The ICW World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion. The title was first established as the ICW National Heavyweight Championship at ICW's debut show on October 15, 2006, with Drew Galloway becoming the inaugural champion.[2] On February 7, 2015, the title was officially renamed the ICW World Heavyweight Championship after Galloway successfully defended the title in a match against Matt Hardy for the Family Wrestling Entertainment promotion in New York.[3][4][5] The championship has been defended in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Canada. In addition to these international title matches, defenses televised in 38 countries via Fight Network as well as an international presence on iPPV.[6][7]

Quick Facts Details, Promotion ...
ICW World Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionInsane Championship Wrestling
Date established15 October 2006[1]
Current champion(s)Kenny Williams
Date won1 September 2024
Other name(s)
  • ICW National Heavyweight Championship
  • ICW Heavyweight Championship
  • Undisputed ICW Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Drew Galloway[1]
Most reignsBT Gunn & Jack Jester (3 reigns)
Longest reignDarkside (1028 days)
Shortest reignJoe Coffey (<1 day)
Close

Overall, there have been twenty-seven reigns shared among twenty wrestlers, with three vacancies. The championship was vacant for 74 days as ICW had to strip Noam Dar of the title on 7 September 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.[8]

The championship was featured prominently in both the Insane Fight Club documentaries produced by the BBC.[9][10]

History

Drew Galloway became the inaugural champion of Mark Dallas' ICW promotion on 15 October 2006 at their debut show "Fear & Loathing," having won a triple threat match against Darkside and Allan Grogan.[11]

Initially a regional heavyweight title in the Glasgow area, the title was defended outside Scotland for the first time by Jack Jester, who defeated Jimmy Havoc in London, England to retain the title on May 4, 2014. It was first defended overseas by Drew Galloway on December 20, 2014 in Denmark for Dansk Pro Wrestling promotion, when Galloway won a Title-for-Title Three-Way match against DPW Champion Michael Fynne and Chaos.[12] Galloway then announced his intention to take the title overseas more often and make it a World Championship.[11][13] His second international title defense was booked for February 7, 2015 against Matt Hardy in New York, USA after which the title was officially renamed the ICW World Heavyweight Championship.[11] The ICW World Heavyweight Championship was defended in Australia for the first time on March 20, 2015 when Galloway retained in a Title-for-Title match over OCW Championship Andy Phoenix at an Outback Championship Wrestling show. The title was first defended in Northern Ireland when Galloway retained over Joe Hendry, TRON and Luther Valentine in a four-way match at a Pro Wrestling Ulster.[14][11] Galloway again defended the title in America on July 18, 2015 at a Warriors of Wrestling show in Staten Island where he retained over Joey Ace, Matt Macintosh and Logan Black.[15] Galloway defended the championship in Kiel, Germany at a Maximum Wrestling show on October 16, retaining in a Title-for-Title triple threat over UEWA European Heavyweight Champion Chaos and Apu Singh.[16][11][17] Big Damo would go on to win the championship from Chris Renfrew in Northern Ireland, before defending the title successfully in Wales and Ireland on ICW's 2016 tour. The title was defended in Italy for the first by Wolfgang on December 17, 2016.[18] Another notable international title defense saw Trent Seven retain the title over Wolfgang on April 2, 2017, at a WWE WrestleMania Axxess show.[11][19] Leyton Buzzard made the first defences of the title in Sweden, Spain and Canada in 2022 and 2023.[20][21]

In addition to these international title matches, numerous wrestlers from outside Scotland have challenged for the title domestically, including Kassius Ohno,[22] Sabu, Fergal Devitt,[23] Martin Stone, Doug Williams, Rhino, Colt Cabana, Tommy End, Noam Dar, Pete Dunne, Jordan Devlin, Dave Mastiff, Robbie Dynamite, Zack Gibson, Johnny Moss, Rampage Brown, Kris Travis, Keith Lee, Kassius Ohno, and Bram.[24][25] The only non-Scottish wrestlers to hold the championship are Mikey Whiplash, Big Damo, Trent Seven and Leyton Buzzard.[26]

The title was defended in a pre-show Dark matches for the first time in its history on 17 October 2015 when Drew Galloway would retain the title three times in consecutive matches against Matt Daly, Stephen Hughes and Coach Trip.[11]

The title had to be vacated on June 19, 2019 due to Lionheart's death by suicide three days after his UEWA vs. ICW title match against Alexander Dean at ICW I Ain't Yer Pal, Dickface!.[27][28]

Statistics

As of November 2017, BT Gunn has the record for most reigns, with three. Darkside's first reign is the longest in the title's history, at 1028 days (the company was largely inactive during this period), while Joe Coffey's reign is the shortest, as he lost the title the same day. Drew Galloway currently holds the record for the most defenses, both within an individual reign and cumulatively.[11][29] Joe Coffey holds the record for least successful defenses in a single reign, losing the championship to Wolfgang in his first defense.[30]

