Billy Robinson

Robinson began his amateur wrestling career in Britain in 1955. He was the British National Wrestling Champion in 1957, and in 1958 he was the European Open Wrestling Champion in the light heavyweight class, beating an Olympic bronze medal winner in the finals. Billy Robinson also attended the fabled wrestling gym of legendary trainer Billy Riley in Wigan, (nicknamed the "Snake Pit" - years later, affiliate "Snake Pit" gyms would later be established in Japan and the United States.) Riley's Gym was one of the most respected catch wrestling training schools in all of the world. Legends such as Karl Gotch had trained in catch wrestling with Riley at his gym. Lou Thesz also briefly trained at his gym. Robinson had to survive bare minimum amenities (luxuries such as a toilet were not provided at Riley's Gym), a very rough training environment (Riley was very impatient with those who showed even the slightest bit of weakness on the mat) and rigorous conditioning. Robinson stayed at the "Snake Pit" for eight years.

As a professional wrestler, Robinson was an undefeated double-crown British and European Heavyweight Champion for Joint Promotions. In 1963, Robinson fought at the Royal Albert Hall in a match that was attended by Prince Philip.[6] He later defeated older fellow Snake Pit wrestler Billy Joyce for the European title on 12 June 1965[7] and then beat Joyce again for the British title on 18 January 1967,[8] vacating both titles in 1970 when he went off to America.[8][7] He also had a high-profile feud with legendary masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki.[9] In 1978, Robinson made a brief homecoming tour of the UK including a televised win over Lee Bronson.[10]

Robinson traveled to North America in 1969 for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling where he defeated Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie to earn a title shot at NWA World Heavyweight champion Dory Funk Jr. Soon afterwards, he began wrestling for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association. He was one of the most successful wrestlers of the American promotion known for hiring the "Real Deals" in wrestling. Billy Robinson was also the AWA British Empire Heavyweight Champion; he defended the title in both the United States and Canada, winning on 3 occasions. On 12 October 1974, Robinson's image as a legitimate wrestler landed him a role in the film The Wrestler alongside Verne Gagne and Ed Asner. He wrestled in Montreal in 1982 and 1983 becoming the International Champion beating Dino Bravo and was also International Tag Team champions with Pierre Mad Dog Lefebvre. He wrestled to a 60-minutes time-limit draw against then WWF Champion Bob Backlund in 1982 as well in Montreal.

Robinson travelled to Japan where he became immensely popular as a legitimate wrestler versed in submission holds. He participated in a professional wrestling match against legendary Antonio Inoki in 1975. The match was billed as "The Match Between the World's Top Two Technicians" by the Japanese press. Robinson continued an active professional wrestling career, travelling throughout the world to participate in various events. Japanese professional wrestlers learned the art of "hooking" and "shooting" from two other catch wrestling icons, Karl Gotch and Lou Thesz. The new movement led to the formation of the Universal Wrestling Federation. The UWF had wrestlers like Yoshiaki Fujiwara who had also been to the Snake Pit in Wigan. Robinson became a part of the shoot style movement when he wrestled in an exhibition match for the UWFi against fellow AWA legend Nick Bockwinkel on 8 May 1992.

Robinson, having previously trained wrestlers in England including Marty Jones and Johnny Saint, began training wrestlers in catch wrestling at the UWF Snake Pit in Japan, including James Maritato, Kazushi Sakuraba and El Signo.[11] Robinson was inducted into the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003.

• British National Wrestling Championship (1 time)[2]
• European Open Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1 time)[2]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • NWA United National Championship (1 time)[2]
  • PWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[2]
  • 2 January Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1980)[13]
  • World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1978) - with Wild Angus[14]
  • World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1980) - with Les Thornton[15]
• American Wrestling Association
  • AWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[2]
  • AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Verne Gagne (1) and Crusher Lisowski (1)[2]
• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Other honoree (1994)
• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)
• Continental Wrestling Association
  • CWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[2]
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2002
• International Wrestling Enterprise
  • IWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[2]
  • IWE World Series (1968)
  • IWE World Series (1970)
• International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2022[16]
• Joint Promotions
  • British Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[17]
  • European Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[7]
• Lutte Internationale
  • Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[2]
  • Canadian International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Pierre Lefebvre[2]
• New Japan Pro-Wrestling
  • Greatest 18 Club inductee
  • Greatest Gaijin Best Bout Section (2002) vs. Antonio Inoki
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Class of 2011[18]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1974)[19]
  • Ranked No. 151 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003[20]
• Stampede Wrestling
  • Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)[21][22]
• Tokyo Sports
  • Match of the Year Award (1975) vs. Antonio Inoki on 11 December
• World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
  • IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[2]
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)[23]