Johnny Saint

John Miller[2] (born 29 June 1941), better known by his ring name Johnny Saint, is a semi-retired English professional wrestler. Saint is currently signed to WWE, where he serves as the general manager of NXT's United Kingdom brand.

Johnny Saint
Saint in 2009
Birth nameJohn Miller
Born (1941-06-29) 29 June 1941
Failsworth, Lancashire, England[1]
ResidenceRhyl, Wales, UK[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Johnny Saint
Billed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Billed weight154 lb (70 kg)
Billed fromBlackpool, England
Trained byBilly Robinson[1]
Colin McDonald[1]
George Kidd
Debut1958
Retired2015

Career

After finishing school at the age of fifteen, Saint followed his father's footsteps and became a factory worker. By this time he was already an amateur boxer.

One day Saint's mother went to the hair salon, and her hair was cut by Billy Robinson's mother. They introduced the two and Saint started training at Robinson's father's gym.

During June 1958, Johnny Saint was defeated by Colin McDonald in Saint's debut match.[1]

On 5 May 1973, Johnny Saint wrestled Jim Breaks for the British Lightweight Championship. Saint lost in the 5th round due to referee stoppage, due to a laceration on his forehead.

On 3 November 1976 Johnny Saint won his first World Lightweight title and would be featured in the World of Sport in England, though was underrated in America due to his strait-laced attitude to wrestling.

Retirement and return

On 10 October 1996 Johnny Saint defeated Naohiro Hoshikawa at a Michinoku Pro Wrestling event in what was billed as Saint's retirement match.[1] In 2001. Saint formally vacated his World Lightweight title.

On 27 November 2007, more than 10 years after he retired, Saint returned to the ring for LDN Wrestling defeating Johnny Kidd.[1] Saint wrestled a further eight matches for LDN, including two bouts against three time LDN British Heavyweight Champion 'Gentleman' Jon Ritchie, in which Saint put up a considerable fight before being defeated by the heavier champion.

He was defeated by Mike Quackenbush at Chikara's Tag World Grand Prix 2008 by KO after he did not get up from the referee's ten count after he suffered a knee injury while performing a knee breaker.

Saint made his debut in America at Chikara's King of Trios Tournament on 27 March 2009 with Mike Quackenbush and Jorge "Skayde" Rivera in "The Masters of a Thousand Holds" team. The team would win their opening round match against "Incoherence" (Delirious, Hallowicked and Frightmare), but would lose their quarter-final round match against "Team Uppercut", which consisted of Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Dave Taylor. Saint returned to Chikara on 30 July 2011, losing to Johnny Kidd in a match contested under World of Sport rules.[3] The following day Saint, teaming with Mike Quackenbush, pinned Kidd, teaming with Colt Cabana, in a tag team match.[3] He wrestled his last match In Italy in 2015.

In March 2016, Saint worked as a guest trainer for WWE in their Performance Center. The following December, Saint announced he was starting a six-month stint as a trainer for WWE.[4]

On 7 June 2018, it was announced that Saint would be the general manager of WWE's United Kingdom division.[5]

Professional wrestling style and persona

Saint’s nickname "The Man of a Thousand Holds"[6] came from his largely submission based grappling style, frequently using wrist locks, roll-up pins and bridges to counter his opponents' offence,[7][8] he would also utilise a Lady of the lake hold as his finishing move.[1]

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. "Online World of Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  2. "Leeds Reunion March 2011". THE WRESTLING FURNACE. 2011-03-06. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  3. "Past results". Chikara. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  4. "World of Sport wrestling legend Johnny Saint takes WWE job at 75". Talksport. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  5. "Johnny Saint named GM of WWE's United Kingdom brand". WWE. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  6. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/meet-johnny-saint-rhyl-wrestler-15318739
  7. "Gloucester fight for Johnny Saint". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  8. Ford, Kevin (2009-06-29). "CHIKARA Review: King of Trios 2009, Night Two". 411Mania. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  9. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/uk/bri-l.html
  10. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/euro-l.html
  11. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/uk/uk-world-l.html
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