Grado (wrestler)

Grado
Birth name	Graeme Stevely
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Grado, Grant Dunbar
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight	155 lb (70 kg)
Debut	2004

Graeme Stevely, better known by his ring name Grado, is a Scottish professional wrestler from Stevenson, Ayrshire. He is one of the stars of TNA British Boot Camp Season 2. He is the current PWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Professional Wrestling Career

Career

Graeme Stevely, better known as Grado, made his debut in the ring in 2004 as part of The Lowlanders with Glen Dunbar (Grado would be known as Glens brother, Grant Dunbar). They achieved little success but did hold the SWA Tag Team Championships.

After years of wrestling off and on, Grado found his calling by making YouTube videos. His training videos and promos became popular and Mark Dallas from Insane Championship Wrestling hatched the "Get Grado Booked" campaign. During this time Grado was the subject of Vice Documentary "The British Wrestler" which saw his popularity rise, with American stars like Sonjay Dutt being a vocal fan of Grado.

At the end of the documentary it showed Grado defeating Red Lightning to win the ICW Heavyweight Championship. However, the match was later restarted due to Red Lightning having his foot placed under the bottom rope. Red Lightning eventually retained the championship.

In addition to working in ICW, Grado also appears for various companies around the UK. He has worked for SWA, SWE, PBW, among other companies. At WrestleZone's Aberdeen Anarchy event in the Beach Ballroom, Grado defeated childhood hero Scotty 2 Hotty in front of 1300 people.

During the ICW Fringe Tour in 2014, Grado teamed up with Colt Cobana to face the New Age Kliq and in turn won the ICW Tag Team Championships. The team was known as Irn Jew and would be Grado's first official championship in ICW. They lost the titles back to the New Age Kliq on the last night of the tour.

Later that same year he won the Pro Wrestling Elite Heavyweight Championship from Dave Mastiff at GradoMania.

Recently, Grado has appeared in TNA British Bootcamp in an ongoing fued with judge Al Snow. After missing the second round of the competition due to having lunch and losing track of time, Al Snow threw Grado out of the competition. Grado would then appear at the Manchester auditions and was once again thrown out. He reappeared in London and with some convincing from Gail Kim, Al Snow allowed him back into the competition. Snow would then send Sha Samuels to rough up Grado in the second round. He would make it through to the British finals.

Grado is one of the most popular babyface characters in UK wrestling, coming out to Madonna's Like a Prayer and dancing around the ring. His charisma has also lead to tv spots including The Sunny and Scot Squad on the BBC. A recurring role in Scottish soap opera River City is also in the future.

In Wrestling

• Finishing Move(s)
  • Wee Boot (Running Big Boot)
  • Rock Bottom
  • Stunner
• Signature Move(s)
  • Roll N Slice (Senton Splash On A Seated Opponent(s) in the Corner)
  • The Slug
  • F-5
• Nickname(s)
  • The Chubby Wee Chancer Fae The Tap End of Stevenson
• Entrance Theme
  • "Like A Prayer" By Madonna (Various Promotions)

Championships and Accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Elite
  • World Heavyweight Champion (Current)
• Insane Championship Wrestling
  • Tag Team Champion - 1 Time (with Colt Cobana as Irn Jew)
• Scottish Wrestling Alliance
  • Tag Team Champion (As Grant Dunbar) - 1 Time (with Glen Dunbar as The Lowlanders)
• UKFF
  • Number 24 in the 2013 Top 50
  • Number 500 in the 2014 Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI 500

References

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/.../comedy-wrestler-grado-lands-big-4087222 www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/tna-british-boot-camp-2-4449388 www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/insane-fight-club-who-grado-3227390 www.vice.com/en_uk/video/the-british-wrestler-full-length www.prowrestlingelite.com/wrestlers/grado

External Links

• Official website
• Grado on Twitter
• Grado on Facebook
• Cagematch profile