1. William Alfred Robinson was an English professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and coach.
25 Facts About Billy Robinson
1. 2.
Billy Robinson had a successful career in the UK and internationally, especially in Japan.
3.
Billy Robinson is known for training professional wrestlers and mixed martial artists in the catch wrestling style, including Josh Barnett, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura, and Shayna Baszler.
4.
Billy Robinson's favourite saying as a coach was "do it again", which came from his trainer Billy Riley.
5.
Billy Robinson acted in several movies, including The Wrestler, and inspired the Kinnikuman character Robin Mask.
6.
Billy Robinson was born in Manchester on September 18,1938 to William James and Frances Hester.
7.
Billy Robinson worked in his family's grocery store, where an eye injury between eleven and twelve years of age required hospitalization for five months and disqualified him from ever getting a boxing licence.
8.
However, FILA did not hold the European Wrestling Championships between 1949 and 1966, and despite records going back to the first "unofficial European Championships" in 1898, United World Wrestling has no records of a "European Open Championship" taking place or anyone with Billy Robinson's name competing for Britain, England, or any other nation.
9.
Billy Robinson defeated fellow Riley's wrestler and mentor Billy Joyce for the European title on 12 June 1965 and then beat Joyce again for the British title on 18 January 1967, vacating both titles in 1970 when he went off to America.
10.
Billy Robinson had a high-profile feud with masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki.
11.
In 1978, Billy Robinson made a brief homecoming tour of the UK including a televised win over Lee Bronson.
12.
Billy Robinson traveled to North America in 1969 for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling where he defeated Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie to earn a title shot at NWA World Heavyweight champion Dory Funk Jr.
13.
Billy Robinson was one of the most successful wrestlers of the American promotion known for hiring the "Real Deals" in wrestling.
14.
Billy Robinson was a three-time AWA British Empire Heavyweight Champion, reigning and defending in the United States and Canada.
15.
Billy Robinson wrestled in Montreal in 1982 and 1983 becoming the International Champion beating Dino Bravo and was International Tag Team champions with Pierre Mad Dog Lefebvre.
16.
Billy Robinson wrestled to a 60-minutes time-limit draw against then WWF Champion Bob Backlund in 1982 as well in Montreal.
17.
Billy Robinson continued working for American Wrestling Association until retiring in 1988.
18.
Billy Robinson traveled to Japan where he became popular as a wrestler versed in submission holds.
19.
Billy Robinson had a series of matches with Canadian George Gordienko.
20.
Billy Robinson participated in a professional wrestling match against Antonio Inoki in 1975.
21.
Billy Robinson, having previously trained wrestlers in England including Marty Jones and Johnny Saint, began training wrestlers in catch wrestling at the UWF Snake Pit Japan, including James Maritato, Kazushi Sakuraba and El Signo.
22.
Billy Robinson managed a convenience store and was a security guard at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino for a time.
23.
Billy Robinson moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in 2001 to be closer to his son's family.
24.
Billy Robinson continued to coach catch wrestling into his final years, in his adopted home of Arkansas along with seminars in the United States, Japan, Britain, and Canada.
25.
Billy Robinson died in his sleep on February 27,2014, at the age of 75.