2023 marked a groundbreaking period for professional wrestling in Great Britain, highlighted by All Elite Wrestling’s historic showcase at Wembley Stadium.
Drawing in leading global talents and fans from across the globe, the event proved to be one of the most remarkable in recent memory.
While such grand spectacles captured the spotlight, the thriving wrestling scene in the UK continued to deliver performances of the highest quality on a regular basis.
The Ones To Watch 2024 – British Pro-Wrestling
Weekly shows by various promotions showcased a myriad of exceptional emerging talents and homegrown individuals poised on the brink of international acclaim. With 2024 underway, we take a moment to reflect on some of the UK talents that demonstrated their prowess in the year just passed.
From thrilling performances to awe-inspiring displays of skill, these professional wrestlers have all the tools needed to take the British independent scene and, for those already near the top of the British ladder, the world by storm.
JJ Gale
If you’re looking for a sure-fire future champion, then you need not look much further than JJ Gale. At only 25 years old (as of this writing), JJ Gale has stood across the ring from some of the most respected talent in British pro-wrestling and standout names from New Japan Pro Wrestling; 2024 looks to be the year that JJ Gale will make the jump to the next level.
Starting his career in 2016 with the Gloucestershire promotion Pro Evolution Wrestling, Gale didn’t take long to enter the pro-wrestling scene in London before joining RevPro.
There, he would team with Callum Newman, who has since become a member of Will Ospreay’s United Empire faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Gale has the ability to hang with the stars of New Japan, too, though, having had a competitive match against Zack Sabre Jr. at RevPro Uprising in December and also picking up two victories over Yota Tsuji in early 2023.
In the ring, Gale is a versatile performer who utilizes a high-flying style of wrestling that sees him spring from the ropes in nearly enough every match he’s in, and even then, he can hold his own with some of the best strikers in Britain.
JJ Gale is one of British Wrestling’s Hidden Gems who’ll only get better as he faces more and more big names each year. 2024 could very well be the year that JJ Gale stakes his claim as not only one of RevPro’s top cruiserweights but as one of their top stars.
You can keep up to date with JJ Gale on X (@JJGale_PW) and Instagram (@JJGale_PW).
Harley Hudson
With a superb year in their rearview mirror, a “Liver Bird” from Liverpool grabbed a golden opportunity by the horns when Impact Wrestling came back to the UK for the first time in many a year.
Harley Hudson stands out in any ring she’s in, and that’s not just because of the bright pink she sports on her head and on her ring gear. “Hudzilla” is one of the most expressive wrestlers on the British independent circuit, no matter the size of the venue or the audience.
Every sequence that Hudson is involved in her facial expressions and body language add to the match just as much as the rest of the action.
Since her early days at the Runcorn Wrestling Academy, Hudson has found herself in rings all over the country over the past few years. Established arenas? Community centers? Churches?
You name it, and Harley Hudson has probably run the ropes inside one somewhere in the UK. Pro Wrestling EVE and TNT, where she won the Rainbow Rumble in Liverpool during Effy’s Big Gay Brunch, are just two of the major UK Promotions Hudson has worked for.
Wins over Lana Austin and current AEW talent Mariah May mean that Hudson won’t be short of bookings for 2024 as she looks to add to the handful of championships she has already won.
If her already wasn’t attractive enough, Harley Hudson featured against Emersyn Jane at TNA/IMPACT Wrestling’s UK Tour in 2023, where she was subsequently offered a contract with TNA/IMPACT Wrestling at the tour’s conclusion; winning the promotion’s 2023 Gut Check just in time for their rebrand back to TNA.
Signing a contract with a promotion as prestigious as TNA at the age of nineteen shows that Hudson has the potential to become a top star in the industry and she’ll be hoping to emulate TNA legends like Mickie James and Gail Kim as one of the Knockouts fans look forward to seeing each week.
BREAKING: The 'Hot and Not Bothered' Liverpudlian pocket rocket, @harleyhudsonx beats the masses and wins Gut Check in Coventry!! #IMPACTUK pic.twitter.com/gn7ekBsjx0
— TNA Wrestling UK (@IMPACTUK) October 29, 2023
Her journey is only just beginning, and the best is still yet to come from the woman ranked 238th in the PWI Women’s 250. As unpredictable as the world of pro-wrestling may be, we can predict that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Harley Hudson this year and match cards will be looking all the better for it.
