Costumes from Halloween past

Today is Halloween so I decieded to look back into my archives for some photos from MIW and MPW where the wrestlers dressed up for the holiday.

First up is an MIW card that took place in Big Lake, MN on Halloween night 2003. Josie, MIW womans champ at the time, came to the ring dressed as a girl scout.

The main event for the MIW Halloween card was a battle royal. Ken Anderson wore some kind of mask, Undertaker maybe. Johnny Parks was dressed as an '80's rocker.

On November 2, 2003 MPW held it's annual Halloween show at their weekly Sunday event in Rogers, MN. These weekly shows were held at the MPW arena/training center. One of the funnist costomes that year was worn by The Punisher (Rob James). He was a fat stripper and his opponent here is El Viejo as Pretty Boooy Delgado. Or is it Pretty Boooy Delgado as El Viejo?
CJ Talon looked very good as Mick Foley for his match against Joessiah. Talon even used Mr Socko on ref Brian Wallenberg after the match.Lucha Libra is know for high flying, fast paced action, but it's also know for some crazy costumes. At the first ever lucha libra show I atteneded back on April 11, 2004 Frankenstein was envoled in a 6 man match.
The 2004 MPW Halloween show took place on Halloween night at the MPW arena in Rogers, MN. For most of the matches the wrestlers switched ring gear with their opponents. In the photo here V2(Ryan Cruz) & Lisa came to the ring dressed as Animal Sam and Valkrie. During the match both V2 and Sam went under the ring and switched into their regular ring gear.
Chris Jordan, Joey Envy and Pete Huge did and in ring promo dressed as Triple H, X-Pac and HBK. Jordan didn't have a fanny pack so he borrowed mine.

Darin Corbin and Sheriff Johnny Emerald did the gear switch and Emerald even went so far as to color his hair red.
Ref Rob Page got into the fun as he dressed like his favorite wrestler "Playboy" Pete Huge.
This photo didn't take place around Halloween but I just had to enclude it. Any guess's as to who this is and who they are dressed up as? You can guess by clicking on "comments" below.

MIW Chanhassen, MN 10/23/2010

Minnesota Independent Wrestling returned to the Chanhassen American Legion this past Saturday night. On this night there were two other wrestling events in the area just 15 miles away. Because of that some of the wrestlers on this card had already wrestled at one of the other events earlier in the night.
In the first match of the night El Bano defeated "Playboy" Pete Huge with a Vader Slash. Huge was very disappointed that he lost to a toilet.

Next up was a Paradise Pit where Mitch Paradise and Rob Ivy's guest were "Genuine Article" Chris Jordan, "All Star" Paul Brewski and Allison Wonderland. The topic of this Paradise Pit was 'winners and loser's' and Brewski brought of Pete Huge as a loser because of his lose in the first match. Jordan and Brewski attached Huge until El Bano made the save.

Rob Ivy defeated Death Mask in the second match of the night. This was Death Mask's first match with MIW. Ivy got the win after a low blow.

Mitch Paradise pinned Horace the Psychopath after a power bomb. During the match Horace was in the corner next to me and he grabbed my shirt. I guess he's not a big fan of my Marvel Secret Wars t-shirt.

After intermission Rob Ivy came to the ring looking for some competition as he thought his match with Death Mask was too easy. Rookie Dorrian came out to accept the challenge. I believe this was Dorrians second match after being trained by Terry Fox. Dorrian got the win over Ivy after a low blow.

Mystik Recognize defeated Ann Brookstone. I think the fans at the American Legion gave Brookstone a new nick name, "Drama Queen". I hope this name catches on and fans everywhere call her Drama Queen.

The main event was scheduled to be Chris Jordan VS MIW heavy weight champion Brody Hoofer for the title. Before the match started Jordan and Paul Brewski attacked Hoofer. Pete Huge came out the make the save so MIW owner Terry Fox made the main event a tag team match with Hoofer and Huge teaming up against Jordan & Brewski with Allison Wonderland. The match ended in a no contest when Huge turned on Hoofer. MIW is scheduled to return to the Chanhassen American Legion on January 8th, 2011.

