Quarter 3 Champions Roundup
Another Quarter of the year is in the books. Which means it’s time once again to review the Championship happenings that the last ninety-one days have brought us. As per usual, this Roundup is going to be strictly focusing on a specific timeframe (July 1st through September 30th, 2023). Anything happening beyond this timeframe involving these Championships will be covered in the final Roundup, coming out in the new year. But with all of that out of the way, lets get into the events of the last Quarter.
GCW Ultraviolent Championship (Game Changer Wrestling)
This Quarter featured the most activity that Rina Yamashita’s GCW Ultraviolent Championship reign has seen all year long. Having only had three successful defenses under her belt this year, Rina Yamashita tacked on a whopping six defenses to her reign in the past Quarter. These 3rd Quarter title defenses alone make up one-third of her defenses across the whole year. A majority of her title defenses this Quarter (four defenses in total) were spread across GCW’s tours of England and Germany. Across all defenses, Yamashita would successfully face a high level of competition against the likes of Violento Jack, Takashi Sasaki, and Lou Nixon to name a few contenders. This level of activity has been exactly what I have been hoping to see out of the title through the rest of the year. I hope that GCW continues to give Rina more chances to defend the belt across their vast schedule of upcoming shows.
ICW American Deathmatch World Championship (ICW No Holds Barred)
After a roaring start to HoodFoot’s reign last Quarter, it seems that things have slowed down for the ICW American Deathmatch World Championship. Compared to last Quarter’s seven defenses, HoodFoot has only defended the American Deathmatch World Championship four times over the past Quarter. Even still, HoodFoot found himself beating back the likes of Tommy Vendetta, Lowlife Louie, Randi West and former Champion Brandon Kirk. Looking ahead, HoodFoot is already set to meet Mexico’s Pagano at Deathmatch Horror Story IV. And I hope that ICW continues the pattern of sending some fresh contenders to face off against HoodFoot as his reign is one of my favorites to watch right now.
King of FREEDOM World Championship (Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS)
The King of FREEDOM World Championship has had a brief, yet eventful 3rd Quarter. Despite adding another successful defense of the KFC Championship against Minoru Fujita, Tomoya Hirata would be dethroned by his Soul Meat tag team partner Toru Sugiura. While this change did happen, it was under less than ceremonial circumstances as Hirata would sustain an injury in his defense, forcing the referee to stop the match. Hirata would leave behind a reign of 141 days and three successful defenses to his name. Under Sugiura’s reign, the KFC Championship was defended just once in the evaluation period. Though his lone defense saw Toru take the belt to the United States and successfully defend against John Wayne Murdoch in GCW. While FREEDOMS’ Double Champion (Triple if you count his GCW World Tag Team Championship) has been quite busy also defending the King of FREEDOM World Tag Team Championships, he does have an upcoming defense against Daisuke Masaoka at Korakuen Hall on October 11th. And with his upcoming return to the United States for GCW’s The Art of War Games, we could possibly see a surprise defense added on before then.
DMDU World Deathmatch Championship (Deathmatch Downunder)
With Deathmatch Downunder getting back up and running in the 3rd Quarter, so has the DMDU World Deathmatch Championship. Since Deathmatch Downunder has returned from hiatus, Vixsin has defended her DMDU World Deathmatch Championship successfully three times; with each defense happening in months of succession. July saw her defeat Michael Weaver in a Blazing Saddles Deathmatch. In August, she beat Tarlee during Mat Earth Society 6. And on the Eve of D.R.E.A.M. III in September, she defeated James Hartness in a Deathmatch just a day before competing in the tournament. I look forward to see the continuation of both Deathmatch Downunder and Vixsin’s resign as we enter the end of the year.
Photo by Dell (@deathmatchready on Twitter)
Unsanctioned Pro Hardcore Championship (Unsanctioned Pro)
While this Championship is not one typically covered in the Quarterly Roundup, the Unsanctioned Pro Hardcore Championship has had an incredibly eventful 3rd Quarter that is more than worthy of talking about. It all started when Australia’s Joel Bateman dethroned then Champion Josh Crane to bring the Championship home in August; ending Crane’s reign of forty-eight days in just his first defense. Bateman would then successfully defend the belt internationally for the first time ever in the title’s history against Mad Dog in Australia. Finally, we would see yet another change of the title as England’s Clint Margera defeated Bateman in a Winner Takes All Deathmatch to dethrone Joel; stopping Joel’s reign at just twenty-one days in his second defense. The belt having three different Champions from three different countries makes the title scene feel like an international caper, which has been a fun one to follow.
H2O Danny Havoc Hardcore Championship (H2O Wrestling)
Finally, we have yet another Championship that is worth mentioning this Quarter. Entering the 3rd Quarter, Brandon Kirk had racked up eight successful defenses of the H2O Danny Havoc Hardcore Championship. This number of defenses would place Kirk with the second most in the Championship’s history; one behind Lucky 13’s nine successful defenses. However, in that tying nineth defense, Bam Sullivan would defeat Kirk in a Stairway to Havoc Deathmatch. This victory would make Sullivan not just the inaugural Champion, but the first ever two-time Champion. Since that win, Bam Sullivan has already gone on to successfully defend the Championship twice; once against former partner Mouse, and again against Jimmy Lyon. With these wins under him, Bam is already half-way to tying the four successful defenses he held in that first reign. And with Bam looking to defend the belt against all comers, it’s looking like this reign will far surpass his previous reign.
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