UK indy wrestler Kris Travis, who underwent multiple battles with stomach cancer, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 32. Travis had appeared on one of the seasons of TNA’s British Bootcamp and made a brief return to the ring in-between his battles with stomach cancer before the cancer came back a second time.
UK indy promotion Preston City Wrestling, who Travis wrestled for since their debut event, posted the following statement about his passing on Thursday:
“Today I received the call I thought that I would be ready for and told that Kris Travis had passed away. I am shell shocked by the news and it is such a huge loss to me and his PCW family.
I first spotted Kris and his amazing talent back in the days when I was a fan and I used to travel all around the UK to see shows. Be it at 1PW in front of a large crowd or the likes of DPW & NBW in front of a small social club crowd, Kris always stole the show with his larger than life charisma.
Fast forward to me becoming a promoter and Kris Travis had to be the first man in the main event, so there it was; Kris Travis vs Joey Hayes in front of 57 fans. It was actually a very good match and a shame we do not have any footage of this.
Once I set up PCW then Kris was again the first name I wanted to join us but Kris had a broken ankle (I may be wrong) and because of injury was not available for the booked main event of Project Ego vs Team Shag. He did still manage a small part in the dance off though as Nathan Cruz and Martin Kirby worked the match! Through our first year his matches with Lionheart instantly made him a fan favourite and the most popular guy on the show.At the first anniversary show Kris Travis became the PCW champion and he was overjoyed as he told me it was the first major singles title he had ever won. For the next four years Kris would consistently have amazing matches with the likes of Finn Balor, Joey Hayes, T-Bone, Chris Masters and Noam Dar as he just brought out the best in anybody he faced.
Backstage Kris was loved by all so for all his faults we could not dislike him in any way, regardless of the amount of times he used to be late and show up half was through a show.
Few other things come to mind when I think of Kris such as –
Everybody at one time in UK wrestling has tripped on an electrical lead trailing across the floor and looked down to see Kris Travis’ hair straighteners.
He hated travel so any bookings in Scotland or London he would complain like hell.
The amount of grief I used to get from promoters who booked him the day after PCW shows and he would show up looking like hell and not fit to work after a PCW after party.
I had a show night before my wedding followed by my stag party and gotten so drunk I woke up in a bed with Kris Travis the morning of my wedding. Don’t worry nothing happened… I hope haha.
Mid match he would forget what he was doing all the time and one time won the money in the bank match for us…. out of the blue.
As you can imagine Kris Travis was a huge part of my life, not just helping my company grow to what it is today but also being one of the reasons I had even given British Wrestling a chance in the first place after walking out of a show amazed at how good him vs Kevin Thorn was. If you don’t know who Kris is then please look up some of his matches. He was the best talent of recent years the UK produced that never ended up in the WWE. Illness aside I think that is exactly where he would be right now if in good health continuing his battles with Finn Balor in NXT.
We all miss you already Kris Travis, a fighter right until the end and always in good spirits even with a terminal illness. Both personally, professionally and as a fan and on behalf of myself and all at PCW we hope you’re now in a better place and will remain in our thoughts.
This Sunday’s show is in your honour, PCW owner Steven Fludder”
On behalf of the staff at Wrestleview.com, we send out our condolences to the family and friends of Travis during this tough time.