Indie Watch is our regular series that looks at amazing talents working the independent circuits around the world. Some are veterans revitalizing their careers. Some are indie prospects hitting their peaks. Others are names to be on the watch for! This edition looks at young Benjamin Carter – a man who moved from a small island off of England to train under Seth Rollins and became a bright new face on the US indie scene.
Benjamin Carter is only a couple of years into his professional wrestling career, but already the British wrestler is gaining momentum in the US indie scene. Originally hailing from a small island called Jersey located in the Channel Islands near France, although the island remains a British dependency.
Starting his training with Channel Islands World Wrestling (CIWW), a small promotion on the island based out of St. Saviour on Jersey island, Carter found an immediate love for indie wrestling but knew that he needed to leave Jersey to further his career if he was to succeed. But instead of joining the explosive UK indie scene, Carter did what few others have done – headed to America instead. While many UK stars have headed to the US scene to further their careers, such as Nigel McGuinness in Ring of Honor, William Regal in WCW, and others, most tend to go through the British indie scene first to gain their foothold in the industry.
According to Carter, in an interview with Jack Murley for the BBC, his big break came with a football (soccer) scholarship to the United States. Once on US soil, he sought out to further his training in professional wrestling and he ended up heading to Iowa to train at The Black & The Brave Wrestling Academy, where he was mentored by WWE Superstar Seth Rollins. He began working with Iowa’s SCW Pro Wrestling.
Although trained in the Midwest, it has been the US Southern indie scene where he’s made his biggest dent. For much of the past year, the athletic daredevil has been a regular with Georgia’s ACTION Wrestling and Nashville’s Southern Underground Pro (SUP) – he’s currently based out of Nashville.
Carter has also spent much of the past year finding work in the American Midwest, with the likes of Ohio’s Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), Chicago’s AAW Pro and Indiana’s Black Label Pro. He spent the better half of 2019 building up a highlight reel resume showing of some of the innovation that the gifted youngster possesses inside the ring.
Earlier this month, he made his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), as an entrant in the second Acid Cup. In the first round, he was paired with Blake Christian – one of GCW’s indie discoveries last year – in what was one of the matches of the night on Night One. With Christian now firmly entrenched as one of the faces to watch in the US indies going forward, Carter firmly had the rabid GCW audience taking notes of this bright young star – and he passed with flying colors.
https://twitter.com/bencarterbxb/status/1241858056020987905
A rising star in the Southern indie scenes and starting to make his mark in the vibrant Midwest, it’s only a matter of time before Benjamin Carter hits the US indies on a more national scale. And while the pro wrestling world is temporarily on hold due to the COVID-19 virus, Carter has taken the time to work on new moves to unveil once the green light has been lit to return to the ring in front of a crowd. Keep an eye out for Benjamin Carter when the indie scene returns to normal – he just might be your new favorite wrestler for 2021.
Might have to whip this one out if the world goes back to normal… pic.twitter.com/cssfCqBiNJ
— Nathan Frazer (@WWEFrazer) March 29, 2020
Check out our full list of previous Indie Watches, showcasing emerging talent from around the world!
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world.
