The Most Famous

WRESTLERS from United Kingdom

This page contains a list of the greatest British Wrestlers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,027 Wrestlers, 19 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 9th most number of Wrestlers behind France, and Hungary.

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 (b. 1958)

With an HPI of 44.87, Dave Finlay is the most famous British Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.

David John Finlay (Irish: Daithi Eoin Fionnalaigh, born 31 January 1958) is a Northern Irish retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a trainer and assistant coach at the Performance Center, as well as a producer. He is best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1996 to 2000 under the ring name Fit Finlay, and in WWE from 2005 to 2010 under the mononymous name Finlay. 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 43.30, Davey Boy Smith is the 2nd most famous British Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 22 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. Frederick Humphreys (1878 - 1954)

With an HPI of 41.84, Frederick Humphreys is the 3rd most famous British Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Frederick Harkness Humphreys (28 January 1878 – 10 August 1954) was a British tug of war competitor and sport wrestler who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, and in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. He was also a constable in the City of London Police, collar number 970, as were two of his brothers. He was part of the British team City of London Police, which won two gold medals in 1908 and 1920, and the joint City of London Police-Metropolitan Police "K" Division British team, which won a silver medal in 1912. There were no games in 1916 due to World War I. He also competed in wrestling and took part in demonstration bouts around Europe and the United Kingdom. In the 1908 Olympic Greco-Roman super heavyweight competition he was eliminated in the first round and in the freestyle heavyweight event he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In May 2013, some of his medals, including the 1912 silver and 1920 gold, as well as family photographs, were shown on an episode of a BBC television programme by two of his great-nieces. They stated that the whereabouts of his 1908 gold medal are unknown.

4. Kenneth Richmond (1926 - 2006)

With an HPI of 40.92, Kenneth Richmond is the 4th most famous British Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Kenneth Alan Richmond (10 July 1926 – 3 August 2006) was an English heavyweight wrestler. Richmond was born in London. His father abandoned the family when Richmond was 3. Before he got into freestyle wrestling, he was a whale ship crewman. At 6'5" and 265 lbs, he won a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics, as well as a bronze medal at the 1950 British Empire Games, and a gold medal at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. He stayed fit enough into his later years to win medals for rollerblading and windsurfing in his 60s. Though he appeared as the wrestler Nikolas in Jules Dassin's film noir, Night and the City (1950), Richmond was perhaps most recognisable as the shirtless gongman banging the enormous gong preceding the opening credits for films produced or distributed by the Rank Organisation. He was the fourth – and last – actor to take the job. According to the BBC, he had revealed to friends that the gong seen in the Rank Organisation's opening never rang, as it was a papier-mâché stage prop and he never actually struck it with any force, joking "If you hit that gong, you would have gone straight through." He was a Jehovah's Witness for most of his life, being jailed as a conscientious objector during World War II. In later life, he was a volunteer minister for the organisation. He died at age 80 in his home in Christchurch. (Richmond's wife, Valentina, died in 1996).

5. William Regal (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 40.00, William Regal is the 5th 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 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 WCW 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.

6. Alexander Munro (1870 - 1934)

With an HPI of 39.56, Alexander Munro is the 6th most famous British Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Alexander Munro (30 November 1870 – 3 January 1934) was a British strongman, wrestler, and tug of war competitor who competed in the latter sport in the 1908 Summer Olympics and in the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1908, he won the bronze medal as a member of the British team Metropolitan Police "K" Division. Four years later, he won the silver medal as a member of the joint City of London Police-Metropolitan Police "K" Division British team. In 1908, Munro was also the Scottish wrestling champion but lost a noted match to Georg Hackenschmidt.

7. Paige (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 36.28, Paige is the 7th 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 biographical sports comedy-drama 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.

8. Drew McIntyre (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 36.05, Drew McIntyre is the 8th most famous British Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Andrew McLean Galloway IV (Scottish Gaelic: Anndra MacGill-Eain Gall-Ghàidhealaibh IV; born 6 June 1985) is a Scottish-American professional wrestler. As of April 2017, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. Galloway began his career in 2001 in the United Kingdom with Scottish promotions British Championship Wrestling (BCW) and Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), and also performed in Ireland with Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW), all under his real name stylized as Drew Galloway; he is the inaugural ICW World Heavyweight Champion. He signed a development contract with WWE in 2007, and took on the ring name Drew McIntyre, and was sent to its developmental territories Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) after appearances on both SmackDown and Raw. Using the moniker "The Chosen One", he returned to SmackDown in 2009 (two years since his first appearance on said brand), winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. He would then be relegated to lower-card status until he was released from his WWE contract in 2014. Between 2014 and 2017, he worked once again under his real name on several independent promotions across the world, as well as returning to ICW, where he won the ICW World Heavyweight Championship for a second time, and was inducted into the ICW Hall of Fame in 2018. He made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2015, becoming a one-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and one-time Impact Grand Champion. He also performed in Evolve, where he was a one-time Evolve Champion and two-time Evolve Tag Team Champion. He was also a one-time Open the Freedom Gate Champion due to Evolve's partnership with Dragon Gate USA. Galloway also appeared in Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG) between 2015 and 2016. Galloway returned to WWE in 2017, once again as Drew McIntyre, and was assigned to NXT, where he won the NXT Championship once. 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, the 2024 Men's Money in the Bank ladder match, two WWE Championships (the first coming in the Night 2 main event of WrestleMania 36), and the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL. He is the first British and only Scottish world champion in WWE history and the 31st Triple Crown champion.

9. Layla El (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 35.76, Layla El is the 9th 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, 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.

10. Wade Barrett (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 35.53, Wade Barrett is the 10th most famous British Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is a British-American former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Wade Barrett as a colour commentator on the Raw 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).

People

Pantheon has 31 people classified as British wrestlers born between 1870 and 2001. Of these 31, 27 (87.10%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British wrestlers include Dave Finlay, William Regal, and Paige. The most famous deceased British wrestlers include Davey Boy Smith, Frederick Humphreys, and Kenneth Richmond. As of April 2024, 12 new British wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including Frederick Humphreys, Kenneth Richmond, and Alexander Munro.