You can keep up to date with Harley Hudson on X (harleyhudsonx) and Instagram (harleyhudsonx).
Safire Reed
Safire Reed’s rise in Pro Wrestling EVE can only be described as meteoric. Safire Reed made her debut for Pro Wrestling EVE in 2022 after gaining experience working for various local promotions around London and Essex, with her first EVE match coming right before her appearances in EVE’s G1 Climax style event – the SHE-1.
The experience she gained in the tournament, along with matches against the likes of Billie Starkz and Mercedes Martinez, were invaluable for her push in the second half of 2023.
Reed would have her first championship match in EVE at Pro Wrestling EVE’s crossover event with Emi Sakura’s ChocoPro during All In weekend when she teamed with Emi Sakura to challenge Nina Samuels and Chantal Jordan for the EVE Tag Team Championships.
Reed did not claim the titles on the day but she did not look out of place next to Emi Sakura, who became the first inductee into Pro Wrestling EVE’s Hall of Fame after the match.
From that moment on, it was clear that Safire Reed was going to be a big part of Pro Wrestling EVE’s future. Just two months after teaming with Emi Sakura, Safire Reed entered the 2023 SHE-1 and got off to a flying start with a victory over Laura Di Matteo in a match that lasted only six seconds.
Reed would then advance all the way to the finals, where she would defeat Alex Windsor to claim the SHE-1 Trophy and, therefore, become the #1 contender for the EVE Championship.
It would then be at Wrestle Queendom 6, Pro Wrestling EVE’s biggest annual event, where Safire Reed would have her match for the EVE Championship. She would face the reigning champion (at the time) and star of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) – Miyu Yamashita.
The Princess Of Princess Champion in TJPW had been EVE Champion for over a year after she, too, beat Alex Windsor just a few months into Safire Reed’s EVE career.
Having already had a match against recent rival Nina Samuels earlier in the day, Safire Reed defeated Miyu Yamashita in the main event of Wrestle Queendom 6 to win her first championship in EVE.
Reed has also competed in a number of #1 contendership matches for the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship, and though unsuccessful, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which she doesn’t find herself in a match for the championship at some point.
Despite losing the EVE Championship to Nina Samuels at Pro Wrestling EVE’s first event of 2024, Safire Reed came into 2024 as the new Ace of EVE.
She may still be a young and emerging talent, but if 2023 was anything to go by, then expect Safire Reed to come into the year fighting and ready to reclaim the EVE Championship to prove that she is one of the top pro-wrestlers Britain has to offer.
You can keep up to date with Safire Reed on X (safirewrestler) and Instagram (safirewrestling).
Leyton Buzzard
Fans of British pro-wrestling will be in for a treat as the one-man variety show returns to the UK after five months in Japan.
Prior to his time in Japan, Leyton Buzzard brought his diverse move set to Insane Championship Wrestling in Scotland, where he reigned as the ICW World Heavyweight Champion for half a year with notable defences against Big Damo (formerly known as Killian Dain in WWE) and new Pro Wrestling NOAH star LJ Cleary.
He has also defended the ICW World Heavyweight Championship in Germany for wXw and competed for Over The Top Wrestling (OTT) in Ireland.
Buzzard’s matches for RevPro were highlights of his 2023. There he faced Michael Oku on multiple occasions and had a landmark match against Will Ospreay in February that highlighted the level that Buzzard is capable of performing at.
These stellar outings grabbed the attention of Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), who are known for their blend of deathmatches and strong puroresu matches.
The versatility of Leyton Buzzard made him a natural fit for a promotion like Big Japan, where he became 1/3rd of the Yokohama Shopping Street Six Man Tag Team Champions with Tyson Maddux and Tempesta as part of PROJECT HAVOC.
Buzzard also found himself in championship matches for the BJW Tag Team Championships, the Tenryu Project Six-Man Tag Team Championships, the BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship and the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship.
