Charlotte Carr

**Samantha Carr** (born February 7, 1991) is an English-born New Zealand professional wrestler, better known by her ring name **Charlotte Carr**. She is a prominent name on the British independent wrestling scene, working primarily for ARMBAR Wrestling and FUN Wrestling. She also works for International Female Superstars of Wrestling, where she holds a historic two-year-long reign as the IFSW World Champion.

## Early life

Carr was born in Carlisle in 1991. At the age of two, she and her family moved to Wellington, New Zealand, where she remained for most of her life. As such, she considers herself a New Zealander due to her citizenship with the country, whilst also acknowledging her English heritage.

Carr grew up training in freestyle wrestling and competed in numerous regional and national tournaments, where she would place high in many. This ultimately led her to being put forward as one of the New Zealand candidates for the women's 58 kg wrestling event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. However, she was not chosen by the New Zealand Olympic Committee. After this failed attempt at competing at the Commonwealth Games, Carr shifted her focus to professional wrestling.

## Professional wrestling career

### **Training and early career (2012–2014)**

Carr began her professional wrestling training at the Mana Academy in Wellington, New Zealand in early 2012. During this time, she was also training for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as she had been put forward as a potential representative. Thus, her time was split between wrestling and her other duties. However, when Carr was not chosen as a representative, she shifted her focus entirely onto her pro wrestling training. She made her professional wrestling debut in mid-2013, where she had a match at New Zealand Championship Wrestling and debuted under the ring name **Charlotte Carr**.

She continued to wrestle in New Zealand for the rest of 2013. However, Carr grew frustrated at the lack of competition in the country, and looked overseas for exposure. In early 2014, Carr secured a spot on the International Female Superstars of Wrestling roster. During this time, she also began making appearances on the British independent scene. Carr's career would skyrocket during this period, with her freestyle wrestling background and 'Duchess of Carlisle' gimmick boosting her stock value. Her history and reputation as a legitimate shoot wrestler would also give her much credibility in her early years, with fans viewing her as a real threat inside the ring - a perception that was enhanced by her use of a freestyle wrestling style and many real-life wrestling holds.

## Personal life

Carr holds dual citizenship in Britain and New Zealand, having been born in the former and living in the latter for over five years. Her family still resides in New Zealand.

Carr has experience in combat-based sports, having begun training in judo at the age of seven and currently being ranked as a black belt. Since the age of twelve, Carr has been involved in freestyle wrestling. She has said that many of her peers and family were confused concerning her interest in the sport, since it is seen as a predominantly male discipline, but Carr continued despite the doubts that were thrown her way. Her interest in freestyle wrestling stemmed from her judo tutor, who had also won awards for freestyle wrestling when he was younger. In freestyle wrestling, Carr has won numerous regional and national awards, and was a potential candidate to represent New Zealand at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 58 kg category.

Outside of professional wrestling, Carr is good friends with rival Toni Gunn and fellow Mana Academy graduate ONI Barker.

## Professional wrestling highlights

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Rear naked choke
	+ Bridging dragon suplex
	+ Ankle lock with stomps to the opponent's head
* **Signature moves**
	+ *U-knee-on Strike / Commonwealth Knee* (Shoot-style knee strike to the head; the name depends on which knee she uses to strike the opponent, using her Union Jack kneepad for the former name and her Southern Cross one for the latter)
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- Bridging German
		- Release German
		- Hammerlock
		- Tiger
		- Fisherman
		- High-angle belly-to-back
		- Straight jacket
		- Saito
		- Deadlift variations
	+ Superkick
	+ Over-the-shoulder arm drag
	+ Hip toss
	+ Arm wringer
	+ Palm thrust
	+ Kneebreaker
	+ Shinbreaker
	+ Judo throw variations
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"The Duchess of Carlisle"**
	+ "Czar of the Suplex"
	+ "The Gold Standard"
	+ "The Monarch"
* **Entrance themes**
	+ **"Edge of Seventeen"** by Stevie Nicks (2013–present)