Darren Burridge
Encyclopedia
Greg Burridge is a semi-retired British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

. He is best known for his work on the independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...

 throughout the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Professional wrestling career

Burridge began his training in his late teens with the FWA Academy, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and would go on to appear in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance
Frontier Wrestling Alliance
Frontier Wrestling Alliance is a British professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1993 as the Fratton Wrestling Association it soon became the Frontier Wrestling Alliance six years later and until 2007 when it lost a scripted inter-promotional feud with International Pro Wrestling: United...

 promotion. After moving to the Dropkixx training school in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, he would be taught by "The Gay One" Vince Randell and Bobby Barnes.

Burridge would first adopt the same gay gimmick comedy routine used by these two World of Sport
World of Sport (UK TV series)
World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 to 28 September 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand...

legends (Randall and Barnes) as "Exotic" Baxter Burridge, but once established on the independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...

 he soon adapted it to his well-known King of Chav
Chav
A chav is a term that is used in the United Kingdom to describe a stereotype of teenagers and young adults from an underclass background.-Etymology:...

s gimmick "The Pukka One" Darren Burridge. Burridge would also wrestle outside the UK touring places like Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 as well as become the head trainer at Irish Whip Wrestling
Irish Whip Wrestling
Irish Whip Wrestling is an Irish owned independent professional wrestling promotion established in 2002. The company was named in tribute to Irish professional wrestler Danno O'Mahony, who is credited as the inventor of the "Irish Whip" wrestling maneuver. IWW runs shows throughout the whole of...

.

He was considered to be one of the main faces of advertising on Sky
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....

's TWC Fight! and regularly commutes between Britain and Ireland where he was the lead trainer for Irish Whip Wrestling
Irish Whip Wrestling
Irish Whip Wrestling is an Irish owned independent professional wrestling promotion established in 2002. The company was named in tribute to Irish professional wrestler Danno O'Mahony, who is credited as the inventor of the "Irish Whip" wrestling maneuver. IWW runs shows throughout the whole of...

 for a brief time. Burridge would go on to become a popular wrestler in 1 Pro Wrestling
1 Pro Wrestling
One Pro Wrestling was a British professional wrestling promotion. 1PW was founded in 2005 by Steven Gauntley until the promotion went into liquidation in 2007; it was restarted within the same year..It ended in August 2011....

 (1PW); making his first appearance as part of a pre show match at its first event. From March 2006, Burridge became extremely popular with the fans when he started tag teaming with Colt Cabana as Team S.H.A.G. (Street Hooligan Adventure Gang).

In May 2006 Darren Burridge faced Nigel McGuinness
Nigel McGuinness
Steven Haworth is an English professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Desmond Wolfe and Nigel McGuinness. As McGuinness he first gained notoriety working for Ring of Honor in the United States and Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan...

 at 1PW Fight Club. The match was critically acclaimed and considered to be the best all-British match in 1PW history at the time. Burridge was set to face Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he wrestles on its SmackDown brand as Daniel Bryan, and currently holds the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase, which enables him to have a World Heavyweight Championship match at any time of his choosing...

 at Fight Club II in July 2006 but, due to flight problems for Danielson, the match never happened. Instead Burridge tagged with Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...

. The Burridge/Danielson match has been due to happen at least twice, but as of 2008 it still has not taken place.

During 1PW's first anniversary show Team SHAG won the 1PW Tag Team Championship during a three way ladder match against the defending champions Jonny Storm
Jonny Storm
Jonathan Whitcombe is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jonny Storm. He has worked for many independent promotions across the United Kingdom, including the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, Real Quality Wrestling and One Pro Wrestling...

 and Jody Fleisch
Jody Fleisch
Jerome Fleisch is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jody Fleisch. He is best known for his work with the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, One Pro Wrestling and Real Quality Wrestling...

 and the Southern Comfort team of Tracey Smothers
Tracy Smothers
Tracy Smothers is an American professional wrestler.-Early career:Tracy started his career in the Memphis promotion on Saturday morning TV. Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers started teaming as The Southern Boys in Florida Championship Wrestling in 1987 where they feuded with The New Breed...

 and Chris Hamrick
Chris Hamrick
Chris Hamrick is an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the early 2000s...

