#wcpw tag team championship

[imvgeswrestling]

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[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

The Scottish Invasion : How Scottish Wrestlers Took Over The WWE Part 1

Since WWE Clash At The Castle is in Scotland , I wanted to highlight a few wrestlers from the company. I decided that this article will be broken up into a few parts. I’m also including a WWE Hall of Famer in this article as well.

The first wrestler I am starting with the Legendary WWE Hall of Famer , the Late , Great , ‘ Rowdy ’ Roddy Piper . Roddy Piper was born Roderick George Toombs on April 17, 1954 in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada and passed away on July 31, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Piper is of Scottish descent on his mother’s side of his family. He made his wrestling debut in 1969 and retired in 2011. He was actually presented to WWF fans as being from Glasgow , Scotland due to his entrance music and wearing a kilt. He is known for his talk show , Piper’s Pit, where he would interview different wrestlers in the WWF and insult them. He also had a popular rivalry with Hulk Hogan and was involved in a storyline with Pop Music icon , Cyndi Lauper in 1985. He also had a big feud with the nWo in WCW in 1996. He also was an actor with his best known movie being They Live , a Sci-Fi film in 1988. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

Drew McIntyre was born Andrew McLean Galloway IV on June 6, 1985 in Ayr, Scotland. He began his wrestling career in 2001 and made his WWE Debut in 2007. In 2009, he was using a gimmick called ‘ The Chosen One ’. He also became Intercontinental Champion as well as a Tag Team Champion with the same gimmick. In 2014, he was released from WWE after being in a group called 3MB. McIntyre went back on the Indie Circuit and joined promotions such as ICW ( Insane Championship Wrestling ) , Evolve Wrestling, WCPW ( What Culture Pro Wrestling ) , and soon joined the TNA Impact roster. He became champion in each of those promotions. McIntyre made his return to WWE in 2017 on the NXT brand and became champion there. Nevertheless, he returned to the main roster in 2018 to become a Tag Team Champion alongside Dolph Ziggler. He won the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship. He also is the winner of the 2020 Royal Rumble. Drew is the first British and Scottish world champion in WWE. He is also a Triple Crown Champion with the company. He was inducted into the ICW Hall of Fame in 2018. McIntyre will be competing for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Damian Priest at Clash At The Castle.

Piper Niven was born Kimberly Benson on May 6, 1991 in Kilbirnie , Scotland. She made her wrestling debut in 2007. Niven made her WWE debut in 2017 as a part of the Mae Young Classic, however , she was signed to the company in 2019. She performed under the name, Doudrop during the Thunderdome era in WWE from 2021-2022. Niven was known as Viper during her ICW run from 2013 to 2019. She is also a two time Women’s Champion for the promotion. She also had a title shot for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship during her run with ICW as well. Thus, she also had a run in Japan when she wrestled for The Art Of Stardom. She is a one time champion for the promotion alongside Iyo Sky and HZK. She is also a one time SWA World Champion. Niven also participated in the British Boot Camp for TNA Impact Wrestling. Niven made her NXT UK debut in 2019 when she called out Rhea Ripley. This, her first televised match happened the same year for WWE Worlds Collide against Zelina Vega. She won the match. She is a two time 24/7 Champion and one time Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Chelsea Green. She will be competing for the WWE Women’s Championship against Bayley at Clash At The Castle.

My Final Thoughts :

This first part was very interesting to write about. I love all three of these wrestlers a lot. I also think that Roddy Piper is the greatest Heel of all time. Getting to learn about all three of the wrestlers I featured was amazing too. I’ll be writing more about Scottish wrestlers soon.

Love You All,

- Kay

[wrestlingmgc]

WCPW Tag Team Champions War Machine 

[danwhobrowses]

Are AEW Planning a Second Show?

Today, fan demand was answered with the announcement that Eddie Kingston - followintg his great TNT title match and pre-match promo with Cody - has been signed to AEW. Between this, Matt Cardona’s signing and the Deadly Draw inviting more women, AEW’s roster is getting big, even in the time of COVID. But it’s getting a little crowded now, so are AEW planning a second show already?

Roster Bloat or a Bigger Crowd? AEW already sported some fantastic roster members, sadly COVID had prevented travel for many such as Bea Priestley, Yuka Sakazaki, CIMA, Riho, PAC and more, we’ve also had QT Marshall sidelined by COVID. But even then AEW have had some struggles with utilizing all their roster, the tag teams particularly. Lucha Bros, Santana and Ortiz and TH2 are all wildly talented tag teams that sadly have had less exposure as of recent, the latter barely any TV time in almost a year. The same can be said for Luther, the Gunn Club, Sonny Kiss, Preston Vance and Joey Janela who struggle to make it on the card, and Sadie Gibbs whose ill-fated debut had led her to disappear entirely. Suffice to say, AEW’s roster is getting too big for Dynamite to cater them alone, but yet AEW still sign more people, and are encouraged to sign others still (I for one think they cannot pass up Will Hobbs, Shawn Dean, Serpentico, Ivelisse, Jamie Hayter, Pillman Jr and Pineapple Pete), especially for the Women’s division, so with that in mind it would make sense for AEW to expand their roster and perform a show Mitosis, either that or two things is happening: AEW is expecting departures or they’re losing their minds a little with the recruitment. Of the three I doubt the latter is the case. Light in the Dark A while back it was reported that AEW were prepping Youtube show’s Dark to be a televised show, which could also be a part of the splitting, being able to throw in title matches to draw while also expanding the undercard. But then that leads to the worry of what the Independent Wrestlers who AEW have done well to expose and finance during COVID would stand, the likes of Serpentico, Hobbs and Pineapple Pete if unsigned will sadly not show up on AEW either. This is all of course speculation, unless AEW move their ‘TV Dark’ to be a separate show and keep the Youtube show for the Indy talent and undercard, similar to how NJPW is currently using the show Lion’s Break Collision to expose their Young Lions (btw Gabriel Kidd is great you should check out his WCPW/Defiant work, of course Filthy Tom Lawlor, Jeff Cobb, Clark Connors and Karl Fredricks are fantastic too). This would be a decent move, but then you’d have to rename one of the shows, there also lies another struggle. Building a Glass Cannon While at the Roster AEW are bulking up, they are still missing the bulking in some other areas if they’re gonna expand to 2 shows. The Women’s Division of course needs more, the Deadly Draw will hopefully aid to that with hopeful additions of NWA’s Thunder Rosa, Ivelisse and Diamante being official, Jamie Hayter, TJPW’s Maki Itoh (and by extension her tag partner DDT Universal Champion Chris Brookes), Lana Austin, Laura Di Matteo, Millie McKenzie, Cris Cyborg (she has been teasing a Wrestling career for a while), Session Moth Martina, Taya Valkyrie and Priscilla Kelly to really stack the division for the return of Bea, Britt, Statlander, Kong, Sakura and Yuka. The other department AEW need to focus a little on though is management; as documented on BTE, tapings for Dark go beyond midnight, there’s definite risk of burnout from the EVPs so it will be important to not thin them any further and have people who can share the load, for commentary that can involve using Goldenboy a lot more and giving Brandon (and Leva, she seems to be doing a fair bit behind the scenes) a bit of help. Opportunity Calling? AEW seem to hybrid their product on sticking with some traditional NWA-esque formats in shows combined with modernized layered storytelling, the former can be seen in its ‘Big Four’ PPV system (All Out, Double or Nothing, Revolution and Full Gear?) with other named shows being specials like Fyter Fest, Fight for the Fallen and Bash at the Beach. With a 2 TV show format though there bodes the question if the Championship hierarchy will expand. WWE of course have a lot of titles, but due to little attention to storyline sometimes the titles become less prestigious over time like a rollercoaster, which is something AEW could easily fall into too. That being said, AEW have flirted with the ideas of Mixed Tag and 6-Man titles, especially with the latter given the expansion of trio stables before COVID (Jurassic Express, Dark Order, Death Triangle, Inner Circle, the Elite, FTR & Hangman, Best Friends, SCU, Nightmare Family etc.). AEW seem to have the same track as NXT and NJPW when it comes to stables, and a 2-show format can easily open the door to these kind of titles while giving more room for the TNT and Women’s title to surface as well - as well as Women’s tag if the Deadly Draw is leading to it, though I would prefer the tag division to simply be mixed...I can see why Brandi and Khan has some reservations over that though.This may also expand the platform for the FTW title, if AEW officialize it, build other challengers for the TNT, Tag and World title, and do some more promos, frankly I feel like AEW’s missing a beat by leaving out all its package promos it used to do in the build to dynamite, even the Road to series have gotten shorter mainly out of time constraints. A Ratings Arms Race Should AEW decide to do 2 shows and successfully hold it down, it would be interesting to see how their rivals respond. WWE have not been subtle about throwing together special shows and throwing some Main Roster fan-favourites on NXT to compete with AEW. I do not mind this of course, the Wednesday Night Wars has invited both brands to up their game, thanks to that we have great wrestling and stars like Dexter Lumis who have gotten over because they were allowed to reach for the brass ring. I only mention this because if AEW gets 2 shows it can be seen as AEW stepping up, which’ll have to cause NXT to deliberate if they can do the same and potentially expand their focus on other wrestlers or do a better job with NXT UK. Conclusion Of course, I don’t have answers, but with the men’s midcard being stacked and talent at risk of squandering, many arrows point towards AEW possibly pushing for another show by next year. Through the analysis I’ve given if this is done well, this could be very good for wrestling as a whole, more good wrestlers getting good wrestling platforms without being squandered, but there is still a lot of work to do and AEW need to keep a level head about this - which is hard when you’re on a high, the alternative is to finally wear down NJPW and possibly break bread with ROH or Impact like they seem to have done with NWA to spread their roster when they’re not being used. Or we can have a bit of both, in the end COVID has left the indy market sparse and AEW have done their best to provide a platform for others, and that has pushed them to expand, once COVID has subsided and more people adhere to the common practice of wearing masks and basic levels of hygiene, it’ll be down to AEW to see what steps they take when their roster is fully accessible to them.

