Empire State Wrestling will hold its first New York State event of the year this Saturday. “Tough Luck ‘25” will occur at the Frontier Fire Hall in Niagara Falls. Tough Luck 25
“I’m excited to bring ESW action back to our regular stomping grounds,” said ESW promoter Brett Stymus. “I think all our fans are in for a real treat with the action-packed night we have in store for them.”
Tough Luck ‘25 will see newly crowned ESW champions in action. Among those will be ESW Interstate Champion “The Holy Hand Grenade” James Sayga.
After chasing the title over the course of two years, Sayga finally captured the prize from NWA’s Spencer Slade in November.
Sayga’s first challenger will be Edge of Hope’s Mattick. Mattick was in the Last Chance Battle Royal during his most recent ESW appearance. Mattick cut a scathing promo regarding Sayga’s recent matches that can be watched here:
Sayga clapped back to Mattick in this clip: here
“Courageous” Christina Marie will defend the ESW Women’s Championship, after beating GCW star Allie Katch in her last defense. She will take on a new face to ESW, Pegasa, a regular of the Pittsburgh, Penn. indie wrestling scene.
Slade is set to square off against the returning LSG. A former ROH star, LSG last appeared in ESW in August 2022 when he took on “Invincible” Vince Valor.
Tough Luck 25 presented by Empire State Wrestling
LSG’s brother, MSG, will make his ESW debut. He will team with “The Flaming Heart” Brennen The First against Edge of Hope’s “The Gashed” Darren Crowe and “The Unstoppable Force” Jeremiah Richter.
Brennen and Crowe both took part in the Last Chance Battle Royal in November, while Richter competed in the Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Cup match at the same event.
The fourth member of Edge of Hope, Cerin Rahne, will partake in a triple threat match. The other two competitors will be “Your Boy” Matt McCoy and CXR’s Chael Connors.
Rahne and McCoy also took part in the Last Chance Battle Royal in November. Meanwhile, Connors and his CXR partner T.J. Epixx dropped the ESW Tag Team Championship to To Infinity & Beyond on the same night.
After getting revenge against “The Remix” Kevin Bennett, Randy P and “The Shot” Cal Keaton in November, with the help of ESW legend Jonny Puma, Will Calrissian and “Red Hot” Vinnie Moon will look to keep their winning ways going at Tough Luck ‘25.
They will face former ESW Tag Team Champions High Seas – a team that is currently experiencing some major internal turmoil. A live counseling session with Dr. Henderson in November did not prove fruitful.
It even led to WWE Hall of Famer Ron “Faarooq” Simmons to walk out and give out his trademark “DAMN! catchphrase.
Keaton will be in singles action. He will face “Buckwild” Tommy K, who also participated in the Last Chance Battle Royal. Tommy K sent a strong message to Keaton heading into their match: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15oG6c794d/
Many other ESW regulars will be in action. Valor is set to compete after retaking the ESW Heavyweight Championship from “Big Time” Bill Collier in a casket match in November. So will the newly crowned ESW Tag Champs To Infinity & Beyond.
“A Cut Above The Rest” Gavin Glass will appear at Tough Luck ‘25. Glass won the Last Chance Battle Royal and moved on to compete in the DiPaolo Cup match later on in the event.
“Big League” John McChesney is scheduled to appear on Saturday. McChesney competed in the DiPaolo Cup match, which was ultimately won by “The Inspiration” Gregory Iron for the second consecutive year.
Online ticket sales for Tough Luck ‘25 are available at ESWTIX.com until Friday at midnight. Front row seats are sold out but a limited amount of second row seats are left. Ticket prices rise by $5 at the door.
Doors open at 5 p.m. with the opening bell set for 6 p.m.
