Attack! Pro Wrestling

Formation & 2011

Attack! Pro Wrestling was founded in 2011 by Pete Dunne and Jim Lee. Having originally met at a wrestling training school in Coventry in 2006,^[9] the duo founded Attack! as a means to create more exposure for their group of friends on the British independent wrestling scene, at a time when Pete and his contemporaries (such as Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis) were first starting to gain work around the United Kingdom. Using primarily upcoming British junior heavyweight wrestlers, their concept was to showcase internationally-influenced "fast-paced, hard-hitting" independent wrestling,^[10] with a unique creative approach.^[11]

The first events were held in August 2011, in community centre venues in Pete's hometown of Birmingham.^[12] The debut weekend was originally planned to consist of three shows, but was reduced to two shows at short notice, after one of the venues was damaged in the 2011 England Riots.^[13] The events featured a roster of wrestlers entirely from Pete and Jim's immediate circle of friends, and was headlined by the first "Elder Stein Invitational Tournament", which was won by Mark Andrews (overcoming Pete in the final).^[14] Attack returned for three further events in Birmingham in November 2011, which included Zack Sabre Jr's first appearances for the promotion.^[15][16][17]

2012–2014

In February 2012, Attack held an event for the first time in Cardiff, with Mark Andrews joining Pete and Jim in organising events. The show was held at Cathays Community Centre; a venue of nostalgic relevance to the group (as many years previously Pete, Jim and Mark used to set up a re-purposed boxing ring to practice in the hall during the school holidays).^[9] The show was titled "We Do It For The Money, Obviously", as a dig at existing promoters from the region who had tried to stop the event going ahead, and was held in aid of local charity Recovery Cymru. The sold-out event was headlined by Pete Dunne vs Mark Andrews;^[18] an encounter which would be repeated many times over at Attack in the following years. Jim Lee stepped down from his position as Attack co-promoter after the event as a result of other commitments, handing control to Pete and Mark alone.^[1]

In December 2012, Attack also began to run shows in Bristol, with local wrestler Sebastian Radclaw temporarily joining the promoting team to help arrange events in the city. Bristol has since been Attack's second most-frequent show location, after Cardiff.^[12]

Attack continued to hold regular events in Cardiff, where they became known for hosting innovative 'themed' wrestling shows. Beginning with a Halloween-themed event named 'GooseBUMPS' in October 2012 (in which Pete Dunne defeated Eddie Dennis to win the second annual Elder Stein Invitational Tournament), the themed events then came to prominence in February 2013 with the video-game-themed event, Press Start.^[19] The Press Start event involved members of the Attack roster in video game fancy dress; including the Hunter Brothers as the Mario Bros, Mark Andrews as Pikachu, and Ryan Smile & Eddie Dennis as Sonic & Knuckles. The DVD trailer went viral, originally amassing over 32,000 views; exposing Attack! Pro Wrestling to a much wider audience than before.^[20]

Further themed shows since have included "Stiffler's House Party" (based on teen comedy movies), "We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat" (a beach/nautical-themed show, featuring former ROH Wrestling TV & World Champion Jay Lethal), "Under The MistleTour" (Attack's yearly festive-themed shows), "Not Another SUPER Show" (with a superhero and supervillain theme), and "Now That's What I Call Wrestling! 37" (a pop music themed show).^[12] Wrestlers and fans regularly dress up at the shows, with prizes given to the best costumes.

In December 2013, Attack! introduced the Attack! Pro Wrestling 24/7 Championship as their first championship title. The wrestler holding the belt can be pinned or submitted at any time, which has resulted in the belt changing hands frequently; occasionally between shows. The first winner was Sebastian Radclaw, who won the title in a TLC match at Under The MistleTour 2013 Night One, in the final of the third Elder Stein Invitational. Radclaw would lose the title shortly after the conclusion of the show, before winning it back at Under The MistleTour 2013 Night Two, then losing it again almost immediately to Referee Chris Roberts. In total, there were 16 different Championship reigns between the title's introduction on 20 December 2013 and the end of that calendar year.^[8]

2015

Over time, Attack! Pro Wrestling have increasingly incorporate long-term story arcs into their events. The most notable story to-date has involved the dominance of Pete Dunne's heel persona, which began in January 2015, at a show titled "Mandrews Goes To America". The show was styled as a farewell to Mark Andrews, who was set to leave the United Kingdom having signed a contract with TNA Wrestling. Mark faced long-time friend Pete Dunne in the main event, in a face vs face encounter; only for Pete to unexpectedly attack Mark at the conclusion of the match. This was the launchpad for Pete's "Young & Bitter" persona, and later, his "Bruiserweight" persona. Pete went on to win the Attack! 24/7 Championship at the following event, "Attack! Wrestling To Make Love To" on 14 February 2015. His unprecedented dominance over the championship would remain a primary story device for 2015 and 2016.^[8]