[hazyheel]

NXT UK 2/20/19 Review

This episode of NXT UK seemed like it lacked a real narrative outside of the main event. Even though we had a good match on the undercard, it just didn’t feel like it meant anything. Stories are important in wrestling, and if we aren’t getting any, then it devalues the product. However, this episode was still exciting in spite of that, and it wound up being an okay show.

We started the show out with a quick recap of the Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm feud, crowd seemed hot for the match, and I was certainly excited. However, we had to wait for it, as there was a tag match pitting Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster vs. The Coffey’s. This was a very clear strength vs speed matchup, and it had the appropriate amount of heel domination over the smaller faces. Joe Coffey is actually a surprisingly good submission wrestler, and it was especially impressive when he held Andrews in a Full Nelson facelock and swung him around. It seemed like the faces had it won, until Mark Coffey caught Andrews out of a suicide dive into a vertical suplex on the apron and Joe Coffey countered Webster’s swanton bomb. Joe then hit a battering ram on Webster in the corner, followed by the Best for the Bells, and the heels picked up the win.

Grade: C. The match never really seemed to pick up speed, and the methodical heels really didn’t help that matter much. Andrews and Webster are great at being underdogs, but that does not always make for a great match. The swerve at the end where the Coffey Brothers came from behind to win was the redeemer for this match.

Quick video package for Nina Samuels, a relatively new wrestler to the British indie scene, only debuting five years ago. She has won the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship once in the past, but I don’t know much of her work, so I am going to stay skeptical about her. Then we had a pre recorded promo from Jordan Devlin, who says that he is back in Ireland, and that he is not done with Travis Banks. This is definitely a feud that I am interested in, so I am glad that it is continuing. We also had a video package hyping up Kay Lee Ray as well, who I have heard of. She is prominent on the British Indie scene, winning titles in Defiant, ICW, WCPW and World of Sport Wrestling. I look forward to seeing how she is used in NXT UK.

Next up, a singles match between Trent Seven and Shane Thorne. The match was very rough, and unbelievably stiff. Thorne did a very good job of selling his vicious heel character. Seven’s arm was worked over throughout the match. Seven nailed several dragon suplexes and slams, it looked really great.Thornn was able to counter the seven star lariat into a ripcord knee, and then a popup german suplex for a great near fall. Thorne then locked in a sort of hammerlock, which Seven countered into the Seven Star Lariat for the win.

Grade: B-. The match started out very hot, and looked like it was going to go quite well, but it fell off a bit around the second half. The two worked well together, but the lack of a real story behind this hurt the match a bit, but it was still pretty entertaining.

Backstage, Jack Gallagher was interviewed about when his next appearence on NXT UK would be, to which he responded that he will talk to Johnny Saint about being added to the roster. Joseph Conners then had an interview about how he was supposed to be the gatekeeper of NXT UK, but he lost to El Ligero. Connors simply said that he had an off day, and that he is still very focused, and is only getting more vicious. 

Grizzled Young Veterans then came out to discuss their challengers, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Zack Gibson just hyped the team up, saying that they are the best tag team in the world, and their NXT UK Tag Team Championships proves that. Gibson then complained about how he had to compete in the World’s Collide tournament, saying that people should be coming to England to fight them, because they want to destroy them. They then called out the #1 contenders, saying that they wanted a proper talent. Lorcan and Burch came out to confront them, and delivered a pretty basic face promo. Burch said that the competition was incredible across all the brands in WWE. Burch and Lorcan decided that they want their championship match now, but the vets backed off and said that they can’t just go around and change matches.

Grade: B. I thought this promo made perfect sense coming from Gibson. In his eyes, he has already proved that he is at the top of his brand, and he feels that he doesn’t need to prove it with a tournament. The vets seem extremely pissed off that no one is giving them the same respect as other champions, and it makes sense. I have been excited for this match for a long time, and while the faces didn’t do much to enhance that, I think that the character building for the vets goes a long way.

Finally, the main event, pitting Toni Storm against Rhea Ripley for the NXT UK Women’s Championship. As they were being announced for the match, Ripley attacked Storm, and threw her to the ground, and immediately started with a disadvantage. Ripley kept delivering great, stiff shots all over the place, and Storm’s selling was on point. Ripley continued to gain the advantage with underhanded tactics, and exploiting the highly publicized back injury that plagued Storm last year. Ripley locked in her reverse cloverleaf, and it looked absolutely brutal. Storm countered with an array of suplexes and a backstabber. After a hard fought match, Toni Storm retained her championship after a Storm Zero.

Grade: B. The character work in this match was super good. Rhea Ripley is an awesome heel, and sold her frustration and desperation throughout the match. The way she worked over the champions back throughout the match was grueling to watch. Storm too did a great job selling, and coming from behind to get the victory. They both were delivering tough shots to one another, and they easily put on the match of the night.

The card next weeks looks ridiculously stacked, with Jack Gallagher debuting in a match against Tyler Bate, WALTER challenging Kassius Ohno, and the tag team championship match. Could easily be the best WWE event next week. And I am really looking forward to it.

Final Grade: C+.

Pros: NXT UK Women’s Championship match, Grizzled Young Vet’s promo, most of Thorne vs. Seven

Cons: opening tag match could’ve been better; lack of a cohesive feel to the stories.

[squaredcirclesirens]

Wrestler Of The Year 2017 | Kay Lee Ray

As the year 2017 comes to an end the Squared Circle Sirens teams will be highlighting different wrestlers from across the globe that we feel have made an impact over the past 365 days! Today we will be looking at Kay Lee Ray!

