UK Wrestler Jailed For Two Years After Hurting Opponent During Wrestling Match

UK indie wrestler James Riley has been jailed for two years after attacking aspiring wrestler Rob Wilson during a wrestling match and causing serious injuries to his head, according to reports from Metro.co.uk.

Wilson was training under Riley to become a pro wrestler. Part of his training included competing in indie shows to gain experience and the incident took place during one such event in February last year.

The victim explained the attack as a receipt for a botched kick from the trainee wrestler during their bout and he said that he was expecting Riley to hit him in the back:

“The assault was a result of his prior instruction. He was down on the floor and because I was the antagonist he said to me I should stay on top of him when he was down. I caught him with a kick to the gut area. He hissed at me “receipt” which is terminology for payback.

I positioned myself on my hands and knees and I was expecting him to hit me on the back but instead he kicked me in the face as if taking a goal kick in football.”

He went on to detail how he felt after receiving the kick from his opponent. The indie wrestler claimed that his face ‘exploded’ and it was the worst pain he had experienced in his life:

“It was the worst pain I had experienced in my life. My face just exploded and I realized it was a lot more than a broken nose. Blood was coming out like fountain and the canvass was red. I could hear the audience yelling to stop the fight.”

According to Paul Bray, a friend of Rob Wilson who was in attendance for the show, Riley was heard telling other wrestlers in his training school that he had ‘deliberately kicked Mr Wilson because he had hit some nerve damage.”

The injury has led to Wilson suffering from PTSD which caused him to lose his sales job. The young star now works as a warehouse operative.

Though Riley did send a text to his student the next day apologizing for his mistake and admitting that he acted like an animal. As per his lawyers, he has also retired from wrestling since then.

Apart from the prison sentence, the court has also issued a restraining order preventing James Riley from contacting the Wilson family for 10 years.