Top Rope Promotions

Top Rope Promotions (formerly known as Yankee Pro Wrestling and South Coast Championship Wrestling) is a North Eastern independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Bedford, Massachusetts and is the largest promotion in the Southern New England area rivaling other North Eastern promotions including Chaotic Wrestling, the Millennium Wrestling Federation and New England Championship Wrestling.[1] Along with its head trainer Matt Hyson, their seminars have been hosted by Ring of Honor alumni Jamie Noble and A.J. Styles. A number of independent wrestlers competed in Yankee Pro Wrestling during their early careers including Amanda Storm,[2][3] Andy Jaxx,[4] DC Drake,[5] Slyck Wagner Brown, Johnny Heartbreaker, Shark Boy, Christian York, Metal Maniac, Robbie Ellis,[6] Rick Fuller and Dan "The Beast" Severn.

Top Rope Promotions
AcronymTRP
Founded1984
StyleProfessional wrestling
HeadquartersNew Bedford, Massachusetts (1996-2000)
Fall River, Massachusetts (2000-present)
Founder(s)Joe Eugenio
Owner(s)Steve Ricard (2000-present)
FormerlyYankee Pro Wrestling (1994-2004)
South Coast Championship Wrestling
New England Wrestling Association (1988-1994)
WebsiteTopRopePromotions.com

Following the close of Extreme Championship Wrestling, several ECW mainstays such as Amish Roadkill,[7] Dawn Marie, Simon Diamond, Perry Saturn, Tony DeVito, Little Guido, Jerry Lynn, Steve Corino, Justin Credible, Julio Dinero, Chris Hamrick, Big Dick Dudley and Joel Gertner had brief stints in the promotion. In recent years, TNA wrestlers Christy Hemme, Talia, Abyss, Jay Lethal, Joey Matthews, Ron "The Truth" Killings, Bubba Ray Dudley, and D-Von Dudley have also made appearances.

History

The promotion began holding events in the Fall River-New Bedford area during the early-1980s, picking up the old territorial area previously run by the World Wide Wrestling Federation during the 1970s. After going through several name changes and owners, the promotion changed its name from New England Wrestling Association to Yankee Pro Wrestling during the 1990s. During this time, the promotion gained a strong following in southern New England regularly bringing in former WWF stars from the 1980s and 90s. The promotion features many wrestlers who compete for Impact Wrestling or for ROH Wrestling. The promotion also features wrestlers who have or would go on to compete for the WWE.

The promotion was purchased by head booker Steve Ricard in 2000. Under the Top Rope Promotions banner, he continued running monthly shows in the Fall River-New Bedford area as both Yankee Pro Wrestling and South Coast Championship Wrestling,[8] successfully making between $500–$5,000 a show.[9] The majority of its shows are held at the PAL Hall in Fall River, Massachusetts and the Top Rope Arena in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The promotion also ran a weekly cable television program in the local area. In 2007, the names Yankee Pro Wrestling and South Coast Championship Wrestling ceased to be used and all events were now exclusively under the name Top Rope Promotions.

In addition to monthly events at the PAL Hall in Fall River, Top Rope Promotions runs events at the Creative Auction Centers in Fall River and New Bedford, the historic Adams-Turners Hall in Adams, and the Elks Lodge in Franklin. Top Rope Promotions also appears at the annual Whaling City Festival at Buttonwood Park in New Bedford and at the annual Wolcott Country Fair in Wolcott, Connecticut. The promotion also holds annual events at Outdoor World campground in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and also appears on occasion at The Wapping Fair in South Windsor Connecticut, however they have not been since 2008.

