NIW 7/26/2008

Northern Impact Wrestling held some wrestling matches at Lonetti's Lounge as part of the Rice St. Festival in St. Paul, MN this last Saturday night. This was an outdoor free show and it was a hot day so I didn't take photos of every match.
In the second match of the card Benjamin Sailer beat Arik Cannon. These two did some great mat wrestling to start things off but then took there match to the streets. They battled through Lonetti's Lounge first then they stopped traffic on Rice Street. They even battled in front of a police officer in his squad car. As Cannon and Sailer fought each other in the street and on coming cars would stop it reminded me of a scene in U2's Rattle and Hum. Good thing no arrest were made. The match made back to the ring where Sailer rolled up Cannon with a La Majistral cradle.
The Black Stallion pinned Arya Daivari after a power slam. Through the whole match Arya spoke only in his native tongue. You can learn more about Daivari by picking up the current issue of The Wrestler/Inside Wrestler where inside The Wrestler part of the mag there is an Introducing article on Daivari. Both photos from the article were taken by me.
Pete Huge defeated Ryan Cruz. This match, much like the Cannon/Sailer match, went to the streets and around the block.
Kamikaze Klecker and Nate Bash battled for the beer belt which was is named 'start drinking at noon and get drunk at some bar on the East side of Saint Paul middle weight title'. I believe that this match and title were not sanctioned by NIW. Nate Bash won this match and he retired the belt after the match because he needed the belt to keep his pants up. I want to point out that Ref Rob Page wore shorts for this event.

RWF Savage, MN 7/25/2008

There is a new promotion in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and it is called Renegade Wrestling Federation. The RWF held it's first card at Niesons bar and grill in Savage, MN this last Friday night.

The first match of the night was The Brauler vs Jesse Chan. This was the first time I've seen either of these wrestlers. Chan won the match.

The next match featured some lucha action as Black Boy took on Apostle 13. The winner of the match was Apostle 13.

Midwest Ground & Air defeated the team of the Asylum & Zero Kincade. Benjamin Sailer got the pin on Kincade as Nate Bash dove out side the ring on to the Asylum.

Ann Brookstone defeated Allison Wonderland.

Thoruf Marius w/ Sheikh Adnon defeated Skylar Steel.
In the main event Lenny Lane defeated James Alexander twice. He beat him the first time by DQ when the ref caught Alexander with a foreign object in his hand. Lane won the second time after commissioner Kenny Yates restarted the match by using the foreign object on Alexander.

Train to be a pro wrestler

If you want to be a pro wrestler and live near the Minneapolis area or are willing to move then give Terry Fox a call as he and Austin Aries are running a training camp right now. Through the summer the ring is set up out side but I believe that they are looking for a new location once it starts to get cold out side. You can reach Terry at 763-785-1924

Austin Aries giving instructions to trainee Jeff.

This was taken from austinaries.com-

"THE FOUNDATION"-PRO-WRESTLING TRAINING CAMP CLASSES NOW IN SESSION !!!***Anybody who wants to enter the world of professional wrestling the right way needs "The Foundation".******Former ROH World Champion and head trainer to their school, Austin Aries has teamed up with Terry Fox who brings over 20 years of professional wrestling experience and a proven track record as a trainer. Together they have opened up "The Foundation" Professional Wrestling Camp. Located just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, "The Foundation" will provide anybody interested in the world of professional wrestling the knowledge and technique, both in and out of the ring, to build a successful wrestling career. If you've never been in the ring before, or you want to step out of the untrained, unpaid, backyard scene then the "The Foundation" is for you. Classes are ongoing now! For more information contact Austin Aries at: mailto:austin@austinaries.com?subject= or AustinAries@hotmail.com***

Trainer of champions Terry Fox watching on as Ausitn Aries trains hands on.

NLW St. Paul, MN 7/12/2008

Northern Lights Wrestling held their monthly card at the Eagles Club in St. Paul, Mn this past Saturday night.

In the opening match Zero Kincade defeated Jake Taylor.

Craven Knyte defeated Johnny Riddlin.

Aaron Corbin beat Mike Stanley. Corbin was scheduled to wrestle Corey O'Neill but O'Neill was unable to make it.

The NLW Midwest champion Darrel Hall retained his belt by pinning Rico Havana.

NLW Heavy weight champion The Black Stallion defeated John Johnson to retain his title.

NLW tag team champions Glam Slam beat James Alexander & Jonny Goldengate.

