Who is Jimmy Havoc: An All Elite Wrestling primer

FanSided takes a look at the career of the “King of the Goths” and his journey to All Elite Wrestling.

One of the most prolific hardcore wrestlers to come out of the 2000’s, the paper cutting, foot biting, axe wielding British psychopath Jimmy Havoc is set to become an All Elite Wrestling mainstay moving forward.

Havoc made his debut in the UK in 2004 after training alongside Finn Balor and Zack Sabre Jr. at NWA UK Hammerlock. Havoc quickly adopted the hardcore or “death match” style into his repertoire and began to build a name for himself that way.

Havoc debuted for reputable indie companies ICW and Progress in 2012. He went on to become a staple of ICW and participated in too many hardcore matches to count against other rising stars like Chris Renfrew and BT Gunn. But it was in Progress where Havoc really solidified his place at the top of the British scene.

Havoc came to Progress employing his hardcore style but wasn’t able to find a win for quite some time — which coincidentally made him an underdog fan favorite — until he turned heel by attacking the owner of the company, Jim Smallman. Havoc made the full turn to the dark side when he doused the Progress Champion, Mark Andrews, with lighter fluid and threatened to light him on fire unless he was given an immediate title match. He was given the match, won and began an unstoppable reign with the title which would end up lasting a staggering 609 days.

Havoc eventually lost the title to the hot up-and-comer at the time, Will Ospreay, and disappeared from the company. Sadly, his absence wasn’t completely in storyline as Havoc had severely injured his knee on an excursion to Australia. The injury sidelined him for a year until he made his return to the scene at Progress Chapter 36 to save Jim Smallman from the new top heel in the company, Marty Scurll.

Havoc was never able to regain the Progress Championship that he coveted so dearly, as new stars like Pete Dunne and Travis Banks entered the main event scene to fight for the title.

Havoc looked like he was set to retire after losing a death match against another future AEW star, Joey Janela, at Progress Super Strong Style 16 but he was interrupted by his nemesis Will Ospreay. The two men met at Progress Chapter 75 and due to Ospreay’s mentor, Paul Robinson, interfering The Aerial Assassin was able to beat Havoc once again.

Havoc continued to wrestle in Progress until his final match at the 2019 edition of Super Strong Style 16, where he lost a match against Paul Robinson.

Havoc has also made appearances for American companies like Impact, EVOLVE, MLW, and even CZW where he won their annual death match tournament, Tournament of Death.

Havoc was first introduced to the AEW fans by making small comedic appearances on Being the Elite as a possible replacement for Marty Scurll in The Bullet Club.

He was also the first British wrestler to sign with AEW and looks to be in a solid mid-carder moving forward. But never count out “The King of the Goths” to make a ploy for the AEW Championship or the main event scene.