#AnarchyInTheUk is a new ongoing feature here at Last Word on Pro Wrestling to help those who are getting their initiation into the British indie scene via WWE’s NXT UK division and want to learn more about the Superstars appearing, as well as the promotions these Superstars also work in outside of the WWE Universe. This entry features on ‘Liverpool’s #1’ and the most hated man in the UK, Zack Gibson.
When this man gets a microphone in hand you can be sure of one thing. Everyone will boo. And they will boo loudly. No matter where he has gone or who he has been paired with Zack Gibson gets over as one of the most hated competitors on the roster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nybxMdF4OM
It is amazing to think that Gibson started out his career as Zack Diamond. He had long blonde hair and was attempting to be a high flier. It was in Futureshock Wrestling that Diamond/Gibson began his in-ring career in 2009. Early on he teamed with Mike Fitzgerald before going through a variety of tag partners in various different promotions. It was Grand Pro Wrestling that would give Diamon his first singles title as he won the GPW British Championship in 2010. He would defend this title in high profile matches with Jack Gallagher and Mikey Whiplash before losing it to Gallagher. Gibson would mainly work Frontier Wrestling Alliance and Brittania Pro Wrestling along with GPW and FSW in his earlier years.
It was thanks to his work in BPW that saw Gibson make his debut at PROGRESS Wrestling’s first show. He would be almost unrecognisable the next time he appeared in PROGRESS as this was blonde, bad CM Punk cosplay era Gibson. But it is poetic that he appeared on the very first PROGRESS show as he would go on to become synonymous with PROGRESS over the course of his career. 2012/2013 saw Gibson start to win a lot of titles as he won the FSW Championship twice, regained the GPW British Championship, won the PWI:BWP World Catchweight championship and the GPW Heavyweight champion as part of The Cause.
Gibson would emerge as a major heel in PROGRESS as part of The Origin over the next few years, leading to the memorable image of the PROGRESS fans throwing toilet paper at the ring during a Gibson promo at Chapter 36. Hearing him claim that he was “Sooooonn to be the werlds numbeh one” became a signal to boo and chant as many derogatory things towards Gibson as possible. It was after the run with The Origin that Gibson found his role in wrestling. He became a tag specialist as he formed successful tag teams in Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) and PROGRESS and also found a home in Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) as part of the Zero Gravity division. Gibson would be paired with James Drake in PROGRESS and became the Grizzled Young Veterans. Drake immediately went from getting zero reaction to getting booed out of the building solely for associating with Gibson. The team became two-time tag team champions and anchored the PROGRESS tag team division as the number one heel tag team. In OTT Zack Gibson formed The Rapture along with Charlie Sterling and Sha Samuels. Once again every time the man put a microphone to his mouth the crowd was quick to tell him to “Shut the F**k up”. Not to be suppressed, Gibson would go on to continuously slander Irish Wrestling, the wrestlers, the fans and everything about Ireland. In February 2018 the group won the tag team championships much to the chagrin of fans who were incensed by the trio. When the group was defeated, the Kings Of The North became heroes for vanquishing The Rapture.
While Gibson has emerged as something of a tag team specialist over the years one thing has always remained constant regardless of him being a singles wrestler or in a tag team and that is the fact that Gibson gets an unmatched level of vitriol directed his way. No matter where Gibson shows up he has been received with boos and hatred instantly. Gibson has always managed to find success and become one of the most important members of the roster. With his victory in the second UK Tournament, it is clear that the WWE sees what they have in Gibson, they have a rare combination of talent and heat. No matter how good Gibson is the fans will never come to like him and no matter who he faces the fans will be firmly in the corner of his opponent.
