One of the true benefits of today's technologically advanced world is the ability of combat sports fans to witness landmark events from across the globe live in their homes immediately, as they happen. Generations ago, fans had to wait for newspapers to relay the news. Then 900 numbers would pass on the information as fans waited ever so patiently for a potential VHS copy to be discovered, whether it be legally purchased or covertly traded under the cover of darkness. VHS gave way to DVDs and then streaming technology exploded, having been perfected right here for the FITE faithful.
Today's FITE fans get to be spoiled by the opportunity to relish in all the action as it unfolds before them in glorious HD, getting to live in the moment of excitement, experiencing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat no differently than those assembled in the arenas where they happen, bringing an intimacy that had never before existed in those glorious moments in time.
This Sunday will be one of those glorious moments. Scotland's most celebrated professional wrestling promotion, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) will return to FITE, presenting the 2023 Square Go! event live this Sunday February 26th. The 12th annual iteration of the event will once again emanate from The Garage in Glasgow, Scotland, featuring ICW's fiercest competitors entering the fray.
The Square Go! is one of the most anticipated events of the ICW calendar featuring one of the most frenzied fields of competition imaginable in professional wrestling. The Square Go! features 30 competitors entering the ring to engage in an over the top rope elimination bout. As if this royal spectacle won't already feature the luck of the draw as ICW's greatest rumble, five competitors drawn at random will be allowed to enter the battlefield with a foreign object to assist them in their attempt to achieve the ultimate ICW victory. From steel chairs to the kitchen sink, these instruments of destruction have helped change the fate of the Square Go!
Among those already confirmed to compete this Sunday are Daz Black (who will enter the Square Go! at number one), Aaron Echo, Sha Samuels, Che Monet, Angel Hayze, Stevie James, Jason Reed and Chris Bungard. What other stars will surprise the world by arriving to compete won't be unveiled until they are revealed inside the garage.
The one thing we do know is this: everything is on the line for each and every competitor who enters the ring. The winner this Sunday earns the prestigious Square Go! Briefcase, allowing them to secure a championship match against an ICW Champion at any point over the next year. Indeed, the Square Go! winner will hold the true ultimate power in Insane Championship Wrestling - the ability to terraform the entire promotion at will - because when anyone least expects it, they can swoop in and claim their prize, attempting to wrest championship gold when it best benefits them.
Since the Square Go! was first instituted, victory in this colossal match has led to international superstardom for a number of competitors including current WWE star Joe Coffey, Stevie Boy, Wolfgang, Chris Renfrew and Mikey Whiplash, among others. Now, ICW is again at the precipice, waiting to see which superstar ascends to the next level, ready for stardom, potential championship gold and a chance to carve their name into Insane Championship Wrestling's time capsule for all eternity, live on FITE.
Beyond the Square Go!, the following matches are set for this Sunday, live from Glasgow:
ICW World Heavyweight Champion Leyton Buzzard vs. Kenny Williams:
Leyton Buzzard thought when he captured the ICW World Championship from Kez Evans this past November at Fear & Loathing XIV, it would be the definitive moment for him as one of ICW's premiere fighters, but instead, that moment of triumph has melted away to reveal countless challengers coming to prove that he's just a placeholder as they seek their own fortune and glory against "El Capitan."
Foremost on the list is former WWE NXT star Kenny Williams, seeking to make a statement in his return to Insane Championship Wrestling with a massive, earth-shaking championship victory. The former Zero-G Champion is looking to reshape ICW in his own image, but to do so he'll have to quell all the momentum Leyton has rightfully built over the course of his career crisscrossing back and forth over Europe and beyond. Can Williams' scheming overcome Buzzard's brilliant, versatile in-ring skills? Will this be Buzzard's shining moment? Or will the winner of the Square Go! come calling, throwing the expectations of each of these stellar competitors into a maelstrom they couldn't have predicted?
