Research Note: Sources & Citations are linked in the bolded text below.
“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)
July 20th, 2023, marks four years since “the Ticking Time Bomb” Andy Roberts, then known as “the Stovie Superman” Andy Wild, became the eleventh UEWA European Heavyweight Champion of the Union of European Wrestling Alliances. The Fifer’s ongoing record-breaking reign has helped to reestablish the UEWA and its Heavyweight Championship after a chaotic and truly tragic period, while also redefining “Big Andy” as someone who is much more than “a nearly man.”
The UEWA:
Similar to the National Wrestling Alliance territory-system (see: “Steve Corino: The Weird & Winding Roads of a Travelling Champion”) and the Independent Wrestling.TV streaming network (see: “Southeast First: The History-making and Belt-taking Career of AC Mack”), UEWA is a sanctioning body for a collective of European promotions which recognise UEWA’s interpromotional Cruiserweight and Heavyweight Championships. Established in 2009, the Heavyweight title has been contested in England, Scotland, Wales, Norway, Romania, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Germany and beyond by a list of past champions that includes Drew Galloway, Rampage Brown, James Mason, Chaos, Erik Isaksen and Bad Bones.
One of the most widely-seen and historically significant title changes in UEWA’s decade-plus history occurred on June 16th, 2019 for ICW Fight Club in Glasgow, Scotland. The great Lionheart defeated Dublin’s Alexander Dean in a Winner Take All match to both retain his ICW World Heavyweight Championship and gain the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship. What was unforeseeable at the time, was that this would be Adrian “Lionheart” McCallum’s last match, as he tragically left us just three days later.
The New Champion:
“A wrestling show in Ayr will still go ahead in honour of its organiser Adrian “Lionheart” McCallum, following his tragic passing…Over the past eight years, Adrian built up PWE as part of the Ayrshire to provide regular, affordable, family entertainment for thousands of people every year. Now his closest friends (and greatest rivals) have come together to make sure that the landmark event is his legacy.” – The Ayr Advertiser (July 2019)
As a tribute to Lionheart, the Scottish wrestling community worked against the clock to ensure his Pro Wrestling Elite promotion’s 8th Anniversary Show took place. The likes of Grado, Jack Jester, Jackie Polo, Aaron Echo, Kasey and Leyton Buzzard all appeared on PWE’s final card.
“We have received word from UEWA that they wish to crown a new UEWA European Heavyweight Champion at PWE in Ayr on July 20th. With that being said – B.T. Gunn, Andy Wild & Alexander Dean’s TRIPLE THREAT MATCH will now be for the UEWA European Heavyweight Title.” – Wrestling Experience Scotland (July 2019)
On this night for Lionheart, a Triple Threat was held for the vacant UEWA European Heavyweight Championship and Fife’s journeyman Andy Wild faced off against “The Oddity” BT Gunn and the former champion Alexander Dean.
“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)
Big Andy was no stranger to title success in PWE. Back in 2012 he’d become the inaugural PWE World Heavyweight Champion when he outlasted a stacked tournament field that included Nick Aldis, current NXT Tag Team Champion Wolfgang and Noam Dar. Sixteen months before, Andy Wild had shared his gutting and inspiring “Wrestling With Anxiety,” essay which made it clear how much the PWE title had meant to him:
“The pinnacle of my run, and my highest personal achievement within wrestling came in the form of a World Heavyweight Championship Title, at PWE in September 2012. I’d finally been given the stage I needed against the right opponent, in the right setting, at the right time, with the right build-up. That night I won the match, Noam handed me the belt, and the roster came out to the ring clapping and hoisted me up onto their shoulders. But it wasn’t Andy Wild that was on Wolfgang’s shoulders, clutching a heavyweight belt, with a cheering crowd – it was 17 year-old Andrew Inch. Who thought that he’d never be able to be a wrestler, and finally, he was. It’s a 100 mile journey from Ayr to Kirkcaldy, and I cried the whole way home.” – Andy Wild (Wrestling With Anxiety, January 2018)
Having beefed up and gained considerable strength and experience, the “Dad Bod God” was a very different wrestler than he had been seven-years prior. Hitting hard and hitting fast, he captured the vacant championship before a sell-out audience of Adrian McAllum’s friends, fans and family in Ayr’s Citadel Centre on what was surely a joyful and painful night for so many in attendance.
