Westie’s Picks | The Galloway Gauntlet

By Louise Westie
Twitter

 

The Scottish Psychopath, the King of the Claymore Kick and the WWE Champion Drew Galloway is having an amazing run right now as WWE Champion on Monday Night Raw and now with his documentary on the WWE Network now available as well and with Hell In A Cell on the horizon against “The Legend Killer” Randy Orton, the wrestling universe and the world has never been prouder of professional wrestling’s Chosen One.

On night two of WWE WrestleMania 36, Drew made history and became the first ever Scottish born WWE Champion and has been a fighting champion ever since with a reign of 197 days and counting.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and other restrictions that are currently in place, WWE are unable to tour right now.

But the big question on everyone’s minds is, out of ANYONE in the UK wrestling scene, who would people liked to have seen Drew go up against if COVID-19 wasn’t an issue and Drew had issued an open challenge, who do you think would answer?

Here are the top 15 potential candidates that have been chosen by the public. The lucky 15 chosen were:

1. JACK JESTER

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Former ICW Heavyweight Champion, former Black Label associate and tag team member,
  and multiple time tag team champion.
• Finisher: Tombstone Piledriver
• Their Last Match: The last match that these two had was a one on one match at ICW ‘BarraMania’ 3 in 2017 in a barbed wire ropes match before Drew went back to WWE.
• Motive: The two have been best and still are the very best of friends and have been ever since they were in their childhood and know each other inside and out and in and out of the ring. They have faced each other and teamed up in several promotions up and down the country. Their rivalry in ICW got so intense that at one-point Jester even threatened to burn his former best friend. Things got even more personal during a Q&A event where these two stags butted heads until they fought each other for the title at ICW Fear & Loathing VII – which Drew went on to win. Their rivalry resurfaced in 2017 and the two settled their differences in a barbed wire ropes match before parting on good terms.

2. GRADO

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Former ICW World Heavyweight Champion, current PWE Scottish Wrestling Champion
• Finisher: The Wee Boot, Roll N Slice
• Their Last Match: The last match that these two had in singles action was three years ago at an ICW Fight Club Tour in Southampton
• Motive: This man is not to be underestimated or overlooked when it comes to wrestling for titles. Grado was once the ultimate underdog in his feud with Drew and made history with his Wee Boot when he successfully defeated Drew at the ICW Fear and Loathing VIII main event and they have fought in various promotions all over the UK and globally across the water. Grado can more than hold his own against Drew. Drew is also good at pushing his opponents to the best of their abilities and getting them fired up. Grado is one of the main examples of this; having watched their matches together in TNA and at home in the UK, these two can push each other.

3. NOAM DAR

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Current Reigning ICW World Heavyweight Champion, NXT UK Superstar and current competitor in the inaugural NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament.
• Finisher: Supernova
• Their Last Match: The last match that these two had in singles action was four years ago at ICW ‘Hey Look! It’s That Mad Wrestling Thing Aff The Telly Tour: It’s Just A Big Stereo Hangin’ From A Tree’ in Dublin.
• Motive: Since their last match, Drew has gone onto super stardom in WWE and Noam is currently a competitor for the inaugural NXT:UK Tournament. Who could forget the time that Drew famously Claymore kicked Noam off the balcony of the Garage?! Imagine what they could do to each other now?

4. STEVIE BOY XAVIAR

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Former 2x ICW World Heavyweight Champion, former 2x ICW Tag Team Champion, the list goes on…
• Finisher: The Destroyer
• Their Last Match: These two have never ever had a match together in singles action. The last time these two were in a match on record was in 2017 and it Drew & Stevie Boy vs The Kinky Party (Jack Jester and Sha Samuels).
• Motive: As stated above, these two have NEVER ever had a singles wrestling match together and Stevie Boy is one of the best at what he does as an in-ring competitor and as the King of Insanity is no stranger to pain and has been wrestling since his teens and if he can achieve this now, a match against Drew would be absolutely busting with moves. Stevie Boy is also one of the coaches at the Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum.

5. ANDY WILD

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Head Coach at FPWA Academy. Current reigning UEWA Champion.
• Finisher: Wild Night Out.
• Their Last Match: The last match they had was six years ago in 2014 for the EVOLVE title at WrestleZone Battle Of The Nations, where Drew was the champion at that time.
• Motive: These two haven’t had a match in six years and have both came a long way since then, Andy now a coach at FPWA training the next generation of wrestlers and could Andy take the Scottish Psychopath on a Wild Night Out?

6. JOE HENDRY

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Current Discovery Wresting Y Division Champion and Fight Forever Men’s Champion
• Finisher: Freak of Nature.
• Their Last Match: The last time these two fought each other in singles action was in 2017 at WCPW title match when Drew was the champion.
• Motive: Joe is still one to watch out for, currently with ROH. He is a commonwealth games competitor and a traditional grappler as he is well trained in traditional wrestling styles and is a wrestling coach himself. Joe is also well known for his parody entrance videos and imagine what he would choose to face the Scottish Psychopath.

