Before he was an NXT UK Champion, Heritage Cup winner, and NXT Tag Team Champion, Tyler Bate made himself on the British wrestling scene.
Tyler was born on March 7, 1997, in Netherton, West Midlands, England. Yes, in 1997. He was trained by Dave Mastiff and one of his future tag team partners, Trent Seven.
But his training began at a time when many were starting to learn about themselves and what they wanted to do when they were adults. For Tyler Bate, those decisions came quite early in life.
“I started watching wrestling at about eight years old. And I was always just a huge fan of it. I started wrestling with my friends in the back garden on the trampoline.
And ever since then, I knew that because I enjoyed wrestling with my friends in the back garden and whatnot, I thought, why not just do it as my job?
So I knew that I had to find a way to start wrestling. When I was 14 I was lucky enough to find somewhere that would train me, and ever since yeah, age of 14, it’s been quite a natural progression.”
– Tyler Bate on his training to wrestling at the age of 14. Catch Club with a h/t to 411mania.com
Tyler Bate
Tyler made his pro wrestling debut in September of 2012 for the now-defunct company Great Bear Promotions. Despite his youth, Tyler Bate is already a well-traveled wrestler.
He’s competed all over the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and now the world with WWE. Since his debut, he’s worked for many promotions, such as Attack! Pro Wrestling, Fight Club: PRO, Triple X Wrestling, Kamikaze Pro, AMP Wrestling, Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), HOPE Wrestling, Shropshire Wrestling Alliance (SWA), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Westside Extreme Wrestling (wXw), Preston City Wrestling (PCW), CHIKARA, PROGRESS, and of course WWE.
Bate’s passion for wrestling is as embedded in the fibre of the British Wrestling as it is breathing. Tyler Bate conveyed just what it was about BritWres that makes it stand out.
The thing that stands out about British wrestling at the moment (2017) is that we’re focusing purely on our in-ring athleticism, our professional wrestling — more than showing off to fans and being these larger-than-life personalities.
– Tyler Bate on what made British Wrestling so special.
With his hybrid gymnastic background and strong style, Tyler Bate has definitely contributed to the reignition of the British Wrestling scene.
Tyler is a member of the tag team Moustache Mountain with Trent Seven. As well as part of the group of British Strong Style with Seven and his sometimes rival, Pete Dunne.
His and Pete’s rivalry started in the finals of the WWE UK Championship tournament. It has since followed them beyond WWE but hasn’t appeared to affect the British Strong Style faction.
The emergence of the b i g s t r o n g b o i
Most recently dubbed the b i g s t r o n g b o i, it’s definitely not just a clever nickname with unique spacing.
Tyler recently set a new personal lift record of 264 kilograms, or approximately 582 pounds, or 2 of the PROGRESS World Champion, WALTER (now competing as GUNTHER in the WWE).
Tyler’s incredible strength, combined with his gymnastic background and all-around athleticism, sets him apart. He stands at a respectable 5’7 and is billed at 175 pounds or 79 kilograms.
With his new personal best being 264 kilograms, that’s just over three times his body weight! In the ring, Tyler can do it all.
He can execute incredible feats of strength and power moves, employ an aerial offense, and has a solid mat wrestling game. Combine all of that with his charisma and fun-loving personality, Tyler is a guaranteed superstar.
While he may be best known as a tag team wrestler to some, he has also had great success as a singles wrestler.
He was the very first WWE UK Champion, and one of the youngest ever WWE champions at age 19. More recently, he is set to challenge WALTER at PROGRESS’ Hello Wembley for the PROGRESS World Championship.
Bate has always remained steadfast in knowing that there is no difference between the on-screen character and the person off-screen. He is inequibily himself a quality that is lost at times in modern wrestling.
So, in wrestling, there is no difference between me the character and me in real life. I just am all the time. I’m just Tyler Bate.
In the ring, out the ring. It just made things a lot easier for myself, and that is why I don’t hesitate when it comes to being vegan and being someone who’s passionate about the environment, and stuff like that, because that is just what I believe, that that just is how I am in everyday life.
I’m not doing it to try to convince anybody of a character and people can see that. People know when they’re trying to be sold something or whether they’re getting what is true and I feel like that’s just why it works for me, because it is true.
I’m not trying to convince anybody of anything. I just am.
– Tyler Bate on remaining true to himself by simply being…himself.
Arguably, the best thing about Tyler Bate is his age. With youth clearly on his side, Bate has proven to being a fierce competitor regardless of whether it is as a singles wrestler or in a tag team. He will continue to be a force in the wrestling world for many years to come.
And he will probably only get even better. One thing is for certain, though: this b i g s t r o n g b o i isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Despite joining the WWE at the age of 19, it was clear that greatness was still ahead of this talent, who is a throwback to a style and looks reminiscent of the 1960s with a more contemporary spin.
While age is just a number in the case of this veteran of more than a decade, he appears prepared for whatever the future awaits him.
