Last night, in a moment of clarity, I posted on Twitter/X that 2024 may be the most important year for Scottish wrestling. Let’s be honest here, the events of 2020 really set back the growth of wrestling in general, with the Scottish scene being dealt a heavy blow. First due to the pandemic, and then Speaking Out. There was tension all over the country, with people and companies ignoring rules or plucking out pieces of information to suit whatever need they had at the time, which is exactly what happened in the wrestling scene here.

Coming up to four years on and there has been some changes but there is still an air of uncertainty of who can be trusted. Which has lead to companies being vetted more thoroughly, and whether it meets your own moral code to put down your hard earned cash, or to accept a booking. That’s probably another article at another time, but the last four years has really let people, whether that is wrestlers or fans, revaluate where they go to be sports entertained.

In this article I just wanted to pick out a few big things that look to be on the horizon in 2024 and look to be very important events that could re-adjust the pro wrestling landscape over the next 12 months.

Discovery Wrestling – A New Era

Alan Smith, owner of Discovery Wrestling, announced on December 18th 2023 that this year will see a new era of Discovery Wrestling. Not a lot has been expanded upon which leads to plenty of speculation. What we do know is that there will be a new championship. Discovery Wrestling have never been one to rush the expansion of championships, taking their time to build divisions and have a litany of challengers ready when the time comes. What will be interesting is where that will place the Reckless Intent Wrestling championships that were seemingly merged into the fold when Discovery Wrestling took over the running of shows in Livingston when Reckless Intent announced their hiatus in March 2023.

There hasn’t been any update on the status of Reckless Intent as to whether it has quietly merged into Discovery Wrestling going forward or if we’ll see the return of the promotion any time soon. It hasn’t even been 12 months since the announcement though so it is probably too early to speculate on any demise.

January 1st also saw Discovery Wrestling announce that Joe Hendry’s wrestling school would be rebranded as Discovery Wrestling Academy. Hendry’s students so far have excelled when opportunity has knocked. The seminars and trainers they have on hand have the pedigree and the accomplishments to provide all the tools for all facets of pro wrestling. An exciting school to keep an eye on and to see how far their graduates go.

Discovery Wrestling has been one of the premier wrestling companies in Scotland for near a decade, there are a lot of eyes on this new era and what will come of it.

Insane Championship Wrestling – Monthly Live Events

2023 saw the end of Insane Championship Wrestling‘s relationship with World Wrestling Entertainment, with Fight Club and live events heading to FITEtv, now TrillerTV, December saw the last taping of Fight Club with taped for streaming looking to have come to an end for ICW with them heading back to monthly live events. All that and the confirmation of Mark Dallas leaving ICW earlier this year, it has been quite an impactful year for them. ICW was probably the most affected promotions in Scotland following the shows restart, by the end of 2021 they were holding closed doors events, taping dozens of matches a day, introducing many new faces, and to be fair they tried but it wasn’t the same, the atmosphere of ICW and crowd involvement was one of the biggest factors that lead to ICW being considered one of the biggest promotions in Europe. The filler nature of tapings was evident when it came to watching Fight Club on stream and it felt like a shell of its former self at times.

The return of monthly live events brings a bit more unpredictability. There seems to be a genuine buzz again, it feels different, being less formulaic in structure of ‘this is a Fight Club show… nothing really big will happen until Shug’s Hoose Party probably’ and more of a big night that anything can happen because it’s being aired live.

2023 also saw ICW’s affiliated school, Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum, pick up Source Wrestling School, merging the students from that school to have more wrestlers champing at the bit to get on an ICW show, or a Blockbuster Pro Wrestling show, or a Five Pound Wrestling show. ICW have built up a little network of their own to showcase and, in time, create more demand for their in house talent as they work through the ranks from the showcases to Fear & Loathing.

Bleeding Gums Wrestling – Death Match Revolution

2023 saw the debut of Bleeding Gums Wrestling, a death match promotion that offers something very unique in presentation. I won’t pretend to know too much about this genre of wrestling, but from the social media outpouring of love following their debut event, it is clearly a well supported venture.

