Rest in Peace Billy Robinson
Famed catch wrestler Billy Robinson has passed away in his sleep at the age of 74. His students including Kazushi Sakuraba, Josh Barnett, and Shayna Baszler.
Jake Shannon of Scientific Wrestling reported on Facebook that catch wrestler Billy Robinson passed away in his sleep at his home near Little Rock, AR, at the age of 74.
I am unbelievably sad to report that my very good friend Billy Robinson passed away today. I hadn’t heard from him in days so I contacted his apartment complex to check in on him. When I called back for a progress report the apartment manager put the police on the phone, it seems he passed peacefully in his sleep. He was a lion of a man, bigger than life in so many ways, my wife and I named our youngest son, Lliam in his honor. You will be sorely missed, my friend. Thank you so much for living the life you did.
And Englishman, Robinson was a successful amateur wrestler who learned submissions at the famed Wigan school in the early 1960s.
He competed as a pro wrestler in Japan, Australia, Canada, and the US, achieving enormous respect for his immense skills. Retiring in the early 90s, he turned to coaching, and as a pro wrestling coach, he trained the likes of Ric Flair, The Iron Sheik, Sgt. Slaughter, and Ricky Steamboat.
He is known in mixed martial arts circles for being one of the few remaining threads connecting the present era to the tradition of submissions in Western rather than Eastern martial arts. Indeed, he brought the western submission tradition to Japan. His pro wrestling proteges in Japan that crossed over into MMA include, YojiAnjo, Megumi Fujii, KiyoshiTamura, and above all, the incomparable Kazushi Sakuraba.Other noted students include Josh Barnett, and ShaynaBaszler.
Robinson’s legacy has been invaluably aided by Jake Shannon’s ScientificWrestling.com.
In addition, Robinson coached at Matt Hamilton and Roli Delgado’s Westside MMA in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Billy Robinson
September 18,1938 – March 3, 2014