A former violent thug who left a footprint on the face of his unconscious victim is now helping youngsters stay off the streets.
Michael Hyslop was just sixteen when his life spiralled after a drunken night in Rutherglen ended with him stamping on the head of another teenager.
The brutal attack left his victim permanently scarred and Michael faced the consequences in court, pleading guilty to assault causing injury and permanent disfigurement. He narrowly avoided jail and was ordered to pay £500 in compensation.
Recalling the incident, Michael said: “The boy that I attacked was someone I had a longstanding rivalry with ever since I left school.
“We were fighting over stupid stuff. I was drunk one night and took it too far. I paid the price for it and suffered the consequences.”
But Michael, now 23, sees it as the turning point that saved him from an even darker future.
He continued” “Although I’m disgusted that it happened, I know that it opened my eyes and changed me. It gave me a chance to become a better person. That Michael Hyslop is not the Michael Hyslop now.”
And by revisiting a childhood passion to give back to the community, Michael is using his past experience with crime to help other kids stay on the right track – and out of trouble.
Going by the persona ‘The Wanderer’, Michael is now a wrestling coach at the Glasgow School of Wrestling.
He added: “I help with the kids’ classes. It’s really rewarding to be able to keep these kids off the street and away from the things that I got involved in.
“I would never have thought I would become a coach, but putting my mind to wrestling is what got me here today. If I wasn’t doing wrestling, I don’t know where I would be, or if I would even be here.”
Michael has also thrown his support behind the Daily Record’s Our Kids… Our Future campaign – which calls for more safe spaces for children in Scotland.
The campaign, which launched last year in response to a rise in violent attacks on young people, aims to provide secure environments where children can thrive.
Michael said: “Campaigns like this are massively important. There was nothing for kids in Rutherglen when I was younger.
“I know through the stuff that we are doing that wrestling is potentially saving these young kids‘ lives and getting them off the streets.
“More safe spaces like that are needed, because if there was stuff like what we offer, then I don’t think I would have been involved in what I did and that incident may never have happened.”
But pro-champion wrestler Michael’s journey has gone far beyond coaching. He founded Attitude Pro Wrestling (APW), alongside his best pal Lewis Fielding, and has sold out every show since its launch last year.
He added: “Lewis and I had started wrestling training over ten years ago.
“Through it, I’ve teamed with Grado, and if that was the only APW show that I did, I could have retired happy, but things just kept kicking on.
“We went from the intention of running one show to now running nine. I still feel like I’m living in a fantasy world.”
He’s even managed to bring WWE stars to perform on his shows, something he still finds surreal.
“Just last month, we had WWE legend Hornswoggle on our show, and next month we will have Suicide on another. I still can’t believe these guys who we watched on TV as kids are performing on one of my shows.”
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.