Yearly Review: 2CW 2008

The third year of existence for Squared Circle Wrestling would see a heated feud between 2CW and NWA Upstate take place, an ECW icon falling asleep in the ring, and a heated feud over the 2CW Heavyweight Championship throughout the year between Slyck Wagner Brown and Jimmy Olsen.

To close out year two, the 2CW Heavyweight Championship was vacated following a triple threat between champion Dizzie, Eddie Edwards and Slyck Wagner Brown. At the first show in 2008 on February 23rd, a fatal four way match would take place to crown a new champion. The match featured Dizzie, Slyck Wagner Brown, Eddie Edwards and Isys Ephex.

The match was contested under elimination rules and saw Isys be eliminated first. To continue their lengthy feud, Ephex cost Edwards the match by delivering a piledriver on the floor preventing Edwards from continuing in the match. That left Dizzie and Slyck once again and just as it had been in 2007, Dizzie got the better of Slyck and regained the 2CW Heavyweight Championship.

Dizzie’s reign as champion would come to an end on April 11th when John Walters was able to win the championship in a triple threat match that included Brian Fury. Walters would hold belt for all of twenty-four hours as the next night on April 12th, which was the Living on the Edge III weekend, Slyck Wagner Brown walked out as the 2CW Heavyweight Champion winning a four way bout involving Walters, Dizzie and Antonio “The Promise” Thomas.

The year long journey for Slyck Wagner Brown came to a close with the 2CW Heavyweight Championship and fans responded well to the new champion. Brown was one of the more experienced workers in 2CW at the time and would go on to put on some memorable matches, which will be touched upon shortly.

Slyck’s run would start with a defense against former champion and long-time friend and foe, John Walters. Both men trained under Killer Kowalski and know each other very well in the ring. The match took place on May 23rd and saw Slyck successfully defend the championship. The following month, Slyck retained the championship against Isys Ephex on June 7th at 2CW Shakedown, which was actually the first 2CW event I attended live. Boy, was the Pastime Athletic Club a hot building. And, the mixture of hot air and Ax body spray courtesy of Frankie Arion was not a pleasant time. Back to the topic at hand, though.

At this point, 2CW was embroiled in a heated feud with NWA Upstate, a rival independent company in the area. Jimmy Olsen stepped up as a challenger for the gold and got his shot at Slyck on July 26th, but was unable to wrestle the championship away. The following month on August 15th, Slyck retained against Eddie Edwards.

To end the year, Slyck had two more title defenses against Jimmy Olsen. First, Slyck successfully retained the championship against Olsen on September 13th in Watertown and again at the final show of the year on October 24th in Syracuse.

Despite his inability to win the championship, Jimmy Olsen would still be an impact player in the 2CW championship scene in 2009.

2CW/Upstate Feud:

At the tail end of 2007 there was an influx of talent that entered 2CW to try and get their names established. Those names included the likes of Brodie Lee (Luke Harper in WWE today), Colin Delaney, Hellcat, and Jimmy Olsen. While they didn’t make much noise in 2007, that would certainly change in 2008.

The feud between the two companies would get physical started at LOTE night one on April 11th with a tag match that saw former rivals Loca Vida and JD Love team up to defeat Hellcat and Pepper Parks.

If you like violence, then this is the point where you’d like this one. At the June 7th show, Loca and JD teamed once again to win a tag match this time over Jimmy Olsen and Brodie Lee in a match that had a no disqualification stipulation. Towards the end of the match, four 2CW wrestlers put four NWA Upstate wrestlers through tables and the atmosphere in the building made it really feel like a war was brewing.

The peak of the feud would come on June 28th when Team 2CW consisting of Dizzie, Zaquary Springate III, Jason Axe, Isys Ephex and JD Love squared off against Team Upstate consisting of Gabe Saint, Dunn, Marcos, Pepper Parks and Jimmy Olsen in a War Games match. The bout was contested in one ring and not the traditional two that War Games is associated with.

The event was promoted under the NWA Upstate banner, but plenty of 2CW fans attended the show that took place in Rochester. In a swerve, Hellcat, a member of NWA Upstate, turned on the group and attacked Jimmy Olsen to give 2CW the victory and to further the feud between the two promotions.

With momentum all on their side, 2CW would meet NWA Upstate again on July 26th in an eight man tag war that would end up having a confrontation with a fan due to the fan tossing a chair into the ring. Despite that, NWA Upstate was able to get their first victory as a team consisting of Brodie Lee, Cloudy, Kevin Dunn and Marcos prevailed over the team of JD Love, Zaquary Springate III, Loca Vida and Hellcat.

The final part of the feud took place on October 24th with the team of Cheech, Cloudy, Marcos and Brodie Lee defeating JD Love, Loca Vida, Hellcat and Brian Fury in a wild street fight. There was a stipulation to the match that required the losing teams company to not run a show for 90-days.

