Independent circuit (2009–2019, 2023–present) After being trained by
Alex Shane, Rea made his pro-wrestling debut in 2009 for English promotion, FutureShock Wrestling as
Zack Diamond. For FSW, he would become a three-time FSW Heavyweight Champion in a series of matches with
Noam Dar,
Jack Gallagher, Andy Wild,
Rampage Brown,
Fabian Aichner,
Ashton Smith and others. In March 2010, Rea started using the ring name of
Zack Gibson. Gibson entered the FutureShock Trophy Tournament 2011 making it to the finals only to lose to CJ Banks. In 2010, Rea made his debut for
Grand Pro Wrestling as Zack Diamond losing to Jack Gallagher. Diamond became GPW British Champion after defeating former champion CJ Banks, Gallagher and Martin Kirby in a four-way scramble match. A year later after his GPW debut, Diamond teamed with Xander Cooper,
Mikey Whiplash and
Danny Hope where they defeated Gallagher, Bruce Sheila, William Gaylord and Noam Dar. At GPW Heroes & Villains, Diamond lost the championship to Jack Gallagher. In 2015, Gibson unsuccessfully challenged Kid Fite for the Union of European Wrestling Alliances European Cruiserweight Championship for Infinite Promotions. In 2016, Gibson made his debut for
5 Star Wrestling, losing to
Big Damo. In 2018, before the promotion's closure, Gibson made his return to 5 Star losing to
Rey Mysterio by disqualification after hitting Mysterio with a
low blow. In March 2017 Gibson made his debut for
WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (later Defiant Wrestling) as part of the Pro Wrestling World Cup English qualifiers, losing to
Jimmy Havoc in the first round. He began wrestling on Defiant's weekly program
Loaded in late 2017 into 2018. He defeated
Rampage Brown at the 18 February 2018 event Chain Reaction. His final match for the promotion before leaving for WWE, would be in March 2018, with Gibson losing a Magnificent 7 qualifying match.
Progress Wrestling (2012, 2014–2019, 2024) In 2012, Gibson made his
Progress Wrestling debut at the debut show for Progress. In 2014, Gibson returned to Progress at Chapter Twelve, defeating
Will Ospreay. In 2017, Gibson and
James Drake formed
villainous a tag team called
Grizzled Young Veterans. Grizzled Young Veterans defeated
Chris Brookes and
Kid Lykos of CCK to become the
Progress tag team champions. They successfully defended the titles against
Aussie Open at Progress Chapter 59. At Chapter 61, Grizzled Young Veterans defeated
Moustache Mountain (
Trent Seven and
Tyler Bate)to retain their championships. In 2018, Gibson took part of the
Super Strong Style 16 Tournament, defeating
Joey Janela in the first round and
Pete Dunne by disqualification in the quarter finals before he was eliminated by
Kassius Ohno in the semi-finals.
Insane Championship Wrestling (2015–2017) Gibson debuted for
Insane Championship Wrestling in 2015 during the Road to Fear and Loathing tour losing an eight-man tag team match to the New Age Kliq. In 2015, he challenged
Grado for the
ICW World Heavyweight Championship in a three-way match with
Dave Mastiff where Grado retained. On 20 November 2016 at
ICW: Fear & Loathing IX, Gibson entered the Seven Man Stairway to Heaven match for the
ICW Zero-G Championship, he faced Aaron Echo,
Lionheart, Liam Thomson, Iestyn Rees and
Kenny Williams but was first eliminated. In 2017 at
ICW:Fear & Loathing X, Gibson and
Rob Van Dam were defeated by Lionheart in a three-way elimination match. On 16 June 2017 Gibson defeated Kenny Williams in a falls count anywhere match to win the ICW Zero-G Championship. Gibson lost the championship back to Williams the following month in a
ladder match.
Revolution Pro Wrestling (2017–2018, 2023–2024) Gibson was defeated by Trent Seven in his
Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) debut match. At RevPro Epic Encounter 2017, Gibson was defeated by
Hirooki Goto. In June, Gibson defeated
Angélico. At Summer Sizzler, Gibson defeated
Dalton Castle. Gibson took part of RevPro and
New Japan Pro-Wrestling's joint show,
Global Wars UK losing to
Yuji Nagata on night one and
Toru Yano on night two. Gibson and Josh Bodom defeated Aussie Open to become number one contenders for the
RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Championships. Gibson and Bodom lost to RevPro tag team champions, Moustache Mountain.
