I am honoured to announced that this year’s Outstanding Recognition Award for Extraordinary Service, and joining our SWN Hall of Fame, is Grado.

From the tap end of Stevenston, Grado started his wrestling career in 2004 as part of The Lowlanders in Scottish Wrestling Alliance with Glen Dunbar.

His charisma and fearlessness to put himself out into the world with his online promos and shenanigans caught the attention of VICE which had him heavily featured in ‘The British Wrestler’ documentary, which documented his journey to debut in Insane Championship Wrestling in 2012 and ICW Heavyweight Championship match against Red Lightning at ‘Super Smokin’ Thunderbowl’.

Grado’s YouTube escapades were featured in Rab Florence and Greg Hemphill’s ‘Oran War’ and ‘Kelvin Brawl’ events which gave many future wrestlers their first taste of Scottish wrestling. Grado teamed with Rab Florence to defeat Greg Hemphill and Red Lightning at ‘Kelvin Brawl’.

The popularity for Grado exploded, a modern day Dusty Rhodes, an every man who was just one of us. He travelled the country entertaining the crowds with his slapstick and hilarious offense, facing Colt Cabana in one of the marquee matches for Insane Championship Wrestling’s ‘Dave’s Not Here, Man’ at the Picture House in Edinburgh. A wrestler he would later win the ICW Tag Team Championships with as part of Irn Jew.

In 2014, wrestled Scotty 2 Hotty at WrestleZone ‘Aberdeen Anarchy’ to a sold out crowd of over 1,400. He then appeared in the Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling British Bootcamp series, and although he didn’t win, he drew the ire of Al Snow, who he faced at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow in 2015 in front of over 1,500 fans.

He appeared in both Insane Championship Wrestling documentaries ‘Insane Fight Club’ and ‘Insane Fight Club II’, which were aired nationally on the BBC and available internationally which gained him a legion of fans worldwide.

Grado made regular appearances for Impact Wrestling from 2015 to 2018 along with winning titles in Pro Wrestling Elite, Target Wrestling, and Reckless Intent Wrestling.

The groundswell of support for Grado lead him to main event ICW’s ‘Fear & Loathing VIII’ at The SECC in Glasgow, defeating Drew Galloway for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship in front of approximately 4,000 in attendance, the largest independent wrestling crowd in Britain in over 30 years.

In 2016, Grado was part of the pilot for the World of Sport Wrestling reboot on ITV, winning the WOS Wrestling Championship, and appearing in the season when it was picked up in 2018 on prime time Saturday night television. He also had a handful of appearances on 5 Star Wrestling on the FreeSports channel.

Outside of wrestling, Grado has become a television star, appearing in BBC shows including River City, Scot Squad, and Two Doors Down, along with hosting Test Drive, a host of successful podcasts ‘Wrestling Daft’ and ‘A Pint and Two Shots’, a regular on the panto circuit come Christmas time, and promoting his own Grado’s Big Family Wrestling Bash.

We have bestowed Grado with this award for his constant hard work, his continuation to entertain crowds, and for being a Scottish wrestler that has hit the mainstream, being one of the most recognisable Scottish professional wrestlers in the country.

Congratulations to “The Chubby Wee Chancer Fae The Tap End”, Grado.