No Regrets Rumble

*David Starr after winning the 2019 Rumble.*

The **No Regrets Rumble** was an annual match staged by Defiant Wrestling. The thirty person rumble is a fixture of their annual No Regrets iPPV. The match includes both male and female wrestlers and is a variant on the traditional wrestling rumble format.

The inaugural No Regrets Rumble was held as the main event of No Regrets (2017), with the winner being crowned the WCPW World Champion. Subsequent matches have selected the #1 contender for the Defiant Championship.

The match has twice been won by Martin Kirby (in 2017 and 2018), with David Starr winning the bout in 2019.

## Rules

The match is a variant on the traditional wrestling rumble match seen in promotions around the world. The participants in the match are introduced at approximately two minute intervals in a randomly generated order based on the number they drew ahead of the match. The match starts with entrant numbers one and two already in the ring, following which a countdown runs ahead of the two minute mark, after which a siren sounds and the next person makes their entrance.

Participants are eliminated via pinfall, submission or being thrown over the top rope and having both feet touch the arena floor. Elimination does not take place if the wrestler leaves the ring under the top rope, allowing participants to leave and re-enter the ring. There are no disqualification rules within the match so wrestlers are able to use weapons or underhand means to eliminate opponents. The match finishes when only one participant remains.

## History

### 2017

*For the main article please see No Regrets Rumble (2017).*

WCPW held their first No Regrets event in April 2017, the main event of which was the first ever No Regrets Rumble. This 30-person rumble match was a WCPW World Championship defence by then champion Drew Galloway who had positioned himself as a fighting champion and vowed to go through however many people WCPW put in his way. Galloway entered the bout at number one and remained until the latter stages but was eventually eliminated by Joe Hendry, thus relinquishing his title.

The match was eventually won by Martin Kirby, who had entered the match at number two, when he pinned Hendry after the pair became the final remaining competitors. Kirby was crowned the new WCPW World Champion, although he would go on to drop the belt to Hendry the following day.

### 2018

*For the main article please see No Regrets Rumble (2018).*

The second No Regrets Rumble was staged in April 2018 at Defiant Wrestling's annual No Regrets show in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In a change to the previous year's bout, the winner of the 2018 match would receive a title shot at the Defiant Championship, which had been won by Rampage earlier in the evening.

The match was won by Martin Kirby for the second year in succession as he made the final elimination of Joe Hendry, again for the second year in a row. Hendry had entered the match as the number one competitor, having vowed to win the bout and then go on to reclaim the Defiant Championship.

The match was notable for including a double entry at number three, when Leon Mercer and Stan Kellit entered at the same time as Team Hendry in order to act as protection for Joe Hendry during the bout. This match also featured an inflatable doll as a replacement for the injured Kid Lykos, with the doll actually making one elimination when Chris Brookes used it to help eliminate Mark Davis.

### 2019

*For the main article please see No Regrets Rumble (2019).*

In a break from previous years, the 2019 staging of the No Regrets Rumble took place in Manchester in May, with the parent No Regrets show having been moved in Defiant's calendar. The match was again staged to crown the #1 contender for the Defiant Championship. The main focus of the match was the ongoing feud between Gabriel Kidd and eventual winner David Starr, with the pair finishing up as the last two remaining combatants. Starr had originally drawn the number one slot but had beaten Kidd earlier in the evening to claim Kidd's number thirty position.

The match only actually included twenty nine active participants as John Klinger was disqualified from the bout following his actions earlier on the show. Klinger did emerge during the match, however; helping the Anti-Fun Police to attack and injure former member Drake mid way through the match.

## Iron Man

Iron man is a widely used term to signify the wrestler who lasts for the longest period of time within each match. This individual may not be the eventual winner, but is someone highlighted for their endurance. Joe Hendry holds the record for the longest single stint in the bout, lasting one hour, seven minutes and 40 seconds during the 2018 match, having entered at number one and being the final person to be eliminated.

 No Regrets (2018) | Joe Hendry | 01:07:40
 No Regrets (2019) | Gabriel Kidd | 01:01:30

## Eliminations

The most cumulative eliminations from the No Regrets Rumble is nine, with Martin Kirby, Joe Hendry and Gabriel Kidd all having eliminated that number. Kidd, however, only took two matches to reach that figure, with Kirby and Hendry achieving the total over three bouts. Kidd also holds the record for the most eliminations in one bout, having despatched six wrestlers during the 2019 bout.

## Participants

There have been 70 participants in the No Regrets rumble over the three bouts staged. Sixty-three entrants were men, six women and one inflatable doll (representing the injured Kid Lykos). Only Drake, Joe Hendry, Prince Ameen and Martin Kirby have appeared in all three matches staged to date.

\* John Klinger entered under his *Bad Bones* gimmick in 2017. In 2019 Klinger was disqualified before the match started so did not actually wrestle in the bout.

\*\* Kid Lykos was injured so was replaced with an inflatable Lykos doll that was carried by Chris Brookes.