James Curtin

Infobox Wrestler|name=James Curtin


names=Spud
height= 5 ft 3 in (1.63 m)
weight= 130 lb (57 kg)
birth_date = January 30th 1983
death_date =
birth_place = Birmingham, West Midlands
resides=
billed=
trainer=Jack Storm
Chris Gilbert
Don Charles
debut=October 2001
retired=|

James Curtin is a British professional wrestler best known by the ring name Spud. Curtin, known for his small stature, is considered the smallest mainstream wrestler in the United Kingdom and his high-flying high-risk style of wrestling is often compared to The Amazing Red, another small wrestler from the United States.

Throughout his career, the Spud persona has wrestled matches as the babyface underdog; often facing off against much larger wrestlers. He currently wrestles for Anti-Watershed Wrestling (AWW) and Triple X Wrestling (TXW) in his 'Rockstar' persona, a heel apparently based on 1980s rock musicians such as Ronnie James Dio [ [http://www.myspace.com/the_star_spud Spud - MySpace.com] ] .

Career

Curtin, who was originally trained by Jack Storm and Chris Gilbert within the K-Star Wrestling promotion before eventually coming under the tutelage of "Charming" Don Charles at the SAS Wrestling Academy, went on to perform in many independent promotions within the United Kingdom under the ring name Spud.

While on the indy circuit, Spud's first major appearances came with the Revolution British Wrestling promotion in 2003. On August 30, 2003, Spud defeated Jack Hazard to become RBW's first British Welterweight Champion; a title Spud held for several months before losing it to "The Gift" Ross Jordan in a Maximum Falls contest sometime in December 2003.

Pro Wrestling Guerilla

PWG made their first tour of the UK in February 2006 where Spud teamed with Topgun Talwar and Aviv Maayan faced Excalibur, Disco Machine and Ronin in a 6-man tag team match where Spud was pinned by Excalibur.

PWG's second UK show in October 2007 featured Spud facing off against Joey Ryan. Ryan pinned Spud after a Superkick.

International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom

Spud competed regularly for the promotion right from its creation in 2004. Through 2005, Spud had a high profile feud with Jack Storm, which culminated in a street fight in January 2006.

While in IPW:UK, Spud became one half of the tag team "Dragon Hearts", with fellow wrestler Dragon Phoenix. On September 24, 2006, Dragon Hearts defeated The Untouchables in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match to become .

The Dragon Hearts also got involved with IPW:UK's inter-federation feud with Frontier Wrestling Alliance, and even though Spud is a regular for that promotion he wrestled on the side of IPW:UK in a match against Team FWA. The Dragon Hearts teamed up with Leroy Kincaide to face off against Iceman, Jonny Storm, and Jorge Castano in a match that saw both Phoenix and Spud suffer injury. Phoenix deep wound to his head while Spud suffered what appeared to be a separated or dislocated shoulder due to a dropkick at the hands of Storm.

Storm and Spud faced off in a in a grudge match in early 2007 with Spud picking up the win.

Spud went on to represent IPW:UK in the joint FWA vs IPW:UK Final Frontiers show losing to Hade Vansen.

After a losing effort against IPW:UK Tag team champions Swiss Money Holdings in IPW:UK's debut in Liverpool, Luke Dragon Phoenix left the promotion disbanding The Dragon Hearts.

Back to singles action, Spud went on to face Big Brother contestant Billi Bhatti in a losing effort thanks to the Hated Heroes.

Spud recently defeated Dave Moralez and Eamon O'Neill to advance in the opening rounds of the British National Championship but was defeated by Sam Slam in the Quarter Finals.

Frontier Wrestling Alliance

Spud also worked for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, and was brought up into the main roster to be used as a jobber for a short time, competing against many larger opponents. However, during the start of 2005, FWA began showcasing their flyweight division, later that year Spud entered into a tournament to crown a Flyweight Champion for promotion. Spud made it to the tournament final, where he was defeated by Ross Jordan, who became the first FWA Flyweight Champion. However, Jordan was only awarded the match after the referee stopped the contest due to a kayfabe injury to Spud's leg. The pair continued to feud for over 14-month with Jordan repeatedly attacking Spud in attempts to re-injure his leg. The feud culminated in a Last Man Standing match at "FWA Last Fight at the Prom" on September 30, 2006 with Spud picking up the win.

Following a talent trading agreement with the FWA, Spud made his first US appearance in April 2006, competing for Ring of Honor during their two-night "Weekend of Champions" shows. Spud also appeared during ROH's first tour of shows in the UK, "Unified" and "Anarchy In The UK" in August 2006.

