After a jolly to Edinburgh, Insane Championship Wrestling were back in their home, The Garage in Glasgow.
ICW Women’s World Championship – Molly Spartan defeated Hollie Barlow by pinfall to retain.
Molly wasted no time to swing Hollie by the scruff of her neck, overpowering the challenger early on to send Barlow staggering which unwittingly had her evading corner splash attempts from Spartan. Molly eventually got her target, brushing off Hollie’s more lighthearted antics to crush Barlow with a basement splash. Hollie avoided a corner charge to ram Molly Spartan’s head against the turnbuckles over and over, getting down and dirty with stomps and a double knee into the face of the ICW Women’s World Champion.
Barlow was in control but was unable to keep Spartan’s shoulders to the mat for the three. Hollie gave Molly too much time and ate a clothesline, body slam, and a senton combination for a near fall. Barlow scrapped her way to a lungblower from the second turnbuckle that netted another two count. Hollie tried to jump onto the back of a jelly legged Spartan but was thrown down in place for a Vader Bomb. Barlow rolled out of the way to avoid it, but couldn’t get out of the way of a spear with the second Vader Bomb connecting for Molly Spartan to retain.
An entertaining opening match, Hollie Barlow is a charismatic juggernaut that was the perfect contrast against the no nonsense Molly Spartan. There was enough back and forth so it wasn’t just a demolition job and Barlow came out looking like another potential contender. The women’s division is looking in excellent shape in ICW at the moment on top of Kay Lee Ray coming back, I wouldn’t be shocked if a certain Best In The Galaxy made her way back to the home of Insanity in the near future, it’s an exciting time.
King of Hawners – Semi-Final – Beef King & The Young Team (Bruiser Brad, Logan Smith, & Jimmy Pierce) defeated Beauty & The Bill (Austin Brookes, Theo Doros, & Nick Justice) by pinfall to advance.
Austin Brookes fancied himself a piece of Bruiser Brad that wasn’t reciprocated as Brookes was sent airborne to scuttle over to tag Nick Justice for BEEF versus Bacon, as Justice got skelped by Brad. Doros jumped in and felt the force of a Bruiser Brad clothesline with Jimmy Pierce tagging in and thrown by Brad into Justice and Theo Doros.
Pierce picked up the pace to take Theo down, landing a sweet top turnbuckle crossbody for a near fall. The Young Team gave Nick Justice the run around to avoid a ticket with Pierce potentially earning a speeding offense. A timely disruption from Austin Brookes allowed for Justice to boot Jimmy Pierce and isolate The Gem.
Logan Smith finally got the tag and the match descended into chaos. Austin Brookes landed a smooth senton dive to the outside with bodies getting punched and chucked in rapid succession. Eventually Bruiser Brad tackled Justice and Doros, battering them around ringside to leave Brookes to be double teamed by The Young Team for the returning duo to move onto the final along with The Beef King.
The Young Team got a massive reaction, and they made the most of the time. Bruiser Brad shone, a colossus that tore through anyone that entered his orbit. Austin Brookes really stood out as well, adding some colour and flair to his strait-laced tag team partners. A solid match.
King of Hawners – Semi-Final – Razorblade Bromance (Lost Boy Aspen, Judas Grey, & Ronan King) defeated KOE (Marcus King & Adam King) by pinfall to advance.
Simon Cassidy informed everyone that Colton Davis was injured and couldn’t compete with KOE entering as a twosome in the tournament. Ronan King and Adam King kicked off, with KOE being bombarded by the extra number in the opening moments. Adam kicked Judas off the apron for a hard landing to even the score and take turns wearing down Ronan with a sweet Falcon Arrow by Marcus and a barrage of nasty strikes. Ronan turned over a suplex from Marcus King to bring Lost Boy Aspen in for a heavy handed assault, a spin out slam and X-Plex had Adam King scrambling.
Ronan and Judas returned to throw Adam into a German Suplex from Aspen, the fall being broken up thanks to Marcus dropkicking Grey and King into the pinning predicament. KOE had Aspen on the ropes after a flapjack/flatliner double team until a Just Stop Insanity protester invaded the ring. KOE tried to handle it that took them away from the matter at hand. Adam was sent tumbling out of the ring with a triple team Tombstone/Apter Burner megazord dispatched Marcus King to make up a very tasty King of Hawners final.
It was a blistering match, once again it was proven that when Marcus and Adam had someone isolated then they were untouchable but once a spanner was thrown in with that third man tangible then it was a different matter. A really good match.
Kenny Williams & Aaron Echo defeated The Girvans (Lewis Girvan & Fraser Girvan) by pinfall.
Lewis Girvan arrived in trunks, which showed the different in mindset between him and Fraser off the bat with the younger Girvan arriving in the black combats, the typical Girvan team wear. I liked it was almost a back to basics look for Lewis after resolving his issues with Aspen at The Insanity Show.
