It’s been a minute since I watched a full Insane Championship Wrestling event. More for lack of time than anything else, but this past weekend was a big one for the Glasgow wrestling scene. Two companies running sell out shows within minutes of each other, first announced was VALOR who were at The Grand Ole Opry, then ICW confirmed ‘We Run This Town’ to take place at The Garage. VALOR responded by renaming their event ‘Come Ahead’ to welcome the challenge.

There was a lot of online discourse back and forth, subtle and not-so-subtle mentions in events running up to May 18th. What we did see though was the high demand for Scottish professional wrestling with hundreds of tickets sold between the two shows.

Before the main show ICW there was a half hour kick off portion available on YouTube, hosted by Katt Wolfe we were taken through the matches with video packages and additional interviews to hype up the show including a spine tingling promo from Jake Lawless, and Brody Turnbull.

When Jake Lawless talks, people listen as he crafts a flow of words to make everything elevated to another level. He does like to throw in some hot topic Easter eggs to get a chatter going for those that know but it’s never laboured and weaves into his monologue with ease. Katt also caught up with Angel Hayze, Jack Ripley, and Lana Austin with a big focus made on the main card opening and closing with women’s wrestling.

VIP Early Entry Match – Tommy Lockhart defeated Austin Brookes by pinfall.

A man doing double duty was ‘Tremendous’ Tommy Lockhart who would be crossing the line by competing at both events, the big screen and bright lights shining enhanced the showman vibe that he has carefully evolved.

Lockhart tangled up with Brookes, managing to overpower his opponent early on and taking control with holds to drive the pace. Austin tried to take a rest but Lockhart followed with a dive off the apron. Brookes used the referee to break the momentum being gathered by Tommy, swinging a kick to the gut so that Brookes could dominate.

Austin Brookes showed a real mean streak, aggressively clawing at Lockhart with a flurry. Tommy managed to spring off the second rope with an uppercut to get back into the driver’s seat, winning a forearm exchange and landing a stunning top rope moonsault. Brookes kicked out and laid out Lockhart with a pump handle driver for another near fall.

Brookes went up to the top, but his 450 Splash attempt was avoided with Austin rolling through and running into a headbutt from Lockhart, who then landed a diving headbutt from the top turnbuckle for the finale.

It was a big moment for Tommy Lockhart, not only making a debut but it being live streamed on a big night , and he absolutely crushed it. Austin Brookes showed a whole lot of fire and viciousness. A star making kick off bout.

Tommy has been a guy that has caught my eye for a while now, seeing him grab an opportunity with both hands and excel is, pardon the pun, tremendous. His style fits this modern Insane Championship Wrestling environment where he can show a bit of cannonball energy, but can fly, whilst also not afraid to get into the trenches of technical to wrench, twist, and pop, joints and sockets.

I hope this isn’t the last time he makes an appearance.

Billy Kirkwood, Ryan Fitzsimons, and Katt Wolfe welcomed everyone to The Garage for ‘We Run This Town’. The Garage was bouncing and ready to go.

Session Moth Martina defeated Angel Hayze by pinfall.

Angel wasn’t for any of Martina’s jovial banter that bordered on patronising, firing in for a hard forearm, taking it straight to Session Moth with elbows and a basement crossbody for an early near fall. You could see the party ending with Martina struggling out of a German Suplex attempt and barging Hayze down with a shoulder block.

The match spilled to the outside, with Hayze bringing Martina back into the ring. After the opening bursts of energy, Hayze locked in a front facelock into a guillotine to slow down the sesh. Martina fought out to blast Angel with a kick to fold her up, driving Hayze with a spear, and a twisting neckbreaker that got Martina a two count.

Hayze got back into control, hitting her superkick and neckbreaker combination for another near fall. While the referee checked on Martina, Daisy Jenkins slid in with a singapore cane to strike Hayze and leave her to walk into a small package to cause ‘The Young Lioness’ to pick up the loss.

It was a sign of this Insane Championship Wrestling that may’ve snapped back Session Moth Martina. In the past you would expect the tracksuits, the beers swigging, the party animal side, that would have been encouraged but as soon as she tried to lighten the spirits Angel Hayze was on the attack, out to prove how far she has come since Martina was last in ICW, which immediately spun the narrative into Mother Moth having to wrangle Hayze who was relentless.

