WRESTLERS from United Kingdom

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous British Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Wrestlers.

1. Dave Finlay (1958 - )

With an HPI of 43.84, Dave Finlay is the most famous British Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.

David John Finlay Jr. (born 31 January, 1958) is a Northern Irish retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed with WWE as a trainer/assistant coach. He is best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Fit Finlay from 1996 to 2000, and Finlay in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2005 to 2010. Finlay debuted in 1974, and has held over 20 championships around the world throughout his career, including the WCW World Television Championship and the WWE United States Championship.

2. Davey Boy Smith (1962 - 2002)

With an HPI of 41.88, Davey Boy Smith is the 2nd most famous British Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Boy Smith and The British Bulldog. Smith won titles within the WWF in three decades, from the 1980s to the 2000s. Though he was never a world champion, Smith nevertheless headlined multiple pay-per-view events in the WWF and WCW, in which he challenged for the WWF and WCW World Heavyweight championships. He defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in the main event of SummerSlam 1992 at London's original Wembley Stadium; he also has the distinction of being the inaugural and longest reigning WWF European Champion in a total of 206 days, and to have held the title on the sole occasion where a match for that championship headlined a pay-per-view event, at One Night Only in 1997. Prior to finding singles success, Smith achieved stardom as one half of The British Bulldogs tag team, alongside the Dynamite Kid. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020.

3. Paige (1992 - )

With an HPI of 38.42, Paige is the 3rd most famous British Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Saraya Jade Bevis (; born 17 August 1992) is an English professional wrestler. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs mononymously as Saraya. She is currently the leader of The Outcasts and is a former one-time AEW Women's World Champion. She is also known for her time with WWE under the ring name Paige. She was the youngest female champion in WWE history, a two-time WWE Divas Champion, and the inaugural NXT Women's Champion. She also remains the only woman to hold both a WWE and NXT Women's Championship simultaneously. In 2005, at the age of 13, Bevis made her debut under the ring name Britani Knight for her family's World Association of Wrestling (WAW) promotion. She went on to hold several championships on the European independent circuit. After talent scouting in England, WWE signed Bevis in 2011 and she began wrestling in its developmental systems, debuting in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in 2012 and later going on a winning streak in NXT. She made her surprise debut on the main roster in 2014 and immediately won the Divas Championship, making her the youngest Divas Champion at the age of 21. In 2015 and 2016, Bevis went on hiatus due to injury, undergoing neck surgery in October 2016. She suffered another neck injury in December 2017 that forced her into retirement. Following her retirement, she remained with WWE as a contributor to WWE-related programs and fulfilled managing roles until her contract with the company expired in July 2022. In September 2022, she signed with AEW and made her debut for the company at Grand Slam. In 2012, Channel 4 produced a documentary about Bevis and her family called The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family, which was later adapted into the film Fighting with My Family (2019) starring Florence Pugh as Bevis. She ranked No. 1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Female 50 in 2014, and was named Diva of the Year by Rolling Stone that same year. In 2018, she received the WWE Year-End Award for General Manager of the Year.

4. William Regal (1968 - )

With an HPI of 38.00, William Regal is the 4th most famous British Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he serves as the Vice President of Global Talent Development. He is also known for his tenures as a wrestler in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and as a manager in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Trained by Marty Jones, Matthews started his career at the age of 15 in 1983. His first matches took place at one of the rare final wrestling carnival booths at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. He went on to wrestle for national promotions on the British wrestling circuit and wrestled on television for ITV. He then progressed to touring around the world until 1993 when he was signed to WCW, where he took the ring name Steven Regal and became a four-time World Television Champion. In 1998, Matthews joined the WWF (later WWE), where he became a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Hardcore Champion, a four-time European Champion, a four-time World Tag Team Champion, and the 2008 winner of the King of the Ring tournament. He also had stints as on-screen authority figures such as commissioner, General Manager of Raw, and match co-ordinator for the 2011 season of the original NXT. As NXT became WWE's developmental brand in 2012, he appeared as the on-screen General Manager; behind the scenes, he began serving as WWE's Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting from 2018 until he was released in 2022. He then signed with AEW and debuted as the founder and manager of the Blackpool Combat Club, leaving the company nine months later to return to WWE as the Vice President of Global Talent Development.

