Successor to RIPTIDE Wrestling announces March 17 meetup
A long-awaited new Brighton-based promotion named Brightside Wrestling was teased on Saturday 7th February, by one half of the creative team behind the city’s former home company, RIPTIDE.
Tom West revealed that the new grassroots project is currently in the initial fundraising stages, sending a wave of excitement and optimism throughout the local wrestling fan community.
Posting via @BrightsideWrestling on Instagram, West wrote:
“It’s time to bring some magic back – but to make this sustainable, we have to start from the ground up. The first step is discovering how many people near Brighton are craving high-quality pro wrestling on their doorstep. I know there are loads of you out there.”
A fan survey shared in the post designed to lay the groundwork for an eventual return of live wrestling in Brighton gained more than 100 responses within 24 hours. West says he is delighted by the strong demand being shown but insists that the trajectory of Brightside hinges on a series of fundraising events such as fan meetups and no-ring showcase shows.
Brightside Wrestling looks to bring Pro Graps back to Brighton
An ‘optimistic target’ of full-scale events beginning in 2027 has been cited – potentially sooner if community support and funding allow. While RIPTIDE’s industry-leading cinematic presentation attracted huge stars to the city, Brightside’s business model will be based on long-term sustainability, West says:
“Brightside won’t be about international megastars or huge production values, and that’s by design. We’re building something that’s built to last, fuelled by inclusive Brighton values and an obsession with creating new wrestling fans. Brighton has been hungry for an electric atmosphere, unforgettable moments, and high-quality professional wrestling for over half a decade. This is exactly what Brightside will deliver.”
“A Wrestling Meetup for Nice People (in Brighton)” will take place at The Bees Mouth (Brighton, East Sussex) on March 17th, 2026. The first donation-based public event aims to reconnect the local fan community, welcome newcomers, screen classic matches, and share early plans for the incoming Brightside promotion.
Fans are encouraged to follow Brightside on Instagram @brightsidewrestling for an imminent match announcement.
Jake is an SEO-minded Football, Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief, Sports SEO Coordinator for NationalWorld and SEO Writer for F4Wonline.com. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012 under the name Jake Jeremy. His work has also been featured on Wrestling Headlines, Wrestlingnewsco, HotNewHipHop, The Hard Times and Sportskeeda.
Previously, he worked as the Editor in Chief of 24Wrestling, building the site profile with a view to selling the domain, which was accomplished in 2019. Jake was previously the Editor in Chief for FightFans, a combat sports and pro wrestling site that was launched in January 2021 and broke into millions of pageviews within the first two years. He previously worked for Snack Media and their GiveMeSport site, creating Evergreen and Trending content that would deliver pageviews via Google as the UFC and MMA SEO Lead. Jake managed to take an area of GiveMeSport that had zero traction on Organic and push it to audiences across the globe. Jake also has a record of long-term video and written interview content with the likes of the Professional Fighters League, ONE and Cage Warriors, working directly with the brands to promote bouts, fighters and special events.
He previously worked for the (then) biggest independent wrestling company in the UK, PROGRESS Wrestling, as PR Head and Head of Media across the social channels of the company.