Click here to view the Snake Pit U.S.A. Head Coach bio.

SNAKE PIT U.S.A. COACHES ASSOCIATION 

COACH BILLY ROBINSON

(Sept 18, 1938 – March 3, 2014)

Born in England in 1938 Billy Robinson dreamed of becoming a boxer until a childhood accident damaged his eye and took away that dream. Luckily his family was full of competitive athletes and his uncle who was an outstanding wrestler got him into wrestling. He fell in love with it from the very first workout and the rest is history. Billy Spent twelve years under the watchful eye and expert tutelage of Legendary Coach Billy Riley at the original “Snake Pit” Gym in Wigan England and as an amateur wrestler he achieved notable success when he won the 1957 British National Wrestling Championship and the 1958 European Open Wrestling Championship in the light Heavyweight Class, defeating an Olympic Bronze medalist in the finals. During the 1960s he firmly established himself on the British circuits as one of, if not the best of the best wrestlers around.

He was the golden boy of British Heavyweight Wrestling and arguably the best wrestler that ever came out of Wigan. Of his contemporaries (the likes of Geoff Portz, Georgios Gordienko and Billy Joyce) there were few who could beat him and none who could match his technical skill. There was little doubt he would be British Heavyweight Champion before long and indeed he lived up to the expectations when he captured the Title on January 18, 1967 from Billy Joyce and would hold it for slightly over three years before he vacated the title so that he could travel to America and join the AWA. In the AWA he established himself as one of the best wrestlers in a promotion known for hiring great wrestlers.

In the AWA he captured numerous Tag Team Titles and held the AWA British Empire Heavyweight Title three times. While with the AWA he also travelled to Japan and Canada and became a major success in those areas, winning the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title and the IWA Heavyweight Title in Japan and Australia. He also had a legendary match against Antonio Inoki that was billed as “The Match between the World’s Top Two Technicians”. He made his name as a Catch Wrestling icon along with Karl Gotch by helping create the world of Mixed Martial Arts in Japan. He became a major influence in the “Shoot” style of wrestling and started the UWF Snake Pit in Japan and also trained several Mixed Martial Arts legends such as Kazushi Sakuraba, Josh Barnett, and Megumi Fujii just to name a few. Up until his passing in March 2014 he was still training new talent, working with fellow Coach Jake Shannon at Scientific Wrestling, training fighters at the Snake Pit gym in Japan and overseeing and working with the Head Coach at Snake Pit U.S.A..

Coach Robinson will be dearly missed as our friend and mentor. For more Catch Wrestling history and information on outstanding Catch Wrestling products, including more information about Billy visit www.ScientificWrestling.com. To purchase Billy Robinson’s bestselling book “Physical Chess” written by Jake Shannon visit www.Amazon.com and get your copy today! This book not only provides an amazingly detailed bio on Billy’s life, but unveils the real history behind Catch as Catch Can Wrestling.

FLOYD “BAD NEWS” WINTER

WRESTLING:

– FIRST American to win a GOLD MEDAL in Greco Roman International/World Competition, in U.S. Wrestling history

– Won 14 GOLD MEDALS in the Armed Forces Wrestling Championship

– Won 4 GOLD MEDALS in the Military World Championships

– 1977 U.S. National Greco Roman Champion

– 1977 U.S. National SAMBO Champion

– 1979 U.S. World Team member

– 1979 U.S. World Cup Greco Team member

COACHING:

– Assistant Coach on the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Teams

– Head Coach U.S. Army “All Army Wrestling Team” 8 Years

– Recruited and trained SEVERAL Olympians along with UFC/Wrestling Legend Randy “The Natural” Couture as U.S. Army Head Coach

– 2 x National Champion Head Coach

– USA Wrestling’s 2006 US SAMBO Coach of The Year-Led U.S. Team to 2nd Place finish at SAMBO World Championships

– Assistant Coach, West Point Military Academy

– Coached USA teams in numerous World, World Cup and International Championships

– USA National Coaching Staff 25 Years & Wrestling Official for 30+ years

– Head Coach, United States Air Force “All Air Force Wrestling Team” (2014- 2017)

– Head Coach, Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association, Board of Director

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