Cause of death Stomach Cancer Trained by Alan Johnson Died 31 March 2016 | Billed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Debut 2002 Billed weight 93.89 kg | |
Birth name Kristoffer Darren Travis Born 16 December 1983Sheffield, England ( 1983-12-16 ) Ring name(s) Kris TravisTravis The Menace Similar Marty Scurll, Noam Dar, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, Blackjack Mulligan | ||
Kris travis 1983 2016
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.
Contents
- Kris travis 1983 2016
- Kris travis tribute ceremony and video
- Early Career 2002 2008
- Rise to Prominence 2009 2014
- Hiatus and Illness 2014
- Return to the Ring 2015
- Death
- In wrestling
- Championships and accomplishments
- References
Kris travis tribute ceremony and video
Early Career (2002-2008)
Trained in Sheffield by Alan Johnson, 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.
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. They would also compete for notable promotions like PROGRESS Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling, Premier British Wrestling and more.
Travis also had singles success, most notably in Preston City Wrestling. On 17 August 2012, Kravis defeated Lionheart to win the PCW Heavyweight Championship. 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. He competed on one occasion for Total Nonstop Action, while taking part in their British Boot Camp television series.
Hiatus and Illness (2014)
Travis was forced to take a hiatus from wrestling due to a diagnosis of stomach cancer. Wrestlers such as CM Punk, Colt Cabana, William Regal and Chris Jericho gave words of support. During this time he worked with cancer charities to raise funds and made a couple of non-wrestling appearances at shows.
Return to the Ring (2015)
In June 2015, it was announced that Travis had beaten cancer and would be returning to the ring. He wrestled Sha Samuels for PCW in his return match on 7 August 2015, before capturing the PWE Tag Team Championship with Lou King Sharp in Scotland .
He was victorious in singles competition against Chris Tyler for HOPE Wrestling in Nottingham and against his Project Ego partner Martin Kirby at Attack! Pro Wrestling in Cardiff, Wales. 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.
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. 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.
Death
On September 21, 2015, Travis announced that his cancer had returned and he would be forced to retire from professional wrestling.
He married his longtime girlfriend in February 2016.
Travis died on March 31, 2016 at 32 years old. There was a large outpouring of tributes from fans, publications, promotions and wrestlers alike, including Kevin Owens, Paige, The Young Bucks, Drew Galloway, Noam Dar, Finn Bálor, World Wrestling Entertainment, Impact Wrestling, Neville and more.
Martin Kirby, his longtime friend and tag team partner, was the first to comment after his death. He wrote, "Sleep well my friend. You no longer need to suffer". Chris Masters, who faced Travis numerous times in PCW said, "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 arguably Travis' biggest rival, wrestling him in over fifty matches, wrote, "One of my best friends. Someone I loved so much. Someone I'll miss every single day". Samoa Joe said "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". Kevin Owens, who also wrestled Travis in PCW, said "Hard to find words at the moment. Goodbye Trav. You fought like hell and are an absolute inspiration to me and many others".
Cody Rhodes and Tommaso Ciampa began the "Our Ladder" fundraising initiative for Cavendish Cancer Care in Travis' name in April 2016. Donovan Dijak and Mike Bennett helped raise funds for CCC, in tribute to Travis.
Fans and professional wrestlers alike began petitioning for Travis to be given the WWE Hall of Fame "Warrior Award".
There was a large number of tributes to Travis in the weeks following his death. Noam Dar dedicated his qualifying match for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic series to Travis, and Will Ospreay both wore ring attire themed after Travis' pink tights in his NJPW debut and dedicated his Best of the Super Juniors victory to Travis. At NXT Takeover: Dallas, the day after Travis passed, Finn Balor paid tribute by painting Travis's trademark stars on one hand and a black love heart on the other.