February 2015 also saw Attack! Pro Wrestling run a series of events in conjunction with Pontins Holiday Parks, across five consecutive days.^[12]

Attack! introduced a Tag Team Championship for the first time in March 2015, with 'Wonderland of Wrestle' (Super Santos Sr & Elephant Mask) defeating the 'Anti-Fun Police' in the final of a Championship Tournament to become inaugural champions. The pair would hold the championships for almost the entirety of 2015.^[21]

In April 2015, American independent wrestling promotion Chikara invited Attack! Pro Wrestling to host a pre-show event before the Cardiff leg of their UK tour.^[22] The two promotions have maintained a friendship since, with Chikara publicly endorsing Attack! Pro Wrestling on a number of occasions.^[23][24][25]

For much of the second half of 2015, Eddie Dennis would chase Pete Dunne for the Attack! Pro Wrestling 24/7 Championship, only for Pete Dunne to repeatedly dodge Eddie. Meanwhile, Wild Boar would go on an unbeaten streak for the entire year in the promotion. Both stories built to a crescendo at Under The MistleTour 2015, in December that year. At Under The MistleTour 2015 Night One, Wild Boar defeated Morgan Webster to win the 2015 Elder Stein Invitational Tournament, after which Eddie would defeat Pete to win the 24/7 Championship.^[26] Eddie immediately declared his intent to put his new title on the line against Wild Boar the following night, at Under The MistleTour 2015 Night Two; a match which Wild Boar won, to finish 2015 undefeated in Attack! and its 24/7 Champion. The Tag Team Championships also changed hands that evening, with Wonderland of Wrestle losing the titles of The Brothers of Construction (known elsewhere in the country as the Hunter Brothers).^[27]

2016

After another handful of shows at Pontins to start 2016, Attack! then returned to one of its core venues of Cathays Community Centre on 17 January 2016, for an 80s-themed event named "It Was Acceptable In The 80's". The event saw a change of both championships again. The Brothers of Construction lost the Tag Team Championships to the team of #CCK (Chris Brookes & Mondai Lykos), before a duo of changes in the Attack! 24/7 Championship; with new champ Wild Boar losing the belt to Eddie Dennis, who would again lose it immediately to Pete Dunne.^[28]

By this stage, the story arc focused on the battle of the Attack! Pro Wrestling 24/7 Championship had become a three-way affair, with Eddie Dennis and Wild Boar both seeking to end Pete Dunne's largely uninterrupted hold on the title. It was announced that Attack! Pro Wrestling would hold their biggest event to date at Walkabout Cardiff on 3 April 2016, titled "How Do You Learn To Fall Off A 20ft Ladder?", which would be headlined by a Triple Threat match between the trio.^[29]

The sold-out event was later nominated by readers of Fighting Spirit Magazine in the category of "UK/Ireland Show of the Year" in the 2016 FSM Reader Awards, with Tyler Bate vs Travis Banks from the show also receiving a nomination for "UK/Ireland Match of the Year".^[3] During the show, the Anti-Fun Police team of Damian Dunne and Ryan Smile would split, after several weeks of dissent in the ranks; with Ryan turning face. The Tag Team Championship changed hands, with Bayside High (Mark Andrews & Nixon Newell defeating #CCK, before a main event in which Pete Dunne would defeat Wild Boar and Eddie Dennis to retain the Attack! 24/7 Championship. Following the conclusion of the match, Referee Shay Purser would unexpectedly pin Pete Dunne to win the Championship, with the pinfall counted by ring announcer Jim Lee.^[30][7] This would begin a major story arc of a rivalry between Pete and Jim for much of 2016.^[31]

At the following event, 'Press Start 4' on 3 June 2016, it was announced that Attack would crown an Attack! Pro Wrestling Champion for the first time, with a tournament to decide the winner. Two first-round matches were held that evening, with Eddie Dennis and Wild Boar advancing to the semi-finals, at the expense of Tyler Bate and Travis Banks respectively.^[32] At the conclusion of the show, Pete Dunne attacked Jim Lee from behind with a steel chair, after which Jim Lee announced via the Attack! Pro Wrestling Facebook page that he would be stepping down from his position as ring announcer with immediate effect.^[33] Attack! Pro Wrestling would later (kayfabe) suspend Pete Dunne for his actions.^[34]

The Attack! Pro Wrestling Championship Tournament continued at the next event on 1 July 2016, with Mike Bird advancing over Zack Sabre Jr, and Super Santos Sr advancing over Charlie Garrett. After the match, Santos would align himself with the Anti-Fun Police, renaming himself Los Federales Santos Sr.^[35]