An unexpected appearance from Daisy Jenkins opened up a new chapter for Angel on a night where there was heavy emphasis on the women of Insane Championship Wrestling. An entertaining main show opener.

There was a short backstage meeting between Colton Davis and Red Lightning to put the pressure on Davis to beat Echo so that he didn’t have to fulfill Colton’s unauthorised offer to give Aaron anything he wanted.

Aaron Echo defeated Colton Davis w/Red Lightning by pinfall.

The pep talk certainly did something with Colton diving through the ropes onto an unprepared Aaron Echo as he entered. The brawl immediately went into the crowd and around ringside.

Echo fed off a rare roar from The Asylum to throw Colton back into the ring and toss him about like Davis wasn’t a 6 foot 7 piece of granite. The crowd support certainly awakened something in Aaron Echo, but he was sparked out briefly with a straight right hand to Echo to turn the tide.

Colton targeted the back of Echo, toying with his food by slowly putting the boots to his opponent, whipping Aaron Echo hard into the corner with an Irish Whip.

Aaron Echo, uncharacteristically had to tap into some agility, a second rope diving sunset flip almost caught Davis out as the two just kept going at each other. Echo and Davis traded fists, with Aaron knocking Colton off his feet with a short arm lariat for another two count.

A spinning forearm from Echo was ducked with Davis returning with a jumping enziguri, and a chokeslam drove Echo to the ground with such force he bounced out of the ring. Aaron Echo returned with a glass bottle which brought Red Lightning off commentary and into the ring to stop things but Davis ran into Lightning and turned around to have the bottle smashed across his skull to end his night.

It has taken patience, years of patience, but Aaron Echo has arrived. Since getting in about it with Thom Latimer at the Square Go over the NWA Worlds Championship a switch has been flicked. The crowd embraced Echo’s mission to kick the shit out of Colton Davis and in turn Echo engaged with the crowd which is something that has been missing for so long, that human side for people to actually gravitate towards.

This was the first time that I have seen it all click together, Aaron Echo looked comfortable in his role and the fans have taken to it. Having thought more about this, the problem that I have had is that Aaron Echo, as a character, has been very one dimensional with a lot of his time being spent as “I’m a hard man, you are also a hard man, we will fight” which is a very cliche concept. The last few months he has had something to fight for that has people wanting to see what happens.

His match against Thom Latimer didn’t look exciting on paper but allowing people to actually organically grow support for ever biting near fall has done so much for him. It also helped that Latimer, and Colton Davis here, matched up physically so it just all came together at the right moment.

This was two big bastards knocking lumps out of each other and I loved it, the bottle smash at the end was so epic, which will no doubt appear in video packages for years to come, because it was the only weapon involved. Less it more sometimes and that was effective.

Jason Reed defeated Dylan Thorn by pinfall.

As Dylan Thorn awaited his mystery attacker, a group of hooded figures arrived before being joined by ‘The Staunch Superstar’ Jason Reed to the tune of ‘Simply The Best’ to split the crowd.

Reed sauntered to the ring while his group of thugs overwhelmed Thorn with a prolonged assault. Dylan tried to survive but would soon be swarmed again with bodies.

The attack was stopped briefly to allow Dylan to make a choice to accept the match, which he did, the bombardment started again with Jason Reed whipping Thorn off the ropes and slammed him to the canvas with a spinebuster to put the “match” to rest.

Speculation was rife when the Rangers scarf appeared to set this challenge in motion, it will be interesting to see if his group gets revealed. It always seemed like Jason was on the cusp of having his team around him but it never quite reached the finish, maybe this is the time. I thought back in 2023 there was a missed chance to propel Jason into being an ICW World Heavyweight Champion at the Square Go! so hopefully he regains the propulsion that was behind him a couple years back. The Rangers motif still has a split reaction whether it’s adulation or visceral hatred so I look forward to see how those strings are pulled going forward.

Katt Wolfe caught Daisy Jenkins outside the building to talk about her interference earlier, Daisy made her feelings known and put the challenge out to the winner of the main event. An intense fired up promo.

ICW Zero G Championship – Sauchiehall Scramble – Sha Samuels defeated Lewis Girvan, Landon Riley, Jack Morris, Jack Ripley, and Craig Anthony to win the ICW Zero G Championship.

