Distant Shores: The ICW World Heavyweight Championship Reign of “El Capitan” Leyton Buzzard

“For me, there’s always been this sort of enigma about the travelling World Champion…I’m gonna be a travelling World Champion, this belt’s gonna mean the world to me. I’m gonna do everything I can to elevate the title, to elevate the people I’m sharing the ring with and to elevate the companies that I’m working for.” – Leyton Buzzard (All About Ability Podcast, December 2022)

The Reign:

Championship Victory: Leyton Buzzard defeated Kez Evans & Craig Anthony & Stevie James at Fear & Loathing XIV in Glasgow, Scotland on November 20th, 2022.

Championship Loss: Aaron Echo defeated Leyton Buzzard at Get The F Out! in Glasgow, Scotland on May 14th, 2023.

Length of Reign: 175 days.

Fourteen Successful Title Retentions: Max Peach (Squash A Jobber Wrestling, Italy) / LJ Cleary (ICW: Fight Club, Scotland) / Feyyaz Aguila & Ricky Barcelo (Lucha Libre Barcelona, Spain) / Marcus Of Man (Freedom Pro Wrestling, Sweden) / Fabio (Fight Factory Pro Wrestling, Ireland) / Martin Steers (Rebel County Wrestling, Ireland) / Kenny Williams (ICW: The 11th Annual Square Go!, Scotland) / Big Damo (ICW: Fight Club, Scotland) / Vaughn Vertigo (Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Germany) / Mo Jabari (Greektown Wrestling, Canada) / Justin Sane (Pro Wrestling Ontario, Canada) / Gabriel Fuerza (New Frontier Pro, Canada) / Nico Angelo (Pro Wrestling Chaos, England) / Big Damo & Andy Roberts (ICW: Get The F Out!, Scotland).

The Buzz:

Ecstasy of Gold feature “New Phenom: The ICW World Heavyweight Championship Reign of Drew Galloway” was published November 1st, 2022, on the eve of the anniversary of Drew Galloway winning the ICW Heavyweight Championship from Jack Jester at Fear & Loathing VII.

The article was a deep-dive history of Insane Championship Wrestling, the UK wrestling boom, Galloway’s independent run (see also: “Self-Chosen: The EVOLVE Championship Reign of Drew Galloway”) and his ascent to becoming both the first Scottish TNA World Heavyweight Champion and British WWE Champion. It was also a celebration of the legacy that the future Drew McIntyre left in Scotland’s most infamous promotion, most specifically, the mark he left on the title that he had made a World Heavyweight Championship, one that had not known the same reach and prestige since.

At Fear & Loathing XIV, eight years on from Galloway’s title win, and just nineteen days after “New Phenom” was published, twenty-five year old “El Capitan” Leyton Buzzard became ICW’s twenty-sixth champion, and began a reign which, as soon became obvious, was going to date my article quite badly. His six-month run with the ICW World Heavyweight Championship reign ended May 14th, 2023, but like Galloway’s, it’s one worth remembering.

Spanning 175 days, Buzzard maintained a frantic schedule of title defences as champion, which spanned Scotland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, Canada and his home-country of England. It was a reign that honoured the legacies of ICW’s most memorable former champions, while making history of his own.

The ICW title has existed since October 15th, 2006, when a young Galloway outlasted “The Natural” Allan Grogan and Darkside to become the inaugural ICW Heavyweight Champion in front of seventy-three folk. In the sixteen-plus years that followed, the title was held by men who would prove themselves in WWE, NXT and Impact Wrestling, as well as by those who would come to define ICW and Scottish wrestling on the whole as core figures of the northern UK independents.

As ICW grew to host some of the biggest shows in UK and European history, the title would become increasingly sought after by high-level competition from the wider UK, and eventually, the world. When ICW’s schedule and drawing power rapidly increased, its champions were required to push back challenges from Fergal Devitt, Sabu, Tommy End, Rhino, Pete Dunne, Kassius Ohno, Keith Lee and so many others.

2014-2016 was a particular boom period for wrestling in the UK, and ICW was the clear front-runner in the north, and likely nationwide. Whether your favourite UK promotion was Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling or something else entirely was a matter of taste or locale, but no UK promotion would consistently match ICW’s touring schedule (which reached across Britain and into Ireland), the houses they would draw in Glasgow, or the distribution of their weekly broadcasts (airing in almost fourty countries through Fight Network alone).

This era was flooded with iconic ICW talents like Noam Dar, Grado, Lionheart, Nikki Storm, Carmel Jacob, Kenny Williams, Big Damo, The Sumerian Death Squad, The New Age Kliq, Polo Promotions, The Black Label and Kay Lee Ray.

After Jester had led the charge for ICW’s national expansion, Galloway returned from WWE with ambition, determination, name-value and drawing power. His second reign saw him take this Scottish title to Denmark, America, Australia, England, Northern Ireland and Germany, until “World” Champion truly stuck.

