Wrestling saved me from gangs and jail – now it's helping other kids

A Glaswegian pro wrestler, who credits the sport for turning his life around, is passing his life lessons on to children to stop them following his "bad path".

Ravie Davie – real name David McCallum - struggled to cope after his mother died when he was six. As a teenager he was "in and out of prison" after he got into trouble with gangs in his native Govan.

Now the 31-year-old runs a wrestling school in the area and recently took over Linthouse Church to use as its base.

He told BBC Scotland News the school had helped children as young as five learn how to express themselves.

"When my mum passed away, wrestling was the only time I wasn't thinking about it," he said.

"My gran went over the top and got me everything wrestling related, all the toys, and she would let me stay off school on Monday mornings so I could stay up late and watch the WWE pay-per-views.

"She saw that wrestling was the one thing that made happy."

David now runs his own wrestling promotion called Community Pro Wrestling

David said he joined a gang as a teenager because it gave him "a kind of family and sense of belonging since I didn't have a mum or dad".

"It obviously wasn't the right choice," he said.

"But I always thought the gang fighting was my form of wrestling. It's a messed up way to look at things but I didn't have a lot of direction when I was younger.

"I got myself in trouble with the police, kicked out of school, in and out of prison and just made my poor nana's life hell."

'Another statistic'

David lived with his gran as a child and she urged him to "get his act together".

He added: "I didn't want to be just another statistic from Govan and I had to do something to make my nana proud.

"A lot of people who were in the gangs are either in jail, on drugs or dead now and I didn't want to end up like that.

"My nana put so much time and money into my love of wrestling so when she started getting unwell, I thought she would be proud if I became a wrestler."

After his gran died when he was 21 years old, David joined a wrestling school called Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum.

"It turned out I was actually really good at it and I was wrestling in matches after just five months," he said.

Teenagers from the school perform in some CPW shows, including Kayden Cross

David wrestled in venues across the UK and Europe, including iconic Glasgow locations like the Barrowlands and the Hydro.

And he set up his own professional wrestling company called Community Pro Wrestling (CPW) to put on performances in Govan's Fairfield Club.

"We sold out our first show straight out of lockdown," he said.

"A lot of the parents who came to the shows had asked me if there was a wrestling school in Glasgow that takes kids, but there wasn't any.

"I'm a qualified youth worker and I've been wrestling for ten years so I thought all these things added together could make a good wrestling school."

So David decided to launch the first wrestling school in the city for kids as young as five, as well as teenagers and adults.

He said the first registration day in October 2022 was so successful that they had to move to a larger venue in the Park Villa Hub.

"We started off just doing six classes at the weekend and now we run six days a week doing nineteen classes," he told BBC Scotland News.

"And we have over 200 members coming through the door every month.

"So when the opportunity for the church came along, we grabbed it with both hands."

Children aged five and over can practise wrestling entrances and moves

David hopes to host wrestling shows and install gym equipment at the new space

The Glasgow School of Wrestling welcomes anyone aged five and over to come along and try wrestling.

The younger ones show off and practice their charismatic walk-ins as they charge through the doors.

Teenagers at the school have started performing in CPW shows and the adult classes are aimed at those who want to become professional wrestlers.

"Obviously for different age groups we do different things," he added.

"I'm not having the five-year-olds doing suplexes off the top rope or anything like that.

"And it's not just the physical side of the sport, they're learning drama and entertainment and building their charisma."

The old church hall now has two large wrestling rings in the centre

David said that families regularly travelled from outside Glasgow to take part in the classes, with children coming from "lots of different backgrounds".

"Some of the kids with learning difficulties might not have a lot of friends or much confidence and then they come here and it helps them," he said.

"We've helped kids gain confidence, set goals and go on to wrestle all over Scotland.

"It's about getting them to be able to express themselves and eventually they're in the ring celebrating and having the time of their life. It's one of the best feelings in the world."