Gripping final as Ben walks off with toe wrestling trophy
ASHBOURNE has a new world champion.
The very man who is working to secure the future of the Ashbourneborn sport of World Toe Wrestling, Ben Woodroffe, has just limped away with the world title, after beating off stiff competition from reigning world champion Alan “Nasty” Nash.
Ben, 33, knocked out the Stokebased legend of the sport, who won his first world championship in 1994, in a year Alan pledged he was due to retire from his glittering toe wrestling career, having held the title 17 times.
The annual championships, which began in 1976 at Ye Olde Royal Oak in Wetton before moving to The Bentley Brook in Fenny Bentley, have been unable to go ahead due to the pandemic for the last two years, and Ben and Alan have almost become the last bastions of the sport.
Ahead of Alan’s retirement this year, he and Ben were co-owners of the World Toe Wrestling Federation, which they are both keen to see brought back to the international fame it once enjoyed.
And now the celebrated “toedium” has a new home, at the Ex Servicemen’s Club in the Market Place, which Ben hopes will be the perfect platform to help the championships stride forward and back to the size and scale of its heyday in the 1990s and 2000s.
But in the meantime Ben, a materials controller, is basking in his glory at beating one of the sport’s best-known names, and taking home his first ever world title.
He told the News Telegraph: “It feels awesome, this is something I’ve been trying to do for many, many years now, and to finally not only beat Alan – it’s the first time I’ve been able to beat him in any competition at all – but to beat him in a final is just the icing on the cake. So I’ve retired him a loser.”
Ben explained the action was tense in the men’s final, as each heat led to an eventual showdown of the two goliaths, and after two rounds it all came down to a gripping decider, with both athletes determined to take the win.
Ben said: “I beat him for the first time on the right side, then he beat me on the left. And then it was the final decider, which was on the right.
“It probably took about 15 minutes, the last round, because it was that tight. None of us were giving an inch to begin with.
“And then I just stared him in the eyes, nodded at him, and told him ‘I’ve got this one, this is mine,’ and then that was it, I beat him.”
Although the men’s final might be the highlight of the annual event, it is not the only competition on the night, with trophies and world titles also going to juniors and ladies champions.
And this year 10-year-old Dolly Millward maintained her place as the most decorated junior toe wrestler by winning her class, while her mother Dawn Millward took the Ladies World Championship title.
Ben now wants to keep building up the momentum of the event as it continues to recover from the pandemic and a relatively small following since its heyday.
He says: “We’ve had to build it from the ground up again after it got a bit neglected. We just want to get it back to what it should be, focusing on the actual sport, and with the venue second to the game.
“It’s growing slowly. Compared to 2019 when there was just four men, two women, and two kids, the crowd is already a lot bigger, and the atmosphere has been incredible, so I’m sure it has a bright future.
“We’re grateful to the Ex Servicemen’s Club for hosting it and for wanting to be part of it, and it’s a central venue accessible to everyone.
“Anyone can do toe wrestling, there’s nothing to stop them walking in off the street, taking part, and maybe walking out a world champion.
“It’s not easy, but it’s definitely possible.”