May was an eventful month, not just for wrestling, but in general life. The world mourned the loss of Internet sensation Grumpy Cat, Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister following the absolute shambles she’s caused, and All Elite Wrestling had their debut show just one week ago with Double or Nothing. Here in Scotland, there were a handful of standout wrestlers throughout the month. There weren’t that many big shows (mainly town hall/community centre shows in May), allowing some guys to get on the list that perhaps wouldn’t have been on otherwise. Instead of wasting more time, let’s get straight into it.
Honourable mentions go out to Aaron Echo, Alexander Darwin MacAllan, Andy Wild, Aspen Faith, Daz Black, Dylan Angel, Grant McIvor, Jack Morris, Jayla Dark, Joe Hendry, Kez Evans, Krieger, Lewis Girvan, Liam Thomson, Lou King Sharp, Paxxo, and Viper.
10. The Purge (Krobar & Stevie James)
Number 10 comes in the form of two individuals making their list debut because when you have one member of The Purge, you have to take the other aswell. Krobar and Stevie James had a reasonably good month, kicking off with the latter of the two losing to GPWA student Levi Justice at the most recent Five Pound Wrestling show hosted by Wrestling Experience Scotland, but he bounced back to winning ways with a victory over Leyton Buzzard at Capital City Wrestling. Rounding off the month for James and Krobar saw them enter ICW’s King of Hawners tournament alongside their Bad Company brethren BT Gunn, a trios tournament that they would go on to win. En-route to the finals, they defeated The Dallas Mavericks and The Anti-Fun Police, followed by a victory over The Wild Boys in the finals to win the whole tournament.
9. Ryan Riley
Another list debutant is here to inspire all you readers, his name is “Inspirational” Ryan Riley. The Foundation of the Future member suffered a loss at the hands of Alan Sterling at a WrestleZone show in Fraserburgh in a match that also included one of Riley’s trainers Blue Thunder. Even in defeat, Riley clearly left an impression as WrestleZone management granted him an Undisputed Championship match two weeks later. That bout took place in Stonehaven and even though he had Zach Dynamite and Bradley Evans watching his back, the onslaught from defending champion Damien was too much to handle as The Revolutionary continued his reign with the gold. Seeing as Ryan only made his main roster debut in September, having an Undisputed Championship match this early on is quite an accomplishment.
8. Dickie Divers
NINE NINE! It’s Dickie Divers back to collect some more points, and rightfully so. He kicked his May off with a successful defence of his Reckless Intent Heavyweight Championship against the devious Mikey Whiplash, albeit with some assistance from general manager Kieran Ure, at the special Reckless Intent Wrestling vs Source Wrestling event. A week later, he and Nine9 pal Jack Morris failed to take the RI Tag Team Championships from the grasp of The Age of Orion in Tillicoultry, then suffered a defeat at the hands of British wrestling legends Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm on night one of ICW’s King of Hawners tournament. Even though he lost, the sheer thought of Divers (and Morris for that matter) facing men the calibre of Fleisch and Storm shows just how great of a talent he is. A loss to Craig Anthony at SWA last night may not have been the way Divers planned on celebrating the last day of May, but you can’t take anything away from him.
7. Angel Hayze
Angel Hayze is continuing her incredible rise to the top in 2019, adding another promotion to her ever-growing list at the start of May in the form of Pro Wrestling Elite. At their show at the Ayr Town Hall, Hayze suffered a loss to NXT UK star Viper, putting in quite the performance in the process though. Two weeks later, the PBW Academy graduate had the opportunity to compete inside the Glasgow Pavillion Theatre as part of Grado’s Big Family Wrestling Bash, teaming with former World of Sport Tag Team Champion Iestyn Rees in a winning effort over Jokey and Jack Jester. A victory over Jokey at the debut show for Pro Wrestling Innovation was followed by a six person tag team match loss alongside Scott McManus and Russell Adamson against the Contagion trio of Connor Rose, Corvyn Cameron, and Reaver at the 2019 Northern Fights show for Caithness Pro Wrestling. Another six person tag team match loss to Ashley Vega, Jokey, and Viper alongside Lana Austin and Jamie Hayter at Scottish Wrestling Alliance’s event in Paisley rounded off quite the month for Angel.
6. Kieran Kelly
Kieran Kelly was a busy lad in May, kicking things off with a return to tag team action alongside Scott McManus where they lost to KOE’s Kai Williams-King and King Killa at Source Wrestling’s Mayhem 2 event (a match that also included The Kings of Catch). Staying in tag team competition, Shotgun teamed up with I-Gen ally David Devlin in a Handicap Match loss to Divinity’s Brandon Adams, Delsin Dayre, and Rob Mills, before he was then squashed to death by the monstrous Crater at Grado’s Big Family Wrestling Bash. A successful defence of the Scottish X Championship against Liam Thomson at the charity event titled Capital City Wrestling led young Kieran into the ICW King of Hawners tournament, where he entered as part of The Wild Boys along with Andy Wild and Aaron Echo. They defeated the three masked members of The Power Forward and then The Kings of the North trio from Ireland en-route to the finals, where they fell at the final hurdle as they were defeated by winners Bad Company despite an impressive performance. Kelly defeated Lou King Sharp at the PBW event in Cumbernauld before losing his Scottish X Championship to rival Leyton Buzzard just last night as his month came to a crashing end.
