In the world of professional wrestling, where larger-than-life personas dominate the ring, and passion fuels every match, it is unusual to see young talents such as Greg Coghlan.
Known in the ring as “Brad Baylor,” Coghlan, a sophomore communication major, is an up-and-coming wrestler who aspires to have his journey go from fan to future World Wrestling Entertainment champion.
Coghlan’s love for professional wrestling started the same as many fans, with a longtime passion for the sport.
“I was a big wrestling fan growing up,” he says. “Growing up in Fairfield [Conn.], my dad and I would always go to events every time [wrestling] came to the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport or [Madison Square Garden].”
For Coghlan, the allure of wrestling was more than just the spectacle. It is about the connection to a world where athleticism, storytelling and personality collide.
During his senior year of high school, he decided to enter a ring. He began training at Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling in East Haven under the guidance of Paul Roma, a former WWE and World Championship Wrestling star.
“[My] introduction to the business was great. I was always surrounded by great and helpful people from the start,” Coghlan says.
Roma has been training wrestling talent for the last 25 years, saying that everyone’s experience within the ring is a path that takes time.
“[Coghlan’s] progression has been faster than some other students, but at the same time there was a learning curve as there is with most,” Roma says. “[Coghlan] will never stop perfecting what he learns.”
Coghlan’s journey, though, was not without its sacrifices outside of the ring. As a student juggling college life and wrestling commitments, he quickly learned that pursuing his dream would come at a cost.
“I do not have a normal life as a college student,” he says. “I often wrestle on Friday and Saturday nights, which makes me miss out on social events with friends. Wrestling also makes me have to work even harder to keep my grades up.”
Coghlan says he decided to study communication because of his interest in film and TV, and because one of his favorite wrestlers, Chris Jericho, also studied communication in college.
“[I wanted to know] what goes into it, how it works, and all the ins and outs of production,” he says.
Outside of wrestling, Coghlan says he would be interested in being a sports commentator. His love for sports grew not only for professional wrestling, but during his time in high school where he played football.
When it was time to decide which college to attend, Coghlan says he made a calculated decision to attend the university.
“It was clear that [Southern] had a strong and useful communication program,” he says. “But Southern is also 15 minutes away from my wrestling training facility which allows me to peruse both a career in the WWE as well as the career of a full-time college student.”
As he learned more in the ring, Coghlan began to shape the wrestling persona of his character Brad Baylor. The character was created in 2022, when Coghlan first started performing in front of live crowds.
“The character came about through inspiration from the TV show Outer Banks, particularly the antagonist characters,” he says.
His character is inspired to be like a rich, spoiled country club kid who has a chip on his shoulder, Coghlan explained.
This unique character development process helped Coghlan carve a niche for himself within the wrestling scene, with a clear connection to his roots playing a major part in his wrestling identity.
“My family has been extremely supportive,” he says. “They loved the idea of me becoming a wrestler from the start, and they love it even more now that they see how much I love it and how hard I work at it. My parents watch almost every show that is live-streamed and drive to every match that is close.”
While the Brad Baylor character may be his ticket to fame, Coghlan’s in-ring ability is what is propelling him forward.
Coghlan combines elements of old-school wrestling with modern techniques, creating a unique move set within his wrestling style.
“I believe [my style is] unique because my move set is unpredictable. You never really know what’s coming next,” Coghlan says.
One of his signature moves is a top-rope elbow drop, a maneuver passed down to him by Roma, who also used it as his finishing move.
“It was easy for him to teach me, and I decided to use it because not a lot of people do it [nowadays],” Coghlan says.
Since his start, he has wrestled for a variety of indie promotions including Northeast Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling and Limitless Wrestling.
However, one promotion stands out above the rest for him: Wrestling Open in Worcester, Maine.
“I’ve won the tag team championships for Wrestling Open,” Coghlan says.
During his time on the independent wrestling scene, he has been in a tag team called “Swipe Right” since the end of 2023 with another rising star Nick Fowler, known as “Ricky Smokes,” in the ring.
“Tagging with Ricky has been great. It’s been just over a year of tagging with him, and we’ve grown together so much. We’ve traveled, won titles together, and he’s such a fun dude to hang with outside of wrestling as well,” Coghlan says.
Fowler says working with Coghlan has been an amazing experience due to his hard work ethic and amazing character work.
“I’ve seen [Coghlan] take direction [in what] we’ve been given and become a whole different performer. He’s truly leveled up and become one of the best wrestlers you could see on any independent show,” Fowler says.
Wrestling Open’s weekly live-streamed shows have been pivotal in elevating the independent scene and giving talents like Coghlan and Fowler a larger platform.
During his success, one standout moment for Coghlan was his match against Matt Riddle for Northeast Wrestling in Ohio in July 2024.
“That was one of my favorite matches,” he says. “Matt Riddle is an experienced wrestler, and he gave me great advice after the match. He said, ‘Get in the best shape possible, and do what no one else does inside the ring.’”
Coghlan says this advice resonates with him, as he now understands the importance of working hard to make it in this industry.
“You need to be different and bring something new to the table,” he says. “Although there’s plenty of talent out there, if my in-ring work along with the crowd reacting to me is great, then they’ll take me.”
As much as he enjoys performing for the crowd, Coghlan’s approach to handling the pressure has evolved over time.
“Handling the pressure from the crowd just comes with reps,” he says. “I barely notice them anymore. It just looks like silhouettes in my peripheral vision. The best way to ensure the crowd stays engaged is to make sure I hit my opponent really hard and loud during the match to keep the fans on the edge of their seats.”
Now when the bell rings and the lights go down, Coghlan knows exactly where he belongs: in the ring, under the bright lights, living his dream.
“My theme song is Bright Lights by Gary Clark Jr.,” he says. “I chose this song because the beat resonates well with my character.”
For Coghlan, his dreams have always extended far beyond the indie circuit. Coghlan’s aspirations are getting closer to reality thanks to the newly developed WWE ID program, which selects promising young wrestlers for further development and exposure.
Coghlan is the youngest wrestler to be signed with this program, being the age of 20.
“The WWE ID program has been great. It’s giving me more reps along with social media buzz to get me ready for the next step,” he says. “I got selected for the program among only 19 others because of my talent and promising potential.”
Not only is Coghlan involved with the WWE ID program, but he is also going to be featured on the new WWE developmental talent show WWE Evolve, which will be streaming on Tubi.
Coghlan says it is an amazing opportunity to be showcased on WWE Evolve because it will help expose him and his talents to a larger audience.
With this show streaming weekly on Tubi, Coghlan admits that the time commitment is taxing.
“The show schedule requires me to be in Orlando, Florida, every other week [for show tapings],” he says. “We train at the Performance Center the day before the show, which is amazing to learn from all the coaches there.”
He says the environment thus far has been great, as he learned from legends and veteran WWE wrestlers weekly, which will ultimately help him perfect his craft more.
Because of the help from coaches, he plans on becoming a “top guy in Evolve,” Coghlan says.
Looking towards the future of Evolve, Coghlan says he hopes that there are tag team titles introduced in the show, so he and Smokes can accomplish winning those as their first WWE titles.
The recognition of being featured on Evolve is a testament to Coghlan’s hard work and dedication. With his eyes firmly set on the WWE main roster, he hopes to one day make history.
“My biggest goal is to become the youngest world champion of all time in WWE,” he says.
