The Wrestling Guys’s March to Glory Preview

This Saturday night, High Octane Wrestling presents the first big show of the year- March to Glory.

Hosted by Six-Time ICON Champion Michael Lee Best, March to Glory will feature five matches, three titles at stake, a number one contender’s match for the resurgent HOW Tag Team division that has suddenly sprung back to life, and as Lee Best decreed last week at the end of Refueled XX- it will also be the SON of GOD’s Appreciation Night to celebrate his recent title win.

The big match of the show is the HOW World Title Match between the champion Cecilworth Farthington from the Group of Death and the upstart, newcomer and one half of the Red and Ted tag team Teddy Palmer.

The GoD’s Max Kael puts his LSD title on the line against a trio of opponents: Alex Redding- the other half of the Red and Ted tag team, The Deacon, and HOW Hall of Famer Chris Kostoff.

And last but not least, the GoD (Dan Ryan and Lindsay Troy) face not one, not two, not three, but FOUR tag team opponents in their title defense versus The Hollywood Bruvs (Jesse Kendrix and Mikey Unlikely), 24K (Perfection and Andy Murray), The eGG Bandits (Cancer Jiles and Doozer) and HATE (Scott Woodson and Damien Ryan).

Also on the card, one of the newest additions to the HOW tag team roster, The Turn-It-Up-Express faces the former Industry members MJ Flair and High Flyer in a tag team number one contender’s match and Scott Stevens wrestles Brian Hollywood in the opener of the show with the loser unable to wrestle during War Games PPV Period.

Here’s the Wrestling Guys’s preview of the show:

Scott Stevens vs. Brian Hollywood
Kicking off March to Glory, ‘The Scorpion’ Scott Stevens steps into the ring against Brian Hollywood in a match featuring two former two-time HOW world champions where the loser will sit out the entire War Games cycle.

Thunderbolt Smith: Both Stevens and Hollywood have been star-crossed during the Refueled Era of HOW. Hollywood started strong and reached the finals of the world title tournament only to come up just short against the underdog Halitosis. Since then, Hollywood has drifted in and out and has struggled to get any traction back into the title scenes. However, Hollywood did have a very good Lee Best Invitational finishing nine points from twelve. As for Stevens, he’s had a couple big wins- the victory at Rumble at the Rock, take two against Scottywood and James Ranger last week. Otherwise, Stevens too has had a hard time navigating the brave new world of HOW’s Refueled Era.

Rick Hall: Stevens and Hollywood are two former two-time World Champions. Even with the influx of talent over the past few months, these two are still capable of competing for titles. Hollywood trains now at the Five-Time Academy trying to find his way back and that has shown immediate results with his recent performance in the LBI. Stevens continues to fight and scratch his way back. One of these two men will hopefully leave the ring with the jump start they need to get their HOW career back on the ascendancy – the other will get an unwanted vacation from the ring until after War Games. This should be a good match.

LSD TITLE/STEEL CAGE MATCH: Max Kael © vs. Alex Redding vs. Deacon vs. Chris Kostoff
Going into the LBI, Max Kael was untouchable, invincible. His only singles loss in 2019 took place in the semi-finals of the world title tournament to eventual winner Halitosis. Kael would correct that mistake a few weeks later by defeating the, then, Luchador with Insanely Poor Oral Hygiene and winning the world title for the third time. He would surrender the title at War Games to John Sektor and later win the LSD title from MJ Flair in a Prison Yard match at Rumble at the Rock 9 that also involved High Flyer.

Once a firm ally in the eMpire, Kael has seemingly fallen out of favor with Lee Best following a stunning loss to Teddy Palmer in the finals of the LBI at Refueled XX. As a result, the GOD of HOW has booked Max in a four-way match with his LSD Title on the line. His opponents: Alex Redding- the Red part of the Red and Ted tag team and LBI semi-finalist, Deacon, and HOW Hall of Famer Chris Kostoff.

Thunderbolt Smith: Can Max Kael rebound from a devastating loss to Palmer in the LBI finals? Can Alex Redding do what his tag team partner did and shock the HOW world? Can the mysterious Deacon build on a strong LBI and win his first HOW title? And then there’s the always dangerous Chris Kostoff in the mix.

Rick Hall: The warning signs were there with Max. The early loss to Warrick Hill in the LBI group stage. Really tough matches from Joe Bergman inside a steel cage and Brenton Cross. But I thought when he defeated Lindsay Troy in the semi-finals he was home free. Boy, was I wrong about that. This is such an intriguing match. Alex Redding- winner of his group in the LBI. One of his two losses is to his tag team partner Teddy Palmer in the LBI semi-finals. It’s not inconceivable that Red and Ted – who came in as a tag team – could leave March to Glory with two out of the three singles titles. The Deacon. His only loss in the LBI was to the eventual winner Palmer. He is certainly a threat. Chris Kostoff. Would it really be that surprising if Kostoff won the title here? To me, the match comes down to how well Max rebounds from the loss to Palmer. If it’s the 2019 Max Kael who shows up at March to Glory, I think he’ll win and retain the title. If it’s the 2020 Max Kael- it’ll be a wide open match that anyone can win.

TAG TEAM #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH: Turn-It-Up-Express vs. MJ Flair and High Flyer
Rick Dickulous and newcomer Matt Klazzic make up the recently formed tag team Turn-It-Up-Express. Former Industry stablemates MJ Flair and High Flyer are their opponents in a number one contender’s match where the winner earns themselves a title shot against the survivor of the upcoming five team tag title free-for-all later on in the show.

