IWF Press Release
The Independent Wrestling Federation return to St Joseph’s Church Hall (The Ring Of Faith), Gateshead (Next to Gateshead Metro Station) on Saturday 3rd July. Tickets cost £5 and doors open at 6:30.
IWF British Champion ASSASSIN recently defeated ‘GOLDEN BOY’ CAMERON KNITE in the main event of an IWF show in Newcastle. Despite this being the second time that the champion has defeated Knite this year, IWF officials were so impressed by the performance of ‘The Golden Boy’ they immediately granted him a rematch to take place at the Tournament of Faith. Assassin is said to be furious with his manager JUDGE MENTAL for allowing this title shot to take place. Speculation persists that the champion has openly accused Mental of being more concerned with ensuring that Jimmy Blade or Liam ‘The Player’ Atkinson achieve success in the tournament than he is in ensuring that the belt stays around Assassin’s waist. Mental will surely be looking to build bridges with the champ but will that be enough to keep the IWF’s top championship within Mental Management Services? One thing is for sure; with all of this inner turmoil in this group Cameron Knite must be feeling very positive indeed!
With the retirement of ‘Superfly’ Billy Graham, his IWF Northeast Championship was declared vacant. This void will be filled at Tournament of Faith when the winner of this tournament will be declared the Ring Of Faith Champion. There is no word as of yet as to whether or not the belt will be defended at all IWF shows or just those performed at the Ring Of Faith venue. Recent shows have seen the competitors whittled down to the eight who will compete to become the first IWF Ring Of Faith Champion. They are:
JIMMY BLADE
Weight – 280lbs
Hometown – Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Finishers – DDT, Ace Crusher, Bam Bam Big-Elbow
Titles Held – IWF Hardcore (Now defunct)
Last 5 Matches (Most recent first):
Beat Youngsta in Newcastle
Beat Weapon X in Gateshead
Beat Harry Pain in Consett
Lost to Jed Masters in Ashington
Lost to Jed Masters in a 3-way also featuring Weapon X in Gateshead
After gaining a manager in the shape of Courtney Synn as well as having the support of Judge Mental, Blade has seen his IWF career soar to the point that he his considered the hot favourite to win the Tournament of Faith. Blade is often thought of as a brawler, and while this is certainly true, it does not tell the whole truth. Many experts have stated that he is amongst the most agile big men in British Wrestling.
WEAPON X
Weight – 232lbs
Hometown – Blyth
Finishers – Seek and Destroy (Spear), Top Rope Splash
Titles Held – IWF Northeast (Now defunct) IWF Tag Team
Last 5 Matches:
Beat Liam ‘The Player’ Atkinson in Newcastle
Lost to Jimmy Blade in Gateshead
Beat Karl Harker in Ashington
Lost to Jed Masters in a 3-way also featuring Jimmy Blade in Gateshead
Beat Liam ‘The Player’ Atkinson in West Denton
Having been with the IWF for 4 years, Weapon X is certainly the emotional favourite to emerge victorious in this tournament. His almost yearlong reign as IWF Northeast Champion suggests that he has the temperament to cope with big match occasions. Whichever competitor is drawn against this hard hitter in the opening round can consider himself very unfortunate.
SHAUN AVERY
Weight – 192lbs
Hometown – Deckham
Finishers – Lariat, Shaun-ing Wizard
Titles Held – IWF Tag Team
Last 5 Matches
Beat Jed Masters in Newcastle
Beat RD Wood in Gateshead
With Youngsta, Lost to Hot Ed & Bobby Jackson in Consett
Lost to Youngsta in Ashington
With Youngsta, Beat Karl Harker & Paul Parisio in Gateshead
After blaming his brother Youngsta for losing their Tag Team titles, Avery turned on him and the rest of D-Unit (Jed Masters & Paul Dalby) and has now declared himself a singles competitor only. The lightest man in the tournament, Shaun may well be the quickest and he has had an unmistakable air of confidence about him as of late as he enters this tournament in great form.
HOT ED
Weight – 196lbs
Hometown – Stanley
Finishers – The Hot Rock (Fisherman Buster), Springboard 450 Press
Titles Held – IWF Tag Team (Current)
Last 5 Matches
With Bobby Jackson, Beat Lee Kyle & Harry Pain in Newcastle
With Bobby Jackson, Beat Lee Kyle & Harry Pain in Gateshead
With Bobby Jackson, Beat The Averys in Consett
Lost to Liam ‘The Player’ Atkinson in Ashington
With Bobby Jackson, Beat Lee Kyle & Harry Pain in Gateshead
Despite being one half of the IWF Tag Team Champions, Hot Ed is considered to be one of the outsiders to win this tournament. He certainly has the ability, but having concentrated his efforts into becoming a first class tag team specialist, he has sometimes struggled in singles competition. Certainly a singles star of the future, he will be looking to show that his time has already arrived.
