Billy Robinson
William Alfred Robinson (18 September 1938 – 3 March 2014[3]) was a British professional wrestler, author and catch wrestling instructor. Robinson was well known in Japan where he trained mixed martial arts fighters in catch wrestling. Robinson was one of the few wrestlers who was successful in several continents (Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania), winning titles in promotions nearly everywhere he wrestled.
Billy Robinson | |
---|---|
Billy Robinson in 1976. | |
Birth name | William Alfred Robinson |
Born | September 18, 1938[1] Manchester, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom[2] |
Died | March 3, 2014 (aged 75) Little Rock, Arkansas, United States[2] |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Billy Robinson[2] |
Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2] |
Billed weight | 240 lb (110 kg; 17 st)[2] |
Trained by | Billy Riley[2] |
Debut | 1955 |
Retired | 1992 |
Career
Early days in Europe
Robinson began his amateur wrestling career in Britain. 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 European "Snake Pit" started by legendary trainer Billy Riley. The Snake Pit In Europe ( not to be confused with the one in the USA ) 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 in European Snake Pit with Riley. Robinson had to survive bare minimum amenities (luxuries such as a toilet were not provided at that Snake Pit), 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. He defeated older fellow Snake Pit wrestler Billy Joyce for the European title on 12 June 1965[4] and then beat Joyce again for the British title on 18 January 1967,[5] vacating both titles in 1970 when he went off to America.[5][4] He also had a high-profile feud with legendary masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki.[6] In 1978, Robinson made a brief homecoming tour of the UK including a televised win over Lee Bronson.[7]
In North America
Robinson traveled to North America in 1970 and began wrestling for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association. He was one of the 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 separate occasions. 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 WWWF Champion Bob Backlund in 1982 as well in Montreal.
Japan
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 another of catch wrestling's greatest icons, Karl Gotch. 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 May 8, 1992.
Post-retirement
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.[8] Robinson was inducted into the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003.
Books
Physical Chess: My Life in Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling, ECW Press
Championships and accomplishments
Amateur wrestling
Professional wrestling
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- NWA United National Championship (1 time)[2]
- PWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[2]
- January 2 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1980)[10]
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1978) - with Wild Angus[11]
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1980) - with Les Thornton[12]
- 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
- 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]
- Joint Promotions
- 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 Gaijin Best Bout Section (2002) vs. Antonio Inoki
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- Class of 2011[14]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Stampede Wrestling
- Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)[17][18]
- Tokyo Sports
- Match of the Year Award (1975) vs. Antonio Inoki on December 11
- World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[2]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
References
- "Professional and Catch As Catch Can Wrestler Billy Robinson, 75, passes away". Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- "Online World of Wrestling". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- "Billy Robinson - obituary". Retrieved 2015-06-18.
- "European Heavyweight Title [Joint Promotions]". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- "British Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- "WRESTLING HERITAGE". WRESTLING HERITAGE. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". Wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- "ALL TIME GREAT BILLY ROBINSON PASSES AWAY AT 85- PWInsider.com". Pwinsider.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- "Misc. All Japan Events". Prowrestlinghistory.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- Real World Tag League 197 at purolove.com retrieved October 7, 2018
- "PUROLOVE.com". Purolove.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- Hoops, Brian (January 18, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/18): Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for WWWF title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
- "Lawler, McMahon, Road Warriors among PWHF Class of 2011". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. 2010-11-26. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
- "PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year". Archived from the original on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- "Strong Style Spirit". Puroresufan.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- Whalen, Ed (host) (December 15, 1995). "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame: 1948-1990". Showdown at the Corral: A Tribute to Stu Hart. Event occurs at 27:55. Shaw Cable. Calgary 7.
- "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
- "Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame". Pwi-online.org. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
External links
- Billy Robinson on IMDb
- Scientific Wrestling's Certification Camp where Billy has coached since 2007
- Robinson's Catch Instructional Trailer on YouTube
- International Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Website of the film 'Catch - the hold not taken', a documentary on the history of Riley's gym where Robinson trained
- "COACHES". Kickboxingandbjj.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.