It’s WrestleMania season and athletes around the world are dreaming of gracing the industry’s biggest annual stage.
For over 40 years, ‘Mania’ has acted as the ultimate stage for performers to shine, with Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Becky Lynch, Hulk Hogan and Charlotte Flair, all taking big strides in their career at the event.
As the pinnacle of the wrestling business, countless men and women have risked it all to reach the top of the proverbial mountain and the riches of fame and fortune that being a headline WWE superstar has to offer.
But whether you’re Roman Reigns preparing to smash a WrestleMania appearance record, or Tiffany Stratton, who readies herself to defend a major title at the event for the very first time, the journey to reach the showpiece is an arduous one.
For arguably the largest section of those aspiring to reach the position held by Reigns, Stratton and co, the journey starts with a WWE try-out at one of their state-of-the-art training facilities.
In the lead up to WrestleMania 41 – which takes place in Las Vegas across this coming weekend – WWE squeezed into their packed European tour the chance to hold a try-out day in the UK, and the uptake was understandably high.
Around airings of the glitzy Raw and SmackDown at the O2 Arena in London, company Chief Content Officer and Head of Creative Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque was on hand as coaches ran the rule over a cluster of hopefuls – with a familiar face in the mix.
Middlesbrough-born bodybuilder Matty Campbell has become a household name over the last couple of years for his role in the revised BBC series Gladiators, a staple of the 1990s TV circuit.
He stars as Bionic, one of the most physically imposing figures on the show, his incredible physique – he once weighed 300lbs and stands at 6ft 6in – earning him the moniker ‘The Mountain.’
As any would-be WWE star, Campbell’s journey to the wrestling ring would be paved with obstacles. Aged just 17 and with designs on being a professional footballer, his academy career was cruelly cut short by a car accident that left him effectively needing to learn to walk again having suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, and a badly broken ankle.
The horrific incident left his mother unsure whether he had even survived the impact, with the star crediting ‘life changing’ rehab with setting him back on the fitness path that has resulted in UK television stardom courtesy of one of the most popular programmes in the country.
But when he isn’t starring alongside fellow brutes like ‘Steel’ and ‘Giant’, it seems Campbell harbours hopes of a stretch inside the squared circle.
Appearing in an ITV News interview which hailed the search for ‘the next John Cena or The Rock,’ the now 29-year-old spoke of the creative similarities between WWE and Gladiators.
He commented: “The character thing is very similar, right?”
“There’s a little switch that goes on [and] you’re in character, you are playing such-and-such a person.”
He then quipped: “I am real, though. I am always like this. Don’t be fazed or put off!”
Levesque himself added of the UK session: “This is like a fountain of youth for me.
“Coming in here, seeing these kids and seeing the enthusiasm in their eyes, seeing the light.
“They have an opportunity here, a shot, of changing their life.”
What, if anything, came of Campbell’s WWE try-out is unclear but, should he make it to the bright lights of WWE event, ‘Bionic’ won’t be the only star of the revamped Gladiators to perform for the company.
Alexander Gray, who performs as popular star Apollo in the series, showed up at The O2 to lend a helping hand at a 2024 house show – a non-televised event – where he helped thwart the villainous JD McDonagh.
Gray, also a multi-discipline sportsman, boasts an impressive CV of his own having played rugby for London Irish and Bath among others, as well as captaining the England Sevens side.
He was signed by the NFL side Atlanta Falcons in 2017 before his return to rugby.
The original Cena appears at his final WrestleMania on Sunday as he challenges Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE title.
