Eric Peter Thomas England (born November 9, 1993) is an English professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter, currently signed to WWE under the ring name Pete Dunne, where he is the current WWE United Kingdom Champion in his first reign. Dunne also competes on the independent circuit in Europe and occasionally the United States, most notably in Progress Wrestling, where he is a former Progress World Champion.
Dunne began training for a career in professional wrestling at the age of 12 in 2005 and made his professional debut in 2007. Since then, he has worked extensively across the United Kingdom for promotions such as Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and Attack! Pro Wrestling, a promotion he co-founded. In addition to the United Kingdom, Dunne has worked internationally in Germany with Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), the United States with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and Japan with Michinoku Pro Wrestling.
Video Pete Dunne (wrestler)
Professional wrestling career
Training and early career (2006-2011)
Dunne began training in 2006 at the age of 12, originally under the tutelage of Steve "Psycho" Edwards at Phoenix Wrestling in Coventry, a short drive from his home city of Birmingham. Dunne has said that his early training under Edwards was limited, providing him with only "the basics". Dunne's first appearance as a wrestler was at the 2007 Holbrooks Festival in Coventry, where he first met and wrestled Mark Andrews. He later trained for a short time under Max Angelus and began working on other small local shows, largely in community centres around Birmingham.
Dunne competed as the masked Tiger Kid until January 2010, when he began performing as Pete Dunne after losing a hair vs mask match to Helix at Riot Act Wrestling in Kent. He then began regularly performing in a tag team alongside his kayfabe brother, Damian Dunne. He spent most of his early career working for as many small independent promotions as possible, as well as regularly practicing with Mark Andrews and other friends, training in a re-purposed boxing ring in a community centre in Cardiff during the school holidays. Dunne began competing internationally and more regularly in 2011, competing for LDN Wrestling, travelling to Ireland for Dublin Championship Wrestling, Wales for Celtic Wrestling & Welsh Wrestling, and Scotland for PBW.
Attack! Pro Wrestling (2011-2016)
In a move to increase the number opportunities available to their group of friends, Dunne and friend Jim Lee co-founded Attack! Pro Wrestling in 2011, arranging a weekend of shows in Pete's native city of Birmingham. On the first weekend of shows in August 2011, Dunne wrestled in a four-man tournament dubbed the 'Elder Stein Invitational', in which he advanced to the final, before losing to Mark Andrews. The promotion would later expand to run shows primarily in Cardiff and Bristol, with Dunne an ever-present performer, primarily as a face, and often taking on his best friend Mark. Dunne later would become one of the promotion's primary heels, after unexpectedly turning on Mark at "Mandrews Goes To America" in January 2015; a show themed as a farewell event to Mark upon his signature of a contract with TNA Wrestling. From mid-2015 to 2016, Dunne held the ATTACK! 24/7 Championship for an unprecedented 307 consecutive days, over which time he feuded with Eddie Dennis and Wild Boar simultaneously for the title. He would eventually lose the belt to referee Shay Purser, which acted as the beginning of a lengthy feud with ATTACK's co-founder and ring announcer, Jim Lee. Pete's spell as a performer in ATTACK! Pro Wrestling concluded on 20 November 2016, when he lost a five-vs-five elimination match against a team captained by Jim, with the stipulation that the losing team captain had to leave ATTACK.
Michinoku Pro Wrestling (2013)
Dunne spent three months touring with Japanese promotion Michinoku Pro Wrestling in 2013, teaming with Jason Larusso to defeat Bad Boy (Daichi Sasaki and Manjimaru) in his debut match, but losing to the Brahman Brothers the next night. Dunne lost his next two matches on the tour, before defeating Ayumu Gunji in his first singles match in Japan. Dunne's final match on the tour took place on 5 May, when he and Larusso were defeated by Yapper Man #1 and Yapper Man #2.
Revolution Pro Wrestling (2014, 2016-2017)
Dunne made his debut for Revolution Pro Wrestling on 10 May 2014, teaming with F.S.U (Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis) to take on The Revolutionists (Sha Samuels, Josh Bodom and Terry Frazier) in a losing effort. Dunne's next match was in January 2016 at Live At The Cockpit 5, first defeating El Ligero, and then Morgan Webster to win the RPW British Cruiserweight Championship. Dunne held the Championship until July, successfully defending it against Webster, Sonjay Dutt, ACH, Mike Bailey and Matt Cross before dropping the championship to Will Ospreay at Summer Sizzler. Dunne also competed at Global Wars UK, losing to Yuji Nagata on night one and Tomohiro Ishii on night two. On 21 January 2017, Dunne lost to NJPW's Yoshi-Hashi.
