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Not many tag teams have made such a huge impression on tag team wrestling in Scotland in such a short time as Kings of Catch.
Aspen Faith and Lewis Girvan may just be the perfect pairing - but it wasn't always that way. Faith started his career in Aberdeen, wrestling for WrestleZone in 2012 while Girvan trained at Source Wrestling School in Glasgow with the pair making their names as singles stars from 2012 and 2010 respectfully.
After battling each other in 2015, WWE's Killian Dain (then known as Big Damo) would be so impressed that he'd personally vouch that they become a tag team and they've taken ICW by storm ever since - a feat that looks only likely to continue after they joined forces with The Filthy Generation - Stevie Boy Xavier and current ICW Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray.
The next step, though, is undoubtedly winning the gold. Will they be successful? I caught up with Kings of Catch ahead of their title bout at Square Go on February 24th.
You guys have been a tag team for a few years now after two really promising singles careers collided head-on, quite literally, in the ring. How was it transitioning into tag team wrestling?
Lewis Girvan: The transition into tag wrestling was quite seamless as both Aspen and I had a really similar mindset towards our matches and what kind of team we wanted to be. We looked around at what every other team was doing and made the conscious decision to try and do the exact opposite, we wanted to be completely our own entity and stand on our own.
For myself, having never been in a proper team before, it took some getting used to sharing the workload and bouncing ideas off another person - rather than being the one solely responsible.
While we are really similar in some regards, I feel it’s our differences that contribute most to the success of the team so far as we balance each other out and push the other to get better at certain aspects of pro wrestling that maybe we weren’t before. That breeds a friendly competition between us both.
Aspen Faith: For me, transitioning was totally fine. I'd already had tag team experience from when I worked with James Midas as Team SMASH, so that side wasn’t an issue. Going from rivals to tag partners proved a little difficult but we got there.
NEXT: How Killian Dain played an instrumental part in Kings of Catch's careers!
How was it to have Damo, WWE's Killian Dain, personally plead for you to pair up?
LG: From his time in charge of the Source Wrestling School and the Scottish Wrestling Alliance, Damo showed that he had a keen eye for how best to push young talent in ways that would help them flourish.
He had a great track record with the likes of Nikki Cross, Joe Hendry, Jackie Polo and the Coffey Brothers - so having him really push for us to be a team for such a long time showed me that he genuinely believed it was something that could work and I’m very glad to say he was right.
This team's been the best thing that’s ever happened to my career. It was also reassuring as it meant he had the belief in us to make it work through all the bumps in the road that any new team needs to work through.
AF: Damo was Lewis’ trainer form the beginning, whereas I trained further up north before travelling to train with Damo. From the first time we met, though, he was telling us that we should be a tag team. It just took a while for it to get through our heads.
Where did the name Kings of Catch come from? Is that purely down to your style of wrestling? Were there any other names considered?
LG: Well, Aspen was originally The King Of Catch and, as it was a style of wrestling that we both enjoyed and tried to implement somewhat into our matches, we thought the name was a perfect fit for us both.
We did at one point consider the idea of being The Kings Road Warriors as we love the Kings Road style of wresting as well as the movie The Road Warrior. We even thought of maybe shortening it to simply The Kings very briefly.
AF: Yeah, I’ve been wrestling as the King of Catch since 2013 and Lewis wanted to use that name. I wanted us to be called the Kings Road Warriors but he wasn’t having any of it.
Tell me about the highly entertaining Kings Road Warriors. Where did you come up with the idea?
LG: Kings Road Warriors, and Kings Road before it, was kinda just our way of showcasing the really daft sense of humour that we both have. Rather than try and portray any kind of overblown persona in wrestling, we figured we’d rather just be ourselves and the shows have given us a chance to put that across to an audience.
Kings Road Warriors specifically, which is more of a reality game show format, was more Aspen's idea as a means to further showcase us but, at the same time, put the spotlight on some younger talent that just needed a bit of exposure to a broader audience.
AF: Yeah, Kings Road Warriors was my idea as a spin off from Kings Road. I wanted to have a bit of fun whilst also shining some light on a few of the younger talents in wrestling (Angel Hayze, Ashley Vega & Jesse Santana). The original Kings Road itself was really just my way of showing people the personality and character that many said we lacked.
NEXT: Living up to the pressures of ICW's insane tag team division!
Insane Championship Wrestling has a really strong history of tag team wrestling. From the Bucky Boys to Polo Promotions, and NAK to Kinky Party, there have been some great champions over the years. Not to mention stars like the Dudley Boys, War Raiders and the Briscoes all competing in ICW. Is there a pressure on you guys to go out there and give the performance of your lives at Square Go, or do you just not think about it?
LG: There’s absolutely a pressure to have the match of our lives at the Square Go. We feel we’re at the heart of a real resurgence in ICW’s Tag division over the last year or so, but that’s a hollow claim if we’ve never had the titles to prove it.
We want to push ICW forward, to make it better than it's ever been before, and to help it reach heights higher than before. Tearing the house down at the Square Go and finally lifting the Tag Titles would go a long way in helping us do just that.
AF: I mean, I personally don’t really think of it like that. I’m not comparing myself to anyone else. The first ICW show I went to as a fan opened with The Bucky Boys and the STI, and that made me want to not only work for ICW, but win the Tag Team Championships. So that’s really all I focus on, I’m not comparing myself to those who came before, I’m focused on us. The only pressure for me is from within myself.
Ashton Smith and Rampage Brown have been there and done that, holding the titles twice now. Do you feel there's an "underdog" advantage to having never held the gold, or do you think you're going to rightfully take what's yours at Square Go?
LG: While we are 100% the underdogs going into the match with Ashton and Rampage that’s not something that intimidates Aspen or I because we’ve been fighting from underneath our entire time in ICW.
We’re two guys that were never supposed to be here, never supposed to make it. We’ve had no handouts, no favours, no special treatment. I’d go so far as to say Aspen and I have had the biggest mountain to climb of anyone in ICW, and the Square Go is no different. Underdogs or not, we’re going to take what’s rightfully ours and become the new ICW Tag Team Champions.
AF: I think being the underdog isn’t really an advantage, but I definitely think many (myself included) see us as the underdogs. POD are the only tag team we’ve not been able to beat in ICW and, in singles matches, they injured us both - so I’m going into the match confident but very wary.
And finally, will you need to bring out some new merchandise if you win that doesn't say "Future Champions" on it?
LG: Of course! Any excuse for us to bring out new merch!
AF: The shirts don’t say "future Tag Team Champions," do they...?
You can catch Kings of Catch at Insane Championship Wrestling's Square Go at Glasgow's SWG3 on February 24th. Tickets are available here.
For fans outside of Glasgow, you can sign up for a free ICW On Demand trial here.
