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! In this edition, we look at one of the fastest rising women’s wrestlers on the U.S. scene, “Megasus” Megan Bayne.
If you’ve been following Beyond Wrestling in 2021, particularly their weekly series Uncharted Territory on IndependentWrestling.tv (IWTV), you’ve become very familiar with “The Greek Goddess” who has been a dominant part of this current season. “Megasus” Megan Bayne has been an absolute force of nature in 2021, in a year that has seen her star rise exponentially, including multiple appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation. But the 23-year old’s “overnight success” is actually the pay-off from four years of hard work and a journey that began back in 2017.
Originally trained by Damian Adams, she debuted in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in 2017, originally competing as Meg and then Meg Monroe. A year later, as Megan Doheny, she made her IWA Mid-South debut in a match against Amazing Maria. She showed immediate potential and became a top prospect in OVW, and regularly competed for the OVW Women’s Championship. In 2019, she transitioned into Megan Bayne and immediately began to see dividends. She won the Failure to Conform (FTC) Women’s Championship in Ohio in early 2019, defending against the likes of Madison Rayne, Jillian Hall, and Scarlett Bourdeaux, and in June, finally captured the OVW Women’s title.
She held the belt for 150-days, defending it against such names as Madison Rayne and Thunderkitty, before losing it to Max The Impaler in October. In February of 2020, she made her debut for IMPACT Wrestling, appearing on the IMPACT+ special, IMPACT/OVW Outbreak, a co-joined production of IMPACT and OVW, losing in a four-way match to Jessica Havok, that also featured Jordynne Grace and Kiera Hogan. Just as Megan Bayne had hit a major promotion’s attention, the Covid-19 pandemic erupted and shut down much of indie wrestling. It would be Megan Bayne’s last match for over a year.
Her return match couldn’t have been bigger. From her last match in 2020 being with IMPACT, her first match back in 2021 was against Big Swole on AEW Dark. From there, she joined the Beyondverse, debuting for Women’s Wrestling Revolution – rebranded as WWR+ – in a big win over Ashley D’Ambroise. She had two more AEW appearances – in matches against Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose – before returning to WWR+ for another big win over Riley Shepard. She beat Davienne a month later, before winning the 2021 ECWA Women’s Super 8 tournament, besting Gabby Ortiz, Damaris Dawkins, and then D’Ambroise in the finals.
Bayne debuted with Beyond Wrestling this past August, taking out Masha Slamovich, which started a monstrous winning streak that has seen her score wins over Erica Leigh, Delmi Exo (of the Sea Stars), Willow Nightingale, Little Mean Kathleen, Ashley Vox, Max The Impaler, Masha Slamovich (in the rematch), Kaia McKenna, and, most recently, IMPACT’s Tasha Steelz, going to 13-0 in Beyond/WWR+. She’s also competed for Northeast Wrestling (NEW) in competitive encounters against AEW’s Tay Conti and indie veteran Tina San Antonio. This past September, she added more gold, defeating Christina Marie to become the new (and reigning) Immortal Championship Wrestling (ICW) Women’s Champion in New York City.
With a unique and mesmerizing entrance, Megan Bayne has captivated the U.S. indie scene in 2021 and already shows a polish that few wrestlers under 25 possess. Keep your eyes on her continued ascension in Beyond Wrestling, as it’s only a matter of time before she explodes nationally in other promotions around the U.S. and the world.
Main Photo: Sadiel Ruiz / Speedy Photo (AEW)
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.
