Danny Burch
Martin Harris (born 31 December 1981) is an English professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Danny Burch. He is currently inactive due to a separated shoulder. He is a former one time NXT Tag Team Champion with Oney Lorcan.[2] He has worked in the British independent circuit under the ring name Martin Stone with promotions such as Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA), and International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK).
Harris trained in the FWA Academy in 2003/04; competing under the ring name Joe Riot in various shows, including a match for All Star Wrestling in Croydon in Summer 2003;[4] making his first appearance at FWA:A’s Revenge – Chapter IV in losing effort to Leroy Kincaide on 29 November 2003 in Portsmouth. Harris made his first main roster appearance under the name “Martin Stone” on 4 September 2004, in a losing effort to Jack Xavier at a Live in Morecambe show. Stone would soon be paired with fellow FWA:A trainee Stixx and manager “Twisted Genius” Dean Ayass to form the tag team Stixx and Stone.
While still in the FWA, Stone travelled all over the United Kingdom, competing in several other promotions including: International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom, One Pro Wrestling, LDN Wrestling, and Real Quality Wrestling. Stone won several top titles in these promotions the most notable of which would be his 15-month title reign as IPW:UK Champion.
Back in the FWA, Stixx and Stone would quickly capture the FWA Tag Team Championships from the team of Hampton Court (Duke of Danger and Simmons) on 18 June 2005 at FWA NOAH Limits. Stone would be stripped of the title 16 months later after being unable to make a mandatory title defence on 19 November 2006 due to commitments with IPW:UK.
The tag title strip happened at the height of FWA’s “Civil War” with IPW:UK, which would quickly see then-IPW:UK champion Stone officially leave FWA to stay on the side of IPW:UK. Stone would lead the war against the FWA and is in preparation to face semi-retired FWA star Alex Shane in a Promotion v Promotion – Winner Takes All Match at Broxbourne on 16 March 2007. This match however ended up taking place in Orpington several weeks later, with Flash Barker replacing an injured Alex Shane.
In late April 2007, Stone represented Real Quality Wrestling in the prestigious King of Europe Cup where he was defeated by Go Shiozaki in the first round.
During this time Stone would compete in and win an RQW tournament at Not Just For Christmas to become RQW’s Heavyweight Champion. Stone defeated Iceman and Aviv Maayan in the first two rounds before defeating Pac in the final to win the vacant championship.
In September 2007, Stone began to compete regularly for the German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling. On 26 July 2008, Stone won the wXw Tag Team Championship alongside Doug Williams when the pair beat AbLas (Absolute Andy and Steve Douglas) at wXw Broken Rulz VIII in Oberhausen.[5]
In February 2008, Stone competed Chikara’s King of Trios tournament in Philadelphia, United States, teaming with The Kartel as Team IPW:UK, but were defeated in the second round of the tournament by the Golden Trio (Delirious, Hallowicked and Helios). On 28 August 2008, Stone defeated Eamon O’Neill and James Tighe to win the Premier Promotions Worthing Trophy.
On 13 February 2010 at the British Uproar event in Broxbourne, Martin Stone defeated Andy Simmonz in the tournament finals to become the first FWA World Heavyweight Champion.[citation needed] In a speech after the match he turned against the fans and claimed that he was only using British wrestling as a stepping stone to a big-money contract in the US. A month later he became the leader of “The Agenda”, a faction of FWA wrestlers with aims along the same lines.
On 14 March 2010 at PW101 Unstoppable at The Hubs in Sheffield. Martin Stone defeated 11 other men in the 101 Championship Rush match last defeating Martin Kirby to become Pro Wrestling 101’s first and only Heavyweight Champion. Upon returning to Britain in 2014, Stone challenged for Jack Jester’s ICW Heavyweight Championship but was defeated.[6]
