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Writer's pictureSteve Shepperson-Smith

Ripper Reed on Chasing Dreams, Training with Tajiri and The Future

Updated: Jun 27

British wrestling is so hot right now, with stars at the top of major wrestling promotions across the United States.


From Drew McIntyre, Pete Dunne, Tyler Bates and Nick Aldis all making waves in the WWE, to Saraya and Will Ospreay headlining shows for All Elite Wrestling and Joe Hendry riding a wave of popularity in TNA, fans across the world are getting the opportunity to appreciate the British style like never before. 


Ripper Reed

Ripper Reed could be a future breakthrough star to join that pantheon. Hailing from Trowbridge, a town in England’s rural county of Wiltshire, Jake Reed is one of the country’s brightest young talents.


Ripper has already been trained by Joel Redman  – one half of the inaugural NXT tag team champions – Yoshihiro Tajiri  – who has wrestled successfully across the world including in ECW and WWE  – and the Japanese high-flyer, Mentai Kid.       


On episode 021, he joined Ben Veal on the award-winning #WrestlingLifePod to share his story so far.


Here’s some of what Ben discovered in conversation with the Blonde Bomber:




  • Jake Reed fell in love with professional wrestling first as a video game then as a sport.

  • When he was 17, he started training with British Kingdom Pro Wrestling before eventually connecting with Joel Redman and then making his debut straight after the pandemic.

  • Ripper is just 150 matches into his wrestling career but has already worked in both the UK and Japan;

  • While in Japan, Tajiri would make him train by doing 1,000 squats in just 40 minutes!   

  • As well as wrestling his trainers, he has already squared off against a host of ex-WWE superstars including Brian Kendrick and Jakk Sellström, the Māori warrior NIWA and top British wrestler, James Mason.

  • Ripper’s style is a throwback to the slower pace of early 1990s wrestling, which he first watched as a child on DVD.

  • He films every match on his iPhone in order to improve, and the trainee accountant also has a spreadsheet with the statistics of every bout he has been in!

  • You can check out his matches by following RipperReedPW on Instagram, YouTube or X.


Wrestling Life with Ben Veal is out now via Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and more: real talk from real talent.

Ripper Reed with Tajiri and Joel Redman

About the author: Steve Shepperson-Smith lives in Hertfordshire, England and has a highly successful career in the public relations industry and as a  Board member. He has been a wrestling fan for over 30 years and would still like to work in publicity for a wrestling promotion one day. Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, The Rock and Asuka are some of the wrestlers he has most enjoyed watching over the years. His ambition is to attend WrestleMania one day with his kids. In London.  Connect with Steve: X | LinkedIn | Instagram

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