There is an old Catalan proverb that reads “Wisdom goes not always by years.” At just 16, Dublin based professional wrestler Scotty Davis is out to prove that theory to be true. “I get that a lot,” says Davis, “people always think I’m a lot older than I actually am.”
On December 9th Ireland’s premier professional wrestling promotion, Over The Top Wrestling will present its “Being The Elite” show from the near sold out 2000 seater National Stadium in Dublin. The event will be OTT’s 3rd stadium show in the last year.
“I’m feeling really motivated.” explains Davis, one of OTT’s youngest and most exciting up and coming talents. At the National Stadium he will team with fellow Irish wrestlers Curtis Murray and Michael May to take on the world renowned collective of British Strong Style, a trio which includes current WWE UK champion Pete Dunne.
“I’d love British Strong Style,” begins Davis, “any opportunity to work with lads on a WWE contract, I’d be all over that, especially someone who’s a current WWE champion that’s unreal. If someone had’ve said I’d a chance of doing that last year I just would’ve told them they were nuts!”
Davis alongside fellow Irish standout Jordan Devlin- Image credit: John Morrissey Photography and Design.
Scotty Davis has come a long way in his very short wrestling career so far. The Dubliner began pursuing a life in professional wrestling 3 years ago, when he was just 13. Despite uniquely starting off as a freestyle wrestler, Davis always had a love for its more theatrical cousin and stumbled across Mainstage Wrestling school at a Comic Con event in Dublin.
“When I was 13 I really wanted to start wrestling but I didn’t know how to get into training schools,” he says. “I didn’t even know Mainstage was a thing until I went to Comic Con and Mainstage were wrestling at that. I got talking to a few of the lads and they were giving me direction and stuff and they were telling me how to get down and wondering if I was too young, but I didn’t bring up my age at that point. “
After impressing trainer and current OTT promoter Joe Cabray, Davis’s age, he says, soon became irrelevant. “I went down and done a few classes and I don’t think age was really a factor then, but I don’t think they expected me to be as young as I was.”
Cabray is a man who’s had a huge influence on Davis’s career. The former WWE developmental talent trained the 16-year-old and has been heralded as one of the key figures in the renaissance of professional wrestling in Ireland. In addition to giving Davis sporadic chances at the monthly Tivoli Theatre shows, Cabray has recently provided him and fellow young Irish wrestlers with a platform to frequently perform in front of an audience, in the form of “OTT Contenders.”
“I think Contenders is one of the best things to happen to Irish wrestling.” says Davis, confidently. “I remember back in March when me and Connor Andrews debuted on OTT, there was a lot of other Irish talents that weren’t getting booked and if you weren’t on OTT there was a 3 or 4 month wait for every show, so there was a lot of people caught in limbo not really getting shows too often and then when contenders came around it opened up a lot of opportunities and gateways for younger talents to come in.”
Davis in action against his trainer Luther Ward (Joe Cabray) at OTT Contenders- Image credit: John Morrissey Photography and Design.
Davis has always grown up around wrestling. His family, he explains, have always been fans of the business with his brother and sister both also competing in freestyle wrestling.
“My Dad was always a fan of wrestling before I was born he was mad into it and then gradually growing up my family was always watching it , even my Nanny in the mornings we’d all kinda be watching it or whatever, so yeah we’re all wrestling fans. Me, my brother, my sister and the majority of younger people in my family done freestyle wrestling but it was mainly me and my brother that stuck around.”
Talking to Davis it’s easy to forget that he’s still so young. Outside of the ring he has ambitions to attend college, but his life, he says, “pretty much revolves around wrestling.”
“I’m hoping to get into college soon,” begins Davis, “I was supposed to be going to college in Florida with freestyle wrestling but that never worked out, there was new management and stuff so that went down the drain, my life pretty much revolves around wrestling to be honest, there’s not much outside of it.”
Scotty Davis teams up with Curtis Murray and Micheal May to take on British Strong Style this Saturday in the National Stadium.
With OTT’s Being The Elite less than a week away Davis has his focus firmly on what will surely be the biggest night of his short career so far. But what does the next year hold for one of Ireland’s brightest young talents?
“In the next 12 months or so I want to be frequently on OTT and prove myself there and say prove myself at a UK level and around the UK and focus on that next year, try and get my way around different shows over there.”
There’s never been a better time to be involved in professional wrestling in Ireland, and with Scotty Davis leading the newest crop of young homegrown talent, the future looks just as bright as the present.
Oisin McQueirns