XWA GOLD RUSH PRESS RELEASE
GOLD RUSH – BIG NAMES ANNOUNCED!
Today we announce the first three names to enter the fourth annual 15-man Gold Rush rumble – taking place at The Dome in Morecambe on Saturday February 2 2008 – with the winner set to earn a shot at the British Heavyweight Championship.
The first competitor to be entered into the Gold Rush is the controversial ‘Psychotic Warrior’ Johnny Phere, a name that has been on the lips of many XWA fans since Last Fight at the Prom 2007. On that night the deranged star failed to end the self-professed Year Of Phere with a British Heavyweight Title victory, which was followed by a complete mental breakdown in the ring after his close loss to the champ ‘The Wonderkid’ Jonny Storm.
Phere may be furious that he will not receive an automatic rematch against Storm at Gold Rush but at least he will get the opportunity to earn a return by winning the 15-man rumble. But XWA boss Greg Lambert has only agreed to enter the insane star into the Gold Rush on one condition – that Phere displays no repeat of his scary actions at Last Fight when he attacked XWA officials (including Greg), tried to stop fans from leaving The Dome and made terrifying threats towards Jonny Storm in a display of appallingly bad sportsmanship.
The second name to be announced for the Gold Rush is XWA’s most popular wrestler, the incomparable Sam Slam. This will be Sam’s first appearance in the Gold Rush and he must be among the hot favourites after an absolutely incredible debut year in the XWA.
And to tie in with Sam Slam’s appearance in the Gold Rush comes our third name – Slam’s arch-rival and a man who has publicly stated that he has no intention of wrestling the phenomenal powerhouse ever again – ‘The Shining Light’ Stevie Knight.
Unfortunately for Knight he does not make the rules in the XWA – Greg Lambert does. And if the self-professed ‘Mr Deal or No Deal’ wants a shot at the British Heavyweight Title he will have to win the Gold Rush and in doing so, may well have to go through Sam Slam – whether he likes it or not.
Expect more names to be added to the Gold Rush list of participants in the ensuing weeks.
JONNY STORM TITLE TEASE
It has been confirmed that ‘The Wonderkid’ Jonny Storm will make the second defence of his British Heavyweight Title at Gold Rush, but as yet we do not know who his opponent will be.
However when pressed on the issue this week, Greg Lambert did reveal that he has narrowed the field of contenders down to the three most worthy, and also dropped some clues as to who this trifecta of mystery men might be.
Greg said all three of the possible opponents for Storm have wrestled him before. Two of them have been in the ring with Storm during at least one of his two victories in the Gold Rush rumble (in 2004 and 2007). In fact, two of them have wrestled him at The Morecambe Dome in an actual match. What’s more, two of them previously wrestled Storm with a championship on the line during the days of the FWA. Two of them have challenged for the British Heavyweight Championship in Morecambe in the past. And one of them has never been beaten in any singles match during the history of either the FWA or the XWA.
TRIO TO CHALLENGE ‘EL CAMPEON’
The new British Flyweight Champion, El Ligero, will have little time to rest on his laurels because at XWA Gold Rush, he will have to put his newly-gained championship on the line.
In a previous news update, we reported that former champion ‘The Bombay Dream’ Ross Jordan intended to invoke his rematch clause, and indeed he has done so, meaning that the self-professed Crown Prince of Bollywood will challenge his nemesis on February 2.
However, Greg Lambert has decided that there are other worthy Flyweight contenders who deserve to be elevated into the title mix, which was so dominated by the epic Ligero-Jordan feud throughout 2007. One of these contenders is the Pocket Dynamo, the ever-popular Spud. Another one is the talented, relentless and surly competitor from Southport, The Juice.
As Greg wishes to freshen up the British Flyweight Title picture for the fans and also honour Jordan’s rematch clause, he has come up with an extremely tough first title defence for ‘El Campeon’. On Saturday February 2 Ligero will have to defend his title in a match against not just Jordan, but also Spud and The Juice, in a four-way battle under elimination rules.
MASSIVE DECISION LOOMS
Following the news that The Manchester Massive’s Declan O’Connor may be being lined up to fight ‘Dangerous’ Damon Leigh in a Best of the North West division match at Gold Rush, there has been a twist in the tale.
We have learned that Declan’s tag team partner Joey Hayes is also keen to step into the ring with DDL on February 2 at The Dome. Hayes is privately very disappointed by the change of attitude displayed by Damon, who is an old friend, training partner and even a former tag team partner of Joey’s going back to their days in GPW as The Young Offenders.
As of yet we have had no official announcement of any actual match at Gold Rush, but it could be interesting to see which member of The Manchester Massive gets the nod. Whether it’s Declan or Joey – it’s bound to be the toughest test yet for the newly-vicious DDL as he continues his quest to prove he is what he says he is, and that’s the Best of the North West.
XWA GOLD RUSH 2008 – IT’S TIME TO RUMBLE!
Saturday February 2 2008
The Dome, Marine Road Central, Morecambe, Lancashire
Doors 7pm, Bell Time 7.30pm
Tickets – £16 ringside, £11 adults, £9 children, £34 family of four, £42 family of six (family of six price is for advanced booking only)
CARD TO DATE
THE MAIN EVENT – THE GOLD RUSH 15-man rumble
The winner receives a shot at the British Heavyweight Title at War On The Shore IV – The Anniversary Show on Saturday April 12 2008
Entrants to date:
‘The Psychotic Warrior’ Johnny Phere
Sam Slam
‘The Shining Light’ Stevie Knight
Plus 12 more top XWA stars to be announced
BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
‘The Wonderkid’ Jonny Storm makes his second title defence
BRITISH FLYWEIGHT TITLE FOUR-WAY ELIMINATION MATCH
El Ligero (el campeon) v ‘The Bombay Dream’ Ross Jordan v Spud v The Juice
BEST of the NORTH WEST MATCH
‘Dangerous’ Damon Leigh v either Declan O’Connor or Joey Hayes
PLUS – the return of The Morecambe Raffle AND MUCH MORE as the XWA returns for 2008!
Check out www.xwawrestling.com for all the latest news.
And coming soon, XWA’s first ever Best of the North West event – a show entirely dedicated to the talent in the North West of England!