5. Drew McIntyre (1985 - )

With an HPI of 34.91, Drew McIntyre is the 5th most famous British Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Andrew McLean Galloway IV (Scottish Gaelic: Anndra MacGill-Eain Gall-Ghàidhealaibh IV) (born 6 June 1985) is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. Galloway began his career in 2001 in United Kingdom. He signed a development contract with WWE in 2007, when he was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling. Under the character The Chosen One, he worked on SmackDown on 2009, winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship. During the following years, he worked as a low card wrestler, being part of the stable 3MB. In 2014 he was released from his contract. Between 2014 and 2017, he worked once again as Drew Galloway on several promotions across the world, particularly Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) in Scotland and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). In TNA, he was a one-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and one-time Impact Grand Champion and Evolve, where he was one-time Evolve Champion, one-time Open the Freedom Gate Champion and two-time Evolve Tag Team Champion. In 2018, he was inducted into ICW's Hall of Fame. In 2017, he would return as McIntyre to WWE, being assigned to NXT and winning the NXT Championship. Upon returning to WWE's main roster in 2018, he won the Raw Tag Team Championship (alongside Dolph Ziggler), the 2020 Men's Royal Rumble match, two WWE Championships (the first coming in the main event of WrestleMania 36 Night 2), and the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL Night 2. He is the first and only British world champion in WWE history and the 31st Triple Crown champion.

6. Wade Barrett (1980 - )

With an HPI of 34.84, Wade Barrett is the 6th most famous British Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is an English professional wrestling commentator, actor, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Wade Barrett as a colour commentator on the SmackDown brand. Barrett won the first season of NXT in 2010 and made his main roster debut on Raw later that year, rising to prominence as the leader of The Nexus, a villainous faction composed of the remaining NXT first season rookies. He headlined five PPV events for WWE in 2010—SummerSlam, Night of Champions, Bragging Rights, Survivor Series, and TLC—three of which saw him unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE Championship. In 2011, he formed The Corre, a short-lived group with former Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel as well as Ezekiel Jackson. After they disbanded, he would go on to become a five-time Intercontinental Champion. In 2013, Barrett's ring name was amended to Bad News Barrett and he adopted the character of someone who took immense pleasure in delivering bad news. Upon winning the 2015 King of the Ring tournament, his ring name was changed to King Barrett and he began portraying an arrogant royal character. He notably portrayed a villain for his entire WWE career, regardless of the other changes made to his character. He left WWE in 2016 and has not wrestled since, though he has appeared in non-wrestling roles on the international independent circuit, such as a commentator for World of Sport Wrestling and a general manager for Defiant Wrestling under his real name. He returned to WWE as a commentator for NXT in 2020. Bennett made his acting debut in the action film Dead Man Down (2013) and has since starred in action films such as Eliminators (2016), I Am Vengeance (2018), and I Am Vengeance: Retaliation (2020).

7. Layla El (1977 - )

With an HPI of 34.20, Layla El is the 7th most famous British Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Layla El (born 25 June 1977) is an English retired professional wrestler, dancer and model. She is best known for her tenure in WWE from 2006 to 2015, where she performed under the mononymous ring name Layla. She danced for Carnival Cruise Lines, the Miami Heat franchise of the National Basketball Association, and Kanye West during his performance at the MTV Video Music Awards before becoming a contestant on the 2006 edition of WWE's Diva Search, which she won to earn a contract with the company. Initially appearing on the SmackDown brand, El moved to ECW in January 2007. There, she formed the Extreme Exposé dance troupe with Kelly Kelly and Brooke Adams. In 2008, she was drafted to the Raw brand, where she began managing William Regal. The following year, she returned to SmackDown and formed an alliance with Michelle McCool known as LayCool. In May 2010, she won the WWE Women's Championship for the first time. She is the first British woman and the first Diva Search winner to hold the championship, and was the final champion when the title was retired in 2010. In April 2012, she won the WWE Divas Championship upon her return from a year-long absence due to injury, and held it until September that year. She then wrestled for the next three years until her retirement in 2015.

8. Charlotte Dujardin (1985 - )

With an HPI of 32.34, Charlotte Dujardin is the 8th most famous British Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin (born 13 July 1985) is a British dressage rider, equestrian and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era. She held the complete set of available individual elite dressage titles at one point: the individual Olympic freestyle, World freestyle and Grand Prix Special, World Cup individual dressage and European freestyle, and Grand Prix Special titles. Dujardin was the first rider to hold this complete set of titles at the same time. With six Olympic medals, including three gold medals, Dujardin is Britain's joint most decorated female Olympian of all time, tied with cyclist Laura Kenny.

9. Neil Adams (1958 - )

With an HPI of 31.45, Neil Adams is the 9th most famous British Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Adrian Neil Adams, (27 September 1958) is an English judoka who won numerous Olympic and World Championship medals in judo representing Great Britain. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1983 New Year Honours for services to judo.

10. Flávio Canto (1975 - )

With an HPI of 29.95, Flávio Canto is the 10th most famous British Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Flávio Vianna de Ulhôa Canto (born 16 April 1975, in Oxford, England) is a Brazilian judoka who competed in Men's 81 kg Judo. He won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He is founder and president of the Instituto Reação, and also presenter of the TV shows Corujão do Esporte on TV Globo and Sensei on SporTV.