. Later, in April 2007, it was revealed that Colt Cabana (Darren Burridge's tag partner and fellow 1PW Tag Team Champion) had signed with the WWE. On April 6 (Cabana's last ever European appearance) Burridge and Cabana (Team SHAG) successfully defended their titles one last time by defeating Doug Williams
Doug Williams (wrestler)
Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...

 and Nigel McGuinness
Nigel McGuinness
Steven Haworth is an English professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Desmond Wolfe and Nigel McGuinness. As McGuinness he first gained notoriety working for Ring of Honor in the United States and Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan...

 in an excellent match which, due to issues with Nu-Wrestling Evolution, will unfortunately never see the light of day. Team SHAG then vacated the titles.

With Cabana gone, Burridge refocused on his singles career in 1PW. His first two scheduled matches were against American independent Delirious
Delirious (wrestler)
Hunter Johnston is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Delirious. He is currently wrestling for Ring of Honor, International Wrestling Cartel, Chikara, Pro Wrestling Noah, and Jersey All Pro Wrestling...

 and Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he wrestles on its SmackDown brand as Daniel Bryan, and currently holds the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase, which enables him to have a World Heavyweight Championship match at any time of his choosing...

, who was later replaced by 2 Cold Scorpio
2 Cold Scorpio
Charles Scaggs is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio . Scaggs has competed in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment and Pro Wrestling Noah...

. At the Know Your Enemy 2007 weekend, Burridge defeated Delirious and went to a time limit draw with Scorpio. After this match, 1PW General Manager Adam Curtis declared that Burridge would face Nigel McGuinness at Invincible 2007 in a Two out of three falls match, in addition to Burridge's already scheduled match with Doug Williams at 1PW Underground #1. Burridge lost to McGuinness, two falls to one. After the match, Adam Curtis booked the 'rubber match' between Burridge and McGuinness at 1PW Second Anniversary Show as a 45min Ironman Match. The following weekend, he defeated Williams in their scheduled match.

A mid-show confrontation at Underground #1 with then 1PW Openweight Champion James Wallace (in which Burridge took the belt and challenged the champion to take it back) led to Wallace accepting Burridge's challenge for a title match at Underground #2. On September 22, 2007. Darren Burridge challenged James Wallace for the 1PW Openweight Championship. Burridge won, making Wallace submit with his Rings of Sovereign move. Burridge then travelled to Orpington to represent 1PW in an Inter-Fed Cup Qualification match against James Tighe
James Tighe
James Tighe is a British professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with Frontier Wrestling Alliance. He currently competes around the United Kingdom.-Professional wrestling career:...

, representing the defenders IPW:UK. After a heated match, Burridge defeated Tighe, again by submission with the Rings of Sovereign.

As 1PW's Second Anniversary Show approached, the company confirmed that Burridge's newly-won title would be on the line in the Ironman match. One week before the show, McGuinness won the ROH World Championship
ROH World Championship
The Ring of Honor World Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Ring of Honor. The championship has also been through other companies in cooperation with ROH through the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance , the governing body of many independent wrestling...

 from Takeshi Morishima
Takeshi Morishima
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently performing for Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan and has performed for Ring of Honor in the United States in the past. He is a former Ring of Honor World champion...

 and made his first UK appearance with the belt at the Second Anniversary Show. The forty-five minute Ironman match ended a tie at 4-4, meaning Burridge retained. It was voted 1PW's Match of the Year for 2007. Burridge went on to successfully defend his title a fortnight later at Underground #3, defeating Zebra Kid
Roy Bevis
Roy Bevis, better known by his ring name Zebra Kid is a British professional wrestler. Bevis is the son of the well-known wrestler-turned-promoter, Ricky Knight...

.

According to kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...

 injuries suffered in the match with Zebra Kid, Burridge did not appear at 1PW's Underground #4 event, but instead resurfaced at their A Very Merry Christmas Show to defend his Openweight Title once more. His challenger (announced at the previously mentioned UG#4) was the returning 'Man that Gravity Forgot' Pac
Ben Satterly
Benjamin "Ben" Satterly is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Pac , who is currently working for Dragon Gate, and Dragon Gate USA. He is noted for his exceptional high flying style which has earned him the nickname "The Man That Gravity Forgot"...

, exercising his rematch clause. After a contest in which Pac initially showed little caring suddenly became very fierce very quickly, Burridge was able to attain the victory via submission to the Rings of Sovereign.