Some of the title-holders that followed would make similar efforts; Damo defeated Chris Renfrew for the title in Belfast before defending in Ireland, England, Wales and America; Wolfgang planted the ICW flag in Italy when he defeated Il Lupo in Trescore Balneario; Trent Seven made prolific defences in England and defended the title in Orlando, FL at WrestleMania Axxess 2017, and most recently, DCT had taken the title back to Ireland in 2018 during his fifty-six day reign.

Coinciding with the launch of NXT UK, a hemorrhaging of top stars, ICW’s partnership with WWE, the long overdue Speaking Out movement and the COVID-19 lockdown, this touring brand gradually became anchored to its Glasgow base. On top of this, the well deserved ICW Championship reign of Noam Dar was undermined by a mixture of COVID limitations and his WWE contract. ICW was forced to vacate the title after almost 600 days of inactivity. However, by November 2022, the top prize of ICW was being steadily defended on the WWE Network and Peacock; then, after many isolated months in the ICW Asylum, Kez Evans took the title to England and Wales, reestablishing ICW on a national level.

Although Evans was an excellent champion, and WWE’s deals with ICW and other independents offered previously unprecedented reach, the delays between taping and broadcast took some of the urgency and stakes away from these ICW title fights. Men like Jester and BT Gunn had bled buckets for the ICW title over the years, and numerous ICW Champions had received international contracts since, but it still felt like a title defined by its history with Galloway, now ICW Hall of Famer, Royal Rumble winner, WrestleMania main eventer and two-time WWE Champion.

“I first saw Drew in WWE when I was eleven or so and remember thinking it’s amazing he’s from Scotland, a few hours away from me and he’s ‘The Chosen One’ in WWE, wrestling The Undertaker and winning the IC title. It was amazing to follow his career and see him evolve into the superstar he is today. I might be from England but I consider myself a Scottish Wrestler and I think Drew’s been an inspiration and influence for every Scottish wrestler.” – Leyton Buzzard (Scottish Wrestling Network, April 2019)

The ICW World Heavyweight Championship entered a new era when Leyton Buzzard outlasted Stevie James, Craig Anthony and Evans in a Four-Way Elimination match to end this 364 day reign of terror. Taking the title from Evans was something that ICW legends Stevie Boy, Wolfgang, Gunn, Jester and Grado had all failed to do–but young El Capitan had succeeded.

Buzzard’s rise to the top of ICW was not a huge surprise. Evans had been an unhinged bastard as champion but ICW often has a bit of a formula with these long reigns, and him losing the title at Fear & Loathing (the same marquee event he’d won it at the year prior) was the likely outcome. Additionally, although Buzzard had debuted as Joe Hendry’s lowly “prestigious intern,” he was trained by Jester, Wolfgang and Red Lightning at the ICW Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum and had been appearing for ICW since 2016.

This young prospect progressed steadily from a disastrous first GPWA Proving Ground match as Wee Arthur, entrance music by Hanson and an appearance as a mini Trent Seven, to upsetting “Bad Boy” Liam Thomson for ICW Zero-G Championship. In this time, he’d gotten consistently better, and proven himself in high pressure contests, such as a 60 Minute Iron Man match with Andy Wild, a gory King of Insanity war with Gunn, and most significantly, by winning the annual thirty-man Square Go! rumble match to earn his shot at the World Championship.

El Capitan was clearly main event ready and it was logical that he’d be chosen as Evans’ successor, but what immediately stood out about Buzzard’s reign was that he wasn’t content to be elevated by the belt, he wanted to take his championship to new heights:

“Years ago, a man called Drew McIntyre, he made this a recognised World Championship…He defended this title in five countries across three continents. He made this championship mean something. And now, I promise you that I will bring prestige back to this title; I will bring honour back to this title. I’m gonna show everyone that we are ICW and we are here!

2018 was the last time that this championship was defended outside the UK…Well, El Capitan has been champion for one week and I can confirm now I’ve got defences set-up in five different countries and two different continents! In two-weeks time, I defend this championship three times: three days, three defences, three different countries. I’m on some Ric Flair shit, baby! Woo!

You know, they say it’s not the title that makes the man, it’s the man that makes the title. Well, this man is about to make this the most important championship in European wrestling today!” – Leyton Buzzard (ICW Fight Club #246, January 2023)

The Champion of the World and The Scum of the Earth:

With his inspiring proclamation ringing in the ears of the ICW mafia, Buzzard was shooting for the moon, but he came crashing back to earth when hit with a poisonous mist from “The Scum of the Earth” Kenny Williams. Once considered “The Bollocks” by the fans, the three-time former ICW Zero-G Champion had returned from NXT UK as a maniacal hyena-laughed wanker. His ruining of El Capitan’s battlecry was a transparent attempt to jump-the-queue for a title shot.

Clearly angered, El Capitan still was not manipulated into giving Williams what he wanted. Instead, Buzzard announced a series of international defences. Some of these matches retraced steps taken by former champions, while others made new ground. Openly inspired by Galloway’s reign, Buzzard came-out-swinging with title matches in six countries announced shortly after his victory.

