One thing about YouTube is there is so much professional wrestling available to watch that it can be a bit overwhelming. A lot of independent promotions are using YouTube to get their product out to a larger audience, and as someone who reviews a lot of pro wrestling, I appreciate. It has allowed me to learn about a lot more indie wrestlers than I ever would have in the past. Back in the day, I had to rely on magazines to learn about Reckless Youth and Cheetah Master. But, now I’m able to search on YouTube and likely watch dozens of matches of various indie names that pop up.
That’s the case here in this article. I have seen Chris Slade compete several times for a local promotion named 1UP Wrestling, and he appeared on the reunion 2CW show back in November of 2025. Slade is a very good talent and has seemingly a ton of potential. After looking up Slade on YouTube, I came across ACW.
Adrenaline Championship Wrestling is based out of Maryland and has been running shows since 2009. Currently, the promotion is owned by James Ellsworth of WWE fame. I noticed that Slade has had a rivalry with another wrestler named Vam Williams and they’ve had several stipulation matches as the feud has progressed. I have zero idea who Vam Williams is and have never watched him wrestle. So, I’m going into this completely blind, but hopeful largely due to what I’ve seen from Slade.
The rivalry between Williams and Slade feature a street fight, two out of three falls, last man standing and a ladder match. So, I expect this to be a bit intense.
ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VAM WILLIAMS VS. CHRIS SLADE — ACW BALTIMORE BEATDOWN — FEBRUARY 22ND, 2026
Williams started off with a shoulder block and chops Slade after Slade tried to do a kip up. Williams continues to chop Slade to the mat, and commentary is noting that Williams is a top chopper in wrestling. Slade hit a springboard hurricanrana to send Williams reeling to the floor. Slade misses a dive, but avoids Williams on the floor to deliver a kick and suplexs Williams on the apron. Slade hits a springboard senton for a near fall. Slade continues with a running uppercut in the corner a couple of times. Slade misses a somersault splash in the corner and Williams hit a back suplex for a two count. Williams hits a snap suplex for a near fall. Williams continues to chop Slade and it does sound vicious. Slade superkicks Williams followed by a hurricanrana for a near fall. Slade spikes Williams with a tornado DDT, but can’t put Williams away. Slade hits a handspring cutter, but Williams stops the referees hand on the count. Slade mounts Williams to deliver a few strikes. They trade kicks in the middle of the ring until Williams hits a backstabber and a top rope frog splash for a near fall! Slade almost wins with a crucifix driver. Williams avoids a Spanish Fly and hits a middle rope double knee strike for a near fall. Williams buckle bombs Slade, but Slade comes out of the corner to stomp Williams and they are both down. They begin to trade chops until Slade delivers an elbow and leg sweep. Slade kicks Williams on the back of the head and hit a handspring elbow strike to the back of the head for another two count. Slade heads to the top rope missing a corkscrew dive and Williams takes advantage with a rollup for the win. After the match, Slade wants to shake hands, but Williams flips of Slade instead.
Bob’s Take: This is honestly a great match and a great introduction into this rivalry. I feel like there’s usually a toned down match for the first encounter, but these two went at it for the duration and they didn’t waste any of the time provided to them. Vam winning by taking advantage of a high risk move is essentially Slade kind of beating himself and he’s still a threat to Williams barring now beating himself. Knowing there’s another five matches to watch, I’m intrigued to see how this plays out if the first match is this good.
Match Rating: ***1/2
ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VAM WILLIAMS VS. CHRIS SLADE — STREET FIGHT — ACW MCCONNELLSBURG, HOW YA DOIN’?! — MARCH 7TH, 2026
Slade sidesteps Williams at the start and takes out Williams and his manager with a dive to the floor. Slade leaps off the bleachers to kick Williams on the floor. Slade throws Williams into the wall to keep the momentum. Slade leaps off a chair to dive into Williams against the wall. Williams cuts off Slade with a snap suplex on the floor. Williams continues by ramming Slade against the ring post back first. Williams jams a chair into Slade’s throat. Williams kept control on Slade in the ring with strikes. Williams misses a spear and hits a wedged chair in the corner. Slade plants Williams with a tornado DDT for a near fall. Slade grabs a door and slides it into the ring. Slade uses a chair over Williams back. Slade lays the door over two chairs to prop it up. Slade elbow drops Williams from the apron to the floor before they return to the ring. Williams hits a running blockbuster to put Slade through the door. Williams sets up another door and sits Slade on the top turnbuckle. Slade fights back to deliver a kick in the corner and powerbombs Williams through the door, but Vam’s manager breaks the cover. A table has been setup in the corner. Slade fights off the manager guys by using his sword. Vam has seemingly disappeared from the match. Vam ran backstage, but Slade finds Vam. Slade throws Vam back toward the ringside area. Slade leaps off the top of the bleachers onto the three men. Dan Stofko enters the ring and attacks Slade hitting a Cradle Shock of sorts. Williams covers Slade for the win. After the match, Slade spears Williams through the table in the corner.
