Grado is leading the charge as World of Sport Wrestling returns with a splash (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
World of Sport Wrestling is making a triumphant comeback, and Grado is predicting big things for the revival.
The wrestler turned actor – who is best known for playing Alan in BBC sitcom Two Doors Down – is delighted to be continuing the rich history of WOS, which used to command huge audiences with a peak of over 10 million during the 1960s, while the 70s became synonymous with Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk about the revival, he told us: ‘The name is synonymous with history. Back in the day, Saturday afternoons, it was massive, bigger than the FA Cup!
‘[The reboot] is an amazing opportunity for British wrestlers to showcase their skills. I’m really excited this time around.’
The team behind this WOS – which follows its initial comeback on ITV in 2018 and the UK tour in 2019 – have experience across the UK scene, WWE and TNA Wrestling, which bodes well.
The official return happens on September 14 at Norwich’s Epic Studios and Grado, real name Graeme Stevely, thinks it’s the perfect time with WWE and wrestling ‘on the up’.
Grado has played Alan on Two Doors Down since 2016 (Picture: BBC Studios/Alan Peebles)
WOS turned wrestlers like Big Daddy into household names (Picture: Allsport/Getty Images)
WOS Wrestling is returning for a new generation (Picture: WOS)
‘[WWE’s] just gonna keep getting bigger when it goes to Netflix,’ he said. ‘With us, we want this to be a family tradition. We’re gonna have the finest athletes, the finest characters, lights, camera, music – action!’
The ‘legacy’ is there, with a generation still remembering sitting ‘with their grannies’ on a Saturday afternoon watching the likes of Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks and Kendo Nagasaki.
For Grado, there’s also a personal goal as he looks to get back to his best after a decade splitting his time between wrestling, television and a breakfast show on Go Radio.
‘As much as I love sitcoms, as much as I love acting, as much as I love radio presenting, my number one place I feel at home is wrestling,’ he smiled. ‘It’s still my love.’
Grado is known for his acting career as much as his grappling nowadays (Picture: BBC Studios/Mark Mainz)
Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy defined an era of wrestling (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
That’s not to say he’s not enjoyed the past decade, with his acting career starting with roles on soap opera River City and BBC Scotland’s Scot Squad, and then Two Doors Down and Disney+ series Wedding Season.
The latter was actually in jeopardy when he let slip in a costume fitting that he’d already played a police officer in Scot Squad, but he kept his secret for the rest of the shoot..
Back to wrestling – a journey that started young for Grado, when he would call in to the old WrestleTalk radio show ‘before my balls dropped’ to get tips on being a wrestler, and even pretend to be a journalist to get in touch with people in WWE.
He has lived his dream, and his underdog character endeared him to the fans, along with his now iconic walkout to Madonna’s Like A Prayer.
‘That song has been really good to me,’ he shrugged, admitting he even had a string quartet play it on his wedding day.
The Queen of Pop wasn’t quite so keen on the association, and actually requested the audio be omitted from the live broadcast after it was used for TNA Wrestling’s show at the Hydro in 2015.
He recalled: ‘The email said, “The following request for Like A Prayer to be used in TNA has been denied by: Madonna”. So Madonna was actually approached about it.
‘She apparently has a big say and where her music goes… She did not want us.’
Grado has performed at Wembley Stadium (Picture: AEW/Ricky Havlik)
Fans were hoping to hear it for Grado’s surprise appearance at Wembley Stadium last August for AEW All In London, but boss Tony Khan couldn’t get around the legalities.
Still, Grado got a phenomenal reaction which even impressed Paul Wight (AKA Big Show in WWE) after they joined boxer Anthony Ogogo in an attack on villains Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt.
‘What was great about it as well as we go backstage and Paul Wight says, “Good job kid, you got a bigger pop than me,”‘ he laughed.
It was a relief for Grado after taking so much time off from wrestling between sitcoms, radio, TV and panto season.
WWE superstar Drew McIntyre is an old friend of Grado’s (Picture: WWE)
‘Time off is your worst enemy,’ he admitted, joking that his old friend Drew McIntyre has managed to do wonders despite losing to Grado in an ICW World Heavyweight Title match nine years ago.
‘He went on to be the WWE champion. He went on to start in a Hollywood movie with Dave Bautista which is released later on the year,’ he shouted. ‘I’m advertising breakfast rolls on the radio. How the f*** does that work?!’
Of course, it’s all in jest, as he hailed Drew an ‘absolute hero’ and one of his best mates, while his line-blurring storylines in WWE are an inspiration for WOS.
‘His programme with CM Punk is absolutely incredible,’ he said, with fans unable to tell what’s real or not. ‘We want storylines like that, that can grab the attention of everybody.’
This year, Grado will focus on writing his own projects with sessions already underway with a production company, but he won’t forget his one true love with more time between the ropes this year in WOS.
‘I’ve had so much time away from wrestling. Two Doors Down isn’t recording this summer, it’s the first time it’s not going to be filmed,’ he explained. ‘So I want to focus mainly on my wrestling career and bring Grado back a bit!’
WOS Wrestling returns on September 14 at Epic Studios in Norwich. Click here for tickets and more information.
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