Buzzard’s first defence would happen on December 10th, in Milan, and El Capitan set the tone for his reign in a high energy contest with decorated Nola native Max Peach for Squash A Jobber Wrestling. Peach fought courageously against the new champion but while he clearly earned the champion’s respect, he would not gain his title. Regardless of what Williams would claim, Buzzard wasn’t acting like a man who feared competition.

Italy had been a significant TV market for ICW when Fight Club debuted on the Nuvolari channel in 2016, reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers. ICW gold hadn’t been defended in the country since BT Gunn put the ICW Zero-G Championship on the line for the Italian Wrestling Association in 2017, but Buzzard became the man to change this, revisiting a region that held much significance in ICW’s history. El Capitan couldn’t soak in his win though: he was due back in Glasgow the following day for his first defence in an ICW ring.

Buzzard had been permitted to name his own opponent, and he chose LJ Cleary. Williams was quick to point out Cleary’s mixed record in ICW, but truly the champion’s choice proved his drive to be the best. Cleary was a multi-time champion in Ireland’s premier promotion Over the Top Wrestling, and on top of that, he’d been selected to challenge PAC for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship earlier in the year. What was even more important for El Capitan than these accolades and high-profile bouts was that Cleary was one of Buzzard’s most recent one-on-one defeats and Buzzard wanted to face someone he knew had what it took to beat him.

In a fast paced contest, El Capitan’s journey looked as though it would be cut short by the Irishman. When the champion missed the 450 splash, his challenger capitalised with a devastating second-rope Canadian Destroyer from which Buzzard managed an unthinkable kick out; it may only have been Cleary’s disbelief that gave Buzzard the precious seconds he needed to recover. In an effort to do what had been so successful for both men’s favourite wrestler, Chris Jericho, Cleary went for the Liontamer. Just weeks earlier, the Irishman had used this submission to tap out a belt collecting Matt Cardona, but Buzzard fought frantically to escape.

Though adrenaline had taken Buzzard over, Cleary had the desperate champion well scouted and maneuvered out of the Buzzkiller uranage into a tight pin for another close call. El Capitan showed a champion’s fortitude when a hopeful superkick found its mark and allowed Buzzard to land both the Buzzkiller and 450 splash to retain. After the bell, both men were spent when The Scum of the Earth slithered into the ring, getting a little too familiar with the champion and his belt. Williams taunted Buzzard but Cleary sent him scurrying, allowing the two competitors the curtain call they rightly deserved. Later, Buzzard would call Cleary his “fight forever” opponent on Canada’s Straight Talk Wrestling podcast.

Having proven himself to be no fluke in the ICW’s home of Glasgow, Buzzard sought new challenges for a new year. Debuting for Spain’s Lucha Libre Barcelona in January 2023, the champion faced multi-time LLB Absolute Champion Ricky Barcelo and world-travelled Turkish star Feyyaz Aguila in a Triple Threat contest officiated by ICW’s senior official Thomas Kearins. Like Darkside, Damo, Grado, Grado, Stevie Boy, Red Lightning and other champions past, Buzzard too overcame the multi-man odds to hold on to ICW’s top prize.

That same month, Buzzard travelled to Norsborg, Sweden for Freedom Pro Wrestling to make a defence against fellow English expat Marcus Of Man. The veteran instincts and dirty tactics of Marcus kept El Capitan grounded and in peril but eventually the guts and technique of the champion prevailed. The Isle of Man native fought hard but was pushed to submission by the Sharpshooter.

These first-time defences in Spain and Sweden elevated Buzzard’s reign to an elite tier, but another great tradition of ICW’s history was the title-for-title match. Going back to 2013, ICW Heavyweight Champions had twice put their titles up against the Zero-G Championship, and interpromotional title matches followed. Galloway had put his ICW title up against champions Michael Fynne, Andy Phoenix, Joey Ace and Chaos in Denmark, Australia, America and Germany, acquiring three new titles in the process. ICW Women’s World Champion Viper defeated Toni Storm in Japan for the SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship. In 2019, Lionheart established ICW’s dominance of Europe when, in his final match, he captured the Official Union of European Wrestling Alliance’s European Heavyweight Championship from Dublin’s Alexander Dean.

It’s one thing to defend a championship in other territories, but as Lenny Leonard would say of Galloway, it takes a special kind of champion to take that territory’s title with them when they leave: Buzzard was given the opportunity to meet that standard when he travelled to Fight Factory Pro Wrestling, a promotion founded by Finn Balor in 2003, which trained Becky Lynch. Here he put the ICW Championship on-the-line in Ireland, for the first time since DCT in 2018, and the first defence outside of the UK for any ICW title-holder since Molly Spartan defended her ICW Women’s World Championship in Finland the year prior.

