Has March been a good month for wrestling? To put it simply;
Photo credit World Wrestling Entertainment
We heard the news that Daniel Bryan was cleared to return to action, we saw a Brit winning NJPW’s New Japan Cup for the first time and Austin Aries made his return to ROH. Here in Scotland, we saw two Rumble Matches, the continuation of the world’s longest wrestling match (still ongoing) and the ICW Women’s Championship went global!
Honourable mentions go out to Jarek Nowak, Mikey Whiplash, Lou King Sharp, Krieger, Kid Fite, Jack Jester, Jackie Polo, Mark Coffey, Shawn Johnson, Crusher Craib, Scotty Swift, Timm Wylie, Dickie Divers, Kieran Kelly, Lucha DS, Robbie Solar, The Riot Chris James, JD Wilde and Michael Chase.
10. Aspen Faith
Earning the one point this month is “The King of Catch” Aspen Faith. His month began with a successful Tri-Counties Championship against Scotty Swift at WrestleZone’s second Fan Appreciation Night in Peterhead with a bit of help from Crusher Craib, before he answered Mikey Whiplash’s Deathmatch Invitational the following night at ICW’s return to Edinburgh. Aspen’s month ended at WrestleZone’s Regal Rumble, where he lost his Tri-Counties Championship to Andy Wild at The Regal Rumble, with Johnny Lions and Mr P also involved. Later that night, he and Lewis Girvan finally united in WrestleZone before both were eliminated from The Regal Rumble Match.
9. Lewis Girvan
Another Filthy Generation member now as Lewis Girvan earns 2 points. The Renegade started the month at one of only a few shows not to be cancelled thanks to ‘The Beast From The East’, as he defeated Craig Miller at a Source Wrestling show in Lennoxtown. The following week, he retained his Respect Pro Heavyweight Championship over Mikey Whiplash with David Devlin emerging as his next challenger. The day after saw Lewis unsuccessfully challenging BT Gunn for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship. Two weeks later, he also failed to take the Undisputed Championship from Shawn Johnson at WrestleZone’s Regal Rumble event in a Triple Threat Match also involving Jack Jester. Later in the night, he aligned with Aspen Faith to bring The Kings of Catch up north, with both men being chucked out of during The Regal Rumble Match. March ended with him being announced as the head trainer for the newly established Respect Pro Wrestling training school, which opened today!
8. Stevie Boy
Stevie Boy had a busy time during the month of March. It began at a Target Wrestling show in Dumfries, where lost to Spyda in a Triple Threat Match also including Johnny Phere, before he retained the PBW Heavyweight Championship against TJ Rage two days later. The following weekend, he defeated Andy Wild to remain the BCW Openweight Champion before losing to the man he last eliminated in this year’s Square Go! Match in the form of Mark Coffey. A week later, he once again retained the PBW Heavyweight Championship over CJ Banks, before failing to win this year’s PWE Elite Rumble Match. He ended the month with yet another successful defence of the PBW Heavyweight Championship, this time against Rampage Brown.
7. BT Gunn
Coming in at number 7 is “The Oddity” BT Gunn. He started March by teaming with Joe Coffey in a loss to The Prestige’s Joe Hendry and El Ligero, just missing out on a spot in the 2018 Magnificent Seven Match. Three days later, he was victorious over Lucha DS at a show for PBW in Cumbernauld. That weekend, he retained two of his titles by defeating Davey Blaze to remain the BCW Heavyweight Champion and then defeated Lewis Girvan to remain the ICW World Heavyweight Champion. The following weekend was a bad one for Gunn. He lost to Aaron Echo during PBW’s return to Larbert, was unsuccessful in winning this year’s PWE Elite Rumble Match and, alongside Joe Coffey, failed to dethrone The Aussie Open of their Tag Team Championships during Defiant Wrestling’s Lights Out iPPV, a match that also included the team of Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins. The month ended with another victory over Davey Blaze at Rock N Wrestle’s Great Highland Bash event.
6. Damien
March wasn’t the best of months for Damien. He lost to former stablemate Alan Sterling at WrestleZone’s show in Peterhead thanks to a distraction from Richard R. Russell, which then meant he would have to enter The Regal Rumble Match from number 1. The Revolutionary went in and lasted right down to the very end, managing to eliminate the likes of Crusher Craib and Mr P along the way. He was left alone with Richard R. Russell, a man he was dying to get his hands on. But thanks to a distraction from Undisputed Champion Shawn Johnson, Damien was eliminated from behind and Russell was crowned this year’s Regal Rumble winner! Despite not winning a single match, Damien gets his spot on the list for going bell to bell in the biggest match on the WrestleZone calendar. Not many men can say they’ve done that!
