Courtesy of The Ecstasy of the Gold Wrestling Website
The Union of European Wrestling Alliances is a governing body of independent wrestling promotions based in Europe. In 2010 they established the European Heavyweight Championship, a title to be defended inter-promotionally within this union of affiliates. This championship would go on to be contested in Germany, Spain, England, Norway, Denmark, Wales, Sweden, Romania and even outside of Europe.
The title is likely best known within Scotland for the 2015 and 2019 matches which saw Drew Galloway and Lionheart both emerge victorious in ICW World Heavyweight Championship vs. UEWA Championship matches.
However, the championship has a long history in Scotland, which has only grown to be more important to its legacy in recent years. The UEWA has welcomed Scottish affiliates since its 2009 inception with Pro2 Wrestling, Copenhagen Championship Wrestling and World Wide Wrestling League participating today.
Numerous wrestlers known to Scottish fans have held the European Heavyweight Championship. These names include; James Mason who, in 2008, defeated Bryan Danielson in Glenrothes and Stirling; Bad Bones who clashed with Johnny Moss at ICW Fear & Loathing 4; and two-time ICW Tag Team Champion Rampage Brown.
Visitors and interlopers are nothing new to Scotland. Insane Championship Wrestling and Discovery Wrestling have drawn international names for quite some time, but in this continental title’s lineage, the Scots themselves have a legacy which is both historic and heartbreaking.
The Scottish history of the European Heavyweight Championship began, as much did, with Lionheart. As Scotland’s representative, he reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 Lower Saxony tournament to crown UEWA’s inaugural champion.
Soon UEWA’s defending champions toured Europe, and Drew McDonald and James Scott were the first Scotsmen to test them in title challenges. In the years that followed, three Scotsmen went beyond the “glorious failure” that my doonhamer dad says typifies Scottish sporting pursuits and captured the European Heavyweight Championship for themselves. These reigns would run the gamut from a mere two days for Galloway to a record-setting 1,535 days (and counting) for Andy Roberts, the current reigning champion.
The Scottish Championship Reigns
Drew Galloway (Reigned: 16/10/2015 – 18/10/2015)
The former and future Drew McIntyre put up his well-travelled ICW World Heavyweight Championship in a title-for-title triple threat match against Apu Singh and European Heavyweight Champion Chaos. At this sold-out Maximum Wrestling event in Kiel, Germany, Galloway pinned Singh to become the first Scot to hold the title, ending Chaos’ 1,280-day reign in the process.
The Ayr wrestler not only added another title to his lengthy list of post-WWE accomplishments but, in the runup to Fear & Loathing VIII, put his final stamp on the international legacy of his self-made Insane World Championship.
Unfortunately, travel issues following ICW’s Appetite For Destruction prevented Galloway from making it to scheduled title defences in Aarhus, Denmark on October 18th. As a result, he was stripped of both the DPW Heavyweight Championship and his newly won UEWA title.
Lionheart (Reigned: 16/06/2019 – 19/06/2019)
On May 11th, 2015, Ireland’s Alexander Dean ventured to Oslo, Norway for the Norwegian Wrestling Federation, where he managed to end the then-record 1,281-day reign of Erik Isaksen. After his victory, he quickly turned his attention to Lionheart in a series of ugly promos. ICW’s 21st champion would fire back and soon the second-ever ICW vs. UEWA title match was announced for the I Ain’t Yer Pal, Dickface! taping of ICW Fight Club in Glasgow.
The bout was personal and hard-hitting as the pre-match vitriol had suggested it would be. It wasn’t easy but the tried-and-true combination of the Rock Bottom and the Frog Splash earned Lionheart yet another championship.
It’s sad beyond words that this was the final match in the great career of Adrian “Lionheart” McCallum, who passed away just three days later. In another tragedy, his opponent “Alexander” Dean Merton followed on September 4th, 2023 (GoFundMe here).
Andy Roberts (Reign: 20/07/2019 – present)
“As the first ever PWE Heavyweight Champion, this show going ahead means the world to me. Adrian worked tirelessly not only to build a world-class working environment for wrestlers but to deliver a world-class product to wrestling fans in Ayr. We have all come together to make sure that Adrian’s eight years of hard work is presented to the fans of Ayr the way he wanted it to be by making sure this anniversary show still goes ahead.” – Andy Wild (July, 2019)
After McAllum’s death, the Scottish wrestling scene worked swiftly to ensure that his Pro Wrestling Elite promotion’s 8th Anniversary Show went ahead as announced. It was here that the man then known as Andy Wild was given the bittersweet opportunity to lead UEWA forward through unspeakably bleak times. He succeeded in defeating Alexander Dean and BT Gunn for the vacant championship.