Not only was his ICW gold on the line, but El Capitan faced FFPW title-holder Fabio, who had been unstoppable in his 1,132 day reign as the Irish Junior Heavyweight Champion, and in this main-event, both men fought like champions should, knowing only one could leave Episode 25: XXV with all the gold. Buzzard Vs. Fabio had originally been scheduled as El Capitan’s very first title defence on December 9th, 2022, before a travel disaster postponed it, something Kenny Williams had found hilarious. These delays and Williams’ words only seemed to make the young champion more motivated to make this match count; Fabio was the overwhelming fan favourite before the Dublin faithful but Buzzard overcame it all to scrape together the three-count he needed.

The following day, “Buzzard Two Belts” travelled south to Cork for Rebel County Wrestling and surprised the fans and announcers alike when he put both his ICW and FFPW titles on the line against Martin Steers; again mirroring Galloway and Gunn, who had both often put multiple titles on the line in a single match during their exemplary reigns. The match didn’t go long but it went hard with the two men pulling out big moves early. Buzzard won the race when he evaded a Shooting Star Press to land the 450 splash which turned back this spirited challenge. Buzzard left Ireland with the gold like Damo and DCT had in years prior. Fate wasn’t finished with Buzzard and Steers just yet but the “Champ Champ El Capitan” was better on this night.

Back in Glasgow, Williams had lost a couple of battles in his war with Buzzard, but his relentless attacks and constant disrespect finally got him what he wanted from the Englishman. At The 11th Annual Square Go! PPV, ICW’s first major event since the end of their deal with WWE, the Scum of the Earth was granted his first ever shot at the ICW World Heavyweight Championship.

A clear highlight of the PPV, this World Championship match pulled no punches as both men fought bitterly. We’ll never know what could have been but it appeared that Williams’ scummy tactics might have cost him it all when referee Kearins was blinded by a black mist intended for Buzzard. Williams was still able to out-wrestle the champion with a crushing headlock driver but there was now no referee to make the count.

In a reversal of fortunes, Buzzard recovered to land a 450 splash, only for referee Sean McLaughlin to arrive a second too late to make that deciding third count. Now with an official in the ring and both competitors beginning to stir, this title bout was practically reset.

In what had become an ugly, personal feud, the two men continued to fight wildly. The Scum of the Earth raised the stakes irreversibly when he introduced a bucketful of thumbtacks to the canvas. Williams again set Buzzard up for the headlock driver, no longer only aiming to take El Capitan’s title, but his good looks too. Buzzard dug deep, and escaped Williams’ grip to hit the Buzzkiller onto the tacks and emerge the victor.

Williams, who had come beyond close to his first World Championship, was sent spiraling ever further, claiming conspiracy again and again as calls continued not to go his way. For Buzzard though, he was free to look ahead to his many new challenges.

Travelling World Champion:

“When I became ICW World Champion, I wanted to be a certain type of champion…All the champions that I respected in the past have been travelling champions. People who travel the world and defend that championship all over the world.” – Leyton Buzzard (Straight Talk Wrestling, May 2023)

Before Buzzard could meet his international commitments, he was scheduled for his first title defence of the FITE+ era of Fight Club when El Capitan met “The Beast of Belfast” Big Damo, one of the most dominant champions in ICW history. During Damo’s 155 day reign, he’d made the defences in multiple countries against Galloway, Jester, Bram, VSK, Trent Seven, Grado, Johnny Moss and others–he was impatient to regain his spot as the champion of insanity.

This was Buzzard’s first opportunity to test himself against a former ICW Champion, and he was largely dominated by the larger man. Buzzard’s determination shone through, undaunted even by Damo kicking out of Buzzard’s brief offence at a count of one. Digging ever deeper, El Capitan muscled Damo up for the Buzzkiller but it again wasn’t enough.

Eventually the strength and power of Damo overwhelmed the champion and the Northern Irishman hit the Belfast Bomb; Buzzard’s reign looked to be at its end, but ICW veteran Andy Roberts stormed the ring and caused the match to be thrown out. Roberts assaulted Damo (a “queue jumping bastard!”) and Buzzard (a “jumped up little shit!”), furious that he’d previously beaten both men, but they’d received the opportunities this once loyal journeyman had not.

The trio brawled, and eventually Buzzard, as the quicker of the three, was able to get the upper-hand. He kept his two Heavyweight doubters at bay by challenging them both to a Three Way Dance at Get The F Out!, vowing to prove himself with his title on the line.

Whether or not Buzzard had been lucky to escape The Asylum with his championship was a fair question to ask, especially for Damo. If Buzzard could do it again at The Garage in May was certainly something on the mind of Roberts too, but El Capitan couldn’t afford to ruminate on Fight Club. He’d given himself an intensive schedule of bookings and title defences, and he could only push forward.

During Westside Xtreme Wrestling’s 16 Carat Gold tournament weekend, champions from England, France, Denmark and America descended on Oberhausen for the wXwNOW & Friends Showcase 2023, a supercard of interpromotional title defences. Buzzard represented Scotland against Canada’s Vaughn Vertigo, an old Preston/Pro Championship Wrestling rival of his. Twelve months prior, Vertigo had taken the PCW Cruiserweight Championship from Buzzard, but on this night, in a high octane sprint of a match, El Capitan’s reign endured.