5. Lionheart
Say his name, because he’s number five. Lionheart is easily one of the most recognisable personalities in Scottish wrestling at the moment – after all, he’s the reigning ICW World Heavyweight Champion. His May began with a show to promote as his promotion Pro Wrestling Elite held a show at the Ayr Town Hall, a show that looked like a right cracker. Although he didn’t wrestle at that show, he did wrestle at the Capital City Wrestling show in Edinburgh, teaming with Jack Jester in the main event to defeat the reunited Operation RUDOWolf team of RUDO Lightning and Wolfgang. He followed this up with successful defences of the ICW World Heavyweight Championship and the Scottish Heavyweight Championship against Rampage Brown on night two of ICW’s King of Hawners tournament and against BT Gunn, Jack Jester, and RUDO Lightning at SWA Paisley Pandemonium respectively to end another dominant month.
4. Leyton Buzzard
Leyton Buzzard was a real breakout talent in May, as was clearly evidenced by the matches he was having. First off, he picked up a massive victory over Andy Wild at PWE’s show in Ayr, although a loss to “The Outlaw” Stevie James at Capital City Wrestling ensured he didn’t have a completely successful month. Night one of the ICW King of Hawners didn’t see Buzzard in action, but The Prodigy made sure his presence was felt as he cost The Dallas Mavericks their quarterfinal match in the tournament, eventually challenging former mentor Joe Hendry to a bout at Shug’s Hoose Party 6. The Prodigy ended up winning the Scottish X Championship from Kieran Kelly just last night to mark his first ever championship victory. Congratulations to Leyton Buzzard!
3. Aivil
The final list debutant of the month is Aivil (or Jokey, depending on which day you’re reading this). Her first match came in the form of competing on Grado’s Big Family Wrestling Bash alongside Jack Jester, a match they lost to Angel Hayze and Big Iestyn Rees, which was followed by another loss to Angel in singles action for Pro Wrestling Innovation’s first ever show (she substituted for Lucy Cole here). Then, came arguably the biggest match in Aivil’s career thus far as she had an opportunity at Kay Lee Ray’s ICW Women’s World Championship on night two of the King of Hawners tournament. Even though she came up short in her quest for the gold, The Twisted Priestess undoubtedly proved any of her critics wrong with her performance. A victory alongside Ashley Vega and Viper over the team of Angel Hayze, Lana Austin, and Jamie Hayter brought an end to one of the biggest months in Aivil’s career.
2. BT Gunn
BT Gunn continued his recent success with another packed month in May, which began with a loss to Wolfgang at the Pro Wrestling Elite show in Ayr. The Oddity then unsuccessfully challenged HT Drake for his Main Event Wrestling Heavyweight Championship at the promotion’s 4 Way War event (Adam Maxted and Joe Rage also challenged for the gold here), followed the next day with an unannounced appearance at Grado’s event at the Pavillion Theatre as he pinned the huge Crater. After he lost to Dylan Angel at Pro Wrestling Innovation’s debut show (Liam Thomson was the third man) and he defeated Sha Samuels at Capital City Wrestling, Gunn then teamed with his Bad Company brethren Stevie James and Krobar as they entered ICW’s King of Hawners tournament. They defeated The Dallas Mavericks and The Anti-Fun Police as they made their way to the finals, where they defeated The Wild Boys to win the whole tournament and earn one future championship between them. Another loss to Dylan Angel at Premier British Wrestling’s show in Cumbernauld as well as an unsuccessful attempt at prying the Scottish Heavyweight Championship away from Lionheart ended May on a sour note for Gunn, but that takes nothing away from the exceptional month he had.
1. Jackie Polo
You can bring him down, but he’ll be back again. That is a) the opening line to Jackie Polo’s ICW music (a cracker by the way), and b) a phrase that describes Jackie perfectly. Things began for Just Justice at PWE’s show at the start of May, firstly teaming with Polo Promotions partner Mark Coffey in a losing effort to Fight Club, who went on to become the number one contenders to the PWE Tag Team Championships (former champions The Kinky Party were also involved). Later that night however, Polo used his status as the 2019 Elite Rumble winner to dethrone Kenny Williams of his Heavyweight Championship in a match also including Joe Coffey. He followed this up with a huge victory over “The Prestigious One” Joe Hendry at Grado’s Big Family Wrestling Bash. Ending his month was a return to Target Wrestling, where he and Mark Coffey were victorious over the team of Big Dave and Bulk, known collectively as The UK Pitbulls in Carlisle. Expect to see more of Polo on the list in the coming months.
So, that was May. A bit of a quieter month, but things really picked up towards the end with seven shows over four days at the end of the month. In terms of the league table, RUDO Lightning remains in first place, although he does now have quite the collection of talent approaching him. BT Gunn and Jackie Polo have both joined Joe Coffey with 19 points, while Lionheart and Kieran Kelly have joined Lewis Girvan and Aspen Faith with 18 and 17 points respectively. As we head into June, I’ve got a feeling RUDO’s score may either be overtaken or tied. Things are about to get wild folks!
Point Standings as of June 1st 2019
1. RUDO Lightning (27 points)
2. BT Gunn, Jackie Polo, and Joe Coffey (19 points)
3. Lewis Girvan and Lionheart (18 points)
4. Aspen Faith and Kieran Kelly (17 points)
5. Andy Wild (15 points)
6. Damien (14 points)
7. Ashley Vega (13 points)
8. Sammii Jayne (11 points)
9. Zach Dynamite (9 points)
10. Aivil (8 points)
11. Leyton Buzzard and Viper (7 points)
12. Johnny Lions (6 points)
13. Angel Hayze, Dickie Divers, and Jack Morris (5 points)
14. Chris Renfrew and Kay Lee Ray (4 points)
15. Jack Jester and Michael Chase (3 points)
16. Jason Reed, Lucha DS, Paxxo, and Ryan Riley (2 points)
17. Alexander Darwin MacAllan, Krobar, and Stevie James (1 point)
Thanks to Wrestle Ropes and cagematch.net for providing the match info.
Credit for the promo pics used goes to Brianbat Photography, David J. Wilson, Elaine Wilson, and Warrior Fight Photography.
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