As you may have guessed, I do enjoy discovering something that is so different it immediately grabs my wrestling heart and refuses to let go, this can be said of PROGRESS Wrestling and PCW in England, both are firm favourites....THEN I was frigging around on YouTube one day and saw a wrestling doco called The British Wrestler about the man called GRADO, it was while watching this that he (or someone) mentioned Glasgows own Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), this resulted in further googling of said company and after seeing the action supplied in Santa's Gravy and Insane in the Membrane and also the Insane Fight Club doco, that was me hooked well and truly...
as a matter of fact Im saving pension money up to buy meself some proper dvds and merch from Mark Dallas and his cohorts on the banks of the Clyde......So allow me to avail yer sel (see what I did there) of the ICW story....enjoy.
A lifelong fan of pro wrestling, Mark Dallas put together a paln and a vision for what he would like to see in the industry , he wasn't fussed with kissing sponsors bums or having a promotion that insulted the intelligence of its fans / ticket buyers...
so after much thinking and scribbling, Insane Championship Wrestling was born, and since the first shows , ICW have bounded from strength-to-strength, the promotion has the same never-say-die attitude of Dallas, and now sits proudly as one of the most talked about promotions in the world.
it can be proudly stated that Mark Dallas is very much a man of the people, and certainly game for a laugh
Mark created and founded the promotion while living in relative poverty with his girlfriend in Glasgow's Red Road Flats in 2006. After attending training himself, to learn the business from the inside, he ran his first shows at Maryhill Community Centre. Future WWE Superstar, Drew Galloway was crowned the companies inaugural Heavyweight Champion on 15 October 2006 after defeating Darkside and Allan Grogan in a 3-way match at ICW: Fear & Loathing.
Galloway held the title until 22 July 2007 when he was booked to defend his title against Sheamus O'Shaunessy ( yeah that Sheamus The Celtic Warrior) however both faced travel issues with the Irishman not making the event. Darkside eventually won the title in a 5-way match which included the late arriving Galloway.
This event would mark an almost 2-year hiatus for the organisation. On 9 May 2009, ICW returned with ICW: Fear & Loathing 2 however after another brief hiatus, the company began running shows every other month beginning with ICW: Payback on 28 February 2010.
2012 saw the introduction of a new event on 22 January, ICW: 1st Annual Square Go! This event, a ICW created combination of Money in the Bank and The Royal Rumble, is your bog standard Battle Royal, well, sort of , their Battle Royals have a shitload of insanity, granting the winner a shot at the ICW Heavyweight Championship at a time of their choosing. The first Square Go was won by Red Lightning.
In February 2015, the ICW Heavyweight strap was renamed the ICW World Heavyweight Championship following title defenses in England, Denmark and the USA by Drew Galloway.
The promotion currently books most of its events in Glasgow with occasional events in Edinburgh. As the company grows it has expanded to the rest of the UK having held events in London and Newcastle with shows in Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham, which was documented on the road trip documentary Insane Fight Club II.
ICW have run shows in Glasgow's The Garage and Studio 24 in Edinburgh as well as ABC Glasgow. For larger events the promotion announced the Barrowland Ballroom
NOW FOR SOME STUFF ON A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE ICW LUNATICS
GRADO
Graeme Stevely is better known by the ring name Grado , He is best known for his work with Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW). Grado first got into wrestling in 2002. He trained briefly with Red Lightning, Kid Fite and Drew Galloway at British Championship Wrestling.
After years of wrestling sporadically and performing as lead singer of scottish metalcore band Prezident Prime, During this time, Grado was the subject of a Vice documentary, The British Wrestler, which saw his popularity rise with American stars voicing their support. As part of the Vice documentary, Grado appeared to defeat ICW Heavyweight Champion Red Lightning at Super Smokin' Thunderbowl to win the ICW Heavyweight Championship. The match was later restarted as Red Lightning had his leg under the bottom rope. Red Lightning would go on to retain the title....Its pretty much a consensus by the ICW faithful that Grado should hold everybelt in the world, it can be argued that he regularly gets the POP of the night with the crowd singing along to his Madonna song entrance...I know I sing along in my head and im a friggin metal head, curses Grado curses ...JUST JOKING ....ITS YER SEL
Andrew "Drew" Galloway
is best known for his tenure with WWE under the ring name Drew McIntyre, I still cant figure out what went sideways with that gig, I mean he can work his arse off, he aint exactly ugly and me missus thinks his the grouse. Drew Galloway is currently a belt collector , Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), and Evolve Wrestling. He is the current ICW World Heavyweight Champion, and Scottish Heavyweight Champion. He is also has held the WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, Evolve World Champion, DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Champion as well, his gonna get a hernia carting that lot about...more power to him says I
Jack Jester
Starring in the BBC documentary, 'Insane Fight Club, fans across the UK had the chance to see a different side to Jack Jester than the one usually seen battling in brutal wars at ICW events. One of the most passionate about his profession around, it would appear that Jesters moral compass is often mis aligned especially when he sticks that burning corkscrew in his opponents noggin....Jack has took part in some of the most chaotic matches in ICW history, this former Champion has had memorable matches against almost everybody he's faced, a true testament to how other wrestlers know they must bring their a-game when facing the maniacal Jester. ....my personal favourites have been when him and Mikey Whiplash beat the bejeezus out of each other although to be fair I havent seen many others....
