Callum Newman
| Callum Newman | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Callum Joseph Newman |
| Born | 31 August 2002 Havering, London, England, U.K. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names |
|
| Billed height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 98 kg (216 lb; 15 st 6 lb) |
| Billed from | Romford, Essex, England |
| Trained by |
|
| Debut | December 2017 |
Callum Joseph Newman (born 31 August 2002) is an English professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current third leader of the United Empire, and a two-time and current IWGP Tag Team Champion.
Early life
[edit]Newman's grandfather was Toni Granzi, one of the UK's greatest heel wrestlers, active in the 1950s and 1960s. Influenced by his grandfather, he attended a professional wrestling school near his home while continuing to play football. That's when Newman met Will Ospreay, who took Newman under his wing as his protege.[1]
Professional wrestling career
[edit]Early career (2017–2023)
[edit]Callum made his in-ring debut in December 2017. Newman proceeded to mainly wrestling on the British independent scene.[citation needed]
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2023–present)
[edit]On 8 September 2023, at Road to Destruction, Newman made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a member of the United Empire, facing Los Ingobernables de Japon in an eight-man tag team match in a losing effort.[2] He would spend the rest of the year mainly competing in tag matches with United Empire.
He participated in the 2024 New Japan Cup, where he lost to Gabe Kidd in the first round.[3] On July 5, Newman defeated Yoshi-Hashi in a six-man tournament final to win one of two qualification spots for the 2024 G1 Climax. From July to August, he took part in the G1 Climax finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and seven losses, failing to advance to the play-off match of the tournament.[4][5] He teamed with Jeff Cobb in the 2024 World Tag League, where they were placed in A-Block and scored 6 points, but failed to advance to the finals.
In March 2025, Newman participated in the 2025 New Japan Cup, where he lost to Tetsuya Naito in the first round.[6] On April 4 at Sakura Genesis, Newman and Cobb defeated Naito and Hiromu Takahashi to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. This would be Newman's first ever championship in a major promotion.[7] However, their reign would only last 9 days as the duo were forced to vacate the titles due to Cobb leaving NJPW.[8] After vacating the titles, Newman declared leadership of United Empire and challenged Hirooki Goto to match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, which was later made official for Wrestling Dontaku 2025.[9] On April 26, at Wrestling Redzone in Hiroshima, Newman and Great-O-Khan defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team Championship.[10] On 4 May at Wrestling Dontaku, Newman failed to defeat Goto for the world heavyweight title.[11][12]
Championships and accomplishments
[edit]- London Lucha League
- LLL Championship (2 times)
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times, current) – with Jeff Cobb (1) and Great-O-Khan (1, current)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Reloaded Championship Wrestling Alliance
- RCWA British Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Maverick Mayhew
References
[edit]- ^ More, Andy (26 December 2021). "Exclusive: Callum Newman On Becoming Will Ospreay's Protege". bodyslam.net.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (8 September 2023). "NJPW Road To Destruction Results (9/8): SANADA, Hiroshi Tanahashi, More". Wrestlezone.
- ^ "NJPW New Japan Cup Night Three Results (3/8): Shingo Takagi vs Yuya Uemura, Callum Newman vs Gabe Kidd | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
- ^ "G1 Climax 34 entrants revealed!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
- ^ Vetter, Chris (August 12, 2024). "NJPW "G1 Climax 34 Night 15" results (8/12): Vetter's review of Callum Newman vs. Gabe Kidd, Sanada vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Shingo Takagi vs. Jake Lee, Tetsuya Naito vs. Great-O-Khan, Shota Umino vs. Evil". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (2025-03-09). "NJPW "New Japan Cup" results (3/9): Vetter's review of Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Drilla Moloney, El Phantasmo vs. Great-O-Khan, and Bolton Oleg vs. Bad Luck Fale in first-round matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
- ^ "NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Goto vs. Finlay IWGP title match". F4W/WON. 2025-04-05. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
- ^ "Jeff Cobb leaving NJPW, IWGP Tag Team titles vacated". F4W/WON. 2025-04-14. Retrieved 2025-04-14.
- ^ New Japan Pro-Wrestling (April 14, 2025). "Callum Newman Relinquishes Titles, Challenges Goto in Impromptu Presser". NJPW.
- ^ Carey, Ian (April 26, 2025). "NJPW crowns new IWGP Tag Team Champions at Wrestling Redzone". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
- ^ Carey, Ian (April 14, 2025). "NJPW announces lineups for Wrestling Dontaku, other events". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
- ^ Thompson, Andrew (2025-05-04). "Hirooki Goto defending IWGP World Heavyweight Title against Zack Sabre Jr. at NJPW Resurgence - POST Wrestling | Podcasts, News, Reviews | WWE AEW NXT NJPW". POST Wrestling | Podcasts, News, Reviews | WWE AEW NXT NJPW. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
{{cite web}}: no-break space character in|website=at position 43 (help) - ^ Ross, Patrick (September 10, 2024). "Full 2024 PWI 500 list revealed". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
External links
[edit]
- New Japan Pro Wrestling Profile
- Callum Newman's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database
