Empire State Wrestling presents Tough Luck. Three months into 2023, Empire State Wrestling can substantially claim that its upcoming event will be the biggest wrestling showcase in Western New York so far this year.
ESW’s next event will be Tough Luck, appropriately named as it will occur the day after St. Patrick’s Day, at Buffalo RiverWorks. Tough Luck will feature the debut of IMPACT Wrestling’s “Speedball” Mike Bailey, plus several top indie wrestling stars alongside many of the best wrestling talent based in the Buffalo-Niagara region.
The main event will see Bailey challenge ESW Heavyweight Champion “The Remix” Kevin Bennett for the title. In a reaction to how Bennett cowardly defeated “Big Time” Bill Collier in January with his crew interfering throughout the match, the ESW Booking Committee decided to make Bennett’s next challenge one of his toughest tests to date in Bailey.
If Bennett is victorious, this would be his first win over Bailey. The two previously wrestled each other four years ago in Canada with Bailey scoring the victory.
The other title match at Tough Luck will be High Seas defending the ESW Tag Team Championships versus the Nu BackSeatz. After escaping a triple threat tag team match with the belts in November against CXR and Edge of Hope, High Seas will now face the team of J.P. and Tommy Grayson, who are now under the tutelage of former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion Johnny Kashmere.
See this video of the Nu BackSeatz prepping for their first road trip together to face High Seas here:
Empire State Wrestling presents Tough Luck
Ex-Game Changer Wrestling Tag Team Champions Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner and Matthew Justice) will be in action against To Infinity and Beyond. This will be Warner’s first match in ESW while Justice previously competed in the 2021 Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Cup match. To Infinity and Beyond’s most recent ESW match was in November. They beat Bang Bros in a T4 (Territorial Tag Team Tournament) First Round matchup.
A six-way scramble match is scheduled to feature several ESW regulars alongside some major debuts. The participants are “The Holy Hand Grenade” James Sayga, Chael Connors of CXR, death match star Jimmy Lloyd, “The Scramble God” Chase Oliver, Edge of Hope’s Mattick, and “The Young Prodigy” Marcus Mathers.
Sayga comes into the match after scoring an impressive victory in January over “Hybrid” Sean Carr. On that same event, Connors and his tag team partner T.J. Epixx took down The Miracle Generation. Oliver also took the win in a four-way match over Aaron West, “The Big Bang” Jerk Cockins, and Vinnie Moon. Mattick was on the winning side of a three-on-three match with his Edge of Hope cohorts against Robby Vegas, Delsin Alekzander, and “Filthy” Maxx Cannon.
“I’m the biggest man in this match,” Mattick said. “I just hit the 10-year mark as a professional wrestler and I am going to tear through these other five talents while spreading Edge of Hope’s message.”
Lloyd and Mathers will be making their ESW debuts in the scramble. Lloyd is famous for wrestling in death matches for promotions like GCW, Combat Zone Wrestling and ICW No Holds Barred. Mathers gained significant momentum on the U.S. indie scene over the last few years through his matches in GCW and Beyond Wrestling.
GCW star “Raddy Daddy” Cole Radrick will return to ESW at Tough Luck. He will face “Blue Thunder” Jay Freddie in singles action. The two previous tangled horns while competing in the 2023 DiPaolo Cup match.
Longtime indie wrestling star Veda Scott will make her ESW debut at Tough Luck. She will face “Courageous” Christina Marie, who will look to return to the win column after losing to “Your Captain” Nick Ando in January.
In a battle of big hosses, Collier will square off against the debuting “Intense Icon” Joshua Bishop. Best known for his tenure with Cleveland, Ohio promotion Absolute Intense Wrestling, Bishop branched further out in recent years and worked for other notable promotions such as GCW and Black Label Pro.
A grudge match will be held between Frank Feathers and “Invincible” Vince Valor. After Feathers betrayed Valor in his quest to win the ESW Heavyweight Championship last year, tension between the two former friends has skyrocketed. Things boiled over badly between the friends-turned-foes in January after Feathers’s match against Darren Crowe, leading to a massive amount of security guards and referees needing to separate them.
“Every action has a reaction,” Valor said. “I react to betrayal with violence. We’re past a point of forgiveness and understanding. This isn’t something I wanted to do, but it’s become something I have to do. I suppose it’s a good thing we’re required to have EMTs on standby at these events. Don’t get too comfy watching the show. I’ll be putting them to work after sending Frank Feathers their way.”
Moon will face Edge of Hope’s Jeremiah Richter one-on-one. Now under the guidance of ESW legend Will Calrissian, Moon hopes this new direction will help end his current losing streak by defeating the colossal Richter.
Check out this video of Calrissian’s unique training methods here: https://fb.watch/jgSGw4Kexm/
Rounding out the card, Epixx will take on Cockins. Normally a tag team wrestler in ESW, Epixx will get an opportunity to showcase his talents in singles action in front of the Buffalo crowd against one of the promotion’s roster staples.
Front and second-row tickets are sold out, but general admission tickets remain available at the pre-sale price of $20 at ESWTIX.com. Tickets will be available at the door for $25.
Doors open at 6 p.m. with bell time set for 7 p.m. Tough Luck will be broadcast live on IndependentWrestling.TV.
