Insane Championship Wrestling made their long awaited return to the Edinburgh Fringe this past Saturday as the crowd gathered to the Corn Exchange for some insanity. It was modest turnout during a popular tourist season with hundreds of shows going on in and around the same time in close proximity.
ICW Women’s World Championship – Triple Threat – Molly Spartan defeated Natasha Swann, and Daisy Jenkins by pinfall to retain.
Molly Spartan retained the ICW Women’s World Championship by pinning Daisy Jenkins and Natasha Swann at the same time after a Vader Bomb, but that wasn’t the full story. Swann and Spartan formed an alliance of mythos proportions to deal with “Crazy” Daisy early on to leave it down to one on one but Jenkins was scrappy and was part of the action throughout. What was noticeable was the chemistry between Swann and Jenkins which was excellent, and Molly Spartan as a brute spoiler added an interesting dynamic.
It was a quick match but packed with action that had plenty of near falls, it concluded with Spartan missing her target of Daisy Jenkins and tearing through Swann with a spear before catching Jenkins from a top turnbuckle crossbody to plant them in position for a double second rope splash.
Natasha Swann once again delivered, 18 months, or so, on since her first match and she has got all the makings of an outstanding professional wrestler. She has a charm that you can’t buy, it’s so natural, that girl next door vibe which is a key part of grounding the over-the-top innuendo of Risky Business. Daisy Jenkins has evolved into an all rounder that can scratch and claw but couple it with cat-like agility and has been able to dive into the madness of Daisy Jenkins to become this outstanding performer, while Molly Spartan carries herself with the confidence of a champion with high impact strength to showcase that bruiser persona. For me, this was the match of the night as an overall package of sports entertainment.
It does feel like it’s only a matter of time before Daisy Jenkins becomes ICW Women’s World Champion but Natasha Swann wasn’t afraid to put her hat in the ring and made the most of the time to nip at the heels of title contention.
KOE (Adam King & Marcus King) w/Colton Davis defeated Aaron Echo & Kenny Williams by pinfall.
Before the match we got a cut to the back with KOE and Colton Davis assaulting Kenny Williams backstage. It set up what was essentially a handicap match between Aaron Echo and KOE. The intensity was immediate with Echo launching Adam King over the ropes straight away that had King collide legs first with the barrier, which wouldn’t be the first time that he would find himself heading towards the metal at speed. It was a lot of Aaron Echo fighting off the numbers but KOE turned it around with a counter from a DDT trap situation for Adam to kick back to send Echo stumbling for a high/low combination from Marcus and Adam King which was very nice.
Kenny returned swinging a chair off the back of Colton Davis, with Colton falling through the entrance curtain in pain, and running wild over all three of his adversaries but thanks to some intervention from Colton to throw a chair mid-rebound clothesline to smash Kenny in the side of head, KOE plunged Williams to the canvas with a flapjack/flatliner combo to pick up the win.
It was fascinating to watch the match escalate, Aaron Echo did his best to divide Marcus and Adam but once they were operating together it was difficult to penetrate the armour of KOE. It also came down to little things, from Echo and Williams interrupting each other, or lacking communication which had mixed results for accidental teamwork. The one moment that stood out was Kenny going for a pin but Echo pushed him off because Williams wasn’t the legal man and lead to Marcus King pushing Kenny into the fall to break the count. Marcus then dragged Adam to the KOE corner to tag in. They are so good and using the logic of tag team wrestling, and exploiting the intricacies to their advantage. It showed that Kenny Williams and Aaron Echo aren’t operating as a team, and their individual tactics were a weakness against a well oiled machine, further compounded with KOE and Colton Davis leaving united while Williams and Echo made their way to the back separately after a tense shove.
Landon Riley defeated Ben Rodgers by pinfall.
Landon Riley took his sweet time in getting into the ring but as soon as he turned to face Ben Rodgers, Rodgers double legged him to the mat to get the match started hot with Ben in pursuit while Landon was trying to remove his gilet. A well prepared superkick while Rodgers was slingshotting himself into the ring turned the tables for Riley for him to rain down punches. Landon took his time to target the back of Ben Rodgers, slowing the pace down and quickly cutting off Ben’s attempts to fight back. A massive lariat from Rodgers gave him the opening to land a couple shoulder blocks to rattle Riley.
Ben headed up top but was caught with a kick and crashed to the canvas with a superplex as Landon swiftly popped up to drive Rodgers into the corner with a Death Valley Driver for a near fall. A frustrated Riley headed out to obtain a familiar chainmail covered bat, a tug of war over the weapon lead to Landon bouncing the bat off the top rope into his own face to stumble into a big spinebuster for a two count. Rodgers spotted the item, and stalked a begging off Landon Riley. Riley waited for Ben to raise the bat to strike with a low blow, adding a disrespectful slap for good measure. Ben tried one more break through but Riley drove the bat into the forehead of a charging Rodgers to keep his rival down for the count.