In a recent post on X, Leyton Buzzard listed off a number of names he’d like to face in the coming year, with each potential opponent able to offer something different from the last. Many will be hoping that most, if not all, of these matches can happen.
2024 pic.twitter.com/exTDQ6K8Lr
— “El Capitan” Leyton Buzzard | レイトン・バザード (@LeytonBuzzard) December 23, 2023
Promotions across Britain will be lining up to have Leyton Buzzard appear at one of their events. Which version of Leyton Buzzard we’ll get each time he appears is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for certain – Leyton Buzzard will put on a show worth paying for.
You can keep up to date with Leyton Buzzard on X (LeytonBuzzard) and Instagram (LeytonBuzzard).
El Temple
A name that not many will be familiar with but is certainly worth talking about. El Temple is a masked wrestler who can be found at EPW American Wrestling (EPW) events across Britain.
For the promotion, El Temple has held multiple championships and won the EPW British Championship at the back end of 2023.
Since debuting, El Temple has been a main fixture on EPW cards and has picked up singles match victories over Thomas and Mark Billington, better known as the Billington Bulldogs, prior to the duo competing in RevPro’s Great British Tag League.
As with many masked wrestlers, little is known about El Temple outside of the ring. However, in every match, the fans in attendance are treated to a whole host of high-flying moves from El Temple, who executes them with the precision of a skilled veteran.
With a skillset like this, El Temple would be an exciting element worth adding to any card in Britain, and hopefully, we will see him stood across from some established names in British pro-wrestling as 2024 goes on.
You can keep up to date with El Temple on Instagram (El_Temple_) and on TikTok (El_Temple_).
Michael Oku
“The OJMO” Michael Oku has already made a name for himself in British pro-wrestling, having branched out to appear for promotions in Germany and the US. Having started his career in 2017, Oku has clawed his way to the top of British pro-wrestling, primarily with Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro).
After a near 900 days as the RevPro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion, the “Master Of The Half-Crab” started 2023 in the US at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle Of Los Angeles, where he mixed it up with the likes of Konosuke Takeshita and the Jericho Appreciation Society before returning to RevPro via Ireland to win the Revolution Rumble and face names such as Zack Sabre Jr.
With outings for wXw in Germany under his belt, Oku faced the greatest challenge of his career in July when he challenged Great-O-Khan for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at Epic Encounter – and what an encounter it was.
Oku defeated Great-O-Khan to begin his reign with the title which he still holds coming into 2024. His victory was a piece of history in its own right, as on that night, he became the first black pro-wrestler to hold the title since its inception over a decade ago.
The coming year will not be an easy one for Oku, though as a defending champion, he knows that better than anyone.
Will Ospreay, who will be leaving RevPro in February, made a challenge to Oku at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in December whereby he told Oku that he’ll be “taking back his property” on his way out on February 18th.
With the challenge set and promptly accepted, we’ll see one of the hottest talents in the UK take on a British pro-wrestling icon who himself took the world by storm some years ago.
That’s not all Oku has planned for 2024, with his participation in wXw prestigious 16 Carat Gold weekend scheduled for March.
16 Carat Gold has been known to attract big names from all over the world, and this year’s events are no different, with former ECW star Masato Tanaka and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Mexican sensation El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. set to appear.
Oku took to X to list off just a few of the names he’d love to face in singles competition this year and after seeing what Oku can bring to the table, each one of these matches would no doubt be a worthwhile venture for everyone involved.
These singles matches have never happened… #2024 pic.twitter.com/uHuotitvkZ
— Michael Oku (@TheOJMO) December 22, 2023
It feels like only a matter of time until Michael Oku becomes a name on lips worldwide. He has already had experience in a New Japan Pro Wrestling ring and held his own with some of their top stars.
Surely, one of the world’s biggest promotions will come knocking for Oku, and 2024 could be the year that one does. Until then, fans can see Oku across the British independent scene with RevPro and other promotions worth mentioning, like NORTH and Riot Cabaret Pro Wrestling.
And, of course, where there’s Michael Oku, there’s his partner Amira in his corner, who is a great talent and an exceptional performer in her own right.
You can keep up to date with Michael Oku on X (TheOJMO) and Instagram (TheOJMO).
