It was a very very very very very very warm afternoon in Portobello on July 12th, I can confirm this because I was actually in attendance at Discovery Wrestling’s Disco Derby event. A show conveniently an hour away from my family’s holiday park lodgings. Who would have thought it? After being rinsed at the arcades by my son, then fed well at Espys, it was time to head to the Town Hall for a bit of a rumble.
Everyone loves a rumble.
Before the show I bugged the fine folks at the merch tables with multiple visits, and many Bearhug branded trading cards purchased… plus an Umar Mohammed clapper board, along with a plethora of tuck from Julie out front (shout out to Julie for parting with one of her personal stash of Lando Norris Monster cans). My bank account wept but my heart was happy.
Discovery Wrestling Tag Team Championships – The Good Times (Robb Stow & Monstrum) defeated Lost In The Sauce (Chip Watson & Lost Boy Aspen) by pinfall to retain.
There are many important places on a show, the main event that people are vying for being one, another is the first match. The match that sets the tone for the evening. A tremendously lean Chip Watson ushered out, his coach and tag team partner, Lost Boy Aspen to a hero’s welcome. The Good Times burst through the curtain with Robb Stow holding both belts before passing one to the monster to his right.
Referee Katie Walker raised the titles before getting the match underway, Aspen opted to begin with a compliant Chip Watson agreeing to take his place on the apron. Stow got the better of Aspen, as The Lost Boy grabbed a headlock to drag Stow over to bring Chip in to a roar with only minutes into the match. Watson busted out a second rope headscissor for a big reaction, and a sit out lariat nipped him a near fall. Monstrum entered proceedings and went back to work from their previous encounter by slamming Chip to the canvas with a powerslam as The Good Times set about being it a bad time for Chip Watson as they isolated the Tribal Chef.
A Hart Attack wasn’t enough to keep Chip down as the friction between The Good Times started to show, Stow demeaning Monstrum, who showed some brief dissent by dropping off the apron which in turn gave Watson the opening to leap over Stow and tag in a rested Lost Boy Aspen, and if Chip Watson brought The Disco Fry, Aspen brought the meaty chops which Robb Stow found out about first hand. Lost In The Sauce showed teamwork, Watson with a German Suplex that was aided by another chop from Aspen that sent Robb hurling backwards. Chip fired up and took to the skies, only to be caught in mid-air, rotated, and driven down with a Blue Thunder Bomb by Stow.
Chip survived and, with the help of Aspen, sent Monstrum tumbling to the floor with a clothesline over the ropes. After a backbreaker from Robb Stow, Stow went for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Watson wriggled his way out to the apron and slung himself back in for a spear, that was a little more like a battering ram headbutt. Aspen tagged in for a second rope moonsault that had the crowd on the edge of their seat but Robb raised his shoulder in time to avoid the third slap to the mat.
Watson and Aspen had Robb Stow all to themselves, but Stow fought out of a double team to send the challengers barrelling into one another. Chip kept fighting, holding on to kick out of a sit out powerbomb, and connecting with a second rope springboard stunner to Stow before rushing over to give Monstrum a Codebreaker as the monster tried to re-enter. Chip delivered the Pedigree to Stow, this was the time.
One.
Two.
Aspen broke the count. A confused Watson looked up to his mentor, and got grabbed and folded up with a Jay Driller. An even more bamboozled Robb Stow crawled over and made the cover as Aspen stood in the corner.
Before Aspen could make his exit, Chip grabbed his ankle, which earned him another Jay Driller to leave Chip battered.
An exciting opener to the afternoon, Chip Watson’s time in Discovery Wrestling has been a working man’s rise from raffles to wrasslin. His match with Monstrum at the last show was a break out moment for Chip Watson as an overall presentation, this further extended that, and what will no doubt be a barbaric showdown coming up, the next event is Halloween Disco, but Chip and Aspen have the makings of making it a night of horror.
The match was very good, I loved the continued tension with Stow treating Monstrum like some big stupid monster, devoid of any intelligence. That will likely come back to haunt him but hopefully not any time soon as the tag team division is a little thin on the ground right now and as that tension grows the moment it implodes will not only be magical, but will set up whomever is able to provide the straw to break the camel’s back with an automatic boost into their reign.
