By Andrew Smith
Yorkshire wrestling fans have been hailed as some of the most passionate in the country.
Bradford’s Low Moor Club recently hosted the well-attended Grapple international event.
Promoter James Carr said: “The show went really well, this type of event tends to attract more families.
“The kids enjoy wrestling a lot, this show was more family orientated than some of our other shows.”
Carr, who is also a wrestler, said: “The Yorkshire fans are great, they’re loud and they get into the shows. If you have a Yorkshire wrestler versus a non-Yorkshire wrestler, you’ll know about it because the fans get really into it.”
About 150 people were in attendance to witness “Grafter” David Graves defend his Grapple British Championship against recent WWE UK Championship star “Muscle Cat” Saxon Huxley.
David Graves spears Saxon Huxley on his way to victory.
Local man Mark Rolls teamed up with “Lazarus Kid” Liam Slater as the pair held the tag team belts going into the event. But they were stripped of the prize as B.A Rose and Sean Only came out victorious against them.
Carr said: “Interest in British wrestling is great right now. The WWE’s UK Tournament featured wrestlers that would normally be on shows such as Grapple, suddenly they became huge stars, and they all deserve it as they are some of the best wrestlers in the world.”
The WWE UK Championship was a 16-man tournament in Blackpool to crown the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion. Huxley, who featured at the main event in Bradford, was eliminated in the first round of that tournament.
Huxley (real name Ross Cooke): “The UK scene was a bit stale, the WWE Tournament has led to a real boom period.”
Cooke, who wrestles in Yorkshire often, added: “The event was fun, me and David Graves train together, so I enjoyed it. The fans are really good, we had a meet and great afterwards.”
UP NEXT: It's #SaxonHuxley (@MuscleCatJesus) going one-on-one with @sam_gradwell as the first round of the #WWEUKCT continues! pic.twitter.com/tgxtV45yhE
— WWE UK Championship (@WWEUKCT) January 14, 2017
On the Yorkshire wrestling fans, Carr said: “The Yorkshire fans are great, they’re loud and they get into the shows. If you have a Yorkshire wrestler versus a non-Yorkshire wrestler, you’ll know about it because the fans get really into it.”
Carr did express a concern that wrestling wasn’t getting the exposure it deserved. He said: “British wrestling can sometimes be underground and people don’t know about it, some promotions put on poor wrestling shows and this has a negative effect.”
Grapple Wrestling returns to Yorkshire on March 25, when some of the country’s top wrestlers appear at the Batley Sports Centre.