It has certainly been a whirlwind few months for the just 22-year-old UK standout, Ben Carter, who went from making his television debut on AEW Late Night Dynamite in September to now reportedly signing a contract with WWE. There, Carter will be reunited with his former trainer, Seth Rollins, becoming the first Black and Brave Wrestling Academy grad to land with the world’s top wrestling organization.
Despite having only two years of pro wrestling experience under his belt, Carter was one of the more talented prospects on the indie wrestling scene. No doubt in part due to working with one of WWE’s top stars, Carter emerged from Black and Brave highly touted and highly scouted.
According to his Cagematch profile, Carter made his wrestling debut in August 2018. From there it didn’t take long for the Jersey, UK native to catch the eyes of US promoters as the following year, Carter worked the Southern circuit for promotions in Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois and Iowa, as well as New Jersey, where he wrestled for the short-lived Blackcraft, which was an offshoot of Carter’s former school.
But it was 2020 that saw Carter break into the mainstream, largely in part due to his work with Game Changer Wrestling. Carter made his GCW debut in March’s Acid Cup 2, where he lost to another top GCW prospect, Blake Christian. He returned the following night to take part in GCW’s Clusterf**k Battle Royale which was won by Nick Gage. But in both outings, Carter looked very impressive and started to get some significant traction. However, even before GCW, Carter had made appearances in Beyond, AAW, Black Label Pro, and Absolute Intense Wrestling during a short February tour of the Midwest.
If not for the COVID pandemic, Carter likely would have had an even more impressive and booking-filled year. Even so however, the young star only missed two months of action as Visa issues and travel bans temporarily kept him overseas. But in June 2020, Carter made his way back to wrestling, where he’s predominantly worked as a GCW regular. It was in September though, that Carter got his big break, when he landed a spot on AEW DARK taking on Ricky Starks in a near eight-minute match that truly showcased his talent to a larger audience. Carter was put over huge by AEW commentators and management, and returned to the company for a second appearance, winning his match against Lee Johnson. For indie wrestlers, winning on DARK is rare so it was clear AEW had big plans for the young star as he won his second-ever match with them. Carter returned for a third and final AEW appearance, only this time on Dynamite, where he took on Scorpio Sky in a fantastic 15-minute bout. It was Carter’s television debut and it certainly got the wrestling world talking.
Following Late Night Dynamite, Carter’s was a name on everyone’s lips as reports came out that there was interest from AEW, WWE, and IMPACT Wrestling, of which he took part in a match on Xplosion against Chris Sabin earlier this month. Carter had no shortage of suitors, but like many, it would appear he has chosen WWE as his permanent home for the near future. While there had been heavy speculation of Carter’s signing with WWE for the past few weeks, it wasn’t until Friday morning that the Wrestling Observer seemingly confirmed the news Carter himself first floated, as Dave Meltzer reported that the 22-year-old is indeed, WWE bound.
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