Lost Boy Aspen has long been a perennial anti-hero in wrestling. Not necessarily a good guy, but because he’s been against opponents that aren’t the best liked and smashing them about he has gained this aura of coolness and likability. It’s not hard to scratch the surface to find that Aspen is a ruthless bastard. It is also quite difficult to get an out and out heated reaction from the Disco Faithful, but by causing misery to a guy that the crowd have embraced and followed in their journey upwards, they were all united in telling Aspen what they thought only him and it was that he sucked.
What a start.
Discovery Wrestling Women’s Championship – Hollie Barlow w/Lana Austin defeated Alexxis Falcon by pinfall to win the Discovery Wrestling Women’s Championship.
LALLIE antagonised Alexxis Falcon verbally that ended up with Alexxis throwing her forearm into the face of Hollie Barlow and setting her sights on Lana Austin. Falcon delivered a lovely tornado snap DDT which got a deserved round of applause as Austin was struggling to get out of the blocks, with Lana retreating to the outside and fanned down by Barlow at ringside. Alexxis tried to bring Austin back in but was tripped up which gave Lana the chance to swoop in for a corner uppercut and a basement shotgun dropkick for a two count on the champion.
Austin gave Falcon a taste of her own medicine with a snap suplex as Lana slowed the pace and wore down the Discovery Wrestling Women’s Champion. As the confidence grew in Lana Austin, so did the arrogance and one too many insults just fired up Alexxis for a couple clotheslines, a kick to the head, and a neckbreaker to get a two count of her own. Falcon tried for an Off With Her Head DDT which was avoided and countered with a headbutt from Lana, who hit a DDT of her own. Austin ran over for a discus forearm which was ducked for Falcon’s DDT to land.
It looked to be all over as referee Chris Quinn made the count until he was dragged out by Hollie Barlow who revealed that she was the actual opponent for Alexxis Falcon. While Hollie had Chris occupied, Lana gave Alexxis a beauty of a Stunner.
Falcon wasn’t going to let the swerve stop her and threw Barlow around, getting a two count from a cradle facebuster. Little time was wasted as Hollie got to her knees, and received a close up look at the right knee of Alexxis Falcon being driven into her jaw. Barlow escaped the DDT to hit a nice neckbreaker for two, and a Samoan Drop the got the same outcome. Hollie headed up top, which Alexxis stopped with an uppercut, taking Barlow to the mat and taking her head off with the Off With Her Head DDT. Once again it was lights out for LALLIE until Lana Austin slid the Women’s Championship into the ring and distracted the referee. Barlow used the gold to knock out Falcon and crown LALLIE as the new co-champions.
With this amount of shenanigans, only a duo that are as charismatic and chaotic as Lana Austin and Hollie Barlow could pull it off so well. This was my first experience seeing Alexxis Falcon and Hollie Barlow in person, and they were fantastic. They are outstanding, along with Lana Austin, in bringing character along with charm, all within a hard hitting fight. There has been some instability with the Discovery Wrestling Women’s Championship with Mercedes Moné taking it worldwide for a couple months, but I’m glad that it’s returned back to Edinburgh and with a bang.
The last few shows have done a good job at establishing Lana Austin and Hollie Barlow in the women’s division in Discovery. They’re goofs, but sneaky, very sneaky. So you kind of like to hate them because they bring an unpredictable silliness that is wholly entertaining.
Austin and Barlow traded the belt back and forth in celebration. All three made for a very entertaining match.
Discovery Wrestling Scottish Openweight Championship – Dave Conrad defeated Connor Molloy by pinfall to retain.
Once Conrad got his gloves on it was time for some wrasslin’. Connor tried to add some flash and sizzle but was cut off with shoulder blocks and hip tosses as Dave clotheslined Molloy to the outside, then proceeded to slam The Big Slay’s face off the apron. Connor rallied back until an Irish Whip reversal had him hurtling into the ring post. Conrad rolled the challenger back between the ropes to set up for a TKO, until Molloy escaped and delivered a Sliced Bread to earn himself a two count.