I really enjoyed that Landon totally changed his style, no flash or reason to waiver support towards him. A smug shit-eating grin while he assaults his opponent, a great combination. This had the vibe of a chapter and not the full story with a definite feel of holding back for something more brutal in the near future, and with Ben naively showing a moment of mercy before trying to knock his block off will be a pivotal point to go back on. The bat is such a tease, and I would be interested to see if there’s a pay off for it being brought into the match so prominently. A high quality match that had me wanting to see more.
Charles Crowley defeated Jack Ripley by pinfall.
and now for something completely different…
In the weirdest wrestling match I may have ever seen, cucumbers arrived from every dark passage as Charles Crowley and Jack Ripley danced a sexually charged ballet. A lot of the opening half was all about find the cucumber, from a multitude of long vegetables being produced from the toit tights of Ripley, to half a cucumber being retrieved out of the back of Crowley’s trousers to disturb the spectacular twat.
The creamy middle saw a stunning dive over the ropes by Crowley as the action spilled to the outside. Ripley spawned another cucumber and launched himself at Charles Crowley, who ducked and sent the cucumber colliding with a member of the front row. Crowley tried to use his balloons to add height for a dive in the ring that was countered with a Jack Ripley headbutt. As Jack got the cover the helium filled party accessories lifted the arm of Crowley off the mat to break the count. Ripley responded by stuffing one of the balloons down the tights of Charles Crowley then using his own body to pop the balloon with a back splash. That must’ve been a stinger.
A trade off of low blows, that didn’t effect Jack, had Ripley fetch a bin full of, you guessed it, cucumbers to spread over the canvas. In a matrix glitching moment, Ripley threw the bin at Crowley which bounced off his dome and returned to Jack Ripley like it was a big plastic boomerang, a binerang if you will. A superplex onto the vegetable patch got Jack a two count as he headed to the top turnbuckle. A missed 450 Splash to land into the sea of broken cucumbers, and a Boing Boing Cutter left Jack on his back with his eyes closed, with imaginary pickles dancing around his head probably.
I’ll be honest, this didn’t hit for me and it felt like the cucumber shenanigans overshadowed the match. I know wrestlers who use subtext and they’re all cowards, every one of them, but this was overboard in my opinion. The actual wrestling content was excellent as Jack Ripley and Charles Crowley are great wrestlers but the veggie antics may’ve jumped the shark for me personally.
Edinburgh Street Fight – Lost Boy Aspen defeated Lewis Girvan by pinfall.
In the first half main event it was the marquee match that set the tone for the whole night. The match that was announced to herald Insane Championship Wrestling’s return to the Edinburgh Fringe. Lewis Girvan entering in in an Apter Burner shirt and Kings of Catch jacket was a nice touch with Billy Kirkwood noting nod to the Filthy Generation in Girvan’s entrance music, and with 20 Years of Insanity coming up… Lost Boy Aspen entered with a Kings of Catch throwback of his own and a staple gun.
There was no lock ups or testing the waters, it was fists flying with it quickly heading around the Corn Exchange function hall. Staples stapling, and Lewis conveniently finding a kendo stick behind a curtain that ended up splintering over Girvan’s own spine. Fraser Girvan got involved and found himself having a chair flung his way by Aspen, with The Lost Boy using a knife to carve into the forehead of Lewis to spill first blood.
A barbed wire bat, a chair with cut off Monster tins, a couple thumbtack covered bats, skewers, interlocked chairs, the blood gushed from both with the tide turning as the brutality heightened. Aspen piledrove Lewis but Girvan was still moving defiantly as his former tag team partner looked on downcast that his work wasn’t done. Aspen put the nail in the coffin with a package tombstone piledriver to finally keep Lewis still for three.
As the dust settled, Lewis and Aspen showed respect to perhaps give some closure as Fraser watched on at the entrance, shoving his brother as they made their exit. Edinburgh, the Corn Exchange specifically, was a poetic battle ground for this match. It was uncomfortable viewing at times, but I can’t help think The Garage would’ve had a grungier feel for the street fight element, and a more invested audience for understanding the lore involved when it comes to The Kings of Catch in ICW. I’m just happy we got to see Aspen and Lewis in the same ring together united…ish.
ICW World Tag Team Championships – The Dangerous Brothers (BT Gunn & Kez Evans) defeated Ungodly Justice (Theo Doros & Nick Justice) by pinfall to retain.
BT Gunn and Kez Evans battered Ungodly Justice from the bell, overwhelming Justice and Doros with constant motion and attack. A ringside jump on Kez gave the challengers the opening to take control for a spell until Evans tagged out as BT who run wild only for his momentum to be struck out courtesy of a straight right fist to the jaw by Theo Doros. Gunn hung on get to his corner for a rested Evans to go a’splashin’ on Doros and Justice, landing a Snapshot DDT to Nick Justice with the pin only saved by Theo lunging to break it up.
Ungodly Justice came close to taking the titles with a Death Valley Driver from Nick Justice followed immediately by a top rope elbow drop from Doros that had Kez Evans lifting his shoulder at the last possible second. A pair of handcuffs were introduced by Justice but Theo Doros missed his mark with a metal wrapped assisted punch, lamping Nick Justice, and getting a Stunner from Kez. Doros was out as BT Gunn rolled back in to help finish the match with a Snapshot DDT to retain.
