In April, Blackcraft Cult tweeted, inviting fans to follow their new Instagram account. The clothing line, which is well known and has produced designs worn by famous pro wrestlers such as Marty Scurll, (who recently wore his Blackcraft collaboration on an episode of Being the Elite), wasn’t tweeting about new attire, however. It was tweeting about wrestling as a day later, the new Blackcraft Wrestling Twitter account made its debut, announcing that a new promotion was coming soon.
Not even a week after that initial announcement, the new Blackcraft Wrestling tweeted that Pittsburgh, PA would be the first city for the BCW invasion. More than that, the company announced the card was already set and the show, which was given the name, Burning Bridges, would be streaming live across the world. In order to facilitate that dream, BCW released special merchandise where all proceeds went to funding the first show. They also reached out to fans, an effort that was incredibly well-received by the loyal BC community.
https://twitter.com/BCWwrestling/status/989544513461944320
The talent announcements came in May. A day before tickets went on sale, BCW tweeted that native Pittsburghian, Britt Baker, would be taking on legend Saraya Knight for the first-time ever. In the coming days and weeks, they’d announce more top names including Pierre Carl Ouellet, Jimmy Havoc, Brody King, Andy Williams, Isla Dawn, Taya Valkyrie, Chris Dickinson, and Johnny Blackcraft (John Morrison, Johnny Mundo, et al). They would also announce a commentary team, Beez and Jonny Loquasto, the main event (Blackcraft vs King vs Havoc for the world title), a match for the tag team titles, and more.
The promotion has been running on all cylinders since day one and with Burning Bridges on the horizon, BCW is more than ready to share their creation with the world.
KTB vs Zicky Dice
KTB, otherwise known as Kyle the Beast, has been wrestling out of his native New Jersey, since 2013. In the past five years, he’s worked for National Wrestling Alliance, Game Changer Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, Monster Factory, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Absolute Intense Wrestling, and EVOLVE. He has won three titles, most recently in GCW where he held the heavyweight championship for 350 days.
A former punk rocker, the “Outlandish” Zicky Dice trained at the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy under the tutelage of Marek Brave and WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins. Formally the front man in Heart to Heart, Dice has only been wrestling for a few years but is already starting to make a name in his new career. He’s worked for IWA-Mid South, DREAMWAVE, FEST, AAW: Professional Wrestling Redefined, and recently did some training with Katsuryori Shibata and Scorpio Sky at the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo in Los Angeles.
Harlow O’Hara and Vipress vs Ashley Vox and Willow Nightingale
Trained by Robert Gibson of the Rock N’ Roll Express (Gibson and Ricky Morton) and hailing from Atlanta, Harlow O’Hara has only been wrestling for a few years but is someone who is well on her way to being a household name. She recently made her debut for World Women’s Revolution and has also wrestled for SHIMMER and IWA-MS as well as Battle Club Pro where she is the ICONS Champion, in her first reign. Her tag partner is the Vipress, who is also new to the scene. Vipress and O’Hara have tagged together as the two have very similar gimmicks focused on the demonic, both of which are fitting for Blackcraft.
Ashley Vox began her professional wrestling career in 2014, debuting for New Age Old Tyme Wrestling. She began to make a name for herself two years later as Oceanea in CHIKARA, where she has wrestled 31 matches in her career. In addition to her time in CHIKARA, Vox has wrestled for WWR, Beyond, RISE, Chaotic Wrestling (where she is a one-time women’s champion), Queens of Combat, PROGRESS and more. She’ll team with 24-year-old Willow Nightingale, who turned pro in 2015. Nightingale has wrestled for New York Wrestling Connection (where she is a two-time Starlet Champion, currently in her second reign), CZW, CHIKARA, GCW, WWR, Women Superstars Uncensored, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, RISE, Shine, QOC, SHIMMER and more.
