Post-1988 (ITV)

Although British wrestling was no longer televised nationally after 1988, several shows appeared on individual regional ITV stations, while US wrestling appeared both regionally and nationally. Note that the return of "World of Sport Wrestling" to national ITV is covered on the page for 20162018.

Wrestling Around The World

Scotland

American Wrestling

Transatlantic Wrestling Challenge

Celebrity Wrestling


World Alliance Wrestling

This promotion, run by Jackie Pallo, taped one event for broadcast on satellite television. Shows later appeared on Central.

Northampton, 11/2/89

Ken Knight (W) v Wayne Martin

Ricky Skarlo (W) v Mad Monk

Karl Kramer (W) v Ricky Cortez

Johnny Kincaid (W) v Killer Kowalski

Prince Maan Singh (W) v Bull Pratt

The Mummy (W) v Rex Lane

Samurai Garka (W) v Dick Slater

Dave George (W) v Garry Gibbs

Ray Apollon (W) v Ted Tench

Jackie Pallo Jr (W) v Rocky James

Johnny Kincaid (W) v Bull Pratt

Steve Kelly (W) v The Bulldog

The Guardsman (W) v Kurt Heinz

Battle Royale won by Masked Solitaire (Mel Eyres, aka Steve Serene)


Scotland

Two events, without a promotional banner, were taped in Scotland with Kent Walton on commentary. The resulting shows appear to have aired in the on Grampian, Tyne Tees and Granada regions.

Abderdeen, 19/10/90.

Big Daddy/Johnny Kidd (W) v Anaconda/Kamikazi

Alan Kilby (W) v Jake Mitchell

Giant Haystacks (W) v Jamaica George

Danny Collins (W) v Tony Stewart

Ian McGregor (W) v Ray Robinson

Ian McGregor (DQ) v Ray Steele

Aberdeen, 20/10/90.

World Mid-Heavyweight champion Marty Jones (W) v Danny Collins

Big Daddy/Johnny Kidd (W) v Count von Zuppi & John Wilkie

Giant Haystacks (W) v Rory Campbell

Andy Robbins (W) v The Phantom

Greg Valentine (W) v Rex Lane

Chic Cullen (W) v Tony Stewart

Ian McGregor v Alan Kilby.(D)


Another two events were taped in 1993 (dates unknown) for broadcast on Grampian. Commentary was by Brian Crabtree and Dave Lanning:

Aberdeen, 11/10/93

Ian McGregor v Rex Lane

Dale Preston v Andy Strong

Big Daddy/Tony Stewart v Undertakers Doom & Gloom

Frank (Chic) Cullen v Mike Roberts

Giant Haystacks vs John Prayter

Pat Roach vs Bearcat Brody

Aberdeen, 12/10/93

We don't have the precise line-up but it appears to have been a different combination of matches with the same crew.


American Wrestling

As well as the occasional WWF broadcasts as part of the British wrestling slot in 1987 and 1988, there were several cases of American wrestling appearing on ITV:

Central and Tyne Tees began airing late-night/early-morning WWF tapes from late 1987. While billed as Superstars of Wrestling, the tapes were actually a repackaged version of Wrestling Challenge. The matches appear to have been recorded between spring of 1987 and spring 1988, but were not necessarily shown in order. The earliest match we have traced (which aired on the debut episode) appears to have been Raymond Rougeau v Bret Hart from either Houston on 19 October 1986 or Madison Square Garden the following day. Also on the show was Hulk Hogan & Rick Steamboat vs Randy Savage and the Honky Tonky Man from the Meadowlands Arena on 5 January 1987 and Outback Jack v Jimmy Jack Funk from the Boston Garden on 7 March 1987.

The same tapes aired on Thames/LWT from June-88 to April 89.

Central showed tapes from numerous US promotions, including Professional Wrestling from Florida (from the first half of 1989), Global Wrestling (Florida version, not the later Dallas group), and matches from the AWA/World Class/Memphis partnership of late 1988. A Georgia promotion, likely the 1980s Deep South Wrestling, also aired.

Thames/LWT showed NWA/WCW wrestling from January 1990. Although these were still billed as Superstars of Wrestling, the shows were repackaged versions of NWA Power Hour, originally taped between July and December 1989. A second run of 1990 tapes aired between the summer and autumn of 1990.

Yorkshire TV appears to have shown NWA Main Event in late 1989/early 1990 in an early morning slot.

In the summer of 1991, several episodes of NWA television from mid-1990 aired on Thames/LWT on Saturday nights.

From September 1991, most ITV regions began airing relatively up-to-date WCW Worldwide shows eary on Sunday mornings, though there was no consistent timeslot.

LWT repeated one match each Sunday afternoon in the Sharp's Funday show.

From early May 1992 (20 June on LWT), a repackaged version of Worldwide begain airing nationally on Saturday afternoons. From July 1994, the show would feature highlights of recent pay-per-view events. WCW was dropped by ITV in mid-1995, though Central appears to have showed it until the end of the year.


Transatlantic Wrestling Challenge

This was a six-episode series originally aired in 2000 in the Meridian, Anglia and HTV regions. It was later shown nationally on digital channel ITV 2.

The series featured a 16 man tournament, with eight wrestlers from the UK and eight representing the United States. The tournament began with a round-robin stage of four groups:

Group A: Vigilante (Johnny Moss), Majik, David Young, Ozzie Rulz (Ashley Hudson)

Group B: Tank, Gary Steele, Sinn, Rukkus

Group C: Psycho Steve, Jon Ryan, Prodigy, Tony Kozina

Group D: Paul Vault, Kung Fu, Rick Michaels, Kory Williams

The top two finishers in each group then advanced to the knockout stages. The tournament was won by Sinn, beating Gary Steele in the final. The last show also featured Nikita beating Riptide to win the TWC Ladies trophy.


Celebrity Wrestling

This reality game-show aired on ITV on Saturday evenings in 2005. After five weeks of extremely poor ratings, it was moved to Sunday mornings for the rest of its run. Despite the title, and the presence of pro wrestlers Roddy Piper, Joe Legend and D Lo Brown, the show did not feature wrestling matches, but ratheli Gladiators-style challenges. The show featured two teams:

The Crusaders

This team was trained by wrestler D-Lo Brown

Jeff Brazier - Pocket Rocket

Tiffany Chapman - Princess of Power

Leilani Dowding - The Vixen

Mikey Green - Wild Boy

Michelle Heaton - Inferno

James Hewitt - Gentleman Jim

Jenny Powell - The Avenger

Lee Sharpe - Sharpe Shooter

Scott Wright - Snake Eyes

The Warriors

This team was trained by wrestler Joe Legend

Marc Bannerman - El Diablo

Annabel Croft - Solitaire - female winner

Kate Lawler - The Brawler

Shauna Lowry - Tigress

Victoria Silvstedt - Ice Maiden

Oliver Skeete - Rebel Rider

Iwan Thomas - The Dragon - male winner

Phill Turner - The Handy Man

The Warriors won the team event.