Top Rope Promotions


Top Rope Promotions is a North Eastern independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Bedford, Massachusetts and is the largest promotion in the Southern New England area rivaling other North Eastern promotions including Chaotic Wrestling, the Millennium Wrestling Federation and New England Championship Wrestling. Along with its head trainer Matt Hyson, their seminars have been hosted by Ring of Honor alumni Jamie Noble and A.J. Styles. A number of independent wrestlers competed in Yankee Pro Wrestling during their early careers including Amanda Storm, Andy Jaxx, DC Drake, Slyck Wagner Brown, Johnny Heartbreaker, Shark Boy, Christian York, Metal Maniac, Robbie Ellis, Rick Fuller and Dan "The Beast" Severn.
Following the close of Extreme Championship Wrestling, several ECW mainstays such as Amish Roadkill, Dawn Marie, Simon Diamond, Perry Saturn, Tony DeVito, Little Guido, Jerry Lynn, Steve Corino, Justin Credible, Julio Dinero, Chris Hamrick, Big Dick Dudley and Joel Gertner had brief stints in the promotion. In recent years, TNA wrestlers Christy Hemme, Talia, Abyss, Jay Lethal, Joey Matthews, Ron "The Truth" Killings, Bubba Ray Dudley, and D-Von Dudley 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 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 or for ROH Wrestling. The promotion also features wrestlers who have or would go on to compete for the WWE.
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 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 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 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, TK O'Ryan, former Ring of Honor Television Champion, former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion, former IWGP Tag Team Champion Matt Taven and Ring of Honor wrestler Vinny Marseglia. Top Rope Promotions veterans "H2O" Ryan Waters and " Nightmare" Nick Steel became the school's trainers in 2013 after Hyson left the promotion. Although he stepped down as the head trainer, Hyson is still on great terms with the promotion.

Special Guest Appearances

WWE Tough Enough contestants

Male wrestlers

ChampionshipCurrent championDate wonEventPrevious championDays
held		Notes
TRP Heavyweight ChampionshipNico SilvaSeptember 14, 2019Summer Showdown 2019 BrocktonChuck O'Neil
TRP Interstate ChampionshipChanning ThomasMarch 8, 2019Extreme Homecoming Fall RiverNico SilvaThomas beat Silva in a 2/3 falls contest winning 2 falls to 1.
TRP Tag Team ChampionshipThe Devil's Doormen January 17, 2020New Year's BashJason Daniels and Tyler Nitro

Accomplishments

AccomplishmentPrevious winnerDate wonEventNotes
Spindle City Rumble”The Punjabi Lion” RoboDecember 27, 2019Spindle City Rumble
Kowalski CupTeddy GoodzNovember 29, 2019Kowalski Cup Tournament