Not only was El Capitan able to return the title to Germany for the first time since October 2015, he did it for a legendary promotion that had been crucial to the early careers of Claudio Castignoli, Gunther, Malakai Black and Zach Sabre Jr.–now wXw would always be a part of ICW’s story too.

The night prior, Buzzard had defended his Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship against CBL in Dublin, now he was doing the same for ICW in Germany. Galloway too had juggled a champions schedule for both EVOLVE Wrestling and ICW with back-to-back matches; on one night he could be defending the EVOLVE Championship in San Jose, CA, then the following evening the ICW title at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom. With this, Buzzard continued to prove he was just as committed as any champion before him.

“I want to be the best. My goal in wrestling is to be the number one wrestler in the world; to be the best wrestler on the planet. In my head, if I don’t go to that gym, someone else is going to that gym and they’ll get that opportunity, because they’ve worked harder than me…I make sure that I’m giving it 100% of my effort, all the time. There’s someone else out there, working just as hard as me, that’s the way I look at it, and that’s what keeps me going.” – Leyton Buzzard (All About Ability Podcast, December 2022)

In late 2014, Jester had already taken the title to England when Galloway went overseas to Denmark for an ICW Heavyweight Vs. DPW Heavyweight Championship contest. These early UK and European defences were essential to the title’s renown and its growth, but it was the February 2015 match with Matt Hardy in Queens, NY that allowed all future ICW title holders to call themselves World Heavyweight Champion.

Leyton had done great things with the title in Europe, his extracurricular defences had given him a special place in ICW’s history. As a fan, it was enough for me just to see the title defended abroad once again, but El Capitan is an exceptionally driven man and when praised for his initial international announcements, he announced: “This is just the start, we’re going intercontinental baby!”

True to his word, Buzzard flew to North America in mid-March for a tour that saw him wrestle for influential independents like Black Label Pro and C*4 Wrestling, but most significantly, making three title defences in Ontario, Canada.

His first match of the tour was for Greektown Wrestling, who put him in the ring with former RCW North American and PWA Commonwealth Champion “Kid Chocolate” Mo Jabari, who had wrestled for AEW in Winnipeg just twenty-four hours prior. A proud Calgary wrestler, Jabari went deep into his bag of tricks to control the pace and keep the champion grounded but Buzzard was relentless. Disregarding his own safety, the champion landed a terrifying outside dive to set up his 450 splash, which brought the crowd to their feet but kept Jabari’s shoulders on the mat. Buzzard’s victory made ICW history, not only was it the first defence on Canadian soil but it was also the first in North America since April 2017.

For Pro Wrestling Ontario’s Throne of Perdition stream on IWTV, Buzzard was given the honour of being “The Night Train” Justin Sane’s final opponent. Sane was a decorated veteran of the East-Central Canadian independent scene, and this chance to end his career as World Heavyweight Champion lit that fire in him one last time.

This hot and emotional crowd bellowed for The Night Train, from ramp to ring, and he came tremendously close to taking it all home on this night. His power and agility was almost too much for the World’s Champion to handle. Almost.

It wasn’t easy, not in the least, but Buzzard endured. The vanquished and the victor shared in a show of respect after the bell. When it all was over though, Buzzard rightly left Sane to enjoy this final moment in the ring. The win, and the championship, belonged to El Capitan but the night was Sane’s, as he celebrated with his gorgeous baby boy as the audience cheered and thanked him one last time. What a lad.

After the event, PWO recognised Buzzard’s efforts in the ring and his clear respect for their scene: “All of us at Pro Wrestling Ontario would like to thank Leyton Buzzard for stepping into a near impossible position and absolutely knocking it out of the park, exceeding every expectation. You are welcome back any time.” Citizen Sane echoed this sentiment too: “Thank you for pushing me to my limits one last time. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Buzzard finished his international tour at New Frontier Pro’s Moths Into Flame, making his third Canadian ICW World Heavyweight Championship defence in the main card’s opener. This time he faced “El Diablo” Gabriel Fuerza in a match that was arguably this international tour’s biggest threat to Buzzard’s reign. The champion and Fuerza had met twice that month in Triple Threat contests for C*4 and the Cross Body Wrestling Academy, where Ottawa and Cambridge wrestling fans had seen the Mexico-born star go 0-2 against ICW’s champion. What’s more, Fuerza was accompanied by his Fight Or Flight tag team partner, and Buzzard’s rival, Vaughn Vertigo. Mercifully, Vertigo spent the contest at the commentary table, but his appearance at ringside, decked out in Buzzard’s merchandise no less, flirted with mind games, and surely plagued the champion during the match.

Fuerza had won titles in C*4, Alpha-1 Wrestling, CBPWA, Destiny World Wrestling and many others, but he wouldn’t add ICW to his resume on this night. Fuerza’s slingshot cutter and standing moonsault had nearly been enough to ruin Buzzard’s tour, but a superkick and Buzzkiller combination reversed the trend to make their series 2-1 in the match that counted most.

