Jonathan Gresham set to be first major reigning world champion to defend championship while competing for a Danish company on February 26

This coming Saturday, history will be made in Danish pro wrestling as Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham will lace up his boots and defend his championship on Danish soil. This title defense will mark the first time a major, internationally recognized world championship will be defended by a wrestler competing for a Danish pro wrestling company.

The historic match will take place at BODYSLAM! Wrestling’s Scandi Foundation event at Pumpehuset in Copenhagen this Saturday, February 26. Challenging for the title will be Denmark’s own Emeritus. Emeritus has won some big matches in BODYSLAM!, including being a past winner of the company’s prestigious Scandigraps Tournament. However, this will be his first shot at a big time international heavyweight championship.

Outside of the upcoming Gresham/Emeritus match, there has been other world championship defenses in Denmark. The first of these came back in 2017 when Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen during WWE’s only visit to Denmark to date. The second came in the form of an Insane Championship Wrestling heavyweight title defense in 2014 by Drew Galloway (wrestling now as Drew McIntyre for the WWE) while Galloway was competing for a Danish company, Dansk Pro Wrestling. However, while ICW is a well known indie promotion, it isn’t quite on the level internationally as Ring of Honor, and at that point in time, the title belt wasn’t recognized by ICW as a “world championship” and instead, just as the company’s heavyweight championship. That world title designation would come later in Galloway’s reign, but at the time of the defense in Denmark, it was not considered a world title by the company.

Other than the big world championship implication, Jonathan Gresham is one of the biggest stars on the international indie wrestling scene today. He is undoubtedly a huge attraction for BODYSLAM! and his match with Emeritus should be a barn burner.

A second international visitor from North America will be making their way to BODYSLAM! as Ontario, Canada’s Vaughn Vertigo will make his long-awaited Danish debut. Vaughn was originally scheduled to face off with Aliss Ink, the Swedish martial arts expert and winner of the 2021 Scandigraps Invitational Tournament, in a match that sounded great on paper. Unfortunately, Aliss shared the news earlier today that she had to pull out of the shows she was scheduled for this weekend due to unforeseen circumstances. That might be good news for the extremely talented young Canadian, who seemed to be taking his matchup with the trained killer Aliss Ink lightly. But Vaughn should get another opportunity to show off his high-paced, agile offense with another challenger.

“El Guapo” Carlos Zamora. Image courtesy of the BODYSLAM! Wrestling Facebook page.

Denmark’s own Carlos Zamora will also be in singles action against an international opponent. The 2021 runner up in the Scandigraps Invitational Tournament employs a hard hitting style and isn’t afraid to put his body on the line to get the job done and has traveled internationally more than anyone else on the BODYSLAM! roster showing off his Danish brand of hard hitting wrestling. His opponent will be the masked Frenchman Senza Volto. The high flyer from France has begun to make a name from himself all across Europe and is a very agile performer. The styles of Carlos Zamora and Senza Volto seem to mesh well and these two should have a fantastic match.

In tag team action, one of Denmark’s best tag teams, and the former BODYSLAM! Tag Team Champions, Randerspagne (Adonis and Xander) will be in action. They’ll be taking on the team of Sunshine Machine (TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo) who have been making a big mark on the UK indie scene, recently challenging for the tag team gold in PROGRESS and winning the tag team titles in RevPro. This match will be a big test for Randerspagne, who are looking to rebound from their recent tag title loss. That task will be much easier said than done against Sunshine Machine.

BODYSLAM Tag Team Champions Michael Fynne (left) and Tank. Image courtesy of the BODYSLAM! Instagram page.

But that’s not the only tag team match of the night! BODYSLAM! Tag Team Champions Michael Fynne and Tank will also be in action. They’ll make their first defense of the belts against the Easy Loverz. The Easy Loverz have been chasing tag team gold for quite some time, being unable to legally take the belts from Randerspagne. They did take one of the belts illegally, though. But will the 80’s throwbacks the Easy Loverz be able to topple the team that toppled the team that they couldn’t topple? Michael Fynne and Tank are both legends in BODYSLAM!, both having won the BODYSLAM! Championship in singles competition and are now in their second reign together as tag team champions with Tank having won an additional third tag team title for the Danish company. But don’t count the Easy Loverz out so fast. Their constant 3-on-2 advantage and dirty tricks can be a lot to overcome.

Gabriel Faust. Image courtesy of Gabriel Faust’s Instagram page.

The last announced match of the night will feature the freaky young high flier in face paint, Gabriel Faust, going against Toby Zane. Faust is coming off of a bloody and brutal brawl with Hunyadi Tamas at the Nordic Elite Wrestling debut show. It’s unsure if he can possibly be at 100% after that battle. Toby Zane, on the other hand, should be a little more well rested and ready to go. Can the self-described Brony Toby Zane show off some of his innovative offense and show Gabriel Faust that Friendship is Magic? This should be a good one between two wrestlers with completely different outlooks and philosophies on life and their time in the ring.

BODYSLAM! has also recently announced that their top title, the BODYSLAM! Championship has been vacated. The company has promised more details this Saturday. Along with that, there may be some more details provided about the announced women’s wrestling showcase for April 2nd and their plans to crown their first Women’s Champion!

This Saturday should be a very fun and historic night for BODYSLAM! and Danish pro wrestling fans!