Bob’s Take: I wouldn’t consider either one of these guys to be brawlers, so this may not have been the best stipulation for these two. Slade diving off the bleachers was a good spot and popped the crowd. The interference isn’t surprising since there are no rules and they can drag out the title change by protecting Slade some more. I’d consider this a little lower than the first outing, but it’s a good match.
Match Rating: ***
ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VAM WILLIAMS VS. CHRIS SLADE — ACW SPRING IN THE RING — TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS — MARCH 27TH, 2026
Slade starts the match with a kick and handspring elbow to win the first fall within ten-seconds of the match starting. Slade uppercuts Williams a few times in the corner. Williams stops Slade with a Blue Thunder Bomb and hit a frog splash for a near fall. Slade responds with a tornado DDT. Slade delivers a handspring cutter and heads to the top hitting a twisting dive for a near fall, but the referee is pulled out of the ring. Slade takes out Doyle Day (the manager) with a dive. Williams superkicks Slade and hits a standing blockbuster. Williams hits a codebreaker and a running flatliner for a near fall. Williams continues with a double knee strike for a two count as Williams is generating some great heel heat from the crowd. Williams buckle bombs Slade, but Slade fires out of the corner to boot Williams to the mat. They trade kicks in the middle of the ring. The referee gets knocked down after Williams pulled him in front. Williams low blows Slade to win the second fall. Williams superkicks Slade and heads to the top rope missing a swanton. Slade double stomps Williams for a near fall. Williams avoids a handspring cutter but pulling the referee into the way a second time, though it was a bit sloppy. Slade knocks Williams down with a kick and heads to the top rope hitting a twisting splash. The referee is knocked out and can’t make the count for Slade. Doyle enters the ring and nails Slade with a cutter. Williams hits a back suplex backbreaker for the win to retain the title. After the match, Slade cleans house with his sword. Slade goes to the back and grabs a table. Slade uses a microphone, but the quality isn’t the best for the home viewer. Slade challenges Williams to a last man standing match. Slade spears Williams against the table, which doesn’t break. Slade puts Williams through the table with a Death Valley Driver.
Bob’s Take: Okay, so this is a good match, but they are seemingly relying on the interference aspect to continually screw over Slade and drag this out. I feel like a good portion of the crowd heat at this point is on the referee for being an idiot. Williams is a great heel and gives off some levels of old school heel while having new school style offense. The aftermath was good, and the crowd sounded amped for the last man standing match. This honestly felt like the level these two would have started off with. At this point, their first encounter is their best match, but they’ve continued to have good battles since then. I’m hoping the last man standing is where they really let it go.
Match Rating: ***
ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VAM WILLIAMS VS. CHRIS SLADE — ACW HACKSAWING HAGERSTOWN — LAST MAN STANDING — APRIL 10TH, 2026
Williams attacks Slade from behind to start the match and grabs a chair to whack Slade over the back. Williams hits himself with the chair by hitting the ropes and Slade superkicks Williams. Slade leg sweeps Williams followed by a kick to the back of the head. Slade uppercuts Williams in the corner and delivers a kick on the mat. Slade hits a chair assisted moonsault. Slade moonsaults onto the chair, but that seems to hurt Slade more. Williams hits a slingshot Codebreaker from the apron. Williams nails Slade with a running blockbuster. Williams chops Slade several times to keep control of the bout. Slade hits a sling blade to stop Williams. Slade hits Williams with a cooking sheet. Williams counters a handspring and drops Slade face first onto a chair. Williams drives Slade down with a backbreaker. Williams introduces chairs and a piece of wood. Slade puts Williams through the wood with a Spanish Fly! Slade gets to his feet and wins the title!
Bob’s Take: The style of last man standing matches that I prefer is more brawling based and hardcore in nature. They have a formula to their matches and there’s nothing wrong with it. The Spanish Fly finish is a great finish and a huge spot for the ending of the match. I can’t knock that as it’s a strong finish and not only puts over Slade as the new champ, but solidifies how tough of a wrestler Williams is to defeat. I’ve been enjoying the contests between these two. I’m surprised that the first encounter has been the best one thus far. Again, not that the matches are bad by any means. They work good matches on a consistent basis.
