Kris Travis

Kris Travis
Birth name Kristoffer Darren Travis[1]
Born (1983-12-16)16 December 1983[1]
Sheffield, England
Died 31 March 2016(2016-03-31) (aged 32)
Cause of death Stomach Cancer
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Kris Travis
Travis The Menace[2]
Billed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Billed weight 207 lb (94 kg)[2]
Trained by Alan Johnson[1]
Debut 2002[2]

Kris Travis (16 December 1983 – 31 March 2016) was an English professional wrestler. He was a staple of UK and European Independent Wrestling scenes, working for companies such as PROGRESS Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling, Premier British Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Westside Xtreme Wrestling, British Championship Wrestling, One Pro Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action (One appearance), Frontier Wrestling Alliance and others, until his death in 2016.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Professional wrestling career

Early Career (2002-2008)

Trained in Sheffield by Alan Johnson,[1] Travis began competing on shows in the North of England in 2002. His earliest successes came in Grand Pro Wrestling, where he held the GPW Tag Team Championship with Scotty Hexx in an early incarnation of the popular Project Ego team, and in Norton British Wrestling, where he held the NBW Cruiserweight Championship. He received further training from Stixx and Keith Myatt, which he believed helped him get onto bigger shows.[9]

Rise to Prominence (2009-2014)

In the late 2000s, Travis added Martin Kirby to the Project Ego team. The duo found some notable success, winning the RDW Tag Team Championships, the 1PW Tag Team Championships, the 3CW Tag Team Championships, the IPW:UK Tag Team Championships and the RPW Undisputed British Tag Team Championship.[10][11] They would also compete for notable promotions like PROGRESS Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling, Premier British Wrestling and more.[12][13]

Travis also had singles success, most notably in Preston City Wrestling. On 17 August 2012, Kravis defeated Lionheart to win the PCW Heavyweight Championship.[14] He also had the opportunity to compete outside of the UK for Westside Xtreme Wrestling in Germany, in a triple threat with BxB Hulk and John Klinger.[15] He competed on one occasion for Total Nonstop Action, while taking part in their British Boot Camp television series.[16][17]

Hiatus and Illness (2014)

Travis was forced to take a hiatus from wrestling due to a diagnosis of stomach cancer.[18] Wrestlers such as CM Punk, Colt Cabana, William Regal and Chris Jericho gave words of support.[19] During this time he worked with cancer charities to raise funds[20] and made a couple of non-wrestling appearances at shows.[21]

Return to the Ring (2015)

In June 2015, it was announced that Travis had beaten cancer and would be returning to the ring.[22][23][24][25][26] He wrestled Sha Samuels for PCW in his return match[27] on 7 August 2015, before capturing the PWE Tag Team Championship with Lou King Sharp[28] in Scotland .[29]

He was victorious in singles competition against Chris Tyler for HOPE Wrestling in Nottingham[30] and against his Project Ego partner Martin Kirby at ATTACK! Pro Wrestling in Cardiff, Wales.[31] Travis also returned to Southside Wrestling Entertainment alongside Martin Kirby at the 9 August 2015 show, where the pair were revealed as the surprise final entrant in a tag-team gauntlet match for the SWE Tag Team Championships which Travis and Kirby won for the first time that night.[32]

In one of the bigger singles matches of his career, Travis was defeated by Drew Galloway in an ICW World Heavyweight Championship match in Edinburgh.[33] Travis' final match, was a victory over Marty Scurll at PROGRESS' Chapter 21: You Know We Don't Like to Use the Sit Down Gun on 6 September 2015.[34]

Retirement and Death (2016)

On 21 September 2015. Travis announced that his cancer had returned and he would be forced to retire from professional wrestling.[35]

He married his longtime girlfriend in February.

Travis died on 31 March 2016.[36][37] There was outpouring of tributes from fans, publications, promotions and wrestlers, including Kevin Owens, Paige, The Young Bucks, Drew Galloway, Noam Dar, Finn Bálor, World Wrestling Entertainment, Impact Wrestling, Neville and more.[36][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]

Cody Rhodes and Tommaso Ciampa began the "Our Ladder" fundraising initiative for Cavendish Cancer Care in Travis' name in April 2016.[45][46] Donovan Dijak and Mike Bennett helped raise funds for CCC, in tribute to Travis.[47]

Fans and professional wrestlers alike began petitioning for Travis to be given the WWE Hall of Fame "Warrior Award".[48][49]

There were numerous tributes to Travis in the coming weeks, such as Noam Dar dedicating his qualifying match for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic series to Travis,[50][51] and Will Ospreay thanking Travis following his NJPW Best of the Super Juniors victory.[52] At NXT Takeover: Dallas, the day after Travis passed, Finn Balor paid a very touching tribute to the man by painting Travis's trademark stars on one hand and a black love heart on the other.

Martin Kirby, his longtime friend and tag team partner, was the first to comment. He wrote, "Sleep well my friend. You no longer need to suffer." Chris Masters, who was one of his dance partners in a classic series of theirs in PCW years before, expressed his sadness with saying, "Can't put into words how much my heart hurts right now. Thank you Kris Travis for my three greatest matches." El Ligero, who was his most frequent adversary, with wrestling him in over fifty matches, wrote, "One of my best friends. Someone I loved so much. Someone I'll miss every single day." "My heart goes out to all at the passing of Kris Travis. Taken too soon and he fought way too hard. Rest easy Trav. You're truly a warrior," Samoa Joe wrote. Kevin Owens, who also wrestled Travis in PCW, wrote the following, "Hard to find words at the moment. Goodbye Trav. You fought like hell and are an absolute inspiration to me and many others."

