Lancashire's wrestling tradition:
Lancashire has a long tradition with the Wrestling. The 'catch-as-catch-can' form of wrestling was created in 1870 Britain and it is believed to be a progression on the red rose county's style of the sport .
Catch wrestling involved more grappling based moves and was the earliest form of the modern sports entertainment wrestling which is popular today.
One of the leading participants of the sport, Bill Riley, opened his own gym in Wigan, where he taught the sport, which meant the legacy of the sport lived on in Lancashire.
Since then other Lancastrians have become stars in the sport entertainment industry, not just in England but also Stateside.
William Regal is billed from Blackpool and spent his early years as a professional competing in Independent events until he pursued his career in America 21-years ago -he is still signed to the WWE and has become a legendary figure in wrestling.
The Current WWE Intercontinental Champion, Wade Barrett is also from the North-West.
Penwortham-born Barrett is the latest from the County to be making a splash over the pond.
However Prestonian wrestling fanatic Steven Fludder is attracting the stars from the States to come to his city.
Fludder's PCW is rapidly growing so much so it is deemed this country's fastest growing business.
Catch wrestling involved more grappling based moves and was the earliest form of the modern sports entertainment wrestling which is popular today.
One of the leading participants of the sport, Bill Riley, opened his own gym in Wigan, where he taught the sport, which meant the legacy of the sport lived on in Lancashire.
Since then other Lancastrians have become stars in the sport entertainment industry, not just in England but also Stateside.
William Regal is billed from Blackpool and spent his early years as a professional competing in Independent events until he pursued his career in America 21-years ago -he is still signed to the WWE and has become a legendary figure in wrestling.
The Current WWE Intercontinental Champion, Wade Barrett is also from the North-West.
Penwortham-born Barrett is the latest from the County to be making a splash over the pond.
However Prestonian wrestling fanatic Steven Fludder is attracting the stars from the States to come to his city.
Fludder's PCW is rapidly growing so much so it is deemed this country's fastest growing business.
Birmingham's pool of talent in MMA continues to grow, but why?
It is argued that catch wrestling has influenced mixed martial arts.
While MMA is not necessarily an American sport, it has been adopted by the country and the biggest promotion agency of the sport in the world is the USA's Ultimate Fighting Championship. Britain is a growing force in the MMA world as it is growing more popular in the country arguably because of the media coverage the UFC receives. ESPN broadcast live events and annual UFC video games are release, the latest 'UFC Undisputed 3' sold over 125,000 copies in the UK. One city proving to be a hotbed for the combative sport is Birmingham, particularly due to opportunities in the City. The Ultimate Training Centre is a leading factor in the increase of participants in Birmingham. Situated not far from the town centre the gym offers; MMA training with qualified coaches, MMA specific equipment and even has an Xbox 360 with the UFC game! Vaughan Lee is one of the fighters who has reaped the rewards of the UTC. Lee is an emerging talent in the Bantam-weight division, he has defeated the legendary Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto in his own country of Japan. Another fighter from England's second city is quickly enhancing his reputation in the world of MMA, Nathan Epps. He offers his opinion on why he thinks the city has so many talents in the sport. |
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