How BLCKSMTH Cracked Pro Wrestling — And What Their Rise Says About Modern Apparel Partnerships
If you watched AEW Dynamite on August 24, you probably caught Will Ospreay walking in wearing a full BLCKSMTH kit. And if you watched AEW Forbidden Door the next night, you probably saw more.
That wasn’t a one-off fashion choice for Will, arguably one of pro wrestling’s brightest and most athletic new talents. BLCKSMTH has been quietly taking over the wrestling ecosystem — AEW, NJPW, TNA, 20+ wrestlers. And with their new AEW partnership now public on December 2, the takeover is no longer quiet.
Here’s the real story of how our original partnership came together — and the broader lesson in how authentic apparel brands can unlock markets wrestling companies always struggle to reach.
1. The Setup: A Stalled Deal and a Wide-Open UK Market
When I joined TNA, a handful of deals were stuck in the pipeline.
BLCKSMTH was one of them. Allan had been working with some of the wrestlers backstage on their own collaborative lines (Josh Alexander, Speedball Mike Bailey, The Rascalz, Trent Seven, and more).
Tom Hannifan, TNA’s play-by-play announcer was the first to tell me, “We need to get this one moving.” He knew Allan (the founder). I didn’t. Classic wrestling business maneuver: the broadcaster becomes the fixer.
At the same time, TNA needed a strategy for the UK. Joe Hendry was catching fire, our PR group overseas lead by Simon Rothstein had momentum, and internal rumors of a UK tour were beginning to swirl following the success of Scott D’Amore’s 2023 tour which happened before my time. So we also were looking for some kind of mechanism to prime the market.
Then Allan tweeted something that clicked everything into place:
It was too hard to watch TNA in the UK.
That was the opening.
2. The Pitch: “What If We Gave Him the Chance to Fix It?”
I called Tom immediately.
The idea emerged fast: What if the apparel partner became the cultural distributor?
BLCKSMTH already ran pop-ups around AEW shows. They knew how to activate IRL. They had trust with UK fans. They were more than a merch brand, they were part of the fabric too.
So we built the model:
BLCKSMTH × TNA Partnership
BLCKSMTH hosts UK watch parties
Every attendee gets free TNA+ (no friction, no excuses)
We tie it to Bound For Glory — Joe Hendry vs Nic Nemeth (a main event fans in the UK would be excited for)
We shoot live drop-ins during the PPV
We use the turnout to show:
Broadcasters there’s a global base
Our touring team there’s ticket demand
The brand that UK wrestling culture is bigger than any one promotion
We looked to see if there was a way to turn merch into market leverage.
You show community → You earn distribution.
You show distribution → You unlock touring.
You unlock touring → Everyone makes money.
3. The Execution: A Partial Win (With Momentum That Carried Forward)
Production timing killed the Bound For Glory watch-party rollout — samples were tight and staff changes hit mid-cycle.
But the collab itself worked:
Wrestlers got outfitted.
Fans associated BLCKSMTH with premium wrestling identity.
Santino, TNA’s on-air director of authority still wears the jacket on TV.
The relationship strengthened.
Fun sidenotes:
I lobbied for the retro kit sponsor to be Panda Energy — an elite TNA deep cut from when Dixie Carter and her family owned the company in the late 00’s and early 10’s.
Pushed for AC Milan content because… red and black stripes. It practically storyboarded itself.
And the bigger point: BLCKSMTH was also in conversations with AEW.
If you know this space, you know how rare it is for a brand to authentically span multiple promotions without feeling opportunistic. They pulled it off because they operate like a football club streetwear brand — not a wrestling merch account.
They’re culture-first.
4. The Payoff: AEW × BLCKSMTH Becomes Official
On December 2, they announced their official AEW partnership due in part to the sellout at Forbidden Door. Full premium line incoming.
Zero surprise to anyone paying attention.
This is exactly where the industry is heading:
Authentic apparel brands with POVs are better than legacy logo-slap merch
Multi-promotion cultural operators are better than single-promotion vendors
Streetwear sensibility is better than transactional licensing
Wrestling fans don’t want “merch.”
They want identity.
BLCKSMTH is one of the few independent apparel companies in the space that understands that at a foundational level.
5. The Bigger Lesson: Apparel as Market Access, Not Merchandising
Wrestling brands traditionally use apparel as a revenue line.
It’s true, but it’s also too narrow a lens.
Apparel, done right, is:
Community infrastructure
Cultural signal
A way to enter markets faster than media rights negotiations
A way to earn legitimacy with fans who don’t trust corporate playbooks
BLCKSMTH helps by being a bridge to the UK, culture, and cross-promo relevance.
Other promotions should pay attention.
**Shoutout to Allan and the entire BLCKSMTH team.
They earned every bit of this AEW moment.**
Check them out: https://blcksmth.co.uk #ForgedByGreatness
