The ‘Real Wrestler’ Gavin McGavin never met a statistic he didn’t like, or at the very least, one that he couldn’t bend to suit his own narrative.
If you’ve spent more than five minutes in a room with him, then you’ve surely heard him rattle them off ad nauseam.
2017 Wrestler of The Year
Inaugural EPW Hardcore Champion
Inaugural EPW Coastal Champion
2 x EPW Hardcore Champion (the only man to ever do so)
2 x EPW Tag Champion
He loves reminding us of his previous success and boasting about accomplishments he has yet to even achieve. In late 2017, he campaigned to become the #FirstEver (a social media favourite of his) #TripleDoubleChampion. This led him to pursue the Coastal Championship for a second reign to add to his multiple Hardcore and Tag title victories. In this endeavour, McGavin came up short after being pinned in a fatal four-way match at ReAwakening 16 by his long-time rival, Scotty Ryan.
Since then, however, save for a disqualification back in February, McGavin has not lost a single match. He possesses and boasts about, an 11 match winning streak in 2018. And to be fair to McGavin, that is an impressive feat. Even more impressive when you consider that in that time he has been in the ring with the likes of Julian Ward, Kiel Steria, Damian Slater, Tyler Jacobs and Davis Storm. Whether you agree with his methods/tactics/ethics or not, for the last six months, Gavin has always managed to ‘find a way’ to win.
This brings us to Hell or Highwater, and McGavin’s next attempt at history. If he can dethrone ‘The Don’ Michael Morleone and secure his first reign as the EPW Champion, then he will officially be the only competitor to have held all four recognised titles in the company. This would make him, as he so often loves to remind us, the first ever #GrandSlamChampion.
History is there for the taking this Saturday at the Cyril Jackson Rec. Centre, but quite the obstacle presents itself for the ‘Real Wrestler’. Michael Morleone is no stranger to history himself, being a Triple Crown winner in his own right, having previously held the tag team titles and enjoying a record-setting run as EPW Hardcore Champion.
As of right now though, he has held the most coveted championship in Western Australia (and arguably the country) since November last year when he managed to topple the history-making 6th reign of Davis Storm. He has successfully defended the title against the likes of former 5-time champion Marcius Pitt and Melbourne’s Carlo Cannon. This isn’t the first time someone has talked a big game to ‘The Don’ and threatened to take what’s his. One would imagine he won’t lose a wink of sleep in spoiling McGavin’s plans to add a little more ink to the history books.
Despite co-existing in EPW for nine and a half years, these two grapplers have NEVER faced each other one on one. They’ve met on the tag team battlefield numerous times, trading victories and even championships. So how do you pick the winner?
Will the size, strength, experience and the doubtlessly strong support of the fans help ‘The Don’ to extend his tenure as champ? Or will McGavin ‘find a way’ to make history once again?
EPW Hell or Highwater is THIS SATURDAY.
Limited tickets are available at
https://epwperth.com/event/hell-or-highwater-2018/