Jack is showing a decidely more dangerous, violent side recently after hooking up with Galloway , Jester is more of a threat than ever , Its gonna get bloody
Speaking of ....Mikey Whiplash
The ICW roster has some very unique individuals, but their aint too many as unique then this raving nutcase called Mikey Whiplash. With his war-paint smeared across his face, and sporting his leather S&M ring-gear, Whiplash is a different kind of cat, known for his unpredictability and wonton sadism....
I recently discovered that Mikey is a member of The Sumerian Death Squad alongside some bloke called Dante and one of my alltime favourites "The AntiHero" Tommy End ....see, very cool lad.
JOE COFFEY
The 'Iron Man' of ICW, after winning a Iron man match at the Square Go in January, 2014, Joe Coffey looks mighty impressive...He was in a tag team with his brother Mark but has since broke out on his own (sort of) and has been discovering what he can achieve going solo .....Widely considered an absolute wrestling machine, there aren't many who can match the combination of sheer strength and raw power that Coffey possesses....
Coming out on top in a hard-fought 'Best Of 5' series opposite another of my favourites, Noam Dar, Joe Coffey has shown exactly what he's capable of.
This face-painted warrior is seemingly a juggernaut and unstoppable once he gathers pace, and even though previously he was heeling it up and apparently against what ICW stands for, he appears to have turned that corner and is back on the blue eyed side of the promotion and incredibly over with the throbbing hordes... the only way is up.
BILLY "FUCKING" KIRKWOOD
No ICW event would be complete without the comedic skills of the Billy Connolly of ICW annouce team member , Billy 'Fucking' Kirkwood. He opens each show with some sizzling standup and is quite capable of shutting down hecklers with quite some aplombBilly Kirkwood is most at home behind the announce desk, where he calls the ICW action like no other. .....
It's fair to say there has never or will be ever a pro wrestling commentator quite like Billy Kirkwood, he truly exemplifies what Insane Championship Wrestling is, and resonates with the fans nicely, creating a rare bond between what's happening in the ring, and the people watching outside of it.....
Some of my favourite Kirkwood calls would be
"His happier than a puppy with seven dicks " or "I would pump AJ lee so hard she would speak gaelic"or "ruining my flow like a bad tampon" and " that young man will be gizzing scrambled sperm for a week and a half"....see, very Connolly like....and nothing like Michael Cole (thank F**K)
Then there is the wrestler called
MACKENZIE
Without a doubt one of the toughest competitors that ICW, or professional wrestling in general, has ever had the great fortune to discover, Mack is a superstar unlike any other. his Stomp to the Hand is feared ICW wide, just about every member of the ICW roster is too afraid to face him......Strong, fearless, and possessing the heart of champion, Mackenzie is a true king of the ring ...HUZZAH!
It pays to be one of the biggest and baddest competitors in ICW, and Wolfgang is a man who fits that description perfectly. One of the most supremely talented competitors ICW has ever seen, Wolfgang is a monstrous heavyweight who possesses the frightening agility of cruiserweight, making him one extremely tough opponent to match.
WOLFGANG
At one time Wolfie, was considered the standard bearer for ICW , even if he did come out to a Duran Duran tune, Wolfgang has been part of the company since the earlist days , and has been seen to start a pillow fight flashbomb for the company, A former ICW Zero-G Champion, Wolfgang is, without a doubt, one of the most notable names in ICW . Recently joining the NAK (the New Age Kliq) , Wolfgang has turned his back on ICW, now preferring to walk alongside Chris Renfrew and BT Gunn. ....one can only hope he jumps back over the fence sooner rather that later
THE FIGHTING FEMALES OF ICW
With a sizeable amount of the top female in the UK or even the, world currently competiting in ICW, the Women's Division has never been more over. The ICW Women's Championship will stand as a symbol of excellence in the company, and I couldnt even begin to tell you who will claim the belt
So there you go , my ICW blogaroo....now do YER SEL a favour and go get some intae ya
Recky
The Southern Hemisphere.
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