Attack! Pro Wrestling returned to their largest venue, Walkabout Cardiff, on 21 August 2016, for an event named "(Thank God It's Not) WinterSlam". It was announced that the event would be headlined by a TLC Match for the Tag Team Championships, between holders Bayside High and challengers #CCK; and that Pete Dunne would have his suspension lifted at the event, where he would wrestle El Ligero. The event also featured Mike Bird and Eddie Dennis advancing through their semi-final matches in the Attack! Pro Wrestling Championship tournament, defeating Los Federales Santos Sr and Wild Boar respectively. Following Pete Dunne's match with El Ligeo, Pete began to assault referee Shay Purser, before former ring announcer Jim Lee (in attendance as a fan) jumped the barrier to fight Pete off; with Jim announcing that he was making his return to Attack! Pro Wrestling. The event concluded with #CCK winning the Tag Team Championships from Bayside High.^[36][37]

Over a series of events that followed, various elements of the Attack! Pro roster would align themselves with either Pete or Jim. Nixon Newell turned on tag team partner Mark Andrews at "Attack! Pro's Not Dead" in September 2016, aligning herself with Pete;^[38] setting in motion a series of events that would lead to the announcement of a five-vs-five elimination match at Attack! Pro Wrestling's return to Walkabout Cardiff in November 2016, titled "Seriously? Another PPV Tie-In Event". Jim's team, titled the #JimLeegion, included himself, Mark Andrews, Martin Kirby, El Ligero, and one mystery partner; whilst Pete Dunne's team was announced as himself, Nixon Newell, Chris Bookes, Mondai Lykos and one mystery partner. It was also announced that Eddie Dennis and Mike Bird would compete in the final of the Attack! Pro Wrestling Championship Tournament at the event.^[39]

The show, held on 20 November 2016, was opened with the match to crown the first-ever Attack! Pro Wrestling Champion, with Eddie Dennis overcoming Mike Bird to win the title. Following the match, Wild Boar would align himself with Mike Bird; forming a heel team known as "Bird + Boar", having previously appeared regularly together under the name at Insane Championship Wrestling. Ahead of the main event, an exchange in the ring between Pete Dunne and Jim Lee resulted in a stipulation for the match whereby the losing team's captain would need to leave Attack! Pro Wrestling for good. Jim Lee announced his team's mystery fifth member as Attack's regular referee Shay Purser; only for Shay to immediately turn heel by low-blowing Jim to align himself with Pete's team. Eddie Dennis would come out to become the new fifth member of the #JimLeegion as the match began. Gradual eliminations left Pete Dunne and Jim Lee as the two sole competitors remaining in the match, which concluded with Pete tapping out to Jim; ending his tenure in Attack! Pro Wrestling.^[40][41]

Attack! held their annual Under The MistleTour shows in December 2016, with Night One headlined by Eddie Dennis making his first successful Championship defence, defeating Damian Dunne. #CCK would also lose their Tag Team Championships at the event to the team of Bowl-a-Rama (Splits McPins & Lloyd Katt).^[42] The following night saw the conclusion of the long-running feud between Anti-Fun Police leader Damian Dunne and former member Ryan Smile; with Smile emerging victorious.^[43]

2017

Attack! Pro Wrestling began 2017 by co-promoting an event with Fight Club: Pro in Wolverhampton,^[44] titled "Attack! Club Pro: #WRESTLEHOUSE". The event featured various members of the Attack! and Fight Club rosters in action, headlined by Dan Moloney & Pete Dunne (who, despite being banned from Attack, was permitted to compete due to being an active member of the Fight Club roster) vs Trent Seven & Tyler Bate; significant due to the fact that all four men were scheduled to compete in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament one week later. Notably, the event would finish with an impromptu six-man tag-team match between #CCK & Referee Shay Purser vs Moustache Mountain & Referee Joel Allen. With no referees left in the building, a paying spectator named Warren was unexpectedly brought into the ring to referee the match. Joel Allen would win the Attack! 24/7 Championship at the end of the encounter, only for Moustache Mountain to assist Warren in then pinning Joel to win the belt.^[45]

One of the biggest parts of 2017 was witnessing referee official Shay Purser abuse his duties during high calibur matches, refusing to executing the three count in some falls, ignoring other calls and other acts like physically get involved in his matches, and not for the good. His actions came to a head when former official Chris Roberts challenged Purser to a match at the annual Under The MistleTour show in Bristol, where they would face off in a 'Loser Leaves Attack!' match. On Night 2 at the Trinity Centre in Bristol, England, Roberts defeated Purser, resulting in the young referee leaving Attack for good.