Looking Back at the World Thumb Wrestling Championship 2019 – The Best Ever

Summer 2019, meant only one thing: the world’s mightiest thumbs clashing once again at the World Thumb Wrestling Championships. This year’s contest not only saw some of the best bouts ever witnessed, but thanks to Paddy Power’s livestream of the event and post media coverage, there were more witnesses to the action than ever…

2019 marked the year that Thumb Wrestling hit the media stratosphere, with a Still Undefeated Mens Champions attracting vast media attention and Sponsorship partner Paddy Power’s Profile Resulted in appearances on Good Morning Britain, the BBC, along with live event coverage from the likes of Reuters, The Guardian, Vice News and Joe.co.uk who joined a variety of international broadcasters to cover the epic 2019 championships. Reigning World Champ Paul ‘Under the Thumb’ Browse and Intercontinental Champ Jack ‘The Gripper’ Reynolds embarked on a media blitz, whipping the world’s thumb-fans into a frenzy by showing off the techniques made them stars of the sport – this was the year Deontay Wilder the then boxing heavyweight champion of the world tried his hand at Thumb Wrestling by putting his thumb inside one of the WTWC match ready thumb wrestling rings and took on Alex Beresford from ITV.

With rain forecast for the day, there were fears of a washout, but in the end the gods smiled on what must surely be the highlight of their sporting calendar. The early rounds saw some fierce displays of competitive grappling, with some major upsets including the Gripper’s exit at the hands of former world champ Ian ‘Thumb-Ra’ Korner, who arrived at the Locks in company with the giant-killer of the game, Didier Thumb, the two demonstrating some devastating new techniques.

The kids’ competition drew some of the biggest fan reactions this year, with Louie ‘King Thumb’ Bellis being crowned champ after an impressive series of victories. Son of the legendary powerhouse Jed ‘Thumbertaker’ Bellis, young Louie has a style all his own, and here at Thumb Wrestling HQ, we’ve rarely seen such confidence in a warrior so young.

As the dust settled on the scene of King Thumb’s resounding victory, Paddy Power’s cameras geared up to broadcast the mens’ and womens’ finals.

All eyes were on returning three-time world champ Paul ‘Under the Thumb’ Browse, whose dominance of the sport has inspired a generation of challengers to take to the ring. Would this be the day his crown was taken?

From his first round it was clear that Browse meant business. Confidently dispatching some of the day’s most impressive battlers, the legendary Browse thumb moved slowly but surely towards the winner’s circle.

While ‘Under the Thumb’ was the clear favourite, over on the other side of the bracket, two former champs were showing off some fine form, with Jed ‘Thumbertaker’ Bellis and Ian ‘Thumb Ra’ Korner both impressing with a series of crushing victories. After a pair of flawless victories each, Thumbertaker and Thumb Ra clashed in a brutal semi-final. When the smoke had cleared, only one thumb was standing, and Thumbertaker advanced to the final to face the unstoppable digit of Paul Browse.

Click here to watch Paddy Power’s stream of the mens’ and womens’ finals!

Thanks to Paddy Power’s livestream, the atmosphere ahead of the finals was electric, with thousands of viewers looking on as the titans of the thumb ring prepared for their ultimate confrontation.

The womens’ final was, as usual, a showcase for deadly-quick, precision play, and this year’s finallists were a pair of duelling nans – both named ‘Nanny Thumb,’ and both from storied thumbwrestling dynasties. Nanny Thumb Cripps is the mother of former womens’ world champ Jenny ‘Thumbelina’ Cripps-Fuller, while Nanny Thumb Coleman is mother-in-law of the mens’ world champ Paul ‘Under the Thumb’ Browse. These two powerful contenders gave a fine demonstration of why the womens’ game has been growing in popularity in recent years. Nanny Thumb – perhaps exhausted from some slugging earlier matches – could not cope with the onslaught, and a new world champ was crowned, bringing yet more gold to the Browse family trophy cabinet.

Over at the mens’ final, Thumbertaker tried to take early control, using some powerful tombstone drops to try to weaken the champ. But thumbwrestling, as everyone knows, is a game just as much about skill as raw power, and the champ responded with a dazzling display of technical skill, bobbing, weaving, and ultimately dominating to bring home an unprecedented fourth world title.

The 2019 World Thumb Wrestling Championship was certainly one for the history books. This year saw some of the best matches ever seen, broadcast live across the world to an audience of millions and multip millions views of post match media, bringing the sport into more homes and countries than ever before. We’re already making plans to make the 2023 world Thumb Wrestling Championships an even bigger year for the sport of Thumb Wrestling, so watch this space for more Thumb Wrestling action!