The Lock-Up Wrestling School

The school was founded by Top Rope Promotions owner Steve Ricard and former head trainer Matt Hyson (formerly known as Spike Dudley) in 2005. Hyson had been the school's head trainer from 2005 to 2013, The school is responsible for training several independent stars such as Teddy Goodz, TK O'Ryan, former Ring of Honor Television Champion, former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion, former IWGP Tag Team Champion Matt Taven and Ring of Honor wrestler Vinny Marseglia. Top Rope Promotions veterans "H2O" Ryan Waters and " Nightmare" Nick Steel became the school's trainers in 2013 after Hyson left the promotion. Although he stepped down as the head trainer, Hyson is still on great terms with the promotion.

Special Guest Appearances

WWE Tough Enough contestants

Roster

Male wrestlers
  • Biff Busick
  • Brad Hollister
  • "The Devil's Reject" Brandon Webb
  • Brian Milonas
  • BRG
  • "Cold Steel" Chuck O'Neil
  • Channing Thomas
  • Craig Costa
  • Danny Miles
  • Eric Alden
  • Eric Spicely
  • Franky Vain
  • Jason Blade
  • Jason Daniels
  • Nick Steel
  • Nico Silva
  • Matt Taven
  • Mike Bennett
  • "H20" Ryan Waters
  • Swilly O'Brien
  • Teddy Goodz
  • TK O'Ryan
  • Vinny Marseglia
  • Wildman Kongo

Female Wrestlers
  • Amber
  • Barbie
  • Lea Morrison
  • Luscious Latasha
  • Mistress Belmont
  • Roxxi
  • Toxxis
  • Nikki Valentine

Managers
  • "Mastermind" Marshall McNeil
  • "The adorable one" Gene Joseph

Tag Teams/Stables
  • The Alden Brothers (Shane & Eric Alden)
  • The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O'Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia)
  • The Closers (Brad Hollister & Hammer Tunis)
  • The Devil's Doormen ("The Devils Reject" Brandon Webb & Franky Vain)

Others
  • Steve Ricard (Owner, Promoter)
  • Shawn O. (Ring Announcer; Play-By-Play Announcer, Top Rope Television)
  • " The Adorable One" Gene Joseph (Manager/Wrestler; Color Commentator, Top Rope Television)
  • Kevin Quinn (Referee)
  • Glenn Kane (Referee)
  • Alex Payne (Referee)
  • Barbara Mahoney (Referee)

Championships and accomplishments
Championship Current champion(s) Date won Event Previous champion(s) Days
held		 Notes
TRP Heavyweight Championship Nico Silva September 14, 2019 Summer Showdown 2019 Brockton Chuck O'Neil 499
TRP Interstate Championship Channing Thomas March 8, 2019 Extreme Homecoming Fall River Nico Silva 689 Thomas beat Silva in a 2/3 falls contest winning 2 falls to 1.
TRP Tag Team Championship The Devil's Doormen ("The Devils Reject" Brandon Webb & Franky Vain) January 17, 2020 New Year's Bash Jason Daniels and Tyler Nitro 374

Accomplishments
Accomplishment Previous winner Date won Event Notes
Spindle City Rumble ”The Punjabi Lion” Robo December 27, 2019 Spindle City Rumble
Kowalski Cup Teddy Goodz November 29, 2019 Kowalski Cup Tournament

See also

References
  1. "Interview For Burning Hammer". Burning-Spirit.com. 2004.
  2. Storm, Amanda. "So You're that Girl Wrestler?". AmandaStorm.com.
  3. "Amanda Storm". Amanda Storm of G.L.O.R.Y. Wrestling. GloryWrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14.
  4. Wood, Ryan (2008-06-25). "A chance to say goodbye". Wicked Local Plymouth.
  5. Schwan, Brett (2006). "Ten Questions With ... D.C. Drake". WrestlingClothesline.com.
  6. "Interview with ECW's Roadkill". SmashWrestling.com. 2001-01-01.
  7. "Interview with ECW's Roadkill". SmashWrestling.com. 2001-01-01.
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20050419220110/http://home.comcast.net/~yankeeprowrestling/index.html. Retrieved 6 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. Lindsey, Joe (2007-04-24). "Just Another Night In Fall River". Living Now.
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