Samantha Heights vs Isla Dawn vs Taya Valkyrie
A native of Ohio, the 29-year-old Samantha Heights was trained by Dave Crist of oVe (Dave and Jake Crist). She’s been wrestling since 2013 and in that time has worked for Rockstar Pro Wrestling, which is her home base, as well as all the top women’s promotions, Girl Fight, QOC, WSU, SHIMMER, RISE and more. 2017 saw her really break further into the scene with matches in AAW, Smash Wrestling, and International Wrestling Cartel to name a few. She is a former Vicious Outcast Wrestling Vixen’s Champion.
Just 24 years old, Isla Dawn has been wrestling since 2014. Counting Mikey Whiplash, Damian O’Connor and Tommy End (WWE’s Aleister Black) among her trainers, Dawn’s is a name that has started to become more and more known, especially over the past few years. Dawn began her career wrestling in her native Scotland for Scottish Wrestling Alliance and other UK promotions including International Pro Wrestling United Kingdom and Insane Championship Wrestling. By 2016, Dawn made her first excursion to Japan with World Wonder Ring Stardom where she competed in the 5Star Grand Prix against the likes of Tessa Blanchard, Kairi Hojo, and Momo Watanabe. Dawn has also worked for Pro Wrestling: EVE, CZW, PROGRESS, SHINE, and most prevalently, WWE, where she was featured as part of WWE UK and the 2018 Mae Young Classic. Dawn is one of the eight women competing to be the inaugural WWE UK Women’s Champion as well.
Wrestling since 2010, Taya Valkyrie is the veteran of this trio. Trained by Lance Storm, Valkyrie, who goes by the nickname, “La Were Loca,” is known mostly for her time in Lucha Libre AAA, where she has been wrestling since 2012 and Lucha Underground, which she has been a part of since its debut season in 2014. Valkyrie has also wrestled for NWA, The Crash, House of Hardcore, Stardom, Bar Wrestling, WrestleCircus, DEFY, RISE, AroLucha, and more. In 2017, Valkyrie began working for IMPACT Wrestling as well, where she is currently a fixture of the program. Valkyrie, a two-time AAA Reina de Reinas Champion, has had some big matches in her career against big opponents and is always up to the challenge.
Cortez Castro vs Kris Chambers
Having wrestled for 20 years, Cortez Castro, otherwise known as Ricky Reyes, has had an extensive career. The 40-year-old began wrestling in 1998 with several smaller promotions in the U.S. before an opportunity came to join NJPW in 2002. In addition to several other matches, Castro took part in the NJPW Toukon Series 2002, where he teamed with the American Dragon (WWE’s Daniel Bryan) and Havana Pitbulls teammate, Rocky Romero. The following year, Castro debuted for Consejo Mundial De Lucha Libre and the year after that, debuted for ROH, where alongside Romero he was one-half of the tag team champions, a title they held for 196 days. Throughout his career, Castro has worked for PWG, IMPACT, CZW, CHIKARA, NWA, IWA-MS, IWC, and most recently, LU. He has won 28 titles in his career, including for United Pro Wrestling Association and North American Wrestling Allegiance, where he is currently the cruiserweight champion for both promotions.
Debuting in 2001, the 33-year-old Kris Chambers was trained by Derek Wylde, Eric Young, and El Fuego. Not known too much beyond the local Canadian/Northeastern American circuit, Chambers has wrestled for Border City Wrestling, IWA-MS, DragonGate USA, IWC, ROH, and Superkick’D, which has been his primary home since 2015. He is currently their champion, now in the midst of a 371-day reign which is his second with the title. Chambers is also a former Great Canadian Wrestling Ontario Independent Champion.
Tag Team Championship: The Mane Event vs Youthanazia vs The Butcher and the Blade
The first-ever Blackcraft tag team champions will be crowned in a match that features a lot of talent and a lot of personality as The Mane Event (Ganon Jones Jr. and Duke Davis), Youthanazia (Josh Prohibition and Matt Cross) and The Butcher and the Blade (Pepper Parks and Andy Williams).
