Top Rope Promotions (formerly known as Yankee Pro Wrestling and South Coast Championship Wrestling) is a North Eastern independent professional wrestling promotion based in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...

and is the largest promotion in the Southern

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

area rivaling other North Eastern promotions including

Chaotic Wrestling Chaotic Wrestling, stylized as CHAOTIC, is an American independent wrestling promotion, which has been operating throughout New England since 2000; with its current home base in North Andover, Massachusetts. Chaotic Wrestling is known for p ...

, the Millennium Wrestling Federation and New England Championship Wrestling. Along with its former head trainer

Matt Hyson Matthew Jonathan Hyson (born August 13, 1970) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Spike Dudley. Prior to WWE, Hyson began performing as Spike Dudley in the 1990s ...

(Professionally Known as Spike Dudley), their seminars have been hosted by

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

alumni Jamie Noble and A.J. Styles. A number of independent wrestling stars have competed in Top Rope Pro Wrestling during their careers including Amanda Storm, Andy Jaxx, D. C. Drake,

Slyck Wagner Brown Wagner Brown (born September 5, 1979) is a Jamaican born Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, SWB or Slyck Wagner Brown. Brown currently wrestles on the Independent circuit in the Northeastern United State ...

, Johnny Heartbreaker, Shark Boy,

Christian York Jason Spence (born April 13, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Christian York. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

, The Metal Maniac, Robbie Ellis, Rick Fuller, Dan "The Beast" Severn, Anthony Greene, and "Brutal" Bob Evans. Following the close of

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

, several ECW mainstays such as Amish Roadkill, Dawn Marie,

Simon Diamond Patrick Joseph Michael Kenney (born May 26, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and baseball player, better known by his ring name, Simon Diamond. He is working for the National Wrestling Alliance as Director of Talent Relation ...

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, Tony DeVito,

Little Guido James Maritato (born March 12, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring names Little Guido and Nunzio. A high-school ...

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, Steve Corino,

Justin Credible Peter Joseph Polaco (born October 16, 1973) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Justin Credible. Debut ...

, Julio Dinero, Chris Hamrick, Big Dick Dudley and Joel Gertner had brief stints in the promotion. In recent years, TNA wrestlers

Christy Hemme Christina Lee Hemme ( ; born October 28, 1980) is an American wrestling executive and retired professional wrestler, ring announcer, backstage interviewer, singer and model (person), model. She was previously signed to Total Nonstop Action Wre ...

, Talia,

Abyss Abyss may refer to: Religion * Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld * Abyss (Thelema), a spiritual principle within the system of Thelema Film and television * ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film s ...

Jay Lethal Jamar Shipman (born April 29, 1985), better known by the ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenures in Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrest ...

, Joey Matthews, Ron "The Truth" Killings,

Bubba Ray Dudley Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971), known by his ring name Bubba Ray Dudley (also spelled Buh-Buh Ray Dudley), is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for being ...

, and

D-Von Dudley Devon Hughes ( ; born August 1, 1972) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, under a legends contract. He is best known for performing in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 a ...

have also made appearances.

History

The promotion began holding events in the Fall River-New Bedford area during the early-1980s, picking up the old territorial area previously run by the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

during the 1970s. After going through several name changes and owners, the promotion changed its name from ''New England Wrestling Association'' to ''Yankee Pro Wrestling'' during the 1990s. During this time, the promotion gained a strong following in southern New England regularly bringing in former WWF stars from the 1980s and 90s. The promotion features many wrestlers who compete for

Impact Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busine ...