Match Rating: ***
ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION CHRIS SLADE VS. VAM WILLIAMS — ACW ENTER THE SANDMAN IN GLEN BURNIE — APRIL 12TH, 2026
Slade starts off with a springboard head scissors and uppercuts in the corner. Williams responds with a kick to the face, but Slade hits a hurricanrana off the top rope. Slade dives to the floor to take out Williams with a corkscrew dive. Williams drops Slade over the top rope to avoid a potential tornado DDT. Slade fights back with a couple of strikes and a sling blade. Williams catches Slade on a handspring attempt with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Williams delivers a Codebreaker and a standing blockbuster. Williams delivers a running powerbomb/backbreaker combo for a two count. Slade ducks a kick an delivers a reverse hurricanrana. Slade elbows and leg sweeps Williams followed by a kick. Slade hit a springboard crossbody, but Williams stops the referee from counting. Slade pummels Williams on the mat, but Williams crotches Slade on the top rope. Williams yanks Slade off the top rope, but it looked odd. Slade knee strikes Williams and delivers a handspring elbow strike. Slade goes to the top, but James Ellsworth tosses a chair at Slade from the floor to knock Slade to the mat. Williams hits a top rope frog splash to win the match and regain the title.
Bob’s Take: The match was going well until there was a botch from the top rope. The move looked odd and the crowd notably crapped on it. I’m a bit surprised by Vam winning the title back quickly after losing it to Slade. The money is usually in the babyface chasing, but a quick switch is a bit odd. Despite the screw up on the top rope, it’s a good match and on par with the other matches they’ve had. I’d say that it was going better than most of the others before the botch off the top. This feud has gotten over locally as the audience responds very well to the action.
Match Rating: ***
ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VAM WILLIAMS VS. CHRIS SLADE — ACW RED LION IS COOL — LADDER MATCH — MAY 1ST, 2026
They start off with brawling in the middle of the ring until Slade head scissors Williams into the corner. Slade uppercuts Williams in the corner several times. Williams superkicks Slade and gets a ladder from his manager. Slade baseball slides the ladder into both men. Slade hits a corkscrew dive to the floor onto Williams. Slade tries to climb the ladder, but is stopped by Williams. Slade kicks Williams on the knee. Slade sends Williams into the ladder face first. Slade drives Williams to the mat with a slam before catapulting Williams into the ladder. Slade splashes onto Williams against the ladder. Williams chops Slade into the ropes. Williams snap suplexs Slade onto the ladder. Williams sends Slade face first into the ladder in the corner. Williams stomps Slade’s leg on a ladder. Vam is apparently afraid of heights when it comes to climbing the ladder. Commentary notes that the ladder is as high as the top rope, which Vam leaps off of all the time. Slade stops Vam on the top of the ladder before Vam can reach the title. Slade superplexs Williams off of the ladder. Williams avoids a handspring with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Williams tries for a powerbomb, but Williams back goes out on him it looks like. Slade nails Williams with a running knee strike. Williams is able to powerbomb Slade into the ladder and hits a powerbomb/backbreaker combo. Williams hits a top rope frog splash. Vam’s managers bring a much bigger ladder into the ring for Vam to use. Williams wedges the smaller ladder over the middle rope and the bigger ladder. Williams climbs the ladder, but doesn’t go for the championship and instead grabs Slade on the bridged ladder. Williams falls due to the bridged ladder collapsing and Slade retrieves the title to win the match.
Bob’s Take: Well, I think the bridged ladder falling down impacted the finish. I was expecting someone to fall onto it and it just crumbled to the mat for a kind of dull finish to the bout. I’m sure the feud will continue at some point, but as of August 2026, this is the last encounter of the series. They could have done more with the ladder and there could have been more high risk offense. I feel a little underwhelmed by the match, but Slade regaining the title is a good thing.
Match Rating: **1/2
So, that wraps up the 2026 feud between Chris Slade and Vam Williams over the ACW Heavyweight Championship to this point. The first encounter was a great battle and showcased these two in the best light. The rest of the feud was good, effective wrestling, but they didn’t standout quite like the first battle. Regardless, I enjoyed my time watching these two battle and learning more about Vam Williams was a lot of fun. Vam is someone to keep an eye out for his heel work, just as Slade is a worthwhile babyface to support.
You can watch the feud and full ACW shows on the Patreon, which is located HERE. When you signup, you get a week free before the cost of the membership is $8 a month.
Thanks for reading.