Progress Wrestling (2014, 2016-2017)
Dunne debuted in Progress at Chapter 13 on 18 May 2014, defeating Robbie X. Four months later he returned to Progress, losing to Morgan Webster. Dunne was absent from Progress for 19 months after this, returning at Chapter 28 in April 2016, teaming with Damian Dunne to defeat Trent Seven and Tyler Bate. At Chapter 29, Dunne was involved in a qualifying match for WWE's Cruiserweight Classic tournament, losing to Jack Gallagher. At Chapter 30, Dunne competed in the first round of the Super Strong Style 16 Tournament, but was eliminated in the first round by Mark Haskins. At Chapter 33, Dunne turned on longtime tag team partner and kayfabe brother Damian Dunne, aligning himself with Trent Seven as British Strong Style. Dunne and Seven defeated The London Riots (James Davis and Rob Lynch) at Chapter 36 to win the Progress Tag Team Championship.
At Chapter 39, by virtue of retaining their championships in a rematch against the London Riots earlier in the night, Dunne and Seven were entered in a 7-man elimination match for the vacant Progress World Championship. Dunne pinned Jimmy Havoc to become the new Progress World Champion after Tyler Bate came down to the ring and attacked Havoc, thus turning heel and aligning himself with Seven and Dunne. At Chapter 40, Dunne made his first successful defence of the championship, defeating Zack Sabre Jr. On December 16, Progress management forced Dunne and Seven to vacate the Progress Tag Team Championship after Dunne attempted to give his half of the shield to Bate. At Chapter 41, British Strong Style once again left with all of the gold in Progress after Seven and Bate defeated the LDRS Of The New School (Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre, Jr.) and The London Riots to win the Progress Tag Team Championships and Dunne defeated Fabian Aichner to retain the Progress World Championship. Dunne lost by disqualification to Jimmy Havoc at Chapter 43, but the championship did not change hands. At Chapter 44, Dunne, Seven and Bate were defeated by Havoc, Mark Haskins and Morgan Webster in a six-man tag team match. At Chapter 45, Dunne defeated Havoc in a no-disqualification match for his fourth successful defence. At Chapter 46, he successfully defended the Championship against Mark Andrews. Dunne defended the Championship twice in Orlando, Florida during WrestleMania weekend, defeating Mark Haskins on 31 March and ACH on 1 April. At Chapter 47, Dunne, Seven and Bate put all of their championships on the line against Ringkampf (Axel Dieter Jr, Timothy Thatcher and Walter), in a six man tag team match, successfully retaining all of them. At Chapter 48, Dunne retained the title against both Andrews and Haskins in a triple threat match. He lost the title to Travis Banks on September 10.
Chikara (2014-2017)
Dunne made his debut for Chikara in September 2014, when he, Damian Dunne and Mark Andrews, billed collectively as "Team UK", took part in the 2014 King of Trios, making it to the quarterfinals, before losing to The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive, Flex Rumblecrunch and Max Smashmaster). A year later, Dunne returned for the 2015 King of Trios; this time he, Andrews and Morgan Webster, "Team Attack!", were eliminated in their first round match by United Nations (Juan Francisco de Coronado, Mr. Azerbaijan and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova).
Dunne returned to Chikara on 1 September 2017, when he, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate, billed collectively as "House Strong Style", entered the 2017 King of Trios, defeating House Whitewolf (A-Kid, Adam Chase and Zayas) in their first round match. Over the next two days, House Strong Style defeated House Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield, Mark Angelosetti and Simon Grimm) in the quarterfinals, House Rot (Frightmare, Hallowicked and Kobald) via forfeit in the semifinals and House Sendai Girls (Cassandra Miyagi, Dash Chisako and Meiko Satomura) in the finals to win the 2017 King of Trios.
WWE
United Kingdom Champion (2016-present)
On 15 December 2016 it was revealed that Dunne would be one of 16 men competing in the two-night WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament to crown the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion on 14 and 15 January 2017. Dunne defeated Roy Johnson in the first round, advancing to the quarter finals and eventually the semi-finals where he defeated Sam Gradwell and Mark Andrews respectively to advance to the finals, where he lost to Tyler Bate. Dunne signed a contract with WWE, which allowed him to continue taking independent bookings with some restrictions. On the 22 February episode of NXT, Dunne made his NXT debut in a winning effort against Mark Andrews. On 4 April, Dunne, and others who participated in the tournament, appeared on 205 Live. On 7 May, Dunne defeated Trent Seven at a live event to become the new #1 contender for the United Kingdom Championship. Dunne then went on to defeat Bate at TakeOver: Chicago to win the title for the first time in a highly-acclaimed match.
