Rob Cross was a working electrician before he ever played darts for a living, which is exactly where the nickname "Voltage" comes from. He didn't turn pro until 2016, and the very next time he made it to the PDC World Championship, he won the whole thing: a 7-2 final win over 16-time champion Phil Taylor, in what had already been announced as Taylor's farewell match. Here's the full story of how an electrician became a world champion.
Who is Rob Cross: an English electrician turned darts player
Cross was born in 1990 in Kent, England, and worked as a residential electrician while playing pub leagues and amateur events on the side. Unlike players who grow up on the practice board, he treated darts as a hobby well into his twenties before taking a real shot at going pro in 2016.
Where the nickname "Voltage" comes from
There's no elaborate story here, it's literal: he used to be an electrician, so "Voltage" stuck. Job-based nicknames aren't unusual in darts, but few gaps between a nickname and what came after are this wide. Nobody expected an electrician to be world champion within two years.
Turned pro in 2016, earned his tour card a year later
Cross qualified for the 2016 UK Open as an amateur and went out early, but his scoring power got noticed. In 2017 he earned a PDC Tour Card through Q School, which is when he actually became a professional. Less than a year later, he was world champion.
2018: world champion on his tournament debut
The 2018 PDC World Championship was Cross's first-ever appearance in the tournament. He fought his way to the final against 16-time world champion Phil Taylor, and beat him 7-2, averaging 107.67, the third-highest average in a World Championship final. Eleven months into his pro career, he'd already won darts' biggest title.
That final was also Phil Taylor's farewell match
Here's the twist: Taylor had already announced the tournament would be his last as a 16-time world champion. One outsider won a world title while a dynasty that had run darts for nearly two decades walked away on the same night, a coincidence this clean almost never happens in sport. Watch how it played out below.
2019: proving it wasn't a fluke
Winning once invites the "lucky run" question. Cross answered it in 2019 by winning the World Matchplay, beating Michael Smith in the final and becoming only the fourth player ever to hold both the World Championship and World Matchplay titles at once. Electrician to double world champion, in three years.
Rob Cross's story is a reminder that darts doesn't care where you started, only how you throw once you're on stage. For more player stories, check out our European steel-tip players guide, or read about the legend he dethroned in who is Phil Taylor. Want to try it yourself? AI DARTS soft-tip boards run 24 hours, menu here.