BCW Crystal, MN 6/10/2011

I took the summer off from this blog. Heck I pretty much took the summer off from ring side as I was only at two wrestling events during the months of June, July and August. But now fall is here and it’s getting colder outside so I’m going to play catch up starting with a Born Champions Wrestling card that took place on June 10 at the Crystal community center. This was the first BCW show in while as the last one that was scheduled in the winter was canceled because of a snow storm.
In the opening match “The Popular” Nate Bash defeated Kamikazi Klecker.
The Patriot III defeated Cameron Cross after a big splash.
Craven Knyte defeated Udo.
“The Anarchist” Arik Cannon defeated The Prophet.
Arya Daivari & Judd Jennrich defeated Bret O’Brian & Venom (101 Proof) to become the new BCW tag team champions. After the match O’Brian turned on Venom.
BCW heavy weight champion Darin Corbin retained his belt against “6% body fat” Rob James and Ryan Cruz in a TCL match. Cruz was actually the one to get the belt down from the ladder but referee Rob Page was knocked out. When Page came to he saw Corbin with the belt and declared Corbin the winner.

F1rst Wrestling returns 2011

It’s been almost one full year since F1rst Wrestling last had an show. Finally, a date will be announced soon to when the next F1rst Wrestling card will be at First Avenue night club. First Ave is my favorite venue for indy pro wrestling so it’s great to see F1rst wrestling return there. F1rst Wrestling has presented three other cards titled “Return” that have featured wrestlers returning to F1rst Wrestling/Minneapolis. Will The Return ‘11 be the same? Could we see the return of Colt Cabana who was on the first F1rst Wrestling card? Maybe M-Dogg 20 Matt Cross, most recently seen on WWE’s Tough Enough, could return. It could be Cody O’Neill who could be making his return. It might be the return of referee Ricky Reed. Or does “The Return ‘11” just mean the return of F1rst wrestling? Check out F1rst Wrestling’s Facebook for up coming announcements about The Return ‘11.
The Return 09 (6/19/09) was a really big event for F1rst Wrestling as it was main evented with a match between home town guys Jerry Lynn and Sean Waltman.
The Return 08 (6/20/08) featured a few returns to F1rst Wrestling. Austin Aries returned to the Minneapolis area as he teamed with Rob James to take on The Northstar Express. The next return was Horace The Psychopath who came out to Arik Cannon’s open challenge. Horace had been gone from F1rst Wrestling since July 2007. The third return of the night was Chris Jordan as he came out as Pete Huge’s partner in a match against Midwest Ground & Air. On F1rst Wrestling’s second card Jordon lost a loser leaves wrestling match to his Junk Squad partner Pete Huge so it was a big surprise to see him come back to reform the Junk Squad.
The Return 07 (6/17/07) was the third F1rst Wrestling show and featured the return of Kid Krazy in a match against Tyler Black. Krazy had recently moved to California but returned for one more match in Minnesota. In California Krazy wrestled some for Pro Wrestling Gorilla but now he is mostly retired from wrestling. Black now wrestles for the WWE developmental promotion Florida Championship Wrestling as Seth Rollins.

R.I.P. Alex Whybrow AKA "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney

Various pro wrestling news sites reported today that Alex Whybrow, AKA "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney died today at the age of 29. Sweeney trained at the Chikara Wrestle Factory and went on to wrestle and manage for Ring of Honor.

I first saw Larry Sweeney back in April of 2005 when he came to Midwest Pro Wrestling.  He was there with other members of Chikara to take on MPW in the "World Series of Wrestling". This was a best of seven match series pitting wrestlers from MPW against wrestlers from Chikara. Sweeney won his match against The Punisher (now known as Rob James).

Sweeney retuned to Minnesota in June 2006, this time for Northern Impact Wrestling's Impact Invitational. In the first round of the tournament Sweeney lost his ICW-ICWA Texarkana TV title to Darin Corbin. Corbin then lost the title to Cody O'Neill at intermission as the ICW-ICWA Texarkana TV title is defended under 24/7 rules. O'Neill then lost the belt to referee Bryce Rumsberg seconds later. The title changed hands a few more times that weekend but Sweeney won the belt back before leaving the Midwest. Sweeney was a very entertaining performer.

The Wrestler with John Cena on the cover.

