KIMBERLY BENSON is the first to admit that her year has been utterly crazy. The country’s leading pro wrestler has been rising through the ranks over the past few years but 2017 has seen her star explode.

A stint in Japan as well as a maiden WWE appearance illustrates just how she’s taking the wrestling by storm and while she will be far closer to home this weekend, the 26 year-old is no less excited about what lies in wait.

On Sunday evening, Benson will be one of the star attractions at Insane Championship Wrestling’s (ICW) ‘Fear and Loathing X’ at the Hydro Arena in Glasgow as she takes on compatriot Kay Lee Ray as well as Kasey inside a steel cage.

ICW has become the foremost pro wrestling company in Britain and that growth shows no signs of slowing. Sunday's event is the company’s second appearance at the Hydro and with last year’s being a resounding success, Benson, who is known as Viper when in wrestling mode, expects this year to be even better.

Despite having travelled the globe in recent months, she admits that she cannot wait to get back in front of a home crowd, although the Ayrshire grappler reveals that she is a touch apprehensive about what the trio are going to attempt.

“I’m very excited but I’m also very nervous,” she said. “None of us have ever been in a steel cage before and it’s not something that you can really prepare for. It feels like the last couple of years have all been building up to this though – this isn’t just a match for me, this is a homecoming.

“I feel like it’s time for me to come back home and take my title back and the top spot in ICW back. ICW are ground-breaking - they’re always coming up with matches or stipulations that you never thought you’d see so it’s brilliant to be a part of that. It’s becoming regular for ICW to be irregular.”

Benson began pro wrestling a teenager having watched it on television as a kid but at that time, she could never have imagined just how rapidly she would rise up the ladder. Her invitation to appear in a WWE tournament -the Mae Young Classic in Japan - is something that few other Scots have done and it was, she admits, a fantastic experience to be involved with the biggest pro wrestling company in the world.

“It was wonderful – every single aspect of it,” she said. “It was a really nice environment to be in – it was great to think that all my hard work has paid off. I still have to pinch myself all the time though - I’m achieving things now that even this time last year didn’t seem possible.”

As Benson’s star rises, more and more is expected of her and with the moves the wrestlers are expected to execute getting increasingly challenging, the danger factor is ramping up. The outcome of the match may be predetermined but there is nothing fake about the skill required to execute some of the moves that Benson and her opponents will have on show tomorrow evening – and she admits that the thought of what could happen if things go wrong is petrifying.

“Everybody is terrified when you’re waiting to go through the curtain and there is a voice in your head saying that this could be the last time that you do this,” she said. “If you don’t fully commit to something, that’s when you will get injured.

“So it is scary thinking that I might break my arm, I might break my neck, I might even die but you just have to go for it and be confident in your ability.”

Benson’s increased profile means that the pressure on her to perform is increasing considerably. But she has earned every ounce of success the she has achieved, something that she reminds herself of whenever she begins to get overwhelmed about her superstar status. “Every day, I have ten minutes where I think aaahhhhh!!,” she laughs.

“It’s about still being brave and knowing that I am putting the work in though. I’d never want to think that I’m not giving it everything I’ve got. And whenever I feel any doubt creep in, I just remind myself that it wasn’t anyone else who got me here so I just need to have the courage to take the next step time after time.

“I’m really proud of the things I’ve achieved but I think I do need to take a moment sometimes to fully appreciate it. But now I’m here, this is where the real work starts because if I want to stay here, I need to keep this level up.”

One of the real positives of pro wrestling is that female wrestlers are treated exactly like their male counterparts which means that there appear to be no limits to Benson’s progress. Her 2017 may have been ground-breaking but 2018 has the potential to be even greater.

“More and more, the women’s matches are becoming just as big a draw as the guys matches, which is absolutely brilliant,” she said. “This might sound silly but I really don’t have any plans about what I want to do in the next few years and that’s because I could never have planned what’s happened over the last year so I just need to be ready for whatever opportunities arise.

“It sounds cheesy but the sky really is the limit – any glass ceiling that was there has been completely shattered and so I just can’t wait to see happens next.”