by Carrie Dunn
Worker: wrestler
The promotions and their abbreviations
1PW: One Pro Wrestling; based in the north of England, now defunct
All-Star Wrestling: running shows all over the UK
Chikara: US independent promotion, presenting family-friendly shows in a comic-book homage style
DragonGate: Japanese-based promotion; UK tours are branded as DragonGate UK or DGUK
ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling, formerly run by Tod Gordon and then Paul Heyman, subsumed by WWE
FPW: Future Pro Wrestling; based in South London
FWA: Frontier Wrestling Alliance, offshoot of Hammerlock, now defunct
Hammerlock, or NWA-UK Hammerlock: based in Kent
IPW:UK: based in the south-east
LDN: based in the south-east but running shows all over England
NWA: National Wrestling Alliance, a group of independent wrestling promotions running across the US
PCW: Preston City Wrestling
Pro Wrestling EVE: women’s wrestling promotion, running events all over England
Revolution Pro Wrestling, or RevPro: based in the south-east
RWA: Runcorn Wrestling Alliance
ROH, or Ring of Honor: US independent promotion
Southside Wrestling: based across the south-east and the Midlands
TNA Impact Wrestling: Total Non-Stop Action, global promotion based in the US
Triple X Wrestling, or xXx: running adults-only shows in the Midlands
WAWW, now known as Bellatrix: World Association of Women’s Wrestling, based in East Anglia
WCW: World Championship Wrestling, formerly run by media mogul Ted Turner before it was taken over by WWE
Welsh Wrestling: running shows in Wales
WWE, formerly known as WWF: World Wrestling Entertainment, global promotion based in the US
XWA: promotion based in the north-west, now defunct
Bibliography
Garfield, Simon (1996), The Wrestling, Faber, London
TV shows
Lambent Productions (2012), The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family, Channel 4
RDF (2001), Faking It: Ballet Dancer to Wrestler, Channel 4
Photographs