Spike Dudley In 2CW

After briefly being a villain in 2CW, Spike returned to being a good guy for fans of 2CW and continued his long running feud with local wrestler Jason Axe. They squared off at night one of LOTE on April 11th which saw Spike win a last man standing match. The following night, Spike teamed with a 2CW cameraman to beat Axe and Max Bauer. The cameraman will be touched upon in a few moments, keep reading.

Spike defeated Jason Axe again on August 23rd in a no disqualification match. Spike’s last appearance for 2CW for the year would be a match against Colin Delaney in a match that was billed as Old School ECW vs. New School ECW. Spike was able to win that bout, as well.

Human Tornado LOTE weekend

Living on the Edge III saw two appearances for West Coast wrestler the Human Tornado. At the time, Human Tornado was getting some buzz from fans all over the country and made his debut for 2CW in April. This was actually around the time that he was a mega heel for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in California and was the Heavyweight Champion for the company.

Tornado only ever made two appearances for 2CW and is undefeated. On April 11th, Tornado defeated Isys Ephex and the following night was victorious over Brian Fury.

The Sandman Fell Asleep

While LOTE III had memorable title changes, the Human Tornado debut and the start of the NWA Upstate feud, there was one not-so-great moment. Living on the Edge III night two saw the debut of The Sandman in 2CW. I remember stumbling upon 2CW’s website and was initially very interested in attending the show to witness Sandman in action.

Luckily, I couldn’t make it and by being unable to attend I avoided having to witness the night the Sandman fell asleep in the middle of the ring. He lost to Gordy Wallace that night and has never returned to 2CW as a result.

Jay Freddie Debuts

Working as a 2CW cameraman, Watertown native Jay Freddie was always close to the action. Little did anyone know, but Freddie just so happened to know what it takes to compete inside the squared circle. Freddie made his in-ring debut for 2CW on April 12th when he teamed with Spike Dudley to defeat Jason Axe and Max Bauer.

Freddie would feud with Max Bauer as his first major feud in 2CW. After winning a singles match against Gordy Wallace on May 23rd, Max Bauer came out and demanded a match with Freddie which he would win. Freddie would venture into a feud with the Axes of Evil consisting of Jason Axe, Gordy Wallace and Max Bauer. Freddie would team with the Killer Steves and the team of Dunn and Marcos, though Dunn and Marcos would turn on Freddie as they were associated with NWA Upstate.

By the end of the year, Freddie would feud with his teacher and trainer Zaquary Springate III. Freddie would lose singles matches to Springate on August 15th & 23rd but was able to win a match over his trainer in his hometown of Watertown on September 13th. They had another match on October 24th, but that was cut short due to a nasty cut Freddie would obtain after a dive to the floor.

Other Happenings:
– Tony Atlas returned to 2CW on April 11th and defeated Zaquary Springate III in a flag match.

– Scotty 2 Hotty competed for 2CW on August 15th defeating Jason Axe in a singles match.

– The Alumni Club made their debut for 2CW on October 24th. Their gimmick was that of football players.

– During the year, 2CW held only 8 shows, not including the War Games show that was promoted by NWA Upstate.

Notable Matches:
Dizzie vs. Isys Ephex vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Slyck Wagner Brown 2/23/2008
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Dizzie vs. John Walters vs. Antonio Thomas 4/12/2008
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. John Walters 5/23/2008
Loca Vida & JD Love vs. Brodie Lee & Jimmy Olsen 6/7/2008
War Games 6/28/2008
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Jimmy Olsen 7/26/2008
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Eddie Edwards 8/15/2008
Spike Dudley vs. Colin Delaney 9/13/2008
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Jimmy Olsen 9/13/2008
Eight Man War 10/24/2008
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Jimmy Olsen 10/24/2008

Bob’s Thoughts:
For there not being a lot of shows in 2008, 2CW still had many memorable moments and feuds. I got into the company during the feud with NWA Upstate and some of those matches had an energy that makes independent wrestling so much fun to attend.

The series of matches with Jimmy Olsen and Slyck Wagner Brown never failed to deliver and were some of the best main events that 2CW had put on to that point. Jimmy Olsen was a grossly underrated talent and I’ll continue to sing his praise in future installments of this series.

Personally, I was excited for Slyck Wagner Brown to be the 2CW Heavyweight Champion as he was one of the first guys I got behind as an independent wrestler. I use to follow his matches when he wrestled for JAPW and 3PW years prior. Especially in 3PW, he put on some great matches and that continued in 2CW.

What are your memories of 2CW year three? If you’ve never heard of 2CW, remember to go to www.2cwwrestling.com for more information.

Thanks for reading.