LIAM ‘THE PLAYER’ ATKINSON
Weight – 212lbs
Hometown – Playerville, Stoke
Finishers – Piledriver, Dragon Suplex, Scissored Front Choke.
Titles Held – IWF Junior Academy Championship
Last 5 Matches
Lost to Weapon X in Newcastle
Beat Chris Prime in Gateshead
Lost to Karl Harker in Consett
Beat Hot Ed in Ashington
Beat Chris Prime and Pac in a 3-way in Gateshead
Most observers consider Atkinson to be a future IWF British Champion, however, since stepping up from the junior ranks, he has achieved only limited success. To remedy this, he recently became part of Mental Management Services, this fact alone ensures to this hard hitting joint submissions expert must be counted as amongst the favourites to win the Tournament of Faith.
YOUNGSTA
Weight – 239lbs
Hometown – Deckham
Finishers – Blue Thunder Driver, Return of the Mack (Cross Arm Bomb/Face Slam)
Titles Held – IWF Tag Team
Last 5 Matches
Lost to Jimmy Blade in Newcastle
Beat Little Dragon in Gateshead
With Shaun Avery, Lost to Hot Ed & Bobby Jackson in Consett
Beat Shaun Avery in Ashington
With Shaun Avery, Beat Karl Harker & Paul Parisio in Gateshead
By rights, Youngsta should be considered amongst the favourite to win the tournament, however that depends on whether or not he can stay focused. Many of his close friends say they have noticed a change in him since he was attacked by his older brother Shaun Avery recently in Newcastle. If he is in the right frame of mind, expect a great showing from this agile heavyweight.
BOBBY JACKSON
Weight – 209lbs
Hometown – Consett
Finishers – Multiplex (Combination German, Dragon, Tiger Suplexes) 450 Press
Titles Held – IWF Tag Team (Current)
Last 5 Matches
With Hot Ed, Beat Lee Kyle & Harry Pain in Newcastle
With Hot Ed, Beat Lee Kyle & Harry Pain in Gateshead
With Hot Ed, Beat The Averys in Consett
Lost to Pac in a 4-way also featuring Chris Prime & Harry Pain, Ashington
With Hot Ed, Beat Lee Kyle & Harry Pain in Gateshead
A similar story to that of his partner, Hot Ed, Jackson is not considered to be amongst the favourites to become Ring Of Faith Champion as he is thought of as a tag team specialist at this stage of his career. He is in great shape however and his mat based style means that, should he need to, he will be able to wrestle for three matches with little difficulty.
‘BAD BOY’ JED MASTERS
Weight – 225lbs
Hometown – Deckham
Finishers – Masterclass (Reverse DDT/Elbow Drop), Masterpiece (Leg Muffler)
Titles Held – None
Last 5 Matches
Lost to Shaun Avery in Newcastle
Lost to Assassin in Gateshead
Beat Lee Kyle in Consett
Beat Jimmy Blade in Ashington
Beat Jimmy Blade & Weapon X in a 3-way in Gateshead
Having entered his IWF British Championship match against Assassin with great momentum, Jed Masters has seen his form falter since failing to win the belt. Most feel that this is just a blip, but as the first real disappointment in the career of the ‘Bad Boy’ it is crucial that he emerges from it quickly if this explosive and popular powerhouse of to become the first Ring Of Faith Champion.
IWF owner ERIC SCARBORO has stated that he will be on hand to ensure fair play throughout the tournament. With Judge Mental around, this will not be an easy task.
With some big news just around the corner, expect the women of the IWF to play a big part in this show. The finalities of the women’s match are yet to be confirmed but PHOENIX, COURTNEY SYNN, ‘THE ANGEL’ SHARNA O’NEILL and new IWF Women’s Champion JETTA are all waiting to hear which of them will be in action.
New Junior Academy Champion RD WOOD has also let it be known that he is willing to defend his title against any Academy member. Eric Scarboro is mulling over his request.
With their members all failing to qualify for the Tournament of Faith, THE KYLE COUNCIL are not booked to appear on the show. Although LEE KYLE will be on hand to provide commentary, it is not known whether or not his cohorts HARRY PAIN, CHRISTOPHER PRIME, MORRISON and KAMALA’S #1 FAN will be in attendance.