She’s the hardcore daredevil, and a woman with her eyes (and hands) on the majority of the prizes wherever she goes. Kay Lee Ray has continued to impress and make waves everywhere and anywhere.

In 2017 alone, Kay Lee Ray has had over 100 matches ranging from two STARDOM tours, a set of SHIMMER tapings, and being a mainstay at SWE, Pro Wrestling Eve, ICW, and WCPW Among others, and put on a standout first round match in the Mae Young Classic.

Kay Lee Ray started out her year in STARDOM being in tag team matches with Nixon Newell and defending her ICW Women’s title over Jungle Kyona. Ray would go back over to Europe for a few months before being back at STARDOM in August for the Grand Prix where she picked up wins over Mandy Leon, Jungle Kyona, Tam Nakano and Konami.

Ray has also been a focus of the ICW women’s division holding the title through July before losing to Kasey Owens for the title, but capturing it right back in October defeating Owens before dropping the title again in a triple threat cage match back to Owens in a match also involving Viper.

Ray was also close to catching the Pro Wrestling EVE title that was vacated by Rhia O’Reilly defeating Toni Storm and Lana Austin to face Sammi Jayne in the finals of the tournament and coming up just short of capturing the title. Ray was also featured in the She-1 tournament.

In June, Ray captured the WCPW Women’s title, defeating Viper who was defending the title on behalf of Bea Priestley which has since been recognized as the Defiant Women’s title which Ray still holds.

Ray also became the 2017 SWE Queen of the ring, defeating Lana Austin, Toni Storm and Kasey Owens to win the tournament and capture the championship.

Ray also was a part of the Shimmer 92-94 tapings, having a match of the night contender against Mia Yim for the number one contender for the Shimmer title and almost defeated Mount Tessa to capture the tag titles. This lead up to Rays first round defeat against Princesa Sugehit which impressed many in a first round contest.

Kay Lee Ray has continued to show she is a top talent on the independent scene across the world, whether it’s in the UK, the U.S. or Japan, Ray has continued to impress and continued to be someone to watch especially in 2017, and 2018 looks to be no different.

website | twitter | tumblr | instagram

[shitloadsofwrestling]

#1 Contender Match for the WCPW Championship: Kyle O’Reilly Vs. Marty Scurll WCPW Loaded [July 7th, 2017]

Kyle O’Reilly has experience at the top of several wrestling divisions. As a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, a former PWG World Heavyweight Champion, and a former ROH World Heavyweight Champion, O’Reilly is more than prepared to make his mark as the champion of yet another promotion, fighting here to become the number one contender for the WCPW Championship. The title, currently held by Joe Hendry, would be contested against the winner of this match, between either O’Reilly or “The Villain” Marty Scurll. No stranger to championships himself, Scurll has attained gold in DDT Pro, IPW: UK, Progress, as well as being the winner of the 2016 Battle Of Los Angeles and being a former ROH Television Champion. This match holds a solid contrast with O’Reilly and Scurll both having a quick-witted offense, but with Scurll living up to his moniker whereas O’Reilly wouldn’t hesitate to kick someone’s head off.

[sketchfanda]

Sketch’s favourite Wrestling Title belts,back after delays,because life is a bitch.

Right so a while back for those of you who give enough a damn to read these posts XDI was sharing my thoghts and opinion of certain championship belts in professional wrestling and why I like them,with regards to factors and details such as design,lineage and the like. Other numerous prowres posts may follow here and there so with that said let’s begin with one of my personal faves from the attitude era,sorely missed,and its semi legacy of sorts continued among a few key indie wrestling titles.

The WWF/WWE Hardcore championship. Created and establishd on November 2nd 1998 and retired on August 22nd 2002 after being unifed with the Intercontinental title,this belt was what it was,a championship fought for in matches contested under Hardcore rules;no DQs,falls count anywhere,no countouts and weapons legal. It was a niche belt with tis share of wild matches that ensured crazy shit always tended to go down;

With a list of champions ranging from Mick “Mankind” Foley,to ECW alumni such as Raven,Al Snow,Rhyno and Tommy Dreamer and regulars of the company such as Steve Blackman and the Big Bossman,the title is especially fondly remembered for the insane moments it produced in 2000 when the late Crash Holly(RIP) won the belt and claimed he would and could defend the belt 24/7,with any and all comers able to challenge him provided they had a referee on hand. Suffice to say much hilarity ensued,whether it was the Mean Street Posse’s epic fails to the Headbangers ambushing Crash at funtime USA,the 24/7 rule and the chaotic nature and brutality of the title and hardcore matches in general are among the most missed aspects for fans that feel the PG era could use a kick in the ass for good reason. How many belts could boast 240 title changes? It was one of the few cases of playing hot potato with a belt that actually worked,and of course,aside from two custom belts,its design is most notable. Now despite rumours,this was not the same World championship belt that the late “Mr.Perfect” Curt Hennig once smashed up with a hammer,but it was still essentially a broken,battered up old belt strap;damaged,wrecked...an embodiment of its match type and many of its holders. Not pretty to look at,but eyecatching all the same.

Of cours,while the chances of WWE ever reviving this belt are slim to none,with hardcore matches’ mayem limited and reduced to streetfights and “extreme rules”,there are some Independent wrestling promotions that have picked up the slack to fill the hardcore title’s niche,whether it’s providing those much belove mayhem inducing weapon filled brawls,or just the overall insane fun of the 24/7 rule,these are the belts to know;

From Attack pro wrestling in the Ukthe promotion founded by the Bruiserweight Pete Dunne,current progress and WWE UK champion,and owned by him and Mark Andrews,and Chris Brookes (one third or quarter of the decorated champion dynasty that is CCK),this belt has been around since December 2013,and currently as of the time of writing this,held by the bruierweight himself,it’s exactly what it says it is,a championship that is defended 24/7,from what I gather likely under the same rules as the hardcore title,match type to match. Simple in its design,baring the company logo with its sideplates being hour glasses,for clear and obvious symbolism,its titleholders as of the currently 72 times its changed hands read like a who’s who of British wrestling,from Dunne and Andrews,to Tyler Bate,and the infamous American king of sleaze Joey Ryan,whose antic with a similar 24/7 belt will be mentioned later on,to Brookes and his CCK teammates Kid Lykos and the Kiwi Buzzaw Travis Banks and crrent Insane Championship wrestling tag champs,welshmen Mike “Wild Boar” Hitchman and Mike Bird,if you need reasons to keep an eye on Attack pro,this is one of them.

Nxt we have the most recent entry on this list,Whatculture Prowrestling’s own Hardcore championship. I have to say,props to the mistfit gang of whatculture for over a year ago,having the brass pairs to setup and run their own wrestling promotion. It may not be perfect to some,but it’s still fun and different and a welcome addition to the menu of variety of wrestling to enjoy for those that want to enjoy more than Mcmahonland has to offer. Created on June 2nd of 2017 and won in August 25th by residen WCPW monster brawler the Primate,who recenly won it back from ICW regular BT Gunn,much like the WWE hardcore belt it’s exactly what it is;a championship fought for in no dq,no countout falls count anywhere matches,it’s a welcome addition for those that like and want their chaotic weapon brawls ala ECW,and of course,the design,as Adam Blampied said upon unveiling the belt,is metal as fuck!! It’s simple but effective,the centre and sideplayes in edgy red writing on mesh fence like backgrounds,with a skull in the centre plate prominently displayed,the matches for this strap will be enjoyed.