Sha Samuels and Jack Morris kicked off the scramble, easing their way into the marathon with lock up exchanges and quick pin attempts to try and get an early advantage before the next entrant could make their way onto the stage. Samuels bodyslammed Morris, who came back with a stunning standing dropkick.

The timer counted down to reveal Landon Riley as number three, clearing the ring with a massive crossbody to Sha, then dived off the turnbuckle to the floor with a moonsault. Riley’s momentum got halted, following a standing Shooting Star Press to Samuels, when Morris returned to plant him with with a sit out Tiger Bomb to become the interim ICW Zero G Champion.

Samuels didn’t let Morris celebrate for long, splashing him in the corner and squashing Landon Riley in the process. Riley and Samuels tried to sneak a roll up in before entrant number four arrived, that was revealed to be Craig Anthony.

Anthony took out everyone with his high flying offense, a big dropkick to Samuels and Riley, before diving to the outside to make sure Jack Morris didn’t miss out. A Buckshot Lariat knocked down Samuels, and Spinal Tap to Riley almost gave Craig Anthony the pin but Morris arrived to maintain his interim status.

With everyone laid out the timer counted down for ‘The Milkshake Man’ Risky Jack Ripley to enter, and he entered hard with a 450 Splash to Craig Anthony to make him interim champion but he walked into a Jack Morris boot, who then countered a small package from Sha Samuels to once again become the interim title holder. Samuels and Morris took each other out to allow Landon Riley to connect with a Frog Splash to pin Anthony.

Jack Ripley whipped out his cucumber to slap it across the face of Morris and Anthony as the final entrant, ICW Zero G Champion Lewis Girvan, made his way out. A cavalcade of bodies flew around for a mass of carnage. Fraser Girvan turned up with the headbutts to do the dirty work for his brother. A Girvan Driver to Landon Riley made him easy pickings for Lewis to pick up the scraps.

The timer continued to count down, Landon Riley stage dived onto Ripley, Anthony, and Fraser Girvan to leave three men in the ring with two minutes left. Sha planted Girvan with a destroyer and big spinebuster to pin Lewis Girvan with about 60 seconds left.

Sha bailed everyone out of the ring to run out the clock and become the official and new ICW Zero G Champion.

An action packed scramble match, every second was used to its fullest. There was little to no downtime for a tight 20 minutes from start to finish concluded with a popular winner in Sha. The desperation and ferocity in the disappointment from Jack Morris in the closing seconds and post-show fed nicely into Sha’s announced first defence. It was a nice surprise to see Craig Anthony fill that vacant spot with his cameo offering a highlight reel of athleticism, as with Landon Riley has emerged as a very special talent.

With all that incredible in-ring prowess I have a soft spot for Jack Ripley, the character he expresses is pure chaotic viral entertainment and the commitment lands wholeheartedly.

A fantastic match which had plenty of moments for everyone to shine.

The Girvans were shown outside with Katt but there was no sound until Landon Riley bombed into shot to spark a pull apart brawl.

ICW Tag Team Championships – Sanity (Axel Tischer & Big Damo) defeated Arcade Violence (Jake Lawless & Brody Turnbull) by pinfall to win the ICW Tag Team Championships.

It was a big fight feel seeing Sanity enter The Garage, as the crowd chanted back and forth for both teams. Sanity got the better of Jake Lawless early doors with him wisely tagging in Brody Turnbull for a mammoth trade off of shoulder blocks to Big Damo, with Damo down to one knee Arcade Violence went to work wearing down ‘The Beast From Belfast’.

The barrage of tag team offence to Damo, and sending Tischer out of the ring, left Sanity to regroup on the outside. The reset clearly worked with Damo throwing Lawless around like wet trackie to bring Axel into the fray to isolate Jake for Brody Turnbull to watch on.

Lawless had to scrap to get through the mire but got a hand out to Turnbull to rampaged through Sanity, dropping Tischer’s neck over Brody’s knee. A Hart Attack combo could only get a two count with Damo out of reach to make the save. A second take was stopped by Big Damo as the standard tag team format broke down for a moment with all four men getting in on the action.

