Synergy To Crown First Champion
Matt Tremont faces KTB in the tournament finals this Saturday.
History will be made this Saturday in Manville, New Jersey, as Synergy Pro Wrestling crowns its first champion.
After a grueling tournament featuring the top talent of the Northeast independent scene, it all comes down to Kyle The Beast vs. Matt Tremont. Both men have showed impressive outings on their path to the finals: KTB fought through a nagging arm injury to beat Mike Del and then mauled Stevie Shields, while The Bulldozer overcame Manville hero Myke Quest and “The Bad Apple” Matt Macintosh.
It’s been an eventful year for both men as well. KTB has traveled across the country and even up north for a variety of promotions, honing his craft and piling up the victims. On the other hand, Tremont has been winding down his time in CZW to focus on running his own promotion (H20 Wrestling) in its new Williamstown, New Jersey, home. Being the champion would mean so much to either man – KTB would have the biggest win of his career and Tremont would be starting a whole new chapter in his.
“Either way, you have a class individual holding the championship for the first time,” says Synergy creative director Colin West. “You’re getting a guy who is thorough about the way he loves and respects this business. He approaches a match against someone who is world famous in front of a thousand people the way he approaches a match against someone you’ve never heard of in front of 40 people in a hole in the wall.”
Synergy launched in September of 2017, and all four of its shows have been building to this Saturday’s “Gold Standard.” The event was originally scheduled to take place in May, in conjunction with the Manville Youth Athletic League. However, West says that the county prevented the company from using a particular field, so the choices were either run the show outside of Manville or postpone until July.
“Ultimately, Manville is the town that supported us when we started and it’s the town where we’ve run the entire tournament,” West says. “It wouldn’t have been right to pay all that off somewhere else.”
After three years without a pro wrestling event, the fabled Manville VFW will host Synergy’s “Gold Standard” extravaganza, which will include a free meet-and-greet with legends such as Tito Santana, Nikolai Volkoff, Headshrinker Samu and “The Franchise” Shane Douglas. Synergy favorites (including KTB and Tremont) will be on hand as well, plus Mike Orlando and Allie Recks will be playing video games with fans.
“The first 8×10 I ever got signed was by Tito Santana at a local show in 1993,” West says. “I met him for free at intermission. Had that been an extra cost, I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet Tito. That furthered my love for wrestling and I hope it does the same for other fans on Saturday.”
In addition to the tournament finals, Manville regular Chris Dickinson will go one on one with Brandon Kirk in what is sure to be a brutal matchup. “Honest to God, there are very few guys you can look at and say, I believe that. Well, I believe Chris Dickinson,” West says. “He is a wrestler. He wants to hurt you and he wants you to try and hurt him. Brandon Kirk is the same way.”
They’ve never really crossed paths because Dickinson was wrestling in singles competition while Kirk was teaming with Jeff Cannonball. Now Kirk has set out on his own and Dickinson has become a two-time Evolve Tag Team Champion with Jaka.
Speaking of Cannonball, he has a new partner these days, in and out of the ring. He recently proposed to Terra Calaway, and just so happens to be teaming with her against fellow couple Willow Nightingale and Rex Lawless. It will be the first time that women are competing at Synergy, as fans have clamored for some female action in Synergy’s post-show surveys.
“Gold Standard” will also kick off the first of another hopeful tradition – the #FabFour. “Every few months, we’re hoping to find four people outside the core Synergy roster who are tearing it up and then put them in a match together,” West says.
The fatal-four way invitational will pit semi-regular Frightmare against Lance Anoa’i of the Samoan dynasty, Lucha Underground’s newest star Sonny Kiss and Kevin Bennett, who was recently seen on Smackdown against Andrade Cien Almas. “Bennett is one of the cleanest, young technicians in the business. He’s a star on the rise,” West says. “I’ve wanted to book him for three years and we’re finally making it happen.”
Two other matches are scheduled, but West is unsure if they’ll happen. After winning a triple threat against Tyler Nitro and Joey Adams at “The Fight Boys” in March, Mike Del earned a title shot against Jersey All Pro Wrestling Light Heavyweight Champion Archadia. Unfortunately, West has revealed that Archadia is having serious issues with his vertebrae, and is not sure if he’ll be feeling ready to go by Saturday.
If he can’t compete, “Retrosexual” Anthony Greene will be his substitute.
Also, Stevie Shields is slated to face Matt Striker, but West says there is a possibility that Striker will not be able to make the show. If that happens, Striker will make up for it in September, and Shields will compete against another former WWE Superstar…better known as former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas.
Synergy Pro Wrestling’s “Gold Standard” takes place July 21 at the Thomas J. Kavanaugh VFW Post 2290 in Manville, NJ.
For tickets and more information, visit www.synergywrestling.com
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