PWP Catch Division Championship
The PWP Catch Division Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by Pro Wrestling Pride. It was the first championship incorporated by Pro Wrestling Pride, and the company's second-tier championship behind the PWP Heavyweight Championship. Despite the championship being the secondary championship for the promotion, it has been known to main-event shows above the heavyweight championship.[1]
| PWP Catch Division Championship | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||||
| Promotion | Pro Wrestling Pride (PWP) | ||||||||||||
| Date established | May 13, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Tyler Hawke | ||||||||||||
| Date won | June 25, 2017 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The championship was established on the first Pro Wrestling Pride show under the company's banner on 13 May 2012, where Tyler Hawke defeated Wales' 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman. The design of the championship is that of a trophy rather than a traditional championship belt. Despite the championship being predominantly male, it has been won by a female. Bobbi Tyler won the championship for a single day in January 2017.
Catch Division Wrestling
Rather than a midcard title based on a weight (Such as All Japan Pro Wrestling's Junior Heavyweight Championship, or World Championship Wrestling's Cruiserweight championship), and is more in line with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's X-Division Championship, which stated the division was 'not about weight limits, it's about no limits!"[2] The catch division, was likely originally designed as a showcase of catch wrestling, rather than high-flying wrestling, with well known grapplers Johnny Kidd and Doug Williams[3] winning the title.[4]
However, the style has changed over the duration of the belt's life, with the aforementioned catch style, with a mix of luchador, Puroresu and even more 'extreme styles'. This is reflected in the match types contested for this championship, with "catch as catch can" wrestling style (See Mountevans Rules),[5] Luchas de Apuestas[6] and even TLC matches.[7] The division's prize was a catch division trophy, and not a traditional belt.[8]
Title history
The full history of the championship is listed below. As the championship is currently on hiatus; the current championship reign of Tyler Hawke is being accumulated; however, it may not be accurate.
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | ||||
| 1 | Stevie Jones | May 13, 2012 | PWP Debut Show | Teignmouth, England | 1 | 105 | 2 | Defeated Mike Hitchman to become the inaugural champion. | |
| 2 | Josef von Schmidt | August 26, 2012 | House show | Teignmouth, England | 1 | 245 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Darren Saviour | April 28, 2013 | House show | Teignmouth, England | 1 | 126 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Tyler Hawke | September 1, 2013 | House show | Exeter, England | 2 | 258 | 2 | Previously held the title under the name Stevie Jones. | |
| 5 | Ultimo Tiger | May 17, 2014 | Pride & Glory 2014 | Torquay, England | 1 | 36 | 0 | This was a Title vs Mask "I Quit" match. | |
| 6 | Dick Riley | June 22, 2014 | House show | Saltash, England | 1 | 105 | 3 | ||
| 7 | Joel Redman | October 5, 2014 | Hardcore Halloween | Exeter, England | 1 | 49 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Tyler Hawke | November 23, 2014 | House show | Torquay, England | 3 | 84 | 1 | This was a Three Stages of Hell match. | |
| 9 | Ultimo Tiger | February 15, 2015 | House show | Newton Abbot, England | 2 | 168 | 5 | ||
| 10 | Doug Williams | August 2, 2015 | Big Trouble in Little Tavi | Tavistock, England | 1 | 14 | 1 | Cashed in his "Money In The Bank" contract. | |
| 11 | Ultimo Tiger | August 16, 2015 | Too Legit To Quit | Taunton, England | 3 | 175 | 5 | ||
| 12 | Scotty Essex | February 7, 2016 | The Real Rock 'N' Rollas | Plymouth, England | 1 | 98 | 0 | This was a three-way match also involving Tajiri. | |
| 13 | Johnny Kidd | May 15, 2016 | The Battle of Bideford | Bideford, England | 1 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Scotty Essex | May 22, 2016 | Johnny Kidd's Last Devon Stand | Teignmouth, England | 2 | 49 | 0 | This was a Mountevans match. | |
| 15 | Ultimo Tiger | July 10, 2016 | Heroes & Legends 3 | Paignton, England | 4 | 112 | 5 | This was a four-way match also involving Mark Andrews & PJ Black. | |
| 16 | Kelly Sixx | October 30, 2016 | Undisputed 2 | Taunton, England | 4 | 89 | 1 | This was a three-way Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match also involving Joshua Knott. | |
| 17 | Bobbi Tyler | January 27, 2017 | Maximum Mayhem | Taunton, England | 1 | 1 | 0 | First female wrestler to hold the title. | |
| 18 | Joshua Knott | January 28, 2017 | Maximum Mayhem | Bideford, England | 1 | 148 | 1 | ||
| 19 | Tyler Hawke | June 25, 2017 | Live In Plymouth | Plymouth, England | 4 | 2,313+ | 2 | This was a street fight match. | |
Combined reigns
The total list of combined championship days held as of October 25, 2023:
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stevie Jones/Tyler Hawke † | 4 | 2,760+ |
| 2 | Ultimo Tiger | 4 | 491 |
| 3 | Josef von Schmidt | 1 | 245 |
| 4 | Joshua Knott | 1 | 148 |
| 5 | Scotty Essex | 2 | 147 |
| 6 | Darren Saviour | 1 | 126 |
| 7 | Dick Riley | 1 | 105 |
| 8 | Kelly Sixx | 1 | 89 |
| 9 | Joel Redman | 1 | 49 |
| 10 | Doug Williams | 1 | 14 |
| 11 | Johnny Kidd | 1 | 7 |
| 12 | Bobbi Tyler | 1 | 1 |
See also
Notes
References
- Kreikenbolm, Philip. "PWP << Events Database << Cagematch". Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- McNamara, Andy. "No limits to second X Division DVD". Slam! Sports. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- "Doug Williams - Calling Spots". Calling Spots. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Pro Wrestling Pride Catch Division Championship « Titles Database « Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database".
- Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Johnny Kidd's last Devon Stand « Titles Database « Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database".
- "Catch Division champion Tyler Hawke & fan favourite Ultimo Tiger will finally face one last time Live at Torquay Town Hall, on Sunday May 18th". Pro Wrestling Pride. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
Will Ultimo Tiger finally grab the coveted championship from the C2's Golden boy? Or will Tyler Hawke make Tiger give up and have to relinquish his mask?
- Kreikenbohm, Philip. "PWP Undisputed 2 « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 20 March 2018.
- Dyer, Edward. "Pro Wrestling Pride Roster". Pro Wrestling Pride. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.