Logan Smith grew up watching the likes of John Cena and Edge light up the squared circle, now he is embarking on his journey as a professional wrestler.
Logan grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, as a young boy enamoured by professional wrestling he watched on television. The larger-than-life characters and encapsulating storylines, mixed with high-octane action, were enough to win the young Scot over and draw him to a life in spandex.
With the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), dominating television he thought that it was a sport exclusive to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. That was until he came across Glasgow-based Premier British Wrestling (PBW), where Logan began training aged 13. Initially, his parents believed this to be a phase he would soon grow out of.
“I tried running, I tried basketball, I tried rugby,” Logan listed off to Fen Regis Trophies. “They (his parents) assumed it was going to be something like that, that I would do it for a couple of weeks and chuck it after that.
“I don’t think they were ever worried about me getting started…I think that started when it became more serious, and injuries started to happen.”
Falling in Love with Wrestling
Logan will be the first to admit that his story does not differ from that of most professional wrestlers when it comes to how they first fell in love with the sport. From the moment he first saw what some describe as real-life superheroes, he was hooked.
He said: “Any sort of professional wrestler will tell you, from watching it at such a young age I grew up thinking it was an American thing.
“Then, I got to an age when I found out that it was happening over here and that there were shows over here, and that there were training schools.
“From a very young age, I enjoyed the dynamic [of wrestling] with my friends. That’s pretty much how I got hooked on wrestling.”
Logan was not alone in falling in love with wrestling. Alongside him was his best friend, Jimmy Pierce, who encouraged him to join him in attending the PBW Academy – almost 10 years later, the two are tag team partners known as The Young Team.
“How I started wrestling came about from a conversation with my best friend (Jimmy), who still is my best friend and now my tag team partner.
“I wanted to start training and he had already been training for a couple of years…the rest is history. I joined training with him and just kept going.”
The Young Team
Those that follow professional wrestling will know that, primarily, wrestlers are considered to be either singles or tag-team wrestlers. Logan falls into the latter category, though he does also compete in singles matches at events.
Alongside Jimmy, The Young Team have been featured on some of the biggest shows in the UK as they look to build a name for themselves. Up until now, the biggest promotion Logan and Jimmy have competed for is, without a doubt, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), a wrestling promotion based in Scotland.
“I’m one-half of the tag team champions for ICW,” said Logan. “To be a representation of a certain division for a company I grew up watching through my training it still seems unreal.
“It puts things into perspective, as the guys that were here before me are moving on to other places.”
ICW is regarded as being one of the largest independent wrestling promotions, not just in the UK, but in the world. Notable names to have passed through ICW include Finn Balor and Drew McIntyre, both of whom have gone on to become world champions in WWE.
How Independent Wrestling Shows Differ
Logan has been part of the ICW roster for three years, joining as the promotion recorded shows without a live audience. Wrestlers, more so than any other athletes, feed off the reaction of the crowd – with characters adopting either a face (good) or heel (bad) persona.
Once the world slowly began to return to normality, and crowds were allowed back in, it didn’t take long to realise that the crowds that turn out for independent wrestling are completely different to the type of crowd attracted by a more television and family-friendly promotion such as the WWE.
“There is so much more energy and passion [in the crowd],” he said. “They weren’t just there because they had to be there, because they were taking their children.
“It’s adults that understand the product. They know what’s happening and they know what to do.”
American Dream
For anyone that laces up a pair of wrestling boots, the ultimate dream is to find their way to the United States where the biggest wrestling promotions are based. While the WWE has long been the most recognisable name, other big promotions include All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Impact Wrestling, which could offer further opportunities for wrestlers like Logan to make it to the big time.
For now, however, Logan’s main ambition is to make a living from wrestling and knows that a lot of work lies ahead for him to get to where he wants to be.
“I would love to have wrestling as my full-time career. I would love to be able to say I have turned this into a job, and I’ve made a career out of it.
“I want to be wrestling every weekend, wrestling during the week, and constantly travelling. I would like to see myself travelling a lot.
“I would also like to have a couple more big companies on my CV of places that I have wrestled, that’s where I want to be in the next five years.”
The PBW Academy, where Logan trained, offers weekly training in the Glasgow and Aidrie area of Scotland to students aged 12 and over. For more information, please contact the wrestling school at pbwwrestling@hotmail.com.
By Aaron Gratton
