Impact Championship Wrestling (ICW New York) returns this Friday with a huge card featuring one of the most insane main events on the planet. One of New York’s longest running indie promotions, ICW New York has been running shows in New York City since 2001 and this Friday, the event will stream live on IndependentWrestling.tv (formerly Powerbomb).
Jungle Boy vs Azrieal
Jungle Boy has gone from West Coast prospect to one of the most exciting new stars of 2019, thanks to his debut with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) last year. Now he’s signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and making more frequent trips to the East Coast than ever. The emerging high flyer will face a New York City indie legend in 17-year veteran Azrieal, best remembered by some for his early 2000s run in the Special K faction as Angel Dust (alongside Joey Mercury, Slim J, and others). He also made a name for himself in Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) and Full Impact Pro (FIP), and had a run with Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) from 2008 through 2014. The former 4x JAPW Light Heavyweight Champion and 2x CZW World Tag Team Champion will be out to prove to the 21-year old West Coast thriller that he’s still got some magic left inside him.
Sanchez vs. Facade vs. KTB vs. Eli Everfly
Another New York City indie veteran is Pinkie Sanchez, who started out with JAPW in 2004 and went on to a lengthy career with CHIKARA, CZW, Beyond Wrestling, and GCW. He’s taken a darker turn this past couple of years and on Friday he’s entering a four way battle with some very different beasts. Facade was a Midwest indie star on the rise who seemingly got lost in the shuffle a few years back, but he’s made a strong resurgence of late, working with DDT Pro in Japan and starting to appear regularly with Ring of Honor. A 3x IWC Super Indy Champion with his home promotion International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) in Pennsylvania, Facade will be looking to firmly cement his legacy in 2019. Kyle The Beast (aka KTB) has been a monster unleashed since he debuted a few years ago in Jersey Championship Wrestling (now GCW), where he continues to deliver punishment after punishment. A former GCW World Champion, KTB also stalks new prey in Beyond Wrestling, Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), EVOLVE and IWA Mid South, to name a few, and he’ll be a hungry beast on Friday. Another West Coast star who exploded last year is Eli Everfly, a product of the Santino Bros. school who made a name for himself with Bar Wrestling, PCW ULTRA, and other great West Coast promotions. The enigmatic aerialist is a daredevil in the ring and he’ll need that air advantage against some of these more ground based brawlers.
Grim Reefer vs. Tony Deppen
Grim Reefer is a 20-year veteran of the New York indie scene and beyond. A student of Homicide, he began an early star with CZW in 1999, as well as home turf areas like NYWC and JAPW. Since 2007, he’s been a staple with New York’s Fight The World (FTW) Wrestling, where he’s a 3x FTW World Champion and 5x FTW Gen-X Champion, and he’s been slowly working more with GCW of late. He’s facing another emerging star of the sport in Pennsylvania’s Tony Deppen. Starting out in 2013, he started working with CZW in 2015, before breaking out last year with Beyond Wrestling, CHIKARA, and GCW. Another old school vs youth movement match up, this should be a real fight.
Maria Manic vs. Penelope Ford
A tag team divided in this match, as indie tag team Ruthless Ambition faces off against each other in singles action. These are two of the toughest women in the game right now, as “The Maneater” Maria Manic is one of the most wildly unpredictable savages in the ring today. She’ll be facing off against one of AEW’s new women’s division roster members in “The Bad Girl” Penelope Ford. Will their tag team alliance soften the blows or will each be looking to prove they’re the Alpha in Ruthless Ambition?
Jimmy Lloyd vs. Teddy Hart
A small rivalry has been building between indie pioneer Teddy Hart and the new Prince of American Hardcore Jimmy Lloyd the past year. At GCW Nick Gage Fight Club 2 last January, Hart defeated Jimmy Lloyd (as well as Miedo Extremo and Sanchez) in a fatal four way and then the same day teamed with fellow Hart Foundation member Brian Pillman Jr. to defeat Lloyd and his tag partner Anthony Bennett at the CZW Dojo Wars Supershow. Lloyd finally gets the chance to go one on one with the Major League Wrestling (MLW) Middleweight and Tag Team Champion on Friday with a chance to prove that another year under his belt has prepared to take down the new King of Harts.
Independent Wrestling Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Chris Dickinson
CHIKARA and Beyond star Orange Cassidy, The Clown Prince of Lethargy, shocked the indie wrestling world last December when he ended “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams‘ 309-day reign as the Independent Wrestling Champion. The rather melancholy grappler will be facing someone his exact opposite intensity wise when he faces off against EVOLVE star Chris Dickinson in his latest title defense. Cassidy retained against a similar violent big man, Eddie Kingston, in St. Louis Anarchy last month, but Dickinson has more athleticism to go with his unbridled rage. Should be a great contrast of styles.
Nick Gage vs. Scott Steiner
A dream match no one knew they wanted and now can’t stop thinking about. The undeniable King of American Hardcore, Nick “F**king” Gage, a 4x CZW World Heavyweight Champion and the current reigning 400+ day GCW World Champion, will bring his patented lethal brutality to ICW New York on Friday to face an absolute beast and legend of the past 30 years in “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner. A 6x WCW World Tag Team Champion, 2x WWE World Tag Team Champion, 2x IWGP Tag Team Champion and NWA World Tag Team Champion with his brother Rick Steiner, he’s also a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion, WCW United States Champion, and 2x WCW World Television Champion in his own right. Don’t let his muscles fool you – he was also a top-ranked collegiate wrestler with the University of Michigan and has one of the most volatile tempers in the industry. This will be a fight in the truest sense of the word and has the potential to be one of the most unpredictable matches of the year.
