Cara Noir

Thomas Dawkins,^[2] better known by his ring name Cara Noir, is an English professional wrestler, best known for his work on the British independent circuit. His character has been described as the black swan of professional wrestling,^[3] and is noted for his distinctive moveset, owing to previous involvement in ballet, dance, and mixed martial arts.^[4]

Cara Noir
Cara Noir in March 2020 at 16 Carat Gold
Birth name	Thomas Dawkins^[1]
Alma mater	De Montfort University
Website	http://caranoir.com/
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Cara Noir Dark Lord El Pavo Real Pure Britannico Tom Dawkins Thomas Dawkins
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight	198 lb (90 kg)
Trained by	Julia Knight / London School of Lucha Libre
Debut	13 June 2010

Professional wrestling career

Following minimal success under his birth name and other pseudonyms, a conversation with Chris Brookes saw him develop the character of Cara Noir, which he debuted in January 2017.^[3] Initially a heel, he quickly became a face, largely due in part to his elaborate entrance in which he comes out to the famous pas de trois as used in the revival of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.^[3] In July 2019, his breakthrough moment happened while wrestling for Riptide, with his performance in a defeat to Pac being critically acclaimed.^[5]

In September 2019, Noir began wrestling for Progress, first appearing at the Natural Progression Series tournament, where he was defeated by eventual winner Scotty Davis,^[6] and then at Chapter 95, where he was defeated by Pete Dunne.^[7] From October to December, he was involved in a series of matches with Ilja Dragunov. Having traded wins over each other at Chapter 96 and Chapter 97,^[8][9] the feud was ended at Chapter 99 in a two out of three falls match, in which Noir won.^[10] At Chapter 100, Noir won a title shot for Eddie Dennis' Progress Unified World Championship,^[11] but Dennis had to vacate the title due to injury, and in January 2020, at Chapter 101, Noir defeated Dragunov, Kyle Fletcher and Paul Robinson in a four-way match to win the title.^[12]

In January 2020, Noir appeared in Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), confronting Marius Al-Ani, and confirming his participation in the promotion's annual 16 Carat Gold tournament.^[13] At the event, he defeated Al-Ani, Jeff Cobb and Eddie Kingston on his way to the final, where he overcame crowd favourite Mike Bailey in a rare face vs. face contest.^[3] Noir returned to wXw later in the year for the Catch Grand Prix. He tied the block alongside Metehan with nine points, and made the final because of their head-to-head record in the tournament.^[14] He faced Al-Ani in the final (who had since gone on a winning streak since their previous matchup), in which he was pinned in the eleventh round.^[15]

Personal life

Outside of wrestling, he works as a personal trainer, and co-founded Reset Lab, an alternative health and fitness company, with his partner. He graduated from De Montfort University in 2010, where he was a member of the rugby union first team.

Championship and accomplishments

• "'Riot Cabaret Pro Wrestling
  • Riot Cabaret World championship (1 time)
• Attack! Pro Wrestling
  • Attack! Championship (1 time)^[16]
  • Attack! 24:7 Championship (4 times)^[17]
• Hope Wrestling
  • Hope Championship (1 time)^[18]
  • Hope Kings Of Flight Championship (1 time)^[19]
• International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom
  • Z-Force Championship (1 time)^[20]
• Leicester Championship Wrestling
  • LCW Championship (1 time)
• LDN Wrestling
  • LDN Academy Championship (1 time)^[21]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 72 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2020^[22]
• Progress Wrestling
  • Progress Unified World Championship (1 time)^[23]
• Westside Xtreme Wrestling
  • wXw 16 Carat Gold Tournament (2020)^[3]
• XWA
  • British Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

1. "Faking It". Men's Health UK. No. September 2016. Hearst. p. 109. One of the fittest of the British wrestlers here is Thomas Dawkins – AKA Pure Britannico – a 29-year-old personal trainer from east London.
2. Saalbach, Axel. "Cara Noir/General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
3. Gronemann, Markus (14 March 2020). "A look back at last weekend's wXw 16 Carat Gold 2020 tourney". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
4. "Tom Dawkins: Movement Profile". Reset Lab Gymnastics. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
5. Csonka, Larry (1 August 2019). "Csonka's Top 42 Matches of July 2019: Moxley vs. Ishii, Ibushi vs. Ospreay, More". 411Mania.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020. From Riptide Wrestling 7.05.19: Pac vs. Cara Noir [****]
   Hamilton, Ian (14 July 2019). "MATCH REVIEW: CARA NOIR VS. PAC (RIPTIDE WRESTLING, POINT BREAK) (JULY 05, 2019)". backbodydrop.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
   Walker, Jamie (10 July 2019). "REVIEW: Pac turns up at Riptide Wrestling". The Argus. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
   Bushby, Martin; Benson, Richard (10 July 2019). "BWE 7/10/19: Progress Ch. 90 & 92, EVE Wrestle Queendom 2, Riptide Wrestling". POST Wrestling. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
6. Hamilton, Ian (23 September 2019). "PROGRESS NATURAL PROGRESSION SERIES 6 (SEPTEMBER 14, 2019)". backbodydrop.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
7. Hamilton, Ian (24 September 2019). "PROGRESS CHAPTER 95: STILL CHASING (SEPTEMBER 15, 2019)". backbodydrop.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
8. Owen, Dei (13 October 2019). "PROGRESS Chapter 96 results: Tag Team titles on the line". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
9. Owen, Dei (28 October 2019). "PROGRESS Chapter 97 results: Meiko Satomura defends her title". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
10. Owen, Dei (16 December 2019). "PROGRESS Chapter 99 results: Kassius Ohno vs. Timothy Thatcher". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
11. Owen, Dei (31 December 2019). "PROGRESS Chapter 100 results: Jim Smallman's farewell". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
12. Owen, Dei (19 January 2020). "PROGRESS Chapter 101 results: The new era begins". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
13. Hamilton, Ian (23 January 2020). "WXW BACK TO THE ROOTS XIX (JANUARY 18, 2020)". backbodydrop.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
14. Hamilton, Ian (9 December 2020). "WXW CATCH GRAND PRIX MATCH REVIEW: METEHAN VS. BOBBY GUNNS (DECEMBER 09, 2020)". backbodydrop.com. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
15. Hamilton, Ian (13 December 2020). "WXW CATCH GRAND PRIX FINAL REVIEW: CARA NOIR VS. MARIUS AL-ANI (DECEMBER 13, 2020)". backbodydrop.com. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
16. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "ATTACK! Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
17. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "ATTACK! 24:7 Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
18. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "HOPE Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
19. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "HOPE Kings Of Flight Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
20. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Z-Force Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
21. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "LDN Academy Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
22. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2020". profightdb.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
23. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "PROGRESS Unified World Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.