The Return of the HVW Championship

The HVW Championship is returning to the company and the only question is when?

The HVW Championship is on the way back to the company. The most coveted prize in High Velocity Wrestling has been dormant for nearly six years, but that is expected to change very soon. HVW made the announcement via Facebook in 2019 and now the time to crown the new champion is indeed drawing near.

The championship will be decided in a single elimination tournament and while the date has not been revealed, the tourney is a priority for the promotion. But the road to the title has already been a challenging one.

Many fans were curious about the title from the beginning. Why was the HVW Championship not reintroduced immediately? For that matter, why was none of the belts brought back from the start? But the fact is that while nearly every professional wrestling promotion in business today bases its regular operations around its championships, this was not HVW’s primary goal.

The most important element of HVW’s relaunch was the live events. The focus was on making those events as successful as possible, not just from a financial standpoint, but from a creative one as well. After all, one directly affects the other more often than not. If the audience is entertained by the drama in the ring, then they will most likely continue to come see the company live.

It all began with January 25’s Resurrected event. Resurrected was the great unknown for HVW, because of the time that had passed since its last event. Would the crowd be there? Would they respond to the efforts by the roster and the crew backstage? The fact is that Resurrected was four months in the making and when the opening bell rang, HVW was all in.

Every creative meeting and conversation in the months prior lead to that moment, which was a long time coming for the Western North Carolina based company. HVW was ready to move forward and Resurrected was the first step on that journey.

The fans in the building that night did not see a championship match and in the end, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was the overall presentation itself and the obvious work that went into making it happen. Minor technical issues were evident through parts of the show, but they were of little consequence, as the HVW fanbase was completely invested in the action that night.

Those fans saw six top notch bouts, with each one building momentum as the night went on. They witnessed the debut of talented new stars to the company, as well as the return of popular veterans. They saw the first ever women’s match in HVW history and they saw an explosive final match that could have been a main event for any company anywhere in the world. There was no doubt about it—High Velocity Wrestling was back.

The success of Resurrected lead to First Strike, which took place four weeks later, on February 29. First Strike was a much more polished production, as HVW had already managed to knock the rust off since January 25. The show was a bold statement by the company, which was determined to deliver the most entertaining pro wrestling product in the Carolinas. Resurrected successfully brought longtime, as well as new, fans to the table. First Strike fed those fans even more.

But the third event unfortunately did not take place. March 28’s Overdrive was to be the specially branded event, presented as a partnership with the American Legion in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Unlike other live shows, Overdrive would always carry the same name and would focus on the rising stars of High Velocity Wrestling. It was another effort by the company to be innovative and everyone behind the scenes was determined to deliver another successful event.

Of course those plans were made before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, which lead to a limit on public gatherings. The safety and welfare of the HVW roster and staff was of paramount importance to the company and the decision was made to cancel the event. But what about the championships?

While HVW had not focused on the titles, there were plans in place to bring those titles back. But now the timetable to make it happen had been directly affected. Should the company immediately change plans, or take a wait and see approach? There was no indication as to when the pandemic would end and the pro wrestling world, much like every sport, was left at a standstill for the most part.

But the fact is that the championships are indeed coming back. The HVW Championship specifically is on the agenda and the previously announced tournament will eventually take place. Many fans already have their favorites and each of those favorites has a fighting chance to become the face of High Velocity Wrestling.

Chief among them is Mitch Hurley. The California Dream is one of the new faces in HVW but he’s already made it known that he wants to be the man to wear the belt. The same is true of TGA and Jake Jacobs, both of whom have made viable arguments as to why they should be included in the title tournament.

But fans can’t forget about Chrisifix. The Greek Wolverine is a former HVW champion, so he knows what it takes to be on top. The Loaded Gunz Ken Magnum is certainly in the conversation as well, as is JD Drake and TJ Boss.

The HVW roster is stacked with main event players and each one is a title contender. When the championship tournament finally does happen, those contenders will compete for the most prestigious title in the sport. For the growing HVW fanbase, that tournament cannot get here fast enough. Much like Resurrected, the tournament should definitely be well worth the wait.

Tom Clark is the Social Media Director and Lead Commentator for High Velocity Wrestling. He brings 10 years' worth of experience as a pro wrestling writer to the company and he is the host of two podcasts: The Official HVW Podcast and Tom Clark's Main Event. Both are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and YouTube