12 months of points. 12 months of lists. 12 months of wrestlers doing all they can to make their way on to the list because obviously, everyone is desperate to make it on to the list and become the Wrestler of the Year. December wasn’t exactly the busiest of months, but it did feature some stellar shows all over the country. Unfortunately, we waved goodbye to Johnny Lions as he retired from professional wrestling after a near two-decade career, however, the cream of the crop of future Scottish stars is continuing to rise through the ranks. 2020 is already shaping up to one hell of a year for professional wrestling in this fine country, but before then, it’s the final Wrestlers of the Month article for 2019!
Honourable mentions go out to Alan Sterling, BT Gunn, Christopher Saynt, Daz Black, Dean Ford, Emily Hayden, Ian Ambrose, Ken Kaiden, Kenny Williams, Kez Evans, Kid Fite, Kieran Kelly, Liam Thomson, and Theo Doros.
10. Crusher Craib
At WrestleZone’s Christmas Chaos show, Crusher Craib suffered his third pinfall loss to Connor Inglis as he lost to the young upstart in a brilliant Christmas Brawl. The bout saw Crusher put in one hell of an effort as he usually does, with this match in particular being one of his best in my personal opinion at least – a superplex through a pile of boxes? Delightful. Even though he lost the bout, The Creator of Carnage left it all in the ring that evening, showing his respect to one of his greatest rivals following the match.
9. Zack Leon
Zack Leon makes his Wrestlers of the Month debut just in the nick of time, with his December beginning with a loss to Aspen Faith at Fair City Wrestling’s second event in a rescheduled bout from the first event in October. At the end of December though, The Resident Rockstar etched his name into the SWE history books as he won the Future Division Championship in a Submissions Match from Ken Kaiden, a match that ended due to referee stoppage. It looks as if Euan G. Mackie will be the first in line for Leon’s title, if a brawl between the pair the following night at Barely Legal is anything to go by, so keep a lookout for that in early 2020.
8. Connor Inglis
So, I mentioned the Christmas Brawl between Connor Inglis and Crusher Craib earlier on, a match that Inglis would go on to come out on top in. Connor now has three pinfalls over The Creator of Carnage throughout 2019, with Craib finally showing his respect to the rookie sensation following the match as a result. Since then though, the WrestleZone Training Academy graduate hasn’t backed away from Crusher’s life, taking the former two-time Undisputed Champion to his first ever Christmas Market. The skits between the pair have been immensely enjoyable thus far, so let’s hope we get to see more of these two together in 2020.
7. Jason Reed
With his position on the list this month, Jason Reed just narrowly missed out on being one of the final two entries in the 2019 12 Scots of Christmas series, but an enjoyable month for Reed nonetheless. He began things with a victory over Davey Blaze at ICW’s second GONZO event at the start of the month, with that bout marking The Scottish Savage’s in-ring return to ICW following his surprise return at Fear & Loathing XII the month before. The One For The Future would lose his WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship to “Captain” Alan Sterling in a Fatal Four Way Match at Christmas Chaos, followed by a loss to Lou King Sharp as both men made their Fair City Wrestling debuts, but a win against former Power Forward member Scott McManus ended his month on a positive note. If he continues his impressive form into the new decade, then 2020 will indeed by staunch.
6. Krieger
Big ol’ Scudmaster Sexy is back on the Wrestlers of the Month list, with his December beginning as he teamed with Kid Fite and Lou King Sharp as part of Pure Dead Brilliant in a losing effort to The Filthy Generation’s Stevie Boy, Aspen Faith, and Lewis Girvan at Discovery Wrestling’s Christmas Disco. After this, he again teamed with Fite, this time under The Fite Network name, as the pair lost to Tucker and rising star Daz Black on night one of BCW’s No Blood, No Sympathy weekender, before dressing up as Santa Claus at Barlanark’s Christmas Bash for PBW on a show that saw him unsuccessfully challenge Stevie Xavier for the PBW Heavyweight Championship. At a Pro Wrestling Scotland event, he led his team consisting of Rayhne, Frank X. Cross, and Hal Rayner to victory in an Elimination Match as the quartet defeated Jason Hyde’s team of himself, Ewan O’Raw, Brian Frank, and JD Bravo. Two singles bouts saw him defeat one half of the ICW Tag Team Champions in the form of Stevie James followed by a loss to Bradley Poole at PBW’s most recent Academy Attack, before he and TJ Rage ended the year off with two successful defences of their W3L Tag Team Championships. The teams of Euan G. Mackie and Taylor Bryden, and Christopher Saynt and The Tormentor both failed to lift the titles from the tandem as Krieger ended his year on a decent high.
5. Stevie Boy
Out of the six matches he had throughout December, Stevie Boy came out victorious in five of them – what a lad. He teamed with Filthy Generation comrades Aspen Faith and Lewis Girvan as he debuted for Discovery Wrestling at their Christmas Disco, seeing off the challenge of Pure Dead Brilliant, then went on to make two successful defences of his BCW Openweight Championship at their annual No Blood, No Sympathy weekend against Joe Coffey and Leyton Buzzard. A retention of his PBW Heavyweight Championship over Krieger at the PBW Christmas Bash in Barlanark was followed by a loss in Triple Threat action the next day as he lost to Dean Ford at a Pro Wrestling Scotland show. The Pharoah of Filth defeated Alexander Dean in non-title action at the final ICW Fight Club taping of the year to end off his 2019 on a high.