Connor kept the pressure on with stomps in the corner, and a basement forearm, as he continued to try and keep Cowboy Conrad grounded. Dave came back with punches to rock Molloy, and went for a spinebuster that was countered into a guillotine choke. Conrad muscled Connor up for an impressive vertical suplex to get the momentum going in his favour. Molloy went for another Sliced Bread that was flipped into a Snake Eyes in the corner with Dave leaving his feet for a boot between Connor’s eyes.
A crucifix near fall had the Disco Faithful biting for a potential new champion, as the support started to gather more towards Connor Molloy as cheers were heard when he landed a Meteora for two count. A scattering of boos were even audible when Conrad connected with a spinebuster followed by a powerbomb, with elation when Connor kicked out. A thumb to the eye by Molloy didn’t shake that support as Connor landed a superkick and headed to the top turnbuckle.
Dave met him but was pushed back down to the canvas. Molloy went for a crossbody only to be rolled through and picked up for a TKO to look up at the lights for the three.
There was such a curious crowd swing during this match, Connor Molloy gave all the swagger and was taking the shortcuts but as the match went on it was like a good portion of the audience decided to root for the underdog against Conrad. The turning point, in my opinion, began early on when the match went to the outside with Conrad smashing Molloy off the apron. Understandable in retaliation, but Dave shot first which I think left a little bit of a bad taste for a vocal portion of the crowd.
There were still cheers for the outcome but a disconnect between Dave Conrad and the Disco Faithful is noticeable. It continues to stick out with every passing event, it’s like they don’t believe in Cowboy Conrad, or they see something inauthentic about The Gambler. I don’t know, and I didn’t gather any further answers while being in the room where it happened.
Myla Grace defeated Angel Hayze by pinfall.
A lot of love for Myla Grace was shown which Angel Hayze sneered at as the bell echoed around the hall. Grace continued to frustrate Hayze with eternal optimism that Angel tried to beat out of her early on with strikes but Grace was happy to return the favour, kicking Hayze to a seated position and driving both her feet into the jaw of The Young Lioness. It was a competitive opening exchange with Hayze and Grace grabbing any opportunity to turn the tables. Angel broke out of a suplex for a ripcord face buster which was nasty that was followed up with forearms to rearrange the facial features of Myla Grace.
Hayze had Myla well scouted to make sure she remained the driver’s seat. Angel wore down Grace with more strikes until Myla got a second wind, changing direction to catch Angel Hayze off guard for a clothesline and connecting with a spin out neckbreaker that managed to get a two count. As Angel tried to mount a comeback she ended up folded with a back suplex but Hayze was stubborn to give in, again using her forearms to great effect to rattle Myla Grace, who used the bottom rope as a little boost to transition a roll up into an arm trap cross face that was smooth. It was too close to the ropes to do the job but certainly heightened the drama.
As the two warriors kept battling, Angel hit a nice Oblivion off the ropes. It was looking good for Hayze as she set up for her snap facebreaker, only for Myla to make her way out and deliver a twisting inverted neckbreaker to collect the victory.
A well received match as Myla Grace’s stock holds firm in Discovery Wrestling. Heading in with a dependable opponent like Angel Hayze was already set for a solid match and Grace got to show a lot of tenacity to fight back from a relentless and hungry opponent. Angel is very expressive, which such a great way to tell the story between the moves as she started to rush a little more as her irritation grew for Myla’s persistence to hang into the match. A high quality encounter.
Discovery Wrestling Y Division Championship – Gene Munny defeated Kenny Williams by pinfall to retain.
The first half main event featured Kenny Williams, in full scum of the earth regalia, against that damn dirty dawg Gene Munny. Munny had a little slip on the apron that Kenny mocked, until he himself tripped getting into the ring. It’s little moments like that shows the level of Kenny Williams, maximising a small moment to get the biggest reaction to cement the manic mindset he is putting across. All that laughter was switched when Williams jumped Gene during the championship introductions to get the match underway.
It was to the outside within seconds as Kenny raked Gene’s, and I quote, “favourite spine”. Munny ducked a chop to the ring post, but Kenny was feral, rushing back out after being rolled into the ring only to be caught with a chop to the chest by Gene Munny. A frustrated Williams was returned to the ring again with the champion taking charge, wasting little time and commanding the match with high impact strikes and slams. Munny built enough confidence to have his fun, blowing a raspberry to Kenny’s belly and tossing him to the opposite corner of the ring with a standing release vertical suplex. It’s stuff like that that makes you remember how imposing Gene Munny actually is behind the dog collar and tit tape. Kenny avoided an Ainsley Lariat but couldn’t stop a big boot to send Williams scrambling to the corner.