Now there’s no picture of this one,but believe it or not,Chikara also has,or had as far I know,not sure it;s still around,its very own 24/7 championship. Recnt indy promotion Wrestlecircus also has a Sideshow championship,also having been held by Mr.Ryan,among other people,including a whole reddit subgroup!! Between these,the ATTACK pro belt and the next title I’m about to cover,Crash must be seeing this in the afterlife and smiling

And finally,we come to a promotion that I’ve heard of,seen numerous related clips of and have read about,and come to learn about and love,for its sheer,utter insanity and hilarity,DDT (Dramatic Dream Team) pro wrestling. Where to even begin with a promotion like this? It has tag team titles,a trios titles,even 10 man tag belts!! But it also has what’s called a King of Dark championship.....which is defended only in dark matches,ie the matches fans watch before a main show begins,WWE do these plently,and it’s awarded to the loser of the match,and to escape this demotion or relegation to get back onto the mainshow,they have to win!!><so yeah,eff you road dogg,wins and losses DO matter!! And their secondary title,the Extreme Division championship,which is not only defended in basic hardcore matches,but baically any match of the defending champ’s choosing,from serious,to comedy;cage,ladder,tlc fuck this belt has even been defended in matches like noise prohibition. But the belt I’m focusing on,that has become truly infamou and memetic in its embodiment of the 24/7 comedy rule and spirit,is this;

Ladies and gentlemen,the DDT heeavymetalweight ironman championship,a comedy title in sheer spirit and design,its track record has seen it be exchanged 62 times between two wrestlers in one night (some of those title changes via Rock, Paper, Scissors), being won from a wrestling fan winning an auction for the belt, and a title change that occurred in a dream. Champions have also included women, children, animals, and inanimate objects.The title is defended anywhere against anyone, even during non-title matches or tag team matches, under 24/7 rules(if there is an official DDT referee present, the title can be won and lost), and unlike other Ironman championships does not need to be defended under 'Ironman' rules.A regular match in DDT for the title is a 10-minute battle royal where the title can change hands any number of times, and the person who has the belt when the time limit expires can leave as champion. This is ironic in itself, as due to the 24/7 rules, the champion could be defeated for the belt right after the match finishes.The 1,000th Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion was crowned on April 29, 2014, when the title belt itself became the champion, after pinning Sanshiro Takagi.

As of this time this post has been written,according to Wikipedia it has changed hands 1275 times,the belt especially gained recent internet fame in May 2016 hen indy veteran Joey Ryan won and held the belt,with numerous videos on his youtube channel documenting his numerous losses and wins of the belt,and its numerous exchanges between a who’s who of wrestling ranging to Colt Cabana,Rey Myterio,Brian Cage,Matt Cross,Mia Yim,Taya Valkyrie,John Morrison/Johnny Mundo-IMPACT/Nitro,Ricochet,Rhyno,Drew Gulak,Brian Kendrick,candice lerae,santino marella,Chris Hero,Veda Scott,Brandi Rhodes,the Sandman,Tommy Dreamer,Lio Rush...and that’s not even getting into the fact Candice won it from Joey...in a dream!! And I haven’t even gotten to its other title holders;

a cat,a dog,a monkey,a hello kitty plushie,3 different ladders,a baseball bat!! A steelchair,a poster,2 inflatable dolls!! 2 invisible men wrestlers,2 tag teams!! (The Addiction of Kazarian and Christopher Danels and the Young Bucks),3 elementary school girls and the entire audience of beyond wrestling’s Americanrana 2016 show!! Wrestling folks,don’t you love it?

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/prowrestling/images/a/a6/WC_Sideshow_Title.png/revision/latest?cb=20170131015843

@theemptycoliseum​ @mengs-mullet​ @artsy-hobbitses​ @mitchtheficus​ @mithen​ @pigeoness​ @opinionatedwrestlingfan​ @partyhat-deathmatch​ @wwehmaybe​ @raiz-rblaid​ @vashito​ @roninkairi​ @coonfootproductions​ @hesjayrich​ @clarebearr​ @deeds52​ @hacksaw-jim-thuggin​

[gdwessel]

RevPro Summer Sizzler - 8/17/2017; This Week’s NJPW on AXS; #BigMike Out of WCPW World Cup, In CMLL Gran Prix; Juice in Mexico Too; TAKA/Ibushi v. Okada/Gedo; Yoshitatsu in AJPW Oudou

RevPro’s Summer Sizzler event ended a little while ago. Several NJPW talents were here, as the ROH/RevPro/NJPW/CMLL War of the Worlds tour starts tomorrow in the same venue as this event. Results:

RevPro Summer Sizzler - 8/17/2017, York Hall, Bethnal Green, London

Martin Stone d. Eddie Dennis (London Bridge)

Bully Ray d. Sha Samuels

Zack Gibson d. Dalton Castle (Shankly Gates)

Jay & Mark Briscoe d. Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland

Jay White d. Travis Banks (Liontamer)

RevPro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: Josh Bodom © d. Jushin Thunder Liger (Bliss Buster) - Champion retains

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship:Zack Sabre Jr. © d. Chris Brookes (Referee stop) - Champion retains

Marty Scurll d. Rey Mysterio (Dominator)

Eddie Dennis replaced Sami Callihan. Rob Lias attacked both Sha Samuels and Bully Ray post-match. Sabre stomped Brookes unconscious.

First run episodes of NJPW on AXS return this week! One of the risks of being caught up is now a lack of back-catalog episodes to play, so we had repeats for a few weeks.

The new cycle begins with G1 Climax 27, which of course just wrapped up on Sunday. Jim Ross and Josh Barnett bring the first night, from Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center on 7/17/2017, with Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Zack Sabre Jr. as well as Tetsuya Naito v. Kota Ibushi being the featured matches.

Michael Elgin has had to withdraw from the WhatCulture Pro Wrestling World Cup due to contractual obligations, namely, participation in the buildup to CMLL’s Gran Prix on 9/1/2017. Elgin will be part of Team World, along with Satoshi Kojima and Juice Robinson (Juice apparently is already there). Elgin’s first match back in Mexico is slated to be next Tuesday 8/22/2017 as part of a 10-man cibernetico; Juice starts work in the main event tomorrow at Arena Mexico, teaming with ROH’s Matt Taven & former Ingobernable/current CMLL Heavyweight champion Marco Corleone v. Volador Jr., Valiente & Diamante Azul.

(Reminder that Michael Elgin won A Grand Prix in Mexico last year, but not the CMLL Gran Prix - he won the Lucha Libre Elite Grand Prix, during the time when CMLL and Elite were kinda sorta working together. Remember he was carrying two belts for a while in the Fall of last year, when he was also IWGP Intercontinental champion? Then Elite and CMLL ended their relationship, and Big Mike had to quit wearing the Elite one.)

We already announced that Kazuchika Okada, Gedo, Minoru Suzuki and Kota Ibushi would be working TAKA Michinoku’s 25th Anniversary show on 9/4/2017. We now know the main event for that show will be TAKA & Ibushi v. Okada & Gedo. Well, I was 3/4 right. I wonder if that means we could now get Suzuki v. Dick Togo in the battle of grumpy old men?

Lastly, the NJPW-non-main-eventers going to All Japan Pro Wrestling trend still seems to be a thing, as now Yoshitatsu is slated to take part in AJPW’s Oudou 2017 tournament. No, I have no idea why either. He is scheduled to take on Yoshihiro Tajiri in the first round. Other, much better sounding matches include Shuji Ishikawa v. Bodyguard, Kento Miyahara v. KAI, Koji Iwamoto v. Yuma Aoyagi and Hikaru Sato v. Joe Doering. I can’t see any good coming from this match.

Tomorrow begins the ROH/RevPro/NJPW/CMLL War of the Worlds tour, as I mentioned above. I also have some other news about ROH from my end I need to share but I’ll do that another time.

