By now you will have hopefully seen the SWN150 in all it’s glory, as outlined it is based on a bit of maths which doesn’t always give the full story of the year. Scotland is bursting with talent that this country just can’t contain them all at once so other countries have nabbed a few for their shows.

Jack Morris and Leyton Buzzard have enjoyed extended stays in Japan for NOAH and BJW respectively. Two absolute superstars that made an impact in Scotland, Morris primarily through his tag team exploits with Dickie Divers as The Nine9, former ICW Tag Team Champions, Morris also created some interesting history earlier this year when he faced IMPACT Wrestling’s Joe Hendry (more on him later) at Discovery Wrestling’s debut in Livingston over the IMPACT Wrestling Digital Media Championship, NOAH vs IMPACT, in Scotland, over as IMPACT Wrestling Championship, incredible. Morris, as of writing, holds the GHC National Championship, along with the GHC Tag Team Championships with Anthony Greene as part of the Good Looking Guys stable.

Buzzard entered 2023 as Insane Championship Wrestling’s World Heavyweight Champion, losing the title in May when Aaron Echo cashed in his Square Go! briefcase, before heading to Big Japan Pro-Wrestling in June, and winning the Big Japan Pro-Wrestling Yokohama Shopping Street Six Man Tag Team Championships in October for a two week reign.

Joe Hendry, signing with IMPACT Wrestling at the tail end of 2022, continued to be a welcomed presence in IMPACT Wrestling, taking the IMPACT Wrestling Digital Media Championship world wide with defences, flying the flag for the promotion in the UK and creating viral moments like the Dot Combat match with Moose. While over on the first IMPACT UK tour in eight years he won the Glasgow Cup in the same city, and featured heavily throughout the events. In Scotland, through shenanigans, he was finally dethroned as Discovery Wrestling Y Division Champion by Gene Munny in April. As proven at Community Pro Wrestling ‘Govanniversary’ though, if you say his name he might just appear, but only if you believe in Joe Hendry.

Speaking of that IMPACT Wrestling UK Invasion Tour, it featured a couple interesting appearances from Scottish wrestling talent. Ryan Richards appeared on the pre-show of their ‘Turning Point’ event in Newcastle in tag team action against the team of Grado and Rhino. Grado himself appeared over the course of the tour, along with an appearance on the pre-pre-show of All Elite Wrestling’s massive ‘All In’ event at Wembley Stadium. Not in an official match, but entering with Paul Wight and Anthony Ogogo and leading to cracking Jeff Jarrett with the El Kabong guitar shot.

Another that featured on the IMPACT Wrestling UK Tour, and continues to be considered one of the best in the country, Emersyn Jayne faced Trinity on the Glasgow night of the tour, and wrestling on both nights of the Coventry leg of the tour. In Scotland, Jayne won the Discovery Wrestling Disco Derby by last eliminating Zach Dynamite, in England she won the Wrestle Carnival Pure Championship from Chris Ridgeway, and wrestled Rina Yamashita at TNT Extreme Wrestling over the Game Changer Wrestling Ultraviolent Championship in a Death Match.

Just a final note on the IMPACT Wrestling UK Invasion Tour, Ravie Davie found himself in a referee shirt on the ‘Turning Point’ pay per view proving that if you have the opportunity to do so then grab it. His work building Community Pro Wrestling has been incredible with bigger shows on the horizon in 2023.

An underrated wrestler right now is Ian Skinner, though he hasn’t been as active in Scotland outside of appearances in Discovery Wrestling and maybe the odd tag match in Insane Championship Wrestling, his online work with SovPro Wrestling has to be admired. He’s bizarre but in the most interesting way.

Thanks to Lou King Sharp‘s Dojo of Excellence we saw his Padawan’s make regular visits to Scandinavia including Rubi Roberts, Stone Malone, Sami Sparx, and Fulton King among the names with King winning the Copenhagen Cup.

This year as also seen The Big Strong Man (or Ewan O’Raw if you’d rather) ended up getting into a match with famed strong man Eddie Hall at a Megaslam Wrestling event in Stoke-on-Trent.

Che Monet won the TNT Extreme Wrestling World Championship, defeating Charles Crowley in September but his reign was cut short minutes later by Tate Mayfairs. A historic win for Che Monet whose recent wrestling journey has seen him bounce back from injuries and to hold a world championship for a moment is scratching the surface on the recognition he has earned.

It’s been a busy 2023 with wrestlers expanding all over the world and creating history. What will 2024 bring?