The newest of the tag teams, the Butcher and the Blade, began pairing together in 2017 at Pro Wrestling Rampage‘s Heroes and Villians 4. The makeshift duo won their first match and with it, the PWR tag team titles. From there, Parks and Williams, the guitarist from Anytime I Die, turned professional wrestler, began teaming on a semi-regular basis in PWR, Smash, Empire State Wrestling and Bar Wrestling. While Williams has only been wrestling a few years, Parks is a veteran of the scene. Trained by Les Thatcher, Parks debuted in 2000 with Heartland Wrestling Association. After calling HWA home for the first six years, Parks went on to wrestle for NWA, ROH, IWC, Smash, CZW, IMPACT, House of Hardcore, Global Force Wrestling, and four times for Extreme Championship Wrestling when it was run by WWE. He is a 13-time champion, including currently for ESW and as a one-half of the Smash tag team champion with Mike Rollins as The Well Oiled Machines.
The Mane Event is a fairly new team as well, with Davis and Jones only coming together in 2017. Davis is the fresher face of the two, having only been wrestling since 2016. Known for his time in Fight Society, Davis has also wrestled for IWC, Premier Championship Wrestling and Ryse Wrestling. Trained by Chris Russo, Jones began wrestling a few years prior to Davis, in 2013. He too wrestled for Fight Society, IWC and Ryse, as well as VOW. Jones is a six-time champion, including twice alongside Davis as Locked and Loaded.
Formed in 2002, Youthanazia has been a tag team on-and-off for 12 years. The duo has been inactive since 2014 but they are reuniting in Blackcraft to claim championship gold. Wrestling since 2001, the 39-year-old Prohibition is primarily known for his time in Absolute Intense Wrestling. In fact, this match will be just his third outside of the promotion since 2013. In addition to AIW, Prohibition has worked for CZW, IWC, NWA, IWA-MS, and PWG. He has won nine singles titles and another seven alongside Cross as Youthanazia. A pro since 1999, Cross is the more well known of the pair having wrestled outside of the Midwest-PA-NJ scene, and more globally, on a more frequent basis. In addition to CZW, IWC, NWA, IWA-MS, AAW, Cross also has on his resume, ROH, Smash, Pro Wrestling NOAH, CHIKARA, IPW:UK, The Crash, ICW, AAA, PROGRESS, IMPACT, WWE, and LU, where he performs as Son of Havoc. Cross has won 34 titles, including seven with Prohibition. His other championships have come in LU, where he is a former three-time Trios Champion, Smash, and IWA-MS to name a few.
Match to Join the Cult: Demarcus Kane vs G-Raver vs Stockade vs Matthew Justice
The honor of joining the Blackcraft Cult is on the line as Demarcus Kane, G-Raver, Stockade and Matthew Justice face off in a ladder match.
Trained by John Rambo, Demarcus Kane has been wrestling since 2007. He is best known for his time in MCW Pro Wrestling, VOW, World Xtreme Wrestling and CZW. In 2012, he also wrestled one match each, for both ROH and IMPACT in non-televised bouts. He is a nine-time champion.
Also pro since 2007, G-Raver enters this match having been trained by Mike Quackenbush and DJ Hyde. He’s wrestled for CZW, Renegade Wrestling Alliance, NWA, VOW, GCW, Fight Society and IWA-MS, among others. He has won 19 titles, including the VOW Anarchy Champion, which he is currently in the midst of a 356-day reign.
Hailing from New York, the 31-year-old Stockade, a trainee of Crusher Doogan and Mickey Shipwreck, has been wrestling since 2005. Beginning his career with NYWC, Stockade has also wrestled for American Championship Entertainment, WXW, NWA, MFPW, CZW and Beyond. He has won 18 titles in his career including for Tier 1, where he is currently the one-half of the tag team champions alongside Matt Tremont.
