To achieve our mission of being Europe’s Must-See Professional Wrestling company, we have assembled a hard-working team that has vast knowledge and experience in all aspects of the professional wrestling business. We truly believe we have the right people in each position to help grow the 1PW brand in 2022 and beyond.
Steven Gauntley, Owner & Managing Director of 1PW LTD, is a name synonymous with 1PW and its influence to this day on the British wrestling scene. As the original creator of 1PW, Steven’s vision led the company through its most successful years as a major UK promotion.
Prior to 1PW, Steven ran highly successful wrestling merchandise business 1 UP Games, overseeing a sizeable team of employees and working as the official exclusive UK distributor for Wicked Figures, WWE Replica Belts, Ring of Honor and TNA Wrestling, and collaborating on Jakks Pacific’s UK exclusive WWE action figures line.
In 2005, Steven revolutionised the British professional wrestling landscape, paving the way for a whole new generation of fans. He sucesfully promoted over 25 large-scale arena shows and brought numerous world class pro wrestlers to British fans, including Bret “Hitman” Hart, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, Corey Graves, Christopher Daniels, Drake Maverick, Steve Corino and many more.
Under Gauntley’s leadership, 1PW became the first (and only) British wrestling promotion to negotiate retail distribution for its media properties, resulting in 1PW DVDs selling in HMV, Woolworths and other major retailers across the UK. The same media properties went on to be distributed internationally for the Portugese speaking retail market in Europe and South America.
Having witnessed first-hand the effects of addiction and mental illness throughout his early life and during his time in the industry, Steven took a step back from wrestling to work as an addiction counsellor and mental health advocate. This remains central to his core values and business ethos. During this time he also worked as a successful artist and published author, as well as remaining a devoted fan of professional wrestling.
A lifelong wrestling enthusiast and successful entrepreneur, Gauntley is as passionate as ever about the 1PW brand and its fanbase. And now, with several decades of life and business experience behind him, believes the time is right to usher in a new era of 1PW.
As one of the pioneers behind the successful British wrestling company British Wrestling Revolution (BWR), Adam Moverley brings his wealth of knowledge and experience as a wrestling promoter to his role as Owner & Director of 1PW LTD. In this role, Adam oversees all operational aspects of the company’s strategy, including booking and talent relations. He also plays an integral part in 1PW’s creative process, helping to shape the creative direction and storylines presented to our audience.
A lifelong wrestling fan, Adam was a regular at 1PW shows during the company’s original run which ignited a passion for the business from an early age. He began working in the industry in 2014 for a number of smaller wrestling companies, learning all aspects of the business. He launched BWR in 2017 and later established their training facility, the EVO Wrestling Academy.
In 2020, Moverley transitioned from his career as a Royal Air Force engineer to the entertainment industry full-time, further establishing himself as a wrestling promoter while also producing other live events including stand-up comedy and live music. Building off this success, and driven by his passion for the wrestling industry, Moverley remains focused on the development of the 1PW brand and aims to guide the company to a bright future.
Kay Smithson is the Fan Experience Manager for 1PW. Having worked for British Wrestling Revolution (BWR) since 2017, Kay has been instrumental in managing the delivery of their fan experience as well as building and maintaining standards, operating guidelines, processes, and other organisational aspects of BWR and their training facility, the EVO Wrestling Academy.
Kay brings this wealth of experience and expertise to 1PW in her role as our Fan Experience Manager. In this role, Kay is responsible for managing the front of house and merchandise sales teams, providing them with administrative and event management support while ensuring our fans receive the best possible experience at 1PW live events.
Mark Ashley is a key creative force behind the 1PW visual output
Ashley, a keen professional wrestling enthusiast for over three decades, has travelled thousands of miles up and down the UK filming countless wrestling shows for the last five years
Amongst his many artistic production contributions Ashley’s key efforts have been focused on the British Wrestling Revolution product, for whom Ashley successfully helped to launch the BWR On Demand platform in 2020
With an unrivalled eye for professional wrestling production and talent, Ashley has created fantastic content for many promotions in the UK, and now , after accruing all of that experience, will display his passion for creating and editing compelling content to help give 1PW world class creative production and content.