Gene spent too long getting the crowd hyped for some top turnbuckle frolics which gave Kenny enough recovering time to chopblock the knee of Munny and have him in the tree of woe for a barrage of boots to the torso while referee Katie Walker tried to maintain some order. A hesitation dropkick, harkening back to the first Y Division Champion Chris Sabin, collected a near fall for the challenger. It was Kenny’s time to have his way with Munny, seemingly keeping his attacks random with shoulders to the midsection, eye rakes, and neck cranks, wearing down Gene while the woofs in Portobello Town Hall got louder. Munny rose to find Kenny Williams in an electric chair position and transitioned into a One Winged Angel – Angle Slam hybrid to cause some separation.
A slingshot spear had Kenny reeling with Gene firing up to stop a rebound clothesline to send Williams to the canvas with an Uranage, with a Senton for a little sizzle. Kenny still managed to get a shoulder up which had Gene Munny rip off the tape, much like when Kurt Angle would take down the straps… I imagine. His top turnbuckle splash was met by the knees of Kenny Williams, who got his rebound lariat to connect for a two count. Kenny went for the headlock driver that was halted mid-move which was fantastic, Munny spun Williams up to his shoulder for a powerslam which was sublime.
Munny went back to the top turnbuckle again but Kenny pulled Katie to the mat and while she was getting back up, Williams rushed over to meet Gene for a kick in the testicles and a headlock driver for a hell of a near fall. An exasperated Kenny Williams started pulling at the turnbuckle pads, dislodging one as Munny went for a school boy roll up. Williams ended up sailing shoulder first into the expose metal and turning around for an Ainsley Lariat to squash his intention to become the new Discovery Wrestling Y Division Champion.
An epic title defense, Gene Munny is incredible, such a good boy. The way he has put together the every man persona with the canine flair while becoming an all round stud of a wrestling package, he is the man in Discovery and has the crowd drinking from his dog bowl and sniffing his lamppost (too far?). Kenny is ridiculously good at using callbacks and small details to make matches go up a notch, so the combination was tantalising before the bell and reached a satisfying climax.
I have to mention referee Katie Walker whose timing was impeccable in this one, from the opening when Kenny dropped his clown mask at her feet then scuffed his feet back towards her face as she went down to pick the mask up, to leaving just enough seconds in her moments of distraction to make it come as natural as possible to maintain that illusion and keep the flow, while allowing the crowd the time to react and get invested before the count, showing the difference between a good referee and a great referee in how their involvement can make the twists and turns come with higher stakes.
Before the main event it was the raffle with Discovery Wrestling Commissioner Major Matt Wolfe, who noted that Discovery Wrestling wasn’t in charge of the air conditioning which got a good laugh while we all sweated. My interval included putting on my big boy pants and breaking all my social barriers to speak to people. It was a big moment for me, it was very strange, but I don’t think I said anything stupid… unless I’ve blocked it out. Moving on, we returned to our seats for the second half and main event, The Disco Derby.
I didn’t win the raffle. Boo.
The Disco Derby – Ronan King defeated Bruiser Brad by pinfall to win the 2026 Disco Derby.
There couldn’t have been a bigger start to The Disco Derby with BT Gunn and last year’s winner Judas Grey entering at number one and two. Two that exude an immense charisma that a Disco Wrestling chant started before they even locked up. Judas put forward a chop off, with Gunn’s offering leaving an immediate red mark across the chest of Grey.
Zander Mistry entered to a scattering of “who are you” comments before spiking Judas Grey with a tornado DDT that had came with an impressed gasp from the crowd. Rhys Dawkins joined the match, and with the no disqualification nature of the rules maybe unwisely left his hardback book of Shakespeare on the stage. Dawkins tried to form an alliance with Zander Mistry but Zander was thrown out by BT Gunn with Rhys following shortly after thanks to Judas.
