Written by Don Halliwell
Its March, so it is that time of year that people fill out their brackets for the NCAA tournament, but there is another tournament this year and it is the Cassandro Cup. I am going to go through this bracket and see who I think will come out on top. It is an interesting bracket, as any one of these competitors could go all the way and there are so many intriguing match ups that we may see. You can watch The Cassandro Cup on IWTV this Sunday at 7PM.
The first-round matches are ones that we will definitely see.
The Shooter Killian McMurphy takes on the grittiest person in the game, Molly McCoy in what should be a very hard-hitting battle. Both of these competitors are not afraid to throw fists and sometimes bend the rules a little bit. Molly has had a lot of success lately as the tag team Pop Flyers, with Boomer Hatfield, but is going to want to prove that they can also win on their own. Killian will look to take this match to the mat and make Molly tap out, but that is going to be very hard to do as Molly is extremely tough. I think the Killian will make it to the second round, but do not think he will make it to that match at 100%, as he will be feeling the effects from this match for as long as he goes in this tournament.
The winner of that match will go on the face the winner of Edith Surreal against Erica Leigh. Edith was unbeatable in tournaments, having won the Young Lions Cup and most recently the Christmas Trios with Molly and Boomer. The Tournament streak came to an end recently with a loss to Lee Moriarty at Enjoy! Wrestling. It is hard to believe that anything could cause some cracks in Edith’s confidence, but we will see if she can recover from the loss and advance past Erica. You have to believe that Edith is going to want to get this match to the ground and use one of her submission maneuvers. I feel that she does not want to stand toe to toe with Erica Leigh, as Erica has proven how tough she is and that even after getting beat down and bloody she will come back and fight harder than before. Erica has had some incredible matches, including quite the rivalry with Darius Carter. She, however, has not had the same luck in tournaments as Edith. Erica has lost in the first round of the Young Lions Cup, the Women’s GSI and Christmas Trios. I do feel that Erica will be able to counter Edith’s submission attempts and use her strength advantage to pull off the slight upset and move to the second round.
The final first round match is Ashton Starr against Jared Evans, with the winner facing AC Mack. This will be an interesting matchup, as both of these wrestlers are very arrogant and think that it is their destiny to win this tournament. They both think that they are the star of the show, but come across very differently. Ashton Starr will make quite an entrance and get all the attention with his flashiness, while Jared Evans just comes to the ring with his Yankees cap and a baseball bat looking for a fight. Ashton has been in tournaments before and has made it to the finals of the SHW Title Tournament this past November. Ashton will come in with the experience advantage, not only in the number of matches, but also the number of high-profile matches. He also has the speed and unique skill set that Jared is going to need to contend with. Jared says that Ashton’s arrogance is going to be his downfall, and while Jared may not be as flashy as Ashton, he sees this as an opportunity to show the world what he is all about. Jared looks at last year’s Butch v Gore as a turning point in his career and this year he wants to show everyone why he is known as New York City’s Bastard Son and make it past some of the best wrestlers in the country. Jared will use whatever tactic is necessary in order to do that. I see Jared Evans pulling off the upset victory, possibly by some nefarious tactics.
If my predictions are correct, we will have Jared Evans against AC Mack. AC Mack is someone that will always tell you about all the championships that he has and never shies away from telling you how great he is. Mack seems to be able to collect championships everywhere that he goes including SUP and Action among other promotions. Mack will find any possible way to beat his opponent and is not afraid to bend the rules from time to time. Mack is not someone that can easily be game planed for because his style can change at any moment. He seems to be able to find his opponents weakness and go after it with a ferocious tenacity. Mack will have to deal with someone else that is ferocious and will attack any perceived weakness in his opponent. Jared Evans is also someone who can adapt to any style, so it will be interesting to see who will dictate the pace of this match. This is another great matchup between 2 athletes that certainly do not lack any confidence, but I see AC Mack pulling out this victory. Jared’s time will come, but Mack has been on a roll and after having to face Ashton Starr, I do not see Jared having enough in the tank to pull off the upset.
Erica and Killian have been feuding through multiple different promotions and could continue that rivalry here is the semifinals. It does not seem like either one of these 2 combatants will be 100% going into this match, and it could come down to who is the healthiest. As a submission expert, expect Killian to go after whatever part of the body Edith may have weakened on Erica. Erica is very tough and will never give up, but I think Killian may be a little too much from her in this round and I have him making it to the finals.
AC Mack and Killian would be quite the finals. Killian has been in multiple tournaments, but has never made it to the finals. It seems like his momentum and confidence have been continuously growing and he is at his peak right now. AC on the other hand has been very successful in tournaments, having won the Action title tournament in 2018 and making it to the finals of the Scenic City Invitational in 2019. AC just has the knack of finding a way to string wins together and make it out on top in the end and I do not think that this tournament will be any different. I predict that AC Mack will win, but any of the participants could make a run and claim the trophy. One thing that we can be sure of is that there will be some amazing matches and they will make Cassandro proud.