Unnamed Promotion St. Paul, MN 9/18/2010

This was the second event held at the Rumors/ Innuendos night club in down town St. Paul, MN. I have not heard of any name for this promotion as it really just started out as a fund raiser event for an AIDS walk. This event, which I was able to make it to after the AWF show earlier in the night, was called "Wrestle Mania". I heard from the promoter that there will be more wrestling at this venue.
In the opening match Ryan Stone pinned Dirty Ernie with a roll up out of now where.

"The Law" Mark Barker won a triple threat elimination match against Contrast and Patrick McDaniel. Contrast was the first to be eliminated.

Tommy "Spiderbaby" Saturday defeated Gene Gadaski by pin fall. Gadaski's blue jeans split open in the crotch during this match.

Patriot III defeated JB Trask in a 2 out of 3 falls match up. Patriot III won the first fall and JB took the second fall. Patriot III got the final fall when he had help from on of Trask's valets who was a plant for Patriot III.

In a rematch from last time at Rumors Rob Ivy defeated Mike Hawk.

AWF Oakdale, MN 9/18/2010

This past Saturday night the American Wrestling Federation held a fund raiser event at Tartan High School in Oakdale, MN.
TV announcer Mortimer Plumtree came to the ring to do the TV taping intros. Then he called AWF senior official Rob Page to the ring for an announcement. Page told the crowd that AWF champion Tony DeNucci was attacked in the locker room and that AWF commissioner Sabrina Perri decided to strip DeNucci of the belt and start a tournament for the title. Page also showed off the brand new AWF championship belt. I must say, this is one of the finest looking wrestling belts I've ever seen. All the singles matches on tonight's card were part of the AWF championship tournament.

Arya Daivari defeated Cpl. Julio Julio in a first round match.

Lenny Lane defeated rookie Chiropractor DC in another first round match. This was my first time seeing DC and I think it was only his second match. Lane made DC tap out to the walls of lane. If DC ever has any finishing moves I think they should be called "the spinal crusher" or "the adjustment".

In the third match of the card Mitch Paradise wrestled Brody Hoofer. The match ended in a double count out. I'm not sure if that means that both men are now out of the tournament or not.

The AWF tag team champions John Johnson & Aaron Corbin defeated Ryan Cruz & Benjamin Sailer to retain the belts. It was odd to see Sailer tag with someone else as he and Nate Bash have been a regular tag team for the last three years. Being that both Sailer and Cruz wrestle often in tag team action they worked really well together in this match. The three count came after Corbin kicked Cruz's face into the crowd and Johnson made the pin as he was the legal man.

In the last match of the night Johnny Parks defeated Thoruf Marius. Mitch Paradise came to ring side to try to help Marius but it backfired and Parks got the win to advance in the tournament.

BCW Crystal, MN 9/10/2010

This past Friday night at the Crystal Community Center Born Championship Wrestling presented "Friday Night Fights".
In the opening match The Prophet defeated Kamikaze Klecker with the message. Klecker came to the ring with a black Spiderman mask but took it off before the match started.

The next match of the night was Patriot 3 VS Cpl. Julio Julio. I left the ring side area because I had to use the rest room. When I returned Horace the Psychopath was in the ring and both wrestlers were out side and the match was declared a no contest. Horace came to the ring to call out BCW owner Judd Jennrick for his interference in Horace's championship match against Darrin Corbin a few months ago.

Trent Jones defeated Udo. This was the first time that I've seen Jones in the ring in a few years. I think that Jones had his feet on the ropes during the 3 count.

Horace got what he asked for when he interrupted the second match of the night when he got to face Judd Jennrick. This match didn't take place in the ring much. They went outside into the rain where they rolled around in the mud on a baseball field. Back inside the building they took the match into the men's room were Horace game Jennrick a swirly. I usually post a photo that favors the winner of the match but this photo had to be seen as the only people who followed the wrestlers into the men's room was the video guy and me. The match finally got back into the ring and Jennrick got help from BCW champion Darin Corbin to get the pin.

"Mr. 6% Body Fat" Rob James came out and issued a challenge to any fat slob in the building. Marky Mang came out to accept the challenge. This was my first time seeing Mang. After a few minutes Ryan Cruz came out and the match was now a three way dance. Cruz got the pin on James after a boom sha ka la ka.

BCW champion Darin Corbin retained his belt against "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon. Corbin had some help from Judd Jennrick's body guard.

