10 British Wrestlers Who Had Profound Impact In America

8. Magnus

I vividly remember a teenage lad called Nick Aldis coming down to Worthing, on the south coast of England, to work on a Premier Promotions show where I was in attendance. He was tall, well-built and good looking but was obviously very green. After the show, he took the time to come over to me and ask my opinion of his match. It was clear to me that this young man was determined to learn and improve himself. Over the coming years, he did indeed improve and showed himself to have a very good mind for business and self-promotion, so it came as little surprise when Aldis turned up on my TV screen as one of the new breed of Gladiators on ITV. Aldis had the size and look for American wrestling, and at the end of 2008, just five years into his career, he debuted with TNA as Brutus Magnus, a Roman gladiator: not the greatest of gimmicks. He was then paired up with experienced campaigner Doug Williams (ironically, his first ever opponent) in The British Invasion tag team, which proved to be very successful. The duo won both the TNA and IWGP (New Japan) World Tag Team Championship in a very prosperous 2009. After the tag team run (and a change of booker) in TNA, Magnus€™s star fell, but he was back in the spotlight in 2012 in a tag team with Samoa Joe, where he again became a World Tag Team Champion. However, his crowning achievement came in November last year, when turned heel and defeated Jeff Hardy in the final of a tournament for the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship. TNA liaised with its UK office and quickly released a statement, declaring that Magnus had become the first Brit to win the World Heavyweight Championship of a major American company in the 108 year history of US pro wrestling. It was played up huge in the UK, even throwing a fan party in London to celebrate. While Magnus€™s reign was brief, only lasting five months, his place in American wrestling history was secure.