or for ROH Wrestling. The promotion also features wrestlers who have or would go on to compete for the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. The promotion was purchased by head booker Steve Ricard in 2000. Under the ''Top Rope Promotions'' banner, he continued running monthly shows in the Fall River-New Bedford area as both Yankee Pro Wrestling and South Coast Championship Wrestling, successfully making between $500–$5,000 a show. The majority of its shows are held at the PAL Hall in Fall River, Massachusetts and the Top Rope Arena in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The promotion also ran a weekly cable television program in the local area. In 2007, the names Yankee Pro Wrestling and South Coast Championship Wrestling ceased to be used and all events were now exclusively under the name Top Rope Promotions. In addition to monthly events at the PAL Hall in Fall River, Top Rope Promotions runs events at the Creative Auction Centers in Fall River and New Bedford, the historic Adams-Turners Hall in Adams, and the Elks Lodge in Franklin. Top Rope Promotions also appears at the annual Whaling City Festival at Buttonwood Park in New Bedford and at the annual Wolcott Country Fair in Wolcott, Connecticut. The promotion also holds annual events at Outdoor World campground in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and also appears on occasion at The Wapping Fair in South Windsor Connecticut, however they have not been since 2008. The Lock-Up Wrestling School The school was founded by Top Rope Promotions owner Steve Ricard and former head trainer Matt Hyson (formerly known as Spike Dudley) in 2005. Hyson had been the school's head trainer from 2005 to 2013, The school is responsible for training several independent stars such as Teddy Goodz, T. K. O'Ryan, former Ring of Honor Television Champion, former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion, former IWGP Tag Team Champion Matt Taven and

wrestler Vinny Marseglia. Top Rope Promotions veteran "H2O" Ryan Waters became one of the school's trainers in 2013 after Hyson left the promotion. In 2021 Lock-up graduate Nico Silva and New England veteran Elia Markopoulos joined Waters as co-trainers. Although he stepped down as the head trainer, Hyson is still on great terms with the promotion. In 2022, both Ryan Waters and Nico Silva stepped down as trainers making Elia Markopoulos head trainer. In July 2023 Bob Evans became a trainer at the Lock-Up.

Active Roster and Staff

Male Wrestlers

*AJ *Anthony JR * "Brutal" Bob Evans *Brody Jackson *Carlos Rosales *Cesar Leo *"World Class" Channing Thomas *"Sweatboy" Christopher James *Cletus *Devin Justice *DJ Powers *Donny Staxx * Elia Markopoulos *Erik Chacha *Ichiban *Jobz *"Bulldozer" John Munroe *Johnny Pierce *Jora Johl *

*"Comrade" Kenny Casanova *Kid V *Koosh Bandicoot *Leon St. Giovanni (LSG) *Mani Aries *Matt Hayter *Moshpit *The Mullet Man *Nick Diamond *"Powerful" Pat Garrett (PPG) *The Politician *Portuguese Power House (PPH) *RALF *Ryan Fraust *Rylie O'Neil *Samuel Radcliffe *Shane Aldenoff *Sigma *”The Difference” Tyler Brooks *Viktor Vanko *Vortex

Female Wrestlers

*Little Mean Kathleen (LMK) *Liviyah *Luscious Latasha *"Bully" Sarah Jade *Powerful Physical Educator Meghan Enos (PPE)

Managers

*”Former WWF Hall of Famer” Sidney Bakabella *Powerful Physical Educator Meghan Enos (PPE) * "Comrade" Kenny Casanova

Tag Teams and Stables

*The Beastmasters ("Powerful" Pat Garrett (PPG) and Portuguese Power House (PPH) with Powerful Physical Educator Meghan Enos (PPE)) *Koosh and ChaCha (Koosh Bandicoot and Eric ChaCha) *The Family (Donny Staxx and Anthony JR and AJ) *The Neighborhood (Kid V and Mani Aries) *The Ultimate Powers (The Mullet Man and Jobz) *World Class (Channing Thomas with Sidney Bakabella) *The Russian Invasion (Viktor Vanko and Shane Aldenoff with Comrade Kenny Casanova)

Trainers and Staff

*Steve Ricard (owner, promoter) *Shawn Pi Jacobs (ring announcer) *GK Durant (Referee) *Tony Stevens (Referee) *Andee McHahon, AJ Berube and Zeus Creighton (Production) * Elia Markopoulos (Lock-up School Head Trainer) *Bob Evans (Lock-Up School Trainer)

Championships and accomplishments

Accomplishments

References

External links

*
CageMatch.de - Top Rope Promotions
{{Professional wrestling in the United States American companies established in 1984 Companies based in Massachusetts Independent professional wrestling promotions based in Massachusetts