Kris Travis

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.

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.

Retirement and Death (2016)

On 21 September 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.

Travis died on 31 March 2016. There was outpouring of tributes from fans, publications, promotions and wrestlers, including Kevin Owens, Paige, The Young Bucks, Drew Galloway, Noam Dar, Finn Bálor, World Wrestling Entertainment, Impact Wrestling, Neville and more.

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 were numerous tributes to Travis in the coming weeks, such as Noam Dar dedicating his qualifying match for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic series to Travis, and Will Ospreay thanking Travis following his NJPW Best of the Super Juniors victory. At NXT Takeover: Dallas, the day after Travis passed, Finn Balor paid a very touching tribute to the man by painting Travis's trademark stars on one hand and a black love heart on the other.

Martin Kirby, his longtime friend and tag team partner, was the first to comment. He wrote, "Sleep well my friend. You no longer need to suffer." Chris Masters, who was one of his dance partners in a classic series of theirs in PCW years before, expressed his sadness with saying, "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 his most frequent adversary, with wrestling him in over fifty matches, wrote, "One of my best friends. Someone I loved so much. Someone I'll miss every single day." "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," Samoa Joe wrote. Kevin Owens, who also wrestled Travis in PCW, wrote the following, "Hard to find words at the moment. Goodbye Trav. You fought like hell and are an absolute inspiration to me and many others."

• Finishing moves
  • Double underhook piledriver
• Nickname
  • "Shooting Star"
• Entrance themes
  • "96 Quite Bitter Beings" by CKY

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• ^

• 3 Count Wrestling
  • 3CW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Martin Kirby
• Fighting Spirit Magazine
  • UK Wrestler of the Year (2013)
• International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom
  • IPW:UK Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Martin Kirby
• Gerry Norton Promotions
  • GNP Championship (1 time)
  • GNP Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bubblegum
  • GNP Tag Team Title Tournament (2009) - with Bubblegum
  • Elite 8 Tournament (2008)
• Grand Pro Wrestling
  • GPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Scotty Hexx
• Northern Wrestling League
  • NWL British Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Norton British Wrestling
  • NBW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
• Powerslam Magazine
  • Ranked #45 of the top 50 singles wrestlers of 2013
• Preston City Wrestling
  • PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Money in the Bank (2011, 2013)
• Pro Wrestling Elite
  • PWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Lou King Sharp
• Real Deal Wrestling
  • RDW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Martin Kirby
• Revolution Pro Wrestling
  • RPW Undisputed British Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Martin Kirby
• Southside Wrestling Entertainment
  • SWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Martin Kirby

• Bean, Martin. "Home — IPW:UK". 
• Bean, Martin. "Undisputed British Tag Team Champions History — Revolution Pro Wrestling".