Is there a harder wrestler working in Britain than Tate Mayfairs? Better yet, is there a harder wrestler working in the world? Fighting in Uganda, taking on AEW’s best, shining on UK weekly TV in NXT:UK.
Many would agree with Tate himself that there isn’t, which goes a long way into highlighting why, finally, Tate Mayfairs is having his first shot at the PROGRESS World Championship on Sunday, February 23rd, taking on champion Luke Jacobs at Camden’s Electric Ballroom as part of the promotions Chapter 177 show, My Own Destiny.
After winning the Thunderbastard at the end of 2024, Tate immediately made his intentions clear by challenging Jacobs for the promotion’s first show at the Ballroom in 2025, doing so in a style that took many by surprise.
A style that seemed somewhat admirable. It’s not a word you would normally associate with Mayfairs, but a new year or leaf? Perhaps.
It very much seemed so as Lee Tarrier (@leeseedub) recently spoke with Mayfairs in the lead-up to the big match, which headlines a stacked card that includes a match on Meiko Satamura’s retirement tour.
Alongside some of the major talking points from the chat, you can watch the full interview here:
Tate, how are you preparing for this huge match against Luke Jacobs on Feb 23rd?
“It’s amusing to me how people doubt my training and my preparation. I mean, the words that Luke Jacobs used after Unboxing (Chapter 175) about how he thinks he’s like, one of the hardest working people. That’s amusing to me, because it’s well known and documented and understood, that even my haters will say I’m the hardest working man in the business.
And now going into this, I am in the best shape of my life. And I know that’s a common thing that people say, but like, if you look at the recent photos I’ve been putting out, I am truly in the best shape of my life. By the time we get to Feb 23rd, you shall see I’m working harder than ever. My diet plan is as strict as ever. My gym plan is the strictest it has ever been. My head is the clearest it’s ever been.
As humans, we all face struggles, difficulties, demons, stuff like that, you know. And in the past, you’ve seen it right in the forefront, I have been a victim of dealing with it incorrectly, but I couldn’t be in a clearer state of mind. And I have to thank Eddie Dennis for that, and I have to applaud myself for being able to take myself out of that thinking and deal with myself in the mirror, front, head on and really bring myself to be the best version of myself I have ever seen.”
We have definitely seen a different side to you…
“I know my heart, I know my intentions. I think if you look at it logistically, it’s like, if I wanted to, it was right there for me to cash in the Thunderbastard and take Luke out and win the title.
I could have, Luke was bleeding, battered in the middle of the ring after going against two of the world’s best Man Like Dereiss and Leon Slater. Luke was battered and beaten. I could have just come down, and I didn’t even need to come through the front. I could come through the crowd. I could have brought a weapon. It was there for the picking if I wanted it.
So hopefully, my actions speak louder than my words going forward, and they certainly will. As long as my heart’s right, as long as my mentor and my best friend Eddie Dennis sees my heart and knows it, you know, then, then I’m at one with myself, and I can hold this title being proud.”
What final words do you have for Luke Jacobs?
“Luke Jacobs, you know, look, this isn’t personal. This isn’t about you. You’re an incredible wrestler. I’m not gonna take that away from you. I’ve seen what you’ve done for years and years. Don’t let your ego get hurt but this has got nothing to do with you.
This has got everything to do with me. I have been at the very bottom of the rung of PROGRESS before I even got in the ring. I was taping the cables to the floor. I was putting the beams in the ring. I was driving the ring round. I was setting up the lights and I was setting up the stage. I was taking the imports in and out the arena. I was doing everything that there possibly was before I got into the ring.
I only got my first match here because someone else was sick and someone else pushed me into that match. I had to work my way up the cars, bit by bit, by bit.
Even after a year undefeated, I still didn’t get a single title shot. I had to win the Thunder Bastard to get this shot. I could have taken it out on you right there and then, but I told you to your face, like a man, see me in the ring 23rd of February, and then, your time is up.
It’s not about you. This has always been about me, about my journey to greatness, because I have always said it’s just a matter of time until every knee bends, every head bows, and every tongue confesses that Tateness is greatness.
And on February, 23, they will also say, Tate Mayfairs is the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.”
Grab your tickets for Chapter 177 here.