The final participant in this four-way is Matthew Justice, who began wrestling in 2006 and was a WWE developmental wrestler in 2010-11. In addition to WWE, where Justice wrestled three matches on Smackdown, RAW, and Superstars, Justice has worked for AIW, Fight Society, NWA, Championship Wrestling Experience, NYWC, Ryse, Beyond, EVOLVE, VOW, ROH, CWFH and HOH. He has won 10 titles in his career.
Pierre Carl Ouellet vs Chris Dickinson
At 50 years young, Pierre Carl Ouellet or PCO, has been wrestling off-and-on since 1987. And as recent fans of his will say about the guy who uses a battery to shock himself back to life mid-matches, the man is not human. To sum up quite a lengthy career, Ouellet first came to fame in 1993 where he wrestled for World Wrestling Federation as one-half of The Quebecers (Ouellet and Jacques). There, he was a three-time tag team champion. After wrestling hundreds of matches with the promotion, Ouellet joined rival World Championship Wrestling in 1996, where he won their hardcore championship. In 1998, Ouellet returned to WWE and after bouncing around several promotions, All Japan Pro Wrestling, IMPACT and NWA among them, he made his last appearance for WWE in 2008. In 2010, it had seemed Oullet was hanging up the boots and he did for about six years, only to return in 2016 and completely re-invent himself by 2018. This year has seen him work 40 matches, his most since 2008, at promotions including Black Label Pro, Major League Wrestling, AIW, Beyond, PWG and CHIKARA to name a few.
Chris Dickinson is a hard-hitting wrestler and while not as crazy as Oullet, certainly has the power and strength to go bell-to-bell with his opponent at Burning Bridges. The 31-year-old Dickinson has been wrestling since 2002 and lists among his trainers, Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat and Naomichi Marufuji, among others. A well-known name on the indy circuit, Dickinson has worked for AIW, JAPW, NWA, DragonGate USA, CZW, GCW, ROH, HOH, IPW:UK, HOPE Wrestling, PWG, WrestlePro, GFW, PROGRESS, CHIKARA and WWE at Wrestlemania Axxess. He is most known for his work in Beyond, World Wrestling Network and EVOLVE, where he is currently one-half of the promotion’s tag team champions, alongside Jaka as Catch Point. Overall, Dickinson has won nine titles in his career.
Saraya Knight vs Britt Baker
Relatively new to professional wrestling, the 27-year-old Britt Baker didn’t make her pro debut until August 2015. Still a student at Penn State University at the time, Baker was studying to become a healthcare professional when she discovered the world of independent wrestling. She started off with IWC while still in college and now, fresh off completing her degree in dental medicine, Britt Baker, DDS, is one of the most recognized names in women’s independent wrestling. She has worked for AIW, ROH, WSU, QOC, SHIMMER, WrestleCircus, RISE, PCW Ultra, Bar Wrestling and WWE, where she was used in a squash match against Nia Jax in 2016. Baker has won five titles in her short career, including the IWC Women’s Championship, where she is both the first and current champion, now in her second reign. Baker is also the current MFPW Grils and Remix Pro Fury champion. And she’ll be ALL IN in September.
Trained by Jimmy Ocean and husband, Ricky Knight, Saraya Knight, otherwise known as Sweet Saraya, has been dominating and revolutionizing women’s wrestling since she began her career in 1990. A 46-year-old promoter, trainer, and wrestler, Knight helps run World Association of Wrestling alongside her husband. She has two children, both of whom are professional wrestlers. Her daughter, WWE’s Paige, even took part in a match in the womb as according to wrestling lore, Knight was unknowingly seven months pregnant with Paige when she wrestled in a match. In her career, Knight has worked for all of the top women’s promotions with the exception of Stardom. Additionally, she’s wrestled for AAW, Southside Wrestling Entertainment, IPW:UK, WWN, IMPACT and more. She also runs her own promotion, Bellatrix Female Warriors. Knight has traveled the world in her career and has won 17 titles. She is incredibly well-respected among her peers, both male and female alike.
