The 2019 Scenic City Invitational is set for Friday August 2nd and Saturday August 3rd, LIVE from the Soddy Daisy High School in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee. The SoBros Network team will be on hand to cover all of the action – be it the tournament or our cake choices at City Cafe. The field is shaping up to be one of the most competitive yet, so let’s dive right into those announced so far.
2019 Scenic City Invitational Field
A.C. Mack (Twitter) – Straight from the SWATs of Atlanta, Mack has become one of the staples of southeastern wrestling. He’s the reigning Action Wrestling Champion and earned the first spot in the SCI by virtue of winning the Scenic City Rumble earlier this year. He’s been on quite the roll in Nashville, too, boasting a 2-0 start in Southern Underground Pro.
B-Boy (Twitter) – B-Boy is an outright legend on the independent wrestling scene. With an extensive history of success in promotions such as CZW and PWG, and having a list of opponents that reads like a who’s who of pro wrestling, he should be considered one of the favorites to win the entire tournament. Tennessee wrestling fans got a glimpse of just how good he is when he came to town to take on the SUP Bonestorm Champion Brett Ison last year. Now, the south will get another good look at the legend when he comes to SCI.
Anthony Henry (Twitter) – Henry has the pedigree to go all the way in this tournament. In fact, he made it to the SCI Finals in 2016 -AND- 2017 before coming up short to Gunner Miller and Matt Riddle respectively. Henry has an extensive resume at Evolve, with a Tag Team Championship run under his belt, and has long been a staple of the southeastern wrestling scene.
Daniel Makabe (Twitter) – What an interesting get for SCI – Makabe has been making waves in Seattle’s 3-2-1 BATTLE for years now. Nashville has seen him take on Jake Parnell in SUP last November. He popped up during all of the festivities of WrestleMania week. Now, I’m stoked the Scenic City will give southern wrestling fans a closer look at Makabe.
Matt Tremont (Twitter) – It’s fucking Matt Tremont. MATT TREMONT!!! The Bulldozer! What on Earth can I possibly write to wrestling fans reading this that will do justice to just how big of an acquisition this is? Someone is going to die.
Slim J (Twitter) – Another staple of Georgia wrestling, Slim J has had quite the career spanning all the way back to his debut in 2001. He even got some love at this year’s GCW spectacular Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3 – competing in a scramble match on night one, and in the clusterfuck on night two.
Joey Lynch (Twitter) – Lynch was undoubtedly the feel-good story of 2018. After coming close in 2017, he finally won the big one and took home last year’s SCI Trophy. But, repeating is an incredibly difficult thing to do – especially in a sport like professional wrestling. Nonetheless, nobody has the level of experience in this tournament that Lynch has, having competed in every SCI tournament from 2015-18.
Jaden Newman (Twitter) – El Numero Uno is H-U-N-G-R-Y. Perhaps no one on the southeastern scene has seen as meteoric a rise as Newman has over the past year. He’s a regular in Chattanooga, but got a huge opportunity that he made the most of in Chikara’s Young Lions Cup earlier this year. Newman has been working towards this opportunity for five years now. Check out Mose’s interview with him here.
O’Shay Edwards (Twitter) – The Big Bad Kaiju has made his presence felt everywhere he’s gone. This dude is big, he’s nasty, and he’s not playin’ around. Edwards made his SCI debut in a six-man street fight against The Carnies. This year, he’s in the big dance, and has a legitimate shot at making a deep run in the tournament.
Billy Buck (Twitter) – A big hoss from South Carolina who has been on the southeastern independent scene since 2003, Buck isn’t someone to be taken lightly. He competed in SCI Trios in 2018 (teaming with Action Wrestling’s Team TAG). There, Team TAG made it all the way to the finals before losing to The Carnies. He competed in the 2017 Scenic City Rumble. Buck also competed at SCI 2016, winning his first round match before losing to Chip Day in the semi-finals. He was a natural choice for 2019’s field.
Kevin Ku (Twitter) – Ku has been one of the workhorses of the Nashville scene for quite awhile now. Quite frankly, his spot at SCI is long overdue. He had a stellar 2018 met with a hell of a run so far in 2019 with his Violence Is Forever tag team partner Dominic Garrini. Recently, Violence Is Forever competed against Aussie Open as a part of Beyond’s Uncharted Territory series. If you want to get some of the faces of Nashville wrestling in this field, Ku is definitely one of those guys.
Tony Deppen (Twitter) – You want to talk about the future of professional wrestling, Deppen is it. The guy is as versatile as they come and hang with anybody in the world. He’s currently one half of
the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, but he’s also worked GCW and PWG this year so far. Deppen is a legitimate threat to win the whole tournament this August.
Nick Iggy (Twitter) – The Ringleader is no stranger to the fans of Tennessee wrestling, and quite frankly, it’s about time he gets this opportunity. He’s been a staple of SUP and SCI events for a while now, but 2019 could be a career year for Iggy – back in February, he defeated long-time tag team partner Kerry Awful in a street fight at the Scenic City Rumble. But, his best work has come out of Bizarro Lucha in Indianapolis. In February, he captured the Luchaversal Championship and has since successfully defended against the likes of Jimmy Jacobs, Mance Warner, Levi Everett, Calvin Tankman, Ace Perry, Spyder Nate Webb, and fellow Carnie Tripp Cassidy. Iggy should be considered a real dark horse in this year’s SCI.
