Scottish Championship Wrestling kicked off 2004 with their return to Greenock’s Town hall before an enthusiastic crowd of over 150 fans. Coming off the back of an extremely popular event in Glasgow in November, perhaps expectations were set too high by many of what could happen. But that said, even a few late changes to the card couldn’t put a downer on the fans enthusiasm, as they were up for the event all evening long.

The show opened with an angle between one of the contenders in the main event for the No.1 Contendership to the SCW Heavyweight Title and the SCW owner, Kenny Morrison. Sabotage complained about having to go through the number 1 contender match as he felt he was the rightful winner of the Caledonian Skirmish (Royal Rumble) in November. Kenny Morrison disagreed and the monster that is Sabotage flattened him.

Match 1 was one of the Semi-Final matches of the SCW King of Scotland Championship, with Chris Charizma, accompanied by his manager, Draevyn, taking on the very popular Eric Canyon. Charizma plays a cocky character, who thinks he is God’s gift to women, but the women in the SCW audience seemed to disagree and backed Eric Canyon. The match itself was a very good technical tussle, with Canyon coming out as the winner.

The second match was the second of the semi-finals, with ‘The Pigman’ Andy Hogg taking on Assassin. This was one of my choices for match of the night, not because it was the best wrestling match, but because it was probably the most entertaining match. If you haven’t had the chance to see the ‘Pigman’ wrestle, I’d advise you to try to see him soon as this guy is so damn entertaining. Assassin too, is a very intriguing wrestler, who offers a lot in the ring. The Pigman emerged to the finals of the King of Scotland Title Tournament with a cheap win, following interference from Sabotage, who shoved Assassin from the top rope.

Match 3 was a battle between two SCW trainees, Billy Grange and Pete ‘The Ref’ O’Neill. Grange’s gimmick comes a close second, only to the ‘Pigman’ in the Best Gimmick Department. Grange left as the winner following a ref bump, only for Pete ‘The Ref’ O’Neill to count his own pin. Another official hit the ring and refused to allow O’Neill’s pin. Billy Grange then rolled him up for he pin.

Match 4 was a good, but somewhat confusing, 4 Way Tag-Team Warfare match, with the Uncrowned SCW Tag-Titles at stake. The match had a ruling that it could end by pinfall, submission or by throwing your opponent over the top rope. But I seemed to find that the Over the Top Rope rule was broken on at least one occasion, and nothing was made of it. I’ve been told though, that at no point did the person in question actually go over the top rope. Anyway, the match itself lasted around 30 minutes plus, and had several good spots.

The teams in the match were Total Annihilation (Hatred and Adam Shane), The Natrass Boys (J and XL), the Avery’s, and Karl Harker and Cameron Knight. The Natrass Boys were ruled the winners by reverse decision after Total Annihilation had pinned one of the Natrass Boys only for Kenny Morrison to step in and say that one of the Total Annihilation team had gone over the top rope. I may have made a mistake somewhere in this, but this is correct to the best of my knowledge.

Match 5 was the Final of the King of Scotland Tournament with Eric Canyon going up against Andy Hogg. Again, Hogg’s antics in this match are what is rapidly making him one of my favourite SCW stars. Hogg came out as the winner, but before leaving, felt it necessary to show his rear end to the crowd. Nice.

After the Intermission, it was time for the Fly the Flag Ladder match, with the SCW Young Lions Title at stake. Saltire was unable to make it to the show, so it was made into a 4-Way match. The way to win was to fly your specific country’s flag on top of the ladder. There were several good spots in this match with either all or almost all the participants (Aidan Corrigan, Flight, CJ Hunter & C4 ) taking a bump on the ladder. There was also a Superplex from the ladder which garnered a big ovation. In the end CJ Hunter flew the flag and was about to be crowned SCW Young Lions champ when Kenny Morrison was attacked by someone and the title was stolen as a chase begun. What happened?…Who knows?

Match 7 saw Majik go up against ‘Dangerous’ Danny Debris in a straight wrestling match. Majik, once again showed why he has been a part of WWE Development Camps and is the current NWA-UK Junior Heavyweight Champion, in his performance in his match. Majik came out on top. Both men shook hands after the match, which is always a nice touch.

The main event was a Lumberjack match with the No1 Contendership to the SCW Heavyweight Title at stake, featuring Sabotage (who looks legitimately scary) and Conscience. This was a wild match with the crowd enjoying every minute of it. The wrestlers played out a very good match and the lumberjacks provided plenty of anarchy too, with several skirmishes breaking out between the competitors and lumberjacks. Conscience came out on top and sent a message to the current SCW Heavyweight champ, Drew McDonald.

SCW returns to the Greenock Town Hall on April 17th, with what will undoubtedly be another top notch show. Already announced is Drew McDonald v Conscience in a match which has been almost a year in the making.

If you would like to find out more about Scottish Championship Wrestling see: ScottishCW.com

Eddie M