In wrestling

Multiple Kick Variations

Multiple Suplex Variations

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "KrisTravis.Com - The Official Website for Kristoffer Travis".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Career « Kris Travis « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH".
  3. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Kris Travis — Alternative Wrestling World".
  4. 1 2 3 Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database".
  5. ↑ "PWE: Pro Wrestling Elite".
  6. ↑ "Kris Travis: Profile & Match Listing - Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)".
  7. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Home — IPW:UK".
  8. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Kris Travis".
  9. ↑ Farrell, Paul (31 March 2016). "Kris Travis Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know".
  10. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Kris Travis — Revolution Pro Wrestling".
  11. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Titles « Kris Travis « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH".
  12. ↑ "Results". 18 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Project Ego to challenge for tag team gold at Maximum Impact 2011 - Premier British Wrestling".
  14. 1 2 Bean, Martin. "PCW Heavyweight Championship History-Preston City Wrestling".
  15. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "wXw Fans Appreciation Night 2014 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH".
  16. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "TNA British Boot Camp #2.4 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH".
  17. ↑ TNA Impact Wrestling (31 March 2016). "Kris Travis vs Mark Andrews: British Boot Camp 2 UK Finals" – via YouTube.
  18. ↑ "British wrestling star Kris Travis announces that he has cancer - Wrestling News". 12 October 2014.
  19. ↑ Rana, About the Author: Ricky; Contributor (9 December 2014). "Kris Travis".
  20. ↑ "KrisTravis.Com - The Official Website for Kristoffer Travis".
  21. ↑ Insane Championship Wrestling (29 April 2015). "Kris Travis returns to ICW!" – via YouTube.
  22. ↑ "KrisTravis.Com - The Official Website for Kristoffer Travis".
  23. ↑ "Story of a Survivor: Kris Travis".
  24. ↑ Docking, Neil (6 August 2015). "British wrestler Kris Travis on returning to the ring after defeating cancer".
  25. ↑ Preston City Wrestling (18 August 2015). "Kris Travis on Beating Cancer, Returning to the Ring and PCW" – via YouTube.
  26. ↑ "My Comeback From Cancer (FSM 118; April 2015) - Columns - Fighting Spirit Magazine".
  27. ↑ "Kris Travis' Return & Second Match Announced For Preston City Wrestling 'The Fourth Awakens'". 5 June 2015.
  28. ↑ "PWE: Pro Wrestling Elite".
  29. ↑ Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database".
  30. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=125925
  31. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=136159
  32. 1 2 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=123980
  33. ↑ "A Horse, A Spoon & A Bucket - Edinburgh, 23rd August 2015 - Insane Championship Wrestling - Watch Online for Just $6.99 - ICW On Demand".
  34. ↑ Wrest, Hashtag (6 September 2015). "#Results: PROGRESS (@ThisIs_Progress) "Chapter 21" *LIVE Results*".
  35. ↑ "British Wrestler Kris Travis Who Defeated Cancer Set To Retire From The Ring". 21 September 2015.
  36. 1 2 "British wrestler Kris Travis dies aged 32 from stomach cancer". 31 March 2016.
  37. ↑ "UK's Kris Travis dies from cancer".
  38. ↑ McGeorge, Alistair (31 March 2016). "British wrestler Kris Travis dies aged 32 after losing battle with cancer".
  39. ↑ "British Indy Star Kris Travis Passes Away At 32, Kevin Owens, Neville And More React - PWMania".
  40. ↑ "Royal Ramblings: In Tribute to Kris Travis". 1 April 2016.
  41. ↑ "Progress Wrestling Founder Comments On Kris Travis' Passing - Wrestlezone". 31 March 2016.
  42. ↑ "Kris Travis Passes Away At 32; The Wrestling World Reacts". 31 March 2016.
  43. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Thank You Travis".
  44. ↑ "Star Struck - RIP Kris Travis (FSM 125 - Oct 2015) - Features - Fighting Spirit Magazine".
  45. ↑ "WWE Star Creating Charity Campaign To Honor Indie Wrestler Kris Travis (Photo) - WrestlingInc.com".
  46. ↑ "411MANIA - Cody Rhodes Creates Charity Campaign for Indie Wrestler Kris Travis".
  47. ↑ "Donovan Dijak's April Crowdfunding Charity In Honor Of Kris Travis, This Weeks' Top Ten WWE Smackdown Moments (Video) - Wrestlezone". 8 April 2016.
  48. ↑ McGeorge, Alistair (5 April 2016). "Late British wrestler Kris Travis honoured with WWE Warrior Award petition".
  49. ↑ Jesus, Jake (7 April 2016). "KRIS TRAVIS CAMPAIGN".
  50. ↑ "Who qualified for Cruiserweight Classic at RevPro?".
  51. ↑ "Noam Dar vs. Josh Bodom - Cruiserweight Classic qualifying match".
  52. ↑ "Instagram photo by @willospreay • Jun 7, 2016 at 3:12pm UTC".
  53. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Home — IPW:UK".
  54. ↑ Bean, Martin. "Undisputed British Tag Team Champions History — Revolution Pro Wrestling".
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