ICW Women's World Champion Molly Spartan vs. Rhio
The late, great Gorilla Monsoon once described Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior as the immovable force meeting the unstoppable object. That descriptive phrase could very well describe the ICW Women's World Championship battle at Square Go! this Sunday, because these women have no problem enforcing their will against the opposition.
Rhio has defeated every single competitor put before her inside an ICW ring since making her official debut back in 2021, with the exception of the reigning and defending ICW Women's World Champion Molly Saxton. Thus, when Saxton issued an open challenge, it was Rhio who declared that if anyone was coming for the championship, it should be her.
Defeating Saxton will be no easy feat for any competitor, not even Rhio. Since capturing the gold in April 2022, Saxton has defended the title in multiple countries with big wins over Kasey, Session Moth Martina and more. Her hard hitting tactics are unmatched in ICW, with the exception of perhaps one other competitor, the woman who will challenge her this Sunday, Rhio.
The fate of the ICW Women's World Championship hangs in the balance this Sunday, and it will be quite the sight to see, a brutal war, live on FITE.
ICW Zero-G Champion Theo Doros vs. Saqib Ali:
In the world of ICW, the Zero-G Championship defines the competitor who pushes the envelope the hardest and shatters the glass ceiling with the most velocity. It's the championship that has perhaps defined the spirit of Insane Championship Wrestling more than any other, pushing talents to soar through the stratosphere, touching heaven as they drive their opponents straight to Hades, all for the glory of knowing they have tasted infinity with their performances in combat and by capturing one of the most prestigious titles in Europe, much less Planet Earth.
Theo Doros shocked ICW to its core when he captured the Zero-G title back at Fear & Loathing XIV, citing that with his championship victory, he was going to bring real, true professional wrestling back to the division, forcing it away from the sky fighting excellence that has been its hallmark.
Saqib Ali, a longtime stalwart in Insane Championship Wrestling, scored one of the biggest wins of his career with a ladder match victory at Fear & Loathing, setting the stage for his title shot this Sunday. Ali, always down to entertain the audience and party hard, lives a world apart from the pristine, dour seriousness of Doros, putting champion and challenger on a head-on cultural collision to see not only who is the better wrestler, but what outlook in the ring and beyond will reign supreme.
The Zero-G Championship has defined future stardom and greatness in all who have held it and now, it may define the very future of ICW in 2023 going forward. Only one competitor can claim it, and we'll know who exits Square Go! with all the riches this Sunday.
ICW Tag Team Champions K.O.E vs. The Young Team:
Marcus and Adam King, K.O.E. have emerged as the definitive tag team in ICW since returning to the promotion last year, maintaining a sterling record. That perfection has only become exponentially more dangerous thanks to an alliance with Polo Promotions, run by Jackie Polo that helped the Kings secure the ICW Tag Team Championships.
Entering the Square Go! this Sunday, the Champions find themselves faced with quite the dilemma, how to defeat The Young Team. Wee Man's tag team sensation of Jimmy Pierce and Logan Smith have captured the imagination of Insane Championship Wrestling fans, immediately becoming one of the most popular tandems in recent ICW memory.
Can that momentum run through the K.O.E and give ICW fans the wish fulfillment they've greatly desired or will all the best laid plans The Young Team have prepared themselves with meet a hard reality inside the Garage in Glasgow this Sunday? Time waits for no man, but it does tell a hard truth when the bell rings - and all will be revealed when K.O.E. and The Young Team face off at Square Go!
Insane Championship Wrestling embarks on a new chapter this Sunday when the Square Go! returns with a vengeance live on FITE. Glasgow will once again be the center of the professional wrestling cosmos this weekend, with far reaching implications that will be felt for years to come. Witness it live as it unfolds when ICW Square Go! goes on the air!
Mike Johnson is the lead reporter for PWInsider.com and has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He can be found on Twitter @MikePWInsider and MikeJohnsonWrites.com.
