Bingo Ballance

Bingo Ballance (real name Gary Ballance) is a pro wrestler from Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland. Though primarily based in Ireland, and a full-time roster member of Irish Whip Wrestling, Ballance has also worked, and works, for a number of promotions in the United Kingdom.

2005
Ballance began his career with Irish Whip Wrestling, training in their school in Baldoyle from early June, 2005. Progressing exceptionally fast, Ballance débuted in a battle royal at Gym Wars 3, three weeks after he had begun training. Over the course of the year, he took part in a number of tag team matches (teaming mainly with Bam Katraz), and had a well-received singles match with Mad Man Manson towards the end of 2005. IwW fans named Ballance the Breakout Star of 2005 in an online poll at irishwhipwrestling.com.

2006
During 2006, Ballance began to move away from tag wrestling- following an exciting series, where he teamed with Red Vinny to face The Ballymun Bruiser and Keego Ward- and developed into more of a singles wrestler, helping to pioneer what IwW dubbed its "Zero Gravity" cruiserweight division, in exciting matches with Red Vinny, Pac, JP Monroe, Bubblegum, Canadian stars TJ Wilson and The Hornet, and NOAH star Ricky Marvin. Gaining a lot of momentum coming up to the end of 2006, many fans tipped Ballance to be the winner of the tournament to crown a Zero Gravity Champion, in January of the following year. (It was also in 2006 that Ballance was appointed Head Trainer of the IwW Training School, and helped bring a number of younger stars to the forefront of IwW shows around the country.)

2007
In January of 2007, Ballance reached the pinnacle of his career, becoming the first ever Irish Whip Wrestling Zero Gravity Champion, during a tournament in Balbriggan. Defeating his own trainee- and friend- Brother Skelly in the quarter finals, and pinning Emil Sitoci, in a triple threat match also featuring UK star Bubblegum, Ballance went on to the finals to face 'The Man That Gravity Forgot' Pac. After a gruelling match, where both men emptied their arsenals, Ballance was victorious, pinning Pac with the BSP, in front of a jubilant sold-out crowd, in Balbriggan.

A frequent defender of the Title, Ballance faced and defeated the likes of Red Vinny, Bam Katraz, Brother Skelly, Irish Dragon and 'Angry' Andy Barton, before losing the Championship in Balbriggan to hometown favourite Bam Katraz (at IwW Doomsday in Dublin, on June 23rd.)

Ballance recaptured the Zero Gravity Title two weeks later, at IwW Global Impact (in Waterford) pinning Katraz with his G-17 finisher, during a triple threat match also featuring Pac. He would hold the Title from July 6th until October 20th (defending against Red Vinny, Brother Skelly, Andy Barton, former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Kid Kash, and Dragon Gate star Keni'chiro Arai) when he was defeated by Red Vinny in Kilkenny. Ballance finished out the year with a singles match, defeating LA Warren in his hometown of Clontarf, in Dublin.

2008
During IwW's March tour in 2008, Ballance faced El Ligero in their first singles encounter on Irish soil, defeating the exciting luchadore with a G-17. He would go on to compete in a heated five-way match for the IwW Zero Gravity Championship (at IwW hotspot Donnycarney, in north Dublin) against reigning champion Red Vinny (who had suffered a foot injury a few months previous), Vic Viper, Bam Katraz and Scotland's Liam Thomson. Paying off Katraz to aid him in the match, Viper was able to eliminate Vinny from the action, blasting his injured foot with a steel chair, before going on to pin Thomson with his Snakebite finisher. (All five men received plaudits for the match, which was included on IwW's International Hits DVD.)Following this bout, Ballance & Viper tussled in an exciting series for the Title, competing in a number of two-out-of-three-falls matches around the country. Despite Ballance's best efforts, Viper would usually escape with the gold, after some shady tactics.

It was at IwW's biggest show of the year, however- in the National Basketball Arena, in Tallaght, before over 950 fans- that he was able to regain the Zero Gravity Title, pinning Viper, in a fourway match with Red Vinny and Metal Master. From June 14th, he would hold the Title until the end of the year, seeing off tough challenges from LA Warren, Vic Viper, Billy Boy Meehan, UK stars Wade Fitzgerald and T-Bone, and his own trainee Keith Connolly, amongst others. He would also see tag action, aligning himself with Mad Man Manson, and crowd favourites The Hurling Heroes (Captain Rooney and 'Mr. GAA' Conor Hurley) to face the likes of The Ballymun Bruiser, T-Bone, Billy Boy Meehan and LA Warren. For the second year in a row, Ballance finished out the year with a singles encounter with LA Warren, defeating the "Regulator" in a hard-fought best-of-three-falls match for the ZG Title.