Francesco Akira wins 2022 Scandigraps Invitational Tournament
The 2022 version of Scandinavia’s most prestigious pro wrestling tournament has concluded.
The annual tournament, known as the Scandigraps Invivational, concluded on August 27th from BODYSLAM Pro Wrestling’s home in Copenhagen, Denmark, at their home venue Pumephuset, as part of the Scandi-Graps Super Show.
This year’s tournament had some changes to the format which were explained excellently in this piece from the BODYSLAM website.
The tournament kicked off back on July 21 of this year in Skagen, Denmark at the outdoor Skagen Smadderier event. Two quarterfinal qualifying matches took place there, with Xander defeating Adonis and Eli Castle defeating Michael Fynne to move on to the semifinals.
A look back at the crowd and setup at Skagen Smadderier on July 21, 2022 where the 2022 version of the Scandigraps Tournament kicked off. Image courtesy of the BODYSLAM! Wrestling Instagram page.
The seminfinals and final of the tournament took place at the Scandigraps Super Show on August 27th. As usual, this year’s tournament had plenty of international representation and that representation could be seen in the winner of the wild card match and the competitors that lasted to the semifinals. First, Shemeikka from Finland, the current FCF Finnish Heavyweight Champion, won the tournament wildcard match, meaning he would fill in for any injured wrestlers that could not continue due to injury. The semifinals matches included Ender Kara, a wrestler of Turkish descent based in Sweden, taking on Francesco Akira, the Italian wrestler who is currently reigning as one half of the New Japan Pro Wrestling IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions. Akira would advance to the final after defeating Kara. Xander and Eli Caste, both of Denmark, faced off in the second semifinal with Xander emerging victorious and advancing to the final.
In the tournament final, Akira would defeat Xander to become the winner of the 2022 Scandigraps Invitational. Last year’s Scandigraps tournament final featured an instant classic and match of the year contender between “El Guapo” Carlos Zamora and Aliss Ink, and this year’s final is being described as one of the most horrifying battles to ever take place at Pumpehuset.
Francesco Akira celebrates with the Scandigraps Invitational trophy after surviving a horrific battle with Xander. Image courtesy of the BODYSLAM! Wrestling Instagram page.
You’ll probably want to make sure you catch the semifinals and finals of this tournament. BODYSLAM!’s events are available on Independent Wrestling TV and they have even shared some of the past Scandigraps tournaments on their YouTube channel so be sure to keep an eye on both of those spots. Also, be sure to give BODYSLAM! a follow on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with some of Scandinavia’s best indie wrestling!