The new year ushered in a new era of change for Burridge in 1PW as he received his first shot at the 1PW World Championship over the double shot of January 25 and January 26, 2008. The Pukka One earned the title opportunity by defending his 1PW Openweight Championship successfully against Darkside (notably, the original match made for the Doncaster Dome show 'No Regrets' was for Burridge to face the returning Jerry Lynn
Jerry Lynn
Jeremy "Jerry" Lynn is an American professional wrestler who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

 - a booking that was later cancelled with the show). In the following night's Underground #5 main event, a "double titles" four-way between himself, Abyss
Chris Parks
Christopher J. "Chris" Parks , better known by his ring name "The Monster" Abyss, is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...

, Martin Stone
Martin Stone (wrestler)
Martin Harris, better known by his ring name Martin Stone is a British professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling under Frontier Wrestling Alliance , International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom , Real Quality Wrestling and various other promotions throughout the United Kingdom,...

 and 1PW World Champion Sterling James Keenan
Sterling James Keenan
Matt Polinsky is an American professional wrestler known better by his ring name, Sterling James Keenan, the second part of which is taken from Maynard James Keenan of Tool...

, Burridge retained his Openweight Title but was not involved in the deciding fall (Keenan pinned Stone) and so did not win or lose either title. Twice over the two shows, Burridge challenged SJK to defend his criticisms of British wrestling - both times, Keenan bailed without any contact between the two.

At 1PW Underground #6, Darren was scheduled to defend the 1PW Openweight Title once more against Martin Stone. However, in the week prior to the event, Burridge sustained a knee ligament
Knee
The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...

 injury whilst working a show in London. His match against Stone was promptly cancelled and his status as champion was called into question. Following this, 1PW's main event for the Know Your Enemy 2008 show was announced as being for the 1PW Openweight Championship, featuring 'The Phenomenal' A.J. Styles
A.J. Styles
Allen Neal Jones , better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...

 against Burridge for his title, which he will retain until his return to fitness.

On October 15, 2007, Burridge made an appearance on World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

's London edition of Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

. Burridge was seen amongst other British wrestlers eating in the backstage area while Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan William Coachman , also known as "The Coach", is a former professional wrestling color commentator and authority figure. He is also a former college basketball player, and football play-by-play announcer...

 was chasing Hornswoggle
Dylan Postl
Dylan Postl is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names Hornswoggle or Little Bastard. He is employed by WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand...

.

On May 3, 2008, Burridge was booked to face Darkside in an Openweight Championship match at 1PW's Underground. During the event, Martin Stone came out and read a letter from Burridge explaining his absence. Co-General Manager Adam Curtis then stripped Burridge of his title and 'gave' it to Darkside. Martin Stone then won the title later on in the event. Burridge's knee injury has (legitimately) worsened.

Burridge has returned to the independent scene under the name Greg Burridge, The Cockney Crusader

On August 26, 2011, Burridge once again teamed up with Colt Cabana in Team SHAG to headline the inaugural show of PCW - Preston City Wrestling

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Bridging German suplex
    • Pukka Elbow (Feint
      Feint
      Feint is a French term that entered English from the discipline of fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will...

       leg drop
      Leg drop
      A leg drop or legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponent's chest, throat, face or head or in some cases, the groin/lower-abdominal area...

       transitioned into a high–impact elbow drop to the chest
      Chest
      The chest is a part of the anatomy of humans and various other animals. It is sometimes referred to as the thorax or the bosom.-Chest anatomy - Humans and other hominids:...

      , with theatrics)
    • Rings of Sovereign (Crossface / Scissored armbar combination)

  • Signature moves
    • Chav Lock (Hammerlock octopus stretch)

  • Nickname
    Nickname
    A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

    s
    • "Da Pukka One"
    • "The Pukka"
    • "Exotic"
    • "The Cockney Crusader"

  • Entrance themes
    Music in professional wrestling
    Music in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...

    • "I Am So Pukka, You Are a Slag" by Greg Burridge

Championship and accomplishments

  • 1 Pro Wrestling
    1 Pro Wrestling
    One Pro Wrestling was a British professional wrestling promotion. 1PW was founded in 2005 by Steven Gauntley until the promotion went into liquidation in 2007; it was restarted within the same year..It ended in August 2011....

    • 1PW Openweight Championship (1 time)
    • 1PW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Colt Cabana

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK