This past Sunday, Insane Championship Wrestling hosted the 16th edition of ‘Fear & Loathing’. ICW have been a company that have been in the transition period since the pandemic, slowly but surely they have forged a new identity while trying to maintain the insanity that they became known for in their infancy.

The show was live streamed on Triller+, with monthly events, 2024 has seen ICW really become a force again in the Scottish wrestling scene. The last ICW show I took in was ‘After Hours’ double earlier this year while keeping up to date through the various social media outlets that ICW provide.

Taking place at the Mecca of Insane Championship Wrestling, The Garage in Glasgow, major moments have taken place in that venue along with being home to some of the biggest heights of insanity over the years.

ICW Zero G Championship – Three Way Dance – Landon Riley defeated Theo Doros, and Stevie James to WIN the ICW Zero G Championship.

The organic rise of Landon Riley has been fantastic. The high flyer had become a bit of a punchbag for those in his way but has found his way back to the ICW Zero G Championship following his bad luck at ‘After Hours’. He entered with a new attitude and it was embraced by the ICW sinners, coming in against Stevie James who has been positioned into championship contention and reigned as Zero G Champion a few times to boot, and the champion Theo Doros, the polar opposite of what people expect when it comes to Insane Championship Wrestling which draws the ire from the rabid audience.

James and Riley immediately delivered a stereo superkick to take out Theo Doros as the action started thick and fast. Riley had a mis-step on a springboard which allowed Stevie James to pounce on the youngster but recovered to send James to the outside.

The highlight reel of Landon Riley continued as he launched himself off the second turnbuckle to moonsault onto his opponents as the momentum gathered. It was stopped with a crossbody being countered into a spinebuster from Doros to slow the pace and take control.

Stevie James returned, taking Doros out with a Michinoku Driver to focus his attack on the weary Landon Riley. The momentum swung back and forth as Theo Doros made his return with each getting a piece of the action. Doros locked a Sharpshooter onto James, who in turn tried to pin Riley which was inventive.

A superplex and frog splash from Riley, followed by a springboard elbow drop from Doros called time on Stevie James’ part of the match, being eliminated but not before laying out his opponents with a superkick each.

As the match continued the swell of support for Landon Riley grew, willing him on. He threw in the heavy hits but couldn’t keep Doros down, a moment of hesitation allowed Doros to gain the upper hand, Riley escaped a double underhook to hit a springboard cutter, a Phoenix Splash sealed the deal as we saw a new ICW Zero G Champion.

An incredible opening match, the rightful winner and he got the reaction he deserved. Riley recovered from some early wobbles to put on a flawless performance to become champion.

Theo Doros is a remarkably safe wrestler, providing an antagonist that irritates the blood thirsty crowd especially when he wins. ICW have nurtured Landon Riley to create a very exciting prospect in professional wrestling. You don’t see Landon Riley outside of ICW and their affiliates often so has been molded by their system. Wholly likeable, confident in-ring, he has that Leyton Buzzard quality. A very special talent.

A video package played to reveal Daz Black who made his intentions very clear that he was coming for Landon Riley and the ICW Zero G Championship. A mouthwatering match coming up in the future.

ICW Women’s World Championship – Lana Austin defeated Moxie Malone by pinfall to retain the ICW Women’s World Championship.

Austin started with a cheapshot before the bell to immediately put Moxie Malone on the back foot but the persistence from Moxie allowed her to get some punches in. Lana Austin focused her attention on the left knee of Malone as the pace settled as Lana did what she could to keep Malone grounded.

The beating continued, Austin draped Malone over the apron and booted the back of Moxie’s head like she owed her money. Austin’s mean streak continued by suplexing Malone in the corner of ring which saw Moxie’s leg snap off the bottom rope.

Moxie continued to fight back, flooring Austin with a Stunner for a near fall. Lana was soon back in the drivers seat, driving Malone’s head off the turnbuckle. Moxie has one more flurry but a missed senton saw her turn around to feel a Rolling Forearm from Lana Austin for the retention.

In stark contrast from the opening match, this was a slow placed bout. It may’ve been premature for Moxie, her recent standing and new found fan-favourite status in ICW might have needed a bit of time to be firmly established and fully cook. There was a vocal Lana Austin section which may’ve derailed the crowd atmosphere which didn’t allow the Moxie fightbacks to pop.

Malone’s time will come but it felt like an uphill battle for her on that night. Maybe there needed to be a deeper women’s division so that she could build more of a fan favourite offence that could be recognised by the crowd? Hindsight, 20/20, etc.

Rampage Brown w/The Wee Man defeated Saxon Huxley by pinfall.

The Wee Man antagonised Saxon Huxley with this trademark patter but as Huxley made his way into the ring The Wee Man subtlety shuffled closer to Rampage Brown. Once he said his piece the big beef fest began.

It didn’t take long for this to head to the outside with referee IcebladeKatie trying to maintain some sort of order. Rampage launched himself over the barrier into the crowd onto Saxon as the up close and personal trip into the crowd continued with a visit to the merch area, onto the stage, and an eventual return to the ring but not before Huxley jumped off the stage with a flying clothesline to send Brown to the ground.

The wild eyes of Huxley widened as Brown got his shoulder up, they closed quickly when Rampage threw Saxon back with a back suplex. The big men continued to throw massive bombs at the other, Brown came close with a massive spinebuster but Saxon managed to lift his shoulder in time.

Huxley had another close call, getting caught off a crossbody and given a Gutwrench Sit-Out Powerbomb but the mad man survived. It took a heavy lariat and piledriver to finally keep Saxon Huxley down for the count.

Advertised as big meaty men slapping meat and it delivered that. King Kong versus Godzilla, Brown versus Huxley, same picture.

ICW Tag Team Championships – Tables, Ladders, & Chairs – Arcade Violence (Jake Lawless & Brody Turnbull) w/Lara Steel defeated The Girvans (Lewis Girvan & Fraser Girvan) to retain the ICW Tag Team Championships.

We were welcomed to Girvanville as Fraser and Lewis were adorned in the familiar camo that was befitting for Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. Shirts graffitied with F(uck)T(he)G(irvans), the cry since The Girvans made their statement at the expense of Arcade Violence.

The four didn’t waste any time grabbing weaponry, but the most effective was Fraser Girvan’s head as he launched himself at Jake Lawless in the early exchange. Arcade Violence set up a chair construction that found Lewis Girvan launch himself into it following a dropkick missing the mark.

The AV Club continued their front row construction, rows and rows of chairs in the ring that Brody Turnbull launched Fraser Girvan into to create a clattering of body on metal with Arcade Violence firmly in control.

Fraser wasn’t going down without a fight, sending Turnbull overhead and through a propped up table. The carnage continued with Lewis sending Brody Turnbull over the top rope with a fireman’s carry onto a ladder that didn’t budge as his spine surely rattled.

It wasn’t enough for ringside to see the action as the battle went into the crowd as Fraser produced a table sprayed with FUCK THE AV CLUB. Lara Steel could only look as Lewis Girvan dived from the top of the ringpost through Jake Lawless as he was laying on said table.

Fraser and Brody battled onto a ladder scaffold, after swinging punches back and forth, Turnbull hooked the arms of Girvan and delivering a Jay Driller through the ladder. Literally fracturing the skull of Fraser Girvan. Pure insanity. The glazed over eyes of Fraser Girvan told the story as the swelling began on the top of his head.

Jake Lawless produced a table with CDs attached upright but Lewis Girvan woke up in time to escape. Lara Steel caused enough of a distraction though to allow Lawless to missle a chair to the face of Lewis to send him crashing to the mat. The chair lay on the chest of Lewis Girvan so Jake Lawless did the most logical thing, climbed to the top of the big ladder and dropped a double foot stomp to cause maximum damage. It’s Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, logic exits the conversation when you need to incapacitate your opponents to climb the ladder of success.

Lara Steel went to check on her team as somehow Fraser Girvan returned to his feet. Following a slap from Lara, Fraser pushed her down and prepared to belt her only to be picked up by Brody Turnbull and Awesome Bombed through the table on the outside. All those CDs through his back, I’ve no idea how he will walk man.

Lewis scaled the ladder but Lara used Fraser’s own belt to whip the back of Lewis with Arcade Violence pushing the ladder over and sending Lewis through a table set up on the outside. Turnbull and Lawless scaled the ladders and after a some fighting with the apparatus itself they finally retrieved the titles to retain the ICW Tag Team Championships as Lewis Girvan was trying to drag himself to try and stop the inevitable.

Hol.Lee.Shit. This is what ICW was built on. Arcade Violence are about the nostalgia and they provided that in spades, along with Lewis and Fraser Girvan, of ICW past and what we expect when the initials T L and C are put together. The carnage, the violence. The awkwardness of the title retrieval made it all the sweeter when the titles were taken down as the generally serious faced Brody Turnbull bellowed with pure joy and relief.

