Rising Blog Cup: Zenith vs Ryan
The Rising Star Cup is a bit of a big deal in Explosive Pro Wrestling. It is considered a step up to the next level in EPW and a chance to prove to yourself and the fans that a wrestler has earned his stripes and can hang with the upper echelon of talent in the company. Past names to have won this cup including “The Future” Dan Moore, Sebastian Sander, “AK47” Alex Kingston and “Gorgeous” Garry Schmidt and since winning the cup they have stepped up either as part of a team or as an individual.
This year has 2 young guys with a story. Hayden Zenith started out as an annoying party boy but has turned good in the past year and seems to be trying to be “a good guy” although, at time still acting like a dickhead. At least we know he is trying. The other man in the match, Scotty Ryan has already been to the Rising Cup finals in 2011 and WON but since winning that match has had injuries and other things preventing him from making the impact he really wants to make on EPW. Now after putting the final off for so lon gthese 2 will go head to head to decide who is the latest EPW Rising Star Cup winner once and for all.
Of course, there is more to this story. At one point Hayden Zenith, his best mate Leo Pratt, Scotty Ryan and Hughsey were 4 dudes just hanging out, pushing each other to be the best they could be. They even had a killer 4 Way Match at ReAwakening XI which saw Hayden beating the other 3 young fighters. But whether it has been jealousy at Hayden Zeniths’ growing popularity with the fans or him actually proving he was the best at RA XI there was a split and Scotty Ryan seems pretty damn determined to take home this cup to be the only 2 time Rising Star Cup winner in EPW history.
Hayden Zenith is a star on the rise, and The Rising Star Cup would be a nice addition to prove the point. The attitude change is winning him a lot of fans in the audience and even though he still has his moments we all know he is just trying his best. His wrestling has been improving by leaps and bounds with some of the most impressive high flying on the roster. His heart is pushing him to do his best and after the recent fallout with former best mate and now Scotty Ryan’s tag partner Leo Pratt I think Hayden will be pulling out all stops to remind these 2 that he already beat them at RA XI and he is the better man, no matter who these other 2 dancing clowns align with.
Scotty Ryan has had injuries, but after seeing him in action at the Malaga Markets he looks as good as ever with his skills and it did not look at all like his shoulder was bothering him. His alliance with Leo Pratt to form “The Dropkicks” has got him a great ringside partner if anything doesn’t go according to plan and let’s not discount the fact that Scotty Ryan is a great wrestler in his own right with an awesome array of high flying skills to put anyone to shame. BUT I feel the biggest factor that could be in Scotty’s’ favour is his alliance with William Darcy last show. We all KNOW Darcy is not afraid to throw his weight around and if Darcy sees fit… could change the outcome of the match if he said so. But by god, I do NOT want that to happen and kind of hope that Darcy doesn’t make it to the venue or loses his voice so he can’t be such a dick BUT that is a story for another time.
No matter what happens in this match I just hope the end result is a fair decision. Both of these 2 young guys have A LOT to prove and the match will be a showcase of the very best these guys can do and I think the real winner will be us, as fans to see these Rising Stars fighting for their position in the EPW galaxy.