Thunderbolt Smith: Flair and High Flyer are the known HOW quantities in this contest. Both have struggled mightily in 2020 after being placed in the Group of Death during the LBI. Dickulous debuted during the LBI and has won one match in 2020. Matt Klazzic just recently signed on with HOW. The Turn-It-Up-Express debuted with a tough loss to the wily veterans the eGG Bandits at Refueled XX. This is a chance for Flair and High Flyer to right their respective ships and get a crack at the tag title. For the TIUE, this is their opportunity to make their mark in the tag division AND get the title shot they missed out on at Refueled XX.

Rick Hall: Flair and High Flyer are the collateral damage of the Industry’s implosion and Ryan and Troy’s defection to the GoD. MJ has always seemed to be bent on doing things her way- best epitomized when she turned down Mike Best’s offer to join the eMpire/Group of Death. High Flyer always seemed to be the odd man out of the group. Now, we find out if Flair/Flyer can work together and make an impact as a tag team. We’ll also find out soon enough how much Eli Flair will become involved in his daughter’s career. As for the Turn-It-Up-Express, this is a huge opportunity to lay down a big marker on their future intentions. A win over Flair and Flyer would be a huge feather in their cap and obviously lead to a title opportunity. This could be a very interesting match.

TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Group of Death (Dan Ryan/Lindsay Troy) © vs. The Hollywood Bruvs (Jesse Kendrix/Mikey Unlikely) vs. 24K (Perfection/Andy Murray) vs. The eGG Bandits (Cancer Jiles/Doozer) vs. HATE (Scott Woodson/Damien Ryan)
The first shots fired in anger in the burgeoning battle that’s percolating between the Group of Death and 24K took place at Refueled XVI when Unlikely, Kendrix, Perfection, and Murray stunned the HOW universe when they appeared at the end of the show and proceeded to take out both the eMpire and the Industry. The war begins in earnest at March to Glory when the GoD and all four members of 24K battle for the tag titles along with the always dangerous eGG Bandits and HATE-Scott Woodson’s new tag team with Damien Ryan.

Thunderbolt Smith: To paraphrase my good friend Johnny Suave, Holy Crap. So many great teams. So many great wrestlers. You could make a case for any of these teams walking out of the match with the belt.

Rick Hall: Yeah, this is going to be one of those ‘get the beer and popcorn, sit back in your chair, and just watch’ matches. HOW’s history with tag teams has been hit and miss. Right now, I’ve never seen a deeper tag team division ever in the company. Ryan and Troy’s accomplishments speak for themselves. Kendrix and Unlikely have won titles in UTA and Defiance. Perfection and Murray have won titles before. The eGG Bandits are the eGG Bandits- former tag team champions – you can never count them out. HATE- don’t know much about Damien Ryan but Scott Woodson is a HOW Hall of Famer. Add to that list Flair and High Flyer, the Turn-It-Up-Express, Red and Ted and the tag division is just simply stacked right now from top to bottom. So who’s going to win this match? No clue. You could make the case that GoD and 24K may cancel each other out in inter-faction warfare leaving the Bandits or HATE to slip away with the tag titles. You could also make the case that with two teams in the match, 24K will have a numbers advantage on the GoD and that will tip the balance. However, if forced to choose a winner here, I’m just going to say it’s never wise to bet against Ryan or Troy- especially right now when both are at the top of their game. Most likely, I believe this one’s going to be an absolute cluster of epic proportion with any of these five teams capable of winning the match. This is going to be fun to watch.

WORLD TITLE MATCH: Cecilworth Farthington © vs. Teddy Palmer
Palmer, the winner of the LBI, gets his reward- his title shot against HOW World Champion Cecilworth Farthington in the main event of March to Glory.

Farthington faces an opponent who’s been a part of HOW for just over two months. While a Palmer win would not be the equivalent of Adonis Smyth’s shocking upset victory over Michael Lee Best back in 2011, Palmer remains an underdog nevertheless against one of the most dominating champions HOW has ever had.

Thunderbolt Smith: The focus on the LBI was entirely on Group C and Group D aka the Group of Death. The winner of Kael-Troy in the Group C vs. Group D semi-final match at Refueled XX would surely go on to win the LBI, right? Well, that didn’t happen. So while I believe Farthington has to be the overwhelming favorite to win this match, I won’t discount Palmer’s chances. In fact, what a story it would be if Palmer managed to win this thing.

Rick Hall: It would be a hell of a story if Teddy Palmer won. But I think if you look back at the record and what Cecilworth Farthington has done over the last year, Teddy has a steep road to travel in order to win this match. Cecilworth Farthington will have held a HOW title of some sort for 327 consecutive days when he steps into the ring Saturday night. Farthington has successfully defended the ICON title six times in that timeframe- the World Title three times. He has been THE dominant performer inside the ring since HOW relaunched one year ago. That being said, Palmer owns a win over Deacon and his tag partner Alex Redding in the LBI along with his big victory in the LBI Finals over Max Kael. Palmer will not be a pushover and Farthington will be wise to bring his ‘A’ game Saturday night because as we all know, once the bell rings and the match begins anything can happen inside the ropes.

High Octane Wrestling Presents: March to Glory
Saturday March 28^th, 2020
The Roman Colosseum
Rome, Italy

Tag Team Championship Match
Group of Death: Dan Ryan/Lindsay Troy © vs. The Hollywood Bruvs: Mikey Unlikely/Jesse Kendrix vs. 24K: Perfection/Andy Murray vs. The eGG Bandits: Cancer Jiles/Doozer vs. HATE: Scott Woodson/Damien Ryan

Tag Team #1 Contender’s Match
The Turn-It-Up-Express: Rick Dickulous/Matt Klazzic vs. MJ Flair and High Flyer

Loser Sits Out the War Games PPV Period
Brian Hollywood vs. Scott Stevens

Card subject to change.

Current Rankings