Ukrainian Wrestling Arena back in action in Odessa this weekend for big event with major championship implications

Ukrainian Wrestling Arena is set to hold an event they are calling High Stakes this Sunday in Odessa. The event is set for 6 PM Odessa time (18:00h) and will be held at the UWA’s training facility, or the UWA Performance Center as they refer to it, at Gvozdichny pereulok-6 in Odessa, Ukraine.

The card is full of, as the event title implies, high stakes matches. Both of UWA’s singles titles will be on the line. UWA Champion Ronnie Bravo had issued an open challenge to defend his title against anyone willing to face him in a best 2 out of 3 falls match. That challenge had gone without being accepted until today when Poison accepted the challenge in a chilling video where the challenger can be spotted smoking a hookah. The challenger’s response is in Ukrainian but you can check the video out below.

Ronnie Bravo has held his title for over a year now, dating back to August 2020, so it’s no wonder he’s running out of challengers and looking for a competitor in an open challenge. The highly athletic Bravo is a former American football player and that athletic prowess has led to a championship run that has helped him to stay unbeatable for over a year. Can Poison be the one to finally knock off the long reigning champion?

UWA Champion Ronnie Bravo. Image courtesy of Ronnie Bravo’s Instagram page.

The night’s second title match will be a violent affair as UWA Extreme Champion Toxic Nick will take on Russell Cross in a hardcore match with the UWA Extreme Championship on the line. Toxic Nick can get violent and is not afraid to bleed or take punishment if that’s what it takes to hang on to his title. There has been some bad blood between these two dating back nearly a year and the UWA recently released a video taking a look at that bad blood that you can check out below.

Toxic Nick has been reigning as the UWA Extreme Champion since August of this year. One thing is for certain, even if Toxic Nick leaves the ring as champion on Sunday, it won’t be without having to endure a ton of punishment.

UWA Extreme Champion Toxic Nick. Image courtesy of Toxic Nick’s Instagram account.

Outside of the two title matches, UWA has kept much of the card under wraps. One additional detail that we can provide, however, is that Eastern European hardcore wrestling legend Andrew Reed will be making his return to Ukrainian pro wrestling. Reed has had success in the Czech Republic’s VcV Original Wrestling, holding their Hardcore Championship three times in the past. Andrew Reed was also the former champion of Legacy of Hardcore League, a defunct Ukrainian promotion that focused on hardcore wrestling and was the inspiration for the UWA to establish an Extreme Championship. Reed had announced a brief retirement from pro wrestling back in August 2020 and he has not competed in Ukraine since announcing his return. It will be interesting to see what Andrew Reed has in mind as he makes his return to Ukraine.

Andrew Reed and the the LHL title belt that he once held. Image courtesy of Andrew Reed’s Instagram page.

With such high stakes, it’s fair to say that this Sunday may see one of the biggest events of the year in Ukrainian pro wrestling if not the biggest. Since the last time we checked in UWA back in the summer time, they’ve held a few shows that they’ve made available on their YouTube page. To get up to date, check out their most recent event, the Odessa Wrestling Cup from back in September, below.

The UWA is Ukraine’s most active wrestling promotion at the time being and the action that is scheduled for this Sunday will be among the best that you can catch coming out of the Eastern European country. The UWA is also very good about uploading their events to their YouTube page so be sure to subscribe to them there and to follow their Instagram account for coverage of this weekend’s event prior to the full video release.

Update: the UKWA has provided a link for fans to watch a live stream of the event. The event is set to begin any moment now and you can check out the live stream here.