Indie Watch is our regular series that looks at all of the amazing talents working the independent circuits around the world. Some are veterans revitalizing their careers, some are indie prospects hitting their peaks, while others are names to be on the watch for! This edition takes a look at one of many phenomenal talents that have been produced by the Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum, The Sam Barbour Experience.
When it comes to the Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum (GPWA), their list of up and coming talent is seemingly never-ending. From established names around the Scottish wrestling scene such as “The Fresh Prince of Drumyone Square” Ravie Davie, the reigning Scottish Wrestling Alliance (SWA) Scottish X Champion Leyton Buzzard, and the newly-crowned Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) Tag Team Champions The Purge (Krobar and Stevie James) to the names who are just starting to get their names out there, such as Levi Justice, Ross Hauser, and Charlie Vyce, the GPWA has been the starting point for many of the young stars you see today. However, there aren’t many stars made quite like The Sam Barbour Experience.
Going by the moniker of The Most Handsome Man in Scottish Entertainment, it didn’t take too long for SBX to venture out of Scotland, with an unsuccessful challenge at Shady Nattrass‘ Target Wrestling High Octane Division Championship at a show in Cumbria, England not long after his debut. Early on in his career, Sam would be in a team known as The Handsome Man’s Club alongside fellow GPWA graduate CS Rose, a team who would have the opportunity to battle The Coffey Brothers (Joe Coffey and Mark Coffey) in August 2016.
The HMC leader would be a regular fixture on GPWA events, although he would unfortunately be on the losing end for the majority of the time, with losses to the likes of Kenny Williams, Jack Jester, and the late Lionheart. However, he made his presence felt in May 2017 as he entered the first annual Asylum Invitational Tournament (now known as the Drew Galloway Invitational Tournament), where he made it all the way to the finals after seeing off Dylan Angel, Kai Williams-King, and Kieran McColm (now Kieran Kelly) en-route to the finals. Although he would lose to Aaron Echo in the finals, this was the first big test for The Sam Barbour Experience, and it’s one that he didn’t take lightly. From that day forward, everyone was talking about the handsome lad.
Over in Pro Wrestling Elite (PWE), Barbour would be involved in the rivalry between The Asylum Originals and The Asylum Elite, which saw he, Ravie Davie, Kez Evans, Kyle Khaos, and recent Ring of Honor (ROH) debutant Molly Spartan victorious over the elite squad of Austin Osiris, Irving Garrett, Jamie Winters, and The Purge in the final match of the story on night one of the sixth anniversary weekend. Following this, Sam would begin to become noticed a whole lot more, which resulted in a few extra appearances for ICW, beginning when he entered the 2018 Square Go! Match.
Later on in 2018, the leader of The Handsome Man’s Club would debut for Main Event Wrestling (MEW) down in England, and also had a showcase performance against The Filthy Generation‘s Lewis Girvan on night one of Shug’s Hoose Party 5. That match remains one of the best in recent ICW history, and opened the flood gates for what 2019 had to offer. This year alone has seen SBX debut for WrestleZone (WZ), HOPE Wrestling, and Discovery Wrestling (DW), challenging for both the WZ Tri-Counties Championship and the SWA Scottish X Championship. In addition, he also replaced the injured RUDO Lightning against Ravie Davie at Shug’s Hoose Party 6 this past July, and has since become a main part of ICW’s new GONZO brand.
https://www.facebook.com/TheSamBarbourExperience/videos/2112526948986771/
It’s been quite the career thus far for The Sam Barbour Experience, but he’s only just getting starting. Things can only go up for SBX going forward, but as for now, just relax.
Check out our full list of previous Indie Watches, showcasing emerging talent from around the world!
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.
