Martin Stone (wrestler)

Martin Stone
Burch in May 2010
Birth name Martin Harris
Born (1981-12-31) 31 December 1981
Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
Residence Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Danny Burch[1]
Joe Riot
Martin Stone
Billed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Billed weight 190 lb (86 kg)[1]
Billed from London, England[1]
Trained by Dropkixx
Debut 2003

Martin Harris (born 31 December 1981) is a British professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under their developmental territory, NXT, under the ring name Danny Burch.[1] He has worked in the British independent circuit with promotions such as Insane Championship Wrestling, Frontier Wrestling Alliance and International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom.

Professional wrestling career

European independent circuit (2003–2012)

Harris trained in the FWA Academy and Dropkixx Academy in 2003/04; competing under the ring name Joe Riot in various shows, including a match for All Star Wrestling in Croydon in Summer 2003;[2] making his first appearance at FWA:A's Revenge – Chapter IV in losing effort to Leroy Kincaide on 29 November 2003 in Portsmouth. Harris made his first main roster appearance under the name "Martin Stone" on 4 September 2004, in a losing effort to Jack Xavier at a Live in Morecambe show. Stone would soon be paired with fellow FWA:A trainee Stixx and manager "Twisted Genius" Dean Ayass to form the tag team Stixx and Stone.

While still in the FWA, Stone travelled all over the United Kingdom, competing in several other promotions including: IPW:UK, One Pro Wrestling, LDN Wrestling, and Real Quality Wrestling. Stone won several top titles in these promotions the most notable of which would be his 15-month title reign as IPW:UK Champion.

Back in the FWA, Stixx and Stone would quickly capture the FWA Tag Team Championships from the team of Hampton Court (Duke of Danger and Simmons) on 18 June 2005 at FWA NOAH Limits. Stone would be stripped of the title 16 months later after being unable to make a mandatory title defence on 19 November 2006 due to commitments with IPW:UK.

The tag title strip happened at the height of FWA's "Civil War" with IPW:UK, which would quickly see then-IPW:UK champion Stone officially leave FWA to stay on the side of IPW:UK. Stone would lead the war against the FWA and is in preparation to face semi-retired FWA star Alex Shane in a Promotion v Promotion – Winner Takes All Match at Broxbourne on 16 March 2007. This match however ended up taking place in Orpington several weeks later, with Flash Barker replacing an injured Alex Shane.

In late April 2007, Stone represented Real Quality Wrestling in the prestigious King of Europe Cup where he was defeated by Go Shiozaki in the first round.

During this time Stone would compete in and win an RQW tournament at Not Just For Christmas to become RQW's Heavyweight Champion. Stone defeated Iceman and Aviv Maayan in the first two rounds before defeating Pac in the final to win the vacant championship.

In September 2007, Stone began to compete regularly for the German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling. On 26 July 2008, Stone won the wXw Tag Team Championship alongside Doug Williams when the pair beat AbLas (Absolute Andy and Steve Douglas) at wXw Broken Rulz VIII in Oberhausen.[3]

In February 2008, Stone competed Chikara's King of Trios tournament in Philadelphia, United States, teaming with The Kartel as Team IPW:UK, but were defeated in the second round of the tournament by the Golden Trio (Delirious, Hallowicked and Helios). On 28 August 2008, Stone defeated Eamon O'Neill and James Tighe to win the Premier Promotions Worthing Trophy.

On 13 February 2010 at the British Uproar event in Broxbourne, Martin Stone defeated Andy Simmonz in the tournament finals to become the first FWA World Heavyweight Champion.[4] In a speech after the match he turned against the fans and claimed that he was only using British wrestling as a stepping stone to a big-money contract in the US. A month later he became the leader of "The Agenda", a faction of FWA wrestlers with aims along the same lines.

On 14 March 2010 at PW101 Unstoppable at The Hubs in Sheffield. Martin Stone defeated 11 other men in the 101 Championship Rush match last defeating Martin Kirby to become Pro Wrestling 101's first and only Heavyweight Champion. Upon returning to Britain in 2014, Stone challenged for Jack Jester's ICW Heavyweight Championship but was defeated.[5]

WWE (2011–2014)

In late 2011, Harris signed with WWE and reported to its developmental territory in June 2012.[6] He was given the ring name Danny Burch,[7] and he made his televised debut for NXT Wrestling on 15 May 2013, episode of NXT with a loss to Bray Wyatt.[8] From then on, Burch was used sporadically as enhancement talent until it was reported on 30 April 2014 that he was released by WWE.[9]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2014–2015)

In 2014 Harris, under his Martin Stone name, appeared on the second season of TNA British Boot Camp. On 16 February 2015 Harris competed at the TNA One Night Only: Gut Check, where he defeated Jessie Godderz to qualify for the final match later that night. He then competed in a five-way elimination match where the winner of that match would earn an appearance on the next episode of Impact Wrestling, though he was unsuccessful as the match was won by Tevita Fifita.