The current issue of The Wrestler/Inside Wrestling vol 39 is now on news stands and it features a cover photo of John Cena. I took that photo of Cena at the Target Center back on February 4th, 2011. I have a few other photos inside the magazine but there are a few photos that are credited to me that I did not take. The ones of Daniel Bryan and Gail Kim were not my photos. Run, don't walk to a local news stand to pick up this issue which also features an interview with WWE hall of famer Road Warrior Animal.

HOW Duluth, MN 3/26/2011

 Blogger has changed the formatting of of the blogs so I've been having a hard time getting this to work like I want it to. If I can't get it to work this may be my last post.With that said, here are the results of the Heavy On Wrestling show from last Saturday at the DECC in Duluth, MN.


 "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan defeated "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon. U.S.A....U.S.A...Hoooooooe!



 Heavy On Wrestling started a HOW Hall of Fame. The first inductees were Joann Sabick (HOW promoter David Sabicks late grandmother), Mae Young, Joyce Grable, Bill & Scott Irwin, Buck Zumhofe and The Honky Tonk Man.

 Heather Zumhofe defeated Ann Brookstone and Mystik in a triple threat match with Lita as special guest referee. Joyce Grable managed Brookstone in this match.

 "Wild" Bill Irwin came to the ring to be inducted into the HOW Hall of Fame. He was inturupted by The Black Stallion. The two wrestled for  a while but Stallion left the ring as Irwin got the better of him.

Heavy D & Dirty Dick Sawyer defeated the Barking Spiders (Ox & Clutch) in a hard core match. Before the match Heavy D was arrested by Officer Mark Barker because he was intoxicated. After a few minutes of the Barking Spiders beating the crap out of Sawyer the Spiders grabbed two of Heavy D's younger brothers out of the crowd and beat up on them. Heavy D returned to the ring with Barker in a shopping cart.  Heavy D got the win after he hit Ox with his own brothers prosthetic leg.

 The Honky Tonk Man defeated "Rock N Roll" Buck Zunhofe. Before the match Zumhofe talked about how mad he was that HTM stole his act. HTM won with a roll up after a shot to Zumhofe's nuts.

 The main event for the night was three way for the HOW heavy weight championship. Champion Benjamin Sailer faced off against Nate Bash and Lance Hoyt. Before the match started Sunny came out to say that she was going to manage the champion. Sailer go the win after he suplexed Hoyt over Bash and then pinned Bash.

Benjamin Sailer after retaining the HOW heavy weight championship with his manager for the match, Sunny.

Rock N Roll VS Honky Tonk! This Saturday in Duluth, MN

This Saturday night March 26th, 2011 Buck "Rock N Roll" Zumhofe with take on The Honky Tonk Man at the DECC in Duluth, MN as part of the World of Wheels. Heavy On Wrestling is the promotion that will present this match between two pro wrestling veterans. In a recent interview Zumhofe let it be known that he was upset when he first saw The Honky Tonk Man in the WWF because he thought the WWF copied his gimmick. Sure there are other big time wrestlers at this event and I could tell you who they are but this match alone should be enough for you to buy a ticket for this show.

MIW Chanhassen, MN 3/12/2011

Minnesota Independent Wrestling returned to the Chanhassen American Legion this past Saturday night to a full house. This was my first time at an MIW event since October of last year. I missed their last event at in Chanhassen where "Playboy" Pete Huge defeated Brody Hoofer to become the new MIW heavy weight champion. That match was also a looser leaves MIW so Hoofer is no longer with MIW. Hoofer has been with MIW since he started in the biz back in 1999.
The night started with MIW heavy weight champion "Playboy" Pete Huge coming to the ring with "All Star" Paul Brewski. Huge was scheduled to defend his title against Brewski in the main event that night but Huge said Brewski was too green to get a shot at his belt. MIW commissioner Terry Fox got in the ring and told Huge that he would defend the MIW heavy weight title against Brewski or Fox would take the belt away from him. Huge told Brewski to do the right thing and lay down for a three count. Brewski laid down but got up before the three count and then attacked Huge.
In the first match of the card Horace the Psychopath defeated Rob Ivy.
In Paradise's Pit Mitch Paradise interviewed Rob Ivy who was pretending to be Zach Mercury. All the shenanigans ended when Mercury came to to confront Paradise and challenge him to a match later in that night.
Gunner Clash & Cpl Julio Julio defeated El Bano & Dorrian. As you can see in the photo here Clash & Julio cheated to get the W by blinding El Bano.
Zach Mercury defeated Mitch Paradise with a small package. Some times the good guys cheat to win.
Ann Brookstone pinned Mystik. In one of the funniest bits of the night Mystik ran into special guest referee Kenny Larson knocking him to the mat. Mystik then said "I killed Kenny!"
In the main event MIW heavy weight champion "Playboy" Pete Huge retained his title against "All Star" Paul Brewski. Zach Mercury was the special guest referee for this match. Mercury was distracted when Mitch Paradise came to the ring giving Huge the chance to hit Brewski with the title belt for an easy pin. Good thing Huge retained the belt because the pretty pink one he was wearing broke during the match.

