From PowerPoint to the ring - Morgan's rise in wrestling

Outlining your next move is always a good idea. Carefully taking the time to think methodically and putting a plan together is a smart process if you are hoping for success.

Take Maddy Morgan. The young wrestler has her sights set on stardom in the sport and, at the age of 18, she is moving to Japan to realise her dream on the other side of the world.

And it all started with a PowerPoint presentation.

BBC Radio Lancashire spoke to the wrestler from Preston, who has put in the work, dedication and planning for a career in the ring.

Six years on from the Covid-19 pandemic, many still court the habits and hobbies that were cultivated during a time of immense change, uncertainty and stress.

Whereas some would bake bread, paint or garden, Morgan took a different path during 2020.

"I personally found wrestling through watching it on YouTube when I was younger. We all remember the dreaded lockdown when we were all trapped in our houses. Unfortunately, I didn't have the best time during my lockdown," she said.

"So I used wrestling as an escape from everything that was going on at home. I would watch wrestling for 10 minutes and I'd be absolutely fine.

"When I started wrestling my main drive and goal to actually get going and keep going and be determined."

WWE's Smackdown and Raw brands are well known and established, yet for Morgan, the likeness they give is more akin to a soap opera closer to home.

Asked about what is the draw that wrestling brings her, Morgan added: "For me, it was all the girls and the drama that was going on.

"They were slapping each other. It was literally like watching Coronation Street, but watching people have legitimate fights in between it all.

"It's just an ongoing movie that never stops. [It's like] Corrie with massive muscles."

If you want to start watercolour painting, you buy some paint, a canvas and off you go. Fancy a go at knitting? Grab a ball of wool, some knitting needles and a book and you are on the way to a beautiful jumper.

But wrestling? How do you even start?

If you are Morgan, you crack open PowerPoint.

"It was a lot harder than anyone would think because where I was living at the time , wanting to start wrestling, there was nowhere that would a take on someone who was 11 or 12 years old who wanted to be a wrestler, especially a girl," she said.

"So I made a PowerPoint presentation for my mum, which is still on my laptop at home, and it was called 'Where to Wrestle'.

"First off, I made my mum drive two hours all the way down to Leeds to train for two hours for a couple of weeks. And then we found a place closer, which was in Chorley, and I went there."

A place of wrestling does not seem like a cushy place to be, especially for someone so young, but Morgan disagrees.

"I just never felt so safe and at home somewhere surrounded by massive blokes who could probably chuck me 10 feet in the air," she added.

Her age aside, despite being so young, she is very much a veteran within her ranks.

"It's more uncommon to see an 18-year-old in wrestling than it is to see like a 40-year-old.

"There are a lot of kids who do wrestling but I personally feel like there aren't as many who have been doing it as long as I have at the age of 18."

Morgan has wrestled for seven years and worked through the British ranks within the Progress Wrestling promotion, which has launched the careers of many notable figures within the sport.

"I'm currently on Progress, which is, I think the next is the last stepping stone before people get onto WWE," she continued.

"Gunther, he was a Progress champion just before he was going onto WWE, and there have just been so many amazing British wrestlers who have got to Progress and then been able to progress onto the next level, which I personally would think is WWE."

As for local heroes, Lancashire wrestler - and WWE star - Wade Barrett is someone close to home that Morgan can aspire to.

"When I was about five, I won a flip book of Wade Barrett at an arcade and I still have it now," she added. "I didn't really watch wrestling that much, so I thought I'd just chuck it in a drawer or something.

"And now 13 years later, it's just so crazy to think I'm aspiring to be exactly like him and be able to move away to America and do everything that he is.

"He's grown up in Preston, and then gone right up to the big leagues, and he's in WWE, and he's a commentator there, he was on the shows all the time, he was part of massive storylines, That is exactly where I want to be."

As for what is next, a trip across the world has followed as Morgan's blossoming career continues and it all came after a missed phone call from a promoter shortly before her 18th birthday.

"My next chapter is something that I genuinely never thought would happen," she said.

"I'm going to move away to Japan for three months. It's just so incredible that I'm able to have this opportunity.

"I didn't have [the promoter's] number saved and I didn't know it was him so I answered the phone and asked 'who's this calling me at eight in the morning? and he said 'Oh, hi Maddy, it's so and so, you okay?' and he asked how I would feel about moving away to Japan for three months."

Moving thousands of miles away, even temporarily, will be tough to adapt to, if for no other reason than the fact that Morgan will be apart from her mum.

"She's just been my absolute rock throughout everything to do with wrestling. She's been there for me when there's been money struggles because it's hard to do this as my full-time job," Morgan continued.

"It's something that I'm very scared of because I feel like both me and my mum rely on each other so much. I feel like my mum is probably the person I'm closest with besides my best friend.

"It's going to be hard with the time difference as well for the fact that I think it's nine hours ahead we are when we're in Japan."

Morgan will take part in the 2026 edition of the Marigold Spring Victory Series, travelling all over Japan over the course of three months.

"We'll be going everywhere, training at their dojo, being able to learn about their culture and their wrestling style and everything. That's what I'm most excited about, being able to learn how different they are with their wrestling compared to how we are," she said.

"The connection that people have with the crowds are completely different. Their work ethic is completely different.

"So it's just going to be such an experience to learn and see and just experience everything, really."