Brett Ison (Twitter) – The Pitbull, the reigning Southern Underground Pro Bonestorm Champion, has finally made enough noise that the SCI committee has been forced to listen. The SCI braintrust announced last week that his match against Allie Kat at SUP’s Those Who Fear Tomorrow would be a “play-in match” so to speak. Winner gets the 14th slot in the 2019 SCI field in addition to the Bonestorm Championship. It only makes sense – Nashville’s champion deserves a spot in the biggest tournament in Tennessee wrestling. The fact that it’s Ison, who will do whatever it takes to win, has to be unsettling for the rest of the field. He’s having a killer 2019, and the SCI crown would be a nice feather in his cap. Someone might die.
J.D. Drake (Twitter) – Wow. The Blue Collar Badass is coming to the Scenic City Invitational. Drake won the Evolve Tag Team Championship with his partner, Anthony Henry, who has also been announced as a participant in this year’s SCI. Tennessee fans got a recent look at him when he and Brett Ison nearly tore down Nashville for SUP’s Bonestorm Championship. This is a big hoss who’s tough and durable enough to go the distance.
Marko Stunt (Twitter) – Well, well, well – #TheGuy is coming BACK to the Scenic City. Last August, Stunt’s career took off like a rocket. I’ve never seen anything like it. He won the SCI Futures Showcase Tournament. Then, went on to work PWG, GCW, MLW, All In, and Double or Nothing (among other promotions and events). After suffering a gnarly leg injury last November, Stunt made his return to wrestling at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3, where he wrestled Janela in one of the best bouts of WrestleMania week. Recently, he and Cabana Man Dan wrestled Violence Is Forever in a bloody brawl that left Nashville in shock.
So, that’s it – the field is set. Stunt rounds out a field of incredibly diverse wrestlers. More than any year I can remember, 2019’s Scenic City Invitational looks wide open on paper.
2019 Scenic City Invitational First Round Matches
- A.C. Mack vs. Jaden Newman – Mack earned the right to pick his opponent by virtue of winning this year’s Scenic City Rumble. This should be quite the display of athleticism if Mack’s propensity for “bending the rules” doesn’t come into play.
- Billy Buck vs. Marko Stunt – This one’s going to be quite personal after what unfolded at Action Wrestling recently. It looks like quite the disparity in size, but we all know that’s no reason to count out Marko Stunt. This one should get heated.
- Nick Iggy vs. Kevin Ku – It’s a veritable who’s who of Tennessee wrestling in this intriguing opening round contest. Both guys will want to stake their claim in the Scenic City.
- Brett Ison vs. Matt Tremont – Boy, this list of opponents for The Pitbull in 2019 just isn’t getting any easier, is it? Since earning the Bonestorm Championship in Southern Underground Pro last November, Ison is as battle-tested as they come. Good thing – he’ll need that experience against Tremont.
- Tony Deppen vs. Daniel Makabe – My God. This is going to be quite the wrestling clash. Whoever wins this one could end up winning the whole tournament.
- J.D. Drake vs. O’Shay Edwards – Well, I have a concussion just from typing that. This one should be heavy handed and as stiff as a board. Two big guys who can flat out MOVE getting in there in what should be a brutal blend of styles.
- B-Boy vs. Slim J – Two smooth, polished independent wrestling legends going at it. This one feels like it should be main eventing at the Nashville Fairgrounds, baby.
- Anthony Henry vs. Joey Lynch – This is essentially SCI royalty. In Lynch, you have a guy who’s wrestled at every SCI, including winning it last year. In Henry, you have a SCI veteran who some have said is the best yet to win it. Something’s going to have to give. Whether it was intended or not, this match feels like a nice homage to the history of the Scenic City Invitational.
The 2019 SCI Futures Showcase
The 2019 SCI Futures Showcase (presented by Action Wrestling) takes place on August 3rd and features nine of professional wrestling’s hottest up and comers. It’s a tournament consisting of three triple threat matches of which each winner advances to a triple threat final. The winner will earn a spot in the Scenic City Scramble, held on Night 2 of the Scenic City Invitational.
- James Bandy vs. Benjamin Carter vs. Kevin Giza
- Bobby Flaco vs. Damyan Tangra vs. Lutha X
- Zachary Cooper vs. Gnarls Garvin vs. Manders
Night 2 Talent Announcements
Night 2 of SCI always has quite a few surprises, but one match we know for certain is the return of the Scenic City Scramble. Winning the Scenic City Scramble means serving as a tournament alternate or picking your number in the Scenic City Rumble – both a huge opportunity. So far, scheduled to compete are:
- Kerry Awful
- Graham Bell
- Bailey Blake
- Dominic Garrini
- Matt Sells
PLUS, Mike Quackenbush will be on hand hosting a seminar on 8/2 and a Q&A on 8/3. This weekend is LOADED.
There it is, folks – the entire 16-man field and the night one match card has been revealed. SCI will be here before you know it. For ticket info, and up to date information on the event, follow SCI on Twitter.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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