In a shocking announcement made on Friday evening, International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW: UK) have revealed that they will cease operating live events once 2019 comes to a close, following in the footsteps of Defiant Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Chaos (PWC), and Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), which have all closed their doors throughout 2019.
https://twitter.com/IPWUK/status/1195400421944283136
The official statement released can be found below;
“IPW can confirm that after several internal discussions, the company will cease being a live wrestling events promotion at the end of 2019. The company has a rich history of over 15 years, however with many changes in the British wrestling climate in the last 2 years, it has been decided that this is an appropriate time to draw an end to live events. Therefore, the IPW World Championship will be defended for the last time at Undisputed III, taking place at Mote Hall in Maidstone on December 15th, where we plan to celebrate IPW’s successful years of live events. This is not the end of IPW, and its rich history will continue to be promoted and celebrated into the future, with more information on this to be announced soon. There will also be a major announcement made at Unit Nine in Milton Keynes on December 4th regarding the future of wrestling in the venue going in to 2020. Whilst this is a difficult decision, it is not the end for IPW and is a new phase for everyone involved.”
After launching in 2004, IPW: UK would go on to become one of the most recognisable wrestling promotions throughout the United Kingdom. With the likes of Spud (now Drake Maverick in WWE), British wrestling icon Jonny Storm, and the one and only Super Dragon being featured on their debut event, it was clear from the beginning that the company was destined for bigger things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbviOPeSUNA
More recent events have seen a mixture of established and rising stars from the independent wrestling scene in the UK spaced across the cards, with the eccentric Cara Noir winning the 2019 Super 8 tournament, whereas The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne and Los Federales Santos Jr.) were crowned the new Tag Team Champions a few months ago in a match that also included Ortiz and Santana, the team who were then known as The Latin American Xchange.
Perhaps one of the most popular things in recent British wrestling was Tuesday Night Graps, which provided a platform for everything involved to essentially wrestle on a weekday while having a bit of a laugh. To put that into perspective, the main event of the final Tuesday Night Graps show featured Chief Deputy Dunne as The Fundertaker and Los Federales Santos Jr. as Paulo Bearer going against Mark Davis as Constable Lieutenant Inspector Terrance and Kyle Fletcher as Detective Inspector Colin Klein. It was never intended to be serious, and that’s what made it a huge success.
It’s important to note that IPW have stated that this won’t be the end for everything involved, with a new phase awaiting them in the future. More information on that will be unveiled in the near future. For now though, this is the end for IPW: UK as we know it. Their final show has been signed for Sunday, December 15th from Maidstone’s Mote Hall, where they plan to celebrate their fifteen year history.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
