Tag: Ones to Watch 2019

Ones to Watch 2019: Top 5 UK Wrestlers to Watch

Photo Credit: © Y2GRAE PHOTOGRAPHY

For this list, I attempted to avoid really well-established national talent. This is more about the wrestlers who have the potential to break out on the national scene in the upcoming year. Unfortunately, there were so many high potential wrestlers that just missed out, so honourable mentions to: Scotty Rawk and Cole Quinzel (The Rawk ‘n’ Cole Express), Tom Weaver, and Dom Black. 

1. Tel Banham

I first saw Tel Banham when he was still working under the name of ‘Rocky Future’. This was probably four or five years ago now, but even then, he really stuck out as a potentially huge star. He has wrestling ability with charisma to match, to put it simply. The current holder of the PCW Heavyweight and the PCW Cruiserweight Championships, Banham is very well established in PCW, but he is yet to branch further afield. There is enough versatility and potential in this guy to find his feet in PROGRESS, ICW, or WOS Wrestling.

2. Tyler Devlin

Tyler Devlin tends to find himself in hardcore matches, but this does not mean he lacks quality wrestling ability. He is only really operating out of the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area, mainly appearing for British Wrestling Revolution, where he is the current champion, but he has all of the potential to branch out. His recent feud with Jimmy Havoc of the belt was a fairly exciting one, with Havoc’s beat down of Devlin forcing the hometown boy to leave the promotion, only to return a few months later, eventually besting Havoc in a ladder match for the title.

3. ‘The Amazing’ Matt Myers

‘The Amazing’ Matt Myers has both personality and wrestling ability. He has been around for some time now, but NXT UK, WOS, and several other big promotions seem to have failed to pick him up. This is a mistake by them in my opinion. Myers regularly works on both sides of the River Humber, having built up a fan base in Hull-based promotion, NGW, and the Grimsby-based, BWR. His bouts with the likes of Nathan Cruz and Rampage Brown have become somewhat legendary in NGW, while his teaming with the easily excitable, Kelvin Kayton as part of S.H.A.F.T. in BWR has been both funny and emotional in equal measure. Myers could, and frankly should, be one of the biggest names in British Wrestling, and it is my prediction that he will be one of the front-runners in terms of filling the void left by the stars of NXT UK.

4. Reese Ryan

Reese Ryan (pictured above), like the previously-mentioned Tyler Devlin, primarily operates out of Grimsby. PCW have been looking at signing him recently, this should hopefully get him some the attention his recent work deserves. He is incredibly versatile in terms of his character-work, starting out with a very basic ‘Teenage Sensation’ gimmick, then moving onto an emo gimmick, before moving onto his current character, that of a movie star. He has been able to make each and every one of these gimmicks highly entertaining. His in-ring work is not lacking either, recently participating in a singles match against Joe Hendry at a BWR show, arguably the best match of the night. Ryan is still a young guy, and has a long career ahead of him, certainly one to keep an eye out for.

5. ‘The English Psychopath’ Erin Jacobs

This man has the scariest set of eyes I think I have ever seen. His gimmick fits perfectly. Erin Jacobs is from the north-east, and has worked mostly for NORTH. The north-east is a real wrestling hub at the moment, with plenty of stars from the area. Some would find it impossible to find recognition for themselves in such a wrestling-saturated region, but Jacobs appears to have carved himself a place with his unique character. Personally, I would like to see him in a feud with Jimmy Havoc or Rory Coyle (who he is currently tagging with as part of The Sons of Ulaid), I think his character would mesh well against either of these men. He is another one to keep an eye out for in 2019 and beyond.

One to Watch 2019: British Wrestling Revolution

Borne from the ashes of the now defunct GWA, British Wrestling Revolution was formed by a small team of GWA alumni and fans last summer. They have held 12 shows since their creation, and have regularly sold out. Here is why they are the ones to watch in 2019.

The Roster

BWR have created a roster with a good mix of well-known British Indy wrestlers and home-grown rising stars. Jimmy Havoc, Jack Jester,Kay Lee Ray, and Kip Sabian are all regulars for the promotion, but they also feature the likes of Reese Ryan and Tyler Devlin, both local stars who have bags of in-ring potential. The tag team division is also excellent, with The Sons of Ulaid (Rory Coyle and Erin Jacobs), GBH (Robbie X, ‘Powerhouse’ Blake,and Kip Sabian), The Rawk ’n’  Cole Express (Scotty Rawk and Cole Quinzel), and S.H.A.F.T. (‘The Amazing’ Matt Myers and ‘The Incredible’ Kelvin Kayton) all routinely gracing the BWR ring.The promotion also has a sprinkling of British Wrestling royalty mixed in, with legends, Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch, both featuring on recent shows. They were also one of the first promotions in the UK to book PAC, following him parting ways with WWE. He is set to appear on the upcoming show, ‘Welcome to Wonderland’, on Friday 21st December.

The Matches

Over their short existence, BWR have put on some brilliant showcases. On their most recent show, ‘The Last Stand 2018’, which I was able to attend, there were several memorable bouts. The first one that I will cover was Reese Ryan w/ Will Kroos vs Joe Hendry. It started in true Joe Hendry-esque fashion, with a very funny cover of the theme from The Greatest Showman dissing Reese Ryan. The match was fairly exciting. Reese Ryan spent a good proportion of the end of the match trying to hit Hendry with a steel chair, after the referee had been knocked out. It ended with a spot reminiscent of the late Eddie Guerrero and Mr. Kennedy, with Hendry being framed, losing him the match by DQ. The other match I want to talk about is the main event from that night,Jimmy Havoc vs Tyler Devlin in a Championship Ladder match. It was arguably the perfect match for the typically bloodthirsty Grimsby crowd, with both men seemingly trying to one-up each other in terms of how dangerous a position they could put themselves in. There were two spots that were particularly memorable.The first caused most fans to hold their breaths, when Devlin dived from atop a ladder onto another ladder propped up between the ring and the guard rail, the ladder breaking in bone-tingling fashion. The second memorable spot was when Jimmy Havoc was thrown from a ladder onto another ladder that was wrapped in barbed wire, a spot that looked incredibly unsafe. There has been several other bouts that have featured on previous shows too, which, despite me being unable to witness all of  them first –hand,sound like they would have been very entertaining. A three-way match between Pete Dunne, Jimmy Havoc, and Joseph Conners, and Tyler Devlin vs current PCW Champion, Tel Banham in a cage match are just two that stick out.

The Potential

So, why should you look out for them in 2019? The year that they’ve had is very commendable, given that they have risen from nothing. Every show feels fresh and is rarely boring, so providing that they can continue this into the coming year, and protect the product from going stale, they will be absolutely fine. The main base for the promotion is in the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area. While operating in such a contained area may have once been a problem for promotions, the advent of streaming now means that promotions can gain nationwide recognition without having to travel. ICW are the perfect example of this, with the majority of their shows running out of a single venue. BWR look to be capitalizing upon the streaming market. They have recently said that they are waiting until they have built up an adequate video library first, so we can expect the service to go live at some point in early 2019. Also, there is a great amount of talent on their roster, with so many rising stars such as Tyler Devlin, Reese Ryan, Scotty Rawk, Cole Quinzel, Tom Weaver, and several others. Most of these could have the potential to help fill the gap left by the NXT UK stars and bring about a new era of British Wrestling.