7. JACKIE POLO

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Former ICW World Heavyweight Champion, 4x ICW Tag Team Champion, 2x SWA Tag
  Team Champion)
• Finisher: The Old Man of Hoy
• Their Last Match: These two have also never ever had a match ever in singles action in either of their wrestling careers, which is absolutely shocking. The only matches that they have ever had on record was a tag team match five years ago against Black Label (Drew Galloway and Jack Jester) with his Polo Promotions tag team partner Mark Coffey at ICW Road To Fear & Loathing Tour: The Lorraine Kelly Experience in Dundee.
• Motive: Jackie has been wrestling since 2009 and is highly underrated as a single and as a tag competitor – the fact that WWE or NXT UK has not signed him up yet is nothing short of shocking and is also long overdue. His feud and his matches against Lionheart at ICW were probably the most incredible matches of his career. Mr Polo is well known for his gimmicks and is very a creative man and god only knows what character persona he could personally create to face Drew if this potential match up ever happened. Imagine if this match actually between him and Drew happened and Jackie had the chance to show the rest of the world what he could do?

8. BT GUNN

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Current BCW Heavyweight Champion and RCW Champion
• Finisher: The Technodrome
• Their Last Match: The last match that these two had was in singles action was three years ago
  at WCPW: Pro Wrestling World Cup Scottish Qualifying Final.
• Motive: BT Gunn is also one of the most overlooked and underrated wrestlers in the UK and fingers crossed that he gets signed to NXT:UK in the not too distant future, and has some of the most hardcore chops in wrestling and Drew can match BT chop for chop. BT also a coach at GPWA. Having faced the likes of NXT UK’s Walter and won, BT can handle anything and is more than a match for the 6′ 5 giant.

9. WOLFGANG

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Reigning NXT UK Tag Team Champion, Former ICW World Heavyweight Champion.
• Finisher: The Howling
• Their Last Match: The last match that these two had that was in singles action was in 2014 ICW Magical Mystery Tour: Sgt. Wolfgang’s Lonely-Hearts Club in Dundee, which Drew went on to win.
• Motive: Since their last singles match, they had various tag matches, but none in singles action. Fast forward to the present day and Wolfgang is one half of NXT UK’s Tag Team Champions called Gallus and is also one of the coaches at GPWA.

10. RAMPAGE BROWN

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Reigning 2x 3CW Champion. Reigning Wrestlegate Heavyweight Champion. Reigning RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Champion (with The Great O-Kharn)
• Finisher: Curb Stomp.
• Their Last Match: The last match that these two had was three years ago at WCPW State Of Emergency in a title match which Drew won.
• Motive: At 6’1 and with 19 years wrestling experience, Rampage is one of the hottest talents in the wrestling world right now and is also underrated as a singles competitor. Like all the other people in this list, is yet to have a chance to shine and get the wrestling spotlight on him and he is also a trained wrestling coach. Rampage is also quite fierce in wrestling action, so he is definitely one to watch out for, having seen him in wrestling live.

11. NICK ALDIS

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: 2x Reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
• Finisher: Tormentum
• Their Last Match: N/A
• Motive: At 6’4, with 17 years’ experience, Nick is also a Powerhouse Wrestler. Nick and Drew have never ever had a singles match in all their years of wrestling. This would be one hell of a main event to have on any show. Nick is also a 2x NWA Champion of his own promotion.

12. BRAM

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Reigning x2 PWP Heavyweight Champion
• Finisher: The Darker Side of Suffering
• Their Last Match: Bound For Glory Playoff First Round 2016
• Motive: At 6’3 and seventeen years in the business, Bram is also a main event talent. The only time that Drew and Bram faced each other in singles action was four years ago in TNA Impact; Bound For Glory Playoff in the first round, when Drew defeated Bram. However, in ICW, they were team mates and part of the Black Label franchise.

13. STU BENNETT

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Former and multiple time WWE Intercontinental Champion
• Finisher: Winds Of Change (Spinning Sideslam), Bull Hammer Elbow
• Their Last Match: FCW in Florida in 2008
• Motive: At 6’7 and also with seventeen years in the business, Stu and Drew have not had a match in 11 years since their match in FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling), when Stu beat Drew. Having left wrestling since his run in WWE in 2016 where he was the tag team partner of Sheamus, he has appeared at various promotions doing commentary for WOS and Defiant Wrestling, where he was also a General Manager for a brief time. In 2020, Barrett would return to WWE and NXT as a commentator. Currently these two have been taking shots at each other on social media and according to fans, this is a match that they would most like to see, and Stu has one hell of a wrestling CV that matches Drew’s, Stu being a multiple WWE Intercontinental Champion.

14. PETE DUNNE

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Former WWE NXT United Kingdom Champion
• Finisher: Drop Dead Facebuster
• Their Last Match: N/A
• Motive: With only 13 years’ experience, Pete Dunne has quite the wrestling CV with lots of titles under his name. Both Dunne and Drew have also never had a match together in one-on-one singles action before, so a match up like this could be an interesting one to see. The only time these two have ever been in a ring together was last year at the WWE Royal Rumble.

15. WALTER

• Wrestler Spotlight
• Status: Reigning NXT UK Champion
• Finisher: Golden Bomb
• Their Last Match: N/A
• Motive: Drew has admitted in an interview that there is a bunch of people he would love to work with and a match between him and Walter would be quite the spectacle. The only time these two have ever been in a ring together was last year at WWE Survivor Series when RAW vs. SmackDown vs. NXT in a 15 Man Elimination Triple Threat.