Back in the day if you wanted to see some blood and gore for your wrestling it was Insane Championship Wrestling, but as the years have went on ICW got cleaner, busting out the chaotic barbaric matches on occasion, like for their annual King/Queen/Kings of Insanity match. It left a hole that Bleeding Gums was ready to fill with drawing pins and glass.

It offers something totally different in Scotland, and caters to a very specific, but rabid, fanbase. My only hope is that it is contained to Bleeding Gums Wrestling, and it doesn’t kick off every promotion thinking they need to do death matches as well.

World Wide Wrestling League x PROGRESS Wrestling

In one of the more bizarre moments of 2023, World Wide Wrestling League announced that they would be part of PROGRESS On Demand. It’s created a crazy paradigm shift that sees a crossover of wrestlers that may’ve been insane to think about prior.

Although PROGRESS might not be as cool or “punk” as when they were really hot a few years ago, they still have a brand name, and a known roster that doesn’t often venture over the border. This relationship opens that door to see some intriguing match ups and provides opportunities that were unheard of in the past plus a chance to see some highly regarded talent from down South right on your own doorstep.

Expansions Nationwide

A big one to finish off, and it’s about the general expansions of promotions that were taking place in 2023 that look to continue into 2024. Fife Pro Wrestling Asylum rebranded to Pro Wrestling Ready aka PWR PRO late into the year and opened a second school, with the students coming out of PWR PRO being well polished and full of character, making an impression instantly with their high quality promos and presentations. PWR PRO has also seen Andy Roberts raise the stock of the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship, marking big defences against the biggest UK talent along with the colossal reign with the title, as well as providing crossovers with other wrestling schools like Iron Girders Pro Wrestling and New Wave Wrestling Academy in Scotland and Wales respectively.

Lou King Sharp’s ascendancy to head of the United European Wrestling Association, his work in Europe, and promoting of VALOR Wrestling, fka Copenhagen Championship Wrestling, has made him a tour de force in Scottish professional wrestling. Years of hard work, building contacts, setting up the Lou King Sharp’s Dojo of Excellence first online then physically at Iron Girders Gym, grabbing opportunities with both hands, and doing anything he can to bring people along with him to join him up the ladder. A testament of how much hard work can really pay off in professional wrestling. 2024 can only see the that get bigger with VALOR operating in the UK and Scandinavia, and Sharp’s own career ventures that is leading him worldwide can only benefit his students and in turn provide some quality entertainment for fans like myself.

Community Pro Wrestling continue to expand their network, being one of the few places in Scotland to bring in talent from Over The Top Wrestling in Ireland, along with having talent from Europe over. Ravie Davie, from all accounts, is on a mission to make Community Pro one of the biggest promotions in the country and his moves so far accompany that, making connections everywhere he goes. In my opinion, and much like Lou King Sharp, Davie’s name has built a credibility, he’s built that young fanbase which has lead to Attitude Pro Wrestling, for example, starting with a bang, another promotion that is striking with intent by bringing in a variety of talent including Joe Hendry for their upcoming Bound For Wishaw event.

Companies look to be taking more chances again after a couple years of maybe playing safe, after a string of sell outs WrestleZone are heading to a bigger venue to kick off their 2024 at the Rich Energy Arena in Aberdeen, an event that I am planning to attend.

More wrestling promotions are working together, and that makes for more quality wrestling.

Expansion is not only for promotions, 2023 saw Leyton Buzzard, and Jack Morris smash Japan, Emersyn Jayne making her IMPACT Wrestling debut, tearing it up in death matches, then kicking off 2024 by being one of the standouts at Game Changer Wrestling in the USA, and Che Monet leave huge impressions which has lead him to heading to the states for Effy‘s Big Gay Brunch, one of the biggest LGBTQIA+ inclusive independent wrestling events on the calendar. Plus Joe Hendry continuing to be the benchmark for a pro wrestler in this country, his work with IMPACT/TNA Wrestling in and outside of the ring has been stellar which has lead him to receive a heroes welcome wherever he appears in Scotland, or when someone says his name.

2023 was an exciting year to be a wrestling fan, the rumblings of another boom have begun, the above is only part of the story. There are promotions all over Scotland that are gearing up to take the country and, thanks to the internet, the world by storm.

Are you ready?