Dunne made an appearance on the November 6 episode of Raw, which was broadcast from Manchester, England, where he defeated WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore in a non-title champion versus champion match.
Maps Pete Dunne (wrestler)
Personal life
Peter Dunne is a vegan because of ethical reasons. He states that he "love animals" and turned to the diet after watching the documentary Cowspiracy.
Defend Indy Wrestling
Dunne, Mark Andrews, and Eddie Dennis are co-founders of Defend Indy Wrestling, a clothing line designed specifically for independent wrestling fans. Inspired by the "DEFEND Pop Punk" message propagated by American band Man Overboard, the trio created the brand in 2011, producing T-shirts, hoodies, and other accessories.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Bitter End (WWE) / DT3 / Drop Dead! (Independent circuit) (Pumphandle lift into a reverse STO)
- Tiger suplex
- Pedigree (Independent circuit) (Double underhook facebuster) - adopted from Triple H
- Signature moves
- Backflip off the top rope over a standing opponent
- Crash Landing (Independent circuit) / X-Plex (WWE) (Rolling release suplex, sometimes onto the ring apron)
- Cutter
- Double foot stomp
- European uppercut
- Finger bends
- Four Star Forearm (Forearm smash, sometimes while running, or to an oncoming or mid-air opponent)
- German suplex, sometimes into the turnbuckle
- Go 2 Europe (Fireman's carry into a pop-up European uppercut)
- Jackknife powerbomb
- Kimura lock
- Kneeling belly-to-belly piledriver
- Michinoku Driver II
- Scoop slam into the turnbuckle
- Standing, leg-feed or a running enzuigiri, sometimes to an opponent in the corner
- Stomp to an opponent's hand on the steel steps
- Superkick
- Triangle choke
- Vertical suplex powerbomb
- Nicknames
- "Bruiserweight"
- "Dynamite"
- "YxB - Young and Bitter"
- "Perfect"
- "Pop Punk"
- Entrance themes
- "Can You Feel My Heart" by Bring Me the Horizon
- "St. James Infirmary Blues" by The White Stripes (as part of British Strong Style)
- "Love Is Blindness" by Jack White (as part of British Strong Style)
- "The Hessian" by Vallenbrosa (Revolution Pro Wrestling)
- "Young & Bitter" by Hot Tag - Media Works (WCPW/NXT)
- "Bruiserweight" by CFO$ (NXT / WWE ; May 20, 2017 - present)
Luchas de Apuestas record
Championships and accomplishments
- 4 Front Wrestling
- 4FW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Alternative Wrestling World
- AWW British Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Damian Dunne
- Attack! Pro Wrestling
- Attack! 24/7 Championship (6 times, current)
- Elder Stein Invitational (2012)
- Chikara
- King of Trios (2017) - with Trent Seven and Tyler Bate
- Destiny World Wrestling
- DWW Championship (1 time, current)
- Fight Club:Pro
- FCP Championship (1 time)
- Infinity Trophy (2015)
- FutureShock Wrestling
- FSW Adrenaline Championship (1 time)
- Kamikaze Pro
- Relentless Division Championship (1 time)
- Over The Top Wrestling
- OTT No Limits Championship (2 times)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 29 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
- Pro Wrestling Kingdom
- Pro Wrestling Kingdom Championship (1 time)
- Progress Wrestling
- Progress World Championship (1 time)
- Progress Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Trent Seven
- Revolution Pro Wrestling
- RPW British Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- British Cruiserweight Title Tournament (2016)
- Southside Wrestling Entertainment
- Young Tigers Cup (2015)
- VII Pro Wrestling
- VII Pro Championship (1 time)
- VII Trifecta Trophy Tournament
- Westside Xtreme Wrestling
- wXw Shotgun Championship (1 time)
- WWE
- WWE United Kingdom Championship (1 time, current)
See also
- List of vegans
References
External links
- Pete Dunne on Facebook
- Pete Dunne on Twitter
- Pete Dunne on Instagram
- Pete Dunne's profile at Cagematch.net
Source of article : Wikipedia
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