Though hampered significantly by COVID lockdowns, injury and other setbacks, Roberts has broken much new ground for the title by venturing out of the Union and into non-affiliate promotions to face decorated top-tier challengers. To name only a few, the Kirkcaldy “Sports Entertainer” has retained against Doug Williams, Kez Evans, Wild Boar, Rampage Brown, Jason Reed and Kenny Williams in promotions like Iron Girders Pro Wrestling, Wrestling Experience Scotland (now Blockbuster Wrestling), WrestleZone, Fife Pro Wrestling Asylum and many others.
“Over the past four years, in his time as UEWA European Heavyweight Champion, Andy Roberts has taken on some of the top contenders across this continent. Time and time again he proves that he is without a shadow of a doubt one of the very BEST professional wrestlers that Europe has ever produced. We look forward to watching Andy’s career and title reign continue to grow!” – The Union of European Wrestling Alliances (July 19th, 2023)
The Matches
The following list contains all recorded UEWA European Heavyweight Championship matches to either take place in Scotland or to feature a Scottish competitor.
07/05/2011: James Mason (c) defeated Drew McDonald (AAW: Cheshire, England)
22/10/2011: Bad Bones (c) defeated James Scott (PBW: Irvine, North Ayrshire)
12/5/2012: Chaos (c) defeated Lionheart (DPW: Randers, Denmark)
16/10/2015: ICW Title for UEWA Title – Drew Galloway (ICW) defeated Apu Singh & Chaos (UEWA) (Maximum Wrestling: Kiel, Germany)
24/10/2015: Chaos (c) defeated Big Damo & Lionheart (PBW: Greenock, Inverclyde)
01/7/2017: Erik Isaksen defeated Tom Fulton (RWA: Bucharest, Romania)
16/06/2019: ICW Title for UEWA Title – Lionheart (c) defeated Alexander Dean (c) (ICW: Anderston, Glasgow)
20/07/2019: Vacant Title – Andy Wild defeated Alexander Dean & BT Gunn (PWE: Ayr, South Ayrshire)
23/08/2019: Andy Wild (c) defeated Davey Blaze (BCW: Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire)
28/09/2019: Andy Wild (c) defeated Liam Thomson (Wrestling Experience Scotland: Bathgate, West Lothian)
26/10/2019: Andy Wild (c) defeated Alan Sterling & Jason Reed (WrestleZone: Kincorth, Aberdeen)
12/12/2019: Andy Wild (c) defeated Liam Thomson (PBW: Barlanark, Glasgow)
07/03/2020: Andy Wild (c) defeated Davey Blaze (PBW: Larbert, Falkirk)
12/12/2021: Andy Wild (c) defeated Ewan O’Raw (Pro2: Irvine, North Ayrshire)
26/03/2022: Andy Wild (c) defeated Charlie Sterling (TRWA: Burnley, England)
01/05/2022: Andy Wild (c) defeated Stone Malone (Pro2: Troon, South Ayrshire)
01/12/2022: Andy Wild (c) defeated James Mason (FPWA: Leven, Fife)
10/12/2022: Andy Roberts (c) defeated Kenny Williams (BCW: Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire)
02/03/2023: Andy Roberts (c) defeated Wild Boar (FPWA vs. NWW: Leven, Fife)
08/04/2023: Andy Roberts (c) defeated Doug Williams (BCW: Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire)
01/06/2023: Andy Roberts (c) defeated BT Gunn (FPWA vs. IGPW: Leven, Fife)
02/06/2023: Kez Evans fought Andy Roberts (c) to a no contest (IGPW vs. FPWA: Parkhead, Glasgow)
09/06/2023: Andy Roberts (c) defeated Krieger (BCW: East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire)
07/09/2023: Andy Roberts (c) defeated Rampage Brown (FPWA: Leven, Fife)
Legacy
“When I won the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship, I was committed to turning my reign into a legacy. It is my belief that either a wrestler can make a title or a title can make a wrestler. Four years on and fifteen-plus title defences against some of the best Wrestlers in the world, I’m confident that not only have I proved that I’m the best Heavyweight Wrestler in Europe, but that I’ve elevated this title to a whole new level. Who’s next!?” – Andy Roberts (July 19th, 2023)
Of the ten men to hold UEWA’s premier championship, three have been Scottish. Of eleven title changes, two have occurred in Scotland. Of the last 18 UEWA title matches, 17 were contested in Scotland. Andy Roberts has set virtually every record that there is for this title, whether it’s for the most days as champion, both within a single reign and cumulatively; the most successful defences, whether in an individual reign or total, and even for fighting for the title on cards promoted by more individual promotions than any other champion. Again and again, the Fifer has been the one to set new standards for this title over the past four-plus years.