Fraser. Fucking. Girvan. I’ve been on the Fraser Girvan train since seeing that pitbull and he made the most of his ‘Fear and Loathing’ moment. The fact that he got back on his feet after having his cranium driven into the metal of a ladder. You could see the war wound grow, just incredible tenacity, then to be driven through a table for the finale, my God.

All five involved should be very proud that they brought a spectacle to The Garage that will be talked about and replayed for years to come.

Last Man Standing – Aaron Echo defeated Krieger.

Aaron Echo and Krieger met at the bottom of the stage and immediately started to brawl around the ring. Krieger popped Echo up for a powerbomb on the apron for the first ten count attempt. The brawl continued up the stairs to the balcony where Krieger attempted to throw Echo over the edge.

Krieger was kicked down the stairs but fought back to shove Echo’s head into a toilet. The brawl made its way back to the ring. Krieger kicked Echo between the legs and grabbed a turnbuckle hook, trapping Echo’s arm and hooking the cheek of Aaron Echo to wrenched back, causing Echo to stay down but not out.

The fight returned to ringside with a chair swing from Echo being dodged but after a scuffle Echo raining down the steel to the back of Krieger before wrapping the chair around the neck of Krieger and ramming him into the ring post for the count of 10. Echo rolled Krieger back in the ring before slapping him in the chest to let Krieger have his moment in the ring.

As Krieger made his way to the stage, Colton Davis arrived to assault the big man. After a chokeslam from Colton on the stage, Colton continued running down Krieger on the microphone while peppering in a beat down in the ring.

After the madness of the TLC match this was very vanilla and tame. All that brawling then the final blow just wasn’t emphatic enough to give Krieger a fitting send off. The only silver lining is the post-match attack from Colton Davis and subsequent match announcement means there is still one final chapter in Krieger’s Insane Championship Wrestling story.

Angel Hayze, Che Monet, & Austin Brookes defeated Victory Incorporated (Ryan Richards, Lee MacRae, & Denise) by pinfall.

The colourful trio won the initial brawl with Monet and Brookes hitting successful dives on the outside as the match officially began with Angel Hayze and Denise. Denise couldn’t passed Hayze so brought in Lee MacRae which in turn saw Che Monet tag in to land an impressive standing headlock senton flip.

We got a bit of the tag team dynamic from Brookes and Monet, mirrored by the chemistry from Richards and MacRae to offer two sides of a well oiled machine. Victory Inc. took control, with MacRae taking Brookes down with a Meteora from the top rope.

The ICW crowd were well fired up and behind Monet, Brookes, and Hayze as they vocalised their support for the trio. Che and Angel showed how a tag team operates with some fantastic tag team moves, with Hayze and Monet using each other to provide an extra launching pad for some added air.

As the match started to break down, Monet used some torque to German suplex MacRae and set him up for a Coast To Coast from Austin Brookes. Richards returned to plant Brookes with a Death Valley Driver but The Supreme got a supremely sore looking piledriver from Che Monet to leave everyone laid out.

Our colourful trio got the upper hand of a triple snap suplex. Denise ended up hitting MacRae and Richards with a chair in error but managed to dodge a running Che Monet who ran into Austin Brookes. Angel Hayze hit her neck trap neckbreaker to Denise that picked up the win for her team.

An incensed Lee MacRae declared that there was no man that could take on Victory Incorporated, cue Kez Evans. Evans attacked Richards and MacRae, with MacRae suffering from a case of Shattered Dreams to be sent scurrying.

A fun bit of shenanigans. Some great tag team offense from both teams. These two teams worked so well together. The smooth transitions from Che Monet and Angel Hayze were slick, the reaction from Ryan Richards when Kez Evans appeared was brilliant.

Kez Evans looked incredible and got a loud reaction. A showdown between him and Ryan Richards will be tremendous. An injection of established star power to hype up the crowd even more for future events, a welcome return.

Dylan Thorn defeated Big Damo by pinfall.

Big Damo stood strong against Dylan Thorn in the early going as Thorn tried to take down the big man. Forearm after forearm finally got Damo down to a knee but Dylan Thorn felt the weight of a crossbody with Big Damo leaving his feet with speed.

Damo continued throw his weight around as Dylan Thorn kept coming back, finally getting The Beast of Belfast down with a Blockbuster flying from the top turnbuckle. Damo just seemed to get angry at being put down, slamming down Thorn and dropping his body onto the chest of Dylan Thorn.