The Englishman’s victory had been met with some hostility, but when El Capitan answered the “Mark Ass Buster Challenge” of TARIK, it was clear the Cobourg crowd had warmed to him. In this main event, Buzzard was narrowly picked-to-the-post, like so many others before him had been by the undefeated TARIK. Though the loss was surely a disappointing finale for his North American expedition, El Capitan should have felt no shame in this defeat. The broadcast team suggested this may have been the biggest win of TARIK’s career and one which made him the natural Number One Contender for the New Frontier Grand Championship–whether in victory or defeat, Buzzard was doing his job as the travelling World Champion, elevating the top talent of the territories he visited.

As El Capitan departed for home, C*4, Nilo Reyes, Brad Myers, Macrae Martin, New Frontier, Mark Wheeler and Vaughn Vertigo all took to Twitter to praise him in a great show of respect from the promoters he’d worked for and those he’d shared rings and locker rooms with.

As El Capitan returned to Europe, he had little time to rest. Just six days after wrestling two matches in one night in Ontario, Buzzard was back in Ireland for an incredible five matches across three days. The first of which must have rattled the champion when former RCW challenger Martin Steers wrested the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship away from Buzzard in a Five Way match involving Anita Vaughan, CBL and Party Boy.

As is often seen in wrestling, belt collectors experience a domino-effect after losing one title, and soon, they all begin to fall. Buzzard couldn’t allow that to happen, not now. This was one aspect of Galloway’s reign that the current champion would not wish to repeat, not when he was just weeks away from one of the most personally and professionally significant weekends of his career.

As reported by BBC Bristol:

“A child actor who left a career on the West End stage to become a professional wrestler is returning home for the first time as champion.

Arthur Byrne, who wrestles as Leyton Buzzard, moved from Bristol to Glasgow aged 18 to pursue his passion with Insane Championship Wrestling.

He’s wrestled in 15 countries around the world and is now finally making his hometown debut at Pro Wrestling Chaos.”

Pro Wrestling Chaos is the top promotion in the Southwest of England, one which had hosted World Championship matches for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (Galloway Vs. Eddie Dennis) and Ring of Honor (Jay Lethal Vs. Mark Andrews) in the past. At May 13th’s Brave New World, Buzzard would add ICW’s Championship to that list when he faced the reigning TNT Ultra X Champion and “Man with a Black Heart of Gold” Nico Angelo.

“Wee” Arthur Boyle had risked a lot when he left film, television, stage and even video game acting behind to move to Glasgow in 2016, He’d only wrestled once in Bristol since, a tag team loss with Joe Hendry to The Kinky Party (Jack Jester & Sha Samuels); still so inexperienced in the ring, he can’t have wanted that to have been the first impression his friends and family had of him when he began chasing his dream as a professional wrestler, but now, as the ICW World Heavyweight Champion, he had the opportunity to ensure it wasn’t the last impression his hometown had of him.

The following night, Buzzard would have Damo and Roberts to contend with in a Three Way Dance, regardless, El Capitan threw everything into his defence against Angelo and the Welshman threw it all right back at him.

As this No Disqualification match wore on, Angelo began launching himself into Buzzard’s superkicks in a desperate effort to land a strike on the defending champion. With the challenger finally staggered by the barrage, the champion muscled him up for a Davy Jones Driver through a table, leaving him prone for El Capitan’s best shot: the 450 splash. Buzzard would celebrate in his hometown, with his friends and family, as World Heavyweight Champion.

“When I walk out that curtain with the ICW title, hopefully they’ll all understand why I did this.” – Leyton Buzzard (BBC Bristol, May 2023)

A Beast and a Wildman:

Since Buzzard had issued the challenge for Get The F Out!, he’d defended his title in Germany, Canada and England, but the threat was always biggest in Glasgow, and Damo and Roberts were bigger than most.

Damo’s status as a former ICW World Heavyweight Champion, Progress World Champion, WCPW World Champion and WWE superstar, spoke volumes of the threat he posed. Not only that, he was the one challenger Buzzard hadn’t been able to beat. Damo arguably should have been a two-time champion at this moment and he’d now fight like hell to ensure he would be.

On the other hand, it was never having been World Heavyweight Champion which made Roberts so dangerous. In 2012, Big Andy, then known as Andy Wild, had defeated Noam Dar for the ICW Zero-G Championship. He held it for 231 days, but this wasn’t the beginning of the career he’d envisioned. As ICW grew, he received fewer and fewer opportunities, eventually relegated to the smaller SpaceBaws shows with less established and less experienced talent, if he was booked at all.

Already successful as a Cruiserweight with 730 days as the BCW Openweight Champion, the “Unstoppable” Andy Wild began to bulk up into “The Dad Bod God” and made his name outside Glasgow. In 2017, he became the WrestleZone Undisputed Champion, the top title in Scotland’s North East. In the capital city, Wild stole the show for Discovery Wrestling in 2018, when he won the Disco Derby rumble, the Hotter Than Hell tournament and was awarded their Wrestler of the Year honour. Reinvented and reinvigorated, Wild impressed in a ICW Zero-G Championship gauntlet at BarraMania 4, a showing which saw him finally return to ICW full-time. No longer booked simply as an extra body for a multi-man, Big Andy had resumed his ICW journey in earnest, which he’d begun at the age of twenty-one at Menace 2 Society in 2010.

