I thought it would be appropriate, seeing as though we're coming up to a pretty big month in Scottish wrestling, that I'd write a short wee thing about a promotion that I hold pretty close to my heart. That promotion is Scottish Wrestling Alliance and I can honestly say it's one of my absolute favorites, in terms of providing a world class standard of wrestling, as well as being able to reach out to the younger audience. Why does SWA hold a special place in my heart? Well it's simple. On the 12th of October 2013, I attended my first ever Scottish wrestling show. That show was SWA Zero1 Scotland: Battlezone in the Concert Hall in Motherwell. At this point, I hadn't heard of ICW or anything like that, but if I hadn't went to this show in particular, I doubt I ever would have. The thing that drew me and my mates to this was the inclusion of former WWE superstar, Ultimo Dragon. That was the main reason we went, paying a tenner to go see a guy we used to watch on the telly as weans doing his thing.
When we got there, however, we got hit with some of the best stuff we had seen in a long time. From start to finish, culminating in the over the top rope Battlezone itself, the show was incredible. If ever there was a way to get us hooked on Scottish Wrestling, this was it, and we all quickly found ourselves captivated by every single match on the card. Our first taste of Joe Coffey (terrible joke in there somewhere) was the opener of the night, when we saw him overcome Rampage Brown in an absolute belter of a heavyweight battle, before the hometown lass, Fiona Fraser, took on Viper. Fraser's home support would be left gutted though, as it was Viper who picked up the win. The first half main event was what we had been waiting for, as Ultimo Dragon made his Scottish debut, teaming with Solar and Tornado to take on Mark Coffey, Lewis Girvan and Christopher Saynt. The match was chaotic from start to finish, showcasing everyone at the top of their games, and in the end, the luchadors game effort would be to no avail, as Lewis Girvan pinned Solar to pick up the win. This match proved that the up-and-comers can more than mix it with the established legends, and it left the crowd in anticipation for the second half. With that in mind, the half time break was well appreciated, as the second half kicked off with SWA Heavyweight Champion, Mikey Whiplash defending the title against Jack Gallagher and Jackie Polo. Despite the fact it was my first time, I got the point. Whiplash was a bad bastard, Polo sang his own entrance music, and Gallagher was the most widely loved by the SWA faithful. With chants of "Ginge" ringing through the concert hall, it seemed as though Gallagher might claim the belt, but it wasn't to be, as Whiplash used Polo's polo hammer on Gallagher to retain his title. SWA co-owner John Graham came out to announce that the winner of the Battlezone would face Whiplash inside a steel cage for the title come the next Motherwell show, but I'll get to that in a bit... Before the big event kicked off, we had a wee performance from a now all too familiar face, Lost in Audio, fronted by the one and only... Joe Hendry!.. (LOCAL HERO!) Being the first entrant in the match, Jackie Polo would attack Joe from behind and make his way to the ring, only to be eliminated from the match by Hendry himself later on. In the end, it came down to Jack Gallagher and the two men who started the night, Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown. After Rampage eliminated Ginge, it was down to the two who kicked us off, and after a back and forth, Joe Coffey emerged victorious. Afterwards, we couldn't believe we had just witnessed such a cracking night of wrestling... doon the auld Concert Hall. Shortly afterwards, we came across ICW, and from then on, Scottish wrestling took precedence over anything we watched on the telly.
Then came the 5th of April 2014, the return of SWA to Motherwell. The 10 year anniversary of the promotion, and it lived up to the heights set by Battlezone, and possibly even overtook it a bit. The night kicked off with Grado being the sole survivor in the Clan Wars elimination match, earning himself a title shot for an SWA championship in the future. With the party in full swing, we moved on to Rampage Brown getting a measure of revenge against the Coffey family for Joe's defeat of him at Battlezone, by picking up the win against his brother Mark. The tag team championships were successfully defended by The Forgotten, who defeated Britain's Most Wanted (Damien O'Connor and Scott Renwick). Then we had a high-paced cracker between Lewis Girvan and Kenny Williams, with Girvan coming out on top, before the most popular guy in building, Jack Gallagher, picked up a game win over Robbie Solar. Carrying on their rivalry, Jackie Polo put his Laird of the Ring Championship on the line against Joe Hendry (No daein it this time). In the end, the place erupted as Hendry, to the surprise of the crowd, managed to pick up the win, and became the new Laird of the Ring Champion. Before the stellar main event, we were treated the women doing what they do best, knocking the living shit out of each other, in what was the first Women's Clan Wars Elimination match, in which Viper managed to become the sole survivor. To end the show, and after a long struggle to assemble the cage, it was time for the main event... Mikey Whiplash defending the SWA Heavyweight Championship against the Battlezone winner, Joe Coffey, inside a steel cage. I'm known for being somewhat of an exaggerator, but this was the match of the year, and after an absolute battle, which saw Coffey capture the title by escaping the cage, everyone was on their feet to show respect to Mikey Whiplash, who looked to be fifty shades of gubbed afterwards. A deserved standing ovation, as SWA co-owner John Graham, who special refereed the match, attacked him afterwards. It was a special match to watch though, and both guys left absolutely everything in that ring (wrestling cliche alert).
It will be a packed few months for SWA, this Saturday coming, they have a show at the Cambuslang Institute, before going to the Beith Community Centre on Sunday. Next month, on the 18th of October, they return to Motherwell yet again for the 2014 Battlezone, and it's safe to say that'll be a fantastic night. The night before that, they go to the Pearce Institute in Govan, for The Road to Battlezone! and on the 24th, they have a show in Paisley's Lagoon Leisure Centre - Aftermath! Then in November, they have shows at Ardrossan Community Centre (7th) and at Link Community Centre, Cumbernauld (14th). Based on the matches that have been announced so far, the standout shows look to be Battlezone, where Joe Coffey defends the Heavyweight title against Doug Williams, formerly of TNA, and Mikey Whiplash takes on Jack Gallagher in a 2 out of 3 falls match. The other standout is Aftermath! in Paisley, that only last night had Mikey Whiplash vs Tommy End added to it, as well as another dream match between Noam Dar and Lewis Girvan, and Joe Coffey taking on Dave Mastiff. The thing that catches my attention about that show is, I'm a sucker for a bargain, and for anyone who goes to Battlezone, we need simply take our ticket stub to Aftermath, and we'll get in HALF PRICE! Absolute steal for the matches that have already been announced, with even more still to come! The only way is up for this promotion, and I hope to be still jaunting down Motherwell Concert Hall to watch them for the foreseeable future. Fun for all the family. If you haven't been to one of their shows yet, rectify that immediately.
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Follow them on Twitter @swaonline for updates.