William Alfred Robinson (18 September 1938 – 27 February 2014)[1] was an English professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and coach. Having trained at Billy Riley's gym, better known as "The Snake Pit" in Wigan, Robinson was one of the leading practitioners of catch wrestling, a British national champion in freestyle wrestling, and a professional wrestling world champion. He had a successful career in the UK and internationally, especially in Japan.
Robinson was born in Manchester on September 18, 1938 to William James and Frances Hester (nee Exley).[1] The men in the family were boxers and he started between four and five years of age. He also worked in his family's grocery store, where an eye injury between eleven and twelve years of age required hospitalization for five months and disqualified him from ever getting a boxing licence.[3][5]
Robinson began amateur wrestling at fourteen. After a year, his father introduced him to Billy Riley, a reputed catch wrestling trainer who ran a gym in Wigan. Riley's Gym (later dubbed "The Snake Pit") was one of the most famed catch wrestling training schools in the world, had a rough training environment and produced wrestlers such as Karl Gotch, Bert Assirati, Jack Dempsey, and Billy Joyce.[5][3] At the 1957 British Senior Championships, he won the freestyle wrestling light heavyweight title.[4]
It has often been repeated that Robinson was also a "European Open Champion in the light heavyweight class, beating an Olympic bronze medal winner in the finals" in 1958, without stating who the medallist was.[6][7][8][9] However, FILA did not hold the European Wrestling Championships between 1949 and 1966, and despite records going back to the first "unofficial European Championships" in 1898, United World Wrestling (FILA's successor) has no records of a "European Open Championship" taking place or anyone with Robinson's name competing for Britain, England, or any other nation.[10]
Professional wrestling career
Early days in Europe
As a professional wrestler, Robinson became a double-crown British and European Heavyweight Champion for Joint Promotions. In 1963, he wrestled in a match at the Royal Albert Hall that was attended by Prince Philip.[11] He defeated fellow Riley's wrestler and mentor Billy Joyce for the European title on 12 June 1965[12] and then beat Joyce again for the British title on 18 January 1967,[13] vacating both titles in 1970 when he went off to America.[12][13] He also had a high-profile feud with masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki.[14]
In 1978, Robinson made a brief homecoming tour of the UK including a televised win over Lee Bronson.[15]
North America
Robinson traveled to North America in 1969 for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling where he defeated Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie to earn a title shot at NWA World Heavyweight championDory Funk Jr. Soon afterwards, he began wrestling for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association. He was one of the most successful wrestlers of the American promotion known for hiring the "Real Deals" in wrestling. He was a three-time AWA British Empire Heavyweight Champion, reigning and defending in the United States and Canada. On 12 October 1974, his reputation 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 WWF ChampionBob Backlund in 1982 as well in Montreal.[citation needed]
Japan
Robinson traveled to Japan where he became popular as a wrestler versed in submission holds. He had a series of matches with Canadian George Gordienko. The pair had a notable match in 1968 as part of a "world championship tournament" where the pair wrestled to a draw in Sapporo.[5] He participated in a professional wrestling match against Antonio Inoki in 1975. The match was billed as "The Match Between the World's Top Two Technicians" by the Japanese press. Japanese professional wrestlers learned the art of "hooking" and "shooting" from other catch wrestling icons including Karl Gotch and Lou Thesz. The new movement led to the formation of the Universal Wrestling Federation. The UWF wrestlers like Yoshiaki Fujiwara had also been to the Snake Pit in Wigan. In his last match, he advanced the shoot-style movement when he worked for the Union of Wrestling Forces International against fellow AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel on 8 May 1992.[citation needed]
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 Japan, including James Maritato, Kazushi Sakuraba and El Signo.[16] He also managed a convenience store and was a security guard at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino for a time.[5][3] He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in 2001 to be closer to his son's family.[1] His autobiography, Physical Chess: My Life in Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling, was published in June 2012.[17] He continued to coach catch wrestling into his final years, in his adopted home of Arkansas along with seminars in the United States, Japan, Britain, and Canada.[3][18]
Death
Robinson died in his sleep on February 27, 2014, at the age of 75.[1]
^"Historical Results". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 14 December 2023. Search "European" in the events section and "Robinson" in the athletes section.