ROH/NJPW/RevPro/CMLL War of the Worlds UK - 8/18/2017, York Hall, Bethnal Green, London

Cody Rhodes, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Marty Scurrl & Adam Page [Bullet Club] v. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables]

ROH World Television Championship: KUSHIDA © v. Titan

ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship: Dalton Castle & The Boys © v. Mistico, Delerious & Jushin Thunder Liger

Four Corner Survival Match: Bully Ray v.Jay Lethal v. Silas Young v. Sha Samuels

Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian v. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero

Jay Briscoe v. Kenny King

Mark Briscoe v. Ryan Smile

[henrytcasey]

Watch This Wrestling 20 (5/18—27)

So, yet again, this took me a little more time than usual to produce. What's different about this week is that I've put more days of research (read: me watching as much wrestling as I can, with a notebook at my side) than usual. Here on out, the reports will start on Sundays and end on Saturdays.

As for when reports will come out? I'm hoping Sundays, but could see it happen on Mondays or Tuesdays at the latest. It all depends on how much wrestling there was. As you'll see below, there's a shitton of graps going on in New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best of the Super Juniors. On top of that, I'm putting time into starting PROGRESS, which might lead to me putting notes from that into this.

In marvelous news, though, we get Lucha Underground back this week! Yay!

One final note, I skipped the ROH TV show this week, because it was all Honor Rising material I saw in February.

As always, if I'm missing anything that can be accessed without too much trouble, @ me on twitter: henrytcasey.

What I Watched

NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, Odds and ends of matches from 5/18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27

Being The Elite Ep. 53, 54, 5/18, 23

EVOLVE 84, 5/20

EVOLVE 85, 5/21

PROGRESS Ch. 48: Bang The Drum, hit VOD 5/21

WWE Backlash, 5/21

Monday Night Raw, 5/22

SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

205 Live, 5/23

Talking Smack Live, 5/23

NXT, 5/24

WCPW World Cup Canadian Qualifier, up on YouTube 5/26

Upcoming Watch List

NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/28, 5/29, 5/31, 6/1, and 6/3

Monday Night Raw, 5/29

ROH Wrestling, 5/29

SmackDown LIVE, 5/30

205 Live, 5/31

Talking Smack Live, 5/31

Lucha Underground Season 3.5 Premiere, 5/31

Non-WWE Segment of The Week

Who Will Keith Lee Challenge?

EVOLVE 85, 5/21

EVOLVE doesn't do as much theatrical storytelling in the style you see from WWE, so clashes like these mean something. Lee shows up with a decision to make, challenge WWN champ Matt Riddle, or take on EVOLVE champ Zack Sabre Jr. (note to fans: make a ZSJ to Zack Sabre Jr. text shortcut, it's worth it). What happens next, is delightful.

EVOLVE 85 is available on FloSlam.

Honorable Mentions:

the arm is bye bye..., Darby Allin/WWN Live 5/18

After The Press Conference...Being The Elite, 5/19

Ep. 54: A Curtain CallBeing The Elite, 5/23

Non-WWE Match of The Week:

Bushi vs Kushida

NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/23

I had originally picked Dijak vs Lee for this, but hot damn did Bushi and more specifically Kushida change my mind. As of this moment, Kushida isn't in the lead in the Best of the Super Juniors tour, but it's bringing the fire back to his performances, after getting buried to set up that Ricochet/Takahashi match.

And yes there are a lot of matches in this below list, pick based on your favorites if your time is limited.

New Japan's Best of The Super Juniors tournament is available on NJPW World.

Honorable Mentions:

Donovan Dijak vs Keith Lee, Evolve 84, 5/20

Ethan Page vs Zack Sabre Jr. (c), Evolve 84, 5/20

Kyle O’Reilly vs Matt Riddle (c), Evolve 84, 5/20

Will Ospreay vs Ricochet, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/18

Ricochet vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/21

Matt Riddle vs Tyler Bate PROGRESS Ch. 48: Bang The Drum, 5/21

Jinny vs Session Moth Martina, PROGRESS Ch. 48: Bang The Drum, 5/21

Marty Scull, Yujiro Takahashi, and The Gorillas of Destiny vs David Finlay Jr., Ricochet, and War Machine NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/22

Ryusuke Taguchi vs El Desperado, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/22

Will Ospreay vs Jushin Thunder Liger, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/23

Taichi vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/23

El Desperado vs Volador Jr., NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/25

Speedball Mike Bailey vs Brent Banks, WCPW World Cup Canadian Qualifier, up on YouTube 5/26

Taichi vs Marty Scurll, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/26

Taka Michinoku vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/26

WWE Match of The Week:

Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate (c)

NXT: TakeOver Chicago, 5/20

The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament two-day event may have been big, but this one match did more for UK wrestling as a whole. Not only does it give Pete Dunne the shine he so greatly deserves on an NXT TakeOver special, but it stole the damn show away.

After this show, TakeOver Brooklyn III neeeds it some Pete Dunne. Hell, we all do. Sure, Pete was the biggest rising star outside of the WWE, but now it’s Network-official. 

Honorable Mentions:

DIY vs AOP, NXT: TakeOver Chicago, 5/20

The Usos vs Breezango, Backlash, 5/21

The Usos vs Breezango Pts 1 & 2, SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

Akira Tozawa vs The Brian Kendrick, 205 Live, 5/23

WWE Segment of the Week:

TakeOver Chicago Ends

NXT: TakeOver Chicago, 5/20

Even if you saw it live, it's time to watch this again:

Everything about this is great. It being a post-credits-bug moment, the first since Owens turned on Zayn. The crowd's shock and boos and horror at it all. The fact that only those who knew about a mistaken and deleted tweet (regarding Gargano getting new solo music) saw it coming. The social media kayfabe thereafter.

This, is how you break up a tag team. Unless you want ironic THANK YOU GOLDDUST chants.

Honorable Mentions:

Shattered Dreams Productions, Monday Night Raw, 5/22

Money In The Bank Entrants Announcement, SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

Are The Fashion Police turning in their badges?, SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

Cold Open: The Brian Kendrick Promo, 205 Live, 5/23

Hi, I'm Drew Gulak, 205 Live, 5/23 

[the-flirt-known-as-tom-tom]

Defiant Wrestling Is Being Defiant By Showing Defiance.

It appears that the creative side of Defiant Wrestling isn’t very creative when it comes to names. For one, naming a wrestling company Defiant Wrestling isn’t very creative but I’ll look past that as me just not liking it. It’s another thing when you just can’t escape the name. The company is called Defiant Wrestling, Their IPPV is called We Are Defiant and their weekly show is called Defiant. There’s no creativity or originality in the names anymore and that really sucks.

WcPW had creative names, that weren’t trying to push messages down the viewer’s throat. The audience gets that the message is that everyone in the company is being defiant and fighting for success, We don’t need every show name and every line of commentary to remind us of that.

Originals? Where?

WcPW as a company was very unique and original in their approach to wrestling, they took in wrestlers that weren’t very widely known, especially to people that didn’t watch smaller British promotions, and they build them up into stars on their shows and bringing in bigger attraction acts as one-offs. As they transition into Defiance they’re losing that. They are bringing big names on a more permanent basis and forgetting about the originals that made this show what it is. Where is Rampage? Where is Gracie? Both of them were big characters that made them what they are but neither is getting the spotlight they should be having. Most “Originals” that are still getting used are just there as plot devices to the big attraction acts. Kirby is used as the third man to do nothing in a match and then destroyed on the ramp so the big star could have his match and obviously get the win.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for them bringing in new stars and I understand that not everyone can be the top stars, But they need to show some respect to the guys that put in the grind to help make the show what it is today instead of treating them like afterthoughts.

Titles.