WWE NXT UK (2018–2020) Gibson was announced for
WWE's
WrestleMania Axxess during
WrestleMania 34 weekend as part of a
WWE United Kingdom Championship invitational where he lost to
Mark Andrews in the first round. On day four of axxess, Grizzled Young Veterans retained their Progress tag team championships by disqualification against
Heavy Machinery (
Tucker Knight and
Otis Dozovic). Around this time, it was revealed by
Wrestling Observer that Gibson was signed to a WWE contract. On 16 May 2018, it was announced that Gibson would be one of the 16 participants in the upcoming
WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament with the winner of the tournament facing Pete Dunne for the United Kingdom Championship. Gibson defeated Amir Jordan in the opening round. He would go on to defeat Gentleman Jack Gallagher and
Flash Morgan Webster in the second round and semi-finals, respectively. He would then defeat
Travis Banks in the finals and would go on to challenge WWE United Kingdom Champion, Pete Dunne, the next night in a losing effort. In 2019, they defeated Moustache Mountain at
NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool in the finals of a tournament to become the inaugural
NXT UK Tag Team Champions. After some defences, they would lose the titles to Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster at
NXT Takeover: Cardiff in a triple-threat tag team also involving
Gallus. On 11 September Drake and Gibson unsuccessfully challenged Andrews and Webster in a rematch. They would have another title match at
NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool II against the new champions Gallus, Andrews & Webster and Imperium (
Fabian Aichner and
Marcel Barthel) in a ladder match where the champions retained. In parallel to their NXT UK Tag Team Championship pursuit at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II, Drake and Gibson competed in the
2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. They defeated
Kushida and Alex Shelley in the quarterfinals and
NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish and
Kyle O'Reilly of
The Undisputed Era in the semifinals, before losing to The BroserWeights (
Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne) in the finals.
NXT (2020–2023) On 19 February 2020 episode of
NXT, the Grizzled Young Veterans joined the
NXT brand, defeating
Raul Mendoza and
Joaquin Wilde before announcing their intent to take over NXT's tag team division, establishing themselves as
tweeners. At the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic The Grizzled Young Veterans got to the finals before losing to
MSK. At
NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver The Grizzled Young Veterans were defeated by MSK for the vacant NXT Tag Team Championship also involving
Legado Del Fantasma. On 21 July episode of NXT The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated
LA Knight and
Cameron Grimes. On 19 July 2022 edition of NXT, Drake and Gibson were revealed as
Joe Gacy's Dyad, being renamed to Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler, respectively. On 14 October 2023, both Drake and Gibson announced that their WWE contracts have expired and they would take independent bookings.
Return to independent circuit (2023–present) On 14 October 2023, both Gibson and Drake announced that they would take independent bookings. On 25 April 2024, Gibson and Drake announced the launch of their professional wrestling promotion, Burning Heart Wrestling. The promotion's first event will take place on 21 June.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2024) On 26 December 2023, it was revealed that Gibson and Drake will make their
TNA Wrestling debuts at
Hard To Kill. They were later announced as challenging for the
TNA World Tag Team Championship, along with
The Rascalz (
Zachary Wentz and
Trey Miguel) and Speedball Mountain (
Mike Bailey and
Trent Seven), against champions
ABC (
Chris Bey and
Ace Austin), which was won by ABC. Director of Authority
Santino Marella would then make a
best of three series between the two teams over the titles, with GYV winning the first match and ABC winning the second.
All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2024–present) at
All In in August 2024 Gibson and Drake made their
All Elite Wrestling debut on the 27 April 2024 episode of
Collision, losing to
The Acclaimed (
Anthony Bowens and
Max Caster). At
All In on 25 August 2024, the Grizzled Young Veterans made their return to AEW and stared down
AEW World Tag Team Champions the
Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) before attacking
FTR (
Cash Wheeler and
Dax Harwood). Grizzled Young Veterans made their debut for AEW's sister promotion
Ring of Honor on 14 November in a
four-way tag. Grizzled Young Veterans then began a feud with FTR, which ended in a defeat for Grizzled Young Veterans on the 12 December episode of
Collision.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2024–present) The Grizzled Young Veterans made their
New Japan Pro-Wrestling on 30 August 2024 at
Capital Collision, losing a three-way tag team match to
Tomohiro Ishii and
Hiroshi Tanahashi to determine the #1 contenders to the
Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship. On 8 November at
Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Grizzled Young Veterans defeated
TMDK (
Mikey Nicholls and
Shane Haste) to win the Strong Openweight Tag Championships, only to lose it to
West Coast Wrecking Crew a month later at
Strong Style Evolved. == Personal life ==