Mid 20th Century
35-640: Champions Pro Wrestling (formerly World Wrestling Professionals) is a South African professional wrestling promotion created in 2002. The promotion was televised in South Africa from 2004 to 2009 and internationally in 2009. CPW is owned by Mark Beale, and is heavily influenced by American mainstream wrestling. World Wrestling Professionals was formed in 1990 in the Eastern Cape city of Nelson Mandela Bay and re -branded to Champions Pro Wrestling in May 2019, It has hosted
70-596: A few try-out matches, Joe got signed in early 2000. He made his TV debut on the August 8, 2000 episode of Heat where he lost to WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko . He scored victories over Gangrel , Joey Abs , Brooklyn Brawler and Essa Rios . He competed as Just Joe in the WWF before he was released from his contract in March 2001. When he was in the WWF, his gimmick was that of
105-737: A messenger who tried to stir the pot . During his time in the United States, Hitchen competed in the Puerto Rican International Wrestling Association under the ring name Nord . On March 8, 2003, he captured the IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship by defeating Glamour Boy Shane in Toa Baja , Puerto Rico. He lost the championship to Chicano in Bayamón , Puerto Rico on April 19
140-508: A number of local shows all year round, and slowly grew to become the number one wrestling federation in South Africa. It was formed by former professional wrestler Mark Beale, with the goal of taking South African wrestling to another level. In 2004, after years of hard work on the road in the hope of getting the product noticed, his idea for a wrestling show was picked up by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and
175-526: A part of a bigger gang which was known as THUG Life , which was composed of Legend, Hardcastle, Christian Cage , Zakk Wyld, Bloody Bill Skullion and Rhino Richards . Among his catchphrases used was "Heroes come and heroes go, but legends live forever!" Hitchen later competed under XL Legend in the Catch Wrestling Association which is based in Germany . He later teamed with Rhino Richards to win
210-478: A strong presence on the continent. The promotion, which is managed by Mark Beale, aired 1-hour pre-recorded episodes for SABC2 known as WWP Thunderstrike in the 18:30–19:30PM time-slot every Saturday. It recently completed its fourth season, which began on 13 December 2008 and ended on 28 April 2009. The fourth season was taped during May. WWP Thunderstrike signed a 5-year TV contract with SABC2 during June 2009 that would have allowed them to show over 50 episodes
245-486: A year until 2012, but due to in-house politics future seasons were put on hold and no new episodes have aired since the end of season 4. WWP Thunderstrike made its television premiere in December, 2004. After just four months of airing and being the top rated sports show on SABC2, Thunderstrike was pushed one hour forward into a primetime slot (from 14:30 to 15:30). Deon Potgieter, a renowned international author and producer,
280-442: Is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling . "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within the convention of the show , the company is a sports governing body which sanctions wrestling matches and gives authority to the championships and is responsible for maintaining the divisions and their rankings. In truth,
315-715: Is a Canadian retired professional wrestler and trainer, known under his ring name Joe E. Legend . He also wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 2000 to 2001 under the ring name Just Joe . Joe Legend began wrestling in Canada before becoming a part of the successful tag team Sex and Violence with Sexton Hardcastle in the Detroit area. His debut match was against Zakk Wyld (Keith Assoun) in Brampton. Ontario in 1992. During 1997, Sex and Violence were
350-830: The National Wrestling Alliance , act as an umbrella organization which governs titles that are shared among multiple promotions. During the 1950s, the National Wrestling Alliance oversaw many wrestling territories such as Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and NWA San Francisco , in a business model known as the "territory system". This is a list of the most notable past and present professional wrestling promotions. Active Defunct Active Defunct Active Defunct Active Defunct Active Defunct Active Defunct (Modern-era) Defunct (Territory-era) Active Defunct Joe Hitchen Joseph Edward Hitchen (born September 2, 1969)
385-507: The WWP Thunderstrike show. The final Def Faxion Heavyweight Champion was The Blacksmith and the final Alkebulan Heavyweight Champion was Ananzi. In late 2006 with the premiere of the third season, the factions were dropped and focus was placed on traditional Heavyweight, Tag Team, Female and Cruiserweight divisions. On 18 July 2015 WWP held the first annual WrestleMonster event. WrestlMonster II has been announced for April 2016. Despite
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#1733093757972420-477: The 100% De Dana Dan television tapings in August and September. Bollywood film stars Isha Koppikar and Sharat Saxena had roles in the show. Khoppikar participated as a live presenter while Saxena was the kayfabe manager of the Indian team. In highlights from the first season, Tornado became the 100% Heavyweight Champion on the second show and defended the championship for most of its run until being dethroned by