Title history

More information No., Reign ...
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
+ Current reign is changing daily
Close
More information No., Champion ...
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Drew Galloway 15 October 2006 Fear & Loathing Glasgow, Scotland 1 280 Defeated Allan Grogan and Darkside in a triple threat match to become the inaugural champion. [31][11][32]
2 Darkside 22 July 2007 ReZerection Glasgow, Scotland 1 1,028 This was a fatal five-way match also involving Jack Jester, Liam Thomson, and Wolfgang. [33]
Vacated 15 May 2010 Darkside was stripped of the title due to injury. [34]
3 BT Gunn 5 June 2010 Menace 2 Society Glasgow, Scotland 1 91 This was a four-way elimination match for the vacant title also involving Johnny Moss, Liam Thompson and Wolfgang. [35]
4 James Scott 4 September 2010 Dazed and Confused Glasgow, Scotland 2 505 Scott previously known as Darkside. [36]
5 BT Gunn 22 January 2012 1st Annual Square Go! Glasgow, Scotland 2 133 [37]
6 Red Lightning 3 June 2012 In Your Gaff Glasgow, Scotland 1 336 Cashed in his "Square Go!". [38]
7 Mikey Whiplash 5 May 2013 Reservoir Dogs Glasgow, Scotland 1 161 Cashed in his "Square Go!". [39]
8 Jack Jester 13 October 2013 Fear & Loathing VI - Welcome To Bat Country Glasgow, Scotland 1 385 [24][40][41]
9 Drew Galloway 2 November 2014 Fear & Loathing VII Glasgow, Scotland 2 378 Title was renamed the ICW World Heavyweight Championship on February 7, 2015 following numerous international title defenses. [31][11][42]
10 Grado 15 November 2015 Fear & Loathing VIII Glasgow, Scotland 1 70 [43][11]
11 Chris Renfrew 24 January 2016 5th Annual Square Go! Glasgow, Scotland 1 34 Cashed in his "Square Go!". [44]
12 Big Damo 27 February 2016 Hey Look! It's That Mad Wrestling Thing Aff The Telly Tour - The Big Elbowski Belfast, Northern Ireland 1 155 [45][46]
13 Joe Coffey 31 July 2016 Shug's Weekender - Shug's Hoose Party 3 Glasgow, Scotland 1 <1 [47]
14 Wolfgang 31 July 2016 Shug's Weekender - Shug's Hoose Party 3 Glasgow, Scotland 1 189 Cashed in his "Square Go!". [47]
15 Trent Seven 5 February 2017 6th Annual Square Go! Newcastle upon Tyne, England 1 70 [48]
16 Joe Coffey 16 April 2017 Barramania III Glasgow, Scotland 2 217 Cashed in his "Square Go!". [49]
17 BT Gunn 19 November 2017 Fear & Loathing X Glasgow, Scotland 3 161 This was a winner takes all match, in which Gunn defended the ICW Zero-G Championship. [50][51]
18 Stevie Boy 29 April 2018 Barramania 4 Glasgow, Scotland 1 91 Cashed in his "Square Go!" contract during a singles match between BT Gunn and Mikey Whiplash, converting it into a triple threat match and subsequently pinned Whiplash to win the match. [52][53]
19 DCT 29 July 2018 Shug's Hoose Party 5 - Night 2 Glasgow, Scotland 1 56 This was a Loser Leaves The UK match. [54][55]
20 Jackie Polo 23 September 2018 Fight Club Glasgow, Scotland 1 70 [56]
21 Lionheart 2 December 2018 Fear & Loathing XI Glasgow, Scotland 1 199 This was a title vs. career match. [57][58]
Vacated 19 June 2019 Title vacated after Lionheart's death. [59]
22 Stevie Boy 28 July 2019 Shug's Hoose Party 6 - Night 2 Glasgow, Scotland 2 189 Defeated Wolfgang for the vacant title. [60]
23 Noam Dar 2 February 2020 9th Annual Square Go! Glasgow, Scotland 1 583 [61]
Vacated 7 September 2021 Title vacated due to Dar being unable to defend the title because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [62]
24 JAXN 20 November 2021 Fear & Loathing XIII - Night 1 Glasgow, Scotland 2 1 Defeated Kez Evans for the vacant title. JAXN previously known as Jackie Polo. [63]
25 Kez Evans 21 November 2021 Fear & Loathing XIII - Night 2 Glasgow, Scotland 1 364 [64]
26 Leyton Buzzard 20 November 2022 Fear & Loathing XIV Glasgow, Scotland 1 175 Buzzard last pinned Kez Evans in Four-Way Elimination match. Also in the match were Stevie James and Craig Anthony. The event will air at a later date on the WWE Network. [65][20]
27 Aaron Echo 14 May 2023 Get The F Out Glasgow, Scotland 1 210 Cashed in his "Square Go!" after Buzzard retained against Big Damo and Andy Roberts. [20][66][67]
28 Jack Jester 10 December 2023 Fear & Loathing XV Glasgow, Scotland 2 266 This was a title vs. career King of Insanity match. [68]
29 Kenny Williams 1 September 2024 ICW Barred III Glasgow, Scotland 1 72+ This was Williams's Square-Go cash-in match and it was contested in a Steel Cage match. [69]
Close

Combined reigns

As of November 12, 2024.

Indicates the current champion
More information Rank, Wrestler ...
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns
Combined days
1 Darkside/James Scott21533
2 Drew Galloway2658
3 Jack Jester2651
4 Noam Dar1583
5 BT Gunn3385
6 Kez Evans1364
7 Red Lightning1336
8 Stevie Boy2280
9 Joe Coffey2217
10 Aaron Echo1210
11 Lionheart1199
12 Wolfgang1189
13 Leyton Buzzard1175
14 Mikey Whiplash1161
15 Big Damo1155
16 Jackie Polo/JAXN271
17 Grado170
Trent Seven170
19 DCT156
20 Chris Renfrew134
21 Kenny Williams172+
Close

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.