Within the past five years professional wrestling has managed to progress, expand and get into a new era of wrestling brilliance. Whilst wrestling all around the world is getting more and more attention, fans are getting more British talent coming up from the indies and going up to bigger promotions. Furthermore, WWE has a public working relationship with promotions such as UK’s Progress and Insane Championship Wrestling. In addition, more than a handful of the talent that we see on WWE TV nowadays has come from Mark Dallas’ roster of Insane Championship Wrestling in Glasgow, Scotland.
I know, insane right?
Below are my top 5 picks of wrestlers that made a smooth transition from ICW to WWE:
THE BEST IN THE GALAXY – NIKKI CROSS
Who doesn’t love the wild, insane and unpredictable Scottish lass Nikki Cross?
Nikki was known as Nikki Storm in Insane Championship Wrestling and she wasn’t as ‘crazy’ as she is right now in NXT. In fact her character Nikki Storm was the polar opposite of NXT’s Nikki Cross. As the self-proclaimed Best in the Galaxy, Nikki was one of the main women on the ICW roster. As her nickname (Best in the Galaxy) suggests her character was an obnoxious, snobby, overly confident, self-centred and very dominating fierce female. Even when she was a “good guy” she was never the nicest girl in the room. Even though Nikki never became the ICW women’s champion, had not WWE snatched her up she would probably be holding the ICW women’s title right now.
Nowadays fans around the world get to enjoy the brilliance of Nikki Cross on a worldwide scale in NXT as she is without a doubt a future NXT women’s champion.
THE SCOTTISH SUPERNOVA – NOAM DAR
Noam Dar was born and bred in Insane Championship Wrestling. Despite him wrestling for other small promotions a couple of years before his official ICW debut, he built the Noam Dar character in the ICW ring. Dar started wrestling when he was only 15 and he has grown as a performer, wrestler and person in front of the ICW crowds. Noam Dar has always had a great connection with the fans and whenever he made an entrance at an Insane Championship Wrestling show, he always got one of the best crowd reactions. Dar is a former two time ICW Zero G champion holding the record for longest reign in ICW history with 266 days.
Dar’s last match in ICW was against Andy Wild in 2016. Two weeks after his farewell match he debuted on Monday Night RAW at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2017 Noam returned to his Insane home for one night only at Shug’s House Party IV.
Noam Dar has yet to prove to the WWE Universe what he is capable of so 205 Live better be ready for the Scottish Supernova.
THE ANTI-HERO – ALEISTER BLACK
Aleister Black, also known as Tommy End to his independent wrestling fans had wrestled for ICW for three years from 2013 to 2016 and during that time he has made a major impact in the company. Whilst in ICW, Black, along with his tag team partner from the Sumerian Death Squad- Michael Dante and Mikey Whiplash created one of the most fearful, demonic, dark stables in independent wrestling- Legion. Legion was the brain child of Black, Dante and Whiplash who were all close friends and had a similar interest in demonology. Legion was created in ICW and they were a force to be reckoned with. Black, Dante and Whiplash were the main attraction for ICW fans in 2015 when Legion had one of their biggest feuds with ICW’s most destructive stable the New Age Kliq (NAK). Their steel cage match at Barramania VIII won ‘Match of The Year’ Bammy award. Black is also a former ICW tag team champion with Michael Dante.
Aleister Black is the current NXT champion and with his distinctive wrestling style, presence and character he is a guaranteed future WWE champion.
THE BEAST OF BELFAST – KILLIAN DAIN
Killian Dain is a beast of a man who is the first ever Irish born ICW world heavyweight champion. Dain’s wrestling style can bring some fond memories from the 90s to some fans, since he is one of the heavyweight wrestlers who are as agile and entertaining in the ring as Bam Bam Bigelow and Vader used to be. Dain spent a good few years as a regular on the ICW roster where he was better known as Big Damo to his UK fans. I have personally been lucky enough to witness and follow Damo’s career from being in the opening matches in ICW to being the ICW champion in the main events, to his debut in NXT, to now his most recent debut on SmackDown Live as part of SAnitY. He has quickly shot himself up the ladder of success and he can now join Becky Lynch, Finn Balor and Sheamus as another successful Irish born WWE superstar.
Killian Dain, along with Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young (SAnitY) are currently one of the most dominating groups in WWE.
‘THEE’ DREW MCINTYRE
Last but not least, one of the OGs of Insane Championship Wrestling is Drew McIntyre (Drew Galloway). He is one of the wrestlers who helped shape, create, promote and expand ICW to the company that it is today; a company that works openly with WWE, a company that has had Triple H himself in the middle of the ring cutting a promo about how great ICW is. Drew is one of the guys that was part of a generation of British wrestlers who were passionate about making UK wrestling bigger, better and more internationally popular. Drew McIntyre is the wrestler who after his release from WWE, came back to his home of ICW, and in 2015 he became a two-time ICW heavyweight champion. Quickly after his victory he travelled the world with the title, defending it overseas and managed to make it a world one. Drew McIntyre was inducted into the ICW Hall of Fame in February of 2018.
Drew McIntyre is a former NXT champion, former WWE tag team champion with Cody Rhodes and a former WWE Intercontinental champion. Drew has had the most WWE success so far out of all of the people mentioned on this list. He is currently in a tag team with the current Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler on Monday Night RAW. A long road awaits the most successful Scottish WWE superstar but no matter how much success he gets along the way, his first home will always be Insane Championship Wrestling.
– Dropkick Queen Kamelia KL
SCOTTISH WRESTLING NETWORK | SWN 