“Andy Wild is arguably one of the most well liked personalities across the whole of the Scottish wrestling. Having faded off into the background in the last five or so years, the leader of the Wild Boys has surged back into the wrestling world over the past 12 months.” – Eat Sleep Suplex Retweet (February 2019)
There’s no reason to pretend that Wild’s accomplishment wasn’t marked by a terrible tragedy, or that this night of celebration could make the finality of death any less awful. It was perhaps only someone with the respect and reputation of Big Andy, clearly loved by McAllum himself, who could carry the baton forward for Scottish and European wrestling. And carry it he would, through thick and through thin.
The Rebuilding:
“Last night at Pro Wrestling Elite’s Eight Year Anniversary Show I became the new UEWA European Heavyweight Champion. I have been waiting for an opportunity to prove I am one of the best Heavyweight wrestlers in Europe and now I can. Moving forward, I plan to defend this Championship against as many opponents in as many promotions as I can. Who would you like to see me defend the belt against first and where?” – Andy Wild (July 2019)
Soon after his win, Big Andy proved himself to be a fighting champion. He first defended his newly won title against fellow former ICW Zero-G Champions Davey Blaze (BCW Believe: A Night To Remember Lionheart) and Liam Thomson for ICW’s family friendly Wrestling Experience Scotland brand (now Blockbuster Wrestling).
In October, his old WrestleZone stomping grounds proved again to be fertile soil for Big Andy when his reign survived the Triple Threat odds of former WrestleZone Tag Team Champion Alan Sterling and the reigning WrestleZone Tri-Counties Champion Jason Reed at Halloween Hijinx.
“European Heavyweight Champion Andy Wild is a busy man nowadays with a target on his waist – the challengers for his gold are quickly lining up.” – UEWA (October 2019)
Maintaining a prolific series of defences, he also succeeded in rematches with Blaze and Thomson. His efforts were recognized by Fighting Spirit Magazine who named him the “UK & Ireland’s Most Underutilised of the Year” in 2019. Big Andy was on what may have been the run of his career until the COVID lockdown brought everything, independent wrestling included, to a global standstill.
The Return of a Wildman:
“With the world opening up soon, against who, and where would you like to see me defend the UEWA Heavyweight Title!?” – Andy Wild (May 2021)
When the champion was able to resume his duties, he did so with a title defence over the hungry youngster Ewan O’Raw for Pro2 Wrestling’s Smashing Through The Snow holiday event. Andy Wild’s reign would continue but “the Dad Bod God” made it known that he was impressed with his challenger’s efforts.
Many of us ended that period of lockdown isolation as different people than we had been when we began it, and for the better, Big Andy did too. Returning in earnest to a champion’s schedule in early 2022, Wild made a defence against another Pro2 heavyweight prospect, “the Inevitable” Stone Malone (Pro2 Joker’s Wild).
“UEWA Heavyweight Champion Andy Wild took on the Inevitable Stone Malone in what was an absolute show stealer. Both men gave it all with Andy taking the win to retain the championship! After the match Stone and Andy shook hands and Andy held up Stone’s as a mark of respect.” – Pro 2 Wrestling (May 2022)
Another highlight of Wild’s early 2022 was a clash with the battle tested and highly decorated Charlie Sterling for Top Rope Wrestling Academy in England. Unlike O’Raw and Malone, who were still learning their own limits while they tried to test those of the UEWA European Heavyweight Champion, Sterling had amassed multiple title reigns in PROGRESS Wrestling, Over The Top Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Chaos and Revolution Pro Wrestling. These were some the UK and Ireland’s premier promotions and Wild held unfulfilled ambitions of appearing for these companies. But against one of their chosen champions, he proved “unstoppable” once again.
Still juggling the commitments of family, FPWA, ICW, Discovery Wrestling and even NXT UK, Wild came out swinging in 2022. While it’s true that the years of 2020 and 2021 only saw one defence each, that’s one more than was recorded by other long term champions in 2013 and 2018. Wild’s efforts during his early reign were more than respectable, as he defended against decorated veterans, wrestlers on the rise and reigning champions in some of the top promotions in Scotland at that time. It was hardly his fault that a global pandemic had disrupted his momentum, but regardless, once the UK indies began to regain their strength, the best of his reign was still to come.
