Impact Championship Wrestling (ICW New York) is back again this Friday night for a Return to the Concrete Jungle in New York City. ICW New York has been a presence in the NYC indie scene since 2001, but it really feels like the past year they’ve upped their game and become one of the most exciting promotions in the area. Like their last few events, this one airs live on IndependentWrestling.tv at 8pm EST.
Karissa Rivera vs. Tina San Antonio
Karissa Rivera has been in-demand for months now. In the last year she’s appeared for NXT, SmackDown, Ring of Honor and IMPACT Wrestling, and has even been backstage for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The second generation wrestler is only getting better and the New Jersey native is making her IWC New York debut on Friday night. She faces New York veteran Tina San Antonio, a 10-year veteran of New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) and Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) who has also seen action with Shine Wrestling.
KTB vs. Grim Reefer
Two veterans of the New York/New Jersey indie scene collide in what will be a hard-hitting contest. Kyle The Beast – aka KTB – has been battling over a decade in the squared circle, and he’s now a regular with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) where he’s become one of the toughest men in the sport. A frequent fighter with Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), Beyond Wrestling, as well as ICW New York, he was also recently in Japan with GCW and FREEDOMS, where he got to exercise his violence. He’s facing Grim Reefer, who’s a 20-year veteran of the New York indies. Surprisingly, although they’ve crossed paths in scrambles and multi-man matches in GCW, this is their first one-on-one encounter. Reefer has been a star with Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), NYWC, House of Glory, and much more over the course of his two decades in the ring, and now he finally faces “The Beast” one on one.
Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Ghost Shadow
It’s youth versus experience, as a second-generation wrestler laces up against another NY/NJ veteran. Brian Pillman Jr. has only been wrestling a few years, but he picked up the game quickly and is now a part of one of the top stables in pro wrestling, The Hart Foundation in Major League Wrestling (MLW), alongside Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr. He’s also been tearing up the indies on his own merit, and on Friday he’s facing a veteran of the area. Ghost Shadow was a star of the scene in the early 2000s, working with JAPW and ICW New York in their earliest incarnations, as well as working with Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). But in the mid-2000s, he left the business. He made what was thought to be a one-off return for GCW’s Tribute to Homicide this past summer, which lead to him returning to the industry, where he picked up a victory at ICW New York’s Kick In The Door 2 in September. Now he gets to show the up-and-coming stars what it’s like to step in the ring with a New Jersey legend.
Sanchez Open Challenge
Pinkie Sanchez hasn’t had a great year with ICW New York so far – he’s 0-4 in 2019. He’s looking to re-ignite the rest of 2019, first by reuniting with Team Pazuzu member Chris Dickinson in Beyond Wrestling, and now returning to ICW New York with an Open Challenge. Who will answer the call against a New York City vet?
Jimmy Lloyd w/ Hellen Vale vs. Joe Gacy
“The Different Boy” Jimmy Lloyd has become one of the most unheralded wrestlers in the US indies, as he’s really blossomed with GCW in the past year – his match against Joey Janela at his GCW Curtain Call last month was a real breakout performance. He’s also become a staple with ICW New York and on Friday he revisits an opponent from his last outing at Kick In the Door 2. He won a triple threat that night against Tony Deppen and his opponent on Friday, Joe Gacy. Joe Gacy recently signed a contract with EVOLVE Wrestling, but Gacy is a veteran of the rough and ready style Lloyd is accustomed to – Gacy is also the reigning and 3x CZW World Heavyweight Champion. Gacy still has lots to prove and taking out the young star in Lloyd will be top of his list this weekend.
Nick Gage & Matt Tremont vs. The Powers of Pain (Warlord & Barbarian)
A colossal match-up featuring two of the most violent men of the modern era against two beasts from the 1980s and 1990s. Former GCW and CZW World Champion Matt Tremont teams up with GCW World Champion Nick Gage to form a tandem that are guaranteed to spill blood – their own and their opponents. They team up to take on WWE and WCW Legends The Powers of Pain, Warlord and The Barbarian. From 1988 to 1992, they terrorized the WWF after a two year stint with NWA Mid Atlantic, feuding with the likes of Demolition, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers and more. In the mid-90s, they headed to WCW, where they became the Super Assassins. They’ve been back in action more regularly the past five years or so, and on Friday the two brutes face off against two madmen.
One Last Time: Teddy Hart vs. Homicide
For 15 years, Teddy Hart and Homicide have been feuding, primarily as a part of the New Jersey/New York indie scene they both helped innovate in the early 2000s. They first locked horns in JAPW in 2004, and continued to fight for much of the 2000s in Jersey. While they’ve shared a ring a few times since they left JAPW in the late 2000s, this will mark their first one-on-one encounter since September 2004 – they’ve all been tag matches, triple threats, four ways, etc. since. Two men that pioneered an indie scene, get ready to face off for one last time.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. ICW Return to the Concrete Jungle will be airing live on IndieWrestling.tv.