Those of you that read Weekly Wrestling! will know that I’m not particularly keen on the new Defiant championship designs. The World championship just looks subpar, The Women’s championship and Internet championship are just the exact same belt as before just with the logo changed from WcPW to Defiant, which brings back the question of creativity. I’ll be honest in saying that The Tag Team championships look the best of the new designs, And I liked their idea for the Hardcore championship literally being the old belt but Primate scratched the logo off and made it look even more Hardcore.

Defiant World Championship.

Defiant Women’s Championship.

Defiant Internet Championship.

Defiant Tag Team Championships.

Defiant Hardcore Championship.

I would also like to point out right now that I don’t hate Defiant Wrestling, I still love them and want them to succeed but it’s okay to find and point out the faults in something you love.

My Gripes With Defiant Wrestling. Defiant Wrestling Is Being Defiant By Showing Defiance. It appears that the creative side of Defiant Wrestling isn't very creative when it comes to names.

[scotwresnet]

Photo credit Insane Championship Wrestling

It’s been an incredible year in Scottish professional wrestling and ‘The Oddity’ has been one of the best wrestlers in the country. BT Gunn has collected titles all over the United Kingdom this year and earned the number one spot in our Top 10 Scottish Wrestlers in 2017.

January

Gunn’s year started with a debut at WhatCulture Pro Wrestling defeated Travis Banks in Edinburgh. A quick defense of the Main Event Wrestling Tag Team Championships with Chris Renfrew over Alexander Henry and Joe Rage at Planet of the Primate and a return to WCPW to defeat Gabriel Kidd.

February

His luck continued into early February with a win over Austin Osiris at GPWA followed by a tag team victory with Stevie Xavier over Chris Brookes and Travis Banks. Coming up short in the ICW Square Go!, over at PBW he successfully defended his PBW Heavyweight Championship against Davey Blaze. Teaming with Jack Jester and Stevie Xavier to defeat Wolfgang and The Purge at Rock N Wrestle, then teaming with Chris Renfrew in a losing effort against The Bucky Boys in a Street Fight at ICW.

Two loses in seven days to Joe Coffey followed, first at WCPW then at ICW. It wouldn’t be the last time these two would get into the ring together. After coming up short in a four way over the TNT Extreme Division Championship a win over Michael Parks at GPWA rounded off the month.

March

Back to back title defenses kicked off March at BCW against James Drake and over at PBW against Jack Jester and Wolfgang in a triple threat match. He teamed with Stevie Xavier to defeat The Titans of the North at Source Wrestling, returning to ICW to trade wins with Joe Coffey in Bristol and Glasgow along with falling short in capturing the ICW World Heavyweight Championship in a four way including the champion Trent Seven, Chris Renfrew and Pete Dunne.

After retaining the PWE Tag Team Championships with Chris Renfrew over Ashton Smith and Rampage Brown at The Elite Rumble. Gunn spent the remaining of the month at WCPW, losing a seven way elimination match, teaming with the rest of The Prestige to defeat Bullet Club before making his way to the quarterfinals, defeating Lewis Girvan in the first round (watch here), in the Scottish qualifier of the WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup losing to Drew Galloway.

April

On April Fool’s day, Martin Kirby scored the win over Gunn at WCPW State of Emergency which was bookended at the end of the month with Martin Kirby winning a 30 man rumble match for the WCPW Heavyweight Championship that included Gunn at No Regrets. He was part of Team Discovery Wrestling with Lewis Girvan and Joe Coffey in a losing effort against Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. Three loses in ICW to Joe Coffey, Tyler Bate and a seven way for the ICW Zero G Championship. He successfully defended his BCW Heavyweight Championship against Pete Dunne and four defenses of the PBW Heavyweight Championship turning back Lou King Sharp, Krieger, Davey Blaze plus Lionheart and Sha Samuels in a three way.

Photo credit David J Wilson

May

Gunn defeated El Ligero at SWE Speed King to win the SWE Heavyweight Championship and teamed with Stevie Xavier to defeat Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz to start the month off with a bang. Despite a loss to Zack Gibson at the start of the ICW Fight Club Tour, Gunn fought back with wins over Lionheart, Davey Blaze and Kid Fite. A loss in a six man tag match at IPW:UK, teaming with Chris Renfrew and Jimmy Havoc, against DND and Tom Dawkins was quickly forgotten with a trip to Spain to win the RCW Heavyweight Championship over La Pulga the next week.

May was a very exciting month, two title wins plus a tryout with WWE at the O2 Arena in London. A great moment, sharing it with his Juzt Uz tag team partner Stevie Xavier.

June

Wins over Mark Davis at WCPW, then a PBW Heavyweight Championship defense against Jack Jester then a BCW Heavyweight Championship defense against Jason Prime (watch here). Following Drew Galloway re-signing with WWE, Gunn got a second chance to join the WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup but was defeated by Kenny Williams. Another PBW Heavyweight Championship defense when he defeated Krieger again was followed by a loss to Grado at ICW and a loss at Fight Club Pro in a three way tag team match when he teamed with Wolfgang against Extra Talented and, the eventual winners, The Hunter Brothers.

June would end on a high with winning a qualifier over Gabriel Kidd, Davey Blaze and Kenny Williams at ICW to move one step further to getting a WWE UK Championship match then going to Inverness to become the inaugural RNW Tag Team Champion with Stevie Xavier when they defeated The Purge.

July

The month didn’t start well with The Prestige losing to Gabriel Kidd, Primate, Rampage Brown and Martin Kirby. It picked up with a double pin against Wolfgang which meant that both were added to the WWE UK Championship match at ICW Shug’s Hoose Party 4. A win over Scott McManus at Source Wrestling then four loses in three days, losing the PWE Tag Team Championships to The UK Hooligans on night one of PWE anniversary weekend then failing to recapture them the next night as Polo Promotions picked up the win causing the split of The New Age Kliq in Pro Wrestling Elite as BT Gunn attacked Renfrew following the loss. A lose to The London Riots and failing to win the battle royal at IPW:UK wasn’t making July a great month. Gunn bounced back with a win over Kez Evans at GPWA and although he didn’t win he put in a great showing in the WWE UK Championship match on night one of ICW Shug’s Hoose Party 4 (watch here) before winning the ICW Zero G Championship from Kenny Williams the next night to become the first ICW Triple Crown winner.

August

Another month starting with a mixed set of results at Southside, Gunn and Xavier lost to Chris Tyler and HC Dyer at SWE Menace II Society VII but teamed with Xavier and Kay Lee Ray to defeat Tyler, Joseph Conners and Lana Austin at Day of Reckoning 18. Plus successfully retaining his SWE Heavyweight Championship against David Starr. The Prestige lost to War Machine and Marty Scurll on night one of the WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup.

It was a month of title defenses defending his PBW Heavyweight Championship against Davey Blaze, the BCW Heavyweight Championship against Tucker which retaining the ICW Zero G Championship in a triple threat against Stevie Boy and Wolfgang, following up with another successful ICW Zero G defense against Jody Fleisch. Along with that, he picked up the WCPW Hardcore Championship by defeating Primate before losing it back to Primate six days later.

September

Another win over Krieger to retain the PBW Heavyweight Championship started September before heading back to Southside to lose to Hardcore Holly at the aptly named Chop Gunn event. Another BCW Heavyweight Championship retention by beating CJ Banks and teaming with Stevie Xavier for a loss to The Underdogs at Source Wrestling.

While they were split in PWE, The New Age Kliq defeated The Kings of the North and Polo Promotions to qualify for the Discovery Wrestling Uncivil War match to crown the 2017 Disco Tag Team Champions.

The New Age Kliq continued to team in PCW but suffered a loss to Sha Samuels and Lionheart at Bigger On The Inside. Before facing each other at PWE the next night in a grudge match that saw Gunn victorious. A TNT Extreme Division Champion win over Sean Only (watch here) looked to end September on a high but two loses at SWA scuppered that, first in a triple threat Paisley Street Fight against Jack Jester and Wolfgang then teaming with Kasey in a loss against Wolfgang and Molly Spartan.

