18, 2006 it was announced that 1PW had been given a 4-hour Supercard spot on Sky's The Wrestling Channel in the UK, which aired on April 2, 2006. The Wrestling Channel and 1PW felt the quality of this first show was sub par. This led to the firing of 1PW's production team, Idigicon, and the forming of a working relationship with Mark Sloan to film the events for DVD and TV.
1PW continued to produce more shows that involved more international talent and were often plagued with last minute card changes due to other wrestlers being recalled to their various promotions. On May 31, 2006, it was confirmed that 1PW would begin a fortnightly two-hour slot at 9pm Fridays on The Wrestling Channel presented by Adam Curtis. The magazine style show, featured a blend of music videos, interviews and wrestling. Adam Curtis would also go on to host 1PW's radio show, along with Brett Steadman (who eventually left the company a week before its downfall). However in November 2006 it was announced that due to poor ratings 1PW's TV show would no longer air on The Wrestling Channel.
During May 2006, at the Know Your Enemy shows a 1PW Tag Title Tournament began that involved the teams of AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels, Team SHAG (Colt Cabana& Darren Burridge), Andy Boy Simmonz & Lance Storm, Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch, Southern Comfort (Tracy Smothers & Chris Hamrick), Austin Aries & Roderick Strong, The Job Squad (Al Snow & Blue Meanie), and Chad Collyer & Ricky Reyes. The tournament and titles were won by Storm & Fleisch, after they defeated Styles & Daniels in the finals.
Throughout the rest of 2006, 1PW continued to produce several shows amongst rumours of financial trouble, hosting a First Anniversary Show as well as numerous weekend events. 1PW would go on to crown a 1PW Openweight Champion at the Fight Club 4 show before undergoing a change in head booker, as Steve Corino left and was replaced by Steven Gauntley and Dean Ayass.
On January 5, 2007, 1PW announced that it had gone into liquidation and all forthcoming shows were cancelled, just one week before their proposed January 13 show No Turning Back, featuring the UK debut of The Great Muta. 3CW, another British promotion helped ran by ex 1PW regulars, Stevie Aaron and Dragon Aisu, announced they would run a farewell show, entitled "...Will Not Die" on the same night, and would honor 1PW tickets[citation needed] for this show, while supershow promoter Alex Shane, with the help of Len Davies and former 1PW owner Steven Gauntley, secured the appearance of Keiji Mutoh and other All Japan Pro Wrestling stars to a Real Quality Wrestling show happening the same week also honouring 1PW tickets.
Tournaments
1PW Heavyweight Championship Tournament
- All Or Nothing Night 1 (4/3/06)
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Abyss | ||||||||||||||
Darren Burridge | 2:00 | |||||||||||||
Abyss | ||||||||||||||
Chris Daniels | 10:56 | |||||||||||||
Christopher Daniels | ||||||||||||||
Jerry Lynn | 11:20 | |||||||||||||
Abyss | ||||||||||||||
AJ Styles | 13:03 | |||||||||||||
Samoa Joe | ||||||||||||||
Austin Aires | 12:55 | |||||||||||||
AJ Styles | ||||||||||||||
Samoa Joe | 13:25 | |||||||||||||
AJ Styles | ||||||||||||||
Sterling James Keenan | 10:26 |
- Qualifying Rounds
- No Turning Back Night 1 (6/1/06)
- Jerry Lynn beat Petey Williams in 11:13
- SJK beat Ulf Herman in 5:32
- Darren Burridge beat Doug Williams in 9:10
- Abyss beat Sabu in a Survival Of The Sickest match in 11:05
- No Turning Back Night 2, (7/1/06)
- Steve Corino beat Charlie Haas in 9:08
- Chris Daniels beat Low Ki & Elix Skipper in 12:14
- Samoa Joe beat Masato Tanaka in 5:27
- AJ Styles beat Jeff Jarrett in 19:19
1PW Tag Team Championship Tournament
- Know Your Enemy Night 1 & 2 (27/5/06 - 28/5/06)
Quarterfinals Night 1 | Semifinals Night 2 | Final Night 2 | ||||||||||||
Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch | ||||||||||||||
Austin Aires & Roderick Strong | ||||||||||||||
Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch | ||||||||||||||
Southern Comfort | ||||||||||||||
Southern Comfort | ||||||||||||||
The Job Squad | ||||||||||||||
Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch | ||||||||||||||
AJ Styles & Chris Daniels | ||||||||||||||
AJ Styles & Chris Daniels | ||||||||||||||
Lance Storm & Andy Boy Simmonz | ||||||||||||||
AJ Styles & Chris Daniels | ||||||||||||||
Team SHAG | ||||||||||||||
Team SHAG | ||||||||||||||
Ricky Reyes & Chad Collyer |
Championships
1PW World Heavyweight Championship
Wrestler | Times | Date | Place / Type Of Match / Event |
---|---|---|---|
Abyss | 1 | March 4, 2006 | Doncaster, South Yorkshire / Tournament Final / All Or Nothing Night 1 |
Steve Corino | 1 | May 27, 2006 | Doncaster, South Yorkshire / Three-Way Survival of the Sickest / Know Your Enemy Night 2 |
Abyss | 2 | October 14, 2006 | Doncaster, South Yorkshire / Barbed Wire Hell / First Anniversary Show |
The title became defunct on January 5, 2007 when 1PW went into liquidation. |
1PW World Tag Team Championship
Wrestler | Times | Date | Place / Type Of Match / Event |
---|---|---|---|
Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch | 1 | May 26, 2006 | Doncaster, South Yorkshire / Tournament Final / Know Your Enemy Night 1 |
TEAM SHAG (Colt Cabana & Darren Burridge) | 2 | October 14, 2006 | Doncaster, South Yorkshire / Three Way Ladder Match / First Anniversary Show |
The titles became defunct on January 5, 2007 when 1PW went into liquidation. |
1PW World Openweight Championship
Wrestler | Times | Date | Place / Type Of Match / Event |
---|---|---|---|
Pac | 1 | November 26, 2006 | Doncaster, South Yorkshire / 20-Man Fight for the Future Rumble Match / Fight Club IV |
The title became defunct on January 5, 2007 when 1PW went into liquidation. |
Events
- Will Not Die @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 13 Janury 2007
- 3CW Fight Club @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 13 Janury 2007
- Fight Club IV @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 26 November 2006
- First Anniversary Show @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 14 October 2006
- Fight Club III @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 14 October 2006
- Invincible @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 19 August 2006
- Devils Due @ Hull, East Yorkshire 27 July 2006
- Fight Club II @ Barnsley, South Yorkshire 1 July 2006
- Know Your Enemy Night 2 @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 27 May 2006
- Fight Club @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 27 May 2006
- Know Your Enemy Night 1 @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 26 May 2006
- All or Nothing Night 2 @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 5 March 2006
- All or Nothing Night 1 @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 4 March 2006
- No Turning Back Night 2 @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 7 January 2006
- No Turning Back Night 1 @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 6 January 2006
- A Cruel Twist of Fate @ Doncaster, South Yorkshire 1 October 2005