The Girvans tried to make swift work of Kenny Williams but couldn’t get the synergy to get a hold of Williams. Kenny tagged in Aaron Echo who bouldered through, tagging out emphatically with an open hand slam to the chest of his tag team partner. Lewis managed to get the upper hand and The Girvans were able to get some sort of rhythm, albeit with some heavy tension. Another miscommunication allowed Aaron Echo to tag in and run riot, Echo ducked an enziguri from Lewis that struck Fraser. The Girvans were sent to the outside as a crash pad for Kenny Williams. Kenny picked up Fraser Girvan and rolled him back in for a discus clothesline and rebound lariat one two for Echo and Williams to pick up the victory.
The match was disjointed by design with the theme being of distrust and communication, Fraser and Lewis wouldn’t connect with tags as cleanly, whereas Aaron and Kenny would be a bit more aggressive in their changeovers, showing tension throughout.
Colton Davis appeared on the stage as KOE jumped Williams and Echo. Davis challenged Kenny to a match at 20 Years of Insanity, and sent KOE to take out Echo with a one man con-chair-to. Kenny dived into Aaron for protection and earned himself a chair shot to the spine for his troubles. As KOE and Colton headed to the stage, Kenny accepted the match but under Scottish Rules.
Unfortunately the sound mixing wasn’t great so I only caught the gist of the promo from Colton Davis, something about it being Kenny’s fault that Colton wasn’t a champion in ICW. In any event, I heard the challenge and the tweaked acceptance.
ICW Zero G Championship – The Golden Boy Challenge – Myles Kayman defeated Jack Ripley w/Natasha Swann by pinfall to retain.
Ripley swung his cucumber to protect himself from Myles Kayman’s mission to thwack him with the Zero G Championship from the bell. Jack passed his weapon to Natasha Swann and side stepped a sneak attack for Swann to plant Kayman with the cucumber herself. Jack had Myles on defence with the match spilling to ringside with Kayman sending Ripley colliding into Natasha to take advantage as the bout returned to between the ropes.
Natasha distracted Kayman on the apron long enough for Jack to get some manoeuvres in, Myles returned fire with a springboard uppercut as Ripley did all he could to stay in the fight, turning the match around in his favour but missed a 450 splash had Kayman sliding out to grab the Zero G Championship to revert back to his original aim. Swann got a hold of the belt for a tussle that lead to Myles walking into a superkick. Ripley chose held his options in either hand, choosing the title over the cucumber and smacked Kayman over the head with the gold and headed back to the top turnbuckle as I was on the edge of my seat.
Daisy Jenkins rushed out and jumped Natasha which took Ripley’s eyes off the prize, and in the fracas Kayman small packaged Ripley to keep the ICW Zero G Championship.
I genuinely believed we were getting a new ICW Zero G Champion. The cucumber stuff was present but downplayed which hit the right balance for me. A moment where Natasha Swann looked like she was going to find another cucumber on her person but instead gave Myles Kayman the middle finger was a nice little callback to Charles Crowley from his match with Ripley in Edinburgh a couple weeks ago. The Swann-Ripley pairing is always a joy, they have excellent chemistry that feels very natural.
Having Daisy focus her attention on Natasha, seemingly blaming her for the loss in the three way at The Insanity Show, was a lovely thread and I already bigged up their interaction at that show so to see it potentially go one on one down the line makes me a happy lad, it will be a banger.
Winner Faces Kay Lee Ray – Angel Hayze w/The Wee Man defeated Emersyn Jayne by pinfall.
The Wee Man was ignored by Hayze on entrance, with his intro promo getting off track to an unimpressed Angel Hayze who had to rein him in. Emersyn and Angel locked up for a slick chain exchange early on with plenty pin reversals and counters, a forearm from Jayne was paid back with a shotgun dropkick as Angel Hayze got the momentum building. Emersyn switched to a more power game to catch Hayze for a Fallaway Slam, and another pick up for a backbreaker.
Angel came back with strikes but a rogue kick was dodged and Emersyn targeted the left knee of Hayze. Angel fought through a suplex counter to lock in the guillotine choke which was powered out of. Hayze went back to the choke only to be lifted into a Norther Lights suplex to break the grip fully.
The battle continued, Hayze missed an Oblivion as Jayne rushed back for a Shadowfax German Suplex to a draping Angel Hayze. Angel managed to hit the Oblivion the second time of asking for a two count. They fought up to the top turnbuckle with Emersyn taking Angel Hayze to the canvas via a Spanish Fly for another close count. A missed Moonsault left Jayne prone for a Shining Wizard for another two count, Emersyn connected with the inverted Tombstone that still couldn’t do the job. Jayne grabbed a waistlock with Angel seeking refuge in the corner, exposing the top turnbuckle at the same time. Emersyn rolled Hayze up but was send crashing into the metal, a superkick and neckbreaker sealed the match for Angel Hayze.
Kay Lee Ray interrupted Angel Hayze’s music which had the crowd going wild, she got into the face of her opponent at 20 Years of Insanity and got her telt. Pointing out that way Hayze won was dirty, could even say “filthy”, but when it comes down to it, if Kay Lee turned her back Angel would do nothing.
It took a minute to get going, a slow burner of a match that got scrappy. The turning of Angel Hayze wasn’t made a big song and dance, with the desperation unfolding, the request for help towards The Wee Man, the “accidental” exposing of the turnbuckle, using it to rock Emersyn to finish her off, all well done.