The-then 21 year old Spud also competed under the FWA banner during the British Wrestling United National Under 23's Championship event, being FWA's entry into the tournament to crown the first under 23 champion. However, Spud failed to win the tournament losing to its eventual winner Sam Slam in the first round.

XWA Wrestling

After the feud between FWA and IPW:UK ended, the XWA promotion was founded from the remains of the FWA. Spud feuded with XWA Flyweight Champion El Ligero, defeating him in a last man standing match to become champion with help from The Kartel and Martin Stone to form 'The Firm' faction.

1 Pro Wrestling

Spud also became one of the top British stars in the 1 Pro Wrestling roster since it's inception in 2005. Still competing under the out matched underdog gimmick, Spud had a long time feud with American wrestler Sterling James Keenan and the super heavyweight Abyss.

Spud and partner Luke Dragon Phoenix resurfaced in 1PW to win the Tag Team Titles in their debut as a team.

Spud left the promotion in the Winter of 2007 after losing the 1PW Tag Team Titles to The Damned Nation along with partner Luke Dragon Phoenix

Real Quality Wrestling

Spud is well known in RQW when he partners with Luke 'Dragon' Phoenix to make the team of The Dragon Hearts. They participated in the RQW Tag Team Championship tournament between February 17, 2007 and January 13, 2008. They made it into the semi-finals (which Luke Phoenix did not participate in, and was replaced by Ross Jordan) but were then knocked out by Team Charming who went on to win the RQW Tag Team Championships.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

In January, Spud had two appearances at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) house shows which took place in Portugal. facing Jonny Storm, Jody Feisch and PAC in fatal 4-way matches.

Anti-Watershed Wrestling

Spud made many appearances for the Midlands based promotion, Anti-Watershed Wrestling, using an 80s Rockstar gimmick. On July 26th 2007, Spud won a 5-Man Gauntlet defeating BBS to become #1 contender for the AWW Championship but was unable to defeat Carnage for the title in November 2007.

Spud competed in a TLC featuring Carnage and Dan Ryder for the AWW Championship and again failed to win the championship.

AS Wrestling

Spud has appeared for the London and Midlands based promotion since its establishment in 2005. He has waged war with long-time nemesis Jack Storm after he turned on him in the "Bring Your Jeans" show of November 2005.

Spud battled against Team Charming members for nearly a year in order to get his hands on Jack Storm. He faced him eventually in the final of the fisrt SAS UK Wrestling Championship tournament by pinning his foe after a hard-fought encounter thought by many as UK Match Of The Year in 2006.

Spud lost the championship a month later thanks to Jack Storm's manager Charming Don Charles, and in another long feud eventually wrestled him in a one on one Bring Your Jeans Streetfight match pinning him with one foot after a steel chair shot to the head.

Spud became SAS UK Champion once again by defeating Jack Storm in April 2008 in a steel cage match.

Recently Spud turned his back on the fans by attacking Phil Bedwell, citing the fans not caring about him as much as they do about the former alcoholic as his motivation, and evolved into his 'Rockstar' persona.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves:*"Spudsault" (Corkscrew 450° splash):*Tilt-a-whirl DDT:*Wheelbarrow counter into a bulldog

*Theme music:*"The Kids Aren't Alright" by The Offspring

Championships and accomplishments

*Revolution British Wrestling:*1-time RBW British Welterweight Champion (first) [cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/Revolution_British_Wrestling.htm | title=Revolution British Wrestling Title Historys | accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com]

*:*1-time (with Dragon Phoenix) [cite web|url=http://www.1pwonline.co.uk/results.php?year=2007 | title=1-Pro Wrestling 2007 Results | accessdate=2008-07-08|publisher=1pwonline.co.uk] :*IPW:UK Extreme Measures Tournament Winner (2005)

*1 Pro Wrestling:*1-time 1PW World Tag Team Champion (with Dragon Phoenix)

*XWA Wrestling:*1-time XWA Flyweight Champion (current)

*Other Titles:*1-time BRAWL Cruiserweight Champion:*1-time KSW Commonwealth Champion:*1-time Go4 Champion:*1-time TAP Junior-Heavyweight Champion:*1-time WAR Heavyweight Champion [cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/Wrestling_Association_of_Rudgby.htm | title=Wrestling Association of Rugby Title Histories | accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com] :*2-time SAS United Kingdom Champion

Notes

External links

* [http://www.spudleyville.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/spudleyville Spud] at MySpace
* [http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=00002444 Spud profile] at Cagematch.de
* [http://www.ipwuk.com/roster/teams/dragonhearts.shtml Spud profile] at IPW:UK