Up to the big leagues with bad names

One of the great things about photographing independent pro wrestling is seeing some of the men and women make it up to the 'big leagues', WWE or TNA. In the last month or two I've seen two wrestlers who I first saw 4-5 years ago wrestling in high school gyms or national guard armory's.
Back in April of 2004 I was at ring side in St. Paul, MN when Matt Sydal made his ROH debut against Delirious. The photos here are from the next night in Chicago Ridge, IL. On June 3rd, 2008 Matt made his WWE debut now wrestling as Evan Bourne.
The name change is a little goofy. Sydal was more unique then Bourne. Go ahead and do a search of both those names. The top searches for Bourne are from the Matt Damon movies.
Mickie Knuckles wrestled in the first round of the Ted Petty Invitational back in 2003. There was a spot open because someone had to cancel and Knuckles wanted that spot. The spot she took was the one with Ian Rotten, her trainer, as the opponent. Knuckles didn't make it past the first round but she put up one hell of a fight.
The second night of the tournament Knuckles wrestled Rain. She won that match. A few weeks ago Knuckles debuted with TNA but with a new first name, Moose. It was brought to my attention that a moose knuckle is the male version of a camel toe. Once again, another stupid name choice by those who give out names.

PWA South St. Paul, MN 6/28/2008

From the Kaposia Days festival in South St. Paul, Mn at VFW #295 Pro Wrestling America presented a card featuring women, a midget and former AWA legends. This was a free out door show. What is 'kaposia' you ask. Click here to find out.

Dakota Darsow defeated former WCW cruiser weight champion Lenny Lane with a roll up.

Ian Xavier defeated Sky Steel with a little help from some brass knuckles. This was Steel's first match.

Korina Kay pinned Lisa Louise.

Jay North defeated Tommy "Spiderbaby" Saturday.
AWA legends Kenny "The Sodbuster" Jay & Buck "Rock N Roll" Zumhofe defeated Shimdog & Jonny Goldengate.

The Asylum defeated Mitch Paradise to become the new PWA champion. There was a lot of action around ring side as the VFW manager was in Paradise's corner and The Asylum had two managers helping him to his victory.

It had been 5 years since I was last at the annual PWA Kaposia Days card so I thought it would be fun to dig in to my archives and post some photos from that card from 6/28/2003. It's interesting to see what has happened in 5 years. For a full review of the card go to doc dx's field reports.

DOS defeated Big Daddy Hoofer in the opening match. DOS is now retired from pro wrestling. Big Daddy Hoofer now goes by Brody Hoofer and he cut off his bleach blond hair.. Most recently he was in a match with the Honky Tonk Man in Superior, WI.

Big Mack won a handicap match against Drej & Chris Jordan. Both Big Mack and Drej have left pro wrestling but Jordan made his return a few weeks ago to the ring after a year away. Jordan made a return to Kaposia days but not to wrestle. He came for the tacos.

Lacey & Josie defeated Rain & Candy. What is the deal with all the women wrestlers having only one name? Candy, the one in the red pants, left the biz not too long after this match. Josie moved away from MN and she is now wrestling with OVW. For a few months Rain could be seen on TNA as Ms Peyton Banks. Lacey's where abouts are unknown at this time.

Horace the Psycopath defeated Tommy Gunn. Horace has retired and returned to pro wrestling many times. Most recently returned unannounced at F1rst Wrestling. Who knows when he will next go back to his home in St. Peter, MN. Gunn changed his name to James Thomas and moved to Kentucky to train at Derby City Wrestling. Ref Rob Page was a Eminem look a like 5 years ago. This was just his 2nd or 3rd card he had ever reffed on.

Bad Boy Brian wrestled against Mini Savard. I can't remember who won and was hoping that Barb would have had the winner listed in her field report but she didn't have it. I stopped taking photos of this match as the guy in the neon green trunks junk kept escaping out. This match went on way to long and it started to rain. Bad Boy Brian is still wrestling but I have not seen Mini Savard since this card. I hope if he did continue wrestling that he got trunks that would hold his junk.

Austin Aries defeated Shawn Daivari after a 450 splash in the rain. Both of these men went on to bigger area not too long after this.
PWA champion Mitch Paradise defeated Mason Quinn to retain the belt. I'm not positive if Paradise has held that belt for the last 5 years with out loosing it but once again he was in the main event at Kaposia Days and the only man to appear on both of these cards. Quinn moved from MN back to his home state of Wisconsin where he wrestles for promotions such as ICW.

FLWA Howard Lake, MN 6/21/2008

French Lake Wrestling Association was part of the entertainment for the Howard Lake Good Neighbor festivel this last Saturday in a parking lot behind the city Hall. I really like out door shows.

In the opening match Benjamin Sailer defeated James Alexander with a top rope sunset flip.