Thorn kept returning, the forearms continued to be exchanged with Dylan using Damo’s own momentum to land a Bossman Slam. Dylan Thorn followed up with a second rope moonsault at the second time of asking but Damo was soon back with a Damo Bomb but Thorn kicked out.

An attempted Ulster Plantation was rolled through for a near fall, with two Crown Of Thorn bicycle kicks keeping Big Damo down for three.

A solid match, the crowd atmosphere, or lack thereof, made it feel like the breather before the main event. The match itself was good and the crowd woke up towards the conclusion. It was in the unenviable position of being before the much anticipated main event.

ICW World Heavyweight Championship – King of Insanity Death Match – Kenny Williams defeated Jack Jester w/RUDO Lightning by pinfall to retain the ICW World Heavyweight Championship and become the NEW King of Insanity.

Jack Jester and RUDO Lightning rolled back the years adorned in Black Label regalia, Kenny Williams entered with The Clockwork Orange inspired outfit. Lightning produced a contract to confirm that the match would also be for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship.

Jester didn’t even wait for the bell to finish echoing as he ragdolled the champion around. Side stepping an attempted dive to the outside to continue battering Kenny at ringside as the plunder was produced. Williams managed to get the space to start wailing with a Kendo Stick, before scraping down the arm of Jack Jester with his own trademark corkscrew to spill first blood which stained the all white attire of Kenny Williams.

Big Kink fought off being bounded to plant Williams with a double arm facebuster, tying up Kenny with tape and rattling him with a Kendo Stick in response. As Jester was looking for more weaponry, Williams somehow scaled the top turnbuckle with his hands tied behind his back to launch himself to the waiting party below.

A barbed wire laiden board was pulled out as an increasingly pissed of looking Jack Jester tried his best to make Kenny and the board best pals. Williams hoisted Jester up for a rolling Fireman’s Carry onto the board. Kenny attempted, what looked like, a step up bulldog but was thrown over the top rope through a waiting table.

Kenny returned with scissors but Jester managed to grab them and start gouging at the forehead of Kenny Williams to draw red as his eyes widened in fear. A Tombstone wasn’t enough to keep down ‘The Scum of the Earth’ as he kicked out at two.

The thumbtacks were brought out, Williams went for the rebound clothesline but took out referee Thomas Kearins in error. A drop on the thumbtacks and Tombstone from Jester would have picked up the win on any other night but the official was down.

Jester returned from backstage with a barbed wire covered metal bat. Williams sprayed black mist into the face and hit a headlock driver but the glacial count from a groggy Kearins allowed for Jester to kick out.

Just as Williams picked up the bat, but stopped by Lightning… who low blowed Jester, before handing the bat back to Kenny Williams to hit the final blow.

A hell of a main event, providing the thrills and spills you would hope for with such a stipulation. The turn from Rudo Lightning in some ways may’ve been obvious but only if you watch back with hindsight. Struggling to find weapons under the ring when Jester barked orders, staying well out of the way during the action, just little things which Lightning is very good at using and calling back to.

There were some audio issues which always seems to be plaguing the ICW premium live events. Ryan Fitzsimons and Billy Kirkwood were very quiet with the video packages not sounding clear.

The TLC match was thee match, it contained moment after moment. Landon Riley had a star making performance in the opening match with all the bouts providing some sort of entertainment value. Echo-Krieger wasn’t for me but it provided the Colton Davis jolt which will hopefully be paid off in the new year.

The landscape of ICW is really interesting, it took some time to get the formula right but the reliance on homegrown stars is really starting to pay off. As mentioned you have Landon Riley, who is a shot in the arm to the Zero G Division, Dylan Thorn getting a big win surely sets him up down the line for a heavyweight title opportunity, or at the very least a chance at NWA Worlds Champion Bram, who had an inaudible video package hyping up a return. The Monet/Hayze/Brookes trio would be interesting being put into the tag team ranks which looks like to be the case going forward. The show set up a good amount of potential payoffs like Richards-Evans, Riley-Black, Krieger-Davis, and whatever happens with Lightning-Jester.

A well structured show for the vast majority, even with Thorn-Damo being put in a tough spot they still clawed back the crowd to get a reaction going for the conclusion.

Replay of the event is available on Triller+, you can get a 7 day free trial for new subscribers, so get it watched even if it’s to see an absolutely wild TLC match.