It didn’t really feel like there was a whole lot of jeopardy for The Dangerous Brothers and their ICW Tag Team Championship reign in this one. The Ungodly Justice team still feels a bit thrown together, aesthetically they are so individual which doesn’t really present a threat to the titles against a team of the calibre of Kez Evans and BT Gunn. The in-ring was solid but lacked some drama.
Myles Kayman arrived to begin The Golden Boy open challenge. Michael Mailer bumbled his way over the barricade to hand out flyers before whipping off his trousers to accept the challenge. Before a referee could enter Kayman struck Mailer with the ICW Zero G Championship. Emersyn Jayne entered next, then Bruiser Brad as Simon Cassidy confirmed that the ICW Zero G Championship would be defended. Oh yes.
ICW Zero G Championship – Fatal Four Way – Myles Kayman defeated Michael Mailer, Emersyn Jayne, and Bruiser Brad by pinfall to retain.
Bruiser Brad went about mauling Kayman and Jayne, the latter getting caught in mid air and driven to the canvas with a cradle into a back suplex. Kayman returned to try and kick out the legs of Brad, but it was his awareness to get out of the way of a rampaging Bruiser that sent Brad shoulder first into the ring post to take him out for the time being. Jayne got back in to ramp up the speed leading to diving through the ropes to give Brad a tornado DDT onto the wooden floor.
It took a rapid fire barrage between Myles Kayman and Emersyn Jayne to put Brad onto his back, and it still wasn’t enough as The Beef King still managed to lift his big shoulder off the mat. The pair were able to work together to powerbomb Brad which was an impressive sight. Kayman was on top until the reanimated corpse of Michael Mailer got in and hit The Dead Leg to the champion. Jayne sent Bruiser Brad over the ropes to the outside and delivered a neckbreaker to Mailer but, before she could get the cover, Kayman kicked her between the legs and snatched the win to keep the title in his possession.
Despite coming out of it on the losing end, Bruiser Brad stock rose with him looking like an absolute colossus between the ropes, and Emersyn Jayne was the focus of the majority of the match and dripped undeniable aura. I’m not on board with Myles Kayman as Zero G Champion though and the crowd don’t seem to be either, giving very little by way of a reaction with a scattering of boos, and there’s absolutely no issue with his wrestling, he’s an agile agitator and very slick bell to bell but something isn’t connecting with the crowd to garner a solid reaction on either side of fence. The Michael Mailer twist was great and it would have been an absolute shocker if he managed to sneak in with a win.
ICW World Heavyweight Championship – Mark Coffey defeated Gene Munny by pinfall to retain.
Mark Coffey was all business, schooling Munny in the opening with rudimentary wrestling, and looking offended that Gene had the gall to show any kind of character. Munny tried to lighten the tension with a raspberry to the stomach that didn’t cheer up Mark in the slightest. Gene had his big boy pants on and sent Coffey corner to corner with a release vertical suplex that triggered Mark Coffey into some sort of kill mode, sending Munny to the outside and going between the ropes for a two footed challenge into the chest of That Damn Dirty Dog. A back suplex into the apron had Gene holding his neck while Mark just hit harder and with no mercy.
Gene found his opportunity to get some momentum but wandered into his risky shenanigans for a nipple twist that Coffey quickly put a stop to and ruthlessly made Munny pay for such antics. A volley to the face got a two count with Gene becoming almost a dead weight to pick up. Munny reprised his role as an alive human to escape a pumphandle slam for a roll up to get a two count, but couldn’t get out of a release Tiger Bomb for Mark Coffey to retain the ICW World Heavyweight Championship.
As he got to his feet Jason Reed’s music hit and out came The Staunch Superstar. Reed circled the ring as Mark Coffey didn’t take his eyes off Reed. One of Jason’s hooligans rushed out and was given an Ainsley Lariat by Gene Munny with the rest of Risky Business following closely behind. Reed made his exit as Mark extended a hand to Munny. Risky Business gave the masked thug an extended battering to close the night.
I understand why Gene Munny was challenging Mark Coffey, Gene is immensely popular in Discovery Wrestling as their Y Division Champion and, in theory, there would be a crossover audience. There wasn’t as much as you would think but the organic likability that Gene has still carried through for the near falls as he got dog walked for a large portion of the bout. Mark Coffey wrestles with such bitterness that there is a fine line between hero and villain that Mark has navigated with precision. As world champion he is the captain and he’s running a tight ship and not a sh… anyway, so the expression he displays when he deems an opponent unworthy is an interesting currant to explore.
Overall a solid show from ICW, it was bold to run in Edinburgh during the Fringe which comes with its own positives and negatives, the latter being the affordability for fans to attend from afar, it relied more on a local audience along with a potential walk up factor which is risky. Previous years would have seen more guerrilla marketing as an approach to bolster the audience numbers but that hasn’t been so prominent on social media recently for Insane Championship Wrestling. The wrestling was entertaining with extra chapters added to ongoing stories which was good, the triple threat set the tone, and there was plenty of variety given throughout the night.
The full show is available on Insane Championship Wrestling’s YouTube channel for subscribers.