Wrestlers of the month, of the month, wrestlers of the month, nanananananana. The August 2019 instalment of Wrestlers of the Month was legit one of the hardest to narrow down, with big show after big show after big show. Clearly, everyone was out to secure their spot on the list. Several people just missed out on the cut simply because there’s not enough space but with that aside, here’s this month’s top ten!
Honourable mentions go out to Christopher Saynt, Corvyn Cameron, Damien, Darrell Costello, Grant McIvor, Jack Morris, James Scott, Jayla Dark, Kay Lee Ray, Liam Thomson, Mark Coffey, Robert Wishart, Shaun Walker, Wolfgang, Xero, Zach Dynamite, and Zander McGuire.
10. Connor Inglis
If you were in attendance at WrestleZone’s Battle of the Nations event, then you’ll completely understand why I’ve got Connor Inglis at number ten. His opening match with Crusher Craib was a sensational encounter in terms of storytelling. Despite taking a beating from The Creator of Carnage throughout the match, the fiery WrestleZone Training Academy graduate was able to pin Crusher’s shoulders to the mat for the three count. A huge moment for young Connor, and one of the greatest moments I’ve ever seen at a WrestleZone show.
9. Davey Blaze
Davey Blaze is sort of a forgotten gem in the Scottish wrestling scene. Although he’s perhaps not as big a name as he was a few years ago when he was featured in ICW, The Scottish Savage is still the same hard-hitter he’s always been, plus that Sparrowhawk spear is an absolute beast of a move. He unsuccessfully challenged Andy Wild for the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship at British Championship Wrestling’s memorial show for Lionheart in what may have been one of the best Scottish wrestling matches I’ve seen in a while. A victory over Jack Jester at the debut show for Pro Wrestling Spirit this past Friday put Blaze back on the right track. Aside from those two matches, the former ICW Zero-G Champion also competed on the camp shows throughout August, tangling with the likes of Kid Fite, Krieger, and Lucha DS.
8. Emily Hayden
Emily Hayden makes her return to the list as she picks up an additional three points. She kicked off her month with a victory over Gia Adams at Respect Pro Wrestling’s Midsummer Mayhem event, capturing the Upbrawl Championship Wrestling Women’s Championship in the process. A loss to The Angels of the Nyte (Angel Hayze and Rosie Nyte) followed at PBW Academy’s event in Barrhead, where she teamed with Rayhne as Hayden With A Chance of Rayhne. As I’m sure you’ll all agree, two cracking team names there.
7. Lucha DS
Coming in at number seven for August is Lucha DS. The masked wonder picked up the victory over Jason Reed in a highly-anticipated contest as part of Respect Pro Wrestling Midsummer Mayhem at the start of the month, followed by another victory over Krieger at PBW Academy’s show at the Barrhead Scout Hall. Lucha continued his undefeated streak throughout August with a win over Paxxo at Pro Wrestling Spirit’s debut event in Larkhall, but he would be defeated at Caithness Pro Wrestling’s show last night entitled Random. Even though he would retain the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship over Angel Hayze in what sounded like an excellent Two out of Three Falls Match, he lost the title to Contagion member Corvyn Cameron after the referee administered a fast count. He would of course also compete on the camp shows throughout the month, defeating Jason Reed, The Purge, Hal Rayner, and Kid Fite, amongst others.
6. Ravie Davie
Another list debutant now, and it’s Ravie Davie. He began the month with a victory over former Govan Team partner Zander McGuire at Source Wrestling’s third Mayhem show in one hell of a Govan Street Fight that saw his stepson execute a Swanton Bomb (no, really), before following things up with a huge win over Grado at the recent set of ICW Fight Club tapings. The Fresh Prince of Drumoyne Square has since spent the last few days training at the School of Irish Wrestling, culminating in a tag team victory alongside B Cool as they defeated Cambo Cray and Grant McIvor in Davie’s Ireland debut.
5. Jason Reed
The campaign to make wrestling great again rolls on as Jason Reed once again makes his way on to the list. His month began with a debut for Respect Pro Wrestling as he was defeated by Lucha DS at Midsummer Mayhem, but he did bounce back with a successful defence of his coveted WrestleZone Tri-Counties Championship against both Andy Wild and Alan Sterling in a Triple Threat Match at Battle of the Nations. A loss to the returning James Scott in a Street Fight as part of Pro Wrestling Spirit’s debut show on Friday evening ended Jason’s August on a bit of a sour note, but he did make his way around some of the camp shows throughout the month, something that he had been wanting to do for quite some time.
