Magnus, like many British wrestlers, began training for the sport at the young age of just sixteen, and had his debut match against Doug Williams at nineteen. He spent some time on the British indies, as well as a stint on the UK version of Gladiators, before signing with TNA in late-2008. He first debuted as Brutus Magnus, a modern day gladiator gimmick which was dropped fairly quickly as he allied with Williams and Rob Terry as The British Invasion. Magnus and Williams were incredibly effective as a team and even defeated Team 3D for New Japans IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, which was initially controversial and New Japan did not officially recognise the title change for a number of weeks. Magnus eventually broke out in a big way as a singles superstar, and following AJ Styles departure from the company, he won a tournament to crown a new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Styles then returned to the promotion for a brief period claiming to be the legitimate champion, but thanks to overwhelming interference directed by TNA president Dixie Carter, Magnus defeated Styles to unite the titles. After losing the championship in a shock defeat at the hands of Eric Young, Magnus began slowly sliding down the card and went on a bit of a losing streak. He was reunited with his childhood friend Bram, and turned face briefly only to turn again towards the end of last year.