Buck "Rock N Roll" Zumhofe talks about PWI photo

"Rock N Roll" Buck Zumhofe posted a video on his YouTube channel to comment on my photo of him that was published in the March 2011 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. For the record, I did not write the caption for the photos of Zumhofe and Greg Gagne. I only took the photos.
The caption to my photos was "Two reasons why no one is clamoring for an AWA reunion". Well if you are clamoring for an AWA reunion then you are in luck. Kenny "The Sodbuster" Jay his having a benefit for the histiocytosis association on Saturday April 2, 2011. Advertised to appear at this event are Larry Hennig, Baron Von Raschke, Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell, Red Bastien, Dr X, Nick Bockwinkle and Buck Zumhofe. This event will take place at the American Legion in Savage, MN from 6pm till midnight and the cost is $15. Click here for more info on the event.

AWF Elk River, MN 2/26/2011

The American Wrestling Federation held "February Free for All V" at the Elk River High School this past Saturday night. This was a fund raiser show for the high schools football team. This event was taped for the AWF's TV show Saturday Night Slam. SNS can be seen on channel 45 at 11pm in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. You can also watch all the AWF SNS episodes on YouTube.
In the opening match "The Bulldog" Sammy Savard defeated "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon. Savard finished off Cannon with a stunner. Cannon's mohawk is getting pretty tall.
Benjamin Sailer & Ryan Cruz defeated John Johnson & Aaron Corbin to become the new AWF tag team champions. Sailer & Cruz are calling their tag team "Martial Law". If you think that's a good name for a good guy tag team leave a comment below. Just click on the word "comment". You don't even have to log in or anything.
Mitch Paradise pinned Mikey Wipeout after a choke power bomb. Wipeout used to go by the name Stanley but now he is doing a 'surfer dude' gimmick. Wipeout even rode the wave on Paradises back.
"All Star" Paul Brewski defeated The Black Stallion.
"live Wire" Johnny Parks defeated AWF heavy weight champion Arya Daivari. Unfortunately Parks won the match by DQ as Daivari hit referee Rob Page. After Page was knocked out another ref ran into the ring when Parks had Daivari pinned. The ref made the 3 count and gave the belt to Parks. Page finally woke up and DQed Daivari and gave him back the title belt.
In the main event for the night Tony DeNucci defeated "6% Body Fat" Rob James in a no DQ match.

IWA Minneapolis, MN 2/5/2011

The Intercontinental Wrestling Association held a fund raiser event at Minneapolis South High School this past Saturday night. The high school is in need of new lights for their footbal field.
In the opening match TNT Tommy Mason w/ The Brauler defeated Mad Rocky Morris. This was my first time seeing Morris. Not sure how long Morris has been wrestling. He wore a tank top and fancy jeans and I think he may have had wresting boots.
In the second match "Everyone's favorite" Nate Bash pinned Horace the Psychopath. Bash came out wearing a South High School football jersey but he told the crowd there is one problem. He never went to South High School. Bash then took off the jersey to reveal a Washburn High School football jersey, the school that he attended and the crowd turned on him.
Venom defeated Kamikaze Klecker with the muscle buster.
"The Professional" Benjamin Sailer defeated The Prophet by submission.
Mitch Paradise pinned Sheik Arya Daiavri after a sit out power bomb. Daivari had his magic carpet with him on this night but he missed the magic carpet ride.
IWA heavy weight champion The Black Stallion defeated Udo to retain the belt.
The Brauler w/ TNT Tommy Mason beat El Bano with special guest referee Mark Sanders, the Minneapolis South High School athletic director. Nate Bash came out to tell Sanders that South High School sucks. While Sanders was distracted Mason went under the ring and came out wearing a referee shirt and made the three count for the Brauler's win. I don't think that Mason has a referee license.
After special guest referee Mark Sanders got rid of Nate Bash he then got in the ring and tossed Mason out of the ring. Sanders then kicked The Brauler in the gut and gave him a suplex.

