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 looks at a Southern indie star who has moved up to the ROH Dojo and the Mid-Atlantic area to become a force to be reckoned with, in “The Big Bad Kaiju” O’Shay Edwards.
In the US indies, more often than not it is dominated by the smaller athletic specimens and we see fewer and fewer “big men” who previously dominated pro wrestling from the 1970s into the 2000s. But in Maryland, there’s one man who has proven that power and domination is still alive and well, and that’s the 6’3″, 280 lb. “Big Bad Kaiju” known as “All Day” O’Shay Edwards, and his star is set to shine sooner than later.
Originally from Rex, Georgia, O’Shay Edwards was trained by legendary tag team champion Robert Gibson of the Rock N’ Roll Express at his All Pro Championship Wrestling Academy in Douglasville, Georgia, starting in 2015. Learning under the NWA Legend, Edwards soon found himself working in the Southern indies, such as Alabama’s Pro South Wrestling (PSW).
In 2017, he began to immerse himself in the vibrant Georgia indie scene, including Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment (AWE), Southern Fried Championship Wrestling (SFCW), Platinum Championship Wrestling (PCW), and Universal Independent Wrestling (UIW). He also became a regular in Mississippi with Pro Wrestling EGO, where he won the EGO Styles Championship that December. In May of 2018, he became a dual champion in EGO, winning the EGO Pride Championship as well.
In 2019, the big man began to expand beyond the regional network moving into other territories like the Mid-Atlantic area with Carolina Wrestling Federation (CWF) Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest with Indiana’s Pro Wrestling Freedom, while continuing to cement his statement as one of the men to watch in the Southern scene, adding promotions like ACTION Wrestling, Southern Underground Pro (SUP), and Southern Honor Wrestling (SHW).
In 2019, he made a big move, leaving Atlanta, Georgia to head up to the Maryland area, where he joined the new ROH Dojo. While he’s not signed to Ring of Honor, he works in ROH’s developmental system and made his ROH debut at Future of Honor 3 in December. “When I moved up here from Atlanta, (Robert Gibson) was just like, ‘Hey man, just don’t embarrass me’, and I was like, ‘Alright, we’ll see what we can do,'” Edwards told Post Wrestling’s Andrew Thompson earlier this year. “But I came up here through the DMV or I call it the Grapitol region because I’m in the Ring of Honor developmental system. So I train there with Ring of Honor.”
Throughout 2019, Edwards continued to dominate in the South with ACTION Wrestling and SUP and entered his first Scenic City Invitational Tournament in Tennessee, making the finals before losing to Daniel Makabe. But from his new home base, he began to find new places to compete, such as MCW Pro in Maryland, Indiana’s Black Label Pro, Illinois’ Glory Pro, New Jersey’s Pizza Party Wrestling, and even in Beyond Wrestling, debuting on Uncharted Territory in the second season as part of the Discovery Gauntlet in a hard-fought defeat to Matt Makowski.
In May of 2019, he debuted on the inaugural card for Prime Time Pro Wrestling (PTPW), a new promotion based out of Washington, DC, competing in the opening match, where he disposed of 11 other wrestlers to win the opening battle royal. Since then, Edwards has become the Alpha Male of the DC promotion, winning the PTPW Championship last November and holding it now for over 240-days.
O’Shay Edwards is closing in on his sixth year in the business and with a resume that has seen him compete from the South to the North alongside the Eastern seaboard, it’s only a matter of time before the ROH Dojo prospect breaks out even further into the US indies, and possibly even with ROH itself.
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.
