Ring name(s) Bubblegum
Phil Blitz Billed weight 145 lb (66 kg) Debut 2002 Role Professional wrestler | Billed height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Billed from Hubba Bubbaville Name Phil Blitz | |
Born 20 June 1984 (age 39)
Mobberley, England, United Kingdom ( 1984-06-20 ) Trained by AIWF-GB
Chris Curtis
Mark Belton
Keith Myatt | ||
Philip "Pip" Cartner (born 20 June 1984), better known by his ring name Bubblegum, is a British professional wrestler. He has wrestled in many independent promotions within the United Kingdom but he is perhaps best known for his work in British Championship Wrestling Norton British Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling and his television exposure with Frontier Wrestling Alliance, Real Quality Wrestling, Irish Whip Wrestling and New Generation Wrestling.
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Professional wrestling career
Cartner began training in August 2000 with the Stoke-on-Trent based Allied Independent Wrestling Federation-Great Britain (AIWF-GB) promotion run by Chris Curtis, Cartner's extra training came from the likes of fellow AIWF stars such as Mark "5 Star" Belton, Dirk Feelgood, Johnny Phere, Kid Kaos and the 20-year veteran Keith Myatt.
Bubblegum found his place as a break out star of the Nottingham-based Norton British Wrestling promotion, having a long-standing feud with Kris Travis over NBW's cruiserweight title since July 2005. On 8 April 2006, Bubblegum would pick up his first title winning a tag team tournament with Stixx to become the first NBW Tag Team Champions.
In 2005, Bubblegum was made into a headline act for Grand Pro Wrestling, a promotion he often calls "home" and credits for his exposure on the British scene and where he still is a main event performer. Later in 2005, he was given the chance to show off his highflying skills on television with the Frontier Wrestling Alliance as part of the FWA's Flyweight Division. Bubblegum would later be given more TV exposure, this time with Irish promotion Irish Whip Wrestling. Bubblegum continued to work for several other independent promotions during this time, forming a tag team with lucha libre wrestler El Ligero, known as Hubba-Bubba Lucha
On 18 August 2006, Bubblegum won a nine-man Elimination match at Real Quality Wrestling's Summer Brawl 2006 to represent RQW at British Under 23's Championship event on 18 November of that year. The win would also put Bubblegum in contention to become the first Cruiserweight Champion of the company, and though Bubblegum would be unable to win the Under 23's Championship he would defeat Red Vinny at No Pain, No Gain 2007 to become the first RQW Cruiserweight Champion. He also won the first ever Crazy Cruiser-8 tournament in 2006 for Grand Pro Wrestling.
Bubblegum performed in the re-launched Frontier Wrestling Alliance during its first six months in existence, before apparently retiring in March 2010. Having just become a father, it was believed that Cartner wanted to focus on caring for his newborn son.
Despite retiring, he returned to Grand Pro Wrestling in September, where he turned on Joey Hayes and joined Dirk Feelgood's stable The Masterplan. Since then he has returned to active wrestling in GPW.
Since October 2011, Bubblegum has been a regular at Preston City Wrestling, where he won a 6-man elimination match on his first show, and competed in a Money In The Bank match in his 2nd.
In February, Bubblegum beat Greg Burridge to become the number one contender for the PCW title. He won the titlematch at the next show, Springslam, but as it was via disqualification, he did not win the title. However, Bubblegum did leave with the belt.
Bubblegum once again met the PCW Champion T-Bone on the June 2nd show, Guild Wars.