Mark Haskins
Mark Haskins, is an English professional wrestler, He is currently performing on the British independent scene. He is known internationally for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as well as his appearances in Ring of Honor, Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Dragon Gate, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Haskins debuted on July 22, 2006, for FWA Academy by teaming up with Tom Langford to defeat Mark Sloan and Ollie Burns. He was involved in his first cage match just days after his debut, losing to Mark Sloan and Ollie Burns. He debuted for Premier Promotions on September 7, 2006. Haskins would go on to wrestle many matches for Premier Promotions over the years, mostly British Rules matches. He was part of the FWA Academy Championship Number One Contendership tournament and got to the semi-finals before being eliminated by Max Voltage. His last match for FWA Academy came at the beginning of 2007 by teaming with Tommy Langford and defeating Doug Williams and Jake McCluskey.Haskins debuted for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom on April 1, 2007, with Dan James, Harry Mills, & Tommy Langford defeating Ian Logan, Jake McCluskey, Jamie Brum, and Wade Fitzgerald. He would then team up with The Chavs in a losing effort on April 4, 2007. Haskins and Mills participated in a One Pro Wrestling six-team gauntlet match for the 1PW Tag Team Championship and also lost to BritRage in a match for the 4FW Tag Team Championship.
In August, he debuted for Joint Promotions and real-quality wrestling. He participated in a British National Championship Tournament and got to the quarterfinals before being beaten by Terry Fraizer. For one night on January 13, 2008, he changed his name to Skins and lost to El Ligero.
Haskins teamed with The Saint to take on BritRage for the 4FW Tag Team Championship in February and lost.
Haskins won an IPW:UK Championship #1 Contendership Battle Royal only to lose to the champion Martin Stone.
In March, he lost a 28-man Royal Rumble at IPW:UK.
Haskins and Bison Smith lost to Kotaro Suzuki and Mitsuharu Misawa at A-Merchandise's Noah vs. UK event.
Upon making his debut for Irish Whip Wrestling on December 6, 2008, he beat Red Vinny, The Ballymun Bruiser and Vic Viper for the RQW Cruiserweight Championship.
At the beginning of 2009, he lost a 4FW Heavyweight Championship Number One Contendership five-way ladder match. On February 28, 2009, he lost the Extreme Measures 2009 Tournament, and at Premier Promotion, he lost in the finals of a one-night tournament.
On April 6, 2009, Haskins and Mark Sloan won the PWF Tag Team Championship Tournament for the vacant PWF Tag Team Championship by defeating Roy Knight and Zak Zodiac.
He lost the RQW Cruiserweight Championship to the British Eagle only to win it back days later.
Haskins lost a three-way match for the wXW World Lightweight Championship on July 4, 2009. He also won the 2009 Ian Dowland Trophy.
On his return to Europe from Dragon Gate, he performed at the British Allstar Wrestling Alliance, losing to Team H8.
At All-Star Wrestling, he lost to Mikey Whiplash for the World Mid-Heavyweight Championship. In the 2011 16 Carat Gold Tournament, Haskins advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Big Van Walter.
The Thrillers (2007–2009)
Haskins formed a team with Joel Redman known as The Thrillers; on their debut match together, they lost to The South Coast Rock 'n' Roll Express on July 14, 2007, which involved a special guest referee. The team would go on a losing streak for the next few months and even lost to The Kartel in a match for the IPW:UK Tag Team Championship. The Thrillers won their first match as a tag team in a dark match by defeating JP Monroe and Jules Lambrini on January 27 January 2008.The team debuted for Real Quality Wrestling on February 16, 2008, and defeated the Maximum Head and would next month beat The Lost Boys. After their two successful matches, they challenged The Damned Nation on April 26, 2008, for the RQW Tag Team Championship which they won.
The Thrillers returned to IPW:UK on May 4, 2008, triumphant with tag team gold in the form of the RQW Tag Team Championship, only to lose the championship to The Kartel in a championship unification match that also involved the IPW:UK Tag Team Championship. The team debuted for One Pro Wrestling losing to BritRage. However, they would beat The Kartel on September 28, 2008, for the Unified British Tag Team Championship. The Thrillers would then debut for Westside Xtreme Wrestling at the beginning of 2009 and win a wXw Tag Team Championship contendership match defeating Adam Polak and Lazio Fe. With that win, they challenged Doug Williams and Martin Stone for the wXw Tag Team Championship the following month, but were unable to win the title.
Upon their return to IPW:UK, The Thrillers lost the Unified British Tag Team Championship to The Leaders of The New School. The Thrillers tried to regain the championship on two separate occasions, the first ending in DQ and the second where they were defeated cleanly in a tables, ladder and chairs match.