5. Andy Wild
Andy Wild’s month began on March 10th, with an unsuccessful attempt at trying to take the BCW Openweight Championship from Stevie Boy. Another unsuccessful match the week after, this time in the fifth annual PWE Elite Rumble Match before he found his first bit of March success the following week, winning the WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship from Aspen Faith in a Fatal Four Way Match. After being eliminated by Mr P in The Regal Rumble Match later in the night, he ended the month with a loss to Grado at PBW’s show in Greenock.
4. Joe Hendry
2018 Commonwealth Games athlete Joe Hendry came into March riding a wave of momentum. Alongside his Prestige partner El Ligero, the pair defeated former allies BT Gunn and Joe Coffey on an episode of Defiant Wrestling’s weekly show to cement their places in the Magnificent Seven Match. The Prestigious One then continued his ongoing Falls Count Anywhere Match with Chris Renfrew, with both men hiding away in the Cultaholic offices to film content (available here and here). I’m sure officials are still keeping an eye on it. The week after, Hendry retained his PWE Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mikey Whiplash, before he was the last man eliminated in the Magnificent Seven Match at the hands of Rampage, although he was able to pin former ROH World Champion Christopher Daniels during the match. Now, he’s away in Australia for this year’s Commonwealth Games. Good luck Joe!
3. Sammii Jayne
Sammii Jayne had a relatively successful March. She kicked things off with her Defiant Wrestling in-ring debut, going to a no contest with Kay Lee Ray in a #1 Contenders Match. The following week, she retained her Pro Wrestling: EVE Championship over Rhia O’Reilly during their SHEroes event, before being unable to win the Defiant Women’s Championship from Millie McKenzie during the Lights Out iPPV, with Kay Lee Ray also being involved. The Main Event Empress became became #Sammii4Belts the weekend after as she defeated Little Miss Roxxy to become the inaugural Main Event Wrestling Women’s Champion, then appeared alongside Aspen Faith for WrestleZone the next night at The Regal Rumble. Although she gave Andy Wild a hurricanrana off the top, it wasn’t enough for Aspen to remain champion. She ended the month on a high, defeating Kris Wolf at Pro Wrestling: EVE’s #SHEVOLUTION event. March also saw Sammii being announced for his first tour of Japan at the end of April, as she heads to Sendai Girls!
2. Kenny Williams
Kenny Williams kicked off February by teaming with Aaron Echo as they were victorious over the team of Jack Jester and James Drake at a BCW show, before he lost to Filthy Generation member Kay Lee Ray the next night. The following weekend saw him lose a Triple Threat Match at PBW to Davey Blaze, with Jack Jester as the third man, followed by losing to CJ Banks the next night. He picked up some momentum later that night however, as he came out on top in this year’s Elite Rumble Match. Kenny ended the month with two unsuccessful championship challenges at SWA, as he and Aaron Echo failed to take the Tag Team Championships from Polo Promotions in a Four Way Elimination Match in Paisley (Sha Samuels & Grado and The Scottish Luchadors) were the other teams, then the next night in Motherwell he was beaten by Timm Wylie with the Scottish Heavyweight Championship on the line.
1. Viper
Earning the full 10 points this month is “The Vixen of Violence” Viper. She kicked off her month with victories over Jordynne Grace and Aivil at Pro Wrestling: EVE and ICW respectively, before being eliminated from the Elite Rumble Match a week later. After this, she headed for another tour of Japan. Here, she teamed with her Queen’s Quest allies AZM and Momo Watanabe to defeat Konami, Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora before she competed in a 12 on 1 Gauntlet Match a few days later that ended on a draw. That same day saw her, HZK and Io Shirai retain the Artist of Stardom Championships over fellow UK representatives Bea Priestley, Toni Storm and Xia Brookside. She continued her success by making the ICW Women’s Championship a world title, as she defeated Toni Storm to retain, in the process also claiming her first Stardom World Alliance Championship. Her month ended with a victory in a 4 on 4 Elimination Match alongside HZK, AZM and Momo Watanabe as they defeated Jungle Kyona, Natsuko Tora, Kaori Yoneyama and Konami.
Point Standings as of April 1st 2018
1. Viper (19 points)
2. Andy Wild (16 points)
3. Joe Hendry and Sammii Jayne (14 points)
4. Damien and Stevie Boy (13 points)
5. Aspen Faith (12 points)
6. Kenny Williams and Shawn Johnson (9 points)
7. BT Gunn, Lewis Girvan and Mark Coffey (8 points)
8. Crusher Craib and DCT (5 points)
9. Eric Arkham (4 points)
10. Aaron Echo (3 points)
11. Glen Dunbar, Jack Morris and JD Wilde (2 points)
12. Blondie Barratt (1 point)
Thanks to Cagematch, Wrestle Ropes and wrestling-news.net for match info
Scottish Wrestling Network 