It’s a very early stage rumour, but a post today from UK indie promotion 5 Star Wrestling has started rumblings in the United Kingdom that one of the UK indie scene’s top heel and “Liverpool’s #1” Zack Gibson may be on the verge of signing with the WWE (or already has).
UK Star Zack Gibson Heading To WWE?
The press release posted by 5 Star Wrestling on their website and other social media outlets today read:
5 Star Wrestling would like to wish Jack Rea (aka ‘Liverpool’s Number 1’ Zack Gibson) all the best with the latest development in his wrestling career.
Jack will be moving on to a new venture in sports entertainment and therefore we regret to announce that he will no longer be part of 5 Star Wrestling events.
This is bitter sweet news for us at 5 Star Wrestling as Zack Gibson was a significant part of our weekly television show and his loss will be felt by everyone at the company and our fans.
But we are delighted for Jack personally, and we have no doubt that he will continue to prove to a worldwide TV audience that he is one of the very best wrestlers and performers of his generation.
5 Star Wrestling would like to thank Jack for his efforts for our company and wish him all the very best for the future.
Please note- Zack Gibson was included in promotional campaigns for our upcoming scheduled events before we were informed of this news.
Therefore please be aware that Zack may still be advertised in some local markets. Cards are always subject to change.
Kind Regards
5 Star Wrestling
Zack Gibson is a 9-year veteran of the British indie scene, trained by 8x British Champion Alex Shane (in IPW:UK, WAW, XWA/FWA and others) and Andy Baker, Gibson, a Liverpudlian, ironically debuted with Manchester’s FutureShock Wrestling in 2009, a company he still works for up to this year. A 3x FutureShock Champion, he’s also worked for such UK indies as IPW:UK, NGW, and Preston City Wrestling, as well as emerged as a top player in PROGRESS, RevPro, Defiant Wrestling, ICW and OTT. He’s also worked with Germany’s wXw and worked NJPW Global Wars shows in England.
His tag team, Grizzled Young Veterans with James Drake is taking over the UK as the current (and 2x) tag team champions in PROGRESS. If his partner’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s currently signed as part of the WWE UK brand. He was part of the initial WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament (losing in the first round to Joseph Conners), but since then he’s worked all the WWE Live Events in the UK the past year (mostly teaming in 6-man matches with Conners and UK Champion “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne), even appearing as part of the 205 Live UK episode when they were in Manchester last November.
The fact that he’s no longer allowed to work with 5 Star Wrestling any longer is interesting, as the WWE freely allows their UK talent to work the indie circuit. It’s just good brand building while they slowly work on their UK show. So if Gibson was indeed signing with the WWE’s UK brand, he wouldn’t have to pull out of 5 Star Wrestling. But with recent reports that WWE was bringing in a Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship, they’ll need to stock some legit tag teams, so that every team isn’t simply Frankenstein teams of singles wrestlers thrown together, like the recently announced tag team of Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa.
Could we be looking at #205Live's NEWEST tag team? Let's see what happens… @HideoItami @TozawaAkira pic.twitter.com/nPGp8ZDSLJ
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) March 7, 2018
Bringing over Grizzled Young Veterans would give 205 Live an additional UK presence on the show and putting a charismatically vile persona like Zack Gibson alongside the strong work of James Drake could give the WWE their best British tag team since the British Bulldogs. Gibson was made for the big lights, bright city.
At this point, the rumours are still early, but Gibson himself posted a tweet himself shortly after 5 Star issued their statement. It was short, but simple.
https://twitter.com/ZackGibson01/status/971805164398153729