4. Sammii Jayne
Sneaking in some additional points before we enter 2020 is Sammii Jayne. The Main Event Empress interfered during Kasey and Nina Samuels’ match at Discovery Wrestling’s Christmas Disco, before she was victorious over Emily Hayden at Fair City Wrestling’s second event. That same weekend, she fought three times in one day at Pro Wrestling: EVE’s final show of the year, defeating Jinny and Nina Samuels in singles action. Later that night, she teamed with Gisele Shaw as the pair captured the EVE Tag Team Championships as they bested The Woke Queens to lift the gold. A fitting end to the year – Sammii began the year as a champion, and now she ends it as a champion once more.
3. Johnny Lions
Sad times, man. Johnny Lions fought his final two matches in December, firstly losing to long-time real-life pal Andy Wild in a No Disqualifications Match at the Christmas Disco in his last Discovery Wrestling appearance. His official retirement match saw him team with Scotty Swift as The Swift Lions lost their WrestleZone Tag Team Championships to Blue Thunder and William Sterling in a Steel Cage Match at Christmas Chaos. A touching tribute following the match as everyone in attendance at the Danestone Community Centre that evening showed their appreciation to The Tenacious One.
2. Leyton Buzzard
What a shocker, Leyton Buzzard on the Wrestlers of the Month list once again – what a year it’s been for this GPWA graduate. Buzzard began his month in losing fashion to Luca de Pazzi in a Triple Threat Match at ICW’s GONZO event, before teaming with Kez Evans as they lost to Jack Jester and Wolfgang on night one of BCW’s No Blood, No Sympathy weekend. After unsuccessfully challenging Stevie Xavier for his BCW Openweight Championship on night two of that weekend, The Captain went on to defeat arch-rival Kieran Kelly at ICW’s Fight Club tapings to earn himself an opportunity at Liam Thomson’s Zero-G Championship at the 9th Annual Square Go! However, Leyton refused to wait, instead answering The Bad Boy’s open challenge that same night to win the ICW Zero-G Championship to cap off quite the year for this rising star. The sky is the limit for Leyton Buzzard as we head into the 2020s.
1. Andy Wild
Seeing as he’s number one for Wrestlers of the Month this month, it means Andy Wild has become the 2019 Wrestler of the Year. His December kicked off with a two-show day, as he defeated Johnny Lions in a No Disqualifications at the Christmas Disco before pinning Irish standout Scotty Davis at ICW’s second GONZO show. After failing to lift the Undisputed WrestleZone Championship from Damien at Christmas Chaos in a Triple Threat Match, The Dad Bod God went on to retain his UEWA European Heavyweight Championship over Liam Thomson at a PBW event. The Stovie Superman’s final match of the year saw him lose to Noam Dar, meaning The Scottish Supernova will now go on to challenge Stevie Boy for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship at the Square Go! come February 2nd. Even though his year ended on a sour note, Andy Wild remains the man with the most points for 2019.
So, as mentioned, Andy Wild is the 2019 Wrestler of the Year. Congrats, Andy!
Another fantastic year for Scottish wrestling. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing Wrestlers of the Month for the second year running, and I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading. Stay tuned for tomorrow evening as we take a look at the 2019 Wrestlers of the Month league table in more detail, and then join me once again on February 1st, 2020 as we begin the third series of Wrestlers of the Month. More lists, more statistics, more fun. Right guys?
Point Standings as of December 31st 2019
1. Andy Wild (53 points)
2. Leyton Buzzard (41 points)
3. Kieran Kelly (34 points)
4. Stevie Boy (32 points)
5. Jackie Polo, Joe Hendry, Lionheart, and Sammii Jayne (28 points)
6. Lewis Girvan and RUDO Lightning (27 points)
7. Aspen Faith, BT Gunn, Jason Reed, and Joe Coffey (25 points)
8. Ashley Vega (20 points)
9. Angel Hayze and Damien (18 points)
10. Krieger (14 points)
11. Emily Hayden (13 points)
12. Johnny Lions, Lucha DS, and Zach Dynamite (9 points)
13. Aivil, Austin Osiris, Jayla Dark, Lou King Sharp, and The Sam Barbour Experience (8 points)
14. Liam Thomson, Sammie Jo, and Viper (7 points)
15. Dickie Divers, Jack Morris, Kay Lee Ray, and Ravie Davie (5 points)
16. Chris Renfrew, Connor Inglis, Grant McIvor, and Ian Skinner (4 points)
17. Jack Jester, Kez Evans, Michael Chase, and Robert Wishart/Robbie Solar (3 points)
18. Crusher Craib, Davey Blaze, Daz Black, Ken Kaiden, Paxxo, Ryan Riley, and Umar Mohammed (2 points)
19. Alexander Darwin MacAllan, Jonathan Richards, Krobar, Stevie James, and Zack Leon (1 point)
Credit for promo pics used goes to Cracked Hourglass Photography, David J. Wilson, Sandy Smith, Warrior Fight Photography, and WrestleZone.
SCOTTISH WRESTLING NETWORK | SWN 