Skorch (RLS CAS)

Robert Godfrey (born 12th February 1986 in Birmingham, West Midlands) is an English professional wrestler best known for his spell in UNION Wrestling under the name Skorch. 
Something of a veteran, Godfrey has held championships in BWF, BoBWrestling, and Midlands Pro Wrestling.
== Career ==
=== Training & debut (2003-2004) ===
Godfrey, while attending college, would train under Gilly Adams at the BWF Academy beginning in early 2003. Adams would encourage him to drop out to focus on wrestling full-time, believing he had the right combination of mindset and abilities to succeed in the business.
He'd eventually debut for Best of British Wrestling as 'Godfrey'1, alongside 'Damien' (later known in BWF and UNION Wrestling as Damien Raven) as the Biker Boys, winning the BoBWrestling Tag Championships, due to a shortage of viable teams in the promotion at the time, in mid-2004.
=== BWF (2004-2014) ===
He'd debut for British Wrestling Federation as Bob Godfrey2, in the 2004 edition of the Young Blood tournament, losing in the first round to the Scouse Kid. He'd injure his leg in this match, keeping him out until late 2004, where he re-debuted as Skorch3, a biker character with a proclivity for violence. 
He'd have two fairly lengthy reigns with the Inter Championship between 2005 and 2007, having acclaimed feuds with Harry Daniels and Davey Mac in the process. At the third Masochist's Ball in Madrid, Spain in February 2008, he'd face Andy Fortis for the BWF Championship in a losing effort.
He'd reform the Biker Boys team with Damien Raven in both BWF and BoBWrestling in mid-2009, holding the BWF Tag Team Championships for six months before dropping them to Extraheavy Kill Squad4 at Honour or Exit 2010. The team would then disband, with Raven becoming a mid-carder and Skorch once again being inserted into the BWF Championship picture.
He'd face Darius, The Maverick and Shay in title matches between 2010 and 2013, before joining Andy Fortis' heel alliance, Spectrum. He'd feud with The Cowpoke as one of Spectrum's go-to men, defeating him at Lose & Die 2014. The promotion would go bust soon after, with Skorch being one of their longest serving stars upon his exit.
=== MPW & UNION trial (2015-2017) ===
Godfrey's hometown promotion, Midlands Pro Wrestling, came calling next, and he joined them under the name Bob Godfrey, still portraying a biker. This would morph slightly into a preacher gimmick over time, however, during his long feud with 'The Hedonist' Martin Crofts. After being Crofts for the Brummy Heavyweight Title at an MPW show in Dudley in March 2016, he would turn face for the first time in his career, though the crowd didn't take to it and he was a heel again by the time he dropped the title to Spanish superstar Face Lord in July 2016.
He'd form a tag team with Cameron Bond in November 2016, winning the Brummy Tag Team Titles against Jadon Spurr & Neil Shaw in December and reigning until March of 2017, when Spurr & Shaw won them back. He'd turn on Bond following this, leading to a Tables of Fire match at the end of season show that Bond would win, forcing Godfrey (who'd agreed to join UNION Wrestling by this point) to exit the company.
=== UNION Wrestling (2017-2018) ===
In October 2017, while still working for MPW, Godfrey would resurrect the Skorch gimmick, combining the biker and preacher gimmicks together, to answer Brawl Champion Matsuda's Invitational Challenge on the dark match of Heavy Metal 20175. He would lose, but impressed UW management so much they offered him a contract for their second season6.
His debut, on the second episode of UNION LIVE! in November 2017, would halt a planned push for Skorch, after he shook hands with his opponent- and old friend- Damien Raven. He'd later admit to being somehow unaware of the LIVE! series being available to view online, and believed he was essentially practising for a run on the "main shows".7 He'd debut on Charged's second episode, losing in a four-way match in which Grayson Gage pinned him. This was seen as a punishment for his misfire on LIVE!.8
He'd feature exclusively on LIVE! going forward, defeating opponents like Ravi Rafik, Wroe, Bangura, MC and even Mikey Ace, before his debut was again delayed by the trouble caused by Ace's walkout of the promotion. He'd continue to work LIVE! and Attendance Only shows, before cutbacks in June 2018 forced the promotion to release several superstars, including Skorch.
=== Indy scene, MPW return (2018-present) ===
After several appearances in Fife Wrestling Kingdom in August 2018, Godfrey confirmed his return to MPW, this time under the Skorch gimmick. He'd win his second Brummy Heavyweight Title, this time against Johnathan Roy, at the MPW show in Wolverhampton in October 2018, holding the title until May 2019 when he dropped it to Manny Hench in a Triple Threat match also featuring Rush Ronson. His attempts to get it back from Hench were thwarted on two occasions, including a Cage Match at the end of season show.
MPW would suspend shows shortly before the new season could start, and would remain on hiatus until July 2021, when they'd hold a couple of shows in Birmingham. Skorch would main event both shows, against Rush Ronson and then Archimedes Falk, winning both. He garnered controversy in an interview with Squared Circle Insider by defending UNION Wrestling's decision to pull talent from the Indy Wrestling Lives, forcing their postponement, believing they were well within their rights to prevent their roster travelling and believing that MPW should do the same thing9. 
== In-Wrestling ==
=== Signatures ===
Big Boot 6
Gourdbuster 2
=== Finishers ===
Unholy Fire (Fireman's Carry Side Slam)
=== Nicknames ===
The Biker Boy
The Red Preacher
=== Themes ===
Goth 2
== Accomplishments ==
BoBWrestling Tag Championships (2004)
BWF Young Blood Tourney 2004
BWF Inter Championship x2 (2005, 2007)
BWF Tag Team Championships (2009)
Brummy Heavyweight Title x2 (2016, 2018)
Brummy Tag Team Titles (2016-17)
== Trivia ==
* Godfrey's biker gimmick comes from his real-life love of motorcycles10.
* He's good friends with fellow UNION Wrestling alum Damien Raven, Rafe Daniels and The Maverick11.
== Behind-the-Scenes/Notes ==
# The names 'Godfrey' and 'Damien' were originally assigned to two characters with more gothic gimmicks, but became bikers due to limited attire options that fit right.
# I added the "Bob" upon fleshing out the character and making Godfrey his "real" surname.
# Skorch was a name I'd wanted to use for a while when I gave it to this character.
# Yes, I really had a tag team called Extraheavy Kill Squad. They were a Demolition knock-off on the MDickie save I ran.
# I was designing the CAWs I wanted to debut on WWE 2K18 conceptually on 2K17, and the Skorch character was advanced enough to get a test in my pre-live event practice match, the "dark match" I'd play in Exhibition/Play Mode before launching Universe.
# In truth, I was planning to use him in 2K18 anyway.
# I adapted the narrative to combat the less-than-ideal cutscene on LIVE!, which I couldn't ignore due to it being in the recording that went straight on YouTube from the PS4.
# This was another narrative twist to add a little payoff to the story that he'd annoyed the management.
# I want to use him in 2K19, and figured having him potentially at odds with other members of the roster could lead to some interesting backstage politics in future...
# Narrative fluff to flesh out the character.
# Same here, and I figured it made sense given they spent a lot of time together on various games' rosters.
Category:CAWs