His confidence boosted, Big Andy captured the ICW recognised UEWA European Heavyweight Championship in 2019, and by Get the F Out!, had held the title for 1,394 days, despite injury, surgery and a who’s-who of opponents, which included BT Gunn, Liam Thomson, Jason Reed, Charlie Sterling, James Mason, Kenny Williams, Wild Boar and Doug Williams (see also: “Make Your Own Moments: Four Years of UEWA European Heavyweight Champion Andy Roberts”).

Despite almost four years of fending off serious challengers, Big Andy remained a “nearly man” in ICW. In his first opportunity, he’d failed to take the ICW World Heavyweight Championship from Jackie Polo; he would fall to Joe Coffey for the ICW Zero-G Championship; he and The Wild Boys (Aaron Echo & Kieran Kelly) would trip in the finals of the King of Hauners tournament, while his classic performances against Noam Dar and Stevie Boy would not earn him the World Heavyweight Championship opportunities he sought.

These disappointments would begin to mount for Wild, but he remained prolific and reliable for ICW, and far from unsuccessful: he’d beaten Daz Black, Ravie Davie, Theo Doros, Mark Coffey, Jody Fleisch, Jason Reed, BT Gunn, “The Prodigy” Scotty Davis and even Damo and Buzzard.

But when the stakes were highest, Wild often came up just short. What should have been the biggest win of his career at Fear & Loathing XIII instead ended in a twenty-minute time limit draw; though Wild had a good record over Buzzard, in the bout that would go down in history, a 60 Minute Iron Man match, Wild was bested 2-3. When the Fifer fell to Jason Reed in a bitter student-vs-teacher clash at Fear & Loathing XIV, something snapped, and he buried the “Wild” name, emerging as a ticking time bomb called Andy Roberts.

Deciding that the respect of his peers was no prize, Roberts now demolished veteran and new blood talent alike as he left being the nice guy behind. He wouldn’t wait for opportunities: he’d take them. Having now forced his way into World title contention, he had no choice but to deliver.

In this Three Way Dance, Buzzard, Damo and Roberts were all deserving of being “The Man,” but when only one could be: who wanted it most?

Buzzard, though greatly outsized, was fearless, disrespectfully turning his back to the challengers during “Champagne” Simon Cassidy’s ring introductions. The two heavyweights towered over him, salivating at the opportunity to hurt and humiliate the younger man. When El Capitan tried mean-mugging his larger opponents, Damo offered a sickly smile, while Roberts, his eyes an abyss, stared right through the champion.

The unbound fury and frustration of Roberts sent him after challenger and champion alike, but this frenzy created the briefest of openings for Buzzard to set the pace he needed in order to remain competitive in this Heavyweight clash. During the early going, El Capitan even cleared the guard rail into the front row when he hurled himself at Roberts.

Though Buzzard’s speed and agility had been an invaluable attribute for his entire reign, he had to work that much harder in this match. Gravity could be a fickle thing and Buzzard was at its mercy as he tried to down his challengers, while a simple forearm from either of these behemoths could put the champion on his arse in an instant.

The strength of Damo and Roberts impressed both the ICW faithful and the veteran announce team of Billy “Fucking” Kirkwood and James R. Kennedy; Damo managed a double fall-away slam on Buzzard and Roberts while Big Andy launched the 300lb-plus Damo with a spellbinding suplex. Buzzard’s bulking diet of 4000 calories a day wasn’t for nothing though and he proved it with a WrestleMania III slam on The Beast of Belfast.

Under elimination rules, someone had to be first and a Da Bomb from Roberts followed by Buzzard’s 450 splash was more than anyone could take, even a monster like Damo. Though the Englishman was in position for the cover, Roberts was unable to tolerate yet another missed pin, and he booted the champion in the head in order to send Damo to the back himself.

The last time Roberts and Buzzard had faced one-on-one, Roberts had taken the win, this time, there was so much on the line. A battered and bruised champion struck wildly, even landing the Buzzkiller, but despite the physicality that had preceded it, Roberts still rolled his shoulder off the canvas. He didn’t want second-place, not again.

As we saw time and time again in this high stakes encounter, Buzzard would land big move after big move but all it took was Roberts to catch one-in-seven to completely reverse the momentum. When Roberts sent the champion soaring with a top rope belly-to-belly suplex, he followed with Da Bomb. A move which had pinned some of the best in Europe, but not Buzzard, not tonight. The heartbreak was visible in the blue eyes of Roberts, again his best had not been enough. This old pain turned to new anger and he roared through El Capitan’s desperate flurry of superkicks. Roberts had been known as “The Stovie Superman” but he was still human, and eventually his balance failed, allowing for another Buzzkiller. Adrenaline brought Roberts to life once more as he threw himself at Buzzard, who had positioned himself on the top turnbuckle, but the champion was able to hang the windpipe of his remaining challenger over the ring rope and land his 450 splash for the decisive fall.