“I know a real champion is defined by his heart and not a championship around their waist…Right now, I am the best unsigned heavyweight wrestler in this country.” – Andy Roberts (Fife Today, November 2021)
The Ticking Time Bomb:
A motivated Andy Wild had worked hard to come back strong to the independents in late 2021, but he would soon get the chance to show just how changed he truly was. Years of frustration from feeling overlooked and taken for granted boiled over in late 2022, when the UEWA European Heavyweight Champion flipped the script on what had been believed to be a retirement announcement. In an instant, he was reborn as “the Ticking Time Bomb” Andy Roberts (see: “Distant Shores: The ICW World Heavyweight Championship Reign of ‘El Capitan’ Leyton Buzzard”).
This version of Big Andy was ambitious, bitter and deadly. No longer limited by a concern for others, he was absolutely finished with waiting for his opportunities. Roberts required elite competition now: and he got it. In December 2022, he defeated the former UEWA Champion and NXT UK coach James Mason in a British Rounds match (FPWA ‘Twas A Night At The Wrestling) and then the three-time ICW Zero-G Champion and “Scum of the Earth” Kenny Williams (BCW No Blood, No Sympathy 2022), to close out the year in front of 700+ fans with the biggest victory of his reign so far.
“Who’s stepping up? Successful defences against James Mason and Kenny Williams in the last few weeks alone!” – Andy Roberts (December 2022)
In the four years which had followed that special night at the Citadel Centre, Roberts set a slew of new records for his European Heavyweight Championship. His victory over Mason overtook the record Erik Isaksen and Chaos had shared for eight successful title defences in a single reign. His victory over the Englishman also raised the count for the most individual promotions any European Heavyweight Champion had defended in (previously Chaos had set the bar with six). When Roberts defeated Williams that same month, he also broke the record of nine overall total successful defences too, one which Chaos had previously earned with nine victories across his two reigns.
Come January 2023, Roberts would not only hold the records for being the most fighting of UEWA’s Champions, but those for longevity as well. His reign sprawled beyond Isaksen’s impressive of 1,281 day run, and then it crept past Chaos’ 1,300 total combined days too. At time of publication, Roberts’ reign clocks in at 1,461 days, spanning cards promoted by 11 different companies for 15 recorded title defences. No other champion comes close.
Again Roberts was forced to face another obstacle as he began to hit his stride, now sidelined by surgery at the beginning of 2023. Ever resilient, the champion soon bounced back to face the terrifying challenge of the former ICW Tag Team Champion, All Wales Champion, ATTACK! Champion and King of Chaos Champion Wild Boar.
Despite all his ability and past success, the Welshman simply couldn’t end the trend of Roberts at this Fife Pro Wrestling Asylum vs. New Wave Wrestling Supershow.
Big Andy continued this hot streak with a successful (and per “Andy Roberts: British Heavyweight Wrestler,” a very last minute) championship defence against Doug Williams at the BCW 20th Anniversary Show. The “Anarchist” turned “Ambassador” is one of the best to ever do it and his championship accomplishments in Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, Pro Westling NOAH, New Japan Pro Wrestling and NWA spoke to that. But where the likes of AJ Styles, Kazarian, Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray), Alex Shelley, Christopher Daniels, La Rebelion (Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf), Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa had all failed, Roberts succeeded in overcoming the challenge of this all-timer.
Now calling himself a “Heavyweight British Legend,” Roberts entered a two-night battle between his own FPWA school and Wolfgang’s Iron Girders Pro Wrestling. On night one, in FPWA’s home, the Truth nightclub in Leven, he again defeated BT Gunn. Gunn had been one of the two men he’d competed against in 2019 to become champion, and tonight Roberts proved he was no fluke. At night two, in the hostile territory of the Iron Girders Gym in Glasgow, Roberts fought Kez Evans to a no contest when the passions of the FPWA and IGPW coaches exploded into a brawl.
Though Evans has the distinction of being the one challenger Big Andy hasn’t beaten (making him more than worthy of a rematch in my mind), Roberts ultimately came away as the champion with successful defences against two very dominant former ICW World Heavyweight Champions.
