Turf war over city show

Dundee is ‘SWE country’ on hearing of 5 Star’s presentation

A wrestling turf war has broken out between rival companies in Tayside.

Scottish Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) has hit out at new company 5 Star Wrestling after it announced a Dundee “supershow”.

Olympic gold medal winner Kurt Angle, Scottish competitor Drew Galloway and former WWE star Rey Mysterio will appear on the bill at Dundee Ice Arena on January 28.

5 Star’s boast that this will be the best wrestling show Dundonians have ever seen has incurred the wrath of SWE which has been putting on grappling events across Tayside since it was founded in 2002.

SWE owner David Low said he was “disappointed” that 5 Star were putting on a show in Dundee which he described as “SWE country”.

5 Star’s event takes place on the same night as a scheduled SWE show at the Ardler Complex which will include popular star Grado.

Mr Low said: “Dundee is SWE country and it’s not very polite for a rival to pitch up on our turf and put on a show.”

SWE has previously featured former WWE stars “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Virgil, Tatanka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Chyna.

Mr Low added: “This has been scheduled for the same night as our show at the Ardler Complex which we can promise will be a night to remember – loyalty and friendship goes further than money.”

5 Star Wrestling owner Dan Hinkles hit back and said they picked Dundee for the show because “it’s our home town”.

Mr Hinkles said he moved to Dundee in 2011 to set up Serious Parody which is behind the 5 Star Wrestling video game series.

Serious Parody launched 5 Star Wrestling as a major new wrestling promotion in 2015 and he said the Dundee Ice Arena show would be “a truly historic event”.

“It’s the first time ever a UK wrestling promotion will be broadcast live on TV and we picked Dundee for that because it’s our home town,” he said.

“It’s where our journey began and we wanted to do something really positive for the community here.”

Loyalty and friendship goes further than money. DAVID LOW