Oh bugger
– William Shakespeare… probably
Mikey Devine was next, he rushed out with all the horsepower he could muster, Mikey climbed the top turnbuckle and dived into the fray… only for Gunn and Grey to step back to part the sea and have Mikey Devine meet face first onto the Discovery Wrestling logo in the centre of the ring. As Judas focused on Devine, Gunn suddenly grabbed Grey send him out of the ring for the first big shock of the match. Only someone of the calibre of BT Gunn could go from public enemy number one to receiving an applause by chopping the left nipple off of Mikey Devine within seconds.
Chip Watson, with a gaggle of officials and crew trying to stop him, dragged his way to the ring as Devine and Gunn ended up out of the ring. The count down was on with Lost Boy Aspen being the next man out for a good ol’ fashioned showdown. The pair scrapped, punched, and choked each other but a well placed elbow to the temple from Aspen had Chip go limp. A glimmer of regret went over the face of Aspen, which didn’t last long as he thumped Watson again while Nick Justice made his way into the match. Justice handed out some tickets for breaching his peace that was met with a superkick from BT Gunn as payment.
Mikey’s top rope antics didn’t fare much better with a meeting between his body and the big arm of Finlay Bane, who followed up by sending Justice to the mat with a standing torture rack spin out slam. Nick got some backup with MX1 and Shreddy coming out one after the other, the latter elected to wear headphones to “block out the haters”. Shreddy declared that Gunn was causing harm and sent his Safe Space to take out The Oddity which was accomplished.
Feyyaz Aguila headed into Shreddy’s safe space as he took it to the trio but a triple powerbomb had Feyyaz saying farewell minutes after his Discovery Wrestling debut. Finlay Bane was next to go via a Justice and MX1 double clothesline, as Mikey Devine re-emerged dressed for the part of Safe Space Guy number 4. His new role was soon finding himself being powerbombed out of the ring by Shreddy, MX1, and Nick Justice into a crowd of bodies, narrowly avoiding his head banging off the wooden floor, unfortunately in among the bodies was Finlay Bane having his nose busted open with the staff on hand to quickly to clear the area. Bruiser Brad faired better against the faction, throwing out Justice and MX1 in quick succession to come to a stare down with Shreddy, Beef King against The Jacked, Stacked Daddy. Chip Watson tried to get involved but was sent out of the match by Aspen to another round of boos.
We were firmly in the back half of the entries, Redmond made a quick impression, knocking down Aspen then giving Brad a German Suplex, it took a beefy piledriver to derail Redmond with Ronan King entering the match, and having to shout multiple times to get the attention of Shreddy sans headphones. Shreddy and Ronan went after Bruiser Brad until King decided to try and put out Shreddy which didn’t quite go to plan. A low blow to Brad from Ronan had him down as the count down started once again.
Enter Ian Skinner with eyes only for Ronan King as he dove from the stage with pinpoint precision to take down King and start raining punches from a grounded side headlock position. Redmond tried to intervene but got used as a platform for some sick parkour that had Skinner connect his shin to the side of Ronan King’s skull. Aaron Redgrave arrived to give out a clothesline or two and knocking down Bruiser Brad with a boot to the face as the competitors started to become paired off in the corners and within that saw Skinner eliminate Redmond.
Umar Mohammed drew a favourable number, giving Ronan King a spinebuster and making me have to pick favourites by trying to eliminate Skinner. Brad sent out Redgrave as Aspen went after Umar, because happiness is not something Aspen was going to allow on this day it seemed. Alex Webb was the penultimate entrant and demanded that Kwaku reintroduced him as a big deal, he hit big air once Bruiser Brad got a hold of him for a Fallaway Slam with RABU being the final entrant to The Disco Derby.
With everyone in, it was time for some eliminations but not before Ian Skinner was finding himself beating up Ronan King with Ronan’s own shoe. Who throws a shoe? Honestly? Not Skinner who tossed it back to a battered King in the corner. Skinner dropped the top rope to put Webb out, and a little double team effort with The Beef King, complete with scary faces, had Brad dispatch Shreddy.