On June 9th, 2023, a week on from his no contest with Evans, Roberts reestablished himself as a dominator against former two-time ICW Tag Team Champion Krieger (BCW Live In East Kilbride).
One half of Glasgow Grindhouse, the 6’2 Krieger was a big man but at this stage of Roberts’ weight training, he could launch even Big Damo across the ring with relative ease. Krieger came close, but in the sold-out Ballerup Hall, Roberts made his fifteenth successful defence of the European Heavyweight Championship, which in terms of setting records was now just running up his own score.
The Legacy of a Lion:
In June 2023, Lionheart joined Carmel Jacob and Drew Galloway as the third inductee into the ICW Hall of Fame and it was clear how much joy and sorrow his memory evoked after four-plus years. There will likely always be a flickering of the tragic and the triumphant when any of his accomplishments (the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship included) are revisited through either nostalgia or a wrestler of today pressing onwards. Grief gives us a world where everything and nothing stops. One way or another, we are forced to keep pace with the traffic that continues to move all around us while everything within is frozen still. Andy Roberts knows grief and he knows keeping pace.
“April 3rd, 2005 – WrestleMania 21 was the night my Dad died. It would become the catalyst for me to chase my dream of becoming a Professional Wrestler. 18 years on and I still have one goal in mind – signing a contract with the WWE.” – Andy Roberts (April 2023)
People often talk about the likes of Drew McIntyre guiding WWE through the pandemic era, which is nothing to dismiss. His reign gave me something to care about in an impossibly bleak time. However, it’s one thing to be the focal point of the WWE juggernaut’s television machine during miserable days, but it’s another to be a man without a country as Roberts often was as the European Heavyweight Champion.
For quite some time, there were next-to-no independent shows. When lockdown restrictions were lifted, UEWA’s umbrella promotions in Scandinavia, Germany, San Remo, and even those in the UK were not able to bring in their champion. Roberts still took what was left of the ball he had been given and ran with it. He used the same ambition and passion shown by previous UEWA Champions to provide his title with a stability it hadn’t known since 2017, and he miraculously raised the visibility and prestige of the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship despite near impossible circumstances.
Similar to McIntyre giving me something happy to think about as he ran WWE RAW while WWE Champion during lockdown, Roberts’ workhorse mentality gave me some desperately needed distractions while I grieved my mother. As I’m able to pass an evening writing about his reign now, he continues to offer me that same escape from my own sorrows and regrets.
There’s been setbacks and disappointments for Roberts in his time as the UEWA’s ambassador. He has not been able to be their most travelled champion, having not received the opportunity to hop between countries as Chaos, Erik Isaksen and John Kay had. Yet through sheer drive, determination and hard work, he nonetheless raised the bar for all future champions by setting significant new UEWA records. His contribution to the championship is undeniable and it wouldn’t be easy to make an argument against him being called the best European Heavyweight Champion in UEWA’s history up to this point.
The Future:
Roberts had been a champion before the UEWA, of course. Among others, he was a former ICW Zero-G Champion, BCW Openweight Champion, FPW Champion, SPWO UK Champion and WrestleZone Undisputed Champion. Even without titles around his waist, he’d made a huge mark in Discovery Wrestling, the premier promotion in Scotland’s capitol by winning the Disco Derby rumble and Hotter Than Hell Invitational Tournament to earn their “Wrestler of the Year” Award in 2018.
His UEWA European Heavyweight Championship victory in 2019 was the next step in his reinvigoration and rejuvenation. That journey had slowly begun in WrestleZone, where he had challenged Drew Galloway for the EVOLVE Championshipship in 2014 and earned his first title reigns in almost three years in 2016. This success had helped to earn him the 2017 “Outstanding Recognition Award for Regeneration and Development” from the Scottish Wrestling Network. The years that followed saw him rebuild his body and confidence, allowing him to move away from the occasional seminar for Reckless Intent or the Scottish School of Combat in order to go full-time with his own FPWA wrestling school and promotion in Fife, while resuming his journey as a member of ICW’s permanent roster and fixture of their main event scene.
Early in his career, Andy Wild had enjoyed long title reigns, with one reaching a remarkable 730 days, while he held two other championships simultaneously on top of it. But his time as the ambassador for the UEWA doubled the length of even that incredible two-year run.