Blackcraft Championship: Jimmy Havoc vs Johnny Blackcraft vs Brody King
On a card loaded with top-level matches, Blackcraft has managed to put together a main event for its debut show, that is a main event anywhere in the world as Jimmy Havoc, Johnny Blackcraft and Brody King compete for the promotion’s top prize.
The 34-year-old Havoc has been quite the busy man. Over the past few days, he wrestled in the ROH International Cup, made his debut in Frontline Wrestling and is now about to fight to become the inaugural Blackcraft Wrestling champion. Not to mention, he’ll finally resolve his almost six-year long rivalry with Will Ospreay on Monday at PROGRESS. But before that, Havoc will be focused on this belt, which if he wins would be the 15th of his 14-year career. Havoc, a phenomenal deathmatch and technical wrestler, began his career in 2005. In 2009, he started working for IPW:UK, which was his primary home for the next three years. In 2012, Havoc was one of the early stars of the new PROGRESS Wrestling, and as many will say to this day, one of the men who helped build the company.
In addition to his matches in the UK, Havoc has also worked for CZW, where he is a former winner of the Tournament of Death, NWA, Big Japan Pro-Wrestling, IMPACT, Smash, Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Melbourne City Wrestling, MLW, EVOLVE, DEFY and even WWE, where he wrestled at Axxess last year. Havoc is the current Defiant Hardcore Champion, currently in a 255-day reign, but he is perhaps known for his even lengthier runs with the IPW:UK Championship, which he held for 770 days, and the PROGRESS Championship, which he held for 609 days and still holds the record as longest reigning champion, a mark likely not to be broken.
https://twitter.com/JimmyHavoc/status/1031743668493987840
Relatively new to wrestling having only wrestled his first match in 2015, the 31-year-old King has taken to the sport incredibly and has become a rising star as a result. King graduated from Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy, where he is the current champion dating back to 2017 and has worked for CWFH, PCW Ultra, DEFY, WrestleCircus, Bar Wrestling, MLW, SMASH, PWG, PROGRESS, The Crash, EVOLVE and more. 2018 has really been a breakout year for King, who has wrestled against some top-level opponents everywhere he’s been. That much will certainly be the case at Burning Bridges as he fights to win the second title of his career.
The third man in the triple threat is one who needs no introduction. Everyone has heard of Johnny Blackcraft. Well, perhaps not by that name. Blackcraft is, of course, John Morrison or Johnny Mundo to AAA and LU fans, or Johnny IMPACT to IMPACT Wrestling fans. As Shakespeare wrote, “a rose by any other name still smells as sweet.” Well, a wrestler by any other name, is still as much of a global star as Blackcraft is. The 38-year-old Blackcraft made his wrestling debut in 2002. In 2003, Blackcraft was a co-winner of WWE Tough Enough III, which granted him a contract with the promotion’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. It didn’t take long for Blackcraft to break out as that same year he wrestled nine matches for WWE. By 2006, he had fully joined the main roster, a place he would stay until parting ways with the promotion in 2011. While at WWE, Blackcraft won five tag team championships and four singles titles, the ECW Heavyweight Championship and the Intercontinental Championship three times.
After leaving WWE, Blackcraft wrestled sporadically for a few years before joining LU in its debut season. Now going by Johnny Mundo, Blackcraft began a fixture on the program and in AAA. In 2017, Mundo, now going by the name Johnny IMPACT, began his run in IMPACT Wrestling as well as in MLW, where he goes by his real name, John Hennigan. Blackcraft has won 23 titles, including the triple crown in LU (Champion, Trios Champion, Gift of the Gods) and the triple-crown in AAA, where he held two of the three at the same time (World Heavyweight, Latin America, World Cruiserweight).