Return to WWE (2015–present)

On 16 July 2015, though not re-signed to WWE, Stone made an appearance on an NXT television taping, where he lost to Kevin Owens. He made a second appearance on the 13 August 2015 taping of NXT, where he lost to Apollo Crews. He made a third appearance on 16 September, where he was referred to as his old NXT name Danny Burch, losing to Tye Dillinger. He made a fourth appearance on the 21 October 2015 taping of NXT, where he lost to James Storm. Burch made a further appearance on NXT on 13 January 2016 in a losing effort against Tommaso Ciampa. He again faced Ciampa and Johnny Gargano, teaming up with Rob Ryzin on the 18 May taping of NXT, losing again. On 14 September 2016, during the Cruiserweight Classic Finale he teamed up with Sean Maluta and lost to The Bollywood Boyz, Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra, in a dark match. On 6 January 2017 it was announced by WWE that Burch will be a participant in the 16 man WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. Burch was eliminated in the first round by Jordan Devlin.[10] On the 19 April episode of NXT, Burch appeared in a losing effort to Andrade "Cien" Almas. He would then appear in NXT as part of the UK division this time losing to the WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne. From August, Burch would begin a feud with Oney Lorcan, after the two traded victories, they would go on to form a tag team and would feud with Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli. In early 2018 they would take part in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but were eliminated in the first round.[11] On 29 April 2018, Burch signed a full-time contract with WWE again.[12][13]

Championships and accomplishments

Stone with the FWA Heavyweight Championship in May 2010
  • IPW:UK Championship (3 times)[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Danny Burch". WWE. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Shows featuring Joe Riot from the cagematch.net show database. Retrieved 17/12/06.
  3. ↑ "wXw "Broken Rulz VIII" show report". wxw-wrestling.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  4. ↑ Rothstein, Simon (16 February 2010). "FWA are back causing Uproar". The Sun. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  5. ↑ "ICW Shug's Hoose Party".
  6. ↑ "FORMER PBW AND BRITISH STAR HEADS OUT TO WWE". Premier British Wrestling. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "THURS. UPDATE: SummerSlam activities, Hint on WWE network, Japanese tag champs face off on U.S. TV tonight, TNA notes for tonight, Rousey on all sorts of subjects, Big Fight Odds, Rock & Carano, A.J. talks current role, new WWE guys, Angle, Tenay". Wrestling Observer. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  8. ↑ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 5/15 & 5/22: El Generico debuts, O'Brian beats two NXT releases in same match, Bray Wyatt debuts mask, Natalya vs. Rae, more developments". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Former Nexus Member, Second Generation Diva and more released by WWE". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Soucek, Andrew. "SOUCEK'S WWE UK CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT REPORT 1/14: Ongoing coverage of night one of UK Championship tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "A new path forged: Are Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan the tag team of the future?". wwe.com. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  12. ↑ https://www.pwinsider.com/article/117169/new-wwe-nxt-signing.html?p=1
  13. ↑ Clapp, John. "Danny Burch signs WWE contract, joins WWE Performance Center". WWE. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "4FW Championship History". Wrestling Data. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  15. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "GWC Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  16. ↑ "X Wrestling Alliance Title Histories". titlehistories.com. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  17. ↑ GSW Night In Motion XVIII – Royal Business (in German)
  18. ↑ "International Professional Wrestling UK Title Histories". titlehistories.com. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  19. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NWA FUW Flash Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  20. ↑ "1-Pro Wrestling 2009 Results". 1pwonline.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  21. ↑ "1-Pro Wrestling 2007 Results". 1pwonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  22. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "PPW Platinumweight Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  23. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "PW101 Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  24. ↑ ""PWI 500": 101–200". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  25. ↑ "Real Quality Wrestling Title Histories". titlehistories.com. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  26. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "RevPro British Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  27. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Wrestling League Heavyweight Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  28. ↑ "wXw Tag Team Title Histories". wxw-wrestling.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  29. ↑ "The new WXW Champions! Television Champion Big O, Tag Team Champions the Sons of the Atlantic, Hardcore Champion The Beast!".
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