WWE Minneapolis, MN 2/4/2011

This past Friday night the WWE was in Minneapolis, MN at the Target Center as part of the Road To Wrestlemania tour. I was ring side shooting for Pro Wrestling Illustrated at this event. The photos I took can not be shown here on my blog but you can see them in Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Inside Wrestling/The Wrestler in the coming months. So here along with the results of that WWE RtWM card I'll post some old photos from two of the Superstars who were in action that night.

In the opening contest Mark Henry pinned Zack Ryder. The WWE tag team champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov retained their belts against Micheal McGillicutty & David Otunga w/ Mason Ryan. Before the next match WWE diva AJ picked a member of the WWE Universe to be the guest bell ringer. Yoshi Tatsu defeated Primo. Before the match started ring announcer Justin Roberts received a text from the anonymous GM. The text stated that Tatsu and Primo would face each other in a dance off before their match. John Morrison pinned King Sheamus after a shinning wizard.

United States champion Daniel Bryan w/ Gail Kim defeated Ted Dibiase. Maryse came out to confront Kim. Bryan made Dibiase tap out to the lebell lock. The photo here is from one of Bryan's (then know as Bryan Danielson) Ring of Honor title matches against Nigel McGuinnes (TNA's Desmond Wolfe). This match took place in St. Paul, MN on August 25, 2006. After the match AJ came back out to throw some WWE t-shirts the the WWE Universe.

WWE Divas champion Eve & Tamina defeated Alicia Fox & Melina when Eve pinned Fox.

John Cena defeated C.M. Punk in a street fight. This was a 'fans choice match' as the WWE Universe at the Target Center got to vote on two matches. There choices were street fight or 2 out of 3 falls. Punk wanted a 2 out of 3 falls match so the WWE Universe picked street fight. During the match New Nexus came out to help out their leader but they were soon chased to the back by Marella, Kozlov and Morrison. This street fight was nothing like the one that Punk was involved in back on July 24, 2004 in Chicago, Il at an ROH event. In that match Punk teamed with Ace Steel against Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer.

In the main event of the night WWE champion The Miz w/ Alex Riley defeated Randy Orton. After the match ring announcer Justin Roberts received a text from the anonymous GM that said The Miz had go back to the locker room and Riley would face Orton in a no holds barred match. Orton made short work of Riley with an RKO to win the match. The Miz came back out to the ring and Orton gave him an RKO to send the WWE Universe home happy.

Thoruf Marius signs with WWE

Midwest pro wrestler Thoruf Marius recently signed a WWE developmental deal. He moved down to Tampa, FL last month to start training at FCW.

Marius started training back in 2003 with Midwest Pro Wrestling in Maple Grove, MN. In one of his first matches he wrestled against Ken Anderson. There was no wrestler larger then Marius in the Midwest.

In the summer of 2007 Marius traveled to Japan to train with Pro Wrestling Noah. Marius returned from Japan with some extra weight. Must have been from eating lots of fish and rice. In 2009 Marius took part in a reality show that was filmed in Norway called Alt for Norge. Marius took third place on the first season of the show. Most recently Marius wrestled with the American Wrestling Federation as seen here against Johnny Parks.

The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana

The Wrestler/Inside Wrestling Volume 38 hit newsstands this week. On pages 14 and 15 there is a story about Colt Cabana's pod cast "The Art of Wrestling". In the article there is a photo I took of Cabana with CM Punk and Ricky Steamboat from a ROH show in St. Paul, MN back in April 2004.
If you have not yet listened to Colt Cabana's pod cast I highly recommend that you do. Just click on the link above where it reads "Art of Wrestling". Every Thursday Cabana post a new podcast where he talks with one of his pro wrestling friends. Some of my favorite shows/guest are Shawn Daivari, CM Punk, Colin Delany, Somoa Joe (seen here getting his burn mark kicked off by Cabana), X-Pac and The Briscoe Brothers. As Cabana says on his podcast, he opens the door and lets fans into the lives of pro wrestlers.