A surprise Kay Lee Ray, what a superstar. The aura when she entered just shows the level that she is at in wrestling. The pinnacle in Scottish wrestling pre-WWE, a legend post-WWE.
Sean McLaughlin made his way out to make a 20 Years of Insanity announcement, Michael Mailer came out thinking it was going to be Dead Legs live which was denied. AEW star Landon Riley marched out to air his grievances with the General Manager of ICW, Sean had enough and booked Landon against a now undressed Michael Mailer.
Landon Riley defeated Michael Mailer by pinfall.
A Dead Leg almost finished the match in seconds, unfortunately referee Katie Walker hadn’t made it to the ring in time for the impromptu contest. Mailer scaled the turnbuckle that gave Riley all the time to kick Michael down. Mailer rolled through a Tombstone for a pin attempt that was kicked out of and a springboard cutter made quick work of Michael Mailer.
It was more of an extended segment but man, the ICW fans love them some Michael Mailer so having Landon put Mailer down just added more hatred towards him. While Landon was having his moan, he picked out Stevie Boy aka Bowen coming back for the 20 Years of Insanity show. Yes please.
King of Hawners – Final – Beef King & The Young Team (Bruiser Brad, Logan Smith, & Jimmy Pierce) defeated Razorblade Bromance (Lost Boy Aspen, Judas Grey, & Ronan King) by pinfall to win King of Hawners.
The Wee Man popped out with The Young Team, however, was quickly dragged to the back by Angel Hayze. Second entrants Razorblade Bromance goaded their opponents into a fight as Aspen grabbed The Young Team for Judas Grey to swanton off the stage to take them out. Brad got his mitts on Ronan King to powerbomb him off the stage into the pile as the match took a tour of The Garage.
Logan Smith was next with the aerial assault to crash into everyone via a step up Moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the floor. It settled back in the ring with Jimmy Pierce moving fast to take down Aspen, only to be taken out by Judas. As the insanity ensued, Grey picked Bruiser Brad up for an impressive torture rack bomb, Jimmy connected with a double foot stomp to Grey. Aspen and Brad went for stereo powerbombs that were countered simultaneously. The action was non-stop as the high impact offense flowed with no sign of stopping.
Grey and King took Smith out with a double team Styles Clash, and turned their attention towards Bruiser Brad but Brad launched Judas over the ropes onto Aspen and Logan. The Beef King landed a Diamond Clash to King, dragged Jimmy Pierce over to tag in and piledrove Ronan to win King of Hawners.
A proper shocking turn of events. For your money they were a team making up the numbers, as The Young Team were making a return after an extended absence and were in the most random pair up with Bruiser Brad. What it did was reintroduce The Young Team while reinforcing the threat that Bruiser Brad is, and no doubt will be in ICW. A wild finale made it feel very old school Insane Championship Wrestling, which is fine timing with the 20 year celebration on the horizon.
ICW World Heavyweight Championship – Mark Coffey vs BT Gunn w/Kez Evans ended in a no contest.
In one of the weirder set ups to a match, Kez and BT had a bit of a skirmish with Gunn getting the better of it to throw Evans out of the ring for Simon Cassidy to confirm that he would be the one to challenge Mark Coffey.
Gunn and Coffey went back and forth, but a BT chop was enough for Mark to head to the outside for a second to regroup. Gunn followed to gift Coffey a couple more with the sound reverberating around The Garage. A back suplex onto the apron slowed Gunn down for Mark to get some traction momentarily. Coffey went for a two footer while BT Gunn gathered his bearings at ringside only for Kez to put himself in harms way to take the full impact of the tackle.
The match continued until Jason Reed’s music hit and two hooligans walked out, Evans went after them but was soon overwhelmed. BT Gunn went to help and went to the back as a masked figure cracked Mark with a chair. It was revealed to be Coach Trip who informed Coffey that it would be Mark Coffey versus Jason Reed at Fear & Loathing. The Dangerous Brothers chased off Trip with the match seemingly thrown out.
Mark got on the microphone to challenge the King of Hawners winners to send the fans away satisfied. Nick Justice, Theo Doros, and Austin Brookes arrived instead.
Mark Coffey, & The Dangerous Brothers (Kez Evans & BT Gunn) defeated Beauty & The Bill (Nick Justice, Theo Doros, & Austin Brookes)
Despite being the victims of a trio of right hands, it was Beauty & The Bill that took charge with them cutting the ring and keeping hold of Mark Coffey. Coffey got over to Kez Evans who went stomping. Austin Brookes found himself having his legs spread for a BT Gunn headbutt, and while Doros and Justice made their exit, Brookes was send to the canvas with a Tiger Bomb/volley to wrap up the night.
A feel good ending to the night, even if the way we got there was odd, to cap off a highly enjoyable ICW show. It really feels like they have found their way, having had the foresight and patience to develop their new faces and bringing back the old guard to elevate the talent and the overall show. None of the matches felt laboured, branches of story were created, and I had a fun time.
The full show is available on Insane Championship Wrestling’s YouTube channel for subscribers.