RABU and Umar traded strikes on the apron with Mohammed sending RABU to the floor, and catching his feet on the bottom rope to save elimination but after that heroic save he was barged off the apron by Ronan King to break my son’s heart. It was now down to four: Ian Skinner, Ronan King, Bruiser Brad, and Lost Boy Aspen, aka, Billy’s top four picks. Aspen looked physically hurt by the “Aspen sucks” chants and grabbed Ian Skinner for some launching but Skinner turned it around to send out the Lost Boy. His moment was immediately stomped on by Ronan King throwing him out which had a tear in my eye, I was genuinely gutted.
As Ronan looked right pleased with himself the realisation hit that he was now one on one, pinfall or submission, with The Beef King which saw his face drop. Brad went to town leathering King from pillar to post as the Disco Faithful showered Bruiser Brad with chants of BEEF. King sent Brad over the top rope to the floor, desperately looking at referee Chris Quinn but it didn’t matter, the match continued.
Brad and Ronan went back and forth, Brad caught King in midair for a German Suplex and Ronan amazingly controlled Brad down for a King’s Plunge that netted him a two count much to his shock. It was enough for Ronan to start looking at short cuts by untying a turnbuckle pad and fetching a chair. Chris Quinn was on top of it and grabbed the steel which opened Ronan up to be powerbombed for two. King and Brad battled to the top turnbuckle as Ronan went for a run up Frankensteiner, he was halted and raised back up for a second rope avalanche powerbomb which still couldn’t keep Ronan King down for three.
Bruiser Brad picked up Ronan mid-victory roll and went for a powerslam but thanks to King’s escape he was sent careening into the path of Chris Quinn and had the man in the stripes compacted in the corner. Ronan didn’t hesitate, he grabbed the chair and struck. The first angered Brad, but the second to the head put Brad down and several more chair shots later it was over and Ronan King was the 2026 Disco Derby winner.
Ronan made it known that he would cash in his shot when he pleases against whomever he pleases, calling out The Good Times, Dave Conrad, and Gene Munny to close the event.
What a Derby. The early elimination of Judas Grey could have only been accomplished without pitchforks at dawn by BT Gunn. If it means Judas Grey versus BT Gunn then we’re all winners. The threads of stories like Chip and Aspen drawing numbers one after the other shows the sliding doors of the earlier decision by Aspen. If they lost and sucked it up as a team then the numbers would’ve been in their favour, especially as Shreddy’s Safe Space took over. On the flip side, in theory, if Lost In The Sauce won then those numbers would’ve went to Robb Stow and Monstrum which would’ve been an absolute game changer.
The Shreddy’s Safe Space section was fine but might’ve went a touch too long, in saying that I would’ve also liked more Mikey Devine in the group for more than a two second laugh so what do I know, but then again again, I just want more Mikey Devine in any situation. Skinner flying into the ring to go after Ronan King was great, and Ronan was such an unapologetic shitebag because it didn’t matter who it was he would gladly stab you in the back to further his own endeavour. His closing speech encapsulated that by adding The Good Times to his potential hit list.
Both Strachan boys got to feel the heartbreak thanks to Ronan eliminating Umar Mohammed and Ian Skinner, the git. However, Ronan King is outstanding, and I say that from someone who saw his second match and have seen him become this conniving, devious, hard-hitting, vicious, down right arsehole. He has evolved at such a rapid pace that it is scary to imagine how far he can go when he is currently only 22. He knows who Ronan King is, and because of that we know who Ronan King is.
In fear of repeating myself, this was another wonderful wrestling show from Discovery Wrestling, being in that crowd and getting to feel the Judas Choir first hand, to being part of the chants, to feeling that energy in Portobello Town Hall, it was euphoric. To share that with my family, to hear my son get involved in shouting along, it drove home that wrestling is for everyone. It’s evident when the wrestlers come out whether it’s before the show, at the interval, or after the dust has settled, these people are heroes and villains to so many for a couple hours and we queue up, we get giddy, we get photos because they are creating memories that will become core memories for so many in that venue.
On a personal note, to talk to some many people that know what I do was humbling enough but to bump into so many wrestlers that I’ve had the pleasure to interview and just pick up where we left off in a Zoom call however long ago was a very cool experience in growth for myself as an admitted social inept human being.
Discovery Wrestling knocked The Disco Derby out of the park and out of sight. I’m promising not to leave it so long before heading back to the capital for another round of Disco.
If you want my day-of pre and post show thoughts I’ve stuck in our On The Road episode and montage below: