From a fast food brawl that went viral to being tattooed in a wrestling match and everything in between, Tim Strange has become one of the biggest names in the wrestling deathmatch scene.
Winning TNT’s DOA tournament in 2026, Strange went on to challenge Tate Mayfairs for the top title at Going Off Big Time over May Bank Holiday weekend. To emerge the last man standing in the DOA, Strange had a gruelling night that featured 3 deathmatches. Looking back on that night, the Hardcore Hoss admitted that the space in between the matches was tougher than being in the ring itself:
“Well, you have the adrenaline going, so it’s like although you’re beaten up and you’re bloody, I think the hardest part is doing a match, then sitting in the back waiting for your next match, because your adrenaline’s high, then you drop, then you got to get your adrenaline’s high again, then you drop, then you go out again. I’ve done a few deathmatch tournaments and made the final of a few deathmatch tournaments, but never got the win. So you’re still doing three matches, but you’re not getting the fancy trophy to take home with you, so at least this way it was sort of like I’ve had a trophy to bring home with me after it was all said and done, and I had to do three death matches with some amazing people. I got to wrestle Iceman, who trained me. I got the wrestle Tommbie in a singles match for the first time, which we both wanted for a long time. And then I got the wrestle SHLAK, which was always a plus, wrestling someone like that.”
Despite the painful ordeal, Strange added that it was an honour to take home the trophy. It should also be noted that while Strange has become known in the deathmatch world for the past 4 years, he is a 20-plus-year veteran in the pro wrestling world:
“It was a great experience. My first death match tournament win since I started doing deathmatches four years ago. This is my 24th year wrestling. and I only got into deathmatches because I’ve always been a fan of deathmatches, watching it years and years and years ago, and then obviously I thought, well, I’m only gonna have a few years left, see how it goes, and then eventually it’s the sun sets on everyone’s day, eventually, and I was thinking, I may as well try it. Because I never want to bow away from wrestling, and think I never really did that, I should have tried it, because I might have enjoyed that, but then, obviously, that’s doing deathmatch wrestling, I met so many fantastic people, and so many guys. Been in America a few times, flown over to America to wrestle. It’s like a new lease and a whole new career, just starting in death match wrestling. So, technically, like 24 years in wrestling, four years in death matches, and I think I found my calling with death match wrestling, because I love death matches, and the stories you can tell a bit more. Obviously I love wrestling, but this sort of new style of wrestling, new genre wrestling, is new to me; it’s fresh, so really enjoying it. But obviously, TNT DOA was probably one of the highlights.”
Recently in America over WrestleMania 42 weekend, Strange had a unique moment that went viral during one of his matches overseas. Competing for XPW, Strange and Beast Man started their match inside The Dive Bar in Las Vegas. However, things spilt outside and saw both men brawling inside the fast-food chain Popeye’s. Having previously worked for Tim Hortons and knowing how draining working in hospitality can be, Strange also hoped that he was able to give the staff a fun moment as well as the fans:
“Well, it started off because we were wrestling at a place called a Dive Bar, which is a lovely bar just outside the strip in Las Vegas. I wrestled there a few times, and it was me and Beast Man. We spilled out into the street, and then the fans started chanting, ‘Popeye’s! Popeyes! Popeye’s!’ We thought f*ck it, let’s just go to Popeye’s. So we just did a brawl through, and obviously the people at Popeyes loved it. We had messages from the managers, the next day saying, ‘Oh, we’re famous now. Thank you,’ and all this sort of stuff. But I think it would be like a highlight of the day for someone if you’re working fast food. I’ve worked in Tim Hortons in Canada when I was younger, and every day is pretty much the same. You’re just serving food and cooking food and everything like that. So, obviously, very rarely do you have a cowboy and a caveman conversing through and fighting. So it was a good experience. We didn’t think it would catch on as much as it did. We just thought it would just be something fun for the people who were there, but obviously it got some attention online, so some good, some bad. But you know, you roll with the punches, you go with it. Everyone was worried that we’re going to shut Popeye’s down, a million-dollar chain that probably has loads of fights on a regular basis, because normally caters to people who are out drinking and partying all night. But you know, the one incident that we have is going to shut it down, but it didn’t. They’re thriving still, they’re doing well. We didn’t kill Popeyes.”
When asked about a Popeye’s deathmatch, Strange responded that while it would be unlikely, he has done deathmatches in stranger places than a fast food establishment.
The most extreme form of pro wrestling, deathmatches are guaranteed to be extremely violent and with a high quantity of bloodshed. Along with the standard light tubes, barbed wire and thumbtacks, TNT Wrestling often incorporates gusset plates into its deathmatches. For those unaware, gusset plates are used in housing to connect beams together. Able to fit in the palm of a wrestler’s hand and covered in metal spikes, it’s no surprise that these have become a signature of TNT matches.
“You’ll Never Get A More Loyal Fan Than A Deathmatch Fan”: Tim Strange
That being said, there still is a stigma to deathmatch wrestling. Some still see the matches as violent for the sake of violence, too low-brow, and a form of wrestling that should no longer exist. However, while some may feel this way, TNT regularly selling out shows in Liverpool, and extreme promotion CZW set to come to the UK later in 2026, has proved that there clearly is a market for the spectacle. Addressing the criticisms, Strange believes there is room for the extreme side of pro wrestling in the modern day:
“It’s the same with anything, like you see the good press, the bad press that people get. No matter what you do, there’s got to be someone out there that likes you, there’s going to be other people out there that don’t like you. You’re never going to be everyone’s cup of tea, nor should you want to be. You have to be there for the people that like you. I think if you’re a nice enough person, the fans will get behind you anyway, whether they’re a big fan of yours or if they just tolerate you and enjoy some of your matches. It’s one of those things where deathmatch wrestling isn’t for everybody, and I’m not knocking normal wrestling fans, but you’ll never get a more loyal fan than a deathmatch wrestling fan. People will go online they’ll say the same sh*t all the time, ‘Oh, all this for a hot dog or handshake? All this for a warm beer?’ I don’t argue with them, just let them get on with it. They put that online, they think they’re funny, and then they scroll down and tell other people who said the same thing, and all it is is they’re creating the content, more people are going to see it because they’re interacting with it.
“You don’t like it? That’s all right. You don’t think it’s wrestling? That’s fine. When you just enjoy what you enjoy, don’t try to stop someone else from enjoying what they enjoy, either watching or doing. It doesn’t matter, just let people be, get some enjoyment. The world’s negative enough without people trying to sh*t on everyone trying to enjoy themselves and do what they love.
Some of the worst ones for it are other promotions. If any business is talking down to another business, I would say the only good about your company that you could talk bad about them? Tell me what you’re doing that’s good. Tell me what you’re doing that you want to watch it, because you don’t mean a lot of these people, they’re not doing anything, they recreate the wheel, and they get jealous of these other guys who are getting the reactions by doing what they’re doing and enjoying themselves, and people will go and do all this sort of stuff online, and promote wrestling shows, and hire big names, ex-WWE guys, and they’ll do all this stuff, but then 2 guys will go through Popeye’s and get a big reaction. Then it sh*ts on their parade, because they go, ‘What happened? They get that reaction. I’ve just spent 1000s and 1000s of dollars or pounds on the show, and I’m not getting that sort of reaction or interaction on post.’ I say, Well, don’t sh*t on people, just go and do you. People will buy it. People will go on. People will enjoy it, and the fans that do enjoy it, enjoy yourselves, have fun, because, as I say, you work hard for your money. You spend your money on these shows. You want to go and enjoy the shows. You don’t need to be at each other’s throat all the time. There’s too much of this tribalism in wrestling, if we all got along, it’d be a lot better place, there’d be a lot more opportunity for fans to get more enjoyment from it, without having to pick a side. If you don’t enjoy something, don’t watch it. If you do watch it, that’s it. That’s all. It’s not hard.”
Away from the deathmatch wrestling scene, Strange will be one of many names to join The National Wrestling League, which will launch in the summer of 2026. Signed to the Northeast Outlaws, Strange will team up with Jake Hager and Martin Kirby to face many notable names from the UK indy scene and beyond in the pro wrestling and football hybrid. Excited and intrigued by the concept, the Hardcore Hoss can’t wait for the debut show:
“It is a great concept. Very excited about that. So, it’s Northeast Outlaws. It’s a great team behind it, a great roster. It’s going to be some amazing shows, and it’s going to breathe, I think, some fresh air into pro wrestling. Not that it’s stale or not that it’s anything like that, but I think it’s like having a different concept is never a bad thing if you deliver and everyone believes in the concept that are partaking in it, and I think it’s a big part of it. Everyone’s on board, all the guys that we speak to are involved in it, everyone’s looking forward to it, and I believe that it can be something big and something good for British wrestling, because it is taking two passions, which is football and pro wrestling, and merging them together.
The rules, you got a 15 minute time limit. You got an interval in the middle. You’ve had as many falls as you can in that 15 minutes. The winner gets three points for their team. There’s a league table, there’s red cards and yellow cards. It’s sort of adding a breath into the stories you can tell and the matches you can have with these people. Everybody on the show is very, very talented individuals, so there’s not going to be a bad match on the shows. Every match that you see is going to be good. You can’t put the roster that they have and put people together in matches and make a bad match. I would challenge anyone to do that, try to make a bad match out of the roster they’ve announced. You’d be hard to, because all the guys are experienced wrestlers, and they all bought into the concept, and they’re all looking forward to actually representing the teams and things like that.
Obviously, I’m from Canada, but I document that I live in the northeast of England, so like me and Martin Kirby, who’s a good friend of mine, one of my longest friends in wrestling, me and him are Northeast Outlaws. You’ve got Prince Ameen coming back to manage the London team. You’ve got Stevie Aaron, whom I’ve known for probably longer than I’m here to remember. The whole team behind it, you’ve got the Gallus boys, Wolfgang and Mark Coffey involved, you got Rampage Brown… Every name that you put out there is a brilliant wrestler, and I think watching these shows is going to breathe new fresh air into it. I know they’ve got a show in June in Middlesbrough that they’re giving away free tickets for people as a pre-season, just to say come and watch a show. Now you’re not going to get talent like that on a show that you watch for free. This is not going to be a gala show where you just go to a fairground and have a wrestling set up with some guys who just probably in their second, third match in. These are these are very experienced veterans of the ring going in and wrestling in Middlesbrough to give a preseason because the guys believe in the concept and they believe what they’re putting out there is good.
Look at the people they brought in; they’re bringing in D’Lo Brown, they’re bringing in Jake Hager. You’ve got Kurt Angle in Manchester. You’ve got to back this concept because if you get behind it, and it’ll be a very successful thing. It’s not trying to push anyone else out. It’s not coming and replace anything else there, it’s just another way of looking at wrestling, which I think is good. They’re not trying to replicate someone or copy someone or take someone else’s spot, they’re just creating a new genre of wrestling that people can go and enjoy. Like any genre, if you enjoy it, go watch it, buy a jersey, support your team.”
When asked about dream opponents as part of the league, Strange listed Glasgow Hitmen’s Wolfgang and Yorkshire Titans Luke Menzies as those he wanted to get in the ring with the most.
Additionally, Strange has competed against House of Glory wrestler Joey Slade, who has now been a part of the UK wrestling scene for over a decade despite being just 20 years old. After first joking that Slade is his son following “a fling in Skegness”, Strange had a lot of praise for the Hellbound member and current FFW Heavyweight Champion:
“He’s a hell of a talent, a hell of a kid, a great guy. He’s not a kid anymore, but I’ve known him [for years] and I think he’s come along so much over the last few years. He finally found his feet and his calling, and he plays the role so well, and he does so good on the show. I’ve had an opportunity to wrestle him at True Grit, and it was a great little match for him. We enjoyed it. I mean, it was a match we both wanted. So, when it happened, it was something to get excited about. I love wrestling anybody, but sometimes when you get that match where you already have a relationship with someone and you’re already friends with them on a friendly basis, you know, I want to go out and do the best I can. And obviously, Joey always plays a role so good that it’s hard not to hate him, it’s hard not to love him. Either plucky underdog or a mouthy little sh*t, but either way, he plays it all so well, hell of a credit to the training school.”
Tim Strange Explains What Goes Into A Fish And Chip Deathmatch
Wrestling has a rich history of bizarre stipulations. From the reverse battle royal to the kennel from hell and all the objects on a pole, wrestling at times can be equally entertaining and ridiculous. In April 2025, Strange faced Franco Fate in a fish and chip deathmatch. On top of the fish hooks and danger of wrestling itself, Strange admitted that another element of the match made things a lot worse:
“That was me and Franco Fate. So the ropes were fishing line with fishing hooks in it. We had salt, vinegar, panes of glass, stuff like that. The worst thing was the vinegar, not because I got into the cuts, but because I was doing a bit where I was trying to put some in my mouth to sort of like spit it at him, but the cap thing that makes it squirt came out, so I poured like half a bottle of vinegar in my mouth, and then like the whole thing afterwards, you just stunk of vinegar, and then there was no showers at the venue. Luckily for me, one of the lads, Jay, who runs the SWE in Scotland, his venue was right across the road. He also used it as a training gym, and he was like, ‘I got the key here, I’ll come down, let you in, you can get a shower on that there.’ So I managed to give a shower before I head back, because I didn’t fancy spending three and a bit hours in the car stinking of vinegar. I don’t think that would have been very nice for not only me, but passengers in the car with me. I don’t think it would have been the greatest smell, but the fish and chip match, actually any match with Franco is great. I love Franco, he’s such a great guy, such an amazing talent. I wouldn’t say he’s underrated, but I think sometimes he is often overlooked for his ability that he has. He started out there a lot more now, and getting a lot of big shows, and big matches, which I love to see, but that should have happened three years ago, because he’s been killing it every show I’ve seen him on, he’s killed it. So I can’t recommend Franco enough. Franco Fate, anybody, any promoter watches this, book Franco Fate.”
Speaking of fish and chips, fans who attended wrestling shows in Skegness in 2006 may have seen the duo of Los Pervitos [The Anticipated] in action at shows in the seaside town. The duo of Tim Pervito and Mojo Pervito [Prince Ameem] also competed all around the country from 2006 to 2008 as the tag team, winning the RdW and W3L tag titles in the process. Looking back at the Skegness shows in particular, Strange has fond memories of the town:
“Every memory of Skeggy is a fun one. The Suncastle in Skegness has always sort of been a good place for me. So it was me and Mojo, who later became Prince Ameem, who used to tag teams as Los Pervitos, and it was sort of just a knock off Los Guerreros, because we’re massive fans of Eddie Guerrero, Chavo, and Art Barr and like that. So we tried to incorporate the lie, cheat and steal. That feels like a lifetime ago now, but Skegness was always good, because that’s when I first started in the industry, so going to Skegness is when I got to meet people like Ricky Knight and Saraya and the Knights, and then the UK Pit Bulls, who then became like probably my biggest advocates, a lot of times help me with wrestling. They’ve always been those sort of help me and guide me, like Mike and Dave from the Pit Bulls, and the Knight family, they’ve always looked after me. So when I go down to wrestle in Norwich, when I go down to wrestle for the Pit Bulls, they’ve always been good to me, and they’re always looking out for me whenever I see them. It’s always good to see them in the locker room and share a locker room with them and reminisce and talk about these days.
But I remember having tag matches with them when I was starting out, probably wasn’t a finished article, but these guys looked after you and made you look good and helped you out a lot, so it was always good to do that, and now do that for other people. When you wrestle people who are inexperienced and you help them out with the matches and stuff, it’s always nice to give back. I think that’s where a lot of Skegness stuff is where we learned to do that, because that’s what people used to do for us. So, it’s a good way of looking at things, and some very good memories down there.”
Fans can keep up with Tim Strange and check out upcoming bookings on his Instagram page.