In September, after a successful ICW Zero G Championship defense against Karim Brigante in Italian Wrestling Association (watch here) he appeared on the screen at ICW Fight Club and challenged the ICW World Heavyweight Champion, Joe Coffey, to a Champion vs Champion winner takes all bout at Fear & Loathing X in November.

October

An undefeated month in ICW for BT Gunn, defending the ICW Zero G Championship against Jordan Devlin, Kid Fite and Jimmy Havoc in singles competition plus a victory over Wolfgang who gave his endorsement for BT Gunn as ICW World Heavyweight Champion.

A loss to Primate at WCPW Refuse to Lose and a victory over Bullet Club and The South Coast Connection & Will Ospreay at Loaded meant for a mixed month in WhatCulture Pro Wrestling.

After a loss to Krieger and Lou King Sharp at PBW, Gunn attacked his tag team partner Stevie Xavier and the fans in the process. Retaining the PBW Heavyweight Championship against TJ Rage then escaped past Lucha DS by disqualification, keeping his title in the process.

The month ended with his SWE Heavyweight Championship reign coming to an end with Ethan Page winning at Masked Mania in a seven way match.

November

Another ICW Zero G Championship defense against James Drake started a monumental month for BT Gunn in ICW. Over at Discovery Wrestling, The New Age Kliq failed to become the first Disco Tag Team Champions as The Buffet Club reigned supreme. He retained the PBW Heavyweight Championship over Stevie Xavier and defeated Kieran Kelly at Source Wrestling.

The night before ICW Fear & Loathing X at France ’98 he teamed with Lionheart, Rob Van Dam and Chris Renfrew to defeat Zack Gibson, Bram, Joe Coffey and Mikey Whiplash. At Fear & Loathing X, BT Gunn successfully won the ICW World Heavyweight Championship by dethroning Joe Coffey to become the first ICW Grand Slam winner.

The month wasn’t over with a successful retention of the MEW Tag Team Championships with Chris Renfrew over Liam Slater and Primate before losing the PBW Heavyweight Championship to Stevie Xavier at PBW Maximum Impact 2017.

December

BCW No Blood No Sympathy arrived with Gunn leaving both nights with the BCW Heavyweight Championship first defeating Doug Williams then winning a four way that included Ring of Honor wrestler Johnathon Gresham, Joe Coffey and Stevie Xavier.

He teamed with Joe Coffey at the newly renamed Defiant Wrestling, formerly known as WCPW, winning a number one contender match against The South Coast Connection but fell short against Jimmy Havoc and Primate.

At Discovery Wrestling, BT Gunn faced Cody Rhodes, a match that was initially a non-title bout but Cody Rhodes put his Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship on the line. Cody won but it was hailed by many as match of the night.

Photo credit David J Wilson

Gunn’s year ended with a no contest against Lionheart to retain the ICW World Heavyweight Championship with injury seeing him sit out the remaining of 2017.

What a year for BT Gunn. As we move into 2018 we know that he will face Red Lightning in January at ICW’s It’s Always Raining In Glasgow event and if he wins will move onto defend the ICW Undisputed Championship against Bram at the 7th Annual Square Go! on February 11th. A guy that has been in the title picture wherever he goes, winning titles and flourishing in championship situations, with his WWE tryout and being included in the WWE UK Championship match at Shug’s Hoose Party then winning the ICW World Heavyweight Championship it wouldn’t be too crazy to see Gunn be picked up for the ever rumoured WWE UK programme, especially with all the WWE-ICW connections.

‘The Oddity’ is an extremely popular wrestler with letting his actions speak more than words. Famed for his blistering chops and stiff kicks, Gunn is one of the premier wrestlers in the country.

Thanks to Cagematch.net and Wrestle Ropes for match information.

BT Gunn: A Year In Review It's been an incredible year in Scottish professional wrestling and 'The Oddity' has been one of the best wrestlers in the country.

[grapsandclaps]

HELLO HALIFAX!!

Hello again everyone and welcome to a very local trip of #grapsandclaps for Show 78 of the #100showyear which took me to Halifax for BWE Wrestling, as I found out this was there first time here since April.

But as it is didn't start till 6pm, we decided to take in the local drinking establishments, some of which have featured in many pubs of the year awards. Halifax is actually becoming a town on the rise seeing a lot of investment in places with a fancy retail park area near the bus station and the springing up of a line of cafe style bars and pubs.

Arriving in Halifax we ventured off to The Royal Oak which has 8 real ales on tap, with prices ranging from £2.40 to £3.00. Clientele are very much the older side of 40 with Sky Sports being on 3 screens, in here I had a pint of Northern Best (4.6% £2.60). Decent pint.

Next up was the Alexandra Beer Cafe which is in the style of a smaller version of Port Street Beer House with upstairs and downstairs seating. There are 6 beers on tap and also a huge range of cans and bottles for you to savour, I had a pint can of one of the Northern Monk Patrons IPA (6% £7), our Geoff sampled half a pint of a 9% stout which was £3.25 for a half. Both drinks were delicious despite the steep price, we also got chatting to a couple of lads on what constitues a Shithole and also enquiring if we were wrestlers and where the show was taking place tonight.

Obviously when wrestling is mentioned with strangers the name of Big Daddy always gets brought up 🙄. One of the gentleman tried to make a case as well for the best sort of sex being with someone having heart palpitations, needless to say I doubt think it has been scientifically proven.

Next stop was the Victorian Craft Beer Cafe which has a total of 22 beers either it be Cask or Keg, but watch out if you are a tall person here as there are low wooden beams which I have cracked me head on a few times. I had a pint of the Pentonville Oyster Stout 5.5% at a cost of £3.60. This is a nice quiet drinking den but it could have done with the acoustic sounds of George Ezra on the sound system.

Drinking done there it was off to the cheaper climbs of the Barum Top Inn Wetherspoons for a pint of 5.5% IPA for £2.05. This is a decent sized Spoons with a good range of ales on tap due mainly to the Spoons Real Ale Festival. Only downpoint in here was watching the dying embers of my coupon going down, on a day when Bolton, Palace and Bury win you know you are royally going down.

5pm now and it was off to meet my old school mate and prefect partner Rodger, who I havent seen since a Tidal Wrestling show in June. We met up in The Percy Shaw Wetherspoons on the post retail park and once again a £2.05 pint in here which was a 6% strong ale. The only 2 different ales though in here both ran out instantly so it was decided to move on to the next pub before we went to the show.

The Pump Room across the road was next and has a very much liking to someones front room. A pint of fruity stout was had here at a cost of £3.20 plus the added bonus of 40p packs of Seabrook Cheese and Onion Crisps.

Drinks done it was off to the North Bridge Leisure Centre for the BWE Wrestling show.

Arriving in we were escorted to the wooden bleacher seats, which you can produced a nice raised view of the action.

Before the action started though, we all sampled some of the hot food on offer which included Chilli Con Carne and Chicken Curry with rice for £4. This was one of the triumphs of the evening producing a decent mildly hot curry and very much up there with the Jerk Chicken from WCPW earlier this year.

Message to Wrestling Promoters - More Hot Buffet Food!

Cans of Kronenberg were on offer at a cost of £2.50, even though lukewarm they passed the test of keeping me lubricated during the action.

With an attendance of about 200 paying a ticket cost of £6 - £10, they were first treated to the first match of ACE Matthews of GO! Team Sports fame vs our boy BIG T Justice. Fairly short opener with deluded baddie for the evening ACE chopping down the giant BIG T but for all his chopping down, the giant sequoia came back with a dominator sit out slam for the 1-2-3. I can see mileage in ACE's new attitude.

