The eyes of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) talent scouts will be focused in on New Zealand's Travis Banks in June.
The 31-year-old has been given the opportunity by the professional wrestling giant to compete at the United Kingdom Championship tournament in London at the famed Royal Albert Hall.
Banks has been a trailblazer of sorts in the European wrestling seen, carrying the flag for New Zealand much like WWE Hall of Fame inductees, Butch and Luke did 30 years ago.
The Bulls’ born Kiwi has lofty dreams of the bright lights of the WWE ring and performing at a high level in front of likes of Paul 'Triple H' Levesque could see that come true sooner than later.
"It would mean everything," Banks told WWE.com.
"10 years of sacrifice, hard work, dedication, determination, blood, sweat and tears all culminating."
The tournament, which will be available to watch on WWE Network on June 26 and 27 (NZT), is a long way removed from Banks' first venture into the world of professional wrestling.
A decade ago, Banks found the only wrestling school open in New Zealand at the time in Auckland run by Martin Stirling.
"At the beginning of 2009 I found one in New Zealand," Banks says.
"It was the smallest, worst looking building you could imagine, right by a railway station."
Soon, Banks found himself mowing lawns and gardening as part of his training; or at least that's what he thought.
"I thought it was a Mr Miyagi, wax on, wax off type programme and I thought I would learn a valuable lesson.
"That wasn't the case (laughs).
"It was a troubled youth course and what he needed was to sign people up to the course to get government funding.
"The best part was out the back there was a railway carriage that he converted into a room so I lived out of that for two years.
"It was very humble beginnings to my wrestling career."
But Banks was used to hard work and being humble given his upbringing in one of the nation's smallest towns; Bulls.
Banks respected the hard work his family put in to provide for him but he wanted a career with a bit more excitement than that of his parents.
"My whole life I have known that there was something unique about me," Banks told WWE.com.
"I come from a very small town, population of about 5000.
"It's a small community where a lot of people work at the meat works.
"A lot of my family who live there work in those trades as well.
"I looked at that life, and I thought as hard workers as they are that life is not for me.
Sports entertainment grabbed me from a very young age and I knew that's what I wanted to do."
The winner of the tournament will have the opportunity to compete for the WWE's UK championship, an opportunity that will more than likely lead to a development contract with the WWE if Banks is lucky enough to get that far.
With Aucklander Dakota Kai making waves in WWE's development brand NXT and 'The Kiwi Buzzsaw's' London adventure on the horizon, New Zealand could be set to invade the wrestling world.
Newshub.