The main event of the night was fans bring the weapons tag team championship match between BCW champions The Neighborhood Watch (Mark Barker & Cameron Cross) and 101 Proof(Venom & Bret O'Brian). I had to leave before this match really got started.

Mentallo on Lucha Libre USA Masked Warriors

I was watching the August 28th episode of Lucha Libre USA on Mtv2 this past past weekend when I saw a familiar masked warrior, Mentallo. It was at an XJAM card in Minot, ND in January 2006 were I first met the masked man from Canada. That's one of the joys of being a ring side photographer at independent pro wrestling shows. One day you see a wrestler at a bar/armory in a small Midwest town and a few years later that same wrestler can be seen on national TV.
The first time I saw Mentallo he was a fan favorite when he wrestled against Arik Cannon at the Udder Palace in Minot, ND. On Lucha Libre USA Mentallo is a rudo, the lucha libre term for bad guy. It was made clear that he was a rude when he was shown pick pocketing some lady on the streets of Las Vegas in a clip on Lucha Libre USA before his match with Azteco.

2010 PWI 500

The 20th annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 hit news stands a couple of weeks ago. Former TNA champion AJ Styles was named the #1 for the grading period of June 1st, 2009 through May 31st 2010. This was the first time that a TNA wrestler was named #1 in the PWI 500. The photo here was taken back in January 2004 when he came to Midwest Pro Wrestling to face Shifty.

Ranked #3 on the list is CM Punk. In the photo Punk is with Colt Cabana (#101) after they won the ROH tag team titles in Chicago Ridge, Il in April 2004. A little bit of a role reversal as Punk is showing his less serious side. Cabana recently started a podcast called "Art of Wrestling" that can be found at welovecolt.com and on itunes. So far he has done 4 episodes that have featured Shawn Daivari, Punk, Chad Collyer and Bull Pain. I've listened to all 4 shows an really enjoyed them. They are funny and informative. If you are a fan of pro wrestling then you really should listen to Art of Wrestling. Then email him and tell him I told you to listen to his podcast.

I have four photos in the PWI 500, Randy Orton, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes and Chris Masters. Go out and buy an copy now. If you can't find the 2010 PWI 500 on news stands you can now order it on line at the PWI blog.

3XW Des Moines, IA 8/6/2010

For the first time since October 2007 I made my way down to Des Moines, Iowa for a 3XW card. Int the three years the 3XW roster has not changed much as many of the same guys were since the last time. One thing that has changed is the location for their events. 3XW now runs out of the Des Moines Social Club in down town Des Moines. This card was the second annual King of Des Moines tournament that featured 8 of 3XW's best wrestlers and two title matches.
There was a pre show match between Brady A. Dezire and Jon West. West was one of only two on this card that I had never seen before. Dezire won the match with a super kick.

The the first tournament match Zach Thompson defeated Nate Bash. Both men are fan favorties but Thompson was voted most popular 3XW wrestler 2009.

In the second first round match Brain Ash w/ Todd Countryman defeated Maddog McDowell. This match featured the two biggest men in 3XW.

Jeremy Wyatt defeated Benjamin Sailer in another first round match. Wyatt hit Sailer in the jimmy and rolled him up for the three count.

In the final first round match Mark Sterling defeated Devin Carter. Sterling made Carter tap out to his version of the sharp shooter.

Jeremy Wyatt advanced to the finals by defeating Zach Thompson. Thompson tapped out to Wyatt's cross face submission hold.

Mark Sterling pinned Brain Ash with Todd Countryman. Ash tried using a foriegn objest that was handed to him by Countryman but Sterling still got the win to advance to the finals.

3XW Unified Pure Wrestling Champion Jimmy Rockwell retained his belts in a six man scramble match. The other five men in the match were Casanova, Sir Bradley Charles, Hunter Matthews, Aaron Masterson and Ryan Slade.

Rory Fox sucessfully defended the 3XW Heavyweight championship against Ricky Kwong with Chad Mylan. Fox was featured in Mtv's True Life: I'm a pro wrestler show a few years back.

In the King of Des Moines finals Mark Sterling defeated Jeremy Wyatt in a 30 minute plus match.

Mark Sterling, 2010 King of Des Moines. He now gets all his extra value meals super sized at any fast food resturant in Des Moines and a really big trophy.