Ex-Premier League striker makes wrestling debut

What's the story?

Former Norwich City striker, Grant Holt, made his surprise wrestling debut at a WAW event in Norwich on Saturday night.

In case you didn't know...

Grant Holt made 154 appearances for Norwich between 2009 and 2013, scoring 68 goals in all competitions for the club before moving on to play for the likes of Aston Villa and Wigan. Holt ended his footballing career earlier this year, after playing briefly for Conference Premier side, Barrow.

Holt announced earlier in the year that he was training with the Norwich based wrestling promotion, World Association of Wrestling.

The heart of the matter

Despite being originally scheduled to make his debut for WAW in 2019, Grant Holt made a surprise appearance at an event this Saturday night, where he would win the 40-man crusher mason memorial battle royal in the night's main event.

Holt paid homage to WWE legend, Shawn Michaels, during the finish of the match, dangling over the top rope before pulling himself back into the ring to eliminate his opponent with a fairly impressive dropkick.

Holt's ring-attire has raised some serious questions from wrestling fans though, with the former Shrewsbury Town star wearing a jumper and a pair of jeans to the ring, which is not something you would expect to see from a professional wrestler.

What's next?

BREAKING NEWS...@Grantholt31 just entered the @WAW_UK 40 man (and woman) Rumble and won it! He’s made his wrestling debut pic.twitter.com/xDLG9bYEx9

— Rob Butler (@BobRutler) September 22, 2018

Holt's next scheduled match is in June 2019, where the former Rochdale and Nottingham Forest star will team up with Ricky Knight, the father of WWE star, Paige, to take on the team of Kosta K and Malik.

That being said, given the reaction that Holt received at last night's event, there is every chance that he will be making another in-ring appearance before then. Let's just hope he has some better ring-gear next time around.