Lenny Lane defeated rookie Dakota Darsow.

Dominick Ether defeated Sammy Savard with a frog splash.

Sheik Adnon's Army of Arya Daivari & Nate Bash defeated The Dixon/Sexon Connection. This was the first time The Dixon/Sexon Connection has been in action in Minnesota in a few years. I talked to them and they said they were spending time traveling the world and living on the beaches of Jamaica.
Renny D & Mike Stanley defeated Shimdog & Aaron Corbin. After the match Shimdog & Corbin were out side the ring when a fan slapped Shimdog. Police were near by and they took the drunk fan away. I was really surprised that it was Shimdog who had to hold back Corbin after the slap.

Cooter beat Mitch Paradise to win the Howard Lake championship.
Tony DeNucci defeated Thoruf Marius to win the FLWA heavy weight title.

F1RST Wrestling Minneapolis, MN 6/20/2008

On Friday night in down town Minneapolis F1RST Wrestling presented 'The Return: '08'. The Northstar Express was to take on '6% body fat' Rob James & a mystery partner. Many fans were speculation that the return refered to James mystery partner and that it would be Horace the Psycophath or 'The Genuine Article' Chris Jordan both of who had not been seen in F1RST Wrestling for a while. As it turned out the card should have been titled 'The Returns: '08' as both Horace and Jordan returned but neither were the mystery partner. At the start of the card Arik Cannon came out to let the fans know that a few of the advertised wrestlers were unable to make it.

The opening match was a 3 way between Shane Hollister, Arya Daivari and The Prophet. Hollister got the win with a pin on The Prophet.

Venom deafeted Lorenzo Connoers in the second match of the night.

Rob James anounced his myster partner as Austin Aries. Even thought James had an international wrestler like Aries as his partner he was not able to beat the team of Darin Corbin & Ryan Cruz. This was also a return for Aries. He's wrestled many times in First Ave before but not for F1rst Wrestling.

Thoruf Marius beat kamikaze Klecker.
Horace, the man that fans were guessing would be Rob James parter came out for the next match. He got on the mic and asked the fans if they wanted blood. The fans wanted blood and out came Arik Cannon. I don't believe that this match was announced as a hard core match but it was Horace the Psycopath so I think that just made it a hard core match. The matched ended when Horace gave Cannon a powerbomb on a pile of thumbtacks and pinned him. But the thumbtacks was not the sickest thing that happened in this match. The sickest thing happened up in the First Ave mens rooms when Horace was pushed in to the urinal and he layed down in the long urinal. I would post of photo of that but it is just too sick.

In the main event Midwest Ground & Air defeated the reformed Junk Squad. Chris Jordan had lost a retirement match a year ago against his partner Pete Huge but he must have found retirement no fun and he decided to get back with his long time partner and forgive him for what ever it was that made them fight before. After the Junk Squad lost they attacked Nate Bash & Benjamin Sailer.

F1RST Wrestling returns to First Ave on August 8th, 2008. check out http://www.myspace.com/f1rstwrestlingto buy all the F1rst Wrestling dvd's.

HOW Superior, WI 6/14/2008

Heavy On Wrestling held a big card this last Saturday night at Wessman arena in Superior, WI. I believe this was the third card that HOW has put on.

The opening match on this might was Venom VS '6% Bodyfat' Rob James. Venom got the 3 count to win this match.

Arik Cannon & Ann Brookstone beat Heavy D & Lacey Von Erich in a mixed tag team match. This was my first time seeing Heavy D and Lacey in action. Lacey is the daughter of Kerry Von Erich and she wrestles bearfoot like her uncle Kevin. Brookstone got the pin on Von Erich to win this match.

Arya Daivari defeated 'Thee Suntan Superman' Cody O'Neill. Daivari had some help from his carpet to win this one but not with the magic carpet ride.

Honky Tonk Man beat Brody Hoofer with the Shake Rattle & Roll. Before the match Honky entertained the crowd with a song.
Bad Boy Brain & Thoruf beat the Northstar Express. On the last HOW card Brian beat Darin Corbin so this time Corbin brought his tag team partner Ryan Cruz and challenged Brian to a match with a partner of his choice. Brian picked his 'little brother' Thoruf as his partner.

Eugene beat Arik Cannon with the help of Terry Funk. Cannon knocked out referree Rob Page so Funk came in the ring.
Mitch Paradise pinned Sammy Savard.

Benjamin Sailer climbed the ladder and grabbed the clipboard to sign his name on a contract to face Arik Cannon on a future show in a 3 way ladder match with Nate Bash and Joey Envy.