455-551: The 1980s wrestling boom. In July, 2009, WWP drew a record 20,000 fans in Lubambashi, DRC, their biggest attendance to date. World Wrestling Professionals has five training facilities scattered across South Africa. Shows are sometimes independently held by the training facilities in their respective regions showcasing their top students. Professional wrestling promotion 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s A professional wrestling promotion
490-704: The German based company Unlimited Wrestling in 2019, where he mostly competes in the most important matches on the card. In December 2007, Joe E. Legend became the co-host of The Main Event Radio , the official podcast of TotalWrestling.net. In May 2009, Hitchen was announced as one of the competitors on the Turkish version of Gladiators , which began filming in September 2009. Joe E Legend has also acted in several films in France and
525-664: The United Kingdom on ITV . This Saturday evening reality show saw celebrities learn wrestling and compete in challenge matches. After a few weeks the program was set to be cancelled, but instead was moved to Sunday morning to finish its final episodes. He can now be found wrestling in and around the United Kingdom for promotions such as All Star Wrestling , working regular shows at Butlins holiday parks after throwing out an open challenge to potential rivals for his Pan Pacific and GSA heavyweight titles. He has also toured Wales for both Orig Williams and Alan Ravenhill. During his time in
560-578: The Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg and each season was usually filmed for up to seven days in a row. The venue is referred to by the promotion as the Dome of Doom . The first and second seasons aired on Saturday afternoons. The third series moved to a Wednesday night slot at 22:00, where the show attained its highest ratings to date. In season highlights, WWE developmental star Ray Leppan , who went by
595-681: The biggest pro wrestling event on the African continent, the CPW wrestling extravaganza Wrestlemonster, which became an instant hit in South Africa, drawing in excess of 18,000 spectators to the event. It also launched the War of Pride extravaganza in Chandigarh , India with a huge contingent of international superstars like Bobby Lashley, Brody Steele, Carlito, Mr Wrestling, and Ananzi. The WWP continues to do massive roadshows through South Africa and Africa, and currently has
630-571: The company serves as a touring theatre troupe , as well as event promotion body for its own events. Most promotions are self-contained, organized around one or more championships and do not acknowledge or recognize the legitimacy of other promotions' titles unless they share a working agreement. Governing bodies, such as the CyberFight , United Wrestling Network , WWNLive , Allied Independent Wrestling Federations , Union of European Wrestling Alliances, Pro Wrestling International and, previously,
665-642: The leaders of the WDP faction, The Weasels, with the WWP Tag Team World Title at stake during many of their matches. World Wrestling Professionals aired 1-hour pre-recorded episodes of 100% De Dana Dan for Colours TV every Saturday and Sunday. The first (and only) season, began on 29 August 2009, and ended on 20 December 2009. 100% De Dana Dan is a hybrid of reality television and wrestling based on 100% Lucha, and sees wrestlers from India facing wrestlers from South Africa in faction warfare. The kayfabe plot of
700-591: The likes of Masato Tanaka , Shinjiro Otani , Ikuto Hidaka , and Sylvester Terkay . Joe E. Legend tours annually with World Wrestling Professionals (WWP), a South African promotion currently airing on a nationally broadcast network. He also acts as their scouting agent, having been responsible for bringing Mikey Whiplash, Angelico and Murat over to WWP. Joe Legend worked for WWP in 2007 and 2008 and returned in 2009. The January 10, 2009 episode of WWP saw Joe Legend defeat PJ Black (better known as Justin Gabriel ) to capture
735-470: The much larger competitor Goonga in the final episode. Tornado won a tournament where the winner would be awarded the WWP Heavyweight World Title , but seeing as he was already the champion he retained the championship. Sando Paji defeated Tornado to win the 100% Championship but refused to accept the title and it was awarded back to Tornado. Ananzi and Jason Steele were featured prominently on
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#1733093757972770-409: The name Dameon Duke , defended his newly won WWP Heavyweight World Title for most of the season and engaged in a three-match title rivalry with Joe "Fury" Steyn, who won the championship in the third match. In the season finale, WWP main eventers took part in an eight-man tag team match with the kayfabe South African defenders taking on the foreign WDP faction. For the fourth season, SABC2 pushed
805-629: The now defunct Frontier Wrestling Alliance he wrestled for the FWA British Heavyweight Championship in a five-way match at The Champions Series Final on January 5, 2006, in Hoddesdon , Hertfordshire , England, but was defeated by Hade Vansen. Hitchen also has wrestled in many other countries around the continent, countries such as Denmark, Poland, Italy, France, Portugal, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Greece. Overall, he wrestled in more than 24 countries around