Sanity once again put their focus on Jake Lawless, punishing him with a backstabber into a senton for the closest of two counts which had The Garage unglued. Brody got the blind tag to interrupt another double team manoeuvre and Arcade Violence gave Big Damo an incredible Steiner-style elevated bulldog for another close call.

Damo and Tischer took out Turnbull and refocused their attention on Lawless, landing a neckbreaker-Vader bomb combo to pick up the ICW Tag Team Championships.

I enjoyed that there was a clear game plan from Sanity to keep Brody as far away from the action as much as possible after he used his raw power to knock Damo down early on in the match with them turning their attention to Jake Lawless at any given moment. There were some so close, almost too late, pin saves from Damo that jarred some fan reactions I thought anyway but these were two hard hitting and well versed tag teams. There were no shenanigans as they worked with the crowd split well with Arcade Violence putting up a fight until the end. An excellent tag team match.

Damo and Axel ripping off the glow stick accessories from the belt plates while a defeated Jake and Brody watched on behind them on the stage was a nice little touch.

Purge Rules – Stevie James defeated Ben Rodgers by pinfall.

A return from the interval began with Purge Rules. Much like the Echo-Davis bout, Rodgers dived through the ropes to get his hands on Stevie James before he could get near the ring apron.

The two brawled around ringside, Stevie took control by trying to jab Rodgers with pliers, wrapping a white chair over Ben’s back and continuing to scrap towards the bar. Following a superkick, Rodgers stumbled his way back to the ring. As a confident James made his way back to the ring, finding time to get into the face with some of the fans, he was met by a running senton over the top turnbuckle and ring post to stun Stevie.

Rodgers took charge, splashing Stevie James on a merch table, then putting James through it with a spinebuster for a near fall on the floor. Ben gathered his weaponry, slamming Stevie’s back onto the chair that was smashed off his own back earlier.

Stevie James tried to crawl away to escape but a ruthless Ben Rodgers followed with James’ own chain and wrapped it around the neck of ‘The Outlaw’. The fight continued on the stage with James wriggling out of a fireman’s carry and hitting a low blow to swing the momentum his way.

A shot with a piece of the set and an Impaler DDT onto the stage wasn’t enough with Rodgers still fighting back but a Brainbuster from Stevie James finally kept him down for three.

An intense brawl with an emphatic finish. There was a note on commentary about Ben Rodgers wanting to be considered a pillar in the new era of Insane Championship Wrestling with the closing stages seeing him being blasted with a part of the staging that was holding the entrance together. It felt like there was a bit of poetic irony in that moment.

The match offered plenty of mayhem with a gallant Rodgers taking the fight to Stevie James, who ultimately had to take a short cut low blow to put down a vicious panther.

Katt caught up with Aaron Echo has he was leaving the building, confirming his intention to face Kenny Williams for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship at ‘Pour Wan Oot’.

Kez Evans Picks The Stipulation – The Danger Bros (Kez Evans & BT Gunn) defeated Ryan Richards & Denise by pinfall.

Kez limped out to reveal his picked stipulation would be a tag team match. Ryan Richards had five seconds to choose with the only option nearby being Denise. Kez awaited his partner… who didn’t arrive so Evans just ran into Richards to get things started.

With the assistance from Denise, Richards managed to get Evans back and immediately targeted the injured ankle. Denise retrieved a chair but as he wrapped it around the joint of Kez, the lights dimmed, the music hit, and BT Gunn arrived to even the score.

Gunn chopped at Richards, laying him out with a flatliner, and delivering a superkick to Denise to send her off the apron in the process after Ryan ducked, which gave Kez time to recover and tag in to deliver a couple Stinger Splashes to Ryan Richards. Richards tried to reach for the tag but Denise walked out to leave ‘The Supreme’ to turn around into a dangerous game of punching ping pong with his head being the ball.

Speaking of balls, Evans gave Richards some Shattered Dreams, before The Danger Bros mercifully finished the match with a Snapshot.

I mentioned maximising the minutes in the Sauchiehall Scramble, this was short in time but every minute was effective in hitting the beats. The tease of the partner, the reveal when Kez was at his lowest in the match for ‘The Oddity’ to save the day, Richards moving to cause Denise getting kicked in the face lead to some sort of breaking of the Victory Incorporated brainwashing played perfectly into her leaving Ryan to the wolves.