It’s as European Heavyweight Champion that Roberts is showing what he can really do for a promotion, going above and beyond to push forward and get his title seen despite global and personal setbacks. Past UEWA champions have fended off challengers like Big Damo, Robbie Dynamite, Drew McDonald and Tommy End, but with Jason Reed, Charlie Sterling, James Mason, Kenny Williams, Wild Boar, Doug Williams, BT Gunn and Kez Evans; Roberts’ has strung together what is potentially the best series of high profile challengers in the title’s history.
Recognised with multiple “Wrestler of the Year” Awards from SWN in 2019 and 2021, he had continued to do great work as ICW’s “workhorse,” but it was with the UEWA that he truly became “The Man.” Here he is the longstanding travelling champion and the man to beat. When he transformed from a “Wildman” to a “Ticking Time Bomb,” he became the man to fear as well.
A 17-year veteran and world class trainer in only his early 30s, Roberts still has much more to accomplish in professional wrestling. The UEWA has seen a renaissance with new partners in multiple new regions, which gives Roberts many potential avenues through which to continue his record-setting reign. Additionally, ICW and UEWA have some significant history together through the ICW vs. UEW double title match victories Drew Galloway and Lionheart. With ICW flooded with talent like JAXN, Ashton Smith, Sha Samuels, DCT, Kez Evans, BT Gunn, LJ Cleary, Jack Jester and others, it would be interesting to see Roberts write another chapter in that story.
“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)
Outside of his UEWA commitments, Roberts has much unfinished business in ICW and Discovery Wrestling with both the ICW World Heavyweight Championship and Y Division Championship slipping through his fingers in the not-so-distant past.
Bigger still than these goals is the one that he’s shared many times in interviews with Mark Andrews for the BBC, as well as SWN and even in a impassioned message to Wild Boar: Roberts wants a WWE contract.
He made three appearances for NXT UK during their “empty-arena” era in 2021 and he recently took a superkick during a frantic Bloodline battle on WWE SmackDown. With an update on the NXT Europe brand slated for “late Summer,” it’s only right that the European Heavyweight Champion be on WWE’s radar.
In the meantime, I have no doubt that Roberts will continue to raise the prestige and visibility of the UEWA by putting his championship on the line as often as he possibly can, anywhere that he possibly can. Whether his historic reign lasts four more weeks, four more months or four more years, Andy Roberts will fight like hell to make it count. Or as he put it when asked to reflect on the four-year anniversary of his title win: “Who’s next!?”
Upcoming Events:
Andy Roberts is scheduled to wrestle at Fife Pro Wrestling Asylum’s Truth or Dare anniversary event on September 7th, 2023, at Truth in Leven, Scotland (Tickets / Info).
The inaugural UEWA European Heavyweight Champion Rampage Brown is also slated to appear on this card. While the match hasn’t been announced, there’s speculation (from me, at least) that we could get Roberts vs. Rampage in a barnburner title match. So, watch this space.
Andy Roberts is also appearing for Fair City Wrestling’s ArdlerMania event on September 16th, 2023, at the Ardler Complex in Dundee, Scotland (Tickets / Info). In his last appearance for FCW, Roberts won a Student vs. Teacher battle with John Kerr.
Links:
Andy Roberts Online: Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Merch
Union of European Wrestling Alliances Online: Twitter / Facebook
Fife Pro Wrestling Asylum Online: FPWA.co.uk / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Youtube
Ecstasy of Gold Online: Twitter / Instagram
Further Reading: Andy Roberts was previously featured in “New Phenom: The ICW World Heavyweight Championship Reign of Drew Galloway” / “Distant Shores: The ICW World Heavyweight Championship Reign of ‘El Capitan’ Leyton Buzzard” / “Self-Chosen: The EVOLVE Championship Reign of Drew Galloway”
Thank You & Credit:
My thanks to Andy Roberts and the Union of European Wrestling Alliances for being so kind as to share their thoughts and reflections on this four year period for this article.
Banner photos by David J. Wilson (Twitter / Facebook), as are many of the above. His work is fantastic.
Sources / References / Citations Note:
This article is fully cited. You can find all sources linked via the bolded text above. For any corrections/questions, please feel free to submit them via the contact form.
The Ecstasy of Gold Wrestling website 