840-411: The passed wrestler returned. The roster was previously divided into two factions, namely Alkebulan and Def Faxion . The kayfabe storyline entailed that the factions adopted different cultural beliefs, with Def Faxion being based on modernity and materialism, while Alkebulan bore opposite traits, deeply rooted in myth and tradition. Each faction had a championship which was regularly competed for on
875-478: The promotion being mainly a product produced for television since 2004, it regularly holds road show tours in various parts of the world such as India , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Nigeria , Greece , Venezuela , Paraguay , and in their home country of South Africa . In November, 2008, WWP drew a sell-out crowd at Carnival City in Johannesburg , South Africa, a first for a South African wrestling promotion since
910-556: The ring name Joe Legend . At the July 28, 2007 event he defeated Volcano to become the first IWF World Champion. During his reign he defeated Raven to retain the championship. In August 2006, he worked for Pro Wrestling NOAH on their Shiny Navigation Tour, and in April 2007, he worked on the Spring Navigation tour. From July to September 2010, he toured with Pro Wrestling Zero1 working
945-842: The same year. He returned to America in 2004 to compete in the Nashville, Tennessee -based Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . During his time in TNA as part of the Red Shirt Security, he won the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Kevin Northcutt . They held the belts from January 28, 2004 to February 4 of the same year. Hitchen made his debut in Russia as he competed at Independent Wrestling Federation's Wrestliada 2006 in Moscow , Russia, under
980-469: The show involved the Indian wrestlers being trapped in South Africa and stumbling upon an underground fight league headed by Mark Beale and WWP. WWP wrestlers Tornado , Jason Steele and Ananzi were involved in training many of the wrestlers from India. In the middle of 2009, WWP held a tryout in Bombay, India, searching for athletic candidates for the show. They selected twelve candidates to be trained before
1015-446: The show to a primetime slot on Saturday. P. J. Black , who later went on to sign a WWE contract, was given a prominent position in the main event and feuded with Mikey Whiplash throughout the season. He went on to challenge for the WWP Heavyweight World Title against Joe E Legend but subsequently lost. The current and 2-time WWP World Heavyweight Champion Tornado formed a dream team with former arch-rival The Skull and feuded with
1050-458: The show, with Steele winning a title contender's tournament that lasted several weeks and Ananzi winning a crucial ladder match against Angelico that awarded the winning team keys to a new vehicle. A controversial angle aired where one of the wrestlers competing on the Indian team died in the ring as a result of injuries inflicted by the Nigerian wrestler Kilimanjaro, which later led to an angle where
1085-536: The then vacant WWP Heavyweight World Title for the first time. His most recent appearance for WWP was on a tour of Nigeria in August 2014, where he interfered in Tornado 's match, causing him to lose to Nigerian wrestler De Ultimate Commander. Joe Legend came back 25 November 2017 (Showdown 33), defeating Alexander James in a match for a spot in the Pro Wrestling Showdown World Cup. Joe Legend joined
Champions Pro Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-589: The vacant World Tag Team Championships by defeating Rico de Cuba and August Smisl on October 10, 1998, in Hanover , Germany. The title was vacated in October 1998 when Rhino Richards left the promotion after signing with Extreme Championship Wrestling . After his departure from the WWF in the spring of 2001, Legend found success in Germany and England. In April 2005, he was one of the lead trainers of Celebrity Wrestling in
1155-637: The world. In 2014, in February he lost to David Hart Smith in a DWA/PWF match in Germany. Then he lost to Andrei Ivanov in Pro Wrestling Showdown in the Netherlands. In March he lost to Wolfgang in Premier British Wrestling. In April and May he competed in German organizations Deutsche Wrestling Allianz, German Hurricane Wrestling, Westside Xtreme Wrestling and Power of Wrestling. After
1190-568: Was given a national contract by SABC2 . The show, called WWP Thunderstrike, ran for a number of years on the channel, and was eventually put on hold due to in-house politics. The CPW then moved on to India to film a weekly show on Colors TV called 100% De Dana Dan , which established the WWP brand in the Middle East. The WWP-branded show WWP G-Force was then filmed and distributed to various networks, and has been shown all over Africa. The CPW launched
1225-583: Was responsible creatively for the name along with many of the original storylines and wrestler personas in WWP Thunderstrike's early years. After producing and writing the first 67 episodes, Deon Potgieter withdrew his involvement from the show to produce, direct and write both seasons of the SAFTA winning hit sitcom "Family Bonds". Following his departure the WWP creative team would consist of Mark Beale, Steve Debbes and Abdul Kader. Television tapings took place in
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