Donovan Dijak has come away from his latest stretch with PROGRESS Wrestling convinced that the United Kingdom scene has multiple performers on the verge of reaching a far wider audience. In particular, Dijak believes Cara Noir and Charles Crowley possess the in-ring ability, character work and presence to become recognizable names in professional wrestling within the next two years.
Dijak’s recent UK tour gave him the opportunity to work with a range of talent whose paths have crossed with his at different points in his career. It included a reunion with Tommy End, as well as matches involving Cara Noir and Crowley. For Dijak, the weekend was more than a collection of bookings. It was a reminder of relationships formed during his early international independent-wrestling travels and a chance to see how far several performers have developed since those initial meetings.
Speaking about the experience, Dijak was emphatic when discussing the upside of Noir and Crowley. “These are going to be household names,” Dijak said. “Probably less than two years, if I had to guess.”
That is a significant endorsement from a wrestler who has spent years moving between prominent independent promotions and WWE, working against a broad range of styles and performers. Dijak’s assessment was not limited to one attribute. He pointed to the complete packages he sees in both wrestlers, describing them as “unbelievable characters and wrestlers and workers.”
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A UK Tour Built Around Familiar Faces
The PROGRESS dates represented a particularly meaningful stop for Dijak because of the personal history involved. Tommy End, Cara Noir and Dijak all share connections that stretch back roughly a decade, well before their more recent work drew attention from audiences outside their original regions.
Dijak said he has known End for a long time, recalling matches on the independent circuit and in WWE. He noted that he and End first wrestled for Beyond Wrestling approximately 10 years earlier, while their acquaintance began even before that during a wXw trip in Germany.
His first wrestling-related experience in Europe left a lasting impression for reasons beyond the matches. Dijak described arriving in Germany after an exhausting red-eye flight, disoriented by travel and suddenly immersed in an unfamiliar environment. End, who spoke fluent English, approached him and helped him settle in. Dijak remembered that small act of kindness in a moment when he felt far from comfortable.
“He was one of the first guys that came over and spoke to me,” Dijak said of End. “He was just making me feel comfortable in an incredibly uncomfortable situation, which I’ve always remembered, always appreciated, always respected.”
That interaction became the basis for a friendship that has endured through numerous stages of their careers. Dijak said the two wrestled repeatedly on the independents and then “a million times” in WWE. He also revealed that End was his first-ever WWE opponent, an important detail in the timeline of both men’s careers.
Their recent meeting carried a different kind of significance. Dijak described being able to work with End in his first match after leaving WWE as an opportunity to return the support End had shown him years earlier. Dijak said that moment mattered not just to the two wrestlers, but also to Damo and, he hoped, the fans who watched it unfold.
“To be able to give that back to him, be his first out-of-WWE match, was really important to me, to him, to Damo,” Dijak said. He called the contest “a wonderful match” and viewed the broader weekend as a run of memorable matches and events.
Cara Noir’s Evolution From “Tom” to a Distinctive Presence
Dijak’s history with Cara Noir also began on an early European trip. He recalled Noir giving him a ride during that same era, after Dijak had landed in the United Kingdom for a booking. At the time, Dijak knew him simply as Tom, a fellow wrestler helping a visiting talent get from one place to another.
What followed made a major impression. Dijak remembered seeing Noir emerge in his established persona and being struck by the contrast between the person he had met and the fully realized character who appeared before the crowd. That ability to make a character feel unique is central to Dijak’s prediction about Noir’s future.
“On the car ride, he was just Tom, and he was just a dude,” Dijak recalled. “Then he came out, and he did his whole gimmick, and I was blown away by that.”
Despite their long acquaintance, the recent PROGRESS tour marked the first time Dijak and Cara Noir had wrestled one another. Dijak described that match as “unbelievable,” placing it alongside the other standout moments from the weekend.
The meeting also illustrates the long-term nature of independent wrestling careers. Wrestlers can meet years before they ever face each other, develop in separate markets, take different professional routes and eventually reconnect with considerably more experience. In Dijak and Noir’s case, the eventual singles bout arrived after both had built reputations as performers capable of combining athletic execution with a strong sense of identity.
For Noir, Dijak’s praise recognizes the value of presentation alongside ring performance. A distinctive entrance, movement style or visual identity can attract attention, but sustained success depends on the ability to translate that attention into compelling matches. Dijak’s comments suggest he sees both sides of that equation in Noir: a memorable character and the wrestling skill needed to support it.
Charles Crowley Earns High Praise
Crowley was the other British talent named in Dijak’s prediction, and the endorsement was similarly direct. Dijak wrestled Crowley during the PROGRESS run and came away impressed by the qualities that separate a capable wrestler from someone positioned for a breakout.
While Dijak did not attach a specific career path or destination to Crowley, he made clear that he views the performer as someone who can connect with audiences on a major level. His use of the phrase “household names” does not merely point to respect from dedicated independent-wrestling fans. It reflects the belief that Noir and Crowley have the potential to become known well beyond the circles in which they currently work.
In modern wrestling, that kind of growth can come through many routes. A performer may build a stronger foothold through live events, high-profile matches, streaming visibility, social-media reach or appearances across multiple promotions. Dijak did not speculate on which route Noir or Crowley will take. Instead, he focused on the underlying strengths that make either outcome plausible: character, ring work and the ability to make an impression on experienced peers.
His comments also underline the importance of tours such as this one for established and emerging names alike. Bringing in a wrestler with Dijak’s experience creates fresh matchups, but it can also offer a useful benchmark. When someone who has competed internationally and worked at the WWE level leaves a weekend convinced that two opponents are destined for bigger recognition, that praise naturally adds weight to the conversation around those talents.
Why the Weekend Mattered to Dijak
Dijak framed the PROGRESS experience as one of the most rewarding elements of professional wrestling: being part of another wrestler’s ascent while also reconnecting with people who were there during the formative stages of his own journey.
His memories of End and Noir are rooted in travel, unfamiliar venues and the close-knit nature of the independent scene. A conversation in Germany, a ride in the United Kingdom and matches years later became parts of an ongoing professional story. The recent tour allowed Dijak to revisit those connections from a new position, now carrying the experience of his own career through WWE and the wider independent landscape.
“To be part of that process, for me, is like one of the most gratifying things in all professional wrestling,” Dijak said when discussing performers such as Noir and Crowley.
The statement captures why his prediction stands out. Dijak was not simply praising opponents after a successful set of shows. He was identifying what he sees as the next potential wave of British standouts while expressing genuine satisfaction at sharing a ring with them before that wider breakthrough arrives.
There is no guarantee attached to any prediction in wrestling, where momentum can change quickly and opportunity is often influenced by timing as much as talent. Still, Dijak’s confidence in Cara Noir and Charles Crowley is unmistakable. After working with both during his PROGRESS Wrestling tour, he believes the ingredients are already there for each man to make a much bigger mark in the near future.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.