Back in October, one of the breakout stars of 2019, AJ Gray, revealed that he was working alongside Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) for an event called For The Culture as part of The Collective during WrestleMania week in Tampa this April. For The Culture is a very special showcase of multiple wrestlers of color, from legends to rookies, and is being curated by Gray himself. For The Culture is happening Friday, April 3, at The Cuban Club in Ybor City, Florida. Here’s a quick rundown of the names revealed in the past few weeks.
AJ Gray
AJ Gray has been tearing up the East Coast for much of 2019, particularly in the Midwest with Paradigm Pro Wrestling (PPW), Black Label Pro (BLP), and Glory Pro. In a huge year for him gold-wise, he briefly held the GCW World Championship (ending Nick Gage’s 722-day reign as champ), held the PPW Heavyweight title over 390-days, and is the reigning BLP Midwest Champion and Glory Pro Crown of Glory Champion.
2 Cold Scorpio
The first name announced is one of the most unheralded pioneers of modern US indie style and one of the most exciting aerialists of the past 30 years. 2 Cold Scorpio was a mainstay in ECW (where he’s a 4x ECW World Television Champion) and worked for WWE in the 1990s (as Flash Funk), but it was his tours in Japan – with NJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH respectively – that truly showed what a visionary he was when it came to using his pure athleticism in motion. A former Young Lion, he joined the NJPW Dojo in the early 90s after being recommended by Vader. He competed in three consecutive NJPW Top of the Super Juniors (the precursor to the Best of Super Juniors), in 1991, 1992, and 1993. He’s still active, competing for indie promotions around the world since his last run with NOAH in 2006.
Tasha Steelz
One of the indie scene’s most coveted young stars, Tasha Steelz had a WWE tryout back in December of 2018, and in 2019 worked special events for Ring of Honor and IMPACT Wrestling. She even spent some time on the road with WWE/NXT this past fall. A 4-year pro, the New Jersey native has been a regular with the likes of Beyond Wrestling, Women’s Wrestling Revolution (WWR), Chaotic Wrestling, RISE Wrestling, and Battle Club Pro.
Sugar Dunkerton
A 17-year veteran of the international indies, Georgia’s Sugar Dunkerton was groomed with runs in Beyond Wrestling, CHIKARA, IWA Mid South, Freelance Wrestling, and Georgia’s own Anarchy Wrestling (to name a few). For the past few years, Suge D has been a regular star on the UK/BritWres scene, where he’s been fighting for Tidal Championship Wrestling (TCW), PROGRESS Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling (PCW), Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling, IPW, RevPro, and much more.
Flip Bros (Air Wolf & Angel Dorado)
These two both exploded in 2019 as two very promising young prospects in the US indie scene. Air Wolf is only 20-years old and has already made his presence known in Major League Wrestling (MLW), as well as multiple top indies in the US like AAW, Glory Pro, CHIKARA, and more, while Angel Dorado is just now breaking into more territory (both come from Minnesota), with the likes of AAW, Glory Pro, and others. They call Minnesota’s F1RST Wrestling as their home promotion.
The Rascalz have three representatives in For The Culture, beginning with Dezmond Xavier. The IMPACT Wrestling star continues to shine on the indies as well as IMPACT, usually in tandem with Zachary Wentz, with whom Xavier has won multiple straps – 2x CZW World Tag Team Champions, AAW Tag Team Champions, Wrestling Revolver Tag Team Champions, and even Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) Tag Team Champions in England. The duo is the reigning Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) Tag Team Champions, approaching 630 days. But Xavier is no slouch as a singles wrestler – he won the 2017 Super X Cup in IMPACT Wrestling.
The second Rascal on the card is Trey Miguel, another IMPACT Wrestling star. Miguel is an 11-year veteran of the Midwest scene, working for the likes of Rockstar Pro, Wrestling Revolver, IWA Mid South, Beyond Wrestling, and more before breaking out with IMPACT.
While he’s not part of the Rascalz’ trio with IMPACT Wrestling, out in the indies, Myron Reed is the fourth Rascal. Now entering his fifth year as a pro, Reed has emerged as one of the top prospects in the US indie scene, collecting tag team gold in AAW, Rockstar Pro, Glory Pro, and IWA Mid South. He’s also a regular with MLW, part of the faction INJUSTICE, where he recently won the MLW World Middleweight Championship.
Treehouse Lee is a regular of the Florida indie scene, working for the likes of FEST Wrestling, American Combat Wrestling (ACW), and more. He made his GCW debut on December 26 at their Christmas special event, Jimmy All The Way, where he won a 6-man scramble, and now returns in April at For The Culture.
Another talent destined to explode in 2020, Christian Casanova started out in the Northeast with the likes of Northeastern Wrestling (NEW), New England Championship Wrestling (NECW), and Chaotic Wrestling. This past year, he’s broken out to a lot more eyes, as a regular with Beyond Wrestling during the first two seasons of Uncharted Territory. Keep your eyes on this man – this is going to be his year.
Yet another top prospect at For The Culture who is definitely going to bust out in 2020, Chris Bey is in high demand around the US. A West Coast star with the likes of Future Stars of Wrestling (FSW), Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, Bar Wrestling and others. And the majors are paying attention now – he’s wrestled several times on IMPACT Wrestling, worked a TV taping of Ring of Honor, and made his WWE debut on an October 2019 episode of 205 Live. The best part? He’s only 23-years old. This man has all the potential to be a franchise player with anyone who ultimately signs him.
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.