Between McIntyre, Roberts and Lionheart, we have three ICW World Heavyweight Championships; a WWE Triple Crown winner; three ICW Zero-G Championships; a WrestleZone Undisputed Championship; a Royal Rumble winner; a Disco Derby winner; three Scottish Heavyweight Championships; a PWE World Heavyweight Championship; an SWN100 placement; a TNA World Heavyweight Championship and a Hotter Than Hell winner. This is not to mention a slew of accolades that have spanned everything from a WWE Slammy to an ICW Bammy; from the Discovery “Wrestler of the Year” honour to the Bumpy “Lifetime Achievement” trophy; while all three have received SWN Year End and ”Outstanding Recognition” awards as well.
The significance of McIntyre and Lionheart to Scottish wrestling is beyond debate and their inductions into the ICW, SWN and Wrestlers Reunion Scotland George Kidd Scottish Wrestling Hall of Fames are only three ways in which the scene has recognised this.
Though Roberts’ place in Scottish wrestling history is still being written, his contributions can’t be ignored either. He’s been an unselfish workhorse; a World Championship main-eventer; a plucky underdog; a bitter veteran; an iron man; the worker to whom promoters entrust their imports and prospects alike; an inaugural champion, and today, he coaches the next generation of Scottish wrestlers at his FPWA school. Through FPWA, he has even provided free classes to students from other schools during the mentally and financially tough COVID lockdown. Whether the “Sports Entertainment” contract or ICW World Heavyweight Championship reign comes or not, Roberts is sure to follow McIntyre and Lionheart into these Hall of Fame wings someday.
Despite the enormous list of successes that these men have accrued, the UEWA title stands out amongst these accomplishments, both big and small, as an important moment in each of their careers.
For Galloway, it just feels right to look back and see “European Heavyweight Champion” listed alongside the Australian, American, Scottish and Danish titles he held in the period where he dedicated himself to defending the ICW and EVOLVE titles internationally.
For Roberts, while this reign has been a long-overdue opportunity for him to be showcased as a top talent and company representative, I believe his unquestionable work ethic and excellent matches have made him at least as important to the title as the championship has been to him. There’s been many hard times since his victory in July 2019 but Roberts has been a committed champion.
Lastly, it’s through Lionheart that this title will live forever. Inevitably, companies, contracts and championships will come and go, but those final moments with Lionheart make this title meaningful in a way that Pro Wrestling Illustrated simply cannot.
Who’s Next?
The European Heavyweight Championship has found a home in Scotland over the last few years whilst around-the-waist of Andy Roberts. As of October 2023, there are three UEWA union members running shows in Scotland while numerous non-affiliates have been keen to promote UEWA title fights as well. There seems to be no reason that this shouldn’t continue.
Time will tell but with Roberts having held prominent spots in promotions like Discovery, WrestleZone, Fair City Wrestling and ICW (where UEWA has considerable history), there appears to still be plenty of road left to travel in this part of the world.
More title defences are reportedly scheduled (follow the champion on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay in-the-know) but the next announced UEWA European Heavyweight Championship match is set for FPWA ‘Twas A Night At the Wrestling 2 in Leven, Fife on December 7th.
Roberts will defend against FPWA’s “Student of the Year” Frank Gallo, who earned this title shot in a landslide victory through a fan poll. This student vs. teacher battle should be an absolute spectacle, and tickets are available now.
Union of European Wrestling Alliances online: Twitter / Facebook / YouTube
🆂🆆🅽 | Scottish Wrestling Network 