Ryan’s face dropping when he realised the consequences of his actions was spot on which was in stark contrast to seeing Evans switch from limping in, almost sheepishly, to being fuelled with confidence and adrenaline when his back up (finally) arrived was great.

This was very good.

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

Lana jumped Rhio after Simon Cassidy made the challengers introduction. Austin insisted that Simon continue to introduce her while Lana continued to punch at Rhio on the canvas. Rhio fought back but Lana continued the pressure, heading to the outside to produce a crutch but Rhio was soon on her tail to continue the battle at ringside and making their way to the stage.

A slam onto the stage to Lana was responded with a suplex to give the champion the advantage as Austin dragged Rhio back to the ring. Rhio fired back with a shotgun dropkick and leg trap suplex to stay in the contest.

The Garage was rocking, fully behind Rhio, with Lana basking in the haterade being poured on her as she slowed down the pace to have her way with her opponent. When Rhio tried to get some momentum going she was quickly left jelly legged by a stiff forearm from the champion.

Rhio got some space by landing a top rope dropkick to level the field, both women exchanged forearms as they made their way back to their feet. A headbutt put Lana Austin back in charge once again.

Austin tied Rhio into the top rope with a chain, striking her over and over with a crutch which revitalised Rhio to snap the chain and turn Lana inside out with a fisherman’s neckbreaker, hitting a spinning wheel kick, and fireman’s carry neckbreaker for a near fall.

A package piledriver attempt was evaded by Lana, who hit a Twist of Fate for two, a follow up powerbomb wasn’t enough either with Austin deciding it was time to bring the ICW Women’s World Championship into the equation, running at Rhio but ended up cracking it off the skull of referee Thomas Kearins to take out the official.

Despite bringing in a chair, Lana ended up suffering a package piledriver onto the steel. A referee arrived to make the count but stopped at two to reveal a now buzzcut Kenny Williams, spraying mist in the face of Rhio and launching Lana Austin forward to hit a rolling forearm to gift her the retention.

A smug Kenny got on the microphone to gloat that Rhio has missed her chance, how she bottled it in the main event, and wasted her shot. As Williams posed on the stage with the ICW World Heavyweight Championship and Colton Davis behind him as Rhio picked up the microphone to point out that she hadn’t actually cashed in her Square Go! briefcase to face Lana Austin so she still had a championship opportunity in her back pocket much to the chagrin of the ICW World Heavyweight Champion.

This was a worthy main event, the crowd were invested in Rhio, biting for every near fall before the interference saw the bitterness of ‘The Scum of the Earth’ reach a boiling point. Kenny Williams tried to steal the moment but Rhio had the last laugh.

The whole situation around Kenny, who was already on the edge of insanity of which he rules as the King, shaving his head, becoming more unhinged and manic, it’s made me want to see him against Rhio even more. I had called it out when watching the Square Go earlier this year, but now more than ever we need to see Kenny Williams versus Rhio. This isn’t some tick box exercise, Rhio is proving that she is one of the top wrestlers in the UK, Europe, and maybe even the world, all eyes are on her including the titans across the pond. There is no question of “intergender” it is having two of the best face off over the top prize in Insane Championship Wrestling.

The foundations of history are being built, with Rhio providing plenty of bricks.

A great event from ICW, each match had it’s worthy place on the card. All the chatter that came with this event paid off with plenty of surprises and returns, leaving the viewer with more questions to force them to get back on the ride to find out what happens next.

Competition can be healthy in bringing out an untapped level of creativity. Seeing Tommy Lockhart, Daisy Jenkins, and BT Gunn being able to make their mark across two simultaneously running events projects how unpredictable wrestling can be. None more so that seeing Red Lightning here, then an hour-or-so later turn up in VALOR to close their show to announce that he was the new team leader of the promotion.

I hope it opens up a door for collaboration. Scottish wrestling has a hazard of slamming doors for petty reasons (also for some legitimate reasons so I’m not saying it’s all without just cause). May 18th showed that there is still a hot market out there, and some collaboration can maybe find those that travelled to the Hydro for a record breaking night of professional wrestling way back when and bring them back to Scottish professional wrestling.

Replay of the event is available on Triller+, you can get a 7 day free trial for new subscribers.