Dragon Gate (2009–2011, 2013, 2014)
Haskins debuted for Dragongate on October 31, 2009, during their European tour stop in Germany, teaming with Tommy End in a losing effort against The Young Bucks. A day later, in the UK, Haskins defeated Kagetora. Haskins joined Dragon Gate in February 2010 for a two-month tour, making his Japanese debut on February 6 and losing to Don Fujii. The Haskins tour finished on March 22, teaming with Akira Tozawa and Kagetora and losing to Makoto Hashi, Naoki Tanizaki and Pac at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. Haskins returned to Dragon Gate in May for another two-month tour, finishing up on July 11 at Dragon Gate's biggest show of the year, the Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival. In August, Haskins teamed up with Pac to take part in the Summer Adventure Tag League, finishing the tournament with one win and four losses. On September 6, Haskins lost to Pac in his final Dragon Gate match in Japan. Haskins has further competed in Dragon Gate as part of their European and UK tours in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014.Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011–2012)
Haskins wrestled on TNA's European Tour in January 2011. He made another appearance with TNA on July 10 at Destination X, where he was defeated by compatriot Douglas Williams. Haskins made his return to TNA on the August 11, 2011 edition of Impact Wrestling, appearing in a backstage segment where Eric Bischoff introduced new rules to the X Division. On August 18, 2011, TNA announced that Haskins had signed a contract with the promotion. On that evening's episode of Impact Wrestling, he took part in a gauntlet match to determine the X Division rankings. After eliminating Alex Shelley and Robbie E from the match, Haskins was himself eliminated by Zema Ion, placing him sixth in the rankings. Haskins returned to Impact Wrestling on February 2, 2012, losing to X Division Champion Austin Aries in a match taped in London. During the match, Haskins suffered a concussion and a neck injury, rendering him inactive for several months. After several months of inactivity, on September 14, 2012, it was reported that Haskins had parted ways with TNA, after the promotion opted not to renew his contract.Return to British independent circuit (2012–present)
Although signed to TNA, Haskins continued to perform for British independent promotions. He made his return to the British independent circuit on February 4, 2012, at All Star Wrestling where he lost to Dean Allmark and the next day lost to him again in the semi-final of a one-night tournament. Haskins would appear frequently for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom, New Generation Wrestling and Southside Wrestling Entertainment.At Preston City Wrestling's Blood, Sweat, and Beers, Haskins lost to T-Bone in a match for the PCW Championship, which also included Johnny Moss. The Thrillers would reunite at IPW:UK No Escape 2012 and lost to Project Ego.
At NGW Destiny 2012, Haskins took part in a NGW Heavyweight Championship number one contendership 30 Man Royal Rumble. At SWE Speed King, Haskins lost to Ego Dragon in the semi-final of the SWE Speed King Championship Tournament and, a month later, took on Marty Scurll for the same championship. At IPW:UK Extreme Measures 2012, Haskins lost to Akira Tozawa in the semi-final of the Extreme Measures 2012 Tournament. At SWE Supremacy, Haskins lost to Stixx in a match to decide the SWE Heavyweight Champion. Two days later, he would lose to Prince Devitt in a fatal four-way fight for the IPW:UK British Cruiserweight Championship, which also included El Ligero and Noam Dar. On January 19, 2013, Haskins lost to Zack Sabre Jr. in a qualifying match for the 16-carat gold tournament. When Dragon Gate returned to tour the UK, he wrestled at all three events, where he developed a small feud with Marty Scurll, which, on February 24, 2013, culminated with Scurll going over Haskins. On March 16, 2013, at Eastmount Recreation Centre in Hull, Haskins defeated 29 other men to become the new New Generation Wrestling Champion. On May 18, 2013, he went on to successfully defend the title against Kris Travis at Victoria Hall, Keighley. In June 2013, Mark defeated Jimmy Jacobs in the main event, and in August 2013, Mark defeated Sabu in a main event hardcore match, both for Wu-Tech Wrestling, which was based in Worcester, England, and the match happened at the Rainbow Hill Club, in Worcester.
On February 11, 2013, Haskins won a six-man match to be crowned the Premier British Wrestling "King of Cruisers" 2013, winning over Noam Dar, Kenny Williams, Joey Hayes, El Ligero and CJ Banks.
Mark Haskins has been a regular at Southside Wrestling Entertainment since August 2012 and won the heavyweight title on October 27, 2013. He subsequently defended the title against Uhaa Nation and made a second defence against former WWE star Trent Barreta on March 9 March 2014.
In 2017, Haskins was part of the ROH War of the Worlds UK defeating Silas Young on night 2 but losing to Hiromu Takahashi on night 3. In August he wrestled against Shane Strickland for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort.
On December 4, 2017, Haskins debuted for Defiant Wrestling at #WeAreDefiant as a heel, attacking Martin Kirby with Chris Ridgeway. Austin Aries ran down to seemingly save Kirby; however, he attacked Kirby instead and aligned himself with Haskins and Ridgeway. On the 29 December episode of Defiant, Haskins, alongside Ridgeway, Aries and other members of the IPW:UK roster, attacked the ring crew, Jimmy Havoc, Primate, BT Gunn, and Joe Coffey, and also attacked the commentator team, choking Dave Bradshaw, knocking out James R. Kennedy, and destroying the ring.
On March 26 March 2017, Haskins and Jimmy Havoc defeated Aussie Open and BT Gunn & Joe Coffey to win the Defiant Tag Team Championships.