4. Angel Hayze
Angel Hayze is rising up the league table like there’s no tomorrow. Her August began with a victory alongside Rosie Nyte as they defeated Emily Hayden and Rayhne at PBW Academy’s recent event in Barrhead, with her ICW debut coming a short while after. Although her first match for the company was a loss to Aivil, don’t expect this to be the last we see of Angel inside an ICW ring. A victory over Jayla Dark on the first Pro Wrestling Spirit show was followed by a loss to defending Undisputed CPW Heavyweight Champion Lucha DS in a phenomenal Two out of Three Falls Match (believe she also wrestled on the camps, but I’m not entirely sure). August was quite the month for Angel Hayze as she makes her way into the top 12.
3. Austin Osiris
Austin Osiris makes his long-awaited first appearance on the Wrestlers of the Month list, kicking off his August with a victory over Zander McGuire as part of the recent Five Pound Wrestling show from Wrestling Experience Scotland. Fast forward two weeks, and Big Money made his in-ring WrestleZone debut as he defeated WrestleZone official Mikey Innes at Battle of the Nations. Osiris made his presence felt on this night, ambushing current Undisputed Champion Damien and challenging him to a title match at Halloween Hijinx on October 26th. A big month for Austin, as he nears 1,000 days of his undefeated streak.
2. Joe Hendry
Another big month for Joe Hendry, which began with a bang as he defeated Lewis Girvan to capture the Respect Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship at Midsummer Mayhem. Not long after this victory, The Prestigious One dropped two huge bombshells, firstly revealing that he had signed a contract with Ring of Honor following a few appearances in the past for their UK tours. Not only that, but Joe then announced that he would be starting wrestling training in his home of Edinburgh starting on September 15th. With these two announcements out the way, Hendry then made his official ROH debut at their Honor For All show on August 25th as he teamed with former World Champion Dalton Castle in a winning effort over Cheeseburger and Eli Isom, collectively known as The Shinobi Shadow Squad.
1. Andy Wild
This month’s wrestler of the month is the deserving Andy Wild, who had a grand time throughout the eighth month of the year. Wild was unable to become a two-time WrestleZone Tri-Counties Champion at Battle of the Nations as he lost to Jason Reed in a Triple Threat Match, with Alan Sterling as the third man. A successful defence of his UEWA European Heavyweight Championship came against Davey Blaze at British Championship Wrestling’s memorial event for Lionheart followed next, with a victory over all three masked members of Mark Coffey’s Power Forward group at ICW’s Fight Club tapings rounding off his month. As well as these matches, it was also revealed that The Dad Bod God would be the owner and head coach of the Five Pro Wrestling Asylum, which opens at the start of next month. An exciting new venture for Andy Wild.
So, there we have it. We’re now two thirds of the way through 2019, with Andy Wild overtaking both Jackie Polo and Lionheart to claim first place for the time being. Aside from that, there’s not really any other major changes in the upper section of the league table, although Joe Hendry and Angel Hayze have taken their spots in the top 12. Further down the table, the likes of Emily Hayden, Jason Reed, and Lucha DS are edging ever closer to the top 12, but will they have time to do so before the second annual 12 Scots of Christmas commences on December 25th? Judging by the way they’re going as of late, I’d say it’s entirely possible.
Point Standings as of September 1st 2019
1. Andy Wild (34 points)
2. Jackie Polo and Lionheart (28 points)
3. RUDO Lightning (27 points)
4. Kieran Kelly (22 points)
5. BT Gunn and Joe Coffey (19 points)
6. Joe Hendry and Lewis Girvan (18 points)
7. Aspen Faith and Leyton Buzzard (17 points)
8. Angel Hayze (16 points)
9. Damien and Sammii Jayne (14 points)
10. Ashley Vega (13 points)
11. Emily Hayden and Zach Dynamite (9 points)
12. Aivil, Austin Osiris, Jason Reed, Lou King Sharp, and The Sam Barbour Experience (8 points)
13. Liam Thomson, Sammie Jo, and Viper (7 points)
14. Johnny Lions, Lucha DS, and Stevie Boy (6 points)
15. Dickie Divers, Jack Morris, and Ravie Davie (5 points)
16. Chris Renfrew and Kay Lee Ray (4 points)
17. Jack Jester, Krieger, and Michael Chase (3 points)
18. Davey Blaze, Ken Kaiden, Paxxo, Ryan Riley, and Umar Mohammed (2 points)
19. Alexander Darwin MacAllan, Connor Inglis, Jonathan Richards, Kez Evans, Krobar, and Stevie James (1 point)
Credit for the promo pics used goes to David J Wilson, Emma Dockrell Photography, Simon Crawford, Tony Knox, and WrestleZone.
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