The British Heavy Middleweight Championship was a top British wrestlingchampionship found throughout the country's circuit. The title's history dates back to its foundation by Joint Promotions in 1953. Officially heavy middleweights were required to weight between 12 st 8 lb(176 lbs) and 13 st 5 lb(187 lb).[1]
The championship was recognised and defended on matches screened by UK national television network ITV as part of the professional wrestling slot on World of Sport as well as standalone broadcasts.[2][3][4] Pre-publicity for these championship match broadcasts was given in ITV's nationally published listings magazine TVTimes[5][6][7] The entire 31 October 1987 edition of the standalone Wrestling broadcast was given over to Fit Finlay's recapture of the title from Chic Cullen in Bradford, 17 September 1987[4] and highlights of this match were included on the official ITV wrestling compilation VHS release Mayhem and Mystery.[8] Similarly, highlights of Alan Kilby's capture of the vacant title in a tournament final over King Ben in Preston, 7 October 1981, were included on official ITV wrestling compilation DVD release The Best Of British Wrestling A-Z.[9]
Title history
The title was founded in 1953 and remained in Joint Promotions until the mid-1980s when it was taken over by All Star Wrestling. The title remained active until the mid-1990s.[10]
^Peter Bills, Wrestling, David & Charles, 1983, p. 62
^"Marty Jones capture of British Heavy Middleweight title from Mark Rocco in Woking 13 September 1978". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 23 September 1978.
^"Alan Kilby capture of vacant British Heavy Middleweight title in tournament final over King Ben in Preston 7 October 1981". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 31 October 1981.
^ ab"Fit Finlay capture of British Heavy Middleweight title from Chic Cullen in Bradford 17 September 1987,". Professional Wrestling. ITV. 31 October 1987.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacDuncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Europe - Great Britain: British Heavy Middleweight Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 403. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.