Buzzard found himself in the position he’d been in thirteen times before in the last six months, as the retaining ICW World Heavyweight Champion. Roberts too was again in a spot he’d found himself in more times than he could remember: runner-up in the match of the night. Again, second best. Again, the man who nearly did it. Again, the man who’d come close.

As a dejected Roberts rolled to the floor, Buzzard was left to celebrate his successful ICW homecoming. Then everything changed. The haunting beat of Iggy Pop’s “Nightclubbing” echoed in the Garage, as Aaron Echo, the winner of 2023 Square Go! emerged with his World Championship contract in hand.

Buzzard had been through the toughest match of his reign, and Echo was here to pick the bones. But when the bell rang for the impromptu title match, El Capitan found something incredible in his reserve: he caught Echo with the Buzzkiller. When that didn’t close the door on Echo’s heist, he frantically went to top for another 450 splash but Echo evaded it and hit the exhausted champion with a Rolling Elbow and a pumphandle slam to end the best ICW World Heavyweight Championship reign in years. It was a heartbreaking finale to an inspiring run.

New Adventures:

With Buzzard’s reign ended at 175 days, he announced a break from ICW (“It’s not goodbye, it’s just see you later.”). Numerous promotions for whom he’d defended his title and ICW talent past-and-present joined fans in celebrating his work and his time as champion, the chorus included Red Lightning, Ravie Davie, Rob Drake, Squash A Jobber Wrestling, Lucha Libre Barcelona, Pro Wrestling Ontario, New Frontier Pro, Fight Factory Pro Wrestling, Rebel County Wrestling and others.

What’s next for El Capitan is unknown but while Buzzard was riding high in ICW, he was also rising through the ranks of other major European promotions; becoming a regular for RPW (facing Will Ospreay in his debut), OTT and wXw: any of which would be lucky to have him as their travelling champion and ambassador. Looking to distant shores, the British have taken over much of NXT, SmackDown and RAW, while NXT Europe is still to be explored; he made a mark in North America in 2023, and Japan remains a top ambition for the former champion. Wherever El Capitan ventures next, he’s proven he can make the most of every stop on his journey, and at twenty-five years old, he’s only going to get better.

The Big Legacy of “Wee Arthur”:

“When I won the championship I wanted to do everything I could to make this reign mean something. Tonight I broke Drew Galloway’s record in my hometown in front of my friends and family.” – Leyton Buzzard (May 2023)

That Buzzard would go above-and-beyond with the ICW World Heavyweight Championship was not without precedent. Earlier in his career, he’d defended the SWA X Championship and PCW Cruiserweight Championship independently in promotions like Community Pro Wrestling, Wrestling Experience Scotland (ICW’s family-friendly brand at that time) and the late Lionheart’s Pro Wrestling Elite. This allowed him to be showcased as a champion in front of these audiences whilst gaining experience and proving to promoters that he was someone who would make the most of anything he was given.

These opportunities were obviously far bigger with ICW’s title, which had been held by storied names and was at the heart of multiple BBC and VICE documentaries with two-plus years on the WWE Network, and now part of the FITE+ family. This wasn’t just bringing a belt to a family show, it was something with history, credibility and proven potential.

That potential had always been there though and Buzzard was the first man in years years to truly be able to run with it. Galloway hadn’t invented the idea of defending titles in other promotions, ICW wasn’t even the first one he’d done it for, nor had EVOLVE (for Galloway, that goes all the way back to Irish Whip Wrestling in 2006)–but he had been the first to really exploit the size of the ICW audience and his own name power in order to begin pushing the title on other folk’s shows, making eight defences outside an ICW ring.

Excellent champions followed Galloway’s reign but none would manage more than one independent defence of the ICW title, while Buzzard would make ten in seven countries on two continents. He did this in less than half the time, and without the benefit of Galloway’s post-WWE name or ICW being the UK media darling that it had been during the UK wrestling boom. As champion, Buzzard carried himself like a star; his star grew, and the title grew with him.

Galloway is still, in my estimation, the greatest champion ICW has ever had. He was the right man for what has been, up to this point, the critical and commercial peak of Insane Championship Wrestling. But thanks to Buzzard, this title, which hadn’t left the UK since 2018, is no longer so indebted to its past. As a travelling champion, Buzzard returned ICW to IWTV, Fite, Twitch, the BBC and the Fight Network, and ensured that “World Championship” doesn’t ring hollow. El Capitan set a new standard for this era by demonstrating what future ICW champions can hope to accomplish outside of Glasgow. Buzzard even set an example for champions in other companies, proving that if you put in the work you can call yourself World Champion with-or-without Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s blessing, there’s a whole world to be explored, and it’s filled with worthy challengers and passionate fans.