Next up was Xia Brookside vs Little Miss Roxxy (Bombshells Champion) with HT Drake in her corner. Decent womens match here with the fans behind Xia who has been on a recent trip to Japan. Roxxy very much playing the chicken heel here and the added involvement of Drake caused a DQ booting Xia in the face - BOOOOO 👎

Half time main event next with two wrestlers I dont see much of nowadays - Rampage Brown vs Liam Slater, easily two of the best in the country. Rampage came out to the harmonic strings of RARARARARARA I WILL BE HEARD by Hatebreed but after bellowing it out to our favourite grizzly yorkshire bear it was noted that he was baddie for the night, so we had to boo him sadly. Slater has now ditched his Vengaboys music for a more sedate rock number. Back and forth actiom here for at least 15 minutes which ended after a valiant effort from Slater, he got caught with the dreaded Rampage Piledriver for the loss.

Such a shame we dont see these two more outside of NGW/Tidal now, obviously the Casio Keyboard world of Progress has put paid to Rampers being there which sucks.

Half Time and it was time to get pictures with a couple of the stars from earlier on 👇

Poor ACE had no one coming to his desk for pictures, so our Geoff gave him a sympathy hug and took a pic with him.

As you can see our picture with BIG T, we look tiny compared to our boy. I mean we are two good 6 footers, but this photo has now crushed my wrestling dream 😢.

Back from break and we had a big tag team qualifier with The Sons of Ulaid vs RAAAARRRRGGGHHH! 😾 The Lion Kings consisting of Sebb Strife and Nsereko. This was a good tag team match with the sounds of our voices roaring on the Lion Kings who look a decent outfit in their relatively short time together. This match ended in a big brawl on the outside with both teams missing the count and there we have it - a disappointing double countout.

Next up was a singles match turned into a 3 way match by General Manager DAN DAN James. It was Halifax's own Tel Banham vs Gentleman AND JON McGregor vs Your Naans Favourite Wrestler Amir Jordan. This lasted about 8 minutes with McGregor getting the win here in a good match, Banham does do a good shithousery act which works well on the northern undergraps scene.

Main Event time with BWE Champion Sexy Kev vs Calling Spots Champion HT Drake. Good main event that lasted around 15 minutes which did have a bit of involvement from The Sons of Ulaid, The Lion Kings AND JON McGregor. With all the distractions HT Drake got the win and is now your new BWE Champion. At the end everyone got into a big fight which has now set up a 3 way Tag Team match in Bradford on the 25th November between The Sons of Ulaid vs The Lion Kings vs The Sexy Gents in what should be great entertainment.

Overall well worth my £6 of entertainment with nothing stinking out the joint and the added good matches of Rampage Brown vs Liam Slater and HT Drake vs Sexy Kev plus the greatness of a hot buffet.

If you have kids i would recommend BWE as a good family wrestling show option, decent laugh as well seeing the wrestlers getting jip from a 6 year old ha!

Show done, we had time for one more pint in The Grayston Unity which is a small bar area with a total of 10 ales on tap and once again a pint around the £3 marker.

So there you go, even if you are not visiting for the wrestling I hugely recommend you take in Halifax for a day out. PCW are running 2 shows in the 'Fax next year in another central venue ATIX and also BWE are there for a handful of shows again next year.

Next weeks #Grapsandclaps takes me to Leeds for Tidal Wrestling which on paper looks a great show, but also the added bonus of the next instalment of the BritWres Pool Championship currently held by Champion - Athers who by the looks of it has a long list of wannabe challengers for next week including a yet to be confirmed appearance by DeathMatch Wrestler - Clint Margera 🤤🤤🤤

#grapsandclaps

[wrestletale-blog]

Why North American Wrestling Fans Should Watch WCPW

British wrestling is all the rage right now.  Companies like ICW (ECW fans will love and appreciate this company.), Rev-Pro Wrestling and now a company called WCPW, wrestling in the UK is seeing a renaissance of sorts.  In a little over a year WCPW has become one of the main independent wrestling companies in the United Kingdom. 

WCPW has had a who’s who of wrestling All-Stars compete in their ring over the last year.  Big name stars like Kurt Angle, Cody Rhodes, Alberto El Patron, Drew Galloway (known in WWE and NXT as Drew McIntyre) and The Young Bucks have all wrestled for WCPW, to name a few.  

WCPW easily has one of the strongest rosters in independent wrestling on either side of the pond.  A quick look at their current champions have current NJPW Tag Team Champions and former ROH Tag Team Champions War Machine as the current WCPW Tag Champs.  Gabriel Kidd is just 20 years old and currently holds the WCPW Internet Championship.  A title he won from Cody Rhodes for his first ever WCPW win.  Kidd may just be the most promising wrestler on the WCPW roster but don’t tell current Heavyweight WCPW Champion Joe Hendry that.  The Prestigious One, once a fan favourite known for his entertaining entrances has flourished as a heel.  Hendry has tons of charisma, a great look and his wrestling continues to get better every time he steps in the ring.  You may even recognize Joe Hendry as one of Rusev’s Russian contingent (along with another UK wrestler, Lionheart.)

Rounding out the current champions in WCPW is Primate, a 5′11″ 210lb hardcore specialist and of course the current WCPW Hardcore Champion.  The current WCPW Women’s Champion is none other than top independent wrestler Kay Lee Ray.  A veteran at just 24 years of age (she started wrestling at 17), Kay Lee has fought in such promotions as NXT and Impact.  She recently took part in WWE’s Mae Young Classic as well.

The rest of the roster is just as impressive.  WCPW is quickly becoming a favourite for independent wrestlers to ply their trade and get noticed.  Here is a sample of the matches you will see at a WCPW show.  Will Osprey vs “The Villain” Marty Scrull. 

WCPW has taken on the task of finding out who the best wrestler is in the world not currently in the WWE.  WCPW Presents the World Cup of Wrestling is a HUGE tournament broken down by countries to find who the best wrestler in the world is.

With wrestlers from all over the world fighting for the bragging rights as WCPW World Cup Champion, fans have seen some of the best match ups ever on the independent scene.  The entire World Cup has been free to watch on YouTube as well.  Matches such as Rey Mysterio vs Alberto El Patron, Michael Elgin vs Davey Boy Smith Jr, Drew Galloway vs BT Gunn and Zack Sabre Jr vs Marty Scurll to name a few have all been free to watch.  In fact you can watch the American qualifiers and the Rest of the World qualifiers this weekend on YouTube. 

WCPW’s most popular show, LOADED is also coming back to YouTube starting August 5th.  After wrestling was deemed “Not Advertiser Friendly” WCPW was forced to end their tapings of LOADED.  Without the revenue coming in from YouTube it didn’t make financial sense to continue with the tapings.  Wether WCPW has found a new way to finance the tapings or YouTube has realized wrestling should be considered “Advertiser Friendly” I am not sure.  Either way, I am happy to see LOADED back on YouTube to help grow this awesome promotion.

If you are a fan of wrestling, do yourself a favour and support WCPW.  You can sign up to WhatCulture Extra for less than $10/month and get all of their shows and PPV’s.  Money well spent in my mind!  https://whatculture.com/extra 

[pipe-bomb-podcast]

WCPW Bulletproof: Championship Showdown – 20.03.2017 WCPW Tag Team Title Texas Tornado Four Way Match The Swords Of Essex (Scott Wainwright & Will Ospreay) (c) vs.

[jbeer-en]

The Other Turnbuckle: New Japan, ROH TV Review and WCPW’s 64 Man World Cup by Hank McAllen

#beer #SapporoBeer [tjrwrestling.net]Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (New Beginning in Sapporo 2/5), Hiromu Takahashi vs ... Bull James pulled off a great tornado DDT on Young’s tag team partner the Beer City Bruiser, who had accompanied Silas to the ring.