Drew Parker had a triumphant debut at CZW’s Tournament of Death 17, complete with “please come back” chants after he took on Ricky Shane Page in a Lotsa Light Tubes match that, as the name suggests, featured a lot of lighting tubes, but it could have turned out very differently for the twenty-year-old Welshman.
Parker has become a hot property across the British wrestling scene, starting as part of YOLO Squad, an overly enthusiastic, incredibly athletic tag team that, from their mid-teens, brought opportunity to Parker and his tag team partner, Ethan Silver. They fell in with the right crowd and this gave them the exposure in Kamikaze Pro, amongst other places, whilst staying close to their “home” promotion, Britannia Wrestling Promotions (BWP).
He’s gone on to feature in promotions big and small and, if the online reaction is anything to go by, puts on a show wherever he goes, with the fans left wanting more.
It seems Parker’s ambitions lay elsewhere though, as his evolution into The Urchin Prince (whilst Silver would evolve into Kid Lykos) led him to a character with an edge and, importantly, a character who was far removed from his YOLO Squad persona: grittier, more substantial and more dangerous.
Whilst he would fluidly segue into hardcore matches, Parker still demonstrated the in-ring ability and a dedicated gym regime that makes him stand out. Catching the attention of PROGRESS was certainly a catalyst for Parker’s popularity and this was only enhanced with a jaw-dropping showing against Spike Trivet at PROGRESS Live at the Dome in March 2018
He’s gone from being The Boy Next Door, to having a successful ATTACK! Pro Wrestling run as ECDrew (and the various incarnations of ECW stars of yesteryear) and demonstrated, in doing so, just how versatile a performer he is.
Singles competition has taken him right across the United Kingdom and they’ve all benefited from the presence of the Prince. He’s a performer that people talk about wherever he goes, and not just for his propensity for pain. It should come as little surprise that he’s in demand and that the world must be calling.
Deathmatch wrestling is an acquired taste, and Parker brings his own flavour to it, as demonstrated at Tournament of Death, but also in ICW, where he took the equally sadistic Clint Margera and Mikey Whiplash and a memorable encounter at Fight Club Pro match Project Mayhem that featured Clint Margera, Jimmy Havoc and Rickey Shane Page and a crazy scaffold construction of, well, death! It’s easy to only focus upon the violence, but Parker makes it more than that. He brings art to deathmatch wrestling, with a deftness of skill that has won him admirers the world over as he paints the canvas in blood.
That fanbase can only grow thanks to his appearance in this year’s CZW Tournament of Death. He may not have been successful in his debut, but there can be no doubt that they’ll want him back, and other places will want to get in on the action, too.
His actions may seem reckless in the ring, but this is a young man who has a wise head on his shoulders and a supportive circle of peers to counsel this conundrum. Previous podcast interviews on Flash Morgan Webster’s Wrestling Friends and Jim Smallman’s Tuesday Night Jaw have shown that Parker knows how far he’ll go to entertain. He was more concerned that the ring crew who would try to free him from barbed wire would cut his hair than of any personal injury, and it seems that he has no intentions of being a scar covered pariah to wrestling fans; that said, he has a limitless potential to entertain, whether he’s bleeding for his passion or not.
With a bright future ahead of him, Drew Parker has established himself as one to watch now and in the future. If you’ve not yet seen him live, you should go out of your way to do so, and be amazed.