Who will be the 3rd man?
Nick Aldis has the unfavorable position in preparing for his first title defense on Saturday August 29th. His hands will be full when he takes on Jeff Cobb, but perhaps the more perplexing issue is, who will the third man be?
In an effort to understand who could be the third man in the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship bout on Saturday August 29th, we effort a look at who has been invited to compete in the Battle Royal from Night Number One of the Independent Wrestling Expo. Many of the competitors are regulars in the independent wrestling scene in Texas. Promotions like Advanced Pro Wrestling and Metroplex Wrestling, are being represented. These talents typically appear in the Southwest region, some of them have even made it to SWE Fury, a local popular wrestling show that’s affiliated with James Beard.
“Magnificent” Malico is a twenty six year old competitor from Virginia who has made his wrestling home in the Southwest for the past six years. In that short time Malico has achieved some level of success winning the Metro Plex Wrestling Championship, he is also a former WFC Heavyweight Champion, a former MPX Tag Team Champion with Dahkill, and us the reigning and defending MPX Addicts Champion.
King Mo has been a professional MMA Fighter since 2008. He has fought for Sengoku, Strikeforce, Bellator, Rizin Fighting Federation and loss his last professional fight on November 8th 2019. King Mo spend time between MMA bouts appearing for Impact Wrestling. King Mo has had limited wrestling matches. He has wrestled for Ohio Valley Wrestling, but also worked a few matches with Impact and recently debuted in Major League Wrestling where he’s currently undefeated.
“Sadistic” Shane Stratmore works in the Southwest area, competing for promotions in Arizona, Texas, and occasionally Utah. Stratmore has become more of a tag team wrestler these days as he teams with “The Peak of Wrestling” APEX managed by Matt Marvel as the Pak. They are currently the Advanced Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions.
“The Real Deal” Nobe Bryant has for sometime been a force in wrestling in the Southwest. He often teams with Jerome Daniels as Pretty Flawless. Has held the NWA Tag Team Titles as well as NAWA and PCW Tag titles. He’s achieved a high level of success in the singles as well, having held the Lions Pride Sports Championship PCW Heavyweight Championship as well as many other titles. Nobe Bryant spent May and June of 2019 in All Japan Pro Wrestling.
T-Ray proudly served in America’s Armed forces and was an Army Reservists, he previously trained in Mixed Martial Arts but settled on professional wrestling in the summer of 2016. Since then he’s wrestled around the Texas Wrestling scene and has been welcomed by the SWE Fury Roster.
The Living Proof Jastin Taylor has competed in different venues all over Texas. He’s wrestled in dark matches for Ring of Honor, matches in Canada with Canadians Wrestling Elite and WWN.
Otto Von Clutch was trained at KnokxPro, Rikishi’s wrestling school in Southern California. He is one of the few guys not based in Texas appearing in this battle royal. OVC has wrestled many of the Southern California indies.
Kody Lane is a bit of a traveler. Making dates in the Midwest and the Southwest and beyond, he has some key victories against the likes of Ace Austin and Jake Crist. This match might be the breakout moment for a guy who has been really making a name for himself.
Other names in the Battle Royal are The Texas Nightmare Axle Savage currently competes in Advanced Pro Wrestling, the masked competitor Aski Palomino “The Mayan” who has wrestled for Taco Libre, and the remainder participants are Ringmaster, Stew the Cannibal Clown, Ryan Justice, Mox the Jock, and Double D.